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HET VERMOEDEN - anders dan de titel zou vermoeden - is concreter dan mijn cryptische debuutalbum. Bij momenten ook ernstiger. Met liedjes over moeilijke mannen, andere vrouwen, broers, dochters en vaders. Liedjes over op reis gaan, settelen en middagdutjes.

Het is bovenal een eerbetoon aan de mensen rondom. Buren, vrienden en familieleden. HET VERMOEDEN is een intiem album geworden, recht uit het hart. Dichterbij ga je als luisteraar voorlopig niet komen...

Ik ben benieuwd naar wat ons mensen drijft. Wat er omgaat in onze hoofdenen onze harten. Ik tast vermoedens af, maar de hele waarheid krijg ik natuurlijk niet te pakken. Het is hoogstens een rake benadering.

HET VERMOEDEN was in zekere zin al af voordat ik eraan begon. Ik had het geluk om tijdens het schrijfproces de nummers al live op mijn gitaar te kunnen uitproberen. Nummers waarvan ik vermoedde: dit gaat iets worden.

Ik ging dus de opnamestudio in met een reeks uitgewerkte en doorleefde liedjes, die ik vervolgens live inspeelde met bassist Dries Laheye en drummer Simon Segers. Producer en mixer Frederik Segers waakte over de eenheid in sfeer en klank. Hij leverde prachtig werk af; het album klinkt buitengewoon warm en tijdloos.

Von seiner Arbeit in der explosiven frühen Hollywood-Punk-Musikszene mit seiner Band The Plugz über das Produzieren von Bands wie The Gun Club bis hin zur Filmmusik, seiner beachtlichen Schauspielkarriere und der Gründung von Fatima Records - Tito Larriva verdient den Titel, den ihm die LA Times einst verliehen hat, durch und durch: "Renaissance Man".

The Plugz, 1978 in Los Angeles von Tito Larriva gegründet, waren inspirierend für die frühe Latino/Latinx-Punk-Gemeinschaft und ihr "West Coast Punk" hatte einen anhaltenden Einfluss auf ganze Generationen von Rockbands.
Kenner der Latino-Kultur würdigten die Band für ihre unkonventionelle Version von "La Bamba" und ihren Einfluss auf die Chicano/Xicanx-Rocker in Südkalifornien.

Mit "Hombre Secreto", einer spanischen Version des 60er-Jahre-Klassikers "Secret Agent Man", brachte Larriva seine einzigartige Handschrift in die Filmmusik des Kult-Klassikers "Repo Man" ein. Seine Karriere ging von hier aus kontinuierlich und vielfältig weiter; zu den wichtigsten Etappen zählen seine Arbeit als Produzent des Cast-Albums der "Pee-Wee Herman Show" und des Debüts "Fire of Love" von The Gun Club, sein Einsatz als Schauspieler in David Byrnes "True Stories" und die von ihm 1984 gegründeten The Cruzados. 1992 entwickelte sich aus The Cruzados die Band Tito & Tarantula, mit der Larrivas intensive Arbeitsbeziehung zu Robert Rodriguez und Quentin Tarantino begann. Er spielte in einem halben Dutzend ihrer Filme mit, unter anderem auch in "From Dusk Till Dawn", wo sein Song "After Dark" und sein musikalischer Auftritt im legendären "Titty Twister Club" eine legendäre Rolle spielt.

Nun veröffentlichen Tito & Tarantula ihr mit Spannung erwartetes Album "!Brincamos!". Das neue Werk ist eine Soundreise, die die Tiefen der menschlichen Seele erforscht, durchsetzt von der rohen Kraft des Rock und dem reichen Erbe des Latino/Latinx-Punkrock. Jeder Track ist ein Beweis für die Fähigkeit Larrivas, Grenzen, Genres und Sprache zu überwinden und einen Sound zu kreieren, der bei Fans auf der ganzen Welt Anklang findet. Mit rohen Balladen und emotionalen Rock-Hymnen ist Larriva mit "!Brincamos!" ein musikalisches Meisterwerk gelungen, das die Geschichte von Tito & Tarantula mehr als würdig fortschreibt.

Neben der Veröffentlichung dieses Albums bereiten sich Tito & Tarantula derzeit auf ihre "!Brincamos!"-Europatournee vor, um ihre berüchtigten Live-Performances auf die Bühnen des europäischen Kontinents zu bringen. Die Fans werden eine Verschmelzung von Rock'n'Roll und cineastischen Welten erleben und Teil unvergesslicher Konzerte sein. Mit Titos intensivem Gesang und der unvergleichlichen Bühnenpräsenz der Band schickt diese Tournee sich an, eines der großen Highlights des Jahres für Musik-Enthusiasten zu werden.

Mit der Veröffentlichung von "!Brincamos!" und dem Beginn ihrer Europatournee im März 2025 laden Tito & Tarantula alte und neue Fans ein, sie auf dieser aufregenden Reise zu begleiten. Die Musik dieser Band ist ein Zeugnis für die Energie des Rock und den vereinenden, kulturellen Stolz der Latinos.

"!Brincamos!" erscheint am 14.03.2025 als Vinyl (aufgrund der Spiellänge des Albums fallen 2 Live Tracks weg), limitierte Vinyl mit einer separaten 10" incl. der Livetracks, CD und digital auf allen gängigen Streaming Plattformen

In between the Golden Earring albums 'Seven Tears' and 'Together', both guitarist George Kooymans and singer Barry Hay worked on solo material. Kooymans’ album 'Jojo' was released in December 1971 and was the result of a sparkling and short period of recording sessions at the Phonogram Studio in Hilversum, where he recorded a collection of songs with some of the best Dutch session musicians – among guitarists Eelco Gelling (Cuby + Blizzards) and Hans Hollestelle and saxophone player Bertus Borgers (Sweet d’Buster). Thanks to the spontaneous recordings, the personal lyrics - with help from George’s friends Bruce Kirkman and Jerry Voisin - and Harry van Hoof’s string arrangements, 'Jojo' achieved a cult status and became a collectors' item soon after release.

The album has been remastered from the original Phonogram Studio master tapes and includes a recent interview with George Kooymans about the making of 'Jojo'.

'Jojo' is available as a limited numbered edition of 750 copies on light green coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

WHO IS ULTAN O’BRIEN? Ultan O’Brien is a fiddle player and composer from the wilds of County Clare in the West of Ireland. Ultan is a performer as well as a regular at sessions all of Ireland and can be found by chance in any pub in Dublin, Cork or some remote village on the edge of nowhere, flying jigs and reels around the room. Ultan was reared in the rich tradition of Irish music which is so commonly found and heard in Co Clare, but he also delves deep into sound art and experimental music. He has often been heard in the back of a car after a few pints quoting lines from Alvin Lucier or speaking at length about improvisation and its place in modern Irish music. Ultan O’Brien is a fresh and vital player who has much to offer with his unique approach and technique to a tradition so old and ever ready for a subtle change every 100 years or so. Ultan has played and recorded with people and bands such as Skipper’s Alley, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, John Francis Flynn, Slow Moving Clouds, Cuar, Laura Jurd, Martin Green, Natalia Beylis, Paul Roe and Nic Gareiss. ‘in its Ultan’s fiddle playing sincerity of tone it reminds me somewhat of those great caoineadh which were played with such elusive grandeur by Denis Murphy and Pádraig O’Keefe’ Adrian Scahill ‘lets the heart brighten and the feet tap’ Richard Hollingum -KlofMag


ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL ALBUM: ‘This album, Dancing the Line, is my first solo album of music played on an alternatively-tune alto fiddle. I found that the resonance and growl of this lower tuned instrument sat me perfectly into the sound-world I wanted to be in, giving vibrancy to my own compositions and nestling into the traditional music I grew up with.’

A new pressing of last years, end of year poll favourite album THE COURETTES `The Soul Of_' LP on ORANGE VINYL! "Ultra-catchy. A wicked side of garage soul" - CLASH // "One of their catchiest pieces yet, Sassy, groovy, toe-tapping" - CLASSIC ROCK // "A giddying rush of noise" - MOJO // "The real sound of now busting through my door, new songs that keep kicking the history forward. I can't imagine my turntable without The Courettes" - David Fricke, ROLLING STONE // And features SHINDIG MAGAZINES Single of the year 2024 `Keep Dancin'.

"Supplicium" represents a perfect balance between tradition and modernity. On one hand, the lyrical concept and epic atmospheres transport the listener to the age of the Roman Empire, evoking visions of triumphant marches and blood-soaked arenas. On the other hand, the sound becomes increasingly technical and refined, with tight riffs, relentless rhythmic sections, and flawless production that enhances every detail. The album, crafted with meticulous care, succeeds in combining the brutality of death metal with highly complex instrumental passages, showcasing a band in constant evolution. With "Supplicium", ADE reaffirm their role as champions of a death metal where historical tradition and modern sound coexist, creating an experience that is both ferocious and captivating.

"Supplicium" represents a perfect balance between tradition and modernity. On one hand, the lyrical concept and epic atmospheres transport the listener to the age of the Roman Empire, evoking visions of triumphant marches and blood-soaked arenas. On the other hand, the sound becomes increasingly technical and refined, with tight riffs, relentless rhythmic sections, and flawless production that enhances every detail. The album, crafted with meticulous care, succeeds in combining the brutality of death metal with highly complex instrumental passages, showcasing a band in constant evolution. With "Supplicium", ADE reaffirm their role as champions of a death metal where historical tradition and modern sound coexist, creating an experience that is both ferocious and captivating.

‘Moonlight Concessions’ goes back to basics, a return for Throwing Muses to their esoteric off-kilter best courtesy of Kristin’s pin-sharp sketches and their suitably abrasive musical arrangements. The album follows their acclaimed ‘Sun Racket’ from 2020, a heady set filled with tough and tender tales spiked with surreal imagery. Produced by Kristin Hersh at Steve Rizzo's Stable Sound Studio in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, ‘Moonlight Concessions’ is a collection of snippets from everyday life writ large - think Raymond Carver Short Cuts, overheard conversations, recounted happenings and telling one-liners, all sewed together to illustrate the times as they slowly mature, fully peppered with original Muses’ vim and vigour. ‘Drugstore Drastic’ is a kerbside soliloquy caught en route to a more alluring rendezvous. Built on a brisk acoustic strum with a guitar sub-melody underpinning proceedings, it’s an unfolding tale of social awareness from a blurred sub-conscious. ‘Summer Of Love’ began as a bet with a guy for a dollar that revolved around the idea that the seasons don’t change us. The album opener, it’s a haunting baroque overture, bowed and brooding. ‘Libretto’s strings offset the acoustic ambience, the hot and cold of longing at the very heart of it, a thematic driver filed with warmth in a safe haven lubricated by tequila. Written in the differing South Coast environs of The Gulf Of Mexico and Southern California, ‘Moonlight Concessions’ pulls from the star clusters that light both, generating optimism and hope in varying degrees. Hersh explains, “In New Orleans the stars look greenish-blue, as it’s below sea level and swamp-lit. But on Moonlight Beach, they glow icy white. All these songs were written in these two glowy places, which helped our sonic technique find itself.”

Studio Barnhus proudly presents this debut full-length record from the Jimi Tenor & Freestyle Man project, the fruit of the joint labour of these two undisputed legends of electronic music. Building on their catalog of work for labels like Warp and Sähkö, these Finnish heroes have blessed
Stockholm imprint Studio Barnhus with regular releases since 2017, this LP being the finest example thus far of their classic yet always fresh sound.

Fourth Page: Meaning of a Nest is the highly anticipated fourth studio album, and second with Edition Records, by renowned South Korean/ Amsterdam based drummer and visionary composer Sun-Mi Hong solidifying Hong’s position as one of the most inventive and creative drummers and musicians of her generation. Meaning of a Nest, embodies the album’s exploration of home and community, reflecting Hong’s decade-long journey from South Korea to Amsterdam and her efforts to build new networks and establish roots in a vibrant new environment.

Musically, Fourth Page: Meaning of a Nest offers an inventive and spacious soundscape, seamlessly blending meticulously crafted compositions with elements of improvisation. This fusion ensures each track resonates with authenticity and emotional depth. Hong’s unique approach grants her band members creative freedom within her structured frameworks, resulting in adynamic and genuine listening experience. Fourth Page: Meaning of a Nest stands as a testament to Sun-Mi Hong’s artistic evolution and unwavering commitment to artistic integrity, positioning her as a formidable presence in the European music scene and beyond.

Best known as a founder member of Submotion Orchestra, as well as Matthew Halsall’s pianist for many years & lately keyboardist for Portico Quartet, Taz Modi now returns with his long-awaited second solo album - the haunting and elegant ‘Involuntary Memories’ on Sehnsucht Records.

Recorded across the country on a number of different pianos, the album builds upon the eclectic nature of his debut ‘Reclaimed Goods’ by aiming to bring as wide a range of expression into post-classical piano music as possible, whilst also melding subtle electronic influences.

The debut recording from one of jazz music's most revered pianists! First U.S. vinyl release!

All-analog remastering by Bernie Grundman.
"Byard is absolutely brilliant...highly recommended." - All Music

Originally recorded in 1960, briefly released in Japan in the early ’70s, it wasn’t until 1988 that Jaki Byard’s solo debut, Blues For Smoke, was widely released. Even then it was more of a secret handshake among fans than the catalog cornerstone it should have always been. Now, Candid has finally created the definitive edition of this lost masterpiece for all to experience.

Byard backed generations of jazz icons, including Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Roland Kirk, and Quincy Jones.

As a bandleader and soloist, he went on to build his own catalog of iconic recordings across three decades while establishing himself as an educator and mentor to the next generation of artists, most notably, Grayson Hugh, Fred Hersch, and Jason Moran. Blues For Smoke is where it all began.

Recorded as a solo-piano showcase for Byard’s incredible gifts as a player, composer, and jazz historian, the exquisitely engineered session is given new life by Bernie Grundman’s sensitive remastering. With this release, Candid is hoping to make Jaki Byard’s very first album the rosetta-stone of jazz piano it was intended to be.

Of all the artists who recorded for the Black Jazz label, keyboardist and composer Doug Carn was the most prolific, releasing four albums for the imprint. 1972’s Spirit of the New Land was his second Black Jazz release, but the first one (of two) to co-feature his wife, vocalist Jean Carn. It’s the most collectible of the bunch, showcasing Carn’s innovative approach of adding lyrics to jazz standards like Miles Davis’ “Blue in Green” and Lee Morgan’s “Search for the New Land,” while originals like “Arise and Shine” and “My Spirit” soar with spiritual fervor on the wings of his wife’s five-octave range.

Along for the ride are a stellar cast of players, including trumpeter Charles Tolliver, co-founder of the Strata-East label; saxophonist George Harper, who played with Herbie Hancock and Jimmy Smith among others; trombonist Garnett Brown, who appears on albums by Roland Kirk, Albert Ayler, and Art Blakey among his hundreds of album credits; tuba player Earl McIntyre, whose discography spans from Carla Bley to the Band; and drummer Alphonse Mouzon, founding member of Weather Report. This beautiful, uplifting album also comes with liner notes by Pat Thomas, author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975, that feature excerpts from a freewheeling interview conducted with Doug Carn himself. Pressed in blue with black swirl vinyl limited to 750 copies!

Yeah, legendary drummer Ginger Baker was in a trio with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. But would it be sacrilege to suggest that perhaps that outfit was the not the, ahem, cream of the crop when it comes his career’s musical threesomes? For the Ginger Baker Trio, first heard on the 1994 album Going Back Home, featured Charlie Haden on bass and Bill Frisell on guitar! And that record lived up to its pedigree with a fascinating blend of British folk, Arabic-tinged melodies, and jazz, propelled by Baker’s astonishing jazz chops on his double bass kit (punctuated by some of his trademark tom-tom fills) and shot through with Haden’s melodic bass work and those impressionistic guitar textures that could only come from a Frisell axe. In short, if you’re a fan of any of these three guys, this album’s a must, and we’ve had it remastered for vinyl (by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision) for its LP debut. Pressed on forest green vinyl and housed in a jacket with printed insert…limited to 1250 copies!

JP’s historic restoration carpentry has continued to be a baseline for his relationship to music; the yin to his yang, the Burt to his Ernie, the Dolly to his Porter. It was through this concurrent line of work that he met another twice-initialed singer with a penchant for old Americana music, obscure film, and overly elaborate ethnic meal preparations: one JD McPherson. The two became fast friends and would eventually, through many twists, turns, false starts, and biblically-proportionate plagues, enter a modest studio in Nashville to record Harris’ latest album.

Over the course of nine months in 2023, they recorded a sometimes lush, sometimes sparse, and sometimes jarring country album of Harris’ originals, loudly and violently squelching any attempt to pigeon-hole a song into any subgenre of country music. Only albums by Lee Hazelwood and an obscure folk album Waylon Jennings made when his hair was still short were allowed to be mentioned in reference. Featuring the guest vocals of Erin Rae, The Watson Twins, Shovels & Rope, and producer JD McPherson himself, the record is equal parts satire, reflection, and apology to those that would listen.

In a musical landscape of period-correct reproduction, “outlaw” internet posturing, and flavor-of-the-month variants on country,

“JP Harris Is A Trash Fire” burns bright as a dumpster in a Walmart parking lot on a moonless night; some will fear it, some will gravitate to its acrid warmth, and most will have no idea what to make of the situation. Harris has been steadily elbowing the definitive boundaries of “country music” wider with every album, both sonically and lyrically, and his latest piece of self described “Avant-Country” is no exception.

Lee Hazlewood made his bones producing and cowriting with guitarist Duane Eddy during the ‘50s, and then cemented his immortality with the classic sides he produced for Nancy Sinatra during the ‘60s. Over the past few decades, though, attention has turned to Lee’s idiosyncratic solo work, the heart of which he recorded for the Reprise label and his own LHI Records. Issued in 1968,

Love and Other Crimes is one of his Reprise releases, and it’s one of the weirdest records in his entire catalog. Recorded in Paris with such legendary Wrecking Crew members as guitarist James Burton and drummer Hal Blaine, Hazlewood sounds every bit the bon vivant (read: half drunk) as he swings from country ballads to lightly psychedelic pop highlighted by his rockin’ cover of Bonnie Dobson’s “Morning Dew.” Other highlights include “Rosacoke Street,” which presents him at his most psychedelic lounge lizard-esque, (think a Hunter Thompson character from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) and his moving “Wait and See,” an apology for bad behavior to an absent lover.

We’ve enlisted Mike Milchner to remaster this one for vinyl… don’t miss Lee’s stream-of-consciousness back cover notes, either. Pressed in sea blue vinyl limited to 1000 copies!

An intimate recording from the Blues hall-of-famer that puts you in the room with 3 Blues legends!

Remastered by multiple Grammy winner Michael Graves.

One of Candid’s historic blues releases, Memphis Slim, U.S.A. finds the Blues Hall Of Fame inductee in a rare, relaxed setting with two close friends and fellow blues icons, Jazz Gillum and Arbee Stidham. The intimacy—from their loose interplay and improvisation to the eerie realism of the recording—is palpable and feels more like an invitation to their inner circle than a commercial release.

Grammy-winner Michael Graves’ sensitive remastering brings Memphis Slim, U.S.A. to life, letting listeners in as the piano legend and his buddies offer a musical history of the blues from its Southern juke-joint roots up to its Chicago-style move toward R&B.

Memphis Slim, U.S.A. is an essential document that Candid is proud to bring back to the blues canon.

compiled by tsunaki kadowaki
artwork by yoshirotten
mastering by kuniyuki takahashi

Tsunaki Kadowaki, a staff member at Kyoto’s record store Meditations, the supervisor of "New Age Music Disc Guide", and the founder of Sad Disco, curates the fourth installment of "Midnight in Tokyo" themed around Ambient Kayō.

The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights—whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. After a six-year hiatus, the fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayō" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music.

For this long-awaited fourth installment, selections were made regardless of record label status (major or independent), era, format (vinyl or CD), original release price, or prior reissues. Instead, the focus was on music that deeply moves the listener, is open-minded and evocative, brims with inspiration and spiritual insight, and embodies the "utagokoro" (singing heart) of Japanese artists.

Opening the compilation is "Umi e Kinasai" by Yōsui Inoue, a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter whose works have recently gained renewed interest as hidden gems of Walearic and ambient pop

Composed and arranged by Katsu Hoshi—who is also known for his arrangements on Inoue’s masterpiece Ice World—the track features renowned players such as Masayoshi Takanaka, Hiroki Inui, and Shigeru Inoue. The song embodies a yearning for Balearic horizons, tinged with youthful vibrancy and sentimentality.

Next, "Oritatamu Umi", compiled from Keiko Nosaka, a 20-string koto player, and George Murasaki, a pioneer of Okinawan rock, is an instrumental track from their album "Niraikanai Requiem 1945". As the title suggests, it carries themes of requiem and remembrance, conveying poetic lyricism even without words. Blending Ryukyuan/Okinawan harmonies and indigenous elements, it unfolds as an intimate and nostalgic piece of progressive rock.

Also featured is "Natsu no Kowareru Koro" by Higurashi, a folk-rock band led by Seiichi Takeda, formerly a guitarist of The Remainders of The Clover, the predecessor of RC Succession. Like the opening track "Umi e Kinasai", this song was also produced by Katsu Hoshi. It stands as a folk/new music piece that takes a step into an "otherworldly" realm, recommended for fans of Twin Cosmos and Masumi Hara.

From the enigmatic Blue, the only work left by the mysterious composer S.R. Kinoshita, comes "Mangrove", a hidden treasure of Japan's ambient/new age scene from the CD era. With an oriental and enigmatic atmosphere, the track evokes a mystical world of deep, uncharted jungles, unfolding as an otherworldly New Age Kayō.

"Yaponesia Sakura", selected from Rehabilual’s sole album New Child, is a masterpiece of Japanese new age music. Produced by Swami Dhyan Akamo, a disciple of Indian meditation teacher Osho and a renowned balafon player, the track features Michio Ogawa (Chakra) and Atsuo Fujimoto (Colored Music). Their collective artistry creates an exquisite spiritual ambient pop sound.

"Asa no Hitoshizuku", the opening folk song from Sachiko Kanenobu’s album Sachiko, is also included. Known for her legendary folk album Misora, produced by Haruomi Hosono, Kanenobu’s fourth album after resuming her career was inspired by her experiences living in San Francisco and revolves around the theme of "love." This track carries the same intimate poetic world as Misora, imbued with a pure, crystalline innocence.

From the synth-pop band E.S. Island, known for the Haruomi Hosono-produced *Teku Teku Mami", comes "Yume Fūrin ", selected from their long-lost new age classic Nanpū from Hachijo. Created while the band’s core duo was living in Hachijō Island, the album aimed to sonically capture "the high and happy vibrations of everyday island life." This track offers a dynamic, tribal-infused New Age Kayō experience.

Dubbed "the world's first Min’yō House Mix" "Esashi Oiwake (Maeuta) " comes from Kanazawa Akiko HOUSE MIX Ⅰ, a collaboration between Japanese house music pioneer Soichi Terada and Akiko Kanazawa, a renowned min’yō singer. Through the prism of club music, Hokkaido's Esashi Oiwake, one of Japan’s most iconic folk songs, is transformed into a futuristic ambient pop piece with intricate sound design.

The compilation also includes "Sweet Ong Choh", a track from Voice From Asia, a group active between 1989 and 1992 featuring vocal artist Shizuru Ohtaka. Taken from their imaginative minimal work Voice From Asia, released under Aoyama Spiral’s music label Newsic, the song presents a tranquil, tribal-minimal soundscape enriched by ethnic instruments.

Hailed by Haruomi Hosono as having “a shaman residing in her voice,” singer-songwriter Nami Hōdatsu also appears in the selection. Known for her collaborations with Henry Kawahara, her debut album featured "Asa-Hikari-Ame-Yume", a track that now stands as a precursor to modern vocaloid/synthesized vocal music—a hidden gem of post-choir aesthetics that deserves rediscovery.

Likewise, "Tennessee Waltz", from Naomi Akimoto’s album One Night Stand, supported by members of Mariah, serves as another early prototype of vocaloid/synthesized vocal music. The track weaves fragmented vocal samples, pastoral yet sweetly minimal synth sounds, and mechanical beats into a strikingly unconventional piece in the history of Japanese music.

Closing the compilation is "Heaven Electric", a track from Nav Katze’s album Gentle & Elegance, which featured remixes by Autechre, Seefeel, and Sun Electric. Merging elements of IDM, ambient techno, and chillout, the song embodies an optimism reminiscent of space music while seamlessly blending a mystical Japanese aesthetic—an ambient pop masterpiece.

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The album presents 12 exquisite pop tracks infused with an ambient feeling, resonating deeply with the evolving landscape of the mid-2020s—a time of post-hyperpop and Y2K revival.

Tsunaki Kadowaki (Compiler)

Born in 1993 in Yonago, Tottori, Tsunaki Kadowaki is a staff member and buyer at Kyoto’s Meditations record store. He is the editor of New Age Music Disc Guide (DU BOOKS) and a contributor to Music Magazine, Record Collectors' Magazine, ele-king, and more. Kadowaki has written liner notes for multiple Japanese releases (Brian Eno, Masahiro Sugaya etc.) and runs the Sad Disco music label under Disk Union. He also curates Spotify’s official New Age Music playlist and performed as a DJ at YCAM’s Audio Base Camp #3 in 2024.

Freivogel / Sinclaire with their debut Untitled consisting of three live recordings made using only a concert flute and an Octatrack M1. The recordings are live taken from improvised sessions and have been left unedited.

Shifting between playful and austere, the simple goal for these sessions was honest improvisation; comfortable in both its limits and potentials. Placing classical instrument performance and extended playing techniques alongside heavy sonic processing and cavernous acoustics, they are in some ways uninfluenced by genre, governed only by a drive to find moments of clarity amidst chaos.

Recorded in single takes using a simplified setup of the flute – played into a microphone and wired through an Octatrack – every sound heard in the recordings comes in one way or another from the flute as a single sound source, manipulated and looped on the fly with additional live improvisation over the top.

The result is a timeless capsule of heady drones, offbeat electronics, and mischievous flutes, captured during a time when the world stood still. Scuzzy at times, glistening at others, and ever-optimistic in the pursuit of something new.

Adam Sinclaire is a flautist who has worked with artists such as Billy Bultheel and Ziúr, recorded for labels including PAN and Purple Tape Pedigree, and performed for institutions including KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Schinkel Pavillon, and Martin-Gropius-Bau. His practice focuses on using extended playing techniques to explore the limits of the C flute.

Marco Freivogel is a producer and composer who has released an extensive discography on labels including Mannequin Records and Veyl, and collaborated with artists including dBridge, Mare Nero and Mathew Jonson, remixing artists as diverse as Hercules & Love Affair, Shackleton and Yappa. His Prequel Tapes project sits between utopian and claustrophobic, tracing harsh industrial atmospheres and levitational ambient from a lifelong obsession with sonic extremes. Marco currently works on compositions for film and television, alongside his own releases and collaborations. The EP will be released on 14 February 2025 as limited vinyl and digital via Midnight Shift. Art direction by Mauro Ventura.

All record profits from this release will go to 3ezwa.de, providing financial and legal support to those facing repression for their commitment to the Palestinian cause.

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY has had more than its share of out-of-nowhere bands following from the second big bang that was punk rock. The Babylon Dance Band, Circle X, Your Food, Squirrel Bait, Bastro...these are but some of the exceptional music acts originating in Louisville after 1977. Now it"s time for the great secret of the Louisville first-wave punk scene to be revealed: The Endtables. The Endtables were the crazed brainchild of guitarist Alex Durig, brooding chess-master of the amplified freak-out, and singer Steve Rigot, a flamboyant transgender giant from the shores of southern Indiana who reinvented himself as a Warhol Factory superstar. Like Scarlett O"Hara wrapped in a green velvet curtain, Rigot crafted his own glamorous reality from what was available in the blasted cultural landscape of 1970"s Kentucky. Gold spray paint, duct tape, Ace bandages ... a spectacularly other trailblazer who caused folks to toss their received ideas of beauty and go with the new thing instead. The band first took the stage in late 1978 and was finished by the summer of 1980. In the fall of 1979 they recorded six tracks at a Louisville studio, four of which came out on a 7" EP on their own Tuesday Records. The two remaining tracks ("White Glove Test" and "Trick or Treat") were issued as a single on Self Destruct records in 1991. Both records are among the rarest of any American punk release - more sought after than seen, passed on disintegrating cassette tapes and shouted over upon impact. The music of The Endtables is another chapter in pure American weirdness, as jaw-locking today as the day it was recorded. The scent of modern can be detected in Steve Rigot"s remote vocalese, set against Alex Durig"s guitar outbursts, while drummer Steven Jan Humphrey and bassist Albert Durig (age fifteen!) supply frenzied rhythm. The band rocks its fevered vision to a ferocious degree while Rigot grimly rhymes the truths that remained locked out of the public"s pop tastes in "79-"80. Thirty years of rap and roll later, The Endtables seem inevitable.

Founded in Lombardy in early 2023 and now hailing from different parts of Italy, RESCÜE CAT is an energetic hardcore band bursting with attitude and... love! Starting off as friends in the local scene, they're now ready to make their mark as one of the fresh faces of Italian hardcore. With performances at major events like Venezia Hardcore and Built to Blast already under their belts, they've developed a distinct style that mixes intense, emotional lyrics, tight compositions, and dreamy imagery.

Pink vinyl. Founded in Lombardy in early 2023 and now hailing from different parts of Italy, RESCÜE CAT is an energetic hardcore band bursting with attitude and... love! Starting off as friends in the local scene, they're now ready to make their mark as one of the fresh faces of Italian hardcore. With performances at major events like Venezia Hardcore and Built to Blast already under their belts, they've developed a distinct style that mixes intense, emotional lyrics, tight compositions, and dreamy imagery.

"Invisible Threads" is a sonic assault that penetrates the darkest depths of existence. This album explores themes of human degradation, unspoken fears, and wars that ravage not only bodies but also minds. A fierce manifestation of death metal, "Invisible Threads" overwhelms the listener with a crescendo of sonic brutality and raw emotions_an unrelenting frontal impact from the first to the last track, destined to leave a lasting mark.

"Invisible Threads" is a sonic assault that penetrates the darkest depths of existence. This album explores themes of human degradation, unspoken fears, and wars that ravage not only bodies but also minds. A fierce manifestation of death metal, "Invisible Threads" overwhelms the listener with a crescendo of sonic brutality and raw emotions_an unrelenting frontal impact from the first to the last track, destined to leave a lasting mark.

Gold vinyl. Building on the momentum of their debut, Shooting Star returned in 1981 with Hang On for Your Life, a dynamic follow-up that further cemented their place in the AOR rock scene. The album delivered a mix of anthemic rock and melodic hooks, with standout tracks like "Hang On for Your Life," "Hollywood," "Breakout," and "Are You on My Side" all receiving steady radio airplay. One of the album's most unique moments came with "Flesh and Blood," an up-tempo rock song featuring a soaring violin solo_a rarity in the genre that highlighted the band's signature sound. While the record found success on rock stations, it also marked the end of an era, as founding keyboardist Bill Guffey departed the band following its release. With Van McLain, Gary West, Charles Waltz, Ron Verlin, and Steve Thomas still at the helm, Hang On for Your Life captured Shooting Star at their peak_an ambitious, hard-driving rock band with a sound that was both melodic and powerful.

White/Gold Sunburst Vinyl. Building on the momentum of their debut, Shooting Star returned in 1981 with Hang On for Your Life, a dynamic follow-up that further cemented their place in the AOR rock scene. The album delivered a mix of anthemic rock and melodic hooks, with standout tracks like "Hang On for Your Life," "Hollywood," "Breakout," and "Are You on My Side" all receiving steady radio airplay. One of the album's most unique moments came with "Flesh and Blood," an up-tempo rock song featuring a soaring violin solo_a rarity in the genre that highlighted the band's signature sound. While the record found success on rock stations, it also marked the end of an era, as founding keyboardist Bill Guffey departed the band following its release. With Van McLain, Gary West, Charles Waltz, Ron Verlin, and Steve Thomas still at the helm, Hang On for Your Life captured Shooting Star at their peak_an ambitious, hard-driving rock band with a sound that was both melodic and powerful.

Akae Beka’s inimitable style, developed over decades of performing with St. Croix based band Midnite and countless recordings (including the 2014 iTunes reggae album of the year BEAUTY FOR ASHES and RIDE TRU). At the point of his untimely passing in 2019, he had released over 70 LPs. He is without a doubt one of the most prolific reggae artists ever known and his quantity is always matched with quality, with his albums consistently featuring in the top 10 on the Billboard charts reggae LPs.

This LP, Topaz, is a unique contribution to the sea of Akae Beka titles, showcasing Vaughn Benjamin in a stripped-back, raw acoustic fashion. An LP that will not be easily confined to any genre, but for the fans of Vaughn's uniquely rich, deep, textured songwriting, uncompromising devotion to RasTafari and soulful healing melodies an absolute must-have!

Imbued with the spirit of their late uncle, the qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali have returned with another deeply accomplished, moving collection of songs that ache with the frenzied anxiety of falling in love and dreamy desire of devotion, At the Feet of the Beloved. Their vocals and arrangements are refined and, together with their party, they build a world that helps the listener connect to another one. Brothers Rizwan and Muazzam Ali Khan are the contemporary torchbearers of the rich Qawwali musical tradition using their extraordinary voices to transport listeners to another, spiritual dimension. Performing together since the late 1990s, Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali have developed a devoted worldwide following with their exceptional live shows and acclaimed albums, including A Better Destiny and Days of Colour. In great demand with global followers, Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali have performed at festivals and venues including Barbican London, WOMAD festivals in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and some of North America’s most prestigious performing arts centres.

PRESSED ON BLUE SPLASH COLORED VINYL!

Executive Producers: Benny the Butcher & ElCamino

Benny the Butcher Presents: The Outcome, the new compilation from B$F and Buffalo-based producer ILL Tone Beats, is now available on vinyl. The project boasts star-studded features from artists such as Benny the Butcher, Conway the Machine, and Westside Gunn, who provide hard-hitting verses over Tone’s dynamic production. The album’s 14 tracks, produced entirely by ILL Tone, showcase the distinct sound of B$F that has drawn acclaim from critics and fans alike.

Boldy James & Harry Fraud team up for their first full-length colloborative album: The Bricktionary

Boldy James & Harry Fraud team up on The Bricktionary, their first full-length collaborative album. The Bricktionary, entirely produced by Harry Fraud, features Boldy at the top of his game and has guest appearances from BabyFace Ray, Benny The Butcher, and Tee Grizzley. While both artists have been consistently releasing albums over the years, fans of Bo Jack & La Musica have been waiting for this one and they will not be disappointed by the music or artwork of The Bricktionary on vinyl. “Arriving like a victory lap, the grandeur of Fraud’s production provides an intoxicating foil to Boldy’s steely honesty and delivery”....“Boldy and Fraud’s technical brilliance on The Bricktionary is direct and precise, not overcomplicated, and it allows their respective production and writing styles to fit like puzzle pieces. This kind of no-frills approach leans on intrinsic quality and dependability, not on bells and whistles, and leaps into the stratosphere.” - Pitchfork

Simon McBride hat sich in kürzester Zeit zu einem der gefeiertsten Gitarristen der letzten Jahre entwickelt. 2023 trat er als neuer Gitarrist von Deep Purple ins Rampenlicht und machte damit einen Schritt, der wie aus einem Rock’n’Roll-Märchen klingt: von den kleinen Bühnen der Pubs in seiner Heimat Belfast zu den größten Arenen der Welt. Innerhalb weniger Wochen zierte er die Cover von über 20 renommierten Musikmagazinen und feierte im letzten Jahr mit Deep Purple seine erste Nummer-1-Platzierung in den deutschen Albumcharts. Mit makelloser Performance und außergewöhnlicher Produktionsqualität ist diese Sammlung seltener Tracks ein Muss für alle Rock-Enthusiasten. Für Fans, die McBrides Stil und Persönlichkeit bei Deep Purple schätzen, bietet dieses Album einen aufregenden Einblick in seine Vielseitigkeit und musikalische Brillanz

Female hip hop MCs don't come much better than Bahamadia, who dominated 90s rap with her buttery flows. Two of her most loved bangers on 45 for the first time ever! Limited to only 300 copies as always.

You may not require any introduction to the members of ROACH SQUAD, or at least one or two of the band. Needless to say, Hugo Mudie (The Sainte Catherines), Frankie Stubbs (Leatherface), Graeme Philliskirk (Leatherface) have all graced the Paradise Gutters around the Punk Rock world for some time. Joining them is Alex Keane (The Murderburgers), along with another local Sunderland Lad, Sim Robson. As with many of the members previous works, a DIY approach to writing and recording the album was taken. The bulk of the recording took place at their own Rocket Studios in Sunderland, UK with the exception of Hugo laying down the vocals from his home in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). Some of you will have noticed the line-up contains two vocalists, and indeed this is the case. For this new Band, Frankie wanted to take some time out from vocal duties and concentrate on playing his guitar. This sees Hugo taking front stage... Not for every song, though! Who knows what you expect, but what we do ask of you before listening is that you find your comfortable spot, abandon any preconceptions, and as always play it loud.

AM Higgins, the project of American singer-songwriter Annie Meredith Higgins, based in France, blends mystical poetry with influences from Kate Bush, Low, and Fiona Apple. Her new album, The Dream Trap, explores dreamy and deep atmospheres, fusing folk, electronics, and sonic experimentation. Recorded in a barn and a mill converted into a studio, the album captures contrasting dynamics, with arrangements combining organs, drums, synthesizers, and silences. Annie's warm, intimate, yet cosmic voice is at the heart of the project, supported by both organic and electronic instruments. For this album, she reunites with collaborator Casey Foubert (regular contributor to Sufjan Stevens, among others) for production and mixing, with contributions from sound creator Tana Barbier. The Dream Trap, set for release in February 2025 on the We Are Unique! label, promises to be a significant step forward in their musical evolution, both introspective and expansive.

A Lost Hi-NRG Gem Returns – After 38 Years!

Another iconic diamond of German electronic disco is finally back on vinyl after 38 years! This is no ordinary reissue – it’s a Mike Mareen production, the mastermind behind the legendary “Love Spy”. Released under his Night’n’Day Records, a label that ruled the ’80s dancefloors, this track is pure Hi-NRG gold.

Enter “Roadrunner”, a high-energy banger from Jeff Harrison, this time hiding behind the alias U.K.. Packed with playful synths, an electrifying tempo, and Jeff’s dynamic vocals, this track is made for the dancefloor—like a fitness trainer hyping you up for that final rep!

But that’s not all! This special edition also includes never-before-released versions straight from the original recording session. Stored on tape, buried in a drawer for 38 years, and now – FINALLY – ready to hit your turntable.

Get it. Spin it. Feel the energy!

Wellen.Brecher is an electronic band with punk attitude, which has been transcending and subverting electronic music genre boundaries for the past 6 years. After the release of Tierisch Verboten, which can confidently be described as the "soundtrack to inclusion", and a strong second release on our label Killekill, LIEBESERKLARUNG is the band's first full length album. Including a series of first-class remixes.
Refreshingly, the entire release is not based on the corny bad trance traditions loved by contemporary Buffalo shoe wearers. Instead - intentionally or not - it follows a series of almost historical musical quotations from over the last 40 years with each track on the album feeling like a new adventure.
The album opens with TUROFFNER, which has a kind of an Afrika Bambaataa intro, before turning into a wonderfully tresoresque/Detroit techno beast, always commented on or counteracted by the vocals - just like (almost) all the tracks on the album: a new round, a new crazy ride - bumper car lyrics on a powerful stomping reduction of a 90s track.
From here we leap backwards in time into grey West Berlin of the 80s with ROBOT GIRL which shifts and drifts like a bug in buttermilk somewhere between Grauzone and Alan Vega. Next track KAPUTT kicks in with a bang and smashes everything in the best EBM tradition - this could have been played in a techno club in Frankfurt, both in terms of lyrics and sound. Line up for Elektropogo please!
After all the stomping Wellen.Brecher bring in something completely different with VOICE OF A GENERATION: dramatic vocals over delicate breaks which gradually dissolve into arpeggios on a high-quality trance carpet. Challenge complete!
JULIA takes us back to the late eighties in the dark but fun Belgian-Detroit early trance with new beat appeal. TUNNEL TRANCE would have been a good fit for dancing around the Berlin Siegessaule in, let's say, 1998. Relentless 4/4 beats with a hook-line on speed surrounded by acidophilic bows and, on top, the vocal commentary arriving as if from the man behind the glass of the Ferris wheel. In
your mind's eye, you can see fur-shoed gym ravers in bright neon jumping through the Tiergarten like rubber balls. The cover version of the classic TECHNO DJ is an hommage to good old punk - torn apart and reassembled in true Wellen.Brecher style. The closer TIERISCH VERBOTEN brings all the emotion rushing back: fat beats beckon slowly from afar, before the curtain comes up for an epic synth finale.
The harsh, albeit true words really drive you in. It's not necessary, but perhaps it's good to point it out: Inclusion can easily be experienced with music like this. Fuck AfD!

Wellen.Brecher is an electronic band with punk attitude, which has been transcending and subverting electronic music genre boundaries for the past 6 years. After the release of Tierisch Verboten, which can confidently be described as the "soundtrack to inclusion", and a strong second release on our label Killekill, LIEBESERKLARUNG is the band's first full length album. Including a series of first-class remixes.
Refreshingly, the entire release is not based on the corny bad trance traditions loved by contemporary Buffalo shoe wearers. Instead - intentionally or not - it follows a series of almost historical musical quotations from over the last 40 years with each track on the album feeling like a new adventure.
The album opens with TUROFFNER, which has a kind of an Afrika Bambaataa intro, before turning into a wonderfully tresoresque/Detroit techno beast, always commented on or counteracted by the vocals - just like (almost) all the tracks on the album: a new round, a new crazy ride - bumper car lyrics on a powerful stomping reduction of a 90s track.
From here we leap backwards in time into grey West Berlin of the 80s with ROBOT GIRL which shifts and drifts like a bug in buttermilk somewhere between Grauzone and Alan Vega. Next track KAPUTT kicks in with a bang and smashes everything in the best EBM tradition - this could have been played in a techno club in Frankfurt, both in terms of lyrics and sound. Line up for Elektropogo please!
After all the stomping Wellen.Brecher bring in something completely different with VOICE OF A GENERATION: dramatic vocals over delicate breaks which gradually dissolve into arpeggios on a high-quality trance carpet. Challenge complete!
JULIA takes us back to the late eighties in the dark but fun Belgian-Detroit early trance with new beat appeal. TUNNEL TRANCE would have been a good fit for dancing around the Berlin Siegessaule in, let's say, 1998. Relentless 4/4 beats with a hook-line on speed surrounded by acidophilic bows and, on top, the vocal commentary arriving as if from the man behind the glass of the Ferris wheel. In
your mind's eye, you can see fur-shoed gym ravers in bright neon jumping through the Tiergarten like rubber balls. The cover version of the classic TECHNO DJ is an hommage to good old punk - torn apart and reassembled in true Wellen.Brecher style. The closer TIERISCH VERBOTEN brings all the emotion rushing back: fat beats beckon slowly from afar, before the curtain comes up for an epic synth finale.
The harsh, albeit true words really drive you in. It's not necessary, but perhaps it's good to point it out: Inclusion can easily be experienced with music like this. Fuck AfD!