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No Fighting In The War Room is the debut album from hotly-tipped Sheffield four-piece Harrisons. Fans of earthy lyrics, northern accents, hard guitars and good old fashioned rock 'n' roll read on, but don't be too quick to pigeonhole. Harrisons may hail from the same fertile scene that spawned the ubiquitous Arctic Monkeys, but this debut album is in a class of its own. "We feel we have made an album of diversity" say the band. "It sounds like everything we wanted and more."

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Buy the limited edition vinyl LP of No Fighting In The War Room now from the Melodic shop and receive a free CD promo copy of the album and a free, numbered Mondays Arms remixes 12". ORDER HERE.

Fit is the latest single from Windmill, the Buckinghamshire-based artist who, through the majesty of his debut album, Puddle City Racing Lights, is already being described as the British answer to Arcade Fire. Possessed of a voice like Neil Young on a helium comedown, Windmill's songs swell with bruised emotions, fragile melodies and bombastic orchestration. Beginning with a sting of brass, Fit finds Windmill pleading, 'Please pull your weight', over the ubiquitous piano, jagged guitars and cacophonous drums.

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'Whirring' is the debut single from Arms, aka 24-year old Brooklynite and multi-instrumentalist Todd Goldstein. In Arms (one of Goldstein's three bands, including indie pop up-and-comers Harlem Shakes and lo-fi duo the Sea & the Gulls), influences ranging from Stephen Merritt to Slowdive to post-punk are channelled into music that looks beyond the usual realms of the singer songwriter - think of Arms as a band, but with one person calling all the artistic shots.

In Arms' incandescent first single 'Whirring' (and its B-side, 'Jon The Escalator'), a Chameleons-esque shimmer engulfs a soaring, hopeful melody, with lyrics alluding to the time when Goldstein first moved to New York, struggling to cope with big city life. Clearly, the sound of the Big Apple got under his skin - his songs are, at once, very personal and very New York.

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Heading up the hotly anticipated debut album No Fighting In The War Room, Dear Constable is the latest single from Sheffield scamps Harrisons. And like previous releases Wishing Well, Blue Note and Monday’s Arms, it’s another blue-collar belter; a vitriolic rant set to an infectious dance beat.

“Dear Constable is basically an open letter of complaint to society,” say the band. “It kind of sums up what we’re all about – it’s got a good solid groove and, unlike a lot of music today, it actually says something.”

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'Strings and percussion, ominous echoes and soft, sweet choirs add richness to tales of asthmatics and fashion houses, plastic pre-flight seats and boarding lounges that you can't help returning to.' The Guardian

You might not know his name yet, but you soon will. Windmill - aka 26-year old Matthew Thomas Dillon - is emerging as one of the country's best singer-songwriters, his music a heady distillation of US indie, early '70s melancholia and twisted folk-pop. Born and raised in Newport Pagnell, Dillon's music has always been his escape. Puddle City Racing Lights may be his first `proper' release, but it follows countless homemade albums recorded on a £140 four track and intended for only him and a few close friends to listen to.

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'It's psychedelic dance music for a generation that prefers liquor.' Pitchfork

'Like listening to a hipster jukebox as the past moves in and out of focus.' Mojo

Following their critically acclaimed, eponymously titled debut album, the ever-prolific Working For A Nuclear Free City are set to release four brand new tracks as the Rocket EP. In WFANFC's world, there are no constants. The album found favour with fans of dance music, electronica and indie for its wide-ranging musical styles and textures. The Rocket EP looks set to do the same, encompassing loose, Beta Band-style grooves, neat Krautrock touches and even a spoken word intro (Shangri-La's, eat your heart out).

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Manchester's sonic terrorists The Longcut are set to start the New Year in style with news of a cracking double A side single, Idiot Check / You Got The Love. The former is a standout track from the band's live set that didn't quite fit the mood of last year's critically acclaimed debut album, A Call And Response; the latter is exactly what you're hoping it is - a post-rock cover of the classic The Source feat. Candi Staton track. And there's a back-room change too: this release sees the band going indie with a 7"-only release.

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Monday's Arms is the latest single from Sheffield rockers Harrisons, and it's further proof that this is a band to watch for 2007. Eschewing the upstart leanings of previous releases Blue Note and Wishing Well, this latest single finds Harrisons in full-on, floor-filling disco mode, but in a down-to-earth, working class hero kind of way. We ain't talking Scissor Sisters here.

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The latest release from Outputmessage –aka New York-born Bernard Emmanuel Farley - is an intriguing prospect: five unique remixes of Sommeil, a highlight of his 2006 album Nebulae. A celebrated remixer himself, Outputmessage has enlisted a few friends to give their own slant on the Kraftwerk-inspired original. It's a royal treatment for a track that almost didn't make the final cut. “It's one of my favourite tracks on the album and could have been lost,”says Bernard. .“I thought it was too simple but I'm glad I recorded it now.”

Harrisons
No Fighting In The War Room
MELO052
28th January 2008