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Haf is the third album from Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 in little over a year, no mean feat in and of itself but especially considering Carwyn’s work with other artists (including Edwyn Collins and the North Mississippi Allstars) this year too.

The album picks up where their last (Fontana Rosa) left off, with around half the album being recorded analog to tape at Gizzard Studios in London, with one last tune remaining from their sessions at the legendary (but now closed) Toerag Studios.

There are echoes here of their first album, Joia! - the recordings were once again instigated by the great Brazilian producer and multi-instrumentalist who happened to be visiting London earlier in the year. He suggested doing something.... so they did. And there is a return to more definite Brazilian influences too - Tonnau Ar Tonnau is an homage to ‘Onda’ by Cassiano, Keep On Smiling has a distinct samba / chorro feel. Gwenyn y Gwanwyn (about helping a bee out if you see it struggling) is very much a nod to the psychedelic samba funk of Antonio Carlos e Jocafi. But other Latin styles still loom large: on the sultry salsa of Bella Estrella or the melancholic Andean ballad, Lagrimas Frias.

Anglo-Brazilian singer Nina Miranda features on the Lalo Schifrin goes samba Shades of Red, while new addition to the Rio 18 family (at least on record), Miriam Isaac adds a real RnB edge to the record, along with some beautiful duets: the Salsoul banger Como Te Amo and the gorgeous Whistling Sands (about a beach in North Wales) are standouts.

In reverse to how Carwyn made the first two Rio 18 albums, Haf was recorded in London
and Wales and mixed over five hectic days in Rio. Three days later, it was mastered and at
the pressing plant. Time doesn’t wait for Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18!!

Finally, the song ‘Haf’ and the album itself are dedicated to Haf Morris, Carwyn’s late music teacher - he says, “her focus, guidance and patience shaped me like no other. I hope she’s enjoyed my musical journey, from wherever she’s watching. Diolch, Haf”.

A pandemic album of songs of heartbreak, virality, and dead rats, which Wood called "goodbye cruel world: the musical." The revealing chamber pop/folk album "In Case I Make it" (ICIMI), which Will Wood playfully dubbed "Goodbye Cruel World: The Musical," turned out to be a surprisingly strong followup to his chaotic and sardonic previous release, "The Normal Album." While divisive among some fans due to its gentler sounds and more traditional vocal stylings than most of his last work, ICIMI attracted new, older audiences and showed a more personal side that provided a new context to his discography. Widely considered to be some of his most powerfully emotional work, both the harshly introspective and humorous songwriting, as well as its unique delivery, are still distinctly Will Wood in their experimental nature and uncompromising unwillingness to conform to the expectations of both die-hard fans and audiences at large. In 2021, the underground singer-songwriter was suddenly the subject of unexpected online attention, which, in tandem with mental health struggles, inspired him to put out a "musical suicide note," intended to express parts of his artistic and personal identity that had gone largely unseen by a fanbase he felt misunderstood. Leading the album with intentionally algorithm-unfriendly singles and putting an eight-minute love ballad as the second track on the LP, Wood aggressively redefined himself as being more than just a handful of wacky, unwitting viral pops. Ironically, the surprise viral success of the deep cut "The Main Character," a relentless satire of online culture, drew attention to the album and its second biggest hit, the angst-ridden yet danceable "Against the Kitchen Floor." However, the immense orchestration and vulnerable writing have kept audiences coming back. Songs like "Euthanasia" and "Tomcat Disposables" have developed reputations as tearjerkers, and songs like "Cicada Days" and "White Noise" have become fan anthems in the years since.

Islaja presents her new album ”Angel Tape”, her debut release on the new Helsinki-based label Other Power. Drawing inspiration from childhood epiphanies while listening to an alleged recording of angels singing, Islaja has crafted an album that stands out as a major work in her expansive and celebrated catalogue, which includes previous releases on labels such as Ecstatic Peace!, Fonal and Svart.


Islaja, aka Finnish artist Merja Kokkonen, describes her new album as a “counterwork” to her most recent albums, where the mode of composing was more song-based. This time around, she goes more in the direction of vast fields of sound where the human voice is a key ingredient of music that breaks free of strict stylistic guidelines and traditional song forms. Rough around the edges, atonal and otherworldly, "Angel Tape” is the result of a lifetime of inspiration from something beyond the immediate realm of our experience, an attempt to catch the elusive essence of musical otherness.


”As a child, I listened to the ’angel tape’ my mother played, and I never thought that the human voices I heard on it were angels singing. Instead, all the aural debris lying just beneath the surface caught my attention as I thought it was mysterious and something from a different world than ours, and so that was probably what was referred to as the ’angels’ so miraculously caught on tape”, Kokkonen explains. ”I think this was one thing that led me on this lifelong quest to find new sounds and forms in music.”



The tape she is referring to, a mid-80s church recording, was passed around in religious circles. Each time the tape was copied, it became slightly more distorted. It was believed that this recording of religious music had accidentally captured for the first time the voices of actual angels singing. The tape was rumoured to have originated in Kansas City and to have made its way to Finland.


Whereas Islaja has often thought of albums as being collections of recent songs presented together, ”Angel Tape” has a strong sense of conceptual coherence. The music comes from a place. That doesn’t mean that one must take a single path from one place to the next, as close listenings of the album reveal layers upon layers of not only sound but also of mood and meaning. From the human voice in its barest form, to the rising dense walls of sound moving and reshaping, ”Angel Tape” is a captivating album that unveils new contours with each repeated listening.

Drummer/producer Teppo Mäkynen's 3TM returns with a new album, "Lake", on 29 November on Helsinki's We Jazz Records. The album is the much awaited follow up to 2017's successful 3TM debut "Form", which was awarded as the "Jazz Album of the Year" in Mäkynen's native Finland. "Lake" was preceded by the ambient electronic album "Abyss" in August, which set the mood for what's to come next: A compact yet far-reaching body of work bringing together the trio's acoustic jazz sound and ideas rooted in abstract electronic music in a remarkably boundless way.

"Lake" is a collection of 9 Mäkynen-penned originals ranging from the looping, hypnotic compositions such as first single "Laws Of Life" to the delicacy of tracks such as "Woods". There is a sense of long form narrative here, evident in glorious, slowly evolving tracks such as "Lake" and "A Pile Of Broken Dreams". The overall sound is swinging, melodic, deep and futuristic. It's acoustic jazz and abstract electronic music understood deeply and used as the base of a new sound, which goes beyond the usual distinctions of "acoustic jazz" or "electronic music". This is music for the present day, moving forward.

3TM's "Lake" will be available as white and black vinyl versions, complete with printed inner sleeve featuring Mäkynen's essay about the theme of the album. On vinyl, "Lake" will also be available as a 2LP bundle with "Abyss", and the CD version includes both discs, "Lake" and "Abyss".

In the 3TM trio formation Mäkynen is joined by sax man Jussi Kannaste and bassist Antti Lötjönen, both Finnish scene mainstays. The band will celebrate their new release at Helsinki's We Jazz Festival on 7 December.

