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Deathchain’s early albums reissued on vinyl for the first time in May via Svart Records Finnish death-thrashing maniacs Deathchain’s debut and sophomore albums will be available on vinyl for the first time ever on May 30th, 2025 via Svart Records. Deathchain, hailing from the city of Kuopio, was formed in 2001 from the remains of Winterwolf when the band’s guitarist Corpse moved from the countryside to the city to kick things off, and they continue their illustrious and wild axe wielding path to this day. DEADMEAT DISCIPLES (2003) and DEATHRASH ASSAULT (2005) were originally released by Dynamic Arts Records only on CD. The debut gained a lot of great reviews in Europe, paving the way for the band’s substantial touring around Central Europe, Netherlands, and Belgium. The sophomore album DEATHRASH ASSAULT, which ended in the 18th place on the Official Finnish Album Chart, unleashed Deathchain on the Hellhoundz of Doom and Thrash -tour with Candlemass and Destruction, playing live shows in thirteen countries across Europe. The Japanese version of the album was later released on CD in 2006, featuring a bonus cover track of Slayer’s Black Magic. Corpse comments the reissues: ”It's been over two decades since we recorded our first two albums, and finally they will be unleashed to haunt in the format that is closest to our hearts. Both of these albums were recorded in Kuopio at Studio Perkele, which was the beating heart of the underground back then. We were young and handsome alcohol fueled bastards aiming to make music that is fast, furious, and riff driven. The legendary Valhalla metal bar scene was our home and starting point, and surely you can hear the echoes of North Sawonian madness within these albums. Those times were full of insanely good times, and we did our best to catch the spirit of the old school within our music. Finally with the help of Svart Records we are proud to present you these buried gems of death thrashing metal.” DEADMEAT DISCIPLES is available on Svart exclusive green & yellow marble vinyl, limited transparent green vinyl, and classic black vinyl.

Deathchain’s early albums reissued on vinyl for the first time in May via Svart Records Finnish death-thrashing maniacs Deathchain’s debut and sophomore albums will be available on vinyl for the first time ever on May 30th, 2025 via Svart Records. Deathchain, hailing from the city of Kuopio, was formed in 2001 from the remains of Winterwolf when the band’s guitarist Corpse moved from the countryside to the city to kick things off, and they continue their illustrious and wild axe wielding path to this day. DEADMEAT DISCIPLES (2003) and DEATHRASH ASSAULT (2005) were originally released by Dynamic Arts Records only on CD. The debut gained a lot of great reviews in Europe, paving the way for the band’s substantial touring around Central Europe, Netherlands, and Belgium. The sophomore album DEATHRASH ASSAULT, which ended in the 18th place on the Official Finnish Album Chart, unleashed Deathchain on the Hellhoundz of Doom and Thrash -tour with Candlemass and Destruction, playing live shows in thirteen countries across Europe. The Japanese version of the album was later released on CD in 2006, featuring a bonus cover track of Slayer’s Black Magic. Corpse comments the reissues: ”It's been over two decades since we recorded our first two albums, and finally they will be unleashed to haunt in the format that is closest to our hearts. Both of these albums were recorded in Kuopio at Studio Perkele, which was the beating heart of the underground back then. We were young and handsome alcohol fueled bastards aiming to make music that is fast, furious, and riff driven. The legendary Valhalla metal bar scene was our home and starting point, and surely you can hear the echoes of North Sawonian madness within these albums. Those times were full of insanely good times, and we did our best to catch the spirit of the old school within our music. Finally with the help of Svart Records we are proud to present you these buried gems of death thrashing metal.” DEADMEAT DISCIPLES is available on Svart exclusive green & yellow marble vinyl, limited transparent green vinyl, and classic black vinyl.

In 1968, Vince made a label switch from his long-time home, Fantasy Records, to his new label, Warner Bros. Records. For his inaugural album, he decided to re-interpret his Peanuts classics on Oh, Good Grief! In addition to the instantly recognizable Guaraldi sound of piano, bass, and drums, this time he added electric guitar and electric harpsichord to the mix. The record was a smash hit. Omnivore Recordings is proud to, once again, present the album the way the world first heard it—as stated on the original album’s back cover, “on shiny black vinyl.” Well, actually, this special pressing is “on shiny yellow vinyl!” This timeless album has never sounded better. In addition to this special vinyl pressing, we now have this classic album available on CD for all shiny disc lovers.

Not much is known about De Frank Kakra - let alone his birth name or where he is today. A few liner notes scattered across his records give a glimpse of his career as a backing vocalist and percussionist on the Ghanaian highlife scene of the 1970s, notably with Vis-A-Vis, K. Frimpong's band (Cubano Fiestas). He later formed his own bands, The Professionals and The Diggit Ways, alongside Sammy Copper, recording throughout West Africa. His recordings have now been unearthed, remastered and compiled in a triple LP anthology of his musical works. Although much remains unknown, RastaPastaRecords' goal is to ascertain several discoveries made about his life during the production of this record and to continue the research. "Call Me Frank" is a funky take on 1970s highlife set to a vintage Afro - rock fusion that evokes a time when West African dance floors vibrated with raw energy and relentless groove. "Psychedelic Man" is a full dive into the De Frank Kakra sound. With its hypnotic guitar riffs, cosmic organs and head- nodding drum rhythms, this infectious anthem will plunge you into a state of nostalgic psychedelia.

The cassette format SPCS1680 features "With Trampled by Turtles" on the A Side and last years 'White Roses, My God' SP1655 on the B Side! No one can help you build something beautiful quite like those who know you best. Alan Sparhawk knows this well. In his years in Low, he built decades of stirring music with his wife and lifelong creative partner Mimi Parker. In recent years, he has performed around Minnesota with his son Cyrus in DERECHO Rhythm Section, a funk band that also frequently features his daughter Hollis on vocals. There's an irreplaceable naturalism that comes with this kind of dynamic. Those who know you understand you. They love you. They want to help you bring your greatest passions to fruition. So it made sense that Sparhawk would turn to fellow Duluth musicians Trampled by Turtles to realize his latest record. As friends and mentees of Low's, taken under Sparhawk and Parker's wing from their earliest days as a bar band, Trampled by Turtles have performed with Sparhawk countless times over the years. The Duluth ties run deep: "There's a certain vibe that has to do with underdog syndrome, coming from a small town," Sparhawk muses. "Some of it is the weird grind and slackness that being at the mercy of Mother Nature puts in you. It humbles you." The two artists hold the kind of ironclad bond. Following Parker's passing in 2022, Trampled by Turtles invited Sparhawk to join them on tour to give him a space to be surrounded by friends. Occasionally, he would join them onstage. The outpouring of love was palpable every time they played together, a surge of warmth. When playing together is that powerful, why stop there? In winter, 2024, Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles created With Trampled by Turtles, a record exactly as its name implies: Collective. Communal. Fraternal. Empathetic. A vessel for comfort, a reminder of the harmony that can exist when surrounded by those closest to you. Where White Roses, My God, Sparhawk's last album, plunged headfirst into electronica and radical vocal modulation, With Trampled by Turtles leans into the folk and bluegrass stylings of its backing band, Sparhawk's voice now completely unvarnished. With Trampled by Turtles is far more than just Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles. It's an affirmation of all the people who have been vital in Sparhawk's life and music, and an opportunity to hold each of their gifts into the light. It's producer Nat Harvie, who has been collaborating and performing with him for years. It's Sparhawk's daughter Hollis, who duets with her father on "Not Broken." And it's Mimi Parker, too: "Too High," "Princess Road Surgery," and "Not Broken" were all tracks she and Sparhawk had been working on in the last few years. These songs finally found a setting that stirringly commemorates them, bolstered by a full ensemble to make every note sing. Their presence is a kind of eternal connection to Parker, a way her musical grace will keep flourishing.

After 45 years, Trigger’s never-released second album, Second Round, invites listeners to rediscover the hard rock sound that made the band a standout act of the 1970s. In early 1979, Trigger walked out of Electric Ladyland Studios with a completed second album. Mere months had passed since their self-titled debut came out on Casablanca Records, home to KISS and Parliament. The band had toured with Cheap Trick and The Godz, met Bruce Springsteen and Joni Mitchell, and things were looking bright. But Casablanca unexpectedly went bankrupt, and the label’s artists went into freefall. Trigger unsuccessfully sought interested parties, shelved the recordings and disbanded; a disappointing end for a band who dominated the Jersey Shore club scene on their way up with fiery, kick ass live shows. RIP Trigger: 1973-1979. Jump to 2024. Guitarist Richie House is living in Northern New Jersey with his wife, enjoying a relaxing afternoon at the community pool with neighbors. One of them, Andrew Wexler is shocked to discover his friend had a band in the ’70s. He listens to their recordings, and as an avid record collector, assumes the mission of getting that unheard second album released. He writes to Ba Da Bing, a label with Jersey roots. Much excitement ensues. Second Round’s long-awaited release will now be available. All original members—Derek Remington (vocals/drums), Jimmy Duggan (guitar/vocals), Tom Nigra (bass guitar/backing vocals), and Richie House (lead guitar/vocals)—are present on the recordings. Sadly, Duggan and Nigra have passed away, but Remington and House have overseen this reissue, with songs sourced directly from the analog masters.. The Trigger of today maintains a high level of quality, albeit with a bit less flair, and even less hair. And there’s more going on here than at first listen. While the band carries the earmarks of their era—melodic hard-rock fashioned for Saturday night parties—they override the cliché with incredibly catchy songs. How would a ripping song like “Back Talk” have been received in 1979? It’s a question we’ll never be able to answer, but the raw energy of the track spans generations. “One In A Million,” however, with its full harmonies and forceful chorus, could have easily made the soundtrack for Fast Times. Celebrate the discovery of this lost gem by giving it a listen. You’ll be Trigger happy…

Every one of us has a family of origin—the one we’re born into—and a family we’re raised in, which, for some, like myself, may not be the same. Then there’s our chosen family—friends and community—the people we gather around us, love, and trust. We also have a musical family, and when you put all of those together, they form the world family. Right now, the world is in a time of upheaval, change, and uncertainty, leading to anxiety and fear for so many. This album is about channeling those emotions—what I experience every day—and translating them into songs that others can connect with. The first single, “Break Up With Everything,” is an example of that—taking these feelings and putting them into music that resonates and brings people together. Welcome to the Family is a record about finding connection in the midst of uncertainty, leaning into the love that surrounds us, and remembering that, no matter where we come from, we are all part of something bigger.

As time marched on, many of the DJs I had been working with such as Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Trevor Fung, Simon Dunmore and Johnny Walker got involved in the world-leading UK dance scene, raking in cash by making records. I thought ‘I’ll Have some of that!’ This led to my first foray into the studio creating the proto-acid jazz classic 12”, ‘Psychedelic Jack (That’s Where It’s At)’, which cheekily sampled Frank Zappa, Soft Machine and Gong. With me and Gilles on vocals, it got us signed to Acid Jazz Records, who released in 1988 under the name of Extasis.

That was just the start and nearly 35 years later (gulp!) I’ve had a ball, producing Galliano and Paul Weller, working with Mick Talbot, Roy Ayers, Linda Clifford and Sharon Redd, remixing Will Downing, Ce Ce Rogers and Blaze. I’ve made house tunes with Faith’s Terry Farley, run the legendary Dadhouse Records label with Dave Jarvis. I also set up my own studio and released music under a variety of names, both for my own labels and Acid Jazz Records. Recent releases include my solo albums “Firebird” (2023) and “Dream World” (2024). There was also “Back To Business” with Mick Talbot, released in 2023.

A deeply intimate and cinematic body of work, My Goddess unfolds as a self-contained emotional universe; an album about grief, depression, healing, and the enduring human urge to find beauty in a world that often feels unrelenting.
Composed against the backdrop of Lebanon’s ongoing political and economic collapse, My Goddess captures what it means to process personal heartbreak and collective trauma simultaneously. Across nine emotionally charged tracks, Etyen draws from profound loss, existential reflection, and the tragic death of his beloved cat Lucy to craft a record that is as fragile as it is resilient; both a personal reckoning and a universal portrait of survival through art. “This album is a conversation with myself. It’s about loss and grief, about finding beauty and trying to hold on to it,” says Etyen. “It’s about confronting the painful parts of life while still believing there’s something gentle and divine to hold onto.”
Blending cinematic textures, Etyen's unique and inspired electronics, and minimally sculpted yet immersive melodies, My Goddess pushes further into the raw introspection first glimpsed on Etyen’s 2022 debut album Untitled. But this time, the sonic architecture is more distilled, the emotional stakes more immediate. The result is a record that gently lingers in the spaces between memory, absence, and hope.
The album’s first single, the title track “My Goddess,” drops May 5 with a self-directed music video, one of three cinematic visuals accompanying the album. The trilogy further expands the emotional world of the record and affirms Etyen’s role not only as a musical artist, but as a multidimensional storyteller.
With over a decade of work that spans Netflix scores (Jinn), international festivals (Sonar Barcelona, Mutek), and critical acclaim and editorial support from Bandcamp Daily, BBC Radio and much more, Etyen has carved out a singular voice in electronic music—bridging personal, cultural and political resonance through sound. As the founder of Thawra Records, he also continues to champion independent artists from the region, building a vital platform for forward-thinking music in and beyond the Arab world.

Mindustries is back, ready for a new chapter!

This journey has not been easy, after the loss of his partner in crime Yuri, it is now time to move on forward. With deep respect for everything they built together, this new release looks to the future.

Bringing you a new wave of music fueled by the sounds of all that came before, with the same energy and attitude that Mindustries is known for. Yet, with this release, reaching beyond the limits of what you expect!

Dark, timeless, raw and energetic hardcore in all its diversity.
This is Mindustries.

Tony Christie is proud to announce his first new album in over 12 years - ‘We Still Shine’. Released on 16th February 2024, it is from the heart and sees Tony go back to his love of country music, something he has been planning to do with long-time producer and close friend Graeme Pleeth for many years. Now available on WHITE vinyl, this record has been half-speed mastered to DMM for ultimate audio quality and pressed on heavyweight vinyl contained within a printed inner sleeve and gatefold outer sleeve.

Happy Birthday, Ratboy combines the old and new — containing 10 brand new recordings of their earliest material + a newly-written bonus track, this record celebrates a decade of Ratboys: a 10-year songwriting partnership, an evolving live show, a D.I.Y. project, a web of friendships, and every thing in between. Almost as soon as Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan met during their college orientation, they started playing music together. What came out of their dorm rooms was the 5-song RATBOY EP, uploaded to Bandcamp on April 1, 2011 to share with friends and family. Now, to mark a decade since (to the day), Ratboys have hit the studio to re-inhabit these songs and bring them back to life. New recordings of the 5 original RATBOY EP songs make up the A-side of Happy Birthday, Ratboy, with 5 new versions of rare college-era tracks and the newly-written standout, “Go Outside” on the B-side. Featuring mainstays from their live show over the years, including “The Stanza” & “Space Blows,” pressed to vinyl for the first time and given the full band treatment, Happy Birthday, Ratboy introduces new Ratboys fans to the band’s beginnings while also raising a toast to those who’ve been there from the start.

If this LP exists it is thanks to the vision, energies, work and perseverance of Thomas M. Lopez, aka Meatball Fulton. He is the president and one of the founding members of the ZBS Foundation (ZBS stands for Zero Bullshit), where the audio dramas written by Lopez himself were born. Dramatic programs with stories that blended noir, comedy and science-fiction genres such as Ruby The Galactic Gumshoe or Jack Flanders were produced to critic and public acclaim. It was in Ruby The Galactic Gumshoe that the Android Sisters, who would later have their own spin-off series, first appeared. The characters represent two robotic siblings that Tom Lopez created under big influence from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the Philip K. Dick novel that was taken to cinema by Ridley Scott in Blade Runner. The Androids were performed by actresses Ruth Maleczech and Valeria Wasilewski.



The big success of these “cosmic and comic” sci-fi series, as they are described in the ZBS Foundations website, led to the releasing of cassette tapes, CDs, USBs and podcasting of the stories. Along with these, several music albums were also released in different formats. One of them is Songs Of Electric Despair, the first of two released by the Android Sisters. The songs contained are written by Tom Lopez and his long time collaborator experimental musician Tim Clark.



The Android Sisters Songs Of Electronic Despair LP was originally released as a ZBS Foundation cassette and also as a vinyl LP on Vanguard in 1984. It featured 11 compositions (two bonus tracks not on the original LP have been added to the Wah Wah reissue) on which the experimental synthesizer music of Tim Clark finds a perfect counterpoint in the deliciously surrealistic, cosmic social satire of Tom Lopez’s texts, magically performed by the robotic, yet sensual voices of the Android Sisters as performed by Maleczech and Wasilewski. Clark composed and performed the backing tracks on the Synclavier II synthesizer.



The Wah Wah reissue comes with two bonus tracks not on the original 1984 LP, respects the beautiful original album artwork and enhances it with a 4 pages full colour insert with notes and lyrics of the songs.



BARBARELLA MEETS PHILLIP K. DICK!



RIYL : SYNTH POP CYBERPUNK with DEVO’s sense of humor, LOGIC SYSTEM, FRANK CHICKENS or even some 1990s things to come such as LIKE A TIM or ARPANET.

If this LP exists it is thanks to the vision, energies, work and perseverance of Thomas M. Lopez, aka Meatball Fulton. He is the president and one of the founding members of the ZBS Foundation (ZBS stands for Zero Bullshit), where the audio dramas written by Lopez himself were born. Dramatic programs with stories that blended noir, comedy and science-fiction genres such as Ruby The Galactic Gumshoe or Jack Flanders were produced to critic and public acclaim. It was in Ruby The Galactic Gumshoe that the Android Sisters, who would later have their own spin-off series, first appeared. The characters represent two robotic siblings that Tom Lopez created under big influence from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the Philip K. Dick novel that was taken to cinema by Ridley Scott in Blade Runner. The Androids were performed by actresses Ruth Maleczech and Valeria Wasilewski.



The big success of these “cosmic and comic” sci-fi series, as they are described in the ZBS Foundations website, led to the releasing of cassette tapes, CDs, USBs and podcasting of the stories. Along with these, several music albums were also released in different formats. One of them is Songs Of Electric Despair, the first of two released by the Android Sisters. The songs contained are written by Tom Lopez and his long time collaborator experimental musician Tim Clark.



The Android Sisters Songs Of Electronic Despair LP was originally released as a ZBS Foundation cassette and also as a vinyl LP on Vanguard in 1984. It featured 11 compositions (two bonus tracks not on the original LP have been added to the Wah Wah reissue) on which the experimental synthesizer music of Tim Clark finds a perfect counterpoint in the deliciously surrealistic, cosmic social satire of Tom Lopez’s texts, magically performed by the robotic, yet sensual voices of the Android Sisters as performed by Maleczech and Wasilewski. Clark composed and performed the backing tracks on the Synclavier II synthesizer.



The Wah Wah reissue comes with two bonus tracks not on the original 1984 LP, respects the beautiful original album artwork and enhances it with a 4 pages full colour insert with notes and lyrics of the songs.



BARBARELLA MEETS PHILLIP K. DICK!



RIYL : SYNTH POP CYBERPUNK with DEVO’s sense of humor, LOGIC SYSTEM, FRANK CHICKENS or even some 1990s things to come such as LIKE A TIM or ARPANET.

10 years ago, the Southern Rock Americana album 'Catawba River Fox' was released independently and in a small edition, with 9 songs written by Pablo van de Poel and recorded analogue in 9 days, with the collaboration of, in addition to his DeWolff mates Robin Piso and Luka van de Also pool Mischa Porte, Joep Bollinger and Stefan Wolfs. It was the first time that Pablo recorded and mixed an album himself, and in his own words “you could hear that”. To mark the 10th anniversary of this album, we are now releasing a remastered version.

Stereogum: »Here’s a cool new musical project that feels both out-there and extremely mundane. In 2022, the great Colorado experimentalist M. Sage teamed up with Lieven Martens (Dolphins into the Future) under the name Sage Martens. Their album, »Riding Fences«, was an ambient classical exercise designed to explore the idea of ›Western‹ music. They’re back this year with another conceptual offering (...)«

»Chamber Music for Lawn Mowers« is the second album by Sage Martens. This time, Matthew Sage (RVNG, Fuubutsushi) and Lieven Martens (Edições CN, Dolphins into the Future) sing the lawn.

Did you know a clean-cut lawn is a desire we inherited from the British?

Yes, the British dumped this pleasure into our collective consciousness. Those humorless Victorians who enjoyed having their black pudding on the lawn. They came to this uninspired impression while mis-looking at Italian paintings. Yes indeed, while gazing at these paintings they mistook green lanes for green lawns. Thus it became hip. Every stuffed truffle commanded his gardener to cut the grass.

As a result, this Victorian lust for sterile gardens with pretty green lawns nudged our world into water spillage and pesticide clouds. This new priority produced exhaust clouds and prudish monocultural landscapes. Just by looking at Italian paintings.

As with most of Western history, the practice was exported to America and then turbocharged. By shearing clear the prolific brush of pastures, prairies, forests and glens, biodiversity becomes an aesthetic casualty with long-suffering ecological ripples. An inherited practice narrows the bandwidth of experience.

And so, the childhood habit of humming along in key to the drone of a gas-powered mower while trimming a suburban lawn extrapolates into something expanded — an unanswered question about the harmonics of landscape practices.

M. Sage: Bb clarinet, alto saxophone, sine wave, lawn mowing, processing L. Martens: computer, analog synthesis, digital processing With W. Van Gils: lawn mowing

"Irrepressible, off-the-wall and utterly unique - the late 70s/early 80s Latin jazz-funk and leftfield electronic boogie of Japanese composer and pianist Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi collected for the first time.

A star in Japan, she moved to Europe to record global hits with Depeche Mode and Swing Out Sister, toured the world with the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra and made beats with Attica Blues’ Tony Nwachukwu. Now based in London, Mimi currently fronts Tokyo Riddim Band - the intergenerational live Japanese Reggae outfit born from Time Capsule’s acclaimed 2023 compilation of the same name - playing live shows and releasing a trio of recordings.

Choice Cuts 1978-1983 collects eight recordings from four of Mimi’s first five albums – Sea Flight (1978) recorded with her group Flying Mimi Band, and Coconuts High (1981), Nuts Nuts Nuts (1982) and Tropicana (1983) under her own name.

The compilation opens with a syncopated electro-funk cover of Sergio Mendes’ ‘Mas Que Nada’ (Tropicana) and the crisp and stripped back techno-pop of ‘Coffee Rumba’ (Nuts Nuts Nuts) with a keyboard bass line that would have made Stevie Wonder weep.

Alongside the off-beat synth jam ‘Quiet Explosion’ (Nuts Nuts Nuts) and piano samba of ‘Espresso’ (Tropicana), there’s two low slung soul-jazz numbers, ‘Naze’ and ‘Angel Sky’, from Sea Flight (1978) that recall the collaborations between Herbie Hancock and Kimiko Kasai. But it is around the two tracks from Mimi’s 1981 album Coconuts High that this compilation revolves (and from whose cover shoot it borrows).

Released on legendary guitarist Takanaka’s Kitty Records label, Coconuts High was recorded in LA with a jazz fusion backing band, including Alex Acuña, Abraham Laborial, Harvey Mason and the Tower of Power horns. A riot of playful Latin-tinged jazz, funk and fusion with the off-beat spirit of Kid Creole & and the Coconuts, the album became a cult hit. Here it’s the sultry, Minnie Riperton-esque ‘Crazy Love’, with its addictive groove and bittersweet melodies that makes the cut, alongside the steel drum-infused carnivalesque bounce of ‘Palm St’.

Choice Cuts 1978-1983 will introduce the idiosyncratic energy and playful verve of this under-the-radar pioneer to a wider audience for the first time. Welcome to the world of Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi."

Twelve years on from the release of their debut album This Life, Dublin indierap trio The Original Rudeboys are back to play a sold-out show in the 3Olympia Theatre in April 2025, coupled with a limited edition run of first time vinyl pressings of debut album "This Life" One could say that indie- rap trio "The Original Rudeboys" were ahead of their time. Once sniffed upon, a strong Irish accent is prominent in most breakout Irish acts at the moment (Fontaines DC, Kneecap, Gurriers, LYRA, Curtisy). The Original Rudeboys were doing this 15 years ago, and their stand-out hit 'Stars In My Eyes' was met by thousands of fans across Europe when they supported The Script, or headlined their own arena tours. The Original Rudeboys: Reunion Show in the 3Olympia this April sold out straight away which is a testament to the staying power their music still has in Ireland.

Speaking on the incredible feat, the band said; "We never thought a show was ever going to happen for us again nevermind at somewhere as prestigious as the Olympia theatre. We have played 5 of our own headline shows there but to add 1 more to the history books over 10 years on is truly a blessing and we are very grateful to everyone who made it happen, we can't wait to do it again." With the reunion show being in such high demand that it was an instant sellout, the band also wanted to give back to the fans another way. They are releasing a limited vinyl pressing of their debut album "This Life". This album was never released on vinyl before and will contain one extra bonus track - a new release from the band, hinting at what's to come. "We started in the music industry on the backend of the physical media decline but to see it come full circle and the rise in fans buying vinyl records is very promising. The magic of having something tangible as fans ourselves is not lost on us and to be able to listen back to this album with the crackle of the needle gives it an extra bit of magic we didn't know it needed.

Amuleto Apotropaico has a way to fend off demons by channeling a secular spiritualism rooted in a rigorous but playful connexion to the infinite possibilities of noise. The propulsion of their continuous music ebbs into and flows out of this primordial flux through their unique brand of brutalist liturgy.

Amuleto Apotropaico is a Portuguese duo consisting of António Feiteira (drums & electronics) and Francisco Pedro Oliveira (guitar, flute & electronics) formed in 2021. Having grown up together, saturated in the lore of their hometown of Santa Maria da Feira, the duo now resides in Porto and continues to moor their rhythmic rituals in the traditions of Northern Iberia.

None of this is a nostalgic look back to a time-that-never-was. Amuleto Apotropaico's cycles are ouroboric: every step forward invokes a simultaneous step backward such that their observance of sonic ceremony (seeming to invoke a now-forgotten tradition) becomes a constructivist gesture that shapes its own legacy. If time-travel exists, this duo has found out how.

For their self-titled first release (also the first release of the Perf label), António Feiteira has culled, recomposed and processed recordings from the band's last two years of concerts in order to create a exciting 4-tracker. Apotropia I & II, which open sides A and B on the vinyl release, are both textural meditations on subtle density. Feiteira's sensitive percussion flourishes are married to Oliveira's modular-enhanced flute and guitar patterns. Albedo e Rito showcases the duo's sense of melodic contour while crescendoing to a peak of lightness. Bruxa do Calhau Branco, lifts the whole journey into an astral dimension where multi-layered drums, synths and digital clicks breathe out, announcing that their moment of worship has settled back into the ubiquitous hubbub of room hum.

In the vibrant streets of Tembisa, South Africa, amidst the sprawling urbanity connecting Johannesburg and Pretoria, the story of Moskito began. Formed in 2001 by Mahlubi "Shadow" Radebe and the late Zwelakhe "Malemon" Mtshali, the group first emerged as a powerhouse of pantsula dancers. However, their undeniable passion for music soon led them down a new path_ one that would cement their place in kwaito history. Spending countless hours on the street corners of their township, where they were born and raised, Shadow and Malemon danced and sang with an infectious energy that attracted crowds. It wasn't long before the duo decided to channel their talents into a kwaito group, and after adding friends Patrick Lwane and Menzi Dlodlo, Moskito was born. (Pantsula dancing emerged in the 1950s among Black South Africans in townships and continually evolved until it became intertwined with kwaito music culture. The stylized, rapid foot movements and characteristic low-dancing became associated with kwaito as it took over South African urban culture into the early 2000s.) With limited resources, the group displayed immense creativity, recording demos using two cassette decks and instrumental tracks from other artists. They would rap and sing over an instrumental playing on one deck while the second deck records their performance. Their determination paid off when they submitted their demo to Tammy Music Publishers, who were captivated by Moskito's style. "Kwaito was the thing `in' at the time. If you did music you did kwaito. We wanted to fit in and actually it was easy," says Radebe. "We didn't have engineers in the group, so the first time in a real studio was with Percy and Thami to record Idolar." That same year, the group released their debut album, Idolar, under Tammy Music. The album was an undeniable success reaching gold status selling over 25,000 units and earning them a devoted fan base across South Africa and neighboring countries like Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Moskito collaborated with industry legends such as Chilly Mthiya Tshabalala, who was known for his work with Thiza and Spoke "H." They drew inspiration from Thami Mdluli a.k.a Professor Rhythm, who had dominated the disco scene back in the 80s and 90s. Mdluli helped with musical arrangements and executive produced the album and signed on producer-engineer Percy Mudau, while Shadow and Malemon took pride in composing most of their songs. Like many of the rising kwaito artists of the time, they didn't have music production or engineering backgrounds so they required support from engineers together their ideas down on tape. They were inspired from South African kwaito icons like Trompies, Mdu, Mandoza, and Arthur Mafokate, alongside international heavyweights like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, 2Pac, and R. Kelly, Moskito created a sound that was uniquely theirs_a perfect blend of local flavor and global influence.

The Ramones were punks before punk rock was even invented. With their catchy, sing-along tunes, iconic hair styles and outfits, Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy rewrote rock history and are now, as part of the first wave of US punk, firmly considered part of the subcultural world heritage. In the DUB-cultural world, on the other hand, their footprint has been pretty slim, particularly if one considers their stomping, three-chord songs, instantly recognizable chants (“Gabba gabba hey!”) and laconic humour. There are a few reggae and Latin versions of their songs online, but never before have the Ramones been honoured with an entire album in early reggae style…until now, bang on time for the band's 50th anniversary in 2024. The label Echo Beach, a bit of a specialist for missions such as these with a string of releases including “Bad Brains in Dub”, “Dubby Stardust”, got together with André Meyer (production, bass) and Manougazou (production, guitar). Both were part of the 2008 Echo Beach New Wave/Dub project DubXanne and were involved in the production and subsequent live shows. Also back in the team is keyboarder and DubXanne mastermind Guido Craveiro, who plays Hammond organ and piano on half of the tracks. The other two additions to the core team are singer and all-round instrumentalist Sebastian Sturm and drummer Raul Pfeffer. Together they homed in on the 11 most iconic Ramones three-minute-singalongs, including "Blitzkrieg Bop", "I Wanna Be Sedated", "Pet Sematary" and "Rock'n'Roll Highschool", and treated them to a reggae make-over. The whole process was kicked off by a slightly off-beat question (reggae music does that to you): What if Joey, Johnny, Tommy and Dee Dee had gotten together not in NYC, but in Kingston? And then stepped up to the mic alongside local singing and deejay greats? In musical terms the answer is surprisingly plausible and the line-up is sensational, even for a label like Echo Beach with its unrivalled connections. From up-and-coming youngsters to living legends, everyone is included, albeit with a focus on the elder statemen and stateswomen: the vast majority of the guests are over 60 and look back on deeply impressive careers! The artists come from Jamaica, the USA, the UK and Germany. All contributed one or two songs, and all of them tackle the songs in pairs with infectiously good humour, transforming legendary punk rock bangers into unpredictable dub tracks. Ramones’ classics such as "Blitzkrieg Bop" with its trademark battle cry "Hey! Ho! Let's Go!", "Sheena Is A Punkrocker" and "The KKK Took My Baby Away" are slowed down and underpinned with roots and rocksteady riddims. It almost goes without saying that the lyrics have been adapted to everyday Jamaican life with a great deal of fun and creativity. And amidst all the icons of early reggae, the Ramones also make an appearance: in the opening track "Pinhead", for example, we learn that the Ramones did actually listen to reggae and had even been planning a reggae album. Features guest vocals from Susan Cadogan, Ranking Joe, Ranking Ann, Prince Alla, Welton Irie, U Brown, Earl Sixteen, Dennis Alcapone and more

Brooklyn-based musician and producer Eliot Lipp has spent the last two decades crafting a signature sound that fuses hip-hop, synthwave, glitch, and electro. His breakthrough came in 2004 when Prefuse 73 released his debut album on Eastern Developments, a then-subsidiary of Warp Records. Since then, he has built an extensive discography across influential independent labels like Hefty Records, Mush Records, Pretty Lights Music, Young Heavy Souls, and his own Old Tacoma Records. Lipp's music, described by Billboard as "funky and experimental, crunchy and distorted, romantic, thoughtful, and all around playful," blends vintage and modern influences, with Kaltblut Magazine noting his inspiration from "sci-fi soundtracks and '70s and BDs funk" to create "weird, high-definition, melodic beats." His work has been featured by Bandcamp, Magnetic, XLR8R, and major radio stations like BBC Radio 6, KEXP, and KCRW. A seasoned performer, Lipp has toured extensively for over 15 years, playing in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Denver, as well as major festivals such as Electric Forest, Forecastle, and SXSW. With a career rooted in both classic beat-making and forward-thinking electronic production, Eliot Lipp remains a vital force in the independent music scene.

On his first release with Bastard Jazz, veteran Brooklyn producer Eliot Lipp delivers Kona, a bright blend of guitar samples, breakbeats, and his signature Korg MS-20 synth lines, evoking the feeling of kicking back on a beach at sunset. The beat hits hard from the start, but as the track unfolds, it eases into a more laid-back, summery vibe. Lipp's signature fusion of retro synth textures and crisp modern rhythms shines through, capturing an effortless, sun-soaked energy perfect for a night drive or a rooftop party. The B-side, Silver Bass, takes a different approach—starting with live drums, electric bass, and a groovy guitar and piano arrangement before morphing into a futuristic, digitally sequenced version of itself. With dueling saxophone and Moog melodies weaving between organic and electronic elements, the track transforms into a breezy electro jam that feels both nostalgic and forward-thinking, solidifying Lipp's ability to craft timeless, genre-blending sounds.

Sophia Kennedy, the Baltimore-born, Hamburg-based artist, returns with her new album in May. Known for her genre-blending innovation and distinct vocal style, she has collaborated with DJ Koze and earned praise from The Guardian, Iggy Pop, and Resident Advisor.

Following her self-titled debut (2017, Pampa Records), a radiant dance between the glamour of the Great American Songbook, electronic textures, and clubland influences, earning her international acclaim, Kennedy released her second album, Monsters (2021, City Slang), and delved deeper into surrealism and transcendence. Now, on Squeeze Me, Kennedy and her long-time musical collaborator and co-writer Mense Reents sketch a more disillusioned commentary on the status quo of the world at large. The complexity of interpersonal relationships, questions of power dynamics, and the quest for self-determination—longstanding themes for Kennedy—run as a cohesive narrative throughout the album.
More minimalist than her previous works, Squeeze Me brims with Kennedy’s gift for catchy melodies with a certain pop appeal and psychedelic hues. The first single, "Rodeo," features hypnotic piano chords, shimmering synth basses, and glimmering choirs. 2025 will see Kennedy back on tour in Europe, supported by an international PR campaign to expand her global presence.

WOW. Daniel O'Sullivan's transcendent new album, Eros, is one of the greatest things we've ever heard. A simply stunning song cycle of hypnotic, experimental contemporary chamber music composed for a 14-piece ensemble. Combining minimalism, complex syncopation, detailed acoustic textures, weird intervals and samurai precision, this record will elegantly blow your mind. When Daniel first sent us this, he pitched it as “Liquid Swords meets Michael Nyman”. Trust us, he wasn't wrong. A "unique hybrid orchestral music", it presents a confluence of Daniel's longstanding fixations; indeed, there's elements of Nyman, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Magma, Aaron Copland and RZA. But this is wholly O'Sullivan's. Originally commissioned for the Sonoton Music Library in Munich, Eros now receives a deluxe vinyl release courtesy of Be With Records, bringing this meticulously crafted work to a wider audience. Limited to just 500 copies for the world, these are gonna fly.

An English composer and multi-instrumentalist, Daniel O'Sullivan’s career has been marked by versatility and innovation. In addition to his work with Sonoton, he has composed extensively for the legendary KPM music library, contributing to its storied legacy of production music. As a deep virtuoso and collaborator, O'Sullivan has also played in a number of influential projects, including Ulver, Sunn O))), This Is Not This Heat, Grumbling Fur and Miracle (with Steve Moore), leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary experimental music landscape.

O’Sullivan’s first foray into classically informed chamber music, Eros is a culmination of his long-standing fixations and expansive musical influences. The album features arrangements that are as detailed as they are emotionally resonant, showcasing his unparalleled ear for intervals and mastery of counterpoint. The music brims with complex rhythmic syncopation and a sensitivity to texture and space, resulting in a soundscape that is both intoxicating and dauntingly precise.

Recorded June 2023 and February 2024, in Brussels, London and Carmarthenshire, Wales, Eros features members of Echo Collective (Neil Leiter and Margaret Hermant), Thighpaulsandra (from seminal post-industrial band Coil), and jazz pioneer Oren Marshall. Daniel's sonic weapons of choice, in his own inimitable words, were "Big Bad Drum, Pee Anne Oh, Low End Brass, Willowy Winds & Samurai Strings." You get the picture. As a cyclical suite, this is a record that really needs to be heard in its entitreity, from start to finish, to truly appreciate the genius at work here.

A jaw-dropping statement of intent, the minimalist "Golden Verses" sets the tone with its complex cue which has your neck snapping right when it feels like it needs to. Listen and you'll understand. A syncopated tangle of sharp strings, crunchy bass, drums percussion and bright piano and mallets vie for position with French horn and woodwind melody in the most compelling and unexpected ways. Quite simply, it's one of the finest album openers I've ever heard. It's followed by the atmospheric rippling minimalism of "Lyre Lyre", a gorgeous gem with shimmering chimes, bright melody, human percussion and syncopated pizzicato strings. It kinda comes on like a less-abstract Boards Of Canada, bursting with typical wonderment. The piano and string-drenched "Dolorous Stroke" effortlessly builds its warm, pastoral orchestration with flowing piano arpeggio, steadfast drums, expressive string quartet, rich low brass, woodwind and lyrical flute. Just sublime.

The insistent frenetic propulsion of "Plain Paper" is utterly beguiling, featuring a determined string motif, urgent drums and percussion, driving low brass and breathless, energetic flute. The haunting, interweaving string arpeggios that propel "Grapes Draped" presents a claustrophobic minimalism for chaos and darkness, with growling low woodwind and brass, spiky harpsichord, skittering flutes and tight drums. Up next, "Xanix Annum" is a stately minimalist waltz with expressive lyrical string quartet and delicate woodwind, anchored by drums and percussion. "Painting Rose" is a bouncy stop-start track with angular syncopated strings and a piano pulse underneath bright harpsichord and flutes. "Rotunda Garden" presents ethereal textural minimalism for landscapes and reflection with flowing string arpeggios, warm, low woodwind drones, floating choir and cymbal swells. Closing out this extraordinary side of music, the glowing, flowing minimalism of "Flowry Orb" features urgent organ, piano and woodwind arpeggios, half-time drums with shimmering cymbals, a soaring, beautiful violin solo and hypnotic vocal chant.

