Includes unlimited streaming of Cherrystones Presents Critical Mass Vol. 2 'Hearts Of Champions'
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 5 days
Purchasable with gift card
£25GBPor more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Digipak CD w/ 8pp insert
Includes unlimited streaming of Cherrystones Presents Critical Mass Vol. 2 'Hearts Of Champions'
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 5 days
Purchasable with gift card
£12GBPor more
Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
£8GBP or more
Cherrystones - Critical Mass 2 T-Shirt
T-Shirt/Apparel + Digital Album
Cherrystones - Critical Mass 2 T-Shirt
Artwork by Tin Savage. Hand-screened on Gildan Heavies by Vino Sangre.
Includes unlimited streaming of Cherrystones Presents Critical Mass Vol. 2 'Hearts Of Champions'
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
“I like the drive as much as the scenery”. Buckle up as producer, DJ, and archivist Cherrystones (Gareth Goddard) takes you on a return trip to Critical Mass!
Those in the know speak of Cherrystones alongside the finest curators and compilers of our time. Preferring to move in the shadows, you won’t find Cherrystones on every identikit summer festival line-up or playing the big bucks Discogs tease on social media.
However, it is why you will find him as one of the most long-standing members of the NTS family - “the greatest ever to do it”, according to founder Femi Adeyemi. And it’s why a host of underground artists make the call to check out his legendary record vault when passing through town. Or maybe you will have caught him at ease for hours behind the decks in the corner of an intimate, dimly lit joint pulling out killer jam after killer jam...
Running parallel to his world renown for collecting, archiving and sharing the furthest-flung sounds, Goddard’s own productions and soundtracks have long been revered - recently scoring campaigns for Adidas, Stone Island and YMC. Self taught as a teenager on a range of instrumentation and DIY production/programming techniques, his work is driven by the original idea of punk as an aesthetic - a creative portal devoid of rules. He has a life-long obsession with the soundtrack and was also gripped early by a love of rap (a trusted MPC 2000 never far from his side). The channeling of context, underscore, timing and placement has always fuelled the distinctive flavour of Cherrystones’ output.
This open-eared and open-armed approach is what makes ‘Critical Mass Vol.2’ another stunning compilation. As Goddard states: “this is not a rare-for-rare-sake appendix of bands designed to showcase exclusivity and superiority”. These are tracks that have lived with him, and he has lived within, gathered over travels throughout Europe - living, DJ-ing, and creating.
Five years on from the first volume, this eighteen track compilation once again fully outlines the breadth and possibility of the post-punk and new wave era. “Many of these artists fell by the wayside as underdogs or were just too ahead of their time. These selections have strong rhythmic undertones - percussively and tonally - and you can hear the subtle influence of dance music and the dance floor as a reference point.”
On our journey we hear hyped up punk-funk from the Netherlands in the form of Konec, the cosmic synth-stomp of Daniele Baldelli approved Italians - Neon, the gonzo, outsider shrieks of England’s Loco Lotus, through to the dark, dance floor groove of Belgium’s Siglo XX and, of course, there’s a whole heap more outré excursions on the way.
“From one of the last true originals - a personal, passionate draft of a "scene" that could have been. As far as possible from diggers' wet dreams - most of the music here is/was hidden in plain sight. So take one step back and figure out what might have gone wrong."
Vladimir Ivkovic
"There are not many people who can dig like Cherrystones. Never exploiting nostalgia and never after the rarest Discogs $$$ - he just puts his culture on the platter. This new volume does not fail - clean discoveries and forgotten hits. This is about knowledge but also about soul."
Ivan Smagghe (Kill The DJ/Channeling)
"Thank you for saving us with this re-education of what musical expression and language is really about!"
Andrew Fearn (Sleaford Mods/Extnddntwrk)
“Cherrystones has led me wide-eared into countless thrilling rabbit holes of discovery. He is a fountain of arcane knowledge and a constant source of inspiration. Critical Mass 2 is another killer! Buy it and be prepared to be both staggered and utterly beguiled!"
Nathan Gregory Wilkins (Cowboy Rhythmbox/Channeling)
"Cherrystones - the best to ever do it."
Femi Adeyemi (NTS Radio Founder)
St. Louis group The Mall make a debut as a two piece with dark, driving, and near-demented synth punk. Don't sleep (they won't let you.) Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 1, 2022
The Mall's fantastic debut LP, moody synth pop with shadowy edges and punk grit, gets a lovely vinyl pressing via Fixed Grin Records. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 16, 2021