quête:b line

First time reissue of JP free jazz rarity, pre-Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai group.

The single album self-released by the quartet Shūdan Sokai in 1977 is one of the most vital documents of mid-seventies Japanese free jazz, documenting Tokyo’s free scene at the precise moment when it began to shift to a handful of tiny venues on the western fringes of the city. In Free Jazz in Japan, Teruto Soejima identifies the extant venue Aketa no Mise in Nishi-Ogikubo as the pioneer of this decamping from the centre: a cramped basement beneath a rice shop, seating just 20 people. Musician-run, operated on a shoestring, these spaces offered a vital site for community, creativity, and a small measure of financial independence — “even though it was in a basement, in spirit it was a loft.”

Among the most active of the new venues was Alone in Hachiōji, nearly an hour from Shinjuku, in a district shaped by universities, lower rents, and a thriving counterculture. Originally opened in 1973 as a jazu kissa, Alone was unusually spacious and equipped with a stage, grand piano, and drum kit. Around 1974, Junji Mori and Yasuhiro Sakakibara began working there, booking free jazz players on weekends and establishing the venue as a crucial hub. Mori recalls early appearances by figures including Kazutoki Umezu, Toshinori Kondo, and others who would define the scene.

In early 1976, Umezu and pianist Yoriyuki Harada — recently returned from New York’s loft jazz environment, where they had played with musicians such as David Murray and William Parker — formed Shūdan Sokai with Mori and drummer Takashi Kikuchi. The name, meaning “mass evacuation,” pointed to their self-chosen exile in Hachiōji. With Alone as their home base, the quartet developed a music characterized by an infectious sense of enjoyment and a willingness to integrate free jazz with elements of song structure. Harada switched between piano and bass; the group experimented with rap-like vocal pieces, jabbering nursery rhymes over bass rhythms.

They returned to Alone on December 24 to record Sono zen’ya (Eve), releasing it on their own Des Chonboo Records, partially funded by advertisements from local businesses printed on the rear cover. The closing “Ballad for Seshiru,” dedicated to Harada’s newborn son, unfolds over a delicate piano melody that moves into emphatic chords as intertwining alto lines rise and spiral.

Alone closed in September 1977, and Shūdan Sokai soon dissolved, later morphing into the expanded Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai Orchestra. What remains is a recording rooted in a specific place and moment: a fiercely independent scene sustained by small rooms, close listening, and collective commitment.

Malta’s Human Safari returns to R&S Records, building on the momentum of his 2023 debut ‘Sax Paradiso’, with another EP of fast, physical club music on ‘Children Of The Sea’.

Propulsive opener ‘Children Of The Sea’, balances tensile strings and frenzied percussion fused around a high-tempo techno framework. ‘Jazz Affair’ follows suit but shifts the mood inward, pairing feverish, hypnotic drum programming with expressive instrumentation - layering drifting piano chords, fragile pads and a winding bassline that lends the track a kinetic pull.

‘Turbulence At The Orchestra’ draws from the raw spirit of ’90s warehouse techno, weaving in the sounds of sensationalist news reports on illegal raves of the time and overall diving into darker territory, led by a foreboding, spiralling 303 line and punctuated with dramatic horn flares.. Closing track ‘Lido’ locks into another deep, rolling groove, with pulsing low-end, reverberant horns and skittering, Latin and jazz-tinged rhythmic details threading through the mix.

‘Children Of The Sea’ by Human Safari is available on R&S Records from 13th March 2026.

mixed by aloisius

mastered by Amir Shoat

tracklist poem written by Isaiah Hull

releasing on digital + physical (Vinyl, CD & Cassette) 9th April 2026. Physical editions will feature a secret unlisted bonus track.

aloisius is a prolific, artist and producer, who recently produced a full length album for Pretty V, which released via life is beautiful records (and sold out at Big Love & Rough Trade). aloisius has also collaborated with artists such as: James Massiah, CTM, Nova Varnrable, DJ Spanish Fly, Cities Aviv, zukovstheworld, Kenichi Iwasa & many others.

