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Marhu is set to make her debut on Electric Ballroom with a captivating two-track EP slated for release on May 24th, 2024. Inspired by the iconic Opera monument in her hometown of Brussels the lead track "La Monnaie" is a compelling blend of bittersweet melodies, intricate orchestral elements, epic violins and choirs intertwine with massive rave synth and acid undertones, creating a sense of powerful grandeur and drama. Marhu's fusion of classical and electronic influences brings a fresh perspective to the genre, captivating listeners with her creative ingenuity from start to finish. Reflecting on her debut release, the artist from Belgium expresses her excitement about joining Thomas Schumacher's esteemed label, Electric Ballroom: "La Monnaie" has been a standout feature in my recent sets, showcasing my ability to craft immersive musical journeys that resonate with my audience” Known for her infectious positivity and high-energy performances, Marhu's mission is to connect with her audience and take them on musical journey. We are thrilled to welcome this uber talent to the EBM family.

Collecting orders for 2024 Repress

The last Drexciyan storm... 6 Drexciya tracks for the life aquatic. Essential!!!

Nearly two decades after it was first released, Norken’s sleek cult classic album ‘Our Memories Of Winter’ is being reissued on vinyl via Hydrogen Dukebox on 6th December 2024.

With its unique sonic blueprint of early 2000s electronica, ‘Our Memories Of Winter’ is a record that is at once both deeply reminiscent of a particular era and place, yet remains a timeless invocation of Norken’s idiosyncratic palette of minimal, techno, house and British IDM.

This vinyl reissue presents all 12 tracks from the original release, with the inclusion of 'Df23' and 'Flirt' making this the first time that ‘Our Memories Of Winter’ is available on vinyl with the complete album tracklisting.

Norken is one of the many pseudonyms of Lee Norris, a producer who is considered by those in the know as one of the unsung heroes of UK electronica. With a slew of releases throughout the years as Man-Q-Neon, Nacht Plank, Norken, Tone Language and Metamatics, this reissue shines a light on his soulful, immersive output under the Norken name.

As Norris explains, “The release of ‘Our Memories Of Winter’ has a nostalgic, warm feeling for me. I made his album in a garden shed with a wood burner, an Atari computer and a few synths in the depths of an English winter. I still had the thought process of making emotional style techno that would warm any soul on a cold day.”

First released in 2005, ‘Our Memories Of Winter’ carries the echoes of electronic luminaries such as the Detroit ambient techno of John Beltran, through to the immersive atmospherics of Biosphere and the innovative IDM of fellow British outfits Autechre and The Black Dog. Yet as Norken, Norris retains a distinctive musical voice that has continued to deepen in stature over the years since the album’s initial release.

Opening with the brief intro cut ‘Fern 2’, the album slides into the dreamlike groove of ‘Memories’, where rich, resonant chords wrap around cool, galactic-sounding synths and a compelling bass undertow.

On ‘It Might Have Been Rain’, that signature bass texture again propels a luxuriant mid-tempo rhythm, while Norken layers in hypnotic washes of string-like synths, gentle electronic pulses and the brief murmur of a vocal, across seven-plus immersive minutes.

Vocal textures, often subtly looped and distorted, also add a distinctive depth and personality to tracks like ‘Eastern Soul’ and ‘Here’. Throughout the album, there’s a feeling of intricate microcosms unfurling, as Norken coaxes a myriad of contemplative moods and emotions from his machines.

Whether shaping the smooth, lulling ambient gauze of ‘Ty Canol’, or letting the kaleidoscopic, dancefloor-leaning drive of ‘Audic Strable’ loose like a coiled spring, ‘Our Memories Of Winter’ presents the singular voice of an artist whose innovative contribution to UK electronic music has only become heightened with the passing of time.

30D Records celebrates a decade of modern sonic exploration. Since its inception at the end of 2014, and initially taking inspiration from 40's & 50's science fiction culture, the label has been offering to listeners a vast array of genres, being experimental, creative and forward-thinking dance music its main mission.

