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Big Crown Records is proud to present Zero Grace, Liam Bailey's sophomore album on the label. Following the success of 2020's Ekundayo album, the tried and true chemistry of Bailey and producer Leon Michels (El Michels Affair) is on full display again as they take the sound they established and push it further. On Zero Grace they lean more into the bleeding heart singer-songwriter side of Liam. The result, much like Bailey himself, is impulsively honest without reserve. Born and raised in Nottingham, England, the son of an English mother and 2nd generation Jamaican English father, Liam will admit his early childhood was fairly chaotic and filled with "all the cliche racism that happens when people started mixing up in the '80s in England." Liam got his early influences from his mom's record collection. Bob Marley and Dillinger, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix would eventually shape the singer/songwriter we know today. Fast-forward to 2005, Liam is in London performing at every open mic and acoustic night he could, hustling with hopes of landing a record deal. It was through this time that Liam first teamed up with Michels, musician/producer luminary, and the co-founder of Brooklyn's own Big Crown Records. Liam flew out to New York and those first sessions together produced the now classic tunes "When Will They Learn" and "I'm Gonna Miss You" which still gets spins at Reggae spots around the globe and were co-signed by heavy hitters like David Rodigan & Don Letts. That first trip to NYC brought a lot of industry attention to Liam, including being noticed by a just-famous Amy Winehouse who heard one of Liam's apartment-made, lo- recordings, and liked what she heard. Regardless of the audio quality, Liam's particular sound shone through - all guitar, warm-rough and genuine soul. Eventually Liam signed to Polydor and wound up bumping against the typical major label industry obstacles. They already had an idea of the Liam they wanted to make, promote, and push With the typical large advance enticement, Liam did his best to trust that path. "Maybe I can make it work,' that's what you're thinking," Liam remembers, "but, you quickly find out that you can't." Zero Grace is full of freedom and love, in fact, working with Leon Michels and Big Crown Records has encouraged Liam to be himself. On album opener "Holding On '' Bailey speaks to his observations & fears when looking out at the world in front of him and also to the dedication it has taken to get on the other side of his personal trials & tribulations. "Dance With Me" is an instantly infectious two-stepper that nods to those incredible soul records that were coming out of Jamaica during the early Reggae days. Bailey steps into the dance with hopes of finding a new love and pulls us all out on the dance oor with him. "Disorder Starts At Home" is another close to the chest tune that addresses the difficulties he struggles with from his early chaotic childhood and his progress in getting past them. "Mercy Tree" is a powerhouse of Reggae Rebel Music. Bailey addresses the racial tensions that plague humanity and encourages everyone to step up and do their part to help foster equality. What starts out as a declaration of injustice turns into a call for action and an inspiration for hope.

The Fire Theft was an alternative rock band from Seattle, formed in 2001 from the ashes of legendary emo band Sunny Day Real Estate. The lineup consisted of vocalist/guitarist Jeremy Enigk, bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith. Mendel is also famous for being the full-time bassist in the Foo Fighters and Goldsmith was also Foo Fighters’ drummer between 1995 and 1997. This is the 20th anniversary reissue of the band's only album which was originally released on Rykodisc in 2003. A 2019 vinyl reissue of this record currently goes for very silly money on the second-hand market…Features reconstructed artwork for vinyl by Nathan Shumaker, on a gatefold cover with embossed print, 12" insert, 180 gram coloured double vinyl.

Textures and sounds spanning from the virtues of 90’s grunge/alt-rock to renaissance-like melodies bound together with the opposites pop-music structures sliced with contemporary collage techniques. On Mija Milovic’ second solo album “Still Life” (Escho), there is easily no conformity to constraints of simple boxes, instead it focuses on emoting with intonation, stress, rhythm and pace. It's about tender and aggressive transformations, figuring out who you are and how to be in the world. The lyrics tell lived stories of locating magic in the mundane, being swept away by the energy of fellow humans and holding space for each other in a community, feeling estranged in the urban landscape, and learning to let go. Mija Milovic is a Danish/Montenegrin musician, composer and producer based in Copenhagen. She has a background in theatre, performance, alternative notation and improvisational music creation. With several release under her own name she is also member of the rock band SLIM0 and is a part of various other collaborative.

Sydney, Australia- Melodic metalcore band BLOOM have announced new album Maybe In Another Life, out 15th February 2023- their first for new label, Pure Noise Records. Alongside the announcement is the release of the title track of the record, Maybe in Another Life. The track speaks to the anxiety that can be buried in fantasy. The lyrics contrast the experience of a sordid existence and the indulgence of what could have been, and what could be. The song moves from a dreaminess desire to a lament on the harshness of reality, the voice in the song is “Lost in the fantasy, Of being anyone but me.” The listener is left with a sense of longing at the climactic moments of the track, with soaring, symphonic instrumentation that fuels the words “ Let me start again, I'll make it count this time, Can I start over? Maybe in another life” "The song speaks to the characters anxieties and their methods of distracting through fantasy." says the band. "The lyrics contrast the experience of a sordid existence and the indulgence of what could have been. The song touches on a desire to lament on the harshness of reality. “Lost in the fantasy of being anyone but me”. The listener is left with a sense of longing at the climactic moments of the song with soaring, symphonic instrumentation that fuels the words “Let me start again, I’ll make it count this time. Can I start over? Maybe in another life”.

2023 Repress

Maston’s Darkland is a breezy collection of the material from the Tulips sessions that didn’t make it on to the original LP. Originally a digital-only release for those in the know in the autumn of 2018, after re-issuing Tulips in 2020 it made too much sense for Be With to give Darkland a vinyl release.

Like Tulips, Darkland was recorded mostly in Hoorn, in the Netherlands, between 2015-2017 during downtime from Frank’s touring duties with Jacco Gardner’s band. Bits were also done in Los Angeles on some extended trips back home.

The collection plays like an alternate view of Maston’s instant modern classic Tulips; a companion piece to the LP proper with similar mixture of shorter themes and more full length tracks. As Frank Maston explains: “I think Darkland is the shadow of Tulips in a way… what it might’ve been in a different universe. But the heart of Tulips beats in these songs as well and they evoke the same memories and feelings for me. I see my process playing out across these songs - lots of experimentation and trying out new techniques and sounds and just sort of going for it.”

Frank goes on: “It was all from the same pool of material, like 30+ ideas. I was making a lot of little demos… some would be more fleshed out and become songs and others would just be a cool riff and not go anywhere. When I started trying to form it all into an LP I went through all the sessions and ideas and collected the ones I thought were the most fleshed out and cohesive together as a whole. There were a fair amount of songs that were finished and in hindsight really should have been on Tulips (like what would’ve been the title track). And the rest of these songs are either very early versions of tunes that ended up on Tulips or some cool ideas that just ended up being dead ends. It definitely shows how wide my net was in the beginning before I narrowed the record down stylistically.”

