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Heads have been after Otakar Olšaník and Jan Martiš's Advanced Process for a long time. That's because "coincidentally-cosmic disco" packed with spaced-out, smacky-synth dynamite tends to become sought-after. Originally slipping out on the mighty Coloursound in 1986, the label described the sound as "contemporary synthesizer underscores played by computers; depicting future technologies in today's process." If they'd just added "acid-drenched", they'd have been closer to nailing it.

The A-Side is totally beatless. It's also totally perfect. "Atomic Plant 1" is a pulsing synth epic and could've easily soundtracked a stylish 80s thriller such as Thief or To Live And Die In LA. It's a narcotically enhanced meeting between John Carpenter and Steve "Lovelock" Moore. "Atomic Plant 2" adds extra squelch and proper early computer synth squiggles. This stuff is addictive and truly ace. The 3 part "Fusion Point" showcases a dramatic and insistent industrial mood via a gripping sequencer pattern mixed with effects and accents. Menacing and magnificent. The trio of "Nuclear Radiation" tracks veer majestically from a hypnotic sequencer pattern with a heavy dramatic tune to hectic patterns without much of a tune, managing nevertheless to maintain a hold on the listener.

The drums enter proceedings on Side B and they're absolutely outstanding. Coming on like a slicker, heavier Johnny Jewel production, 20 years before Italians Do It Better, "Regulators 1" marries the smoothest head-nod beat you can wish for, with a murky mechanical rhythm and phasing effects. After the stunning beatless version ("Regulators 2") the suuuupppper slo-mo "Data Load" sounds like its wading through the heaviest K-Hole and is all the more thrilling for it. "Modem" is a brief and breezy funky bass and synth squiggle wonder, of the beatless variety. "Robot Masters", would you believe, actually sounds like something those Daft Parisians would've sampled on Discovery, over 15 years later. An uptempo, optimistic track with a real strut; propulsive rhythms with dramatic synths, what can only be described as "very-80s sounds" and digi-handclaps. The breathless "Digiheart" double bill rounds things out, one with a dynamic driving rhythm and more slick-as-hell beats and the other without drums. Mental, brilliant and completely essential.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Advanced Process comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

In the midst of a wave of hybridizing ambient, drone, folklore and experimental electroacoustic music, Roxane Métayer has gained a cult following with only a couple of releases to date. Following her debut album (Éclipse Des Ocelles) for Morc with a split EP and a limited cassette for Wabi-Sabi, Roxane now turns to Marionette with her intimate narrative based multi-instrumental recordings, a match made in the heavens if you ask us. With her violin, woodwind, voice and various effect pedals, Métayer takes the listener on a newfound journey into the ancient, medieval, and primordial.

Perlée de sève is Métayer’s second full length, a sophomore to the critically acclaimed Éclipse Des Ocelles, where Métayer continues to sonically realize the map of the fictional habitats that inhabit her mind. Coming from a background of studying narration and different animation mediums, it’s no surprise that her recordings evoke vivid imagery and carry a trace of the environment they were conceived in. The instruments morph as extensions of her body and ultimately become new organs, a means of communicating these bio-memetic stories and creating a dialogue between herself and her surroundings. Meandering melodies intertwine with accompanying drones, mantra-like fragments and a handfeel percussion lend themselves as living and breathing elements in Roxane’s beguiling and spellbinding anecdotes.

Roxane is an observer of the world, her projects conceived from elements that inform her reality, such as the organic imagery and sounds of nature, then transforming that into a strangely familiar parallel universe that would not exist otherwise. Whether it's active research or taking her instruments to the forest, Métayer opens up her imagination by taking this mental journey to discover locations, creatures, and time periods then channeling that into her own fairy tales. The album and track titles act as a portal into those worlds, like chapters in a book where the protagonists are animalia, plantae, and fungi. As Métayer wrote in an interview: “Stories are a privileged way to create an awareness of a specific subject.”

Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday is by no means a sequel to Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth - missing are the poignant and bleak sermons on the pain of inner-city existence, replaced by dusky, sensuous re-workings of tainted love songs Warren had written as far back as 1965, during his time as a songwriter at Shrine and Motown. Still, his unfinished self-reinvention, even heard through the prism of these skeletal remnants, delivers on a remarkable purity of vision: one man's corner of black culture, 24 carats pure and mishandled perhaps until now, finally a bit less misunderstood.

Papir's majestic third album back in print on vinyl for the first time in eight years! On this album, produced by Causa Sui's Jonas Munk, the band really found their sound, blending powerful semi-improvised psychedelia with jazz and atmospheric post-rock. At this point the Copenhagen trio had become masters of their craft, mixing together new and old, heaviness and ambience. Now, ten years after its original release, it stands as one of the highlights of post-millennial psychedelia. When Mojo writer Kieron Tyler visited Denmark's renowned SPOT Festival in the summer of 2012 he was blown away by Papir's performance as an experience that clearly stood out compared to the rest of the bill: it takes a lot to stand out at SPOT...but Copenhagen's Papir are arresting. Their guitar, bass and drums mesh powerfully in an intense, jazz-inflected instrumental rock. Voyaging through post-rock Tortoise terrain, it nods towards Hawkwind's freak outs and employs liberal dollops of wah-wah pedal. The pieces - not songs - twist and turn like Dark Star Grateful Dead. From these jumping off points, Papir scurry off on their own path. These guys are certainly on their own path and Papir III is one of their most fully realized albums to date. It encompasses everything the band represents in a single piece of heavy vinyl - from explosive, guitar-solo driven peaks through motoril krautrock grooves to peaceful and atmospheric soundscapes.

Originally released in May 2006 through the German label Karaoke Kalk, »Osaka Bridge« was an album that captured the joyful amateurism of Tori Kudo's free-spirited Japanese collective Maher Shalal Hash Baz and Bill Wells’ rich, wistful and easy sense of melody. Approaching brass band and jazz music with a knack for making playing imperfectly feel perfectly right, »Osaka Bridge« became nothing short of groundbreaking when it was released to critical acclaim, becoming an instant classic among musicians and fans alike. Coinciding with the release of the second LP of Wells’ on-going collaboration with Danielle Price on tuba, »The Sensory Illusions«, Karaoke Kalk makes this highly sought-after record available again on vinyl for the first time in 16 years.

The pairing of the prolific Scottish pianist and composer and the fluctuating collective active since the mid-1980s was an easy, natural one—a union particularly apt and complementary. But this is not to say that the 15 recordings which made up »Osaka Bridge« were in any way seamless. The horns played by these self-taught musicians strain and struggle with Wells’ luscious arrangements; each note is given all the stiff emphasis that you’d expect of a high school brass band at its first rehearsal. Songs fall in and out of rhythm, and a track like »Poxy« misses its intended swing feel by a country mile. Of course, this is all part of the magic. Maher Shalal Hash Baz take Wells’ melodies and strip them back to their emotional core, disallowing all artifice and revealing a stark, serene beauty.

Particularly affecting are »On The Beach Boys Bus«—described by colleague Jens Lekman as the »the most beautiful melody I’ve ever heard«—and »Time Takes Me So Back«, the two tracks sung by Kudo’s wife Reiko. Inspiration for both pieces came to Wells in dreams. The former was sung by a group of tanned Californians on the way to a Beach Boys convention, the latter by his grandmother shortly before she passed away. Reiko’s voice gives each song a haunting fragility that enhances their phantasmagoric character. »Cowtail Calypso«, on the other hand, was born when Wells asked Tori Kudo to sing Roger Miller’s »King Of The Road« over a syncopated, propulsive melody. Kudo’s ambiguous response (»maybe,« which according to Wells usually translated to »forget it«) resulted in a brief, idiosyncratic track that nevertheless exceeded all of Wells’ expectations.

