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From the depths of the DFA vault (really just an assortment of poorly organized hard drives of varying vintages), we found this gem, a version of “pow pow” made all squirrely by master squirrels the Idjut Boys.

Why we kept this a secret for 14 years will forever remain a mystery. It’s a distant cousin of the original - vocals gone, drums looped out, squelch and delay coming down like rain. A real chugger.

What better to pair it with, then, than Rub-N-Tug’s remix of “too much love,” long out of print from its original pressing in 2005 and still a complete monster meant for dark rooms and cranked up smoke machines. It lives on wax once again, now with a likeminded buddy.

Both tracks were recut at 45RPM by Bob Weston and pressed with care by the good humans at Third Man Pressing in Detroit, MI. Hand-stamped here at DFA and limited to 1000 pieces.

"A merciless triumph" - The Wire

You must surrender. Because if you’ve followed Naum Gabo over the past 15 years - across various 12-inches, styles, and notable labels - and you’re listening to “F. Lux,” their first proper album, then you’re probably wondering how you wound up here, all the way down, barely able to see through the brain-clogging atmosphere and towering low-end.

“F. Lux” is deep, enthralling listen, alternating between moments of pounding, world-ending techno (“Schinokapsala” and “This 1¨º∆”) and sharply imagined, surrealist scenes painted with metallic machines ("Aora" and "Haerstag"). There is light to be found in the darkness, but the only way out is through.

Naum Gabo are Glasgow’s Jonnie Wilkes (also known as one-half of DJ duo Optimo) and James Savage (prolific mastering engineer). F. Lux was written and produced entirely by them at their Glasgow Hottrax Studios and mastered by James Savage. The album's front cover artwork is a painting by cherished Scottish painter, Andrew Cranston. The vinyl was pressed at MPO in France using lacquers cut by Bob Weston in Chicago.

1. Aora
2. Tols
3. Schinokapsala
4. Hebust Cometh
5. Haerstag
6. This 1¨º∆
7. Nothing In My Hand
8. Parasymptofelia

Dickie Landry has blown many minds around the world in his lengthy career as a jazz and avant-garde saxophonist of the highest regard. He was a founding member of the Phillip Glass Ensemble and (according to Wikipedia lore) introduced Paul Simon to zydeco, one of the indigenous sounds of his native southern Louisiana. Rarely, though, does Dickie’s saxophone make you want to get up and dance like a crazy person.



Such is the effect of “Hang The Rich,” a nugget of slinky, ecstatic punk-funk that was until recently completely lost to the sands of time. Recorded in 1986 (or thereabouts) in New Orleans, it’s the kind of song that compels you to move any which way you can, drunk on indignation.

The track came to DFA via LCD Soundsystem's Korey Richey, who knows Dickie from back home in Louisiana.

After a lengthy search, we located the original tapes in a storage locker somewhere in the Southeast and finally were able to get a clean, quality transfer done here at DFA HQ.

From there, we only had one person in mind for a more DJ-friendly edit: Glasgow’s JD Twitch, one half of Optimo and a selector of similarly puckish spirit. Twitch’s ability to place older, skronkier sounds in a modern dance floor context are unmatched, and his edit hard and jagged before opening up into those beautiful rapturous moments that make the original so goddamn special.

The DFA debut from longtime family member Jayson Green also marks the return of the classic DFA twelve-inch. Maybe it actually stands for Dying Formats Always?

Jay’s sung in a lot of bands. Like, a lot. Panthers, Violent Bullshit, Cheeseburger, and the legendary hardcore band Orchid. There are probably more. He’s always been smart and hilarious, never quite cynical though always quick to point out the absurd.

Now in a bandleader role, he’s delivered us a classic a-side in “Local Jerk,” which sounds like a party because it was actually recorded during one: tight disco drums, big claps, a neck-rolling baseline, horns, and group vocals. You can literally hear the bottles clinking.

The head trip is the b-side, “I Need Love,” which is a most terrifying, ridiculous piece of nightlife satire.

