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"Vapor City" ist das gefeierte Debütalbum von Travis Stewart als Machinedrum welches erstmals 2013 erschien und seit einigen Jahren nicht mehr erhältlich ist. Anlässlich der Veröffentlichung seines neuen Albums “A View Of U” veröffentlicht Ninja Tune eine limitierte Neuauflage des Klassikers auf goldenem Doppelvinyl mit Artwork von Dom Flannigan and Eclair Fifi.

"Vapor City" ist ein Moloch, eine Metropole entstanden in Travis Stewarts Träumen, die ihn schon ein Leben lang verfolgen. Immer wiederkehrende Träume brachten ihn so oft in diese imaginäre Stadt, so dass er diese Viertel für Viertel beschreiben kann und das illusorische Metropolis auch für seine Hörer endlich erfahrbar macht. Das Album ist eine detaillierte Stadtkarte aus Sound-Landschaften, die es jedem ermöglichen sich in "Vapor City" zurechtzufinden - oder auch darin verloren zu gehen. Nach Veröffentlichungen auf LuckyMe, Planet Mu, und Hotflush Records und seinem hochgelobten Album "Room(s)" aus 2011 bastelte Stewart nicht nur an Nebenprojekten wie JETS (mit Jimmy Edgar) oder etlichen Remixen, sondern auch an der Vertonung seiner Vision.

A virtuoso pianist and composer of seminal works in early electronic and experimental classical music, Jocy de Oliveira’s musical output has had a great influence within Brazil and abroad. Her sole contribution to Brazilian popular music, her 1959-recorded album, ‘A Música Século XX de Jocy’ in many ways stands apart from the rest of her artistic oeuvre.

The original vinyl release marketed the record as adding to Brazil’s samba heritage with a ‘simple and original dialectic’, naming its style ‘vanguard samba’, which differs from both traditional samba and Bossa Nova, in its infancy at the time.

Listening to Jocy’s ‘20th century music’ in the context of the contemporaneous and vastly more influential Bossa Nova style is especially striking. Where Bossa Nova’s innovators incorporated influences from jazz and French piano music to a samba foundation, Jocy de Oliveira took a greater leap, wedding her century’s classical music to samba. Where Bossa Nova dawned a new epoch of poetic lyricism in Brazilian popular songs with great poets such as Vinicius de Moraes and themes of longing, love and nature, Jocy de Oliveira’s lyrics are concerned with scenes of urban tragedy and decay, presenting an alternative vision to Brazil’s stereotypical tropical paradise image almost 10 years before the emergence of the Tropicália movement.

The sounds and lyrics of Jocy’s landmark release still shock today. Put in the context of a conservative Brazil on the eve of Brasília’s inauguration, it is even more startling that this record ever got made. An unconventional mix of classical and popular musical influences combined with socially critical, ironic and at times journalistic lyrics make for a unique listening experience.

A unique representation of Brazilian popular music, Jocy de Oliveira’s masterpiece ‘A Música Século XX de Jocy’ is reissued for the first time. Meticulously remastered, the record is pressed on high-quality 45-RPM vinyl, with a modernised back cover and printed inner sleeve including previously unseen pictures taken for the record’s release in 1959.

With Vol.1 long sold-out and fetching a tidy sum on the online shark market. We’re pleased to present to you: Sweet Echoes vol.2 - five tracks of homegrown 160+ rollers, rinsers and freaky-deaky bass-driven nuggets. Because we care about our local jungle.

At the controls: Rings Around Saturn (Melb), Splitch (Syd), Hugh B (Syd), Freda (Syd) & Roy Batty Jr (Syd)

2LP Over the past decade, SUED co-founder SW. has arranged the building blocks of dreamy rave and techno music-billowing pads, undulating sub-bass and adroit, nuanced drum programming-into and novel dance floor structures. TRUElipS, SW.’s first full album since 2016 and his first for Avenue 66, is a beguiling, fully-realised statement. The 12-track LP is rooted in the storied ’90s era when the spirit of orbital raves and free parties was channeled into massive leaps forward in the studio. A combination of house and drum & bass looms large, as does the much-referenced intelligent techno era, but if you’ve listened to an SW. record, you already know TRUElipS is the work of a singular auteur. Breakbeats, rave stabs and major chords permeate the album, motoring along on a chassis of sine-wave bass lines and SW’s widescreen percussive vision. Forays into downtempo and sweeping ambience keep the listener’s head in the clouds, while the superb melodic techno constructions that comprise the album’s core are at once contemplative and liable to bring on a giddy head rush. TRUElipS brims with the optimistic, escapist spirit that fueled dance music’s original triumph, a throwback to bright, imagined futures.

Berlin techno luminary Jamaica Suk announces her most ambitious project yet: Uncertain Landscape.

This 17-track, 4x 12” vinyl release on her acclaimed Gradient label will be released in four installments from Autumn to Winter 2020 and brings together a host of diverse techno talent. She will release a DJ mix featuring all 17 tracks to complete the series accompanied by a film from Anthony Vouardoux. The project is made up of a wishlist of names whose music she has been heavily supporting in her sets over the last few years. “I wrote specific producers inquiring for tracks that would be fitting to the label and also fit the DJ mix that I’m recording from these tunes. I’m looking to promote music that shares the same vision as I do.”

It marks the first original releases on Gradient from producers other than herself, which is a change of tact from her original plan for her imprint. “Initially I wanted to only release my music on Gradient including remixes - but it doesn’t make sense as there’s so much inspiration out there. By expanding the label’s network we create our own tribe.”

Jittery rhythms with a touch of ‘Spastik’ about them propel BNJMN’s ‘Abyssal Surge’ into life, with a big riverbed sound abounding as the track builds through haunting sustained tones and glitching mechanics.

Arthur Kimskii thundering ‘Natasha’ pummels from the first moment, with shuddering sub bass carving its way through the sound field as hypnotic bleeps pulse in the distance. Rapid-fire. Filtering percussive waves accentuate the bassline’s incessant 16ths rhythms, all the while the resonant kicks hammering away beneath.

Wrong Assessment’s ‘The Eight’ is a dissonant avalanche of warped textures, where grunting synth thrusts rub up against industrious pulses and chattering hi-hat patterns weave in and out of the mix. Stuttering bass and cymbal rides complete the urgent feel.

Introspective respite comes from Electro Indigo’s ‘Volcanite’, a stirring piece of broken beat experimentation where graceful pads slide hauntingly over taut kick and bass patterns and beautiful ghostly analog synth notes.

Look out for parts 2-4 coming soon and special audio + visual showcases.

The first vinyl release of 2020 on Nang, belongs to the Parisian producer and newcomer to the label, Kelton Prima. The veteran artist has been producing and Djing since the late 80's, also releasing under the alias of D_Tekt. Prima has released on the Belgian label Disco Praline, Chicago based imprint Mathematics Recordings, Pizzico Nobel and also has contributed remixes for Thieves Like Us and Plastique de Rêve among others. Along side him on this release features Hard Ton, the Italian artist, who released previously on NANG188. The duo deliver a cover version of Culture Club's 1983 hit, Miss Me Blind. The release sticks with a retro aesthetic, yet given a modern high impact make-over and features 4 edits.

The "Miss Me Blind" original takes you you on a voyage, straight to a dance floor worthy of the infamous New Dance Show in the late 80's. The upbeat, nu-disco grooves, with Solid bass lines (that later trans into squelchy acid affair) are counter balanced with Hard Tons sublime vocals. The Vintage drum machine sequence is perfectly matched with shimmering synths and guitar riffs.

