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Problème Technique is the debut album of Swiss band Hirsute. Hop in the van parked in front of the house and follow Elliot, Nina & Atakan in their journey from the countryside to the sea, from the fridge to the afterparty, from punk to psych-rock, from synth-pop to no-wave. Funnily serious or seriously funny, we still don’t really know, and they probably don’t either. The only certainty is that amateurism will prevail.

Up first is the original version of title-track ‘We Need Space’, a merging of winding bass grooves, skippy percussion, modulating, bubbling synths ebbing and flowing amongst one another while a hypnotic, spoken word vocal winds within the groove throughout.

An instrumental version follows next, as the name would
suggest, pulling back the vocal elements for a more robust, drum driven feel.

‘Separation’ then opens the flip-side with a more frenzied feel via and amalgamation of vacillating synth flutters, dubbed out percussion and bumpy low-slung drums which all dynamically evolve and retract throughout. ‘The Feeling’ then completes the EP, diving back into deeper realms with murky atmospherics, vocal chants and
gritty stabs at its core, underpinned by a bouncy stab led bass groove and crisp, crunchy drums.

The five members of Sun June spent their early years spread out across the United States, from the boonies of the Hudson Valley to the sprawling outskirts of LA. Having spent their college years within the gloomy, cold winters of the North East, Laura Colwell and Stephen Salisbury found themselves in the vibrant melting-pot of inspiration that is Austin, Texas. Meeting each other while working on Terrence Malick's 'Song to Song', the pair were immediately taken by the city's bustling small clubs and honky-tonk scene, and the fact that there was always an instrument within reach, always someone to play alongside. Coming alive in this newly discovered landscape, Colwell and Salisbury formed Sun June alongside Michael Bain on lead guitar, Sarah Schultz on drums, and Justin Harris on bass and recorded their debut album live to tape, releasing it via the city's esteemed Keeled Scales label in 2018. The band coined the term 'regret pop' to describe the music they made on the 'Years' LP. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, it made perfect sense ~ the gentle sway of their country leaning pop songs seeped in melancholy, as if each subtle turn of phrase was always grasping for something just out of reach. Sun June returns with Somewhere, a brand new album, out February 2021. It's a record that feels distinctly more present than its predecessor. In the time since, Colwell and Salisbury have become a couple, and it's had a profound effect on their work; if Years was about how loss evolves, Somewhere is about how love evolves. "We explore a lot of the same themes across it," Colwell says, "but I think there's a lot more love here." Somewhere is Sun June at their most decadent, a richly diverse album which sees them exploring bright new corners with full hearts and wide eyes. Embracing a more pop-oriented sound the album consists of eleven beautiful new songs and is deliberately more collaborative and fully arranged: Laura played guitar for the first time; band members swapped instruments, and producer Danny Reisch helped flesh out layers of synth and percussion that provides a sweeping undercurrent to the whole thing. Throughout Somewhere you can hear Sun June blossom into a living-and-breathing five-piece, the album formed from an exploratory track building process which results in a more formidable version of the band we once knew. 'Real Thing' is most indicative of this, a fully collaborative effort which encompasses all of the nuances that come to define the album. "Are you the real thing?" Laura Colwell questions in the song's repeated refrain. "Honey I'm the real thing," she answers back. They've called this one their 'prom' record; a sincere, alive-in-the-moment snapshot of the heady rush of love. "The prom idea started as a mood for us to arrange and shape the music to, which we hadn't done before," the band explains. " Prom isn't all rosy and perfect. The songs show you the crying in the bathroom,, the fear of dancing, the joy of a kiss - all the highs and all the lows." It's in both those highs and lows where Somewhere comes alive. Laura Colwell's voice is mesmerising throughout, and while the record is a document of falling in love, there's still room for her to wilt and linger, the vibrancy of the production creating beautiful contrasts for her voice to pull us through. Opening track 'Bad With Time' sets this tone from the outset, both dark and mysterious, sad and sultry as it fascinatingly unrolls. "I didn't mean what I said," Colwell sings. "But I wanted you to think I did." Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a second record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward from the band that created that debut record, but also one that once again is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.

Das Album "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" der Flaming Lips aus dem Jahr 2002 war im Vereinigten Königreich ein großer Erfolg und wurde mit über 300.000 verkauften Einheiten mit Platin ausgezeichnet. Der Erfolg wurde von 4 Hit-Singles getragen, darunter der Titelsong und der beliebteste Song der Lips, "Do You Realize".

Die Band tourte während des Albumzyklus häufig durch das Vereinigte Königreich, spielte in größeren Hallen als bei früheren Touren und war häufig zu Gast in verschiedenen Radioshows.

Bei dieser Veröffentlichung handelt es sich um einen Mitschnitt der letzten Show der UK-Termine im Januar 2003 im Londoner Forum Theatre. Die 15 Songs umfassende Show wurde landesweit von der BBC ausgestrahlt. Zusätzlich zu den Schlüsselsongs des "Yoshimi"-Albums enthält die Setlist Fan-Favoriten wie "She Don't Use Jelly", "Waitin' For A Superman" und "Race For The Prize".

The initial cassette-only releases of Tashi Dorji turned lots of heads, including Six Organs of Admittance and Hermit Hut - now over a decade later, this release makes its full-album debut on vinyl. "Guitar Improvisation and Tashi Dorji are the first physical releases of my guitar improvisations. They were put out by a small local, now defunct, label called Headway Recording in 2012 and 2013. The friends who ran the label had heard some of my guitar music and reached out to me about doing a cassette release. Guitar Improvisations was really my first recording of improvisation - in a semi-studio setting at my friend"s basement space. It really was a formative time for me because it felt like everything opened, as far as the possibilities of what music-making meant. Like improvisation walked in and then there was a volcanic eruption . . ." - Tashi Dorji

On his third voyage as Skyway Man, artist + producer James Wallace is still seeking answers beyond the stars and still coming back with more questions in the form of ten brilliant songs. On its surface, 'Flight of the Long Distance Healer' registers as another concept album replete with aliens and alternative philosophy, but this time around, Wallace coats the glass with a vital layer of self-reflection. Like a West Coast Dr. John—but more preoccupied with flying saucers than voodoo dolls—Skyway Man is in the business of opening new aural worlds, cracking open reality just enough to get the message through. 'Flight of the Long Distance Healer' sparkles and blinks, whispers and moans—hugely enjoyable music rendered in imaginative and gleaming style. There are hints of the polyrhythmic cinematic sensibility from Wallace’s contributions to the Joe Pera television series, rhythms of the Stax-inspired Spacebomb house band, and ripples of the current East Bay scene outside San Francisco. In a real showcase for the extended Skyway Man family, Wallace has coaxed personal and masterful performances from the likes of Erin Rae, Vetiver’s Andy Cabic, pedal steel wizard Spencer Cullum, Kelly McFarling, and more. Cooking up genres in such a way as to keep their nutrients intact; he packs prog, blues, glam rock, acid folk, swamp boogie, and future folk into a beautiful Martian bouillon.

Collecting orders for Repress of this really hard to find Chicago classic from 1988..

MUST HAVE!!!

2023 Repress

Reiko Kudo first debuted on the Tokyo underground music scene in 1980 with NOISE, a duo which apart from herself under her then maiden name Reiko Omura on voice, guitar and trumpet featured Tori Kudo on organ. Their only album TENNO (1980 on Engel) is probably one of the most outstanding and uncompromising records of all time.

Like other pioneering female producers from Japan such as NON (of NON BAND), PHEW and HACO, who had all begun their startling careers in the early days of the japanese Punk era, Reiko Kudo can surely be regarded as one of the most unique, uncategorisable and daring voices in the entire field of electronic and experimental music ever.

RICE FIELD SLOWLY RIPING IN THE NIGHT was REIKO KUDO's second album under her own name. It features TORI KUDO (MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ) and SAYA and TAKASHI UENO (TENNISCOATS) on various instruments. The recordings took place in 2000 at Reiko' s and Tori's house in the rural surroundings of Shikoku island.

All recorded music on this album sounds like it originates in a parallel dimension where time and key signatures simply don't exist, Some might describe this as outsider music, but this doesn't really begin to do justice to the quality of the tracks, there is nothing accidental or forced here, this is simply music created in a very different way. Yet again REIKO KUDO had conceived of something utterly beautiful.

"After producing the album "Souvenir de mauve" with Maher Shalal Hash Baz which we released on our label Majikick, the idea came to us, to release Reiko Kudo's work. For Reiko's work, we brought our recording equipment from Tokyo to Shikoku and recorded the entire album at her house.

The piano was positioned in a room with a high ceiling. We would set up our small recording equipment in the room and started to record. The basic tracks were recorded without any rehearsal and just a few overdubs were added on top of it. To have a distant sound on the recording, Tori played trumpet in the next room. The choir was standing outside the house, singing "Enya-totto, enya-totto" through the open window. It was early spring, I remember that it was still a bit cold and the members of the choir were freezing outside.

Reiko plays only at certain times of the day, so that we were able to complete only two or three recordings a day. Therefore we had plenty of free time. We went to a hot spring, to a cafe, or we tried pottery on a spinning wheel at Tori's workshop. It was a very rewarding time.

When this album was finished, we brought it to her to listen to. She said happily "I think this is the best work I have ever done." We felt that all our efforts were richly rewarded. Secretly, we thought the same, so we are delighted that this album will be re-issued." - Saya and Ueno (Tenniscoats), Tokyo 2018

Originally released on Majikick Records, Japan, 2000 Restauration and mastering by Detlef Funder at Paraschall Mastering, Düsseldorf. Vinylcut at Calyx, Berlin Translation by Miki Yui and Claus Laufenburg. Many thanks to Reiko Kudo, Tori Kudo, Saya and Takashi Ueno, Satoru Higashiseto.

LOVE + POP is a snapshot of a moment in not-so-far-away time; something fast, loud, moody and a little dangerous. It is, in some ways, classic Current Joys: full of wild ambition, sneaky hooks, and songs that move from concept to completion with prolific speed. But LOVE + POP also explodes myriad expectations with aggressive, deconstructed production, house music influence, and a guest appearance from Lil Yachty. It is not so much a twist as it is a unique multiverse identity for Current Joys, as Nick Rattigan's set out to "capture this sonic moment and harken back to the way I first released music." The story of LOVE + POP begins with one of those house parties: the kind that bulldozes your home and, in its aftermath, leaves a wreckage that finds you flattened but also ready to be new. In that mess and mayhem, Rattigan watched Everybody's Everything, the documentary of Lil Peep, and recorded a cover of "walk away as the door slams". But the itch wasn't scratched, and what began as a moment of homage morphed into something bigger, deeper and more fundamental, a point where the seemingly haphazard - in his home, in Peep's process - opened Rattigan up to an entire creative space and a new approach to bending or even detonating genre. Crucially, all of this was recorded at home, in what Rattigan calls a "tribute to the process of creating" in a DIY space. And what began as a singular passion project unexpectedly grew into a uniquely collaborative record for Current Joys. "I've set out to make collaborative records before," Rattigan explains, "but they often end up totally me, with just a couple exceptions. But then this record gave me the opportunity to be extremely collaborative, to let other people write instrumental tracks, sending links around for people to mess with and weigh in on. I sat down to do credits and realized here were all these people and styles and they all came together and worked." LOVE + POP's cover art is an airbrush/spraypaint rendition of the Wild Heart album cover, which is itself a photo of Rattigan's grandparents kissing. It is sacred in some ways and shredded in others. This idea - the aggressive reimagining of something timeless into a present, finite style - is LOVE + POP.

LOVE + POP is a snapshot of a moment in not-so-far-away time; something fast, loud, moody and a little dangerous. It is, in some ways, classic Current Joys: full of wild ambition, sneaky hooks, and songs that move from concept to completion with prolific speed. But LOVE + POP also explodes myriad expectations with aggressive, deconstructed production, house music influence, and a guest appearance from Lil Yachty. It is not so much a twist as it is a unique multiverse identity for Current Joys, as Nick Rattigan's set out to "capture this sonic moment and harken back to the way I first released music." The story of LOVE + POP begins with one of those house parties: the kind that bulldozes your home and, in its aftermath, leaves a wreckage that finds you flattened but also ready to be new. In that mess and mayhem, Rattigan watched Everybody's Everything, the documentary of Lil Peep, and recorded a cover of "walk away as the door slams". But the itch wasn't scratched, and what began as a moment of homage morphed into something bigger, deeper and more fundamental, a point where the seemingly haphazard - in his home, in Peep's process - opened Rattigan up to an entire creative space and a new approach to bending or even detonating genre. Crucially, all of this was recorded at home, in what Rattigan calls a "tribute to the process of creating" in a DIY space. And what began as a singular passion project unexpectedly grew into a uniquely collaborative record for Current Joys. "I've set out to make collaborative records before," Rattigan explains, "but they often end up totally me, with just a couple exceptions. But then this record gave me the opportunity to be extremely collaborative, to let other people write instrumental tracks, sending links around for people to mess with and weigh in on. I sat down to do credits and realized here were all these people and styles and they all came together and worked." LOVE + POP's cover art is an airbrush/spraypaint rendition of the Wild Heart album cover, which is itself a photo of Rattigan's grandparents kissing. It is sacred in some ways and shredded in others. This idea - the aggressive reimagining of something timeless into a present, finite style - is LOVE + POP.

