quête:1 of 100

The triumvirate of Roky Erickson, Tommy Hall and Stacy Sutherland had to feature. Transcendent slower songs (often) don’t feature full band performances – so, no Splash One. The song had to be a band original. So, no Baby Blue. 13 unlucky for some. This compilation launches a new phase in the 13th Floor Elevators catalogue and previews the forthcoming series THE QUEST FOR PURE SANITY: the release in optimal quality of all surviving source material for all of the band’s recordings. ‘13 OF THE BEST’ has been mastered separately to vinyl, CD, digital and streaming for the best possible sound quality for each format. Each original source has been referenced to the earliest vinyl pressing and meticulously transferred at 96khz 24- bit resolution. Multitrack tapes of the original recording sessions have been newly mixed in strict accordance with the records as first released. ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’, the band’s seminal single, is presented here for the first time in true stereo. Taken from the original multitrack session tape, the song has been mixed to stereo in accordance with the iconic mono 45 as recorded and engineered by Walt Andrus. ‘Slip Inside This House’ viewed by fans and critics alike as the Elevators’ masterpiece and one of the key psychedelic recordings of the era, is included on the LP as the edited mono single mix so the loudest possible cut can be achieved. The eight-minute stereo version is included on all other formats. ‘Never Another’, ‘Dr Doom’ and ‘Livin’ On’ from the band’s final sessions have been newly mixed but without the overdubs added almost a year after recording. While the session tapes survive, the overdubs do not. ‘Livin’ On’ features Roky Erickson’s original superior vocal performance instead of the overdub used on the ‘BULL OF THE WOODS’ LP. What is uniquely presented here is 100% Elevators as mixed and intended for the LP. No embellishments! ‘13 OF THE BEST’ is produced by 13th Floor Elevators official archivist and historian Paul Drummond who has also written sleeve notes with full track-by-track information.

The triumvirate of Roky Erickson, Tommy Hall and Stacy Sutherland had to feature. Transcendent slower songs (often) don’t feature full band performances – so, no Splash One. The song had to be a band original. So, no Baby Blue. 13 unlucky for some. This compilation launches a new phase in the 13th Floor Elevators catalogue and previews the forthcoming series THE QUEST FOR PURE SANITY: the release in optimal quality of all surviving source material for all of the band’s recordings. ‘13 OF THE BEST’ has been mastered separately to vinyl, CD, digital and streaming for the best possible sound quality for each format. Each original source has been referenced to the earliest vinyl pressing and meticulously transferred at 96khz 24- bit resolution. Multitrack tapes of the original recording sessions have been newly mixed in strict accordance with the records as first released. ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’, the band’s seminal single, is presented here for the first time in true stereo. Taken from the original multitrack session tape, the song has been mixed to stereo in accordance with the iconic mono 45 as recorded and engineered by Walt Andrus. ‘Slip Inside This House’ viewed by fans and critics alike as the Elevators’ masterpiece and one of the key psychedelic recordings of the era, is included on the LP as the edited mono single mix so the loudest possible cut can be achieved. The eight-minute stereo version is included on all other formats. ‘Never Another’, ‘Dr Doom’ and ‘Livin’ On’ from the band’s final sessions have been newly mixed but without the overdubs added almost a year after recording. While the session tapes survive, the overdubs do not. ‘Livin’ On’ features Roky Erickson’s original superior vocal performance instead of the overdub used on the ‘BULL OF THE WOODS’ LP. What is uniquely presented here is 100% Elevators as mixed and intended for the LP. No embellishments! ‘13 OF THE BEST’ is produced by 13th Floor Elevators official archivist and historian Paul Drummond who has also written sleeve notes with full track-by-track information.

