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RAWAX proudly welcomes Amir Alexander to the Family! We are very happy to present you an outstanding release as one of many! It's Amir's biggest Hit called "Blessed Are The Meek" which became a retouch by Patrice Scott, Javonntte and Amir himself! Highly recommended!

Tom Findlay (Groove Armada) and James Alexander Bright's relationship started on Twitter (a place where hope usually goes to die) However, Tom had listened to James' recent release on the radio reached out to chat about working together on some tracks. Over a few months in the studio they created a mountain of work, some of which would feature on Groove Armada's recent 'Edge Of The Horizon' album. Having enjoyed working together so much, they decided to start their own project and Bright & Findlay was born. The first track they worked on together is featured as the lead on this 12" was 'Slow Dance' Funky party track with its feet firmly in 80s boogie territory and. Following tracks seemed to interweave / play alongside each other. Drums machine / chorus laden synths and guitars, and a soulful vocal are a staple of their sound. When Tom and James sent the EP over I was down from 20 seconds into the first track, 80s Boogie, Tangerine dream, Disco rap style rhythms yet totally the...

With COVID restrictions now easing, and fresh off the back of their ongoing in-lockdown Quarantine Series, as well as EP + album releases from Calder Valley upstarts The Lounge Society and cult singer-songwriter Stephen Fretwell respectively – the studio is now re-open and Speedy are back to doing what they do best: releasing one-off 7”/digital singles.

The latest band to be welcomed into label boss Dan Carey’s Streatham HQ is the 5-piece London based alt-pop band moa moa comprised of James Ratcliffe (guitars, keys, vox), Connor James (keys, guitar), Sophie Parkes (sax, vocals), Dan Byrne (bass) and Matt Taylor (drums).

Having sent the label a collection of demos during lockdown – of mainly finished songs – the one which caught Carey’s ear was actually a 20-second snippet of just an idea really – which the band had included in what they had sent over. ‘I know it sounds mad’ says the producer – ‘but I just knew there was something in it.’ Meaning in true Speedy style the band and producer alongside engineer Alexis Smith had to build the song around the single motif from scratch on the day – having previously never met before, in what turned out to be a mammoth 13-hour recording session.

‘It was scary and exciting in equal measures going into it’ says the band, ‘but Dan and Lex create such a safe, encouraging creative space, and from that, we somehow came out with a moa track we're all happy with.’

The resulting track ‘Coltan Candy’ is 4 + minutes of hook-laden sunshine alt-pop that layers and builds, perfectly reinforcing the band’s manifesto of marrying ‘unconventional songwriting with pop-leaning sensibilities’, channelling (amongst others) Unknown Moral Orchestra, XTC and MGMT with contemporary R & B influences into something seamless and new. And it’s catchy as hell.

‘Lyrically, the tune is darker and more direct than our other stuff’ says James (Ratcliffe), ‘even if it’s offset by everything else going on in the music. The main hook of the song is the lyric "Coltan Candy" which refers to a mineral that has been mined unethically for decades in Africa for the production of electronic circuits in the West. I’m making some pretty OTT comments about corruption, technology, and the failures of institutions in the West, but also asking some questions about our own involvement and inability to do anything about it.’
Regardless of the seriousness of the content the band just feel relieved to have finished the track. ‘Even up to the night before the session we had 20 seconds of music that we were jamming into what sounded like an awful country track…so, it’s fair to say that the whole process really helped us to focus and make decisions!’
Coltan Candy. The sweet sound of the summer.

Moscow and Propaganda resident Alexander Babaev, also known as Rekord 61. In the past few years, he has been churning out an impressive series of deep, melodic, and moody tracks which all showed a truly unique blend of Techno. As our label boss Psytox is a huge fan, it was only logical we'd invite him for an EP.

Four tracks will take you further into the mind and soul of this gifted producer. All tracks are deep, dark and moody with a sub bass aiming at the dance floors but without taking the easy way out.

We can't wait to hear what you think about the tracks.

This year Music On Vinyl in cooperation with Sony Music and Alex Callier are releasing 4 Hooverphonic remix Eps. Each EP represents a Hooverphonic album; A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular, Blue Wonder Power Milk, The Magnificent Tree and Presents Jackie Cane. Alex Callier selected the best remixes of their songs for each remix EP. All 4 remix EP’s are scheduled for release in 2021 and are cut on 45 RPM and pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl.

Hooverphonic are a Belgian band that formed in October 1995. Though originally categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a lone genre, but rather encompass alternative, electronica, electropop, rock, and a mixture of others. The band originally called themselves Hoover, but later changed their name to Hooverphonic after discovering other groups were already using the Hoover name and to avoid any legal issues with the vacuum cleaner company.

Since their formation, Hooverphonic’s lineup consisted of bassist Alex Callier, guitarist Raymond Geerts, and various lead singers. Geike Arnaert (1997–2008, 2020-present) has recently re-joined the band. Hooverphonic represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

The band achieved international recognition through the inclusion of the Stereophonic track “2Wicky” on the 2000 individually numbered copies of Blue Wonder Power Milk remixes are available on on solid blue vinyl.

A1 Carsten Meyer in the Plaid remix The Black Dog remix of Lalo Schifrin’s “Bullitt": That was the wishful thinking directed at Plaid and what comes from England without customs? A Groovy Shizzel ;) A2 quadratschulz in the Lowfish remix Everything from Suction / Canada is THE nerd shit! Richard D. James likes to borrow something analog from them, e.g. a Yamaha cs5, see SAW2 album cover. B1 Cosmic Cars in Thee Church Ov Acid House remix. Since the cosmic highway was tarred by 47IN4 & RVDS, a freeway church had to be built. A mysteri-ous sect from Frankfurt took pity and acidjunglete the exit. B2 Rosaceae in the John T. Gast remix Visit Europe, this is possible there. Cover: Alex “Alex Solman“ Solman

Comet Records is excited to present Afro Rhythms Vol. 1 the first repress since 1999 of Singles and Remixes out of Black Voices’s LP from Tony Allen Afrobeat pioneer, along with the iconic Psyco On Da
Bus creating a new sound between experimental, electronica and afrobeat, both albums produced by sound activist Doctor L

The compilation is a proper trawl through the vault of the early years of Comet Records featuring producers and artists as IG Culture, Eska, Catalyst aka Alex Attias, Psycho On Da Bus Featuring Doctor L and Tony Allen, Cinematic Orchestra and the legendary Parisian duo Chateau Flight.

The tracks "The Drum" and "Brotherhood" produced respectively by IG Culture (Son Of Scientist) and Cinematic Orchestra are part of The Allenko Brotherhood Ensemble project, a collaboration between the
unique drumming style of Tony Allen and the best in contemporary producers.

Comet label continues its hypnotic elliptical orbit through radical funk realms and dancefloor wormholes, connecting to five decades of music from four continents and still heading for the future, a pure and positive light to guide our way on.

Mannequin Records is elated to present for the first time on vinyl the reissue of Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici’s first video soundtrack, originally released in 1984 as an audiotape in less than one hundred copies. Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici (literally Mundane Mechanical Youth) or GMM was one of the most unclassifiable audiovisual experiences to emerge from Italy in the 1980s. Maurizio Dami a.k.a. Alexander Robotnick, a pivotal member of GMM, was responsible for the group’s music output.

Founded in 1984 by Antonio Glessi and Andrea Zingoni in Florence, GMM was an art collective whose production represents the quintessential expression of postmodern transmedia hybridity. GMM pioneered the genre of computer comics, created video installations, developed “multiple identity” performances, and was involved in fashion, media, and music productions, and later on produced cyberdelic environments, artificial reality projects, and proto-memes.

Alexander Robotnick’s first contribution to GMM was this soundtrack for the group’s eponymous first video, the animated version of a computer comics they coincidentally published on legendary Frigidaire magazine. Restored by Dami and reissued here for the first time by Mannequin Records, the composition was also split into two “suites” and released as an audiotape distributed by Materiali Sonori, also responsible for other releases by both Robotnick and GMM.

Determining in this work is Dami’s adoption of the alphaSyntauri, also known as the first affordable digital synth (priced less than $2000 when it was released in 1980), which was playable through its own software, “alphaPlus,” on the Apple II computer. The same computer was used by Glessi to “draw” the 3-bit strips scripted by Zingoni recounting the joyrides of the Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici, three merciless cyborgs in black suit and sunglasses dividing their time between nightclubs, rapes and murders.

As Robotnick, Dami developed an innovative formula of Italo disco that was attractive to the dance floor yet at the same time highlighted the expressive properties of the instruments he used, notably Roland drum machines and Korg synthesizers. For the soundtrack of GMM’s videos and installations, he left aside the danceable synth rhythmics in favor of ambient sounds that produced rarefied atmospheres, psychological tensions, and enhanced states of consciousness.

Dami’s scores for GMM’s artworks could be associated with Italian avant-garde music of the 1970s and 1980s, ranging from composers who adopted electronics flirting with pop and songwriting to minimalist musicians exploring seriality and drones, including Franco Battiato, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Francesco Messina, and Riccardo Sinigaglia. Analogies could also be traced with the playful and humanizing approach to personal computers that characterizes the music output of Marcello Giombini and Doris Norton.

The futuristic escapism of minimal synth and ambient music’s psychological nature is infiltrated by drifting harmonics typical of new age, as if in search of a spiritual dimension of technology. Characteristic of the postmodern ethos of GMM Suite, in line with the humanizing approach to technology that is at the base of GMM’s computer comics, is the melancholic take at speculative dystopias in which human beings would find themselves increasingly trapped into identity crises: a true cyborg’s melodrama.

Mega Bog (der kosmopolitische Moniker der Musikerin/Künstlerin Erin Birgy) wendet sich von von der schwülen Atmosphäre der Grünlilien-Plantage des Vorgängeralbums "Dolphine" (2019) ab und bringt uns mit "Life, And Another" zurück auf unseren Heimatplaneten, in den dünnen Luftdruck eines Wüstentals, wo die vierzehn Songs geschrieben und wie Steine in der Landschaft verstreut wurden, jeder einzelne ein kostbares Juwel, das Birgy gemeißelt hat. Es ist eine weitere fantastische Off-World-Übertragung und ihr bisher anspruchsvollstes, forschendstes und zugänglichstes Statement. "Life, And Another" inszeniert ein halb-fiktionalisiertes Drama im Inneren des Ichs, mit Szenen kollektiver Sehnsucht auf der Bowlingbahn, Auseinandersetzungen über eine aufgeblähte Erinnerung außerhalb der Bar und einsamen Kreisen auf der Terrasse, die in sturer Ehrfurcht über den Hof hinausschauen. Diese Erinnerungen, sowohl aus der Vergangenheit als auch aus der Zukunft, sprudeln das ganze Album hindurch und präsentieren ihre Charaktere als neue Einträge in das Mega Bog Book of Symbols. Zusammen mit dem Co-Produzenten, Tontechniker und Perkussionisten James Krivchenia (BIG THIEF) lebte Erin Birgy in einer kleinen Hütte in der Nähe des Rio Grande und war zwischen ihren Tourneeplänen oft allein. In diesen Isolationen erlebte sie den teilweisen Verlust des "bekannten" Selbst inmitten der Weite. Aufgenommen in mehreren Sessions in verschiedenen Studios enthält "Life, And Another" instrumentale Beiträge von langjährigen und neuen Mitstreitern, darunter Aaron Otheim, Zach Burba, Will Segerstrom, Matt Bachmann, Andrew Dorset von Lake, James Krivchenia von Big Thief, Meg Duffy von Hand Habits, Jade Tcimpidis, Alex Liebman und die Co-Engineers Geoff Treager und Phil Hartunian. Ihre Hörer wissen inzwischen, dass sie MEGA BOG vertrauen können, dass sie kontinuierlich in tiefere und wildere, spirituelle Pop-Gefilde geführt werden. Flirrende Piano-Glissandi, eindringliche psychische Hintergrundstimmen und Tequila-inspirierte Improvisationen schleichen und kriechen über die dunkle Nacht-der-Seele-Rock'n'Roll-Traumlandschaft, bevor sie verschwinden, um Platz zu machen für Beschwörungen von stiller Klarheit und lebendig-atmenden Instrumentalpassagen. In "Life, And Another" verwandelt Mega Bog die brutale Schwere der Welt in den kollektiven Kampf des Lebens.

The latest entry in the ongoing series of exciting collaborations sees the Turkish free form ensemble KONSTRUKT live on stage with THURSTON MOORE.

# 5 in the continuing series of KONSTRUKT collaborations on KARL is a live document of the concert by the Turkish freeform group with THURSTON MOORE. KONSTRUKT, the Istanbul based free jazz / freeform group founded and led by UMUT ÇAĞLAR and KORHAN FUTACI, are known for their openness to and interest in collaborations – and regularly meet up and perform with new partners that range from JOE McPHEE, WILLIAM PARKER, AKIRA SAKATA, MARSHALL ALLEN, EVAN PARKER, ALEXANDER HAWKINS, KEN VANDERMARK or OTOMO YOSHIHIDE. This latest release sees the quartet join forces with one of the indie rock icons: THURSTON MOORE, who besides his decade-long main band SONIC YOUTH always found time and inspiration for solo projects and collaborations of different kinds.

"Turkish Belly", recorded live at SalonIKSV in Istanbul in february last year, is as adventurous and daring as one will expect from such a pairing and a highly rewarding experience for the fans of KONSTRUKT and those of MOORE alike.

