Not perturbed by working with this enigma for a fourth time, Gerry Loves Records are delighted to announce the release of Daylight Slavings by Adam Stafford on Friday 28 June. This new long player is Stafford’s 12^th solo album and will be available digitally and on limited edition vinyl LP. 

This record sees Stafford take influences from the likes of Glenn Gould, Dominic Lawralee, Thelonious Monk, the presence and absence of Dub pioneers Scientist and King Tubby, and Su Tissue’s Salon de Musique.

Musically we are in the imagined cinematic zone of midnight drives through threatening deserts and rain-swept plains, post-industrial throb of red haze in black skies, stuttering shadows in glistening ice palaces and an existential horror film about a middle aged suburban man who has convinced himself he has a brutal snuff film in his closet. But it’s not all terror and twilight foreboding, Stafford is at his most musically tender and poignant on ‘Catatonic Owls’ and the album closer ‘Daylight Slavings’ which sees a burst of trombones and trumpets bringing illuminating shafts of light from the troubled heavens.

Listen to Large Print Western from the album:

Pre-order Daylight Slavings on digital or vinyl LP

To welcome the record, Stafford will lead a trio at launch shows in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with support from Bell Lungs.

Glasgow, Hug and Pint, Thursday 27 June, with support from Bell Lungs – Tickets

Edinburgh, Mare Music at Summerhall, Old Lab, Saturday 29 June, with support from Bell Lungs – Tickets

Adam Stafford is an award winning filmmaker and musician from Falkirk. He has released in excess of fifteen albums and EPs since 2010 on labels such as Edinburgh’s Song by Toad, Gerry Loves Records and Kingfisher Bluez in North America. His varied musical styles incorporate Soul-Pop, contemplative Folk, Minimalist Modern Classical and Avant-garde Electronica. In 2018 Stafford received praise for his double LP ‘Fire Behind The Curtain’ which explored themes of his struggles with mental health and utilised a cinematic, orchestral pallet. Clash Magazine considered it one of twenty of the best Scottish albums of the new millennium in 2020.

Praise for Stafford and previous LP ‘Trophic Asynchrony’ (2021)

“With its layered blend of glitchy bleepology, soothing loops, distorted vocals, delicate melodies and glistening piano, Trophic Asynchrony is meticulous minimalism with the kitchen sink on top”. 4/5 – The Scotsman

“So different from his previous two albums, which illustrates his far-reaching talent, Trophic Asynchrony is circular, ever-mutating, expressive, shows rather than tells in the warp and weft of a sound palette which has its roots in the recherché traditions of Moondog, Terry Riley, Masoyoshi Fujita et al, rather than the waters of folk; an octet of tracks to soundtrack the societal confusion and informational overload of political chaos, plague and ecological precarity.” 8.4/10 – Backseat Mafia, 

“He is crafting filigree melodies. These are underpinned by cavernous synths. Stafford then uses lighter tones to add shading and detail and to create something awe inspiring.” – God is in The TV

The beautiful photobook features 24 landscape photographs by Adam, taken over a period of 18 years, 1999-2017. The single composition in three movements was recorded live and semi-improvised in one take with no overdubs and was created only with a synthesizer, a sequencer, some effects pedals and Adam’s voice.

Reverse Drift: when too much ice thaws and breaks next to an ocean or river it makes the water run backwards.

Preorder now

Listen

Launch shows

Thursday 29th June – Stereo, Glasgow
Adam Stafford + Tract (Ela Orleans side project) + Sonny Carntyne + Paul Cowan
Tickets
Ticket + photobook/album bundle
Facebook event

Friday 30th June – Newport Sound at Rio Community Centre, Newport-on-Tay
Adam Stafford + Crakes + September 70 + Fife Santino
Ticket info
Facebook event

Saturday 1st July – Leith Depot, Edinburgh
Adam Stafford + Half-Life Working Group (Drew Wright/Wounded Knee new project) + Sonny Carntyne
Tickets
Ticket + photobook/album bundle
Facebook event

About Reverse Drift

From Adam: “Reverse Drift came to fruition after myself and Gerry Loves Records had a conversation in 2014 about releasing a collection of photography with some music. I have been taking pictures since I was in high school and the oldest image in the collection, ‘Lionthorn’ dates back to 1999 and was hand printed in the dark room of my art class in school. I have always been interested in human-less landscapes and tried to visually capture that in my short film ‘The Shutdown’ (2009), with most of the pictures in this book either conveying empty rooms, empty vistas, or vistas shot through the windows of empty rooms. I had also been looking for an excuse to record and release an album of improvised music and this gave me the chance to explore that. The track Reverse Drift could have been chopped-up and issued as segments or tracks but I wanted to present it as a long continuous piece of music that you experience, for better or worse, in one sitting.”

