White Hills and RMFTM are the latest additions to the Fuzz Club Split Single series – boasting leviathans from all ends of the underground spectrum, a roll of honour which to date includes, Christian Bland & The Revelators / Singapore Sling, The Underground Youth / The Third Sound, The Entrance Band / Wall Of Death, Alan Vega / The Vacant Lots, The Black Angels / Sonic Jesus, A Place to Bury Strangers / The Telescopes and The Myrrors / Cult Of Dom Keller – pretty illustrious company indeed.

Neither band should need much in the way of introduction, for the self-confessed aficionados of this limited edition vinyl feast.

By way of introduction the Nomadic Firs‘ bandcamp page informs us that, “Nomadic Firs is a swirling conceptual sound journey orchestrated by the diy-lonerisms of Ryan Boos. With a decade of fermentation, the concept continues to evolve into a colorful devolution.”

The “swirling” nature of this track, captivated my attention when Ryan first contacted me.

It’s not everyday you encounter a band like Menimals, either in terms of visual or cerebral stimulus. Their high-brow descriptor intones of a band, “Experimenting the psychotropic properties of sound and exploring the power of the Elements in relation to the Platonic solids influenced by the Monomyth.” No less.

Further, that they comprise the following elements, “Doctor Forge , the TETRAHEDRON, the Man – Fire – Ancestral Voice. Rat, the HEXAHEDRON – Earth – tribal fury. Chimera, the ICOSAHEDRON – Water – low frequencies generator. Vulture, the OCTAHEDRON – Air – noise painting.” Wrapped up in the bow of, “The four elements/solids together create the DODECAHEDRON – the universe, the music.”

photo by Moritz Jekat

It is a joy, to finally see the physical release of The Underground Youth‘s Mademoiselle.

As the Fuzz Club Records Blog attests, “The story of Mademoiselle is a testament to the power of great music being able to reach an audience, regardless of the fact the artist might be unsigned, underground and almost unheard of. Originally released in 2010 and only available online, Mademoiselle has piled up millions of views on YouTube, and has seen The Underground Youth acquire a cult following at a ferocious pace.”

All things come to those who wait…

photo by Steve Gullick

Mugstar are like a favourite armchair, a trusted confidante, a font of eternal comfort – one which can sprout wings, when flights fancy dictate, the one who always has your back.

For me, Mugstar are the latter day saints of a tradition conceived by Fairport Convention. Updating the electric folk ethic, reanimating it with their unique brand of “Psychedelic / Space / kraut Rock”. Not only do I sense the vibrations of this ubiquitous association, I am humbled by a connection to that hallowed ground, of the band who recorded the last ever Peel Session, in 2004.

Four sides of transportive vinyl, courtesy of Rock Action Records await…