TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT ROUGH TRADE EAST OR ONLINE HERE

TICKETS HAVE NOW SOLD OUT FOR THIS EVENT

Pre-Order 'Felt - The Book LTD EDITION' here

For the first time since their split Lawrence and other members of seminal indie group Felt will be on stage talking about their 10 year career, a career which saw them make 10 albums in 10 years, making some of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful pop music of the decade. This event is to celebrate the release of 'Felt - The Book' - a stunning hardback, limited edition book documenting the band's career using exclusive photography from the archives and Lawrence's text. Before the Q&A Paul Kelly will be screening relevant portions of his Lawrence Of Belgravia documentary and then this event will see the band field questions from both the organisers of the book, director of 'Lawrence Of Belgravia' Paul Kelly and members of the audience. After the event the band will be djing their favourite records and signing copies of the book.

BUY OF MONTREAL'S NEW ALBUM 'PARALYTIC STALKS ON CD AND LP BEFORE IT'S RELEASED AT ROUGH TRADE WEST. BEFORE YOU CHECKOUT, SAY 'HI' TO OF MONTREAL'S FRONTMAN KEVIN BARNES ON OUR IN-STORE COMPUTER.

Pre-Order 'Paralytic Stalks' here

THIS IS A ROUGH TRADE WEST IN-STORE

We'll have Kevin google chatting LIVE with customers and fans from 6pm to 6:30pm on 4th Feb. He'll be online and ready to answer your questions about the new album, tour and other of Montreal news. So come in, hear the new album and have a quick live chat with Kevin Barnes. You'll finally have a chance to tell him how great the Paralytic Stalks colored vinyl looks!

Lyrically, Paralytic Stalks contains confessions of an infinitely more personal nature than anything Kevin Barnes has written since 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Never before has an of Montreal record moved so fluidly from one song to the next -- each track feeding off the last in what seems a singular album-long movement that never allows you to rip your ears away. As a result, Paralytic Stalks at times resembles modern classical with its intricate compositions, while at others echoes of neo-prog, pseudo-country, and 60s pop can be heard. Conceived on the fringe of a contemporary pop music landscape that seldom encourages listeners to dig beyond the surface level to receive satisfaction, Paralytic Stalks is the rare album with the audacity to demand such a response.

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

Order 'Celestial Electric' here

CELESTIAL ELECTRIC by AM & SHAWN LEE, marks the launch of a timely transatlantic musical partnership from London to Los Angeles. Celestial Electric sounds now, blurring funk, pop, and 'world music' genres beyond their established capabilities, yet remaining so true to a classic aesthetic that the album could be dug out of a crate without a label and confound listeners to pinpoint its origin. Initially hooking up after AM heard Lee on the radio, the duo "bonded over our mutual love of vintage French and Italian library and film music and nuggets from the Finders Keepers record label" says Lee, and the idea to make an album together took shape.

They worked on Celestial Electric from their respective hometowns, trading ideas and tracks via email. Lee, armed with an early-'80s four-track deck and other vintage tape machines in his London studio, began by laying down full drums in a song structure (no loops on this album) and sending them to AM, who wrote songs and lyrics over Lee's grooves, added vocals, guitars, bass and synths, and emailed the tracks back to Lee, who then added keyboards, percussion and a variety of instruments and mixed the tracks.

Celestial Electric's sleek, boundary-pushing approach is reflected on the generational anthem "Dark Into Light," the bitter-sweetly soulful "City Boy" and the intimate "Can't Figure It Out,". Elsewhere, "The Signal" demonstrates the duo's penchant for exotic, eclectic arrangements, while the funky instrumental "Callahan" (named in honour of Clint Eastwood's '70s cop anti-hero Dirty Harry) conjures up an atmospheric vibe a la Lalo Schifrin. There's an unusual choice of cover too - the Ozark Mountain Daredevils' 1974 hit "Jackie Blue". This is an album to immerse yourself in...enjoy.

