The RGM Inbox: February 2021
Welcome again to the RGM Inbox, an occasional feature where we shine a light on an eclectic selection of music that turned up in the RGM office by way of that interweb thingy. We’re open to a little bit of everything here at RGM so you’ll never be absolutely sure what might turn up but this time around the cool sounds include a folky singer-songwriter duo branching out on their own, dream-pop from California and a reminder that to be able to travel is amazing.
Distant Voices photo by Tristan Nelson
First up we’ve got a track guaranteed to get you bouncing around the living room or at the very least tapping your feet. Distant Voices is the chosen moniker of London based Valdis Stekelis who has recently released the opening track ‘Lights Of The City’ from an album ‘Long Road To Home’ due March 26th. The track perfectly captures the excitement and nervousness of a road trip around Europe. Brimming with insistent melody and punky enthusiasm ‘Lights Of The City’ is just the start of the journey which is recounted on the rest of the album. An aural travelogue if you will of Stekelis’ travels in 2019 when you could still do such things.
The album is available to preorder from the artist via Bandcamp:
For our next artist, we cross the Atlantic to sunny California where dream-pop trio Tashaki Miyaki are about to release their long-awaited second album ‘Castaway’ on April 23rd via Metropolis Records. The title track from the album is available now and delivers a strong Angelo Badalamenti/David Lynch/Twin Peaks vibe which is just fine by me. For the new album, the band wanted to perfect their sound but reboot things at the same time. “We decided no wah pedal for most of the record,” explains singer, drummer and producer Paige Stark. “We tried to incorporate new soundscapes. Like, what if there isn’t as much reverb on everything? What would be the less obvious sonic choice? What if everything isn’t as fuzzy and smeary? What sounds have we not tried? What if we let stuff be a little naked? What does that sound like?”
Anthony Furey and Paul Butler are probably best known as members of The Young Folk but the duo are now embarking on a new musical journey as Elgin and the first fruits of this new direction is the single ‘Cherry Picked’. An album is in the works for later in 2021 but in the meantime ‘Cherry Picked’ is available via the usual streaming services or alternatively check out this live version that showcases the duo’s delicate harmonies and lush instrumentation.
Photo credit: Lindsey Brynes
I must admit that LA-by-way-of-NYC band Slothrust are a new name to me but the alt-rock power trio have four albums in the bank since their debut in 2014 (I’ve loads of catching up to do). Their first new music since 2019 is ‘Cranium’ which joyfully defies categorization as all manner of 90s alt-rock, jazz and blues influences merge into something that is very much their own. ‘Cranium’ is lyrically unsettling and features an extended guitar solo from frontperson Leah Wellbaum as the cherry on this super cool cake.
Slothrust brings us to the end of this latest edition of the RGM Inbox but fear not we’ll be back very soon with more interesting and cool musical diversions.
When it comes to LP Box Sets there can’t be too many acts more suited to the format than Pentangle. The Folk supergroup released six albums in a mere four-year period from 1968-1972 and these are now collected, with a host of bonus material, on a very smart-looking 14 LP deluxe box set via Svart Records on 16th April 2025. A breakdown of the release including a full tracklisting follows: