Cerca:blow

The funky, atmospheric, evocative and sometimes downright weird output of companies such as DeWolfe, Cavendish, Burton and the ubiquitous KPM have always been a guiding inspiration for ATA Records, as evidenced in the spooky soundtrack works of The Sorcerers, the big band brass of The Yorkshire Film & Television Orchestra and even in the soul-jazz of The Lewis Express ('Theme From The Watcher).

Everything released on ATA is written and guided by the label heads Neil Innes and Pete Williams, who frequently dip their toes in the Library pond while working on other projects. These occasional one-off tracks have accumulated over the past few years and have now found a home on the first volume of an ongoing series : The Library Archive

Recorded using the same techniques and equipment used to create the now legendary catalogues of music sold to the film and television industry of the 60's & 70's, The Library Archive could easily sit alongside the plain minimalist covers of KPM or Telesound.

The fierce Brass of 'Whack, Slap & Blow' and 'Kaye Okay' could both be a Keith Mansfield cut, acting as a theme tune to a glamorous saturday night tv show circa 1972. 'Duck Strut' is a cheeky slice of Bass driven Brit-funk, Muted horns and flute adding an element of Quincy Jones amongst the grooving drums and percussion. 'The Needle Nose', 'Midnight Heist' and 'Wiretap' are amongst the more cinematic tracks on the album. Moody and atmospheric, they conjure up images of dark alleys, shadowy figures and dead letter drops. 'Wigged out' channels the wonky organ weirdness of Italian library legends I Marc 4 while 'Nuclear Wind I & II' use Moog and Mellotron as electronic counterpoint to ethereal voices. 'Siren's sea's' acoustic interlude conjures up images of distant clifftops, gossamer vocals enticing you onto the rocks before album closer 'Planet Nine' traverses the cosmos.

BLACK SWAN Return with Third Album “Paralyzed” — A Masterclass in Melodic Hard Rock Robin McAuley (McAuley Schenker Group), Reb Beach (Winger, Whitesnake), Jeff Pilson (Foreigner, The End Machine, ex-Dokken), and Matt Starr (Ace Frehley, Mr. Big) — collectively known as BLACK SWAN — are back with their explosive third album, Paralyzed. Following the critical acclaim of their previous releases, the supergroup once again delivers a powerful statement in modern hard rock. With all songs written and composed by McAuley, Pilson, and Beach, and expertly produced by Pilson, Paralyzed showcases Black Swan at their peak performance — offering a dynamic mix of towering vocals, razor-sharp riffs, and hook-laden melodies. The band’s chemistry continues to shine, elevating their songwriting and musical delivery to new heights.

Tracked at Pilson’s Los Angeles studio, the album reflects the tight-knit synergy among its members. McAuley’s commanding vocals remain as ageless, while the instrumentalists deliver with precision and fire. Much like its predecessors, the new record is a testament to the individual and collective talents of these seasoned musicians. Far from being a patchwork of their previous bands, BLACK SWAN has firmly carved out its own identity. Paralyzed is fresh, heavy, and melodically rich — a cohesive and compelling album that feels both classic and contemporary. Building upon the blueprint laid by their debut, Shake the World, the band expands their sonic universe. The result is a record that not only meets but surpasses expectations, cementing BLACK SWAN as a formidable force in the modern hard rock scene. Whether you’ve followed these legendary musicians since the heyday of '80s rock or you’re just now discovering their magic, Paralyzed is essential listening — a masterclass in melodic hard rock delivered by artists who continue to defy time and expectations.

London-based producer Tar Blanche, also known as a member of the dreampop band Yumi Zouma, unveils How to Dance Freely Without Social Anxiety, a 7-track journey through jazz-house, deep house, and chill-out lounge.
With a sound that resonates alongside artists like dublon, Table, and Berlioz, the English producer blends ambient textures, refined guitar riffs, and emotive productions, crafting an intimate yet hypnotic atmosphere. Signed to Délicieuse Records, Tar Blanche continues to push boundaries, cementing his place as one of the most exciting producers in modern electronic music.

