All artists

Stretch 'em out and shake off the cobwebs - LCD Soundsystem have returned, in recorded form, from a 5-year hibernation. 'new body rhumba' was written and recorded for the new Noah Baumbach film, White Noise, which is an adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel. It’s classic LCD, all tight and brash, with a coda headed for the second star from the right and straight on 'till morning.

Single-sided 7" originally released in 2015, repressed in 2020, now rerepressed in 2021.

The speed on the label is correct this time!

Mastering and lacquer cut by Chocolate Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service and pressed at Brooklynphono.

Tracklist:

a: x-ray eyes

b: x-ray eyes (extended trash can dub)

Credits:

recorded at relax and enjoy (london) and dfa (nyc)  

produced and mixed by james murphy for the dfa

engineered by al doyle and james crump (london) / korey richey and pablo morales (nyc) 

mastered and cut by bob weston at chicago mastering service

cover photo by stephen nebesney 1987

pressed at paramount pressing in denver, co

silkscreening done at press friends machine in los angeles, ca and kayrock screenprinting in brooklyn, ny

Produced by James Murphy for DFA Productions.

Back in stock with the original 24"x36" folded poster insert! If you already have the record, you can order the poster on its own here.

Double LP in a gatefold jacket with matte finish and a silver foil stamp on the cover.

Pressed at Citizen Vinyl.

Tracklist:

Side A
01. Get Innocuous!
02. Time to Get Away

Side B
03. North American Scum
04. Someone Great

Side C
05. All My Friends
06. Us v Them

Side D
07. Watch the Tapes
08. Sound of Silver
09. New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down

NOTE THAT WE'RE DOING THESE AS A PRE-ORDER SO WE CAN RUN UP THE TAB, SO IT MAY TAKE A FEW WEEKS (OR A MONTH) TO GET YOUR SHIRTS.

The Glasgow New York Transatlantic Connection™ between Optimo and DFA is real, and it goes back to the beginning. The Rapture played at Optimo first, in the summer of 2002, with Keith and Jonnie flying to New York to DJ James’ DFA party at APT later that same year. They've played our records, hosted our artists, DJ’d our parties, contributed remixes and records to the DFA catalog, hugged us sweatily into the night, and been more than family ever since. 

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.

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.

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

Featuring a spin on the iconic DFA bolt by Eric Copeland using the technique found in his Glyph Series work, this limited, short-sleeve shirt is a collaboration between DFA and iconic streetwear brand Carhartt WIP for their RELEVANT PARTIES capsule collection.

Front graphic print on 100% organic cotton single jersey, 175 g/sqm, loose fit.

Limited leftovers from the band's 2021 Brooklyn Steel run.

Long and short sleeve versions available in both black and white.

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.

LCD Soundsystem - 45:33 - 2xLP

Originally released in 2006.

This album was commissioned by Nike to listen to on an iPod while exercising.

"Complex, fun, and meticulously put together, 45:33 sounds even better pumping from a home stereo than it does through an iPod while jogging". - All Music

Original Pitchfork Review, 2006

Wikipedia Entry

 Tracklist

A - 45:33

B - 45:33

C - 45:33

D - 45:33

• 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.

A cover of the almighty Alan Vega tune recorded during the This Is Happening sessions, original released in 2009, never repressed for whatever reason (life?), and played live exactly five times:

• 1x at MSG in 2011
• 1x at the Panorama Festival in NYC in 2016 (right after Alan died)
• 3x at the Brooklyn Steel 2022 residency

Figured since it's back in the rotation, it was worth a repress.

Four color print on a reverse board sleeve.

Poly-lined inner.

Cut by Bob Weston at 45RPM. Pressed at IRP in Bordentown, NJ.

It wasn’t really hiding, just sitting quietly online. But Tom Sharkett’s edit of “Home” was too good to ignore. Originally a bootleg we first heard played on Flo Dill’s Breakfast Show on NTS, it wormed its way into our hearts and never left. So we made it official. Sometimes the internet actually makes your life better.

"Losing My Edge" backed with "Beat Connection." This is the 2012 remastered version cut super loud by Bob Weston. It doesn't skip anymore!

