quête:being

Sunk in quicksand, doused in prosecco and soundwaves of glitches and Croatian choons, Bolka

is stuck in the raw state of desire. This love came into being under the sad ceilings, bearing traces
of fantastically naive melodies shredded by claws of intruding noises of the artist's debut EP.
And yet, radical sensitivity and optimism on the new EP do not remain just on the beach.
Žiadzasamy (loosely translated as Yearningforus) include love songs about love read in cards,
about overcoming insecurity, about scratching up the slippery walls of reality towards the dream
source of warmth that only SHE possesses.
Syrupy pop tunes in "nech sa ti páčim" ("i hope you like me") are led by a nursery rhyme about
the complex embrace of infatuation, from the head down to the shoulders, knees and toes of the
desired person. The sound wizard of peculiarities goes by the motto "let anything I wish for
come true", whether it's his white buttocks shining in the dark sea or him sweeping past barefoot
in search of seafood delicacies, and the same is heard in his music where euphoric and childish
moods sink arbitrarily to the depths of corroded and distorted rhythms of anxiety. "A smutek
utek" ("and the sadness is gone"), though, sets a new direction for the Bolka's musical piece;
after a slow mo deflation of the balloon of hopes, after wallowing in oozy and sticky blend of
delirious melodies, Bolka gets to spin the wheel of the real Balkan soap opera.

"More, mám ťa veľmi rád" ("sea/man, i like you very much") is the pinnacle of absolute
infiltration and absorption with infatuation and suddenly, the amusing nods to stereotypical
Croatian hits make it clear that all the joy and high spirits do not stem from holiday idleness. In
žiadzasamy, Bolka indulges in the ideal notion of love that is closer to reality with each passing
kilometer, impatiently speeding up the Latin tempo in the hyper-pop escalation in order to
venture into the most radical decision – that all will end well.
Žiadzasamy is hedonism injected right into one's vein, an ashtray always aglow with a lit
cigarette and a musical burst of new-born love that sets the Bolka's sound world on a single
course: from siesta to fiesta, and so on and on.




[d] 04: Žiadzasamy (Remix) [feat. Viktor Jenčuš]

Jacken Elswyth is a London-based folk musician, banjo player, and instrument builder. At Fargrounds is her third solo album, her first for the Wrong Speed label and the latest in a rich catalogue that repositions the spectral, vulnerable sound of the banjo away from its familiar role as signifier of the past and onto lands brave, new and unexplored. “The living wood is imbued with qualities that require engagement and understanding. Working with cherry, oak or walnut involves naming it an equal partner. The parallel, synchronous transformations of wood into instrument, of growing tree into resonating sound, musical tradition into musical flourishing, lie at the heart of Jacken Elswyth’s practices both as an instrument builder and as a creative musician. One might consider her primarily as a worker in wood, but whose craft and fields of expression are absorbed by those transitional and interim processes that manifest change. The traditional tunes included here have been cultivated and maintained by generations of players and collectors, pruned, grafted, and shaped over time. However, in this setting, their long-established forms seem to morph and shift. They audibly accrue unique qualities, blossoming and swelling into new modes of being, bright-stepping arrangements unfolding with a liveliness hinting at practices of ritual and community. Meanwhile, other pieces, creative cornerstones of this collection, appear fluid, partially formed. They suggest not the cultivation of new growth from established stock, but instead the actions of something on the verge of taking form. Working with raw elements of melodic and tonal abstraction, they illuminate the process of emergence and evolution. In this context, the title At Fargrounds is telling. It suggests a point set at some distance from any centre of human concerns, a liminal space in which the cultivated world encounters the world of other living things in their living state. Here, the innate strangeness of the maintained environment–vast lawns, sculpted hedges, vacant playing fields–encounters sprawling vistas of driftwood, dense thickets of brambles, stony hillsides. Across a full century-and-a-quarter, long-standing rural and pastoral musical traditions, at some distance from their origins, have been preserved, nurtured and re-shaped under the folk revival. Placed here, these artefacts now sit in alignment with unvarnished documents featuring the raw elements of sound-making. Their working-together is achieved through a universally-applied interest in musical growth and development. The juxtaposition and combination of these elements gives evidence of new, emerging approaches to community and social music: familiar, known, yet charged with an alien vitality”–CWK Joynes. “...she knows how to knit atmospheres, and does so to especially powerful effect during Scene 4b’s three minutes of stunning bowed banjo, yearning with longing and dread, while showing off her talent, curiosity and range”–Jude Rogers review of Six Static Scenes (Guardian Folk Album Of The Month July 2022) "Jacken is an emotive player with high technical ability. Further, she builds banjos and other instruments, and that intimate knowledge of the bones and fibres holding everything together means that her playing has very few cracks" - Foxy Digitalis

British four-piece rock band Collateral are set to release their highly anticipated sophomore album Should’ve Known Better on May 24, 2024. The album is distributed worldwide by Cargo. The album will be released on CD, red vinyl, picture disc, limited edition cassette, and digital. Friday February 9th saw the release of the lead single “Glass Sky.”. The new single “Glass Sky” and the forthcoming album Should’ve Known Better is produced by Dan Weller (Those Damn Crows, Enter Shikari, Monster Truck, Kris Barras, Holding Absence, Bury Tomorrow). "I love massive riffs, massive hooks and feel-good guitar music,” says Weller. “When Collateral sent me their demos, I jumped at chance to produce their new record. I’m proud of what we managed to create. It’s Collateral mk2 - ambitious, daring and refined. I can’t wait for people to hear it." Since the band released their debut album (Top 5 UK Rock Album Chart) at the start of 2020 Collateral have spent no time standing still. Covid came only weeks after the debut album was released and forced the band to cancel their highly successful tour with Phil X (Bon Jovi) halfway through. This made the band hungry to keep the momentum. With innovative ways to produce top quality live streams, the band became special guests supporting the likes of Skid Row, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love. The exciting and flamboyant Kent-based rock and roll band are comprised of Angelo Tristan (lead vocals, guitar), Louis Malagodi (guitar), Jack Bentley-Smith (bass) and Ben Atkinson (drums). On October 21, 2022, Collateral independently released a re-mixed and re-mastered version of their debut album “Re-Wired” which featured Jeff Scott Soto, Phil X, Kee Marcello, Rudy Sarzo, Danny Vaughn, and Joel Hoekstra. The re-release saw the band in the Official UK Rock Charts at #12. After the gruelling back-to-back tours with Skid Row, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love, the band ignited a spark and strengthened their already loyal fanbase leading them to win the opening slot at 2023s Stonedead Festival, leading the band to perform their biggest show. Collateral’s hotly tipped sophomore album looks like it will take them to the next level. A lot of people don’t know what to expect from the new album, as the band have been tight-lipped about the new songs. Collateral have created a state-of-the-art rock album that will immerse listeners in their rock music universe, enabling fans to feel the blood, sweat and glory that went into the recording of every song. “We felt that our debut album was lacking the production,” reflects Collateral’s frontman, Angelo Tristan. “For the sophomore album, I wanted to make sure that this time we left no room for error and so got one of the hottest producers in the music industry, Dan Weller, to help lift these songs into a new dimension. With Dan’s pioneering studio expertise, this album has massive production quality that enables you to get lost in each character-filled track. Dan really brought out the emotions we were trying to portray and has achieved it with his own unique style.” “We wanted this album to express where we were in our own lives since the release of our first. So much has happened since then, I mean the world shut down for what felt like a lifetime! And it was obvious that people were going to need some sort of optimism. I hope ‘Glass Sky’ is one of those songs that gives people the belief to find themselves again.” “Whereas, the feel-good ‘Just One Of Those Days’ is trying to find the good side of a bad day. Me being me, couldn’t help but to write a big power ballad, ‘The Long Road’, that I wrote from a very hard and deep place, in hope that it could maybe bring some peace and comfort to people who need it. I think there’s all aspects of life running though this album and what it means to us will remain in our hearts forever. ”Should’ve Known Better” is an album that goes beyond specific music genres,” says Angelo. “It’s almost like a soundtrack to a beating heart. It’s an album that will remain timeless in years to come

British four-piece rock band Collateral are set to release their highly anticipated sophomore album Should’ve Known Better on May 24, 2024. The album is distributed worldwide by Cargo. The album will be released on CD, red vinyl, picture disc, limited edition cassette, and digital. Friday February 9th saw the release of the lead single “Glass Sky.”. The new single “Glass Sky” and the forthcoming album Should’ve Known Better is produced by Dan Weller (Those Damn Crows, Enter Shikari, Monster Truck, Kris Barras, Holding Absence, Bury Tomorrow). "I love massive riffs, massive hooks and feel-good guitar music,” says Weller. “When Collateral sent me their demos, I jumped at chance to produce their new record. I’m proud of what we managed to create. It’s Collateral mk2 - ambitious, daring and refined. I can’t wait for people to hear it." Since the band released their debut album (Top 5 UK Rock Album Chart) at the start of 2020 Collateral have spent no time standing still. Covid came only weeks after the debut album was released and forced the band to cancel their highly successful tour with Phil X (Bon Jovi) halfway through. This made the band hungry to keep the momentum. With innovative ways to produce top quality live streams, the band became special guests supporting the likes of Skid Row, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love. The exciting and flamboyant Kent-based rock and roll band are comprised of Angelo Tristan (lead vocals, guitar), Louis Malagodi (guitar), Jack Bentley-Smith (bass) and Ben Atkinson (drums). On October 21, 2022, Collateral independently released a re-mixed and re-mastered version of their debut album “Re-Wired” which featured Jeff Scott Soto, Phil X, Kee Marcello, Rudy Sarzo, Danny Vaughn, and Joel Hoekstra. The re-release saw the band in the Official UK Rock Charts at #12. After the gruelling back-to-back tours with Skid Row, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love, the band ignited a spark and strengthened their already loyal fanbase leading them to win the opening slot at 2023s Stonedead Festival, leading the band to perform their biggest show. Collateral’s hotly tipped sophomore album looks like it will take them to the next level. A lot of people don’t know what to expect from the new album, as the band have been tight-lipped about the new songs. Collateral have created a state-of-the-art rock album that will immerse listeners in their rock music universe, enabling fans to feel the blood, sweat and glory that went into the recording of every song. “We felt that our debut album was lacking the production,” reflects Collateral’s frontman, Angelo Tristan. “For the sophomore album, I wanted to make sure that this time we left no room for error and so got one of the hottest producers in the music industry, Dan Weller, to help lift these songs into a new dimension. With Dan’s pioneering studio expertise, this album has massive production quality that enables you to get lost in each character-filled track. Dan really brought out the emotions we were trying to portray and has achieved it with his own unique style.” “We wanted this album to express where we were in our own lives since the release of our first. So much has happened since then, I mean the world shut down for what felt like a lifetime! And it was obvious that people were going to need some sort of optimism. I hope ‘Glass Sky’ is one of those songs that gives people the belief to find themselves again.” “Whereas, the feel-good ‘Just One Of Those Days’ is trying to find the good side of a bad day. Me being me, couldn’t help but to write a big power ballad, ‘The Long Road’, that I wrote from a very hard and deep place, in hope that it could maybe bring some peace and comfort to people who need it. I think there’s all aspects of life running though this album and what it means to us will remain in our hearts forever. ”Should’ve Known Better” is an album that goes beyond specific music genres,” says Angelo. “It’s almost like a soundtrack to a beating heart. It’s an album that will remain timeless in years to come

"Never sacrifice the art for anything and never leave home without your respect. Southwest representer Cash Lansky hails from the deserts of Tucson, Arizona about 45 minutes from the Southern border. His story is one of family, trials, growth, and being forced into a role all too many young boys face - being the Man of the House at a young age. Wise beyond his years, Cash grew up quick. This record is the heartfelt result of being able to reflect on that life and bring forth the lessons and stories that make great art.

A seasoned performer and respected member of the Arizona Hiphop scene and Southwest culture, Cash Lansky makes his indie label debut with Mello Music Group on this T-Wade and Mario Luciano produced album (Mario's credits include notable releases like Drake’s “8am in Charlotte”, Kendrick Lamar & Baby Keem’s “Savior” , J. Cole’s “Punchin’.the.clock”, Jack Harlow’s “Is That Ight?”, and H.E.R. & YG’s “Slide”). The new record is mixed by the legendary Willie Green. This is Rec-Center Rap straight from the heart of one the West's best."

After making waves with her critically acclaimed debut EP Sometimes I Forget You're Human Too, Bored at My Grandmas House, AKA Leeds-based Amber Strawbridge, is releasing her debut album “Show & Tell” on 7th June via CLUE Records/EMI North. The title track is out now with the reveal of the record - ‘Show & Tell’ is a breezy track which meets at the intersection between dream-pop, bedroom-pop and shoegaze, the sprightly guitar work echoing the droll lyrics and themes. It’s a hooky song which lays bare difficulties with trust, and building walls for self-protection. As Amber explains: “Show & Tell is quite a tongue-in-cheek song about me being the opposite of an open book and all the little specific things about me that I sometimes wish were different. Overall it’s about me being a guarded person and fearing the possibility of having to be vulnerable and realising that vulnerability is actually a beautiful thing and something I shouldn’t be so scared of.”

The Don is back to round off the series with maybe his most sought after release, Remember EP.

Reaching crazy prices online, the two tracks have been lost for some time. Now being remastered, ready for any dark club or after party.

300 copies.

"The new avant-garde isn't about creating something that doesn't yet exist, it's about abandoning and confusing rigid genres. I want to open up, in order to both abolish and reconstruct the musical past." — Noémi Büchi

Noémi Büchi's album 'Does It Still Matter' completes a series of releases whose titles - 'Matière', 'Matter', and 'Does It Still Matter' - place the physicality of music in the center of attention. Büchi's specific sound structures and aesthetic choices question the state of materiality in a world that is becoming more and more fluid and intangible.

From 'Matière' to 'Matter', Büchi subtly transferred from a focus on substance to questioning the enigmatic core of

being, passing from a noun to a verb, and from a single word to an inquiry. 'Does It Still Matter' weighs in on the importance of questioning. Her pieces juxtapose multi-layered analog synthesizer textures, crystal clear sounds and almost brutalistic noises, while they unfold in compositional structures akin to pop songs. Driven by an orchestra of myriad parts, her music creates transcendent intonations that resonate deeply with the listeners' bodies. A daring blend of complexity and accessibility are molded into captivating sound sculptures that challenge and intrigue listeners alike.

Deviating from conventional time divisions, 'Does It Still Matter' immerses listeners in a discordant succession of elements, and guides them towards an eternal present that erases the past with each new revelation, while maintaining it through recurring themes that serve as intimate memories. Büchi's electronic maximalism questions our linear perception of time, offering a glimpse into a world where the past, present, and future converge into a singular moment. Her avant-garde approach rejects predictability, inviting listeners to immerse themselves fully in the present. Everything starts anew at any given instant. Each musical idea exists for one precise moment, rendering the future unpredictable.

'Does It Still Matter' unfolds against a backdrop of collective disaster and biocidal urgency, challenging the very essence of time. Büchi explains: "The world appears to have gone mad. It's all but impossible to reflect on the meaning of avant-garde in music, considering the future in this sepulchral kind of stability of the human condition." Her compositions resonate like an infernal machine, questioning the instantaneous dissipation of everything. Finally, echoes and fragments of sounds remain, haunting memories like ghostly companions.

'Does It Still Matter' is an immersive experience that invites listeners to contemplate the impermanence of our world and the enduring power of sound.

The next release in the Mr Bongo Cuban Classics series, is one of Juan Pablo Torres' most-known and loved albums, the iconic Super Son from 1977. A wonderful record of tripped-out rumbas, psych-Afro-Latin funk and quirky orchestrated tracks with a big band horn section courtesy of Torres’ band, Algo Nuevo.

As well as being the director of Algo Nuevo and Cuban all-star ensemble Estrellas De Areito, the trombonist, bandleader, arranger and producer also released a wealth of albums under his own name predominately on the state-owned imprint Areito/EGREM.

Post-revolution, there was a contrast in Cuba’s musical world. State censorship was at play, but professional musicians were on the government payroll which gave them an artistic freedom. Experimentation emanated in the ‘70s and ‘80s and Super Son is a prime example of that. ‘Y Que Bien' kicks off the album taking you down a tripped-out, cosmic rabbithole, psych guitars and skat vocals opening up into a joyful funk groove laced with jazzy Afro-Cuban horns stabs. Tracks such as 'Pastel En Descarga' seem to come out of nowhere and are completely unique. Fuzzed-up guitar lines and percussion lay the groundwork, with those jubilant horns adding to the energy of this forever building track.

Elsewhere, there’s the ‘70s TV theme-tune feeling of 'Con Aji Guaguao', a playful funk number that boils and bubbles with blistering trombone playing by Torres. Or ‘Son A Propulsión' and ‘Son Riendo’, two more brilliant examples of psychedelic funk, wrapped up in a blanket of Afro-Cuban rhythms. The former sweeping you up in rushes of wind as trumpets, trombones and distorted guitars trade off, the latter, an intergalactic fiesta of tradition and exploration.

Super Son is up there as one of the funkiest Cuban records around, a playful fusion of ideas from a producer, player and group on fine form and, for us, one of our favourite gems to come out of Cuba in this period. A sheer masterpiece.

Nha Sentimento is the eleventh and final studio album released by Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora. The album consists of 14 songs, most of them written by Cesaria's well-known writers Teófilo Chantre and Manuel de Novas. For the first time in 15 years, the album is being released on vinyl and includes the bonus track ""Gaivota Pa Voa"". Nha Sentimento is available as a 15th anniversary edition of 500 numbered copies on crystal clear vinyl and includes a 4-page booklet with lyrics.

Bergen, Norway- Blood Command have announced their new studio album, "World Domination"(Produced by Yngve Andersen) to be released on the 29th September 2023 through Hassle and Loyal Blood Records. Alongside the announcement is the third and title track single, another self-proclaimed "loser anthem, that tells the sad story of never being good enough for the person of your dreams"

Whilst early singles have cradled audiences with their ethereal death pop sound, make no mistake, the album "World Domination" is 20 rapid bursts of every side the band has to offer. Infectious grooves, blast beats, singer Nikki Brumen’s powerful screams and riot grrrl chanting, techno interludes and that delicate side which lulls you into a false sense of security before ripping into the listener once more.

The record dives into unrequited love, the hatred of the unjust, the power of faith and the darkness of the abyss and never giving up on trying to climb out of it.

"Like various underground religious groups throughout history, Blood Command’s ever growing following, The Awaketeam, is rising around the globe, and we are not stopping until World Domination. So keep your eyes peeled for purple shrouds, three stripes and black and white sneakers."

This is Blood Command at its most interesting. Come and be a part of the movement.

Screaming Females’ second sound-defining album, featuring fan favorites like “Starve the Beat,” “Mothership,” and “Boyfriend.” The name of the record is based on something a cop said to the band when he told them to stop practicing because they were being too loud.

Originally released in 1970, on CD for the first time! Their sole album boasts members of the Wrecking Crew along with three Motown producers, all experimenting with a commercial psychedelic sound that defined the end of an era. Sitar head-swirlers, sunny, melodic harmonies and a country folk influence all blend together to bring listeners Truth!

Originally released in 1990, Royal Trux's 'Twin Infinitives' is being re-issued in all its (yet to be translated) alien glory, by Fire Records. A dismantled overture that sprawls out over two records, an avant-garde masterpiece that was the spark for Drag City Records and generations of new sound seeking musicians. Hailed in the same immortal breath as Beefheart's 'Trout Mask Replica', the Velvets' at their frenzied peak and Ornette Coleman at his most avant-garde, the duo of Pussy Galore's Neil "Michael" Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema recorded 'Twin Infinitives' while imbibing all kinds of mind-altering substances to create an inadvertent blueprint for what the duo was building with moog's, guitars and melodicas to name a few ingredients. It is the legendary second album from the masters of the genre mashup - long before "genre mashups" even existed. Arguably, the term "mashup" was coined to describe what Trux, as they subconsciously scrolled through the radio stations of their lives. The album's chaotic sound and offbeat construction laid the foundations for a string of Royal Trux albums that spiralled between genres, tunings, and noise. Through the 90s they would re-invent the rock 'n' roll ethic, straddle alien surf music, re-align boogie rock, not to mention 80s hair metal, and confound critics by their wildly meandering and courageous rites of passage. Remastered as part of a career spanning catalogue deal with Fire Records. The infamous and influential duo of Jennifer Herrema and Neil Hagerty will be delving into the archive with a comprehensive reissue series, unearthing the vaults and revisiting what made them such a compelling benchmark for their contemporaries and imitators. Reawakening their prolific output within a new monochrome vinyl series covering 1988-1993, they begin with their seminal deconstructed rock masterpiece Twin Infinitives. "Sounding like a subway ride inside a television inside an earthquake inside the end of the world and a pounding death rhythm of apocalyptic now." Pitchfork Ltd Double Silver Vinyl, Monochrome edition artwork, DL card.

Cameleon Records open their vinyl series with a powerful 3-track EP provided by its very owner, Oros. After his first appearance on We Are FTR last year, he wasted no time and launched his own label. On this EP he provides two signature tracks of his own, yet different in style, combining a deep, meditative state with a solid groove to shake the dancefloor. The remix comes from the talented Paul Walter, a figure we all got used to lately, seeing his productions being released on labels such as Pressure Traxx and his very own Meduka. Here he takes over the remix and delivers a bold reinterpretation that best describes his craft.

Enjoy The Ride Records in conjunction with Morgan Creek Entertainment proudly presents the True Romance Original Motion Picture Score, composed and conducted by Hans Zimmer.

In celebration of the iconic film's 30th anniversary, the True Romance Original Motion Picture Score is pressed at 45 RPM across 2 LPs for optimal sound quality.

Recorded on a budget of nine musicians (after being told the plans for a full orchestra had to be scrapped due to director Tony Scott going over budget), Hans Zimmer's True Romance score features percussion instruments xylophones, and marimbas to create innocent noise, a reflection of the lead characters - Alabama and Clarence Worley - in the violently dark comedy written by Quentin Tarantino. Featuring original art by Steven Wild, the art captures the spirit of the iconic characters of the cult classic film.

German film score composer and record producer Hans Zimmer has composed over 150 film scores in his vast career, some of which include Crimson Tide, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Gladiator, The Lion King, The Pirates of the Caribbean series, and True Romance. This carefully mastered score will bring you back to the innocence and intensity of the film, which fans had only been able to experience by watching the film in the theater or in their homes.

Continuing the re-issue program on STD Black LP - Rolling Stones No.2 - The second UK Rolling Stones studio album, released in 1965 following the success of their 1964 debut album The Rolling Stones. A huge success in the UK, the album was number one on the charts for 10 weeks and includes the band’s cover of ‘Time Is On My Side’ and ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’. The album also contains three compositions from the still-developing Mick Jagger/Keith Richards songwriting team (‘What A Shame’, ‘Grown Up Wrong’ and ‘Off The Hook’), with all the other songs being covers of American R&B and rock and roll numbers, like the first album. December’s Children (And Everybody’s) US - The fifth American studio album, released in December 1965. The last Stones album in which cover material accounted for 50 percent of the content was compiled from a variety of singles, British LP tracks, outtakes, and a cut from an early 1964 U.K. EP. The album demonstrates the continuing development of Jagger & Richard’s songwriting with a further two pop classics – the string-laden affecting ballad – ‘As Tears Go By’ and ‘Get Off My Cloud’.

Continuing the re-issue program on STD Black LP - Rolling Stones No.2 - The second UK Rolling Stones studio album, released in 1965 following the success of their 1964 debut album The Rolling Stones. A huge success in the UK, the album was number one on the charts for 10 weeks and includes the band’s cover of ‘Time Is On My Side’ and ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’. The album also contains three compositions from the still-developing Mick Jagger/Keith Richards songwriting team (‘What A Shame’, ‘Grown Up Wrong’ and ‘Off The Hook’), with all the other songs being covers of American R&B and rock and roll numbers, like the first album. December’s Children (And Everybody’s) US - The fifth American studio album, released in December 1965. The last Stones album in which cover material accounted for 50 percent of the content was compiled from a variety of singles, British LP tracks, outtakes, and a cut from an early 1964 U.K. EP. The album demonstrates the continuing development of Jagger & Richard’s songwriting with a further two pop classics – the string-laden affecting ballad – ‘As Tears Go By’ and ‘Get Off My Cloud’.

The title "Duality" resonated with me deeply as it reflects the inner conflict I often experience. There are moments when I feel fearless and self-assured, contrasted sharply by times when self-doubt creeps in and I question my worth. Sometimes, I cling tightly to my actions, determined to shape my destiny, while at other times, I surrender to the flow of life. I think we all fight these internal battles of duality every day, trying to determine which side we want to nurture, which parts we want to let go of and forgive, and which pieces come from our soul and which pieces were imposed on us. In my pursuit to bring this concept to life, I curated two distinct styles of music for each side of the album. Through the music, I aimed to evoke a sense of magic, for I think that at the core of our internal conflicts lies the enchanting paradox of being humans with boundless potential living, in a mortal world constrained by constructs like money, laws, and societal hierarchies. Over the past few years, I've embarked on a journey of self-discovery, delving into the magical facets of myself—my intuition, my capacity to love—and it was during this exploration that I crafted this album.

On Yard, Wisconsin-bred, Chicago-based four-piece Slow Pulp nestles comfortably into pockets of nuance, impressions, contradictions-sonics and lyrics finessed together to bottle the specific tension of a feeling you"ve never quite been able to find the right words for. In that regard, listening to Slow Pulp can feel like being in a room with someone who"s known you so long that they can read your every micro-expression and pinpoint exactly how you"re feeling before you can. Perhaps this spawns from the band"s own shared history and chemistry; in various ways, the four of them grew up-are still growing up-together. The dreamy songs of the Midwest (United States) indie rock outfit draw on moody shoegaze, hooky grunge, and intimate lo-fi fare. The band made their full-length debut with Moveys in 2020. After the downcast 2021 7" Deleted Scenes, they put the focus on hooky grunge pop for singles like 2021"s "In Too Deep" and 2023"s "Cramps". After their label debut single the band toured throughout Europe and the UK earlier this year as main support for Death Cab For Cutie. The new album "Yard" is their second full-length album and first for ANTI-.

Split Colour Heavyweight Vinyl Repress!

'2 Sim' is a phrase the references mobile phones with two sim cards to describe people of mixed heritage, dual nationality or multiple residence. After being called 2 Sim in conversation with a stranger while on a walk through Freetown (a recording of this moment features on the record) Duval began to explore what the 2 Sim experience is in contemporary West-Africa.

2 Sim EP was created from 2 months of field recordings and interviews with family, friends and peers in Freetown Sierra Leone. These site specific recordings are collaged with solo piano recordings and production recorded in Sierra Leone and the UK. The EP is accompanied by a short film/ music video of the same name which Duval shot and Directed whilst making the record.

2 Sim EP is the second release from Carrying Colour which follows on from 2017's 'Sen Am'"

Auf "There Is A Garden" von BEINGS heben die sich wandelnden Melodien die Stimmen der einzelnen Musiker hervor. In der einen Sekunde mag das Album hektisch klingen, voller schroffer, unberechenbarer Melodien, aber wenn das nächste Stück kommt, verwandelt es sich in eine psychedelische Träumerei oder in ein ausuferndes Drone. Für BEINGS, das in New York ansässige Supergroup-Quartett von Zoh Amba, Steve Gunn, Shahzad Ismaily und Jim White, ergibt sich die Musik von selbst: Sie ist ein sich ständig wandelnder Organismus, der auf der Offenheit und dem Willen des Quartetts beruht, gemeinsam im Sound zu forschen.

"Grand Slam’s new album Wheel Of Fortune is set for release on June 7th via Silver Lining Music. The four-piece band formed in 1984 by Phil Lynott and guitarist Laurence Archer before being forced to break up in 1986, have finally formed the appropriate return with a top-drawer of hard rocking songs which resonate with clear and present verve and energy.

Wheel of Fortune is the fully-realised modern Grand Slam sound, striding confidently back into the conscience of classic-rock fuelled devotees who didn’t know what they were missing. There are no more shoes to fill only boots`being worn on the ground, with Dyer’s style and swagger at the forefront of spirited leaders such as “There Goes My Heart”, while Archer’s fiery fretboard forays on the likes of the riffy “Spitfire” are a vital part of the Grand Slam architecture. With the lock-solid rhythm section of Newton and Reid underpinning affairs, Grand Slam not only stand on their own eight feet, they’re also able to directly engage with their talismanic, legendary founding energy with “Come Together (In Harlem)”, a moody, strutter of a song from the Phil Lynott days with (mostly) Phil Lynott’s lyrics.

But make absolutely no mistake: Grand Slam are not a band returning from their past, but a band firing intentions regarding their future, as the epic, multi-layered, steamy swing of “Pirate Song” suggests… Let the music do the talking."

A kaleidoscopic sonic riot, Nandakke? is the hotly anticipated debut album from Japanese-Belgian duo Aili. Featuring 10 tracks of surreal electro-pop, joyful electronica, house music and more, Nandakke? is a euphoric album that sees Aili Maruyama and Orson Wouters more than fulfil the promise of their acclaimed debut EP.

Recorded over the course of six months in Orson's studio, packed full of vintage synths, Nandakke? captures the spontaneous spirit and creativity of those sessions. Exchanging riffs and rhythms, bouncing sounds and samples off each other, Aili and Orson would let the music take them where it wanted. The result,an album full of wild ideas and bold, playful experimentation.

More than anything an exhilarating feeling of discovery courses through Nandakke?, leaving you never sure where it will go next. One minute a pulsing electro-pop number featuring Aili's dad discussing his takoyaki (battered octopus) recipe, the next an explosive high energy workout song like Up & Down.

Certainly Aili was surprised to find herself singing in her own unique version of Japanese again.

"I thought that I was done with that after our debut EP, but apparently not as I speak even more Japanese on the album!" said Maruyama. "Every time we were in the studio these words would just tumble out. It's a complicated language but I just love to play with it.

"In many ways I'm an outsider, I left Tokyo aged 7, so there's a lot I notice as someone who is not a native speaker and it doesn't always make sense, there's a lot of mistakes in it.But in a way that sums up the whole philosophy of the album and how Orson and I work together."

That notion of duality, a sense of belonging but feeling apart, of being between two worlds and inventing your own captures the spirit of Nandakke?, itself a Japanese word that roughly translates to "Well, what was it?".

"It's something you say when you're looking for a word, like you know it but have forgotten how to say it. That's literally how I communicate with my dad the whole time," Maruyama explains. "The main feeling I have when I go to Japan is that I know the language, I can speak it, but part of me still feels like it doesn't have all the vocabulary. There's a gap there that nandakke has always filled for me. All the lyrics come from that place, that seven-year old trying to speak Japanese."

Whether Aili's singing about the language she invented with her father over the years to bridge the gap between them (Nandakke?), the idiosyncratic Japanese relationship to fashion (Fashion) or riffing on children's playground songs (Yubikiri) the result is a remarkable album that defies easy categorisation.

Bursting onto the Belgian scene in 2021 with their acclaimed debut EP, Dansu, its lead track spent 8 consecutive weeks at the #1 spot of Radio 1's VOX list and saw the band nominated for Studio Brussel's De Nieuwe Lichting ('New Generation') award. Since then Aili have appeared playing live on the Belgian TV show Roomies, been tipped by the likes of Rolling Stone, become regulars on tastemaker stations like KEXP and KCRW in the US and Nova in France, toured across Europe and, just recently, played their first sell out shows in Japan.

‘Empires into Sand’ is the first album of new material from Normil Hawaiians in 40 years. The group first refined their sound during the early 80s, hitting on a pastoral experimentalism that drew on ambient drone, motorik impulse and post-punk pep.
‘Empires into Sand’ came together in the familiar manner of their original three albums, with improvisation and nuance informing the blueprint of the tracks. It was with the official release of this last record ‘Return of the Ranters’ (originally recorded in 1984/85, but then unconsciously shelved) in 2015 by Upset The Rhythm that led to the group reconnecting with the intention of playing music together again. Normil Hawaiians played a launch show for that ‘lost album’ and followed that up with more concerts, including an appearance at Supernormal, a residency at the Edinburgh Festival, gigs at Cafe OTO. They were even chosen by Richard Dawson to perform with him in London.
Throughout this time, Normil Hawaiians revisited their original songs for live performance. However for a group always so interested in evolving their sound, it came as no surprise that they shirked at the idea of a faithful retread. The band pushed their songs into new inventive dimensions, still progressive at core, but now imbued with a cosmic uncanny. A cinematic approach that was always quietly present has come to the fore. The quaint weirdness of folk song, the humanity of communal practice and the group’s ecological mindedness have all found a place in Normil Hawaiians’ current sound world.
When Normil Hawaiians write and record music they prefer to gather in a remote location and live together for a while, such is their communal ethos. Being far-flung across the UK, the Family Hawaii (numbering seven key members) decided to encamp to Tayinloan, a small village on the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland. They set up their own studio in an isolated, windswept house overlooking the sea and started the tape rolling. Noel Blanden from the band explains the process neatly: “we set up and began playing, slowly and patiently, allowing the music to take its own shape based on where we were staying and our ongoing friendship. We recorded for days, capturing everything. A lot of new and rich ideas began to emerge”.
Normil Hawaiians took their time to develop these threads at their own pace, allowing songs to mutate and settle over months. Simon Marchant deftly produced and recorded the album whilst also performing in the band, this marked the first time the band had total control of their own sound. The last few years has seen the band reconvene in Herne Bay, Faversham, London and Leith to record new parts, constantly responding to the changing form of these quietly spectral songs of defiance.
‘Empires into Sand’ incorporates samples from old rehearsals and live music into the new finished pieces, this is in continuum with their previous records. Snippets of sound from the static of short wave radio and satellite transmissions also embellish the work. In fact the whole album is stitched together with interludes, creating an acutely immersive 45 minutes. ‘Exiles’ opens the album amid swirling atmospheres, synth flights and recordings of Vilnis Egle (father of Zinta Egle from the band) retelling his experience of fleeing his home in Latvia during Soviet occupation in 1942. George Bikandy also features on this track talking about his flight from Syria in 2014. ‘Ghosts of Ballochroy’ is a winding river of a song featuring a lively discourse in Scots courtesy of Rodney Relax. There’s a commitment to truth telling present across this hopeful album populated with angels, incoming tides, long shadows and the rose-washed sun. “From our broken windscreen, we feel the breeze” soars Guy Smith triumphantly over the driving beat of ‘Waterfalls : Bedford 330’. ‘Big City Sky’ flutters and sparkles with rapid synth runs, tape-looped drums and Jimmy Miller’s commanding vocal. With ‘In The Stone’ Zinta’s melody is deliberately jagged and blunt, exaggerated by octave-layered vocals and interjections from Guy.
This is thought-provoking, boundary-bothering music. Honest in intent, a solidarity of vision. The album’s title is derived from a poem by band member Mark Tyler, who sadly passed away during the recording process and the transience of life is felt heavily throughout. Noel best coins the group’s wish for the album: “we wanted to create an album that acknowledges our history and also reflects who we are today. We remained true to ourselves and we wanted to make something beautiful without removing the edges.” ‘Empires into Sand’ certainly does that, it’s an echo from the past, an echo from the future.

Plasma Color Vinyl. 'The way Bloomsday's Iris James Garrison writes songs feels like somewhere between a mirror and a memory. Spacious, full-bodied folk songs, they are an ode to things that are good no matter how small; they sometimes feel like the ghost of a Mary Oliver poem. Bloomsday's new record, 'Heart of the Artichoke', is a relic of unfettered creativity and community. They recount the miracles of the mundane, the memories that become sacred, an ode to all that is holy: nightswimming, songs plucked from the ether, the ways friendship can endure. Like earlier Bloomsday songs, the work here is threaded with warmth; it's simmering, crisp and deeply human, an encapsulation of the present moment. Recorded across 10 days in June 2023 in upstate New York at duo Babehoven's studio and co-produced by Babehoven's Ryan Albert, with mixing by Henry Stoehr of Slow Pulp. The record was built out with a wideranging group of collaborators, including inventive drumming from Andrew Stevens (Lomelda, Hovvdy), Alex Harwood, Richard Orofino, Babehoven's Maya Bon, Hannah Pruzinsky (h.pruz, Sister.), and Chris Daley. It was an insulated and collaborative experience: all family dinners on the back porch, bonfires, feeling a full sense of joy, of friendship, of purity in the artistic self. Collaboration is an integral part of Bloomsday's musical process. Garrison is malleable in the studio, their songwriting generous and spacious. But in listening to the record, there's a sense that Garrison leaves room for the players, for the listener; for songs to find the shapes they're meant to take. Garrison's role as maestro is crucial, singular - it's a collaborative, exploratory spirit harnessed by Garrison's intuition, and by an honest commitment to carve out creative space for play, to delve into what's known - or pushing past that, into unknown. "The ghosts of the past still come up and haunt me," Garrison says, "but I sit in what I have and see it. All of these songs are about loved ones, about personal struggles with getting out of my head and being present." Heart of the Artichoke was written from a healed, matured place - written in a moment of safety from chaos. It's a prayer for the present, an appreciation of tenderness and what happens once we give ourselves the space to really see, and really feel - becoming free and whole - an ode to the way healing allows us to bloom.

'The way Bloomsday's Iris James Garrison writes songs feels like somewhere between a mirror and a memory. Spacious, full-bodied folk songs, they are an ode to things that are good no matter how small; they sometimes feel like the ghost of a Mary Oliver poem. Bloomsday's new record, 'Heart of the Artichoke', is a relic of unfettered creativity and community. They recount the miracles of the mundane, the memories that become sacred, an ode to all that is holy: nightswimming, songs plucked from the ether, the ways friendship can endure. Like earlier Bloomsday songs, the work here is threaded with warmth; it's simmering, crisp and deeply human, an encapsulation of the present moment. Recorded across 10 days in June 2023 in upstate New York at duo Babehoven's studio and co-produced by Babehoven's Ryan Albert, with mixing by Henry Stoehr of Slow Pulp. The record was built out with a wideranging group of collaborators, including inventive drumming from Andrew Stevens (Lomelda, Hovvdy), Alex Harwood, Richard Orofino, Babehoven's Maya Bon, Hannah Pruzinsky (h.pruz, Sister.), and Chris Daley. It was an insulated and collaborative experience: all family dinners on the back porch, bonfires, feeling a full sense of joy, of friendship, of purity in the artistic self. Collaboration is an integral part of Bloomsday's musical process. Garrison is malleable in the studio, their songwriting generous and spacious. But in listening to the record, there's a sense that Garrison leaves room for the players, for the listener; for songs to find the shapes they're meant to take. Garrison's role as maestro is crucial, singular - it's a collaborative, exploratory spirit harnessed by Garrison's intuition, and by an honest commitment to carve out creative space for play, to delve into what's known - or pushing past that, into unknown. "The ghosts of the past still come up and haunt me," Garrison says, "but I sit in what I have and see it. All of these songs are about loved ones, about personal struggles with getting out of my head and being present." Heart of the Artichoke was written from a healed, matured place - written in a moment of safety from chaos. It's a prayer for the present, an appreciation of tenderness and what happens once we give ourselves the space to really see, and really feel - becoming free and whole - an ode to the way healing allows us to bloom.

"Remembering is not the opposite of forgetting," Casey MQ sings at the start of Later that day, the day before, or the day before that, his new LP and Ghostly International debut. It's a phrase fittingly misremembered from something the LA-based, Canadian-born composer came upon as he spiraled into unconscious and subconscious-led writing sessions at the piano. Casey's known for his 2020 breakthrough release babycasey, which gave voice to songs seen through the lens of childhood, various film score work and collaborations with artists such as Oklou (who returns here), Eartheater, and Vagabon. His gifts as a producer and songwriter are rooted in textural world-building and the excavation of personal truth. With Later that day... he questions what is true entirely, understanding our mind's tendency to bend and project onto pictures of the past. Across vivid, baroque pop balladry, Casey MQ reorients his recording project and point of view under the notion that memories are malleable. All the joy, pain, love, and loss housed within remembrance is open to interpretation and deconstruction, which he does deftly, with curiosity and complete artistic freedom. "It's a memory album," Casey puts it simply, winding up for the deeper unpacking, "and it might be a breakup album, too_there are more questions than answers." Engaging his dreams and sitting with sheet music at his newly acquired piano, he looked to new and old inspirations including the works of Claude Debussy, Joni Mitchell, and Joe Hisaishi's beloved Studio Ghibli film scores. "Since I was young, I always wanted to write a piano album." babycasey's studied electronic sound isn't wholly abandoned on Later that day... instead, it comes through like an atmosphere, giving Casey's more spacious, minimal arrangements a distinct luster and sheen. The textures and tones shift from song to song as if mirroring the way our minds constantly recontextualize, remember, and forget. Cathartic opener "Grey Gardens" _ its title derived from a dream abstractly related to the Toronto restaurant, but not the 1975 film, which he cites as another coincidental false memory _ presents the record's plaintive, haunted feeling. "Even if not reading into lyrics, sonically I wanted it to feel like you're being pulled into a universe. Not fantasy or otherworldly per se, something more tangible, of the body and mind," Casey says. "Hearing it back, I realized this track was the key to unlocking it." His tender falsetto hovers above ambient washes and echoed keys, each word falling carefully in the crevices. "Asleep At The Wheel" unfolds on arpeggiated synth before a burst of symphonic color; the synth returns inverted to harmonize with the outro, "I love a car crash, I love a story, I love a memory, I swear it's real..." Casey leans into digital imagination on the warm, introspective "Me I Think I Found It." Subdued, stuttered percussion underscores the singer as he cycles through pixelated imagery _ screenshots, smiles, streetlights _ searching for higher meaning through love. Built on ascendent chord distortions, "Dying Til I'm Born" gives the record one of its boldest pulses of emotion. The back half stretches out; "Is This Only Water" is sparse and foggy, "Baby Voice" is intimate and desperate for something to remain. "Words For Love" grooves on guitar, and "Tennisman9" aches in heartbreak. French musician Marylou Mayniel, aka Oklou, appears as the collection's only guest for the closing duet, "The Make Believe," a bright and buoyant send-off that gives Later that day... both a sense of resolve and cyclical-motion. "We are young, under the sun," they sing together, a parting image brimming with lightness.

"Remembering is not the opposite of forgetting," Casey MQ sings at the start of Later that day, the day before, or the day before that, his new LP and Ghostly International debut. It's a phrase fittingly misremembered from something the LA-based, Canadian-born composer came upon as he spiraled into unconscious and subconscious-led writing sessions at the piano. Casey's known for his 2020 breakthrough release babycasey, which gave voice to songs seen through the lens of childhood, various film score work and collaborations with artists such as Oklou (who returns here), Eartheater, and Vagabon. His gifts as a producer and songwriter are rooted in textural world-building and the excavation of personal truth. With Later that day... he questions what is true entirely, understanding our mind's tendency to bend and project onto pictures of the past. Across vivid, baroque pop balladry, Casey MQ reorients his recording project and point of view under the notion that memories are malleable. All the joy, pain, love, and loss housed within remembrance is open to interpretation and deconstruction, which he does deftly, with curiosity and complete artistic freedom. "It's a memory album," Casey puts it simply, winding up for the deeper unpacking, "and it might be a breakup album, too_there are more questions than answers." Engaging his dreams and sitting with sheet music at his newly acquired piano, he looked to new and old inspirations including the works of Claude Debussy, Joni Mitchell, and Joe Hisaishi's beloved Studio Ghibli film scores. "Since I was young, I always wanted to write a piano album." babycasey's studied electronic sound isn't wholly abandoned on Later that day... instead, it comes through like an atmosphere, giving Casey's more spacious, minimal arrangements a distinct luster and sheen. The textures and tones shift from song to song as if mirroring the way our minds constantly recontextualize, remember, and forget. Cathartic opener "Grey Gardens" _ its title derived from a dream abstractly related to the Toronto restaurant, but not the 1975 film, which he cites as another coincidental false memory _ presents the record's plaintive, haunted feeling. "Even if not reading into lyrics, sonically I wanted it to feel like you're being pulled into a universe. Not fantasy or otherworldly per se, something more tangible, of the body and mind," Casey says. "Hearing it back, I realized this track was the key to unlocking it." His tender falsetto hovers above ambient washes and echoed keys, each word falling carefully in the crevices. "Asleep At The Wheel" unfolds on arpeggiated synth before a burst of symphonic color; the synth returns inverted to harmonize with the outro, "I love a car crash, I love a story, I love a memory, I swear it's real..." Casey leans into digital imagination on the warm, introspective "Me I Think I Found It." Subdued, stuttered percussion underscores the singer as he cycles through pixelated imagery _ screenshots, smiles, streetlights _ searching for higher meaning through love. Built on ascendent chord distortions, "Dying Til I'm Born" gives the record one of its boldest pulses of emotion. The back half stretches out; "Is This Only Water" is sparse and foggy, "Baby Voice" is intimate and desperate for something to remain. "Words For Love" grooves on guitar, and "Tennisman9" aches in heartbreak. French musician Marylou Mayniel, aka Oklou, appears as the collection's only guest for the closing duet, "The Make Believe," a bright and buoyant send-off that gives Later that day... both a sense of resolve and cyclical-motion. "We are young, under the sun," they sing together, a parting image brimming with lightness.

Described as an "intensely British" record, Peanuts is a wry and observational album, with a newfound sense of compassion and reflection on Liz's inner feelings and their projection on the outside world. Peanuts is a playground game, also known as Mercy, where two kids twist each other's fingers until one cries out, 'Peanuts!', signaling that they have met their pain threshold. From 2013, Liz was performing as a backing singer for Bombay Bicycle Club up to their hiatus in 2016, and again when they reformed in 2019, touring the world. Liz has been a regular collaborator with the band ever since, "It was a life-raft for me. It was such a natural fit, and they became my friends for life" says Liz. Peanuts is Liz Lawrence's first album release with Chrysalis Records, spanning 11 tracks full of topics spanning from plant names to the gender wealth gap. "Peanuts is Cate Le Bon meets Primal Scream going off on one about landowners. It's learning the names of different trees and sweating over being polite in emails. It's a petition to stop Elon Musk from spacejunking up the atmosphere so we can't see the stars anymore and it's a big deep breath after going under." -Liz Lawrence

Needle Mythology, the label founded by music writer, author and broadcaster Pete Paphides, is thrilled to announce the signing of the eagerly anticipated debut album by London singer-songwriter and renowned DJ Iraina Mancini. Iraina’s singular pop vision will be known to regular listeners of 6 Music, where her singles ‘Undo The Blue’, ‘Deep End’, ‘Shotgun’ and ‘Do It (You Stole The Rhythm)’ have all been enthusiastically embraced. Iraina's obsession with music stretches back into her early childhood, much of which was spent absorbing her parents’ collection of old 45s, in particular her dad’s Northern Soul records – an alternative education which meant that, by her early 20s, she was a familiar presence in the DJ booth at many discerning London club nights. Her love of French ye-ye, British freakbeat, Brazilian bossa nova, soul, and Turkish psych will be well-known to regular listeners of her Soho Radio show. Having always sung from a young age, Iraina embarked on a string of collaborators such as Jagz Kooner (Sabres Of Paradise), Sunglasses For Jaws (Miles Kane) and Simon Dine (Paul Weller, Noonday Underground) which truly saw her find her metier as a songwriter, conjuring melodies that stand shoulder to shoulder alongside her impeccable influences. Iraina describes her first single for Needle Mythology ‘Cannonball’ as “a celebration of that moment when you meet someone you really fall for and it knocks you for six. It can be a bit scary, but you’ve just got to go with what your intuition is telling you.” Written with Simon Dine, the vertiginous heart-in-mouth abandon of the song perfectly mirrors the circumstances that brought it into being. Iraina cites Jacqueline Taïeb’s 1967 single 7h du Matin as an early inspiration for the song: “There’s such a great energy about that song. Her vocal is amazing and all those stops and starts that grab your attention.” “This is an artist I absolutely love, one of our rising stars at 6Music.“ Lauren Laverne BBC 6Music “Iraina seizes on the best aspects of the past, blurring those impeccable 60s and 70s influences with a touch of modernity.” Clash “Full of femme fatale poise and swooning chanteuse flourishes.” The Times

What Is Not Strange? is the first full-length album by Los Angeles-based composer Tashi Wada in over five years, comprising his most far-reaching and impassioned music to date. Written and recorded over a period that encompassed the death of his father and the birth of his daughter, the album sees Wada reflecting inward to explore broad narratives - being alive, mortality, finding one's place in the world - through new modes of ecstatic, song-based expression. While the denser forms, stark contrasts, and overt surreality may carry a different weight than Wada's earlier work, which elicited perceptual effects with minimal means, the heart of What Is Not Strange? is still in experimentation and unforeseen outcomes.

With their fourth album, Seas of Static, the French band Dead Horse One establishes itself as one of the heaviest bands of modern shoegaze, propelling the genre to new heights of power and emotion. In this album, Dead Horse One skillfully merges the incisive alternative metal of Deftones with the enveloping and ethereal sound of My Bloody Valentine. The result is a captivating whirlwind, where walls of guitars collide in a surge of creativity, raw emotion, and energy. Far from recycling, Seas of Static is a deep exploration of the grungegaze fusion, thus creating a unique and powerful sound, far from being conventional. Assisted by a massive production by Brendan Williams (Soul Blind, Francis Lung, GoGo Penguin), Dead Horse One creates a unique sonic texture with raw energy that evokes both grunge riffs and shoegaze atmospheres while injecting a new and contemporary energy. With this album, Dead Horse One pushes the boundaries of the genre, offering listeners an immersive and uncompromising musical experience.

The drone-pop consternations of Ekin Fil emerge through vaporous tone and forlorn, distant song, as if plucked from a dream. These exist on their own accord, moving with their own internal logic of an emotion heaviness that belies any the passing observation of this as mere shoegazing ambience. Her songs, her compositions find themselves adjacent the fragmented etherealization of Elisabeth Fraser's voice from a forgotten scene of a particular David Lynch film, as a ASMR trigger for Proustian recollection. Something profound. Something hidden. Something desolately sad.

The Helen Scarsdale Agency has had the pleasure of witnessing Ekin's continued development, maturation, and growth as a composer, having released now seven of her magnificent, under-the-radar gems. Her slow burning, dejected ballads continue to draw from the deep well of sorrow, with varying frequencies and intensities of bitter light poking through. Loves lost. A world broken. All is not hopeless, but there is a considerable amount of shit to wade through.

Sleepwalkers embraces a familiar set of metaphors in her work, that of narcolepsy and the unsettled state of existence between sleep and being awake. But she stretches herself with a set of compositions that run parallel to the work of Tim Hecker as in the gravitation soft-noise of "Stone Cold" or to a slow motion serialism that punctuates the ambient crawl of her ambitious "Gone Gone." Recommended for fans of Grouper, Rafael Anton Irisarri, A.C. Marias, and Carla dal Forno.