LOVE + POP is a snapshot of a moment in not-so-far-away time; something fast, loud, moody and a little dangerous. It is, in some ways, classic Current Joys: full of wild ambition, sneaky hooks, and songs that move from concept to completion with prolific speed. But LOVE + POP also explodes myriad expectations with aggressive, deconstructed production, house music influence, and a guest appearance from Lil Yachty. It is not so much a twist as it is a unique multiverse identity for Current Joys, as Nick Rattigan's set out to "capture this sonic moment and harken back to the way I first released music." The story of LOVE + POP begins with one of those house parties: the kind that bulldozes your home and, in its aftermath, leaves a wreckage that finds you flattened but also ready to be new. In that mess and mayhem, Rattigan watched Everybody's Everything, the documentary of Lil Peep, and recorded a cover of "walk away as the door slams". But the itch wasn't scratched, and what began as a moment of homage morphed into something bigger, deeper and more fundamental, a point where the seemingly haphazard - in his home, in Peep's process - opened Rattigan up to an entire creative space and a new approach to bending or even detonating genre. Crucially, all of this was recorded at home, in what Rattigan calls a "tribute to the process of creating" in a DIY space. And what began as a singular passion project unexpectedly grew into a uniquely collaborative record for Current Joys. "I've set out to make collaborative records before," Rattigan explains, "but they often end up totally me, with just a couple exceptions. But then this record gave me the opportunity to be extremely collaborative, to let other people write instrumental tracks, sending links around for people to mess with and weigh in on. I sat down to do credits and realized here were all these people and styles and they all came together and worked." LOVE + POP's cover art is an airbrush/spraypaint rendition of the Wild Heart album cover, which is itself a photo of Rattigan's grandparents kissing. It is sacred in some ways and shredded in others. This idea - the aggressive reimagining of something timeless into a present, finite style - is LOVE + POP.

Ltd Edition! Mit seinem dritten Album Diagnosis dreht der in Chicago lebende Multiinstrumentalist Sen Morimoto das Rad der Zeit zurück. Die 12 Tracks, die in Chicagos Friends Of Friends Studio aufgenommen wurden, wechseln zwischen funkigem, hellem Jazz-Pop ("Bad State"), vertrackten gitarrenbasierten Tracks mit Radiohead-Feeling ("What You Say") und orchestralen Wunderlandschaften wie "Forsythia". Sen Morimoto ist ein wandlungsfähiger Musiker: Er kann ein Saxophon-Solo herausreißen, tief in intimes Singer-Songwriter-Territorium eintauchen und massive, brüllende Alt-Pop-Songs mit gleicher Souveränität anführen.

Here's the thing about ill peach: this band exists because they are too weird to not exist. The seed of ill peach was first planted in the recording studios of New York City where Pat Morrissey and Jess Corazza were working together as professional songwriters, collaborating with artists like Icona Pop, SZA, Weezer, Pharrell, Big Freedia, and others. Then came the day they were offered their own publishing deal. Cool, right? Well, about that: "Everyone kept saying, 'The stuff that you're writing is slightly too left-of-center-weirdo stuff," remembers Morrissey. "Why don't you start your own project?" Thus ill peach, a pop band with a punk streak and a taste for both the rotten and the sweet, with an approach to making music that goes something like: "Do you want to pick up a guitar and do you want to be on this water jug and we'll record it on the iPhone and create some weird drum pattern?" Following a series of well-received EPs on their own Pop Can Records (a record label and artist collective Morrissey and close collaborator Jesse Schuster run with friends), a digital single for Hardly Art's 15th anniversary series, and some colorful music videos that crystallized the band's visual aesthetic along with their sound, ill peach's "weirdo stuff" comes to fruition on first full-length THIS IS NOT AN EXIT: a collection of anthemic songs built out of bright pop and gritty experimental elements (Morrissey names the sculptural use of distortion on the final albums by Low as an inspiration), punctuated with hooky choruses ready to be screamed along to in the safety of your own bedroom or with a bunch of friends at one of ill peach's intense live shows. If ill peach first blossomed in New York, it took quarantine in Los Angeles for the project to ripen. The end of the world turned out to be what ill peach needed to get real with themselves. "It helped us creatively to zone in and removed us from the industry side of things to where we could just be like: this is our new identity, let's jump with both feet." THIS IS NOT AN EXIT's title is a reflection of something Corazza realized during a period of personal and familial crises "I kept walking into buildings and I'd try to exit somewhere and the sign would be like, 'This is not an exit,'" she says. "It just felt like a metaphor for a hopeful thing-don't give up yet." This combination of hope and anxiety is all over THIS IS NOT AN EXIT, reflected in a sonic palette (Alternative! Electronica! Indie! Radio pop! Coldplay!) as eclectic as it is unpretentious. Ultimately, THIS IS NOT AN EXIT is a record about healing, a process often spoken about in New Age-y terms but one that in reality can be really confusing and, yes, weird. But it is the beautiful strangeness of being alive that ill peach capture so well on THIS IS NOT AN EXIT.

Sven Torstenson's notorious Drugs is a loopdigga's fever dream, bursting with breaks for days and featuring possibly the most iconic cover of all library music's cult classics. First released in 1980, it's now a hyper-rare and seriously sought-after electronic album full of experimental soundscapes and samples just waiting to be flipped. It's both terrifying and terrifyingly good. So much so, it's been brilliantly sampled by Kendrick Lamar and Chance The Rapper.

The sleeve describes Drugs as containing "the newest dimensions of electronic sounds. Dramatic underscores for all problems of today's life and society, at the border between reality and delusion." That's pretty spot-on. The fast moving "Euphoria" is an incredible, unignorable opener. It's loaded with disorientating effects and really needs to be heard to be believed. It's followed by the gorgeous "Soft Hallucinations", containing quiet, meditative and beautiful sounds - as the title suggests. One listen and you'll want to live in the warm embrace of this beatless, harmonic gem. Sinister squelchy synth stabs don't distract from the sheer beauty of the track's main (gentle) thrust. They only serve to elevate its trippy magic.

Next up, "Sky Move"'s agitated and repetitive rhythm makes it an intense listen but with a broad melody that will appeal to many. "Destroyed Dreams" utilises a muffled church organ and it sounds heavenly to begin with but it gradually invites increasingly distorted elements. Yes, you've had trips like this, we're pretty certain. Mental! Talking of bad trips, never have they sounded so good as "Horror Trip"; this fractured drama-synth just needs some some dusty beats to hold it up - get involved.

"Floating Illusions" almost sounds like a beatless Spiritualized bomb from the early-mid 90s; melodic, synthy, church organ-drenched. The mournful, dramatic "Lost Chance" pulses along on a bed of acidy synths whilst "The Morning After" is the sonic equivalent of the extreme fear and doom experienced in the aftermath of the previous night's carnage. Whilst somewhat uncomfortable listening, again, it's pretty compelling thanks to the myriad effects being expertly utilised. Fascinating. The sprawling, fragmented "Random Thoughts" is described as containing "confused melody phrases" - yeah, pretty much sums this one up.

The B-Side is ushered in by "Heroin" and it's as sketchy as you might think, all mysterious minor chords with a dominating - but not overbearing - bass refrain. Next up, the dream-like synthy fanfare of "Night Trip" climaxes after a few minutes of dramatic, ecclesiastical sounds whilst "Day Trip" layers its melody over a repetitive rhythmic base.

Next up, one of the *REAL* highlights makes itself known. Absolutely not to be missed, "Dealer's Corner" is all shifting tenors from quiet to hectic and back around again. The hectic parts are like a totally synthed-out-the-eyeballs jazz-funk collective wigging out with the latest electronic toys from 1980. This one totally SMOKES.

The dramatic "Sad And Hopeless" is appositely replete with dissonant, minor church-organ chords whilst "Riding Pegasus" uses a creepy ostinato bass melody to create irrational bleepy menace that's ripe for sampling. The penultimate track, "Hopeless Chaos" is another disorientating trip, a bleepy confection of sounds and phrases whilst closer "Goin' Mad" is all electronic percussion with an unpleasant rhthymic feel and irritating melody. Music to annoy your partner with!

Established in Munich in 1965 by Gerard and Rotheide Narholz, Sonoton introduced library music to Germany. Initially intended to cater to the country's new TV market, the library also provided an avenue for Gerhard Narholz's astonishing musical prolificacy, and soon became a haven for a wide range of European composers and musicians. In 1969, Sonoton struck a deal with the British label Berry Music for international publishing rights, exposing its catalog to a worldwide audience; when Berry was bought out by EMI in 1973, Sonoton transitioned into a full-fledged international label, with successes in the library and commercial fields and many innovations to its credit. Now a worldwide operation with hundreds of producers and composers under its employ, Sonoton nonetheless remains an independently run business still helmed by its founders - a remarkable achievement in an era when nearly every other major library has been absorbed by a multinational conglomerate.

The audio for Drugs has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Lisbon is undergoing a lot of changes but its substance can't be stopped. Record label Para?so reminds us of that with its 12th release by label co-founder Shcuro who strips things back to assert what truly remains however much time may pass. 'It Lasts Forever' is the producer's ode to structural things in his inner life that will keep flowing on unchanged, be it the love for his wife; his reverence to techno - hence the use of classic drum machines like Roland's 909, 808 and 707; to friendship and community - having one of his dearest mates Steffi take part via the remixer chair. Dubbed-out, expertly sound-sculpted stabs punctuate 'Together' alongside a 808 boom bass, vocal cut-ups creating a versatile, instant classic vibration to open the EP. 'U.N.I.' takes us on a stroll to jacking rhythms in its fast-paced, tom-heavy fusion of rawer techno traditions and dub techno realness. 'We Are Eternal' delves deeper into sonic themes of bliss, gratefulness and hope, taking us on an emotional journey that feels smooth and intense at once. Utter legend of all things dance music Steffi picks up the opening track and adds propulsive percussion and further melodic elements to it, creating the perfect gem to close this record.

William Eggleston is a famed photographer and musician credited for iconic album covers such as Spoon's Transference and Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American. 512 was inspired and recorded at the Parkview Apartments in Memphis, Tennessee where Eggleston lived for almost ten years. The apartment was full of art and inspiration: cameras, naturally, but also high-end stereo tube amplifiers and objects that you'd rush towards money in hand at your local flea market. But also a gigantic nine foot Bosendorfer grand piano and a massive grand vintage JBL theater speaker console. His home was overwhelmed by music. By recording there the album captures not just his performances, but also the vibe of the place; it often felt as though there were artists lurking in the aether listening along. His visitors over the years were no small change: Lee Friedlander, Carl Sagan, Dennis Hopper , Paul McCartney and many others came to see him and listen to his hypnotic "Musik". You can hear local traffic, a dog barking, weather; reality, in other words. But there was another space layered on top, a kind of surreality echoing his music, as you can imagine a gathering of musicians listening in, eager to join him. Thus came along 512 which features the legendary Brian Eno on bells and production from Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, Paul Simon, Jon Hopkins)."

William Eggleston is a famed photographer and musician credited for iconic album covers such as Spoon's Transference and Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American. 512 was inspired and recorded at the Parkview Apartments in Memphis, Tennessee where Eggleston lived for almost ten years. The apartment was full of art and inspiration: cameras, naturally, but also high-end stereo tube amplifiers and objects that you'd rush towards money in hand at your local flea market. But also a gigantic nine foot Bosendorfer grand piano and a massive grand vintage JBL theater speaker console. His home was overwhelmed by music. By recording there the album captures not just his performances, but also the vibe of the place; it often felt as though there were artists lurking in the aether listening along. His visitors over the years were no small change: Lee Friedlander, Carl Sagan, Dennis Hopper , Paul McCartney and many others came to see him and listen to his hypnotic "Musik". You can hear local traffic, a dog barking, weather; reality, in other words. But there was another space layered on top, a kind of surreality echoing his music, as you can imagine a gathering of musicians listening in, eager to join him. Thus came along 512 which features the legendary Brian Eno on bells and production from Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, Paul Simon, Jon Hopkins)."

Did you know there are horses on the cover of Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version? There are at least three in the right hand corner, gathered inexplicably near a white canvas tent, a human possibly perched among its folds. As widescreen and vast as the cover may seem, those little details-the horses, the possible human, the faint wisp of white clouds-give it depth and wonder, something to which the imagination can return. Did you know that the music on Earth 2-repressed now for its 30th anniversary, back in its original artwork, and accompanied by a riveting set of remixes that demonstrate the reach of what Dylan Carlson long ago called "ambient metal"-works much the same way? The surface is massive and obvious, the meatpaw riffs of Carlson and bassist Dave Harwell pounding and swiping and pawing at the speakers, a true bludgeon in three-dimensional sound. Listen, though, for the details in the corners, for the finesse beneath the force, and Earth 2 reveals new levels of depth and wonder. The widespread impact of Earth 2 suggests that others have indeed been leaning in, listening to these minutiae and making something new of them. A masterpiece without many genre precedents, Earth 2 surely helped send doom metal down its more modern drone, ambient, and avant-garde avenues. Those descendants are obvious. Perhaps more surprising and gratifying are the ways it has influenced electronic music, modern composition, and even hip-hop by realigning our senses of tempo, time, and texture. Earth 2 engendered a rearrangement of expectations, regardless of preferred form.

