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viewing 1 To 13 of 13 items
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LP
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VIO 075LP
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$33.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/3/2024
How do you follow up a work described in the Independent "the best debut album since Marquee Moon?" That's the question facing singer-songwriter John Canning Yates, twenty years on from the critically acclaimed The First Album by his band Ella Guru. The Quiet Portraits will appeal to anyone who loves the beautiful melodic soundscapes woven by Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, and Tom Waits, while Yates's unique vocals evoke the emotional fragility and compelling narrative of Neil Young, Paul Buchanan, Mark Linkous, and Elliott Smith. Mastered by Jason Mitchell (PJ Harvey, Robert Forster), and featuring guest contributions from pedal steel maestro BJ Cole and friend and multi-instrumentalist Andy Frizell (Kevin Ayers, Wizards of Twiddly), those dedicated followers of Ella Guru who stayed the path will find their patience very well rewarded. The Quiet Portraits is a remarkable achievement from an unassuming, yet hugely talented artist. It's a welcome relief amid the rapidly changing musical landscape to find that all that has changed in John's world is the number of musicians around him. The beautiful storytelling, the art of finding those magical musical moments that will remain with you for years to come: all of that has survived the passing of time intact. Happiest with headphones on, working alone in the small hours from his Liverpool home, Yates has created another masterpiece. Entitled The Quiet Portraits, the new solo album from John Canning Yates tells tales of people and places, of time, family, history, belonging, forgetting and remembering.
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LP
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VIO 078LP
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Forged in a warehouse in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle, Beatowls emerge in 2023 as a genre-defying trio. Darcie Chazen, Tom Roberts, and Carl Cook, possess distinct talents, fusing elements of electro, folk, and psychedelia into captivating, dark atmospheric grooves. The city's urban-industrial mood inspires their sound, weaving evocative and cinematic tones into their upcoming debut album Marma. For fans of : Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland, The XX, Portishead, Nancy & Lee Badalamenti/Lynch, Broadcast, Warp Records. Above all, Beatowls embody a journey. Their story starts from a shared passion, extends into this collection of songs and sounds, and hints at a future filled with creative exploration. From a dream in a Liverpool warehouse to a national platform, Beatowls stand on the cusp of an era promising audio adventures steeped in originality, emotive tales, and sonic diversity.
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7"
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VIO 007EP
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A very rare jewel in the Michael Head canon of work. A two-song project recorded in 2014, pressed in France and packaged in a hand-made sleeve. This is a unique and original artifact, not a repress. With no band name on the sleeve, this was a personal project exquisitely packaged. The songs are pure and quintessential Michael Head. "Velvets In The Dark" was written in the wake of the death of Lou Reed and centers around being on the outside of those things most important in your life. "Koala Bears" is a remarkable song with a structure like no other featuring two young fugitives, fixated and so in love who when caught have their code word for "we say nothing".
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10"
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VIO 071EP
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Somewhere between Simon & Garfunkel and the Kings of Convenience, Meaning of Tales bring benevolent and empathetic music in their own style. Music that will evoke memories of youth for some, without any nostalgia but with infinite tenderness, and will teleport others to nature at sunset. Music that proves Aristotle right: so much will it soften our morals and delight our hearts.
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10"
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VIO 065EP
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Raised on the salted air and pebbled beaches amidst the faded seaside opulence of Brighton, Tigers & Flies spent much of their formative years building a friendship forged on a diet of the melodies and rhythms to be found deep within their parents' wildly eclectic record collections. A worthy and noble pursuit for anyone, from those wonderfully endless hours, those bottomless cups of tea great ideas can flourish. Tigers & Flies are a great and flourishing idea. From the bounce and sunny optimism of Orange Juice to the brutalist edge of Gang of Four. From XTC to Bacharach. Each listen offers more. A harmony appears where you're convinced there wasn't one before, or a rhythmic change you hadn't noticed. A lyrical twist. Harmonies that seem to float in through an open window. Tigers & Flies enjoy a rare sense of musical individuality. And the musicality they bring is something of note. Their sound belies their years and it begs you to continue the search with them. The search for something fresh in pop music. And then it delivers. There's much to hear. Something rich for everyone.
