Cerca:b star

8-Tracks features eight essential classics selected from the Pink Floyd’s 1971 – 1979 era. The track list includes the instantly recognisable hits ‘Money’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2’, ‘Time’ and ‘Comfortably Numb’, alongside earlier cuts in ‘One Of These Days’ and ‘Wot’s… Uh The Deal’, as well as an exclusive full version of ‘Pigs On The Wing’, previously available only on the 1977 Animals 8-Track cartridge release. The track sequence has been edited by Steven Wilson for a continuous listening experience. 8-Tracks documents the full measure of Pink Floyd’s transition into their breakthrough era, propelled into superstardom throughout the 1970s. The eight-year period this special release celebrates encompasses music from some of the band’s most successful and celebrated records ever. 1971’s Meddle, 1972’s Obscured by Clouds, 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon, 1975’s Wish You Were Here, 1977’s Animals and 1979’s The Wall. 8-Tracks offers a brilliant insight into this incredible period of creativity. A starting point for new listeners to discover the depth and breadth of Pink Floyd’s peerless album catalogue, as well as a carefully curated collection for longtime fans to appreciate.

Factory Floor return to Phantasy with ‘Buzz Saw’, a driving new single that once more re-establishes the trio of Nik Colk Void, Gabe Gurnsey and Joe Ward as amongst the most vital forces in live electronic music.

Following on from 2025’s sold-out vinyl singles ‘Between You’ and ‘Tell Me’, the spacious groove of ‘Buzz Saw’ bridges the sharp, bracing synthesis of the band’s origins in London’s post-industrial warehouse scene. Once again mixed by legendary engineer David Wrench (Daniel Avery, Floating Points), it captures the band’s most dancefloor-forward instincts, recently rejuvenated via appearances at Berghain, festivals such as No Bounds and Simple Things, plus a headlining UK tour.

As before, Gurnsey’s peerless drum work - tracked in the studio by Stephen Morris of New Order - proves forceful and delicate in tandem with Ward’s percussion, encountering suspenseful breakdowns in the space between Voids enveloping basslines. In dreamlike accompaniment, Colk Void’s own voice drifts serenely upwards, itself slowly consumed and obscured into the band’s full-bodied electronic rush, which is also available here as a more minimal, no-less powerful dub version.

In sonic contrast, ‘Guitar_1342’ finds the band experimenting in their starkest terms, stripped back of their luminescent flow and boldly reduced to an abrasive, dissonant guitar feedback.

Factory Floor’s ‘Buzz Saw’ will be released via Phantasy on 29th May 2025, available as a limited-edition vinyl pressing in a risoprint sleeve, as well as digitally.

Re issue of the album on LP as previous versions had all sold out and were deleted.
Global Dance phenomenon Sammy Virji’s sophomore album ‘Same Day Cleaning’ sees the renowned party starter deliver UK Garage to the world like no one before. The new album is rooted in Sammy’s unmissable club ready production style and features a slew of legendary rappers & producers. The project lands after an insane year of global festival and headline touring for Sammy. ‘Same Day Cleaning’ follows Sammy’s hugely successful ‘If U Need It’ and his follow up singles including club mainstay ‘Damager’, with Interplanetary Criminal. The album also features Sammy’s massive link up with British icon Skepta, ‘Cops & Robbers’. ‘Same Day Cleaning’ is bigger, bolder and promises to propel Sammy Virji even further onto the global dance-music stage

Given her extensive and varied recording catalog, if you're looking for a place to explore the talents of the late Nina Simone, then 1965's I Put a Spell On You is a great place to dip your toes - particular if you want to start with her more pop oriented sides.
The set features a truly eclectic mixture including stabs at jazz (the instrumental "Blues On Purpose"), R&B (the title track), French chanson ("Ne Me Quitte Pas") and a number of show tunes.

