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Following the long-awaited Paradise Of Delusion LP from 2021, An’archives announces Lunatic Pearl, a 10” EP by Japanese psych-pop legends Shizuka. As with the material on Paradise, 狂気の真珠 Lunatic Pearl draws from the deep well of music the quartet recorded in 2001, this time from two studio sessions. Here, though, the group’s classic line-up of Shizuka, Maki Miura, Jun Kosugi and Seven is augmented – on the a-side, they’re joined by Yasushi Nagata on guitar; flip the record, and Kazuhide Yamaji chimes in on acoustic guitar and bass.

Both Nagata and Yamaji were members of long-running Tokyo psych-out gang Dip (also known as dip the flag); Yamaji eventually joined Shizuka for a time, appearing with them on the 2010 DVD, Owari No Nai Yume, released by PSF. Part of Lunatic Pearl finds Shizuka in Paisley Underground mode, the spaced-out acoustic mantras of “Shiroi Inochi” and the instrumental “The Street The Fairy Goes” surprisingly reminiscent of the smeared, slow-motion psychedelics of Opal’s early EPs. The latter, a weightless blur, hovers in the air on dreamy drifts of DX-7, drifting melodies landing on the track like an astral traveller, lost and delirious.

“Lunatic Pearl” itself is a monster, one of Shizuka’s most rock-reverent moments, its bold riff soaring over a rhythm section that thuds menacingly, as though they’re the kings of the rumbling spires. “Signs”, another track from the Studio EUN session, features some gloriously unhinged playing from Miura, as though he’s tearing the song’s seams apart, as the group push Shizuka’s simple, perfect song into the stratosphere. Brief yet perfectly formed, Lunatic Pearl is another gorgeous entry in the Shizuka discography.

THE TRANSPLANTS are Tim Armstrong (Rancid), Travis Barker (Blink 182) and Rob Aston. Their sound is a highly original mix of stylistic influences that never strays too far from the home base of Punk Rock while managing to incorporate such disparate elements as blistering Hardcore Guitars, Hip-Hop and Dance Hall beats, Rap rhymes, and an overall un-wavering dedication to the spirit of Rock "N" Roll. Newly reissued on Blueberry vinyl to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album.

Fresh off the back of his highly acclaimed debut album on Astral Black, Footshooter returns to the WOLF Music pack following his ethereal remix of Velour last year, with an exquisite six track journey through his signature sound.

An amalgamation of genres, ideas and vibes blend seamlessly together throughout the record, showing a wealth of knowledge, alongside a production prowess to match. From the cinematic opener 'Welcome In' to the soulful, synth-laden broken beat of ‘Turning’ and 'Archetype 7' on the A side. Samples dance next to magical playing and programming, with hats tipped to legends of yester year whilst keeping things completely fresh at the same time.

Flip it for the B, where UK Funky feels mix with bumping house for the fresh to death, dress to impress 'Dojo'. Footshooter then dips the lights down low and and slows the tempo with the beatsy, piano shimmering brilliance of 'Angel(s)' and the eyes closed, soul healing sounds of 'Hold On'.

Six shots, no misses, Footshooter gets deep into the heart of what’s bubbling in London town right now.

Re-mastered from the original master tapes.
180 gr vinyl pressed by Optimal in Germany using the Metal Mothers from Pallas.

Facsimile reissue using the original photo by Jean-Pierre Leloir.
Double insert using an original color photo by JP Leloir.
Each record has been visually checked to prevent defects.

Recorded October 22, 1958, Olympia hall, Paris.
Original LP issue: Brunswick 87 903.

“They’d been living in Europe for months. They’d appeared in Cannes and at Knokke (…) yet the only thing missing was the consecration that a great concert in Paris would bring. They won that last battle with astounding brio, in front of an audience of connoisseurs. There were many there who thought modern jazz had never been so well- served in Paris.” (Jazz Magazine). Hard bop had arrived! Hallelujah! On its first French appearance, in July ‘58 at the Cannes Festival – the first and only Cannes jazz festival – the Donald Byrd Quintet had brought the house down. Yet four of its five members were relatively unknown in France… The French knew that the leader had replaced Kenny Dorham in the Jazz Messengers, that Doug Watkins was the Messengers’ bassist, and that pianist Walter Davis Jr. was still only 18 when he’d played with Charlie Parker. As for Art Taylor, even if his name meant something to fans, it was still difficult for people to have a more precise idea of his musical qualities. Only Bobby Jaspar was well-known to Paris audiences, and the tour marked the return of the prodigal son, the musician who’d decided, after setting the Club St. Germain on fire, to try his luck in the States early in 1956 – J.J. Johnson had hired him, and then Miles Davis (for a short spell) before Donald Byrd brought him into the group he was taking to Europe. This new tour would climax at the Olympia theatre during one of the “Jazz Wednesdays” that were organised there, ever since the Jazz At Carnegie Hall” tour – Zoot Sims, JJ. Johnson, Lee Konitz, Phineas Newborn – had inaugurated the series a little earlier. Byrd and his band took pains not to disappoint a Paris audience they knew to be particularly fickle, and they astutely varied the public’s pleasures throughout the evening. The complicity that united the rhythm section – Walter Davis Jr., Doug Watkins and Art Taylor – was much in evidence on Ray’s Idea; mistrusting the traps of the spectacular at all costs, Donald Byrd, producing brilliant inventions on the trumpet, took the lion’s share of the honours on a theme that was then much in fashion, Dear Old Stockholm, adapted from a Swedish traditional song; on Flute Blues, Bobby Jaspar proved he was still a specialist on that instrument, and Paul’s Pal showed that, on tenor, the playing of Sonny Rollins hadn’t gone unnoticed. It must be said that it didn’t have much effect on the discreet lyricism underlying the choruses he played during his “St. Germain” period. The Olympia spectators weren’t sparing in their applause for the five musicians. How else could they have reacted, faced with the fire the band showed during a tune like The Blues Walk? It wouldn’t take much for us to applaud, too, even if it is fifty-five years later…
Text – Alain Tercinet

MATTERS UNKNOWN is the new project led by multi-instrumentalist and
composer Jonny Enser.We Aren't Just is the debut album from MATTERS
UNKNOWN – Jonny Enser from Nubiyan Twist's solo project
Over 14 tracks, it travels through Afro- jazz, celestial blues, soulful funk,
electronica, hip hop referencing influences such as Mulatu Astatke, Pat Thomas
and Tony Allen all of whom he has worked with via Nubiyan Twist.This album
features some of the UK's finest young players including members of Nerija, Noya
Rao, Golden Mean and COLECTIVA. For fans ofJazz is Dead and Emma- Jean
Thackray. Every track on the album is inspired by a facet of Jonny's personal
development; drawing from his relationship to the city, whether in the delta
regions of the Mississippi river or along London's arterial Thames. The album is a
material testament to the flexibility inherent to MATTERS UNKNOWN; it can be
orchestrated to accommodate a 15-strong orchestra, replete with a string section
to move you to the dancefloor as Jazz originally intended, or stripped down to the
bare bones of a trumpet and tuba- led quartet whose intentions remain all the
same; to pierce into the audience's soul.
Jonny is honest, often laying bare his personal plights with his physical disability
and mental health, and the steep – yet rewarding – uphill climb as a musician and
Jazz instrumentalist. We Aren't Just is a multi- faceted study of the self, one's
relationship with the external world; the material, and the living within the inert.

JEFF COTTON OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND FAME
RELEASES HIS FIRST EVER SOLO ALBUM -'THE FANTASY OF REALITY'
After playing guitar, lap steel & vocals with the legendary Captain Beefheart & his
Magic Band, appearing on the ground-breaking album 'Trout Mask Replica' (under
the pseudonym Antennae Jimmy Semens), as well as playing on 'Strictly
Personal' & 'Mirror Man', Cotton withdrew from the commercial music business
for nearly 50 years. Using the island state of Hawaii as a home base, he emerges
from his seclusion in 2022 with his first ever solo album; 'The Fantasy Of Reality'.
Whimsical, playful & tongue-in-cheek - Cotton delivers a psychedelic journey that
will delight Beefheart devotees while bringing plenty of new ideas to the table
across the sprawling 22 track, 66- minute runtime. 'Trout Mask Replica' cover
designer Cal Schenkel collaborates once again as he returns to contribute to the
internal artwork of the album to continue the Captain Beefheart canon into the
2020's.
Across the decades, the Magic Band's power & influence has only grown in might
& the cult following of 1969's 'Trout Mask Replica' still excites fans to this day, in
part due to the mystery & enigma of members such as Antennae Jimmy Semens
(aka Jeff Cotton). In 1967, Cotton was scoped by Don Van Vliet - Captain
Beefheart himself, replacing Ry Cooder on guitar. He then went one to help craft
some of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band's most vibrant recordings & later
contributed to the cult band MU.
Now blending together musical strands such as jazz, delta blues, Hawaiian & the
avant- garde to create a melting pot of ideas, Cotton astonishes fans with his
comeback.
The magic will continue on 'The Fantasy Of Reality', available via Madfish.

Wer hat hier schlechte Laune, fragt Max Raabe mit seinem neuen Album und singt von der Liebe, von ihrem zarten Erblühen und Verwehen, von Gefühlen und ihrer Verwirrung. Es geht um die Verquickung von Glück und Zweifel, von Euphorie und Unsicherheit, von der Freude am anderen und dem Hadern mit sich selbst.

Mit Wer hat hier schlechte Laune schließt Max Raabe an seine letzten Produktionen an und geht noch einen Schritt weiter. Er wahrt die lieb gewonnene Ästhetik der Weimarer Republik, aber stärker denn je
übersetzt er seine künstlerischen Prägungen in moderne musikalische Formen. Zum ersten Mal ruhen einige der neuen Lieder auf einem Fundament aus elektronischen Rhythmen. Alle Freundschaften aus der »Raabe-Pop«-Phase sind wieder dabei: Annette Humpe, Christoph Israel, Peter Plate, Ulf Leo Sommer, Joshua Lange und Achim Hagemann. In der popmusikalischen Landschaft der Gegenwart ist Max Raabe ziemlich einzigartig – beseelt vom Witz
vergangener Zeiten, aber auch vom Wissen über den Wandel der Welt.

Cosmopolitanism is creeping into the bedroom studios of producers worldwide. Romanski is another agent evolving transcultural hybrids, which blend from retained folkways to modern aged club grooves. A mixture of electronic beats in a rigid machine order and handmade organic moments woven together to form an eclectic sound. With a bit of drama, the hamburg based dj & producer Romanski, invites you on a diverse journey with his unique vision of club music. Balearic groove patterns accompanied by repetitive bongo motives & dimmed synth themes flow along the 4 tracks (2 of them featured on 7" vinyl) of this EP. The title track "Karma Calling" is a passionate homage to Mulatu Astatke, "Tagh Tagh" is surrounded by an iranian children’s song, "Gaugin" features a tahitian vocoder line about the french painter and on "Ants" Romanski reflects on lyrics that came to him when resident at a sanatorium years ago. Romanski is using his custom sound range & tools to express his downbeat grooves in this well balanced release. Hide below or turn around the umbrella with devotion and delight.

Einige Größen der florierenden Post-Punk- und Hardcore-Szene, Gitarrist Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance), Gitarrist Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria), Sänger Anthony Green (Circa Survive), Bassist
Tim Payne (Thursday) und Schlagzeuger Tucker Rule (Thursday/Yellowcard) haben sich zusammengetan
und L.S. DUNES gegründet
Die neue Band wird ihr Debütalbum Past Lives am 11.11.22 über Fantasy Records veröffentlichen.
Losgelöst von den Erwartungen und der Ästhetik ihrer bereits erfolgreichen Karrieren, kombinieren L.S.
DUNES ihre hymnischen Songs mit einer Menge Punk-Energie zu einem Sound, der mit nichts vergleichbar ist, was es bisher gab. Vom fesselnden, dramatischen Opener ”2022” über den knackigen, treibenden
Ohrwurm ”Like Forever” bis hin zum stampfenden, ausladenden ”Permanent Rebellion” und dem abschließenden, ”Sleep Cult” ist ”Past Lives” ein emotionaler und mitreißender Ritt.

Remastered, expanded reissue of the breakthrough sophomore album by pioneering, creatively restless collective, Cerberus Shoal. Finally available on vinyl for the first time ever. Limited edition Sky Blue coloured vinyl pressing edition of 500. The LP highlights the earliest phase of their transition from experimental hardcore band to transcendent exploratory collective. Originally released in 1996, …And Farewell To Hightide combined the group’s unique command of patient anticipation with a significantly expanded musical palette and a refined musicianship. Shedding virtually all obvious references to the frenetic post-hardcore of their eponymous debut album, Hightide saw Cerberus Shoal incorporating elements of Talk Talk, Tortoise, and the early Windham Hill catalog into a sound that was incomparable at the time. Now, more than 20 years later, it’s proven astonishingly prescient and truly timeless. Beautifully remastered and finally made available digitally for the first time ever, this expanded deluxe edition includes the Lighthouse In Athens EP recorded during the same era as …And Farewell To Hightide. Finally available on vinyl for the first time ever, …And Farewell To Hightide – Deluxe Expanded Edition is packaged in restored artwork with newly uncovered photos and extensive new liner notes written by the band. The record has been newly mastered for vinyl by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, and pressed onto audiophile-grade vinyl.

The Local Moon (East Berlin 1987/88) The name The Local Moon originated from an intimation by the oriental jester Nasreddin that every city had its own moon. This idea did not go without a certain local colour in the bipolar frontline city of Berlin; from an astropolitical view, its divided sky never saw a full moon, the light conditions were ideologically broken. From the black light of those years emerged The Local Moon. René Le Doil and Ronald Lippok took wings like two crows from a pigeon’s nest when quite suddenly in 1987 light entertainment permeated East Berlin’s Offground and the two musicians were hired for the New Romantic revue New Affair. Before that, Le Doil had been involved in the Stattgespräch fashion spectacle and in Allerleirauh, the “thing of light, space, sound and leather”. Lippok had been the drummer for Rosa Extra, one of the earliest punk rock bands in East Berlin. Together with his brother Robert, who had already come into the picture with an avant-punk project named after the Jules Verne novel Fünf Wochen im Ballon (Five Weeks in a Balloon), Ronald Lippok then founded the post-punk commune Ornament & Verbre- chen, for whom Le Doil would occasionally guest as an... more credits released July 20, 2022 Tape (Side A, B, C – Track #1 - #16) Music by The Local Moon, recorded in April 1987 René Le Doil: accordion, bass, guitar, keyboards, piano, voice Ronald Lippok: acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion, voice Produced by The Local Moon Single (Side D – Track #17 - #19) Music by The Local Moon, recorded in May 1988 René Le Doil: keyboard Ronald Lippok: keyboard, voice Charlotte Jansen: oboe, voice Alex Wolf: percussion Bo Kondren: emax, traktor Detelf Pegelow: guitar Robert Lippok: clarinet, ethno brass Produced by Bo Kondren Recorded at Gunther Krex Studio Vinyl published by Henryk Gericke Texts and liner notes by Henryk Gericke Remastered by Calyx/ Bo Kondren Digital distribution via aufnahmeundwiedergabe.de

Beth Orton returns after six years with her new album, ‘Weather Alive’.