Free shipping in the US and UK.

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

The latest LCD album, available in double LP, compact disc, or limited edition cassette.

**

2xLP

• 140 gram double LP
• Full color gatefold jacket / inner sleeves

Cassette

• full color 5 panel inner card
• clear cassette shell
• custom silk screened cassette shells & cases

CD

• Fold-over heavy card stock envelope.
• 16 page booklet with lyrics and photos

“What could have been a mere anthology of the label's uniformly excellent 2004 output is, additionally, a meticulously assembled personal narrative. This is a label that balances its musical and commercial aspirations with an earthy, no-bullshit disposition and-- let's say it-- the world's best fucking handclaps.” - Nick Sylvester, Pitchfork, in the heady days of 2004.

Behold, Compilation #2. A compendium what are arguably the best prime-era DFA cuts, mostly all recorded and/or remixed at the old DFA Studios on W. 13th Street (with some notable exceptions), released as 12-inches and then compiled onto a 3xCD set for convenience because, at the time, people actually bought CDs more than vinyl.

Now, in the spirit of time not really being much of a linear thing anymore, and for our own selfish desire to have this version of Liquid Liquid’s “Bellhead,” produced by the DFA, finally committed to wax, we have reverse engineered this thing back onto vinyl and presented it as a four-record boxed set.

We went back and found the master tapes or files for each song - a not insignificant effort given our habit of disorganization. We then rather painstakingly resequenced and remastered it with the guy we trust with such things: Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service. The lacquers Bob cut were plated and pressed at what we believe to be one of the best pressing plants in the country: QRP in Salina, Kansas.

We tell you all of this to say: we took this shit pretty seriously. Because we felt like it was important and because we felt like some folks would really appreciate it. It sounds remarkable. It looks great. (Rob Carmichael re-did the original packaging, adding a new photo from DFA OG Tim Saccenti from one of the original parties at W. 13th St.) Of course, we somehow can’t stop ourselves from making labeling errors - Pixeltan’s “That’s the Way I Like It” somehow escaped the center labels on the fourth record. It’s kind of the DFA curse. Has to be!

DFA Compilation #2 Vinyl Tracklist

SIDE A

1. Black Leotard Front - Casual Friday

SIDE B

1. J.O.Y. - Sunplus (DFA Remix)
2. The Juan MacLean - I Robot
3. The Juan MacLean - Dance Hall Modulator Dub

SIDE C

1. Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom - Rise (DFA Remix)
2. Black Dice - Wasteder
3. J.O.Y. - Sunplus

SIDE D

1. LCD Soundsystem - Yeah (Pretentious Version)
2. The Rapture - Sister Saviour (DFA Dub)

SIDE E

1. Liquid Liquid - Bellhead
2. LCD Soundsystem - Yeah (Crass Version)

SIDE F

1. Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom - El Monte
2. The Rapture - Alabama Sunshine

SIDE G

1. Pixeltan - Get Up / Say What (DFA Remix)
2. LCD Soundsystem - Beat Connection (Extended Disco Dub)

SIDE H

1. Pixeltan - That’s The Way I Like It
2. Black Dice - Endless Happiness (EYE Remix)
3. The Juan MacLean - Less Than Human

This is a fake-live album, featuring the live lineup, played live, just not in front of people or anything. Features lots of yr LCD faves like All My Friends, Us V. Them, I Can Change, and Daft Punk Is Playing At My House. 

Tracklist

LIMITED TO 250 COPIES WORLDWIDE

FIRST-EVER VINYL RELEASE OF A LITTLE-HEARD CULT RELEASE FROM THE EARLY 2000S

REMASTERED AND CUT AT 45RPM BY BOB WESTON.

ORIGINAL GRAMMY-NOMINATED ARTWORK TRANSPOSED BY MIKE VADINO.

SINGLE LP HOUSED IN A CRAFT STOCK GATEFOLD WITH A TIPPED-IN FOLD-OUT FEATURING LYRICS, LINER NOTES, AND PHOTOS. PLUS A FUZZY CLOUD ON THE FRONT. (YES, IT'S EXPENSIVE. IT COST A LOT TO MAKE THEM THIS WAY!)

