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Invitation to the Dance is the second album by nu metal band 40 Below Summer. The album was released on October 16, 2001. The album combines the downtuned riffs of nu metal/alternative metal with elements of New Jersey hardcore, hip hop, jazz and hard rock. Invitation to the Dance was made with the help of with well-known rock and metal producer GGGarth (Rage Against the Machine, Mudvayne) Allmusic wrote about the album "Invitation to the Dance at first glance may seem to be just another hard rock album, but along with further observation it is apparent that 40 Below Summer is striving to spice up what modern hard rock became in the 21st century." Invitation to the Dance is now available for the first time ever on vinyl, it's a numbered limited edition of 750 copies on translucent green coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

POISON IDEA’s momentum hasn’t slowed down one bit; this is still their brand of loud, potent powerthrash. Slightly more metal than in the past but the accent here is on the force and fury. Scorching. Each song on War All the Time flows into the other in a natural sequence for maximum impact and the whole thing blows over before you know it, but everything stays in your head, banging against the walls of your frontal bone. All this makes a good album, but what turns War All the Time into an amazing album are the lyrics and their delivery. Jerry A took the negative side of the world around him and expressed it in detail, rendered with words that can be read in a universal manner, expressing everything trivial and worthy of our puke in a language better suited to talk about the beauty of life. And those words remain as true to this day as the band’s riffs are brutal.

Legendary postmodern, post punk, post human, past caring collective Mekons return with a brand-new album for 2025. Their first release on Fire Records, ‘Horror’ a collection of songs written in late 2022 but providing a horribly prescient reflection of the world in its current miasma and how we got here. ‘Horror’ looks at history and the legacies of British imperialism with mashed up lyrics set against a typically eclectic sound that amalgamates everything from dub, country, noise, rock & roll, electronica, punk, music hall, polka and you can even take your partner for a nice waltz on ‘Sad And Sad And Sad’. The roots of their global sound reflect their nomadic journey through time and space from Leeds to California in the West and Siberia in the East and is woven into the fabric and intricacies of their song creation… Sounding like The Chills and R.E.M circa the I.R.S Records years, ‘Mudcrawlers’ sees just about the whole band joining Jon Langford on vocals speaking of Irish famine and refugees journeying to Wales. ‘War Economy’ shivers in the cold of such Boroughs spiked one-liners: “Clinical coercion will not achieve dominance!” Sounding like its straight off a Jenny Holzer neon sign (she of Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise), it’s held together by a disgruntled swaggering riff that underpins an explosion of disquiet. Meanwhile, Rico takes the lead on the maliciously luscious ‘Fallen Leaves’ an appalled and appalling Hammer Horror take on climate breakdown reminiscent of Rolling Thunder Dylan, that recalls The Pogues at their most introspective, its Celtic twilightism augmented by Susie Honeyman’s keening violin as the dying sun sinks down and the river Styx flows on in the pitch black night. Almost 50 years in the making, these Mekons continue to astound, their sound, sentiment and method of delivery blended to perfection by bass player and studio wizard, Dave Trumfio. The Mekons are Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Tom Greenhalgh, Dave Trumfio, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding, and Lu Edmonds. "Effortlessly eloquent post-punks" Pitchfork // “The Mekons are still vital” Rolling Stone // “The most revolutionary group in the history of rock ‘n’ roll,” Lester Bangs // UK Tour 8-15 May 2025 (including London, Manchester, Glasgow, and more).

Over the course of a decade, Wata Igarashi has risen as one of techno's most accomplished DJs and producers. His highly aesthetic trademark sound is as heavily psychedelic as it's driven by its stern kinetic energy. It's often overlooked that Igarashi is much more than a torch bearer of the raw hypnotic techno he became known for. He's also a very accomplished and versatile musician with a deep understanding of the cause and effect of sound design. His skills are fully on display on 2023's full length "Agartha", a film score to a fictitious movie about the mythical underworld of planet Mars. It was a rather obvious idea to cross the bridge between this epic deep listening album and Wata Igarashi's techno persona by having him remix himself. As you might expect, the "Agartha Sorcery Acid Mix" has turned out to be a masterclass in psychedelic designer techno. It's slightly slower in BPM as the usual Igarashi fare but every bit as captivating. The "Floating Against Time Shimmering Mix" shows another intriguing facet of Wata's spectrum. Let's call it: Psychedelic Deep House. KOMPAKT's very own Michael Mayer couldn't resist to turn the Godzilla soundtrack-ish "Ceremony Of The Dead" into a positively hysterical minimal disco operette. And then there's the "Fusion Mix of Abyss x Darkness" by Philipp Stoffel, a fresh Cologne DJ producer whose AKTE club nights just spawned a label by the same name. He's definitely one to keep an eye on in 2025.
Im Laufe eines Jahrzehnts hat sich Wata Igarashi zu einem der versiertesten DJs und Produzenten im Bereich Techno entwickelt. Sein hochästhetischer, unverwechselbarer Sound ist ebenso stark psychedelisch entrückt wie von einer strengen kinetischen Energie angetrieben. Oft wird übersehen, dass Igarashi viel mehr ist als nur ein Fackelträger des rohen, hypnotischen Techno, für den er bekannt wurde. Er ist auch ein sehr versierter und vielseitiger Musiker mit einem tiefen Verständnis für Ursache und Wirkung von Sounddesign. Seine Fähigkeiten kommen auf dem Longplayer „Agartha“ von 2023 voll zum Ausdruck, einer Filmmusik zu einem fiktiven Film über die mythische Unterwelt des Planeten Mars. Es lag nahe, die Brücke zwischen diesem epischen Deep-Listening-Album und Wata Igarashis Techno-Persönlichkeit zu schlagen, indem man ihn sich selbst remixen ließ. Wie zu erwarten war, ist der „Agartha Sorcery Acid Mix“ eine Masterclass des psychedelischen Designer-Techno. Mit einer etwas geringeren BPM-Zahl als bei Igarashis üblicher Musik, aber genauso fesselnd. Der „Floating Against Time Shimmering Mix“ zeigt eine weitere faszinierende Facette von Watas Spektrum. Nennen wir es: Psychedelic Deep House. KOMPAKTs Michael Mayer konnte nicht widerstehen, den Godzilla-Soundtrack-ähnlichen Song „Ceremony Of The Dead“ in eine geradezu hysterische Minimal-Disco-Operette zu verwandeln. Und dann gibt es noch den „Fusion Mix of Abyss x Darkness“ von Philipp Stoffel, einem jungen Kölner DJ-Produzenten, aus dessen AKTE-Clubnächten gerade ein Label mit dem gleichen Namen hervorgegangen ist. Er ist definitiv einer, den man 2025 im Auge behalten sollte.

That’s the Price of Loving Me marks Dean Wareham’s (Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean & Britta, ) evocative return, rekindling his partnership with producer Kramer for the first time since Galaxie 500's This Is Our Music in 1990.

Recorded in six days in Los Angeles, the album is steeped in lush, haunting soundscapes, driven by Wareham's signature reverb-soaked guitars and melancholic, dreamlike vocals. Britta Phillips joins on bass and harmonies, while Gabe Noel’s cello adds depth and tension. “Two takes yield more treasure than twenty,” notes longtime friend Matt Fishbeck, as Kramer's insistence on spontaneity infuses the project with raw immediacy.

Thematically, Wareham delves into the poetry of memory, set against a backdrop of wistful nostalgia and existential reflection. "Songs are in dialogue with other songs" Fishbeck writes. The lead single, “We’re Not Finished Yet,” is a playful, introspective meditation where Wareham drops his own name while relishing the tactile joy of the guitar. “You Were the Ones I Had to Betray” unfolds like a somber narrative, underpinned by Noel’s cello and crowned with a haunting bass harmonica by Kramer, encapsulating the emotional ambivalence of friendship and loyalty.

