Search:black man

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

FREQ Records is the record label accompanying the manga "FREQ," created by Nicola Kazimir, illustrated by goodnewsforbadguys, and written by the legendary Dai Sato, who has written scripts for Ergo Proxy, Eureka Seven, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, among many others.

The setting of Freq's lore unfolds in a futuristic realm where the influence of sound frequencies governs all aspects of life. In this world, everything from traffic and AR visuals to electricity, warfare, and of course, music, is orchestrated through the manipulation and extraction of sound frequencies. The narrative unfolds within the sprawling expanse of Rephlex, a vast city featuring diverse districts, factions, and social classes.

FREQ001, called Super FREQ, is composed by none other than Machine Girl, known for their breakcore-inspired sonic adventures and highly energetic live shows. For this EP, we might get a compositional glimpse of how Machine Girl will sound in the future.

Luxury Apartments have spent long enough pondering in the orb of creative frustration as art charged city dwellers and have alchemised a jagged piece of guitar work that calls on the past for a quick catch up before cracking on with their day as a witty, energised and wiry punk band. Formed before your favourite East London neighbourhood became full of high rises, cockapoos and pubs with Madri & Beavertown on Draft, there’s a whole swath of words you could use to describe Luxury Apartments, but doing so might draw too many parallels to estate agent listings wo we’re gonna let their track record and new LP do the talking… LA played with the likes of TOY, TELEGRAM, Deep Tan, Es, The Chisel and Rifle before even having an LP. Mixing dry humour with a belting live show served them well while the guys were woodshedding and earnt them early fans such as Graham Coxon and Jamie Reynolds, who I can only gather shed a single tear of seeing where they came from with all the chaotic guitar-busting, skin-splitting, bottle-smashing madness of an early LA show. But we’re here talking about NOW and NOW is the time to get your pre-order for their first LP, a half hour of power smashing the atoms of 80s c86 indie on lead track ‘Energy’, 77 punk on ‘Wire’ and new garage rock explosions on ‘Taliban’ which morph in to a piece of black wax that’s 100% guaranteed to get the disenfranchised wiggling, the fed-up hurling half bricks through foxtons windows and the punk lifers flipping off yet another boss before carving out another fork in their paths of resistance.

Galaxy Orange/Black Vinyl. Limited to 500 copies. Data Diamond is the sound of FOUR STROKE BARON at their most confidently unhinged. Originally conceived as two separate EPs (one purely electronic - Data, one heavy - Diamond) that would then meld together on one full length release, the idea morphed into what is now the succinct sucker punch of an album that is heading our way at speed. Heavily inspired by their own work on Data Diamond's predecessor, Classics, Witt and Vallarino got to work in their laboratory creating the most potent, concentrated form of FOUR STROKE BARON possible. Data Diamond - a dizzying sub-40 minute dive into the deranged psyches of its creators. The tracks on Data Diamond are lithe yet still allow enough room for idiosyncratic flourishes that mark this out as a true FOUR STROKE BARON opus. If Classics was a Man vs. Food belly busting plate of indulgence, Data Diamond is an upmarket Gordon Ramsay dish, served with a side of insanity. Finding a co-conspirator in Cynic's Paul Masvidal, the trio get somewhat psychedelic on the album's eponymous closing - and most expansive - track, which also features Vola's Adam Janzi on drums. Thematically, this is their most murderous anthology to date. Those who find themselves embroiled in these bloodthirsty tales include a Radio Shack CEO, an internationally acclaimed cyborg, an accidental trafficker of human body parts, and the leader of a death cult located in a convenience store. FOUR STROKE BARON's anomalous view of the world takes a particularly dark turn across the songs on Data Diamond, yet, as ever the macabre tragedies are dressed up with catchy melodies, pop hooks for days and a big shimmering bow of positivity.

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

'The Singles Collection (The Spinefarm Years)' is a new luxurious compilation of singles by the legendary Finnish doom/death metal band Swallow The Sun. It focuses on the Spinefarm era of the band, which is to say their first six releases - five full-length albums and the 'Plague Of Butterflies' EP.

All of these full-lengths are represented with two songs (the singles) each on 12" singles, while the EP is included in its entirety on the same format, all of them including the original singles artwork and new liner notes provided by the band itself. The booklet pages and
lavish press photos in poster size were made especially for this boxset.

Two versions are available: a limited edition of 300 will come in variously coloured vinyl, and the remaining 700 will offer black
vinyl. In total, a limited and numbered edition of 1000 units which includes certificate of authenticity.

"Swallow the Sun is one of those bands that has created a notable amount of music over the years while remaining true to their
own unique sound. They have managed to consistently innovate their thoughtful voice while maintaining their originality." - Ghost
Cult Magazine

Repress!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sophie Lloyd is one of the most prolific guitarists on the world wide web, a trailblazer who is redefining the concept of a "bedroom" guitarist. A talented composer and accomplished musician, Sophie graduated from the prestigious BIMM in 2018 with a First Class Honours BMus in Popular Music Performance, honing and refining a talent she has nurtured since childhood. Since then, she has amassed the kind of following that even the guitar gods she grew up idolizing would be envious of, with a reach surpassing 3 million followers across her social channels, built through a steady stream of sharing her talent via guitar "shredleys", covers and her own original material. In addition to her own content, Sophie's talent and popularity has led to collaborations with brands such as Amazon Prime, Hard Rock Cafe, LiveNation and Harley Davidson, her own Guitar course on Truefire and a stunning performance at Paris Fashion Week for Redemption Brand Clothing. She has also released her own signature guitar, becoming the first female artist to do so for exclusive Californian Guitar maker KIESEL.

Most recently, Sophie could be seen shredding on stage as guitarist for multi-platinum recording artist Machine Gun Kelly on his recent Mainstream Sellout World Tour, which included sold out shows at legendary venues such Madison Square Garden in New York and Wembley Arena in London.

At 27 Years Old, Sophie Lloyd is just getting started, with the upcoming release of her debut solo album. The first few songs have already been released to rapturous reception, including "Fall Of Man (Feat. Matthew K Heafy)", "Do Or Die (Feat. Nathan James)", "Lost (Feat. Cole Rolland)" and "Runaway (Feat. Michael Starr)" with some more exciting names including Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Chris Robertson (Black Stone Cherry), Tyler Connolly (Theory Of A Deadman) and Brandon Saller (Atreyu) all appearing.

BLOODORN, eine neue Power-Metal-Band des Lead-Gitarristen von SIRENIA, Nils Courbaron. Die Band wurde im Jahr 2020 während der Pandemie gegründet. SILENT WINTER-Sänger Mike Livas, FREEDOM CALL-Bassist Francesco Saverio Ferraro und SIRENIA-Schlagzeuger Michael Brush traten der Band bei, nachdem sie die ersten Demos des Albums gehört hatten. Beeinflusst von Bands wie GAMMA RAY, ANGRA und BEAST IN BLACK, greift die Band auch auf einige Elemente aus der extremen Metalszene zurück. Die Musik von BLOODORN ist sehr schnell und technisch, manchmal sogar brutal, aber auch sehr melodisch und eingängig: Extreme Power Metal! Der Name BLOODORN ist ein Wortspiel aus der Wikinger-Foltermethode "Blôdörn" (besser bekannt als "Blutadler") und "Blut". Im Universum der Band ist der BLOODORN wie ein REAPER - ein Monster, das bereit ist, alles zu töten und zu zerstören, was sich ihm in den Weg stellt. BLOODORN handelt vom Kampf gegen Unterdrückung, Autorität und Tyrannei, aber auch von düsterer Gothic-Fantasy, Schattenkulten, Krieg, innerer Stärke, Ehre, nordischer Mythologie und sogar einigen Videospiel-Referenzen. All diese Konzepte werden durch das Erscheinungsbild und die Kleidung von BLOODORN noch verstärkt.

GER Als Night Beats erschafft der in Texas geborene und in LA lebende Künstler Danny Lee Blackwell Musik, wie man ein Puzzle zusammensetzen könnte. Der psychedelische Autorenfilmer aus dem Westen baut sein Werk aus einem Moment, einer Initialzündung, auf, die bestimmte Kriterien erfüllen muss: Sie muss ihm Gänsehaut bereiten. Wenn dieses Gefühl eintritt, verfolgt Blackwell die Idee unermüdlich, bis er einen neuen Song hat; wenn nicht, geht er zum nächsten Moment über, immer auf der Suche nach dem perfekten Molekül eines Songs. Auf seinem sechsten Night Beats-Album "Rajan" zeigt sich der Songwriter von seiner besten Seite und erschafft Werke, die mit fesselnden Melodien und hypnotischen Rhythmen glänzen, aber auch durch subtile handwerkliche Entscheidungen unterstrichen werden, die nur nach unzähligen Stunden im Studio erreicht werden können. Blackwell erschafft ein Werk, das irgendwo zwischen Spaghetti-Western-Filmmusik und Psych-Pop-Opus angesiedelt ist, ein karrierebestimmendes Album, das viel über Danny Lee Blackwells künstlerische Philosophie verrät und gleichzeitig den so wichtigen Hauch des Geheimnisvollen bewahrt. Exklusiv für den Indie-Handel, todesrote LP, handnummeriert mit Poster und DLC.


ENG As Night Beats, Texas-born, LA-based artist Danny Lee Blackwell creates music like one might assemble a puzzle. The Western psychedelic auteur builds his work from one moment, an initial spark, that must fit a certain criteria: it must give him goosebumps. If that sensation arrives, Blackwell will pursue the idea relentlessly until he has a new song; if not, he moves onto the next moment, constantly looking for the perfect molecule of a song. On his sixth Night Beats album, 'Rajan', the songwriter is at his strongest, creating works that shine with captivating melodies and hypnotic rhythms, but are underscored by subtle choices of craftsmanship that can only be achieved after countless hours in the studio. Blackwell creates a work that lands somewhere between Spaghetti Western film score and psych-pop opus, a career-defining album that reveals much about Danny Lee Blackwell's artistic philosophy while keeping that ever crucial air of mystery intact. Indies only LP on 180g 'Dying Red Giant' coloured vinyl, limited to 350 hand-numbered copies, fold-out art poster, download card included.

Astral Doors wurden 2002 in Borlänge gegründet und haben seitdem Power Metal-Fans und Traditionalisten gleichermaßen begeistert. Gleichzeitig verschaffte die unverkennbare Verwandtschaft des Sounds mit Dio-fronted Rainbow und Dio/Martin-fronted Black Sabbath Astral Doors Auftrieb bei Old-School-Metallern, die sich über die vermeintliche Fadheit und den Mangel an Substanz im Power Metal-Genre aufregten.
Das Debüt "Of the Son and the Father" erschien 2003 und wurde von der Kritik begeistert aufgenommen.
2017 kehrten die Astral Doors mit "Black Eyed Children" zurück, einem Album, das die Band stärker denn je zeigt.
Das ist klassischer Rock/Heavy Metal in der nächsten Dimension. Das Cover-Artwork stammt von Felipe Machado, der auch das letzte Blind Guardian-Cover gestaltet hat.
Dies ist eine Vinyl-Wiederveröffentlichung in petrol-transparenter Farbe!

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

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

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

The current lineup of New Haven's long running Mountain Movers (guitarist/vocalist Dan Greene, bassist Rick Omonte, guitarist Kr yssi Battalene, & drummer Ross Menze) have been playing together for over a decade now, making their recorded debut on a slew of singles released from 2011-2013, but it wasn't until 2015's "Death Magic" (released on New Haven label Safety Meeting) that the potential of that iteration of the group became clear; Mountain Movers are a force of nature. The camaraderie & sensitivity to each others playing has only grown over time, cr ystallizing on the group's trio of albums for Trouble In Mind; 2017's eponymous "Mountain Movers" served as a reintroduction of the group to a larger audience, while 2018's "Pink Skies" raged like a group confident in its strengths, and 2020's prescient "World What World" - written & recorded before the world shut down - slightly shifted focus away from the jams & back toward the weight of guitarist/songwriter Dan Greene's poetic tales of magical realism. The band's ninth album "Walking After Dark" finds a happy medium between both aspects of the band's strengths; Greene's lyrical compositions and the group's long-form improvised jams. To those that are tuned in, that feeling of communion is evident in the Movers' playing. The members swap & cycle effortlessly through instruments without missing a beat, utilizing the downtime of lockdown to write & record every jam in their practice space. Those piles of tapes would eventually get edited & sequenced into "Walking After Dark", a tour-de-force double-album that balances fried, stony brilliance with outré excursions of experimental serenity. Consider the opening track "Bodega On My Mind" that ambles in like a road-worn traveller, its lysergic folk strums peppered with acidic lead lines from Battalene's Telecaster, eventually giving way to "The Sun Shines On The Moon, where the group's sizzling guitars are buoyed by Omonte's pillowy bass & Menze's percussion. From there on out, tracks like "Factory Dream" give the listener a taste of The Movers' modus operandi here; a mixture of (more) traditional song craft interspersed between long-form, improvised pieces of modern psychedelia. The group shuffles through instruments; synths, drum machines, auto-harp, various forms of percussion (and whatever else was laying around) as well as the trad guitar/bass/drums configuration to craft a suite of songs that - while not necessarily similar in composition - feel unified in their overall sonic scope. Tracks like the 14-minute "Reclamation Yard", whose deep-space electronic pulse is juxtaposed against side C opener "See The City "s persistent acoustic strum that showcase similar ideas of the `spirituality ' of losing ones self in repetition, but executed differently. In many ways "Walking After Dark"s duality feels like a merger of "On The Beach"-era Neil Young & the collective freak-outs of Amon Düül, taking inspiration in the `incorporeality ' of free music and lacing it with Greene's hazy, haunting lyricism and is an exciting step forward for a band that's already a few steps ahead. "Walking After Dark" is released on black double-vinyl in a full color gatefold jacket & includes an insert with artwork & lyrics by member Dan Greene.