For its 10th anniversary, the cutting-edge electronic music label very proudly announces five distinctive releases, each one across their respective sub-labels.

And he did it again! The talented Calum Lee AKA Paleman / Fresnel Lens, one of our favorite producers by far, is back after his acclaimed Exalted EP (2023). Although stylistically speaking 'a bit different' to the previous release (in his own words), our innovative sound designer delivers a sick collection of dark, abstract and experimental broken-beat tracks as only few artists can afford, where impossible percussive rhythms and tons of raw energy go hand in hand, challenging listener's perception and placing him at the forefront of electronic music. Another must have release.

Words from the label:

Re-issue label Sentinel Island Disco returns to the stage with their long-awaited soca compilation featuring highly sought after soca cuts, raw 90’s soca house and deep blends of reggae, calypso and disco.

Structured by a PARTY and a SOUL side, the compilation offers a snapshot of the 90s electronic soca scene in all its multifaceted glory. The party side serves up a selection of pulsating, feel-good party tracks that encapsulate the carefree spirit that is the very heartbeat of soca parties. While the soul side explores a more introspective soundscape, where soulful vocals and deep electronic beats merge to create a powerful emotional experience and where melodies linger long after the music stops.

Label owners Barney Graman and Coco Vink have spent the past 3 years on bringing these lost and obscured recordings back into the limelight, some of which now pressed on vinyl for the very first time. All tracks are carefully remastered and some have been edited or remixed for the modern dancefloor, while staying as close as possible to the original brilliance.

The result is more than just a collection of songs; it’s a celebration of soca’s rich heritage and its ability to unite both different cultures as well as divergent musical themes, from joyous celebration to soulful reflection. All in all, a must-have compilation for all the collectors and aficionados of the rich and uplifting music of the African diaspora, as well as DJ's, dancers and music lovers looking to spice up their collection with some incredible soca music!

Comes as a transparent colored vinyl, featuring a small booklet with artist and label pictures as well as full liner notes on the genre's history and introduction of the tracks.

Limited to 500 copies.

Born out of a summer (and time) most sadly lost forever - this new release on Souvenirs From Imaginary Cities will break your skull open most tenderly, so it's fine particles of audio-dust can mingle with the last rays of sunshine and the bitter storm of this autumn. Track after track, this LP draws you in with a natural flow and a deep-felt pulse - reminiscent of classic slices of raw and sample- based ambient like Susumu Yakota's 'Sakura' and 'Everyone Alive Wants Answers' by Colleen. These tunes are heartfelt and channelling tons of real emotions and other melancholia.

It's a very personal and unique blend of almost nineties chill out zoning with a dubby undertone, rich textured loops, mixing a whole range of crazy acoustic and electronic flavours - stuff that shouldn't work together but are dancing all the way to heaven anyways - with slow burning dusty slabs of melody and yes those deep choral pads ( some Rachmaninov vesper magic in the air ), everything rough around the edges and low slung but so damn precise. A subtle mélange between abstract and more concrete sonic territories, but delivered in an upfront, improvised manner with great intuition and a quite ruff but poetic touch.

Name of this piece of swampy, chopped up but most nicely selected ambient work is La Ho, by Purpurny Dyadya aka Purple Uncle aka Sergey Demitriev, originally residing in St-Petersburg but living now for obvious reasons in Armenia. Sergey has been busy on labels like Echotourist, Hair Del, Nazlo and most recently with fellow traveler Nikita Chepurnoi as Amkarahoi on Patience/Impatience. Using a bunch of old tapes from his childhood times, filled with all kinds of sonic memories and Russian underground hip-hop as sample ground, he loaded up his MPC with magic dust and jammed out the basis of this LP during a summer fest near St-Petersburg before current hell broke loose.

