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Idle Race is the second studio album by British rock band Idle Race, released in 1969. This album follows their 1968 debut, The Birthday Party. Fronted by Jeff Lynne, who later became famous with Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the album features a whimsical pop-rock style with psychedelic influences. Key tracks like ""Come With Me"" and ""Please No More Sad Songs"" showcase Lynne's melodic songwriting and playful lyrics. Despite critical acclaim, Lynn left shortly after the album release to join The Move. However, Idle Race is a cult classic, celebrated for its inventive arrangements and quirky charm. This album is a hidden gem in the late 1960s British rock scene, highlighting the band's unique blend of catchy tunes and imaginative storytelling. Idle Race is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on crystal clear.

Coke Bottle Green vinyl. Who were the first punks? Do The Damned have more of a shout than The Sex Pistols? The Stooges or Ramones? Gregg Deal, the acclaimed visual and performance artist behind his new project Dead Pioneers, is making a claim that Indigenous Americans were the first real punks. Deal suggests that the overarching theme of the album is "an introduction to the band itself". Created with a DIY disposition and the "love of a scene that saves lives", they reel off a roll call of marginalised groups and protected characteristics: "Indigenous rights, Black rights, Brown rights, Asian rights, Gay rights, Trans rights, Workers rights and beyond_". This is central to their identity and focus, saying that "with a North American Indigenous person as the vocalist, being unapologetically upfront on the social, political and cultural side of things doesn't seem necessary, but paramount to the overall tone of the band." This self-titled debut, coming in at a lithe 22 minutes with only one of the twelve tracks exceeding three minutes, is almost over before it begins, but covers a huge amount of ground in that time. Blistering opener 'Tired' sets out their stall; as with the whole album, it is passionate, but never preaching. Capitalised 'Political Music' can be hard to land without coming across as hectoring or earnest, but Deal's literary, humorous lyrics effortlessly cut through complex issues of marginalisation and colonialism.

Die atemberaubend schöne, aber auch manchmal etwas deprimierend miefige Idylle des schönen Bodensees ist die Kulisse für das kommende Sommerloch-Album von Schmutzki. In ihrer alten Heimat haben die drei Punkrocker aus Stuttgart 13 herz- und hirnerweichende Anekdoten aus dem mockenden Schlamm des ,Schwäbischen Meers" gezogen. Mal heiter, mal nachdenklich werden hier so einige Wurzeln ausgegraben, die man längst abgestorben glaubte. Doch als Kind vom See kannst du soweit wegrennen wie du willst, irgendwann holt er dich ein und es heißt: Bodensee Calling!

Not everybody has not one, not two, but twelve producers attached to her debut release. Not everybody has her one and only album pranked by British artist Banksy (who substituted a topless photo for the cover). Nope, not everybody is Paris Hilton, who has lived in the public eye since, well, forever. She first announced plans to make an album in 2003, during her run on the reality TV series The Simple Life. Originally entitled Screwed, and then Paris Is Burning, the record—finally simply entitled Paris—came out in 2006. And it was…uh… good? Yeah, for real. This record goes expensively pedicured cuticle to cuticle with anything Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson or any other pop culture chanteuse of the like ever put out, and the Paris the heiress displays some real savvy both in her taste of material and the Madonna-like manipulation of her sex symbol image. And her voice? Definitely respectable despite what the haters said. Indeed, the single “Stars Are Blind” went top 20, and the album itself went all the way up to #6, selling over 600,000 copies worldwide. Since Paris has finally answered the pleas of her fans and made a second album, we thought the time was right for a revival of Paris, so we’ve taken the fetching photos from the CD package and given them plenty of acreage to show their stuff, with a gatefold jacket and 4-color printed inner sleeve. And for this release, we’re pressing Paris’ album in her favorite color, pink…and of course it’s hot! A pop culture keepsake from an enduring pop culture icon!

The Faint has always been perceived as a series of paradoxes: Nebraskans trafficking in electro pop anthems; a five-person outfit who insist on songwriting democracy; punk rockers laying down their guitars for a decidedly untypical kind of punk rock.

Things that don’t make sense at first often make sense later. In the creation of art, when the process is left up to the subconscious mind, when there is no preconceived concept, patterns still always emerge. Themes and recurring images, blurred in the moment, later become clear.

This is the case with The Faint’s sixth album Doom Abuse, an unexpected but also inevitable addition to their compellingly unusual catalog of music.

Blood Red w/ Cyan Blue Splatter Vinyl. Remember Sports is a Philadelphia-based band, originally conceived in the tiny Midwestern college town of Gambier, OH, comprised of members Carmen Perry (vocals, guitar), Jack Washburn (guitar), Catherine Dwyer (bass), and Connor Perry (drums). Their peppy indie power pop encapsulates the melancholy and excitement of growing up while Carmen's writing is diaristic and intimate; a strange amalgam of both melancholy and joy. Remember Sports recorded Sunchokes in 2014 with school mates Teddy Farkas and Alex Evans while Carmen, Catherine, Benji Dossetter (drums) and James Karlin (bass) attended Kenyon College. Sunchokes (Deluxe Edition) is a remastered version of the original album plus eight bonus demo + original versions of some of the songs.