High Roller Records, reissue 2024, black vinyl, ltd 150, gatefold, lyric sheet, Hitten formierten sich im Jahre 2011 in Murcia, einer Stadt im Südosten Spaniens (nahe Alicante). Im selben Jahr erschien ihr erstes Demo namens »Darkness Queen«. Zwei EPs sowie das vollständige Album »First Strike With The Devil« (2014) folgten, bevor Hitten für die Vinyl-Veröffentlichung ihres Zweitlings »State Of Shock« einen Vertrag mit High Roller Records unterzeichneten.Mit mitreißenden Nummern wie “Don’t Be Late”, “Endless Race” und “Eternal Force” war »State Of Shock« eine klare Steigerung gegenüber dem naiven Erstling. Gitarrist und Bandgründer Dani Meseguer gibt Accept, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest und Saxon als Hittens musikalische Inspirationsquellen an, genauso wie US-Metal-Legenden der Kategorie Fifth Angel, Crimson Glory, Shok Paris und Metal Church.“Wir sind sehr zufrieden damit, wie »State Of Shock« aufgenommen worden ist”, erklärt Dani Meseguer. “Wir haben ein paar coole Festivals gespielt, sind in Europa auf Tour gewesen und sogar in Japan wollte man uns sehen.” Dennoch, die Zeit zwischen »State Of Shock« und dem brandneuen Album »Twist Of Fate« hielt für Hitten auch einen Tiefschlag bereit. Im September 2017 absolvierte Sänger Aitor seinen letzten Auftritt für die Band. Mit Alexx Panza stand aber sofort Ersatz parat. Dani Meseguer: “Alexx ist ein Geschenk des Himmels. Für uns war es einfach perfektes Timing.” “Wir sind mehr als glücklich mit dem Endresultat von »Twist Of Fate«”, fährt Dani Meseguer fort. “Vom Cover-Artwork bis zu den einzelnen Songs erfüllt die Scheibe höchste Qualitätsansprüche. Ich bin der festen Überzeugung, dass die Fans »Twist Of Fate« noch mehr mögen werden als »State Of Shock«. Der Mix (von Javi Félez) und das Mastering (Patrick W. Engel) sind einfach unglaublich. Die Platte hat alles, was ein gutes Metal-Album haben muss: verrückte Twin-Gitarren, emotionale Solos, spitze Schreie, schöne Gesangsharmonien und einen machtvollen Background-Gesang. Alexx als Sänger hat einen fantastischen Job abgeliefert. Seine stimmliche Bandbreite ist einfach enorm. Er ist in den tiefen Tonlagen extrem sicher aber beherrscht auf der anderen Seite auch diese high-pitched Screams, die wir alle so lieben.”

High Roller Records, reissue 2024, black vinyl, ltd 150, gatefold, lyric sheet, Hitten formierten sich im Jahre 2011 in Murcia, einer Stadt im Südosten Spaniens (nahe Alicante). Im selben Jahr erschien ihr erstes Demo namens »Darkness Queen«. Zwei EPs sowie das vollständige Album »First Strike With The Devil« (2014) folgten, bevor Hitten für die Vinyl-Veröffentlichung ihres Zweitlings »State Of Shock« einen Vertrag mit High Roller Records unterzeichneten.Mit mitreißenden Nummern wie “Don’t Be Late”, “Endless Race” und “Eternal Force” war »State Of Shock« eine klare Steigerung gegenüber dem naiven Erstling. Gitarrist und Bandgründer Dani Meseguer gibt Accept, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest und Saxon als Hittens musikalische Inspirationsquellen an, genauso wie US-Metal-Legenden der Kategorie Fifth Angel, Crimson Glory, Shok Paris und Metal Church.“Wir sind sehr zufrieden damit, wie »State Of Shock« aufgenommen worden ist”, erklärt Dani Meseguer. “Wir haben ein paar coole Festivals gespielt, sind in Europa auf Tour gewesen und sogar in Japan wollte man uns sehen.” Dennoch, die Zeit zwischen »State Of Shock« und dem brandneuen Album »Twist Of Fate« hielt für Hitten auch einen Tiefschlag bereit. Im September 2017 absolvierte Sänger Aitor seinen letzten Auftritt für die Band. Mit Alexx Panza stand aber sofort Ersatz parat. Dani Meseguer: “Alexx ist ein Geschenk des Himmels. Für uns war es einfach perfektes Timing.” “Wir sind mehr als glücklich mit dem Endresultat von »Twist Of Fate«”, fährt Dani Meseguer fort. “Vom Cover-Artwork bis zu den einzelnen Songs erfüllt die Scheibe höchste Qualitätsansprüche. Ich bin der festen Überzeugung, dass die Fans »Twist Of Fate« noch mehr mögen werden als »State Of Shock«. Der Mix (von Javi Félez) und das Mastering (Patrick W. Engel) sind einfach unglaublich. Die Platte hat alles, was ein gutes Metal-Album haben muss: verrückte Twin-Gitarren, emotionale Solos, spitze Schreie, schöne Gesangsharmonien und einen machtvollen Background-Gesang. Alexx als Sänger hat einen fantastischen Job abgeliefert. Seine stimmliche Bandbreite ist einfach enorm. Er ist in den tiefen Tonlagen extrem sicher aber beherrscht auf der anderen Seite auch diese high-pitched Screams, die wir alle so lieben.”

Der neueste Titel in der Veröffentlichungsreihe der Steve Hackett-Vinyl-Editionen ist sein 15. Studioalbum "Feedback 86". Das Album erscheint hiermit zum allerersten Mal auf Vinyl! Es ist eine Sammlung von Songs aus dem Jahr 1986, von denen einige ursprünglich für ein zweites GTR-Album gedacht waren, und enthält Auftritte von Brian May (Queen), Bonnie Tyler, Chris Thompson (Manfred Mann's Earth Band) sowie den Marillion-Mitgliedern Ian Mosley und Pete Trewavas. Diese Veröffentlichung wurde speziell für Vinyl neu gemastert und kommt als Gatefold 180g Black LP.

Bill MacKay and Drag City are delirious with pride to announce the discovery of a new territory: Locust Land, a record which seeks to reflect the nerve-shredding consciousness run amok in our world today - and somehow allay it with sound. Bill"s music is a visceral crackling where it meets the air, and Locust Land can"t help but reflect its era more than any other in his discography. It"s been five years since the release of Fountain Fire - but in the interim, Bill has barely stopped moving, collaborating with artists across the spectrum, including cellist Katinka Kleijn, banjo player Nathan Bowles and keyboardist Cooper Crain. He"s also contributed to recordings by Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker, Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy (Blind Date Party), and Black Duck (on their self-titled record featuring Douglas McCombs and Charles Rumback). Forget five years - how"d he even get Locust Land squeezed out of his temporal lobes? Bill"s sense of music as art is constantly modulating - lifting off from where it is found and naturally migrating to some other place. Sometimes, that"s elsewhere - others, it"s simply to be found deeper inside the starting point. And so, the action of moving on informs the landscape of Locust Land. This manifests in several different ways. A restless energy and urgency is repeatedly felt - in the driving momentum of "Keeping in Time," "Glow Drift," and "When I Was Here" - while a dogged persistence radiates from the tone colors and percussion of "Oh, Pearl." Mating a dirge-like desolation with sparkling guitars, "Radiator" adds darkness and depth. The sense of searching, displacement and longing in vocal tracks "Keeping in Time," "Half of You," and "When I Was Here" speak literally to the tumult of current vibrations. Within the arrangements, there"s also departure from previous norms - in addition to the brilliant guitar work for which he is known, Bill plays a variety of keyboards, from piano to organ to synth, extending his music with the available voicings, while enriching the sound field without abandoning his signature brevity. For fans of his singing, and following in the recent tradition of Fountain Fire as well as his collaboration with Nathan Bowles, Keys, Locust Land expresses with an increased vocal presence - and heightened engagement, with Bill"s words and melodies drawing us closer. Also different: on his previous solo recordings, Bill played every sound. Here, he has invited other illustrious Chicagoans to join him: Sam Wagster (The Father Costume, Mute Duo) plays bass on three songs, two of which feature the percussion playing of Mikel Patrick Avery (Natural Information Society, Jeff Parker, etc.). Additionally, Janet Beveridge Bean (Eleventh Dream Day, Freakwater) adds otherworldly vocal textures to the elegiac "Neil"s Field." Whether played alone or with companions, this music projects the strength of a universal collective. Even with a piece that might earlier have passed for blissful pastorale, Bill displays some declamatory motives. The reverie which opens the album, "Phantasmic Fairy," embodies both transcendent and desperate moods, with Bill"s ineffable slide guitar playing afloat, with organs and synths, in a dream state suffused with a sense of foreboding - a requiem, perhaps for the days of unencumbered bandwidth? On the other side of the album, the strength to continue to hope appears in the lifting melodicism/exoticism of the album-closing title track, leaving the listener with the sense of having achieved a hard-won space - a place of personal contemplation and dissent, one that everyone on the planet deserves to visit every single day on earth. With cover art also by Bill MacKay (the third of his albums on Drag City to feature his work), Locust Land stands as a thoroughly personal statement from Bill to everyone everywhere.