[a] 01: Yapayalnız (Gezerler Sokaklarda) [Live] [feat. Thurston Moore]
[b] 02: Sis (Live) [feat. Thurston Moore]
[c] 03: Kurtadam, Pt. I (Live) [feat. Thurston Moore]
[d] 04: Kurtadam, Pt. II (Live) [feat. Thurston Moore]
[e] 05: Zor (Live) [feat. Thurston Moore]
[f] 06: Uğultular (Live) [feat. Thurston Moore]

We are pleased to share the first collaborative album by Alexander Berg (Dorisburg) and Sebastian Mullaert (Wa Wu We).

As Jorum, they invite us into a fable where murky soils awaken beneath the moonlit forest dew. Currents begin to rush softly through tentacles reaching far down into the earth. Bones, buried by the sands of time, come slowly back to life along with the slumbering bloodwood woods.

Born in Naples, educated in New York and now residing in Paris, drummer Francesco Ciniglio combines spotless drumming facility with substantial compositional flair, and has the capacity to move, reflect and express through his music. An in-demand sideman, Ciniglio has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Shai Maestro, Aaron Parks, Dayna Stephens, Seamus Blake and Tony Tixier. Following his debut solo solo release ('Wood', with Parks and Joe Sanders), Ciniglio returns as leader for his Whirlwind debut, 'The Locomotive Suite', a set of compositions for sextet that combine a personal metaphor of resilience with snapshots of his formative familial influences. Barcelona-based Raynald Colom (trumpet), fellow Paris emigrée Matt Chalk (alto) and Matteo Pastorino (bass clarinet) take the frontline duties, with Frenchman Alexis Valet on vibraphone and rising star Felix Moseholm on double bass.

This is Alejandro Escovedo’s critically acclaimed album, The Crossing, with
the vocals recorded in Spanish.
With the lyrics translated into and sung in Spanish, the concept album which
tells the story of two young immigrants to the US, who bond over a mutual love
of punk rock as they struggle with the racism and discrimination as immigrants,
becomes an even more intimate experience.
It features guest vocalists, as well as Alejandro singing all of the songs from The
Crossing in Spanish. Vocalists on the album include Alex Ruiz (Chingon), Patricia Vonne, Vanessa Del Fierro and Alejandro Escovedo.
Tracks like, “Algo Azul,” (“Something Blue”), “Sonica USA”, and “Bandido Para
Ti” (“Outlaw For You”) really shine here.

Tré Burt is no stranger to coincidence. Much of his music career has been marked by chance encounters and happy accidents, the kind of stuff you see in movies but rarely experience in real life. It'd be easy to chalk such happenstance up to luck, then, but for Burt, being in the right place at the right time is a phenomenon born from his lifelong passion for music and his unwavering adherence to living authentically as an artist. 'You, Yeah, You' is Tré's 2nd full length album release though Oh Boy Records and is the follow up to his debut album release, 'Caught It From The Rye'. This new collection of original songs was recorded with the help of producer Brad Cook and backed by a talented cast of guest musicians including Phil Cook, Matt McCaughan, Alex Farrar, Amelia Meath and Kelsey Waldon.

Bored At My Grandma's House is the moniker of 19-year old Leeds-based Amber Strawbridge, starting out as an exercise in passing time when she was quite literally bored at her Grandma's place. First single & EP opener 'Showers' is about time alone & listening to your mind - “Do you ever think of showers as like a new beginning?“ is a poignant opening line, about that therapeutic space for you to really think and let your thoughts surface. In Amber's own words "showers are a kind of therapy in my opinion, they give you time to reflect and think without influence from anything external."

Born in Whitehaven, Cumbria to musical family, and raised on the likes of Bowie & Pink Floyd there was always plenty of opportunity to mess around on the various instruments lying around the house. Attempts at proper music lessons went awry as Amber shunned the rules & rigidity, and so instead she gradually taught herself piano, guitar & drums. After time travelling in Cambodia, teaching English & helping with projects in various villages, Amber stayed with her Grandma & began to use the aeons of spare time to make tunes on Garageband & upload them to soundcloud. As a wave of BBC Introducing support rolled in, coupled with a move to Leeds to study music, the bedroom set-up evolved & a full EP began to take shape.

Playing all the instruments & self-recording most of the EP at home, Amber took the tracks to Alex Greaves (Working Men's Club, Bdrmm) at the Nave studio for live drums & some final mixing flourishes, leaving an EP full of lo-fi charm but with a studio feel.  Inspired by Slowdive, Wolf Alice & Alvvays, Sometimes I Forget You're Human Too showcases Amber's singular vision of indie-pop, on an EP that deals with topics like humanity, nostalgia & the current refugee crisis.

Speaking on the EP title Amber says "Sometimes I forget you’re human too is the realisation that everyone is the same. In the sense that we are all human, everyone has issues and problems to face, everyone makes mistakes and has success. I used to compare myself to others a lot and think ‘wow they have their life together’ or ‘how are they so happy all of the time’ but that’s not the case it’s just what you can see on the outside ...so it’s kind of an EP of self assurance and reminding myself that it’s ok to not have it together all the time because no one does as we’re all just human after all"

The EP is just the start for Bored At My Grandmas House "I’ve already got a few tracks which I’m thinking could be potentially for an album, I’d definitely like to do a bigger project next and have the sound I’d like in mind. I’ve recently just got a band together so hopefully when live shows are resurrected I’ll have a few of those!" 2021 is looking to be anything but boring for Amber Strawbridge.

The '2Kings EP' is the debut release from Ash and Jay Shah, two brothers based in London. The record has come out on their newly formed '506' label via Kudos Records. Having produced for various MC's and vocalists in the past, this is the first time the brothers have teamed up to release something under their own '2Kings' alias.

Drawing on influences from the styles of producers such as Madlib, J Dilla and The Alchemist, the record blends obscure soul and jazz infused samples with incisive vocals to take the listener on an introspective journey across 6 tracks.

”Papered Up” and "Dark Corners" shows the pair team up with Detroit legend Guilty Simpson and LA wordsmith Blu over two soul-smoked instrumentals, with both MCs lacing up to provide hard-hitting verses. Guilty's gritty personal narrative of the daily struggles of living in the D is wonderfully counterbalanced by the spaced out, string-lead production; whilst Blu takes a more positive approach, his intricate west-coast flow interrupted only by the pitched-up vocal hook of the sample.

"Last Time", perhaps the standout song on the EP, is a rich, experimental piece of neo-soul embellished by gorgeous guitar riffs from Oscar Jerome (who has released on both Universal Records and Giles Peterson's Brownswood Records) and the velvet smooth tones of rising vocalist Douniah (signed to german based hip hop label Melting Pot Music).

Since the digital release, the EP has received widespread acclaim, with support from Tom Ravenscroft, Huey Morgan, Giles Peterson and Alexander Nut, to name a few. The brothers have been repeatedly championed by Jamie Groovement / Agent J (head music editor of Bonafide Magazine) having recently appeared on his Groovement Show on Reform Radio, and "Last Time" was also featured on Spotify's 'Fresh Finds' and 'Fresh Finds: The Wave' playlists.

The '2Kings EP' is definitely one to watch out for.

“an aggressively modern merger of Rush’s arena art rock, U.K. prog
classicism especially Pink Floyd and King Crimson and the post-grunge
vengeance of Tool” Rolling Stone
Having recently announced that Snapper Music will be representing Porcupine
Tree’s Transmission label worldwide, new CD and LP reissues of the band’s extensive catalogue will roll out throughout 2021.
Originally released in 2007, ‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ was Porcupine Tree’s ninth
studio album. It was the band’s biggest selling album at the time, was their first
album to break into the Billboard top 100 in the USA as well as charting across
Europe, earned the band a Grammy nomination and has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine’s Greatest Prog Albums Of All Time.
‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ was an ambitious 50-minute piece of music made of
6 tracks that flow together to create a cohesive whole, the British art-rockers
Porcupine Tree created a concept album based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel
‘Lunar Park’, with lyrics that addressed how the adolescent protagonist battled
his bipolar and attention-deficit disorders with a regimen of prescription drugs
and Internet overstimulation.
The music used sprawling vocal melodies, atmospheric guitars and drums that
tumbled through chaotic passages to echo the main character’s manic-depressive states. ‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ features guest appearances from Robert
Fripp (King Crimson) & Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson.
Porcupine Tree released their last album, ‘The Incident’, in 2009, marking another step forward in the incredible journey of the band that began as a solo
studio project created by Steven Wilson in the late eighties to a multi grammy
nominated act and one of the world’s most revered live bands, selling out arenas across the globe and wowing fans with their incredible performances.
This new Transmission version of ‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ will be released as a
2LP gatefold 140gm edition.
“a dramatic, wide-screen, expertly executed, genuinely thrilling rock record” Q
Magazine

Kate Taylor, of the renowned musical clan that includes brothers James,
Livingston, Alex and Hugh, is releasing ‘Why Wait!’.
The album reunites her with many of the key players who backed her on her
1971 debut, ‘Sister Kate’, including renowned session musicians Russ Kunkel,
Danny Kortchmar, and Leland Sklar.Produced by GRAMMY Award-winning music veteran Peter Asher, who was also at the helm for the ‘Sister Kate’ sessions,
‘Why Wait!’ marks the 50th anniversary of ‘Sister Kate’, which launched her
music career.
James Taylor told Rolling Stone: “For Kate to be doing this with Peter, and that
both of them have this life experience that brings them back together, it’s really
a moving thing. I think it’s so great that Kate will have this next iteration, you
know, this next chance for people to hear her and pick up on her.”

Limited Coke Bottle Green vinyl, 250 copies only for the UK. Any future pressing will be on black vinyl. Massage feature Alex Naidus from Pains At Being Pure At Heart. Recorded by Lewis Pesacov (Fool’s Gold, Foreign Born, Peel’d). Massage was supposed to be low-stakes, no big deal "anti-ambition," as Andrew Romano, guitarist and vocalist, put it. The L.A.based jangle-pop group's first album, 2018's Oh Boy, was a sweet and simple weekend warrior's affair, or more specifically, an every-other-Monday one, as the band members gathered to bash out songs that offered messy but heartfelt tribute to their chosen heroes: The Feelies, the Go-Betweens, Twerps, Flying Nun. For Romano, not taking things too seriously is a dead-serious affair: “Nothing kills the kind of music we want to make faster than the sense that a band is trying too hard,” he says. The kind of music Massage makes sunny, bittersweet, tender is less a proper genre than a minor zip code nested within guitar pop. Take a little "There She Goes" by the La's, some "If You Need Someone" by the Field Mice; the honey-drizzled guitars from The Cure's "Friday I'm In Love," a Jesus & Mary Chain backbeat, and you're almost all the way there. Indie pop, jangle pop, power pop whatever you call it, pushing too hard scares the spirit right out of this sweet, diffident music, and Massage have a touch so light the songs seem to form spontaneously, like wry smiles. Still, on their sophomore effort, Still Life, they manage to take a quantum leap forward in songwriting, production, and depth, all somehow without seeming to try. These 12 deft songs are full of late-summer sunlight and deep shadows, pained grins and shared jokes, shy declarations of love and quietly nursed heartbreak. Still Life resurrects a brief, romantic moment in the late-'80s, right after post-punk and immediately before alt-rock, when it seemed like any scrappy indie band might stumble across a hit. When Andrew Romano and Alex Naidus first met in 2007, Naidus had just joined a band with his friends Kip Berman and Peggy Wang that was about to stumble into many of them. When Naidus finally left Pains for L.A. in 2013, two hit albums and a few world tours later, he started playing with Romano to recapture the no-stakes, suburban-garage joy of making music for its own sake. It was "friendship incarnate," Naidus remembers. The other members came from within the friend circle Gabrielle Ferrer (keyboard/vocals) is Romano's sister-in-law, Michael Felix (drums) is one of Naidus’ best friends, and David Rager (bass) is a childhood friend of Felix’s. When Felix moved to Mexico City in early 2020, Naidus’ wife, Natalie de Almeida, stepped in. The result is the finest batch of songs they've ever produced. From Naidus' velvet-lined JAMC tribute "Half A Feeling" to Ferrer's Let It Be-era Replacements-tinged lament "The Double" to Romano's "In Gray & Blue," these are gold-standard indie-pop gems from emerging masters of the form. Still Life glows with the sincerity and unfakeable warmth of the era they so lovingly channel. Like the best Gin Blossoms chorus you still remember, the songs on Still Life stir big, pure emotions, but beneath them, uneasy truths about adulthood linger, just below the surface. Maybe the exact mix of ringing guitars and two-part harmonies can chase those feelings away, or redeem them, for at least a minute or three. Massage won't stop trying.

Das britische Produzentenduo Jungle meldet sich zurück.
Das kommende Album von Jungle - ihr drittes - „Loving In Stereo" wird wahrscheinlich der Soundtrack zu einem Sommer werden, der anders ist als alle anderen. Das Duo hat das vergangene Jahr im Studio verbracht und ist mit einer unbändigen Dancefloor-Platte für die post „social distancing" Zeit herausgekommen: „With this record we’ve learned to trust our instincts and go with our gut,” sagt T. „We want it to be more raw, open, fun, enjoyable and entertaining, because that’s what music is,” fügt J. hinzu.

J und T sind das pulsierende Herz von Jungle, wo Musik, Ästhetik und Choreografie als eine unverwechselbare künstlerische Vision nebeneinander bestehen. Mit dem gleichen Ethos wie z.B. Gorillaz oder The Avalanches sind die beiden die Produzenten, Songwriter und Musiker, aber sie sind auch die Regisseure, Content-Schöpfer und Kuratoren. Sie stehen an der Spitze einer größeren Gemeinschaft von Kreativen. Sie sind Weltenbauer.
Mit dem neuen Album wird dies auf eine neue Ebene gehoben, wobei das größere Jungle-Kollektiv von Tänzern ein integraler Aspekt ist, wie die Musik visuell erlebt wird. Mit jedem Video, bei dem Josh Lloyd Watson und sein langjähriger Mitarbeiter Charlie Di Placido Regie geführt haben, schaffen sie es die Fans zu begeistern. Das Video zu „Keep Moving" ist in einem Take gedreht - teils Birdman, teils West Side Story und zeigt zwei Gangs von Tänzer*innen. Es beginnt mit dem Tänzer Che Jones (der im Video zu „Smile" vom letzten Jungle-Album mitspielte) in seinem Schlafzimmer und führt zu einer Szene im Freien, in der wir Mette Linturi (die im Video zu „Casio" vom letzten Album mitspielte) finden. Der Rest ist eine wunderschöne Entfesselung, die so atemraubend zu beobachten ist, dass sie den Zuschauer mit einem Gefühl der Ehrfurcht zurücklässt.

In ihrer bisherigen Karriere haben Jungle bereits auf mehreren Kontinenten gespielt und eine stetig wachsende internationale Fangemeinde gewonnen: Headline Shows von Sydney bis Moskau, vom ausverkauften Londoner Alexandra Palace mit 10.000 Plätzen bis zum 9.000 Kilometer von ihrem zu Hause entfernten ausverkauften Hollywood Palladium und Festivals wie Coachella, Bonnaroo und Lollapalooza. Ihr für den Mercury Prize nominiertes und mit Gold ausgezeichnetes Debütalbum und der Nachfolger "For Ever" von 2018 erreichten beide die UK Top 10. Diese beiden Alben haben seitdem 750.000 Verkäufe und fast eine Milliarde Streams erreicht.

Nice Swan Records announce the release of
compilation LP ‘Nice Swan Introduces Vol.1’.
Introducing a wave of new and exciting talent
including the likes of Jelly Cleaver, Courting,
Sprints, Hallan, Malady, Mandrake Handshake and
Anorak Patch.
The upcoming compilation solidifies Nice Swan’s
growing status as one of the UK’s most reputable
indie labels, with further signings and releases set
to be announced in the coming weeks.
Launched in 2016 by North West duo Pete
Heywoode and Alex Edwards, Nice Swan’s initial
aim to become a platform for discovering and
nurturing new talent soon attracted widespread
recognition, with the subsequent success of
signees such as Sports Team, Pip Blom, FUR and
Hotel Lux building momentum at an impressive
rate.
Instilled with a passion to push emerging artists on
a monthly basis, ‘Vol.1’ marks the next stage of the
cult indie label’s development. With several acts
already becoming mainstays on the BBC Radio 1 /
6 Music airwaves and gaining extensive
tastemaker approval, the compilation could not be
arriving at a better time.

While the pandemic paralyzed the entire world and prevented bands from touring, Latin America's biggest metal export SEPULTURA refused to sit back and act like an animal trapped in a cage. Like the flowers growing out of the deceased bird’s body depicted on the stunning colourful cover artwork by Eduardo Recife, the thrash metal pioneers from Belo Horizonte made good use of their unexpected free time to start a project that kept them busy throughout the entirety of 2020:

‘SepulQuarta’ was born at the very beginning of the pandemic when everything was halted”, guitarist Andreas Kisser remembers. “We had a new album out, but we couldn’t tour for it. Therefore, we created this recurring event where we could talk with our fans around the world, play our music and exchange ideas, it was a blast! »SepulQuarta« kept us alive and strong throughout one of the most difficult times in human history.”

“Doing Sepulquarta during this period allowed me to stay in contact with music. Playing my instrument was the only thing left to do in this pandemic,” adds drummer Eloy Casagrande, and indeed, music seemed to be a good way of coping with the never-ending lockdown and fear of loss and isolation that haunted people worldwide. Obviously, the Brazilian pioneers were not the only musicians feeling this way, so they started to connect with friends and colleagues worldwide and asked them to not only be part of their weekly podcast, but also join them in playing one of SEPULTURA’s classics tracks. From the safety of their homes, international stars like David Ellefson, Scott Ian, Danko Jones, Devin Townsend, Matt Heafy and many more recorded a SEPULTURA track together with the band, which have now been mixed and mastered by Conrado Ruther.

“We invited our amazingly talented friends to be a part of our project, either jamming with us or as a guest in the many Q&A’s we promoted,” Andreas explains. “We talked about our history, music, politics, sports, philosophy, depression and the environment among other things. We learned a lot with specialist guests and many of the great minds of today. Here you will find unique performances of SEPULTURA’s music from the many phases of our career, with amazing guest musicians that lent us their talent and energy to record these historical versions!”

ANGEL DOVE GLOBAL / 812 RECORDS / JAM DEUCE / IZIPHO SOUL RECORDS are proud to present the first vinyl release from the current lead singer of The Four Tops - the soulful, raw and real Alexander Morris! Upon hearing ‘PRETTY GIRL’ you are probably asking yourself, how on earth has this new recording got such an authentic ‘Northern Soul’ vibe - well the answer is the musicians are the cream of Detroit players, led by Earl Van Dyke Jr. - music director, arranger and conductor for The Four Tops. Written and produced by fellow ‘Top’, the legendary Ronnie McNeir. Our thanks extend to Ronnie for allowing Alex to stamp his own mark on this Detroit classic. LOVE’S KNOCKIN’ was set to be recorded by The Temptations until Dr Marlin McNichols used all his powers of persuasion to keep it ‘in house’ and we are so pleased he did. Immerse yourself into this slow jam - two minutes in and there’s no going back - the truly outstanding close ‘God did make little green apples…..’ will leave you wanting more!

2023 Repress

Black Truffle is pleased to announce the first-ever vinyl reissue of Alvin Curran’s classic Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri, originally issued in 1978 on Ananda, the cooperative label run by Curran, Roberto Laneri, and Giacinto Scelsi. Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri (Light Flowers Dark Flowers) – its title inspired by an intersection in Milan – is the second in the series of four solo recordings Alvin Curran issued in the 1970s and early 1980s, preceded by Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden (1975), followed by The Works (1980) and Canti Illuminati (1982).

Each of these solo works combines field recordings with performances on synthesiser, various acoustic instruments, and voice, arranged in languorously paced, dreamy sequences. Far from the bracing pointillism of much musique concrete, the elements encountered on the meandering course followed by Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri – whether a frenetic piano improvisation, dense layers of Serge synthesiser and ocarina, or a monologue from Frederic Rzewski’s five-year old son, Alexis – often occupy the foreground of our attention for minutes at a time. As Curran explains, his approach is like that of a filmmaker in the editing process, working with “whole blocks of recorded time”. The purring of a cat, toy piano, a child counting, plaintive synthesiser tones, the cacophony of exotic birds at the London Zoo – each disappears into the next, until, on the LP’s second side, a solo piano performance takes centre stage, moving unexpectedly from percussive minimalist permutations to a halting rendition of Georgia on My Mind. A subtle yet stunning work that more than forty years on still seems charged with possibility, Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri arrives in a loving reproduction of the original sleeve, featuring Edith Schloss’ beautiful cover painting, remastered audio and with new liner notes by Alvin Curran and Francis Plagne.

Last autumn Leng Records welcomed a new name to the roster, Greek DJ/producer Lex, via some warming and colourful tracks on the label’s 10th Anniversary LP and sampler EP. Now the Athenian has returned with his first full release for Paul Murphy and Simon Purnell’s popular imprint.



Real name Alex Andrikopoulos, Lex first rose to prominence in his home city of Athens when he ran the Radical Soundz record shop during the first decade of the millennium. More recently his reputation has spread worldwide thanks to his association with Leng, a recent 12” on B2 Recordings and DJ sets that frequently join the dots between disco, house and techno.



His first full EP for Leng is arguably his most musically expansive collection of tracks to date, with a swathe of guest players – keyboardist Artis Boriss and drummer/percussionist Harold Perez most prominently – swinging by to help bring Lex’s vivid musical visions to life.



For proof, check out lead cut ‘Punta Allen’, an eight-minute chunk of organic dancefloor goodness in which Lex and his musical associates layer steel pan style melodies, spacey synthesizer flourishes, eyes-closed electric piano solos, warming chords and jangling guitars atop a heady bass guitar line, unfussy drums and sweaty pots-and-pans percussion. The track’s effortless evolution, which slowly unfurls before rising towards a gorgeous and joyous conclusion, is testament to the Greek producer’s dancefloor instincts.



You’ll find more low-slung, dub disco-influenced bass on the exotic ‘The Jamail Pass’, where mazy and feverish organ solos and rolling hand percussion provide a platform for Paqua member Alex Searle’s Nile Rodgers style guitar sounds. The track’s inherent funk – emphasized by occasional bass guitar solos and fills, as well as some tumbling synth sounds – is apparent throughout the track, something that only adds to its smile-inducing allure.



Closing out a very impressive first EP on Leng is ‘Angels of Rhythm’, a hazier, faster and more intergalactic excursion that cannily combines the low-slung bass of dub disco with the intoxicating vibes and warming dreaminess of deep house. The track’s intoxicating late-night feel is partly due to an undecidedly cosmic spoken word vocal from sassy singer Harrier Summer, though Artis Boriss’ pitch-bend-sporting synth solos and fizzing electronic noises certainly help. Driving but also deep and groovy, ‘Angels of Rhythm’ offers a memorable conclusion to a very impressive EP.

The original Rio beach boy returns in style, with a new record of unabashedly feel-good Brazilian party music. Featuring Azymuth bassist Alex Malheiros (responsible for some of Brazil’s all-time funkiest low-end licks), a horn section including Valle’s go-to high-trumpeter Jesse Sadoc, and percussion master Armando Marcal, Sempre has all the masterful composition, exceptional musicality, and forward-thinking ideas you’d expect from the Brazilian titan, and it’s fresher than a fruity caipirinha in the Copacabana sunshine.

Updating Marcos Valle’s seminal boogie-era sound, Sempre spans ecstatic disco, cosmic samba, and late-night jazz-funk, drawing obvious comparisons to some of Valle’s late-seventies and early-eighties output. ‘Estrelar’ (1983), for example, an ode to the joy of exercise, has become one of the biggest Brazilian disco hits of all time. But lyrically the new album is more closely reminiscent of Valle’s progressive early seventies’ releases. Heralding love, tolerance and living in the present, while satirising political corruption, the new release recalls a time in which Valle, together with his brother Paulo Sergio, was writing subtly subversive lyrics in order to bypass the censorship imposed by the military dictatorship, which ruled over Brazil between 1964 and 1985.
The album marries compositional genius with pure pop perfection. From the blistering brass arrangements on up-tempo disco hit ‘Olha Quem ta Chegando’ and the infinitely classy ‘Vou Amanhã Saber’, to the nine-minute synth heavy instrumental funk stepper ‘Odisséia’, which gradually morphs into an interplanetary samba jam, the songs are tightened and given an extra coat of gloss, by London based producer Daniel Maunick (son of Incognito frontman Bluey). More moments of boogie delight come in the form of ‘Minha Roma’ (a musical nod to the famed ‘Estrelar’), and the sunshine anthem title-track ‘Sempre’.

Translating as ‘Ever’, Sempre is a testament to the continual drive for development and reinvention that has defined Marcos Valle’s astounding six-decade career. Ever changing, ever moving forward, he began as one of the second-wave of early bossa nova composers in the sixties, writing the world famous bossa standard ‘Summer Samba (So Nice)’ for his sophomore album ‘Samba 68’. After a brief stint in the States, Valle returned to Brazil, and the early ’70s saw the release of four ground-breaking Valle albums which incorporated progressive rock, psychedelic influences, pop, jazz, soul and cinematic arrangements. These albums would see Valle work alongside a number of hugely influential Brazilian bands, including Milton Nascimento’s backing band Som Imaginaro, the prog-rock band O Terco and jazz funk legends Azymuth. Returning back to the US in ‘75, Valle resided in LA, writing music for the likes of Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Chicago, Sarah Vaughn and Leon Ware, before returning to Brazil once more, where after releasing a handful of hit pop records, he took a hiatus from recording.

Since the mid-nineties, Marcos Valle has been experiencing a renaissance with London based label Far Out Recordings, where his approach to music has remained, as always; decidedly open to new influences, possibilities and technologies. Sempre is Marcos Valle’s fifth album for the label, following 2010’s critically acclaimed Estatica.

Just in time for summer, Sempre is out on Vinyl LP/ CD on 28th June 2019 on Far Out Recordings, and Marcos Valle and band will be touring Europe in May /June (see below for dates).

Parisian Soul debut on Local Talk is intelligent, warm, jazzy, peak time house music.
It has the underground vibe yet speaks to everyone, timely thought out chords that gives you positive rush to your ears and give your heart a great big hug.
On the flip legendary producer Olivier Portal aka Playin' 4 The City delivers a mix that is screaming to be played as much on a sunny afternoon as it is at a night party, it is heavenly!

Artist info : In the early 80's, when he was still a young boy, David Hachour involved himself totally in Hip Hop culture. He bought turntables and became a Hip Hop DJ. He threw parties, participated in graffiti contests, became a high level BMX competitor. Having moved to London, David ditched the Adidas and the paint bombs for electronic music.

In 1998, David Hachour founded Oscar with his friend Florent Sabaton, releasing 3 albums and many singles. David traveled all over the world to play alongside famous DJs such as Rainer Truby, Louie Vega, Shazz, Carl Craig, Grand Master Flash, Kenny Larkin, Dixon.

In 2016, David started working on Parisian Soul with his friends Alexandre Destrez (St Germain, Dimitri From Paris) and percussionist Edmundo Carneiro (St. Germain, Bob Sinclar, De La Soul).

Lunar Tredd – Fimber Bravo’s first album on Moshi Moshi since the much acclaimed Con-Fusion – tells the tale. The highlife fusion of You Can’t Control Me resonates in the wake of the global Black Lives Matters protests. There is fire in these impactful clarion calls to resist oppression, recognise strength in resilience and fight against the corruption of power.

Bravo’s been a constant collaborative force - as his time as leader of 20th Century Steel Band, as musical director of Steel ‘n’ Skin, and appearances with everyone from Sun Ra Arkestra to Hot Chip, shows. Lunar Tredd reflects the influence of the music handed down to him by “ancestors” . Helped by an enviable cast of friends and collaborators, Fimber has shifted those touchstones to create something that sounds resolutely like the here and now.

Those friends that appear on Lunar Tredd, include Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and The Horrors’ Tom Furse; The Invisible drummer Leo Taylor and Senegalese percussionist, Mamadou Sarr dropping in on rhythm duties, while there are also appearances from Susumu Mukai aka Zongamin, the brilliant Kora player Kadialy Kouyate, vocalist Cottie Williams, Vanishing Twin’s Catherine Lucas, and production from Lapo Frost and Ghostpoet producer Shuta Shinoda. Some, like Zongamin and Williams go way back with Fimber, other connections are newer, but all have quickly become part of the London-based musician’s musical family.

Indeed, Fimber never loses sight of where he’s come from on LUNAR TREDD - even as he looks to where he might go next. As a musician, he’s still finding new creative peaks nearly 50 years after he began.

Es gibt sie noch, die guten Nachrichten: Jan Delay meldet sich mit seinem neuen Album zurück. “Earth, Wind & Feiern” ist voll Bass, Bumms und positiven Vibes: eine Platte für den Club in unserem Herzen.
“Earth, Wind & Feiern” ist Jan Delays fünftes Soloalbum und sein erstes seit 2016. Wie immer bei Jan Delay schöpft “Earth, Wind & Feiern” aus fünf Jahrzehnten Popgeschichte. Vor allem aber spielt die Platte im Hier und Jetzt. In ihr stecken Burna Boy und Stefflon Don, Daft Punk und Drake, Sly & Robbie und Meek Mill. Es gibt Afrobeats, Disco, Trap und Ska, sogar Stadiontechno und LatinX-Riddims.
“Earth, Wind & Feiern” ist eine Platte für den Club in unserem Herzen. Sie ist voll Seele und Bounce und positiven Vibes. Denn so bedrückend und komplex die Welt manchmal auch scheinen mag: Ein paar simple Wahrheiten werden nie von ihrer Gültigkeit verlieren. Wenn Hass herrscht, hilft Liebe ganz bestimmt. Und das Wichtigste ist, dass das Feuer nicht aufhört zu brennen. Jan Delay ist zurück, um es am Lodern zu
halten.

Muse celebrate the twentieth anniversary of ‘Origin Of Symmetry’ by releasing ‘Origin Of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX’ on Warner Records. The new edition features remixed and remastered audio plus re-imagined artwork and will be released on digital formats on June 18th before two vinyl packages follow on July 9th.



As the album’s anniversary approached, Muse asked the Grammy-winning producer Rich Costey, who has produced or mixed material on almost every subsequent record, to revisit the original recordings. Whereas most remix albums aim to radically rework the material, or to switch to an entirely different genre, the band and Costey wanted to provide a renewed clarity with a more open, dynamic and less crushed sound. This highlights parts and ideas previously buried or muted on the original mixes, like a harpsichord on ‘Micro Cuts’ and Abbey Road recorded strings on ‘Citizen Erased’, ‘Megalomania’ and ’Space Dementia’.



And that’s precisely what has been achieved. From the visceral opening riff of ‘New Born’ to the cinematic melancholy of the closing ‘Megalomania’ via the staggering scope of fan favourite ‘Citizen Erased’, the remix unveils every facet of the album’s intricate production alongside a new-found warmth. It further benefits from mastering courtesy of Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios.



Matt Bellamy said:



"In revisiting the album what we found was the original mixes on the singles, like ‘Plug In Baby’ and ‘Bliss’, were pretty good so they were the hardest ones to improve. It was the deeper album tracks like ‘Micro Cuts’ where we were able to make massive breakthroughs."



The ‘XX Anniversary RemiXX’ also adds ‘Futurism’ to the tracklist. Originally a bonus track on the album’s Japanese edition and subsequently tagged to the end of the album on streaming services, ‘Futurism’ now adds a burst of energy to bridge the gap between ‘Feeling Good’ and ‘Megalomania’. This reflects its placing on the 2019 box set ‘Origin of Muse’.



‘Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX’ is completed with a modernised reimagination of the album’s cover art courtesy of Sujin Kim. The visual artist has created a hyper-realistic 3D rendering of William Eager’s original cover image.



‘Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX’ is now available to pre-order, with ‘Citizen Erased’ provided as an instant download. A limited edition exclusive 140 gram coloured double-vinyl set is available from the band’s official store. A striking package and a must-have item for collectors, it features LP1 on translucent sun yellow vinyl and LP2 on translucent orange vinyl. It will also be released on double black vinyl and digital formats. Both versions of the vinyl feature an unorthodox detail: the sides are marked M, U, S and E rather than the standard format

A limited edition of 500 copies on white vinyl. First ever reissue of Alternative TV's "Action Time Vision", compiled in 1980 and featuring the group's 7"es from 1977 to 1979. Including bonus track "You Bastard" and new liner notes by ATV singer Mark Perry, the founding editor of punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue.

What Mark Perry says:
"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Punk turned my world upside down! In July 1976, after hearing and seeing the Ramones, I went from just another music fan, avid reader of the NME and Melody Maker, to become editor of punk's premier fanzine, Sniffin' Glue. It was almost an instant success and by December 1976, through our no nonsense approach, our position as the 'punk Bible' was assured. But it was never enough for me. As I saw the initial punk explosion subside into a succession of third-rate copycats, I wanted to have a go myself.

My first attempt at forming a band was in late '76. We called ourselves the 'New Beatles' and it ended after a couple of rehearsals. It wasn't until I met guitarist Alex Fergusson, a mate of Sounds writer Sandy Robertson, in early 1977, that I started putting together some more interesting ideas for a band. I worked on a bunch of lyrics and, pretty quickly, Alex had put tunes to them. Eventually calling ourselves Alternative TV, we had our first rehearsals at Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Studios in March '77.

That initial line-up was just me singing and Alex on guitar, with Genesis P-Orridge helping out on some bass and drums. We did ask Gen to join fulltime, but he decided against it and stuck with Throbbing Gristle. After more rehearsals, we played our first gig at the Nottingham Punk Festival in May 1977, joined by Mick Smith on bass and John Towe (ex-Generation X) on drums.

I started thinking about doing a record almost from the start because, by this time, I was running the Step Forward record label with Miles Copeland, who was also to become the band's manager. It seemed like a natural move to put out my own record, but it instead ended up on Deptford Fun City, another of Miles' labels. Before that actually happened, we made a slight detour by recording a demo for EMI. They didn't want to sign us, but we did end up with the tapes…"

A little over a year ago, Nathan Williams found himself back in San Diego, writing what would eventually become Hideaway, his seventh album as Wavves, in a little shed behind his parents’ house. It was also the place where he made some of his earliest albums, before he became known for his uncanny ability to write songs that sneered at the world while evoking pathos, sympathy, and a deep understanding of how sometimes we’re our own worst enemies, and that can be okay. Williams’ return to his childhood home was not just a symbolic attempt at jumpstarting creativity. It came as a result of a series of major life changes. A decade ago, Williams released King of the Beach on the maverick indie label Fat Possum. The album was a cocky collection of pop punk gems that catapulted him into the public consciousness, eventually prompting a jump from Fat Possum into the major label system, where he released two albums before becoming disillusioned by the lack of creative agency available to him. In 2017, Williams self-released You’re Welcome on his label, Ghost Ramp. Now, Williams has returned to Fat Possum with a barbed collection of anxious anthems that grapple with the looming sense of doom and despair that comes with getting older in an increasingly chaotic world. “He’ll always skew toward the Bart Simpson character,” says Matthew Johnson, founder of Fat Possum. “But that does not mean that he doesn’t have some commentary, and once in awhile, it’s totally spot on.” Across its brief but impactful nine tracks, Hideaway is about what happens when you get old enough to take stock of the world around you and realize that no one is going to save you but yourself, and even that might be a tall order. The album features Williams’ most universal and urgent songs yet. “Honeycomb” lopes along sunnily, as Williams sings affecting lines like “I feel like I’m dying, it’s cool, it’s great, just pretend I’m okay.” His directness is shocking, and proof that Williams is the kind of songwriter who can capture pain and uncertainty with resonant brutal force. “It’s real peaks and valleys with me,” Williams says. “I can be super optimistic and I can feel really good, and then I can hit a skid and it’s like an earthquake hits my life, and everything just falls apart. Some of it is my own doing, of course.” It’s this self awareness that permeates each of Hideaway’s songs, marking them each as mature reckonings with who he is. After realizing the material he’d been working on in the hideaway was starting to take shape, Williams, along with bandmates Stephen Pope and Alex Gates workshopped the songs in a series of now-abandoned studio sessions, before linking up with musician and producer Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio to help fully realize their new songs.

Born in Naples, educated in New York and now residing in Paris, drummer Francesco Ciniglio combines spotless drumming facility with substantial compositional flair, and has the capacity to move, reflect and express through his music. An in-demand sideman, Ciniglio has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Shai Maestro, Aaron Parks, Dayna Stephens, Seamus Blake and Tony Tixier. Following his debut solo release (‘Wood’, with Parks and Joe Sanders), Ciniglio returns as leader for his Whirlwind debut, ‘The Locomotive Suite’, a set of compositions for sextet that combine a personal metaphor of resilience with snapshots of his formative familial influences. Barcelona-based Raynald Colom (trumpet), fellow Paris emigr e Matt Chalk (alto) and Matteo Pastorino (bass clarinet) take the frontline duties, with Frenchman Alexis Valet on vibraphone and rising star Felix Moseholm on double bass. The suite is a collection of substantial, knotty harmonies, rhythmic shifts and spacious textures. But it also experiments internally, with chordal horn textures giving bass and vibraphone more melodic freedom. The unusual scoring is inspired by the soundworlds of Pat Metheny and Ben van Gelder, bridging the gap between music for large ensemble and harmonically focused trio music. Or, as Ciniglio puts it, it’s all about “finding an ensemble that’s not too big or small.” “This album is all about movement - getting a train here, marching there,” summarises Ciniglio. But it also reflects on people and places, and on the personal growth that helps make ‘The Locomotive’ Suite a significant compositional statement.

Today, the Berlin-based artist, DJ and producer BOYS NOIZE (Alex Ridha) announces the release of two new songs on July 16th via his imprint BNR. BOYS NOIZE’s tear-out run of collaborative singles will continue with (+)side "Nude", this time partnering up with Estonian avant-gardist TOMMY CASH, and (-)side "Xpress Yourself".

More excellence from the Basin Rock label following albums from Nadia Reid, Julie Byrne, Aoife Nessa Frances, Jim Ghedi, Alex Maas..
With a special knack for balancing bright pop melodies with a drifting sense of melancholy, LA based Johanna Samuels new album Excelsior! is a tender, honest document of the importance of companionship above all else. Named after Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna”, Samuels grew up on the classic songwriters of yesteryear (George Harrison, Tom Petty, Neil Young) and after a healthy dose of Elliott Smith and Jon Brion, has spent the best part of the last decade honing her craft.

her band and producer Sam Evian but it's songs are full of West Coast sunshine. It's Evian's first full album production at his own Flying Cloud Studios. Recorded mostly to tape, the album is as a gorgeous combination of vintage instrumentation, strong melodic hooks, killer harmonies and Samuels’ elegant voice.
Samuels seeks those answers through companionship, exploring the depths of her relationships and then calling upon a handful of womxn to provide the album’s backing vocals - a task she’d always performed herself until now. As such, Excelsior! makes a space for the voices of Courtney Marie Andrews, Hannah Cohen, Lomelda’s Hannah Read, A.O. Gerber, Louise Florence and Olivia Kaplan.
The album takes its name from the signature that Samuels’ grandpa would use before he sadly passed away last December. “He was a very important person to me and he helped raise me,” Johanna explains. “He signed all of his letters and emails ‘Excelsior!’, including the exclamation point. It means ‘ever upward’ and that’s what I wish for everyone: to grow from listening with more empathy and from hearing each other out. I hope this record makes people want to be gentler with each other and themselves.”

