quête:parallel forces

“We know what jazz is when we hear standards or music that is close to the same source, to a recognized pattern. But what is jazz? Here, a starting point. "Blow" showcases an accumulated CITIZEN:KANE techno vocabulary but it quickly tones down the sensation by introducing frequent breaks in the rhythm, as in "Peiote". But even there we are able to "feel" techno by recalling Wolfgang Voigt's M:I:5 and its parallel yet contrasting rhythmic grids. Elsewhere, manifestations of opposite forces: the beat keeps a body firm on the floor, eminently physical but not commanding; and melodies, cosmic threads, suggest ascension as well as a drive towards the within, creating space for feelings and/or rationalization. "The Fence" or "Montreal" stand as good examples. One less evident aspect of beauty in this record is the apparent coldness of the music, almost rigid and devoid of passion, and thus we declare it more true. As the mind performs a synthesis of what was learned after a class, last track "Family" (expressively) gathers impressions of what went before, adding poetry to the moment. "Blow" may be a reference to the most familiar instruments used in jazz but it can also figuratively mean an explosion, an aesthetic liberation, even with (our) knowledge that for now, and theoretically, the artist chose to concentrate on this thing called jazz.”

Wrong Filament embodies Robert Piotrowicz's creation of fictional traditional music - not studied but invented, a utopian and oniric construct that becomes tangible in sound. These imagined traditions act as communal forces of music-making, resisting dominant structures of power.

The album unfolds in six dense compositions built on rhythm, repetition and minimal melodic gestures that draw on archetypal patterns of Eastern European traditions. Entirely synthetic yet strikingly instrumental in character, they develop as autonomous sound events, expanding into multi-part forms that evoke the physicality of ensemble performance - as if played by an imagined community of musicians.

Rather than reconstruction, Piotrowicz invents forged dances - a pre-techno of sorts, where complex meters and dense textures point to a parallel history of collective sound beyond industrial uniformity. They imagine a utopian and fictional genealogy of collective sound: one where industrial modernity yields to more unstable, communal energies.

This is celebratory music with invocatory charge: calls to dance, echoes of ceremony, microtonal melodies shaped by emotional weight, and traces of Eastern ornamentation stretched through synthetic means. Wrong Filament sacralises performance through sound alone, spinning a world where spectres of collective experience vibrate against the limits of rupture and resistance.

These pieces confront the traces of violence inscribed in body and memory, yet also affirm freedom, emancipation and integration. They manifest celebration, identity and resistance while opening a path toward liberation and shared needs that exceed social, private and intimate categories.

180 G. BLACK VINYL WITH LINER NOTES IN CREOLE, FRENCH, ENGLISH

Originally released in 1979, "Spiritual Sound" lives up to its name, a soaring, triumphant album, six tracks of spirit magic from Guadeloupe.

Telluric, intense, terribly alive, the gwoka drums of Guadeloupe carry the identity of a painful and fervent island. Marked forever by the crime of slavery, Guadeloupe's créolité cherishes the ka drums and their natural environment: the low-pitched boula drum with male goatskin, the high-pitched soloist makè drum with female goatskin, the chacha, ti bwa, triangle, calabash and other percussion instruments that surround them, and the voices - the fiery, proud, timbred, urgent voices of the gwoka.



This album is also a legend for its voices: in his then dazzling youth, singer Lukuber Séjor was one of the first gwoka artists to largely feminize the chorus of répondè, who converse with his text delivered in a straight and powerful voice.

And everything here sets new standards. In 1979, Mizik Filamonik - Spiritual Sound proclaimed a spiritual patriotism of ferocious intensity. The album by Lukuber Séjor - whose spelling alone is a battle - sets out to give Guadeloupe the intangible weapons of self-respect and self-knowledge, through a singular practice of traditional music.

The genesis of gwoka music is less straightforward than one might imagine... The drums performed the servile task of accompanying the work of slaves in the fields and during the “corvées” imposed by the administration, before being freely practiced by the common people after the abolition of 1848. At the heart of the conviviality of the Guadeloupeans furthest from the cities - geographically and socially - the gwoka drums come out for carnival, funeral wakes and neighborhood celebrations, but also during strikes, fits of anger and armed vigils of the riots and revolts that have punctuated the island's history. For generations, governors of the colony and then the prefects of the overseas department of Guadeloupe have been viewing the gwoka as a potential for turbulence and a threat to public order.

But as the Beatlesmania, “chanson engagée” and rock revolutions unfolded in Europe, young people turned to the drums of mizik a vié nèg (“bad negro music”, in Creole), which Guadeloupeans had learned to despise by following the “assimilation” process advocated by the school system and most of the political class. At the end of the sixties, in a Guadeloupe mourning the deadly repression of the May 1967 social movement, they played traditional music, refusing to wrap it up in tourist prettiness and madras folk costumes. Instinctively, they played a rough and contemporary gwoka, led by the incendiary Guy Konkèt. This was the era of decisive 45 rpm records such as Robert Loyson's Kann a la richès, which brought to light the fieriest words of union rallies.

At his home in Sainte-Anne, Lukuber Séjor played with flautist Olivier Vamur and his brother Claude Vamur, who cobbled together a drum kit from tin crockery and became, a few years later, the most influential drummer in Kassav'.

These were the years of the Bumidom program, when young Guadeloupeans were encouraged to emigrate to mainland France. At the age of twenty, Lukuber Séjor embarked on the liner Irpinia, disembarking at Le Havre and taking the train to the Gare Saint-Lazare - the route taken by thousands of young West Indians who went on to study or looked for work, all the while trying to maintain a link with their homeland. In this case, it's at the Antony university residence, where Lukuber played the drum and participated in a thousand gwoka updates and aggiornamentos, while exile reinforced the need for a spiritual link with the native land.

In 1978, Guy Konkèt played at the Salle Wagram, a historic event for West Indian music. After serving as répondè - i.e. backing vocalist - on one of his home-recorded albums, Lukuber joined his live band. Little by little, he became one of the key artists on a circuit parallel to French show business. At a student party in Caen, he met a young woman from Martinique who, at the time, was more motivated by her ambitions as a visual artist than by her vocation as a musician. Her name was Jocelyne Béroard and, a few years before she plunged into the Kassav' adventure and became the greatest West Indian singer of her generation, she designed the cover of Lukuber Séjor's LP.

This ambition was obvious and imposed its will. A more or less regular band was formed, with Roger Raspail, Rudy Mompière and Éric Danquin on ka drums, Claude Vamur on ti bwa, Olivier Vamur and Françoise Lancréot on flutes and Annick Noël on keyboards. Lukuber Séjor is set on wanting to extend the gwoka palette to other instruments, as the jazz-rock revolution opens a thousand new doors. Annick Noël will play a wide range of timbres and textures on electric piano and synthesizer. Another novelty: the répondè are two men and two women, Roger Raspail, Olivier Vamur, Françoise Lancréot and Maryann Mathéus ...

Mizik Filamonik - Spiritual Sound is a self-production in which the singer and leader sank all his savings, allowing him no more than a single day in the studio. The first side is more of a musical manifesto, with the first two tracks, Éritage and Penn é plézi, being instrumentals. The third, Son, forcefully celebrates the need for Guadeloupeans to connect with the gwoka. In fact, Jocelyne Béroard's cover shows a tambouyé in the shadow of a cloudy sky, against which a radiant sun is rising and whose light will soon flood the entire landscape. The silhouette and face of this man strongly evoke the immense Vélo, master of the ka, rejected at the time on the fringes of society.

The second side of the LP is surprising. Formally, three tracks are explicitly linked like the three parts of a triptych. Primyé voyaj evokes the appalling tribulation of Africans deported as slaves to Guadeloupe; dézyèm voyaj speaks of the Bumidom program and the economic, political and social forces driving young Guadeloupeans towards the mirage of prosperity in France; twazyèm voyaj closes the cycle with the emigrants' return from Europe after years away from their island...

This gwoka, obsessed with the need to save Guadeloupe spiritually, appeals far beyond the politicized audience. Mizik Filamonik - Spiritual Sound instantly became a classic, although Lukuber Séjor never really made a career for himself as a musician.

After all, the album was released in 1980, with no promotional resources in France or Guadeloupe - and therefore no concerts. The thirty-two-year-old author, composer and performer made his own third trip back to Guadeloupe. He set up a small woodworking business, which he lost in Hurricane Hugo in 1989. His other activity, teaching in a medical-educational institute, became the core of his professional life. He continued to be an active campaigner - a campaigner for the Creole language, a campaigner for the reawakening of identity, a campaigner for special education, a campaigner for a thousand causes that he ignited with his generous and perceptive enthusiasm, such as the defense of breadfruit fries...

The echoes of his 1979 album have not died down. Of course, the use of Penn é plézi as the theme tune for Radio Guadeloupe's funeral notices from 1980 to 1992 kept him in the collective memory, but he continues to sing and compose sporadically, as with his all-female

vocal group Vwapoulouéka... Still convinced that music is a means of liberating the spirit, he continues the journey of a young man eager to deploy the power of Creole music and language.

Bertrand Dicale

Mita Gami & EREZ join forces for collaboration ‘Where’s My Voice?’ Uniting the rich sounds of Tel Aviv and NYC via Los Angeles, Mita Gami and EREZ combine again for their latest collaboration, ‘Where’s My Voice?’. Marking their first collaborative appearance on Damian Lazarus’ esteemed Crosstown Rebels, the single follows their previous work together on Borders Of Light while welcoming EREZ to the label for the first time.

A mainstay within Tel Aviv’s thriving scene, Mita Gami returns to Crosstown Rebels following his acclaimed remix of Parallelle & Nicolas Masseyeff’s ‘Renegade’ alongside Adam Ten. With prior releases on labels such as Diynamic, REALM and his own Maccabi House imprint, he continues to showcase his artistry while pushing boundaries. Meanwhile, EREZ, an artist known for seamlessly blending her mesmerising vocals and intricate production, makes her label debut after recent standout material on Get Physical Music and Discotexas.

‘Where’s My Voice?’ is a driving composition that pairs EREZ’s intoxicating vocals with hypnotic rhythms. A journey through tension and release, the track builds a captivating and trippy atmosphere that showcases the duo’s ability to craft evocative trips for the late hours. On the flip, Brussels-based DJ/producer and Sanctuary Music founder Samer Soltan adds his own take and steers the original into deeper territory, guided by commanding stabs, brooding melodies and intricate textures.

Mita Gami’s artistic vision extends far beyond the studio, curating ‘Sunrise Kingdom’ at Midburn Festival and performing on global stages such as The Brooklyn Mirage, Lightning in a Bottle Festival, and Hï Ibiza. Similarly, EREZ’s dynamic live performances—effortlessly transitioning between instruments—have earned her spots at Coachella, Outside Lands, and The Brooklyn Mirage. With ‘Where’s My Voice?’, the pair explore sound, emotion, and rhythm, adding to their places as innovating talents in the electronic music sphere.

Cumulating tens of millions of streams with hits like ‘Jump up Pon It’, ‘Heal Them’ or ‘Supanova’, BROTHER CULTURE is a true icon of the global reggae and dub scene. As one of the UK’s most influential voices, his career has spanned decades, earning him legendary status and a devoted following worldwide.