Nicolini is back with 'Quita Maldicion' - an album of hyper riddim tracks, mixing up Memphis-tinged beats, pitched vocal chops, blown-out bass, and fever dream Dembow. With guest appearances from Chimira, Sharp Shin, Cheba Tmax, and Toff Youth, 'Quita Maldicion' hits like the zaps of an alien rave defibrillator, reanimating your lifeless body for the dance. Remove the curse on this world!

Reissue of seminal ’90s house LP ‘Super Discount’ from Étienne
de Crécy, a founding classic of the French touch sound feat. Air,
Alex Gopher & more. Double LP housed in a gatefold sleeve.

Released in 1996, ‘Super Discount' is the debut album by Étienne de Crécy, one of the most influential figures on the electronic music scene and one of its most inspired producers.

Over time, this record has become one of the pioneering records of the French Touch and a founding classic of electronic music, both in France and abroad. It was a critical and commercial success from the start and is an icon of its time..

Originally released on cd in 2017 on Rope a dope and Sounds of Crenshaw, this landmark project now receives a strictly limited audiophile vinyl edition. This release marks the debut of Terrace Martin’s all-star collective, featuring Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Chachi a.k.a. Problem and more, a defining statement of modern Los Angeles jazz, hip-hop and soul.

Germany's most exciting new indie voice BROCKHOFF opens a bold new chapter and announces her debut album Easy Peeler, out June 5th 2026 via PIAS Recordings. “Easy Peeler” is the ambitious culmination of BROCKHOFF’s musical coming-of-age journey. It's an album that bridges grunge-laced indie rock and early-2000s pop textures, wrapped in a deeply authentic songwriting voice. It’s a reminder that even when life feels uncomfortable, there’s beauty in being an easy peeler. For Fans of: Modern indie acts Phoebe Bridgers, Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy as well as 90s bands such as Weezer or The Cardigans Tracklist: 01. Easy Peeler 02. The Carpet Song 03. Willows 04. Sunny Day (Deadline) 05. Blue Star 06. Front Row 07. Nothing Can Be Fixed In This Place 08. Dirty Dream 09. Japanese Garden# 10. I've Stopped Getting Chills For A While Now 11. Cruel 12. Sleep It Off 13. It Never Happened 14. Hot Wheels

For their third album As You Please, Citizen is looking inward. Pairing up again with longtime producer Will Yip, the band presents twelve songs that fuse aspects of their entire catalog into one neoteric whole. While the cathartic melancholy of their debut Youth and the jarring intensity of 2015's Everybody is Going to Heaven are both present, the most welcome addition to Citizen's arsenal on As You Please is the range of auxiliary instrumentation and sonic experimentation on the album. This is most notable on "In the Middle of it All," where vocalist Mat Kerekes is sampled singing the song title in a modulated, haunting chorus that echoes throughout the song. The addition of organs and unconventional drum effects on songs like "You Are A Star" and "Medicine" create shifting emphases on tension and frailty, while the huge choruses of songs like opener "Jet" and "I Forgive No One" are reminders that while Citizen dove headfirst into uncharted territory with their new album, the band is still as good as ever at writing emotionally-charged anthems. As You Please presents Citizen's vision at the most focused it has ever been - it is delicately crafted to provoke at every moment.