"It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years, give or take a few, since we tried our hand out at writing, recording, and playing our songs. We had a wild ride and feel privileged, but mostly grateful, to pursue music in the way that we did. A lot of life happened during our tenure as a band and that didn’t stop since our last show or record.

The people and places the band introduced us to continue to serve as the most incredible memories and to add to that, Kingfisher is turning 10 years old. The nostalgia is real. We had been toying around with the idea of reuniting for quite some time, so there seemed no better time to do it than now.

Having Topshelf in our corner as we began preparing to do this was a no brainer. After talking to Kev and the TSR crew of our plans, it was like no time had passed as they’ve always been great friends and a support system to us. Topshelf repressing Kingfisher in its original intended format, as a double LP, feels like a very monumental way to commemorate a record that means so much to us.

We can’t wait to get back out there to commemorate 15 years of Prawn and Kingfisher’s 10th Birthday. We will be having original members (welcome back Vilchez) to help celebrate with a run of shows that we feel very fortunate to do. Cheers to the last 15 years and all of you reading this for being part of our journey. Let’s see what the next 15 hold in store!

All our love,

Prawn"

THE CHURCH's ("Under The Milky Way") main man Steve Kilbey solo Best Of: A stylishly designed anthology of solo and collaborative recordings curated into a deluxe gatefold sleeve double album. Spanning the years 1987 to 2023, the album moves through varying styles and moods all of which are a pleasure to listen to, whether in your car on a long country road or through the city at night or sitting down and absorbing the lush audio experience. Songs taken from 20 albums (one song from each album) all of which will be made available once more. Deluxe gatefold sleeve with full colour printed inner bags. Photos courtesy of Toby Burrows, includes arguably some of the best songs Steve Kilbey has written (and co-written). The very first album of its kind dealing with Kilbey's not unimpressive solo career.

In contemporary usage, genius loci refers to a location's distinctive atmosphere, or a "spirit of the place"...

Genius Loci is a new audio work by sound artist Brian d'Souza (fka Auntie Flo). Referencing the notion of the protective 'spirit of place' from ancient Roman times, d'Souza used a vintage accordion to capture the acoustic properties of the Het Hem building in Zandaam, Netherlands. A former munitions and gun testing factory, Het Hem is a space full of character made up of a range of rooms that each hold a different acoustic property. d'Souza is interested in the connection between sound and space, using the accordion as a sound source with a variety of microphones placed around each room to capture the resonance and reverberation. The results are presented as part of an immersive audio visual website which incorporates generative audio technology developed by d'Souza's Swell Studio in collaboration with The University of Arts in London and is now available at https://thecouch.hethem.nl/genius-loci/ .

The original artist versions of Genius Loci are available on this release for the first time, available on 12 inch vinyl and download.

A State of Flo supports Earth Percent. 10% of the revenue generated from this release will be paid to environmental charities.

Das mit Spannung erwartete neue Album von Dark Tranquillity, "Endtime Signals", kanalisiert all die Unruhe, Angst und Verwirrung der Welt in 12 fesselnden, kraftvollen Tracks.
"Endtime Signals" ist Katharsis und Dunkelheit, Entschlossenheit und Zustimmung. Die wiedererstarkte Besetzung - Joakim Strandberg Nilsson (Schlagzeug) und Christian Jansson (Bass) gesellen sich zu Mikael Stanne (Gesang), Martin Brändström (Keyboards) und Johan Reinholdz (Gitarren) - bedeutet, dass eine neue Ära für Dark Tranquillity angebrochen ist. Die Singles "The Last Imagination", "Unforgivable" und "Not Nothing" kündigen dies durch raumgreifende Refrains, fiebrige Aggression und unverkennbare Melancholie an. Mit einem wundervollen Cover-Artwork von Sundin und einer "gelebten" Produktion von Brändström (Rogue Music) und dem Engineering von Alexander Backlund (Fascination Street Studios), sowie einem hochoktanigen Mix und Master von Jens Bogren (Ihsahn, At The Gates), setzt "Endtime Signals" die gesamte innovative Songkunst von Dark Tranquillity in ein unvergleichliches, breitgefächertes Erlebnis um. "Endtime Signals" ist erhältlich als Standard CD (12 Tracks), als Ltd. Digipak CD Deluxe Edition im Schuber (12+2 Bonustracks), als Gatefold 180g LP (12 Tracks) in schwarzem Vinyl sowie als strikt limitierte Gatefold 2LP-Deluxe-Edition mit dem Hauptalbum auf einer mehrfarbigen 12"-Vinyldisc (12 Tracks) plus
zusätzlicher schwarzer Bonus-Vinyldisc (Seite A: 2 Tracks, Seite B: Motiv-Ätzung).