It's the kind of a record that needs some time to really let loose his inherent power, give it some air, let it hop along a bit and those sounds will bloom wide open.

Record includes 2 page insert and download

Flipping rhythms from Guadeloupe, Cuba, Senegal and Puerto Rico, Time Capsule founder Kay Suzuki releases an acid-soaked collection of remixes that transcends time and space.

From the blacked-out basement of Plastic People to the psychedelic dancefloor of Beauty and the Beat, Kay Suzuki’s musical world has been shaped by some of London’s most iconic sound systems. High quality audio, he says, can open portals to new universes. Rhythm is time made plastic and beauty is the space between the beats.

Spanning over fifteen years of music from the prolific DJ, producer, Time Capsule label boss and one time Brilliant Corners sushi chef, this collection of remixes is the logical conclusion of Kay Suzuki’s musical thinking. Drawn to unique percussive or syncopated rhythms, he describes remixes as conversations between the original artist’s sense of time and his own. Weaving broken beat, house and dub influences into rhythms from across the Black Atlantic, these four tracks find each other kinship on the dance floor.

The A-side begins with a dubbed-out rework of the Gwoka celebration rhythm ‘A Ka Titine’ by Guadeloupe’s Gaoulé Mizik that was originally released by Beauty and the Beat in 2022. Layering electronic flares, dub sirens and space echo reverb across the shuffling toumblak beat, Suzuki leans into the track’s creole heritage, turning the track into a sought-after dancefloor jam, played by everyone from Colleen Cosmo Murphy and John Gomez to Yu-Su and Bradley Zero.

Skipping to Puerto Rico, Broki’s ‘Es Que Lo Es’ emerged from a collaboration between Bugz in the Attic’s Afronaut and Seiji and local musicians. Here Suzuki reworks the Afro-Latin percussion into a subtle bruk, conjuring a third space between London and San Juan that remains both of and outside the era in which it was made.

Blackbush Orchestra’s ‘Sortez, Les Filles!’ opens the B-side, taking apart the original and kneading the Senegalese percussion into a chugging Balearic house track, buoyant and full of life. Also first released by Beauty and the Beat, the track features new synth and structural elements that bring out the innate dancefloor potential beneath the surface of the original.

The final track on the collection heads back to the Caribbean and the island of Cuba, where Sunlightsquare a.k.a. Claudio Passavanti worked with vocalist Rene Alvarez and expert in Afro-Cuban percussion, Giovanni Imparato, on ‘Oyelo’. Here, Suzuki strips out the kick completely, leaving an implied rhythm which he calls an “imaginary four-to-the-floor” - a groove that is felt rather than heard, leaving the listener floating in another universe entirely.

The Alarm 40th Anniversary release History Repeating is new Double CD and LP collection. The CD features 44 of The Alarm’s biggest singles and greatest songs and the double LP features 27.
Spanning all eras of The Alarm Timeline, History Repeating brings together all of the band’s ‘Crown Jewels’, including a brand new and previously unreleased recording of the title track.
History Repeating features all of the keynote tracks that have helped create The Alarm’s phenomenal and loyally dedicated following. The Double CD comes in a replica LP gatefold sleeve configuration and is the most comprehensive ‘Best Of’ ever released by the group since 1998’s Best of The Alarm and Mike Peters.
The Double LP comes in a gatefold configuration and is the first ‘Best Of’ compilation to appear on vinyl since 1990’s Standards. This is the record every single Alarm fan will want to own with its distinctive Red Poppy cover and beautiful depiction of The Alarm family across the inner gatefold.
Upon release, lead singer Mike Peters will be hosting a series of completely SOLD OUT Alarm Rock and Roll Staycations in the band’s hometown while telling the story of The Alarm through thealarms internet broadcast platform
The Big Night In, that will feature weekly shows dedicated to every single year of the band’s history.
In 2022, a major touring itinerary begins with the already SOLD OUT official 40th Anniversary Concert in St. David’s Hall, Cardiff Wales on January 21st 2022 followed by an international 40th Anniversary concert schedule all the way through to 2023.

