HIGH FOCUS RECORDS News

Psych-rap enigma Onoe Caponoe returns with his fifth studio album ‘Concrete Fantasia’ on High Focus Records. In crystal clear communication with the mothership; littered with striking references to fantastical realms and uncommon lore, but very much anchored in the inner city blocks and smoggy roadsides that inform his everyday, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is a dark fantasy tape that expertly blurs the lines between genres, tones, moods and character profiles.

Of this world and out-of-this-world perfectly poised; Onoe offering up escape portals, before quickly pulling the listener back in with wave-upon-wave of catdelix riptides. ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is something of a tug-of-war; peppering movie samples, vignettes and complex go-betweens tickling the senses, combining with a cacophony of mind-bending lyricism resulting in a singular journey, with Onoe confidently filling the shoes of both author and narrator.

Pinocchio ducking feds in the hood, an Ice King ruling over a frostbitten kingdom, The Cheshire Cat trying to clean up Alice’s act, sweet serenades to off-shore mermaids, the trials and tribulations of life in a haunted trap house, big booty witches, flying carpets and beyond, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is a real trip through the imaginative mind of Onoe Caponoe. With an eclectic line-up of featured artists and productional talent propping up the fictional cast, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ has all the makings of an alt-rap odyssey for the ages.

One year after its original release, the Placid Angles album Touch The Earth is being remixed by an impressive array of artists from the extended Figure family. With John Beltran being a distinct voice within the electronic music scene for over thirty years now, Figure is thrilled to reveal a whole LP’s worth of reinterpretations, including two works by the original artist himself.

Opening up is Marcel Dettmann, who seamlessly has integrated the lush soundscapes of the original album into a beat-driven but equally serene journey. Picking up on the LP’s underlying dark garage tropes, Planet Mu headmaster M-ziq infuses his rework with even more rolling drums and ethereal vocal chops. The also inherent IDM roots of Touch The Earth have been kept close by Warp-veterans Plaid who deliver a shuffling flurry full of horns, synths and syncopated rhythms. More straightforward interpretations include Dauwd’s dazzling piece of feathery, fast, atmospheric techno; a gorgeous melodic house remix by Baltra and Cassy who turns in a rigid UK stomper.

Amidst all the reworks, John Beltran himself makes two appearances across the record. As Placid Angles he adds another heads-down percussive/ambient swirl, which represents exactly what the producer has been hailed for since more than three decades now. His own remix finishes the record on an epic note, with an organic drum track that celebrates life and the necessity for communal gathering in order to dance.
Beltran’s own additions to this LP are like the essential glue that makes it all bind together, forging the old and the new into something equally exciting as already intimately familar.

Milan-based multidisciplinary project Opal, inaugurates its very own record label unveiling a captivating 4-tracks vinyl release by the talented French duo "QR CODE" (composed of IDL and Rubens). This remarkable record embarks on a sonic voyage, encapsulating the essence and genuine identity that Opal embodies. The tracks featured on the vinyl reflect the diverse sounds and artistic expression that the project holds dear, offering a truly immersive and captivating experience for music enthusiasts.

On Side A of the release, an impeccable fusion of techno and electro takes center stage, captivating listeners with two exceptional tracks crafted specifically for the dance floor.
B side embarks on an experimental expedition, fearlessly venturing into uncharted territory. The journey delves deeper into the realms of techno, electro, and IDM, revealing Opal's profound and introspective depths. Limited to 300 copies worldwide.

NYC Disco legend Danny Krivit returns to the editing block on behalf of seminal Miami Disco powerhouse TK Disco. With 45 years in the DJ game under his belt and having played endless gigs all over the world during that time it's safe to say Mr.K knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to the re-edit thing! With unprecedented access to TK's vaults Danny has been turning in some stellar reworkings as of late and the cuts included on this latest instalment keep the quality sky high!
On the A-side Mr.K kicks off with a heavyweight edit of a stone cold b-boy / club classic! The legendary, late Ralph McDonald's (RIP) 'Jam on the groove' has long been a staple source of nourishment for hungry samplers and it's stripped back, calypso influenced percussion breakdowns have found themselves being cut up by numerous DJ's at clubs and block parties since it's original release in 1976. Here, Mr.K brings that killer breakdown right up front, rearranging the track in a way that gives us all the meat! This is a truly pared back edit, those with keen ears will recognise a wealth of samples that have been jacked from mr McDonald's drum-kit. This is one cut you can either hustle to or head-spin to! Hot, hot, hot....
The B-side see's Miami's FOXY and their 'Get off your aaah & dance' get the Mr.K editing block treatment. Kicking off with some tight drums with a heavy Latin influence this cut rolls along so smooth, giving way to a super funky pairing of guitars and flutes. FOXY are another group whose catalogue has been plundered by sample savvy producers over the years. This particular track is Disco heaven, beautifully produced and arranged, it flows along and will certainly cause some dance-floor tremors! A track for dancers, 100%, gracefully tweaked by Mr.K in just the right way! Essential business! File under - *Grown-up Disco
Of course, Danny Krivit's edits are always done in the proper manner, from the point of view of someone who has lived, breathed and played this music for the best part of 50 years. 100% legit re-edits, from Danny's personal collection, remastered and released in conjunction with Henry Stone Music / TK Disco - Miami FL.

“Almost all the trains I do are steam engines from the 1900s.”
Like the lyricism of surfing and the grace of baseball, the romance of trains is an integral part in Raymond Pettibon's imagination. TO-DAY is a wild roller coaster ride on the “A” Train with Pettibon’s favorite writers John Ruskin and Charles Manson. Pettibon at its best with terrific sound collage by Oliver Augst.

Polish artist SEPT releases a 4-track EP on SNTS sub label Sacred Court.

After the 14 track debut album from Setaoc Mass in 2022, he returns now in '23 back to his usual guise and home label SK_eleven to release a 4 track EP entitled "Satellite".

Slam collaborate with Hector Oaks, 999999999, Keith Tucker (AKA Optic Nerve), Amelie Lens, Rebekah, AnD & Perc, for a new five part Soma Records project LOUDER THAN CHAOS.

On March 2020 the world was abruptly thrown into collective disarray. The Pandemic stopped almost everything dead in its tracks. No social gatherings, self isolation, a sense of panic and bewilderment prevailed. An industry that had become so dependent on human connection and unity, was suddenly switched off and put on pause for an unforeseeable future.

It was in this climate that The Louder Than Chaos project was born, facilitated by Soma Records head honchos and techno protagonists Slam. A collaborative project with friends, colleagues and contemporaries normally only seen at airports, or events, now brought together under a completely different set of circumstances, allowing for a purposeful connection in a time of disconnect. The focus of the project is built on a powerful mutual participation, remotely constructed over time and fully intended for holding court on peak time dance floors when they inevitably return. That time has now finally come.

The Louder Than Chaos project is a series of 5 releases, on 12 vinyl" & Digital, to be released monthly via Soma Records. Featuring collaborations between Slam & Hector Oaks, Slam & 999999999 Slam & Keith Tucker (AKA Optic Nerve), + more to follow.

Each EP features specially commissioned artwork from German based artist PPP Panic, which consolidates into one constructive piece over the 5 releases.

2023 Repress

Back in 2011 Markus Guentner and Heiko Badje formed Stareaway to follow their vision of creating both enchanting and haunting music from melodies and drones. Combining Guentners complex Wall of Electronic Sound and Badjes ethereal androgyn voice and multifaceted guitar play, they indeed produced some epic works between Ambient, Pop and Shoegaze, strangely shimmering and profoundly mysterious.
Now Stareaways fantastic (and back then maybe a little overlooked) album No Life In This Ghost Town sees its rerelease and is, for celebrational purposes, accompanied by this EP of four stunning remixes by stunning artists Rafael Anton Irisarri (who also did the mastering), Simon Scott (Slowdive), Thomas Fehlmann and David Westlake (ex Sneaker Pimps). Rafael Anton Irisarris magical take on O Suomi sparkles bright, still with melancholia always present. David Westlake emphasizes the Pop-aspect of Appointments, adding lush synth melodies and light-filled grooves while Thomas Fehlmann lets All Over You spiral into Popambients most majestic heights. Finally Simon Scott builds a Kathedrale aus Klang on Dreams May Never. Amazing remixes of amazing originals.

Written and produced by Richard Misseijer and Jos Soethout (RIP) the two original songs were performed by the Dutch disco trio Sweetness. Released in 1982 is the perfect embodiment of timeless soul-boogie, quickly becoming essential for Radio and the finest DJs and later one of the genre's rarest records. The producing duo was prominently featured on the cult imprint Rams Horn, set up as a fellow US importer of outputs such as Brunswick and Prelude. The official reissue remastered from the original source comes courtesy of Richard Misseijer himself on the baby bird Emilian-Neapolitan label Baba Records.

The Deacon had been in exile from
the following crimes committed
faith and sonic soul saving
using the Holy Ghost as the
weapon of choice.

Last known whereabouts Mt Fuji Japan.
but since then a virus has infected the world
it also has affected the soul in music
and prevented people from gathering,
dancing and living normal everyday lives.

So the deacon returns from exile
to fight and do battle with the faithless,
un soulful sounds created by the fear
of the global pandemic by using
faith,hope and the "Holy Ghost" to
restore the faith and soul in the hearts
and minds of people through music
and bring order back to the global
dance community...

After being part of the various artists "Sentence Four", Tim Williams releases his solo EP on the SNTS' label Sacred Court.

TRBL explores a victorious sound in his new EP on Agora Records, accompanied by a cyber remix from BXTR.

We are delighted to unveil TrueMendous' sophomore album ‘Great. On
Purpose’. Sporting 15-tracks of evolutionary music, ‘Great. On Purpose’ is without question True's most ambitious body of work to date.

Since sharing the unrelenting lead single 'Talkk' Feat. Mysdiggi,
and after a double serving on follow up 'Really Wanna Love' x
'Still Don't Wanna', the album is a rollercoaster ride. Just listen
to standout single 'Yourself or The World?' featuring the almighty
Skinnyman if you're in need of anymore proof.

