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LP colour is Transparent Blue. Stu Spasm (Lubricated Goat) + Russell Simins (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) + Kate Bjelland (Babes In Toyland). One off garage-sleaze rock masterpiece. Remastered. Crunt began in 1993 as a kind of indie rock supergroup and had their 1994 debut album touted by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. Crunt's members included guitarist/vocalist Stuart Gray (aka Stu Spasm) and bassist/vocalist Kat Bjelland. Gray was well-known in Australia by the start of Crunt for his past involvement in the bands Salamander Jim and the horn/guitar punk rock of Lubricated Goat, which included drummer Martin Bland who went on to play in the Monkeywrench. As for Bjelland, she was the frontwoman/guitarist for the Minnesota-based Babes in Toyland. Crunt was rounded out by drummer Russell Simins, who was the full-time sticksman for New York City's Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Each of Crunt's members were temporarily residing in Seattle when Gray conjured up the idea of starting a new group. After writing almost a dozen songs, the trio entered Seattle's Ranch studio in February of 1993 with Simins and Gray acting as the producers, and their friend John Dunleavy -- known for his work with the Supersuckers -- filling the role of engineer. A year passed before the group's self-titled album was released on February 15, 1994, on Austin, TX label Trance Syndicate, owned by Butthole Surfers' drummer King Coffey. The record was the imprint's first release from a non-Texas group. The debut of the full-length album coincided with the "Swine"/"Sexy" single on Australia's Insipid label, which was known for releasing singles by other bands such as the Cows, Urge Overkill, and the Jesus Lizard. Prior to the releases, there had been talk that the band was not going to just be a side project, but a full-time band in the same tradition as Babes in Toyland and the Blues Explosion. The trio had even planned a full-scale tour. By January of 1995, however, Crunt came to an end.

The Discomfort Of Evening is the incredible and original soundtrack by prolific Belgian composer Michiel de Malsche to 2020 International Booker Prize winner The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld. Visceral and virtuosic, Rijneveld's novel follows Jas, a girl growing up in a devout Christian family that runs a Dutch dairy farm, whose brother dies in an accident after she wishes he would die instead of her rabbit. Lost in grief, her family falls apart as she becomes consumed by increasingly dangerous fantasies.

Michiel de Malsche has captured the atmosphere and spirit of Rijneveld's book perfectly, moving through moments of confrontation and introspection, sinking into spirals of despair, stasis and subtle hope and change. Brooding ambient basslines, driven by droning murmurs, are offset with melismatic electro-acoustic pieces that embody the novel's haunting and dissonant world, whilst also incorporating manipulated field recordings such as animal sounds and a church service, allowing for a full manifestation of Jas’s world in a completely new way.

De Malsche achieves this by rallying an unusual combination of acoustic instruments (16 in total) played by top-of-their-field musicians, creating a truly unique sound world and tonal palette, including an Ondes Martenot, a 7-stringed Chinese instrument called a guqin, a marimba, a string 6-tet, a toy piano and a bass flute.

De Malsche always confronts all emotional levels of his source material head-on, making his soundtrack into much more than just a fever dream. It is a precise description of, and accompaniment to, a devastatingly impactful book.
Michiel De Malsche is a Belgian composer, multi-instrumentalist and sound designer. He studied classical composition at the conservatories of Rotterdam and Ghent. His music has been performed all over the world and he has composed and produced dozens of soundtracks for contemporary dance, theatre, movies and documentaries.

Besides his work as a contemporary classical composer, he is active as a studio musician and producer in the world of electronic music.

repress

The music veers from post industrial heavy electronics with doomsday guitar punctuated with free jazz like woodwinds to ambient drone surf guitar found sound collage and back again.
One night Reuben Maher and Tony Maimone were sitting in a Brooklyn bar called Troost watching Marcus Cummins play solo soprano sax accompanied by one of those wind up toys that is a monkey playing cymbals. Several weeks later the trio met at Studio G Brooklyn and recorded several hours of improvised music. There were no overdubs. Mixes were done quickly and without much edititg. Tony (Pere Ubu) plays an old EML synthesizer which goes from pastoral clouds to industrial wreckage.Occasionally slide bass slinks through these mixes as well as a 70’s RMI electric piano playing ambient chords that cycle around and around.

Reuben Maher (FCAC) plays acid drenched psychedelic Fender Jazzmaster through pedals and loopers and two Fender Princetons, add to that Moog and Roland synthesizers all live. Throughout this weaves Marcus playing soprano, and alto saxophones sometimes individually sometime together ala Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

P&F Recordings takes a quick break from original material to welcome back everyone’s favourite Episcopalian Minister/DJ: JAZ.

When it comes to left-field floor fillers, JAZ (née John Zahl) is in a league of his own. Over the past 13 years, he's churned out celebrated home listening mixes, jaw-dropping DJ sets, and extended edits with a pace that belies the usual slow-motion tempo of the majority of his selections.

Here, he serves up four colourful, cosmic, dance floor delights. EP opener ‘Cloud Worship’ marries a chugging prog-rock-esque bassline with virtuosic synth work. Then ‘Pick a Toy’ gets us sweating with some serious Caribbean flair.

On the flip side, ‘Puzzle’ delivers exotic chants and an infectious, serpentine beat - and lastly ‘Friday Night’ closes things out with infectious, retro positivity.

While one might wonder how JAZ consistently unearths these obscure -yet essential- gems, it's obvious that he's driven by a higher purpose.

Let the ceremonies begin!

The Globeflower Masters Vol. 1 takes its inspiration from classic soundtrack and cinematic composers such as Axelrod, Morricone, Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier and Piero Umiliani. Created during Summer 2020, this album is the product of a fruitful collaboration between Brighton-based musicians Glenn Fallows (The Impellers / Andres y Xavi) and Mark Treffel (Blue States / The Soul Steppers). These seasoned performing and recording artists have put their abundance of experience and skilful musicianship into effect with aplomb on this album. This is as accomplished a debut release as you will ever hear, and dare we say, a future classic in the making.

The Globeflower Masters project was borne from an idea Glenn had to create an album that leant on the influence of soundtrack and library composers - particularly of the late 60s and early 70s. This rich sonic palette had previously been innate in his writing and composition but, for this album, the direct inspiration was placed front and centre. After penning several sketches, Glenn contacted Mark to fulfil the vision he had for a complete sound. Mark had an arsenal of vintage synths, pianos and other fun toys which could supplement the drums, guitars and bass that Glenn had been working on. As the album progressed, the pair worked increasingly collaboratively, with each of them starting and sharing ideas to curate the final eight finished tracks.

The results are an album of lush, warm, timeless productions that are drenched in strings and classical instrumentation. Awash with atmospheric excursions, it is a listening experience that moves you through moods whilst transporting you to a world of deeply evocative settings and imagined scenarios. The Globeflower Masters Vol. 1 resonates equally as well on a dark melancholic Winter's day as it does sound-tracking a halcyon Summer day. Though influenced by 60s and 70s productions the record is not a simple pastiche, feeling both simultaneously brand new as well as authentically retro.

- Stunning debut album filled with lush, warm, timeless productions.

- Taking inspiration from classic 60s and 70s soundtrack, and cinematic, composers such as Axelrod, Morricone and Gainsbourg

Boogie Angst is proud to announce Boogie Beats Volume 3; the third installment in their critically acclaimed,club-orientatedcompilation series. Known for showcasing fresh new talent as well as industry titans, Boogie Beats has become a well-lovedshowcasefor both dance floors and home playlists alike.

Kraak & Smaak - Fittipaldi

Opening track Fittipaldi is the previously released Euro heater by label heads Kraak & Smaak. Magnificent Clavinet parts sway hand-in-hand against the diced wall of electronic goodness. Classic sounds brought into the present-day. Named after the famous Brazilian 70s F1 driver, Fittipaldi is a nostalgic, nu-disco groover ready to bridge the classic-to-modern gap in any club this summer.

Steven Kimber - I Wanna Be The One (Drop Out Orchestra Remix)

Next up is a Steven Kimber song, by way of a gorgeous Drop Out Orchestra remix. Drop Out Orchestra are the reigning edit kings of the soulful disco scene. Taking on the Birmingham-based vocalist and producer Steven Kimber's I Wanna Be The One,they managed to turn it into a brilliant yacht-house infused bouncer. Beach-proof from the get go, we wouldn't be surprised to hear this one tear up some island clubs this summer.

King Mutapa - Gimme That Funk

Third in line for Boogie Beats Volume 3 is South-African producer King Mutapa with the ever so shiny Gimme That Funk. Heavily influenced by 70s Disco, Funk and Boom Bap, King Mutapa expertly sprinkles funk chops over the shiniest groove we've heard in ages. Moving through several parts of the song, it's clear to hear that Mutapa's the King of bounce and will steadily continue this trajectory into his fresh career.

Pontchartrain - Cheap Plants

Detroit-based producer Pontchartrain (of Kolours LTD., Delusions of Grandeur, Whiskey Disco, Toy-Tonics and Razor-n-Tape fame a.o.) rain steps up to the plate with Cheap Plants; a bouncy and classy house number which could only have come out of the Motor City. Exuberating percussion parts sway ear-to-ear, whilst the mesmerizing piano stabs stay ever present, providing a steady backbone for the menagerie of lively synth swirls.

FUTVRST - The Feeling

New, mysterious Californian indie-vibed and post-disco duo FUTVRST light up the night with The Feeling. Swirling disco chops under laid with an infectious bassline, all dancing around an irresistible arpeggio sequence. FUTVRST takes us back to the blog house days with this one, and we can't wait to hear what's next for them.

The five songs are rounded off with the longer, original mix of Fittipaldi, plus an extended version of the I Wanna Be The One remix—all set to suit your DJ needs.

Listening through the featured tracks it's clear to hear that the compilations are always a brilliant indicator of the label's variety and broad scope in the electronic music scene, whilst always being undeniably funky and danceable. With exciting times ahead for the Netherlands-based label, the Boogie Beats series always feel like a little homecoming.

'Various Artists – Boogie Beats Vol. 3' is out via Boogie Angst on all digital platforms on April 8, with a limited edition vinyl 12" coming soon after.

Belgian composer Otto Lindholm presents his new LP titled FortyTwo, releasing in early June on Totalism with support from Phantom Limb. Consisting of two complementary entities of equal duration (21 minutes), the album really is one. Together, the two longform pieces are like two sides of one coin, like the two motions of a rocking chair; forwards and backwards. The first piece titled “Reg” explores the simplicity of the stroke with veiled, beautiful melodies, while the second called “The Donkey Theory”, built on an octatonic scale, delves into deeper, more atmospheric zones.

FortyTwo is intentional in its duration, as Lindholm tries to question our relationship with time itself. Extending and expanding the natural sounds of the double bass and expertly arranging and layering them, he is able to toy with time, refocusing the experience on the act of listening itself. The results are rich tapestries of voluptuous tones, deeply felt emotions and elongated melodic motifs which are completely enveloping, almost overwhelming. As the Brussels-based composer and double bassist's focus shifts from instrumental performance to composition, he delves deeper into the world of drone music influenced by contemporary classical composition.

Otto Lindholm is a composer and double-bassist based in Brussels. He has released music on Icarus Records, Gizeh Records, Houndstooth, Aurora Borealis Recordings, Bedouin Records, Midira Records, 7k!, Takuroku and other labels. His new LP, FortyTwo, is due to be released in 2022 on Totalism with the support of Phantom Limb. He is a keen collaborator, working alongside many artists such as Ross Tones aka Throwing Snow, Aidan Baker, string quintet BOW, Jean D.L., P.Maze, and others.

LIMITED EDITION DIRTY WHITE VINYL REMASTER.
FIRST TIME AVAILABLE ON VINYL FOR 15 YEARS. 300 COPIES.

17th anniversary remaster. New sleeve artwork with photos by Steve Gullick and pressed on dirty white vinyl.
Ladybird ... one perfect heavy as fuck hypnotic riff played over and over and over and over across 2 sides of an LP.
Back when Shit And Shine formed, the idea was basically to sound like their heroes DRUNKS WITH GUNS and STRANGULATED BEATOFFS, using that same basic formula. A big dumb ass catchy riff played over and over until the joke gets old ... then keep going.
Recorded live at Southern Studios, London (fun fact: the same room where BAUHAUS recorded 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'!) in 2004 with just two basses, a snare drum, a huge cardboard box and a tiny toy Casio sa-1 keyboard (using the "airplane" sound hitting the same key over and over for 41 minutes)
Some still say it's the best thing shit and shine has ever done. I'm not arguing.
Originally released on CD, and super limited vinyl waaay back in 2005. This was Shit And Shine's second release and it sold out REAL quick.
Remastered and beefed the hell up by Craig Clouse at Shit And Shine Ranch 2022.
Don't sleep on it.

Black Truffle is thrilled to continue its program of archival releases from Arnold Dreyblatt with a recently unearthed concert recording from Dreyblatt and Paul Panhuysen’s "Duo Geloso". While isolated examples of Dreyblatt’s collaboration with the legendary Dutch multi-media artist appeared on the CD reissue of Propellers in Love and Black Truffle’s wide-ranging archival Second Selection, this is the first release to document the variety and playfulness of the concerts that Duo Geloso performed throughout Europe in 1987-88. Both working across sonic and visual forms, fascinated by numerical relationship and the infinite complexity of string harmonics, Dreyblatt and Panhuysen had a natural affinity for each other’s work, strengthened through Dreyblatt’s many visits to Het Apollohuis, the important experimental art space Panhuysen helped to found in Eindhoven. However, as René van Peer suggests in the liner notes enclosed within this release, Dreyblatt and Panhuysen took very different approaches to these shared interests; the wonderful energy of these Duo Geloso performances results from the meeting of Dreyblatt’s more austere, compositional process with Panhuysen’s spontaneity.

Recorded at a concert at Het Apollohuis in December 1987 (a series of beautiful photographs of which adorn the LP’s packaging), each of the six pieces presented here is distinctive in terms of instrumentation and performance approach. Using electric guitar and bass tuned by Dreyblatt and played using E-Bow and Panhuysen’s motorised plectrums, the opening ‘Razorburg’ moves slowly through a long series of held notes with a madly insistent tremolo that crosses Dick Dale with a mechanised take on the layered guitars of Günter Schickert. The same pair of instruments returns on ‘Duo for Guitars’, where the mechanised attacks dissolve into a harmonic wash, reminiscent of the machine guitar work of fellow Het Apollohuis alumni Remko Scha. On ‘Love Call’, the guitars and bass are accompanied by Panhuysen’s distant warbled vocals, familiar to Maciunas Ensemble listeners. On the remarkable ‘Synsonic Batterie’, Panhuysen begins proceedings with a solo barrage of electronic percussion on the Synsonics Drum Machine (a simple drum synthesiser produced by the toy manufacturer Mattell), joined eventually by Dreyblatt performing his signature percussive natural harmonics on pedal steel guitar. When Panhuysen adds his bird whistle to the mix, the performance becomes the perfect exemplar of the Duo Geloso’s unique mix of studious close listening and subtle absurdity.

Presented in a gatefold sleeve with archival photos and illuminating liner notes from René van Peer.

The mastermind behind long-running Inner Sunset Recordings out of San Francisco and the elusive Imperial Pressings has once again resurfaced, and resurfaced with ferocity! Inaugurating the all-new imprint PDG Discs, Homero G.’s “March of the Mighty Club Heroes” is a superbly crafted 4-track E.P. that hearkens back to the days of old, when music had unforgettable stories to tell and partying went hand in hand with making memories that lasted a lifetime.

Blast off into outer space with A1, “Red Planet”. The bassline rumbles and the breaks roll with an intensity that propels you forward in a swirl of intergalactic pads. Track A2, “Rusty Robofriend”, is awesomely twinkly, grindy, happy-go-lucky breakbeat jam that your grandfather’s childhood toy robots secretly dance to when nobody is looking. B1’s “Triple Tab Fantasy” is a perky, skippy, stabby, organ-filled breakbeat delight that joyfully progresses with bursts of refreshing positivity around each and every corner. And B2, “March of the Mighty Club Heroes”, is a deep and rainy piano-adorned, break-laced anthem that gives a beautifully sentimental and heartfelt nod to all the true heads out there who will let absolutely nothing stand in their way of going to the club. Not even bad weather.

