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For Fans of Robyn, Tirzah, Charli XCX, Mica Levi, Jessy Lanza, Maurice Fulton. "Don't come closer, because I might hurt you boy / You don't deserve it, I treat you like a toy." So sings 28-year-old South East London musician Tatyana on "It's Over", the sad and squelchy electro-leaning title track to her second album. Primarily written and produced over the summer of `23, It's Over follows the loose trajectory of a not-quite-relationship from the year before. But, more than that, it's an album about modern dating, alienation and the confines of existing online. If you've heard Tatyana's name before, it's probably because she released a debut album back in 2022, Treat Me Right, co-produced with Metronomy's Joe Mount, a record she describes as more of a collaboration. For It's Over, Tatyana took control of every aspect of the album's creation, from the production (she co-produced it alongside Mikko Gordon) to the artwork and the technology she used throughout. "This record made me technically proficient because I really pushed myself," says Tatyana. "I figured out a lot of things that I didn't know before. In the past, I allowed others to lead the charge and I'm not doing that any more." Born in London, before moving to Russia, Holland and Singapore in her teens, before eventually studying music at Berklee College in the USA - which she attained on full scholarship - and then back to London, Tatyana imbues her music with both haywire technical proficiency and encyclopaedic, far-flung tastes. Mostly, though, her sound originates from a pure love of the dancefloor: Robyn, Tirzah, Mica Levi, Jessy Lanza, The Knife. You can hear these dance-pop influences everywhere, from the colourful synth shapes of "Control (ft. Dave Okumu)" to the crackling analogue hiss of "Nothing is True, Everything is Possible". Lean in a little closer, too, and you might catch the shimmer of a harp on every song (she's played harp since she was a little girl, and toured extensively as a professional session harpist). "I write about love, I write about romance, these are the things that interest me," says Tatyana. "That's what this record is. It's about this relationship that broke my brain and I had to write about it."

When the grunge explosion of the early `90s elevated Seattle's flannel-clad misfits out of the divey clubs of downtown and into the mainstream, a new generation of restless artists filled the void left in the Pacific Northwest's underground music scene. The under-21 crowd making music in the wake of Nevermind seemed even less enamored with the slick production values, classic rock nods, and testosterone-fueled moshing culture that came with the Zeitgeist, favoring their own kind of Revolution Summer-style pivot away from the popular sounds of the era towards a more emotionally nuanced, melodic, and inclusive style of punk. The Puget Sound trio Lync perfectly captured the spirit of that era, blending the passionate chaos of the DC and San Diego scenes with the rough-hewn DIY pop sensibilities of Olympia's thriving indie community into one unified sound. Though they were only a band for two years, they helped define the next era of the Northwest underground, inspiring countless other artists and instigating the creation of beloved records from the region. After being out of print for over a decade, the band's sole LP These Are Not Fall Colors has been remastered and expanded into a 2xLP with the inclusion of "Can't Tie Yet"_a compilation track from the album's recording session_into a deluxe edition available courtesy of Suicide Squeeze Records. Originally released on K Records in the summer of '94 just a few months before the band called it quits, These Are Not Fall Colors is a boisterous collection of scrappy basement-show anthems played on duct-taped-together gear. Led by the off-kilter melodies of late singer/guitarist Sam Jayne and hammered into place by the driving bass of James Bertram and drum battery of David Schneider, the album's eleven songs channel that undefinable sound of the early `90s before descriptors like "post-hardcore" and "emo" became pejorative terms. Sure, you get a sense of the more sophisticated mid-tempo punk approach on songs like "B" and "Silverspoon Glasses," and maybe catch wind of wistful songwriting on "Pennies to Save" and "Cue Cards," but Lync seemed to cull their ideas from whatever bits of inspiration they could find in the gray gloom and geographic isolation of western Washington, absorbing it all and churning it together into a style uniquely their own. Despite Lync's short existence, modest aspirations, and DIY approach, their work had a ripple effect. Jayne would go on to make music under the moniker of Love As Laughter. Built to Spill's Doug Martsch was so enamored by the album that he enlisted Bertram and Schneider to serve as his rhythm section on the There's Nothing Wrong with Love tour. These Are Not Fall Colors engineer Phil Ek would go on to help record and produce records by Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, and The Shins. Early bassist Isaac Brock and These Are Not Fall Colors album art contributor Jeremiah Green would go on to form Modest Mouse. Bertram and Green would also go on to form the revered indie rock group Red Stars Theory. At times it feels like you could pick any major Northwest indie rock group from the `90s and `00s and trace their DNA back to Lync. The deluxe edition of These Are Not Fall Colors comes pressed on 180g vinyl and packaged in a gatefold cover with printed inner sleeves and expanded artwork by Jesse LeDoux. The 2xLP also features an 18x24 poster with extensive liner notes by Brian Cook. Altogether, this new version of These Are Not Fall Colors not only brings this celebrated classic back into analog libraries of old fans, it also provides new context and appreciation for Lync's ongoing impact on both a local and international level.

Ivy Falls, the alias of singer-songwriter Fien Deman, will release her first full album in the spring of 2024. 'Sense & Nonsense' sounds mature, with a clear vision and direction. Fien wrote the album after a breakup and leaving her home; she witnessed cracks appearing in her life and found herself in a whirlpool of insecurities. Writing turned out to be the way to reorient herself and discover what she could fill her empty 'house' with. Everything changed: a new life, a new place, new people, and a new view of herself as a musician and writer. Bram Vanparys, aka The Bony King of Nowhere, makes his debutas a producer on Ivy Falls' first release. This unreleased duo impresses with 'the best coda for the confusing time that your twenties can be.'

Sometimes hitting a wall is inevitable. This occurred, partly even literally, in 2020: a broken nose, a painful breakup, and a series of chaotic events shook Fien's foundations. Losing her job, ending her relationship, leaving her home, and returning to her parental home, she hit rock bottom and started her quest to rebuild everything from scratch. After the tumult, Fien decided to shed the oppressive norms and ideas learned as a child and wholeheartedly pursue her own choices and projects.

In the years that followed, each aspect of her life gradually fell into its right place. This extended to her musical identity, themes, and sound. Acquiring some guitars and an upright piano, she endeavored to master them as a self-taught artist. Devoting ample time to her self-made home studio, she returned to the essence, distancing herself from the polished pop sound of her initial work and reconnecting with her first musical love - the singer-songwriters who had colored her teenage years. This rediscovered inspiration marked the first time in her musical career that everything felt perfectly aligned.

The album's artistic approach aligns with a fresh, expansive outlook on life and the future. Fien aims to challenge rigid societal concepts, including the notion of 'golden years.' She questions what and when exactly should be considered the most significant, joyful, and vibrant moments of life. The album delves into topics like the perceived superiority of extroverts, narcotic materialism, and toxic positivity. It's not a lament but rather an ode to what truly matters-the essence, love, and beauty. Fien's perspective encourages finding your inner child and immersing yourself in timeless and profound feelings.

Musically, Fien discovered her perfect match in Bram Vanparys (The Bony King of Nowhere), her newfound love. She wrote the songs, and he took on the role of album producer and co-arranger. Together, they crafted a metaphorical space where every small musical idea has room to flourish, and each insight and effort carries significance. Influenced by indie folk luminaries such as Julia Jacklin, Amen Dunes, Feist, Sharon Van Etten, Sufjan Stevens, and Nick Drake, Ivy Falls has set a high standard for her sound.

The main constant? Fien's distinctive voice commands every song, now revealing greater depth and nuance than ever. In live performances, Ivy Falls is joined by a talented ensemble: Trui Amerlinck (Tsar B, Mayorga), Jasper Morel (Black Box Revelation), Simon Raman (Steiger), and Anton De Boes (Philemon).

In the past, Ivy Falls has launched two EPs, received airplay on Studio Brussels and Radio 1, and shared the stage as supportfor artists like Balthazar, Jessie Ware, Sigrid, and Mabel.

Violist, violinist and singer-songwriter Marla Hansen returns to Karaoke Kalk with "Salt", her second full-length album to date. Building upon the sonic palette the Berlin-based musician established with her debut "Dust" in 2020, "Salt" takes the delicate mixture of acoustic instruments such as viola, violin, piano and guitar combined with subtle electronics to the next level. The new album is both a remarkable departure and at the same time sheds a new yet reassuring light on Hansen's work and creativity. "Salt" features numerous collaborations with like-minded musicians and friends, e. g. producer and composer Simon Goff, The Notwist's drummer Andi Haberl and the renowned artist DM Stith.

The "Dust" has settled. After having recorded her solo debut of that name, in 2020 the world came to a grinding halt, leaving Marla Hansen left to her own devices in her adopted home of Berlin. For Hansen, who previously had lent her talent to many creative minds such as The National, Sufjan Stevens, The Hidden Cameras, Jay-Z and Ravi Coltrane, the collaborative aspect of writing and producing music had always played a crucial part in finding her own path as a solo artist.

"I started to explore synthesizers and electronic production myself," she remembers of the time when meeting other musicians in person was out of the question. "I am proud that I accomplished many of the electronic elements of the new album by myself, and otherwise laid the groundwork for the final electronic structures through my own experiments. I always wanted to record a 'big' record, one that has a lot of power and sound, and this one is 'bigger' than anything I have done so far."

"Salt" is big, indeed. The opener "Chains" is driven by a gliding bass line, bobbing 808 snares, deep chords and a mesmerizing chorus doubled by luscious strings, marking the beginning of a new chapter in her creative journey. A stark statement, both musically and lyrically. Meanwhile, the title track of the album is an almost abstract sounding ambient miniature, sketch-like, dark and haunting, showcasing Hansen's voice in a shy, brittle and fragile state. If This Mortal Coil/The Hope Blister were ever to record another album, these songs should be high up on the shortlist of tunes to pick. "The One Time" - a duet with Hansen's long-time friend DM Stith - gently meanders between a Philip Glass-inspired piece for chamber orchestra and a vocal ensemble performing on Top Of The Pops. In this range of styles and approaches, Hansen's vision is more present than ever.

For refining and finishing the songs, Hansen turned to Simon Goff, who produced the album and engineered much of the recording, merging Hansen's newly-found songwriting approach with the artistic delicacy which made her debut album an exceptional piece of work. Features include among others: Alice Dixon (Oriel Quartett) on cello, Kyle Resnick (The National, Beirut) on trumpet, Benjamin Lanz (The National, Beirut) on trombone and tuba, and Miles Perkin on bass. And then there is The Notwist's Andi Haberl, who "crafted perfect drum and percussion parts to move the songs wherever they needed to go, either into their driving grooves, slow-build explosions or gentle swells of feeling."

But what are songs actually about? "The themes revolve around a feeling of being trapped. Having to stay inside during the pandemic, with all the silence and stillness coming with it. Simultaneously, I was caught up in a professional situation that was not working for me, yet it required a lot of energy and time. I was thinking a lot about how to break old habits and patterns. Patterns in my life, patterns I saw my friends and loved-ones stuck in. There are a lot of ways that people can be trapped, and breaking out of that requires a lot of courage and energy - on all levels. The title 'Salt' seemed to fit, ocean themes showed up naturally in some of the songs, and I thought often about the quote: 'The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.' Maybe I was just dreaming of the ocean, since it was inaccessible for the first time! But I wanted a cure for this feeling of being trapped, in a time of uncertainty and anxiety, salt as a remedy seemed to have some truth in it: sweat, tears or the sea."

Perseverance and the urge for freedom prevailed in the end. "Salt" is a bold artistic achievement, with songs as big as the biggest waves imaginable. With melodies as alluring as the most comfortable breezes. Perfect from start to finish.

Everything Everything, die für ihre innovative Mischung aus dystopischen Konzepten und experimentellem Art-Pop bekannt sind, kündigen ihr siebtes Studioalbum "Mountainhead" für den 1. März an. Dieses Album setzt ihre lange Tradition fort, gesellschaftliche Themen und kulturelle Trends zu erforschen. Die Band hat bereits beeindruckende Erfolge erzielt, darunter fünf Ivor-Novello-Nominierungen, zwei Mercury-Preis-Nominierungen und fünf aufeinanderfolgende Top-10-Alben. Ihre Musik zeichnet sich durch unkonventionelle Gesangssamples, Synthesizer und exzentrische Melodien aus, die eine faszinierende und einnehmende Atmosphäre schaffen. Mountainhead" vertieft ihre einzigartige Fähigkeit, die möglichen Auswirkungen zukünftiger Technologie auf unsere Gesellschaft zu erforschen. "Mountainhead" konzentriert sich auf das Konzept eines dystopischen Szenarios, in dem die Gesellschaft einen metaphorischen Berg errichtet. Menschen am unteren Ende dieser sozialen Hierarchie arbeiten unermüdlich, um die Elite an der Spitze zu unterstützen. Dieses Konzept dient als Metapher für verschiedene Aspekte unseres gegenwärtigen Lebens, von Kapitalismus bis hin zu Umweltschutz und Prominentenverehrung.

Miles Davis' A Tribute to Jack Johnson is the best jazz-rock record ever made. Equally inspired by the leader's desire to assemble the "greatest rock and roll band you have ever heard,” his adoration of Johnson, and Black Power politics, Davis created a hard-hitting set that surges with excitement, intensity, majesty, and power. Bridging the electric fusion he'd pursued on earlier efforts with a funkier, dirtier rhythmic approach, Davis zeroes in on concepts of spontaneity, freedom, and identity seldom achieved in the studio — and just as infrequently accepted by the mainstream.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity's 180g LP reissue brings it all to fore with startling realism. Benefitting from SuperVinyl’s nearly inaudible noise floor, superb groove definition, and clean, ultra-quiet surfaces, this 180g LP showcases everything — from the bold tonality of the headliner's white-hot trumpet solos to the decay of crashing cymbals, carry of wiry guitar notes, and echoes of the studio — in reference fashion.

Bristling with exuberance, Davis' high-register passages explode with authority and commanding presence. Around him, a barrage of urgent backbeats, knifing riffs, and supple bass lines emerge amidst black backgrounds. One of the most prominent differences long-time fans will notice is how much more aggressive, immediate, and vibrant the music sounds, with those aspects central to the composer's original desires.

Utilizing wah-wah and distortion, the go-to instrumentalist of the performances— guitarist John McLaughlin — attacks with a nasty edge, slashing style, and vicious streak that allows A Tribute to Jack Johnson< cross the until-then-impenetrable divide between rock and jazz. Davis puts both feet in the former camp and erases any gap. The stories of the record’s creation are nearly as legendary as the sounds within: Two sessions, multiple jams, different sets of musicians (several uncredited), and near-miraculous production perfectionism that made it all appear cohesive.

The least-well-known masterpiece of Davis' career, the 1971 record — seamlessly assembled and spliced together by producer Teo Macero — was a victim of limited record-label promotion. Audiences also didn’t immediately know what to make of its original cover art — faithfully replicated here. In addition, the powers that be at Columbia Records were directing the public’s attention to Miles at Fillmore, a completely different kind of album guided by two keyboardists. A Tribute to Jack Johnson practically lives in a different universe, one from the future. To many listeners who did manage to hear it — among them critic/musician Robert Quine, Stooges leader Iggy Pop, and renowned critic Robert Christgau — it surpassed everything that came before.

Indeed, Davis treated it as a personal manifesto: An opportunity to salute the Black championship boxer admired for his threatening image to the establishment and impeccable taste in clothes, cars, women and music. Davis explains in the liner notes his affinity for Johnson — a stance mirrored by the defiant music, which hits with a prize fighter's force and reflects the graceful elegance with which a pugilist navigates the ring — and closes the album with a Johnson quote read by Brock Peters.

Inspired not only by Johnson but by Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, Davis changed his approach and his band. He surrounds himself with a cadre of musicians in their 20s and, in the case of bassist Michael Henderson, a 19-year-old fresh from touring with Stevie Wonder. Henderson gives Davis what he requested: boogie-based grooves that don’t lose shape or direction. Soprano saxophonist Steve Grossman, drummer Billy Cobham, and organist Herbie Hancock adhere to a similar aesthetic that prizes brazenness, innovation, and energy.

In that vein, during a portion of “Yesternow,” Davis segues into a separate performance (which became known in its entirety as “Willie Nelson”) played by guitarists McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, bass clarinetist Bernie Maupin, keyboardist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Dig it!

Talking with jazz scholar Bill Milkowski — who himself noted how McLaughlin’s unrestrained style, decibel-forward volumes, and rapid-fire power chords engendered himself to the rock crowd at the same time that his harmonics and syncopation still definitely made him a jazz player — guitarist Henry Kaiser summed up part of the appeal of A Tribute to Jack Johnson as well as anyone, saying: “It’s a jazz record that way way more open than other jazz records at the time, but still not free jazz. McLaughlin’s rhythm guitar playing on ‘Right Off’ — the use of different chords in a rock shuffle than what anybody had used before — was revolutionary.”

And to think that’s just one aspect of a record that contains multitudes. “Never let them forget it.” Indeed.

Of the countless accolades and analyses that surround Blue, no point is more significant than the fact that the 1971 Joni Mitchell album continues to become more popular, revered, referenced, and relevant with each passing day. Such vitality is not only extremely singular; it is the ultimate measure of great art and, in the context of Blue, indisputable proof of the record's accessibility, integrity, and timelessness. If the most brilliant and everlasting music seeks to find truths shared by all of humanity, Blue can be said to be universal doctrine.

Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 12,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the landmark album with reference-grade detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the beloved LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on definitive-sounding vinyl and SACD sets.

Everything about Blue sounds more intimate, involving, and inescapable on this transparent pressing, which benefits from a virtually non-existent noise floor and superior groove definition. Mitchell's voice, positioned front and center, and primarily accompanied by minimalist acoustic guitar, piano, and dulcimer playing, comes across clearly and prominently. Suspended notes and radiant chords double as question marks, commas, and phrases. The in-the-room presence and spatial dimensionality make absolute the full-range spectrum of introspective emotions — hurt and distress, self-awareness and joy, difficulty and uncertainty, warmth and desire — Mitchell navigates, queries, and contemplates throughout the record. The defencelessness the singer once spoke about is laid bare here like never before.

The packaging of the Blue UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe box, both LPs come in special foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artifact for listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including the unforgettable cover photograph of a ruminative Mitchell shot by Tim Considine.

Deemed the third Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone; universally celebrated by critics, fans, artists, and educators; and defined by a spell of disarmingly vulnerable songs that are at once confessional, intense, spare, honest, painful, hopeful, and exquisite, Blue charts love, spiritualism, independence, and loss like no record before or since. Widely considered the album that established the singer-songwriter template, the largely autobiographical LP changed everything shortly after its original release in June 1971. Amazingly, it continues to do so more than five decades later.

An incalculable influence on generations of artists, it stands as the through-line from Carole King, Elton John, James Taylor, Joan Armatrading, and Leonard Cohen to Patti Smith, Carly Simon, Emmylou Harris, and Rosanne Cash to 21st century contemporaries like Brandi Carlile, Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, and Courtney Barnett. Teetering between agony and optimism, it is — to borrow a phrase from Mitchell's eternal "A Case of You" — a bottomless "box of paints."

The beauty of the stripped-down arrangements, intoxicating melodies, and Mitchell's wisdom on Blue didn't go unnoticed. Critical acclaim, coupled with the depth of the material and Mitchell's reputation, propelled the album into the Top 20 in the U.S. and Top 10 in the U.K. Yet while so much pop music diminishes with age, Blue has defied norms and headed in the opposite direction. Its 50th anniversary year witnessed an outpouring of tributes, reflections, and testimonials that helped frame the record's escalating importance and symbolism — apt in an age in which women have become the prominent trailblazers in rock, R&B, and hip-hop.

Perhaps most succinctly, in a 2021 article celebrating the LP, the Los Angeles Times declared: "In 1971, nothing sounded like Joni Mitchell's Blue. 50 years later, it's still a miracle." Nothing, indeed. Yet "miracle" suggests Blue partially owes to a divine agent or inexplicable circumstance. And though Mitchell's bracing conviction and forthright sincerity can appear otherworldly, her musical approach and lyrical storytelling is nothing if not personal and human. What we hear is pure truth — no matter how aching, complicated, or stark.

Much has been written about the circumstances that inspired the songs on Blue: Mitchell's romances; her time overseas; her disdain for celebrity; her lingering sense of loss at having given up her daughter for adoption; her treatment by the very same industry that her music made uncomfortable; her prolonged search for resolution. These situations and experiences pushed Mitchell to question everything — especially big-picture concepts that have always obsessed mankind: fulfilment, autonomy, love, honesty, being.

"I wanna make you feel free," Mitchell sings on the record-opening "All I Want." Mission accomplished. Blue is liberation — and the start of a freedom that continues to impact music, culture, and identity today.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

Most audiophiles know Alan Parsons Project's I Robot by heart. Engineered by Parsons after he performed the same duties on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, the 1977 record reigns as a disc whose taut bass, crisp highs, clean production, and seemingly limitless dynamic range are matched only by the sensational prog-rock fare helmed by the keyboardist and his creative partner, Eric Woolfson. Not surprisingly, it's been issued myriad times. Can it be improved? Relish Mobile Fidelity's stupendous UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM box set and the question becomes moot.


Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, I Robot comes to life with reference-setting realism on this numbered, limited-edition reissue. Boasting immaculate highs and lows, generous spaciousness, and see-through transparency that takes you into the studio with Parsons and Woolfson at Abbey Road, this definitive edition is designed to demonstrate the full-range capabilities of the world's best stereo systems while offering listeners the convenience of having all the music on one LP.

Featuring a nearly inaudible noise floor, this transcendent UD1S edition functions as a repeat invitation to savor reference-grade soundstages, immersive smoothness, sought-after instrumental separation, three-dimensional imaging, and consummate tonal balances. Able to be played back at high volumes without compromise or fatigue, it is a demonstration record for the ages – the likes of which are no longer being made. This is the very reason you own and invest in high-end audio gear.

The special characteristics of this UD1S version extend to the premium packaging. Housed in an elegant slipcase, the reissue features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, it is made for discerning listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything about this conceptual landmark. The Alan Parsons Project's most famous record deserves nothing less.

Inspired by and loosely based around the Isaac Asimov stories of the same name, I Robot delves into themes of artificial intelligence and technological dominance that make the record extremely relevant in the 21st century. Indeed, Parsons and Woolfson's pinnacle creation dovetailed with the ascendency of Star Wars, which itself is experiencing a rebirth in an age of self-driving cars, smart devices, and mindless automation. Lyrically, songs such as "The Voice" call into question human behavior – and their relationship to increasing robotic supremacy – in everyday life. Parsons and Woolfson reflect the associated paranoia, dichotomy, and transformation via shifting sci-fi arrangements steeped in drama and moodiness.

The absorbing tunes on I Robot also continue to fascinate due to their perfectionism and innovation. Borrowing from Pink Floyd's strategies, Parsons and Woolfson utilize a looped sequence on the title track to create new downbeats. "Some Other Time" employs two different lead vocalists and yet gives the illusion that only one is involved. Captivating strings, a piccolo trumpet, and bona fide pipe organ grace "Don't Let It Show." The origins of "Nucleus" stem from a unique analog keyboard concoction dubbed "the Projectron," devised by Parsons and electronic engineer Keith Johnson. Andrew Powell's orchestral and choral arrangements top it all off, with "Total Eclipse" arriving as a frightening track that presages the climactic "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32."

Does man or machine win in the end? Decide as you get lost in Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc 180g 33RPM LP pressing. Secure your numbered copy today!

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl

Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

First compiled as a double CD in 2002, Moon's Milk (in Four Phases) is a suite of four EPs that Coil released seasonally via their in-house Eskaton imprint across 1998. The line-up for these sessions were John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, Drew McDowall, and William Breeze. Recorded primarily at their home studio in Chiswick, London on the eve of a permanent relocation to the small seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare, the collection has long loomed as a pivotal and pinnacle work in the group's discography, but has never been officially reissued, or repressed on vinyl. Time has only ripened its tapestry of regal strangeness. Arranged sequentially in tribute to the equinoxes and solstices, Moon's Milk captures Coil at a revelatory crossroads, leaning deeper into improvisation, spontaneity, and sound design. "Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull" initiates the proceedings on Spring Equinox, a two-part netherworld organ séance woven from vocal drones, cathedral keys, seasick strings, and opiated undertow. From there, Summer Solstice skews lighter but no less incantational, with Balance embracing his voice-as-instrument across lucid dream torch songs ("Bee Stings"), purgatorial spoken word ("Glowworms/Waveforms"), sultry chamber pieces ("Summer Substructures"), and falsetto ravings ("A Warning From The Sun (For Fritz)"). Autumn Equinox exudes more of a pensive and twilit mood, from the Rose McDowall-sung folk ballad "Rosa Decidua" ("I hear your voice sing near to me / I've put away the poisoned chalice (for now) / And lie down amongst the flowerbeds") to hall-of-lords hallucination "The Auto-Asphyxiating Hierophant" to the liminal string-plucked classic "Amethyst Deceivers," featuring excellent alien guitar by Breeze layered with Balance's oft-quoted couplet: "Pay your respects to the vultures / For they are your future." The album's final chapter, Winter Solstice, is its most swooning, remote, and ceremonial. Opener "A White Rainbow" stirs strings, layered choral vocals, and shivering rhythm into an imploding burial hymn. "North" oscillates bleakly, a ghost in the machine murmuring opaque prophecy ("This black dog has no owner / This black dog has no odour"), while "Magnetic North" is its inverse, a guided meditation of gently flickering software and surreal chakra poetics ("Red rose filling the skull / Yellow cube in the lower pelvis / Silver moon crescent below the navel"). The suite fades to grey with a traditional English carol ("Christmas Is Now Drawing Near"), rendered like an executioner's song by Rose McDowall's doomed, beautiful voice. The Dais box set includes the entirety of the rare Moon's Milk Bonus Disc CD-R / 2019 Threshold Archives Copal CD, which includes three collaborations with Thighpaulsandra. This material is as rich and intoxicating as the previous four phases, ranging from electro-acoustic singing bowl rituals ("Copal") to dissonant electronic recitations of visionary Angus MacLise poetry ("The Coppice Meat") to ominous classical melancholia ("Bankside"). Once again, Coil confirm the vastness of their confounding, infinite alchemy, explored and refined across decades of experimentation - both sonic and bodily. From postindustrial to post-everything, theirs is an art untethered, in the wilds of its own design.

None More Records are very proud to present 'Fictions', the third album, and debut LP for the label from Twospeak. Twospeak are band leader and saxophonist Ronan Perrett's bold and dynamic four-piece that draw inspiration equally from the world of contemporary jazz, bands like The Bad Plus and ADHD, the early 1970's Canterbury Scene of Soft Machine and Caravan, Hot Rats-era Zappa and Deerhoof-esque indie rock, putting this all together in a heady brew and sounding uniquely themselves.

Fictions is a huge step forward for the band, building on Twoism and Reflector, taking the band to new heights. Each song on their new album is based on a piece of non-musical art which include paintings, sculpture, literature and film. Each track is named after and aims to capture the character and mood of its original inspiration.

After humble lo-fi beginnings in the Australian Art-Pop Underground, Donny Benet has expanded his cult-like following across the Globe with a resonant Array of danceable Repertoire dealing with Love- and Affection. New album "Mr Experience" marks a new chapter, informed by a wealth of musical- and personal development.

For Mr Experience, Donny envisioned a Soundtrack to a Dinner-Party- Set in the late 1980's. While his earlier Recordings drew Inspiration from DIY Pop Conspirators such as Ariel Pink & John Maus, Donny channelled the Stylings of Bryan Ferry & Hiroshi Yoshimura as the Impetus for new Material, evident on the Intimacy found on ‘Girl Of My Dreams’ and it's lush production- with a soothing whistle-along Chorus for good Measure!

Sincerity has been a key component of Donny Benet’s output since the beginning. His songs deal with genuine Emotion served on a kitsch Platter. An alter-ego manifested in the beginning of the 2010's, Donny has blurred the Lines of Artifice to create a back- Catalogue that can embrace- and challenge, often simultaneously, - the notion of Irony in Art.

"Mr Experience" moves further away from ironic Notions as Donny explores lyrical- and musical themes which embody Observations of Maturation in his audience, his tightknit musical Community- and himself. While ‘mature’ is a term that often rings hollow as an album descriptor, the term couldn’t be more apt for Mr Experience.

Previous album The Don was created with the luxury of time. The phenomenal Response to that Album across Europe- and the United States - fuelled by accompanying Music Videos clocking in Views in the Millions- meant that there were scant Windows of Opportunity to write- and record a follow-up.

With a legacy in Sydney’s music community, working with Sarah Blasko, and tightknik collaborators Jack Ladder & Kirin J Callinan, Donny Benet is accustomed to collaboration on the Stage- and in the Studio, mostnotably on the 2014 full-length release Weekend At Donny’s.



“There is such immense talent evident in every aspect of the Donny Bene experience - the vision of the character, the steadfast adherence his narrative and the musicality of Benet himself all combine to makesomething truly genius.” - Double J, Australin.

“Donny Benet makes feminine music for everybody” - Vice, Netherlands.

“The Don does not sound like amusical copying machine”. - 3voor12 National, Netherlands.

“The set was punctuated with virtuosic solos and exquisite harmonies, and added another layer of genius to the show.
We almost couldn’t handle it... Donny for president!" - Indie Berlin.

“Everyone loves Donny Benet” - Feature in Gonzai, France.

“Phenomenal Australian Showman... Offers Top-Class Dance Music with Virtuose-Bass Guitar- and Keyboard Parts & incredible Sound-Colour feel.” - Podujatie.sk, Slovakia.

Donny has toured Europe five times since the start of 2018 and has played in the UK, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, France, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Greece and Sweden. The Don will revisit Europe twice in 2020, once for his own headline shows in May then back again in August for festivals!

Gatefold Heavy black vinyl with diecut sleeve!
Scheming Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy), a bigoted and corrupt policeman, is in line for a promotion and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Enlisted to solve a brutal murder and threatened by the aspirations of his colleagues, including Ray Lennox (Jamie Bell), Bruce sets about ensuring their ruin, right under the nose of unwitting Chief Inspector Toal. As he turns his colleagues against one another by stealing their wives and exposing their secrets, Bruce starts to lose himself in a web of deceit that he can no longer control. His past is slowly catching up with him, and a missing wife, a crippling drug habit and suspicious colleagues start to take their toll on his sanity. The question is: can he keep his grip on reality long enough to disentangle himself from the filth

James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class) gives the performance of his career and he is joined by a fantastic cast, including Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tintin), Imogen Poots (Fright Night), Oscar winning actor, Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady), Joanne Froggatt ('Downton Abbey'), Shirley Henderson (Trainspotting), Eddie Marsan (The Illusionist), Emun Elliott (Prometheus), Martin Compston (Sweet Sixteen), Shauna Macdonald (The Descent) and Gary Lewis (Gangs of New York).

Written by Jon S. Baird who also directs, Filth is produced by Ken Marshall, Will Clarke and Irvine Welsh.

2LP Repress!

Despite being one of the best kept secrets in house music, K4B Records is one of the most influential labels of the 90’s. Now the impressive discography is available digitally for the first time, with each record written and produced by Kingsley O. An Englishman of West-African heritage, Kingsley had moved to the states to pursue his musical aspirations of working with the finest soul vocalists, and his productions went on to inspire dancefloors both sides of the pond. Kingsley wrote some of the most loved songs of the 90’s underground, and by bringing emotive vocals to the dancefloor he defined the K4B sound. The sharp and rugged drums, rolling bass and melodic keys paired with the dynamite punchy vocals of amazing vocalists, such as Maydie Myles and Dawn Tallman, found success on the US Garage scene as well as being hugely influential as UKG began to explode, cementing K4B’s musical legacy in the house music hall of fame.

This special 2 x 12” vinyl package offers a consolidated dose of some of the standout records released by K4B from two of their most prominent artists, Maydie Myles and K London Posse. Whether this is a revisit to K4B’s catalogue or an introduction to new listeners, this first edition of a series of vinyl releases is the perfect way to dip your toes into the illustrious back-catalogue of this legendary label.

**Ltd First Pressing on Black/Red Splatter Vinyl** Introducing Observers “The Age of the Machine Entities” an instrumental heavy metal reimaginin of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke's 2001 A Space Odyssey. Observers is a new project fronted by Martin Kennedy whose ambient rock band All India Radio has seen music used in CSI, One Tree Hill and many more. Canadian metal titan Devin Townsend even covered an All India Radio song that he fell in love with while on holiday. Kennedy has also released over fifteen albums with Steve Kilbey of psychedelic rock legends The Church. Kennedy says “I’ve been fascinated by 2001 A Space Odyssey ever since my mum took me to see it in the 1970s. It blew my mind. I started making my own 2001 inspired super 8 movies, I collected everything I could afford and I’m still obsessed with it into my adult years.” “The Age of the Machine Entities” is entirely instrumental and takes us on a cosmic journey through melodic metal, atmospheric riffs and psychedelic ambient sequences with echoes of Gojira, Black Sabbath and Tangerine Dream and the early 70’s work of Pink Floyd. Indeed treats us to a searing metal version of the obscure but fan favourite “The Narrow Way Part 2” from the Floyd’s Umma Gumma. The album was mixed by Joe Haley from Tasmania’s legendary Psycroptic and the line up is Rich Gray (Annihilator) on bass, Chris Bohm on drums, and guest soloists including Joe Haley and Jake Weber. The all important visual aspect is brought to life by Ryan T Hancock (known for work with King Buffalo, ᴀɢɴᴏxɪᴀ, Robot God), who created the mesmerizing album artwork. Observers' "The Era of Machine Entities" is a fusion of artistic brilliance that pays homage to the timeless mystery of "2001: A Space Odyssey.”

This collection assembles the range of sources that Robert Johnson heard and learned from including songs from his mentor Son House and from other Delta performers and from sources that show aspects of the musical world in which he lived. His tastes ranged far and wide and he had a gift for absorbing sounds of all kinds, including from tin pan alley to hillbilly songs. He was a brilliant creative musician who managed a stunningly effective fusion of his Delta roots and the smoother approach of the then prominent contemporary blues artists. As with any genius in any field he was able to produce great work only because he was standing on the shoulders of previous great artists. This collection provides an introduction to a number of them and gives a sense of how Johnson adapted and combined their styles. It presents music that can still excite and inspire us today just as it did to Robert Johnson back in the first golden age of the blues.

"L'idée nous est venu lors d'une conversation un peu arrosée dans un pub du sud de Londres avec Philippe du label Tapeworm" dixit François Kirmann Gamaury alias Franz Kirmann alias Dj Salinger – producteur français établi à Londres depuis plus d'une vingtaine d'années.

"Voyage voyage voyage" est une mixtape. Mais pas dans le sens traditionnelle du terme. Kirmann l'appelle une mixtape subjective, où les morceaux ne sont pas joués tels quels mais présentés tels qu'ils sont ressentis par l'artiste.

Un peu comme le DJ Vladimir Ivkovic qui ralentit certain morceaux sur ses platines pour en révéler un autre aspect, Kirmann zoom dans l'étoffe même des enregistrements, étire les notes et les sons à l'infini, pour en mettre à jour un sens caché, altérer notre perception de ces chansons qui peuvent parfois sembler un peu désuètes. Ici elles sont transformées en nappes fantomatiques et envoutantes qui évoquent un souvenir d'une période de sa vie, une trace sonore d'une époque un peu naive, qui revient aujourd'hui sous forme d'echo, une musique nostalgique trempée dans la reverb et la distortion.

Kirmann a grandit au Sénégal pendant les années 80 et il se souvient des étés de son enfance passé chez ses grand parents, les chansons à la radio, dans le bus du centre aéré, dans un Prisunic en Dordogne, où une fête de camping en Alsace: Catherine Lara, Elsa, Veronique Jeannot et bien sûr Desireless et son fameux tube "Voyage voyage".

Les chansons sélectionnées pour la cassette ont toutes en commun une incitation au départ, une recherche de l'ailleurs, un amour perdu, un souvenir, les thèmes de predilection d'une certaine pop française que l'on nommait variété.

Ces idées d'évasion sont accentuées ici par le traitement sonore qui leur est appliqué. Les chansons sont paralysés dans le temps, figées dans le son, comme si l'on avait souligné certain passages dans un roman pour les détacher du texte intégral.

Distortion, écho, réverbération et autres effets sont appliqués et donnent à la musique et au son une qualité rêveuse et distante. Certains passages reconnaissables se dévoilent et sortent de la brume sonore, ils se révèlent plus net, d'autres sont noyés dans un brouillard imprécis, une musique proche de l'ambient qui enveloppe l'auditeur.

Kirmann: "Chaque track est basé sur une chanson de variété française des années 80, je voulais re-créer une impression de distance, quelque chose de lointain. Les morceaux deviennent des sortes de tapisseries sonores mais dont l'essence de la chanson originelle est toujours présente. Il y'a un roman de Patrick Modiano où les personnages lancent des avis de recherche pour la France à partir d'une station de radio d'un pays lointain. Le son est brouillé, les voix étouffées. J'avais un peu cette idée en tête de faire quelque chose de similaire, comme si les chansons étaient entendus sur un vieux poste de radio mais émises d'une station lointaine et d'un autre temps."

Le résultat est un voyage nostalgique, une musique ambient et nébuleuse façonnée à partir de tubes synthétiques 80's. Imaginez Fennesz ou My Bloody Valentine jouant des reprises de Laurent Voulzy et vous y êtes presque…

Loveless non, Desireless oui!

DJ Salinger. Voyage Voyage Voyage – Disponible en cassette uniquement. 100 exemplaires sur le label Tapeworm.

—

Franz Kirmann is a French music producer living in London. He has made albums for various labels including Denovali, Bytes, Mercury KX. He also writes music for film and TV and is a lecturer in music production at Point Blank Music school.

First Word Records is proud to bring you 'The Essance' - the classic debut album by Essa (formerly known as Yungun), originally released in 2004, now released on vinyl & digital for the first time, 20 years on!

A lyricist, lawyer and a Londoner, legendary MC Essa has earned praise over the years from artists such as Nas and Mark Ronson, as well as performing and recording with legends like De La Soul, Wu-Tang Clan, Guru, Slum Village and Pharoahe Monch.

This 15-track album is considered one of the greats to emerge during UK Hip Hop's "golden era"; a vibrant time for the genre when artists such as Ty, Jehst, Roots Manuva, Klashnekoff, Skinnyman, Task Force, Doc Brown and Foreign Beggars were garnering huge fanbases, and an eco-system of shops like Deal Real, club nights like Kung Fu, labels like Lowlife, and stations like Itch FM were prevalent, while BBC 1Xtra was a mere infant.

'The Essance' includes production and features from luminaries such as Harry Love, Mr Thing, Lewis Parker, Kyza, Devise & Ben Grymm, to name a few.

Esteemed author Musa Okwonga says on the reissue liner notes "the most startling thing about 'The Essance' was its range. Yungun (Essa) was one of the few MCs who could perfectly walk the paths of hope and melancholy with equal ease, whose artist name belied the wisdom of his lyrics. Beyond that, his delivery was supremely self-assured, filled with a swagger he could always justify.

Yungun's gifts also extended to the stage, where he was one of the best young actors that many of his contemporaries had seen, and to languages, which saw him writing and rhyming in Spanish with a notable flourish. He was also someone who constantly walked between two worlds, excelling in one of the country's most competitive academic environments during the day and then delivering a soaring radio set by night. Raised in a vibrant vein of North London, endlessly curious about the world around him, Yungun's fine ear for music and passion for the variety of life made him someone who could reach all audiences.

'The Essance' is a beautifully-woven meditation on the human condition, one which takes you from the dancefloor to the summer afternoon barbecue to the bathroom mirror; yet it is also the opening statement of a unique career."

In the words of Essa himself "my key goal for this album was to span so many moods and styles that I couldn't be categorised, leaving me free to then go in whatever direction I chose. I was almost too successful with this – I would later struggle to pin down my own identity, both on and off the mic, as a rapper slash lawyer, of mixed-heritage, blessed to be able to enter many circles but feeling truly at home in none. As I write this, twenty years (plus a marriage and several children) on, I finally feel more at peace with being undefinable, and am getting better at bringing my full, authentic self into as many aspects of life as I can. I am grateful to be able to look both back and forward, with equal passion."

'The Essance' was followed with a collaborative album with DJ Mr Thing ('Grown Man Business'), then some years later on First Word with 'The Misadventures of a Middle Man' in 2014. There's also a forthcoming project in the works, due for release Summer 2024 with all-new material produced by Pitch 92. Both these releases also coincide with the 20th anniversary of the First Word label (named "label of the year" at the 2019 Worldwide Awards).

A timeless piece of work, 'The Essance' is true-skool boom bap through and through that stands up two full decades later, from the ethereal anthem 'Liquid Love', to the uptempo bounce of 'Dancing Shoes', to the grit of 'The Big Idea', to the thought provoking 'What Eye See Pt.2', to bangers like 'Push' or 'Spit Fire', this is an essential addition to the collection of any discerning hip hop head.

'The Essance' is due to be released on vinyl & digital worldwide on February 23rd 2024.

The founders of Cukor Bila Smert’ (Ukrainian: Цукор– Біла Смерть, English: Sugar – White Death) band were Svitlana Okhrimenko (a.k.a. Svitlana Nianio), Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi, and Tamila Mazur, who studied at the Reinhold Glier Kyiv Academy of Music in 1984-1988. In the summer of 1988, they got acquainted with Eugene Taran, a young guitarist and artist. He joined the band and also became the ideologist of Sugar – White Death. Moreover, Eugene coined the name for the band: the irony towards the Yellow Press. The musicians gathered at Kohanovs’kyi’s house, where they spent their free time not only playing music but also listening to and discussing new records and thinking about the conception of their new project.



For two years, the band recorded a few home-made albums, such as “Rhododendrons Coral Aspides” in 1988 (which is considered lost), where Kostyantyn Dovzhenko took part as a guitarist and sound engineer. He also replaced Taran during the recording session because Eugene was passing an exam at that time. The band also recorded another album – “Lilies and Amaralises,” in 1989, which is also considered lost. Eugene remembers that the band made a lot of recordings but did not pay so much attention to them. Sugar – White Death played live occasionally but spent more time creating their own sound, which was named by Oleksii Dekhtyar (a founder of “Ivanov Down”) as a “sugar calypso sound.” At that time, the music was mostly created by Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi, and the lyrics were written by Svitlana Okhrimenko and Eugene Taran.



In February 1990, a quartet came to the Scientists House Studio in Kyiv, where they had one studio session only, recorded by Valerii Papchenko. Musicians played live for about one take. This session was represented on the “Mannered Music” compilation by several blocks – “Venus with Long Neck,” “The New Sissies,” and “Rhododendrons Coral Aspides,” which was shortened to “Rhododendrons” on the cassette (two songs from which – “Summer Will Not Come” and “The Great Hen-Yuan’ River,” dedicated to Grigorii Khoroshylov, the sinologist from Kyiv). The compilation cover design was created by Eugene Taran. Later, this tape got to Vlodek Nakonechnyj, the founder of Koka Records, a young Polish label, who released “Mannered Music” on cassettes and made efforts to invite Sugar – White Death to play several gigs in Poland.



In November 1990, Sugar – White Death played their last gig as a quartet in Kharkiv. They were invited by Sergii Myasoyedov, who curated the art association “Nova Scena” (The New Scene). The band played selected tracks from the albums “The New Sissies” and “The Shellfishes in Gold Wrappers” (the last one is also considered lost). Due to Sergii Myasoyedov's efforts, the performance was documented: he saved a lot of photos and fragments of soundboard recordings on reel-to-reel tape.



Later, Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi and Tamila Mazur left Sugar – White Death: Oleksandr founded his own project Pan Kifared, and Tamila became a bass player of Shake Hi-Fi (whose co-founder was Eugene Taran). Sugar became a duo of Svitlana and Eugene. They started to focus on their next work: “Antinoy Is Leaving” in late 1990.



In 1992, they were also invited by Sergii Myasoyedov for a studio session in Kharkiv, where due to the efforts of Oleksandr Vakulenko, Sugar recorded the new album called “All Secrets Of A Poem”. Some tracks from the work (“Dead Ceremony,” “Vienna Is Sleeping,” and “Untitled”) were released on their next and last album, “Selo” (“The Village”). The rest compositions were published as a part of the compilation for the first time.



In the autumn of 1992, the musicians went to Poland, where Vlodek Nakonechnyj, who wanted Sugar to come to a “real” studio, organized their last recording session. Although the journey’s beginning was unsuccessful (Eugene’s guitar was taken away by a customs officer when crossing the border), the musicians worked fast during the session at the Arek Was studio at Marki on an 8-track reel-to-reel machine. Boleslav Blazhchyk took part as a cellist, playing the parts created by Svitlana. The album was completed in three days – the musicians spent two days recording and one-day mixing, mostly done by Eugene Taran. In 1993, this work was released as “Selo” (“The Village”) album on cassette tapes by Koka Records (remastered by Tadeusz Sudnik). Later, Sugar – White Death was disbanded.



Credits:



Cukor Bila Smert’: Svitlana Okhrimenko (lyrics, keyboards, piano, vocals), Eugene Taran (lyrics, keyboards, guitar), Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi (piano, A1-B2), Tamila Mazur (cello, A1-B2), Boleslaw Blaszczyk (cello, C5-D6)

Cover photo by Vlad Urazovs’kiy

Photo archive courtesy: Vlad Urazovs’kiy, Vlodek Nakonechnyj (Koka Records),

Oleh Yuhrinov, Sergii Myasoyedov

Audio archive courtesy: Vlodek Nakonechnyj (Koka Records), Guido Erfen,

Sergii Myasoyedov

Liner notes: Vlad Yakovlev

Compiled by Dmytro Nikolaienko, Dmytro Prutkin and Sasha Tsapenko

© ? Shukai / Cukor Bila Smert’

2024

F8 . Liam Melly - Energy
F9 . Armin Van Buuren - Space Case
F10 . The Obsessed - Free Yourself
F11 . Ie Shuuk & B Stylezz - Konje
F12 . Armin Van Buuren - Lose This Feeling (Maddix remix)
F13 . Armin Van Buuren - Lose This Feeling (Dimension remix)
F14 . Armin Van Buuren - AI Vs Humanity (A State Of Trance Year mix 2023 outro)

Dez Dare ventures further into the void than ever before on his 4th album and the 1st to be released via God Unknown Records, ‘A Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin.’. On past records Dare has fought beasts and beats alike, waging a fuzz war and tackling the biggest topics the world has to face; Doom scrolling, capitalist demagogues, a passionate dislike of the beach in summer. On this record he leaves the sardonic frustration behind for sarcastic existentialism, zeroing in on the big philosophical questions, and the pedantic shards of nonsense that make up our existence. Piling up the synths, noise boxes and guitar pedals, Dez set about building a soundscape of noise and ideas around the nature of reality, time, and how we interact with them. From the music you would play in your last moments, to the reverse Darwinism of modern society, to arguing with time itself, and very boring people talking at you, all is covered here for the aspiring existentialist. The self-produced Australian has spent over 3 decades producing music, releasing and touring bands, and doing live sound for z-grade metal bands. Growing up in the coastal town of Geelong (Djilang) in Australia, he was introduced to the DIY punk and rock scene at 15 and this community and the ideas rooted in the underground music scene have guided his output and ethics throughout his career. This year Dez will be joining forces with label titans God Unknown (Cassels / Duke Garwood / James Johnston + Steve Gullick / KLÄMP / Oneida / Oneida / Laura Loriga / Monster Magnet / Wellwater Conspiracy Soundgarden + Monster Magnet) and will be producing a deluxe version of the release that will include a 12 page comic illustrated by long time collaborator Mike Keane. Across the drone of noise and washed out guitars of the final track, ‘A Billion Voices Screaming, Hello Void!’, the chant repeats “We all return to where we begun...” which encapsulates the message that Dare delivers. We are all made from the same stardust and we all return to the universe that spat us out, we just need to enjoy the many shards of nonsense on that swift descent into the void...with wizards painted on the side." MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL "Early 90s-inspired take on DEVO punk... high energy sucker punches on your ear." Weirdo Shrine "Sludgey-grungey-fuzzed psychedelic-noiserock... I like the fact that despite all the edgy complexity, catchy songs emerge again and again."

“Though seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not hear or understand.”

NYC-based producer/visual artist Nathaniel Young returns with the sophomore 12” under their techno-focused alias, Guilt Attendant. “A Flower Wilts Under The Heat Of The Son” is cut from the same cloth as 2020’s “Suburban Scum” where Young delves into overtly religious motifs and ideological critique of their cult-like upbringing. Here, though, Young challenges themself and the listener to seek hope and resolve rather than hatred and contempt.

Considering its sometimes-monolithic sound palette, the timeless sub-genre of dub techno has long stood as a versatile vehicle for exploring and expressing a wide range of emotions. From mourning those we’ve lost, to somber reflection, to hope and celebration–all united by warmth, soul, and perhaps most importantly, groove. This versatility has underpinned Young’s affinity for the dub techno framework, and this collection of tracks is the culmination of material that they’ve long aspired to manifest. Atop this foundation, Young explores the place of acceptance and understanding that they’ve ultimately had to reach in relation to their religious upbringing and the inherent dualities that plague dogmatic religious circles and our beloved dance-floor communities alike.

“A Flower Wilts Under The Heat Of The Son” places a heavy emphasis on groove and swing while attempting to stretch the limits of classic dub techno tropes. Through creative melodic layering, swung low-end, and syncopation, these tracks hope to offer a fresh take on the sound while remaining solely devoted to the dancefloor.

Through their design work for Dais Records and Hospital Productions, Young had the pleasure of crossing paths with the recently departed Juan Mendez (Silent Servant), who graciously contributed a striking, cacophonous, and noise-laden remix. Given Mendez’s expansive and diverse body of work, as well as his own affinity for dub techno, Juan’s contribution could not be more harmonious. A singular talent and an extremely kind, generous soul, Juan will be dearly missed.

Rest in peace Juan Mendez, 1977-2024

LYSISTRATA hat die Kurve zu ihrer dritten Platte mit einer unglaublichen Geschmeidigkeit gemeistert. Das Indie-Rock-Trio aus Saintes, Frankreich markiert den Übergang zum Erwachsenenalter, indem sie ihren Pop-Aspekt sublimiert. "Veil" - produziert von dem New Yorker Ben Greenberg (Metz, Algiers, Beach Fossils, DIIV usw.) - ist ein Album, das geschaffen wurde, um zu tanzen, zu singen und seine Gefühle bis zur Hingabe auszuleben. Ein verbindendes Album, das weit über den ersten Kreis der Fans dieser so ehrlichen Band hinaus richtig und stark berühren wird.

'Scope Neglect' ist ein experimentelles und genreübergreifendes Album, das aus Frosts Bewunderung für den Metal geschmiedet wurde, wobei er sich bewusst von dessen konventionellen Attributen entfernt hat. Wo das Album Aspekte des Genres berührt, trifft es auf glitchende Elektronik, immersive Ambient-Industrial-Sounds und tief kontemplative Erkundungen, die zu etwas führen, das sich nicht in eine Schublade stecken lässt. Das Album wurde zusammen mit dem Gitarristen Greg Kubacki (von der New Yorker Progressive-Metal-Band Car Bomb) und dem Bassisten Liam Andrews (von der Melbourner Band MY DISCO) in den Candy Bomber Studios in Berlin mit dem Toningenieur Ingo Krauss (Swans, Nick Cave und Mick Harvey) aufgenommen.

For the past five years, Projekt Ruiny has been rejuvenating abandoned and decaying industrial landmarks by using them for concerts, exhibitions and discussions. This refusal of disuse also defines the character of SILO by Kolektív Ruiny, which disposes of all aspects of such cultural urban exploration besides the two most monumental >> sound and time.

The trio of musicians // sound artists kept returning to sugar and brewery silos in Rimavská Sobota in southern Slovakia for over six months to listen to their sounds and reply with improvisations. The silos' ambience proves that these places in a state of decay are living environments that hear plenty themselves, both from outside and inside, and spread what they hear wholeheartedly.

Kolektív Runy builds on this acoustic generosity with a combination of empathy and boldness. The attitude is most apparent on the few tracks that are musically harsh, but still offer the same discernible respect towards their industrial venues as the most serene pieces on SILO. It is an homage to these places, teeming with attention and care, and the ninth release by the devout label Weltschmerzen.

If you are a death metal fan, GRACELESS shouldn’t need an introduction. Three full lengths and two split EPs have granted the Dutch ensemble a respectable reputation across the globe. Closer to home, the four piece has played countless live shows since their 2016 inception. The rock solid line up -unchanged since day one- has delivered ferocious, high energy live performances at Eindhoven Metal Meeting, Into the Grave, Party San Metal Open Air, Ruhrpott Metal Meeting, Stonehenge, SDF2021 and many more festivals and clubs. Joining forces with LISTENABLE RECORDS in 2023 is the next thundering milestone for GRACELESS. Tirelessly working on their fourth full-length, the next chapter for GRACELESS will be another step deeper into the abyss that started with Shadowlands (2018), via Where Vultures Know Your Name (2020), to Chants from Purgatory (2022). For fans of DEATH, ASPHYX, GOREFEST, BOLT THROWER, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH

DJ Support: Richard Dorfmeister, Luke Una, Chris Coco, Phil Mison, Mickey Brown, Erki Pruul, Marco

The sweeping poem ‘Cofio’ by the great Welsh poet Waldo Williams has inspired a remarkable collaboration between Ibiza-based record label NuNorthern Soul, Welsh DJ, performer and cultural commentator Gareth Potter, composer and musician Joan Bibiloni, poet and actor Pep Tosar Vaquer, actor Rhys Ifans and musician James Baron aka JIM / Ron Basejam.

1st March is St Davids Day and Balearic Day. St David’s Day honours the death of the patron saint of Wales and the Day of the Balearic Islands the day when islands Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca became an autonomous region of Spain.

Cofio Recorda Remembrance is made up of two powerful and haunting tracks drenched in NuNorthern Soul’s unique take on the globally popular Balearic Chillout style. Un Adéu features music by Joan remixed by James Baron with Pep reading the poem in Catalan and Spanish. Badia Onírica is a tremendously atmospheric reading of ‘Cofia’ in Welsh and English by Rhys with music again arranged by James.

It connects Wales and Ibiza but, on a more universal level, Cofio Recorda Remembrance links the fundamental aspects of human existence, of, as Waldo Williams puts it ‘earth’s innumerable generations’.

a A1: 'Badia Onírica' Welsh Version
b A2: 'Badia Onírica' [English Version]
[c] A3: 'Un Adéu' [Instrumental Version]
[d] B1: 'Un Adéu' [Catalan Version]
[e] B2: 'Un Adéu' [Spanish Version]
[Instrumental Version]

For the first time, Brandt Brauer Frick’s seminal album Mr. Machine is being reissued on coloured vinyl.

‘Mr. Machine’ is a record that put them alongside names as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, but with considerably more groove. More than anything, Daniel, Jan and Paul are keen that the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble are not written off as a curiosity.

“Often people focus a lot on this whole "cross-over" aspect,” says Brauer. “We wish people would simply notice we have good chords, melodies etc. and take the music as it is. Because we make it the way we feel, and not for other, let's say purely conceptual reasons. Some only seem interested in how it’s made. Some reviewers perceive us as minimal techno, some as modern classical, some as nu jazz and so on. But we don’t divide the world into techno and nontechno.”

Originally released in 1984, following the band"s evolution from the Southern Death Cult, to Death Cult, and then simply The Cult, Dreamtime finds the outfit featuring Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, pivoting from their goth and punk roots into something eclectic, aspirational, and adventurous. Rife with lyrical references to the indigenous cultures of the Americas and Australia, and set against a more bombastic and muscular musical backdrop, Dreamtime hints at what would envelop the band over the next four decades, a dedication to their wholly unique songwriting, both musically and thematically, and the frenzy that was soon to come with the release of Love only a year later. "Spiritwalker," the first single from the album, hit #1 on the U.K."s independent chart.

Originally released in 1984, following the band"s evolution from the Southern Death Cult, to Death Cult, and then simply The Cult, Dreamtime finds the outfit featuring Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, pivoting from their goth and punk roots into something eclectic, aspirational, and adventurous. Rife with lyrical references to the indigenous cultures of the Americas and Australia, and set against a more bombastic and muscular musical backdrop, Dreamtime hints at what would envelop the band over the next four decades, a dedication to their wholly unique songwriting, both musically and thematically, and the frenzy that was soon to come with the release of Love only a year later. "Spiritwalker," the first single from the album, hit #1 on the U.K."s independent chart.

Sublime Christian folk jazz from 1970s Norway. In the '60s and '70s churches throughout Europe had serious competition for the attention of its younger members. The ecclesiastical establishment was shocked to hear teenagers expressing 'Sympathy for the Devil' rather than sympathy for Christ and his teachings. In Norway at this time the same situation was prevalent as was happening across Europe; teenagers were turning their back on the church and embracing the temptations and pleasures of the flourishing new pop culture. Priest Olaf Hillestad was all to aware of what was going on, and instead of relying on the floundering traditional methods of rounding up his flock, he embraced the musical aspirations of his younger followers. In so doing he founded the Forum Experimentale in Oslo, an organisation that promised in its statutes to "boldly work for a renewal in service life, church music and church art". It was here in the late '60s where That's Why founder members Jan Simonsen and Per Arne Løvold became responsible for the jazz masses at Forum Experimentale's chapel. Together with some top-notch musicians from other Christian music centres around the Oslo district, they recorded two albums in 1970 and 1971 under the moniker That's Why. That's Why blended deep acoustic and electric jazz with elements of Norwegian folklore and Christianity. They also included interpretations of young and old transcendental Norwegian poets such as Sidsel Mørck Krogdahl, Alfred Hauge and Aslaug Vaa, as well as introducing English and Swedish songwriters such as Åke Rosenstrøm and Charles Wesley and even William Blake's "Children of the Future Age" into the mix. This highly original fusion of secular rhythmic music, jazz improvisation and a distinguished selection of transcendental lyrics is one of the standout qualities of That's Why, separating them from more programme-orientated Christian music. The unique mix leads the listener to think they are hearing among the record grooves the tightness of grey, sober Protestantism along with the ecstasy of a lay preacher. This listener, for one, has never heard anything quite like it.

Der legendäre Rockgitarrist Steve Hackett wird sein neues Studioalbum "The Circus And The Nightwhale" am 16. Februar 2024 über InsideOut Music veröffentlichen. Die 12 Tracks von "The Circus And The Nightwhale" sind ein Rite-of-Passage-Konzeptalbum, in dessen Mittelpunkt eine junge Figur namens Travla steht. Für den Musiker haben die 13 Tracks einen autobiografischen Aspekt, der über sein 30. Solo-Album sagt: "Ich liebe dieses Album. Es sagt die Dinge, die ich schon seit langer Zeit sagen wollte." Aufgenommen zwischen den Tourneen 2022 und 2023 im Siren Studio in Großbritannien - mit Gastbeiträgen aus Schweden, Österreich, den USA, Aserbaidschan und Dänemark - umfasst die Besetzung von "The Circus And The Nightwhale" neben Steve an elektrischen und akustischen Gitarren, 12-saitiger Gitarre, Mandoline, Mundharmonika, Percussion, Bass und Gesang einige bekannte Gesichter. Roger King (Keyboards, Programmierung und orchestrale Arrangements), Rob Townsend (Saxophon), Jonas Reingold (Bass), Nad Sylvan (Gesang), Craig Blundell (Schlagzeug) und Amanda Lehmann (Gesang). Nick D'Virgilio und Hugo Degenhardt kehren als Gäste an den Drumhocker zurück, der hervorragende Tontechniker Benedict Fenner ist an den Keyboards zu hören und Malik Mansurov ist wieder an der Gitarre. Und schließlich ist auch Steves Bruder John Hackett wieder an der Flöte zu hören. Steve fasst "The Circus And The Nightwhale" wie folgt zusammen: "Es ist eine schöne Reise, die schmutzig, kratzig und rauchig beginnt und dann himmlisch und göttlich wird. Wie kann man da widerstehen?" Das Album wird als Ltd CD+Blu-ray Mediabook (inkl. 5.1 Surround Sound & Hi-Res Stereo Mixes), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 180g LP + LP-Booklet & als digitales Album erhältlich sein.

Der legendäre Rockgitarrist Steve Hackett wird sein neues Studioalbum "The Circus And The Nightwhale" am 16. Februar 2024 über InsideOut Music veröffentlichen. Die 12 Tracks von "The Circus And The Nightwhale" sind ein Rite-of-Passage-Konzeptalbum, in dessen Mittelpunkt eine junge Figur namens Travla steht. Für den Musiker haben die 13 Tracks einen autobiografischen Aspekt, der über sein 30. Solo-Album sagt: "Ich liebe dieses Album. Es sagt die Dinge, die ich schon seit langer Zeit sagen wollte." Aufgenommen zwischen den Tourneen 2022 und 2023 im Siren Studio in Großbritannien - mit Gastbeiträgen aus Schweden, Österreich, den USA, Aserbaidschan und Dänemark - umfasst die Besetzung von "The Circus And The Nightwhale" neben Steve an elektrischen und akustischen Gitarren, 12-saitiger Gitarre, Mandoline, Mundharmonika, Percussion, Bass und Gesang einige bekannte Gesichter. Roger King (Keyboards, Programmierung und orchestrale Arrangements), Rob Townsend (Saxophon), Jonas Reingold (Bass), Nad Sylvan (Gesang), Craig Blundell (Schlagzeug) und Amanda Lehmann (Gesang). Nick D'Virgilio und Hugo Degenhardt kehren als Gäste an den Drumhocker zurück, der hervorragende Tontechniker Benedict Fenner ist an den Keyboards zu hören und Malik Mansurov ist wieder an der Gitarre. Und schließlich ist auch Steves Bruder John Hackett wieder an der Flöte zu hören. Steve fasst "The Circus And The Nightwhale" wie folgt zusammen: "Es ist eine schöne Reise, die schmutzig, kratzig und rauchig beginnt und dann himmlisch und göttlich wird. Wie kann man da widerstehen?" Das Album wird als Ltd CD+Blu-ray Mediabook (inkl. 5.1 Surround Sound & Hi-Res Stereo Mixes), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 180g LP + LP-Booklet & als digitales Album erhältlich sein.

"HEALTH–the LA-based industrial-rock band of Jake Duzsik (vocals/guitar), John Famiglietti (bass/producer), and BJ Miller (drums)–today announced their new album RAT WARS will be released December 7th, 2023 via Loma Vista Recordings. The album’s first two singles are also out now at all DSPs: the menacing “CHILDREN OF SORROW,” featuring Lamb of God’s Willie Adler on guitar (YouTube link HERE), and the half-time hellscape “SICKO,” which samples Godflesh’s “Like Rats” (YouTube link HERE). Preview the singles’ upcoming visuals by James Markidis and Mynxii White via a new YouTube trailer.
The follow-up to 2019’s VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR, HEALTH’s fifth album is the most violent yet vulnerable of their career. It is somehow fitting that such a brutal collection of songs is at the same time their most comprehensive artistic statement. Meticulously aggressive production detail collides with painfully personal confessions and a strange savage grace is paired with icy gallows humor… surprisingly it’s still fun as hell.
Produced by Stint (Oliver Tree, Demi Lovato) and mixed by Lars Stalfors (SALEM, The Neighbourhood), the 12-track LP joins the lineage of groundbreaking heavy acts like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, which re-drew the borders between metal, electronic and pop music. It also speaks directly to the band’s young, fervent online subculture.
It’s The Downward Spiral for people with at least two monitors and a vitamin D deficiency.
Written during the most emotionally trying period of the band’s life, the album builds on their chaotic yet re-invigorating pandemic years. RAT WARS captures all the fury and ambition their LP’s have until now aspired to. It’s their boldest statement on the insanity and the insipidness of contemporary life.
HIGHLIGHT: Sleep Token Arena Support Tour (UK/EU) / Kerrang! Cover / Radio 1 Rock Show Session / Metal Hammer Feature / The Dome Album Release Underplay / 2024 Summer Festivals / Q4 2024 Headline"" "

For the last seven years, sound artist, technologist, and electronic musician Moisés Horta Valenzuela (aka Hexorcismos) has been studying artificial intelligence and generative art, wondering how these new technologies might be augmented into his musical process. Born in Tijuana and currently based in Berlin, Hexorcismos has long attempted to break down the permeable borders between musical styles and expressions, using the spaces in between to reinforce his politics and worldview. And on 'MUTALISMX - becoming sonic network', he expands his vision, inviting artists from across the globe to collaborate on work that questions the biases inherent in AI models, offering a collective alternative that could serve as a blueprint for further research.