New pressing on cream vinyl, 1000 copies only. Gatefold sleeve, and 2x180gm LPs. Originally put together by a couple of Belgian Joy Division experts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the sadly missed Ian Curtis-and the year that the Ian Curtis Movie began to be made. Now the movie is out to much critical acclaim. This album contains extremely rare audio interviews with all members of Joy Division - some of which have never seen the light of day before plus spoken word contribution on one number from Martin Hannett and a rare Martin Hannett interview. The interview sections are interspersed with superb live performances from various venues through the career of the band including rarities from Dutch and Belgian concert performances and a couple of rare alternative studio outtakes. The gatefold sleeve contains lots of Joy Division images and a detailed biographical article on the band. Track sources: 01. Pennine studio version January 8th 1980 02. Ian Curtis interview excerpt - Castle Pub '79 03. RCA session May 1978 04. Ian Curtis / Steven Morris interview excerpt - Rock On, Radio 1 '79 05. RCA session May 1978 06. Ian Curtis interview excerpt - Castle Pub '79 07. RCA session May 1978 08. Martin Hannett interview excerpt - Rock On, Radio 1 '79 09. Warsaw demo July 18th 1977 10. Ian Curtis interview excerpt - Castle Pub '79 11. RCA session May 1978 12. Ian Curtis / Steven Morris interview excerpt - Rock On, Radio 1 '79 13. RCA session May 1978 14. Ian Curtis interview excerpt - Radio Blackburn '80 15. Live Amsterdam, Paradiso 11th January 1980 16. Martin Hannett interview excerpt, Rock On, Radio 1 '79 17. RCA session May 1978 18. Ian Curtis / Steven Morris interview excerpt - Rock On, Radio 1 '79 19. Live Amsterdam, Paradiso 11th January 1980 20. Ian Curtis interview excerpt - Radio Blackburn '80 21. Live Eindhoven, Effenaar 18th January 1980 22. Bernard Sumner comment about Martin Hannett - presumably an excerpt from a radio or TV documentary 23. Live Eindhoven, Effenaar 18th January 1980 24. Ian Curtis interview - Radio Blackburn '80 25. Live Eindhoven, Effenaar 18th January 1980 26. Live Eindhoven, Effenaar 18th January 1980

Malice was one of the more noteworthy bands of the ‘80s Los Angeles metal scene. License to Kill was their second album and was originally released in 1987. Max Norman produced, engineered, and mixed the album, he’s best known for producing several Ozzy albums during the ‘80s, as well as Megadeth’s Countdown to Extinction, and albums of various other metal bands like Y&T, Armored Saint, Savatage, and Lynch Mob a.o.

Old-school Megadeth fans will be tickled to discover that Mustaine and Dave Ellefson are credited with background vocals on two songs. Another guest appearance was made on this album by Tommy Thayer of Kiss. Founder Jay Reynolds later joined Dave Mustaine’s band Megadeth for a brief spell, and after that became a member of Metal Church.

License To Kill is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl

The always superb Sounds Of The City comes through here with some freshness and newness here via their newly minted 'Sounds Of The City, Dark' series. It finds the French outfit Catalogue debuting on the label with a sound that brings a different perspective to the new post-punk movement. Their sound is a mixing pot of an array of different influences and what you get is music that will get you nodding to the grooves while your mind gets lost exploring synthetic elements, angular guitar riffs, robotic rhythms and lovely deep bass.

Known as ‘Mr. Guitar’, Chet was one of the greatest and most influential musicians in Country
Music. He was an RCA Nashville Producer from the late '50s through to the mid-70's,
masterminding sessions for Dolly Parton, Charley Pride, Waylon Jennings and Jim Reeves. Chet
moved to Nashville and became a session man, playing on records by the Everly Brothers, Elvis
Presley and others, while also performing as a solo artist on the Grand Ole Opry. An in-demand
figure at this point, Chet commenced his own recording career with an instrumental version of
Indian Love Call. Followed by Yankee Doodle Dixie, a showcase arrangement on which Chet
played the Bass strings and Treble strings simultaneously! An architect of the Nashville Sound, he
recorded an instrumental version of the Chordettes' hit Mr. Sandman, which provided him with his
first Country Music chart entry. His records began to cross over into Pop and he enjoyed Hot 100
success with the percussive Boo Boo Stick Beat, Teensville, One Mint Julep, Sleep Walk and Oh
Lonesome Me

Second Editions is pleased to present two new complementing works by René Margraff and Malte Cornelius Jantzen, as a double a-side split album.