“Through the writing of these songs and the making of this music, I found my way back to the world around me - a way to reach nature and the people I love and care about. This record is a sensory exploration that allowed for a connection to a consciousness that I was searching for. Through the resonance of sound and a beaten up old piano I bought in Camden Market while living in a city I had no intention of staying in, I found acceptance and a way of healing.” - Beth Orton

Album collaborators include Tom Skinner, Alabaster dePlume, Shahzad Ismaily and Tom Herbert.

Big headline UK tour in October 2022, including a headline show at Koko in Camden, London.
CD housed in digipak packaging. Clear vinyl in a single-sleeve jacket and printed inner. Black vinyl, housed in a single-sleeve jacket and printed inner.

“As the music rises against the ragged pulse of her vocals, the English artist, nearly 30 years into her career, constructs an entirely new landscape for her songwriting - a wide-open space that grows stranger and more beautiful the further inside she leads us.” - Pitchfork

“The musical richness only mirrors Orton’s astounding writing” -MOJO (★★★★)

“Viscerally corporeal music, full of gristle and breath and richly ambient” - Uncut (8/10)

“‘Weather Alive’ is an enormously exciting record” - The Guardian

“Soaring” – NME

“Best New Track” - Pitchfork

“Singular and captivating” - Stereogum

Beth Orton returns after six years with her new album, ‘Weather Alive’.

“Through the writing of these songs and the making of this music, I found my way back to the world around me - a way to reach nature and the people I love and care about. This record is a sensory exploration that allowed for a connection to a consciousness that I was searching for. Through the resonance of sound and a beaten up old piano I bought in Camden Market while living in a city I had no intention of staying in, I found acceptance and a way of healing.” - Beth Orton

Album collaborators include Tom Skinner, Alabaster dePlume, Shahzad Ismaily and Tom Herbert.

Big headline UK tour in October 2022, including a headline show at Koko in Camden, London.
CD housed in digipak packaging. Clear vinyl in a single-sleeve jacket and printed inner. Black vinyl, housed in a single-sleeve jacket and printed inner.

“As the music rises against the ragged pulse of her vocals, the English artist, nearly 30 years into her career, constructs an entirely new landscape for her songwriting - a wide-open space that grows stranger and more beautiful the further inside she leads us.” - Pitchfork

“The musical richness only mirrors Orton’s astounding writing” -MOJO (★★★★)

“Viscerally corporeal music, full of gristle and breath and richly ambient” - Uncut (8/10)

“‘Weather Alive’ is an enormously exciting record” - The Guardian

“Soaring” – NME

“Best New Track” - Pitchfork

“Singular and captivating” - Stereogum

Das neue Spoon Remix-Album "Lucifer on the Moon" ist das schwerkraftlose Pendant zu "Lucifer on the Sofa". Das zehnte Album der Band aus Austin wurde von Grund auf überarbeitet und von On-U Sound-Gründer und UK-Dub-Ikone Adrian Sherwood neu interpretiert. "Lucifer on the Moon" nahm zunächst in Form von ein paar Remixen für die Singles des aktuellen Spoon-Albums Gestalt an. Frontmann Britt Daniel gab Sherwood zwei Empfehlungen: "Vermeide Dinge, die auf Band nicht möglich wären" und "Füge hinzu, was immer du möchtest, je weniger modern, desto besser." Die Zusammenarbeit sollte nicht überraschen: Die Dub-inspirierte Produktion zieht sich durch Spoons klassische Tracks, von "Finer Feelings" bis "Inside Out". Sherwood ist ein bewährter Kollaborateur, der bereits mit Lebenslauf Partnerschaften mit bedeutenden Künstlern wie The Fall, Jah Wobble und Mark Stewart enthält. Die ersten Ergebnisse gefielen beiden Parteien und Sherwood wurde beauftragt, an weiteren Songs zu arbeiten - und dann an noch ein paar mehr. "Ich fand Gefallen an der Melodie und den Gedanken, die sie in mir auslöste", erklärt der Produzent. "Es hat sich einfach weiterentwickelt und wir hatten schließlich ein ganzes Album." "Lucifer on the Moon" stellt die Rhythmusspuren des Originals auf den Kopf und baut sie oft komplett neu um. Sherwood lieferte eine umfangreiche zusätzliche Instrumentierung über die erweiterte Familie der On-U-Session-Spieler, einschließlich des Bassisten Doug Wimbish und des Schlagzeugers Keith LeBlanc (beide spielten in den frühen 80er Jahren in der Studioband von Sugarhill Records). Er grub sich tief in die Multitracks des Albums ein und förderte vergessene Details und Elemente zutage, die in den endgültigen Album-Mixen nicht enthalten waren. Das Ergebnis hebt Spoons Signature-Sound in ein fremdes Terrain, vollgepackt mit Echos und grollenden Bässen. "Es war nicht nur eine Sache, bei der man dies und jenes auseinandernimmt, auf dem Raster bleibt und ein Delay hinzufügt", erklärt Daniel. "Er fügte den Tracks so viel mehr an Instrumenten hinzu, dass sie zu komplett anderen Versionen der Songs wurden. Nicht nur Remixe, sondern ergänzende Stücke - quasi ein Spin-Off des Albums." "Lucifer on the Sofa" wurde im Februar 2022 veröffentlicht und ist Spoons bisher rockigstes Album.

The Layers collections showcase compilations by 7K! Records, supporting a range of contemporary classical music. Duet Layers pays tribute to the first editions of Piano Layers, String Layers, Ambient Layers and Wind Layers, honoring the layers thematic template, and challenging the artists to work together to find a common ground. The results of this are something new and unexpected.

The first edition to be pressed on vinyl, Duet Layers contains six duets. The result is a collaborative record written and performed by twelve of the most interesting artists from around the world, a sharing of sonic landscapes.

The release opens with a collaboration between the saxophonist Colin Stetson and pianist Hania Rani. Divided equally between an astonishing piano line, synths, a trace of vocals and the stunning melody of the saxophone. The music finds its feet in silence and developing into a new world full of sounds. The second track slowly moves into an artistic-axis held between Stefano Guzzetti’s piano and Neil Leitner’s (Echo Collective) viola – paying tribute to the slow passage of time. Following, the Polish cellist Dobrawa Czocher and British-Berlin violinist & producer Simon Goff, meet with a dark and poignant track.

2LP black vinyl in a gatefold sleeve, polylined inners and download code. 2 x CD in 6 panel digifile sleeve.
When Darren Hayman made his debut in 1997 with the acclaimed indie band Hefner his lyrical remit was the broken hearted. His early songs told the story of the lonesome and lost, and broken dreams of love on the back streets of London. After Hefner, Hayman’s palette grew to include a unique take on place and memory. In the early 2000s he wrote a trilogy of albums around the history of Essex. In 2012 he made an instrumental album describing the tranquillity of Lidos. In 2016 Darren was awarded ‘Hardest Working Musician’ by the Association of Independent Music for his epic project on Thankful Villages, the 55 villages that survived the Great War with no casualties. His most recent record, 12 Astronauts, tells the personal story of the only men to have walked on the Moon. Darren is continually obsessed with the idea of what songs can be, and the stories they can tell. As he explains, “With projects like Thankful Villages, I became interested in what a record could be, using field recordings, interviews and songs to make sound collages. I wanted to return to the stricter art of song writing and try and make the twelve best compositions I could. I wanted to make useful songs, words that could be comfort, not just thoughts that would depress.” // "bold and unique" The Sunday Times // "Its delicately observed song cycle unfolds like a novella or short film, with tracks that might seem slight in isloation gaining resonance in situ." Q // “Bugbears is a rich and warming curio, and there’s something quietly noble about Hayman dragging the thoughts of these long-dead writers back into the light.” Mojo // “uniquely intimate and very satisfying” - BBC // “Hayman has hit a creative purple patch… a treat”. Mojo

A NEW, STELLAR & ECLECTIC JOURNEY OF OLD METAL IN THE
DARKTHRONE ODYSSEY
From their formation back in 1986, to becoming one of Norway's finest musical
exports (with a number of highly revered black metal masterpieces released in
the early 90's helping to solidify their legacy), Darkthrone has continued to evolve
& challenge in equal measure, throughout their illustrious recording career
spanning over three decades. And now, the ever- productive duo of Nocturno &
Fenriz continue their own metallic saga with a new selection of fine, vintage
sounding headbanging classics in the making. 'Astral Fortress' is itself a swift
follow- up to 2021's 'Eternal Hails' opus, because of Darkthrone's consistent &
ongoing writing process, which has been in force for some years now. For
Darkthrone does not sleep - it only waits.
Carried on the brisk wind of eager rock, with foundations in black, thrash, doom &
heavy metal, 'Astral Fortress' is the latest album of stellar, eclectic old metal in the
Darkthrone odyssey. With a seemingly endless dungeon full of heavy metal
influences channelled through Darkthrone's dynamic riff-machine, plus also with
many increasing inspirations taken from their own past catalogue, Darkthrone
has truly become its own beast within the metal world. Even though sprinkled
with atmospheric touches such as synthesizers & mellotron on 'Astral Fortress' to
great effect, the Darkthrone sound remains stripped down to the core; always
primitive & organic.
'Astral Fortress' was recorded at Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo, the same location
used for the 'Eternal Hails' album, with Ole Øvstedal & Silje Høgevold.

XAM Duo – the Yorkshire-based pairing of Matthew Benn and Christopher Duffin – follow-up their The A-side features a reworking of the album’s closing track, ‘Cold Stones’, by legendary electronic artist and DJ, James Holden. In one of his first remixes for a number of years, he has taken the original’s calming, comedown energy and transformed it into an epic, 11-and-a-half-minute journey, which somewhere around the five-minute mark comes right back up. “It didn't turn out quite how I expected, but as they say the sculpture is already in the stone, we just have to find it,” says Holden. “It's like the most rave thing I’ve done for ages and also not rave at all, like a blurry dream about a rave?” Whatever it is, it’s incredible, as are the two further reworkings on the B-side. The Early Years resurface after another lengthy hiatus and reframe ‘LGOC’ as a divine astral jazz / krautrock crossover, while Richard Pike (of PVT and Deep Learning, among others) turns ‘Blue Comet’ into a glitchy and discordant soundtrack to the best 1980s computer game you never played. “It’s lovely to hear three different interpretations of songs that we already tend to keep quite loose and elastic,“ says Matthew Benn. “These remixes feel like a natural extension of the music on the album, like they're from the same world, but perhaps in a different language.” Praise for XAM Duo II: “Thirty minutes of top-quality retro techno ambience and high-tech jazz” – MOJO “An elegant swirl of MIDI exotica, digital wind chimes and health-spa tones... threading saxophone through Boards Of Canada-style funk” – Uncut “Simultaneously more eclectic and more concise, the album expands, refines and folds down the twosome’s electro-organic explorations” – Concrete Islands “XAM Duo’s layered electronics pivot between the meditative and the assertive” – Clash “Made up of sweet synths, precise beats and some piano and sax, they create an atmosphere that feels as if it’s designed to accompany times of concentration and calm” – Loud And Quiet A1 - Cold Stones (James Holden Remix) B1 - LGOC (The Early Years Remix)
B2 - Blue Comet (Richard Pike Remix)

Storyville Records is proud to present Michel Petrucciani – Solo in
Denmark

This album features French piano prodigy Michel Petrucciani in a solo recording
from Silkeborg Church, 1990. MP was one of the most popular pianists in the
1990’s due to his extraordinary technique, his astounding musical outlook and
extremely dynamic playing style. His music is simply timeless and magical,
seemingly coming straight from his soul. As he is often quoted: “I’m not playing
to your head, but to your soul. When I play, I’m like a bird flying over the landscape,
and I can land anywhere.” Recorded on June 23, 1990 at the Riverboat Jazz
Festival in Silkeborg, Denmark, this album is a tour de force that leads the listener
through a series of the most iconic motifs in jazz, all of which are deconstructed
and transformed by an outstanding craftsman and embellished along the way by
a true master. And he also allows himself to insert unexpected twists and turns
that are guaranteed to make the listener smile. Pay special attention to his small
rhythmic and melodic tags, little hints for the well- trained ear. They reveal a
musician who never grows complacent or takes himself too seriously. Here, the
totality of MP’s talents are exhibited in an intimate setting, where he stuns the
crowd with his inventive and blindingly rapid playing. The music emanating from
the man simply grabs everybody’s attention. Arrangements by jazz legends like
Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis gets the cheeky Petrucciani
treatment with his rather audacious approach to ‘established’ jazz standards. MP
had the ability to effortlessly travel through the history of jazz on his piano,
fascinating his audience in the process. This church concert clearly displays why
MP quickly developed into a truly exceptional member of the international jazz
scene. For MP, joyful playing with the music was a necessity of life. He lived and
breathed for the opportunity to show it his love and respect. And all we have to do
is open our ears, mind and soul and accept the gems from a musical individualist,
who has made an indelible impression on millions of jazz listeners around the
world. Solo in Denmark is simply another chapter in the remarkable story of a
man, who perceived himself as a servant of the music. BIOGRAPHY Michel
Petrucciani was a highly charismatic and high- spirited character, despite being
hindered by a genetic disease called osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone
disease. He was extremely short, standing at three feet. Luckily, his hands were
perfectly normal, but he had special modifications to reach the piano’s pedals. He
started playing in the family band with his guitarist father and bassist brother. At
the age of 15, he had the opportunity to play with Kenny Clarke and Clark Terry,
and at 17 he made his first recording. MP moved to the US in 1982, where he
convinced Charles Lloyd to get out on the road again, and tour with his quartet.
Behind the grand piano, MP was a giant with h