Bill MacKay and Drag City are delirious with pride to announce the discovery of a new territory: Locust Land, a record which seeks to reflect the nerve-shredding consciousness run amok in our world today - and somehow allay it with sound. Bill"s music is a visceral crackling where it meets the air, and Locust Land can"t help but reflect its era more than any other in his discography. It"s been five years since the release of Fountain Fire - but in the interim, Bill has barely stopped moving, collaborating with artists across the spectrum, including cellist Katinka Kleijn, banjo player Nathan Bowles and keyboardist Cooper Crain. He"s also contributed to recordings by Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker, Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy (Blind Date Party), and Black Duck (on their self-titled record featuring Douglas McCombs and Charles Rumback). Forget five years - how"d he even get Locust Land squeezed out of his temporal lobes? Bill"s sense of music as art is constantly modulating - lifting off from where it is found and naturally migrating to some other place. Sometimes, that"s elsewhere - others, it"s simply to be found deeper inside the starting point. And so, the action of moving on informs the landscape of Locust Land. This manifests in several different ways. A restless energy and urgency is repeatedly felt - in the driving momentum of "Keeping in Time," "Glow Drift," and "When I Was Here" - while a dogged persistence radiates from the tone colors and percussion of "Oh, Pearl." Mating a dirge-like desolation with sparkling guitars, "Radiator" adds darkness and depth. The sense of searching, displacement and longing in vocal tracks "Keeping in Time," "Half of You," and "When I Was Here" speak literally to the tumult of current vibrations. Within the arrangements, there"s also departure from previous norms - in addition to the brilliant guitar work for which he is known, Bill plays a variety of keyboards, from piano to organ to synth, extending his music with the available voicings, while enriching the sound field without abandoning his signature brevity. For fans of his singing, and following in the recent tradition of Fountain Fire as well as his collaboration with Nathan Bowles, Keys, Locust Land expresses with an increased vocal presence - and heightened engagement, with Bill"s words and melodies drawing us closer. Also different: on his previous solo recordings, Bill played every sound. Here, he has invited other illustrious Chicagoans to join him: Sam Wagster (The Father Costume, Mute Duo) plays bass on three songs, two of which feature the percussion playing of Mikel Patrick Avery (Natural Information Society, Jeff Parker, etc.). Additionally, Janet Beveridge Bean (Eleventh Dream Day, Freakwater) adds otherworldly vocal textures to the elegiac "Neil"s Field." Whether played alone or with companions, this music projects the strength of a universal collective. Even with a piece that might earlier have passed for blissful pastorale, Bill displays some declamatory motives. The reverie which opens the album, "Phantasmic Fairy," embodies both transcendent and desperate moods, with Bill"s ineffable slide guitar playing afloat, with organs and synths, in a dream state suffused with a sense of foreboding - a requiem, perhaps for the days of unencumbered bandwidth? On the other side of the album, the strength to continue to hope appears in the lifting melodicism/exoticism of the album-closing title track, leaving the listener with the sense of having achieved a hard-won space - a place of personal contemplation and dissent, one that everyone on the planet deserves to visit every single day on earth. With cover art also by Bill MacKay (the third of his albums on Drag City to feature his work), Locust Land stands as a thoroughly personal statement from Bill to everyone everywhere.

Limited to 500 LPs and 500 CDs. New album from the most danceable post-punk pop band in the UK. It's like something has exploded! CRUMBS have been incubating this, their second album, for a few years now. Who knows how they kept all the energy in check. It must have been like sitting on a volcano. The songs burst out with pure pop fire, sending splinters of guitar, sharp lyrics and snatches of the catchiest backing vocals. The rhythm section (Jamie and Gem): it's like Delta 5 meeting Le Tigre in a dark alley in Leeds, fusing blindly and completely, and then forcing its way into the back entrance of a venue, sending volts through the limbs of the unwitting punters, forcing them to dance. This is TIGHT. And as the lights come on and the indie kids throw themselves around, Ruth's vocals sweetly assault their ears with anger, joy, political intelligence - and all around, Stuart's guitar, sometimes twangly-melodic like the B52s, sometimes sweet and ringing like a memory of Scars, sometimes furious and feeding back, keeps you alert and thirsty for more. These songs do NOT outstay their welcome. Starts and ends are cut hard: no pre-echo, no wistful, drawn-out regretful fade-outs. CRUMBS have imbibed the key lessons taught by The Gang Of Four and The Au Pairs: never let the energy dissipate. But there is more than anger here. The band have smuggled a pop sweetness into the disciplined shapes of their angular songs. You're Just Jealous has sharp edges, but it's generous too. The album will be available as a vinyl LP, CD, download and on streaming services. CRUMBS - a brief history. They are based in Leeds, where they are active movers in the DIY scene that currently thrives in the North of England. They recorded a Marc Riley session in 2016, released their first album (on Everything Sucks) in 2017, toured extensively in 2018 and 2019, playing at the Brudenell Social Club with Swearin' and Jeffrey Lewis, and at plenty of fests such as LaDIYfest and Specialist Subject's birthday all dayer in Bristol, A Real Cool Fest in Bradford, Mousetival in Stockton and the Cambridge Indie pop Alldayer. They spent the pandemic creating these new, tightly-wound, irresistible pop songs. These are the people in CRUMBS and these are their influences: Stuart (GUITAR) - Bauhaus, Gang of Four, Shop Assistants // Gem (DRUMS) - Beat Happening, The Raincoats, Antelope // Jamie (BASS, BACKING VOCALS) - Delta 5, ESG, Chic // Ruth (VOCALS) - The Go-Go's, Mika Miko, Paint It Black Collectively - 80s pop music

SIHR: sonic manifesto by a post-anything quartet feat. multi-instrumentalists from the Mediterranean inland Sea. New folklore for a devastated planet, including Frédéric D. Oberland (Oiseaux-Tempête), Grégory Dargent (H), Tony Elieh (Karkhana) & Wassim Halal (Polyphème).

After a few concerts/screenings improvised as a duo in Cairo and Beirut, as well as for the Rencontres d’Arles, the Lille photography center and the Belgian magazine Halogénure, Dargent and Oberland have teamed up with mavericks Elieh and Halal for a puzzling cross-border manifesto. The first sonic moves of this eclectic quartet, made in a bunker studio somewhere between Paris and Berlin, urgently took the form of a quest, that of a neo-folklore for troubled times, a music seeping with many kinds of atavism and experimenting in all directions. A fertile no-man’s-land where trance and contem- plation, jazz and electronica, acoustics and electricity would merge in a stimulating mystical magma.