A fantastic record that’s 100% built for true connoisseurs of dance music, old-schoolers and all-around music lovers alike, “March of the Mighty Club Heroes” possesses a level of detail and emotion-filled storytelling that is rarely witnessed in electronic music these days.
Once again Homero G. delivers, and delivery massively. He’s notorious for not repressing prior releases, regardless of how sought after they may be later on, so grab your copy now. Because when it’s gone, it’s very likely gone for good.

Announcing Dion Lunadon's (of A Place To Bury Strangers / The D4) debut solo album, on Agitated Records. The album was recorded over a three-month period in Brooklyn, NY and features Robi Gonzalez (APTBS) on drums and Blaze Bateh from Bambara on select tracks including 'Fire'. "With 'Fire' I wanted wild and heavy guitars with heavy sentiment in the first vocal line to match. Something that grabs you and demands attention. Not background music," Lunadon explains of the track. The album also features mixing by Chris Woodhouse (Mayyors, Ty Segall, The Intelligence, Thee Oh Sees) on select tracks including 'Com/Broke'. From cutting his teeth back home in New Zealand as a member of The D4 to his current role as bassist of Brooklyn-based A Place to Bury Strangers, Dion Lunadon has played in some form of a rock & roll band his entire life. During a short break in touring with APTBS, Lunadon had a rush of inspiration in the form of a Dion Lunadon creative spasm — a neurotic impulse to make a batch of songs and do it right then and right there. What resulted is quite a jump away from his work in APTBS and draws more influence from bands like Toy Love and The Gun Club, as well as New Zealand unknowns such as Gestalt and Supercar. 500 only pressed / black vinyl theres 200 for UK/EU only

LIMITED TO 500 COPIES // HIGH-QUALITY TIP-ON COVER // INCL. DOWNLOAD CODE

OFFICIAL RE-ISSUE OF GÖTZ TANGERDING'S BHAKTI JAZZ DEBUT ALBUM !!!

Born in Donauwörth, a small town in Bavaria in 1951, Götz Tangerding studied piano to concert level at the Leopold Mozart Conservatory in Augsburg. In the 1970s he started to make a name for himself on the local Munich jazz scene and traveled through East Europe with drummer Rudi Roth. In 1976 he came to New England Conservatory of Music in Boston to study compositions with George Russell and Jaki Byard with whom he played in the New York Big Band in 1978.

In 1980 he returned to Munich, Germany and founded his formation Bhakti Jazz as well his own record label Bhakti Records. "First Step", recorded at the Loft in Munich on May 1st and 2nd that same year, was the debut album and showcases the huge talent of the young and gifted band leader.

The two best known tracks are probably "Glimpses of Truth" and "Eastern Moods" which have been re-released back to back on 45RPM single by another german reissue label in the late 2000s. However, these are just two out of nine outstanding compositions from the prolific pianist to be found on this album. Tangerding's tasty style of playing, combined with the psychedelic maze created by his fellow band members on flute (Alan Ett), sax (Alan Ett again!), drums (Rudi Roth), and bass (Urs Hämmerli) plus Lisa Dawson's exotic vocal harmonies are sure grab your ear for a mind-blowing experience.

Götz Tangerding, who died much too young early in 1991, left us with dozens of wonderful compositons. "First Step" does not contain a single weak track. It's a true masterpiece and definitely one of the finest independent german jazz albums from the 1980s.

This is the first OFFICIAL RE-ISSUE - limited to 500 (HAND-STAMPED!) COPIES. The record is housed in a HIGH QUALITY TIP-ON record jacket and comes with a FULL ALBUM DOWNLOAD CODE.

8 years after his debut album entitled "What You Give", it's time for the Greek musician's second long player! No doubt, this is Bengoa's most mature work to date and a product of countless studio hours. Pushing his electronic sound forward, the Greek musician, dj, songwriter and label owner, delivers an outstanding 9-track LP, floating between trip hop, nu-jazz, mid and downtempo motifs. The extensive use of physical instruments like saxophone, trumpet, guitars, piano, percussion and bass add musicality and deepness to the whole record, on which Bengoa has also written most of the lyrics himself. "Music For Your Red Parts" flows like an undercurrent of nervy isolation and late night melancholy, toying with the emotional structure of it's own sound. Songs that signal something memorably, indelibly and hypnotically sexy, without talking about sex. Music that you feel - strong, soft and filled with emotion. It wants to meet you in your deepest parts. It will play games with you, fill you with sorrow, or send you into a deep reverie. out now through SAOS RECORDS.

Famed free jazz concert registration of an early New Direction for the Art performance. Recorded in 1971. Old-style Gatefold LP, with rare photographs & extensive liner notes by Alan Cummings.

The performance by Takayanagi Masayuki New Direction for the Art at the Gen’yasai festival on August 14, 1971 was an intense, bruising collision between the radical, anti-establishment politics of the period in Japan and the febrile avant-garde music that had begun to emerge a few years before. The ferocious performance that you can hear here was received with outright hostility by the audience, who responded first with catcalls and later with showers of debris that were hurled at the performers. Takayanagi though described the group’s performance to jazz magazine Swing Journal as a success, “an authentic and realistic depiction of the situation”.

In 1962, Takayanagi, bassist Kanai Hideto and painter Kageyama Isamu went on to form an AACM-style musicians’ collective called the New Century Music Research Institute. Every Friday, members gathered at Gin-Paris, a chanson bar in the fashionable Ginza district of Tokyo, to push the outer limits of jazz creativity.

But the pivotal moment for his music was the creation a new trio version of his New Directions group in August 1969, with the free bassist Yoshizawa Motoharu and a young drummer Toyozumi (Sabu) Yoshisaburō. Experiments eventually led to the creation of two basic frameworks for improvisation that Takayagi referred to as Mass Projection and Gradually Projection.

“La Grima” (tears), the piece that was played at the Gen’yasai festival, is a mass projection and listening to it, you can get a clear sense of what Takayanagi was aiming at. Mass projection involves a dense, speedy and chaotic colouring in of space that destroys the listener’s perception of time, and thus of musical development.

The ferocity of the performance of “La Grima” at the Gen’yasai Festival in Sanrizuka on August 14, 1971 was consciously grounded by Takayanagi in a particular historical moment, ripe with conflict and violence. A month after the festival, on September 16, three policemen would die during struggles at the site. This was the context that the three-day Gen’yasai Festival existed within. The line-up reflected the radical politics of the movement, with leading free jazz musicians like Takayanagi, Abe Kaoru, and Takagi Mototeru appearing alongside radical ur-punkers Zuno Keisatsu, heavy electric blues bands like Blues Creation, and Haino Keiji’s scream-jazz unit Lost Aaraaff.

New Direction for the Arts trio topped the bill on the opening day, playing an aggressive, uncompromising “mass projection” set of polyphonic improvisation. Alongside drummer Hiroshi Yamazaki and saxophonist Kenji Mori, Takayanagi soloed hard and continuously for forty minutes. This was performance as precisely calibrated metaphor: three musicians responding to the demands of the moment with instinctive force and fury, untethered by rules, leaderless yet not rudderless (the direction part of the group’s name was no accident). The piece was entitled La Grima – tears - and the fusion between the palpable anger of the performance and hopeless sadness of its title were also perfectly apt for the situation. This was a fight that the state was always going to win. Yet, by all accounts, the band’s set went down like a fart at a funeral. The band were showered with catcalls and debris throughout, and by chants of “go home” when the music finally came to an end.

However, looking back at the event in the year-end issue of Japan’s leading jazz magazine, Swing Journal, Takayanagi was surprisingly upbeat: New Directions brought a solid political consciousness to our performance and succeeded in an authentic and realistic depiction of the situation. But journalism revealed its superficiality in its inability to penetrate the core of the music. I don’t know much about anyone else, but we at least left behind a competent record.

It’s a fascinating statement in many ways. Perhaps on one-hand it can be read as stubborn, solipsistic and self-justifying, yet in conjunction with his statement in 1971 there are points that guide us towards an understanding of just what Takayanagi intended with his performance at the festival. As Kitazato Yoshiyuki has argued, it becomes an almost religious act, directed at the earth deities of the land. A union of anger, sorrow and malevolence that can be placed nowhere effective, all it can do is find expression and channeling. The forcible land seizures at Narita, the eviction of farmers from land that had been in families for generations, the destruction of communities: none of this can be prevented, not least by an artistic action. All that can be done is an attempt to mark the land itself, to soak it with the combined force of emotions and the volume of the performances, to bury something there that cannot be drowned out, even by the coming roar of jet engines.

‘Social Graces’ is the debut album from Australian
post-punk outfit Loose Fit. Made up of Kaylene Miller,
Anna Langdon, Max edgar and Richard Martin.
 Kaylene and Anna met in fashion school and instantly
bonded through their love of experimental music.
 After toying with lo-fi bedroom recordings, the pair
recruited Max edgar on guitar and Richard Martin on
bass and started making some actual noise.
 Kaylene is also behind the cult knitwear brand WAHWAH Australia, with items worn by Noel Fielding,
Courtney Barnett and Kim Gordon.
 The band’s rhythm-heavy sound contains echoes of
UK post-punk titans such as PiL and A Certain Ratio.
 “Their post-punk indebted sound is barbed, wiry, and
overwhelmingly infectious.” - Clash
 “This is music to truly let loose to” - So Young
Magazine
 “If you thought they were going to make a quiet
entrance, you thought wrong.” - DIY
 “Loose Fit have ever been producers of the most
kinetic percussive tracks that have a restless and
visceral energy about them.” - Backseat Mafia
 For fans of Shopping, The Slits, Delta 5, Dry Cleaning,
Amyl & The Sniffers, Sonic Youth, A Certain Ratio

FLAPAAaaam!!! the first snare roll leaves no doubt: this is a dub album, reminiscing the pioneers of the genre like King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry and Scientist and of course, it's a tribute to the revolutionary music of Bob Marley and the Wailers. The original record from which these dubs derive - "Bob" by Kapelle So&So feat. Cpt. Yossarian - was recorded in 2020, the year of Bob Marley's 75th birthday. Due to the strict lockdown all the tracks were recorded separately - which perfectly qualifies them for a dub rework. The musicians involved took great care to dig deeply into the original music, absorbing every note of the Wailers' recordings and translating it to their own instrument. But at this point we leave common paths, because what would be Aston Barrett's electric bass turns out to be a tuba and his brother Carly's distinguished bassdrum sound resurges on an old leather suitcase. We are talking of a traditional bavarian folk band (trumpet, cornet, tuba, accordion, guitar, drums) playing Bob Marley's sacred music. Simultaneously seriously sticking to the original score and adding color to the music by the masterful use of their rather uncommon instruments. What sounds like an impossible -almost blasphemous- endeavour actually sounds pretty neat and leads to the next big venture: A dub album paying tribute to the music of Bob Marley and the Wailers. The dub versions naturally lead on the abstract that was introduced by the uncommon orchestration by muting or emphasizing single instruments and sending them into the sonic orbit. The melody itself is almost completely left out. Nevertheless one never loses one's orientation since the defining elements of the songs alternate skillfully, vanishing in clouds of reverb, losing themselves in echo feedbacks and then popping up again, guiding us through the song. Despite being focused mainly on bass and drums you will catch yourself singing along Marley's part more than once thereby proving the profound impact of this divine music on our souls and our common musical knowledge. Bob Marley in Dub is the abstract of an abstract and still manages to transport the heart and soul inherent of the music. With all due respect to the original, Cpt. Yossarian manages to illuminate nuances of the material yet unheard and takes us on a trip through his conception of this otherwise well known material. Following the tradition of the before mentioned mentors of dub music he uses his mixing desk, a couple of studio effects and whatever odd sounding kids toys to present us with his approach to a musical genre that defined so many styles of music that followed.

7 years after debut album “Universes” on Ninja Tune, Seven Davis Jr. returns with the official follow up titled “I See The Future” on his own Secret Angels imprint.

The 11 song adventure provides a fun concentrated blend of deep house, soul, disco, funk, electronica and underground textures. The album brings together Sev’s different flavors into a finely aged familiar yet new atmosphere.

First two tracks “Records” featuring L3ni (member of Natasha Diggs Soul In The Horn collective in New York) and “U Already Know” featuring bassist Neil White (half of Canadian Rock duo The Carps), were originally produced in London early 2016 at a studio provided to Jr. by Domino Publishing located in the basement of a run down home rumored to formerly belong to The Rolling Stones.

Title track “I See The Future” was produced in Houston Texas early 2017 and features fellow Texan Oye Manny (Sure Shot, Secret Angels), who co-produced the track. “Figure It Out” featuring LA soulful house DJ Juliet Mendoza (Dusk Recordings), was recorded early 2021 post-lockdown. While “Escape The Matrix” was a demo produced around 2013 then reworked in 2020.

“Share Your Toys” featuring Toribio (front man of NYC live band Conclave), “Boys & Girls” and “N’Joy” were all produced in Los Angeles late 2019 pre-covid. “Mission Completed” was produced during 2020 in Seattle Washington, where Sev spent lockdown. “Let’s Travel...” the most recent of the recordings, was produced in Houston Texas over the summer of 2021 in a hotel room during a road trip.

Closing track “New Life, Who Dis” was produced in early 2019 and has a different origin. The moody instrumental was first made for a celebrity that Sev had been invited to ghost produce for. We cannot mention said celeb (because, NDA). After many sessions it became clear the celeb only wanted criminally watered down and copy cat ideas. So Sev respectfully declined the invitation and decided to save this track for something special.

All vocals were recorded between 2020 and 2021 after Sev recovered from Covid, gratefully with no long term damage. A situation that caused him to retrain his vocals and breathing skills. An experience that he considers to have had a rejuvenating effect on his life.

Cover art by Carlos Parra (a.k.a Kako, Sure Shot, Secret Angels)

“The album’s called *I See The Future* because it’s mostly a collection of songs I’d been keeping in my vault for whatever reason. Instrumentals I’d been really sitting on, letting cook longer than usual. Songs that needed more time, in this case years, to form. Usually it hasn’t taken too long to get ideas out but for this project I wanted different results. Plus so much happened in the world it’s made me become a different person/artist. So my process is different. All in all it’s fun uplifting vibes about enjoying life and moving on to better, hope people pick up on that. ” - Sev

During 1978 to 1980, Fashion released one album and a handful of indie club hit singles mixing Punk & Reggae vibes. They toured the US extensively supporting The Police in 1979. Limited Edition of 800 copies 2LP set with printed inner bags. All tracks completely remastered. Contains every studio recording of the first lineup of Fashion including US singles. Includes unreleased tracks. Liner notes from lead singer & Guitarist Luke Sky. Fashion went through several line-up overhauls during its initial existence between 1978 and 1984. John Mulligan (synthesiser, bass) and Dik Davis' (drums) were constants, but the band's frontman changed with each of the band's three albums. Post-punk years: Fàshiön Music Fashion was formed originally as Fàshiön Music, in Birmingham, England, in 1978, and consisted of John Mulligan (bass, synthesizer), Dik Davis (drums), and Al James (vocals, guitar). James became known as Luke Sky, or simply Luke or Lûke (short for "Luke Skyscraper" - a reference to the Star Wars character Luke Skywalker and the fact that James was tall and thin), while John Mulligan was known simply as Mulligan and Dik Davis simply as Dïk (or "Dik Mamba" on their debut single). In 1978, they also founded their own Fàshiön Music label; from this point forward, the band was generally (though not completely consistently) identified as Fashion, as distinct from the name of their self-owned label. Fashion released their first two singles ("Steady Eddie Steady" and "Citinite") as independent issues on the UK in November 1978 and June 1979 respectively. The group was quickly picked up by I.R.S., who put out a third single in the US in September 1979, "The Innocent". Their sound was varied, playing punk, post-punk and indie repertoire, although Mulligan at that time also had a synthesizer which later characterized the future synthpop years of the band. Still signed to I.R.S., in 1979 they recorded and released their first album, Product Perfect. All three members were credited as having written the songs collectively. Between 1978 and 1980, Fashion played shows with performers such as Toyah Willcox, UB40, Hazel O'Connor, & Billy Idol, who later became well known. A then-recently formed Duran Duran opened their shows; they toured the UK with U2, both the UK and US with The Police, and opened for The B-52's on their first British tour. In March 1980, no longer associated with I.R.S., Fashion released their "Silver Blades" single, again on their own Fàshiön Music label. Later in 1980 they also released one more song, "Let Go", on a Birmingham bands compilation called Bouncing in the Red (EMI). In June 1980, after a last gig in London with U2, Luke James left the band, and later moved to the United States.

Athlete Whippet return to Toy Tonics with an EP showcasing emotionally layered dance tracks and their refusal to stick to genre conventions. The duo are synonymous with sublime cuts that are just as suited to late nights and early mornings on the dancefloor, as they are to home-listening, this perfectly exhibited on the "Noguiera" EP.

The four-tracker is named after a remote place in the mountains around Rio de Janeiro where it was made on a creatively fruitful getaway in 2021. It's sentimental, joyful, bouncy, and futuristic, and showcases the duo’s musicality combining bass guitar and piano, with hardware synths, loops and fragmented vocal samples.

Robin explains - "Spending time in Brazil in recent years was a blessing. The nature, culture and musical heritage over there is beautiful. Mostly in solitude, as I ended up spending most of my time in a remote place in the mountains around Rio, music became the only real emotional outlet for a while. So in a way this is a record of dance music created as far away as we’ve ever been from the dance floor!"

Both from a live performance background, Robin and Avi met studying at Goldsmiths London and found their way to the dance floor via playing in bands, Robin a guitarist, Avi classically trained in trumpet and later on picking up the keys. Absorbing the community of South London, they eventually set up artist collective and record label Squareglass - a proudly established home for new artists coming out of the area. They’ve remixed for the likes of Rhythm Section, collaborated with Olugbenga, and their releases have come with reworks from Ross from Friends, Cameo Blush, Baltra and Seb Wildblood. In 2021, their hybrid sound found a new home with tastemaker German label Toy Tonics who released their "Vesta" EP in May, followed by a run of European tour dates including Funkhaus Berlin, Phonox London and Amsterdam Dance Event.

Sam KDC presents the first Auxiliary 12" EP of 2022, entitled Shedding Skin, a varied four-track odyssey that goes far and beyond the conventions of techno and 170 bass music. The EP opens up with the ominous underworld tones of Silver Serpent. Menacing snarls of metallic synthesis set against the backdrop of frenetic hi-hats and slow pulsing heavyweight bass make this a surefire way to inject something unique into any DJ set.

False Idols then takes things a step further with its relentless percussive torrent, set against a sea of uneasy undertones that wash in and out of proceedings. Prophecy Unfurling introduces breakbeats to devastating effect, as the journey continues underground. Dystopian pulses of synths interacting with the breaks play off each other in a distinct fashion that has become a trademark of Sam's after 2019's Omen Rising LP on Horo.

Finally, Sam brings it all to a head with the uptempo frenzy of Bloodstone. It's been a while since Sam has toyed with this tempo, but Bloodstone shows just why he's revered as one of the true innovators of 170. An almost playful bouncing ring-modulated bass tone sets the scene for Sam's now trademark ominous dark palette to paint a truly captivating picture for the listener. Shedding Skin shows an artist at the top of his craft truly doing his own thing.

By All Means (Feat. Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard,
Lee Ritenour, Seawind Horns)
Reissue of Alphonse Mouzon's killer 1981 album 'By All Means', featuring
Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard and Lee Ritenour - the album is a
classic of the period, blending funk, disco, and improvisational creativity
At the time of his death in 2016 at the age of 68, drummer, composer and multiinstrumentalist Alphonse Mouzon had for decades been a major force within the
jazz, fusion, R&B and pop arenas. The early eighties was a time when Mouzon
toyed with disco and channelled funk. His musical amalgam was a far cry from
the Saturday Night Fever brand – he brought more funk, more soul, more
spontaneous creativity into the mix.
For 'By All Means', Mouzon brought together musicians who were masters in
virtually any musical style. The rhythm section belonged to the who's who of the
LA studio scene. Electric bassist Scott Edwards had worked with such stars as
Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & Aretha Franklin. 21- year- old guitarist Paul
Jackson Jr. was just beginning his stellar career, had recorded with Aretha
Franklin and within a few years he would participate in Michael Jackson's Thriller
and Bad and would go on to work with the likes of Elton John, George Duke, Al
Jarreau, and Marcus Miller. Lee Ritenour began playing and recording with
Mouzon in 1974. At the age of 17, Ritenour first worked with Tony Bennett. He
was also brought in to put a little more rock in the rock 'n roll of a couple of takes
on Pink Floyd's seminal "The Wall". Over the years he has recorded with many of
the giants of pop, rock, and jazz, and his own recordings have had a slew of
Grammy nominations.
Herbie Hancock stands beside Mouzon as the other major presence on the
recording. Like Mouzon, at the beginning of the eighties he delved into disco,
adding danceable grooves to the mix. During this period Mouzon was Herbie's
drummer on four of Hancock's albums, so it seems appropriate that these two
like- minded musicians came together for this recording. The Seawind Horns
provide the last needed ingredient in this tasty musical concoction. Guesting on
the title track, trumpet great Freddie Hubbard's contributes a flashy solo.
By All Means, get out on your private dance floor and get up with it.

Anlässlich des 25-jährigen Label-Jubiläums erscheint erstmalig seit zehn Jahren auf Thrill Jockey eine Wiederauflage des Jeff Parker Albums "The Relatives" aus dem Jahr 2005 als Vinyl mit MP3-Download Coupon. Jeff Parker ist Multiinstrumentalist und bekannt als Mitglied von Tortoise sowie für seine Arbeit mit Isotope 217, Fred Anderson, Rob Mazurek, Tricolor, Chicago Underground, Brian Blade Fellowship, Makaya McCraven, Toumani Diabaté, Matana Roberts und Meshell Ndegeocello. Das Album wurde von John McEntire aufgenommen und Parker wird von Percussionist Chad Taylor, Bassist Chris Lopes und Pianist Sam Barsheshet begleitet.

Heavenly Recordings announce the release of ‘Heavenly remixes 3&4 - Andrew Weatherall volume 1&2’, a brace of compilation albums collecting together some of the finest remixes from the label’s long-time friend, collaborator and go-to remixer. These compilations follow ‘Heavenly remixes 1 & 2’, which showcases some of the label’s other great remixes.

 By the time Heavenly was born in the spring of 1990, Andrew Weatherall was already an inspirational sounding board, as well as a fellow traveller on the bright new road that stretched out ahead, thanks to the massive cultural liberation of acid house. Back then every energised meeting could be turned into a fortuitous opportunity in this burgeoning new underground economy. Bored of your job? Start playing records out! Start a club night! Get in the studio!
Start a label! Just don’t stand still. Commandments Andrew would follow for the rest of his life.

 At the start of things, Andrew was a regular visitor to Capersville - the pre-Heavenly press office run by label founder Jeff Barrett (soon to become Andrew’s manager). It was there that he famously picked up a copy of Primal Scream’s unloved second album and singled out a
track that would later become ‘Loaded’, after being given an instruction to “fucking destroy” it by the band’s Andrew Innes; it was there too that the idea to remix the first Heavenly release
came about.

 Andrew’s mix of that first Heavenly record is very much a product of its time. ‘The World According To Sly and Lovechild’ is a swirling bass punch topped with a hypnotic marimba line and the kind of ecstatic diva vocal that you’d hear coming out of the speakers all night at postShoom clubs like Yellow Book.

 His take on the label’s next release - Saint Etienne’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix of Two Halves’) - would set the template for his next three decades of audio exploration. A drawn-out imperial dub, the track builds and builds with a moody intensity (partly down to the
melodica played by Weather Prophets legend Pete Astor) that’s far more Kingston JA at dusk than Kingston-upon-Thames at kicking out time. It’s both a dancefloor record to get lost in and
headphone psychedelia of the highest order - a perfect example of what he did better than anyone else.

 Between 1990 and his untimely death in 2020, Andrew fed more Heavenly bands through the mixing desk than those of any other label. Consistently, he returned visionary music to the
office, often in person for (at least) one ceremonial playback - a ritual that would involve the volume cranked up high and Andrew rocking back on his heels, eyes closed, lost in the alchemy of it all.

 Each time, he would warp and twist originals into beautiful new shapes - elasticated club records that might evoke Detroit techno one second and Throbbing Gristle the next, before wheel-spinning into something akin to The Fall produced by King Tubby.

 Andrew’s studio adventures would always be guided by that early advice to destroy the source material. It’s why he was the first name that came up when remixes were discussed; the first number on the speed dial. Listening back to these remixes now - to thirty years of glorious outsider sounds - it bangs home again just how fucking good Andrew was.

Nicfit are a four-piece punk band from Nagoya, Japan. Comprising Hiromi on vocals, Charley on guitar, KenKen on bass and Kuwayama on drums the group are by turns melodic and menacing. Nicfit are a nervous itch, incessant and impossible to predict. They flip between head-down tumbles of hardcore bounce and freaked feedback clamber with glee, sounding as casual as a slap in the face.
Formed in 2009 after Charley relocated from San Diego to explore the Japanese punk underbelly, Nicfit bonded through a mutual appreciation of Essential Logic, Magazine, Black Flag and Wire. They quickly recorded a demo and started opening for groups like DMBQ, Thee Oh Sees, Total Control and Wimps. To date the band have released a debut 7” EP, a split cassette with Pinprick Punishment and most recently shared a 7” with their comrades M.A.Z.E. too. Now they’ve gathered a spiky new batch of hyperactive songs together into their enthralling debut LP entitled ‘Fuse’, which Upset The Rhythm will release this December.

‘Fuse’ is a flexing treat of a debut album, packed with browbeaten stomp, taut breakouts, guitars that sound more akin to warning sirens and an astute railing vocal delivery. ‘Fuse’ was recorded, mixed and mastered at the Geru Studio in Toyota City with the help of Shigeru Matsui at the board. These ten original blasts of song, and one cover of the Urinals (‘Ack, ack, ack’) are as pummelsome as they are keen to race against the clock. Total life-affirming trample, with pointed metallic moments and glammy undercurrents that forever soar out of the sprawl.

CMD aka Corina MacDonald is a Montreal-based DJ, producer and host of the program Modular Systems on CKUT 90.3 FM. She has released on JACKTONE, EXPERIMENTAL HOUSEWIFE’S PERFECT LOCATION RECORDS, FUR TRADE RECORDINGS, and BASIC_SOUNDS. For her vinyl debut, she brings us four entrancing, slightly dubby and acidic techno dance floor cuts perfect for the smooth edges of the late night.

The A-side opens up with “Social Factory Reset”, modular jacking techno with an infectious acid swell and patient pads. “Shaping Inner Space” is an apt title. The tempo is slightly faster than A1, and it sounds like an extraterrestrial night out. Euphoric synth twists bring in the break while the bass drum toys with the rhythm only to zap it back home with the force of cosmic gravity.

“Dream-Life Cycles” opens up the B-side tough, with an acid line and bass drum syncopation sure to bring out the stomp. Modular tweets fire off in stereo; pads bring in the harmony; and a nuanced and pleasantly surprising vocal line brings the euphoria on home. “Body Locked” closes the EP with an athletic, cosmic techno track that doesn’t shy away from the trance palette. Step out of your body and onto the dance floor!

Third album from one of the best French garage/shoegaze/dream-pop
bands around. ‘Vacuum Sealed’ has the potential to become one of theguitar classics of the early 20s.
Bryan’s Magic Tears are made up of musicians who also have - or had - a footin the bands Villejuif Underground, Pleasure Principle, Bisous de Saddam and Dame Blanche.
Like all great albums, it opens with a screaming introduction (“Greeting From The Space Boys”, a middle finger raised by the whole band from the stratosphere - or Lauriane Petit on bass and vocals, Raphael Berrichon and Medhi Briand on guitars, Paul Ramon on drums).
The band goes from one breathtaking track to another (“Excuses” sung by Lauriane like a Kim Deal composition, “Sad Toys” or the paroxysm of dancing melancholia, “Pictures Of You” or the best guitar riff ever played with a vibrato).
One could believe that Bryan’s Magic Tears is the gifted son of The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream. In 1991 the album would have been recorded by a British band and released by Creation. Except that we are thirty years later and it’s made by a band with a Norman soul and published by Born Bad Records.

Longpigs were the alternative rock band who came to prominence in the 1990s Britpop scene
with their breakout debut album ‘The Sun Is Often Out’. Fronted by Crispin Hunt, the group also
featured guitarist Richard Hawley, Simon Stafford on bass and drummer Andy Cook.
• Originally released in 1999 on U2’s Mother label, ‘Mobile Home’ was the band’s second and final
release. Highlights include the singles ‘Blue Skies’ and ‘The Frank Sonata’ and the Stephen Street
produced track ‘Gangsters’.
• The album is now issued on vinyl for the very first time, pressed on 180g heavyweight clear vinyl,
housed in a UV gloss sleeve.

Amateur Dramatics is Awkward Corners AKA Chris Menist's second LP in the space of a year. In 2020 – a time when the global pandemic gave artists more time and space to think about their music – Chris took his collaborations and compositions to a different level. Having already collaborated remotely with Sarathy Korwar, as well as Kitty Whitelaw through Karthik from Flamingods' Isolate/Create/Collaborate community, Chris turned his thoughts towards a new project. Amateur Dramatics is influenced by the events of early 2021 and alludes to the general atmosphere of political life in the UK right now where we are chivvied along by people who seem woefully unqualified to be commanding authority. Musically, the LP builds on foundations of the meditative, devotional electronic aspects of previous LP Dislocation Songs but this time frames it more in a jazz context with significant collaborations with Collocutor and Maisha's Tamar Osborn on four tracks.Vocals (from Kitty Whitelaw) feature on an Awkward Corners track for the first time, as well as double bass provided by David Leahy.The result is a thoughtful and deep listening 40 minute listening experience.

Verisimilitude’ continues drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey’s effort to shatter the jazz piano trio tradition by extending the form to encompass the influence of the likes of Feldman, Debussy and Xenakis.
Now available on vinyl for the first time.
One of the most in-demand drummers in improvised music - he has collaborated extensively with the likes of John Zorn, Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, Claire Chase, George Lewis, and Roscoe Mitchell, among myriad others - Sorey is also in the vanguard of artists working in that liminal space between spontaneous composition and notated music.
The New Yorker calls Sorey “among the most formidable denizens of that inbetween zone,” while The Wall Street Journal has called him “a composer of radical and seemingly boundless ideas.”
Featuring Cory Smythe on piano and Chris Tordini on bass, the trio’s first release, ‘Alloy’ (Pi 2014), was described as “shadowy and elegant” by The New York Times. His 2015 release, ‘The Inner Spectrum of Variables’, which also features the same group joined by a string trio, was called “devastatingly gorgeous” by The Chicago Reader and “a genuine masterwork” by Stereogum.
The new work utilizes a wide array of percussion, along with judicious use of electronics to explore a wider textural soundscape. The result is a far-reaching and intensely beautiful work that daringly blurs the boundaries between composition and improvisation.
Personnel: Tyshawn Sorey (drums, percussion), Corey Smythe (piano, toy piano, electronics), Chris Tordini (bass)