Bellbird hat seinen Namen und seine musikalische Inspiration von dem Vogel, der für einen der lautesten und markantesten Rufe im Tierreich bekannt ist. Die Band beschäftigt sich mit Themen wie der Verbundenheit zwischen Musikern, Genres und der Natur. Ihr zweites Album und erstes für Constellation, The Call, ist direkt vom Weißglockenvogel inspiriert, dessen extremer, unverwechselbarer Ruf analysiert und direkt in den explosiv schönen Titeltrack des Albums eingewoben wurde. Das in Montréal ansässige Quartett bestehend aus Claire Devlin (Tenorsaxophon), Allison Burik (Altsaxophon, Bassklarinette), Eli Davidovici (Bass) und Mili Hong (Schlagzeug) begann während der Pandemie bei Park-Jams zusammen zu spielen, inspiriert von der Jazz- und Free-Improvisationsszene, die sich um das Café Résonance gebildet hatte. Aber die vier Montrealer Neuzuzügler fanden erst nach einer Einladung zum Ottawa Jazz Festival 2021 als Bellbird zusammen und haben seitdem ihre Harmonie und ihren gemeinsamen Sound durch jahrelanges Touren und Zusammenspiel verfeinert. Das Quartett geht über sein gefeiertes, 2023 selbst veröffentlichtes Debütalbum ,Root in Tandem" hinaus und setzt auf einen stark kollaborativen Kompositionsprozess. Nachdem sie zuvor die Kompositionsaufgaben aufgeteilt hatten, entstanden die acht Songs auf The Call aus musikalischen Workshops und Improvisationsspielen, wobei sie sich auf Gedichte und Gespräche stützten, die sie während ihrer Aufenthalte außerhalb der Stadt ausgetauscht hatten. Das Ergebnis ist ein kraftvolles, stimmiges Statement, das ihre jazzzentrierte Instrumentierung mit Einflüssen aus Rock, Fusion und Folk verbindet, von Mingus und Eric Dolphy bis hin zu Ornette Colemans Prime Time und Indie-Rock. Ein wesentliches Merkmal ihres Sounds ist, wie sie die üblichen Rollen ihrer Instrumente umkehren, wobei die Blasinstrumente rhythmische Muster und unterstützende Texturen einsetzen, während Akustikbass und Schlagzeug die Form bestimmen. Dieser Ansatz ist ein Mikrokosmos der egalitären Ethik der Band: Sie agieren als echtes Kollektiv, ohne ihre individuellen Stimmen zu opfern. Das Album schafft einen Ausgleich zwischen kraftvollen Kompositionen wie dem Titelsong ,The Call" und Momenten, in denen die Band das Tempo drosselt, um sich der thematischen Einfachheit hinzugeben, wie in ,Soft Animal" und ,Phthalo Green". Im Gegensatz zu ihrem Debütalbum, das in der Stadt erarbeitet, aber auf dem Land aufgenommen wurde, wurde ,The Call" im legendären Hotel2Tango in Montréal von der Toningenieurin Sylvaine Arnaud aufgenommen, die die rohe Energie der Live-Auftritte der Band einfängt. Die Produktion verzichtet weitgehend auf eine traditionelle Ästhetik und setzt stattdessen auf kraftvolle Drums und einfallsreiche analoge Bearbeitung, die die viszerale Wirkung der Musik unterstreichen. Obwohl die Musik oft melodisch reichhaltig und zugänglich ist, scheut sich die Band auch nicht vor ,hässlichen" Klängen und nutzt Multiphonics, gestrichenen Bass und metallische Texturen, um eine Klangpalette zu schaffen, die ebenso eindringlich und naturalistisch wie explosiv ist. Das Album ist sozial und politisch engagiert und ein Beweis für die tiefgründige Musik, die nicht von einem einzelnen Leader, sondern von einem zutiefst einfühlsamen Quartett geschaffen wurde, das als Einheit zuhört, reagiert und kreiert. The Call vermittelt die Gefühle der Band zur Klimakrise und zur globalen Solidarität, wobei einer der zentralen Titel des Albums, ,Blowing on Embers", ausdrücklich einem freien Palästina gewidmet ist. The Call ist ein entscheidender Schritt nach vorne, ein einheitlicher Aufschrei einer Band, die ihre kraftvolle kollektive Stimme voll und ganz gefunden hat.

Ski Mask The Slump God is a vaunted underground rap legend and pioneer in the Soundcloud Rap era
The Lost Files is a collection of songs from the soundcloud era, some unreleased, some never on streaming before.
Includes rarely heard features from XXXTentacion
Recently released “Catch Me Outside 2,” the followup track to his iconic “Catch Me Outside” track - with the single and video going viral
Over 8.5M streams on Spotify alone since release
Recently performed Sold-Out hometown concert celebrating release of The Lost Files. The show sold out in 4 minutes

Loaded with tension and anchored by bold textural and stylistic contrasts, Sam Slater’s third solo full-length finds the British sound artist, composer, and engineer grappling with his creative contradictions head-on.

Having spent a life time in bands and producing records, Sam transitioned somewhat by accident through his work with Johan Johansson into working as a composer on high profile projects such as his collaboration with Hildur Guðnadóttir on the Grammy Award-winning Joker and Chernobyl, and with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov on the soundtrack to the lauded 2000 Meters to Andriivka. Having a vast set of interests and influences is an asset when helping realise a directors vision for a soundtrack, but one's own musical voice can end up being constrained. In Lunng, Slater has gone back to his wildly divergent range of influences and rather than shy away from the extremes, he's used them to create a singular vision.

Take the opening track “Heatsick”: Slater imagines an extravagant fusion of 2000s drone metal and vintage British brass, welding ear-splitting overdriven drones and blown-out choral vocals to stirring trombone swells from veteran player Hilary Jeffery. On paper, it’s hard to imagine—but Slater’s intentionality conducts these polarizing elements into a surreal blur of sonic extremes, with the guitars’ relative harshness softened by Jeffery’s eerily nostalgic colliery echoes.

His last solo album, I do not wish to be known as a Vandal (Bedroom Community, 2022), showcased this breadth by assembling a team of collaborators including Sam Dunscombe and Yair Elazar Glotman. On this record he’s linking up with acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Maria W. Horn, idiosyncratic sax virtuoso Bendik Giske, versatile percussionist Adam Betts, and the aforementioned Jeffery, Slater ushers these players toward a lattice of calculated confutations.

Working to explore the tension between the divergent practices of his collaborators—Lunng was meant to be challenging. On “Praya”, Giske’s familiar overblown horn phrases are almost vaporized, vanishing among Slater’s weightless synths and Horn’s chillingly hoarse vocals. There are traces of Horn’s Funeral Folk project, but Slater shifts the emphasis, letting her voice brush past the other elements like a hallucination.

Slater’s use of extremes isn’t just in the micro; dynamics drive the album’s overall flow. “Praya” sets the stage for the record’s heaviest, most prickly moment: “Passengers”. Here, Horn’s voice cracks, rasps, and gurgles over serrated synths and Betts’ ritualistic drums. Slater turns an industrial symphony into a folk opera—dark, dramatic, and strangely beautiful—etched with Giske’s fluttering phrases.

But the mood soon shifts. Slater careens toward chaos, unleashing double-time rhythms and piercing textures familiar to anyone with a soft spot for classic black metal. These grotesque incongruities are deliberate; Slater surveys years of musical conflict and leans in, using dissent as fuel to build kinetic energy.

The weight of sentimentality bears down on “Black Metal Rewind (Night Drive Astra, 2006)”, melting teenage memories into hypnagogic ambience—shoegaze dreams whirled with angelic choral delusions. On “Death by Nostalgia, 1688”, he ventures further into polarizing territory, distorting AutoTuned voices with cryptic strings and medieval tonalities, unsettling any stable sense of past or present.

In this record Slater focuses on pure energy, color, and mood. Lunng distills years of listening into a bracing brew—boiling each sound down to its essence, then serving it with unflinching intent.

