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"With a unique trademark sound that is instantly recognizable even through a massive block of ice, Finnish melodic power metal overlords Sonata Arctica never fail to enthrall their audience with captivating hymns of Nordic splendor and magic. Graced by the aurora borealis, they’ve released ten studio albums thus far, taking us into their world since the majestic tunes of their long-fabled debut, “Ecliptica.” Now, however, the band is about to start a whole new chapter. Aptly titled “Acoustic Adventures – Volume One,” Sonata Arctica carefully strip their sound of all things metal only to reveal precious, stunningly beautiful acoustic songs that still capture the heart, spirit and very essence of this band. After Sonata Arctica hit the road in 2016 to premiere their marvelously crafted acoustic set to a stunned audience and then again in 2019, the idea was born to immortalize these intimate, pure, and heartfelt renditions of their iconic catalog on two acoustic albums, the second of which will follow in close succession. “The fans truly seemed to enjoy this side of the band quite much so there was clearly a demand to record these versions of our music.” Having said that, such a release was only a matter of time, anyway: At the very heart of every Sonata Arctica song lies a sublime melody, wreathed in melancholy. “We originally planned to record these songs in Los Angeles at a friends’ studio but since most of our touring seized we decided to do the recordings a bit sooner,” remembers Henrik “Henkka” Klingenberg. “Acoustic Adventures – Volume One” was recorded during summer 2020, with mixing and mastering following suite. Even though the songwriting material is so strong in this band -- you could hear it played on a triangle or a saxophone and still get goosebumps -- some songs proved to be trickier than others. “Not all of the stuff we tried worked out which is why some songs were not recorded,” Henkka says. “Luckily we have quite a large collection to choose from so there’s really no shortage of material.” It’s no exaggeration. The band has over one-hundred songs to choose from, which is a rather fortunate situation. What’s typically Sonata Arctica about all this is that they not only replaced electric with acoustic guitars. Instead, they didn’t shy away from writing whole new arrangements. “Thus, a lot of the songs sound quite different from the original versions.” Starting with the songs they already performed during the “Acoustic Adventures” tours, they added some personal favorites or gems to the mix after that and recorded the whole bunch live! Opening with the mesmerizing “The Rest Of The Sun Belongs To Me” and going via the banjo and organ infused (!) “A Little Less Understanding” to the heartbreaking ballad “Tonight I Dance Alone,” it becomes clear that Sonata Arctica have found solace and a home in these tender versions. One song especially proved to be a challenge for Henkka. “‘Wolf & Raven’ was quite the thing to play on acoustic piano,” he laughs, “but the whole session was a big challenge for everyone. On top of doing it all live, we also didn’t use a click track or metronome so you had to be really alert and make sure the songs stayed in tempo. I think ‘For The Sake Of Revenge’ is still is my favorite. It turned out really special and so different from the original. We also didn’t play the acoustic version live so nobody has heard it.” Yet, he means. The next acoustic tour is around the corner. Singles & Videos: 03.12 „The Rest Of The Sun Belongs To Me“ Sigle & Lyric Video 14.01 „For The Sake Of Revenge“ Single & Video // Focus Track"

"With a unique trademark sound that is instantly recognizable even through a massive block of ice, Finnish melodic power metal overlords Sonata Arctica never fail to enthrall their audience with captivating hymns of Nordic splendor and magic. Graced by the aurora borealis, they’ve released ten studio albums thus far, taking us into their world since the majestic tunes of their long-fabled debut, “Ecliptica.” Now, however, the band is about to start a whole new chapter. Aptly titled “Acoustic Adventures – Volume One,” Sonata Arctica carefully strip their sound of all things metal only to reveal precious, stunningly beautiful acoustic songs that still capture the heart, spirit and very essence of this band. After Sonata Arctica hit the road in 2016 to premiere their marvelously crafted acoustic set to a stunned audience and then again in 2019, the idea was born to immortalize these intimate, pure, and heartfelt renditions of their iconic catalog on two acoustic albums, the second of which will follow in close succession. “The fans truly seemed to enjoy this side of the band quite much so there was clearly a demand to record these versions of our music.” Having said that, such a release was only a matter of time, anyway: At the very heart of every Sonata Arctica song lies a sublime melody, wreathed in melancholy. “We originally planned to record these songs in Los Angeles at a friends’ studio but since most of our touring seized we decided to do the recordings a bit sooner,” remembers Henrik “Henkka” Klingenberg. “Acoustic Adventures – Volume One” was recorded during summer 2020, with mixing and mastering following suite. Even though the songwriting material is so strong in this band -- you could hear it played on a triangle or a saxophone and still get goosebumps -- some songs proved to be trickier than others. “Not all of the stuff we tried worked out which is why some songs were not recorded,” Henkka says. “Luckily we have quite a large collection to choose from so there’s really no shortage of material.” It’s no exaggeration. The band has over one-hundred songs to choose from, which is a rather fortunate situation. What’s typically Sonata Arctica about all this is that they not only replaced electric with acoustic guitars. Instead, they didn’t shy away from writing whole new arrangements. “Thus, a lot of the songs sound quite different from the original versions.” Starting with the songs they already performed during the “Acoustic Adventures” tours, they added some personal favorites or gems to the mix after that and recorded the whole bunch live! Opening with the mesmerizing “The Rest Of The Sun Belongs To Me” and going via the banjo and organ infused (!) “A Little Less Understanding” to the heartbreaking ballad “Tonight I Dance Alone,” it becomes clear that Sonata Arctica have found solace and a home in these tender versions. One song especially proved to be a challenge for Henkka. “‘Wolf & Raven’ was quite the thing to play on acoustic piano,” he laughs, “but the whole session was a big challenge for everyone. On top of doing it all live, we also didn’t use a click track or metronome so you had to be really alert and make sure the songs stayed in tempo. I think ‘For The Sake Of Revenge’ is still is my favorite. It turned out really special and so different from the original. We also didn’t play the acoustic version live so nobody has heard it.” Yet, he means. The next acoustic tour is around the corner. Singles & Videos: 03.12 „The Rest Of The Sun Belongs To Me“ Sigle & Lyric Video 14.01 „For The Sake Of Revenge“ Single & Video // Focus Track"

