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Formed in Oakland just before the pandemic's onset in late 2019, SPY has built on the foundation of bands like Bad Brains and Poison Idea rather than following the current wave of metallic hardcore. They’re set to unleash their latest EP, Seen Enough, on Closed Casket Activities, out February 21. No song on Seen Enough ever overstays its welcome, instead embodying what makes hardcore frenetic. Burning through six songs in under ten minutes, every track is a testament to the energy the band has built up through relentless touring. SPY worked with Jack Shirley at Oakland's Atomic Garden to record the EP. Shirley captured their essence by recording live to tape, eschewing the modern practice of individual tracking in favor of a more immediate, visceral approach that better represents their explosive live show. That in-room chemistry is immediately apparent – songs like "Stay In Your Lane" maintain the texture and grit you'd get at a show in between every huge riff. Seen Enough doesn't hide what it's about: society's continued descent with diminishing hope for course correction. From the jump, SPY has followed in the lineage of Bay Area punks like Dead Kennedys and Ceremony in both attitude and awareness. Their latest offering maintains the critical edge of their earlier material while expanding their lyrical scope, delivering a streamlined punch that hits hard through its runtime. By staying true to themselves, SPY has carved out their own niche in the modern hardcore landscape. After touring with legends and contemporaries alike including Gel, Full of Hell, Ceremony, Municipal Waste, Sunami and playing basically every fest worth caring about including Sound and Fury, Outbreak, Sick New World and LDB, 2025 is set to be a monstrous year for SPY.

A new artist appears on the streets of City HC Records, he is Andrey Orenstein
multidisciplinary artist, part of the alternative Rock band ‘Tequilajazz’, with several solo musical incarnations such as: Amor Entrave, for electronic Indie beats with tocuhes of IDM of broken beats, Do you like trains? for Acid House, and 50DIX, dedicated to street beats such as jungle, drum n bass, ghetto house, Juke and Footwork, and the pseudonym he uses for Go Ahead! EP, the new and multifaceted 22nd release from the Valencian label.

IF U WANT 2 is the elegant track that takes us into the bustling avenues of the 2st century megapolis, where the urban rhythms of the dance battles in Chicago, Footwork and Juke, along with brief Jungle passages alternate in a brilliant composition with funk and jazz nuances accompanying tight percussion and distorted kicks at 160 BPM.

Tough and Ghetto House and rugged acid define FOOLZ, second track of the A-side in which the demonic power of the 303 sounds embrace the thick and husky voice that together with infectious laughter set a rhythm as pugnacious as it is playful.

FETTA DI LIMONE, Juke, Footwork and Jungle, a perfect combination of American influences, legacy of Dj Rashad together with the English tradition around bass music, are fused by 50DIX with the unexpected and playful Italian lyrics of Tomasso Girardi, in perfect conjunction with the pianos, ethereal pads and mutant synths, that forge the development of the track. Already anthemic before the first beat sounds.

Juke, IDM, Halftime and abstract broken beats combine for the ultimate dance elixir, in the last track of the vinyl titled ICE FEELS KEEN, reaching 170 BPM in a catharsis of braindance, soul and acid exaltation in a dreamy harmony, where the syncopated notes of Oleg Egorov's bass and the velvety voice of Julia Garnits (Ice Hokku) commune.

Bonus digital track - 50Dix ICE FEELS KEEN (DZA REFLIP). Hypnotic, sharp and minimalistic, DZA's remix transforms the original track into an intimate and evocative experience, in which every sonic element acquires more prominence and presence.

Bonus digital track 2 - Fetta di limone (Kaxtelian remix) Inspired by the classic hardtrance sounds of the 90s, from Valencian dance temples such as Chocolate, Kaxtelian reinterprets the track with distorted drums, catchy melodies and Rave spirit at 165 bpm.

Mastering by Steve Voidloss at Black Monolith Studios in London (UK), except for the Bonus track 2 mastered by Raszia.

Once again, artwork and design by Dani Requeni, giving artistic coherence to the label's aesthetic.

Bad news: Not much is known about pdqb, and what we do know is most likely either wrong or made up. The man who is credited for the productions is said to have gone insane due to being possessed by an alien parasite. His whereabouts remain unknown. Good news: Fortunately, Synaptic Cliffs owns about a dozen releases from whoever or whatever is behind the mysterious abbreviation and will publish every single one of them…because they are ultra awesome.

With the original tapes of this Mini-LP, pdqb left a fragmented note in the '90s stating that he decoded eight tracks originally produced with the NCO6.27 for test subjects who were all given some strange form of brain implants, and that a certain wetware could be unveiled in that manner, and that he conducted that research long before he developed a machine capable of hacking into the dreams of everyone who has ever lived.

However, the music could best be described as playful and dark, old-school Techno/Electro/Industrial blended with Chiptunes, IDM/Braindance, and Electronica. It is pressed on a beautiful green splatter vinyl.

The first 150 customers will be rewarded with a free leftover flexi disc from the '80s featuring two exclusive tracks composed by pdqb while he worked for Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset TV production company. The flexi was originally included in the November 1985 issue of the Italian Playboy Magazine (cover girl: Grace Jones) and is extremely sought after.

Emotional Especial returns to the music of Peter Reilly aka Persian, with a second EP diving into his extensive catalogue to celebrate this cult artist and evaluate his recent decision to retire from music production.

For over 20 years Reilly has been an exemplary electronic producer, a producer’s producer, a DJs producer, releasing over 50 EPs that crossed genres, from Breaks to Digidub, Electro to Garage, House to Jungle and on and on.

If this release is to act as an epitaph, then its exploration of Reilly’s wonderful programming, sampling and understanding of emotions is laid bare. Spread across a series of self-released edits hidden within limited run EPs, Questions appeared as something akin to beats interludes, across numerous releases over the last 10 years.

Bringing the best versions together on one EP, Questions 1, 2, 5, 3 and 7 have been re-edited, extended and sequenced into a continuous mix especially for this finale. Starting with the ambient breaks of Questions 1, this is a Balearic beginning where bubbling acid meets haunting refrain, before segueing effortlessly into the sunrise breaks of Questions 2. A nod to Carl Craig’s classic Incognito remix, the solo keys add a touch of jazz to a glide by shooting melody.

Side 2 rises. Question 5 heralds a half stepper Dub bassline riding the Amen breaks, the now familiar Brando sample, a wormhole in your brain that ties the EP together, joining the dots as strings float skywards, allowing Questions 3 break it all back down. Herbie Handcock inspired Funk Boogie beat, shouts out to his own Existence To Resistance label, leads to the pure ambient closing of Questions 7. A showcase again of Persian’s multi-genre dexterity and maybe, just maybe brings an influential music chapter to a close.

“BLADE N” is the long-awaited new album from Japanese rapper Karavi Roushi, who appeared on the Japanese hip-hop scene with his debut solo album “Kiyosumi Kurokawa”. This, his second solo album, is a collaborative release with Aquadab, the Japanese track maker/sound designer who co-produced “Kiyosumi Kurokawa”. The album showcases the preternatural mind-meld between rapper and track maker.

Karavi Roushi came before the public as a member of Nagoya hip-hop collective Hydro Brain Gang on Nero Imai's album “Return Of Acid King” (2017). He then launched the label Super Lights with Aquadab and released his first solo album “Kiyosumi Kurokawa” in 2019 with graphic design by Takara Ohashi. Although an unknown newcomer, the album reached #15 on the iTunes Hip Hop Japan album chart and received plaudits not only for its music but also for the artwork by Ohashi. After the album, Karavi Roushi dropped his first collaboration tune with Aquadab on “S.D.S =Zero=” (2020), a compilation of Generation Z Japanese underground artists produced during the Covid pandemic. That tune, “Tokyoite”, became a favorite of the participating artists.