To celebrate the release of Black Sands Remixed, Ninja Tune and Bonobo art directors Oscar & Ewan have put together a collection of prints exhibiting artwork from the Black Sands campaign.

The three Black Sands photographs form a triptych around Derwentwater in the Lake District in Northern England. The photographs were taken at each point on the displayed map. Each view captures the place of the next photograph - the first of the second, the second of the third and the third of the first.

As if taken simultaneously, the subject of each being the distant site of the (practically) invisible camera taking a shot of the third site, and so each picture is bound in sequence to the next and thence back to itself.

On display until 27th February.

Pre-Order 'Black Sands Remixed' here

WRISTBANDS CAN BE COLLECTED FROM 6PM ON THE DAY OF THE INSTORE... ONE WRISTBAND PER PERSON

Order 'Wander/Wonder' here

Last year, Tri Angle introduced the world to BALAM ACAB (aka Alec Koone), and his otherworldly, secretive sound of submerged bass and phantom vocal harmonies, with the release of his debut album, WANDER / WONDER.

WANDER / WONDER is a mysterious and genuinely haunting record that seems to exist in a world all of it's own making, balanced between the ecstatic 'wonder' referenced in the title and something altogether more indefinable and uncertain of itself, like shards of light flickering through a blanket of fog, and even though 'WANDER / WONDER' is undeniably an electronic album, it feels strangely organic, rooted in nature, synthetic textures and distorted voices harmonizing with an ever present oceanic shimmer. Balam takes experimentation to a new level on this release an opens up his creative process even further with this album offering his insight and recording process to the public.
For Alec Koone, the 20 year old, Pennsylvania resident, who was 19 and based in New York at the time of his first release, WANDER / WONDER is a coming of age album that see's him expand upon the unique sound that attracted him so much attention to begin with.

In Koone's own words: "It's an open ended album, and I think individuals should make their own meaning of it so that it is something actually real to them. It's not classical music, but in the tradition of a classical work like a Bach Cello Suite, I see it as more of a whole musical piece with themes/motifs/ideas reoccurring throughout, connecting the tracks together as opposed to simply being a collection of songs that sit next to each other in isolation. It's also an album that should be listened to loudly."

BUY WE HAVE BAND'S NEW ALBUM 'TERNION' NOW AT ROUGH TRADE EAST AND COLLECT YOUR WRISTBAND AT THE SAME TIME, ANY REMAINING WRISTBANDS WILL BE GIVEN OUT 1 HOUR PRIOR TO THE STAGE TIME...ONE PER PERSON

Order 'Ternion' here

We Have Band, 3 friends, Darren Bancroft and husband and wife duo Thomas and Dede Wegg-Prosser, who met whilst working at a record label, left to form a band, play Glastonbury, release an album that was critically acclaimed by everyone from NME to Dazed & Confused and tour the world. So far so simple.

Yet despite the plaudits the band were not satisfied. When they had originally formed the band, their goal had been little more than to have some fun with little thought of anyone ever hearing their songs, but following the release of WHB things were different this time.

A stylistic leap on from their debut album, 'Ternion' is an intensely personal album that manages to be both uplifting and melancholic with The Word praising the band for their "impressive command of musical atmospherics, sustaining a dark industrial heaviness over the whole record."

Those expecting WHB 2 will be in for a surprise. Whilst much of what made the first album so special is still there, especially the sublime interplay between the 3 band members' vocals, this is a very different record. When WHB was released, much was made of how the band "wore their influences like a flak jacket". With 'Ternion', they have found a truly unique sound of their own.