Featuring a heavyweight lineup of guest appearances from the
aforementioned Skinnyman and Mysdiggi, but also including Janel
Antoneshia, Vaddy, Princess, Ashley Allen, and DJ Sammy B-Side,
complemented by Illinformed, GhostTown, Pitch 92, Forest DLG,
Muckaniks, Mark Fear and Bear on production duties - ‘Great. On Purpose’ is STACKED from top-to-tail.

a 01 - Womp Uhuh













[So Good]

[a] 01 - Womp [Uhuh]













[So Good]

Ced Gee & Kool Keith, both members of the legendary Ultramagnetic MC's, regroup for a new Ultramagnetic MC's record. The resurgence of classic Hip hop moves strong into 2022 with new release from Ultramagnetic MC's "Kool Keith x Ced Gee." Arising from the Boogie Down Bronx in the mid-'80s as a far-flung hip hop trio with a heap of new ideas to try out, Ultramagnetics Kool Keith, Ced Gee, and DJ Moe Love occupy something of a singular place in the old-school pantheon. Combining funk-heavy tracks with jeep-rocking beats and obscure lyrical references, Ultramagnetic MCs have a list of firsts to their credit: the first rap group to employ a sampler as an instrument, the first to feature extensive use of live instrumentation, the first to feature a former psychiatric patient (Kool Keith) on the mic. Early singles like "Something Else" and "Space Groove" were block-party staples and created waves in the underground, eventually landing the group on the disco-dominated Next Plateau label, where they released their underappreciated debut. The following years found the group shuffling from label to label, releasing albums on Mercury and Wild Pitch before splitting to pursue various projects. This special event will feature Kool Keith and Ced Gee performing classic Ultramagnetic MCs songs and sharing stories and history about the making of their iconoclastic catalogue.

Heavyweight cargo, wrong shipping adress, delivered without demand. FRACHTØ1 is the very various artists EP on LUNATIC, ticking all the boxes that lead through the past releases. Tracks that represent the numerous ways of todays saturated societys struggle expecting a dark future‘s prophecy. ROBERTO AUSER allows no introduction time with his dystopian NETURALITY system. CVBOX‘s air cargo sets a hard contrast with as lightly bleeping as confusing WINGWALKING. Phew! Get a short break. Walk on with CREDIT00 who shows who you really WANNA B, just before all dark matter fuse on the ipside of reality: HAYTERs voice is the oracle for the street: SOONER OR LATER all pain ows together IN DEN HOCHÖFEN DES SCHMERZES of the IRON ORE (controlled by MONOCORPSE).

Escaping the Soviet through music is a running theme for the "Groove of ESSR" compilation. Funk Embassy returns with the second volume that includes 11 tracks from 1973-1984. Some hide meaning between lines, others offer solace on the dancefloor. It's an ongoing journey to uncover these jewels and meet their makers. Majority of the tunes will be released for the first time. The 12-inch comes with a 30-page booklet that provides background stories and quotes from the artists.

The "Groove of ESSR" project has garnered attention around the globe. From the first volume released in 2019, tracks were picked up by Gilles Peterson, Mehmet Aslan, Zag Erlat and DJ Tahira to name a few. During the production of this album, two of the most influential figures in Estonian funk and soul passed on: Marju "Maryn" Kuut (1946-2022) and Tõnu Aare (1953-2021). We dedicate this album to them.

Extended Repress Alert!

On the occasion of the 300th release on Tresor Records and the 20th anniversary of the mysterious Scopex imprint, we are glad to present you the long awaited re-edition of the three essential Scopex records, along with a previously unreleased track, recorded during these essential sessions.

Gatefold Sleeve Vinyl Only

On the occasion of the 300th release on Tresor Records and the 20th anniversary of the mysterious Scopex imprint, we are glad to present you the long awaited re-edition of the three essential Scopex records, along with a previously unreleased track, recorded during these essential sessions.

All tracks are re-mastered from the original DAT tapes. The recently unearthed "Original Flow" was originally recorded in 2000 and previously unreleased. The 4 records come together in a beautiful gatefold sleeve featuring the original and idiosyncratic Scopex designs with delicate spot UV print. Essential...

ALLEY VERSION presents the third installment of the series ‘Tracks From The Alley’, a V.A. 4-tracker compilation, kicking off with a new track by the Japanese machines wizard Takeshi Kouzuki, ‘PaganParadise’, where Chicago style acidelic beats meets immersive gloomy pads and tiny dripping melodies.

The Italian duo FLML complete the A side with ‘Analog Jerky Thing’, a tape recorded jam driven by a hypnotic proto-acid style touching bassline.

Greek cult producer DimDj open the B side with the intricate ‘Apo Pou Eisai’, a track made of rarefied jack-beats into dub echoes, mutating in acid attacks.

Closes the e.p. Chris Mitchell, U.S. based producer-DJ and label boss of Feral Colony, with ‘Tru1’, a raw impact complex textured acid-techno track.

High Focus Records are proud to present the latest collaboration from Verb T & Illinformed. ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ both continues and completes the trilogy that began back in 2015, with ‘The Man with the Foggy Eyes’, before broadening the horizons with last year’s release ‘The Land of the Foggy Skies’. This final chapter returns to the same conceptual landscape as its predecessors, but also sees Verb T & Illinformed returning to a more classic approach to album making. In spite of its concept, the Foggy Trilogy is something of a personal outpouring for Verb T, with the original aim being to vicariously discuss the trials and tribulations that play a part in his life, including his struggles with chronic illness and the feeling of alienation from leaving his hometown, while also reflecting on the state of the world as a whole. Their approach to making the album meant taking it back to the most natural form, where the idea for the track would be outlined, Illinformed would make the beat, Verb T would write to it and then they would tweak and adjust accordingly. The result is 19 of the most finely crafted tracks to emerge from the UK shores this year. As with the previous albums, ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ finds Illinformed moving away from the more rugged sound that has shrouded the British scene over the last few months, thanks to his collaborations with the likes of Datkid and Wish Master, instead providing Verb T with an arguably more mellow backdrop. From the string and piano driven introduction on ‘Legacy’, to the blissful head-nod vibes of the closing track, ‘Blind Faith’, the union between beats and rhymes sits at the perfect level. The album also boasts one of the most impressive guestlists of the year, one that is very much a product of both players’ worlds. Thanks to Illinformed’s Bristol connection, there are features from the likes of Res One, Datkid, Leaf Dog, Smellington Piff and Chillman, as well as some locally sourced cuts from DJ Rogue. While on Verb T’s side of the fence, we have features from Rye Shabby and Moreone, along with a collaboration that reignites the same creative spark he found in his early days, as King Kashmere steps into the booth on Feeling Strange. All in all, ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ does exactly what it sets out to do, by drawing the trilogy to a close while also providing insights into Verb T’s personal world and the world at large. The fact that it also happens to be one of the strongest rap albums of the year is the icing on the cake

Next up on the Kyiv-based label comes from a very promising, up-and-coming Ukrainian artist, Vladimir Gnatenko. Following his live set last year at the collective's arguably most-loved event, Natura Festival, his debut EP for Rhythm Buro entitled "Sacrim" is already being awaited with great anticipation.

Vladimir Gnatenko is one of the unsung heroes of the Ukrainian underground dance music scene today. He is known for his sonically diverse live sets that range from ambient sketches and 4/4 trancey techno to, most notably, an apt selection of breakbeats. The latter often includes both more downtempo style laid back grooves in the 100-bpm range as well as more massive breaks that serve the dancefloor with purpose. For a few years, Gnatenko has been a staple of the parties that Kyiv is notorious for, he is a resident of the world-renowned and prestigious local club, Closer, and has been featured in the line-ups of local festivals and raves like Strichka, Brave Factory and Cxema (where he played live for a collaboration with Boiler Room). Discography-wise he began releasing on local labels like Progressive Future, but not long after expanded his legacy with vinyl releases on Twig (Germany), Animals On Psychedelics (UK) and now our beloved Rhythm Buro.

The record is composed in the vein of Gnatenko's live sets. It is rich with beatless music, yet also serves those seeking Vladimir's signature breakbeats. Both sides of the record start with ambient tracks, "Lomerigheid" on the A side, and "Sterfdatum" on the B-side, that then progressively merge into melancholic and beautiful tunes representing the producer's main craft: trippy downtempo breaks. The EP's title track "Sacrim" is as fitting for home-listening as it is for those certain sacred euphoric moments on the dance floor. The B-side's "Jerrata" is a slow burning tribute to a nostalgic era of psychedelic, bass-heavy downtempo. The record is full of emotion, contemplation and originality that are executed in the fashion of an artist very in tune with their craft, it all makes for a very welcome addition to the already diverse set of releases from Rhythm Buro.

Japan's composer and sound artist Yui Onodera and Grammy-nominated Takashi Kokubo are visionaries who are celebrated for their ability to cook up immersive soundscapes that captivate your attention despite their minimalist designs. Kokubo's traditional Japanese instrumentation defines the work as it sweeps you up and transports you to someone that is serene and introspective. Across four pieces here they do just that - each one unhurried and vast in sci, with delicate keys tinkling above yawning chords and spring day energies on 'Thousand Bells 1'. The second piece is a little warmer, with synth smears and distant breezes bring in all manner of elegant percussive sounds. Side two continues the exploration of the Far Eastern countryside on a sunny day in mesmerising and soothing fashion.

Adrian Borland and Graham Bailey might be better known as members of legendary post-punk group The Sound, but the two were childhood friends and had been playing together even earlier in The Outsiders, and continued their deep musical rapport as a duo, creating these intense and engaging songs as Second Layer at the same time as their higher profile band output. Following our release of Courts Or Wars, combining their early material, we are proud to reissue their only full length album, World Of Rubber.

