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Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Stephen Mallinder's second solo outing for Dais further distills his signature fusion of minimal synth, oblique wordplay, and "wonky disco" into a riveting rhythm suite ripe for our Age of Escalation: Tick Tick Tick. Channeling the temporal malaise of lockdown through a lusher palette of modular electronics and stereo strings, the songs embrace ambiguity and plasticity, loose systems of percolating circuitry and airless funk. Recorded across a handful of sessions at Meme Tune Studios in Cornwall with frequent collaborator Benge (aka Ben Edwards), Mallinder cites no guiding aesthetic premise for the collection beyond "cowbell on every track, and entirely no reverb." From the first coiled cybernetic groove of opener "Contact," the album's spatial dynamics are disorienting and asymmetrical, alternately cold and sensual, opiated and claustrophobic. But, throughout, "rhythm is the default, the bedrock, the building block-even the melodies are rhythmic." Across 40-plus years of electronic musicianship, Mallinder's sense of timing and tempo has honed into a rare tier of mastery, limber and fluid but knotted with strange frictions. Shades of Detroit technoid industrial ("ringdropp," "Shock To The Body") crossfade into now avy punk-funk ("Guernica Gallery," "Galaxy," "The Trial"), bad trip IDM ("Wasteland"), and jittery vapor house ("Hush"), at the threshold of modes both familiar and foreign. Lyrically the record is equally evasive, rich with allusions and associative linguistics, surveying liquid notions of societal noise, ecological ruin, art world pretension, and the trials of daily life. But the lack of fixed meaning remains Mallinder's main muse: "Music should draw you in; lyrics should make you think. Most interpretation is misinterpretation." This is music of countdowns and comedowns, fleeting pleasures and opaque futures, observing the great decline while dancing on its ashes. Flux is deathless and forever; the rest, illusion: "I will be a constant figure / Flickering a moving picture / Turning in your head forever / Split apart but held together."

Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Stephen Mallinder's second solo outing for Dais further distills his signature fusion of minimal synth, oblique wordplay, and "wonky disco" into a riveting rhythm suite ripe for our Age of Escalation: Tick Tick Tick. Channeling the temporal malaise of lockdown through a lusher palette of modular electronics and stereo strings, the songs embrace ambiguity and plasticity, loose systems of percolating circuitry and airless funk. Recorded across a handful of sessions at Meme Tune Studios in Cornwall with frequent collaborator Benge (aka Ben Edwards), Mallinder cites no guiding aesthetic premise for the collection beyond "cowbell on every track, and entirely no reverb." From the first coiled cybernetic groove of opener "Contact," the album's spatial dynamics are disorienting and asymmetrical, alternately cold and sensual, opiated and claustrophobic. But, throughout, "rhythm is the default, the bedrock, the building block-even the melodies are rhythmic." Across 40-plus years of electronic musicianship, Mallinder's sense of timing and tempo has honed into a rare tier of mastery, limber and fluid but knotted with strange frictions. Shades of Detroit technoid industrial ("ringdropp," "Shock To The Body") crossfade into now avy punk-funk ("Guernica Gallery," "Galaxy," "The Trial"), bad trip IDM ("Wasteland"), and jittery vapor house ("Hush"), at the threshold of modes both familiar and foreign. Lyrically the record is equally evasive, rich with allusions and associative linguistics, surveying liquid notions of societal noise, ecological ruin, art world pretension, and the trials of daily life. But the lack of fixed meaning remains Mallinder's main muse: "Music should draw you in; lyrics should make you think. Most interpretation is misinterpretation." This is music of countdowns and comedowns, fleeting pleasures and opaque futures, observing the great decline while dancing on its ashes. Flux is deathless and forever; the rest, illusion: "I will be a constant figure / Flickering a moving picture / Turning in your head forever / Split apart but held together."

restock!

Written and recorded during 2020, a year marked by forced quarantine with in turn proved to be a prolific time for musical composition. It is an album about change, aging and the fading memories one has, often more of a product of the current state of a person than an accurate description of those remembered moments. With age we tend to forget or lose contact with particular moments and parts of our own story and context become erased forever, as though they never happened. With this album, peter bjärgö takes the first steps into something new, bringing along his signature sound from past projects into a slowly evolving transition to a sonic world beyond his previous achievements. Leaning towards a more ethnic, rhythmic sound, integrated with his now trademark melancholic guitar work and deep solemn vocals, these are the first steps to a new horizon he’s ceaselessly crafting for our listening pleasure.

