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You Never End is the third album from Valentina Magaletti, Tom Halstead and Joe Andrews (Moin) out via AD 93 on the 25th October. Its title alone expresses the teetering and shifting nature of both the album and band. This record marks the Moin’s shift into a new phase with vocal collaborations across the album from Olan Monk, james K, Coby Sey and Sophia Al-Maria.

The album’s collaborators all have voices that are alluring in their own right whilst hard to pin down: from james K’s ethereal, reverb drenched vocals, Coby Sey’s words that bounce and echo across London’s concrete streets and Olan Monk’s emotive songwriting, while artist Sophie Al-Maria’s voice and thoughts are known to stretch across her multidisciplinary practice as an artist, filmmaker and writer. The unique mystique of each collaborator is maintained throughout the record while simultaneously opening Moin up to new possibilities, in a gentle shifting alchemy.

Continuing their enigmatic re-configuring of the traditional band, Moin use a mix of conventional and unique production and compositional techniques. Subtly re-framing the current conversation about what band in 2024 needs to be, Moin walk the line between what's reassuringly familiar and what's unsettling and inquisitive. You Never End is a more sensitive record in sentiment, it re-contextualises grunge, shoegaze and indie rock with a weirdly comforting melancholy while still sounding direct and alive.

Showing Moin at their most accessible, the vocal collaborations bring the most articulate moments and lucid emotion while still remaining uniquely within Moin's established world. Alongside this, the record fine tunes the elements of electronic production that have always been a feature of the band's unique sound in a deeply subtle way. Elements are simpler and more direct, offering robust functional support as well as textural and emotional resonance. Together they show the potential for both practices to intertwine.

You Never End is both produced and mixed by Tom and Joe, demonstrating the extended range of control the pair have over the band's sound, and their ability to truly hold together Moin’s intricate world.

Wajeed's brilliant Dirt Tech Reck brings some Latin flair to this new 12" from Michele Manzo. 'NiNos Del Mar' is bright and sunny and hella lively from the off with opener 'Liquida' layering up warm, soulful chords and percussive drums with an exotic vocal loop. It's a great mix of organic and synthetic sounds and it radiates warmth and energy for any dance floor. 'Quasi' is a house shuffler with more minimal drums but still a sun-kissed sound thanks to the steamy vocals and tropical percussion which flutters over the relentless groove. Summer may be nearly over, but this one keeps the vibes well and truly alive.

As with most things, this project started with a conversation in the pub between me and Martin.

As we discussed what J-Walk and BiD could do next we chatted about our mutual love of DIY, Post Punk, Reggae, Digital & Dub, how about using that feel as an initial jump off on the next thing and see how you get on? I suggested.
As is his way Martin considered the suggestion, then promptly disappeared, 6 weeks later something landed in my inbox, it was titled Broken Beauty and the music contained embraced all those symbiotic ideals and culture.
Nailed it!
Recorded entirely in Stockport using a mixed kit bag of cheap forgotten keyboards, guitar, bass and effects pedals, this LP takes the J-Walk aesthetic and applies the wider palette of these influences to create something unique, those past and present influences forged together to bring you something truly DIY - instructions below.
How To Make Such A Thing...

Deactivate social media. Ignore the internet, don't answer text messages, avoid other music, the telly and other people. This is a process where it's only you in the room with whatever's in your mind. You will be there for some time and the loneliness can hurt a little.

Forget any predetermined ideas. Forget everything you've ever done before. This is an opportunity to start from scratch, but with years of accumulated knowledge and craftsmanship. Trust yourself.
Be scared. Be excited about not knowing what will happen and what will result.

Don't use midi sequencing, virtual instruments or samples. Just plug a toy instrument into an amp, press a rhythm and play around to see what happens. If it sounds good and fresh then record it. Plug a bass in to jam around and you'll soon hear and feel what sits in the pocket of the beat. Record it as it is. Dirty is real and good. Cleanliness equals sterility. Loop the bassline. Plug a guitar in and do the same.

Don't think when doing any of this. Just experiment with interest and curiosity and the music will take care of itself. You will now have a groove which is also about half a song minimum. Play some keys from the toys on top of what you have. Put 'em through effects pedals. Again, don't overthink it and don't try to get it clean. Add sound effects in right and random places.

There you go. Something you've never made before. But more importantly, it's something you've never heard before.

You don't have to die to be reincarnated.

BROKEN BEAUTY...You can't be either without also having been the other.

Was the lesson intended?
It hangs like mist in the air
And now the throne is upended
And the lesson is the son and the heir

Was the lesson intended?
It resonates in the sky
A shockwave in the heavens
Visible to the naked eye

Was the lesson intended?

Was the lesson intended?
It has soaked into the ground
It is felt in every movement
And is audible in every sound

Was the lesson intended?
It cannot be denied
It rings loud like thunder
Leaving our poets tongue-tied

Was the lesson intended?

Red Laser continue their prolific purple patch, unpacking four more slabs of red lit Manctolo from a host of box jammers, old and new.

Frank Butters wastes no time at all, 'The Call Of The Wild' engaging photon tubes with a highly kinetic array of crystalline synth shards, thunderous bass and hyperactive sfx. Without geeking out too much, special mention has to go out to the synthesis on display here - Butters advancing up the levels of sonic shamanism as he conjures up never-before-heard patches of interstellar cosmic NRG...

Bob Swans' 'Bodyform4U' unites the robots with a universal message of togetherness. Its multiple layers of shuddering arpeggios and star-aligned synths working in unison to quell any fears and send us off into a space age utopia. One that'll work as well soundtracking the end of the session as it will as the dancefloor's filling up; its subtle anthemic qualities sure to rouse the spirits of even the most dehumanized cyborgs.

New signing Lone Saxon drops 'Hypersleep' which utilises rich piano chords and a hefty breakbeat, switching up the vibe but keeping things super uplifting. This one reminds us of that innocent period when you could get on the megabus for 50p and score three for a tenner on the dancefloor. An evocative vocal refrain adds a moment of thoughtful introspection in between the e-rushes and arm-raising for another moment of interactive harmony.

Finally, 'Webo' sees Franz Scala (with a little help from Il Bosco) return to source, delivering a bona fide slice of maximum balls out MANCTALO chug. With tension-wrought chord progressions, delicious layers of lead melodies and a soaring vocal, there's few that can resist the charms of this late night electro-disco hyper anthem.

All aboard the starship !

RL x

When the quartet of Luke Martin, Gabriel Salomon, Klaus Janek and Andy Graydon gathered to record an afternoon of sessions in Andy's studio, it was both the result of years of cultivation and an afterthought. Klaus and Andy had been long-time, and now long-distance, collaborators since their shared years in Berlin. That city was also where Andy was introduced to Gabriel at one of his solo performances by their mutual friend, the painter Paul McDevitt. Years passed, and cities. After meeting and working together in Boston, Luke and Andy both found themselves transplanted to Minneapolis. And by happenstance Gabriel arrived a few years later. A new conversation was just starting to emerge when Klaus announced his arrival, stopping by on a North American tour. Suddenly the four got a chance to listen and play together performing on a bill at a local gallery, in one configuration or another, for the first time. Packing up after that show, Klaus leaned over to ask, "isn't there a moment we could meet again, to play?"

Nothing was expected, and so anything was possible. The circumstances lent their gathering an impromptu but grounded feeling, a unique mix of chance encounter and reunion. As befits an opening encounter, the focus was as often on listening to the unfolding sonic conversation as it was on making a recording. Everyone seemed to intuit the direction despite not knowing where they were headed. The four faced each other in a loose circle surrounded by speakers and microphones pointed haphazardly, as likely to catch the dog padding around curiously as the bowing of strings or rattling of a cymbal. The permissive spirit of the day was declared early, just before rolling, when Gabriel asked if we should close the studio windows or leave them open. "You know what my answer is," replied Luke. If it's in the nature of a recording to become fixed, to be bottled up, let us at least leave open the windows to hear what might be coming next.

Where would a painter paint if it were not on a white canvas? Where would a composer compose if it were not on the stave and the spaces in between the lines? How would a musician play his instrument if there were no melodies composed, written down, painted for him to follow?

The magic of art needs a frame, a somewhat solid container to hold the freedom that can only be found once we integrate some form of structure. And that also holds in every other area of life. We all need a frame, a structure, a rhythm, or else, we fall apart. This human form needs the body, and yet it transcends the limitations of the body - through art.

Consistency being one of them seems oftentimes less tangible, for it resides more in the act of doing, and showing up for the practice, for devoting energy and presence. Strangely, if we consistently show up for our practice, regardless of its form, the solid frame of the hour we devote to playing the instrument, learning a language, doing the sport, sitting silently for that meditation: It feels different every single time. It feels new every single time.

The repetitive consistency in being present again and again allows for nothing short of magic to happen. Magic feeds consistency. Consistency feeds magic. Consistency sets a foundation that strengthens over time. It allows us to slowly but surely develop any kind of skill, to find and hence to embody expertise. On the fertile grounds of such a solid foundation, creativity fosters, and innovation blossoms.

Establishing consistent rituals and routines can bring a sense of comfort and safety into every-day-life. For routine beholds repetition and its frame enables our experience within to change. In the familiar, we dare to explore, maybe even experiment, merely because a part of us remembers we depart from, and always return to, a safe space. We do not get lost. We do not fall apart. As we practice, again and again, we build resilience in overcoming obstacles or literally persevering through challenging situations and stretches of time.

While consistency gifts steadiness and stability, its overdose risks to result in what may appear as uniformity. It feels like constantly - consistently - dancing on the fine line of freedom within a structure. Life is filled with unexpected twists and turns, adjustments need to be made to accommodate change and avoid rigidity. By striking a balance between consistency and flexibility, we can create harmony in our lives, just like a beautiful melody that flows smoothly from one note to the next.

Within the magical waves of music, skills are needed, too. Consistency is key to show up and do the work. It frames the freedom of magic that resides beyond and only beyond effort. Learning to play an instrument, learning to sing, does never happen within the blink of the eye. It takes time. Time to show up for the practice, to do precisely that: practice. Again and again, every single time, again and again. Precision feeds perfection that falls apart inside the structure of a song, a line, a rhythm, dissolving into magic.

Consistency in practicing, in composing and sharing music with the world regardless of the form allows any musician to refine his style, to carve out his uniqueness. For any artistic expression is, after all: Unique. And this uniqueness is born inside the vessel of any structure, over and over again. Sharing music in the form of new releases and public performances nourishes the bond between artist and audience. And for that to unfold, both parties need to show up - while the underlying beat of this never-ending practice is presence fuelled by consistency.

Psych-rock band Longheads are set to release their debut album, Layers of Wax, after recently signing with Stolen Body Records. This seven-track album delves deep into the realms of stoner and doom, all while retaining the signature psychedelic sound that fans have come to love from their first two EPs. Following the success of their acclaimed second EP, Mars Doesn’t Feel Like Home Anymore, Layers of Wax marks a significant evolution in the band's sound. Listeners can expect a more polished and mature sound that still captures the energy that propelled their previous EP to prominence within the London psych scene. The first single from the album, "Deathcap Farmer Part Two," will be released alongside a psychedelic, space-faring music video. This track showcases the band's continued experimentation with a 9/4 time signature, a technique they began exploring on the title track of their previous EP, Mars Doesn’t Feel Like Home Anymore.

Repress! There are very few albums across any genre that stand the test of time better than 93 ‘Til Infinity, the classic debut record from the Hieroglyphics crew’s very own Souls of Mischief. In an era where Gangsta Rap and G-Funk dominated the West Coast Rap scene, Souls broke ground on a completely unique and thoroughly west coast sound. While the Dr. Dre’s and the Snoop Doggs were garnering much of the mainstream attention, Souls were quietly forging a charismatic, critically acclaimed, and cohesively shaped record that when categorized, sounded much closer to A Tribe Called Quest than N.W.A. The sound of their debut is characteristic of the distinct style explored by the collective, including a rhyme scheme based on internal rhyme and beats centered around a live bass and obscure jazz and funk samples.

93 ‘Til Infinity was propelled into success by its title track and lead single, which reached #32 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also featured singles “That’s When Ya Lost” and “Never No More” which also reached the Hot Rap Singles. In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source’s 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time. Considered by many to be a text book “slept-on” classic Rap record, 93 ‘Til Infinity has only grown better with age. The album simply defines the Hiero golden age with a sound that would later be fine tuned with strong releases from MCs Del The Funkee Homosapien, Casual and Pep Love.

It takes some serious bravado to name your album 93 ‘Til Infinity, but certainly the goal of creating a Hip Hop “classic” must have been on the collective minds of group members A-Plus, Tajai, Opio, and Phesto when recording this landmark moment in Hip Hop history. It’s true, even seventeen years after the album’s initial release many people are still discovering it, and with this re-mastered reissue on double vinyl, fans all over the world will once again discover the brilliance that 93 ‘Til Infinity delivers and will continue to deliver beyond infinity.

Alkalino's follow up to the 2021 release of the second installment of the Make Up series comes with all original production from the man himself.

The first comes as the thumping tribal vibe sounds of "get ready' with the second on the A-side is a banger with 'Heavy as stone' with it's lush vocals that would work in any set. On the flip, 'Jack area' is classic sounding body jacking music that'll make you do just that. jack your body. and rounding out the ep is the gritty bass of 'reproduction'. This latest installment from Alkalino is a true testiment that he is a true master of making you dance.