‘vernacular’ is the debut studio album by improvisation-based artist, and founder of life beautiful, aloisius.

Built entirely from layers of improvised instrumentation recorded via laptop microphone, using various instruments such as guitar, piano, cello, trumpet, saxophone, drums & voice. vernacular is inspired by the spirit of collective improvisation, and embodies aloisius' instinctual & organic approach to musical composition.

Crafted solely by aloisius (except for track 6, which features a layer of piano by life is beautiful member, friend & collaborator Bianca Scout).

To celebrate the release of the album, a semi-improvised interpretation of the project will be performed live by ‘orchestra379’ (a collective improvisation project curated by aloisius, consisting of a fluctuating lineup that differs on each occasion of performance). Initially in London, then at a select few cities across Europe.

Seit fast 30 Jahren erweitern SUNN O))) - Stephen O'Malley und Greg Anderson - die Grenzen der Heavy-Musik und verbinden die Welten der Avantgarde und des Rock, um einen Stil zu schaffen, der sofort als ihr eigener erkennbar ist. Jetzt melden sich SUNN O))) mit ihrem ersten Album mit neuem Material seit dem gefeierten Pyroclasts aus dem Jahr 2019 zurück. Ihr zehntes Album - ihr Debüt bei Sub Pop - zeigt, wie gut das Duo mit Zeit und Raum, Licht und Dunkelheit umgehen kann und dass sie bereit sind, ihren unverwechselbaren Sound zu neuen, mutigen Formen weiterzuentwickeln. Das gleichnamige Album ,SUNN O)))" wurde in den Bear Creek Studios in Woodinville, Washington, mit Brad Wood (HuM, Tar, Sunny Day Real Estate, Liz Phair) aufgenommen. Dieser Ort erwies sich als entscheidend für den Aufnahmeprozess. ,Der riesige Aufnahmeraum hatte große Fenster mit Blick auf Bäume", sagt O'Malley. ,Wir konnten wandern gehen und draußen im Wald sein, Zeit im Freien verbringen. Das war ein wichtiger Teil davon." SUNN O))) haben schon lange Mitwirkende in ihre eigenständige Welt aufgenommen: In früheren Werken waren Attila Csihar (Mayhem), die Komponistin Hildur Gudnadóttir, der Multi-Instrumentalist Steve Moore, der Universalgelehrte Mark Deutrom, Tim Midyett von Silkworm und der legendäre Singer-Songwriter Scott Walker zu hören. Auf diesem Album haben O'Malley und Anderson jedoch neue Möglichkeiten im ursprünglichen Format des Duos entdeckt und alle Instrumente selbst gespielt. ,Was in den letzten Jahren mit unseren Auftritten zu zweit und ohne weitere Mitwirkende passiert ist, war wirklich neu und aufregend", sagt Anderson. Die Kompositionen auf SUNN O))) sind weitläufig und panoramisch, aber dennoch detailreich und spiegeln die baumreiche Umgebung wider, in der sie aufgenommen wurden. Inmitten von heulendem Feedback und eisigem Knirschen findet man überraschend zarte Momente: eine Feldaufnahme von plätscherndem Wasser im Hintergrund, Klavierzwischenspiele, die eine gedämpfte, feierliche Stimmung erzeugen. Dabei erreicht das Duo neue Höhen telepathischer Intensität, während es Musik formt, die die belebende, erdige Luft des pazifischen Nordwestens atmet. Visuell wird das Album von zwei Gemälden des verstorbenen amerikanischen Künstlers Mark Rothko eingerahmt. Die Liner Notes stammen vom preisgekrönten britischen Schriftsteller Robert Macfarlane, der für seine Werke über Landschaft und die Beziehung zwischen Mensch und Natur bekannt ist. Durch die Arbeit der Band, Macfarlane und Rothko verbinden sich Klang, Wort und Bild zu einem umfassenden Erlebnis, das unbestreitbar ganz und gar SUNN O))) ist.

DeepLabs opens 2026 with an exciting new release, “Förvandling,” from Tarik Hensen—the collaborative project of two exceptional producers, Martinou & Ben Kaczor.
This release completes a full-circle journey: rooted in Detroit techno, traveling through Malmö, and landing in Basel, where these influences converge into a singular, immersive statement.
Longtime admirer of both artists’ solo works, Luke Hess joins the project with his own interpretation of Förvandling, bringing his distinct Detroit-informed perspective to the release.
Förvandling is the Swedish word for “transformation,” describing the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly.
The title reflects the evolution of techno itself—how it shifts and reshapes across cities, communities, and eras while retaining its core spirit.
Varp refers to the vertical warp threads in woven fabric—essential structural lines that hold everything together.
The track mirrors this concept: hypnotic percussion and immersive ambience interlace with melodic tones, unified through Tarik’s live dub mixing approach, creating a rich, fluid tapestry of sound.
Malm translates to raw ore, the unrefined material that, when forged with alloys, becomes durable metal.
True to its name, the track channels a deep, raw warehouse energy—refined into a functional gem through harmonious stabs, textured layers, and driving momentum.
Closing the EP, Luke Hess’s remix of Förvandling draws from elements across the original works while incorporating new audio stems from the DeepLabs studio.
The result is a seamless transformation of Tarik Hensen’s aesthetic into Luke’s unmistakable Detroit sound—an adventurous, atmospheric journey crafted for extended DJ sets and immersive dancefloor moments.
Tarik Hensen and Luke Hess invite you to weave these tracks into your curated selections and allow them to transform the dancefloor in unexpected ways.

It seems almost inevitable that at some stage Blue Matter and The Green Ray would be working together, and we’re delighted to say that this is now about to happen. When Blue Matter co-boss, Nick Saloman, was living in Walthamstow, he sat in with The Green Ray many times at the late-lamented Plough Inn on Wood Street (now a mini-supermarket). In more recent times Nick’s band, The Bevis Frond has played live with them on several occasions, and without wishing to disrespect any former members, the current Green Ray line-up sounds as good as they’ve ever sounded, if not, dare we say, even better than before. The Green Ray was originally assembled in the mid-90s by Ken Whaley & Richard Treece, two key members of Walthamstow legends, Help Yourself. During the last 30 years or so, they have released 7 albums and one 12” single.

Sadly, the line-up has changed quite frequently due to the passing of several of their number. Ken & Richard passed away some years ago, and more recently bassist Jeff Gibbs departed this world. However, now under the all-seeing eye of guitarist Simon Whaley, the current line-up is continuing to fly the East London freak flag high. Not long ago Simon asked us if Blue Matter would like to issue their latest offering, and we came back with a resounding “yes please”. ‘Orchard House’ is a superb album, full of great playing and great songs. There are shades of Mighty Baby and Help Yourself (at their trippiest), plus a West Coast atmosphere which put us in mind of Quicksilver and The Grateful Dead. It’s taken some time to happen, but at last Blue Matter & The Green Ray have come together to issue an unmissable album. So don’t miss it.

L. Jacobs releases his second album, Behind the Great Curve, on the Belgian label Blickwinkel. Featuring contributions from Milan W., Sarah Yu Zeebroek, and Joachim Badenhorst, the follow-up to the surprising debut Enthusiasm was initially composed and recorded in Jacobs’ small attic room and later refined at Milan W.’s Van den Nest Studio, where W. also handled production and mixing.

A line or outline which gradually deviates from being straight for some or all of its length.

Behind the Great Curve explores and celebrates the beauty and universality of the abstract notion above and what we commonly refer to as the curve. Its presence, allegedly, is everywhere. It is a form that appears visually, mathematically, and symbolically — a line that suggests motion, time, expectation, and impermanence.

This album aims to listen to all of this — the poetry, the irony, and the faint background hum of modern life — with quiet curiosity. Within a gently meandering, synthesized landscape, a collection of dreamlike compositions unfolds: delicate melodies, sparse percussion, warm buzzing synths, and fragments of field recordings coexist in carefully measured imperfection. Colorful yet minimal in aesthetic, the album does not seek to explain the curve, but to follow it.

First time reissue of JP / US free jazz rarity.