"With a unique trademark sound that is instantly recognizable even through a massive block of ice, Finnish melodic power metal overlords Sonata Arctica never fail to enthrall their audience with captivating hymns of Nordic splendor and magic. Graced by the aurora borealis, they’ve released ten studio albums thus far, taking us into their world since the majestic tunes of their long-fabled debut, “Ecliptica.” Now, however, the band is about to start a whole new chapter. Aptly titled “Acoustic Adventures – Volume One,” Sonata Arctica carefully strip their sound of all things metal only to reveal precious, stunningly beautiful acoustic songs that still capture the heart, spirit and very essence of this band. After Sonata Arctica hit the road in 2016 to premiere their marvelously crafted acoustic set to a stunned audience and then again in 2019, the idea was born to immortalize these intimate, pure, and heartfelt renditions of their iconic catalog on two acoustic albums, the second of which will follow in close succession. “The fans truly seemed to enjoy this side of the band quite much so there was clearly a demand to record these versions of our music.” Having said that, such a release was only a matter of time, anyway: At the very heart of every Sonata Arctica song lies a sublime melody, wreathed in melancholy. “We originally planned to record these songs in Los Angeles at a friends’ studio but since most of our touring seized we decided to do the recordings a bit sooner,” remembers Henrik “Henkka” Klingenberg. “Acoustic Adventures – Volume One” was recorded during summer 2020, with mixing and mastering following suite. Even though the songwriting material is so strong in this band -- you could hear it played on a triangle or a saxophone and still get goosebumps -- some songs proved to be trickier than others. “Not all of the stuff we tried worked out which is why some songs were not recorded,” Henkka says. “Luckily we have quite a large collection to choose from so there’s really no shortage of material.” It’s no exaggeration. The band has over one-hundred songs to choose from, which is a rather fortunate situation. What’s typically Sonata Arctica about all this is that they not only replaced electric with acoustic guitars. Instead, they didn’t shy away from writing whole new arrangements. “Thus, a lot of the songs sound quite different from the original versions.” Starting with the songs they already performed during the “Acoustic Adventures” tours, they added some personal favorites or gems to the mix after that and recorded the whole bunch live! Opening with the mesmerizing “The Rest Of The Sun Belongs To Me” and going via the banjo and organ infused (!) “A Little Less Understanding” to the heartbreaking ballad “Tonight I Dance Alone,” it becomes clear that Sonata Arctica have found solace and a home in these tender versions. One song especially proved to be a challenge for Henkka. “‘Wolf & Raven’ was quite the thing to play on acoustic piano,” he laughs, “but the whole session was a big challenge for everyone. On top of doing it all live, we also didn’t use a click track or metronome so you had to be really alert and make sure the songs stayed in tempo. I think ‘For The Sake Of Revenge’ is still is my favorite. It turned out really special and so different from the original. We also didn’t play the acoustic version live so nobody has heard it.” Yet, he means. The next acoustic tour is around the corner. Singles & Videos: 03.12 „The Rest Of The Sun Belongs To Me“ Sigle & Lyric Video 14.01 „For The Sake Of Revenge“ Single & Video // Focus Track"

Newly remastered audio.
LP pressed on black vinyl & housed in a gatefold jacket.

Willie Nelson’s 1996 album Spirit is an emotional concept album illustrating the forlorn tale of a man abandoned by the great love of his life. We follow him down the path of loss as he confronts grief, gets back on his feet, and eventually finds solace in acceptance. While producing Spirit, Nelson assuredly knew the commercial risks behind releasing an album this melancholic. After all, in 1973 he himself wrote: “sad songs and waltzes ain’t selling this year.” Beloved by those familiar with Nelson’s deep catalog, Spirit largely slipped through the cracks in the mainstream, but remains highly revered amongst critics and fans alike.
Backed by legendary country fiddler Johnny Gimble (of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys), sister Bobbie Nelson on piano, and his longtime touring guitarist Jody Payne, the song-cycle is anchored by lilting Spanish-inspired instrumentals that absorb a lonesome gravity when placed next to ballads that tug at even the most unwavering heartstrings. Likened to Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind or Waylon Jennings’ Right For the Time, Spirit sees Nelson maturing most gracefully: he trades rousing sing-alongs and saloon tunes for gut-wrenching lyrics and instrumentation of greater precision and skill, proving this release as deep and as challenging as his career-defining albums released twenty years before.
Originally released by Island Records in 1996, Spirit is newly remastered and housed in a gatefold jacket. This is a chance to own this unique album in its most beautifully presented form.

Ludovico wollte schon seit mehreren Jahren ein Solo-Klavieralbum schreiben, brauchte aber das richtige Umfeld, um sich voll und ganz darauf einzulassen.

Lockdown gab ihm diese Gelegenheit. Er nahm die Isolation von seinem normalen, geschäftigen und komplexen Zeitplan an, um einen Ort der Einfachheit zu finden. Dies ist also eine positive Sicht auf Lockdown und Isolation; er nutzt diese seltene Gelegenheit, um die einfache Schönheit des Songschreibens in seiner reinsten Form zu erleben. Keine Technik, keine äußeren Einflüsse, nur Ludovico und sein Klavier.

Infolgedessen ist das Thema des Albums die Freiheit von den typischen Grenzen unseres täglichen Lebens. Dies wird in der Metapher ”Underwater” ausgedrückt. Ein freier und offener Raum, in dem man sich bewegen und erforschen, schweben, innehalten, sich in 3 Dimensionen bewegen kann usw. Ich persönlich denke, dass ein Vogel, der durch die Lüfte fliegt, auch als Metapher für dieses Gefühl der Freiheit funktioniert.

Ich nenne es Songwriting und nicht Komposition, es war ein neuer Ansatz für mich: Beim Komponieren denkt man nach und erforscht, vergleicht und ist ehrgeizig. Wenn man ein Lied schreibt, ist es wie Atmen, die Form ist kurz. Ein Lied ist wie die Schönheit eines einzelnen Atemzugs - eine Welle, die kommt und geht. Es ist schön, wie es ist - es braucht nichts anderes.“

A mandatory disc for those who loved Europe and Fair Warning, but highly recommended for those who love good music of those years.“ METAL HAMMER (IT), Andrea Lami „OUT OF THIS WORLD has it all. An album and musicians who will give you total happiness!“ METAL INTEGRAL (F), Laudrome „This album was just sheer enjoyment from start to finish“ METAL TEMPLE (ISR), Will Travers "1988 saw the release of Swedish hard rock superstars EUROPE‘s fourth album entitled “Out Of This World”, which has sold over 3 million units to date and contains hits such as “Open Your Heart”, “Superstitious” and “Let The Good Times Rock” . Ex-EUROPE guitarist Kee Marcello intends to tie in with that era’s style with his new formation that he recruited the perfect companion for: FAIR WARNING-vocalist Tommy Heart. Their self-titled debut album was mixed by Ron Nevison (KISS, OZZY OSBOURNE), who had also refined the aforementioned EUROPE classics in 1988. So they connected all of the obvious dots, with a neverending list of renowened musicians joining in on the recordings. Don Airey (DEEP PURPLE) contributed the keyboards on four songs, while the rhythm section is complemented by Darby Todd (GARY MOORE, THE DARKNESS) and Ken Sandin (ALIEN). Every track of their debut work deserves undivided attention, be it the anthemic “Twilight”, the gripping “Lightning Up My Dark”, the timeless “Warrior” or the amazing ballad “Only You Can Teach Me How To Love Again”. This epic piece makes melodic rock dreams come true and sounds modern while traditional at the same time. Kee Marcello is a genius in his field and carries that certain something in his blood, so wonderfully and emotionally implented by Tommy Heart‘s vocals. OUT OF THIS WORLD is the new star in Melodic Rock heaven, a liaison that has yet a lot left in store. "

Album focus track is "Fearless". Marketing Highlights -Previously appeared on NBC's The Masked Singer - Music Video release day and date w/ national press release - Tease of song pre-release on artist socials - Pre-Save/Pre Add push pre-release - Liners for all DSPs pushing to single to be posted on band socials - Cain's Ballroom live streams monthly with each single release - Instagram stickers for each single - VR filters created for each single pushing to video - $5k advertising budget across single releases pushing to: YouTube True View, Pivot link on social media, Google Search and display ads and Spotify Marquee Socials Facebook - 390k followers Instagram - 208k followers Twitter - 141.3k followers Spotify - 331k followers, 2.3m monthly listeners Previous Sales 130k average weekly streams Spotify 90k average weekly streams YouTube 35k average weekly streams Apple 12k average weekly streams Amazon Team Press - Ken Weinstein @ Big Hassle PR Digital Marketing - Crowd Surf Media

Jackie Leven is celebrated as one of the world’s most prolific and accomplished singer songwriters. His recordings encompassed everything from folk to Celtic soul, driving rock to lyrical ballads. He passed away 10 years ago this November but the legend of this uniquely talented artist grows every year as more and more people discover and celebrate his remarkable catalogue of recordings.