“That’s the Price of Loving Me” pulses with conga rhythms and Kramer’s vintage Moog, capturing Wareham’s musings on the life of a performer and the sacrifices it demands. Fishbeck describes “The Mystery Guest” as "an acrostic poem" and concludes by saying "We're not finished yet." 'Loving Me' also includes two covers, Mayo Thompson's 'Dear Betty Baby' and Nico's 'Reich der Träume.' The latter highlights his love for blending history and homage, sung entirely in German for a chillingly authentic touch.

Dean returns with his fourth solo album and his first album for Carpark Records. Inspired by the past yet resonant in its present-day relevance, the album’s sonic palette is reminiscent of Galaxie 500’s dream-pop roots, tempered with the matured introspection of Wareham’s later works. “Dean traffics in memory,” writes Fishbeck, reflecting on the record’s seamless blend of intimate recollections and catchy hooks. The result is a cohesive work encapsulating the duality of Wareham’s career: haunted by the past, yet steadfastly pushing forward. As Fishbeck poignantly puts it, “Imagination is nothing but the working over of what is remembered.”

That’s the Price of Loving Me marks Dean Wareham’s (Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean & Britta, ) evocative return, rekindling his partnership with producer Kramer for the first time since Galaxie 500's This Is Our Music in 1990.

Recorded in six days in Los Angeles, the album is steeped in lush, haunting soundscapes, driven by Wareham's signature reverb-soaked guitars and melancholic, dreamlike vocals. Britta Phillips joins on bass and harmonies, while Gabe Noel’s cello adds depth and tension. “Two takes yield more treasure than twenty,” notes longtime friend Matt Fishbeck, as Kramer's insistence on spontaneity infuses the project with raw immediacy.

Thematically, Wareham delves into the poetry of memory, set against a backdrop of wistful nostalgia and existential reflection. "Songs are in dialogue with other songs" Fishbeck writes. The lead single, “We’re Not Finished Yet,” is a playful, introspective meditation where Wareham drops his own name while relishing the tactile joy of the guitar. “You Were the Ones I Had to Betray” unfolds like a somber narrative, underpinned by Noel’s cello and crowned with a haunting bass harmonica by Kramer, encapsulating the emotional ambivalence of friendship and loyalty.

“That’s the Price of Loving Me” pulses with conga rhythms and Kramer’s vintage Moog, capturing Wareham’s musings on the life of a performer and the sacrifices it demands. Fishbeck describes “The Mystery Guest” as "an acrostic poem" and concludes by saying "We're not finished yet." 'Loving Me' also includes two covers, Mayo Thompson's 'Dear Betty Baby' and Nico's 'Reich der Träume.' The latter highlights his love for blending history and homage, sung entirely in German for a chillingly authentic touch.

Dean returns with his fourth solo album and his first album for Carpark Records. Inspired by the past yet resonant in its present-day relevance, the album’s sonic palette is reminiscent of Galaxie 500’s dream-pop roots, tempered with the matured introspection of Wareham’s later works. “Dean traffics in memory,” writes Fishbeck, reflecting on the record’s seamless blend of intimate recollections and catchy hooks. The result is a cohesive work encapsulating the duality of Wareham’s career: haunted by the past, yet steadfastly pushing forward. As Fishbeck poignantly puts it, “Imagination is nothing but the working over of what is remembered.”

Mint green vinyl, limited to 350 copies. Dead Meadow's highly anticipated tenth studio album Voyager to Voyager marks a defining moment in their illustrious 26-year journey. Revered as a pioneering force in the heavy psychedelic rock scene since their formation in the late '90s, the band delivers not only their most emotionally charged and sonically expansive album to date but also a powerful tribute to their brother, late bassist Steve Kille, whose battle against cancer and untimely passing in early 2024 has made it the poignant end of a chapter in the band's history. Written and recorded across three intense sessions in downtown LA's Ultrasound Studios, Voyager to Voyager perfectly encapsulates Dead Meadow's raw energy and creative chemistry. During the sessions, the band worked quickly, using only the first or second take to preserve the immediacy found in their live show, with drummer Mark Laughlin delivering some of his best performances to date.

Patricia Kaas' 2008 album Kabaret is a tribute to the glamorous world of 1930s cabaret, blending elements of French chanson, jazz, and pop. The album features a mix of original songs and covers, all delivered with Kaas' signature smoky vocals and dramatic flair. Standout tracks like "Et s’il fallait le faire" and "Le jour se lève" showcase her emotional depth and ability to evoke nostalgia, while the arrangements bring a modern twist to classic sounds. Inspired by legendary performers like Marlene Dietrich, Kabaret reflects themes of love, passion, and melancholy, all set against a backdrop of sophisticated, retro-inspired melodies. With its cinematic atmosphere and elegant production, Kabaret is a must-listen for fans of Patricia Kaas and lovers of classic French music, offering a timeless journey into the cabaret era. Kabaret is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on turquoise coloured vinyl.

TYRON is a tale of two halves exposing human complexity. Just as with the narrative of his own life, there are always two sides to every story. Side one re-introduces us to the classic hubris, machismo, and braggadocio typical of rap music. Side two takes what you thought you knew about slowthai and flips on its head. ‘feel away’ and ‘nhs’ go some way to dip a toe inside the complexities of his mind but delve deeper and you’ll be left with a clearer understanding of who he truly is. Honesty is paramount as ultimately Ty wants listeners to know that “it’s ok to be yourself”.

TYRON was formed against the backdrop of an unforgiving climate where judgement, shaming and underdeveloped and simplistic conceptions of other people are fashionable. Instead of succumbing to such simplicity, TYRON presents an artist who is unabashedly complicated and willing to explore themes of loneliness, identity, self-acceptance, and the difficulties in becoming an individual. Unlike the political overtone of slowthai’s debut album ‘Nothing Great About Britain’ which took listeners on a journey through slowthai’s turbulent upbringing and his stance on British life – this self-titled follow up, TYRON is a melodic dive through the expansive landscape of his feelings. His ability to bear his imperfections and contradictions makes TYRON an album that is the antithesis of a culture of purity. A resistance to the rising tide of moral one-upmanship and the pervasive self-righteousness that blinds us to our own fallibility.

Pharoahe Monch is one of the most revered and influential emcees in the history of hip-hop, and 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of his fourth studio album "PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder".

In PTSD, Pharoahe Monch continues the story he began telling in his previous LP, "W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)" from 2011. The Queens emcee narrates, in both literal and metaphoric ways, about the trials and tribulations of an independent artist who is at war with the music industry and the struggle of the black male experience in America.

In 2012, during an interview with Shawn Setaro, host of the podcast The Cipher, the rapper explained the connections between the two projects, beyond their titles. “The W.A.R. album was like, I’m going to battle against the machine, I’m doing this independently. I’m putting some things out that I learned and I’m going to expose about the music industry. PTSD is the result of me doing that, where I am emotionally now. It’s similar to how someone comes back from war and is stricken by re-adjusting to a regular situation.”

Monch told MTV Hive that PTSD is “more mental, emotional and personal” because it came out of the depths of a period of depression. He also gave the internal and external factors that helped him create the album. “I was working on the title track, which took me to a point in between Internal Affairs and Desire, where I was heavily depressed. Through the waiting period, the industry period, and going through a lot emotionally. Then there was the physical problem with asthma. It was the worst. So I started off with that title track and my manager was like, ‘Yo, let’s really dive into that state and how you got to where you are now, and how this follows what people go through to get back to a so-called ‘normal’ situation’.”

The concept album follows a veteran through combat experience, his return home, relationship dissolution, drug addiction, painful depression, and, finally, a triumphant but realistically rendered decision to keep living and struggling.

Es gibt wenige Gruppen, die nach 20 Jahren Bandgeschichte immer noch stolz zurückblicken können auf ein Gesamtwerk, das so konsequent innovativ ist wie auch von der Kritik gefeiert.