The 1970s were Marion Brown’s most searching decade, a period during which he sought to move beyond the free jazz of the previous era and find more personal approaches to structuring improvisation and composition. After leaving New York for Europe in 1967, Brown began reshaping his music into what he described as “a more deliberate kind of music that had more structure to it,” pacing it so that moods and modes could develop over time. Albums such as In Sommerhausen, Afternoon of a Georgia Faun, Geechee Recollections, and Sweet Earth Flying trace this evolution: rhythmic structures moved to the foreground, harmony receded, and composition became a matter of orchestrating interlocking rhythmic parts as one would polyphonic lines.

Released in 1976, Awofofora is an overlooked but crucial entry in that sequence. At the time, its use of funk and reggae beats, electric guitars, and grooves drawn from contemporary Black popular music led some to misread it as a jazz-rock detour. In retrospect, it is entirely consistent with Brown’s methodology. As he admired in the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the stimulus comes from within the community. Here Brown filters Afro-Caribbean rhythms and funk through his own sensibility, abstracting their structural qualities rather than adopting surface style.

“La Placita,” making its first recorded appearance, layers distinct rhythmic phrases in a manner reminiscent of African drum ensembles, over which Brown and trumpeter Ambrose Jackson spin extended improvisations. The standard “Flamingo” is reshaped through diasporic rhythm and lyrical soloing, while “Pepi’s Tempo” and “Mangoes” harness crisp funk and reggae grooves to generate what Brown called a “manifestation of community” through collective improvisation. Even the overdubbed solo feature “And Then They Danced” reflects his structural thinking, ingeniously re-voicing a duet composition for two alto saxophones performed by one player.

This was the only recording by a short-lived band that briefly polarized audiences during festival appearances in 1976. Yet Brown consistently sought unity across change: different sounds, same principles — rhythm as structure, melody as architecture, collective improvisation, and above all, the primacy of tone. Awofofora stands not as a departure, but as a vivid synthesis of the elements he had been refining since the late 1960s, its grooves and golden alto lines conveying a sound drawn, in his words, “from life and from the world of experience.”

How do losers dance? According to Helmut, almost weightlessly, with soft feet, warm gestures, sometimes alone, sometimes together. Content Creatures, Helmut's fourth album, evokes the pop archetype of the "beautiful loser", who had almost disappeared from view in so-called late capitalism. In a present in which even suffering is often similarly instrumentalised and tailored to clicks like a competitive sport, this album sets a counterpoint: those who listen to it suddenly want to be enchanting losers again, useless and joyfully messing up, losing something beloved, having their hearts broken, giving up a dream, sinking into beauty.
You don't sink alone. Comforting harmonies envelop you, the voices of friends appear, accompany you for a while and then disappear again. Warm grooves, floating synths and delicate guitar lines characterise an indie sound that remains open and breathes.
Self-produced for the first time in his home studio in Neukölln, 'Content Creatures' sounds thoughtful and light at the same time. The album will be released digitally and on vinyl on 10 April 2026 on Berlin-based label St.Vladimir. There are four songs on one side and four songs on the other. The cover is adorned with an exceptionally pretty guinea pig. Helmut shows the special in the seemingly ordinary: a child's pet, the most ordinary of all, is his cover star and headstrong protagonist.