From the possible emergence of a Babelian language to the shared desire to rediscover music as a ceremonial act, this encounter took place over three days of improvised sound bacchanalia, the phases of which were all recorded by Benoit Bel (Zombie Zombie, Thurston Moore Group, Oi- seaux-Tempête). A hallucinated and generous testimony, SIHR is a synergy of many different worlds and many different possibilities, the sonic vision of a present conjugated in a hybrid tense and exalted by too many tangos danced on the glowing ashes of our days.

Multi-instrumentalist & photographer, Frédéric D. Oberland has been leading the Oiseaux-Tempête collective for over ten years, lying somewhere between avant-rock and free jazz, repetitive music and electronics. Founding member of the bands FOUDRE! and Le Réveil des Tropiques, he’s also perfor- ming solo and composing soundtracks for cinema and installation art. Since 2018, Oberland co-cu- rates the NAHAL Recordings imprint alongside producer Mondkopf.

Electric guitarist, oud player, composer and photographer, Grégory Dargent cultivates his musical schizophrenia and identity through improvised music, trance music, jazz, hijacked maqam, repeti- tive music, pop, electro-acoustic installations and French chanson. From L’Hijâz’Car to Babx, from Berber singer Houria Aïchi to Rachid Taha, from Trio H to Sirventés enragés, from music for images to contemporary choreography, from the most acoustic of ouds to the most nuclear of guitars, he conducts, accompanies, composes, deciphers, questions, delves, makes mistakes, bounces back, ar- ranges, orchestrates and tirelessly shares his creative passions.

Tony Elieh is one of the pioneers of experimental music in Lebanon. A founding member of the first post-rock group of post-war Lebanon, The Scrambled Eggs, he has since developed his unique elec- tric bass skills in various groups and styles of music including collaborating with in groups such as Karkhana, Calamita and Wormholes Electric. Relocated in Berlin in recent years, he has performed a solo set of heavily processed bass generated sounds.

Is Wassim Halal only a darbuka player? Maybe !? But what about his music, compositions, ideas. You can find him with Polyphème playing and co-composing popular-contemporary music with Gamelan Puspawarna, or next to the french bagpiper Erwan Keravec, with the Bey.Ler.Bey trio (w/ Laurent Clouet & Florian Demonsant) working on an improvised-balkan-already-improvised-music, with per- formers and drawers Benjamin Efrati and Diego Verastegui, with Gregory Dargent and Anil Eraslan in H, creating a new pedal generating »Random taksim«, composing his own »Poème Symphonique pour 100 youyou« or composing pieces for ensembles.

First exposed to the sounds of Samba and Bossa Nova while
touring South America with Dizzie Gillespie in 1956, Jones recalls
hearing Gillespie sitting-in with a Samba combo at Rio's Gloria
Hotel and how he was fascinated by the thrilling fusion of Jazz and
Samba. Some years later in 1962, he took a stellar big band into
NYC's A&R Studios to record the Big Band Bossa Nova album. It
was the culmination of a dream for Jones, who had never
forgotten the musical experiences he had encountered in Brazil.

The latest release on Jai Alai follows the format of forgotten vinyl tracks never before released on 7” format, or previously CD only album tracks, and will raise some eyebrows in artist selection and pairing.

Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II was one of the most significant jazz artists of all time having joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the mid-50s and establishing himself as one of the best hard bop trumpeter/flugelhorn players. His progression was continuous through the 50s/60s working with John Coltrane, Gigi Gryce, Pepper Adams, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins as sideman, and became one of Blue Note Records leading artists.

By the end of the 60s Byrd decided to move away from that idiom, experimenting with jazz fusion, African music and Rhythm & Blues. He worked hard to make jazz and its history part of the curriculum in US music colleges and he taught at many including Rutgers, Hampton, Howard, and Columbia, the latter from who he received his PhD in music.
Byrd took a great interest in how Miles Davis’ experimentation was resonating with a younger audience, and despite being castigated by his musical peers, his development of jazz fusion changed the jazz scene forever. His work with the Blackbyrds was a cornerstone for the progression of jazz funk in the UK.

The effect of his hook-up with brothers Larry & Fonce Mizell was immediate and his Blue Notes albums “Black Byrd” (1973), “Street Lady”, “Stepping Into Tomorrow” (1974), “Places & Spaces” (1975) and “Caricatures” (1976) became legendary on the newly evolving jazz funk scene with certain tracks such as “Change (Makes You Wanna Hustle)” normalising dance jazz on the disco floors, not to mention being a rich source for many hip-hop samples.
A slightly leaner period followed when he moved to Elektra Records and of the three albums with his new incarnation 125th Street NYC, a group of musicians he taught at North Carolina Central University, two were produced by Isaac Hayes including “Words”, “Sounds, Colors & Shapes” (1982) from which “Everyday”, a fabulous forgotten piece of mellow jazz funk derives.

By the end of the 80s he had returned to his harder straight-ahead jazz roots, but his place in history and the evolving of jazz as a dance culture in our clubs should never be forgotten.

‘Life On Other Planets’ is Supergrass’ fourth studio album, which peaked at #9 in the UK charts. (Norway#13, Australia #22, France #44).

Released as 1LP black heavyweight vinyl, 2LP white 12”, green and black 10” vinyl and 3CD with demos and live versions.

This 2023 re-issue has been fully remastered from original sources and includes the hit singles ‘Grace’ (UK #13), ‘Seen the Light’ (UK#22), ‘Never Done Nothing Like That Before’, ‘Rush Hour Soul’.

Gatefold 1LP is a faithful reissue of the original album

Horace Andy a.k.a.Sleepy must process one of the sweetest and most distinctive voices in reggae music. 1951 in Kingston Jamaica. He cut his first track in 1966 for producer George ‘Phil’ Pratt, a tune called ‘Black Man’s Country’. But it was four years later his star really began to shine when he joined the stable of Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd’s Studio One. It was Coxsone Dodd who renamed him Andy after another of his leading artists Bob Andy, such was his belief in Horace’s writing talent and singing abilities. Still only twenty years of age Horace used his falsetto talent to the fore and cut some impressive tracks at 13 Brentford Road, Studio One’s headquarters. Such reggae standards as ’Skylarking’, ‘Just Say Who’, ‘Love of a Women’ and ‘Something on my Mind’ to name but a few. The early 1970’s saw Horace due to political reasons move on to work with producer Bunny Lee, a move that suited his talents and beliefs, Horace being an early advocate to the Rastafarian faith.The tracks which he cut with Bunny, which we concentrate on here gave his songs a rootsy feel. The rhythms often cut at Channel ONE and Randy’s Studio17 and finalised at King Tubby’s, provided a fine backbone for Horace to recut some of his earlier classics, along side his newer songs also to become reggae standards. Like ‘Money Money’, ‘Zion Gate’ the great ‘You are my Angel’ and a version of The Heptones ‘My Guiding Star’. The power of these recordings were such that the earlier tracks like ‘Skylarking’ became hits a second time around.Proving that the ‘you can’t keep a good tune down’ mantra was alive and kicking… …A golden time for Horace and Reggae music in general… Horace would go on to work with other producers like Everton Da Silva in 1977 creating the ‘In the Light’ album and the New York based Lloyd ‘Wackies’ Barnes in the 1980’s for his ‘Dancehall Style’ recordings. Most recently his work with Massive Attack has brought his majestic voice full circle and back into the arena once more. Those ‘Massive’ recordings and this dub collection here seem to fit side by side. Horace’s distinctive vocal riding over the rhythms adding a magic as only he can .....

