quête:ang

Das 2021 erschienene Dream Unending-Debütalbum "Tide Turns Eternal" stellte für Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold) und Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms, Sumerlands) eine deutliche Veränderung ihrer musikalischen Ambitionen dar. Obwohl das Album fest im Death/Doom-Bereich angesiedelt war, zeichnete es sich durch eine weitaus höhere Zielsetzung und Progressivität aus und distanzierte sich damit von anderen Vertretern dieses Stils. Jetzt, nur ein Jahr später, kehrt die Band mit dem atemberaubenden "Song of Salvation" zurück und lässt diesem Erkundungseifer wesentlich mehr Raum, sich zu entfalten und zu glänzen.

Der 14-minütige Opener des Titeltracks beginnt wie ein morgendlicher Sonnenaufgang über einem ruhigen Meer, bevor er sich zu ätherischer Schwere steigert wie die reich strukturierten Wellen eines plötzlichen Meeressturms. Der Schwung des Songs zieht sich nie in mühsame Wiederholungen zurück, sondern öffnet immer wieder neue Türen, ebbt und fließt wie das Wasser eines Flusses aus seiner Quelle.

Wie ein einsamer Blick aus dem Fenster eines abgedunkelten Zimmers auf die nächtlichen Lichter der Stadt, so bietet "Secret Grief" die Gasttalente des Sängers Phil Swanson und Leila Abdul-Rauf an der Trompete, was die Bandbreite der beteiligten musikalischen Talente und die Tragweite der unverwechselbaren Erzählung von "Song of Salvation" noch weiter vergrößert.

Das ruhige Zwischenspiel "Murmur Of Voices" weicht dem beschwörenden "Unrequited", das mit einem einsamen Gitarrensolo beginnt, bevor es in eine treibende Nachmittagsträumerei und unterbewusste Meditation übergeht.

Schließlich kommt das epische Ende des Albums, der 16-minütige Abschluss 'Ecstatic Reign'. Es enthält die vielleicht schwersten Doom-Momente des Albums sowie die Rückkehr von "Tide Turns Eternal" mit den Gaststimmen McKenna Rae und Richard Poe. Tomb Mold-Schlagzeuger / Kehlkopf Max Klebanoff taucht ebenfalls auf und liefert sich ein beeindruckendes Vocal Battle mit DeTore. Die cineastische Vision des Albums und die akribische, farbenfrohe Detailtreue bringen diese fesselnde Reise zu ihrem dauerhaften Höhepunkt.

Nur ein Jahr nach "Tide Turns Eternal" bieten Dream Unending auf dem grenzenlosen Panorama von "Song of Salvation" eine fortgesetzte Abkehr von begrenzenden Genre-Normen - und gleichsam eine geschickte Neudefinition derselben.

- Decibel Magazine Album des Monats November 2022 Ausgabe
- Gastauftritte von Phil Swanson (Solemn Lament, ex-Sumerlands, ex-Hour of 13), Leila Abdul-Rauf (Vastum, Ionophore) und Max Klebanoff (Tomb Mold, Death Kneel)
- Die Vinyl-Edition enthält ein riesiges 24x36-Zoll-Poster
- Aufgenommen von Sean Pearson und Arthur Rizk. Gemischt und gemastert von Arthur Rizk (Gravesend, Daeva, Eternal Champion, Power Trip, Kreator).
- Wunderschönes Cover-Artwork von Benjamin A. Vierling (Joanna Newsom, Nightbringer, Aosoth)
- Hauptmitglieder sind Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold) und Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms, Sumerlands, Solemn Lament)

- FFO: Anathema, Evoken, Tiamat, Opeth, Trouble, Blue Nile, Live, Alice In Chains, Kings X