“no, you can’t take them was a dfa office staple for the better part of 10 years. we were hungover and cynical, but this song always got through to a very human part of every one of us. kids listing what you can’t take with you when you die: a basketball. a radio. a clarinet. my mom. it’s a great DJ set ender, too, repeating “all you take is love”—like a lost track making weirds on mushrooms weep at the loft or something, but new and vital. the entire record is filled with moments like this. darkness and light? how will i know? it’s impossible not to care about this music.” 

- James Murphy

In 2003, The Coleman Center, an Alabama non-profit arts organization, welcomed Stuart Hyatt as an artist-musician in residence. The center, which encourages and supports projects that engage and reflect the unique surrounding community, invited Hyatt to explore local music.

Four weeks later, he emerged with The Clouds.

Hyatt, reckoning with the notion of mortality, had written and recorded songs with a variety of local citizens, social groups, and schoolchildren.

The result is a record that is plainly, if not stylistically, Americana - a patchwork of voices sown together by some simple songs about the one thing we all experience.

The original release was super DIY - Hyatt’s grandparents helped him assemble the packaging, which also somehow managed to score a Grammy nomination in the category. A copy of the CD somehow wound up in the DFA offices, where it was shared and beloved but still sat until 2020, when we decided it may finally be worth trying to re-release on vinyl.

That process took two years and an insane attention to detail, but the final product is part and parcel with the original project - a unique document of a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration.

Free shipping in the US and UK.

Designed by our friend Josh at Enter The Night Gallery.

Printed on an Comfort Colors 6014 blank by our other friends at LVAC.

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

DFA no doubt owes a very large part of its existence to the incredible, indelible Liquid Liquid, so it is with great and humble honor that we release this 12” from the New York no wave legends, a double a-side package featuring sorta-new versions of classic Liquids tracks.

This torrential take on “Bellhead” was recorded and produced by James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy in 2004 and originally appeared on DFA”s “Compilation #2.” It’s an all-timer percussion workout, bursting at the seams with marimba, drums, and, yes, all manner of bells, a far cry for the see-saw slouch of the original.

The other side is an unreleased instrumental remix of “Optimo,” which (bear with us here) was rerecorded by the Liquids in 2008 and then remixed by Optimo (Espacio), the Glaswegian duo who are named in tribute to the song in question. If you followed that, then you know. If not, just remember that we’re all showing up here because of how important and essential this band remains.

**

"Bellhead"
Recorded in 2004 at RPM Studios, NYC.
Produced by the DFA. Engineered by Andy Sarnoff
Assisted by Eric Broucek

"Optimo - Instrumental Mix by Optimo (Espacio)"
Recorded in 2008 at SRG Studios in Hamilton, NJ
Mixed by JD Twitch and Dave Clark

Mastered and cut by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service
Vinyl pressed at Furnace Record Pressing in Alexandria, VA

Leftovers from the 2025 Brixton Academy shows in London.

SHIPS FROM THE UK. FINAL SALE, NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES. PLEASE CHECK SIZE CHART HERE BEFORE ORDERING.

Printed on a AS Colour AS5050 black t-shirt.

Free shipping in the US and UK.

Note the quotation marks: it actually says DAD not DFA. We are not refunding you if you don't read this or notice that!

Embroidered on a black OTTO 18-202 Dad hat. 100% cotton pigment dyed cotton twill.

2019 repress of the revered 2004 single YEAH. This pressing comes in a sturdier heavyweight sleeve, heavier vinyl, same great artwork by Mike Vadino.  

tracklist:
a: yeah (crass version)
aa: yeah (pretentious version) 

CCFX is a supergroup out of Olympia, Washington resulting from a merger between two seminal Olympia pop music outfits; CC Dust and Trans FX. On their debut self-titled EP, artists Chris McDonnell, Mirče Popovic, Mary Jane Dunphe and David Jaques offer a record that is at once a showcase and aberration of what is currently coming out of the Pacific Northwest. 

