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Dutch indie band from the south of Holland. Produced by Grammy-nominated British producer and mixer Christopher Elms (Björk, Ben Howard and A Blaze of Feather) as well as mastered by Tim Debney who worked with Thom Yorke, Mumford & Sons, Bastille and Keane, among others, and provided the mastering for the Bond tune by Billie Eilish.

After re-signing to Nuclear Blast in early 2021, the Finnish heavy metal sextet BATTLE BEAST are once again getting ready to unleash their force upon the world in the shape of their brand new masterpiece »Circus Of Doom«. The album is set to be released on January 21st 2022 via Nuclear Blast and in true BATTLE BEAST fashion, the 10 tracks blend true heavy metal with pop and rock-vibes, paired with Noora Louhimo’s unique voice. »Circus Of Doom« was once again recorded at JKB Studios in Helsinki, Finland and produced and mixed by keyboardist Janne Björkroth, while the stunning artwork was created by Jan Yrlund (KORPIKLAANI, MANOWAR etc.), who already took care of BATTLE BEAST’s previous two album designs.

Having only formed in 2008, BATTLE BEAST first signed a record deal with the renowned German metal label Nuclear Blast in 2011. The release of their acclaimed debut »Steel« (2012), won the band a support slot for their labelmates NIGHTWISH. Frontwoman Noora Louhimo finally joined the band in 2012 and the band’s self-titled record (2013) was released shortly afterwards. BATTLE BEAST then got the opportunity to open for bands such as SONATA ARCTICA and POWERWOLF on extensive runs. Their ascent up the metal ladder was quick and the band’s 3rd studio album »Unholy Savior«, achieved remarkable chart positions all over Europe (#1 Finland, #23 UK Rock, #39 Germany etc.). This release was accompanied by another big European tour, but this time with Swedish heavy metal heroes SABATON and DELAIN. BATTLE BEAST’s very first headline run throughout the Continent rounded off their »Unholy Savior« touring cycle.
Their 4th studio album, »Bringer Of Pain« in 2017 reached even higher chart positions (a.o. #1 in Finland, #14 in Germany) and was also BATTLE BEAST’s first output without their original songwriter Anton Kabanen. In 2019, alongside the huge #1 success in the album charts of their home country, Finland, their last album »No More Hollywood Endings« reached a remarkable #11 in German album charts and proved to be their most successful piece yet.
Their latest masterpiece, »Circus Of Doom«, is overall heavier, but still as catchy as ever with bangers like “Masters Of Illusion”, “Freedom”, or the title track “Circus Of Doom”. Once again, the band stay true to their formula of “100% heavy metal - 0% bullshit!”

The life-affirming energy at the heart of Sven Väth‘s recent album Catharsis is revisited, reanimated, and remixed by some of the most exciting names around, closing the circle on a superlative burst of
recent work that has not only given us the epic original LP, but also the extraordinary compilation What I Used To Play.

Roman Flügel, Benjamin Damage, Robert Hood, Planetary Assault Systems, Mano Le Tough… do we need to go on? This hand-picked list of luminaries have answered the call and certainly don’t disappoint, each fusing their signature sound with Sven‘s DNA to create a wild, uncompromising companion piece to the original album.

True to form, the running order is very much rooted on the dance floor, Silvi‘s Dream, revisited by Damiano von Erckert, explodes like a Balearic sunrise. Dreamy strings with a touch of Detroit create a lovely atmosphere while the beautiful piano sound goes right into your heart and appears as if you could feel the warm sun on your skin. Roman Flügel’s acidic rework of What I Used To Play is a homage to the 80s and the early sound of electronic music which creates nostalgic feelings and offers a greatly produced retro soundscape à la Kraftwerk. Staying close to the original, but with the perfect amount of spin, it’s a symbiotic interplay of synthetic bass pads, and a tiny bell melody. Robag Wruhme’s cranking minimal funk takes us down The Worm-hole. A concise interference sound builds
up sustained tension, tangled but structured, deep and yet driving. Robag took over the deep and dirty rhythms of the original perfectly and delivers a versatile piece. This opening salvo oozes quality and
sets things up perfectly for the electrified celebration of hi-octane technology come.

Jonathan Kaspar‘s growling interpretation of We Are provides a melancholic atmosphere with fascinating percussion parts. Zaps shoot through the air like small laser pistols while we let ourselves
be carried away by the bass, the frisky vocal stutter effect is the icing on the cake. Speeding things up, the euphoric trance that engulfs Krystal Klear’s epic version of Feiern. Expansive strings increase up
to ecstasy and guide us to a love-filled unity. This remix is sure to be an excellent peak-time smasher for the open-air season. On to a wild ride of pure techno with Benjamin Damage, who delivers a dry and uncompromising Berlin Techno version of Mystic Voices. Harder pace but the string synthesizer harmony brings light to an otherwise gloomy environment. Next up is Luke Slater’s PAS Deep Heet Mix to add a retro nineties vibe to proceedings on Nyx. Entering a rough space with gigantic clap impacts, we are blessed with straightforward Techno. Shimmering and spooling, this groove hits the
mark. Then, as if it was ever in doubt, Sven‘s lofty place in the techno firmament is underlined by a peak-time contribution by non-less than Detroit legend Robert Hood. Unmistakable, you must recognize the signature Robert Hood drive on Butoh. Chord stabs fulfill the Detroit feeling with offtaking string elements and high-energy vocal transformations. It’s a warm embrace that triggers emotions. Planetary Assault Systems then blasts things ever deeper into the cosmos on a second outing of Nyx. Reduced and to the point but of course, true to form, with powerful tribal percussion parts and intensive cutting hi-hats.

From there on in, the collection gradually re-enters the atmosphere, burning with a phosphorescent, melancholy glow. Harald Björk extrapolates Being In Love into a hypnotic groove for the early hours. A playful and atmospheric electronica interpretation to soothe our souls due to disharmonious synth pads and a dreamy deformation of the original melody. Mano Le Tough harnesses the ethno-rhythms
and brooding energy of Catharsis into a low-slung, tribal stomper. Anomalous organ parts ring out and link up with a trance-like sequence, summer feelings arouse as you feel like you can almost smell Ibizan air. The collection comes full circle with a second equally seductive interpretation of Silvi‘s Dream by Florian Hollerith. Stripped-down and hypnotic, the homage to Sven's girlfriend Silvi is extended as a reverence to Sven himself. Sven's profound vocal clearly infuse time and space and leave a forever-lasting memory of love.

By accident or design, it somehow leaves us with the reassuring sense that, although this specific part of the journey may be drawing to a close, the mission of the man behind it all most definitely isn't.

written & produced by: Sven Väth & Gregor Tresher

The fourth release in Fu Manchu's 30th Anniversary vinyl reissue series, No One Rides For Free, is a new vinyl specific remaster of the band's debut album. These songs are the only recordings of the band's line-up of Scott Hill (vocals/guitar), Mark Abshire (bass), Eddie Glass (guitar) and Ruben Romano (drums). The 8 song collection was recorded on April 16 and 17, 1993 at Sandbox Studios in LA, produced by the band along with Brant Bjork. This reissue was remastered by Carl Saff for optimum fidelity. This limited edition 2,000 unit LP run is pressed on red vinyl with white splatter and the newly designed gatefold package includes never before seen photos of the band and flyers from the shows of the era. The limited edition 1,000 unit CD run also features the updated art and a digital specific remaster.

Sidekick is the evocative, uplifting and adventurous debut from London based producer and composer Chris Hyson. Chris's work as duo Snowpoet with vocalist Lauren Kinsella has earned him a formidable reputation as a producer with refreshing perspective and spot-on taste; his blending of sweet hook-laden vocal lines with warm and lush arrangements has sparked serious interest from many artists, most notably Jordan Rakei (Ninja Tune). Citing influences ranging from James Blake to Bjork and Radiohead, Chris' music is soaked with sun-drenched harmonies yet underwritten with darker sub-tones and a sense of melancholy that deeply enriches the music and emotional narrative. Powerful and compelling, Sidekick is a major new album with collaboration at its core, featuring incredible singers Frida Touray, Alison Sudol and Soren Bryce as well as instrumentalists Josh Arcoleo and Joe Webb.

Tenderly propelling and full of haunting melodies: Studio Mule re-issues Sakura Tsuruta’s so far digital only, self-released debut album “c / o” from november 2022.

An evocative first long player by Tokyo based artist, who was trained in classical piano during childhood, played with brass instruments, studied music production, and is today active as a composer, live performer, and versatile dj.

With “c / o” she expressed her personal history in a fluid, around 43-minute long light flooded, yet dark-ish musical vision. eight profoundly composed tracks, melding complex rhythms with emotional airs, tripping arpeggios, and ghostly sounds, slightly influenced by some of her fa-vorite artist like björk, holly herndon, or kaitlyn aurelia smith.

“c / o is a love letter for the experiences, people, and memories i had in the last two years that i spent producing this album. i also like that the letter “c” looks like an incomplete circle, whereas the letter “o” is a full circle.

Ultramarine are an English electronic music duo, formed in 1989 by Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond.

Cooper and Hammond first worked together in the band A Primary Industry during the mid-1980s. Following the split of that band, they formed Ultramarine and released their debut album 'Folk' in April 1990 on seminal Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule. The duo found critical acclaim with their second long player, 'Every Man And Woman Is A Star', initially released in 1991. Over the next decade or so, they recorded two John Peel sessions, collaborated with Robert Wyatt, toured the States with Orbital, then Europe with Björk. After a hiatus, they began recording again in Ian's home studio, overlooking the Blackwater Estuary in Essex.

The moods and movements of this English estuary can be heard running through the duo's stunning and deeply intriguing new album 'Send and Return'.

Flowing and mutating as it transitions from an Essex river into the open sea, the Blackwater Estuary, north of London, inspired this beguiling collection of hypnotic jazz, itching electronica and softly dazzling ambient shapes.

For the 6-track album, Paul and Ian hired a Thames sailing barge moored on the estuary for one day and recorded below deck in the ship's downstairs wooden saloon; the idea was originally inspired by seeing Robin Williamson of The Incredible String Band perform on a similar barge.

The duo were joined by jazz musician Greg Heath and accomplished percussionist Ric Elsworth for the day, who added stunning saxophones, alto flute, percussion and vibraphone to the mix. It's a contemplative, ambient record with gentle jazz inflections and softly pulsing electronica.

* In Katta's music, ancient and modern worlds come together, the sacred meets the profane, and technological chasms are crossed: you might hear her play on some of the world's most treasured pipe organs in churches and cathedrals, or on her state-of-the-art, custom-built electric touring organ - and whether the ambience is provided by the dreamy acoustics of vaulted sacred spaces, or electronic soundscapes weaving in and out of her organ lines, the spirit of her music is unmistakable: ethereal, experimental, arresting.

* Katta first came to international prominence as a classical organist and harpsichordist, performing with orchestras such as Anima Eterna (with Jos van Immerseel), Zurich Chamber Orchestra (with Sir Roger Norrington), the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra - but it was when she started writing and performing her own music that her artistic identity truly asserted itself. 2016's 'Veni Sancte Spiritus' album was the first to showcase her compositions – other-worldly, spiritual works featuring distinctive vocals and tinkling, percussive bells: by turns lyrical and jarring, they seemed to come from a distant and mysterious past, and yet to belong entirely to the present. Katta’s original vocal/instrumental project Vox Organi won a prize at 2018 Classic Prague Awards.
* Katta also finds inspiration in collaborating with other artists, from British violinist Daniel Hope to American organ sensation Cameron Carpenter. This year she performed at Olavsfest in Norway, taking the stage right after a set from Björk. Her new album 'Vox Organi' will be released soon on Berlin label Emika Records, and Katta has been performing material from the album on her recent tour of the same name.

Gjon's Tears steht seit seiner Jugend sowohl in Frankreich als auch in der Schweiz im Rampenlicht. Er hat Singles für seine immer größer werdende Fangemeinde veröffentlicht. Ganz zu schweigen von 'Tout l'univers', das er zum Eurovision Song Contest beigetragen hat, den dritten Platz belegte, und bereits gewaltige 55 Millionen Streams gesammelt hat. Er war somit seit 2010 der erste französischsprachige Künstler, der die Schweiz vertrat. 'Pure', sein neuster Track, produziert von Nicolas Rebscher (Alice Merton, Aurora...) und sein opulent gestaltetes Musikvideo im Stil von Bowie, Bjork und The Cure war u.a. Vorreiter für diese erste LP des Künstlers . 'The Game' erscheint im stilvollen Digipak mit Poster sowie als Doppel-LP im Milky Clear Vinyl.

Gargantuan volcanoes erupting with primal force, fountains of molten lava bursting sky high and massive boulders hurtling capriciously through the air. These potent and violently alluring images in the documentary series The Living Planet captivated Raoul Björkenheim's imagination in 1986. The search for a band name had come to an end. -”I was mesmerised. The name Krakatau sounded like a drum fill to me”. After studying at the Helsinki Conservatory for a year and the Berklee College of Music in Boston for three, Björkenheim relocated to Finland where he played in bands with Jone Takamäki, Antti Hytti and Tom Nekljudow, and later went on to work with composer and drummer Edward “Eetu” Vesala (1945-1999). His always original and highly demanding Sound & Fury workshops were a pivotal hotbed in the local improvised music scene, but after four years of Vesala's strict leadership Björkenheim felt a need to leave Sound & Fury behind and direct all of his attention towards Krakatau. The lineup on the first album “Ritual” consisted of reed virtuosos Jorma Tapio and Tapani Rinne, the bassist Sampo Lassila and two drummers, Michel Lambert and Heikki “Lefty” Lehto. “Krakatau’s debut album was very challenging to make, as I felt that it might be my one and only chance to record my own music, so I wanted it to be as intense and effective as possible”, says Björkenheim, “I was lucky enough to work with an incredibly talented cast of musicians. I can still listen to the album and feel satisfied that it really works. The first guitar solo illustrates what was to become my modus operandi: to try and play the electric guitar in unexpected ways.” Svart Records will release an expanded double LP version of Krakatau’s Ritual. Limited to 500 copies and due out on March 24th, the album contains an album’s worth of previously unheard material recorded in 1987 in Studio Helsinki and at the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation studio.

1862, 13 years after the Great Famine. An English Nightingale Nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is called to the Irish Midlands by a devout community to conduct a 15-day examination over one of their own. Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy) is an 11-year-old girl who claims not to have eaten for four months, surviving miraculously on “manna from heaven”. As Anna's health rapidly deteriorates, Lib is determined to unearth the truth, challenging the faith of a community that would prefer to stay believing. Matthew Herbert is an award-winning composer. His artistic works extend from celebrated albums (Bodily Functions, One Pig) to scores for Oscar winning films (A Fantastic Woman, The Cave), including music for theatre, TV, video games, books, Broadway shows and art installations. He has performed as a DJ, as a solo artist, in venues from the Sydney Opera House to the Hollywood Bowl. He has remixed iconic artists including Quincy Jones, Serge Gainsbourg and Ennio Morricone; and collaborated regularly with acts from Björk to Dizzee Rascal.