Second on the release is the The Caribbean House "Vision". This edit takes things a little deeper with a modulating bass arpeggio, that pans across the stereo field. Spliced and pitched down vocal cuts feature in this version alongside chime bell melody and pads that creates a emotional ride.

DJ Rocca, the Italian producer a Nang Records regular, delivers a rhythmic and percussive remix. This is classic Rocca style with retro drum machine programming, and a variety of smooth and silky Italo synth patches. The final edit of "Miss Me Blind" consists of Club Domani's bouncy, bass heavy club version. This upbeat and energetic remix keeping things rolling with break-downs and snare filled drops.


b 02: Miss Me Blind (The Caribbean House Vision) feat. Hard Ton
[c] 03: Miss Me Blind (DJ Rocca Italo Vocal Remix) [feat. Hard Ton]
[d] 04: Miss Me Blind (Club Domani Remix) [feat. Hard Ton]

The wind of change is blowing strong again in late 2020. Wich statement fits such worldwide transformation? We don ́t know, but we keep blending & interacting different cultures. One 7“ vinyl, two sides of the story. El Mago from Greece is hooking up with south american native ceremonials. The Berlin/Thessaloniki based ritual master (down)beats all strains of cultural appropriation with smart style and groove straight outta subcultistan. Followed by Mettabbana from the divided states of America, editing sahrawi classic on liberation, hope & vision. Seductive repetitions, subtle as the saharan sands, riding on trance- inducing guitar loops, arabic percussion & harmonies. This vinyl will last longer & will survive our thoughts and needs. For any queries: the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

Asyncro presents the second release of the series - a collection of tracks produced by OL between 2017 & 2020. In addition to solo works the record includes collaborations with Sensational, Flaty and Micxail. These interactions emphasize the author's interest in communicating with other artists through the music recording process. "Wildlife Processing" is an archive of compositions reflecting OL's trajectory and personal vision of electronic music over the past years.

2023 Repress

STAR CREATURE’s first compilation featuring unreleased tracks and new mixes by label favorite’s E. LIVE, GIOVANNI DAMICO, SHIRO SCHWARZ, OURRA, SAUCY LADY, PROH MIC, AMALIA AND KUTKORNERS. Limited to 500 copies and should move pretty fast.

Two years after he strikingly entered the world stage with Iron, a luminous track with a truly iconic video - Woodkid released The Golden Age, his first ever album, crafted and shaped in the utmost secrecy during the year 2012. While some might have just let the media hype do its work, Woodkid also known as Yoann Lemoine, chose to reverse the rules of the game. Following the release of a second single Run Boy Run, which became a classic in a matter of weeks - with the accompanying video nominated at the prestigious
Grammy Award in 2013, Woodkid decided to bring out his first album. A record with incredible ambition for this young Frenchman who America was already crazy about, picking up the momentum for his rise. The Golden Age is an epic quest, a beautiful and surprising adventure. The foundations of the Woodkid staple are of course all on display : percussions, string and brass arrangements, piano, programming and - of course - this powerful and sensitive voice that delicately runs through the melodies with great magnitude. A few months after its release The Golden Age was certified Platinum and
Woodkid went on to collect the Prize for “Best Live New Act” at the French Music Awards on February 14th 2014. As a multi-talented artist, Woodkid thought out his project with all aspects in mind. Initially working as a video director for the greatest (Lana Del Rey,
Drake and Rihanna), he then directs his own videos and starts creating the visuals and stage-design for his own live performances.
Since then, this gifted all-rounder has continued to explore multiple paths. In 2014 he works alongside contemporary artist JR on an original piece commissioned by the New York City Ballet (JR creating and Woodkid producing the music), takes the artistic reins of Pharrell Williams’ live shows and co-writes an original soundtrack with Hans Zimmer.

In 2015, Nils Frahm performs the soundtrack that Woodkid wrote for a
documentary on Ellis Island, directed by JR with commentaries from Robert De Niro.

The same year, cinematographer Jonas Cuaron (creator of gravity) asks him to write the music for his feature film “Desierto” a gruelling thriller set in the Mexican-American desert. Woodkid comes up with a radical and organic piece halfway between sound-design and film score, released in April 2016. He is to this day one of the most sought-after artists, a visionary and altruistic creator whose modern and powerful body of work continues to shape itself with every new encounter.

FIZZY is a selection of eight tracks by Catastrophe, for the first time gathered on vinyl. Born in 2016, Catastrophe would like not to forbid anything, even if it means the risk of ridicule. Whether in forests, on rooftops, crossing France and summer festivals (Rock en Seine, We Love Green, Francofolies), Catastrophe imagines. On stage, surprise reigns supreme and explodes into a musical kaleidoscope.

In 33T and with printed innersleeves, this vinyl is a beautiful introduction to the world of Catastrophe. Their recent performances on major French and international stages (Eurosonic, Reeperbahn, Munich, Tokyo, Warsaw) show the growing interest for their music and energy. This selection is an ideal gateway to discover them.

Washed Out is Atlanta-based producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ernest Greene. Over three enchanting, critically-lauded albums and an EP, his music has proved both transportive and visual, each release inviting listeners into immersive, self-contained universes. With Purple Noon, his fourth album, and his return to Sub Pop, he delivers the most accessible Washed Out creation to date. Life of Leisure, Washed Out's 2009 debut EP, set the bar for the Chillwave era, shimmering in a warm haze of off-the-cuff Polaroids and pre-IG filters. Within and Without, his 2011 full-length debut on Sub Pop, morphed into nocturnal, icy synth-pop and embraced provocative imagery. 2013's Paracosm was Greene's take on psychedelia, with a full live band and kaleidoscopic light show, and saw him playing to the largest audiences of his career. The sample-heavy Mister Mellow (2017, Stone's Throw) delivered a 360 audio/visual experience, with cut-n-paste and hand-drawn animation to match the hip-hop influences throughout the album. With each release, Greene has approached his evolving project with meticulous detail and a steadfast vision. For Purple Noon, Greene again wrote, recorded, and produced the entirety of the album, with mixing handled by frequent collaborator Ben H. Allen (Paracosm, Within and Without). Production of the album followed a brief stint of writing for other artists (most notably Sudan Archives) which enabled Greene to explore genres like R&B and modern pop. These brighter, more robust sounds made their way into the songs of Purple Noon and mark a new chapter for Greene as a producer and songwriter. The vocals are front and center, tempos are slower, beats bolder, and there's a more comprehensive depth of dynamics. One can hear the luxuriousness of Sade, the sonic bombast of Phil Collins, and the lush atmosphere of the great Balearic beat classics. Mediterranean coastlines inspired Purple Noon, and Greene pays tribute to the region's distinct island culture - all rugged elegance and old-world charm - and uses it as a backdrop to tell stories of passion, love, and loss (Purple Noon's title comes from the 1960 film directed by Rene Clement and based on the novel The Talented Mister Ripley by Patricia Highsmith). Much like romantic Hollywood epics, the melodrama throughout is strong: a serendipitous first meeting in "Too Late"; a passionate love affair in "Paralyzed"; disintegration of a relationship in "Time to Walk Away"; a reunion with a lost love in "Game of Chance." Purple Noon adds a layer of emotional intensity to the escapism of Washed Out's oeuvre, taking the music to dazzling new heights.

Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles announces details of his highly anticipated new album Articulation, released on Erased Tapes on 31 July 2020.
‘Articulation’, the lead track and album centrepiece, links the record back to the analogue fluidity and colour of 2016’s Night Melody. The division of varying time signatures, intertwined with a complex structure of notes, creates an expression of a moving structure and conjures a dreamy motorik energy. Ryan Lee West explains, "The title track is about articulation and playfulness with shape and time. Its structure is very machine-like, but I was really interested in how melody and sense of story could develop out of this, and it became an exploration of mathematical structures - patterns and shapes having a conversation. I love that something on paper can appear rigid and calculated, but then take on new meaning based on the context that surrounds it, or how it changes over time."
Articulation (which follows 2018’s Persona) was conceived with a very visual way of thinking, unusual for the London musician and producer. During the writing process Ryan drew structures, shapes and patterns by hand to try and find new ways of thinking about music, giving himself a way to problem-solve away from the computer. The album title references a piece by the avant-garde contemporary composer Györgi Ligeti, though not for its music, but for the non-traditional graphic score that accompanied it.
“I find electronic music is often battling to say something with integrity because technology and production can easily get in the way. I think the goal of a lot of electronic composers is to find a balance between the vision of the idea and the power of possibilities on the computer. With a pen and paper sketch you can compose and rethink ideas without technology getting in the way, so for me it acts as a very helpful tool to refresh the process.” - Ryan Lee West
The idea of using analogue drawings and tools to bolster digital creations can be heard in the structure of the pieces that make up Articulation from the broody techno opener ‘Vibrations on a String’ all the way to the album’s boundless closer ‘Sudden Awareness of Now’. While the anthemic rise and fall of ‘Still Here’ and the beatless ambient meditation ‘Melodica’ evoke a certain nostalgia, ‘Forwardism’ achieves the very opposite by burying its melody within the fast-paced rhythm of its pulsating synths.
Rising out of birdsong heard from his studio window, ‘Sudden Awareness of Now’ has a particular urgency about it and seems to perfectly capture a longing for escape. Built around a simple and repetitive melodic theme, expanding and retracting over the course of its seven-minute odyssey, Lee West explains; “I like the fact that if you say something over and over again in music, then over time it can become something else, something reflective.”
Since the release of Persona, Ryan Lee West has taken his captivating live A/V set to all corners of the world. Last seen live on stage with 17 players of the London Contemporary Orchestra for a sold-out orchestral performance at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in January 2020.
Meanwhile Lee West has kept busy. After contributing an exclusive track titled ‘Them Is Us’ to Adult Swim’s coveted Singles series, he recently shared the beautifully textured solo piano piece Winter’s Lament on this year’s Piano Day. He has also been in high demand as a composer, scoring Charlie Brooker’s much talked about Black Mirror episode Striking Vipers, composing original music for Secret Cinema presents Stranger Things as well as renowned choreographer Alexander’s Whitley’s groundbreaking new work Overflow which was set to premiere at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre this spring.
Articulation will be available worldwide on 31 July, with live activities to be announced as soon as the situation allows safe event planning

Washed Out is Atlanta-based producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ernest Greene. Over three enchanting, critically-lauded albums and an EP, his music has proved both transportive and visual, each release inviting listeners into immersive, self-contained universes. With Purple Noon, his fourth album, and his return to Sub Pop, he delivers the most accessible Washed Out creation to date. Life of Leisure, Washed Out's 2009 debut EP, set the bar for the Chillwave era, shimmering in a warm haze of off-the-cuff Polaroids and pre-IG filters. Within and Without, his 2011 full-length debut on Sub Pop, morphed into nocturnal, icy synth-pop and embraced provocative imagery. 2013's Paracosm was Greene's take on psychedelia, with a full live band and kaleidoscopic light show, and saw him playing to the largest audiences of his career. The sample-heavy Mister Mellow (2017, Stone's Throw) delivered a 360 audio/visual experience, with cut-n-paste and hand-drawn animation to match the hip-hop influences throughout the album. With each release, Greene has approached his evolving project with meticulous detail and a steadfast vision. For Purple Noon, Greene again wrote, recorded, and produced the entirety of the album, with mixing handled by frequent collaborator Ben H. Allen (Paracosm, Within and Without). Production of the album followed a brief stint of writing for other artists (most notably Sudan Archives) which enabled Greene to explore genres like R&B and modern pop. These brighter, more robust sounds made their way into the songs of Purple Noon and mark a new chapter for Greene as a producer and songwriter. The vocals are front and center, tempos are slower, beats bolder, and there's a more comprehensive depth of dynamics. One can hear the luxuriousness of Sade, the sonic bombast of Phil Collins, and the lush atmosphere of the great Balearic beat classics. Mediterranean coastlines inspired Purple Noon, and Greene pays tribute to the region's distinct island culture - all rugged elegance and old-world charm - and uses it as a backdrop to tell stories of passion, love, and loss (Purple Noon's title comes from the 1960 film directed by Rene Clement and based on the novel The Talented Mister Ripley by Patricia Highsmith). Much like romantic Hollywood epics, the melodrama throughout is strong: a serendipitous first meeting in "Too Late"; a passionate love affair in "Paralyzed"; disintegration of a relationship in "Time to Walk Away"; a reunion with a lost love in "Game of Chance." Purple Noon adds a layer of emotional intensity to the escapism of Washed Out's oeuvre, taking the music to dazzling new heights.

30D Records sublabel ‘Close Encounters’ publishes its third release ‘Third Contact’ EP on April 24th 2020, (initially on digital release) bringing together a range of artists to express their musical vision as a virtual union, somewhat reflective of the globes current confinement. ‘Third Contact EP’ delivers four tracks from an alliance of artists who are at a peak in their careers; Denise Rabe clearly defines her dark, hypnotic trade-mark aesthetic in ‘We’ll Meet In Shanghai’, a timeless track even before its release. Geistform combines industrial-electro with a raw techno drive, continuously channelling his masterful energy in ‘3C 273’. A more dancefloor-oriented B side features ‘Stolen’ from Temudo, delivering rolling groove and distorted bass-lines, Adriana Lopez closing the EP with her high energy, spellbinding ‘SMV’, both B-side tracks perfectly geared toward a wide variety of DJ sets. 30D Records are thrilled to debut all four artists on this special release and all the artists are equally happy to be able to share their creativity and vision through music with you at these strange times.

On the Corner Records was awarded 'Label of the Year' at the Worldwide Awards 2018. OtC is a story of artists and scenes that goes way beyond being a record label. DJ and label owner Pete On the Corner has created a home for innovative, bordercrossing, genre pushing artists. The OtC vision is to bring music to the world that is knocking at the 'Door To The Cosmos'. The label is an inimitable mixture of Miles Davis 'call it what you want' attitude, Sun Ra's Afro Futurism and the ecstatic soul lifting influence of black music on electronic dance music. On 'Door To The Cosmos - Dancefloor Sampler' Pete has curated a volume of cuts from present and future label family. This first in the series, is not just knocking at the door but giving it a kick! It's club music referencing the source, be it Detroit, or UK bass culture combined with future sounds rising from cosmopolitan hotbeds of sonic heat. On this maxi EP Venezuela meets India via New York, the street sound of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania pulses through UK Jungle. Undergrounds pushing the dance, breaking borders and genre alike. Rhythms from the ancestors channelled for future times.

Musique Pour La Danse presents Roomservice, Dutchman Orlando Voorn's forgotten yet unforgettable IDM-leaning, home-listening electronica / techno album from 1994 under his Living Room alias, originally released on the producer's cult Night Vision label.

Praised unequivocally by those lucky enough to have heard it, this criminally underrated record nonetheless deserves pride of place when talking about forward-thinking electronic music from the early 90s.

While it is widely acknowledged that Orlando Voorn's productions are one of the most fascinating prisms through which to experience a European take on the Detroit sound, Roomservice is also a strong reminder that the paradigm shift from sweaty raves to enhanced home listening, championed by Warp's Artificial Intelligence series, early Rephlex releases, along with projects such as The Black Dog, Plaid or Autechre was in fact not only limited to British artists.

As its name indicates, The Living Room is not geared for warehouses but instead interested in a more intimate and domestic setting. As such, it does not contain over the top bangers, but it's hard to find any filler in this album where all the tracks are killer, catchy and memorable. All displaying a sophisticated yet immediate focus on warm melodies and grooves no heavier than a feather, these emotional cuts provide a wonderful and intricate soundscape for introspective listeners to explore, and they will surely find echoes of ideas developped by Manuel Gottsching, Steve Reich and Pat Metheny scattered accross the album.

While some tracks are rhythmic and would fill a dancefloor in a second with their four to the floor or broken beats, the album also gives room for more ambient excursions to occur and develop brilliantly. But once again, it's more likely you'll end up dancing on your couch rather than dozing off.

2020 might be the most difficult year in recent history for dancefloors worldwide, yet that's not going to stop Musique Pour La Danse from reissuing this gem of an album for listeners, dancers, and DJs of today and tomorrow.

Words by Ed Isar.

The third release of Kay Suzuki's Time Capsule imprint rejuvenates Bill Laswell's dub reinterpretations of Ethiopian singer Gigi. Following reissues of Japanese fusionist Yuji Toriyama and Italian new age visionary Il Guardiano Del Faro, the third Time Capsule is a body of dub reinterpretations by celebrated producer Bill Laswell of Ethiopian singer Gigi. Curated by Tokyo record collector, music researcher and seasoned reissue supervisor Ken Hidaka, it is the first time Illuminated Audio is pressed to vinyl after its CD release in 2003.

'Prole Art Threat' is producer Anthoney Hart's second LP for Planet Mu under his East Man alias, after 2018's well received debut 'Red White & Zero'. It brings together a set of MCs from all over London, Darkos and Eklipse from East London and Lyrical Strally from near Feltham who were on the first album, Ny Ny and Mic Ty also from East London, Streema and 'Vision Crew' member Whack Eye from Lewisham plus Fernando Kep, an MC from the burgeoning Brazil grime scene. They work across a cohesive set of tight riddims forged from thoughtful amalgams of grime, dancehall and drum & bass. The album takes its name from a Fall song/mission statement of the same title, the band being self-consciously working class and led by a brilliant autodidact in Mark E Smith. East Man relates that the title is to be taken as “a reflection of working-class creativity and how the establishment marginalise us and (perhaps on a subconscious level) see us as a threat.” Les Back, author of 'The Art of Listening' and 'Out of Whiteness: Color, Politics and Culture (with Vron Ware)' contributes liner notes to the record: East Man understands the force and the democracy of the mic. Listening to Prole Art Threat is like being at a dance. As the mic is passed between each of the MCs, a different tale is ‘elevated... off the map’ as Ny Ny puts it. We hear instalmentsfrom Forest Gate, Lee, Lewisham and Manor Park as these ‘lyrical gaffers’ and ’top boys and girls’ tell tough stories of life under the scrutiny of the ‘Feds’ in a brutal and divided city. The bars and rhymes document what it means to live here; from the double standards applied to the sexuality of young girls and boys to the corrosive violence of everyday life. All this is dissected without compromise. This is not just aLondon story though, the inclusion of Fernando Kep from the burgeoning Grime scene in Brazil is evidence of the outernational reach of the music. The tracks on East Man’s album explode the wilful ignorance of those who see ‘the working class’ in contemporary London as code for whiteness. This is the sound of a proletarian urban multiculture, made from Caribbean and African influences, sound system culture, pirate radio and the inexorable rhythms of Grime, Drum & Bass, Techno and Dancehall. It is the stirring of the "white" & "black" working classes who are living together and coming together on their own terms in sound. ‘Making music because you love it... what the fuck else could you do?’ as East Man says. The tracks and voices you are holding in your hands are, as a result urgent, vital, as hard nails and twice as sharp.

The Beneficiaries ist ein brandneues Detroit-Projekt von Jeff Mills, für das er sich mit zwei weiteren Detroiter Legenden zusammen tat: dem nicht minder visionären Detroit Techno-DJ/Produzenten Eddie Flashin' Fowlkes und der Poetin Jessica Care Moore, bekannt durch ihr 2015er Album "Black Tea: The Legend Of Jessi James" (feat. Roy Ayers, Talib Kweli, Jose James, Ursula Rucker), ihrem Beitrag zu Rawkus' legendärem Spoken-Word-Sampler "Eargasms", aus Russell Simmons' HBO-Serie "Def Poetry Jam", sowie Kollabos mit Nas ("Nastradamus"), Jeezy und den Silent Poets. Ferner wirken Amp Fiddler (Keyboards) und die beiden Perucssionisten Sundiata O M und Efe Bes mit. Die 6 Tracks haben eine Länge zwischen fünf und vierzehn Minuten.

Names You Can Trust is proud to present a special collaboration with Barbès Records and the legendary godfathers of cumbia amazónica, Los Wembler's de Iquitos. Featuring two songs mixed expressly for 7-inch directly from the reels of their 2019 album, VISIÓN DEL AYAHUASCA, it's the latest entry in the group's historic canon of a particular brand of bonafide psychedelia, a worthy addition to a catalog of recordings that have made their way around the world to fans, DJs and sound systems since the group's beginnings in the late '60s.

The band's 50 year-old origin story begins when electric instruments started showing up at the port city of Iquitos, Peru. This seminal moment of international trade at the gateway to the Amazon inspired a shoemaker named Solomon Sanchez to start a band with his five sons. Los Wembler's were the first band in the capital of the Peruvian Amazon to play popular local rhythms with electric guitars. Their revolutionary sound, fuzzy lysergic guitar helixes wrapped around melancholic melodies, would go on to have an enormous impact on the whole of South American popular music, echoing throughout the continent and further, into the States and eventually across the world.

The past few years have seen a new wave of interest in the band's music. Los Wembler's, the sons, now fathers and grandfathers themselves, have brought their trademark sound on recent tours to Mexico, Europe and North America, where it has been embraced by a new generation of musicians and listeners.

As Los Wembler's prepared for a lengthy tour in 2020 to coincide with this new 7-inch issue, the world abruptly changed course. The COVID-19 outbreak has had particularly devastating consequences in the Peruvian Amazon. With an urban density of around a million people, Iquitos is the largest isolated city in the world, reachable only by boat or plane and surrounded by the vastness of the rainforest. A buzzing multicultural city, Iquitos was catapulted into modernity during the late 19th century's rubber fever. It is home to not only the members of Los Wembler's, but several legendary and influential musicians who helped lay the groundwork for the roots of chicha, the distinctively Peruvian brand of cumbia.

André Hommen präsentiert sein erstes Album 'More Than This' auf seinem kompromisslosen Label These Eyes. Das neun Tracks umfassende Album, das im Juli dieses Jahres veröffentlicht wird, ist eine melodische Reise, welche die vielfältigen Facetten seines Klangkosmos aufzeigt.

These Eyes wurde 2017 in Köln mit dem klaren Ziel gegründet, elektronische Underground-Musik begleitet von einer Vision für einzigartiges Design zu veröffentlichen. Mit einem Backkatalog ausgewählter EPs von Künstlern wie Marc Romboy, Jonathan Kaspar und Clavis ist 'More Than This' das erste Album des Labels und zugleich ein Debüt des Labelinhabers selbst.