Fueled by experimentation in both song construction and recording techniques, the duo leave you enveloped in what The Quietus described as, “a monochrome worldview morbidly obsessed with the dehumanizing effect of war, nuclear weapon annihilation, and the fracturing and negation of the self within an increasingly distorted and technologically mediated society.” Indeed, the goal had been to make each album a concept album, with this to be titled: Second Layer’s World Of Rubber. Alas, this was to be the first and last of those efforts. New detailed liner notes from Graham Bailey shed considerable light on the creation of this cold classic and its immediate aftermath.

Bailey’s inventive construction and deconstruction of various electronics, effects boxes and tape loops form the propulsive base for these songs. Borland’s guitar playing is jagged and unleashed. Above it all is an undeniable sense of melody and Adrian’s distinctive vocals. Soon, they would wonder where Second Layer ended and The Sound began, but World Of Rubber would stand as a document of this fertile period. It would also be a lasting testament to their desire to push the boundaries of their creativity. Dark and brooding the result is what Bandcamp described as “brutally bleak, blank-eyed post-punk that remains chillingly compelling.”

Mary Jane Leach is a composer focussed on the physicality of sound, its acoustic properties and how they interact with space. She has played an instrumental role in NYC’s pioneering Downtown scene alongside Arthur Russell, Ellen Fullman, Peter Zummo, Philip Corner and Arnold Dreyblatt, as well as devoting years to the preservation and reappraisal of Julius Eastman’s work since his death in 1990, compiling the »Unjust Malaise« 3CD set in 2005 and editing the 2015 book »Gay Guerrilla: Julius Eastman and His Music«. »Woodwind Multiples« is her second album for Modern Love, following »(f)lute songs« (2018).

»Woodwind Multiples« features four pieces for multiples of the same instrument: four bass flutes, nine oboes, nine clarinets, and seven bassoons. Each piece works closely with the unique sound of each instrument, combining pitches that create other, sometimes unexpected, tones, primarily combination and interference tones, as well as rhythmic patterns. What you hear is what happens naturally - there is no processing or manipulation.

»8B4 (1985/2022)«, played by Manuel Zurria, is for four bass flutes. It is a revision of 8x4, which was written in 1985 for the DownTown Ensemble and was only performed once, due to its unusual instrumentation: alto flute, English horn (originally bass oboe), clarinet, and voice.

»Xantippe’s Rebuke« (1993) was written for Libby Van Cleve, for eight taped oboes and one live, solo oboe. The eight taped parts are equal and dependent, while the solo part is meant to be a solo with the tape as accompaniment. The piece works with the unique sound of the oboe, starting with unison pitches that create the richest sound, building the piece from there. Pitches and rhythmic patterns that occur naturally are notated and then played later, which in turn create other pitches and rhythmic patterns. So, in effect, the nature of the oboe and its natural sound determine the direction of the piece.

»Charybdis« (2020), played by Sam Dunscombe, is for solo clarinet and eight taped clarinets. It combines a somewhat obscured reference to Weep You No More, a John Dowland piece, which combines with the sound phenomena created from the melody and supporting chords of the Dowland.

»Feu de Joie« (1992) was written for bassoonist Shannon Peet and is an homage to the bassoon and its wonderful sound. It is for seven parts—six taped and one »live.« The taped bassoons combine to create a bed of sound that exploits the unique qualities of the bassoon, creating combination and interference tones, starting off with unison pitches, creating a rich sound that builds from there. Most of the subsequent pitches and phrases occur naturally, and are then notated later on in the piece, which in turn creates other notes and phrases.

As its now tradition we start the year with yet another fluid album from Portuguese pianist and composer Tiago Sousa.

Presenting now the second volume of his ongoing series »Organic Music Tapes«, Tiago now adds the electric organ to his trademark piano compositions, broadening his palette of sounds into an even more fluid and organic world with references to American minimalism of the 60’s, in particular Terry Riley and Steve Reich’s influence both looms heavily over these pieces

The piano still takes centre stage here but the organ opens both sides of the album like a statement of intention… the compositions take a nebulae type state, floating eternally over stars and planets, with their indefinite and indeterminate contours, never settling and never leaving.

Music as organic matter, like water, sand, stars or nebulae. Tiago translates complex patterns into transcendental experiences to our ears whilst cementing further his place as one of the most distinct voices to emerge out of the modern wellspring of piano driven minimalism.

Companion piece to O Morto's album »Dans la Gorge d'un Monstre«. The diaristic approach goes deeper where field recordings and fragments of memory take center stage , O Morto expands his LP masterpiece to a very direct and free-flowing tape. Also based on a number of field recordings taken during a life-changing trip to Morocco that felt like a fever dream, ‘Iffrits Habitent‘ is the perfect companion piece with a more impressionistic and unadulterated account of the same travel that could well be this side of the mirror. Then again, maybe he never made it from the other side. Who’s to know?

»A Magnetic Road to Hell« is Robert Millis and Bardo Todol’s first release as a duo. Recorded transcontinentally throughout 2021 and 2022 they traded sounds and ideas between Cordoba, Argentina and Seattle, USA with a stop in Mexico along the way: screamings, rivers, kids, radios, mellotron, records, 78rpm shellac, wax cylinders, field recordings, birds, electronics, guitars, percussion, haze, static, a destroyed Indian piano, talkative violins, talkative people from the 1920s, talkative black and white dreams, tin cans from the streets, Argentinian children's tales about cows being teachers, and more. You’re riding on an unspooling reel of tape, through sounds real and imagined, the tape flapping dangerously, shredding; we are all of us magnetized, attracting together, pushing apart, unwinding onto the floor, stumbling along the road to hell.

Robert Millis and Bardo Todol have each released music on many different labels: Sublime Frequencies, Dinzu Artefacts, The Helen Scardale Agency, Discrepant, Abduction Records, Dust-to-Digital, Fire Breathing Turtle, Sub Pop, and Ikuisuus.

1973 veröffentlichte ein junger, weitgehend unbekannter 20-Jähriger sein Debütalbum, die erste Veröffentlichung bei einem brandneuen Label. Der Künstler war Mike Oldfield, das Album „Tubular Bells“ und
das Label Virgin Records. Das Album wurde zu einem Phänomen, erreichte die Spitze der britischen Charts, gewann einen Grammy und gab den Startschuss für eine makellose Karriere.

Zum 50- jährigen Jubiläum veröffentlicht Mike jetzt ein brandneues Abbey-Road-Master (als sogenanntes „halfspeed master) des Originalalbums in halber Geschwindigkeit sowie ein zweites Album, das zum ersten Mal mehrere betörende Versionen von Oldfields Meisterwerk „Tubulas Bells“ vereint. Besonders interessant ist das brandneue achtminütige Tubular Bells 4 Intro, das möglicherweise das letzte von Oldfield aufgenommene Stück ist. Das Album ist nun in einer 2 LP-, oder CD-Version erhältlich.

AXNER's latest single 'Shout From The Rooftop' is as glossy and golden as disco gets with two members of Nile Rodgers' Chic in the form of drummer Ralph Rolle and vocalist Audrey Martells both helping to make it so.

It's got a soaring vocal and funky basslines and gets some high-grade remix treatment here. French artist and Folamour collaborator Kousto goes for a sunny house remix with the original's riffs left in place. The legendary John Morales offers a timeless M + M main mix that brims with glorious instrumentation and nonstop grooves and the one and only Al Kent brings his magic touch to a perfect Balearic sound with some superb Rhodes solos.

Repress

Life is nothing without love. Love is the force that drives our journey in life. Life is love and love is life.”

UK jazz master Chip Wickham follows last year’s brilliant soulful long-player Cloud 10 with a deftly crafted, reflective EP of beautiful spiritual jazz sounds influenced by the soulful sounds of Yusef Lateef. Chip’s music has always drawn from a broad world of influences from hip-hop to Roland Kirk and from classic funk to the classic ‘60s Brit-Jazz sound of Tubby Hayes. But Love & Life finds him foregrounding his wonderful flute playing and producing a perfect fourtracker of reflective, peaceful jazz that elevates and inspires as well as a trademark slice of boppish soul jazz – the jaunty Space Walk.

Elsewhere lead single Love & Life is a joyous jazz waltz with an uplifting, bouncing groove and Slow Down Look Around is introspective and intimate, featuring Chip’s signature flute with a beautiful solo from UK trumpeter Malcolm Strachan. Chip explains that the track presents “a big lesson for us to learn as the world changes around us with such speed. The technology changes but our human needs remain the same: peace, tranquillity and time to think.”

Nach 42 Jahren im Metal-Business kommt Grave Diggers Front-Ikone Chris Boltendahl mit seinem ersten Soloalbum - "Reborn In Flames". Unter dem Banner von Chris Boltendahls STEELHAMMER konnte Chris eine illustre Zunft erstklassiger Musiker für dieses Werk gewinnen. An der Gitarre ist kein Geringerer als der Ex-Orden Ogan-Gitarrenzauberer Tobias Kersting zu finden. Mit ihm hat Chris alle 10 Tracks auf "Reborn in Flames" geschrieben. Komplettiert wird das Line-Up durch Lars Schneider am Bass (ex Orden Ogan) und Patrick Klose am Schlagzeug (Iron Savior). "Reborn in Flames" strotzt nur so vor klassischen Power-Metal-Riffs- eine glühende Mischung aus "Grave Digger meets Metal Church. Von Heavy-Metal-Steamern à la "Reborn in Flames", "Fire Angel" oder "Beyond the Black Soul" bis hin zu den Groove-Monstern "Gods of Steel, Out of the Ruins oder The Hammer that kills" hört man auf dem Album alles, was das Metalherz begehrt. Das Album endet mit der Coverversion des Klassikers "Beds are burning" von Midnight Oil. Tobias Kersting veredelt das Album mit filigranen Power-Metal-Riffs und Weltklasse-Soli, während Lars Schneider und Patrick Klose dem Duo Kersting/Boltendahl die nötige Basis liefern. Die unverkennbare Stimme der Totengräber-Legende regiert... "Reborn in Flames" ist ein Feuerwerk an Metal für jeden Headbanger, der klassischen Metal liebt... Mit "Reborn in Flames" schaffen die vier Musiker ein eigenständiges, frisches und hochklassiges Power-Metal-Debütalbum. Wie Ozzy sagte: "Let the madness begin"