„Forever Forever“ ist das neue Album von Genevieve Artadi, der in L.A. lebenden Singer-Songwriterin, Produzentin, Bogenschützin und Dr. Mario-Liebhaberin. Artadi ist ein kreativer Tornado und bekannt für ihre Mitwirkung bei KNOWER, Expensive Magnets und ihrer früheren Band Pollyn. 2020 unterzeichnete sie bei Brainfeeder, um ihr Soloalbum, „Dizzy Strange Summer“, mitten in der Corona-Pandemie zu veröffentlichen. Im darauffolgenden Jahr arbeitete sie mit Thundercat, Raedio und Louis Cole an ihrem Track, „Satellite Space Age Edition“, für den Soundtrack der fünften Staffel von „Insecure“ (HBO). „Forever Forever“ umfasst eine wahrhaft kaleidoskopische Bandbreite an Einflüssen, die eine stilistische Eingrenzung unmöglich macht. Verwurzelt im Jazz, aber auch im alternativen Rock oder Avant-Pop, stehen sie in der Tradition der legendären Grenzgänger:innens Stereolab und Talking Heads. Artadi gehört zur unverschämt talentierten Crew, zu der auch Louis Cole, Pedro Martins, Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes, Jacob Mann und Chiquita Magic gehören, die ein ähnliches Fundament aus klassischen und Jazz-Traditionen mit einer gesunden Punk-Attitüde und einer Leidenschaft für musikalische Hybridität und Fusion mitbringen. Sie gibt zu, dass es sie selbst motiviert, wenn sie von diesen talentierten Menschen umgeben ist, etwas zu schaffen. Die Hälfte der Songs für „Forever Forever“ wurde ursprünglich für eine Big Band geschrieben, da Artadi in Kontakt gekommen war mit der Grammy-nominierten Norrbotten Big Band aus Schweden, mit der sie als ‚Composer in Residence‘ tätig war und viele Male live aufgetreten ist. Auf der Suche nach einem „kreativen Funken“, so sagt sie, hörte sie Duke Ellington und Gil Evans mit Miles Davis. „Der Rest ist, glaube ich, einfach alles aus meiner Vergangenheit, was in meinem Unterbewusstsein ist.“, sagt sie. „Zufällige Inspirationsblitze von Chopin, Bach (ich habe während des Lockdowns einige zweistimmige Inventionen gelernt), Debussy, Nancy Wilson, Björk, Ryan Power, Nobukazu Takemura, den Beatles, Dionne Warwick…”

Gondwana Records announces 'Goodbyes' the debut album from Estonian pianist and composer, Hanakiv, a deeply beautiful, meditative piano album featuring special guest Alabaster dePlume

"This is an album about healing. It is about saying your goodbyes to everything that doesn't serve you anymore. Each of these songs has a little goodbye in it. So, these are very beautiful and necessary goodbyes".

Hanakiv is a young composer and musician from Estonia (now based in London) who creates meditative piano-based ambient music with elements from classical and electronic music. 'Goodbyes' is her debut recording and draws on influences as diverse as Tim Hecker, Björk "Vespertine", Kara-Lis Coverdale, Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Aphex Twin as well as her own cultural heritage. Music has an important part in Estonian culture, especially choir music and its traditions, but Hanakiv also draws on her love of nature – the beautiful Estonian seaside and forests - and on her time in Iceland. However, it was moving to London that gave her the freedom to make her own music: "London gave me the freedom and courage to really be who I am (as a person and musically)" and her heritage and her new home both offer inspiration to Goodbyes, as Hanakiv moves between these two opposite places, a bustling metropolis and a small country full of nature, drawing inspiration from both as she sculpts her own voice.

Hanakiv had an unconventional music education – she started studying music at a school for handbells when she was nine and was part of a handbell ensemble for eight years. Starting on piano at the same time she went on to study composition at high school, and later at the Estonian Academy of Music. Eventually switching to electroacoustic composition, she studied in Reykjavik, and did internships in Malmö, and again Reykjavik before moving to London. She grew up in a musical family and her grandmother was a piano teacher and choir conductor.

"I would always ask her to take me to her choir rehearsals. I remember sitting under the grand piano, listening to the choir and just being mesmerised by the sounds. She also teaches in a local music school in the south of Estonia with about ten pianos, and I'd spend a lot of time there as well. I believe this was the starting point for me to get to where I am now. The last two pieces on the album (Home II and Home I) are composed in this same music school, so it feels like a full circle.

An early influence was Regina Spektor "the first artist who made me really want to play piano" alongside dream pop and Sigur Rós' as well as Estonian contemporary composers such as Erkki-Sven Tüür and Arvo Pärt. Later her studies took her to Reykjavík: "There is this amazing record shop called 12 Tónar in Reykjavik where you can drink espressos and listen to all their vinyls. I spent quite a lot of time there. There is something about Icelandic music that really excited me (the mixture of contemporary electronic sounds with melancholy, emotionality). This is when I started getting more into electronic music, and experimenting outside of classical music". Following a year long break from studying and inspired by making an electroacoustic soundtrack for a friend's abstract video, she was inspired to complete a masters in electroacoustic composition, diving fully into the worlds of sound recording and mixing and focusing on surround sound and how to position and move sounds in space, eventually doing an internship with composer Kent Olofson in Malmö, who works with multi-speaker systems for theatre productions. "I learnt a lot from him and he introduced me to some of my favourite plugins I've used a lot on this album as well."

Hanakiv moved to London just as the pandemic hit and found herself trapped, in a big new city, without any network or family and so just concentrated on making music. "I stayed in my room with my basic equipment - keyboard, Korg minilogue, SM 58 and Rode nt1-a microphones, laptop and speakers. I was reading about mixing, and trying out different things and listening to a lot of music to get the sense of the mixes and production and finishing a commission piece for 5.1 multi speaker system at that time so I set up four speakers for quadrophonic surround sound in my room!". She also found her way back to piano - my instrument – and started practicing again, playing the pieces she used to play, but also just improvising, and this was the beginning of what would become her debut album, 'Goodbyes'.

"I started appreciating everything about music again (even melody!), and everything just came together naturally, and I arrived to a point where I finally found my voice, and I had something that I wanted to say and share. I composed "Meditation I" first and started with "Goodbye", and all the other pieces are derived from that. Without "Meditation I" there wouldn't be this album. If you listen closely, "Meditation I" starts where "Goodbye" ends; "Meditation II" is born from "Meditation I".

But it was meeting Fi Roberts, a sound engineer based at the legendary Strongrom Studios in Shoreditch, London in December 2020 that really brought the album into focus. The pair bonded over an interest in prepared piano and a similar approach to production ideas (a balance of not overdoing it, and letting the songs speak for themselves, but being open to explore) and Fi became a friend but also a confidant and eventually co-producer

"Fi has a big impact on this record but I don't know how to really explain that properly. Of course, this album is sonically stunning thanks to her amazing mixes and recording skills, but she also believed in this music so much and it created something very special - that's difficult to measure with words. She just works with heart, and I really appreciate that"

This then is 'Goodbyes', the first offering from a major new voice, who offers us a meditative work full of space and tranquillity but also life and friendship and meaning. And we are very proud to welcome her to the Gondwana family.

Multiple Grammy winner Composer, Arranger Conductor Vincent Mendoza has 35 Grammy Nominations across his storied career, including his sixth Grammy for his last Album Freedom Over Everything. For his forthcoming offering Olympians Mendoza is joined by Metropole Orkest, which he has led as chief conductor for the past six years. It is a bright, zingy and as the title suggests, triumphant record to add to Mendoza’s outstanding career.
Mendoza has written arrangements for a wide variety of pop and jazz artists
From Joni Mitchell, Sting, Melody Gardot, Elvis Costello and Bjork to Joe Zawinul, John Scofield and Randy Brecker.

Seit 2009 ist Stoned Jesus aus der eine der führenden Kräfte im ukrainischen Heavy Rock. Fuzzige Riffs, treibende Basslinien und maximaler Groove sind die Grundelemente des Sounds von Stoned Jesus, die durch die Kombination von sanftem Clean-Gesang, einprägsamen Refrains sowie einer Reihe von dekorativen Gitarrenmelodien ergänzt werden. Die Stücke auf "Father Light" sind vielseitig und abwechslungsreich, wobei die für die Band typische Härte stets als Leitfaden dient.

FFV: Monster Magnet, Kyuss, Orange Goblin, Brant Bjork, The Sword

Seit 2009 ist Stoned Jesus aus der eine der führenden Kräfte im ukrainischen Heavy Rock. Fuzzige Riffs, treibende Basslinien und maximaler Groove sind die Grundelemente des Sounds von Stoned Jesus, die durch die Kombination von sanftem Clean-Gesang, einprägsamen Refrains sowie einer Reihe von dekorativen Gitarrenmelodien ergänzt werden. Die Stücke auf "Father Light" sind vielseitig und abwechslungsreich, wobei die für die Band typische Härte stets als Leitfaden dient.

FFV: Monster Magnet, Kyuss, Orange Goblin, Brant Bjork, The Sword

"During the recording of TOTALLY, we were having a blast and the music just kept rollin' out so we decided to also put together a tasty EP. Guests Mario Lalli on STÖNER Theme and Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks and Bad Religion on our version of the Motorhead/Pink Fairies classic City Kids makes this EP extra sweet. Jump in and let's BOOGIE TO BAJA! If the name Stöner seems a little on the nose, well_ it is. Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri, founding members of the stoner rock legend Kyuss, are joined again by drummer Ryan Güt (of Bjork's solo band) and they've got dibs on the thick and dusty swinging grooves, returning as Stöner with their sophomore release "totally_" Stöner's love for their early inspirations (bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Ramones, Blue Cheer, Misfits, Black Flag, The Stooges, MC5) result in big, groovy, sunbaked riffs that can cruise low and slow but then floor it and run all the red lights. Live, this is a band about the magnetism between the players, the groove, the loose vibe and straight up badass rock and roll_ Stöner are masters of their trade. With "totally..." Stöner is in its true form, getting together and having fun. Stöner's world is a colorful joyride, heavy of rock but not of head. The record cranks with vibes of classic hard rock, heavy blues, desert rock and psych rock jams - things that come organically to this trio Stöner can't help but express an abundance of punk rock rawness and passion for real rock and roll swagger. With two records, "Live at Mojave" and "Stoners Rule" (available on Heavy Psych Sounds), the latest release "totally..." sees the band realizing the chemistry of these old friends developing a statement of pure rock and roll fun.

LTD Violet Vinyl

"During the recording of TOTALLY, we were having a blast and the music just kept rollin' out so we decided to also put together a tasty EP. Guests Mario Lalli on STÖNER Theme and Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks and Bad Religion on our version of the Motorhead/Pink Fairies classic City Kids makes this EP extra sweet. Jump in and let's BOOGIE TO BAJA! If the name Stöner seems a little on the nose, well_ it is. Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri, founding members of the stoner rock legend Kyuss, are joined again by drummer Ryan Güt (of Bjork's solo band) and they've got dibs on the thick and dusty swinging grooves, returning as Stöner with their sophomore release "totally_" Stöner's love for their early inspirations (bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Ramones, Blue Cheer, Misfits, Black Flag, The Stooges, MC5) result in big, groovy, sunbaked riffs that can cruise low and slow but then floor it and run all the red lights. Live, this is a band about the magnetism between the players, the groove, the loose vibe and straight up badass rock and roll_ Stöner are masters of their trade. With "totally..." Stöner is in its true form, getting together and having fun. Stöner's world is a colorful joyride, heavy of rock but not of head. The record cranks with vibes of classic hard rock, heavy blues, desert rock and psych rock jams - things that come organically to this trio Stöner can't help but express an abundance of punk rock rawness and passion for real rock and roll swagger. With two records, "Live at Mojave" and "Stoners Rule" (available on Heavy Psych Sounds), the latest release "totally..." sees the band realizing the chemistry of these old friends developing a statement of pure rock and roll fun.

Violet Vinyl

"During the recording of TOTALLY, we were having a blast and the music just kept rollin' out so we decided to also put together a tasty EP. Guests Mario Lalli on STÖNER Theme and Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks and Bad Religion on our version of the Motorhead/Pink Fairies classic City Kids makes this EP extra sweet. Jump in and let's BOOGIE TO BAJA! If the name Stöner seems a little on the nose, well_ it is. Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri, founding members of the stoner rock legend Kyuss, are joined again by drummer Ryan Güt (of Bjork's solo band) and they've got dibs on the thick and dusty swinging grooves, returning as Stöner with their sophomore release "totally_" Stöner's love for their early inspirations (bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Ramones, Blue Cheer, Misfits, Black Flag, The Stooges, MC5) result in big, groovy, sunbaked riffs that can cruise low and slow but then floor it and run all the red lights. Live, this is a band about the magnetism between the players, the groove, the loose vibe and straight up badass rock and roll_ Stöner are masters of their trade. With "totally..." Stöner is in its true form, getting together and having fun. Stöner's world is a colorful joyride, heavy of rock but not of head. The record cranks with vibes of classic hard rock, heavy blues, desert rock and psych rock jams - things that come organically to this trio Stöner can't help but express an abundance of punk rock rawness and passion for real rock and roll swagger. With two records, "Live at Mojave" and "Stoners Rule" (available on Heavy Psych Sounds), the latest release "totally..." sees the band realizing the chemistry of these old friends developing a statement of pure rock and roll fun.

Infinite Machine is proving again it's a label that refuses to sonically sit still. Having released everything from code-based compositions to bass-heavy techno in 2022, the imprint is readying the release of the black metal-tinged Ehkta by BOLT RUIN later this month. A musician whose work has been described as 'apocalyptic' more than once, on this new mini-album, the Belgian producer blends field recordings, twisted samples and rave signifiers with an eerie tonality born out of his nocturnal production sessions and time spent absorbing the silence of his studio garden.

Bridging the gap from his previous record to this one, 'Sktone' is a cinematic opener that unfolds like a bad dream in slow motion. Warped samples of Bulgarian choirs glide over synths wired in closed-circuit loops which feed back on themselves, degrading for infinity. Texture and space is added via field recordings of waves crashing over the ruins of Brighton West Pier. This track exemplifies the unexpected influence BOLT RUIN took from the wildlife he witnessed in the garden of his urban studio when working on Ehkta. Adapting to the material at their disposal, weasels and blackbirds create nests from organic waste and human trash - an astute metaphor for the Belgian producer's compositional approach.

Next up, BOLT RUIN drives up the tempo with the rave-ready 'Nehng', where a frenzy of trance arpeggios and frantic drum programming builds and intensifies over its 5-minute duration. Inspired by Yves Klein's 'Leap Into a Void', 'Nehng' definitely evokes that bodily rush of freefalling into the unknown. 'Nehng''s driving rhythm is switched out for the brooding 'Tzarhk' - an ode to the soundtracks of B-movies composed on a vintage Roland SH-2 (a prominent character of the Stranger Things soundtrack). BOLT RUIN runs thick, syrupy synth slabs and punishing drum patterns through a rain-soaked limiter the producer found lying on the street by chance.

Another master-class in self-destructive arrangements comes in the form of 'Rfohmdrá' as delicate pianos and synth tones atrophy through daisy chained pedals which erode the signal. Valgeir Sigurðsson's mastering skills shines through here, taking BOLT RUIN's sci-fi-meets-metal sonics and amping them up to a scale on par with the Björk or Ben Frost records he's previously worked on.

Conceived of as the mirror reflection of the LP's opener, 'Maevr' pushes the approach of 'Sktone' to an even more nightmarish extreme. Embracing chance, the clattering layers of beats are sampled of a knocked mic on a window as BOLT RUIN attempted to capture a recording of rain from his studio. A happy and very effective accident for the foreboding mood of the track!

BOLT RUIN rounds off Ehkta with 'Ekztamnh'; an ode to that specific sensation of entering through a corridor to a rave and hearing the rumble of a soundsystem from afar. Snarling melodies are run through a reverse granular delay effect which fragments the signal, reverses it and plays them back in irregular order; much like the shattered memories of a late night in a warehouse.

A musical magpie who finds inspiration in the most unlikely of sources, Ehkta is a restless exploration of salvage-punk aesthetics where doom-laden black metal melodies, amen breaks and an experimental approach to sound design sit in an irregular and uneven musical apocalypse. For fans of Blanck Mass or Caterina Barbieri - this is a must-listen material from a fresh producer establishing himself with a singular musical voice.

The members of short lived Palm Desert, CA stoner/desert rock trailblazers Kyuss went their separate ways in 1995 after only four genre defining albums with Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri forming Queens of the Stone Age, John Garcia founding groups Unida, Slo Burn, and Hermana, and Brant Bjork joining Fu Manchu. 2000 posthumous compilation Muchas Gracias: The Best of Kyuss gathered a selection of 15 rare tracks, B-sides and live cuts. Available for the first time on vinyl in the U.S., Run Out Groove offers up a colored 2LP pressing of the hard to find album with deluxe packaging.

