The official soundtrack to Risk of Rain 2's second DLC "Seekers of the Storm" is coming to vinyl.
The new album includes 42 minutes of music written by Chris Christodoulou with the contribution of one piece by fellow Greek composer Stavros Markonis.
It will be available on limited edition 1xLP on blue / white / dark green / sky blue / black marbled vinyl, housed in a special gatefold sleeve with complementary artwork and design by Daniele Giardini.
quête:black one
- Blind Man
- Please Come In
- Reverend Wrinkle
- Soulcreek
- Things My Father Said
- The Bitter End
- Long Sleeves
- Peace Is Free
- Devil's Queen
- The Key
- You
- Sunrise
- Ghost Of Floyd Collins
Coloured[43,07 €]
"Folklore and Superstition is the second album by American band Black Stone Cherry. The album charted in several lists and peaked in the US Billboard 200 at place 28. Black Stone Cherry's sound still owes as much to Alice in Chains as it does to Molly Hatchet or Lynyrd Skynyrd. The production for this one was in the capable hands of Bob Marlette (Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Lynyrd Skynyrd o.a.).
Folklore and Superstition is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on green coloured vinyl and includes a 8-page booklet. "
"Folklore and Superstition is the second album by American band Black Stone Cherry. The album charted in several lists and peaked in the US Billboard 200 at place 28. Black Stone Cherry's sound still owes as much to Alice in Chains as it does to Molly Hatchet or Lynyrd Skynyrd. The production for this one was in the capable hands of Bob Marlette (Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Lynyrd Skynyrd o.a.).
Folklore and Superstition is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on green coloured vinyl and includes a 8-page booklet. "
- A1: Black Strength
- A2: Who Said You're Not Our Man
- A3: Pasadena
- A4: Chief Wells Redux
- A5: Bayard Bush Flashback
- A6: Show Me Your Ideas
- A7: Rustin Walks Home
- A8: Makes You Want To Believe
- A9: Bayard Breaks Down The Meeting
- A10: I Ne'r Didst Dream
- A11: King To March
- A12: Work As One, Move As One
- A13: Dinner Music Cha-Cha
- A14: Louis Reads The Pledge
- A15: Bayard Cruising
- A16: The Day Of, Part Iii
- A17: Meeting At The Mall
- B1: How I Got Over
- B2: Fingertips Redux
- B3: King To March, Version 2
- B4: The Day Of, Part I
- B5: The Day Of, Part Ii
- B6: Moving To Utopia
- B7: Elias' Song
- B8: Press Conference
- B9: Roy Has Issues With Me
- B10: Bayard Breaks Down The Meeting, Version 1
- B11: Bayard Goes To See Martin
- B12: Didn't It Rain
- B13: The Knowing
We are excited to present you with the soundtrack from the Netflix film Rustin, composed by the renowned saxophonist, conductor, and jazz composer Branford Marsalis. Branford is a highly respected figure in the jazz world, with an impressive list of accolades including three Grammy Awards, one Tony Award, and one Emmy. He is also a member of the illustrious Marsalis family, a dynasty of jazz musicians.
Surf Nicaragua is an EP from Arizona thrash metal band, Sacred Reich. It was released on October 4, 1988 onMetal Blade Records and follows the band's debut album, Ignorance, released the previous year.The EP contains a cover version of the Black Sabbath song, "War Pigs", which also appeared on the band's nextEP, Alive at the Dynamo in 1989, in live form. The song "Surf Nicaragua" contains a part from the song "WipeOut" as well as the drum part from the Hawaii 5-0 theme song
High Hopes - New album from the Mole.
High Hopes is 17 songs across 40 minutes on one slice of wax that, as advertised, sounds nothing like last month’s Ep, High Dreams. Here, rather than the long form dance form, is a continuation of the beat tape pacing from the last album, a collection of moments posing as ideas posing as a narrative stuffed with oddities and surprises that reward the close listen.
What’s heard on High Hopes is the Mole’s exploration of a love letter, from one person to a family, from the northern Pacific to the southern Atlantic, from a boy to a painted bird. Vancouver Island to Manantiales. The songs range from ambient sound bath and hip hop sludge, up to micro boogie and almost House before tumbling back down and forth again. Bubbling synths, MPCs swung out, samples chopped and chewed, bass and violins from Rick and Sophie, field recordings of birds and frogs and beaches, friends and family and fiestas. Did we mention the love ?! This album has got it all! Original collages from Antonio Carrau envelope this wax: jacket, sleeve and cookie. Antonio’s work is typified by playful combinations and bold statements about living in a embrace of analog and digital health. His co lages marry the corporeal world with an updated, digitalized age of reproduction, inducing feelings of gratitude for the simple everyday scenes we sometimes lose touch with when we forget to slow down. Good living, like breathing, requires inhaling as well as exhaling.