“Montreal’s genre-defying post-rock combo BIG|BRAVE could very well be the most noteworthy recent heavy curiosity to come out of the city in recent years.” - NOISEY

“…combines elements of Björk, Neurosis and Sunn O))) into a cohesive whole; but this whole is an ever evolving and challenging sonic mass.
- THE QUIETUS

Minimalism and instinct, structure/freedom and meticulous timing form the cornerstones of their precise, rhythmical sound.
Lyrically, the album explores the weight of race and gender, endurance and navigating other people’s behaviours, observation and protest. The band further comment “this album involves what it means navigating the outside world in a racialized body and what it does to the psyche as a whole while finding individual worth within this reality.”
This time featuring the core trio Robin Wattie, Mathieu Ball and Tasy Hudson, for their most collaborative record they’ve made so far. The band elaborate “having cut our teeth in very different musical backgrounds respectively, our intuitions vary, which has an interesting effect on our individual approaches and ears.”
For this record, BIG | BRAVE once again made the trek down to Rhode Island to record with Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets. They remark “we fully trust his instinct as an engineer and his creative output, getting to experiment with textures, concepts, layers, and with pretty much every single recorded sound, the process of making records with Seth is an absolute journey and pleasure.”
With the initial seeds planted in 2012, with no other goal than simply experimenting with the instruments in their possession, Robin Wattie and Mathieu Ball started writing subtle ambient/minimalistic folk songs together. When long time friend Louis Alexandre Beauregard joined on drums, the goal still remained to play as tranquil as possible. After an incident where Wattie’s acoustic guitar broke, and having borrowed a friend’s electric as a replacement, larger amps that Ball had in storage from previous bands started to get incorporated to the outfit. Now with amplitude as a compositional tool, BB never lost interest in the power of minimalism and fragility. It became clear that loud volume would become just as effective as the lowest possible ones and the juxtaposition of both would become something BB still uses as their main MO to this day.
After self-releasing Feral Verdure in 2014, the band had the opportunity to open for Thee Silver Mt Zion in Montreal QC. After which, Efrim Manuel Menuck found something meaningful in the members and the band and invited them to open on future shows with Mt Zion and with Godspeed! You Black Emperor.
In 2015, the band entered the studio with Menuck and recorded “Au De La”. With no home for the record, they decided to take a chance in writing to Southern Lord. As luck would have it, Greg Anderson happened upon their email among hundreds and responded. Since then, the band has had a home with Southern Lord Records. (Along with Au De La, Southern Lord has released Ardor in 2017, A Gaze Among Them in 2019 and VITAL in 2021).
After Beauregard’s departure in 2018, the band traveled down to Rhode Island with Loel Campbell on drums to make a first record with Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets. After the album’s release, with Campbell unable to tour, Tasy Hudson joined the ranks and the band spent most of the year touring their 2019 album “A Gaze Among Them”.
In 2020, the core trio of Ball, Wattie and Hudson once again made the trek down to Machines with Magnets to record their 5th LP “VITAL”.
Since their inception, the band has had many honours and privileges of touring a number of times in North America and Europe with bands such as Sunn O))), MY DISCO, The Body, Thou, Primitive Man and Thee Silver Mt Zion.

Binding a deep social and political conscious with rigorous musical experimentation, the Brussels based, Italian pianist, performer, composer, Giovanni Di Domenico, delivers Downtown Ethnic Music, the 4th instalment of Die Schachtel’s Decay Music series, focused on inspired contemporary experimental efforts in the ambient, ethereal, and emotively abstract music.

Over the last decade or so, Giovanni Di Domenico has carved a deep path through a diverse number of discrete fields within experimental music, working in various ensembles - Abschattungen, AufHeben, Bonjintan, Cement Shoes, Delivery Health, Going, etc. - as well as producing a discography of critically heralded solo efforts, and intimate collaborations with Jim O'Rourke, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Akira Sakata, Arve Henriksen, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Alexandra Grimal, Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano, and others.

Downtown Ethnic Music encounters Di Domenico reimagining the future of urban music, pluming the mysterious and emotive depths of self, to arrive at vision of sonorous utopia, radically divergent from those of the past. Hybridizing numerous forms of musical practice, while making a conceptual nod to Jon Hassell’s notion of the "fourth world”, as well as the cross-temporal transnationalism of Roberto Musci, Aktuala, Futuro Antico, and the Third Ear Band, Di Domenico’s vision of democracy - rendered through the creative metaphors of sound - is a true to life, bristling conflict, as open-ended as it is ordered, and as dramatic and tense as it is beautiful, playful, and refined.

A colorful tapestry of ideas, experiences, histories, and reference points, woven from a pallet of electronics, synthesis, and various acoustic sources - the intervening rhythms of drummer João Lobo, vocals by Pak Yan Lau and Patshiva CIE women choir, the horns of Ananta Roosens and Jordi Grognard etc. - across the length of Downtown Ethnic Music, the boundaries between idiom, expressive concept, collective, and individual blur, giving way to a visionary, forward-thinking rendering of electroacoustic music, that subtly reminds us of the social and political potential of art.

Seamlessly incorporating bubbling electronic abstraction, sprawling ambience and long tones, throbbing kosmische, acoustic free improvisation, and the human voice, Giovanni Di Domenico’s Downtown Ethnic Music represents a high-water mark in an already astounding career. Issued by Die Schachtel in a one-time edition of 250 copies, pressed to 180g marble vinyl and housed in a pro-printed inner sleeve and jacket, contained in a silk-screen PVC sleeve.

Your favourite deep fried potato-based label is back. Pomme Frite regular Benjamin Groove serves up his endearingly titled debut EP, ‘Mr Chips’.

Benjamin Grooyve has featured previously on Pomme Frite, collaborating with head chef Alex Virgo. This time Alex returns the favour, featuring on their B Side track ‘Night Train’.

We’ve called on 2 piping hot acts, Alinka & Matrefakt, to provide us with remixes; two amazingly individual flips on ‘Mr Chips’ & ‘Night Train’.

Beautiful orange & yellow sunburst vinyl - Solstice '21 sees twelve bright lights of independent electronic music mark the coming Summer Solstice. In such dark days, the age-old practice of celebrating the move from shadow to light, feels steeped in a renewed symbolic power. Solstice '21 marks this significant moment with a rich array of musical offerings. Reflective, lively, and always powerful, this collection is spun with modern twists of an ancient thread. Rotator - This is the first outing under this moniker from Justin Owen, also known under the alias Licit, as well as being a protagonist in the world of modular synthesis as the man behind the Abstract Data modules; Letters from Mouse - "Bubbling analogue synthesis from Scotland." This analogue synth maestro and inimitable broadcaster (aka The Magic Window), boasts a string of quality releases, including the recent highly acclaimed album An gàrradh, also on Subexotic; Cub/cub - "Cub/cub explores the world in-between nostalgia and nihilism, analogue and digital, real and false; creating evocative and mournful musical collages." First discovered on Boards of Canada forum Twoism, Cub/cub's two debut releases with Subexotic demonstrated his considerable talent to mix fascinating texture with beguiling melody. With an astonishing follow-up album coming soon, his rising star feels unstoppable; Orbury Common - "aural ephemera from the home of the orbs." This mysterious duo from the West of England are blessed with delightful musical cunning; their brilliant debut on Subexotic lifted the lid, and this offering reaffirms exciting times lie ahead; Onepointwo - "Minimal electronics, abstract radio signals and dystopian soundscapes are proceeded from both digital and analogue sources." A creator of intricate yet powerful collage, with finely wrought motifs that repeat and build to create a shimmering psychedelic impact. This is Onepointwo's glorious trademark. Spell-binding releases already exist on Woodford Halse, Poeta Negra, Lotus, as well as an imminent powerhouse album forthcoming on Subexotic; Giants of Discovery - "Experimental electronica with the occasional noisy guitar thrown in." Giants of Discovery's ability to get to grips with the musicality of his subject, has lead to previous exquisite sojourns into realms such as Victorian cosmic horror and Greek mythology, as well as an equally fantastical, towering follow up album on Woodford Halse; Wonderful Beasts - "A Wonderful collaboration between boycalledcrow and Xqui." Their playful interaction finds ways of crafting acoustic fragments into unexpected kaleidoscopes of sound. With beguiling debuts on cult label Wormhole World (soon to be followed up by an extraordinary new album on Subexotic), there is a kind of breathless magic about everything they do; Dogs versus Shadows - Electronic Sound Magazine says "A rare example of gamekeeper turned poacher...a welter of impressive electronica." Lee Pylon's ability to straddle a wealth of uncompromisingly inventive creations, and his broadcasting prowess as the much loved Kites & Pylons, is already the stuff of legend. A multitude of releases across many labels including Subexotic, Woodford Halse, Miracle Pond, Third Kind, Submarine Broadcasting, Sensory Leakage, provide a glittering treasure trove of work; Counter Silence - A stalwart of Subexotic, Counter Silence's sparkling and wistful musical work very much stands alone in temperament and style. 2020's Pathways EP on Subexotic remains a precious oasis, imbued with a haunting solitude that lives on in the memory; Transient Visitor - "All music unlocked by Alex Cargill (C.O.I. Central Office of Information) and Martin Jensen (The Home Current)." These two intercontinental maestros (well Sidcup & Luxembourg) boast impressive solo back catalogues across many labels (including Castles in Space, Polytechnic Youth, Woodford Halse). Their newly conceived collaborative Transient Visitor project, brought about the superb TV1 album in 2020 - we can see the sparks fly again in this welcome 2021 return; Simon Klee - "Natural, Electric, Organic Psychedelic - Sounds, noise and psychedelic beats." Klee's playful alchemy engages the mind and spirit, as witnessed in a flurry of top quality releases in recent times (e.g. Subexotic, ANR, Woodford Halse), and there is a visceral joy in his work that is perfectly placed for a midsummer celebration. Klee also produces a truly excellent mixcast and increasingly essential tape label, both under the guise of Anticipating Nowhere; Rupert Lally - "Hailing originally from England but now based in Switzerland, Guitarist, Percussionist and Electronic Musician Rupert Lally began his career as a Sound Designer and Composer for Theatre and TV, before launching his solo career in 2005. Since then his releases have blurred the boundaries between electronic and acoustic music." Lally's consistently brilliant work is always a highlight of the electronic music calendar, including recent stellar works across many labels such as Spun Out Of Control, Third Kind, Woodford Halse, and Modern Aviation.

Operation: Mindcrime is regarded as one of the greatest concept metal albums of all time. The band’s third album, originally released May 3rd 1988, is based around Nikki, a recovering drug addict, who becomes disillusioned with a corrupt society and joins a revolutionary group to assassinate political leaders. Operation: Mindcrime was produced by Peter Collins (Bon Jovi, Rush, Alice Cooper) and was recorded, mixed and mastered digitally on a Sony 24-track digital tape machine. It was certified platinum in 1991 in the US and was ranked in the Top 100 Metal Albums Of All Time by both Kerrang! and Billboard magazines. Available on multi-formats, this new version was remastered at Abbey Road Studios and brings together all the available recordings to tell the story of this remarkable album. The deluxe version, housed in a 10″ x 10″ box, is the final word on this exceptional album. It also contains a DVD which features the accompanying promotional videos and a live performance of the album. The expanded booklet features new sleeve notes by noted journalist Alex Milas who spoke with Geoff Tate about the making of the album and the concept behind it.

"Empire was originally released on 20th August 1990, and is the band’s most commercially successful album to date, reaching triple platinum status.
It featured the top 10 hit, “Silent Lucidity”, which was nominated for 2 Grammys, and “Jet City Woman”. The follow up to the groundbreaking Operation: Mindcrime, the album was produced by Peter Collins, and recorded in Washington and Vancouver in the spring of 1990. Empire features brilliant and intelligent lyrics and songwriting complimented by incredible musicianship, with the songs ranging from beautiful ballads, strong melodic rockers, and classic heavy fist pumpers. This version, newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios, brings together all the available recordings to narrate the story of this remarkable album. It also contains a DVD which features the accompanying promotional videos and a live performance of the album. The deluxe version features new sleeve notes by noted journalist Alex Milas who spoke with Geoff Tate at length, discussing the making of the album and the concept behind it, and is housed in a 10″ x 10″ box, providing the definitive package."

Sasha introduces LUZoSCURA, a new compilation that hasevolved from the thriving eponymous playlist. Featuring adiverse package of original works from a host of fresh talent, aswell as established artists and Sasha himself, it traverse selectronica, ambient, breaks and techno. Meaning light and dark, LUZoSCURA began on Spotify as a stash of tracks sent to Sasha which didn't meet the pace of his clubsets nor suit his venerated label LNOE, LUZoSCURA came into itsown through 2020 as Sasha gravitated toward more mellowed sounds while being off the road, and clubbers diverted their ears to home listening. Gaining a renewed source of energy inconnecting with more gifted, budding producers and seeing the project blossom, the idea for the compilation came off the back of doing a live stream solely featuring tracks from the playlist. Meticulously compiled to flow like a DJ mix for home listening, Sasha kicks it off with the buoyant, breaks-influenced 'Corner Shop', the first of his three tracks on the compilation. MJ Cole is among the established artists to feature with blissed out track 'Maestro', while The Micronaut, a multi-instrumentalist whose back catalogue was a favourite of Sasha's through lockdown, offers an immersive trip in 'Koelsa'. Lau.ra, lead singer from British experimental rock band Ultraísta, evokes a sense of spiritedness in 'I'll Wait' before we hear again from Sasha with another breaks-loaded trip in 'HNDI' and a collaboration withB ritish producer Franky Wah. Closing the odyssey with a stirring, expansive soundscape is synth duo Felsmann + Tiley.

In the past years, the multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and music enthusiast Jeff Özdemir had been focusing on organising the Live-Mixtape series in Berlin, inviting numerous artists to join him on stage for every single event. However, the year 2020 put an end to this for all the painfully obvious and obviously painful reasons. Undeterred, he instead put together the third instalment of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, working with singers, musicians and groups such as Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex, F.S. Blumm, Joanna Gemma Auguri, Elke Brauweiler and Elmer Kussiac for an 18-track … Now, is this a compilation or an artist album? Well, why just either this or that when it can just be both at once? This is »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« after all, emphasis on »&«.

Released on Karaoke Kalk like its two predecessors from the years 2015 and 2017, respectively, »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« sees the man behind Kreuzberg’s 33rpm record store and the 33rpm Records label showcase his qualities as a people remixer, songwriter and versatile musician. He put together a collection of groovy tunes picking up on funk and afrobeat rhythms, introspective ballads, a musically channeled punk attitude, shoegaze sentiments, spoken word passages, drones, glockenspiel sounds, seriously fun experimentation and much more. Just like on the cover artwork - courtesy of Marion Eichmann, Özdemir’s favourite visual artist - everything here seems to discreetly exist for itself while being tightly connected to everything else at same time.

While artists like Ertan Doğancı, Désolé Léo, eng°n, F.S. Blumm and Zap have been long-term collaborators of Özdemir and were featured on previous instalments of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, new faces and forces also enter the mix. The melancholic »Love Letters« for example marks the first (though hopefully not last) collaboration with singer Joanna Gemm Auguri, while Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex’s appearance has been dreamt of collectively but hasn’t been fully realised until now.

