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Scowl is a band that sounds exactly like their name implies. Venomous, fierce, antagonistic. A sneer not to be crossed. Over the last five years, the Santa Cruz, California, band has firmly planted their flag in the hardcore scene with their vicious sound and ripping live show, sharing stages around the world with Circle Jerks, Touché Amoré, and Limp Bizkit, and filling slots at prominent festivals like Coachella, Sick New World, and Reading and Leeds. But with their new album, Are We All Angels (Dead Oceans), Scowl is aiming to funnel all that aggression through a more expansive version of themselves. Much of Are We All Angels grapples with Scowl’s newfound place in the hardcore scene, a community which has both embraced the band and made them something of a lightning rod over the past few years. Standout single “Not Hell, Not Heaven” outright rejects the narratives cast onto them by outsiders. “It’s about feeling victimized and being a victim, but not wanting to identify with being a victim,” explains vocalist Kat Moss. “It’s trying to find grace in the fact that I have my power. I live in my reality. You have to deal with whatever you're dealing with, and it ain’t working for me.” The band breaks from a sense of disassociation to seek deeper connections on “Fantasy.” “It’s incredibly challenging to try to balance my love for the scene while also feeling, in some spaces, extremely alienated and hated,” Moss says. “‘Fantasy’ is about feeling like I don't know how to connect with these people anymore, because I have shelled myself away so hard.” The album ends in a philosophical place on the closing, titular track, “Are We All Angels,” asking questions like, “Is this all there is?” and ultimately putting it on the listener to decide. “It’s about the personal struggle between good and evil. It doesn’t matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ you are, there are systems that will try to rewrite your narrative no matter what you actually do,” explains Moss, noting that punctuation on “Are We All Angels” has been deliberately omitted in an attempt to leave the statement open-ended. Are We All Angels is the highly anticipated follow-up to Scowl’s debut, 2021’s How Flowers Grow, a 16-minute primal scream over punishing riffs. But amidst the pounding chaos, it was the record’s sonic outlier, a cleaner interlude called “Seeds to Sow,” that, true to its name, planted the seed for what was to come for the band. “It kind of laid out this destiny for us, and I feel like now we’re fulfilling that,” says drummer Cole Gilbert. The band continued to expand their sound on 2023’s widely acclaimed Psychic Dance Routine EP, incorporating more pop hooks and favoring gentler singing over heavy screaming, paving the way for what would come next. Scowl’s growth got a huge boost from producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight, Code Orange, Balance and Composure), who broadened the band’s scope. “Will would say, ‘Everything you have here is correct, but it’s in the wrong place,’” says Gilbert. Moss adds: “Will really helped restructure a lot of the material. Some songs he tore apart to make more space for the really good hooks and choruses.” But even through this more eclectic approach, Scowl loses none of their edge, and still manages to convey the anger and frustration that lies underneath. They are deeply committed to carrying the ethos of punk and its sense of community. “Hardcore and punk have sculpted how we operate, what we want to do as a band, and how we participate,” says guitarist Malachi Greene. “At our core, we are a punk and a hardcore band, regardless of how the song shifts and changes.

Chris Ryan Williams (trumpet & electronics) and Lester St. Louis (cello & electronics) work together as HxH (H by H). Their skills have seen them move smoothly across various situations, constantly carving out new terrain and working in new configurations of musicians at a rapid pace. While worth reading, their biographies capture only a part of their complex rhizome.

HxH started about three years ago. The project is a direct response to all their activity with others and more importantly all their future leaning sonic desires. Their debut album STARK PHENOMENA is both their first studio recording and their first physical release. The album is appropriately set to be released by KMRU on his growing label OFNOT. It’s an ideal introduction to their sound world and their approach.

HxH describe their music as “electroacoustic,” but until recently the presence of Black musicians in this field has been greatly overlooked and largely ignored, making this phrase only partially appropriate. What HxH do really is to always be unpredictable. Every gig is a new soundscape. Sometimes you might hear echoes of Autechre or Robert Hood but then the sound-field will open up into a new terrain all their own. Chris and Lester bring together techniques from across the sound spectrum of electronic music and also draw on their deep backgrounds in Jazz, Improvisation, Classical and Noise scenes to create a sound that is true to them. After all, these two have worked with the likes of Bennie Maupin and the music of Black Fluxus artist Ben Patterson. Their rhizome is deep.

