Strangeworld Records

Sincere apologies but Strangeworld is CLOSED today, Friday 5th July. Almost the entire store is represented in the website - with accurate inventory. Order with confidence!

GROUPIE - Ephemeral LP

Nicely priced. One copy only.
Limited edition of 200 copies on "Punch" colour vinyl.
Ashley Kossakowski (bass/vox) and Johanna Healy’s (guitar/vox) took bits and pieces from the punk, post-punk, and new wave acts of the '70s and '80s that spoke to them most—The Stooges, The Cure, The Clash, to name a few, and gracefully blend them with more feminine influences from the '90s like Sleater-Kinney, Sonic Youth, and The Breeders, crafting a sound that nods to the past while exploring contemporary themes.
Guitarist Eamon Lebow and drummer Aaron Silberstein fill out their sound with textural guitar lines and dynamic percussion. After harnessing their sound over two EPs, Groupie is about to introduce themselves to the world proper with the release of their debut album Ephemeral, due out January 22, 2021. Ephemeral is a ten-track introspection on the transience of life, memories, and heroes. With warm, yet dissonant tones and energetic, impassioned vocals strengthening this theme - it’s a sound that drives right to your heart.

Record Store Day 2020 Black Friday release.
Limited edition of 2000 copies.
Includes a full-colour insert and OBI strip.
Absolute cooker of a set; weird, but classy, coke-bop with Hancock riding the waves like the Silver Surfer.

HOLIDAY INN - Torbido LP

Highly recommended.
Fictional larger than life characters come in all forms and ways but no one expected East Rome acid minimal synth-punk duo Holiday Inn to spread their cult in such a distinctive manner, overthrowing all sets of rules in the peninsula’s stuffy DIY circuit and uniting techno-industrial enthusiasts, hardcore noisers and theatrical dark wavers.
"Edgy minimal synth."
On the always-reliable Maple Death Records.
RIYL: Su***de, Teledetente 666

Limited edition red colour vinyl.
Jane Church is the Queens, NY-based band led by singer/guitarist Matthew Stevenson.
Described as both "Beatlegum" and "Janitor Rock", the album entices its listeners to step into a psychedelic-inspired feel, sonically in the vein of Television, Brian Eno and The Kinks.
"Calimocho Molotov! A twisted Americana masterpiece, it sounds like a new classic from the moment you press play. Vivid imagery and storytelling is painted over 70s soaked melodies infused with everything from pop to psych to western." - Alt Citizen

Highly recommended.
"Frontman for long-lived stoner-rock band Dead Meadow evokes Tom Petty for his laid back drawl and and Jack Rose for his fluid, unfussy playing style and ease in a variety of country, blues and folk modes." - Uncut

JENNY DON'T AND THE SPURS - Broken Hearted Blue LP

The brand-new album from Portland, Oregon's mighty Jenny Don't And The Spurs!
Over the past decade, they've travelled the world, making their mark in Australia last year with an extensive tour throughout the land which won them many a fan and packed venues.
The lineup features ex-members of Dead Moon and the Pierced Arrows (and, until a couple of years back, members of Poison Idea and The Wipers), and play an uber-cool mix of country and garage-rock. Pure twang, but with a rough, rock and roll edge and Jenny Don't exquisite vocals on top.

"Sonically, Waiting Out the Storm celebrates the jangle of late ’60s and early ’70s American rock and roll. It’s a little cosmic here, a little overdriven, and a little countrified, with Eagles-esque tunes like “Paradise Alley” and “White Shadow” and the driving Bob Dylan street preacher sermon of “Hands Down in Your Pockets.”
“Things Could Get Much Worse” couches a guarantee of widespread doom in upbeat, swampy blues-boogie. It’s catchy, too, and it’s easy to find yourself singing it later. You’re doing the dishes or something, your mind is wandering, and you move your feet or your shoulders a little, crack a little nihilistic smile and quietly intone, “you know, things / could get much worse.” - No Depression

Highly recommended.
The Visitor is an impermanent record, much as its title suggests. Here, O’Rourke ties together the entirety of his lengthy discography, birthing a composition that floats delicately with expression and laughter. You’ll find inklings of Eureka’s restrained pop etched firmly into the song’s frequently colourful piano melodies. Full-bodied flashes of guitar driven rock surface, recalling the boundless vitality that permeates across Insignificance. Tangentially, his electronic, ambient and onkyo experimentations seep through via the palpable space present in the piece. Silence is used, not so much as a purposed musical device, existing instead as an organic byproduct of the world that O’Rourke envisions. In-between the crevices, Jim once again channels the spirit of John Fahey’s renowned American primitivism, lending the piece an ability to travel in all manner of directions.