Whether it’s Désolé Léo’s French crooner soul, the lo-fi synth pop song »Bored« featuring former Commercial Breakup singer Elke Brauweiler or the many different sounds and styles presented under the name Jeff Özdemir: no decision is ever made between either that or this musical direction, but all are being joyfully enjoyed together. Thus, throughout its 70 minutes, the stylistic diversity of »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« does not once border on randomness. Instead, these sometimes very different songs are marked by a shared atmosphere - a direct result of these very different musicians approaching their studio time together less as a chance to make music but more of a chance to carefully listen to and interact with each other.

Just like you’d expect it from someone deeply connected with the local music community who also happens to run a record store, Özdemir is also the kind of person who’ll hand you the worn copy of a record he has just fished out from the bargain bin because he knows about its potential to change your life. The contributions by Vackrow (»Kleistpark«), Gebrüder Teichmann’s old band BeigeGT (»Disco«), and Otto von Bismarck (»Zu viele Erinnerungen«, produced by The Whitest Boy Alive’s Daniel Nentwig) do not even feature Özdemir, but are simply musical pearls that were (almost) lost in the shuffle of music history and unearthed for this very special occasion. That’s just what friends do, don’t they?

Blue Lab Beats sind momentan eines der gefragtesten Produktionsduos der Welt und stehen für einen Sound, dem sie selbst den Namen Jazztronica gegeben haben und in dem Elemente von Jazz, Hip-Hop, Soul, Funk, R&B, Boom-Bap und Musik der afrikanischen Diaspora zusammenfließen.
Ihre erste EP bei Blue Note enthält fünf großartige Tracks, darunter den Kracher “Blow You Away (Delilah)”.
Die fröhliche Nummer ist unüberhörbar von westafrikanischem Highlife und Afrobeat inspiriert und featuret den aus Ghana stammenden, aber heute in London ansässigen Sänger Ghetto Boy, der als “Prinz” der dortigen Afrobeat-Szene bezeichnet wird. Ein weiteres Highlight ist der Track “Nights In Havana”, der
Hörer/innen mit souligen Jazzfusion-Klängen und einem Solo des jungen Gitarristen Alex Blake in karibische Gefilde lockt. In der slicken Titelnummer “We Will Rise” setzt sich der Bostoner Saxofonist Braxton
Cook in Szene, der schon mit Rihanna und Solange Knowles auf der Bühne stand. Das letzte Wort auf der
EP hat in “Tempting (Dance 2)” schließlich der momentan omnipräsente Rapper Kojey Radical, der auch
auf dem neuen Album von Sons Of Kemet glänzt

Valtari is Sigur Rós’ sixth studio album which was initially released in 2012 on XL Recordings. Sigur Rós started recording Valtari, described by the band as ‘an avalanche in slow motion’ in 2009 co-producing it themselves with Alex Somers in Reykjavik, Iceland. The title means ‘roller’ in English with Jónsi saying it kind of fits with the album because it's “big and slow and rolls over you slowly."
Completely out of print worldwide Valtari will now be re-released via the bands own label, Krunk released on double heavy weight vinyl (gatefold sleeve, heavyweight reverse board and gold foil blocking on front cover).

Tibor Szemző is not only a skillful and experienced Hungarian musician but also a media artist with a vast imagination. His last LP, ARBO X – Csoma Grooves, refers to his full-length film A Guest of Life released in 2006, for which he not only directed but also composed all the music. The film is inspired by the life of Alexander Csoma de Körös, a remarkable polyglot from the 19th century who set out from his native Transylvania to central Asia on foot to look for the roots of the Hungarian language. He reached Tibet, dedicated the rest of his life to study of Tibetan manuscripts and finally became the founder of tibetology. After 14 years Tibor Szemző decided to explore the theme further and composed the cinematic performance, Silverbird and the Cyclist, where he as narrator presented the story of Csoma from a different perspective.

ARBO X is the music from this performance and it is based on the soundtrack of the original movie but the material has been restructured and enhanced by new layers. There are fourteen relatively short tracks on the album and each of them has a very specific character, sometimes mysterious as the titles of the tracks themselves. Their arrangement is ingeniously composed. Szemző’s typical bass flute and voice with percussion accompaniment on the first track Axis is a very impressive introduction to the whole album. The following tracks build up a series of colorful sound parables, which are in no way descriptive. Every element, whether it’s a double bass, viola, soprano voice, vocal trio or electronics, fits perfectly within the overall sound fabric with effective timing. Listening to ARBO X one unwittingly concentrates on interweaving details without loosing the sense of the whole. It’s certainly a great benefit, as in previous recordings, that most of the musicians participating in the recording of ARBO X are very familiar with Szemző’s music and his collaboration with some of them goes back to Group 180, a new music ensemble he founded in 1978 and soon earned international acclaim. This most recent album belongs among a long line of recordings that Tibor Szemző has released during his musical career and displays great compositional complexity and a keen sense of a perfectly balanced sound spectrum.

Alexandr Krestovský

Andy Gill begann mit der Planung einer Compilation zum 40-jährigen Jubiläum des stilprägenden Gang Of Four Debütalbums "Entertainment!" (1979), seine Witwe Catherine Meyer setzte nach seinem Tod 2020 die Arbeit fort und wandelte zusammen mit allen Beteiligten das Projekt in einen Tributsampler mit dem Titel "The Problem Of Leisure - A Celebration Of Andy Gill & Gang Of Four" um. Jede:r teilnehmende Künstler:in interpretierte einen Track nach Wahl aus Gang Of Four's 40-jähriger Karriere nach ihrem/seinem Gusto neu. Es beteiligten sich mehrere Protagonisten der internationalen Rock/Alternative-Szene, darunter Tom Morello & Serj Tankian (Rage Against The Machine), IDLES, Herbert Grönemeyer, Helmet, Gary Numan, Flea & John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Killing Joke, Warpaint, 3D aka Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack), La Roux, The Sounds, The Dandy Warhols, LoneLady, Hardcore Raver In Tears (aus China), Sekar Melati (aus Japan), u.v.m. Das Artwork steuerte der britische Kult-Künstler Damien Hirst bei. Das Doppelabum erscheint als 2CD Digipak, 2CD Casebound Book, 2LP Gatefold, limitierte MC.

Ahemaa Nwomkro, which means queens of Nwomkro, are Victoria Osei and Theresa Owusuaa. Nwomkro is an old Ashanti musical style, which played an influential role in the origin of the typical more roots-like Highlife style of Kumasi, the cultural capital of Ghana in the middle of the jungle.

On this release the two singers have teamed up with the young generation of Highlife muicians of Kumasi. On guitar is Akule Pepe, who served for years in the group of Highlife legend Alex Konadu, the most on demand band in its time. The two songs are a rare example of how good pure Nwomkro gets together with typical Highlife.

Vienna, the early 1980s. Krautrock, electronic and ambient pioneer Hans Joachim Roedelius, co-founder Cluster and Harmonia and saxophone free spirit Alexander Czjzek meet for the first time. Their longstanding collaboration found its climax in the fantastic album "Weites Land", which was released in 1987 for the first time, but has been out of print for many decades and became a sought-after rarity. Bureau B is pleased to make this organic jazz masterpiece finally available again!

Oldivibes present next VA with Local Dub, Alex Pervukhin, Oden & Fatzo, Wagnest.

“Vax!” – Reminiscent of all the slippery vinyl that glitched under so many sweaty wet fingers in a steamy basement before time – a picture that seems highly illegal in our current antiseptic climate of hopefully germ free adolescents. Vax-inate! Give them the needle! It’s time.

Deti Vechnosti – Pered Rassvetom opens the gates to plug into the socket of our collective deranged consciousness, generating frisky and flamboyant specks to brightening darkness that confines our lives. Offering glimpses of the great unknown we also carry within. The Track introduces Chikiss & Mustelide’s new group “Deti Vechnosti”.

Alexander Arpeggio & OhLandy’s “Der Anruf”, wich originally appeared as a French language version on a previous Sameheads / Diapason tape release tells those tales of hot and hotter heat. Karmic payback for the sweaty and long nights enveloped in the halo of resonating frequencies of silly and high-spirited mischief.

Rouge Mécanique – Down the Line – follows suite in the odyssey that is a demented night out, sitting in front of a club, realising that the leatherjacket you picked up a few streets ago from the ground doesn’t smell like adventure but like spew.

The B-Side opens with Automatenfall – a hardware electronic 3 piece, previously appearing live at Sameheads during a “My Friend calls it K-Jazz” event. A yearning that eventually gets us on a spiritual path and headed toward enlightenment through the meandering melange of chimes, that little sounds that usually overcome us in the weirdest of times.

Das Kinn – the new project from Toben Piel, who’s part of Frankfurt’s MMODEM family, and one half of Les Trucs evokes memories of better days, black leatherpants – think Falco meets DAF – Überpop for the Untergrund.

Stopping for a final coup d’œil is Alessandro Adriani’s – Preserved Data Space. A persuasive case of brutally but lovingly worked machines serenading sawtooth waves of an infinite Weiter, a dissolving timeframe – the longest after hour I’ve been to, it lasts more than a year now already and counting.

Written by Michael Aniser.

Red Vinyl

Cinema Paradiso Recordings is proud to announce the release of the soundtrack to the motion picture 'The Parallax View', on vinyl for the first time ever, this coming April 30th 2021. Based on the book by Loren Singer, ‘The Parallax View’ is directed and produced by Alan J Pakula as the second instalment of his Political Paranoia trilogy - alongside Klute (1971) and All the President's Men (1976). With cinematography by Gordon Willis (The Godfather trilogy, Annie Hall) and starring Warren Beatty, this political thriller from 1974 is perhaps even more relevant today than it was back then.

The legendary score by composer Michael Small is regarded as a benchmark in the sound of paranoia thrillers that dominated cinema in the 1970s, with revered film critic Pauline Kael hailing the film as an essential for all fans of the genre. Now, 47 years later, the soundtrack will finally be available to own on vinyl.

The CPR edition of ‘The Parallax View’ soundtrack includes for the first time the infamous brainwashing scene, an influence on countless films and TV shows over the years. Notably, most recently with the Watchmen series and shows Mr Robot and Homecoming even using the music from the film. Whilst researching to gain approval for this usage we discovered from Jon Boorstin, (Assistant to Pakula on The Parallax View), that the unaccredited disembodied voice from the ‘Parallax Test’ scene belonged to director Pakula himself.

The single LP, deluxe gatefold limited edition in coloured vinyl comes with liner notes that include two essays by Scott Bettencourt and Alexander Kaplan (of Film Score Monthly), which provide a fascinating insight into the making of the film and an analysis of the score.

“The Parallax View embodies a particularly paranoid moment for America, when assassination wounds were still fresh and the President’s bungling burglars were running him out of the White House. Michael Small’s music beautifully captures our hope, our dread, and our nostalgia for truer values. In the Parallax Test sequence, he brilliantly seduces the assassin in all of us. Watching this today, wrapped in Michael's music, what was once wild fantasy feels at least as credible as the pronouncements of our Kool-Aid drinking Congressmen. “
- Jon Boorstin

After 4 years of re-issuing some of the best house and disco, from hard to find deep-house gems to all times classics, Groovin Recordings are really excited to start releasing new music too, featuring some of the best young producers from the new generation. The first release introduces Groove Boys Project (Lucas Moinet and Alexandre Valard), a talented duo from Paris with a unique sound, a classy mix of fender rhodes, jazz chords, MPC based drum beats, soulful strings and some classic synths.
“Studio 937 cuts” is a two tracks EP that show their skills in the best way.
"Never Give Up" is a sophisticated jazzy-house track, composed with Kamasari and GBSiX who wrote the lyrics and the vocal part too. You’ll never get tired of GBSiX’s vocals !
On the B side "Deep In The Blue" is a Fender Rhodes deep-house ballad from Lucas Moinet, for all the Rhodes lovers out there.

Yo No Se return after a 5-year hiatus since their last album, Soma. Their
new album Terraform continues on from the dystopian world created in
Soma but this time taking the narrative to the stars. Terraform explores
the ideas of making a fresh start on another planet but the same
problems creep in…. Greed, corruption and hate. Exploring more of a
grunge feel along with some hard psych the band recorded with Dom
Mitchison (as well as Alex doing guitars and vocals at home), mixed with
Ali Chant and mastered again with grunge godfather, Jack Endino.
The band have toured across Europe in support of Soma in the last 5
years and gained a reputation for their loud and energetic shows. The
album has 3 drummers under its belt and countless breakdowns on the
road. With the pandemic kicking in just as the band started touring, they
had plenty of time to finally record (and find another drummer).
Terraform is a record 5 years in the making due to sheer bad luck.
Hopefully, their luck will change as the band are already working on their
follow up record.
The first single Black Door approaches the subject of corruption
amongst 'leaders'. The idea comes from Boris Johnson getting Brexit
'done' to forward his own career without thinking about the impact it will
have on peoples lives. We’ve had enough and we're ready to tear down
the establishment. The idea being that these problems we now face will
follow us wherever we go unless we stamp them out, here, on earth.
The artwork for the cover is by renowned sci-fi artist Bruce Pennington.

Now it's finally here: The debut album ëTime To Recoverû by Feiertag. The Multi-faceted artist & producer has established himself as a leading name within the electronic music sphere since making his debut in 2015. He defies convention in ways many cannot, from his immersive productions on Last Night On Earth, Boogie Angst, Majestic Casual and Kitsuné. After two successful EPs and even more singles, Feiertag took his time for this debut album. This can be heard on each of the sixteen tracks: Extraordinary attention to detail, sophisticated arrangements and a sound aesthetic that couldn't sound more modern are probably the first impressions you take away from ëTime To Recoverû. On second or third listen through, however, you realize that almost every one of these songs has hit potential somehow.