Sourcing rare records to reissue can involve meticulous research and years of digging, but then occasionally, Lady Luck smiles upon you. We probably would have never heard of the Medium Wave Band if Gary from Mr Bongo hadn't known Wolverhampton-based record dealer, Steve Ward. Whilst offering Gary some records for sale, he remembered he had a spare copy of an old 7" single that he thought Gary might like. Steve didn't know much about the release, and it had never sold on Discogs. Looking at the record itself, it was minimalist in appearance and information, there wasn't much to go on other than that it was from the Birmingham area. The mystery drew us in…

The A-side, 'So Tender’, is a late-night, jazzy slow-jam, with beautifully sultry, soulful female vocals which sounded vaguely familiar. On listening to the B side, 'Games (Instrumental)’, you are rewarded with a superb example of Britfunk / independent UK jazz-funk. The pulsating, bass-led dancefloor groove and sensibility is a sound reminiscent of productions usually found on labels such as Elite, but the 7” was not released on a label, it was a private press by the band themselves. So who are the enigmatic The Medium Wave Band?

After some fruitful internet digging and correspondence, we got the answers. The band lineup featured Elliot Browne on guitar (lead & rhythm), Ron Lyseight on guitar (rhythm), Andrew Proverbs on keyboards, Tony Peart on drums, Paul Snook on bass, Linton Levy on saxophone, and surprisingly, the beautiful vocals we had been enjoying were those of Jackie Graham, aka the hugely successful UK vocalist, Jaki Graham. Maybe best known for her pop hit with David Grant, 'Could It Be I'm Falling In Love', but also featuring on the cult classic track 'Fire In My Heart' by Escape From New York.

Influenced by artists and bands including George Benson, Ronnie Laws, Weather Report, George Duke, Azimuth and Chick Corea to name a few, the guys booked into a studio near the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham and recorded the two tracks that make up this 7”. Only 200 copies of the original 7" were ever pressed and were sold mostly in Birmingham at Summit Records by the band’s friend DJ Frenchi, as well as at live shows. Despite its limited distribution channels, the record received solid support from fans and those in the music industry, including Morgan Khan of the influential record label, Street Sounds. DJ and journalist, Lindsay Wesker, reviewed the release and this led to the band travelling to London for several radio interviews. They played live shows across the country, including at the prestigious Ronnie Scott's in London, and supported both Shakatak and Weapon of Peace in Birmingham.

Thanks to all those involved bringing this release into fruition and for solving the mystery behind a wonderful Britfunk and UK soul record that could have otherwise been lost in the mists of time.

VOYKOT presents a new cult album from PANICO EN DIRECTO, delivering another masterfully crafted mini LP. This collection of 6 tracks delves deeper into the producer's sonic universe, weaving intricate layers of percussion with complex melodic structures. While maintaining the raw EBM and Techno foundations of their debut, this release takes a more introspective turn, offering a sophisticated dialogue between rhythm and atmosphere that reveals new depths with each listen.