The dynamic duo of tenor saxophonist Timo Lassy and drummer Teppo Mäkynen return with a double LP of live recordings captured in 2019 and 2020. The We Jazz Records release "Live Recordings 2019-2020" follows the duo's 2019 LP which was shortlisted for "Jazz Album Of the Year" at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards. While the studio album versions were studies in improvisational brevity, the live album lets the long-time collaborators really let loose and build memorable sonic narratives around the compositions. The album is produced and edited by Teppo Mäkynen, also known as a sought-after producer with the knack for looking at the big picture.

From the subtle minimalism of "Fallow" via the ambient of "Aero" to the riff-heavy groove of "Calling James", Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen breathe their music as one unit, building it based on a mutual trust as fellow musicians. Their duo shows have quickly become celebrated examples of what a long history of playing together can enable on stage when paired with the right mindset and a shared musical goal. This live album follows the ethos of both documenting what's happening and expanding on what was captured in the studio earlier.

Double LP gatefold on WHITE or BLACK vinyl.

The dynamic duo of tenor saxophonist Timo Lassy and drummer Teppo Mäkynen return with a double LP of live recordings captured in 2019 and 2020. The We Jazz Records release "Live Recordings 2019-2020" follows the duo's 2019 LP which was shortlisted for "Jazz Album Of the Year" at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards. While the studio album versions were studies in improvisational brevity, the live album lets the long-time collaborators really let loose and build memorable sonic narratives around the compositions. The album is produced and edited by Teppo Mäkynen, also known as a sought-after producer with the knack for looking at the big picture.

From the subtle minimalism of "Fallow" via the ambient of "Aero" to the riff-heavy groove of "Calling James", Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen breathe their music as one unit, building it based on a mutual trust as fellow musicians. Their duo shows have quickly become celebrated examples of what a long history of playing together can enable on stage when paired with the right mindset and a shared musical goal. This live album follows the ethos of both documenting what's happening and expanding on what was captured in the studio earlier.

Double LP gatefold on WHITE or BLACK vinyl.

Für Mandy, Indiana, ist die Wahrheit der einzige Weg. Auf "URGH", ihrem ersten Album bei Sacred Bones präsentiert, sich das Quartett - bestehend aus Sängerin Valentine Caulfield, Gitarrist und Produzent Scott Fair, Synthesizer-Spieler Simon Catling und Schlagzeuger Alex Macdougall - als eine Kraft von unheimlicher Natur, die ein Album geschaffen hat, das ebenso sehr ein Aufruf zum Handeln ist wie eine Reise in die Vergessenheit und Transzendenz. In den zehn Tracks verwebt die Band ihre eigene unkonventionelle Sprache zu einem Mantra für Selbstbestimmung und Widerstandsfähigkeit und schafft so eine Vorlage für eine bessere Zukunft, bevor alles in Dunkelheit versinkt. Ein Großteil des Albums wurde während eines Aufenthalts in einem unheimlichen Studiohaus am Stadtrand von Leeds geschrieben und anschließend in Berlin und Greater Manchester aufgenommen. Es war eine intensive Umgebung, was zum Teil auf die gesundheitlichen Probleme zurückzuführen war, mit denen Caulfield und Macdougall während des Schreib- und Aufnahmeprozesses zu kämpfen hatten. Dennoch bleiben Mandy, Indiana kompromisslos. Caulfield setzt ihre Stimme als verzerrtes Instrument und Waffe ein, die zwischen verspielt und vernichtend oszilliert. Der pulsierende Sirenenton von ,Magazine" steht neben dem zerhackten Vocal Fry von ,try saying" und der sich wandelnden Wildheit von ,ist halt so", das die Dringlichkeit von Protestbewegungen kanalisiert, auf den Widerstand gegen den Völkermord in Gaza verweist und gleichzeitig allgemeinere Kämpfe thematisiert, während der letzte Track ,I'll Ask Her" eine bewusste Direktheit ist, die die toxische Boy-Club-Kultur anprangert, und eine hartnäckige Abrechnung, die über dem gesamten Album schwebt. Obwohl es immer noch unbestreitbare ,Knaller" gibt (wie der zerfetzte Rap von ,Sicko!" mit Billy Woods), wirkt "URGH" oft wie präzise geschnitztes Kino. Vom sprühenden Techno von ,Cursive" bis zu den dekonstruierten Feedback-Loops von ,Life Hex" bewegt sich das Album zwischen industrieller Katharsis und filmischer Unruhe und spinnt eine Spannung, die Fair als ,Remix seiner selbst" beschreibt. Diese kontrastreiche Palette ist sowohl ein notwendiger Aspekt des Albums als auch das zugrunde liegende Bindeglied. Obwohl "URGH" sehr persönlich ist, spiegelt es den gewalttätigen, zerbrochenen Zustand der Welt wider. Caulfields Texte setzen sich mit Gewalt, systemischer Gleichgültigkeit und der Allgegenwart von Schmerz auseinander, betonen aber auch Momente der Schönheit und Solidarität. URGH gehört in die physische Welt, und das Artwork von Carnovsky mit einer anatomischen Illustration von Andreas Vesalius unterstreicht die viszerale Auseinandersetzung des Albums mit dem Körper und seinen Grenzen. URGH ist sowohl jenseitig als auch physisch und kathartisch, sowohl ein erster Schritt zur Heilung als auch eine Weigerung, das Gespräch sterben zu lassen.

Vintage recording equipment has long been a bit of a fetish, but to sound pioneers Voka Gentle, even the most magical machines are a means to an end. The band, made up of twins Ellie and Imogen Mason, along with Imogen’s husband, William J Stokes, are a family band in the truest sense. Whilst they started as a folk trio, their new album Domestic Bliss is an album of throat-grabbing, avant-garde indie rock songs studded with eccentric choices: a synth with its keys jammed, playing a tune of its own making; field recordings – Morris dancers, motorbikes – captured on binaural headphones.

Domestic Bliss is concerned with power: the abuse of it, being on the cusp of it, and what it really means. The album is
teaming with imaginary people in picaresque scenes that reveal the band’s rich cultural storehouse. The songs draw on history, literature, everyday life and pop culture references (specifically Jude Law’s 1995 Vogue cover), with tracks like Cheddar Man reflecting on climate change and prehistory and Creon I tracing the unease of authority through the lens of Greek mythology.

Recorded in the orchestral studios of City University, the album folds intimacy into scale, from phone-recorded vocals and samples of breath to heavy, tribal electronics in grand acoustic spaces. The result is by far their most refined record yet, where the band treat the recording studio like an instrument.

We Jazz Records kicks off their new series of archival 7" releases with Esa Pethman "In Belgium 1967" released 23 September 2022. The two-tracker is licensed from the Belgian VRT radio archives and both of the pieces are previously unreleased. Finnish jazz legend Pethman, heard here on alto flute and tenor sax, joins forces with European jazz greats such as Heinz Bigler, Uffe Karskov and Jean Fanis. This is a small but valuable piece of unheard European jazz history from the early heyday of modern jazz. The physical release is a quality "inside-out"-styled EP with 3mm spine and small center hole on the 45rpm vinyl.

An excerpt from the liner notes by Mikko Mattlar:

"Esa Pethman (b. 1938) was one of the key figures of modern Finnish jazz in the 1960s. His album The Modern Sound Of Finland was the first Finnish modern jazz album and his composition "The Flame" a true modern Fenno-jazz evergreen.