Side 2 opens with "Theia Mania" a determinedly off-kilter, angular track featuring low wind, brass and drum stomp in dialogue with lively string trio, woodwind and solo horn. The light, airy minimalism of "Painting Percy" is built around an interplay of rhythmic motifs for piano, low brass, bassoon, fluttering flutes, urgent strings, drums and percussion whilst "For Archetypes" is a delicate, gently syncopated chamber cue for nostalgia, nature, reflection and moments of calm, with steady piano motif, intimate woodwind and French horn, and warm, graceful strings. The urgent Ars Memoriae is a propulsive march for progress, processes and industry, underpinned by driving tuba, with determined strings, resolute drums, and vivid, expressive flute, clarinet and French horn.

The syncopated energetic minimalism of "Mirrored Seven" presents layers of melodic and cyclical piano, drums, low brass, harp, flute and strings. "Pure Ornament" follows, a slowly evolving chamber cue with flowing clarinet, string and harp arpeggio, plodding tuba and percussion, fluttering flute and graceful, lyrical solos. Stunning! Up next, "Brave Boy" moves from its tender, warm, lullaby-like intro with lyrical flute, clarinet and strings before opening into a playful backend driven by a bouncy tuba riff and syncopated piano, woodwind, string trio, and drums and percussion. Rounding out this astonishing piece, "Waxen Waned" is a warm, pastoral chamber cue with light lyrical woodwind, tender French horn and subtly pulsing string trio.

The album's title is a reference to Plato’s conception of Eros, which is more than romantic or physical desire. It is a dynamic and creative force that drives individuals to seek perfection whether in art, relationships, philosophy or the pursuit of truth. Wholly appropriate, here, we think. When asked what his influences were in making this astounding record, he answered thusly: "Non-musical: Householding, Pythagoras, Goethe, Grail romances, Hermeticism, Doctrine of Signatures (Parcelsus, Bohme, Pliny), Eric Rohmer, John Stezaker, Yasujiro Ozu. Musical: Duke Ellington (late suites), Smile-era Brian, early RZA, Wagner (Parsifal Overture), Magma, Mancini, Axelrod, YMO, Hildegard, Nyman, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Jobim (Stone Flower), Alessandro Alessandroni, Tavener, Moondog, Orthodox Music, Secular Music." That's some pretty deep shit. Makes you want to dive in, no?

Mastering for this vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis, and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry. Truly, Eros is a work of extraordinary depth and sophistication. It invites listeners to immerse themselves in its intricate layers, to lose themselves in its hypnotic rhythms, and to marvel at the precision of its execution. With this release, O’Sullivan reaffirms his position as one of the most inventive and uncompromising voices in contemporary music. Do. Not. Sleep.

K.K. Hammond is a slide guitar playing songstress living in the backwoods of the UK. She takes her influence from the Delta Blues players of the 1930s, the roots music of Appalachia and its ancestors fusing the vibe of the swamp with a sprinkle of Southern gothic horror, K.K. writes traditionally inspired roots music but twists it her own unique way for an untapped sound that appeals to contemporary music listeners as well as classic blues fans.

K.K's music has garnered critical acclaim worldwide as well as airplay on a multitude of blues radio shows internationally. This includes the Cerys Matthews BBC Radio 2 Blues Show and the award winning Gary Grainger Blues Show.
A video of K.K. playing a slide guitar cover of "Nothing Else Matters" with her good friend Kaspar "Berry" Rapkin accompanying her on banjo was shared by Metallica on their official TikTok and described by them as "Incredible"!

K.K.’s biggest success to date arose from the release of her debut album Death Roll Blues. The vinyl and CD run sold out via pre-order prior to the album's official release date. Upon its release, the album hit the #1 spot in the UK iTunes Blues chart and subsequently bagged another #1 spot in the US iTunes Blues chart. It also exceeded her expectations by breaking into the #12 spot in the mainstream iTunes charts (across all genres) and the #18 spot in the UK iTunes mainstream chart. It was also the #3 best seller of all time for an iTunes Blues album pre-sale. Death Roll Blues also enabled K.K.’s first breakthrough into the Billboard Blues Charts with a #7 position.

K.K.'s has also had some great successes with her self produced and directed music videos. The music video for Heart Shaped Box winning a multitude of awards including wins at the Video Nasties Genre Film Festival, the David Film Festival in Turkey, the Euro Music Video Song awards, the Anatolia Film Festival, The Golden Wheat Awards, as well as K.K. receiving an honorable mention at the London Director Awards.
U.K. born, K.K. took an interest in guitar, Americana and roots Blues from an early age. She spent some years exploring the back roads of the USA eventually settling in the remote, forested English Countryside, where she works her farm. A self-professed hermit living in an isolated spot in the woods, K.K. enjoys exploring the wilderness surrounding her home to seek inspiration for her song writing.

Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. "We were trying to find our own space," says Cinder of the formative period Camouflage Heart emerged from, amidst a move from Edinburgh to London and Cinder's evolving exploration of gender identity, well before culture at large was equipped to understand. With contemporary discourse we see that the project manifested her transgender ideas as visceral music. The guttural, feral sound marked a notably darker turn from The Freeze's sixyear run on the fringes of punk. Changing the project's name became vital, not just because they kept hearing the former was already taken, but the desire to embody the spiritual and sonic shift, "to uncover new pathways_to feminize it," she says. Cinder, with bandmates David Clancy and John Byrne, arrived at Cindytalk, a winking nod to Sindy, the British fashion doll rival to Barbie known then for its pull-string talking mechanism. "The goal was to have a more interesting narrative, more interesting dialogue. Music was ultimately my only way of talking to people. That was my conversation with the world, an abstracted conversation_an attempt to make some kind of tiny, tiny mark, if possible, you hope somebody will notice." Over the years, Cinder has heard from fans who did pick up on the signals and find refuge in Camouflage Heart. Camouflage Heart plays with tension and pace, from creeping to feverish to claustrophobic. The percussion moves between restless marches and barely-there pulses; for some parts, they scratched and hit a tin bath, among other objects. Guitar lines vibrate and stab as Cinder contorts her voice freely. She pulls poetry from a cerebral abyss, like "make the snake in your eye, pierce the camouflage heart" on the slow-droning centerpiece "The Spirit Behind the Circus Dream." In that register is raw power, both vulnerable and menacing, an ability to locate something deep and emotionally charged within. "I still remember that person who was way too intense for their own good," Cinder reflects. "I couldn't make a record like that now, certainly not vocally, while that anger hasn't dissipated; there's still a kind of warrior." For all the destruction and disintegration of Camouflage Heart, Cinder maintains the objective was never full-on fatalistic; these songs seek not to destroy but to poke and provoke, to transform and heal, to find cracks of light in a crumbling world. She points to the last lines of the opening track, "It's Luxury": "Don't look down," the lyric pines through static and rhythm. Cinder extrapolates, "I'm essentially saying, just keep fucking going. As time went on, for me, that falling became flying. Camouflage Heart is the beginning of believing in flight."

Limited Transparent Green Vinyl 7". Back in 2018 our friend and incredible artist Omar "El Oms" Juarez introduced us to Marie and Necalli, who were then going by the name Thee Lakesiders. Omar saw potential in the duo and really wanted to get them in the studio with Big Crown co-owner and producer Leon Michels to see what they would make. With Leon handling production and The Shacks as the backing band, they cut a tune called 'Parachute' that would not only go on to become a classic, but also inspire a whole musical movement within a new generation. The original pressing of the 'Parachute' 7" has sold somewhere in the tune of 10,000 copies and the music video has been watched 15 million times and counting. On the 7 year anniversary of the release, we decided to do a special limited edition run of the classic. The new record has 'Parachute' on the A side and 'Parachute (Instrumental)' on the B side, is pressed on transparent green vinyl, and comes in a picture sleeve with original art by El Oms. We are only pressing 1000 copies of the record and there will be no represses.