"Eins" beginnt mit glühendem Ambient, Glockenschläge und funkelnde Tasten werden hinzugefügt, um einen üppigen Groove zu erzeugen. Wie ein verschwommener Traum eines unbekannten Paradieses, warme, gefühlvolle Akkorde und Gesang - der Klang klingt wie Wellen, die auf "Pantone" langsam an das Ufer gespült werden. Bei 'Mirror' wird verzerrter weiblicher Gesang zum Mittelpunkt der Melodie, in einem treibenden Techno-Track, der für das Warehouse gemacht wurde. Die funky Bassline von "Current Issue" bewegt sich, ein tieferer Vibe wird enthüllt, während die Harmonie Spannung und Charme aufbaut.

Unheimliche Perkussion verbindet sich mit teuflischem Klavier auf dem eindringlichen 'Arythm'. Unscharfe, kratzende Elektronik und die Energie der 808 lassen dich während 'Waste Your Youth' in einem schwindelerregenden Zustand zurück. „Emphase" ist ein spannungsgeladener nächtlicher Ritt durch den Wald. „Cohesive" beginnt mit nichts anderem als einem komplizierten Drumpattern und ist André in seiner hypnotischen Bestform, der wartet, bis man vollständig in seinen Bann gezogen ist, bevor er eine hypnotisierende Schleife hinzufügt. Der Titeltrack 'More Than This' besticht durch Synths, die in dieser schwebenden Downtempo-Nummer flimmern und fliessen.

Presenting Shirley Scott’s deeply personal album, ‘One for Me’ - a defiant tribute to the music she always desired to create but was shrouded by the demands of her vibrant career. Thoughtful curation of the band, tracks, and completely self-funded, this project set off on an innovative trajectory supported by Harold Vick on tenor saxophone and Billy Higgins on drums. Originally released on the revolutionary artist-owned label, Strata-East Records, in January 1975, this unique project will be available to enjoy again on Arc Records from 15th May 2020.

The impetus for this record was a real desire for Shirley to express herself more freely and create something for herself, taking back the power she’d seemingly relinquished throughout her career. Maxine Gordon, Scott’s close friend, and executive producer on the original record, expresses thatthey often had intimate discussions about how Scott was being told what to play, what to wear, how to look and how to speak in public for many years. Having had enough of these restrictions, she created this record to please no one but herself.

As Scott expresses on the back of the original LP sleeve:

“All of the music recorded in this album is both personal and very purposeful to me, because it is the first step toward honesty about what and how I want to play. I’ve done a lot of other albums, a lot of different ways for a lot ofdifferent people and now, with the help of the Creator, in whom all things are possible, I have done one for me too.”

Having self-raised funds to make the record, with complete control over the masters, and with her dream band together, Scott recorded at Blue Rock Studio in November 1974. Harold Vick, often referred to as one of the “unsung tenor saxophonists” of his time, was cherry picked to bring Scott’s vision to life. Throughout his career, he released records on Blue Note, RCA as well as performing and recording with a string of legendary artists such as Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin. Completing the dream trio was highly sought out drummer Billy Higgins, who is the most recorded drummer in the history of Blue Note Records, having played on 45 Blue Note albums. The key to their success was that Higgins tuned his drums to fit with the organ’s bass sound which, of course, Scott played with her feet.

Scott was also known as “Little Miss Half-Steps,” a name given to her by tenor saxophonist George Coleman, (who wrote a composition by that name in her honor) - she regularly played with both George & Harold. Coleman is known to have admired Scott’s half-steps (when you play two adjacent keys on the organ or piano) and their close bond and mutual respect is solidified on this record through a track titled ‘Big George’ - specifically written for Coleman.

“Queen of the Organ”, Shirley Scott was born in Philadelphia in 1934 and lived there most of her life until her early death in March 2002 at the age of 67. Having mastered the piano at an early age, Scott switched from piano to organ at the tender age of 21. Scott had a legendary recording career as a leaderwith 45 albums mainly released on Impulse and Prestige and is often remembered for her work with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Stanley Turrentine.Boasting a thriving career as a musician and composer, Scott progressed to a professor at Cheyney University in her later years. She was a treasured mother and grandmother, and a cherished friend of music scholar, Maxine Gordon, who’s honour it is to collaborate with Arc Records on shining a new bright light on this monumental body of work.

Pleamar(Spanish for high tide) is the first collaborative release between Chancha Vía Circuito and El Búho for Wonderwheel Recordings, and stands as one of the most refreshing EP's within the Latin American downtempo electronic genre.

On this release the vision of both artists is united as one. This unity is reflected through "Real Fun, Wow!"'s artwork, presenting an image of a centered eye, reminiscent of historic drawings from tide studies. The representation of Earth, with a central circle surrounded by two ellipsoids that rotate and align in perfect harmony, mirrors the meeting of the two producers, the moment when the seawater reaches its apex andPleamaroccurs.

Like a metamorphosis that - without knowing it - we had been waiting a long time for, the EP reconstructs Pedro and Robin's encounters over the years. It transports us into the history of migrant sounds, the salvaged sound of floral jungles, high mountain forests and the ocean deep. We hear a sonic beauty filled out by deep personal stories - four humble and honest tracks that demonstrate the fusion of these artists and both them and the genre into new territory.

Starting with "Oruga"'s deep ambience, dub atmospheres and space echo reverberations, the album follows this line of reverberated rhythms and relaxed percussion lines throughout, carrying us along with a pulsating, deep, natural tempo. "El Mago Georges", perhaps the Pleamar'sjewel, is bursting with life - impactful depth and perfectly tuned melodies yet tribal and delicate at the same time. "Murga del Viento'' recalls another meeting of these two minds: El Búho's much-loved remix of "Sueño en Paraguay" a beautiful track from Chancha Vía Circuito ("Amansará" 2014). Here the whistle meets the owl from the previous track and the two birds take us a step forward in this collaboration with chords superimposed on a haunting bass. The release ends with "Una Pulgada de Silencio", a track of cosmic synthesizers, trickling water samples and the voice of argentine folk singer Gus Goncalves. Through Pleamar we come to find a much needed peace and clarity hidden beneath the rolling waves, a deep-sound escape to get lost in.

Long-time collaborators, longer-time best friends, lifelong analog appreciators; the German duo Iron Curtis & Johannes Albert join cosmic forces once again for another LP mission 'Moon II', a heartfelt voyage through the sounds, movements, styles and machines that created this music in the first place.
Think late 80s New York, early 90s Sheffield and the perennial sounds of Italo and Detroit, 'Moon II' is a lunar safari that celebrates the deepest foundations of house, techno and electronic soul while resolutely refusing to get nostalgic. Written and recorded during an intense two-and-a-half month session in Berlin last autumn, there's a consistency and tangible narrative running throughout as the pair play inspiration ping-pong over the course of 10 tracks.
A little Drexcyian glacial nod here, a hazy Boards Of Canada wink there. The Other People Place, Kerrier District, Environ Records, the Hacienda, Sub Club, Heaven 17, classic electro… All these ingredients are constantly bubbling in the mix for both Curtis and Albert (as individuals and even more so as a duo) and the end result is an album that works as a proper album should. Peaks, troughs, dreamy departures and all beautiful things in between.
Taking off where their debut collaborative album 'Industrie & Zärtlichkeit' (soon to be retitled 'Moon I') left us three years ago, the opening modem sounds on the intro track 'Canggu Laundry Club' dial us into a special sense of time and space.
It's a space where anything feels possible; Visual-inspired acid lines on 'Tiger Trek', lino-spinning body pops and windmills to the street sounds electro style of 'The Ultimate Seduction', the club-focused, Traxx-style Cutie Schamuthie collaboration 'Hurting', the melancholy plucks and struts of 'Feingold', the provocative, slinky, smoky finale piece 'Nektar'… The list of intergenerational and cross-genre landmarks on this adventurous body of work go and on, each track complementing the last as they fuse to create a bigger collective picture. A picture that's charmed together through the consistent use of key classic studio machines.
They call it Introverted Electronic Body Music, we call it warm, free-spirited and ultimately timeless. Perfect for your sets, your afterhours or your headphones alike; it's time to let Iron Curtis and Johannes Albert take you to the Moon and back… Once again.