Margraff utilizes various beautiful ramblings from the one and only AL and weaves them together two floating pieces that are both a reflection and caricature on what punk (what about ambient?) actually is in the age of ever-bloodsucking tabloid consumerism and commercial image branding, and how to keep your head up as a protagonist/heroine.

Jantzen's side pays homage to a time when a kickflip down a flight of stairs mostly ended in bruised hands and knees. In what can barely be considered field recording, the sound of skateboard decks and wheels on cement and railing, the occasional shouts and murmurs form a "real-time listening piece" (aka a moment), most aptly titled after AL's acclaimed debut album.

Second Editions is coming full circle and is calling it a day. Limited to 100 copies. Half on "not punk pink" and other half on "complicated green" cassette shells. For good luck and good vibes!

Die neuseeländische Musikerin und Produzentin Princess Chelsea präsentiert ihr kommendes "nervous breakdown album" "Everything Is Going To Be Alright", das im pastoralen Aotearoa Neuseeland aufgenommen wurde und eine Art Trostspender ist. Es sind keine traurigen Lieder, sondern die beiden Eröffnungs- und Schlusstracks erzählen von Chelseas Genesung und sind als kathartischer Hörgenuss für alle gedacht, die es brauchen könnten. "If you feel you want to die / trust me darling / it just takes time", singt sie in "Time". In der Zwischenzeit zeigen Chelseas sorgfältig geschichtete Gesangsmelodien über Mellotron-Flöten und Harfe, verwoben mit Live-Cello und Violine, ihre Fähigkeiten als Arrangeurin und Produzentin. Princess Chelseas cineastischer, verträumter Pop hat sich in elf Jahren, fünf Alben, einer EP und elf Singles weiterentwickelt. Ihre Vortragsweise und ihr Songwriting zeichnen sich dadurch aus, dass sie eine fast naive Ernsthaftigkeit mit zynischem, augenzwinkerndem Witz und akustischen Funken überlagert. Ihr Grunge-Girlgroup-Song "I Love My Boyfriend" aus dem Jahr 2018 und ihr von Nancy & Lee inspiriertes "Cigarette Duet" aus dem Jahr 2011 haben ihren Bekanntheitsgrad durch den Einfluss einer neuen TikTok-Generation in das öffentliche Bewusstsein gerückt. Für dieses Album wurden Chelseas Instrumentalarrangements von ihrer Live-Band inspiriert, die die Schlafzimmerdemoaufnahmen mit einem überraschenden Sound interpretiert hat. Es klingt anders, als man vielleicht erwarten würde. "The Forest" wurde live in einem Take mit Chelsea und der gesamten Band im beliebten neuseeländischen "The Lab" aufgenommen und zeigt dynamische Gitarrenwände und eine leidenschaftliche Gesangsperformance. Es ist eine markante Abweichung von ihrem bisherigen Schaffen und stellt eine weitere Einführung in das dar, was sie seit der Veröffentlichung der verträumten und doch düsteren Single "Everything is Going To Be Alright" im Februar als ihr "Gitarrenalbum" bezeichnet hat. Chelseas Fähigkeiten als Arrangeurin und Produzentin kommen auf dem Album voll zur Geltung, aber oft in Form von komplizierten Gitarrenarrangements, die an The Cars und die Breeders ("Forever is a Charm") und an klassische neuseeländische Flying Nun-Bands der 80er und 90er Jahre ("Love is More") erinnern. Obwohl das Album eine deutliche musikalische Entwicklung darstellt, sind ihre Markenzeichen immer noch da - klassische 80er Jahre Synths (Yamaha DX7, Roland D-50), vielschichtige Melodien, orchestrale Instrumente, verträumter Gesang, verdrehter Pop, der oft Vergleiche mit Julee Cruise oder Enya gezogen hat.