Das mit Spannung erwartete neue Album von Dark Tranquillity, "Endtime Signals", kanalisiert all die Unruhe, Angst und Verwirrung der Welt in 12 fesselnden, kraftvollen Tracks.
"Endtime Signals" ist Katharsis und Dunkelheit, Entschlossenheit und Zustimmung. Die wiedererstarkte Besetzung - Joakim Strandberg Nilsson (Schlagzeug) und Christian Jansson (Bass) gesellen sich zu Mikael Stanne (Gesang), Martin Brändström (Keyboards) und Johan Reinholdz (Gitarren) - bedeutet, dass eine neue Ära für Dark Tranquillity angebrochen ist. Die Singles "The Last Imagination", "Unforgivable" und "Not Nothing" kündigen dies durch raumgreifende Refrains, fiebrige Aggression und unverkennbare Melancholie an. Mit einem wundervollen Cover-Artwork von Sundin und einer "gelebten" Produktion von Brändström (Rogue Music) und dem Engineering von Alexander Backlund (Fascination Street Studios), sowie einem hochoktanigen Mix und Master von Jens Bogren (Ihsahn, At The Gates), setzt "Endtime Signals" die gesamte innovative Songkunst von Dark Tranquillity in ein unvergleichliches, breitgefächertes Erlebnis um. "Endtime Signals" ist erhältlich als Standard CD (12 Tracks), als Ltd. Digipak CD Deluxe Edition im Schuber (12+2 Bonustracks), als Gatefold 180g LP (12 Tracks) in schwarzem Vinyl sowie als strikt limitierte Gatefold 2LP-Deluxe-Edition mit dem Hauptalbum auf einer mehrfarbigen 12"-Vinyldisc (12 Tracks) plus
zusätzlicher schwarzer Bonus-Vinyldisc (Seite A: 2 Tracks, Seite B: Motiv-Ätzung).

During autumn 2018, after moving to Germany, Aron Ottignon met Senegalese musician and percussionist Bakane Seck, founder and leader of the Jeri JeriBand, in his Berlin studio. This first meeting gave rise to a special connection between their instruments and the start of a musical adventurethat transcends borders, an instrumental conversation of profound simplicity nourished by the richness of jazz, electronic music and Wolof tradition. The brainchild of composer and producer Aron Ottignon and percussionist Sabar Bakane Seck, Aron & The Jeri Jeri Band (A&TJJB) was born at the crossroads between Berlin and Dakar and oscillates between the frenetic rhythm of mbalax, the strength of afrobeat, the warmth of afro funk and the eï¬Çervescence of jazz. Born in New Zealand, the pianist released a series of critically acclaimed jazz albums in the 2000s. As a composer, Aron Ottignonhas collaborated with Stromae, toured the world with Woodkid and worked with a host of artists including Electric Wire Hustle, Louane,Broken Back, Empire Of the Sun and Myele Manzanza. Senegalese musician and griot Bakane Seck"s mastery of the Sabar - "percussion instrument" in Wolof - has taken him all over the world alongsideAfrican music icons such asYoussou N"Dour and Baaba Maal.

Pirates Press Records is proud to re-release Close My Eyes, the 2002 album by NYC ska-reggae legends The Slackers - a complex and nuanced album that shows the band's versatility and capacity for both commentary and introspection. It is often said - to the point of cliche - that New York City is a "character" in the work of the city's most noted filmmakers. A similar statement could be made about the artistic symbiosis between the city and The Slackers. From the Bronx-born accent of lead vocalist Vic Ruggiero to the band's embrace of cosmopolitan musical traditions from a melting pot of cultural origins, New York defines The Slackers at least as much as the band have contributed to defining the sound of New York for well over 30 years.Therefore, it bears mentioning that - aside from a 2002 collaborative album by "The Slackersand Friends" - Close My Eyesis the band's first proper studio LP released after the traumatic terrorist attacks on their home city in 2001, and the band took enough time to reckon with the global fallout of this tragedy. "So feel free go steal and rob, revolution ain't my job," sings Ruggiero on the title track. "And if I sing your happy song, please don't tell me I am wrong." It is the statement of an artist searching for a way to still sing about joy and life in uncertain times of great upheaval. And ultimately the band must reckon with these times. On "Real War," toaster Marq Lyn takes lead vocals as the band addresses the march to war that was omnipresent in those early days of the 21st century, stating in no uncertain terms that it was "Time to fight the real war_ Against hunger and poverty_ For racial equality." The Slackers make it clear that while the machinations of hawkish politicians grind on, the real needs of people all over the world are left behind. This tension between a dangerous world and the struggles of one's personal life are present throughout the record, and the band weaves stories from the whole spectrum of human emotion, war, heartbreak, joy, and everything in between. Bookended by instrumental tracks, opening with the energetic "Shankbon" and ending with moody dub reggae, these veteran virtuoso players ultimately take listeners on a masterful journey through the human experience.

Wayne Shorter - JuJu
Nur knapp vier Monate nachdem er bei Blue Note mit “Night Dreamer” seinen gefeierten Einstand gegeben
hatte, ging Wayne Shorter im August 1964 erneut für das Label ins Studio, um mit derselben Band (minus
Trompeter Lee Morgan) das Nachfolgealbum “JuJu” einzuspielen. Das Ergebnis war ein ausschließlich
aus Shorter-Kompositionen bestehendes Album, das ”nur so vor Ideen sprüht, eine immense Vielzahl von
Einflüssen reflektiert und sie in Form einer Reihe atemberaubender Visionen wieder freigibt” (AllMusic).