Emerging from the epic Scottish house and techno scene of the 90s, George Thomson started his musical adventures as a promoter, bringing to Scotland DJs from Chicago, New York, Toronto, Paris and London to play at the legendary Tribal Funktion parties in Edinburgh.

Aside from co-founding Edinburgh's Underground Solushn record shop, he also started producing his own blend of techno and house in the mid-nineties. This led to a string of releases with seminal labels such as NRK, Stickman, 2020 vision, Crosstown Rebels, Tirk and more recently Greco-Roman and Output Recordings. His various monikers from then and now include Plastic Avengers, George Demure and more recently the George part of of Jeanga and George.

After a move to London in 2000 his George T moniker began a long hiatus. Nothing was heard until Joe Goddard released an EP of rediscovered hidden gems on Greco-Roman in 2017. This awoke the fire within and he’s back today with the first new George T material in 19 years.

The Midway EP was recorded in North London over a period of 2 years, using only analog gear and embracing memory, movement and the moment. These four tracks are a love letter to club life, both then and now. This love is best demonstrated with the four accompanying short films using either nightclub footage from 1996, slow motion lido footage or Bauhaus triadic ballet inspired time lapse choreography.

Benannt nach einer analogen Drum-Machine, die LA Priest aka Sam Dust aka Sam Esatgate sich selbst erträumt und gebaut hat, ist GENE der Nachfolger des von Trüffelschweinen gefeierten Debütalbums Inji aus 2015 und der Kollaboration mit Connan Mockasin, Soft Hair, in 2016. Und natürlich ist diese Drum-Machine, die Sam über zwei Jahre erdacht und ertüftelt hat, der Dreh-und Angelpunkt dieses Albums. Es ist die bisher vollständigste Umsetzung seiner Vision. Diese Songs sind auf der Suche nach Sinn, sie erforschen die Grenzen der Fähigkeiten ihres Schöpfers.

LTD Edition!

Benannt nach einer analogen Drum-Machine, die LA Priest aka Sam Dust aka Sam Esatgate sich selbst erträumt und gebaut hat, ist GENE der Nachfolger des von Trüffelschweinen gefeierten Debütalbums Inji aus 2015 und der Kollaboration mit Connan Mockasin, Soft Hair, in 2016. Und natürlich ist diese Drum-Machine, die Sam über zwei Jahre erdacht und ertüftelt hat, der Dreh-und Angelpunkt dieses Albums. Es ist die bisher vollständigste Umsetzung seiner Vision. Diese Songs sind auf der Suche nach Sinn, sie erforschen die Grenzen der Fähigkeiten ihres Schöpfers.

Our next release on Visions Recordings, is a Swiss Duo of extremely talented musicians producing as KEYS of LYNX and we are happy to release their first ever record on Visions. These two future boogie jazz funk tracks were sent by KOL a few months back and straight away we fell in love with the freshness and the grooves. Influenced by jazz, funk, boogie and soul from the past and the broken beat sounds ok Kaidi Tatham and the likes, KEYS OF LYNX deliver here some well needed grooves for the Soulful music lovers. On the remix duties its an in-house version “Visions Remix” by label partners Alex & Stephane Attias, taking us on an 8 minutes dancefloor journey.

At Visions we like various styles of music’s, soulful and deep. Another great release for us in 2020.

Kristian Craig Robinson, aka Capitol K, is a multi-instrumentalist and record producer with a long history in London’s most interesting under-the-radar music places and spaces. With a musical story like his, you can expect side streams. New record ‘Birdtrapper’ is “the sound of an initiation rave in a utopian hidden village”, and his latest exploration of Mediterranean audio mythos following from ’Goatherder’ (2018). The six track mini-album was similarly formed from ritualistic improvisations performed in Malta (where Capitol K was born), using home-made flutes, reed pipe, bamboo percussion, drum machine, bass guitar, but this time features a wider use of synthesizers, with the alternative dance floor in mind. Where ‘Goatherder’ was an awakening of genetic primitivism, ‘Birdtrapper’ is an evocation of sonic bird callers, proto-rave abandon, ambient resonance and an ecstatic captive state, along with the previous work's visions of hunters, temples and scrub land music
‘Goatherder’ caused a quiet kind of quake and was beloved by The Quietus, BBCR3 and 6Music. Vinyl Factory described it as “like a series of manipulated field recordings that have an ancient, ritualistic quality … Goatherder shimmers with Balearic strangeness, rooted in an earthy outer-national dance music tradition”. For the last seven years K has been behind the consoles at the heavily influential Total Refreshment Centre, recording and mixing records with the likes of Trash Kit, The Comet Is Coming, Rozi Plain, Alabaster DePlume, Dry Cleaning, Flamingods Cykada, Ibibio Sound Machine, BAS JAN and John Johanna. It’s not just recording. He’s also become an influential if understated mentor to a new wave of producers and bands. His experience in studio environments is long and storied, including stints at Studio Plateaux on an island in the middle of the Thames and in the Royal Symphonia’s squatted rehearsal rooms. Capitol K has released seven albums and the 'Birdtapper EP' follows a legacy of influential releases on early 2000s electronica labels including Planet Mu and XL. Aside this he also runs the record label Faith & Industry. It’s a friends and family, love not money affair and he has released music by Champagne Dub, John Johanna, Super Best Friends Club, Blue House & Clémentine March.

Repress

Leading lights of the neo ambient rhizome alongside Huerco S’ West Mineral label, Experiences Ltd has already amassed a cult following after just one release - ULLA’s ‘Tumbling Towards A Wall’, now returning to relay a sublime, probing debut of crackling, cross-continental communications from mdo, Ultrafog, and Nikolay Kozlov, aka Folder.
Weft from dematerialised ambient tropes spooled between their respective bases in Kansas City, Tokyo, and Samara in Russia, ‘New Path’ slots fuzzily into an expanding prism of contemporary ambient music which echoes the purpose and effect of the original thing via traces of ‘90s/‘00s experimental techno and minimalist rhythms. Their sound effectively recalls K. Leimer’s systems music as much as the Pole’s eerie dub malfunctions; running a lushly frayed and decentralised style that embraces a gently psychedelic sort of chaos and lysergic, hallucinatory vision in an up-to-the-moment way shared by the likes of Huerco. S and uon.
If original ambient was analogous to THC and LSD, and in the ‘90s MDMA, then the effect of Folder’s music, and that of their peers, adds the putative, lushly dissociative effect and non-linearity of Ketamine and psilocybin to that formula. As such ‘New Path’ attempts to follow new routes through your neurons, sparking at new junctures of style and form that better reflect and counter a current psychic state of stasis and anxious anticipation.
Coming from the label behind those cult ‘bblisss’ volumes of 2016-2018, listeners can trust their needs for relaxation and otherworldly curiosity will be sated by ’New Path’, as it courses from iridescent ambient noise in the titular opener, to the laminal diffractions of ‘Plasma’, and soothing textural abstraction of ‘Reset’, shoring up in ‘Node’ as though oceanic ambient currents have individually lead them to this bobbing buoy inthe middle of a noumenal ocean.

First collaboration ever between Japanese noise legend Merzbow and visionary/provocateur Kaoru Sato of R.N.A. Organism (Vanity Records) and EP-4 (WRWTFWW).