1988 machte sich ein Mitarbeiter der Firma Noise Records
selbstständig und gründete TRC (The Record Company). Neben
den Dirty Strangers (mit Mitgliedern der Rolling Stones) und
der spanischen Hardrockband Helpless, gab es diese seltsame
Platte mit dem futuristischen Auge auf dem Cover: MYSTERY.
Schon bei Veröffentlichung im Jahr 1988 hat die LP gnadenlos
polarisiert. Während man sich im deutschen Metal Hammer mit drei
Punkten und einer etwas hilflos wirkenden Kritik zufrieden geben
musste, erntete man im englischen Kerrang eine Vier-K-Wertung
und Aussagen wie „Was wir hier haben ist der interessanteste
Progressive-Thrash-Crossover, den ich seit Langem gehört habe“.
Rückblickend ist dennoch klar: Für dieses Album war die Welt 1988
noch nicht bereit.

Hört man sich die hochgradig eigenwilligen und definitiv auch
einzigartigen Stücke von Mystery an, dann kann man bereits
vermuten, dass hier keine jungen Heavy Metal Fans am Werke
waren, die auf den Pfaden ihrer Idole wanderten. Die Songs stecken
voller Ideen, die die meisten Metalmusiker niemals in dieser Form
gehabt hätten. Und auch die Umsetzung ließ schon immer den
Verdacht aufkommen, dass hier Profimusiker aus einem anderen
Genre beauftragt wurden, ein Heavy Metal Album zu schreiben und
aufzunehmen – natürlich standesgemäß mit Künstlernamen wie
The Lion oder Mike Battista. Genau dies hat sich nun nach Jahren
der Nachforschungen bewahrheitet und wird am VÖ-Tag enthüllt.
Danach dürfte die Scheibe auch bei einer anderen Zielgruppe zu
einem Objekt der Begierde werden…doch mehr wird hier und heute
noch nicht verraten.

Das Booklet enthält Liner Notes von Sänger „Gerald L.“, die die
Hintergründe (inklusive Namen und Orten) erzählen. Dazu gesellt
sich Neudi (Manilla Road, Trance, A&R bei Golden Core), der als
großer Fan der LP seit den Neunzigern an der „Aufklärung des Falles
Mystery“ gearbeitet hat und erst 2022 damit Erfolg gehabt hat.
Dies hat zeitgleich zur Wiederveröffentlichung geführt, nachdem die
Rechteverhältnisse (es gibt nur noch einen lebenden Musiker der
Mystery-Besetzung) geklärt werden konnten.
Auch heute wird nicht jeder Metalfan in die Welt von Mystery
hineinfinden, doch wer es schafft, hat ein Album fürs Leben
gefunden und muss sich der Suchtgefahr hingeben. Gleichförmige
Metalalben gab es in den letzten 40 Jahren schon genug…

Indie exclusive red vinyl, ltd ed /100. First new studio album in 20 years, produced by J. Robbins & Liars Academy. Indie Exclusive opaque red vinyl. Limited edition of 100. After two decades on pause, Liars Academy return with Ghosts their most massive album to date. Unofficially a followup to 2004's Demons, Ghosts is an evolutionary step forward for the band and testimony to the timelessness of rock music. The swirling energy of 70's guitar rock and the anthemic swagger of 90's radio rock inform the 11 song trip packed with massive riffs, razor-sharp hooks, and scream-along chest beaters--a spectacular come-back album by a band at its peak. Steadfast Records is proud to present the brand new album from Liars Academy. Ghosts is a relentless cache of rock hits from the post-Demon's powerhouse quartet of Ryan Shelkett, Chris Camden, Fred Fritz, and Eric Fauver. Produced by J. Robbins and Liars Academy, mastered by Adam Boose, and vinyl masters cut by Bob Weston.