CREDITS

The album that, in many ways, started it all. Repressed for the first time since its release in 2003.

Produced by James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy for the DFA.

Pressed at Citizen Vinyl in Asheville, NC from lacquers cut by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service.

• Lacquer cut by Bob Weston
• Pressed with love by real humans at Citizen Vinyl in Asheville, NC
• Single LP in a gatefold jacket, printed insert, and 24" x 36" fold out poster

In 2012, LIGHT ASYLUM - part of the larger DFA family tree, featuring the superhuman vocalist Shannon Funchess, who sang on stage with LCD at MSG the year prior, and her then collaborator Bruno Coviello - released their self-titled debut album. It remains widely streaming, but for whatever reason has flown under the radar since those in between days. The notable exception is Discogs, where vinyl copies have been selling for like $200. When revisiting the record a few years ago, wondering as we always did how a track like “A Certain Person” never became a Very Big Song, given that it would make even the coldest, crabbiest heart burst into flames, we were confronted with this imbalance and felt compelled to act.

That LIGHT ASYLUM found a sort of rarefied status makes sense. It’s the kind of record cherished by Those Who Know: perfectly crafted, spiritually commanding synth-pop with a voice that sounds like some kind of goth oracle from beyond. It’s simply too good to remain out of print.

This version was pressed at Citizen Vinyl in Asheville, NC from lacquers cut by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service. The package includes all of the original art - gatefold jacket, printed insert, 24” x 36” fold-out poster - with a slightly tweaked cover: where there were once three different shots of Shannon, now there is only one, definitive version.

Bright AF for your spring and summer. Single color pocket print on a Comfort Colors 1717 Neon Lemon blanks.

A simple embroidered bolt on a deep navy version our current favorite hoodie blank: the Champion Powerblend® S700. This is the same hoodie blank that LCD printed their DOT sweatshirts on.

Soft, warm, and not too heavy.

Embroidered bolt on a Richardson 320 Dad Hat.

100% cotton, Enzyme wash. Unstructured, six-panel, low pro profile. Pre-curved bill. Cloth backstrap with Richardson flip buckle.

Of the many arresting moments that fill LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening, perhaps the most unexpected comes less than halfway through album opener "Dance Yrself Clean." The seemingly unassuming, low-key rumble of a song morphs from its mumbled beginnings into an outsized flash of synth ballast and wailing vocals. The sudden shift is like the flicking on of a light, the perfect example of frontman-songwriter-mastermind James Murphy's effortless balance of restraint and release, organic rock and electro pop, and muted cool and vibrant emotion. This study in contrasts pervades LCD Soundsystem's third, and possibly final, release--an album where Murphy refracts images of heartbreak and longing through the scattered light of a disco ball. 

The cautious observations and honest reveals that follow are literally and figuratively quieter moments than that initial blare. On "All I Want," against a wall of whirling guitar, Murphy recognizes a relationship that can't be saved, and instead asks for "your pity" and "your bitter tears." "Get Along" shuffles over pulsing keys and bubbling percussion as Murphy tries to bridge physical and emotional distance, singing, "You might forget, forget the sound of a voice / Still, you shouldn't forget the things we laughed about." Conversely, the sparsely decorated, sauntering "Somebody's Calling Me" is almost hopeful in comparison: "Somebody's calling me" Murphy half whispers, "to be my girl." 

There are stretches of lyrical levity here, too. "You Wanted a Hit," which sits atop shiny synths, a driving bass-line and layers of handclaps, laments record label demands on what turns out to be one of the album's hookiest tracks. "Pow Pow" veers toward past "talkies" like "Losing My Edge," and features keyboardist Nancy Whang shouting in unison with Murphy. 

With This Is Happening, Murphy has created a work of both nuanced introspection and distanced observation. DFA is proud to offer the vinyl version of this much lauded release, which also includes contributions from drummer Pat Mahoney and sound collagist Gavin Russom.