Dark Entries has raided the bathhouse to bring us Deep Entries: Gay Electronic Excursions 1979-1985, 10 tracks of obscure queer synth bliss. One of Dark Entries' most important missions has been illuminating neglected facets of gay musical history, with crucial archival works by legends like Patrick Cowley, Sylvester, and Man Parrish. On Deep Entries, the label spans 6 years of gay electronics - from sultry to angsty to camp, these songs are overflowing with snappy 808 snares and sinewy analog synth leads. The '80s were a difficult period for many in the gay community as they grappled with the horrors of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The 10 tracks on Deep Entries, varied in genre and vibe, are united in their portraiture of 1980s gay life, and the hope for love or fleeting romance. Previously unreleased cruising soundtracks come courtesy of Patrick Cowley’s “Love Me Hot” featuring vocalist Paul Parker and Boytronic’s “Tonight (Alternate Mix)” set on Hamburg’s famous “Mile of Sin.” Brisbane-based Megamen deliver the proto-electroclash number “Designed for Living,” which prefigures Madonna’s Marlene Dietrich rap in “Vogue.” Trans vocalist Paula "Ula" Villagrá declares, “Everyone is gay!” on Muzak’s “Happy Song,” a skittering tecnopop anthem. Dereck Higgins' “This Was Something” rings like a lost Joy Division cut draped in bizarre effects, and Polar Praxis’ “(I Want) To Be Different” is a seething ode to alterity. Nightmoves’ “Nightdrive,” is best known as the brooding instrumental B-side to their epochal “Transdance.” Transistor Jet’s “Master Of The Universe (BW's f-w)”, Maxx Mann’s “Just Like a Razor” and Bachelor’s Anonymous’ “A Stranger’s Bed” are mood music for the pleasures of BDSM and one-night stands. The record comes housed in a retro bathhouse fantasy sleeve designed by Gwenaël Rattke and includes a double-sided poster with photographs and lyrics. Deep Entries arrives on December 1st in honor of World AIDS day, and proceeds will go to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

The National veröffentlichen mit "Rome" am 13. Dezember ein komplettes Live-Album mit 21 Tracks auf Doppel-Vinyl, als Doppel-CD und natürlich digital.

Das Konzert wurde am 3. Juni 2024 in Italien live (ohne Overdubs) aufgenommen wurde. Das Doppelalbum, welches von Peter Katis, einem langjährigen Begleiter der Band, abgemischt wurde, spannt einen Bogen über die mehr als 20 Jahre der Karriere von The National und zeigt, wie jeder Song auf der Bühne sein ganz eigenes und neues Leben entfaltet hat. Man muss diese Band live gesehen haben, die mittlerweile Stadien und große Arenen füllt. Warum das so ist, hört man auf "Rome". Aufgenommen in dem architektonisch beeindruckenden und nach dem berühmten italienischen Filmkomponisten benannten Veranstaltungsort "Parco Della Musica Ennio Morricone", zeigt die 21-Track-LP schillernde Versionen großer Songs wie "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "Don"t Swallow the Cap", "I Need My Girl", "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness", "England" und "Fake Empire" - so wie Live-Interpretationen neuerer Tracks wie "Eucalyptus", "New Order T-Shirt", "Tropic Morning News" und "Smoke Detector". Die Band ändert ihre Setlist von Abend zu Abend, spielt Klassiker aus zwei Jahrzehnten und kombiniert diese mit Tracks aus den letzten Alben - kein Konzert ist wie das andere und beschert den Zuschauern jedes Mal im wahrsten Sinne ein einzigartiges Erlebnis. "Rome" ist geprägt von Raritäten wie dem Show-Opener "Runaway", "Lemonworld", "The Geese of Beverly Road", "Lit Up" und einer Tour-de-Force-Paarung von "Humiliation" vom von der Kritik gefeierten Album "Trouble Will Find Me" mit "Murder Me Rachael" von dem früheren Album "Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers". Als Zugabe gibt es in Rom die Wahlkampfhymne "Mr. November", "Terrible Love" von High Violet und das abschließende Fan-Singalong "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks". In ihrer Live-Kritik bezeichnete der Guardian The National als "eine die Ära definierende Band auf dem Höhepunkt ihrer Kräfte... als dieses atemberaubende zweieinhalbstündige Epos zu einer gemeinschaftlichen Katharsis wird". Auch der Rolling Stone UK schrieb: "Es ist klar, dass die Band...ihren Platz an der Spitze seit einem Jahrzehnt verdient hat.... Eine Show, die einfach euphorisch ist und die Band auf einem neuen Höhepunkt sieht." Das Doppel-Livealbum "Rome" ist das Zeugnis dafür.