Zwerm is a Belgian-Dutch electric guitar quartet (with a backyard rehearsal shed located in Antwerp) that operates along the borders between styles and traverses traditions that are typically not convergent. Zwerm rhymes Larry Polansky with Nadah El Shazly and are galvanized by the likes of guitars pioneers like The Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth, the microtonal DYI-er Harry Partch, Middle Eastern sonorities and the prog-madness of Kind Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. ‘Musical adventure’ is not just a hollow cliché for this quartet, but a genuine commitment. Zwerm calls itself a ‘guitar quartet’, but that can be interpreted broadly as well as with a pinch of salt: “If we want to do something on instruments we don’t really master, we’ll just figure out a way to make it work.”
Toon Callier, Johannes Westendorp, Kobe van Cauwenberghe and Bruno Nelissen all met in 2007 while working on a project with Glenn Branca. A new guitar quartet was born and it became clear rather quickly that staying in the strictly contemporary compositions lane was not for this quartet-with-five-to-six-members (an organizational chart is available upon request).
An appetite for new and lasting collaborations has been a constant theme throughout their artistic parcours. The group has shared stages with theatrical producers like Walpurgis and Post uit Hessdalen, dancers such as Ecce and with the musicians Fred Frith, Stephen O’Malley, Shiva Feshareki, Rudy Trouvé, Mauro Pawlowski, Larry Polansky, Eric Thielemans, Yannis Kyriakides, François Sarhan, Serge Verstockt and Stefan Prins. These projects have not always translated into records, but they have been decisive in creating a unique musical approach. In 2015, when Zwerm was asked by De Handelsbeurs to collaborate with Fred Frith, they proceeded to pen a few new musical sketches over which Firth sublimely improvised. In 2018 ‘Badminton in Tehran’ was released, their first record that was made up completely of only the group’s compositions.
“a basket full of buttons here
and if you push the wrong one: fear
and if you push the right one: love
or maybe none of the above”
The route that Zwerm has taken is often defined by the question “What if... ?” - like a dart thrown at a musical map, not quite blindly, but naive enough to lead to unexpected endings.
“What if we play Renaissance pieces written by John Dowland, but instead of playing lutes we play these tunes with a Telecaster – and then jam it through effect pedals and an amplifier?”
“What if we connect one hundred guitar pedals and just leave our guitars at home?”
“What if we record a record with ten different one-page-pieces that we found on the Internet?”
In 2020 our metaphorical dart landed on “What if we tried microtonality?”.
‘Microtonality’ sounds a bit creepy, but actually there is nothing to be afraid of: there are no out-of- tune notes, just alternate notes. On the continents where Western musical theory is less stringently applied, microtonality is the rule, and has become the subject of many deep and thoughtfully written theories. However for Zwerm, this phenomenon occurs in many, often surprisingly lighthearted forms. A dilapidated piano that has settled into a beautiful microtonal tuning of its own accord, enthusiastic choral singing, a guitar whose three strings are tuned a quarter-tone higher, a saz (Turkishquarter-tone lute), a maddening guitar pedal, ...
"the dreams they were convicted for telling only lies reality came after for claiming to be wise what you don’t see is what you get just never light a spark I’m a crow in the dark”
“And… what if we work with a drummer?” Enter Karen Willems - dummer, extraordinaire, and ardent player in groups, projects and collaborations galore. One chance meeting and the deal was done. It was obvious before the start that Willems was the versatile and creative percussionist-in-a-toy-store necessary for this project. And in the studio, to our delight, she demonstrated an easy dexterity when switching quickly from one idea to the next.
At the reins behind the scenes was producer Rudy Trouvé, who – during previous sessions for ‘Badminton in Terhran’, when the classically trained guitarists went completely off the rails, staring deeply and forlornly into their scores, looking for answers – was able to pinpoint the problem and get the wagons rolling in the right direction again. Completing the team were Mark Dedecker (recording)and Joris Calluwaerts (mixing).
The results are in and it’s called ‘ Great Expectations’ – a title that, in several ways, fits perfectly with these strange times.‘Great Expectations’ goes wide! Zwerm is at its best when it can run along the borders between style and across traditions that otherwise would not necessarily intersect. The most straightforward rockers have a proggy tinge while the dreamy psychedelic songs lean more toward Richard Youngs. And if a nice melody dared come to close to becoming a ‘Kit-Katjingle’, then barbs-a-la-Pere-Ubu were trailed, tracked, found and promptly embedded. ‘Heavy Machinery’ sits neatly somewhere between Captain Beefheart and Richard Wagner, and ‘On My Way To Aguno’, set to an Iranian folk song chord progression, grew into a hyper-personal lullaby. Zwerm used the saz (Turkish lute) and the sinter (Moroccan gnawa bass instrument) without falling into pastiche psychedelia, but you can still sense the orient.

Mwandishi: one of the most influential combos in the history of electric Jazz. This is Herbie Hancock's creature caught live at the Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival in France on July 21st, 1971. H. Hancock - piano and Fender Rhodes, Bennie Maupin - saxes, bass cl. and flute, Eddie Henderson - trumpet, Julian Priester - trombone, Buster Williams - bass and Billy Hart - drums. A highly progressive form of modern Jazz based on the mix of different elements. Some sort of Afro-Electric-Funk sound journey where waves of multiple pulsating sounds develop in a continuous alternation between tension and release. A marvelous band for which live performances often show more than studio recordings.

By the time Toy Doys issued Bare Faced Cheek as the inaugural LP of their own Nit Records
label, bassist Flip had been replaced by Dean Robson and drummer Happy Bob by Martin
Yule, with Olga still the vocal focal point. “Yul Brynner Was A Skinhead” is the best of the
bunch, “Neville Is A Nerd” and “Quick To Quit The Quentin” are typical Toy Dolls punk
piss-takes, and there are digs at a hotel and a local launderette too. Everything is delivered in
lightning-fast bursts of energy, poking fun at all and sundry, the Toy Dolls punk way.

To celebrate their first decade of existence, Sunderland’s ironic punk trio, Toy Dolls, issued
retrospective Ten Years Of Toys, but rather than using the standard-issue “Greatest Hits”
formula, the group chose to re-cut nuggets from their career so far, using the then-current
line-up of frontman Olga, bassist Dean Robson and drummer Martin Yule. Thus, tracks like
“Dougy Giro,” “Fiery Jack” and “Glenda And The Test Tube Baby” are given new leases of
life with a brighter, fuller sound and the inclusion of hard-to-find tracks such as “I’ve Got
Asthma” and “Tommy Kowey’s Car” add to the appeal.

The 12" EP A Momentary Convergence of Differently Paced Trajectories is a heterogenous dj-oriented release, prelude and companion of Maurizio Ravalico's first solo percussion album Nobody's Husband, Nobody's Dad, released in November 2018 with the Funkiwala label. It comes in 180gms vinyl on a hand-numbered run of 300 individually screen-printed 320gsm brown card sleeves.

THE MUSIC

Side A opens with a full-size batucada version of Fear of Mapping, one of the tracks from No Fiction Now!, the 2013 debut album of Maurizio's trio Fiium Shaarrk.

It is followed by a personal take on one of Collocutor's second album tracks, Here to There to Everywhere, arranged here as a spacey 5/4 drum'n'bass epic.

Side B contains an old-school jungle remix of Just Bring Your Toys, one of the tracks from Maurizio's forthcoming album, by the Italian d'n'b veteran Enjoy (Omni Music, Bustle Beats). The EP closes with an edited version of the same track: a taste of the album.

Despite being both loosely presented as remixes, neither of the two arrangements on side A makes use of samples from the respective releases, and any material not progammed or played anew by Maurizio comes from either unreleased off-cuts or preliminary demos.

"One of the finest avant-garde percussionists in the world. Maurizio Ravalico is incredible to watch and hear. Catch him live somewhere soon!"- Jean-Claude Thompson, IfMusic uk

"Creative, deep and intriguing. Percussion avantgarde at its best." - Vince Vella, Dj, producer, Havana Cultura

Italian-born visionary cross-genres percussionist Maurizio Ravalico has been one notably eclectic presence in the London music scene since his arrival in the UK, in 1991.