Fiddlehead wasn’t supposed to make a second record. But, if we’re being totally honest, they weren’t supposed to make their first record either. Formed in what singer Pat Flynn describes as “a deeply, deeply, laughably depressing part of my life,” Fiddlehead was born with modest intentions. Flynn and his then-roommate, guitarist Alex Dow, decided to work on some songs, and with Basement having just broken up, guitarist Alex Henery entered the fold. Drummer Shawn Costa and bassist Adam Gonsalves—who has since been replaced by Casey Nealon—linked up with them and, all together, they wrote what would become the Out Of The Bloom EP. Those five songs established what Fiddlehead would be, a band that merged elements of post-hardcore, post-punk, and classic ‘80s emo into something that felt distinctly theirs.

Between The Richness effectively picks up where Springtime & Blind left off, as Flynn dives headfirst into that same subject. But astute listeners will notice a major difference this time: Flynn is singing about himself. “These massive things happened in my life between the first record and this record. It just so happened that I ended up getting married, I had a child, and it was around the 10-year anniversary of my father’s passing. So what if I want to write another record about how I feel about the loss of my father? Will people be like, ‘Pick another topic, dude.’ So, the opening track is called ‘Grief Motif’ because it’s the idea that this is an eternal struggle that will never go away. Take it or leave it, but it will be part of this dude as long as he’s got a pen in the hand.”

Between The Richness explodes with an energy that usurps that of Springtime & Blind. The guitar riffs of Dow and Henery are their most anthemic and combustive yet, making songs like “The Years,” “Get My Mind Right,” and “Down University” not just serve as the backbone for Flynn’s personal ruminations, but empathetic, emotional musical stabs that hit the listener just as hard. Meanwhile, Costa and Nealon give the songs a propulsive heft, allowing a track like “Million Times” to dart into unexpected territories without ever feeling alien

Fiddlehead wasn’t supposed to make a second record. But, if we’re being totally honest, they weren’t supposed to make their first record either. Formed in what singer Pat Flynn describes as “a deeply, deeply, laughably depressing part of my life,” Fiddlehead was born with modest intentions. Flynn and his then-roommate, guitarist Alex Dow, decided to work on some songs, and with Basement having just broken up, guitarist Alex Henery entered the fold. Drummer Shawn Costa and bassist Adam Gonsalves—who has since been replaced by Casey Nealon—linked up with them and, all together, they wrote what would become the Out Of The Bloom EP. Those five songs established what Fiddlehead would be, a band that merged elements of post-hardcore, post-punk, and classic ‘80s emo into something that felt distinctly theirs.

Between The Richness effectively picks up where Springtime & Blind left off, as Flynn dives headfirst into that same subject. But astute listeners will notice a major difference this time: Flynn is singing about himself. “These massive things happened in my life between the first record and this record. It just so happened that I ended up getting married, I had a child, and it was around the 10-year anniversary of my father’s passing. So what if I want to write another record about how I feel about the loss of my father? Will people be like, ‘Pick another topic, dude.’ So, the opening track is called ‘Grief Motif’ because it’s the idea that this is an eternal struggle that will never go away. Take it or leave it, but it will be part of this dude as long as he’s got a pen in the hand.”

Between The Richness explodes with an energy that usurps that of Springtime & Blind. The guitar riffs of Dow and Henery are their most anthemic and combustive yet, making songs like “The Years,” “Get My Mind Right,” and “Down University” not just serve as the backbone for Flynn’s personal ruminations, but empathetic, emotional musical stabs that hit the listener just as hard. Meanwhile, Costa and Nealon give the songs a propulsive heft, allowing a track like “Million Times” to dart into unexpected territories without ever feeling alien

UK South coasters relocating from West to East, Katja
Rackin and Sam Stacpoole have been grafting and
honing alone, away from the expertise of music
producers and other governors since 2016. The result
is unadulterated and unclean, unabashed and
uncompromised.
Through their love of artists such as The Kinks, Alex
Chilton and The Nerves, or any other artist who
spends less time with the polishing cloth and more
time with the power shower, Holiday Ghosts make
music with a lean and primitive rock ‘n’ roll spirit.
Drums are stripped naked to the point of metronome
status and no stomp boxes, nor cajóns or didgeridoos
are found to obscure the energy of guitars at their
rawest.
In stories of landlords, steady jobs, wrong turns, short
straws, sunny moods and city life, Kat and Sam share
lead vocals alongside returning bandmate and
songwriter Charlie Murphy and a host of other
musicians from Falmouth, Cornwall where the band
began.
Two albums in with Punk Slime Records and Holiday
Ghosts are back with their third full length, ‘North
Street Air’, their first for FatCat Records. Twelve songs
of love, hate and everything in between.
For fans of White Fence, Goat Girl, Porridge Radio,
Juan Wauters, Yo La Tengo, Total Control, Terry,
Chubby and the Gang, Uranium Club, The Velvet
Underground, Violent Femmes, Modern Lovers.

Toronto-based punk rockers Billy Talent released their fifth studio album Afraid of Heights in 2016. Preceded by the strong singles “Afraid of Heights”, “Louder than the DJ” and “Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rats”, the album became both a critical and a commercial success. It hit number 1 on the album charts in several countries including their native Canada. It is the first album with drummer Jordan Hastings (of Alexisonfire fame), after drummer Aaron Solowoniuk announced he would not be able to play drums for the foreseeable future due to a multiple sclerosis relapse. However, Solowoniuk very much remained part of the band and was involved in the recording of the album. It was a new chapter for Billy Talent, but the trusted high-energy punk rock that they are known for remains more than solid. Just listen to the thumping “The Crutch” or the introspective epic “Rabbit Down The Hole”.

The album is released as a limited edition of 3000 individually numbered copies on bloody mary (transparent red & solid white & black mixed) coloured vinyl. It is housed in a UV matte finished gatefold sleeve, which also contains a 4-page booklet and an exclusive art print by Igor Hofbauer.

Conrad Clipper is the pseudonym of an anonymous composer and multi-instrumentalist, with a focus on prepared,
programmed & played piano. He lives and records in Berlin.

His debut album, Cycle of Liminal Rites, was released on Emily Elhaj’s Love Lion label (Angel Olsen). He is set to releasehis follow-up release, Heron’s Book of Dreams, on Luau Records (Theo Alexander, Sontag Shogun, Segal) on March 26th 2021. It was recorded in Arizona and Berlin, and was mixed and mastered by Deerhoof’s John Dieterich.


Conrad on the recording of Heron’s Book of Dreams:

Through the window at Arcosanti, I could see the desert, vast and transformative. Inside the room was an upright piano, a Fender

Rhodes, and several synths. For five days - every morning, afternoon and evening - I sat in this room with the circular window and wrote the music you can hear on this record. Outside, intimate crowds gathered to watch some of the world’s best musicians play unique and unrepeatable sets.

“Arcosanti, AZ is a prototype arcology designed by Paolo Soleri. Picture, if you can, moonbase architecture inspired by late-60s sustainable ideologies. Concrete atriums screened with poplar and olive trees. Shady, calm apses to keep the desert sun off. The low roar of the iron forge, casting the famous Arcosanti bells that are shipped around the world.”

Die Londoner Produzentin, DJ und Labelchefin Elkka (mit bürgerlichem Namen Emma Kirby) kündigt eine neue EP mit dem Titel „Euphoric Melodies“ an, die am 21. Mai 2021 erscheint und ihre erste Veröffentlichung auf dem Ninja Tune-Sublabel Technicolour ist. Der 5-Tracker ist eine warme und euphorische Erkundung dessen, was Emma selbst am meisten schätzt - die Fähigkeit und Freiheit, an sich selbst zu glauben. „Euphoric Melodies“ ist der Nachfolger von „I Miss Raving“, das letztes Jahr auf Local Action veröffentlicht wurde. Der Track ist Emmas Ode an den Club als solchen und seine Abwesenheit im Jahr 2020 - und wurde von FACT, DJ Mag, Earmilk und Resident Advisor gelobt, die den Track als „aufbrausend und reich an Gefühl“ beschrieben und dem Track attestierten: „das ist Pop-fokussierter House vom Feinsten.“.
Mit der Entscheidung, die volle künstlerische Kontrolle über ihre Musik zu übernehmen, vollzog Emma 2016 den Wandel von Singer/ Songwriterin zur Produzentin und Künstlerin. Im selben Jahr gründete sie auch femme culture, einem Plattenlabel und Kollektiv, das aus dem Wunsch heraus entstand, Frauen und nicht-binäre DJs in der Kunst zu fördern und zukunftsweisende Musik voranzutreiben, die für Inklusivität zwischen allen Geschlechtern, Hintergründen und Überzeugungen steht.

This first volume of Wagram's Wanted: Jazz series is a high quality mix of the great Jazz artists. Including Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gilespie, Art Blakey and more!

A full collection of crazy remixes from Ganez. Superb tunes ; Must have !

Duke Ellington once said that there are 2 kinds of music: the good one and the bad one. With the compilation series “Shaolin Soul” we are always certain to be on the right side of the line since its 1st episode released in 1998 and which compiled two dozens of tracks sampled by RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan. Following a second episode in 2001 and a third one in 2014, the famous curator Uncle O is back to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Shaolin Soul series with a fourth episode compiling 22 tracks among the rarest and finest treats of soul music, because “everybody’s talking about the good ol’ days !”.

Recorded live on 9th November 2018 (their only UK show of 2018), ‘education entertainment recreation’ is a brand new live album from London’s Alexandra Palace.
Sonically spectacular, spanning 2 hours 20 minutes, the show joyously mixed New Order classics, their latest acclaimed album ‘Music Complete’ and Joy Division’s finest.
Opening with ‘Singularity’ from ‘Music Complete’, they eased back in time to 1993’s ‘Regret’, to ‘Love Vigilantes’ from 1985’s ‘Low-Life’ to ‘Ultraviolence from 1983 debut ‘Power, Corruption and Lies’.
Later, their power over the dance floor was proven by sublime performances in the manner of the celebrated extended 12 inch remixes they are synonymous with - on ‘True Faith’, ‘Blue Monday’ and ‘Temptation’ before a four song Joy Division mini set to end

Live at Alexandra Palace, London, England, October 5th 2019

Recorded by our sound crew:
Sam Joseph, Stacey Wilson, Gaspard De Meulemeester

Drums: Michael Cavanagh
Guitar / Keys: Cook Craig
Harmonica / Vocals / Keys / Percussion: Ambrose Kenny-Smith
Vocals / Guitar / Keys: Stu Mackenzie
Drums: Eric Moore
Bass: Lucas Harwood
Guitar / Vocals: Joey Walker

Mixed by Stu Mackenzie
Cover design by Jason Galea

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a 2020 American musical comedy film directed by David Dobkin and written by Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele. The film follows Icelandic singers Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (Ferrell and Rachel McAdams) as they are given the chance to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest. Pierce Brosnan, Dan Stevens, and Demi Lovato also star.

“Volcano Man” was the first song released from the album and features vocals from Will Ferrell and Swedish singer Molly Sandén (credited as My Marianne). Towards the middle of the film, as the characters of Lars and Sigrit get fully immersed in the Eurovision magic, the audience is treated to a “Song-A-Long”: producers mash-up iconic pop classics into a celebratory party anthem. Cher transitions into Madonna, which transitions into homages to the aforementioned ABBA and Celine Dion, capped off with a little bit of The Black Eyed Peas. The cherries on top are vocal cameos from former Eurovision champions: Conchita Wurst, Netta, Jamala, Loreen, and Alexander Rybak. The album also features the cult hit “Jaja Ding Dong”, also performed by Ferrell and Sandén.

With unfettered access to the Zappa Trust and all archival footage, ZAPPA explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time. Alex Winter’s (Bill & Ted’s movie franchises, The Lost Boys) assembly features appearances by Frank’s widow Gail Zappa and several of Frank’s musical collaborators including Mike Keneally, Ian Underwood, Steve Vai, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, David Harrington, Scott Thunes, Ruth Underwood, Ray White and others. The soundtrack is a perfect complement to the film available as a limited edition 5-LP 180-gram vinyl set for the Zappa completist. Showcasing 69 total songs, there are 12 previously unreleased recordings from the Zappa archive along with his 1978 Saturday Night Live performance; 24 additional Zappa songs from his extensive catalog spanning four decades; songs from Zappa’s labels Straight / Bizarre Records like “No Longer Umpire” by Alice Cooper and “The Captain’s Fat Theresa Shoes” by The GTO’s; 2 classical compositions by Edgard Varese and Igor Stravinsky; and 26 Original Score cues newly composed by John Frizzell for the documentary – all of which give the universe a sonic exploration into the musical brilliance of Frank Zappa. A 2LP edition on 180-gram clear vinyl will also be available, collecting together eight of the unreleased recordings from the Zappa archive, the SNL performance and 13 recordings from Zappa’s extensive recording career.

With unfettered access to the Zappa Trust and all archival footage, ZAPPA explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time. Alex Winter’s (Bill & Ted’s movie franchises, The Lost Boys) assembly features appearances by Frank’s widow Gail Zappa and several of Frank’s musical collaborators including Mike Keneally, Ian Underwood, Steve Vai, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, David Harrington, Scott Thunes, Ruth Underwood, Ray White and others. The soundtrack is a perfect complement to the film available as a limited edition 5-LP 180-gram vinyl set for the Zappa completist. Showcasing 69 total songs, there are 12 previously unreleased recordings from the Zappa archive along with his 1978 Saturday Night Live performance; 24 additional Zappa songs from his extensive catalog spanning four decades; songs from Zappa’s labels Straight / Bizarre Records like “No Longer Umpire” by Alice Cooper and “The Captain’s Fat Theresa Shoes” by The GTO’s; 2 classical compositions by Edgard Varese and Igor Stravinsky; and 26 Original Score cues newly composed by John Frizzell for the documentary – all of which give the universe a sonic exploration into the musical brilliance of Frank Zappa. A 2LP edition on 180-gram clear vinyl will also be available, collecting together eight of the unreleased recordings from the Zappa archive, the SNL performance and 13 recordings from Zappa’s extensive recording career.