Inszenierten sich The Horrors auf ihrem Debüt 'Strange House' von 2007 noch als Zeitgeist aufrüttelnde Garagen-Goths, schlugen sie auf dem Mercury-nominierten Nachfolger 'Primary Colours' eine scharfe Linkskurve in Richtung Shoegaze ein - von Anfang an bewegten sie sich frei zwischen Genres und Atmosphären. Das 2011 erschienene 'Skying' gewann den NME Award für das beste Album, 'V' wurde in einer Fünf-Sterne-Rezension des Guardian als „ein Triumph“ gefeiert, während die beiden EPs von 2021 - 'Lout' und 'Against The Blade' - mit ihrem bisher industriellsten und kompromisslosesten Output ein neues Kapitel aufschlugen.

Mit ihrem sechsten Album 'Night Life' hat die Band einmal mehr eine neue Form angenommen, mit neuem Sound und diesmal auch neuer Besetzung, und bleiben so ganz die Alten.

Ltd. Col. LP: (Crystal Clear Vinyl)

Es gibt wenige Gruppen, die nach 20 Jahren Bandgeschichte immer noch stolz zurückblicken können auf ein Gesamtwerk, das so konsequent innovativ ist wie auch von der Kritik gefeiert.

Inszenierten sich The Horrors auf ihrem Debüt 'Strange House' von 2007 noch als Zeitgeist aufrüttelnde Garagen-Goths, schlugen sie auf dem Mercury-nominierten Nachfolger 'Primary Colours' eine scharfe Linkskurve in Richtung Shoegaze ein - von Anfang an bewegten sie sich frei zwischen Genres und Atmosphären. Das 2011 erschienene 'Skying' gewann den NME Award für das beste Album, 'V' wurde in einer Fünf-Sterne-Rezension des Guardian als „ein Triumph“ gefeiert, während die beiden EPs von 2021 - 'Lout' und 'Against The Blade' - mit ihrem bisher industriellsten und kompromisslosesten Output ein neues Kapitel aufschlugen.

Mit ihrem sechsten Album 'Night Life' hat die Band einmal mehr eine neue Form angenommen, mit neuem Sound und diesmal auch neuer Besetzung, und bleiben so ganz die Alten.

With Helldorado, the third installment of SPIRITWORLD’s death-western trifecta, chief hombre Stu Folsom and his rhinestone- encrusted, Stetson-wearin' wrecking crew take you deeper into a world where the hot desert sun beats down on a singular vision of the American West as a gateway to hell. “It’s a different album than the past two,” says Folsom of the thematic and sonic journey that began with the Las Vegas band’s 2020 Pagan Rhythms LP and continued with 2022’s Deathwestern. From the honky-tonk swing of opener "Abilene Grime" to the Slayer-worthy riffing of "No Vacancy in Heaven" and the unforgettable "Oblivion" (which features members of Black Braid and Rise Against), SPIRITWORLD's story rides on with this latest offering, blasting Mojave-born bloodlust and stomping tomahawk riffs while charging straight into a sonic vision of macabre Americana.

"Héctor Roberto Chavera (1908-1992) under his stage name Atahualpa Yupanqui is the most important Argentinian folk singer-songwriter. His father was a mestizo of Quechua and Basque ascendant who worked for the railroad company. The family moved to Tucumán, in the Argentinian northwest when he was nine years old. There Héctor adopted the stage name of Atahualpa Yupanqui in tribute to two legendary Incan kings. His quechua nickname can also be read as “he who came from afar to tell stories”.
In his youth, he travelede through the northwest of the country studying the indigenous cultures. He would get into politics joining the Argentinian Comunist Party and in 1931 took part in the failed Kennedy Brothers uprising against José Félix Uriburu coup d’êtat. when the uprising was defeated he had to seek refuge in Uruguay until 1934.
In his poems set to music, Yupanqui depicts scenes of his country¡s live and landscapes and has a very present commitment to the working class in a similar way to that of other famed singer-songrwriters, with the name of Woody Guthrie coming first to mind.
This compilation collects some of the best songs of his extensive discography in their original recordings. Many of them have been covered internationally by artists such as Daniel Viglietti, Mercedes Sosa, Facundo Cabral, Victor Jara, Los Albas, Marie Lafôret or Joan Manuel Serrat, among others."

“Machine Against Rage” is the first release on OAOE - a new experimental music series on Wodawater.

Real and cloned voice becomes intertwined with physical space forming a call and response chain of a spatial imaginary emerging from a certain passage from Philip K. Dick. The machine never stops and enfolds the listener with affective feedback tones, subtle rhythms, disjointed impacts and noise. The record is result of a collaboration between the label’s founder Miko Szatko, also known as the techno producer and performer TRSSX and co-founder of EXIT Glasgow, and Verena Lercher, a Berlin-based media artist and resident at spæs - lab for spatial aesthetics in sound in Berlin. All recorded at Funkhaus Berlin between 2023-24, the six compositions originate from various feedback spatialisations and turntable movements amplified by an IKO, the 20-membrane speaker-instrument developed by spæs lab’s co-founder Gerriet Krishna Sharma and the IEM in Graz.

An imperial phase Actress commits a lushly amorphous installation piece made for the Berliner Festspiele to vinyl, rendering a post-industrial symphony full of iridescent shifts in gyring, OOBE-like spatial coordinates landing somewhere between nutopian ambient, kankyō ongaku and sawn-off bass science.

‘Grey Interiors’ was made in collaboration with Actual Objects and is an absorbing animation and navigation of those post-human ideals that have prompted Darren J. Cunningham to his best work across the preceding two decades. In its hypnagogic symphony of the elements, he short-circuits distinctions of classical music’s metric freedoms and the hyperspatial sensuality of concrète/electro-acoustic and ambient musics with an artistic license that has come to distinguish his work in the contemporary field, and arguably identified him as this generation’s most vital electronic abstractionist.

The first half of the album is bewitchingly airless, materialised in a twinkling vacuum. Naturalistic environmental recordings and a half-heard piano swirl around nauseous airlock whooshes and eerie bass drones. It's all pulverised to a powdery, shimmering residue; if Actress's music is defined by its character and texture - that sweet spot between the bedroom and the soundsystem - then this one advances the narrative without losing its backbone. And like a lot of his best work, it comes into its own on the back of zonked eyelids, conjuring a play of shifting geometric patterns within its imaginary physics and nuanced narration of ephemeral melodic phrasing and vaporous textures.

At about the halfway point, that dissociated piano finds its groove, coalescing into a jerky drum machine rhythm popping like bubbles in the stifling atmosphere. We can draw some intersecting lines here thru electronic music lore - traces of vintage AE, Push Button Objects, UR - but Actress always leaves an indelible fingerprint on anything he touches. Even when he's rubbing against the gallery-industrial complex, he manages to fill a stagnant space with electricity and wit; look at the title itself: is it a reference to the "landscape beyond man" as the installation's press release might have us believe, or the institutions themselves?