The Hope Conspiracy are a legendary hardcore band from Boston, MA. "Death Knows Your Name" is their landmark album originally released in 2006. Recorded by Kurt Ballou at God City Studios, it is a powerful chapter in the band's recorded legacy. From the haunting first notes of "They Know Not" to the Earth shaking "Stolen Days", the unrelenting rage of the album is undeniable. From musicianship to presentation, "Death Knows Your Name" still stands as a high watermark for the genre. The "Deluxe" edition features the classic eleven song album along with the song "Eurohell". A track previously available on their "Hang Your Cross" EP (now out of press). The physical packaging has also been revamped, featuring a special "Black on Black" printing of Aaron Horkey's incredible artwork for the release.

“Mekons fght off the darkness with stout hearts and great songs on
Exquisite…Recorded remotely during the pandemic, the eternally enduring
post-punk crew’s latest is a fne addition to their enormous catalog…
We’re living through history; it’s a blessing to have Mekons along for the
ride
”– Rolling Stone
Hunkered down and unable to record together, in 2020 the MEKONS created a
glorious digital chain letter of an album. Exquisite is a sprawling manifesto of
connection and defance that deftly slides through fddle tunes, digi-dub, freside
ballads and urgent rock & roll. And that’s just side A.
The original recording plan was to have been the whole-band-in-a-room session in
Valencia, Spain. When the pandemic rendered that impossible the process took a
sharp swerve. The album credits describe it this way: "Exquisite was recorded in
lockdown on mobile phones, broken cassette recorders, clay tablets & other
ancient technologies in Aptos, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York & Devon.
"
This legendary group from Leeds, have written contemporary music history for
the last 40 years as radical innovators of both frst generation punk and insurgent
roots music, and Exquisite is another powerful vector of that legacy.

Bonobo veröffentlicht sein neues Album ‘Fragments’ auf Ninja Tune mit Gastfeatures von Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakei & weiteren!

Mit „Fragments“ veröffentlicht Bonobo alias Simon Green die emotional intensivste Platte die er je produziert hat - keine Überraschung also, dass er es auch als sein Opus Magnum betrachtet. Auf dem Album sind Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakei, O'Flynn und Miguel Atwood-Ferguson zu hören. Das Album entstand zunächst aus Ideenfragmenten und Experimenten und wurde schließlich in einem Ausbruch von Kreativität zusammengefügt, der sowohl durch Zusammenarbeit als auch durch Greens Flucht in die Wildnis befeuert wurde.
Als einer der größten Namen in der Dance-Musik kann Green auf drei Grammy-Nominierungen und 2 Millionen verkaufte Tickets für die Tour zu seinem 2017er Album, „Migration“, zurückblicken. „Migration“ war ein Top-Ten-Album in mehreren Ländern, ein Top-Five-Album in Großbritannien, erreichte Platz 11 der deutschen Albumcharts und war Billboards Dance-Album Nummer eins in den USA. Außerdem ist er ein beliebter Mainstage-Performer bei den größten Musikfestivals der Welt. „Fragments“ ist eine Serie von zwölf klanglichen Bekenntnissen, die einige der härtesten und tanzbarsten Grooves enthalten, die Green je geschaffen hat. Die Balladen sind perfekt platziert. sie fangen eine Welt im Wandel ein und glühen vor Hoffnung. Die Ideen herauszukitzeln, erforderte anfangs einige harte Arbeit. Der ständig auf Tournee befindliche Green arbeitet am besten, wenn er in Bewegung ist, folglich zwang ihn der weltweite Stillstand zum persönlichen Stillstand.

Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy are back with a new single release after their album debut "Mam Yinne Wa", which can be seen as a harbinger of the second album. You can hear another Frafra Gospel masterpiece by the king of this genre.

"Doose Mam" is a soulful piece that goes straight to the limbs with its repetitive rhythm. The jubilant middle section, in which the wind instruments and the choir pass the balls to each other, is to be emphasized. "Gure Yose Me" ties in with the Frafra Gospel tradition of making use of reggae rhythms. Here we hear a stepper played by Josie Coppola, Europe's No.1 reaggae drummer. Both pieces were produced both in Berlin and in Kumasi by Max Weissenfeldt in Philophon's in-house Joy Sound Studios.

Coming soon!

Imagine deserted volcanic wasteland, freezing winds and the all-embracing darkness of the longest winters on this planet: The obvious inspiration for rather vicious and somber tunes for lonely evening hours that the biggest part of Iceland’s heavy music scene is known for. Who would even dare to think of tales about brave warriors and mystical creatures coming from such an island? Power metal seemed like a fairytale until 2017 when Reykjavík based sextet POWER PALADIN (originally founded as PALADIN) rose in quest of carrying out their uplifting tunes and finally proving everyone wrong. On an island known for its musical doom and gloom, they are the midnight sun. “Iceland has such a great representation of extreme metal. We didn’t feel we had much to add to that scene so why shouldn’t we do the complete opposite?” the band recall their origins. A truly wise decision! Their first live performances and demo releases were of such good reception that they were booked for Iceland’s main underground festivals, Eistnaflug and Norðanpaunk, and subsequently played at one of the country’s biggest music events, Iceland Airwaves, in 2019. Highly praised as a “standout” act by The Reykjavík Grapevine, POWER PALADIN kept crafting material at Windfyre Studios, composing their 9-track strong debut album titled »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel«. The opus is a historical landmark for both the group and Atomic Fire Records, being the label’s first full-length release since its recent founding. “We actually started to write some of these tunes in the very beginning of our band history and captured them over the course of about two years at various places: at Ingi’s bedroom, at Atli and Bjarni’s workplace, at a cabin outside Reykjavik etc.”, POWER PALADIN say about their approach to songwriting and recording. And while self-producing such a splendid album has been no easy quest, it almost reads like a part from Joseph Campbell’s »The Hero’s Journey«:“So we went through a whole lot of trials, but that’s why we’re even happier and prouder of this record now!” Mixed by Haukur Hannes at Mastertape Studios (AUÐN, DYNFARI etc.) and mastered by Frank de Jong at Hal5 Studio (BLEEDING GODS etc.),
” they explain. The group’s love for fantasy games and books from authors such as Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie doesn’t remain unnoticed either: James Child (Astral Clock Tower Studios) translated that inspiration into the album’s adventurous artwork. »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel« gets the listener's attention immediately. Air guitar-provoking lead single 'Kraven The Hunter‘, a track that’s frequently been aired via Iceland’s radio stations prior to the album’s release, peaking at position #1 of X-977’s chart, sets the right tone for this 51-minute venturesome ride. A ride that ranges from songs in the vein of the opening track like 'Creatures Of The Night' to rather aggressive bangers such as the second single 'Righteous Fury' and 'Ride The Distant Storm'. In the end, critics might say that “only a ballad is missing” to deliver all ingredients for a great heavy metal album. But does a power metal saga whose first chapter has just been written need one at all? Well, we will find out in chapter 2...