"The Twits" wurde von der Band im Februar 2023 innerhalb von nur acht Wochen in einem provisorischen Heimstudio auf Mallorca aufgenommen und von Marta Salogni abgemischt. Nach einem Kinderbuch von Roald Dahl benannt, zeigt sich das Songwriting von bar italia in rauen, mystischen, ungebürsteten und gelegentlich düsteren Arrangements. Songs wie "my little tony" mit seinen harten Riffs und dem kathartischen Sound ist ein klassischer Indie-Banger für die große Bühne. In anderen Momenten wagt sich die Band auf bisher unbekanntes Terrain, auf dem sie eine hypnotische Dissonanz ihrer Stimmen schaffen. "Jelsy" zum Beispiel spielt sich wie ein Gespräch zwischen Freunden über wehmütigen, summenden Country-Blues ab, wobei die Stimmen abwechselnd tröstlich, ironisch und hoffnungslos sehnsüchtig sind. Der geschmeidige, langsam brennende Walzer "Twist" besticht durch seine nackte Lyrik und scheint jedes Bandmitglied zu einem individuellen Bekenntnis einzuladen. Während "Tracey Denim" von seinen kompakten 2-3-minütigen Songs lebte, besticht "The Twits" durch seine eher offenen und mitunter uferlosen Kompositionen. "glory-hunter" nimmt z.b. spielerische Wendungen, bevor es an einem völlig anderen Ort endet, als es begonnen hat. Das abschließende "bibs" ist ein seltener Fall, in dem alle drei im Einklang zu hören sind. Eine Prozession geradezu geisterhafter Akkorde mit einer zerreißenden Rückkopplung bildet den Abschluss des Albums. Das im Mai veröffentlichte Matador-Debüt "Tracey Denim" von bar italia wurde schnell zum Gesprächsthema der weltweiten Indieszene. Publikationen wie The Guardian ("eines der Alben des Jahres 2023 bisher"), The Times ("excellent debut album"), The Observer ("Artist To Watch"), NME ("a lasting impression that"s all of their own making"), The Quietus ("endlessly evocative") und Pigeons And Planes ("quickly establishing themselves as one of the most enticing upcoming bands") feierten das Album. Im Juni gaben bar italia ihr Live-Debüt in den USA mit fünf ausverkauften Konzerten in New York sowie vier in Los Angeles und auch ihre Debüt-Show in Berlin war binnen kürzester Zeit ausverkauft. Über einen der New Yorker Auftritte schrieb Brooklyn Vegan: "Live spielt die Band ganz natürlich und großartig auf, mit Songs wie "Punkt", "Changer" und "Nurse!" (...), die Post-Punk der frühen 80er mit Indie-Rock der 90er und einem Hauch Trip-Hop mischen".

The last twelve months have been a whirlwind for Henry Counsell and Louis Curran, the men who make up Joy (Anonymous). Having established themselves during the Covid-19 era by playing impromptu meet-ups on London’s South Bank, they have graduated to bigger venues, travelled to far-flung locales and recorded their second album, Cult Classics, while maintaining the spontaneous energy and irrepressible joy that made their name. Their music revels in the euphoria of being alive and all the feelings, good or bad, that come with it. It invites us into a community, draws us close and promises the night of our lives.

Recorded over the course of a year, the blueprint for Cult Classics was laid down over a two-week span at Imogen Heap’s Round House in east London. Joy (Anonymous) invited friends old and new to visit - they’d record live instruments in jam sessions upstairs and then retreat to a second room to flip and loop and generally mess with the sounds, moulding them into sizzling dance tracks. “Loads of people were coming up to me like ‘I thought this was going to be a dance record?’” Louis says, remembering the quietly beautiful music they’d be recording. “I’d be like, don’t worry about that, just keep playing.” He’d send it back to people later and they’d be floored - “That was my bit and you’ve made it... jungle!”

It was an organic and creatively fulfilling approach, one that didn’t allow any of the music to get stale or stagnate. As they built the tracks from the sounds they’d collected, Joy (Anonymous) would weave the new songs into their famously improvised live sets, testing them, refining them, taking note of the audiences’ reactions. In a year punctuated by a lot of travel, they’d also incorporate the voices of people they met along the way - “Beazley’s Poem”, which opens the record, features the words of a man who was working security at a Fred Again show at New York’s Terminal Five. “He was basically doing the opposite of his job and being a hype man, climbing on the fence and ramping up the crowd - we ended up hanging out with him - like, who’s this legend?” Louis explains. “He just speaks really amazingly about his life, all these amazing thoughts and opinions - he started jumping on the mic when we were playing, preaching these amazing messages to the crowd, like that we all need to be nicer to each other. The first time we played the record in its entirety, he introduced us and that’s the recording we’ve used.”

Joy (Anonymous) remain dedicated to the spirit of spontaneity. They shut a street down with a surprise waterside party in New York. On a trip to Copenhagen they played an impromptu set in a cafe, which turned into a house party and a night-long good time. In Lithuania, they ended up playing in a decommissioned prison. It’s harder, perhaps, to keep that spirit alive now that they are operating more within the confines of the music industry but they will keep lugging their kit to wherever the party calls for as long as they can. “I think if we lose that, we’ve kind of lost what makes us us,” Henry says.

Bursting with multi-genre reference points and disparate influences, Cult Classics is very much a dance album. The samples we made ourselves or we took from music that is quite different to dance music, but we definitely wanted to shout out a lot of the dance influences that we love,” Henry says. They listened to a lot of Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx as well as The Prodigy (“more rage stuff”), taking songwriting tips from their dance forebears, but also recording bits that felt more like jazz and motown (see: A Place I Belong and the lovely album closer, You’re In Or You’re Out). Emir Taha’s gentle classical guitar runs like a thread throughout Cult Classics, washing into the undertones of the record, tying it all together.

The album follows the beat of a night out, from frenetic, sweaty movement to the gentler winding down as the dawn breaks. At times it is euphoric, celebratory and pure, whirling fun, at others it seeks the joy in the darker emotions that life throws our way. 404 is designed to encapsulate everything about the Joy (Anonymous) journey so far. Skittering beats and ghostly vocals give way to vibrating house chords: sirens blare as we approach a dubstep drop. It’s dramatic and wild, ratcheting up, seeming to settle then hitting you with an intense and frantic breakdown before the ghostly vocal returns to lull us back into the world. It has the feel of a hungry cat playing with a mouse, toying with it before letting it get away.

What sounds like someone playing the spoons on playful, housey How We End Up Here is actually Louis’ restless habit of clicking his rings on everything, one of a myriad of calling cards and easter eggs that day one fans will recognise. They rework Miley Cyrus and Swae Lee’s Party Up The Street into a French-electro-inspired future classic, adding a note of melancholy to a tune that you can imagine hearing blaring from every car on a summer drive. The lyrics on Cult Classic are generally reassuring, inspirational, originally drawn from Henry in stream-of-consciousness freestyles. You’re fine the way you are, they seem to say - the repeated “No need to try” of A Place I Belong, the assurance that “It’s in me all the time” on In Me All The Time. Even the summery but regretful Did You Wrong hints at the growth that is possible from less than ideal behaviour. For Joy (Anonymous), joy isn’t about just being “happy” all the time - it’s about relishing every element of your being.

The name ‘Joy (Anonymous)’ is taken from the work Henry did with Alcoholics Anonymous groups: it is a way to build a community around sharing joy. Their impromptu live sets are known as ‘meetings’; they encourage fans to share moments of joy to their website. They care deeply about the scene they’ve come up in and are determined not to leave it behind. Every show is another chance to reach out and connect with people who love to come together and revel in music as loud as it can go.

Support slots for Fred Again and The Streets, wild B2Bs with Fred and Skrillex, and a set at Four Tet’s Finsbury Park all-dayer this summer have given the duo the opportunity to live out childhood dreams and introduced their infectious live shows to new audiences at huge venues.

With an album as assured and joyful as Cult Classics on the horizon (and a killer collab with The Blessed Madonna coming up), they’re only going to reach higher heights. But the essence of Joy (Anonymous) remains on the South Bank. Between shows at Ally Pally in September, they dragged their camping chairs and gear back down to the banks of the Thames: and it just felt right.

Moderner Club-Sound und groovige Beats aus UK: endlich erscheint Delilah Hollidays
erstes Soloalbum "Invaluable" über One Little Independent auf CD und LP. Die umtriebige
Londonerin war Teil der Supergroup B.E.D. gemeinsam mit Baxter Dury und Étienne de
Crécy und bildet mit ihrer Schwester Ursula die Polit-Punk-Band Skinny Girl Diet. Nun
erscheint ihr erstes Soloalbum, auf dem sie in Skinny-Girl-Diet-Riot-Grrrl-Manier
gesellschaftliche Themen wie Sucht, Paranoia und Kapitalismus in den Mittelpunkt stellt.
Es vereint zwei in diesem Jahr digital erschienenen EPs voller
Downtempo-Electronic-Art-Pop mit Trip-Hop-Einflüssen und einem Medley aus
berauschenden Synthesizern, durchdrungen von Dancefloor-Beats.
Das Album existiert im Raum zwischen Fantasie und Realität. Delilah Holliday spricht über
Themen wie Wachstum, Heimat und Wurzeln, aber auch strukturelle Ungleichheiten und
Armut. Vor allem aber geht es um Selbstakzeptanz und Selbstliebe. Zwischen industriellen
Clubhymnen und atmosphärisch produzierten Momenten der Euphorie mischt Delilah
glitchige Elektronik mit knackigen Rhythmen, die gemeinsam mit dem Komponisten
Raphael Ninot geschrieben und produziert wurden.

Moderner Club-Sound und groovige Beats aus UK: endlich erscheint Delilah Hollidays
erstes Soloalbum "Invaluable" über One Little Independent auf CD und LP. Die umtriebige
Londonerin war Teil der Supergroup B.E.D. gemeinsam mit Baxter Dury und Étienne de
Crécy und bildet mit ihrer Schwester Ursula die Polit-Punk-Band Skinny Girl Diet. Nun
erscheint ihr erstes Soloalbum, auf dem sie in Skinny-Girl-Diet-Riot-Grrrl-Manier
gesellschaftliche Themen wie Sucht, Paranoia und Kapitalismus in den Mittelpunkt stellt.
Es vereint zwei in diesem Jahr digital erschienenen EPs voller
Downtempo-Electronic-Art-Pop mit Trip-Hop-Einflüssen und einem Medley aus
berauschenden Synthesizern, durchdrungen von Dancefloor-Beats.
Das Album existiert im Raum zwischen Fantasie und Realität. Delilah Holliday spricht über
Themen wie Wachstum, Heimat und Wurzeln, aber auch strukturelle Ungleichheiten und
Armut. Vor allem aber geht es um Selbstakzeptanz und Selbstliebe. Zwischen industriellen
Clubhymnen und atmosphärisch produzierten Momenten der Euphorie mischt Delilah
glitchige Elektronik mit knackigen Rhythmen, die gemeinsam mit dem Komponisten
Raphael Ninot geschrieben und produziert wurden.

7A Records are proud to announce the release of Micky Dolenz Sings R.E.M., a 4 track EP released
on November 3rd. The EP is comprised of songs R.E.M. wrote throughout their career, all beautifully
reimagined by Dolenz and producer Christian Nesmith. The EP features fresh and completely new
arrangements of some of R.E.M.’s most memorable and catchy songs. As Dolenz says: “Once again,
this EP reaffirms my long-held conviction that a solid recording always begins with solid material. You
don’t get much solid than R.E.M. What a joy to, once again, bring these songs to life”.
R.E.M. Reactions to the EP:
“These songs are ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Micky Dolenz covering R.E.M. Monkees style, I have
died and gone to heaven. This is really something. Shiny Happy People sounds INCREDIBLE (never
thought you or I would hear me say that!!!). Give it a spin. It’s wild. And produced by Christian Nesmith
(son of Michael Nesmith), I am finally complete”. Michael Stipe
"That voice---one of the main voices of my musical awakening---singing our songs... It is beyond
awesome. Let's help make this as huge as we possibly can. I am beyond thrilled." Mike Mills
"I've been listening to Micky's singing since I was nine years old. It's unreal to hear that very voice,
adding new depth to songs we've written ourselves, and inhabiting them so completely." Peter Buck
"I am blown away! Micky and Christian just take these tracks to unexpected places”. Scott
McCaughey

Adroit jazz guitar, prog rock fantasia, and Japanese environmental music all rest comfortably behind Leo Takami's Next Door. The follow up to the acclaimed Felis Catus & Silence, Next Door finds Takami ruminating on passages—of time, seasons, consciousness. Through music, Leo contemplates daily events and finds beauty in ordinary moments. He also seems to be questioning the value of being stuck in the world, allowing his mind to wander towards something beyond it. His music is earnest, deeply personal and introspective, and is sort of akin to Rousseau’s Reveries of the Solitary Walker or Kenji Miyazawa’s Night on the Galactic Railroad. On “As If Listening” Takami takes inspiration from a Van Gogh art show organized chronologically, articulating the sense of “enlightened resignation” that is intrinsic in the act of creativity. “Beyond” is a dream of otherworldly nostalgia, a watercolor of past lives. His music is a hazy cinema of memory, the soundtrack to a cherished memory that may have never really happened, but still radiates in the mind like the sun on an unusually warm winter day.

It’s frequently been difficult for us, as a band, to limit ourselves to “normal” pop song lengths and structures….as evidenced in pretty much all of our releases to date. From time to time we feel the need to loose the ropes that bind us and let our Long & Tedious flag fly freely. Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico is the result of said untethering.

We’ve always found the idea of exploring a single note over long stretches of time interesting and this song is that idea taken to an extreme logical conclusion. It’s an exploration of the note A in all it’s possible variations.

Lyrically the song is an extravaganza of navel gazing. There’s a cliche in the literary world nowadays of authors writing novels about the trials, tribulations and rewards of writing a novel. Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico is just as sickeningly self-referential, exploring the obsessive urge to create art of all kinds and how it turns into a cycle of imbibing real life experiences, then spitting them back out in whatever artistic discipline you happen to find yourself practicing. A kind of snake eating it’s own tail….but with the kind of self pitying pretentiousness that only folks who think they’re very clever indeed (that’s us) would want to impose on themselves.

