If These Trees Could Talk - Above The Earth, Below The Sky LP

If These Trees Could Talk are a post-rock outfit from Ohio who reader and dulli-lover Justin was so kind to point out to me. They're about to release their sophomore album on Mylene Sheath, and as usual it looks like the people over there did a wonderful job in giving it the vinyl treatment. The music you say? Well, they're an instrumental post-rock band and about now every small town in the Northern Hemisphere has one of those, so check out their myspace if you will. To me, it's clear that these guys are no Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky yet, but anyone familiar with the genre will still be quite entertained by this album. In stead of trying to copy the aformentioned others, ITTCT try to incorporate some other influences, such as the obvious Tool reference into their sound, and they're quite good at it. If you like your post-rock to slowly sweep you off your feet, you've come to the right place.

Anyway, the "Above The Earth, Below The Sky" LP comes in a thick jacket with matte lamination and spot gloss and printed inner sleeves and is limited to 400 copies in total, of which 100 on transpartent blue and 300 on green vinyl. Get yours from Mylene Sheath

The Brown Book - Thirty Nothing LP

Haven't quite made up my mind about this release, as it seems to please me in many ways, but then again there's something nagging here that I can't exactly put my finger on. The Brown Book are an instrumental post-rock band who will definitely please fans of acts such Russian Circles or Don Caballero, but will also do something for those of you into Oxes or earlier Liars. And maybe that's just what's nagging at me. When I put on a post-rock record, it's because I'm in that kind of relaxed mood, I don't want to hear some guy singing or screaming, but I also don't want to be abruptly woken up and thrown into a discordant loud mess. Then again, that might just be their strength. Oh, now I'm confused.

It seems like these guys are getting quite some attention, and are having a record release with the almighty Ocean coming up. That's a good thing in my book. "Thirty Nothing" was recorded by Keith Souza by the way, who also worked for Battles and Lightning Bolt, and mastering was done by Alan Douches who worked his magic on Animal Collective, Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon and a ton others. So, they seem to be surrounded by the right people, now all they need is for you to pick up their record, right here.

Enablers - Now You Can Answer My Prayers 10''

Released somewhere late July, but only now caught my attention is this superb new 10" by Enablers. This 10" has 2 new tracks on it with a hand etchted foil blocked sleeve and face it, it looks killer.

I honestly only have their Neurot release from way back, but for those of you who don't know, Enablers are a band with members of Swans, Tarnation, Nice Strong Arm and Toiling Midgets who create big melodic soundscapes and are fronted by Pete Simonelli who does a kind of spoken narrative.

Order this from the label directly via paypal to hello@lancashireandsomerset.co.uk for £9.50 ppd UK, £10.50 ppd Europe, £11.50 ppd USA, or if you're afraid of paypal order from the aforementioned Music Fear Satan

Apse - Climb Up 2xLP

I told you guys about the teaser 7" a while ago, and now orders are popping up for the full-length 2xLP by Apse called "Climb Up". I'm pretty excited about this album, because Apse have always tried to be innovative and seem to reinvent themselves on each release, whilst holding on to their own personality. Always labelled "post-rock", but they have very little in common with the usual suspects like Mogwai or EITS. In fact Apse are pretty hard to pigeonhole, so check out 4 new tracks on their myspace and maybe you might agree with me when I say that their sound reminds of Sigur Ros, Faust, a mellow Arcade Fire or even Radiohead.

"Climb Up" will be a perfect companion for the gloom fall, and will keep you warm in times of need. I'm getting my 2xLP fix over at Norman Records. Their last release sold out pretty fast, so don't sit on it.

Glaciers - And The Sea Won The Battle LP

Somehow stumbled upon the debut album by Glaciers, entitled "And The Sea Won The Battle" and figured that if I care, so would you perhaps. Now, normally I wouldn't get excited about yét another band on the whole instrumental post-rock trip like Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, Red Sparowes and countless others, but they happen to come from a town that I love being San Francisco, and the real bonus here is that Glaciers is a new band featuring members of Outspoken and Kill The Messenger, two bands that I really appreciated back in the good ole days.