Pethman was born in Kuusankoski, 135 kilometres from Helsinki in the Kymenlaakso area. The jazz scene was active even though it was an area of rural landscapes and paper mills. Pethman discovered jazz when he heard a Charlie Parker record being played at a local music shop in the late 1940s. Following Parker, bebop became his favourite style of jazz.

Young Pethman played flute and saxophone in local bands who accompanied schlager singers. They played tangos and waltzes for dancers, but usually started a typical dance event with an hour of jazz. In 1959 Pethman moved to Helsinki to study music at the Sibelius Academy. Back then it was a strictly classical music academy, but Pethman later described the studies as crucial for his development and career. He quickly made his way to studio sessions and into the best orchestras in Helsinki.

As a student of composition, Pethman also began writing his own music. "The Flame" was a melody he just got on his mind one night, and he decided to write it down. The catchy composition was released as a 7" single in 1964, a year before Pethman's debut album. Both records stand as benchmarks for modern Finnish jazz. The album consisted entirely of Pethman's compositions, not versions of jazz standards like a lot of the Finnish jazz released until then.

In the mid 1960s, Finnish jazz was also taking its first international steps. Pethman's quintet took part in the first Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in June 1967. At the Montreux jazz band competition, the quintet came in fourth of the twelve contestants. Despite not winning the competition, the band got an honourable mention, and Pethman was now recognized outside Finland.

In December 1967 Pethman travelled to Brussels. His visit was organised by the national Finnish broadcasting company Yleisradio and their jazz program producer Matti Konttinen. Konttinen was supposed to go to Brussels with Pethman, but the musician ended up traveling alone.

In the Decca recording studios Pethman played two songs. He recorded a version of his most famous composition "The Flame", where he played the alto flute and was accompanied by Belgian musicians. On Swiss saxophonist Heinz Bigler's composition "Like Steel", Pethman played the tenor saxophone. The band was now more international, consisting of Bigler, the Italian Francesco Santucci, the Dane Uffe Karskov, a Belgian rhythm section and Pethman. After 55 years, Pethman still remembers Bigler's remarkable skills as a saxophonist.

The two-day visit included the recording session, a dinner and a concert. Pethman and the other non-Belgian musicians came to Brussels mainly to play at a jazz concert organised by the European Broadcasting Union EBU. They played at the studio first, and the concert was held the following day. Pethman and all the other soloists played as members of an international big band. The studio and live session were produced by the Belgian Radio and Television jazz section leader Elias Gistelinck."

The Helsinki-based Bowman Trio return with their second LP on We Jazz Records on October 18. "Persistence" is a strong effort, showcasing the young trio's knack at creating dynamic, sparse and memorable music which carries well the term "loft jazz" occasionally attached to it. Here, drummer Sami Nummela, trumpeter Tomi Nikku and bassist Joonas Tuuri present 9 strong originals, 8 of which are penned by Nummela and one by Nikku.

On the course of the new album, Bowman Trio moves from the introspective, calm moments of "Badwater", "Mac Elliot" and "Mä en jaksa" to the full swing of "The Chase" and the solid grind of "Persistence". The album closing track "Sista sommardagen" ("The last day of summer" in Swedish) is a hauntingly beautiful, delicately breezy ballad. Two years in the making, the album is a testament to the album title and a fine example of a band taking time in developing their sound to perfection.

Bowman Trio debuted in 2016 with the group's first LP also being the first release on Helsinki's We Jazz Records, and since then their reputation has grown in Finland and beyond. The trio is known for making music which invites the listener in and takes it sweet time in unraveling its secrets. Their sound is somewhat dry, naturally relaxed and there's a lot of room for manoeuvre within it for all of the players. That being said, each of the musicians in the trio know how to play for their team, and the compositions move forward constantly and effortlessly. Bowman Trio makes music which always feels close to you, like you're right there in the room with the band. That's "loft jazz".

Helsinki quartet Alder Ego, led by drummer/composer Joonas Leppänen, returns with their new album "III" on 9 April on We Jazz Records. A follow up to their successful 2018 We Jazz album, "III" finds Leppänen and his bandmates extracting more depth and punch out of their tenor sax + trumpet + double bass + drums setup, which echoes the greats in the game, such as Ornette Coleman, yet adds a readily identifiable edge to it all. Leppänen's writing is evolving, becoming more and more of a signature of the band and sounding delightfully angular yet easily flowing. On "III", Alder Ego features Leppänen on drums, Jarno Tikka (of OK:KO) on tenor sax, Tomi Nikku (of Bowman Trio) on trumpet and the new addition Nathan Francis on bass.

Kicking off with a key track introducing the band's deep sound, "Love And Maladies", "III" moves through a sonic landscape which is constantly surprising yet identifiable as Alder Ego guided by Leppänen's musical vision at all times. This is true even during moments when the composer himself steps aside, namely in the Tikka–Nikku duo cut "Impermanence" and Nathan Davis's highly memorable solo outing "Nathan's World".

The album's many highlights include singles "November Ghost" and "I Saw It In a Dream", plus the stunning closing track "Ephemeral", featuring Natalia Castrillon on harp.

Alder Ego "III" is available on We Jazz Records on as orange and black vinyl editions, digitally, plus as a bundle bringing together "III" and the band's 2018 album "II".

Sluta Leta first emerged in the mid-1990s with a series of EPs on legendary labels such as Mego (Fan Club, 1995), Uptight (Space Is The Place, 1996), Cheap Records (Lisa 94, 1998) and Chocolate Industries (…If You Like Champagne On Ice?, 1999). After the release of Sluta Leta's debut album “Semi Peterson” on Mego in 2003, the group somehow got lost in Second Life. Having missed a good decade and a half but not a beat, Sluta Leta unexpectedly reappeared in 2020 with a new album – “Entrée Contrôle” produced by Andi Pieper and Ramon Bauer with a little help from Gerhard Potuznik – released on famersmanual’s generate and test label.
Almost 30 years after their first release on Cheap Records (Lisa 94 in 1998), Sluta Leta returns to the Viennese cult label with their new album “Drift Dekoder”. Andi Pieper and Ramon Bauer have once again teamed up with Gerhard Potuznik to produce some crispy new songs that are bound to set the tone for the second half of the 2020s and beyond. On “Drift Dekoder”, the inherently artificial and somewhat otherworldly atmosphere of Sluta Leta’s songs is enhanced by the participation of several brilliant collaborators: vocals by Gerhard Potuznik on “Moment Eternal” and a duet with Luise Nehl on “Past In Reverse”, drums by ddKern (Past in Reverse, Björn i Fårkläder and Rymdpatrul), keys by Philipp Quehenberger (Björn i Fårkläder) as well as vocal contributions from various previous band members – Jonas Bergkvist (Tidsflayer), Bengt Liljstad (First Order) and Yngwie Moskowich (Driftstopp). A particularly noteworthy highlight of the album is the mix of “Tidsflayer” by Finlay Shakespeare.
Stop looking, start grooving! Written and produced by Andi Pieper and Ramon Bauer.
Lyrics and vocals on “Past In Reverse” and “Moment Eternal” by Gerhard Potuznik. “Tidsflayer (Finlay Shakespeare Mix)” mixed and produced by Finlay Shakespeare.

Celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Prince’s 2015 penultimate studio album, available now on vinyl for the first time. The album showcases the innovative spirit of Prince, featuring popular singles like “Stare,” “This Could Be Us,” and “FALLINLOVE2NITE.” The album includes

contributions from artists such as Prince’s bandmates in 3RDEYEGIRL (Hannah Ford-Welton, Donna Grantis, and Ida Nielsen), Judith Hill, Rita Ora, and female rap duo Curly Fryz, but it was primarily a collaboration between Prince and Joshua Welton, who was a co-producer on the album

Siriusmo is back! His fourth album, "Buletten & Blumen", will be released in November 2025 – a collection of musical delicacies. Freshly prepared, spicy, and greasy, but as always with a flower on top. The Berlin-based producer, whose real name is Moritz Friedrich, remains true to himself and his distinctive style – between funk, hip-hop, electronica, soundtrack vibes, and genre playfulness. As usual, Siriusmo wanders through musical styles, embracing them, missing them spectacularly – or simply inventing them. A subtle "Berliner Allerlei". The artist himself says of his working method on the album: "I'm a whole band. Nobody masters their instrument, but everyone pretends to – always with the fear that the others will notice." The album begins with the tongue-in-cheek opener "That Could Function As A Song", an ironic exploration of the artist's own creative process. With "Buletten & Blumen," Siriusmo delivers not simple fare, but a multifaceted menu.

Guests: Mr. Oizo, Erobique, Dana (& Claire Waldorff) An album that oscillates between irony, melancholy, and absurdity.

Tracklist:
A1. That Could Funktion As A Song
A2. Hongkong House feat. Liu's Family
A3. Watch Me Fall
A4. Ok So

B1. Baum
B2. The Syntheziser Has Been Drinking
B3. Liquit feat. Mr. Oizo
B4. In Der Klemme

C1. Koko
C2. Langsame Runde
C3. Der Uhrturm
C4. Meissner Schwerter

D1. Dummdidumm
D2. Every Tree Needs A Friend
D3. Lehm feat. Erobique & Dana
D4. Irgendwohin

Für Mandy, Indiana, ist die Wahrheit der einzige Weg. Auf "URGH", ihrem ersten Album bei Sacred Bones präsentiert, sich das Quartett - bestehend aus Sängerin Valentine Caulfield, Gitarrist und Produzent Scott Fair, Synthesizer-Spieler Simon Catling und Schlagzeuger Alex Macdougall - als eine Kraft von unheimlicher Natur, die ein Album geschaffen hat, das ebenso sehr ein Aufruf zum Handeln ist wie eine Reise in die Vergessenheit und Transzendenz. In den zehn Tracks verwebt die Band ihre eigene unkonventionelle Sprache zu einem Mantra für Selbstbestimmung und Widerstandsfähigkeit und schafft so eine Vorlage für eine bessere Zukunft, bevor alles in Dunkelheit versinkt. Ein Großteil des Albums wurde während eines Aufenthalts in einem unheimlichen Studiohaus am Stadtrand von Leeds geschrieben und anschließend in Berlin und Greater Manchester aufgenommen. Es war eine intensive Umgebung, was zum Teil auf die gesundheitlichen Probleme zurückzuführen war, mit denen Caulfield und Macdougall während des Schreib- und Aufnahmeprozesses zu kämpfen hatten. Dennoch bleiben Mandy, Indiana kompromisslos. Caulfield setzt ihre Stimme als verzerrtes Instrument und Waffe ein, die zwischen verspielt und vernichtend oszilliert. Der pulsierende Sirenenton von ,Magazine" steht neben dem zerhackten Vocal Fry von ,try saying" und der sich wandelnden Wildheit von ,ist halt so", das die Dringlichkeit von Protestbewegungen kanalisiert, auf den Widerstand gegen den Völkermord in Gaza verweist und gleichzeitig allgemeinere Kämpfe thematisiert, während der letzte Track ,I'll Ask Her" eine bewusste Direktheit ist, die die toxische Boy-Club-Kultur anprangert, und eine hartnäckige Abrechnung, die über dem gesamten Album schwebt. Obwohl es immer noch unbestreitbare ,Knaller" gibt (wie der zerfetzte Rap von ,Sicko!" mit Billy Woods), wirkt "URGH" oft wie präzise geschnitztes Kino. Vom sprühenden Techno von ,Cursive" bis zu den dekonstruierten Feedback-Loops von ,Life Hex" bewegt sich das Album zwischen industrieller Katharsis und filmischer Unruhe und spinnt eine Spannung, die Fair als ,Remix seiner selbst" beschreibt. Diese kontrastreiche Palette ist sowohl ein notwendiger Aspekt des Albums als auch das zugrunde liegende Bindeglied. Obwohl "URGH" sehr persönlich ist, spiegelt es den gewalttätigen, zerbrochenen Zustand der Welt wider. Caulfields Texte setzen sich mit Gewalt, systemischer Gleichgültigkeit und der Allgegenwart von Schmerz auseinander, betonen aber auch Momente der Schönheit und Solidarität. URGH gehört in die physische Welt, und das Artwork von Carnovsky mit einer anatomischen Illustration von Andreas Vesalius unterstreicht die viszerale Auseinandersetzung des Albums mit dem Körper und seinen Grenzen. URGH ist sowohl jenseitig als auch physisch und kathartisch, sowohl ein erster Schritt zur Heilung als auch eine Weigerung, das Gespräch sterben zu lassen.

All Nice Records returns with NICE005, the second release from label co-founder Bobby Dreams--a five-track excursion through deep, functional, and emotionally rich house music. Opening with The Signal, a peak-time piano workout laced with congas and classic Chicago house energy, the record sets an infectious tone right away. Let It Be Real follows with smooth, warm textures perfect for early or late hours. On the A3, Stranger Than Fiction delivers a pure 303 exercise--acid lines twisting and mutating over a tight, hypnotic groove. Flip the record for New Horizon, a hopeful, driving cut built for forward momentum, and Enter The Simulation, a deep, late-night closer with a touch of mystery and tension. Crafted for selectors, designed for the floor--NICE005 is house music for any hour of the night. All nice, all night!

2024 repress

In February 2021, Jan Jelinek's seminal album "Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records" turned 20. The anniversary repress, a double LP with two bonus tracks (B-sides from the Tendency EP, 2000), is a little late to the party.
What the press said about Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records:
“Don’t be misled by the title, though for there isn’t a finger-snapping rhythm c bebop lead anywhere on the album. Instead, Jelinek chooses to explore the visual effect moiré - two shifting patterns creating an implied third dimension - in the audio realm.” (Alternative Press)
“The title acts as explanation for the studio technique that provided the basis for this album, snippets of other people’s arrangements deconstructed through a sampler into loops and then splashed onto an audio canvas.” (ATM)
“Jelinek’s sound evolved out of his dislike for (and inability to play) keyboards.” (RPM)
“Jelinek has abstracted his sources beyond recognition, looping his millisecond samples into flickering patterns of sonic moiré laid atop a dub Techno framework. (...) Jelinek might as well have sampled a horn player’s hissing intake of breath – it would have been ‘jazz’ enough for his purposes.“ (The Wire)
“It’s a perfect inversion of conventional music, a sonic negative. Everything that would typically be foreground is moved back or pushed off the screen altogether, and the flecks of sonic debris that would normally be covered by other sounds are left to carry the melody and rhythm.” (Pitchfork)
“All you need to know is that these onomatopoeic non-specific songs (...) are warm, paradisical creations”. (NME)
“Listen carefully and you’ll hear textures slowly unfolding and mutating. Presuming you’ve not fallen asleep of course.” (iDJ)
“At times, it’s all a bit dripping tap Japanese water torture; so sedentary it drowns in its own motionlessness” (DJ)
“Loop Finding Jazz Records' is a genuine modern classic whose re-release is anything but a cynical mortgage repayment exercise. Consider this a second chance, then pretend you had it all along.” (Boomkat)
PS:
“I’ve been fortunate enough to see Jan Jelinek live once, at Tonic NYC (...). Wearing a black and white striped shirt, he looked like a nihilistic Charlie Brown.” (beachsloth)