"BLADE N” was created by the three-person team of Karavi Roushi, Aquadab & Ohashi. Consciously developing their musical methodology, they intentionally use instrumental tracks to interrupt the rappers' voices and flows, something which has traditionally been avoided, and explore the possibility of creating a style that puts the rapper and track maker on equal footing in complex, woven tracks. On the album, Karavi Roushi's paranormal voice, which sometimes sounds like a mutant synthesizer, adds incisiveness, and in the artwork Ohashi visually extracts the story world hidden in “BLADE N”, giving the cover art the same impact as that of “Kiyosumi Kurokawa”

Mannequin Records is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of Chromium Industries, a double LP (MNQ 162) capturing the innovative spirit of two pioneers of electronic music: Andrew Lagowski and Paul (Howie D) Howard. This long-anticipated album marks a return to the seminal sounds of the Chromium Industries label, which emerged as a crucial platform for boundary-pushing techno and electronic music in the early 1990s.


Andrew Lagowski, a name synonymous with exploration in electronic music, has been at the forefront of sound innovation since the early 1980s. Known for his work under various aliases, including Lagowski, Legion, and S.E.T.I., his early output in experimental and industrial sounds paved the way for his later techno-focused ventures. Albums like Knowledge (S.E.T.I.) and Nadir (Lagowski) highlighted his pioneering approach to unconventional sound sources and production techniques. In the 1990s, his work with Chromium Industries brought him into the techno spotlight, with a series of influential 12” singles that helped shape the electronic music landscape. With over 60 albums and 10+ singles to his name, Lagowski’s versatility and dedication have garnered him a loyal following and lasting influence across genres.


Paul Howard, aka Howie D, brought his DIY ethos from the punk scene of the 1970s into electronic music. As a founding member of The Frames and co-founder of the Brain Boosters and Spacematic labels, Howard has consistently pushed boundaries. His early forays into hip-hop saw him release the genre-pioneering jazz-rap track Miller Light as Fission. The transition from punk and hip-hop to electronic music was a natural one, culminating in his creation of Chromium Industries after a fateful night hearing Lagowski’s Vermilion at a London party. The label brought some of the most unique techno releases to the scene, with tracks like Blue Anomaly causing near-riots on the dancefloor. Since then, Howard’s work has evolved to include multiple aliases, including The Legend That Is, Phase Collective, and Skulpture.


Chromium Industries 2xLP will be available for purchase from January 2025 through Mannequin Records and select distributors.


This is an essential release for collectors, DJs, and anyone who reveres the legacy of 1990s techno and early rave.

Released in 1996, Nocturnal was the debut studio album by hip hop duo Heltah Skeltah, comprising Rock (Jahmal Bush) and Ruck (Sean Price).The album featured production by Buckshot (of Black Moon), Lord Jamar, Da Beatminerz and others. It peaked at number 5 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums and number 35 on the Billboard Top 200 that year. The 18 tracks skiflfully incorporated samples from artists such as Johnny Pate, Lalo Schfirin, and George Benson. Guest apperances from O.G.C, Reprensetativz, Vinia Mojica, Illa Noyz and notable singles "Leflaur Leflah Eshkoska", "Operation Lock Down" and "Therapy".

"Live Mind, is the first live album from rock supergroup, The Third Mind. With over an hour of performances, Live Mind was overseen and curated by Don Boles, Will Golden and Brett Brock from shows in February and March 2024 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, Ventura Music Hall in Ventura, CA, and The Kessler Theater in Dallas, TX. Produced by Dave Alvin and Victor Krummenacher, the album was mixed and mastered by Craig Parker Adams at Winslow Court, Los Angeles, CA.

What started four years ago as a wishful music fantasy, the supergroup of “Californian Psychedelic Rockers” (Doom Charts) is now a reality. The brainchild of GRAMMY award-winning guitarist Dave Alvin and veteran alternative music bassist Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven, Monks of Doom, Eyelids), The Third Mind’s two studio albums–The Third Mind (2020) and The Third Mind 2 (2023)–feature guitarist David Immerglück (Counting Crows, Monks of Doom, Camper Van Beethoven), drummer Michael Jerome (Richard Thompson, Better Than Ezra, John Cale) and vocalist Jesse Sykes from her critically acclaimed group, Jesse Sykes and The Sweeter Hereafter. The Third Mind live psychedelic improv performances include the addition of guest guitarist Mark Karan (Bob Weir's Ratdog, Phil Lesh, Delaney Bramlett) subbing for Immerglück."

Scanning Backwards, Phase Fatale’s second full-length album originally released on Berghain’s in-house label Ostgut Ton in 2020 is now reissued via his label BITE on limited edition pink marble vinyl after being long sold out and sought after. Using the connection between weaponized sound and psychological manipulation as a conceptual foundation, Hayden Payne explores the ways in which music – and sub frequencies in particular – are used to influence thinking and to synchronize emotions and behavior: from military technology to sound systems and the physicality and sexuality of queer techno culture.

Known for his innovative post-punk takes of dance music as featured on EPs for unterton and Ostgut Ton, the Berghain resident draws on his background as both a guitarist and sound engineer to create a heady mix of broken rhythms, noise-, and shoegaze-inflected techno, often at slower tempos. The result is music with space and pace to expand, highlighting the intense rushes of frequencies found in both sonic warfare and functional dance music. Over eight tracks named after a combination of historical and fictional narratives from literature and science fiction, Payne’s rhythmic excursions explore different manifestations of sound as power – specifically within the context of seeing Berghain as an instrument itself. This is also reflected in the album artwork, taken from an early flyer for the SNAX party series and an obvious ode to the fetishization of power dynamics.

In his own words: “All tracks on the album, no matter the style, were tailored to sound a certain way in Berghain – something I figured out through years of dancing in the middle of the floor, DJing as a resident and investigating what frequencies really penetrate the body. This includes speech and high-frequency, brain-penetrating instrumentation and drilling textures that I had not utilized so often before, but which I think also have an effect on thought and memory. It’s especially true in a space where gay and fetish roots combine with music in unexpected ways, almost in a cultish manner. A musical and physical deprogramming and reprogramming, psychic driving and de-patterning, the erasing and replacing of memories.”

Ultimately, Scanning Backwards surveys not only the manipulative properties of electronic music (mantras, loops, subliminal messages) but also how rhythm facilitates both moving and thinking in synchrony; a pulse of coordinated sound- and brainwaves.