"Abhorrent Abomination', der Name des Debüt-Openers der Deather Autophagy, bedeutet frei übersetzt "abscheuliche Abscheulichkeit". Ein ziemlich zutreffender Begriff für ihre Musik, doch rein im positiven Sinne. Die Growls von Andy Swarthout sind stets etwas im Hintergrund verankert und sorgen somit für eine etwas surreale Atmosphäre. Die Gitarristen Justin Yaquinto und Kevin Miller hauen neben Doom-angehauchten Düster-Riffs auch ziemlich groovige, fast schon an Pantera erinnerte Rhythmen raus ('Beneath The Moss, Between The Roots'). Auf einer Spielzeit von rund 33 Minuten kommt daher wenig Langeweile auf. Im Titel-Track entscheiden sich die Herren aus dem amerikanischen Oregon für ein langsam schlürfendes Outro, welches durch seine Behäbigkeit an Brutalität gewinnt - die Kirsche auf der Torte sind die Slayer-Soli gen Ende des Songs. Die runde und kraftvolle Produktion von Billy Anderson (unter anderem Sleep, Neurosis, Eyehategod) sorgt für ein angenehm deftiges Sound-Erlebnis..." (Metal Hammer)

"Nach nur einem Demo heizen die Portland-Deather AUTOPHAGY mit ihrem Debüt "Bacteriophage" mächtig ein. Das Quartett spielt düsteren Death Metal, der extrem basslastig aus den Boxen dröhnt und tempomäßig zwischen Geholze, Uffta-Rhythmen und doomigem Geschrote hin und her pendelt. Die pechschwarzen, Lava-artigen Arrangements erinnern an Bands wie Incantation, Portal oder Immolation. Wenn´s abgeht und das Tempo etwas flotter wird, scheppert es in alter Carcass-Manier. AUTOPHAGY liefern mit "Bacteriophage" ein solides Debütalbum ab, das man als Fan genannter Bands durchaus mal anchecken sollte." (Rock Hard)
Weitere Formate

Eigentlich kaum zu glauben, dass es bis heute kein Weihnachtsalbum des unvergessenen Louis Armstrong
gab, schließlich hat er einige der romantischsten, witzigsten und swingendsten Weihnachtssongs aller Zeiten
aufgenommen. Diesem Missstand hat sich jetzt das Jazzlabel Verve angenommen:
„Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule“ ist die erste Louis-Armstrong-Weihnachtsplatte überhaupt und präsentiert seine Weihnachtstracks erstmals als zusammenhängendes Gesamtwerk. Die Zusammenstellung enthält
sechs Decca-Singles aus den 1950er Jahren, zwei Duette mit seinen Lieblingspartnerinnen Ella Fitzgerald
und Velma Middleton, und den monumentalen Evergreen „What a Wonderful World“, der längst auch zu
einer Art Hoffnungshymne geworden ist, die zum Geist des Weihnachtsfestes passt.
Als besonderes Geschenk an Satchmo-Fans enthält das Album eine bisher unveröffentlichte Aufnahme
von Louis’ berührender Lesung von Samuel Clement Moores Gedicht „A Visit from St. Nicholas“ (auch
bekannt als „The Night Before Christmas“), für die Pianist Sullivan Fortner, eine Jazz-Ikone aus New
Orleans, eine wunderschöne musikalische Untermalung liefert.

Blue Vinyl

Throughout his productive career, Carl Oesterhelt has proven to be an artist who finds it easy to move between musical genres and concepts. Much of his work has been within classical and chamber music, but he has also scored museum exhibitions and he is sometimes part of The Notwist crew as an angular figure on the Munich scene.

In Umor Rex we have been lucky enough to publish an array of Oesterhelt's universes. In Eleven Pieces for Synthesizer (Umor Rex 2019) we heard his kosmische side, where the connections with Harmonia or Klaus Schulze were amalgamated with ecclesiastical organ pieces and intense semi-automatic rhythms. A deeply melodic, fresh album. Pure syntax of the modern synthesizer. Further, in The Aporias of Futurism (Umor Rex 2021), in collaboration with Andreas Gerth (Driftmachine, Tied & Tickled Trio), Oesterhelt showed what is perhaps his darkest side —a work full of nuances within concrete music and midnight atmospheres. As deep and cerebral an album as it is surprising and catatonic.

Yet it seems that Carl Oesterhelt has another ace up his sleeve. Now he surprises us with The Dualistic Principle, a fantastic album full of weird but charming electronic melodies, rhythms that push the body to movement, sometimes syncopated and abstract, others permanent and fluid. In this work, Oesterhelt invited Johan Simons to give voice to the lyrics. The Dualistic Principle is a sort of rendition of a philosophical review or a nostalgic memory of the glamorous years. There is also underlying humor in the Post / Space-pop / Munich-disc assortment. The Dualistic Principle is the score to an imaginary film of contemporary hedonism.