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

Pre Order 'From The Vaults Vol 1' here

Iron Triangle label launch featuring:

LOVELY JON
GODSY
CHURCHILL'S LEOPARDS

To launch 'From the Vaults Vol 1' his first DVD release on new imprint Iron Triangle, old school veteran of the East London Free Party scene and Jigoku master Lovely Jon will be performing a unique DJ set for this Instore show. Those who are familiar with his intense, out of control mixes such as GRINDHOUSE 2: TALES OF SLEAZE AND SIN and GODDAMN MOTHER FUCKERS BURN IN HELL will know that a reinforced bullet proof aluminum crash helmet will be required... you have been warned!.


From The Vaults is a bewildering compilation of old school video madness from Lovely Jon's extensive collection of VHS tapes. An avid collector of world wide exploitation videos for over three decades (traveling the globe to unearth unseen gems of analogue insanity) - Lovely Jon is finally opening the gates and is presenting this limited release from his personal vaults of the wildest, most jaw dropping video tape trash in existence. From the backstreets of Bangkok and Thesalonika, to the off track suburbs of Dubai, New York and East London - this crazed selection encompasses Jon's obsessive quest in excavating those AWOL nuggets that remain hidden and undisturbed in dusty warehouses, ex rental stores, double glazing shop backrooms and flea ridden boot markets.

Saturday 11th February 10am - 1pm

DIY SPEAKERS WORKSHOP

Do you love sound? Have you ever wanted to know more about it? Come learn how to solder an amplifier as well as design and construct your own set of speakers out of any material.

There are 20 tickets for this workshop, price includes all materials.

More information at Technology Will Save Us

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

THIS IS A ROUGH TRADE WEST IN-STORE

Pre-Order 'Young Man In America' here

Young Man in America is the follow-up to Anas Mitchell's critically beloved folk opera "Hadestown" which received sensational reviews and landed Mitchell on numerous 'Best of 2010' lists in both the national and international press.
Switching gears, Mitchell returns here to a more traditional solo record, but those familiar with Hadestown will hear its overtones in Young Man. It's an epic, sprawling tale with characters leaping from the verses as they would from the pages of a novel. As a songwriter, Mitchell takes on the voices of different characters, men as well as women. Sometimes these voices speak in ornate, old-fashioned tongues - the language of British Isles balladry and the Old Testament.

Mitchell once again enlisted the skills of Hadestown producer Todd Sickafoose. Taking the reins as producer/arranger of Young Man in America, Sickafoose assembled some of Brooklyn's most sought after rock and experimental jazz players - guitarist Adam Levy, violinist Jenny Scheinman and drummers Kenny Wollesen and Andrew Borger to name but a few. Chris Thile appears on mandolin as well as alongside songwriters Jefferson Hamer and Rachel Ries in a harmonic chorus. Michael Chorney, the man behind Hadestown's remarkable score and the producer of Mitchell's previous albums (2007's The Brightness and 2004's Hymns for the Exiled) makes a guest appearance on guitar. Together they create a sound more reminiscent of a '70s rock record than that of a traditional singer-songwriter.

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

Order 'Strange Weekend' here

"Strange Weekend drifts and delights" **** Uncut
"Difficult not to be moved by such expertly-crafted bliss" **** The Fly
"A ravishing series of nebulous swoons." Mojo
"Beautiful melodies emerge through clouds of sound like sunlight" **** The Sun
"his songs have real soul and substance... High Praise, well deserved" **** The Times
"a record that provides nothing but saccharine, hazy highs." 8/10 NME

Secretly Canadian are proud to present the new single by Porcelain Raft, to coincide with his current European tour with M83. The Brooklyn-based, Italian-born dream pop purveyor has now added a performance at Rough Trade East.

Porcelain Raft aka Mauro Remiddi's enigmatic vocals carry a hook so simple that you might think you sang it first, with keys and bass that could make the needle jump off of your turntable, plus that sense of raw sincerity which has come to trademark his songs. With shimmering Cocteau Twins style guitar lines, cleft bass and colourful reverb, Mauro's songs have been described as the gentlest of tornados. One that's sturdy enough to pick you up and take you for a spin but at, the end, sits you back down leaving you feeling like you just had your first summer romance.

