We will deal with the latter first.

New Signings

It brings us enormous pleasure to inform you that Oxford’s quite remarkable Elapse-O will release their debut EP with us very shortly. They’re currently putting the finishing touches to it. We will have more details and a release date very shortly, but the impatient amongst you (and good on you- patience is no virtue) can head over to their myspace page, where they will be battered into submission by the offerings available there. Fans of Swans, Spacemen 3 and being punched so often it starts to feel good will find plenty to enjoy there. More eulogising as to their splendour can be found in this excellent drownedinsound article on southeast noise.

New Releases

For those whose thrills are of a more genteel nature we are proud to announce a new album length release from EL Heath, which will be released for free download on Thursday 21st Feb. Entitled ‘Winter Soundtrack’, it is exactly that – tunes recorded at Heath’s Shropshire home this winter with the aim of capturing the beauty arising from the marriage of countryside and winter. It’s as gorgeous as you’d expect from Heath – elements of folk weaving their way in and out of the lush ambience. A wintry companion to Virginia Astley’s ‘From Gardens Where We Feel Secure’, perhaps.

Exciting News About a Past Release

EL Heath has also garnered richly deserved praise for his ‘Dusk Dappled Fall’, which is compared to both a major televisual drama and ambient-drone legends Stars of the Lid in angryape’s review. Reviews will soon be incorporated into each album’s page on the ROR site.

In Other News

EL Heath’s mighty fine Reflecting EP is available as a joint release from the lovely folks at My Formica Table and Either/Or Records. Like ourselves, their music is free – and we can vouch for the quality of Reflecting. Its closing track- ‘epick’- must be heard to be believed, and even then skepticism will linger: how can a mortal being produce such wonder from a synthesizer or two and a loop pedal?

Rescuing us from an EL Heath news monopoly come Strap the Button, and the news that they’re on a 3CD compilation entitled Brave New Wales. It’s compiled by the superb Fourier Transform label, and they say this about it: “some of the best new music being made off the grid and under the radar by artists from and/or living in Wales. 4 hours of challenging music spread over 3 discs, with 32 page booklet, housed in a custom foil-embossed box. Limited edition of 1000.” Wow! You can pre-order copies from their website now. It looks absolutely stunning, we have to say.