“Booze for Blues! No time to think, time to drink!”
That’s the motto of the Spanish heavy fuzz rock
and psychedelic power blues trio Blues Weiser.
They stay true to their motto on album number
three – ‘Obey The Booze’.
‘Obey The Booze’ is now available on red vinyl.
Blues Weiser unleash a vibrant blend of Fu
Manchu / Nebula fuzzy stoner blues jams, 70s Jimi
Hendrix-infused wah-wah solos, thunderous 90s
rock riffs and big grooves.
Sometimes crystal clear and laid-back and
sometimes exploding in a face melting distortion,
Blues Weiser do know how to shake grounds with
their sound; “It’s been a wild ride since we started
recording it, while trying to settle on making a
fuzzy, bluesy, psychedelic, feelgood, but at times
yet dark but honest record. Let’s have some good
time!”
For fans of Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet, Karma
To Burn, Nebula, Snail, Brant Bjork.

Meg Baird’s songs are rarely made up of tidy stories. In fact, for Meg, mystery itself is often the
medium. With ‘Furling’, Meg’s fourth album under her own name, she explores the breadth of
her musical fascinations and the environments around them - the edges of memory,
daydreams spanning years, loose ends, loss, divergent paths, and secret conversations under
stars. ‘Furling’ moves through these varied spaces with the slippery, misty cohesiveness of a
dream - guided by an ageless, stirring voice that remains singular and unmistakable.
Since co-founding the beguiling and beautiful Espers in the mid-aughts amid Philadelphia’s
fertile underground music community, Meg’s solo recordings have constituted just a fraction of
her work.
Her first solo LP, the disarmingly out-of-time ‘Dear Companion’ (2007), saw her carve a quiet,
sunlit space away from the flickering swirl of Espers. Since her last solo releases, ‘Seasons on
Earth’ (2011) and ‘Don’t Weigh Down the Light’ (2015), Meg has lent thunderous drumming,
lead vocal, and poetry to Heron Oblivion (Sub Pop) on an album that garnered praise from the
New York Times and made Mojo’s Top Ten Albums Of 2016 list. She collaborated with harpist
Mary Lattimore on the mesmerizingly hazy ‘Ghost Forests’ (2018). She’s played drums with
Philadelphia scuzz-punks Watery Love (In The Red, Richie Records) and explored her deep
familial folk roots in the Baird Sisters (Grapefruit Records). She also contributed her vocal
arrangements to albums from Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Will Oldham and Steve Gunn, and
toured with Angel Olson, Dinosaur Jr., Bill Callahan, Thurston Moore and Bert Jansch, among
others.
Yet ‘Furling’ is the album that most irreverently explores the span of her work and musical
touchstones. It showcases her natural tether to 1960s English folk traditions. But it also reveals
her deep love for soul balladry, the solitary musings of Flying Saucer Attack and Neil Young
shackled to his piano deep in the foggy pre-dawn, dubby Bristol atmospherics, the melancholy
memory collage of DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing’, and the delicious, Saturday night promise of
St. Etienne.
‘Furling’ was primarily recorded at Louder Studios by Tim Green (Bikini Kill, Nation of Ulysses,
Melvins, Wooden Shjips). Additional piano and vocal recording were captured at Panoramic
Studios in Stinson Beach, CA with Jason Quever (Papercuts). It was mastered in Brooklyn by
Heba Kadry, who mixed Bjork’s ‘Utopia’ and mastered albums for Slowdive, Cass McCombs
and Beach House.
For all its adornments, ‘Furling’ remains deeply intimate. The entire album was performed by
Meg and her long-time collaborator, partner, and Heron Oblivion bandmate Charlie Saufley.
While her prior solo work hinted at more expansive horizons, ‘Furling’ explores the idea of Meg
Baird as a band much more freely. Venturing beyond the musical confines of fingerstyle guitar,
she plays drums, mellotron, organs, synths, and vibraphone over her piano and guitar
foundations. Her distinctive, simultaneously elegiac and uplifting vocals, meanwhile, connect
surreal dream montages, graft sunshine sonics to swooning mediations on romantic solidarity
in trying times, and weave odes to the simple gestures of friendship - and the loss of family and
friends.
This rich sound world makes the songs a varied bunch: ‘Twelve Saints’ mates Pacific sunset
ambience and Pink Floyd pastoral to a meditation on mortality and escape. The infectious and
kinetic ‘Will You Follow Me Home’ contemplates hope and longing through the looking glass of
a Jimmy Miller-era-Stones strut. And in the closing piece, ‘Wreathing Days’, language
disintegrates over tone clusters that feel somewhere between falling and flying.
‘Wreathing Days’ also reveals much about Meg’s mastery of contrast - situating the dear and
delicate adjacent to chaos. And while it’s true that some songs on ‘Furling’ grapple with
humanity’s existential unknowns in stark terms, they primarily revel in the mysteries that hide in
nature and humanity at their most ordinary. ‘Furling’ lives in the notion that whole universes of
experience, enlightenment, elation and ecstasy can bloom in these corners.

Japanese street music icon, Yasushi Ide released new album featuring Don Letts, Josh Milan, Jeff Mills, DJ Krush and more.


"This is a sound track for rude, underground adults! Amazing mixture of reggae, dub, funk, jazz, rock, afro, house. Masterpiece that goes beyond genres of music created by great producer, Yasushi Ide who has relentless motivation and global network of talents." - Shuya Okino (Kyoto Jazz Massive / Kyoto Jazz Sextet)

"Great album! It is amazing to finish such a big project involved many collaborators at this high quality only in a year and 4 months. The magic of Cosmic Suite is there are variety of styles, and it makes you feel deep and spiritual at one point, but at the same time you can feel relaxed. Also, I have to say that the sound quality is great. It sounds very clear and it can only be done with top level recording and mixing professionals." - Ken Ishii

Yasushi Ide is the Japanese street icon. In the 90's he was called "the Guru of Shibuya-kei" which was the movement of Shibuya style of eclectic pop by the artists such as Cornelius, Pizzcato Five, or Original Love who is once again recognized in City Pop revival of recent years. (Yasushi Ide was a manager of Original Love, and also Kenji Ozawa)

Through his works, he has been creating the global network of musicians such as Josh Milan of the Blaze, house music icon, Don Letts, the pioneer of connecting punk rock with reggae, and Jeff Mills, Detroit techno legend, and released a great amount of hi-quality music on his label, Grand Gallery.

The Cosmic Suite project started in 2020, during the pandemic. It started as a project to reconstruct the parts of music Jeff Mills created for Chieko Kinbara, a violinist which Mills produced. However, it turned out to be 36min of spaced themed original track = Cosmic Suite.
(There are few phrases of Jeff Mills music left in the final version) This masterpiece created a buzz in the music scene in Japan and overseas, and became Yasushi Ide's new beginning.

In June, 2022, Ide released "Cosmic Suite 2". Originally, Cosmic Suite was an instrumental. "Cosmic Suite" is the reconstruction of "Cosmic Suite 2" with the element of vocals. In this project, Don Letts, Josh Milan, DJ Krush are featured as guest musicians. Moreover, drums of Tony Allen, the legendary Afrobeat drummer, and Style Scott, a drummer known for his works in early days of ON-U label, and Gota Yashiki, a Japanese drummer known for his works with Soul II Soul are featured in this album. Also, Japanese brightest talents such as Kan Takagi of Major Force, Kaoru Inoue aka Chari Chari, Tomoyuki Tanaka aka Fantastic Plastic Machine and Calm are featured as artists and engineers. This is the true dream team of the Japanese underground music scene.

The artwork is done by Josue Thomas, the founder of popular fashion brand, Gallery Dept. He is also featured as poetry reading artist in track 1 of "Cosmic Suite 2." Ide and him collaborates in various projects under the concept of "Universal Music Connection."

Yasushi Ide's also well received as a dub artist. (beside his wide range of musical styles)
His dub cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine (Space Dub Mix)" is selected for "Late Night Tales mixed by Don Letts" in 2021.

Highlight of "Cosmic 2" is the unique dub sound in tracks such as "Lava" feat. UA, the Japanese singer often described as "Japanese Bjork", and "Sumimasen Suite" feat. Rebel Dread (= Don Letts).

Tokyo is the melting pot of street music from all around the World such as Dub, Jazz, House, Hip Hop, Afrobeat, Punk rock, Techno,,, You can see the influence of all spectrums of rebel music in this album. This unique avant-garde music can only be created by Yasushi Ide, who has been heavily involved in this truly unique music scene for a long time.

LIMITED EDITION PICTURE DISC EDITION OF PAUL DRAPER'S NEW
ALBUM CULT LEADER TACTICS .Meaty art-rock, austere orchestral
interludes & driving future pop - Classic Rock 8/10 Cult Leader Tactics is
sleek & smart, full of melody, humour and flair - Record Collector 4*
Former Mansun frontman, Paul Draper, returned in early 2022 with a
collection of his finest songwriting since the bands' imperial phase
Cult Leader Tactics', is a self-help manual on how to become a complete cult in
the music industry & is his first solo album since 2017's much- lauded Spooky
Action'. Cult Leader Tactics' offers a satirical analysis of the self- help manual
genre. A guide on how you can get to the top of your chosen profession, or ahead
in life & in affairs of the heart, by acting in a Machiavellian manner, employing
dirty tricks or Cult Leader Tactics' to achieve your life goals. After experiencing
these types of human behaviours & themes, the album arrives at the conclusion
that the only true answer in life is love. Paul plays most of the instruments on the
album, including lead vocals, guitar & various Moogs & synthesisers. An album
produced with long-time collaborator & acclaimed producer Paul P-Dub' Walton
(Massive Attack, The Cure, Bjork) at Loft Studios, it also includes guest
appearances from Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson & Gam of the band Sweat' as
well as featuring a 288-person C.L.T. Lockdown Choir. Cult Leader Tactics' offers
a selection of Paul's most focused & ambitious work so far, a brilliantly dark
commentary on an industry he is all too aware of. Kscope are proud to present a
limited Picture Disc edition of Cult Leader Tactics'.

Ltd Edition White Vinyl, DL card.

Debut from genre-defying producer, Yosa Peit. Laurie Anderson meets Bjork; Prince overlapped with Arthur Russell and the hum of Blue Velvet, with jarred and splintered ambient production reminiscent of Aphex Twin. ‘Phyton’ gets a special expanded edition via Fire Records, featuring unreleased tracks; ‘Tyrann’, a live version of the haunting album track ‘Serpentine’ and end of the night lament, ‘Rise’. ‘Phyton’ is a conundrum with its own humour and beauty amid the electronica soundtracking; it’s a record that’s defied genre categories when first released on Tax Free Records two years ago. Yosa’s ascension from singer to producer is now complete. “In my head I was making a movie,” Yosa told No Wave magazine, “I dreamed up a Coen Brothers’ movie scene for a few tracks.” The result is a haunting, provocative sound; a soundscape where songs merge and splinter, a trip that’s never predictable.

"The production is super fresh" Holly Herndon. // “Warped lo-fi meets glitchy electronica and pop” The Vinyl Factory //

Download extras: 1. Serpentine (Live Bonus) 2. Rise (Bonus)

Black & Opaque Silver vinyl. ZZK Records Presents Uji's TIMEBEING. A prehistoric tribe dances around the fire. Young revelers lose themselves on a packed dancefloor. Explorers fly a rocket toward another galaxy. In the TIMEBEING universe, these things are all connected. From the earliest days of humanity, people have strived to expand their reality beyond the limitations of the here and now and have used technology to make it happen. Their methods and machines may have changed across the centuries, but the drive remains constant, vibrating through history and occupying a space where time loses all meaning. "The art of making music is the art of manipulating time," says Uji. "I have had experiences where time shifts dramatically; sometimes it slows down to a halt, while moments seemingly become infinite. This is where the magic happens. This is when the fabric of what we call reality begins to show its seams." An Argentinian electronic producer and ethnomusicologist, Uji has been navigating those seams for more than two decades, initially as one half of the pioneering duo Lulacruza, but more recently with his own solo work. TIMEBEING continues that lineage, but also elevates it, taking shape as a interdisciplinary multimedia journey that includes a new album, an accompanying short film, an immersive live show and the birth of a new decentralized community of like-minded artists, creators, seekers, and dreamers. Mesmerizing and deeply psychedelic, the TIMEBEING LP certainly reflects the rich sound palette of Latin America and its intersection with various strains of electronic music but Uji taps into traditions both musical and spiritual that can't be hemmed in by borders and boundaries. Transcendence is the goal, and the album moves through fantastical spaces that may or may not exist: a metallic jungle, a Balkan spaceship, a cloud that morphs into a tumultuous whirlpool. All the while, Uji criss-crosses history, consulting elders and futurists alike as he throws open the doors of perception and pens a new mythology about what it means to be human. Some of that mythology takes shape in the TIMEBEING film. Written by Uji himself, the eight-part opus has been brought to life by Jazmin Calcarami, who makes her directorial debut following years of working as an experimental make-up artist with the likes of Björk and Cirque de Soleil. On stage, the transportive TIMEBEING live show is set to premiere at the Artlab Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, where it will be debuted as a part of a weekly residency this spring. More than just a concert, it's a dazzling theatrical experience, complete with dancers, costume changes, arresting visuals and even an on-stage "ship" (shaped like mollusk) where Uji himself will perform. "What we see on the surface, is only that the surface," says Uji. "There is so much more. Music is the bridge and the possibilities are limitless." Track listing: 1. Mito 2. Oropo 3. Truenatruena 4. QuemaQuema (feat. Nyaruach) 5. Kinto 6. Lunay (feat. Zola Dubnikova) 7. Flechas 8. Sirios (feat. Kristine Barrett)

Immer schon war William Fitzsimmons auch ein hervorragender Interpret fremden Materials. Auf seinen Konzerten covert er gerne Songs seiner Helden wie Bob Dylan, Björk oder Kanye West. Einmal auf seine persönliche Musikgeschichte zurückzublicken und einige seiner Lieblingssongs für ein ganzes Album zu interpretieren, war da der nächste logische Schritt. Seine zärtlich hingetupfte, wehmütig-elegische Version des Joy-Division-Klassikers 'Love Will Tears Us Apart‘ schreibt dem eher düsteren Original ein hoffnungsvolles Element ein, 'Annie’s Song' von John Denver wird bei Fitzsimmons zur anmutigen Meditation, Peter Gabriels 'Solsbury Hill' zum intim berückenden Kammerspiel. Bereits an diesen Beispielen lässt sich das beeindruckend breite Spektrum des Albums ablesen, das zudem Songs von Künstler:innen wie Sarah Siskind, Chelsea Cutler, Sufjan Stevens und Iron & Wine enthält. 'Diese Vielstimmigkeit war mir wichtig', sagt Fitzsimmons. 'Ansonsten gab es eigentlich keine Regeln. Das sind alles Songs, die ich liebe. Die Bedeutung der Songs für mich persönlich war mir wichtiger als ihre Popularität. Ich habe allerdings bewusst darauf verzichtet, allzu offensichtliche Heldinnen und Helden wie Joni Mitchell und Bob Dylan zu covern.' Die Songs auf 'Covers, Vol. 1' kommen aus verschiedensten Ländern, Genres, Epochen und haben unterschiedliche Bekanntheitsgrade. Bei Fitzsimmons aber werden sie alle eins, es ist eine Anverwandlung der denkbar wunderbarsten Art. Erfüllt von der Liebe zu den Originalen, aber versehen mit der einmaligen Signatur dieses besonderen Künstlers. Die Geschichten, die William ganz konkret mit diesen Songs verbinden, sind so vielfältig wie die Musik selbst.