Now, Brother Culture joins forces with Swiss reggae powerhouse THE 18TH PARALLEL to deliver ‘Ghetto Man’, a commanding anthem of social emancipation. This track blends Brother Culture’s unmistakable lyrical prowess with The 18th Parallel’s hardcore roots-driven sound, creating a powerful call to rise above adversity and fight for justice. Brother Culture’s reputation as a trailblazer in reggae and dub shines through in every verse, while The 18th Parallel cements their place as a leading force in modern roots music. Together, they’ve crafted a track that resonates deeply, speaking to both the struggles and the strength of communities worldwide.

Adding to the magic is the presence of Paolo Baldini DubFiles on the mix, turning the song into a sound system killer with his dub effects. A true mix lesson that connects with reggae enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

Ruby Red - Transparent - Galaxy effect vinyl in dub style jacket (jacket sleeve with center hole cut out so label of LP shows through) a black paper inner sleeve and poly bag.

PART ONE’ METAL HAMMER - 8/10 review. FOR FANS OF : Lustmord, Om, Sunn O))) . “An exercise in freeform ambience, ritualistic repetition and the rapturous, womb-like power of bass…strange and affecting. We remain lucky to share in the great man’s vision.”


At its heart, music has always been a questioning of inheritance – a dialogue with predecessors and forebears, the forging of one’s own perspective in relation to what has come before, and for some, a plunge into the boundless realms between. For Steve Von Till, that process has always taken on an added dimension to become the most sacred of tasks. Whether through the apocalyptic uprising of Neurosis, the sonic deconstructions of their sister project, Tribes of Neurot, the invocatory intimacy of his eponymous solo albums or his instrumental psychedelic reveries in the guise of Harvestman, that dialogue has never just been with musical influences, but with what underpins them: the primordial, elemental forces now banished to the peripheries of our contemporary consciousness, yet still broadcasting a signal for all who will listen.
Drawn to the megaliths, ruins and ancient sites mapped out along the British and European mainland’s geographical and psychic landscapes, the folklore and apocrypha forever resurfacing as portals from a rational world, “Triptych” is a meditation forged from traces and residues, and an hallucinatory recollection of artists who have tapped into that enduring otherworldliness embedded within us all. It’s a dream diary narrating a passage through Summer Isle where Flying Saucer Attack are wafting out of a window, a distant Fairport Convention are being remixed by dub master Adrian Sherwood, celestial scanners Tangerine Dream are trying to drown out Bert Jansch and Hawkwind are playing Steeleye Span covers, all prised out of time yet bound to its singularity.
Woven together from home studio recordings that span two decades, this latest outing as Harvestman finds parallels with nature’s cycles not just in its release dates but in the repeated structure that binds each album, like an imprint refracted through three separate strata. As with April’s “Part One” and the forthcoming “Part Three”, “Part Two”, starts on a collaboration with Om bassist and long-term friend of Steve’s, Al Cisneros, with a dub take opening the B-Side. Here, the opening track, “The Hag Of Beara Vs The Poet”’s languid, tribal groove expands into a chromatic wash, like an endless drip of oil spreading out under a midsummer haze.
A filtering of the alpha-state travelogues of its predecessor, “Part Two” reaches even deeper into primal yet pristine states. It journeys from the undulating drone and slow-thawing wonder of “The Falconer”, as if the Myst soundtrack were being broadcast from outer space, through “Damascus”’s perpetual-motion, dreamtime bazaar and “Vapour Phase”s seismograph frequencies measuring supernatural tremors to “The Unjust Incarceration”s distorted bagpipes, sounding a noise-frayed lament
If “Triptych” is a multi- and extra-sensory experience, it extends to the remarkable glyph-style artwork of Henry Hablak, a map of correspondences from a long-forgotten ancient and advanced civilization. As with “Triptych” itself, it’s an echo from another time, an act of binding, a guide to be endlessly reinterpreted, and a signpost to the sacred that might not indicate where to look, but how.

"Deep Dancefloor Jams of African Disco, Funk, Boogie, Reggae & Proto Electro Music 1977-1986reggWhen a passionate DJ and crate digger intuitively selects music for a DJ compilation, without artistic compromise and without the burden of trends, AfroMagic vol.1 emerges from the depths of his soul. Herewith we present the new favorite phonomancer’s tool for all the DJs who experience the dance floor as a sanctuary and a source of freedom and love.

The most fundamental thing that defines African music is that it was created for dancing. In African dance, there is often no clear distinction between ritual celebration and social recreational entertainment – one can seemlessly merge with the other. Because dance and rhythm have more power than gesture and more richness than words, and because they express the deepest experiences of human beings, dance is in itself a complete and self-sufficient language. It is truly an expression of life with all of its emotions – joy, love, sadness and hope – without which there is no African music and dance. For the African people, dance and music are integral parts of the body and soul, thus depicting the expression of life, current emotional states, visions or dreams. Through hypnotic repetitive music and dance, people communicate with each other and with the souls of the dead, the animals, the plants, the stars, the Gods… They free the body and the spirit through ecstatic states, reaching a healing sense of freedom, happiness, and satisfaction.

Throughout history, this transcendental perception of rhythm and dance originating from Africa, influenced popular music worldwide, thus creating new living and breathing forms of musical genres – freeing them from their industrial mold. Funk, disco, soul, boogie, reggae, dancefloor jazz etc., developed in parallel all over the world. It is foolish to perpetually discuss where they originated from and who were the creators of all these fiery dance floor genres – being obvious that they directly or indirectly originate from the African continent and its people who were as well, over the centuries, influenced by disturbing socio-cultural factors of colonialism. However, no one can enslave the soul. The seeds of free and uninhibited dance and rhythm, true to their original form, initially first sprouted onto the USA’s fertile fields of clubbing and popular music while later evolving in other parts of the world.