Nach 42 Jahren im Metal-Business kommt Grave Diggers Front-Ikone Chris Boltendahl mit seinem ersten Soloalbum - "Reborn In Flames". Unter dem Banner von Chris Boltendahls STEELHAMMER konnte Chris eine illustre Zunft erstklassiger Musiker für dieses Werk gewinnen. An der Gitarre ist kein Geringerer als der Ex-Orden Ogan-Gitarrenzauberer Tobias Kersting zu finden. Mit ihm hat Chris alle 10 Tracks auf "Reborn in Flames" geschrieben. Komplettiert wird das Line-Up durch Lars Schneider am Bass (ex Orden Ogan) und Patrick Klose am Schlagzeug (Iron Savior). "Reborn in Flames" strotzt nur so vor klassischen Power-Metal-Riffs- eine glühende Mischung aus "Grave Digger meets Metal Church. Von Heavy-Metal-Steamern à la "Reborn in Flames", "Fire Angel" oder "Beyond the Black Soul" bis hin zu den Groove-Monstern "Gods of Steel, Out of the Ruins oder The Hammer that kills" hört man auf dem Album alles, was das Metalherz begehrt. Das Album endet mit der Coverversion des Klassikers "Beds are burning" von Midnight Oil. Tobias Kersting veredelt das Album mit filigranen Power-Metal-Riffs und Weltklasse-Soli, während Lars Schneider und Patrick Klose dem Duo Kersting/Boltendahl die nötige Basis liefern. Die unverkennbare Stimme der Totengräber-Legende regiert... "Reborn in Flames" ist ein Feuerwerk an Metal für jeden Headbanger, der klassischen Metal liebt... Mit "Reborn in Flames" schaffen die vier Musiker ein eigenständiges, frisches und hochklassiges Power-Metal-Debütalbum. Wie Ozzy sagte: "Let the madness begin"

Nach 42 Jahren im Metal-Business kommt Grave Diggers Front-Ikone Chris Boltendahl mit seinem ersten Soloalbum - "Reborn In Flames". Unter dem Banner von Chris Boltendahls STEELHAMMER konnte Chris eine illustre Zunft erstklassiger Musiker für dieses Werk gewinnen. An der Gitarre ist kein Geringerer als der Ex-Orden Ogan-Gitarrenzauberer Tobias Kersting zu finden. Mit ihm hat Chris alle 10 Tracks auf "Reborn in Flames" geschrieben. Komplettiert wird das Line-Up durch Lars Schneider am Bass (ex Orden Ogan) und Patrick Klose am Schlagzeug (Iron Savior). "Reborn in Flames" strotzt nur so vor klassischen Power-Metal-Riffs- eine glühende Mischung aus "Grave Digger meets Metal Church. Von Heavy-Metal-Steamern à la "Reborn in Flames", "Fire Angel" oder "Beyond the Black Soul" bis hin zu den Groove-Monstern "Gods of Steel, Out of the Ruins oder The Hammer that kills" hört man auf dem Album alles, was das Metalherz begehrt. Das Album endet mit der Coverversion des Klassikers "Beds are burning" von Midnight Oil. Tobias Kersting veredelt das Album mit filigranen Power-Metal-Riffs und Weltklasse-Soli, während Lars Schneider und Patrick Klose dem Duo Kersting/Boltendahl die nötige Basis liefern. Die unverkennbare Stimme der Totengräber-Legende regiert... "Reborn in Flames" ist ein Feuerwerk an Metal für jeden Headbanger, der klassischen Metal liebt... Mit "Reborn in Flames" schaffen die vier Musiker ein eigenständiges, frisches und hochklassiges Power-Metal-Debütalbum. Wie Ozzy sagte: "Let the madness begin"

DJ Crisps is starting to make some handy garage moves after a couple of various artists' appearances and a fine EP on Time Is Now Germany in July. Now they link up with Oldboy who appeared on Burnski's other label Vivid back in 2022.

As you should expect these are four hardcore and rudely garage cuts with plenty of swagger, naughty samples and bass-face potential. 'On My Way' is the standout with its shuffling one-two drum punch, distant police sirens and warped basslines underneath a timeless and irresistible female vocal full of soul. A summer scorcher for sure alongside three more very useful weapons.

Shake Your Rump Vol 1 is the 4th release on Regulate Recordings, inspired by the cut and paste records by the likes Kenny Dope, Armand Van Helden, AV8 and the early Bomb Strikes releases. These funky party hip hop head nodders are produced by DJ Deviant, T2Funk and Stet who regularly perform under the name and club night Shake Your Rump in the Northwest of England. Catch them playing at this year’s Moovin Festival which also features Big Daddy Kane, Charlie Tuna, Craig Charles, David Holmes, Krafty Kuts, and many more.

So Dam Hot - A funk infused 90’s hip hop, golden era boom bap party banger. Funky guitar licks, horns and bass accompanied by boom bap breaks and hot hip hop vocals is guaranteed to rock a dance floor or keep your head nodding on a hot summers day! 

Rumpashaker- A funky hip hop banger with elements of disco and reggae, 70’s funk guitar and a heavy funk bass line, 90’s hip hop vocals, will be recognisable to anyone’s ear and guarantees to keep the rumps shaking. 

Repress!

Elon Katz (White Car, Streetwalker) aligns perfectly with Diagonal in a prickling debut vocal
release, The Human Pet; his first original solo issue in four years, containing an intensely personal,
puckered perspective on electronic dance music and experimental pop.
Structured around a schizoid yet coherent juncture of EBM, IDM, curdled rock music and art school
techno-pop, The Human Pet is riddled with idiosyncratic notions on 'cryptic topics like rebirth,
nullification in stream speed adaptivity, dependence and wealth inequality' to portray a unique
intellect and sonic vocabulary operating at the crux of his expressive powers.
The project began circa 2012, around the time of Katz's relocation from L.A. to art school in
Chicago, and cocks a canny snook, both thru candid lyrics and obsessive edits, back towards the
megatropolis where he was born and spent much of his youth. It can therefore be considered an
attempt to better understand himself in relief of big city manias by channelling and parsing his
own stubborn outsider personality from the madness.
To our ears it feels like a concise dissection of Chicago's industrial history and Californian digital
psychedelia; probing at their twisted, fluoro guts with the inquisitive nature of a mad scientist
or psycho-analyst between the yelping, warped and hyper-piquant yacht boogie of The Rhino
Powder of New Sensitivity and a heavily affected dislocation of harmonised pop hooks and
whirring body mechanics in Clean Crash.
It all occupies a strange perch between introspective and exuberant, veering from mid-'90s
AFXian pop rephlexion in You Are Alone, to signature Diagonal tackle in the gas-chugging EBM-pop
force of The Human Pet, whereas Unarmed twists into fractal phantasia, all of which maintain a
thread of logic that belies the record's vintaging period of refinement and distillation.
There can be little doubt that this is one of the most complex, rigorous and distinctive in Diagonal's
catalogue. Closer attention is required. File amidst records by Luc Van Acker, Aphex Twin, Savant,
Powell...

Das nunmehr 20. Studioalbum der erfolgreichsten deutschen Art- & Progressive Rockband ELOY. Es ist zugleich das 3. Album einer einzigartigen, vom Band- Mastermind Frank Bornemann als Rock Opera gestalteten Trilogie über das Leben und Schicksal der französischen Nationalheldin und Heiligen Jeanne d´Arc.
Bereits die beiden ersten Alben mit dem Titel „The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre, Part 1 & 2“, auf denen sich diverse illustre Künstler (u.a. Alice Merton) auf der Gästeliste befinden, wurden nicht nur durchweg positiv rezensiert, und erreichten hohe Chartsplatzierungen, sondern fanden auch aufgrund ihrer auf profunden Kenntnissen basierenden Umsetzung in allen historischen Details auf kultureller Ebene viel Beachtung.


Mit „Echoes from the Past” legt nun der Autor nochmal nach, und lässt den durch die Handlung der ersten beiden Alben führenden Protagonisten und Waffengefährten von Jeanne d´Arc, Jean de Metz, die aufwühlenden Ereignisse der Vergangenheit auf sehr emotionale Weise reflektieren.


Musikalisch entstand dadurch ein Werk, bei dem sich sensible und atmosphärische Passagen mit gewaltigen, dramaturgisch geprägten Klangwogen abwechseln, die den ELOY-Fan sicherlich an frühere Konzept-Werke der Band erinnern werden.


Diese Melange ist aber gemäß Frank Bornemann, der sich bei dieser Produktion erneut mit Veränderungen im Line up konfrontiert sah, voll beabsichtigt. Obwohl es sich bzgl. seiner musikalischen Elemente bestens in die Trilogie integriert, ließ es bei seiner Entstehung offensichtlich doch viel Spielraum für künstlerische Momente, die man nicht erwartet, aber die sich außerordentlich prägend für das Album auswirken, welches wieder einmal einzigartig ist.

Named after the mythological hybrid of the chimaera, Forces’ first collection for mappa was put together in a similar fashion. The sounds all stem from a fruitful residency at Stockholm’s EMS Elektronmusikstudion in May & June 2022, leading to a bounty of source material with which to build. The sounds and concept are equally chimeric, stringing together disparate and unintuitive jams, the music mimicking the multi-limbed, sewn together beasts of both creative open source coding and destructive multinational concerns who hide their cores amid endless appendages. Like Doctor Moreau, Forces - aka Finnish artist Joonas Siren - weaves wildly varying attributes into something new, from short-circuiting 8-bit dream ambience to fractured digital groans, drones, and noisy freakouts.

