September 21 street date. A collection of early singles by the renowned Zimbabwean Mbira master and a true African music icon, Stella Chiweshe. Kasahwa is a collection of impossible-to-find early seven inches, eight cuts spanning the period from 1974 to 1983 and representing Mbira in its purest form. The songs were mostly recorded in the 1970s, during the buildup to the Chimurenga revolution, and were only ever released in Stella's home country. LP version comes on 180 gram vinyl; Includes download code.
September 21 street date. A collection of early singles by the renowned Zimbabwean Mbira master and a true African music icon, Stella Chiweshe. Kasahwa is a collection of impossible-to-find early seven inches, eight cuts spanning the period from 1974 to 1983 and representing Mbira in its purest form. The songs were mostly recorded in the 1970s, during the buildup to the Chimurenga revolution, and were only ever released in Stella's home country. LP version comes on 180 gram vinyl; Includes download code.
Available now. Black vinyl edition (the coloured vinyl edition is now out-of-print). Delivered entirely with a sarcastic wink and a full heart, "Beware Of The Dogs" proves across 13 life-affirming songs the power in sticking up for yourself, your friends, and what's right. The album showcases an artist totally in command of her voice, able to wield her inviting charm and razor-sharp wit into authentically raw songs.
Available now. Black vinyl edition (the coloured vinyl edition is now out-of-print). Delivered entirely with a sarcastic wink and a full heart, "Beware Of The Dogs" proves across 13 life-affirming songs the power in sticking up for yourself, your friends, and what's right. The album showcases an artist totally in command of her voice, able to wield her inviting charm and razor-sharp wit into authentically raw songs.
August 26 street date. Like the many banded stilts that spread across the cover of her newest album "Flood", Stella Donnelly is wading into uncharted territory. Here, she finds herself discovering who she is as an artist among the flock, and how abundant one individual can be. "Flood" is Donnelly's record of this rediscovery: the product of months of risky experimentation, hard moments of introspection, and a lot of moving around. Donnelly accumulated 43 tracks as she moved around Australia, often finding herself displaced due to border restrictions, a tough rental market, and once from the joys of finding black mould in the walls. While each song on "Flood" is a singular artwork unto itself, the collective shares all of Stella Donnelly in abundance: her inner child, her nurturing self, her nightmare self; all of herself has gone into the making of this record, and although it would take an ocean to fathom everything she feels, it's well worth diving in.
August 26 street date. Like the many banded stilts that spread across the cover of her newest album "Flood", Stella Donnelly is wading into uncharted territory. Here, she finds herself discovering who she is as an artist among the flock, and how abundant one individual can be. "Flood" is Donnelly's record of this rediscovery: the product of months of risky experimentation, hard moments of introspection, and a lot of moving around. Donnelly accumulated 43 tracks as she moved around Australia, often finding herself displaced due to border restrictions, a tough rental market, and once from the joys of finding black mould in the walls. While each song on "Flood" is a singular artwork unto itself, the collective shares all of Stella Donnelly in abundance: her inner child, her nurturing self, her nightmare self; all of herself has gone into the making of this record, and although it would take an ocean to fathom everything she feels, it's well worth diving in.
August 26 street date. Like the many banded stilts that spread across the cover of her newest album "Flood", Stella Donnelly is wading into uncharted territory. Here, she finds herself discovering who she is as an artist among the flock, and how abundant one individual can be. "Flood" is Donnelly's record of this rediscovery: the product of months of risky experimentation, hard moments of introspection, and a lot of moving around. Donnelly accumulated 43 tracks as she moved around Australia, often finding herself displaced due to border restrictions, a tough rental market, and once from the joys of finding black mould in the walls. While each song on "Flood" is a singular artwork unto itself, the collective shares all of Stella Donnelly in abundance: her inner child, her nurturing self, her nightmare self; all of herself has gone into the making of this record, and although it would take an ocean to fathom everything she feels, it's well worth diving in.
August 26 street date. Like the many banded stilts that spread across the cover of her newest album "Flood", Stella Donnelly is wading into uncharted territory. Here, she finds herself discovering who she is as an artist among the flock, and how abundant one individual can be. "Flood" is Donnelly's record of this rediscovery: the product of months of risky experimentation, hard moments of introspection, and a lot of moving around. Donnelly accumulated 43 tracks as she moved around Australia, often finding herself displaced due to border restrictions, a tough rental market, and once from the joys of finding black mould in the walls. While each song on "Flood" is a singular artwork unto itself, the collective shares all of Stella Donnelly in abundance: her inner child, her nurturing self, her nightmare self; all of herself has gone into the making of this record, and although it would take an ocean to fathom everything she feels, it's well worth diving in.
August 3 street date. NON-RETURNABLE. Only available to indie stores.Listening to the complexity of their sound it’s hard to believe that Helen Stellar is only a threesome: Jim Evans on vocals and guitar, Dustin Robles on bass, and Clif Clehouse on drums. Originally hailing from Chicago, the trio is now based in Los Angeles. In an age where style is rewarded over content, cynicism inevitably becomes second nature. Passion and originality have given way to cut-and-paste songwriting and carbon-copy imagery churned out for commercial mass consumption. All is not lost. There is a light that still shines. This is Helen Stellar. Vinyl Films Records and Helen Stellar are proud to announce the band’s debut release on 2-LP vinyl, A Prayer To Myself. The album collects all three of their self-released E.P.’s (I’m Naut What I Seem, Below Radar and Newton), three never-before released demos and a brand new recording ('Compulsion') all on one double-vinyl collection! Includes the hit song from the 'Elizabethtown' soundtrack, 'Io (This Time Around).' Black vinyl version.
August 3 street date. NON-RETURNABLE. Only available to indie stores.Listening to the complexity of their sound it’s hard to believe that Helen Stellar is only a threesome: Jim Evans on vocals and guitar, Dustin Robles on bass, and Clif Clehouse on drums. Originally hailing from Chicago, the trio is now based in Los Angeles. In an age where style is rewarded over content, cynicism inevitably becomes second nature. Passion and originality have given way to cut-and-paste songwriting and carbon-copy imagery churned out for commercial mass consumption. All is not lost. There is a light that still shines. This is Helen Stellar. Vinyl Films Records and Helen Stellar are proud to announce the band’s debut release on 2-LP vinyl, A Prayer To Myself. The album collects all three of their self-released E.P.’s (I’m Naut What I Seem, Below Radar and Newton), three never-before released demos and a brand new recording ('Compulsion') all on one double-vinyl collection! Includes the hit song from the 'Elizabethtown' soundtrack, 'Io (This Time Around).' Clear vinyl version.
August 3 street date. NON-RETURNABLE. Only available to indie stores. Listening to the complexity of their sound it’s hard to believe that Helen Stellar is only a threesome: Jim Evans on vocals and guitar, Dustin Robles on bass, and Clif Clehouse on drums. Originally hailing from Chicago, the trio is now based in Los Angeles. In an age where style is rewarded over content, cynicism inevitably becomes second nature. Passion and originality have given way to cut-and-paste songwriting and carbon-copy imagery churned out for commercial mass consumption. All is not lost. There is a light that still shines. This is Helen Stellar. Vinyl Films Records and Helen Stellar are proud to announce the band’s debut release on 2-LP vinyl, A Prayer To Myself. The album collects all three of their self-released E.P.’s (I’m Naut What I Seem, Below Radar and Newton), three never-before released demos and a brand new recording ('Compulsion') all on one double-vinyl collection! Includes the hit song from the 'Elizabethtown' soundtrack, 'Io (This Time Around).'
June 17 street date. Stella makes her Sub Pop debut with the mesmerizing "Up And Away", an old-school pop paean to the pangs and raptures of love. From the Greek folk-inflected get-go, we're swept up in her world - and it's quite the captivating place to be. The singer-songwriter joined forces with artist and producer Tom Calvert (aka Redinho), and it was a match made in Athens; the results are heavenly. Her songs have always riffed on American and Greek mid-century pop but "Up And Away" doubles down on the vintage aesthetic. Tom says he styled the record "as if it was a rare gem from the 1960s found in a box of records in Athens", and Stella notes she was ready for a more "deeply Greek touch - it felt comfortable and right, smoothly fusing with the pop". By the end of the "Up And Away", the album's core concerns are clear: the conflicting and conflicted emotions inherent in love, that live on in ways we can't always understand or control.
June 17 street date. Stella makes her Sub Pop debut with the mesmerizing "Up And Away", an old-school pop paean to the pangs and raptures of love. From the Greek folk-inflected get-go, we're swept up in her world - and it's quite the captivating place to be. The singer-songwriter joined forces with artist and producer Tom Calvert (aka Redinho), and it was a match made in Athens; the results are heavenly. Her songs have always ried on American and Greek mid-century pop but "Up And Away" doubles down on the vintage aesthetic. Tom says he styled the record "as if it was a rare gem from the 1960s found in a box of records in Athens", and Stella notes she wass ready for a more "deeply Greek touch - it felt comfortable and right, smoothly fusing with the pop". By the end of the "Up And Away", the album's core concerns are clear: the conflicting and conflicted emotions inherent in love, that live on in ways we can't always understand or control.
January 24 street date. Stella was born beside the sea and raised by a Canadian nanny who waterskied topless. The Athens-based artist is ready to share "The Break", her international debut, following her self-titled 2015 debut and 2017's "Works For You"; albums that brought her critical momentum, buzz and airplay, making her one of Greece's most popular indie stars. Self-produced, and recorded primarily at her home studio, "The Break" brings together all the playfulness and spontaneity that characterizes her music: non-standard pop deviations whose shimmering feel-good surfaces are anchored by a powerful undertow of melancholy.
January 24 street date. Stella was born beside the sea and raised by a Canadian nanny who waterskied topless. The Athens-based artist is ready to share "The Break", her international debut, following her self-titled 2015 debut and 2017's "Works For You"; albums that brought her critical momentum, buzz and airplay, making her one of Greece's most popular indie stars. Self-produced, and recorded primarily at her home studio, "The Break" brings together all the playfulness and spontaneity that characterizes her music: non-standard pop deviations whose shimmering feel-good surfaces are anchored by a powerful undertow of melancholy.
October 2 street date. Non-returnable CD. Fading is an atmospheric, psychedelic, approximately hour-long black metal journey inspired by a specific event: Witnessing seemingly endless migrating water fowl at a local wildlife refuge that supports the Pacific Flyway. I found myself completely enveloped by something almost unbelievable. Infinite expanses of water fowl plastered against a blazing sky, taking to flight in huge, thunderous flocks that seemed to shake whatever lay below. The sheer numbers and sounds were like nothing I had ever imagined. Toward the evening, the sky turned a vibrant shade of yellow and orange and the coastal range turned to stark silhouette. And at that moment, it all seemed too much. I was just lost in this completely surreal, textured scene. I was faded to reality - absent drugs. Fading was recorded in December 2014. The album consists of one approximately hour-long song. All drums, vocals, and guitars were performed and recorded by A. Field recordings are from the Pacific Flyway refuge.
February 7 street date. the sense of a highly active mind at work. There is an indivisible feeling that a real person is behind this dynamic flurry of tones, waves, vibrations and modulations. On I See Through You , the first full Stellar OM Source release since 2015, the spark that first LP piqued the interest of so many listeners is glowing stronger than ever. In the 2010s, Christelle Gualdi carved a name as one of the most essential live electronic musicians around, dazzling dancers and home listeners in kind with her bombastic, acidic hardware jams. Stellar OM Source steps into a comparatively more poppy and playful mode on these four tracks could also throw some. Fundamentally she says, it comes from a similar place, and ends with an enmeshed and positive outcome. This recordfeatures additional mixing work from Peaking Lights ' dub-wise sensei Aaron Coyes .
Available now. Another highly sought-after pressing from the Olde English Spelling Bee, this time from Christelle Gualdi aka Stellar Om Source, featuring Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point never* Intrepid sci-fi soundtrack-y synth excursions from the mind of electronic visionary, Christelle Gualdi aka Stellar Om Source, collated by the good folk at Olde English Spelling Bee. 'Trilogy Select' is essentially a directors cut of tracks taken from Stellar Om Source's trio of self-released CDr albums made between 2005-2009 - 'Ocean Woman', 'Alliance' and 'Crusader', including one track made with fellow cosmonaut, Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never). Her sonic concepts were hatched at international bases in The Hague, Lisbon, New York and Paris, instinctively capturing the naively romantic futurism of low grade '80s sci-fi and privately pressed synth music with a sensitivity to sustained, shadowy moods and suspension tank atmospherics. Her music revels in the saturated colours, tones and shapes her synths make, creating vividly kinaesthetic relationships between her lo-fi holographic harmonics so they seem to glow like console radiation from the cockpit of a one woman shuttle. There's a beautiful balance of honest, earnest and adventurous intent, mixed with a feel for fun and engrossing narrative romance, never going too academic or up her own arse and tempering the temptation to totally cut the anchor line with her blunted cosmic hooks. If OPN's 'Zones Without People' or Dylan Ettinger's 'New Age Outlaws' really took you there, this is a must. Comes with free download coupon redeemable directly from the label and 12" insert housed in glossy, full colour sleeve.