The disco funk club culture manifested itself as a phenomenal explosion of artists and grooves in the second half of the 70s in the USA. Shortly it spread around the world continually reigning over charts in its various forms – to this day. Clubs emerged where the DJ is an almighty shaman and the dancers are a tribe united under one roof. This urban ritual had and still has a single goal: togetherness, freedom, and love. Clubs have evolved into temples where we free ourselves from the burden of a consumerist lifestyle and suppressed emotions – a place where we receive love and give love – to be who we really are.

Disco funk clubbing was such an influential global phenomenon that its influence can be observed in various other genres from the disco funk era i.e. progressive rock, which mutated by layering complex rock arrangements with a disco funk groove resulting in hybrids, highly sought by today’s diggers, producers and collectors. The profit-hungry music industry of the 80s very quickly commercialized the original disco funk sound by amputating of its original Afro groove to be able to easily ‘sell’ it globally. So, the original disco funk groove became underground again, and it has remained so until this day. Today, for a DJ to unearth that ravishing groove that will lead the dancers to the stars, he must dig passionately like a true musical archaeologist in search of that groove that picks you up after just a few initial beats. That groove which forces the atoms in your body to vibrate, that groove which unites the body and releases the burden.

The AfroMagic compilation series is created as a tool for real DJs who stick to the aesthetics and essence of clubbing.

This continuation of the Afromagic compilation by DJ Borovich was created in a private jam session which served as an escape route from intense and complex love problems.

Unconsciously driven by intuition and emotion and following a live mix tape framework where many tunes are arranged instantaneously, Borovich narrates his story with a strong rhythm that cuts loose even the most blocked off energy nodes and restores happiness to the spirit and the body.

The musical experience of the groove is completed by the lyrics of the songs, which symbolically give DJ Borovich universal answers to his questions arising from questioning the boundaries, nuances and other forms of love.

When considering that Borovich’s selection was created to facilitate an escape from the burdens of reality through rhythm and dance, we can be sure that Afromagic Vol. 2 will have a 100% uplifting, energized and spaced-out effect on the listeners.

The intro to A1, “Feeling Happy” by the Apostles, introduces us to an experienced and slow, cool and irregularly tight groove containing a confidently sung chorus that instantly gives a sense of freedom and hints at the remainder of Afromagic Vol. 2: “I’m gonna feel happy, ´cause I know I’m gonna be myself.” After the anthemic song mantra of the Apostles, Aigbe Lebarty uncompromisingly continues with a dirty disco rhythm. Acidified by accented synths that elevate it to shamanic levels and held together by a female tribal choir, we embark on an uncompromising ritual disco journey. Without a moment to take a breather the prog funk band Mighty Flames and their Road Man launch a highly vicious and raw, thick funk groove spiced with acid synths and dirty RnR breaks, raising the bar for the A side. Jimi Hendrix himself would surely praise it given the ultimate freedom and virtuosity in the solo sections. With the last tune on A side DJ Borovich decides to burn the floor with Geraldo Pino’s psychedelic, acid furious groove and lyrics which describe this HEAVY part of love problems: “The way she walk, the way she talk, the way she does a funky dances, she is really really heavy – that woman”.

While the A side represents a compact intoxicating afro groove machine that separates us from reality and lifts us up to the stars in over 23 minutes, the B side is a treasure trove of proto sub-genres gems. This selection represents the mission of the Afromagic: to find singular events in African recorded discography of popular music from the 70s and 80s that give evidence to the birth of new modern genres on the Dark Continent even before they emerged in the U.S.A. or Europe. The beginnings of electronic music influenced genres are represented back to back with 80s synth jazzy pop, all painted in African colours.

The B side opens big with Jake Sollo and a huge reggae blues number singing about the humiliation of a man – goosebumps guaranteed! “You think I’m nobody that’s why, you don’t know the way for me, I’m somebody I know, I found myself at last”. Adolf Ahanotu then enters the scene with a hard sliding tackle at B2 and an exotic rare disco funk dancefloor napalm. A ‘Sensation’ that would ignite even the coldest of introverts. While we approach the end of the compilation the narrative revolves again and takes a different turn. No less and no more than to the proto-electro that Baad John Cross serves us in “Give Me Some Lovin´”. The fat and repetitive broken electro synth groove, championing many early 90s electro tracks, is presented here without hesitation and with constant tension accompanied by a mantric chorus “Gimme some, gimme some, gimme some looooovin’, EVERBODY!!!”. Finally, we’re guided to the end of Afromagic Vol. 2 by Eji Oyevole’s 80s synth pop style presented in an authentic afro manner, giving us a glimpse at yet another released Afromagic edition, as well as giving an answer to DJ Borovich’s love problems. A smoothly broken electronic rhythm resembling electrified highlife sounds, carried on the wings of a virtuoso dreamy saxophone on top of which Eji presents the most intimate parts of himself. Finalizing the track with a symbolic chorus, on the surface referring to the dancefloor and simply having fun, but in actuality referring to the skill and happiness of living: “I´m a dancer, I can dance”. So, get up and dance among the stars with DJ Borovich and Afromagic.