Though EMS is best known for its Buchla and Serge modular systems, Forces went ‘digital’ and largely navigated a lesser-known synth rack one can wheel between studios, affectionately known as the ‘90s Wagon’. “It housed different digital rack synth modules,” explains Siren, “ like the super unknown EVS-1 by Evolution Synthesis, a UK company who only produced this one rack synth only and then vanished.” Some truly alien sounds emerge from Forces’ creative misuse of forgotten 90s boxes and sampled modular jams. The result is an erratic trip through mismatched circuitry and digital codes, slipping between emotional artifice and harshly logical music.

The track titles stem from both famous mythological chimaeras and multinational arms dealing conglomerates. “Different quite sinister firms can operate in broad daylight, easily hiding their true nature. Many of these mega-corporations have different branches (like chimeric limbs) that are producing quite normal mundane every-day items, as well as mass-producing weapons.” A dedicated SuperCollider user too however, Siren states how open source coding snippets are also ‘chimeric beings’. “You end up always using some part of some old code and then building completely new work on some old idea,” Siren explains. Despite its misuses, there’s also something hopeful in the malleability of ideas, and the ability to creatively collage the world as it is into something wholly new, even better.

Demdike Stare reunite with guitarist Jon Collin for a new album of concréte dreamweaving performed on tape, pedals and a homemade Swedish nyckelharpa - a type of keyed fiddle. More psychedelic than either of the trio's previous records, 'Minerals' drops the blues to dive headfirst into the smudged folk wellspring, touching on the pastoral ambience of Andrew Chalk via Loren Connors’ immersive drift and Tongue Depressor's subterranean drone expeditions.

With the trio all hailing from the Pennine moorlands just above the manc sprawl, Jon Collin & Demdike Stare’s shared musical expression understandably reflects a parallax purview that follows leylines between lusher nooks of the inner city and windswept, barren landscapes. Never ones to play it straight, the Swedish Nyckelharpa - a sort of hybrid viola/hurdy gurdy - is deployed deep into a mix of oblique soundscaping, seeping into a swirl of field recordings, screwed spoken word and phosphorescent drones pinging with tape delay.

Split into two distinct sides, the album opens with a scrape of wood and metal that introduces us to the nyckelharpa. Scratching its surface and strings, Collin reveals its peculiar tonality, while Demdike cut through its dissonant textures. Like ancient campfire rituals recorded to decaying 1/4" tape, the music on ‘Minerals’ feels as if it's in dialog with the past, shuttled into the present by abstract processes. By the side’s third act, resonant gongs billow around pitched wails that eventually collapse into silence.

The second side is more spirited, opening with a thumbed kalimba cut through reverberant strings that recall Arthur Russell's iconic echo-drenched recordings. Through elaborate concréte techniques, Collin's ancient fiddle dissolves into a ferric gloop that’s slowly pulled apart like toffee, taking it to a place where you can no longer really tell what you’re listening to or how it was made. In fact, unlike pretty much everything we’ve heard from Demdike before, the material here feels mechanical rather than electronic, making for one of the most impactful, unusual releases in the vast sprawl of their catalogue thus far.

Pressed on Limited Edition Purple Vinyl.
New label from the Chicago legend K-Alexi Shelby:

DJ and producer. One of Chicago's true heroes and cited by many as a pioneer the city's sound with one of his earliest releases Essence Of A Dream being regarded a classic.

At the age of 12 he was already moving in the right circles, befriending Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst frequenting the famous Warehouse. His upbringing in Chicago in the 70s and 80s meant that he was exposed to a range of genres and different styles of music including Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff. These same names would prove to be the roots of his influences.

This new label K Klassik is a platform to release new material, this 2nd 12" to features remixes from Ron Trent & Joe Smooth.

A pre-lock down project by Laurent Kink Gong Jeanneau, given a new impetus whist home bound in 2020/21. Starting with a detuned Santur (Persian dulcimer) and then expanding the concept and playing techniques to various detuned acoustic guitars, first by raising 2 or 3 strings above the neck whilst hitting them with chinese chopsticks.

With the worldwide lock down of 2020 Laurent took this tecnique to its logical conclusion, by banging everything percussive with strings and exploring the various resonant boxes inherent to this type of instruments, real or not.

A list of forbidden spoken Chinese words were added later on, coinciding with a time when China isolated itself and control of the masses became an international issue.

Those compositions do not use the typical repertoire of south-east asian minority music Kink Gong is known for, instead they start from a completely acoustic home made source and involve minor electronic treatments. Perhaps a new sound where Kink Gong remixes itself, its own home recordings to further add to the already prolific and zigzagging Kink Gong catalogue.

Four tracks of techno pressure from Spanish heavyweight Kwartz. Since 2011, Kwartz has been steadily building a renowned discography of powerful and rugged club cuts. The "Fast Focus" EP, his first appearance on Setaoc Mass's label series SK_x. It is a prime example of this deep, dark and driving sound: from the peak-time grind of "Impulse" to the dank, atmospheric echoes of "Haram".

In 2018, New York based composer and improviser Lucie Vítková made recordings in caves in the Czech Republic and an abandoned Gothic church in Slovakia. Their album Cave Acoustics combines a beguiling exploration of the physicality and acoustics of these unique locations with profoundly personal themes of family legacy and roots.

Lucie performed with their sisters in Výpustek Cave – an underground system of tunnels and former Soviet-era bunker. The choreography-based piece creates crescendos of metallic noise as the trio moves around the spaces. It begins with echoing clanks of tins and coins and accelerates towards a rattling cacophony with distant singing floating up from deep in the shadows. Bearing in mind the siblings had never performed together before, their frenzied kinetic outpourings seem even more special, a wordless cohesion forming between them. Lucie clearly doesn’t shy away from a physically full on experience; they embarked on a Fitzcarraldo-style journey to carry heavy props up a steep hill and across a river to reach the less accessible Jáchymyka Cave.

‘Hair Score’ is an attempt to process the death of the siblings’ mother through a serene then slightly unsettling swaying ritual, with rising and falling waves of wailing and emergency siren sounds growing in intensity as they emerge from their mourning mouths.

After the cavernous acoustics, ‘Stones’ by American experimental classical composer Christian Wolff feels more immediate with its textural sounds and fast, insistent rhythms, as we hear different sized stones knocked together rapidly, following the composer’s instructions not to break anything.

‘Inside the Ritual’ was a “transformative” experience for Lucie, where they felt their body merge with the forest and hills in Slovakia. The 23-minute long track is hypnotic, listening to cowbells and chirping insects at the end of a hot summer’s evening. Things get stranger as metallic clatter is punctuated with Lucie’s voice and reedy tones from their Japanese hichiriki flute.

The album is a calm, contemplative but also energetic and moving reflection of these rare and unheard environments and Lucie’s reunion with the people and places that have shaped them.

Johnny Johnny boss Modat returns to his own label with a special extended two part 12” LP release that covers a range of underground sounds. A clear intention to pay homage to those that have gone before but in his own special way that further helps to stamp his mark on the scene. ‘Music For the Contrarian’ is a sterling body of work.

One of the most spoken of dnb formations is back with a double pack that's one of the most spoken of project since their collaboration with Mayhem and KRS-One. They're taking the word collaboration to the next level with this spectacular Collision EP. 4 tracks made by Noisia colliding with other heavyweight formations from across the globe! The opener is "Cannonball", it starts off as one giant drum roll and then turns into a dancefloor roller that just "stays classy" everywhere you play it! For the second track Noisia collabs with Black Sun Empire to bring real 100% Dutch flavor to the floor. "Infusion" is a track that takes its inspiration from the Negative camp but blended to perfection by these 2 grand masterminds of music.

Plate 2 brings a tune that sounds a lot like ram trilogy's titan classic but your ears deceive you in this one. Its none other then a collab by Noisia & The Upbeats with a track titled "Mudslide"! it's heavy, it's bad, it pounds, it flows, it's just one of those records that can't be beaten! The closer is another collab by Noisia & Phace called "Levitation", this roaring production shows what this scene is all about: heavy beats combined with sick reese basses and a neurotic funk that you just can't get your hands on!

Again Noisia delivers proper quality with this slamming EP. This is one Collision you just can't wait to feel!

Comes in standard full colour Vision Recordings repress sleeve.

The third release from Exalt Records Fallen Entertainers series is by an artist so hot right now, it's ridiculous. Having has recent releases on some of the hottest electronic music labels on the planet, this producer is certainly having 'a moment'. Electro superstar Sound Synthesis submits an incredible remix to complete the package.

FOR FANS OF : Brian Eno, Robert Rich, Ashra

Dreamland is the third album from Italian ambient band PCM. This time out, the trio of Francesco Perra (P), Matteo Cantaluppi (C), Matteo Milea (M) veer away from the inter-cellular themes of their previous collections to shed aural light on what humans spend most of their life doing: sleeping.

Each track on Dreamland focuses on a phase of sleep from that ever-frustrating half-awake feeling to tranquil R.E.M. and from disaffect- ing nightmares to blissful dreaming.

As a result, each of the album's works float by, some with a cloudiness that mirrors confused sleepy feelings and others that display the vividness of the most memorable of dreams.