One of the ways that their unique approach manifests is in their merging of both acoustic instruments and electronic instruments in real time. This is something few have managed to do – but their spontaneous leanings work in both complex and accessible ways because of their deep understanding of landscape crafting. You can hear this clearly on the track “Pyrex Vision.” Their approach makes it tempting to compare their music to Sun Ra jamming with Laurel Halo – a comparison that would be only partly accurate.

Chris and Lester note that the sounds on STARK PHENOMENA are “imbued with such hopeful, gracious care; one that is far flung from obsessive carefulness or fuck the world carelessness, but more a caring embrace without the fuzziness of nostalgia.”

They note that when they began working together, they would “always come back to speaking on our concepts of an architecture of the expanse,” noting that their live sets often take on the joyfully noisy task of “dreaming big.” For HxH it was essential that STARK PHENOMENA have a quality that is “almost sculptural.” They consider the album “an object to be viewed from all sides.” This kind of thinking has resulted in them directly engaging with numerous sculptors and artists including Torkwase Dyson. Shape wise HxH’s sound fields work in a parallel to Dyson’s black architectural works.

They also note that the opening cut “BEACH” (the opening and longest track from the album) was “written weeks after our first gig in a studio session donated to us by our dear friend jaimie branch.” And that Pyrex Vision “was continually being edited months after sending our ‘final mixes’ to KMRU.” Their sound sources and samples come from studio sessions, live gigs, durational installations, 3am improvised downloads and more.

KMRU notes: "I think there is an in-between layer on this record. I was first caught by the Pyrex Vision track which organically flows between monologue, subtle field recording, and instrumentation. It's such a beautiful track, evoking deep emotion through simplicity. STARK PHENOMENA effortlessly glides in between imaginative mosaics of sounds — free yet complex — unlocking memories within its layers."

1st@Vinyl

We are overjoyed to present you the first Klangtrauma Records Vinyl.
Our label bosses Nadine Fehn and Duniz have teamed up for this one.
Nadine starts with "I feel you", a clear and massive dancefloor filler!
The remix comes from Audio State - so it's clear that it's going to be an absolute banger!
Duniz kicks things off with it's counterpart "Fühl ma", a seadily rising track that enriches any set and delivers a minimal, hypnotic journey with "Snail".

So keep an eye out for our next vinyl release.

Repress

On a creative roll of late, Linkwoods productions have branched out in many directions, a collaboration LP with jazz Genius Greg Foat, Another with Local Edinburgh Legend Other lands and a load more yet to surface. Linkwood now comes back to solo work with a hyper focused piece of electro goodness. Lo-fi but all the better for it, Mono comprises 14 deeply distilled tracks. After producing some more complex records it was time for a pure palate cleanser so we locked Nick in the Athens of the north studio for a week with his friends Moog and Oberheim to see what might happen. Somewhere between Electro, Early 80s Synth pop and techno the album is an extremely listenable piece as a whole, unpretentious and timeless. Sprinklings ofDave Stewart pop noodles, Newbuild, Early Era Nu Groove but very much Linkwood at the same time, I cant recommend this enough.

Mit "Glory" veröffentlicht Mike Hadreas aka Perfume Genius sein siebtes Studioalbum. Zusammen mit seinem Partner Alan Wyffels und Produzent Blake Mills ist eine Platte entstanden, die nach außen hin strahlt, in seinen makabren Bildern und seinem aufgewühlten Innern aber das Tor in eine Welt von Entfremdung, Sehnsucht und Verlangen aufmacht. Es ist der Konflikt zwischen dem Außen und dem Innen, der Hadreas beschäftigt, der Widerspruch zwischen einem künstlerischen Leben in der Öffentlichkeit und dem Wunsch nach Isolation. In seinen Charakterskizzen betrachtet der US-Künstler mit der Sorgfalt eines Schriftstellers Szenen von Freundschaft, Verlangen und Intimität durch eine queere Prima, während er sich musikalisch geöffnet und in seinem Songwriting-Prozess mehr Raum für Gruppendynamik gelassen hat: "Es ist auf eine Weise kollaborativ, die es besser macht", so Hadreas, "aber auch beängstigender - es fühlt sich verletzlicher an". Dass Glory dennoch ein zutiefst persönliches Album geworden ist, liegt auch daran, dass Hadreas seine eigenen Ängste vor dem Hintergrund der Entwicklung einer den Zeitgeist durchdringenden, allgemeinen Paranoia reflektiert. Mit seinen fein gesponnenen Tracks wirkt "Glory" beizeiten wie eine Kollektion neuer Standards für queere Romantiker und alte Seelen im Tumult der Gegenwart.