Indie exclusive red vinyl, ltd ed /100. First new studio album in 20 years, produced by J. Robbins & Liars Academy. Indie Exclusive opaque red vinyl. Limited edition of 100. After two decades on pause, Liars Academy return with Ghosts their most massive album to date. Unofficially a followup to 2004's Demons, Ghosts is an evolutionary step forward for the band and testimony to the timelessness of rock music. The swirling energy of 70's guitar rock and the anthemic swagger of 90's radio rock inform the 11 song trip packed with massive riffs, razor-sharp hooks, and scream-along chest beaters--a spectacular come-back album by a band at its peak. Steadfast Records is proud to present the brand new album from Liars Academy. Ghosts is a relentless cache of rock hits from the post-Demon's powerhouse quartet of Ryan Shelkett, Chris Camden, Fred Fritz, and Eric Fauver. Produced by J. Robbins and Liars Academy, mastered by Adam Boose, and vinyl masters cut by Bob Weston.

Pressing Info: 180g translucent pink vinyl, limited to 250 copies, download card included. Five years on from their 2018 debut album 'Great Vowel Shift', Lviv, Ukraine-based krautrock outfit Sherpa The Tiger are now returning with their second album, 'Ithkuil, via Fuzz Club Records - with 100% of the profits from the release going to the band to help support them during the war. Where their previous work was centred around vintage synths, minimal ambient and neon-lit kraut-disco grooves, 'Ithkuil' sees Sherpa The Tiger explore more expansive and layered structures and compositions - incorporating intricate guitars, flute, arpeggiators and jazzy piano references, alongside an array of other elements that originate from a broad spectrum of past and present music genres. "This album bears the name of 'Ithkuil' for a reason", the band state: "Like the language we borrowed the title from, the sound of the record has a lot of levels, layers, and orchestral nuances. We consider this album and its pieces a single journey. Every track of the LP works as a mandatory stop for contemplation and reflection that happens on the route of the listener." Sherpa The Tiger began working on the new material in 2019 during their EU live shows in support of 'Great Vowel Shift' and chalk the more textured and cinematic results down to a more collaborative approach. "We wanted to rethink the Krautrock heritage explored on our last album and made a clear stylistic shift that was determined by a totally different approach to our music-making. The tunes on 'Great Vowel Shift' were cooked in a sort of live-looping mode with two musicians jamming. This time, with 'Ithkuil', the process of creation was shared among 4 musicians, and that approach had a great impact on the final result." Several years in the making and now released against a backdrop of war and invasion in their home country, 'Sherpa The Tiger' say that 'Ithkuil' acts as a snapshot of pre-war times: "Since the war caught us in the middle of planning the release as opposed to creating the music itself, the album can be perceived as a wistful reminder of the pre-war life that doesn't seem to be coming back. The life we actually experienced but lost any recollection of and which we are desperately trying to bring back through the music created by the other us now dwelling in an absolutely different reality."

The duo of Charles McCloud and Roslyn Johnson made only two albums during their career…but those two albums (Everything Must Change and Spirit of the Living God) are among the most collectible records ever made in the gospel genre. In fact, they are so hard to find that we’re still searching for Spirit of the Living God to scan the artwork, but we managed to snag a copy of their 1981 debut Everything Must Change on the obscure Cheri label (though we may have to pass a collection plate to recoup the cost!).
It’ll just take the first track to show you why these records are in such demand; you have never heard such a soulful (check out those harmonies!), slow-burning rendition of that hoary chestnut “Amazing Grace” in your sanctified life! And with able production by keyboardist Julius Brockington, who played with Larry Young and headed up several outfits of his own, Everything Must Change is a crossover album in the best sense of the word, blending the spiritual fervor of gospel with the danceable grooves of soul and—dare we say it?—disco. Don’t miss the Donny Hathaway cover “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” too. Black vinyl release, first ever reissue in any format…limited to 1000 copies!