Following the release of Deltron 3030, all three members participated in the Gorillaz' self-titled debut album. With Del aka Deltron Zero on vocals, Dan the Automator aka The Cantankerous Captain Aptos on production, and Kid Koala aka Skiznoid the Boy Wonder on turntables, this album takes the listener on a paranoid journey set in a dystopian year 3030 dealing with viruses, the apocalypse, an oppressive government, and a war waged against a huge company called the Corporate Bank of Time that rules the universe, all to the well-crafted and consistent musical backing of the Automator. Appearances by Damon Albarn (The Gorillaz, Blur), Prince Paul, Peanut Butter Wolf, DJ Money Mark, Paul Barman, Mark Bell (Bjork, production), Sean Lennon, and Mr. Lif compliment Del's vocal style and add the right amount of flavor to this classic period piece.

From Johannesburg, via Tsukuba. This is Japanese Amapiano.
The pinnacle of Japanese-made Amapiano albums, which took the club scene by storm, is finally available on vinyl!!
audiot909, one of Japan's foremost amapiano producers and DJs, will release his album “JAPANESE AMAPIANO THE ALBUM” on vinyl three years after
its initial digital-only release in 2023.
Featuring 11 tracks domestically interpreted and woven together without losing respect for the Amapiano genre and the culture and background that shaped it.

Mit Laughter In Summer präsentiert die legendäre Singer-Songwriter-Ikone Beverly Glenn-Copeland (bekannt durch das Kultalbum Keyboard Fantasies) ein zutiefst berührendes neues Werk – entstanden in Zusammenarbeit mit seiner Partnerin, der Künstlerin und Produzentin Elizabeth Copeland. Das Album ist ein musikalischer Liebesbrief, der Erinnerung, Hingabe, Verlust und Freude miteinander vereint.
In neun emotionalen Songs – allesamt in One-Takes aufgenommen – entfaltet sich eine außergewöhnliche Intimität, getragen von Glenns charakteristischer Stimme, warmen Chorarrangements und einem unverwechselbaren Gefühl spiritueller Verbundenheit. Der Sound reicht von kontemplativen Balladen wie „Children’s Anthem“ bis zu leuchtenden, hoffnungsvollen Momenten wie „Let Us Dance (Movement One)“.
Produziert wurde das Album von Elizabeth Copeland und Alex Samaras (Hotel2Tango / Howard Bilerman). Es folgt auf Glenns gefeiertes Album The Ones Ahead (2023) und seine Zusammenarbeit mit Sam Smith für Ever New (2024).
Laughter In Summer erscheint auf rosefarbenem Vinyl, als limitierte Dinked Edition auf milchklarem Vinyl inklusive Bonus-7" mit Coverversionen von Marvin Gaye – „What’s Going On“ / „Save The Children“ – sowie digital und auf CD.
Für Fans von Alice Coltrane, Terry Callier, Joanna Newsom, Sam Amidon und spiritueller Folk-Avantgarde.

Konfiguration: 140g Pink 12" vinyl, 3mm spined sleeve, Gloss machine varnish, 12" printed insert, Gloss machine varnish

Djo, the musical project of Joe Keery, returns with his fourth studio album, The Crux Deluxe—an expansive, 12-track companion album to The Crux, written, recorded and produced by Keery and his collaborator Adam Thein. Following the massive success of his single “End of Beginning,” which topped both the US and Global Spotify charts and amassed over 2 billion streams worldwide, the deluxe record is full of songs that were written at the same time as The Crux album sessions and recorded at Electric Lady Studios in NYC.

Blues, country and folk or funk, rock and soul – Broussard always gives his songs a very special touch; here he reaches his peak performance!

Acclaimed soul singer and songwriter Marc Broussard returns with his new studio album, "S.O.S. V: Songs Of The 50's," paying homage to the timeless classics of the 1950s. With his unmistakable, warm soul voice, Broussard interprets timeless songs by legends such as Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, and Fats Domino—complemented by his own original composition that fits seamlessly into the era. The album is the fifth installment in his successful S.O.S. (Save Our Soul) benefit series, with proceeds once again benefiting the non-profit organization Love Of People in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana. His latest charity album, "S.O.S. 4: Blues For Your Soul" (2023), a collaboration with blues icon Joe Bonamassa, benefited the Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation and the organization Guitars Over Guns – and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart.

180g, cream white Vinyl, Gatefold Sleeve. Das vierte Album von Dina Ögon ist länger als alles, was sie bisher veröffentlicht haben. Während das selbstbetitelte Debüt, das zweite Album Oas und das jüngste Album Orion alle abrupt endeten, zieht die Band nun alle Register und fordert unsere ungeteilte Aufmerksamkeit. In einer Zeit, in der das Albumformat weitgehend in den Hintergrund gedrängt wurde und stattdessen lose, digitale Single-Veröffentlichungen ohne inhaltlichen Zusammenhang bevorzugt werden, schlagen Dina Ögon den entgegengesetzten Weg ein und veröffentlichen ein Doppelalbum.

