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Mick Jenkins, lyrical hip-hop mastermind and Chicago's Finest, returns with the album "The Patience." He chose to title it "The Patience" because it was that patience that he needed to get to the point in his career where he is now.

Waiting to get free from a label that didn't share his vision was very frustrating, especially since he had to consciously hold back his musical gems in order to release them in collaboration with a partner and team that believed in his art and supported him in his vision for his music.

During this time, Mick worked on his upcoming amazing body of work that has evolved into something very special. Mick at times compares himself to a star chef, brewing up lyrics, seasoning each line to perfection. The album is bursting with offbeat rhymes, sophisticated grooves and complex metaphors. On 'The Patience', the artist shows in an impressive way that he is one of the best in his genre.

Features on the album include JID, Freddie Gibbs, Benny The Butcher and Vic Mensa, who are no less eloquent as rappers and round out the record excellently. Also the production, peppered with live instruments and many jazz influences, makes the hip-hop hearts beat faster.

Die 2023er Wiederveröffentlichung des siebten und letzten Studioalbums der New Yorker Metal-Legenden TYPE O NEGATIVE. Als "Dead Again" im Jahr 2007 veröffentlicht wurde, war es das meistverkaufte Album der Band in ihrer Karriere.

180g Vinyl, Gatefold, includes two inserts. Rediscover the epic sound of "Earthquake", the groundbreaking album by Electric Sun, reissued and better than ever. Crafted by guitar legend Uli Jon Roth, "Earthquake" takes you on a musical journey that still stands as a trailblazer today. In this opulent masterpiece, hard rock meets psychedelic elements to create an unforgettable, earth-shaking soundscape. Now, remastered from the original master tapes and for the first time available as Vinyl Gatefold, it's time to be swept away again by the power of this musical quake. Prepare to shake the earth once again with Electric Sun's "Earthquake"!

Singer-songwriter Thom Morecroft releases his sophomore album, “Waiting For Leo.” Drawing inspiration from the rich songwriting style of 1970s folk-rock and infusing it with the distinctive aesthetic lens of Glasgow’s C86 scene, Morecroft delivers a captivating lo-fi experience that pays homage to the past while carving its own unique path. Think Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young meets the infectious energy of Teenage Fanclub’s “Bandwagonesque.” During the pandemic-induced lockdowns of 2020 and beyond, Thom embarked on a remarkable creative journey, offering his Patreon subscribers a new digital album every month. It is within these prolific collections that the songs for “Waiting For Leo” were born. With an abundance of time and the freedom to explore his creative impulses, Morecroft crafted a collection of songs that are reflective, philosophical, and deeply personal. Some look towards the future with hope, others reminisce about the past, while some capture the essence of the present moment, and a few wander into realms of pure fantasy. As Thom navigated the challenge of selecting the final tracklist, he honed and refined each composition, adding production elements and creating a cohesive sonic tapestry. “Waiting For Leo” is an album that manages to strike a delicate balance, emanating a sense of contentment and carefree spirit while simultaneously delving into themes of family, alcoholism, grief, and loss. The introspective nature of these songs, born out of a period devoid of external stimulation, allows listeners to embark on a thought-provoking journey alongside Morecroft. Reflecting on the album’s title, Thom shares, “The album is called ‘Waiting for Leo’ because the songs were written and recorded during the period before my partner and I discovered we were expecting our son. There is also the famous Samuel Beckett play called ‘Waiting for Godot,’ which I must confess I have never seen. Is it good?” “Waiting For Leo” stands as a testament to Thom Morecroft’s artistic growth and showcases his ability to merge captivating songwriting with a distinct sonic aesthetic. As listeners immerse themselves in the intimate world he has created, they will discover a tapestry of emotions that resonate deeply.

The band is John Dwyer (synths, vocals), Heather Lockie (viola), Thomas Dolas (synths), Andres Renteria (hand percussion), Brad Caulkins (tenor saxophone), Kyp Malone (synths) and Archie Carey (bassoon). The singers are YoshimiO (Boredoms, OOIOO), Albert Wolski (EXEK), Gracie Jackson (GracieHorse), Ciriza (Artist Extraordinaire), Kyp Malone (Bent Arcana, TV On The Radio, Rain Machine etc.), Brigid Dawson (Thee Oh Sees, The Mothers Network), AZITA (Scissor Girls, Bride of NONO, AZITA). For fans of Steve Roach, Eno, Syrinx, Howard Shore, Current 93, Terry Riley, Tangerine Dream and a proper sage scrub. “An experiment in symphonic improvisation paired with synthesizerscapes. Strings, reeds, synths and hand percussion all blend sweetly into an odd landscape indeed. The final touch was to bring aboard some singers I have loved over the years. I’m so pleased they were all willing to participate and I’m very tickled by the plane we navigate. Once YoshimiO agreed to be on board I knew we were going to be OK. Recorded and mixed at my home studio (Stu-Stu-Studio in Los Angeles) and remotely, this one was a slow burn to see the light of day. And here it is in its final crystal form. Celebrating the spaces between ritual, habit and ceremony. And all the parallels between. The line is blurred. This is occult adjacent strain of sound. At home in daily ritual, contemplation and meditation.” - John Dwyer