Revisiting a press release for the Nightingales' last album, Four Against Fate, we recalled hesitant anticipation for the forthcoming King Rocker, a film documentary of Robert Lloyd and Nightingales, made by Michael Cumming and Stewart Lee. After forty years of activity, Robert and the band had seen hyped recordings go lost, scant commercial success. Royalties? Ha. Yet response to King Rocker was immediately positive. Fab reviews galore, a long process regaining master rights which led to a series of expanded reissues with Fire. A tour postponed three times finally took place, to fully-packed houses. It was a very good year. The band felt a degree of anxiety prior to the sessions, which took place at Valencia's Elefante Studios. With bassist Andi Schmid isolated during Covid, the band had yet begun working out individual rough sketches, typically battered into songs over a period of months. They went into a new studio blind, with a new producer, Jorge Bernabe, without rehearsals . . . and produced a top-to-bottom masterpiece. Thirty seconds in, "Sunlit Uplands", is already a classic showcasing Fliss Kitson's increased songwriting power and the core dichotomy of the groups's best songs: perverse as fuck, catchy as fuck. I � CCTV is highlighted by a fab Jim Smith astral-garage guitar riff . . . and that's a one-two punch few albums ever equal, let alone carry over to the affectionate "Frances Sokolov", Robert's ode to mentor Vi Subversa, the playground riff that underlines "Spread Yourself Out" and then "Bloody Breath", the best encapsulation of all the band's genius in developing a kind of "pop" that no other combo has ever cracked. Other highlights include the lopsided mysterious beauty of "Magical Left Foot", the courtly raver of "I Need The Money At The Time" with a wonderful motorik groove driven by bassist Andi Schmid, and the album closer, "My Sweet Friend", a rockabilly lullaby which sounds like a magical outtake from Robert's one and only solo album It's a corker, it's a marvel, it's the best Nightingales record to date. Try and deny it. Tracks: 1 Sunlight Uplands (Turn That Frown Upside Down) 2 I � CCTV 3 Frances Sokolov 4 Spread Yourself Out 5 Bloody Breath 6 Mind Of Stone 7 I Needed The Money At The Time 8 The Very Nature 9 Magical Left Foot 10 Mark Meets No Mark 11 My Sweet Friend

Wilson Pickett was quite simply one of THE great soul singers. Pickett's phenomenal gospel-honed voice and involvement in his best songs marked him down as a major soul performer and even as late as the mid-70's, a producer as astute as Brad Shapiro was not likely to take too many musical liberties when 'updating' Wicked Pickett. This 1976 album, recorded at Sound Shops Studio in Nashville, featurees the two R&B single hits : "The Best Part of A Man" and "Love Will Keep Us Together" This success prompted this 10-track "Chocolate Mountain" album. Shapiro chose a musical 'sound' to tie in with the more funky demands of the mid-70's but Pickett's voice and approach to a lyric never really changed. Swampy and bluesy with plenty of 'rap' from Pickett or more gospel oriented funcky tracks, Pickett works the lyrics like the soul veteran he already was by 1976 and the quality of these excellent songs for all to enjoy.

Auf den Pfeilern von Black, Thrash, Doom und Heavy Metal gebaut, präsentieren Nocturno und Fenriz eine eklektische Mischung aus old school und zugleich wegweisendem Metal. Das Duo ist in seinem Schaffen noch nie stehengeblieben und verblüfft hier einmal mehr mit seiner Fähigkeit, den traditionellen Stilmitteln immer wieder etwas Neues und Großes zu entlocken, das dennoch eindeutig nach Darkthrone klingt. Mit 7 kargen, organischen Tracks setzen Darkthrone ihre Metal-Odyssee weiter fort.

Debüt auf Bad Omen Records!! - BIRTH entwickelte sich aus ASTRA, dessen zwei Alben - 'The Weirding' von 2009 und 'The Black Chord' von 2012 - bereits Klassiker im Rise Above-Katalog sind. Mitglieder von Sacri Monte, Psicomagia, Joy und Monarch sind auf dem kaleidoskopischen Trip mit an Bord. Musikalisch sind zwar auch Spuren von King Crimson von (ca. 'Red') sowie frühe Yes und Van Der Graaf Generator zu erkennen, aber eine ganze Reihe von Einflüssen wie Aphrodites Child, Premiata Formeria Marconi und Area bis hin zu Robbie Basho und die symphonische Soundtrack-Arbeit von Osanna eben auch! Alchemistische Kräfte haben mit 'Born' ihre beachtliche Arbeit geleistet, indem sie ein erhabenes Album geschaffen haben. 42 Minuten, in denen Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft verschwommen sind; ein Album, das von irdischen Sorgen heimgesucht wird, während seine Klänge nach den Sternen streben.

Debüt auf Bad Omen Records!! - BIRTH entwickelte sich aus ASTRA, dessen zwei Alben - 'The Weirding' von 2009 und 'The Black Chord' von 2012 - bereits Klassiker im Rise Above-Katalog sind. Mitglieder von Sacri Monte, Psicomagia, Joy und Monarch sind auf dem kaleidoskopischen Trip mit an Bord. Musikalisch sind zwar auch Spuren von King Crimson von (ca. 'Red') sowie frühe Yes und Van Der Graaf Generator zu erkennen, aber eine ganze Reihe von Einflüssen wie Aphrodites Child, Premiata Formeria Marconi und Area bis hin zu Robbie Basho und die symphonische Soundtrack-Arbeit von Osanna eben auch! Alchemistische Kräfte haben mit 'Born' ihre beachtliche Arbeit geleistet, indem sie ein erhabenes Album geschaffen haben. 42 Minuten, in denen Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft verschwommen sind; ein Album, das von irdischen Sorgen heimgesucht wird, während seine Klänge nach den Sternen streben.

Out of the Fog is a masterpiece of divine beauty and charm from the Norwegian composer / performer Daniel Herskedal featuring fellow Norwegian singer-songwriter Emilie Nicolas (4 Times Norwegian Grammy Winner - 2014: Pop soloist of the year and new artist of the year. 2018: Album of the year and pop artist of the year). Crafted with a warmth and awe-inspiring finesse, it’s the blend of Daniel’s unequivocally trademark sound of multi-layered brass, empowering harmonies and soaring melodic lines, with warmth and emotive power of Song and the collaboration with Emilie Nicolas that gives this album its uniquely defining quality. Having emerged in recent years as one of the most prolific and exciting Norwegian composers, Daniel is adeptly capable of straddling Jazz, Classical, soundtracks and now High-Art Pop as well as being a performer who has pushed his instrument beyond its limits. As a consequence it has earned him numerous awards and accolades including a Norwegian Grammy for Best composer and seen him write music for a global Coca Cola ad, the film (The Last Black Man of San Francisco), and the soundtrack for the 9/12 podcast (nominated for Best Score And Music Supervision at Ambie Awards) as well as his own acclaimed albums. Featuring legendary guitarist Eivind Aarset and percussionist Andreas Helge Norbakken, Out of the Fog is an astonishing album from Norwegian Jazz and Pop royalty, with music that is long-lasting and that leaves you wanting more and more. It’s breathtaking and powerfully moving.

Lee Fields is arguably the greatest soul singer alive today. In an age when the shelf life of an artist largely depends on posturing and trends, he has proven to be an unassailable force of nature. His prolific, decade-spanning career continues to reign supreme on the modern soul scene.

In early 2022, Lee reunited with Daptone Records and producer Gabriel Roth to record Sentimental Fool, a deep, blues-tinged, whollyconceived soul album. From his first line to his final plaintive lyric, the beauty, power, and raw humanity of Lee' s voice is on full display here; the culmination of an astounding career that has seemed to defy gravity, rising to only greater and greater heights.

The meaning of Vārua, soul or spirit in Tahitian, is also the root of the word Vārua'ino, designating both evil spirits and celestial phenomena (thunder, rain, meteorites and rainbows), and helps shed a new light on the true essence of this new EP. Its changing nature naturally encourages the connection between the tracks and the variety of genres they conjure. The whole project articulates itself around a DNA formed by traditional percussive instruments, Ori deck, a bravado carried by the young Tahitian underground scene, and ancestral ōrero (Polynesian oratory art).

Often swaying between stellar coherence and astral wandering, the seven tracks of the EP see QuinzeQuinze highlighting personal feelings and paradoxes which make for the backbone of human experience through an archipelago of fables with mystical allegories.

Genug von verschlossen Clubtüren und abgesagten Parties? Capitano Tito lässt dich nicht im Stich. Der neueste Stop seiner intergalaktischen Reisen ist der angesagteste Vergnügungstempel des Universums, der Centauri Nachtclub! Schüttel alles ab beim Tanz der Toy Roboter, entdecke nackte Tatsachen in der geheimen Lagune und spüre kosmische Einflüsse beim Blick durchs Glas. Und gibt es doch mal Stress in der Weltraumdisko, so sind schon die Secus im Anmarsch, denn Nachtclubmanager MXM hat alles im Griff. Diskretion ist oberstes Gebot, die Raumstation ist gegen digitale Streams abgeschirmt. Sichert euch die formschönen Vinyltickets bevor die Gästeliste voll ist.

In a time where electronic music gets harder and faster each day, Berlin-based duo Brigade‘s debut album „Hard Times, Soft Music“ reclaims easy listening as a badge of honour. Being released on 14.10.2022, the record is a meticulously calibrated work of room temperature, a home cooked meal between friends or a warm sonic blanket that tugs you in after a rainy day. Pushing their club roots to the side, Brigade‘s debut album con- dently sits between ambient, house and hip hop. „We took the pandemic as a cue to take a break from dance floor productions and play around with different genres and production styles.“ The rst single „International CommunicationTM“ showcases that breadth and introduces an album pretty much anyone in the post-Shrek cultural landscape could agree on. Basically, if you appreciate a good hug, chances are you‘ll enjoy this LP. Also, there's a pretty cute dog on the cover.

Erlend Apneseth is one of Norway's foremost Hardanger fiddle players and folk musicians. After being widely recognized with the award-winning and critically acclaimed Erlend Apneseth Trio, he now returns with an acoustic soloalbum. This is the first time since his debut album "Blikkspor" (2013) that he has put the soloistic performance in focus, and this time the unique acoustics in Emmanuel Vigeland's Mausoleum sets the scene for his improvisations and compositions. "The Hardanger fiddle is traditionally a soloistic instrument. For me, one of the most fascinating things about the instrument is its ability to fill a whole room with sound all by itself. Even though I've been working in an electro-acoustic universe the last years, I've never left the acoustic approach to the Hardanger fiddle, and I now felt the time had come to do something all alone again." Even though Apneseth is rooted in traditional music, he has immersed himself in improvisation and alternative sonic-and pizzicato-technics on the Hardanger fiddle, which makes him stand out with his very own musical expression. After incessantly exploring his instrument for many years, this album can be seen as a personal catalogue of the Hardanger fiddle's sonic possibilities. Erlend Apneseth has released eight albums, received numerous awards, among them "Grappas Debutantpris" and "Gammleng-prisen", and no less than five nominations for the Norwegian Grammy's. In 2019 he received the Norwegian Grammy's award in the Open Cathegory for his album "Salika, Molika", with Erlend Apneseth Trio and Frode Haltli. The album also received the NOPA-award and was nominated for the Nordic Music Prize. Apneseth has written commissioned works for Kongsberg Jazzfestival, Fordefestivalen and Ultima, and toured extensively in Europe the past years. Since 2021 he has collaborated with the composer Orjan Matre on new works for Hardanger Fiddle and The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.

Initially started as a a solo project until Deacon D. was joined by guitarist Åskväder in September 1999. After an hiatus HETROERTZEN resurfaced in Sweden in 2009 with the release of ‘Exaltation Of Wisdom’ issued on their own imprint Lamech Records. That album put forward the band’s early interest in the occult, Gnosticism and Illumination. 2016 saw the release of their critically acclaimed ' Uprising of the Fallen' previous album, HETROERTZEN are now releasing their brand new album entitled ' Phosphorus Vol 1' for a late Spring release on Listenable HETROERTZEN comment about ‘Phosphorus Vol 1' : " A new day has come to pass. A new ray pierces the veil of darkness and confusion. A new gem feeds the astonished sight and yet we walk through times of uncertainty before facing the switching Era… After five years of silence and lots of work, Hetroertzen finally give you the first Volume of ‘Phosphorus', which is the crown for our latest Opus or the new Sephira in our artistic/spiritual development. This is in fact a strong title, taken from the Vampiric-eucharistic ritual of the “Ecclesia Gnosticae” (Gnostic Church) which inspired the “Libation” passage in the Order of the Knight Templars; and even in the Catholic Mass later on. “Unless You Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and Drink His Blood You Have No Life In You” The Royal Art or the Dragon’s Arts are present more or less in any occult teaching as Alchemy aims to conjoin separated ways into the quintessence of “Holy Marriage”. As one church focused on the feminine esoteric aspect of Communion and the other on the masculine; We use both sides unified as a more accurate representation of “unity” and “oneness”. (The One). 'Phosphorus Vol 1' consists of eight tracks plus one bonus track available on the CD version. They harvest the very soul of Wisdom and Salvation or Salvation through Wisdom as we see it. Each title encloses a key or “Clavicula” which reveals different passages to the Adept. Once more, the term “Eyes to see and Ears to hear” is fundamental when it comes to the listening experience to its fullest. As all of the previous works, this is a unique piece which complements our experimental / conceptual aura into its own mystic tree. Time will tell when the second volume faces the waves of turbulence. Certainly, it shall swallow the soul of the sleepers and haunt the dreams of those who knock at our door… Through plague and war, we survive the hand of destiny by the laws of cosmic thought and the bliss of this endless journey. Light of all Lights, blessed be ! "

GREAT LOST ALBUM BY NC LEGEND SAM MOSS IS DISCOVERED, MIXED
FOR DELUXE RELEASE produced by Chris Stamey In Winston-Salem, NC,
guitarist Sam Moss is a legend - A superior, highly versatile musician
whose advocacy for the blues and mastery of the nuances of electric
blues-based soloing somewhat paralleled Mike Bloomfield's in Chicago,
Moss was an inspiring, charismatic mentor to generations of North
Carolina rockers, including Let's Active and The dB's
He was a larger- than- life character whose club appearances astounded local
audiences, yet he never released a record in his lifetime. So, producer Chris
Stamey was thrilled to discover, in 2020, on the end of an old tape, forgotten
masters of Blues Approved, a spectacular Stax- and Muscle Shoalsinfluenced
solo record, made with Mitch Easter in 1977.This "great lost" record reveals that
Moss was also a soulful songwriter and singer. It has now been carefully remixed
and produced for release, with a deluxe booklet featuring detailed liner notes and
bio, session notes by Easter, and lots of vivid color photos. Peter Holsapple (The
dB's) says, "Sam Moss was an inspiration to so many of us; with the release of
Blues Approved, people everywhere will understand why.
Mitch Easter of Let's Active recalls: "Sam wrote interesting songs that almost
always had a blues angle, but he brought in a lot of elements from elsewhere." But
the material then sat on the shelf, unreleased, as Moss opened a vintage guitar
store, selling internationally to rock stars and other celebrities for several
decades.
On July 30, 2021, the City of Winston-Salem honored Moss with a sidewalk star in
the city's Walk of Fame downtown.

In 1978 five of America's finest jazz musicians, Michael Brecker, Mike Manieri, Don Grolnick, Eddie Gomez and Steve Gadd, decided
to take a break from their lucrative session careers and do the thing they loved best. The result was Steps, an acoustic jazz
supergroup in the time of fusion supergroups. Now legendary the ensemble offered melodic jazz with cutting edge solos and a
rhythm section like no other. For this performance they were joined by the astonishing Japanese guitarist Kazumi Watanabe.
Already a well-known figure at home and soon to be touring under his own name and guesting with The Brecker Brothers band and
Jaco Pastorius’ Word of Mouth ensemble.
Performed at Yubin Chokin Hall in Tokyo on December 6th 1980, broadcast by NHK-FM. Pressed on 180g Black Vinyl and presented
in a gatefold sleeve sealed with Japanese obi strip. With extensive liner notes and archival photos.
Michael Brecker - tenor sax; Don Grolnick - piano; Mike Mainieri - vibes; Eddie Gomez - bass; Steve Gadd - drums; Special guest
Kazumi Watanabe - guitar.

Drum Chums Vol. 5 marks the arrival of Captain Attractive, an international man of mystery, head-nod hero and edit expert whose many masterpieces inspired us to pick up the scalpel in the first place.
Last seen leaving Berlin on a world tour, this legend parked the Red Motorbike outside Talking Drums HQ and treated us to a lesson in San Fran sleaze, hippie disco and MPC bump.

The A side opens with the sticky funk of 'It's More Fun 2 Make Love', a pitched-down disco cruiser extended for the tantric dance floor and mastered on an old porno VHS. Sultry, slinky and rated X.
We're always hungry after the act and graciously Captain Attractive is on hand with a donut called 'Memories' to close out the A-side, looping some sweet soul into the kind of hypnotic hip hop as house romper which defined beatdown way back when.

The Captain takes the yacht to the Med on the B1 with the super Balearic groove of 'Dreamer', an astounding combination of dexterous bass, choral vocals and rolling piano, all set to the shimmy of hippie percussion. It could be a Laurel Canyon memory, an Xtian obscurity or something much deeper, but it's definitely twelve minutes of sunset bliss - just wait until my guy flips the script after seven minutes!
The dude drops the curtain with another bitesize portion of MPC mastery, cutting up some thick wax guitar and cool keys over a swung groove for 'Ghana Do It'.

Captain Attractive taking you where you want to go.

100% Drum Fun Guaranteed.

Bay Area Thrash Metal legend Blind Illusion returns after 34 years with a follow-up to “The Sane Asylum”, featuring Doug Piercy (ex-Heathen) and Andy Gallon (ex-Death Angel)! Thrash as a primitive, earthy genre has given us many greats: Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Death Angel, Heathen and the like. But the more calculated, technical, and ultimately colorful inventors of progressive Thrash, a genre that blossomed handsomely after Watchtower’s debut in 1985, are what truly push the limits of Thrash and test its creative bandwidth. Blind Illusion on their new album “Wrath of the Gods”, achieve this to a degree that has seldom been approached, let alone passed, in the rest of Thrash history, just as they did 34 years ago on “The Sane Asylum”. What is most impressive and revealing about this album, however, is not the technical ability of the musicians involved (although there is nothing wrong with their ability). It’s the pure brilliance that shapes every song, and the demonstration of how focusing on the art of songwriting will work wonders for a band. “Straight as the Crowbar Flies” introduces us first to the astral energy this album exudes, with catchy riffing and Marc Biedermann’s raspy, growling vocals. The screeching guitar solos and the abrupt rhythm changes keep the song fresh, but the band’s incorporation of technical Thrash elements crossed with extremely catchy riffing and drum arrangements proves to be the strong attributes of this album. There are numerous instances where the band finds its virtue in slowing down, letting a power chord ring out, and then letting the drums restart and propel the song once again. When the band decides to let their guard down and get cagey or manic with the rhythm, it’s done so with precision and doesn’t come at the expense of the song structure. When they get technical, the notes still vibrate with emotion, and the song doesn’t just become a vacuum for skills to be shown off. This message is most evident in every song, which all feature catchy guitar licks and great guitar riffs. What Blind Illusion does best on this new masterpiece is deliver cleverly-written and fun songs with catchy riffs. At the heart of Thrash, that’s really all you can ask for. The effects of how masterfully composed this album is has lend the production a unique ethos that makes it feel human. This is a group of guys who know what die-hard Thrash fans want to hear, and they know how to put it on their 2022 album “Wrath of the Gods”.

Thrill Jockey Records is proud to present Into This Juvenile Apocalypse Our Golden Blood to Pour Let Us Never, the third collaborative album by Japanese free music provocateur Keiji Haino and expressionist metal trio SUMAC. Into This Juvenile Apocalypse finds the quartet navigating the push-and-pull of creative interplay with bolder strides and stronger chemistry. Recorded on May 21, 2019 at the Astoria Hotel on Vancouver BC"s notorious East Hastings Street as a one-off performance during a short North American tour for Haino, the six compositions comprising Into This Juvenile Apocalypse showcase a musical unit bouncing unfiltered ideas off of one another, mining a trove of textures and timbres from their armory to buoy and bolster these living and breathing pieces. Like so many albums documenting free music, the thrill here is in the tight rope walk, the wavering moments of uncertainty and the ecstatic moments of shared brilliance. Japan"s fearless multi-instrumentalist and cultural provocateur Keiji Haino has made a career out of his free-form musical improvisations and diverse collaborations. Whether deconstructing American blues, to a few rogue notes hanging across chasms of empty space in his solo endeavors, sparring with the nebulous fringes of psychedelia in Fushitsusha, or teaming up with musicians like Faust, Boris, Jim O"Rourke, Stephen O"Malley, John Zorn, and Peter Brötzmann for fleeting aural experiments. Haino"s work is never pre-planned or structured, but rather a completely spontaneous exploration of chemistry, texture, and dynamics. SUMAC"s tenure is much younger than Haino"s, though guitarist-vocalist Aaron Turner has covered a similarly large swath of musical territory across numerous projects and collaborations. From the sedated drones of recent projects with Daniel Menche and William Fowler Collins, to the modern compositions of Mamiffer and all the way back to the restless evolutions of post-metal stalwarts ISIS. With his cohorts Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists, Erosion) on drums and Brian Cook (Russian Circles) on bass, Turner has dissolved the rigid forms of heavy music, searching for a balance between disciplined precision and unhinged musical barbarism, crafting music that vacillates between meticulously detailed instrumentation and uninhibited forays into oblique abstraction.

Thrill Jockey Records is proud to present Into This Juvenile Apocalypse Our Golden Blood to Pour Let Us Never, the third collaborative album by Japanese free music provocateur Keiji Haino and expressionist metal trio SUMAC. Into This Juvenile Apocalypse finds the quartet navigating the push-and-pull of creative interplay with bolder strides and stronger chemistry. Recorded on May 21, 2019 at the Astoria Hotel on Vancouver BC"s notorious East Hastings Street as a one-off performance during a short North American tour for Haino, the six compositions comprising Into This Juvenile Apocalypse showcase a musical unit bouncing unfiltered ideas off of one another, mining a trove of textures and timbres from their armory to buoy and bolster these living and breathing pieces. Like so many albums documenting free music, the thrill here is in the tight rope walk, the wavering moments of uncertainty and the ecstatic moments of shared brilliance. Japan"s fearless multi-instrumentalist and cultural provocateur Keiji Haino has made a career out of his free-form musical improvisations and diverse collaborations. Whether deconstructing American blues, to a few rogue notes hanging across chasms of empty space in his solo endeavors, sparring with the nebulous fringes of psychedelia in Fushitsusha, or teaming up with musicians like Faust, Boris, Jim O"Rourke, Stephen O"Malley, John Zorn, and Peter Brötzmann for fleeting aural experiments. Haino"s work is never pre-planned or structured, but rather a completely spontaneous exploration of chemistry, texture, and dynamics. SUMAC"s tenure is much younger than Haino"s, though guitarist-vocalist Aaron Turner has covered a similarly large swath of musical territory across numerous projects and collaborations. From the sedated drones of recent projects with Daniel Menche and William Fowler Collins, to the modern compositions of Mamiffer and all the way back to the restless evolutions of post-metal stalwarts ISIS. With his cohorts Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists, Erosion) on drums and Brian Cook (Russian Circles) on bass, Turner has dissolved the rigid forms of heavy music, searching for a balance between disciplined precision and unhinged musical barbarism, crafting music that vacillates between meticulously detailed instrumentation and uninhibited forays into oblique abstraction.

Quality over quantity. That’s what characterises Shamek Farrah and Norman Person’s recorded output. They may have a small discography between them but it’s a stable of recordings that centrally locate them in the development of the black jazz of America. BBE Music is delighted to present a new edition of a rare, relatively unknown, and unheard gem. Recorded between 1988 and 1991 across a series of concerts, ‘Live’ was released in 1991 and was only available for sale at their gigs. Issued on audio cassette on Farrah’s private Heritage Industries label, ‘Live’ is a raw, uncompromising selection of deep, conscious jazz featuring three original compositions and two covers: ‘Aisha’, written by Person, was inspired by Person’s daughter and is a majestic joyous groove that extends out into a percussive jam; ‘Negative Forces’ is a fiercely paced hard bopper worthy of the Jazz Messengers. Written by Person, he tells how “it had to be like a torpedo, man. It had to come out strong and fight against those negative forces”. The one Farrah/Person co-write on the album is ‘Timeless Beings’, a short freeform improvisation that creates a distinct moment of space and light in an otherwise intensely focussed, yet highly accessible album. The two covers on the album reflect the instruments of the co-leaders: sax and trumpet. ‘Footprints’, the classic written by the Newark Flash himself, Wayne Shorter, and first heard on ‘Miles Smiles’ in 1967 is delivered deftly by Farrah and co. Here, the band pays a respectful yet adventurous rendition, with some superbly colourful piano from Sonelius Smith. The second cover is a tribute to the great trumpeter Clifford Brown, who died in a car accident in 1956, aged just 25. ‘I Remember Clifford’ written by Benny Golson, is handled with suitably delicate reverence. “I still listen to Clifford Brown today,” says Person. “He’s still my teacher.” On ‘Live’, saxophonist Farrah and trumpeter Person - friends for decades - capture an energy and vibration that is infused with the spirit of their youth – whether drawing on the hard bop of the late 50s and early 60s or the Afrocentric spiritual jazz of the early 70s, of which Farrah is intimately linked via his albums on Strata East, ‘Live’ is a document of two masters at work. ‘Live’ has flown under the radar to many a fan of prime black conscious and spiritual jazz but now BBE brings back this astonishing set by two giant talents accompanied by a group of musicians who shine with brilliance and verve. Available for the first time on CD, digital, and double vinyl set cut at 45rpm by the Grammy-nominated The Carvery mastering studio, ‘Live’ also comes with an extended interview with Shamek Farrah and Norman Person by Tony Higgins.

Big AC Records and renowned music photographer, Dean Chalkley, present ‘So Pure’, an astonishing soulful single written and recorded in just 48 hours by six musicians working together for the first time.

The collective, named Phono 48, features neo-soul singer Laville, Kitty and Lewis Durham (of Kitty, Daisy and Lewis), Amané Suganami (Maisha), Solomon Douglas and Nick Corbin, all of whom entered the studio with no preconceived ideas of what they would create.

The result is a beautifully crafted, contemporary-sounding song; Laville’s positive lyrics and smooth, laid-back vocal are soundtracked by an infectious piece of music, with all participants blending seamlessly to create a track at the intersection of soul, funk and jazz.

‘So Pure’ anchors the multi-media ‘New Perspectives’ project devised by Dean Chalkey, who captured the magic of the two days’ studio time in a vast series of documentary style images.

Additionally Chalkley and art director Ciaran O’Shea created a short experimental film with different abstract elements reflecting this brilliant creative journey, inspired by Jean Luc Godard’s ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, where the director shot the Rolling Stones as they made their famous record.

The multi-faceted ‘New Perspectives’ project also includes a one-off journal written by music journalist Andy Thomas. The project will launch on 17th February at The Museum of Youth Culture with a photography exhibition and film screening.

Jake Mehew's debut album Sage is a modern and contemporary take on spiritual jazz, a truly exceptional record from the eclectic and highly talented Leeds' artist.Whilst staying within the ethos of spontaneous, unedited performance, Mehew constantly pushes and manipulates the genre's boundaries.The recognisable and lush sound of the Fender Rhodes, layered on a bed of punchy, percussive, grooves, provides the bedrock for powerful improvisations, running alongside Meyhew's subtle analogue synth manipulation and production.

Sage was workshopped over one frantic lockdown week in August 2020. It's a truly honest experience of seven days of hard work, a multi tracked record, made without using overdub to capture the true energy of the performance.True to the spirit of albums made in a pre digital era Mehew set out to capture ideas, interaction and performance at their inception rather than post production.

Jake Mehew is an up and coming composer, performer and producer based in Leeds, UK. His work combines principles of free improvisation with the technological considerations of the avant-garde. Using a combination of acoustic instruments, modular synthesisers and samplers Mehew creates rich, meditative soundscapes that envelop the listener in an immersive sound field.

By 1974, the Alice Cooper group had risen to the upper echelon of rock stardom.. and then, parted ways. In October 2015, over 40 years later, record store owner and superfan Chris Penn convinced the original line- up to reunite for a very special performance at his record store Good Records in Dallas, Texas.

Alice Cooper (vocals), Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal Smith (drums) were joined on stage by Alice's current guitarist Ryan Roxie (standing in for the late Glen Buxton). A packed audience, believing they had come to Good Records for Dennis Dunaway's 'Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!' book signing, were surprised to bear witness to a full-blown happening.

The historic reunion show including all-time classics such as "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out" is now becoming available for the very first time worldwide. Luckily the event was documented. "Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper" (edited and directed by Steven Gaddis) toured the world to the acclaim of music fans and rock journalists alike. The documentary won multiple
awards for its coverage of the historic event. Now all Alice Cooper fans and rock music lovers across the globe can enjoy this movie as it's included as a video bonus to this live album.

Limited Edition, Numbered, Curacao coloured Vinyl & DVD.

