BOR

Norman Anders: Lifelines [Vinyl LP]

Laura Gibson shares two new songs in a limited edition seven-inch from Jealous Butcher. A beat-driven pop number The Easy Way, and a slow-burning meditation on aloneness called Animals. Both songs were recorded while making her lauded 2016 Barsuk Records release, Empire Builder, and feature the found-sound percussion loops of drummer Daniel Hunt (Neko Case), gorgeous violin-work by Peter Broderick, and the ambient textures of guitarist Dave Depper (Death Cab for Cutie). According to Gibson, Â"These songs didn\'t quite fit into the puzzle I was putting together in Empire Builder, but they were just as meaningful to me, I wanted to get them out into the world.Â"

Over the course of his 30+ year career, David Callahan has charted a distinct course. From the angular pop of The Wolfhounds to the experimental post/art rock of Moonshake and back to the sharper-than-ever recently reformed Wolfhounds, Callahan is always known for smart, unsparing lyrics, a fierce DIY ethic and an ever-inquisitive sonic adventurism. Now for Slumberland's SLR30 Singles Series Callahan is set to release his first official solo recordings. Minimally recorded at home with an acoustic guitar, sampler, glockenspiel and a couple of friends guesting on harmonies, the double A-side cuts of "Strange Lovers" and "Waiting For The Cut-Off" reveal a subtler, though still intense, side to his songwriting. Despite the new simplicity of the arrangements, the new songs sound just as original as any of his previous work. This 7" looks a treat as well, arriving bedecked in a full-colour painting by Florida artist Sean Mahan.