Svart Records are proud to present the vinyl debut of the album '8 Convulsions' (1994) by Crisis (NYC, USA) "I am really glad that Svart are re-releasing 8 Convulsions, so more people can rediscover this wonderful and intriguing heavy music." Michel 'Away' Langevin, Voivod Remastered and repackaged with the vinyl format in mind, the package comes with a large booklet full of lyrics and exclusive photos. This is the first time an album from the NYC cult band's oeuvre is pressed on vinyl. There will also be a CD edition of the remaster. Hailing from the mean streets of NYC in the year 1993, Crisis was a band that defied classification from the very start. During a time when heavy music was dominated by a mostly male presence, founders Afzaal Deen and original drummer Fred Waring envisioned a female-fronted band to run against the grain and destroy expectations. Seeking out a singer with a singular sound and presence, and found their match in groundbreaking vocalist and avant-visual artist Karyn Crisis. Soon after, a newspaper ad for a bass player was answered by Gia Chuan Wang and the original unit was formed. During their first rehearsal, Karyn became so enmeshed and driven by the music that she inadvertently destroyed a microphone stand and threw herself to the floor in an outpouring of unmitigated expression. This was barely a hint at the intensity she would soon bring to the stage and studio. Karyn’s guttural growls and angelic melodic notes meshed perfectly with the mixture of grinding guitar, pounding rhythm and deep bass tones. The underground music scene would now begin to experience the dynamic intensity of this burgeoning powerhouse band in full force. Crisis signed to Too Damn Hype records and released their debut album '8 Convulsions', now being reissued to mark its 30th anniversary. In a time where inclusivity is more crucial than ever, Crisis remains a band as diverse and distinct as the city from which they originally hailed. “The United Nations of Rock” as they’ve been called, continue to break boundaries and crush antiquated archetypes with their unprecedented sound and vision. "One of the most captivating bands I’ve ever experienced in New York City in the early 90s. They had a very unique sound where you couldn’t categorize them though they had elements of metal, punk with a very dark experimental approach, which gave them their unique sound. Just raw and relentless energy." Roy Mayorga, Ministry/Soulfly/Nausea etc 8 Convulsions is available on Svart exclusive blue/red marble vinyl, limited transparent yellow vinyl, classic black vinyl, and CD. Release date October 20th.

Svart Records are proud to present the vinyl debut of the album '8 Convulsions' (1994) by Crisis (NYC, USA) "I am really glad that Svart are re-releasing 8 Convulsions, so more people can rediscover this wonderful and intriguing heavy music." Michel 'Away' Langevin, Voivod Remastered and repackaged with the vinyl format in mind, the package comes with a large booklet full of lyrics and exclusive photos. This is the first time an album from the NYC cult band's oeuvre is pressed on vinyl. There will also be a CD edition of the remaster. Hailing from the mean streets of NYC in the year 1993, Crisis was a band that defied classification from the very start. During a time when heavy music was dominated by a mostly male presence, founders Afzaal Deen and original drummer Fred Waring envisioned a female-fronted band to run against the grain and destroy expectations. Seeking out a singer with a singular sound and presence, and found their match in groundbreaking vocalist and avant-visual artist Karyn Crisis. Soon after, a newspaper ad for a bass player was answered by Gia Chuan Wang and the original unit was formed. During their first rehearsal, Karyn became so enmeshed and driven by the music that she inadvertently destroyed a microphone stand and threw herself to the floor in an outpouring of unmitigated expression. This was barely a hint at the intensity she would soon bring to the stage and studio. Karyn’s guttural growls and angelic melodic notes meshed perfectly with the mixture of grinding guitar, pounding rhythm and deep bass tones. The underground music scene would now begin to experience the dynamic intensity of this burgeoning powerhouse band in full force. Crisis signed to Too Damn Hype records and released their debut album '8 Convulsions', now being reissued to mark its 30th anniversary. In a time where inclusivity is more crucial than ever, Crisis remains a band as diverse and distinct as the city from which they originally hailed. “The United Nations of Rock” as they’ve been called, continue to break boundaries and crush antiquated archetypes with their unprecedented sound and vision. "One of the most captivating bands I’ve ever experienced in New York City in the early 90s. They had a very unique sound where you couldn’t categorize them though they had elements of metal, punk with a very dark experimental approach, which gave them their unique sound. Just raw and relentless energy." Roy Mayorga, Ministry/Soulfly/Nausea etc 8 Convulsions is available on Svart exclusive blue/red marble vinyl, limited transparent yellow vinyl, classic black vinyl, and CD. Release date October 20th.

I want to introduce this work ‘Halos of Perception’ to you in the way Lisa introduced me to it, through the sharing of experiences.

Lisa and I met for a walk near South Yarra station to talk about this work, when inclement weather made it too wet to visit the tunnels. Moving almost seamlessly from a world of leisurewear, infinite milk alternatives and blaring neons to stretches of green by the water that brimmed with sounds and life, we saw a few people climbing the Burnley bouldering wall, butterflies suspended in the hot wind and lots of plants I wish I knew the names of. Overhead the cars rumbled like a ceaseless animal as we talked about hidden ecosystems, imagined spaces and networks of care.

Stemming from a serendipitous encounter with an original Cave Clan member that led to many underground adventures, this work explores the worlds that exist outside of our perceptions. By the river, I leafed through a selection of tunnel photos Lisa had printed off at Officeworks, revealing alien textures, tunnels that stretch on into abysses of their own, underground flowing streams. Light is sparse and delicate, something reflected by the flickering and wavering in Lisa’s piano compositions.

As we walked, we noticed the ways in which infrastructure is often designed to keep people out—cut doors into fencing and clipped wires show an active and ongoing defiance of this. We spoke about how her Cave Clan friend used to go down to this painted room and read in solitude, using candles for light. The way sound exists underground, encased in these hollow cement tunnels, a painted room with its own deep hum. How people used to hold underground shows, how there were rules for safety (no exploring after rain, never alone) that was shared with each other. This warmth and absorption of other’s experiences is present in Lisa’s work—it’s immersive, like wading in water.

We paused on the walk to eat berries and talk about how The Caretaker creates transitory worlds with recorded sound, how this technology captures memory, and the exploratory pursuits of Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening Band. These citations of memory and deep listening inform Lisa’s use of analogue and classical instruments, playback artefacts and acoustic feedback in her own world-building. When speaking about ‘Halos of Perception’, she describes it as a fascination with timbre and acoustic artefacts.

Ideas of networks and enmeshment are felt deeply in Lisa’s compositions, motifs overlaid over each other evoking the image of many hands interlinking playfully, tenderly, softly. The way her compositions delve into refraction and echo makes me think about the tunnels and the way they splinter off into many possibilities. Manipulated textures reminiscent of the chalky, earthy, moss air that perfumes the tunnels’ subterranean air. Tactile details that gesture towards close attention, verging on obsession.

This work is also about imagining ecosystems of potential. Lisa shared with me that during this project, she has been reimagining subterranean networks in dreams, thinking about oral traditions, and the way water moves—from the sky to the earth, through the ground, connecting all these spheres. Realised in collaboration with hyperreal video artist Tristan Jalleh, Lisa’s dream landscape melds waterfalls, leaks, flower graffiti, and hidden messages lit up by imagined light sources with existing subterranean networks. There’s a real sense of wonder in this world she has built, how the city can reveal itself to you with some patience and care, how the city and its secrets can find its way into your dreams.

— Panda Wong

"Acts of Light" ist eine Fuge, die aus neun langsamen, hypnotischen Klageliedern besteht. Auf ihrem dritten Album lehnen sich Woods' Experimentalismus und Klangforschungen an die Intimität und Zärtlichkeit dieser intuitiven Komposition an. Nach ihren Erkundungen von Gefühlen und Körperlichkeit durch Klang, die in ihrer 2021 erschienenen EP "Feral Hymns" gipfelten, ist "Acts of Light" ein beunruhigendes, persönliches Angebot an Wildnis, Verlust, Abwesenheit, Mysterien und höchste Liebe. Verletzlichkeit, Erhabenheit und Offenheit, hervorgerufen durch Drone, Noise, Synthesizer, Kontrabass, Field Recordings und sakralen Chorgesang, bilden das private Ritual. "Acts of Light" ist ein klangvolles, reichhaltiges und gewichtiges Lamento, das sowohl unterirdisch als auch abgründig ist, während gleichzeitig seine detaillierten Ranken verborgene Formen erwecken, die bei jedem Hören aus dem Schatten hervortreten. Texturaler Staub und gesprenkeltes Licht bewegen sich hier langsam und ausladend durch einen klanglichen und sensorischen Übergangsritus, bei dem Woods' bewegende Kompositionen uns das Gefühl vermitteln, mit dem ganzen Körper empfangen zu werden. Geschrieben, aufgenommen, gemischt und produziert über einen Zeitraum von zwei Jahren zwischen der Westküste Irlands und Dublin, nahm Woods die Chorsänger des Palestrina-Chores in der Pro Cathedral Dublin auf, zusammen mit den Stimmen des Galway City Chamber Choir. Die Streicher wurden von Jo Berger Myhre in Oslo aufgenommen, während die Feldaufnahmen nomadisch auf ihren Reisen durch den Nordwesten Spaniens entstanden.

Duran Duran melden sich mit ihrem neuen Album Danse Macabre zurück. Die 13 Songs umfassende Sammlung enthält drei brandneue Songs, eindringliche Coverversionen von Künstlern wie Billie Eilish, Talking Heads, The Rolling Stones und The Specials sowie neue Versionen von Duran Duran-Klassikern aus ihrem eigenen Katalog.