Area Silenzio is eat-girls" debut record and it is both haunted and haunting. For the past four years, the French trio have been crafting their songs into little self-contained worlds with the patience of entomologists, taking them out all over the country and Europe to confront them with the wilderness of a live audience. The ten resulting tracks are a collection of electronic madrigals, groove-driven songs played on a mischievous multi-speed Victrola, ranging from languid dub drips to full-on drum machine cavalcades. Their live performances have that same ghostly, ephemeral quality. There is something other-worldy about the three of them, a suggestion of telepathy, their three voices blending together or going their separate ways like a flock of starlings. They secured opening slots with artists as different as Thalia Zedek, Exek and The Young Gods, just to name a few. It is the elusive essence of their music that allows them to feel at ease pretty much anywhere they find themselves: part no-wave disco rhythms, part post-punk throbbing basses, folk tunes and synthesizers in equal measures, with a perpetual attention to hooks and melodies. The album was self-recorded, a necessary measure to protect the delicate nature of the inner landscapes painted by the band. In this case "delicate" does not mean "soft" by any means: the industrial disco inferno of "A Kin", the ritualistic kraut stampede of "Para Los Pies Cansados" and the bubbly post-funk rhythms of "Trauschaft" will leave you gasping for air once you come out on the other side. "On a Crooked Swing", the opener, is all arpeggiated bass and stumbling kicks. "Unison" will dip you into a hallucinatory river where nothing is what it seems to be and rescue you at the very last second. "Canine", the first single off the record, will gently but firmly reach for your jugular with its vulpine Farfisa and deceptively nonchalant drum beat. The vocal polyphonies on "3 Omens" sound like a field recording of traditional music from a tiny country that has yet to be discovered. eat-girls exist on a slightly different plane from ours, where everything is teeming with secrets and hidden life. Area Silenzio is a precious polaroid shot from that world, or, as Tom Verlaine would have it, "a souvenir from a dream".

Area Silenzio is eat-girls" debut record and it is both haunted and haunting. For the past four years, the French trio have been crafting their songs into little self-contained worlds with the patience of entomologists, taking them out all over the country and Europe to confront them with the wilderness of a live audience. The ten resulting tracks are a collection of electronic madrigals, groove-driven songs played on a mischievous multi-speed Victrola, ranging from languid dub drips to full-on drum machine cavalcades. Their live performances have that same ghostly, ephemeral quality. There is something other-worldy about the three of them, a suggestion of telepathy, their three voices blending together or going their separate ways like a flock of starlings. They secured opening slots with artists as different as Thalia Zedek, Exek and The Young Gods, just to name a few. It is the elusive essence of their music that allows them to feel at ease pretty much anywhere they find themselves: part no-wave disco rhythms, part post-punk throbbing basses, folk tunes and synthesizers in equal measures, with a perpetual attention to hooks and melodies. The album was self-recorded, a necessary measure to protect the delicate nature of the inner landscapes painted by the band. In this case "delicate" does not mean "soft" by any means: the industrial disco inferno of "A Kin", the ritualistic kraut stampede of "Para Los Pies Cansados" and the bubbly post-funk rhythms of "Trauschaft" will leave you gasping for air once you come out on the other side. "On a Crooked Swing", the opener, is all arpeggiated bass and stumbling kicks. "Unison" will dip you into a hallucinatory river where nothing is what it seems to be and rescue you at the very last second. "Canine", the first single off the record, will gently but firmly reach for your jugular with its vulpine Farfisa and deceptively nonchalant drum beat. The vocal polyphonies on "3 Omens" sound like a field recording of traditional music from a tiny country that has yet to be discovered. eat-girls exist on a slightly different plane from ours, where everything is teeming with secrets and hidden life. Area Silenzio is a precious polaroid shot from that world, or, as Tom Verlaine would have it, "a souvenir from a dream".

Grief, sadness, goodbye. With "Shook", Rico Friebe returns to the purest form of acoustic intimacy - just his voice and the guitar after the Requiem introduction. Being in daily grief and torment for almost 500 days, he melodized a funeral procession, burying an agony, being the sole attendant, shining a light in darkest night...

Holy Beat! - A collection of 60's Italian Christian beat from the vaults of Ariel Records. Nine tracks from three amazing Italian bands, Angel and the Brains, I Barritas & The Bumpers. Originally released as La Messa dei Giovanni in 1966 and recorded live the same year, this record has been the stuff of legend for deep cut Pop connoisseurs and 60's Beat archeologists, a beautiful and mesmerizing gem that goes way beyond the Christian novelty. Presenting here three amazing Italian bands (Angel and the Brains, I Barritas & The Bumpers), this is not just a Christian pop record, this is a collection of beautifully crafted Italian 60's Beat that will blow the mind of anyone remotely interested in 60's music, a must!

“For fans old and new, they can expect to be reintroduced to some raw, authentic, classic Detroit Hip-Hop from beginning to end.”-Phat Kat on the Deluxe Edition re-release of “Carte Blanche”.

Phat Kat’s phenomenal sophomore solo LP, “Carte Blanche”, first released in ’07 via Look Records, is the sound of Detroit. It’s gritty, soulful, and raw, three key ingredients in bringing the blue-collar city’s vibe to life in music form. It’s also a modern classic that is getting the deluxe edition re-release it deserves, Below System Records is adding two rare bonus tracks produced by late Detroit legend, J Dilla.

Anyone familiar with Kat or Dilla’s work knows the two shared a special bond. In fact, Dilla would often go to the gruff-voiced emcee whenever he was looking to create a particularly tough track. This friendship led to them forming the group 1st Down, and this re-release’s two bonus cuts, “World Premiere” and “It Don’t Get No Liver Than This (feat. La Peace),” which were recording in 1996 and ’97, respectively. Despite 1st Down never taking off due to label issues, Kat and Dilla remained close and recorded a number of underground classics. Those include several joints off “Carte Blanche”, such as the stirring “Don’t Nobody Care About Us”, “Game Time”, and the Elzhi-featured “Cold Steel”. It’s actually that last track that Kat picks as his favorite cut off the record.

“If I gotta choose one, it would have to be ‘Cold Steel’ because it makes you wanna wild out as soon as the beat drops”, he says, adding that this was the first time he got to choose a Dilla beat to rap over. “He would never let me rock over beat tape beats-he use to say ‘Nah Kat, just write to them cause I’m gonna make all ya shit from scratch.’ ”

The album also boasts collaborations with other Detroit rap heavy-hitters, such as Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Nick Speed, and T3 & Young RJ (of Slum Village). With Kat as their host, they were able to not only capture the sound of the Motor city in 2007 (when the album was originally released), but also cement its place in the greater canon of hip-hop as we know it today.