The majority of AI art at this stage works with "big data", taking ideas from the cultural canon and muddying them with our contemporary reality. But if we accept that mass culture is always politically biased, always swaying towards historical prejudices, then there must be a counter-narrative. Hexorcismos began to develop a bottom-up approach, using "small data" to interrogate his idiosyncratic approach to art; he built a tool called SEMILLA.AI based on neural audio synthesis that could not only mimic his sonic fingerprint but transform it into another. So when he offered the synth to his network of collaborators, he gave them the option of either using only their data or sharing the signatures of each other artist involved in the project, blurring their identities into a mutual voice.

The result is a compilation that unspools with the coherence and fluidity of a single-artist album or adventurous DJ mix, genreless and boundless but unified by a singular message. Hunanese-American artist Kloxii Li for example takes rugged percussion and tense, industrial ambience, smudging her soundscape into a swirling gust of ghostly dissonance. Hexorcismos himself contributes two compositions: the lengthy, hypnotic 'Acaso de veras se vive con raíz en la Tierra', an AI-powered scramble of his pointed tribal guarachero experiments; and 'Interferencias', a collaboration with Mexican club veteran Bryan Dálvez, aka El Irreal Veintiuno that drives intense dancefloor rhythms into a dense haze of frozen drones and radio static. Elsewhere, Berlin-based Lebanese artist and writer Jessika Khazrik dissolves her voice into a mesh of obscured rhythms and dissociated whirrs, blending the organic with the artificial but retaining an overpowering sense of humanity.

Some artists were drawn to the nebulous aspects of the technology, searching for truth in a soup of different sounds, while others, such as KMRU, used Hexorcismos's synthesizer the examine their output. On 'hidden options', the Kenyan sound artist fed his immense catalog into the neural net, bringing out his mannerisms and tendencies in the process. Each track is singular but myriad, prompting both mutual respect and a sonic becoming, a feedback process between the artist and the tool, the individual and the collective. Data sets are made by people, and by engaging directly with musicians, Hexorcismos suggests a new way of utilizing a technology demonized and glorified without careful examination. Each artist owns their AI model, and alongside the album Hexorcismos will release SEMILLA.AI to the public (with custom-made models to start the process), allowing anyone to access this revolutionary technology.

Even the album's artwork reflects the political message, conceptualized by Chilean duo hypereikon, who used AI processes to develop a visual reflection of the technology and its possibilities. Operating outside of academia and capitalist enterprises, MUTUALISMX proposes an alternative future - one without borders that's not beholden to the Western canon, where independent labor can be prioritized and celebrated, and where creativity can truly flourish.

Soundway presents a long-awaited remaster and re-cut of the 1976 album ‘Ifetayo’ by Black Truth Rhythm Band, an important and overlooked chapter in Trinidad’s rich musical history that blends West African influences with jazz, funk and the social commentary of the calypso tradition.

Led by the charismatic Oluko Imo, the group drew on the strong connections to Yoruba culture and Orisa traditions in Trinidad, looking to Africa for inspiration and reflecting the burgeoning Black Power movement of the time.

Sepulchral Voice, 12“ LP, black 140g / printed insert, 'Procul His' ist ein unerbittlicher Katarakt aus mäandernden Riffs, der jeden Aspekt früherer Veröffentlichungen erweitert und verbessert. Einzigartig, eindringlich und mysteriös, eine weitere schwarze Manifestation von Drowned's Korpus der auralen Halluzinationen. Drowned haben ein Album produziert, das zwischen versengendem Death-Thrash, treibenden remolo-Noten und doomigen Klageliedern oszilliert und in der Zeit transzendiert: in der Vergangenheit verwurzelt, und doch nach vorne blickend.

Das neue Album der englischen Punkband The Chisel:
„Die Band wurde einst als ‚verdammter Albtraum‘ beschrieben, aber obwohl wir nette Menschen sind, akzeptieren wir das Chaos, das mit all dem
einhergeht, und fanden es daher passend, unser nächstes Album so zu betiteln. Die Lieder selbst folgen hauptsächlich diesem Thema, beziehen sich
aber auf alle Aspekte des Lebens. Textlich gibt es keine metaphorischen Bedeutungen, kein fantastisches Geschichtenerzählen, keinen prätentiösen
Blödsinn … einfach Geschichten über ein Leben, das so gelebt wird, wie es immer sein wird.“

Das neue Album der englischen Punkband The Chisel:
„Die Band wurde einst als ‚verdammter Albtraum‘ beschrieben, aber obwohl wir nette Menschen sind, akzeptieren wir das Chaos, das mit all dem
einhergeht, und fanden es daher passend, unser nächstes Album so zu betiteln. Die Lieder selbst folgen hauptsächlich diesem Thema, beziehen sich
aber auf alle Aspekte des Lebens. Textlich gibt es keine metaphorischen Bedeutungen, kein fantastisches Geschichtenerzählen, keinen prätentiösen
Blödsinn … einfach Geschichten über ein Leben, das so gelebt wird, wie es immer sein wird.“

“The band was once described as a 'fucking nightmare' to be around, whilst we are lovely people we do embrace the chaos that comes with all of this so found it fitting to title our next album as such. The songs themselves mainly follow this theme but relate to all aspects of life. Lyrically, it is more of the same... no metaphorical meanings, no fantastical story telling, no pretentious bollocks.... Just tales of a life lived as it will always be.”

Penelope Scott is a songwriter and producer who absorbs the mania and magnificence of Gen Z life in her expansive, entrancing, and extreme musical vision equally steeped in tender acoustic balladry and hyperpop paroxysms. Gathering hundreds of millions of streams and receiving widespread acclaim from Billboard and more, she showcases both sides of her sound on the 2023

double-EP, Girls Night and Mysteries for Rats.. “When I was making the project, I realized there was a split down the middle,” she reveals. “Half of the songs are in the more acoustic folky style, and the other half are computerized synth sounds. So, I decided to do multiple EPs. It gives people different options and flavors already sorted out for them.” Penelope explores every facet of who she is on the double-EP and appeals to a myriad of emotions in the process as just “a singer-songwriter, aspiring music software knower.”

toechter is an all-female trio operating from Berlin. toechter’s 2nd full-length album »Epic Wonder« sees its classically trained members blend elaborate string arrangements with ethereal indie pop and delicate rhythms. Katrine Grarup Elbo, Lisa Marie Vogel and Marie-Claire Schlameus exclusively use analogue sound sources (such as violin, viola, cello, and their voices), which were then electronically processed.

Named after the Greek god of the wind, toechters 2022 album »Zephyr« exhaled deeply with concurrently invigorating and confusing sounds. »Epic Wonder«, their second album, was created in the spring and summer of 2023. Playing with forms and contours, the music sounds like the awakening of something new. One seems to be listening to an ongoing conversation, an exchange about what music could be, where it wants to go and how it contributes to our view of life. It all rests on a simple premise:

»Every sound you hear in our universe comes from us. The string trio is the core of toechter, the starting point of all our work.«

Those looking for new worlds of sound can find them in the work of this classically- trained musicians. Whether they add voices or percussive instruments, sample the sounds, or manipulate them electronically; ultimately they are exploring the string trio's place in a world shaped by the digital.

»Prelude« opens the album, seemingly a conversation, yet not only between humans. We catch the word ›love‹ which soon morphs into pure sound images, while a violin theme tentatively takes over. Is it the dawning of a new day? The chorus of sound transforms into a fascinating rhythmic figure, creating a club-like experience that fades out in delicate structures. A perpetual transformation.

According to toechter, »Epic Wonder« is all about making connections. Connections between people, animals, plants, fungi, rocks, soils, oceans, ice caps, stars, and planets. One imagines oneself in a folk-pop song of the 60s, or even blown around by Morricone's desert wind:

»The world as we see it is in desperate need for a deeper understanding; for compassion, for empathy. We have to understand that we are all part of the same organism. Epic Wonder is a dream, a wish, a longing for kinship between all species that share the world - all that is alive.«

The acoustic throbbing and knocking in »Sea Of Serenity« makes you think of encounters with mythical creatures or planetary oceanography; and out of the mechanically clacking groove of »Shift Souls« a gentle, but steady movement awakens with voices that seem to sound from the depths of the sea. Everything is in flux, floating in and out of dimensions and elements.

The album ends with »Mercury«, spherically elegant and almost science fiction-like. Here, a pizzicato melody leads us back to the baroque, simultaneously representing a detail of intertwined sonic worlds, while the steady, housy baseline develops its driving theme.

»Creating the music for the album, we allowed ourselves to waft away with the aspiration that connections are possible. Sometimes dwelling on subtle, yet marveling phenomena like the evening fog covering a valley on Midsummer, sometimes on grandiose splendors like the genesis of mountains or the birth of a child - letting interactions and encounters with other beings float through the musical universe as drips of emotional perceptivity.«

For the visual manifestation of »Epic Wonder«, toechter has engaged with Finish up-and-coming lens-based artist Aino Kontinen. Her work will grace both the cover art of the album and accompany the first single and video as an ephemeral tale in motion.

The acclaimed Cleveland-born saxophonist Joe Lovano came to Blue Note Records in 1990 and over the next 25 years became one of the most recorded artists in the label’s history, building a formidable and far-ranging catalog that explored the full breadth of his artistry. Recorded in September 1997, Trio Fascination: Edition One stands out as one of the more remarkable sessions in Lovano’s discography with the saxophonist joining forces with two all-time legends—bassist Dave Holland and drummer Elvin Jones—in a spare trio setting that finds these three masters conversing freely. Throughout Lovano can be heard on tenor, soprano, alto, and straight alto saxophones, as well as alto clarinet, and the set consists of nine creative Lovano originals including the pulsing opener “New York Fascination,” the spacious “Sanctuary Park,” the Sam Rivers tribute “Studio Rivbea,” and a stunning rendition of the lone standard “Ghost of a Chance.” This Tone Poet Vinyl Edition marks the album’s first-ever release on vinyl.

The Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series was born out of Blue Note President Don Was’ admiration for the exceptional audiophile Blue Note LP reissues presented by Music Matters. Was brought Joe Harley, a.k.a. the “Tone Poet,” on board to curate and supervise a series of reissues from the Blue Note family of labels.

Extreme attention to detail has been paid to getting these right in every conceivable way, from the jacket graphics and printing quality to superior LP mastering (direct from the master tapes) by Kevin Gray to superb 180g audiophile LP pressings by Record Technology Inc. Every aspect of these Tone Poet releases is done to the highest possible standard. It means that you will never find a superior version. This is IT.

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Reissue des 2011 erschienenen Albums: REVOCATION haben mit Chaos Of Forms mit einem neuen Album meisterhaften modernen Metals zurück.
Wie "Cradle Robber", "Dissolution Ritual", "No Funeral", "Cretin" und andere zeigen, wurde jeder Aspekt der Band bis zur tödlichen Perfektion
verfeinert und erfüllt das Versprechen, das das vorherige Album Existence Is Futile angedeutet hat. Chaos Of Forms beweist ohne Zweifel, dass
REVOCATION ihr Handwerk beherrschen.

The Umbrellas are four renegade romantics crafting irresistible indie pop hymns. The band's self-titled 2021 debut album became a breakout moment, winning critical praise and sparking an international tour. Follow-up LP 'Fairweather Friend' goes a step further - absorbing the sonic attack of their live shows, it balances this with studio finesse, allowing the San Francisco four-piece to become the band they've always aspired to be. It's a record overflowing with highlights. The candyfloss melodies of introductory track 'Three Cheers!' are matched to an impactful percussive punch; 'Say What You Mean' finds The Umbrellas working with total confidence, letting the song ride out to its chiming conclusion, four voices working in precision. 'When You Find Out' offers rotating notes of guitar punctuated by a vocal that pushes past angst to accept a world full of hope. A lean 10 track affair, it grasps towards beatific pop while fuelled by a sense of risk, and the precision that comes from long months on the road. Allowing their live dynamic to bleed out on tape, The Umbrellas are at once more physical and yet also more controlled on their new album. It's also a record of ambition. Taking their time over each note, the four-piece have strengthened their songwriting, adding depth and assurance while unlocking their potential. Some bonds last a lifetime - The Umbrellas are ready to capture your heart. RIYL: Orange Juice, Sarah Records, early Creation, Mary Chain, C86, Lush

The weird world of Wombo is a kaleidoscopic journey of sharp turns and surprising visions, a melting pot of influences with a cheeky cheshire-cat grin that coalesce into a trippy but infinite universe of the band's own, and a portal into their unique vantage point without limitation. Already committed to living outside the traditionally-heralded country sound of the music scene in their hometown of Louisville, Sydney Chadwick (vocals) and Cameron Lowe (guitar) had previously played in punk pop band the Debauchees, and with the addition of Joel Taylor (drums) in 2016 they found a winning combination of more straightforward indie rock combined with Chadwick's pitched up, oscillating vocals and unpredictable shifts in melody that see the band moving forward at an impressive pace. Their 2020 Blossomslookdownuponus LP is a snapshot of Wombo's wide-ranging aspirations that careen across avant pop, post punk and warbly indie interludes with a sky's-the-limit approach to translating the mundanity of regular life into their own high-frequency language.

Blossomlooksdownuponus by Wombo, released 2 February 2024, includes the following tracks: "Ginkobiloba", "Blossom Bear", "Chugging", "Black Hole Sun II" and more.

This version of Blossomlooksdownuponus comes as a 1xLP.

The vinyl is pressed as a baby blue disc.

"He’ll always be a man of his people, but Jamie Webster’s message has cut through hearts all over the land since the folk troubadour’s debut album ‘We Get By’ in 2020. The songwriting may have evolved from those defiant early days on the acoustic guitar, but the hard-hitting storytelling that made his name remains as he continues to give a voice to the masses through towering anthems to hold close through uncertain times.
Though born from frustration and adversity, Webster's music has always managed to encapsulate a sense of unity and togetherness through tough times. Take the breakthrough single ‘Weekend In Paradise’ which distills a living for the weekend ideology of the working classes. An anthem just about everyone working nine to five can relate to, the flagship single speaks volumes of the journey so far as it surpasses 20 million streams on Spotify alone. His second album ‘Moments’ charted in the Official UK Album Chart #3, Indie Chart #2, Official Vinyl Chart #2, Scottish Album Chart #2. The scale of public support for the songs of singular, life-as-he-sees-it-singing, aspirational indie voice of Jamie Webster looks set to reach new heights as he announces the release of his third album, 10 For The People, on Fri 2 February 2024 with Modern Sky UK. While working confidently towards his third Top Ten album chart finish early next year, Webster’s Pied Piper-pull is set to draw a previously unimaginable 40,000 fans to one place as he also announces a HUGE outdoor headline show at Sefton Park, Liverpool on Fri 12 July 2024. "

"He’ll always be a man of his people, but Jamie Webster’s message has cut through hearts all over the land since the folk troubadour’s debut album ‘We Get By’ in 2020. The songwriting may have evolved from those defiant early days on the acoustic guitar, but the hard-hitting storytelling that made his name remains as he continues to give a voice to the masses through towering anthems to hold close through uncertain times.
Though born from frustration and adversity, Webster's music has always managed to encapsulate a sense of unity and togetherness through tough times. Take the breakthrough single ‘Weekend In Paradise’ which distills a living for the weekend ideology of the working classes. An anthem just about everyone working nine to five can relate to, the flagship single speaks volumes of the journey so far as it surpasses 20 million streams on Spotify alone. His second album ‘Moments’ charted in the Official UK Album Chart #3, Indie Chart #2, Official Vinyl Chart #2, Scottish Album Chart #2. The scale of public support for the songs of singular, life-as-he-sees-it-singing, aspirational indie voice of Jamie Webster looks set to reach new heights as he announces the release of his third album, 10 For The People, on Fri 2 February 2024 with Modern Sky UK. While working confidently towards his third Top Ten album chart finish early next year, Webster’s Pied Piper-pull is set to draw a previously unimaginable 40,000 fans to one place as he also announces a HUGE outdoor headline show at Sefton Park, Liverpool on Fri 12 July 2024. "

Erupt Records has suffered its first Unrest Hazard. After keeping the lid on a beast this explosive, what did you think was going to happen?