We can’t always produce content, make art, we must also pause, and listen. And enjoy. The Mole is joined by friends and colleagues on several songs included on High Hopes. Rick May plays bass on both Que Rico and album stand out GoinF4er. Sophie Trudeau (Godspeed You Black Emperor) plays and arranges violins on GoinF4er and Danuel Tate (Cobblestone Jazz) and Julz Chaz (Wagon Repair) both play Vibes and Emaxx throughout the album. Working with these incredible talents not only enriched this album, but fulfilled a long standing goal of the Mole’s; to work again with the musicians from whom he learned so much. People who helped inform the shape of Mole to come.
The Mole who was As High As The Sky. The Mole has been ‘recognized’ by the ‘global underground’ since his critically celebrated premiere album, As High As The Sky, but his earlier Eps (Wagon Repair, Philpot, Musique Risquee) got the attention of Top DJs, clubs, and festivals around the world first. His sound remains unique, fresh and deep: enjoying plays in a wide variety of spaces and places.
High Hopes is the Mole’s 5th solo album and his 2nd album for Circus Company (The River Widens) who have also proudly released two eps of Mole magic (Little Sunshine, High Dreams).
*Isn’t that too much time for one record? Short answer - No. Long answer - depends on the material. Due to the many quiet passages in the album, the groove spacing can be modulated and the needle can slow it’s progress towards the center/end resulting in longer sides with continued high gain and low distortion.
High Hopes - New album from the Mole.
High Hopes is 17 songs across 40 minutes on one slice of wax that, as advertised, sounds nothing like last month’s Ep, High Dreams. Here, rather than the long form dance form, is a continuation of the beat tape pacing from the last album, a collection of moments posing as ideas posing as a narrative stuffed with oddities and surprises that reward the close listen.
What’s heard on High Hopes is the Mole’s exploration of a love letter, from one person to a family, from the northern Pacific to the southern Atlantic, from a boy to a painted bird. Vancouver Island to Manantiales. The songs range from ambient sound bath and hip hop sludge, up to micro boogie and almost House before tumbling back down and forth again. Bubbling synths, MPCs swung out, samples chopped and chewed, bass and violins from Rick and Sophie, field recordings of birds and frogs and beaches, friends and family and fiestas. Did we mention the love ?! This album has got it all! Original collages from Antonio Carrau envelope this wax: jacket, sleeve and cookie. Antonio’s work is typified by playful combinations and bold statements about living in a embrace of analog and digital health. His co lages marry the corporeal world with an updated, digitalized age of reproduction, inducing feelings of gratitude for the simple everyday scenes we sometimes lose touch with when we forget to slow down. Good living, like breathing, requires inhaling as well as exhaling.
We can’t always produce content, make art, we must also pause, and listen. And enjoy. The Mole is joined by friends and colleagues on several songs included on High Hopes. Rick May plays bass on both Que Rico and album stand out GoinF4er. Sophie Trudeau (Godspeed You Black Emperor) plays and arranges violins on GoinF4er and Danuel Tate (Cobblestone Jazz) and Julz Chaz (Wagon Repair) both play Vibes and Emaxx throughout the album. Working with these incredible talents not only enriched this album, but fulfilled a long standing goal of the Mole’s; to work again with the musicians from whom he learned so much. People who helped inform the shape of Mole to come.
The Mole who was As High As The Sky. The Mole has been ‘recognized’ by the ‘global underground’ since his critically celebrated premiere album, As High As The Sky, but his earlier Eps (Wagon Repair, Philpot, Musique Risquee) got the attention of Top DJs, clubs, and festivals around the world first. His sound remains unique, fresh and deep: enjoying plays in a wide variety of spaces and places.
High Hopes is the Mole’s 5th solo album and his 2nd album for Circus Company (The River Widens) who have also proudly released two eps of Mole magic (Little Sunshine, High Dreams).
*Isn’t that too much time for one record? Short answer - No. Long answer - depends on the material. Due to the many quiet passages in the album, the groove spacing can be modulated and the needle can slow it’s progress towards the center/end resulting in longer sides with continued high gain and low distortion.