All music & lyrics by Carl Oesterhelt. Voice by Johan Simons. Additional strings played by the Ensemble für synkretische Musik. Recorded in Munich & Bochum, Germany. Mastered by John Tejada in Sherman Oaks, USA. Artwork by Daniel Castrejón in Mexico City.

Repressed! Mochilla’s Timeless series reignites for RSD 2021 housed in full color gatefold jackets with the vinyl housed in printed inner sleeves. In 2009, Brian Cross (aka B+) organized a series of live events at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex in Los Angles. The Timeless series captured the lasting impact of several artists on the world of Hip Hop and beyond. Live fully orchestrated performances by Ethiopia’s Mulatu Astatke and Brazil's Arthur Verocai bookended the incredible Suite For Ma Dukes, a tribute to James "Dilla" Yancey, by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. These superb quality live recordings, now long out of print, are back in effect for RSD 2021. On Mochilla Presents Timeless: Mulatu Astatke the sold out crowd at the Luckman witnessed the famed Ethiopian artist perform with veterans of the Los Angeles jazz community including Bennie Maupin, Azar Lawrence, Phil Ranelin and more. Having just witnessed the performance Cut Chemist remarked “Musically, he has been my biggest inspiration” with producer Quantic noting “One of the musical visionaries of our age…We are still trying to catch up.”

A rich musical journey comprising eleven songs, Madrid channels the chaotic charms of the Spanish capital where Nev has recently relocated.

"I love the way life works here. It's organised chaos. Walking
the neighbourhoods of Lavapiez and La Latina you begin to see how everything is perfectly balanced...how to eat, how to party and then how to relax! It's perfection. When it all gets too much I run away to
the English countryside"

Side A cut 'The Ring' calls to mind Cowboy In Sweden era Hazlewood while that Mustang bass, scratchy guitars and cool 60's drum fills invoke Serge and Vannier for ' Silver Screen' and title track 'Madrid'. Scott 4 is obviously a touchstone and Nev has never been one to hide his reverence for one of the greatest albums of all time. Seven minute wonder 'Under The Skin' channels Walker's

Für Fans von: Absu, Melechesh, Moonspell, Rotting Christ, Nile.
Unheiliger Black Metal aus dem Heiligen Land, durchtränkt von nahöstlichen Klängen und Mystik! Eine Beschwörung der Jahrtausende alten
Finsternis!
Die fünfköpfige Black/Death-Metal-Band Arallu stammt aus der israelischen Siedlung Ma'ale Adummim in Israel und ist seit fünfundzwanzig
Jahren im Metal-Underground unterwegs.
Der Name Arallu stammt aus der mesopotamischen Mythologie und bezeichnet das Reich der Unterwelt, das von der Göttin Ereshkigal und dem
Gott Nergal regiert wird und in dem die Toten gerichtet werden. Die Musik von Arallu dreht sich um die traditionellen, altorientalischen Melodien
der Landsleute Melechesh, die Hochgeschwindigkeits-Wildheit von Bands wie Angelcorpse und Absu, und dem atmosphärischen Gefühl legendärer Acts wie den zuvor erwähnten Melechesh und Absu.
Im Jahr 2019 hat die Band das Album "En Olam" veröffentlicht, und dieses Werk hat Arralus bereits bekanntes Talent in der Underground-Extrem-Metal-Gemeinde gefestigt. "Death Covenant" ist das siebte Full-Length-Studioalbum der Band und bietet dem Hörer eine atemberaubende
Mischung aus okkultem Black Metal und alten sumerischen und nahöstlichen Klängen. Die Riffs, die hier zu finden sind, werden die Hörer mit
ihrer Raserei von melodischen Tremolo-Riffs, die mit einigen unheimlichen Folk-Instrumenten verwoben sind, zufriedenstellen. Die Elemente in
der Gitarrenabteilung, die mit einigen Folkinstrumenten wie einer Saz und einer Darbuka vermischt sind, zeigen, wie die Band den Metal erfolgreich auf seinen Kern reduziert und das verleiht dem Gesamtergebnis von Arallus Musik einen zusätzlichen Punch und eine gewisse Schwere im
unteren Bereich. Er liegt im Grunde genommen gleichmäßig unter den Gitarren und unterstützt sie mit einigen dicken Linien, die den Streichern
ein tieferes Gefühl verleihen und den Tracks eine bedrohliche Atmosphäre verleihen. Auch die Schlagzeugsektion fesselt die Aufmerksamkeit des
Publikums mit einer Vielzahl von zerstörerisch stampfenden Kontrabässen bis hin zu orientalischem Tribal-Drumming, das viel dazu beiträgt, dass
die Atmosphäre intakt zu halten. Die Platte ist voll von hohen, durchdringenden Schreien und Kreischen, die eine dunkle und raue Klanglandschaft schaffen. Diese bösartigen Schreie werden manchmal mit unheimlichen Backing Vocals, die die Brutalität extremer Death- und Black-Metal-Musik mit den alten nahöstlichen Skalen des Materials verbinden. "Death Covenant" zeigt auch die bisher stärkste Produktion der Band in den
fünfundzwanzig Jahren ihres Bestehens.
Mit "Death Covenant" haben Arallu ein bedrohliches und atmosphärisches Biest in diesem Metal-Stil geschaffen. Die Israelis haben ein grausames
Album vorgelegt, das kaum mit seinen Vorgängern vergleichbar ist.