Nicely priced double album. One copy only.
The earliest recordings of JLH. His impact on modern music (rock 'n roll, blues, jazz, hip hop, punk...) is immeasurable.

Kelsey Waldon plays country that's steeped in tradition but also modern in the lyrics and presentation.
"Kelsey's voice is one of the more authentic country voices I've heard in a long time. Her music continues an important arc of traditional folk and country music." - John Prine

Nicely priced. One copy only.
"We focus with such obsessed diligence on this single cut here because, for one, it’s nearly impossible to imagine a more epitomizing example of the sort of thing Kleenex Girl Wonder has so often brought to the table (before whisking the tablecloth out from under it with one quick snap of the wrist) for over twenty years now, and, for two, because “Ask Mountain,” pivotal and unforgiving, also makes the case (though, yeah, it perhaps hardly needs making) that there are few if any American voices in this so-called ‘rock’ gig better equipped or more willing to refract the sensory avalanche we all wake up to every morning than Graham Smith. While quite well-found on Vana Mundi‘s other nine offerings – among them the syncopated slipstream of “Greek Fire,” “Sound’s Good”‘s poignant snark that makes it sound half heartfelt ballad half shrugging polemic, the rousingly downtrodden “The Mesomorph” that somehow still sounds triumphant, “Sunday Night Fever” that would seem to insert an errant Family into the US indie scene of twenty eighteen – it’s on this six-and-a-half-minute monster of lashing sardonic wit and twisted angst that the hallmarks reign. A fevered-yet-measured barrage of verse-making that places it persuasively on a continuum with Ginsberg’s Howl and Dylans “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” “Ask Mountain,” by its end racing at a frantic heart attack pace amid a dancing buzzsaw chorus of precision guitar work, full of such tumult and grace, is as invincible and vulnerable as the artist that made it, and the chimera that it has captured, however briefly and regardless of how few may have the good fortune to hear it, ensures that both song and writer will endure." - Stereo Embers

This is a lovely EP by Kurt Vile that features Kurt at the height of his powers.
Most of these tunes are covers, but Kurt's musicianship is in top form, and makes this a really dynamic and fun record. It is really as good or nearly as good as his best work. Kurt leans more into his folk and country influences than his rock influences, which gives this EP a distinct personality/identity in his discography.
John Prine, legendary folk artist, was a huge inspiration for Kurt and his music. Two Prine tracks are covered on this record, and the man himself even features on one of the covers. A very special moment, and a touching tribute to the genius of John Prine.

A songwriter from San Francisco who’d been biding his time playing pickup shows in east Nashville h***y tonks, Logan Ledger was all of a sudden signed to Rounder Records, and recording with an all-star studio crew that included Marc Ribot, known for working with Tom Waits, as well as drummer Jay Bellerose and bassist Dennis Crouch. Along with T Bone Burnett, this is the same band that played on the Grammy-winning Album of the Year-winning Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Also joining the sessions was guitarist and pedal steel player Russ Pahl, heard most notably on the records of Tyler Childers.
To this end, Logan Ledger’s long-anticipated debut album has arrived, though perhaps under slightly strained conditions, and with some delay, though no worse for the wear musically. Saving Country Music first warned the public of Logan Ledger’s emerging talent back in September of 2018, with a debut album expected sometime thereafter. But more time was allotted to allow Ledger’s name recognition and tour capacity to develop for this release. Now Coronavirus has quashed Leger’s tour plans once again, or at least delayed them until mid summer. But the album has finally been allowed to see the light of day.
“Vintage” is the only way to fairly catalog this self-titled release, with the influences of classic country, traditional pop, mod, and even a little early psychedelia appearing throughout these eleven tracks. If you’re thinking country, think more of Jim Reeves or early George Jones, and less Waylon Jennings. Think The Byrds meet Nashville. This is a refined style of roots music, perhaps more suitable for the intimate theater than the h***y tonk, but still and raw and real from the emotional experience.

Limited edition pink and orange swirl colour vinyl.
From Superchunk leader Mac McCaughan comes the surprisingly mellow The Sound of Yourself. Maybe half of the material here is ambient and instrumental, strongly evoking Brian Eno. The vocal tracks run the gamut from ethereal electronic pop to, in one case, full-band indie rock that would (and maybe should have?) fit perfectly on a Superchunk album.
Includes contributions from Mary Lattimore, Yo La Tengo, TORRES and more.

Limited edition red colour vinyl.
Bonus "Letter From An Occupant" 7"
Mass Romantic is the kind of album one wishes would get the attention it deserves, a brilliant rock album in a disappointing age, especially 2000. The New Pornographers present a set of stunning performances that keep even the slower songs lively and passionate. There are no disappointments here: kicking off with the title track, the listener is drawn into the driving guitars and elaborate keyboards, there are multiple vocalists, all of which are superb.