ANORAX sticks to its’ #eatsleepcollect mantra with this limited edition 7” by UK Techno pioneers NEXUS 21. Both tracks were stuck in the NETWORK vaults (well a metal box full of DATS) since being recorded in 1991 before greeting the World on the NEXUS 21 MIND MACHINES LP released last December.

Both stood out on that album so much that issuing them on a 300 press run 7” single for collectors seems the obvious thing to do.

SELF HYPNOSIS has long been a signature anthem for early UK Techno but the version here is radically different from the original,and fascinatingly gives a glimpse of the Rave machinations that Mark and Chris would champion as they transformed into ALTERN 8.
The studio recording of SILICON was not released on any format until the recent album.

It was left on the shelf as both label and artist focused on ALTERN 8 instead of NEXUS 21. Part bleep and part clonk it’s a classic snapshot of the North Of London UK soundscape in 199.1. And that makes the fact that this version was recorded live at London’s much loved Brain club in April of that year somewhat ironic. It’s incredibly clear for a live record and incredibly good.

Produced by Scott McCannell and mixed by Kelly Finnigan of Monophonics, Record Kicks presents two brand new single from Canadian rising soul star Tanika Charles on limited edition clear 45 vinyl. “Don’t Like You Anymore and “Here When You’re Ready” are taken from the highly anticipated new album “Reasons To Stay” from the Twice JUNO nominated and two time Polaris Prize listed, Tanika Charles that is coming out in May 2025 via Record Kicks. On the A side “Don't Like You Anymore” is a mid tempo gospel funk stormer able to set the dancefloor on fire. With its boom bap smacked drums and chunky basslines, it will not be a surprise if rap/hip hop artists will get on it to sample the song. The B side “Here When You’re Ready” is an equally strong mid tempo soul number that makes this limited edition 45 vinyl a real double sider. Canadian Soul/R&B powerhouse Tanika Charles in a few years has transformed from an emerging solo artist to a commanding performer and bandleader, a staple in the Canadian soul scene. The success of her three studio album "Soul Run" (2017), "The Gumption" (2019) and “Papillon De Nuit” (2022) propelled Tanika in front of new audiences far and wide, with extensive touring in North America and Europe where she performed at Trans Musicales Festival in France, the Lärz, Germany Fusion Festival, Mostly Funk & Soul Festival and Jazz Festival in UK, the Holy Groove Festival in Switzerland, and the Canarias Jazz Festival in Spain just to name a few. Her touring career has also seen her supporting the likes of Estelle, Mayer Hawthorne, Haitus Kayote, Lauryn Hill, Bendouin Soundclash and Macy Gray

Diese Sonderveröffentlichung feiert den 20. Jahrestag von The Grind Date. Die LP ist als Splatter-Vinyl
in limitierter Auflage erhältlich und enthält neben dem Originalalbum 4 Instrumentalversionen der Haupttitel. Die 2CD enthält außerdem 2 brandneue Titel, die während derselben Sessions wie The Grind Date
aufgenommen wurden. Diese noch nie zuvor veröffentlichten Titel mit den Titeln „Respect“ und „Bigger“
ergänzen dieses bereits bekannte Album perfekt.
De La Soul ist eine einflussreiche Hip-Hop-Gruppe, die Ende der 1980er Jahre gegründet wurde. Das
Trio, bestehend aus den Mitgliedern Kelvin Mercer (Posdnuos), David Jude Jolicoeur (Trugoy the Dove)
und Vincent Mason (Maseo), ist für seinen einzigartigen Sound und seine innovative Herangehensweise an
Hip-Hop bekannt. Ihnen wird oft zugeschrieben, dass sie mit ihrem eklektischen Stil, ihrer Verwendung
von Sampling und ihren positiven Botschaften die Landschaft des Genres mitgestaltet haben.
„The Grind Date“ ist das sechste Studioalbum von De La Soul und wurde 2004 veröffentlicht. Das Album markierte eine bedeutende Rückkehr der Gruppe nach einer Pause seit ihrem letzten Album im Jahr
2001. „The Grind Date“ zeigt De La Souls charakteristische Mischung aus cleveren Texten, innovativer
Produktion und einer Mischung aus verspielten und introspektiven Themen. Das Album enthält eine Fülle
spannender Gastauftritte von Künstlern, darunter MF Doom, Ghostface Killah, Flava Flav und Sean Paul.