Of the instrumental tracks, »Liquorice Tics« stands out for its rolling rhythms and circular melody, while »Family Sighs« creates a brooding atmosphere which perfectly encapsulates the conflicting feelings many people have for their immediate family. For the most part, the instrumentals are concise—a melody stated once and then dispensed with—but their brevity only heightens the impact. Even (or especially) 16 years later, »Osaka Bridge« continues to be an almost accidentally timeless document that captured fleeting moments and personal revelations at their most spontaneous and unaffected. As someone put it so aptly in a Discogs comment a few years back, »this is the album which is able to make aliens understand what humankind is about.« You better turn up the volume so that everyone can hear it everywhere.

Infinite Machine is proving again it's a label that refuses to sonically sit still. Having released everything from code-based compositions to bass-heavy techno in 2022, the imprint is readying the release of the black metal-tinged Ehkta by BOLT RUIN later this month. A musician whose work has been described as 'apocalyptic' more than once, on this new mini-album, the Belgian producer blends field recordings, twisted samples and rave signifiers with an eerie tonality born out of his nocturnal production sessions and time spent absorbing the silence of his studio garden.

Bridging the gap from his previous record to this one, 'Sktone' is a cinematic opener that unfolds like a bad dream in slow motion. Warped samples of Bulgarian choirs glide over synths wired in closed-circuit loops which feed back on themselves, degrading for infinity. Texture and space is added via field recordings of waves crashing over the ruins of Brighton West Pier. This track exemplifies the unexpected influence BOLT RUIN took from the wildlife he witnessed in the garden of his urban studio when working on Ehkta. Adapting to the material at their disposal, weasels and blackbirds create nests from organic waste and human trash - an astute metaphor for the Belgian producer's compositional approach.

Next up, BOLT RUIN drives up the tempo with the rave-ready 'Nehng', where a frenzy of trance arpeggios and frantic drum programming builds and intensifies over its 5-minute duration. Inspired by Yves Klein's 'Leap Into a Void', 'Nehng' definitely evokes that bodily rush of freefalling into the unknown. 'Nehng''s driving rhythm is switched out for the brooding 'Tzarhk' - an ode to the soundtracks of B-movies composed on a vintage Roland SH-2 (a prominent character of the Stranger Things soundtrack). BOLT RUIN runs thick, syrupy synth slabs and punishing drum patterns through a rain-soaked limiter the producer found lying on the street by chance.

Another master-class in self-destructive arrangements comes in the form of 'Rfohmdrá' as delicate pianos and synth tones atrophy through daisy chained pedals which erode the signal. Valgeir Sigurðsson's mastering skills shines through here, taking BOLT RUIN's sci-fi-meets-metal sonics and amping them up to a scale on par with the Björk or Ben Frost records he's previously worked on.

Conceived of as the mirror reflection of the LP's opener, 'Maevr' pushes the approach of 'Sktone' to an even more nightmarish extreme. Embracing chance, the clattering layers of beats are sampled of a knocked mic on a window as BOLT RUIN attempted to capture a recording of rain from his studio. A happy and very effective accident for the foreboding mood of the track!

BOLT RUIN rounds off Ehkta with 'Ekztamnh'; an ode to that specific sensation of entering through a corridor to a rave and hearing the rumble of a soundsystem from afar. Snarling melodies are run through a reverse granular delay effect which fragments the signal, reverses it and plays them back in irregular order; much like the shattered memories of a late night in a warehouse.

A musical magpie who finds inspiration in the most unlikely of sources, Ehkta is a restless exploration of salvage-punk aesthetics where doom-laden black metal melodies, amen breaks and an experimental approach to sound design sit in an irregular and uneven musical apocalypse. For fans of Blanck Mass or Caterina Barbieri - this is a must-listen material from a fresh producer establishing himself with a singular musical voice.

repressed !

Firmly entrenched in techno's haziest alcoves, every new record from Denise Rabe is as punishingly hypnotic an experience as it aims to penetrate the deepest laid of your cerebral zones. Having plied her trade on Arts' sub-division Arts Collective before moving on to establish her own dedicated label, Rabe, in 2017, the Berlin-based DJ and producer steps up with her much anticipated debut platter for Stroboscopic Artefacts, as she takes the helm for the fifth sortie of the Totem series. True to her love for all things droney and psychoactive, this time Rabe has us descending into rugged, hostile sonic terrains with just a headlamp and the thick mantle of darkness for closest companions. Ahead’s a demented safari across nightmare-prone visions and thunderstruck vistas.

Hosing off the loud, churning 909 kicks and passive-aggressive machine talk straightaway, 'Manifesto' sets the tone for the warehouse-sized hammering to come. Evil-minded swashes of hyper-delayed percs and criss-crossing chimes lash out in successive waves, further subjugating the dancers as bars fly by. A more spacious and atmospheric number, B-side opener 'Clouds' heads for quieter high-altitude spheres as the dubbed-out drums beat an off-kilter, leftfield friendly pulse and ominous synth stabs and pads envelop the listener in entrancing textural folds and interplays. Back to floor-ready dynamics, the adrenaline booster 'Don't Leave' caps it off on a truly mind-bending tip. Primed for unrelenting peak time action with its angry buzzard-like drones, pacey 4/4 swing and refined palette of eerie circuit noises and click-y minimalism, this one's a high-impact steamroller, sure to get maximum response when things start getting muscular.

RED APPLE MARBLE VINYL REPRESS.

Everything changed for The Beths when they released their debut album, Future Me Hates Me, in 2018. The indie rock band had long been nurtured within Auckland, New Zealand’s tight-knit music scene, working full-time during the day and playing music with friends after hours. Full of uptempo pop rock songs with bright, indelible hooks, the LP garnered them critical acclaim from outlets like Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, and they set out for their first string of shows overseas. They quit their jobs, said goodbye to their home town, and devoted themselves entirely to performing across North America and Europe. They found themselves playing to crowds of devoted fans and opening for acts like Pixies and Death Cab for Cutie. Almost instantly, The Beths turned from a passion project into a full-time career in music.

Songwriter and lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes worked on what would become The Beths’ second LP, Jump Rope Gazers, in between these intense periods of touring. Like the group’s earlier music, the album tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Stokes’s writing on Jump Rope Gazers grapples with the uneasy proposition of leaving everything and everyone you know behind on another continent, chasing your dreams while struggling to stay close with loved ones back home.

"If you're at a certain age, all your friends scatter to the four winds,” Stokes says. “We did the same thing. When you're home, you miss everybody, and when you're away, you miss everybody. We were just missing people all the time.”

With songs like the rambunctious “Dying To Believe” and the tender, shoegazey “Out of Sight,” The Beths reckon with the distance that life necessarily drives between people over time. People who love each other inevitably fail each other. “I’m sorry for the way that I can’t hold conversations/They’re such a fragile thing to try to support the weight of,” Stokes sings on “Dying to Believe.” The best way to repair that failure, in The Beths’ view, is with abundant and unconditional love, no matter how far it has to travel. On “Out of Sight,” she pledges devotion to a dearly missed friend: “If your world collapses/I’ll be down in the rubble/I’d build you another,” she sings.

“It was a rough year in general, and I found myself saying the words, 'wish you were here, wish I was there,’ over and over again,” she says of the time period in which the album was written. Touring far from home, The Beths committed themselves to taking care of each other as they were trying at the same time to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. They encouraged each other to communicate whenever things got hard, and to pay forward acts of kindness whenever they could. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Their most emotive and heartfelt work to date, Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it -- a sentiment we need now more than ever.