Wie tanzen Verlierer? Wenn man nach Helmut geht, dann fast schwerelos, mit weichen Füßen, warmen Gesten, manchmal allein, manchmal gemeinsam. Content Creatures, Helmuts viertes Album, evoziert den Pop-Archetypus des "beautiful loser", der im sogenannten Spätkapitalismus fast aus dem Blick geraten war. In einer Gegenwart, in der sogar das Leid oft ähnlich durchinstrumentalisiert und auf Klicks getrimmt ist wie ein Leistungssport, setzt dieses Album einen Kontrapunkt: Wer es hört, möchte auf einmal gern wieder ein bezaubernder Verlierer sein, nutzlos und freudvoll abkacken, etwas Geliebtes verlieren, das Herz gebrochen bekommen, einen Traum aufgeben, in Schönheit versinken.
Man versinkt nicht allein. Tröstende Harmonien legen sich um einen, die Stimmen von Freundinnen tauchen auf, begleiten einen ein Stück weit und verschwinden wieder. Warme Grooves, schwebende Synths und feine Gitarrenlinien prägen einen Indie-Sound, der offen bleibt, atmet. Erstmals in seinem Neuköllner Homestudio selbst produziert, klingt "Content Creatures" bedacht und leicht zugleich.
Das Album erscheint digital und auf Vinyl am 10.04.2026 auf dem Berliner Label St.Vladimir. Es hat vier Songs auf der einen und vier Songs auf der anderen Seite. Das Cover ziert ein außergewöhnlich hübsches Meerschweinchen. Helmut zeigt das Besondere im scheinbar Gewöhnlichen: Ein Kinderhaustier, das normalste von allen, ist bei ihm Coverstar und eigensinnige Protagonistin.

How do losers dance? According to Helmut, almost weightlessly, with soft feet, warm gestures, sometimes alone, sometimes together. Content Creatures, Helmut's fourth album, evokes the pop archetype of the "beautiful loser", who had almost disappeared from view in so-called late capitalism. In a present in which even suffering is often similarly instrumentalised and tailored to clicks like a competitive sport, this album sets a counterpoint: those who listen to it suddenly want to be enchanting losers again, useless and joyfully messing up, losing something beloved, having their hearts broken, giving up a dream, sinking into beauty.
You don't sink alone. Comforting harmonies envelop you, the voices of friends appear, accompany you for a while and then disappear again. Warm grooves, floating synths and delicate guitar lines characterise an indie sound that remains open and breathes.
Self-produced for the first time in his home studio in Neukölln, 'Content Creatures' sounds thoughtful and light at the same time. The album will be released digitally and on vinyl on 10 April 2026 on Berlin-based label St.Vladimir. There are four songs on one side and four songs on the other. The cover is adorned with an exceptionally pretty guinea pig. Helmut shows the special in the seemingly ordinary: a child's pet, the most ordinary of all, is his cover star and headstrong protagonist.

Wie tanzen Verlierer? Wenn man nach Helmut geht, dann fast schwerelos, mit weichen Füßen, warmen Gesten, manchmal allein, manchmal gemeinsam. Content Creatures, Helmuts viertes Album, evoziert den Pop-Archetypus des "beautiful loser", der im sogenannten Spätkapitalismus fast aus dem Blick geraten war. In einer Gegenwart, in der sogar das Leid oft ähnlich durchinstrumentalisiert und auf Klicks getrimmt ist wie ein Leistungssport, setzt dieses Album einen Kontrapunkt: Wer es hört, möchte auf einmal gern wieder ein bezaubernder Verlierer sein, nutzlos und freudvoll abkacken, etwas Geliebtes verlieren, das Herz gebrochen bekommen, einen Traum aufgeben, in Schönheit versinken.
Man versinkt nicht allein. Tröstende Harmonien legen sich um einen, die Stimmen von Freundinnen tauchen auf, begleiten einen ein Stück weit und verschwinden wieder. Warme Grooves, schwebende Synths und feine Gitarrenlinien prägen einen Indie-Sound, der offen bleibt, atmet. Erstmals in seinem Neuköllner Homestudio selbst produziert, klingt "Content Creatures" bedacht und leicht zugleich.
Das Album erscheint digital und auf Vinyl am 10.04.2026 auf dem Berliner Label St.Vladimir. Es hat vier Songs auf der einen und vier Songs auf der anderen Seite. Das Cover ziert ein außergewöhnlich hübsches Meerschweinchen. Helmut zeigt das Besondere im scheinbar Gewöhnlichen: Ein Kinderhaustier, das normalste von allen, ist bei ihm Coverstar und eigensinnige Protagonistin.