Side A: live recording of Merzbow and Kaoru Sato's first live collaboration ever. Recorded October 21st 2018 at Metro Club in Kyoto for a three-label showcase with avant-garde imprints Slowdown, Phonon and Kyoh Records.

Side B: Solo sessions by each artist that took place after the joint performance on the same night. Edited and mixed in their respective studios.

Kamasi Washington's wide-reaching double album Heaven & Earth arrives on Young Turks. Much like his previous releases, Heaven & Earth once again finds Kamasi setting out to expand the minds and horizons of all who encounter his music. Recorded as a double album, this expanded canvas gives his trademark tones the opportunity to offer a wider than ever before selection of fully immersive, freestyling psychedelic jazz that carries a distinctly spiritual edge.In an instant, Heaven and Earth really burrows deeper into the external cosmos that we were left circling around the edge of with his debut long-player, The Epic (released in 2015 via Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label), yet it also carries us further into the distance of the deeply cinematic overtones that his debut Young Turks EP, Harmony of Difference pointed us in the direction of. While it is both instantly recognisable as a Kamasi Washington recording, Heaven and Earth's luxurious running time matched with a searching narrative sees Kamasi breaking out of any sounds or scenes he may be associated with, smoothly transcending into new, dynamic and sonically experimental levels and counterpoints of his now widely praised signature sound.
Washington convened his band, The Next Step, as well as members of the long running collective The West Coast Get Down at Henson Studios in Los Angeles to record the 16 tracks on Heaven & Earth. The music was composed, written and arranged by Washington, with new arrangements of jazz and bebop legend Freddie Hubbard's 'Hubtones' and iconic kung fu film theme 'Fists of Fury,' as well as one song by bandmate Ryan Porter. Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Ronald Bruner, Jr., Cameron Graves, Brandon Coleman, Miles Mosley, Patrice Quinn, Tony Austin and many more contribute to the album.Stretching out at two and a half hours of entirely newly recorded music, Kamasi Washington paints a vision of Heaven and Earth that is spread across two sections with eight movements apiece. It sees him wrestling with and attempting to make sense of the meaning of both Heaven and Earth within his mind and his place within the wider universe as a whole, with the Heaven side representing the world Kamasi sees inwardly, the world that is a part of him, while the Earth side represents the world he sees outwardly, the world that he is a part of. An existential experiment with saxophones that's set to take you on a journey that is as widely thrilling as it is deeply searching.

**LP FORMAT IS VERY LIMITED - PLEASE BE AWARE THAT UNFORTUNATELY THERE MAY BE CUTS TO ORDERS**

For Los Angeles' The Black Queen, the depths of isolation and loss have always functioned as a gateway to being born anew. Much has transpired since the band released their cold, cutting debut album Fever Daydream (a record that Revolver described as 'a haunting exploration of the darker side of pop music'). But throughout it all, the trio of Greg Puciato (former frontman of the now-defunct The Dillinger Escape Plan), Joshua Eustis (of Telefon Tel Aviv, Puscifer, and Nine Inch Nails), and Steven Alexander (a tech member for Nine Inch Nails, Ke$ha, and A Perfect Circle) have emerged as triumphant and intense as ever, documenting their journey via the synth-streaked industrial anthems of their sophomore release, Infinite Games.Formed in 2011 after a chance meeting between Puciato and Eustis backstage at a Dillinger show in which they both realized they were huge fansof each other's work, The Black Queen became a labor of love for its members to explore sounds and emotions that they couldn't quite fit into their full-time projects. Injecting a pained, twilit edge into slick new-wave tracks as fit for the dance floor as they are for some imagined dystopian skyline, the trio have managed to channel their scattered, eclectic influences into a surprisingly cohesive vision. 'We've got a pretty weird cross section,' Puciato says of the band's musical chemistry. 'We can go out for food and listen to Power Trip on the way there, then Baltimore club music on the way back, and then talk about how killer Maxwell's Embrya album was, and then get sidetracked and talk about the Celeste video game soundtrack, then all have to be quiet so that we can grab a voice recording of some weird sounding radio interference. It's all over the place and unusually far reaching,and there's a lot of passion for discovery.'After releasing their 2016 debut album Fever Daydream to critical acclaim however, the trio underwent several major upheavals that cast the project in a completely new light. Puciato's main project The Dillinger Escape Plan disbanded. Chris Cornell of Soundgarden killed himself while Puciato was on tour with him. Eustis put out music under his beloved Telefon Tel Aviv monikerfor the first time since his former bandmate Charles Cooper died in 2009. Thetrio's storage space was robbed. Puciato suffered a relapse into crippling anxiety and paranoia. Once again, in the face of tragedy, The Black Queen had to rebuild everything from the ground up.The first step was acquiring a new studio space, which immensely helped the band get back into the rhythm of freely collaborating with one another, and experimenting with sounds for as long (and as loud) as they wanted. The resulting album, Infinite Games, marks a massive leap forward for The Black Queen. Not only are the band's icy R&B instincts more sharply pronounced; they've also rendered their morbid electronics in more lush detail than ever before, filling out the corners of their songs with chilling ambient passages
that create a wide-screen backdrop for Puciato's eerie, tortured vocals. 'I think this album is actually hookier, but more insidious in that it reveals itself over time,' Puciato says about Infinite Games. His choice of words says something about the album's creeping, pitch-black approach to pop music.With this release, the group have also announced a new undertaking in the form of their new label, Federal Prisoner. Resisting the more marketing-centricapproach that feels standard at this point for the record label game, the goal of Federal Prisoner is to provide an outlet for projects that emerge naturally from The Black Queen's own creative endeavors and collaborations with otherartists. In a way, Federal Prisoner solidifies TBQ's commitment to creating music on their own terms, following the same organic sense of inspiration that led them to forming in the first place. As Puciato puts it, 'It's just an expression of passion and individualism in a way that opens more doors for us to create and to own what we create with minimal compromise. It's as much an act of refusal as it is a statement of intent.'Infinite Games, the second album from experimental Los Angeles synth-pop trio The Black Queen, comes out on September 28th

BERZERKER LEGION was founded in 2016 by guitarists Tomas Elofsson (Hypocrisy) and Alwin Zuur (Asphyx) with a vision to create death metal of the most belligerent quality, they recruited a line-up of solid well-known musicians consisting of James Stewart (Vader) on drums, Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath) on vocals and Fredrik Isaksson (Dark Funeral) on bass to complete the Legion. Alwin Zuur (guitars/songwriter) comments: « During the recent years Tomas and I met each other at shows and festivals regularly. Much of our conversations were about music and styles. During these meetings we found out that we really had a lot of common musical interests . Music wise ‘Obliterate the Weak’ displays the perfect balance between brutality, melody and harmony. Being a fan of the early 90’s Swedish Gothenburg style, with bands like At The Gates, Eucharist, a Canorous Quintet, as well as being a die-hard fan of brutal old school death metal style with bands like Bolt Thrower, Obituary, I have always wanted to write songs showing a mix of such different death metal genres. The great musical cooperation between Tomas and me has made ‘Obliterate The Weak’ a variously solid diverse album where you can expect 11 songs of violent pounding riffing in a massive wall of sound mixed with immense melodies and thrilling harmonies.» Vocalist Jonny Pettersson explains the lyrical theme of ‘Obliterate the Weak’: « The lyrical concept is based around how religion is poisoning the world, and even after so many years of evolution, development , we still have huge parts of the world that believes in a fairytale, people who believe that this fairytale is worth going to war over, worth killing for and uses as an excuse for truly malevolent acts. These are weak minded sheep that will do anything in the name of whatever god they believe in. 'Obliterate the Weak' draws from the will to eradicate all forms of religion and tells a story of atrocities made in the name of a fiction. » Saying the album songs transpire massively produced invigorating heavy death metal is an understatement. BERZERKER LEGION knock out with warlike triumphant, powerfully addictive harmonies that will turn them into an unstoppable beast in a live situation and on record.