If every significant artist has an underrated gem in its catalog, then Mirage is that album for Fleetwood Mac. An obvious return to relative simplicity after the dramatic tension of Rumours and experimental ambitions of Tusk, the 1982 album finds the band re-grouping after a brief hiatus and again climbing to the top of the charts. Extremely well-crafted, well-produced, and well-performed, the double-platinum effort distills the group’s hallmark strengths into a filler-free set that never runs short of addictive pop hooks or daft accents.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Mirage in reference sound for the first time. The efforts co-producers/engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut went to capture the splintered albeit formidable band can be heard with stunning accuracy, range, depth, and detail.

Though Rumours understandably gets a permanent spot in the audiophile hall of fame, the smooth, clear, and dynamic sonics on Mirage confirm that the record that stood as Fleetwood Mac’s last effort for five years deserves a place in the same vaunted arena. The presence and imaging of Mick Fleetwood’s percussion alone on this reissue might have you wondering how this slice of soft-rock bliss has gone under-noticed for decades. Other prized aural aspects — separation, definition, impact, tonal balance — are also here in spades.

Like much surrounding Fleetwood Mac in the 1980s, arriving at Mirage was not easy. Caillat searched for studios located outside of Los Angeles on a mission to change up the vibe of the band’s prior recording sessions. Everyone settled on Le Chateau in France, where relations between some members remained icy — and cooperation with the producers strained. Battles with exhaustion, bitterness, and addiction further informed the proceedings at the 18th century complex in the French countryside, where even communal meals were allegedly eaten in silence.

Inevitably, the feelings that co-producer Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and company harbored — as well as the situations in which they found themselves — drifted into the songwriting. In its rapid ascent to rock-star royalty status, Fleetwood Mac drifted apart, embarked on solo pursuits, and found it was lonely at the top. Emptiness, the illusion of dreams, the longing for love, the want to escape to bygone times of innocence and happiness: Such themes inform a majority of the narratives. Even if the lyrics regularly take a back seat to easygoing arrangements that allow Mirage to come on like a refreshing breeze on a sunny summer afternoon.

Home to three Top 25 singles in the U.S. and having occupied the pole position of the Top 200 album charts for five weeks, Mirage rightfully resonated with the mainstream and attracted listeners on both sides of the pond. And how, via a smart blend of sugary melodies, warm harmonies, interlaced notes, nimble rhythms, taut structures, and passionate vocals. Not to mention the presence of what arguably remains Nicks’ signature song, the biographical “Gypsy,” a meditation on the loss of her close friend Robin Anderson that teems with majesty, mystery, and mysticism — and which gets an assist from Buckingham’s shaded tack piano and richly strummed guitar chords.

Its ranking as an all-time classic aside, that No. 12 hit has plenty of company when it comes to brilliant pop turns on Mirage. On the subject of Nicks, the raspy singer gets a little bit country on “That’s Alright.” Its clip-clopping pace and two-stepping progression complement subtle vocal swells that emerge during the final verse of a tune that is ostensibly about leaving but still conveys forgiveness and grace. And what would a Fleetwood Mac record be without Nicks drawing on the tools of the supernatural — cards, dreams, wolves, and the like — on the twirling “Straight Back.”

Despite the potency of Nicks’ primary contributions, Mirage seemingly unfolds as a tight competition between Buckingham and McVie — and one that ultimately ends in a draw. Buckingham’s salvos include the contagious “Can’t Go Back,” a yearning to time-travel back to the past that’s complete with hall-of-mirrors backing vocals; “Oh Diane,” out-of- left-field ear candy sweetened with hiccupped vocals and salt-and-pepper-shaken grooves; the chiming “Eyes of the World”; and “Empire State,” a delightfully fluttering track whose high-range vocals, lap harp notes, and ringing xylophones hint at the galaxies of sound that would erupt on Tango in the Night.