TAMTEN, the master storyteller behind the synthesizers, extends his invitation to every curious listener to ponder the same questions that haunt him throughout his peculiar career: what impacts the sound of an era? How are we shaped by what we hear and see? Do we channel our collective feelings of longing and desire for higher purpose in accord or in opposition to major historical and political forces?
On "Wschodnia Fala: The Reimagined Vision of Eastern-European Wave Music" TAMTEN takes us on a kaleidoscopic voyage through a parallel universe where the symbols and echoes of days gone by are so much more than just archived exhibits of nostalgia. Through an array of meticulous, cut & paste rearrangements, the Warsaw-based artist manages to animate yet another fantastic world of "what could be", following his more apocalyptical take on the previous LP.
There is boldness in every aspect of the release. The saga-like story unfolds evoking the excitement of seashore autobahn ride, thrills of long-forgotten discotheque nights, rush of obsessive romance and intriguing, noir-inspired drama of introspection. The analogies between Polish wave music (with nods to Aya RL, Republika, Klaus Mittfoch, Papa Dance or even Bajm) and global disco-era top chart phenomenons like Kraftwerk, Grace Jones, Giorgio Moroder and Duran Duran, could spark hour-long musicology debates. The melodies and harmonies heard on the album resemble compositions everybody knows but also sound completely new and exhilarating, just as western music clips experienced for the first time behind the Iron Curtain and then collected compulsively on VHS tapes. The feeling of the author's frenetic attempt to capture sensations, memories, artifacts and ideas never escapes the listener till the very last minute of the recording.
"Wschodnia Fala" could pass for an eerie, anonymous late 80s lost-and-found cassette mixtape unearthed on any of the Berlin Wall's sides, if it wasn't for its crystal-clear, contemporary production value and the fluent, educated use of samples ranging from bizarre and opaque to deliberately retro-pop-influenced. Those elaborate winks of the eye for those in the know are already TAMTEN's trademark and they reflect his long-standing fascination with the dancefloor anthropology rather than just the dancefloor itself. Even though never leaning towards formulaic, easy-to-mix, club-ready stompers, his ideas are still groovy enough to make anyone move.
The album strives for some sort of unattainable totality - it's a ticket to a seance, an experience, a rite. It is a chance to time travel and dance with your ancestors in a glass labyrinth on acid or to watch an 80s teenage adventure, coming-of-age, road cruising film in the cinema of your imagination with only a soundtrack provided. A "the best of" CD compilation of hits from a childhood we remember from a different timeline. A comic book sketch, a diary of an archivist, an elegy for the times that never were and a party you wish you could go to right now. The adventure is always different with another listen.
Step in. Close your eyes. Reimagine.
Embrace the wave

Ltd edition in transparent yellow vinyl!



The Mystery Lights 2nd outing on Daptone's rock subsidiary, Wick, sees them digging deeper into their cavern of influences, taking on tips from Suicide, The Kinks and Television as they look to build on their already party fuelled, raucous sound.

The Mystery Lights story begins in 2004 in the small town of Salinas California when friends Michael Brandon and Luis Alfonso -whose shared fondness for groups like The Mc5, Velvet Underground, Dead Moon, and The Fall (just to name a few) -decided to join forces and craft their own brand of unhinged rock and roll. From there they spent the better part of 10 years touring relentlessly before migrating to Queens, New York in 2014.

With a live show known for its raw, visceral energy and relentless assault –leaving little to no stoppage between songs –they barreled through countless NYC haunts and DIY venues, quickly amassing a fervent local following. The buzz soon caught the attention of Daptone Records execs who were in the beginning stages of launching a new rock-centric imprint, Wick Records. Impressed by the groups’ musicianship, groove, endless supply of energy, and understanding of musical history the Mystery Lights were quickly signed to Wick. Though a rock band at heart, the parallels to what Daptone Records had traditionally looked for in their Soul artists was undeniable. Soon sessions were booked with Producer/Engineer Wayne Gordon, and the release of their debut single “Too Many Girls” b/w “Too Tough to Bear” launched to mass critical fanfare.

Upon the release of their self-titled full-length on June 24th 2016 The Mystery Lights were quickly crowned “one of New York’s finest garage rock bands” by NME. Extensive touring, including multiple stops in Europe, Asia and Australia followed which found the group graduating from support slots at hole-in-the-wall clubs to headlining stages at major festivals worldwide.

After two years of break-neck, non-stop touring, the group settled back into Queens to prepare for their second full-length record, Too Much Tension(out May 2019). With Wayne Gordon in the producer’s chair and several intense writing sessions under their belt the group were back at Daptone’s House of Soul and ready to track. While keeping the hard-hitting approach of the first LP, Too Much Tension finds the group digging deeper into their well of eclectic influences, enriching their sound without echoing the past. Mixing the eerie, insistent synth sounds of groups like The Normal and Suicide, the energy and swagger of punk’s golden age, the pop sensibility of The Kinks, and the stark, deliberate execution of Television -The Mystery Lights are taking their idiosyncratic brand of rock and roll to dizzying new heights.

In a partnership between Lost Realm Records and Classic Metal Records, we bring you the vinyl edition of Sacred Alien's first studio album "The World Doesn't Care About You" In 2020 we already had the opportunity to work with these NWOBHM legends, with the vinyl release of "Legends" (compilation of studio and unreleased songs recorded between 1980 and 1983), which was a success given the tremendous acceptance by fans and followers of this British band.

An edition that was sold out in less than 2 months! "The Universe Doesn't Care About You" is the logical continuation of the band's legacy. With a total of 9 songs, Sacred Alien once again offers us a sonic journey between parallel universes, extraterrestrial forces and the meaning of life.