In a world of division, BEÃTFÓØT’s delayed second album is as an invitation to unite at a utopian celebration of life. Originally scheduled for release in October 2023 but postponed due to the ongoing Israel/Palestine war, the intrinsically-political ‘TOO CUTE’ has taken on more prominence than the Tel Aviv duo of Udi Naor and Adi Bronicki could have imagined.
“It's more urgent than ever for us to share this now, even though the album has been ready for a while,” says producer Naor. “BEÃTFÓØT are against any war, and believe that people should talk and not use violence - never,” he adds vehemently. “We feel the pain of Palestinians and Israeli loss of life, and are devastated by it. We hope the war will be finished soon and that peace and prosperity will come soon for both sides.”
While both Naor and vocalist Bronicki have been active in protests, charity work and community efforts over the past year - explicitly against the current government in Israel - such values of peace, acceptance, coexistence, inclusiveness and anti-hate from all sides are further instilled in the songs that form ‘TOO CUTE’.
“We're really trying to highlight that there are people here working tirelessly for a brighter future for our ill kids and our neighbour’s kids,” adds Naor, who is also co-founder of techno duo Red Axes. Having had to flee the country with his family, it’s through music that Naor and Bronicki have found hope.
In light of such conflict, the multi-layered yet sonically-bonkers record also enables escapism, which is needed more now than ever. Following their self-titled 2021 debut (released on DJ Tennis’ label Life and Death), ‘TOO CUTE’ is a refreshingly-ridiculous dark-rave rollercoaster which careers between hard-dance, big-beat, post-punk, techno, hyperpop, country and everything in between.
Things blast off at breakneck speed with the chaotic title track’s hyperpop snares, instantly-catchy lyrics (which feel ominously striking considering the war) and a stadium-ready chorus that erupts into rolling breakbeats, punishing EDM and even a nod to The Bloodhound Gang’s ‘The Magic Touch’. Somehow, we’re just three minutes into the record.
The tongue-in-cheek ‘HEART OF LEAD (TAKE IT OFF)’ still bangs despite its silliness, like if Kero Kero Bonito got in the studio with will.i.am. Later, ‘LEO’S SONG (THE SOCIAL MEDIA GUY)’s wittily satirical one-liners - “I just wanna get high with AI” - come thick and fast amid a barrage of glitches and guitars. ‘SUKC MY DIKC !!!’, meanwhile, pairs flute with pulsing hardstyle beats.
While their first record’s experimental explosion captured the pure carnage and energy of the BEÃTFÓØT universe in a conceptual fashion (though remaining polished in its own way), album two is primed to connect with a bigger audience thanks to its pop melodies, structures and songwriting.

Much of ‘TOO CUTE’ was written while the duo toured Europe for the first time, with rough sketches of tracks created in the moment during their incendiary live shows, and then recorded in planes and cars.
If their first record was a case of testing the vibes, album two is more assured and confident within their sonic world. “In the first album, we stepped into the club, metaphorically, and started making eye contact with everyone to figure out the energy,” Bronicki says. “But, this time round, I already had an idea of the story that I wanted to tell to these random people.”
And what is that story? “Radical silliness, or radical fun – that’s the essence of BEÃTFÓØT,” Naor confirms. “What we really want to do is goof around and have fun, and that brings out something very profound and honest,” he explains. A sense of nostalgic freedom is also at the album’s core, thanks to the removal of adult predetermined social constructs that decide how people should behave or look. “There’s a very honest and positive energy in holding onto your childlike wonder and trying to explore that with others,” Bronicki suggests, adding that “the adult world can be so wrong and angering”.
She feels this relates to both the album’s lyrics and the artistic state of mind that the duo always work to: “the goal is to feed a really thought-out and profound idea, but through a playful spoon,” she says. With this in mind, the recurring theme of ‘TOO CUTE’ stems from the duo’s “radical and lived experience of existing in a place that holds a lot of guilt and fear – because death is so imminent and prevalent in a very confronting way”. This is clearly represented on ‘FOOTYLICIOU$’, on which Bronicki screams “someone’s gonna die tonight!” before emphatically shouting “NOT ME!”
The album title is BEÃTFÓØT’s response to that: “We want to be a celebration of life, and that applies to all lives, of all backgrounds, including animals… that’s our guiding light,” Bronicki says.
“We create in the context of living in a country where the current government’s anti-democratic measures are limiting who is included in the celebration of life. Because different people are always being pushed out and excluded: whether it’s queers, Palestinians or people from different religions.”
BEÃTFÓØT - who have found a home among the LGBTQIA+ community - are fighting back against oppression. “We want everybody to come to the party and celebrate life together,” says Naor, setting out his and Bronicki’s mission… “and our goal is to widen that party as wide as it can go.”




c MANIAC ft. Princess Rani

e WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL MY LIFE ft. Bugle Boy



c MANIAC ft. Princess Rani

[e] WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL MY LIFE [ft. Bugle Boy]



[c] MANIAC [ft. Princess Rani]

[e] WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL MY LIFE [ft. Bugle Boy]

"SKANLESS SUMMER: 80Z BABYZ (RE-ROCK EDITION)" takes you on a nostalgic yet groundbreaking musical journey, masterfully curated by the LA up-and-coming star T.F. In this innovative album, T.F. seamlessly fuses the raw energy of 80s hip-hop with contemporary beats, re-rocked by Local Astronauts, redefining the very essence of rap music and featuring guest appearances by Larry June, Jay Worthy, Flee Lord, Tiona Deniece and more!

Human existence in digital times is accompanied by a constant noise of language, words and opinions. It"s a cacophony, it"s all too much. The more is said and written, the less is said at times. The Berlin band neànder has no words. Guitarists Jan Korbach, Michael Zolkiewicz and Patrick Zahn and drummer Flo Häuser rather speak through their instruments. This is not a cliché, but can be heard and felt on the new album "III". Everything is in motion here, one thinks of endless landscapes and unknown worlds. And by the way, if we have refrained from categorizing genres in this text so far, it is because neànder cannot be assigned to any genre in a meaningful way. Of course, this music is somehow post-rock, grunge, metal, prog, ambient and even pop - but at the same time it"s not. You might have to imagine it a bit like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Prong, Mogwai, Black Sabbath, Faith No More and Venom would play a session together in 2024 and the result would be "III".

"Frank’s Christmas Greetings features Frank Sinatra performing a number of holiday standards. The songs are lush and gentle, underscoring the warmth in Sinatra’s voice. These 20 wonderful season’s greetings from “Ol’ Blue Eyes” make a worthwhile album addition to any Sinatra or Christmas music collection."