If you liked All Melody or Spaces, this will provide you with a similarly beautiful and virtuosic experience.
Nils is a powerfully emotive performer and the places he goes here are incredible.

Limited edition red colour vinyl.
12 holiday classics and a Rev original.

ROD STEWART - Every Picture Tells A Story LP

Rod Stewart's singing is a natural gift -- few singers with similar raspy, galvanizing voices could simultaneously be as mellow as him. That's what makes the flow seamlessly transits from warm folk ballads to straight oldie-goodie rock-n'-roll, from the tinkling of the mandolin to the ringing of the country fiddle. Together the music comes out lively, telling the story of a bohemian.

Originally released in 1969.
Jalacy J. Hawkins, better known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins, was born on July 18, 1929 in Cleveland, Ohio. As a young man, he played piano, boxed in local championships and learned opera at the Ohio Conservatory of Music.
Although initially pursuing opera after returning from serving in World War II, Hawkins eventually sharpened his focus on the darker side of R+B and jazz, using macabre stage props, absolute wildman persona and expert voice imitating the blare and squeal of saxophones.
His most notable chart-topper was the boozy, raucous 1956 hit 'I Put A Spell On You,' which was banned by many radio stations for its suggestive groans and grunts. All things considered, Screamin' Jay Hawkins is considered one of the earliest pioneers of what would become shock rock.
Recorded in 1969, years following his big hits, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' third album What That Is! showcases Hawkins in one of his most rowdy and compelling stages of his artistic career. With a killer backing band featuring the great Earl Palmer on drums for most of the cuts and Herb Ellis guesting on a few.
We find Jay singing about life, love and loss as well as feasting Mau Maus and pain, REAL PAIN.

Nicely priced. One copy only.
Real old-timey blues, with some unconventional approaches and nuances.
Recorded in 1942, released in 2013 thanks to the fine folk at Mississippi.

Limited edition gold colour vinyl.
Their lead guitarist is a distant relative of the late Ali Farka Toure, the legendary Mali desert blues musician, but the young generation are no traditionalists. They mix the complex rhythms and guitar lines of their tradition with hard rock and psychedelia into three minute statements.

180 gram vinyl.
Like all the best bands of their day, Spandau Ballet underpin their smooth, polished and sophisticated romanticism with slick grooves on True, the guitar, bass, synth and saxophone trading subtle yet infectious lines beneath the sultry melodies.

St. Vincent really loves going through big changes in her sound during her eclectic career. Starting off with baroque pop and indie rock in her early albums, then transitioning to more oddball synth-inflected art-pop on her next two albums, and then transitioning once again, going more accessible as she works with Jack Antonoff of all people. So she's definitely an artist that never seems to stay in one place.
And with this album, she does it again, going more for the retro pop and soul that dates around the 60s or the 70s.

Limited edition red colour vinyl.
Full of gently sung folk pop with warm horn arrangements and African influences in the rhythms and guitars, it becomes a winters night comfort pretty quick.

Fully remastered.
Fifth album includes "Stranger In Town", "Holyanna" and "How Does It Feel".
Toto's most arena-oriented rock album in some respects. As far as 80's AOR goes, Isolation is definitely a cut above a lot of what was coming out in 1984.

Fully remastered.
Sixth album includes "I'll Be Over You", "Without Your Love" and "Till The End".
After the imploding mess of Isolation, a torn and tattered Toto reformulate with Fahrenheit. Son of famous film composer Joseph Williams replaces the aforegoing Fergie Frederiksen and his voice lends impish steel to the Toto sound.

Fully remastered.
Includes "Pamela", "Stop Loving You" and "Anna".
This album has vibes of their biggest hit "Africa" from IV, in fact Africa would probably fit better within this album, as a lot of the songs on here have the same feeling.

Widely considered one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, TOWNES VAN ZANDT has been hailed by such singers as Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, and Willie Nelson.
A collection of ten recordings produced by Jack Clement (Johnny Cash, U2, Waylon Jennings) in 1966. Recorded almost two years before the original release of For the Sake of the Song, this is Townes in his original element and already writing about drifters, losers and gamblers.
Very early, but also very good recordings. First track, the "Black Widow Blues", was used in the soundtrack of "Barry Seal - American Made". An excellent track, one of his best ever. And the record is very worth listening anyway.
Contrary to his later studio albums, this doesn't seem to be overproduced.

Limited edition white vinyl.
Remastered for the first time.
Inner sleeve with photos and lyrics.
The album proper with its blend of art rock and new wave strikes a great balance from edgy and outré to sleek and stylish. There are loads of great songs, a collection of singles if you will, but well compiled and entertaining.