Ever dream you're in a spaceship on a never-ending journey to an unknowable destination? That's how Nyles Lannon often thought of life in the early part of the pandemic, when time seemed to stand still, before the vaccines or even knowing when there might be any. But whether that spaceship is a desolate prison or a vessel for escaping to a better world depends on how you use it. With literally nowhere to go, the Film School guitarist and his then-12-year-old son Skye, on drums and modular synths, would jam most evenings in Nyles's home studio, just to have something to focus their minds on and counter the tedium of "remote learning." What started out as a way to keep his talented kid busy became a means to process the anxiety and disorientation of that strange, scary stretch of time. The result is Vanishing, a ten-song album of moody melodies, new wave beats, droney rock, and even an electrogroove instrumental interlude, by the father-son project they named Nyte Skye.

The emotional toll of lockdown, our collective grief, the literal darkness that engulfed the sky thanks to devastating wildfires brought on by climate crisis—these are heavy subjects, but the songs also convey how we managed to keep each other sane, and inspired, through it all. Film School devotees will find plenty to love; so will fans of the Police (Stewart Copeland being one of Skye's major

influences), the Cure, Spiritualized, and Elliott Smith. The album's opener, "Dream State (I'm Vanishing)," is a wistful synth-driven indie gem about disappearing into an alternate universe where worries don't exist. "Doing Time," with its massive washes of 12-string guitar and sophisticated syncopated beat, is a shoegazey meditation on holding onto a child's sanguine outlook in the face of adversity. If dream pop track "Take Me Up Again" is the album's bounciest, its counterpoint is "Faded," whose bittersweet melody and gentle rhythm bely themes of physical and emotional frailty.

Ultimately, not only did working on Vanishing help the duo cope with a uniquely challenging situation, but just being stuck at home helped stoke their creativity. "Music was the only thing I did during the pandemic, besides online school," Skye says. "It gave us all this time we didn't have before to make the album." For Nyles—knowing they might never have that kind of time again—to be able to put out a record with his son is, simply, "a dream come true."

Vanishing was written, recorded, and produced by Nyles Lannon and Skye Lannon and mixed by Dan Long, with additional contributions from Zach Rogue (Rogue Wave), Nichole Kreglow (backup vocals), lyricist Neil Rodenmeyer (Lupa Rosa), and Ian McDonald (FUTRVST).

This land runs through Katherine Paul’s blood. And it called to her. In dreams she saw the river, her ancestors, and her home. When the land calls, you listen. And KP found herself far from her ancestral lands during a time of collective trauma, when the world was wounded and in need of healing. In 2020 she made the journey from Portland back to the Skagit River, back to the cedar
trees that stand tall and shrouded in fog, back to the tide flats and the mountains, back to Swinomish.

It is a powerful thing to return to our ancestral lands and often times the journey is not easy. Like the salmon through the currents, like the tide as it crawls to shore this is a story of return. It is the call and response. It is the outstretched arms of the people who came before, welcoming her home. The Land, The Water, The Sky is a celebration of lineage and strength. Even in its deepest moments of loneliness and grief, of frustration over a world wrought with colonial violence and pain, the songs remind us that if we slow down, if we listen to the waves and the wind through the trees, we will remember to breathe.

There is a throughline of story in every song, a remembrance of knowledge and teachings, a gratitude of wisdom passed down and carried. There is a reimagining of Sedna who was offered to the sea, and a beautiful rumination on sacrifice and humanity, and what it means to hold the stories that work to teach us something.

Chord progressions born out of moments of sadness and solitude transform into the islands that sit blue along the horizon. The Salish Sea curves along her homelands, and when the singer is close to this water she is reminded of her grandmother, how she looked out at these same islands, and she’s held by spirit and memory.

The Land, The Water, The Sky rises and falls, in darkness and in light, but even in its most melancholy moments it is never despairing. That is the beauty of returning home. When you stand on ancestral lands it is impossible to be alone. You feel the arms and hands that hold you up, unwilling to let you fall into sorrow or abandonment. In her songs Katherine Paul has channeled that feeling of being held. In every note she has written a love letter to indigenous strength and healing.

There is a joy present here, a fierce blissfulness that comes with walking the trails along the river, feeling the sand and th stones beneath her feet. It is the pride and the certainty that comes with knowing her ancestors walked along the same land, dipped their hands into the water, and ran their fingertips along the same bark of cedar trees.

This is a story of hope, as it details the joy of returning. Katherine Paul’s journey home wasn’t made alone, and the songs are crowded with loved ones and relatives, like a really good party. And as the songs walk us through the land it is important we hover over the images and the beauty, the moments that mark this album as site specific. The power of this land is woven throughout, telling the story of narrow waterways, brush strokes, salmon stinta, and above all healing.

Let it take you. Move through the story and see the land through her eyes, because it is a gift, a welcomed sʔabadəb.*

*The word “gift” in Lushootseed, the language of the Coast Salish people“

Time and duration are core themes in the work of both William Basinski and Janek Schaefer, and this long-distance collaboration took a suitably long gestation of eight years from start to finish. In that time, our collective perception of time has at times become disorienting. “ . . . on reflection” remodels that instability as an exquisite work of art – one that is unmoored by time or space. Limitation breeds creativity, revealed as an expression of minimalism and close focus. Deploying a delicate piano passage from their collective archive, Basinski and Schaefer weave and reweave in numerous ways, forging an iridescent flurry of flickering melodies. The sounds of various birds heard from late night windows on tour can occasionally be heard throughout, ricocheting off mirrored facades, reflecting on themselves as they continually reshape their own environments with song. “ . . . on reflection” looks backwards, a bustling revelry of positive emotions heard through the aging mirrors of memory. It is a celebratory meditation where sound shimmers through time like the light of the sea’s waves glistening as it folds and unfolds upon itself. Created 2014-2022 between L.A. & London. Mixed at Narnia, Walton-on-Thames. For Harold Budd. Press Quotes: “At its best, William Basinski’s music inspires the sort of rapturous testimony usually reserved for peak experiences, cult leaders and the dead.” Pitchfork // "Schaefer finds peace in discord. His musique concrete pieces tend to evoke an ominous sense of mortal doom, yet enrapture in the process.” Pitchfork

Blue Vinyl
After Psychiatre's previous electro-focused Lost Palms release proved his artistic malleability, his latest sees him return to his signature sound. NMAV EP radiates warmth; music that sits back into itself, and invites its listener to do just the same.

It begins with three deep house soothers, the first taking disco as its springboard, and the rest stripping it right back to a minimal, soul-caressing effect.

On the B-side the sun doesn't stop shining, except this time Psychiatre injects a healthy dose of acid and the groove of a breakbeat. But far from the rave connotations of each style, Psychiatre teases out the most gentle facets of each, bringing the EP to a suitably laid-back close.

Historically Fucked is a four way entanglement made to create short, eruptive songs and then set about obliterating them from the inside, like improvising a barrel to encase themselves in and then proceeding to lick their way out of it. It is about playing and laughing at playing, and it is about not doing either of those things sometimes. Sometimes it is to do with talking, howling or grunting, and sometimes it is to do with hitting and rubbing.
Historically Fucked contains four people, who each share the same duties, and whose names in sequence are Otto Willberg, David Birchall, Greta Buitkuté and Alecs Pierce. They are from Manchester and often other places. Guitar, bass, drums and voices keenly jostle amid the group’s frenzy of spontaneous rock throttles. Some of these rampant exercises in avant are collected on ‘The Mule Peasants’ Revolt of 12,067’, the band’s new album, released by Upset The Rhythm on February 3rd. This is the group’s first release since 2018’s mantlepiece staple ‘Aliven Wool’ (Heavy Petting). This is Rock and/or Roll as fertilizer, uncivilised and free, as if one were to imagine what the Plastic Ono Band would’ve hit upon if they had read ‘Riddley Walker’, the sound of an entire timeline of expression put back together back-to-front, misshapen and irradiated.