When the then 21-year old Mac DeMarco released his debut Rock and Roll Night Club 12" just a short while ago in the Spring of 2012, it was accompanied by a barrage of bizarrely funny promo videos, wildly unhinged live performances and a not-so-subtle disparate range of promo photos. The glam facade was purely that, an image that was manufactured for fun to confuse the stiff and compartmentalizing world of indie music journalists. But it wasn't all a jest, as that EP covered a whole range of music styles that were latent in the ex-Makeout Videotape frontman's already impressive slough of cassette-only releases. The sincere and warm Mac who sang "Only You" was the same lipstick-wearing sleazoid that crooned "Baby's Wearing Blue Jeans" and that suited him and his listeners just fine. Now, all of six months later, Mac is back with his first proper full length, Mac DeMarco 2. As opposed to RNRNC, "2" is a concerted effort to produce a cohesive work that showcases Mac's natural ability as a songwriter, singer and producer. With a new arsenal of recording gear, the fidelity has substantially improved without compromising the immediacy and organic quality of his prior releases under any monicker. The results are immediately rewarding, from the warm "Cooking Up Something Good" to the heartfelt "My Kind of Woman." It's obvious Mac is presenting himself musically in the most sincere way possible, no matter what happens in his wild videos or live shows. "Freaking out the Neighborhood," Mac's apologetic ode to his loved ones about such public behavior, shows that Mac DeMarco is still with us, coming along for the ride, getting everyone else in trouble. Even so, the maturation process of Mac DeMarco, recording artist, is in full swing. He did, after all, turn 22 this April.

Before you ancients out there turn your heads and scoff at the premise of a twenty-something rock-and-roll goofball calling himself an old-anything, consider this: Mac DeMarco has spent the better part of his time thus far writing, recording, and releasing an album of his own music pretty much every calendar flip. This Old Dog makes for his fifth in just over half a decade_bringing the total to 3 LPs and 2 EPs. According to the DMV, DeMarco is 26. But in working-dog years, ol' Mac here could easily qualify for social security. To stay gold, turns out all he needed was some new tricks. It was a little space_in time, location, and method_that inspired DeMarco while making the record. Moving from his isolated Queens home to a house in Los Angeles helped give the somewhat transient Canada-native a base, and a few more months on his calendar to create did their job as well. Arriving in California with a grip of demos he'd written in New York, he realized after a few months of setting up his new shop_complete with a few new toys_that the gap was giving him perspective (insert tooth joke here). Right off the bat, from the pops and clicks of the CR-78 drum machine and acoustic strums on the album-opening "My Old Man," the synth-drenched beauty of the second track, "This Old Dog," it's clear that DeMarco's bag is filled with new tricks indeed. This Old Dog is rooted more in a synth-base than any of his previous releases, but he is careful not to let that tactic overshadow the other instruments and overall "unplugged" mood of the work: "This is my acoustic album, but it's not really an acoustic album at all. That's just what it feels like, mostly," says DeMarco. Despite the changes considered during the creation of This Old Dog, Mac DeMarco's mid-twenties masterpiece, it's clear that the engine that motors him is in no danger of slowing down.

"More lost recordings from Mark Sandmanʼs archives! Two lost shows from the Hypnosonics! The LP version is culled from a rare NYC show & legendary Boston gig, and unveils three new Mark Sandman songs that became eventual Morphine cuts served up by his “secret band.” The CD version boasts two complete shows split over two CDs featuring unheard Hypnosonics recordings, eventual Morphine songs, and three lost compositions. A rare NYC show & a legendary Boston gig, rival for space in your player!

There was so much sexuality oozing out of those songs but also humor... a lot of wry dry wit and downright silliness. super sophisticated silliness and all of it transportive, ecstatic, transcendent. There was nothing quite like seeing Hypnosonics and all of us in the audience knew it. We knew this was some pure sonic magic and we were totally hypnotized. – Margaret Garrett (Mr. Airplane Man)"

Inspired by Dua’s own self-discovery, Radical Optimism is an album that taps into the pure joy and happiness of having clarity in situations that once seemed impossible to face. The hard goodbyes and vulnerable beginnings that previously threatened to crush your soul, become milestones as you choose optimism and start to move with grace through the chaos.

Infused with the energy of Dua’s hometown, London, the attitude of the album embodies the rawness, honesty, confidence and freedom of ‘90s Britpop. Radical Optimism transports its listener to a dreamy pop world rich in musicality, lyrically unapologetic and sonically liberating.

The 3x GRAMMY and 7x Brit Award-winning global pop powerhouse worked with a team of core collaborators throughout the project including Caroline Ailin, Danny L. Harle, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Kevin Parker.

In 2009, you couldn't ignore Kyteman. It truly was his year. His album "The Hermit Sessions" likely topped the year-end lists of many critics and music enthusiasts. With his HipHop Orchestra, sometimes 25 members strong, Kyteman made more than his mark at numerous festivals, including Pinkpop, Paaspop, Oerol, North Sea Jazz, Lowlands, Appelpop, a sold-out gig at the HMH in Amsterdam, and many club performances, always bringing the energy to the next level. His appearances on Dutch televisionshows like 'Raymann Is Laat' and 'De Wereld Draait Door' are also legendary. Now, 15 years later, the music has not lost any of its power. It is high time for a re-release of this iconic album in a special Anniversary Edition, with an additional insert with photo's, credits and a reflection by Colin Benders.







g Sorry Live @ Tivoli

i It Curcus [Not]







[g] Sorry [Live @ Tivoli]

[i] It Curcus [Not]

Amandra, half head honcho behind Ahrpe Records, goes for subtly evolving and droning atmospheres. With releases spanning electronic genres and record labels: Nous klaer Audio, AD 93, Tikita or Semantica, just to name a few; the French producer ba with coherence his own vision of acid and tribal rhythms that can be presented with either bright and soft feelings or through a
Brera Som Som EP

As always with Amandra, there is a blend of poetic and soft hidden touch given to the music through carefully crafted personal Som is a 4 tracker EP, recorded back when he lived in Warsaw Poland, showcasing the artists ability to navigate through nich double 12 package cherry topped with four intelligent and eclectic remixes from artists with their own unique identity: Shieldin Brainwaltzera.

Amandra on disc 1
Brera Som Som
I want my music to breathe dirty so its alive to my ears, trying to stay away from surgical, clean, electronic music. The Prophet recorded by hand, with assumed offbeat imperfections, as always. I wanted to get a naive Asian mood out of it, just to try and c track. I tend to think a lot about my tracks and their meaning more in terms of feelings, art and techniques than in terms of dee
dance floors or whatever. Brera Som Som is a try at using the chiaroscuro technique depicted in classical paintings for instance interesting focus on some very specific elements.