WARKINGS Warriors macht euch bereit! Die mächtigen Krieger kehren mit einer sagenumwobenen Verbündeten zurück! Keine Geringere als die legendäre Zauberin Morgana le Fay, Schwester von Artus und Herrin
der verlorenen Seelen, hat sich den vier Königen für den vierten Teil der WARKINGS-Saga angeschlossen.
Das neue Studioalbum, Morgana, erscheint am 11. November 2022 über Napalm Records. Vier mächtige
Könige – ein römischer Tribun, ein wilder Wikinger, ein edler Kreuzritter und ein kriegerischer Spartaner
– versammelten sich in den goldenen Hallen von Walhalla, entkamen aus der Unterwelt, bekämpften die
Herrscher der Finsternis und haben zur Revolution gerufen. Zurück im Totenreich wurden sie von der
unheimlichen und außergewöhnlichen Stimme der „bösen“ Zauberin Morgana La Fey in ihren Bann gezogen. Besessen von der Idee, der Menschheit ihre eigene Version der Geschichte zu erzählen, überzeugte
die Hexe die WARKINGS, den nächsten Schlachten gemeinsam entgegen zu treten und Morgana in ihren
Kreis aufzunehmen – ein Bund gemacht für die Ewigkeit!
In der Tradition von POWERWOLF, HAMMERFALL und Running Wild schmieden die WARKINGS ihre
Musik hart wie Stahl und erobern seit 2018 die Schlachtfelder der Welt. Sie versammelten ihre Warriors
ltweit und stiegen 2021 mit Revolution auf Platz 13 in die offiziellen deutschen Albumcharts ei

Bubbling up from the psychedelic tar pits of L.A., Frankie and the Witch Fingers have been a constant source of primordial groove for the better part of the last decade. Formed and incubated in Bloomington, IN before moving west to scrap with Los Angeles’ garage rock rabble, the band evolved from cavern-clawed echo merchants to architects of prog-infected psych epics that evoke a shift in reality. After a stretch on Chicago/LA flagship Permanent Records the band landed at yet another fabled enclave of garage and psychedelia - Brooklyn’s Greenway Records, now working in tandem with psych powerhouse LEVITATION and their label The Reverberation Appreciation Society, the groups latest effort is dually supported by a RAS / Greenway co-release. After years of searching for the specific alchemy that would tear open the cosmos, they found the formula with the addition of Shaughnessy Starr on drums in the summer of 2018. They began a new cycle and tripped into tip-on double gatefold territory, flesh-ing out their lysergic impulses into a monolith of sound that closes in from all sides. The band reached new levels of grandiosity and utilized every minute to manifest their psych-soul Sabbath in four dimensions, spilling psychic blood on a populace ready and eagerly waiting. Yet, as expansive, inventive, and immersive as any studio album might be, the band is born for the stage. As their live prowess caught the ears of some legends in their own right, the band practically lived on the road last year with stints opening for Oh Sees, Cheap Trick and ZZ Top. Along the way the constant pulpit of the stage would form ZAM into a transformative experience while plotting their next permutation of space and time. That transformation, Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters... (repeated infinitely,) rises like a Phoenix from the road tar, van exhaust, and ozone crackle of amps in heat. Once off the road it was recorded in just five blistering days. Though, while the tour may have hammered the album into shape and brought about a wind of change, those changes stretched to the band itself as well. In the wake of the tour the band’s longtime bassist Alex Bulli made his exit, with the majority of bass parts on the album being written and played by multi-instrumental magician Josh Menashe with occasional pitch in from songwriter Dylan Sizemore. Stripped to their core the band has created their most ambitious work to date, an album that takes the turbulence of ZAM and crafts it into a beast more insidious and singular than anything in their catalog. Moving forward, the band has taken on new blood. Completing their lineup, Nikki Pickle (of Death Valley Girls) will join them working the new album out roadside on bass. A new horizon of Frankie and the Witch Fingers draws near and we’re all set to follow them into the unknown.