Then there’s McVie. As elegant, understated, and coolheaded as she’s ever been on record, she pours her heart out on cuts that revolve around her inevitable split with Beach Boy Dennis Wilson. In the process, she punctuates Mirage with a characteristic not always associated with catchy pop music: emotional weight, and the sense of dreaded acceptance in the face of dreams deferred.

“I wish you were here/Holding me tight,” McVie sings over a delicate melody on the album-closing piano ballad “Wish You Were Here.” Though they hoped otherwise, for the members Fleetwood Mac, distance and separation were always close at hand. Believing otherwise, inviting nostalgia, and pretending everything was fine only amounts to a mirage.

Because Sound Matters' meticulous One-Step process creates the definitive sounding audiophile version of k.d. lang Ingénue. This all-analog release comes from the original first-generation master tapes for the first time. Vinyl guru and editor Michael Fremer says, "This k.d. One-Step is insane – It's otherworldly great!"

This One-Step version is strictly limited to 3,000 copies. The album is housed inside a top-quality, foil-stamped, uniquely designed numbered slipcase. The enclosed gatefold jacket will feature an "old style" tip-on jacket with the original artwork.

Special care has been taken to faithfully preserve the original sound with exceptional clarity and depth, capturing the recording's nuances and subtleties at every step to create the best sounding record possible.

The One-Step process is highly regarded among audiophiles and collectors for its unparalleled sound fidelity and represents the pinnacle of vinyl manufacturing craftsmanship.

Ingénue was originally released March 17, 1992 and is k.d. lang's second solo album.

Upon release, the album charted at #18 in the US, #13 in Canada, #3 in the UK and Australia and #1 in New Zealand. Nominated for six Grammy® Awards with the breakout single "Constant Craving" winning a Grammy® Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. "Miss Chatelaine" and "The Mind of Love" were follow-up singles.

k.d. received universal critical acclaim for the album from publications like Mojo, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Uncut and dozens more! Today, Ingénue is a true classic album and considered one of the great audiophile recordings of the modern era. This One-Step version certainly proves that!

Notes for This Release:

Ingénue was originally recorded and mixed on analogue tape and produced by Greg Penny, Ben Mink and k.d. lang. The original analogue master tapes were directly used as the audio source for this One-Step pressing! This is the first time the analogue tapes have been used as a vinyl source for this brilliant recording. The results are stunning.

Because Sound Matters used the Neotech VR900-D2 180g High-Performance vinyl compound, which is the same as what is known as Super Vinyl – the best in the world.

Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering cut the lacquers with meticulous care! He also did the original mastering of the CD release in 1992.

Dorin Sauerbier at Record Technology, Inc (R.T.I.) has been plating records for decades and is considered the best in the world – he also has done more One-Step processing than anybody. This is a vital step in the process to ultimately delivering the absolute best sounding version of Ingénue ever.

Record Technology, Inc did the pressing – using the exact pressing machine used for so many other One-Step releases. The QC team is constantly monitoring each copy as it comes off the press.

Because Sound Matters' slipcases and gatefold "old style" tip on original art jackets were printed by world-renowned Stoughton Printing Company.

This new all-analogue edition will draw you into the music as never before—at least it did me. The sonic picture is rich, well-textured, harmonically saturated, spatially deep and all the rest of the audiophile buzzwords that no doubt the producers (who include lang) intended to give listeners but until now couldn't fully deliver. The musical flow will have you swooning in your seat. Before the opener 'Save Me' concludes you may already feel overwhelmed and in need of lifting the stylus to catch your emotional breath...What a treat!
-Michael Fremer, Tracking Angle, Music 11/10, Sound 11/10

The Irish producer t-woc makes his return to Rudimentary Records with Scenes, Journeys & Colors, his second LP for the label. The bones of the album was made during the 'quiet time' starting with a track that didn’t make the cut on this release but had provided the blueprint to that project titled ‘Street Soul Osaka’. It was a recent chance encounter with a lone boombox playing actual street soul on a pavement in Osaka that it became clear the project needed to be released and the album was completed in Dublin in 2024.

This album is crafted through a blend of samples, live instrumentation, field recordings and studio experimentation. The tracks are a mix of the slow and low, interspersed with minimal ambient pieces with a pronounced dub undercurrent, and a tip of the hat to the cosmos. There are also some vocoders and a fair dose of weirdness.

Since his 2016 LP for Rudimentary - ‘Sentinelas’, t-woc has released with Strangelove Records, Emotional Response, Macadam Mambo amongst others and is a regular contributor to DJ Sofa’s Elsewhere compilation series.

