What he says: “Hello, my name is Kevin and I record as Sad Eyed Beatniks, Present Electric, and Tam Lin. I also run the label Paisley Shirt Records that has put out releases from artists like Flowertown, Hits, Tony Jay, Cindy, April Magazine, Galore, Whitney’s Playland, Mister Baby, Nights Templar, Plastic Candles, R.E. Seraphin, Portabella and more. I’ve been making music under the name Sad Eyed Beatniks since 2014; when the original intent was to make simple 4-track cassette recordings with vocals, guitars, bass, and drum machine and post to Soundcloud with screenshots of various musicians. In late 2019, I stopped recording line-in and learned to play the drums; the releases after tend to have a bigger sound. Sad Eyed Beatniks performed as a live band for the first time in 2021, with Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown) on guitar, Mike Ramos (Tony Jay, Flowertown) on drums, and Kati Mashikian (April Magazine, Mister Baby) on bass. While the last Sad Eyed Beatniks album, Claudia’s Ethereal Weaver focused on the themes of change and rebirth, the new album, Ten Brocades, looks at a series of vignettes from the eyes of different characters. Mike Ramos plays drums/keys and Karina Gill plays guitar/keys on a number of tracks, while Karina painted the wonderful cover of a Peking Opera singer”.

Tendertwin is the project of Istanbul-born, London-based Bilge Nur Yilmaz. Bilge Nur Yilmaz’s distinctive voice subtly soaks up Turkey’s rich musical heritage from the lapping tides of the Black Sea and Mediterranean and filters it through drifting time spent in Philadelphia, Oxford, and London, — a familiar folk sound with an industrial glitch where landscapes are entangled in ambient sounds, wrong-footing melodies and unpredictable arrangements. 
Nurtured transatlantic, Tendertwin is a forager for half-lived stories. Inspired by the likes of Tim Buckley, Joan Armatrading, Meredith Monk, Mitski, and Debussy — Tendertwin creates celestial folk mixed with ambient noise and alt-rock tones. Her debut EP Ship Argo, out on July 5th, takes inspiration from a variety of disciplines involving the works of William Blake, Michel Foucault, Jean Cocteau, Euripides (Médea), Faith Wilding, and Ingmar Bergman. 
Ship Argo is a collection of songs that reveal Tendertwin’s introspective musings on themes such as water dementia, unrequited love, and the transient nature of existence and belonging. Each track is imbued with a sense of wanderlust and a longing for connection, mirroring Yilmaz’s own nomadic journey through life.    

Tash Keary started her journey learning the drums as a 9-year-old. The only musician in her family, it felt more a hobby than a calling until she joined grassroots music organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors in 2018, becoming part of their Female Frontline band. Playing in London’s jazz scene, she crossed paths with saxophonist Joe Henwood, building a reputation in the capital after a decade with afro-jazz outfit Nubiyan Twist. Meeting after being hired for the same gig in 2019, they started to improvise together. Last year’s EP Slice, one of the most exciting, experimental, and intense releases of 2023, was their debut record. Honing their fearless sound through a residency at Brixton’s iconic venue The Windmill, as well as on support slots across the UK and Europe with fellow heavyweights black midi and Gilla Band, O. – the London-based duo – have now distilled their unique live energy into their debut album, WeirdOs. Featuring production from Dan Carey, WeirdOs is Tash and Joe at their most raucous and free. Across 10 tracks of high-octane instrumentals recorded live to tape, the duo encompass everything from cathartic dancefloor drops, to junglist breakbeats, intricate jazz lines, and sludgy, menacing doom metal.

The duo consisting of Sean Armstrong and Rachel Taylor -both former members of Spinning Coin, a Scottish band formed in Glasgow and signed to the Domino Records imprint Geographic Music, run by Stephen Pastel- moved to Berlin in 2019 and started a new project called Slipper, joined by Jakub Tyro-Niezgoda in 2020. Using guitar, bass, drums, and vocal harmonies, they conjure a sound of their own that is simple and true. They record, mix, and release their music independently, between Berlin and Warsaw. Slipper self titled first record was recorded in Wedding in 2020. Their second album, What Time Is It? was recorded between Berlin and Warsaw and was out in 2021. On June 21st A Tiny Rose Made Out Of Clay, recorded between Berlin and Stanisławów, in the spring and summer of 2023, was available to stream via the Rehberge Records website, and to purchase on limited edition chrome cassette. The title of the first song on their new third record is Sensitive People Fall In Love. We, at TRISTE© love those kind of titles and sounds that remind us of the gentle psychedelia of Galaxie 500 and Damon & Naomi, as well as 60s psychedelic folk coming out of Laurel Canyon. We are really impressed, like we haven’t been in a while. And we’re sure you’ll be as impressed as we are.