Regularily seen on stage and on releases with the like of Jamiroquai and the James Taylor Quartet throughout the nineties, as well as with virtually every salsa and Cuban-oriented projects to originate from London in the same period, he has subsequently collaborated on many of the projects of the experimental music label Not applicable (Icarus, Isambard Khroustaliov, Alex Bonney, Tom Arthurs) since 2005, and is now an established name in both the London and Berlin improv and experimental scene, having played with John Edwards, Oren Marshall, Steve Beresford, Pat Thomas, Frank Paul Schubert and many others.

Maurizio Ravalico's peculiar approach to percussion is one of the distinctive traits of Tamar Osborn's modal jazz 5-piece band Collocutor (On the Corner records) and of the pan-European trio Fiium Shaarrk (on BBC3 Late Junction's 12 Best Albums of 2017). Maurizio Ravalico also collaborates with the string quartet Phaedra Ensemble, the composer Fred Thomas and the French contemporary dance company Silenda.

DeWolff return with their new album, Wolffpack, released on 5th February 2021 via Mascot Records.

DeWolff, the kaleidoscopic warriors were not long into their 2019 Tascam Tapes European Tour when the Covid19 pandemic broke and they, like so many others, had to turn back and head home. They started working on the new album Wolffpack.

The album kicks off with the first song they finished, the soulful psychedelic funk of "Yes You Do," featuring Ian Peres and longtime friend of the band, Judy Blank. "We wrote it in a Zoom meeting!" Pablo says. "Treasure City Moonchild," struts in with a funky swagger and Piso's trademark swirling Hammond, with Dawn Brothers' Levis Vis providing some Bass juice. "Do Me," includes Theo Lawrence on vocals and is through the eyes of an anti-hero who realizes he isn't worthy of the woman of his dreams, and dates back to 2019 and the Next of Kin live show. "I consider this the best song I ever wrote, so I couldn't stand the idea that it was only used for those Next of Kin shows and then never again! That's why I brought it to DeWolff, but it needed some rearranging," he says. Another song from the Next of Kin sessions was "Sweet Loretta" and features Dawn Brothers' Stefan Wolfs and Darilyn's Diwa Meijman. "Loretta is the protagonist's childhood sweetheart. She has a rich dad, but he's really conservative, and so she can only inherit his money if she marries a man. But she's lesbian. So, the protagonist, who's also out for this old guy's money, suggests they play pretend and marry so they can split the money."

They sweep through disco on "Half Your Love," swamp rock on "Bona Fide" and take on sci-fi and the Old Testament on "RU My Savior." Their tour buddies The Grand East show up on "Roll Up the Rise." Written in the first days of quarantine, it's about the end of the quarantine - told from a future perspective. "Lady J," came after Pablo watched the documentary "13th." "I was quite shaken up by it," he admits. "The lyrics are based on the idea that Lady Justice seems to have a scale that doesn't measure the "weight" of your crime but the tone of your skin. She is supposed to be blindfolded, but the people who act in "her" name aren't blind at all: they discriminate between white and black."

The album ends with the forlorn "Hope Train." Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead about two slaves in the US during the 19th century, who make a bid for freedom from their Georgia plantation. "I found it really hard to envision the world in which it takes place," he says. The band used a 1970s Fisher-Price Toy cassette recorder in the intro, "We wanted to see if we could somehow approach the sound of those very early country blues recordings, like the ones by Blind Willie Johnson.”

A surpirse. A good One. Stepping into an Electro tribe, with loud bass, and nice little dancefloor tricks. No easy vocal samples. The NEW STYLE for Tribe Music ???

Hoshina Anniversary returns to MUSAR Recordings under a new cloak, Shifting Gears.

Toyko's Hoshina Anniversary has risen to particular prominence in recent years with his self-titled brand of 'Watechno'. Stylistically fusing traditional Japanese instrumentation with Chicago and Detroit sensibilities, his works have found homes on ESP Institute, Young Marco's Safe Trip and Amsterdam-based MUSAR Recordings.

Landing on the latter, MUSAR, little over a year ago with 'Zangai' EP, Hoshina returns under a new cloak, Shifting Gears, to present 'Evil' EP.

Named after the 1975 'Gears' LP of jazz and hard bop organist, Johnny Hammond, the Shifting Gears moniker focuses heavily on principles of Jazz and raw musicianship, with a continued exploration of machine-reared club sounds. How the two can take shape as one.

Across 'Evil' EP, Hoshina's native culture remains, as heard on 'Miyatsukomaro', where traditional Japanese strings harmonise with crisp hats and jazz keys. Inspired by the early works of keyboardist and composer, Bob James, all is underpinned by intrinsic Chicago synth work.

A recurrent theme throughout, the Chicago vibe most notably takes hold on title track 'Evil'. An insidious
march, the floor-pummeling kick and shoulder-tickling toms marry seamlessly with dracula-esque chords and dizzying piano arrangements. Nodding to the mischievous bassist Jaco Pastorius of jazz fusion band, Weather Report.

Informed by the pacey creations of a revered duo, The Brecker Brothers and the 70's rock music that soundtracked Hoshina's youth, opener, 'Senor Senorita' wraps swathing reverb around a raucous melody and jiving percussion. Meanwhile, the seedy 'Syndicate' closes out amid eerie synth sneers and quirky, funk-flecked modulations.

• Busi Mhlongo’s chart-topping, award-winning 1999 album
• Heavyweight 180g vinyl with remastered audio, inner sleeve with photographs and new notes by Kwanele Sosibo

Urban Zulu changed South Africa’s music forever, rewiring Zulu migrant roots music for the 21st Century. Busi Mhlongo’s powerful voice and challenging lyrics soar over driving bass lines and glittering guitars of an all-star South African maskanda line-up, backed by a multi-national cast including Lokua Kanza, Brice Wassy, Jacques Djeyim and Will Mowatt.

With this album Busi Mhlongo subverted and then claimed Maskanda music’s previously patriarchal space, voicing a new social blues narrative. Her songs cut to the essence of simple joys, unrequited love, abuse in the name of love, and month-end money blues.

Topping charts in Europe and South Africa, Urban Zulu struck critical and commercial success.

Yehlisan'umoya Ma-Afrika “creates a sensation of being inevitable because the riffs are so organic, it feels like it would be a crime against nature if they fell together any other way” (AllMusic).

'We Baba Omncane' became the sound track for a global Adidas campaign, while a later re-mix became a smash hit for Black Coffee.

AD and Worldline deliver Toy Opulent’s third release - and it’s first vinyl imprint.

Soft Serve Angel projects a clear and present sense of techno drive and a delightful symphony of melodic synths. The beginning is minimal and evolves into a full cacophony of beauty and craftsmanship, layered with the vocals of the mysterious Crisis Luxury. Here, meanderings of childhood tones echo from an East L.A. ice cream truck. From the hailed vehicle emerges the soft serve angel - with a vanilla cake cone prepared, just for you, on a sunny California day. This track is incredibly versatile.


A Soft Serve Angel remix is presented to us by a master of his art, Persuader. He shows us, once again, that minimal drive that we can all count on to provoke thought and movement with modern engineering skills and a familiar old school flair.


Bubble Gum Eyes is minimal perfectly pitched protocol of TR-909 love with a morphing bassline and epic-scale science-synth work. The track addresses both a question and an answer.


Rocket POP! I mean, who don’t love a good rocket pop? This dubby dub dub mix contains fragments of the entire release that sums it up, and finishes it off perfectly - the cherry on top of the soft-serve angel.

After he hit their sweet spot with a little 3/4 psychedelia on the ‘Kraut Jazz Futurism’ compilation, new Berlin based imprint Kryptox founded by the Gomma & Toy Tonics crew (yes, that new label dedicated to new jazz electronica phenomenas from the uprising German scene) do the sensible thing and tie down nomadic percussionist Niklas Wandt for his first ever solo EP. Anyone with a dancing shoe dipped in the underground will recognize the dungareed Berliner from collaborative outings with Bufi-body popper Wolf Muller, synth shaman Sascha Funke or his NDW dream team Neuzeitliche Bodenbeläge (whose funky bassman Timo Hein helps out here), and now he’s rolling (mostly) solo with four tracks of far out head music. Largely built around improvised drum jams recorded in Wandt’s rehearsal space in Berlin, the sounds on the EP mutated and matured before assuming their final form under the mix