Recorded and (re)mixed with local OG Captain Tripps, the EP's sound partially recalls late 90’s/early 00’s indie pop as chiming, melodic guitar parts counter and complement Mary Jane’s brilliant voice. In the same vein of the past few decades' most beloved and coveted hitmakers (both in the clubs as well as on the radio), the music feeds on a sense of nostalgia not necessarily specific to any one time or place – sun-kissed riffs seem to go on forever, supported by a steady breakbeat. 

The timbre of the music is warm and just slightly fuzzed out, and the expressive quality of Mary Jane's voice is pushed to the front. The b-side's "Ode," a late CC Dust piece, and "2Tru," written by Popovic, were put together around the time of Trans FX's The Clearing, whereas "The One to Wait" and "Venetian Screens" found Dunphe, Jaques and McDonnell picking up where they left off a year later, swept up in the productive frenzy leading to TFX's latest effort, Gaslit.

CCFX, over the course of this palpable evolution, have struck that rare yet essential balance between heartfelt sincerity and calculated disillusionment, bearing the mark of a project which is as fearless as it is humble, out there living as big as it wants to be. These four tracks grant listeners access to suppressed and superseded feelings from youth, paired with a backwards glint of whatever strange luxury this epoch's future might still hold. FFO St Etienne, Q Lazarus, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, dancing, celebrations, success stories, TFX, CCの, etc.

Tracklist

A1 - The One To Wait
A2 - Venetian Screens
B3 - Ode
B4 - 2Tru

'In A Dream' is the third album from The Juan Maclean. If anything, this new LP is further evidence of the "undeniable creative chemistry between house music wizard Juan Maclean & vocalist / former LCD Soundsystem member Nancy Whang". (Pitchfork) The album takes its musical cues from Moroder's Munich to the Funky Nassau sounds of Compass Point and to anytime in downtown NYC.

An album of high anticipated, brand new material on the heels of The Juan Maclean's acclaimed club bangers from the last couple of years. Features singles "A Place Called Space" and "A Simple Design". Everyone that has heard the record loves the hell out of it, and I promise you will too. 

An all time design, now available officially.

Original artwork by Richard McGuire.

Adapted by Steele Bonus.

Printed by Wunder in Brooklyn, NY on a Gildan Heavy Cotton™ T-Shirt.

Incredible remixes of LCD Soundsystem, from the album American Dream.

This 12" features the song I Used To, remixed by Dixon.

The B Side is a 13 minute tweaked out space disco odyssey, originally appearing as a pre-American Dream bonus track.

a1) i used to (dixon retouch)
b1)  pulse (v.1)

The CD release of DFA Records Compilation #1 came out in days of yore, when the iTunes store did not exist, when iPods were more coveted than your phone. The only way to hear the first batch of singles DFA released was to seek out the vinyl and lots of people did.

This magical mythical first group of releases from DFA included “House of Jealous Lovers” by The Rapture, “Losing My Edge” & “Give It Up” by LCD Soundsystem. It also included two very different approaches to dance music from The Juan Maclean – “By The Time I Get To Venus” and “You Can’t Have It Both Ways”, which subtly introduced the world to the vocal powers of Nancy Whang.

Black Dice also released a 12” single, throwing their noise roots behind a 4/4 screech and created one of the most unique singles in the DFA catalog with “Cone Toaster”.

The compilation was edited to fit onto one CD, more a sampler than a completist’s anthology. In hindsight, it should have been an anthology of the first 5 singles in full but the A sides had enough momentum happening to make the sampler a bonafide success for the label.

The 8.0 review from Pitchfork in 2003 helped cement the DFA label as both the leaders of a new production approach, as well as a collection of artists who could co-exist make music together and please both the discerning DJ and the indie rock enthusiasts.

In the review, the writer Nick Sylvester calls DFA “The Neptunes of the discopunk underground”, which maybe seems funny and far-fetched now, but back in 2003 was a compliment and comparison that DFA were very willing to accept. It is now 2016 and both parties continue to work and stay busy and relevant. Success being relative, this compilation represents the humble beginnings of the label and the birth / re-birth of DFA flagship artists The Rapture, The Juan Maclean, LCD Soundsystem & Black Dice.