In 2000 and 2001 the original version of 6th Gate raged over mainland Europe hitting top 10 in a dozen countries and becoming platinum and gold in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Greece, Poland,….

In 2023 the track got 2 make-overs by Reinier Zonneveld and Quintino. 2 years on, 2025, the track gets the commercial make-over it deserves.
Remix by Erik Hubo, the original producer/author of the 2023 worldwide clubhit Metro (Mau P/Kevin De Vries) Armin Van Buuren absolutely loves the track and it made it’s debut on Armin’s show A State Of Trance on November 7th.

Limited edition of this red onesider.

Soul Brother Records present two rare Scepter/Wand disco classics on one limited edition 12” single for Record Store Day Bobby Moore was a singer, musician and bandleader from New Orleans. He worked as a writer and arranger from the 1960s to 1980s, “(Call Me Your) Anything Man” one of only a handful of solo 7” single releases. The 12” version has never been commercially released before, it’s prior existence in this format has only been on acetate. Legend has it that the one acetate was cut at the time because when Tom Moulton mastered the record in 1975, the studio had run out of 7” parts so made it a 12”. The quality sounded so good the 12” single was born!
Sweet Music were the vocal trio who sang background vocals with KC & The Sunshine Band. This is one of the few records ever remixed by West End legend Mel Cheren.

You’re NEXUS 21, central to the dizzy zeitgeist of the 1991 adrenaline rammed UK House Music juggernaut, and you have just recorded a masterpiece of an album MIND MACHINES.

DON’T DO IT LIKE THAT - somehow even though your record label love the album it does not get released.
DO IT LIKE THIS - it finally gets issued now.

When Mark Archer and Chris Peat flew back from a seminal recording session at Kevin Saunderson’s KMS Studio in Detroit there was a palpable feel of excitement. Instead of merely paying homage to their Techno forerunners, they were now creating their own just as innovative waveforms.

In the can was a gem - DON’T DO IT LIKE THIS, DO IT LIKE THAT. Motor City songstress Donna Black had unconsciously seemed to add Ma to the start of her name and her recorded in the dark vocals helped conjure up an almost Madonna and a drum machine meets Techno hybrid. This it was agreed could be a huge breakthrough single which - preceded by strategically released set up tracks - would build up Nexus 21’s surely inevitable rise to glory. And the release of the MIND MACHINES album. But it never happened. Instead one day Mark and Chris burst into Network’s Birmingham office excitedly brandishing no less than 8 new recordings infused with a propulsive Rave energy flash compared to their more cerebral Nexus 21 work. The label agreed that the new tracks should be released under a new artist name and an initial suggestion. Alien 8 replaced by Altern 8. What was planned as temporary dalliance became a long term relationship. You all know the score - Altern 8 became surf riders supreme on the rave tsunami, not just music makers but myth creators. The plan has been to run Nexus 21 and Altern 8 parallel, a kind of schizophrenic experiment by two men, a drum machine and a mad for it record company. History shows that Altern 8 became too DOMIN 8 and the lovingly recorded Nexus 21 album was left on the proverbial shelf (actually a box in Birmingham)

So now MIND MACHINES finally meets the World. First thing that screams out that it hasn’t half aged well. Obviously it is a wet dream for the anoraks of electronica, that goes without saying. But above and beyond the history lesson of how 2 young UK techno mad kids got the dots from Detroit and deconstructed them to create something very British the music they created, sometimes naive but frequently knowledgeable, sounds .. well just great.

The four Detroit recordings - NEXODUS, TOGETHER, DON’T DO IT LIKE THAT, DO IT LIKE THIS and EVERYTHING (NO STATUES) - variously feature contributions from Motor City luminaries Marc Kinchen and Anthony Shakir.

Only two of the twelve recordings were properly released in 1990/1991 with two more making it on a withdrawn white label 12 inch at the time. Three of the tracks, including a live recording at London’s Brain Club that has been retrieved from a DAT that was thought to have disappeared, are previously unreleased. And as well as two previously unreleased much altered versions of Nexus 21 gems there is the legendary much tougher mix of the duo’s signature techno treasure Self Hypnosis.