Es enthält auch eine seltene B-Seite und einen Fan-Favoriten: "Secret Oktober 31st". Zu den Gastkünstlern gehören Produzent, Gitarrist und Komponist Nile Rodgers, Victoria de Angelis von Måneskin und die ehemaligen Bandmitglieder Andy Taylor und Warren Cuccurullo. Die Platte ist mit einem ausklappbaren Poster verpackt und zeigt Bilder, die aus einer Sammlung authentischer alter Séance-Fotos stammen, die Bandmitglied Nick Rhodes bei einer Auktion ersteigert hat.

Straight Outta Caledonia is the first commercially available “Greatest Hits” of the outsider songwriter Jackie Leven, an artist
who has largely remained in obscurity in his native Scotland despite being one of the greatest wordsmiths – and singers – it ever
produced. A well-travelled musician who began making psychedelic, progressive music in the late 60s before emerging as an
epic storyteller full of pathos, humour and humanity in the 90s, Leven lived and wrote like many of the fragile, gregarious
characters of his songs; large, full of life and empathy. Leven passed away in 2011 after recording 30+ albums under different
guises or with his briefly successful New Wave band Doll by Doll. Straight Outta Caledonia is a compilation collated by Night
School Records on its Archival label School Daze that seeks to introduce Leven’s music to new generations.
In an age of isolation, alienation and loss of visceral experience, Jackie Leven’s music can be massive and welcoming. It feels
connected to some universal humanity and vibrates with vitality. His songs are often full of tragedy and comedy simultaneously,
cutting straight to the heart, often plugging directly into the nervous system of the listener. His lyrics are rich, dense with imagery
that can veer from apocalyptic to the comically banal in a sentence, with a songwriting panache that can be heavy handed to
almost bursting point before skewering the song with a clownish, warm punchline. His productions ranged from Bob Dylan’s
Rolling Thunder Revue style rock band orchestrations with strings and organ as on the epic Ancient Misty Morning or they could
be pared down to the purest form of folk song as on Poortoun: Leven on stage alone with an acoustic guitar, albeit played with a
mastery of the instrument that he often only hinted at. Musically his sound can bend traditional structures or stay completely
confined within them yet still forever push towards an ecstatic release, as on the cinematic Snow In Central Park.
The most exciting, jaw-droppingly effective tool at Leven’s disposal was his voice. A multi-octave instrument that, though
damaged during a savage assault in Fife, he used with flair; he had both a brazen disregard for the rules and a deep humility, all
of which is evidenced with every phrasing. A baritone that could flit up through the register – always touched by his gentle
Kirkcaldy accent – it’s the prime delivery method for his songs. Leven’s voice enabled him to inhabit the characters in his songs to
an uncanny degree, a skill that in turn enables the listener to empathise with them and, subsequently, the singer. It’s most evident
in stand out song The Sexual Loneliness Of Jesus Christ, a breathtaking re-telling of the life of its protagonist, not as a pure,
sinless messiah but as a sexually frustrated, solitary man condemned to an existential loneliness no one else will ever feel. In
many ways the track is the archetypal Jackie Leven song. Produced by Pere Ubu’s David Thomas, what strikes the ear first –
after the samples of unemployed workers in Glasgow following the closing of the Clyde shipyards – is the audacious, rhythmic
tremolo effect Leven employs through the verses before the production opens up to allow Leven’s vocal to lift into a soar, a
freeing glide powered both by the force of the singer’s chutzpah and the inherent, doomed destiny of the protagonist. With any
other singer such subject matter could come across as gauche or worse, pretentiously sonorous, but Jackie Leven’s genius was
such that he could be this cinematic and brazen while touching something elemental and true in the beholder. It’s a skill evident in
every song on Straight Outta Caledonia, the trademark of a songwriter who revelled and excelled in intensity with a lightness of
touch.
In his lifetime, Jackie Leven toured, wrote and recorded at a ferocious rate. He recorded under aliases to avoid record contract
restrictions, played house shows in Europe after or instead of official concerts, events which were often spoken word story telling
masterclasses as well as performances of his often bewilderingly dense songbook. His music has traditionally been catalogued
as “folk” music and has been largely banished to a small, dedicated group of international fans and apostles both private and well
known, like author Ian Rankin or Glenn Matlock. Since his passing in 2011 however, there has been a growing recognition
amongst a newer generation, with artists like James Yorkston or Molly Nilsson publicly stating the influence of the unsung
troubadour on their own craft. Jackie Leven’s fairytales for hard men are often forensic deconstructions of masculinity, sad and
ecstatic, light and shadow, always endlessly rich, a resource as bountiful as Leven himself’s human spirit undoubtedly was.

Multidisciplinary artist GAIKA returns with a new track titled “LADY” featuring bbymutha from his forthcoming album, Drift out on September 8th.

Thrashing drums and droned out guitars take immediate effect on “LADY” but it’s the two mavericks' electrifying chemistry that is the driving force of this track. Enlisting KIDÄ (Yves Tumor) on production with additional contributions from Azekel (Gorillaz) and Max Winter, alternative rock and audacious rap come crashing together as GAIKA and bbymutha flex their lyrical prowess, unapologetically expressing their devotion to their lovers on this twisted, feverish affair.

