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God & Guns is the 13th studio album by the southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd. It features the singles "Still Unbroken" and "Simple Life". "Still Unbroken" was written after the death of original bassist Leon Wilkeson in 2001. It was also the theme song of WWE's Breaking Point PPV event and is featured on WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010. "God & Guns" was the last Lynyrd Skynyrd album to feature the band's longtime keyboardist Billy Powell, who died in January 2009. Ean Evans, who had replaced Leon Wilkeson on bass, also passed away before this album came out.

The album's title comes from its track "God & Guns", written by Mark Stephen Jones, Travis Meadows, and Bud Tower, which was later covered by Hank Williams Jr. for his 2016 album It's About Time. The track "Floyd" features a guest performance by none other than Rob Zombie. God & Guns peaked at #18 on the U.S. Billboard pop charts, the band's highest-charting studio album since 1977's Street Survivors.

God & Guns is available on black vinyl and includes a 4-page booklet with lyrics

Influences enter into the frame ranging from '90s trance, to early M83, to Yoko Kanno anime soundtracks. With its M1 piano stabs, supersaws, and glimpses of Amen breaks, the album charts a luminescent space between 5 a.m. warehouse raves and the urban freeways of its cover image-- romantic, nocturnal, and reckless in its velocity and emotional abandon.

The sessions with Walla (Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, Foxing) struck the perfect balance between preparation and experimentation, injecting new life into the band's style of soft- hearted Midwestern indie rock with an ever so subtle Americana twist. The solidified Ratboys lineup stretched and expanded their vision in the studio, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboys' most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. It flexes everything from fuzzy power pop choruses on "Crossed That Line" and "It's Alive!" to a warm country twang on "Morning Zoo" to mournful folk on the titular track. After more than ten years and four studio albums, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heard--expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender--the
sound of four friends operating as a single, cohesive unit.

After 25 years of living his dream as one of hip hop’s most respected producers, Hi-Tek is digging back into his roots with a brand new trio of instrumental vinyl LPs in 2023. “Beatbox Studios (1995 MPC 60II)” is the first of the series, each featuring a selection of restored and remastered beats, carefully chosen from an archive of DAT tapes. These LPs manage to both provide a window into Tek’s development and to shine light on the work of an already enormously-talented musician whose beats would’ve sounded right at home on classic releases from the mid-1990s.

Having learned to make beats off of borrowed equipment as a teenager, the aspiring DJ/producer born as Tony Cottrell achieved a break of sorts when he was hired in 1995 to manage one of the rooms at Beatbox Studios, a sprawling complex in the Clifton neighborhood in Cincinnati. It became the go-to-spot in town for emerging talent, giving him a chance to learn about the intricacies of recording and to sharpen his communication skills with artists to maximize their performance The gig also gave Tek plenty of down time to practice on and to master the studio’s Akai MPC 60II while making his own music. It was around this time he began to collaborate with the top rap talent in Cincinnati, and he started regularly visiting New York City to plant seeds for new relationships in the industry.

Though his work eventually evolved far beyond the styles present on “Beatbox Studios,” here you’ll find many signature elements of that era’s contemporary New York sound: some snappy drums reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest or Easy Mo Bee, plenty of horn stabs a la Pete Rock or Lord Finesse, and the kind of dark pianos and filtered bass lines that producers like the Beatminerz were steadily employing. These were his biggest influences at the time, and that was the sound of 1995. As it turns out, that classic sound remains in demand today, and while Hi-Tek was not a well-known name in hip hop circles at that time, the calibre of beats on “Beatbox Studios” prove that he was a talent to be reckoned with, even then.

The sessions with Walla (Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, Foxing) struck the perfect balance between preparation and experimentation, injecting new life into the band's style of soft- hearted Midwestern indie rock with an ever so subtle Americana twist. The solidified Ratboys lineup stretched and expanded their vision in the studio, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboys' most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. It flexes everything from fuzzy power pop choruses on "Crossed That Line" and "It's Alive!" to a warm country twang on "Morning Zoo" to mournful folk on the titular track. After more than ten years and four studio albums, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heard--expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender--the
sound of four friends operating as a single, cohesive unit.

Perth-based artist hub 823, led by the extraordinary producer / creator Ta-ku joins forces with Berlin's Jakarta Records for the release of Godblesscomputers's fourth full-length LP, "Faded Views." The LP melds bright electronic flourishes with laidback synth-driven backdrops, weaving tapestries of mellow folktronica and groovy jazz harmony with continuous sonic intrigue that will keep you grooving into a tropical disposition. Paying homage to his musical moniker, the Bologna-based producer makes timely metallic interjections amidst lush, effortlessly groovy soundscapes. Explore a world of found, recycled, and synthesized sound on "Faded Views" out everywhere September 8.

Bologna-based producer, DJ, and sound collector Godblesscomputers (122k Spotify listeners) has returned with the release of his fourth full-length record, "Faded Views." Godblesscomputers's latest LP "The Island" (2020, La Tempesta Dischi) earned him placement on Spotify playlists like "Brain Flood" and "Coffee Club." Since then, his appearance on Willie Peyote's track "La colpa al vento" landed GBC on "Best of Indie Italia 2022." On "Faded Views," it was Godblesscomputers's creative project to explore the sonic potentials of his direct environment, picking up recordings and threads of inspiration from the most commonplace occurrences. A sonic scavenger, Godblesscomputers explored the expanses of his-both digital and physical-soundscapes. "Faded Views" does the work of crafting a unified, yet complex compilation of the noises that mark the experience of being digital natives in ever-expanding dimensions.

Godblesscomputers's use of musique concrète and found-sound composition melds curiously with his undeniable electronic and techno acumen. Superimposing metallic electronica onto esoteric sound bytes creates the occasion for complex sound collage. "Faded Views" marks a decade since the genesis of the Godblesscomputers project; the entire LP testifies to how time warps perception and sound. Godblesscomputers's music seems to decorate time, both commemorating the moments passed with mind-melting sonic collages and looking forward to the infinitudes of the future with frenetic electronic experimentation.

Themes of impermanence and transience-hence "Faded Views"-pervade the record. Godblesscomputers blurs time as each track seeps into the next in what feels like a seamless transition. He makes these swift passages in genre as well-the record opens on "Colors" with a rich horn section which frictionlessly becomes a lo-fi dance groove. It is this melding of the analog and the electronic that makes sense of his found approach to beat-making: Godblesscomputers marries the found and the synthesized; the creator and the created; the past and the future. The process of sonic dissection and recomposition that drives much of Godblesscomputers's creative process yields not only assertive breakdowns and animated dance tracks, but also complex tapestries of sound that keep the listener ever-intrigued-piano, saxophone, and modular synthesis all find a natural home on tracks like "Hello." In an apt description, the producer's work has been described as "sounding like wood, metal, and microchip."

Godblesscomputers's artistic objective lies in blurring definitive lines, constantly shifting perspectives, genres, and origins of inspiration. On "Faded Views," this design cultivates a folktronica record that truly evades definition.

Feelgood lead single "Mirrors" is out June 30th and features a rich meld of warbling layers, mixing upbeat dance music with complex instrumentation. Stream second single, "Above the Lake," for a mellow summer cut on July 21. Finally, the effortlessly groovy third single "You Feel Me" captures a genre-warping foray into folktronica. Listen to "You Feel Me" on August 11.

All LP artwork and stunning single visualizers were single-handedly put together by multi-disciplinary designer Michael Norman. "Faded Views" will be available everywhere physically and digitally on September 8, 2023. Be sure to listen for focus track "Hello" that captures the vast scope of Godblesscomputers's musical prowess. Find the LP, CD, and digital release on 823's and Jakarta Records's Bandcamp and local record stores.

Working with Bat For Lashes producer David Kosten (aka Faultline), the recording of Man Alive was completed mainly in a chapel in North Wales. The album sounded unique. Nothing dates like the future, yet Man Alive sounds dateless, placeless, and as a result, stands up perfectly many years later.

Man Alive was only the beginning of the group's adventures in – to use their words – 'Mismatched styles of music mashed together.' The result is often exhilarating; there are Brazilian drums and a prog guitar breakdown in Schoolin', classical influences, as well. Its subject matter is often way outside the realms of conventional songwriting; MY KZ, UR BF explored the different Americas: the cosy self-centred domesticity of programmes such as Friends versus a foreign policy
based on killing; Qwerty Finger examines imperialism. Anglo Saxon guilt is also present.

The album's artwork was striking – a photograph of a fox by Swiss photographer, Laurent Geslin, reflecting the track Tin (The Manhole) which deals with the theme of depression, through, as the band said in 2010, "the story of an urban fox that ingests all our pollution and grows massively in a sort of dream sequence. We chose photos of an urban fox for this reason, but we partly attacked the code of the digital image to create a glitch distortion . . . a reference to digital manipulation and chaos as well as our modern lives online".

Released in August 2010, Man Alive made the UK Top 20 and was well reviewed.

For example, BBC Music commented that the group "know more than most how to craft a song, how to make an album. They know how to give it depth, light and dark, and they - crucially - know when to stop." Man Alive was shortlisted for the 20th Mercury Music Prize in 2011.

The original LP edition of the album is super- scarce, released before the 'vinyl revival' kicked in, hence the original pressing now selling in the high three figures.

This re-issue is presented with scrupulous attention to the detail of the original UK first pressing, complete with gatefold sleeve, poster and 8 page booklet. It is pressed on 140gm vinyl.

It is always our pleasure to have new talents in the house, and we've been following Notzing's development since long ago. His approach to techno is absolutely personal and complex, hard and intrincated, mental and physical.

Protae is the first missile in this box full of weapons, a super busy techno exercise with compacted drums, drilling synth lines and random metallic hits breaking the monotony. The effect on the floor is devastating and has been tested extensively in dancefloors worldwide by label owner Oscar Mulero in the past months. 7 minutes of pure dancefloor mayhem.

Fagus continues with the sickness, with hysterical synth washe repeating an hypnotic chant, adding layers of sound as the groove goes by. Repetition is here the key to proper trance, not exactly with pleasant tones but by aggression.

Ekaterin is gummy and elastic with formant synth sounds chewing frequencies and changing constantly in shape. Another mental mantra with a physical drive.

Molniya slows down the pace and dives into profound sound scapes full of unnatural underwater sounds and washes providing a feeling of scuba diving.

To end this sonic odyssey, Emision goes completely beatless, growing from the profound sub bass frequencies to crispy and crunchy surface noises, creating the soundtrack of floating in outer space with no gravity. Please beware of the super intense bass tones when playing on a big sound system.
The perfect combination of experimentation and punchiness, keep an eye on this guy, is gonna make some proper noise in the coming years.

Mila Stern's groove-heavy and highly danceable sound explores fringe soundscapes informed by Post-Punk and Electro. What sets her apart is a willingness to embrace unorthodox sounds, explore the beauty in harshness and dissonance, and transform jarring atmospheres into captivating dancefloor moments. With 'Five Finger EP', Mila Stern delivers an eclectic six-tracker featuring two high-pressure originals and four carefully selected reimaginations by Camea, mytripismytrip, Öona Dahl, and Hardt Antoine for Kiosk catalog number 021.

'Five Finger Discount' encapsulates Mila's uncompromising aesthetic: warm, powerful, energetic, and constantly teetering on the brink of disintegration. Morphing, overdriven stabs build energy atop a sub-heavy groove and a sea of pads. A sweeping break fractures the track into shuddering bursts of corroded machinery, before the compact groove returns with punishing dancefloor power.

Camea transforms 'Five Finger Discount' into a heavy-weight techno roller. Shuddering, pitch-shifting bass hits and salvos, sizzling white noise sweeps, and an ominous mantra morph the track into a darkly efficient peak- time banger.


Hardt Antoine builds his rendition of 'Deadline Disco' around an infectiously body-moving arpeggio. Layers of distortion add a searing edge, transforming the original into a stripped powerhouse with Dark Disco undercurrents.

Few artists move on the fringe so comfortably, make unconventional sounds so accessible, or pursue their vision with the same bright-eyed conviction.

With 'Five Finger EP', Mila Stern epitomises the magic that happens when uncommon sounds are embedded in the framework of commanding, floor-focused energy. 'Five Finger EP' embodies her stand-out style and the stunning range of musical interpretations it inspires.

Today, Anjimile Chithambo, better known as Anjimile, announces his new album, The King, out September 8th, his first full-length since 2020’s breakthrough Giver Taker. To herald the announcement, he shares lead single, ‘The King’, accompanied by a visualiser by Daniela Yohannes, whose striking painting takes centre stage on the album cover.

Highlighting the artistic shift from Giver Taker to now, ‘The King’ opens with a lofty, melodic choir, an intro that belies the song’s motives. Suddenly, sinister arpeggios interrupt the reverie, and the voices grow darkly serious. Deeply steeped in the confusion, grief, and rage of being Black in America, ‘The King’ pushes back against the tired adage, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” hissing, “What don ’t kill you almost killed you// What don’t fill you//pains you// drains you.”

“If Giver Taker was an album of prayers, The King is an album of curses.” In his second album, Anjimile continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America. The brutally honest reflection of 2020’s deadly summer is less reminiscent of the pink cloud of early sobriety and more rooted in the reality of seeing brutality with clear eyes. Drawing from influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward for Anjimile. Nearly every sound you hear on The King comes from two instruments: an acoustic guitar and Anjimile’s own voice. Other than a few beautiful contributions from Justine
Bowe, Brad Allen Williams, Sam Gendel, and James Krivchenia (Big Thief), the album is the result of a year in LA working intimately with Grammy and Juno winner Shawn Everett.

Today, Anjimile Chithambo, better known as Anjimile, announces his new album, The King, out September 8th, his first full-length since 2020’s breakthrough Giver Taker. To herald the announcement, he shares lead single, ‘The King’, accompanied by a visualiser by Daniela Yohannes, whose striking painting takes centre stage on the album cover.

Highlighting the artistic shift from Giver Taker to now, ‘The King’ opens with a lofty, melodic choir, an intro that belies the song’s motives. Suddenly, sinister arpeggios interrupt the reverie, and the voices grow darkly serious. Deeply steeped in the confusion, grief, and rage of being Black in America, ‘The King’ pushes back against the tired adage, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” hissing, “What don ’t kill you almost killed you// What don’t fill you//pains you// drains you.”

“If Giver Taker was an album of prayers, The King is an album of curses.” In his second album, Anjimile continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America. The brutally honest reflection of 2020’s deadly summer is less reminiscent of the pink cloud of early sobriety and more rooted in the reality of seeing brutality with clear eyes. Drawing from influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward for Anjimile. Nearly every sound you hear on The King comes from two instruments: an acoustic guitar and Anjimile’s own voice. Other than a few beautiful contributions from Justine
Bowe, Brad Allen Williams, Sam Gendel, and James Krivchenia (Big Thief), the album is the result of a year in LA working intimately with Grammy and Juno winner Shawn Everett.

Described as a musician's musician, Allen's sound is built on a foundation of pop, rock, Americana, Roots and Blues influences. Jon Allen has a soulful, whiskeysoaked voice and a striking gift for melody. He has never been content to be pigeonholed, as demonstrated by the eclecticism of his albums to date.Of the album Jon writes ''The last few years have felt like a pressure cooker slowly increasing to boiling point. There is sense of threat and a feeling of impending doom. Living in a large urban centre during a global pandemic brought out a sense of paranoia. We became more aware of our need for space, our need for silence and to be close to nature to get above the noise of a city. I'm absorbing all the time and everything from the famous Will Smith slap to missing people inspired the songs. How close are we all to the tipping point? What are we likely to do in heat of the moment? What will stress do to us when pushed? But light
follows dark, and there are the moments of simplicity and you can count your blessings for the simple things life has to offer".

Nous'klaer Audio presents Martinou - Chiral, the follow full-length up to his 2021 album Rift. This time nine tracks across two vinyls. An album flowing 'in a way' like Rift, but it's different: More outspoken, heavier sound design and it peaks on a blissful note. ''Open up the blinds and take me there. We'll break the surface tension. We'll dive in. I'm locked in your devotion. You give an inclination to our demise. It will be our exit. To bliss, we'll be its guardian. Once there was love. Clear as glassy water. No ripples, no waves. I followed while you led. Our arrival was warm. Hot, even. Stunning to a startling degree. Hands intwined, frolicking towards the blue. Hours passed, and white heat cede to an orange hue. We cooled down. Red. We rallied. Black. It began. Into the deep darkness we ran. White sand, it has a tendency to get everywhere. Salt water will only dehydrate you more. Shriveled and dry. Scratchy and coarse. More. And then we were lost. Fingers once locked grew distant. Morning, dear. Where have you gone? We looked. A glimpse from afar. Red. We rallied. Shall we share a bottle of wine? Black, lost again. Afternoon, friend. Where were you? Red. Alone. Black. We rallied. Shall we try somewhere new? Sand and salt. Evening, sir. Reservation for one? Reservations a plenty, I say. Evening, miss. Dining alone? Aren't we all? Dining, miss, not dying. Oh, yes, alone. Black. Sand and salt. I found you. No. No. Wait, do I know you? You feel like a dream. Don't touch me. Move along, sir. Who are you? Leave. Who are you? Where did you go? Keep moving. I am, I will. Time to move on. I'm moving! Leave. Don't touch me. Leave. Why are you? Exit. Purple. Orange. Yellow. White. Blue. Morning, dear. Shall we have breakfast? I think I'll sleep some more. But it's our last day. I know. See you downstairs when you're ready. OK. I open up the blinds. A bird breaks the surface tension. Locked in. To Devotion? No. Demise. An inclination. Reverie. Take me there. Where? Exit (To Bliss) '' Text by Gregory Markus

On his third album Comité Hypnotisé let you belly flop into his eleven chambers of the Danza Del Piri-Piri: expanding the feral and contagious universe he started to build a lifetime ago. Levitating and shimmering a glistering way through deep old skool 70's sitar vibes and jitterbug grooves. This boogieman aka the Millionaire-mind and part of the Evil Superstars has carved some hot smoked out bass and organ flared cuts on wax, ready to never leave you again. Whether it is with woodchopped kazou sounds stretching into hazy sunshine desire or dazzling basslines blending with interstellar and stuttering kick drums: the Danza Del Piri-Piri flip-flops and slams into a wiggly relentless sonic future.

FFO Sven Wunder, Ennio Morricone, Khruangbin, Flying Lotus, The Meters, Parliament, Edan, The Gaslamp Killer.

Comité Hypnotisé is the brainchild of Tim Vanhamel, frontman of Millionaire and Evil Superstars, two of Belgium's most famous alternative rock bands. In 2013 Tim started creating solo music that only got released in 2021 on his first solo album through the Belgian eclectic Cortizona label

NEW 45 BY DEEP-FUNK PIONEER LUCKY BROWN RECORDED DURING THE NOW LEGENDARY SPACE DREAM SESSIONS!

In around 2001, Joel Ricci, the trumpet player/composer behind his former stage alias, Lucky Brown, went traveling on a worldwide "quest for funk". During that pilgrimage, he went to London England in time to attend Keb Darge's 'Legendary Deep Funk' 6-year anniversary at Madame Jojo's. While in the middle of the dancefloor, he was moved so significantly by this obscure brand of 'deep funk' Mr. Darge was unveiling, he became overcome by a mystical sense of 'coming home'. Additionally, he spent a week at Camden's Jazz Cafe to meet The Poets of Rhythm, The Breakestra, The Sugarman Three, DJ Snowboy, DJ James Trouble, and others. When Joel mentioned the nature of his quest to Neal Sugarman, he warmly invited him to come visit Brooklyn and kick it with members of Antibalas, Binky Griptite & The Mellomatics, and the Dap Kings. But before the trip back to the states, Joel spent some time in Paris playing his trumpet at a club called 'Cithea' where they would host weekly 'rare groove' jam sessions. During the jams, Parisian students of Tony Allen would overtake the stage with their instruments and their full African clothing, chant the word, 'Fela', and begin to play this intense free improvised funk and afrobeat. While traveling by train from Paris to the south of France to visit family, Joel began hearing this inspiring polyrhythm swirling in his inner ear and mixing with the "clack-clacka" of the train moving down the track. As soon as he arrived at his destination, he sat down at a piano and jotted down the polyrhythm, bass line and fundamental horn cluster on a piece of sheet music paper. The simple tune was finally rendered to tape ten years later with Lucky Brown's Crawdad Farmers aka The Funk Revolution on the Magik Carpet at drummer Olli Klomp's Lakeside log cabin in Stanwood, Washington. The tune became the title track to Lucky's first full-length on Tramp Records (Lucky Brown's Space Dream, TRLP-9011).

Space Dream is so titled in part to commemorate a soulfunk masquerade party Joel threw at a temporary all-ages Bellingham Washington music venue called 'The Pickford Dream Space'. This is Joel's stripped-down tape-only remix and re-edit which has never before appeared on 45RPM and commemorates the re-release, remaster and repackaging of upcoming Tramp LPs, "Space Dream" and "Don't Go Away", the fully realised 'director's cut' featuring Ricci's early group funk experiment: "The Funk Revolution."

Here comes Emotional Rescue and Konduko's last in their series of Noel Williams/King Sporty reissues, this time looking at later electro productions and the hip-hop/boogie influenced 'Sun Country'. Vocals and co-production come from Williams' long-time partner Betty Wright and as well as a vocal and instrumental mix there's a longform remix by Bay Area disco dub stalwarts, 40 Thieves.

By this point in his career, the godfather of Miami Bass had travelled a long way from his Jamaican roots in reggae and soul, paying homage to the warm climbs of the Sunshine State and laying down a much copied template using the TR-808 drum machine create the electronic emulations of the breakbeat, claps accenting the backbeat and trademark low frequencies shaking the floorboards. The instrumental stretches the arrangement, emphasising the interplay between electronics, bass, vocal samples, scratching and fx, the voice transformed into a percussive element in its own right. The flip sees 40 Thieves flexing their understated understanding of electro funk, making for a rounded, generation-jumping package.

Disco re-edit master Moplen sprinkles his magic on the golden grooves of Jackie Moore’s classic, ‘Holding Back’ for the third release on A’s and Bees backed with the original Breakdown and Chin-Mental mixes from the mighty John Morales and Sergio Munzabai (M&M).

Continuing their run of heavyweight pressings that marry remastered originals with new interpretations of those prized cuts, A’s and Bees look to ’83 with this sensuous slice of disco heat, blending beefy slap bass with a soaring string section and Jackie’s soulful vocal tones. A cover of David Simmons’ 1979 classic ‘Holdin' Back’ penned by Gregg Diamond and Steve Love, Moore’s interpretation is a high energy disco hit from across the Atlantic.

Opening up the release, re-work whiz Moplen was graced with the stems to the original recording, tweaking, finessing and squeezing out all the best bits of the original building the tension across 7 sublime minutes, that balances deftness with full frontal power. Taking the A2, the original vocal mix in all its glory, produced and arranged by MFSB’s Bobby Eli.

On the B side two masterful M&M mixes from the legendary duo of John Morales and Sergio Munzabai in the form of the Breakdown and Chin-Mental versions.

50% of the profits from this release will be donated towards the British Beekeepers Association.

Clearlight returns, two years on from his DNO debut alongside regular collaborator Owl, with five otherworldly solo excursions.

What’s most striking about the Belgian’s work is the way he brings digital textures to life. Like an alien biosphere that doesn't abide by our own natural laws, his soundscapes are irregular and uncanny, but in a way that makes them feel all the more real.

Tracks like ‘Super Strong’ and ‘Heavy Feet’ sway and wobble to cumbersome beats, lumbering through swamps of croaking, chirping, fizzing things. The former eventually collapses into total abstraction, while the latter endures blasts of technoid bass, like the retrorockets of some hulking spacecraft coming in to land.

‘Spinning Head’ is powered by a buzzing oscillator that rolls back and forth across the stereo field. Paired with assorted clattering, clanking percussive debris, it’s an unnerving yet oddly pleasant experience, as if someone were rummaging around between your ears to help find a part that’s come loose.

Lead track ‘Water Willy’ is stranger still. Shifting from something akin to an exotica record played at the wrong speed to a melancholy whalesong lullaby, its twangs, chimes and plodding bass pulse create an eerie but beautiful ambience reminiscent of the deep ocean.

Only bonus track ‘Salt Cube’ is willing to break the spell, upping the pace to deliver the EP’s most traditionally dancefloor-friendly cut in the form of glitchy minimal d&b, with a heavyweight halftime switch post-breakdown.

Taking sounds from the club, but clearly not feeling forced to cater for it, Clearlight grows alternate realities that feel familiar, but offer wondrous, illuminating new experiences. Step inside and join him.

Rhythms of postmodern realism at the very bottom of the DNO.

FUSE head honcho Enzo Siragusa drops his first EP of 2023 with the long-awaited release of ‘Laughing Tones’, backed by a remix from Subsequent boss Voigtmann.

It’s safe to say that every time FUSE founder Enzo Siragusa steps out on his home label with fresh music, it’s an event that carries a lot of attention and for a good reason. His last EP on the label ‘Dreamscape’ celebrated the imprint’s 50th EP release, while stand-out releases and records dating back to his very first on the imprint back in 2011 have continued to shape and evolve the label’s core identity, pushing the sound forwards while still bringing that trademark ‘FUSE aesthetic’. Returning to the label for his first release of the year, mid-July sees the renowned selector and producer unveil his latest EP ‘Laughing Tones’ as he uncovers a pair of heavily-requested productions that showcase his diverse production range backed by a driving remix from Voigtmann.

“While many people know about the influences I draw from jungle and hardcore, my sound has always been routed within house music. The inspiration behind ‘Laughing Tones’ comes from the house music from the late 90s; Mood II Swing, Inland Knights, the dubs and those deeper b-sides.. this record is a bit of a modern twist on that influential sound” - Enzo Siragusa.

A production drenched in rich melodies, title cut ‘Laughing Tones’ is a bright and lively production as the vibrant, sweeping leads and delicate chords meet a zigzagging, engrossing bassline and skippy percussion arrangements for a deep and bubbly trip through all hours of the night. Next, ‘Blossom’ enters the fray built around killer breaks and subtle low-end evolutions, all accented by jazzy tones and hazy textures, before Voigtmann’s vinyl-only remix of the title cut takes things into more off-kilter territories as eerie interludes, sharp hats, and cosmic tones take hold of things and dive deep into the early hours.

Over a year in the making straight from the depths of Dorset, MUSH TRAX is bringing the naughty four to the floor cuts for all the mushes and mushettes. Footprint setting the energy with his speedy g debut 'Light it up', certified badboy Dunman with his first vinyl appearance will test the bassbins with 'Hot', and for good measure we've got the elusive Ash Brown with a weighty piece of breaksy techno 'Whompa'. 'Ave some of that me chavvys!!

Rumbleton makes a welcome return to Rupture, cooking up some essential flavours with the 'Right Ingredients EP'.

Toronto connects with London once again as Rumbleton makes his first appearance on the label since 'The Fifth Column' in 2018 - it has been worth the wait as four cuts are exported in all the correct measures.

Lead track 'Right Ingredients' has been one of Rupture’s most sought after dubs. A totally unique track with elements of dub, soul, drumfunk and a chest rattling bassline that cuts deep.

Heavy artillery follows on 'Raw Deal' in a surge of amen pressure that continues into 'Just A Dream'.

Rumbleton never loses sight of the musicality however; his collaboration with Dodz, ‘Island Cream’ is filled with warm pads, tough breaks, groove & heart.

Radio Slave drops ‘Wild Life’ on Rekids this May

Following the recently dropped ‘Strobe Queen’, which picked up support from Honey Dijon, Sean Johnston, Laurent Garnier, BBC Radio 1’s Pete Tong and Danny Howard amongst many more, Radio Slave returns with another standout House cut ‘Wild Life’, turning in two exceptional Disco and Dub mixes.

“I’ve always adored the “Wildpitch” era of DJ Pierre, Roy Davis Jnr, DJ Duke and labels like Power Music It’s definitely influenced my work as Radio Slave and “Wild Life” started out as a nod to that early nighties sound. Conceived during the pandemic, I had the track mapped out and then with help of a good friend I decided to add live bass, loads of analogue keyboards and record the whole thing live and it became this super funky disco jam.” - Radio Slave

Radio Slave aka Matt Edwards is one of dance music’s undisputed heavyweights. Having made his name as a DJ in the 90s, he went on to become the king of edits, twisting pop, R&B and indie cuts into essential versions that consistently set clubs alight. Since the mid-2000s, Edwards’ originals have helped define modern dance music, tackling techno, house, breakbeat, minimal and disco whilst exploring dub, balearic sounds and ambient across the myriad of other aliases and projects.

On the 25th August, Burna Boy will release his brand-new album ‘I Told Them…’. It will be available to stream everywhere as well as on CD & Vinyl. The Pre-order will go live alongside the album announce on the 28th July. ‘I Told Them…’ features Burna’s newest hit singles ‘Sittin’ On Top Of The World (feat. 21 Savage)’, ‘Talibans II’ & ‘Big 7’ as well as a whole host of album features.



Burna Boy was born Damini Ogulu in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, in 1991 and began making music at just ten years old. As a teenager he honed his craft on Nigeria’s southern coast, delving into dancehall, reggae and Afrobeat’s. In the early 2010s Burna Boy emerged as one of Nigeria’s fastest-rising stars, combining influences from his Nigerian heritage with hook-filled pop stylings to create unforgettable tracks. His 2012 single ‘Like to Party’ broke into the global mainstream and paved the way for his full-length debut L.I.F.E, a year later.



Over the next five years, Burna Boy released two more albums and collaborated with a long list of high-profile artists including J Hus, Skales, Fall Out Boy and Lily Allen. African Giant was released in 2019 followed by his fifth album Twice as Tall in 2020 (which featured collabs with Chris Martin and Youssou N'Dour), both charted in several countries across the globe andgarnered worldwide acclamation, with the latter winning a Grammy Award for ‘Best Global Music Album’. Breaking cultural boundaries, he became the first Nigerian to headline a show at New York’s Madison Square Garden, he released his sixth album, Love, Damini, last year (featuring collabs with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Khalid). It deservedly became the highest-charting Nigerian album in history and currently holds the record for the only African artist to earn a no. 1 on iTunes in 16 countries worldwide.

King Krule, Interpol, Alex G, Orion Sun, Snail Mail, Toro Y Moi, Unknown Mortal Orchestra. “Transparent Yellow” Indie Store Colour. (LPC1) available while stocks last. For Lutalo, creating music is an act of hope in and of itself. Throughout their meticulously crafted folk, rock, and soul, on which they sing and play all the instruments, the Twin Cities-raised, Vermont-based musician embeds golden lines of poetry that inspire curiosity about the world and empathy for everyone searching for a way through it. After releasing their 2022 debut EP, Once Now, Then Again, Lutalo emerged as a rising talent in the indie world, catching the attention of Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold and Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker, who invited the young musician on tour. Following a vinyl release with that breakthrough project, they are releasing its companion EP, AGAIN, on August 25 via Winspear. On the ambitious AGAIN, a collection of kinetic indie rock tracks, Lutalo makes bold critiques of systemic oppression, capitalism, and the digital attention economy. Though these topics are heady, their writing always sits at an accessible place of personal introspection. Like on the arresting single “Push Back Baby,” whose fuzzy electric guitar lines twist and unfurl in intricate patterns, Lutalo paints a complex portrait of our current reality that’s “rooted in the greed or narcissism of capitalists,” they explain. “I’m analyzing those systems and patterns, and also asking, ‘Can we continue to not perpetuate this?’ Because it’s hurt a lot of people historically. I’m just asking people to question it.” Through their music, but also through their lifestyle that’s alternative to America’s economic and political systems, Lutalo asks listeners to imagine new possibilities. “I want to help people question the way they’re living,” they say, “so we can create a better reality for us to exist in together.”

King Krule, Interpol, Alex G, Orion Sun, Snail Mail, Toro Y Moi, Unknown Mortal Orchestra. “Transparent Yellow” Indie Store Colour. (LPC1) available while stocks last. For Lutalo, creating music is an act of hope in and of itself. Throughout their meticulously crafted folk, rock, and soul, on which they sing and play all the instruments, the Twin Cities-raised, Vermont-based musician embeds golden lines of poetry that inspire curiosity about the world and empathy for everyone searching for a way through it. After releasing their 2022 debut EP, Once Now, Then Again, Lutalo emerged as a rising talent in the indie world, catching the attention of Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold and Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker, who invited the young musician on tour. Following a vinyl release with that breakthrough project, they are releasing its companion EP, AGAIN, on August 25 via Winspear. On the ambitious AGAIN, a collection of kinetic indie rock tracks, Lutalo makes bold critiques of systemic oppression, capitalism, and the digital attention economy. Though these topics are heady, their writing always sits at an accessible place of personal introspection. Like on the arresting single “Push Back Baby,” whose fuzzy electric guitar lines twist and unfurl in intricate patterns, Lutalo paints a complex portrait of our current reality that’s “rooted in the greed or narcissism of capitalists,” they explain. “I’m analyzing those systems and patterns, and also asking, ‘Can we continue to not perpetuate this?’ Because it’s hurt a lot of people historically. I’m just asking people to question it.” Through their music, but also through their lifestyle that’s alternative to America’s economic and political systems, Lutalo asks listeners to imagine new possibilities. “I want to help people question the way they’re living,” they say, “so we can create a better reality for us to exist in together.”

RIYL: Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Bark Psychosis, Caspian, Mogwai, This Will Destroy You. Exclusive vinyl colour (Opaque Mix Hellfire), limited to 1000 copies, and features a gatefold jacket, printed two-sided Euro sleeves, four art prints, and download code. Breaking from the strange monotony and abnormal norms that took hold during two years of pandemic life, Hammock returns with Love in the Void, an album that looks to the future, seizes the present, and unabashedly relishes the experiences and bonds that bring meaning to our days. Known for crafting orchestral works of stirring cinematic ambience, on Love in the Void the Nashville-based duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson bring guitar-forward, heart-pounding urgency to songs that shout through and shatter the static of complacency. Since forming as Hammock in 2003, Byrd and Thompson have released 14 critically-acclaimed albums and are renowned for their unique talent for bringing inexpressible emotion to life. The Covid-19 pandemic followed closely after one of Hammock’s career-defining works, the Mysterium, Universalis, and Silencia trilogy that chronicled the incomprehensible loss of Byrd’s 20-year old nephew. At their homes and apart, Byrd and Thompson then recorded Elsewhere, an album of shimmering ambience that channelled alienated longing and displacement into avenues that gave way to worlds and possibilities yet realized. Shaken awake and needing to break free of frustrations and longings, Love in the Void pulses with an unbridled spirit for action and experience and a burning desire for connection. Across songs that hammer home the keenly felt emotions of life’s highs and lows, Byrd and Thompson crest soaring crescendos awash in reverb and delve to keenly felt moments of quiet introspection, with unflinching lyrics on tracks like “Undoing” and “Denial of Endings’’ that weigh choices made and circumstances that can’t be changed. Lush and dramatic string orchestration from Matt Kidd (Slow Meadow) and emphatic drumming from Jake Finch heighten the stakes in play, and Christine Byrd’s (Lumenette) ethereal vocals leave mysteries lingering in the haze. Love in the Void is Hammock’s loudest album to date, embracing daring and vulnerability with palpable vitality at its core, and moving into an unknown future without fear.

A Tele Music CLASSIC from 1972, Pierre-Alain Dahan's Continental Pop Sound is of those library albums with something for everyone. Breaks? Check. Fuzz guitar? Check. Slower, jazzy stuff? Double check. It's a stunning collection of psychedelic rock, soulful funk and retro pop stylings that's currently going for over £200 on Discogs. And with good reason. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou and Sauveur Mallia) and Jef Gilson Septet. So, you know this Be With reissue is nailed on essential.

Skip the by-numbers opener "Rock Extra" and head straight to the deeeeeep, minimalist groove of "Slowrama", a humid masterclass in low-slung, creeping crime funk with weighty breaks and beefy bass complimented by hypnotic wah-wah and warm electric piano. Sensational. It was sampled by Prince Po in 2004 for his "Love Thang" track. The galloping "Latin Pop Sound" is a percussive, Santana-esque tour de force featuring fantastic guitar shreds over a bassline to die for. "Morning Melody" is a lightweight amble whereas the brief but deliciously psych-rock heavy "Islam Blues" is a must for your mixes when requiring short segue tracks. The A-Side closes out with "Phasing Drums N° 1, 2 & 3", all completely ace. For us, N° 3 is the pick of the bunch, with particularly slooooow and deliberate drums underpinned by a droning, sinister organ. Hip-hop, before hip-hop, no less.

The genuine monster "Pacific Rock" blasts out the gate to usher in Side B, a thrilling and unrelenting pop-rock instrumental that really drives. "Quasimodo Pop" contains great slow mo funk breaks and scratchy guitars that alternate with pretty heavy riffing to create a compelling base track. "Carmel Beach" is as beautiful as the location it's named after, as insouciant guitars glide over super slo-mo beats and dramatic organ before it breaks down to a laconic, reflective electric piano showcase. Sumptuous. "Auto Moto Rallye" is a brief driving funk gem, as you might expect, complete with revved up guitars tuned and played to emulate the irresistible sound of growling race cars.

The upbeat, piano-led rock stomper "V.S.O.P Rock" is all well and good but, what you might really be here for is the trio of tracks that ensure the LP ends on an almighty high. The three most famous tracks “Rythmiques 1, 2 & 3” all come complete with *ultra*-dope breaks. N° 2 is probably our favourite, with the shuffling bassline and breaks combo augmented by the wonderful cowbell. Though on any other day, it could be N° 3! This album is often considered as the “baby brother” to Tele Music's Rythmiques, and this triptych is all the proof you need. Outstanding.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al), Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier) and many more. Some pedigree.

The audio for Continental Pop Sound has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Pierre-Alain Dahan & Slim Pezin's Neo Rythmiques is an absolute KILLER Tele Music library classic from 1976. It's absolutely sensational throughout, all scorching, uptempo jazzy soul funk that Mr James Brown himself would've been envious of. This is serious business with breaks for days. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Mallia et al!) and Jef Gilson Septet. With Neo Rhythmiques, he's joined by his eternal guitar colleague Slim Pezin (Voyage, Manu Dibango, Nino Ferrer), so you know this Be With reissue is fundamentally vital.

Opener "Soul Car" is a swaggering, horn-drenched jazz-funk beast whilst the slick JBs funk of "Happy Penalty" is just plain irresistible. Definitely influenced by American funk flavours, it stands alone on its own right as a brilliant piece of music, no question about that. The blazing "Kuzi-Kuza" is again horn-fuelled but has a more exotic, Latino feel, all loose grooves and bastard blues with funky organ and shredding guitars. The stomping, proto-disco of "Mercy Boa" is a guitar-sizzled Bohannon-esque hypno-groove for adventurous dance floors the world over. Outstanding. And if all that wasn't enough from one half of a 70s French library LP, the A side ends with the monumental, stratospheric "Slim Bertha"! I mean, what can you even say about this absolute monster?! Slo-motion, deep drama funk breaks with jazzy guitar and gleaming percussion. Just sensational.

Side B opens with "Country + Country", a rather forgettable slice of piano driven bluegrass funk (?!) Aaaaannyway, "Super Airship" follows and is a driving fuzz-guitar psych-rock workout of the highest order. We're back on track now. The brilliantly titled "Electronic Mutation" is a total highlight, the funk most definitely returning and, indeed, strong in this one with its deep clean breaks (with some particularly ace hi-hats), echoey effects and funky clavs. "Africa Semper" follows, all funky percussion, trippy echo and distorted, psychy guitar licks. To close out the set, "Neo Rythmiques 1 and 2" form a great salvo of top-tier, percussion-heavy synthy-funk-fusion. For our money, the bugged-out echoey space-soul of "N° 2" just about edges it.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member - alongside his partner here, Slim Pezin - in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co and Voyage. Dahan also featured in Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al) and Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier), whilst the CCCP Pezin backed, among others, Manu Dibango and Nino Ferrer. Some pedigree.

The audio for Neo Rythmiques has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Toying with the familiar but not afraid to break with expectations, AVEM presents a versatile range of works that make up his debut album.

Dream State was largely written and produced in times of the pandemic, specifically during lockdown periods — a context that grants the album an air of melancholic isolation. Offering seven songs on a double LP, it marks the collective imprint LOKD’s vinyl premiere. Merging sounds of Electronica, House and Techno, LOKDLP001 finds its place neatly outside of common categories.

In the past years, the Swiss DJ, producer and live act has made a name for himself with a steadily growing catalogue: not only through a handful of EPs, but also by releasing countless singles, remix- es and live recordings. In autumn of 2023, the Basel– based artist now reveals his first studio album.

Instrumentation ranges from studio percussion re- cordings, synthesizer & drum machine classics, all the way to ethereal piano and vocal performances; all performed and recorded by the artist himself.

Familiar structures of House and Techno are introduced, only to be broken again by gleam- ing twists and turns. A focus on percussion is ap- parent throughout the album, be it in the dynamic texture of drum recordings or in the evolving break- beat rhythms of a guiding bass drum.

Dream State tells an ephemeral tale of the uncertain, treading through an unique territory of opposites — from rapid progression to outright hypnosis, from weightless yearning all the way to euphoric catharsis.

Part of Tele Music Reissue Campaign, 2023 first time reissue, 140g vinyl

Wow! Pierre-Alain Dahan & Mat Camison's Rythmiques is another iconic release in the hallowed Tele Music catalogue. First appearing in 1973, it features tense funk, blunted jazz and heavy breaks all the way. Considered the rightful sequel to Continental Pop Sound, it's a vital album for producers and DJs; and you can probably guess that RHYTHM is central to the record's presentation. And you can really taste what's rhythm, to borrow a phrase. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Mallia et al!) and Jef Gilson Septet whilst his partner here, Mat Camison, was a pioneering synth LORD. So, you know this Be With reissue is absolutely crucial.

The album picks up from where Continental Pop Sound left us, opening with the tense, stabbing thriller-funk of "Rythmiques N° 4". The dubbier "Rythmiques N° 5" is no less electric and definitely has a spacey air of wonky funk about it with the slightly off-kilter rolling piano. "Rythmiques N° 6" is more percussive-focussed with a brilliantly hypnotic opening that really stretches the drama out. “Rythmique N° 7” alternates between fast-paced, skipping drums and slo-mo funk, always with the clavinet high up in the mix. Wicked. The dope jazz of “Rythmique N° 8” truly mesmerises with licks of electric piano, funky bass flourishes and varied percussion. “Rythmique N° 9” has great, sloppy-yet-hard intro drums which sound like something Daft Punk could've pilfered circa Human After All, punctuated by a guitar rock refrain that repeats til the end but is never overdone. The A-Side closes with the beautiful, melancholic "Piano + Piano", a reflective jazzy piano track which could easily open a wide-ranging set this autumn and many after it. Stunning.

Opening Side B, "Auto Rythmiques" is a hectic yet compelling funk workout but it's all about the frankly devastating breakbeats on “Rythmiques N° 10 & N° 11” with effortlessly twisted funk bass lines over open drum breaks and enough tension and rhythmic switch-ups to keep your neck-snapping and your mind lifted. Downright essential. Taking leave from the heavy funk break action, the pastoral "Océan Horizon" is perhaps an unfairly overlooked highlight. A gorgeous, softly-aquatic, ambient gem, it's gently percussive with warm, floaty keys decorating the mellow rhythmic bed. The mercifully brief "Super Carrousel" is harmless fun-fair-funk but perhaps best skipped over whilst the intriguingly titled "Gay Shopping" is another throwaway exercise in inexcusable jaunt whilst. To close out this memorable set, thankfully, we're left with "Suspense N° 1" to get us back on course with its unsurprisingly tense mix of urgent stringed instruments that flirt with rhythm and melody yet the longer the track goes on. Deep.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al), Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier) and many more. Some pedigree.

The audio for Rythmiques has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Cursed to ride forever on this mortal plane after partaking in a satanic drug ritual, the Death Wheelers pledge allegiance to the god of hell and fire. However, in order to prove themselves to their newly anointed leader and for the spell to take effect, the club Will need to engage in a series of lewd acts of sex and violence across the country.Immortality comes at a price and you’re about to pay for it… The beating heart of The Death Wheelers is a rumbling engine. Since their self-titled debut in 2015 and in 2020’s cinematic-storytelling breakout, Divine Filth, the Canadian outfit have tapped into wind-through-hair freedom and careened down open roads of groove, not a cop in sight. Their third record, Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness, more than lives up to its name on all fronts. With songs like “Morbid Bails” and “Lucifer’s Bend,” the in-the-know references abound, and The Death Wheelers draw from classic underground metal, scummer heavy rock and cast themselves into a cauldron of cultish biker devil worship, reveling in any and all post-apocalyptic dystopias with genuine glee at having just seen the world eat itself. You might hear some surf guitar. Crazy things can happen. A sample in “Triple D (Dead, Drunk and Depraved)” underscores the message: “We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man. And we want to get loaded.” That line, from Roger Corman’s 1966 film The Wild Angels, serves as a mission statement, and as “Lucifer’s Bend” starts by laughing about how you can’t get away from Satan, they might as well carve it into their forearms to be ready when the blast of distortion hits, as much Entombed as Motörhead, galloping and sinister, coated in road dust and blood. The band tells the story like this: “Cursed to ride forever on this mortal plane after partaking in a satanic drug ritual, the Death Wheelers pledge allegiance to the god of hell and fire. However, in order to prove themselves to their newly anointed leader and for the spell to take effect, the club will need to engage in a series of lewd acts of sex and violence across the country. Immortality comes at a price and you’re about to pay for it…” While forging songs adherent more to ideology than style, The Death Wheelers cast their biker cult in their own image, and on Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness, they challenge death head-on as only those with no fear of it could hope to do.

“Orlando Furioso is a haunting, one-of-a-kind statement, from an important new voice in improvised music.” - Steve Lehman

“…imagining instruments that haven’t been invented yet: space harps, cosmic gamelan, Venusian banjo. It’s the purest distillation of Atria’s musical language, simultaneously grounded and unearthly.” - Stewart Smith for The Wire (November 2022)

“Making liberal use of microtonal harmony and hypnotic, ostinato rhythms – as well as the occasional stylistic smash-cut, reminiscent of John Zorn – Orlando Furioso announced itself on Wednesday as a punchy, creative force on the New York scene. (…) Atria’s rhythms had a welcoming, social propulsion, and the microtonality of his writing for keyboard proposed an individual – even insular – language.” - Seth Colter Walls for The New York Times.

Early European composers felt that their work reflected in its structure the divine nature of the material world. Via tuning, form, and contrapuntal alchemy, these musicians sought to illuminate and edify the complex and perfect order of existence. The music recorded here also reflects the contours of an ordered world, but it is no place any of us has ever visited. By assembling far-flung building blocks from the detritus of a 21st-century musical vocabulary, Orlando Furioso brings the listener into a bizarre new cosmos. The result is deeply expressive music that speaks not with the voice of a narrator or memoirist, but with that of a cartographer.

Like a science-fiction Dante, the listener is taken on a tour of many diverse and colorful provinces of an alien world. Though each composition references its own set of real-world musical locales (from the Andes to Indonesia to Italy to New Orleans), they are bound by stylistic consistency into a coherent, continuous geography. Permeating this world is an uncompromising commitment to microtonal harmony, rhythmic intensity, and an ability to deploy the esoteric (Nicola Vicentino's notorious 31-tone temperament) and the head-smackingly obvious (a surprise djent breakdown) with equal conviction. Though Vicente's compositions are steering the ship, serious recognition is due to all the players on the record for their ability to meet these demands.

Our omnivorous musical diets offer real abundance. They enrich our craft by providing access to limitless approaches from which to choose - more masters to study, traditions to absorb, and techniques to hone than is possible in multiple lifetimes. They can also inflict heavy and often contradictory burdens of influence. When every corner of the map has been charted, it becomes difficult to find a new direction in which to travel. One solution I hope to see more often is the one pursued on this record: breaking down distinct musical worlds into component parts and reassembling them into a language. When completed with precision and with no stone left unturned, the seams between the pieces vanish and the listener is deposited somewhere beautiful and strange, left to assign their sensations meanings of their own. - Mat Muntz

Orlando Furioso is led by Vicente and features David Acevedo, David Leon, Andrew Boudreau, Alec Goldfarb, Daniel Hass, Simón Willson, and Niña Tormenta. Orlando Furioso celebrated its release at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, NY, as a part of Wet Ink Ensemble's 24th Season opening concert, a performance which The New York Times heralded as "virtuosic", "punchy, creative" and "even revelatory."

Winner of the Deutscher Jazz Preis: Best International Debut Album 2023

Raised by its streets, Nym Lo has been around long enough to see the city change. His new record with Static Selektah shows promise that there is some music from the new hip-hop genres that remains true to the Bronx culture from which it was born. When asked what New York means to him and his sound, he stated "New York is the epicentre of everything. Then more specifically, Harlem is the centre of that. I'm heavily influenced by it. My look, my talk, my music, everything. My whole lifestyle."

Following the success of Hiroshi Sato's reissue, Wewantsounds is proud to announce an ambitious programme to release Akiko Yano's albums outside of Japan starting with her 1981 synth-pop masterpiece 'Tadaima.', co-produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto and featuring YMO. The reissue includes original artwork by cult illustrator King Terry, a 2 page insert and OBI Strip (LP) plus a new introduction by renowned Electro DJ Joakim. Japan's best kept secret, Akiko Yano is one of the most ground-breaking artists to come out of the 70s Japanese music scene along with HaruomiHosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto. A piano child prodigy, Yano started her solo recording career in 1976 at just 21, recording her debut album "Japanese Girl" with no less than Little Feat as the backing band. This album created a stir on the Japanese scene and Yano was on the map. She went on to record a series of superb albums mixing Funk, Electro and City Pop featuring the cream of Japanese (and sometimes American and English) musicians; The fact she was producing, writing and composing herself made her a true maverick in a very male-dominated industry. These albums, incredibly, have never been released outside of Japan to this day. "Tadaima." ("I'm home" in Japanese) recorded in 1981 is Yano's fith studio album co-produced by her then husband Ryuichi Sakamoto and featuring all the musicians from YMO (HaruomiHosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Sakamoto), the group she was touring with at the time. "Tadaima." is Yano's first attempt to leave the acoustic piano aside and delve into the synth sounds of the early 80s. The result is a fascinating electro pop masterpiece showcasing her talent as a writer, musician and singer, creating her own unique universe. Mixing Japanese and English lyrics, Yano crafts perfect pop songs such as "Tadaima" "I Sing", "HarusakiKobeni" (which became one of her most famous songs after its use in a Japanese cosmetics ad), while "Taiyo No Onara" is a suite composed of nine short stories written by Children. Contributors on Tadaima also include ShigesatoItoi, one of Japan's most famous copywriters (for Studio Ghibli among others) who wrote two tracks on the album and his friend legendary illustrator TeruhikoYumura - aka King Terry - who revolutionised underground manga in the 70s with his 'heta-uma' (bad-good) style, as showcased on the album's striking artwork. 'Tadaima.' is the perfect entry point to Akiko Yano's unique body or work.


The reissue comes with the original obi strip artwork, extensive liner notes and a new introduction from Joakim

Various artist of pure hardgroove techno connecting the newschool with the old-school.

Ready to tear up the dancefloors

'Ain't Ever Easy' is the best example to date. The muscular, chooglin' beat of the country funk heater "Can't Take Back" opens Ryan Curtis' sophomore album 'Ain't Ever Easy.' Like a steam train gliding into some high desert station, it bears the strong vintage machinery of Curtis' "alt-country from the high country" sound. The song lopes in on oozing guitar and keys over a backbeat that pulses sexier than a
breakup song has the right to be. Regret has rarely sounded this happy, but Curtis is capable of turning love and loss into dripping hot, powerful songs. Over the last decade the various styles of country have become Curtis' stock-in-trade. With a gravelly growl he paints cinematic pictures of picaresque people from the Midwest and the badlands; down and out townies, bar room drifters, forlorn lovers, and resilient loners fill his visionary tales, mournful subject matter he turns into country gold.

Remastered for its 10th Anniversary, the newly cut vinyl edition of Ripely Pine features the bonus track “Up In The Rafters,” long a live favorite that really should have been on the album in the first place. More than anything, Aly Spaltro has 20,000 second-hand DVDs to thank for her first album. Despite being recorded at a proper studio in her recently adopted home of Brooklyn, Ripely Pine showcases songs conceived during her tenure at Bart’s & Greg’s DVD Explosion in Brunswick, Maine. Little did customers know, the same store they’d drop off their Transformers movies was providing the ideal four-year cocoon for the development of a major musical talent. Spaltro worked the 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM shift. Each night, after locking up, she’d walk past Drama and Horror, pull out her music gear from behind a wall of movies, and write and record songs until morning broke. She did this every day, drawing strength from the monotony of her routine and testing out multiple techniques, approaches and instrumentation. Anger, confusion, love, happiness and sadness reigned, and the songs ran rampant, with little form or structure. Isolated for those many hours, Spaltro let melodies morph together, break apart and pair up. This is how she taught herself to write music and sing. Taking the name Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Spaltro became one of the most beloved musicians in Portland. Her live shows were unhinged, as melodies followed an internal logic only apparent to Spaltro herself. She sang and played guitar, and the songs offered a vivid yet brief snapshot of her expansive world. At 23, with years of writing and performing music already under her belt, she ventured to the next milestone—recording an album. This would be the first time she did so in a professional studio and the first time she shared the process with anyone else. Luckily, she met Nadim Issa at Let ’Em Music in Brooklyn. He was taken enough by her abilities to dedicate nine full months toward the recording of Ripely Pine, and she with his producing abilities to ease comfortably into making him a part of her recording process. She wrote everything—all the songs, all the arrangements. And the two of them assembled an album that finally fit what existed in Spaltro’s mind. Keeping the songs’ stark rawness, the record is a pure representation of her sound. Ripely Pine shouts the introduction of a new talent from every groove. These recordings come as close as possible to conveying the intense majesty of her live shows, and, much like those performances, a narrative breathes through the record’s progression. The album opens with urgency and anger, settles into reconciliation and reciprocation, and ultimately reaches toward resolution, realizing infatuation leads to a loss of self; instead, embracing one’s own strengths is the most powerful thing of all.

Thelonious Monk could walk from his flat to New York’s famous Philharmonic Hall on the corner of 64th Street and Broadway when he made his very first appearance there with his Big Band in December 1963. And the other musicians could get there on the underground: Phil Woods, Steve Lacy, Thad Jones – all of them were members of Monk’s closest circle of collaborators.

It is no wonder then that the well-known themes were highly agreeable and harmonious. "I Mean You", "Four In One" and "Epistrophy" resounded through the auditorium, the audience was thrilled, Thelonious laughed and danced and a short while later fans could listen to parts of the concert on a recording released by Columbia Records. In a break for a smoke, Monk sat himself down at the piano and played "Darkness On The Delta" – nocturnal atmosphere pure.

Does it bear the patina of times long past? Absolutely not! Thelonious Monk is as red-hot as he ever was.

Rare Jazz-Funk album from 1978 by Headhunters founder.
Featuring an all-star line-up including Herbie Hancock.
Originally released in 1978 on Tobisha EMI Japan.
First vinyl reissue outside of Japan released in collab w/Totown Records. Comes with double side insert.

Paul Jackson (born in Oakland, California in 1947) needs little introduction. Paul began playing bass at the age of nine and was considered by many of his teachers to be a musical prodigy. Jackson was known as a “Musician’s Musician” and shaped a sound that launched a new direction in contemporary music: the so-called ‘Pulse Playing’, a trademark sound of close-meshed funk grooves combined with sensational rhythms. With this innovative approach, he influenced entire generations of jazz and funk musicians to come. Paul’s compositions were sampled by big acts from the likes of Prince, TLC, Mobb Deep and NWA…just to name a few.

Paul Jackson was a founding member of the Headhunters under Herbie Hancock (THE group responsible for their ground-breaking fusion and jazz-funk compositions that took the world by storm in the 70’s). The solid union between Hancock and Jackson has been especially evident in the many international tours they have made together…not to mention that he participated on most of the Headhunters albums and Herbie’s solo albums.

Paul has also worked as a producer and as a studio/live musician alongside acts such as Santana, Sonny Rollins and The Pointer Sisters. He was a frequent guest performer at renowned international festivals such as the Montreux and Newport events. Jackson’s composing has not gone without recognition and was nominated for Grammy Awards in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Like other highly talented, creatively motivated engineers of music, Paul has expanded his career to other mediums such as playing on blockbuster movie soundtracks such as “Death wish” and “Dirty Harry”.

Paul Jackson also wrote five solo albums worth listening to – including the monster of an album that is known as “Black Octopus” which is considered to be a kind of lost Headhunters album.

His debut album “Black Octopus” saw the light of day in 1978 and is a total piece of art filled with abstract sticky funky grooves, floating electric piano playing, strong thumping bass lines, raw heavy drums and amazing vocal acrobatics (Jackson himself takes vocals in 3 out of 5 songs, and his soulful singing voice strikes an emotional chord that does not go unnoticed).

On “Black Octopus” you’ll also find some of the best all-star musicians from the likes of Alphonse Mouzon (Roy Ayers, Betty Davis, Azar Lawrence)…and last but not least fellow Headhunters Bennie Maupin and Herbie Hancock himself.

With “Black Octopus” Paul Jackson wrote the book on how a jazz-funk-fusion album should sound like. The fact that the album was only distributed in Japan at the time (Jackson resided in Tokyo since the late 70’s, where he passed away in 2021) continues to increase its reputation as an album that is VERY hard to find. This is a must-have gem…not only for fans of jazz, funk and rare grooves, but also for DJs and collectors around the globe.