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"Precision ambient might be a suitable genre description for metra.vestlud's work. Every element has a clearly delineated meaning and purpose, and the precise interaction between these elements makes the musical pieces seem more like songs rather than Eno-style ambiences. From flowing water, to nervous birds and rich emotional textures, ∞ sends us onto a deep and thoughtful sonic journey about the flow of life and the many springs therin."

Artem Dultsev was born in 1993, in Revda, Russia. In 2010 he started to write music and later released under different aliases: Artem Dultsev, Moon Rabbit, Virusmoto. In 2017 he founded with a friend Daniil the label Faktura, where they began to release records from the Urals region. The history of metra.vestlud began In 2019 with the release of the album - Hydrogen Lifeforms (Faktura).

metra.vestlud began as a protest against the standard principles of sound recording and musical theory. All the rules and boundaries were shifted towards the unconscious - that something unique would emerge. But on the album ∞ - the other side of this sub-personality showed itself, the sensual side. The music of metra.vestlud is inspired by the eco-futurism and new age of the 80's-90's.

“The album is dedicated to my wife. In April 2021 we had a son.”

"Two days before the birth of our first child, I was sitting at home alone while my partner was already in the hospital. I wasn't able to visit due to Covid restrictions. Anxiously waiting for any updates, while Germany being in complete lockdown, searching for distraction, I did something I rarely do: look into the public-facing email account of my previous label. Normally, I only find spam in there, but this time there was an email that looked different, it was a demo I was supposed to consider for release. I could tell this person had listened to previous music I had been involved with and deliberately chose to send this to me. I could also tell right away that something special was being sent to me. I downloaded the music, listened to it, and to my surprise, was moved to tears. This was on a Friday night in Leipzig, around 32 hours before our child was born.

Sometimes this world can be incredibly strange but in the most beautiful way. For some reason, someone from Yekaterinburg in Russia, close to where the European and Asian continental plates meet, decided to send me an unspeakably beautiful album for release on my new label (which I technically hadn't even founded yet). The album is centered around love and birth, and it sounds like emotion-fueled beginnings, like a meta-version of spring you can visit any season you like. And I received it less than two days before the birth of our child and a couple of months before the birth of their child - what are the odds? And not just that, I had visited Yekaterinburg many years ago with my parents due to a somewhat mysterious obsession my father had with the place and it had left quite an impression on me. There are some moments in life where you think: "please just pinch me". I am just not sure anymore how much of all of this can be attributed to chance. Probably a lot, but if so, it also means incredibly unlikely and beautiful things do happen even if they probably shouldn't.

In any case, I am grateful metra.vestlud reached out to me at this very special moment in time and I am grateful we have created something that will forever document a very special time in our lives. And we are incredibly happy that we are able to share this document with the world." - kofla tapes

∞ is dedicated to metra.vestlud's wife, In April 2021 they had a son.

Music has always played an important role in TV shows. It can create a vibe, tension, a romantic atmosphere or a certain setting in time. With the wide range of shows currently being offered by the growing number of streaming services, their audiences are discovering bands and artists, old and new, more than ever before.

Song Education brings together some of the pivotal songs from these series, with background info on each of these artists for educational purposes. But mostly, for you to enjoy these often re-discovered songs in the most romantic way to experience music: on a beautiful vinyl record.

Song Education is a new compilation that serves to familiarise youth and young adults with popular music from the 60’s through the 90’s. Some of the artists included on this record are Roxy Music, Duran Duran, The Cutting Crew, Elton John, Salt-N-Pepa and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The album is available on solid red coloured vinyl. The package contains an insert with more information about the featured artists.

This album is released through Vinyl Base, a brand new sublabel by Music On Vinyl that is specifically targeted at youth and young adults.

- North American version on CLEAR vinyl (2XLP) - Limited DOUBLE 180g Vinyl Edition (500 copies) with obi strip - Rare Dutch studio recordings, one of Art's last sessions before he passed away - Comes with insert/liner notes // Art Blakey (1919-1990) actually needs little introduction, the American Jazz drummer and bandleader made a name for himself in the 1940s & 1950s playing with contemporaries such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. He is often considered to have been Thelonious Monk's most empathetic drummer (he played on both Monk's first recording session in 1947 and his final one in 1971). In the decades that followed Blakey recorded for all THE labels that mattered in the field of jazz (Columbia, Blue Note, Atlantic, RCA, Impulse!, Riverside, Prestige, Verve, etc.). His collaborations were numerous and include working with equally legendary artists such as Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, Chet Baker, John Coltrane_.and countless others.Art Blakey was a major figure and a pioneer for modern jazz, he assumed an aggressive swing drumming style early on in his career and is known as one of the inventors of the modern bebop style of drumming. His signature polyrhythmic style was amazing, exuding power and originality, creating a dark cymbal sound punctuated by frequent loud snare and bass drum accents in triplets or cross-rhythms. A loud and domineering drummer_but Blakey also listened and responded to the others in the band. He was an original, an important drummer you'd hear_and would recognize immediately.Art Blakey was inducted into the Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame (1981), the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame (1991), the Grammy Hall of Fame (1998 and 2001) and was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 2005. He was sampled and remixed by renowned acts such as Raekwon, Black Eyed Peas, A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, Buscemi, KRS-One and Madlib.In the mid-1950s he and Horace Silver formed `The Jazz Messengers': a group that Blakey would perform and record with for the next 35 years. Originally formed as a collective of contemporaries_but over the years the band became known as an incubator for young talent that included artists such as Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Chuck Mangione, John Hicks_and MANY others. Art Blakey went on to record dozens of albums with a constantly changing group of Jazz Messengers. Blakey's final performances were in July 1990. He died on October 16 of lung cancer. The legacy of Art Blakey and his band is not only the music they produced, but also the opportunities they provided for several generations of jazz musicians.Released on the legendary Dutch jazz label Timeless Records and one of his final recordings_on the album we are presenting you today (Chippin' In) you'll find ten sublime tracks recorded at Rudy van Gelder's Recording Studio in February 1990. Art Blakey passed away just 8 months after these tracks were cut and you can't hear any signs of him slowing down at all. For these specific recordings, The Jazz Messengers were expanded from its usual quintet or sextet into a septet and they showcase their energetic signature sound with remarkable style, musical knowledge, a dash of good humor and camaraderie you'd expect from a world class band who have entertained, thrilled and amazed for almost five decades. The line-up on these fantastic sessions includes non-other than Essiet Okon, Geoff Keezer, Dale Barlow, Javon Jackson, Frank Lacy, Steve Davis and Brian Lynch_impressive to say the least!Chippin' In sounds as successful, young and vibrant as ever! Expect supercharged hard bop with striking notes, no-holds-barred musicianship, high swinging solos, screaming choruses and plenty of solid virtuosity to spare. This electrifying set of tracks contains both originals and several eclectic versions of standards_making this release a bonafide hit and a must have for any self-respecting jazz fan or collector.

There’s liberation on the dance floor in the songs of Matthew Urango – glimpses of revolution that glimmer beneath the disco ball. “I want my music to bring people together,” says the Californian pop innovator, best known as Cola Boyy. “Because standing together is our best chance at fighting this shit show.” The shit show in question is a broken, brutal system the acclaimed multi-instrumentalist has witnessed up-close. Urango was born with spina bifida and scoliosis in Oxnard, California: a town in which almost 30,000 are estimated to live in poverty. Prosthetic Boombox, his eagerly awaited debut album, might at first glance seem a joyous confetti-burst of pop eclecticism, engineered to sound like “scanning between stations on a car radio, landing on all these different sounds and styles” as Urango puts it. Dig deeper, though, and you’ll discover a simmering sense of rebellion. “The working class are injured, struggling to pay rent and struggling to put food on the table,” he says. “I want to represent that.” Prosthetic Boombox
achieves that goal in a thrilling flurry of inventive indie, funk and soul: take Urango’s car radio analogy, place it in a time-travelling Delorean with Prince in the passenger seat, and you’re half-way there.

Look no closer than Prosthetic Boombox’s euphoric opener, the Avalanches-assisted ‘Don’t Forget Your Neighbourhood.’ The track – which Urango says mixes “the Beach Boys, French disco, house keys and ragtime piano, kinda like the Cheers soundtrack!” – ends with lyrics urging listeners to “fight for your town with your fist closed, strike it and make it more than just a memory.” It’s a reminder that the working classes need to “turn our fists against our oppressors instead of each other,” he explains. After that emphatic introduction comes a horn-laced funk wig-out titled ‘Mailbox’ – a song that gives Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia a run for its Studio 54-themed money, featuring rising Londoner JGrrey. Elsewhere, ‘Song for the Mister’ ventures into smooth R&B territory, before ‘Roses’ – a collaboration with Myd of Ed Banger fame – offers a bouquet of bustling disco guitars and infinite bisous of Connan Mockasin’s band drops in on the immaculate ‘Go the Mile’. Urango saves his most introspective moment for the album’s starry closer. ‘Kid Born in Space’, a cosmic collaboration with MGMT frontman Andrew VanWyngarden, sees the artist reflect on what he once had to overcome as a disabled person of colour. “I see them looking down on my dreams of being,” he sings tenderly. “I hear them making fun of my voice, but I keep on moving forward, I refuse to live in anyone else’s shadow.” Prosthetic Boombox, on this subject, is more than an album title – it’s a statement of intent.