This new series of '4 on 1' EPs from the mighty label, will showcase several of the best producers from the UK (sometimes even beyond!) breakbeat hardcore/jungle scene on 1 record, be they old or new.

The first track from Schoco (Omni Music) is "I Need". Let yourself go to wispy, dream-state synthlines over ferocious breakz.

Track 2 is a bouncy piano anthem for anybody who likes hearing the words "1993" and "happy" in the same sentence. This one is brought to you by After The Zenith. Usually resident cover artist for Erupt, this time he grabs the steering wheel and gears up to present you a bit of his own 'ardcore.

Next up is some brutality from Tactical Aspect. Need no more be said than these lads are one of Australia's finest purveyors of hardcore junglism, with a portfolio including works for Reinforced Records. But, with a recent move back to Yorkshire, and following an initiation into the West Yorkshire Jungle Collective, it only made sense for TA to deliver some unrelenting '93 style breakbeat hardcore brutality to celebrate.

The final track "When Did We Forget" is a get together from the lads at Kool FM, Code and Subbreak, with D-Region. Any time you see these names together, it commands serious respect. This is one for anybody who likes those hazy breakbeat hardcore tracks that tread a fine line between hard and euphoric.

What are you waiting for?

Erupt Records was established in 2016 to cover tougher, faster styles of electronic dance music, with a view of openness towards introducing contemporary influences alongside the familiar; Hardcore that reflects today, not yesterday. The objective? Push the boundaries, keep the drums raw, compromise for noone.

A Bad Diana is a project from Diana Rogerson, someone I first became aware of aged 12 when I read about Nurse With Wound and their United Dairies label in Smash Hits magazine. I was confused, mystified and intrigued in equal measure, and a couple of years later as a result I bought my first Nurse With Wound album. This led to an interest in all things NWW related. I guess Diana could be described as the matriarch of the Nurse With Wound world but she also had her own very distinguished pre-history with Fistfuck, an early-80s extreme noise outfit. She then made two mid 80s cult classic albums as Chrystal Belle Scrodd, both far out there rollercoaster rides of audio wildness, highly recommended to anyone with wide open ears. She then moved to rural Ireland and raised a family. There was the odd collaboration and then in 2007 A Bad Diana’s “The Lights Are On But No-One’s Home” was released on CD. I feel this is her meisterwerk and it has become something of a cult favourite over the years. Now for the first time, almost two decades later it is available on vinyl on Optimo Music Archiv. Produced in association with Steven Stapleton and Colin Potter from Nurse With Wound and irr. app. (ext.)’s Matt Waldron this is some seriously beautiful and strange listening. Next level sound design means this is an incredible headphone record but it is also a deeply warm and engaging home listening gem. Beautiful, magical, ultra hypno, soulful reverberations with the deep emotion of Diana’s voice tones and bio-vibrations.

Musician/sound artist Mariske Broeckmeyer (MARIS) and author/poet Astrid Haerens found each other in their shared love of experimental music, improvisation and jazz. They discovered common ground in their artistic work, in their thinking, in their love for art and literature, and started a conversation that has not ceased.

They both make work that focuses on physicality, femininity and (the failure of) the voice, among other things. Their work revolves around the knowledge that a body carries, and how you can start from there instead of just the cerebral and analytical, aspects that are seen as predominantly masculine and often central to literature.

In 2022, the two worked together for the first time on their literary jazz project around the effects of power structures on a woman's body, bringing a breath of fresh air to the predominantly male jazz scene. MARIS and Astrid invited Jasmijn Lootens, a hybrid cellist who combines classical training with electronic music, to dive even deeper into the research and crossover between poetry, spoken word, performance, sound art and music together.

During the dreaded lockdown of 2020, many people found themselves working from home, or with much more time spare than they had previously. Vasts amounts of music was being offered during this period as a result. I’ll be honest, the name Riffz I had no experience of at the time, unlike Msymiakos, which was a name I was already familiar with. The most compelling aspect of my curiosity before listening was that I was intrigued by the geographic blend of Poland and Norway. How would these distant locales combine to decipher their thoughts into this great sound we all know and love. Once I had listened, the word ‘no’ was nowhere within the vicinity of my vocabulary. Hear for yourself.

3 years in the making we return for Volume 2 of our 'Architects' series.

'The Architects Volume 2 : Alchemy' features 14 heavyweight artists representing their unique style within the Dubstep sound.

Truth, Mystic State, Cimm, Mythm and Unkey see a return to the label alongside label head J:Kenzo.

The compilation also invites new names to the Artikal fold including Fluidity, The Untouchables and Drumterror.

All aspects of Dubstep are catered for in this 14 track journey, from the Deep to the Dancefloor to the Dubwise...

EASYGOING PORTRAIT OF DOWN-HOME SOUL SINGER COMING INTO HIS OWN AND ESTABLISHING AN INDELIBLE BOND BETWEEN PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE
1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analogue master to DSD 64 to analogue console to lathe


On par with the most treasured concert albums of the 60s and 70s, Bill Withers' transformative Live at Carnegie Hall is a forgotten classic – an easygoing portrait of a down-home soul artist coming into his own in front of an audience eager to share every moment of his brilliance. Soothing with subtlety, charming with calmness, and healing with a vocal timbre as relaxing as his grooves, Withers uses the stage to expand the range of favorites and engage in dialog with the crowd. Distinguished with sonics that restore the performances' balance and improve the sound-staging, this reissue takes you inside the venue.

Moreover, aspects that really make this concert document unique – the energetic crowd, Withers and his band's willingness to extend arrangements, and the undeniable communicative bond between the performer and his fans – are brought into fuller relief. While most live albums give you the sense of what transpired, our reissue allows it to seem that what you're hearing and sensing is happening right now, in the moment. You are as much a participant as listener. For this reason and more, Live at Carnegie Hall ranks with James Brown's Live at the Apollo and B.B. King's Live at the Regal. No small claims, but the proof is in the grooves.

The antithesis of the sweaty R&B shouter that prowls the edge of stages, Withers deals in mellowness and vulnerability, qualities that come to fore. The songs here span soul, blues, and folk and often times, contain elements of all three styles. Live at Carnegie Hall also deals with serious subject matter with unflinching honesty and simple directness. Companionship, poverty, war, maturity, family, and love all crop up within Withers' tunes, yet the messages are never overly cumbersome or preachy. Credit goes to his easygoing style and relatable lyrics, not to mention a tight-as-a-vice band that on this night is simply "on."


"One more time?" Withers asks in response to a request for another stanza during "Use Me," and like the snap of fingers, his musicians are right back on cue, the crowd clapping along on every beat. This classic, as well as the instantly familiar "Ain't No Sunshine," poignant "Grandma's Hands," and all-time favorite "Lean On Me" are delivered with utmost soulfulness, passion, and electricity. Few, if any, live albums demonstrate such a bond between the crowd and artist as Live at Carnegie Hall. You'll definitely want to be there.

Trailblazing instrumental synth pop experiments created to soundtrack Japan’s booming 1980s cartoon and comic industries. The brightly futuristic instrumentals on this collection reflect the mindset of composers and musicians who believed in a technological future where everything was possible.

In the late 1980s Japan experienced a brief but heady period where societal changes combined with new-found wealth to open up a world of possibilities. A huge influx of cash - artificially created by slashed interest rates after an agreement with the US to weaken the dollar relative to the yen - resulted in the inflation of real estate and stock market at a rapid pace. While the economic bubble it created was unprecedented and impossible to sustain, for a while money was in plentiful supply.

The musical genre City Pop reflected the aspirations of the country’s booming leisure class. Video games flourished with Nintendo's 1983 launch of their Family Computer (or FamiCom). Studio Ghibli was founded 1985 to later became one of the most famous and respected animation studios in the world, and Anime and Manga were established as major forms of entertainment for all generations of the Japanese public.

Music was no mere footnote to the anime and manga boom: the two forms of media often went hand in hand, and not simply through the presence of background melodies. With generous budgets available, even two-dimensional static manga comics could be released with an accompanying soundtrack of original music known as an ‘Image Album’.

Composer and arranger Kazuhiko Izu was one such beneficiary of this open budget approach. Written to accompany artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga comic Domu, the composer and arranger took advantage of the world-leading (and wallet-busting) Japanese synthesiser technology available at King Records’ fully equipped studio. Featured on this compilation, A3: Act 2 Scene 26 reflected the story’s sci fi themes with a blazingly futuristic yet warmly funky slice of synth pop that presents a joyful celebration of synthesisers and their seemingly endless possibilities.

Kan Ogasawara was another composer who made early mastery of the litany of synthesisers, drum machines and sequencers that had become available. Two tracks written to accompany the 1985 period manga Yume No Ishibumi are featured here; Honowo’s experimental electronic textures add spice to a jaunty electro pop melody that recalls the Rah band’s 1983 hit Messages From Stars; the jazz-tinged Utage rounds out Ogasawara’s shimmering synth textures with beautifully crafted backing from legendary musicians Yuji Toriyama (guitar), Pecker (percussion) and Jun Fukamachi (piano).

Before becoming one of the pioneers of Japanese Kankyo Ongaku (Ambient Music), Takashi Kokubo worked on the proto techno track Kiki (Jungle At Night). It was put together for the 1984 anime film Shonen Keniya (Kenya Boy) using some of the most expensive music technologies available at the time. This Africa-Inspired dance track offers a contemporary parallel to the early techno music that young Detroit based producers were then creating using cheap Japanese Roland drum machines and synthesisers.

This is the first compilation of Japanese anime and manga soundtracks curated by Kay Suzuki and Rintaro Sekizuka from Vinyl Delivery Service (a Tokyo based online record shop which also operates in East London's renowned wine and hifi shop Idle Moments). With a cover by artist Kazuki Takakura and two pages of liner notes, this vinyl only compilation of music never before released outside of Japan, captures a vital aural snapshot of an era whose forward-thinking sounds went hand in hand with cutting edge technology.

I see lucid blue flames moving before my eyes.
I hear voices melting. Voices somewhere from within.
Speaking words I do not know but feel connected to, almost as if I have known the meaning once..
Noises that obscures the multiple pictures hidden in these digital compositions.
Iku Sakan have created a set of five tracks that takes the listener on a
trip deep into the human psyché. Emotional flickering movements that twists and turns. The albums have a darker, much more intense feel than some of Ikus earlier magical and often hypnotic music. A myriad of different voices creates pulsing patterns and constantly morphing pictures for my inner eye. It's an album that might work as a hack to our lingual structures, pushing limits, pushing possibilities of meaning.

A pool of over-saturated information boils and out of the vapor new contours take form.
The magical and hypnotic is not gone, I still recognise the softer aspects of Ikus highly detailed hybrid sound design. But I no longer see where it takes me. It excites me. It feels like the world is expanding again, breathing. The sounds on the album asks us questions and points in several directions at once. In the shadows, weeds of lucid dreams grow deeper roots, reaching for my inner ear.

The faint sounds on the track Nature Morte reminds me of expeditions to the local witch house ruins as a child. Something almost not there, something felt. History, Memories and the connection between the two seems to have played a part in these compositions. Emotional reactions that plant reactions in other people, all around creating soft movements on the face of our planet.

Whether our collective psyché is an open field or an impenetrable dark forest, is of less concern with a key like Omnitopoeia, that works like an enhanced mirror, reflecting the dreams of the words we speak everyday, reflecting the emotional charges of significant places. Unrecognisable but still remembered.

David Tattersall, the Wave Pictures guitarist and frontman releases a solo album of interpretations of John Fahey tunes, recorded live in the studio. "I have been a fan of John Fahey's music since I was very young; it has always been with me and I can't remember a time when I wasn't affected by it. It is weird music, and very good. Of course, Fahey is an important cult figure in the history of music: as the first man to find a language for steel string guitar that can stand proudly alongside the established tradition of nylon string classical guitar; as one of many men who rediscovered obscure old blues musicians and recorded them for a new generation in the 1960s; as one uniquely able to reconcile 20th century avant-garde music with folk tradition; as an early indie-label DIY pioneer. For me personally, Fahey went beyond technique, and to some extent beyond historical or intellectual justifications for his work. He explored his emotions through his instrument of choice, and in so doing made the case for the guitar as the ultimate conduit for emotional expression. While there are many imitators who try to play ''like Fahey'', I avoided using his fingerpicking style or sense of rhythm, and tried instead to use his music to explore my own emotions, my own dreams and memories. I was more interested in the lyrical and expressive aspects of Fahey's music than in the techniques of it. I tried to find myself within his compositions and without composing anything I feel that I have managed to make a David Tattersall record that says as much about me as any of the many albums that I have written. John Fahey's beautiful discography shows that the guitar can carry as much mystery and soul as the human voice, and simply put, I wanted in on a little of this action. This is my second all-instrumental solo acoustic album, and where this differs from my first attempt, Little Martha, is that here I improvised freely. I used Fahey's originals only as guides. I'm not sure what I was looking for, perhaps something beyond explanation, but I tried to be as free as possible, and I am delighted by the spontaneous results. Hopefully, they will make the listener feel happy and dreamy, just like the effect that Fahey's many albums have on me. One of the most important things that Fahey ever said was his advice to guitarists to try to feel the emotions that each chord they play on a guitar brings forth. He is telling guitarists to not only play the guitar, but to let the guitar play them. I did my best to follow this advice. I hope you enjoy listening to the album, that it brings you some dreamy moments, and that it sends you back to happily explore the originals. I had a great time recording it. Naturally, I can't put the experience adequately into words but that's the whole point. I think Fahey was a genius of the kind that creates a whole genre single-handedly. There could be thousands, millions, of reinterpretations of his compositions. In fact, there probably already are. And long may this continue. All tracks were recorded live with no tampering."

Van Halen did more than announce to the world the earthshaking arrival of a revolutionary guitarist. Performed by an enterprising California quartet that took its name from two of its principal members, the 1978 debut ripped headlines away from punk, injected fresh energy into a then-moribund rock 'n' roll scene, reimagined how heavy music and throwback pop could coexist, and invited everyone to experience the top-down pleasures of a beach-front Saturday night every day of the week no matter where they lived. Painstakingly restored by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, and the first of a multi-album series in an exciting partnership between the famous reissue label and Van Halen, Van Halen delivers feel-good thrills and hormonally charged desires like never before.

Limited to 12,000 numbered copies, pressed on dead-quiet MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original analogue master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition pays tribute to the record's merit and allows fans to experience Van Halen's original blend of raw power, Hollywood flair, and vaudeville fun for generations to come. Playing with reference-setting sonics that elevate a 10-times-platinum landmark whose importance cannot be quantitatively measured, this definitive version provides a clear, clean, transparent, balanced, and turn-the-volume-up-to-11 view of an album that birthed entirely new styles. Since MoFi's unique SuperVinyl compound allows you to crank the decibels to your wildest desires without risking noise-floor interference, prepare to not only hear but feel Van Halen in your chest, no fifth-row concert seat necessary.

The premium packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S Van Halen pressing befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe box, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artefact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the iconic cover art to the meticulous finishes and, yes, of course, Eddie Van Halen's pioneering fretwork and his brother Alex's double-bass percussion.