The debut LP from LCD Soundsystem.

1xLP in a reverse board sleeve.

Track Listing:

1. Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
2. Too Much Love
3. Tribulations
4. Movement
5. Never As Tired As When I'm Waking Up
6. On Repeat
7. Thrills
8. Disco Infiltrator
9. Great Release

You’ve heard Stuart Bogie before because he’s played saxophone, clarinet, and flute on a lot of records. TV On The Radio, Foals, Sharon Van Etten, Beth Orton, Run the Jewels, Antibalas, the list goes on and on and on.

We connected with Stuart during the early clutches of COVID through Korey Richey, DFA Studios engineer and LCD Soundsystem band member. 

Stuart had been cooped up in the apartment that he shared with his partner, Karyn, and their family. It was Karyn who suggested a restless Stuart start playing clarinet on Instagram Live every morning, a ritual he kept for 150 straight days. Along the way, he solicited drones and other sounds from his friends as accompaniment.

Korey asked James if he had anything lying around that might fit. Uncharacteristically, James said yes. There was this long, plaintive drone of treated piano made sometime in the 90s that he’d just found. And another similarly droning but slightly darker organ piece made for an installation in the mid-2000s. Stuart played over both in separate sessions, improvising these beautiful, delicate clarinet runs for the sheltered, live-streaming few.

We listened back to the recordings in the office and couldn’t shake how great they were. They felt like a decompression valve, relief from the persistent, creeping apocalypse. They deserved a more meaningful existence than that of a shitty MP3. 

So, Stuart came into DFA and recorded them properly. This time Korey ran him through a stack of delay units that stretched and smeared that clarinet into each drone until they were one bewildering whole. Each recording clocked in at roughly twenty minutes - perfect side-long lengths. It all fell into place so naturally.

“Morningside” is the name of the album. Two tracks on two sides. Produced by Korey and James, mixed by James, mastered and cut by Bob. It’s out October 27. You can listen to a few snippets of each side and pre-order the vinyl below. (Since it’s only two “songs,” we aren’t releasing anything officially beforehand.)

A final, but important note: the cover features a detail of a photograph called “The Burial Vault” by the excellent photographer Gregory Crewdson, taken from his recent series “Eveningside.” (The full photograph is featured on a printed insert inside the record package.) A few months earlier, Gregory was finishing what would become “Eveningside” and asked James (a friend) if he might, y’know, have anything lying around. A video was being made about the work and music was needed. James sent these recordings, which evidently sort of stopped Gregory in his tracks. And just like that another piece of the puzzle fell into place. The connection was so natural that Stuart also finally found the title he’d been searching for (until that point, we’d been calling the record simply “Clarinet and Delay.”)

CREDITS
Produced by James Murphy for the DFA & Korey Richey
Mixed by James Murphy
Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service
Clarinet recorded by Korey Richey at DFA Studios, Brooklyn, NY on November 6, 2022

“Morningside” treated piano recorded at DFA Recording, Manhattan, 2009 originally for an installation at Palais De Tokyo, Paris, in October 2009. Engineered by Matt Thornley and James Murphy.

“Eveningside” feedback and organ recorded sometime in 1993 at Plantain Recording House, Brooklyn, originally for a video art installation. Engineered by James Murphy.

Album art direction by Sam Duke
Cover and insert photograph by Gregory Crewdson, The Burial Vault,
2021-2022, Digital pigment print, image size: 34.5 x 46 in. © Gregory Crewdson

Pressed at Citizen Vinyl in Asheville, NC.

"Thoughtful dancefloor fare... a cosmic, contemporary Human League... 4/5" - The Guardian

"The Future Will Come is something to savour... The Juan MacLean have produced something fantastic" - The Quietus

Tracklist:
1) The Simple Life
2) The Future Will Come
3) One Day
4) A New Bot
5) Tonight
6) No Time
7) Accusations
8) The Station
9) Human Disaster
10) Happy House