Search:50 s

Yellow and black splatter

While frontman Tom Greenhouse’s off-kilter observations and bizarro anecdotes remain front and centre, this time round the band up their game with a more vigorous sound that keeps pace with Greenhouse’s wholly distinctive lyrical style. Greenhouse continues to revel in telling increasingly surreal short stories, rejoicing in the power of the deadpan one-liner and bedecking his songs with far-flung cultural references. But now the band employ a variety of techniques with improved pro- duction, from the impulsively bashed keyboards and jubilantly repetitive guitar stabs that have be- come their trademark, to flirtations with–heaven forbid!–melody, chord progressions and arrangements which elevate their tried-and-tested blueprint into a more exciting and cohesive whole.

Opener Musicians is the perfect embodiment of this conscious development. Here, Greenhouse re- counts a sarcastic tale of half-truths that see him galavanting around town trying to put a band to- gether. Sonically, it begins with a caustic callback to the group’s first EP Crap Cardboard Pet and its über-minimalist aesthetic. But by the end of the song a joyous festival of afrobeat-inspired in- struments including samba whistles, bongos and saxophones are added to the mix as the front- man, ironically, fails in his mission to recruit more players.

With Get Unjaded, the band have somehow conjured something close to pop, without abandoning the repetition and wit that’s relished by their early fans. I Lost My Head also adopts a jangle-pop sheen with a luscious synth melody, as the frontman ditches the spoken-word for a surly croon (his first known attempt at actual singing!) that provides a welcome breather from the onslaught of dense recantations that are the band’s bread-and-butter.

While the lyrics here are still often humorous and political, Greenhouse has also notably expanded his interests on this album to include a new host of topics. The influence of extraterrestrials, for ex- ample, infiltrates the subject matter frequently. On The UFOs, the mysterious protagonist Blinkus Booth’s isolationist lifestyle is apparently interrupted by the spectres of otherworldly visitors, while closer The Neoprene Ravine feels like an extract from a deep space rock opera. Here, jaunty and angular instruments pile-on as we are fed images of an interstellar Spinal Tap, the titular fictional band “The Neoprene Ravine” who are “the alien equivalent of the Velvet Underground” and include an alien Lou Reed yelping “too busy sucking on my little green ding dong!”.

Meanwhile, Hard Rock Potato is propelled by a vortex of keys and synths, a real noise-pop gem comprised of real guitar chords (!) and rock-orientated riffs. Here the stream-of-consciousness lyrics take shots at the sinister financial industry, and include one of the many top-tier one-liners on the album: “It’s not gambling if you’re wearing a tie (even if you’ve got no trousers on)”.

On Sod’s Toastie, The Cool Greenhouse have pushed their distinctive flavour of post-punk to the point of perfection – their incongruous riffs, alchemical instrumental chemistry, and irreverent spo- ken-word vocals are a delight throughout. Sod’s Toastie is hilarious at times, and at others just hilariously good – a not-so-difficult second album.

What It Means To be Human is the second in a series of four albums from Jasper Høiby’s Planet B, featuring saxophonist Josh Arcoleo and drummer Marc Michel, that focus on global topics of vital importance - Humanity, Climate Change, Artificial intelligence and Monetary Reform. This album seeks connection. A connection between humanity and the planet, between the problems we all face and about an opportunistic optimism to fix them. The mastermind is Jasper Høiby, the esteemed and revered Danish bassist and the deeply reflective, expressive and visionary artist. Whilst there are many moments that display the virtuosity and hard-hitting grooves of Phronesis, the long-standing band that shot Jasper to the limelight, Planet B offers additional rewards of subtle expression. The music is captivating and highly absorbing, enhanced by soundscapes of electronics and interspersed with powerful, emotive speech by some unique and forward-thinking female minds including Grace Lee Boggs, Ruby Sales and Jane Goddall. They all share a profound understanding of the world, only achievable through practical wisdom, each offering their individual take on where we are as a species and what we can do to improve. At the heart of the album is the trio. A group of like-minded and creative souls where the focus is all about the collective sound. As a whole, the music is a powerful, mesmerising and poignant display of musicianship, integrity and storytelling. What it Means To Be Human is an album at the forefront of the creative European scene.

The origins of Cos date back to the second half of the sixties when Daniel Schell joined forces with Jean-Paul Musette, Pascale Son and Robert Pernet to form Classroom. When Classroom split, Daniel Schell and Pascale Son moved ahead and formed Cos together with Charles Loos, Alain Goutier and Bob Dartsch. They produced an experimental jazz rock sound linked to the influences above mentioned, but without being mere copycats since they always managed to keep to their own personality.



Postaeolian Train RobberyI is an obscure classic from the 1970's Belgian jazzy prog scene that has become a much sought after piece in the collector's market since it was originally released in 1974. Highly inspired by both the UK's Canterbury scene and the Zeuhl sound, the debut album by Cos has been compared to the likes of Soft Machine, Gong, Hatfield & The North, National Health, Gilgamesh, Egg, Placebo, Magma or Zao, with Pascale Son's unique wordless vocals and nonsense syllables singing in a voice that some sources have compared to Flora Purim's.The album was released on the small obscure label Plus, and has arised interest not only among prog-rock psych-heads and jazz experimentalists, but also among those looking for breaks and bits to sample.



The Wah Wah reissue comes housed in a beautiful reproduction of the original gatefold sleeve, featuring a 4-page image booklet and an insert with photos and liner notes. Mastered from the original tapes. We did the first official LP reissue with its original sleeve of this album some time ago and it sold out so soon that many of you has been asking for a reprint since - here is another 500 copies, again licensed from and with the collaboration of Daniel Schell.



Comes with a reproduction of killer original poster.

Remastered, expanded reissue of the breakthrough sophomore album by pioneering, creatively restless collective, Cerberus Shoal. Finally available on vinyl for the first time ever. Limited edition Sky Blue coloured vinyl pressing edition of 500. The LP highlights the earliest phase of their transition from experimental hardcore band to transcendent exploratory collective. Originally released in 1996, …And Farewell To Hightide combined the group’s unique command of patient anticipation with a significantly expanded musical palette and a refined musicianship. Shedding virtually all obvious references to the frenetic post-hardcore of their eponymous debut album, Hightide saw Cerberus Shoal incorporating elements of Talk Talk, Tortoise, and the early Windham Hill catalog into a sound that was incomparable at the time. Now, more than 20 years later, it’s proven astonishingly prescient and truly timeless. Beautifully remastered and finally made available digitally for the first time ever, this expanded deluxe edition includes the Lighthouse In Athens EP recorded during the same era as …And Farewell To Hightide. Finally available on vinyl for the first time ever, …And Farewell To Hightide – Deluxe Expanded Edition is packaged in restored artwork with newly uncovered photos and extensive new liner notes written by the band. The record has been newly mastered for vinyl by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, and pressed onto audiophile-grade vinyl.

Hate Propaganda's far too overlooked 2019 debut EP "World War 666" sees a much needed reissue on vinyl, remastered and enhanced by brand new artwork commissioned for the purpose by Xerox master P. Van Trigt. When it was first released on cassette tape back in 2019 by War Arts Productions, this war-torn debut offering of primeval warnoise by the mysterious Portuguese war criminals stood out immediately as a crown jewel debut for the genre and as one of the year's most definitive and underrated manifestations of extreme metal's most hateful and berserk fringe. Packing in nineteen minutes of absolute hatred, the annihilating MLP manifests as a nightmare hallucination of complete violence and negativity, evoking eons of perennial apocalyptic global planetary war and terror on the wings of its nefarious design of achieving maximum annihilation in the shortest amount of time possible. To harness this bleak pantheon of ruin, the Portuguese conquerors have assembled a weaponized and uncontrolled sonic chain reaction where grindcore, black metal, death metal and hardcore punk are all accelerated and instigated into an inescapable payload of death aimed straight at the vital sinews of humanity. A sonic maelstrom churned into shape by an onslaught of obscure violent riffs, psychotic leads and ominous laughter which, parallel to a pulverizing drum performance, emanates from oblivion with an antediluvian, negative aura. Comparisons to bands like Diocletian, Heresiarch, Tetragrammacide and Nuclearhammer will run abound, yet these would be only easy superficial conjectures as this is a manifestation of sonic extremism which dwells on a plain of excellence entirely its own. Its uniqueness transpires particularly in the maniacal drumming which underlines the band's hardcore and punk influences, and is exalted further by an unusually crystalline production and by a masterful onslaught of uber-audible riffs hiding behind nothing and seemingly going in the opposite direction of the homogenous and indiscernible sensorial smothering the genre usually opts to go in. Tracklisting: 1. World War 666 2. Neverending Mass Graves 3. Violent Nature of Human Annihilation 4. Welcoming the Nuclear War With Open Arms 5. Let the Sirens Signal the End of Times

Chile-born and now Germany-based scourging black metal plague Vel'Har joins Sentient Ruin for a much awaited and long anticipated vinyl release of its 2020 light-consuming debut MLP "Letanía I". On the wretched offering cryptic mastermind H.S.V.H. unfolds two monstrous black metal blades adorned by three interludes to invoke an unholy sonic siege upon the ridicule of life and the purity of christendom. Baptized under the pentagram and spewn from the unholy jaws of oblivion, these five tracks sprawl and hiss like a horrifying morass of snakes, consuming reality and devouring everything in the wake of a monstrous tide of venom. The rawness and violence of these riffs is evident, but so is the ritualistic and esoteric majesty emanating from its death-scarred aura; an infernal force summoned as a liturgy or rite of passage toward a higher meaning and other form of existence. And that form is Satan's triumph, the zenith toward which every moving part of this wretched crucible converges. His glory as beacon and conduit of pestilent krafts conceived with the malefic design of insulting life and transporting the listener deep inside twisted and inverted dimensions of infinite dissolution and complete insanity.

Ethan James Startzman is a synesthete with chromesthesia, meaning his brain converts sounds to colours and shapes, and this album is an attempt into the use of sounds to “paint" a picture. Shamanic Verse is an audio journey through dark forests, cold lonely mountains, and bustling cities using Eurorack modular synthesis and the meditative technique of following the sounds to their next evolutionary destination to create a film score-like atmosphere. Ethan began as a dancer, working his way up to professional ballet dancer and later found music after an injury ended his career. Originally a bassist, who has played in every style of music from country to rock to salsa, he also works as a film composer in his native New York City. His film work is primarily orchestral and experimental electronic. Shamanic Verse will be released on 4th November, via digital platforms and limited edition pressed vinyl.

Taken from the forthcoming album ‘Prom Nite’. In a world of beauty school dropouts and jukebox tearjerkers, Eva Lazarus (DJ Vadim, The Nextmen, and a guest on Yoda’s ‘Home Cooking’ album) invites you to come and feel ‘My Energy’. A superlatively soulful slow jam wrapped in stars and stripes, it’s a timeless, lilting breakup song, with Yoda shiftily putting in work on the decks out back. Authentic doo wop straight from a 50s picture show, Lazarus takes centre stage as she leaves a string of devastated would-be suitors in her wake. The new sound of DJ Yoda revisits a golden era of rhythm and blues – going all in on ‘Prom Nite’, his new album of retro Americana and superstar guests continues to expand his musical expertise, with his signature scratches and cut-ups craftily coming into view over Heartbreak Ridge. Cover Art by ENDLESS. Side A: My Energy Side B: Lesson 1956 ft Jamie Cullum & DJ Woody

Ron Carter and Richard Galliano decided to risk intercontinental
collaboration for the second time after 1990, when they recorded their
acclaimed album "Panamanhattan" in Paris
Here the French accordion master, whose fingers fly over the keyboard with
acrobatic ease and can make the instrument weep in melancholy or rejoice with
joy. There the American bass wonder, whose deeply tuned strings enhance more
than 2,500 (!) recordings and are among the cornerstones of the complete artistic
works of Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Archie Shepp, Herbie Hancock, Aretha Franklin,
Roberta Flack and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Two who have already gained hero
status in their own worlds and can actually only lose when they transgress into
each other's terrain. "Believe me, there is nothing more real than to go on stage
with a gambler," Carter raved about the refreshed liaison with his Gallic buddy.
The two rediscovered the once lost central thread in March 2016 at Jazz Week in
Burghausen as a short intermezzo during a joint appearance with the WDR Big
Band. The provisional climax was then the recording made in Theaterstu?bchen
in Kassel on October 29. Galliano recalled: "Before we got going, I said to him:
"Can you believe it? Twenty- seven years have passed, we are still the same and
I'm still playing the same accordion. To which Ron just responded: "And we have
still same fingers!" With these 20 nimble tools, the two protagonists of the
musical joint venture interact without fear of contact. Neither remains in his
accustomed position. Like two intrepid mountaineers, they balance over a
yawning abyss, perform daring maneuvers and clear the way for each other time
and again. The longer the intimate wanderings of subtle nuances and sensitive,
dancing elegance last, the greater the familiarity seems to be. "Richard really
seizes every rhythmic and harmonic chance," the American marveled about his
French partner. And he replies gallantly: "Ron still looks so young, fresh and
elegant like three decades ago. And he is still enthusiastic, straightforward and
comes straight to the point." An often thoughtlessly used image rarely fits better
than on this very special evening: Ron Carter and Richard Galliano create a
universal musical language, whose vocabulary consists of notes. Risk- free
enjoyment

All-star group recording led by Swiss trumpeter/composer Franco
Ambrosetti and featuring John Scofield, Scott Colley, Uri Caine and Peter
Erskine, plus strings arranged by Alan Broadbent
Growing up in Lugano, Switzerland, the son of a pioneering bebop alto
saxophonist on the 1940s European jazz scene, a teenaged Franco Ambrosetti
came under the sway of his father's heroes - Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and
Clifford Brown. They became his heroes too as the aspiring trumpeter began
emulating their blistering chops and visceral abandon. Now, at age 80, Franco is
following a different muse. After nearly 40 albums as a leader, he has reached a
point in his career where caressing each note is more important to him than
showcasing chops. "When you're in your 20s, you want to play as fast as you can
and as high as you can, like Clifford," he said. "But somewhere after turning 50,
then you concentrate on more important things and you try to say something with
just a few notes, but the right ones, like Miles Davis did."
Franco plays all the right notes in typically elegant fashion on 'Nora'. Backed by an
all- world group of pianist Uri Caine, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Peter
Erskine, with a guest turn by guitarist John Scofield, plus Grammy- winning
pianist- arranger Alan Broadbent conducting a 22- piece string orchestra,
Ambrosetti plumbs the depth of emotion on this program of romantic ballads,
delivered with rare intimacy and grace. Possessing a golden tone on flugelhorn,
he ruminates and tells stories on each of these melodic gems.

There's a certain winking resignation to the title of Nick Lowe's At My
Age, as if it were designed to be spoken with a soft, knowing sigh
Now in his late fifties, Lowe is hardly running away from his advancing years --
quite the contrary, the singer/songwriter is comfortable in his skin and his years.
Certainly, he's comfortable in his music, since At My Age marks the fourth time
that he's mined the intimate, well-worn country-rock vibe of The Impossible Bird,
and if at this point it no longer is a revelation, it's hardly lost its appeal, either. Part
of that lies in Lowe's ever-potent charm, and to overlook an album as exquisitely
crafted as At My Age is to be a fool, because nobody does this kind of relaxed
Americana as well as Lowe, who is still writing songs that stand proudly
alongside his previous classics. For instance, there's "I Trained Her to Love Me," a
song as wickedly witty and bitterly self- loathing as "Cruel to Be Kind" or "The
Beast in Me," a tune that's balanced by the wry new-love anthem "Hope for Us All,"
which has its share of gently funny lines but is nevertheless a ringing, sincere
endorsement of love, worthy of the man who wrote "(What's So Funny 'Bout)
Peace, Love and Understanding?" And that's always been one of Lowe's greatest
gifts, that he is possessed with rare humor but also a big heart, which is what
gives his music great resonance. This 15th anniversary edition of At My Age is
pressed on silver vinyl and limited to 2,500 copies worldwide. This marks the first
time this long- out- of- print classic has ever been available on color
vinyl.Packaging; LP jacket; silver vinyl

Recorded at CBS Studios in San Francisco in 1976, before they were
signed to the legendary Beserkley Records, The CBS Tapes captures the
Rubinoos as the scrappy, bratty kids they were
It also shows the huge talent and energy of a young band near the beginning of
their career, who believed they were unstoppable. This never before released
recording is the perfect way to kick off the band's 50th anniversary celebration.
Songs performed include Jonathan Richman's "Government Center," "The Pepsi
Generation," commercial jingle, and several Rubinoos originals. This is the black
vinyl standard edition.

Creme White Vinyl - On the cover of their debut album "Wilde deutsche
Prärie" (Wild German Prairie) from 2018, we saw a burning house
surrounded by apparently insane figures
Almost four years later, on the cover of their second album, the band is standing
on the dike in Husum. In the background we see the Nordsee Hotel, which burned
out in the year of the debut's release. The looks of the band members reveal
friendly determination, which is very North German in its nonchalance.
Nevertheless, I don't doubt for a moment that Swutscher still know how to set
their surroundings on fire, even leave a trail of destruction. Their reputation is
legendary. Every person who has experienced Swutscher live knows that it is not
only a spiritual but also a physical experience. Reason down and thus lead it into
a wonderful dissolution of boundaries. This LP format is released on ltd ed cream
vinyl.
PR Agency (Print/Online/Radio GSA): Community Promotion PR Agency (Print/
Online/Radio Worldwide): La Pochette Surprise Marketing: Print/Online: 2500€ /
Radio: 2000€ / Social Media: 3000€ / Ads: 3000€ PrintAds: Westzeit Cover
(Feb2022), Musikexpress, Visions, OX Fanzine, Flight13 Mailorder, Schall TOUR
DATES Präsentiert von DIFFUS, OX FANZINE, BYTEFM 20.4. A- Wien - Rhiz 21.4.
München - Heppel & Ettlich 22.4. CH-Basel - Hirscheneck 23.4. Stuttgart - Club
Cann 28.4. Düsseldorf - KulturSchlachthof 29.4. Husum - Speicher 30.4. Hamburg
- Molotow 05.5. Kassel - Goldgrube 06.5. Münster - Gleis 22 07.5. Bremen - Tower
08.5. Hannover - Bei Chez Heinz 17.5. Köln - Bumann & Sohn 18.5. Nürnberg -
Muz Club 19.5. Chemnitz - Nikola Tesla 20.5. Dresden - Groove Station 21.5.
Berlin - Urban Spree Separater PR Report verfügbar

Prärie" (Wild German Prairie) from 2018, we saw a burning house
surrounded by apparently insane figures
Almost four years later, on the cover of their second album, the band is standing
on the dike in Husum. In the background we see the Nordsee Hotel, which burned
out in the year of the debut's release. The looks of the band members reveal
friendly determination, which is very North German in its nonchalance.
Nevertheless, I don't doubt for a moment that Swutscher still know how to set
their surroundings on fire, even leave a trail of destruction. Their reputation is
legendary. Every person who has experienced Swutscher live knows that it is not
only a spiritual but also a physical experience. Reason down and thus lead it into
a wonderful dissolution of boundaries. This LP format is released on ltd ed cream
vinyl.
PR Agency (Print/Online/Radio GSA): Community Promotion PR Agency (Print/
Online/Radio Worldwide): La Pochette Surprise Marketing: Print/Online: 2500€ /
Radio: 2000€ / Social Media: 3000€ / Ads: 3000€ PrintAds: Westzeit Cover
(Feb2022), Musikexpress, Visions, OX Fanzine, Flight13 Mailorder, Schall TOUR
DATES Präsentiert von DIFFUS, OX FANZINE, BYTEFM 20.4. A- Wien - Rhiz 21.4.
München - Heppel & Ettlich 22.4. CH-Basel - Hirscheneck 23.4. Stuttgart - Club
Cann 28.4. Düsseldorf - KulturSchlachthof 29.4. Husum - Speicher 30.4. Hamburg
- Molotow 05.5. Kassel - Goldgrube 06.5. Münster - Gleis 22 07.5. Bremen - Tower
08.5. Hannover - Bei Chez Heinz 17.5. Köln - Bumann & Sohn 18.5. Nürnberg -
Muz Club 19.5. Chemnitz - Nikola Tesla 20.5. Dresden - Groove Station 21.5.
Berlin - Urban Spree Separater PR Report verfügbar

Prärie" (Wild German Prairie) from 2018, we saw a burning house
surrounded by apparently insane figures
Almost four years later, on the cover of their second album, the band is standing
on the dike in Husum. In the background we see the Nordsee Hotel, which burned
out in the year of the debut's release. The looks of the band members reveal
friendly determination, which is very North German in its nonchalance.
Nevertheless, I don't doubt for a moment that Swutscher still know how to set
their surroundings on fire, even leave a trail of destruction. Their reputation is
legendary. Every person who has experienced Swutscher live knows that it is not
only a spiritual but also a physical experience. Reason down and thus lead it into
a wonderful dissolution of boundaries. This LP format is released on ltd ed cream
vinyl.
PR Agency (Print/Online/Radio GSA): Community Promotion PR Agency (Print/
Online/Radio Worldwide): La Pochette Surprise Marketing: Print/Online: 2500€ /
Radio: 2000€ / Social Media: 3000€ / Ads: 3000€ PrintAds: Westzeit Cover
(Feb2022), Musikexpress, Visions, OX Fanzine, Flight13 Mailorder, Schall TOUR
DATES Präsentiert von DIFFUS, OX FANZINE, BYTEFM 20.4. A- Wien - Rhiz 21.4.
München - Heppel & Ettlich 22.4. CH-Basel - Hirscheneck 23.4. Stuttgart - Club
Cann 28.4. Düsseldorf - KulturSchlachthof 29.4. Husum - Speicher 30.4. Hamburg
- Molotow 05.5. Kassel - Goldgrube 06.5. Münster - Gleis 22 07.5. Bremen - Tower
08.5. Hannover - Bei Chez Heinz 17.5. Köln - Bumann & Sohn 18.5. Nürnberg -
Muz Club 19.5. Chemnitz - Nikola Tesla 20.5. Dresden - Groove Station 21.5.
Berlin - Urban Spree Separater PR Report verfügbar

Many will know Bernie Marsden for being a founder member of
Whitesnake, one of the biggest rock bands of all time, and writing the
iconic global smash, "Here I Go Again"
Since leaving Whitesnake 40 years ago, Bernie has forged an impressive solo
career, culminating in TWO UK Top 40 selling albums in 2021 with KINGS then
CHESS. Both were #1 in the Blues Charts and resulted in him receiving the Lord
of the Blues award by HRH.
He is acclaimed as one of the premier British blues guitarists. He has written and
recorded with some of the biggest names in the industry, composed music for
film & TV, forged a successful career as an author, hosted radio shows, awarded
an honorary doctorate from Buckingham University and amassed a priceless
collection of guitars.

Renowned fiddle player and tireless musical adventurer Sam Sweeney
returns with the passionate, raw and expressive new album 'Escape That'
The record ties together the threads and footpaths of all of Sam's musical loves;
an honest and fearless expression of himself, combining pop hooks and
aesthetics with his pioneering work in the world of traditional dance tunes.
'Escape That' simultaneously presses the reset button on what a folk record
should sound like while marking a major stride forward for Sam into the world of
composition. Written without ever touching the violin, Sam retreated to his attic
during the lockdowns of 2020-21 and created over twenty pieces of
music. Composed almost entirely on synths and guitars, with snapshots of loved
ones and memories as inspiration in a time of isolation, he devised a way of
writing where he'd lay down a chord sequence and then record an improvisation
over the top. On listening back, anything that could be considered a hook would
be kept, everything else was deleted and tracks developed by linking the hooks
together to create dance tunes. Sam then translated the melodies back to the
fiddle, an instrument of which he is considered a modern master. Nominated four
times, and winner in 2015, of Musician Of The Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards, Sam has been at the forefront of the revival in English music for the last
fifteen years.
He is a veteran of the mighty Bellowhead, former and inaugural Artistic Director of
the National Youth Folk Ensemble, a founder member of ground- breaking trio
Leveret as well as a passionate and experienced educator. He has collaborated,
recorded and performed with The Full English, Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Jon
Boden, Fay Hield and Emily Portman as well as creating his own theatre
production Made In The Great War.

Renowned fiddle player and tireless musical adventurer Sam Sweeney
returns with the passionate, raw and expressive new album 'Escape That'
The record ties together the threads and footpaths of all of Sam's musical loves;
an honest and fearless expression of himself, combining pop hooks and
aesthetics with his pioneering work in the world of traditional dance tunes.
'Escape That' simultaneously presses the reset button on what a folk record
should sound like while marking a major stride forward for Sam into the world of
composition. Written without ever touching the violin, Sam retreated to his attic
during the lockdowns of 2020-21 and created over twenty pieces of
music. Composed almost entirely on synths and guitars, with snapshots of loved
ones and memories as inspiration in a time of isolation, he devised a way of
writing where he'd lay down a chord sequence and then record an improvisation
over the top. On listening back, anything that could be considered a hook would
be kept, everything else was deleted and tracks developed by linking the hooks
together to create dance tunes. Sam then translated the melodies back to the
fiddle, an instrument of which he is considered a modern master. Nominated four
times, and winner in 2015, of Musician Of The Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards, Sam has been at the forefront of the revival in English music for the last
fifteen years.
He is a veteran of the mighty Bellowhead, former and inaugural Artistic Director of
the National Youth Folk Ensemble, a founder member of ground- breaking trio
Leveret as well as a passionate and experienced educator. He has collaborated,
recorded and performed with The Full English, Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Jon
Boden, Fay Hield and Emily Portman as well as creating his own theatre
production Made In The Great War.

cheerbleederz are so excited to share their debut album this year and
Alcopop! Records are too!
As the band explains: "It feels like a long time coming, as we started working on it
in lockdown in 2020, writing, rehearsing, and recording in the pockets of time
when we could. It further bonded us at a time where being creative and having a
collective output became more important than ever. These are our favourite batch
of songs yet - full of character, hope, energy, misery, introspection and rage, we
wanted to write complex songs that reflected our complex selves!"
"Tender, fastidiously-crafted indie...feels like Phoebe Bridgers, but a little more
hoppy" - Get Alternative
"Earnest and deeply full of integral substance...will leave you yearning for more" -
Noizze 8/10
"cheerbleederz are a vision of mutual respect, support and friendship" - Girl Gang
Leeds
"A perfect amalgam of punkier and poppier moments" - For The Rabbits
"Our new favourite band" - LOUD WOMEN
"Splendid" - God Is In The TV Zine
"Superb" - CLASH

Saxophonist, dancer and rapper tyroneisaacstuart's debut album S!CK is
a simmering hybrid of choreography and improvisation, featuring some
of the UK's finest jazz musicians
An out- pouring of individual expression and creative collaboration, S! CK is an
album that does not compromise, from an artist whose sound is singular in its
multitude.
Divided into three acts - GUMBO, Apology and Peace – S!CK draws on the spirit of
the traditional New Orleans dish to bring a mix of diasporic musical ingredients to
tyroneisaacstuart's work at the intersection of jazz, contemporary dance, and
visual art.
Peppered with contributions from Moses Boyd, Theon Cross, Shirley Tetteh, Nikos
Zarkias, Jamie Murray, Jack Polley, Reiss Ellis Beckles, Kwaku Aacht and Zuri
Jarret- Boswell, S! CK's gumbo style blends ferocious group improvisations with
punchy production and visceral lyricism. Together it reflects the polyphony of
creative experiences Issac-Stuart has accumulated.

27 of the greatest hits by the central figure in the golden age of Cuban
music and multiple Grammy Award winner, Bebo Valdes
Includes the classics 'Lágrimas Negras', 'El Manisero', 'Descarga Caliente', and
'Ansiedad'. Package comes with a comprehensive 12- page booklet. Presented
here are Cuban pianist and legend Bebo Valdés' greatest hits recorded during the
most prolific period of his career from the mid-'50s to the beginning of the '60s.
Bebo is the leader on all of these recordings, which feature diverse formations
and include many of the greatest Cuban jazz musicians, as well as the singers
Celeste Mendoza, Pacho Alonso, Rolando Laserie, Fernando Alvarez, and Pío
Leyva.

180gm Clear Vinyl housed in a 3mm wide spine sleeve with printed
inners, Remastered by Alchemy Mastering At AIR from the original
production tapes
The Selecters's second album, Celebrate The Bullet was released in February
1981 as the follow up to the successful 2 Tone debut album Too Much Pressure,
along with the hit singles On My Radio, Three Minute Hero and Missing
Words.Switching labels to Chrysalis Records, the band returned to On My Radio
producer Roger Lomas, moving into a more melodic slower pace, whilst keeping
their lyrical commentary on racial and social issues. Original members Desmond
Brown and Charley Anderson departed before the recording began, with Lomas
and Norman Watt- Ray (Ian Dury) helping on bass before new members James
Mackie and Adam Williams joined to complete the recording.
Due to unfortunate timing, upon release the title of this album was
misunderstood due to the recent murder of John Lennon and an assassination
attempt on U.S. President Ronald Regan meant radio stations didn't support the
single or album and the release was largely ignored.
This forgotten classic from the 2 Tone era is a timely reissue and will give time
for a re- evaluation in the same way the 2021's reissue of too Much Pressure
showed the band as relevant.
Pauline Black, who was recently awarded an OBE in 2022, and the band will be
touring in November 2022 and into 2023 performing the album in full along with
selections of their previous album.

Widely considered as one of Canada's most prolific guitarists, Steve Hill
has won a JUNO Award, the International Blues Challenge, and too many
Maple Blues Awards to count
A guitar stylist with a wide musical vocabulary, he has performed over 2,500
concerts in many configurations. For the past 10 years, he has toured extensively
throughout Canada and Europe supporting his critically acclaimed Solo
Recordings albums trilogy and his one- man band show. Heralded wherever he
goes, the guitarist, singer, drummer, harmonica player, songwriter and
accomplished producer is a musical force to be reckoned with. The acclaimed
singer- songwriter celebrates his 25th year as a recording artist with this
release.On Dear Illusion, the multi-instrumentalist shares the spotlight with a horn
section, The Devil Horns, as well as 7-time UK Blues Awards Drummer of the Year
Mr. Wayne Proctor. Mr Proctor also mixed and mastered the upcoming
record.Three years in the making, the album is without a doubt, a step up for the
artist, both in terms of maturity and execution, and is his best production to date.

The original line up of Monster Magnet are pleased to announce a new album 'Test Patterns: Vol. 1' on God Unknown Records. It will be on 180gm black vinyl and housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve, with acid blotter insert. The track Tab was originally released back in 1991. This is a 2021 mix of the original track and the never before released 1988 demo version, with both tracks being over 24 minutes each. It's viewed as an influential track with psychedelic / heavy psych / space rock and stoner rock fans and will sit nicely alongside Sleep's 'Dopesmoker'. Julian Cope described the original release as distilling Hawkwind, Sabbath and The Stooges into a lysergic soup of brown acid and bathtub meth, and ultimately cultivating a “Altamont vibe”; that is, the negative end of the psychedelic spectrum. Get ready for lift off! Hail the BULLGOD

HEAVENLY ALBUMS TO BE RE-ISSUED ON VINYL - STARTING WITH ‘HEAVENLY vs SATAN’. Heavenly released four albums in the early 1990s. Skep Wax Records are going to re-issue all four of them over a two year period. Classic black vinyl. The albums will include a 7” booklet with lyrics and new sleeve notes by the members of the band. Heavenly were one of the pioneers of indiepop. Formed from the smouldering ashes of Talulah Gosh, they took all that energy and attitude and used it to fuel catchy, infectious pop melodies. The influence of 60s girl groups was never far from the surface. This was girl-pop, but with the girls in control. Loved by many but derided as ‘twee’ by some, Heavenly ignored the increasingly macho environment of the contemporary UK scene and forged a separate path, along with other bands on the Sarah Records label. Later, having co-released their albums on K Records in Olympia, Heavenly toured the US, hooking up with bands in the embryonic riot grrrl scene. Heavenly’s quiet feminism became louder and more articulate, and the hostility of the UK music press became irrelevant. Heavenly came to an abrupt and tragic end when drummer Mathew Fletcher took his own life in 1996. After a year’s hiatus, the group reformed as the short-lived Marine Research, before going their separate ways musically. Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey currently play in The Catenary Wires and Swansea Sound. Peter Momtchiloff plays in Would-Be-Goods and Tufthunter. HEAVENLY vs SATAN – THE FIRST LP. Recorded in the Oxfordshire countryside, the first Heavenly album was a bid to make a pure pop record. The punk noise of Talulah Gosh had exploded and expired. Amelia had had a go at making a disco hit (‘Can You Keep A Secret’, subsequently released on Fierce Recordings), which was fun, but wasn’t going to trouble the charts. Unbothered by critical or popular reactions, the new band decided to immerse themselves in the creation of a sweet, tuneful pop record. It’s true that the punk influences aren’t hard to discern (Mathew’s favourite band was The Ramones), but it’s Pete’s elegant guitar and Amelia’s melodies and multi-layered harmonies that win out on these recordings. The eight-track album was released as CD, LP and cassette by Sarah Records. Subsequent versions included a Danceteria LP and cassette (France), a Quattro CD (Japan) and a CD by K Records (US). These versions included various additional tracks from early 7” releases. The Skep Wax re-issue of ‘Heavenly vs Satan’ includes Heavenly’s first two Sarah Records singles – ‘I Fell In Love Last Night/Over And Over’ and ‘Our Love Is Heavenly/Wrap My Arms Around Him’. The vinyl reissue of second album ‘Le Jardin de Heavenly’ will follow in early summer 2023. ‘The Decline and Fall of Heavenly’ and ‘Operation Heavenly’ will arrive in 2024. Tracklisting 1 Cool Guitar Boy 2 Boyfriend Stays The Same 3 Lemonhead Boy 4 Shallow 5 Wish Me Gone 6 Don’t Be Fooled 7 It’s You 8 Stop Before You Say It 9 I Fell In Love Last Night 10 Over And Over 11 Our Love Is Heavenly 12 Wrap My Arms Around Him

First Time On Black vinyl. A lot has happened to the Magic Castles since this was released in April 2021 this release took over a year to be manufactured, the band have toured with the Brian Jonestown Massacre & the Warlocks in the USA in 2022 & the the track “Lost Dimension” was used in the HBO series “Succession” so not a bad 2022 for the band. Sun Reign is the band’s fourth release on Anton Newcombe's label ‘A’ Recordings Ltd. Ironically similar to BJM, the Magic Castles have been plagued by lineup changes over the years. In November of 2019, tragedy struck and Edmonds was seriously injured in a car accident that required hospitalization and surgery. Friends started a Go Fund Me that raised over $20k USD for the uninsured musician’s hospital bills, showing an incredible outpouring of love and support for him and his family. Fortunately, Edmonds has made a complete recovery from his injuries and has bounced back remarkably well. In early 2020, Edmonds managed to finish the remaining work on the album “Sun Reign”, including a previously unreleased song, “Surmise'' penned by guitarist Jermiah Doering, and a rare cover of a moody 1966 garage rock song “Ode to the Wind” by Danny and the Counts. Edmonds also began working with a booking agency, planning a return tour to Europe with the band to support the new album. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Due to the global pandemic crisis of Covid-19, the album was delayed until 2021, and the promising tour was cancelled. In May of 2020, Minneapolis police killed George Floyd two blocks from Edmonds’ home, which incited riots across the country. The protests led to the burning of Minneapolis, where a long time music venue and many other buildings were lost. Edmonds’ studio was not destroyed although many nearby buildings were. Edmonds is a known supporter of Black Lives Matter Tracklisting:- 1) Sunburst , 2) Lost Dimension , 3) Ode to the Wind , 4) Asuras , 5) World of Time , 6) Valley of Nysa , 7) Magna Mater , 8) Surmise , 9) Gates of the Sun , 10 ) Relax Your Mind

Four song Extended Play 7” by Thee Headcoats Sect! “Absolutely fantastic, cracking rhythm 'n' blues, best thing I've heard for years!” - Rob Symmons (The Fallen Leaves) After 23 years off Thee Headcoats (Billy, Bruce and Tub) have again teamed up with Keith Evans of Downliners Sect, to record a top notch Extended Play as Thee Headcoat Sect. 'The Backer Street Irregulars' features Keith on lead vocals, still equipped with all the power, fun and attitude that put him at the top of the tree of British R'n'B vocalists back in the heyday of rhythm and beat. The EP was recorded in honour of their dear friend Don Craine (the leader of the Sect), who passed over in February 2022. TRACKLISTING A1 – The Baker Street Irregulars A2 – Oh Leader, We Do Dig Thee B1 – One Ugly Child B2 – The Ballad of Malcolm Laphroaig (Alt Version)

We, the label, asked Ben Wallers (ex-Country Teasers) to write a press release for his new album. "Press Release And Give Me The Disc as Peter said to Murphy said to Daniel said to Ash said to J said to the drummer subs please check name was it Martyn Atkins? No... scratch that please Roger, there's nothing funny about not knowing all the members of Bauhaus. Announcing the new album by The Rebel, yay! Wow! Fucking hell, great! How long is it this time? Oh it's getting on for the optimal 45 mins. Fit on side of a D90 but go bit wobbly near end of SA90. I am listening to my copy on vinyl record, it's much better than tape. That's the intro. Once upon a time there was a man/boy a sort of immature Peter's Pan type pan-pipe type who COULDNT WOULDNT grow up a bit like Keith Richards and who er where was i? The Vagina Museum is very near Maureen Paley's art gallery where if you hurry you can see some INCREDIBLY GOOD paintings/art. Anyway once upon a time it was february 2021 if that's last year or 2020 if it was the one before that, i've lost count, honestly this Covid thing is SO confusing isn't it? Anyway. Ducking fomestic crisis as usual reached boiling point again and i fucked off didn't i, did a runner, off to Turkey wiv a lih-ooh bih-uh ragarahn me ed, first of all 2 weeks on George's spare mattress, then 2 weeks in Merlin's magical tower, then a week in a fucking EasyJet Hotel with no windows, then at last my new exile retreat, Congreve Ho. Meanwhile Dad got me a new recording device the size of a VHS tape, the Tascam D-POO 8 S-E-X multitrack. Quality, oscar mike golf!! Urine for a surprise Listener/s! Ural b sayin "Y could ont he ov get 1 of these B4?" Well! Paid off the fuckin mortgage, didden Eye listenerz. Paid the fucking mortgage of. Dad said "Lets get you a reward Son! Anything name it!" Well i said ... can you fix it for me to touch Britney's hat? The one she wore for the Milkshake video. Great album. Recorded it in exile, from where i write this press release and give me the tape Kevin Haskins." And he did. Tracklist: 1. Nemo To Self 2. I’m Wok Inner Gdn.C 3. A Cretian Build-Up 4. Lays A Seamless Transition 5. A Bottle Of Timotei Hair-Shampoo 6. Long Way Off 7. Teulleodd Hapys (Dave 1) 8. I Aint Gonna Lie To Ya 1 9. Bisgeden Am Swper Eto (Dave 4) 10. Put Your Fucking Glasses On So You Can Fucking See 11. Happy Families (Dave 3) 12. Pyfgosycfs 2/Aquafauna 13. Dave Two Ukraine Nil 14. Nemo Self 2

Ever since he remixed Abimaro & The Free’s ‘Mark’ back in 2014, NuNorthern Soul boss Phil Cooper has kept in touch with Daniel Stenger, the producer and self-taught multi-instrumentalist behind the Flashbaxx project. Cooper was always convinced that Sanger would be capable of crafting a very special release for the label but was willing to give him time to come up with something special.

With Take Care My Friend, a mini-album inspired by the German producer’s deeply rooted love of jazz-funk, Stenger has repaid the faith shown in him. He’s deliv-ered a collection of quality cuts marked out by audible warmth, effortless musicality and memorable, sun-soaked songs.

As he makes clear in the liner notes included with the vinyl version of the mini album, the project began with the recording of luscious, Rhodes-laden opener ‘Al-right’. After staying up all night recording the track, Stenger not only decided to continue recording with the same relatively limited set of instruments (think bass and electric guitars, drums, piano, electric piano, organ, hand percussion and a handful of synthesizers), but also stick to a hybrid sound that added a subtle Lat-in shuffle to his Balearic-minded take on jazz, funk and soul fusion.

We’re biased of course, but there’s no denying that Stenger’s creative choices have resulted in a superb set of tracks. While the restricted kit list provided focus during the music-making process, there’s still plenty of musical variety across the six tracks that make up the set.

For proof, compare and contrast the jazzy, loose-limbed headiness of ‘It Just Happens’, where simmer-ing synth-strings, twinkling melodic motifs and glis-tening guitar licks rise above smooth jazz-funk bass and a gentle broken beat rhythm, and the slow-motion soul brilliance of ‘Strangers’, where Kathryn Kempf’s evocative and poignant lead vocals rise above a sump-tuous downtempo groove and heart-aching piano lines.

This subtly varied but musically coherent vibe contin-ues across the mini album. Stenger indulges in a bit of New York daydreaming on ‘Brooklyn Love Boat’, a wonderfully musically detailed chunk of 1970s style jazz-funk heat that offers knowing nods to Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock and the jazz-fusion stylings of Azymuth, before opting for a deeper, slower and even more seductive sound on the Hammond-sporting bliss of ‘Take Care My Friend’.

Closing cut ‘City Lights’, a gorgeous, soft-focus affair smothered in echoing Rhodes riffs and immersive chords, has the feel of an underground classic in wait-ing: a stirring, string-drenched future sing-along whose emotion-packed lyrics are delivered brilliantly by Glasgow-born singer/songwriter Chris Pookah.

Despite the song’s subject matter – the painful final breakdown of a relationship – there’s something strangely uplifting about the combination of Pookah’s pitch-perfect vocal delivery and the absorbing warmth of Stenger’s comforting and sonically detailed music. It provides a fittingly impressive finish to a mightily immersive mini album.

Two decades at the highest level in this industry is a landmark really reached. Pig&Dan celebrate this major milestone with an immense, twenty-track album project ‘20 Years: Pig&Dan’ of which this eight track, 2 X 12” vinyl sampler cherry-picks some of the finest moments.

Released via their long-standing record label ELEVATE, the album delivers some of the duo's most forward-thinking techno productions to date. It is a remarkable opus of intelligent, cutting-edge dance music from two artists who came together back in 2002 to form what would become one of the most prolific and globally revered acts in electronic music.

Unyielding in their commitment to originality, eclecticism and tradition, the album will feature an array of brand-new Pig&Dan productions, alongside a selection of new 'update mixes' of some of the duo's most celebrated anthems.

Speaking about the twentieth-anniversary project Pig&Dan commented:

"It's almost hard to take in that we are celebrating a 20-year milestone of producing and performing together. This project features an array of fresh unreleased euphoric productions that hold a sound that we hope represents our growth in sound. We've also included a selection of new, updated 2022 versions of some of our more celebrated productions from the last two decades. We really see it as more of a statement than an album, hence the fact there's a track that represents every year on our musical journey."