Indeed, could a piece of music that transformed how countless guitarists approached their instrument be more fittingly named than "Eruption"? Likely not, and in just 102 seconds, Eddie Van Halen rewrote, reimagined, and reconfigured a vocabulary last significantly updated a decade earlier by fellow six-string wizard Jimi Hendrix. Akin to the Washington State legend, Eddie Van Halen developed his own techniques and tones all the while making his seismic accomplishments seem effortless. Devoid of the pretence, ego, and showiness that infected many of his imitators, the Dutch native sticks to a straightforward approach that underlines the authority, prowess, and visionary scope of his playing and then-unheard-of finger-tapping skills. Throughout Van Halen, he establishes himself as an instant idol – a savant whose otherworldly combination of breadth, poise, feel, speed, force, and melody seems beamed in from another galaxy.

As does nearly every song on the record, whose cohesiveness and dynamic put into perspective the advanced chemistry and one-for-all spirit the youthful band had out of the gates. Having paid its dues for years in bars and clubs – going as far as recording a 24-track demo for Kiss bassist Gene Simmons at Village Recorders only to be spurned by management companies that felt its music wouldn't go anywhere – Van Halen finally got a deserved break when Warner Bros. executives signed the group in 1977. The subsequent recording sessions further testify on behalf of the band's synergy and alignment. Completed in just a few weeks with producer Ted Templeman, Van Halen was primarily cut live in the studio with minimal overdubs and edits. The explosiveness, energy, and electricity remain definitive, and as heard on this UD1S set, put the group on a private stage – humming amplifiers, Frankenstrat guitar, bright spotlights, sweaty headbands, and then some.

Van Halen yielded just one hit in the form of a Top 40 single (a breathless cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me") but practically every song on the revered LP has become a staple. Named the 202nd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone and considered by countless experts as one of the best debuts in history, the record displays what can happen with four distinct talents gel and strive for the same purposes. In Van Halen's case, the latter almost always involved partying, freedom, sex, and, in the immortal words of singer David Lee Roth, living "life like there's no tomorrow." The celebration manifests from the opening notes of the strutting "Runnin' with the Devil" – announced with the blare of droning car horns, Michael Anthony's robust bass line, and Alex Van Halen's thumping drumming – and continues through the conclusion of the white-hot "On Fire," goosed by Eddie Van Halen's race-track-ready lines, Roth's flamboyant deliveries, and the rhythm section's cat-like pounce.

Picking out individual highlights on Van Halen is akin to trying to count all the stars in a clear nighttime desert sky: There are far too many to identify, once you see one you notice another dozen you didn't spot before, and the cluster is best enjoyed as a whole. What's evident over repeat listens is the sheer diversity, a fact that's often overlooked: The high harmonies and background funk of "Jamie's Cryin'"; the insistent cane-and-a-tophat shuffle and doo-wop shoo-bop vocal break on "I'm the One"; the throwback acoustic blues that spreads into fast-paced, single-entendre wildfire on the Roth-led standout interpretation of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man." Like the man says, on Van Halen, all the flavours are guaranteed to satisfy.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior


Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master recordings, painstakingly transfer them to DSD 256, and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl


Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

Claude Sicre ist einer der Pioniere der Verteidigung und Anerkennung der okzitanischen Kultur, französicher Chansonier, auch bekannt als Mitglied der Fabulous Trobadors, und positiver Mensch. Es ist ein Projekt, das Francis Cabrel sehr am Herzen lag. Er wollte ein Lied als Hymne an seine Stadt, seine Region komponieren. Neben dem musikalischen Aspekt hat Francis auch das Cover gemalt, das Video gezeichnet und produziert. Mit der gleichen Logik wird dieses Sammlerstück natürlich auch in einer unabhängigen Struktur (u.a. Label/Vertriebe) veröffentlicht. Hier ein paar Worte von Francis Cabrel: "Das Wortspiel ist so klein, wie die Figur groß ist. Ein Stück von Sicre (Claude), oder "sucre" (Zucker), also Positivität, Wohlwollen, Humor, Gelehrsamkeit all das in deinem schwarzen Kaffee.....ein Tag in Toulouse beginnt." Es ist eine Hommage an diese Stadt, die mir sehr am Herzen liegt. Zwischen der Rue Caraman und der Rue Matabiau habe ich dort meine ersten Lieder gesungen und aufgenommen. Da der Platz nicht ausreicht, möchte ich ihnen hier danken, insbesondere Richard und Daniel Seff, Jean-Pierre Mader, Michel Art Mengo, Émile, Images und Gold, all denen, die das Chanson aus der Region Toulouse so groß gemacht haben, nach dem großen Claude, dem alle folgen. Einseitig bespielte 7'-Vinyl-Single mit dem Titel Une Morceau De Sicre, die Farbe der Platte hier ist Ozean-Blau.

Claude Sicre ist einer der Pioniere der Verteidigung und Anerkennung der okzitanischen Kultur, französicher Chansonier, auch bekannt als Mitglied der Fabulous Trobadors, und positiver Mensch. Es ist ein Projekt, das Francis Cabrel sehr am Herzen lag. Er wollte ein Lied als Hymne an seine Stadt, seine Region komponieren. Neben dem musikalischen Aspekt hat Francis auch das Cover gemalt, das Video gezeichnet und produziert. Mit der gleichen Logik wird dieses Sammlerstück natürlich auch in einer unabhängigen Struktur (u.a. Label/Vertriebe) veröffentlicht. Hier ein paar Worte von Francis Cabrel: "Das Wortspiel ist so klein, wie die Figur groß ist. Ein Stück von Sicre (Claude), oder "sucre" (Zucker), also Positivität, Wohlwollen, Humor, Gelehrsamkeit all das in deinem schwarzen Kaffee.....ein Tag in Toulouse beginnt." Es ist eine Hommage an diese Stadt, die mir sehr am Herzen liegt. Zwischen der Rue Caraman und der Rue Matabiau habe ich dort meine ersten Lieder gesungen und aufgenommen. Da der Platz nicht ausreicht, möchte ich ihnen hier danken, insbesondere Richard und Daniel Seff, Jean-Pierre Mader, Michel Art Mengo, Émile, Images und Gold, all denen, die das Chanson aus der Region Toulouse so groß gemacht haben, nach dem großen Claude, dem alle folgen. Einseitig bespielte 7'-Vinyl-Single mit dem Titel Une Morceau De Sicre, die Farbe der Platte hier ist Ozean-Blau.

After releasing his seventh - arguably best and most popular album - The Odd Shower, The Bitter Springs' singer / songwriter Simon Rivers reinvented himself as Poor Performer, whose own debut, Like Yer Wounds Too, followed the same winning formula, widened somewhat by the inclusion of songs with a greater fragile beauty and introspection . . . though rarely without a degree of self-effacing humour and a rather stylish wit. Decades of self-releasing compact disc-only albums from the far southwestern suburbs of London, with scant regard for promotion or the normal machinations of showbiz - touring, for instance - did little to spread the word about Rivers' unique and prestigious talents. A conversational singer with a delightfully warm and convivial stone, Rivers' sense of the absurd and willingness to portray aspects of life generally unrecognised by pop music, one supposes it's not entirely unfair to have expect Top of The Pops to come calling. Yet the relative absence of cult of Simon Rivers fans is somewhat perplexing, for his lyrics, ideas and tunes all do merit it. There's little affectation in the sense of stage persona, but heaps of personality and intriguing, occasional perverse idea. It's hard to listen to anything he's down without a degree of sheer enjoyment. It's real, without affectation. The very real bumps heads with the slightly mental, just like in life! So what does this new guise - Oldfield Youth Club - have to offer? It's partially a revival of Rivers' first 'real' band, Last Party, and it displays hallmarks of that band's youthful energy. There's a bit of teen glam in Good News I'm Afraid and (Theme From Oldfield Youth Club, even while lead track We're The OYC and When Bob Grant Ruled The World add a dollop of an energetic ruefulness to the mix. A Kind Of Loving In A Loveless Town is an immediate classic, a song one could hear dozens of times before really reaching the core of its magic and majesty. Lest this sound like the work of a solo artist, it does feel like a band - a rather clever one, in fact. Including members Kim Rivers and Neil Palmer (both from Last Party), as well as trumpeter / vocalist Alison Targett, Oldfield Youth Club is a band with an obvious musical kinship. There's a connection to the literal style of Vic Godard's Subway Sect (and members have been shared between both acts) or early Go-Betweens . . . there's an alchemical sensibility shared by all three acts wherein their words and tunes inform each other in a deceptively casual but arresting manner. It's hard not to love, a rare work that earns immediate affection and just grows better from there.

David Tattersall, the Wave Pictures guitarist and frontman releases a solo album of interpretations of John Fahey tunes, recorded live in the studio. "I have been a fan of John Fahey's music since I was very young; it has always been with me and I can't remember a time when I wasn't affected by it. It is weird music, and very good. Of course, Fahey is an important cult figure in the history of music: as the first man to find a language for steel string guitar that can stand proudly alongside the established tradition of nylon string classical guitar; as one of many men who rediscovered obscure old blues musicians and recorded them for a new generation in the 1960s; as one uniquely able to reconcile 20th century avant-garde music with folk tradition; as an early indie-label DIY pioneer. For me personally, Fahey went beyond technique, and to some extent beyond historical or intellectual justifications for his work. He explored his emotions through his instrument of choice, and in so doing made the case for the guitar as the ultimate conduit for emotional expression. While there are many imitators who try to play ''like Fahey'', I avoided using his fingerpicking style or sense of rhythm, and tried instead to use his music to explore my own emotions, my own dreams and memories. I was more interested in the lyrical and expressive aspects of Fahey's music than in the techniques of it. I tried to find myself within his compositions and without composing anything I feel that I have managed to make a David Tattersall record that says as much about me as any of the many albums that I have written. John Fahey's beautiful discography shows that the guitar can carry as much mystery and soul as the human voice, and simply put, I wanted in on a little of this action. This is my second all-instrumental solo acoustic album, and where this differs from my first attempt, Little Martha, is that here I improvised freely. I used Fahey's originals only as guides. I'm not sure what I was looking for, perhaps something beyond explanation, but I tried to be as free as possible, and I am delighted by the spontaneous results. Hopefully, they will make the listener feel happy and dreamy, just like the effect that Fahey's many albums have on me. One of the most important things that Fahey ever said was his advice to guitarists to try to feel the emotions that each chord they play on a guitar brings forth. He is telling guitarists to not only play the guitar, but to let the guitar play them. I did my best to follow this advice. I think Fahey was a genius of the kind that creates a whole genre single-handedly. There could be thousands, millions, of reinterpretations of his compositions. In fact, there probably already are. And long may this continue. All tracks were recorded live with no tampering

Repress

As we continue the five part journey to say goodbye to the Telomere Plastic series, we as always, are excited to share with you Telomere 020.2.

This second VA, features producers, Anderson, Aspetuck, Bænglund and Watch Patrol.

We begin off the record with ‘Funk Inspector’ from Bænglund. The track name here sums it up pretty well. Full on quirky funk in the airwaves. A delicious cut to keep everyone on there toes!
Next on the A2 we have Aspetuck with his ‘As the Fog Rolls In’, Starting off with a bubbly soundscape the track progresses into a hypnotic acidic journey keeping the mood deep and melancholic. Handle this one with care!

On the B1 we have Anderson who delivers another deep and beautifully crafted soundscape. This is a timeless tune that takes you on a sonic journey from start to finish. This will work wonders on the dance floor and during your introspective moments laying in bed with your headphones bumping.

Lastly, we close out the release with the one and only Watch Patrol who we have all dearly missed. We hope you enjoy this slowed down IDM breakbeat gem!

Very limited black copies as always with a few colored copies available via the Wex bandcamp, be quick!

2023 Reissue

Berlin based HipHop producer S. Fidelity presents his sophomore and full packaged concept album “Fidelity Radio Club” via Jakarta Records.

Four years after his Jakarta Records debut “A Safe Place to Be Naked” S. Fidelity has matured as a producer and as an artist: working and recording in London, Los Angeles, Paris and Johannesburg while building up his Manolo Purple Studios in Berlin with longtime collaborator, labelmate and soul brother Bluestaeb.

In 2021 S. Fidelity finally returns to the main program with his brand new solo album “Fidelity Radio Club” shaped in form of a genre crossing radio show exploring HipHop, R&B, Jazz, House and Funk in all their depths, creating the multi-layered album he always dreamt to do as he orchestrates a stoking line-up of equally talented friends and fellows like Bluestaeb, Melodiesinfonie, Suff Daddy, K, Le Maestro, Àbáse and many more while still delivering that very personal note every classic producer album needs and comes with. Or as the artist himself would put it: “17 different artists, producers and instrumentalists from all over the world helped me to bring this vision to life.”

According to that the albums 1st single features Singer NDO from Florida, giving life to the hard hitting R&B gem “Mixed Signals” where warm neo soul harmonies meet with classic R&B vibes of early 2000. The song made it to Spotify’s Butter Playlist right away and was picked for Deezer’s “Date Night” Playlist and Apple Music’s New Music Daily as well and received shout outs and further Playlist-placements by music blogs like Stereofox or MOW Mag.

The 2nd single comes as a double single featuring pianist, producer and main protagonist of Berlin’s prog-jazz scene Àbáse on “Me At The Zoo” (reminding its listeners of London’s new wave of jazz around Kamaal Williams or Yussef Dayes) on one side and the energetic, funk influenced disco tune “Something Good” on the other side.

The 3rd and final single “Love International Inc.” then comes with a bumpy up tempo drum beat, which develops into an energetic and jazzy lo-fi house/deep house loop, featuring none other than Zürich’s finest Melodiesinfonie as well as Paris-based Bluestaeb, marking this supergroup’s 2nd appearance and giving a glimpse of what’s yet to come.

Each of the album’s single cuts comes with a visual treatment by HipHop’s favorite photographer Robert Winter and his team (The Ottos), matching sound and artwork accordingly while the record’s amazing and unique artwork comes from the Swiss based creative studio HOMI. The record itself contains a sticker sheet with customized S. Fidelity and “Fidelity Radio Club” stickers as well.

The whole album campaign is further accompanied by the Fidelity Radio Show hosted by S. Fidelity himself, sitting down with his featured guests talking about the music they love and they draw inspiration from – broadcasted via S. Fidelity’s own youtube channel releasing its episodes in between the album’s single drops.

After his participation in a masterpiece such as Popol Vuh’s Hosianna Mantra, in the early 1980s Klaus Wiese produced a series of seminal works in the field of ambient-drone and healing music. The first of these, Baraka, was released on tape by Acquamarin in 1981, and already contained all the aspects of his future research into the mysticism of sound. Wiese shares the path with other German explorers such as Hamel, Fricke, Micus or Deuter, but he focuses his attention on the most essential nature of sounds, on their acoustic purity, which is always infinite spiral, vortex of frequencies and cosmic bath. It takes only a few means (zither, tampoura, cybals, singing bowls) to reach the absolute through vibration. Like the archaic mood of a great universal harmony, the sound suggests a complete state of otherworldly meditation, an enveloping cloud of peace in the eternity of the present. The musician is only the one who distributes and directs the thickenings of ethereal matter, microtonal agglomerates, cascades of celestial harmonics and emotional floods, petals and stems of devotion.

Ross Mc Millan Aka Carlos Nilmmns Started His Career Over 10 Years Ago With Skylax Records. From His 1st Ep "Red" It Is a Statement. a Subtle Mix of House, Techno All Embellished With Striking Cinematographic Landscapes. There Followed a Multitude of Releases on Skylax (Blue Ep) but Also Ornaments, 4lux or Even Circus Company. He Has Just Recently Released 2 Fabulous Remixes for the Soul of the Makossa Man Project (Warehouse Classic 5 & 6). and It Is Logically in View of the Incredible Level He Has Reached in the Development of His Remixes That We Offered Him to Make a New Ep. There Is in This New 12 Inch His Very Personal Touch to the Deep and Sensual but Also Latin House Influences That Surely Would Not Have Denied the Maw but Also the Great David Mancuso (The Loft) Who if He Were Still Alive, We Think Would Have Loved This Ep (Rip). Indeed, Ross Also Manages to Integrate Into His Songs Cinematic Landscapes Worthy of Lalo Schifrin of the 1970s While Maintaining a Club Aspect. Latin Tapes Is One of the Most Beautiful House Bangers We've Heard in a Long Time, a Real Ode to Party and Life. No Love Lost Is Eyeing Moodymann, Mcde and the Brilliant and Forgotten Trus'me. Hootenanny Looks Nothing More or Less Than Isaac Hayes From His Blaxploitation Period. Everything Else Is on the Same Level: City of Love, Sunset Over Antoni De Portmany (Balearic Nights) & Life in the Loire. the Real Question Would Be to Know How He Manages to Obtain This Sound So Classy, ​​the Impression That He Is Accompanied Throughout the Ep by the Philadelphia International Rhythm Section (Gamble & Huff) an Orchestra of Seasoned Musicians. Probably One of the Finest House Records (Or Even Just Music) to Be Released This Year by a Talent as Singular as It Is Elusive. This 12 Inch Is a Masterpiece of Elegance and Refinement....