Imagine deserted volcanic wasteland, freezing winds and the all-embracing darkness of the longest winters on this planet: The obvious inspiration for rather vicious and somber tunes for lonely evening hours that the biggest part of Iceland’s heavy music scene is known for. Who would even dare to think of tales about brave warriors and mystical creatures coming from such an island? Power metal seemed like a fairytale until 2017 when Reykjavík based sextet POWER PALADIN (originally founded as PALADIN) rose in quest of carrying out their uplifting tunes and finally proving everyone wrong. On an island known for its musical doom and gloom, they are the midnight sun. “Iceland has such a great representation of extreme metal. We didn’t feel we had much to add to that scene so why shouldn’t we do the complete opposite?” the band recall their origins. A truly wise decision! Their first live performances and demo releases were of such good reception that they were booked for Iceland’s main underground festivals, Eistnaflug and Norðanpaunk, and subsequently played at one of the country’s biggest music events, Iceland Airwaves, in 2019. Highly praised as a “standout” act by The Reykjavík Grapevine, POWER PALADIN kept crafting material at Windfyre Studios, composing their 9-track strong debut album titled »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel«. The opus is a historical landmark for both the group and Atomic Fire Records, being the label’s first full-length release since its recent founding. “We actually started to write some of these tunes in the very beginning of our band history and captured them over the course of about two years at various places: at Ingi’s bedroom, at Atli and Bjarni’s workplace, at a cabin outside Reykjavik etc.”, POWER PALADIN say about their approach to songwriting and recording. And while self-producing such a splendid album has been no easy quest, it almost reads like a part from Joseph Campbell’s »The Hero’s Journey«:“So we went through a whole lot of trials, but that’s why we’re even happier and prouder of this record now!” Mixed by Haukur Hannes at Mastertape Studios (AUÐN, DYNFARI etc.) and mastered by Frank de Jong at Hal5 Studio (BLEEDING GODS etc.),
” they explain. The group’s love for fantasy games and books from authors such as Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie doesn’t remain unnoticed either: James Child (Astral Clock Tower Studios) translated that inspiration into the album’s adventurous artwork. »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel« gets the listener's attention immediately. Air guitar-provoking lead single 'Kraven The Hunter‘, a track that’s frequently been aired via Iceland’s radio stations prior to the album’s release, peaking at position #1 of X-977’s chart, sets the right tone for this 51-minute venturesome ride. A ride that ranges from songs in the vein of the opening track like 'Creatures Of The Night' to rather aggressive bangers such as the second single 'Righteous Fury' and 'Ride The Distant Storm'. In the end, critics might say that “only a ballad is missing” to deliver all ingredients for a great heavy metal album. But does a power metal saga whose first chapter has just been written need one at all? Well, we will find out in chapter 2...

Imagine deserted volcanic wasteland, freezing winds and the all-embracing darkness of the longest winters on this planet: The obvious inspiration for rather vicious and somber tunes for lonely evening hours that the biggest part of Iceland’s heavy music scene is known for. Who would even dare to think of tales about brave warriors and mystical creatures coming from such an island? Power metal seemed like a fairytale until 2017 when Reykjavík based sextet POWER PALADIN (originally founded as PALADIN) rose in quest of carrying out their uplifting tunes and finally proving everyone wrong. On an island known for its musical doom and gloom, they are the midnight sun. “Iceland has such a great representation of extreme metal. We didn’t feel we had much to add to that scene so why shouldn’t we do the complete opposite?” the band recall their origins. A truly wise decision! Their first live performances and demo releases were of such good reception that they were booked for Iceland’s main underground festivals, Eistnaflug and Norðanpaunk, and subsequently played at one of the country’s biggest music events, Iceland Airwaves, in 2019. Highly praised as a “standout” act by The Reykjavík Grapevine, POWER PALADIN kept crafting material at Windfyre Studios, composing their 9-track strong debut album titled »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel«. The opus is a historical landmark for both the group and Atomic Fire Records, being the label’s first full-length release since its recent founding. “We actually started to write some of these tunes in the very beginning of our band history and captured them over the course of about two years at various places: at Ingi’s bedroom, at Atli and Bjarni’s workplace, at a cabin outside Reykjavik etc.”, POWER PALADIN say about their approach to songwriting and recording. And while self-producing such a splendid album has been no easy quest, it almost reads like a part from Joseph Campbell’s »The Hero’s Journey«:“So we went through a whole lot of trials, but that’s why we’re even happier and prouder of this record now!” Mixed by Haukur Hannes at Mastertape Studios (AUÐN, DYNFARI etc.) and mastered by Frank de Jong at Hal5 Studio (BLEEDING GODS etc.),
” they explain. The group’s love for fantasy games and books from authors such as Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie doesn’t remain unnoticed either: James Child (Astral Clock Tower Studios) translated that inspiration into the album’s adventurous artwork. »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel« gets the listener's attention immediately. Air guitar-provoking lead single 'Kraven The Hunter‘, a track that’s frequently been aired via Iceland’s radio stations prior to the album’s release, peaking at position #1 of X-977’s chart, sets the right tone for this 51-minute venturesome ride. A ride that ranges from songs in the vein of the opening track like 'Creatures Of The Night' to rather aggressive bangers such as the second single 'Righteous Fury' and 'Ride The Distant Storm'. In the end, critics might say that “only a ballad is missing” to deliver all ingredients for a great heavy metal album. But does a power metal saga whose first chapter has just been written need one at all? Well, we will find out in chapter 2...

Bryan Ponce's delicate, plaintive vocal, this time accompanied by the sweet, rich timbre of Adriana Flores make for two earnest duets that exude palpable chemistry.
On "Tangled Up" the pair sing of a love affair that has run its course but (against their better judgement) lingers in the form of late night entanglements and dream-induced longing - imprisoning the lovers on a carousel of heartache and despair. "Soon Enough" is a gorgeously sparse ballad rife with melancholic guitar, percolating percussion and a groove that will have you swaying side to side with the one you love.

Soul music changes just like the weather. Different styles, rhythms and dances have been emerging over the years, making the genre so exciting and assorted. For almost a decade, in the post-disco era, synths and drum machines ruled the day, but by the mid 90s a group of new artists were turning their attention to the golden age of soul music.
One of those names was Adriana Evans, whose debut album from 1996 surprised soul fans around the world. Adriana boasts a solid musical background and this can be heard on the record. Her mom was the jazz singer Mary Stallings and she was also the goddaughter of Pharoah Sanders, so she has been surrounded by music since childhood.
Both choices here are taken from that outstanding album. "Looking For Your Love" is a beautiful mid-tempo tune which could have been recorded by The Emotions or Phyllis Hyman. On the reverse, "I'll Be There" is a sublime piano and flute-led ballad in the vein of Minnie Ripperton.

*Limited edition of 200 copies, heavy weight vinyl, comes with poster* fmvee joins Queeste with who do u love?, an EP of fractious songs recorded over a tumultuous four-month period in Los Angeles. Having debuted in 2018 with a set of club contortions touching on jungle and 2-step, the US artist returns with a work of intense self-reflection. Lived experiences are transmuted into an amorphous bricolage of pummelling kicks, synthetic textures, and diaristic details, what they describe as an act of "remembrance." Working and living in LA, the "grind" alongside "aspirational partying," and the confrontation of depression during an intense relationship, informs the EP on levels both sonic and thematic. The slippery rhythm and melodic stabs of 'the way you see yourself' embodies a state of flux, also recalling the early experiments of the LA beat scene. Distant jazz drumming fills its peaceful coda before 'everythingUneverKnewUwanted' introduces an echo lifted directly from the artist's life: a trickling courtyard fountain. This first phase of the release finds resolution with 'thewayothersseeyou,' a conceptual mirror to its start, and one which carries a notable shift in tone; gleaming percussion has given way to ominous synths. Despite the EP's personal nature, collaboration is crucial. 'Seed Perfuming (LoLo v665)' is an fmvee original transformed into a cascading breakbeat by New York producer and engineer Loric Sih AKA LoLo, an ecstatic yet familiar form nestled amidst otherwise bruising encounters. 'sobbing' follows, a digital-age ballad of original lyrics exploring dependency: emotional, physical, and otherwise. It's a poignant conclusion to an appropriately hallucinogenic collection, an intoxicating chemistry of love and loneliness co

After the release of their first album, Il Est Vilaine ask to artists and friends to deliver a series of high-flying remixes: Tolouse Low Trax, Krikor, Khidja, Marvin & Guy, Golden Bug, Rubin Steiner, C.A.R…
Tolouse Low Trax opens the ball with a destructured version of Yvré- L'évêque while keeping the darkness of the track. We can hear a nod to the track "Holland Tunnel Dive" anthem of the Salon des Amateurs.
For the eponymous track Khidja were inspired by the sounds of the land of the rising sun which is a good thing to accompany the song of Narumi Hedgehog! A bright version and influenced by YMO's era Sakamato.
Golden Bug & In Field proposes an alternative just as trippy as the original version of Marilyn Drum, a trip between neighborhood hospitals and crazy guru.
Another version of Yvré-l'Evêque this time Krikor takes care of it and takes out his sampler for a digi-dancehall version that only he has the secret, Faya !
Rubin Steiner delivers a version back to the roots of Bar à Gwin mixing deep house texture and 80's-NY-hip-hop/electro.
The two Italians of Marvin & Guy bring out the hits, the guitars and the arpeggios for an epic version of Mystères de Lorient.
To close the album, we find Narumi Hérisson at the controls of her piano for a dreamy and sensitive version of Phare Ouest where her voice and that of Yula Kasp are mixed in the greatest harmony!

The sixth release on Phoq U Phonogrammen, the sordid and rash U-TRAX sublabel, may be from its least known artist, but it is our personal favorite Phoq U release. The style can perhaps best be described as acid funk. Though the drums and bass lines generally are rather tight, all tracks have these quirky synth lines that give them a rather funky, dark 'cyborg feel'.
Lynx is Reyer Caderius van Veen - and he didn't chose that name himself. Reyer is from Groningen, the mayor city in the most northern region of The Netherlands. It's a vibrant student town, with lots of music going on.

In the 90s, Reyer participated in a techno-foundation, together with Thee J. Johanz (Ballyhoo Records) and Johan Sagel, who released a 12" as Jo-I on U-TRAX in 1995. Together with Johan, Reyer also formed a band called L.A.P. 01 (Live Acid Performance), which released a 12", a 10" and a remix on Jan Liefhebber's Highland Beats and a track on Ballyhoo Records (BALL 100).
Harsh starts off with some terribly hard and high tones, that sound like a nuclear plant is going to melt down. The ferocious bassdrum and grunting acid bass line add to the uncomfortable mood.
What makes us really happy is Sex On Jupiter. It's a rushed track that completely opens up around the 1:20 mark with a desolate, yet funky sawtooth 303 bassline.

On the flipside, Changes brings a nice pumping rhythm combined with a rolling bassline with all sorts of disturbing sounds on top.
The EP closes off with another highlight of darkness: Dark Mission. The track has a lovely flow, but really starts to space you out as soon as a hoarse sounding pulsating synth spreads it wings across the deliciously bubbling 303.
To be short: this is an uncomfortable record, and we love it!

Original release date: August 1996.

Reissue of Elizio De Buzios's "Tamanquiro". Remastered and pressed on 45 RPM!

Sitting a good 90-minute drive away from Rio de Janeiro’s crowded beaches and packed tourist hot-spots, Campo Grande is not a neighbourhood that attracts travellers from around the World. Traditionally it is home to the city’s lower middle-class, whose aspirations of moving up the social ladder were played out in a suburb that has always been solidly working-class.

Campo Grande is home to Elizio De Buzios, a Brazilian musician who started playing music in the late 1970s and early 1980s. De Buzios began as a drummer, before learning to play guitar and starting to compose and sing his own music. When he turned 18, De Buzios joined a local band formed by some of his friends and other like-minded local musicians: Sol da Terra. The band mostly played samba in neighbourhood bars and small venues around Camp Grande, but De Buzios was interested in more than just samba. While he naturally admired great samba composers such as Cartola and Beth Carvalho, his musical pass went far beyond Brazil’s national music. He also loved MPB and bossa-nova and at home he listed to Joäo Bosco, Milton Nascimento, Luis Melodia, Tom Jobim, and many bossa-nova singers.

In 1980 De Buzios was noticed by a local representative of international major label Polygram, who gave him the opportunity to record two songs. He was excited, so started searching for inspiration for the songs he would eventually lay down. He found that inspiration close to home while passing a neighbourhood shop which made and sold clogs. After noticing a display of then fashionable Portuguese clogs outside the store, De Buzios popped inside to talk to the owner. It turned out that he was a tamanqueiro – as clog-makers are traditionally called in his native Portugal – and was as passionate about music as he was about the footwear he made. Thus inspired, De Buzios returned home to work more on the lyrics and music.

The next day, he headed into the studio to record the song, with Vale Ribeiro, who later went on to produce tracks for Marcos Valle, behind the desk. With Ribeiro’s assistance, De Buzios managed to record two songs in one day: ‘Tamanqueiro’ and ‘Sou Um Louco’, a ballad with English lyrics blended into the mostly Portuguese text. From the start, it was clear that ‘Tamanqueiro’ would be the single’s A-side. Incredibly catchy and funky, with some subtle disco elements, the song remained distinctively Brazilian thanks to the use of the cuíca. Listening back all these years on, De Buzios’ lyrics seem almost spontaneous, carry the track forward, and make it almost impossible not to sing along. Its infectiousness and funkiness made it an instant hit with the first few people to hear it.

When it was released, responses to the song were enthusiastic, even if it never became the Brazil-wide smash it should have been. It resonated well in the local clubs and on the radio, but unfortunately the marketing was handled by an inexperienced Polygram employee who failed to adequately promote the track. As a result, the record sank without trace and De Buzios’ dreams of stardom evaporated. Having just started a family, he realized he could not live off the uncertainty of being a musician. Instead, he got a job at city hall as a civil servant, a role he continued until his retirement a few years ago. ‘Tamanqueiro’ and ‘Sou Um Louco’ remain the only two songs he ever recorded.

In the early 2000s, with the rise of diggers’ culture, ‘Tamanqueiro’ slowly surfaced again. It became a sought after, hard to find seven-inch single, finding its way onto the airwaves once more and into the ears of a new generation of listeners. Some started appreciating the song so much that it was referred to as the “best-Jorge-Ben-song-Jorge-Ben-never-recorded”. And they are right: ‘Tamanqueiro’ does have that Jorge Ben-straight-forwardness. It’s a completely honest song that’s almost impossible not to fall in love with. Thanks to this remastered reissue on Rush Hour, De Buzios may now get the props his sole record so richly deserves.