T. Gowdy returns with a major statement and luminous stylistic expansion on his third album for Constellation. Trill Scan is an exquisite suite of songs literally and figuratively about alchemy, where Gowdy melds his background in choral and medieval music with his trademark analogue electronics. Following the acclaimed Miracles (Bleep Album of the Week / Albums of the Year 2022), Gowdy's bar-raising new LP centers human voice for the first time. Choral set-pieces and solo lead vocals, along with his own lute playing, are novel elements in Gowdy's work, and draw on strains of Middle Ages polyphony and the Baroque "broken style" to further distinguish Trill Scan from anything in his discography to date. Gowdy sees "the modal language of medieval Europe as a less distant cousin to indigenous traditional music practice" compared to a Classical-colonial "patriarchal order of tonality that honours a system of domination." The 12th century Notre Dame School of choral music and 17th century style brisé each carry tonal materiality, heterodox technique, and cultural-historical symbolism central to Trill Scan's conceptual and compositional alchemy. Gowdy coheres these beautifully into his palette of serpentine slowburn electronics, a minimal analogue-driven techno shaped by aleatory strategies and tinged with post-punk grit. Gowdy's sound has been aptly described as "gently transportative, flickering like a busted halogen lamp" and his overriding pursuit of psychoacoustic immanence likened to "getting your brain massaged" and praised as "blissful work that bristles with effervescent energy, like brain waves coming in and out of focus." Trill Scan expands this sonic sensibility with more conspicuous harmonic complexity, stylistic variety, and humanistic narrative arc. Alternately sacramental and intimately personal vocals, sometimes wordless and sometimes lyrical, are worked into superlative instrumental tracks, yielding a warmly immersive concept album that's equally Gowdy's most musical. Gowdy sings explicitly of alchemy on the hypnotic album centerpiece "Novus Lumen" with lyrics that gesture at these medieval processes of material investigation. The tension between the scientific and esoteric is crucial; the separation and synthesis of physical substances in medieval alchemy maps onto his fixation with the interplay between the materiality of sound and psychoacoustics. Gowdy follows the Jungian interpretation of classic alchemical texts as an historical bridge to theories of the psyche, where consciousness itself is treated as materiality and similarly subjected to methodical analysis and experimentation, to deconstruction, dissolution, transformation, reintegration, metamorphosis. Song titles like "Arislei Bone" and "Materiadiscipuli" further reference these mythopoetic throughlines from medieval alchemy to modern psychology. Gowdy chooses disruptive forms from the history of Western music that symbolize and prefigure the modern psychological subject and its struggle for/against order, even as they also evoke liturgy and the Renaissance court. The sacramental adds a potent dimension to his pursuit of psychoacoustic activation, meditation, and transcendence, as choral passages intersperse with electronic drone and pointillism throughout the album. His gorgeous Fennesz-meets-lute rendition of the Baroque composition "Courante" by François Dufault offers idiomatic salon-secular counterpoint. Album closer "Strewn" is bookended by a final recurrence of choral invocation, with pulsing earworm motorik techno in between, over which Gowdy whisper-sings a dreamlike vision quest of mythic-alchemical imagery: "as I washed my eyes they turned to metal / and the memories melted to the metal / the metal of my heart." A mesmerizing final song that explicitly invokes Gowdy's search for materialized abstraction and substantive musical immanence wrought from his own psycho-therapeutic subjectivity, and encapsulates the album's turn towards more harmonic, historicized, and humanistic elements. Trill Scan commingles empyrean and earthly electronic songcraft to genuinely original and absorbing effect. Thanks for listening. RIYL: Coil, Nicolás Jaar, Alessandro Cortini, Pantha Du Prince, Fennesz, Visible Cloaks, Actress,

These two vinyl records showcase the legacy left by the boogaloo movement in Peru between 1966 and 1975. They comprise twenty-two songs by seventeen artists who recorded on the remarkable local label MAG more than five decades ago and now invite today’s new generations to dance body and soul to these re-releases. You will find outstanding tracks by the likes of Tito Chicoma, Melcochita, Los Kintos, Otto Rojas, Coco Lagos among many others. MAG was one of the most important and prolific labels in Peru and, though it also was involved in releasing a lot of other types of music, its specialty was the tropical variety, which coincidentally, DJs and collectors seem to crave most. Peru developed a major boogaloo scene in the mid-60s, far from the genre’s place of origin, New York, where iconic songs like 'Bang Bang' and 'El Pito', fused soul and funk with Latin sounds, conquering dance halls and winning extensive radio airplay. The music trend soon spread to Caribbean countries and from there made the geographical leap to the city of Lima. 'El Pito', the collective creation of the Joe Cuba Sextet, was particularly popular. Shorn of overelaborate arrangements, the improvisation and spontaneity of the song resonated with the young generation who were avid for new music after the U.S. placed an embargo on the distribution of Cuban music. In July 1966, Rebeca Llave´s label, Disperú, released the 45 RPM of 'El Pito' (and Joe Cuba's LP), promoting the single in the most prestigious newspaper in the country: El Comercio. The press information stated that the record had sold seventy thousand copies in New York and fifty thousand in Los Angeles. That same year local dance versions by the bands of Alfredo Linares (MAG) and Lucho Macedo (El Virrey) were released, followed by another by the band of the Argentinean musician Enrique Lynch who was based in Peru (Sono Radio). These records were a hit with a new generation that embraced Lucho Macedo's band and the garage rock of Los York's with equal enthusiasm. Although Joe Bataan claimed that boogaloo was killed off at the end of the sixties by the labels and their veteran musicians (who conspired against the new generation of singers), Pete Rodriguez, Richie Ray and the Lebrón Brothers continued to release boogaloo records in Peru, but salsa music soon took over.

I wrote The Shit Punx Hate for Realicide in 2005. This version was made for Decide Today around a decade later, maybe 2015? It was about the pathetic narrow-minded dogmas that were common in Cincinnati punk, being discriminated against when our approach defied dominant aesthetic criteria, chronically misunderstood and rejected without consideration.

This experience in my formative years led to a long path of thought as I entered adulthood. Those feelings of being "other"ed, treated poorly based on who I was, started to seem less significant compared to the prejudices I saw friends faced with. Targets of bigotry due not to a subcultural choice, but aspects of themselves they were born into. Of course I mean things like race, gender, class, abilities. If being dissed by punk rockers sucked for me, imagine what it must feel like being the only black kid in a social circle that can't even recognize its own racism, the only woman in places misogyny is the celebrated standard, having a non-white family at risk of deportation, growing up "male" or "female" when you've always known they are wrong about you, etc. This was my mental gateway into prioritizing these struggles, wanting to become an ally, then even more so an accomplice.

Revolutionary Reason was written in 2018 during my time working with Mass Action for Black Liberation, and revised abruptly this year while recording for this record, as it was inconceivable not to address the epitome of merciless colonial atrocity orchestrated by the state of Israel. While I write this, the IOF is massacring families in the West Bank. The death toll in Palestine is currently estimated at around 41,000 and it hasn't even been a year since this modern Nakba began. I hope these songs help make apparent that whatever you said you "would do" during Jim Crow America, Nazi Germany, Apartheid South Africa, any archetypal history now synonymous with wrongness, yes I can confirm NOW IS THAT TIME to do it ...if you were for real about it that is.

Big respect to my Arab friends who are so patient while I learn the stuff my school conveniently omitted, to my Jewish friends tirelessly combating the violence of their ethnicity being shackled to a cult of Zionism, to native resistance across Turtle Island that articulates so well that this fight is also still/always very domestic, to contemporary hiphop telling today's stories while rock music often merely offers retro fashion, and of course to Kieren and Borg my homies in OZ.

All my love to intifada direct action everywhere dismantling the imposed global suicide pact that is white supremacist capitalism.

~ Robert Inhuman 28 August 2024

Hot on the heels of A Promise In The Cold Night, LVCA returns to Bordello A Parigi with The Wanderer. Building on his diverse and unique style, genre cross-pollination sits at the heart of this four tracker. Renowned for his analogue live sets, LVCA’s passion for the machine smoulders on this EP. Acid, electro and new beat are central tenets, with the synthesizer taking centre stage. A litany of influences is drawn upon. Crashing snares countered by bright bars, melodic swirls threatened by machined vocals, drum rolls and key stabs marking shifts of intent. Speaker cones conjure late night basements, darker shades churn and melt in the fog and strobe. And throughout, genres and styles converge. Chicago house thaws the frigid severity of wave, italo echoes offering a distant warmth against colder tones taking hold. A 12” that illustrates the dynamic depth and the vibrancy of a true talent.