Es sind die wohl bedeutendsten Alben ihrer Karriere: 1991 veröffentlichten Guns N‘ Roses ihr drittes und
viertes Studioalbum “Use Your Illusion I & II“ - beide am selben Tag, dem 17. September. Beide Alben,
die in ihrer ersten Verkaufswoche mit 685 Tsd. und 770 Tsd. Alben in den USA einen Verkaufsrekord aufstellten und selbstverständlich Platz #1 und #2 der Billboard Charts belegten, warfen legendäre Hits, wie
”November Rain”, ”Don’t Cry”, ”Knocking On Heaven’s Door”, ”You Could Be Mine” oder ”Civil War” ab.
Zum ersten Mal erfuhren nun alle Tracks eine musikalische Aufbereitung und kommen in zeitgemäßer
Tonqualität daher. Neben allen bekannten Albumtracks gibt es auf den Deluxe Versionen Aufnahmen von
zwei Live-Konzerten in Audio- und BluRay-Qualität, sowie eine neue Version von “November Rain“ mit
einem 50-köpfigen Orchester.
Die größte Deluxe Version der neuen Editionen bringt es auf 97 Tracks – 63 davon bisher unveröffentlichte
Audio und Video-Tracks - sowie ein 100-seitiges Hardcover-Buch, Backstage-Pässe und vieles mehr.

Beatservice Records are thrilled to present the hotly-anticipated third album from Oslo-based production maestro, Third Attempt. 'The Novel Sound' follows on from the widely acclaimed 'Beats From The Quarantine' album released in April 2021, and further compliments the young artist's deserved reputation as one of the dance underground's most exciting talents to emerge in recent years.

Third Attempt (aka Torje Fagertun Spilde) has been dazzling us with his far-reaching music since arriving in the Beatservice fold with 'Shoreline' back in 2018, and since then his ever-evolving repertoire has continued to serve up immaculate sonic surprises. The fast-rising 23-year old artist has wasted no time making his indelible mark, displaying a frenetic work rate alongside an impeccable ear for constructing compelling leftfield grooves.

'The Novel Sound' opens with the rolling deviance of 'Freak Out', where a dusty string sample makes way for vocal samples, scratches, and searing sirens permeating a bass-heavy groove, setting the tone magnificently for the music that's primed to unfold. Next, we arrive in the mid-tempo chug of 'Age Of Steam'. Evolving over a crisp, club-ready rhythm, heavy funk guitars, dancing keys and distant vocal stabs cascade over driving bass before soaring strings herald the arrival of a slick breakdown section. The icing on the cake arrives as bubbling acid joins sensational horn motifs, breaking down once again for a starry-eyed beatless passage that leaves us yearning for a reprise.

'My Girl' features amorous vocal samples hovering over an irresistible disco beat, with alluring rhythm guitars and dreamy e-piano chords setting the scene for rousing horns to blast off into blissful summer skies. Before we've found time to catch our breath, 'Nu Funk' arrives with snappy hip hop samples scratched over tight beats and a delectable bass guitar hook. The groove pauses for dubbed-out space delays to echo into the night before a singing lead guitar joins the rhythm elements to burst back into life, with flute motifs, elegant strings, and otherworldly sweeps elegantly meandering across the panorama.

Set over a groove that arrives like a cool summer breeze, 'Sunbeam Symphony' drifts over soul-soothing chords, weighted bass and slick, rolling beats. Hypnotic keys guide us into position as the drums build energy and the bass notes power us forward. Third Attempt's dextrous keyboard solo dazzles momentarily before subsiding for a dub-infused break, with spaced-out vocal chops and rising sweeps building tension before the groove resumes and the virtuoso solo once again majestically soars. Maintaining the sun-kissed meditations, 'Definite' effortlessly floats through waves of thick bass, funk guitar chops and elegantly fused samples, with seductive chords, hypnotic horns and laser-tight drums combining to create a near overpowering dream state.

The heavy trip-hop rhythms of 'Nightfall' enrapture the listener as rich chords discreetly beckon, with cascading congas, mysterious melodies and exotic refrains building before the glorious lead vocal appears like a hyper-luminous flash of light. The chords disappear into the nothingness, before the carefully selected sample of 'Working Man' drifts in to fill the empty space. Smokey drums soon arrive, joined by weighted bass, foggy chords and an enigmatic whistle lead, fusing to conjure a half-lit world lifted from the pages of an evocative film noir novel.

The enlivening tablas, glitchy effects and saucer-eyed sweeps of 'Greed' hide subliminal messages casting a knowing eye over the consumer-driven society and self-help culture that pervade our society, before we arrive at the album's charmed finale. 'Last Winter Of My Childhood' yet again manages to transport the listener into a gently hallucinatory realm, with drowsy bass notes, tripped out pads and emotive strings building to a profound and rush-inducing crescendo.

'The Novel Sound' once again sees Third Attempt dextrously merging expansive musical aesthetics that fuse trip-hop, funk, soul and disco to deliver a sound that – although endowed with vintage sensibilities – feels proudly up to date. Continuing his breathtaking development in dazzling style, the album feels destined to echo over blissed-out sunsets, back-room excursions and twilight skies for many years to come.

Akae Beka's inimitable style of rich, deep, multi-layered songwriting, uncompromising devotion to RasTafari and soulful healing melodies developed over decades performing with St. Croix based band Midnite and countless recordings. At the point of his untimely passing in 2019, he had released over 70LP's. He is without a doubt one of the most prolific reggae artists ever known.

The stellar production trinity that is Zion I Kings have been involved collectively and individually in creating some of the most highly regarded contributions to the vast Akae Beka catalogue. The timeless songs of 'Mek A Menshun' amply reward the listener who can penetrate into the mystical musical realms of Rastafari. Longtime fans of Midnite and Akae Beka will note that Vaughn Benjamin's singing on 'Mek a Menshun' reached new heights of melodic delivery and emotional intensity. Coupled with his always poetic and insightful lyrics, these 10 original songs rank among his best recordings to date. The title track 'Mek A Menshun' includes vocals by Protoje Grammy (R)-nominated artist.

Mek A Menshun features the stellar musicianship of the ZIK distinguished in typical fashion by the rock-solid drumming of Lloyd "Junior" Richards. On this album, his playing is complemented by Aston Barrett Jr. ("By Day", "Only Now") and Kirk Bennett ( "Kagm Mystory", "Mek A Menshun"). The signature stylings of the other core ZIK musicians are augmented by horns (Andrew "Drew Keys" Stoch -trombone, Donald "Jahbless" Toney -saxophone), flute- Sheldon "Attiba" Bernard, kette- Andrew "Bassie" Campbell, and the guitar of Chet Samuel. ZIK guitarist Andrew "Moon" Bain contributes a string arrangement on "Only Now". Throughout the album, Laurent "Tippy I" Alfred's spot-on organ shuffle bubbles the rhythm forward. Many of the 'Mek A Menshun' tracks were among the last recordings done by the veteran engineer Gary Woung.

Originally released digitally and on CD, this LP is now being released for the first time on as a 12" vinyl LP courtesy of Before Zero Records.

Sunda Arc are brothers Nick Smart and Jordan Smart. Best known as key members of folk and jazz influenced minimalists Mammal Hands, their Sunda Arc project takes inspiration from the likes of Jon Hopkins, Rival Consoles, Moderat and Nils Frahm as well as their own music world. Their debut EP 'Flicker' was released in December 2018 and now the duo are set to release their debut LP, 'Tides' on 7th February 2020.

Named for a volcanic arc in the Indian Ocean, created by the process of massive tectonic plates colliding, Sunda Arc strives to mingle electronic and acoustic sounds until they become almost indistinguishable from each other. It's a process where they draw the acoustic properties and quirks out of electronic sounds and find the electronic potential in acoustic sounds. "Finding the ghost in the machine or blending the human elements of playing live is something we are always trying to explore in our work.