HEATHEN FORAY haben es sich von Anfang an auf die Fahnen geschrieben, harten Death Metal mit unbeschwerten und eingängigen Melodien zu verbinden, die noch lange im Gedächtnis bleiben. Kombiniert mit Folk-Elementen hat sich diese Herangehensweise ausgezahlt, denn die Band hat sich mit ihren eingängigen Songs und heftigen Riffs eine beachtliche Fangemeinde erspielt.

Während genreähnliche Bands dazu neigen, sich in mittelalterliche Kleidung zu hüllen oder auf der Bühne Wikinger zu spielen, interpretieren HEATHEN FORAY die Verbundenheit mit den heidnischen Bräuchen auf eine moderne Art und Weise

"Hollow crown" ist limitiert auf 1000 weiß-orange marmorierte LPs.

Das dritte Album von ARCHITECTS ist nun endlich wieder auf Vinyl erhältlich - als Teil von Atomic Fire Records neuer "Backfire" Serie. Für Vinylfans von Vinylfans.

Vinyl Only

The little Romanian cat Pisica release its third vinyl with quality artists.

"
Welshly Arms is an American blues rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band has been active since their debut in 2013 with the EP Welcome. The following year, they released a covers EP and in 2015, an album titled Welshly Arms. The band writes, produces, and records all of their material in Cleveland. TV PROMO: “Dangerous” TV sync on Love Island RADIO PROMO: Regional radio plays PRINT PROMO: Classic Rock review, hotlist feature and high hopes feature. Daily Star feature, Fireworks review, HRH magazine feature,
"

Emotional Rescue is delighted to debut a first. Rather than a straight reissue of an (obscure) classic or a collection of music by an artist or label, here presented is a compilation of various artists centered around a sound and movement reggae-tinged music and how it influenced and spread from the Caribbean and diaspora.

Drawn from the off kilter digging of archivist, DJ and collector Bruno (perfectliv.es), Nowhere Like Here is not a follow up, but a sideways accompaniment, to his recent and already cult like 'Perfect Motion' collection of left field pop and new wave, recently self-released with Flo Dill (NTS).

This is a special release to celebrate the label's 10th year and beyond, offering a treasure trove of lo-fi and often pop inspired reggae cuts, mixing heartfelt Lovers Rocks style paeans and quirky private press oddities, all guaranteed to 'make-a-move and tap', these are, in the main ridiculously rare or impossible to find alternative bombs, that are just as sound system rocking and massive bass line quaking showcases of the enduring legacy of this Jamaican music phenomenon.
As with much of the early 80s period, the music community was in the throes of a Do-It-Yourself cultural renaissance as small labels, where crazy limited, one off White Labels Onlys came and went. Songs like Avalanche 's 'Your Love is Such a Good Thing 'or Warp Speed's 'Take It To The Night' were part of the claiming the means of production in to their own hands, pressing up the records and self-distributing. This raw, naive exuberance can be heard in the songs themselves. This is not reggae or Lovers as known, but something more expressive. Musical, simply produced, but with intelligible and uplifting optimism that is just superlatively catchy.

While Paul Thompson's 'Can I Take You Home' and Ras Ibuna's 'Black Beauty' are more straight-ahead Lover's style cuts, there is the parallel dance pop private pressing vibrations of the two Keith Robinson songs and Majority's 'Caroline' included all part of a thread; a joining the dots that Nowhere Like Here is at its most basic, a warmth the whole album exudes.

This is not a Lovers Rock Hits of some, but a left-of-center versioning, spread across Double Pack and cut loud for DJ play, fitting the ethos of Emotional Rescue by presenting something most will not have heard before and all the better for it.

Platform 23 again explores to the dense voids, this time with a touch of the funk, with a reissue of Dutch experimentalists De Fabriek and two tracks from their "Music For" cassette series, this time calling all Hippies.

Featuring both original and reinterpretations from modern-day heads, Dunkeltier and Khidja, this double-pack is something of an oddity, showcasing the bands' expansive range, moving away from the noise, drone and industrial soundscape releases they had become known for and crafting here, free flowing, groovy longform jams.