Tracklist

Juan Maclean - By The Time I Get To Venus

LCD Soundsystem - Give It Up

The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers

Black Dice - Cone Toaster

Juan Maclean - You Can't Have It Both Ways (Live At Warsaw April 26, 2002)

The Rapture - Silent Morning

LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge

Black Dice - Endless Happiness 

Leftovers from the 2025 Brixton Academy shows in London.

SHIPS FROM THE UK.

Printed on a Bella + Canvas blank.

This is a hand-stamped, white label, 1-sided 12" of Proper Monday Number's "High horse" DJ Edit done by Matt Cash and James Murphy.

Limited run of 500.

Proper Monday Number is Suzi Horn and Christoph.

Edit by Matt Cash and James Murphy.

Mastered by Bob Weston.

Engineered by Pablo Morales.

Eric Broucek was the ur-engineer of the most fertile era of DFA Studios, from about 2003 to 2008 (no one knows anything precisely about that time, as it’s all lost in the fog of chaos). His hand was on all of the remixes, LPs, dance 12s. He was there in that over-designed gear dungeon almost every day, recording, mixing, struggling to not roll his eyes at Tim and me. And somewhere in that fog, he quietly dropped limited runs of three 12-inch delayed reaction bombs on his own label Stickydisc Recordings—two under the name Babytalk, and one as Watussi with another DFA regular, Morgan Wiley.

Back in the day, Eric did not want his music released on DFA. He wanted to forge his own identity, which he did, sending out music that wandered from the DFA path with its uniquely wonky, upended and understated power. His music is so unlike everything else of that era, so profoundly singular, that it still sounds completely out of time.

A few years back, I started DJing the tracks again, and saw how the world was still surprised by what Eric had made, and the idea of this compilation was born.

So, in the end, Eric, we totally got to release your records anyway. We heart you, man.

-James Murphy

For the 10th anniversary of Museum Of Love's self-titled debut, the band made a very special white label version, with a cover composed of various velum prints and an insert featuring Pat's incredible lyrics, which were tragically left out of the original design.

Limited to 100 pieces total. Assembled by hand by Museum Of Love at DFA HQ. 

**

Museum of Love is the musical project of Pat Mahoney (Founding member of LCD Soundsystem) and Dennis McNany (Jee Day).

Leftovers from the 2025 Brixton Academy shows in London.

SHIPS FROM THE UK. FINAL SALE, NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES. PLEASE CHECK SIZE CHART HERE BEFORE ORDERING.

Printed on a French Navy Earth Positive EP01L Long Sleeve T-Shirt

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.

Embroidered on a black Champion S700 Powerblend in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, by our friends at General Wear Inc.

Ships free to the US and UK.

The debut album from DFA veteran Shit Robot, this classic double LP comes in an adorably illustrated gatefold sleeve, and features vocal contributions by James and Nancy of LCD, Planningtorock, Alexis from Hot Chip, and Juan Maclean. Highly recommended, you can't beat this price! Comes with a bonus CD copy AND an instant digital download. You have no excuse.

Tracklisting:

1. Tuff Enuff?
2. I Found Love
3. Losing My Patience
4. Take 'Em Up
5. Grim Receiver
6. Simple Things (Work It Out)
7. Answering Machine
8. I Got a Feeling
9. Triumph!!!

 “Stunning.” - Clash

“A beautifully ritualistic trance.” - The Guardian

Mermaid Chunky. It’s all in a name, sometimes. The danceable, costumed, curiosity rich duo of artists Freya Tate and Moina Moin are as imaginative as they profess. Or, to get more to the point, as we all need them to be.

Freya and Moina are two visual artists and musicians from Stroud and South London, places where they importantly found communities (Stroud’s SVA and the capital’s Total Refreshment Centre) of like minded people just as willing to chase down an idea to its possibly illogical conclusion. And it is in the collective and the idea of participation that Mermaid Chunky really clicks. This is a party, a collective dance, made all the better with more: people, ideas, layers, kick drums, recorders, saxophones, frogs.