Maximilian Skiba, an Eminent Figure in the World of Electronic Music, Makes a Triumphant Return to Skylax After an Absence Spanning Over a Decade. His Resurgence Is Nothing Short of Exceptional, as He Joins Forces With the Legendary Snax to Deliver a Musical Offering That Rekindles the Very Essence of House Music's Illustrious origins.
Skiba's Two New Tracks, "Pushing My Buttons" and "In Motion," Serve as a Compelling Testament to His Impeccable Craftsmanship as a Producer. the Influence of the Pioneering triumvirate—Larry Levan, Ron Hardy, and Frankie Knuckles—is Palpable Within These Compositions. Both Tracks Are a Masterful Blend of Nostalgia and Innovation, Perfectly Aligning With the Playlists That Once Defined the Heyday of House Music's Most Celebrated luminaries.
"Pushing My Buttons" and "In Motion" Evoke an Air of Sophistication, Exuding a Smooth, Velvety Quality That Transports Listeners to the Cherished Era of Original Disco. Drawing Parallels to the Timeless Classics Like Dinosaur’s "Kiss Me Again" or Loose Joints "Is It All Over My Face", Skiba's Creations Pay Homage to the Bygone Era While Injecting a Modern Edge. This Phenomenal Ep Goes Beyond Skiba's Original Works, Offering Two Exceptional Remixes That Elevate the Experience. the First Remix, a Balearic Interpretation by the Emerging Talent Maltitz, Adds a Refreshing Dimension to the Tracks. the Second Remix, Helmed by the Skilled Apollon Telefax, Ingeniously Transforms the Already-Classic Tunes Into an Explosive Italo-Disco Sensation. These Remixes Seamlessly Weave Together the Past and the Present, Creating a Bridge Between Different Eras While Keeping the Music timeless.
In Essence, This Ep Is Not Just a Musical Offering; It's a Journey—a Seamless Fusion of History and Innovation That Transports the Listener to an Era of Musical Brilliance, All the While Redefining the Boundaries of Contemporary Sound. Skiba and Snax's Collaboration Is Not Merely a Comeback; It's a Testament to the Enduring Legacy of Electronic Music, Encapsulating the Spirit of House Music's Golden Age While Breathing New Life Into Its Timeless Allure....

Known for being part of the INNA DE YARD family for almost 20 years, Jamaican singer extraordinaire DERAJAH is a major figure in Kingston music scene. He is the bridge between the old and new generations, passing the knowledge from the elders to the youths. We are delighted to present his latest effort in collaboration with A-class studio band The 18th Parallel: ‘PROSPERITY’. A showcase album of 6 songs with dub versions produced between Geneva, Switzerland and Kingston, Jamaica. With the expert touch of mixing maestro Westfinga, the 11 tracks of ‘Prosperity’ are sonic masterpieces, timeless and innovative.

In between the raw and brutal sound of 80’s Jamaican rub a dub and today’s sophisticated and polished modern sound. Derajah's raw and emotive vocals paint vivid pictures of struggle and resilience, carrying a profound message of social consciousness and resistance against oppressive forces, while The 18th Parallel's ultra-solid riddims create a rich tapestry of sound that will transport you to the heart of roots reggae. With its impeccable production quality, ‘Prosperity’ captures the essence of reggae's golden era.

This groundbreaking album is a testament to the enduring power of music to inspire, uplift, and ignite change.

The story towards the creation of this album also needs to be shared. As Fruits Records members were in Jamaica on tour and to record their first projects, they crossed Derajah paths a couple times without getting a chance to work together. But this was enough to set a strong foundation to a relationship that goes way beyond the musical side only. A few years after this meeting, one phone call only was enough to start the process. The rest is pure magic! Spontaneity, trust and loyalty became the guidelines for the creation of this gem, which stand out of time and space, and aim to carry on its path anyone seeking for knowledge, love and prosperity.

Two of the most prominent activists on the current European reggae scene join forces on this brand new song. ‘END OF THE DAY’ is a combination between Bristol singer JOE YORKE and Swiss reggae band THE 18TH PARALLEL.

Written by master storyteller Eeyun Delroy Purkins from The Co-Operators who recently released a highly acclaimed album with Joe Yorke titled ‘A Distant Beat’, ‘End of The Day’ showcases the remarkable talent of both crews: on the one hand enchanting melodies and thought-provoking lyrics provided by Joe’s soulful voice and Eeyun’s brilliant pen, on the other infectious grooves and impeccable musicianship by The 18th Parallel.

This mesmerizing collaboration is highlighted by Westfinga’s perfect early 80’s rub a dub mixing. When these extraordinary forces collide, magic happens. Step into the rhythm and embrace a state of pure musical bliss!

It's been a long time coming, THE 18TH PARALLEL are back with a new showcase album, this time starring Jamaican singer extraordinaire DERAJAH. ‘BABYLON A QUAKE' is the first single from the new album, due out in October 2023. This groundbreaking single is a collaboration like no other, bringing together the remarkable vocals of Derajah, renowned for his distinctive style and powerful delivery, and the production prowess of The 18th Parallel, a trailblazing force in the reggae scene. With the expert touch of mixing maestro Westfinga, this track is a sonic masterpiece. ‘Babylon A Quake’ stands as a powerful anthem, carrying a profound message of social consciousness and resistance against oppressive forces. Derajah's raw and emotive vocals paint vivid pictures of struggle and resilience, while The 18th Parallel's ultra-solid riddim creates a rich tapestry of sound that will transport you to the heart of roots reggae. With its impeccable production quality, ‘Babylon A Quake’ captures the essence of reggae's golden era while infusing it with a fresh and contemporary sound. It seamlessly blends tradition with innovation, ensuring that both loyal reggae enthusiasts and new listeners alike will be left in awe of this musical gem.

Following the compass of an entrancing debut, Flore Laurentienne's Volume II presents another palette of rich orchestral sound, where changing forces of water inspire metaphorical markers that navigate passages of life and loss. Mathieu David Gagnon resumes his voyage into environment and emotion with Volume II, drawing inspiration from the rivers and rugged wilderness of the composer's native Quebec. In his return as Flore Laurentienne - the namesake of an inventory documenting St. Lawrence Valley flora - Gagnon assembles vivid melodic motifs and delicate modulation with a vast string ensemble to emulate the tides of human experience. Listeners of Volume I will recognise Gagnon's signature approach towards reworking and reframing an emblematic melody or concept across a series of works in Volume II, a process he likens to that of a painter creating multiple sketches of the same view. Continued from the first album, the enigmatic "Fleuve" series is conjured to evoke the multiple personalities of the great St. Lawrence River, and the "Navigation" works ("III" and "IV") wade through dappled progressions and expansive streams of string, the latter of which harbors the gentle meanderings of improvised clarinet. In the world of Flore Laurentienne, complexity emerges from simplicity as the composer roams familiar environments in constant flux. Gagnon extracts beauty through repetition and constraint, utilizing the writing style of counterpoint for which one of his greatest musical inspirations, Johann Sebastian Bach, is renowned. The lilting waves of "Canon" possess the eponymous formation of melodic 'leader and follower' motif, and magnify the softness of the album's eighteen string musicians into a force of full euphoric resonance. In Volume II, Gagnon continues his expansion of classical composition archetypes to meet a new realm of sonic romanticism. Thematic conventions of wandering the pastoral sublime become altered into glimmering refractions, relaying the emotional and kinetic power of natural energies. Volume II forms an estuary where streams of auditory microcosm reach a horizon of dynamic contrast, and reflect the parallel tenors of nature and humankind.