Unholy Black Metal from the Holy Land, drenched in Middle-Eastern tones and mystique! An invocation of thousands of years of Darkness! Hailing from the urban Israeli settlement called Ma’ale Adummim in Israel, Arallu is a five-piece Black/Death Metal act that has been around the metal underground for twenty-five years. The band got the name Arallu from the Mesopotamian mythology, as it is the name of the underworld kingdom ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and the god Nergal, where the dead are judged. Arallu’s music revolves around the traditional ancient Middle Eastern melodies of fellow countrymen Melechesh, the high speed savagery of bands like Angelcorpse and Absu, and the atmospheric feel of legendary acts like before mentioned Melechesh and Absu. In 2019 the band had released the record called “En Olam”, and that opus has solidified Arralu’s already known talent to the underground extreme metal community. “Death Covenant” is the band’s seventh full-length studio offering and the album offers the listeners a very stunning infusion of occult Black Metal music with the ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern sound. The riffs found in here will satisfy the listeners with its frenzy of melodic tremolo picked riffs that is intertwined with some eerie folk instrumentation. The elements in the guitar department, thrown in with a few folk instruments such as a saz and a darbuka, reveals how the band had successfully stripped metal down to its core and added a personal touch of their own special flair. them and it provides that extra punch and low-end heaviness to the overall outcome of Arallu’s music. It basically lies steadily beneath the guitars as it backs them up with some thick lines that give a more deep feel to the strings and dispenses an ominous atmosphere to the tracks. The drum section also catches the audience’s attention with a variety of destructive pummeling double bass blasting to some Middle Eastern tribal drumming that helps a lot in terms of keeping the atmosphere intact. The record is filled with high-pitched piercing shrieks and screams which create a dark and raw soundscape. These vicious shrieks are sometimes jacked up with some uncanny backing vocals that tie together the brutality of extreme death and Black Metal music to the ancient Middle Eastern scales of the material. “Death Covenant” also parades the band’s strongest production to date in their twenty-five years of existence. Arallu had created a menacing and atmospheric beast in this style of metal with their release of “Death Covenant”. These Israelis had put out a savage album that is hardly comparable to its predecessors.

Yellow and black splatter

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

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

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

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

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

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

coalesce koh-uh-les 'to come together in or form one mass or whole'
Tritonal have embarked on a brand new chapter in their story which
began with 'Out Of The Dark', the first single from their upcoming fifth
album 'Coalesce'
Encompassing all that they've learned on their musical journey thus far, the
upcoming album solidifies production, art and meaning.
The upcoming record is a grandiose progressive trance production that sees
Tritonal's refined sound at its very best, supported by outstanding vocal
performances from a variety of collaborators, and is already set to be a favorite
amongst fans and supporters alike. In recent weeks, the duo wrapped up festival
appearances at EDC in Mexico City and Las Vegas, Metropolis Festival in
Brooklyn, and Dreamstate Harbor in Los Angeles, bringing their captivating and
vivacious sets to crowds across the country.
Double Gatefold, Neon Magenta Color Vinyl, Insert

It was conceived bit by bit, when inspiration would sneak into a rehearsals for
shows or in between recording sessions at my studio in East Vancouver. These
little song starts or jams sprout up; incomplete, but with the potential to be full
songs. As these recordings amassed on hard drives, I would occasionally listen
back, hunting for a glimmer or an angle of potential; some of which were buried
inside long jams. These sessions happened over a five year period as I was also
recording, mixing, writing and mastering for other artists in my studio called
recRoom. In 2020, my partner and bandmate in Limblifter, Megan Bradfield and I
migrated to our cottage on a Southern Gulf Island in British Columbia. At the start
of the pandemic, recording, mixing and at my Vancouver studio wasn't a wise
idea, so I migrated my from East Van to the Southern Gulf Islands and opened
Mayne Island Sound. My partner and bandmate, Meagan Bradfield and I have
been coming to this island for years to take a break from our busy downtown
Vancouver life and during COVID we found ourselves staying here, waiting for the
madness to pass. Moving away from my busy Vancouver studio life and from
touring gave me perspective. Living in the middle of this spectacular forest on an
island has put Megan and I back in touch with nature. The combination of all
these things gave me laser focus to write new material and finish the songs we'd
started. - Ryan Dahle.

This record is a representation of everything that has led me to this point
- It's been a long, bizarre path, says Zenizen's Opal Hoyt of both her life
and her journey to make this record
Like Peter and the Wolf, the Russian symphony Hoyt used as a creative
framework, P.O.C. (Proof of Concept) is a series of vignettes "the collection of
which mirrors Hoyt's long journey, from her adoption in Alaska to her many moves
between DC, Jamaica, Vermont, and New York.Along this unconventional path,
Hoyt met the talented cast of musicians who would go on support her in the
recording of P.O.C: variegated bass by Jonathan Maron (Erykah Badu, D'Angelo);
drums by Vishal Nayak (Nick Hakim, Empress Of); moments of magic on horns by
Sly 5th Ave (Prince); guitars by Benamin (IGBO); intricate mixing by Nick Herrera
(Hiatus Kaiyote), Benamin, and Jon Bap; with mastering by Heba Kadry and Davy
Levitan. Then there's Hoyt herself, whose rich alto pierces through with poetic
lyricism, supported by her contributions of Rhodes, synths, and sample
arrangements (think: babbling brooks and birdsong). In other words, Hoyt isn't
just a songwriter in the classic sense. She's also a skilled producer with an ear for
excellent arrangements "the kind of musician who enjoys meandering and
allowing her artistic vision to percolate. Likewise, P.O.C is a record that blooms in
beauty over time "the kind of record that you can take anywhere in any season, as
any version of yourself.

Laila Sakini's new album 'Paloma' arrives via Modern Love and is her most striking and ambiguous to date - a pointed and timely meditation on hope and hierarchies that riffs on Zbigniew Preisner's magical "The Double Life of Veronique" score and enduring outsider music tome "The Langley Schools Music Project". Subtly transcendent, fathoms-deep music.

When Laila Sakini's debut album ‘Vivienne’ arrived in 2020, it felt like the record we were waiting for to map out our tangled reactions to an uninvited reality. Never self-consciously strange, it revealed itself slowly and cautiously, like a shadow in the corner of the eye, or an alchemical symbol in a bowl of alphabet spaghetti. This time around Sakini has worked her unique world-building to an even finer point, forming six tracks around a theme that's so close to our heart it's almost beating in time. Initially inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1991 arthouse classic "The Double Life of Veronique", the cult Polish director's enduring modern fairytale that serves as a cosmic rumination on identity and choice. Detailing two identical women - both singers, both in love - the film lets one live as the other dies, forcing us to consider the implications of art and endurance in the face of life's myriad challenges.

Sakini takes Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner's influential score for the film and uses it as a jumping-off point for ‘Paloma’, bending the more grandiose moments into baroque awkwardness on opening track 'Fluer D'Oranger' and evoking the mood of scene-setting cues 'Weronika' and 'Véronique' on the recorder-led 'The Light That Flickers In The Mirror'. And while Preisner's score zeroed in on the musical virtuosity of the film's lead characters, Sakini reinterprets that as a metaphor for self-discovery. Playing piano, violin, glockenspiel, timbale, recorder, and occasionally singing, Sakini captures a mood of innocence that immediately transports the listener back to simpler times. Her music isn't self-consciously simplistic, but forcing herself to interface with instruments impulsively rather than studiously, her sounds are all heart, no filigree.

In spirit, it reminds us of cult Canadian album "The Langley Schools Music Project", a collection of 1970s recordings of school kids singing rudimentary renditions of pop songs in a school gymnasium. That album's genius was in the bottling of hope and innocence: the feeling of joy from hearing and wholesomely interacting with music that's known and loved without a sense of hierarchy or desire for cultural clout. Sakini subtly subverts this by evoking the amateur spirit in the most bewitching way; instead of sourcing her ideas from Bowie, Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys, her stock is the established art canon, and by reforming those sounds she makes an insightful comment on intellectualism and access. European classical music is all too often trapped behind the frosted glass of respectability and assumed skill - craft replaces spirit, and technique replaces soul. By approaching these gestures from a different angle, Sakini softens the edges sonically and intellectually, finding music that bubbles with emotion, and most strikingly - hope.

Her choice of instruments and the way she interacts with them allows us to feel as if we're not only listening but contributing. It's a bottom-up way of absorbing art that's traditionally been top-down, and a reminder that we're all part of the experience, whether we're humming along to the remnants of a theme as it dribbles out of an ear in the shower, or dreaming of spotlights in a parallel life that may or may not be real. Sakini's music is nostalgic in a sense, but nowhere near the buttered popcorn and high-fructose candy migraine of the Netflix/Spotify algorithm generation of regurgitated churn. She makes sounds that remind us of what time and experience may have stolen from us, and how we might recover it.

Für Fans von: (frühe) Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema.
Die dänische Band Empire Drowns, die eine geschmackvolle Mischung aus Doom/Death-Metal der alten Schule und düsterem Gothic-Rock bietet, ist
nach der 2013er EP "Bridges" endlich bereit für die Veröffentlichung ihres Debütalbums.
Auf "Nothing" hat die Band eine härtere Herangehensweise an ihren Doom Metal angestrebt, und Marco Angioni von den Angioni Studios (Tygers
Of Pan Tang, Detest, Thorium etc.) wurde beauftragt, einen Sound einzufangen, der den frühen Neunzigern nahekommt, als das Academy Studio in
Großbritannien der Ort war, an dem Bands dieses Genres bevorzugt aufnahmen. Zu den Alben, die den Sound von "Nothing" inspiriert haben, gehören "As The Flower Withers", "Gothic" und "Serenades".
"Nothing" zeichnet sich durch eine intensive Rhythmussektion und aufsteigende, melodische Gitarrenarbeit, atmosphärische Keyboards aus, die
zusammen mit dem gleichzeitig düsteren, knurrenden Gesang eine schwere und fesselnde Stimmung erzeugen.
Als Songwriter zeigen Empire Drowns eine erfrischende Vielfalt. Jeder Song hat seine eigene, unverwechselbare Identität, doch das Ausloten verschiedener musikalischer Wege führt zu einem ganzheitlichen und nachdenklichen Sound, den Empire Drowns mit Stolz ihr Eigen nennen können.
Empire Drowns besteht aus erfahrenen Musikern von Bands wie Aurora, Decorate. Decorate, Urkraft, Withering Surface, Meridian & A Sun Traverse.