Finally available again! The 2023 release from Philadelphia's one and only The Dead Milkmen. Featuring such actual hits as "Astral Dad" and "Grandpa's Not A Racist (He Just Voted For One)", this LP is sure to bring joy to Milkmen fans across the globe. First new full-length since 2014, w/ Full color sleeve with lyrics and art For fans of The Dead Milkmen!

Das Universum hat alles in ihrer Macht stehende getan, um dieses Album zu verhindern: die harte Hand des Kapitalismus geschwungen, Nachwuchs hervorgerufen, gar Siechtum ins Leben gesandt. Genützt hat es alles nichts, denn das Prinzip Freundschaft und zweieinhalb Hände voller Lieder waren stärker. Kurzum: Herrenmagazin veröffentlichen nach neun Jahren Pause ein neues Album. Wieso tun sie das? Um einen Punkt zu setzen? Eine Klammer zu schließen? Einen Strich unter irgendetwas zu machen? Vielmehr geht es um die Freude an der Musik und an der gemeinsam verbrachten Zeit. So einfach kann es sein und ist es diesmal auch.

'001-015' is a "best of" compilation celebrating the first 15 sample packs made by Frollen Music Library. Launching in late 2021, the sample house has since been featured in productions by ScHoolboy Q, Leon Thomas, Devin Malik and more. This retrospective "best of" traverses a wide range of styles and moods to appeal to every music enthusiast as well as producers and songwriters alike. Whether it's bouncing Hip Hop beats or evocative cinematic etudes, FML's 3- piece house band, comprising Henry Jenkins, Darvid Thor and Hudson Whitlock have a deep love and respect for many musical styles. FML'sdiverse catalogue takes cues from the 'Third Stream' composer David Axelrod, as well as drawing upon cinematic themes from 60's and 70's Italian film score composers a la Ennio Morricone and Riz Ortolani. There are 90's New York boom bap beats, as well as synthesiser music inspired by Tonto, , utilising a locally made synthesiser from Melbourne Instruments. Jenkins, Thor and Whitlock have been playing in bands and producing music for their local music scene for the last 15 years. Recording and performing with The Cactus Channel, Karate Boogaloo, Mo'Ju, Surprise Chef and many many more. Not only is this brand-new LP a great musical collage worthy of any music library enthusiast, but also functions as a tremendous sampler demonstrating the many styles of FML. Fast, slow, sweet AND sour!

'001-015' is a "best of" compilation celebrating the first 15 sample packs made by Frollen Music Library. Launching in late 2021, the sample house has since been featured in productions by ScHoolboy Q, Leon Thomas, Devin Malik and more. This retrospective "best of" traverses a wide range of styles and moods to appeal to every music enthusiast as well as producers and songwriters alike. Whether it's bouncing Hip Hop beats or evocative cinematic etudes, FML's 3- piece house band, comprising Henry Jenkins, Darvid Thor and Hudson Whitlock have a deep love and respect for many musical styles. FML'sdiverse catalogue takes cues from the 'Third Stream' composer David Axelrod, as well as drawing upon cinematic themes from 60's and 70's Italian film score composers a la Ennio Morricone and Riz Ortolani. There are 90's New York boom bap beats, as well as synthesiser music inspired by Tonto, , utilising a locally made synthesiser from Melbourne Instruments. Jenkins, Thor and Whitlock have been playing in bands and producing music for their local music scene for the last 15 years. Recording and performing with The Cactus Channel, Karate Boogaloo, Mo'Ju, Surprise Chef and many many more. Not only is this brand-new LP a great musical collage worthy of any music library enthusiast, but also functions as a tremendous sampler demonstrating the many styles of FML. Fast, slow, sweet AND sour!

Toy Tonics Music Berlin presents "Para Mytho Disco". The 2nd "Kapote" album of label founder and creative director Mathias Modica.
Keyboarder, DJ, producer, music nerd, graphic designer, multi-instrumentalist, sub-culture impressario and artist (formerly known as Munk of Gomma records.)