NEXUS 21

LOST AND NOW FOUND

DJ support: Chris Stussy, M-High, Prunk, Cinthie, Michel de Hey, Locklead, Dennis Quin

When Souls Collide - A soulful fusion of sound and spirit, this track invites listeners to experience a harmonious clash where emotions and rhythms intertwine.

Shy Time - Inspired by the vibrant energy of Chicago, this deep house gem brings a raw, underground vibe that captivates and moves the dance floor.

Feel Free - A high-octane heavy house anthem, 'Feel Free' is designed to electrify any dance floor with its cutting-edge beats and infectious energy. Prepare for some real damage!

Dexed Tek- The perfect B-side to complete the EP, 'Dexed Tek' features dubby chords layered over a powerful beat, creating a deep, immersive soundscape that resonates long after the last note fades.

Limited edition Red Vinyl Repress of the massive ‘Les Dance’

The original artist has been rather popular over the years, a hero to many, known for floating in tin cans, sporting screwed up eyes and a screwed down haircut, a man who has fallen towards his home planet and questioned life on others.

Needless to say JCG has taken the finest elements of the track and reworked them to bring joy to any serious dancefloor, moonlit or otherwise. Funky tribal percussion, dramatic synths and echoes add depth and modernity to the sound and vision of the original and of course that all-important instantly recognisable bass stab is stronger than ever. Flip for a stripped up, not down, dub and the result is a superb record that will be played far more than just for one day.

Collected by Charles Aznavour is a wonderful collection of hits and classics by the French chansonnier, that touches your soul at every moment. It’s an overview of his work during the sixties, seventies and duets with Johnny Hallyday on “Il Faut Savoir” and with Frank Sinatra “Young At Heart”. Also his English versions of “How Sad Venice Can Be”, “The Old Fashioned Way”, “She” and four more English songs are included on this deluxe Trifold 3LP album.

In the early 1950s a man of short stature attempts to win over his audience. With a hoarse voice he delivers songs that do not catch on. People jeer at him. Tomatoes fly through the air. The Frenchman with Armenian roots slinks off the stage, but does not quit. Ironically, the song that makes him a household name is the song in which he recalls his agonising trial. The audience reacted indifferently when Charles Aznavour decided to try out his new song on stage. But when he went on to greet the audience for one final time they all stood and gave him a thundering standing ovation.

In the sixties, hits and classics succeed one another. Nobody is bothered any more by his husky voice, by his small stature or his rugged characterful face. The croony “For Me Formidable” (1963), the heart breaking “Et Pourtant” (1963) and the nostalgic “Hier Encore” (1964) confirm his standing as a fan favourite. “La Bohème” (1965) and “Emmenez-moi” (1967) turn Aznavour into a superstar. In “La Bohème”, there are impressionist painters strolling in the shadows of the Sacré-Coeur, the compelling “Comme Ils Dissent” (1972) is the first chanson after Vichy France to overtly endorse homo sexuality and in the present “France Of La Manif Pour Tous” (the movement that opposes gay marriage), does it again to sound particularly topical. “Camarade” (1977) was about the nomenklatura, the ruling elite in the Soviet Union and is a social and historical topic. “Avec Un Brin De Nostalgie” is an Aznavour grand cru, maybe even the best he has made over the last thirty years.

Charles Aznavour Collected is available as a limited pressing of 1000 individually numbered copies on gold vinyl. The package includes a 4-page booklet with liner notes and photos.

RAWAX presents Jozek K - Falling Horizontal (12)
We are pretty sure, Jozef delivered here with the main track, called "Falling Horizontal" a Autumn anthem!
Combined with two super strong tracks on the B side, we are more than happy anout his second release for us!
Highly recommeded!