So, their debut vinyl-only album (good call) recently went up for sale, and the version you can get from the band directly reeks of love and care as it comes in a silkscreened cover, a belly band with the band's logo letterpressed on it , a wax seal on the back side and this limited edition of 118 copies is handnumbered as well. It's a bit more expensive, but worth the trouble. The regular version comes on light blue vinyl, and is also available from the band or from your favourite recordstore such as RevHq and Interpunk.

Russian Circles - Geneva 2xLP Pre-orders

Here it is at last. Sargent House put the pre-orders up for the "Geneva" 2xLP by Russian Circles. It comes on 180g vinyl and one can chose between either black or clear vinyl. There's also a pre-order bundle available with an exclusive t-shirt designed by Ryan Patterson (from Coliseum, The National Acrobat, Black Cross and a million other Louisville,KY bands) which will set you back $40 in total.

I've been waiting a long time on this record, not only because I adored their 2 previous albums, but also because Brian Cook (of Botch) joined them as fulltime member, and last but not least because "Geneva" was produced by Brandon Curtis, yeah, the same Brandon Curtis from The Secret Machines, who also plays some piano on here. Pre-order now from Russian Circles

Red Sparowes - Aphorisms 12"

Red Sparowes have a new EP called "Aphorisms" up for pre-order. This has been in the works for quite a while already, with the download becoming available about 2 months ago, so I'm glad the vinyl edition is finally seeing the light of day. Red Sparowes is that instrumental post-rock band by guys of Isis, The VSS and Pleasure Forever. They kicked out Josh Graham and (temporarily) replaced him by the much nicer Brendan Tobin from Made Out Of Babies (dude, you still have one of my mini-jacks). I think right after their last European tour, Red Sparowes recorded this "Aphorisms" EP together with Toshi Kasai (the guy who ruled with the Melvins but somehow destroyed Big Business).

The 12" version of 'Aphorisms" contains 3 songs and comes on Clear/Orange or Black Vinyl. Pre-order it before the November 4th release date from Red Sparowes directly.

The Twilight Sad - Forget The Night Ahead 2xLP

"TheForget the Night Ahead", the new full-length by Scotland's The Twilight Sad is now up for pre-order. The new album "retains the guitar-washed drama of their previous effort, w/ an added complexity both sonic & thematic. Tremelo'd guitar creates seismic shifts between melancholic introspection & explosive release, the cacophony broadening to accommodate the band's most melodic & yet most thrillingly discordant moments to date" according to FatCat.

That doesn't say very much now does it? Well, I'll fill you in. First of all, James Graham sings with a wondeful Scottisch accent (reminding of labelmates Frightened Rabbit) and his lyrics are as dark as dark can be, whereas the musical blend of postrock and shoegaze is mesmerizing. Oh yeah, they already did a fullscale tour with Mogwai, so that's not too bad now is it?

It's also good to see that they've finally come up with a new theme for their artwork because the debut album and consequent 7"s all looked so bad I didn't bother getting them on vinyl. If this new record is as good as their previous effort "Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters", then it'll definitely be worth pre-ordering from Insound

Caspian - Tertia 2xLP

Here's the first reader submission! Justin informed me that Joel and Lindsay from Mylene Sheath are now taking pre-orders for "Tertia", the new album by Caspian. The few songs that I heard online remind me of Red Sparowes or Growing, with the long soundscapes, monumental build-ups and whatnot. Solid!

Several LP versions are available, such as 180gr, transparent pilsner and opaque maroon. The jacket is a 5mm spine, 350gsm jacket, with a matte varnish and gold foil stamping galore. Two 300gsm jacket stock inner sleeves, covered in artwork, slide into the jacket to hold the LP's. To top it all off a huge 11" by 11" twelve page booklet is included, which collects a literary interpretation of the album by Jon Bennet and full color photography by Andrew Weiss and others. Deluxe! All vinyl orders will ship with a free download coupon as well.

Seems like they're putting a lot of effort into this so the outcome will be high-quality. Get yours for $25 from Mylene Sheath

Oh yeah, Caspian are touring Europe for about 2 months straight in September & October, so for those who care, check out the tourdates on their myspace

Russian Circles - Geneva LP

No ordering information yet. This is just me being siked.