Multi-instrumentalist and composer J.H. Burch gives new intensity to a neglected ethnographic and folklore reality: the rural Amazigh poets of the Ait Bouguemez valley of Morocco. His vision of cultural exchange led him to the vocal repertoire of the all-female Troupe Asnimer, whom for decades have been amongst the most important custodians of the various Amazigh oral art forms in the region. The Asnimer women recite in chorus songs written by numerous anonymous authors, some dating back centuries, making their tradition and a fluid and constantly evolving collective oeuvre. Each of the tribal forms has its own time and place, some like Tamawayt are poems of travel and lamentation, Timnadin of daily labour, others are sung as Sufi rites. From the Asia and the Pacific, J.H. Burch succeeds here through his knowledge of different sound traditions and a varied use of instrumentation (baglama, santur, tanpura, kamanche, organ, deyurey, electronics, percussion), and in becoming a conduit for Asnimer, frames the collaboration without distorting its ancestral and rural physiognomy. On the contrary, the songs of the Amazigh tribes of the Haut-Atlas are colored through afro-asiatic spiritual arrangements of meditative sensitivity. Limited to 200 copies.

NOW is proud to present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series, and the final one representing an individual year from the 1980s: NOW – Yearbook 1989. 78 tracks across 4CDs – celebrating a magnificent and eclectic year in pop! This release is available as a standard 4-CD set, and as a special edition 4-CD set in ‘hardback book’ packaging, which includes a 28-page booklet packed with notes about all of the 78 featured tracks. Also available as 42 tracks across 3LPs, pressed in stunning pink vinyl…celebrating a magnificent and eclectic year in pop!

In the vibrant streets of Tembisa, South Africa, amidst the sprawling urbanity connecting Johannesburg and Pretoria, the story of Moskito began. Formed in 2001 by Mahlubi "Shadow" Radebe and the late Zwelakhe "Malemon" Mtshali, the group first emerged as a powerhouse of pantsula dancers. However, their undeniable passion for music soon led them down a new path_ one that would cement their place in kwaito history. Spending countless hours on the street corners of their township, where they were born and raised, Shadow and Malemon danced and sang with an infectious energy that attracted crowds. It wasn't long before the duo decided to channel their talents into a kwaito group, and after adding friends Patrick Lwane and Menzi Dlodlo, Moskito was born. (Pantsula dancing emerged in the 1950s among Black South Africans in townships and continually evolved until it became intertwined with kwaito music culture. The stylized, rapid foot movements and characteristic low-dancing became associated with kwaito as it took over South African urban culture into the early 2000s.) With limited resources, the group displayed immense creativity, recording demos using two cassette decks and instrumental tracks from other artists. They would rap and sing over an instrumental playing on one deck while the second deck records their performance. Their determination paid off when they submitted their demo to Tammy Music Publishers, who were captivated by Moskito's style. "Kwaito was the thing `in' at the time. If you did music you did kwaito. We wanted to fit in and actually it was easy," says Radebe. "We didn't have engineers in the group, so the first time in a real studio was with Percy and Thami to record Idolar." That same year, the group released their debut album, Idolar, under Tammy Music. The album was an undeniable success reaching gold status selling over 25,000 units and earning them a devoted fan base across South Africa and neighboring countries like Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Moskito collaborated with industry legends such as Chilly Mthiya Tshabalala, who was known for his work with Thiza and Spoke "H." They drew inspiration from Thami Mdluli a.k.a Professor Rhythm, who had dominated the disco scene back in the 80s and 90s. Mdluli helped with musical arrangements and executive produced the album and signed on producer-engineer Percy Mudau, while Shadow and Malemon took pride in composing most of their songs. Like many of the rising kwaito artists of the time, they didn't have music production or engineering backgrounds so they required support from engineers together their ideas down on tape. They were inspired from South African kwaito icons like Trompies, Mdu, Mandoza, and Arthur Mafokate, alongside international heavyweights like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, 2Pac, and R. Kelly, Moskito created a sound that was uniquely theirs_a perfect blend of local flavor and global influence.

Side-A features Alex Désert and Deston Berry of Hepcat, in addition to Malik Moore of The Lions. Side-B features Asdru Sierra, vocalist of Ozomatli. Produced, Mixed, and Recorded by Dan Ubick (The Lions, Connie Price and the Keystones). Previous steady radio play on BBC Radio 6, KCRW, SoHo Radio, etc... Very popular among DJ’s and collectors worldwide. To round out their second wave of 7" singles, Night Owls bring the heat once again with their signature sound and vision.

Re-imagining two Aaron Neville classics, “Hercules” feat. Alex Désert and The Lions b/w “Tell It Like It Is” feat. Asdru Sierra from Ozomatli, Night Owls up the ante by bringing in some heavy hitters for both sides of this 45. Side A's "Hercules" features long-time collaborators and bandmates from The Lions (Stones Throw, Ubiquity, NYCT) - the soulful tenor of Alex Désert (also Hepcat) on lead blending seamlessly with the familiar voices of Deston Berry (Hepcat) and Malik Moore (Ocean 11) on backing harmonies. The Lions front line locks in tight from the many years performing together on top of a darker and grittier interpretation of Allen Toussaint’s masterpiece complete with fuzzed-out guitar, Space Echoes and rhythm drops. On the flip, "Tell It Like It Is" keeps the momentum going and hips swaying with added Colombian percussion elements and California lowrider vibes. Featuring L.A. family and multi-talented vocalist of Ozomatli, Asdru Sierra, on lead and Night Owl Dan Ubick on backing vocals Side B creates a unique blend of reggae and Cumbia into a very fresh take on this multi-generational hit

Peletronic comes back on Fortunea Records with another great 4-tracker! After his successful Hazy Jane EP and the broken beat contribution ‚Goldfinch’ on the latest 10 year anniversary compilation, he delivers us four brand-new contemporary and intensive cuts on here. Restless, the title-track of this record, is a sub driven deep house work out with boasting swelling loops and an irresistible vocal sample. Afterwards dreamy acid lines and energetic drum patterns prepare you for several ‚Timeless Travels’. ‚Malibu Orange’ on the B-side captures the elusive late-hours in the morning. And the record ends with the minimal flamboyant beats of ‚1160 Dub'. A lovely homage to his favorite district in the Austrian capitol. The Restless EP will come out on the 23rd of may. This record is limited to 200 copies. There will be no repress!

Bomj Diego had one simple dream – to spend a lazy summer weekend at his friend’s dacha, kicking back in a plastic lawn chair, sipping on Ovip Lokos, and letting the world spin as slowly as the rusty ceiling fan in the old guest house.

One Friday, he finally got his chance. He loaded up a plastic bag with a few cans of Ovip Lokos, an ancient Bluetooth speaker, and a single flip-flop (he’d lost the other one in a heated game of dominoes the week before). But as soon as he got off the train at the dacha station, Diego realized he had no idea where the actual dacha was. No address, no signal, just the distant sound of a chainsaw and the smell of freshly cut grass.

Undeterred, he followed the smoke of a barbecue like a hungry wolf. After an hour of wandering, he stumbled into a random backyard where a group of old timers were playing cards around a makeshift table. “Ah, Diego! You made it!” one of them shouted, raising a can of Ovip Lokos. Diego had no idea who the guy was, but he immediately sat down, cracked open his own can, and joined the game.

Hours later, as the sun dipped behind the trees and the mosquitoes started their evening shift, Diego realized – this wasn’t his friend’s dacha. In fact, it wasn’t even the right village. But the old men insisted he stay for shashlik, and as the Ovip Lokos flowed, Diego figured, “Eh, close enough.”