“The message of my music is that our class is exploited, oppressed and murdered on the daily. That’s not right, and the system that enables that deserves to be wiped off the face of the earth,” he says. “The only way that happens is if we’re united. That’s the point of my music – to relate to people and unite them.” And what unites more than raucous, irresistibly danceable pop? Prosthetic Boombox is a riot of joyous grooves and catchy hooks for good reason. “I want to reach and spread my message to as many people as possible. You can’t do that if you’re some obscure motherfucker, you know?” he laughs. Don’t bet on him being an “obscure motherfucker” for long.

Robert Hood returns to Rekids with ‘The Blueprint EP’ this July.

Following 2020’s ‘Mirror Man’ LP on Radio Slave’s Rekids, Detroit pioneer Robert Hood returns to the label with a four-track EP of his trailblazing minimal techno. Leading the release, ‘Chroma Light’ opens with cinematic pads and pounding 4/4 patterns as twisted synthesis modulates throughout for a striking start. Followed by ‘The Majestic (Deeper Edit)’, with rattling percussion and fiercely relentless stabs, Hood shows his intent in creating propulsive, dancefloor focussed cuts across the EP.

On the flip, ‘The Majestic’ takes the B1 spot, expanding on the previous track with wild synths and his signature machine-like drums before ‘Ultrasonic Room’ closes out the release with eerie atmospherics and an underlying hypnotic pulse taking centre stage.

A founding member of Underground Resistance alongside Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills, Robert Hood is one of techno’s originators, with his decorated career spanning three decades across labels like Tresor, Peacefrog, Music Man Records, and of course, his own M-Plant.

Previously known for his progressive trance works, van Wyk has spent a lot of his time as of late composing for the film industry. In 2013, his solo output switched to more pastoral forms of neo-classical leaning ambient with his first full-length Days You Remember, before moving into more piano-based composition for Attachment (2016) and Opacity (2017).

Threads does reflect some of his previous ambient works; however, the album shows van Wyk composing music for (and of) current times. There is a much-welcomed underlying beauty to Threads, but there are also threads of anxious- ness and unwavering intensity throughout its forty-minute run-time. It's an engaging listen full of texture where each piece takes you on an engrossingly escapist journey.

Die weltbekannte Band aus Island ist mit ihrem elften Studioalbum, dem hoch emotionalen "Mobile Home", zurückgekehrt und veröffentlicht damit ihr erstes Album seit 2018. Das Kollektiv beweist einmal mehr die Meisterhaftigkeit, seine künstlerischen Grenzen zu erweitern, indem sie eines ihrer ambitioniertesten und kraftvollsten Alben seit Jahrzehnten veröffentlichen. Für ihr neuestes Album holten sich GusGus die VÖK-Sängerin Margrét Rán zur Hilfe, um ihren Stil zu erweitern und den Sound des Kollektivs so frisch wie immer zu halten. Das 9-Track-Album bietet eine Mischung aus elektronischem Rock, Ambient, Darkwave, Downtempo und Synthpop. GusGus besser denn je!

World-renowned group GusGus have returned with their 11th studio album, the highly emotive Mobile Home, marking their first album release since 2018. The collective once again prove their commitment to pushing their artistic boundaries as they release one of their most ambitious and powerful albums in decades. For their latest record, GusGus call on VÖK’s lead singer Margrét Rán to help expand their style, keeping the collective’s sound as fresh as ever. The 9-track album features a concoction of electronic rock, ambient, darkwave, downtempo, and synthpop.

After announcing a new album in October 2020, GusGus wowed fans with their first single “Higher,” offering a first taste of how VÖK’s impactful vocals mesh seamlessly with GusGus’ intelligent and powerful electronic production. “Higher” was soon followed up with the darker, downtempo “Stay The Ride” and the bright and energetic synth work on “Our World.” The three captivating singles each received equally remarkable music videos courtesy of founding members Arni & Kinski, the directing team known for working with the likes of Sigur Rós, Kiasmos, Ólafur Arnalds, Of Monsters and Men, and more.

Every track on Mobile Home doubles as a window into a futuristic dystopian world that has been overtaken by machines. A nod to the rise of technology and ever-growing uncertainty surrounding automation, the album explores themes of solitude, rebellion, science fiction, hedonism, pleasure, and anger. Swirling within this world is a disconnected, aching soul who is on the verge of slipping into complete dementia. Forgotten purpose and goals but continues to be driven by the hedonistic default program of material consciousness; sensually self-indulgent and engaged in the pursuit of pleasure alone. In Mobile Home, GusGus challenge themselves like never before, resulting in a wonderfully chaotic reflection of the ongoing war between soul and machine.

With Mobile Home, GusGus show the quality and sonic diversity of the singles pervades throughout the full LP, while preserving the melodramatic themes that tie its 9 tracks together. “Simple Tuesday” showcases the group’s aptitude for blending contemporary electronic production with pop sensibilities while keeping an optimistic tonality at the forefront. Meanwhile, “Love Is Alone” and “Original Heartbreak” offer a slower, more pensive take on synthpop, and evoke feelings of solitude and deep melancholia. “Silence” and “The Rink” boast some of GusGus’s more experimental production, each alternating between radio-ready vocal verses with inventive and exciting synth elements. GusGus closes Mobile Home with “Flush,” an instrumental score that leaves the listener riding high as they finish the LP.

Land of the Free? with revered classic songs like the incendiary “F*ck
Authority,” was a wake -up call from Pennywise, aimed at the slumbering
masses of America, an attempt to shake people out of their lethargy and
prod them into thinking about the world.
Originally released in June 2001, the band’s six studio album tackled the political and social issues of the day, from police corruption and mass shootings to
elections, topics that 20 years later are just as relevant.
Pennywise have made a name for themselves over the past 33 years as a politically minded, melodic hardcore /punk band that has sold millions of albums
and become one of the most successful independent acts of all time.
Formed in 1988, the band played backyard parties in their hometown of Hermosa Beach, California, without having any aspirations other than playing as
many songs as they could before the police showed up. Hermosa Beach and
the surrounding neighborhoods are a prominent place in popular culture, with
groups like Black Flag, The Circle Jerks and Descendents merging a fast rebellious sound with the surrounding aggressive surf and skate culture.
Inspired by their predecessors, Pennywise were at the forefront of a second
wave of American punk rock that would catapult the movement from a tightknit subculture into a worldwide movement.

Never before have all The Members significant records been collected together on one compilation. Whilst known mainly for the
punk era hits in the UK, The Members had far-reaching hits all over the world. The bands YouTube channel shows excess of 20,000
monthly plays. In the USA they are known for the 80’s MTV smash Working Girl also a huge hit in Australia where another 80s track
Radio made the #1 slot.

Emotional Rescue and HMV Record Shop (Japan) end their DISCO REGGAE LOVERS 7" series with reggae legend Sugar Minott and this utterly unique UK soul-boogie rarity, I Remember Mama.

Reggae star, vocalist, producer and sound system operator, Kingston JA born Minott released over 50 albums and hundreds of singles for the likes of Studio One, Wackies, Suffering Heights and his own Black Roots label.

His distinctive soulful voice pioneered the Dancehall style and following his UK hit "Hard Time Pressure" he moved to London in 1980, adopting the rising Lovers Rock sound. On a visit to Wackies' offices in Soho he met Steve Parr, who had recently opened a studio next door.

Keyboard player for the likes of Desmond Dekker and Geno Washington, Parr moved into composition, mixing, sound engineering and production, before setting up the Sound Design Studio in Dean Street.

Principally a studio, the meeting with Minott hatched the idea to create a label to showcase their capabilities. Produced by Parr, he played all the instruments except the distinctive sax by friend Andy MacDonald.

With Minott's heartfelt lyrics, this marriage created a one-off, a ground-breaking synthesised 4/4 rhythm track with funk groove and soulful vocals. Released on 7" and 12", the versions noticeably differ and is the perfect closing to the DISCO REGGAE LOVERS series.

Following their last release, The Day Before Halloween_an imaginative, distorted-synth-driven concept album_Atmosphere returns with a refreshing new project, simply titled WORD? Steering back toward their signature sound, the album further highlights producer Ant's undeniable talents as the project leans into the classic boom-bap aesthetic, bringing a unique energy out of Slug's wisdom, wit and delivery. From onset, WORD? proves to be every bit an exercise in refining and advancing their craft as it is a harkening to earlier work. That is, while their releases have grown more broodingly cinematic, and increasingly concerned with the human condition and mortality, WORD? manages to reintroduce moments of levity and lightheartedness throughout, an approach seldom heard on their albums of late. From album opener "Fleetwood," with its razor-sharp snares and warm fleshy bassline, to the resonant melody of "Clocked", there are strong hints of Atmosphere's nascent years within the sound. Meanwhile, songs like "Woes", "Strung" and "Vanish" cheerfully make light of daily hardships, but they're more likely to be remembered for making listeners want to bob their heads and sing along. With Slug and Ant directing the course, the album plays like a joyride through a range of experiences and emotions, with an extensive cast of special guests hopping in and out along the way, including Evidence, Muja Messiah, Musab, Nino Bless, Nikki Jean, Anwar HighSign, BlackLiq, Sa-Roc, Haphduzn, Lateef the Truthspeaker, Aesop Rock, and the late MF DOOM (RIP). The result is a project that feels like it came from the era or, perhaps more fittingly, the mindset that created albums like God Loves Ugly, Seven's Travels, or the popular Sad Clown series, while sounding as polished and perfected as more recent albums like Mi Vida Local or Whenever. Ultimately, WORD? pairs the breadth of Atmosphere's talents with the beauty of their growth, all while showing they still have a lot of fun in the process and don't mind letting the listener in on the fun as well.

In their 6 years on air, Flip The Script Radio has become the industry standard, the go-to radio show where fans and industry heads alike flock to hear the next hip hop superstars before they blow up. Steeped in the rich history of the scene, FTSR's focus on real MCs, genuine turntablism and their 'do it for the culture' approach has garnished them praise from every corner of the hip hop universe.

To celebrate their 6 Year Anniversary, Flip The Script Radio has joined forces with Good For You Records and one of the greatest MCs of all time for a very special, limited edition 7" release. We are beyond excited to present this work of art by a cultural icon, one of the best lyricists of all time, Grand Puba. This special edition vinyl release revisits one of Puba's most beloved classics "I Like It", reinvented with an 8 piece band, an acoustic version, featuring freshly re-spit verses by the rap legend himself, breathing new life into this crowd favourite.

Jackie Mittoo is one of Jamaica’s musical giants, a towering figure in the development of reggae whose skills as a keyboardist and musical arranger led to indelible changes in the evolution of Jamaican popular music, helping it to reach international prominence. An exceptionally-expressive player whose mastery of the organ was truly outstanding, Mittoo was also a gifted arranger with an intrinsic feel for what would work best, his key instruction giving shape to ska at Studio One and roots reggae at Channel One and other Kingston studios, as well as lover’s rock at Wackies in New York and with Sugar Minott and UB40 in Britain, Jackie’s own productions later incorporating far-out synthesizer experiments and vocoder techniques. Reggae as we know it would never have existed without Mittoo’s essential input, making him an under-sung icon of Jamaican song. Jackie Mittoo went on to make all kinds of other incredible music in Jamaica, the UK, USA, and Canada before dying of cancer in 1990 at the tragically young age of 42; the dramatic send-off he received at the National Arena in Kingston gives some indication of the stellar status he achieved in his lifetime and the universal respect with which he was regarded. In an exemplary career full of exceptional music, 'Showcase', originally released on Bunny Lee's own imprint Jackpot in 1977, remains one of his greatest, an enthralling collection of stunners that shows why he will always be regarded as Jamaica’s keyboard king.

Before there was Rimarimba, Suffolk-born, Felixstowe-based musician and home recording enthusiast Robert Cox assembled a cast of friends, some musicians and some not so much, for an experiment in group exploration and ecstatic expression under the name The Same. Sonically and gravitationally defined by Cox’s collaboration with guitarist Andy Thomas (a partnership which formed in 1976 to record as General Motors), Sync or Swim, The Same’s one and only album, also featured keyboards by Florence Atkinson and Paul Ridout, and vocals by Robert’s sister Rebecca.

Originally released in small cassette and vinyl quantities on Unlikely Records, Cox’s imprint and a meeting point for many other musicians found at the fringe, the back cover of the original album jacket is as much a map of the personnel, place, and process

fundamental to Sync or Swim as it is a table of contents for DIY music-making at the beginning of the 80s: “Recorded in peaceful Wiltshire between September 18th and October 6th 1981 (using a miscellany of home made devices) onto a Teac A-3300SX via a Teac A-3440. No noise reduction systems were used.”

The additional equipment listed – a combination of consumer technology and DIY innovation – speaks to an unpretentious, improvisational ethos that pilots Sync or Swim, and Cox’s career as a whole. Rimarimba, whose near complete discography Freedom To Spend made available again in 2019, showcased Cox’s simultaneously hermetic and prolific creative process, while The Same celebrates making sound for sound’s sake and the serendipity surrounding those moments.

Wiltshire, home to the Stonehenge stone circles and a county of empty plains in the southwest of England, is worlds away from the commerce and industry of Glenn Branca’s New York City or Neu’s Düsseldorf. While The Same may feel in some ways like a British blend of these minimalist and motorik machinations, Cox and Thomas were curiously fascinated with The Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa’s brand of psychedelic music.

Cox’s own definition of British psychedelia is “folk music meeting technology and going bonkers.” It’s by this definition that Sync or Swim takes unexpected forms, from tape-speed tomfoolery, concrète sound collage and analog delayed marimbas, to the colorful spectrum of interwoven guitar play between Cox and Thomas reminiscent of Ghanaian Highlife but more accurately indebted to Jerry Garcia.

Here is the the effortless work of a band entirely confident in their own craft - the consolidation of nearly three decades of peerless songwriting and almost telepathic musicianship amongst the band's three founder members: Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love. Recorded with the band’s soundman David Henderson alongside regular drummer Francis Macdonald and keyboard player Dave McGowan in three distinctly different environments (initially at Vega in rural Provence, then at Raymond’s home in Glasgow before mixing at Clouds Hill in the industrial heart of Hamburg), it’s a record that embraces maturity and experience and hugs them close.

As ever, song-wise the Fanclub present a textbook representation of democracy in action, the record offering four each by Blake, Love and McGinley. From the almighty chime of opener I’m In Love through The First Sight’s ecstatic soul-search and the paean to unerring friendship With You, Here is a a collection of twelve songs about the only things that truly matter - life and love.


Teenage Fanclub will be touring the UK extensively throughout the Autumn, including two London shows – Islington Assembly Hall and Electric Ballroom – both of which sold out within days of going on sale. Glasgow's finest will also be making an exclusive appearance at this year's End Of The Road festival in early September.

"Certain loud guitar rock records serve as brain erasers, a form of shock therapy zapping through aural inputs and (to mix metaphors) cleaning the proverbial clock. Lightning Bolt is one such thing." - LA Times Since their first moment it seems like they've been as electric as their name suggests. Lightning Bolt, their first album, captures that energy in a raw form. Famously lo-fi, this is the album that's been described as most feeling like being at one of their shows. It's difficult to listen and not want to jump with the crowd it feels like must be huddled around the amp producing an incredible wave of noise, astonishingly coming from just two musicians. You can hear the threads of their later work; use of repetition, a sense of grinding and building, noise melting to guitar solos. This album is loud, and the riffs repeated become mesmerizing as they warp slowly thru the songs. Long saught after, this record has not been available new on vinyl since it's first pressing. This edition includes songs which have never before been released on vinyl. A must have for any Lightning Bolt fan, or really anyone who loves noise.

One of the beautiful qualities of the Bellingham music community was the fact that many different groups of various genres could coexist and even perform comfortably throughout the half-dozen venues in this little Northwest college town in the most northwest corner of the most northwest state in the lower 48.

The original roots soulfunk juggernaut of Joel Ricci's "The Lucky Seven" known in their town as "The Leaders of the Funk Revolution," attracted a certain cadre of party goer, as did Dan Lowinger's rugged rockabilly quartet "The Foot Stompin' Trio". At Footstompin gigs, Lowinger would be found deftly chicken pickin' that honky tonk tele' and was known to impress the audience so much with his licks, they would throw buckets of beer on him as a show of their love and appreciation. It was only a matter of time before Dan and Joel were lucky enough to get the chance to perform together and toured the States for a few years together with a fiery ska/reggae/rocksteady powerhouse also out of the Bellingham area, "The Yogoman Burning Band". Dan and Joel recorded many demos together and contributed original material to the Burning Band, but the proto-rock of "Please Some", is pure Royal Dees. This tune, composed and recorded by Ricci, was actually conceived as a submission to Tramp Records and remained unfinished for many years while also suffering from the degradation of the original cassette it was recorded on. The Duo re-recorded again 4 years later when they were both living in Portland, Oregon and that version lives today as side D's "alternate take" which Ricci found in his cassette archive over the summer. This version also came with it's own set of audio issues, notwithstanding the botched ending, which we have retained here for you as the loose and roots funky vibe of the whole take justifies it's inclusion.

Finally, Joel and Dan's friend and comrade Doug Krebs, who happened to also be a well-loved member of that same Bellingham music community, especially as the go-to sound and mastering engineer, came through in spades to rescue the two pieces and prepare them for proper release on this, the one and only Royal Dees release to see the light of day on the bold and inimitable Tramp Records.

Etruria Beat founder Luca Agnelli unveils his long-awaited debut album, ‘Source Drops’ – presenting a ten-track journey through techno and beyond.
A name at the centre of Italy’s rich house and techno scene for over a decade, Etruria Beat head-honcho Luca Agnelli continues to showcase his talent as a leading DJ, producer and label boss on the international stage. With releases via a host of globally renowned labels, plus standout remixes including Moby’s iconic ‘Porcelain’, the Tuscany native’s reputation has seen him become of the genre’s leading artists when combining energetic, entrancing productions throughout his powerful DJ sets. Yet, the core of his work has always found a perfect home on his own Etruria Beat imprint, with July now welcoming the arrival of his highly-anticipated debut album ‘Source Drops’ – an in-depth musical story presenting growth, development, self-reflection and raw emotions via a collection of ten tracks ranging from powerful peak-time anthems through to EBM influenced cuts and slower, hypnotic productions.
“This is the journey that traces my musical evolution of the last 20 years, discovering more conceptual, deeper musical territories; taking inspiration from what influenced me in my career as a DJ and from my continuous research without musical barriers. A journey always in equilibrium, at times dark and sharp, solar and fluid, that develops a different creative vision in each track trying to convey my most intimate and strongest emotions". – Luca Agnelli
Opening via the slow-blooming builds and atmospheric and waves of ‘Black Mirror’, before diving into the heady and menacing tones of ‘Mutant Circle’, the ten-track project quickly showcases a wide-reaching range of influences and nuances central to Agnelli’s development as an artist over his career. Productions such as ‘Balance’ and ‘Oxigen’ contrast with one another whilst bringing space to proceedings, guided by breaks-influenced percussion, minimal arrangements and warping leads, whilst the driving ‘Resistance’ harnesses classic techno tendencies to provide an energetic and lively, snaking journey through rich soundscapes.
Title cut ‘Source Drops’ brings that trademark Luca Agnelli energy to the heart of the project, merging scintillating melodies, acid-tinged stabs and icy hats to unveil a high-octane ride into the peak-time, whilst ‘Raw Surface’ keeps the tempo high with sweeping leads, oscillating basslines and resonant lasers. Next, ‘Omega’ spirals into an off- kilter ride through glitchy echoed vocals, crunchy percussion and rumbling low-ends, with the epic ‘Losing Control’ welcoming an infectious lead melody at its core guided by punchy kicks and slick drum licks. To close, the package veers to an eerie yet ethereal close as hazy, celestial vocal chants meet panning sirens and swooping electronics – punctuating an expansive and diverse offering from the Italian favourite and shaping up an impressive debut LP in the process.

Disc 1 is pressed in blue vinyl, disc 2 in green.

Factory Benelux presents an expanded vinyl edition of Another Setting, the third studio album by cult Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column.

Another Setting was recorded in 1983 at Strawberry Studio, Stockport with production by Chris Nagle, a favourite engineer of Martin Hannett. The 11 track album contains several acknowledged Durutti classics, notably haunting instrumental Prayer (burnished with cor anglais by Maunagh Fleming) and The Beggar, probably the closest Vini Reilly has edged to rock music. Elsewhere, Smile in the Crowd would be covered by Depeche Mode mainman Martin Gore on his 1989 solo project Counterfeit.

This new vinyl remaster also includes non-album single I Get Along Without You Very Well, a bittersweet Hoagy Carmichael cover sung by Lindsay Reade, the former wife of Factory foreman Tony Wilson.

The second disc is a previously unreleased live show taped at the Pandora’s Box Festival in Rotterdam on 4 September 1983, featuring eight tracks performed by Vini Reilly and Bruce Mitchell. This second disc is pressed on clear vinyl.

The 2018 edition of Another Setting is packaged in a gatefold sleeve printed on white reverse board, restoring the original cover artwork by Mark Farrow with cover paintings by Jackie Williams.

Traditional village music transformed into fiery and frenetic underground Hip Hop. Emerging from the digital cultural renaissance of the early 2000s, where DIY studios sprung up throughout West Africa, "Patriote" is a shining example of localized global music. Hypnotic and driving rhythms built from sampled percussion and chopped-up instruments combine with syncopated staccato "ragga" inspired flow into infectious hammering tracks that sound like nothing before. Mamaki Boys was formed in 2002 by Aziz Tony, Bachou Issouf, and Salif André, when a local Hip Hop movement was exploding in the capital of Niger. "Patriote" was recorded to address a trend in the scene they perceived as too derivative. Produced at Studio BAT, one of the first studios in Niamey, Mamaki Boys sought to merge modern Hip Hop with traditional music. They invited elder musicians into the studio to play Nigerien instruments like duma and kalango, which were sampled and looped over their compositions. "We wanted to put tradition in the rap, ancestral dances, the things that our grandparents did in the village," Aziz explains. "Our mission was to re-value the culture, put it into Hip Hop, and to show all the colors of our country." Self-describing their music as "tradi-moderne", a Nigerien movement of folk revitalization, their cultural manifesto presents through every aspect of their work. Each track relies heavily on traditional instruments, and each rhythm is based on a dance from Niger. Their mission extends to the urgency of their lyrics: Takai challenges the population to preserve their culture, Kagani Kagani is a demand to take back mineral, oil, and uranium rights from their colonizers, while Komando uses war cries to inspire artists to keep speaking out. A strong entry in 21st-century global music, Mamaki Boys "Patriote" takes back the tools of globalization, repurposing them in the fight for cultural identity. Originally self-released in 2009 on limited edition CDR in Niger.

The infamous MAYHEM return this year with an EP called “Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando” that presents the band in a way that has never been heared before! The lords of darkness have dug deep and reflected their influences to create a musical odyssey that shows them multifaceted in several ways. For this goal, cover versions of bands like Discharge, Dead Kennedys, Rudimentary Peni and Ramones were chosen, which in typical MAYHEM manner impressively fit into their bursting and darkenened sound. Nevertheless, MAYHEM would not be MAYHEM, if this musical creation would do without own composed songs. In addition to named cover versions, a brand new track called “Voces Ab Alta” was recorded to continue the musical journey alongside previously released tracks “Black Glass Communion” and “Everlasting Dying Flame”, which were used as bonus tracks for the 2019 album “Daemon”. The EP comes as a 180g LP format which features a two-sided cover artwork and two-page insert, as well as a Ltd. CD Digipak with sleeve and 12-page booklet.

Layton Giordani takes the next step in the evolution of his sound with ‘Hyper World’.

Despite the challenging year we all shared in 2020, Giordani continued to grow in leaps and bounds as a producer. His second studio album ‘New Generation’ was a critical success and showcased the breadth of his artistry over 11 tracks, with moods fit for both the dancefloor and afterhours alike.

His latest offering, however, flexes its raving muscle and ambles up for the summer. The title track is bad arse, with swirling pads, trippy arpeggios and subtle flourishes of acid and psychedelica that all combine for a stomping finish. Fresh in every sense. ‘Astro’ is heavy on drama, driven by a big synth lead that pierces the air with intensity, before a delicious mid-track key change pushes the energy up to eleven and shortly after drops down into a celestial break, before building back up again.

I first discovered khroniky – Ukranian folk songs – in the Highlands of Scotland. I was watching a screening of Bajka, a mesmerising documentary made by the filmmaker Lucia Nimcová and sound artist Sholto Dobie. I knew nothing about these ballads beforehand, but I was fascinated by these odd, beautiful songs, especially the easy way in which they mixed misery and levity, where gentle melodies blend with tales of dark violence. The folk songs describe hardship, murder, torture, death in gulags, heavy drinking, outsmarting men, love affairs. But they’re often very funny too – many of the songs make fun of marriage, and there’s an amazing subcategory of khroniky songs called potka (vagina) songs.

The khroniky have never been properly documented because they were considered too crude, or contained lyrics that were problematic, politically. When Ukrainian folk songs have been archived in the past, it’s normally a sanitised, more polite version of the ones that Lucia remembers from her childhood. Lucia grew up on the other side of the Ukrainian border in Slovakia. She is part of the Rusyn (Ruthenian) minority ethnic group found in the borderlands of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and Poland. Rusyn is a centuries-old Slavic language, looked down upon as a poor, uneducated dialect by the neighbouring Ukraine and Slovakia. It was forbidden to talk about Rusyn culture at Nimcova’s primary school, but the khroniky stayed in her memories.

“I remember weddings when I was young,” says Lucia, who now lives in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. “At the end of the night, when everyone was drunk and the young couple would go around their guests, people would sing in Rusyn. There was singing and dancing, and songs about being in prison or falling in love. I picked up the lyrics and sometimes my mum would make my sister and I sing them for people we met on the train. I was about five or six but the lyrics still come back when I sing to my kids.”

Determined that these rich, nuanced, unique songs shouldn’t be forgotten, she decided to record them. Over two years, Lucia, joined by experimental musician Sholto Dobie, visited Rusyn villages high in the Carpathian mountains to rediscover the songs and make the documentary. It was at the beginning of war breaking out in Ukraine in 2014.

“The Rusyn community is a very closed one,” explains Lucia. “Sometimes we’d have to wait several days to hear someone sing; we had to earn their trust before they shared something very personal to them. We’d stay up ‘til 5am at a wedding, then go straight to a morning baptism, or collect haystacks with the villagers, hoping they’d sing while they were working.”

DILO is named after an important independent Ukrainian daily newspaper that was shut down when the Red Army entered Lviv in 1939. The four long tracks on DILO blur field recordings with song; an unpolished, privileged glimpse into a private world. We hear dogs barking and insects buzzing in the summer heat, then a blast of hurdy gurdy or violin will drift in, or a plaintive song soars softly over the rural background noise, with casually harrowing lyrics about a cuckoo, “lifeless in a world of misery”, as translated in the album’s booklet.

For both Lucia and Sholto, it was important not to tamper too much with what they heard. “When you think about ethnography,” Lucia explains, “you have to have a lot of time, love and respect to document it with sensitivity.”

“The songs all have their own atmosphere and intimacy from the spaces they were recorded in and it was important to maintain these particularities and move with them,” adds Sholto, who now lives in Vilnius, Lithuania. “They guide and sometimes interrupt a journey between interiors – domestic spaces; in kitchens, by the fire – and exteriors; marketplaces, cow sheds. We used contact microphones to record metal bridges and fences, and we spent one afternoon recording a wool processing machine, the details of the rattling and tuning wheels are the ground layer for the third track.”

Lucia took rough notes and diary entries during the recording process, which are now shared in the booklet alongside a selection of lyrics, loosely translated, but revealing the depth and astonishing beauty that sometimes lies in the language of these folk songs.

The feel of the album is intimate, flipping between laughter, where a woman sings about selling her pussy to buy a cow in one track, then shifts to a raw, painful truth; an adult son asks his mother why his dad won’t be back for dinner, as he’s gone to war.

Since Lucia and Sholto began working together in 2014, they have shared the audio recordings on radio and film and shown photos in gallery spaces, making sure these special, smutty, poignant songs don’t get lost. This new record and booklet joins that same continuum, another glorious fruit from the same rare tree.

Snapped Ankles return to the forest, but it's not as they left it. Trees planted in neat rows. A well-ordered monoculture with access roads and heavy machinery. The smell of greenwashed money in the air. There's no sign of the ancient woodland they emerged from on debut album, Come Play The Trees. And it's far cry from the gentrified East London they found themselves hawking on Stunning Luxury. All is not well in the face of progress. Welcome to the Forest Of Your Problems. Even among the famously close-knit woodwose community there are factions forming. Meet The Business Imp, The Cornucopian, The Nemophile and The Protester. Each with their own motivations and belief systems. Their own sense of injustice: contradictions, anxieties and guilt. There are woodwose who have risen to the top in the boom and bust world of real estate and hedge funds. Grab what you can before the next crash. Others find euphoria in the absolute conviction that wealth and technology will see us through this. There are those with their recycling in order, who are well-versed in the prospect of imminent ecological and economic collapse, burying themselves in vegan cookery and extensive international holiday itineraries. And there's an increasing number angry at the state of the world, ready to take to the streets and the trees in an attempt to force real change. Forest Of Your Problems runs the gamut of modern woodwose emotions. In this neat human approximation of the forest, it's an increasingly knotted affair. Despite all of this, Snapped Ankles haven't lost their innate ability to make you want to move your feet - their Teutonic forest rhythms are still shot through with post-punk lightning. Whether they're exploring those opportunities which might arise when a Nigerian prince emails out of the blue on 'The Evidence', or referencing the crooked woodwose attempting to go straight on 'Rhythm Is Our Business', this is music to lose your inhibitions to. The moments of pure elation on 'Shifting Basslines Of The Cornucopians' are worth the admission price alone - "It's a great time to be alive!" ...apparently. Snapped Ankles outsider status has always allowed them to hold a mirror up to society. Now the boundaries are not so clear. In the four years since Come Play The Trees was released, their cult has flourished. Previous album Stunning Luxury saw the band invited to play the BBC 6 Music Festival and a KEXP session on the back of a sold-out UK tour which culminated with two nights at Village Underground in London. As those who have witnessed the shamanic ritual of their live shows will attest, they are a truly unique, communal experience. Forest Of Your Problems will see the woodwose bring their ancient forest rhythms and high-wire, multi-media live act to ever bigger stages - including Camden's iconic Roundhouse in October.

crystal blue vinyl

South London based producer Lxury is a subtle experimentalist, pairing house rhythms with eclectic genre blending and risk-taking. Returning to Shall Not Fade's Lost Palms series for a second record, Smart Digital Life EP shows the maturity and complexity of his production while keeping the energy light and summery.

"1722" opens things up with dreamlike pitched vocals that provide a vaporwave feel, hypnotizing over stuttering synths and a wonky beat. "Spin" has an experimental sound palette, a euphoric pulse and a sweet melody, dance music doused in honey.

This sweetness spills over onto the B side; "Pad Ma" sounds like a pumping club track meets a trip to the fairground - unstoppably buoyant and headsy. The vocals in "When I Wake Up" spin around your head before a muscular beat kicks in, the most stripped back and raw sounding of the record. This one is certain to get heads down and feet moving. "Up High" is an expansive closing track, built around fuzzy drums as the clever use of vocal samples creates a melody with a loved-up feeling; it's a tour-de-force of Lxury's delicate production skills.

Re-mastering by: Cicely Baston at Alchemy/Air Mastering, London

Electric blues guitarist Melvin Taylor had been sporadically recording solo albums for 20 years when Dirty Pool arrived — and was somehow just beginning to find fame. Already a hit in Europe, it had taken a steady run of performing in Chicago’s famed blues clubs to slowly earn Taylor a well-deserved reputation as an equal talent among the giants before him, such as Otis Rush, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

While early records like Melvin Taylor Plays the Blues For You show off an equally amazing jazz side, Taylor traded away his Wes Montgomery-inspired runs for more Luther Allison/Jimi Hendrix attacks with the formation of the trio Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band in the mid ’90’s.

The title song of the second album by that outfit, “Dirty Pool,” is actually more the balls-to-the-wall, no-compromise, hard-rockin’ electric Texas blues of Vaughan and Johnny Winter than the sweet Chicago soul of Buddy Guy.

Indeed, three tracks on this 1997 release, including “Dirty Pool,” were SRV tunes. Other standards, like “Kansas City” and “Floodin’ in California” also have more of a Lone Star State approach to them. But the Jackson, Miss.-born Taylor’s guitar is cleaner than his forebears and technically, he even surpasses them, yet the anger and sorrow of the blues is readily evident in his playing.

This rare combination of qualities really comes out in a slow blues tune like his solo in “Dirty Pool,” which after repeated listens, still makes me head shake in disbelief when I hear it.

“Too Sorry” is a good example of how well Taylor fares when he treads in Jimi Hendrix territory, whereas his rhythm work is the best I’ve heard from a lead guitarist since Vaughan; listen to “I Ain’t Superstitious,” “Born Under A Bad Sign” and the funky “Telephone Song” for your proof.

It also helps that Taylor’s drummer James Knowles is well in synch with him, while Ethan Farmer completely owns the low end of the sound. Farmer’s peppering bass lines in and “Floodin’ in California” is the textbook way electric blues bass should be. Overall, a tight little band.

Taylor’s vocals certainly won’t draw any comparisons to the Wide-Brimmed–Hatted One but he holds his own just fine until it’s cuttin’ time. This is right at the top of my list of best blues guitar playing on record over the last couple of decades. If you decide to give this one a listen, prepare to be blown away.

Kryptox records was born to show what's happening in the new scene in germany. And David Nesselhauf is the next upcoming artist. Kryptox will release his 6 track EP.?Nesselhauf is a multi-talented artists: bass player, composer, bandleader and man of very original ideas. He was already featured on the Kryptox' Kraut Jazz Futurism compilation vol 1 (2019) and now delivers his first solo EP for the label.

This EP is a follow up in a longer musical evolution that the Hamburg born talent has been making over the past years. A journey that's basically a style he is building that he calls afro-kraut. Before joining Kryptox he already released 2 albums under the Afrokraut title on his own (Bandcamp) before meeting Mathias Modica (head of Kryptox) and they decided to work together.

So on the "Rituals EP“ Nesselhauf salutes his personal pantheon of musical gods once again, leading the listener through his musical Jungle encompassing Krautrock, Downbeat, Drone, Electronica, Afrobeat, Lo-Fi, Shoegaze, Funk and Ambient textures in the blink of an eye.?The 6 new tracks share a common feel, but are colorful individuals at the same time. Some more organic, others with electronic elements.

About Nesselhaufs workflow: Four of these composition are based on quick, playful, raw jams recorded live within hours by a group of Nesselhauf's inner circle musicians. Great grooves played by a heavy rhythm section that he uses also for his live gigs. Just on a few songs Nesselhauf exchanged the human musicians with a legendary Vermona Drum Synthesizer as the main rhythm ingredient.

Guests: One more track was recorded with Julian Gutjahr, Drummer for The Drawbars. Some tracks feature guest appearances by Dennis Rux (he also mixed the EP) and Graeme Currie on guitar. Soulamadou made his way to one of the tracks just by incidentally leaving a very groovy voice message on David ´s phone ("Zeit").

The material was later bewitched into deep, organic swirls: Trippy, psychedelic somnambulistical. The rather mystical, nocturnal reworking process of the recording added even more dimension and depth, leaving the 6 Tracks ready for home listen, but also for an open minded dancefloor and an otherworldly listening experience at the same time.
The next generations of jazz are just waking up. And Davd Nesselhauf and his bunch are one of these new interesting phenomena. Working in the underground since few years, now hopefully there will be more spotlight on these great new innovators.

With his ongoing commitment to like-minded archivist label Finders Keepers Records, industrial music pioneer Steven Stapleton further entrusts us to lift the veil and expose “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary and oft misinterpreted psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List.
Following the critically lauded first instalment and it’s exclusively French tracklisting both parties now combine their vinyl-vulturous penchants to bring you the next ‘Strain Crack & Break’ edition which consists of twelve lesser-known German records that played a hugely important part in the initial foundations of the list which began to unfold when Stapleton was just thirteen years old.
From the perspective of a schoolboy Amon Düül (ONE) victim, at the start of a journey that commenced before phrases like kosmische and the xeno-ignant Krautrock tag had become mag hack currency, this compendium is devoid of the tropes that united what many would accurately argue to be the greatest progressive pop bands in Europe
(namely CAN, Neu! and Kraftwerk) and rather shatters the ingredients across a ground zero landscape for both inquisitive fans and socially rehabbing musos to begin to assemble a unique self-styled identity. If Krautrock was the music that journalist told us lurked behind schlager (German pop) in the 1970s, then this record includes the music that skulked behind Krautrock and perhaps refused to polish its backhanded name belt.
Including lesser-known artists like the late Wolfgang Dauner, whose career proceeded and outlived the kosmische movement while consistently informing and outsmarting them whenever they got stuck in their metronomic ruts, or how about Fritz Müller, the man who
was to Kraftwerk what Stuart Sutcliffe was to The Beatles but had more in common with Yoko and quite rightly couldn’t give a stuff about the Fab Four’s Hamburg roots.
Elsewhere we have a plethora of German bands made for German audiences as they try and shed secondhand flower power Americanisms and feel the benefits of much harder drugs and the realisations of difficult second album budgets while Kommune 1
newsflashes wipe smiles from everybody’s faces and replace them with opioid chic or acid-sarcastic grins. Bonzo Cockettes show us their Big Muffs and drummers ask for extra mics while Conny Plank goes for parliamentary office and gives babies good firm handshakes for the camera.
‘Strain Crack & Break: Volume Two’ is the sound of Steve Stapleton’s sponge-like mind and the dividends of anyone who was brave enough to even peek inside those brick-thick gatefold covers never mind drop the needle.
Over forty years since Nurse With Wound’s first album was released, Finders Keepers Records and Steve Stapleton take connoisseurs of our kind of music back to the disused elevator shaft towards ground zero. Arriving at the same checkout from different departments, Finders Keepers and Nurse With Wound continue to sing from the same hymnal with this ongoing collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from Steve’s list, where many overzealous erds have faltered (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick).
After ‘Strain Crack & Break: Volume One’ merely scratched the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities, this second lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium drives a much deeper groove which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focusses exclusively on individual tracks of German origin - the country whose music forged the prototype of the NWW inventory in the form of his secondary school vinyl wantlist in the early 1970s, comprised of disassembled free jazz, unshowered stoner psych, hypnotic prog, deranged monk funk and fuzzed out Deutschmark bin bonzo beats.

Limited edition gold vinyl edition.
Hamburg's funk adventurers at the top of their game with special guests Ice-T, Charlie Funk, Peter Thomas, Gizelle Smith, Lee Fields, JSwiss & the Mocambo Kidz.

Original press release note (2019):
Carrying blistering funk lines in their fingers and worldly influences in their hearts, the unique and distinctive Mocambo sound is not one to be confused with retro bands trying to recapture an era. Eschewing traditional recording methods, this DIY crew are committed to driving forwards, and 2066 sees them at the height of their powers, broadcasting a call for unity.
After reaching new audiences worldwide and earning critical praise for their two long players on Brooklyn's Big Crown Records in their tropical guise as Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the band have reassembled and refocused in their original form, the workhorses behind dozens of 45s on the Mocambo label and beyond. Crossing generations, this album introduces some of the world's youngest funk talent to step up and rub shoulders with soul and rap legends, soul sisters, an elder statesman composer/arranger and a brand new emerging artist out of New York.
As with all Mocambo releases, the two sides of the record have been meticulously sequenced by the
band. Side A welcomes us aboard with joyous instrumental stomper Preaching To The Choir, and a call to build bridges from Mocambo chanteuse and percussionist Nichola Richards, duetting with emerging rap talent, New York MC JSwiss. B-girls and b-boys are called to the dancefloor as Superstrada and Concrete Stardust commence, all buzzing synth lines and relentless drums. New Jersey legend and Big Crown associate Mr Lee Fields is guest of honour for Where Do We Go From Here before a horn workout brings us to a close with Macumba. It's time for a breather.
The B side kicks off with the grand return of the Golden Girl of Funk, Gizelle Smith, a sister who's been busy taking on the world. Composer and presenter Peter Thomas narrates a Return To Space to mark the centenary of the debut of his score to sci-fi show Space Patrol, which first broadcast in 1966. We're back down to Earth and the mean streets for the furious drums and car chase workout of Golden Shadow. Today slows down the pace for a reflective ballad with Nichola front and centre - and here's the next generation: the Mocambo Kidz sing along to their parents' instrumentation for Here We Go, a new kids' block party anthem... with no sleep 'til bedtime. The album closer makes it clear that the Mocambos are nowhere near powering down as Ice T and Charlie F unk bring their A-game for an old school attack which, since you're up bouncing anyway, gives you no excuse not to flip the LP and drop the needle right back on to Side A. Onwards!
A summation of their journey so far and a celebration in anticipation of what's to come, the album is set
to take its place in a legacy of open minded, organically recorded music, showering listeners with the crew's maze of tantalising sounds pulled from funk, afro, hip hop with cinematic composition and storytelling.

Nina Simone: The Montreux Years is released as part of a brand new Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG collection series “The Montreux Years”. The collections will uncover legendary performances by the world’s most iconic artists alongside rare and never-before-released recordings from the festival’s rich 55-year history, remastered in superlative audio. Each collection will be accompanied by exclusive liner notes and previously unseen photography.

Nina Simone’s story from the late sixties to the nineties can be told through her legendary performances in Montreux. Taking to the Montreux stage for the first time on 16 June 1968 for the festival’s second edition, Simone built a lasting relationship with Montreux Jazz Festival and its Creator and Founder Claude Nobs, which uniqueness, trust and electricity can be clearly felt on the recordings. Simone’s multi-faceted and radical story is laid bare on ‘Nina Simone: The Montreux Years’. From Nina’s glorious and emotional 1968 performance to her fiery and unpredictable concert in 1976, one of the festival’s most remarkable performances ever witnessed, the collection includes recordings from all of her five legendary Montreux concerts – 1968, 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1990.

Featuring rare and previously unreleased material from Claude Nobs’ private collection, Nina Simone devotees worldwide will be thrilled by the inclusion of the powerful I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, poignant and fearless Four Women and Simone’s hauntingly beautiful performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas. A spine-tingling version of Janis Ian’s searing and potent Stars, which Simone covered for the very first time during her 1976 Montreux performance, sits alongside her bold and electrifying re-imagine of Bob Marley’s ballad No Women No Cry in 1990. The collection closes with the encore of Nina Simone’s final Montreux Jazz Festival concert and one of Simone’s most-loved and best-known recordings, the exuberant My Baby Just Cares For Me, showcasing the deep and multidimensional facets of Simone’s life and music.