Now for the good news: De Buzios is still singing in local bars and clubs in and around Campo Grande. He is surprised, but also incredibly proud, that the record he had almost forgotten about is appreciated so much by a group of music lovers he didn’t even know existed. But above all, he is happy that more than 40 years after the recording session, the record lives on – not only on this re-release, but also in his weekend sets in the bars of Campo Grande.

Lee Gamble completes his ‘Flush Real Pharynx 2019-2021’ album cycle with ‘A Million Pieces Of You’, the third EP of a triptych written in a time when the subjective experience of overload came to a halt, giving way to an overbearing sense of loss, burnout and a desperate need for hope. These seven tracks feel more reflective, more human than the two preceeding EPs; the serpentine dopplers and seductive supercar engines of ‘In A Paraventral Scale’, and imploding motion sculptures of ‘Exhaust’. A deepfake of Lee’s voice appears from the chaotic slow-mo crash of ‘Balloon Lossy’, timidly telling of “garbled… good news”. The uncanny spectre of deep fakes, AI and deep learning models give way to the melancholic loneliness of the solo piano in ‘Empty Middle Seat’. Then glimmering, golden pads on ‘Hyperpassive’ slowly crawl into the hopeful, bright arpeggiations of ‘Balloon Copy’. ‘A Million Pieces Of You’ is a ride through a part-synthetic, part-modelled, part-imitation, part-taught, part-human, part1hopeful, part-reflective and paradoxically affirmative space – an involuntarily fitting finale to an album originally conceived in a world different to the one we now inhabit.

Pioneering rock 'n' roll singer-songwriter Dion delivers yet another power
collection of timeless blues with Stomping Ground
This is the follow up to his universally acclaimed 2020 Keeping The Blues Alive
Records debut, Blues With Friends. Dion has yet again enlisted the music world's
most iconic and talented stars to bring his blues to life. Peter Frampton, Eric
Clapton, Keb' Mo', Joe Bonamassa, Patti Scialfa & Bruce Springsteen, and more
join Dion on this year's most heartfelt release! 1. Take It Back Feat. Joe
Bonamassa.

What is probably the weirdest U-TRAX release ever, is now available again on original heavy weight vinyl and has been remastered for digital download and streaming.

Jo-I is Johan Sagel and nine of the drumtracks he made in the 90s with his quite un-hip Roland R-70 drumcomputer ended up on this heavyweight vinyl EP. Label boss DJ White Delight also abused Johan's R-70 together with DJ Zero One, adding a trancey acid re-interpretation of the Jo-I tracks to the EP.

Back in 1995, Johan was a young advertising professional, originating from the far Northern part of Holland, where only potatoes grow and very few people live. He later moved to the city of Groningen and became very active in the scene there, that included Thee J Johanz, of Bally Hoo fame. Johan teamed up with Reyer Caderius van Veen, who released a 12" as Lynx on the U-TRAX sublabel Phoq U Phonogrammen. Together they performed and recorded as Live Acid Performance (L.A.P.) 01 in the 90s.

Original release date: March 1995.
Available again on original 220 grams vinyl

- 2021 repress / blue vinyl / comes in stickered sleeve / incl. dl code -

Hide your kids! Ghost in the Machine is back and fully intent on setting fire to your pants with yet another quartet of their unique brand of techno. It's all really dark, heavy and pounding, yet you somehow really seem to like it. It's basically more of the same, which is great. The only real difference with their previous EPs is that this one is pressed on blue vinyl.

Disclaimer: digital copies may not all be the same shade of blue.

Triumph breeds confidence, and with confidence comes an expansion of ambition, a focus of ability, an emboldening of audacity. De-Loused In The Comatorium had risked everything Omar and Cedric possessed on the wildest of gambits, the most impossible of dreams: making sense of the riot of influences ricocheting about Omar’s head, and memorialising their departed friend Julio Venegas through Cedric’s magical realist roman-a-clef. It Clouds Hill shouldn’t have worked. But it did, and with that fiendish tightrope act successfully accomplished, the duo stretched the wire even further and higher, over a figurative fiery pit peopled with lions, crocodiles, piranha and other sharp-toothed beasts not yet known to man. Because how do you make great art without taking great risks? Frances The Mute was no De-Loused Part Two. For one thing, the band’s configuration had changed, in the most painful way. Shortly before the release of De- Loused, sound manipulator and founder member Jeremy Michael Ward passed away, a wound Omar says the group never recovered from. But even though his inspired fucking- with-the-sonic-parameters is absent from Frances The Mute, his spirit and influence can still be determined, the album’s concept derived from a diary Ward had encountered in his day-job in repossession. “Jeremy picked up lots of interesting stuff when he was a repo man,” remembers Cedric. “Weird things, including this diary, He let us read it a bunch of times. It was by a guy who’d been adopted and was searching to find his real parents. It was very surreal, it didn’t make much sense – the guy might’ve been schizophrenic – but it was very inspiring. It felt like how certain music helps you escape your boring every-day life. The names and scenes in the diary directly inspired these songs.” Some of the tracks pre-dated De-Loused, having their origins in early demos Omar recorded at the duo’s Long Beach home Anikulapo, songs such as The Widow and Miranda The Ghost Just Isn’t Holy Anymore. Cedric had heard these jams in their embryonic state and began working in his mind on what he could bring to them. “I was attracted to The Widow like you would be to a lover, right?” Cedric remembers. “I sang over it with Omar while we were touring De-Loused in Australia on the Big Day Out, like, ‘Okay, I’ve got something for this.’” A potent ballad, laden with emotional crescendos and evoking the epic drama of Ennio Morricone – an effect aided by an elegiac trumpet part performed by Flea – The Widow would become The Mars Volta’s first song to chart on the Billboard Top 100, capturing the album’s potent sorrow and widescreen sprawl in miniature. Indeed, the lush sound of the album, the depth of detail and breadth of instrumentation, belies its grungy roots. Having tasted the luxury of Rick Rubin’s mansion, Omar veered in the opposite direction when recording Frances, cutting the album in what he describes as “a shithole... Basically a warehouse with one little air conditioner on its last legs, awful wiring and a console you couldn’t rely on. We were there night and day – I would literally lock engineer Jon DeBaun in there. He slept on a mattress in the vocal booth.” A considerably more complex and ambitious album than its predecessor – four of its five tracks lasted over ten minutes in length, with its closing epic Cassandra Gemini spanning over half an hour – Frances The Mute wasn’t recorded “live” by an ensemble, but with the individual musicians coming into the “shithole” and recording the parts Omar had scripted for them separately. “They had to have absolute trust in me,” Omar remembers, “Like actors trust their director.” In addition to the core band – now fleshed out with incoming bassist Juan Alderete, and Omar’s brother Marcel on keyboards and percussion – the album featured guitar solos from John Frusciante, saxophone and flute by future member Adrian Terrazas-Gonzales, a full string section, and piano played by Omar’s hero, salsa legend Larry Harlow. “It was a childhood dream come true,” Omar says. “We recorded with him in my hometown in Puerto Rico, and my father flew in to watch the session. Larry was a perfect gentleman, and a very lively spirit.” The album’s fevered intensity infected even the staid string section, Cedric remembers. “When they performed the part on Cassandra Gemini, ’25 wives in the lake tonight’, one of the guys in the orchestra played so hard he broke his bow, this real old, antique bow. And you could see his ‘classical’ side come out – like, ‘I broke this playing a fuckin’ rock song??’ He was pissed off. But I was like, ‘Fuck yeah, man, that’s on the record! You’ve got to realise things like that are cool.’” The album also features field recordings of “the coqui of Puerto Rico” during the opening minutes of Miranda That Ghost Just Isn’t Holy Anymore. “We took a page out of the Grateful Dead’s book there,” laughs Cedric. “They recorded air. We recorded fuckin’ frogs in Puerto Rico.”