Bellbird hat seinen Namen und seine musikalische Inspiration von dem Vogel, der für einen der lautesten und markantesten Rufe im Tierreich bekannt ist. Die Band beschäftigt sich mit Themen wie der Verbundenheit zwischen Musikern, Genres und der Natur. Ihr zweites Album und erstes für Constellation, The Call, ist direkt vom Weißglockenvogel inspiriert, dessen extremer, unverwechselbarer Ruf analysiert und direkt in den explosiv schönen Titeltrack des Albums eingewoben wurde. Das in Montréal ansässige Quartett bestehend aus Claire Devlin (Tenorsaxophon), Allison Burik (Altsaxophon, Bassklarinette), Eli Davidovici (Bass) und Mili Hong (Schlagzeug) begann während der Pandemie bei Park-Jams zusammen zu spielen, inspiriert von der Jazz- und Free-Improvisationsszene, die sich um das Café Résonance gebildet hatte. Aber die vier Montrealer Neuzuzügler fanden erst nach einer Einladung zum Ottawa Jazz Festival 2021 als Bellbird zusammen und haben seitdem ihre Harmonie und ihren gemeinsamen Sound durch jahrelanges Touren und Zusammenspiel verfeinert. Das Quartett geht über sein gefeiertes, 2023 selbst veröffentlichtes Debütalbum ,Root in Tandem" hinaus und setzt auf einen stark kollaborativen Kompositionsprozess. Nachdem sie zuvor die Kompositionsaufgaben aufgeteilt hatten, entstanden die acht Songs auf The Call aus musikalischen Workshops und Improvisationsspielen, wobei sie sich auf Gedichte und Gespräche stützten, die sie während ihrer Aufenthalte außerhalb der Stadt ausgetauscht hatten. Das Ergebnis ist ein kraftvolles, stimmiges Statement, das ihre jazzzentrierte Instrumentierung mit Einflüssen aus Rock, Fusion und Folk verbindet, von Mingus und Eric Dolphy bis hin zu Ornette Colemans Prime Time und Indie-Rock. Ein wesentliches Merkmal ihres Sounds ist, wie sie die üblichen Rollen ihrer Instrumente umkehren, wobei die Blasinstrumente rhythmische Muster und unterstützende Texturen einsetzen, während Akustikbass und Schlagzeug die Form bestimmen. Dieser Ansatz ist ein Mikrokosmos der egalitären Ethik der Band: Sie agieren als echtes Kollektiv, ohne ihre individuellen Stimmen zu opfern. Das Album schafft einen Ausgleich zwischen kraftvollen Kompositionen wie dem Titelsong ,The Call" und Momenten, in denen die Band das Tempo drosselt, um sich der thematischen Einfachheit hinzugeben, wie in ,Soft Animal" und ,Phthalo Green". Im Gegensatz zu ihrem Debütalbum, das in der Stadt erarbeitet, aber auf dem Land aufgenommen wurde, wurde ,The Call" im legendären Hotel2Tango in Montréal von der Toningenieurin Sylvaine Arnaud aufgenommen, die die rohe Energie der Live-Auftritte der Band einfängt. Die Produktion verzichtet weitgehend auf eine traditionelle Ästhetik und setzt stattdessen auf kraftvolle Drums und einfallsreiche analoge Bearbeitung, die die viszerale Wirkung der Musik unterstreichen. Obwohl die Musik oft melodisch reichhaltig und zugänglich ist, scheut sich die Band auch nicht vor ,hässlichen" Klängen und nutzt Multiphonics, gestrichenen Bass und metallische Texturen, um eine Klangpalette zu schaffen, die ebenso eindringlich und naturalistisch wie explosiv ist. Das Album ist sozial und politisch engagiert und ein Beweis für die tiefgründige Musik, die nicht von einem einzelnen Leader, sondern von einem zutiefst einfühlsamen Quartett geschaffen wurde, das als Einheit zuhört, reagiert und kreiert. The Call vermittelt die Gefühle der Band zur Klimakrise und zur globalen Solidarität, wobei einer der zentralen Titel des Albums, ,Blowing on Embers", ausdrücklich einem freien Palästina gewidmet ist. The Call ist ein entscheidender Schritt nach vorne, ein einheitlicher Aufschrei einer Band, die ihre kraftvolle kollektive Stimme voll und ganz gefunden hat.

Ivan The Tolerable returns with Chromophobia, an expansive new double album and his fourth for Riot Season after ‘Water Music’ & ‘Vertigo’ (both 2024) and ‘An Orphan Form’ (2025)
Chromophobia carries with it a deep personal history. The earliest recording sessions date back to 2018 at the IDI in Middlesbrough, engineered by longtime collaborator Nigel Crooks over the course of three weekends. The material was left unfinished for years, shelved for reasons that accumulated and compounded - until the tragic passing of Crooks in 2023. His unfinished work lingered, and the desire to complete it became a mission.
“In the end, I finished this record for Nigel, above all else,” says Oli Heffernan (Ivan The Tolerable). “It always annoyed him that it never got done.”

To bring the album to completion, the original stems were passed to producer Hugh Major (formerly of Benefits) in early 2024. Across a year of meticulous experimentation - countless versions, radical reconstructions, entire songs torn down and rebuilt - the album transformed into something wholly new. The final collection spans 14 tracks, reimagined from the ground up yet still anchored to the spirit of the sessions that began it.
“It’s a very different beast from where it started,” Heffernan adds, “but I think Nigel would really like it - and be glad it was finally finished.”
Chromophobia stands as both a reinvention and a tribute: a document of persistence, creative overhaul, and the enduring impact of a lost collaborator.

Here’s an expanded edition of one of Nurse With Wound’s most intense, unique opuses, so unique that for long-time fans it was a strange, chaotic loundge bizzarie when it first came out. For the first time, all four audio sides are complete (originally, there were only three sides). And to crown it all, a magnificent new cover by the great and talented Babs Santini, who is none other than Steven Stapleton behind his pseudonym of plastic artist, still in the luxurious tradition of the “silver collection” at Rotorelief Records.

Nurse with Wound’s album Huffin’ Rag Blues is unique in NWW’s discography. Stapleton teams up with composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Liles, his co-creator of musical terrorism, to tackle the exotica and lounge genres, crushed into a cacophonous mess. Long-time NWW friends Colin Potter and Matt Waldron are also on board. Blues, jazz, crime films, bachelor pads and soap opera music are processed and discarded, then chopped up and recycled in a mix that contains a ton of space, but also overflows with dynamic tension, hilarious asides, sexually suggestive poetry and a certain rock & roll abandon.

This is a very surprising opus for long-time fans, is like a soundtrack that could illustrate a David Lynch film It’s brilliant, maddening, hilarious and sinister enough to earn a place in any collection with a little quirkiness and eccentricity. Huffin’ Rag Blues incorporates more familiar musical elements – including instruments (played live, even), rhythm and vocals – than almost any other Nurse With Wound album to date. The album’s main concern is, as always, to create environments for lucid dreaming rather than to create music as such.

Timo Lassy follows up his new album "Trio" on We Jazz Records by sharing two non-album cuts from the same sessions on a new 7" vinyl single / digi release. "Mountain Man Exit" is a stormy number featuring the trio of Lassy (tenor sax), Ville Herrala (bass) and Jaska Lukkarinen (drums) in full flight plus Tuomo Prättälä (of Ilmiliekki Quartet) on synth duties. Album track "Orlo" gets a new treatment, edited for the 7" and taking shape as a tough-as-nails mix breaking new ground here without the string section.

Timo Lassy follows up his new album "Trio" on We Jazz Records by sharing two non-album cuts from the same sessions on a new 7" vinyl single / digi release. "Mountain Man Exit" is a stormy number featuring the trio of Lassy (tenor sax), Ville Herrala (bass) and Jaska Lukkarinen (drums) in full flight plus Tuomo Prättälä (of Ilmiliekki Quartet) on synth duties. Album track "Orlo" gets a new treatment, edited for the 7" and taking shape as a tough-as-nails mix breaking new ground here without the string section.

Brooklyn based baritone saxophonist Jonah Parzen-Johnson presents his new work "Imagine Giving Up" on Helsinki's We Jazz Records. The album, to be released on 17th January of 2020 sees Parzen-Johnson move into new domains of sound as he uncovers newfound energy and pulse in his music.

In addition to the sonically rich analog synth elements that accompany his earlier solo saxophone work, Jonah has layered heavily sound designed samples of his own saxophone to create truly one of a kind percussive snaps, reverberant basses, and warbling leads. At it's core, the music remains deeply devoted to almost vocal sounding melodic lines and patiently developed compositional ideas.

A compact set of 6 originals, "Imagine Giving Up" is Jonah Parzen-Johnson's most ambitious album yet. While taking a step away from the previous world of "ambient jazz", his new music stems from the use of drone-like sounds for baritone saxophone, a style which is uniquely his own. Electronics are blended in for good measure, creating a coherent vision of abstract jazz with depth. As with all of Parzen-Johnson's releases, the music comes with a deeper narrative which he will continually explore in live performance.

The manifesto for the album reads as follows: "Only a few people can really start over. Everyone else is left to struggle down the path they were assigned. The option to give up, to choose your own path, is power, and, hopefully, a call to action: take a risk to help someone." "Imagine Giving Up" by Jonah Parzen-Johnson, will be available via 'We Jazz Records' on violet and black vinyl versions, CD and digitally.

US sax player Stanley J. Zappa and Finnish drummer Simo Laihonen come together on the new album "Muster Point" on We Jazz Records, August 7. The two students of Milford Graves add bassist Ville Rauhala on a couple of tracks to make a bold and adventurous album captured both live and in the studio while Zappa was touring in Finland with the Black Motor musicians. This is a set full of fire and thunder, but also features some more meditative spiritual jazz. RIYL: Milford Graves, ESP-Disk', spiritual jazz

"Muster Point" consists of short trio bursts ("Muster Point I-IV"), deep duo cuts such as "Pleasant Avenue" and the inspired material linking the stylistic bookends. The music herein comes from the long standing tradition of independent improvised jazz music, and moves forward in the now, relying in the natural communication and the chemistry between the musicians. At its core, the album is a testament to the importance personal connections between like-minded creative musicians in creating something new.

Stanley J. Zappa, originally from New Jersey, now based in Oliver, BC (Canada) is a highly expressive musician whose career has so far progressed largely under the radar. Part of the lineage of a musical family (his uncle Frank should need no introduction), Zappa's story is that of a true craftsman, now coming into fruition with a like-minded collaborator, Simo Laihonen. Laihonen is best known from his long-standing trio formation Black Motor, also featuring bassist Ville Rauhala featured on the trio tracks on this recording.

Swiss artist Lukas Traxel releases his powerful debut album One-Eyed Daruma on We Jazz Records, March 10. The trio features Traxel on double bass, Otis Sandsjö on sax and Moritz Baumgärtner on drums. Compact, deep, and organic to the bone, Traxel & co's sound echoes the innovations of rhythmically driven avantgarde jazz while keeping things moving at all times. There's both drive and freedom to this sound.
ONe-Eyed Daruma features eight new compositions by Traxel, who crafted the outline for the album while dealing with the loss of his father. The group came together after an open invitation from the Zurich jazz club Moods to present a new group. The trio of Traxel, Sandsjö and Baumgärtner creates a full, symphonic, and powerful body of sound despite the instrumentation without a harmony instrument. The trio functions as a collective where the boundaries between composition, melody, and accompaniment are in flux, while keeping the common goal of creating new music together in sight at all times. Traxel reports that after playing bass in various groups with guitar and/or piano, he wanted to create a counterpoint of sorts with his new group and specifically go about it with a more sparse setup. As One-Eyed Drama proves, the idea behind the trio dynamic is a strong one and the unit makes use of their extra space in creating evocative, moody, swinging creative jazz with a distinguishable fingerprint of its own.
Lukas Traxel says:

"The process of composing this music while dealing with the loss of a loved one resulted in a writer's block at first. The notes would just not flow out of my pen until I noticed a mysterious-looking figure in the right upper corner of my piano. It was a daruma, an eyeless figure that in the Japanese tradition brings luck and prosperity. According to the myth, the first eye must be drawn onto the figure while expressing a wish. The second eye can be added only if the wish comes true. My daruma is meant to stay one-eyed as my wish, strongly connected and intertwined with my now gone father, is not meant to be fulfilled. The feeling of unfulfillment and imperfection of life serves as a common thread throughout this album, right down to its title. In a similar fashion, a composition remains incomplete until it is interpreted by musicians, and given form as music. That being said, for me playing together with this trio symbolises the upside: the sense of fulfillment in music and life.

Our musical influences include the American composer and singer Caroline Shaw, Swiss pianist Colin Vallon's trio, and composer/singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane. In addition, I have listened a lot to the trio albums of Jimmy Guiffre and Sonny Rollins. Besides that, my musical heroes like Charlie Haden, John Coltrane, and Keith Jarrett always flow into the music. Another very important influence in the music is the work of American visual artist Agnes Martin, in whose works the imperfection of a multiplicity of repetitions results in a lively big whole in the end. (See "Wild Flower")

Live, the trio takes a lot of freedom in interpreting this music, yet we have a deeper, almost pop-like attitude towards the live performance as an experience. For me it's always important to build a strong narrative with the band while on stage."

One-Eyed Daruma by Lukas Traxel is released on 10 March 2023 by We Jazz Records on LP/CD/digitally. The LP edition is shelved in an inside-out sleeve and pressed on white vinyl. The CD is housed in a cardboard digisleeve with UV lacquer finish.

Falter is the 5th full-length album from New Zealand-based composer/-multi-instrumentalist Micah Templeton-Wolfe, working under the moniker Stray Theories.

Templeton-Wolfe has consistently woven together the cinematic sweep of ambient music, the refined structures of neoclassical composition, and the emotional cresting arcs of post-rock. With Falter, those intersections are more deeply blurred, yet more boldly explored.

Transparent Red Vinyl.

The title Falter evokes wavering, hesitation, uncertainty of intent and yet the album stands in sharp contrast to that concept: Templeton-Wolfe’s performance here is marked by a quiet but unmistakable confidence.
From the first notes, the listener is immersed in an atmosphere in which the music feels like a cinematic means of passage, a journey toward redemption. Optimism is present, but ever cloaked in doubt; moments of
contemplative solace sit side-by-side with streaks of melancholia. One senses something looming within the sound-world of Falter. As though the heart itself can tell something is coming.

In this respect, Falter may well rank as the most affecting release in Templeton-Wolfe’s canon to date. While his earlier work had always balanced delicate textures and evocative atmosphere, here he pushes into a more expansive emotional terrain. Only the hopeful refrain “Lifelines” brings the album fully into brighter territory , hinting that redemption is possible, that the journey through doubt is not endless.

This is the debut release from Laguna Seca, a new project from Porto based Mike Jefford. It foreshadows a new body of work, steeped in 70s nostalgia, refracted though sounds that could belong to krautrock, disco, electronica, noisy alt rock and everything in between. Mike has previously recorded as Positive Centre releasing textural, experimental techno on such labels as Stroboscopic Artefacts, SNTS and Leyla. (seek out if you you’re a fan of Vatican Shadow or the ghostlier wing of Black Dog)

After mastering his forthcoming 2026 debut album ‘O Tempo’, Mike Jefford caught a second wind of inspiration. In just seven frantic days he recorded the heap of tracks that formed the basis of 'Live from Müsli Mountain’. It soon became clear that these tracks foreshadowed the album perfectly and the EP was born.

Named after the California raceway, this project fuses 1970s recording techniques, modern electronics and psychedelic retrofuturism, it’s a pyramid of sonic adventure that will be explored deeper on the album next year.

