Pieter Nooten

Rumored to be one of the most intriguing collaborations of 2018, Rocket Girl presents Pieter Nooten’s 4th solo album ‘STEM’ as Nooten teams up with legendary producer/ mixer/sound-artist Stephen W Tayler (Kate Bush, Underworld) at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios. ‘STEM’ is probably Nooten’s finest work since collaborating with Michael Brook 30 years ago, producing the timeless cult classic ‘Sleeps With The Fishes’.

As the post-punk dust began to settle, a particular strand of artist began applying a knowingly distant, colder aesthetic to their work. While much of the scene began to be dominated by bigger budget, commercially minded former punk and new wave acts, a darker undercurrent did survive, often more interesting, more dangerous and sexier than anything that could be heard on Top Of The Pops at the time. The first generation of the darkwave movement consisted of bands that were equally influenced by the fractured drama of Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure as they were by the art damaged experimentation of Cabaret Voltaire, Wire and Throbbing Gristle, always rich in Gothic spirt, societal displacement, urban isolation and sexual energy.

Out by early April is the brand new Clan Of Xymox album “Days Of Black”. The band finished the recordings and mixing in December. The mixing of tracks took 3 weeks in total, during which the band has been “spending time to the littlest of details” as they say.

Deluxe Expanded Collectors item in Gatefold jacket with Lyrics. Remastered from original analog tapes containing several bonus tracks.Released Late 2018, still some copies in stock. This is the breakout album for Clan of Xymox, who changed their name to Xymox for their new 4 albums starting with Twist of Shadows.Incredible album, with several strings produced by Tony Visconti (Bowie producer), from start to finish this album is mesmerizing.

Thanks to a roster including Cocteau Twins and Pixies, UK imprint 4AD has maintained its status as a force in independent music for more than 30 years. Author Martin Aston talks about his exhaustive new history of the label.