RESPECT JAH FLOYD.

Aspernamentum is the creation and vision of multi-instrumentalist D. Johansson. In a scene flooded with vague mindsets and a artificial approach to meaningful and pure black metal, Aspernamentum carves it's own path fuelled by the true essence of Satanism. "Primal Judgement Manifesto" is the culmination of a seed planted years ago. It's the first step and presentation of Aspernamentum and it signifies the core elements of the true spirit of black metal. Primal, simple and honest.

Aspernamentum is the creation and vision of multi-instrumentalist D. Johansson. In a scene flooded with vague mindsets and a artificial approach to meaningful and pure black metal, Aspernamentum carves it's own path fuelled by the true essence of Satanism. "Primal Judgement Manifesto" is the culmination of a seed planted years ago. It's the first step and presentation of Aspernamentum and it signifies the core elements of the true spirit of black metal. Primal, simple and honest.

"Es ist kein Gospel, kein Soul, kein Blues, kein Rock'n'Roll. Es ist alles davon - und das aus gutem Grund.", sagt der Künstler selbst über sein neues Album 'Cut To Black', sein erstes Studioalbum seit 'Know Where To Run' von 2016 und sein insgesamt zehntes. Wenn man so will die musikalische Fortsetzung seiner im September 2021 erschienenen Memoiren "Up Above The City, Down Beneath The Stars".

Nach neun Studioalben, darunter das 96er Werk 'Oedipus Schmoedipus', (mit Gastperformances von Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave und Billy McKenzie (The Associates)), das Mercury Prize nominierte 'Soul Murder' (1999), und sein jüngstes Album, 'Know Where To Run', das durch eine US-Tour mit Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - nach 23 Jahren - inspiriert wurde, bewegt sich das neue Album des Magazine, The Birthday Party und ehemaligen The Bad Seeds Bassisten, das Elemente aus Soul, R&B, Hip-Hop und Funk mit künstlicher Intelligenz kombiniert, Stilistisch von hedonistischen Limousinenfahrten durch die Disco der frühen Achtziger ('Manhattan Satin') bis zur futuristischen Klanglandschaft eines Stücks wie 'Was it a Dream?'. Im Zentrum stehen drei Tracks, die mit dem alten Aberglauben an den Blues als Musik des Teufels und der Kirche als Zentrum von Beichte und Erlösung aufräumen: 'These Would Be Blues', 'Please Don't Call On Me' und 'Amen White Jesus'. Wie immer erfreut sich Adamson an raffinierten Wortspielen und assoziativen Klang- und Bildwelten.

Turquoise Black Splatter Vinyl

IN SCHWARZER TINTE: Neues OCHMONEKS Album geht unter die Haut!
Neues von den Düsseldorfer OCHMONEKS: Zweieinhalb Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung ihres dritten Studio-Albums “GEGENWIND” kündigt sich mit "IN SCHWARZER TINTE” nun das vierte und wohl vielseitigste Werk der
Düsseldorfer an. Nicht nur die Fans der Band dürfen gespannt sein. “IN SCHWARZER TINTE” macht zwar genau da weiter, wo “GEGENWIND” aufhört - allerdings übertrifft sich die facettenreiche mit Band mit ihrem vierten Opus erneut selbst.

Musikalisch ist “IN SCHWARZER TINTE“ gewohnt vielfältig. Zu hören sind neben energiegeladem deutschem Rock auch harte Metal Riffs und emotionale Akustikgitarren. Sogar eine straighte Rock’n’Roll Nummer, die an die allerbesten Zeiten von Marius Müller-Westernhagen erinnert, hat es auf das Album geschafft.
Lyrisch landen die OCHMONEKS wie gewohnt direkt auf dem Punkt - die Hörer dürfen sich auf Emotionen, autobiographische Erlebnisse und unmissverständliche Aussagen freuen. Dabei greifen gleich drei der 11 brandneuen Songs inhaltlich auf verschiedenste, kreative Weise das Thema Tättowierungen auf - ein sicherer Grund für die Wahl des Albumtitels.
“IN SCHWARZER TINTE” steht jedoch nicht nur für die Tattoos, die einem das Leben in Höhen und Tiefen verpasst, sondern auch für die Verbindlichkeit, mit der die OCHMONEKS seit 2015 unterwegs sind. Die Band macht konsequent einen Schritt nach dem anderen und hat auf ihrem Weg bereits so manche Hürde genommen.

A collection of mind blowing songs from Hindi films 1958-1984. 12 musical gems from the Bollywood vaults with a wide variety of styles thrown in the mix, from the classic to the rare, a must! An astonishing overview of the magnificent musical talents populating Bollywood films. With a predilection for movies with a strong musical backbone where songs and musical numbers play a pivotal role, the Hindi cinema boom gave birth to a strong and creative music industry where composers, musicians, musical directors, conductors, producers, singing actors, and playback singers (singers who provide vocals for the musical parts of roles played by actors or actresses) found a perfect place to develop their careers. A sample of those incredible talents is included in this compilation, the ideal point to start digging deeper into the lush garden of musical delights that is Bollywood

Göden’s second endeavor Vale of the Fallen out on 17th of May 2024 Göden is back, and on their latest album the sound is heavier than ever. Guitarist/Bassist Stephen Flam is best known for his previous work with the band Winter, whose sludgy dirge earned a cult following for years to come. Göden is the spiritual successor to Winter. One could say Celtic Frost is to Triptykon what Winter is to Göden. Their debut album, “Beyond Darkness” stood on its own in creating a distinctive world. Now, four years later, they explore new sonic territories with their second album, “Vale of the Fallen”. While "Beyond Darkness" was a concept album that propelled listeners into space, whether inner or outer, “Vale of the Fallen” brings us back to twisted reality. Their more in-your-face approach should only intensify the experience-much like a walk through a post-apocalyptic landscape in the bleakest imaginable conditions. Sound-wise, Stephen Flam's heavier-than-life riffs, Vas Kallas's sardonic delivery and Tony Pinnisi's keyboards create oppressive atmospheres atop Jason Frantz's powerful drumming, while Margaret Murphy’s violin weaves ghostly motifs. Like its predecessor, “Vale of the Fallen” features interludes which provide brief respites between some tracks, only to return to the crushing heaviness in yet another avalanche of sound. This might be your favorite album of 2024.

Armageddon Patronage verkörpert den immensen Antrieb einer Band, die auf Hochtouren läuft und ihre ganz eigene Mischung aus extremem Metal verfeinert. Nach einer Reihe von intensiven Festivalauftritten ist der Name Strychnos nun in aller Munde. Angetrieben von diesem enormen Schwung hat die Band unermüdlich gearbeitet, um Armageddon Patronage weniger als zwei Jahre nach ihrem Debüt aufzunehmen und zu veröffentlichen.
"Diese Veröffentlichung stellt eine natürliche Fortsetzung dessen dar, was A Mother's Curse begonnen haben", meint Bassist/Sänger Martin Leth Andersen. "Die Band versucht, die Schlüsselelemente des Debüts zu verfeinern und weiter voranzutreiben - sowohl in Bezug auf die Aggressivität als auch auf die atmosphärischeren Teile. Dieser Nachfolger zeigt auch eine Reihe neuer Details wie alternative Instrumentierung, Gesangsvariationen, Intros, Outros und ein paar bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte."
Es ist selten, dass sich eine Band mit jeder neuen Veröffentlichung so exponentiell verbessert. Verpasse Strychnos nicht... denn man weiß nie, wie lange der Untergrund sie noch halten kann!
Armageddon Patronage wurde von Lasse Ballade in den Kopenhagener Ballade Studios aufgenommen und gemischt und von keinem Geringeren als Necromorbus' berüchtigtem Tore Stjerna gemastert.