Repress of the sold out Record Store Day release, this time on a different colour. Black Spiders – Those trusted and true sons of the north are back. “We knew the new album had to be special. We’ve been away for a while. The first album was a straight shot, the second on the rocks, with this new one we had to kick down the brewery doors!” Pete Spiby. Back in June of 2017, Sheffield rock beasts Black Spiders waved goodbye to an army of loyal fans with some sonically charged shows before retreating into the shadows. And then, in November of last year, with the world in the grips of the Coronavirus pandemic and after a long year of very little fun from out of the silhouettes they returned with ‘Fly In The Soup’, the first new Black Spiders music in 6 years. Exactly the feel-good shot in the arm the world needed, while we await that other vaccine. The seeds of the Black Spider return were actually planted last summer, when singer and guitarist Pete Spiby began taking to guitarist Ozzy Lister to start writing new material and before they knew it, they had amassed the best part of 40 songs in a very short period of time which they whittled down. And then the pandemic hit. “It’s certainly been a strange process, in unfamiliar territory,” explains Pete. “We started to look at how we could do it given the restrictions and not only that, but we had to replace our original drummer too. For us and probably most other bands, we would usually take a riff or song idea to a rehearsal and thrash it out ‘till we either had something or it ended up in the song graveyard! This time around we couldn’t do that, so myself, Ozzy and on occasion Adam Irwin (bass player) started to send ideas back and forth until we had something to work with in GarageBand. We got to a point where we had enough song ideas with basic structure to go into a studio. It was at this point when we had to look for a new drummer.” With former drummer ‘Tiger’ Si Atkinson unavailable to play, with a week or two of grooming, the band took a chance on Planet Rock DJ Wyatt Wendel to occupy the drum stool. “I've never joined or worked with a band in this way EVER,” laughs Wyatt. “2020 certainly made it surreal. “A Pete/Ozzy writing session at the beginning of the year had produced some promising results, but it felt like barriers were popping up everywhere,” explains bassist Adam Irwin. “We started talking about how we could use technology such as GarageBand to help, and slowly but surely the song writing gathered pace. It was time to hook up with our old producer Matt Elliss and try these new songs out in the studio. “Heading into the studio to record songs we’d written but never played together, with a drummer that we’d never met, is one of the stranger experiences I’ve had while being in a band. Thankfully, Wyatt has turned out to be an excellent addition, who despite his faults (loud, southern) has fit right into the band dynamic. Covid has made life really tough for so many of us in our industry. And yet, this new way of song writing has been liberating, this is the most consistent and prolific we’ve ever been, and I am immensely proud of this album.” Against all of the odds, Black Spiders have crafted an album that features 13 tracks of high-energy, feel-good rock n’roll contrasted by demonic doom that despite the disjointed, isolated way it was recorded. It sounds like a band, firing on all cylinders. “We had to dig down deep to pull out some gems and what would we want from Black Spiders,” questions Pete. War, vengeance, mental health, death, conservation & climate change, where are we from? Relationships, friendships, our flaws. Where are we going? Alien life and Mother Earth - some of which made the record.” Kicking off with the aforementioned ‘Fly In The Soup’ single, this 3rd ST long-player wastes no time in grabbing you by the scruff of the neck and dragging you through an album where good times, hooks and riffs are not in short supply, but the doom-drenched likes of ‘Wizard Shall Not Kill Wizard’ and the psychedelic groove of album closer ‘Crooked Black Wings’ give us an album of many moods and dynamics and a reason to be cheerful in 2021. And why does the album have no title? “It wasn’t hard picking a title for the album, as we decided that the focus should be on the band, not the album title, so we decided not to have one. Let the music do the talking....

The initial cassette-only releases of Tashi Dorji turned lots of heads, including Six Organs of Admittance and Hermit Hut - now over a decade later, this release makes its full-album debut on vinyl. "It really was a formative time for me because it felt like everything opened, as far as the possibilities of what music-making meant. Like improvisation walked in and then there was a volcanic eruption" - Tashi Dorji "The self-titled session was recorded at a nice studio at the local university here in Asheville. I had some friends that were studying music there and had access to studio time. This session focused more on extended/prepared guitar ideas. My interest in percussive elements of sounds, timbre, harmonics, and dynamics plays a lot in this recording." - Tashi Dorji

The Debut album from Finnish band Graven Sin is a modern classic of godly, Doom-laden Heavy Metal. Veil of The Gods is etched in granite via Svart Records on November 2023 Pristine new Finnish band Graven Sin stomp proudly on the shoulders of giants with their ravishing debut album, Veil of The Gods. Immaculate Heavy Metal, expertly delivered with stunning finesse and elegant Doom perfection, Veil of The Gods is a classic in the making. Rarely has a new band sounded so timeless, serving up a godly platter of first-class Heavy Metal, that Graven Sin seem chiselled in granite to sit side by side at a table with the greats from the very get go. From the galloping charge of opening barn-stormer Morrigan, with jaw dropping solo guitars courtesy of riff master Ville Pystynen, the epic and anthemic She Who Rules Niflheim with soaring vocals from Greek vocalist Nicholas Leptos to the formidable double bass canter of Ville Markkanen’s drums on songs like Beyond Mesopotamia, Graven Sin knows the true riddle of steel. Throughout Veil of The Gods’ eleven cast-iron tracks, we can trace veins of recent Finnish greats such as Sentenced, Amorphis, Reverend Bizarre or their nordic counterparts Grand Magus from Sweden, but there is much more at play here. Graven Sin offers up heavy, doom laden orthodox Heavy Metal in the true, chugging, monumental sense of the term. The knowledge and prowess of Heavy Metal craft on display in Veil of The Gods is second to none, from the Maidenesque command of melody to the swarthy Manowar rhythms, herculean Deep Purple keys and Messiah like Candlemass-rich voice of astonishing vocalist Leptos, these are songs to be inscribed into stone tablets. Where pitch dark mythical themes and occult leanings of the lyrics bring to mind the Heavy Metal running through Black Metal bands like Dissection, the song arrangements swing from gallop to thundering, head-banging mid-sections with such magnificence, you would think you were in the hands of a band with decades of heritage behind their backs. A “where have you been all my life moment” awaits Heavy Metal fans of all shades when Graven Sin hits the speakers, delivering a sound that cuts glass and steel. A refreshing tour–de-force through everything Heavy Metal is loved for, not shrinking from the dark but embracing it with gusto and fierce bravado. Veil of The Gods shows us that real metal lives forever, if crafted with true spirit and belief. Hear the cry of the seer of doom, by heeding Morrigan’s call now: Ville Pystynen - guitar, bass Nicholas Leptos - vocals Ville Markkanen - drums

The Debut album from Finnish band Graven Sin is a modern classic of godly, Doom-laden Heavy Metal. Veil of The Gods is etched in granite via Svart Records on November 2023 Pristine new Finnish band Graven Sin stomp proudly on the shoulders of giants with their ravishing debut album, Veil of The Gods. Immaculate Heavy Metal, expertly delivered with stunning finesse and elegant Doom perfection, Veil of The Gods is a classic in the making. Rarely has a new band sounded so timeless, serving up a godly platter of first-class Heavy Metal, that Graven Sin seem chiselled in granite to sit side by side at a table with the greats from the very get go. From the galloping charge of opening barn-stormer Morrigan, with jaw dropping solo guitars courtesy of riff master Ville Pystynen, the epic and anthemic She Who Rules Niflheim with soaring vocals from Greek vocalist Nicholas Leptos to the formidable double bass canter of Ville Markkanen’s drums on songs like Beyond Mesopotamia, Graven Sin knows the true riddle of steel. Throughout Veil of The Gods’ eleven cast-iron tracks, we can trace veins of recent Finnish greats such as Sentenced, Amorphis, Reverend Bizarre or their nordic counterparts Grand Magus from Sweden, but there is much more at play here. Graven Sin offers up heavy, doom laden orthodox Heavy Metal in the true, chugging, monumental sense of the term. The knowledge and prowess of Heavy Metal craft on display in Veil of The Gods is second to none, from the Maidenesque command of melody to the swarthy Manowar rhythms, herculean Deep Purple keys and Messiah like Candlemass-rich voice of astonishing vocalist Leptos, these are songs to be inscribed into stone tablets. Where pitch dark mythical themes and occult leanings of the lyrics bring to mind the Heavy Metal running through Black Metal bands like Dissection, the song arrangements swing from gallop to thundering, head-banging mid-sections with such magnificence, you would think you were in the hands of a band with decades of heritage behind their backs. A “where have you been all my life moment” awaits Heavy Metal fans of all shades when Graven Sin hits the speakers, delivering a sound that cuts glass and steel. A refreshing tour–de-force through everything Heavy Metal is loved for, not shrinking from the dark but embracing it with gusto and fierce bravado. Veil of The Gods shows us that real metal lives forever, if crafted with true spirit and belief. Hear the cry of the seer of doom, by heeding Morrigan’s call now: Ville Pystynen - guitar, bass Nicholas Leptos - vocals Ville Markkanen - drums

Australian rock band Tonight Alive burst onto the scene in 2008 as teenagers, blending power pop and rock, quickly finding success with their debut album, ‘What Are You Scared Of?’, and becoming a crowd favourite at festivals like the Vans Warped Tour and Bamboozle.  ‘Underworld’ is the band’s final and most organic album yet, a raw and real insight to a band reconnecting with their authentic selves.  One of the songs that emerged from the sessions is ‘Temple’, the song that launched the new era of the band and one written when lead vocalist Jenna McDougall was experiencing severe depression and fatigue - the lyrics penned when she was totally entrapped in being sick in her mind, body and soul. The rawness of the song became an anthem at BBC Radio 1 (debuting as the Rockest Record Of The Week).  The album takes the listener on an emotional journey of the underworld we all have within us, dissecting our internal darkness and discovering peace. Songs like ‘Disappear’ featuring guest vocals from Lynn Gunn (PVRIS) and ‘My Underworld’, a stirring duet with Corey Taylor (Slipknot / Stone Sour) showcase the diversity of the band’s sound and triumphantly scream to the world that Tonight Alive will always live on.  For fans of PVRIS, All Time Low, You Me At Six, Pierce The Veil, Paramore.

The funk fans have been waiting for this one. Finally available on vinyl, Grant Green’s near perfect slice of jazz funk and soul, Live at Club Mozambique, remastered and rendered back in the Motor City. Grant Green’s band had been playing a series of live dates at Detroit’s Club Mozambique, (before it became a fabled Male dance club) when this session was recorded live on two cold January nights in 1971. Powerhouse drummer Idris Muhammad and soulful tenor star Houston Person were brought in to supplement Green’s current band featuring Ronnie Foster on organ and Clarence Thomas on Soprano and Tenor Sax and Blue Note producer Francis Wolff recorded. This treasure was never released, though, and (conjectures aside) remained in the Blue Notes vaults for 35 years before a 2006 CD release. Sounding incredibly fresh and live, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more real stamping of Grant Green at the top of his game. The lp blends extremely hypnotic and wild funk such as their opening cover of a local funk hit “Jan Jan” by the Fabulous Counts next to laidback renditions of early 70’s soul favorites “Walk on By”, “Patches” and “One More Chance” by the Jackson 5. It perfectly captures the magic of hearing a legendary band effortlessly doing their thing in a small club while the audience unwinds after a long work day. Green pulls it all together with his melodic genius and perfect delivery. Great artists make it seem so easy. No pretensions here, just a great band burning up the stage with unmistakable chemistry on what might be the ultimate jazz funk time capsule. Maybe you can’t go back in time, but if you close your eyes and light a cigarette, you might be convinced you’re sitting in a wood-paneled club on Detroit’s Westside enjoying Grant Green and his band tear it up. Grant Green - Guitar Ronnie Foster - Organ Idris Muhammad - Drums Clarence Thomas - Soprano Sax, Tenor Sax Houston Person - Tenor Sax Recorded live at Club Mozambique - Detroit, MI 1971 by Francis Wolff

The funk fans have been waiting for this one. Finally available on vinyl, Grant Green’s near perfect slice of jazz funk and soul, Live at Club Mozambique, remastered and rendered back in the Motor City. Grant Green’s band had been playing a series of live dates at Detroit’s Club Mozambique, (before it became a fabled Male dance club) when this session was recorded live on two cold January nights in 1971. Powerhouse drummer Idris Muhammad and soulful tenor star Houston Person were brought in to supplement Green’s current band featuring Ronnie Foster on organ and Clarence Thomas on Soprano and Tenor Sax and Blue Note producer Francis Wolff recorded. This treasure was never released, though, and (conjectures aside) remained in the Blue Notes vaults for 35 years before a 2006 CD release. Sounding incredibly fresh and live, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more real stamping of Grant Green at the top of his game. The lp blends extremely hypnotic and wild funk such as their opening cover of a local funk hit “Jan Jan” by the Fabulous Counts next to laidback renditions of early 70’s soul favorites “Walk on By”, “Patches” and “One More Chance” by the Jackson 5. It perfectly captures the magic of hearing a legendary band effortlessly doing their thing in a small club while the audience unwinds after a long work day. Green pulls it all together with his melodic genius and perfect delivery. Great artists make it seem so easy. No pretensions here, just a great band burning up the stage with unmistakable chemistry on what might be the ultimate jazz funk time capsule. Maybe you can’t go back in time, but if you close your eyes and light a cigarette, you might be convinced you’re sitting in a wood-paneled club on Detroit’s Westside enjoying Grant Green and his band tear it up. Grant Green - Guitar Ronnie Foster - Organ Idris Muhammad - Drums Clarence Thomas - Soprano Sax, Tenor Sax Houston Person - Tenor Sax Recorded live at Club Mozambique - Detroit, MI 1971 by Francis Wolff

GER Das Londoner Duo Jockstrap, bestehend aus Georgia Ellery und Taylor Skye, kündigt heute mit "I<3UQTINVU" eine komplett neu abgemischte Version ihres für den Mercury Prize nominierten Albums "I Love You Jennifer B" aus dem Jahr 2022 an. Produziert wurde es von Taylor Skye selbst. "I<3UQTINVU", eine Abkürzung für I Love You Cutie, I Envy You, wird am 3. November über Rough Trade Records veröffentlicht. Der erste neue Track "Red Eye" (feat. IAN STARR) ist ab sofort erhältlich. "I<3UQTINVU" wird auf schwarzem Standard-Vinyl und in limitierter Auflage auf rotem Vinyl erhältlich sein, mit einem nach Parfüm duftenden Inlay. Das Remix-Album basiert auf der Idee von Skye, der mehrere Versionen des Original-Tracklistings des Albums gemacht hatte, um sich während des Schreibens von "I Love You Jennifer B." inspirieren zu lassen. Die Gastbeiträge auf dem Remix-Album reichen von Ersatz, den beiden britischen Musikern, die Skye vor vielen Jahren zum Musikmachen inspiriert haben, bis hin zu IAN STARR, mit dem er sich erst vor ein paar Monaten via Zoom getroffen hat.