‘The Mule Peasants’ Revolt of 12,067’ is not mere Sedentary Rock but Blasted Basalt, Frog worshipping cave-funk, harmolodic hullabaloo-wop, a musical game of “badger in the bag”. It is the sound of sacks crammed full of aggregate, a chimerical mind-meld, a seductive din that is to a hound dog in blue suede shoes what a raking of the dorsal fin with a fat marrow pinecone is to a pelican in the midst of being fired from the academy.

‘The Mule Peasants’ Revolt of 12,067’ by Historically Fucked was recorded by Rory Salter, mixed by Otto Willberg and mastered by Mikey Young. The liminally worrisome artwork was painted by John Cobweaver.

“They say these days that History is Fucked. Nothing ever dies but continues to rule the earth as an undead tyrant that cannot accept its own decomposition, look earwardly upon the dance of the proudly dead and decrepit!”

Vymethoxy Redspiders, Leeds 2022

Studio One was founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd1 in 1954, and the first recordings were cut in 1963 on Brentford Road in Kingston.[1][2] Amongst its earliest records were "Easy Snappin" by Theophilus Beckford, backed by Clue J & His Blues Blasters, and "This Man is Back" by trombonist Don Drummond. Dodd had previously issued music on a series of other labels, including World Disc, and had run Sir Coxsone the Downbeat, one
of the largest and most reputable sound systems in the Kingston ghettos.
In the early 1960s, the house band providing backing for the vocalists were the Skatalites[3] (1964–65), whose members (including Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Lester Sterling and Lloyd Brevett) were recruited from the Kingston jazz scene by Dodd. The Skatalites split up in 1965 after Drummond was jailed for murder, and Dodd formed new house band the Soul Brothers (1965–66), later named the Soul Vendors (1967) and Sound Dimension (1967-). From 1965 to 1968 they played 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 5 days a week, 12 rhythms a day (about 60 rhythms a week) with Jackie Mittoo as music director, Brian Atkinson (1965–1968) on bass, Hux Brown on guitar, Harry Haughton (guitar), Joe Isaacs on drums (1966–1968), Denzel Laing on percussion, and on horns (some initially and some throughout): Roland Alphonso, Dennis 'Ska' Campbell, Bobby Ellis, Lester Sterling, among others on horns during the era of Rock Steady. Headley Bennett, Ernest Ranglin, Vin Gordon and Leroy Sibbles were included among a fluid line-up, to record tracks directed by Jackie Mittoo at Studio One from 1966-1968.
During the night hours at Studio One from 1965-1968, singers like Bob Marley, Burning Spear, The Heptones, The Ethiopians, Ken Boothe, Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Bunny Wailer[4] and Johnny Nash, among others, would put on headphones to sing lyrics to original tracks recorded by the Soul Brothers earlier each day. These seminal recordings included "Real Rock" (by Sound Dimension), "Heavy Rock", "Jamaica Underground", "Wakie Wakie", "Lemon Tree", "Hot Shot", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Dancing Mood", and "Creation Rebel".
Jackie Mittoo, Joe Isaacs, and Brian Atkinson left Studio One in 1968, recorded drums and bass for Desmond Dekker's and Toots' biggest hits at other Kingston studios, then moved to Canada. Hux Brown stayed in Jamaica to record on the soundtrack The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall, and toured in Nigeria with Toots and the Maytals and Fela Kuti. The Soul Brothers (a.k.a. Sound Dimension) formed the basis of reggae music in the late 1960s, being versioned and re-versioned time after time over decades by musicians like Shaggy, Sean Paul, Snoop Lion, The Clash, String Cheese Incident, UB40, Sublime, and countless other Billboard originals and remakes trying to emulate their original Rock Steady sound at Coxsone's Studio One.

2023 Repress On Vertigo Days, the first album in seven years for The Notwist, one of Germany’s most iconic independent groups are alive to the possibilities of the moment. Their music has long been open-minded and exploratory, but from its engrossing structure, through its combination of melancholy pop, clangorous electronics, hypnotic Krautrock and driftwork ballads, to its international musical guests, Vertigo Days is both a new step for The Notwist, and a reminder of just how singular they’ve always been. Most importantly, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck are reaching out: as Markus reflects, “we wanted to question the concept of a band by adding other voices and ideas, other languages, and also question or blur the idea of national identity.”

It’s been seven years since The Notwist’s last album, Close To The Glass, and in that time the various members of the group have been busy with side projects (Spirit Fest, Hochzeitskapelle, Alien Ensemble, Joasihno), guest appearances, a record label (Alien Transistor), movie scoring, helping organise the Minna Miteru compilation of Japanese indie pop & running a festival (Alien Disko). Those divergent paths feed back into Vertigo Days in surprising ways, from its structure, built from group improvisations, with songs flowing and melting into one another in a collective haze, to its spirit, which feels refreshed and alive. There’s something cinematic about Vertigo Days too, reflective of the group’s time working on soundtracks, and reflected in the rich, moody photographic artwork by Lieko Shiga that adorns the cover.

The first sign of this newfound openness was the album’s lead single, “Ship”, where the group were joined by Saya of Japanese pop duo Tenniscoats, her disarmingly hymnal voice sighing over a propulsive, Krautrocking beat. Elsewhere, American multi-instrumentalist Ben LaMar Gay sings on “Oh Sweet Fire”, also contributing “a love lyric for these times, imagining two lovers in an uprising hand in hand.” American jazz clarinettist and composer Angel Bat Dawid adds clarinet to the spaced-out dream-pop of “Into The Ice Age”, while Argentinian electronica songwriter Juana Molina gifts some gorgeous singing and electronics to “Al Sur”. Saya also reappears as a member of Japanese brass band Zayaendo, who guest on the album. Throughout, The Notwist also capture the openness of their live performances, too, where they mix and link their songs in unexpected ways.

Indeed, what’s most impressive about Vertigo Days is the way it sits together as one long, flowing suite, the album conceptualised as a whole entity – it’s perfect for the long-distance, dedicated listening experience. This is also captured by the album’s lyrics, which Markus states, “feel more like one long poem.” The dimensions of that poem are multi-faceted, something intensified by the geopolitical weirdness of its times: “As the situation changed so dramatically, while we were working on the record, the theme of ‘the impossible can happen anytime,’ more about personal relationships in the beginning, became a global and political story.” But it also works at a level of poetic abstraction, such that each song gestures in multiple directions – the deeply private pans out to the global. The one certainty is that there is no certainty. “It’s maybe mostly about learning and how you never arrive anywhere,” Markus concurs. To sit within uncertainty is brave, but it’s also where we feel most alive, and Vertigo Days is an album that is brimming with life, with enthusiasm and love for music and for community, all wide-eyed and dreaming.

2023 Repress on Yellow Vinyl

On Vertigo Days, the first album in seven years for The Notwist, one of Germany’s most iconic independent groups are alive to the possibilities of the moment. Their music has long been open-minded and exploratory, but from its engrossing structure, through its combination of melancholy pop, clangorous electronics, hypnotic Krautrock and driftwork ballads, to its international musical guests, Vertigo Days is both a new step for The Notwist, and a reminder of just how singular they’ve always been. Most importantly, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck are reaching out: as Markus reflects, “we wanted to question the concept of a band by adding other voices and ideas, other languages, and also question or blur the idea of national identity.”