Arny Margret, Iceland’s remarkable and poetic upcoming singer-songwriter, is due to release her second album ‘I Miss You, I Do’ on March 7th via One Little Independent Records. The follow-up to 2022’s celebrated, minimalist folk debut ‘they only talk about the weather’ sees her working with new producers in America to develop and hone a sound that’s more textured, expansive, and mature.

‘I Miss You, I Do’ incorporates sessions from Arny Margret’s trips to New York City, North Carolina, and Colorado, as well as those recorded in Iceland. During extensive international touring, she wrote prolifically and spent time getting to know producers and musicians who each brought their own unique and individual talents to the project. Arny’s atmospheric and introspective material has been layered with country-inflected full band ensembles, keys, banjo, harmonium, slide guitar and more, adding an ambience that only enhances her natural ability to convey crystal-clear imagery within thematically rich writing.

In pursuit of her creative vision, Arny enlisted producers Josh Kaufman, Andrew Berlin, Brad Cook, and Guðm. “Kiddi” Kristinn Jónsson. Josh Kaufman is best known for his work with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, The National, This Is The Kit, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, and The War on Drugs. Andrew Berlin, GRAMMY nominated for his work on Gregory Alan Isakov’s record ‘Evening Machines’, also mixes national punk rock staples such as A Wilhelm Scream, Rise Against, and Teenage Bottlerocket. Brad Cook served as a producer for Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, Waxahatchee, Hand Habits, Kevin Morby, and Whitney amongst others. Arny also returned to Iceland to record with her long-time collaborator and friend Kiddi Jónsson in Reykjavík, Iceland.

"A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole" is the latest album from London-based composer-poet-activist-improviser Alabaster DePlume, his first major work following 2022"s "Gold" and 2020"s "To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol 1". The 11-song album covers all of DePlume"s musical touchstones: lush and gentle instrumentals informed by ghostly ancient folk melodies; groove-focused rhythm explorations as a bed for self-searching spoken declamations; sweeping and beautiful string arrangements (in this case by Macie Stewart) set against his trademark vibrato-infused tenor sax whispermoan.

"A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole" is the latest album from London-based composer-poet-activist-improviser Alabaster DePlume, his first major work following 2022"s "Gold" and 2020"s "To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol 1". The 11-song album covers all of DePlume"s musical touchstones: lush and gentle instrumentals informed by ghostly ancient folk melodies; groove-focused rhythm explorations as a bed for self-searching spoken declamations; sweeping and beautiful string arrangements (in this case by Macie Stewart) set against his trademark vibrato-infused tenor sax whispermoan.

Cindy Lee, Arthur Russell, Viagra Boys, On-U Sound. In the discourse around new albums from singular, world-building artists, the phrase “a big step forward” can often be a blinking red warning sign. You know you’re about to be pulled somewhere new against your will. Inertia is a hell of a thing. It’s nice here. Surely, the party’s not over yet? JJULIUS’ Vol. 3 album is a big step forward, or a step up, out of the murky basement of the preceding two volumes. There’s no time to acclimate. A spindly violin grabs you by the hand and pulls you into the pastoral bounce of “Brinna ut,” which, in spite of its meaning (“Burn out”), creates the kind of blind positivity and warm stomach feeling less cynical people might find in self-help seminars. For us, we have records like this. And, inertia be damned, Vol. 3 has charm like a balm. JJULIUS records have always arrived like meteors from another planet, an impression hammered home by the fact that they’re titled like compendiums of artifacts. And while Vols. 1 and 2 carried that notable tinge of darkness, Vol. 3 has (almost!) cast that shadow, adding elements of disco (“Dödsdisco”) and dream-pop (“Etopisk hallucination”) to his forever favorites Arthur Russell, African Head Charge, and The Fall. Some of that new car smell could be attributed to a change in process. Each song was written over beats played by Tor Sjödén of the wild-eyed Stockholm group Viagra Boys, beats that were themselves inspired by tracks from the likes of Patrick Cowley, CAN, Count Ossie, Black Devil Disco Club and others that Julius would send to him as inspiration. Unless you’re Mark E. Smith, fervor fades. Eventually we all crave a lie down in some nice grass, a few minutes to gaze at the sky and wonder if everything is actually all that bad. Vol. 3 gives you 35 of those respiting minutes. “No looking back, no misery, no talking trash, no enemies.”

Julek ploski’s ‘Give up Channel’ is on mappa. It’s the follow-up to the Poland-based FL Studio demon’s ‘Hotel *’, released via Orange Milk in 2023.

It’s an album that wrestles against a shadow self. It’s about shelter from the hailstorm of unwanted memories and guilt pangs and serrated blades of thought. It’s about clinging on to some semblance of hope, knuckles taut and teeth gritted.

The fragmented drift of opener ‘Naysayer’ flows forward like an anxious daydream, pad eddies and piano plinks anchored by Trapaholics drops and bursts of guaracha drums. It’s a mess of mind: the bleakness of ‘Truth’ is punctuated by gun cocking and bullet spray and sudden jester-like blasts of unhinged, schizo-whimsical melody. An internal war without a clear winner.

Shame snakes through this music like venom through an emaciated body. Blue screenlight in a dark bedroom, pulsating temples, lockjaw. ‘Titanic’ hits like the thrashing resistance of a being built for love grappling against the scalding vengefulness it’s forced to contend with, the song’s abstracted rave synths giving way to warped voices and spiralling derangement. ‘Hollywood’ is a scarred battleground, the martial bludgeoning of a tightly wound hardstyle stomp blistering and shredding a delicate piano-and-string arrangement.

This music is about deep solitude, a meditation on simmering, slow-marinating hatred. But it’s ultimately about prevailing. It doesn’t revel in negativity, it roils and twists and writhes against it. Dots of light in oppressive darkness. Clarity and purpose against chaos and filth. It’s a struggle worth waging.










h I Was #AllAlone Movements V - VIII
[i] Economy [Movements I - IV]

Roy Rosenfeld is a relentless innovator, continuously refining his craft in unparalleled ways. His distinct musical signature is instantly recognizable, yet he deftly ensures that each track offers a fresh perspective. Rosenfeld continues to assert his presence with the second release from his No Drama label, advancing sonic expression and audio techniques.

The opening track, Da Vision, introduces a rich blend of oriental motifs and unique, pitched synth lines set against a percussive, tribal backdrop. Unified by an unmistakable touch, this piece brings an exotic flair and unexpected vitality. Every detail in Da Vision reflects a meticulous approach. Rosenfeld offers a vibrant listening experience with every beat, creating a dynamic, organic flow. Rosenfeld's approach makes each moment in his track feel spontaneous and human.

The second track, Get Loose, is aptly titled, inviting listeners to shed the burdens of daily urban life. In an era of stress, congestion, and constant demands, his music offers an escape-a brief yet rejuvenating mini-vacation
from the urban hustle. Researchers have long explored the therapeutic power of music, and Get Loose stands as a testament to that potential. The track weaves a hypnotism uncompromising in its primal allure. Layered with a resonant mantra that pulses through consistent intervals, Rosenfeld merges cutting-edge production techniques with a deep-rooted respect for musical heritage, culminating in a melodic crescendo.
With this release, No Drama Records proves that Rosenfeld is as committed as ever to transforming music into an immersive, healing experience for the modern listener.

1970s New York: determined to emerge from his powerful father's shadow and make a name for himself in Manhattan real estate, aspiring mogul Donald Trump is in the earliest days of his career when he encounters the man who will become one of the most important figures in his life: political fixer Roy M. Cohn. Seeing promise in young Donald, the influential attorney--who secured espionage convictions against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and investigated suspected Communists alongside Senator Joseph McCarthy--teaches his new acolyte how to amass wealth and power through deception, intimidation, and media manipulation. The rest is history.

