Matt Berry's 2011 debut recording Witchazel – prized by Laszlo Cravensworth fans – will be recirculated by Acid Jazz Records on December 12th.
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A coal-black vinyl repressing of Matt Berry's 'Witchazel' is being released on December 12th via Acid Jazz Records.
Matt Berry’s debut album on Acid Jazz and the start of his now-15 year relationship with the label. It is of course the home of the fantastic 'Take My Hand’ - known the world over at the theme to the BAFTA Award winning TV show Toast Of London.
Last year the track became a surprise internet sensation, and all remaining physical copies of the album were hoovered up. Which is a shame, because the album’s Wicker Man-inspired folk funk is a marvel, and gives us the roadmap for Matt’s continued success.
Acid Jazz will start shipping a new black vinyl edition of the album on December 12th. This will not be available to general distribution until early 2026.
Pre-order it directly from Acid Jazz right here. Listen to "Take My Hand" below.
Raising a glass to What We Do In The Shadows' Matt Berry with a few career highlight clips, a chat with Tom Scharpling and a new single.
Matt Berry - "Silver Rings" single
Following the January release of Matt Berry's acclaimed new album ‘Heard Noises’ (you can get a vinyl copy and most of his prior recordings directly from Acid Jazz Records right here), we’re excited to announce this exclusive special edition 7” single, in a unique collaboration between Matt and New Street Adventure.
‘Silver Rings’ is one of the stand-out tracks from the album, described as a ‘late 60’s sounding pop classic [that] gives Richard Hawley some competition in the songwriting stakes’ (Louder Than War), the production evocative of a West Coast sound defined by 12-string guitars, session crews and classic studios, befitting the quirky, California cool of the album.
The perfect grounding for interpretations, Matt offered it to newly-reformed Acid Jazz label-mates New Street Adventure, who responded by creating a masterful, contrasting retro-soul inspired take, mixed by Colemine Records associate Rafferty Swink.
‘Heard Noises’ reached No. 22 on the Official Album Chart upon release and was described as “One of the most joyous albums you’re likely to hear in 2025.” (Classic Pop), “great music for an occult go-go dancing competition.” (Shindig!), and “Arguably his best album yet.” (Record Collector).
Presented in a special picture sleeve (see below), designed by Matt himself with an allusion to the lyric, and limited to just 500 copies – available exclusively from Acid Jazz. Get a copy via Bandcamp right here.
Matt Berry aka 'Laszlo Cravensworth' from What We Do In The Shadows has a swingin' new selection of tunes called "Heard Noises" out Friday.
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Following the huge acclaim of Matt Berry’s 2021 album The Blue Elephant (“A sonic odyssey” – Uncut) – as well as last year’s one-off album of library music collaboration with the KPM label (“another string to Berry’s impressive bow” – Prog magazine) – we present Heard Noises, Matt’s eighth studio album with Acid Jazz, out Friday (January 24). Get a copy on limited edition psychedelic swirl vinyl, sky blue vinyl, soft-pack CD or cassette via Bandcamp right here. Sadly the 8-track cartridge version is already sold out.
Out now, lead single ‘I Gotta Limit’ finds Matt trading lines with Kitty Liv (Kitty, Daisy and Lewis) as a man after a second chance with a woman impatient with his pleading. With a song structure inspired by Sly Stone, in a little over three minutes ‘I Gotta Limit’ crams in a plethora of musical ideas on an instantly catchy song which is part Northern Soul, part psych.
In contrast to The Blue Elephant’s dizzying trip through an idiosyncratic love of British psych, freakbeat, acid rock and late ‘60s pop, Heard Noises finds Matt heading for a looser, Californian psychedelia through his love of the trippier sounds of space pop and rock, and his ear for a haunting melody.
Once again, the album is testament to Matt’s exceptional musicianship, production skills and songwriting prowess. Almost every instrument is played by Matt including guitars, bass, a variety of keyboards (acoustic and Wurlitzer pianos), synthesizers and organs (including Moogs, Vox, Farfisa, Gibson, Eminent organs) and Mellotron.
He is joined by long-time collaborator, neo-prog drummer Craig Blundell, and guests including Pokerface’s Natasha Lyonne and back with Matt is The Shins/Fruit Bats’ Eric D. Johnson (acoustic guitar, autoharp and backing vocals on ‘Why On Fire?’, ‘To Live For What Once Was’ and ‘Snakes That Slide’), Phil Scraggs (lap steel guitar on ‘To Live For What Once Was’ and ‘Snakes That Slide’), Rosie McDermott (vocals on ‘Sky High’) and the S. Club 60s Choir (featuring Matt’s mum).
In many ways Heard Noises could be considered the perfect distillation of the extraordinary breadth of musical ideas across Matt’s albums to date. Listen to "Wedding Photo Stranger" and "I Gotta Limit" followed by a What's In My Bag? segment.
Best known for the What We Do In The Shadows theme "You're Dead," Norma Tanega gets an overdue compilation and book.
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The double vinyl archival collection of the late Norma Tanega’s music, I’m The Sky: Studio and Demo Recordings, 1964–1971 has just been released via Anthology Recordings. Surveying her two commercially released studio albums, an unreleased LP, and a trove of unheard demos, the collection can now be streamed or purchased here. Listen to the track “A Goodbye Song” (below) from her elusive 1971 sophomore album I Don’t Think it Will Hurt if You Smile.
I’m The Sky follows the Anthology Editions release of Tanega’s comprehensive visual biography, Try to Tell a Fish About Water (9"x10", trade paperback, 160 pages), detailing her career as a visual artist. The book is a compendium of her paintings, musings, and more, shared alongside reminiscences by some of her closest friends and collaborators of her winding journey through art, music, and community. You can get a copy of Norma's book right here.
The first half of I’m The Sky… collects songs from Tanega’s two studio albums, 1966’s Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog (produced and arranged by Herb Bernstein) and I Don’t Think…, as well two tracks from an unreleased 1969 album, Snow Cycles, while the second half deep dives into the well of unreleased demos discovered in her Claremont, CA, home after she passed in 2019. The 27 unadorned recordings highlight the wit, poetry, intimacy and depth of feeling in her songs, which have continued to resonate with later generations of artists—including Yo La Tengo and They Might Be Giants, who have each covered her 1965 hit, “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog.”
While perhaps best recognized for her own recordings, or for her multiple songs written or co-written for Dusty Springfield (who was also her partner for a number of years), or nowadays for “You’re Dead” (her song that soundtracks the opening credits of both the film and TV show What We Do in the Shadows), Tanega was also a wildly talented visual artist and a central pillar in the Claremont creative community. Try to Tell a Fish About Water offers an overview of her work and history as an artist, musician, teacher, and more through previously unseen photos, illustrations, journal entries, and other ephemera. In compiling images of Tanega’s art with reflections and remembrances from some of those who knew her best, the book draws a portrait of a beloved, distinctive creator celebrated not only for her extraordinary talent, but also for her contagious spirit, humour, generosity, and warmth.
Tanega, according to her friends, liked to say that she had three lives: music, art, and teaching. “It is typical of Norma that while other people have stages of their lives, Norma had three lives. She was just too big for one,” explains her friend and colleague Moana Vercoe in Try to Tell a Fish About Water. Perhaps now, through these releases that celebrate her art, music, and life, she will get her fourth.
Listen to "A Goodbye Song" and "You're Dead" below.