Returnal sees Daniel Lopatin fine tune his craft for creation of deep atmospheres and texture even further.
"Returnal" is the fourth album from Daniel Lopatin's Oneohtrix Point Never project, after "Betrayed In The Octagon" (Deception Island, 2007), "Zones Without People" (Arbor, 2009) and "Russian Mind" (No Fun, 2009). All 3 albums being superbly compiled on the "Rifts" double CD (No Fun, 2009). It sees Lopatin fine tune his craft for creation of deep atmospheres and texture even further. Starting off with the mind blowing triptych of "Nil Admiari / Describing Bodies / Stress Waves", which fires off into a noise / rhythm excess before entering a zone of relative calm building to the melancholy of the final part. This sets the tone perfectly for the albums title track, a stunning out of this world ballad featuring Lopatin's near desperate vocal delivery, ending what could be seen as one of his most chilling and thought provoking sides to date. The atmosphere is slightly lifted as the darkened sun comes up over the ruins on "Pelham Island Road" and "Where Does Time Go", with the album closing with edgy broken beats and fourth world possible landscapes of "Preyouandi", which fades into the distance with echoes of the "Returnal" chorus, closing the loop. What's burnt into memory here is Lopatin's love affair with the long, slow path back home... the cycle... the hypnotic sector... the ghost in the machine... and whether people are making dance music or hip hop or space head music or metal, the ouroboros is present in every sector - as it was in Bach's study, and in the elephant songs of the Ituri forests. Available on CD in digipack and LP in gatefold cover.

Following the critical acclaim of the 2020 compilation Pyramid Pieces, The Roundtable return with a second offering of modernist jazz from Australia. Another vital document further examining the nation's jazz scene during the late 1960s and 70s. A fertile period that witnessed the birth of an independent movement and the development of a distinct Australian jazz sound. While continuing to focus on the modal forms explored in Volume 1, this second edition shifts direction slightly, this time also surveying other post-bop modes representative of the scene including soul jazz, avant-garde ballet music and Eric Dolphy-inspired free jazz.

Again featuring tracks from the esteemed independent imprints Jazznote and 44 Records, the collection also offers never before published pieces from less obvious Australian jazz groups. Compositions by internationally renowned musicians including Bob Bertles (Nucleus/Neil Ardley), Bruce Cale (The Spontaneous Music Ensemble/Prince Lasha) and Allan Zavod (Frank Zappa) alongside pillars of the local scene, Charlie Munro and Ted Vining plus the lesser-known yet formidable free jazz unit 'Out To Lunch'. Pyramid Pieces 2 is another timely insight into the evolution of the incredible yet obscured Australian modern jazz movement.

A compilation of Australian modern jazz. 1969-1980
Rare modal, soul-jazz and free jazz from artists including The Charlie Munro Trio, Bob Bertles Moontrane, The Bruce Cale Quintet and The Ted Vining Trio.
Tip-on sleeve featuring artwork from renowned Australian modernist painter James Meldrum.

KiNK is back with number six on his sometimes experimental, often exemplary, but always exciting Sofia outfit. The driving force of Clap On 2 are the tropes of acid and its numerology (101/202/303/). The opener Disco Spectrum shows why the sound rose from the shards of smashed mirror balls in Chicago – updated and optimized for today. Turbo – nomen best omen – takes it even further, faster and fiercer, while the theme song completes the pogo picture. Finally, Almond Break lulls you into a false sense of security (think yoga camps, namaste cults, kale drinks and Balearic sunsets), before it turns into a pagan ritual to complete this acid test. Remember: wo wants to own the future needs to conquer the past!

SOFIA: Founded by Strahil Velchev and Konstantin Petrov, Sofia is not only the physical location where this music was made, the city where they met and developed as artists, but also a paradox that is reflected in the art and music that comes from the place. Beautiful and ugly at the same time, clean and dirty, brutal as well as romantic, it’s a place where aesthetically seemingly incompatible styles come together in a twisted, yet unifying form. The photographs for the sleeves are made by influential local selector DJ Valentine, effortlessly capturing the local reality.

Själen is a Stockholm-based duo consisting of Johan Jan Jonason and Mats Andberg.
Spirit High is their debut album, arriving after the band’s previous Studio Barnhusappearances with 2020's heartfelt ballad “Älska mig” as well as a single release of thisalbum’s title track in summer 2021.
On Spirit High, multi-instrumentalist Andberg together with album co-producer Axel Boman weave a shimmering lo-fi tapestry that frontman Jonason vigorously tears apartusing simple iconic phrases delivered with a unique singing voice – naïvely desperate, delicately forceful. No posing, just transparency! No nuances, just the pure expression of
Själen! Out December 10 on Studio Barnhus.

Josienne Clarke’s brand-new label Corduroy Punk
Records launches with its debut album release,
bringing you her quintessentially succinct singer /
songwriter bangers and ballads on electric guitars,
bass, keys and drums.
For the first time since her early beginnings, Clarke
is flying solo. No label, no musical partner, no
producer. Clarke is in complete control of her
songwriting, arranging, producing, release
schedule and musical direction. While the themes
might feel familiar to her fans, the musical journey
will not, with Clarke taking in a wide range of new
and diverse influences across the album - from
Adrianne Lenker’s ‘Hours Were The Birds’, IDLES’
‘Colossus’, Radiohead’s ‘Airbag’ to Phoebe
Bridgers ‘Garden Song’ and more, the album’s
touchstones span a vast musical collage of anger
and hope.
‘A Small Knowable Thing’ is alt-indie for fans of
Julia Jacklin, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen,
Fiona Apple and Boy Genius.
CD edition with gloss gatefold and 8-page lyric
booklet. LP on 180 gram clear with orange and
blue splatter vinyl in a gloss gatefold sleeve with
lyric insert.

On the heels of his breakout year, Swiss indie rocker Sam Himself - New Yorker by choice, ‘Fondue Western’ baritone by trade - prepares to release his debut album, Power Ballads (October 8th). The Brooklyn-based songwriter, performer and multi-instrumentalist has been sounding the bell for his first LP with a number of singles.
This full-length debut follows last year’s acclaimed Slow Drugs EP, the artist’s third which earned him the Swiss National Broadcasting Service’s Best Talent Award in 2020 and a nomination in 2021 for a Swiss Music Award, the most prestigious national prize of its kind in Sam’s home country.
Power Ballads marks the latest collaboration between Sam and his longtime producer, mixing engineer Daniel Schlett (The War On Drugs; Iggy Pop), as well as mastering legend Greg Calbi (Bruce Springsteen; David Bowie). Sam plays most of the instruments on Power Ballads himself, with producer Schlett adding sounds, textures and of course his singular mixing style (as heard recently e.g. on Iggy Pop's cover of The Velvet Underground's European Son).
Sam Himself is set to tour in support of his debut album well into the spring of next year, with some 30+ European dates in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and beyond (US-dates in planning).

