There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love Christmas music, and those who don’t. For the former, December can be a brilliantly nostalgic time, with various staples – Nat ‘King’ Cole’s ‘The Christmas Song’, Mike Oldfield’s ‘In Dulce Jubilo’ and the contents of Phil Spector’s ‘A Christmas Gift For You’ – helping to reawaken thoughts of yesteryear. For the festive music fan, there’s always time to discover something new, of course, and Justine Couvault’s Red On Red label brings something extra to the yuletide table with ‘Home Fires Burning’. In mixing the traditional with the unexpected, it manages to be quite broad in appeal and cover a lot of ground, despite only featuring five tracks.
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HALF PAST TWO – Holidays EP
2021 was a busy year for US ska/punk/rock band Half Past Two. They not only released their self-titled full length – their first new work for a couple of years – and a well received video lamenting the perils of a ‘Scratched CD’, but they also returned to live work after a long spell away from the spotlight. In addition, they also found time to record a covers EP, based around a “holiday” theme.
SONIC ANGELS – Up & Down EP
Garage punks Sonic Angels are billed as promising “high octane, lo-fi fun” on their self titled release from ’21. Those already familiar with the band will more than know what to expect from their music, but the fact that the band continue to plough a familiar, loud and fast furrow is actually something to celebrate. After all, when you do something so well, why mess with a winning formula?
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Red On Red Hots: Year One Compilation
Throughout their first year in business, Justine Couvault’s Red On Red Records gave a platform to various great underground bands. The acts were often of the power pop or garage rock variety, but the coming together of the label and the largely US based acts provided a lot of entertainment during its first twelve months and often felt like a sister project to the equally fun Rum Bar label.
A few digital releases by Justine And The Unclean continued to give their fans enjoyable hook-driven sounds beyond their two excellent full length/EP releases, and label favourites Kid Gulliver more than showed how old style power pop will never die. With these artists providing something of a backbone, the label couldn’t fail, but their first year brought so much more. ‘Red On Red Hots’ pulls together seventeen tracks from the Red On Red stable, placing the familiar with the new, creating a perfect introduction for anyone who hasn’t yet stumbled across any of their releases, as well as a treat for fans looking for a couple of new tracks.
Stream a new track from Nepthisis ahead of release
Mixing gothic melodies, deep beats and dark grooves, the upcoming album from Nepthisis is a cross genre treat. It isn’t always easy listening, but in terms of invention and complex textures, it’s the kind of release that’ll uncover something new with each play. Between the heavy grinding edges of ‘Go Inside’, the semi-acoustic moods of ‘Hazel Pebbles’ and the haunting sparseness of ‘My Darkness’, it has a restless heart, but also a strong desire to take the gothic into new territory.