Recent praise for Adam Stafford

“Probably the closest Stafford has come to the US minimalism of Steve Reich. That songs can stimulate the head one minute and break the heart the next would be a triumph for any musician. Yet again, Adam Stafford has created one of the best albums of the year (in `Taser Revelations’).” – The National

“Adam Stafford’s set was stunning, a wash of looped guitar, effects pedal and vocal soundtrack atmospherics.” – The Scotsman (4/5)

“A songwriter of real depth, rich in understanding, in melodic virtuosity, his work has gradually built up into an imposing, heroic catalogue.” – Clash Magazine

“Adam Stafford is one hell of a force and quite possibly one of the best live artists of our times.” – God is in The TV

About Adam Stafford

Adam Stafford is a musician and filmmaker from Falkirk. Formerly of the group Y’all is Fantasy Island, he issued two experimental a capella albums, “Awnings” and “Miniature Porcelain Horse Emporium” in 2009 before releasing his debut studio set “Build a Harbour Immediately” in 2011. He followed with two more experimental pop albums on Song, by Toad Records, an experimental improv cassette EP and a pop banger single on Gerry Loves Records, and also composed and performed original music for Alan Bissett’s one-man show ‘What The Falkirk’.

His film work include short “The Shutdown” (2009) written by Scottish author and playwright Alan Bissett, the video for The Twilight Sad’s single “Seven Years of Letters” (2010),
and “No Hope For Men Below” (2013), a poetic reinterpretation of The Redding Pit Disaster of Falkirk 1923, written in Broad Scots by local poet and author Janet Paisley. He is currently trying to write a horror film set in 1993, about a maintenance train driver who infiltrates a Norse Black Metal cult in the rural North of Scotland.

Website
SoundCloud
Twitter

We’re releasing something for Record Store Day. A one-off song from a made up band. On flexi disc. Yeah, we know.

The Howling Fantods is the name for a band made up of Angus Johnson, Martha Sanchez, Andrew Hell, John Tones and Jessie Taylor-Ferdinand. They recorded one song as a unit, a pop hit called Top of the Pops.

It was produced, engineered and mixed by Chris McCrory (Catholic Action) and mastered by Sam Smith.

We release it on limited edition flexi disc on Record Store Day 2017, 22nd April. It will only be available in record shops and then from us at gigs. It will never be available to buy online. The band will come together for a one-off performance of the song at VoxBox‘s Record Store Day bash in Edinburgh.

Pick it up from:

• VoxBox, Edinburgh
• Underground Solush’n, Edinburgh
• Monorail, Glasgow
• Love Music, Glasgow

More coming soon!

The song is actually a duet from Craig Angus (Savage Mansion, Poor Things) and Martha Ffion, backed by a band featuring members of Catholic Action and Herbert Powell.

This song, written by Angus, dates back to about 2012 and might have been a Poor Things song at one point had the band not decided to call it quits. Craig had booked some time to track the Poor Things album that never happened and decided to have a bit of fun instead, roping in a few friends and recording a couple of the songs, including TotP. By the time this came around he’d already written a handful of Savage Mansion songs that seemed to have a separate identity, and so it was those songs that were taken forward.  But here lies TotP, and two years down the line we’ve given it life, and it shall be heard, and maybe The Howling Fantods will do more with their sarcastic pop.

Recorded at Green Door Studio, the A-side is ‘At Least We Got a Song Out of It’. A shrugging kiss-off of a song, a diss track for summertime. The B-side ‘Lose Your Life’ features bass player Tony on vocals, calmly offering advice to the listener against a lullaby-esque instrumental.

Release date: 31st March 2017

Released on limited edition vinyl 7” and download. The vinyl version features a risograph sleeve featuring artwork by singer Tara, plus a download of both songs and a bonus track.

Preorder now

Shows

To celebrate we’re having a couple of parties in Edinburgh and Glasgow:

Thursday 30th March
The Safari Lounge, Edinburgh
CHUMP + support from West Princes and Tongue Trap
Tickets / Ticket and vinyl bundle
Facebook event

Friday 31st March
The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow
CHUMP + support from Current Affairs, Hairband and Herbert Powell
Tickets / Ticket and vinyl bundle
Facebook event

About CHUMP

“every song effortlessly pieces together a narrative of a trouble, a grungey, slow-core take on American songwriting that never feels like it’s anywhere near a cliche” Monorail Music, Glasgow

“Conjuring up sleepy, hazy days… really pull you in with their lyrics” Ravechild

“sulky, angsty and strikingly beautiful in its delivery” Overdrive

“first appear to have a slower, solemn drone, yet their sound disintegrates into loud, melancholic, distorted noise” Indulge Sound

CHUMP are a sulkcore three-piece from Glasgow. “the kind of music you’d heard for last dance at the prom in a ‘90s teen dramedy… before the flames rise up and everyone dies.” It started as the sleepyheaded bedroom project of singer and guitarist (yeah, she knows it’s upside-down) Tara, and soon loudly woke up with the addition of drummer Matt and bass player Tony.

They’ve played shows with the likes of Chastity Belt, PAWS, and Diet Cig.

In late 2016 they recorded at Green Door Studios. These songs became their first EP, the cassette Treat Me Mean, which they released by themselves as a non-prank on April Fool’s Day. It’s all worked out though because they’ve had to repress that cassette.