Eine der geheimnisvollsten Bands der klassischen 4AD-Ära: Swallow. Gegründet von Louise Trehy und Mike Mason, die sich Anfang der 90er im kreativen Schmelztiegel Camberwell in London begegneten. Was folgte, hatte fast etwas Mythisches: Kaum geschrieben, wurden ihre ersten Songs auf einem einfachen Tascam-4-Track aufgenommen. Ein Demo - roh, direkt, voller Atmosphäre - landete bei Ivo Watts-Russell. Ohne die Band je gesehen zu haben, unterschrieb er sie sofort bei 4AD. Für die Aufnahmen ihres Debüts borgten sie sich Instrumente, zogen von Edinburghs Palladium Studios bis zu den legendären Blackwing Studios in London und arbeiteten mit Produzent John Fryer, frisch von den Arbeiten an Pretty Hate Machine. Mit Hilfe von Eventide Harmonizern - bekannt aus dem Klangkosmos der Cocteau Twins - entstand ein schillernder, fast schwereloser Sound. Doch als Blow 1992 erschien, fühlte es sich für die Band nicht richtig an. Zu glatt, zu weit entfernt von ihrer ursprünglichen Vision. Anstatt neu aufzunehmen, entschieden sie sich für einen radikaleren Schritt: Sie zerlegten die Songs und bauten sie neu zusammen. Das Ergebnis war Blowback - düsterer, fragmentierter, näher an ihrem inneren Klangbild. Diese Version erschien nur in kleiner Auflage und verschwand schnell wieder - ein verborgenes Juwel, das nur eingefleischte 4AD-Fans kannten. Jetzt, Jahrzehnte später, wird dieses Kapitel endlich neu erzählt: Mit Blown, einer liebevoll kuratierten Veröffentlichung, die beide Versionen vereint und den ursprünglichen Aufnahmen neues Leben einhaucht.

Under the mentorship and executive production of Grammy-winning hip-hop producer 9th Wonder (Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, Kendrick Lamar) come North Carolina's fastest-rising hip-hop duo! THE ZENITH is produced entirely by 9th's daughter JADA and includes 15 tracks of lyrical raps from Fayetteville's own S14H over JADA's smooth sampling.
With features from established and revered hip-hop acts such as Murs and Swank & King Draft as well as from fellow members of THE COLLECTIVE, KMac, Carri Starr, and Iris Moon, THE ZENITH is living proof that the soul of lyrical hip-hop lives on in the next generation through artists like JADA X S14H.

Shooting Daggers are a band that never seems to stop. Sal, Bea and Raquel are one of the hardest working outfits out there, constantly playing shows and lending their support to myriad causes all around the U.K. and Europe. So, it’s always an exciting prospect when the band takes some time out from the maelstrom to write and record new material. And 2 years on from the release of their acclaimed debut album ‘Love & Rage’ the band have been in Bear Bites Horse Studio with Wayne Adams (Big Lad, Green Lung) at the controls to come up with the goods once again. ‘The Real Life Thing’ is the latest hardcore sonic missive from one of London’s must-see bands, and it absolutely does not disappoint. Shooting Daggers are the real deal; the best, and most exciting and adventurous hardcore-inspired band in the country. A ‘mini album‘. 7 songs and 20 minutes of driving rocket fuelled punk meets melody picking up from their debut to go further into their own space. A selection of songs that are marked by a fierce energy, variety and cool musical nous, but always with a message firmly at its core. The band says … ‘It's a crucial time to focus on what really matters. Be present, be aware of real things happening in the world, with integrity and love we can make a difference as a community. There is hope out there, and if we all start treating nature, people and animals with respect and empathy we will be able to become better humans and coexist. In this mini album, we express the full range of our emotions through various sounds and genres. From cheerfulness to anger and hopefulness.

From hardcore punk, to shoegaze, to post hardcore and riot grrrl. We embrace our authentic self, with sensitivity in response to injustice, we act out, and all the while savouring every moment, being unapologetically yourself, empowering ourselves and each other’. With the help of some very special guests in the form of ‘The Menstrual Cramps' and Dennis Lyxzén from Refused, that message is driven home ‘big time’. ‘Adrenaline’ is as full on and heavy as Daggers have ever been, all buzzsaw riffs and rousing vocals, it’s a smart and catchy punch in the face to kick off proceedings. ‘My Oh My’ sweetens the vibe if only a bit with its layered post shoegaze guitars and anthemic vocals, exquisitely arranged we may add. It really shows how Daggers have taken the 90’s elements from Love & Rage and expanded it into something all their own. ‘T.R.L.T.’ back to ‘in yer face’ Daggers trademark off kilter punk, chants, fast bit, slow bits all straight into your head. ‘We just Wanna Play’ is, as Daggers put it ... ‘Empowering playground song for girls and queers to sing and play’. The perfect intro to … ‘Loud Mouths’ the first track to feature bestie guesties ‘The Menstrual Cramps’. A riotous call to arms. We are united with our sisters and queer folks in punk and hardcore, queercore is strong and more alive than ever. Together we will denounce problematic behaviours unapologetically, we won't shut up. Things must change and it’s happening when problems are pointed out and sorted. The scene is for everybody, and we are making it happen’. ‘Le Soleil’ is another step forward … a left field, almost dubby vibe with a dreamy melodic swirling vocal performance from Sal.

