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Vangelis, ein Pionier der elektronischen Musik, hat mit seiner sich ständig erweiternden Fantasie und seinen innovativen Experimenten wie niemand zuvor die perfekte Verbindung zwischen der akustischen und der elektronischen Welt geschaffen. Seine Orchestrierungen für das neue Album „Juno to Jupiter“ erweitern erneut die Horizonte der elektronischen Musik und verwischen die Grenze zwischen ihr und der akustischen symphonischen Musik. Das Ergebnis ist eine atemberaubende und gleichzeitig beruhigende musikalische
Reise durch den Weltraum.

Das Werk fand seine Inspiration in der wegweisenden NASA-Mission, der Raumsonde Juno und ihrer laufenden Erkundung des Jupiters. Es handelt sich um eine multidimensionale Musikreise, begleitet von
der Stimme des Opernsuperstars Angela Gheorghiu .Das Album enthält Klänge vom Juno-Start auf der Erde, von der Sonde und ihrer Umgebung sowie von Junos anschließender Reise, die von der Sonde zur Erde zurückgeschickt wurden. Die Sonde untersucht weiterhin den Jupiter und seine Monde: 365 Millionen Meilen entfernt von der Erde an ihrem nächstgelegenen Punkt.

Die NASA hat Vangelis mit ihrer Public Service Medal ausgezeichnet. Außerdem hat das Minor Planet Center der Internationalen Astronomischen Union den Asteroiden 6354, der sich zwischen Jupiter und Mars befindet, ihm zu Ehren „Vangelis“ genannt, um die internationale Wirkung und Wertschätzung seiner Arbeit sowie seine Beziehung zum Universum zu unterstreichen.

The debut album from hotly tipped kiwi band Jamie and The Numbers, finally sees a release via Pete Brady’s Superfly Funk and Soul Records. After years of limited release 7”s being fought over worldwide by collectors and fans, this superb LP is the culmination of years of work for highly gifted Tongan-Kiwi Jamie Mavusa. Based in Wellington she can occasionally be seen singing soul tunes for Tapestry Music Promotions at many of their Music Reviews and also in her gospel choir at Church. It was at one of the Tapestry Music shows in Wellington that Jamie met Simon from Deltaphonic Records/The Numbers and after watching Jamie perform an amazing version of "Wade In The Water”. It was suggested they do some recording together with the view of doing some cool Soul classics and a bunch of originals too, the rest is now history.



The Numbers are an incredibly tight Wellington based band. Prolific writers of their own original material they are a 4 piece that consist of three brothers from Wainuiamata and a newly adopted Kiwi originally from Birmingham England. If you get a chance check these guys out they are brimming with cool retro tunes and some barnstorming original songs played with verve and passion and their shows are always fun, 2019 they supported "From The Jam" on their visit to New Zealand and after teaming up with Jamie have played Pasifika Festivals and open-air concerts to thousands of people. The Numbers collectively have played, sessioned, recorded for other artists on such labels as Gut Records, D-Star, EG Records, Imaginary Records and have in excess of 40+ published songs with Universal, Complete Music, KWS Records NYC and Cherry Red Records.

Ambassador's Reception head-honcho Stevie Kotey has started sorting out his archives. Relaunching the label and assuming the pseudonym Steamy Windows he's been dusting off and souping up crowd-pleasing cuts by the score. The first fruits of this labour to be made public will be One Of Those Nights – a collaboration with cool Californian dude, Woolfy – King Of The Sun-Baked Balearic Boogie. The two of them turning in a breathless bedroom berserka of balmy, heat-stroked, blue-eyed electro street soul – suitable for fans of Apiento, Harriett Brown and Lexx' Cosmic Shift long-player. Its bass bumping bionically, keys and guitar blown in like a breeze.

Percussion-like seashells gently washed and made to shine by the tide. While Woolfy's whispers are the male equivalent of Brenda Ray's intimate coo. I've been privy to six mixes that range from a beatless ambient calm – showing off the electric axe work and celestial synthetic flute – to bottom-end bolstered dub. L.U.C.A's Quirky Version puts the beat right up front – big snares behind treated vocal fragments. Gating everything for a trippy, serenely stoned glide. Taken altogether this sextet forms a kind of suite, finally refocusing on the love song at its root.