He never did make it to the right dacha, but sometimes, it’s the wrong turn that makes the best story.

* The first release on Entire Records, in the shape of the soundtrack score to Academy-nominated 1976 documentary about the Bakhtiari tribe composed and performed by G.T. Moore and Shusha Guppy

* Available on vinyl for the first time since its original release.

* Musically encompassing Persian-flavoured and folk-tinged instrumentals and Farsi-language a-capellas.

* G.T. Moore is a singer and songwriter whose career stretches back to the late 60s when he was a member of folk band Heron. In the mid-70s he formed G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars. Later in his career, he would work with the likes of Lee Perry, Johnny Nash and Poly Styrene.
After 50 years in the music business, Gerald (G.T.) is still effortless bridging musical genres.

* Shusha Guppy, born in Tehran, was a talented writer, editor, songwriter, and singer.
Between 1971 and 1995, she recorded over ten albums of both Persian and Western folk songs.
She passed away in 2008.

Long, long overdue reissue of this gem from the depths of The Skaters dreamweaving dimension, released as a limited tape through Spencer Clark's Pacific City imprint back in 2008. Comprising a period of extreme and vital activity for both Clark as Monopoly Child Star Searchers and Black Joker and his kindred spirit James Ferraro under his own name - 'Marble Surf' or 'Discovery' - and a myriad of identities like Liquid Metal or Edward Flex, this split finds these intrepid explorers on each side of a scrying mirror.
Conjuring the Angel Snake entity as a vessel for unlocking the unconscious, Ferraro takes up the A-side with hypnotic wooden percussion sustaining queasy tape processed keyboard lines that intertwine amidst a growing haze of hiss. About halfway through the digression an announcer boombox voice cuts up the scenery for a serpentine dance around the discarded remnants of civilisations past and future. Clark's Monopoly Child rides a beaming synth and muffled percussion accents on his trademarked keyboard thrills, all ascending and descending runs brimming on the horizon, not quite here, not quite out of reach, fading out to a galloping murk smeared by hallucinatory flute-like sounds and portamento accents that float in harmonic suspension.
Truly visionary and arresting stuff from these true purveyors of the netherworld, due to be rediscovered in these times of poor half-reassessments of the given past. It was never a dream, it was always a dream.

Co-Accused are back for their first release of 2025 with a dose of raw and relentless techno from one of Glasgow’s most solid of underground forces Fear-E. 9 Darter EP presents four slabs of peak-time pressure, polished with the refined edge of the Posh End Music boss’s production. No surprise this EP is in parts inspired by the sounds of UK techno legend Dave Angel and in others of the general free-wheeling ethos of the 90s - feeling as relentless as a basement session in that golden era.

Fear-E has built a reputation as a beacon of putting out high quality club tracks through his career, releasing on the likes of Dame Music, Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and Dark Entries, while also running his own imprint Posh End Music alongside its hardcore-driven sister label Breakbeat Energy. His records are regularly supported by the likes of Dave Clarke, Ben Sims, The Hacker, Randomer, Jerome Hill, Marcel Dettmann, and James Ruskin, with airplay on BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music.

GOLD DISC CLASSIC SERIES


The biggest and baddest Vibronics anthem of all time featuring the original clarion call from Professa Natti. The Professa rose to fame
as mic chanter on the Jah Tubbys Sound System. This tune was first released back in 2012 and immediately sold out, the vinyl record has
now become a serious collectors item. Here we re-issue it with a never before heard dub mix on the b-side. Part of the SCOOPS Gold Disc Classic Series !!


Vibronics is one of the most established names in UK Dub/Reggae music achieving millions of views on YouTube, millions of Spotify
streams and many tens of thousands of vinyl record sales. Collaborators include Michael prophet, Macka B, Iration Steppas, Soom T,
Aba-Shanti and more.

12-inchers from Dublin disco messers Fatty Fatty only come along once in a while, but this summer they've got 2 biggies lined up for festival messing, sunset disco joy and eyes-down dirty basement feel...

Pablo and Shoey's 'Raw Human Emotion' EP features 3 tracks never before seen on vinyl and showcases the range of their productions neatly. First up you've got 'Raw Human Emotion Part 2', a track they provided for a Paper Disco compilation many moons ago. Chopping up sections of an old disco-soul stomper and getting deep inside the loops before rising to a joyous hands in the air climax, this is a peak-time winner that brings everyone together.

Flip over for two lost gems from the 'Do It Backwards' EP for Sprechen, which got lost in the chaos of the first Covid lockdown.

'Shoey's Acid Trip' is a peak time, hands aloft, laser reacher - acid preacher style slammer that builds like a bastard, while Pablo's 'Air Raid Dub' of the title track melds a wonky as heck bassline with a wicked boogie breakdown before slamming back in, rave sirens and all. Serious 3am tackle all round...And the likes of Justin Robertson and Severino of Horse Meat Disco agreed at the time, with the latter proclaiming 'Now this is something different...'. The whole EP fits that bill, and should do some serious damage around the place this summer...

Wairunga finds the Freddy juggernaut digging deep to debut five songs and revisit two classics captured in an outdoor performance sans audience but with wild weather elements playing an important creative role in producing this unique live album.

Recorded in Wairunga, high above Waimarama Beach in New Zealand, it is place etched into the DNA of Fat Freddy’s Drop who’ve roamed here for over 20 years; to party, relax between tours, make a song Wairunga Blues in its honour and even to get married. Farmed by the Parker family for a century, Wairunga is an oasis of green pasture and native tree filled valleys that fall away to the ocean below.

In inimitable Freddy's fashion the new tunes run a gamut of genre busting styles. Coffee Black is layered with cosmic hot buttered soul and cinematic wigged out psyche-blues while Shady continues Freddy's Afro-Acid adventures with Fitchie’s beat-making tapping into a South African township brand of techno Freddys experienced on tour.

Bush Telegraph is a reggae classic featuring MC Slave aka Mark Williams on the mic with freshly minted yum char spiced rhymes of hope. The other new tracks Leave Your Window Open and Dig Deep are loose rhythmic experiments that the band have been working on for a long time. Versions were developed, rehearsed, but then set aside – dismissed, demonised - only to be revived with new energy in some future moment of creative cohesion. The results are loose-limbed; broken and bruised beats smashing into subterranean bass and twisted up melodies.

Bones and Wairunga Blues are the two classics from Freddy's vast back catalogue. Off the Blackbird album, Bones has aged beautifully - like a fine wine - the song’s component parts matured and melded together in harmony and balance. DJ Fitchie rates this 2021 vintage superior to the 2013 original. Wairunga Blues has been a work-in-progress since it was released on Bays in 2015. Kuki dials up some appropriately off-kilter keys to match the wonky-funk laid down by Fitchie’s bass line and the horns. It’s a mighty comeback – and a fitting tribute to this magical place.

"The recordings Contained herein are contained here after many years on the shelf..." So begin Michael Hurley's notes to these unbelievably great recordings from 1964...never before heard. Recorded by Fred Ramsey as part of the same sessions that resulted in Michael's First Songs LP on Folkways. Side A starts with What'llya Do, What'llya Say?, a pretty psychedelic classic that can very well put you into some kinda trance. After that we hear The Blues Had Gone Away - a sad drifty little tune, then Pretty Girl On Rollerskates, with a rare Hurley harmonica solo & hallucinatory lyrics worthy of some examination, and then a beautiful alternate take on one of Michael's all time greats - The Tea Song. Side B starts up with yet more alternate takes of songs from the Folkways LP - this time of Intersoular Blues & I Like My Wine. After that we get to hear two great compositions for the first time, & man oh man are they pretty - Hey Hey Hey Hey & I Love You Babe. Real great stuff all around that we recommend for deep into it Hurley fans & newcomers to his art alike. Michael Hurley is a great American song writer with his own unique way of seeing the world & this LP is a great testament to his vision. Co-release with our friends Nero's Neptune.