Returning to Green Door Studios, they recorded their forthcoming 7” on Gerry Loves Records, ‘At Least We Got a Song Out of It’. A shrugging kiss-off of a song, a diss track for summertime. The b-side ‘Lose Your Life’ features Tony on vocals, calmly offering advice to the listener against a lullaby-esque instrumental.

Four of Glasgow’s finest punk-indie-rock outfits bring you a glorious, rawkous slice of pop music each. Available on limited edition ‘pure’ white 7″ vinyl or download. The vinyl version comes in a hand screenprinted sleeve, with a free download of all four songs plus an extra song from each band.

Preorder now

You can hear the stream the songs now.

Shows

We’re doing some shows with all four bands to celebrate. You should come. Ticket info soon.

Friday 26th June 2015 – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh – Buy tickets / Facebook event
Saturday 27th June 2015 – Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow – Buy tickets / Facebook event

We’re also heading north for a couple of other shows.

Friday 3rd July 2015 – The Twa Tams, Perth – Free entry / Facebook event
Poor Things + Halfrican + support

Saturday 4th July 2015 – Upstairs at O’Neills, Aberdeen
Poor Things + SHARPTOOTH + Halfrican + Wendell Borton

When we did our Gerry Loves the Highlands and Islands tour in April, we spent a lot of time hanging around in venues, waiting. Lots of these venues had a piano, and it became clear very quickly that Yusuf could play all his songs on piano, as well as any popular song you could think of. So amongst the slightly drunken renditions of Bowie, Elton John and the Stones, he would play beautiful piano and voice versions of songs from his new album. We knew we had to get him to record some of these, and it happened to coincide nicely with Cassette Store Day.

This is the part where we’re supposed to say something about the beauty of these stripped down arrangements, and how they really show off Yusuf’s songwriting abilities, or something. Just listen to them, they’re great.

On Saturday 27th September 2014, for Cassette Store Day we’ll release a very limited run of 50 cassette versions of the EP, including the bonus brand new song. This will be available from as many of the participating shops as possible. If you want to buy one we strongly recommend you ask your local shop to order some copies. There are only 50 for the whole of the UK.

On Monday 6th October the 3-song EP will be available digitally.

Listen

The first song is streaming now. The others will be streaming over the next couple of weeks.

Get a ticket

After two albums on Song, by Toad Records, Yusuf left the label late last year due to an awkward love triangle. We’ve always been big fans and are really happy to be able to release his third record, Peace in the Underworld.

Release date: 5th May 2014

Released on download, limited vinyl LP and very limited cassette. The vinyl version comes in a hand screen printed sleeve and both vinyl and cassette come with a download of the album plus bonus material.

Listen to the album

Buy on download or vinyl LP

“Silver Rose” free download single

Download “Silver Rose” free

Launch shows

To celebrate, we’re doing two launch show in Edinburgh and Glasgow. These will be Yusuf’s first shows with a backing band.

Thu 8th May 2014 – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh
Support from Wounded Knee and Ian Humberstone
Advance tickets

Sat 10th May 2014 – Roxy 171, Glasgow
Support from Do the Gods Speak Esperanto (Jill from Sparrow & the
Workshop and Sean from John Knox Sex Club)
Advance tickets

About Yusuf Azak

Yusuf Azak is an Aberdonian of Turkish descent who lives in Glasgow. After self-releasing two EPs he signed to Song, by Toad Records where he released two great albums, Turn on the Long Wire and Go Native.

His new album, Peace in the Underworld, is an album of off-kilter folk pop songs with Yusuf’s unique gruff-but-sweet vocals. It’s also a more luxurious sound than his other records, with his excellent songwriting and acoustic guitar skills filled out with drums, drum machines, keyboards, electronics and more.

facebook.com/yusufazakmusic
yusufazak.bandcamp.com

“a distinct beauty… Something you’ll notice immediately about Yusuf’s music is the gruffness of his vocal, it’s sugary sweet and forever in-tune but it sure does sound like sandpaper rubbing against a light bulb; he has the kind of vocal where you’d genuinely loathe the man if he were faking it even a single percent, but thankfully I think our Yusuf is singing with truth. Once you’ve made your peace with his grazed gullet you’ll pick up on his ludicrously nimble fingers, Yusuf picks and plays with a hint of Dave Evans” —GoldFlakePaint

“Sounds like a lungful of autumn air… Inspiring stuff.” —STV

“Basically he sounds like a ghostly set of old bellows, wheezing in and out and managing to rather surprisingly generate some fantastic songs whilst doing so.” —Song, by Toad

“Dreamy, smokey, whimsical but a million miles from stoned mysticism… the idiosyncratic product of a highly individual talent.” —Music OMH

“I think it’s absolutely spellbinding. Forever transmitting from another world, or maybe just another bedsit, Azak lays down his groove in a spiritual, slightly ghostly manner” —Incendiary Magazine

“An individual sound, combining distinctive vocals and gorgeous guitar melodies – simple, but enrapturing.” —Dauphin Magazine