By 1974, the Alice Cooper group had risen to the upper echelon of rock
stardom..
and then, parted ways. In October 2015, over 40 years later, record store owner
and superfan Chris Penn convinced the original line- up to reunite for a very
special performance at his record store Good Records in Dallas, Texas.
Alice Cooper (vocals), Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal
Smith (drums) were joined on stage by Alice's current guitarist Ryan Roxie
(standing in for the late Glen Buxton). A packed audience, believing they had
come to Good Records for Dennis Dunaway's 'Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!'
book signing, were surprised to bear witness to a full-blown happening.
The historic reunion show including all-time classics such as "No More Mr. Nice
Guy", "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out" is now becoming available for the very first
time worldwide. Luckily the event was documented. "Live From The Astroturf,
Alice Cooper" (edited and directed by Steven Gaddis) toured the world to the
acclaim of music fans and rock journalists alike. The documentary won multiple
awards for its coverage of the historic event. Now all Alice Cooper fans and rock
music lovers across the globe can enjoy this movie as it's included as a video
bonus to this live album.
Limited Edition, Numbered, Curacao coloured Vinyl & DVD.

HOT REPRESS !!!

Kalabrese is a curious tastemaker and bold musical force that dares to tread the murky waters between indie and electronica, playfully emphasising vocals on song based productions and presenting an album that pushes the limits and portrays dance music in a peculiar and natural way. Inspired by blues, funk, and all those beautiful dancers and tragic heroes of the night, 'Independent Dancer' is laced with curiosity and fever inducing productions.

Six years on from his 2007 debut album 'Rumpelzirkus', a critically acclaimed project that was pursued by performances at infamous festivals like Sonar, Mutek in Montreal and Transmediale in Berlin as well as playing nearly every club basement in Europe with his live-project "Rumpelorchester", Sascha Winkler AKA Kalabrese returns with a masterpiece.

Sounding like a soundtrack from James Murphy (in fact Kalabrese played back to back with the LCD Soundsystem lead man in 2012) and Nicolas Jaar, who featured his epic blues solo 'Desperate Man' on his own Resident-Advisor podcast, 'Independent Dancer' commences with an almost euphoric and certainly unpretentious spirit. 'Purple Rose' steps out downbeat with Sarah Palin, the newest Rumpel discovery, singing an astonishing duet with Kala, an almost country-like creation with ringing bells from the Alps and a hypnotic house beat crashing behind. Kalabrese recruits friend and mentor, A.C.

One of the UK’s most consistently inventive production minds of recent times, Lil Silva has perhaps one of the most varied resumes in the world. Causing a seismic effect on the world of club music with smashes such as ‘Seasons’ and releases with the likes of Night Slugs, production credits for a diverse range of artists such as Adele, BANKS, Mark Ronson and serpentwithfeet, and a collaborative project with George FitzGerald as OTHERLiiNE even before factoring stellar solo releases under the Lil Silva moniker using his own vocal, he has continuously combined a broad range of influences to create a transformative, varied discography. After the release of ‘Backwards’ last month alongside Sampha, today Lil Silva announces his long awaited debut album, Yesterday Is Heavy.

Over 10 years in the making, ‘Yesterday Is Heavy’ is a cumulative product of an already remarkable career filled with highlights. An album about stepping out: outside of a comfort zone, and, for Lil Silva, outside of himself. It’s a debut album of heft and heart, but most of all hope – and trusting the process. Buoyed on by the encouragement of long-time collaborators like Jamie Woon and Sampha early in his career (they both implored him to commit his own voice to record), and bolstered by incomparable session experience working with Mark Ronson, Adele and more, the Lil Silva story that started aged 10 in Bedford is beginning full circle. Created primarily in the town he grew up in (and continues to live now), the pervading solace of home courses through the project, while providing the thrilling moments of sleight of hand that Silva has always been capable of.

As he so often does, Lil Silva shares the spotlight with an astonishing international cast of guests. He fuses well-versed modern legends in the shape of Sampha, Ghetts, and Little Dragon with rising stars serpentwithfeet, Charlotte Day Wilson and Skiifall to thrilling effect, the whole time never allowing his deftly dynamic yet considered touch to be outshone throughout. The album has also been created with musical direction from Louis Vuitton musical director and BBC Radio 1 tastemaker Benji B, as well as creative direction from award winning visual artist BAFIC. It’s with the opening track ‘Another Sketch’ however, where his singular talent introduces itself.

With a visual directed by UKMVA Award winner Fenn O’Meally, ‘Another Sketch’ is a prime example of the vast array of talents that Lil Silva possesses. A video that transcends generations of Black Britons (featuring Lil Silva’s own family as well as Sampha), ‘Another Sketch’ focuses on the subject of time. Looking at generations of black britons as monuments, the visual centres on the idea that despite time being able to wear down your appearance, what’s inside of you can never depreciate. The main centrepiece of this is heritage, with archive and newly recorded footage showing Silva’s family and friends enjoying the same activities they did generations ago, spliced with footage and voice notes from one of the lands of his dual heritage, Jamaica. The track itself focuses on a central theme of actions, their consequences and changing our inevitable future, with Lil Silva’s stunning falsetto shining alongside background vocals from serpentwithfeet and an instrumental that initially opens minimalistically before gradually unfurling to unveil elements of his electronic beginnings; a thumping hip hop infused beat and swelling melodic embellishments.

With ‘Yesterday Is Heavy’, Lil Silva reaps the rewards of over a decade of influence to create the debut album he’s always imagined. Simultaneously riding the line between pertinent storytelling and virtuosic production, ‘Yesterday Is Heavy’ charts the story of one of UK music’s unsung heroes taking his time to build something that is truly timeless. Yesterday Is Heavy, but tomorrow is forever.

Recommended If You Like: Deerhoof, Tune-Yards, CAN (if they were a band in like, 2070), Blonde Redhead, Horse Lords, Tigue, Lil Nas X (in spirit). Over eighteen boundless albums as experimental as they are pop, Deerhoof has continuously quested for radical sounds and daring storytelling.

Dates Aug 28 Summerhall, Edinburgh, Aug 29 The Cluny, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Aug 30 Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, Aug 31 Electric Ballroom, London, Sep 01 Hare and Hounds, Birmingham.

Blue Vinyl
If emptiness is heaviness is Godliness, Birds of Prey’s third full-length LP is an immaculate conception from on high. The record luxuriates in the spaces between. What’s left out says as much as what made it in. Deep, droning, and dub wise, “Vanishing Point” cascades in elegance. Its reference points call towards the sample manipulation of American tape music and the downward gaze of amniotic British bass music. It charts its own path nonetheless, building its own space for drifting off to. Unlike many peers operating in similar realms, Birds of Prey are a proper band, a foursome: Grant Aaron, Clay Wilson, Eric Holmes, and Camille Altay. Each are artists in their own right with a distinct practice. In Birds of Prey, their collaborations in studio take on a greater shape, whittled and edited into cosmic formlessness. Although borne of improvisation, you may never know that in the listening. “Vanishing Point” is a tight, coherent work, the sound of a cadre of talented musicians locked in flow. Rippling tones become glacial melodies. Cavernous drums emerge barely from the ether. Rhythms interlock, interpolate. Patterns repeat and dissolve whence they came. There is untold potency in simplicity, and Birds of Prey make it known.

Deux Filles was not, in fact, two girls despite what the group name and its elaborate hoax of a backstory suggest. No, they were not Gemini Forque and Claudine Coule, French women who met as teenagers under tragic circumstances and became fast friends, recording two albums together before disappearing into the ether. In reality, Deux Filles was Simon Fisher Turner and Colin Lloyd Tucker, a UK duo who first worked together in an early incarnation of The The.

Straddling the line between experimental and pop, Turner was an actor and teen singing star who later composed soundtracks for the iconic queer filmmaker Derek Jarman while Tucker’s career began as an engineer for the famed UK library music studio, De Wolfe, before forming experimental wave group The Gadgets. In Deux Filles, the duo found an outlet for their least commercial tendencies, combining lo-fi proto-dream-pop instrumentals with samples, tape experiments, ambient textures, and drum machines. Even in the vibrant, seemingly endless well of UK DIY, Deux Filles stand out.

Silence & Wisdom – the duo’s 1982 debut – is a series of musical vignettes, like the score of an unrealized arthouse film. Blending processed guitars, sheets of synthesizers, echoey pianos, and washed-out vocal snippets to surprisingly varied effect, the album is recommended for fans of Durutti Column and Virginia Astley’s From Gardens Where We Feel Secure.

KUTU is the brainchild of revered French violinist and composer Théo Ceccaldi - a stalmart of the European improvised music scene - and Addis-Ababa based singers Hewan Gebrewold and Haleluya Tekletsadik. Following a first impressive round of shows and festivals all over France, KUTU are ready to take the world by storm with their astonishing debut album Guramayle (which both stands for ‘bilingual’ and ‘black and white’) due this fall. Unleashing hypnotic and trance-heavy grooves, thanks to a forceful rhythm section, cosmic keyboard lines and stellar vocal performances, KUTU merges the freedom of jazz, the immediacy of dance music and the incomparable depth of the Azmari sounds.

Ben Auld writes songs whose heartbreak and wonder reveal themselves
moments after the warmth of their beauty sinks in, like slipping into the
ocean on a bronzy morning
Whether he's singing about bookstores and porches or ghosts and space
stations, the Bristol, UK-based singer-songwriter imbues his straight-to-tape gems
with a radiant AM pop warmth. And on Lemongrass, due ia Earth Libraries, that
comfy songwriting crackles and pops somewhere between Roger McGuinn and
Gram Parsons. Auld's debut record brims with homespun charm, dazzling
melodies, and lyrics that burrow deep into the heart.
Throughout the album, the immaculately arranged compositions provide the
perfect frame for smooth and rosiny vocals. Utilizing a series of reel-to-reel tape
machines, Auld chose to meticulously stack his instrumentation rather than
simplify; some songs have dozens of instrumental tracks, all assembled on tape.
"I'd record three tracks, bounce that over, and then record another three. I did it
alone and it took a long time to figure out what was possible," he says. "I went
through two four- track recorders, an 8- track 1/2" reel- to- reel, and finished the
album on a TASCAM 388. One of the biggest challenges of the album was fixing
all the broken old gear."
With each new listen, Lemongrass becomes a fonder friend, Auld's heart-on-hissleeve lyricism and intimate songwriting building a deeper nest. "The time is
ours/ Our time is now," he insists on the psychedelic wonder of "Our Time Is
Now", more certain and wide-eyed than urgent. Through first love and heartbreak,
dawns and apocalypses, Lemongrass keeps turning, collecting flickers of astral
bliss with each rotation, Auld's thumping heartbeat at the core.

LESKY and Waywell unite again. The German Lofi heavyweight and
the UK guitarist are back with the sequel to their 2021 EP Whitecaps”.
A perfect soundtrack to pool parties, imaginary beach cruises and late-night bonfires. Their album is called “Mesame”, which is Georgian for “the third”.
The title draws on the Indian concept of the third eye chakra that provides higher consciousness and perception beyond ordinary sight and refers to the psychedelic influences surrounding the album sound. “Mesame” will be released September 9th digitally and on LP, consisting of 6 brand new tracks and all tracks from the “Whitecaps” EP. The album artwork created Tim Paschedag.
The two expats LESKY and Waywell met in Tbilisi, Georgia where they
shared a studio space. Waywell’s deeply soothing guitar riffs and LESKY’s crisp production make for a perfect hybrid sound of cosmic lofi paired with a subliminal yacht rock vibe, called Lofi Yacht Pop. LESKY was born in Leipzig but moved to Georgia beginning of 2021 to pursue music full-time.
Creating his own soundscape fusing mellow neo soul keys, trap infused drums and samples flipped beyond recognition, he has released three EPs and the full-length album “Meraki” on Melting Pot Music. Furthermore several projects on renowned labels like Blue Note Records/Astralwerks and Lofi Girl. Waywell has been self-releasing singles and one EP since 2017.

repress

"The haunting ambience of Beat fit somewhat with the then-popular Massive Attack and Portishead, but the album's subsonic drone made it more of a minimal mood piece than a collection of songs." MAGNET

The second in a trio of albums released by the core duo of Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener, Beat is without doubt their definitive artistic statement.

Coming 20 years to the day of its original release, this is the first time this album has been available on vinyl in almost two decades, and the first ever U.S. vinyl release. (Was released here on Beggars Banquet, original copies very hard to find..)

The second album from New York City's Bowery Electric was released in late 1996, less than 15 months after their self-titled debut, but it found them having traveled light years musically in the interim, the group having seemingly decided to see how far they could take the guitar/ bass/ drums/ vocal setup into the atmosphere.

Every aspect of their approach had been refined and focused: squalling, distorted guitars had been transformed into hazy, sensual sheets; the live drums transmuted to sampled rhythms more in debt to the blossoming downtempo sound of the day; bass lines reduced to their most basic diagrams; vocals submerged to become one with the narcotized fog of the instruments; even the lyrics were reduced to a few minimal lines used sparingly so as not to overshadow the dynamic.

Beat is a lush and dense mantra of shadowy percussion, barely-there vocals and immersive drones that envelops the listener in an opiated blanket of sound.

quotes:

"Bowery Electric have made something utterly astonishing here. So deep, so wide, and somehow as intimate as a train crash. The first six tracks are just the most crushingly beautiful thing I've heard in 1997; the last five are even better. Good god, THIS IS IT." Melody Maker

"While cymbals shower down over the songs like a torrent of shattered glass, their austere beauty is never static. Ambience has rarely sounded so messy." Exclaim

A near-perfect mix of shifting dance beats, menacing electronic drones, analogue bleeps,
syncopated rhythms and ethereal vocals." Now UK

Under The Sun is the follow-up to the astonishing Roots and contains yet more absolutely essential Nucleus material. Originally released on Vertigo in 1974, Under The Sun was never re-pressed and of course those original copies are now very tricky to score. Like all the Nucleus records, it’s aged ridiculously well and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.

Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that.

Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels. And the music has stayed relevant. To steal a line from a recent review of our re-issue of Roots, when it comes to anything Nucleus “it’s basically already hip-hop”.

Under The Sun opens with the crisp, medium tempo “In Procession”. It’s a typically inventive Carr track with layers of dramatic, riff-led themes and repeating brass blasts. Bryan Spring’s “The Addison Trip” is a moody funk piece, with Kieran White guesting on wordless vocals. Roger Sutton contributes some fine bass guitar on this track, particularly the great solo at around the two minute mark. The excellently-named cool, jazzy ballad “Pastoral Graffiti” paints bucolic pictures with its mellow sonics, plaintive horns and Bob Bertles’ flute.

Sutton’s superb, bass-driven “New Life” brings a different dynamic. Horns, guitar and electric piano swirl over the head-nod bass motif and a killer Ken Shaw guitar solo. A false fade out halfway through brings in a new bass riff that’s picked up by the whole ensemble as Carr wah-wah noodles over the top. It’s full-on. The gorgeous, laidback “A Taste of Sarsaparilla” is exactly that - closing out the first side with a cute blast of what is to come over on the killer flip.

The whole of Under The Sun’s second side is a suite of three “Themes” written by Ian Carr. The uptempo first theme “Sarsaparilla” is comfortably one of Nucleus’ best. What would’ve been a cluttered mess in the hands of most is instead an effortless lesson in clarity and zing. Between Geoff Castle’s electric piano solo, the relentless funky drumming and more wild wah-wah trumpet from Carr, Nucleus show you how it’s done.

The languid groove of second theme “Feast Alfresco” is much more typical of “classic” Nucleus and sounds like something that might’ve been on Roots. A Bertles baritone solo and a guitar solo from Shaw weave around the core, serpentine brass theme.

The darker “Rites of Man”, the third and final theme, is a slow build to a solid bass and electric piano riff, shored up by some tricky brass. Carr takes the theme even further and there’s still plenty of room for soloing from all corners of the Nucleus. As usual, the dynamic Sutton/Spring, bass/drums duo is holding down the rhythm for the rest to jam around.

This Be With edition of Under The Sun has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. The bleak, rain-dappled cover matches the melancholic vibe of the record and has been restored as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Labyrinth is dark, brooding, beat-heavy, melancholic mood music courtesy of Ian Carr and the Nucleus crew. A favourite of Madlib, it goes without saying that this is one magnificent record. Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, Labyrinth was never re-pressed and of course those original copies are now very tricky to score. Like all the Nucleus records, it’s aged ridiculously well and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.

Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that.

Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels. And the music has kept relevant. To steal a line from a recent review of our re-issue of Roots, when it comes to anything Nucleus “it’s basically already hip-hop”.

At this point Carr had parted ways with guitarist Alan Holdsworth and as a result the Nucleus sound found itself returning to the core elements of groove and melody. Carr had become bolder and more self-confident in his compositions and it shows in the sheer ambition of Labyrinth. Composed by Carr, and with lyrics written by his wife Sandy, Labyrinth was the result of a commission from the Park Lane Group and funded by the Arts Council of Great Britain. Originally a live performance by an augmented Nucleus, some of the expanded cast were brought back for the recording sessions, including vocalist Norma Winstone. So as the front cover of the finished album says, this is literally “Nucleus Plus”.

Labyrinth is presented as a suite, based on the ancient Greek legend of the Minotaur with musical instruments representing the various elements of the mythology. According to the LP’s original sleeve notes, the bass clarinet represents the tragic element, the trumpet represents the heroic element and the voice represents the human element. The rest of the musicians represent the two societies of Athens and Crete and their comments on the story as it unfolds.

The album opens with the experimental, sumptuously dissonant “Origins”. Teasing strands of atmospheric bass clarinet introduce the first theme before swiftly fading out with a startling blast of staccato fanfares and big drums. Heavy. The album soon finds its rhythm as it alights on the spell-binding and groove-friendly “Bull-Dance”, showing off the best Nucleus has to offer: subtle trumpet melodies, compelling rhythms, a psych-rock vibe and tight soloing. And of course there’s Norma Winstone’s stunning wordless vocals, that also take the lead in the next track “Ariadne”, a spacey-jazz song with beautiful piano, flute and clarinet, and the only recognisable lyrics on the album. You might recognise a snatch of it being looped by Madlib on Quasimoto’s “Astro Travellin”. The first part of the improvised “Arena” closes out the first side of the album, a short experimental piece with piano and horns.

Over on the flip-side, the powerful second part of “Arena” introduces a new theme. It swiftly builds, with vocal melodies, piano and horns all pronounced over the thick drums snapping your neck. It comes on like an alternate take on “Bull-Dance”, noisier, with a looser rhythm. The triumphant, shuffling Latin-jam “Exultation” leans on more scintillating vocals from Winstone, and a chunky counter melody from the rhythm section. It’ll get you moving.

The final track, the haunting, twelve minute “Naxos”, is an incredible way to close out this remarkable record. A circling bass guitar loop inspiring the group to a meditative psychedelic jazz rock improvisation in a silent, Miles kind of way, with a great flugelhorn solo from Carr and an ace synth climax.

This Be With edition of Labyrinth has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. Another great Keith Davis sleeve has been restored in all its airbrushed Golden Age of comics, gatefold splendour. Complete with Minotaur of course.

Demian Sky is a meticulous beatmaker, experienced musician, committed record store
manager, passionate DJ as well as excessive record collector and music enthusiast. His instrumental hip-hop debut »A Kraut Tale« is a narrative sound journey on 18 tracks. The song structures, the musical concept and the overall atmosphere of the record show very clearly that his influences are not only in hip-hop, but also in psychedelic and prog rock of the 60s and 70s. There are also some references to works of DJ Shadow, Dan The Automator, Cut Chemist, Gaslamp Killer and such. It is all the more astonishing that, contrary to possible expectations, all samples come from old German Schlager and Folk music records. The result is not a loose collection of individual pieces of music, but rather a coherent album with its own dramaturgy in two chapters.

Glenn Astro and Hulk Hodn (to some known as mighty Hodini) release their new full-length record “Ghosts” via Kommerz Records on August 26th.
Producers Astro & Hodn‘s first joint album “Turquoise Tortoise” in 2018 combined uptempo beats, hiphop and spaced out lo-fi slow jams effortlessly. On “Ghosts” the duo develops their exploration of new
aesthetics even further through synthesized soundscapes and numerous collaborations with young talent from all over the world. Artists such as Danish neo soul discovery AGGi, King Krule collaborator Gal Go, Kamohelo from Studio Barnhus band Off The Meds, Berlin-based voice experimentalist Yosa Peit and many more deep dived into the collaboration and transformed the album into a sonic multiverse.
New Release Information
Glenn Astro and Hulk Hodn are connected through a long lasting musical friendship. With their Detroitinspired house releases they gained wider recognition by critics and listeners alike. Nevertheless,
they’ve never been one dimensional artists. Berlin-based Glenn Astro‘s diversified approach to production as showcased on labels such as Ninja Tune and Tartelet bridges the gaps between ambient, hip-hop, techno and bass.
Meanwhile Cologne‘s Hulk Hodn gained the status of a German underground hip-hop legend. Through his records and shows with rapper Retrogott he gathered a cult-like following besides dropping high quality projects with other beat makers such as Hubert Daviz and Twit One and rappers such as Eloquent. Most recently he dropped the instrumental LP “Sparklez” on Sichtexot sub Casual Low Grind.

Die dänische Melodic Death Metal Band DEFACING GOD steht mit ihrem Debütalbum The Resurrection of Lilith in den Startlöchern, das am 2. September 2022 über Napalm Records veröffentlicht wird. Die
2015 von Sängerin Sandie ”The Lilith” Gjørtz und Drummer Michael Olsson gegründete Band folgt mit ihrer harschen Musik skandinavischen Metal Traditionen und im Zentrum ihrer Texte steht der Mythos um den weiblichen Dämon Lilith, der Unabhängigkeit und unbeugsamen Widerstand symbolisiert. DEFACING GOD gelingt es mit ihren Erzählungen, ihrer Musik und der düsteren Ästhetik die Hörer in ein dunkles Universum von obskuren Mythen und uralten Geschichten zu locken. Gleichzeitig ziehen sie von diesen
Mythen subtile Verbindungen zu aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Themen, wie Unterdrückung oder auch inneren Dämonen. Auf klanglicher Ebene schließen DEFACING GOD an Bands wie Cradle of Filth, Carach Angren und Dimmu Borgir an und balancieren massive Melodien, die durch die grandiose Orchestrierung von Lars Vinther untermalt werden. Anstatt diese symphonischen Melodien mit Black Metal verschmelzen lassen, werden sie bei DEFACING GOD rohem Death Metal gegenübergestellt. Produziert wurde ihr Debüt The Resurrection Of Lilith von niemand geringerem als Jacob Hansen, der für seine Arbeit mit Fleshgod Apocalypse, Volbeat, Evergrey, Epica und unzähligen anderen bekannt ist.

Back in soon, note new price. The second Silver Mt Zion album featured an expanded band, with a similarly expanded band name. The addition of cello, second violin and second guitar allowed SMZ to develop richer, denser arrangements while preserving live ensemble playing. The opening instrumental pieces picked up where the debut left off, with found-sound loops and treatments introducing repeated melodic themes that move slowly through various counter-melodies the greater breadth of instrumentation brought extra subtlety, complexity and harmonic range to bear on these neo-classical dirges. Guitars and vocals moved to the fore on the album’s centerpiece tracks. “Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River” is an astounding juxtaposition of rhythmic thrust and ricocheting vocals, driven by a battered lyrical paranoia that conjures equal parts fear and rage. The calm after this storming piece comes by way of another vocal tune, this time fragile and near-whispered, with dual lines that alternately mask and reinforce each other. A piano and cello interlude prefaces the last side of the record, which features two guitar-driven songs, the first a blazing rock piece that builds to an exuberant distorted climax, the second as close to a pop masterpiece as this band is likely to craft, highlighted by a lovely arpeggio guitar riff and the defiant refrain “musicians are cowards”. While remaining anchored in an underlying sadness and mourning over this failed world, this album reveals an angrier, more urgent face as this unique ensemble charted ever-widening sonic and emotional terrain.



[c] B1 . Built Then Burnt [Hurrah! Hurrah!]

Brand new 2022 ‘Amethyst Edition’ repressing.
Includes 2LPs pressed on ‘ghostly’ purple and blue
vinyl, with zoetrope labels and a gatefold jacket.
 ‘South Of Reality’, The Claypool Lennon Delirium’s
epic sophomore album, might be just the antidote
this sick world needs.
 Music so potent it could repel an asteroid impact
from space, these seasoned warriors of
psychedelia have crafted timeless songs that may
as well be chiselled in stone.
 The monolithic dream team’s new record was
produced by Les Claypool and Sean Lennon
themselves and engineered and mixed by Les
Claypool at his own Rancho Relaxo studio in
Sonoma County, California.
 Grab your goggles and a month’s supply of KoolAid because The Claypool Lennon Delirium are
about to take you for a ride on a rock ‘n’ roll rocket
ship and frankly you may never come back.

"Diré a mi gente" is a 1969 Colombian pop classic with one foot in protest song and the other in acid rock, harsh sounding but also current and sincere. The rawness of the lyrics, the simple and dynamic electrified instrumentation and the contrast with the sweetness and innocence of the adolescent vocals make it reminiscent of Nadaism via Pablus Gallinazo, the bittersweet tenderness of Elia y Elizabeth and the post Los Yetis duet of Norman y Darío. First time vinyl reissue. Liner notes by Mexican DJ and collector Carlos Icaza aka Tropicaza (Dublab / Worldwide FM). "Diré a mi gente" is an essential Colombian album that connects the new generations that grew up after the fall of the socialist block. It's a classic with one foot in protest song and the other in acid rock, harsh sounding but also current, raw and sincere. It's reminiscent of Nadaism via Pablus Gallinazo, the bittersweet tenderness of Elia y Elizabeth and the post Yetis duet of Norman y Darío. It was recorded by the brothers Ana y Jaime Valencia and originally released in 1969 on the local label Discos 15. The messages it conveys are still fresh and the blend of superb songs, arrangements and the candor of the duo's performance proves the relevance and importance of re-listening to this album in an increasingly nihilistic and depoliticized world. The teenage voices enhance the truthfulness and power of conviction of the classic songs of Alí Primera and Daniel Viglietti. The endearing song 'Cuántos momentos', originally recorded by Iván Darío López from Los Yetis-Norman y Darío, stands out on the album. 'Es largo el camino', with more stark lyrics by Nelson Osorio backed by Astudillo's screeching guitar, sends shivers down your spine. "Diré a mi gente" reaffirms that the transformative power of music is still there, latent, waiting to be unleashed. Even though the road traveled to get there is sometimes long.

Continuing the ‘first time on vinyl’ purge of the AMT archives. Here’s the band's classic 2006 album finally available on double vinyl for the first time. Housed in full colour gatefold sleeve.
‘Myth of the Love Electrique’ is another scorcher from these ridiculously prolific psych masters. This album is notable for being the debut of their newest band member: Kitagawa Hao. Kitagawa's presence doesn't dominate the recording by any means, but her contributions nicely complement the swirling chaos the group generates. Acid Mothers Temple always manages to find a breath of fresh air at the most opportune times, and this is no exception. While remaining a tight unit, bringing Kitagawa into the fold adds another dimension to their chaotic sprawl without having to sacrifice any of their strengths on this incendiary album.
“Comprised of four lengthy tracks, the album explodes with a start: "The Man from Giacobinid Meteor Comet." Kawabata Makoto's guitar quickly becomes a tangle of screams, a frenzied surge that drags the band along with it. The rhythm section is ferocious. Bassist Tsuyama Atsushi frequently ventures out to the stratosphere, but he also knows when to hold back or to provide a vaguely melodic foundation. Likewise, the amount of energy drummer Shimura Koji dedicates to his performance is a lesson in endurance. Divided into three movements, this track eventually cools down and then glides to a drone landing, alighting the listener breathlessly upon calmer ground.
Kitagawa's voice makes its first appearance on "Five Dimensional Nightmare," floating over a bouzouki arrangement that sounds like singing glass. This one is divided into three sections like the previous track, but starts airy and then goes into a drone as Tsuyama briefly takes over the vocals. From here, strings are tortured like fingernails on a blackboard before a guitar and Higashi Hiroshi’s water drop electronics restore balance.
As much as I loved the two previous tracks, the band forges ahead into something different on "Love Electrique." Kitagawa's presence is most felt on this track. Her voice streaks across the mix as blistering guitars and freaky electronics blast all over the place. Over the course of 20 minutes, it hits several different moods and textures on a truly transcendent journey.

Of the four tracks, only the live staple "Pink Lady Lemonade (May I Drink You Once Again?)" may seem a little redundant. Kitagawa, however, breathes new life into this standard by bringing her vocals to the fore over the entire track, as if restoring an element that previously had been missing. It's hard to call it a definitive version because so many other excellent versions already exist, but it is a great one in its own right. For fans who may be weary of this song after all of its appearances over the years, it is easy enough to stop the disc after gorging on the first hour of music, and it is still a welcome dessert if the mood should strike”

Ever Crashing, the second LP by Kennedy Ashlyn aka SRSQ pronounced ‘seer-skew’, is the summation of a nearly three-year journey of soul searching, songwriting, and self-discovery: “I became myself in the process of making this record.” From the first choral swells of opener “It Always Rains,” it’s clear this collection exists on an ascendant plane, capturing an artist in super bloom. Every song hits like a single, heaving with guitar, synth, strings, live drums, and oceans of Ashlyn’s astounding voice, balletic and illuminated. The tracks gleam with detail, often assembled from as many as 100 separate tracks, all of which were written and played solely by Ashlyn – a feat of world-building as daunting as it is devastating.

For her, however, the process is intrinsic and intuitive – even a matter of survival. Her 2018 solo debut emerged in response to the tragic Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, which took the life of her bandmate and best friend Cash Askew. Similarly, Ever Crashing began materializing in the wake of an ADHD and bipolar disorder diagnosis, prompting a profound personal overhaul. Ashlyn cites such periods of turmoil as a muse of sorts, when “songs begin to echo within me,” gradually reverberating clearer and more vividly. As melodies and arrangements come into focus, the songs act like containers, vessels in which to externalize and exorcise tumultuous emotions, a transformation she memorializes in the climax of “Élan Vital:” “Reeling in and out of deep despair / I am saved by song.”

From swooning end credits balladry (“Dead Loss”) to orchestral slow-burn torch songs (“Abyss”) to dizzying shoegaze heavens (“Someday I Will Bask In The Sun”), the album exudes a sense of aching grandeur and bewildered joy, rich with triumphs hard won and lost loves never forgotten. Melodies pirouette and crescendo in dazzling, elevated acrobatics, somewhere between Kate Bush and The Sundays, threaded with ethereal undercurrents of shimmering shadow. Riffs brood and sparkle over crystalline synths, buoyant bass, and patient percussion, steadily building to holy moments of tidal power, finessed to perfection by producer Chris Coady (Beach House, Slowdive, Zola Jesus). Ashlyn’s is a dream-pop of questing catharsis, vulnerable but orchestral, as dense with hooks as heartbreak.

The album’s title refers to Ashlyn’s recurring sensation of being trapped in the crest of a wave, turned and churned in the surf, mirroring the cycles of self-flagellation and surrender that she battles being bipolar. But as the poetic raptures of these songs attest, her creative process thrives at transmuting trauma into potent music of arresting beauty and hidden divinity. Ever Crashing is an aching, rare work, shaded with gradients of reverie and regret, loss and letting go, “mourning the person I thought I should be, mourning the person I never was.” But even in its pain, Ashlyn’s voice exerts a redemptive gravity, yearning to transform and transcend: “Even on the inside / I’m bracing for impact / I’m waiting to destroy my life / To become sunlight.”

Ever Crashing, the second LP by Kennedy Ashlyn aka SRSQ pronounced ‘seer-skew’, is the summation of a nearly three-year journey of soul searching, songwriting, and self-discovery: “I became myself in the process of making this record.” From the first choral swells of opener “It Always Rains,” it’s clear this collection exists on an ascendant plane, capturing an artist in super bloom. Every song hits like a single, heaving with guitar, synth, strings, live drums, and oceans of Ashlyn’s astounding voice, balletic and illuminated. The tracks gleam with detail, often assembled from as many as 100 separate tracks, all of which were written and played solely by Ashlyn – a feat of world-building as daunting as it is devastating.

For her, however, the process is intrinsic and intuitive – even a matter of survival. Her 2018 solo debut emerged in response to the tragic Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, which took the life of her bandmate and best friend Cash Askew. Similarly, Ever Crashing began materializing in the wake of an ADHD and bipolar disorder diagnosis, prompting a profound personal overhaul. Ashlyn cites such periods of turmoil as a muse of sorts, when “songs begin to echo within me,” gradually reverberating clearer and more vividly. As melodies and arrangements come into focus, the songs act like containers, vessels in which to externalize and exorcise tumultuous emotions, a transformation she memorializes in the climax of “Élan Vital:” “Reeling in and out of deep despair / I am saved by song.”

From swooning end credits balladry (“Dead Loss”) to orchestral slow-burn torch songs (“Abyss”) to dizzying shoegaze heavens (“Someday I Will Bask In The Sun”), the album exudes a sense of aching grandeur and bewildered joy, rich with triumphs hard won and lost loves never forgotten. Melodies pirouette and crescendo in dazzling, elevated acrobatics, somewhere between Kate Bush and The Sundays, threaded with ethereal undercurrents of shimmering shadow. Riffs brood and sparkle over crystalline synths, buoyant bass, and patient percussion, steadily building to holy moments of tidal power, finessed to perfection by producer Chris Coady (Beach House, Slowdive, Zola Jesus). Ashlyn’s is a dream-pop of questing catharsis, vulnerable but orchestral, as dense with hooks as heartbreak.

The album’s title refers to Ashlyn’s recurring sensation of being trapped in the crest of a wave, turned and churned in the surf, mirroring the cycles of self-flagellation and surrender that she battles being bipolar. But as the poetic raptures of these songs attest, her creative process thrives at transmuting trauma into potent music of arresting beauty and hidden divinity. Ever Crashing is an aching, rare work, shaded with gradients of reverie and regret, loss and letting go, “mourning the person I thought I should be, mourning the person I never was.” But even in its pain, Ashlyn’s voice exerts a redemptive gravity, yearning to transform and transcend: “Even on the inside / I’m bracing for impact / I’m waiting to destroy my life / To become sunlight.”

Anna Tivel's ‘Outsiders’ is a meditation on otherness, a deep dive into the myriad forces that keep us from connecting in real ways, and a celebration of the ones that draw us together. From space exploration to schizophrenia, power imbalance to potent honesty in an old van, these songs are meant as a small prayer of recognition for loneliness and love, and all the ways we try and fail and try again to see each other clearly and let ourselves be seen. "Tivel's characters are common but unforgettable, and her prose paints their worlds in colors that are vivid but always in balance ... Her images linger, and become populated with the energy of the real." - Ann Powers, NPR 2019's album 'The Question' named Paste's Number 1 “Essential Folk Albums from 2019” ahead of Big Thief and Bedouine.

Entspannte Grooves, zurückgelehnte Rhythmen von um und bei 80 bis 90 BPM sowie atmosphärische Klangflächen. Mit anderen Worten: der perfekte Chillout-Sound für jeden Tag.

repressed !

Surfing on the shores of Java and Casablanca! 2 unexpected tales from the Beat generation.

Tony Turpijn and his Evergreens fulfill the dream of every pantropical music lover with a silky instrumental rhythm ’n blues take on the Sundanese love song “Es Lilin” (Ice Lolly). Link Wray meets Mulatu Astatke meets Oslan Husein in Rotterdam, 1965.

Obscure formation Les Jaguar’s de Casablanca beat the Shadows with a boss version of the surf classic “Gonzales”. The band consists of a French/Spanish guitar section and a Moroccan rhythm section featuring the eccentric drummer/percussionist Jauk Armal, the “Okay Temiz from Casablanca”. “Gonzales” is originally recorded in 1962 and released by “La Voix Du Maghreb” in Morocco on an ultra collectible EP, which is now impossible to find.

THE 1994 ALBUM REMASTERED BY ED WYNNE & RELEASED ON
CLASSIC BLACK VINYL.

One of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK's festival scene, the Ozrics layer ambient & ethereal landscapes with freeform dub trips, incredible rave grooves & psychedelic progressive rock.

It's an open exploration of music & the soul. The band's last release to feature Merv Pepler & Joie Hinton, who left to form Eat Static, 'Arborescence' was the Ozrics' fifth studio effort in as many years. Soundscape textures remained their focus & their strength, with the now trademark Steve Hillage- esque guitar, gurgling & whirling synths & tight rhythm section all wrapped around rave, techno, African & Middle Eastern influences.

The tracks alternate between the power driven ('Myriapod', 'Shima Koto', 'Astro Cortex'), classic Ozric Tentacles space rock ('Dance of the Loomi', 'There's a Planet Here', the title track) & those with an ethnic flavour ('Al- Saloog'). The powerful music here, embellished by plenty of synth dweedling & strong rhythm patterns, takes the listener of open mind & free spirit to somewhere special. Classic Ozrics then. Arborescence' will be released on classic black vinyl via Kscope.

Utter presents the second full-length album by enigmatic duo Vādin - a collaboration between sound artists and performers Christian Duka and Lucie Štepánková (aka Avsluta). “Black Tortoise” is a voyage accompanied by the uncanny, the shadow-dwelling specters and arcane symbolism derived from ancient Chinese astronomy.

“Astrologia” opens the album with an eerie torrent of droning voices and glassy, percussive interventions, leading into the patiently unfolding opening of the “The Presence” with it’s ominous narrative riding the swelling, thunderous rhythms culminating in swarms of hallucinatory chaos. The doom of “Calliope” follows, infused with cavernous, beastly vocalisations which lure the listener into “The Furnace”, a drowsy kaleidoscope of rhythms weaved together with Štepánková’s mother-tongue narration. And further on still, into the make-believe world conjured up by the buzzing and swarming objects overheard on “Plateau”.

Available on limited vinyl and digital formats. A special fold-out pamphlet is included with physical copies.

Spoken word by Lucie Štepánková. Mixed at SAE Institute by Christian Duka and mastered by Rashad Becker at Clunk. Transferred and cut by Helmut Erler at D&M.

Artwork designed by Marco Maldarella.

Anyone who knows Duke's music, will immediately smile at the first few
seconds of the opening track "Here I'm Is" from the new album 'They
Called It Rhythm & Blues', available on 180g black vinyl from Stony Plain
Records
It's that joyous jump-blues shuffle sound that Duke has been perfecting since the
late 60s. Indeed, every song on this album is about the groove, master
musicianship, great understated taste and a perfect band mix that always
complements the pulse and the singer. Duke's guitar is at the center and brings it
all together.For a lifetime Duke Robillard has been playing the jazzy corners of the
blues. He was a founder of Roomful of Blues in the early 1970s, and replaced
Jimmy Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds in the 1990s and was a core
member of the New Guitar Summit through the 2000s, in addition to releasing an
astounding 37 albums on his own. He has won the W.C. Handy Award as Best
Blues Guitarist an astounding four times, and been nominated for two Best Blues
Album Grammy Awards. He is credited with taking the blues to a new level for
multiple generations of blues guitarists

Very limited vinyl pressing, 500 copies in a full colour single outer sleeve and full colour printed lyric inner sleeve, housing black and white smoke effect vinyl. Two albums in and London’s Grave Lines, purveyors of ‘heavy gloom’ have already carved a unique niche in the myriad spheres of heavy music. Their first album ‘Welcome To Nothing’ set the tone for their distinct take on doom metal, which was broadened even further with album two ‘Fed Into The Nihilist Engine’. An epic feast of hard ‘n’ heavy riffs coupled with brooding sadness interspersed with thoughtful transcendent moments of introspection. Never a band to rely solely on trotting out those ‘doom metal’ tropes, the band began to weave in gothic and experimental elements into their music, to delve deeper into the dark shadows of the psyche. Now with their third album ‘Communion’ Grave Lines continue their exploration into the ugliness of the human condition, at the same time becoming a band that truly defies any pigeonhole. Continuing to hone and evolve their collective vision and aided by the masterful production of Andy Hawkins at The Nave Studios, 'Communion' sees Grave Lines creep further into the various corners of their sound. In a nutshell ‘Communion’ is a violent descent of bile-soaked intensity spiralling between filth laden swagger, and fragile mournful lament. The album delves into the internal aloneness of existence and the failings of the human connection. Owing as much to Bauhaus and Killing Joke as it does to Black Sabbath or Neurosis, there are moments of gut wrenching doomed up heaviness and bellowing noise rock, contrasting with ambient gothic passages and a thoughtful melancholy, to a create a powerful new chapter in their ceaseless journey through the gloom. The seven tracks act as distinctly separate representations of the album, each individually mirroring the remoteness of human consciousness. Opening track 'Gordian' doesn't waste any time, a burst of feedback kicks you straight into a filthy low slung punked up stomp before the band switch mood to drop off into a doom abyss, singer Jake raging at the void. 'Argyraphaga' continues the pummelling groove, gradually descending into nihilistic sludge. In direct contrast the sprawling atmosphere of 'Lyceanid' travels through the darkness. Jake’s vocals harnessing the spirits of Scott Walker and Mark Lanegan in equal measure. The rest of the band (on top form throughout) focus the dynamics over eleven enthralling minutes, as the song builds and builds to a towering crescendo before finishing with a plaintive acoustic coda. This is pure Grave Lines’. An immersive blend of darkness and light. 'Tachinid' is a violent palette cleanser, harsh industrial synths astride a hateful droning spoken word sermon. 'Carcini' is soaring melancholic doom, with the band at their most melodic whilst still able to crush the listener. Broodsac, with its circular riffs, is all gothic post punk noise rock meets fuzz fat riffs, and album closer ‘Sinensis’ offers a final delicate, melancholy moment of calm before launching into an industrial charged grind into oblivion. Grave Lines’ fusion of elements makes them one of the most powerful and mesmerising bands inhabiting the heavy music world at the moment, and with ‘Communion’ they have crafted an album that encapsulates their distinctive dynamic perfectly. ‘COMMUNION’ will be released in deluxe black and white smoke effect vinyl, housed in a full colour single sleeve with download included, CD and all digital platforms

For Fans Of… Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, The Faces, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Buddy Miles, The Meters, Father John Misty. "I just wanted to be honest about everything, from my musical influences to my story," muses Neal Francis. After years of dishonest living - consumed by drugs, alcohol, and addiction - such sincerity is jarring from the 30-year-old Chicago-based musician. Liberated from a self-destructive past and born anew in sobriety, Francis has captured an inspired collection of songs steeped in New Orleans rhythms, Chicago blues, and early 70s rock n' roll. There is a deep connection between Francis's childhood - his obsession with boogie woogie piano, his father's gift of a dusty Dr. John LP - and the songs he's created. The result is an astonishing collection of material without parallel in the contemporary funk and soul scene. The influences are unmistakable: the vocal stylings of Allen Toussaint and Leon Russell; the second line rhythms of The Meters and Dr. John; the barroom rock 'n' roll of The Rolling Stones; the gospel soul of Billy Preston; the roots music of The Band. Francis pays tribute to the masters but has his own story to tell: "It's the life I've lived so far." After playing his first live show in November 2018, Francis was signed by veteran agents Joshua Knight and Phil Egenthal of Paradigm Talent Agency. 2019 brought a North American tour supporting Australian band The Cat Empire as well as radio play on KEXP, KCRW's The Morning Becomes Eclectic, and BBC Radio 6. Francis and his four-piece band performed at festivals such as Summer Camp and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and shared the stage with The Meters and Lee Fields & The Expressions. Francis continues to tour relentlessly to promote his own music. "I'm doing this to fulfill a drive within myself, but also to pay tribute to the gifts I've been given. And it comes from a place of immense gratitude. I've been given so much in my life, especially in the last two years, that this feels like a bonus." Also Available From Neal Francis: These Are The Days 7”.

The Spiritual Beggars debut album (1994) reissued with 2 full LPs of extra tracks – 18 demo cuts and other rare versions, presented in ravishing triple fold packaging with astounding art by Costin Chioreanu. The Spiritual Beggars mastermind Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, ex-Carcass) is one of today’s most important guitarists in Metal, and this reissue originally coincided with the band’s 20th anniversary. The original limited vinyl being long sold out, Svart Records present a new edition as the band’s 30th anniversary draws near.

Traffic Lights Vinyl Edition

The Spiritual Beggars debut album (1994) reissued with 2 full LPs of extra tracks – 18 demo cuts and other rare versions, presented in ravishing triple fold packaging with astounding art by Costin Chioreanu. The Spiritual Beggars mastermind Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, ex-Carcass) is one of today’s most important guitarists in Metal, and this reissue originally coincided with the band’s 20th anniversary. The original limited vinyl being long sold out, Svart Records present a new edition as the band’s 30th anniversary draws near.

Lunatic Harness, µ-Ziq's rare and sought-after fourth album, was originally released in July 1997 on Virgin's Hut Recordings label. It is generally considered to be Mike Paradinas's best work of the nineties. An Apple Music review describes Lunatic Harness as "the prettiest album to come out of the mid-'90s "drill'n'bass movement", noting that Paradinas eschewed the abrasiveness of similar works by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin in favour of "atmospheres of ethereal color and shimmering melody", bringing the album "closer to pop music than anything Paradinas had previously attempted". Planet Mu has compiled a special 256th anniversary edition 4xLP boxset bringing together the My Little Beautiful EP, the Lunatic Harness album and May 1998's Brace Yourself EP (released by USA's Astralwerks label) with the addition of four rare tracks. Discs one and two of the vinyl are the original Lunatic Harness album, disc three compiles the My Little Beautiful b-sides with three unreleased cuts from the period and a remix of Mr.Angry from 1997's Mealtime compilation, while disc four is the 8-track Brace Yourself EP which hasn't been re-issued since 1998. This all comes in individual printed sleeves housed in a rigid box with an insert collage of some of the press Mike received at the time. There is also a 2xCD edition with the same tracklisting.

Acid Rooster were described by ‘Le Guess Who Festival’ as a ‘wet dream for heads who cram their record collection with Amon Düül, Spacemen 3, Wooden Shjips, Tangerine Dream’ – a statement we wholeheartedly endorse.

Ad Astra was recorded live in July 2020 in a private garden with a field recorder in front of a small audience of friends during the lockdown in the middle of the corona pandemic. The two long jams were the opening and the closing track of a completely improvised concert and are a spontaneous snapshot of Acid Roosters approach to free floating consciousness expanding psychedelic music.
So 2 tracks and 46 minutes of Acid Rooster digging deep into the well of far-out psychedelic rock that is one mind-expanding journey to the innermost limits of your mind.

Zu den Sternen was the intro and is a slow-burn trip where you ride wave upon wave of ecstatic highs until you eventually hit the peak in freak out territory as Acid Rooster merge with the cosmos and then ride the golden afterglow home into an eternal locked groove.

Phasenschieber rides that afterglow of galactic intensity – a place where you can just let go as the music created drifts and pulses away. It is a Beautiful, hypnotic, spaced out, blissful state where Acid Rooster takes you beyond the Astral Planes.
Released by Cardinal Fuzz (UK), Sunhair Music (EU) and Little Cloud Records (US) in an edition of 600 (300 x Galaxy and 300 x Black)
Artwork by our beloved Chris Kröber

Alien Transistor present Alien Parade Japan, a joyous double-album compilation of groups from Japan’s indie-pop and avant-garde undergrounds, all of which feature brass or woodwind instruments as part of their line-up. Compiled by Markus Acher (Alien Transistor, The Notwist, Hochzeitskapelle) with plenty of support and help from his Spirit Fest bandmate, Saya (also of Tenniscoats), it features some familiar names – Tenniscoats, naturally, but also Zayaendo, Tori Kudo’s Maher Shalal Hash Baz – alongside lesser-known groups like Biobiopatata, Mitamurakandadan?, Kourakuen, sekifu, and Noah Lewis Mahlon’ Taits, amongst many others.

The collection of songs here rests upon a simple question, and an interesting parallel: Why do so many groups from Japan include brass and woodwind, and how closely does this echo the scene that Acher is involved with in Munich? The idea was formulated in Acher’s mind after one of his groups, Hochzeitskapelle, had been invited by Saya to Japan in 2019, to take part in the Alien Parade Japan tour. “Saya and her friends recommended a lot of music to me that I didn’t know of,” Acher recalls, “and I was surprised and excited to find so many Japanese bands who use brass and woodwind instruments.”

This approach was something Acher had been familiar with for a while, thanks to his experiences in Munich: “Until then I thought of the Munich scene, where Hochzeitskapelle come from, as being quite unique in having ex-punk and still-indie musicians form loud acoustic bands with many brass instruments and play a wild mixture of styles.” And indeed, that variety is reflected in the twenty-two songs on Alien Parade Japan, which flits from the pastoral melody of Maher Shalal Hash Baz’s “Crossin The Tama River”, through the tenderness of various sighhorns’s “people have called them flowers”, to the folksy lament of Gratin Carnival’s “Just Watching”.

Alien Parade Japan reaches further afield, too, drawing in some groups, like HOSE, Fuigo, and popo, that feature musicians like Toshihiro Koike, Masafumi Ezaki and Taku Unami, who may be better known for their experimental and improvised releases on labels like ftarri and Erstwhile. It also looks back to material recorded in the 1990s - the swinging slide guitars and sax/tuba duet of Strada’s “Swamp”, from 1998, and Compostela’s energetic, rousing “ghhgh”, from 1990. Both pieces were written by, and feature, saxophonist Kanji Nakao; Compostela’s membership also included late saxophonist Masami Shinoda, who was also part of such storied Japanese groups as Pungo, A-Musik, Orquestra Del Viento, Ché-SHIZU, and the fiery free jazz outfit, Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai.

Groups like Compostela help to draw some through-lines to the aesthetics of chindon’ya, a type of Japanese marching band made up of costumed street performers who advertise businesses; the music made by these bands is brash, spirited, and full of energy. Alien Parade Japan weaves all of this together – chindon’ya; jazz; indie-pop; psych-folk; big band – into one beautiful, big tapestry of gorgeous melody, sweetness, and melancholy, with plenty of creative fraying at its edges. “The collection is a very personal view of Japanese bands using brass and woodwind instruments,” Acher concludes: “it’s not a representative anthology, it’s mainly held together by my personal taste, experiences, and friendships.” But it’s also a wonderfully coherent collection of some of the most playful and elated music you’re likely to hear this year. As musician and writer David Grubbs says:

„Now it is confirmed: my favorite genre of music is Alien Parade Japan. Hopefully now people will know what I’m talking about when I gush about the unassailable brilliance of longtime favorites like Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Popo, Mitamurakandadan?, Hose, and Tenniscoats, presented here alongside others whose music I have only begun to search out. Please share in my gratitude and enjoyment of this lovingly assembled collection, one that I welcome into my home as I would a long-anticipated guest.“

Cd & Ltd. Gtf. Blue LP.There are those great moments when space sound, Orient, Occident and good soul merge in a unique way. With their fun and energetic performance, the 4 intergalactic star chefs of Grombira create their unique musical universe. Sometimes cruising, sometimes with Warp Drive, it goes across the cultures, up to tribes that seem to be far away from our solar system. Danceable and full of devotion, they transcend genre boundaries, invite you to rock the Kasbah and Mumbai Funk near the constellation Orion and listen to the cosmic story of their star rides under the firmament of a nocturnal Sahara. For 13 years, sheyk rAleph aka Ralph Nebl (Saz, Oud, Sitar, Percussion, Vox, Flute) has been on stage and festival in Europe with the Space Desert Ship Grombira.

Mother Naomi and daughter Wynonna enjoyed an astounding run of 14
number one singles from 1984 to 1989, ranking them as one of the most
popular country acts of the '80s
Their music combined elements of traditional country harmony singing,
bluegrass, and Appalachian folk with pop, rock, and polished contemporary
production. Moreover, Wynonna's powerful, bluesy, often sexy lead vocals
established her as one of the finest female country singers of her era. But even
more important than their widely accessible sound -- or their considerable visual
appeal -- was their sympathetic understanding of working-class and small-town
women, earned through a long, hard struggle of their own.

Tartelet are proud to introduce the blissful, psychedelic electronic soul sound of ABUNAI on his sophomore album Chrysalis out May

20th. Across 11 songs the Oakland, CA-based multi- instrumentalist lays down a dreamlike style which should chimewith fans of Tame Impala, Khruangbin and James Blake alike. As well as the sun-soaked surrounding of his Californian home, ABUNAI’s family connection to Hawaii casts its influence over an album which has all the makings of a crossover success. Look no further than early support from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Don Letts, and Wayne Snow for further proof this album is set to blow up.

“My sound is definitely influenced by the live music I grew up with in the Bay Area,” says ABUNAI. “There's plenty of musical legacy here, including the '60s psychedelic and counterculture movements, the '90s rave scene, and the hyphy movement. "I'm always trying to connect the dots and blend all of my influences.

Chrysalis was, like so many recent albums, a project made largely in isolation during the pandemic, although ABUNAI did reach out to close collaborators Gravity and Raquel Marie to contribute some guest vocals, Kevin Farzad from Sure Sure for the acoustic drum parts and a few additional production touches from Tartelet regulars Glenn Astro and Max Graef. He bills the songs as an exercise in therapeutic self-care through lockdown as much as a balm for others. “It's music for healing,” ABUNAI explains, “for the listener to be able to marinate in the slow tempos, the dreamy textures, the swirling vocals, and the lush synthesizers. It’s very much about growth, re-emergence, and dreaming of a better future.”

As well as dealing in ear-catching pop melodies and sweet vocals, there’s an underlying theme of the ocean, which stems from his coastal surroundings and his family roots in the Pacific. “I think the album is aquatic,” he reflects, “and it feels like a voyage to me, or like a long shower, being reborn in the water. I played the album for my grandpa, who's a veteran sailor and pilot from Hawaii, and he said it was the perfect music to play when you're sailing on the open ocean at sunset.” Cast in nostalgic, soft-focus tones and endlessly soothing for the soul, Chrysalis is your new favourite record for tender moments, hazy days and starry-eyed reveries alike.

We’re stoked to welcome back Medlar to Delusions for his third EP on the label and you’re in for a proper treat! One of the unsung heroes of UK underground house music, Medlar has released on Wolf Music, Wah Wah 45’s and West Friends. His remixes and edits for the likes of West End, Kon, Dele Sosimi, Glenn Astro, Disclosure and Billy Cobham always hit the spot with an authentic, raw and crunchy sound that work magic on the dance floor.

Here on his Interruptor EP we have 4 tracks which show off his range as a producer, taking in percussive tools, deep and dusty basement jams and blissful late night atmospherics. Lead track Interruptor is deceptively simple but devastating on a big system. Chopped up percussion, speaker wobbling bass and a heavy kick lay the foundation for crazy timbales and filtering syn-toms, all topped off with a familiar sample from back in the rave days.

Next up we have I Wish which features Kim Anh who delivers a brilliant vocal complimenting the low-slung disco drums, 808 percussion and fat bassline perfectly. This is our idea of what a modern day house hit should sound like. Raw and unpolished with a loose, un-quantized groove so you can feel the funk and a dynamic arrangement which keeps the energy high throughout.

Flipping over we have Cable Street which cranks things up with a techy house jam perfect for more peaks time sets. Once again, Medlar knows ex- actly how to make more with less and keeps the shuffling drums stripped back and simple stabs and modulating FX front and centre for maximum im- pact.

Finally, Turn Things Around brings a more 90’s deep NYC feel to the EP with floating pads, bouncing bassline, piano stabs and organ riff. Subtley epic and grandiose without being showy, this is a slow-burner that could just be one of those B2 tracks which become your favourite of the release.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's 1983 debut album, Texas Flood, was a phenomenal success, climbing into the Top 40 and spending over half a year on the charts, which was practically unheard of for a blues recording. The record plays like a dynamite club show, filled with crowd-pleasing originals and covers, all performed with unbridled enthusiasm. Texas Flood was certified gold on August 13, 1990, and certified platinum on January 22, 1992.

With his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, Stevie Ray Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the '80s. Vaughan drew equally from bluesmen like Albert King, Otis Rush and Hubert Sumlin and rock 'n' roll players like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as the stray jazz guitarist like Kenny Burrell, developing a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre.

Erstmals auf Platte: Die beiden Alben 'Wood, Brass & Steel' (1976) und 'Hard & Heavy' (1980) und damit die gesamte Diskografie der Disco-Formation Wood, Brass & Steel mit Doug Wimbish (bass) und Skip McDonald (git), die später mit Keith LeBlanc die Sugarhill Records-Houseband bildeten, bevor sie mit Adrian Sherwood Tackhead gründeten. Angereichert mit 5 bislang unveröffentlichten Aufnahmen eines nie erschienenen, dritten Albums. Mit den oft gesampelten Tracks 'Funkanova' (DJ Sneak, The Bucketheads, Black Science Orchestra), 'My Lady' (Pete Rock), 'My Darling Baby' (Erykah Badu), dem Ronnie Laws-Klassiker 'Always There' sowie der Extended Version von 'Welcome To The Party' (bislang 12inch-only). Remastered von den Original-Mastertapes.


Wood Brass and Steel waren die letzte und berühmteste Hausband der von Sylvia und Ehemann Joe Robinson geleiteten Labelgruppen All Platinum und Sugarhill Records, doch dieses Album wurde nie zuvor auf LP-Vinyl veröffentlicht. Die Musiker nahmen die Songs "Hey That's What You Say" und "A Love of My Own" auf, und als das Astroscope-Label von All Platinum sie als 7"-Single veröffentlichte, wurden sie zu Wood Brass and Steel. Die Gruppe vervollständigte dann dieses Album, das 1973 auf Astroscope LP5002 erscheinen sollte, aber nie veröffentlicht wurde.

Die Besetzung der Gruppe zu dieser Zeit ist nicht ganz klar, aber mit Sicherheit gehörten Harold Sargent, Bernard Alexander alias Skip McDonald (er nahm auch unter vielen anderen Kombinationen dieser Namen auf), Herman Tudi White am Bass und Otha Stokes am Saxophon und an der Flöte sowie Randy Bost an der Trompete dazu. Doug Wimbish und Craig Derry stießen zu dieser Zeit zur Band und sind zumindest an einigen, möglicherweise aber nicht an allen Titeln beteiligt.Die Band veröffentlichte zwei weitere hervorragende Alben: "Wood Brass And Steel" auf Turbo von 1976 und "Hard n Heavy" für Sugarhill im Jahr 1980. Wimbush, McDonald und der spätere Schlagzeuger Keith Le Blanc unterstützten die meisten Aufnahmen auf dem Sugar Hill-Label und machten anschließend eine lange und erfolgreiche Karriere im Musikgeschäft als Plattenkünstler und Session-Spieler.