Yellow & Black Vinyl. "The first three are innocent in a way, because we didn't have an audience when we were making them," Oberst says. "But from Lifted on, I was definitely aware of an audience. Lifted was well-received right away, and then everything happened with Wide Awake and Digital Ash." Those two albums came out simultaneously. And their lead singles - "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)," from the austere, remote Digital Ash, and "Lua," from the warm, folky Wide Awake - debuted in the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100. "First Day of My Life," also from Wide Awake, would later be voted the Number One love song of all time by NPR Music's reader's poll.Bright Eyes had officially broken through. It was a heady, exciting time, but also fraught and tense, both because of the band's careening new fame, and because of the state of the world. When Bright Eyes made their Tonight Show debut in 2006, they chose to perform none of their shiny new hits, instead delivering a searing, harrowing rendition of their caustic anti-Bush anthem, "When The President Talks To God."These days, Oberst is still amusing himself by messing with the extremes Bright Eyes baked into this era's releases, extremes that reflected the polar, with-us-or-against-us, fractious feel of the times. The reworked Digital Ash tracks, originally so clean and elegant, are, on the companion EP, full of "harmonica and mandolins - folky vibes," Oberst says. While the analogue sweetness of the Wide Awake songs have been put through a detached nihilism filter.

“Do you still believe it?” John Ross asks that question after journeying through the wreckage. The genesis of Dulling The Horns goes back to late 2022, when Ross began workshopping new material during soundcheck on the ILYSM tour. Last summer, Wild Pink decamped to western Massachusetts to reunite with engineer Justin Pizzoferrato. Ross decided to record Dulling The Horns live in the room, in an effort to capture Wild Pink’s onstage style — rawer, grainier. Gone are the glimmering atmospherics and studio affectations of recent Wild Pink outings. Instead, Ross’ voice is haggard against the humid distortion coating every song. “I wanted to make economical songs,” Ross explains. “Music that is very much at its core three or four people rocking.” If before, Wild Pink took notes from Springsteen and Petty, they’ve now entered their Crazy Horse era. On Dulling The Horns, you can hear him rediscovering the fire in real time. Tropes discarded along the roadside, songs pulled from the formative DNA of rock music, all filtered through years of messy fog. “There is no answer to these problems,” Ross says, having eventually yielded. But as far Dulling The Horns is concerned, there’s at least one path forward: Burn it all away, and keep moving. The album was mixed by Alex Farrar in Asheville NC, mastered by Greg Obis in Chicago, IL and is out in October on Fire Talk.

Orange-farbenes Vinyl mit DLC sowie Digisleeve-CD! Memorial Waterslides" ist das Debütalbum von MEMORIALS, dem Duo bestehend aus Verity Susman und Matthew Simms (zuvor bei Electrelane und Wire). Es handelt sich um ein surrealistisches Pop-Album, das sowohl zeitlos als auch zeitgemäß ist und eine seltene Mischung aus klassischem Songwriting und Avantgarde-Attitüde aufweist. MEMORIALS kreieren einen Panorama-Pop, der auf Vertrautes und Fremdes zurückgreift, aber bekannte Pfade aber auch neue Wege beschreitet. Mit ihrem verspielten und experimentellen Stil, kombiniert mit einer Liebe zu Melodien, stehen sie in einer Reihe mit Broadcast, Portishead, Arthur Russell, The Velvet Underground, Yo La Tengo und Tortoise. Das Album ist voll von Bildern, die eine verlorene Zukunft, eine verschleierte Gegenwart und eine tagträumerische Vergangenheit heraufbeschwören, wobei jeder Song eine Rolle bei der Schaffung einer wirbelnden Breitwandatmosphäre spielt und den Hörer mit auf die Reise nimmt. Der Sound des Albums, das die beiden komplett selbst produziert haben, wurde von den Experimenten mit Tonbändern inspiriert, mit denen sie zunächst auf der Bühne herumspielten, als sie begannen, ihre vielschichtigen Aufnahmen für Live-Auftritte als Duo zu entwickeln. Nach ihren gefeierten 2023-Soundtracks "Women Against The Bomb" und "Tramps!", einer Europatournee mit Stereolab (sie wurden als "Stereolabs böser Zwilling" bezeichnet) und einem neuen Musikauftrag des Centre Pompidou in Paris kamen Verity und Matthew auf MEMORIALS in umgekehrter Richtung an, indem sie ihren Soundtrack-Alltagsjobs entflohen, um kosmische Reisen durch den Gartenschuppen in psychedelischen Rock, abgefahrenen Folk und wilde analoge Elektronik zu unternehmen. "Exciting and unpredictable" The Guardian. "Everything you'd expect from a duo adept in the strange and esoteric, while also in thrall to pop music's melodic bent." The Quietus.

Memorial Waterslides" ist das Debütalbum von MEMORIALS, dem Duo bestehend aus Verity Susman und Matthew Simms (zuvor bei Electrelane und Wire). Es handelt sich um ein surrealistisches Pop-Album, das sowohl zeitlos als auch zeitgemäß ist und eine seltene Mischung aus klassischem Songwriting und Avantgarde-Attitüde aufweist. MEMORIALS kreieren einen Panorama-Pop, der auf Vertrautes und Fremdes zurückgreift, aber bekannte Pfade aber auch neue Wege beschreitet. Mit ihrem verspielten und experimentellen Stil, kombiniert mit einer Liebe zu Melodien, stehen sie in einer Reihe mit Broadcast, Portishead, Arthur Russell, The Velvet Underground, Yo La Tengo und Tortoise. Das Album ist voll von Bildern, die eine verlorene Zukunft, eine verschleierte Gegenwart und eine tagträumerische Vergangenheit heraufbeschwören, wobei jeder Song eine Rolle bei der Schaffung einer wirbelnden Breitwandatmosphäre spielt und den Hörer mit auf die Reise nimmt. Der Sound des Albums, das die beiden komplett selbst produziert haben, wurde von den Experimenten mit Tonbändern inspiriert, mit denen sie zunächst auf der Bühne herumspielten, als sie begannen, ihre vielschichtigen Aufnahmen für Live-Auftritte als Duo zu entwickeln. Nach ihren gefeierten 2023-Soundtracks "Women Against The Bomb" und "Tramps!", einer Europatournee mit Stereolab (sie wurden als "Stereolabs böser Zwilling" bezeichnet) und einem neuen Musikauftrag des Centre Pompidou in Paris kamen Verity und Matthew auf MEMORIALS in umgekehrter Richtung an, indem sie ihren Soundtrack-Alltagsjobs entflohen, um kosmische Reisen durch den Gartenschuppen in psychedelischen Rock, abgefahrenen Folk und wilde analoge Elektronik zu unternehmen. "Exciting and unpredictable" The Guardian. "Everything you'd expect from a duo adept in the strange and esoteric, while also in thrall to pop music's melodic bent." The Quietus. (Limitiertes) Pink farbenes Vinyl mit DLC sowie Digisleeve-CD!

It’s written in the Agreement Terms. There’s no getting out alive in Life. And yet, mankind keeps striving for eternal life; through art, through power, through cryogenics, through singularity. In that misguided quest against the inevitable, we all fall into the category of lost travellers. No one is exempt. In that understanding, Confucius MC and producer Bastien Keb offer no misgivings about the destination on the somber “Time Will Come”: Time will come for all of us / try to take your time.

Songs For Lost Travellers is a collaborative album by Con and Bastien Keb that merges unexplored pathways between rap, folk, and jazz into a spiritual triumvirate. Each genre is a balancing force within the record. The result is an album unlike either artist have made previously, possibly unlike any record in existence. Songs For Lost Travellers opens with bedtime stories and fairytales. Both “Tell Me Lies” and “Fairytale” present the creature comforts that trick us into forgetting the truth. Con’s first words spoken are “tell me lies ‘til I swear I can’t remember” over Keb’s lo-fi plucking that feels like it was lifted from a handheld recorder capturing a nursery mobile above a crib. Third track “Time Will Come” resets the album after acknowledging on “Fairytale” there’s “no nourishment in half-truths / no sustenance in eating lies.”