Bria is an intimate and incisive labour of love from multi-instrumentalists Bria Salmena
and Duncan Hay Jennings. Catapulted by a deep sense of dread and confusion in the
depths of 2020, Salmena decided to forgo writing her own music. “I wanted to listen for
what might reflect my life back to me,” she says, “six tracks that could be my mirror.” The
result is a pointillistic knockout of a release that weaves a landscape both luscious and a
little rogue; showing us exactly what good songs can do.
 Bria’s internal turbulence seemed to mirror last year’s external instability. When Jennings
and back-up singer Jaime McCuaig moved to The Outside Inn, a hobby farm in Hockley
Hills, Ontario, Bria soon joined. The farm’s living-room-turned-studio proved an ideal
setting for the long-time friends to compile a record of handpicked country covers. They
went searching for songs that could speak to our everyday loneliness, outside and in.
‘Cuntry Covers’ houses it all: well-worn favourites and lesser-known gems.
 The record opens with ‘Green Rocky Road’, as performed by Greenwich Village legend
Karen Dalton. Jennings’ twangy guitar carries Bria’s original inflection and richly textured
vocals, complete with dreamy overlay. ‘Dreaming My Dreams With You’, a rendition of the
Waylon Jennings hit, is followed by John Cale’s ‘Buffalo Ballet’, a lyrical journey through
Abilene, Texas, the endpoint of the Chisholm Trail.
 Engineered and mixed by Duncan Hay Jennings, each song brings desire and sexuality
front and centre, with all the swagger you’d expect – and more. Bria hopes the record will
be understood as a small contribution to the subversion of a genre with deep patriarchal
roots. Mistress Mary’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Love Ya Now’, from the 1969 album ‘Housewife’,
served as the original inspiration. “It was the first song Duncan and I worked on,” Bria
notes. “It definitely set the tone for the other tracks we picked.”
 Bria’s voice - described as wavering between “sultry and howitzer” - shines on ‘Fruits Of
My Labour’, written and performed by country great, Lucinda Williams. The Walker
Brothers’ ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ is a harmonic (and hypnotic) standout. A
musical explorer who moves fluidly between styles, Bria doesn’t consider herself a
country artist: “I feel as though I’m a visitor here, paying respect to a style that has
informed a part of my musical identity. Country music, as much as any other art form,
should be an arena for representation, expression and provocation. I have a ton of
reverence for artists who came before me and challenged the primarily whiteheterosexual status quo.”
 Salmena and Jennings have toured for years as members of Toronto four-piece FRIGS,
whose 2018 debut ‘Basic Behaviour’ was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Making a
mark in diverse genres from country to punk, both play as permanent members of Orville
Peck’s band.
 ‘Cuntry Covers’ was recorded on the territories of the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee,
the Wendat and the Mississaugas of the Credit. The release also features contributions
from FRIGS drummer Kris Bowering and vocals by Ali Jennings.
 LP pressed on opaque breeze blue vinyl.

Bria is an intimate and incisive labour of love from multi-instrumentalists Bria Salmena
and Duncan Hay Jennings. Catapulted by a deep sense of dread and confusion in the
depths of 2020, Salmena decided to forgo writing her own music. “I wanted to listen for
what might reflect my life back to me,” she says, “six tracks that could be my mirror.” The
result is a pointillistic knockout of a release that weaves a landscape both luscious and a
little rogue; showing us exactly what good songs can do.
 Bria’s internal turbulence seemed to mirror last year’s external instability. When Jennings
and back-up singer Jaime McCuaig moved to The Outside Inn, a hobby farm in Hockley
Hills, Ontario, Bria soon joined. The farm’s living-room-turned-studio proved an ideal
setting for the long-time friends to compile a record of handpicked country covers. They
went searching for songs that could speak to our everyday loneliness, outside and in.
‘Cuntry Covers’ houses it all: well-worn favourites and lesser-known gems.
 The record opens with ‘Green Rocky Road’, as performed by Greenwich Village legend
Karen Dalton. Jennings’ twangy guitar carries Bria’s original inflection and richly textured
vocals, complete with dreamy overlay. ‘Dreaming My Dreams With You’, a rendition of the
Waylon Jennings hit, is followed by John Cale’s ‘Buffalo Ballet’, a lyrical journey through
Abilene, Texas, the endpoint of the Chisholm Trail.
 Engineered and mixed by Duncan Hay Jennings, each song brings desire and sexuality
front and centre, with all the swagger you’d expect – and more. Bria hopes the record will
be understood as a small contribution to the subversion of a genre with deep patriarchal
roots. Mistress Mary’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Love Ya Now’, from the 1969 album ‘Housewife’,
served as the original inspiration. “It was the first song Duncan and I worked on,” Bria
notes. “It definitely set the tone for the other tracks we picked.”
 Bria’s voice - described as wavering between “sultry and howitzer” - shines on ‘Fruits Of
My Labour’, written and performed by country great, Lucinda Williams. The Walker
Brothers’ ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ is a harmonic (and hypnotic) standout. A
musical explorer who moves fluidly between styles, Bria doesn’t consider herself a
country artist: “I feel as though I’m a visitor here, paying respect to a style that has
informed a part of my musical identity. Country music, as much as any other art form,
should be an arena for representation, expression and provocation. I have a ton of
reverence for artists who came before me and challenged the primarily whiteheterosexual status quo.”
 Salmena and Jennings have toured for years as members of Toronto four-piece FRIGS,
whose 2018 debut ‘Basic Behaviour’ was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Making a
mark in diverse genres from country to punk, both play as permanent members of Orville
Peck’s band.
 ‘Cuntry Covers’ was recorded on the territories of the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee,
the Wendat and the Mississaugas of the Credit. The release also features contributions
from FRIGS drummer Kris Bowering and vocals by Ali Jennings.
 LP pressed on opaque breeze blue vinyl.

“And now for a gentleman who’s come all the way from Kingston, Jamaica and a place called Cling Cling Avenue. We present to you the one and only, the Originator, the Godfather, Daddy U Roy!”

U Roy had visited Brighton before but there was something special about that balmy night in August 2017, when he walked out on stage at the Komedia to a hero’s welcome and immediately got the crowd cheering and dancing. There was so much warmth and excitement generated that night, and it’s all captured on this final live album of the reggae superstar’s illustrious career.

U Roy wasn’t quite the originator, but he was the first Jamaican deejay to dominate the Top 3 places on both radio stations and turn his predecessors’ simple exhortations into an artform – one that evolved into a global phenomenon. It was his performances on King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi that made him the talk of Jamaica and led him to Treasure Isle studio, where he voiced hits like Tide Is High and Wear You To The Ball. From then on his catchy, uplifting rhymes could be heard on radios and jukeboxes throughout the island, as well as from behind the control tower of his King Stur Gav sound-system, where MCs like Josey Wales, Brigadier Jerry and Charlie Chaplin learnt their craft. The veteran deejay, who died in February 2021, continued recording and touring into his late seventies, and without abandoning either his musical standards or Rastafarian beliefs. At his peak, U Roy voiced for Jamaica legends like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Bunny Lee and Channel One, in addition to several European labels. What most of his recordings have in common is a sense of hope and often joy, because even Get Up Stand Up is delivered with optimism. They are the qualities that come across on this life-affirming set, recorded in front of an appreciative audience, and backed by some of the UK’s finest reggae musicians.