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10"
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VIO 064LP
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Over three decades as the unassuming but pivotal figure behind some of Scotland's most iconic pop, Jim McCulloch steps out of the shadows and onto centerstage with his debut solo album. The former Soup Dragon perfects his mastery of songcraft on When I Mean What I Say, released on Violette Records. Lush and textured, delicate and intriguing, When I Mean What I Say is immersed in the melodic tapestries of Laurel Canyon but rooted in Jim's life in his hometown of Glasgow. Written in Donegal's wild Atlantic coast and recorded pre-Lockdown in Glasgow's downtown Gorbals district, the warmth of the album's classic pop and its lyrical openness transports the listener to an emotional and harmonic timelessness far from 2020's claustrophobia. Jim: "Violette Records are kindred spirits in the music world. Their ethos, aesthetic and generosity of spirit chime with me. Once I had finished the album, they were the only record company I sent it off to-the only record company I thought could do it justice." Jim McCulloch started as a member of BMX Bandits and later the Soup Dragons, and has collaborated with Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan.
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LP
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VIO 060LP
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Transmeridian is the first album from Departure Lounge (ex-Bella Union) in 19 years. It features all four original members plus a guest appearance from legendary REM guitarist, Peter Buck. The surprise new album, named after the defunct "golden age of aviation" cargo airline for which singer/guitarist Tim Keegan's dad was chief pilot, is released on Violette Records. Originally scooped up by Simon Raymonde's Bella Union label following the self-funded release of their debut album Out Of Here (1999), Departure Lounge's sophomore outing, Too Late To Die Young (2002) was equally acclaimed. Calling a halt in late 2002, citing family and geographical reasons (drummer Lindsay Jamieson lives in Nashville, where their second album Jetlag Dreams (2001) was recorded), the four members remained firm friends and occasional collaborators, before reuniting in late 2019 for a few shows to support the digital reissues of their first three cult-classic albums. With no plans other than to make some new music, they set off for Middle Farm Studios, Devon. Tim Keegan (vocals/guitar), Chris Anderson (lead guitars/keyboards/bass), Lindsay Jamieson (drums/keyboards), and Jake Kyle (bass/guitar/drums) channeled their evident joy at being back together into a complete 13-track album, largely conceived and recorded in just one 24-hour session, co-produced by Peter Miles. Ranging from soulful Americana to piano and mellotron-fueled melancholia via pastoral musings on the nature of post-youth and eerie Spaghetti Western-tinged instrumentals, the next leg on the Departure Lounge journey is a multi-mood expression of pure artistic freedom. First single proper, "Mercury In Retrograde", covered in the twinkling lights of a music box Casio CZ101 melody, turned the clock back. The songs told the story of the band. Transmeridian has the same sense of deeply connected musical energy. The purring, campfire acoustica of "Timber" and "So Long" bear no obvious resemblance to the ethereal, end-of-the-evening, piano-led interlude "Paging Marco Polo", whilst the quasi-glam stomp of "Mr Friendly" would normally have no business sharing space with the strange, spacey "Gurnard Pines". Yet the journey's ebb and flow, accelerations and pauses make for compelling, grown-up listening. Australia, showcasing the chiming Rickenbacker 12-string of Athens, GA's finest guitar slinger, leaves no doubt that Departure Lounge's pop sensibilities also remain solidly intact. Citing their love of (and placing on record their debt to) influences including Robert Wyatt, Nick Drake, Talk Talk, Lou Reed, Arvo Pärt, and Cocteau Twins, the band's diversity of taste is reflected in the music they create.