Cyborg Pelikana
Recorded out of a jam on a Soma Pulsar 23 and some heavy distorted synths, it ended up sounding like no other recordings bit different as I wanted to have a more composed like approach here.

Fanfaron
Here is a try at going jungle... with a Moog DFAM and a 303 processed through a Sherman Filterbank.

Prorokini
This one belongs to a phase where I was exploring the sampling side of electronic music. Until that moment I was building 100 based on raw drum machines and some processing, then started feeling how it would feel to sample some raw external beats and process them my way. I didnt pursue that sampling lead much afterward because it felt like a boring approach to me that
stood out anyway, like this one, which Im very proud of. The synths are clearly programmed on the Prophet 08, it cant go any Instruments than that, if you like them, go grab that synth

Remixers on disc 2
Cyborg Pelikana Shielding Remix
I liked the dry and direct qualities of the original track and wanted to maintain that feeling while collaging it using my own proc Recorded in my old home studio in Stockholm.

Brera Som Som Brainwaltzera Remix
no comment.
Fanfaron Whylie Remix
The remix was made using resampling techniques, the rhythmic noises were transformed into driving percussive layers pushi character. A more emotional overlay was added to the track based on the sentimental and personal approach I built through.

Brera Som Som Martinou Remix
Interpreting Amandras work has been on my bucket list for a while. Theres something in it that is innately humanizing and raw capture in my remix. The melody line from the remix is just a snapshot of a small part of the full original track, but it stuck with my improvisation to what you see before you today. With this remix I wanted to make something that would swell slowly and ring o
All original tracks written and produced by Amandra.
Remixes written and produced by Brainwaltzera, Whylie, Martinou and Shielding.
Mastered by Amandra.
Artwork by Neurotypique.

Der Ausdruck von hart erkämpftem Optimismus umschließt The Good Kind, ein Album, das Themen wie Sexualität, Beziehungen, Gemeinschaft und Krankheit erforscht. Die für Our Girl typische Dynamik durchdringt das Album, von schweren Gitarren und aufsteigenden Lead-Linien bis hin zu ohrwurmartigen Refrains und intimen gesanglichen Momenten. Voller Wärme und Ehrlichkeit ist The Good Kind eine Feier der Entschlossenheit – der Entscheidung, sich gegen alle Widerstände dem zu widmen, was zählt.
The Good Kind wurde in den Rockfield Studios aufegenommen und produziert von der Alt-Rock-Legende John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse), Fern Ford (The Big Moon, Prima Queen) und Soph Nathan selbst. Für Our Girl spiegelt es den langen und kurvenreichen Weg zu ihrem zweiten Album wider, und die dauerhafte Belohnung für das Vertrauen in den Prozess.

Während des Entstehungsprozesses von The Good Kind haben Our Girl gelernt, sich selbst zu vertrauen, den schwierigeren Weg durchzuhalten und ihn als den einzigen zu erkennen, der es wert ist, gegangen zu werden. Die Entscheidung, dem Sound nachzujagen, den sie wollten, war der ermutigendste Moment ihrer bisherigen Karriere, und es hat sich ausgezahlt: The Good Kind ist ihr bisher selbstbewusstestes, bewegendstes und am besten umgesetztes Werk.

In 2009, you couldn't ignore Kyteman. It truly was his year. His album "The Hermit Sessions" likely topped the year-end lists of many critics and music enthusiasts.

With his HipHop Orchestra, sometimes 25 members strong, Kyteman made more than his mark at numerous festivals, including Pinkpop, Paaspop, Oerol, North Sea Jazz, Lowlands, Appelpop, a sold-out gig at the HMH in Amsterdam, and many club performances, always bringing the energy to the next level. His appearances on Dutch televisionshows like 'Raymann Is Laat' and 'De Wereld Draait Door' are also legendary. Now, 15 years later, the music has not lost any of its power. It is high time for a re-release of this iconic album in a special 15th Anniversary Edition, with an additional booklet with photo's, credits and a reflection by Colin Benders.

Legowelt returns to Clone Records with yet another sonic journey that defies conventional electronic music boundaries, offering an album that is as eclectic as it is immersive. Blending different styles and textures seamlessly and proving that electronic music can still be creative and that function doesn't always prevail style. He delivers a collection that transports listeners through a kaleidoscope of retro-futuristic sounds, deep grooves, and cosmic melodies. Despite being in the music game for more than 25 years the music from Danny Wolfers remains playful and refreshing. Stylistically taking elements from his whole musical career and not commiting to the latest trend or any genre specifically, and low-key taking the piss with everyone who takes themself to seriously. While many electronic music artists are stuck in their own void, busy pleasing the big room, Legowelt meticulously crafts rich textured soundscapes, balancing between cosmic exploration and the dancefoor, that evoke both nostalgia and futuristic visions. His ability to fuse elements of house, techno, disco and electro with cinematic influences results in an album that is not only ready for club use but also gratifying at home. Each track offers something unique--whether it's the hypnotic rhythms, the lush synth lines, or the subtle, eerie undertones that creep in unexpectedly. Legowelt's attention to detail and passion for his craft shine through, making this album a worthy follow up to his last album on the Clone Jack For Daze series.

Kool Customer is a collaborative project from B. Bravo and Bay area singer Rojai that brings together the sounds of future funk, 80s boogie, and a little bit of strip club sleaze.

B.Bravo is a 2010 graduate of Red Bull Music Academy with releases on Brownswood, Frite Nite and Ernest Endeavors.

Support from the likes of Benji B (BBC Radio 1), Gilles Peterson, DaM Funk, Sweater Funk Collective .

B. Bravo's shared the stage with artists like Chromeo, Dam-Funk, Flying Lotus and serenaded crowds across the world with his bass heavy outer space boogie and dirty grinding synth grooves at festivals like SXSW, Detroit Electronic Music Festival, and Sonar in Barcelona.

Rojai (pronounced "ROW-JUH") is a San Francisco born singer emerging as a leading voice in the modern funk scene with a vocal range from a raspy, percussive island vibe, to silky r&b.

As a frontman for Kool Customer and Latin-funk outfit Bayonics, Rojai has proven himself adept at crooning on any groove in his soulful timbre.

Being legally blind hasn't slowed down Rojai's ability to write, record and perform. He has channeled his life experience into songwriting and singing, creating music with a spirit and soul that inspires.

Extensive sync history include Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, Netflix's Fatherhood, as well as 3 unique songs featured on Tyler Perry's Sistas and more

Repress!

For number 93 in the Brazil45 series, we present two favourites from the Harmony Cats. A female vocal quintet (who later became a trio) from São Paulo. They formed in 1976 and were most prolific in the disco period.

'Harmony Cats' Theme' from 1976 is probably the group best known track outside of Brazil. Owing a lot to Rhythm Heritage's version of 'Barretta's Theme (Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow)’ it's wonderfully spacey breakbeat and percussive production with lush, floaty vocals makes it a real crossover classic record.