Kapote & Toy Tonics
In the last years Kapote was in the spotlight mainly for building the Toy Tonics label with his friends. Developing a platform for new positive quality dance music with a human touch. Toy Tonics is the opposite of the dark, druggy Techno and Trance sounds of the last years.
The warm inclusive music of Toy Tonics represents a new vibe that a young generation of diverse, stylish and culturally intersted generation of dancers loves now. Kapote's Toy Tonics became the key label for that vibe. (In 2024 Toy Tonics made 150 Toy Tonics events in 18 countries. With more than 150.000 people dancing. 90 millions streams on their music.)
Toy Tonics is more than a music label: It's a audio - visual universe. A community, almost a movement.
Based on a new positive attitude and aesthetic diversity. Mixing musicianship with DJ culture, analogue music with electronic, ideas from the past with sounds from now. To create something new. Connecting dance music with graphic design, art and underground fashion.
Kapote and his gang release vinyl, posters, shirts, art fanzines and make exhibitions and partys.

Toy Tonics started in Berlin as a underground niche project. But now became the key label of the new house, wild style disco and organic dance music scene.
Probably one of Berlin's biggest electronic music phenomena along with Keinemusik and Live from Earth.

It went fast: 2020 Kapote's crew started to make small parties in Berlin's off spaces. The "Toy Tonics Jams". The parties became "talk of the town", and Berlin clubs like Griesmühle and Panorama Bar invited the crew. Then international clubs and festival called. Toy Tonics were invited to SONAR (playing the mainstage with Kaytranada and DJ Tennis), KALA festival, Montreux Jazz festival.
Now TT has a residency at Panorama Bar Berlin and sold out events in Europe leading clubs like Phonox in London, Rex Club in Paris, Tunnel in Milan.
Toy Tonics now is the reference brand of a new generation of music loving dancers. Similar to Gomma records, Kapote's former label (2003 - 2015) that was one of the key labels of the "indie dance" scene of the Y2K years (along with DFA and Output Records).

Kapote created a multi-cultural movement with graphic designers, photographers, illustrators from the Berlin scene.
They publish the Toy Tonics Pocket Poster magazine, posters and design shirts. They organize the Toy Tonics Pop Up Galleries mixing music and art. In underground venues in Berlin and in new gallery spaces and museums around Europe.
Toy Tonics has been invited by Palais de Tokio museum in Paris, Triennale Museum Berlin, Design week Milano to create events.
The new Kapote album
The 12 tracks have a very own style. Based on dance music, but going much further. "Para Mytho Disco' is a futuristic mix of sounds. It's far away from the dark monotone techno and trance music from Kapote's hometown Berlin. Instead, he creates warm friendly atmospheres full of sonic colours and little musical surprises.
Kapote's knowlege of music history and his backround as a jazz piano student and son of classic music composer is clearly inside this music. Before turning into a DJ and electronic music producer he has been playing in bands since he was 13 years old.
The album is full of emotional chord progressions played by Kapote on various keyboards. Sometimes reminding music from the past, without being retro at all. The basslines and melodies are inspired by jazz fusion from the 1970ies. And he programmed syncopated grooves that come from afro-american dance music. There are influences from Japanese electronic music (Yellow Magic Orchestra), from 1980s Synthwave and from 1990s electronica (like Squarepusher and Luke Vibert).

Kapote plays keys, bass, flutes and percussions, he plays synth solos and sings on a few tracks. The complexity of the arrangements makes this music never boring. Lot of melodies and solos that catch the listener. Colourful soundscapes that make you want to listen or dance to this album more, and discover details also after you heard it several times.

Kapote background

Before starting Toy Tonics, Kapote used to run a label called Gomma. He produced four albums under the name Munk and music for other artists.
He produced music with Peaches, Franz Ferdinand founder Nick McCarthy, with New York street art legend The Rammellzee, Italian actress Asia Argento, the first three albums of WhoMadeWho and worked with LCD Soundsystem (listen to "Kick out the chairs", the Munk song with James Murphy )
In those "Gomma days" Kapote aka Munk was also one of the main DJs for VICE magazine parties and made music for art projects and fashion brands (Margiela, Prada, Colette).
In 2015 he stopped Munk and Gomma and started Toy Tonics. He found young producers and helped to develop their sound (Coeo, Cody Currie, Gee Lane, Barbara Boeing, Sam Ruffillo). Later he founded the sublabel Kryptox to release music by Berlin based bands that make new forms of jazz or neo classical sounds.

Under the name Kapote Mathias didnt release much:
Only his Kapote debut album "What it is" (2019) and an EP called "Electric Slide" (2022) and a collabo EP with Italian producer Sam Ruffillo ("Robot Salsa").