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10"
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VIO 055LP
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10" vinyl version. The debut record by The Pistachio Kid entitled Sweet Remedies features eight songs of incandescent beauty, presenting wonderfully warm and infectious melodies, elegant harmonies and combining these with a collage of musical styles and arrangements. The Pistachio Kid is hailed by critics and audiences as an idiosyncratic, creative musician and songwriter invoking the early work of Randy Newman, Bert Jansch, Van Dyke Parks, and The Sherman Brothers. The Pistachio Kid is the new musical project of Charlie McKeon, a talented and multi-instrumental singer-songwriter from Liverpool. An urban-Huckleberry Finn character whose music transcends genres, is other-worldly yet melodically familiar and evokes the spirit of endless summers, the exuberance of youth and that belief that everything and anything is possible. "I love music that's about playing together, like jazz or bluegrass, and I love music that's about composition and beauty, like Debussy. And then I love music that's about an individual personality like Dylan. I love people exploring what they sound like, it's all good." The recordings were written, entirely performed and recorded by Charlie McKeon in his hometown of Liverpool and represent his coming of age as artist. McKeon is a graduate of Leeds College of Music and has become known for his intricate and colorful guitar playing, his unique voice and exquisite songs which balance the perfect ratio of lyrics to guitar. "People try to tailor your creativity before you've even done anything, you need to do it all first. The best advice is the opposite of that. John Fahey said 'Play what you like to play, don't worry about anyone else'. Imagine Dylan having singing lessons?! I wish I had written 'Suzanne' by Leonard Cohen or 'Happiness Is a Warm Gun' by John Lennon, or 'René and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War' by Paul Simon. They're all very individual and delicate and they move in cool motions."
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CD
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VIO 055CD
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The debut record by The Pistachio Kid entitled Sweet Remedies features eight songs of incandescent beauty, presenting wonderfully warm and infectious melodies, elegant harmonies and combining these with a collage of musical styles and arrangements. The Pistachio Kid is hailed by critics and audiences as an idiosyncratic, creative musician and songwriter invoking the early work of Randy Newman, Bert Jansch, Van Dyke Parks, and The Sherman Brothers. The Pistachio Kid is the new musical project of Charlie McKeon, a talented and multi-instrumental singer-songwriter from Liverpool. An urban-Huckleberry Finn character whose music transcends genres, is other-worldly yet melodically familiar and evokes the spirit of endless summers, the exuberance of youth and that belief that everything and anything is possible. "I love music that's about playing together, like jazz or bluegrass, and I love music that's about composition and beauty, like Debussy. And then I love music that's about an individual personality like Dylan. I love people exploring what they sound like, it's all good." The recordings were written, entirely performed and recorded by Charlie McKeon in his hometown of Liverpool and represent his coming of age as artist. McKeon is a graduate of Leeds College of Music and has become known for his intricate and colorful guitar playing, his unique voice and exquisite songs which balance the perfect ratio of lyrics to guitar. "People try to tailor your creativity before you've even done anything, you need to do it all first. The best advice is the opposite of that. John Fahey said 'Play what you like to play, don't worry about anyone else'. Imagine Dylan having singing lessons?! I wish I had written 'Suzanne' by Leonard Cohen or 'Happiness Is a Warm Gun' by John Lennon, or 'René and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War' by Paul Simon. They're all very individual and delicate and they move in cool motions."
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CD
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VIO 052CD
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In September 2019, Studio Electrophonique released a 10" release entitled Buxton Palace Hotel (VIO 052-1LP). The record, promoted largely by word of mouth, sold out within a fortnight of release capturing the hearts of fans, journalists, and fellow musicians alike. Due to demand, Violette Records is releasing a strictly limited run of CDs. Studio Electrophonique is the solo musical venture of James Leesley. Bright eyed, tousle-headed and with a look halfway between penitence and innocence, James conjures a sound akin to the dream where Bill Ryder-Jones fronts The Velvet Underground with echoes of Cherry Ghost drifting in there for good measure. Cinematic, melodic, warm -- efficient in arrangement yet intricate in detail. On hearing the song "Jayne", Richard Hawley invited Studio Electrophonique to open for his band in London and Holmfirth in May 2019. Etienne Daho's love of the record extended to a personal invite to James to perform as his special guest and open his show at the famous L'Olympia in Paris in January 2020.
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10"
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VIO 052-1LP
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Violette Records is the label formed as a platform for Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and has since developed into a cultural hub for music, literature, and the arts. Bright eyed, tousle-headed, and with a look halfway between penitence and innocence, James Leesley (aka Studio Electrophonique) conjures a sound akin to the dream where Bill Ryder-Jones fronts The Velvet Underground with echoes of Cherry Ghost drifting in there for good measure. Cinematic, melodic, warm -- efficient in arrangement yet intricate in detail.