Darkland opens with its ornate 39 second title-track before striding into “Tulips”, that full-length title-track that never was. It’s a real head-nod, percussive-rich electric piano stunner that would’ve been a comfortable standout on the album proper. But now this “downlifting” gem is given ample room to shine on this record.

The funky organ-led bass and drums workout “Immaculate Conception” will keep your neck gently snapping while MPC fiends go reaching for their sampler. And that’s gospel. “Love Theme No 3” cuts a breathtakingly stylish vibra-slapped swathe through the middle of the opening side before we’re startled by the pronounced bass and twinkling percussion of “The Owl In Daylight”. Charming digi-drums underpin the wonky synth (quiet-)banger “Innovative Patterns” which has a lovely melodic switch-up in the final third before the tempo (and hairs on your neck) rise on the faintly creepy yet imminently groovy “Osiris”. The gorgeously soft-focus “Groove Experiment No 3” closes out the first half in slow-mo wonderment.

The lushly melancholic “Raincloud” ushers in side B before the emotionally-stirring “Phonic” taps at the door, coming on like the long lost sister to Pet Sounds’ “Let’s Go Away For A While”. Next up, the swooning beauty “Love Theme No 2” keenly sways in front of you, growing ever more insistent and hypnotic. The too-short “Italian Summer” conjures the same flirtatious imagery as the title hints at whilst “Endless” is a fascinating “piano-pella” alternative version to “Rain Dance” from Tulips. “Wonder Theme” has a nostalgic, exotic 60s swing and album closer “Willow” is a hushed, campfire folk gem. The gently circular strumming is just magical.

Speaking to Aquarium Drunkard back in 2019 about the sessions that became Tulips, Frank noted: “I was really surprised by the lack of sunlight during my first winter in Holland, so I would call it Darkland which then became the name of the first demo I wrote during that time. It was also the working title of the record when I first started writing. Some are full songs that didn’t make the cut (including what would have been the title track), some are just ideas that I never finished.”

Whilst we were working on Darkland’s vinyl release Frank explained more specifically about the music that didn’t make it on to Tulips: “When I was putting together the tracklisting for Tulips I was already thinking that whatever didn’t make it onto the LP would be cool to release eventually somehow. The response to Tulips has been so passionate over the years that it’s nice to be able to offer another piece of that world. And for me personally it’s amazing to have more of my work out there in the world. Most common bit of feedback was that many of these songs should have been on Tulips. The odd friend says it’s much better than Tulips.”

Just like Tulips before it, Simon Francis’s vinyl mastering for Darkland has been cut at 45rpm so you can trip out to this as well at a woozy 33 1/3. The artwork too has been designed by Frank himself as a literal visual continuation of the Tulips cover.

We couldn’t possibly say whether Darkland is better than Tulips, and luckily we don’t have to decide.

The UK avant-garde’s rising star, Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist Bingo Fury is announcing his debut album ‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ due out 16 February via tastemaking label state51. Filled with noir elegance, ‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ is an album that revels in extremity. The album was recorded in a local church in Bristol, taking inspiration from the musician’s complex relationship with his strong religious upbringing. The influence of the church building resonates throughout the album.

‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ is full of strange experiments, obscure references, offbeat one-liners, heart-breaking sentimentality and surging creativity. At the heart of it all is Bingo Fury’s crooning bass vocal, lending a vivid and slyly humorous voice to universal themes of love and pain.

Alongside the album announcement, Bingo Fury is releasing new single ‘Leather Sky’, a tender piano ballad charged with real emotion and a heartbreaking cornet refrain played by band member Harry Furniss. In this cinematic track full of paralysing despair, the musician sings: “You know I’m trying to give you everything / It all gets in the way.”

Bingo Fury on the single: “Leather Sky is a difficult song to describe succinctly. It’s about being separated from someone against both of your will. Somebody close to me became very unwell and communication became restricted, almost non-existent. The song took shape during that period. A few of the surreal lines ended up becoming reality.”

Although very much a solo songwriter, Bingo Fury’s compositional process relies on contributions from his entire band - bassist Megan Jenkins and drummer Henry Terrett have been playing together since their teens. In one of their various incarnations, they recruited local avant-jazz legend, cornet player Harry ‘Iceman’ Furniss, with guitarist and percussionist Rafi Cohen later completing the line-up.


The album announcement follows the release of the cacophonous single ‘Power Drill’, which garnered praise from The Line Of Best Fit and DIY. This comes after Bingo Fury’s debut EP, ‘Mercy’s Cut’, that came out last year to an abundance of critical acclaim from the likes of BBC 6 Music, The Quietus, Loud & Quiet, Clash, as well as earning himself a spot on the NME Top 100. Filled with rich, cinematic allure, the EP is both beautiful and unsettling and underlines Bingo Fury’s complete abundance of compositional ideas.

The UK avant-garde’s rising star, Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist Bingo Fury is announcing his debut album ‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ due out 16 February via tastemaking label state51. Filled with noir elegance, ‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ is an album that revels in extremity. The album was recorded in a local church in Bristol, taking inspiration from the musician’s complex relationship with his strong religious upbringing. The influence of the church building resonates throughout the album.

‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ is full of strange experiments, obscure references, offbeat one-liners, heart-breaking sentimentality and surging creativity. At the heart of it all is Bingo Fury’s crooning bass vocal, lending a vivid and slyly humorous voice to universal themes of love and pain.

Alongside the album announcement, Bingo Fury is releasing new single ‘Leather Sky’, a tender piano ballad charged with real emotion and a heartbreaking cornet refrain played by band member Harry Furniss. In this cinematic track full of paralysing despair, the musician sings: “You know I’m trying to give you everything / It all gets in the way.”

Bingo Fury on the single: “Leather Sky is a difficult song to describe succinctly. It’s about being separated from someone against both of your will. Somebody close to me became very unwell and communication became restricted, almost non-existent. The song took shape during that period. A few of the surreal lines ended up becoming reality.”

Although very much a solo songwriter, Bingo Fury’s compositional process relies on contributions from his entire band - bassist Megan Jenkins and drummer Henry Terrett have been playing together since their teens. In one of their various incarnations, they recruited local avant-jazz legend, cornet player Harry ‘Iceman’ Furniss, with guitarist and percussionist Rafi Cohen later completing the line-up.


The album announcement follows the release of the cacophonous single ‘Power Drill’, which garnered praise from The Line Of Best Fit and DIY. This comes after Bingo Fury’s debut EP, ‘Mercy’s Cut’, that came out last year to an abundance of critical acclaim from the likes of BBC 6 Music, The Quietus, Loud & Quiet, Clash, as well as earning himself a spot on the NME Top 100. Filled with rich, cinematic allure, the EP is both beautiful and unsettling and underlines Bingo Fury’s complete abundance of compositional ideas.