Gelb's semi-surreal observations lace things together perfectly.” UNCUT. Filled with loud and lucky abandon; heady steady and direct singalongs for the heart in constant turmoil. Giant Sand’s esoteric journey to ‘Heartbreak Pass’ is an exotic journey through hails of Youngian guitars, off-the-cuff jazz piano rounds and beautiful alt-country yearning. While containing only new songs for this album, this feels like a greatest hits and as such is a perfect entry point for Giant Sand neophytes. Fire Records give ‘Heartbreak Pass’ a long overdue repress on white vinyl, with new liner notes and updated artwork. There’s a roll of the tongue, a couplet and some convolution underpinning Giant Sand’s 2015 opus ‘Heartbreak Pass’. So the story goes, so legend has it, a mere 30 years into their career, almost ten years ago, Giant Sand were regrouped and, for a fleeting second, someone made sense of it all (the words, the genre swapping sound, the roll call of friends and accomplices, the majesty of polar opposites attracting). On ‘Heartbreak Pass’ the result from this lengthy travelogue is a memoir filled with trinkets exchanged along the way. Sure, the Arizona desert is there, gritty and unforgiving but Howe's one-man-band is joined by a throng of well-wishers, this time around including Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Grant-Lee Phillips and Ilse DeLange (Common Linnets), The Voices Of Praise Choir, oft-time collaborator John Parish, Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle, Maggie Bjorklund on pedal steel, Italian singer/songwriter Vinicio Capossela and many more. It’s an album that travels far and shows its road weariness in places but it’s a celebration in all its ragged glory. In his original sleevenotes Howe pondered the fact that “The album is roughly broken into three volumes - loud and lucky abandon; heady steady and direct (Gelb's vision of Americana); and the heart in constant turmoil and something about a transponder.” He summarised: “I can't recommend it, nor do I regret it. It's been one life split into two.”


Tracks: A1 Heaventually A2 Texting Feist A3 Hurtin' Habit A4 Transponder A5 Song So Wrong A6 Every Now And Then A7 Man On A String B1 Home Sweat Home B2 Eye Opening B3 Pen To Paper B4 House In Order B5 Gypsy Candle B6 Done

Jet Set is a collection of 15 carefully crafted guitar-driven songs that
prove to be the most diverse and inventive of Los Straitjackets' oeuvre
The album was recorded at The Pow Wow Fun Room studios in Los Angeles with
producer and friend Janne Haavisto (of Laika and the Cosmonauts) and includes
a few guest appearances by The Basic Cable Horns (from the Conan show) and
Finnish actress and musician Irina Bjorklund. Jet Set delivers the high-energy rock
and roll instrumental music fans have come to expect from Los Straitjackets.
This 10th anniversary edition of Los Straitjackets' long-out-of-print 2012 classic is
pressed on sky blue vinyl

NY-based cellist / composer Clarice Jensen’s third LP,
‘Esthesis’, is a deep and gorgeous new work,
conceptually structured around the emotional and
harmonic spectrum and the phenomenon of
chromesthesia - a condition whereby sound
involuntarily evokes an experience of colour, shape
and movement.
Following up her critically acclaimed 2020 LP, ‘The
experience of repetition as death’, ‘Esthesis’ sees
Jensen expanding her oeuvre and introducing a wider
instrumental range, including the piano of Timo Andres
and the voices of Laura Lutzke, Francesca Federico
and Emma Broughton. Mixed by Francesco Donadello
and mastered by Matthew Agoglia, it is released ahead
of a UK / EU tour supporting Dustin O’Halloran.
Jensen has recorded and performed with a host of
artists including Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter,
Björk, Stars of the Lid, Dustin O’Halloran, Nico Muhly,
Taylor Swift, Michael Stipe, the National and many
others.
CD in gatefold card wallet.
LP includes digital download code.
For fans of Jóhann Jóhannsson, Hildur Gudnadottir,
Stars of the Lid, Max Richter, A Winged Victory For
The Sullen, Sarah Davachi, Kali Malone, Kaitlyn
Aurelia Smith

The first full length album from renowned electronic dance artists Benoit & Sergio.

The next album announced from FourFour Records, the new label from Jonathan Galkin, co-founder of DFA Records.

Mixed by Beatriz Artola (Fleet Foxes, Adele, A$AP Rocky) and Mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nicolas Jaar).

Benoit & Sergio have previously released music on DFA, Ghostly, Hot Creations & Soul Clap Records.

The super group Deltron 3030 is composed of producer Dan the Automator, rapper Del tha Funkee Homosapien and DJ Kid Koala and sometimes features guest artists who also take on varying futuristic pseudonyms. Originally released in 2000 on the now-defunct 75ARK record label, this hip hop concept album was released the same year as the Gorillaz' first 12" and is on a similar plane. Following the release of Deltron 3030, all three members participated in the Gorillaz' self-titled debut album. With Del aka Deltron Zero on vocals, Dan the Automator aka The Cantankerous Captain Aptos on production, and Kid Koala aka Skiznoid the Boy Wonder on turntables, this album takes the listener on a paranoid journey set in a dystopian year 3030 dealing with viruses, the apocalypse, an oppressive government, and a war waged against a huge company called the Corporate Bank of Time that rules the universe, all to the well-crafted and consistent musical backing of the Automator. Appearances by Damon Albarn (The Gorillaz, Blur), Prince Paul, Peanut Butter Wolf, DJ Money Mark, Paul Barman, Mark Bell (Bjork, production), Sean Lennon, and Mr. Lif compliment Del's vocal style and add the right amount of flavor to this classic period piece.

Die 13 Tracks auf "Polymer", darunter energiegeladene Banger, helle, melodische, viszerale Rhythmen und hypnotische Strukturen, bilden das vielleicht kompakteste Album von Plaid. Das Duo ging Anfang der 1990er aus der Formation The Black Dog hervor und zählt neben Acts wie Aphex Twin, Autechre oder Nightmares On Wax zu den Eckpfeilern des Warp-Labels. In ihrer langjährigen Karriere arbeiteten Plaid zusammen mit Björk, London Sinfonietta und den Southbank Gamelan Players und füllten Venues vom Sydney Opera House über das Londoner Bloc bis zum Berliner Berghain. "Polymer" trägt all die Emotionen, Einflüsse und Inspirationen in sich und funktioniert als ihr Statement in modernen Zeiten.

Imaginational Anthem Vol. XI : Chrome Universal - A Survey of Modern Pedal Steel

Curated by in-demand Nashville pedal steel maverick and Third Man recording artist Luke Schneider, the eleventh volume of Tompkins Square’s venerable Imaginational Anthem acoustic guitar series features exclusive tracks by legend BJ Cole, as well as leading exponents on the instrument including Susan Alcorn, Luke himself, and British expat /Nashville hotshot Spencer Cullum among others. Nashville native and Merge recording artist William Tyler has written a beautiful detailed history of the pedal steel for the package (CD & LP versions only). 1. BJ Cole - Ely Revisited 2. Jonny Lam - Rainbow Across the Valley 3. Rocco DeLuca - Many Singing Softly 4. Luke Schneider - Yosemite 5.Spencer Cullum - An Ode to Dungeness 6. Barry Walker, Jr. - I Will Tread Upon the Lion and the Cobra 7. Susan Alcorn - Gilmore Blue 8. Maggie Bjorklund - Lysglimt 9. Will Van Horn - Attwater

This split album featured the Italian composer Gigi Masin on side-a with delicate piano movements rippling above undulating electronics. Its second track 'Clouds,' has become an ambient standard with Bjork, Nujabes and cloud-rap duo Main Attrakionz all sampling its rich and euphoric tones.

Side-b belonged to Charles Hayward and the twenty three minute sound portrait 'Thames Water Authority'. A founding member of post-punk and avant groups This Heat and Camberwell Now, Hayward's natural inclination towards percussive instrumentation is highlighted by shape-shifting cymbal recordings that trace the expansive systems that meander beneath Greater London.

P-VINE is thrilled to reissue Les Nouvelles Musiques de Chambre Volume 2 on limited edition vinyl with an iconic Japanese obi strip attached.

PRONTO are back, this time seeing Greenskeepers don James Curd team up with Grammy award-winning Marius De Vries. Alongside composing the scores for a whole host of big films, De Vries has produced for the likes of Massive Attack, Madonna, David Bowie, Bjork, Pet Shop Boys to name but a few. So you know a matchup with Chicago house head Curd is going to hit with something special.

A disco-infused house bomb with a very special guest on those sweet vocals, ‘Auditory Gates’ gets the remix treatment from two producers at the top of their game, Jacques Renault and Oliver Dollar, who each put their trademark spin on it.

Dark-folk songwriter Chantal Acda and beyond drums-percussion musician extraordinaire Eric Thielemans propose a new score for Koyaanisqatsi, re-actualising the incredibly beautiful, raw, rhythmic and touching images of this 80-ties cinematographic masterpiece. Slow deep electric waves, lonely synths in sonic desert landscapes, rhythmic pulses, transporting drums and bells, and deeply longing sounds and voices make up the audible fundamentals of this imagined, neo shamanic, ritualistic music to accompany the Earth as it keeps on supporting our post human frenetics even today. This release contains a selection of the musical material scored for a live performance together with the screening of the movie. The live performance premiered on Film Festival Gent and Vooruit in the fall of 2022.

Currently based in Belgium, Dutch-born Chantal Acda (b. 1978) has worked under the Sleepingdog moniker since 2006, making three acclaimed albums that closed on the 'With Our Heads in the Clouds and Our Hearts in the Fields' (2010) album for which she collaborated with Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid, A Winged Victory For The Sullen). They toured the UK and Benelux with Low in 2011. After all this, it was time for her first real solo record. Playing in various formations (Isbells, True Bypass, Marble Sounds) had made her conscious of the patterns that we all, as humans, share in. So, she sought out kindred spirits with whom she might record an album filled with freedom and intensity, and who were conscious of the patterns we so often fall back on. Nils Frahm was the first of these to cross her path. The inventive German pianist and producer is an intense and adventurous performer and was a perfect match for it. Acda also experienced a direct bond with Peter Broderick, a multi-instrumentalist known from his solo work (on labels such as Bella Union and Erased Tapes) and from his work with, among others, Efterklang. Cellist extraordinaire Gyda Valtysdottir from Icelandic group Múm had previously worked with Chantal as a member of the Sleepingdog live band. And lastly, Shahzad Ismaily stumbled into this picture by chance, but when Acda and he found themselves in the same room they formed an instant rapport. After this first record, 3 other solorecords followed. Chantal kept on searching for a deeper connection with the outside world and recorded "The Sparkle In Our Flaws" (2015) and "Bounce Back" (2017). She also released some live recordings with her band and also Bill Frisell, a highly respected jazz guitarist.(2018). These records were released on the German label Glitterhouse. Chantal and her band toured with these records in Europe. In 2019 Chantal created her first music/theatre performance P_wawau for Oerol Festival, The Netherlands. She worked with Valgeir Sigurdson (Björk, Bonnie Prince Billy,...) and singers from Het Nederlands Kamerkoor. As a result of this, she released the recorded music: Puwawau (2019). In 2021 Chantal released her most recent album Saturday Moon. (2021) For this album she worked with her band (Eric Thielemans, Alan Gevaert, Gaetan Vandewoude and Niels Van Heertum) but also with Bill Frisell, Shahzad Ismaily and Mimi and Alan Sparhawk (Low). Saturday Moon was very well received, internationally, by the press.

Eric Thielemans is a drummer and percussionist. Travelling across music scenes and disciplines, Thielemans navigates by means of his own compass. Most known for his resonant solo works like a Snare is a Bell, Sprang, Aural Mist and Bata Baba Loka and many collaborations with musicians in the experimental music scene, as well as the Jazz scene, and indie folk/pop/rock scenes Thielemans keeps on pushing the borders and expanding conscious aural spaces and territories. Recently, Thielemans has collaborated with PVT - a trio together with Mika Vainio & Charlemagne Palestine (album released April 2020) , PAT - a new trio together with Oren Ambarchi and Charlemagne Palestine, A new duo together with Oren Ambarchi, Billy Hart ("Talking about the Weather"), Chantal Acda ("The Sparkle in our Flaws", "Bounce Back", "Puwawau", "Saturday Moon"), Marshall Allen (Sun Ra), Tape Cuts Tape, Distance Light & Sky, Jozef Dumoulin, Trevor Dunn, Shahzad Ismaily, Vaast Colson, Nico Dockx, and many more. Currently Thielemans is working on r-e-s-o-n-a-n-c-e , a culminative work that encompasses and brings to the surface the underlying currents within his life in and with music. Withing r-e-s-o-n-a-n-c-e he investigates the everyday magic through conversations, writing and score writing to invite as many souls as possible to experience and co create the magic in the everyday.

“Klangstof are conducting deliciously evil experiments on indie rock.” – Clash. Klangstof recently returned to attention with the ‘Ocean View’ EP, which was one of two projects they recorded simultaneously in 2021. Its release added to the anticipation for the bigger set that was recorded at the same time, their third studio album ‘Godspeed To The Freaks’, which will be released on September 16th. The band today launch the album by sharing its lead single ‘Disguiser’. ‘Godspeed To The Freaks’ will see the Edison Award (the Dutch equivalent to the Grammy or BRITs) winning band add to the widespread tastemaker attention that has greeted their previous two albums. It’s an album which focuses on self-reflection; finding the courage to confront your inner self and being at peace with your demons. There’s a power that comes with the acceptance that every good day might have a touch of darkness to it. And in a further contrast to the electronic-orientated 2020 set ‘The Noise You Make Is Silent’, this record is focused primarily upon the warmth of its live instrumentation and the intuitive interplay between the band members. Remarkably, the bulk of ‘Godspeed To The Freaks’ was recorded in just two weeks. The trio - Koen van de Wardt, Wannes Salomé, and Erik Buschmann - were boosted by the addition of their touring guitarist Wouter Van Nienes and channelled the energy of their live show, an approach further amplified by recording in a temporary studio in De Bolder, a music venue on the tiny Dutch island of Vlieland. Klangstof essentially rehearsed, recorded and produced the core of the record themselves in that serene environment, giving them a bubble of freedom amidst a world in chaos. Any outside input only followed later, with additional mixing by Sam Petts-Davies (Radiohead, Frank Ocean) and mastering by Heba Kadry (Björk, Slowdive, Big Thief). The album campaign’s visual aesthetic features band portraits courtesy of the iconic photographer and director Anton Corbijn. His timeless photography includes shoots for R.E.M., U2 and Nick Cave, while Nirvana, Metallica and Depeche Mode lead his numerous renowned music videos. He is also a feature-length film director who is best known for the Ian Curtis / Joy Division biopic ‘Control’. Klangstof will play several European shows this summer as guests to Pixies, including Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl on July 5th. They will again link up with Pixies in December for a tour of Australia and New Zealand.