John Twells, 2025

Ace’s small but ever-evolving “Black America Sings…” series has been quiet of late, but it springs back into action this month with the 2-LP and CD releases of “Highway Of Diamonds” – a second dip onto the catalogue of Bob Dylan, as reimagined by some of the foremost African-American artists of the 20th century.

From almost the start of his songwriting career, Dylan’s words and music have impacted on black American music, with ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, speaking to an America that was still mostly segregated and becoming an anthem for all colours and creeds. As Dylan’s own career progressed, so did the number of covers he received, with a significant amount coming from what might be termed ‘non-traditional’ sources such as those heard here.

The 20 songs on “Highway Of Diamonds” continue the story that was told in part on the earlier “How Many Roads” compilation, with an almost entirely different selection of artists lending their voices to some of the best songwriting of the 20th century, and an almost entirely different selection of songs (with the exception of ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ itself, which provides a common thread linking the story told across the two sets).
Big names from the worlds of soul, gospel and jazz, timeless songs and, for many, new ways of appreciating ever-durable material make “Highway Of Diamonds” as essential a purchase as its predecessor.

As ever, the great audio is complemented by a handsomely illustrated package on both CD and double vinyl, with a plethora of illustrations and in depth song-by-song-and-track-by-track annotation by Ace legend Tony Rounce.

Forked tongue stuffed deep in their cheek and rubber baby masks stretched over their heads, Ty & the Muggers bottle the free spirits of the Emotional Mugger tour, then heave them into the audience on this stomping BBC performance from 2016. Gloriously guttural and blown-out sonics support Ty"s all-to-the-wall vocal performances on every song. "LIVE" "AT" "THE" "BBC" puts the "sick" back into "satiric" and the "the fuh!?!" back into "FUN!". One side has all the music, the other side"s got a rendering of the babyman mask that"s haunted so many punters over long nights of the soul since then.

Originally released in 1994, GVSB’s second full-length release for Touch and Go Records, Cruise Yourself, is characterized by catch vocal lines wrapped in a sonic double-bass low end. Guitars filter in and out of songs driven by heavy powerhouse groove drumming. There is noise, there is melody. “Tucked In” churns, “Kill the Sexplayer” pounds relentlessly, “(I) Don’t Got A Place” glides, and “Psychic Know-How” blows your head off… but you regain it immediately in the ominous groove of “Explicitly Yours.”

Originally released in 1994, GVSB’s second full-length release for Touch and Go Records, Cruise Yourself, is characterized by catch vocal lines wrapped in a sonic double-bass low end. Guitars filter in and out of songs driven by heavy powerhouse groove drumming. There is noise, there is melody. “Tucked In” churns, “Kill the Sexplayer” pounds relentlessly, “(I) Don’t Got A Place” glides, and “Psychic Know-How” blows your head off… but you regain it immediately in the ominous groove of “Explicitly Yours.”

Repress!

Undoubtedly one of the most addictive records of 2017, CamelPhat & Elderbrook's 'Cola' has been a defining musical moment of the year. Growing exponentially since its release, the track has captivated tastemakers, DJs and clubbers alike, topping charts and blowing up worldwide to become a true modern anthem. Leading on from the success of the original and some heavyweight remixes, three of which hit the Beatport top ten - for the first time on vinyl, comes a remix package set to continue 'Cola's' dance floor domination.
Rising superstar Franky Rizardo's suitably heavyweight remix comes correct with a club-friendly update that elevates the unmissable vocal hook and bottoms out the breakdown. Dario D'Attis' vinyl exclusive mix continues the club feel with rolling grooves, teasing breakdowns and shuffling hi-hats in a remix which packs a punch, guaranteed to get people moving from the get-go. Mousse T. flips the track completely, bringing those Glitterbox vibes to Defected, taking 'Cola' to the next level and going straight to Traxsource #1 in the process.

Originally released in 1999. A very hard to find piece now re-issued for the first time with a respectful remaster.

Berlin native T.H. Reingold (aka Tom Clark) has been an integral part of the scene there for for over 25 years - establishing Gold Plate and Highgrade Records along the way. Together on this E.P. with former Tresor resident Mad Max, the much sought after 'Sophisticated EP' is a heady blend of old school house, techno and loopy disco chops. Foundation music - part of the eclectic soup that became known as the Berlin club sound.

Melodies International’s next record features a previously unreleased collaboration between the Ariwa camp (Mad Professor’s label and studio) and rising UK R&B artist Abel Miller — a Lovers Rock cover of the classic 1960s Philadelphia soul track “Everytime I See My Baby” by The Delfonics.

A few years ago, Mad Professor teamed up with frequent collaborator and multi-instrumentalist virtuoso Black Steel — who regularly records bass, guitar, keys, and vocals for Ariwa Studios (“he can play anything” Mad Professor tells us) — to record a series of Lovers Rock covers of songs by The Delfonics. Mad Professor’s love for 60s and 70s US soul is no secret and shines through much of his production, but he realised he had never heard this particular song, originally written by Thom Bell and William Hart. For the session, they brought in Ashanti Selah on keys and Horseman on drums, with Abel Miller delivering the lead vocals. Mad Professor and his son Joe Ariwa recorded and produced the track.

Since their first reissue project with Mad Professor a few years back (Ariwa Sounds: The Early Sessions LP), he has occasionally performed with the Melodies crew — most recently on Floating Points’ Sunflower Soundsystem this past summer. At their Osaka gig a couple of years ago, he closed the show with this track, immediately blowing everyone’s minds. When asked what it was, he told the team that Melodies could release it!

The 7” single will be available in November, featuring the original studio version on one side and the live dub version Mad Professor performed in Japan on the flip (vinyl exclusive). Mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, with printed sleeve artwork by Nevil Bernard.

Leave it to Langhorne Slim - a pioneer of raw, rule-breaking Americana for more than two decades - to reach far beyond the genre he helped inspire.