"We Started Nothing is the debut studio album by English indie pop duo The Ting Tings. Jules & Katie's combination of dance, indie pop and new wave proved to be one of the hottest things in 2008. The result being the album peaking at #1 in the UK Albums Chart. We Started Nothing spawned no less than six hit singles, including ""That's Not My Name"", which reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart. Eventually, the band, the album and several singles and videos were nominated for a variety of NME, MTV, Grammy Award and Brit Awards. The Ting Tings won the MTV Award for Best UK Act and ""Shut Up and Let Me Go"" won the award for Best UK Video. We Started Nothing is available on black vinyl and contains an insert."

All tracks licensed from Makkum Records | Produced and mixed by remix artists | Mastering by Detlef Funder, Paraschall Studios Düsseldorf | Artwork by Darko Kujundžic

It's the kind of project that brings the old mad scientist cliché out for an airing, "It's insane, but it just might work." The insanity in this case being a motley cast that features Andy Moor (The Ex, Amsterdam), Desmond Denker (Cologne), Phanton (Cologne), Yürke (Düsseldorf), Dubby King Knarf (Knarf Rellöm, Hamburg), Istari Lasterfahrer (Hamburg), Begritty (Cologne) laying down their versions of tracks from the demento-a-go-go-electro-pop-rock-mono-mind known as Zea.

How could we resist the spasmodic schizoid psychedelic menace of that devilish Dutch juggernaut called Zea. This bastardised twelve inch slab of wax has Zea sonically re-assessed, dissected and twisted in side out. And it had to happen, it had to be made.

"Standing up I forgot what came to mind when I was lying on the kitchen floor. Standing up I forgot what came to mind, something I tried to remember before." It's the punky pop intro of the song 'Staande ben ik vergeten wat ik dacht toen ik lag', the Dutch translation of the first sentence of the song that provided the title for this collection of remixes. Zea, a.k.a. Arnold de Boer, a musician who skips sitting down, who either jumps or lies on the floor fumbling with a dictaphone trying to remember the ideas that just came to mind jumping around from the couch straight into the kitchen, trying to write the next song while cooking spicy food that makes his head explode. It's all inthere, everyone is in there; shrinking people, growing people, dead people. And all "Sub specie ludens" (from the perspective of human play).

You just moved to the big city, you end up at a party where you don't know anyone and someone walks up to you and asks: "Hey, are you alone here?". That is exactly the feeling that Porcelain id describes on their debut album Bibi:1, short for the Arabic pet name Habibi. Porcelain id is the pseudonym under which Hubert Tuyishime (they/them/their) has been unleashing unique songs since 2020.

The album - inspired by their move from a quiet provincial town to Antwerp - is the soundtrack to walking into city traffic during rush hour and trusting to get out of the chaos in one piece. It is an ode to exciting encounters with complete strangers and to the friends you can come home to afterwards. A story about being a stranger in a city you've romanticized for so long, the rejection that comes with it, and the false nostalgia with which you look back on it all later on.

At first hearing, the completely English-language Bibi:1 may seem like a brusque farewell to the autobiographical intimacy and lo-fi singer-songwriter music on the previously released EPs Mango and Reprise, and especially on songs like Vlaanderen. But to Porcelain id it feels like an organic evolution. One towards more abstraction, experimentation and electronics, but never detached, and still building on the core of Porcelain id.

The new sound is the result of an intense collaboration with producer and partner in crime Youniss Ahamad, who, despite their different musical backgrounds, immediately felt challenged after Porcelain id's legendary elevator pitch: 'I want to make something that is situated between Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Yeezus by Kanye West'.

Together they drew the blueprint for Bibi:1 in Youniss' home studio. Track by track, without looking back. A sporadic, but rigid process that added to the intensity of the album. In the studio, the songs were taken to a higher level. The two invited a pack of talented friends and young musicians to the studio to add parts, a stark contrast to the solitary approach of previous EPs. Aram Abgaryan (recording engineer/synths/vocals), Nard Houdmeyers (guitar), Tim Caramin (drums), David Idrisov (bass), Alban Sarens (sax) and Emma Hessels (vocals) came by. Aram Santy was at the controls during the mixing sessions.

The result sounds like the ultimate symbiosis of Porcelain id and Youniss. Lofi, but ambitious. Fragile, but rough. Poppy, but disruptive. Sometimes challenging. Then welcoming again. Sometimes even danceable. Each song forms a small vignette that is part of a diverse, but coherent unity. Adam Coming Home and Low Poly are closest to the melancholy of Porcelain id's earlier work, while Lights! strikes a new path. First single Man Down, on the other hand, is inspired by the Antwerp students who drown every year and sounds like a wandering nightly stroll through the city. For Brilliant, David Idrisov was asked to 'play bass as if Chet Baker were not a trumpet player, but a bass player', a bizarre assignment that he accomplished with verve. And Cellophane flirts with emo trap and was sung with raspberries between the teeth, to simulate the effect of grills.

The theme of the Album, titled "Echoes from the Universe",is the attempt, as human and temporal beings, to escape the idea of an alleged destiny predetermination by managing to build one's own individual life path trough will power. The "Concept Album" is based on the of the Norse Norns myth, who weave the threads of universal destiny on a tapestry, in which all existence, in a continuous mix of past, present and future, intersect and influence each other, thereby generating a kaleidoscopic vortex of infinite and unpredictable possibilities. For this reason, we have used them as a symbol of freedom of choice, which never excludes but indeed implies, the element of chance. The Artwork, interpreted by the artist "Django Nokes", reflects the Concept perfectly. Echoes from the Universe is an evocative soundscapes trip and fresh breeze of groovy beats and psychedelia swaying between sweet moments and massive progressive deliriums.

The theme of the Album, titled "Echoes from the Universe",is the attempt, as human and temporal beings, to escape the idea of an alleged destiny predetermination by managing to build one's own individual life path trough will power. The "Concept Album" is based on the of the Norse Norns myth, who weave the threads of universal destiny on a tapestry, in which all existence, in a continuous mix of past, present and future, intersect and influence each other, thereby generating a kaleidoscopic vortex of infinite and unpredictable possibilities. For this reason, we have used them as a symbol of freedom of choice, which never excludes but indeed implies, the element of chance. The Artwork, interpreted by the artist "Django Nokes", reflects the Concept perfectly. Echoes from the Universe is an evocative soundscapes trip and fresh breeze of groovy beats and psychedelia swaying between sweet moments and massive progressive deliriums.

J. Robbins on Basilisk:
2020 gave us the pandemic, which despite all its awfulness also gave me a lot of opportunities to write and demo music - but everyone was terrified to get into the same room together to play. Finally, around February of 2021, I called up Brooks Harlan and Darren Zentek and asked if they would be down to meet me at the studio and do a 2-day session and see how it turns out. Brooks and Darren were into the idea - we were all in full cabin fever mode at that point and dying to do anything - so I sent them the demos and we did it. The musical connection had always already been there, but the energy that came from all being in the same room doing this together - something we had just spent a year wondering if we’d ever get to do again - was wonderful. It felt like having been lost in the desert, and then finding an oasis. I’ve never been so happy with a session - both the results and the experience, and the outcome was exactly what I had wanted: something more stripped down and very immediate.