When Daggers decide to step outside the box, they do it seductively in style. ‘Glow’ is the second collaboration; this one featuring Dennis Lyxzén from Refused on dual vocal duties. A no brainer it seems … ‘Refused has been a band that never wanted to fit in with a specific sound, they are pioneers of experimental punk while still being rooted in hardcore. They believe in what we believe in, antifascism, veganism, social justice and Dennis on stage is anything but a generic hardcore singer’. It’s a celebration. It’s fuzzy, it's hooky and it’s heavy with, dare we say it, a bit of My Bloody Valentine in there too, generic hardcore it is not. And that pretty much sums up ‘The Real Life Thing’. This album and this band are anything but ‘generic’. They never stand still and continue to push the boundaries of what is ‘hardcore’ or ‘punk’ or whatever people think they are. T.R.L.T. is a delight and a surprise from start to finish, refreshing, abrasive, melodic and with a true beating heart. Embrace it.

The new EP is released on limited edition 'Scissorhands Ice Blue' coloured vinyl with a hand-numbered gold riso print sleeve art with obi strip. Sarah/Shaun wooed hearts and wowed critics with debut EP It's True What They Say? in 2024 plus follow-up EP Someone's Ghost in 2025. They have been featured across the media including BBC Radio 6Music, BBC Radio Scotland, The List and The Skinny. They've played gigs supporting French legends Air, Glaswegian 80s pop legends The Bluebells, Glasgow's huge Glasvegas, a slew of venues across Glasgow and Edinburgh, not to mention the festivals: Kelburn Garden Party, Fringe By The Sea, Kendall Calling, Dunbar Music Festival and Hidden Door Festival. The duo are set to release a full length album in late 2026.


b A2 Heart Started Beating [Backwards] (4:10)
[c] B1 Desperation Looks Ill [From The Other Side] (4:26)


[b] A2 Heart Started Beating [Backwards] (4:10)
[c] B1 Desperation Looks Ill [From The Other Side] (4:26)

You blink; eyes crusty. Last night went a little too late again, and as you stumble towards the kitchen you stare at the record player like it’s a cup of coffee. The rest of your life can wait. You stare at the record again and hit the lever and the needle falls.

First up: Gastón Cabrera’s Inhumano, a little relentless and unforgiving, like being thrown in the back of an Aston Martin and driven away. The groove builds to a haunting peak, and you want more. Then the record blurs into Alfalfa’s La Fiebre, which tickles your ears with eerie bells, and builds from bass fundamentals into something more driving. It’s hopeful, but makes you work for it – wading through acid; climbing the hill.

Everything stops. Fuck it. You flip the record, and Marcos Coya’s The Underdog starts off easy, but slips you down a dark path to a pool of churning, hypnotic synths. There’s a strange moment of quiet before the final track. vault. and Isaac Elejalde close with authority on Just Melt: a raw and writhing finale spiked with voices and sirens that will leave you out of breath, somewhere else.

Introducing The Goods. Four tracks; one abduction. Limited to 300 copies – vinyl exclusive, forever.

The new recordings from The Dengie Hundred unfurl on Tain Records after a busy year releasing a solo tape on Sagome and a collaborative LP and tape with Japan Blues on Demdike Stare's DDS imprint.

Lammas Land is an album which meditates on the Walthamstow Marshes, an ever-changing watery landscape, rich with history and wildlife. The Dengie Hundred writes:

"I am sitting at my table overlooking the marshes listening to Lammas Land in November 2023, watching crows fight a never-ending aerial battle with the gulls. In summer, you can see bats from here every evening, fluttering around the windows as the light begins to fade, but today it is colder so there is smoke rising from the boats on the River Lea and the dog walkers are wrapped up tight against the wind.
Most of Lammas Land was made sitting right here, playing guitar and recording the sounds passing by. I would hang a microphone out of the window to capture the ‘putput’ boat which delivers provisions, or the trains that rattle along the tracks that cut across the marshes and up to Stanstead, carrying passengers to the airport and away.
I wonder what tourists make of the marshes as they cross them, the landscape opening up for a moment between the urban sprawl of the East End and the rampant development of Tottenham. They offer a jarring pause of green and sky. I feel very lucky to be living in that pause, a resident, for now…

The album contains a whole year of found sounds recorded from the window and while out walking. It is full of bird song and radio sounds, singing, life.

Many others have been inspired by this space, this pause. The author Esther Kinsky who wrote River, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions, captures this area so perfectly. I borrowed the two track names for this album from her book. I hope she doesn’t mind.

Also, the photographer Paul Fuller whose work reflects the atmosphere I feel here precisely. On hearing the music he wanted to collaborate on the Lammas Land project, He spent a year filming the marsh through the seasons. Some of his images are included with the vinyl release, and there is an accompanying film close to completion. I am so pleased this project is continuing in new forms.

The vinyl also contains a piece of writing, ‘Sound Fishing’, by Gemma Blackshaw, an author, art historian and curator who in a twist of fate also found herself spending time on the marshes, but that is her story, for another day."




The Dengie Hundred
Lammas Land
LP, with essay insert + five photographic prints
Cat No: TAIN02
Price: £14.49
Due next week

A: A hand full of ever thickening twilight
(Sample clips 1 / 2 / 3)

B: A string of pearls pulling
the night away
(Sample clips 1 / 2 / 3)

These days – on the new, ninth Fink album – Greenall is operating within a lineage of authentic, quietly revolutionary artists from England’s verdant southwestern toe. Artists like Michael Chapman. In 1970, the elusive acoustic guitar wizard released an album called Fully Qualified Survivor. The cult-classic served as a lodestar for Greenall – along with bandmates Tim Thornton and Guy Whittaker – as he began jigsawing together The City Is Coming to Erase it All, the follow-up to 2024’s Beauty In Your Wake. He even considered covering a song from it, but in the process, inadvertently stumbled into what became the album’s opener. ‘Wishing For Blue Sky’ circles a universal teenage ache: waiting for life to start. “No point dying of patience” goes the first lyric as crunching footsteps cue a resonant, open-tuned acoustic swaying into view. By 18, Greenall was fed up with waiting, so he left suburban Bristol and saw the world, sending postcards from the edge, waiting tables, squirreling away tips for the next flight. Thornton had similar experiences when the guitarist/drummer busked across Eur

This is nowstalgia more than nostalgia, though; there’s a parallel between these 18-year-olds and Fink’s autumn-aged family men. “You’re expected to be boring and settling down at this age,” Thornton says. “But we’ve still got this tremendous wanderlust. We want to go and discover, and also achieve things. It’s a nice life – home and family – but fuck, I can’t wait to get back out there.” City is a product of this hunger for discovery, and idolatry of the album as a form – like we had in 1974. City’s cover mirrors its interior, the first song is the greeting, the instrumental closer the conclusion. It’s a story. It’s a record for people who, like its creators, are curious. People who happily face a little cold for music, who light a crackling fire back home, who sit with these songs until they’re ready to chase after their own blue sky

These days – on the new, ninth Fink album – Greenall is operating within a lineage of authentic, quietly revolutionary artists from England’s verdant southwestern toe. Artists like Michael Chapman. In 1970, the elusive acoustic guitar wizard released an album called Fully Qualified Survivor. The cult-classic served as a lodestar for Greenall – along with bandmates Tim Thornton and Guy Whittaker – as he began jigsawing together The City Is Coming to Erase it All, the follow-up to 2024’s Beauty In Your Wake. He even considered covering a song from it, but in the process, inadvertently stumbled into what became the album’s opener. ‘Wishing For Blue Sky’ circles a universal teenage ache: waiting for life to start. “No point dying of patience” goes the first lyric as crunching footsteps cue a resonant, open-tuned acoustic swaying into view. By 18, Greenall was fed up with waiting, so he left suburban Bristol and saw the world, sending postcards from the edge, waiting tables, squirreling away tips for the next flight. Thornton had similar experiences when the guitarist/drummer busked across Eur

This is nowstalgia more than nostalgia, though; there’s a parallel between these 18-year-olds and Fink’s autumn-aged family men. “You’re expected to be boring and settling down at this age,” Thornton says. “But we’ve still got this tremendous wanderlust. We want to go and discover, and also achieve things. It’s a nice life – home and family – but fuck, I can’t wait to get back out there.” City is a product of this hunger for discovery, and idolatry of the album as a form – like we had in 1974. City’s cover mirrors its interior, the first song is the greeting, the instrumental closer the conclusion. It’s a story. It’s a record for people who, like its creators, are curious. People who happily face a little cold for music, who light a crackling fire back home, who sit with these songs until they’re ready to chase after their own blue sky

Death Cab for Cutie is one of the definitive indie-rock bands of the century. After twenty-odd years in the major label system, the band returned to their indie roots and signed with ANTI- Records and they"re back with a brand-new eleventh album titled, I Built You A Tower out June 5th. I Built You A Tower is the sound of loss, compartmentalization, and then grief bursting out from the seams. It"s also the sound of the growth that comes after falling apart, of acknowledging pain without letting it destroy you. "I see the tower existing on your emotional horizon," Ben Gibbard states. "You don"t always have to look at what"s inside it, but it"s a reminder that it happened. You know it"s there. You have to face it." The band is set to hit the road in the US this summer, kicking off on July 10 and includes a two-night run at The Greek in Los Angeles. This comes on the heels of a historic, sold-out global tour marking the 20th anniversary of the album Transatlanticism, and the release of their universally acclaimed, 2022"s Asphalt Meadow.

Erstauflage als "Sparkle Starlight Vinyl" 2LP mit Etching auf der vierten Seite. Im technischen Sinne war jedes bisherige Album des französischen Trios SLIFT eine Fantasie - ein Mix aus Genres und Formen, der es der Band ermöglichte, zu improvisieren und so lange zu jammen, bis sie sich scheinbar gemeinsam ins All zu winden schienen. Ihr gefeiertes drittes Album, "Ilion" aus dem Jahr 2024, war eine Science-Fiction-Geschichte, aufgebaut aus 10- bis 13-minütigen explorativen Eskapaden, die oft mit Doom Metal oder Stoner Rock begannen, bevor sie sich frei in glorreiche instrumentale Vergessenheit drehten. Doch mit einer gewissen absichtlichen Ironie heißt SLIFTs viertes Album tatsächlich "Fantasia". Es ist ihr bisher schlankstes und direktestes Album. Es ist auch ihr bisher fesselndstes Album, eine pointierte Saga über die Überwindung internationaler Umbrüche, vorgetragen von einer Band, die mit voller Kraft vorangeht und dabei keine einzige Sekunde verschwendet. Obwohl nur Jean und Bassist Rémi Fossat verwandt sind, ist SLIFT im Grunde eine Band von Brüdern. Mit Schlagzeuger Canek Flores sind sie schon seit der Highschool befreundet, und 2026 markiert ein Jahrzehnt zusammen in diesem Trio. Sie proben mit religiöser Regelmäßigkeit in einem Keller auf dem Land in der Nähe von Toulouse, in dem Jam-Raum, in dem sie schon lange ihrer Vorliebe für langatmige Wunder frönen. Für die Albumaufnahmen zu "Fantasia" überquerten sie die französische Nordgrenze nach Belgien, um in dem riesigen Live-Raum der Daft Studios ein kompaktes Set aus schlanken, agilen und druckvollen Songs aufzunehmen. Die vielfältigen Einflüsse der Band sind offensichtlich: Das Album erinnert an Clutch in voller Wildheit, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, den sowjetischen Schriftsteller Michail Bulgakow, Pink Floyd und Black Sabbath aus der "Master of Reality"-Ära. Und das klangliche Gewebe wird durch das gekonnte Mixing von Kurt Ballou (Converge, Cave In, High on Fire) unterstützt. Den Songs fehlt es nicht an der Komplexität oder Intensität, die SLIFT zu einem aufstrebenden Star der Heavy-Musik gemacht haben; sie haben einfach neue Wege gefunden, die Komplexität ihrer Vergangenheit in jedes Stück einzuflechten, wie ein Wandteppich, der jedes Mal, wenn man hinschaut, eine neue Ebene offenbart. Damit vermitteln sie eine bestätigende und dringliche Botschaft: Gemeinsam können wir die Zeiten, in denen wir leben, noch immer verändern. Heutzutage ist es furchtbar leicht, sich machtlos zu fühlen. SLIFT setzt sich auf "Fantasia" direkt mit dem modernen Ansturm von Grausamkeit und Absurdität auseinander, sei es die Gleichgültigkeit gegenüber unserem Heimatplaneten oder zueinander. Aber in diesen acht Songs geht es darum, auf eine verborgene Kraft zu vertrauen, um zurückzuschlagen, um an eine Welt zu glauben, in der etwas, das wir noch nicht in Worte fassen oder definieren können, nicht nur einen Weg bietet, den Status quo zu durchbrechen, sondern ihn vielleicht sogar vollständig zu zerstören. SLIFT sind laut, heavy und aggressiv in diesen Hymnen. Sie bereiten sich auf einen Kampf vor, von dem sie glauben, dass wir ihn noch gewinnen können.

Bolka is known as the man with the cap. His cap has lived through a lot: his glitchy and microtonal experiments, studies at Institute of Sonology in The Hague or through countless performative works. A few years ago, Bolka’s cap fell apart. By that time he was already a fixture on the slovak experimental scene, but only releasing his debut album, “smutné stropy.” He started wearing new caps from then: somehow reminiscent of the old one, but much more varied — same as “smutné stropy,” bubbling with motifs, charming humour and pop sensitivity layered over detailed soundscapes popping with surprises.

On schwarzkopf, Bolka returns wishing for a thick black hair. With his charming love songs, that are positioned somewhere between a tightly run freak folk orchestra, deconstructed ballads and colorful ecstatic melancholy, he creates an album that thrives on juxtapositions that are completely unique, yet strangely familiar. Bolka’s songwriting is at once tender and irreverent — lovestruck whispering suddenly tripping over absurdist jokes and surreal images that fizz like soda. His songs move in that strange space between vulnerability and mischief, where intimate confessions collide with radical playfulness and the poetic rubs shoulders with the delightfully ridiculous.

On schwarzkopf, Bolka expands his world with a wide circle of collaborators and an even richer sonic palette. The album is meticulously detailed yet carefree: delicate moments sit next to sudden explosions, drifting from gentle pop to bursts of noise. Toward the end, the album even slips into a footwork-infused remix by Kodiki, passes through Julek ploski’s signature neon-baroque string perspective, and briefly wanders into Lénok’s cinematic sonic world. Bolka sings that he wants to dissolve into a healing ointment, to be ground in a mortar with calendula — and he invites us into this musical spa with him: a place that stings a little but ultimately soothes, a gorgeous soundscape that is both painful and joyful at the same time.