“Home” is not always a literal place. Sometimes, “home” represents inner peace and simply learning to hold space for yourself. This is where Vacations lead singer and guitarist Campbell Burns has arrived as he and bandmates Jake Johnson, Nate Delizzotti, and Joseph Van Lier release their third LP, No Place Like Home. “I had this loose concept of No Place Like Home being an Americana-influenced album,” Campbell says of the album’s sonic inspirations. “I wanted to incorporate more pianos, acoustic guitars, Nashville tuning, and country-inspired lap steel, but then also bringing in drum machines and synths and finding a mix between the two.” Produced by Campbell and John Velasquez (Zella Day, Broods), No Place Like Home comprises 10 shimmering tracks brimming with indie-pop hooks and just a touch of bittersweet sensitivity. The new project follows an intense period of transformation for Campbell, who was forced to cancel all touring commitments due to COVID restrictions and subsequently came down with a severe bout of writer’s block. After seeking therapy, he was eventually diagnosed with Pure OCD, a subtype of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. “Pure OCD is more mental compulsions rather than physical compulsions,” Campbell explains. “If I have an intrusive thought, I'm giving that thought belief and power over myself.” As the world began to open up, so did Campbell’s vibrant creative spirit. Vacations hit the road for the first time in two years, selling out The Fonda in LA and playing Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, experiences that partially inform No Place Like Home. First single and album opener “Next Exit” sparkles with danceable synth riffs and Campbell’s aching falsetto, all while setting the overall tone for what’s to come. “‘Next Exit’ is about living in this monotonous cycle,” Campbell reveals. “You realize that you need an out. You need to — metaphorically and literally — take the next exit out in order to break out of that cycle.” The singer mines his Pure OCD diagnosis on the pondering “Over You,” which thematically picks up where “Next Exit” drops off. Campbell remarks on how “it almost has this ownership over my thoughts and actions to the point where I'm stuck in these loops and rituals that are a direct result of having OCD.” On the Americana-inspired “Midwest,” which seamlessly blends pop electronics, drum machine, and ‘80s synth with poignant lap steel tones, the song remarks on the comedic nature of repeatedly entering into romantic relationships prior to going on tour — only to have them fizzle out upon returning. As the band releases No Place Like Home, Campbell is ironically just fine with not putting down physical roots just yet having recently made the move to LA for exploration, expanding “I needed to get overseas if I wanted to keep progressing — from a career standpoint, but also on a personal level.” The greater priority lies within building that sense of comfort within himself. In the meantime, millions of fans around the world are making a permanent home with Vacations.

As part of the series - Blockhead presents his new album, Luminous Rubble, where the artist dives deep into KPM’s iconic music and sound design library. Blockhead has released 15 albums over the past 15 years and is regarded as one of the modern masters of instrumental hip-hop. It’s a producer’s dream: Being given access to a vast library of material to construct something completely new and exciting out of all of it and when Blockhead’s at the controls, the results are a listener’s paradise, too. The New York City-based hip-hop production legend’s Luminous Rubble is the latest missive in a particularly busy period for the underground hip-hop veteran, who’s spent the last decades lending his considerable talents to work from artists like Armand Hammer, billy woods, Murs, and Open Mike Eagle; in 2021, he released the critically acclaimed collab LP Garbology with rap legend and longtime collaborator Aesop Rock, just last year he unleashed his twelfth solo album, The Aux. “For me, as a producer who uses samples, there’s nothing better than free rein. That was so exciting for me. Their vault is the one I’m most familiar with,” he says with a laugh. “Back when I used to go record shopping a lot, I would pretty much buy any KPM record on sight. They were always a huge find at record stores. So to be able to tap into these records with no limitations was really nice. Having no boundaries can be overwhelming when it comes to the creative process. Working with these samples forced me to find middle ground in cases where I’d typically just walk away and look elsewhere.” After hearing Luminous Rubble, you’ll be happy he stuck around.

Waterloo To Anywhere is the debut album from the short-lived, briefly adored Dirty Pretty Things - Originally released on Vertigo Records in May 2006, the album reached No 3 in the UK charts and spawned three Top 40 singles - This re-issue is pressed on high-quality 180g black vinyl. What do you do after being in the Libertines, one of the most notorious British bands of the early 21st Century? For Carl Bart, you form Dirty Pretty Things, something of an indie supergroup of their moment. Joining Bart was Libertines drummer Gary Powell, guitarist Anthony Rossomando, who'd stood in for Doherty, and former Cooper Temple Clause bassist, Didz Hammond. Leading Waterloo To Anywhere was the infectious UK Top 5 hit Bang Bang You're Dead, which set the tone for the fabulous collection of rock, punk and ska. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Dave Sardy and then later in Glasgow with Tony Doogan, the album showed the strength of the group's writing. Away from the standard high-octane indie of Gin & Milk and You F*cking Love It, The Gentry Cove was particularly captivating, marrying Bart's fascinating wordplay with robust Clash reggae/sea shanty interludes. Two years later, it was all over; Bart and Powell rejoined the Libertines (and Rossomando later going on to win an Oscar for co-writing Shallow from the film A Star Is Born).

The fourth album by Love Battery, 'Straight Freak Ticket' (1994), now out for the first time on vinyl! Remastered by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, etc.) 'Straight Freak Ticket' is the 4th album by Seattle alternative rock band Love Battery. It was originally recorded in 1994 and released only in USA and on CD format - now it is being released on vinyl for the first time. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer called the album "a solid, well-produced album of guitar-based rock with catchy hooks and a strong dose of psychedelia." USA Today labeled the album "a psychedelic tour de force and dramatic leap forward," writing that "the antigrunge guitar riff-o-rama of Ron Nine and Kevin Whitworth propels the Seattle quartet's most adventurous and listenable tunes to date." The band, featuring members of Mother Love Bone, Green River, Skin Yard, The Presidents of the USA, is: Ron Nine - Vocals, Guitar Kevin Whitworth - Guitar Jason Finn - Drums Bruce Fairweather - Bass

"Grand Slam’s album Hit the Ground has been given a makeover and will be re-released as Hit the Ground – Revised on June 7th via Silver Lining Music. The re-issue has been remastered and features new Artwork.

Grand Slam was formed in 1984 by Phil Lynott and guitarist Laurence Archer before being forced to break up in 1986. Originally released in 2019, Hit The Ground signalled the Archer (guitar), Mike Dyer (vocals), Benjy Reid (drums) and Rocky Newton (bass) Grand Slam incarnation and is an unequivocal part of the band’s re-energising story.

With stylistic salutes and tips to the legendary Lynott melding with the energy and vocal performance of Dyer and Archer’s fiery fretboard forays in cuts such as the crunchy “Hit The Ground” and the thrusting “Crazy”, Grand Slam stride confidently back into the conscience of classic rock devotees who didn’t know what they were missing.

Grand Slam are a band firing intention regarding their future… Let the music do the talking!"

The Primitives return with a new 2 song 7" after last years surprise EP "Don't Know Where to Start". The
band are better than ever with their twee pop meets c86 meets garage pop two track single "I Won't
Care" backed with the sinister "Everybody Needs Somebody to Hate." The Primitives are indiepop royalty
and this single retains their early DIY vibes with being housed in a screen-printed sleeve.

2024 Reissue

Limited Clear w/ Silver Splatter vinyl. 15 years after the band's debut album was release, Sargent House is set to do a special anniversary re-issue with updated artwork and limited-edition clear w/ silver splatter vinyl with Silver/Red foil jacket available. Upcoming tour dates include multiple festival appearances and a UK/EU headline tour in August. 12th Nottingham Rescue Rooms, 13th Manchester Gorilla, 14th London Underworld, 15th Bristol ArcTanGent. For Fans of Fu Manchu / Melvins. This the debut is being repressed. Red Fang is the formation of long time friends and collaborators Bryan Giles (Last of the Juanitas, Party Time), Aaron Beam (Dark Forces, Lachrymator), David Sullivan (Party Time, facedowninshit, Shiny Beast) and John Sherman (Party Time, Bad Wizard, Trumans Water, All Night). Unleashed on New Year's Eve of 2006 in Portland, Oregon, Red Fang stormed out of the gates, introducing a sweaty, seething basement to a new kind of unforgettable fist-pumping, beer-chugging rock music. Since that night, the band has continued with the same intensity, energy, and intimacy to quickly become a touring juggernaut, playing shows all over the US with bands like The Melvins, Big Business, and The Sword, to name just a few. Residing somewhere between Black Flag and Black Sabbath, Red Fang recall a time when rock was more urgent and horrifying. Synthesizing a variety of heavy music influences into their own distinct musical identity, the band easily shifts from barn-burning punk to mid-tempo, hyper-distorted bass destruction all while maintaining a cohesive sound. Red Fang create gigantic rock songs that are easy to listen to (not easy listening, mind you) and qualify the simultaneous usage of both the thinking and the banging head, which are usually mutually exclusive. Their instrumentation is fluid and effortless, and the vocals are delivered melodically and forcefully, with enough rasp and effect saturation to fit nicely within the music. Paired with elemental imagery, the lyrics are immense and satisfying without any pretense.

Multi-talented US punk, Jeff Rosenstock releases fourth album on Specialist Subject Records (UK /EU) & Polyvinyl (Worldwide)! NO DREAM comes at a time of unparalleled chaos and confusion, division and despair, the depths of which would have been impossible to predict when much of it was being written over the course of the last few years. And yet the record feels prescient, unexpectedly and uniquely suited for this moment. Newly settled in Los Angeles after a lifetime on the East Coast (namely Brooklyn by way of Long Island), Rosenstock recorded NO DREAM with Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Hard Girls, Joyce Manor) at Oakland's Atomic Garden, and even took on mixing duties alongside Shirley for the first time. Opting to stay off the computer "even more than usual" and record to tape with outboard gear, the result is a lived-in sound that gives each song its own individual voice and organic energy. After building a cult following with the acerbic ska-punk of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches and DIY heroics of Bomb the Music Industry!, Rosenstock's first proper solo record, 2015's We Cool?, was a step into uncharted territory, fully untethered from genre and expectation. Followed by 2016's WORRY. and the surprise New Year's Day launch of POST- in the early hours of 2018, Rosenstock was facing down that least punk of opportunities: a career playing music. Having taken some time away from his work as a solo artist to recalibrate and reset over the last year, Rosenstock stayed busy playing alongside Mikey Erg, recording and touring with the Bruce Lee Band, releasing a Neil Young covers record with frequent collaborator Laura Stevenson, reissuing two of his own out-of-print early albums, compiling a live album which was recorded during a run of four sold-out shows at Bowery Ballroom, making a 76 page photo book, and scoring over 80 episodes of the Cartoon Network series Craig of the Creek. In fully returning to his own voice, it's no surprise that Rosenstock's output has never been more eclectic, reflected across NO DREAM's 13 songs.

Indie Exclusive Limited Turquoise col vinyl, these were only available on the European tour, we have a final box of 50 which got held up in customs so offering now as an Indie exclusive. Northern California’s punk rock cult favourites, Tsunami Bomb, has risen from the grave and reformed with their third full-length release, The Spine That Binds, and with it they have proven that this chapter of Tsunami Bomb not only embraces their signature style of aggressive pop punk supplemented by a touch of darkness but have taken it even further. Honing their skills of melody while being more in-your-face and more aggressive than ever, they conjure a dark journey of discovery with each track. Originally formed in 1998, and disbanding after many member changes in 2005, Tsunami Bomb reformed at the end of 2015. This new release finds the quintet brought to life with the return of founders Dominic Davi (bass / backing vocals), Oobliette Sparks (keyboards / co-lead vocals), and Gabriel Lindeman (drums). Joined by Kate Jacobi (lead vocals) and Andrew Pohl (guitars/backing vocals), they combine their skills to create a sound that effortlessly mixes dark musings on the search to find one’s place in an increasingly uncaring world, into unforgettable anthems, calling on one to get up and sing-a -long. The Spine That Binds is not asking for your acceptance, it demands it. This album will scratch the itch of all the diehard fans looking for that familiar Tsunami Bomb sound, but also show a new, angrier and brutally honest side of the band. With the support of Jello Biafra’s legendary punk rock label, Alternative Tentacles Records, Tsunami Bomb has not only heard the call, they are ready for the newest chapter to unfold and they are taking everything with them

Once upon a time, DJ’s were like soaring eagles, they would spread their musical wings and fly high to wherever they wanted to go musically. It wasn’t uncommon to hear hip house and go go played alongside disco and funk, or techno being dropped on either side of something a lil’ mo’ soulful. Then the DJ’s wings were clipped and clubs became musical cages for the more adventurous DJ’s, clubs evolved into one-dimensional musical prisons and beats bubbles. Unconventionally, Marcus McGowan hails from South Carolina, and it would be fair to argue that South Carolina is a bit of a house music wasteland? Perhaps it’s this simple geographical blip that has nurtured McGowan into creating a sound that can’t be affiliated to any particular city, cities such as Detroit that is generally associated with techno, Washington is the undisputed town of go go, or Chicago, which is renowned for acid house, hip house, and jackin’ house, and of course, New Jersey is the spiritual home of soulful house. What McGowan has created is a fresh, new vibe that appears to be crossing many musical boundaries and the test pressing mailout appears to have united music lovers from numerous genres of house music AND techno alike, with its deep, techy, jazzy, soulful, sweet and melliferous flavoured vibe. Luke Una boasted that “it’s the record of the year so far”, MFSB’s Yogi Haughton called it a “classic in the making”, but all said and done, the test pressing feedback from the handful that were passed out to music lovers around the U.K. is unanimous, it’s jus’ a frikin’ solid double hitter that can’t be pigeon-holed. This is a record for majestic, soaring DJ’s and music lovers, not scabby, common or garden Columbidae garbage foragers. It’s a slice of intellectual music that will perch McGowan very high up in the producer pecking order!

Named "one of Europe"s most versatile and curious players" by Downbeat Magazine, Polish trumpeter Tomasz Dabrowski returns with the sophomore album from his internationally acclaimed septet. Following their eponymous 2022 debut, the ensemble proudly presents "Better",set to release on March 29th on April Records. With an atypical lineup featuring the cream of the crop of the Polish and Scandinavian contemporary improvisation scenes,"Better" captures the edge and energy of a live performance extended and elevated by the use of electronic instruments and textures. Drawing the listener in with its refined sense of space and pace, the record sees the septet navigate their way through Dabroski"s open compositional ideas, passing melodic structures around the ensemble and evolving through ethereal ambient soundscapes, scorching solos and adventurous cacophonies of collective improvisation. Drawing on a year"s worth of experience performing extensively together as an ensemble, the level of intensive listening, interactivity and trust within the group enables each instrumentalist to fearlessly contribute their voice. "Every track has a unique twist. "Upright" plays with form. "Bonzer", the use of instrumentation. "Hale & Hearty" explores textures." A testament to the ensemble"s commitment to artistic growth and creative evolution, "Better"reminds us to consider what we all can and should strive for. It"s an inspiring message that manifests in the music and radiates through every aspect of life. "We should all strive to do better. To be better versions of ourselves and observe how it resonates within and in those around us," Dabrowski says.

Tangential Music is pleased to present the new album from veteran Spanish DJ and producer, Dj Toner (aka Antonio Herrera). Alongside his co-writer/arranger Daniel Molina and with guests that include the legendary Blue Note Records innovator Erik Truffaz and Grammy winning flautist and saxophonist Jorge Pardo, he has created a 10 track collection of slow-burning instrumentals that straddle the worlds of hip hop, jazz and electronica.

With a personal, precision tooled approach to his craft, the Andalusian has offered up an album of finely modelled downbeat moods.

At first glance, ‘Out Side’ is made up of recognisably superior hip hop instrumentals but if you listen carefully, and with patience, one can hear a craftsman at work. A wooden box is just a box until you look closer. The hidden joints, the perfect lining up of the grain, the years of artisanal graft and laser-focussed attention to detail that go into making something that has nothing present, that doesn’t deserve to be there. This is how Dj Toner operates.

The two singles that preempt the album’s release reveal different sides of his craft. ‘Camina’ struts with tough intentions. Soundtrack-y in an exploitation police drama manner, the get-out-of-my-way drum break and tension-filled chords suggest the bad cop, Erik Truffaz’s piercing lyrical trumpet lines, the good. The Afro-jazz horns led second release ‘Surprise’ is an altogether more playful, sunbaked affair. Sensual and slow-burning, there’s still an edge but it’s too hot to quarrel.

Dj Toner’s minimalist attitude to creation is shared with his co-composer Molina - an individual’s contribution may be cut to the bone, leaving just its aura or tone. The echo of a piano, a single blast of tuneful wind from a flute, a perfectly positioned drum hit.

Since the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA began applying his beatmaking prowess to movie soundtracks, the hip hop instrumental has been acknowledged as something to listen to, as much as being used as a DJ tool or backing for an MC. Dj Toner’s instrumentals can, therefore, be seen as soundtracks. Soundtracks to his life and craft, vignettes of his environment in both the urban sprawl and the wider and slower spaces of “el campo”.

The sweet-tempered jazz-blues of ‘La Rimosa’ is a gentle welcome to the album. A simple, laid back groove with the most romantic of piano hooks that one could imagine Common dropping rhymes on. You’re kept on your toes with the odd purposeful moment of discordant interruption but the tender heart of the composition is never far away.

‘O’Beat’ hints at John Coltrane with the sparse but full-sounding upright bass before a head-snap break leads into a curious piano groove, a vintage organ swirls into a psychedelic fractal, whilst the bluesy female vocal snippets add the spice, that zing in the Granadan gazpacho.

The flamenco guitar driven ‘Flama’ is an excellent example of intricate sample placement and musicality. Old school (school yard) scratch interludes, sweet piano hooks, a minimalist but knife sharp flute contribution from Jorge Pardo, and the crunchiest of drums taking us for an intriguing walk round the corner.

We’ve mentioned them before but it’s on ‘Sweetband’ that we can feel that Wu-Tang dread hanging off its shoulders. A brooding orchestral number with powerful horns and a cavernous piano hit. The title of the piece is in stark contrast to the dark shadows of the tune.

Erik Truffaz returns in fine form on the super lethargic jazz-funk-hop of ‘The Day’. His instantly identifiable muted trumpet sound paints dazzling colours over the more earthy tones of the filtered down keys as a rubbery upright bass keeps the forward momentum. Dj Toner’s ‘Blessed Are The Weird People’ album, was rated in Jazz Magazine as one of the 20 jazz albums of 2021, so he isn’t some dilettante when it comes to playing with the complex hues of jazz but he does like to strip it to its bare essentials.

‘Fanega’ sees a gorgeous flute contribution from Jorge Pardo. An eerie boom-bap groove with sprinkles of electronic pulses and washed out chords is the canvas on which the award-winning multi-instrumentalist evokes the heat shimmer of the savannah.


‘Esperanza’ translates as ‘hope’ in English and this lovely slow, swinging jazzy groove really does provoke feelings of positivity and belief. Sublime vibraphone and another stunning trumpet offering from Erik Truffaz, take us on a journey of warm days and possibilities, the shuffling drums and sweet chord patterns are nicely finished off by a tranquil horn chorus towards its unhurried end.

‘Under Beat’ ends on a beefy boom-bap groove with a liquid funk bassline, elegant synth strings and old school scratching. Again, there’s that undisputable soundtrack edge, action and motion, the smell of the city.

There you have it, 10 tracks that go beyond the surface, deep into the dedicated craft of Dj Toner. Decades of experience and collaboration purified and refined into beat-heavy emotions, listen closely or crank it up, it’s down to you!

Celebrated producer and musician Danger Mouse and prodigiously talented New York rapper Jemini are gearing up to release their long delayed collaborative album, Born Again Remarkably this soul and funk infused hip-hop tour de force arrives two decades after its creation and the duo's debut LP, Ghetto Pop Life which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Enthused by the response to Ghetto Pop Life, soon after Danger Mouse and Jemini began to tour and to write and record Born Again. Finally, having been recorded two decades ago and indefinitely shelved until now, Born Again will finally be released to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of Ghetto Pop Life. The previously unheard record retains many of the elements of Danger Mouse and Jemini's debut; the fun- loving, shit- talking innocence, but also adopts a noticeably more introspective and confessional tone. This time, in addition to lighthearted topics such as being an incredible artist (Knuckle Sandwich II, Brooklyn Basquiat), living large and being a magnet for attention (Me), Jemini also delivers highly- personal and occasionally devastating lyrics about missed opportunities and redemption (All I, Born Again), his time in prison (Locked Up) and complicated relationship with his father (Dear Poppa). His effortless free flowing cadence and indelible sing-song delivery elevate each track with a melodic infectiousness whilst Danger Mouse exhibits an affinity for resonant instrumentals built from sampled organ, vibraphone, or guitar loops and infused with his trademark minor key magic. The result is a classic, timeless hiphop record.

DJ Support: Danny Howard, Annie Mac, Mistajam, Pete Tong, Charlie Hedges, Kraak & Smaak, Maxinne, Todd Terry, Alex Preston, Full Intention, GW Harrison, DJ Rae, Rudimental, Alaia & Gallo, Illyus & Barrientos, Johan S, David Penn, Sam Divine, Riva Starr, Claptone, Nice7, Dario D’Attis, Mousse T, S-Man, Huxley, KC Lights, Friend Within, Dombresky, Gorgon City, Chris Lake, Format:B, Pirupa, TCTS, Alan Fitzpatrick, Low Steppa, Mat.Joe, Raumakustik, Eskuche


Kicking things off on our next 4-track vinyl sampler series is Toolroom's very own Martin Ikin who returns to the label with ‘Make U Sweat’! He was the Best-selling Tech House artist on Beatport in 2020 and 2021 and has over 1m monthly listeners across streaming platforms. Recent studio collabs have included Noizu and Joshwa and tours have seen him travel far and wide to the US, Brazil, Bali, Ibiza, Italy, Croatia and of course, his hometown of London. This new record is the follow up to 'Oscill8' that dropped in March 2023 and sits in a similar lane, in that it's pure, unadulterated club weaponry! Next up is Italian house legend Flashmob with the frenetic, high-energy club vibe of new cut ‘My Body’. Flashmob's sound, production and go-for-broke DJ sets have changed with the game, embracing the vitality of new house music rather than hankering after sentimental sunsets. His ethic and aesthetic move relentlessly forward, using the old and new to craft unique sonic alchemy from big festivals like Tomorrowland to the intimacy of small clubs on the international circuit. ‘My Body’ is typical of Flashmob's current sound, combining solid drums and some insane synths and fx, alongside an earworm vocal sample that results in yet another memorable club cut from an established master. Canadian Tech House maestro Nathan Barato debuts on Toolroom kicking off the B-side to the vinyl alongside studio partner, Matheo Velez with 'Weapon'. A record that has already caught the attention of the underground elite with Michael Bibi premiering the track at his first appearance back at DC-10 in Ibiza last Summer. Both artists are enjoying great success across key labels such as Viva, Circus, Snatch and RAWthentic. This is an addictive, bumpy club track

that packs a huge punch on the dance floor and actually features Nathan's very own 'Move me… Rock me' vocals! Rounding things off is UK DJ/producer duo, Jenn Getz & Alfie who are residents at Dubai's #1 nightlife destination, Soho Garden, where they warm up for legends such as Sonny Fodera, MK, Claptone, Solardo & Fisher on a weekly basis. In their relatively short 3 year career they have already released on Solotoko, Abode and Toolroom Trax and now debut on Toolroom with 'Vibration'. Both girls are incredibly passionate about house music and are also big advocates for a life centered around well-being and meditation, and the idea of this record was to combine their 2 passions in life, so they proceeded to co-write these original lyrics to accompany the track, which in itself is very inspiring! This is a super cool club record that will excite fans and DJ's alike, welcome to the Toolroom Family, Jenn Getz & Alfie!

Countless radio plays on Radio 1 from Danny Howard, Sarah Storie, Pete Tong Other notable radio plays – Kiss FM, Toolroom Radio, Sirius XM, Data Transmission Radio, Radio 1 Dance Anthems, Radio 1 Party Anthems, Rinse FM, Select Radio, Tomorrowland Radio

After reigniting Fruit Merchant and firing out a string of club-ready releases, Hidden Spheres is back again. This time teaming up with Private Joy for new floor-filler ‘Hold on Me’.

It's a track about being totally under someone's spell despite the relationship starting to turn and show its true colours.

Yearning reflections and hard realisations all served over two different mixes. One blending refined deep house rhythms and textures. The other is fierce, acid laced and driving, aimed at those peak moments in the club.

Elusive Italo duo Maurizio e Dandolo return with Demin, a dreamy disco dancer celebrating the iconography of 1980s Italian summer and the heydays of Italo Disco.

Unfolding over an equally suave and hard-hitting tapestry of synths and drum machine, Demin plays with the authors’ nostalgia for the hazy and sun-drenched summers on the Italian eastern coast of their hometown of Pescara.

In the unmistakable and unmatched tradition of Italo Disco, Demin strikes a balance between the irrepressible desire to let loose on the dancefloor and the touching nostalgia for a past that, perhaps, was never lived but only dreamed of. That of the halcyon days of Italian design cars blasting synthy bangers from the radios, beach establishments with their candy-striped umbrellas, neon-lit discotheques and dancers in outrageous designer shirts, teenage flirts, and denim bracelets, the true icons of that era which Maurizio e Dandolo tribute in the song title.

Demin is set to become one of the ultimate dancers of the summer of 2024, an anthem for cheeky disco riviera flirts and boogies.

After being originally released on digital platforms, Demin is now finally out on 7” vinyl format too, accompanied on the B-side by an unreleased scratch version: a dub mix by Rome DJ and establishment Francisco.

ZamZam 95 is a link with the enigmatic French producer Hiss Is Bliss. We’ve been fans since the very first drop on their 777Hz label and these two sides drive straight to the heart of the dub techno galaxy.

Little is known about Hiss Is Bliss beyond the fact that they hail from France, are steeped in esotericism, and create tunes as masterfully grounded in roots reggae as they are in techno and related strands of electronic music. Their releases are utterly free of hype, beautifully crafted 10” vinyl plates that let the singers and tracks speak for themselves.

At the risk of being cheeky, “Nope” is absolute dub techno bliss. The 808 kick propels the track relentlessly forward, saturated washes of color streak the night sky, while syncopated hi hats and warm, soulful chords bring life- dare we say funk- to a style too often stiff and clinical, too in thrall to the past to truly step forward. Matching Hiss is Bliss in mystery, Ras Lys’ vocal brings a Dread perspective on music and the sometimes shady business of music, a grounded contrast to the deep inner space explored by the tune itself. The B-side version “Abbadia” splits musical atoms through the desk, focusing squarely on the stripped 4/4 elements and gloriously distorted pads that echo and cycle like tides in a darkly shimmering sea.

"Espontaneamente se Tenta: Aventuras Sonoras de Djalma Corrêa is an album of deeply exploratory pieces by legendary percussionist and composer Djalma Corrêa. This double-LP set features previously unreleased recordings that cover a wide range of sonic experiments, revealing an unknown side of the prolific and groundbreaking Brazilian artist. Most of the tracks on this album were digitized for the first time – directly from the original tapes – and were compiled in collaboration with Corrêa just before he passed.

The result is a wild and unsettling collage that shows us just how original and intense Corrêa could be: from the unorthodox electroacoustic piece Evolução (Para Fita e Filme), which channels ancestral African inspirations to create a sonic cosmogonical narrative, to the proto-mixtape Exemplo de Sintetizadores, in which he transitions from transcendental drones to astral cha-cha-chas.

While the compilation might seem disjointed at first listen, it is in fact the most accurate translation or representation of his central concept: spontaneous music. Djalma's relationship with sound was always guided by his fearless approach to listening, and by his audacious and dynamic interaction with both musicians and equipment, which enabled him to work across a wide array of genres: from jazz to completely abstract music, always through a personal DIY ethic.

Corrêa developed a strong bond with experimentalist and inventor Walter Smetak, with whom he shared a studio during his formative years at Universidade Federal da Bahia. Suite Contagotas, featured in this collection, is no less than a sonic materialization of that bond: an experiment revolving around dripping water and its randomness – a tentative exploration of the ideas and possibilities envisioned by Smetak for his audacious, albeit unrealized, Estúdio OVO.

Djalma, however, is best known for his studio work in historical albums, including many by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben, and for his own polyrhythmic opus Baiafro. The last track is an early recording called Bossa 2000 dC, first performed by Djalma at the 1964 Nós, Por Exemplo concert, an event which is often cited as marking the beginning of the Tropicalia movement. At the time, he was the only artist in the lineup using electronic devices to create sounds, e.g. medical oscillators and contact mics to augment his percussive palette.

The artwork is an amalgamation of material found in the Djalma Corrêa Archive (currently managed by his son Caetano Corrêa) and other material created during the period in which the record was being put together. The intention is to guide the listeners through this possibly tempestuous soundscape, giving them additional resources so that they may draw their own meanings and make their own sense of this extremely immersive and original experience – which is like nothing we've ever heard before."

Two years in the making, 25-year-old Angelica Garcia's album Cha Cha Palace is the result of an artist's need to SAY SOMETHING. The second song on the record, "Jícama" might only be a minute and 25 seconds in its entirety, but the message spans generations and is one that resonates deeply for Garcia with her Mexican and Salvadoran roots. Singing/shouting, "I see you, but you don't see me Jímaca, Jímaca, Guava Tree_I've been trying to tell ya, but you just don't see, like you I was born in this country," Garcia tells the reality for millions of Americans unapologetically and with passion.That feeling of being between places is something Garcia knows well having been raised between multigenerational, multicultural, homes with step-parents and half-siblings. Additionally, she made the journey from the West Coast to the East Coast and back again multiple times before finally settling down in Richmond, Virginia.She fondly recalls Mexican ranchera music always playing throughout her childhood. Ranchera was ingrained within the maternal side of her family with her Mother, Grandmother, Uncle & Aunt constantly singing the traditional music throughout the home of her Grandparents.Like Mitski, Lorde, Billie Eilish, and Rosalía, Garcia isn't afraid to tear pages out of her diary and express emotions that might be difficult and oftentimes daunting to share given today's social and political environment. Like her peers, she joins a new chapter of musicians who are connecting with their audiences on a level that lives outside the reaches of technology, trends, and social media, the daily experience of feeling torn between saying something and doing something, for being a voice and speaking with your voice, of being Latina while being American. And it's humanity and honesty that audiences are looking for and will find in spades throughout each note of Cha Cha Palace.

The phenomenal three-piece band includes members of Oranssi Pazuzu, K-X-P, Grave Pleasures and Aavikko


Svart Records is proud to release the debut album, I, from Haunted Plasma, a powerhouse of futuristic synth in symbiosis with the super violent atmospherics of kosmische Black Metal. Haunted Plasma is “man meets machine” in a cybernetic wasteland, set to a conceptual backdrop of William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick style mind-melt. The highly evolved creatives at the heart of Haunted Plasma’s sound, cite Terry Riley, Massive Attack, a contemporary take on Krautrock hypnosis, psychedelic Black Metal and 90s Techno, resulting in an orgy of mutant sound.



The phantoms at the beating nucleus of this unearthly machine are Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu, Grave Pleasures), Timo Kaukolampi (K-X-P, Op:l Bastards) and Tomi Leppänen (Circle, Aavikko, K-X-P), transmitting a music form evolved from a life of redefining sonic boundaries in their respective projects. Also featuring guest vocals from Mat McNerney (Hexvessel, Carpenter Brut, Grave Pleasures/Beastmilk), Pauliina Lindell (Vuono, Dust Mountain) and Ringa Manner (Ruusut, The Hearing). Haunted Plasma promises an extraterrestrial experience from some of the foremost contemporary musicians at the heart of the Finnish heavy and avant-garde musical underworld.



Haunted Plasma reveals:

“We are liberated futurists, embracing free-form and natural composition, mirroring the merciless forces of cosmic creation. We have a motto to stay true to our feelings, to spawn a sound that’s never been heard before. Servants of music. Energizing, radical and pure”


The first single from Haunted Plasma’s cascading debut, Reverse Engineer, is a creepy, slowly erupting, synthetic nightmare, of a downloaded being waking up in the wrong future. Ghostly vocals demand the listener to “give us what we want” in an Orwellian glimpse into the current dystopia we live in, where information is controlled, and thoughts are bought and sold. As McNerney intones the words “technology of power” he describes the threat of a malevolent and omnipresent artificial intelligence, as much as describing the oppressive and electromagnetic sonar pulse of Haunted Plasma’s sound itself. Psychedelic guitar hypnosis from Vanhanen snakes around Kaukolampi’s molten and morphing synths, while Leppänen’s uncanny man/machine rhythms pull our strings and animate their other-worldly mechanisms. Have a look at the official visualiser of "Reverse Engineer" on the Svart YouTube channel here


Culminating in the full-blown fast Krautrock of the final self-titled track, oozing with blistering noise elements and enigmatic vocals from Ringa Manner, the album's journey reaches its zenith, taking you to unknown territories on a Kubrikian space trip. I is a rare record of talented musicians coming together to create a completely new sound, which is entirely their own, boldly glowing, where no light has shone before. From the dreamy psychedelia of Echoes to the discombobulated Spectral Embrace, Haunted Plasma is a willful force of deliberate sound contortion.


Whether you want to give in to Haunted Plasma’s sound or not, you are being watched, you are being recorded and your every move is monitored. Haunted Plasma will enter your system on the 31st of May 2024. Turn on your phantom circuits and be prepared for an interdimensional excursion into Haunted Plasma’s alien dreams.

The debut album from Haunted Plasma will be packaged in a beautiful tip-on sleeve, swirling fog artwork, complete with 12” booklet and pressed on 3 exclusive vinyl colours: 300 copies on Standard Black Wax, 500 copies in Amber + Black Smoke and 200 copies of Svart exclusive Turquoise/Black Marble. The album will also be available on CD and digital platforms.

witching seaside ambience for a sound shaped by inner-city living, Atelier’s second full-length studio album, Lights Towards The Exit, channels the mood of a sleepless cityscape.
Lights Towards The Exit is Atelier’s second full-length studio album. After the release of Varsam Court at the end of 2019 on Lossless, run by mentors and friends Mathias Schober and Thomas Herb, the duo experimented with different ideas in the studio, and at the start of 2020 a common thread began to appear between a few of the tracks which laid the foundation for the sound of their second album.
Both Alexander and Jas moved to Berlin in the period before the release of Varsam Court from their hometown of Cape Town, South Africa, where their first album was written and recorded. Moving provided some challenges, particularly with what was the most essential equipment to bring from their previous studio set-up, but those limitations proved to be useful in incorporating new instruments and techniques to the recording process.
Lights Towards The Exit was written and recorded in different spaces in Berlin – from bedrooms in apartment blocks to three different studios across the city. The different locations all had a specific ambience – such as 4th- and 5th-floor bedrooms with busy street views; a studio with no windows in a typical old Berlin backyard complex forever under threat of being sold and gentrified; and a bigger studio with windows on the opposite side of the corridor overlooking the backyard of a mechanic workshop. The final details and edits were completed in Atelier’s current studio, in a contrasting area surrounded by office blocks, plazas, 9-5ers and, most importantly, their friends and colleagues.
Swapping the mountains, sea and seclusion for tall buildings, backyards and a new community, Lights Towards The Exit channels the sensation of being surrounded by people, but still feeling like you're on your own. The album was written through three years of cold winters, sweaty summers and a period where the world stood still during the pandemic. Frustrated with the cease of momentum, but still optimistic, Atelier disappeared from public view, abandoning social media to focus on recording, songwriting and experimentation.
It was a difficult time: the duo longed to perform and continue producing music, and the imposed limitations sometimes felt like an impossible obstacle. Ultimately, though, this would provide inexpected inspiration and influence the sound and direction of the new album.
The sound of Lights Towards The Exit is not a departure from their first album, but a progression: influenced by the new surroundings in the duo’s adoptive city, Atelier’s second album is an ode to first-time experiences, new languages, challenges, club culture and the shift from youth to maturity, as well as a balm to those stuck somewhere in between.
The overall sound is a lift not in tempo, but in energy, matching the openness needed to make a new start in a new place.

The Telescopes Radio Sessions collects together the essence of three live session recordings in 3 different countries over a three year period between 2016-2019. This is the third in a series of radio session releases from Tapete Records that have so far included The Monochrome Set and Comet Gain. More session releases are being lined up for the rest of the year and beyond - enjoy the sonics and stay tuned. Over the years I have read a lot on people’s impressions of The Telescopes. Some folk think it’s a collective, others imagine it used to be a band and feel nostalgia towards what they consider to be the original line-up (even though many had come before, during and since) and some people refer to it as currently a solo career. In a way this is all true and none of it is. When faced with these kind of questions, along with questions about the style of music that The Telescopes make I often say The Telescopes house has many rooms, which explains things perfectly for me but for people on the outside looking in it only serves to increase their confusion. For me, confusion isn’t such a bad thing. Everything is born into confusion, the sense we try and make of that chaos is interesting and excites me. The universe often disorientates, it sends me a jumble of thoughts and impressions coupled with a feeling of something I need to express… if I could only decipher the encryption. This is how The Telescopes music comes to be and it is also how The Telescopes came to me. I regard The Telescopes as an entity of it’s own that introduced itself in my darkest hour and I was chosen as its vessel. From the second it arrived I was obsessed to the point where there was nothing else. A bit like having an imaginary friend. As the obsession grew it began to infect others, everybody loved my imaginary friend and wanted a piece of it. As its success grew however, so did the corruption, until one day the entity fell silent. The silence lasted for years, I tried everything to reconnect but it was having none of it. I had been a bad caretaker, I had let the house become infested and I had lost my way. This epiphany served to remind me of simpler times when anything felt possible with this entity by my side. It had trusted me with something so simplistically profound and I had let it down. The realisation of this was a eureka moment. I am not The Telescopes, I never was and never will be, I am the caretaker, the lighthouse keeper and if a job is worth doing it is worth doing well. With this dawning, I felt a crack open up in the cosmic egg and a familiar confusion in my head. The entity had returned. It was time to start untangling its tangled threads once more, to make sense of what it was saying, this time without corruption. It’s all about listening. I listen to what my cosmic friend sends me and channel this expression into what you hear through your speakers. It may take one person to achieve this, it may take more. There is no set line up or instrumentation that can hold The Telescopes. Whatever it takes to hit the zone, whatever is available, absolute focus is imperative. Sometimes it takes sabotage to keep that line of vision intact, there is no room for preconceptions or complacency in making the music. The Telescopes music is the now

incarnate and a state of total being is necessary to achieve. From the outside looking in... again, it’s all about listening. What comes through your speakers is the only thing that matters. The music either reaches you or it doesn’t. Everything else may seem interesting or confusing but ultimately it is corruption. So if you’ve bought the record, read the sleeve notes and bought a ticket to see a live show, don’t be surprised if the line-up is or isn’t the same as the recording. The only thing that is for sure is that The Telescopes as an entity is speaking to you in its own voice in every scenario.
Of course the difference between albums and live shows is that you can play the record over and over again to the point where you know every line and every note that was played. Whereas with live events you are left with an impression that can only be replayed in your mind. It can be frustrating at times. When you are touring with a great line-up and feel like something exciting is happening, you want everyone to hear it, not just the people at the shows but the people that couldn’t make it on the night as well. There is no guarantee that there will be the same line-up at a live show as there is on the album. This is why live sessions are important, they document a side of things that is often fleeting. Here we have three sessions, all different people transmitting The Telescopes sound on each. Some are regulars, some dip in and out and some were just passing through. In each case The Telescopes chose them as their vessel and as the lighthouse keeper I did everything I could to help them on that journey while trying to be a good caretaker to the house of many rooms. The Telescopes have been invited in for many sessions over the years, the first two were for John Peel on BBC Radio 1. We also recorded a session for Marc Riley and Mark Radcliffe before their
celebrity when they had a show on BBC Radio Manchester. We could have compiled this album from those sessions, it was certainly considered but Tapete and myself believe this selection gives an exciting glimpse into that fleeting side of The Telescopes in a constant state of flux that is left mostly to myth and imagination. For those who listen to the records but have never had the chance to take in the live experience, welcome to the other side. For those that follow us live, here’s a little reminder and a keepsake. Infinite suns. Stephen Lawrie February 2024.

Remotif is a fast-rising star with a sound being called 'trance fusion.' He makes his mark again to that end with a new one on Especial that brings more of his modern-day ethnic styles to the driving breaks of techno following outings on the likes of Coymix and Space Lab and sets everywhere from Fabric to Berlin's Warning parties.

This one kicks off with 'U 15' which is a busy blend of shimmery timbres and sharp perc, spaced-out pads and psychedelic synths that are ever on the rise. More trance overtones define 'Glint's Pursuit' and 'The Elevated Place' is slick and sleek, ascending and always rising. 'The Sunken Place' shuts down with more slow and percolating dub mutations to round out a superb EP.

When Richard Thompson began writing songs for his latest album, Ship to Shore, the artist was instinctively drawn to his own musical roots, employing them in the service of fashioning a deep and diverse 12-track collection that pulls from various styles, genres and eras, but remains unmistakably Richard Thompson. There’s the rumbling, Motown-style rhythm that propels “Trust,” and the straightforward riff-rock of “Turnstile Casanova.” The drone-y “The Old Pack Mule,” an “old man’s song” that takes musical cues from 1600s-era European music, and “Life’s a Bloody Show,” an ode to “snake-oil salesmen and hucksters” that floats on a glammy, cabaret-like melody that’s “almost like a parody of a Noël Coward song, or something from Berlin in the 1920s,” Thompson says. “I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there,” he says. “And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there’s also Scottish music, there’s Irish music. There’s jazz and country and classical. As far as I’m concerned, once you establish your base you can reach out anywhere. It’ll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically.”

Ship To Shore by Richard Thompson, released 31 May 2024.

This version of Ship To Shore comes as a 1xLP. This release comes with (a) Sticker(s).

'Freaking Out', das Debütalbum der gefeierten Grunge-Rock-Newcomer LOWLIVES aus Los Angeles, wird am 31. Mai via Spinefarm erscheinen und Fans der frühen Foo Fighters, Bush und Stone Temple Pilots gleichermaßen abholen.

Sänger Lee Downer, Schlagzeuger Luke Johnson, Gitarrist Jaxon Moore und Bassist Steve Lucarelli gründeten die junge Band aus der gemeinsamen Liebe zum Alternative und Grunge der 90er Jahre und dem Wunsch, Musik aus reiner Freude daran zu machen. Das LOWLIVES-Debütalbum 'Freaking Out' ist von genau diesem Geist durchdrungen.

Das Album wurde in den Londoner Chapel Studios mit Produzent Adrian Bushby aufgenommen, der bereits mit Bands wie Foo Fighters oder Muse gearbeitet. Sänger Lee Downer hegt eine Leidenschaft für Nirvana und Alice In Chains, die in Tracks wie 'Vertigo' und 'Swan Dive' durchschimmert. Drummer Luke Johnson beweist seine Besessenheit von den Smashing Pumpkins in 'You Don't Care'. Fans der frühen Foo Fighters, Bush und Stone Temple Pilots werden sich auf 'Freaking Out' wohl fühlen. Bewunderer von Billie Joe Armstrong ('Freaking Out'), Matt Skiba ('Damien') und Rivers Cuomo ('Loser') ebenso. 'Freaking Out' zelebriert schamlos seine Einflüsse und die einfache Schönheit des Zusammenspiels von Gitarre, Bass, Schlagzeug und Gesang.
Tiefgang findet man auf 'Freaking Out' trotzdem, verwurzelt in Texten, die von Ängsten, Sorgen, Verletzlichkeiten und den existenziellen Fragen handeln, die uns in den frühen Morgenstunden an die Decke starren lassen. 'Freaking Out' ist vor allem eine Destillation dessen, was LOWLIVES wirklich ausmacht. Es ist Rockmusik, die einen dazu bringt, sich wieder in die Rockmusik zu verlieben.

“Not a lot of people talk about the true origins of bluegrass music,” says Swamp Dogg, “but it came from Black people. The banjo, the washtub, all that stuff started with African Americans. We were playing it before it even had a name.” Blackgrass, Swamp Dogg’s remarkable new album, is no history lesson, though. Produced by Ryan Olson (Bon Iver, Poliça) andrecorded with an all-star band including Noam Pikelny, Sierra Hull, Jerry Douglas, Chris Scruggs, Billy Contreras, and Kenny Vaughan, the collection is a riotous blend of past and present, mixing the sacred and the profane in typical Swamp Dogg fashion as it blurs the lines between folk, roots, country, blues, and soul. The tracklist is an eclectic one—brand new originals and vintage Swamp Dogg classics sit side by side with reimaginings of ’70s R&B hits and timeless ’50s pop tunes—but the performances are thoroughly cohesive, filtering everything through a progressive Appalachian lens that nods to tradition without ever being bound by it. Special guests like Margo Price, Jenny Lewis, Justin Vernon, and The Cactus Blossoms all add to the excitement here, but it’s ultimately the 81-year-old Swamp Dogg’s delivery—sly and playful and full of genuine joy and ache—that steals the show. The result is a record that’s as reverent as it is raunchy, a collection that challenges conventional notions of genre and race while at the same time celebrating the music that helped make Swamp Dogg the beloved iconoclast he’s known as today.

From weaving thought-provoking poetics to channeling the spirit of vintage West Coast gangsta rap, acclaimed Los Angeles emcee Blu is a dynamic musical presence, forever evolving and defying expectations. Supremely talented producer and musician Shafiq Husayn has a similarly diverse skill set, with a storied history as a member of Sa-Ra Creative Partners and solo production credits for top artists across the musical spectrum, from Erykah Badu to Ice-T to Anderson .Paak to Jurassic 5 and many more. After linking up for the mixtape The Blueprint back in 2018, Blu and Shafiq Husayn are reuniting for the new album Out Of The Blue, elevating their collaboration to a new level. “The Blueprint was just me rhyming over some of Shafiq's beats that I found online,” Blu explains. “This time we were actually in the studio together. We’ve been working together since 2008, but this is our first official album.” Awash in Shafiq’s dense sonic architecture, Out Of The Blue showcases the intricacy of Blu’s spiritual street talk while simultaneously delivering a series of bass-heavy L.A. anthems. Entirely produced by Shafiq Husayn, the collection features guest appearances by MED, Exile, Chuuwee, Thurz, Speed Walton, Jimetta Rose, and Freestyle Fellowship members Myka 9 and Self Jupiter. “Out Of The Blue is my G-Funk album,” Blu explains. “Big brother Shafiq gave us a master class in production. We just in here being funky and having fun.”

The Gothenburg, Sweden based psychedelic rock combo Hollow Ship returns with Animated Music, a new EP and the follow-up to their acclaimed 2020 debut LP Future Remains which was praised by ex Prog Magazine, Shindig! and Raven Sings the Blues. With the band’s unique rhythm-driven blend of psychedelic rock and prog, with traces of jazz and hard rock as well as a myriad of other influences, at he forefront Animated Music pushes the band further into the instrumental realm than before. A cinematic journey over the space of 20 minutes, the music was originally written as an aural companion to the band’s Space Motion show visuals before being reworked into the shape of the Animated Music EP. With the band’s upcoming second full-length due in the winter, Animated Music showcases the band’s instrumental storytelling at great effect, further establishing the band at the orefront of the Swedish psychedelic scene alongside luminaries such as Dungen and Goat. Animated Music is due out on May 31 via Swedish indie label PNKSLM Recordings (7ebra, Chemtrails, ShitKid etc) on limited edition splatter vinyl (limited to 500 units worldwide) and digitally.

The Slovak band Shallov releases their new track "Refrain" on the experimental label Weltschmerzen just one year after the release of "Coexist". Two tracks that both span more than 10 minutes in length, work together as one coherent audiovisual art piece and are out as an EP on 10" vinyl. Music videos do not only visually supplement both tracks but they are equally autonomous art pieces.

The visual feature of the music pieces is highlighted by the vinyl's cover painted by Slovak artist Michal Fízik. The previous back cover carries a photograph which served as an inspiration for the painting while the current back has been created via AI reinterpretation.

The musical component of Refrain is based on a repetition building into a hypnotic trance, gradually disintegrating so it eventually ends in a monumental climax. It contrasts the band's previous work as well as the track Coexist which uses rather neverending rhythmic variations, and a changeable vibe and atmosphere.

The concept of the visuals in Coexist is a result of a collective fusion between the theatre director Adam Dragun, Viktor Ori and dozens of other participating non-actors. The video depicts individualistic egoist actions shaping a contradicting and incomprehensible totality of the world which ultimately seems to be alienated to everybody.

Refrain is an introspective journey leading to the dissolution of the individualistic experience of human existence. The video's concept, direction and production was conducted by the visual artist and performer Jak Užovič who also tends to inter-media art and object installations.

As Shallov and Jak Užovič explain the track's conceptual background: "The idea of owning one's own body and mind is an unnatural way of looking at ourselves imposed by the dominant paradigm. It's a blind ideology - the view of a body as a machine or a commodity is incomplete and represents a materialistic utopia which is being systematically internalized. We're not a community that acts right or wrong, our intentions are determined by an ideology which pretends not to exist - our relations are relations of masters and slaves, of domination and exploitation. We are a society bound by these features and even though we refuse to admit it, the world presented to us is only a legend we're striving to keep alive at all costs, while believing that there is no alternative. Our quality doesn't stem magically from the inside, on the contrary, it's determined by the conditions within which we interpret it through collectively shared fictions. We don't get to know our consciousness through ourselves, but we recognize it through others as they create and form us."

The Bratislava-based band 52 Hertz Whale release their new album Present Sense Impression in a collaboration of the labels Weltschmerzen and Full Moon Forum.

Three years since their album I've Met a Lot of People, the band brings forth a lot of new ideas, finding a new resonant space, and utilising the fierceness // savageness of their live shows, in an intimate stare at contemporary guitar music.

52 Hertz Whale is a band well known in the Central European music context. Their ferocious sound, mixing the intensity of post-punk, heavy guitar wails, and melancholic // stark vocals of Dominik Prok has been tearing down the fixtures of many festivals and venues, all the while being a great example of a band driving at 200mph nonstop. On Present Sense Impression, the band, composed of Dominik Prok, Dominik Fabian, Patrik Nagy, Tomáš Tabiš and Adrián Krišák, have arrived at a record full of manifold manifestations of their live sound, but at times recalling the more marginal waves of 80s pop // rock sound. Resolute drums, heavyweight guitar and bass riffs now deem closer to the lightness of early ethereal darkwave, just to indulge in the classic melancholic heaviness they are known for only seconds after.

Some of the songs have been produced by "Prague's favorite rock'n'roll enfant terrible" Lazer Viking as well as Pulp Studio's Jakub Hríbik, and one features a special guest - the cemballo virtuoso Marcel Comendant. The traditionally stunning artwork was created by the accomplished Martin Mesaroš.

Present Sense Impression is the 20th album released under the Slovak romantic // experimental label Weltschmerzen focused on emotionally hypercharged, humanely intertwined, and acutely sounding contemporary music. This time in collaboration with the czech label Full Moon Forum. It releases August 26th on limited edition baby pink, standard edition black vinyl and on all streaming platforms.

The creation and release of this record have been supported using public funding by the Slovak Arts Council, and SOZA. Fullmoon Forum project was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

This product is a Record Store Day exclusive title and is not available to pre-order.

To buy in-store: 8am, 20/04/2024 (Record Store Day).
To buy online: 8pm, 22/04/2024. (Subject to availability).
Don’t forget: Click 'Notify Me' to be the first to know about its availability online. It also helps us to place accurate orders so that we can please as many of you as possible on the day.
Manhattan Fire is a collection of demos from prolific Brooklyn outfit The Men, revealing early versions of the tracks that would go on to make up their 2023 LP New York City – described by Pitchfork as “an unpretentious garage-punk racket … summoning the snottiest ghosts of the city’s punk past.”

Recorded in mono and with a drum machine by founding members Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi over lockdown in late 2020 – before being shelved for the full-band, live-to-tape affair of the final LP – Manhattan Fire shows a new side to those songs that's even more primitive and rough around the edges, as well as previously unheard tracks that never made it onto the album.

Honeymind is Ben Platt’s anticipated third album (and debut on Interscope & Polydor Records), named for the “honeylike” state of being in love (“like all the jagged thoughts and fears and anxieties in my brain are slowly smoothed out, until my mind is coated with warmth and sweetness,”). The album was Executive Produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile), written with notable songwriters Hillary Lindsey, Natalie Hemby, and Alex Hope, and sees Ben exploring a more understated, folk leaning sound.

When first released Astro-Sounds From Beyond The Year 2000 promised an uncharted trip beyond the now generation! And it certainly delivered, as soon as the needle drops onto the opening track ‘Flameout’
we are in astral freak-out territory with cosmic strings phased beats & displaced fuzz guitars... Despite being released as a budget label’s take on the burgeoning psychedelic scene Astro Sounds, delivers the real deal.
This is thanks in no small part to the central role played by Wrecking Crew guitarist Jerry Cole. Cole had previously been the involved some L.A. session colleagues and cut his own psychedelic
album: The Inner Sounds of the Id by 'The Id' and was the perfect choice to front Astro Sounds which can be considered a development from the seminal sounds of the Id.
Astro Sounds has suffered from some unofficial releases that offer poor audio quality. This Vinyl Exotica re-issue is remastered from the original tapes and is presented on coloured vinyl

Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts is an American rock band from Nashville founded and fronted by former Biters leader Tuk Smith, originally from Atlanta, now living in Nashville. The band released their debut single "What Kinda Love" on January 10, 2020 and were also added as an opening act for The Stadium Tour with Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe on the same day. Then came the onset of Covid 19. “When the pandemic hit, it was like hitting the reset button on my music career” recalls Tuk, “everything got taken away…album campaign, stadium tour, record deal. The world was in lockdown, and the only way to escape was to throw myself into writing. My thoughts began exploring the past, and the inspiration for the songs just came in tidal waves.”
The new collection is a rock ‘n roll silver lining that came out of the solitude and reflection of the pandemic. Ballad Of A Misspent Youth is the new single (and subsequent album of the same name) released summer of 2022 on Tuk’s new record label MRG, through Virgin Music. Tuk explains, “I decided to make a rock and roll record for me and what I like because there was no label, there was no committee involved…just me and my stories. I wanted to create a setting and an authentic feeling about everything. I reunited with long-time friend Dan Dixon and recorded these songs in his garage studio, and there is a purity to the work that came from all the circumstances of that time.” Growing up as an outsider in rural Georgia, Tuk found solace in hardcore punk acts like Black Flag and The Exploited. From there, Smith branched out into exploring seventies New York bands like The Dead Boys and New York Dolls, which lead him across the sea where he embraced first-wave British acts like The Buzzcocks and the Clash. Smith wasn’t just a casual fan of these acts, he was obsessed with them and traced their lineage with fervent dedication. “I was always into the Clash growing up and Mick Jones’ favorite band was Mott The Hoople, so through the years I ended up developing a love of the first wave of British glam, power pop and things like that,” he explains. Soon Smith was forming his own acts, touring relentlessly and building a following with his high-energy live shows, including his tour of duty as lead singer for the Biters, who he fronted for nearly a decade. He offers “Then after being on the road for years, I had a reckoning about where I was at and the future ahead. …I realized the only way to achieve something meaningful was to be a good songwriter…that clicked. I went on a musical diet where I stripped the obscure stuff away, and I really started focusing on the greats. When I started clicking that it was just about the songs, things changed. I had already put my 10,000 hours in the van to play in the dive clubs, but then I put my 10,000 hours into figuring out how to write. I also started working with other songwriters. I humbled myself… it was an education, like going to school.” Tuk elaborates, “I wanted to kind of branch out musically and do different things, and I figured to go solo would be better. My manager actually suggested I call my new band “The Restless Hearts” and that's what he would call me all the time. It was the title of a Biters song that people loved and I’d seen a few restless hearts tattoos at our shows along the way… and so Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts was born. I was in a period where I changed everything including the way I lived my daily life. I experimented with different ways to tap into positive/creative energy…it was an evolving overall process (and still is).” Tuk summarizes, “Things used to be about debauchery, and now they’re more about dedication. I mean, I was always driven, but I was sometimes focusing on the wrong things. Now I focus on the music and the craftsmanship of writing and producing and performing. “

The fourth Subetasch-Release is again combining 4 tracks of our residents, a juxtaposition of different influences on one record, always keeping a driving groove - and again, approaching the dancefloor with exciting, playful sounds. Four tracks with crooked sounds, catchy melodies, distorted voices, pumping beats and last but not least, elements of surprise.
Are you stuck in a rainforest and not sure if the frog you just touched is hallucinogenic? Then "raindrops" by TakaTuka is just the song for you right now! Kicking off on side A, 'the pumping bass and the delusional synth sounds' will help you with moving your body to find a way out of here or to just lay down and get one with the forest. Next up Jdis is striking up a faster pace with "Ghosts", where sharp synth stabs meet subtle acid sounds and whirling voices telling you to stay longer. On Side B, vaZdaZ dives in with delicious, freshly caught fish marinated in hazy vocals and a captivating tribal groove. Followed by Tinbred, which is the sound of beer cans being popped in the sunset on Danube Island if Vienna was flipped upside down and inverted in color. Be careful not to spill any of your Tinbred bread while jogging along to the groove of this tune.

With the help of Emandolynn Music, Soul Direction Records have licensed these three
stunning Philly Soul tracks for a 7” vinyl release. Previously only available in digital format
only we believe that showcasing all 3 tracks together was the perfect package. This being
the way it was meant to be released.

Strawberry Wind, produced by Richard Swift (Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, Foxygen, The Shins) not only delivers on a promise to create an honest album for kids and parents but it represents what Baylin calls the “beautiful divide,” of juggling family life with her creative life, a difficult task by any measure. “The divide in me is easy to feel because I invest 100% of myself into my family and often the creative gets put to the side,” she explained, “so when I decided to begin writing for this album it just poured out of me.” Now singer / songwriter Jessie Baylin shares that creative outpouring on her debut children’s album, ‘Strawberry Wind’. Throughout the album, Baylin doesn’t hold back on telling it like it is. Weaving through lyrical themes of dream life, supermoons and summertime vibes are some gentle doses of reality. “I don’t want to lie to my kids. Life is hard sometimes and you need to find a way to deal with it... there will always be things in life you can’t control. But, you can dream of a better world and make your own refuge,” says Baylin, who is mom to 4-year-old Violet and is expecting her second child with her husband. Baylin, who’s released four critically-acclaimed albums over the years, says the seed was planted for this album after recording a cover of Harry Nilsson’s He Needs Me from the kids’ film Popeye. “The song has a childlike sense, but the message is very deep. It’s magical, it’s dark, and it hit all the right notes. I wanted to do an album that feels like that” she says. “Since becoming a mother, I found myself being around the house a lot and I started gravitating to these wonderful albums I remembered from my own childhood - The Beatles, Harry Nilsson’s The Point!, John Lennon, Roger Miller’s Robin Hood and Carole King’s Really Rosie." The magic of those iconic 1970s records she mentions is that they’re all grounded in solid songwriting and were never dumbed down for the audience. “Those records felt very honest and that was my mission here. I also wanted it to feel magical and remind people of the child inside of all of us that is filled with a sense of wonder and pure joy and hope.”

Repress!

Wah Wah 45s are proud to present the full debut album from Afrobeat supergroupEparapo. Having come togetherduring the unprecedented events of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, and despite being a project born from the privations of lockdown, their music is ultimately an expression of hope, resilience & resurgence.

The word "eparapo" means "join forces" in Yoruba, the language of Afrobeat. It's also the title of a track by the late, greatTony Allen- drummer for Afrobeat legendFela Kutiand lifelong friend and mentor of our very own "Afrobeat Ambassador",Dele Sosimi. Not only did Tony help to invent Afrobeat, he always looked for ways to push the boundaries, never content with recreating what had gone before but constantly expanding and developing the genre. This project hopes to pay homage to his legacy, and that of Fela Kuti himself. Its aim is to innovate, fuse and diversify while still retaining the essence of the music.

The force behind Eparapo is bassist, composer & producerSuman Joshi.He has been a member of Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra for nearly a decade and has performed on stage with the likes of Tony Allen, Seun Kuti, Ginger Baker & Laura Mvula. He is also bassist with UK jazz ensemble Collocutor and fusion project Cubafrobeat.

"The Eparapo project was conceived during a time of lockdowns & government scandals. The music that makes up this album was written and recorded against a backdrop of societal upheaval, culture wars and rising wealth inequality. With little scrutiny or resistance from the mainstream media, our human and democratic rights were being eroded and our institutions debased. Even our right to protest is now under threat. This is a call to action, an expression of frustration & anger at what our nation has become. It's saying that enough is enough, it's time to join forces and make our voices heard. It's time to take to the streets."Suman Joshi

The title track is an epic eleven minute musical representation of this frustration and anger, where the musicians really let loose and allow their voices to be heard. As the only instrumental track on the album it acts as a call to action that is central to this body of work. Featured vocalists on the album are Fela Kuti disciple and Wah Wah 45s artistDele Sosimi, who appears on the singlesBlack Lives Matter,From London To LagosandWho Invented Back & White?as well as a more recent recording,Follow The Money; and London based, Ghanaian born master percussionist and vocalistAfla Sackey, who takes lead vocals on the mournful yet somehow hopefulBeautiful City.

The rest of the group comprises of highly rated UK jazz vocalistSahra Gure; saxophonist, composer, producer and bandleader of the renowned forward thinking jazz outfit Collocutor,Tamar Osborn; keyboard player, producer and front man for Lokkhi Terra and Cubafrobeat,Kishon Khan; one of the UK's finest and most in demand trumpeters,Graeme Flowers, who has played with Quincy Jones, Gregory Porter and many more; trombonist for Bellowhead and mainstay of Dele's Afrobeat Orchestra,Justin Thurgur; and finally drummer for Steamdown and Sons of Kemet, as well as the man behind the Nache project,Eddie Wakili Hick.

The album will be available digitally and limited edition vinyl LP, with striking artwork by our award winning designer Animisiewasz.

Repress!

We"re back with another instalment of badass Funk from the Disco era with Supafunkanova Volume 3 which has been selected by prolific DJ, producer, remixer and record collector Woody Bianchi. Woody digs deep into his collection, compiling a high-quality album filled with lesser-known disco, funk and boogie. As the title suggests, Supafunkanova focuses on the funkier end of the 70"s & 80"s, showcasing some of the bumpier grooves recorded in the disco era when even James Brown had to take notice of the Saturday Night Fever inspired disco explosion. It will come as no surprise to hear some particularly hard to find gems have been unearthed here, and ones that aren"t just rare and expensive (if you can even find a copy!) but genuinely merit being re-issued. With expansive sleeve notes by Woody himself to give you an in depth insight to the music, artists and personal discovery of each record.

Greg Foat is a London-based keyboardist, composer, bandleader and DJ. He claims his life-long love/hate relationship with the piano began at age 3, when he fell off a piano stool at his aunt's house. He started composing around age 11, and at 15 attended a jazz workshop with Jeff Clyne, Olaf Vas, Trevor Tomkins and Nick Weldon, igniting his obsession with jazz music. He furthered to study jazz at Middlesex University, and then studied for 6 months in Sweden on an Erasmus grant. He played his first professional studio session there at 21, and has been working as a professional musician ever since.

Snake Plant Shuffle and Spider Plant Blues are inspired by the the plants on Gregs bedside tables - which periodically move around the house dependent on his mood. The plants provide a good source of oxygen in the room and create a calm soothing atmosphere for Gregs musical projects. Together the tracks feature live drum kits by Ayo Salawu, Fender Rhodes and a plethora of Vintage Synthesisers.

Snake Plant Shuffle has had radio plays in Gemany, Poland and Canada, as well as being heavily featured in Amazon Music's Jazz playlists, including 'Fresh Jazz', 'Coffee Shop Jazz' and 'Café Jazz'. Both tracks are featured in Apple Music' 'Jazz Scene: UK' and 'New Latitudes' playlists.

ohann Wolfgang von Goethe is always a reliable source for a good quote: "We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise, we harden." Sure as death, there is an excerpt of his that states the opposite. In the case of Robert Dietz, it holds true. Since his first appearance on Running Back in 2009 (Forward Snipping), he did a marvelous job staying on his toes as a producer and DJ.
Rejuve-Nation showcases his talent in various alleys of electronic (dance) music with Crane Song being the prime cut here. You will get exposed to proggy house with an intelligent brush in two slightly different mixes. Imagine if Euro dance went to get a college degree or a bumper car floor and you are almost there: an almost irresistible sing a long without lyrics.
If you need help afterwards, Deranged Self Therapy is exactly what you need. IDM meets new wave drums, poignant synths mix with an upbeat hook to create a ballet piece for lovesick robots.
Centro Di Gravita reconnects those qualities with the aforementioned Crane Song ones, while giving it an acid spin, before the ambient salts of Any Plan(t)s This Weekend closes the EP off like a confident sketch for the end of a beautiful summer. A bouquet of bangers for different needs.

Short: One Rejuve-Nation EP under a groove with Robert Dietz' return on Running Back. Proggy meets acid house, IDM leanings mix with stylistic devices of new wave and extra special ambient aerobatics round out the EP. Special attention goes to Crane Song and its peak time perfection. A bouquet of bangers for different needs.

Metropolis; a powerful song addressing city inequalities and their impact on youth. It's a call for freedom, criticizing large corporations. The lyrics remind us of our basic human needs, while the smooth music eases the despair about environmental issues. Despite being recorded over forty years ago, the message feels relevant today, as we continue to struggle with harmful capitalism.

Originally part of a 1975 charity compilation LP raising money for environmental charities in California, which later became a collectors artifact changing has for silly money (which didn’t fit well with the Déjà vu kid team), so this Balearic nugget, the crown jewel of this album, was released on 7”…There is no better way to share it again than on it’s own 45 inch release at a fair price.

Moonboots, Danny Psychemagik, Spruzzi Monorecords, Micky Browne, Paul Hillery are just a selection of names who have championed this track from this great album and now we can reshare it with you in this first time format.

Artwork redesigned by GNB Studios.

Bloom is the 1997 album by Crustation, who were formed by Ian Dark, Stig Manley and Mark Tayler. All three were quiet connected in the fertile Bristol trip hop community - they played in bands with Portishead's Adrian Utley during the Eighties and regularly hung out with Massive Attack and Smith & Mighty. With just one album, their debut full-length record Bloom, Crustation became a legendary secret in the galaxy of trip hop music. The charming female voice of Bronagh Slevin, spacey, dreamy atmospheres, sleepy beats: all we love in downtempo music. The album features artwork co-designed by Stanley Donwood, who has created all the artwork designs for Radiohead with Tom Yorke. For the first time since its original release, Bloom is being reissued and is available as a limited edition of 750 copies on translucent purple coloured vinyl. The vinyl package includes an insert.

The Lovely Eggs will release Nothing/Everything - the lead single from their forthcoming album “Eggsistentialism” on Friday April 26th on Egg Records. Their third collaboration with Grammy Award winning producer Dave Fridmann, “Nothing/Everything” will be released on ltd edition bright yellow 7” vinyl with more out of this world art-work by illustrator Casey Raymond. Nothing/Everything is a wistful, stark, magnificent seven minute psychedelic epic. It’s The Lovely Eggs as you’ve never heard them before. “Nothing/Everything is the Yin/Yang of life,” explains Holly. “There’s hope and despair, patience and frustration, birth and death, the mundane and the extraordinary. It’s the magnificence of “Being” walking hand in hand alongside life’s daily grind. This song is simply what is. It’s not looking forward or back. It’s us now. It’s uplifting and it’s tragic. It is probably the longest and most meaningful song we’ve ever written and recorded. It’s our magnum opus about life.” With the full 7 minute and two second version on the A side, the B gives you the radio edit.

Deluxe 180g vinyl. Art Edition LP includes set of six 12”x12” art cards.



The follow-up to Kee Avil's acclaimed 2022 debut Crease: "A stunning debut" (The Quietus); "A whiplash style of uninhibited exploration" (The Wire); "Kee Avil's debut is a force" (Foxy Digitalis); "A work of Frankensteinian wonder" (Electronic Sound); "A tightly coiled, finely wrought vision of avant-pop" (Exclaim); "A debut of fiendish creativity" (Bandcamp Album Of The Day / Albums Of The Year) Kee Avil's music is both adventurous and intimate, intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant. The Montréal guitarist and producer's 2022 debut LP Crease garnered plaudits from outlets like The Wire, The Quietus, Mojo and Foxy Digitalis, picking up a Canadian Juno Award nomination and Bandcamp Album Of The Day and Albums Of The Year along the way. Its intricate construction, unnerving atmospheres, and knife-edge take on avant-pop prompted comparisons to early PJ Harvey, This Heat, and Gazelle Twin. A remix EP with work by claire rousay, Ami Dang, Cecile Believe, and Pelada brought collaborative perspectives to four Crease tracks, offering new pathways within those songs. With Spine, Kee Avil strips back her heavily textured compositions, opening up a much rawer sound. She calls it folk… and while traditionalists might scoff, this is urgent music that reflects the precarity of modern life, as well as the jarring mixture of electronic and real-world interactions that have become the fabric of our day-to-day experiences. There's a hypnotic post-punk somnambulance to it all, using the repetition and fracturing of melodic phrases interwoven with delicate electronics to create curious and persistent hooks. While not a concept album, themes of time's passage, remembrance, and decay crop up across multiple tracks. Each track intentionally only has four elements - guitar, electronics, and two other instruments, with Kee's voice and guitar pushed to the front. Within this minimalist framework, the juxtaposition of beauty and discomfort that is key to the Kee Avil sound stands out in skin-prickling relief. "We're shaped by many versions of ourselves," says Avil. "I was looking back at these versions of myself and what could have been, what didn't end up being and what did end up being, and going back like that through time. Seeing the future, the past." Spine was written in Kee Avil's home studio after a lapse in writing while touring Crease and working on other projects. She is a well-known and respected member of the Montréal experimental scene, and formerly ran Concrete Sound Studio with Zach Scholes, who continues to work with her as a producer on Spine. Compared to the three years that went into making her debut, Spine emerged in a matter of months - a process that may also be a factor in its intensity and sharpness: "This record was much harder, like it was really discovering everything from scratch." In her desire to not simply replicate or extend the sound of Crease, she felt she had to rip up the rule book, write in a different way, and pare back songs against her usual instincts. Sometimes, when we work against our ingrained habits, we get to the core of who we really are. Spine is an exercise in that process. Without over-intellectualizing or being didactic, it hits immediately and emotionally, especially if you are a person who has spent much time in the process of self-examination. Kee's voice hisses, whispers, and chants; her guitar bends and rings; electronics skitter and crackle; violin creaks like a door in the wind. There is something so evocative about the atmospheres she creates that it's easy to overlay one's own feelings onto her work, but to do that wholly would be to overlook one of the most important things about Spine: Kee Avil's clear and thoughtful vision. This isn't just the next step forward in her artistic trajectory; it's a stunner of a record that stands on its own, a bracing and thrilling listen that has much to reveal about the contradictions inherent in being human. - jj skolnik

Through his project Lionlimb, New York based singer/songwriter/producer Stewart Bronaugh crafts unfurling soundscapes that feel mysterious and otherworldly, yet timeless and nostalgic at the same time. He presents his most ambitious vision of these inner vistas on his new album, Limbo, arriving May 24th on Bayonet Records. Inspired by a palette of '70s Italian film soundtracks, '60s girl group music, and funk and soul ballads, Bronaugh brings these influences together to invent an immersive sound all his own-with help from close collaborator Joshua Jaeger, whose live drums bring a rawness to Limbo's meticulously layered production. Led by the smoldering single "Dream of You," featuring Angel Olsen, Limbo taps into universal themes of romance, longing, and loss, while still offering a hazy escape from our present reality. Bronaugh penned the songs with "classic" songwriting in mind, transforming his personal struggles with grief and addiction into love songs. Using images inspired by nature (like the sun, moonlight, hurricanes, and deep water), he expresses being overtaken by a force greater than himself, as the psychedelic production evokes a sense of being plunged into this vast landscape. Limbo benefits from its eclectic influences, as Bronaugh overlays sitar-sounding guitar on top of funky basslines, melodramatic string arrangements, and fuzzed out guitar, making for music that could easily belong on Twin Peaks just as much as a Western cowboy film. An album of duets, Limbo features a host of female vocalists-Angel Olsen, Ewa Synowiec, to Bion augil, nderstad ocal periora ne Bill bout vocal sad ate another instrument* he explains. "When we first tried to have someone else sing, I liked it, because I felt more akin to a producer than a songwriter." There's a dreamy quality to how these singers trade off with Bronaugh, both parties expressing his inner emotions. Limbo is a culmination of Bronaugh's years of production experience, as he composed, produced, and mixed the project almost entirely by himself, with additional recording from Robin Eaton. Always inspired to make bold and experimental choices that capture his instincts in the moment, Bronaugh's production style is informed by "wanting to do the weird thing that engineers wouldn't approve of," as he describes it. "My favorite part of making music is the mistakes."

KYORYU by Last Dinosaurs, released 24 May 2024, includes the following tracks: "Self-Serving Human Being", "14 Occasions", "Elton", "Yin and Yang" and more.

This version of KYORYU comes as a 1xLP.

BANGER MAKE MY BODY SHAKE MAKE THE SPEAKERS SHAKE

It was two and a half years ago when a conversation took place between Sal Carmona and Dj Producer Jovonn Armstrong; talks of which planted a seed in Sal Carmona's ear, which years later would manifest what was once a dream into a reality. No stranger, nor a newcomer in the world of dance music, Sal's experience in the club scene goes way back to the days when his sisters, to whom he credits for helping shape the person he is today, took him to Dave Mancuso's The Loft. An experience that he recalls being nothing short of magical. It was a spiritual encounter that immediately took over thus steering him towards the direction of clubs such as The Paradise Garage, Bentley's, Underground, Red Parrot, Latin Quarters, Roseland, Studio 54, just to name a few. Years later, Sal decided to take on the role, of which he became quite successful at, of promoting his own events in New York City; throwing regular parties at venues such as Park Circle & USA roller skating rinks, Red Parrot, The Palladium, The Copacabana and many others, soon becoming one of the premier go to promoters in NYC. Taking a long and well-deserved hiatus from the club scene, in 2012 Sal decided to make his return back to what he loves. It was around this time that he began thinking what it would be like to venture into creating his very own record label. Envisioning his first release being a bona fide House Music Album, one that would include some of his favorite producers. Not one to let dreams drift into the ether, while recollecting on that conversation with Jovan way back, Sal set out to make that vision manifest into a reality and thus emerged this dope compilation titled Banger "Make My Body Shake" "Make the Speakers Shake"

A great idea which brings together an interesting mix that includes highly sought out and respected veteran producers in the scene, such as Timmy Regisford, Ron Trent, Dj Jovonn, and Joe Claussell. Alongside with up and coming DJ producers who are garnering their own adulation of fans, in the likes of Vick Lavender, Mark Francis, Conway Kasey, and DJ Punch. With valuable directional contributions from friend Joe Claussell, this, to say the least, has become far more than just a seriously dope compilation that consists of a unique coming together of serious dance music. More than the aforementioned, Sal Carmona has manifested a dream into a game changing music scripture that is one of a kind, especially in this day and age where it seems where things are thrown together hoping for something to stick. On the contrary, this is well planned and thought out dopeness at A higher level consisting of all new house music that hasn't been brought together like this in a very long time and probably not for a while afterwards.

On 24th May, 2024, the exact day of its Golden Jubilee, Diamond Dogs will be issued as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP. The first single from the album, ‘Rebel Rebel’, reached number 5 in the UK and the album would also reach similar heights on both sides of the Atlantic reaching number 1 in the UK and number 5 in the USA.



This new pressing of Diamond Dogs was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios



The writing of the album was influenced by Bowie not being able to secure the rights for a theatrical production of George Orwell’s 1984 and the work of William S. Burroughs, whom Bowie had interviewed for Rolling Stone in November 1973. The songs on the album created an urban apocalyptic scenario with Bowie appearing on the cover as a controversial half-man, half-dog hybrid painted by the Belgian artist Guy Peellaert from photos by the world-renowned photographer Terry O’Neill. Since its release, tracks from Diamond Dogs have been covered by artists such as Beck, Tina Turner, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, Joan As Police Woman, Dead Or Alive and The Struts.

In one sense, it's easy for artists-songwriters, specifically-to express their feelings in their work. After all, that's what the lyrics are for! But it's much harder to convey emotional energy in how you play, slash at the guitar, and the structure of the music itself. That's precisely why Girl and Girl's Sub Pop debut, Call A Doctor, feels like such a vital, electrifying shock to the senses. Not since the early work of Car Seat Headrest or Conor Oberst's widescreen emotional brutality as Bright Eyes has indie rock managed to come across as this intimate and grandiose, as the Australian quartet led by Kai James lay a lifetime's worth of woes-mental health, the human race's planned obsolescence if you've been living on this cursed rock you know what we're getting at-across a canvas of indie rock that feels both timeless and in-the-moment. An audacious and aggressively tuneful blast of a record, Call A Doctor is an unforgettable first bow from Girl and Girl, whose origins lie in James and guitarist Jayden Williams jamming in his mother's garage in the afternoon after school. One afternoon, James' Aunty Liss headed down to their practice space after walking her dog and asked if she could sit in on drums. "It sounded really great," James recalls. "We begged her to stay, and she said, 'I'll stay until you find another drummer.' We wore her down, and she eventually became a permanent member." After bassist Fraser Bell joined to round things out, Girl and Girl hit the road and began to make a name for themselves beyond the Australian bush, eventually signing to Sub Pop off the strength of word of mouth. Call A Doctor came together quickly soon after, largely recorded in marathon sessions in a two-story industrial complex over the course of two weeks. "That added to the intensity of the album," James says about the frenzied creative process overseen by producer Burke Reid. "I can hear the stress in the record, which is good because that's what it's about-being tense, tied up, and in your own head." Call A Doctor's eleven songs-spanning sweeping guitar epics and wry acoustic shuffles to spiky punk maneuvers and the type of raw, adoringly unvarnished indie-pop associated with legendary PacNW label K Records-are literally plucked from James' personal history, as he reworked older recordings with newer lyrics reflecting his past struggles as well as new anxieties that emerged prior to the album's recording. "I've struggled with mental health for a lot of my life," he explains, "and I went through a particularly difficult patch when we were making the album; the band had started to get some attention, and I felt an enormous amount of pressure to live up to it." "This record is about an individual who's too far in their head, trying to get out," James continues while discussing Call A Doctor's overall outlook-specifically the snapshot it offers of its creator. But even though this record deals with uneasy topics we all know well from within ourselves, it's important to emphasize how teeming with life Girl and Girl's music is. There's a brazen, bold sense of humor to this stuff, an undeniable brightness to the darkness that makes it impossible not to be drawn in as a listener. Feeling down never sounded so goddamn good.

Not God is the new album from Chicago's beloved two-headed monster, Finom (fka Ohmme). You can ask them to go into more detail about the boring reasons why they changed their name, but for now, the answer is going to be polite refusal. No. Co-fronted by Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, Finom's influences run vast and varied, and they put a premium on change. Produced by Jeff Tweedy in the Wilco Loft, Not God is a marvel of growth, a progression from the roots of this collaborative band whose history can be traced back to its improvised conception. This is owed in no small part to their hometown of Chicago, the life raft to so many persisters in musical adventurosity. That energy combined with Finom's dramatic vocal and musical gifts puts them in the peripheries of the legacies cemented by The Roches, Roxy Music, the B52s, Kate Bush, Cate Le Bon, and Wilco. Cunningham and Stewart are brilliant harmonizers, but harmony doesn't equate to a utopia. In Finom's maws harmony can also be a fight, holding the line until the volcano erupts. This realistic depiction of a creative relationship jolts throughout the songs of Not God, and brings the whole damn thing to life. Finom are more than one person with more than one dream. But still, they grow together, harnessed by their shared love of pop songwriting, control, chaos, and being generally freaky-deaky. Freaky in that way that is only really fun when you're doing it with a friend. As the globe spins and advancements advance, it can feel essential to return to relationships that make us feel whole, that generate energy of strength and relief. Which puts double the weight on the reality that Sima and Macie continue to pledge allegiance to each other, at the base of the volcano, in the front seat of the car as it pulls off the highway.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce the first vinyl reissue of Trancedance, a wild slice of Swedish Afro-fusion from Christer Bothén, originally released in 1984. A major figure in Swedish jazz and improvised music since the 1970s, often heard on bass clarinet and tenor sax, Bothen studied doso n’koni (the large six-stringed ‘hunter’s harp’ of the Wasulu) in Mali in 1971-2 before turning to the guinbri (the three-stringed lute of the Gnawa/Gnauoua) in Marakesh later in the decade. In between, he performed extensively with Don Cherry during his Organic Music Society period and taught Cherry the doso n’koni. In the later 70s and 80s he worked with the most important figures in the distinctive Swedish jazz-rock-world fusion scene, joining Archimedes Badkar for their African-influenced Tre and participating in Bengt Berger’s legendary Bitter Funeral Beer Band. Many of the musicians who played on the Bitter Funeral Beer Band’s ECM LP (including Berger on drums, Anita Livstrand on voice and percussion and Tord Bengstsson on piano, violin and guitar) joined Bothén for one of the sessions that produced Trancedance, the first release under his own name, dedicated to his compositions. The other session introduced his seven-piece group Bolon Bata, heard on the second track of each side. The title track opens the album with the rubbery buzzing strings of the doso n’goni playing a hypnotic ten beat pattern, soon joined by bass and piano before the entire nine-piece group kicks in with a rollicking Afro-jazz workout, Berger’s drums driving an intricate, winding melodic line played by the horns with Mattias Helden’s cello throwing in pizzicato slides and smears. Bothén then takes centre stage on tenor sax, soloing with a wide, vibrating tone and moving seamlessly from soaring melodies to guttural stutters. After a return to the composed horn lines and a solo from Elsie Petrén on alto sax, the piece builds to an ecstatic conclusion of yelping voices and handclaps, gradually simmering down to return to the solo doso n’koni where it began.

The hypnotic sounds of the hunter’s harp carries over to ‘Mimouna’, where it is joined by Bothen’s overdubbed guinbri. The piece develops into a haunting whispered and sung invocation, gradually building momentum until the organic textures of strings, voices, and hand percussion are ruptured by Lennart Söderlund’s distorted guitar, which brings an unmistakable touch of 1984 to the otherwise timeless sound. Joined by chicken scratch guitar and increasingly dominated by the insistent clang of three of Bolon Bata’s members on karqab (a kind of cast-iron castanet), the grove develops frenetically.

The B side opens with the multi-part epic ‘9+10 Moving Pictures for the Ear’, at over 16 minutes the record’s longest piece. Though Bothen is heard only on horns on this piece, the hypnotic repeating bass line carries on the first side’s link to African musical traditions. Using an expanded 16-piece ensemble, the music balances untethered improvisation with carefully arranged passages of knotty ensemble playing that at points suggest Mingus, Moacir Santos or some of the ambitious post-free work being done in the same years by figures like David Murray or Henry Threadgill. The piece ends with a triumphant passage of looping unison melody reminiscent of the Scandinavian folk explorations of Arbete och Fritid (whose Kjell Westling is heard on bass clarinet and soprano sax here). The sound of Bjorn Lundqvist’s fretless bass introduces the odd left turn made by the record’s final track, a spaced-out expedition into bluesy horn lines and distant guitar atmospherics set to a semi-reggae beat, perfumed by the core Bolon Bata group and bearing the appropriate title of ‘The Horizon Stroller’. A must for fans of the Swedish scene around groups like Arbete och Fritid and Archimedes Badkar, as well as any listener who has been seduced by Louis Moholo’s Spirits Rejoice!, The Brotherhood of Breath, or, more recently, the guinbri grooves of Natural Information Society, Trancedance is a lost classic ripe for rediscovery.

"Sugar Minott was a Jamaican reggae star who was a pioneer of the dancehall style. Minott was a producer, label head, and sound system operator. He collaborated with one of Jamaica’s most accomplished producers, Lloyd James aka King Jammy, and among their collaborations was the popular 1979 LP Bitter Sweet, which included the seminal dancehall anthems “Give The People” and “I’m Not For Sale”. For the first time in over 40 years, Bitter Sweet is being reissued on vinyl. The album is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl."

Bitter Sweet by Sugar Minott, released 24 May 2024, includes the following tracks: "Never Too Young", "Right Track ", "Save The Children " and more.
This version of Bitter Sweet comes as a 1xLP.