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  1. The Holy Circle – ‘Early Morning

The Holy Circle just released their self-titled cassette on Accidental Guest Recordings and along with the album launch came this excellent video directed by Danielle Damico. The Holy Circle bring together elements of R&B, synth-pop, and shoegaze, blended with a hint of darkness, which is to be expected since one of the three members of The Holy Circle is Terence Hannum of Locrian. ‘Early Morning’ is a beautifully sombre track, with a minimal take on the percussion and vocals which have already been compared to the likes of Kate Bush. This track is the perfect accompaniment to a lonely summer afternoon.

Michael Barnett

  1. New Model Army – ‘Winter

I chose ‘Winter’ for this week’s mixtape, a fresh song by New Model Army and the first single off their anticipated new album due in late August (get ready for it!). I always liked Justin Sullivan‘s music and lyrics and I believe that this one is just a perfect song. Listening to it you can see that NMA are in excellent shape. Enjoy!

Mike Dimitriou

  1. Autolux– ‘Selectallcopy’

To be honest, when I first heard the experimental/shoegaze L.A. trio debut album ‘Future Perfect’ I was not too impressed as the most part of the European critics were; a couple of excellent singles for sure, but overall it left me cold.

Only after enjoying their amazing shows at various UK summer festivals along the years,  I’ve finally understood why they’re held in such high regard by music luminaries as Portishead, James Lavelle’s Unkle, Trent Reznor, Thom Yorke, Jack White and PJ Harvey just to name a few.

Selectallcopy’ is the opening track of their intriguing new third album ‘Pussy’s Dead’ with its Radiohead-like spacey psych vibe and Greg Edwards dreamy voice  counterpointed by the skilled drumming of Carla Azar and interspersed by a noisy guitar solo and cacophonous digital electronic sounds typical of the new sonic direction introduced by producer Boots (of Beyoncé and Run The Jewels fame).

It’s oh so so sad/ To be happy all the time’ is the continuous lament of the chorus in their dystopian vision of the modern world.

Watch the creepy animated music video below.

Fabrizio Lusso

  1. M!R!M – ‘Velvet Dress’

Sometime when a bandname doesn’t suit my taste or imagination I’m ridiculously inclined to move on without paying too much attention. A serious fault indeed!

Fortunately after the pushy pressing of a friend of mine and aided by the fact that it’s Italian like me, I was finally introduced to the wonderful artistic universe of Mr. Iacopo Bertelli aka Jack Milwaukee.

After a couple of EPs and the excellent debut album ‘Heaven’, here’s the brand new amazing single titled ‘Velvet Dress’.

Built around a cascade of luscious synths and a whispering voice, it takes the listener in a dark emotional melancholic atmosphere of ‘beautiful’ contrasts as black and white, hope and despair, love and hate, lights and shadows, where all seems to collide and apparently fall back together.

I’m going to call my next cat M!R!M

Fabrizio Lusso

  1. Wild Beasts – ‘Celestial Creatures’

This is the fresh Wild Beasts. Their new tune ‘Celestial Creatures’ that followed ‘Gets My Bang’ & ‘Big Cat’ is too catchy to resist, and with their  upcoming album ‘Boy King’ out on August 5th via Domino, all we can do is press the repeat button. Addictive vocals, distinctive beats and there you are: the band form Kendal has done it again…

Christos Doukakis

Compiled by Michael Barnett, Mike Dimitriou, Fabrizio Lusso & Christos Doukakis