On new EP twotwentytwo, indie riser THALA continues to embrace vulnerability, summoning long-buried emotions to colour her ardent love for lyricism amid psych-tinged `90s indie soundscapes. Filled with potent songwriting and coming-of-age anthems straight from the heart, these everyday love stories surrender to life's insecurities. Evoking the soundscapes of Slowdive and Deerhunter, whilst recalling the widescreen pop of boygenius and Snail Mail. Recorded in London and Berlin earlier this year, twotwentytwo follows the release of `In Theory Depression', THALA's first EP on Fire Records. Spanning six tracks, it builds on its predecessor's fearless lyricism, excavating deep-set feelings of loss, pain, desire and conflict against luminous production and addictive melodies. Following rammed appearances at SXSW and The Great Escape, and having picked up the attention BBC Radio 1's Jack Saunders, THALA shows no signs of slowing down_ Blissful guitars and evocative crescendos permeate THALA's unique vision of dreampop, reveling in soaring choruses and intimate storylines. On its surface, twotwentytwo boasts a kind of glorious emotive draw - you'd be forgiven for mistaking any one of these tracks as a backdrop to any teen-angst drama. However, while THALA wants her songs to feel nostalgic, it's the complexity of her songwriting that sees her modern compositions really resonate and she is keen to stress her lyrics can be interpreted in numerous ways. And therein lies the heart of this release - a cathartic, wildly empowering, self-explorative from a future indie heartbreaker at her gutsy best. Ltd Clear Vinyl, A5 insert, dlc

Das Londoner Duo Jockstrap, bestehend aus Georgia Ellery und Taylor Skye, kündigt heute mit "I<3UQTINVU" eine komplett neu abgemischte Version ihres für den Mercury Prize nominierten Albums "I Love You Jennifer B" aus dem Jahr 2022 an. Produziert wurde es von Taylor Skye selbst. "I<3UQTINVU", eine Abkürzung für I Love You Cutie, I Envy You, wird am 3. November über Rough Trade Records veröffentlicht. Der erste neue Track "Red Eye" (feat. IAN STARR) ist ab sofort erhältlich. "I<3UQTINVU" wird auf schwarzem Standard-Vinyl und in limitierter Auflage auf rotem Vinyl erhältlich sein, mit einem nach Parfüm duftenden Inlay. Das Remix-Album basiert auf der Idee von Skye, der mehrere Versionen des Original-Tracklistings des Albums gemacht hatte, um sich während des Schreibens von "I Love You Jennifer B." inspirieren zu lassen. Die Gastbeiträge auf dem Remix-Album reichen von Ersatz, den beiden britischen Musikern, die Skye vor vielen Jahren zum Musikmachen inspiriert haben, bis hin zu IAN STARR, mit dem er sich erst vor ein paar Monaten via Zoom getroffen hat.

The vinyl edition comes with 6 high-quality lithograph art prints (by UK illustrator Hannah Alice) representing each of the birds on the album, held in a heavy board die-cut gatefold sleeve. This unique packaging is fully interactive - the cover image is interchangeable with any of the prints. Remastered by Brian Pyle from original tapes. Bert Jansch was often quoted as saying "I'm not playing for anyone, just myself" and this feels no more apparent than on 1979's 'Avocet', his beautifully meditative paean to British birds. For fans of Jansch this is often the album that is singled out as his best work. The freedoms of a post-Pentangle career are much in evidence; folk rock and even trad folk give way to an album that is not only without lyrical accompaniment but really quite orchestral, classical even, in its composition. There are surprises in particular in 'Lapwing' (a dirge-like waltz that wouldn't be out of place on a Nils Frahm album) and 'Bittern' (which speaks of Arthur Russell's more experimental pieces). Featuring ex-bandmate Danny Thompson, alongside Martin Jenkins (Dando Shaft, amongst others) with sleeve notes by Jansch aficionado Colin Harper (author of 'Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues revival'). Ltd ART PRINT EDITION, Classic Black vinyl, plus DLC w/ bonus live tracks.

The five members of Sun June spent their early years spread out across the United States, from the boonies of the Hudson Valley to the sprawling outskirts of LA. Having spent their college years within the gloomy, cold winters of the North East, Laura Colwell and Stephen Salisbury found themselves in the vibrant melting-pot of inspiration that is Austin, Texas. Meeting each other while working on Terrence Malick's `Song to Song', the pair were immediately taken by the city's bustling small clubs and honky-tonk scene, and the fact that there was always an instrument within reach, always someone to play alongside. Coming alive in this newly discovered landscape, Colwell and Salisbury formed Sun June alongside Michael Bain on lead guitar, Sarah Schultz on drums, and Justin Harris on bass and recorded their debut album live to tape, releasing it via the city's esteemed Keeled Scales label in 2018. The band coined the term `regret pop' to describe the music they made on the `Years' LP. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, it made perfect sense ~ the gentle sway of their country leaning pop songs seeped in melancholy, as if each subtle turn of phrase was always grasping for something just out of reach.Sun June returns with Somewhere, a brand new album, out February 2021. It's a record that feels distinctly more present than its predecessor. In the time since, Colwell and Salisbury have become a couple, and it's had a profound effect on their work; if Years was about how loss evolves, Somewhere is about how love evolves. "We explore a lot of the same themes across it," Colwell says, "but I think there's a lot more love here."Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a second record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward from the band that created that debut record, but also one that once again is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.

There’s a connection between the musical history of the Mediterranean that can’t be explained through academia alone. It’s an expression of simultaneous grief and celebration that trespasses cultures and generations; and demands to be felt, or even better, danced, to be understood. The same spirit weaves Rebetiko from the ashes of the Ottoman empire to the heavy Hafla soundtracks on the Koliphone label in ‘70s Jaffa, or rebellious Turkish psychedelic music to the first generation of surf guitarist migrants in America. It's an infectious feeling that travelled and evolved wherever it was called, and that passion is embodied in “Back to the Taverna”, the new album by Berlin based bouzouki quintet, Cherry Bandora.

On the milestone of their third release, original members Liad Vanounou (Bouzouki) and Lorena Atrakci (Vocals) have bolstered their sound with longtime friends and collaborators Moshe ‘Moosh’ Lahav on Keyboards and flute, Tamir ‘Hassan’ Chen on Bass and Nimrod Lieberman on Drums to create an album celebrating the ecstasy of being able to drink and perform together again, freed from the anathema of the last years. The band has evolved considerably since their beginnings ten years ago as an Agean-influenced part of the local Balkan Swing scene; the most significant addition being the deployment of “The Hardest Working Man in Tropical Music” Alex Figueira as musical director for this album. His scorched fingerprints are unmissable throughout the extended psychedelic breakdowns and percussive overdubs that make “Back to the Taverna” such a dynamic offering.

Cherry Bandora have always been a very personal band; collecting songs from nearby cultures and history and blending them into their own experience by developing new arrangements or lyrics, just as musicians from those times would have. Lorena delights in expressing herself away from her mother tongue or providing modern lyrics for an updated feeling, as she does to the beloved Turkish standard, “Rampi Rampi”. In this interpretation she uses her native Hebrew in a saucy lockdown-delivery-guy romance... This track also features Baris Öner from local Turkish rock band Kara Delik on his signature flanging Saz.

Singing in Greek, English, Turkish and Hebrew was also a natural choice on the album, representing the “multikulti” area of Berlin that the band lives and records in. These languages would all be heard on the street as they walked to record in the analog Studio Wong in Kreuzberg.

“As descendants of Mizrahi Jews (Jewish migrants from non-European countries), growing up listening both to Beatles and Umm Kulthum, playing in jazz music departments in high school, and now living in Kruezkölln, we basically pay tribute and revive this shared heritage in the context of the global music scene of today” says Lorena.

The opening track, The Sound Of Baglama, is an interpretation of the anthemic Tsitsanis homage to the tavernas and sweethearts of Thessaloniki. It lays the ground for what to expect from Cherry Bandora’s exceptional live performances, featuring effortless switch-ups between surf rock choruses and laid-back verses dipping into Persian disco funk. This song will be accompanied by a tour-collage “found footage” style film clip in production at this
time.

Cherry Bandoras show their dedication to the bit with a rousing English version of the canonical rembetiko tune Dimitroula Mou. This amour song, popular with generations of female singers, is accompanied by real studio plate smashing, a ritual which sealed their final session for the album. 2 bonus tracks are included on the digital release, both a little more raw from the band’s home studio: the reeling dervish Rubi Rubi (which will be released as a second single with a video clip) and the emotionally dense and hypnotic slow burner Esý.

The album will be released digitally and on vinyl as a collaboration between Rebel Up Records (Belgium) and Rumi Sounds (Berlin) on Friday 3 november 2023 and is a prime example of what a raunchy, open minded and tireless bouzouki band can do as they hit their prime.

An extensive highlighted review will appear in Songlines magazine #135 December issue and the track ‘Benimde Canim Var’ will be featured on their free compilation. Also radioplay on Radio Campus France playlist (allover) during November and December.

Fledging but already fine young label U.Dig out of Croatia is back with more final gold, this time from a master of the form in Alexis Cabrera. He kicks off with the mini-epic that is '1997.5', a real head-melting and elastic acid tune that is perfectly deep and rolling for the freaky afters. 'Straight Up' is more punchy and taught, with low-slung drums and crisp hits powering it forward. Last of all things get brilliantly unhinged on 'Microrama,' a kinetic and densely packed cut with flappy snares blaring synths, withering melodies and a true sci-fi feel.

Well, we're two full months into 2017 and the world continues to burn like an avalanche of flaming biohazard material sliding down a mountain of used needles into a canyon full of rat feces. But hey, it's not all bad: Portugal. The Man has a new album coming out called Woodstock.


PTM's last album came out over three years ago—a long gap for a band who've dropped roughly an album a year since 2006. And in true, prolific band fashion, they've spent almost every minute since 2013 working on an album called Gloomin + Doomin. They created a shit-ton of individual songs, but as a whole, none of them hung together in a way that felt right. Then John Gourley, PTM's lead singer, made a trip home to Wasilla, Alaska, (Home of Portugal. The Man's biggest fan, Sarah Palin) and two things happened that completely changed the album's trajectory.

First, John got some parental tough love from his old man, who called John on the proverbial carpet or dogsled or whatever you put people on when you want to yell at them in Alaska. What's taking so long to finish the album' John's dad said. Isn't that what bands do Write songs and then put them out' Like fathers and unlicensed therapists tend to do, John's dad cut him deep. The whole thing started John thinking about why the band seemed to be stuck on a musical elliptical machine from hell and, more importantly, about how to get off of it.

Second, fate stuck its wiener in John's ear again when he found his dad's ticket stub from the original 1969 Woodstock music festival. It seems like a small thing, but talking to his dad about Woodstock '69 knocked something loose in John's head. He realized that, in the same tradition of bands from that era, Portugal. The Man needed to speak out about the world crumbling around them. With these two ideas converging, the band made a seemingly bat-shit-crazy decision: they took all of the work they had done for the three years prior and they threw it out.

It wasn't easy and there was the constant threat that the band's record label might have them killed, but the totally insane decision paid off. With new, full-on, musical boners, the band went back to the studio—working with John Hill (In The Mountain In The Cloud), Danger Mouse (Evil Friends), Mike D (Everything Cool), and longtime collaborator Casey Bates (The one consistent producer since the first record). In this new-found creative territory, the album that became Woodstock rolled out naturally from there.

Remember that mountain of burning needles we were talking about Good. Because Woodstock is an album (Including the new single Feel It Still') that—with optimism and heart—points at the giant pile and says, Hey, this pile is fucked up!' And if you think that pile is fucked up too, you owe it to yourself—hell, to all of us—to get out there and do something about it.

In 'Everybody Loves Angels' Bugge Wesseltoft returns to the acoustic realm with a combination of original pieces and Jazz variations of popular music from various genres and eras

Repress!

In the mid-1970s, a force of nature swept across the continental United States, cutting across all strata of race and class, rooting in our minds, our homes, our culture. It wasn’t The Exorcist, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, or even bell-bottoms, but instead a book called The Secret Life of Plants. The work of occultist/former OSS agent Peter Tompkins and former CIA agent/dowsing enthusiast Christopher Bird, the books shot up the bestseller charts and spread like kudzu across the landscape, becoming a phenomenon. Seemingly overnight, the indoor plant business was in full bloom and photosynthetic eukaryotes of every genus were hanging off walls, lording over bookshelves, and basking on sunny window ledges. The science behind Secret Life was specious: plants can hear our prayers, they’re lie detectors, they’re telepathic, able to predict natural disasters and receive signals from distant galaxies. But that didn’t stop millions from buying and nurturing their new plants.