Dr.Rob (Ban Ban Ton Ton)


b 02: One of Those Nights (Beach Hotdog) feat. Woolfy
c 03: One of Those Nights (No Vox) feat. Woolfy
d 04: One of Those Nights (L.u.c.a Quirky Version) [feat. Woolfy & L.u.c.a]
[e] 05: One of Those Nights (Green Mix) [feat. Woolfy]
[feat. Woolfy]

Handpicked by Gilles Peterson from Manchester’s vibrant live music scene, and newly signed to Brownswood, 2021 set to be the main stage for them to breeze on to the scene, as a multi-generational band breathing new life into the classic British street-soul sound, founded by singer/song-writer Kemani Anderson, multi-instrumentalist and song-writer Callum Connell and Manchester music scene stalwart Stuart Whitehead.

Debut track ‘The Sun’ was inspired by a poem written by Callum Connell at the top of Greenwich Park viewpoint looking over the infamous London cityscape as the sun set. At the time the band were writing and arranging separately with Callum & Kemani living in South London while they attended Trinity Laban (following in the footsteps of many of the UK’s young Jazz prodigies). Eventually, they congregated for a fateful recording session at Blueprint studios in Manchester, that would be the amalgamation of their individual processes, to create ‘The Sun’. Inspired by four bass chords flowing like a stream of consciousness, Callum’s poem sprung



to life as the centrepiece of the track, with the melody being polished and refined by Kemani on keys and vocals. The result is an invigorating debut produced by influential music producer and sound engineer Yvonne Ellis (Simply Red & Swing Out Sister). Kemani coins this sound as “spiritual and healing” whilst Callum shares “The Sun’ is a powerful and uplifting song that can take you on a

spiritual journey but also make you reflect on everyday life.”

The Israeli producer Yotam Avni, though not one of the main players in the Stroboscopic Artefacts story to date, nevertheless shows that he is definitely here for a reason: having contributed with an entry in the Monad series back in July, he returns with a new set of tracks that fit perfectly into the label's overall aesthetic of evolving hyper-reality, while also being a strong personal statement. With both his S.A. debut and this new offering, Avni shows himself to be a truly 'progressive' musician: a creator whose musical techniques are informed by his creative disposition and not the other way around, an individual who seems to be using the richness and differentiation of human experience in order to let yet more of it arise.

The new record begins with the galloping rhythm of "Tehillim", bringing a whole inventory of struck wood and metal elements into play, and leading listeners on an adventurous voyage through liturgical chanting and volcanic eruptions of synthesizer magma, all the while being accented with nimble percussive fills that convey the improvisational feel of classic bebop drummers. The following "Orma," while more stripped down in terms of individual elements, continues down the same path with clever spatial arrangements, and with tonal and percussive elements that seem snatched out of their buys urban environments and placed under austere laboratory investigation: this holds true for the isolated bits of sax and vaguely middle-Eastern percussive accents that the improvisational feel of classic bebop drummers. The following "Orma," while more stripped down in terms of individual elements, continues down the same path with clever spatial arrangements, and with tonal and percussive elements that seem snatched out of their buys urban environments and placed under austere laboratory investigation: this holds true for the isolated bits of sax and vaguely middle-Eastern percussive accents that distinguish this track, and which leap out mischievously from their carefully controlled setting.

"Shlok" begins with a deep subterranean kick pattern and percolating bell tones that, while first bringing to mind recent efforts from Planetary Assault Systems, soon transform into something much unique to Avni's imagination - smooth arcing vocals and contrasting shades of nocturnal ambience turn this into a very sinuous and sultry piece of rhythmic music. Once the listener has been lured in by this siren song, the closer "Even" brings the EP's most forceful and demanding beat - though its heavy punch is tempered with a sense of contemplative sophistication. Once the insistent beat is overlaid by a shimmering latticework of piano, breezelike pads, and concentrated string plucks, it testifies to Avni's ability to create tracks that are loaded with emotional nuance and defy easy description.

Acclaimed L.A. rapper Blu has left an indelible mark on the hip-hop landscape, crafting an impressive catalog instilled with the essence of the vibrant city he calls home. Now, the gifted lyricist is back with the new album "The Color Blu(e)". Among Blu’s most conceptual projects to date, "The Color Blu(e)" is an artistic thesis statement, celebrating and reflecting on a remarkable creative journey. The word “Blue” is featured in every song title, and “Blue” is also weaved into each of the album’s soundscapes. “This album is the ultimate cartoon series about myself,” Blu explains. “The Color Blu(e) is the cool breeze. Another day in the life of being Blu.” While he typically works with a single producer on each project, Blu recruited Sirplus, J57, and longtime collaborator Exile to shape the album’s sonic texture. An unapologetically personal collection with no features, "The Color Blu(e)" is packed with intricate wordplay and dynamic production, reaffirming the unique talent of the artist known as Blu

Bria is an intimate and incisive labour of love from multi-instrumentalists Bria Salmena
and Duncan Hay Jennings. Catapulted by a deep sense of dread and confusion in the
depths of 2020, Salmena decided to forgo writing her own music. “I wanted to listen for
what might reflect my life back to me,” she says, “six tracks that could be my mirror.” The
result is a pointillistic knockout of a release that weaves a landscape both luscious and a
little rogue; showing us exactly what good songs can do.
 Bria’s internal turbulence seemed to mirror last year’s external instability. When Jennings
and back-up singer Jaime McCuaig moved to The Outside Inn, a hobby farm in Hockley
Hills, Ontario, Bria soon joined. The farm’s living-room-turned-studio proved an ideal
setting for the long-time friends to compile a record of handpicked country covers. They
went searching for songs that could speak to our everyday loneliness, outside and in.
‘Cuntry Covers’ houses it all: well-worn favourites and lesser-known gems.
 The record opens with ‘Green Rocky Road’, as performed by Greenwich Village legend
Karen Dalton. Jennings’ twangy guitar carries Bria’s original inflection and richly textured
vocals, complete with dreamy overlay. ‘Dreaming My Dreams With You’, a rendition of the
Waylon Jennings hit, is followed by John Cale’s ‘Buffalo Ballet’, a lyrical journey through
Abilene, Texas, the endpoint of the Chisholm Trail.
 Engineered and mixed by Duncan Hay Jennings, each song brings desire and sexuality
front and centre, with all the swagger you’d expect – and more. Bria hopes the record will
be understood as a small contribution to the subversion of a genre with deep patriarchal
roots. Mistress Mary’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Love Ya Now’, from the 1969 album ‘Housewife’,
served as the original inspiration. “It was the first song Duncan and I worked on,” Bria
notes. “It definitely set the tone for the other tracks we picked.”
 Bria’s voice - described as wavering between “sultry and howitzer” - shines on ‘Fruits Of
My Labour’, written and performed by country great, Lucinda Williams. The Walker
Brothers’ ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ is a harmonic (and hypnotic) standout. A
musical explorer who moves fluidly between styles, Bria doesn’t consider herself a
country artist: “I feel as though I’m a visitor here, paying respect to a style that has
informed a part of my musical identity. Country music, as much as any other art form,
should be an arena for representation, expression and provocation. I have a ton of
reverence for artists who came before me and challenged the primarily whiteheterosexual status quo.”
 Salmena and Jennings have toured for years as members of Toronto four-piece FRIGS,
whose 2018 debut ‘Basic Behaviour’ was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Making a
mark in diverse genres from country to punk, both play as permanent members of Orville
Peck’s band.
 ‘Cuntry Covers’ was recorded on the territories of the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee,
the Wendat and the Mississaugas of the Credit. The release also features contributions
from FRIGS drummer Kris Bowering and vocals by Ali Jennings.
 LP pressed on opaque breeze blue vinyl.

Bria is an intimate and incisive labour of love from multi-instrumentalists Bria Salmena
and Duncan Hay Jennings. Catapulted by a deep sense of dread and confusion in the
depths of 2020, Salmena decided to forgo writing her own music. “I wanted to listen for
what might reflect my life back to me,” she says, “six tracks that could be my mirror.” The
result is a pointillistic knockout of a release that weaves a landscape both luscious and a
little rogue; showing us exactly what good songs can do.
 Bria’s internal turbulence seemed to mirror last year’s external instability. When Jennings
and back-up singer Jaime McCuaig moved to The Outside Inn, a hobby farm in Hockley
Hills, Ontario, Bria soon joined. The farm’s living-room-turned-studio proved an ideal
setting for the long-time friends to compile a record of handpicked country covers. They
went searching for songs that could speak to our everyday loneliness, outside and in.
‘Cuntry Covers’ houses it all: well-worn favourites and lesser-known gems.
 The record opens with ‘Green Rocky Road’, as performed by Greenwich Village legend
Karen Dalton. Jennings’ twangy guitar carries Bria’s original inflection and richly textured
vocals, complete with dreamy overlay. ‘Dreaming My Dreams With You’, a rendition of the
Waylon Jennings hit, is followed by John Cale’s ‘Buffalo Ballet’, a lyrical journey through
Abilene, Texas, the endpoint of the Chisholm Trail.
 Engineered and mixed by Duncan Hay Jennings, each song brings desire and sexuality
front and centre, with all the swagger you’d expect – and more. Bria hopes the record will
be understood as a small contribution to the subversion of a genre with deep patriarchal
roots. Mistress Mary’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Love Ya Now’, from the 1969 album ‘Housewife’,
served as the original inspiration. “It was the first song Duncan and I worked on,” Bria
notes. “It definitely set the tone for the other tracks we picked.”
 Bria’s voice - described as wavering between “sultry and howitzer” - shines on ‘Fruits Of
My Labour’, written and performed by country great, Lucinda Williams. The Walker
Brothers’ ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ is a harmonic (and hypnotic) standout. A
musical explorer who moves fluidly between styles, Bria doesn’t consider herself a
country artist: “I feel as though I’m a visitor here, paying respect to a style that has
informed a part of my musical identity. Country music, as much as any other art form,
should be an arena for representation, expression and provocation. I have a ton of
reverence for artists who came before me and challenged the primarily whiteheterosexual status quo.”
 Salmena and Jennings have toured for years as members of Toronto four-piece FRIGS,
whose 2018 debut ‘Basic Behaviour’ was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Making a
mark in diverse genres from country to punk, both play as permanent members of Orville
Peck’s band.
 ‘Cuntry Covers’ was recorded on the territories of the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee,
the Wendat and the Mississaugas of the Credit. The release also features contributions
from FRIGS drummer Kris Bowering and vocals by Ali Jennings.
 LP pressed on opaque breeze blue vinyl.

This recorded autobiography of Catherine Howe, age 20, briefly appeared in 1971. Too young for memoirs, most artists have barely established any sort of musical competence by the age of legal adulthood, let alone compositions matching the maturity and
complexity of Howe’s. What A Beautiful Place, however, is a prodigious effort wrought from the melancholy ruminations of post-adolescence. The album’s twelve songs unfold like a classic bildungsroman, beginning in the smoke-stained industrial county of Yorkshire, transformed by the electrified creative landscape of mid-century London, and retiring to the warm pastoral bliss of the county of Dorset on England’s southern coast. Produced by noted jazz pianist Bobby Scott, the LP—oft-mistaken for a concept album—was available for only a month in the summer of 1971, disappearing after Reflection Records’ shuttering in 1971.

Best Record Italy presents a reissue of Model 11-29's "Wot Times," a particularly inspired work by the legendary Sangy that transforms "Rapper's Delight" into a slice of Italo-balearic ecstasy. On the vocal version, drums sit between disco and electro as they boogie down to a breakdance beat, with greasy funk basslines slapping and sliding in support. Solar dub chords pulsate through anthemic pattens, pads blow across the mix like a warming ocean breeze, synth leads sparkle in coral colorations, and those classic Sugar Hill Gang lyrical flows are reconfigured into an ebullient spoken word rap, which is then morphed by futuristic fx and interspersed with shouts, grunts, and call-and-response chants. On the flip, the instrumental version walks with more of a sexual disco strut, resulting in a summertime seaside cruiser overflowing with dazzling synthesizer displays, as organ chords generate mirage visions, gemstone leads shimmer through swells of tropical mist, and acid-laced Italo pulsations work the spirit into euphoric beach dance hypnosis.

Primal Code's fifth record on Hypnus introduces a refreshing evolution of their contemporary fusion of electronic music genres.

Early support from Brando Lupi, Abstract Division, Giorgio Gigli, Samuli Kemppi, Takaaki Itoh and Ness to name a few.

One of Detroit’s finest exports is legendary house and techno pioneer, Gari Romalis, and as we enter what could potentially be a summer of love he creates an outstanding four track EP, “Black Traxx Matter”, spreading a message which scratches way below the surface, using music as a tool to share. The body of work spans across distinctive and slinky deep house energy, oozing class and emotion, notably what we have all come to love and adore in Romalis’ back catalogue. Music from the soul, for the soul, coming soon on Italian label, Nicepeople.

Opener “Black 2 Da Future” rides an effortlessly cool groove, brushing by in the summer breeze, paying homage to brighter days. Next up is “Black Diamondz (Africa Mix) consisting of a tight and punchy drum arrangement, and warm and infectious sub bass. Welcoming you with open arms.

“Black Luv” is lighter on its feet than the previous tracks, a definite housey spring in its step, all of the elements conversing in sweet harmony. A cruise down nostalgia lane. “Purpose Reprise (Motivate Mix)” closes this wonderful EP, six and a half minutes of pure bliss which shifts into a pure and powerful moment when a spoken word sample enters the room, as the soft keys work their way around the message.

A masterpiece body of work from one of the most esteemed artists in the game. The Nicepeople label keep continuing to propel high quality sounds from new and established artists, with a healthy schedule already pencilled in for 2021.

LTD. COLORED VINYL

Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988 hovers vibe–wise between two distinct poles within Light In The Attic’s acclaimed Japan Archival Series—Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 and Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976–1986. All three albums showcase recordings produced during Japan’s soaring bubble economy of the 1980s, an era in which aesthetic visions and consumerism merged. Music echoed the nation’s prosperity and with financial abundance came the luxury to dream.

Sonically, Somewhere Between mines the midpoint between Kankyō Ongaku’s sparkling atmospherics and Pacific Breeze’s metropolitan boogie. The compilation encompasses ambient pop, underground electronics, liminal minimalism and shadow sounds—all descriptors emphasizing the hazy nature of the nebula. Out–of–focus rhythms wear ethereal accoutrements, ballads are shrouded in static, and angular drums snake skyward on transcendent tones. From the Avant–minimalism of Mkwaju Ensemble and Yoshio Ojima, to the leftfield techno-pop of Mishio Ogawa and Noriko Miyamoto (featuring members of YMO), and highlights from the groundbreaking Osaka underground label Vanity Records, these are blurry constellations defying collective categorization.

These tracks also exist in a space of transition when the major label grip on the Japanese recording market began to give way to the escalation of independents. Thanks to the idyllic economic climate and innovations in domestically–manufactured music gear, creators on the edges were empowered to focus on satisfying their artistic visions in the open headspace of home studios. While labels like Warner Music and Nippon Columbia explored new sounds through traditional channels, it was possible for Vanity, Balcony and other indie labels, not to mention self–released artists like Ojima and Naoki Asai, to publish their work via affordable media such as cassettes, 7" vinyl, and flexi–discs.

Expertly curated by Yosuke Kitazawa and Mark “Frosty” McNeill (dublab), Somewhere Between is a collection of music, much of it released for the first time outside Japan, that is bound more by energetic vibration than shared history, genre or scene. They are the sounds of transition and searching—a celebration of the freedom found in floating.

Note: The track “Days Man” by Yoshio Ojima is only available on the LP and Cassette versions.

An unheard production unit entirely geared towards hi-octane live explosiveness and spine-tingling studio hustle-and-bustle, Hysteria Temple Foundation step up with their anticipated debut platter, "Atrahasis EP" - a four-track EP by way of manifesto, due out for release on September 13 / 21.

Elusive and haunting by nature, skirting Shackleton-esque dub meanders, polyrhythmic folk instrumentation and further left-of-centre sonic divagations, the sound of Hysteria Temple Foundation is one that sheds skins when you expect it least. Scanning out a baroque timeline where no-holds-barred floor traction wildly clashes along deeper sound investigations, "Atrahasis" ushers us into a twirly pit of tribal drums and bow echoes.

Summoning the spirits of Muslimgauze and African Headcharge for a hectic ride in a sandstorm-caught bazaar of processed darbukkahs and further steely industrial tropes, "Annunaki" gets the ball rolling in sheer immersive fashion. Cranking the heat up a notch, "Gamesh" rushes us headlong into ruthless rapids of accelerated ritual drums and mind-expanding acid onslaughts breathing in some squelchy spaciousness into its intricately-woven web of sound.

Flip sides and here's the proper grime-steppish number "Ziuziu" taking over your brainwaves with a fierce unloading of harnessed machine rage and dystopian cybernetics turned into some club-optimised weaponry. Back to a dubby kind of vibe, "Chmanze" raises an army of louder-than-loud kicks, FX-laden percs, sizzling spurts and ankle-snapping breaks, all fit to breeze across the bulkiest sound systems with utmost sangfroid and nonpareil trenchancy.

Keeping his carbon footprint at a minimum, Santilli sails from Sydney to Hamburg via ten textured vignettes delicately drawn with guitar, bass and organic percussion. Relaxing, reflective and endlessly
beautiful, ‘Tidal’ explores elemental inspiration through a humanistic gaze.
Whether you know Max Santilli through Ken Oath duo Angophora, previous releases ‘Surface’ and ‘In Circles’, or this is your first time making his acquaintance, you’ll agree he’s right at home on the
Growing Bin. The multi-instrumentalist crafts exquisite acoustic music in tune with the finer moments of Windham Hill and ECM; a perfect fusion of talent, balance and the emotion shared by each release on the Hamburg label.

As befits its inspiration ‘Tidal’ is an organic affair, related through bright acoustic guitar, hazy chimes and hand played percussion. Where the Australian draws you in with hypnotic repetition, the subtlety, warmth and tonal variation serve as a welcome reminder we’re living off grid. Though expert fretwork
often takes centre stage, especially on the delicate B1 ‘Warm You Give’, it’s the blend of kalimba, woodblock, hand drums and shaker which truly transport the listener through open waters; a rhythmic
breeze carrying us through the maritime drones and bowed squall. At times the salt air is spiced with cardamom and cloves (‘Sea’) or lemongrass and galangal (‘Valleys’), as we skirt the Indian Ocean or
the Java Sea. ‘Lapse’ provides subtle hints of fourth world jazz as mallets take the lead, leaving the guitar to provide its own shimmering texture.

Clear your mind, clear your schedule and make some time for ‘Tidal’, an opportunity to breathe in time with the planet

Horace Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (P.A.P.A.) was one of the most transformative, forward-thinking and straight-up heavy big bands to have played jazz in the 1960s and 1970s. If P.A.P.A. doesn't have the interstellar rep of that other famous Arkestra, and if the name Tapscott doesn't ring bells like Monk or Tyner, there's a reason why: in an industry dominated by record labels, a band that doesn't record doesn't count. And the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra didn't record for nearly twenty years. But recording success was never their concern -- they weren't about that. First formed as the Underground Musicians Association in the early 1960s, Tapscott always wanted his group to be a community project.

From their base in Watts, UGMA got down at the grassroots. The group was renamed the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in 1971, and soon after they established a monthly residency at the Immanuel United Church of Christ which ran for over a decade, while still playing all over LA and beyond. But they never released a note of music. It was the intervention of fan Tom Albach that finally got them on wax. Determined that their work should be documented, Albach founded Nimbus Records specifically to release the music of Tapscott, the Arkestra, and the individuals that comprised it. The first recording sessions in early 1978 yielded enough material for two albums, and the first release was Flight 17. The album commences with the magnificent title track. It is effectively in three parts. It begins with unaccompanied pianos. Then the ensemble embark on a dense, circular and mechanical movement, a platform for horns and pianos to swoop and dive. We return to Earth with a beautiful solitary flute. The second track, the piano-centric, ‘Breeze’ is different to ‘Flight 17’ in intensity and also brevity but it is quietly as daring as the title track. It concludes with a moving lush wash from the full Arkestra, which sound almost like strings only more substantial. These first two tracks take full advantage of the texture of the unusual mix of the various instruments. Next though, it’s a significant change with ‘Horacio’, which is an exuberant Latin infused jingle. It’s unlike anything else on the album. I like to think it was named after the conductor’s Cuban alter-ego! ‘Clarisse’ gracefully switches between slow blues and bop and is bookended with a grand vaguely East Asian theme. The busy bass line introduces ‘Maui’. As with the previous track, it moves between a number of contrasting melody lines and rhythms but there’s still space for a tuneful sax solo.

This is a must-have album. I think the first two tracks on their own make this release essential. Kevin Ward/UK Vibe/Boomkat

Ganze acht Jahre haben sich die schwedischen Viking-Metaller THYRFING Zeit gelassen, um ihr achtes Album zu präsentieren: VANAGANDR ist eine alternative Bezeichnung für den Fenriswolf aus der nordischen Mythologie!

Auch diesmal geht es bei THYRFING inhaltlich um Mythen, Märchen und Geschichten aus Skandinavien. Der kraftvolle, schwere und aggressive Opener DÖP DEM I ELD eröffnet das neue Album mit Groove und Melodie, es folgt mit TRÄLDOMSORD der wohl intensivste Song der Band bis dato, das Epos JORDAFÄRD schliesst voller schwermütiger und stimmungsvoller Sehnsucht das Werk perfekt ab. Co-produziert wurde VANAGANDR von Jakob Herrmann (In Flames, Machine Head, Evergrey) in den Göteborger Top Floor Studios, während Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, U.D.O., Katatonia) Mix und Mastering und Niklas Sundin von Cabin Fever Media (ex-Dark Tranquillity) das Artwork beisteuerten. VANAGANDR ist ein eindrucksvolles Statement, mit dem sich THYRFING zurückmelden, nachdem sie in den letzten Jahren ihren Fokus auf Livegigs legten und u.a. das Wacken Open Air, Summer Breeze und das Sweden Rock Festival zum bersten brachten.

Meditative tropical soundscape of the Hawaiian Islands
Originally pressed in 1980 in limited quantities
Meticulously restored and remastered by Jessica Thompson
A lost gem from the exotica pioneer's catalog: the rarest of all Arthur Lyman releases — and his last recorded album — Island Vibes a meditative tropical canvas of the Hawaiian Islands’ natural beauty.
A welcomed sonic transport to paradise, much needed in these times of chaos. Originally recorded with Broad Records, who’s responsible for Phase 7’s Playtime and other important 1970s and 80s-era local records.

3 + 3 is the eleventh studio album by American musical group The Isley Brothers, released under T-Neck/Epic Records. It marked the first time the group officially included six members instead of three: older brothers Ronald, Rudolph and O’Kelly Isley were joined by younger brothers Ernie and Marvin as well as their brother-in-law Chris Jasper. The album was very successful, which can be attributed to the successful singles “That Lady”, “What It Comes Down To” and “Summer Breeze”. 3 + 3 ultimately became the band’s first platinum album. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and was also ranked #464 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2020

Boy Golden has a purpose: enjoy each day and make good music. Founder and minister of The Church of Better Daze, he wants to help people seeking to improve on yesterday’s themes. His songs, like hymns, are hopeful, fresh and upbeat. KD & Lunch Meat is fluorescent and fun, like its namesake, and easily ingested. Something to Work Towards searches for the meaning in life, while Smoke on the Breeze and Any Way It Works are warm, tender and linger like perfume. Church of Better Daze is the inspirational, musical manifesto. The harmonies are the collective idea of working together, the mellow melodies keep our hopes alive and the lyrics are golden rules to live by: Follow your heart / Make good art / Call your momma / Work real hard. Redefining jam band and stoner cultures by turning dead heads into lively brains, Boy Golden wants to unite us all in a hazy dream under one roof. “We’re all the same at the Church of Better Daze,” he sings. Find unity in the congregation of these 11 tracks, which redefine the precedent for collaboration, common goals and cannabis. If you’re open to learn, and can speak your truth, you can blaze and still get paid in Boy Golden’s Church of Better Daze.