The four Scottish-Irish musicians Conor Dalton, David Donaldson, Greame Reedie and Ian Maclennan are Island People. After their highly acclaimed debut from 2017, they have now finished their second album with the simple and consistent title »II«. Compared to their debut, »II« sounds more mature and complex. The arrangements unfold like the long tracking shots of an early Antonioni film - time seems to stand still, circling the moment. Impressionistically, one feels transported into the Scottish island landscape with its contrasting lights and harsh elements. Gloomy, darker, richer textures have conquered their space on »II« as much as the more present acoustic components. As much as its predecessor, also this record was skilfully produced, the musicians’ entire experience is audible (Conor Dalton is a sought-after mastering engineer; David Donaldson a Grammy Award-winning producer) – but anything fashionable or sensationalist has been intentionally waived. The musical serenity, holding up a craft that neither has to show itself off every minute nor wants to respond to the latest trends impressed us the most. The cover photo was contributed by the Scottish artist Helena Ohman. She also provided the video for the track »Crash«. Furthermore, singer Alice Hill-Woods was invited to contribute the lyrics and vocals to »Stalling«. Island People »II« will be released as gatefold double LP as well as on CD and digitally. In advance we asked Island People about the creative process behind the album and quote as follows: This album reflects on the destination we have in common before us, and celebrates the longer road while also considering paths not taken and journeys that ended too soon. It has been said that »art is how we decorate space; music is how we decorate time.« For us the writing of this album has been a great journey through both, shared with friends. While our first album acknowledged our own spaces and borders as individuals, the new album seemed to grow very quickly from our travels together as a band. Periods spent on the road playing live afforded extra time together and while we didn’t feel constrained to a concept at the start, more and more of the tracks evolved to reflect these journeys and experiences together.

RIYL MELVINS/GOATSNAKE/NEUROSIS/ASCEND

Asclepius comprises two long-form tracks, “Healing The Ouroboros” and ‘Dahlia Rides the Firebird’, the latter is based on an old traditional Greek tune. With some members majoring in classics/philosophy, music/composition and studying ethnomusicology - classic mythology has always been a key reference point for the themes of their music. That the new record is named after the god of healing and medicine and arriving at this moment in time is coincidence, as the band comments, “It felt like we needed healing even before this pandemic hit.”

The line-up on Asclepius represents the core of Iceburn through the early formative years. Iceburn, later the Iceburn Collective, initially existed from 1990 to 2001. Later reuniting in 2007 with this current lineup again at the core. The band's initial output slowly evolved from hardcore and metal to free improvisation and noise, The 10 year arc saw the band following their own path and becoming more and more obscure as they got deeper into unknown musical worlds. By 2000 the cycle seemed complete and Iceburn did their final tour in Europe 2001. In 2007 this early core crew reunited to play a local anniversary show focused on the earliest material. Every few years since they would get together for another 'reunion' until that word became more of a joke, it was clear the band was back, getting together every week, and working on new material.

ICEBURN LINE UP:

Joseph 'Chubba' Smith - drums, founding member of Iceburn from 1990-'93 then 2007-present
James Holder - guitar, was also a founding member from '90-'95 and '07 to present
Cache Tolman - bass, '91-97 off and on, and '07 to present
Gentry Densley - guitar and vocals, 1990 to present

Asclepius was recorded and engineered by Andy Patterson (SubRosa, INVDRS, Insect Ark, and The Otolith) a collaborator also for Gentry's other band's Eagle Twin and Ascend.

JP Harris has a secret: his name is actually “Squash.” Long before Harris
became a well regarded honky-tonker, he used his childhood nickname
while playing archaic “old-time” American tunes at underground fiddlers’
gatherings, engrossed in this punkish folk music world.
‘Don’t You Marry No Railroad Man’, his debut recording of traditional music
under the moniker JP Harris’ Dreadful Wind and Rain, features ten tracks spanning the breadth of American old-time repertoire. Harris wades between ancient ballads that traveled from the British Isles to Appalachia like “Barbry Ellen,” to droning banjo ditties such as Hobart Smith’s entrancing “Last Chance,”
here played on one of Harris’ coveted homemade banjos. Harris also works as a
serious carpenter which adds a unique authenticity to his versions of the classic
“House Carpenter” and lesser known “The Little Carpenter.”
Alongside Harris’ haunting vocals, the album prominently features the lowtuned fiddle and harmony singing of his longtime friend and Old Crow Medicine Show member Chance McCoy, who produced the record at his West Virginia studio in an old barn. On this sparse and arresting recording, Harris isn’t
mining his roots as a marketing pitch, he has the chops to back it up. In fact,
this collection of songs made him who he is today. Welcome home “Squash.”

A year before Wild Pitch Records properly introduced us to the trio of Queens native Large Professor and Toronto’s Sir Scratch and K-Cut, the soon-to-be-legendary group self-released their own debut single. Dropping on Actual Records, the 12” of ‘Think’ and ‘Atom’ was soon a sought after rarity, with scarce originals still fetching upwards of three figures.

On it, they only hint at the greatness to come, while simultaneously showing that they’d already mastered the three-minute rap single – this is concise brilliance with no flab whatsoever.

Engineered by the late, esteemed Paul C, ‘Think’ is a study in how to turn well-worn samples into something new. The combination of several James Brown snatches, along with bits lifted from Lyn Collins and Jimmy Castor Bunch, could have been tired and almost parodic by 1989, but instead the group weave something interesting from old fabric.

‘Atom’ is arguably even better, built around a brace of elements from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 duet ‘Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl’. On it, Large Pro gives the first real hints that he’ll not just be a super-producer, but a committed MC to watch. Mixing threats with humour, positivity with braggadocio, it’s a calling card performance on a track that could have still sat comfortably on 1991’s ‘Breaking Atoms’ album.

Heavily bootlegged, this is the first official double-sided 7” release bringing together both these foundational cuts.

Transmeridian is the first album from Departure Lounge (ex-Bella Union) in 19 years. It features all four original members plus a guest appearance from legendary REM guitarist, Peter Buck, one of many long-standing admirers of a band that embodied a lost age of reflective, experimental pop music coming to the fore at the turn of the Millennium alongside The Beta Band, Tunng, Boards Of Canada and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.

The surprise new album, named after the defunct ‘golden age of aviation’ cargo airline for which singer/guitarist Tim Keegan’s dad was chief pilot, is released on Violette Records (formed by Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and Matt Lockett ) on digital and vinyl formats on Fri 26 March 2021.
Originally scooped up by Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union label (labelmates with John Grant’s Czars) following the self-funded release of their debut album Out Of Here (1999), Departure Lounge’s sophomore outing, Too Late To Die Young (2002) was equally acclaimed and was honoured as the first ever Album Of The Week on the emergent BBC 6 Music. The band toured extensively in the UK, Europe and the US, including outings with The Go-Betweens, Morcheeba, Paul Heaton and Robyn Hitchcock, peers whose stylistic contrasts reflect the eclectic nature of Departure Lounge themselves.

Calling a halt in late 2002, citing family and geographical reasons (drummer Lindsay lives in Nashville, where their second album Jetlag Dreams (2001) was recorded), the four members remained firm friends and occasional collaborators, before reuniting in late 2019 for shows at The Green Door Store, Brighton and The Lexington, London, ostensibly to support the digital reissues of their first three cult-classic albums. With no plans other than to make some new music, the next day they set off for Middle Farm Studios, Devon.
Tim Keegan (vocals/guitar), Chris Anderson (lead guitars/keyboards/bass), Lindsay Jamieson(drums/keyboards) and Jake Kyle (bass/guitar/drums) channelled their evident joy at being back together into a complete 13-track album, largely conceived and recorded in just one 24-hour session in the company of studio owner and co-producer, Peter Miles. Ranging from soulful Americana to piano and mellotron-fuelled melancholia via pastoral musings on the nature of post-youth and eerie Spaghetti Western-tinged instrumentals, the next leg on the Departure Lounge journey is a multi-mood expression of pure artistic freedom.
The ‘leak’ of instrumental track Al Aire Libre (remixed by Parisian groovemeister Kid Loco) in October 2020 gave little away as to what fans could expect from a new Departure Lounge record, the track going gracefully everywhere and nowhere on a whistled Latino breeze. First single proper, Mercury In Retrograde, covered in the twinkling lights of a music box Casio CZ101 melody, turned the clock back - this was an old live favourite that never got past the studio door. Unfinished business brought to a happy conclusion, the single returned Keegan’s honest and distinctive lyrical voice back to British music at just the time listeners needed it.
It was an emotional thread, rather than one musical style, which gave the first three Departure Lounge albums their coherence. The songs told the story of the band. Transmeridian has the same sense of deeply connected musical energy. The purring, campfire acoustica of Timber and So Long bear no obvious resemblance to the ethereal, end-of-the-evening, piano-led interlude Paging Marco Polo, whilst the quasi-glam stomp of Mr Friendly would normally have no business sharing space with the strange, spacey Gurnard Pines (named after an abandoned holiday camp on the Isle Of Wight). Yet the journey’s ebb and flow, accelerations and pauses make for compelling, grown-up listening. Australia, showcasing the chiming Rickenbacker 12-string of Athens, GA’s finest guitar slinger, leaves no doubt that Departure Lounge’s pop sensibilities also remain solidly intact.
These four friends from different musical backgrounds came together originally with the stated aim of ‘creating music to soothe the troubled soul’. Citing their love of (and placing on record their debt to) influences including Robert Wyatt, Nick Drake, Talk Talk, Lou Reed, Arvo Pärt and Cocteau Twins, the band’s diversity of taste is reflected in the music they create.
Transmeridian is only the second full-length LP released by Violette Records, formed by Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and Matt Lockett as a platform for Head’s work and developing into a respected independent label as well as multi-disciplinary event organiser, drawing in outsiders working in music, literature, art and design. The label continues to host live events whenever possible and recently initiated an ELP (halfway between and EP and an LP) vinyl series, putting out acclaimed releases by The Pistachio Kid and Studio Electrophonique.