Rare Italo disco pop project Galvanica gets a beautiful re-issue! This is what the label writes about the release; "Galvanica, a voice with unusual qualities, refined, balanced, also high-pitched, sensual, embellished by an orgasmic inspiration with fluid and spaced solo's in hypnotic rhythms that often change scenery. 'Nightlights in Japan': an extraordinary piece of pure and profound creativity where each version seems to have been built apart and where the West meets the East. A splendid interpreter for a truly stunning piece, as fresh and far-sighted as the day it was recorded in Calenzano at Studio Emme by Marzio Benelli with the Yamaha DX7 synth and Linn 9000 drum sequencer that are at the base of the piece, made and re-interpreted in the four original versions, all sung in the Eastern Asian pentatonic scale. 'Nightlights in Japan' was also written by Massimiliano Orfei, at the time collaborator in the advertising projects from label Smash One Music of Pino Toma, the producer who drew new inspiration to venture into the record market which in 1987 became every day more difficult and this song was considered out of fashion, even if each version of this song was expertly arranged by the talented Giorgio Costantini. We've clarified as to whom Galvanica's velopendulus belongs, in order to be able to rightly consider this artist as a contributive voice of disco music, despite being part of the "second wave" of the Italo-Disco scene, has strongly contributed to it as Otero, Belen Thomas, Angelby and previously with the disco-project Plustwo creating 'Melody' (which after 40 years gets a new extraordinary success with over 134 million plays on TikTok and around 18 million streaming). However, it's clear as day that the gorgeous artist behind Galvanica was Antonella Bianchi and that Giorgio Costantini was not only her producer and composer - as in 1985 for 'I Know', a sweet synth-pop ballad sung with her stage name 'Angel', but above all her ... 'guardian angel'. For many artists using a stage name is a custom. The absolute record of pseudonyms as a true equalizer of identity is held by Stendhal having used 350 throughout his career. This multifaceted artist who, until now has never used so many 'a.k.a.', in a wonderful game of musical mirrors, has represented an opportunity to challenge the market, a trait of non-acceptance of the role that the discography attributes to certain artists. So also Galvanica was an invitation to reflect, with a pinch of provocation, a behavior that Antonella Bianchi has in the DNA of her family. Ultimately, Best Record is not at all worried about the modernization that surrounds it, sure that 'Nightlights in Japan' will be one of the most coveted vinyl reissues in the second half of 2022.

FKA Twigs mixtape CAPRISONGS finally available physically. Features guest appearances from The Weeknd, Jorja Smith, Pa Salieu, Rema, Shygirl, Unknown T and Daniel Caesar as well as a host of twigs’ close friends and community.

Selected Productions is a collection of tracks produced by Tom Chasteen in the late 90s and released on the Exist Dance label.
Exist Dance started in Los Angeles in 1991 and was among the first labels to emerge from the LA Rave scene of the time, although musically the label pursued its own path , sometime in tune with rhythmic warehouse madness, sometimes heading elsewhere.
These tracks emerge from later in the Exist Dance story, when Tom Chasteen was living in Prescott, AZ, performing at Phoenix and Tucson raves and clubs and steadily releasing small pressings of 12” singles and EPs.

Ghost Story is a high desert tale, emerging from the hours long Roland 303 and Space Echo based live performances Tom was doing at the time, condensed into a dramatic vinyl side and featuring guest guitar work from Clive Wright.

Champion Sound is a remix of a 1991 Exist Dance release, the original being perhaps the first “Breakbeat” track from the West Coast. This version expands the concept of remix to its limits, keeping only some vocals from the original and setting them free in a new psychedelic landscape.

The Accident Of Birth takes the breakbeat style to a darker galaxy.

Available again. Note price increase. The contributions of the late Detroit producer James DeWitt Yancey –better known to the world as J Dilla to the world of hip-hop can't be overstated, and nowhere is his legacy more apparent than his work as a member of Slum Village. A founding member of the trio, (Alongside rappers T3 and Baatin) Dilla provided the group's distinctly esoteric, free-wheeling sound, built around winding basslines, quirky drumbeats, subtle low-end frequencies, and classic jazz & soul samples. Against the backdrop of Dilla's rich production, T3 and Baatin's free-flowing style of rhyming would also earn wide critical praise, leading to comparisons as the successors to A Tribe Called Quest. (A label they themselves have rejected.) It's on Slum Village's 1997 studio debut, Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1, that all these elements come together in the most proficient manner. An instant hit among Detroit's underground hip-hop scene, the album seemed to combine all the best elements of the reigning alternative and gangsta styles of hip-hop into one cohesive style that was a hit among critics. Fan-Tas-Tic's influence extended far beyond Detroit, as its sound heavily influenced the sounds of D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, and The Roots just to name a few. (Roots drummer ?uestlove has even declared that: "Hands down this album birthed the neo-soul movement.") Ne'Astra Media Group now presents the album reissued on vinyl, for the first time in several years. Every wobbling bass note of J Dilla's production has been preserved and every freestyle line of T3 and Baatin has been re-created, to maintain the legacy of a late-90s rap classic, and the legend of one of hip-hop's greatest beatsmiths.