7A Records are proud to present Davy Jones’ “Incredible!”. A deluxe reissue of Jones' “lost” ‘80s album, remastered and expanded with bonus tracks. The limited edition gatefold Vinyl release is limited to 1,000 copies. Pressed on 180g transparent blue vinyl, it features extensive liner notes from Monkees historian Mark Kleiner and rare and previously unseen pictures by photographer Henry Diltz.

Fuelled by MTV’s re-runs of the original Monkees TV series, “Incredible!” was recorded at the height of mid-‘80s Monkees comeback-euphoria. Given the flurry of activity happening on multiple fronts for the Monkees throughout 1986, especially the grueling demands of their touring schedule, the fact that Davy Jones managed to record a full album amid the chaos is somewhat staggering. “Incredible!” features several songs that could well have reached the Billboard charts, had things played out differently. However, Jones decided to hang on to the album and it ended up being self-released on cassette on his own mail order label. The minimalistic promotion and treatment of the original release belie the considerable studio and artist firepower behind these recordings. This deluxe repackaging allows this chapter in Jones’ fascinating journey to finally more fulsomely shine.

• Remastered With 6 Bonus Tracks
• Rare & Previously Unseen Photos
• Extensive Liner Notes
• Limited to 1,000 copies

BOTANIST nehmen uns auf ihrem zwölften Album "Paleobotany" auf eine Reise mit, die 70 Millionen Jahre zurück in eine Zeit führt, in der Dinosaurier den Planeten beherrschten und die ersten Wälder zu Kohle wurden. Bevor der apokalyptische Einschlag des Chicxulub-Asteroiden das Zeitalter der Giganten in Flammen untergehen ließ, wuchsen auch viele Pflanzen, deren Artenfamilien auch heute noch Nachkommen haben, zu erstaunlichen Größen heran. "Paleobotany" kommt mit all jenen Markenzeichen daher, die BOTANIST aus der Masse aller Metal-Acts auf diesem Planeten hervorheben. Lyrisch dreht sich bei der Band aus San Francisco, Kalifornien alles um Pflanzen - ein klarer Bruch mit den üblichen Genre-Klischees wie Satan, Drachen und Bier. Ihre Musik ist einerseits deutlich im "Metal" verankert, doch statt 6-saitiger Gitarren verwenden die Amerikaner 110-saitige Hackbretter. Zur Verwirrung aller Traditionalisten statten BOTANIST die perkussiven Saiteninstrumente aus der Folklore mit magnetischen Tonabnehmern aus und verzerren sie mit verschiedenen Mitteln, die von Verstärkern über analoges Tonband bis hin zu digitaler Manipulation reichen. Der daraus resultierende Sound ist ebenso einzigartig wie spektakulär. Die kontinuierliche klangliche Entwicklung von BOTANIST begann an einem hörbar vom nordischen Black Metal geprägten Ausgangspunkt. Die Band entwickelte aber bald einen offeneren, avantgardistischeren Stil, der zu einer wachsenden Komplexität führte. Auf "Paleobotany" haben die Kalifornier einige der verschlungenen progressiven Elemente zugunsten songorientierterer Arrangements wieder abgelegt, die dennoch weiterhin detailreich bleiben und voller Überraschungen stecken. Dies wird dadurch verstärkt, dass das Album vom renommierten schwedischen Produzenten Fredrik Nordström (DIMMU BORGIR, OPETH, AT THE GATES) im Studio Fredman abgemischt wurde. BOTANIST bleiben eine einzigartige Band. "Paleobotany" erweitert die dunkelgrüne Klangpalette ihres Avantgarde-Metal-Sounds zu einem zugänglicheren und dynamischeren Klangerlebnis. Pflanzen bevölkerten schon weit vor den vierbeinige Giganten die Erde - und sie werden immer noch wachsen, wenn die Menschheit längst wieder zu Sternenstaub zerfallen ist. BOTANIST gewinnen ihre musikalische Zukunft, indem sie mit "Paleobotany" Millionen von Jahren in die Vergangenheit reisen!

Armageddon Patronage verkörpert den immensen Antrieb einer Band, die auf Hochtouren läuft und ihre ganz eigene Mischung aus extremem Metal verfeinert. Nach einer Reihe von intensiven Festivalauftritten ist der Name Strychnos nun in aller Munde. Angetrieben von diesem enormen Schwung hat die Band unermüdlich gearbeitet, um Armageddon Patronage weniger als zwei Jahre nach ihrem Debüt aufzunehmen und zu veröffentlichen.
"Diese Veröffentlichung stellt eine natürliche Fortsetzung dessen dar, was A Mother's Curse begonnen haben", meint Bassist/Sänger Martin Leth Andersen. "Die Band versucht, die Schlüsselelemente des Debüts zu verfeinern und weiter voranzutreiben - sowohl in Bezug auf die Aggressivität als auch auf die atmosphärischeren Teile. Dieser Nachfolger zeigt auch eine Reihe neuer Details wie alternative Instrumentierung, Gesangsvariationen, Intros, Outros und ein paar bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte."
Es ist selten, dass sich eine Band mit jeder neuen Veröffentlichung so exponentiell verbessert. Verpasse Strychnos nicht... denn man weiß nie, wie lange der Untergrund sie noch halten kann!
Armageddon Patronage wurde von Lasse Ballade in den Kopenhagener Ballade Studios aufgenommen und gemischt und von keinem Geringeren als Necromorbus' berüchtigtem Tore Stjerna gemastert.

Das Blues-Debüt des legendären Gitarristen und Songwriters enthält Gastauftritte von Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Chris Stapleton, Beth Hart, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Gary Clark Jr, Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top), Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes), Demi Lovato, Dorothy, und Tash Neal am Gesang. "Orgy of the Damned" ist eine Hommage an den Blues - eine Sammlung von zwölf dynamischen Songs, die Blues-Klassiker mit einem reduzierten, instinktiven Ansatz neu belebt. Die erste Single "Killing Floor" - mit Brian Johnson von AC/DC am Gesang und Steven Tyler von Aerosmith an der Mundharmonika - ist eine elektrisierende, raue und ungezügelte Version von Howlin' Wolfs Chicago-Blues-Standard aus dem Jahr 1964.