BUY TENNIS' NEW ALBUM 'YOUNG AND OLD' FROM THE 13TH OF FEBRUARY IN-STORE AT ROUGH TRADE EAST AND COLLECT YOUR WRISTBAND AT THE SAME TIME, ANY REMAINING WRISTBANDS WILL BE GIVEN OUT 1 HOUR PRIOR TO THE STAGE TIME...ONE PER PERSON

Pre Order 'Young And Old' here

Their widely praised debut Cape Dory, which The Wall Street Journal called "a winsome set of breezy pop songs," was released in early 2011 to critical acclaim. For their forthcoming album guitarist Patrick Riley, vocalist Aliana Moore and drummer James Barone headed to Nashville to work with The Black Keys' Patrick Carney.

Tennis was born of Riley and Moore's nearly 7-month sailing trip, which consisted of selling all their possessions, purchasing an old sailboat, repairing it, and cruising up and down the eastern seaboard. Upon returning home, the duo began writing music together as a way to document the history of their shared experience. The result was Cape Dory, an intimate and concise recollection of life on a 30-foot sloop.

After the success of their first album and touring for the better part of a year that included shows as far away as Moscow, Riley and Moore returned home and realized what was initially a bedroom-recording project had quickly evolved into a band. The challenge of a second record was upon them, but songwriting came quickly and in three months the duo had most of the material for their new album. The goal this time was to mature and vary their sound. Riley describes the new direction as "Stevie Nicks going through a Motown phase." By the time they hooked up with Carney, they had fleshed out most of the songs that would comprise Young and Old. With their friend and mentor at the producer helm, the recording progressed naturally and within 3 weeks the album was done. While their debut was written with a third touring member in mind, the new album is written and recorded with the addition of a fourth.

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

Order 'Savage Messiah' here

Savage Messiah records drifts through a ruined city, collecting the entire set of Laura Oldfield Ford's acclaimed art fanzine to date. Part graphic novel, part artwork, the book is both an unflinching polemic against the marginalization of the city's officially defeated, and an exploration of the ruptures that open up in everyday life, in urban space and time. An ephemeral, palimpsestic London emerges from the shadow of the looming megalith of 'London 2012.' Savage Messiah takes us on a tour of its landmarks - Kings Cross to Hackney Wick, Elephant and Castle, Westway, North Acton to Canary Wharf - with forays North through memory.

Author Laura Oldfield Ford will be talking about her book Savage Messiah followed by an interview and Q&A session with Ken Worpole.

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

Order 'Nothing Is Wrong' here

"Dawes' sound is redolent of faded denim, scuffed cowboy boots and hours spent on a tour bus"
ALBUM OF THE WEEK ***** THE INDEPENDENT

"like early Jackson Browne or Jimmy Webb, albeit with a more knowing, rootsy swagger"
AMERICANA ALBUM OF THE MONTH **** UNCUT

"strong songs delivered with serenity and confidence" **** MOJO

Along with critical approbation and an ever-growing fan following, Dawes have earned admiration from many of their greatest heroes. Benmont Tench of The Heartbreakers joined the band on organ on Nothing Is Wrong, while the track 'Fire Away'sees guest vocals from Jackson Browne, who invited the band to both support and back him on a 2011 European tour. In addition, after Taylor Goldsmith contributed vocals to Robbie Robertson's new album How To Become Clairvoyant, the legendary guitarist & songwriter asked Dawes to serve as his backing combo for a number of promotional performances including BBC's Later with Jools Holland.

Wednesday 22nd February 7pm - 9pm

THIRSTY PLANT WORKSHOP

Learn about sensors and electronics to help keep you plants watered and happy. We will make our own sensor, construct a light marker to signal when the plant is dry, and use a solar panel to power the whole system!

There are 20 tickets for this workshop, priced includes all materials.

More information at Technology Will Save Us

Saturday 25th February 11am - 1pm

IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT 101 WORKSHOP

This hands on workshop is your chance to dust off your polaroid camera and start taking fantastic artistic pictures with the new films from The Impossible Project. We show you how to get the best out of vintage polaroid cameras (if you don't have one don't worry we can lend you one)
We'll cover topics ranging from shielding techniques and temperature control helping you to harness this film's unique character.

The workshop will take place at Rough Trade East and after an introduction to the film you will have the chance to take to the streets and shoot your brains out.
Impossible Workshop is delighted to present the first of our Color Shade film workshops on Saturday 25th February. A great way to get started with this unique and interesting film.

Six breathtaking drawings of the streets of Spitalfields by Lucinda Rogers, as published in the beautiful new book of stories from the popular East End blog, Spitalfields Life.

Order 'Spitalfields Life' here

More information can be found on Lucinda's website.

On display until 1st April.

BUY BLEEDING KNEES CLUB'S DEBUT ALBUM FROM 27TH FEBRUARY AT ROUGH TRADE EAST AND COLLECT YOUR WRISTBAND AT THE SAME TIME, ANY REMAINING WRISTBANDS WILL BE GIVEN OUT 1 HOUR PRIOR TO THE STAGE TIME...ONE PER PERSON

Pre Order 'Nothing To Do' here

Bleeding Knees Club burst out of Australia's Gold Coast in early 2011 and started to build a steady fanbase through their reckless live performances and via their super-catchy demos, which quickly found champions beyond the Aussie board scene. Their debut UK single, Have Fun, was released on the Noir label last summer and quickly struck a chord with UK tastemakers, enjoying radio support from Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens on Radio One, Lauren Laverne on 6Music and Jon Kennedy on Xfm where the song was also added to the evening playlist.

The duo spent much of the summer of 2011 in the UK where they shared stages with Black Lips, Cults, Toro y Moi, Blood Orange and Cerebral Ballzy. They also scored spots on The Great Escape in Brighton and Liverpool Sound City while NME named them as one of the 50 Best New Bands of 2011.

Between UK commitments, Jordan and Alex then high-tailed it to New York City to record their forthcoming debut album with Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion and Blood Orange) as producer. The upcoming record, Nothing To Do, encapsulates everything that's making people fall in love with Bleeding Knees Club: it's a raw 'n' urgent set of super-fun songs about girls, getting high, and sticking it to The Man.

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

"Rooms Filled With Light was a phrase I found in an old notebook," says Fanfarlo's singer and songwriter Simon Balthazar of the title to the band's second album. "To me it summed something up, creation, not creation of the world, but what we do as people. It seems like creating rooms and filling them with light is a very modern, fundamental human activity, creating little worlds. It resonates with the whole experience of making art or music."

Rooms Filled With Light is an album of brilliant contrast, chamber pop with melodies as infectious as the viruses that are the subject of 'Replicate' holding up bold and bright lyrics and ideas. What's the secret to making it hold together? "Something that often happens when we arrange the songs," Simon explains; "they start stark and bedroomy with dark sentiments, but with quite pleasant melodies. When we get together and play them as a band they bloom, and become more uplifting on the surface." The best pop music ought to draw you in, charm with sweet and beguiling melody and then, when you're least expect it, turn on you. As Balthazar says, with a laugh, "it should pull the rug out from under your feet."

BUY SHARON VAN ETTEN'S NEW ALBUM 'TRAMP WITH ROUGH TRADE EXCLUSIVE BONUS DISC' FROM THE 6TH OF FEBRUARY IN-STORE AT ROUGH TRADE EAST AND COLLECT YOUR WRISTBAND AT THE SAME TIME, ANY REMAINING WRISTBANDS WILL BE GIVEN OUT 1 HOUR PRIOR TO THE STAGE TIME...ONE PER PERSON

Pre Order 'Tramp' here

The shimmering sound of Sharon Van Etten's Jagjaguwar debut album, Tramp, both defies and illuminates the unsteadiness of a life in flux. Throughout the 14 months of scattered recording sessions, Van Etten was without a home - crashing with friends and storing her possessions between varied locations. The only constant in Van Etten's life during this time was spent in Aaron Dessner's garage studio.