The Body has been an iconic force in heavy music for over 2 de- cades with a long history of collaborations. Recent collaborators include BUMMER, Full of Hell, Thou, Uniform. Lee Buford from The Body is also in Manslaughter 777 and Sightless Pit. BIG| BRAVE have a singular voice in heavy music, honed over 5 albums The Body and BIG|BRAVE are both bands possessed with an unequaled ability to convey overwhelming weight with simplicity, repetition, and detailed sonic atmospheres; artists who continue to alter the definition of what it means to be a heavy band. The Body are consistently prolific while increasingly ambitious as untethered producers and collaborators. BIG|BRAVE shape sound with dense waves of guitar and feedback, minimalist and hypnotic crashes, and emotionally exacting vocal melodies. In collaboration, The Body and BIG|BRAVE shift the gravity of their compositions to woven layers of percussion and unspooling guitars that sprawl through stark frameworks of earthy folk. Their debut collaborative album Leaving None But Small Birds distills the two ensembles" pioneering approach to heavy music into psalms for the forgotten, threnodies of lost love, and odes to vengeance. Typical to The Body"s creative process, Leaving None But Small Birds was composed almost entirely in the studio at Machine With Magnets with engineer/producer Seth Manchester. The Body and BIG|BRAVE aimed to challenge themselves to craft a fully realized and cohesive work that strayed outside the boundaries of the music they make individually. The Body"s Lee Buford set up the initial challenge: collaborating to make an album that evoked the country and folk roots of The Band. BIG|BRAVE"s Robin Wattie compiled lyrics and melodic lines from across Appalachian, Canadian, and English hymns and folk songs. Select phrases were then reworked and precisely arranged to center the experiences of marginalized characters, victims of hardship, and those yearning for love within each story. The despair and empowerment of these traditional tunes draw remarkable parallels with each group"s focus on championing people often cast aside in history. The Body and BIG|BRAVE, following a folk tradition, make each song their own through shifts in perspective and a synthesis of passages from kindred tales. BIG|BRAVE"s roots as a minimalist folk band and The Body"s love of old-time, country blues, and folk music enable the quintet to strike a formidable balance between sorrowful lamentation and uplifting resolve to weighty effect. Leaving None But Small Birds thatches together two monumental innovative forces that render the emotionally profound with lucid, devastating vitality

"The beauty of all this, as well as its sorrowful brutality, is even more powerful and stupefying since Ghédalia's sudden departure. Because retrospectively, not only is this recording the trace of a rare moment in a Parisian garden, it also summons a ghost, that of a loved one that is gone, and of his voice, which is fully alive here."

Tazartes and Chatham had met once in 1977 at CBGC's and had not seen each other since then when they were asked by their mutual agent to play a private show in Paris. This happened in September 2018 in a house with a garden where sax player Steve Lacy had lived back in the 1990s. This album presents the recording of this show plus another show at La semaine du bizarre festival in Montreuil, France a year later, mixed with a couple of studio sessions. This was probably the last music Tazartès, who died in February 2021, recorded. His unique singing blends perfectly with Chatham's loops on electric guitar, trumpet and flute.

Rhys Chatham is a composer, guitarist, trumpet player and flutist from Manhattan, currently living in Paris, who altered the DNA of rock and created a new type of urban music by fusing the overtone-drenched minimalism of the early 60s with the relentless, elemental fury of the Ramones — the textural intricacies of the avant-garde colliding with the visceral punch of electric guitar-slinging punk rock. Starting with Guitar Trio in the 1970s and culminating with A Crimson Grail for 200 electric guitars in 2009, Chatham has been working for over 30 years to make use of armies of electric guitars in special tunings to merge the extended-time music of the sixties and seventies with serious hard rock. Parallel with his rock-influenced pieces, Chatham has been working with various brass configurations since 1982, and recently has developed a completely new approach to collaborations, improvised and compositional pieces involving trumpet through performances and recordings that started in 2009. Chatham’s trumpet work deploys extended playing techniques inherited from the glory days of the early New York minimalist and 70s loft jazz period. Starting in 2014, Rhys has been touring a solo program featuring an electric guitar in a Pythagorean tuning, Bb trumpet, and bass, alto and C flutes. Rhys was introduced to electronic music and composition by Morton Subotnick in the late 60s, and in the early seventies he studied composition with La Monte Young and played in Tony Conrad’s early group. These composers are, along with Terry Riley, the founders of American minimalism and were a profound influence on Chatham’s work. Chatham’s instrumentation ranges from the seminal composition composed in 1977 entitled Guitar Trio for 3 electric guitars, electric bass and drums, to the epoch evening-length work for 100 electric guitars, An Angel Moves Too Fast to See, composed in 1989… all the way to Chatham’s recent composition for 200 electric guitars, Crimson Grail, which was commissioned by the City of Paris for La Nuit Blanche Festival in 2005. A completely new version of the piece was commissioned by the Lincoln Center Outdoor Summer Festival in 2009. What does a composer do after mounting many performances with forces of 100-200 electric guitars? The composer gets back to basics, at least that’s what Rhys does! Along with the G100 and G3 programs, Chatham is currently offering a solo program, an evening length work with the composer performing himself on electric guitar, trumpets and bass alto and C flutes.