“Okie Dokie It´s The Orb On Kompakt“ is already the 13th album of one of Britian's most prized cult bands. We feel it's better that way, because the music of The Orb only has an intensive effect when taken in as a long playing full length. And it proves with this lovingly conjured collection of songs brought together like a collage. The first half of Okie Dokie showcase The Orb´s love for minimal Techno and Schaffel/Shuffle as it is so obviously present in the foreground, while the second half is only reserved to the classic Orb-ish ancestral domain. There are wonderful guest appearances by Schneider TM and Kompakt´s ambient-guru Ulf Lohmann. As many of you know, there is so much history about The Orb you could write a book. Since Jimmy Cauty and Alex Paterson, in the flush of euphoria invented Chill Out and Ambient House in the first summer of love 1988, an incredible amount of things have occurred. The following timeline should give you a rough idea. - Alex Paterson gives up his job as roadie for Killing Joke. - “A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld” is not only the record with the longest title of the world, but it also marks the departure into the new sonic worlds of post-Rave Ambient. - While Cauty goes different ways with The KLF, The Orb re-form themselves and have a big hit with Little Fluffy Clouds in 1990. - The debut album “The Orb´s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld“ hits the Top 30 in England. - The Orb produce “Higher Than the Sun“ for Primal Scream. - The Orb perform “Blue Room“ as chess-playing aliens at Top Of The Pops. Everything goes. - “Blue Room“ clocking in at 39:58 minutes goes into music-history as the longest time for a chart single ever. - The Orb achieve great success in Glastonbury '92 + '93. - The Copenhagen double concert “to the sunrise and sunset” is eternalized on record: “Live 93“ - Previously a floating member of The Orb, Thomas Felmann becomes a fix member in 1997 - No joke: Robbie Williams takes part of The Orb for a short time. The collaboration “I started A Joke“ is released on a benefit compilation - After 2002 The Orb found with Kompakt a new ambient-loving partner and release a row of singles and play live, as the trimmed-down version as Le Petit Orb. And one more for the extra hush-hush: The Orbs first album “A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain...” was actually a Kompakt release. You can check it out. Besides the actual label Wau! Mr. Modo you can read... Kompakt Discos. Ha!!
Mit „Okie Dokie It´s The Orb On Kompakt“ liegt nun das circa 13. Album der britischen Kultband vor. Das ist gut so, denn The Orb's Musik wirkt eigentlich erst im Longplay-Format so richtig intensiv. Die Stücke sind, wie man das von ihnen kennt, liebevoll collagenhaft miteinander verwoben. In der ersten Hälfte tritt The Orb's Liebe zu Minimaltechno und Schaffel in den Vordergrund, während die zweite Hälfte ausschliesslich der Orbschen Ur-Domäne Ambient vorbehalten ist. Es gibt wunderbare Gastauftritte, wie etwa Schneider TM und Kompakt's Ambient-Guru Ulf Lohmann. Zur Geschichte von The Orb könnte man ganze Bücher schreiben, denn seit Jimmy Cauty und Alex Paterson im Rausch der Euphorie des ersten Summer of Love anno 1988 Chill Out und Ambient House erfunden haben ist viel passiert. Extrem viel. Die folgende Auflistung soll einen ungefähren Eindruck davon vermitteln. -Paterson hängt seinen Job als Roadie für Killing Joke an den Nagel -„A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld“ ist nicht nur bis dato die Platte mit dem längsten Titel der Welt sondern markiert den Aufbruch in die neuen sonischen Welten des Post-Rave Ambient. - Während Cauty mit The KLF andere Wege geht, reformieren sich The Orb und landen 1990 mit “Little Fluffy Clouds“ einen Riesenhit. -Das Albumdebut “The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld“ geht Top30 in England -The Orb produzieren „Higher Than The Sun“ für Primal Scream -The Orb performen „Blue Room“ als schachspielende Aliens verkleidet bei Top Of The Pops. Alles geht. -“Blue Room“ geht mit 39.58 Minuten als längste Chart-Single ever in die Musikgeschichte ein - The Orb legen 92 + 93 Glastonbury flach - Ein Copenhagener Doppelkonzert zum Sonnenauf- und Untergang wird auf Platte verewigt: „Live 93“ - Bisheriges „floating member“ Thomas Fehlmann wird 1997 festes Mitglied - Ohne Scheiss: Robbie Williams wird für kurze Zeit The Orb-Bestandteil. Die Kollaboration „I Started A Joke“ erscheint auf einer Benefiz-Kompilation. - Ab 2002 finden The Orb mit Kompakt einen neuen ambientverliebten Partner und veröffentlichen eine Reihe wunderbarer Maxis und treten live, vornehmlich in abgespeckter Form als Le Petit Orb in aller Herren Länder auf. Ein kleiner Treppenwitz am Rande für Erbsenzähler : Schon The Orb's erste Platte („A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain...“) war eigentlich eine Kompakt-Veröffentlichung. Ihr könnt nachschauen. Neben dem eigentlichen Label Wau! Mr. Modo stand nämlich folgendes ...Kompakt Discos. Ha!

Mr. K returns to the fertile ground of the Paradise Garage for his latest with two certified floor-fillers closely tied to the legendary club.

TW Funkmasters’ “Love Money” took an unusual path to its eventual elevated status as a dance classic. The brainchild of UK radio reggae jock Tony Williams (the “TW” in the group’s name), it was conceived in response to seminal rap release “Rapper’s Delight,” but with reggae superstar Dennis Brown’s 1978 hit single “Money In My Pocket” as the lyrical inspiration. Indeed, the vocal version of the Funkmasters’ song is considered the UK’s very first homegrown rap tune. But it was the flip side that garnered the most attention in New York however. “The original track was quirky and worked at the Garage,” Danny Krivit says, “but when the dub came out, it really blew up everywhere. After that very few people played the vocal.” Krivit’s edit here takes the influential, futuristic dub and tightens the arrangement up for the 7-inch format. “Love Money” went on to heavily influence the New York City dance underground, with homages coming in the form of subtle tributes (Mateo & Matos’ “Love Style”) to a virtual remake from Larry Levan himself (Man Friday’s “Love Honey, Love Heartache”) to the untold records that have sampled or been influenced by the spacey, heavy groove.

We’re back closer to home and a more traditional source for Garage classics with our flip side, Janice McClain’s “Smack Dab In The Middle.” The Philadelphia born and bred singer burst out of the gate with this very Philly sounding single in 1979. Written and produced by her uncle, the song was recorded when McClain was all of fifteen years old, a fact made more astonishing by a commanding vocal performance that resonated immediately with listeners. Recognizing a good thing when he saw it, disco maven Ray Caviano picked the song up for his newly minted RFC label and enlisted Larry Levan himself to mix it for 12-inch release. It is Levan’s version that provides the jumping off point for Krivit’s edit here — “the original 7-inch version the way it was never seemed worth playing,” Krivit says — and he makes the most of the jazzy Philly disco groove, injecting extra energy in the early minutes of the song with a tasty filtered break unique to this mix.

Pressed and mastered with DJs in mind, this loud and crystal clear single is the perfect combination of bonafide Garage classics and the talents of Mr. K, all on one compact piece of vinyl.

When Acid Jazz was in its mid-1990s pomp, it released a lot of great records. Sometimes they flew past at such a pace, we had moved on to something else before we realised how good they truly were. ‘Lovesick’ by the Night Trains is one such record.

A phenomenal mixture of a distinctive sample turned into a un-ignorable groove, an unforgettable melody (and the soulful vocal from Marcia Johnson), weaved around a Miles-like trumpet. It should have been a hit. But it wasn’t. Instead, it is a cult classic, which we are being fully indulgent in releasing on a 7-inch single.

Night Trains were the brain child of Hugh Brooker, and they released the first ever acid jazz single in 'Open Channel D’, appearing on early groundbreaking Acid Jazz compilations. It resurfaced on the label in 1993 with the ‘Sleazeball’ album, from which Lovesick was the lead single. Hugh has in many forms kept the group going until the present day. A testament to persistence and good taste, in the face of industry indifference. Hugh is one of the originals and we are proud to still work with him to this day.

This is the first time that ‘Lovesick’ has appeared on a 7", and it is flipped with the previously-unreleased on vinyl ‘Only Know About Love' on the B-side.

Music To Varnish Owls By. Does Geoff Bastow have a claim for the best album title of all time? It's certainly up there. It's also one of the hardest to find library funk records. But don't let the eye-catching name fool you into thinking this isn't serious business.

As a key member of Giorgio Moroder's team, the legendary Geoff Bastow shouldn't need any introduction. You'll be familiar with his singular brilliance as the brains behind the much-sampled boogie/disco classics "You Don't Like My Music (Hupendi Muziki Wangu?!)" and "Don't Stop", released by his group, K.I.D.

But 1975's Music To Varnish Owls By is where it all began for our hero.

It's packed with incredibly soulful, soothing music that - despite being utilised a few times by Knxwledge - remains still largely un-mined. So, beat-makers, get cracking. And instead of that hyper-rare original, spend that £300 on something else.

Born in 1949, Bastow was a Munich-based English songwriter and record producer. Originally working as a guitarist and pianist in dance bands around his home county of Yorkshire, he moved to London in the early 1970s and then Munich in around 1976. He was one of the main architects of the Munich disco sound of electronic innovator Giorgio Moroder and also released heaps of killer library records for legendary labels like Bruton (with brother Trevor), Impress, JW Music Library and the Munich-based Sonoton between the 1970s-2000s. Bastow died tragically young, in Berlin, Germany on 16 March 2007, at the age of just 57. But he left behind a truly incredible electronic music legacy. He deserves to be much better known and this reissue should bring him to a fair few more ears. Let's see why...

Light-hearted opener "The Rough With The Smooth" contains a killer open drum break and is basically guitar-drenched flute-laced piano-funk. However, the first genuine highlight, "Beautiful People", is just majestic. Reflective, pastoral and silky smooth - as the title suggests, it's just straight beautiful; a chiming, deeply soulful instrumental that has to be heard to be believed. Sampled by Knxwledge but nobody else of note, which is crazy. Slo-mo soul beat "Tumbleweed" is another stone cold track just desperate to be laced by a skilled MC. Laconic, lysergic funk with nostalgic overtones, the guitar is prominent but the flute and glock really elevate it to perfection.

"Bits And Bats" is clav-enhanced Blaxploitation-esque street-funk with tough bass and crunchy drums that, despite its hardness, manages to flirt with breeziness. All in all, sumptuous, pounding wah-wah brilliance. Another huge one, up next. The insistent piano-funk head-nodder "A Change Of Pace" is a total sleuth-funk jammer, with a wonderfully soft snare and more hypnotic, melancholic flute lines. Man, we'd love to hear Alchemist chop this up. It even sounds a bit like Bastow was keeping things thoro with this one. Closing out Side A, the bright and breezy Bossa of "Janelle" makes it a perfect run of six untouchable gems. As elegant as it is sleazy, it sounds like it could've been on the classic KPM greensleeve, Piano Viberations.

Side B opens with the Ramsey Lewis-inspired "Time And A Half", a deceptively simple bass, drums and piano workout, decorated with stylish percussion with some great chord changes and hints of drama via a great bass solo. The heavy "Supersplash" is a doped-out drama suite with fuzzy wah-wah guitars, electric piano and glock. "Fillet Of Soul" is a catchy wah-wah propelled shuffle with piano and vibes, super dynamic but also incredibly chill.

"Well Above Average" is exactly that, a funky instrumental that serves as a straight ahead guitar-soul workout. Oozing bass-driven class, it gets better with every listen. Some open drums for your delectation, too. The fuzzy clav-and-vibes funk of "The Clan" - also understandably sampled by Knxwledge - is a monster head-nod slow jam whilst, seeing us out, the uber-relaxed "Sing Song" rounds things off in bright fashion with its slow but insistent clav, electric piano and glock greatness. Swoon.

As ever, the audio for Music To Varnish Owls By has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Iconic UK punk band X-Ray Spex co-founder Lora Logic was unexpectedly ousted before the recording of their debut album 'Germ Free Adolescents' in 1977. Undeterred, Lora went on to form and front the post-punk band Essential Logic. With trademark angular sax lines and her unmistakable vocal stylings, she went on to create some of the most liberating and exciting music of the early post-punk era, not only as Essential Logic, but also as a solo artist. 'Beat Rhythm News (Waddle Ya Play?)' is the band's debut studio album. Originally released in December 1979 on the Rough Trade Records label, whose founder Geoff Travis provided enthusiastic encouragement. The album reached number 11 in the UK Indie chart. Lora's solo album 'Pedigree Charm' followed in 1982. Lora and Poly Styrene would later reform X-Ray Spex for the band's sophomore and final studio album 'Conscious Consumer' in 1995. Essential Logic returned from an extended hiatus in 2022 with the 5 x LP boxset 'Logically Yours', including the new studio album 'Land of Kali', co-produced by Lora and Youth (Killing Joke), followed by 2024's remix album thereof - 'Rekalibrated', which enlisted the talents of an ambitious and diverse set, including Grammy Award winner - Dave Audé, Rave-pop legend - Adamski and Scottish Kandy-poppers - bis, amongst others on remixer duties. This 45th Anniversary 'Deluxe' edition compiles the original studio album together with a bonus album containing the complete Essential Logic studio recordings from 1978 - 1983, including the iconic Cells Records debut single 'Aerosol Burns' (1978), the 'Wake Up' EP (1979), included here for the first time on any physical release since its original pressing, together with the non-album b-side 'Flora Force' and 3 post album Rough Trade Records single releases: 'Eugene' (1980), 1981's 'Music Is A Better Noise' and 'Fanfare In The Garden', and their respective b-sides. Repackaged in a high gloss accented, spot varnished sleeve, on 2 x black and white splatter vinyl, foiler stickered, with inner-sleeves including full lyrics and new sleeve notes by Lora. This release also marks the long overdue and highly championed CD debut of the original album and bonus tracks. Following their recent UK tour with fellow punk legends Penetration, featuring Pauline Murray, in November 2024, Essential Logic show no signs of stopping or slowing down as they plan extensive live celebrations of the album throughout 2025 as well as the recording and release of their next studio album. Press Quotes : "Lora's voice is always doing the right, thrilling things...she frets and somersaults in such an intoxicating way" - NME // "A stunning record that remains a benchmark of the punk era" - AllMusic // "Beat Rhythm News suggests an impromptu brainstorming session between Kate Bush, Talking Heads and Captain Beefheart" - Louder Sound // "An intelligent and fluid benchmark for any band willing to dabble in both punk and dance music at the same time" - PopMatters

In C and Rainbow in Curved Air get all the ink (inc?), but its own somewhat subtle way, 1980’s Shri Camel, the last of the three brilliant albums Terry Riley recorded for CBS, is every bit as groundbreaking as its hallowed predecessors. Not content to rest on his laurels as a minimalist master, Riley studied with Hindustani classical singer Pandit Pran Nath during the ‘70s; by blending that Eastern influence with his own experiments in just intonation (where tuning is dictated by equal mathematical intervals rather than the “tempered” tuning familiar to Western music), Riley made an album whose shimmering textures (played through a specially modified Yamaha organ) seem to change with one’s own breath or thought, like the reflection of rippling water on rock. And while Shri Camel is far more demanding and ultimately rewarding than any “New Age” recording, one definitely gets the sense that its ever-evolving, ecstatically hypnotic rhythmic and harmonic patterns are massaging the brain’s neural circuitry, leaving one refreshed, relaxed, and, yes, maybe even a little smarter than before listening. First LP reissue and long overdue!

Continuing our quest to get all of the classic early AMT albums released on vinyl, we turn to 2006’s ‘Starless And Bible Black Sabbath’, and with the help of Makoto Kawabata’s studio wizardry, we’ve made it possible.

This latest instalment in the ‘Acid Mothers Temple Vinyl Archives - First Time On Vinyl’ series (as with the three previous SOLD OUT releases in the series) have all been meticulously put together with the help of Makoto Kawabata with the original CD artwork recreated for these vinyl editions from archive photos stored in the vaults at the Acid Mothers Temple in Osaka, Japan and the original audio remastered by James Plotkin.

Here’s what "Brainwashed" had to say upon it’s original CD only release back in 2006 …

“The title track is the meat of the beast, beginning with a minute of booms and gongs reminiscent of a thunderstorm before launching into some slow, heavy Sabbath-esque riffs. Squealing guitar and synth effects accompany the vocals of bassist Tabata Mitsuru, whose voice captures some of the sound and feeling of Ozzy's more than it does the melody. The pace is slower than most AMT fare, but things speed up considerably around the eight and a half minute mark. The group convincingly imitates the Sabbath guitar sound here and the rhythm section is particularly tight, giving listeners something on which to hang their ears or even providing them with a chance to gasp for air during Makoto's guitar explorations. Around the sixteen minute mark, everything comes to a wailing halt before the band returns to the dirge-like tempo that started the song. This pattern continues for the duration of the piece, until a couple of minutes before the ending, when the group makes a smooth transition to acoustic guitar and processed vocals to cool down.

Clocking in at nearly thirty-five minutes, the length alone may tax some listeners. However, the second track, "Woman From A Hell, "provides relief, which with a running time of six minutes is uncommon in the Acid Mothers canon for its brevity. This one condenses many of the ideas of the title track, and accomplishes much of the same evocation of Sabbath, but with the vocals in a more prominent role. The disc comes full circle, ending with thunderstorm sounds much like theones which started the album. Though the title track could have been shortened and perhaps an additional track included, this album remain some of the group's more accessible releases in some time and should please fans old and new alike.

According to the group's website, Makoto is reviving the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. line-up after a year of recording and touring with the Cosmic Inferno. This is a shame of sorts, since the Cosmic Inferno infused a much-needed vitality to the group that it had lacked since the departure of vocalist Cotton Casino. Yet the reformed Melting Paraiso U.F.O. has the potential to be even better since, if anything, Makoto seems to be the Mother of Reinvention.”

Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno are: Tabata Mitsuru - Bass, Vocal, Maratab - Hiroshi Higashi - Synthesizer, Dancin' King - Shimura Koji - Drums, Latino Cool - Okano Futoshi - Drums, God Speed - Makoto Kawabata - Guitars, Speed Guru

Proudly presenting a 7-inch reissue of this mythical, raw funk rarity by the Miami-based, Cuban rock band, Pearly Queen. Featuring the hugely sought after, infectious cut ‘Quit Jive’ In’ and a fantastic cover of The Rascals ‘Jungle Walk’, this is a double header of mid ‘70s funk fire.

Originally released on Cuban record producer Manuel J. Mato’s Sound Triangle Records in 1974, who had emigrated to the US in 1960, this scarce funk gem has long been a prized funk 45 find. DJs and collectors such as Keb Darge and Jazzman Gerald brought this to our attention in the 1990s, with the status of the track amplified by its inclusion on DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist's landmark 7" DJ mix ‘Brainfreeze’. DJ Shadow, also used the drums and horns break to masterful effect on his track 'The Number Song' (1996) taken from his infamous 'Endtroducing.....' album on Mo Wax.

Written by Ray Fernandez of Ray & His Court fame, 'Quit Jive' In' is a swaggering funk throwdown, dripping in groove and underpinned by heavy breaks and punchy horns. Whilst on the B side, the rock-funk 'Jungle Walk', is a cover version of The Rascals 1972 original. Penned by the singer, songwriter and guitarist Buzzy Feiten, it wouldn’t be out of place as part of the soundtrack to a Tarantino movie.

We can't think of many deep funk tracks we love as much as this beauty. Sadly, for collectors, this original 7" has remained elusive to even some of the most hardened and dedicated diggers, so it feels a fitting release to re-issue for all to savour.

Maximum Violenceis Americandeath metalbandSix Feet Under's 3rd studio album. Thealbum goes back toChris Barnes' roots inCannibal Corpsewith violent themes/lyrics. Itwas also the first Six Feet Under album to featureSteve Swansonon guitars.

200 COPIES MARBLE COLOURED VINYL Jailcell Recipes: Perhaps the last untold chapter in the story of the rapidly-detonating, late 80’s UK Hardcore scene. Often overlooked in favour of their contemporaries, this re-mastered/re-modelled retrospective collection of songs finally puts the record straight, giving them the recognition they deserve. It showcases the band’s importance within that scene and throws light on their unique standpoint and their growth over a 4 year period. This release is not intended as a discography, rather a selected ‘strongest hand’ from between the years 1988 to 1992. It features the definitive line up of Robbie Reid (vocals), Jamie Owen (guitar), Dave Arnold (bass) and Ian Barwick (drums). It's a game of two halves; the faster, straight ahead hardcore stylings make up Side One (practically the entire first album recorded in 1988), whilst the more melodic, mid-tempo material completes the set on the flipside - Robbie's unmistakable vocals being the constant throughout that makes it all work, he provided the band with a unique identity. Side Two closes with previously unreleased studio tracks from 1992 - virtually unheard until now, we believe these final three tracks to be amongst their best. The songs now sound as the band intended all the way back in 1988. Largely down to a relentless run of gigs back in their heyday, Jailcell Recipes gained a strong reputation for being an exciting and energetic ‘live’ hardcore band, playing with Bad Brains, All, Gorilla Biscuits and including tours with Youth Of Today (1989), Green Day (1991), Naked Raygun (1988). It’s the 35th Anniversary of the release of their debut album “Energy In An Empty Tank World” and after all these years, we finally have the recorded output to match the ‘live’ performance!

200 COPIES MARBLE COLOURED VINYL Jailcell Recipes: Perhaps the last untold chapter in the story of the rapidly-detonating, late 80’s UK Hardcore scene. Often overlooked in favour of their contemporaries, this re-mastered/re-modelled retrospective collection of songs finally puts the record straight, giving them the recognition they deserve. It showcases the band’s importance within that scene and throws light on their unique standpoint and their growth over a 4 year period. This release is not intended as a discography, rather a selected ‘strongest hand’ from between the years 1988 to 1992. It features the definitive line up of Robbie Reid (vocals), Jamie Owen (guitar), Dave Arnold (bass) and Ian Barwick (drums). It's a game of two halves; the faster, straight ahead hardcore stylings make up Side One (practically the entire first album recorded in 1988), whilst the more melodic, mid-tempo material completes the set on the flipside - Robbie's unmistakable vocals being the constant throughout that makes it all work, he provided the band with a unique identity. Side Two closes with previously unreleased studio tracks from 1992 - virtually unheard until now, we believe these final three tracks to be amongst their best. The songs now sound as the band intended all the way back in 1988. Largely down to a relentless run of gigs back in their heyday, Jailcell Recipes gained a strong reputation for being an exciting and energetic ‘live’ hardcore band, playing with Bad Brains, All, Gorilla Biscuits and including tours with Youth Of Today (1989), Green Day (1991), Naked Raygun (1988). It’s the 35th Anniversary of the release of their debut album “Energy In An Empty Tank World” and after all these years, we finally have the recorded output to match the ‘live’ performance!

Dan Reeder's debut album is finally on vinyl! The packaging includes a gatefold jacket, written by John Prine, with a photo of the original letter explaining the story of how Dan found Oh Boy Records. Also included are credits, photos of Dan's homemade instruments and original artwork. Wowee!

The brainchild of drummer/producer Chiminyo, NRG is more than just an album, label or event. It’s a concept. Born out of a conversation about the UK Jazz scene (is it really jazz?) Chiminyo concluded that this musical expression is less about ‘jazz’ and more about energy (NRG).
So with this in mind, he set about to explore, celebrate and harness this NRG in its purest form. No labels, no promoters, no industry, no control. Just Chiminyo and members of his musical community exchanging (strictly improvised) NRG with audiences and capturing the spontaneous beauty to be shared with the world.
This third edition, NRG 3, features an all-star line-up. Modular synth wizard and Ariwo band leader Pouya Ehsaei, electro synth-pop artist and incredible keyboard/synth player Maria Chiara Argiró, and Hak Baker's trumpet player Sam Warner. And you can really feel the vibrant NRG of the capital pulsating throughout. Raucous dance-floor stompers such as 'Enter the Dragon' and 'Fred not Again' are beautifully contrasted with the dreamy, cinematic 'Avalon'. And the addition of instrumental and vocal guests on the night really adds a special touch. 'Stories Untold' opens with flautist Lluis Domènech Plana's lyrical exploration on bamboo flute before developing into an up-tempo house inspired dance tune, whilst Nadeem Din Gabisi's 'Fire' presents a unique perspective on a trap groove that you simply couldn't imagine outside of the context of NRG 3, and towards the end of the track the audio cuts to camera audio due to an issue with the desk recording, a magical moment that puts you in right there in the room and reminds you that this was a live gig!
It is incredible to think this record is improvised, because each tune comes across as a carefully sculpted master-piece, a clear testament to the incredible musicians on the line-up.

Dischi Fantom’s Sussurra Luce series, blurring the boundaries between text, music and voice, returns with their fifth instalment, an expanded version of Hanne Lippard’s “Talk Shop”. Sculpting a fascinating bridge between radically experimental sound practice, conceptual art, and sound poetry, across its two sides the Berlin based multidisciplinary artist taps an almost dada sensibility, delivering a suite of poems and texts where singular words and sentences are looped and repeated creating a sensory experience of the efficiency and stress found in our private as well as public life.

Roughly a year ago, we had the pleasure of exploring the first two releases from Dischi Fantom’s emerging Sussurra Luce series, Ginevra Bompiani, Caterina Barbieri, and Tomoko Sauvage’s “Il Calore Animale” and Francesco Cavaliere’s “Zoomachia Disc 1”. An extension of the Milan based cultural platform Fantom’s broad and diverse activities (exhibitions, installations, performances, etc.) across numerous artistic disciplines, the series, curated by Francesco Cavaliere and Massimo Torrigiani, delves into the “science of imagination”, working with contemporary authors to explore and blur the boundaries between text, music and voice. Now the brilliant series returns with its latest entry, the Berlin based multidisciplinary artist Hanne Lippard’s “Talk Shop”. Released in a limited edition of 200 copies and coming with an LP-sized booklet, it combines orality and textuality with the idea of loop and repetition to explore the notion of time, and it’s a stunning gesture of performative poetics that plums a startling range of subjects through its sonorous forms.

Working across the fields of text, vocal performance, sound installation, printed objects and sculpture, for more than a decade Hanne Lippard has deployed language as the raw material for her work. Working within a practice that rests at the juncture of the spoken and written word, drawing upon content appropriated from the public sphere (found text) intertwined with her own words, Lippard’s work investigates how the rise in digital communication and mediation reprograms our relationship to language, presenting the subsequent fragility of language - its flaws, oddities, and potential for misinterpretation - and its attempts to convey meaning and sense.

“Talk Shop”, the fifth instalment of Dischi Fantom’s Sussurra Luce series and Lippard’s third recorded release - building upon the ground of 2020's “Work”, issued by Collapsing Market, and 2021's “PigeonPostParis”, released by Boomkat Editions - began as a live performance. Combining orality and textuality with the idea of loop and repetition to explore the notion of time, its relationship with the world of work today, and its personification through the experience of the human body - anonymity as the spearhead of the digital economy - the conceptual underpinnings of the piece depart from the notion that the human voice has become commodified by the ubiquitous nature of contemporary productivity, and intertwined with the mechanics of capital - the voices of satnavs, smart speakers and voicemail systems - while the written word has become increasingly anonymous online.

Addressing vocal anonymity as a spearhead of the digital economy, Lippard’s “Talk Shop” - regarded by the artist as “a compilation of poems and texts where singular words and sentences are looped and repeated creating a sensory experience of the efficiency and stress found in our private as well as public life” - taps an almost dada sensibility through its unexpected layers of meanings drawn from a maximalized approach to the potential of the human voice, creating an engrossing and challenging listen from the first sounding to the last, that continues to reveal itself and unfold with every return.

Sculpting a fascinating bridge between radically experimental sound practice, conceptual art, and sound poetry, it culminates as one of the most strikingly singular creative gestures we’re likely to encounter this year. Highly recommended and not to be missed.

Hanne Lippard (Milton Keynes, 1984) explores the social forms that govern discourse. Her artistic practice, which mainly takes the form of reading and sound installations, investigates the voice as an instrument of emancipation and alienation in times of hyper-connectivity. By mixing personal thoughts and appropriating texts from advertising, slogans and newspaper articles, the text becomes a mix of private and public that regains inventiveness and authorship through the use of the voice, becoming a body of its own. Her recent artistic research has focused on the use of the female body as a container of sounds, on the conscious and unconscious automation of speech and language.

Inhaler is the third studio album by American rock band TAD, originally released on October 19, 1993. It was the band's major label debut after two albums and an EP released by Sub Pop, and it was also their first album with drummer Josh Sinder, formerly of The Accüsed. Producer J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) gave TAD a more focused and driven sound on this record. He can be heard playing the piano on ""Luminol"". The song ""Grease Box"" was played during the end credits of the 1994 movie Brainscan. Inhaler is easily their best and most consistent album to date and obtained positive critical reception upon release. Fortunately, the group has lost none of the grit that marked them as the grungiest of the Seattle scene. In promotion of Inhaler, TAD toured with Soundgarden. Inhaler is available on black vinyl and includes an insert.

Nu Skool tribe killer from Italy !
4 trackis in differents states of mind... From acid Pumpin to hardfloor seriosu dancefloor sounds... Massive.

On the flip you giot a factastic Techno tune, upleveling techno style to a new level too (ice off) andyhen comes the "revolture" time : My fave title because melting Hardtechno cruiser kick with trippy sounds, coming like incisions, and recalled witrh a clap call to remain dancefloor...

ENJOY !

Brain Thrust Mastery, the second album by Californian art rockers We Are Scientists was originally released on Virgin Records in March 2008, its heady brew of retro futurism, indie and sparkling shiny power pop make it sound thoroughly contemporary - Working in conjunction with the band, this 2LP version of the album adds B-sides and tracks recorded live at London's Union Chapel and is pressed onto high-quality 180g vinyl. Named after founder members Keith Murray and Chris Cain's dress sense led a truck rental supervisor to surmise that they had to be academics, We Are Scientists were formed in Berkeley, California around the turn of the century. Their first 'proper' album, 2005's With Love And Squalor, became an underground hit as the band toured Britain, where they gained a substantial fanbase before the album was released in America the following year. Material for Brain Thrust Mastery was debuted on an early 2007 UK tour, before the band returned to the studio with producer Ariel Rechtshaid (who would go on to win Grammys with Vampire Weekend). We Are Scientists maintain a strong sense of theatre and comedy in their live performance - at this time, the group acted as their own support, offering seminars in self improvement called 'Brain Thrust Mastery'. The album is full of well-written pop songs, rich in hooks and melody. Lead single After Hours reached No 15 in March 2008, and after the release of the album the same month, it was followed by further hit singles Chick Lit and Impatience. A summer of touring, including performances at Glastonbury, T In The Park and Reading and Leeds underlined the group's popularity.

Brain Thrust Mastery, the second album by Californian art rockers We Are Scientists was originally released on Virgin Records in March 2008, its heady brew of retro futurism, indie and sparkling shiny power pop make it sound thoroughly contemporary - Working in conjunction with the band, this 2LP version of the album adds B-sides and tracks recorded live at London's Union Chapel and is pressed onto high-quality 180g vinyl. Named after founder members Keith Murray and Chris Cain's dress sense led a truck rental supervisor to surmise that they had to be academics, We Are Scientists were formed in Berkeley, California around the turn of the century. Their first 'proper' album, 2005's With Love And Squalor, became an underground hit as the band toured Britain, where they gained a substantial fanbase before the album was released in America the following year. Material for Brain Thrust Mastery was debuted on an early 2007 UK tour, before the band returned to the studio with producer Ariel Rechtshaid (who would go on to win Grammys with Vampire Weekend). We Are Scientists maintain a strong sense of theatre and comedy in their live performance - at this time, the group acted as their own support, offering seminars in self improvement called 'Brain Thrust Mastery'. The album is full of well-written pop songs, rich in hooks and melody. Lead single After Hours reached No 15 in March 2008, and after the release of the album the same month, it was followed by further hit singles Chick Lit and Impatience. A summer of touring, including performances at Glastonbury, T In The Park and Reading and Leeds underlined the group's popularity.

Not much has been written written about the conceptual hardcore band inspired by and named after a 9th century antisocial loner monk-poet of China’s Tang dynasty. Han-shan the band existed from 1991 to ‘93 in California. Their lyrics covered themes of solitude, mystery, poverty, and discord, directly inspired by the verses of the titular poet. Han-shan’s music was psychopathic, with blood-curdling vocals, and messy but powerful, in the vein of Void, Siege or Septic Death. The band played to the absolute limits of their physical ability and then some, with a sound that complemented their West Coast contemporaries—bands like Heroin, Mohinder, Second Story Window, Antioch Arrow and Angel Hair. Recorded in San Diego by Matt Anderson in late 1993 and originally released posthumously in early 1994 on the tiny Soledad record label, Hans-shan’s eight song seven inch EP came packaged in a manila envelope, each one hand-printed with a woodcut block and roller, with the art and insert referencing both the poet and Tang dynasty China. LG Records has carefully reproduced this cover art and returned to the original multitrack tape. Tim Green has remixed the recording at Louder Studios for a significantly more powerful, and yes, LOUDER, 12” 45rpm release. Members of Han-shan had previously been in Suckerpunch, Brain Tourniquet, End of the Line, and John Henry West; and went on to play in Behead The Prophet NLSL, Solid Gold, Drunk Horse, Astral, Tight Bro’s from Way Back When, Sex/Vid, Very Paranoia, Low Plateau and Nudity. For fans of fast, out of control hardcore with a raw emotional edge. And saxophone.

Icelandic indie-pop songwriter Kaktus Einarsson will release his second album ‘Lobster Coda’ via One Little Independent Records on October 25th. Amidst a collection of lush, electronic earworms, Kaktus has penned an honest account of his recovery from a sudden functional neurological disorder (FND) that required him to relearn how to use his motor functions, while also performing his duties as a new father.

‘Lobster Coda’ incorporates dreamy, glistening synth-pop and melancholic ambience, created through layers of atmospheric keys, percussion, and groove-laden funk bass. Kaktus details his journey following a stress-induced nonepileptic seizure that halted his brain’s ability to communicate with the rest of his body, resulting in losing control of his legs, arms and causing involuntary facial tics. Crucially, he spent months on a course of physical therapy while also trying to care for his children and his partner, that by his own admission he then needed to reconnect with. With an occasionally brutal candour, Kaktus’s new album is about taking the time to reflect and recognise changes that need to be made, to listen to your body, and to trust the process no matter how long it might take.

Icelandic indie-pop songwriter Kaktus Einarsson will release his second album ‘Lobster Coda’ via One Little Independent Records on October 25th. Amidst a collection of lush, electronic earworms, Kaktus has penned an honest account of his recovery from a sudden functional neurological disorder (FND) that required him to relearn how to use his motor functions, while also performing his duties as a new father.

‘Lobster Coda’ incorporates dreamy, glistening synth-pop and melancholic ambience, created through layers of atmospheric keys, percussion, and groove-laden funk bass. Kaktus details his journey following a stress-induced nonepileptic seizure that halted his brain’s ability to communicate with the rest of his body, resulting in losing control of his legs, arms and causing involuntary facial tics. Crucially, he spent months on a course of physical therapy while also trying to care for his children and his partner, that by his own admission he then needed to reconnect with. With an occasionally brutal candour, Kaktus’s new album is about taking the time to reflect and recognise changes that need to be made, to listen to your body, and to trust the process no matter how long it might take.

Fronted by former South London lovers rock vocal harmony group, Alpha (sisters Jackie & Jean Heron and Marlene Richardson), Take Three was the brain-child of writer/producer trio "S.H.E." - Steve Sinclair, Peter Hinds & Kevin Ellis.

Meeting each other at The Factory community centre in Paddington (now known as the Yaa Asantewa centre and in the last few years, The Yaa Centre) Steve & Kevin began a partnership writing and directing their own theatre productions as part of The Black Theatre Co-Op, which called the centre home at the time. When a song they had written together for one of their productions received praise and plaudits, the path toward writing and producing records began, bringing in more seasoned hand Peter Hinds - formerly a member of key brit funk groups Light of the World and Beggar & Co, and player with Incognito, Imagination & Loose Ends - to complete the circle.

Take Three represented the first project for a creative partnership that would spawn multiple projects/aliases spanning the UK soul, funk & dance scenes, and still continues to this day. With this compilation we showcase for the first time the group's combined output as Take Three, complete with previously unreleased material.

It's been nearly a decade since Montreal's PYPY (pronounced like 'π π'...with a long 'i' rather than long 'e', thank you very much) landed with their debut Pagan Day (Slovenly), but the same lunatics behind CPC Gangbangs, Red Mass and Duchess Says are back with Sacred Times on Goner Records. One might recall the thunderous pop of their banger "She's Gone" carving out a place for itself in the high-end fashion world, becoming the soundtrack to Yves Saint Laurent's 2016 show. If that album bounced, punched and clawed like Delta 5 covered in dirt and trying to get somewhere in a booted vehicle while dodging lightning rod guitar licks the whole way, Sacred Times takes things to somewhere far beyond the proverbial "next level."

Co-vocalist/founder/multi-instrumentalist Annie-Claude Deschênes' (Duchess Says) signature howl and vocal acrobatics are present but so is a tendency towards beautiful melodies. Bassist Philippe Clement's (Duchess Says) brings a nastier bottom end that locks onto Simon Besré's drumming with a death grip for the entire affair. And guitarist/co-vocalist Roy Vucino (Red Mass, CPC Gangbangs, Black Leather Rose, Les Sexareenos, a gazillion others) goes bonkers with wildass blown-out guitar that's like hornets caught in yr hair.

"Lonely Striped Sock" grooves along like "Earthbeat"-era Slits/ESG until the chorus transforms PYPY into something else entirely. Something huge. Something with monster riffs and wah wah that pins you to the back wall. So there is clearly a brilliance with dynamics here, and it proves to be a not-so-secret-weapon that repays the "ear-vestment" in dividends throughout. "Ear-vestment"? Yikes. Then it's time for "She's Back," a sort of part 2/continuation (maybe a trilogy is in the works?) of Pagan Day's best-known gem (the aforementioned "She's Gone"). This one packs a hook that'll make your brain take out a restraining order. Looking for lost keys? Jury duty? Underwater welding? Negotiating a hostage situation? It doesn't matter...nothing will stop it from invading your thoughts. They say the only way to get a song unstuck from the noodle is to listen to it from start to finish, but you'll be doing that anyway. A lot. "Erase" is a (synth) noise-punk nugget; revealing a need for Brainiac-meets-Blondie we didn't know we had...deceptively kicking off with a no-fi drum machine that is immediately lost in the massive pop din that seemingly includes everything within reach. "Poodle Escape" is two minutes of perfect (and perfectly distorted) synth-punk and "I Am A Simulation" – with lead vox from Vucino – is yet another hit that deviates from the noise a bit and pays homage to both Devo and classic late-70's (big) power-pop (ex: the first Cars LP), but with a manic nature that is 150% circa right now. "15 Sec" (actually 3:38 in duration, thankfully) serves up a stanky-brown bass line, Deschênes' gorgeous vocals, wonderfully combative white hot, pin-the-meters Oh Sees/early Comets on Fire guitar rips, and a stunning coda that seems to utilize everything great about this band over its final minute. The album's title track is a love letter to Hawkwind in the musical language already established here. "Vanishing Blinds" is like being chased through the rain-soaked streets in an unknown dystopian nightmare from 40+ years ago. The album closes with the brooding if not playful menace of "Poodle Escape,” which, like its predecessors, is completely unlike every track before it.

Smart Alex, the brainchild of Laurant Webb and Dave Coker from the iconic Housey Doingz, has unveiled a standout reissue single on Sushitech. Specially Hot is a massive house sound system track that has been a secret weapon for Fabric residents for many years. The A side also includes a groove-laden chugger, never before released remix. Blow Your mind on the flip side is an original massive dub tracks. This heavyweight release seamlessly blending the original London house sound with Sushitech's distinctive dub-based style.

Brand new LIVE ALBUM for the Californian super band featuring Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and Ryan Güt. An incredible double vinyl gatefold album with all the band's hits and two amazing Kyuss covers. Recorded live at Altroquando Treviso Italy by Matteo Pillon

Magenta coloured vinyl, limited to 350 copies. Brand new LIVE ALBUM for the Californian super band featuring Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and Ryan Güt. An incredible double vinyl gatefold album with all the band's hits and two amazing Kyuss covers. Recorded live at Altroquando Treviso Italy by Matteo Pillon

'Celebration Of ignorance' is the third full length studio album of Tripped.

A nasty collection of heavy kickdrums including a collab with the RABBeAT & Doormouse + A remix of a legendary Celsius track.

ALBUM NOTES:
While humanity seems to get more stupid over time, (blame social media brainwashing & misinformation)
It is tough to deal with life and everything that comes on our path in general.
The intention of this album as always, is my creative outlet.
I do hope however that it can help you to place some emotions and let go of some frustrations.

This one is for the real people. People who dance like no one is watching with nothing but a smile, the dreamers, the eccentrics and outcasts who care about the world and aspire to be better every day.

Ignore the fakes and forget the digital word for a while & listen to some gabber kickdrums.

Limited pressing of 300 LPs ! 180gm VINYL LPS w/ INSERT & DOWNLOAD FILE UNDER : GARAGE ROCK / PUB ROCK "I wanted to make a very NOW album, our past was fantastic at the time but it was exactly that.the past. We've learned a lot since then and with the combination of influences and personal tastes we've concocted a combination of Raw Power guitar grunt, a touch of The Cars' pop sensibilities and Bad Seeds brood." Dave Butterworth Veteran rockers The Double Agents return with their third album New Motion a powerful new recording evoking directness and immediacy and marking their first release of new material in nearly two decades. The Double Agents' initial incarnation circa 2000 saw the fiercely independent quintet rise from humble stages to becoming one of Melbourne's most revered pub rock bands. They twice toured Europe and eventually shared the stage with iconic luminaries Dead Moon, Mudhoney, The Dirtbombs, Celibate Rifles, The White Stripes and The Black Keys before an amicable hiatus in 2008. New Motion is a modern Australian rock record and marks a departure from their garage rock roots, as best exemplified in their self released 2023 anthology compilation Best Bits. So Far spanning their first three releases. The familiar twin vocals remain, Kim and Dave summoning that deep Dead Moon energy, as does Ryan Tandy's singular lead guitar playing and the rock solid backbeat of Myles Gallagher, but the band's scope seems to have widened on this record, with the inclusion of longtime cohort Mick Stylianou (Saint Jude) adding style and harmonic punch on bass guitar and backing vocals. ..The New Motion sessions were tracked to analog tape by Finn Keane at Head Gap and Julian McKenzie at Newmarket with vocal post production by Dave Larkin (Dallas Crane), mixing by Callum Barter (Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile), mastering by Mikey Young. Dave Butterworth also produced the album.

Label boss Ste Roberts makes his debut on his imprint Private Parts, and he has invited his favorite Dutch duo the Young Adults along for the ride. X-Change Of Parts Vol 1 brings one original track from each artist, and then remixed by each other. Kicking off the EP with the quirky and twisted minimal throbber of Brain Freeze. Fun and ideal to wig out any dancefloor in those early hours. Young Adults with a perfect remix, maintaining all the fun for a heads down shuffle. A cheeky toast-apella to round of the A. On The flip, you have Young Adults ramping up the tempo, and delivering some incredibly funky tech. This sounds like it could be 20 years old, timeless stuff. Rounding off the EP Ste Roberts twists things up with a pulsating bass heavy Electro remix.

ercury Rev take you on a swan dive into the mystic: a rapture of ballad-dreams and emotional memoir at the crossroads of The Dharma Bums, Pet Sounds and Side Three of Electric Ladyland. A profound, transcendant trip from the psychedelic explorers who brought you Deserter's Songs.
David Fricke In upstate New York, deep in the seam between the Catskills mountains and the Hudson Valley, a richly swelling, spellbound sound emerges, eddying and flowing like the local Esopus Creek, or in the slipstream of the grander Hudson river, carrying the flotsam and jetsam of our hopes, dreams, fears. A sound composed of organic and electronic; guitars, keys, brass, strings, woodwind, drums - and a voice of incantations, tapping streams of consciousness that similarly eddy and flow.
Spiritually, literally, psycho-geographically: where else does Mercury Rev’s ninth album Born Horses spring from? This cascade of gleaming, glistening psych-jazz-folk-baroque-ambient quest that searches its soul but can never truly know the answer? A sound and vision linked to their exalted past whilst quite unlike anything they have created before?
The answer is somewhere between the homes of founder members Jonathan Donahue (the hamlet of Mt Tremper) and Grasshopper (the town of Kingston), in their veins and brains of their now-legendary tapping of musical cosmology, and the vital presence of new permanent member Marion Genser (keys), plus long-term ally Jesse Chandler (keys) and guests Jeff Lipstein (drums), Martin Keith (double bass) and Jim Burgess (trumpet). A place that feeds off the levitating mood of their last album, 2019’s expansive tribute Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited, and the instrumental psych explorations under the names of Harmony Rockets and Mercury Rev’s Clear Light Ensemble, and the spiritual guidance of avant-garde artist Tony Conrad and Beat poet Robert Creeley, to whom Born Horses is
dedicated.

PYJÆN are delighted to announce the release of their second album 'Feast', planned for September 2021 on DeepMatter Records. The five-piece outfit reaches inside the deep, multidimensional well of what is broadly called Jazz, bringing together all its diverse components in a singular, emotional sound. After setting a blueprint for their multifaceted artistry, combining cross-genre sensibilities with ferocious talent on their first two releases, PYJÆN have been busy writing and recording music for their second album, their most accomplished offering yet. ‘Feast’ was recorded at Peter Gabriel's legendary Real World Studios in Bath over a full week in November 2020. This proved to be an unforgettable experience, which elevated the music and created an unrivalled connection between the 5 band members and the albums featured artists Nix Northwest, Elisa Imperilee, Hilts and Corto Alto.
With the recording of this new record, each member of the group brought their own specific flavour to the table.

They explain: “We want the album to showcase our growing abilities and confidence as a group of 5 individuals, each with strong personalities and varied sets of influences, while still leaving room for featured artists, an exercise we thoroughly enjoyed on our 'Sage Secrets' EP with Blue Lab Beats and Odette Peters.” The EP reached over 1M streams on Spotify within only a few months, testimony that the band has become a major force in the UK "Jazz and beyond" scene. Their new album will fearlessly navigate the world of funk, jazz, hip-hop and punk. With their trademark raw energy, their objective is to bring people together in their love for music. 

Adventurous songwriting, meticulous timing, incredibly tight horn arrangements and an obvious joy to play together are the PYJÆN trademarks. These are brought to the table in ‘Feast’ through vibrant melodies and rich cadences. The band presents a full course musical experience with four singles: in ‘Beetle Juice’ the band joins forces with rapper Nix Northwest to offer a delicious tune characterized by an easy-going yet alluring atmosphere. ‘The Nightbus’ sees a vivacious journey narrated by enticing piano, guitar and trumpet motifs. ‘Moonlight’ sets a sultry tone with Elisa Imperilee’s ethereal vocals accompanied by delightful and intricate beat sequences. ‘By Your Side’ is the final instalment before the great ‘Feast’ showcasing an enchanting vocal exchange between Byulah and Renato Paris. With its mouth-watering combinations of jazz, ‘Feast’ is a witness to the band’s exponential growth, taking listeners on a vivid sensory experience

Formed in 2016, PYJÆN is composed of Dani Diodato (guitar), Dylan Jones (trumpet), Ben Vize (sax), Benjamin Crane (bass) and Charlie Hutchinson (drums). Releasing their debut self-titled album to wide critical and public acclaim, they have gathered support from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan, Jazz FM, and Clash Magazine to name a few. Live, as seen at A Love Supreme, Ronnie Scott's, Jazz Cafe or Brainchild Festival, the atmosphere is sizzling and the sense of enjoyment communicated from the stage is infectious.