2ND LP PRESSING

Cosmic Ear is a new group bringing together Christer Bothén, Mats Gustafsson, Goran Kajfeš, Kansan Zetterberg and Juan Romero. Their debut album TRACES is released by We Jazz Records on 23rd of May, 2025. Including 6 deep cuts, TRACES is an album that sees Cosmic Ear tracking down the "traces" of the legendary Don Cherry's legacy while paving their own way in contemporary creative music expression.

Christer Bothén, a collaborator with Don Cherry during his Swedish period in the 1970s, brings depth to the history of the band, while his bandmates each belong at the top of the game in Scandinavian jazz. Their music is meditative and deep, much recommended for fans of the likes of Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, and Pharoah. That being said, listeners should approach Cosmic Ear only with openness and curiosity, without set stylistic boundaries, as it's the group's natural flow and togetherness that brings their music into a fresh territory of their own.

As John Corbett writes in his liner notes:

"The Cosmic Ear. Five souls, sometimes six, on the same road. The pied piper path of Mr. Cherry. Christer Bothén, one of Cherry's main collaborators in his Swedish period and one of the most beautiful bass clarinetists on planet earth, together with next-gen saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, who has carried so many torches in Cherry's procession, and younger Swedish stars trumpeter Goran Kajfes, bassist Kansan Zetterberg, and percussionist Juan Romero. Together a tempo is set, a path is charted. There are global grooves. A berimbau, a karignan (metal scraper from Guinea), donso n'goni. There are ET grooves. Synth, live-electronics, slide flute. The globe is a glove, a hand warmer that radiates with extraterrestrial power, returning the fingers to their place at the center of the galaxy; the Cherry path is a balm that restores essential moisture to the lips that blow life back into the megacosm. Let us all praise warm fingers and moist mouths."

Pariah’s cult debut re-issued! “The Kindred” brings you pure old school Thrash Metal fury! Satan changed their name to Pariah in 1988-1989. Satan’s evolution for the time being came to an end here with this band, Pariah, in 1988. What Satan were going for with “Suspended Sentence”, could definitely be seen as a hint to the direction they would take as Pariah. That raspy, ill-tempered, aggressive Michael Jackson (indeed) is still here on vocals and these guys really wanted to tear things apart with this album. The main lineup here is entirely the same from Satan and Blind Fury (vocalists aside).

Simply put, one could easily say they took “Suspended Sentence”’s interesting idea of “NWOBHM meets Thrash Metal” and basically focused on being even more aggressive this time. We might be throwing out the obvious here again, but if you are new to Pariah or perhaps Satan, familiarize yourself with the fact that guitarists Russ Tippins and Steve Ramsey are truly an insane duo. For the most part with “The Kindred” their guitar work is pretty thrashy and extremely melodic. Then out of nowhere those classic NWOBHM solo’s, dual harmonies, and majestic melodies come into play all over the place and they manage to make it work incredibly well in between the thrashy antics. The production and mix seems to be an improvement over “Suspended Sentence” and here the guitars tend to have more of a sharper edge, Jackson’s vocals are constantly in the clear and never overpowered by anything else, and overall there is a tougher vibe surrounding this.

Everything here is pretty damn heavy. While Tippins and Ramsey are really out there in a realm of their own, there’s great performances again by Graeme English on bass and Sean Taylor on drums. Overall you’ve got a whole package of virtuous musicians here that really mastered the beauty of balance. All in all “The Kindred” goes all the way with every track being fast and aggressive. Satan and Pariah are all typically made up of the same core members and definitely created some timeless and unique Heavy Metal.

Vivel is Alexander Eldefors’ second release under his own name. Built around eurorack and field recordings, many captured during still moments while traveling to visit family and friends. The album was created during a period of transition. It functions as an anchor in a time of change, representing a sense of home, safety, and stillness.

Alexander Eldefors is a producer, composer, and mixing engineer based in the countryside outside of Stockholm, Sweden. With a background as both a sound engineer and musician, he has spent years recording, mixing and playing in a wide range of bands and solo projects. In 2019, he consciously slowed down and returned to a more intimate and quiet musical expression, leading to the release of his debut album Bergen in 2020 under his own name. Bergen is the Swedish word for mountains and reflects the fact that Alexander grew up in the north of Sweden close to the mountains.