The Dreamin' Kind finds the Nashville transplant strapping on an electric guitar and embracing his longtime love of larger-than-life rock & roll. With it's chugging power chords, 1970s-sized riffs, and richly layered arrangements, The Dreamin' Kind is fueled not only by sheer amplification, but by the soul-baring songwriting that's become Slim's calling card, too. Tucked between those anthems are acoustic-driven songs that skirt the outer orbits of folk music, from the bare-boned heartbreak of ''Stealin' Time'' to the organic, orchestral sweep of ''Dance On Thru.'' The result is the more explorative and expansive album of Slim's career: a record made for rock clubs, campfires, and garages alike, produced by Greta Van Fleet's Sam Kiszka, and anchored by a lifelong desire to break down new walls.

''It felt like I was blowing some old shit up so I could plant some new flowers,'' Slim says of the creation process. ''I love acoustic music. I love folk music. But those aren't my only loves. Rock & roll has always tickled the same place in my soul as great singer-songwriter music, and I wanted to explore those influences. Raw songs that make you feel something: that's the stuff I'm after.''

ugne&maria is a collaboration between Marija Rasa Kudabaite and Ugnė Vyliaudaite, both residing in Belgium. Their musical style is characterised by a multilayered, down-tempo, yet danceable approach, incorporating violin, synthesizers and sampling techniques.

We were completely blown away by the duo’s live performance at Meakusma Festival in August 2024. It was one of those rare moments when time seemed to stand still: the music, the atmosphere and the audience merged into a single warm, smooth and radiant aura of positive energy and vibes. This experience made us want to share such exceptional talent on Hands in the Dark and we are over the moon to announce the release of ugne&maria’s new album ‘Zotasphere’, dropping on 16th January 2026.

The 8 songs featured on the record came together slowly, bit by bit. Diary-like, each track reflects on different moments and life events that have followed ugne&maria over the past couple of years. Layers of sound and layers of memory are interlaced into the album, an embodiment of all that feels distant, yet still present. Most of the tracks move around a steady, unhurried pulse, never faster than 120 bpm. Some tracks even ended up being intentionally slowed down, as if the music itself wished to breathe more, mirroring life’s natural pace, with elements stretching, shifting and decelerating. Focused on bass and rhythm, influenced by the depth and warmth of classic house and low-end music, ugne&maria let the sounds drift elsewhere. The violin became a voice, the voice became a texture.

A meditative, folk-inflected score rooted in improvisation, ‘Dragon’s return’ echoes the soul of A film long buried behind the Iron Curtain



With Dragon’s Return, Australian composer and multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi and Norwegian guitarist Fredrik Rasten present a new, meditative score to Eduard Grecner’s eponymous 1967 Slovak cult film — a stark, black-and-white parable.



The album captures a unique live performance recorded at the Videodroom Festival during Film Fest Ghent in October 2024, where this new score premiered alongside the film in collaboration with the Slovak Film Institute. What began as a fleeting, improvisational encounter between music and image has since taken on a life of its own — an evocative sound world that retains its power even in the absence of visuals.



The album will be available on vinyl and all digital platforms from September 12 via VIERNULVIER Records. The vinyl edition includes an obi strip, a booklet with film stills, and extensive liner notes on the film.



The label is known for shedding new light on forgotten films through reimagined soundtracks — claire rousay’s acclaimed The Bloody Lady being the most recent example.


“Folklore meets avant-garde in an ancient drama - a ballad about love, hate and finding a way out of loneliness” - Rastislav Steranka (Slovak Film Institute)



Ambarchi and Rasten do not accompany the images so much as speak through them. Their interplay — on guitars, flutes, percussion, and voice — unfolds slowly, without a fixed destination, culminating in subtle, entrancing drones. With few breaks or ruptures, this trippy, folk-inflected continuous composition invites surrender.



Rasten’s 12-string guitar and delicate use of voice create layered textures that shimmer and shift. Ambarchi, known for his electro-acoustic work, here explores a radically softer mode — strumming, bowing and coaxing tones from his instrument as though it were a string section unto itself. He blows into shells, adding breath and texture to the sonic palette, touching on something elemental.


Together, they evoke a sound world that feels both ritualistic and strangely familiar — as if echoing from a forgotten ceremony or dreamed into being after hearing an old folk tale. Rooted in improvisation, the music speaks in tones both intimate and expansive, shaped live in dialogue with the film and with each other, with only minimal overdubs added afterward.

The eighteenth studio album from Rush, originally released in 2007. Features the Grammy-nominated track Malignant Narcissism.

The capstone of Miles Davis’ electric period, Agharta reigns as a funk-rock fireball — a blazing comet streaked energy and elan, a fearless organism feasting on adventure and freedom, a seven-headed Godzilla stomping its way through Osaka, Japan. Recorded on February 1, 1975 at Osaka Festival Hall at the first of a two-show stand, the double album offers an endless abundance of surprises and shifts — as well as a road-proven ensemble whose chemistry and abilities equal that of any of Davis’ celebrated bands. If the true measure of jazz is the capacity to adapt to the moment and challenge perception, Agharta is consummate.

Sourced from the original master tapes, housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 33RPM 2LP set of this epic live release presents it in audiophile sound on a domestic pressing for the first time. Offering greater degrees of separation, detail, and richness than the compressed CD editions and more clarity, openness, and presence than older vinyl copies, this version of the 1975 release helps bring the concert stage to your home. Just make sure your turntable and speakers are up to the challenge of Davis and Co.’s explosive performances — and producing the decibels they demand.

Teeming with vibrant colors, tones, and pace, Mobile Fidelity’s reissue captures the hear-it-to-believe-it flow, sweep, and moodiness of the music. Though the group honors looseness and freedom with religious verve, the specificity and scale rendered by this remaster allows you to detect methods behind the alleged madness that are often otherwise harder to discern. This insight extends to the understated changes in volume, harmonics, and phrasings. In many ways, you can listen as Davis himself did that early February evening as he helped coordinate the overall direction and decided on whether to blow his wah-wah-wired trumpet or take a turn on the organ.

Tellingly, Agharta would likely never have been made if not for Davis’ ventures overseas and, specifically, to the Land of the Rising Sun. Having for years faced a backlash on his native soil for his choices to experiment and blow past all known borders, Davis was welcomed with open arms in Japan. The concert documented on Agharta — as well as the day’s later show, captured on the equally exciting Pangea — stemmed from a sold-out three-week tour that would ultimately mark Davis’ final public appearances for years, as he soon settled into semi-retirement and nursed the wounds connected to an unprecedented stretch of restless and relentless output.

For all the band-fueled merit of Agharta — and there’s plenty, given the cast of saxophonist Sonny Fortune, bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Al Foster, percussionist James Mtume, and guitarists Reggie Lucas and Pete Cosey seemingly blasts off to outer space and travels distant galaxies by the time this minimally edited record runs its course — Davis’ own playing often remains overlooked. As critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton observed, it is “often fantastically subtle, creating surges and ebbs in a harmonically static line, allowing him to build huge melismatic variations on a single note.” He attacks like a man on a mission, out to prove naysayers wrong and bent on trailblazing another new path forward. Convention and skeptics be damned.

Noisy and furious, dark and discordant, abstract and off-balance, radical and intense, abrasive and atmospheric, strangely beautiful and hypnotically eccentric: Agharta evades simple description, and refuses to be pinned down in any established category — rock, jazz, punk, ambient, prog, avante-garde, or otherwise. Shot through with trench-deep grooves, screaming riffs, scalding solos, and free-improv leads, its cosmic thrust comes on as the equivalent of an animated pointillist painting comprised of millions of textured dots, dashes, and dabs that hold your attention so raptly you want to revisit the ideas again and again.

Always steps ahead of everyone else, Davis knew what he was doing even when Agharta debuted in Japan before later hitting U.S. markets. Though “Maiysha” and “Theme from Jack Johnson” are identified in the track listing, the record contains a number of uncredited references to other Davis works, including a nod to “So What.” This decision to bypass labels only adds to the art of the reveal — the rare black magic in which Agharta expertly deals.

CHILD OF PANOPTES channels the psychedelic spirit of the late '60s and early '70s, blending British freakbeat, popsike, and American garage-psych rock Following their stunning debut album "Child of Panoptes" and their first 7" single "Walk With Me", their brand-new release "Down" offers two dark psychedelic tracks wrapped in a brilliant and truly "eye-catching" cover design. The title track "Down" features the legendary Frank Durban (LES PLAYBOYS) on bass guitar and French drummer Daniel Aprosio. This rockin' tune is infused with cool vocals, a wild Hammond organ, and a trippy vibe. The B- side, "Magic Mirror" , pays homage to APHRODITE'S CHILD, with instrumental orchestration performed by LE CHIFFRE ORGAN- IZATION, including drummer Alexandre Besson's effortlessly cool vocals. CHILD OF PANOPTES delivers a perfect blend of late '60s psychedelia and jazzy, Hammond-driven '60s garage rock, all with a modern twist that is sure to blow your mind!

The scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist James Yorkston and the english guitarist with a fluid fingerpicking touch, David A. Jaycock, already played together in the first formation of the experimental folk ensemble Big Eyes Family Players. Their encounter with Swedish saxophonist Lina Langendorf gives rise to a little gem of pure acoustic candour, perfectly balanced between chamber avant-garde and neo-folk. As on an endless autumn evening in front of a lake in Finland or Estonia, the trio's nordic soul creates atmospheres that recall hidden nostalgia. In a process of rarefied sound matter, elegiac paintings spring up, moments that flow slowly and silently in a tension that is always suspended and unresolved. Soft, crepuscular passages, at times sharp and cold guitar, but also the velvety breath of the nickelharpa, combine with a saxophone that still blows dramas of distant Norwegian fjords, but can also become more Mediterranean and arabesque. The music becomes like a warm warmth around the fire, reflecting a hidden twilight zone of the soul, in a quiet, gentle whisper between poetic abstraction and arpeggiated themes of more recognisable narrative melody, typical of a certain Northern folklore.
Co-Release with We are busy bodies.

The song titles on Van Halen's aptly titled Fair Warning don't lie. The likes of "Unchained," "Mean Street," "Push Comes to Shove," "One Foot Out the Door," and more indicate the mood the band channels on its double-platinum 1981 record — the nastiest, darkest, and fiercest album of the group's storied career. For the fourth time in four years, Van Halen throws down the gauntlet to all challengers and emerges victorious.


Sourced from the original analog tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl at Fidelity Record Pressing, and strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set plays with unfettered clarity, dynamics, and immediacy. Benefitting from superb groove definition, an ultra-low noise floor, and dead-quiet surfaces, this vinyl edition captures what went down in the studio with tremendous realism and involving presence.

Taking a more controlled approach in the studio and still completing everything in less than two weeks, Van Halen and producer Ted Templeman relied on studio amplifiers to direct the sound. Further diverging from the live-on-the-floor approach of its earlier albums, the ensemble also employed overdubs to great effect. The result: Dense, stacked architecture that underlines the hard-hitting tenor of the songs — and which comes alive like never before on this reference edition that looks as good as it sounds.

The premium packaging and gorgeous presentation befit the reissue's select status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. Aurally and visually, it is made for listeners who want to immerse themselves in everything involved with the album, including the iconic cover art adopted from William Kurelek's haunting painting, "The Maze."

Isolated frames from Kurelek's childhood-inspired work — including a man bashing his head into a brick wall, a guy pinning down an adversary as he delivers bare-fist blows to his face and others watch with apparent glee, a boy tied down on a conveyer belt and being sent through the equivalent of a meat saw — adorn the front and back covers. The sunnier visual disposition of Van Halen's prior efforts gives way to something sinister and tortured, traits reflective of the music within. The band members, too, are visually depicted not in glamorous shots but in a serious black-and-white portrait in which the quartet is clad in black leather jackets.

Tough, aggressive, stark: Fair Warning comes on like a series of bare-knuckled punches to the solar plexus and boasts lyrical narratives to match. Though not a concept record, the concise album revolves around themes of roughing it on the streets and struggling to survive amid dim prospects. Singer David Lee Roth reportedly penned many of the initial lyrics after traveling to Haiti and observing extreme poverty. The characters and situations populating Fair Warning reflect hardscrabble existence, last-chance desperation, and underlying danger.

Witness the crazies, poor folks, and hunters of “Mean Street”; the former prom queen turned pornographic actress on “Dirty Movies”; the menace and vice of “Sinners Swing!”; the streetwise hustle of “Unchained”; the isolation and alienation of “Push Comes to Shove”; the desire for escape on “One Foot Out the Door”: A carefree California beach party Fair Warning is not.

Having said he felt angry and frustrated during the sessions, guitarist Eddie Van Halen uses the forceful arrangements as a playground for his seemingly unlimited arsenal. Supported by a crack rhythm section and a hyped-up Roth, he performs with an almost impossible combination of punk-like intensity, technical finesse, lyrical fluidity, and unbridled emotion. The virtuoso was increasingly butting heads with Templeton and seeking a freedom in the studio he believed denied him.

No wonder he plays like a bat out of hell. Listen to the rapid-fire manner in which he slaps the high and low E strings on the 12th fret of his instrument on “Mean Street,” instilling the tune with funk flair and metal-spiked sharpness. For the pouty strut of “Dirty Movies,” Eddie Van Halen contributes slide guitar magic made possible after he sawed off the lower portion of a Gibson SG so he could reach further down the fretboard.

Related intensity, urgency, and daredevil momentum punctuate the surging “Sinner’s Swing!” A heavily flanged, delicately melodic introduction frames the attitudinal “Hear About It Later,” among the most creative arrangements of Van Halen’s career. And do riffs come any bigger or magnetic than those on the high-wire kick of “Unchained”? As for the out-of-left-field “Sunday in the Park,” an instrumental composed on an Electro-Harmonix micro-synthesizer: Who but Eddie Van Halen to supply creep factor in such an ingenious way?

Despite selling fewer quantities than Van Halen’s prior efforts, Fair Warning remains for many diehards the record that epitomizes all of the band’s immense strengths —Roth’s manic energy and tongue-wagging humor, Alex Van Halen’s rhythmic heartbeat-in-your-chest bombast, and Michael Anthony’s lucid bass lines included. Arriving when the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and new-wave movements were taking flight, it signaled a shot across the bow from a band determined to stay a step ahead and provide proof nobody could touch what it delivered.

More than four decades later, Fair Warning still sounds that alarm.

The tapes for “Ronnie McNeir Makes A Move” were found in Mickey Stevenson’s extensive master tape collection. A full new LP of classic McNeir is an absolute treat for his many soul fans; particularly in Europe where he is so admired.
Ronnie recorded over twenty tracks with Mickey Stevenson’s production company in 1971. Eleven of these were featured on his RCA LP “Ronnie McNeir”, but another ten were left in the vaults.

The title track, ‘Let’s Make A Move’ is an urgent, exciting funk sound, composed with Ronnie’s frequent writing partner, Andre Moore. ‘I’m Sorry’ is an earlier version of ‘Gone Away’ which featured on the 1972 RCA “Ronnie McNeir” LP, without the female singer’s vocal response track.
‘Say You’ is the Motown song first recorded by the Monitors in 1965. It has a more laid-back treatment here, giving it a whole new dimension. We issued the single version on a Kent Select 45 in 2022; both versions are featured on the CD. Another re-envisaged Motown number is ‘The Girl’s Alright With Me’ which features Hodges, James, Smith & Crawford’s backing vocals − as do other tracks on this album. Surprisingly, Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowing In The Wind’ is also covered; in a pleasing, jaunty treatment.

‘My Day Will Come’ is a slow-burning number Ronnie co-wrote with his wife Mona. It is one he is particularly proud of and has been picked up by modern soul DJs as a potential crossover hit. ‘Tell Your Mama’ is a sensuous, Marvin Gaye-influenced groove, while ‘East Side, West Side’ is more streetwise, dealing with the social problems that face many young people.

As a multi-instrumentalist, heavily influenced by jazz, it comes as no surprise that Ronnie would record two jazz / soul instrumental jams which he simply named ‘Ronnie’s Bag #1’ and ‘Ronnie’s Bag #2’. The tracks are keyboard-lead, piano and possibly organ – or more likely one of the early synthesisers that Ronnie pioneered. ‘Ronnie’s Bag #1’ is more jazz-oriented, while ‘Ronnie’s Bag #2’ goes funky.

An earth-moving night in Chicago, 30 crazy years ago, caught HOT on tape and finally unleashed! Teengenerate were a force to be reckoned with in the ‘90s garage punk underground and with their string of classic singles and LPs, the Midwest was just STARVED for these heathens to break our minds wide open. And they did, and some of us were just “never the same.” Is this how Hozac started? YES, this was THE SEED. Just an awe-inspiring brute force of punk purity, slashing through incredible covers of THE KIDS, PAGANS, and FUN THINGS and sowing the seeds of obscure punk obsessions to no end with their savage treasure map of sick sounds.

The heat, the power, the rage and the euphoria, it just doesn’t always align like it did when Fink & Fifi took the stage. Sure enough, it was on THIS DAY 30 years ago that our minds were blown apart and our eyes were opened and a life-changing rock’n roll performance that commemorates the 50th release on the Hozac Archival subsidiary. Secretly recorded by Ken White, the Brides’ right hand man, and mastered by TIM WARREN of Crypt Records for maximum authenticity, Live at the Empty Bottle just explodes out of the grooves and will level anyone within earshot, just like it did when Teengenerate desecrated Chicago TWICE on the same night (check out their VML Live at the Fireside Bowl 7″ too!), exactly 30 years ago TODAY!

Als Johnny Griffn im April 1957 mit Hank Mobley und John Coltrane sein zweites Album für das Label
Blue Note aufnahm, standen die drei Tenorsax-Giganten allesamt noch am Anfang ihrer Solokarriere. Das
Album, das zunächst den trockenen Titel “Johnny Griffn, Vol. 2” trug, bevor es unter dem treffenderen
Titel “A Blowing Session” neu aufgelegt wurde, ist laut AllMusic “eine der besten Hard-Bop-Jamsessions,
die je aufgenommen wurden”.

LIMITED 300 ONLY TRANSPARENT SKY BLUE LP. HOUSED IN FULL COLOUR SLEEVE WITH POLYLINED INNER BAG & DOWNLOAD CODE
Two fields of existence collide as Nolla (Finnish psych/space rockers) & Mike Vest (Maximalist guitar guru, Bong, Blown Out, Drunk In Hell, Artifacts & Uranium, Modoki, Tomoyuki Trio, Mienakunaru etc) merge their creative visions for the third time.

Creating a steady and surreal exploration through astral planes. Nolla improvised the ground layer in their signature minimal space-rock style and MikeV wrapped everything up in lavish layers of fuzz, phased and U-Wah layered guitars.
Blending octaval tones, around an array of electronics & vocal harmonies. Resulting in a constant trance like psychedelic drone rock.
It's time to join the extraterrestrial communion, beyond the skies, convert into the mode of light and pay homage to his mighty eminence.

2LP 140g col vinyl


»High Times – Singles 1992–2006« erschien 2006, erreichte Platz 1 der Charts und wurde mit Dreifach-Platin ausgezeichnet. Die Tour Edition 2025 erscheint als stahlfarbenes Doppel-Vinyl mit Kunstdruck, Booklet und einem von fünf zufällig beigelegten Sammler-Laminaten mit dem Buffalo-Man-Icon.

Das Album umfasst 20 Songs, darunter den Nummer-1-Hit »Deeper Underground«, sieben weitere Top-10-Titel wie »Virtual Insanity«, »Cosmic Girl« und »Canned Heat« sowie weitere bekannte Singles wie »Seven Days in Sunny June« und »Space Cowboy« viele davon feste Bestandteile der aktuellen Live-Shows.

He cast off his old skin, fundamentally altering his studies, homeland, and life, thereby charting a new future. Recorded at Sound on Sound Studios in Montclair, New Jersey, in January, 2024, 'Ancestral' was influenced, in part, by O'Gallagher's PhD studies into the music of John Coltrane, and reunites the versatile reeds player with guitarist Ben Monder while, notably, features the first-ever recorded collaboration between master drummers Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart. "Basically, my PhD (available on O'Gallagher's website) is an analysis where I transcribed all of Trane's solos, spelling out what he does on his late recordings 'Interstellar Space' and 'Stellar Regions'. And it shows that free music is not free, not the way people think it is.

Trane was definitely thinking about organization in those records. This research definitely gave me ideas about how to be freer within the systems that I had developed, and how to perceive them in a more organic way." O'Gallagher's latest recording marks a significant artistic evolution, following a period of considerable personal change. After leaving Brooklyn, New York, he and his wife relocated to the UK before ultimately settling in Lisbon, Portugal. This journey, coupled with dedicated study, profoundly shaped his new music. O'Gallagher, Monder, Cyrille, Hart, and Coltrane: a potent brew. In an album consisting largely of first takes, O'Gallagher's compositions vary from through- composed pieces to skeletal charts to full- blown group compositions/ improvisations.

Drawing from her constant searching for her own unique sound she filters her love of rhythm and groove through her Nordic sensibility to create an accessible, compelling blend of excitement and introspection. Growing up on the island of Saaremaa in her native Estonia, Britta Virves was a keen piano student playing a strictly classical repertoire. A chance encounter introduced her to jazz: "I wanted to learn guitar. So I went to my teacher Tit Paulus, and he told me to stay with piano, and introduced me to Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans - my mind was blown - a new world opened up." Britta immersed herself in the music and her talent soon attracted attention.

Moving to Sweden to further her studies, she was soon touring Europe with the acclaimed Norrbotten Big Band, under the direction of Joakim Milder, working closely with featured guest vocalist Genevieve Artadi and accompanying Artadi on a duo tour opening for Louis Cole. Each tune on the album draws inspiration from an aspect of Britta's own life. "Simple Things" has the directness of a pop song married to the depth of jazz, as Genevieve Artadi's ethereal vocals float over an insistent backbeat that supports limpid depths of harmony.Other tracks include "Bravery", whoch showcases the subtlety and dynamic control of the rhythm team and is one of Britta's favorite tracks on the album - "I feel it's like a big waterfall that's rushing down and making its path just by flowing naturally." By contrast, "Chances" plays with a neatly delivered set of accents that tie the roots effortlessly

Coke Bottle Clear vinyl. Jun 25, 2021 (EST) CD MRG755cd 673855075525 $6.00 Jun 25, 2021 (EST) LP - Black MRG755lp 673855075518 $11.00 Dec 02, 2022 (EST) LP - Coke Bottle Clear MRG755lp-dlx-C1 673855075556 $12.50 TOTAL Quietly Blowing It was written and arranged by Taylor in his home studio_his 8' x 10' sanctuary packed floor to ceiling with books, records, and old guitars_as he watched the chaotic world spin outside his window. "Writing became a daily routine," he explains, "and that was a ballast for me. Having spent so much time on the road over the past ten years, where writing consistently with any kind of flow can be tricky, it felt refreshing. And being in my studio, which is both isolated from and totally connected to the life of my family, felt appropriate for these songs." Between March and June, Taylor wrote and recorded upwards of two dozen songs_in most cases playing all of the instruments himself_before winnowing the collection down and bringing them to the Hiss band. In July, the group of musicians, with Taylor in the production seat, went into Overdub Lane in Durham, NC, for a week, where they recorded Quietly Blowing It as an organic unit honed to a fine edge from their years together on the road. "We all needed to be making that music together," he recalls. "We've all spent so many years traveling all over the world, but in that moment, it felt cathartic to be recording those particular songs with each other in our own small hometown."

This is a harmonica-fuelled, hard hitting 8-track release.

Funk collection featuring gems from Blowfly, Patrice Rushen, Tommy Stewart and Clarence Reid.

The second volume of Bollywood Nuggets is a 14-track collection of instrumental gems spanning three decades, blending legendary composers with hidden talents for a rich musical journey. Volume 2 of this series focused on the amazing sonic treasures Bollywood music has to offer. This second volume is centered on the incredible instrumental gems that populate Hindi cinema soundtracks. 14 tracks of pure Bollywood instrumental genius to continue the dive into the mind-blowing world of Hindi cinema music. Covering a time span of 3 decades, this compilation mixes well-known names (like S.D. and R.d. Burman or O.P. Nayyar), with lesser-known talents from the endlessly thrilling vaults of Hindi movie soundtracks and throws a couple of delicious covers for a truly unforgettable sonic experience. Includes liner notes.

US Black Friday 2025 Release. There are very few albums in the psych/punk/hard rock/private presses strata that garner the sort of universal awe and accolades that Fraction’s almighty Moonblood LP does, and even fewer records in the world that could be dubbed ‘Christian Rock’ incur such fierce devotion. Indeed some records just meteorically lift themselves out any genre tag with brilliance and sheer defiance--and Moonblood is surely one of them. Based in LA, Fraction was a ragged collection of working-class musicians--the line-up was ringleader Jim Beach--vocals; Don Swanson--lead guitar, Curt Swanson--drums, Victor Hemme--bass, and Robert Meinel--rhythm guitar. Beach himself describes those early days: “The guys met through various acquaintances that we had in LA. All of us had been in bands before, but were seeking something with more teeth. We had a small studio in an industrial complex in North Hollywood and started practicing sometimes as early as 4:30 AM. We all had day jobs, so we did what we could.”

Amazingly the recording sessions for the album were recorded similarly on the fly, as Beach further states: “The Moonblood recording took place at Whitney’s Studio in Glendale, CA, early in 1971. On a strict budget, these songs were recorded in less than three hours—all of them “one takes.” We played, all 5 of us, simultaneously-- there were no studio effects, no overdubbing or any additional sound effects added. Basically what you hear is considered ‘old school’ recording.”

This workmanlike description in no way prepares one for the pure tortured genius the session wrought. Particularly noteworthy is Beach’s vocals—as commonly stated, the spirit of Jim Morrison is conjured in his deep baritone, which gives way to unparalleled pained howls, at times bathed in delay which trails into the abyss. Fascinatingly enough, Beach cites the much punker Love as his fave LA band over the Doors, and also gives influence-nods to proto-everything rockers The Yardbirds and to Dylan, whose dark word tapestries surely inspired Beach’s lyrics (though lines from The Doors’ “L’America” pop up on the LP) Whatever the case, the man clearly has a vision, as even the stark sleeve concept is Beach’s own. Equally as integral to the Fraction sound is lead guitarist Don Swanson—his blown-out fuzz riffs set a template for what is now commonly known as “stoner rock” or “acid punk,” and his solos consist of jagged, wah-wah-ed shards of notes, with his amplifier clearly pushed to the limit.

Beach says: “Don’s guitar was always my driving force and he did everything he could to keep it over the top. You’d never know that (his sound) was coming from an old, broken down Esquire. Don kept it alive!” The other members contributions shouldn’t be underappreciated though-- drummer Curt Swanson keeps things at a constant simmer, and then boils over when the whole band launches into snarling glory. The band and LP as a whole equals something indescribably intense from start to finish—comparisons to the Detroit late 60s high-energy bands like The Stooges and MC5 abound, as well as the sort of late 60s damaged spirit lurking in biker clubs and disgruntled Vietnam vets. The song cycle on side 1 of the LP in particular cuts to the emotional core, with severely charged dark lyrics like “Extend your thumbs and burn the darkness out of her.” Which brings us to the Christian aspect--it often can confuse listeners. The Fraction/Beach world of religion is complex and perhaps a bit pagan/sinister than most---fire and brimstone, temptation, and the truth-seeker being burned by this hell on earth—or perhaps as Beach himself best put it: “Speaking for myself, as a believer, it’s been a progressive experience since my childhood.

I think we’re all basically driven to live more than religion.” The album was pressed in a run of but a few hundred to little attention in the day, but now inferior bootlegs flood the marketplace, and originals of Moonblood command thousands of dollars. So enjoy this all-inclusive reissue, which also features for the first time on vinyl, 3 lost tracks-- like the more acoustic-minded “prisms” and “dawning light,” as well as the proto-metal choogle of “Intercessor’s Blues.”

MAL welcomes Hiroshi Takakura aka Element & co-owner of Riddim Chango Records with a heavyweight session of deep roots mutations and dynamic steppers.

A truly unique and well loved character, Hiroshi is one of Japan’s key figures for dub wise experimentation and this release presents a decade of influence distilled into a selection that bridges Jamaican and UK lineages with a very personal slant.

The centrepiece, ‘Longest Summer Pt.1 & 2’, is a radical remake of the theme from Fruit Chan’s Hong Kong cult film. He flips the wistful, naïve melancholy of the original alongside deep bass weight and syncopated hats with a slink and roll that feels as well suited to the steaming tarmac of LA as any smoke laced, late night Blues dance.

Born from the momentum of live set preparation, the raw sketches that make up the ep were shaped into full-blown dancefloor weapons, particularly the percussion-heavy, tribal mayhem of the title track, ‘Motion Exchange’.

All in all the release captures a snapshot of heady obsessions: UK roots and dub pressure channeling echoes of Jah Shaka, Jamaican dancehall’s roughneck energy, and a wide selection of experimental electronic influences from the early 80’s to the present day.

Motion Exchange delivers a weighty steppers sound that honours its roots while pushing into bold, forward-thinking territory.

Like Element’s sets, this is music for the rig but has layers of detail that reveal themselves on repeat listens and in selector tradition, the EP offers multiple versions for extended play.

A further milestone in MAL’s journey, with Takakura charting heavy new territories in modern dub. RIYL 5 Gate Temple / Bokeh Versions / Lord Tusk / Seln etc.

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