LP, Green Slime Vinyl

The Portland, ME trio returns with Feels Like Hell, their most self-assured and emotionally charged record yet. Despite the title, the album is a celebration of personal growth, creative freedom, and defiant joy in the face of a chaotic world.

Coming off the burnout and frustration captured in their 2021 album Quitter, Feels Like Hell finds Sonia Sturino (vocals/guitar), Annie Hoffman (bass/vocals), and Adam Hand (drums) leaning into clarity, gratitude, and renewed purpose. Sturino’s lyrics are as raw and honest as ever, but now they reflect strength rather than despair. It’s an album that drags existential dread into the daylight and sets it on fire.

“I decided to stop being such a sad-sap negative person,” Sturino says. “Now I practice being grateful, being proud, being happy, and not being envious.” That mindset shift shapes the tone of Feels Like Hell, which looks at darkness but chooses not to be consumed by it.

The record also marks the band’s first foray into co-writing, with Hoffman playing a significant role in shaping its sound. Embracing a more intuitive recording process, the trio stripped back the excess and focused on what felt right. The result is a record that’s resilient, cathartic, and brimming with creative energy.

While the world may still feel like it’s falling apart, Feels Like Hell pulses with the power of letting go. Letting go of fear, of perfectionism, of the illusion that vulnerability is weakness. With driving guitars, unflinching lyrics, and a renewed sense of purpose, Weakened Friends prove that it’s possible to stand in the wreckage and still find something worth singing about.

Repress!

A true hot stepper and one of the best of its kind, this 1984 masterpiece from Ini Kamoze is heavy, real and authentic. It was actually Jamaican born artist Cecil Campbell's debut album and features spacious, slow motion dubs that invite you deep within their cavernous drums. The chattery percussion, echoing hits and loose percussion all make a real mark. "World-A-Music" has a beat fans of Damien Marley will recognise, and "General" features some of Campbells more vulnerable vocal work. For fans old and new, this is a perfect roots album with a unique perspective.

Cutting by Tohru Kotetsu — one of Japan’s leading mastering and cutting engineers!

To commemorate the 35th anniversary of ZARD’s debut, the best album Golden Best ~15th Anniversary~ is being released on analog vinyl!
The release is set for February 4, just before the 35th anniversary of their debut (February 10, 2026).

Originally released in 2006, Golden Best ~15th Anniversary~ is the ultimate ZARD best album, achieving million sales. It is also the final work
Izumi Sakai released during her lifetime before her passing in 2007.
For the vinyl release of such an important work, the cutting was entrusted to Tohru Kotetsu, one of Japan’s top mastering and cutting engineers and
a devoted fan of ZARD. The timeless ZARD classics engraved by Kotetsu have resulted in a truly exquisite finish. Please enjoy the warmth and depth
of sound that only analog vinyl can deliver.

Mit ihrem neuen Werk "Liturgy of Death" bekräftigen MAYHEM ihren Status als kompromissloseste Kraft des norwegischen Black Metal. Nach vier Jahrzehnten des Exzesses hat die Band einen neuen Höhepunkt erreicht: schneller, heftiger und finsterer als alles andere in ihrem bisherigen Schaffen. Das Album entfaltet sich als unerbittliche Meditation über den Tod in all seinen Erscheinungsformen - existentiell, spirituell und absolut. Vom wütenden Chaos von "Despair" und "Funeral of Existence" bis zur düsteren Erhabenheit von "Ephemeral Eternity" und "Aeon's End" zieht jeder Track den Hörer tiefer in ein Ritual des Elends und der Transzendenz hinein. "Propitious Death" und "The Sentence of Absolution" verbinden Brutalität mit einer bedrohlichen Atmosphäre, während "Life Is a Corpse You Drag" und "Sancta Mendacia" keinen Zweifel daran lassen, dass Mayhem nach wie vor unübertroffen darin sind, Verzweiflung in Klang umzusetzen.

Mit Necrobutcher, Hellhammer, Attila, Teloch und Ghul, die enger denn je zusammenarbeiten, präsentiert "Liturgy of Death" eine Band, die sich nicht mit ihrem Erbe zufrieden gibt, sondern entschlossen ist, die Grenzen des Extremen selbst zu erweitern. Das Ergebnis ist ein gnadenloses Album - düster, schnell und unerbittlich -, das Mayhem in ihrer gefährlichsten und vitalsten Form einfängt. Vierzig Jahre nach ihrer Gründung in Langhus verkörpern MAYHEM weiterhin das Chaos und beweisen einmal mehr, dass der norwegische Black Metal eine Kraft ohne Ende ist.

Overtoun is a Death/Thrash band based between Santiago, Chile, and Boston, MA, fusing the rich musical heritage of Latin America with the complexity and aggression of technical death metal. Founded by Agustín Lobo and Matías Bahamondes, the band solidified its lineup with Yoav Ruiz-Feingold (Atheist, Graviton) on vocals and Matías Salas on bass. Fused with Chilean rhythms, folk-inspired guitars, and memorable riffs, it features guest appearances by MAX PHELPS (CYNIC, DEATH TO ALL), ENRICO H. DI LORENZO (HIDEOUS DIVINITY), and SHANTANU VYAS (HAZING OVER). With virtuosic musicianship and a raw, organic sound that recalls the primal spirit of classic metal, Overtoun channels both precision and rage. Produced by renowned Argentinian producer MARTIN FURIA (DESTRUCTION, BARK) and released via Time To Kill Records, Overtoun asserts itself as one of the most exciting and promising Latin American Metal acts today.

“Recording this album felt like the crescendo of years of struggling to understand myself. It can get quite claustrophobic living inside my head.” ‘At Home in My Mind’ is an open invite into the world of Halifax indie artist, Ellur (Ella McNamara). The album is a journey around Ellur’s mind, it dips into different musical genres that have shaped her for the past 24 years – from the 90s indie rock she grew up with, to glitch-pop she discovered in her late teens to the alt-folk she cherishes now. Ellur has created a warm abode for her thoughts and experiences as a young woman growing up in Yorkshire’s Calderdale Valley and ‘At Home In My Mind’ beds them all in, safely together. ‘At Home In My Mind’ has been produced by Joel Johnston (Far Caspian) and recorded from his Leeds studio. Johnston and Ellur first worked together on her previous EP, ‘God Help Me Now’ – a stunning body of work that saw Ellur’s fanbase bloom and received praise from national press, radio and an impressive international artists. The buzz around Ellur has lead to a very busy live calendar throughout 2025, including debut festival slots in US and EU, over 14 Summer festival plays in UK (including Latitude, Truck, Big Feastival) and sold out headline shows across the UK. ‘At Home In My Mind’ expands on themes Ellur draws on in her ‘God Help Me Now EP’, particularly an overarching theme of connection. Ellur connecting with her childhood memories, listening to her honest feelings, but most importantly, Ellur wants ‘At Home In My Mind’ to be an arm extended out, looking for people who need a hand to hold.

Recorded in one night in 2017 "The Real Will Wood" is a raucous live album accompanying a concert film of the same name. "The Real Will Wood" is a genre-bending mockumentary concert film co-created by Will Wood and Chris Dunne (Life in the World to Come, Revelator). The soundtrack and concert video were recorded in one night in 2017; the band was strung out and bigger than ever. Until recently, this raw and high-energy live album has had only limited releases, as has the film.