Perhaps the craziest claim of the book was that plants also dug music. And whether you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears), you also took home Plantasia, an album recorded especially for them. Subtitled “warm earth music for plants…and the people that love them,” it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog. Plants date back from the dawn of time, but apparently they loved the Moog, never mind that the synthesizer had been on the market for just a few years. Most of all, the plants loved the ditties made by composer Mort Garson.

Few characters in early electronic music can be both fearless pioneers and cheesy trend-chasers, but Garson embraced both extremes, and has been unheralded as a result. When one writer rhetorically asked: “How was Garson’s music so ubiquitous while the man remained so under the radar?” the answer was simple. Well before Brian Eno did it, Garson was making discreet music, both the man and his music as inconspicuous as a Chlorophytumcomosum. Julliard-educated and active as a session player in the post-war era, Garson wrote lounge hits, scored plush arrangements for Doris Day, and garlanded weeping countrypolitan strings around Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” He could render the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel alike into easy listening and also dreamed up his own ditties. “An idear” as Garson himself would drawl it out. “I live with it, I walk it, I sing it.”

But as his daughter Day Darmet recalls: “When my dad found the synthesizer, he realized he didn’t want to do pop music anymore.” Garson encountered Robert Moog and his new device at the Audio Engineering Society’s West Coast convention in 1967 and immediately began tinkering with the device. With the Moog, those idears could be transformed. “He constantly had a song he was humming,” Darmet says. “At the table he was constantly tapping.” Which is to say that Mort pulled his melodies out of thin air, just like any household plant would.

The Plantae kingdom grew to its height by 1976, from DC Comics’ mossy superhero Swamp Thing to Stevie Wonder’s own herbal meditation, Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Nefarious manifestations of human-plant interaction also abounded, be it the grotesque pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the pothead paranoia of the US Government spraying Mexican marijuana fields with the herbicide paraquat (which led to the rise in homegrown pot by the 1980s). And then there’s the warm, leafy embrace of Plantasia itself.

“My mom had a lot of plants,” Darmet says. “She didn’t believe in organized religion, she believed the earth was the best thing in the whole world. Whatever created us was incredible.” And she also knew when her husband had a good song, shouting from another room when she heard him humming a good idear. Novel as it might seem, Plantasia is simply full of good tunes.

Garson may have given the album away to new plant and bed owners, but a decade later a new generation could hear his music in another surreptitious way. Millions of kids bought The Legend of Zelda for their Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1986 and one distinct 8-bit tune bears more than a passing resemblance to album highlight “Concerto for Philodendron and Pothos.” Garson was never properly credited for it, but he nevertheless subliminally slipped into a new generations’ head, helping kids and plants alike grow.

Hearing Plantasia in the 21st century, it seems less an ode to our photosynthesizing friends by Garson and more an homage to his wife, the one with the green thumb that made everything flower around him. “My dad would be totally pleased to know that people are really interested in this music that had no popularity at the time,” Darmet says of Plantasia’snew renaissance. “He would be fascinated by the fact that people are finally understanding and appreciating this part of his musical career that he got no admiration for back then.” Garson seems to be everywhere again, even if he’s not really noticed, just like a houseplant.

Dagerlöff & Galner is a French duo that seeks to create its own vision of modern music, including elements of futuristic synths, Japanese video games, progressive jazz or epic and textured soundtracks. Their sound has a progressive touch that can recall the works of Aphex Twin or Oneohtrix Point Never. To be given the opportunity to set this masterpiece to music, the first cinematic venture into the occult, was a real treat for them. Presented in the style of a lecture, Häxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages is a Swedish silent documentary - horror film directed by Benjamin Christensen which was originally released in 1922 (in Sweden) and deals with witchcraft from antiquity to the film's contemporary period. The movie was released in the US in 1968. Witchcraft is carefully portrayed through illustrations from medieval books and audio-visual reconstructions. From the witches' sabbath to the interrogations of the Inquisition, the classical images come to life in disturbing spectral visions using all the special effects available at the time: overprints, models, jump cuts, stop motion, make-up and prosthetics. The film's soundtrack is divided in three parts, including the one by Dagerlöff & Galner. The duo enhances the heretical character of the work through dark pieces with constant intensity. This work of digital synthesis (choirs, orchestra, organ, analog modulars and tapes) allowed them to draw lines between tradition and modernity, like a film whose purpose remains as strong and relevant almost a century later. The film was re-released in a restored Blu-ray version by Potemkine in 2021, in a limited edition of 1666copies(sold out).

Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell remains the turning point at which hip-hop crashed through mainstream barriers and never left. Anchored by the crossover smash "Walk This Way," the 1986 blockbuster still sounds like a revolution unfolding in real time. It has everything – hard-rock riffs, turntable scratching, itchy rhythms, hit singles – not the least of which are the trio's invigorating raps and inseparable chemistry. And now it's the first rap record afforded audiophile treatment, courtesy of Mobile Fidelity.

Sourced from the original master tapes and pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, the reissue label's numbered-edition 180g 33RPM SuperVinyl LP elevates Raising Hell to sonic heights on par with its musical and cultural significance. Ranked the 123rd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone, 43rd on Pitchfork's Greatest Albums of the 1980s, one of the Top 100 Albums of All Time by TIME – and included on "Best of" lists by Spin, Paste, XXL, Entertainment Weekly, and basically every other significant media outlet – the triple-platinum effort rocks the house.

Benefitting from the ultra-low noise floor and groove definition of SuperVinyl, Raising Hell unleashes a torrent of massive dynamics and tsunami of frequency-plumbing details underlined by Rick Rubin's taut, crisp, albeit raw and streetwise production. Just as the Queens-based group both defined what hip-hop could represent – and displayed just how big it could get – Rubin's work melded ear-worm hooks, savvy drum loops, metal-leaning guitars, and, of course, Run and D.M.C.'s cross-fire lyrical interplay into watertight frameworks bursting with ideas, tones, samples, and beats. Heard anew on Mobile Fidelity vinyl, Raising Hell is in every regard the aural equivalent of a direct-to-console 1970s classic. And it sounds as fresh as hell.

As for the music, it ranks among the most influential, inventive, and invigorating ever released – rap or otherwise. Vanguard artists such as Ice-T, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Public Enemy's Chuck D – who declared it his all-time favorite and "the first record that made me realize this was an album-oriented genre" – have testified on behalf of its brilliance. And never mind the presence of the Top 5 single "Walk This Way," whose power helped make Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry relevant for the first time in nearly a decade – and literally put Run-D.M.C. in bedrooms ranging from the Bronx to Bartlett to Bad Axe.

Look instead to the rest of the entirely filler-free set, be it the corkscrew turns, slippery wordplay, and "My Sharona"-meets-"Mickey" mixology of the boisterous "It's Tricky," the fat-but-minimized bass grooves and warped turntable wobble of the hysterical "You Be Illin'," chimes-accented inertia and boombox-on- shoulder thunder of the now-iconic "Peter Piper," or voice-as-percussion attack of the funky "Is It Live." With Raising Hell, the answer to the question is always affirmative – a sensation bolstered by the fact the group always had something to say.

The definition of Golden Age Hip-Hop in every way, Run-D.M.C. avoids the negativity and misogyny that later plagued the style, spinning assertive tales about identity (the biographical and culture-changing "My Adidas"), work ethics ("Perfection"), and, most notably, pride (the Harriet Tubman- and Malcom X.-referencing "Proud to Be Black"). Pavement-packed inner cities, tree-lined suburbs, and cornfield-rimmed rural areas would never again be the same. And rocking a rhyme that's right on time would become trickier than ever.

Artist and multi-instrumentalist Flaer looks to the landscape to explore pastoral melancholy on debut release, Preludes.

Ensconced in his family home in rural Leicestershire in the early months of 2020, painter and musician Realf Heygate (b. 1994) picked up his childhood cello for the first time in several years and began to play. Setting himself parameters to only record onto 4-track tape with acoustic instruments – cello, piano and acoustic guitar – he assembled a suite of instrumental compositions that form the basis of Preludes, his debut album as Flaer and the inaugural release on Odda Recordings.

Channelling the tension and unease between the pastoral idyll of the English countryside and the darkness which lurks beneath the surface, the mini-album draws inspiration from the analogue aesthetic of 1970s folk horror films, weaving field recordings of birdsong, church bells and the natural environment into chimerical melodies that reflect on Heygate’s childhood experiences of rural England.

“It was really important not to isolate the sound from its environment,” he explains, describing the compositional and recording process as “site-specific”. Developed over a series of intuitive musical enquiries, the mini-album’s uncanny quality emerges from combining raw demo takes with overdubs of almost orchestral grandeur.

Heygate points to the final track as indicative of the work as a whole: “‘Follow’ really is the mantra for the release and embodies the practical approach I was taking to music making: not to force the music but see where it takes you.”

As a painter, Heygate’s practice takes artefacts through sequences of reproduction that embrace the fluctuating materiality of the copy. Since obtaining a degree in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2017, he has exhibited solo at Peter von Kant and Springseason galleries in London, and has participated in group shows at Saatchi Gallery, Cob Gallery and Senesi Contemporanea.

Describing his artistic practice as one of self-erasure, music instead provides Heygate with a more personal and autobiographical outlet. Where the two worlds combine is on Preludes’ striking artwork, which features paintings of 13th century stone carvings from the font of the church in the town where he grew up.

Speaking to a time where people were connected to the land in a more profound way, each symbol is assigned to a track on the album, which Heygate likens to giving them a title.

“To add that one juxtaposition might open a whole new interpretation or language that might be hard to find otherwise,” he explains.“Over time it might reveal itself to you, which is why I'm excited about it being released. To throw them out there and see what comes of it.”

Chyskyyrai, whose real name is Valentina Romanova, comes from Yakutia (Republic of Sakha), the northernmost republic of Siberia.

She sings in a variety of traditional vocal techniques, drawing on folk songs, animal imitation but most of all on the ancient mythological epic Olonkho, which has a multitude of archaic delivery styles. Olonkho performance is a traveling one-man theatre and a solo improvisation. Traditionally, the Olonkho storytellers, olonkhosuts, travelled from community to community, tribe to tribe, and performed the same function as a shaman. Mostly they were regarded as spiritual guides, teachers and keepers of cultural values. Their performances could last for several days, and were not just entertainment but also the way of teaching that people are not separate from nature and attuned them to it.

The songs presented on this LP capture a period of her life when she met with Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow) and Ken Hyder (Talisker) who had been performing together since 1978, and are well-known for their explorations in the field of shamanic cultures and free jazz. Their collaboration with the “Soviet Jazz Federation” goes back many years until finally in 1990, the duo went on an extensive tour in Siberia as “The Shams” during which they also visited Yakutia. Since then they have made numerous trips to Tuva, Altai and Buryatia playing with the local musicians and studying shamanism.

Recorded in Ken Hyder’s basement, early May 2005. Sleeve artwork by Sophie Lécuyer.

Vladislav Delay presents the fourth EP in his "Hide Behind The Silence" series with five 10" releases coming throughout 2023. Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Ripatti's own label "Rajaton".

Stillness is a myth. Consider concepts such as ”still water”, or ”still air” for that matter. Go to a restaurant, ask them for a glass of still water, hold it against the light and see where we’re at. Even though the water itself has been captured and imprisoned in the glass, it never stops breathing. It’s filled with tiny particles, dancing. Everything can be explained on a molecular level, but since we’re not scientists – and even if you happen to be – it’s the natural world of perception that moves me.

Still air is very similar. A hot summer’s day with zero wind feels completely still. It’s the closest I have felt to complete stillness. Or for a more urban adaptation, imagine the same vibe inside a normal apartment. In those moments, revelations and mind- blowing experiences can be had with experiments in stillness.
Try this: Just sit down for a minute on a sunny day, making sure there’s enough natural light. Do absolutely nothing. Try not to breathe for a bit. (If you need a mental anchor, you can play Cage’s 4’33” in your head but nothing else.) Watch the tiny dots of dust dancing :..’ ̈.:; ́ ́*°.,’:,. ̈ ̈ ̈ ̈:,.’
The movement is crazy, but the feeling of stillness comes from witnessing how subtle it is. In (perceived) complete stillness, every act of microscopic mobility seems to speak volumes. Yet, it feels both reassuring and oddly threatening that the stillness is never complete. What if we would need absolute stillness? Or is it just enough that we can perceive something as such? Extremes attract, so for both water and air, extraordinary movement is equally fascinating. That is also a luxury item of sorts. For us to enjoy a very ”loud” body of water or air, we need to be safe, in enough control of the situation. So when you are, it’s worthwhile to pay attention and take it all in.
A rapid flowing free with extreme strength and just barely in control. Look at that water go! No still water on this one, only ”sparkling”. A windy day when birds seem surprised how hard it is to fly, but in the end they make it. Trees bend but don’t break. The wind shows you its movement but doesn’t hurt you. It feels friendly, like a big clumsy dog that doesn’t quite understand its size.
It’s beautiful to be a guest of the elements, but not at the mercy of them. A new kind of dialogue forms.

Q&A with Sasu Ripatti:

1) Tell us something about the EP series ”Hide Behind the Silence”, what’s the idea and what can we expect?

Exploration of inaction. Of many kinds. In arts and in personal life, or at bigger and more serious levels. Questioning myself as a human being as well as an artist. Acknowledging the growing activism all around, and the very clear need for it, and how it reflects my own inaction.
Musically speaking, after Rakka, Isoviha and Speed Demon, I finally found some relief, but more importantly lost the need to go musically ever more outward and intensive. I felt quite strongly certain periods/moods from the past and they made me revisit some musical ideas or states of mind I was exploring early on.
It’s about live moments being captured, not much premeditation or editing. More intuitive and raw, even though the end result (to me) feels and sounds quite introspective and calm. It’s not very ambitious. Momentary and reflective.

