Some of the treasures that can be found whilst delving into Mozambique via Angola's undergrowth: Wilhelm Peters, the German zoologist credited with the discovery of the Almiqui, a fantastical menagerie of creatures both real and imaginary, a guest spot by Tove Jansson's mysterious Hattifatteners, musings on the nightmarish effect of children's entertainment and an obsession with a variety of hats.

Can coherent music be made by two people who have never met, and who have only recently delved into the world of music making? That was the question in mind as, fresh from their initial solo experimentations as Sister Ruth and Gnomefoam, Dean Birkett and Steve Bromley embarked upon a journey as fantastical as the creatures contained within these songs. Snatches of ambient noise and hints of melodies fluttered back and forth through the twisted tubes of the internet. These messages unfurled and blossomed into fully fledged recordings, they stacked upon one another in themes and narrative strands that matured into Mozambique via Angola.

Here, the sombre, sparse piano melodies of Sister Ruth wash up against the clattering cut-and-paste stylings of Gnomefoam. Effects-laden spoken word vocals proliferate throughout, at times bubbling below the surface of the music and occasionally bursting into the open to provide a lyrical focus. A variety of styles is on offer here – the warm strummed guitar and calm vocals of “Rodent squelch/ coffee beans”, the menacing drones and reversed laughter of “The Berlin Zoological Society” and the brittle beauty of “The wide-eyed jigsaw puzzle”. The album climaxes with the title track, “Mozambique via Angola”, in which the whispered tale of an old man and a flying saucer lies beneath the quietly intoned bullet points of a journey from Mozambique to Angola. All the while, a piano melody and a thumping beat pull the song - and album - onwards towards its conclusion.

"Things" is the debut full-length from Jason the Swamp.  It was originally released on CD-R by Popmonster in mid-2007, but Popmonster called it quits later that year.  So now it lives here, as a mission statement, in all of it's fuzzy, lo-fi glory.  

"I had been making music for a little while before I made this, but my previous methods never felt right to me.  My old music was missing a certain human quality.  It was too calculated, and without imperfections it lacked soul.  Then I discovered a Tascam, 4-track cassette recorder, in my basement.  I think one of my brother's friends left it there (you can't have it back).  Recording with the 4-track was kind of a de-evolution for me, but I felt like I had hit the main nerve of musical creativity.  I started to create things without trying too  hard; instead I was just trying things in general.  Eventually, an album began to take shape, and "Things" is what came out.  It's far from perfect, as am I."  

- Jason

Notes:
Moon River was written by Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini.
Tracks 4 & 5 contain samples of Dion McGregor, sleep-talker extraordinaire.

Austin, Texas has the official slogan of "The Live Music Capital of the World", a brave claim to stake, but with SXSW pulling in the flocks, then it would be a brave man to dispute that.

Straight out of Austin, battling through the masses come "These are Words", an exciting four piece, and with them comes Prism, an album that flows like honey from your 'Spoon' (Austin joke included).

From the shoegaze(y) sombre opening, the album takes a change of direction and sounds like some jewel left on the mantelpiece of music by the Elephant Six collective. Before you start to take in the change of pace, you are left moving uncontrollably to "Bird", a track which is guaranteed to get everybody moving. Counter fit, then turns the album back on its head again, with distorted psychedelic sounds that sound straight out of Austin.

"I wanted to do some simple songs that were really fun to make, and I did.  The two main focuses of this EP are the multi-part harmonies, and the poly-rhythmic, junk percussion, both of which are very fun to do.  All of the other instruments on there are merely for decoration, while the mouth sounds and drums are the real meat of it.  It's kind of tribal in that way.  Each of the songs were started and finished within a few hours, though on separate days.  No lyrics were actually written down.  They were just made up while recording, as needed." - Jason

Sounds Underground features vocals by the incomparable Jessi Lively.

Straight out of Dublin, this Duck Dispensary come to Rack & Ruin, with glockenspiel , drum machine, guitar, laptop and a whole feast of other instruments in tow. acupofteaandasliceofcake is their first full length, and what an excellent fuzzy pop album it is.

Featuring ten catchy fuzzy disjointed pop songs, this is bound to bring a smile to your face.