TSR
286

Subsonic Eye
Singapore Dreaming

 
 
 

Their fifth album, Singapore Dreaming, centers their hometown through a more focused lens. Where previous album All Around You comprised a space to sit with the complex feelings inspired by the intense world we inhabit, Singapore Dreaming is that intense world itself — Subsonic Eye’s interpretation of their high energy urban context refracted through straight-to-the-point, poppy, ergonomic songs tinged with tension that could explode at a moment’s notice. Despite the newly honed vision, Singapore Dreaming still has all of Subsonic Eye’s signature elements: spellbinding walls of tone, hooky riffs, zippy rhythms, and punches in the perfect place — all led by singer Nur Wahidah’s dreamlike voice, whose vaporous and velvety character always makes the layers whole. more info→

10 tracks

available on:
cd
/ vinyl
/ cassette
/ digital
↓ ↓ ↓

order→
 

five albums,
a re-issue,
two singles,
an EP,
and a split.



check out everything we released in 2024→
seek out the wisdom of our 2024 release guide→

Thanya Iyer


TIDE/TIED

cd
/ vinyl
/ cassette
/ digital
↓ ↓ ↓
order Thanya Iyer - TIDE/TIED On her third full-length TIDE/TIED, Montreal artist Thanya Iyer expands on the future-folk designs of sophomore album KIND with washes of jazz-inflected pop and ensemble ambience. While Iyer explored a more personal journey of self-love on KIND, she, her band, and cohort of guest musicians embark on a new way of moving on TIDE/TIED, prizing collective care and communal healing as antidotes to the dissonances of living in a colonial, capitalistic world. more info →

On music discovery:

When writing about a song or album, the convention is to use the present tense. A piece of music, although representative of and influenced by the era in which it was created, is ultimately always experienced in ~the present~. We built this website while pondering ways that we could, at every turn, focus on discovery by bringing music we released years ago relevantly back into the present, challenging how we collectively talk and think about “new” music. Discovering new music is exciting, but so is discovering music that’s simply

new to you.

It’s our hope that you'll enjoy digitally crate digging through this online home of ours, finding and connecting with the 250+ albums we’ve released with 140+ artists from all around the world over the last 16 years. Directly below are a few of our favorites to get you started.

However you’ve found yourself here presently, thanks so much for stopping by! We couldn’t do this without your support and enthusiasm.

-All of us at Topshelf

 
i illustration by Dylan England of Del Paxton.
t   toe - For Long Tomorrow

For Long Tomorrow

toe Knifeplay - Animal Drowning

Animal Drowning

Knifeplay o Weatherday - Come in

Come in

Weatherday p   Gulfer - S/T

S/T

Gulfer A Great Big Pile of Leaves - Pono

Pono

A Great Big Pile of Leaves s Record Setter - I Owe You Nothing

I Owe You Nothing

Record Setter h e Sweet Pill - Where the Heart Is

Where the Heart Is

Sweet Pill l   Ratboys - Happy Birthday, Ratboy

Happy Birthday, Ratboy

Ratboys Elephant Gym - Dreams

Dreams

Elephant Gym f   Mid-Air Thief - Crumbling

Crumbling

Mid-Air Thief

toe


NOW I SEE THE LIGHT

  cd
/ vinyl
/ cassette
/ digital
↓ ↓ ↓
order
 
NOW I SEE THE LIGHT (2024), toe’s fourth full-length album, is a bridge between the experimental restraint of their later work and the explosive abandon of their earlier output. From the opening tracks, toe balance serpentine passages against meditative repetition. On “LONELINESS WILL SHINE,” “サニーボーイ・ラプソディ,” and “NOW I SEE THE LIGHT,” Hirokazu reprises his role as part-time vocalist, breaking the band yet further from the instrumental work that formerly defined them. As a whole, NOW I SEE THE LIGHT closes the loop between early and late toe, giving them a clean slate for their new outlook. more info →