The second part in Shan’s warehouse series delivers more of the same – but that’s definitely a great thing, if the dish has a great taste. Like it’s successful predecessor, the tracks don’t re-invent the wheel, but cater to all the nameless spaces and places that made raving in defiant and derelict places fun. There is house that sounds like techno (Elevate) and vice versa. Seasoned with break beats (89 Swing or the Future Sound of London-esque Euphony) or breaks for love (Uplift My Spirit) and even dub sirens, it is almost impossible not to find something to suit the customer’s environment. The main focus of attention might be the jack of all trades called Phantazia. Wouldn’t have sounded out of place at the entertainment series of the same name, it melts proto hardcore harmonics with Soul II Soul type of strings and immediate call for „the action“. And as we all know, that always speaks louder than words.

"Two-time GRAMMY Award Winner and multi-platinum selling performing artist Lauren Daigle will release a very special collection of reimagined songs entitled Sessions, on August 16th. Recorded live in front of a limited audience, the 8-tracks highlight the beauty in the songcraft and purity of Daigle vocal prowess. In a first for Daigle, Sessions will be available on numbered limited- edition vinyl variant in addition to digital platforms.
“I love that we’re able to share versions of these songs that people might not have heard before,” shares Daigle. “I think it’s what makes them special. I also thought it’d be cool to add something a little different, something we’ve never done before, so I thought what better, more poignant song is there than Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful”. It’s up there on my list of all- time favorites.”
Sessions marks the debut release of the recordings captured at SiriusXM, which were previously only heard during the original performances. The Apple Music performances will now be available for the first time across all streaming platforms. Sessions includes her rendition of Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful,” two new versions of her recently Gold Certified hit “Thank God I Do,” her current radio single, “Be Okay” and the first new recording of her 6x Platinum smash “You Say.”
Daigle recently wrapped the long-awaited European Leg of The Kaleidoscope Nights Tour including sold out performances in London, Manchester, and Amsterdam. The tour will make its debut in the US on July 29th in Columbus, OH with stops in Amphitheaters across the states including Brandon, MS, Colorado Springs, CO, and Santa Barbara, CA before wrapping September 5th in Honolulu, HI. The Kaleidoscope Nights Tour features many of Daigle’s #1s including her groundbreaking 6x Platinum smash “You Say,” 2x Platinum hit “Rescue,” “Look Up Child,” her latest No.1 and Gold Certified GRAMMY Nominated “Thank God I Do.”"

The story of the legendary Summer Breeze Open Air cannot be told without Voodoo Kiss. In 1995, a certain Achim Ostertag founded the band Voodoo Kiss with his buddies, but due to a lack of performance opportunities, he simply launched his own festival. The name of the festival: Summer Breeze. And while the open-air highlight has long been one of the best and biggest metal festivals in the world, Voodoo Kiss soon disappears again. But fortunately not forever: Ostertag got the band back together in 2022. He recruited Steffi Stuber (Mission In Back, Voice of Germany contestant) and Sacred Steel rocker Gerrit Mutz as new members, released a powerful debut album that marked the band's comeback and put on a furious home show at Summer Breeze.

Stina Francina makes a mark with her first EP on NineTimesNine, delivering an effective, trance-infused journey featuring carefully crafted atmospheric soundscapes, hypnotizing vocals, and euphoric pads. The emotional approach is supported by a strong connection to the dancefloor.

Just on the threshold, with uncertainty about what's behind and what's ahead, the feeling of being in a liminal dream captures the experience of transitioning into something new and unknown.

Hear the brutal anguish and aural suffering! LG Records has gathered out-of-print and unreleased recordings by two of San Diego’s more infamous and obscure punk bands from the very early 1990’s onto one blistering split LP. Often remembered merely as side-projects of Heroin and End of the Line, Sloog (aka Slug) and Brain Tourniquet were standalone outfits that were beloved locally but barely made any impact outside of the local San Diego scene. Sloog were heavy, tortuous, and disturbing. Fronted by mysterious and odiferous local character “Justinman”, Sloog sounded like they could have been the lovechild of Savage Republic and United Mutation. Brain Tourniquet were a younger thrash band who were noticeably inspired by contemporaries like Born Against and Crossed Out. Primitive and sublime, members went on to bigger things, but this was the not-so-humble beginning. The first release for each band was the 1991 Slug/Brain Tourniquet split cassette, released as Gravity Records #0. Copies of this tape were sold at local shows and during Brain Tourniquet’s west coast tour with Heroin. Sloog would record multiple demos in 1990 and 1991, and in the end they recorded what became their only vinyl release, 1992’s Pigs 7”. The material on this LP was pulled together from all of these recordings. Punish yourself with the Slug / Brain Tourniquet / Sloog vinyl LP out now on LG Records. Caution: this record may emit visible stink-lines into the air of your household. Open a window while enjoying the soothing sounds of Slow Death, circa 1991. 180-gram black vinyl only, 500 pressed, 28 pt tip-on jackets with printed inner sleeve.