Limited to 500 copies worldwide.


Heavy as f-ck and deep as hell, this devastating split album gleefully corrupts and corrodes Dub’s sunshine reflections. Celebrating rhythm & noise in its dank echo chamber, these demolition dub tracks are built from obsessive studies in distortion, overdrive and seriously ruff textures, amongst an absolutely insane amount of sub-bass level.

‘Disintegration Dubs’ is a three way low end collision, between G36 (The Bug aka Kevin Martin/Gorgonn’s rig torturing beat project) and JK Flesh (Justin Broadrick of Godflesh/Jesu etc…). As the album title suggests, this instrumental pile up of floor crawling, sound system crushers, is a clearer sign than ever, that these three producers crave their dub cuts to be mutant and heavyweight, totally damaged and completely atomised. Dub as sonic obliteration

Anyone previously smitten by Techno Animal’s deeply psychedelic face off with Porter Ricks, on the long out of print ’Symbiotics’, or who worshipped Zonal’s recent rhythmic wreckage via Relapse records, will surely gorge greedily on Disintegration Dubs’. Likewise, newbies, who have snapped up this year’s ‘Fire’ by The Bug or ‘New flesh in dub’ by Godflesh, will find endless pleasure within these dread-tech, annihilated dubs and Industrial strength steppas rhythms. Echoes of Basic Channel, early Iration Steppas, Public Image Limited or even Andy Stott can be heard within this collection’s haunted atmospherics and bulldozing rumble. Yet, these three individual producers have obviously found their own recognisably original sound, within these monolithic grooves, and what makes this album so utterly refreshing, is just how well the three disparate sound manipulators complement each other fully, as they collectively set their sights on some shared, relentlessly futuristic sci-fi vision, for a new form of dub.

Obviously, Martin as The Bug, and Broadrick with his colossal dubs of Godflesh and his filthy back catalogue of JK Flesh releases, have both long since subscribed to the genre, aesthetic and fragmentation of Dub. Meanwhile relative newcomer, Gorgonn, is The Bug’s long time, live soundman, and former bandmate with DJ Scotch Egg in Devil Man, as well as having formed Dokkebi Q with Kiki Hitomi (ex-King Midas Sound), so he is no stranger to the art of deviant dubs either…

G36 dropped their appropriately titled debut EP ’Floor Weapons’, in 2018, on PRESSURE, as well as providing the backing riddim for the first ever release from Jamaican MC phenomena Nazamba, with his startling debut, ’Vexed’. Alternately, Justin has previously released seven albums solo, as JK Flesh, that systematically contorted, distorted and completely bastardised techno for labels such as Hospital Productions, Downwards and Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe… (Next year will also see a full JK Flesh album on PRESSURE too…!)

This album is Mastered by Stefan Betke aka POLE, at Scape Mastering.

Groove Armada’s iconic Back To Mine compilation from the Millennium gets a long-awaited re-issue 22 years after its original release. As Groove Armada celebrate 25 years of touring with their final ever world live tour, which includes nine huge dates across the UK, it’s a chance to relive Groove Armada’s eclectic and expert curation.

The album, which was one of the biggest ever selling editions of the Back To Mine Series, will be available on double heavyweight vinyl for the first timers well as a limited collectors edition in Pumpkin orange. This release marks the first of many reissues of iconic Back To Mine titles.

The Groove Armada special edition package features 12 tracks featured on the seminal album in one of the best loved compilation series’. Despite the length in time since its original release, the album remains timeless with an inspired selection ranging from A Tribe Called Quest, Barry White, Tears For Fears to the compilers themselves.

For nearly two decades, Groove Armada have been established as one of the planet's best loved and biggest selling dance acts. As comfortable on the big stages as they are in sweat soaked basements, the boys cross genres and styles with ease. This translates perfectly into their addition of Back To Mine which boldly, yet effortlessly traverses a multitude of sounds that you wouldn’t imagine could be the perfect match. Collectively, the album is colorfully funky, soulful, and incredibly smooth.


From their house to yours, listening pleasure is guaranteed.

· One of the biggest ever selling editions of the Back ToMine series repressed for the first time.

· Groove Armada will be embarking on their final live tour around some of the UK’s most iconic venues in 2022 & several festival appearances.

· Marketing campaign celebrating 25 years of the Back To Mine series and the start of back catalog reissues

· Available on heavyweight double vinyl only, Including collectors coloured orange vinyl edition.

· Features legends such as Barry White, A Tribe Called Quest, Tears For Fears and Groove Armada themselves.

“V I N C E N T” is FKJ’s second album and signals a new dawn, not just as a go-to producer and remixer for artists like PinkPantheress and Moses Sumney but as an artist in his own right, continuously selling out headline tours across the globe with his acclaimed ‘one-man-band’ live shows, and having a billion plus streams across all platforms for his music.

The concept for “V I N C E N T” came about during a solo trip to Los Angeles before 2020. “I just stayed in this house totally on my own, turned my phone off and had some time away from everything to figure out what I wanted to do.” He realised he wanted to tap into the freedom of being a teenager: “back then, I was making music strictly for playfulness, without overthinking it,” he says. “V I N C E N T’s” opening and closing songs underline the sentiment of the new album: the future-jazz of ‘Way Out’ (a playful mini soundtrack in one; a dainty piano motif underscored by a skittering trap beat and serene strings) and the lullaby-styled “Stay A Child”. “I wanted to get back some of that lost innocence of making music purely for pleasure,” he says.

Back in his home studio in the Philippines, with no wifi and an impending global lockdown, FKJ was quite literally cut off from the world, able to explore music’s endless possibilities. “Sometimes I would get into it for the whole night and go to bed when the sun came up.” Out of this freedom comes an expressionistic, touching album that’s impossible to pin down. There’s no more hiding behind a branch of leaves, as he did on the cover of his 2017 debut: “V I N C E N T” marks FKJ out as a crucial new voice. He’s redefining chillout music with his bursts of late-night jazz sax and piano, coupled with his wood-cabin whispery vocals, recalling Bon Iver’s early work, and those Santana-styled guitar flourishes.

Much of “V I N C E N T” is wilfully romantic, sometimes super sexy, and often with its head in the clouds, as on tracks like “Us”, a dreamy ode to his wife June, or “IHM”, which has a 90s hip-hop flavour slowed right down to lights-out tempo. Not entirely a solo record, ((( O )))) appears on ‘Brass Necklace’ – which has the soft power of The Internet and Stevie Wonder’s keys. It’s no wonder that lead single ‘A Moment of Mystery’, featuring Toro Y Moi, has a spacey vibe: while recording in San Francisco together, FKJ, Toro and his keyboard player Tony took some of what Tony called “holy water” – “we shared this bottle and took a bit of a trip,” laughs FKJ. The result is a gentle electronic ode to long-term love that could rival Tame Impala for melodic progginess.

Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano vocal, meanwhile, laces its way through the stunning “Can’t Stop”, and there is a call back to FKJ’s dancier beginnings with “Let’s Live”, a galvanising techno-pop number that blends piano, handclaps and soulful vocals to dazzling effect. Each of FKJ’s songs glistens, lambently, with a myriad of ideas but it never sounds overblown or too dizzying.

“V I N C E N T” is a marvel – and testament to the magic that can happen when you dig deep. “This was a challenging record,” he says. “I’m a perfectionist and it’s hard to shake that off. But once I did, and I let the music take over, I felt totally free.”

Orange Vinyl

RAWAX presents a new ten inch series on CHIWAX!
We love this format and it's a pleasure to start it with a good friend and Shift Imprint label boss, Angelo Santos aka Audiopath who already released two heawy weights on HOUSEWAX.
The limited orange vinyl edition
Supperted by Laurent Garnier, Dan Curtin and others!

Bliue Vinyl

Yamila reveals her most intimate catharsis in Visions, an album that brings together and provokes the hallucinatory powers of music. Like an ancient herald, she announces the profound feminine mystique while crossing epic melodies full of pleasure and pain. This album is a journey that prodigiously unites baroque accents, Spanish folklore – such as flamenco – and contemporary electronic music.