It’s been seven years since The Notwist’s last album, Close To The Glass, and in that time the various members of the group have been busy with side projects (Spirit Fest, Hochzeitskapelle, Alien Ensemble, Joasihno), guest appearances, a record label (Alien Transistor), movie scoring, helping organise the Minna Miteru compilation of Japanese indie pop & running a festival (Alien Disko). Those divergent paths feed back into Vertigo Days in surprising ways, from its structure, built from group improvisations, with songs flowing and melting into one another in a collective haze, to its spirit, which feels refreshed and alive. There’s something cinematic about Vertigo Days too, reflective of the group’s time working on soundtracks, and reflected in the rich, moody photographic artwork by Lieko Shiga that adorns the cover.

The first sign of this newfound openness was the album’s lead single, “Ship”, where the group were joined by Saya of Japanese pop duo Tenniscoats, her disarmingly hymnal voice sighing over a propulsive, Krautrocking beat. Elsewhere, American multi-instrumentalist Ben LaMar Gay sings on “Oh Sweet Fire”, also contributing “a love lyric for these times, imagining two lovers in an uprising hand in hand.” American jazz clarinettist and composer Angel Bat Dawid adds clarinet to the spaced-out dream-pop of “Into The Ice Age”, while Argentinian electronica songwriter Juana Molina gifts some gorgeous singing and electronics to “Al Sur”. Saya also reappears as a member of Japanese brass band Zayaendo, who guest on the album. Throughout, The Notwist also capture the openness of their live performances, too, where they mix and link their songs in unexpected ways.

Indeed, what’s most impressive about Vertigo Days is the way it sits together as one long, flowing suite, the album conceptualised as a whole entity – it’s perfect for the long-distance, dedicated listening experience. This is also captured by the album’s lyrics, which Markus states, “feel more like one long poem.” The dimensions of that poem are multi-faceted, something intensified by the geopolitical weirdness of its times: “As the situation changed so dramatically, while we were working on the record, the theme of ‘the impossible can happen anytime,’ more about personal relationships in the beginning, became a global and political story.” But it also works at a level of poetic abstraction, such that each song gestures in multiple directions – the deeply private pans out to the global. The one certainty is that there is no certainty. “It’s maybe mostly about learning and how you never arrive anywhere,” Markus concurs. To sit within uncertainty is brave, but it’s also where we feel most alive, and Vertigo Days is an album that is brimming with life, with enthusiasm and love for music and for community, all wide-eyed and dreaming.

Pauline Marx, formerly of the fantastic duo La Fureur de Vouivre, seems like a being from another time and place; namely, an escaped marauder lurking in the forests of a Bruegel painting and integrating the surreal flora and fauna of a Boschian creation into the scenery and lore of deep Brittany. Her invented mythology is loaded with murky rituals and contorted mantras, backed by the surprising sounds and textures of terrains so earthly and so unreal.

The Devil at the Crossroads

Where do you think you come from? Where do you think you're going? Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate: you, with the noodle to the four winds, who pass the threshold of this disc, you better leave all hope there, and glide in the poisonous footstep of the devil your guide.

Where do you think you come from? The mountain is no longer just the mountain; after your passage, it will no longer even be a mountain. Like the whole landscape, it will have been eaten, sauced by invisible leeches. Your nostalgia for the ground and your thirst to find the source will have only discovered a forest of vain words and foul water. Where do you think you're going? At the crossroads, the world is consumed in the previous future. Only the devil will know how to make you overcome the disgust of traditions, and only the love for the devil will give you enough vim to reach your goal: a village, perhaps, but which belongs to no one, a haven to your excessiveness .

The dark tradition to which this game of ternary trampling belongs, like the rhythm of a heart in tune with the inverted world, has no country and no assigned time. Rather a topology of Eve awakened after a thousand-year sleep, an idiosyncratic and possessed reading of our common humus, made up of stories composted in the limbo of the past, of songs captured in extremis vitae and rebus in the privatized antechambers of death.

What does she tell us about? Of our automobile and in love roamings, of the porosity of the membranes that separate beings and things, of the constant inversion of signs. The seventeen stages of this short journey, where intertwine the throbbing of objects, blown horns and rubbed horsehair, form the map of a country never to be found, ours, where only the voice of an old child and the disgusting devil's poisonous charm can guide us.

Originally Released in 1999, this much sought after package is back with new art and a suave ass gatefold jacket! Beginning their career as a Midwestern garage band, the Dwarves made an abrupt change once they moved to San Francisco, maintaining their recklessness, but getting faster and faster. Free Cocaine traces the arc of that development, collecting singles, demo tracks, and other sessions from that time period, beginning with the Lucifer's Crank EP, and progressing onward. Most early tracks betray tremendous musical inadequacies -- at this point, the Dwarves were hardly the polished pop-punkers they would become by the time they signed to Epitaph. Nonetheless, even this raw material has plenty of catchiness, playing ability issues aside. The album also collects compilation cuts like "Lesbian Nun" from the Amrep compilation Dope, Guns, and Fucking in the Streets and singles all the way up through the late '90s on Man's Ruin. Though known primarily for their hard-living, and reckless violence at shows, with most sets clocking in under 20 minutes, the Dwarves, at this juncture, were the best in the underground rock world at what they did: cooking up fast-as-hell, catchy, raunchy hardcore punk. (allmusic). Mixing Lucifer's Crank, Toolin' For a Warm Teabag and other early Dwarves singles, EPs and unreleased tracks this is the noise rock Dwarves at their most untamed. Zero production value, maximum profanity. Hits include Eat You To Survive, Fucking Life and Dead Brides in White.

Bones for Time signifie1s a watershed moment in Tongue Depressor's artistic evolution. Over the course of four expansive tracks, Henry Birdsey and Zach Rowden expound upon the formal and technical characteristics that have defined Tongue Depressor's oeuvre up to this point. Oscillating microtonal drones and spectral smears of pedal steel guitar are now augmented by the disembodied presence of tattered tape loops. The days narrow, dragged forth into a voidal expanse. Sometimes, the void looks back.(Adam Buffington)

Frokedal is a popular folk singer-songwriter whose haunting vocals have scored the music of various acclaimed bands over the past decade. The members of Sa^ver are veterans of the Norwegian heavy scene. Having toured all over the world playing renowned festivals like Roadburn and Psycho Las Vegas, they now fill and orchestrate the gap between eerie softness and furious anger as a three-piece atmospheric sludge metal ensemble. This split 10" sees each of these artists present a song from the respective other artist's back catalogue, finding a transcendental middle ground between the other artist's musical realm and their own sphere. Commenting on the beginning of her own musical career, Frokedal notes: "Because everyone has a computer these days there's no limit to how many times you can multi-track. I was sick of that. I hoped to go the other way - to remove as much as I could and be left with a beating heart." Remarkably, Sa^ver have done just that in their execution of Frokedal's track «Shot-Put», turning down their guitars to give space to clean vocals and laying bare the synths that are an integral part of their sound. Driven by deep drones and soft layered vocals, the Homeric simile of a meeting at the shot put becomes even more compelling, turning the folksy original into a haunting ambient rock opus. In turn, Frokedal lays bare the heart of «I Vanish» from Sa^ver's debut LP in a gently swaying but bewitching folk version. In a world somewhere between the triple harmony magic of The Staves and the polyphonic madness of Le Myste`re des Voix Bulgares, Anne Lise conjures the unsettling path towards obliteration. Many things can be said about the way these songs sound and even about how they transcend the originals in some ways, but the true beauty of this EP lies in the way both Frokedal and Sa^ver incline towards each other to find a middle ground that is yet unexplored in their respective careers. Coming together, they prove that beauty is found in the eye of the beholder, but transcendence is found in the eye of the storm! Limited (100 copies ww) Single Colour (Dark Blue) Edition!