'Objet Melodie' is a combination of real instruments, synthesizers, drum machines and samples, involving genres from different countries of the world.

It's like being on a surreal oasis, where music is eclectic but also meditative or just for a dance. Interconnecting with the whole planet, imagining or living in different countries and trying to relate with diverse cultures and experimentation.

Lorenzo-Giulio Morresi, 'Objet melodie' producer, combined real instruments like Roland TR-707, Roland JUNO-60, a Gibson Memphis guitar, marimbas and steel drums with percussions samples taken from his personal record collection.

The other musicians involved are Stefano Ubaldini who plays the intro in 'Rituel' with an amazing hand-made guitar called 'Slitar', inspired from an Indian Sitar made with a broken metal window he picked up in a London backyard.

Fabio Mina is playing flutes on several tracks, like the Hulusi from China and the Nose Flute from Hawaiian islands. Giuseppe Diamanti plays tenor sax outros.

'Objet melodie' is inspired by sounds, technologies and traditions from planet earth, with the hope of staying interconnected as much as we can.

It goes without saying that the global metal scene would not be the same without Sepultura. For 35 years now, the Brazilian icons are not only a band revered worldwide; they have been, are and forever will be at the very forefront of Thrash Metal, trailblazing ever since they released their long-since legendary debut album “Morbid Visions” in 1986.
While quickly establishing themselves as leaders of the second wave of Thrash already in the late eighties, to this day they never came even close to stagnation. “Quadra”, their mighty new undertaking, is proof of a will unbroken, a thirst unquenched and a quality so staggeringly high it’s a wonder this band doesn’t implode. Now three albums deep into what may very well be their strongest incarnation yet – uniting the talents of old-school members Andreas Kisser (guitars, vocals) and Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. (bass), vocal force of nature Derrick Leon Green (vocals) and drummer Eloy Casagrande – Sepultura are an unleashed power to be reckoned with, uniting bucketloads of experience and youthful vigour in a totally revived way.
“On ‘Quadra’, we felt the urge to revisit that old thrash feeling of ‘Beneath the Remains’ or ‘Arise“,’ only seen through the eyes of today,” Andreas Kisser utters the magic words. “Add to that the tribal percussion, the orchestral elements, the choirs, the melodies and the clean vocals and you get a thorough run-through of our entire career, backed by a very contemporary approach.” Fuelled by an energy almost uncanny for a band that has been active for so long, Sepultura storm through a contemporary thrash monument, backed by sublime melodies, a very eerie atmosphere and a fiendishly high level of technicality. Kisser is appreciating these compliments, still maintaining his very down to earth approach. “We don’t heed the past and we don’t try to be preoccupied by the future too much,” he shrugs. “We’re in the now, trying every day to make Sepultura a little bit better. That’s what keeping us strong.”
And that’s what they have been doing for the last 30+ years. Album after album, tour after tour, no gap in between records longer than three years. “Music is all we do,” Kisser states matter-of-factly. “If it wouldn’t be for Sepultura,” he laughs, “I would be a sad and lonely guy. Sepultura is what we are.” And “Quadra” is living testimony to that. The old Sepultura echo through the very fibre of the songs in all its raw and morbid splendour, but yet it’s the present, the experienced and refined beast that is Sepultura in 2020 that’s blasting out thrash metal anthems for a fucked-up age.
With now 15 albums under their belts, Sepultura are the work horses of the metal world, always ready to attack. In many ways, “Quadra” broadens the vision the Brazilian thrash troopers had on “Machine Messiah” (2017), again relying on the impeccable talent of Swedish producing giant Jens Bogren and his Fascination Street Studios. “He is so full of passion, it’s unbelievable, man,” Kisser raves. “He’s really there, he really cares about the projects he’s doing. For Sepultura, he’s like the fifth member of the band. The chemistry was so amazing, 99 percent of what we were trying do to actually worked. That was insane!” Even after more than 30 years at the forefront of international thrash, guitarist Kisser sounds positively baffled by working with Bogren. “We felt like we were in our rehearsal room.”
Bringing together a monumental grandeur and a wild, untamed ferocity, Sepultura stepped up their game musically – and conceptually as well. “We were possessed by the number four, by the numerology of it”, Kisser starts to explain. “I divided the album into four parts as if we were doing a double vinyl. Side one is the pure and raw thrash side. Side two brings in the rhythms and percussion from our ‘Roots’ era. Three is getting a bit experimental and four brings forth the melodies and the acoustic guitars.” With John North’s book “Quadrivium” as a further source of inspiration, Sepultura dive deep into a mystical world full of hidden meanings. “You have four seasons and twelve month in a year just to pick one example. A lot of stuff in our culture is divided like that.”
Plus, Quadra also is the Portuguese word for ‘sport court’ that by definition is a limited area of land, with regulatory demarcations, where according to a set of rules the game takes place,” he adds. “We all come from different Quadras. The countries, all nations with their borders and traditions; culture, religions, laws, education and a set of rules where life takes place.” In the Quadra of thrash, however, we all are the same. And we bow our heads in unison to the mighty leader that is Sepultura.

Sepultura’s acclaimed 1989 album, Beneath The Remains, marks the band’s major label debut on Roadrunner. Widely regarded today as a thrash-metal classic, the album perfectly distilled the Brazilian band’s potent mix of piercing melodies and pummelling rhythms.

In December 1988, brothers Max (guitar/vocals) and Igor Cavalera (drums), Paulo Jr. (bass) and Andreas Kisser (guitar) recorded Beneath the Remains in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with producer Scott Burns. Soon after it's release in April 1989, the album was hailed by fans and critics alike for standout songs like “Inner Self,” “Primitive Future” and the title track. The album has been remastered especially for this collection.

The Deluxe 2CD Edition also features nine unreleased “mixdown” recordings taken from the Beneath the Remains sessions at Nas Nuvens Studios in Rio de Janeiro. Highlights include versions of “Lobotomy” and “Mass Hypnosis,” as well as instrumental versions “Slaves Of Pain” and “Sarcastic Existence.”

The studio tracks are complemented by unreleased recordings of the band performing live on September 22, 1989 at the Zeppelinhalle, West Germany. The concert features songs from Beneath the Remains (“Primitive Future” and “Inner Self”) and the band’s previous albums (“Troops Of Doom” and “Escape To The Void”), along with covers of Black Sabbath’s “Symptom Of the Universe” and the Dead Kennedys “Holiday In Cambodia.”

Founded by the Cavalera brothers in 1984, the group recorded two full-length albums – Morbid Visions (1986) and Schizophrenia (1987) – before signing with Roadrunner Records in 1988. Since then, Sepultura’s dynamic studio recordings and intense live performances have earned it fans everywhere.

The current version of Sepultura (Derrick Green, Paulo Jr., Andreas Kisser, Eloy Casagrande) released a new album, Quadra, on February 7 and will tour the U.S. this spring. Former members Max and Igor Cavalera – who perform together in the band Cavalera Conspiracy recently completed a sold-out European tour in December 2019.












k 2) Inner Self (Mixdown) Instrumental
[l] 3) Stronger Than Hate (Mixdown) [Instrumental]


[o] 1) Sarcastic Existence (Mixdown) [Instrumental]
[p] 2) Slaves Of Pain (Mixdown) [Instrumental]

[r] 4) Hungry (Mixdown) [Instrumental]