Pudel Produkte boldly strides from strengh to strenth.

The enigmatic 47IN4 and RVDS (Pudel Produkte, Smallville, Bureau B) have coalesced as Cosmic Car, with one spontaneous gig under their belt with Börft’s Erik Jäähalli at the Golden Pudel and their debut release, Pudel Produkte 35.

Cradling tonality, detuned dischordant melodies which drift in and out of your subconcious, rhythms that collapse on themselves. The duo provide a record that floats between creeping acid and Mu-sique Concreté.

A delicate touch made with a unique use of tape machines, radio, and traditional techno hardware, it is pure sonic alchemy.

Artwork courtesy of the genius, Alex Solman

Wah Wah 45s make a welcome return to the world of re-issues. Having started out over two decades ago releasing dance floor funk from Benny Poole, Cheyenne Fowler and The Googie Rene Combo, and later re-releasing obscure Kompa-funk from Haitian pianist Henri Pierre Noel, they now turn their attention to an overlooked early 90s acoustic soul gem.

About thirty years ago, music teacher and budding producer Alex Boyesen found himself working as part of the Haringey Music Workshop - a community programme and outreach project funded by the local council in Haringey, North London (coincidentally the area in which the Wah Wah head office is now based!).

"Anyone could come and get lessons for free - ranging from piano, sax, guitar, drums, bass, singing and workshops including choral, jazz band and more." Alex Boyesen

It was during that time that Alex came across a young Sam Edwards.

"One day I went into one of the rehearsal rooms and there, by herself, was this girl playing a piano and singing. It was the most incredible voice I had ever heard."

Before long, the pair were playing all over London as a duo with Alex on guitar and Sam on vocals.

"Sam had never had professional training, she was simply an utter natural."

The Haringey Music workshop was connected with other projects in the borough, in particular a community project called the Selby Centre. Here they ran training programs for young people and one of these was a music business course. The idea was that they found an artist, recorded them and then promoted them. One way or the other they ended up picking Alex and Sam to be on their roster.

"My good friend Nixon Rosembert was brought in to oversee the recordings and they hired the Islington Music Workshop to do the recording. We got musicians from the Haringey Music Workshop to play on the sessions and spent a day recording two songs -American CarsandLife. The training workshop had created a label called Progression Music and out the record went."

Three decades later and out of the blue Alex started to get interest again in the record he'd almost forgotten about all those years ago. It had become something of a sought after gem on Discogs, and there seemed to be an interest in that 'acoustic soul' sound once again.

"I got three people asking if they could re-release it and finally here we are with Wah Wah 45s doing the business after all these years."

It was Hospital Records and Wah Wah 45s founder, Chris Goss, who first brought the idea of releasing this record to the table.

"This is a really special record for me, picked up 30 years ago, from a young James Lavelle at Honest Jon's in Ladbroke Grove. Sam Edwards would go on to perform and write songs with North London's Izit, the acid jazz collective fronted by Tony Colman - with whom I have built a music company, these past 25 years. Alex Boyeson worked with Tony at the Haringey Arts Project, who produced a one-off vinyl release of Alex's two compositions back in 1991. Thanks to Alex and Tony, we have been able to clean-up the original audio, uncover photos and lyric sheets to present, with real love and affection, these two lost gems from a bygone era." Chris Goss, Feb 2021.

The project was then expanded by Dom Servini, who got heavy disco legend Ashley Beedle and co-label owner and erstwhile producer Adam Scrimshire in to take on remix duties.

"When approached by Dom Servini to reworkAmerican CarsI had no idea about the history of the original song. After a good listen myself and studio partner Darren Morris set to work and all I can say that it was a lovely experience keeping the vibe of the original but giving it a spaced out feel in true Afrikanz On Marz fashion." Ashley Beedle, Feb 2021.

"Remixing without multi-tracks always brings a bunch of challenges, getting the balance between the bass and drums in the original and what you want to do with your own version. The song really dictates certain things to you.

But it was such a pleasure to explore that with this beautiful song and vocal performance. So many ways to approach it. I just wanted to draw out more of the melancholy in the original and make it an absorbing experience." Adam Scrimshire, Feb 2021.

Perhaps the last word should be given to Alex himself, who's very much enjoying the new lease of life that his music with Sam is getting.

"As I write this we are trying to locate her, she's somewhere singing something, that's all she ever did. Thanks for being part of my life Sam and I am so glad that this small bit of that time is being remembered." Alex Boyesen, Feb 2021.

Larry de Kat joins Alexis Raphael’s recently launched Paella Hair Sex imprint with his debut EP on the label entitled ‘Radio K-Nip 4.20 FM’.

Utrecht-based DJ and producer Larry de Kat is a rising talent with releases on Slapfunk Records, Lazare Hoche, Ruff and his own Katnip imprint. The artist has built a diverse underground following with his eclectic but distinctive sound gaining support from the likes of Bicep, Mark Farina, Ben UFO and Subb-An. 'Radio K-Nip 4.20FM' explores Jazz, Hip-Hop, House and Funk, adding another impressive release to his growing catalogue.

Alexis has established himself as a critical figure within the house scene since rising through the ranks in 2011. His illustrious career has seen his material land on prestigious labels like Hot Creations, Mad Tech, Moda Black, Get Physical and Nervous, whilst remixing Disciples, Kim English, Tiger Stripes and Miguel Campbell. The recently launched Paella Hair Sex imprint is the beginning of a new chapter in the long-standing Deep House artist’s musical story. A return to vinyl in 2016 sparked the inspiration behind the vinyl-only label, now welcoming a heavyweight release from Larry de Kat this coming March.
Brief ‘cut and paste’ opener 'Tune In Turn On' features immersive drum loops, spoken word vocals and a classic flute sample, laying the way for the rest of the package. The sensational ‘J’ provides a feel-good Deep House affair, as a slick bassline sequence fuses with rising synth lines and soulful vocals to guide listeners on a hypnotic journey. The charming vibe continues on interludes - ‘The Spoiler’, ‘LoPass’ and ‘Zoned Out’ which showcase another side to the artists’ unique style, providing three stripped-back modern jazz affairs.

On the flip, Larry de Kat’s rework of Vanity 6’s ‘Nxsty Girl’ combines funk-infused melodies with taut bass guitar-riffs and loose percussion arrangements to keep the energy flowing. ‘Criminally Understated’ is a harmonic slice of old skool gospel and soul - sensual chords, soft keys and fluttering modulations rise through the cosmos, whilst the B-side interludes 'Lonnies Tune', 'Interloot' and Tribulations round out proceedings in style.

500 copies on MAGENTA NEON VINYL

Live at Alexandra Palace, London, England, October 5th 2019

Recorded by our sound crew:
Sam Joseph, Stacey Wilson, Gaspard De Meulemeester

Drums: Michael Cavanagh
Guitar / Keys: Cook Craig
Harmonica / Vocals / Keys / Percussion: Ambrose Kenny-Smith
Vocals / Guitar / Keys: Stu Mackenzie
Drums: Eric Moore
Bass: Lucas Harwood
Guitar / Vocals: Joey Walker

Mixed by Stu Mackenzie
Cover design by Jason Galea

LTD. NEON PINK & NEON GREEN VINYL

The Impossible Kid, released in 2016 on Rhymesayers Entertainment, marked Indie-rap mainstay Aesop Rock's first solo venture since 2012's Skelethon. Aesop continued finding new ways to improve on the skills that have made him one of the kings of indie hip-hop. His creative process now includes a newfound willingness to open up about his personal life, going deep on topics like depression, his sometimes rocky relationship with his family, and the turbulent handful of years that culminated in Aesop leaving his adopted home of San Francisco to live in a barn out in the woods, where he recorded the foundations of The Impossible Kid. There's also moments of levity though, as Aesop taps into the funny side of his persona that he suppressed during the period where being taken as a serious lyricist was more of a priority. Like Skelethon, Aesop exercised complete creative control over every aspect of the album, from the production (which he handled himself, with instrumental help from Philly's Grimace Foundation) to conceptualizing the cover art by his friend Alex Pardee.

"Where Do We Go From Here" is Dumpstaphunk's first album in seven years. It will be released on April 23, 2021 on The Funk Garage, an imprint of Mascot Label Group.
Over its past 17 years, Dumpstaphunk has earned its reputation as the most well-regarded next-generation New Orleans live powerhouse, the type of band whose live shows attract sit-ins from legends like Carlos Santana, Bob Weir and Trombone Shorty. Alongside Hall, Daniels, Alex Wasily, Ryan Nyther and drummer Devin Trusclair, cousins Ivan and Ian Neville have built upon their family’s iconic NOLA legacy as they’ve transformed Dumpstaphunk into the city’s pre-eminent 21st-century funk-fusion export.
The band’s mix of classic and modern influences can be heard throughout the party-friendly mix of R&B, funk, rock, swamp-pop and blues of "Where Do We Go From Here," from the slap-bass rave "Make It After All" to the band's contemporary renderings of NOLA R&B rarities (the 1975 Blackmail gem "Let’s Get At It") and early Seventies classics (Sly and the Family Stone's "In Time”).
‘Where Do We Go From Here’ is perhaps the best evidence yet of Dumpstaphunk’s ability to strengthen and transform their singular NOLA roots in combination with the deeper outside musical and philosophical influences on which the band is founded.

Deluxe 3LP mit 34 neu gemasterten Tracks und einem 60-seitigen Buch mit ausführlichen Linernotes, Interviews, bisher ungesehenen Archivphotos und den Texten (samt Übersetzung) in einem ,Tip On"-Schuber und drei ,Tip On"-Sleeves. Linernotes von Kevin ,Sipreano" Howes. Bisher fast nicht an die Öffentlichkeit gedrungen, kaum dokumentiert, aber im Kern ungeheuer revolutionär, nehmen die Aufnahmen verschiedenster Gemeinden amerikanischer Ureinwohner endlich in Form von ,Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985" den Platz ein, den sie verdienen. Eine Anthologie von Musik, die einst fast ausgestorben, aber nun für alle zu hören, ist ohne Frage eins der ambitioniertesten Projekte in der 12-järhigen Geschichte von Light In The Attic. ,Native Norht America (Vol. 1)" versammelt Musik der eingeborenen Völker Kanadas und der nördlichen USA, die in den turbulenten Jahrzehnten zwischen 1966 und 1985 aufgenommen wurde. Die Musik spiegelt die Zusammenführung globaler Popkultur und die Neuerweckung der eingeborenen Spiritualität und Ausdruckskraft wider. Der größte Teil dieses Materials war über Jahrzehnte lang durch fehlende Distributionskanäle und wenig Präsenz in den Massenmedien in Vergessenheit geraten - bis jetzt! Hier versammelt sich Garage Rock vom Polarkreis aus der Nunavik Region des nördlichen Quebec, melancholischer Yup'ik Folk aus Alaska und flüsternder Country Blues aus dem Wagmatcook First Nation Reservat in Nova Scotia. Man vernimmt Echos von NEIL YOUNG, VELVET UNDERGROUND, LEONARD COHEN, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, JOHNNY CASH und anderen in den Songs, die jedoch mit eingeborenem Bewusstsein, Erzählkultur, Poesie, Geschichte und Zeremonie angereichert werden. Die Compilation ist gewidmet dem legendären Métis Singer/Songwriter und Dichter WILLIE DUNN, der auf der Anthologie auftritt, während der Zusammenstellung des Albums jedoch verstarb. ,Native North America (Vol. 1)" ist nur der Anfang; eine Zusammenstellung von Folk, Rock und Country aus den südlichen 48 Staaten der USA und Mexiko wird momentan in der Light In The Attic Goldmine ausgegraben.

MICROCORPS is the new project by artist and musician Alex Tucker (Grumbling Fur, Alexander Tucker, Imbogodom) exploring electronics, cello and voice. The debut release XMIT, an eight-track album featuring collaborations with Gazelle Twin, Nik Void, Simon Fisher Turner and Astrud Steehouder, is out on 16 April 2021. Tucker's ever-evolving soundworld continues to unfold with this collection of harsh realms centred around processed electronic systems, strings and vocal manipulations. On the new album, MICROCORPS employs altered voices, sound synthesis and atomised beat constructions. In a move away from previous projects XMIT investigates erasing the self, removing obvious traits of the hand and voice, and allowing a focus on the humanoid rather than the human. Instead of recognisable lyrics and coherent imagery, MICROCORPS evolved synthesised voices to generate alternate characters. He expands, "I was investigating how language brings our world into being and how manipulating the actual grain of the voice could open up momentary shifts in perception." Each track is born from a balance between composition and improvisation within set parameters. At each stage audio is heavily processed and then reconfigured. Setting up systems that are non-repeatable, where decisions can be premeditated and intuitive but never the same with each performance, using hardware and instruments outside of the computer to make live stereo takes that have limited room for editing and mixing. "I'd been looking into combining dream music with machine rhythms, but there are so many great examples out there of both music forms, so I started to cut up the drones and really filter the drum patterns to create a hybrid space." The album artwork features manipulated ink drawings by Tucker that originally featured in his recent comic ENTITY REUNION 2. XMIT refers to a time in which information both physical and nonphysical transfers at an alarming rate beyond human comprehension into an age which is at once banal and terrifyingly alien.