2) Your music doesn’t sound very silent. Does it come from somewhere behind the silence?

Oh, this time to me it sounds quite quiet and playing with space if not silence. I don’t know what’s actually behind silence, but I think silence is the source of everything. We just don’t understand it yet.

3) What kind of thoughts or experiences gave inspiration to this series?

Writing this in Nov ’22, it’s not a stretch to say the world has been really unwell. Sometimes, like Mika Vainio put it, the world eats you up. I feel a bit like that. And I try to hide in my studio and stay away from it all, but it’s getting harder by the day. I’ve been questioning myself and thinking if what us artists are doing is worth anything, and whether it’s just a selfish thing I’ve been doing for the past 25 years, running away from everything. I haven’t come to a conclusion yet.

4) Is it easy for you to be in silence, or around silence?

Absolutely. I not only hide behind silence but I also love silence. It’s only since I started going back to nature as a grown-up person that I sensed and was enveloped by silence, true silence. I have begun to appreciate it a lot. I think all the people should spend more time in silence.

All tracks composed and produced by Sasu Ripatti.
Artwork by Marc Hohmann, photography by Shinnosuke Yoshimori.
Mastering by Stephan Mathieu for Schwebung Mastering.
Vinyl cut by SST Brueggemann.
Publishing by WARP Music Ltd.

The 45rpm double disc Audiophile Analog Collection features a variety of recordings from the world of movies, blues, percussion ensembles, world music and jazz. This is part of a special series of compilations of analog audiophile recordings at their best, with emphasis on execution and great sound.

The 2xHD Fusion Mastering System is an innovation in audio restoration for a virtual audio reality. In the constant evolution of its proprietary mastering process, 2xHD has progressed to a new phase called 2xHD Fusion, integrating the finest state-of-the-art analogue Nagra-T tape recorder modified with high-end tube playback technology, wired with OCC silver cable for better transparency and 3D imaging. 2xHD Vinyl are sourced from first generation analogue recordings without any digital corruption. The cutting is done at Bernie Grundman Mastering Lab on tube cutting equipment.

Mystique Records kick off the label with MYSTIQUE Vision #01 a full frontal EP from Sylvester Javier, aka Stefano Curti of Vibraphone fame, that delves into the depths of house, techno and acid.

'Secret Ceremonies' nods to the hey days of tech house with the Italo Disco Mix a rolling '90s influenced number. The Cocorico mix weaves in a bit of that early 00's minimal feel before the Original touches on a jazzier, more soulful strand.

On the flip, 'Lost in 1st Avenue Loop' and 'Microdot' venture into the realms of acid tinged techno to round of the EP.

Folk duo lilo's ascent continues with second EP, I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside. Having met at school aged 11, Christie Gardner and Helen Dixon’s friendship runs over a decade deep. Starting out with homespun recordings and YouTube covers, by the time they moved to London in their late-teens, they had an unshakeable creative bond that forms an incredible bedrock for them to flourish from. Their exceptional debut EP Sleep Country (Practise Music) came out in late-2021. Taking cues from alt-folk and classic country, it showed a maturity and dexterity that belied their years. As Loud & Quiet said of the band in a recent interview, "what sets them apart from their contemporaries is a real understanding of Americana-influenced folk’s lineage as a genre. Think Emmylou Harris’ soul bearing and the pitchperfect vocal glide of Karen Carpenter." New EP, I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside, is a truly brilliant follow-up that underscores that we're no longing talking about promise with this duo. Working with producer friend Joseph Futák, they're now firmly in their stride, deftly counterbalancing delicate moments and harmony-led pop highs across a full-bodied band sound. Their lyrics speak for their generation too, encapsulating the panic, anxiety and love of twenty-somethings at a time of great uncertainty; from single 'Settled' where the financial realities of needing to move back in with your parents to the sheer relief of ending a relationship on 'I Don't Love You Anymore' and 'Just A Thought's failing attempts to pull a friend away from a bad person ("It's your hill to die on," they warn), nothing is off the plate.

To accompany the new box set, Acen said to Luna-C, I have these old demo versions of tracks that differ from the released versions or are just very rare because of limited pressing back in the day, do you reckon you would want to do anything with them? Lol!
Opus, from 1993, just shows how far ahead of the curve Acen really was! I have to keep telling myself, this is from 1993! It is next level insane!

116.7 shows the track in a totally different light too. This is a dark style hardcore hybrid hip-hop track that is so different from the released Drum & Bass version from 1999.

Lazer is a demo track that until now has only featured on a digital release from Acen, Dat Tape Demos 92–97, and needed to be included in this epic vinyl release.

Multi-instrumentalist Oscar Browne's roots lie in the foundational intricacy of golden-age songwriting A founding member of the London based folk- collective Broadside Hacks (amongst other banded- ventures), Oscar Browne's debut solo endeavour 'Never Quite Right' was released in 2022 to critical acclaim; an established inauguration which saw him eventually signing to So Young Records in the spring of 2023. Following a six-month spree in which Browne found himself tirelessly writing in order to process the changes taking place around him, the five songs which would eventually go on to form his debut EP 'If Only', are a deep- dive into the heart and soul of an artist who masterfully captures all the joys and heartaches of life in your early-twenties. Recorded over one week at Bristol's The Playpen, home to producer Ali Chant (Aldous Harding, Katy J Pearson), 'If Only' was all-in-all, a long time coming. Selfaccustomed to doubling things up and hiding imperfections, it was through the art of collaboration, and Ali's teachings in the power of emotional transparency that the pairing of Browne and Chant really shined. "Ali was a massive part in keeping the recordings minimal" notes Browne "he kept the rawness". Oscar Browne's creative- capability is a limitless array of captivating delights. These aren't simply re-interpretations of eras gone by. Browne channels as much Ben Howard or Kurt Vile as he does Nick Drake and John Martyn. Rather, it's through his ear for musical- lucidity, highlighted throughout the course of these selected songs, that enables Browne to transport his love of traditional folk and folklore, into a uniquely contemporary realm. His fearlessness in baring- all to those who'll listen creates an artistic magnitude will only keep growing with fine prowess, as Browne continues to cut his teeth as a beguiling 'one to watch'

It's been 40 years since these tracks were recorded, but all the original studio and live recordings by Times Beach are finally available on CD & LP Times Beach came together in 1983 with a core of active members from San Francisco's vibrant theatre community. That background propelled the band to a kind of stage glamour that wasn't much seen during the era of post- punk, industrial, and goth music. They were striking to see and hear, with the songs to match. But, like so many excellent bands of the era, they suffered from the "home town curse" since they were not from New York or Los Angeles – but San Francisco. Over the course of two years, Times Beach performed throughout the Bay Area, playing most of the major (and minor) clubs such as The Stone, Baybrick Inn, Cotati Cabaret, Berkeley Square, Sound Of Music, Trocadero Transfer, Ashkenaz, Ruthie's Inn, Sleeping Lady Café, and the beloved Chi Chi Club. They had a legion of dedicated supporters, and many of their shows were real party events. When it came time to record, they accepted an invitation from the illustrious Snakefinger (aka Philip Lithman) and Eric Drew Feldman to produce them at Russian Hill Studio. The first part of their story ends just about there, as they never made enough money to actually produce the album from the recordings. And the various members started drifting off. The final public gig was like their first, at the Mabuhay Gardens, in November 1984. Side One of this LP is comprised of those glorious Snakefinger sessions. Side Two presents just a few of the other great songs they wrote and performed live – never captured in any other form. For fans of Jefferson Airplane, Mutants, Nuns.

It's been 40 years since these tracks were recorded, but all the original studio and live recordings by Times Beach are finally available on CD & LP Times Beach came together in 1983 with a core of active members from San Francisco's vibrant theatre community. That background propelled the band to a kind of stage glamour that wasn't much seen during the era of post- punk, industrial, and goth music. They were striking to see and hear, with the songs to match. But, like so many excellent bands of the era, they suffered from the "home town curse" since they were not from New York or Los Angeles – but San Francisco. Over the course of two years, Times Beach performed throughout the Bay Area, playing most of the major (and minor) clubs such as The Stone, Baybrick Inn, Cotati Cabaret, Berkeley Square, Sound Of Music, Trocadero Transfer, Ashkenaz, Ruthie's Inn, Sleeping Lady Café, and the beloved Chi Chi Club. They had a legion of dedicated supporters, and many of their shows were real party events. When it came time to record, they accepted an invitation from the illustrious Snakefinger (aka Philip Lithman) and Eric Drew Feldman to produce them at Russian Hill Studio. The first part of their story ends just about there, as they never made enough money to actually produce the album from the recordings. And the various members started drifting off. The final public gig was like their first, at the Mabuhay Gardens, in November 1984. Side One of this LP is comprised of those glorious Snakefinger sessions. Side Two presents just a few of the other great songs they wrote and performed live – never captured in any other form. For fans of Jefferson Airplane, Mutants, Nuns.

More Than You Think You Are war das dritte Album der Band, das ursprünglich 2002 veröffentlicht wurde. Das US-Top-Ten-Album war ein Novum für die Band, da die Platte einen stärkeren Hardrock-Fokus hatte als die beiden vorherigen Veröffentlichungen der Band. More Than You Think You Are erreichte eine große Radio-Präsenz, produzierte drei aufeinanderfolgende Top-40-Singles in den USA und wurde für den Grammy als bestes Rockalbum nominiert. Dieses 2-LP-Set - die erste eigenständige Vinyl-Pressung des Albums - enthält
die Hits "Unwell" und "Disease" sowie fünf seltene Bonustracks.

This third release from Rubi Records sees Ashley Tindall—aka Skeptical—stepping out of his usual drum and bass territory and slowing things down with three seriously deep dub-infused bass tracks in the 140-150bpm realm. While not the first time Skeptical has dipped his toes in such waters, these are easily among the finest, most musically mature examples to date. For those drum & bass fans out there unsure about Skeptical branching out into other genres, this EP shows that an open mind and listening without prejudice will reward your ears.

First up is the utterly dub-soaked 75/150bpm track 'Tell Me'. This solid stoner groove takes clear elements of Skeptical's more dub-orientated D&B and adds mesmeric pads and soulful vocal hooks, making it one of the deepest head-nodders in his overall catalogue. This is more a refined track for the 'listener' than for the dance floor, and while you can still easily throw some shapes to it, it's great to just immerse yourself in as a purely audio experience.

Next is the 140bpm 'Tapestry', which is somewhat the darker twin of 'Tell Me'. Again, we have a slow dub-infused head-nodder, but this time more menacing in tone thanks to the finely-judged use of some moody sound modules that Skeptical has tweaked and twisted in his inimitable fashion. This one's the audio equivalent of a restless mind in the depth of night.

The final offering is another 140bpm track – the unsettling beast 'Atomic v1'. It begins with a slow-burn build up of an off-kilter metronomic beat, subtly growling bass and haunting strings. This, in turn, gives way to a distorted rendering of Oppenheimer's famous use of 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds' from the Bhagavad Gita, before becoming a sinister slow-motion dubstep rumbler. With its dragging beat and the purposefully off-point main sonic hook running over the top, this is a disorientating and unsettling weapon for the discerning DJ.

This EP continues the fresh direction of Rubi Records, showcasing exceptional, forward-thinking music without borders.

Support: Ben UFO, Joy Orbison, Gilles Pererson, dBridge, Break, DLR, Doc Scott, Mefjus, Kasra, Kings of the Rollers, Alix Perez, Jubei, Dub Phizix, Flight, Tasha, Loxy, Randall, Lens.

Radio Support: BBC Radio 6 Music, Rinse FM, Kool FM

Tyresta's Small Hours album (a direct follow-up to 2020's All We Have) comes on beautiful 180-gram splatter green vinyl via Past Inside The Present and is another majestically subtle and intimate ambient work that explores "impermanence, grief, loss, healing, and growth". It's an album that reveals more with each listen as the carefully layered-up synths and melodies intertwine harmoniously to make for a perfect late-night soundtrack. There's plenty of soul searching to be done while lost in the midst of this album, but it will be a rewarding task as you cannot fail to find "solace, rejuvenation, and a rekindling of the unfettered spirit," as the label puts it.

From Northern Ireland and the South of England hail Jetplane Landing - which, for the last two decades has been variously composed of: Jamie Burchell (Bass/Vocals), Raife Burchell (Drums), Andrew Ferris (Vocals/Guitars), Cahir O’Doherty (Guitars/Vocals) and Craig McKean (Drums). Big Scary Monsters are releasing their debut album Zero For Conduct on vinyl this January as well as putting their entire back catalogue back on streaming services. Their debut album ‘Zero For Conduct’, was recorded on an 8-track tape machine in Jamie's parents' garage in Bognor Regis and mixed during engineer Sean Doherty’s downtime in a London studio owned by a diamond mining company. Hailed a 'masterpiece’ (5Ks - Kerrang!) upon its release in 2001 - it contains fan favourites ‘This Is Not Revolution Rock’ and ‘Summer Ends’ and perfectly encapsulates the vitality of the 00's post-hardcore DIY scene that inspired its creation. Deriving their name from the moment a blissed-out Burchell/Ferris witnessed At The Drive-In perform ‘One Armed Scissor’ on their debut British TV performance - “Fuck me Ferris, they sound like a jet plane landing!” - ZFC channels that riotous energy across its heart-felt eleven cuts. Delicate acoustic confessionals sit alongside full-throated math-rock experimentation; this is an album as varied as it is ambitious. Jamie: “We initially set out to track the record during a two-week period Andrew had off from work. At the end of those two weeks, we didn’t even have all the drums recorded let alone the overdubs. So the idea emerged that Ferris and I would drive down every weekend from London to my parents’ house and we would make the album that way. Cut to… one year later…” Andrew: “When I listen back now, I can physically feel the conversations we had on those long drives, all those micro-decisions - getting the songs to be… right. It was a long process, but truthfully I’d have been happy to let it go longer. Jamie gave me so much confidence and pushed me to places I didn’t know I had or even needed to be. It was a really special time.”. Jamie continues, “There was this weird fusion between us musically which seemed to just work.” Fans of Elliot Smith, Nick Drake, J Mascis, and Stephen Malkmus will feel right at home with this lovingly crafted set. Spoiler alert: heavier sounds and bigger rooms were to come for Jetplane but on Zero For Conduct their musical universe feels at once expansive and deeply personal.