Newly signed to Big Dada Recordings, home to Roots Manuva, Yaya Bey, Kae Tempest, Brian Nasty and more, GAIKA jumps back into music with new invigoration after delving into work as a composer to unveil Drift - his most expansive work to date. The visionary invites listeners on a high-speed journey where love, pain, brutality and beauty collide to produce a vivid and provocative cinematic masterpiece. The sonic universe of Drift is the most stylistically accurate representation of GAIKA’s personal tastes to date, stitching musical influences past and present such as Prince, Wu Tang Clan, Massive Attack, John Coltrane, Pink Siifu and A$AP Rocky to land on a gritty, distorted sound pulsating with an unwavering, formidable energy that’s disruptive yet timeless.

Drift is 14 tracks of nostalgic escapism, a shape-shifting body of work with hip hop and club music cultures at its core, as those simply run through the veins of GAIKA. Analogue and retro in feeling, Drift’s psychedelic feel is formed by incorporating 90s grunge, dark wave, post-punk and alt-rock into its tapestry. It’s a representation of his heritage and environment, featuring calypso steel pans to gospel vocals, reverberating dub to frenetic rap and elements of sound design taken from recordings of the real world. GAIKA’s music transcends borders and his nomadic nature means he simultaneously belongs and doesn’t, his music cannot be confined to just one genre and this unique new record further cements him as one of the most progressive artists of our time, telling the tale of modern day renaissance man driving away from the economic hierarchy he doesn't believe in.

GAIKA endeavoured to create a waking dream by constant participation in communal art making, removing the separation between art and life, his imagination and community and breaking the boundary between real life and any spectacular representation of it. He set up a number of situational arts facilities in the heart of London including shows at ICA, 180 the Strand, Now Gallery and as the world reopened, created pop up galleries, studios, exhibitions and raves with the intention to enhance the experience of real life by dreaming. To achieve this coherently and authentically the process became akin to a form of psychological examination of memories made before music “mattered” to GAIKA - before becoming commodified, individualised and his name capitalised.

Drift became the term used to describe the creative happenings in these spaces and the name for the collective of people who made this record. GAIKA is the central writer and composer working closely with KIDÄ on production and a group of classically trained musicians with contributions from Azekel, Charlie Stacey, Brbko and The Narrator over an extended period of time where they recorded music late into the night, night after night.

Prisoners Of Love And Hate' is an offering to community, to desires that imprison and liberate, to people in all their divinity and ugliness. Apostille - aka Night School Records’ captain Michael Kasparis - presents is third album with a bang, a bursting ball of NRG, empathy and bristling living.
Like its predecessor 'Choose Life', 'Prisoners…' was recorded at Full Ashram Celestial Garden in Glasgow with Lewis Cook (Free Love) through 2022. A nine song treatise on pop music, trauma, ecstasy and the mundanities between the extremes, Kasparis takes on classic 80s synth pop, 90s house music, 00s trance, wistful balladry, 70s power pop. The thread that runs through the album is a boundless energy, an openness to the moment, to living
the pains and joys equally, open armed.

This is a place of no judgement, of possibility, challenge and comfort. The nine songs on 'Prisoners…' can be read as separate ruminations on the feelings and desires that imprison our experience. Through it all the narrator struggles against them, transported and fooled by love and longing, peering through the bars of anguish, flailing in a cell of emotions. 'Saturday Night, Still Breathing' breaks the album open with an invigorating scream and pounds into the night with a nod to Whigfield, Kasparis’ punk roots and house music. Over a thumping 909 kick and bassline, Kasparis pens a love letter to being with people, the collective energy of hearts in a room, thrumming together, making it through together. Written as private ritual magic, manifesting community during a time of isolation, it’s as if the party is the most important thing in the world. 'Rely On Me' imagines 80s Mute synth pop, Erasure fronted by Bruce Springsteen, romance doomed and forever perfect in the mind. 'Spit Pit' completes the opening triptych of fast paced rollercoasters, an ode to childhood forged out of change and discomfort told with a bold, epic production by Lewis Cook, AFX breakbeats, 160BPM kicks and a commanding vocal performance.

On 'People Make This City', Kasparis eases off the gas, lets the mist blowing in from the Clyde River blow over his version of Glasgow. A wistful ballad about small town gossip and coming through anger to leaving it all behind, it provides some shadow to the bright light of the vibrancy of the album. 'Natural Angel' owes much to 70s and 80s power pop, guitar melodrama, Thin Lizzy and Rick Springfield through the prism of co-dependence in relationships. It’s a theme that’s picked up in slow burner 'Nothing But Perfect', a hazy synth soul-inflected song about building your own mythology, constructing a dream to hide in, to hold on to. The most surprising track of the album, 'Summer of ’03' re-imagines the trance music of early noughties Europe into a lament for an eternal summer or as a fan once put it, “Meat Loaf with a donk on it.” A recognition that all ecstasy has tragedy laced within it, it’s a theme that is sewn throughout the LP and continued on the final song 'Feel Good (You Can Make Me)'. Referencing Shalamar’s 1982 mega hit by way of N-Trance’s piano riffs, the epic closer is riddled with heartbreak, vulnerability and power. It’s a testament to the new confidence in Kasparis’s songwriting, sure, but also to the enduring power of people to come together in mutual dependence and love. If ecstasy is always laced with tragedy, then 'Prisoners of Love and Hate' can always reach out between the bars to meet in the middle, the eternal now.

“I hope you die by my side, the two of us at the exact same time, I hope we die not long from now, the two of us at the exact same time”
By the time Molly Nilsson released History, she had already established a fledgling cult status built on homemade YouTube videos and home-burnt Cdrs. Writing from a distance, it’s clear that History is the first classic album in her canon and arguably a classic of the 21st Century underground music panorama.While the methodology on History hadn’t changed from Nilsson’s previous 3 albums – it was recorded solo at The Lighthouse, Nilsson’s home studio based on a Berlin crossroads – on this record the songwriting reached a new peak and the emotional scythe cut deeper. Here, Nilsson managed to combine a cosmic, outward looking perspective with an intimate knowledge of the human condition and its place in these turbulent times. In truth, no other songwriter has excavated the modern psyche so clearly and perfectly.
The tracklist to Nilsson’s fourth album reads as an early greatest hits for Molly Nilsson followers and also serves as the perfect entry point to a whole world the artist has been building for the last 10 years. In Real Life crystalises the millenial obsession with relationships built online, with a generation paying for the baby boomer’s excesses with their anxiety towards the harshness of every day life. It’s a call to arms for a generation who fell in love on Skype. On I Hope You Die, one of Molly Nilsson’s most iconic songs, the songwriter flips the song title into a tale of doomed romance, a relationship based on discommunications and the thrill of the other. It’s also one of the most heartfelt songs full of pathos written by anyone, an ode to obsession. Doomed romance, life lived on the flipside of day and the role of the outsider in society are themes that crop up through-out History. On
Bottles Of Tomorrow, the narrator is sweeping up, in love with the night and examining the remains a society leaves behind.
On City Of Atlantis, Nilsson veers from the plaintive balladry she had begun to make her name with, embracing trance-like synth and dance music details to create an unlikely anthem using the mythological city as a means to comment on the patriarchal rendering of history by power. With by now trademark panache, she turns complicated subject matter into a glorious song that transforms into an ecstatic pop moment.
Hotel Home, another Nilsson classic, paints loneliness not as a debilitating anxiety, but as a powerful to that propels the artist forward through her travels. It’s a song that hints at an endearing self-awareness also; the writer is never at home, living life on the road, content that “the world will find me when the time is ripe.”
There’s never been a greater time.

DJ Fett Burger & Cato Canari team up on this special collaboration release, in the vein of the true Balearic spirit. A release that will capture the sound, emotions and dreams of the beautiful sunsets at the magic beach, the place you love and the experience you want to last forever.

Para Siempre comes in two different versions to fully give you the experience of the lost dream of Ibiza:

- The “Italo Balearic” version for a vintage infused sentimental melodic experience, with the dreamy voice of Florencia. A tune that captures the true emotional spirit of the Balearic dream! Comes with a bonus instrumental.

- The second mix, “Elements of Trance”, captures the spirit in a more modern way, but still with the greatness of the sounds from the past. A classy trance infused version. Bit more energetic in style, but still with the melodic and a melancholic touch, in the most desirable way.

Die Band selbst zeigt sich offen und legt sich stilistisch nicht fest. Holding Absence lassen sich vielseitig inspirieren, wie zum Beispiel von Radiohead oder auch Thy Art Is Murder, von denen sie selbst Fans sind. Holding Absence standen bereits mit Kollegen wie Being As An Ocean, Casey und Burning Down Alaska auf der Bühne, denen sie vom Stil her ähnlich sind.

Dreyblatt"s minimalist conception - a rhythmic drone played on a double-bass strung with piano wire, playing in concert with other stringed instruments performing in 20 unequal microtones per octave and changing key but keeping the same fundamental pitch - dates back to the 1970s, while he studied under La Monte Young and Pauline Oliveros. Resolve acts in intermittent dialogue with the first Orchestra of Excited Strings release, 1982"s Nodal Excitation.

Since then, Dreyblatt has formed new orchestras across various countries and decades, with each phase of his music requiring several overlapping periods of gestation and arrangement.

The current Orchestra is formed by Konrad Sprenger, Joachim Schütz and Oren Ambarchi. On Resolve, each of the members" playing brings new angles to the compositions. Konrad Sprenger"s involves solenoids, sine waves and a computer-controlled multi-channel electric guitar (as well as a relentless style behind the drum kit and oversight of the album production), while Joachim Schütz"s individual conception of electronics and electric guitar and Oren Ambarchi"s undeniable innovations with signal path work together with Dreyblatt"s bass (still strung with piano wire) as magnetic component parts of Resolve.

These contributions lead to Resolve"s dialogue with the early Orchestra of Excited Strings canon - for instance, the track previewed here, "Flight Path" takes off at a pace not often found in the minimalist genre - a rolling lope! Yet the sense of play is palpable: the ensemble scale their microtonal keys with punkish brio, a stance sharing much with the original Orchestra"s downtown pulse, even as as the new Orchestra burn their own path through Dreyblatt"s music.

Approaching his 70th birthday, with over 40 years of work as a solo artist, collaborator, composer, educator and bandleader, Arnold Dreyblatt views Resolve as an important expression within the long story of The Orchestra of Excited Strings. The album title"s tendency to mean different things is an indicator of the dynamic qualities of his music in all its different phases - an evolution that continues to produce new dimensions in acoustic sound with every new release.

Sven Torstenson's notorious Drugs is a loopdigga's fever dream, bursting with breaks for days and featuring possibly the most iconic cover of all library music's cult classics. First released in 1980, it's now a hyper-rare and seriously sought-after electronic album full of experimental soundscapes and samples just waiting to be flipped. It's both terrifying and terrifyingly good. So much so, it's been brilliantly sampled by Kendrick Lamar and Chance The Rapper.

The sleeve describes Drugs as containing "the newest dimensions of electronic sounds. Dramatic underscores for all problems of today's life and society, at the border between reality and delusion." That's pretty spot-on. The fast moving "Euphoria" is an incredible, unignorable opener. It's loaded with disorientating effects and really needs to be heard to be believed. It's followed by the gorgeous "Soft Hallucinations", containing quiet, meditative and beautiful sounds - as the title suggests. One listen and you'll want to live in the warm embrace of this beatless, harmonic gem. Sinister squelchy synth stabs don't distract from the sheer beauty of the track's main (gentle) thrust. They only serve to elevate its trippy magic.

Next up, "Sky Move"'s agitated and repetitive rhythm makes it an intense listen but with a broad melody that will appeal to many. "Destroyed Dreams" utilises a muffled church organ and it sounds heavenly to begin with but it gradually invites increasingly distorted elements. Yes, you've had trips like this, we're pretty certain. Mental! Talking of bad trips, never have they sounded so good as "Horror Trip"; this fractured drama-synth just needs some some dusty beats to hold it up - get involved.

"Floating Illusions" almost sounds like a beatless Spiritualized bomb from the early-mid 90s; melodic, synthy, church organ-drenched. The mournful, dramatic "Lost Chance" pulses along on a bed of acidy synths whilst "The Morning After" is the sonic equivalent of the extreme fear and doom experienced in the aftermath of the previous night's carnage. Whilst somewhat uncomfortable listening, again, it's pretty compelling thanks to the myriad effects being expertly utilised. Fascinating. The sprawling, fragmented "Random Thoughts" is described as containing "confused melody phrases" - yeah, pretty much sums this one up.

The B-Side is ushered in by "Heroin" and it's as sketchy as you might think, all mysterious minor chords with a dominating - but not overbearing - bass refrain. Next up, the dream-like synthy fanfare of "Night Trip" climaxes after a few minutes of dramatic, ecclesiastical sounds whilst "Day Trip" layers its melody over a repetitive rhythmic base.

Next up, one of the *REAL* highlights makes itself known. Absolutely not to be missed, "Dealer's Corner" is all shifting tenors from quiet to hectic and back around again. The hectic parts are like a totally synthed-out-the-eyeballs jazz-funk collective wigging out with the latest electronic toys from 1980. This one totally SMOKES.

The dramatic "Sad And Hopeless" is appositely replete with dissonant, minor church-organ chords whilst "Riding Pegasus" uses a creepy ostinato bass melody to create irrational bleepy menace that's ripe for sampling. The penultimate track, "Hopeless Chaos" is another disorientating trip, a bleepy confection of sounds and phrases whilst closer "Goin' Mad" is all electronic percussion with an unpleasant rhthymic feel and irritating melody. Music to annoy your partner with!

Established in Munich in 1965 by Gerard and Rotheide Narholz, Sonoton introduced library music to Germany. Initially intended to cater to the country's new TV market, the library also provided an avenue for Gerhard Narholz's astonishing musical prolificacy, and soon became a haven for a wide range of European composers and musicians. In 1969, Sonoton struck a deal with the British label Berry Music for international publishing rights, exposing its catalog to a worldwide audience; when Berry was bought out by EMI in 1973, Sonoton transitioned into a full-fledged international label, with successes in the library and commercial fields and many innovations to its credit. Now a worldwide operation with hundreds of producers and composers under its employ, Sonoton nonetheless remains an independently run business still helmed by its founders - a remarkable achievement in an era when nearly every other major library has been absorbed by a multinational conglomerate.

The audio for Drugs 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 sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Es heißt, lang lebe der König und so weiter, aber nichts ist jemals in Stein gemeißelt. Ein Vierteljahrhundert nach seiner selbstverschuldeten Krönung und seinem selbstveröffentlichten Debüt-Soloalbum hat Kenny Anderson - DIY-Pop-Reisender, Restaurator eines angestammten Hauses am Meer, Squeezebox-Lothario, Fife for life, Diamantenschürfer, Herzensbrecher, und der Mann, der auch als King Creosote bekannt ist - über 100 Platten veröffentlicht (wenn man relativ konservativ schätzt), mit Künstlern wie Jon Hopkins, KT Tunstall und Lone Pigeon von Beta Band zusammengearbeitet und seine Songs von Künstlern wie Patti Smith und Simple Minds covern und aufführen lassen. Jetzt hat er trotz oder vielleicht gerade wegen all dem eine neue LP angekündigt. Sie heißt I DES und wird am 3. November veröffentlicht.
Und nein, es ist nicht an ihm, der so sehr von spielerischer Lyrik beseelt ist, vorbeigegangen, dass der Titel seiner neuesten Veröffentlichung ein einfaches Anagramm von "Dies" ist. Aber man sollte sich ein paar Dinge vor Augen halten: 1) I DES ist eine Anspielung auf KCs wichtigsten Kollaborateur dieses Mal - Multiinstrumentalist und Co-Produzent Derek O'Neill alias Des Lawson of Blantyre (From Scotland With Love von 2014, Astronaut Meets Appleman von 2016); und 2) HRH King Creosote hat sein ganzes musikalisches Leben lang um sein Ende gerungen.

Das Album wurde größtenteils zwischen 2016 und 2020 geschrieben, aber nichts ist jemals so einfach: Es gibt etwas Altes (Bäume), etwas Blaues (ebenfalls Bäume), etwas Geliehenes (Heimkassetten und Gesang aus allen Epochen; Texte aus der fernen Vergangenheit) und etwas Neues (KC scherzt, dass ein möglicher Titel für dieses Album We All Got Synths for Christmas war).

Und hier ist King Creosote: Sänger, Songwriter, rosaroter Schwindler, Vater dreier wunderschöner Töchter. Er wurde im Winter 1967 geboren. In jenem Jahr wüteten Überschwemmungen und Schneestürme, aber alles wuchs und überstand den Sturm.

‘Life And Death - The Five Chandeliers Of The Funereal Exorcisms’ pulls back the veil unto a nocturnal scene populated by shadows, embers burning coldly in the underworld. Marina Zispin is your guide, siren and protector both. Marina Zispin is the negative space between musicians Bianca Scout and Martyn Reid. Love And Death is the duo’s debut release, five chandeliers of melancholic, vibrant synth pop twinkling in the inky blackness. Both originally hailing from the North East of England and forming a musical partnership before lockdown, Bianca Scout and Martyn Reid initially worked remotely. Having relocated to South London and Newcastle respectively, Marina Zispin was born in earnest after the duo could begin writing and practising in the same space. Bianca Scout is a celebrated musician and dancer with a number of solo and collaborative works in her discographywhile Martyn Reid is a mainstay of the UK noise and power electronics scene, most recently with solo project Depletion. Marina Zispin largely eschews both Scout’s deconstructed approach to song and Reid’s focus on visceral, noise- based productions; the result is a new entity, the underground pop star that exists only in darkened dreams. Marina Zispin, then, is an avatar cajoled, nurtured and directed by Scout and Reid. Analogue electronics redolent of the early 80s Cold Wave and Synth Pop era form the base of the Zispin worldview, with Bianca Scout donning the Marina disguise, embodying the character over five songs of swooning drama, playful melodic interplays and tear-stained, doe-eyed sentiment. Flowers In The Sea opens with an austere 4/4 beat and hypnotic synth parts before Scout/Zispin floats in across the lagoon. Scout’s vocal tone is an instant winner, sweet like honey pouring down over the cold, robotic productions and stereo-panned synth work. We can almost see the petals drift into the horizon before being pulled under by the artist’s sadness. Ski Resort bursts out with a Jacno-inspired bassline and backing that could have been buried in a French disco in 1982 (think Stereo or Linear Movement) before Scout’s narrative details frivolousness and regret before a magical shift for the final coda into major key. Backworth Gold Club closes Side A, a mysterious rigid beat and minor chord synth arpeggios swimming in space, floating and obscure. On Side B, Hymn carries the tone on, church-like synths holding down the pattern for Zispin/Scout to float above in a flowing gown of reverb. The marriage of Reid’s cold musical backbone and Scout’s effortless vocal and co- production is in full flow here, the vocals at times rising to the rafters of this nocturnal place of worship, at other points they’re fuzzy samples cutting in and drifting out or sung with an extreme autotune, abstract and perfect in the moment. Surprise Party is the most straightforward pop bullet, Scout/Zispin’s vocal peering out more from the fog, perhaps revealing more than usual: vulnerability, maybe, the wandering muse of the artists behind the veil or just another layer of mystery behind the enigma? Marina Zispin’s Life & Death - The Five Chandeliers Of The Funereal Exorcisms ends as it began, scintillating in obscurity, leaving everything unanswered but open.