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 “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

Limited to 300 copies worldwide.

The Pacific Northwest musician John Greek originally released “I’m Hot For Your Body” as a limited private press 12” single in 1979 - rumors abound that only 100 copies were ever made, though much about this record feels apocryphal. 

Across six minutes of sordid, primal disco-blues, Mr. Greek slowly yields to the power of desire, chasing swirling string synths around the shadows like they’re ghosts, dousing everything in flange it’s lighter fluid. It is both terrifying and undeniable.

With permission from Mr. Greek’s estate, we’ve remastered the original and presented it alongside a even-more-unhinged version from Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold, the duo of Gerry Rooney (co-founder of the legendary Black Cock edits label) and Joel Martin (of Quiet Village).

Not for the faint of heart, this.

Remastered and cut by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service.

Pressed by the good humans at Furnace Record Pressing in Alexandria, VA.

Please welcome back to the program Museum Of Love, the erstwhile duo of Pat Mahoney and Dennis McNany who have returned to the DFA fold with a perfect 7”, two songs like two sides of a coin.

"After Us" is a simple, buoyant pop song heavily tempered by warnings of a bleak future. The old "sugar with the medicine" approach. 

"Look Of Disgust" is its perfect foil. A notty, almost industrial sounding wind up that ends just like a slap in the face.

Both songs were mixed by Nick Millhiser and mastered by Bob Weston. Purple vinyl pressed at Third Man Pressing in Detroit, MI.

Fernando Pulichino's slinky, syrupy dance floor records have been cycling through DFA DJ bags for years, so it was only a matter of time until he made an official appearance on company letterhead. The OG version of "I Got, She's Got" which appears here on B2 is a romping, howl-at-the-moon burner, but it's the remix that really goes and notched the A1 placement at 45RPM. Between the two, is another bomb, "She's Playing With Fire." All three tracks are weapons, trust us.

Mastered and cut by Bob Weston and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing in Alexandria, VA.

"A merciless triumph" - The Wire

You must surrender. Because if you’ve followed Naum Gabo over the past 15 years - across various 12-inches, styles, and notable labels - and you’re listening to “F. Lux,” their first proper album, then you’re probably wondering how you wound up here, all the way down, barely able to see through the brain-clogging atmosphere and towering low-end.

“F. Lux” is deep, enthralling listen, alternating between moments of pounding, world-ending techno (“Schinokapsala” and “This 1¨º∆”) and sharply imagined, surrealist scenes painted with metallic machines ("Aora" and "Haerstag"). There is light to be found in the darkness, but the only way out is through.

Naum Gabo are Glasgow’s Jonnie Wilkes (also known as one-half of DJ duo Optimo) and James Savage (prolific mastering engineer). F. Lux was written and produced entirely by them at their Glasgow Hottrax Studios and mastered by James Savage. The album's front cover artwork is a painting by cherished Scottish painter, Andrew Cranston. The vinyl was pressed at MPO in France using lacquers cut by Bob Weston in Chicago.

1. Aora
2. Tols
3. Schinokapsala
4. Hebust Cometh
5. Haerstag
6. This 1¨º∆
7. Nothing In My Hand
8. Parasymptofelia

Dickie Landry has blown many minds around the world in his lengthy career as a jazz and avant-garde saxophonist of the highest regard. He was a founding member of the Phillip Glass Ensemble and (according to Wikipedia lore) introduced Paul Simon to zydeco, one of the indigenous sounds of his native southern Louisiana. Rarely, though, does Dickie’s saxophone make you want to get up and dance like a crazy person.



Such is the effect of “Hang The Rich,” a nugget of slinky, ecstatic punk-funk that was until recently completely lost to the sands of time. Recorded in 1986 (or thereabouts) in New Orleans, it’s the kind of song that compels you to move any which way you can, drunk on indignation.

The track came to DFA via LCD Soundsystem's Korey Richey, who knows Dickie from back home in Louisiana.

After a lengthy search, we located the original tapes in a storage locker somewhere in the Southeast and finally were able to get a clean, quality transfer done here at DFA HQ.

From there, we only had one person in mind for a more DJ-friendly edit: Glasgow’s JD Twitch, one half of Optimo and a selector of similarly puckish spirit. Twitch’s ability to place older, skronkier sounds in a modern dance floor context are unmatched, and his edit hard and jagged before opening up into those beautiful rapturous moments that make the original so goddamn special.

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

Embroidered bolt on a Richardson 320 Dad Hat.

100% cotton, Enzyme wash. Unstructured, six-panel, low pro profile. Pre-curved bill. Cloth backstrap with Richardson flip buckle.

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

As photographer Tim Soter says in the preface, "This book is for the fans. It's for the gearheads, the photo nerds, the party people, the music plus ones and the plus nones. It's for the artists themselves, who can expect to see a few photos they haven't seen before. This book is for those who got turned on to DFA after the fact and of course, it's for the ones who were there."

160 pages with 111 color and 35 black and white photos; portraits, parties, candids, office and studio documentation, live performances. Every purchase includes a 4x6 print shown in the product shot (turntable and homemade slipmat). All books are signed.

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.

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.

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