Pressed On Clear Vinyl! 'We are the planters of the weeds or roses in our garden. Take the plunge within yourself to find The Main Ingredient.' So reads CL Smooth's album dedication in the liners to Pete Rock & CL's underrated, soulful and deeply grooving sophomore album. For fans, it was bittersweet, as it would be their last as a duo. By 1994, Pete and CL were darlings of both fans and critics, still on a high after 1992's Mecca & The Soul Brother and the album's emotional smash single 'They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.).' Two years later, they had grown even more as men and artists. Gone was some of the righteous striving of their earlier work, replaced by mature - yet still righteous - wisdom. And a lot more love as well, bringing a larger female constituency into their fanbase. They were adults now, reveling in the plateau they had reached. The duo's '90s swan song is a powerful double album that still resonates with Golden Era hip-hop fans: 16 cuts deep and full of intelligence, fire and warmth. Beats-per-minute-wise, the album mostly clocks at a comfortable strutting pace, bolstered by Pete Rock's pioneering use of filtered basslines and a recently-hatched obsession with Rhodes piano. The new tracks filled speakers and headphones with soul, as CL continued to assert his lyrical prowess all throughout. The lead single, 'I Got A Love,' is a perfect example of the group's '94 steez: a super-catchy and respectful, but far-from-soft love track, suitable for any rap fan's romantic needs. 'Take You There' and 'Carmel City' cover similar ground. Considering CL Smooth's top-level brag rapper status, cuts like 'I Get Physical,' 'Get On The Mic' and 'Check It Out' effectively reminded competitors not to test him. Pete also gets in the game on the mic several times on the album, acquitting himself nicely (and solo) on the cloudy day soul of 'Escape,' alongside other cuts. Add more pensive lyrical forays like 'All The Places,' 'Searching,' and - perhaps the album's sleeper cut - 'It's On You' and you have one of the more complete rap full-lengths of the mid-1990s. This isn't surprising, considering the wonder twins-esque skills of Pete and CL. But it does make fans wonder what would have happened if they had stayed together longer.

















n

Im Herbst 2023 erscheint bei Erased Tapes das Album Give It to
the Sky: Arthur Russell"s Tower of Meaning Expanded. Bei der
vom Komponisten und Producer Peter Broderick und dem 12-
köpfigen Ensemble 0 aus Frankreich aufgenommenen Version,
handelt es sich um eine erweiterte Neuinterpretation von Arthur
Russells minimalistischer Orchesterkomposition "Tower of
Meaning", die erstmals im Jahr 1983 veröffentlicht wurde. "Give
It to the Sky.." vereint zudem auch unveröffentlichte Stücke von
Russell, die überarbeitet und neu aufgenommen wurden. Mit
ihrer umwerfenden, insgesamt 80 Minuten langen Hommage
hauchen Broderick und Ensemble 0 dem "Tower of Meaning"
neues Leben ein und verknüpfen diesen minimalistischen
Meilenstein mit etlichen verlorenen Songideen aus Russells
Nachlass. Das komplette Album, das so gut wie ohne Overdubs
auskommt, wurde live in einem kleinen Theater im Südwesten
Frankreichs eingespielt. Gewiss war Russell nie ein Freund
endgültiger Versionen. Er dachte kontinuierlich über die
Möglichkeiten eines Stücks nach und fragte sich, was es sonst
noch alles sein oder werden könnte. "Give it to the Sky" knüpft
ganz klar an diese Herangehensweise an, indem es "Tower of
Meaning" als grobes Framework nutzt, um darauf aufzubauen,
diesen atmenden Kern nach oben und nach außen zu erweitern
- und insgesamt etwas entstehen zu lassen, das man ganz klar
in Russells wundersam-paradoxer Welt verorten kann. Auch
"Give it to the Sky" kann somit keineswegs als letztes Wort oder
ultimative Interpretation gedacht sein. Broderick und Ensemble
0 sind längst darüber im Austausch, welche Formen es auf der
Bühne annehmen oder wohin es sonst führen könnte.

Early support from Rødhåd, DVS1, Dustin Zahn, Truncate, and Joel Mull. After his recent remix of Dustin Zahn’s ‘Submit Yourself,’ Rene Wise returns to Enemy Records with his own EP, 'Jungle House'.

Accepting the darkness can be a liberating experience. Realising, and struggling with just who we are and what world we live in requires it. By further complicating the fractured sense of beauty found on his droning 2022 release, ‘I dreamt we found a way’, Bristol-based composer, Rob Winstone creates a language that encapsulates the lifelong reach for our own personal heavens, along with the darkness and fear on which those foundations are built.

Winstone’s instrumental palette continues to reach out far from behind his keyboards, however the sound of ‘sifting through heaven’ is stripped back and pared down, putting melody front and centre. 'postcards and loose tea', a love song written for Winstone’s partner during a period coming to terms with health difficulties had previously self-released with heavy spectral and granular manipulation from the artist. Here Winstone re-presents the original: “the stripped back recording I made in my old damp and cold studio that was in a building that has since been demolished”. It reflects the composer’s own journey, doing away with veils and histrionics, and embracing emotional bliss wherever it can be found, warts and all. Even the rumbling dark ambience of ’hospital corridor’ - where distant chimings, groans, and droplets synthesized from field recordings made nervously in a hospital waiting for test results coalesce - harbours a sacred-seeming beauty and aseptic warmth within its very bleak sense of dread.

There’s no better way to describe Winstone’s method than ‘sifting through heaven’. The hymnal organ chords, sketched out acoustic guitar phrases, scattering drum thuds, and meditative field recordings may flit between tenebrous to incandescent, but his focus is always on the embrace of love; “a view of life that embraces positive growth, yet doesn't deny immense suffering,” as he puts it. The album is bookended by two of Winstone’s most outright peaceful moments, summarising his core message: 'in spite of it all...' '...love finds a way'.

Die Musikerinnen der Discodelic-Soul-Band Say She She, die ihren Namen als stille Anspielung auf Nile Rodgers ("C'est chi-chi!: It's Chic!") gewählt hat, veröffentlicht ihr zweites Album "Silver" auf den Spuren eines epischen Durchbruchsjahres, das von Tag zu Tag heller wird. Die drei starken Stimmen von Piya Malik (Stammgast bei El Michels Affair und ehemalige Backgroundsängerin von Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham und Nya GazelleBrown sind die Frontfrauen der Band. Das harmonierende Trio entstand in einer klassischen New Yorker Geschichte von Freunden, die sich auf dem Weg zur Musik kennenlernten: auf den Tanzflächen der Innenstadt, auf den Dielen der Lower East Side und auf den Dächern von Harlem. "Silver" wurde Anfang des Jahres im Killion Sound Studio in North Hollywood geschrieben und live auf Band aufgenommen und von Sergio Rios (von Orgone) produziert. Während diese analogen Aufnahmetechniken dazu beitragen, Say She She's Sound in einem Fundament aus klanglicher Wärme zu verankern, das nur mit Tonband erreicht werden kann, ist es auch ihr Prozess, den Track im Moment zu produzieren und die Magie der gemeinschaftlichen Kreativität einzufangen, die dazu geführt hat, dass ihr Sound als "eine glorreiche Überladung aus freudigem Enthusiasmus und spiritueller Erhebung" (MOJO) und "durchdrungen vom schrägen Post-Disco-Geist der frühen 80er Jahre in NYC" (The Guardian) beschrieben wurde. Silver, das Element, ist bekannt als das Metall des Selbstbewusstseins und der Spiegel der Seele. Die 16-Song-Doppel-LP zeigt nicht nur, dass die Band an Selbstvertrauen gewonnen hat, sondern spiegelt auch eine tiefere Erkundung ihrer punkig-schicken, weiblich-vorwärts gerichteten Sensibilität wider.

25th anniversary remastered edition

Stéphane DRI alias Scan X, pioneer of the French Techno scene, began his career in 1993 by signing his first two EPs on the now legendary FNAC MUSIC label.
In 1994, he continued his odyssey at Fcommunications by producing a series of maxis, some of which are considered today by many to be classics

Repress !

From Another Mind celebrates its fifth anniversary with 'Versionen 008’, a mammoth remix package of SHDW & Obscure Shape tracks from Héctor Oaks, Ø Phase, Exium, and more.

Comprising nine remixes of the German producer/DJ outfit, 'Versionen 008' covers four sides of vinyl and features adaptations from a wealth of modern techno talent, rising stars, and scene veterans alike,
with Hadone, MRD, Stigmata, Exium, Héctor Oaks AKA DJKAOS11, Introversion, Ø Phase, and DJ Boss making contributions.

With the influences across the release darting between acid, techno, and rave, 'Versionen 008' is a no holds barred journey into the sounds of dark, cavernous rooms and sweaty basements alike, providing a
keen insight into who SHDW & Obscure Shape are passionate about as artists.

From the fast-paced, dub techno infused MRD version of ‘Der Weg Des Kriegers’, the explosive energy in Exium’s remix of ‘Blick Des Bösen’, to the two versions of ‘Die Augen Des Teufels’ by Stigmata, who effortlessly provides a dose of early 2000’s nostalgia, all aspects of the pair’s musical tastes are covered. Héctor Oaks takes ‘Kein Entkommen’ in an otherworldly direction, painting the track with his
signature voice, while Ø Phase brings his powerful and hypnotic sound to the duos ‘Verlorene Seelen’.

Elsewhere on the release, ‘Die Prophezeiung’ receives a shot of trancey energy from France’s Hadone and Introversion breathes new life into ‘Blisswunden’, developing the track into a melodic dream
amongst metallic percussion. The penultimate ‘Feuersturm’ gets the DJ Boss treatment, as the Slovakian DJ/producer transforms the track into a dynamic late-night roller.

Taking in these variety of moods across the remixes, the compilation sways between different strains of techno, from anthems to DJ tools, covering both modern and vintage to provide a diverse compilation
that will no doubt be warmly welcomed by DJs and listeners alike.
Favouring fiercely high-energy and gritty productions, the duo has used the label as an outlet for their dark, intense sound to the rapturous responses from DJs and dancefloors and 'Versionen 008' sees them celebrate five years of the imprint in typically uncompromising fashion.

Sideshows neues Projekt 2MM DON'T JUST STAND THERE! wird über 10k veröffentlicht, dem Label des New Yorker Rapper/Produzenten MIKE, und folgt auf Kollaborationen mit Leuten wie The Alchemist, Boldy James, MIKE, Jadasea und NAPPYNAPPA. Produziert u.a. von Alexander Spit, Popstar Benny, AYOCHILLMAN und Sideshow selbst, reichen die Themen von Abenteuern auf Tour über den Kämpfen des täglichen Lebens in der DMV bis zu den andauernden Konflikten gegen Sideshows Leute in seiner Heimat Tigray.