The band quickly garnered attention with their explosive live performances and a unique sound that effortlessly blends elements of hardcore punk and metal.

The band's lineup features members from the renowned group Cult Leader, bringing a wealth of experience and a collective passion for creating music that resonates with listeners on a visceral level. With their debut album, 'Pessimist', set to release on October 27th via Church Road Records, RILE is poised to make a resounding impact on the music world.

Pessimist is a cathartic journey through the depths of human emotion, delving into themes of inner turmoil, existential struggles, and the darker aspects of the human psyche. From start to finish, the album showcases RILE's exceptional musicianship and their ability to craft songs that are both haunting and sonically crushing.

Drawing influences from bands like Converge and Trap Them,
essimist delivers a relentless onslaught of churning riffs, blistering drums, and gut- wrenching vocals. The band's tight- knit chemistry and artistic cohesion shine through on tracks like lead single 'Climb Out', where they seamlessly weave together melody and aggression to create an unforgettable sonic experience.

With their heartfelt and thought- provoking lyrics, RILE lays bare their
vulnerabilities and fears, inviting listeners to confront their own inner demons. The album's dynamic production enhances the intensity of each track, immersing the audience in a maelstrom of sound that leaves a lasting impact

Meteora - a chain of Greek-Byzantine monasteries was built around the 14th century on top of sandstone rock formations in the fading range of the Pindus Mountains, in the Thessalian lowlands of Greece At an over 600 meters high, some of them were only accessible by rope ladders or winches for hundreds of years. Makiko Hirabayashi learned of this place during a concert tour to Athens and was immediately captivated by its symbolic power: the isolated units which nevertheless exist in a larger context; fragile and floating, but at the same time firmly grounded. The opening title of the new, fifth album of her trio seems to have been perfectly chosen; "Warp", relating to the space above the early monasteries on the rock formations, as well as connecting the album to her previous release Weavers, in which much was woven with warp threads. A high-pitched bass, the subtle use of electronics, like everything else that follows, seem to emerge somehow from outer space. These are seemingly simple structures that only reveal themselves as complex architecture upon repeated listening - meditative and fleeting, but at the same time permanently carved into the rock. Minimalistic piano figures from which melodic fragments emerge, in their very clarity offer ample material for improvisation. With onomatopoeic percussion, an impressionistic and scenic painting is sketched in "Birds Ascending", whereas enthralling rhythms lead the way in "Chestnut Alley" or the sky-racing "Meteor". In between those, you find the improvised miniatures like "The Door" or "Slip", aspherical connections between worlds: imaginary doors, rope ladders or hinges. After the lockdown album Weavers, Makiko Hirabayashi is back in the piano trio setting with Klavs Hovman on bass and the legendary percussionist/ drummer Marilyn Mazur, reclaiming her space and time. Some of the material produced here has been part of their live repertoire for some years and gone through a maturing process, becoming an integral part of the whole album put together in the spirit of Meteora.

Parallel Minds’ fifth label release is a major landmark for the Toronto-based label. Not only is it their first full length LP, it is also the debut album from co-founder Ciel, who is also making her first solo appearance on the label since its inception.

In 2021, spurred on by a productive creative streak and the economic austerity of pandemic lockdowns, the Xi’an-born and Toronto-based DJ Ciel (real name Cindy Li) applied for grant funding from the government of Canada to write her debut album. Self-proclaimed “DJ first, producer second”, Ciel never thought she would have the self-confidence and desire to write an album. It wasn’t until after spending prolonged time away from clubs & festivals whilst dedicating herself to daily sessions in her studio that she gained the motivation and aspiration to make a musical statement that only an album could express.

Since the start of the covid19 outbreak, Ciel, like many other Chinese diaspora people in the West, had felt a great deal of anxiety and pain at the rise of anti-Chinese sentiment and racism in the media — even in her corner of the dance music industry. Tired of expressing her frustrations fruitlessly online, she felt inspired to channel that into her music, to turn something that was filled with hate into a thing of joy and beauty. It was within this context that Homesick began to take shape.

After researching the rich history of Chinese instruments, a concept began to form around the album in which she could marry her love of sampling and analogue instruments. Using the eight types of traditional Chinese instruments (silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd, and hide) as a guideline, Li began writing each track with a focus on one of the eight. She hired traditional Chinese instrumentalists to play the guzheng and the xiao, whilst purchasing and teaching herself the smaller hand drum instruments like the kuaiban (bamboo clappers), and muyu (temple blocks). With the news that she had successfully been granted funding from Canada Arts Council, she wrote, recorded, arranged, and mixed all nine tracks of her album over the first three months of 2022. More than just highlighting Chinese instruments, the music on this album encapsulates so many musical influences from Ciel’s childhood when she began her lifelong love affair with music. True to her style as a DJ, the LP incorporates a diversity of genres she loves, from drum & bass to house, electro to breaks - even downtempo.

What has come out of these sessions is a deeply personal dancefloor record, a true expression of love for Cindy’s culture that came out of a time of relentless chaos, negativity, and uncertainty. Ciel sees her compositions as a distillation of herself — her life experiences, her wide interests and passions, and her often-turbulent emotions. Immersing oneself in the LP feels like listening to the musical confessions of an artist heading towards the peak of their career, who is finally starting to make sense of her artistic identity. What a joy to witness it.
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On their debut EP, Sam De Nef and Camille Camille delve into some of their most personal and introspective songwriting yet. These songs showcase their individual talents but also highlight the powerful synergy that arises when two gifted artists and unique vocalists join forces to create something truly special.

Sam and Camille are two unique and talented artists hailing from Belgium who share a gift for writing compelling contemporary folk and singer-songwriter songs. They both released acclaimed debut albums in recent years and have been crossing paths on numerous occasions. Camille appeared in duets on Sam's debut EP and his first album, Sam featured in Camille's live band, each time expressing a profound musical chemistry.
This collab EP seemed the logical next step, uniting their talents to craft an EP embodying heartfelt, warm, and uncomplicated songs.

"In the collaborative journey of crafting the songs on Waving, our different creative approaches brought about a unique synergy. We feel the result transcends our individual styles. Each song resonates with our individual aspirations, which makes playing them very refreshing and challenging."

Stripped to their core, these compositions on their debut EP are defined by the gentle interplay of acoustic guitars and harmonious vocals. Only subtle percussion and the occasional cello add subtle layers to the sonic tapestry. The two recorded the six songs on their debut EP by themselves in the intimate atmosphere of Sam's home studio, opting for a DIY and back-to-basics approach. Their primary focus was on capturing spontaneity and the essence of live performance. Musical sparring partner PJ Decraene added the final touches and mixed the EP.

Zweite Auflage des "Downer" Albums als Vinyl in neuen Farben Rot und Gelb! ten56. stehen kurz vor der Veröffentlichung ihres ersten Full-Length-Albums "Downer", das aus zwei Teilen besteht, die bereits als EPs veröffentlicht wurden. Ihre Musik ist die perfekte Porträtierung von brachialer Aggression, dystopischer Weltsicht und einem erdrückenden Gesamtsound mit Aaron Matts beeindruckenden Vocals.
Bouncy-Aspekte auf Tracks wie "Yenta" oder dem "Diazepam" (der bereits fast 3 Millionen Streams auf Spotify erreicht hat) sorgen unvermeidbar für Headbang Momentum. Einflüsse von Trap-Musik und andere Einflüsse kulminieren in einem hochmodernen Sound, der gleichzeitig die besten Trademarks des 2010er Deathcores einbaut. Ähnlich bedrückend wie Korns „Selftitled“ Album oder Slipknots „Iowa“ präsentieren ten56. ihren beängstigenden Sound in Tracks wie "Boy" oder "Traumadoll", während stampfende Grooves, knallende Riffs und aggressive Drums kombiniert mit Rap-Elementen "Saiko" zu einem weiteren Brecher werden lassen, der (im guten Sinne) fast schon unangenehm klingt.
Kurze Blast-Beat-Passagen sorgen für noch mehr Härte, als ob "Downer" nicht schon heavy genug wäre. Als Bonus gibt es mit "Choky" einen exklusiven Track auf dem Album, der mit Downtempo-Grooves einmal mehr ten56.s faszinierenden Nu-Metal-beeinflussten Deathcore-Sound aufblitzen lässt. ten56. verstehen sich als moderne Interpretation der frühen Emmure, kombiniert mit Nu-Metal der goldenen Ära, eingängigen Grooves und einer zerstörerischen Soundwand, wie man sie von Humanity's Last Breath kennt - das Ergebnis ist mit Sicherheit deine neue Lieblings-Deathcore-Band!

Originally released in 2011 on Aurora Borealis. This is the new 2LP version on Archaic Devices. Archaic Devices is a new label founded by Bobby Krlic, aka The Haxan Cloak. It will serve as the home for his future releases as The Haxan Cloak alongside reissues of his past work under the moniker. Krlic admits that starting a record label wasn’t something that had occurred to him until he finished building his own home studio in LA and he regained the master tapes to his records from various underground labels. All of his archival releases have been remastered, with aspects of their design and presentation tightened up by Krlic to present his music exactly as he initially intended. Working with revered visual artist Christopher Leckie, Krlic has built a stark, unique identity for his newly minted label Archaic Devices that extends to a new line of merchandise, as well as new visual directions for the label’s first and forthcoming releases.

Originally released in 2013 on Tri Angle Records. This is the new 2LP version on Archaic Devices. Archaic Devices is a new label founded by Bobby Krlic, aka The Haxan Cloak. It will serve as the home for his future releases as The Haxan Cloak alongside reissues of his past work under the moniker. Krlic admits that starting a record label wasn’t something that had occurred to him until he finished building his own home studio in LA and he regained the master tapes to his records from various underground labels. All of his archival releases have been remastered, with aspects of their design and presentation tightened up by Krlic to present his music exactly as he initially intended. Working with revered visual artist Christopher Leckie, Krlic has built a stark, unique identity for his newly minted label Archaic Devices that extends to a new line of merchandise, as well as new visual directions for the label’s first and forthcoming releases

»Tropic of Capricorn« is the second album by Lawrence English and Werner Dafeldecker. Based on field recordings made by the prolific Room40 owner that were subtly but decisively altered with electroacoustic techniques through the German improv legend, these two long-form pieces blur the lines between acoustic ecology and aesthetic interventions, concrete local sound worlds and boundary-defying art. They put a focus on our relationship with nature as listeners as much as they call into question where nature ends and human perception begins. They are deeply confusing, disorienting perhaps, in the most beautiful ways.

English recorded the material that form the basis of the duo’s Hallow Ground debut on two different field trips. One led him from the Western coast to the Pilbara region in the North of the country called Australia, the other to the central desert into the lands of the Arrernte people. »These are vast spaces, and in some respects they shun contemporary ideas of civilisation which seek not to listen to the country,« says English. When recording the soundscapes, the artist put a focus on the residues of failed colonial aspirations. »The buildings and objects that remain from the failed cattle pastures and other endeavours create uneasy sound worlds of their own,« he says of the regions that are also places of extraction, especially the heavily mined Pilbara. »There is a distant drone of industry in even the most remote of places; an unsettled sense of heavy breath on the land.« He brought home a document of natural reclamation in time.

The rich source material was then given to Dafeldecker. Spatialising the recordings with transducers applied to different surfaces such as wood, stretched animal skin, glass, or metal surfaces and also re-recording parts of the recordings, he created discrete events that were inserted into, or rather enmeshed with English’s recordings. You’ll hear plenty of birdsong, insect noises and the sound of rain during these 39 minutes; the sounds of a life you can tap into if you tune into your environment. But there are also other things, things that are impossible to categorise even after repeated listens and that call into question whether or not those were really birds, insects, or the sound of rain in the first place. What »Tropic of Capricorn« invites its listeners to listen beyond the preconceived notions of how nature is supposed to be represented in sound and to instead embrace the immediacy of the sensation.

Sababa 5 continues their musical journey following the success of their acclaimed self-titled debut album, which fused deep funk and Middle Eastern grooves. Their latest offering, still under the Batov Records label, ventures into more explorative and experimental instrumental compositions. While evolving their musical direction, "Aspan" delves into the realm of psychedelic rock while retaining the essence of the band"s signature Middle Eastern groove.

Leroy Se Meurt is a French musical duo known for their eclectic and experimental sound.

Formed in 2018 in Paris, their music can be described as a fusion of various genres, abrasive and hypnotic, an energetic old school EBM fused with fierce electro and bound by punk ethos.
Retaining the minimalist and raw qualities of punk rock, and replacing the complement traditional punk rock instruments like guitars and drums with drum machine and synthesizers, LSM sound is characterized by a blend of influences, including electronic, experimental, and noise elements, which contribute to their unique and distinctive style. If you enjoy post-punk music or are interested in exploring this genre, you may find aspects of it in Leroy Se Meurt's work, but their music also transcends traditional genre boundaries.

Will Anderson believes in true love—as both concept and catalyst, aspiration and inspiration. During his 34 years, the Hotline TNT founder and architect has found such love perhaps half-a-dozen times. Each instance has prompted some enormous swing of commitment, like a cross-country move or simply being honest about his budding attraction. It is a hopeful and vulnerable way to exist, a way to ensure maximum bruising during the fall of the breakup. And so far for Anderson, that is how it has always ended, whether the air has slowly seeped out of some once-full balloon or whether it has simply popped, those expanded feelings expelled in an instant. This tension is the brain, blood, and beating heart of Cartwheel, Hotline TNT’s second LP and an endlessly romantic testament to reaching for something that slips forever out of grasp. The byproduct of Anderson’s decades-long quest to pin down the surging sound long in his head, Hotline TNT has come to notice in the last four years through loose association with a feverish surge of shoegaze revivalism. And Hotline TNT indeed trucks in the touchstones you might expect: skywriting guitars that bathe in fluorescent hazes of distortion, blown-out drums that pound as though they’re trying to escape a concrete box, and honeyed vocals that try to rise above the chaotic mess in true-to-life mimesis.

2023 repress, red with white splatter LP plus white red splatter 7" single. Innitially the first release in Fu Manchu's 30th Anniversary vinyl reissue series, In Search Of...Deluxe Edition, celebrates the band's 3rd album and major label debut, which was originally released on 27 February, 1996. Recorded at Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood, California by the band and Brian Jenkins (KYUSS, SCREAMING TREES), "In Search Of_" is considered a classic of the '90s and a pillar for the "stoner rock" movement. Highlights include the lead single "Asphalt Risin'", "Redline" and fan favorite "Cyclone Launch." This limited edition run is pressed on clear vinyl with blue and yellow splatter and the gatefold package design includes never before seen photos of the band. Also included is a bonus red/black splatter 7" of "Chevy Van" (a Sammy Johns cover that was previously only available on the Japanese pressing of the original album) b/w a 1995 Demo version of "Redline." Both the LP and 7" feature newly remastered audio for maximum fidelity.

Sababa 5 continues their musical journey following the success of their acclaimed self-titled debut album, which fused deep funk and Middle Eastern grooves. Their latest offering, still under the Batov Records label, ventures into more explorative and experimental instrumental compositions. While evolving their musical direction, "Aspan" delves into the realm of psychedelic rock while retaining the essence of the band"s signature Middle Eastern groove.