2024 Repress

Der isländische Multiinstrumentalist und Komponist Ólafur Arnalds hat bereits mit seinen früheren Alben
„For Now I Am Winter“, „The Chopin Project“ und „Island Songs“ große Erfolge gefeiert.
Doch mit dem Soundtrack zur dritten und letzten Staffel der britischen Krimiserie Broadchurch“ beweist
Ólafur Arnalds einmal mehr, dass er noch viel mehr kann. Das Erfolgsdrama mit David Tennant und Olivia
Coleman in den Hauptrollen erreichte mit rund 10 Millionen Zuschauern den Status der meistgesehenen
Serie auf den britischen Inseln.
Die Euphorie, die die Serie ausgelöst hat, spiegelt sich auch in den 13 Millionen Streams des Soundtracks
wider. Die Musik von Ólafur Arnalds haucht der Serie Leben ein und kann als ihr künstlerisches Fundament
betrachtet werden. Arnalds ist es gelungen, einen bedeutungsvollen, bewegenden und atmosphärischen
Soundtrack zu komponieren, der sowohl mystisch als auch melancholisch ist.

2024 Repress

Die erste Staffel der Erfolgsserie verzeichnete rund neun Millionen Zuschauer pro Folge - das macht „Broadchurch“ zu einer der beliebtesten Fernsehserien im Vereinigten Königreich. Ólafur Arnalds wurde für seine
Musik mit dem prestigeträchtigen Bafta Award ausgezeichnet.
Die düstere und kühle Atmosphäre, die in dem verschlafenen englischen Küstenstädtchen Broadchurch
herrscht, wird von Arnalds auf musikalischer Ebene hervorragend umgesetzt. Der isländische Komponist
beweist einmal mehr, dass seine Musik zu den spannungsgeladenen Bewegtbildern mehr ist als nur ein
illustrativer Klangteppich.
Der Multiinstrumentalist verbindet elektronische Klänge mit Elementen aus Klassik, Jazz und Pop. Der
neue Song „So Far“, interpretiert von dem isländischen Sänger Arnór Dan, ist der musikalische rote Faden,
der sich durch alle Episoden der zweiten Staffel zieht. Gänsehaut pur!
Lange vergriffen und jetzt zum 16.08. wieder auf Vinyl erhältlich!

Dubwize at the broken tek frontier :)

poland Import

Tokyo female group Gallhammer was formed in February 2003 by Vivian Slaughter (bass/vocals), following her passion for the primitive work of Swiss legends Hellhammer & other metal, punk & crust acts. The band's debut studio album, 'Gloomy Lights' swiftly followed the year after, leading to a deal with Peaceville Records for the release of the 'Ill Innocence' (2007) & 'The End' albums, before the band folded.

Having become somewhat of an underground sensation in the years prior, the aptly-titled 2011 release, 'The End', was to become the farewell opus for Gallhammer. The album was recorded at Void)))Lab in Tokyo in mid-October 2010 & evolved further from the foundations of 'Ill Innocence', with an album of disturbing & dark drone music with a hypnotic bass & drum combination mixed with the band's raw black metal & punk origins. To further enhance the Gallhammer sound circa 2011, there was also the introduction of saxophone performed by Vivian, who at the time described the overall album direction as "strange & psychedelic experimental sounds of doom".

This edition of 'The End' is presented on black vinyl & appears on the format for the very first time.

Die Musik zur Netflix Serie von Mike Myers. Aus der Feder von Paul & Phil Hartnoll, den legendären, kultigen, britischen Elektronik-Pionieren ORBITAL.
ORBITAL hat Musik beigesteuert zu: The Saint, Event Horizon, xXx, Spawn, Test Drive 4, Mortal Kombat, Mean Girls, Peaky Blinders, The Beach, Wipeout, Hackers, Teen Spirit, American Ultra und vielen mehr.

Doppel-LP gepresst auf Metallic Gold & Schwarzem Vinyl.

American trumpeter Chet Baker was a major innovator in cool jazz, leading him to be nicknamed “the prince of cool”. He earned much attention and praise through the Fifties, partic- ularly for albums featuring his vocals. This included his 1954 album Chet Baker Sings and its follow-up Chet Baker Sings Again in 1985. The latter he released on the Dutch jazz label Timeless Records. He recorded the album with bassist Ricardo Del Fra, drummer John Engels and pianist Michel Graillier.

Ominous drums, obscure cellos, fuzzy and distorted guitars, psychedelic piano sequences: legendary Italian composer Alessandro Alessandroni creates a sombre and gritty war atmosphere on this classic library album "Storie Di Guerra". Originally released on the Octopus Records imprint by Flipper Music in 1972, this obscure and spooky library has been long out of print — 50 years past its release we are happy to bring this back on vinyl in collaboration with Flipper Music as a limited edition of 500 copies!

Following the amazing response to their first, recent collaboration, "Cultivator," Linval Thompson and JonQuan return with "Bound To Fall," another roots-heavy limited edition track, this time with Ticklah at the controls. Babylon will surely fall under this heavyweight tune.