To wit, the album’s first track and first single, “Céilí,” named after a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering and dance, which builds from a simple recorder line into a swelling, warm burst of major chord dance music. Goosebumps or check your pulse.

Further down the rabbit hole, “Chaperone” is almost boardwalk electro, like Fischerspooner on a ferris wheel; “Frogsporn” and “Nature Girl” are mucky, trippy dirges filled with stalactites of synth and squelch; “Tiny Gymnast” is a kaleidoscopic waltz into the night. Hold onto your seats, ladies and gentlemen.

You might be wondering how we, DFA Records, all the way over in cynical Brooklyn, entered the picture. There was a day a few years ago, sun shining in full Springtime splendor, when James heard something while waiting for a coffee down the street from the office. It sounded simple yet deceptively complex: a dance track where the one - that anchoring first beat in a measure - could be heard a thousand different ways. Frustrated and interested, he Shazamed the song, playing from an episode of Zakia’s Questing show on NTS, and brought it back to the office. (The song, FYI, was “Friends,” from Mermaid Chunky’s VEST EP, released in 2020.) It led to an invitation to open for LCD Soundsystem at Brixton Academy in 2022 and the eventual deal with DFA. Mermaid Chunky has also played live alongside The Comet Is Coming, Alabaster DePlume, Snapped Ankles, and many others.

Tracklist:

1. céilí
2. frogsporn
3. tiny gymnast
4. chaperone
5. medieval
6. nature girl
7. sad nun

All songs written by Freya Tate and Moina Moin

Produced by Mermaid Chunky and Joe Jones

Mixed by Korey Richey, Pablo Morales, and Joe Jones

Mastered by Bob Weston

Photos by Simon Pizzey

Costumes by Mermaid Chunky and Liberty Ray

Incredible remixes of LCD Soundsystem, from the album American Dream.

This 12" features 2 versions of Oh Baby, remixed by Lovefingers.

 **THIS IS A VINYL-ONLY RELEASE** Digital files for this 12" are not available from DFA. 

a1) oh baby (lovefingers remix)
b1) oh baby (lovefingers dub)

“When our first album came out,” Tobin Prinz (guitar, voice) remembers, “we were awkward, miserable...” “Nervous, uncooperative” chips in Suzi Horn (bass, voice, drums), pausing just long enough for Tobin to supply the punchline - “and now look at us!”  

Prinzhorn Dance School are still recognisably the same spiky Brighton-based duo whose ultra-rigorous debut cut through the excess of 2008 like a scimitar through bacon fat. But with their trademark stripped-down intensity now winningly off-set by moments of unabashed tenderness, their third album Home Economics continues and even accelerates the move away from austerity and into human warmth begun by its acclaimed 2011 predecessor Clay Class. 

The starting point for the new record was the band’s “amazing” first US shows - two of their own and a triumphant showing at DFA’s 12th anniversary - in May 2013. Inspired by their American adventure, Prinzhorn Dance School brought the recording process into the heart of their everyday lives. Played and recorded on the move between different flats in Brighton and Hove, then wheeled around town on a hard-drive wrapped in a sleeping bag in a specially-adapted suitcase, Home Economics gave them an escape route from “that frustration you feel when you spend days trying to recapture the intimacy of a particular moment”, Tobin remembers. “This time we could just use the original take, so sometimes these songs are almost like field recordings”. 

All the best six-track albums - The Fall’s Slates, Orange Juice’s Texas Fever - know exactly what they want to say and how they intend to say it. Home Economics shares that infectious sense of urgency. There’s not an inch of spare meat on it - from Reign’s snatched moment of optimism, through Battlefield’s restorative meeting of minds with an urban fox on a drunken walk home in the early hours, to Let Me Go’s concluding tribute to “a love that won’t rewind and will not be deleted”. Spindly yet sensuous, together and alone, exquisitely sad but somehow full of hope, Prinzhorn Dance School knit together disparate and even opposite fragments into an utterly satisfying whole.