Her voice and music – sometimes torn and others buoyant – could resemble the score for a biblical passage (ie. visions of the Apocalypse), for they are overflowing with physical ecstasy and sounds that one can touch. Visions is composed of different forms and rhythms. Pieces like "Visions V" evolve intensely with sharp and systematized hits –– powerful layers that bring us closer to Alessando Cortini's Forse era. "Visions II", for its part, shares intensity and power with flamenco ritual patterns, as if it were an old Andalusian scene dripping with oscillations and electric shocks. Yet there are luminous vocal pieces such as "Visions I" (featuring Rafael Anton Irisarri), inspired by Manuel de Falla's Suite Española composed in 1922. Here, an aural chiaroscuro with beautiful voices and choirs is deeply fused with daring drones. And it is in the ensemble of moments of Visions where Yamila's conceptual axis is rendered solid. Pain and glory, lacerating religiosity, feminism cauterized by power, and hallucinations as a source (or pretext/tool) to be heard.

Yamila exhibits a profuse aesthetic with her music that calls for a look at the far-past with romanticism and nostalgia. Visions is radiant, intense. A unique album.

All songs written and performed by Yamila Ríos (Spain), except “Visions I”, which features Rafael Anton Irisarri. Recorded between the Swedish winter and the Belgian countryside. Additional musicians: Simbad guitar on V-IV and V-I, Vera Cavallin harp on VIV. Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio. NY. Photos by Virginia Rota in Madrid. Design by Daniel Castrejón in Mexico City.

The groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra label are pleased to present an outstanding new collection of musical gems from Belgium's thriving jazz scene, compiled by Belgian DJ and eclectic connoisseur, Lefto.



'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2', released 24th June, features a balance of known and obscure artists. From the thrilling frenetic grooves and innovative soundscapes of Bandler Ching and the electronic influenced Stellar Legions (Andrew Claes from (STUFF.), to the jazz fusion collective L?p?GangGang and weaving musical odyssey that is M.CHUZI, 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2' is a melting pot of the best musical talent coming out one of the smallest countries in Europe. In addition, there's the beautiful unease of One Frame Movement, the laidback 'acoustic electronica' of Boombox Experiments, the classic funky jazz stylings of Cargo Mas and the cinematic The Brums, making 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2' an essential release for any jazzhead with a passion for new sounds.



"By collecting all the music for 'Jazz Cats volume 2', I come to the conclusion that we are living in an era of very talented individuals and collectives. Even more so than 4 years ago. I have the impression that the Belgian jazz sound is more diverse, with more influences and more creativity. There was a time that jazz would be the starting sample to create a beat for rappers, today it is electronica, rap or afrobeat that influences our youth to create a sound or style that suits their vision of what jazz sounds like in 2022. So, once again it is with extreme pleasure that I present to you some of the best present and next generation of jazz cats this little country has to offer."



2018's 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats' included tracks from some of Belgium's biggest hitters including Black Flower, STUFF., and Glass Museum who have all gone on to receive global acclaim. The album was given the accolade of 'Album of the Week' on Worldwide FM and also received further radio support from Jazz FM in addition to numerous glowing reviews.



Tastemaker, selector, curator, DJ and producer, Lefto is one of the most important and respected tastemakers around the world with a record collection of over 15,000 records. Cutting his teeth on jazz and new beat, a genre that moulded the shape of electronic music in 80s Belgium, Lefto formed his early tastemaker know-how via his dad's record collection.



Creating his fine ear for music and the cutting edge at Belgium's legendary Music Mania record store in his hometown Brussels, he has been a resident on Belgium's leading radio station Studio Brussel and currently hosts a show on Kiosk Radio (BE) and The Lot Radio (US). He also curates his own stage at the Dour Festival and hosts his own nights in Gent. World renowned, he regularly blesses sound systems from Tokyo to Seoul, Singapore to Manila, Kazakhstan to Germany, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with residencies in Amsterdam and New York.

Limited version 2LP on red vinyl in gatefold sleeve. An outstanding new collection of musical gems from Belgium's thriving jazz scene, compiled by Belgian DJ and eclectic connoisseur, Lefto.

The groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra label are pleased to present an outstanding new collection of musical gems from Belgium's thriving jazz scene, compiled by Belgian DJ and eclectic connoisseur, Lefto.



'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2', released 24th June, features a balance of known and obscure artists. From the thrilling frenetic grooves and innovative soundscapes of Bandler Ching and the electronic influenced Stellar Legions (Andrew Claes from (STUFF.), to the jazz fusion collective L?p?GangGang and weaving musical odyssey that is M.CHUZI, 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2' is a melting pot of the best musical talent coming out one of the smallest countries in Europe. In addition, there's the beautiful unease of One Frame Movement, the laidback 'acoustic electronica' of Boombox Experiments, the classic funky jazz stylings of Cargo Mas and the cinematic The Brums, making 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2' an essential release for any jazzhead with a passion for new sounds.



"By collecting all the music for 'Jazz Cats volume 2', I come to the conclusion that we are living in an era of very talented individuals and collectives. Even more so than 4 years ago. I have the impression that the Belgian jazz sound is more diverse, with more influences and more creativity. There was a time that jazz would be the starting sample to create a beat for rappers, today it is electronica, rap or afrobeat that influences our youth to create a sound or style that suits their vision of what jazz sounds like in 2022. So, once again it is with extreme pleasure that I present to you some of the best present and next generation of jazz cats this little country has to offer."



2018's 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats' included tracks from some of Belgium's biggest hitters including Black Flower, STUFF., and Glass Museum who have all gone on to receive global acclaim. The album was given the accolade of 'Album of the Week' on Worldwide FM and also received further radio support from Jazz FM in addition to numerous glowing reviews.



Tastemaker, selector, curator, DJ and producer, Lefto is one of the most important and respected tastemakers around the world with a record collection of over 15,000 records. Cutting his teeth on jazz and new beat, a genre that moulded the shape of electronic music in 80s Belgium, Lefto formed his early tastemaker know-how via his dad's record collection.



Creating his fine ear for music and the cutting edge at Belgium's legendary Music Mania record store in his hometown Brussels, he has been a resident on Belgium's leading radio station Studio Brussel and currently hosts a show on Kiosk Radio (BE) and The Lot Radio (US). He also curates his own stage at the Dour Festival and hosts his own nights in Gent. World renowned, he regularly blesses sound systems from Tokyo to Seoul, Singapore to Manila, Kazakhstan to Germany, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with residencies in Amsterdam and New York.

JB Dunckel, half of electronic iconic french band Air releases a new solo album.

Carbon, JB Dunckel's first album in four years, considers the recent uncertainties that have befallen the planet and explores diffuse visions of how a better future might look.
There are meditations on existential bliss (the airy, chiming Cristal Mind) and egotistical escapist fantasies (Sex UFO, which can't help but recall Jeff Bezos phallic rocket). Yet Carbon also considers the subversive pleasures of nihilism: revelling in man's insignificance compared to the cosmos (the languid Space) and wondering whether big tech might save us yet (the triumphalist Corporate Sunset). The album is a psychological test that reveals the listener's own outlook, says Dunckel - an artist who taught pop fans how to dream more than 20 years ago as half of the trailblazing cosmic pop duo Air.
Since then, he's become a lauded, César-nominated composer for films such as François Ozon's film Summer of 85 . With Carbon, the accompanying images are entirely of the listener's creation: "I want them to feel ready to travel in space," he says.

A simple idea in an over complicated moment. Strip away aesthetics and be artist centric, sharing and explore collisions, sounds and genres. Step out of comfort zones to release a series of EPs of broad, challenging and deep music.

Starting with The Proposal by A Strange Wedding, this Lyon based producer from the Worst label, builds on their "modern style" slow trance to create a label anthem, a template. Stretched Arp, hypnotic bass and searing melody, underpinned by ocean wide kick. Merci for the perfect beginning.

Datasal are next, as this Gothenburg's trio's debut arrives. Acoustics (Miyazawa flute / Fender bass) and electronics (Roland RS-09 / Korg Mono) collide; prog rock meets post punk meets dance; outside organised compositions to improvise to the beat.

Side two leads back to the origin. 84PC, the dormant Tel Aviv collective that developed out of the city's Michatronix Crew (featuring Katzele, Naduve, Asaf and Yovav), return with a previously unreleased remix from Khidja. Their "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" moment is peak time perfection.

To close Barcelona's Iro Aka arrive with another debut. Having dispatched edits on Hard Fist and 44,100Hz Social Club, their bubbling 303 is a tender dreamtime finale that points ahead.

Sofatalk & XL Regular have come up with a wonderful jazzy EP for Outplay. Filled with warm chords and broken house beats.
Italy’s Piero Paolinelli and Alessandro Giacchi are the newest addition to our Outplay family. They have released music previously on Omena, ANMA, Cognitiva Records (Sofatalk’s own label), INI Movement, Nómada and Monologues. Their EP for Outplay is called Afro Quarters EP and contains 4 electronic jazzfunk infused house
tracks and make for a perfect testimony of their musicianship.
Rumble Strip kicks off with broken beats turning into a 4x4 house beat filled with percussion, dreamy keyboard licks and sultry vocals to underline the floaty vibe.
The title track, Afro Quarters, is up next pushing us further into their signature jazz infused broken beat house style. With the funky bassline and the stabby keys it’s hard not to move. Throw in tastefully done flute and Rhodes solos for the mature sound they’re known for.
The third piece is called Easy and contrary to its name it’s not as chilled out as you’d think. It’s incredibly groovy, with heavy staccato bass and keys, while keeping the dreamed out jazzy chords to balance it out. It makes us think of the masterful work of Kaidi Tatham.
“On The Run” concludes the EP and continues the vibe displayed throughout the release filled with arpeggiated and stabby keys and vocal bits.
It’s our absolute pleasure to be able release this and we are excited to share it with you!

On this anniversary release, Lilies invites DJ Ali (Al Gharib / Falling Apart / Mutual Pleasure) for two heavyweight tracks with his pedal to the metal signature sound.

On the B-side a production dialogue / live recording takes place between Gothenburgers Enmetertre (founder of Jens Records / GBG Wax Trax) and DJ Lily, who release their first song together after their joint vinyl in 2018 (BRORX1/JENS009). The 909 on the track is actually Ace Of Base's old workhorse! The second track on the B-side is presented by DJ Lily who brings out "Brukstechno" in 150 bpm.

A simple idea in an over complicated moment. Strip away aesthetics and be artist centric, sharing and explore collisions, sounds and genres. Step out of comfort zones to release a series of EPs of broad, challenging and deep music.

Starting with The Proposal by A Strange Wedding, this Lyon based producer from the Worst label, builds on their "modern style" slow trance to create a label anthem, a template. Stretched Arp, hypnotic bass and searing melody, underpinned by ocean wide kick. Merci for the perfect beginning.

Datasal are next, as this Gothenburg's trio's debut arrives. Acoustics (Miyazawa flute / Fender bass) and electronics (Roland RS-09 / Korg Mono) collide; prog rock meets post punk meets dance; outside organised compositions to improvise to the beat.

Side two leads back to the origin. 84PC, the dormant Tel Aviv collective that developed out of the city's Michatronix Crew (featuring Katzele, Naduve, Asaf and Yovav), return with a previously unreleased remix from Khidja. Their "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" moment is peak time perfection.

To close Barcelona's Iro Aka arrive with another debut. Having dispatched edits on Hard Fist and 44,100Hz Social Club, their bubbling 303 is a tender dreamtime finale that points ahead.

Side A / Double A / You Feel Alright?

Double A returns for a sample heavy b-boy breaks workout with “You Feel Alright?”. This one’s a nod to his roots in late 80’s hip-hop; an à la Prince Paul cut and paste homage to a time when hip-hop was still for the dancers. There’s also a sneaky “whaddup?” to his fellow oldschool D&B heads in the breakdown. The main sample is 1970s
Afro-funk gold; horns, horns, and more horns. Bangin’ drums and a rolling baseline tie it all together for the dance floor.

Side AA / The Gaff / High Life

Party rocker, turntablist, edit maestro, all-round good dude, and Canadian National Treasure, The Gaff smashes a heavy afro-funk edit with a b-boy feel on this one. Knockin’ drums, syncopated percussion, and a house(ish) tempo make this one a guaranteed floor filler. A smattering of male vocals is the icing on the cake here too. Dj-friendly intro and outro for your mixing pleasure. A must for your crates.

For the second output of e s p e r p e n t o, Francesco Baudazzi evokes his enigmatic and esoteric side project Violet Poison after being part of the first Various Artists release as Red Lodge. ESPER002. includes 5 original tracks plus a stomper Remix by the Liber Null founder Unhuman.

Each track recalls the pleasure and disorientation resulted in perceiving the ruthlessness of the sea and its stillness right after. Retro-futuristic and cinematic elements, wistful melodies and mutant beats emerge from the marine environment tied to Violet Poison homeland. It is not without reason that the Ep title is inspired by “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798), a tale about a sea voyage with no return because of the uncontrollable power of nature and the misfortunes caused by the killing of an Albatros. The poem’s atmosphere too is connected with the eerie depictions and the deforming imagery of e s p e r p e n t o.

First Word Records is extremely delighted to present 'Torn : Tonic' — the sophomore album from singer, performer, poet and producer, Allysha Joy.

Delivered unfiltered, straight from the soul, ´Torn : Tonic' pulls us into a 10 track journey that weaves through the multiplicity of letting go, standing tall, and creating space all at once. The album's expansive and vivid exploration of healing examines the power that comes with accepting the complexity of change. Allysha walks listeners through the remedy she finds in sound and emerges empowered to share this healing with others. Deeply moving and lyrically compelling, 'Torn : Tonic' hosts a stellar line-up of artists, creating a world of collective power, growth, and hope.

Allysha Joy is an integral member of the vibrant Melbourne soul & jazz scene, well known for both her solo work and as lead vocalist for 30/70. A uniquely-talented soul, her husky voice, and formidable Fender Rhodes prowess have garnered attentive audiences around the world.

Her 2018 debut album 'Acadie : Raw' was named 'Best Soul Album' at the Music Victoria Awards, featured in Bandcamp's 'Top Soul Albums' of the year and received a nomination for 'Best Jazz Album' at the Worldwide Awards. An incredibly prolific artist, Allysha has released on labels; Rhythm Section, Gondwana, Future Classic, Total Refreshment Centre and now another drop for First Word, after her acclaimed 2020 EP, 'Light It Again'.

Allysha's production on 'Torn : Tonic' effortlessly arches across a sonic palette, comprised of shuffling broken grooves and exquisite celestial melodies. There are healthy swathes of skippy neo-soul boom bap sensibilities, entwined with stark swing-laden electronic percussion, Detroit-esque sun-saturated synths, and Antipodean bruk backbeats. And whilst this project was produced entirely by Joy herself, she is far from alone, inviting in an array of female and non-binary artists to bless assorted tracks with their own unique gifts. Ego Ella May, BINA, Rara Zulu, Belle Bangard and Dancing Water all appear, expanding upon the formulaic roles of featured artists to share the creative space as equal collaborators.

'Torn : Tonic' exudes vibes, from the opening whiplash snare of 'Peace, to the rolling jazz-bruk of lead single 'Let It!', to the sweet soulful sonics of 'Still Dreaming', to the closing triumphant shout of "All Joy!!" on 'G.N.D.', this is a 40-minute opus that will definitely require repeat listening.

Allysha's poetic introspection reveals the album's intention to demand space, purpose, and pleasure. Her words are deliberate and direct to the alarm bells and messages her artistic vision carries. Fluid, cross-genre, and spirited with generational stories embodied, 'Torn : Tonic' sits at the intersection of a feminist manifesto of Joy's momentous leap as an artist, and her exploration of what it means to be human in today's capitalist-driven world.

In Allysha's words, 'Torn : Tonic' is exactly as the name describes. "It is looking directly into the shadow of pain and overcoming it with joy. No love songs! Just social, political, emotional anthems for change! It is the first record I have produced entirely on my own and it feels like that perseverance that I have consistently had to conjure up is embedded in this music, overcoming my own conditioning in a society and industry that constantly tells me I can't, so I must!"