After the success of her breakout EP, 'Water-Based Lullabies', a playful, Zodiac-inspired odyssey through life and love, Mancunian fan favourite Abbie Ozard is back with a bang. The last release hinted at an evolution in sound, and in the soon-to-drop album 'Everything Still Worries Me', we see all that potential realised as Ozard's musical and personal growth is laid bare.

Growing pains and the overwhelm of those first steps into adulthood of stand out as overarching themes in this more serious, introspective body of work, in which Ozard explores beyond her bedroom-pop origins and lays bare the vulnerabilities that will resonate with so many young women becoming adults in a complex, confusing and ever-changing world. Even without the transcendent vocals that could belong to no one else, Ozard is present in every second of this album - from musical performances from close friends to samples of old family videos, she is enshrined in this spellbinding debut that could not be more authentic to its creator.

Since its founding back in 2014, Blume has carved a unique place in cultural landscape, issuing free-standing works, spanning the historical and contemporary, that represent singular gestures of creativity within the field of experimental sound. Joining their broad efforts in building networks of context and understanding that already includes the works by Werner Durand, Sarah Hennies, Bruce Nauman, John Butcher, Jocy de Oliveira, Mary Jane Leach, Valentina Magaletti, Alvin Curran, Julius Eastman, Alvin Lucier, and shortly after returning with the first ever vinyl release to attend to James Tenney’s legendary “Postal Pieces”, the label is now offering a brand new, ambitious work by the American composer Ben Vida, entitled “Vocal Trio”, conceived, performed, and recorded in Bremen, Germany, during the Spring of 2022. A truly stunning work of compositional conceptualism, combining the ideas of systems based synthesis with real-time vocal collaboration - issued in a highly limited vinyl edition of 200 copies mastered by Stephan Mathieu, featuring specially commissioned liner notes by Bradford Bailey and a leporello insert offering the piece visual score - it’s a landmark in contemporary experimental practice and arguably the most forward-thinking and exciting piece by one of the most exciting American artists working today.

Ben Vida first emerged during the mid 1990s within a loose constellation of experimental musicians, centred around a performance series of improvised workshops at the Myopic Bookstore in Chicago, alongside Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm, Chad Taylor, and the other future members of Town and Country - Jim Dorling, Joshua Abrams, and Liz Payne - the band within which he would gain widespread recognition over the following years. Like many other members of that scene, Vida remains a restless product of a fleeting context - Chicago during the 1990s and early 2000s - continuously undermining concrete notions of idiom and signifier within a practice that witnessed him rendering bristling abstractions within Pillow, glacial melodies with Town and Country, the art-rock mayhem of Bird Show Band, and the angular, driving indie rock of Joan of Arc, before becoming immersed in a practice of systems based synthesis, beginning in the 2010s, that guided much of his first decade of output as a solo performer and composer.

As early as 2013, he began to incorporate acoustic sound sources - specifically the human voice - into his work. It was this shift, evolving and refining itself over the last decade, that underscores radically the leap in his practice represented by “Vocal Trio”, a work that encounters Vida composing for the human voice with the ideas that allow for synthesis - transferring the underlying concepts and structures of both subtractive and additive synthesis to the acoustic realm - without using a synthesiser.

During the Spring of 2022 Vida was in Bremen, Germany, collaborating on a dance piece with the choreographer Fay Driscoll, when the production fell into delays. Finding himself with time on his hands, a space at his disposal, and the company of two dancers - Amy Gernux and Lotte Rudhart - who were also singers, the idea for the piece - to utilising the larynx as audio paths (multi-harmonic or harmonically pure) while conceptualising each person’s mouth as a filter to sculpt the timbre and resonance of a given tone - began to take shape in his mind. Considering how typographical scores might be developed into a non-linguistic social framework, Vida drafted a single page of text - what became the score for “Vocal Trio” - accompanied by a set of harmonic suggestion and loose parameters, seeking a core meaning from each word's phonic make-up by each of the three singers (Vida, Gernux and Rudhart) singing as slowly as possible.

At the core of the pulsing vocal drones - intoxicating, harmonically rich long-tones - that make up the duration abstraction of “Vocal Trio”, is Vida’s regard for music as a social space. It is an experiment that seeks liberation through the act of collective music making, by challenging the terms through which the act of composing is perceived and then relinquishing control. The piece’s rehearsals were simply the three performers hanging out, allowing their knowing each other and natural dynamics to contribute to its form as the score, before recording during a single afternoon at the end of a number of days sharing company and space.

Creatively visionary and groundbreaking on numerous terms, as well as being intoxicatingly beautiful and remarkably listenable, Ben Vida’s “Vocal Trio” represents a striking step forward for one of the most ambitious and outstanding sonic artists working in the United States today. Issued by Blume in a highly limited vinyl edition of 200 copies mastered by Stephan Mathieu, featuring specially commissioned liner notes by Bradford Bailey and a leporello insert offering the piece visual score, this is hands down one of the most important contemporary records we’re likely to encounter in 2024.

goat (JP) are renowned for two albums released in 2013 and 2015 that took Kraftwerk’s man-machine concept back to its roots with swingeing, inch-tight drums, bass and guitar patterns that needed to be heard to be believed. For their long-in-the-making new album ‘Joy In Fear’, band leader Koshiro Hino (YPY, KAKUHAN) describes the process as “90 percent pain” - and we can well believe it - few other records we can think of transmute DAW-composed rhythmic precision into such an expressive instrumental performance. It really is a feat of determination, skill and execution that seems to defy human dexterity.

Make no mistake - an academic exercise it ain’t - in the most visceral sense, goat (JP) make BODY music, for dancing, flailing, for losing yourself in completely. As usual, Hino plays guitar, backed by bassist Atsumi Tagami, while Akihiko Ando joins on saxophone, while Takafumi Okada and Rai Tateishi step in to handle percussion, with the latter moonlighting on flute. Every sound is sculpted into a fragment of cadence: guitar and bass prangs alternately echo and dance between the drums, and Ando's sax is mutated into a respiratory slobber of guttural smacks and phantom breaths.

In some respects, it's tempting to label it jazz, but the kind of jazz that Miles Davis spearheaded on the game-changing 'On The Corner', the blueprint for so much post-punk, electronic music and avant rock. goat (JP) take that raw alloy and sharpen it like a blade, mangling the template with the knotty metrics of Autechre or Ryoji Ikeda. The accuracy is galvanic; it's almost impossible to comprehend each player keeping a mental note of the mathematical time signatures, and yet they floss them out with trills and icy stutters that seem to evaporate around the thick, taiko-like thuds.

They practically get our teeth gnashing with the bruxist rictus chatter of ‘III I IIII III’ , before ‘Cold Heat’ introduces subtly harmonised, new aspects to their sound with slivers of Hassellian flute and ringing overtones of their percussion, while the winding sensuality of ‘Warped’ slips down very nicely. Their links to OG no-wavers like Glenn Branca & Wharton Tiers’ Theoretical Girls - is manifest in the 8 mins of chipping stop/start pulse and parry to ‘Modal Flower’, while a total left turn into Mark Fell-meets-Ligeti-esque messed up metronomics in ‘GMF’ ties it off with a properly beguiling flourish.

Biomes are little worlds of organic relationships, full of struggles, symbiosis, and sheer obsolete noise. In "De Silenti Natura," Henrique Vaz is meticulously crafting synthetic auditory biomes, sprouting from their own fuzzy logic. Unfolding across two distinct acts, the Brazilian artist interprets and replicates the complex, often ambiguous sounds of (un)natural environments, creating imaginary systems to inhabit over two sides of tape. The soundscape of the first side and title track is entirely algorithmically synthesized, with no samples used, leveraging Supercollider for real-time sound generation. The environment thus built is a flourishing one, seemingly unable to escape its own grandeur as insect-like buzzing and crackles expands into mountain ranges and forests of erupting sonorous drama. The second side introduces 'hydrophone' water synthesizers, submerged in a goldfish bowl to interface with the unfurling waves of electronic chords, creating a unique blend of damp and unwieldy sloshing movements, prismatically scattered into a luscious soundscape, and resembling everything from the bridge of a starship to the echoed drip-drip of stalactites.

Both sides of the album slowly unwrap and uncrinkle, revealing layers of hisses, distant digital choirs, warm enveloping chords, and juddering bleeps. Despite their unwieldy and strange nature, myriad elements convey a familiar sense of environment, flitting between the blossoming of new (manmade) life and the doom and destruction of the (real) world.

As the ringing of bells (fully synthetic; no samples were used) hove into view during the closing movement of side one, a simulacrum cacophony of voices is ushered in. It’s a reminder of the holy nature of sound itself, beamed into our heads intangibly. The flipside’s water ritual, frantically dunking ‘water synthesizers’ to birth swooping melodies and yawning tones, is jabbing at sleeping giants. It’s pushing and pulling the stars in the night sky into place. It’s both a simple act of beautiful creation, and a storm in a teacup.

Astronaut is the eleventh studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran. Originally released on September 28, 2004, it was Duran Duran's first (and to date, last) full album since Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) to be recorded by the most famous five-member lineup of the band.

Astronaut was a commercial success, peaking at #3 on the UK Albums Chart to become the band's highest-charting album in the UK since Seven and the Ragged Tiger. The album also peaked at #17 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and reached the top ten in six other countries. The first single, "(Reach Up for The) Sunrise", debuted at #5 on the UK Singles Chart, and peaked ay #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