Woven together from home studio recordings that span two decades, and with some notable guest appearances including; The Bug, Douglas Leal of Deafkids, Wayne Adams of Petbrick, Dave French of Yob and Sanford Parker, this final part of the Harvestman Triptych seeks once again for a lost world, with the voice of poet Ezra Pound extolling the virtues of "gathering from the air a live tradition".
Cloudy Clear plus Black Galaxy effect vinyl in dub style jacket. Limited and Non-Returnable.
At its heart, music has always been a questioning of inheritance – a dialogue with predecessors and forebears, the forging of one’s own perspective in relation to what has come before, and for some, a plunge into the boundless realms between. For Steve Von Till, that process has always taken on an added dimension to become the most sacred of tasks. Whether through the apocalyptic uprising of Neurosis, the sonic deconstructions of their sister project, Tribes of Neurot, the invocatory intimacy of his eponymous solo albums or his instrumental psychedelic reveries in the guise of Harvestman, that dialogue has never just been with musical influences, but with what underpins them: the primordial, elemental forces now banished to the peripheries of our contemporary consciousness, yet still broadcasting a signal for all who will listen.
Drawn to the megaliths, ruins and ancient sites mapped out along the British and European mainland’s geographical and psychic landscapes, the folklore and apocrypha forever resurfacing as portals from a rational world, Triptych is a meditation forged from traces and residues, and an hallucinatory recollection of artists who have tapped into that enduring otherworldliness embedded within us all. It’s a dream diary narrating a passage through Summer Isle where Flying Saucer Attack are wafting out of a window, a distant Fairport Convention are being remixed by dub master Adrian Sherwood, celestial scanners Tangerine Dream are trying to drown out Bert Jansch and Hawkwind are playing Steeleye Span covers, all prised out of time yet bound to its singularity.
"Herne's Oak" provides seismic bass waves that physically halt the track in its steps - giant footfalls as Herne's antlers themselves are dragged along a corridor. Another curious and mysterious piece of British folklore brought to life by Harvestman.
If Triptych is a multi- and extra-sensory experience, it extends to the remarkable glyph-style artwork of Henry Hablak, a map of correspondences from a long-forgotten ancient and advanced civilization. As with Triptych itself, it’s an echo from another time, an act of binding, a guide to be endlessly reinterpreted, and a signpost to the sacred that might not indicate where to look, but how.
Cover art is by Henry Hablak, who also designed the art for Part One and Part Two.
- A1: Down (Feat Joi Gilliam)
- A2: Talk To Me
- A3: Legend Has It
- A4: Call Ticketron
- B1: Hey Kids (Feat Danny Brown)
- B2: Stay Gold
- B3: Don't Get Captured
- B4: Thieves! (Screamed The Ghost) (Screamed The Ghost)
- C1: 2100 (Feat Boots)
- C2: Panther Like A Panther (Feat Trina - Miracle Mix)
- C3: Everybodys Stay Calm
- D1: Oh Mama
- D2: Thursday In The Danger Room (Feat Kamasi Washington)
- D3: A Report To The Shareholders/Kill Your Masters
RTJ3, the third outing by the firebrand rap duo of Killer Mike and El-P, features a cadre of talented guest performers, including Zach de la Rocha, Danny Brown, Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio, Kamasi Washington, and more. The album is "essentially the Run the Jewels manifesto, an outpouring of rage and defiance that never loses sight of the objectives: rallying the troops, holding all accountable, and toppling oppression." (Pitchfork)
Released on Christmas Day 2016, the album charted in 11 countries, with its breakout hit from the album, "Legend Has It", being featured in the Super Bowl advertisement for the global blockbuster feature film "Black Panther". Embraced by fans and critics alike, it's received praise for its near-perfect execution as well as its sharp, visceral observations, blistering beats and superb guest artists, cementing RTJ as one of the most important artists of its era.
- Certain Accuracy
- The Deceived Ones
- Curse Of The Damned Cities
- Beyond The Unknown
- Freezing Torment
- Massacre Of The Unborn
- On The Burial Ground
- Mortify
Black Vinyl[25,17 €]
High Roller Records, reissue 2024, black vinyl, ltd 250, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, huge poster. Mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony
- Certain Accuracy
- The Deceived Ones
- Curse Of The Damned Cities
- Beyond The Unknown
- Freezing Torment
- Massacre Of The Unborn
- On The Burial Ground
- Mortify
Galaxy Vinyl[25,17 €]
High Roller Records, reissue 2024, black vinyl, ltd 250, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, huge poster. Mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony
Black vinyl 180g made only in 100 numbered copies.
This record is different. It is different from what might be expected of Jan Emil Mlynarski by those who know him, from sold-out shows and platinum albums of his bands – Jazz Band Młynarski – Masecki and Warsaw Dance Combo, as an old-timer, curator and reenactor of pre-World War II Warsaw's plush dancehalls and backyards folklore. Quite likely they may not recognize him until the last song, when he removes his shaman mask and bows down: Yeah, that's really me, folks, your good ol' Jan Emil, the entertainer. They might not have even known that he ever played drums because in his flagship bands, clad in a white tux in the former or in a Peaky Blinder hat in the latter, he sings and plays mandolin banjo. In fact, Młynarski has been a drummer for a lot longer than a singer. He stands clear of the jazz mainstream but is active on the progressive scene. A record he contributed to, trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski's 2022 release The Individual Beings, was recognized by Downbeat magazine as "excellent" and awarded the highest rating of five stars.
However, this is the first instrumental record to bear his name. As an album by a drummer, it stands out from other records, especially as it features drums as the principal content rather than the performance by a band with a drummer as the leader. It's all about drums, there is neither an articulate melody – because the melodies that are there are only micro-linesencased in ostinato modules – nor is harmony as an intentional chord progression – because whatever harmony-wise there is, is rather a product of the counterpoint of overlapping voices. All sounds other than the drums make only a riverbed through which runs a raging stream of rhythms. And indeed, this record took off just with this stream. At first all the drums were recorded live onto an analog tape, all at once, without overdubs or editing. After that, synthesizer riffs were added, and the record was ultimately assembled on tape without the use of computers or complex postproduction, which sets it apart from most releases today.
Młynarski the drummer acknowledges that he follows the trail beaten by Art Blakey, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, and Billy Higgins, but he walks it in his own strides. He treats the jazz drumming with specific reversed engineering by decompiling the jazz drum kit originally compiled by the pioneer jazz drummers from an array of instruments that had made their way from a jungle to New Orleans, first to Congo Square and then to street brass bands.
This takes him back to the jungle, his drums don't sound like jazz drums, the snare is rare, and the hi-hat and ride aren't there at all. Instead, there are drums and bells from Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Côte d'Ivoire. He doesn't sound like a jazz drummer either, but like a gang of drummers, each playing their own rhythm, and it's hard to believe that all this is the work of one man.
Not only his drumware comes from the jungle, but also the software – his approach to rhythm and time. Its essence is polyrhythm and ostinato. The polyrhythmic matters were unveiled to Młynarski and Piotr Zabrodzki, his creative partner in many projects and co-composer/producer of this album, by the legendary eccentric veteran-drummer Władysław Jagiełło, who introduced them, aged thirteen, to his concept and practice of "17 Latino rhythms at once". Ostinato, an obstinate repetition of a phrase or rhythm, "arrests" time, turning its linear course into cyclical in-place rotations. This is specific not only to African music but also to cultural music of other regions and differs from Western artistic music in that it does not "run" to fulfil an aesthetic intention but "stays" to provide the framework for recurrent routines of communal proceedings.
So, this record is different. And, if you are different too, this is the record for you.
- Anyhow
- White Noise, White Lines
- Kentucky (Interlude)
- Kentucky, 1988
- Lived And Let Go
- Black Patch
- Run (Interlude)
- Run Away
- Sunday's Children
- Very Old Barton
- My Epitaph
- A1: Choose Your Weapon
- A2: Shaolin Monk Motherfunk
- A3: Laputa
- A4: Creations Part One
- A5: Borderline With My Atoms
- B1: Breathing Underwater
- B2: Cicada
- B3: Swamp Thing
- B4: Fingerprints
- B5: Jekyll
- C1: Prince Minikid
- C2: Atari
- C3: By Fire
- C4: Creations Part Two
- D1: The Lung
- D2: Only Time All The Time Making Friends With Studio Owl
- D3: Molasses
- D4: Building A Ladder
- A1: Breathing Underwater (Roman Soto Cello Rework) - Bonus 7”
- B1: Making Friends With Studio Owl (Club Mix) - Bonus 7”
2x12" Green Vinyl + 7" Black Vinyl
Brainfeeder kündigt für den 25. November 2022 die Wiederveröffentlichung des mittlerweile zu Kultstatus aufgestiegenen zweiten Albums der Prog-Jazz-Future-Funkster von Hiatus Kaiyote, „Choose Your Weapon“! Das Album, das ursprünglich 2015 erschien und einige der größten Hits des Vierers vereint (u.a. „Fingerprints“ und „Molasses“), kommt in seiner Neuauflage auf fotoluminiszierendem Doppelvinyl dem zusätzlich Lyrics-Sheet, Stickerbogen und eine Bonus-7“ mit dem bislang unveröffentlichten Roman Soto Cello Rework von „Breathing Underwater“ und einem Club-Mix von „Making Friends With Studio Owl“ beiliegen.
Format: Fotoluminiszierendes Doppelvinyl inklusive Lyrics-Sheet, Stickerbogen und eine Bonus-7“ mit dem bislang unveröffentlichten Roman Soto Cello Rework von „Breathing Underwater“ und einem Club-Mix von „Making Friends With Studio Owl“
Bruno Sanchioni releases "Capture EP 2" on Art Max Records. Bruno Sanchioni, a pioneer of electronic music and the mastermind behind legendary projects such as Age Of Love, BBE, and Bazz, returns with Capture EP 2, a follow-up that promises to make a lasting impact. Following the enthusiastic reception of the first installment, this new EP promises to be a unique sonic journey, where punchy acid sounds intertwine seamlessly with melodic and hypnotic atmospheres.
Capture EP 2 once again showcases Bruno Sanchioni's singular talent, as he skillfully blends boundless creativity with a deep respect for the roots of electronic music. Each track is crafted with his trademark originality, offering surprises at every turn while staying true to the spirit of his early works. The EP captures that timeless energy that has always been at the core of his musical approach.
This new EP, coming soon on Art Max Records, is much more than just a sequel. It is a brilliant showcase of Bruno Sanchioni's ability to innovate while remaining deeply rooted in a sonic tradition he masters to perfection. This EP stands as a must-have for those looking to rediscover the essence of an era, reimagined with the unique touch of one of the genre's true masters.
Indignation Meeting are punky rail fans from Leeds. 15-year-old Peter is the driver - he's the drummer and lead singer, writes most of the songs, and also plays bass and trumpet on the album. The rest of the crew is his dad Michael on guitar, Hugo on bass, and with Keith, Heather and Sally often along for the ride when they play out. Here at DGHQ we loved listening to their self-released debut album Trouble In The Shed so much we eventually released it on vinyl for the first time. They now have a second album! Vocalist/drummer Peter very kindly talks us through the (train) tracks_ * "The Trainspotting Song" - Now, as a train geek, I go out filming trains an awful lot, and one thing you can't help noticing whilst out in the wilds of Staffordshire or the moors of Lancashire are a whole load of unnecessary 'Private Land' signs. This song is my response_ * "The Talyllyn Railway" - The history of the Talyllyn Railway is a fascinating one that I've long since wanted to explore, due to its unique nature as the first railway to ever be taken over by volunteers. This is the result! * "The Middleton Railway" - As a volunteer at the Middleton Railway, I had felt that a song needed to be written for quite a while. However, our guitarist Michael, ended up beating me to it! * "A Model World" - It was late one night, and I was lying on my sofa, trying my hardest to gain an ounce of enjoyment from 'Hornby; A Model World.' It was proving quite hard, due to the alarming lack of substance in the programme, so instead I decided that its name was rather good, and could be the basis of a song explaining my 'model world.' And, well, here it is! * "The Fifth Black Five" - This song is dedicated to the railway preservationists of old, who spent countless hours in cold, damp, dreary sidings, all to make sure us future generations would be able to enjoy the smell of a steam train. Thanks guys! * "Case Study" - This song is a commentary on the sensationalisation of disasters, when there's a massive tragedy and people at home just sit in their comfy sofas, watching the news and drinking tea. We know what's going on, but we can just choose to turn off the TV and forget it ever happened and continue with our lives. It also relates to the dehumanisation of those disasters you experience in school, where you have to write essays on someone who's just become homeless. It seems quite heartless sometimes_ * "Loco Motives" - This song is a fictional story of a man's personal struggle with a railway company, and the drastic measures he took to fix them_ * "That Would Never Suit His Grace" - With model railways, you always seem to get a few people who can never be satisfied with a layout or a model - no matter how hard someone's tried, there's always something to improve on, and they're never nice about it either. This song is a reality check for them_ * "Small Black Shunter" - This is our second homage to Zounds - Electrification would never be truly complete without its B-side. And this B-side is the story of a little loco who wanted to see the world. * "Rhydyronen" - Slowly but surely, we're going to pick off all of the stations on the Talyllyn Railway. Starting where Abergynolwyn left off, this is the story of our second favourite station on the TR. * "Typically English Day" - This is an homage to Mark Astronaut, a true punk genius who was gone before his time. Although there were many songs we could've picked to cover, it only seemed right to punk up one of his most popular tracks, and one of the main ones that got me into the Astronauts in the first place - Typically English Day, a heart-wrenching tale of an elderly couple trapped in the middle of a nuclear war, following their last moments before their inevitable demise. * "Just For The Record" - There is too much misinformation in the media these days, and one case I found particularly egregious was the gross misrepresentation of the strikers, who aren't so evil as the media want you to believe_
Here, gleaming tensile techno forms clean, straight lines while scratchy acoustic guitars scuff up edges to produce
ghostly audio. Poetry is snatched from the overhead, removed from the overheard; words borrowed from the ether are
spun into dizzying new shapes, sometimes reappearing in new settings, twisted back to front, side to side. Each track a
very different room - some soundtracked by little more than metronomic kick drum and robotic voice, others deep in
layer upon layer of melody and euphoric noise - and each room unmistakably, uniquely Underworld. The only advice
from Underworld’s Rick Smith and Karl Hyde upon entering: “Please don’t shuffle.”
Strawberry Hotel features the singles ‘and the colour red’ and ‘denver luna’, as well as new release ‘Black Poppies’ - a
celestial love song, a hymn to the universe and to boundless, positive change. Ambient and beatless, Black Poppies is
a celebration of full dancefloors and the beauty of life itself.
Underworld are Rick Smith and Karl Hyde. Their peerless first album - dubnobasswithmyheadman - was released to universal acclaim in 1994. In the thirty years since that mould breaking debut, the band have established their reputation as one of the most groundbreaking and important electronic acts of all time, one that constantly pushes creative boundaries, twists genres, and refuses to stay still. In those thirty years, their music has soundtracked approximately 100,000,000 nights out, and the mornings after. In the past year alone, Underworld have played live in front of over half a million people across the globe.
On his latest full-length, Low End Activist swerves towards weightless grime and suspended hardcore miniatures to tell a very personal story. The UK-rooted producer continues his habit of zeroing in on a distinct approach for each release, leaving a logical breadcrumb trail of soundsystem science in his wake as he channels decades of bass absorption into 14 atmospheric cuts that prize patience and precision over obvious club functionality.
Municipal Dreams plays out as a semi-autobiographical tour through the Blackbird Leys estate that the Activist grew up on. It’s a lived reflection on inequality and the ripple effect it has in working class communities, using the sonic palette to set the mood and scattering pointed samples throughout to spell out the story.
In sampling the exhaust of a stolen Subaru Impreza, ‘TWOC’ looks back to the recreational car theft which was standard entertainment for the kids in his community. There’s an underlying idea that this ‘council estate sport’ wouldn’t have been so prevalent if there were public services and opportunities presented to the scores of disaffected youth looking for somewhere to direct their energy and frustration.
In ‘Just A Number (Institutionalised)’ LEA alludes to the shattered juvenile detention system, growing up seeing friends and family members locked up at ease with little to no support on being released back into society, just meant that the same cycles of behaviour would play out over and over.
‘Violence’ samples from a short film shot by the drama division of the Blackbird Leys Youth Club to evoke the physical threat which formed a background hum to life on the estate. The industrial mechanics of the local car factory, which served an integral role as a workplace for many in the community, gets sampled in ‘They Only Come Out At Night’ while the ‘Everyone I look up to are either junkies or criminals’ sample in ‘Broke’ looks to a lack of positive role models.
Municipal Dreams isn’t a one-note indictment of life on the estate, ‘Innocence’ captures the simplicity of a child at birth before their environment has time to shape them. The Hope interludes cut through the grim honesty of the longer tracks while a subtle thread of wry humour finds its way into some of the talking heads cutting through the signature LEA murk.
But honesty is the operative word here, and the message feels all the more meaningful at a time when the UK’s social divisions are laid bare in the wake of a devastating stretch of austerity. Returning to Blackbird Leys to shoot images for the photo-zine and album cover, the Activist found the local community centre being demolished. The local pub stands derelict, its faded Welcome sign a grimly ironic portent of the options facing children of the estate in the wider world.
Funnelling his memories, hopes and fears into a singular twist on the bass weight tradition, LEA captures evocative scenes that land somewhere between kitchen sink realism and rave futurism.




















