'The Wants' by The Phantom Band: Oct 18th
It's finally arrived and finds our favourite sonic explorers scaling new heights of fucking-magicness. 'The Wants' is nine tracks long, as perplexing and exhilarating as we've all come to expect and is bound, we're sure, to cement their reputation as one of the most inventive acts making music today. Here's the tracklisting...

A Glamour
O
Everybody Knows It's True
The None of One
Mr. Natural
Come Away In The Dark
Walls
Into The Corn
Goodnight Arrow

Download a preview excerpt of the album's opener 'A Glamour'. Live news will follow in good time...all in good time...

Emma Pollock & Adrian Crowley - Live!
By that we mean they're playing live, not that they've actually come back from the dead.  Courtesy of our friends up north IMP, Emma and Adrian will take to the stage at The Tunnels in Aberdeen on Friday (27th August) for a gig that promises to be well worth attending.

Tickets are £8.00 and you can bag some here.

Aidan Moffat Puts An Album On A 7"/Performs Triple Header
'10 Short Songs For Modern Lovers' will be released later in October in the rather unconventional album format of a 7" single. Here's the tracklisting to whet your appetite...

Number On My Hand
Less Than Three
Sort It Out
Mizzle
Whisper It
Buckfast Beauty
Roar
Buttoned
Twice
End Of The Night

As far as the triple header reference is concerned, we refer you to Aidan's upcoming live performance at the Paisley Arts Centre when he will support himself twice. What? You don't get it? Christ, look like we'll have to spell it out for you...

Aidan's going to perform three seperate sets: one as Aidan Moffat & The Best Ofs, another with Bill Wells in advance of their impending album due out in February next year and a third one as, erm, Aidan Moffat. Glad we've cleared that up for you. The gig's on September 17th and you should contact the Arts Centre for more details - 0141 887 1010.

'Kick' by Panico : October 11th
Our new signings Panico will be releasing their album 'Kick' on October 11th (nothing like repeating a headline is there?) and we're currently hatching plots to have them over in the UK to play some shows. In the meantime, here's a video of them playing live on Franz Ferdinand's tour a year or so back; the track is 'Icon' which, as you can see below, is track 3 on the upcoming album:

'Kick'
Illumination
Bright Lights
Icon
Reverberation Mambo
Algodon
Waka Chiki
Guadalupe
Uptown Boy
I Wanna Be Your Needle
Distant Shore

The Year Of Open Doors
We're delighted to announce we'll be working alongside Cargo Publishing to promote the release of a new short story collection by some of Scotland's best new writers. 'The Year of Open Doors' features nineteen short stories by some of our best and brightest authors alongside work by some previously unpublished writers.

Edited by the Somerset Maugham prizewinning author Rodge Glass (who also contributed to our Ballads of the Book project in 2007) with a foreword by Irvine Welsh calling it "a very important book...a genuine break-out collection that ignores tedious orthodoxy", 'The Year of Open Doors' will be released on hardback on July 27th.

Where do we come in? Well, we'll be releasing the audiobook version, featuring fourteen recorded versions of the stories (including our very own Aidan Moffat) which will be available to buy as one collection or as individual 'tracks' on our online store. There are a host of events planned around the release of the book which we'll be keeping you up to date with, the first of which is the launch at Glasgow's Waterstone's on July 27th.

Panico
Always delighted to flash our cosmopolitan credentials at every opportunity, we're thrilled to announce the arrival of Panico to Chemikal Underground's careworn stable. Resident in Paris but hailing from Santiago, Chile, Panico have released six albums to date, the most recent of which was 'Subliminal Kill' on France's uber-cool Tigersushi label. Long-time favourites of Franz Ferdinand, their new album was recorded by Paul Savage and is a heady cocktail of punk, latin, garage and God knows what else to be completely honest.

We'll be releasing 'Kick' later this year but in the meantime we just wanted to welcome them to the label and give you the opportunity of checking them out by visiting their Myspace page.

Arab Strap CD Reissues
For those of you not blessed with a record player, we're rolling out the CD reissues of their first two hugely influential albums 'The Week Never Starts Round Here' and 'Philophobia' on August 23rd. Both albums have now been 'upgraded' to 2CD status with an extra disc of bonus BBC material (1 Peel Session and Live Broadcast apiece) so if you weren't able to shell out for their 'Scenes of A Sexual Nature' boxset you can pick up these augmented versions which will officially replace the original albums moving forward...

Praise for ‘True Love Cast Out All Evil’

“a marvel on multiple levels.” UNCUT [4/5]

“a genuine triumph of the spirit and heart.” MOJO [4/5]

“an absorbing labour of love that reminds us what a massive talent Erickson might have been.” Q [4/5]

Roky Erickson’s first album in 15 years, the remarkable ‘True Love cast Out All Evil’, has been picking up some extraordinary reviews this month with a lead album review in Uncut, Album of the Month in MOJO and a further four stars offered up from Q.

A collaboration with Roky’s fellow Austinites Okkervil River, ‘True Love Cast Out All Evil’ represents an astonishing comeback for the 62 year old psych-rock pioneer. A powerfully autobiographical reworking of some of Roky’s oldest material, the album is an at times harrowing but ultimately uplifting tale of hardship and redemption – the healing powers of hope and family.

You can purchase what is one of our most essential titles in our shop

Emma Pollock’s ‘Red Orange Green’ Single – Out Now
The digital single of ‘Red Orange Green’ is now available on our online shop where you can scalp the single, Emma’s cover version of Elvis Costello’s ‘New Amsterdam’ and the rather splendid video for ‘Red Orange Green’ by Laura McCullagh.
Get it here

The Unwinding Hours' Exclusive Tour EP Available To Buy
Before embarking on their recent European tour, Craig and Iain (aka The Unwinding Hours) made an exclusive 5 track EP to sell on the road. They still have a few left and believe us when we tell you it's well worth getting your hands on. Featuring two acoustic versions Tightrope and Traces from their debut album as well as /three new/ songs, it's an excellent addition to the album that you're no doubt still playing constantly on your gramophone. To buy it, click here.

'True Love Cast Out All Evil' - Out Now!
The remarkable new album from Roky Erickson and Okkervil River is now available throughout the UK and Europe and here are some of the things being written already:

"This is a great record, full with a daring, hard-earned hope, and a deep emotion. And that's something a lot of records could really use these days." [9/10] PREFIXMAG

"Erickson sounds better than he has for decades." PITCHFORK [7.4/10]

"Perhaps the greatest testament to the power of this album is that it’s still a triumph minus the backstory. Subtract the legend of Roky Erickson, and you have an immaculate collection of dusty country gems and orchestral pop. With the copious footnotes, however, you’ve got the sort of album that should win Grammys." [9/10] POPMATTERS

BUY HERE

Radar Brother's 'Illustrated Garden' - Out Now Too!
We've had a rather hectic and prolific start to 2010 with the Radar Brothers claiming the slot of 'fifth album in three months'. What we lose in free time, we more than make up for with the quality of the albums and Jim & co's new offering is no exception. We're currently offering a deal on our online shop that allows you to buy three Radar Brothers albums for the price of two so get over to our emporium and load up on Radar Brothers magnificence...

BUY HERE

Will Sheff from Okkervil interviews Roky Erickson
In advance of Roky Erickson and Okkervil River's new album 'True Love Cast Out All Evil', here's a video clip featuring Okkervil's Will Sheff interviewing the great man; talk turns to religion, horror, Bo Diddley, the Yardbirds and music journalism...

Adrian Crowley Wins Choice Music Award!
Congratulations and manly hugs to Mr Crowley for scooping Ireland's prestigious Choice Music Award on Wednesday night for his fabulous 'Season Of The Sparks' album. Winning awards is always nice but when it goes to an all-round good egg like Adrian, for an album as deserving as this, then it becomes all the more heart-warming. If you've not got round to buying this beautiful album then cease your shilly-shallying and grab it here...

Roky Erickson with Okkervil River 'True Love Cast Out All Evil'
Chemikal Underground are thrilled to announce we’ll be handling the UK and European release of a new album by pioneering rock legend Roky Erickson. ‘True Love Cast Out All Evil’, the 63 year old’s first album in over fourteen years, was produced by Will Sheff, with his band, Okkervil River, providing the musical backing. The album is largely made up of unreleased material penned by Erickson (a native of Austin, Texas) throughout the course of his decades-long career; material that details, with heart-breaking candour, a harrowing life of electro-shock therapy, imprisonment, mental illness, and irreversible loss. Enduring these traumas has enabled Erickson to bring a unique, painfully-earned wisdom to his songwriting, infusing the album with themes of love, hope and spiritual grace.

Roky Erickson burst onto the music scene in 1966 with his band The 13th Floor Elevators and their hit “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, a snarling proto-punk song written by Erickson at the tender age of 15. The Elevators, with Erickson at the helm, would be largely credited with igniting the garage rock movement and for being one of the world’s first psychedelic bands. The reverberation of their distinctive sound can still be heard today with Erickson’s songs having been interpreted by the likes of R.E.M., ZZ Top, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Spacemen 3 and Julian Cope amongst others. Read More....

The Unwinding Hours Out Now!
The stunning self-titled debut by The Unwinding Hours finally hits the shops around the UK and Europe today (in CD format at least) and it's already been picking up some extraordinary reviews...

"a devastatingly brilliant listen."
ROCKSOUND [9/10]

"..The Unwinding Hours have taken their sound to new heights on an album that delicately caresses battered hearts."
NME [8/10]

"A truly remarkable new beginning."
THE SKINNY [10/10]

"An assured and excellent debut."
THE LIST [4/5]

"The Unwinding Hours is an album so beguiling, so captivating, so perfect that it cannot - must not - be ignored."
SUNDAY HERALD [RELEASE OF THE WEEK]

The album will be released in the US on March 16th, around the same time as a very limited, deluxe LP version which will come in the form of heavy vinyl, in a gatefold sleeve, with a full Cd version of the album and an exclusive numbered photgraph, personally signed by Craig and Iain. The band have also just launched their new website here and you can now follow them on twitter and Facebook.

Adrian Crowley 'Season Of the Sparks' : Out Now
The brilliant 'Season Of the Sparks' by Adrian Crowley is out now and in case you're reluctant to take /our/ word for it, plenty of other people think it's brilliant too:

"...like Leonard Cohen narrating a Tim Burton fairytale. A true magical mystery tour.” Q [4/5]

"A prolonged sigh for summers gone, Season Of The Sparks shimmers and hums with regret...something spare, ghostly and beautiful. A great album.” SUNDAY TIMES [4/5]

"Crowley's most consistently beautiful album yet." IRISH TIMES [4/5]

“From the hazy melancholy of the Beekeepers Wife to the Smiths meets Nick Drake stylings of the title track, Season of the Sparks is a treasure you’ll be happy to have melting out of your stereo as the throat of winter approaches.” THE SKINNY [4/5]

“celebrates the power and tranquility of nature with a collection of slow moving, hazy, yet oddly enchanting tales about the inner peace of the natural world.” CLASH [7/10]

“As a storyteller in thrall to nature, Crowley can have you hanging on every line and make you remember to appreciate all the small things which get lost in the noise of everyday life. An album for all seasons” RTE Entertainment [4/5]

"You simply don’t get better than lines like “where the black branches breech all covered in vines/and slowly runs the river, slow in time” and likewise you’ll have to go a very long way indeed to find a better “nu folk” album in this years releases." WWW.AMERICANA.CO.UK

You can listen to (and buy) the album by visiting our shop here

Zoey Van Goey - Out Now

"An irresistible debut album" SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

"ZvG have a pronounced sound of their own ... an excellent album" [4/5] THE SKINNY

“Subtly forged indie folk” [4/5] THE SCOTSMAN

“Pop that comfortably resists pigeonholing” [4/5] THE BIG ISSUE

“Delightfully experimental indie ... easy to fall in love with" [4/5]
SUBBA-CULTCHA

“Anthemic, insightful indie-folk with wonderful sparkles of humour” CLASH MAGAZINE

Paul Savage = Very Good Producer. Official.
Our very own Paul Savage only went and scooped the Music Producers' Guild 'Best Breakthrough Producer Award' a few weeks back and we're, well, we're very proud of him. There, we said it. Here's a photo of him sandwiched between Feargal Sharkey and Alex Kapranos - top geezers both. Well done Paul: you're alright, you are...