FATSO JETSON was formed in Palm Desert, CA, in 1994 and are often credited as one of the fathers of the desert strain of stoner rock made most famous by their slightly younger neighbours Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. While musically similar to some of their stoner brethren, FATSO JETSON incorporate a broader variety of musical influences that includes punk, blues, jazz and surf music. That is not to say that the band isn't capable of dishing out supremely heavy riffs... Certainly grounded in dense hard rock, FATSO JETSON experiment with many musical textures, angular instrumental epics, and bizarre lyrics to create a punk, blues art rock all their own. In 1995, the group recorded their debut "Stinky Little Gods" and followed that up in 1997 with "Power of Three" (both appeared on SST). Brant Bjork briefly joined up as second guitarist and appeared on two 7" releases. The band then teamed up with Bongload Records, who released FATSO JETSON's third full-length, "Toasted", in 1998. Guitarist and old friend Gary Arce joined the band to record their fourth LP "Flames for All" in 2000 for Artist Frank Kozik's Mans Ruin Label. FATSO JETSON also contributed to "The Desert Sessions" releases that Josh Homme organized, bringing desert musicians and other creative like-minded rock musicians together to collaborate. It was Homme's record label Rekords Rekords that released the next FATSO JETSON album in 2001 "Cruel and Delicious". For this session the band was joined by Vince Meghrouni on Sax and Harp, adding a new dimension to FATSO's hard to pin sound. The band continues with this line up in 2009. There must be something in the sand of sweltering Palm Desert, a California town that has birthed Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, as well as Fatso Jetson. Like Kyuss/QOTSA, Fatso Jetson built a name for themselves by putting their own unique spin on the Sabbath sound, but unlike their counterparts, larger than life singer/guitarist Mario Lalli's true love lies in both jazz (Thelonious Monk, Eric Dolphy) and experimental rock (Frank Zappa, Devo). On paper, this conglomeration of different styles sounds like the perfect recipe for a train wreck, but it somehow all comes together on disc, as evidenced by the trio's 2003 offering, Cruel & Delicious. Issued on old pal Josh Homme's label, Rekords Rekords, the trippy songs perfectly fit the feel of the album's cover (a sun-bleached photo of a long stretch of desert highway), especially such standouts as the saxophone free for all "Drinkin Mode," the melodic "Light Yourself on Fire," the bouncy instrumental "Heavenly Hearse," a barely recognizable cover of the Devo obscurity, "Ton O Luv," and the jazzoid freak-out, "Pig Hat Smokin." Cruel & Delicious is an enjoyable slice of hard rock, well off the beaten path. Originally released on CD via Josh Hommes rekords rekords label. Right in time for its 20th Originally released on CD in 2001 on Josh Hommes own Rekords Rekords-label and now on vinyl for the first time! 20th anniversary! Remastered for the vinyl release. This record is a classic and we’re happy and proud to put it out on wax! Track listing: Pleasure Bent; Drinkin’ MODE; Light Yourself On Fire; Died In California; Heavenly Hears; Ton O Luv; Pig Hat Smokin’; Superfrown; Iron Chef; Sunshine Enema; Party Pig; Stranglers Blues; Mountain Of Debt

"Kontakt Audio and Infinite Fog Productions proudly present the 25-th anniversary reissue of the one of most unique albums on avantgarde/neoclassic music – Ihor Tsymbrovsky – Come, Angel.

Recorded in 1995 in Ukraine and released in 1996 just as a small run on cassette on Polish label Koka Records, the album without any promotion little by little became legendary and madly wanted by many fans all around the world. And from the first seconds, you can hear why it is so. Pretty hard to explain what songs play Ihor, moreover that would be senseless. “Come, Angel” is one of those albums which are so unique that takes you in a vacuum of verbal forms in an attempt to describe the record. In a few words, this is definitely very intimate and deeply emotional music with an absolutely incredible voice. The first associations could forward you to Antony Hegarty from Antony And The Johnsons, Marc Almond, Arthur Russell, Baby Dee, Bjork. Experienced listener familiar with these great artist knows that all of them are inimitable and Ihor Tsymbrovsky is totally inimitable as well.

In 2016 well-known German label Offen Music published 3 tracks from the album “Come, Angel” which brought a lot of attention to Ihor’s music. This time we’re excited to announce the first full album reissue on CD, Double vinyl, and tapes. Beside the full version of the album, you’ll find an exclusive bonus song from the cult compilation “Music The World Does Not See” – Nefryt Records 2000.

~

“For me, music is a certain way of cultural survival. Here I do not set myself theoretical problems or experiments.
The connotations of life are important: rhythms, melodies, their connection with language, poetry, real life, virtual or imaginary space. It is very important to me how the recitation of work sounds, how consonant and vowel sounds dissolve in singing, how they combine musically. I understand sound space as a field of my interpretations, preferences, priorities, and I do not use direct imitation. If I hear a melody or a musical phrase, and it is fixed in my memory, later I extract it in my own interpretation, as already formed by this field. In art, the goal is in the work itself, not outside it. For me, the expression “To be is to create a new reality” is another winged reality.” – Ihor Tsymbrovsky

~~

“Tsymbrovsky – an architect, musician, a poet, an artist; one of the most underestimated musicians in Ukraine’s artistic world. Many critics pulled their hair out trying to get to the bottom of Tsymbrovsky’s music. It has been inspired by jazz, minimal, modern, ethnic, and meditation music. Tsymbrovsky is not a virtuoso, however, he creates whole worlds with his astonishing falsetto. Although Cymbrovsky’s music is simple it is made of many elements. Filled with magic and unusual sensitivity and warmth it can be therapeutic for the listener. This is that kind of music, which can be listened to many times – in a different way each time.” – Koka Records.

~~~

“Igor Tsymbrovsky’s only album “Come Angel” (1995) still remains perhaps the most bizarre phenomenon in Ukrainian music since independence. The story of its author is a vivid example of cultural amnesia. In the pre-Internet era, Tsymbrovsky was a prominent figure in the Ukrainian underground, performed on the “Red Route”, went on tour in Germany. However, he left a minimum of evidence of his activity and became a silent legend for a few. We talked to Igor to find out where he came from and where he was going.

The album “Come Angel” is eight compositions performed with a falsetto to the accompaniment of a piano. (Tsymbrovsky’s falsetto is a legacy of the Lviv Dudaryk choir, where he sang as a child.) It would seem that it could be easier. But, despite such ascetic tools, Tsymbrovsky managed to create a phenomenon unique to Ukrainian culture. Some people compare him to Benjamin Clementine and Anthony Hegarty, but no comparison will be exhaustive. The lyrics of the songs attract special attention: two of them were written by Tsymbrovsky himself, the others demonstrate his remarkable literary knowledge. Here and Guillaume Apollinaire, and Mikhaijl Semenko, and even less obvious poets, such as Mykola Vorobyov or Jozsef Attila.

The young performer’s first performance took place in 1987 in the club of the Forestry Institute. It is quite symbolic that this room used to be a Jesuit church because such a chamber environment suits his songs about angels much better than the noise of big festivals. However, there were also many festivals in Tsymbrovsky’s career: in 1989, Chorna Rada and Chervona Ruta, in 1991, Kharkiv’s Nova Scena and Ukrainian Nights in Gdansk, Alternativa in Lviv. Ihor calls his first performances musical performances and notes that they sounded completely different. Unfortunately, we will never know exactly how.” – Amnesia

~~~~

“The magicians at Dusseldorf’s Offen Music pluck a madly beguiling pearl of late-night songcraft by Ukraine’s Ihor Tsymbrovsky to follow their vital releases by Toresch and Rex Ilusivii. Come Angel was first recorded in Lviv, Ukraine, in 1995, and issued on cassette by Poland’s Koka Records in 1996. There appears to be no prior mention of the release or artist on the internet and quite how it came into of Offen Music possession is not disclosed, and that only ratchets the record’s enigma to astonishing degrees once you’ve heard the music. In a quivering, high register, androgynous trill, Ihor Tsymbrovsky beckons heavenly beings in the remarkable A-side Come, Angel against a swirling backdrop of phasing, subtly delayed organ. It was recorded in one take (this is the 2nd version), and, if we’re not mistaken, you can hear the keys being pressed rhythmically in the background, which seems to be the song’s only tangible connection to this mortal world as Ihor vaults octaves high and close-in-the-mix with the sort of alien, dreamlike vocal that requires pinching oneself to make sure you’re awake. Spellbinding is definitely the word. On the other side he (we’re assured it is a ‘he’ in the promo text) sets two poems by Mykola Vorobyov and Mykhal Semenko, respectively, to emphatic piano keys, this time more shy of FX save for some delay, placing that willowing, avian vocal at a dreamy arms reach in Roses for the Poet, and with a sort of liturgical dark jazz feel, sorta like Lewis repenting his sins as a castrato monk, in the spare atmosphere in By the Sea. This is gold-seal business, we tell ya. Clock the clips and clear some swooning room.” – Boomkat

credits:
Music By – Ihor Tsymbrovsky
Lyrics By: Ihor Tsymbrovsky (tracks: C2, D1)
Atilla Joszef (tracks: B1)
Mychajl Semenko (tracks: B2, C1,C3, D2)
Mykoła Worobjow (tracks: A1,A2)
Engineer – Edward Hryhorjew
Remastering – Ihor Tsymbrovsky"

Lampen is Kalle Kalima and Tatu Rönkkö. Kalle plays guitar, Tatu plays percussions and sampler. Together they're Lampen, a duo making highly addictive "post jazz" with a musical heart far beyond genre. Call it what you will, but the main point is listening, and there's a high season for that coming as Lampen is set to release their debut album on We Jazz Records on "Kintsugi Gold" vinyl and digitally. Previously a CD only release (Karkia Mistika Records, 2020), "Lampen" presents two artists who have a knack at making music which opens up with each listen, pulling you deeper and deeper. Meditative passages flow by slowly as in a peaceful river stream, erupting into full rapids of sound when the time is right. This is sonic rafting for the curious listener.

Tatu Rönkkö (b.1983) is a Finnish percussionist and drummer who has been active in the experimental music scene of Helsinki and Berlin during the past ten years and has toured Europe, U.S. and Asia extensively. He is a forming member of Liima (DK/FI) and has performed with such artists as Ilpo Väisänen (Pan Sonic), Samuli Kosminen (Múm), Jimi Tenor, Nils Frahm, Efterklang, Raoul Björkenheim, Elifantree and Islaja. Rönkkö has been playing improvised solo concerts in people's kitchens ("I Play Your Kitchen") using only kitchenware found in each home as instruments.

Kalle Kalima (b. 1973 in Helsinki, Finland) has worked with trumpeters Tomasz Stanko and Wadada Leo Smith, sax players Juhani Aaltonen, Anthony Braxton, bass players Greg Cohen and Sirone, guitarist Marc Ducret, composers Michael Wertmüller and Simon Stockhausen, pianists Jason Moran and Hans Lüdemann, drummers Jim Black and Tony Allen and singers Andreas Schaerer, Linda Sharrock as well as with Ensemble Resonanz and Jazzanova. Kalima has composed orchestral music for Opera Lyon, Ensemble Resonanz (Chamber Ensemble of Elbfilharmony in Hamburg), String Trio of Munich Symphony, NDR Big Band, Umo Big Band and Jousia Ensemble among others.

Trapped Animal Records are proud to present for the first time on vinyl, Stars and Rabbit's 2020 smasher 'Rainbow Aisle'. Remastered at Metropolis to lacquer and cut to 300 Purple Stripe 180GSM 12"s this is a very special package from Indonesian household names, Stars and Rabbit! // Press quotes : Alternative Fruit, UK - This fun and catchy album is laid back to back with classic numbers which each have a soul of their own. A friendly rock 'n' roll delivery mixed with classical melodies and homely closeness allows us to hear this band in person from wherever we happen to be. // Analogue Trash, UK - Reviewed (Little Mischievous) There’s a joy and innocence at the heart of Little Mischievous that is delightful and infectious, in large part down to the fun, rollercoaster vocals of Elda Suryani. Sounding like a cross between Nina Persson and Björk, her livewire performance is the perfect foil for Didit Saad’s equally electric lead guitar melody and the briskly bouncing arrangement. // Reviewed Naked King - They make up the central core of the song, as soft synths and lush strings wash in and out of perception, combining to confect a sweet sense of serenity. Though contemplative, Naked King looks outward and also seeks to engage the listener: the children’s choir and assertive guitar solo bringing the song to a euphoric crescendo, with Elda Suryani’s performance directing the song to ever greater heights. // Antenna, Japan - Stars and Rabbit were captivated by a variety of songs that sublimated 90s introspective alternative rock, mainly in Europe, such as Sigur Rós, Radiohead and Portishead. On one occasion, listeners like "Little Mischievous" show light guitar pops that can sing a long, and "Attic No.7" shows a jazzy, dark side like a trip hop. // Atwood Magazine, UK - Elda Suryani and Didit Saad make up the group and both employ signature rhythms and harmonies onto each song of theirs, and “Little Mischievous” is no exception with its slick guitar riffs and tantalizing vocal performance. // Beehive Candy, UK - Their new LP, Rainbow Aisle, a full spectrum of colors, showcasing their knack for groovy electro rock as well as intimate acoustic confessions. // Big Takeover, US - Wow, such a vocally and lyrically intriguing number! Yet again, there’s the ’90s alt-rock feeling, but the vocals are yes, mischievously impish; a teeny-tiny bit like SOAK vocally, but with a grainier, deeper timbre.

Nach einer 8-jährigen Pause legt das schwedische Kollektiv iamamiwhoami, bestehend aus der federführenden Produzentin ionnalee, dem Co-Produzenten Claes Björklund und Kameramann John Strandh, seine neue Arbeit vor. Ähnlich wie die Vorgänger ist 'Be Here Soon' ein eindringliches audiovisuelles Pop-Werk, bei dem parallel zum 10-Track-Album eine 10-Episoden-Videoserie erscheint. Hautfarbenes Vinyl. Live am 08.03.2023 im Berliner Kesselhaus.

The team at Diskotopia are extremely proud to present London via Tbilisi producer Sseq's debut self-titled LP. Sseq has been honing his craft over the past several years releasing music as part of the Body Thrills duo as well as DJing and playing live at Georgian clubs and festivals before making his move to the UK. Here on his stunning self-titled debut LP, Sseq materializes twelve abstracted and microcosmic jewels of interdimensional techno alchemy. The compositions bend and weave, flutter and spiral across synthetic textures and abstract rhythmic expressions that at once beguile and inspire. Sseq's sound is like an interstellar interpretation of what a sentient Buchla synth might dream of in zero gravity. RIYL Actress, Beatrice Dillon, Patten, Drexciya, Pole, and Björk-era Mark Bell productions. Sseq's debut LP was mastered by Dominic Clare at Declared Sound and will be available as a limited-edition cassette.

Camille Bertault and David Helbock are two of the most jawdroppingly talented members of the cohort of European jazz
musicians currently in their mid-Thirties. Their journeys in improvised
music are always adventurous, playful and exciting.
 She is the rising star of French vocal jazz. He, Austrian-born, is one
of the most fascinating pianists on the scene. Their personalities
appear to be polar opposites, yet Bertault’s livewire humour and
Helbock’s calm self-assuredness only appear different on the surface.
When it comes to the musical choices they make, they are
emphatically on the same page. Each is astonishingly versatile, with
an innate sense of dramaturgy. This voice / piano duo reaches
unbelievable levels of inventiveness here on ‘Playground’.
 “We both love Egberto Gismonti and Hermeto Pascoal, Björk and
Monk,” Helbock explains. “We also wanted a classical piece.” The
duo found the initial repertoire to explore and to spread their musical
wings with relative ease. Bertault’s vocal artistry is hers and hers
alone. Her voice is a magnificent instrument to carry a melody,
whether at breakneck speed and with devastating precision or at
pindrop volume. Helbock’s creativity, as he exploits all the sound
possibilities of the grand piano, is completely ‘sui generis’ as well. He
dampens the piano strings, he plays directly on them, he uses the
piano case as a percussion instrument, he makes use of electronics.
And ‘Playground’ is the first time he has worked with loops.
 His accompaniment therefore has an almost orchestral scale and
depth, a jewel case for this scintillating and very special voice. The
pair have written seven new numbers for the album: we hear the
whimsical blues of ‘Lonely Supamen’, the mysterious ‘Fabelwesen’,
the chanson-esque ‘Aide-moi’ and the ethereal-melancholic ‘Bizarre’.
 ‘Playground’ is a kaleidoscope of sounds and emotions which
invigorates, excites - and will always surprise. The craft and
technique may be breath taking, but neither musician ever forgets the
essential: “It’s not about showing strength or virtuosity, but about
expressing the truth of the moment,” says Camille Bertault. And that
is what she and David Helbock have delivered with each and every
track.