An although his Munk and Kapote music was an underground phenomena his music has always been a favourite of many great people from the scene.
Supported by DJs like Harvey, Chromeo, Moodymann, Jennifer Cardini, Gerd Janson, MYD, Andrew Weatherall to Blessed Madonna, Justice and Laurent Garnier… to name just a few.

KEY POINTS

• Collector Crystal Clear LP deluxe packaged – the very First reissue of the cult 11 track EP – Street Album from year 2000 by DJ Mehdi collecting his Espionnage adventures

• “DJ MEHDI : Made in France” : an Arte 6 episode exclusive serie about DJ Mehdi from September 12th ! DJ Mehdi was the one building bridges between french hip hop and electro, and becoming a key composer,producer and DJ. He was a game changer in himself, helping both french rap & electro scenes to rise in the late 90’s & early 200’s . 13 years after DJ Mehdi’s sudden death, his long-time friend and Director Thibaut de Longeville imagined & directed the serie, with archives materials & exclusive interviews and words from big names from Rap & Electro about their collaborations & relationships with DJ Mehdi.

SHORT BIOG

“Rather than a compilation, this record is a summary of what Espionnage has done in the past two years, from the rap 12”s, the instrumental 12”s to the remixes I was given the opportunity to do. The members of The Espionnage Sound System, Yvan from Double Pact included (even if he only appears here on the interlude betweeen “Camille Groult Starr (rmx)” and “Si Tu Savais (rmx)”), have been essential to the label’s development as a whole. The Chronowax Distribution staff has been equally vital to a structure primarily dedicated to independent vinyl production. By the way, I have to thank Ulysse Genet who, on top of lending his name to a track title, suggested the name “Espionnage” instead of “Le Cirque Disques” (which was my initial idea) and drew the first logo. Many thanks to my team : Olivier Rosset, Charlotte Dutoit, Thibaut de Longeville, Alexander Wise, the 360 Creative & Marketing teams, as well as X2N, Tom Kan, DJ Gilb’R, Roulé, Crydamoure, Benoît Blue Boy and his daughters Ludella and Amadine ; who have all contributed on one level or another to what this record is. Of course I can’t forget my family: the Essadis, Faveris, Gassamas, Majira (and their many relations) as well as my other family, the 113 Clan and the whole African Mafia and most particularly my group, Idéal J, for the respect and freedom with which they’ve let me express the somewhat unusual ideas I had about all of this”.
Peace, DJ Mehdi, NYC, March 29th 2000.

Fleetwood Mac released five back-to-back multi-platinum albums between 1975 and 1987, an astonishing feat that drove them to become one of the best-selling bands in the world.

On March 28, these classic albums will be reissued on crystal-clear vinyl as a 6LP boxed set as well as a 5CD set. This collection includes Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours (1977), Tusk (1979), Mirage (1982), and Tango In The Night (1987).

Keyboarder, Produzent und Songwriter Joe Armon-Jones präsentiert sein bisher ambitioniertestes Soloprojekt: All The Quiet. Ein mitreissendes Statement, das Jazz, Funk, Dub, Hip-Hop und Soulmusik verbindet und vollständig von Armon-Jones selbst geschrieben, produziert und gemischt wurde. Als Bandmitglied ist er als Teil des mit dem Mercury Prize ausgezeichneten Ezra Collective bekannt, das 2024 als erste Headliner-Jazzband die Londoner Wembley Arena ausfüllte. "All The Quiet (Part I)" ist das erste Kapitel eines zweiteiligen Albums auf seinem Label Aquarii Records. Gastmusiker und Featuregäste sind u.a. Nubya Garcia, Oscar Jerome und Goya Gumbani.

Sechs Jahre sind vergangen, seit Armon-Jones' letztes Soloalbum "Turn To Clear View" 2019 auf Gilles Petersons Brownswood Recordings veröffentlicht wurde, aber man darf diese Lücke nicht mit einer Pause verwechseln. Denn in dieser Zeit tourte er um die Welt, baute ein Studio auf, wirkte an Alben grosser Namen des britischen Jazz mit und nahm Kollaborationen mit Liam Bailey, Fatima, Hak Baker, Prince Fatty, Ranking Joe, Maxwell Owin und der Dubstep-Legende Mala auf.