Music Mania and Indica Dubs is proud to present their nineteenth collaborative-release in their Mania Dub series. The Disciples were formed in 1986 by brothers Russ and Lol. Together they played a significant role in the UK dub scene and produced some of the most distinctive instrumental dub music in that era, which shows significant influence in today’s dub and electronic music. They were given the name by Jah Shaka, after producing exclusively for him.

Return To Addis Ababa: a heavyweight 90's production and one of the most iconic UK Dub anthems ever! Originally released on Boom Shacka Lacka, it now finally gets a re-issue / re-master for RSD 2021 on Mania Dub! Played by all the big sounds through the years: Jah Shaka, Aba Shanti, Iration Steppas, and many more! Serious piece of soundsystem & UK-Dub history!

Fearless: hard and hypnotic melody, Disciples signature style, this tune is guaranteed to get any session going! This 12” also includes a previously never released-before mix 3!

A one-time-pressing for RSD 2021, PLAY LOUD!

FUSE revisit Rich NxT’s debut album as they welcome Skream, Seb Zito, Guti and Rossi to remix Natural and Other Side from the highly acclaimed album.

FUSE look set to build on Rich NxT’s much-lauded album in notable fashion as they welcome electronic heavyweight Skream as he steps out on FUSE for the very first time,whilst welcoming the long-awaited return of long-standing FUSE family member Seb Zito who returns to the imprint for the first time since late-2019. A wonky, off-kilter, and warping affair, Skream’s take journeys down a twisting trail of elastic analogue rhythms, sweeping electronics and tripped out cuts of Shyam P’s vibrant vocal to take things firmly into after-hours territories, before Seb Zito’s slick interpretation harnesses an abundance of rich UK flavours as skipping garage-tinged drums meet hazy pads, resonant top lines and skittering melodies to close the show in style.

On the flipside the London imprint welcomes two close friends in Argentinian favourite Guti and rising-UK talent Rossi. to offer up fresh interpretations of NxT track ‘Other Side’ featuring Shyam P. Up first, the always excellent Guti offers up his slick and classy remix, welcoming a signature blend of rolling organic percussion beneath snaking top lines, groove-fuelled bass licks and Shyam P’s infectious and hazy vocals, whilst Rossi.’s no-nonsense remix sees the UK hotshot draw for rumbling sub-bass, icy hats and sharp drum licks throughout his driving take on the production.

‘Sleek, impassioned and thoroughly modern’ - Prog Magazine
French atmospheric rockers Klone have built their name on making music that
is as deeply introspective as it is sonically powerful. Known for their trademark
dark guitar tones and epic brooding soundscapes, the band signed with Kscope
in 2019 before releasing their first album with the label, ‘Le Grand Voyage’, that
same year to critical praise.
Now, for the first time in the band’s career, Klone are releasing a live album.
Recorded between two different shows at Sjiwa in Baarlo, The Netherlands in
October 2016 and at Moloco in Audincourt, France in November 2019 respectively, Alive captures the true essence of Klone and includes stunning performances of the singles ‘Yonder’ and ‘Breach’.
Engineered by the band’s live sound engineer Chris Edrich and Mastered by
Pierrick Noel, the band describe the moment as “a way to pay tribute to our
audience and the people who support us.”
As we await live music to return on a large scale, this is a timely reminder of
what a superb live band Klone are. Featuring recordings which represent the
band’s most popular material whilst giving testimony to the shows recorded
during the period between 2015’s ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and 2020’s ‘Le Grand
Voyage’.
This LP edition of ‘Alive’ features a bonus track “The Last Experience” and is
available as a gatefold double black vinyl on 11th June 2021.

In the spirit of old school power metal, Germany’s up-and-comers HAMMER KING have gathered to set fire on their new album Hammer King (out June 11 via Napalm Records)! Ever since HAMMER KING burst onto the scene in 2015, they have proven themselves as an unstoppable force. Hand-picked by thy majesty, the Hammer King himself, the band consists of former ROSS THE BOSS vocalist Titan Fox V and former SALTATIO MORTIS drummer Dolph A. Macallan, alongside Gladius Thundersword on bass and Kleveland's most timeless lead guitarist: Gino Wilde. HAMMER KING keeps it heavy with speedy riffs, energic grooves and fist-pumping choruses, devoting their existence to the one and only myth of the godly Hammer King! The new self-titled album starts off with blasting drums and brisk guitars on “Awaken the Thunder”, with frontman and guitarist Titan Fox V showing off his incredible vocal range, whereas tracks like “Atlantis” prove HAMMER KING’s ability to write catchy and memorable choruses. Hammer King tells the lore of the Hammer King himself, a wrathful and mighty war god, who is praised in tracks like anthemic “Baptized by the Hammer”, energetic and double-bass driven “In the Name of the Hammer” and the hard-hitting “Hammerschlag” featuring the legendary Gerre from TANKARD, Isaac from EPICA and the almighty The Crusader (WARKINGS). Hammer King will be available as a deluxe box edition including, as well as on gatefold vinyl amongst others. Kneel before the king of kings, the HAMMER KING! 1. SINGLE - EN "Kicking off with a tight, punishing drum groove and heavy guitars, “Hammerschlag” gets your blood pumping right from the first second! A catchy power metal singalong hook and guest vocals by Gerre from TANKARD and Isaac from EPICA and the almighty Crusader (WARKINGS), topped off with dizzying guitar solos – HAMMER KING knows how to get your head banging! " 2. SINGLE - EN "On “Atlantis”, power metallers HAMMER KING reveals its melodic side as singer and guitarist Titan Fox V shows off his incredible vocal range. Dynamic songwriting meets multi-faceted, virtuoso guitar solos! " 3. SINGLE - EN “Awaken The Thunder” by HAMMER KING is a heavy, fist-pumping power metal anthem! The double-bass groove will catch the listener off guard, leading seamlessly into the passionately performed verses by Titan Fox V. HAMMER KING at its best!

A musical omnibus, ‘The Best of Lily Konigsberg Right Now’ is the
first widely distributed Lily Konigsberg physical release, as well as
the first vinyl treatment for EPs ‘Good Time Now’ and ‘4 Picture
Tear’.
The collection loosely parallels the melancholic narrative behind
the latter, where a mental break triggered Konigsberg’s
depersonalized sense of her past self. Of the ‘4 Picture Tear’ EP
Konigsberg says, “I would look at this photo booth picture I took
with Matt Norman and cry because I thought I was looking at the
person I used to be in that picture and that that person was gone.”
In retrospect, these EPs feel like distinctive vignettes of
Konigsberg’s progression as a songwriter, each version of her
past self-tethered by an invisible thread to the present through
musical alliances and fervent introspection.
‘Owe Me’, a song Konigsberg never felt fit on any of her previous
releases, now serves as an opening curtain call. “Thank you all for
coming to my show,” Konigsberg says to an invisible audience’s
applause, “If you didn’t know, now you certainly know.” It’s a
transportive moment that combines Konigsberg’s patient steps into
the underground pop limelight with her exceptional ability to
connect with a diverse and talented cohort of creatives.
One third of egalitarian art-punk outfit Palberta, the Brooklyn-born
and-based Lily Konigsberg has occupied her time with music since
her early childhood. “Basically I was born and immediately started
wanting to be a rock star,” she says.
“Even before she became a fixture of the New York underground,
Lily Konigsberg was staking out her place in local music.” -
Pitchfork (Rising Artist, 2020)
“A crisp, catchy, and concise bit of 90s-indebted indie rock” -
Stereogum
“The freewheeling, flitting melodies underline the precision of
Konigsberg’s songwriting: She knows what she wants to say and
she is methodical about how much to reveal.” - Pitchfork
“Warm and direct but tough to grasp, untraceable” - Tiny Mix
Tapes