Do Make Say Think - Other Truths LP

Wohow! A new album by Do Make Say Think. Anyone who rightfully loves Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor! also probably has every record by this Canadian outfit.

I'll let the label do the talking, because they seem to know what they're talking about: "These guys have always been a mystery to me, The sixth full-length from Do Make Say Think defiantly features four long-form tracks, three of which clock in at over 10 minutes, and all of which trace the inimitable musical arcs that have made this band justly celebrated for their unique sonic palette and vibrant distillation of compositional forms and influences into some of the past decade’s most consistently rich and rewarding instrumental rock.

Bucking the trend towards diminishing attention spans, immediate gratification, snappy digital singles and things that go ‘pop’ right out of the gate, DMST admirably stick to their roots and allow the vines that spring from their fertile musical garden to wind, curl and climb for as long as required. More than ever, the players keep their heads down, creating wonderful multi-movement instrumental works (with the occasional mantric or wordless vocal passage, courtesy guest singers The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra), overflowing with attention to tone and timbre, animated by unfussy yet ornate harmony, melody and polyrhythm, shot through with ineffable soul. The four songs on Other Truths are vintage Do Make Say Think, and the album represents the first time since the band’s debut (recorded over a dozen years ago) that they have found themselves with an entire collection of songs that unfold so organically over long duration. As testament to the unfettered evolution of these tunes, the band has titled them simply “Do”, “Make”, “Say” and “Think”. "

"Other Truths" is available in a first pressing on deluxe 180gLP that includes a limited edition poster (unique to the LP package), an artwork insert printed on heavyweight translucent paper and a CD copy of the album all packed in a thick 24pt. paperboard record jacket. Pre-order if for the October 19 (EU) or October 20 (World) date at Constellation/

Mono - One Step More And You Die 2xLP

More good news from Temporary Residence: "After years of enduring hundreds of requests for a repress of Mono's breakthrough second album, "One Step More And You Die," Temporary Residence have finally come to their senses. Rather than simply repress the original single-record version, they decided to include the out-of-print "New York Soundtracks" album as well, featuring remixes of "One Step More" songs by Calla, Loren Connors, Jackie-O Motherfucker and more. The expanded two-record set has been beautifully remastered and repackaged with expanded artwork."

Get this sparkling new 2xLP for only $12 from http://temporaryresidence.com/

The Black Heart Procession - Six 2xLP

Temporary Residence is now taking pre-orders for the new The Black Heart Procession sion album called "Six". This record comes on 2xLP vinyl, packaged inside two full-color inner sleeves and jacket. Side D is a custom laser etching featuring exclusive artwork. First 600 orders receive limited edition colored vinyl: Transparent & Opaque Reds w/ Black Streaks.

From TR: "More than just a return to numerical album titles, "Six" is The Black Heart Procession's first album to be written and recorded simultaneously with a new Three Mile Pilot album. As both bands now coexist for the first time ever, coconspirators Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel have steered The Black Heart Procession into a darker, more adventurous direction. Produced and recorded by the band over the past couple years, Six is without a doubt the group's most emotionally resonant album since Three. Brimming with pitch-black ballads of discarded loves and forgotten souls, the album paints a bleak yet strangely comforting portrait of heartbreak, self-destruction and religious allegory over some of their most inspired songs to date, drawing a clear line from here to soulstirring visionaries such as Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Tom Waits."

Order for only $12 (shipping not included), and while you're there, try to get your hands on some of the remaining copies of the Young Widows split-series (w/Pelican and w/Bonnie 'Prince' Billy are already sold out). All this and more http://temporaryresidence.com/

Apse - 3/1 7"

Can't find much info about this, but ATP Records is gearing up to release a limited 7" by the post-rock outfit Apse. "3/1" will be limited to 1000 copies worldwide on white vinyl and comes in a silver card sleeve.

I guess this is teaser for their new album "Climb Up" due late September, but for anyone into Apse and who isn' too lazy to listen to 7"s, pre-order now at http://www.normanrecords.com/