Plutonic Rainbows

Self-titled album from the Fleetwood Mac duo is expected to be released on Atlantic Records on June 9th. This is the first time they have collaborated together and the album was recorded at The Village Studios in Los Angeles. The album features ten tracks.

Lyndsey Buckingham:

We were exploring a creative process, and the identity of the project took on a life organically. The body of work felt like it was meant to be a duet album. We acknowledged that to each other on many occasions, and said to ourselves, ‘what took us so long?'

UK pre-order vinyl is quite reasonable.

Recently I've been spending quite a lot of time with these lovely writing tools. I originally found them while on study leave in Japan and went on-line to have a look at them in more detail.

The Blackwing 602 features a very smooth and firm graphite inner. It comes in a gunmetal grey finish and also features the iconic square black eraser on the end. These erasers are replaceable. The pencils themselves last quite a long time.

These (slightly) expensive pencils come in packs of twelve and are highly recommended.

New album from purveyor of 1970s hauntology. All Hold Hands And Off We Go takes you down the (now well worn) paths traversed by The Advisory Circle and Belbury Poly. Lots of vintage electronics, ghostly children's voices and early 70s BBC radiophonic workshop vibes. This album doesn't push the genre forward in any way but maybe it's not meant to. Seatman weaves a pleasant, if disturbing spell that fans of Ghost Box will love. While it's a well-executed album, the genre is flooded with people doing this now and an uncharitable view would be that it's all starting to sound the same.

Bleep Records:

People change, but some bands never do. In the case of Future Islands, they have come back with a new album entitled, The Far Field.

A meaty streak of Born in the USA-era Springsteen cuts through singles like ‘Ran’ and ‘Cave’ as well as obvious nods to Depeche Mode and other 80s synth-pop greats. The addition of a live drummer (Michael Lowry, who initially joined the band for that now-legendary ‘Seasons’ performance) brings a groove and swing that the band has sometimes previously lacked, and one is pleasantly surprised to find Debbie Harry guesting on ‘Shadows’.

There is also a vinyl edition.

Gore-Tex City is the latest from the Swedish producer. A record of dark ambient and gothic techno.

This is the third release in the series and maybe the most inventive. Given the variation on this title, it will be interesting to see where the series goes next.

If like me, you've had your Amazon pre-order cancelled, you'll be pleased to know that the publisher has resubmitted the book here. The release date is now June 1st. The book also seems to have climbed in price.

Avatar Press:

Due to overwhelming demand, we offer one final printing of the Providence Act 1 Hardcover! Alan Moore’s quintessential horror series has set the standard for a terrifying reinvention of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. It is being universally hailed as one of Moore’s most realized works in which the master scribe has controlled every iota of the story, art, and presentation. The result has been a masterpiece like no other and a true must-have addition to his essential works in the field. We present a collected Providence Act 1 Hard Cover edition that contains Providence issues #1-4, and all the back matter, in this one-time printing of the edition. There will be Act 2 and Act 3 Hardcovers in the coming months, also limited to single production runs. This will not be kept in print any further and this is the final opportunity to get a hardcover edition of the first chapter of Alan Moore’s horror masterpiece .

Act 1 is available here.

New book due on 26th September 2017.

In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent; and while they sleep they go to another place...

The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devices. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease. Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied? Or is she a demon who must be slain?

Set in a small Appalachian town whose primary employer is a women's prison, Sleeping Beauties is a wildly provocative, gloriously absorbing father/son collaboration between Stephen King and Owen King.

Pre-order here.

Without doubt this is perhaps my most anticipated album of the year. The last release from Bola was back in 2007. There is no news right now except for SKAM having posted a tweet regarding the release date of May 5th.

Update: It's now 26th May.