2020 erschien mit "KiCk i" der Grammy nominierte Auftakt zur Serie; auch nominiert bei den Latin Grammy Awards als "Best Alternative Music Album". 2021 setzt Arca mit "KICK ii" bis "IIIII" nun die "KiCk"-Serie auf XL Recordings fort. Jetzt erscheinen diese auch physisch auf CD und Vinyl! Als Künstlerin war Arca schon immer eine Gestaltenwandlerin - äußerlich wie musikalisch. Sie produzierte Musik für Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Björk, Kanye West und FKA twigs, komponierte Musik für das MoMA, trat 2020 mit den Labèque Schwestern, zwei fantastischen Pianistinnen, bei der Burberry Fashion-Show auf, schrieb einen Soundtrack-Beitrag für die HBO-Serie "Euphoria", erschuf gewaltige Noise-Skulpturen oder gab sich auf Partys als exaltierte Diva. Arca wurde für einen GLAAD Media Award nominiert und ist die erste nicht-binäre Künstlerin, die schließlich für einen GRAMMY nominiert wurde. Sie hat ihr eigenes Album-Artwork entworfen und gemalt, für Bottega Venetta, Calvin Klein und Loewe gemodelt, Musikinstrumente der nächsten Generation mitentwickelt und auch mit KI experimentiert. Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, wie Arca eigentlich heißt, wurde erst vor kurzem von Publikationen wie dem Time Magazine, Guardian, DAZED, Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum und der Los Angeles Times zur einer der innovativsten Künstlerinnen des 21. Jahrhundert ernannt. Als nonbinäre Latinx-Transfrau will Doña Arca die Rolle des Popstars für kommende Generation neu definieren - mit "KICK ii bis IIIII" entführt sie uns in diese Zukunft und öffnet die Tür in eine neue und nonbinäre Soundwelt.

2020 erschien mit "KiCk i" der Grammy nominierte Auftakt zur Serie; auch nominiert bei den Latin Grammy Awards als "Best Alternative Music Album". 2021 setzt Arca mit "KICK ii" bis "IIIII" nun die "KiCk"-Serie auf XL Recordings fort. Jetzt erscheinen diese auch physisch auf CD und Vinyl! Als Künstlerin war Arca schon immer eine Gestaltenwandlerin - äußerlich wie musikalisch. Sie produzierte Musik für Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Björk, Kanye West und FKA twigs, komponierte Musik für das MoMA, trat 2020 mit den Labèque Schwestern, zwei fantastischen Pianistinnen, bei der Burberry Fashion-Show auf, schrieb einen Soundtrack-Beitrag für die HBO-Serie "Euphoria", erschuf gewaltige Noise-Skulpturen oder gab sich auf Partys als exaltierte Diva. Arca wurde für einen GLAAD Media Award nominiert und ist die erste nicht-binäre Künstlerin, die schließlich für einen GRAMMY nominiert wurde. Sie hat ihr eigenes Album-Artwork entworfen und gemalt, für Bottega Venetta, Calvin Klein und Loewe gemodelt, Musikinstrumente der nächsten Generation mitentwickelt und auch mit KI experimentiert. Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, wie Arca eigentlich heißt, wurde erst vor kurzem von Publikationen wie dem Time Magazine, Guardian, DAZED, Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum und der Los Angeles Times zur einer der innovativsten Künstlerinnen des 21. Jahrhundert ernannt. Als nonbinäre Latinx-Transfrau will Doña Arca die Rolle des Popstars für kommende Generation neu definieren - mit "KICK ii bis IIIII" entführt sie uns in diese Zukunft und öffnet die Tür in eine neue und nonbinäre Soundwelt.

2020 erschien mit "KiCk i" der Grammy nominierte Auftakt zur Serie; auch nominiert bei den Latin Grammy Awards als "Best Alternative Music Album". 2021 setzt Arca mit "KICK ii" bis "IIIII" nun die "KiCk"-Serie auf XL Recordings fort. Jetzt erscheinen diese auch physisch auf CD und Vinyl! Als Künstlerin war Arca schon immer eine Gestaltenwandlerin - äußerlich wie musikalisch. Sie produzierte Musik für Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Björk, Kanye West und FKA twigs, komponierte Musik für das MoMA, trat 2020 mit den Labèque Schwestern, zwei fantastischen Pianistinnen, bei der Burberry Fashion-Show auf, schrieb einen Soundtrack-Beitrag für die HBO-Serie "Euphoria", erschuf gewaltige Noise-Skulpturen oder gab sich auf Partys als exaltierte Diva. Arca wurde für einen GLAAD Media Award nominiert und ist die erste nicht-binäre Künstlerin, die schließlich für einen GRAMMY nominiert wurde. Sie hat ihr eigenes Album-Artwork entworfen und gemalt, für Bottega Venetta, Calvin Klein und Loewe gemodelt, Musikinstrumente der nächsten Generation mitentwickelt und auch mit KI experimentiert. Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, wie Arca eigentlich heißt, wurde erst vor kurzem von Publikationen wie dem Time Magazine, Guardian, DAZED, Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum und der Los Angeles Times zur einer der innovativsten Künstlerinnen des 21. Jahrhundert ernannt. Als nonbinäre Latinx-Transfrau will Doña Arca die Rolle des Popstars für kommende Generation neu definieren - mit "KICK ii bis IIIII" entführt sie uns in diese Zukunft und öffnet die Tür in eine neue und nonbinäre Soundwelt.

Emotional Rescue looks back again with a 2022 repress, digging deep in to the early 80s Bristol post punk scene of Pig Pag, the Wild Bunch and the Dug Out club. A short lived project of just 3 releases, Mouth trail-blazed leftfield percussive jams in the rich vain of Liquid Liquid and ESG but in their own jazz-infused way.

Centered round the cultural melting post of the St Paul's district, it's pubs, clubs and blues parties threw together young and old to the sounds of dub, funk, jazz and soul and took the spark lit by punk rock and new wave and spawned music that still resonates today.

Consisting of a floating line up based around main members Andy Guy and Rob Merrill, alumina included a young Nellie Hooper before he would go on to be a founding member of the Wild Bunch and on to produce the likes of Bjork, U2 and Madonna.

Based around a hard tribal drumming, mixing guitar, trumpet, shouted vocals and effects, the thrown in the mix nature was inspired as much by avant-jazz than punk's do it yourself attitude.

Here then, on one EP are their complete recordings, including as the title cut, their best and deepest, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. Featured on a compilation LP from the legendary Y Records, its bottom heavy dub sound is augmented by female and toasted vocals riding a top a heavy stepper style riddim.

This is followed by an increasingly dizzy array of percussion jams. Acab (Part 2) is all skips and trumpets, while the versions of Take Your Coat Off perfect skat vocal / tom interplay, before the finale busts out the rockabilly influences in full effect with jagged guitar, skipping hats meets double bass punk style.

Repress !

(November Collective Title) Meditative but heaving with energy, Son Lux's third full-length weaves disparate elements into songs both strange and welcoming. On the heals of being named NPR's 'Best New Artist of the Year', Son Lux has created an album that sits as comfortably next to the compositions of Stravinsky, John Adams, David Lang and Ben Frost, as it does to those of Jamie Lidell, Björk, Flying Lotus, and Radiohead. Equal parts producer and composer, Son Lux (aka Ryan Lott) bridges an unusual gap between old-world music theory and next-level experimentation. Meditative but heaving with energy, 'Lanterns' finds a peculiar congruency between futuristic soul and ancient sentiment. Driving orchestral electronica (Lost It To Trying, No Crimes) is placed alongside creepy minimalism (Pyre), often starkly juxtaposing densely layered arrangements with Lott's fragile voice. In recent past Son Lux has gained notoriety both for his s/s/s project (with Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti), and from being named NPR's 'Best New Artist of the Year'. His third full-length album, and his first for Joyful Noise (Kishi Bashi, Sebadoh, etc.), positions Son Lux at the helm of an impressive ensemble of instrumentalists and singers, including Chris Thile (The Punch Brothers), Peter Silberman (The Antlers), DM Stith, Lily & Madeleine, Darren King (Mutemath), Ieva Berberian (Gem Club) and yMusic (Dirty Projectors, Bon Iver).

In the past few years, Clarice Jensen has forged her own path. Recently, her focus has shifted to film scoring, successfully recording work for three feature films between 2020 and 2021. At the same time, Clarice continues to serve as artistic director of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, while continually collaborating with an impressive array of musicians, such as Max Richter, Björk and Stars of the Lid, to name a few.

That being said, it was her 2019 tape release on Geographic North, »Drone Studies«, that initially caught the attention of a wider audience, with the work showcasing a compelling assembly of deeply immersive drones, and elegantly orchestrated compositions, in which neoclassical elements collide with electric density.

Three years later, the work has lost none of its innovative character and appeal. It also documents a turning point in Clarice's career, one where her classically trained background started to converged and overlap with her interests in improvisational electronics and drone music. As a result, the aptly titled »Drone Studies« shows Clarice at her most exploratory, introspective, and daring, channeling her areas of interest into a collage of richly textured timbers and cello movements of sublime tension.

Now for the first time, the original album can be experienced through an expanded vinyl reissue, mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri, and carefully adjusted for vinyl by Ian Hawgood. The new reissue also features an additional track by Clarice called »Platonic Solids 2«, which was originally conceived around the same time as »Drone Studies«, and which has now been made available exclusively for the vinyl edition.

We hope that this new reissue will aid in introducing Clarice's groundbreaking »Drone Studies« to a new crowd of listeners through this expanded edition.

Praised for his genuine originality, the American-Canadian Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. In 2004 he released Want Two, his fourth studio album. According to Wainwright himself, it is the darker sibling of 2003’s Want One - its subject matter concerned with “the world we live in” after Want One focus on the intensely personal. Wainwright produced the album in collaboration with Grammy Award winning British producer Marius de Vries, who is best known for work with U2, Madonna and Björk.

His mother Kate McGarrigle and aunt Anna McGarrigle both sing on the track “Hometown Waltz”. The album also features Wainwright’s popular tracks “The One You Love”, “Agnes Dei” and “Old Whore’s Diet”. The latter features Anohni from Antony and the Johnsons.

Want Two includes an insert with lyrics.

A supergroup comprising Deerhoof + Juana Molina + Kasai Allstars + Konono No.1 + Skeletons + Wildbirds & Peacedrums. It all started when the music of Konono No.1 and Kasai Allstars was first released in the US and Europe, in the later part of the '00s. With its blend of ritual music, traditional percussion, thumb pianos, electric guitars, and makeshift instruments made from junkyard scrap, their out-of-this-world sound now also known as Congotronics, a word coined to title the series in which their albums appeared on Crammed Discs - deeply struck the imagination of musicians and fans worldwide. Leading rock media enthused about this newly rediscovered brand of "primal rock", while an impressive string of avant-rock, electronic & hip hop artists (from Dirty Projectors, Andrew Bird, Animal Collective and Deerhoof to Beck, Björk, Wilco, Radiohead, Saul Williams, Questlove and many more) repeatedly quoted the Congotronics bands as major sources of inspiration.

2020 erschien mit "KiCk i" der Grammy nominierte Auftakt zur Serie; auch nominiert bei den Latin Grammy Awards als "Best Alternative Music Album". 2021 setzt Arca mit "KICK ii" bis "IIIII" nun die "KiCk"-Serie auf XL Recordings fort. Jetzt erscheinen diese auch physisch auf CD und Vinyl! Als Künstlerin war Arca schon immer eine Gestaltenwandlerin - äußerlich wie musikalisch. Sie produzierte Musik für Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Björk, Kanye West und FKA twigs, komponierte Musik für das MoMA, trat 2020 mit den Labèque Schwestern, zwei fantastischen Pianistinnen, bei der Burberry Fashion-Show auf, schrieb einen Soundtrack-Beitrag für die HBO-Serie "Euphoria", erschuf gewaltige Noise-Skulpturen oder gab sich auf Partys als exaltierte Diva. Arca wurde für einen GLAAD Media Award nominiert und ist die erste nicht-binäre Künstlerin, die schließlich für einen GRAMMY nominiert wurde. Sie hat ihr eigenes Album-Artwork entworfen und gemalt, für Bottega Venetta, Calvin Klein und Loewe gemodelt, Musikinstrumente der nächsten Generation mitentwickelt und auch mit KI experimentiert. Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, wie Arca eigentlich heißt, wurde erst vor kurzem von Publikationen wie dem Time Magazine, Guardian, DAZED, Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum und der Los Angeles Times zur einer der innovativsten Künstlerinnen des 21. Jahrhundert ernannt. Als nonbinäre Latinx-Transfrau will Doña Arca die Rolle des Popstars für kommende Generation neu definieren - mit "KICK ii bis IIIII" entführt sie uns in diese Zukunft und öffnet die Tür in eine neue und nonbinäre Soundwelt.

Planet Mu presents ‘ADDLE’ – Bogdan Raczynski’s first album of new music in 15 years. Marking a change from the high-octane jungle tekno braindance for which he is most commonly known, here we find the Polish American musician in a more melodic and zen-like place of peace, which is ergonomic and decluttered, whilst also bittersweet and tinged with melancholy. ‘ADDLE’ is closest in spirit to 2001’s tender ‘myloveilove’, or the light-hearted ditties of this year’s ‘BANANS’ EP, but is also a markedly new milestone. A robust and bottom-heavy rhythm section juxtaposes with sad electronic tear jerkers, at points laced with the soft cooing wail of his vocals, which are loaded with a haunting, heavy and almost wounded emotion. Bogdan comments “Calm is great. You need to take a breather in the eye of the storm now and then. But the real growth happens in turbulence, when your feelings oscillate in and out of sync. It’s not dry land you’re after. You’re trying to build a new island while on a piddly raft. Beleaguered and weary you lay the foundation with your bare hands while the rain lashes your back; a new place for you and yours to moor yourself to until the next storm hits. ‘ADDLE’ is about that storm, its adjacent periphery, and what you look like, in and out, when you set foot. As space and time push against you, that process of adapting becomes an anchor. Among that state of being addled, out of flow, seemingly untethered, there is beauty.”

Although less unhinged and riotous than some of his previous work, ‘ADDLE’ is no less impactful. Lean, punchy and purposeful, this seemingly simple combination of beats and melody belies a razor sharp skill, which bursts with verve and virtuosity. Across its eight unique and moving tracks the listener experiences tenderness, feelings somewhere between unease and comfort, and a sense of reflection, with Bogdan seemingly gazing at twinkling stars, but with his view distorted by welling-up. Sonically, spaces range from razor-sharp choppage, juddering heavyweight head-nodders, bit-crushed siren squall and something akin to Philip Glass’ ‘Candyman’ score played through a high-tech-fairy-tale music box. There’s also a warming, life-affirming moment as close to deep house as Bogdan will ever comfortably get, neck-snapping metallic percussion, Casiotone on steroids and reverberant warehouse throb. Booming drum machines are a prominent factor too – reminiscent of early hip hop instrumentals – but spirited off somewhere, lost in purgatory. Bogdan Raczynski (born 1977) is a Polish-American electronic musician. Raczynski’s work draws inspiration from the chaotic breakbeats of jungle and hardcore rave as well as traditional Polish music and other sources. He has collaborated with Bjork, remixed Autechre, CLPNG and Jonsi from Sigur Ross, and toured with Aphex Twin, who commented how “his records are so underrated.” Bogdan was also a roster mainstay of Richard James’s seminal Rephlex label, with additional releases on Warp, Ghostly, Disciples and Unknown to the Unknown. A keen proponent of tech, he created a sample pack using pollution and recently collaborated with Polyend on a custom made banana-themed tracker.

Scott Walker, PJ Harvey, Coil, Matmos, Autechre & Pan Daijing. 180g LP with inner, 12”x24”poster + DL card. The Debut Full-Length By Montréal Producer Kee Avil, The Project Led By Avant/Improv Guitarist Vicky Mettler, Also Known As A Member Of Sam Shalabi’s Land Of Kush And As Co-Founder Of Concrete Sound Montréal. Advance Single “See, My Shadow” Premiered By Mary Ann Hobbs On BBC6 And Picked Up By Music & Riots, Backseat Mafia, Aural Aggravation, Etc In Dec 2021. Kee Avil, a project led by Montréal producer and guitarist Vicky Mettler: a singular expression of fractured dream logic concretized in chiselled postpunk guitar, sinuous low-end electronics, a panoply of organic and digital samples creating alternately twitchy and propulsive rhythm, and the anxious intimacy of her finely wrought lyricism and vocals. Bound by an outstanding production sensibility throughout, Crease unfolds one oblique earworm hook after another, with compositional innovation anchored to an inscrutable and compelling voice across 10 songs of tremendous and imaginative sonic detail. Kee Avil brings a contemporary electroacoustic sensibility to bear on traditions and conventions of pop, postpunk, electronic and sound-art songwriting, where touchstones range from Scott Walker and Coil to Fiona Apple, (early) PJ Harvey and (later) Juana Molina to Eartheater, Pan Daijing and Smerz; or Grouper produced by Autechre. Her unconventional alloys also conjure the guitar-inflected deconstructions of Gastr del Sol and the crystalline micro-worlds of Bjork, Matmos and Rashad Becker. Crease is one of those debut records that excites a wide range of peerless references precisely because it's so compelling in its own idiosyncratic authority, originality and execution. Each song on Crease is its own sculpture, meticulously assembled to resemble disassembly: “each of these worlds was built without consideration for the other; it felt impossible to me, once I would enter the atmosphere of a song, to try to start another until that idea was finished.” The album nonetheless unfolds in impressive holistic integration through a palette of textures and techniques deployed in recurring but continually refracted ways. Alongside her superb austere guitar work stitched into electro-industrial, dark-ambient and minimal-techno soundworlds, it’s her voice and lyrics confidential, hermetic, implacable that provide the galvanizing, always captivating through-line. Her more compositional, exacting, (de)constructed musical identity was first unveiled with the self-titled Kee Avil EP (Black Bough Records) and further honed by pre-pandemic tours sharing stages with Pere Ubu, Marc Ribot and Bill Orcut among others. Woodshedding since then, Crease presents a quantum leap in Kee Avil's exploration of studio-based experimentation, arrangement and production, signaling the arrival of a brilliantly genre-melding, refined and assiduous new voice in avant-garde songcraft.

Multi-instrumentalist UMUT ÇAĞLAR (KONSTRUKT, KARKHANA), former BABA ZULA-drummer FAHRETTIN AYKUT and the Finnish saxophone player / shakuhachi specialist JONE TAKAMAKI join forces in a stunning improvised live set that blends Free Jazz with East-Asian ZEN-sounds.

The idea for "Myth Of The Drum. Urban Transformation" dates from an art exhibition in Istanbul 2017 where FAHRETTIN AYKUT exhibited an installation called "Urvban Transformation" that combined painting and music, dealing with the relation of humankind and earth which is symbolized through a tree put upside-down.. AYKUT, former drummer in the Turkish group BABA ZULA and these days a well-known architect in Turkey, asked his longtime friend UMUT CAGLAR, multi-instrumentalist in KONSTRUKT and KARKHANA, to join for an actual performance … CAGLAR on his side was in touch with JONE TAKAMAKI who has been a central figure of the Finnish Free Jazz / Avantgarde scene since the 1970s. His album "Universal Mind" (1982) is a sought-after collector's item of European Spiritual Jazz, he was a member of the group ROOMMUSHKLAHN (with RAOUL BJÖRKENHEIM a.o.) and in 1991 he joined the ECM signed Finnish jazz/rock/improv collective KRAKATAU, founded and run by RAOUL BJÖRKENHEIM, and last but not least TAKAMAKI received the first ever Pekka Pöyry Award. Besides being deeply rooted in jazz, he is also a specialist in Japanese shakuhachi and hocchiku flute playing which makes this adhoc-trio so extraordinary: repetitive drumming, shamanistic throat sounds and plenty of string and reed instruments, a constant ebb and flow of sounds and energy … neither pure jazz nor world music but a blend of both, forming a fascinating third! Meditative in its continuously pulsating rhythm, cathartic in the moments of sonic outbursts …

A few months after the Istanbul art fair performance, the trio (augmented to a quartet by ALAN WILKINSON) played 2 showsatLondon's Cafe OTO and gossip has it saying that THURSTON MOORE who attended the show confessed afterwards that he was very touched emotionally.

Credits:

All Music by Fahrettin Aykut/Umut Çağlar/Jone Takamäki.

A Konstrukt Joint.

Jone Takamäki: tenor saxophone, ney, shakuhachi, clarinet.

Umut Çağlar: guimbri, kalimba, gralla, zurna, mey, flutes.

Fahrettin Aykut: electronic percussion; drums, cymbals.

Recorded live at BantMag. Havuz/Bina in Istanbul (October 3rd, 2017) through a Tascam portable recorder.

Produced by Umut Çağlar.

Mastered & cut by Anne Traegert at D&M, Berlin

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- FIRST TIME ON VINYL
- 4 PAGE BOOKLET

The successful Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette released her seventh studio album Flavors Of Entanglement in 2008. She wrote and recorded the album with the British composer Guy Sigsworth (Björk, Madonna etc.). The album was written during a very challenging time in her personal life (break-up with actor Ryan Reynolds). It is the reason that she combines a lot of different musical genres in the sound of the album, including hip-hop, electronic and alternative rock. The album is hailed by critic as a longstanding masterpiece, fully understandable when you listen to the depth and structured layers of the songs. She shows her personal feelings in the tracks of heartbreak, regret and anger.

The first track on the album, Citizen Of The Planet' focuses on her new sound, while the first single Underneath' is about difficulties in communication.

The Queen of alt-rock angst sold over 75 million records worldwide. She is known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and here thoughtful lyrics.

The vinyl edition includes a 4 page booklet with information about the songs and the album is released on vinyl for the first time.

PAUL DRAPER RETURNS WITH HIS NEW ALBUM, 'CULT LEADER
TACTICS'
Former Mansun frontman, Paul Draper, returns with a collection of his
fnest songwriting since the bands' imperial phase
'Cult Leader Tactics' is a self-help manual on how to become a complete cult in
the music industry & is his frst solo album since 2017's much- lauded 'Spooky
Action'.
'Cult Leader Tactics' offers a satirical analysis of the self-help manual genre. A
guide on how you can get to the top of your chosen profession, or ahead in life &
in affairs of the heart, by acting in a Machiavellian manner, employing dirty tricks
or 'Cult Leader Tactics' to achieve your life goals. After experiencing these types
of human behaviours & themes, the album arrives at the conclusion that the only
true answer in life is love.
Paul plays most of the instruments on the album, including lead vocals, guitar &
various Moogs & synthesisers. An album produced with long-time collaborator &
acclaimed producer Paul 'P-Dub' Walton (Massive Attack, The Cure, Bjork) at Loft
Studios, it also includes guest appearances from Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson
& Gam of the band 'Sweat' as well as featuring a 288- person C.L.T. Lockdown
Choir.
'Cult Leader Tactics' offers a selection of Paul's most focused & ambitious work
so far, a brilliantly dark commentary on an industry he is all too aware of.
Digipack edition with 16-page bookletOn tour across the UK from 27th February
to 23rd March 2022.'Cult Leader Tactics' will be available via Kscope.

‘The Alienist: Angel Of Darkness (Original Series
Soundtrack)’ is now available on vinyl.
 The album features music by Ivor Novello Awardwinning composer Bobby Krlic (The Haxan Cloak).
 The album is pressed on blue vinyl, with a deluxe
spined sleeve with deboss artwork and the vinyl itself
housed in its own double sided inner sleeve. Digital
download card included.
 Bobby Krlic is an award-winning British artist,
composer and music producer based in Los Angeles.
Over the past decade, Krlic has created music under
the The Haxan Cloak, releasing two critically
acclaimed full-length albums (2011’s ‘The Haxan
Cloak’ and 2013’s ‘Excavation’) and touring
extensively as a solo artist building a devout fanbase.
As a producer, Krlic has worked with artists including
Björk, Khalid, Troye Sivan, Goldfrapp, serpentwithfeet,
The Body and noise-rock band HEALTH.
 Krlic scored Ari Aster’s 2019 horror film ‘Midsommar’,
earning him an Ivor Novello Award for Best Original
Film Score. Last year, he made new music for ‘Red
Dead Online’ and also co-produced Father John
Misty’s ‘To S.’ and ‘To R.’.
 An unflinching, gripping, turn-of-the-century murder
mystery that traverses both New York’s wealthy elite
and the struggling underbelly of the city’s ‘Gilded Age’,
‘The Alienist’ follows Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl),
a brilliant and obsessive ‘alienist’ in the controversial
new field of treating mental pathologies.

4 Reworked & Reimagined tracks from Motherhood and a cover of Deftone’s “Teenager”. Clear w/ Blue Glitter Colored Cassette Shell, with full pull-out J-Card artwork. Recommended If You Like : Bjork’s Live Box, The Deftones Cate Le Bon. Montreal’s No Joy—since 2009, a noisy four-piece shoegaze band, from 2015 onward, the sonic experiments of founding member and principal vocalist Jasamine White-Gluz has rejected convention, opting to find cohesion in vast, bold, indiscernible structures. In the beginning, the group excavated melodious riffs from squalling guitars, now, White-Gluz approaches songwriting with abstract meticulousness, no longer tethered to her six-string instrument. In 2018, it was the modular electronica of No Joy / Sonic Boom, an EP collaboration with Spaceman 3’s Pete Kember. In 2020, her first full-length as a soloist and No Joy’s first album in five years, Motherhood, her guitar returned for a genre-agnostic, maximalist treatise on aging. Fertility, family, death, birth, her voice heard loud in the mix, White-Gluz became a commanding force among the many-splendored sounds of trip-hop, trance, nu-metal, dance rock, and, of course, shoegaze, delivered through banjo, vibraphone, scrap metal, slap bass, even kitchen appliances. Who knew chaos could have such lucidity? Now, White-Gluz’s ever-expansive evolution has brought forth Can My Daughter See Me From Heaven, an EP reanimation of five songs from Motherhood, transformed by new orchestral instrumentalists: an opera singer, a cellist, a harpist, French horn musician. These songs, recorded entirely remotely, are not a correction. They are a spring rebirth—an opportunity to grow those tracks, similar to the transformation they would’ve undergone live, on stage. “Songs take on a new life when I’m on tour. These songs didn’t get that chance. I still had more to say with them,” White-Gluz explains. “I probably never would’ve been like ‘let’s get a bunch of classically trained players together,’ if it wasn’t for covid-19 canceling tours. This EP was an opportunity to do something that wasn’t obvious. It’s a bedroom recording, but it doesn’t sound like we recorded this in our bedrooms. I wanted to do something that sounded bigger than Motherhood did, and Motherhood was recorded before covid.” Where many musicians used last year’s disaster to look inward, releasing solitary, insular albums, No Joy did the opposite: “It was more, ‘Let’s try everything!’ Give me something to look at!”

Houndstooth präsentiert das zweite Album der Berliner Produzentin Lotic aka J'Kerian Morgan aus Houston, Texas, die als Mitglied des Berliner Janus-Kollektivs bekannt wurde, zwei Vulnurica-Remixes für Björk produzierte und 2018 ihr Debütwerk 'Power' auf TriAngle Records veröffentlichte. 'Water' ist eine zärtliche Meditation über Verlust und die Lebenskraft der Liebe. Die Stücke drehen sich um einen 808 Subbass, wobei Vibrationen und Brummen anstelle von Klarheit und Trennung treten. Die Drums werden zu einer pudrigen Wärme aufgeweicht, jedes Kapitel entfaltet sich wie ein symphonisches Klanggedicht. Einfühlsame Schilderungen von Liebesbeziehungen zu anderen und zum eigenen Ich, zu Herkunft und Identität, werden durch atemberaubende neue Ausdrucksformen ekstatischer Stimmen geprägt.

Founded in 2014 in Berlin by The Oath front woman Johanna Sadonis, the group first consisted of Cathedral, Angel Witch and Ladytron members. The debut album “Lucifer I”, penned by Johanna and Cathedra’s Garry Jennings and released by British label Rise Above Records, brought LUCIFER international recognition. With a shift of constellation within the band in 2016 and Johanna Sadonis’ move from Berlin to Stockholm, LUCIFER were ready for chapter two. In Nicke Andersson, notable for his groups The Hellacopters, Entombed, Imperial State Electric, Death Breath among others, Johanna found a new renowned writing partner. Relentless touring and recording have turned LUCIFER into an explosive live beast and a reliable source of timeless rock and roll.
LUCIFER wasted no time and used the pandemic to record yet another long player that rings in a new chapter and dives even further into the grande realms of colossal old fashioned rock, with a severe morbid twist. For this opus they entered guitarist Linus Björklund’s Studio Ryssviken for an even more heart pounding drum sound while continuing their work at The Honk Palace. They expanded their song writing partnership within the band and Johanna has not only penned the new material with Nicke but also with guitarist Linus, as well as guitarist Martin Nordin contributing. With “Lucifer IV” the group is proving furthermore to be steadily building their very own pillar of rock history, brick by brick. The first single to give you a glimpse of what’s to come is “Wild Hearses” - buckle up for a deliciously morbid sweet and heavy ride past tombs and churches!
“Lucifer IV” is available as Ltd. 180g Gatefold LP + CD (in deluxe hardcover gatefold sleeve), Ltd. CD Digipak and Digital Album

-io is the sixth album by vocalist and composer
Haley Fohr, best known as Circuit des Yeux.
A celebrated figure in Chicago’s music community,
she has released acclaimed albums via De Stijl,
Thrill Jockey and Drag City and toured throughout
the world. However, ‘-io’ is Circuit des Yeux’s most
ornate and elaborate work to date - a set of
compositions that nest Fohr’s otherworldly fouroctave voice amid a 24-piece string, brass and
wind ensemble.
The album was put to tape last fall by Cooper
Crain at Chicago’s Electrical Audio studio and
mixed by Marta Salogni (Bjork, Holly Herndon)
with Fohr acting as arranger and producer. Written
in the wake of personal loss and recorded in the
midst of the pandemic, ‘-io’ maps a geography of
grief - a place where “everything is ending all the
time.”
While Fohr’s music has never been short on
ambition, these songs are striking in their brilliance
and strangeness. On '-io', Circuit des Yeux has
delivered a work that is vivid, immense and fully
illuminated.

A Fantastic Woman (Spanish: Una mujer fantástica) is a 2017 drama film directed by Sebastián Lelio and written by Lelio and Gonzalo Maza. It was selected as the Chilean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film where it won in the 90th Academy Awards. The film is about Marina, a transgender woman who works as a waitress and moonlights as a nightclub singer, is bowled over by the death of her older boyfriend. It premiered at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017 where it won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and the Teddy Award, an award given to films with a LGBT theme.

Matthew Herbert is an award-winning composer, artist, producer and writer. He has had work commissioned by the Royal Opera House, the BBC and has remixed iconic artists such as Quincy Jones, Ennio Morricone and been a longtime collaborator of Bjork’s, but he is best known for working with sound, turning ordinary or so-called found sound in to electronic music.

This is a limited edition contains of 1000 individually numbered copies on transparent pink coloured vinyl. The LP package contains an insert with notes from director Sebastián Lelio.

The Body and BIG|BRAVE are both bands possessed with an
unequalled ability to convey overwhelming weight with
simplicity, repetition and detailed sonic atmospheres; artists who
continue to alter the definition of what it means to be a heavy
band.
The Body are consistently prolific while increasingly ambitious
as untethered producers and collaborators. BIG|BRAVE shape
sound with dense waves of guitar and feedback, minimalist and
hypnotic crashes and emotionally exacting vocal melodies. In
collaboration, The Body and BIG|BRAVE shift the gravity of
their compositions to woven layers of percussion and
unspooling guitars that sprawl through stark frameworks of
earthy folk.
Their debut collaborative album, ‘Leaving None But Small Birds’
distils the two ensembles’ pioneering approach to heavy music
into psalms for the forgotten, threnodies of lost love and odes to
vengeance.
Recorded, mixed and produced by Seth Manchester at
Machines With Magnets (Liturgy, Battles, Mdou Moctar) and
mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, David Bowie).
“Emotionally coherent but tricky to categorize. BIG|BRAVE are
the sound of the raw unconscious, turned up loud.” - Pitchfork
“The Body have become one of the most interesting and difficult
to pin down groups in extreme music.” - Rolling Stone
CD in gatefold packaging with lyrics.
LP packaged with digital download card and inner sleeve with
lyrics.
Available to independent retailers on ‘LEVON’ (greenish clear)
coloured vinyl.
Cover features artwork by Bo Orr (also created artwork and
videos for Full of Hell and The Body).