We were all fired up and we did a second session in March 2022. In the interim I enlisted some collaborators:Gordon Withers to add cello and second guitar to a few songs, Janet Morgan and her two sisters to sing some harmonies, Dave Hadley to play pedal steel on “Not The End,” and Chicago punk legend John Haggerty to add an actual blazing guitar solo to the song "Exquisite Corpse." And I went on working on vocals and overdubs at home. The lyrics were (as always) somewhat therapeutical: “Automaticity” came out of thoughts on aging and remaining present in a world increasingly going on auto-pilot; “Last War” and “Dead Eyed God” work out fears prompted by January 6th and the rise of neo-fascism. More personal matters were trying to work themselves out as well. Recurring childhood dreams ("Deception Island"), surrealist games ("Exquisite Corpse"), and trephination guru Amanda Feilding ("Open Mind") were also in the mix.

Another result of pandemic isolation was that I had also been working on more abstract, electronic based music(inspired by my love of film soundtracks, Peter Gabriel’s music, and by studio work I had done not long ago with the band Locrian), using granular synthesis, sampling, and software synths. So as Basilisk came together, I wanted to see if I could pull those sounds into the flow of the record, open up its vocabulary a little and still make something cohesive. Connection has always been the whole point of music making for me. There are so many ways to come at it, and i don't want to close any of those doors. Going forward, I only want to open more of them.

Remix package deluxe! Ede & Deckert feat Sargland’s catchy new wave post punk hit Immer gets the special treatment. Their tale of lover’s grief or delight is being put through the mangle by a varied bunch of remixers. Literally taking the advance party its Berlin’s Narciss with two different takes. Known to be without fear of emotional peaks and blessed with the usual sense of delight, they manage to hit the nail on its head. The Venice Remix is a master class in vintage sounds coming through new speakers: primed for the prime time, while the Salford version does exactly what the name implies: for lads and lovers.

Followed up by the simplicity of grass roots house music. Cinthie channels her inner DJ Duke and choreographs the indie dance steps back to basics. The Curses Vocal keeps the instrumental, stays in the original vibe, but switches the vocals – and the language. Finally, Kid Simius takes us on a bumper car ride somewhere between Miami Sound Machine and Yazoo.

Immer works its magic in every way for everyone and now on almost any dance floor.

If Talk Show’s exhilarating full-length debut, Effigy, feels more like a film than an album, that’s no coincidence. The band crafted the collection to soundtrack to a fictional nightclub. “One of the biggest influences on this record was the intro to the movie Blade, where this character’s being dragged through a meatpacking plant and into the vampire rave,” says frontman Harrison Swann. “There’s so much tension and anticipation and intimidation in that scene. We wanted to create the kind of music we’d play if we were performing in that club, to put ourselves into that scene and see how far we could push it.” With Effigy, Talk Show do more than just push their sound; they completely reinvent it. Produced by Remi Kabaka Jr., of Gorillaz, the record offers up a bold and exhilarating showcase for the band’s dramatic evolution, drawing on everything from The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy to Nine Inch Nails and The KLF as it taps into a raw, primal sound at the intersection of techno, electronic, industrial, and rock music. The songs are dark and gritty, fueled by blistering guitars and explosive drums, and Swann’s vocals are nothing short of hypnotic, leaning on repetition and restraint to reach for transcendence in the midst of swirling sonic chaos. The result is an immersive, multi-sensory experience, one that conjures up a dark, sweaty warehouse packed with moving bodies all radiating heat and desire, anxiety and release, ecstasy and desperation

Legendary US Metal masterpiece finally available again on deluxe180 grams vinyl after more than 35 years! With their sound and style completely defined on their previous and nearly perfect album, “Soldiers of the Night”, Vicious Rumors continue on with yet another outstanding sequel that could go hand in hand with their debut. This is pretty much US Power Metal with actual riffs, and some technical and mindblowing riffs at that with Geoff Thorpe’s tremendous skill and incredible songwriting. The standout here is hands down vocalist Carl Albert (Rest in peace). Nothing but energy sparks from his every lyric spoken. His aggressive and energetic mid-range performance can easily be matched to Bruce Dickinson. Vicious Rumors were truly out of this world when Carl was with them, this being the flawless beginning of that legacy. Its nearly impossible to pinpoint Vicious Rumors exact sound and style and just throw them in one genre, because you really can not. There are a few Speed Metal songs here, a few more Power Metal orientated ones, few hints of progessive structures, and even some Thrashy parts from time to time. Standout tracks would be the self title track, “Minute to Kill”, “R.L.H (Run Like Hell)”, and “Towns of Fire”. Then again, this whole album is just great with no real low points at all. In the end, this is an essential Vicious Rumors album, and often hailed as their finest release!

"HEALTH–the LA-based industrial-rock band of Jake Duzsik (vocals/guitar), John Famiglietti (bass/producer), and BJ Miller (drums)–today announced their new album RAT WARS will be released December 7th, 2023 via Loma Vista Recordings. The album’s first two singles are also out now at all DSPs: the menacing “CHILDREN OF SORROW,” featuring Lamb of God’s Willie Adler on guitar (YouTube link HERE), and the half-time hellscape “SICKO,” which samples Godflesh’s “Like Rats” (YouTube link HERE). Preview the singles’ upcoming visuals by James Markidis and Mynxii White via a new YouTube trailer.
The follow-up to 2019’s VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR, HEALTH’s fifth album is the most violent yet vulnerable of their career. It is somehow fitting that such a brutal collection of songs is at the same time their most comprehensive artistic statement. Meticulously aggressive production detail collides with painfully personal confessions and a strange savage grace is paired with icy gallows humor… surprisingly it’s still fun as hell.
Produced by Stint (Oliver Tree, Demi Lovato) and mixed by Lars Stalfors (SALEM, The Neighbourhood), the 12-track LP joins the lineage of groundbreaking heavy acts like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, which re-drew the borders between metal, electronic and pop music. It also speaks directly to the band’s young, fervent online subculture.
It’s The Downward Spiral for people with at least two monitors and a vitamin D deficiency.
Written during the most emotionally trying period of the band’s life, the album builds on their chaotic yet re-invigorating pandemic years. RAT WARS captures all the fury and ambition their LP’s have until now aspired to. It’s their boldest statement on the insanity and the insipidness of contemporary life.
HIGHLIGHT: Sleep Token Arena Support Tour (UK/EU) / Kerrang! Cover / Radio 1 Rock Show Session / Metal Hammer Feature / The Dome Album Release Underplay / 2024 Summer Festivals / Q4 2024 Headline"" "

Two years after recording an EP on a guitar he didn't know how to play, Ujko releases a piano album without knowing how to play the piano. To add to that, Hudba k filmu is a soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist.

If Ujko previously played with the clumsiness and exposed intimacy of outsider music, on Hudba k filmu he instead focuses on the emotional and dramaturgical possibilities of a film score. The movie may be hypothetical, but this album still imposes a narrative of melancholy and hopelessness, even more penetrating in the guise of a supposedly background music. It's also mostly instrumental, adding to ambiguity and potential projection // Hudba k filmu sneaks up on the listener and encumbers them with the weight of their own world.

Ujko thereby manages to mediate his despair without being as presumptuously overbearing as most film composers. Even the lack of instrumental skill is barely noticeable, enough so that Hudba k filmu doesn't fall for its own concept, but is instead an accomplished and complete work of film music, lacking nothing.

A musical project with roots in the work of cult underground collective Noize Konspiracy, Ujko is an alias of Mišo Ormos. Hudba k filmu is his second release on the world-weary label Weltschmerzen.

In the beginning was a half-truth, the truth was of war and the half-truth was post-war. Fancying the pretensions of its cultural superiority, a continent chose to hide the truth behind ridiculous jargon and the soothing distance of offshored ?????????. Europe wished itself beyond war because it thought the privilege of peace a birthright, just as it refused to understand that post-war was a euphemism for interbellum. Then the truth has set us free.

The delusion was discarded and war was revealed as an inconceivable horror. Almost immediately it turned familiar and virtually comfortable. Novelty songs of drones gutting tanks became a laughing matter and the burning tanks, their crew inside, entertainment. Consequently, a plurality of people started to collectively dream of new stages of the righteous kind of carnage. This happened within weeks.

Our imagination has swollen to the point of loss of consciousness, compounded by the narrative form long in the sways of atrophy. All of this raises the question of to what degree were the years of peace culturally squandered. The art of the previous age prided itself on self-awareness, today we fail to even notice that we no longer recognize ourselves. But we have arrived where we started and our issues were not too complex for expression.

Since no art form generates action, the most appropriate art for a culture on the edge of extinction is one that simulates pain. In these times we shouldn't produce any other music, none but this, intended to prevent our silence from being misinterpreted.

These recordings of Gongs Orchestras were made during Funeral Ceremonies in two Kung villages and one Jaraï village in Ratanakiri province, Cambodia by Laurent Jeanneau (Kink Gong) in 2003 and 2004, at a times when jungle had not been replaced by rubber plantations. Focusing on funeral's ceremonies, those hypnotics pieces are intense and haunting harmonics sonic experiments.

"Adventure brought me to south-east Asia, not academic research. I was based on and off in Banlung, capital of Ratanakiri province between 2003 and 2006. Finding gongs orchestras became my obsession, I've witnessed different contexts in which gongs were being performed, but the most brainwashing ceremonies were the funerals, because they would never end, I remember leaving the 3 days funeral ceremony of a prominent Jaraï dead man in Tang ji village at the border with Vietnam and still hearing the gongs the entire next day going back home through the jungle". - Laurent Jeanneau (Kink Gong)

"Many of the ethnic minority groups, the Jarai, Kac_, Tampuan, Kavet, Kreung, Brao, Bunong, Mnong, Edé, and others, are hill-rice farmers who live in the uplands of the Annamite mountain chain. Collectively these groups have been known by many names, including a number of disparaging terms in local dialects, such as moï, kha, phnong, and others. The term Montagnard was applied to them by the French during the colonial period, and was used by the US military and in popular discourse in English during the United States-Vietnam War. In scholarly and popular literature during the mid-twentieth century these upland farmers were also called hill tribes. I have opted for the word highlanders as a relatively neutral term that avoids the semantic burdens associated with these other namings." - Jonathan Padwe, The book Disturbed forests fragmented memories.

Opaque white vinyl in printed innersleeve, includes Bonus 7". A Welsh rock trio with a predilection for delivering stadium-sized riffs with shoegazey vistas and dreamy post-punk riffage, The Joy Formidable return with their new album 'Into The Blue', to be released August 20th 2021. Taking a cue from bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, and Arcade Fire, the trio have continued to push their expansive sound on previous studio albums, from the breakthrough debut 'The Big Roar' (2011), through to the last studio album 'AAARTH' (2018), whilst always maintaining the hook-driven indie rock foundation laid down on their debut EP 'A Balloon Called Moaning' (2009). Currently the band split their time between their native Wales and the closest thing they could find in the U.S, "In the middle of nowhere" Utah, where they recorded the new album 'Into The Blue', which is being released worldwide this summer. March 26 brings us the first single in the campaign, title track 'Into The Blue'; we invite you to hear a band that reflected on where they've been, and where they needed to go for their next chapter. "Into the Blue is about opening your eyes to beauty & love again. Making it to the other side. Whilst not conceived as a metaphor for the times we all live in now, it certainly turned out that way" - Ritzy, Rhydian & Matt - The Joy Formidable

United Kingdom-based Dirty Water Records has signed the California-based rock and roll / Power Pop outfit The Tearaways to a 5-year deal. The label has released the Ed Stasium-produced (Ramones, Talking Heads, Smithereens) digital version of their new record called “And For Our Next Trick.” The band features the dual lead singers of bassist John “Fin” Finseth and rhythm guitarist Greg Brallier, lead guitar David Hekhouse and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drummer Clem Burke (Blondie). Also, from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Benmont Tench played keyboards and Steven McCarthy (Jayhawks, The Long Ryders) added pedal steel guitar. The new record was recorded at legendary Village Recorders in Los Angeles and mastered at Sterling Sound by Greg Calbi. The first single being released to radio was “Charlie, Keith and Ringo,” along with the the award-winning video (Raindance Festival directed by Stephen David Brooks (“Flytrap”). The spring single is called “Saturday Everyday” and is being serviced to radio stations and other outlets right now. Label chief Paul Manchester: “We are thrilled to have assembled an all-star team of distributor Cargo Records UK, Wipe Out Music Publishing, Seán Crossey from the UK promotion firm High Violet PR & Plugging, and US publicity specialist Lou Mansdorf to help launch this project.“

The Decline And Fall Of Heavenly’ Gets Re-Issued On Vinyl. Skep Wax Records are re-issuing all four Heavenly albums over a two year period, and this is the third instalment, following on from ‘Heavenly vs Satan’ and ‘Le Jardin De Heavenly’. Each LP includes relevant single releases as additional tracks, a 7” booklet with lyrics, pictures, and new sleeve notes by the members of the band. Altogether, the four albums will amount to a thorough collection of the band’s recorded output. Heavenly will be playing gigs in various countries in 2024. The third Heavenly album will be re-released by Skep Wax Records on Friday 2nd February. The re-release will also include all five tracks from the Atta Girl and P.U.N.K Girl 7” singles. The Atta Girl and P.U.N.K. Girl singles were released in 1993; album The Decline and Fall of Heavenly came soon after in 1994: collectively they show a band that is rapidly expanding its scope. The album veers confidently from high speed indiepunk (Me And My Madness) to cool surf instrumental (Sacramento) and back again to the sweetest indiepop (Itchy Chin). Meanwhile, the singles, which include the band’s most celebrated tune - P.U.N.K Girl – demonstrates how much confidence Heavenly were deriving from their involvement in the nascent Riot Grrrl scene. All the anger is there, the politics are direct and crystal clear – yet the whole thing is still delivered with the sweetest pop melodies. It’s like being punched and kissed at the same time. The three releases also show how Heavenly had come to feel equally at home in the UK and in the US. The album maybe feels more British, as demonstrated by the Old World irony of the ‘Decline and Fall’ title. At Heavenly gigs in the UK, often playing with other bands on the increasingly influential Sarah Records, audiences were getting bigger, while the bands were finding a sweet spot where anti-corporate understatement and a dismissive attitude to an increasingly misogynist UK Press was no barrier to success. P.U.N.K Girl and Atta Girl on the other hand, are more gleeful, more headlong, and somehow feel more American: they are carried along by the excitement and adrenaline of having found another spiritual home - the indiepunk Riot Grrrl scene that was focussed on Olympia, WA, the HQ of Heavenly’s US label K Records. (K released P.U.N.K Girl and Atta Girl together on one 10” EP.) Amelia Fletcher and Cathy Rogers were now confidently sharing vocals, sometimes harmonising, sometimes taking it in turns, sometimes singing over each other. Peter (guitar) Mathew (drums) and Rob (bass) had become adept at changing gear from ornate pop to full-on punk, unafraid of genre rules and increasingly happy to make up their own version of what pop music should sound like. The more delicate, more decorative arrangements of Heavenly’s first two albums had been left behind. The band – or more accurately, the women in the band – were still dogged by accusations of being too fey, too ‘twee’: not ROCK enough. But, as the chorus of Atta Girl makes clear, any attempts to define Heavenly by their ‘cuteness’ now received an unambiguous response: ‘Fuck you, no way!’ The fourth and final Heavenly album ‘Operation Heavenly’ will be released later in 2024. Heavenly were: Amelia Fletcher (guitar, vocals), Cathy Rogers (guitar, vocals), Rob Pursey (bass), Peter Momtchiloff (guitar), Mathew Fletcher (drums).

Mutagenicos (in English, "Mutagens...agents of change) were formed at the end of 2008, their base of operations being the wine region of Spain, Logroño in La Rioja. Influenced by traditional garage, surf and rockn´roll, but with their feet firmly planted in the present. Their brilliant, long-delayed, new album is finally out! They started as a quintet playing mainly instrumental songs, but little by little, both the formation and the compositions, have been undergoing mutations, making way for other musical genres with a greater number of sung songs, although always there remains room for instrumentals. For more than 3 years the band had stabilized as a trio: Santi Pequeno (bass) Pablo Magariños (drums and vocals) Alfredo Roto (guitar and vocals). But as they are irresistible to change, Miguel Aguas has joined, contributing percussion, synths, choruses, and much-needed height! But what has never, and will never, change is the is the fundamental driver of the band: fun above all. Which is what rock´n´roll is supposed to be, right?

Now in its tenth year, Frankfurt-based record label Die Orakel has earned itself a strong catalogue of classy releases in a distinct sonic and visual attitude, its latest being a compilation called Braindance.

A fair assumption about Braindance as a genre could be, that it's rather in the zone of kaleidoscopic and whimsical quirktronica, less about IDM's futurist tropes. From Die Orakel's point of view, its very own Braindance compilation marks the label's tenth anniversary by releasing an intense listener's atlas, to its own and their creative collaborators' musical slant of mind.

While much could be said about spectral traces of a leftfield past, nostalgia isn't heard anywhere. The more you listen to this selection, the deeper the tracks plug into your brain—stretching from ethereal harmonic licks rippling with fragile glitches, bleepy to bass-heavy electroid steppers of any BPM range, to abstract-scientific neo-modular artistry.

Die Orakel's Braindance transmission can be had as a 15-track digi-release, as well as a 4-track vinyl EP. Pick either for your library of the future. The Braindance compilation will be released on 16 February 2024.

Wicked previously unreleased late '80s combination tune from Icho Candy & his brother Prince Junior, who are sometimes confused for each other. On the same rhythm as King Kong's "Agony and Pain", which we've now repressed after being long out of stock (see link above). Lyrically about the struggle for freedom of the day, as resonant today as it was nearly 40 years ago.

In Frank Herbert’s 1973 novel Hellstrom’s Hive, the Dune writer tells of a sinister narrative surrounding the maverick scientist Nils Hellstrom, who has created subterranean Hive of 50,000 insect-human hybrid life-forms. Ultimately his plan being for the inhabitants of the Hive to usurp humanity and take over the world. The decade thus far may not have seen anything quite so daunting, but it’s provided more than its fair share of challenges. Yet in such dystopian environments, Teeth Of The Sea flourish. This band has created a kaleidoscopic inner world all its own in Hive, their sixth and most outlandish album. Fundamental to Teeth Of The Sea’s mission thus far is that this band can go anywhere and make short work of any obstacles in their path. Inspiration flowed into Hive from all dimensions, with the band’s sphere of influence expanding to take in everything from Italo-disco to minimal techno, from dubbed-out studio madness to their most brazen forays thus far into pop songwriting. Here is a headspace where the psychic charges from records by Labradford, Nurse With Wound, Vangelis, The Knife, Nine Inch Nails and John Barry can happily co-exist. Hive is more than just a transformative force from subterranean origins. It’s an alchemical headspace where monochrome animates into vivid colour. It may not be a carefully ordered insectoid militia set to overthrow society, but it’s a transmission which transcends anything Teeth Of The Sea have thus far offered in their time on Earth. Step inside Hive, if you dare

Michal Vaľko, aka Line Gate makes a return to mappa with his third cassette for the label. Once again the material is deeply minimalist, but shows marked evolutions in the Slovak, Prague-based artist’s unique trajectory. This time comprising two relatively short pieces (compared to the 40- and 60-minute works previously published on mappa), 'Trap' is perhaps Line Gate’s darkest yet.

Whereas previously his works focused on psychoacoustic phenomena, or highlighted the sacredness and timelessness of “the drone”, ‘Trap’ is a personal reflection of the artist’s innermost feelings, and perhaps a mirror that is held up to each listener: disillusionment, hopelessness and apathy have become an ever-present features of the society around us. ‘Trap’ very directly expresses the feelings of being lost, of despair, of wandering and not seeing the end. Vaľko utilises drones and repetitive vocal/instrumental phrases to express the endlessness of these feelings, and his own captivity within them.

The pieces draw once again on the hurdy-gurdy, but also on Vaľko’s processed, sometimes transposed voice. On “Maze I” layers of humming voices and meandering sung melodies form an impenetrable wall of sound, as the voices’ timbres intertwine and overlap, giving rise to fascinating overtones and singular resonances. On “Maze II” Vaľko returns to the earthy sound of the hurdy-gurdy alongside some deep, crooning voices (transposed an octave lower) and embellishes its drones with a performance on glass cups. More than ever, Line Gate's music resonates not just in sonic terms, but also in its deep humanity and social relevance.