French cult artist Ghedalia Tazartes is an uncompromising character who defied categorization. He recorded alone more than 20 albums, calling his Art “Impromuz” for lack of a better term. Before the years 2000s, his public appearances remained exceptional events. Ghédalia Tazartès’ music has always been a mystery. It switches from musique concrète to – existing or invented – ethnic music, from poetry to noise, or from loops and collages to sad and extremely beautiful tunes in a second, but it constantly is in flux and coherent. In 2004, Ghedalia finally decided to do live performances again. He first worked with other musicians (Les Reines d’Angleterre, David Fenech & Jac Berrocal, Norscq & Black Sifichi, Nicolas Lelièvre) then went solo for ten years. Since then Tazartes has played many shows across Europe including a show in the Patti Smith exhibition at Fondation Cartier in Paris and a cinemix to the “Haxan” silent movie in 2008. In 2018 Ghedalia decided to stop playing solo and to collaborate with other musicians again: Maya Dunietz, Rhys Chatham, Chris Corsano and Dennis Tyfus, Quentin Rollet and Jérôme Lorichon. Ghedalia died at his home in Paris on 9th February 2021.

The year 2021 is a special year full of people looking into the future and anticipating the closer and further changes that are coming for many of us. Sincerely believing in positive changes and a return to
normalcy, we are leaving this difficult year 2020 which many of us will never forget.

Our message as the Unknown Timeline is an approximation and insight into a possible timeline that may occur somewhere in a parallel version of our own world. We believe that our home-world and this parallel universe can be linked through the music we present to you on a transparent vinyl record. An "interconnecting disk” between two timelines. As the title of the disk refers to a thing of the unpleasant past, we hope our brothers and sisters from parallel universe are safe and did not stuck in a dark 2020- loop, as the past would be the point at which time was eternity.

Everyhing is a concept until it become a real thing. Raroh - an Unknown Timeline member - created two sonic time breakers, that are able to break the boundaries between timelines of universes and go back and forth with the message. He sequentially joined with special forces of the Polish underground duo called OTHK who translated Raroh's vision into their own language pervading the wall of time. For the final contact with the parallel world, Nternal Bserver receive an answer and presented it a stable but sad and difficult situation from the other side of the time curtain.

2x12" 180 grams / white vinyl

"The universe,
purity, simplicity and deceits,
profundity, solitude and hardness.
A brilliant yet dark setting.

A place of fleeting ephemeral encounters, real and intense nonetheless, where the forces sustaining it all are neither dark matter nor dark energy, but rather the outcome of the explosion of infinite ancestral love between the creation and its creator, in an era where one was still everything.

Gravity Darkening is an astronomic phenomenon, in which the light emanating from a star is distorted to the eyes of the beholder. A bridge of playful mirrors between reality and its perception in a binary code world, where man can dream unconditionally when reflecting himself in the absence of light.

This album is an expression of the allegorical essence of my lived experience and its resulting analysis, projected into another timeline, parallel to ours".
- Specialivery

Born out of a chance encounter in 2012 that led to a lasting friendship, Rhythm Section Int'l & producer, DJ, label boss, radio host, and record store owner Ruf Dug join forces to present 'The Committee'. Sitting somewhere between fictional band and studio collaboration, the record is the first fully in-house production for Rhythm Section, recorded start to finish at their own South East London studio and featuring vocals from label founder Bradley Zero and label mate FYI Chris's Chris Watson.

Right from the studio's initial creation, Ruf Dug felt inspired by the space's unique musical identity, jumping at the opportunity to create a collaborative record there over a two week studio residency. And between his DJ residencies at Pikes, Gottwood and NTS radio the Manchester-via-Ibiza computer game freak and renowned vinyl digger found the time to meld his wide range of influences. Having been a key driving force behind Be With's Holy Grail reissue of Bô'vel's - Check 4 U , Ruffy has more than earned his stripes as a boss level Street Soul collector, pre-empting the resurgent interest in the genre, which began in the mid 80s and is still a popular sound in Manchester today. This new release draws parallels between the DIY attitude of Street Soul labels like TSR, Intrigue, Jam Today & Elite and the modus operandi of the RS studio.

A wholly synergetic work, the project's title 'The Committee' reflects the collaborative nature of this release, as Ruf Dug states: 'Authorship is a strange concept at the best of times but this genuinely is a group effort and I very much enjoyed feeling like just one piece of a larger entity - the complete opposite to my usual production experience of being all alone in my room for days at a time.' The EP also features additional production from Rhythm Section's own Mali Baden-Powell, who DJ's and produces as Z Lovecraft and comes from a background in Street Soul music, his father was also in legendary UK acid jazz collective D'Influence. In addition, the record features a dynamic range of vocalists: sultry deliveries from Natalie Wildgoose and Sienna Mustafa, a rap from her sister Nadina, and the vocal debuts of FYI Chris's Chris Watson and Bradley Zero. 'I had been joking with Bradley that he needed to be on the record somehow and he did appear, playing an egg shaker at one point, but his singing wasn't in the least bit planned... I got back from lunch, and the next thing you know he just starts singing...So I dragged him reluctantly down the corridor to the studio and that's it- now he's a pop star!'

Also playfully melding digidub, soul, chicago house and acid jazz, the release not only marks a new chapter in the development of the Rhythm Section sound, but also catalogues a crucial turning Point in Ruf Dug's musical development. Still oozing with the cheeky DIY approach that won his own label, RUF KUTZ an army of fans, this latest Collab steps things up and opens a whole new realm of possibilities for one of Manchester's favourite sons.