Honest and direct, Con and Keb imbue Songs For Lost Travellers with knowledge and truth from their lived experiences. There is grief hidden in the notes, an inherent sadness that is balanced with an awareness that grief is a protest against the social machinery of remaining numb. The record lingers in a meditative state, unafraid of restlessness and embracing solitude, with the expectation that peace is just as imminent as death.

The production contains a complimentary authenticity. Neither Con nor Keb bothered much with the professional studio in making Songs For Lost Travellers. Instead they opted for the raw state of their home recordings and first takes, matching the intimacy of being alone and reflective in their creative energies. Room static on “Tell Me Lies” makes it feel like you’ve entered their apartments. The immediacy continues on “Gutters,” as Keb plays guitar while watching the tele and Con hums along to the vocal melody in search of the proper pocket for his verse. Someone snaps their finger to mark a cue, but the snap never returns to the mix to keep time.

More drawn to Keb’s recent folk recordings on the Songs For Lilla EP than his funk roots circa Dinking In The Shadows of Zizou or the cinematic soul of The Killing of Eugene Peeps, Con leaned into the spacial freedom he heard in Keb’s lo-fi production cobbled from field recordings and voice notes. Both artists placed their families into the tableau. Con wrote “Little Man” for his son, hoping to add a positive contribution to the canon of parental rap songs. Later, his son appears at the end of “Paramount” to deliver a passage from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. Keb secretly recorded his mum playing saxophone and sampled his cousin playing sax as well. The result is a near-drumless album (save for “Toulouse” and light tapping on “It Would Speak”) in which Keb’s raw production (plus a few sessions with Kofi Flexxx) gave Con a liminal zone, unencumbered by beats per minute, to craft melodies that turn his philosophical rhymes into mantras.

Perhaps there’s a message in the presence of family? It would be one of many. Con and Keb’s reflective, somber approach to Songs For Lost Travellers does not wallow in the mire. Music is action and it’s taking them through a portal to the other side of grief. We are welcome to join (which is also in the fine print of the Agreement Terms), but first there’s a password in the final song, a single request to answer: Tell me what you care about.

Biography by Blake Gillespie
credits

Mit Rausch Against the Machine kehren Schmutzki zu ihrer Brutstätte zurück: Die verregneten und mit Licht verklebten Straßen ihrer Stadt, wo sie einst in jenem verschimmelten Bunker die ersten 3 1/2 Akkorde in den feuchten Stahlbeton rotzten. Doch vieles hat sich geändert: Gute Freunde sind fort, die alte Liebe fast vergessen und von den damals grandiosen Nächten nur noch Schemen übrig. Sind wir erwachsen geworden_? Schmutzki stemmen sich mit aller Kraft und diesem Album dagegen! Sie beschwören die alten Geister und reanimieren die Nacht und den guten, alten Wahnsinn. Und plötzlich ist alles wieder da: Der Rausch, die Liebe und die alte Gang, die heute alles in Schutt und Asche legen wird. So wie früher. Aber diesmal für immer!

The world became another since the release of »Decadent yet Depraved« and Belief Defect’s reflection of it: now darker, political, honest – end times in Cinemascope. When the duo reunited in the studio after the 2 year fracture COVID inflicted on reality, the album that had been on pause all this time seemed insufficient against whatever life had morphed into, while humanity hid from itself. Finishing an album coherent to the present moment took prolonged studio shut-ins that proved to be as cathartic as the struggle sessions of the cultural revolution must have been. »Desire and Discontent« unfolds like a parable, structured by subsonic frequencies that give arrangements a solid gravity, dissonant chord progressions resulting in coherent movements, punctuated by human-like voices over slow, suspenseful melodies that come into being without the listener’s awareness. Contributing to the album with machine-like precision drumming is Merlin Ettore, vocals from Anna Gartner and the artwork of Juan Mendez (Silent Servant).

In Mallrat’s (aka Grace Shaw’s) vision of the world, light is more than photons and electromagnetic radiation hitting the eye — it’s a moment of divine intervention. A bold swerve into the metaphysical, this is the premise of the prized Brisbane-born, LA-based pop songwriter and producer’s 2025 sophomore album: Light hit my face like a straight right. Set against a newly informed backdrop of expressive breakbeats and dance music, its 12 songs explore the intangible and mysterious allure of human connection, held together by curious investigations into light — “the closest thing to a concept this album has,” Mallrat says. She reunited with Butterfly Blue producers Styalz Fuego (Troye Sivan, Tate McRae) and Alice Ivy, while bringing into the mix indie electronic producers Chrome Sparks and Casey MQ. Mallrat serves up highs like “Hideaway,” a song where heart-racing garage clashes with her trademark candor: “I’ll be your lucky charm just let me hang around your neck,” she sings. Sleek and early standout “Pavement” gets a gritty underlayer with chopped up vocals from DJ Zirk’s “Born 2 Lose” and mid-album standout “Hocus Pocus” finds Mallrat singing about being pulled “under the spell” of someone new, borrowing a different part of the same DJ Zirk sample to build its shimmering, dancefloor-ready facade. It’s an endeavor that perhaps reaches a peak on “Horses,” the record’s gentle and organic closer which Shaw herself calls “objectively the best song.” Written after returning home to Brisbane and “feeling like an alien,” it gained new meaning in the wake of her late sister’s passing. For Shaw, it’s the convergence of the song’s minimalism, lyrics, space, and the way her voice cracks on the recording as she sings, “Hey, I’m right here, I look different now.” After years of solidifying herself as a master of well-crafted, timeless pop — fielding recognition from New York Times, NYLON, Teen Vogue, Billboard, The FADER, NPR, and more — Light hit my face like a straight right is a step into the art of world-building, bolstered by her intuitive songwriting and clever, studied production.