Elaine Brown has led a life of distinction. Appointed in August 1974 by Huey Newton from his exile in Cuba to be the one and only female leader of the Black Panther Party, Elaine has pursued a career of community service that continues to this day. But her debut 1969 album Seize the Time leaves one wondering what would have happened had she not put her musical career second. She was first discovered as a performer while singing Thomas Dorsey’s “Precious Lord” at the funeral service for Panther Bunchy Carter. Afterwards, Panther’s Chief of Staff David Hilliard had her audition for him accompanying herself on piano. That session led to her composition “The Meeting” (about an encounter with Eldridge Cleaver) being adopted as the Black Panther Party National Anthem, and an album was commissioned. Elaine enlisted Los Angeles jazz legend Horace Tapscott and his PanAfrikan Peoples Arkestra to arrange and back her, and Seize the Time was born—which the Black Panther Party’s newspaper called “the first songs of the American revolution.” Blending influences ranging from Bob Dylan to classical, and anchored by Elaine’s powerful delivery of her deeply-felt lyrics, this album will stir your blood whether you agree with its politics or not. Now, with the cooperation of Elaine Brown herself, Seize the Time sees its first-ever American LP reissue, complete with original “uni-pak” packaging featuring lyrics and liner notes, plus an insert with new liner notes by Pat Thomas, author of Listen Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975.Limited run of 950 copies in deep purple vinyl. SIDE ONE 1. Seize the Time 2. The Panther 3. And All Stood By 4. The End of Silence 5. The Meeting (The Black Panther Party National Anthem SIDE TWO 1. Very Black Man 2. Take It Away 3. One Time 4. Assassination 5. Poppa’s Come Home SELLING POINTS • Elaine Brown Is an Activist First and Musician Second • But Her 1969 Debut Seize the Time Shows Things Could Have Gone the Other Way • She Was Appointed in 1974 by Huey Newton from His Exile in Cuba to Be the One and Only Female Head of The Black Panther Party • She Has Pursued a Career in Community Service That Continues to This Day • First Discovered as a Performer When Singing Thomas Dorsey’s “Precious Lord” at the Funeral for Panther Bunchy Carter • Then Panther’s Chief of Staff David Hilliard Had Her Audition for Him Accompanying Herself on Piano • An Album Was Commissioned, and Brown’s “The Meeting” (About an Encounter with Eldridge Cleaver) Became the Black Panther Party National Anthem • Seize the Time Was Arranged by L.A. Jazz Legend Horace Tapscott, and Features His Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra • A Unique Record Featuring Influences Ranging from Dylan to Classical, All Anchored by Brown’s Impassioned Singing and Deeply-Felt Lyrics • First-Ever American LP Reissue • Includes Original Uni-Pak Jacket with Notes and Lyrics • Also Contains Insert with Notes by Pat Thomas, Author of Listen Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 • Deep Purple Vinyl Pressing • Limited to 950 Copes • This Release of Seize the Time Is Fully Authorized by Elaine Brown Herself STREET DATE: MAY 3, 2024 (Limited Deep Purple Vinyl Edition) iBarcoder Trial ELAINE BROWN BLACK PANTHER PARTY BLACK PANTHER PARTY ELAINE BROWN VAULT

Solo Throat is the first solo LP from vocalist, composer and movement artist Elaine Mitchener. Drawing on the work of African-American and African-Caribbean poets Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Aimé Césaire, Una Marson and N. H. Pritchard, these twelve new vocal compositions disrupt semantic sense, play with the margins of lyrical translation, and give rise to new voicings. Elaine Mitchener is a veteran of vocal expression in the global Black Avant Garde, traversing free improvisation, cross-disciplinary music theatre and contemporary composition with clarity and joy. Most recently, Mitchener has been improvising and composing with the written word as source material - challenging classical ensembles with her piece (“the/e so/ou/nd be/t/ween”), and commissioning composers Matana Roberts, Jason Yarde and George Lewis to respond to the work of Sylvia Wynter (“On Being Human as Praxis”, Donaueschinger Musiktage, 2020). Her performance of Umbra poet N.H Pritchard’s text FR/OG at OTO in 2021 was a revelation - a solo vocal recasting of the powerful visual-material form that Pritchard uses to disrupt semantic ‘sense’. Building on this performance, Solo Throat takes the work of Pritchard alongside poets Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Aimé Césaire and Una Marson as its source material. Its compositions are a loose translation - a carrying from text to voice which holds multiplicity and celebrates the transformative power of literary possibility. Surrendered to the spacing and repetition of consonants and vowels, Michener’s exceptional phonetic freedom gives rise to a sensuous experience which intensifies the roles of rhythm, timbre and breath in expressing meaning. Solo Throat comes together as much through difference as similarity. Mitchener’s own solo improvisations sit alongside the work of Brathwaite, Césaire, Marson and Pritchard, forming a constellation of unlikely alignments which make no aesthetic conclusion. Instead, Solo Throat is a site of encounter, an irreducibly plural de-composition of words into a heterogeneous assemblage of sounds and impulses, emphasising what Anthony Reed calls, “the play on and the surplus of margins of lyrical translation to resituate other pathways of expression”. Just as the poets cited use white space to complicate our act of reading, so Mitchener utilises silence and multiphonics to complicate the act of voicing and the way we listen. Genre: Experimental / Vocal / Poetry

20th anniversary of Jim White’s haunting outer space alt.country classic that has a title so long nobody can remember the name of it. Featuring Aimee Mann, M. Ward, Bill Frisell and the Barenaked Ladies. Now it’s on vinyl for the first time, pressed on Substrate Black in a gatefold jacket plus three additional bonus tracks

From the early ‘90s to the turn of the millennium, Gabrielle was one of the UK’s most successful and beloved artists. With two unforgettable #1 smashes (‘Dreams’ and ‘Rise’), a back catalogue full of Top 10 hits, two albums which reached 4 x Platinum status, two BRIT Awards, two MOBOs and an Ivor Novello, everything she touched seemed to turn to gold. In recent times, Gabrielle has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence, one that proves that timeless, empowering songwriting and a distinctive voice that is the very definition of soul will never go out of fashion.
The first single from the album, "A Place in Your Heart" will be released on the 18th January (9:30am timed release), and will be premiered on BBC Radio 2 - Zoe Ball that morning. The new single retains Gabrielle's signature sound, opening with her instantly recognisable vocal and provides an anthemic hook fans will no doubt sing along to.
A big part of that resurgence comes from the love shown to her by the current wave of iconic artists. Adele recalls being inspired by the lyric “Dreams can come true” as a child and has been a life-long fan of Gabrielle since, saying, “I remember being mesmerised by her, so pure and so delicate and gentle with her voice and in the way she moved.” And when Adele’s own dreams came true, she returned to her first inspiration and invited Gabrielle to join the bill for her two rapidly sold-out Hyde Park shows in the summer of 2022. The result was a sea of faces - some older fans, but many more who would’ve been too young to remember her the first time around - singing Gabrielle’s songs back to her.
Another high-profile supporter emerged that same year. Stormzy invited Gabrielle to cameo in his ambitious video for ‘Mel Made Me Do It’, where she joined a host of artists including Dave, Little Simz, Headie One and Jazzie B. She was also referenced in its midpoint monologue, when ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ star Michaela Coel narrated Wretch 32’s words: “Gabrielle once told us dreams can come true, and that sentence emancipated the minds of our pioneers.”
2018’s ‘Under My Skin’ in 2018 was heralded as “a heartfelt comeback” by The Guardian on its way to the Top
10. It wasn’t long before she was discovered by a brand new audience too, winning fans with a memorable stint as Harlequin in ‘The Masked Singer’ in 2021.and followed by ‘Do It Again’, an album of which mixed original songs, new takes on all-time classics, and her interpretations of more modern pop favourites from the likes of Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and Rihanna. It shot to #4 on the Official Album Chart - Gabrielle’s highest chart position in twenty years.

With Gabrielle’s star again in ascendance and her high profile live presence, 2024 seems the perfect time to release a new album. She’s consolidated her original audience and found a whole new one.
Autumn / Winter 2023 saw Gabrielle embark upon the ‘30 Years of Dreaming’ headline tour which was extended to a phenomenal 33 dates following overwhelming public demand. Many shows sold-out more than six months in advance, including London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall.