LIMITED TO 250 COPIES WORLDWIDE

FIRST-EVER VINYL RELEASE OF A LITTLE-HEARD CULT RELEASE FROM THE EARLY 2000S

REMASTERED AND CUT AT 45RPM BY BOB WESTON.

ORIGINAL GRAMMY-NOMINATED ARTWORK TRANSPOSED BY MIKE VADINO.

SINGLE LP HOUSED IN A CRAFT STOCK GATEFOLD WITH A TIPPED-IN FOLD-OUT FEATURING LYRICS, LINER NOTES, AND PHOTOS. PLUS A FUZZY CLOUD ON THE FRONT. (YES, IT'S EXPENSIVE. IT COST A LOT TO MAKE THEM THIS WAY!)

“no, you can’t take them was a dfa office staple for the better part of 10 years. we were hungover and cynical, but this song always got through to a very human part of every one of us. kids listing what you can’t take with you when you die: a basketball. a radio. a clarinet. my mom. it’s a great DJ set ender, too, repeating “all you take is love”—like a lost track making weirds on mushrooms weep at the loft or something, but new and vital. the entire record is filled with moments like this. darkness and light? how will i know? it’s impossible not to care about this music.” 

- James Murphy

In 2003, The Coleman Center, an Alabama non-profit arts organization, welcomed Stuart Hyatt as an artist-musician in residence. The center, which encourages and supports projects that engage and reflect the unique surrounding community, invited Hyatt to explore local music.

Four weeks later, he emerged with The Clouds.

Hyatt, reckoning with the notion of mortality, had written and recorded songs with a variety of local citizens, social groups, and schoolchildren.

The result is a record that is plainly, if not stylistically, Americana - a patchwork of voices sown together by some simple songs about the one thing we all experience.

The original release was super DIY - Hyatt’s grandparents helped him assemble the packaging, which also somehow managed to score a Grammy nomination in the category. A copy of the CD somehow wound up in the DFA offices, where it was shared and beloved but still sat until 2020, when we decided it may finally be worth trying to re-release on vinyl.

That process took two years and an insane attention to detail, but the final product is part and parcel with the original project - a unique document of a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration.

Needle drop and a floaty, child-like piano sucks you into the post-punk papier-mâché world of JJULIUS, where everyone speaks Swedish, listens to Young Marble Giants and eats nothing but Twizzlers.

Vol. 2 is, perhaps obviously, a continuation of the world-building JJULIUS did on Vol. 1, which is a little more raw, a little wilder in spirit and sold out at both source and every record store that managed to get its hand on a copy. It will also re-arrive this summer on DFA this summer alongside its successor. (Order here.)

JJULIUS is Gotebörg’s Julius Pierstorff, who, with his partner Elin Engström aka Loopsel, also records as Monokultur and runs the tiny label Mamma’s Mysterious Jukebox.

The music they make both together and separately is entirely their own, with its own rules of what instruments come and go; when a song begins and ends or swells like a marshmallow. And yet! It’s also referencing all the records we love and know - Young Marble Giants, Postcard Records, early Cabaret Voltaire, and even contemporary local peers like Mathaverskan.

Buy the ticket, take the trip.

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.

“What could have been a mere anthology of the label's uniformly excellent 2004 output is, additionally, a meticulously assembled personal narrative. This is a label that balances its musical and commercial aspirations with an earthy, no-bullshit disposition and-- let's say it-- the world's best fucking handclaps.” - Nick Sylvester, Pitchfork, in the heady days of 2004.

Behold, Compilation #2. A compendium what are arguably the best prime-era DFA cuts, mostly all recorded and/or remixed at the old DFA Studios on W. 13th Street (with some notable exceptions), released as 12-inches and then compiled onto a 3xCD set for convenience because, at the time, people actually bought CDs more than vinyl.

Now, in the spirit of time not really being much of a linear thing anymore, and for our own selfish desire to have this version of Liquid Liquid’s “Bellhead,” produced by the DFA, finally committed to wax, we have reverse engineered this thing back onto vinyl and presented it as a four-record boxed set.

We went back and found the master tapes or files for each song - a not insignificant effort given our habit of disorganization. We then rather painstakingly resequenced and remastered it with the guy we trust with such things: Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service. The lacquers Bob cut were plated and pressed at what we believe to be one of the best pressing plants in the country: QRP in Salina, Kansas.

We tell you all of this to say: we took this shit pretty seriously. Because we felt like it was important and because we felt like some folks would really appreciate it. It sounds remarkable. It looks great. (Rob Carmichael re-did the original packaging, adding a new photo from DFA OG Tim Saccenti from one of the original parties at W. 13th St.) Of course, we somehow can’t stop ourselves from making labeling errors - Pixeltan’s “That’s the Way I Like It” somehow escaped the center labels on the fourth record. It’s kind of the DFA curse. Has to be!

DFA Compilation #2 Vinyl Tracklist

SIDE A

1. Black Leotard Front - Casual Friday

1. J.O.Y. - Sunplus (DFA Remix)
2. The Juan MacLean - I Robot
3. The Juan MacLean - Dance Hall Modulator Dub

1. Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom - Rise (DFA Remix)
2. Black Dice - Wasteder
3. J.O.Y. - Sunplus

1. LCD Soundsystem - Yeah (Pretentious Version)
2. The Rapture - Sister Saviour (DFA Dub)

1. Liquid Liquid - Bellhead
2. LCD Soundsystem - Yeah (Crass Version)

1. Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom - El Monte
2. The Rapture - Alabama Sunshine

1. Pixeltan - Get Up / Say What (DFA Remix)
2. LCD Soundsystem - Beat Connection (Extended Disco Dub)

1. Pixeltan - That’s The Way I Like It
2. Black Dice - Endless Happiness (EYE Remix)
3. The Juan MacLean - Less Than Human

This is a fake-live album, featuring the live lineup, played live, just not in front of people or anything. Features lots of yr LCD faves like All My Friends, Us V. Them, I Can Change, and Daft Punk Is Playing At My House. 

Tracklist

Yellow jacket + Black vinyl edition. 

At long last, Factory Floor presents their highly anticipated self-titled debut album. A vivid snapshot of a progressive band smashing through yet another ceiling, it’s the first full-length statement from the group that earned a powerful reputation on the strength of the “Fall Back” and “Two Different Ways” singles for DFA—not to mention early releases for Optimo Music and Blast First Petite. Leading up to the release of Factory Floor, the band will play select European festival dates this summer.  

Produced and recorded by the group in their North London warehouse space on a vintage mixing desk originally used by Dave Stewart three decades ago to record all the Eurythmics’ early hits, Factory Floor is a visceral trip through the band’s repertoire. The record opens with “Turn It Up,” their most minimal track to date, mixed in astonishing detail by Timothy “Q” Wiles (VCMG, Afrika Bambaataa). “Here Again” is almost (but not quite) their pop song, replete with cascading arpeggios counterbalanced by bubbly synth melody lines and plaintive vocals. 

Factory Floor also contains the definitive version of “Two Different Ways,” followed by the muscular and sleek “Fall Back.” “How You Say” finds the band channelling New York’s dance underground—think ESG and Delta Five. “Work Out” is anything but; despite the desultory title, it is in fact sinister street-sound electro. The album closes out with “Breathe In,” a funkified acid disco classic. 

Perhaps the most unlikely aspect of Factory Floor’s rise to notoriety is their versatility. Even their most ardent of fans describe their sound as punishing, yet they are equally at home playing raves, alternative festivals, art galleries, cinemas, nightclubs and rock shows; on top of that they’re as likely to collaborate with members of Throbbing Gristle and New Order (not to mention Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire, Simon Fisher Turner and Peter Gordon) as they are with contemporary artists such as Haroon Mirza and Hannah Sawtell.

Tracklisting:

1. Turn It Up
2. Here Again
3. One
4. Fall Back
5. Two
6. How You Say
7. Two Different Ways
8. Three
9. Work Out
10. Breathe In

The debut album from DFA veteran Shit Robot, this classic double LP comes in an adorably illustrated gatefold sleeve, and features vocal contributions by James and Nancy of LCD, Planningtorock, Alexis from Hot Chip, and Juan Maclean. Highly recommended, you can't beat this price! Comes with a bonus CD copy AND an instant digital download. You have no excuse.

Tracklisting:

1. Tuff Enuff?
2. I Found Love
3. Losing My Patience
4. Take 'Em Up
5. Grim Receiver
6. Simple Things (Work It Out)
7. Answering Machine
8. I Got a Feeling
9. Triumph!!!

'In A Dream' is the third album from The Juan Maclean. If anything, this new LP is further evidence of the "undeniable creative chemistry between house music wizard Juan Maclean & vocalist / former LCD Soundsystem member Nancy Whang". (Pitchfork) The album takes its musical cues from Moroder's Munich to the Funky Nassau sounds of Compass Point and to anytime in downtown NYC.

An album of high anticipated, brand new material on the heels of The Juan Maclean's acclaimed club bangers from the last couple of years. Features singles "A Place Called Space" and "A Simple Design". Everyone that has heard the record loves the hell out of it, and I promise you will too. 

Tracklisting:

1. A Place Called Space
2. Here I Am
3. Love Stops Here
4. You Were A Runaway
5. Running Back To You
6. I've Waited So Long
7. Charlotte
8. A Simple Design
9. The Sun Will Never Set On Our Love

Deluxe White Vinyl 2XLP with 4 slipcovers and a gatefold jacket with lyrics and spot-gloss. Yeah, it's luxurious. Features Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire), I Walked Alone, and Shangri-La. Comes with an instant digital download. 

Shangri-La, YACHT’s second album for DFA Records and the follow-up to their critically acclaimed full-length, See Mystery Lights, is the duo’s most thematically ambitious work to date, showcasing an exponential evolution in songwriting and sharp, surreal hooks. When the darkly anthemic track, “Dystopia (The Earth Is on Fire),” was released digitally in April, YACHT offered a window onto the new album. Members Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans described the track as an “apocalyptic fight song, a cautionary tale, a science-fiction story for our particular eco-sociopolitical landscape.” These themes are echoed throughout the conceptually unified Shangri-La. In contrast to the meditative, mantra-esque quality of their debut, Shangri-La is a narrative work.

The album explores mankind’s eternal pursuit of Utopia with a soundtrack comprised of compelling pop melodies, fiercely druggy grooves and an endlessly diverse canon of influences. The message here is that the future is a blank slate upon which anything can be imposed. Shangri-La is literally YACHT’s idea of Utopia: a place made of songs. Never a band to stay in one place sonically, visually or philosophically, YACHT transformed themselves, taking advantage of a proper studio for the very first time and using more live instrumentation than ever before.

Recording in the West Texas desert without an engineer, the duo employed a kaleidoscope of genres—ranging from disco to psychedelia, from krautrock to punk—all culminating in pure pop. Shangri-La was performed, mixed, and recorded by Bechtolt and Evans themselves. The Utopian illustration featured in the album’s encyclopedic cover design was painted by iconic science fiction illustrator Jim Burns, three-time Hugo Award-winner.

Tracklisting:

1. Utopia
2. Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire)
3. I Walked Alone
4. Love in the Dark
5. One Step
6. Holy Roller
7. Beam Me Up
8. Paradise Engineering
9. Tripped and Fell in Love
10. Shangri-La

Black Meteoric Star was written, recorded and produced by Gavin Russom between September of 2006 and December of 2008.

This CD contains the entire 12" series.

Excluding "Dawn" the tracks have been edited for album length.

The original digital transfers of tracks 1-4 were done in Berlin.

This recording was achieved using specialized electronic circuits designed and built by Gavin Russom.

Tracklist:
1) Death Tunnel
2) World Eater
3) Domination
4) Anthem
5) Dream Catcher
6) Dawn