Active since the late 70s to today, De Fabriek (The Factory) have never considered themselves a real band - being also a label too - with an evolving and irregular line up centred around Richard van Dellen, they present their music and output as a kind of work-union.

With literally four decades and dozens of releases across all formats, 1988's cassette release, 'Music For Hippies', has become something of a cult curio, with the long improvisational tracks, Lullabye and Coming Down eschewing the rougher, industrial experience for something completely different.

In opener Lullabye, we go full leftfield P-Funk meets Motorik undertones. An incessant beat is laid from the start and doesn't cease for over 10 minutes, while spoken vocals call closer to the Krautrock realms of Can and hark to Liebezeit's stylised grooving best.

Analog, echo washed, with touches of glam and wrapped in simple effects pedal work, the secrets are passed to Dresden / Berlin inhabitant Dunkeltier aka Sneaker DJ aka Thomas Smorek. His darker moniker, appearing on obscure edits for Macadam Mambo and the much-missed Bahnsteig 23, his 'Hey Robot' mix adds bass, percussion, strings and synth to remold Lullabye into a late night, red light, basement denzien. This is followed by an additional, bonus reimagining, creating an all-new time piece, an ear worm of the best kind with Tik Tok Goes The Clock.

The second slab presents in Come Down, a more resembling De Fabriek werk. Edited to fit, the darkness is entered as snapshot vocal quips, oscillations and synthesised mutations are laid over a lazy, relentless ostinato rhythm where cymbals crash on the bar. Inviting, calling, De Fabriek's aptly titled downer is in fact, a joyous journey.

To complete, label affiliates, Khidja take a break from finalising their debut album to unfold their 'Psychebabble Mix', a dozen plus minutes of warped, twisted, cassette machinations that suck the listener further along the trip. Added bass propels their edit suddenly to a new direction, a hook for mind and for the open willed, the body. De Fabriek's "coming down lullabye" arriving on vinyl for the first time, with a twist and shake, calling deeper to acceptance.

Heels & Souls Recordings’ fifth reissue sees them reach across the Atlantic to Vancouver, pressing up Pilgrims Of The Mind’s 'What’s Your Shrine?' for the first time ever on vinyl, 25 years since its CD-only release on Map Music. A departure from the label’s previous releases, the LP is a beautiful smorgasbord of styles - progressive house, downtempo, ambient, tech house and trance all nestle together, a wiggling journey of sonic delight from the mind of Stéphane Novak.

Turn the dial back to ‘97 and Vancouver's underground had a distinctive buzz to its rumblings, an amalgamation of scenes and styles gave rise to a cohort of producers that were unconstrained by genre, offering up a heady mix of sounds to expand the mind. ‘Welcome To Lotus Land’ the key 1996 compilation on Robert Shea’s seminal Map Music, championed much of this output including two cuts from POTM. Stéphane then released his first and only full-length album, ‘What’s Your Shrine?’ on the same label the following year.

Picking out choice moments from an album as considered and complete as this is tough. Those horizontally inclined will be drawn to the ambient dwellings of ‘Sandcastle’ & ‘Following the Sofuto Kuriimo’, tracks like ‘Nothing Can Pull Us Apart’ and ‘L’Amour? Encore?!’ are perfectly suited to warming up limbs on the dancefloor, ‘My Baby Likes Rum’ and ‘Loosejaw’ prime for one in full swing. Yet to pick individual tracks misses the stunning sum of its parts that this 70+ minute cruise is, surely one of the finest albums from the American West Coast during its halcyon days of the ‘90s.

Digging deep in his vaults, Stéphane managed to uncover the original unmastered DATs that have been given a fresh mastering by Justin Drake at the Bakehouse Studios. This beautiful, double-disc gatefold comes complete with liner notes from Ciel, words from Stéphane himself, plus never-before-seen photography - the complete package this music always deserved.