Midsommar is a folk horror film written and directed by Ari Aster. It follows a couple (played by Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor) and their friends who travel to Sweden for a festival that occurs only once every
90 years, only to find out that it’s part of a Scandinavian pagan cult. The film was released in 2019 to positive reviews. Music plays a key role in the film. The score was created by Bobby Krlic, a.k.a. the Haxan Cloak, who has also produced for Father John Misty, Goldfrapp, Troye Sivan, Björk and many more. Rather than creating a typical horror score, Krlic made beautiful and harmonious compositions that complement the film’s setting in rural Sweden, while still maintaining an unsettling sense of terror.

'A Mythology of Circles' is the new album from Brooklyn-based composer and musical artist Faten Kanaan, her first to be released on Fire Records. Cyclical patterns and 'variation through repetition' are central to Faten's music. Harmony and counterpoint are composed intuitively and treated as narrative tools- with sound, silence, and the resulting mystical relationship between notes used as gestures to tell a wordless story. The album is separated into a 'dusk to evening' side, and an 'underworld/dream-state' side; highlighting the myths of Ishtar, Inanna, Orpheus, Persephone, and others. Inspired by cinematic forms and mythological story structures: from sweeping landscapes and quiet romances, to patterned tensions and dream sequences; Faten brings an earthy, visceral touch to electronic music. In symbiosis with technology is an appreciation for the vulnerability of human limitations and nuances. All the sections are played in real time, neither looped nor sequenced- allowing for subtle changes to unfold. The use of VST sampled choral voices in this album embodies the forlorn state of technological acceleration, and the desire to return to a vulnerable human sound. The album art also explores a complicated relationship with technology: the statue comes from a series of digital replicas, returning in its last stage to a more intimate and handmade feel. Composed, produced and mixed by Faten Kanaan, the album was mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Julianna Barwick). "Strangely haunting yet beautiful bouquet of nocturnal, electronic blooms ranging from poignant ambient vignettes to chamber-like pop, from Brooklyn's Faten Kanaan- a gifted musical story-teller" Boomkat

Das Schaffen von Kasper Bjørke hat sich im Laufe seiner Karriere ständig weiterentwickelt. Nach dem Debüt Album In Gumbo (2007) veröffentlichte er regelmäßig weitere Alben und EPs, beeinflusst von Post-Punk, Krautrock, Italo-Disco, Techno, House und Elektro sowie neuerdings auch Neoklassik und Ambient. Kasper hat mehr als 50 Künstler geremixt - als DJ ist er ausgiebig getourt und trat in einigen der legendärsten Clubs und Festivals auf. Nach The Fifty Eleven Project auf Kompakt (2018) und Nothing Gold Can Stay (2019) ist
das neue Album Sprinkles das achte Studioalbum von Kasper Bjørke.

Sprinkles klingt wie eine utopische Postkarte - abgeschickt in der Vergangenheit und mit Hoffnungen für die Zukunft. Verwurzelt in einem farbenfrohen Sound - gefüllt mit Licht und Wärme - verschmelzen die balearischen Vibes und Dream-House-Grooves mit Synth-Chören Gitarren, Fretless- und Acid-Basslinien und verflechten sich spielerisch zu einem klanglichen Bewusstseinsstrom; eine Fata Morgana der Vergangenheit und dessen, was sein wird. Die hypnotisierende Arbeit "Sprinkles" des bildenden Künstlers Luca Bjørnsten zeigt einen leeren, üppigen und bunten Garten mit einem großen, romantischen Springbrunnen und verkörpert perfekt das surreale Szenario, mit dem wir alle viel zu vertraut geworden sind. Das 13-Track-Instrumentalalbum folgt auf eine Reihe von Singles in diesem Frühjahr und Sommer und ist wie ein Hauch frischer Luft und ein dringend benötigter, warmer Sonnenstrahl.

“Montreal’s genre-defying post-rock combo BIG|BRAVE could very well be the most noteworthy recent heavy curiosity to come out of the city in recent years.” - NOISEY

“…combines elements of Björk, Neurosis and Sunn O))) into a cohesive whole; but this whole is an ever evolving and challenging sonic mass.
- THE QUIETUS

Minimalism and instinct, structure/freedom and meticulous timing form the cornerstones of their precise, rhythmical sound.
Lyrically, the album explores the weight of race and gender, endurance and navigating other people’s behaviours, observation and protest. The band further comment “this album involves what it means navigating the outside world in a racialized body and what it does to the psyche as a whole while finding individual worth within this reality.”
This time featuring the core trio Robin Wattie, Mathieu Ball and Tasy Hudson, for their most collaborative record they’ve made so far. The band elaborate “having cut our teeth in very different musical backgrounds respectively, our intuitions vary, which has an interesting effect on our individual approaches and ears.”
For this record, BIG | BRAVE once again made the trek down to Rhode Island to record with Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets. They remark “we fully trust his instinct as an engineer and his creative output, getting to experiment with textures, concepts, layers, and with pretty much every single recorded sound, the process of making records with Seth is an absolute journey and pleasure.”
With the initial seeds planted in 2012, with no other goal than simply experimenting with the instruments in their possession, Robin Wattie and Mathieu Ball started writing subtle ambient/minimalistic folk songs together. When long time friend Louis Alexandre Beauregard joined on drums, the goal still remained to play as tranquil as possible. After an incident where Wattie’s acoustic guitar broke, and having borrowed a friend’s electric as a replacement, larger amps that Ball had in storage from previous bands started to get incorporated to the outfit. Now with amplitude as a compositional tool, BB never lost interest in the power of minimalism and fragility. It became clear that loud volume would become just as effective as the lowest possible ones and the juxtaposition of both would become something BB still uses as their main MO to this day.
After self-releasing Feral Verdure in 2014, the band had the opportunity to open for Thee Silver Mt Zion in Montreal QC. After which, Efrim Manuel Menuck found something meaningful in the members and the band and invited them to open on future shows with Mt Zion and with Godspeed! You Black Emperor.
In 2015, the band entered the studio with Menuck and recorded “Au De La”. With no home for the record, they decided to take a chance in writing to Southern Lord. As luck would have it, Greg Anderson happened upon their email among hundreds and responded. Since then, the band has had a home with Southern Lord Records. (Along with Au De La, Southern Lord has released Ardor in 2017, A Gaze Among Them in 2019 and VITAL in 2021).
After Beauregard’s departure in 2018, the band traveled down to Rhode Island with Loel Campbell on drums to make a first record with Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets. After the album’s release, with Campbell unable to tour, Tasy Hudson joined the ranks and the band spent most of the year touring their 2019 album “A Gaze Among Them”.
In 2020, the core trio of Ball, Wattie and Hudson once again made the trek down to Machines with Magnets to record their 5th LP “VITAL”.
Since their inception, the band has had many honours and privileges of touring a number of times in North America and Europe with bands such as Sunn O))), MY DISCO, The Body, Thou, Primitive Man and Thee Silver Mt Zion.

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

From the moment she began writing her new album, Japanese
Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner knew that she wanted to call it
‘Jubilee’. After all, a jubilee is a celebration of the passage of time
- a festival to usher in the hope of a new era in brilliant technicolor.
Zauner’s first two albums garnered acclaim for the way they
grappled with anguish; ‘Psychopomp’ was written as her mother
underwent cancer treatment, while ‘Soft Sounds From Another
Planet’ took the grief she held from her mother’s death and used it
as a conduit to explore the cosmos.
Now, at the start of a new decade, Japanese Breakfast is ready to
fight for happiness, an all-too-scarce resource in our seemingly
crumbling world.
‘Jubilee’ finds Michelle Zauner embracing ambition and, with it, her
boldest ideas and songs yet. Inspired by records like Bjork’s
‘Homogenic’, Zauner delivers bigness throughout - big ideas, big
textures, colours, sounds and feelings. At a time when virtually
everything feels extreme, ‘Jubilee’ sets its sights on maximal joy,
imagination and exhilaration. It is, in Michelle Zauner’s words, “a
record about fighting to feel. I wanted to re-experience the pure,
unadulterated joy of creation… The songs are about recalling the
optimism of youth and applying it to adulthood. They’re about
making difficult choices, fighting ignominious impulses and
honoring commitments, confronting the constant struggle we have
with ourselves to be better people.”
Throughout ‘Jubilee’, Zauner pours her own life into the universe
of each song to tell real stories and allowing those universes, in
turn, to fill in the details. Joy, change, evolution - these things take
real time and real effort. And Japanese Breakfast is here for it.
Available on clear with yellow swirl coloured vinyl.

Listening to Græns album ”Musique Pour L’Esprit En Expansion” is an awakening experience. This record pours new poison over rock music, a genre which the bands founder Axel (Graveyard, Big Kiss etc) has a lot of experience from and, in his own words “a love/hate relation to”. That objective and sober perspective on the genre may be the main reason for the loosely assembled set of influences, put together by Axel, Lisen Rylander Löve (Midarcondo, Union Carbide Productions, Amason etc) and Rickard “Bobban” Johansson (Den Stora Vilan, Hills etc.), three experienced and wide eared musicians with a fearless approach to their main instruments and music in general.

With song titles like “Björkarnas Sus” (Whiz of the Birch trees) and “Commodification blues”, ”Musique Pour L’Esprit En Expansion” mixes nature romanticism with raw political comments about consumption. The sound moves from Stooges La Blues-land to Swedish progg with each instrumentalists shining through in grand style! Axel describes the less song-oriented tracks as “directed improvisation” – it’s loose but not eclectic.

Whatever sense you are using to catch this music, Græns message of cosmic unity and creative freedom will carry through to you!

Recital exhibits the new album by Swedish composer Kajsa Lindgren (b.1990). Typically working with field recordings and electroacoustic sounds, Momentary Harmony expresses her more emotive and lucent instrumental compositions. The music has taken a step away from her previous works, using only flickers of field recordings, instead tracing back to Kajsa’s childhood classical music roots: voice, violin, and piano.

A warm tide grows and recedes through her album. Breathing in miniature lute ornaments and exhaling large choral plateaus. This polarity rests in narcotic limbo. The delicate arrangements remind one of Vikki Jackman or blurred Björk b-sides. Mixing instrument stems like clusters of field recordings, Lindgren laces harmonic timbres and gradients across the plain of this LP. Choirs clasp with cello overtones and piano washes.

Alongside Kajsa Lindgren, the album has recurring topiary appearances by Vilhelm Bromander (bass), Maxwell August Croy (koto, voice, guitar), Åsa Forsberg (cello), Pär Lindgren (lute), Sean McCann (piano and voice), and Jörgen Pettersson (saxophone).

It’s a given that timing is everything in music – most obviously in terms of composition and production but often just as much in regard to conception and release – the latter two doubly poignantly so in the case of this massive DOOM vs The Sugarcubes mash-up LP from turntablist and producer Krash Slaughta.

Which is why the tale of this project’s gestation is perhaps what should be told about it before anything else.

Begun last August and finished on 25 October, the album started life as an idea born from a casual listen to final Sugarcubes album Stick Around For Joy that Krash had bought a copy of years before in a charity shop. Contemplating the cover art while listening to the LP and the track Hit in particular, it came to him that here might be the musical basis for a concept LP in the grand tradition of the hip-hop mash-up album. Thus the project was born, becoming something of an obsession as lockdown restrictions recommenced through a sanity-testing autumn. As it developed, the provisional title of Stick Around For DOOM morphed into Sugar Coated DOOM and Brighton artists Leigh Pearce and Rob Crespo were roped in to create the artwork. So pleased was Krash with the results that he decided to self-finance the pressing of the LP to vinyl which in turn would allow him to send a copy to DOOM in the most fitting format. On that basis, along with his dad’s advice that if you want something done properly; do it yourself’, he initiated the process for a limited press run as soon as the project wrapped and telephoned his dad (who’d been shielding and who he hadn’t seen for months) to say he’d done precisely that. In a tragic twist, this turned out to be their last ever conversation, for Krash’s dad died suddenly the next day. Two months later of course, while waiting for the Covid-slowed vinyl pressing process to complete, came a further tragic twist as the world received the delayed news that DOOM himself had also passed away back in October – in the event, only five days after Krash’s father. So it’s no understatement to say that Sugar Coated DOOM carries significant emotional resonance for its maker, forever linked as it will be to the deaths of two of his personal heroes.

Which brings us to the content. The album contains seven vocal tracks, with an alternate version of one and instrumental versions of five of the seven across two sides of an album with the music, track names, LP title and cover art mashing up musical, lyrical/ textual and visual elements of The Sugar Cubes’ Stick Around For Joy with DOOM acapellas, track names and references. Listeners won’t need long to appreciate that Krash Slaughta was right to be proud of his creation, almost certainly correct in thinking DOOM would dig it and no doubt The Sugarcubes too. Also, who would have thought The Sugarcubes had so much potential for beat-mining? But then seeing potential in the unexpected was always a vital skill from the golden era of sampling in hip-hop and those who follow in the tradition. The first track proper, for example, swipes Madlib’s lo-fi beat from underneath the vocals for Figaro and replaces it with the looped and beefed-up opening bars of the Cubes’ I’m Hungry. The result is a natural fit. But then the blending of elements in every track on this release provides evidence of the effort and love put into its creation, reinvigorating DOOM’s classic vocals while re-purposing The Sugarcubes in a manner that will delight. Indeed, if you’d didn’t know the work of Bjork’s former band, you’d be unlikely to pin an early 90s alt-rock LP as the sample source. I imagine listeners will have a hard time picking a favourite too. Perhaps Hit It (based on the track which triggered the project idea in the first) which splices the Bond-theme-ish Hit with My Favourite Ladies might prove the most popular, or the monkey’s favourite, Nurse Chong, which blends Happy Nurse with Raedawn (named for Tommy Chong’s daughter) from Viktor Vaughn LP Vaudeville Villain. Whichever one punters pick though, anyone who hears anything off this will know it’s one to rank alongside your other favourite hip-hop mash-up albums. And who knows – perhaps even Mr Daniel Dumile himself might have considered it a not unfitting epitaph.

Repress

Released in August 2020 to much acclaim, as well as receiving many accolades as one of the best albums of 2020, Duval Timothy present Help (2021 edition).

This new and limited edition will be released independently by Duval Timothy’s Carrying Colour label, fashion brand and shop. It comes on 2 x 140g milky clear vinyl, with new 2 x 12" square posters and shrink-wrapped.

Help was recorded in London and Los Angeles, and reveals the artists' experience traversing the meshes of the music industry, mental health, YouTube self-help videos, and the healing he discovered through friendship and collaboration. Co-produced by Rodaidh McDonald (King Krule, The XX) and Marta Salogni (Bjork), with collaborations from Lil Silva, Melanie Faye, Vegyn, Desta Haile, Mr Mitch, Dave Okumo, and Twin Shadow amongst others.

Duval Timothy is a multidisciplinary artist, whose practise is centred around colour and involves the use of music, photography, textiles, painting, sculpture, design, cooking and video. In between delivering a celebrated cookbook for Penguin Books, and an interactive installation at Tate Modern Turbine Hall, Duval makes music, which is sampled by the likes of Solange and Loyle Carner and collaborates frequetly with cktrl, Vegyn, Kwes, and Mr Mitch.

The second release on Constructive (sister label of SN Variations) is Last Afternoon by Japanese composer Takuma Watanabe. Having studied at Berklee College in America, he is now living in Japan where he composes for film using his own string ensemble. This is Watanabe's first full length artist album.

He also created the animation music videos for the two tracks Tactile and Last Afternoon creating a unique imaginary visual counterpoint to the music.

Last Afternoon features collaborations with American vocalist and composer Joan La Barbara known for her recorded works with John Cage, Morton Feldman, Robert Ashley and composer and software developer Akira Rabelais known for his collaborations with Bjork and David Sylvian. The album is mastered by Jim O'Rourke. Cover photo courtesy of Swedish photographer and cinematographer Anders Edström.