There will always be another peak to summit and boundary to break. END stretch their second full-length offering, The Sin of Human Frailty, beyond its very limits with a fierce commitment to unwavering unpredictability and uncompromising intensity. The New Jersey quintet counts producer and guitarist Will Putney, vocalist Brendan Murphy, guitarist Gregory Thomas, bassist Jay Pepito, and drummer Matt Guglielmo among its ranks. These musicians deliver a concentrated barrage like no other on, The Sin of Human Frailty Closed Casket Activities.

END initially materialized during 2017. The group’s From the Unforgiving Arms of God EP spawned the fan favorite “Necessary Death,” and lead to a signing with label Closed Casket Activities. Highlighted by “Covet Not” and “Absence,” the band bulldozed the senses with their 2020 full-length debut, Splinters From an Ever-Changing Face. Brooklyn Vegan hailed “Pariah” as “an absolutely filthy dose of modern metalcore,” and Kerrang went as far as to describe their Debut LP as, “catharsis fed through a distortion pedal and shaped into a dense, destructive wrecking ball” Perhaps, Invisible Oranges put it best, “These gentlemen have come together to summon a fury seldom heard on any album from the realms of hardcore, grind, and black metal…”

There is no stopping the mighty SORCERER and in the autumn of 2023 the band will release their highly anticipated fourth album entitled ‘Reign Of The Reaper’. Again not content with repeating themselves the album features some of the darkest, heaviest and most aggressive material the band has ever recorded, and at the same time some of the most lyrical and beautiful. The band holed up in their home studios and wrote music all through 2022 and then once again headed to SolnaSound Recording in Stockholm, the studio owned, run and operated by Simon Johansson (Wolf, Soilwork) with Mike Wead (King Diamond). SORCERER are also known for their long title tracks with catchy and highly memorable choruses, and the second single ‘Reign Of The Reaper’ is no exception. Taking the listener through the realms of death and dread, this doom-laden epic with it’s many twists and turns will crush souls, leaving metal fans begging for more darkness and despair.

It's because we want to show this quality to the world that we bring here our "Heavy Brazil" series once again. After the first two chapters, where we brought thrash legends VODU with their first two albums ("The Final Conflict" and "Seeds Of Destruction"), the time has come to present a new chapter of this series.

For all those who are fans of Brazilian thrash, KORZUS' first studio album needs no special introduction. "Sonho Maniaco" (Portuguese for 'Maniac Dream') is by all parameters a thrash metal classic! With a total of 7 songs, "Sonho Maniaco" has everything you'd expect from an 80's thrash album: speed, aggression and a good dose of insanity!

Originally released in 1987 and being a highly sought after record by collectors, it is with great pleasure that we bring you the first vinyl reissue of "Sonho Maniaco"!

Get ready for another ultra- limited edition by our label, with all the extras our followers are used to.

Fans of JAMESON RAID or MACAXE will definitely enjoy what we have prepared for this release.

Includes all the usual extras, unreleased rehearsal tracks and special mastering for vinyl for best audio experience.

Limited to150 numbered copies in black vinyl, this deluxe edition includes:
* A4 insert
* Band promo photo
* Hand-numbered certificate card

A new band that truly understands what '80s metal was.

Get ready to rock with the Cobrator! Go back to the golden age of metal with this powerful band, delivering a unique 80s feeling and plenty of head- banging fun.

With crunchy guitars, rocking basses and fierce drums, it's perfect for those who are looking for the perfect time travel to the '80s!

COBRAKILL are here to bring you the best of classic metal, with the energy of new blood.

If you are a fan of early MOTLEY CRUE, ODIN or SEDUCE, then you will be hooked on the Cobrator! An album with a total of eight songs high on heavy riffs and hard-hitting solos, "Cobrator" will be available in an ultra limited edition on vinyl LP, with all the extras that our followers are used to.

You will definitely be blown away by RAVE IN FIRE and their album "Sons Of A Lie". Featuring a stellar production and a classic '80s vibe, "Sons Of A Lie" sets RAVE IN FIRE as one of the most promising acts in the Spanish Metal scene. Let's be honest: if they sound like this now, imagine how they will sound in 4 or 5 years!

Put some fire in your speakers and get lost in the atmosphere of this incredible album. A unique musical journey comprising a total of eight songs, "Sons Of A Lie" will be available in an ultra limited edition on vinyl LP, with all the extras our followers are used to.

The popularity of speed/thrash metal in the late 80's and early 90's is undeniable.

After the demise in the late 80's of cult speed metal band BLOODLUST, Sandy K and John Lisi embarked on a new project, remaining true to their roots in fierce and fast metal. With the addition of Jeff Mohr and A.J. Cavalier to the group, LAST RITES emerged, wanting to assert themselves as a "schizophrenic speed metal" band.

And that's exactly what we can expect from LAST RITES! In this vinyl release, where we put together the band's two cassette recordings ("Don't Be Denied" from 1990 and "Agony" from 1991), we can find a perfect example of the speed/thrash of the turn of that decade: fierce, intense and uncompromising, roaming on themes of personal despair and social criticism

Through 35 hedonistic highlights stretched across three volumes, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac delivers the first ever deep dive into The Netherlands’ colourful house sound of the 90s and the under-celebrated producers and record labels whose music soundtracked a countrywide cultural movement.

Plenty of books and documentaries have celebrated the riotous raves, legendary clubs, high profile DJs and promoters who shaped The Netherlands’ hedonistic house scene throughout the 90s. Music For The Radical Xenomaniac dares to challenge these narratives by shining a light, for the first time, on those who created the scene’s kaleidoscopic, game-changing and globally influential soundtrack.

Leading the charge were a disparate group of key creators who not only forged links with their counterparts in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom, but also became celebrated figures on the worldwide electronic underground (Eric Nouhan, Aad De Mooy, Orlando Voorn, Stefan Robbers and Steve Rachmad). Alongside key underground imprints (Stealth Records, Basic Energy, ESP, Prime and Outland Records included) and lesser-known producers, these pioneers gave flavour to a radical musical movement via open-mindedness, unheard-of creativity and a genuinely futuristic ethos. All of these artists and labels are represented throughout the series.

So, what defined this hedonistic house sound from The Netherlands? Stylistically, it was varied – as the series so emphatically proves – but was defined by a set of distinctive sonic characteristics: emotive musical motifs, high-frequency synth sounds, mellow basslines, pulsating rhythms and more than a touch of hallucinatory intent.

Volume 2 contains a wealth of notable tracks and slept-on gems. These include Q’s ‘From Within (Body Mix)’, a lesser-known cut from the trio better-known as Quazar (Gert van Veen, R.o.X.Y co-founder Eddy De Clercq and Eric Cycle), Eric Nouhan’s melodic masterpiece ‘Technobility’, which is appearing on vinyl for the first time since 1994, and a rare collaboration between regular production partners Maarten van der Vleuten and Mike Kivits (better known as Aardvarck), which was initially released on a special R&S Records’ offshoot set up by the label’s co-founder, Renaat Renaat Vandepapeliere (Integrity II’s ‘Living In Fantasy’).

Other highlights include Exposure’s ‘Love Quest’, a highly sought-after 1991 track by The Hague-based DJ/producer Maurits Paardekooper, and an ambient-infused Andrew Weatherall favourite originally released by Stealth Records in 1993, Hole In One’s ‘Spiritual Ideas For Virtual Reality’.

Packed full of forward-thinking 90s gems remastered for today’s dance floors by Alden Tyrell, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac Volume 1 is a life-affirming celebration of a distinctly Dutch musical movement, whose rich textures and melodies are still inspiring new generations of DJs and dancers today.

Cher hat die Veröffentlichung ihres ersten Weihnachtsalbums angekündigt. " Cher Christmas" markiert das insgesamt 27. Album in der ruhmreichen Karriere der Ikone und wird am 20. Oktober erscheinen und ist zugleich ihr erstes Album mit neuem Material seit "Closer to the Truth" vor zehn Jahren.

Bei einem Besuch in der Sendung Good Morning Britain vergangene Woche kündigte Cher an, das kommende Weihnachtsalbum werde klar ihren Stempel tragen: "It's a Cher Christmas album. It's not your mother's Christmas album", so die Musikerin, die anfügte, sie sei "really, really excited because there's millions of people on it, and I've never had duets. I've never had people on any of my records." Um welche Namen es sich dabei handelt, verriet sie zwar noch nicht, versprach aber, dass die Features "special" sind: "I mean, I'm in awe of all of them." Man darf gespannt sein!

Video Age make breezy and timeless songs that are so ine­able, they can only be the result of a decades-long friendship and songwriting partnership. Across four albums, Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli have gleefully worn their influences on their sleeve, writing inviting tunes that reference sounds ranging from disco to pop and indie rock. On their latest LP, Away From The Castle, the New Orleans duo have strayed from nostalgia and instead have honed their own unique musicality, making songs that sound like themselves with a taste of inspiration from classic singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s. The album is a testament to the possibilities that come from getting out of your comfort zone, the freedom of writing vulnerably and unselfconsciously, and the joys of getting to work with your closest companions. After releasing and eventually touring their critically-acclaimed third album Pleasure Line in 2020, Farbe and Micarelli sought inspiration for their next project through collaboration. They worked with Drugdealer on his album Hiding In Plain Sight, Micarelli gigged throughout New Orleans' jazz and blues scenes, and Farbe recorded local artists at his home studio, most recently producing Esther Rose's new album Safe to Run. Feeling refreshed, they rented a cabin in Eunice, Louisiana with touring members Nick Corson and Duncan Troast, where they spent eight days in August 2022 jamming, cooking and writing together. Through this process, Video Age have made their best collection of tracks to date by perfectly alchemizing their influences and experiences into a record still tinged with nostalgia, but moving towards a more succinct and authentic voice. Away From The Castle is a document of a band having fun and rediscovering their love for making music together, but it's also their most honest and personal work yet-Video Age distilled to its purest form.

Video Age make breezy and timeless songs that are so ine­able, they can only be the result of a decades-long friendship and songwriting partnership. Across four albums, Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli have gleefully worn their influences on their sleeve, writing inviting tunes that reference sounds ranging from disco to pop and indie rock. On their latest LP, Away From The Castle, the New Orleans duo have strayed from nostalgia and instead have honed their own unique musicality, making songs that sound like themselves with a taste of inspiration from classic singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s. The album is a testament to the possibilities that come from getting out of your comfort zone, the freedom of writing vulnerably and unselfconsciously, and the joys of getting to work with your closest companions. After releasing and eventually touring their critically-acclaimed third album Pleasure Line in 2020, Farbe and Micarelli sought inspiration for their next project through collaboration. They worked with Drugdealer on his album Hiding In Plain Sight, Micarelli gigged throughout New Orleans' jazz and blues scenes, and Farbe recorded local artists at his home studio, most recently producing Esther Rose's new album Safe to Run. Feeling refreshed, they rented a cabin in Eunice, Louisiana with touring members Nick Corson and Duncan Troast, where they spent eight days in August 2022 jamming, cooking and writing together. Through this process, Video Age have made their best collection of tracks to date by perfectly alchemizing their influences and experiences into a record still tinged with nostalgia, but moving towards a more succinct and authentic voice. Away From The Castle is a document of a band having fun and rediscovering their love for making music together, but it's also their most honest and personal work yet-Video Age distilled to its purest form.

Video Age make breezy and timeless songs that are so ine­able, they can only be the result of a decades-long friendship and songwriting partnership. Across four albums, Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli have gleefully worn their influences on their sleeve, writing inviting tunes that reference sounds ranging from disco to pop and indie rock. On their latest LP, Away From The Castle, the New Orleans duo have strayed from nostalgia and instead have honed their own unique musicality, making songs that sound like themselves with a taste of inspiration from classic singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s. The album is a testament to the possibilities that come from getting out of your comfort zone, the freedom of writing vulnerably and unselfconsciously, and the joys of getting to work with your closest companions. After releasing and eventually touring their critically-acclaimed third album Pleasure Line in 2020, Farbe and Micarelli sought inspiration for their next project through collaboration. They worked with Drugdealer on his album Hiding In Plain Sight, Micarelli gigged throughout New Orleans' jazz and blues scenes, and Farbe recorded local artists at his home studio, most recently producing Esther Rose's new album Safe to Run. Feeling refreshed, they rented a cabin in Eunice, Louisiana with touring members Nick Corson and Duncan Troast, where they spent eight days in August 2022 jamming, cooking and writing together. Through this process, Video Age have made their best collection of tracks to date by perfectly alchemizing their influences and experiences into a record still tinged with nostalgia, but moving towards a more succinct and authentic voice. Away From The Castle is a document of a band having fun and rediscovering their love for making music together, but it's also their most honest and personal work yet-Video Age distilled to its purest form.