Experimentation is a large part of our process and we tend to combine carefully composed material with chaotic ideas to find the balance between the two" — Sunda Arc 'Tides', their debut album, takes its name from the idea of unseen forces that can affect our lives in myriad ways, being pushed and pulled and at the whim of powerful forces outside of our control as well as offering a nod to things such as the tides on our planet, tectonic plate movements and weather systems. There are often chaotic elements in these systems that function in a way that produce a type of controlled randomness on a large scale. This is something they try to reflect in their music by adopting some of the ways these systems work into musical sequences, and using ideas such as chaos theory to control musical parameters. "Tides is a reference to themes we were thinking a lot about during the making of this album. These include the similarities between macro and micro systems, or the circulatory and nervous systems in the body. Things that produce a type of controlled randomness on a large scale". — Sunda Arc 'Hymn', the first single from the album, uses Nick's voice sampled and played back through a keyboard to create a human yet electronic feel.

It mixes soft vocals with heavier electronic elements to create a danceable yet human sound world. 'Dawn', is best described as uplifting-techno, its use of repeated phrases building in intensity and variations to put you into a hypnotic state whilst also being industrial and danceable. 'Daemon' is one of the tracks that really resonates live. Drawing on the sound of UK dubstep it's intense but fun and the bass clarinet blends with synths at the end to create a sound almost like a vocal. 'Secret Window' brings forward another side of the band, focusing around a lo-fi recording of felted piano and bass clarinet.

These are blended with granularised and processed versions of themselves which emerge like ghosts of the instruments throughout the track. 'Cluster' is another key track. It utilises a small group of notes looped in an unusual way to create a sense of cascading patterns over a solid danceable drum groove. It emphasises soprano sax blended into the sound world half-way through to lift into the final section.

Repress expected. Date TBA

By 1980 when this was originally released Pharoah Sanders was solidly entrenched with his own voice on tenor. The passing of John Coltrane and Sanders's fruitful years of playing with the prolific saxophone genius resulted with an unmistakable influence on his sound and explorations of the instrument. Beginning with "Greetings to Idris" the structure of the music is one that follows tradition yet opens up for the musicians to improvise within the arrangements. "Greetings to Idris" is in reference to the featured drummer Idris Muhammad who also played with Coltrane during his late period. Naturally Sanders is featured as the main instrument and his horn can be bold and demanding of your full attention. Always interested in other instruments from other cultures, much like Trane, he incorporates the Japanese instrument the koto, a beautifully harmonic stringed instrument to counter his soft rich blowing on tenor with only wind chimes and a harmonium for a delicious peaceful bit of music on "Kazuko"(Peace Child) that has the qualities of a meditative offering. Most of the music, eight tracks, is composed and arranged by Sanders and demonstrates his leadership. There is one John Coltrane composition entitled "After The Rain" that gets the Tranesque treatment by Sanders that makes it hard for even the most discerning listener to distinguish between the original version and Sanders impression. It is a bluesy duet featuring only sax and piano and leaves you wanting to hear it over and over again because of it's simple and haunting melodies. Another song that Coltrane recorded entitled "Easy To Remember" has a gentle swing to it built around a classic quartet (drums, bass, piano, sax) like that employed by Coltrane that results in a superb standard. Sanders incorporates the use of another "foreign" instrument to jazz by working in a tabla and sitar on "Soledad " that takes center stage before Sanders joins in on the music. The result is a thing of genius as the East and West merge and interface for composition that is peaceful. Sanders music on this LP fluctuates between the tranquil sounds of his mellow horn to the outer limits where he left off with the explorations of Trane's late period. What separates this LP from others is that it is a group playing under his leadership where he gives all others close to equal billing. The uptempo, "You've Got To Have freedom" is one such song where Sanders gets out there on some of his solos but works within the group structure as the other musicians, most notably Eddie Henderson on flugelhorn, bring the music back home. There is a chorus sung much of the time throughout where the the proclamation "Ya gotta have peace and love, ya gotta have freedom" is presented in Manhattan Transfer style but with much more soul. The use of vocalists is done again on the track entitled "Think About The One." The chorus features vocalese specialist Bobby McFerrin. This LP shows the different sides of Pharoah Sanders, a man always willing to explore the music, explore his soul and share it with you. The closing track "Bedria" is a mellow exploration of the various ranges of the tenor. It is a ten minute song that displays all the grace of his being, a gentle giant who can manipulate the horn to do extraordinary things, reverberating out and back in undulating waves of harmonic bliss. Sanders on this LP is next to perfect. One of his best recording from his post Impulse career. It belongs in your jazz collection right next to John Coltrane.

For most of us, life is a series of human interactions; some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But what would life be without those peripheral characters who plant themselves into our worlds through the sheer force of their presence? Whether we speak to them or not, those vibrant contrasts to the everyday tide of ordinary people are a magical part of the human experience. Oddballs and misfits, flamboyant instigators or low-key game changers, we all clock them on our own hectic journeys, and they make the day a little brighter. Everyone has their favourite people.

Following the runaway success of their first one-shot single in 2020, Favourite People reconvene for a full-length of blues-tinged cuts stemming from sessions at Selva Studios in Brooklyn. The project’s roots predate the studio, from scattered jams and sweaty nights in New York nightspots to impromptu recordings on cruise ships, but the flashpoint of inspiration that truly set the album in motion was the arrival of a blonde 1960s Fender Telecaster. From there, the motley crew of sharp-shooting string slingers and sticks men set about crafting paeans to those striking souls who make the world a more colourful place.

The emphasis here is on the kind of forward-facing, electrically charged mix you felt (whether you realised it or not) hearing early Sabbath or Priest for the first time. With their undeniable bias towards vintage soul, Favourite People are far from heavy metal, but the same lineage of blues and by extension jazz informs the music, while the tonal crunch of that 70s era guides the sound. Feasting on tasteful overdrive and leaning on the unmistakable flavour of tape for much of the recording, the deal was sealed on this purposeful exercise in vibe thanks to the near-mythical texture of Guy Davie’s EMI Nigeria console at Electric Mastering.

Across the album there are mellow shades and bursts of good-time get-down exuberance, but the lead singles capture the essence of the band in no uncertain terms.

‘Promise Of Nibbles’ brings the Favourite People MO into sharp relief with a low-slung, hard swinging blues confection full of overheating organ and duelling guitars in pursuit of Southern-stewed boogie (im)perfection.

‘We’ll Be Late To The Party’ turns up the tempo and dials in the fuzz, striking an anthemic note which lands somewhere between urgent highway escapism and euphoric communal revelation.

‘Mass and Mustiness’ leans in on the funk dimension of the group’s sound with the sweetest licks and chops on that fabled telecaster backed up by an acutely angled beat and the slinkiest of b-lines.

These are but three of the vibrant vignettes laid down by this quietly unassuming collective of heads down jammers, loose groovers and vintage sound freaks –heavy grooving instrumentals pulled from their own moments of pure musical magic and captured on disc for your listening, dancing, living, loving pleasure.

“Let me fly you home. We can talk on the way”

Thorn Valley is a 20 song assemblage of various transmissions from the ever diffuse and widening DIY underground, released to mark the four year anniversary of World of Echo. The river ever bends, the valley ever deepens.

Available as a gatefold double LP pressed in an edition of 500. Artwork by Matthew Walkerdine