-3rd album from veteran rap duo Dillon & Batsauce. Dillon on the raps & scratches, Batsauce on the beats. ('On Their Way' - 2018, 'Self Medicated' - 2020).
-Produced entirely by Batsauce, guest features include Grand Puba, Kool Keith, Quelle Chris, Reef the Lost Cauze, Headkrack and Jay Myztroh of Stono Echo.
-Atlanta, GA + Jacksonville, FL album release parties booked for end of July + Northeast Tour Run scheduled for August.
-Batsauce has been producing hip hop and soul for 20+ years with multiple albums on labels BBE (Barely Breaking Even) producing for his wife, soul-singer, Lady Daisey + Galapagos4 where he produced multiple projects for Qwazaar of Typical Cats. He is 1/3 of the group, 'The Smile Rays' (which includes Lady Daisey and Paten Locke). He's also done extensive work with Akrobatik, Mr. Lif and even has multiple songs with George Clinton!
-Dillon is an Atlanta, GA based MC/DJ who has been releasing records for 20 years, 10 of those years was running FULL PLATE, the label he started in 2013 with Paten Locke (RIP). Dillon has worked with many of Hip-Hop's elite from the old school to the true school such as Chuck D, Diamond D, Count Bass D, Kool Keith, Greg Nice, Grand Puba, Homeboy Sandman, J-Live, Quelle Chris, Sadat X, Ras Kass, Stacy Epps, Planet Asia, eLZhi, Slimkid3 of The Pharcyde - and the list goes on!
-Classic black, standard weight vinyl in full-color jacket w/ matte finish. Includes Download Card.
Underground hip-hop veterans, Dillon and Batsauce have been making unorthodox rap music together for nearly 20 years with a simple formula: Batsauce makes the beats, Dillon writes the songs, and whatever happens, happens. After carving out their own lane with a catalog of EPs and LPs over the past 2 decades, the duo has finally slowed down enough to ask themselves, 'What Have We Done'?
Is the title of their latest effort rhetorical or meant to be an actual question? If so, Dillon and Batsauce probably don't want to know the answer. They probably don't want you, the listener, to think too much about it either. Instead, 'What Have We Done' is an invitation to experience the trials and tribulations, the small wins and the big losses of being aging independent artists in an increasingly cut-throat world for music makers.
But Dillon & Batsauce aren't the only ones on this joyride, we also hear from a well-curated crew of characters they've befriended along the way, from bonafide legends like Grand Puba and Kool Keith to modern day rap heroes, Quelle Chris & Reef the Lost Cauze. The end result is a collection of songs that runs the gamut from personal to aspirational to...delusional. Whether it's 'too much' or 'not enough', the answer to the question, 'What Have We Done' remains open to interpretation. Perhaps it’s not a question at all, but merely the naturally visceral reaction when career creators look back at a life lived on the edge.
Track Listing: 1. What Have We Done (Intro) 2. Mind Made 3. Quiet as a Library 4. Eddie Farah 5. Make History 6. Cannonball feat. Grand Puba 7. Banana Peels 8. Accolades feat. Reef the Lost Cauze & Jay Myztroh 9. Wakin' up Hungry feat. Headkrack 10. Goin' Viral 11. Ready on the Left feat. Kool Keith 12. What Are We Doing (Interlude) 13. Watercolors feat. Quelle Chris 14. Speak Easy 15. Isiah Thomas 16. Rock Bottom 17. Yoga Flame

Midwestless is the fifth and newest album from St. Louis, Missouri rock failures The Conformists. Once again recorded with Steve Albini at the majestic Electrical Audio, this album marks their first recorded output as a trio. Formed in November of 1996 deep within a basement bedroom somewhere between the corn fields and strip malls of Southern Illinois, The Conformists began as four teenagers with a desire to create Ugly Rock Music. Eventually, they grew up and now dabble in moments which could even be described as quite beautiful and melodic. Elsewhere, elements of insistent repetition with an initial appearance of stasis reveal — with multiple listens — intricate details under the surface.

Released in 1971 on Impulse and recorded with two different ensembles, Thembi marked a departure from the slowly developing, side-long, mantra-like grooves Sanders had been pursuing for much of his solo career. Instead, it offers an intriguingly wide range of relatively concise ideas resulting in something of an anomaly in Sanders' prime period. This Verve By Request title is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man in Detroit.

Ali Berger has been churning out top-tier, thoughtful house music with plenty of soul and bounce for some time now. Whether he’s releasing via his own label Trackland, or dropping 12”s on labels like Spectral Sound, Clave House, Firm Tracks, and FCR, or DJing either solo or collaboratively with Davis Galvin as Hits Only, Ali’s signature feel is always palpable…there’s a genuine spirit to it all.

This 12” is four bumpers that balance sunshine and introspective, heady, thumpin’ house. A1 “Sun Rising On Harmony” has an ear-worm bass line hook driving the tune with an infectious melody on top riding shotgun. A2 “Inside” brings some acidic tendencies to a back-to-basics house sound we’re always in the mood for. Flip to the B-side and “Thoughts Like Light Snow” give us an electro reprise. B2 “Mint Leaf” brings us home with a swelling bass line and snares that dew-drop over the 4/4 with luscious pads and brain-itch scratching zoinks playing at your ear in the background. House music that’s like fine chocolate. Unpack and indulge!

Released in 1971 on Impulse and recorded with two different ensembles, Thembi marked a departure from the slowly developing, side-long, mantra-like grooves Sanders had been pursuing for much of his solo career. Instead, it offers an intriguingly wide range of relatively concise ideas resulting in something of an anomaly in Sanders' prime period. This Verve By Request title is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man in Detroit.