Safari In DLes Disques Bongo Joe are happy to announce the first official repress of L"Éclair acclaimed first album Cruise Control. Almost impossible to find a fair price, this album is the roots of L"Éclair well known poly-groove vibe. Back in the days, the guys were obsessed by afrobeat, funk and psychedelic music. Recorded live by Vincent Hänggi, Cruise Control has a totally unique sound. Witht this, you"ll understand everything you missed about the Geneva based crew! Released originally on Rock This Town, we"re happy to work with directly with L"Éclair to repress this gem. If you already missed it once, don"t sleep this time!

For Fans Of... Lady Wray, Lee Fields & the Expressions, Clairo, Thee Sacred Souls, Chicano Batman, Menahan Street Band, Khruangbin. Red vinyl 7” is strictly for Indies only. The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She take you tumbling into the blazing inferno of discovering and dodging infidelity with their latest song 'Trouble'. Co-produced by former Daptone touring stalwarts Michael Buckely (Sharon Jones/ Lee Field) and Vince Chiarito (Charles Bradley, Antibalas) at their analog studio, Hive Mind Recording, in Brooklyn. The track carries a classic sound for an age-old trope of feeling like you've reached the end of a beautiful love affair that's run its course, knowing you're out of time but still susceptible to getting pulled right back into the chaos. The wailing chorus will have you losing your head grappling with weighing up the responsibility of trying to fix a broken relationship and the lure of temptation as you find yourself falling for another. 'Trouble' leaves you engulfed in weaving vocals and gut-wrenching vibrato - caught between lofty desire and rock hard rejection.

For Fans Of... Lady Wray, Lee Fields & the Expressions, Clairo, Thee Sacred Souls, Chicano Batman, Menahan Street Band, Khruangbin. Red vinyl 7” is strictly for Indies only. The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She take you tumbling into the blazing inferno of discovering and dodging infidelity with their latest song 'Trouble'. Co-produced by former Daptone touring stalwarts Michael Buckely (Sharon Jones/ Lee Field) and Vince Chiarito (Charles Bradley, Antibalas) at their analog studio, Hive Mind Recording, in Brooklyn. The track carries a classic sound for an age-old trope of feeling like you've reached the end of a beautiful love affair that's run its course, knowing you're out of time but still susceptible to getting pulled right back into the chaos. The wailing chorus will have you losing your head grappling with weighing up the responsibility of trying to fix a broken relationship and the lure of temptation as you find yourself falling for another. 'Trouble' leaves you engulfed in weaving vocals and gut-wrenching vibrato - caught between lofty desire and rock hard rejection.

Solaire, Siegfried Kessler, that is the least we can say! Aged 4: learns piano. Aged 6: his first concert. After this: studies classical music like everyone else... until the jazz of Jack Diéval and Stan Kenton turned everything upside down. So it was goodbye to Bach...

...And hello to Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Ted Curson and Archie Shepp (who he would accompany over a long period). In 1969, with Yochk’o Seffer, Didier Levallet and Jean-My Truong, he formed a group which would mark history and create a sensation: Perception. If French free jazz exists, its thanks to Kessler (and company).

The following year, the pianist recorded his first album: Live at the Gill’s Club. On this one-night concert date can also be heard Barre Phillips and Steve McCall. But it was in 1971 that Kessler would record his greatest album; still in a trio setting, but this time with bassist Gus Nemeth and percussionist Stu Martin: Solaire. Five tracks of extraordinary music, moving back and forth between modal jazz and contemporary music.

Let’s begin at the end, with the title track Solaire, on which Kessler plays a melody on flute and piano which resists all onslaughts. It sends out powerful waves, Kessler’s jazz, bubbling like hot oil (Persécution, Drum), shaking modal jazz to its roots (De l’Orient à Orion) or upsetting the memory of a cantata (Bach Hcab). The piano is an instrument which can provide a tendency towards, demonstrative technique; with Kessler, it is something else: a joyful persecution!

Kelman Duran introduces LA’s Holodec to his Scorpio Red label with a debut album of flickering R&B torchsongs and ambient trap-soul that aches in a very special way. RIYL Dawuna, Burial, Junior Boys, MssingNo, claire rousay, Joy O, Triad God, Sampha…

The smouldering ’All Dogs Come From Wolves’ is a definitive statement by a quietly gifted artist who operates inside the long shadow of late ‘90s US R&B and the space where it intersects ambient, neo-classical, and the weightless bass interzones of contemporary UK club music. Bare boned and bathed in a dusky Californian half-light, the album’s 11 songs feel unnervingly stark yet full of tongue-tip sensuality, making a virtue of negative space and atmosphere with a lo-fi soundtrack-like quality that evokes the idea of nostalgic reflection as the route to the future; “a reminder to look to the past to remember where you’re from, to see where you’re going.”

Holodec's been assembling rugged dancefloor constructions for years now, teetering between 2-step, jungle, nu-rnb, and vaporous ambient forms, but rarely has he been as pointed or full-bodied as he is on ‘All Dogs Come From Wolves’. It's an album that can't possibly be cleaved from the place where it comes from, documenting LA's immigrant experience (Holodec is Asian-American), and finding thematic common ground with Space Afrika's "Honest Labour", absorbing prismatic reflections of footwork, rnb and hip-hop instead of trip-hop and dub techno.

Holodec croons soulfully over muted piano motifs on 'Tiles', evoking the spirit of Sampha or Dawuna, but with a gaseous glamor that's unmistakably Californian. The mood carries into 'The Wild', utilising wistful pads and saturated noise but refusing to let his music sink into the background. If you feel yourself drifting, there's inevitably a voice, a womp, or a stifled drum sound to drag you back into its presence. 'Bounce' is rhythmically heavy, but still somehow smudged around the edges; beats don't so much pump as fray, the closer you listen the more you hear it falling out of time and just out of space. It's more like a memory of neon-hued dance forms than a replication of the thing itself.

Even at the album’s rudest, the flinty jungle drums of ‘Black Market’ still remain desiccated, just out-of-reach, suggesting not telling, in a way that makes the album’s other highlights such as the vaporous R&B voice note of ‘And My Angel Dies Too’ or the shivering baroque figures of ‘Spirit’ so unusually seductive with their nuanced grasp of inference and a reserve of humility.

Over the years, Washington has recorded sporadically as a solo singer and extensively as a studio drummer and, has laid tracks for various artists. Simultaneously, Washington was a full-time drummer (sometimes singer) in several different bands, such as: The Avengers, The Titans, and Happiness Unlimited. With Happiness Unlimited he migrated to the USA to work with Stevie Wonder. The other Bands he played with are Calabash and Bands that backed Artists such as Leroy Sibbles, Shinehead, Junior Reid, Gregory Isaacs, Sister Carol and the Meditations.

Over the years, Washington has recorded sporadically as a solo singer and extensively as a studio drummer and, has laid tracks for various artists. Simultaneously, Washington was a full-time drummer (sometimes singer) in several different bands, such as: The Avengers, The Titans, and Happiness Unlimited. With Happiness Unlimited he migrated to the USA to work with Stevie Wonder. The other Bands he played with are Calabash and Bands that backed Artists such as Leroy Sibbles, Shinehead, Junior Reid, Gregory Isaacs, Sister Carol and the Meditations.