Es gibt auf "Da ist immer noch mein Herz" eine Menge Spannendes zu entdecken. Über Gefühle und Hoffnungen, über Schmerz und Niedergeschlagenheit, über Optimismus und Hingabe. Es sind Themen, die Staubkind derzeit beschäftigen und die ihn zu diesem wunderbaren Album inspiriert haben. Mitunter haben Krisen, wenn sie überstanden sind, eine heilende Wirkung. Die neuen Staubkind-Songs besitzen genau diese Fähigkeit! Und zwar nicht nur für Louis selbst. Denn für diese Musik gilt das Motto „Fang dir deine Träume“!

Es gibt auf "Da ist immer noch mein Herz" eine Menge Spannendes zu entdecken. Über Gefühle und Hoffnungen, über Schmerz und Niedergeschlagenheit, über Optimismus und Hingabe. Es sind Themen, die Staubkind derzeit beschäftigen und die ihn zu diesem wunderbaren Album inspiriert haben. Mitunter haben Krisen, wenn sie überstanden sind, eine heilende Wirkung. Die neuen Staubkind-Songs besitzen genau diese Fähigkeit! Und zwar nicht nur für Louis selbst. Denn für diese Musik gilt das Motto „Fang dir deine Träume“!

The Vaselines have long been celebrated by musicians and music enthusiasts across genres and across the globe, including super-fan Kurt Cobain. Emerging in the mid-eighties under the wing of The Pastels' Stephen McRobbie, The Vaselines came to define the sly wit and irresistible pop hooks of the era's Scottish indie scene. Sub Pop's remastered reintroduction of The Way of The Vaselines is an opportunity for those already familiar with the Scottish band's brief career to delve deeper into their body of work, while those new to their music can experience firsthand why so many hold them in such high regard. Originally mastered from a cassette tape (and since remastered on much better equipment in the new millennium), The Way of The Vaselines compiles the band's two EPs (Son of a Gun and Dying for It) and their sole LP release (Dum-Dum). This 2023 edition is the first ever vinyl release of The Way of The Vaselines, which originally came out on CD in 1992.

The Vaselines have long been celebrated by musicians and music enthusiasts across genres and across the globe, including super-fan Kurt Cobain. Emerging in the mid-eighties under the wing of The Pastels' Stephen McRobbie, The Vaselines came to define the sly wit and irresistible pop hooks of the era's Scottish indie scene. Sub Pop's remastered reintroduction of The Way of The Vaselines is an opportunity for those already familiar with the Scottish band's brief career to delve deeper into their body of work, while those new to their music can experience firsthand why so many hold them in such high regard. Originally mastered from a cassette tape (and since remastered on much better equipment in the new millennium), The Way of The Vaselines compiles the band's two EPs (Son of a Gun and Dying for It) and their sole LP release (Dum-Dum). This 2023 edition is the first ever vinyl release of The Way of The Vaselines, which originally came out on CD in 1992.

Repress!

Repress!

Repress!

Originally released Nov. 2001 as a UK single on XL Recordings.
Recorded in the Hotel Yorba Room # 286 in Southwest Detroit May 2001
Recorded by Brendan Benson
B-Side is cover of a 1972 Loretta Lynn classic
Tracklisting

A rare release from one of minimal house and techno's most respected icons, Thomas Brinkmann. 'Isch' is a much sought after track taken from a record that has been out of print since many years. this pressing contains the original mix plus the new soulphiction mix !! first pressing comes as clear blue coloured 12" vinyl !!

This is mother, father, sister & brother combined with the soulful queen of all time - respect & love go together hand in hand & this track exemplifies precisely what love and respect truly are!

Pollux - Locus

Pollux strikes again with this banger, a solid deep groove as we're used to, the drive in this one is really massive.

Lovely mysterious female vocals and a great solid melodic lead, all this in a wonderfull stunning atmosphere.

This track has got it all, great vibe, lush sound, a strong production.

Pollux & Faber - Pulse

With Pulse, the guys continue on the elan of predecessor Tam Unanimem, a "dark" deep bassline which reminds a bit to the classic "Barbarella" although it's different, but it's nice to have :)

An additional strong deep bass-melody and catchy lead are keeping "this whopper" going !

Leach - Cernunnos

No interduction needed for this guy who already earned his stripes with several releases. We go way back so we're very proud to have him and his newest track "Cernunnos" on Castor, a MASSIVE groove, nice build up & break with a great vocal. "Cernunnos" grabs hold of your attention and doesn’t let go ! Guaranteed Floorfiller !!!

Pollux - Restless

This one's got that typical "Pollux Sound", a pumping deep groove, a

heavenly arpeggiator and bombastic lead in a "Progressive" atmosphere, makes you long to dance ...

An absolute belter from Mikeandtess, V4YS, Bully Boy and Oldchap.

This is already flying out the door on pre-sale and it won't be round long. Hand stamped, dinky donuts.

Super affordable double seven from your favourite funky frogs.

Compiling the follow-up to a very successful first album is always a tricky task, but just 12 months since the release of volume one in the 'With Love' series, miche has excelled himself once again with another glorious, deep dive into the world of rare soul. 15 tracks of independently released music, created by magnificent artists with stories to tell and primed for rediscovery.

The ambition to celebrate under-the-radar artists has remained, but instead of a facsimile of volume one, what we have here is a selection shaped by life changes. Volume two is for the dancers; still soulful, still ultra-rare and slept-on records from the USA, Chile, Brazil and beyond, but the dynamics of the collection have shifted slightly. It represents a move from being immersed in a week in week out environment of beautiful, soulful music in a cosy, dimly lit hi-fi bar to playing livelier, more energetic, dancefloor-focused music in nightclubs. This volume will get you on your feet, make you move and unleash whatever it is that makes you get down.

One of the jewels in the crown of this compilation is a joyous, anthemic gospel version of Stevie Wonder's 'As' by The Family Tree (a project produced by the fantastic Julius Brockington). We are also treated to a rare and sought-after Pennsylvanian funk / AOR bomb by Maxwell, a stunning modern soul tune 'High On You' by Freedom, and self-released Brazilian 45s by Banda 22 and Zé Da Lata. P.J. City's 'Straight Forward (Non-Stop)' is gospel-disco perfection, and we also have 'Dame Solamente Amor’, a sublime, soul beauty from Chile by Rogers Mitchell. Many of these artists featured in this compilation aren't household names, but they deserve their moment to shine, to be heard, loved and appreciated for their artistry.

As Miche says it, “I hope this compilation helps in some way to keep this glorious music alive and play a part in connecting generations of music lovers from the worldwide soul family. As always, it has been made ‘With Love’.”

2022 Repress

The first Various Artist release from Frenzy. 12 tracks, designed by 13 artists, with the focus on the old school sound with a modern-day twist. Verschwender, Antonio De Angelis and Samuel L Session cover the A-side, Egotot, Volpe and Earwaxare on the B-side, Doug Cooney, VIL and Phil Berg on the Cside and Rosati, Rove Ranger & SYMON, and Melier Avenue on the D-side.

Tracks by Cajal, Christian Bistany, Blurry Slur, Daniele Bussoleni, Funkytino, Lotrax, Lucio Agustin, Matichap, One Over, Parsec, Shane Mahon, THEBENS, Wodda, XXX Culture

French label D3 - which when pronounced in French sounds like there French word for Detroit - is a decade old and celebrates the milestone with a special three-part EP series. As has always been the case over that 10 year period, the sounds it serves up are deep and housey. This various artists affair kicks off with AsTreJinkins' slow and propulsive 'Terror' before some nice airy and live sounding broken beats from New Digital Fidelity.

Moroka picks up the pace with some hi-tek soul that sounds straight from the Motor City and Byron The Aquarius shows off his mastery of the keys again with a dreamy deep cut 'Tua Su Ra'. Nico Lahs shuts down with a heavyweight beatdown in the form of 'It's Spelled BARI.'

Repress!

While a picture disc version of "Hello Operator" b/w "Jolene" was available in 2010 from Third Man's subscription-only series the Vault, the black vinyl, picture sleeve version is now available for all to buy and will be kept in print eternally. The sole single off of the Stripes sophomore "De Stijl" album, "Hello Operator" was the first song John Peel ever played by the band. If that wasn't enough, the B-side showcases the band's cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" a long-time fan favorite the studio version only ever available on this single.

Properly stunning fever-dreamweaving on this new one from sferic, the label behind modern ambient classics by Space Afrika, Perila and Jake Muir, featuring a typically scene-stealing appearance by YL Hooi and occupying an elevated space at the intersection of flickering dub-pop and ASMR soundscaping.

Zaumne is the alias of Mateusz Olszewski, whose last album could be found on the excellent Mondoj label, home to Antonina Nowacka, Piotr Kurek, Claire Rousay, More Eaze and other likeminded lowercase producers. For his Sferic debut, Zaumne enlists YL Hooi - a constant source of inspiration for many of us here, as well as Metoronori and the muted sax of Patrick Shiroishi. Loosely inspired by Baudelaire’s ‘Flowers of Evil’ (soft spoken extracts of which appear throughout), the album is a sort of exercise in escapism and sensual wandering.

Throughout ‘Parfum’, faded pop is fleshed out with surreal elegance: all flickering neon and half-heard whispers suggestive of blurred late night fantasies; liminal, abstract, and highly evocative. Sounds hang in the air like incense, caressing the senses with an intentionality that's missing from so much landfill ambient. On opening track 'Voyageur’ he sets the scene with pastoral field recordings, dragging a pitched voice and elongated pads through a rhythmic throb that reduces dub techno to a faint knock. There are echoes of music from the fringes of the afterhours club scene too: Andrew Pekler's obscure imaginary landscapes, Jake Muir's druggy bathhouse vapours, DJ Lostboi’s balmy introspection. But despite a shared bleary–eyed aesthetic, Zaumne’s sound is more explicit and well defined, and with it brings a more acute emotional pull.

When YL Hooi appears on 'Sorcières', her voice; drenched in reverb but absolutely crystalline, takes proceedings to a whole other level, reminding us of Natalie Beridze’s perennially overlooked ‘The Wrestler’ from her 2003 album for Thomas Brinkmann’s Max Ernst label; a sort of echo chamber dub perfectly re-imagined as dreampop. A whispered French vocal introduces us to 'Éther', a smoked cloud of looping synths and twinkling bells, and on 'Nymphes’ a wash of pads, wind chimes and waves lapping at the shore somehow manages to swerve all the associated schmaltz you’d imagine and instead gives us the same tingling sensation we had when we first heard Art of Noise’s ‘In Visible Silence’ at dusk, on a beach in the south of France, what seems like forever ago.

There's a ritualistic quality to Zaumne’s music too, as if he's burning rare gums and mosses over smoldering coals in a remote Carpathian clearing. Hikari Okuyama, aka Metoronori, brings her pointed surrealism to 'Ombres', adding a softly spoken wonder to Olszewski's chimes, while Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Patrick Shiroishi contributes horn curliques to 'Prairie', ushering us towards the same sonic space inhabited by Bohren und der Club of Gore and Julee Cruise.

“Surf synth acid dancehall rock!!” is how Jackson Bailey (Tapes/Rezzett) describes the A-side of this new release from Osaka’s 7FO. This 7" single, marking 7FO’s return to EM Records, is an homage to both the vinyl single format itself and also to the legendary producer Joe Meek. “Healing Sword” is the first time 7FO has created a track expressly as a single. On the flip side, “Snake (Live)” is a dubby lo-fi mono travelogue. The ‘onsen’ (hot spring) artwork is by artist/performer Keisuke Yamao and friends.

“The earth shall rise again...”
AMOR/LEMUR finds the Glasgow quartet AMOR in partnership with Norwegian improvising ensemble LEMUR to hopeful and ecstatic effect. Conceived before the onset of Covid 19 but finished during spring lockdown, their eponymous EP is the most loose, alive and elevated recording in AMOR’s catalog. AMOR/LEMUR takes the template of throbbing avant disco expanded upon on previous recordings for Night School and lifts it into new

territories, with new tonalities and unexpected turns on the journey. More than anything, the expanded, near- cinematic expression of human connectivity feels like a lightning new energy to grasp in the dark.

Following a revelatory concert in Glasgow in January 2020 wherein the two sets of musicians met and performed together for the first time, a recording session was arranged the following day, resulting in the most elevated permutation of AMOR’s art to date. Each track was built upon a rhythmic bedrock of percussion and drums performed by Paul Thomson and samples/synthesizer by Luke Fowler. Thomson used bamboo Javanese gamelan (most notably on For You) and scrap metal, as well as traditional percussion and drums while Fowler incorporated processed ambient field recordings recorded in enclosed acoustic spaces around Glasgow. Singer/pianist Richard Youngs contributes some of the most bright and mindful work of his career. Acoustic bass player Michael Francis Duch, whose lush playing as ever provides the elastic spine to each song, scored the string parts for LEMUR on piano at home in Norway. The addition of swelling strings and drones fills out the AMOR sound significantly, lending a sonorous tone to 8 minute, epic closer For You or an ascending melodic introduction to Stars Burst that feels like a new morning dawning on a world saved from certain death. With the circumstances of lockdown forcing the musicians to work differently, a thread of optimism and utopia grounded in the moment weaves through these tracks. Unravel reveals a spine tingling vocal from Youngs. It’s a song about the simultaneously grounding and ecstatic effect of love, feeling connected to others. It’s a simple message, “I’m finding myself in your smile, always unravels me” speaks of ego death, the dissipation of the material into a nirvana of pure energy, the power of surrender. This isn’t a quasi-religious message, this is the power of each other, a love song to connection in a temporary age of isolation. Stars Burst is a play on the inner and outer cosmos, with narrator Youngs exploring wonder to a pounding galloping rhythm and snake-charming synth. It’s an open dance, with the group locked in together for the wild ride. Fear is the centerpiece of the record, starting with drones and scraped overtones before swirling synth notes filter upwards to meet reverberating minor chords. Over 8 minutes of tight but loose playing, Youngs is the shaman instructing us to use Fear as a celebration of the moment, embrace it and jump into the unknown. The only way to overcome your fear is to feel it, use it as an energy. The use of the studio as an instrument throughout side 2 is particularly important, with the dubbing and mixing prowess of engineer Paul Savage (who mixed unattended due to lockdown restrictions) and tape manipulations performed by Jason Lescallet coming into play. For You closes out with a largely instrumental, evolving composition that uses many of the abstract and novel aspects of this permutation to aid the trance. It’s massive, an unfurling creature with unexpected tonalities and serious heft.

Techno from Rotterdam.

Attia Taylor is a NYC based musician, writer, and content producer. She is the founder of Womanly Magazine, The Dorothy and a member of The Art Dept Collective. Her work is rooted in social justice, art, and design, to bring inclusive and culturally relevant content to sound, print and digital realms. She is passionate about building and cultivating communities through journalism, music, storytelling, and research. "Space Ghost" is her debut solo album, recorded with Jeff Ziegler (Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs) in Philadelphia.

Black Grape, eine Band, die nur in Manchester entstehen konnte, melden sich mit dem brandneuen Album ORANGE HEAD zurück. Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays) hat sich vom wilden jungen Rabauken zu einem britischen Nationalschatz entwickelt. Ihm zur Seite steht Rapper Paul Leveridge aka Kermit. Black Grape gelten als eine der innovativsten und kultigsten Bands der letzten 25 Jahre. Sie hatten vier Top-10-Singles, ihr Debütalbum 'It's Great When You're Straight… Yeah' schoss 1995 direkt auf #1 der UK Charts und wurde mit Platin ausgezeichnet. Der Nachfolger 'Stupid Stupid Stupid' erreichte 1997 Gold. Black Grape waren schon immer ein düsteres, kosmisches musikalisches Puzzle, das Rock, Hip-Hop, Acid House, psychedelischen Pop und Reggae mit Ryders Gossenpoesie vermischte, vorgetragen in seinem unnachahmlich-hysterischen Stil.

Black Grape, eine Band, die nur in Manchester entstehen konnte, melden sich mit dem brandneuen Album ORANGE HEAD zurück. Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays) hat sich vom wilden jungen Rabauken zu einem britischen Nationalschatz entwickelt. Ihm zur Seite steht Rapper Paul Leveridge aka Kermit. Black Grape gelten als eine der innovativsten und kultigsten Bands der letzten 25 Jahre. Sie hatten vier Top-10-Singles, ihr Debütalbum 'It's Great When You're Straight… Yeah' schoss 1995 direkt auf #1 der UK Charts und wurde mit Platin ausgezeichnet. Der Nachfolger 'Stupid Stupid Stupid' erreichte 1997 Gold. Black Grape waren schon immer ein düsteres, kosmisches musikalisches Puzzle, das Rock, Hip-Hop, Acid House, psychedelischen Pop und Reggae mit Ryders Gossenpoesie vermischte, vorgetragen in seinem unnachahmlich-hysterischen Stil.

Black Grape, eine Band, die nur in Manchester entstehen konnte, melden sich mit dem brandneuen Album ORANGE HEAD zurück. Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays) hat sich vom wilden jungen Rabauken zu einem britischen Nationalschatz entwickelt. Ihm zur Seite steht Rapper Paul Leveridge aka Kermit. Black Grape gelten als eine der innovativsten und kultigsten Bands der letzten 25 Jahre. Sie hatten vier Top-10-Singles, ihr Debütalbum 'It's Great When You're Straight… Yeah' schoss 1995 direkt auf #1 der UK Charts und wurde mit Platin ausgezeichnet. Der Nachfolger 'Stupid Stupid Stupid' erreichte 1997 Gold. Black Grape waren schon immer ein düsteres, kosmisches musikalisches Puzzle, das Rock, Hip-Hop, Acid House, psychedelischen Pop und Reggae mit Ryders Gossenpoesie vermischte, vorgetragen in seinem unnachahmlich-hysterischen Stil.

With »Discreet Music« (1975), »Music for Airports« (1978) and »Thursday Afternoon« (1985), Brian Eno invented a new music genre, Ambient Music, which he defined as »able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting«. These versions performed and arranged by Dedalus Ensemble, according to the musicians and the critics who listened to it, goes beyond what we expect from it. A mental base that takes us far away. One of the only music without beginning or end in which we want to stay as long as possible.

The Dedalus Ensemble is a contemporary music ensemble based in Toulouse, founded in 1996 by Didier Aschour. Its repertoire includes works by classics of minimalism such as Christian Wolff, Phill Niblock, Frederic Rzewski, Tom Johnson, Moondog or Philip Glass.

High Roller Records, reissue 2023, red/ grey mixed w/ black splatter vinyl, ltd 400, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, 2 inserts, poster, A5 photo card, mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony. Cutting by SST Germany on Neumann machines for optimal quality on all levels...

One of the enduring mysteries of Blue Note history is that superb sessions such as Dexter Gordon’s Clubhouse (recorded in 1965) remained unreleased in the vault until the late 1970s. Recorded during the middle of Gordon’s “golden period” career renaissance after he signed with Blue Note in 1961, the tenor saxophone legend is joined by Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and the remarkable rhythm section of Barry Harris on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and the great Billy Higgins on drums. Long Tall Dexter’s rendition of the Sinatra evergreen “I’m a Fool To Want You” stands as one of his all-time greatest ballad performances.

TQL001, Tranquil's debut release, brings to the table four deep, hypnotic and driving tracks by none other than Romania’s direkt.


Explore his signature melodic and atmospheric productions on this club ready 4 tracker, a staple for any minimal head’s record bag.

Earthtones is the musical identity of Serge Bandura, an electronic artist, former jazz musician, meditation teacher and ritualist based in LA. Kevin Nathaniel channels sound as a universal healing force through traditional African instruments and is a former student of legendary master musicians such as Ephat Mujuru and Chief Bey K.

Sending files back and forth during the pandemic, the two artists deepened a musical friendship and began a dialog between the Mbira Nyunga Nyunga, the Kalimba and analog synthesizers. Their music is offered in the spirit of peace + healing for all. ‘Of The Earth’ (Full Meditation) is 21 minutes long and the B side offers 25 minutes of music.