Peel Dream Magazine


Rose Main Reading Room

  cd
/ vinyl
/ cassette
/ digital
↓ ↓ ↓
pre-order
TSR264

Across its fifteen songs, Rose Main Reading Room ultimately proposes a world of marvels and compelling complexity: “Oblast” cheekily prods at mutually assured destruction; “Ocean Life” explores the infiniteness within ourselves; while “R.I.P. (Running in Place)” unpacks an all too familiar stagnation. It’s all part of, and crucial to, Rose Main Reading Room’s transportive power, ever reaching for the wonder and magic of the world we live in. more info →
 

Sobs


Air Guitar

  cd
/ vinyl
/ cassette
/ digital
↓ ↓ ↓
order
TSR252

Dedicated to the power of pop music, Sobs are Singapore’s premier indiepop propagandists. A thirty-minute trip for the post-Internet consumer, Air Guitar calibrates inventive pop hooks for the indie rock lover, instantly accessible yet intricately arranged. more info →
 

Ekko Astral


pink balloons

  cd
/ vinyl
/ cassette
/ digital
↓ ↓ ↓
pre-order
TSR279

Ekko Astral are here to uplift, a mission exemplified by the frenetic and bewitching pre-release singles “baethoven” and “devorah,” cornerstones of pink balloons in both style and theme. The former serves as a reminder to keep your larger than life personality in a world that wants to downsize you, where the latter proclaims urgent solidarity with missing and murdered people. Such crucial messages of upliftment are the foundation of pink balloons, and, by extension Ekko Astral, whose thrashing debut leaves no stone of solidarity unturned. more info →
 

topshelf playlists


Just like our catalog, our playlists cover a lot of sonic ground. Check them out on
apple music
spotify
 
 

phase distorter 4: a math rock playlist


listen →

staff selections


listen →

porch


listen →

begin again.


listen →

topshelf 101


listen →

on tour


listen →

Subsonic Eye feel the highs and lows of digital life on new single "My iPhone Screen"

Subsonic Eye

On their latest single "My iPhone Screen", quick-paced drumming bounces off of singer Nur Wahidah's cuttingly sweet melody, "philosophizing on my iPhone screen / screaming please delete / it's not part of what I am", she sings with a determined spirit, eventually shifting into a more relaxed rhythm in the songs final minute. Watch the live video and listen to the new Singapore Dreaming single: read more →

 

Sobs // North American tour dates with Anamanaguchi

Sobs

The sound of pop music from Sobs! LIVE! ♡✰ The Singapore indie pop rockers are headed back to North America for just the second time ever in support of Anamanaguchi's fall tour. Dates and info: read more →

 

Montreal's ambient-pop savant Thanya Iyer releases new album 'TIDE/TIED'

Thanya Iyer

On her third full length TIDE/TIED, Montreal artist Thanya Iyer expands on the future-folk designs of sophomore album KIND with washes of jazz-infected pop and ensemble ambience. While Iyer explored a more personal journey of self-love on KIND, she, her band, and a cohort of guest musicians embark on a new way of moving on TIDE/TIED, prizing collective care and communal healing as antidotes to the dissonances of living in a colonial, capitalistic world. read more →

 

Singapore indie-rock quintet Subsonic Eye announce new album Singapore Dreaming with "Aku Cemas"

Subsonic Eye

Subsonic Eye are back with a new album! Singapore Dreaming's lead single "Aku Cemas" picks apart feelings of anxious inadequacy inspired by our capitalist setting before balancing the scale with a reverent climax in which singer Nur Wahidah proclaims "come get a hold of yourself / the world's not ending / you're not dying." Watch / listen: read more →

 

other recent updates:

I am looking for something that sounds like  — something like:     

Hit enter to search or ESC to close

search by artist

try Bellows Field Mouse No Vacation Ratboys or even Topshelf for example.

search by album or item name

try ocala wick tres sweater poster or Overnight for example.

search by format or a specific vinyl variant

try cassette vinyl marble coke bottle clear or color in color for example.