His music is minimalistic, melodic, and embracing, shaped by a deep connection to nature. Natural environments are a constant presence in his work, serving both as inspiration and as a sound source. Alongside this, he is drawn to the raw textures of everyday objects, working with foley sounds and field recordings. His arrangements unfold as organic sound collages, where elements blend freely and imperfections are preserved to maintain a natural, human feel.

10 songs from what is possibly the best anarchopunk band currently in existence. The dynamics of the tracks are refreshingly simple, a powerful yet neutral- sounding recording, with very little embellishment or stylized production to hide behind, approaching filth with distorted guitars, haunting bass lines, and steady drum beats, all elevated by the combination of the three voices perfectly balanced between melody and hatred. In a quantized world, one can perceive an endearing dose of human spirit through their tense and disturbingly melodic expressions. A modern Anarcho Punk classic that is surprising to find 40 years after the wonderful bands that spawned the genre, especially England. Includes poster and insert with lyrics.

Since reviewing Pomegranate Seeds: An International Benefit for Mutual Aid in Gaza, the compilation put out by the DISSIDENTS, I've been hunting for more VAMPIRE material, so when I saw I was assigned this LP I became very excited. VAMPIRE is an Australian band that plays apocalyptic anarcho- punk. A sense of extreme urgency pervades VAMPIRE's sound, and What Seems Forever Can Be Broken is ten songs that combine the demanding hardcore of CONFLICT, with a foundation of CRASS, and the rough-hewn delivery of raw punk. The resulting album is dark, hauntingly mesmeric, but also aggressive with a sense of communal voice. In other words, this is anarchopunk that is of the moment, and articulates exactly what contemporary punk is about without being preachy or elitist. This is that eye-to-eye, in-the-trenches vocalization of criticism that comes off as eye-opening and perspective-altering. What Seems Forever Can Be Broken is by far my favorite release thus far in 2025, but also might be the best album I've heard in a really long time. Like, this is benchmark-level material, so definitely give this a listen.

The 12" vinyl is now back from the pressing plant after months of delays. Availablefrom Phobia records treat your ears to something beautiful today, love from the Klaptrapers to all the drinkers, stinkers & thinkers out there. Line- up incl. members from Doom or/and Visions Of War

The album presents a distinctive artistic statement built around song, texture and collective exploration. Opening tracks such as 'Fair Weather' and 'The Big Flood' draw on the oblique lyricism of Henry Cow and the surreal songcraft of Robert Wyatt, with Beraha's voice at the centre of a sound world shaped by analogue radio collage and drifting, delayed saxophone lines. Punk-inflected rhythms emerge on 'Modern Times', while the reflective 'Into the Woods' blends lyrical song with collective improvisation, highlighting the ensemble's dynamic range. Across the album, tightly composed material sits alongside free improvisation, cinematic writing and storytelling. Tracks including 'February' and 'I the King' explore contemporary jazz, humour and surreal narrative, while groove- led pieces such as 'Dorian Gray's Bathroom Cabinet' and Morricone- inspired 'Same Time Next Week' showcase rhythmic drive and playfulness. The album closes with 'Strangers on a Train', where scripted text gives way to improvised spoken dialogue over a relentless pulse, uniting the record's themes of collaboration, narrative and spontaneity. Reflecting on the recording process, Kevin Figes describes Wallpaper Music III as "a joy to make", marking a return to Rockfield Studios and a collaborative experience with musicians whose sensitivity, imagination and improvisational skill shaped the music at every stage

Orange emerged from Antwerp's vibrant art and music scene in 1966, evolving through lineup changes to become one of Belgium's most compelling underground rock bands. By 1969, the band had solidified its identity and made their national television debut, showcasing a blend of psychedelic and melodic rock.
Later that year, with Hugo Van Camp joining Marc Van Geystelen (lead guitar), Norbert De Lange (guitar/vocals), and Swa De Houwer (bass), the band recorded their debut single "The Sun" b/w "Wait Until Sunrise" at Decca Studios in Brussels - a dark, brooding masterpiece that has since earned cult status.