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LP
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VIO 025LP
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2018 repress; LP version. Michael Head (The Strands, Shack, The Pale Fountains) continues his Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band project with the beautiful and evocative Adiós Señor Pussycat, the first album of new material from Head since 2006. Recorded in his Head's hometown of Liverpool from March 2016 through June 2017, and the culmination of four years of hard work, Adiós Señor Pussycat is equal to Head's finest moments and further cements his reputation as one of his generation's greatest songwriters. Since beginning a self-imposed hiatus from music in 2008, Michael Head has been working with a fluid concept of an ever-rotating band to provide a flexible platform for the range of his live and recorded works. He unveiled Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band in 2013 with the Artorius Revisited EP, and followed this in 2015 with the Velvets In The Dark/Koala Bears 7". Fate, bad luck, and circumstance have often conspired to deny Head his rightful dues. A soulful and poetic genius, he has been loved and lauded by fellow artists and critics alike, after starting out in the early 1980s with The Pale Fountains, with whom he recorded a brace of acclaimed albums (Pacific Street (1984) and ...From Across The Kitchen Table (1985)). He subsequently formed Shack with his brother John and went on to record five albums over almost 20 years, including the much-loved and acclaimed Waterpistol (1995) and H.M.S. Fable (1999) (for which the NME hailed Head as "our greatest songwriter"), while 1997 saw the release of what is widely regarded as his classic work, The Magical World of The Strands (MEGAUK 024CD/LP). Adiós Señor Pussycat, produced by Steve Powell and Michael Head, features the following musicians: Michael Head, vocals and acoustic guitar; Steve Powell, electric and acoustic guitars; Phil Murphy, drums; Tom Powell, bass guitar; Nina, piano; Dan Rogers, electric guitar; Rod Skipp, cello; Dewi Tudor Jones, violin; Helen Tonge, viola; Martin Smith, trumpet; Andy Diagram, trumpet; Simon James, saxophone; Steve Powell, Joanne Head, Phil Murphy, and Mary McCombs, backing vocals; and Michael Head, Phil Murphy, and Karina Townsend, percussion.
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CD
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VIO 025CD
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Michael Head (The Strands, Shack, The Pale Fountains) continues his Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band project with the beautiful and evocative Adiós Señor Pussycat, the first album of new material from Head since 2006. Recorded in his Head's hometown of Liverpool from March 2016 through June 2017, and the culmination of four years of hard work, Adiós Señor Pussycat is equal to Head's finest moments and further cements his reputation as one of his generation's greatest songwriters. Since beginning a self-imposed hiatus from music in 2008, Michael Head has been working with a fluid concept of an ever-rotating band to provide a flexible platform for the range of his live and recorded works. He unveiled Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band in 2013 with the Artorius Revisited EP, and followed this in 2015 with the Velvets In The Dark/Koala Bears 7". Fate, bad luck, and circumstance have often conspired to deny Head his rightful dues. A soulful and poetic genius, he has been loved and lauded by fellow artists and critics alike, after starting out in the early 1980s with The Pale Fountains, with whom he recorded a brace of acclaimed albums (Pacific Street (1984) and ...From Across The Kitchen Table (1985)). He subsequently formed Shack with his brother John and went on to record five albums over almost 20 years, including the much-loved and acclaimed Waterpistol (1995) and H.M.S. Fable (1999) (for which the NME hailed Head as "our greatest songwriter"), while 1997 saw the release of what is widely regarded as his classic work, The Magical World of The Strands (MEGAUK 024CD/LP). Adiós Señor Pussycat, produced by Steve Powell and Michael Head, features the following musicians: Michael Head, vocals and acoustic guitar; Steve Powell, electric and acoustic guitars; Phil Murphy, drums; Tom Powell, bass guitar; Nina, piano; Dan Rogers, electric guitar; Rod Skipp, cello; Dewi Tudor Jones, violin; Helen Tonge, viola; Martin Smith, trumpet; Andy Diagram, trumpet; Simon James, saxophone; Steve Powell, Joanne Head, Phil Murphy, and Mary McCombs, backing vocals; and Michael Head, Phil Murphy, and Karina Townsend, percussion.
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