Red Vinyl

EVOLV is a visionary window into the mind of Dubfire, the journey of the ‘hybrid’ being and its evolution. Last year in October, an 11-track debut album was released on his long-standing SCI+TEC imprint. And now, just over a year later, Grammy award winning producer Dubfire returns to that sonic discourse, drafting in an impressive array of names to re-interpret the material, and accompanied by Dubfire's new audio-visual EVOLV show which picked up where the critically acclaimed electronic performance experience HYBRID had left off.

From the Dolls-meets-the-devil opening title track to the desperate Sister Lovers-adjacent finale "The Findings," The Interrogator is thirteen vibrant, crackling, scary and hilarious songs which taken together represent nothing less than a thorough and thrilling moral inventory of our decadent and depraved times. Following up and doubling down on the themes of last year's lionized cult favorite For Executive Meeting, Elizabeth Nelson has authored an album as politically potent and pointedly hilarious as antecedents like The Mekons' Rock 'n' Roll and Neil Young's on On the Beach and wed it to the sound of ZZ Top's Eliminator. As writers like Rob Sheffield and Robert Christgau have known for years Elizbeth Nelson has been one of our very best songwriters for going on a decade. On the charged anthem "Bad Day for the Group Chat" she reassesses the current state of affairs: "I have bested all my peers." “Elizabeth Nelson showcases the simultaneously fraught and giddy frequency of our weird, wired world. The Paranoid Style may be the bearer of bad news, but at least the band bears it smashingly.” NPR // “You’ll forgive them for being critic’s darlings because they’re also the goddamn life of the party.” SPIN // Features performances by Peter Holsapple of The dB’s, Continental Drifters & REM through out. Elizabeth Nelson writes for the Oxford American, N.Y. Times, Pitchfork, The Ringer and more. She has over 15,000 followers on Twitter. A

NOW Music is proud to present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series – and the second to celebrate the ‘90s, NOW – Yearbook 1990; 79 tracks from a fantastic year in Pop! Available on 4CD deluxe book format with 79 tracks , 4CD std digi with 79 tracks and 44 tracks from a fantastic year in Pop, pressed on gorgeous translucent triple orange vinyl. Disc One includes #1s from New Order, New Kids On The Block, Steve Miller Band, and The Beautiful South, as well as Pop smashes from The KLF, The B-52’s, Kylie Minogue, Whitney Houston Kim Appleby, and concluding with the theme from Twin Peaks, Julee Cruise’s ‘Falling’, Chris Isaak with ‘Wicked Game’ and Pet Shop Boys defining ‘Being Boring’. Dance floor-fillers kick off Disc 2 from Deee-Lite with ‘Groove Is In The Heart’, #1s from SNAP!, and from Adamski & Seal plus club classics from Bass-O-Matic and Adventures Of Stevie V with ‘Dirty Cash (Money Talks)’, plus the unexpected collaboration between DNA & Suzanne Vega. Disc 3 opens with the still-breathtaking interpretation of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ from Sinéad O'Connor. Up next are film related hits; Maria McKee’s ‘Show Me Heaven’, from the ‘Days Of Thunder’ soundtrack, and the ‘Young Guns II’ track ‘Blaze Of Glory’ from Jon Bon Jovi

Riding the Low are fronted by actor Paddy Considine, who was inspired to start a band after seeing Guided by Voices play live. "Robert Pollard's songwriting is just incredible. The immediacy of it just blew me away. His presence on stage... Being a fan felt like being in a gang. I wanted my own gang". The name Riding The Low came from a biography on Lee Marvin that Paddy read before the idea of having a band was even conceived. "There was a section in the book where it described the way Lee felt after he’d completed a movie. He used to see a psychiatrist who advised him that after movies he should fill his time doing the things he enjoys to take his mind off things and settle him back into normal life. The psychiatrist called this period 'Riding the Low'." 'Riding the Low' initially came about as a hobbyist outlet for Paddy's musical interest and ability; writing Pavement inspired songs on acoustic guitar on his own, before developing them with The Leisure Society's Nick Hemming.

* A heavyweight slab of UK roots & dub, originally released on the Jah Warrior label in 1997 gets a welcome reissue by Partial Records
* Presented in a showcase style, with each vocal followed by the dub counterpart.
* Produced by Jah Warrior and mixed by Dougie Wardrop in London.

COTONETE is back!

After releasing numerous and now collectable standalone singles, plus some now famous collaborations with Dimitri from Paris, 2019 saw Parisian based 8 piece, Cotonete release their first long player in 15 years! Under the guidance of Melik Bencheikh from Paris’ rare record emporium, Heart Beat Vinyl. The dark moody mover "Super-Vilains" came out to great success on Heavenly Sweetness.

After playing some packed live shows around France and the UK, including the acclaimed Sunday at Dingwalls in Camden, hosted by Gilles Peterson and Patrick Forge. Somewhere along this part of the journey, they came across the Brazilian music legend and vocal powerhouse, Di Melo. He softened their souls, and from this love affair came the album "Atemporal". Released on Favourite Recordings, this 8 track album would end up being sampled by Canadian superstar Drake, for his 2023 album ‘For All the Dogs Scary Hours
Edition’.

So now into 2024, and we have Cotonete full length number two. They’ve enlisted the producer Guts to guide them towards sunshine, groove, warmth and all the colours in his rainbow. With their tongues firmly in their cheeks, the album is titled ‘Victoire de la Musique’ - a dig at the annual French music award ceremony. Taking the band deep, producer Guts showed them new and exciting rhythms from all corners of the world. The record’s first example of this is ‘Venezuela’, a track directly inspired by the jazz funk from the great Caribbean nation.

Other key musical exploration on the record can be attributed to the late composer Francis Lai. On ‘Cinq Pour L'aventure’ - an almost 15 minute epic monster showcasing the band’s love for 70's French movies soundtracks. “L’aventure c’est l’aventure”, was a movie by one of the most famous French directors Claude Lelouch The single from the soundtrack was sung by French music superstar Johnny Halliday.

Guests are scattered very tastefully across the album, on the only cover version of the record, the Brazilian master Jorge Ben’s ‘Bebete Vãobora’, Sabrina Malheiros was invited to lend her lungs. The daughter of Azymuth’s Alex Malheiros helps join perfectly the dots from a band that are without a doubt Cotonete’s biggest influence. Brazilian jazz funk, now with an added French touch.

On ‘Day in Day Out’ a powerful performance is given from Leron Thomas on vocals and trumpet. Perhaps also known for his role as the musical director for Iggy Pop and touring member of his band. This track is an already tried and tested dance floor filler, emphasizing just how tight the band really can play - the track even found its way into BBC Music’s Craig Charles’ ‘Track Of The Year’ selection.