Dessner, a member of The National, heard Van Etten early on, and in collaboration with Justin Vernon, performed a cover of "Love More" at the 2010 MusicNow Festival in Cincinnati. Van Etten heard about this and contacted him. Almost immediately they formed plans to work together, with Dessner offering both a location for Van Etten to record new songs, as well as the opinions of a wise producer.
Now, one year later, Van Etten unveils Tramp, an album showcasing an artist in full control of her powers. Tramp contains as much striking rock (the precise venom of "Serpents," the overwhelming power of "Ask"), as pious, minimal beauty (the earnest solemnity of "All I Can," the breathtaking "Kevins," "Joke or a Lie"); it can be as emotionally combative ("Give Out") as it can sultry ("Magic Chords"). Contributions from Matt Barrick (Walkmen), Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), Zach Condon (Beirut), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), Julianna Barwick, and Dessner himself add a glowing sheen to the already substantial offering.

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

Jack Colleran doesn't sleep, and it shows. The 18-year-old producer, who goes by the name MMOTHS, has embraced endless nights and bags beneath his eyes in exchange for something more; a uniquely ethereal sound that's entirely his own. Disregarding genre conventions, the Ireland-based artist and producer mesmerizes with sparse synths dripping in reverb, transforming digital soundscapes into organic songs, equally fit for both a night on the town and one spent indoors in the company of candlelight.

Growing up in Newbridge, Kildare, Colleran never had any illusions about what he wanted to be. Armed with his first keyboard at four-years-old, he insisted upon professional piano lessons. In high school, Colleran continued to immerse himself in music by playing in a slew of local bands, while also delving into the burgeoning experimental electronic music that the Internet afforded him access to. The moment he downloaded a demo version of Ableton Live during his final year of high school, he began obsessively creating his own tracks from scratch.

Colleran explains, "I never have a set plan. Music just happens. I'll find a cool sound and write around that. I'm not a singer-songwriter who writes about a certain event, person, or experience. I just try to write music that makes people feel something. If they feel a bit uplifted, I've done my job."
That's exactly how you'll feel after listening to the melodic warmth of "Summer" featuring Los Angeles' Superhumanoids. About the song, he adds, "I wrote that song because the winter was coming and it can get pretty horrible over here. Summer was ending, and I wanted to keep it alive forever. This was my way to do that."

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

Order 'Barton Hollow' here

The sound of The Civil Wars is the echo of ancient American tragedy. Swirling in the spectral harmonies of Joy Williams and John Paul White are the ghosts of Johnny Cash clanging the bars of his Folsom prison cell, Billie Holiday hollering another "good morning" to heartache and Brian Wilson's tuneful torment as Caroline chops her hair. Listen in the sticky Southern air between White's dust-bowl acoustic picking and you might hear the body of Billie Joe McAllister as it plunges from the Tallahatchie Bridge or the scuffs of Leonard Cohen as he dances through panic to the end of love. Theirs are songs that remind us hearts are there to be broken; that every neck has its noose; that one man's poison is another's wine; that loneliness remembers what happiness forgets; that, c'est la vie, such is life; that, c'est la mort, such is death.

Saturday 10th March 10am - 1pm

BUILD YOUR OWN ELECTROCARD

Why buy a greeting card for a friend or your family when you can make one? What if you could make one full of LEDs, batteries and the art work itself was conductive? You can - during our Electro Card workshop!

Join us and our friends Bare Conductive for a workshop using their incredibly cool invention: Bare Paint. This amazing new material allows you to paint with conductive ink on any surface and create electronic circuits out of imagery, components and different materials. Learn how to work with paper, paint and electronics to create a hand made electronic card. No wires are necessary!