Jesse Hackett returns with another unclassifiable co-mingling of genres, this time made in collaboration with Durban-based gqom trio Phelimuncasi. The group met up in Nyege Nyege's Kampala studio last year, spending three days engineering a sequence of tracks that turned the acts' respective sounds inside out, stretching urgent vocals over mutating backdrops of time stretched electronic drums, saturated noise and unstable synths.We last heard from Hackett on last year's chilling 'Shadow Swamps', a chilly, surrealist blast of disembodied folk and vintage electronics that added a cinematic twist to industrial music. Phelimuncasi meanwhile followed their acclaimed debut with the enormous 'Ama Gogela', asserting their dominance with tight, dancefloor-fwd, hook-led jams produced by some of the scene's most important beatmakers. In collaboration, both Metal Preyers and Phelimuncasi materialized a few worlds outside their comfort zones, with the Durban trio's words frothing from Hackett's marshy productions like echoes from another universe.Opening track 'Gidigidi ka Makhelwane' erupts in a fizz of beatbox percussion that loops noisily alongside Makan Nana, Khera and Malathon's stirring vocals, delivered in their local isiZulu tongue. Hackett's process is relatively restrained, offering Phelimuncasi the space to work their rousing magic unimpeded and adding punctuation where necessary. But when he takes more of a destructive role, it's just as impressive: on 'Gqom slowgen Chant', he corrupts his rhythm into a ritualistic pulse, letting the trio's words melt into metallic clicks and nauseous atmospheres.Elsewhere on 'Mgiligi wableka', Phelimuncasi's words create a rousing rhythm against a low-n-slow gqom thud from Hackett, and on 'Coffin Roller' he brings to mind '80s video nasty soundtracks, toying with analog synth sequences against Makan Nana, Khera and Malathon's distant chants. 'Like A Corpse' might be the album's most hollowed-out banger, turning the beat into a chopped 'n screwed drag that scrapes clamorously against Phelimuncasi's gurgling raps. Needless to say, there's nothing else like this.Jesse Hackett returns with another unclassifiable co-mingling of genres, this time made in collaboration with Durban-based gqom trio Phelimuncasi. The group met up in Nyege Nyege's Kampala studio last year, spending three days engineering a sequence of tracks that turned the acts' respective sounds inside out, stretching urgent vocals over mutating backdrops of time stretched electronic drums, saturated noise and unstable synths.We last heard from Hackett on last year's chilling 'Shadow Swamps', a chilly, surrealist blast of disembodied folk and vintage electronics that added a cinematic twist to industrial music. Phelimuncasi meanwhile followed their acclaimed debut with the enormous 'Ama Gogela', asserting their dominance with tight, dancefloor-fwd, hook-led jams produced by some of the scene's most important beatmakers. In collaboration, both Metal Preyers and Phelimuncasi materialized a few worlds outside their comfort zones, with the Durban trio's words frothing from Hackett's marshy productions like echoes from another universe.Opening track 'Gidigidi ka Makhelwane' erupts in a fizz of beatbox percussion that loops noisily alongside Makan Nana, Khera and Malathon's stirring vocals, delivered in their local isiZulu tongue. Hackett's process is relatively restrained, offering Phelimuncasi the space to work their rousing magic unimpeded and adding punctuation where necessary. But when he takes more of a destructive role, it's just as impressive: on 'Gqom slowgen Chant', he corrupts his rhythm into a ritualistic pulse, letting the trio's words melt into metallic clicks and nauseous atmospheres.Elsewhere on 'Mgiligi wableka', Phelimuncasi's words create a rousing rhythm against a low-n-slow gqom thud from Hackett, and on 'Coffin Roller' he brings to mind '80s video nasty soundtracks, toying with analog synth sequences against Makan Nana, Khera and Malathon's distant chants. 'Like A Corpse' might be the album's most hollowed-out banger, turning the beat into a chopped 'n screwed drag that scrapes clamorously against Phelimuncasi's gurgling raps. Needless to say, there's nothing else like this.

Gatefold Sleeve and on sea blue 180 GSM vinyl. Recorded as an instrumental by Tractor in Rochdale in 1971 and originally released on LP in 1972 “Shubunkin” has now been sampled by LA band Broken Bells (Danger Mouse/ Brian Burton and James Mercer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock band The Shins) as the basis of their track “To Anyone a Ghost”. Julian Cope writes about the Tractor track “Shubunkin” : ...“Then, one night in mid 1972, John Peel played a track that was more mysterious than almost anything I had ever heard. It was the music I thereafter wanted played at my funeral and was most certainly the sound of a soul approaching the canopy of heaven as it left the earth for the last time.” ..“without the proper printed Dandelion label there to guide me, I left a blob of marker pen on the side that began with ‘Shubunkin’ and that became the ultimate beginning to any LP in my collection.” Originally Issued in late 2019 as a vinyl LP as a protest against Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s plans to knock down four of the Seven Sisters/College Bank Flats- these blocks of flats were home to Tractor’s drummer in the 1970s as well as their manager Chris Hewitt and Andy and Liz Kershaws’ dad and a whole host of poets, musicians, tv producers etc. Many Tractor numbers were worked out in these flats prior to recording at various studios around Rochdale and Heywood. All songs written by Jim Milne and Steve Clayton. Jim Milne -vocals guitar (and bass most tracks), Steve Clayton -Drums and Percussion, Dave Addison- bass on Northern City. The album now starts the way Julian Cope always wanted to run.

'Challenge Me Foolish' is an almost lost album of µ-Ziq material circa 1998-99, an era that saw Mike Paradinas release 'Royal Astronomy' on the now defunct Virgin subsidiary Hut records, and also tour with Björk.

It's an era of his music that's definitely worth re-exploring, in which Mike went against the grain by producing music that was baroque, melodic and whimsical, while the IDM movement he was lumped with made instrumental music that was often neurotic and complicated. His taste for melody and dreamy beauty above roughness and intricacy confused people who were hanging on too tightly to the rules. He even brought in Japanese vocalist Kazumi, adding an extra human touch.

'Challenge Me Foolish' is something of a companion to the Royal Astronomy record, arguably even better given the fresh ears selecting the material. It's imbued with a confident sense of pastoral colour, and a gentle optimism, utilising bells, studied orchestral arrangements and airy synthesisers that sit the album somewhere between, Jean Jacques Perrey (the French electronic composer whose whimsy was always balanced with serious innovation and chops) and the colourful, optimistic soundtracks of Joe Hisaishi. There's a strange sense of the old and new throughout, the sentimental and utopia, with nary a hint of darkness. Even when the album dips into the hyperkinetic rhythms of jungle, the melodies and mood still retain a sense of gentle warmth. Dive into peak time Paradinas.

Slum Dunk Music is proud to re-release Tropical Punk - a 12" EP by Brazilian mutant punk funk duo Tetine formed by Sao Paulo-born artists/musicians Bruno Verner & Eliete Mejorado, originally released in 2010 - and featuring 4 warm dance punk numbers taken from their the album "From A Forest Near You". The opener "Tropical Punk (Mutant edit)" comes with a brand new mutant funk re-edit with more percussion, more analog synths, warm drum machines, and a funky bassline. The result is a mid-tempo South American cannibalistic disco-pop with catchy lyrics & beautiful half-sang/half-spoken melodies. "Yr Daugther Lies" is a cosmic, experimental/new wave piece with plenty of old school synths, processed vocals, percussive drum machine & spooky live electronics flying around in the mix. It marks Tetine's first collaboration with L.A. electronicists Howardamb. On the B side, "Shiva" comes as a percussive tropical mutnat punk-funk number led by a swinged bassline & Eliete Mejorado's distinct post-feminist spoken word vocals on sordid domesticity set against organic drum beats, dissonant soundscapes, a lost trumpet & some great interplay of raw guitars. The last track "O Espaco" is a relaxed 6-minute cosmic disco piece of Brazilian tropical punk funk on the dangers & delights of being lost in the jungle - sang in Portuguese by Bruno & Eliete - & permeated by a discordant interplay of ultra-funky guitars, abstract synth-bass plus all sorts of FX & live electronics. Tropical Punk finds Tetine celebrating their art-punk roots back to the underground of Sao Paulo with a collection of wild & raw unconventional dance tracks.

20025 Repress

Barker makes solo debut on Ostgut Ton with new experimental dancefloor EP

Sam Barker has had a long ongoing relationship with Berghain and Ostgut Ton, having released two LPs and various EPs as one half of Barker & Baumecker and hosting regular nights at the club since September 2008 as co-founder of the label Leisure System. 2017 marked the beginning of his solo residency, 2018 sees his first solo release with Ostgut Ton.

Both as a musician and label owner, Barker operates on the fringes of techno, balancing experimentation with functionality. On Debiasing, he takes a hard look at the musical elements often
considered necessary to maintain dancefloor momentum, with four distinct tracks of morphing synth stabs and paired down metronomic rhythms in varying time signatures. While there is no kick, snare, or clap to be heard, the result is not experimental techno deconstructions but driving, hypnotic and unlikely dancefloor tools.

Inspired by the psychology underpinning relationships between producer/DJ and audience, Debiasing is an exercise in creating alternative paths within a techno framework. In Barker's own words: If you have ever sat down with a drum machine and tried to elude the rules of dance music, you will find at whatever tempo, and however you arrange the rhythms of each sound, you inevitably end up somewhere. I've generally tried to get away from that, but you always hit against this problem of an all-encompassing taxonomy and the baggage that comes with it. For a long time, music only seemed to show me how deeply locked into our habits and patterns we are.