'Seja Como Nos (De Pe No Chao)' is instantly recognisable. Tucked away on the b-side of their 1979 single 'Tem Dinheiro Nisso' on Young Records, it is a beast of a cover version of The Jacksons' classic ' Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)'. Nothing subtle or sophisticated here. Just a song of pure disco joy, enhanced with awesome Brazilian production and the Cats' trademark vocal arrangements. A get-of-jail-free card for any DJ that finds themselves stuck with an empty dance-floor, but also one that will put smiles on the faces of the more discerning leftfield club crowds.

- Next installment in BRAZIL45 Series.
- Features cover of The Jacksons ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)’.
- 2 tracks of pure disco joy.

You Never End is the third album from Valentina Magaletti, Tom Halstead and Joe Andrews (Moin) out via AD 93. Its title alone expresses the teetering and shifting nature of both the album and band. This record marks the Moin"s shift into a new phase with vocal collaborations across the album from Olan Monk, james K, Coby Sey and Sophia Al-Maria.

Soundway Records presents a collection of Nigerian music chronicling a time when drum machines, synthesisers, imported pop, reggae, disco and soul collided with highlife, juju and cultural music. The late 70s saw a period of political turbulence and prompted change across the country. Following suit, musicians and producers entered a period of experimentation, adaptation, modification and innovation, using new technology to renew and refresh cultural traditions.

Nigerians formed their own unique approach to the limitless creativity these new instruments offered, to reveal a distinct sound which would dominate local airwaves for the decade to come. Nigeria Special Volume 3 celebrates the rich diversity of culture and musical styles of the nation, showcasing eighteen tracks across various genres which laid foundations for the innovation of Afrobeats artists of today. Triple Vinyl gatefold LP compiled by Miles Cleret and Jeremy Spellacey, includes a large 8 page booklet with detailed liner notes, record scans and never-seen-before photos.

The second release on Objekt’s newly established Kapsela imprint arrives in the form of Chicken Garaage, a solo 2-track EP by Objekt that explores the fertile terrain around 00s breakbeat and garage. The A-side, Chicken Garaage, is a playful and poignant nod to the pioneering proto-dubstep explorations of the early 2000s, as the genre was first beginning to crystallise, by the likes of Horsepower Productions, DJ Abstract and Benny Ill. First sketched out on tour in Melbourne while eating takeaway chicken karaage, it’s the first outcome of an experiment with a new workflow to produce music with an accelerated approach and more immediacy and expressivity; encouragingly, it has the lowest final version number (55) of any Objekt track in recent memory. B-side “Worm Dance” leans into Hertz’s headsier inclinations – constructed mostly from field recordings made at a lake house outside of Berlin in 2022, it channels mid-00s T++ into a moody, elastic breakbeat roller.

The vinyl comes with a free lossless download.

Mastered by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering

Artwork by Brodie Kaman

"Anywayawanna – The Best Of is a compilation album by The Beat Masters, a British producer trio who enjoyed considerable success in the late 80's/early 90's. As well as producing Yazz' smash hit ""Stand Up For Your Love Rights"" in 1988, they also landed several Top 20 hits under the Beatmasters moniker with a series of guest vocalists: The Cookie Crew (""Rok Da House""), Betty Boo (""Hey DJ / I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)""), Merlin MC (""Who's in the House"") and P.P. Arnold (""Burn It Up""). These hits are all featured on this compilation album ""Anywayawanna – The Best Of The Beatmasters"". The Beatmasters went on to write, produce and remix for many other artists including Marc Almond, Pet Shop Boys, Blur, Roachford, Betty Boo, Naomi Campbell, Moby, Aswad, Eternal, Tina Turner, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, The Shamen and Girls Aloud. Anywayawanna – The Best Of is available on vinyl for the first time as a limited edition of 750 copies on orange coloured vinyl. The package contains an insert with extensive liner notes."

Solid Yellow Vinyl, limited to 150 copies. Comes with a sticker sheet. The 'Lightless' EP sees AS FRIENDS RUST confronting existential and cosmic loneliness with intensity, imagination and, of course, hooks. Picking up where 2023's Any Joy LP left off, and now joined permanently by bassist Andrew Seward (Against Me!), the band presents five urgent rockers that rage through both inner and outer space, leaving only earworms in their wake. Writing for Lightless began immediately upon the band's return from their tour of Europe in support of 2023's Any Joy LP. Picking up where the album left off, the Lightless EP is a massive, catchy work focusing largely on cosmic loneliness -- a theme echoed in its airbrushed, 70s/80s sci-fi artwork. The EP was mixed by long-time collaborator James Paul Wisner (Further Seems Forever, Paramore, Dashboard Confessional), and mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air, and will be released on November 1st, just days ahead of the band's tour supporting QUICKSAND and HOT WATER MUSIC. 'Lightless' will be strictly limited to 500 copies across five vinyl variants, each including a sci-fi/spaced travel sticker sheet. The exclusive END HITS RECORDS/EVIL GREED variant will feature a limited patch, perfect for your 80s satin bomber jacket or heavy metal jeans vest.

2024 Reissue

The syndicate manifests its sonic potential in full glory. Giving rise to this collection of colossal heavyweights, Sentry demonstrates its spotless record of selecting certified heavyweights for the discography once again, twenty-fold. Stepping into the ring are some of the scene's most prolific artists alongside a plethora of promising, choice newcomers.

Boasting more than an hour of supercharged sound system pressure with names like Caspa, Truth, Bukez Finezt, Nomine and Youngsta himself on the controls - the subsequent inferno proves to be an authoritative display of quality bass music, that is sure to reach roaring stacks of speakers all around the globe for years to come."

"Vintage flavours transmute into fiery low-end excursions in 'Sun Ra' as Onhell reigns with fire and brimstone and makes way for what's to come. Rolling on, Taso lays waste with dimly lit half-time flows as we enter the smoke-filled mansion of Argo's meticulously crafted 'Since Then' - a prime cut of hip-hop infused breakbeats and bass.

Abstrakt Sonance & Substance set the heater into overdrive and blunts aflame as we proceed into the shelling of 207's 'Gypsy Dub' - then promptly being crunched to bits by 'Crocodile' - encapsulating Dayzero's cold-blooded dance floor armaments. Brace yourself for battle as we step to the drums of Caspa's tribal warfare, full-frontal assault engineered for the club.

Unrestrained power surges propelling us onwards in Coltcut & Ourman's decidedly high-grade collaboration as listeners march through Khiva's haunting sound system belter 'Teeth' and a zealous dosage of Dubstep as envisioned by Truth. Led through eerie alleys and pressure-ridden environments with LSN on the buttons, the onslaught proceeds with the relentlessly driving 'R U Broke' in Mr. K's signature style.