There are 20 tickets for this workshop, priced includes all materials.

More information at Technology Will Save Us

Wednesday 28th March 7pm - 9pm

CREATE YOUR OWN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

Join a group of like minded soon to be tinkerers, hackers and makers during this easy and fun workshop. Learn the art of soldering, begin to understand the electronic components that make up most of the technology in our lives and make something audibly creative!
This workshop includes all the components, tools and instruction you need to build a Lumiphone. The experience lasts an hour and a half.

There are 20 tickets for this workshop, priced includes all materials.

More information at Technology Will Save Us

BUY FIELD MUSIC'S NEW ALBUM 'PLUMB' FROM MONDAY 13th FEBRUARY IN-STORE AT ROUGH TRADE EAST AND COLLECT YOUR WRISTBAND AT THE SAME TIME, ANY REMAINING WRISTBANDS WILL BE GIVEN OUT 1 HOUR PRIOR TO THE STAGE TIME...ONE PER PERSON

Pre Order 'Plumb' here

As the year-long touring schedule which followed the release of 2010's acclaimed double-album Field Music (Measure) wound down last December, Field Music (a.k.a. Sunderland siblings Peter and David Brewis) were faced with the ending of an era: The community building which had housed the studio/rehearsal space they'd shared with The Futureheads for ten years closed its doors. Peter and David set to work immediately at building a new recording space on the banks of the river Wear in Sunderland and began to develop the fragments of music they'd amassed since the completion of Measure.

Despite being over 70 minutes long, and including experiments with 'found sound' composition, Measure contained probably the most structurally coherent songs of Field Music's career. Plumb, with 15 tracks crammed into 35 minutes, abandons these conventions and instead remodels the modular, fragmented style of the first two Field Music albums; only now shot through with the surreal abstractions of 20th century film music from Bernstein to Willy Wonka and with the off-beam funk and pristine synth-rock developed on the brothers' School of Language and The Week That Was albums.

Plumb digs into the age-old dichotomy between what is reflective or nostalgic and the disorienting immediacy of the outside world. Songs such as labyrinthine opener Start The Day Right, the chugging, minimalist Just Like Everyone Else and the all a cappella How Many More Times? recall those early-morning/late-night moments where dreaming, memory and the present appear fused together. Elsewhere, Who'll Pay The Bills?, Is This The Picture? and especially Choosing Sides, mine a caustic seam of ambivalence towards whatever passes for aspiration and sincerity in our hyper-mediated and mock-hysterical times.

NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT

THIS IS A ROUGH TRADE WEST IN-STORE

Less alike than these four peas you have never seen in the same pod. If they were raised as sisters it was by a Father who sang like an angel and by a Mother who loved the devil's music.

Guitar pop, folk tales, protest songs, country music, piano ballads and gospel must have all gone into the same soup from which these women supped. Although unified in their musical tastes, as songwriters and interpreters The Cornshed Sisters display a healthy disregard for unity of subject matter (reminiscent perhaps of Randy Newman, Joni Mitchell or Richard and Linda Thompson). On their debut album 'Tell Tales', the ladies tackle waterbabies (Tommy), marriage, men in sequined suits (Dance At My Wedding), gardening (If You Were Mine), soothsayers (The Beekeeper), making pies out of people (Pies for the Fair) and the axis of love and bombs (Dresden). And, there's some unusual stuff too. Drawing on a palette of vocals, assorted guitars, ukulele and piano they convey these ideas with sensitivity and humour. Their four distinctive yet sympathetic voices range far and wide, recalling the emotive tangles of The Band as often as the choral elegance of The Roches yet sung and arranged in their own distinctly English manner.
The Cornshed Sister's debut album 'Tell Tales' was recorded and co-produced with Peter Brewis at Field Music's studio on the banks of the Wear with minimal overdubs, capturing the Sisters in all their dynamic glory.