Gotts Street Park are a proud bunch of throwbacks. The Leeds-based trio - Josh Crocker (bass, production), Tom Henry (keys) and Joe Harris (guitar) - met through various music studies and friendship networks. Individually their tastes are diverse: from North Indian classical to experimental jazz, soul to alternative hip hop but their vision is united: “The idea of doing things live in one room has always been important,” remarks Josh. “That’s how they used to do it. Our identity evolved from that.”

The inception of the collective goes back to around 2012. There have been minor line up tweaks - they currently record with a rotating list of drummers - but the philosophy has stayed the same: an ongoing pursuit to capture the raw, unparalleled vibe that comes from recording music together, usually as one take, sometimes to analogue tape.

That approach is a deliberate call back to the methods made famous by legendary studios like Sun and Stax in Memphis, or FAME and Muscle Shoals in Alabama and their in-house bands. That’s why for years, GSP set up their own studio in a shared house in a tough (but, crucially, affordable) corner of west Leeds, Armley. Gotts Park (historically the home of industrialist Benjamin Gott) was close by - the group’s name was a nod to their local geography but also the fact it sounded like an area plucked straight out of some of their favourite East Coast hip hop releases.

Their work was quickly noticed, and it was from that base where they began working with an eye catching list of collaborators: Rejjie Snow, Kali Uchis, Cosima, Yellow Days, Chester Watson, Greentea Peng and Benny Mails. Tom also played keys in Mabel’s band. Early on, while performing as a band for hire for those artists, they were simultaneously honing their own sound; a deliberately retro “heavy, saturated” atmosphere that married the languid vibe of traditional soul with the pin sharp clarity of contemporary hip hop. Old leanings, sure, but upcycled with their own modern twist. “We’re constantly trying to build a catalogue,” says Tom. “Writing new stuff and sending it out to people.” That’s why after the release of their debut EP, ‘Volume One’, in 2017 the invitations kept coming; most notably from Brits Rising Star award winner Celeste, with whom they recorded two tracks on her debut EP ‘Lately’.

‘Volume Two’ once again features an impressive raft of vocalists - all female - from established names to fresh talent. This time, musically, the overall tone is lighter; less gritty, more optimistic. “It’s definitely not as gloomy,” says Josh. “Still though, there is this kind of dark, mysterious thing that we do a lot that works,” he continues. “Like the song we’ve done with Grand Pax, for example - it’s got that kind of witchy darkness to it. I think if you do a really straight male soul voice, it can be a bit cheesy and sound like you’ve heard it a million times before.”

Their collaborations might be some of the freshest of 2020 but make no mistake: Gotts Street Park are out there looking to create something timeless.

Those lockdown silver linings continue to reveal themselves when we least expect it... As proved, once again, by the inimitable Amsterdam techno HQ Deeptrax as they present this stunning analog exploration from scene stalwart Mark Peeters AKA Caim.? Inspired, created and sculpted during those strange times when none of us could rave, Caim simply describes the moment by saying the 'clubs were closed, but creativity kept on floating'... Now that floatation is bequeathed to us through these warm, rolling and wide-armed frequencies. Tapping into a spirit that goes right back to Detroit and Chicago, there's an understated groovemanship at play as Calm jams out on the same instruments house and techno forefathers used to sculpt this culture.? Music to get lost inside of, music to take away the stresses of the day, music that's a joy to mix, weave and tell stories with... Caim has created another timeless collection of grooves that could resonate with or relate to any period in the last 35 years of dance music culture.? From the warm, opening rumbles of 'Nepi' to closing rippling dubwise echoes of 'Kapura', very few stones are left unturned as Caim tells a tale of the ages that we can all float to. Here's to silver linings. ?

The Men collection is back with a new double vinyl dedicated to the greatest voices of the Blues including the man who inspired Elvis Presley, BB King.

Back in 2010 Caribou's Dan Snaith hosted a remix competition for his track 'Sun' from his then-new album Swim. The winner was an unknown producer called altrice.

Hailing from Tucson, Arizona of Iranian/Mexican descent, altrice took the bright euphoric highs of the original and crumbled them into rumbling lows, the crystalline edges becoming rough and undefined. Along with a bursting goody-bag of prizes, Snaith also provided altrice with the stems for the rest of Swim and the offer to remix the whole album track-by-track, creating 'stem'. Aside from a further dream-come-true remix of Radiohead, this is largely the last we heard from altrice in the past 12 years.

A year and a half ago though, having kept up correspondence with Snaith over the years, altrice began sending new material. With encouragement from Snaith he eventually wound up with an EP which has since become essential DJ material for Snaith and the cohort of friends he's shared it with, as well as appearing in Leon Vynehall's Radio 1 Residency, KH (Four Tet)'s recent Essential Mix and more.

With three tracks already released from the EP receiving further DJ support from Avalon Emerson, Floating Points, Yu Su, Sofia Kourtesis, Mano Le Tough and more, today the EP is released in full officially via Snaith's own Jiaolong label. compciter is a collection of music that for the first time is entirely altrice's own sound, alluring and off-kilter, a wealth of sounds and styles that are tied together by an irresistible warmth.

Speaking of the EP, altrice says:

"This EP is the result of allowing my stylistic boundaries to be nudged in a new direction, putting away a self-inflicted notion that I’m only fluent in certain subgenres of electronic music. I made some production choices that, for better or worse, will make this project stand out. I’ve been overwhelmed by the reactions in clubs and at festivals, and individuals reaching out with kind words about the music. It’s surreal."
From the huddled and obscured yet comforting vocal samples - described by Pitchfork as "a beacon of light in an uncertain landscape" - of 'bda creature' to the swinging 90s eurodance drums of 'places faces' and the way the welcoming guitar melody and soulful vocals of 'eyes' gives way to a full on bass pummel, the tracks that have been released so far from the EP are already causing a stir both on and off the dancefloor. Today, the chopped up vocals and vast roomy sound of 'yoni' along with '1609km' - which would almost be straightforward house if it didn't pull the rug out to make way for delicate piano and harmonica flourishes - complete a set that fulfils a promise 12 years in the making..

Scene Unseen return with their second release, following the debut release from Jinjé and this time we see a release from a pioneer in the Chilean electronic music and Hip-Hop scenes, DJ Raff.

Having released more recently on the label Big in Japan (the previous label from the Scene Unseen camp), with his beautiful Resistancia EP, the label were keen to welcome him back onboard for the new project.

Raff’s routes were originally in the Hip-Hop scene back in his native, Chile. His influence of this scene cannot be understated, as his name appeared in the credits of over 50 Hip-Hop releases coming out of the country. Most notably with Anna Tijoux and Makiza, as well as seeing his own track ‘Latino & Proud’ used in the EA Sports game, FIFA 2012 and then later as the theme music for the Comedy Central show, Broad City.

As time moved on, so did Raff’s sound and he started to move into more of an instrumental focus, moving away from any vocals and the Hip-Hop rhythms. Since then he has released on Mutante Discos, Nacional Records, Wonderwheel Recordings and his own Pirotecnia label, among others. As well as remixing for the mighty Dengue Dengue Dengue, Landikhan and more.

DJ Raff has played events like Sonar Barcelona, Mutek.ES, Lollapalooza (US, Argentina, Chile), RBMA Mexico and Red Bull also invited him to mentor at the 2015 RBMA Bass Camp academy in Chile. His last album 'Movimiento' was released in 2017 on Nacional records and earnt him a nomination for best electronic music artist at the Pulsar awards in Chile.

Raff’s new EP for Scene Unseen, Estado Líquido, is an EP of true beauty once again, showcasing four tracks that combine his signature Latin American vibes with his hip-hop influences.

The title track opens the EP with the calm samples and inspiration from the sound of the ocean, an emotive nod to the people attempting to travel from Africa to Europe over the years and the struggles they have faced.

“Basta” translates to “Enough” in Spanish, this track is inspired by the large-scale protests in Chile back in 2019 and lasting until March 2020. An electronic hip-hop beat alongside a constant synth arpeggio that was something more common to his early productions. Casualidad is a reference to a more personal stage of Raff’s life, with soft, bright, and uplifting melodies flowing between more fine percussive works.

Final track, Ceremonia, combines percussive African rhythms with melancholic Synth leads and pads, alongside a deep solid bass line and repetitive chants. The repetitive chants and percussions hold together the opposite worlds of happy festive rhythms and nostalgic melodies, taking the song to a place where both feelings combine in harmony.

Artwork is made by DMNC (Francisco Meneses) a designer, art director and VJ from Santiago de Chile. Previous work is linked to 3D animation and he actively collaborates with various electronic music projects across Latin America.

The pandemic affected each of us in different ways. From colossal stars to complete unknowns, it up-ended our lives, and demolished our expectations.

Take Lil Skies. The Philly talent found himself back in his home city, completing a journey that began in pace on his 2017 mixtape ‘Life Of A Dark Rose’. Re-connecting with his roots – his moniker is a nod to his father, while 2019 debut album ‘Shelby’ named after his mother – he’s delivered some of his most potent, open material to date.

‘Unbothered’ is a tight, focussed return – a snappy 14 tracks, is exudes a sense of purpose, retaining the swagger of his debut while upping the word play. It’s an inward journey, one exemplified by those early viral singles ‘OK’ and ‘Havin’ My Way’ but it’s also lit up by some special guests.

Working with alacrity, Lil Skies built ‘Unbothered’ from a series of freestyles, yet every element on the album feels exact, placed with real precision. Using a mere three features – a trilogy that boasts Wiz Khalifa, Lil Durk, and Jodeci – the emphasis is placed on his vocals, on his ability to utilise the voice as an instrument.

‘Trust Nobody’ hinges on fragile paranoia, while ‘Riot’ bristles with a palpable sense of rage. An attempt to channel the repressed – and often extreme – emotions of the past 12 months, ‘Unbothered’ pitches a cool facade against a depth of feeling that often threatens to explode – just check out ‘Think Deep Don’t Sink’ for a mission statement.

Working within clear definitions, ‘Unbothered’ feels more distilled than Lil Skies’ previous work, the sound of someone choosing to work with what they know. Lyrically it’s marked by pain and redemption, lingering on messages of perseverance, and renewal. He may claim to be ‘Unbothered’, but the marks of the pandemic are there for all to see on a brave, at times powerful, new album

(Anil Aras, Kepler, Thoma Bulwer & Anna Wall, & Laidlaw mixes)

For a few years a while ago, Robert James was one of the hottest names in house. He ushered in the post-minimal era with colourful, accessible sounds that brought some much needed life and charm back to the scene. After disappearing for a time he returned with his debut album in May and now some of it gets some top remixes. Slapfunk's Anil Aras pumps a nice cosmic house vibe, Kepler does his tight, high tempo work and Thoma Bulwer & Anna Wall combine their skills once more on a clipped, punchy tech house version of 'Planet 90.' Laidlaw lays out some electronic drum funk with a fine version of 'Infinity' to close.

Captain Planet has teamed up with 2 long-time collaborators (Zuzuka Poderosa & Raphael Futura) for a new Brazilian disco funk song, "Moqueca." The song harkens back to Brazil's legendary funk parties in the 70's and early 80's - where soundsystems bumped legends like Tim Maia, Sandra Da Sa & Gilberto Gil - while infusing some fresh contemporary energy and extra thump for today's dancefloors. Zuzuka's bright vocals bounce over a bubbly bassline, syncopated percussion and wormy vintage synthesizers, while an additional punch is brought in the form of horn arrangements by the prolific maestro Todd Simon, another frequent Captain Planet collaborator.

"Moqueca" takes inspiration from the Brazilian dish of the same name, a nationally famous fish stew that varies across the regions of Brazil. In her lyrics, Zuzuka talks about the origins and variations of Moqueca, starting with the style from Espirito Santo, her home state, and continuing to Moqueca Baiana, from Bahia, which incorporates African influences and ingredients. The result is a song that is as much an homage to Brazilian music as it is its food, culture and people.

“Booze for Blues! No time to think, time to drink!”
That’s the motto of the Spanish heavy fuzz rock
and psychedelic power blues trio Blues Weiser.
They stay true to their motto on album number
three – ‘Obey The Booze’.
‘Obey The Booze’ is now available on red vinyl.
Blues Weiser unleash a vibrant blend of Fu
Manchu / Nebula fuzzy stoner blues jams, 70s Jimi
Hendrix-infused wah-wah solos, thunderous 90s
rock riffs and big grooves.
Sometimes crystal clear and laid-back and
sometimes exploding in a face melting distortion,
Blues Weiser do know how to shake grounds with
their sound; “It’s been a wild ride since we started
recording it, while trying to settle on making a
fuzzy, bluesy, psychedelic, feelgood, but at times
yet dark but honest record. Let’s have some good
time!”
For fans of Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet, Karma
To Burn, Nebula, Snail, Brant Bjork.

SZNZ: Spring is the first of four in the SZNZ series of EPs by Weezer and is now available on Black and Glow In The Dark Vinyl. The EP was produced by Weezer’s frequent collaborators Jake Sinclair and Suzy Shinn, as well as new collaborator Ethan Gruska.

Each EP offers its own palette of colors, creatures, and emotions to explore. Created in real time, made in tandem with the season themselves, the EPs form an incredible collection of some of Weezer's best songs yet, which is no small feat for a band that never leaves the Zeitgeist.

Weezer is Brian Bell (backing vocals, guitar), Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, piano), Scott Shriner (backing vocals, bass), and Pat Wilson (drums).

**Vinyl Only

SZNZ: Spring is the first of four in the SZNZ series of EPs by Weezer and is now available on Black and Glow In The Dark Vinyl. The EP was produced by Weezer’s frequent collaborators Jake Sinclair and Suzy Shinn, as well as new collaborator Ethan Gruska.

Each EP offers its own palette of colors, creatures, and emotions to explore. Created in real time, made in tandem with the season themselves, the EPs form an incredible collection of some of Weezer's best songs yet, which is no small feat for a band that never leaves the Zeitgeist.

Weezer is Brian Bell (backing vocals, guitar), Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, piano), Scott Shriner (backing vocals, bass), and Pat Wilson (drums).

**Vinyl Only

Ma Spaventi is a wonderfully versatile artist. Over his decade-long career, the Italian musician has turned his capable hand to everything from ambient to techno. Once again, he is expanding his sound palette and challenging expectations with Vicino Lontano.

Across eight tracks, an array of ideas and influences are explored with additional guitar work coming care of Odeon’s Michele Righini. The reflective hues of “Solitario” give way to the warming strings and peaceful brightness of “Crepuscolo.” Written and produced in Amsterdam between 2017 and 2019, beautiful memories of the past are the source of inspiration. Radiating Summer sunshine bathes “Bring Me Back” in a comforting glow, while “Velvet Lights” teases rhythm sections with thick bass lines and shimmering synth work. Moments of introspection arrive in the elegant gliding forms of “Bomber” and “Intermezzo.” The rumbling “End Line” finds harmony amongst a spread of styles, cascading chords and rich textures, all combining beautifully. A moon rise closes, the grand curtain falls on “Bidderosa”, calling time of this stunning collection.