Opus merciless injects straight fury in an auditory form in the spiked 'Lime Pickle' - Bukez Finezt keeping pace with a murderous Cembalo-ridden thug anthem, lunacy! Minimal instrumentation to its fullest effect, Sukh Knight's 'Modulate' keeps it spicy - as does the claustrophobic sub-bass chiming by Leftlow. Thanom ignites what's left of the residual air in 'Tumble It' - dangerous goods.

The subsequent time bomb armed by A:Grade & Feonix, cast into the abyss that is Nomine's space-bending 'Judas' - big speaker business. The clock strikes its final hour - Youngsta & Cimm finish off the survivors with a no-holds-barred showdown, the 'Last Judgement' executing its massive verdict.

Camelot, the legendary seat of King Arthur's court in Early Middle Ages Britain, was probably not a real place. A corruption of the name of a real Romano-Briton city, the word "Camelot" accumulated symbolic, mythic resonances over centuries, until achieving its present usage as a near-synonym of "utopia." In the mid-20th century alone, Camelot inspired an explosion of representations and appropriations, among them the violent, affectless Arthurian court of Robert Bresson's 1974 film Lancelot du Lac and the absurdist iteration of Monty Python's 1975 Holy Grail, both of which feature armored knights erupting into fountains of blood; the mystical Welsh world of novelist John Cowper Powys's profoundly weird 1951 novel Porius, with its Roman cults, wizards and witches, and wanton giants; and the nationalist nostalgia of President John F. Kennedy's White House. Unsurprisingly there are fewer Camelots in more recent memory. Camelot, Canadian songwriter Jennifer Castle's extraordinary, moving 2024 chronicle of the artist in early middle age, charts a realer, more rooted, and more metaphorical place than the fabled Camelot of the Early Middle Ages (or its myriad depictions), but it too is a space more psychic than physical. In Castle's Camelot, the fantastic interpenetrates the mundane, and the Grail, if there is one, distills everyday experience into art and art into faith, subliming terrestrial concerns into sublime celestial prayers to Mother Nature, and to the unfolding process of perfecting imperfection in one's own nature. Co-produced by Jennifer and longtime collaborator Jeff McMurrich, her seventh record is at once her most monumental and unguarded to date, demonstrating a mastery of rendering her verse and melodies alike with crisply poignant economy. For all their pointedly plainspoken lyrical detail and exhilarating full-band musical flourishes, these songs sound inevitable, eternal as morning devotions. "Back in Camelot," she sings on the lilting, vulnerable title track, "I really learned a lot / circles in the crops and / sky-high geometry." The album opens with a candid admission of sleeping "in the unfinished basement," an embarrassing joke that comes true. But the dreamer is redeemed by dreaming, setting sail in her airborne bed above "sirens and desert deities." If she questions her own agency_whether she is "wishing stones were standing" or just "pissing in the wind"_it does not diminish the ineffable existential jolt of such signs and wonders. This abiding tension between belief and doubt, magic and pragmatism, self and other, sacred and profane, and even, arguably, paganism and monotheism, suffuses these ten songs, which limn an interior landscape shot through with sunstriped shadows of "multi-felt dimensions" both mystical and quotidian. The epic scale and transport of "Camelot," with its swooning strings, gives way dramatically to "Some Friends," an acoustic-guitar-and-vocals meditation in miniature on Janus-faced friends and the lunar and solar temperatures of their promises_"bright and beaming verses" versus hot curses_which recalls her minimalist last album, 2020's achingly intimate Monarch Season. (In a symmetrical sequencing gesture, the penultimate track, the incantatory "Earthsong," bookends the central six with a similarly spare solo performance and coiled chord progression, this time an ambiguous appeal to _ a wounded lover? a wounded saint? our wounded planet?) Those whom "Trust" accuses of treacherous oaths spit through "gilded and golden tooth"_cynics, critics, hypocrites, gurus, scientists, doctors, lovers, government, the so-called entertainment industry_sow uncertainty that can infect the artist, as in "Louis": "What's that dance / and can it be done? What's that song / and can it be sung?" Answering affirmatively are "Lucky #8," an irrepressible ode to dancing as a bulwark against the "tidal pools of pain" and the "theory of collapse," and "Full Moon in Leo," which finds the narrator dancing around the house with a broom, wearing nothing but her underwear and "big hair." But the central question remains: who can we trust, and at what cost faith, in art or angels or otherwise? Castle's confidence in her collaborators is the cornerstone of Camelot. Carl Didur (piano and keys), Evan Cartwright (drums and percussion), and steadfast sideman Mike Smith (bass) comprise a rhythm section of exquisite delicacy and depth. This fundamental trio anchors the airiness of regular backing vocalists Victoria Cheong and Isla Craig and frames the guitars of Castle, McMurrich, and Paul Mortimer (and on "Lucky #8," special guest Cass McCombs). Reprising his decennial role on Castle's beloved 2014 Pink City, Owen Pallett arranged the strings for Estonia's FAMES Skopje Studio Orchestra. On the ravishing country-soul ballad "Blowing Kisses"_Pallett's crowning achievement here, which can be heard in its entirety in the penultimate episode of the third season of FX's The Bear_Jennifer contemplates time and presence, love and prayer_and how songwriting and poetry both manifest and limit all four dimensions: "No words to fumble with / I'm not a beggar to language any longer." Such rare moments of speechlessness_"I'm so fucking honoured," she bluntly proclaims_suggest a state "only a god could come up with." (If Camelot affirms Castle as one of the great song-poets of her generation, she is not immune to the despairing linguistic beggary that plagues all writers.) Camelot evinces a thoroughgoing faith not only in the natural world_including human bodies, which can, miraculously, dance and swim and bleed and embrace and birth_but also in our interpretations of and interventions in it: the "charts and diagrams" of "Lucky #8," a daydreamt billboard on Fairfax Ave. in LA in "Full Moon in Leo," the bloody invocations of the organ-stained "Mary Miracle," and all manner of water worship, rivers in particular. (Notably, Jennifer has worked as a farmer and a doula.) The album ends with "Fractal Canyon"'s repeated, exalted insistence that she's "not alone here." But where is here? The word "utopia" itself constitutes a pun, indicating in its ambiguous first syllable both the Greek "eutopia," or "good-place"_the facet most remembered today_and "outopia," or "no-place," a negative, impossible geography of the mind. Utopia, like its metonym Camelot, is imaginary. Or as fellow Canadian songwriter Neil Young once sang, "Everyone knows this is nowhere." "Can you see how I'd be tempted," Castle asks out of nowhere, held in the mystery, "to pretend I'm not alone and let the memory bend?"