No record so soulful would be complete without a trip to the UK. Omar, London’s Godfather of New Soul pops in. Having recorded with artists like; Courtney Pine, Level 42 & Erykah Badu, in his distinctive smooth style, he blesses the track ‘What Did Run You For?’ The final vocal visitor is Gystere Peskine, a Parisian based musical hero, who shows off his retro future funk feels on ‘O Ceu es Preto’ - which literally translates as ‘the sky is black’ - although given the hugely uplifting and almost Gospel Soul of this Russian/Brazilian singer, he
has us seeing things far brighter.

Cotonete have endeavored to build a worldwide rainbow warrior team of merry boys and girls. Fighting the brave fight to shine light towards the fact that music will always win…. "Victoire de la Musique" - a symphony of spring, songs of the new world, a "Victory Of Music”

The last of the Konduko series from Emotional Rescue arrives now and quite possibly it is the best of the lot from Noel Williams. His 'Fantasy' saw him work with Larry Dermer aka Der Mer on what is an effective and catchy electro jam that operates at the higher end of the tempo chart with some classic vocoder vocal action to really make it pop. Despite being released originally in 1984 this one still bangs with its emulated TR-808 beats and nagging melodies. The instrumental heightens that and then the Jonny Rock Discomix shuts down with long-form rework that shows why the DJ, editor and all-round amiable bloke is so well regarded.

Opening a new chapter for DNO Records, PLLFRY debuts on the label with five raucous halftime tracks that also feature collaborations with two vocalists – NST & Genoveva. The ‘Overexciting’ EP is built around iron-clad percussion and a healthy dose of mangled sonic futurism, but the dominating flavour throughout is big, bold, unadulterated bass.

As might be expected of tracks called ‘Demolition’ and ‘Collapse Of The System’, there’s plenty of damage being dealt; the former’s wrecking ball bassline spins violently as its supporting beats splinter and fall, while the latter’s destructive low-end hacks chunks from its itchy sci-fi soundscape like some psychotic sentient buzzsaw.

There’s room for nuance too, however. The title track is all about contrast, its rumbling bassline winding along like a colossal serpent, while hi-hats chitter, and Macedonian vocalist and producer Genoveva delivers a haunting, silvery vocal that’s cold and alluring in equal measure. And as if the undulating low-end and metallic melody of ‘Water Fire’ weren’t enough to make heads spin, the track features a vocal from South Russian up-and-comer NST that seems to slip and slide at will, pulling the track forward and always remaining just out of reach.

Bonus track ‘Old School’ nods to the golden age of hip-hop, taking a tough boom bap-style beat and scratch samples, but flipping it script with machine glitches and pellets of acid.

Like a collection of missives sent back from a hi-tek future, the ‘Overexciting’ EP serves as a reminder that DNO can’t be pigeonholed, and always stays one step ahead.

Rhythms of postmodern realism at the very bottom of the DNO.

Get ready to unleash another fine release on BCSM Records. We present you a powerful tune and version by singer Christine Salem from Reunion Islands and danish dub wizard Dub Across Borders (DAB) , combining the best of world music and dubwise business.
The characteristic, deep and powerful voice of Christine Salem first made its way to
the speakers in the Dub Across Borders studio one winter night in 2018. Through a musical friendship in Brazil, DAB was presented with a recording of one of Salem’s live concerts.

Instantly, the stripped down vocal/percussion style arrangements of the songs resonated with a raw authenticity and nerve which sparked inspiration. Shortly after, with a sort of ‘bootleg-approach’, DAB was found reworking the song “Kadjembawe” into a heavy dub version, adding several other instruments like, organ, bass, guitars, etc. Some years later when the rework had gone rounds with friends and alike, it was presented to the Swiss bass clarinet virtuous Eloi Cálame.

From his studio in Switzerland he then transcribed and recorded the horn arrangements with trumpeteer Jaronas Hoehener. After many e-mails with Christine and her management, the song being reborn into its dubby self. Then it was presented to Tino from BCSM who took charge in the endeavour to present it to the world.

toechter is an all-female trio operating from Berlin. toechter’s 2nd full-length album »Epic Wonder« sees its classically trained members blend elaborate string arrangements with ethereal indie pop and delicate rhythms. Katrine Grarup Elbo, Lisa Marie Vogel and Marie-Claire Schlameus exclusively use analogue sound sources (such as violin, viola, cello, and their voices), which were then electronically processed.

Named after the Greek god of the wind, toechters 2022 album »Zephyr« exhaled deeply with concurrently invigorating and confusing sounds. »Epic Wonder«, their second album, was created in the spring and summer of 2023. Playing with forms and contours, the music sounds like the awakening of something new. One seems to be listening to an ongoing conversation, an exchange about what music could be, where it wants to go and how it contributes to our view of life. It all rests on a simple premise:

»Every sound you hear in our universe comes from us. The string trio is the core of toechter, the starting point of all our work.«

Those looking for new worlds of sound can find them in the work of this classically- trained musicians. Whether they add voices or percussive instruments, sample the sounds, or manipulate them electronically; ultimately they are exploring the string trio's place in a world shaped by the digital.

»Prelude« opens the album, seemingly a conversation, yet not only between humans. We catch the word ›love‹ which soon morphs into pure sound images, while a violin theme tentatively takes over. Is it the dawning of a new day? The chorus of sound transforms into a fascinating rhythmic figure, creating a club-like experience that fades out in delicate structures. A perpetual transformation.

According to toechter, »Epic Wonder« is all about making connections. Connections between people, animals, plants, fungi, rocks, soils, oceans, ice caps, stars, and planets. One imagines oneself in a folk-pop song of the 60s, or even blown around by Morricone's desert wind:

»The world as we see it is in desperate need for a deeper understanding; for compassion, for empathy. We have to understand that we are all part of the same organism. Epic Wonder is a dream, a wish, a longing for kinship between all species that share the world - all that is alive.«

The acoustic throbbing and knocking in »Sea Of Serenity« makes you think of encounters with mythical creatures or planetary oceanography; and out of the mechanically clacking groove of »Shift Souls« a gentle, but steady movement awakens with voices that seem to sound from the depths of the sea. Everything is in flux, floating in and out of dimensions and elements.

The album ends with »Mercury«, spherically elegant and almost science fiction-like. Here, a pizzicato melody leads us back to the baroque, simultaneously representing a detail of intertwined sonic worlds, while the steady, housy baseline develops its driving theme.

»Creating the music for the album, we allowed ourselves to waft away with the aspiration that connections are possible. Sometimes dwelling on subtle, yet marveling phenomena like the evening fog covering a valley on Midsummer, sometimes on grandiose splendors like the genesis of mountains or the birth of a child - letting interactions and encounters with other beings float through the musical universe as drips of emotional perceptivity.«

For the visual manifestation of »Epic Wonder«, toechter has engaged with Finish up-and-coming lens-based artist Aino Kontinen. Her work will grace both the cover art of the album and accompany the first single and video as an ephemeral tale in motion.