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The Local Moon (East Berlin 1987/88) The name The Local Moon originated from an intimation by the oriental jester Nasreddin that every city had its own moon. This idea did not go without a certain local colour in the bipolar frontline city of Berlin; from an astropolitical view, its divided sky never saw a full moon, the light conditions were ideologically broken. From the black light of those years emerged The Local Moon. René Le Doil and Ronald Lippok took wings like two crows from a pigeon’s nest when quite suddenly in 1987 light entertainment permeated East Berlin’s Offground and the two musicians were hired for the New Romantic revue New Affair. Before that, Le Doil had been involved in the Stattgespräch fashion spectacle and in Allerleirauh, the “thing of light, space, sound and leather”. Lippok had been the drummer for Rosa Extra, one of the earliest punk rock bands in East Berlin. Together with his brother Robert, who had already come into the picture with an avant-punk project named after the Jules Verne novel Fünf Wochen im Ballon (Five Weeks in a Balloon), Ronald Lippok then founded the post-punk commune Ornament & Verbre- chen, for whom Le Doil would occasionally guest as an... more credits released July 20, 2022 Tape (Side A, B, C – Track #1 - #16) Music by The Local Moon, recorded in April 1987 René Le Doil: accordion, bass, guitar, keyboards, piano, voice Ronald Lippok: acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion, voice Produced by The Local Moon Single (Side D – Track #17 - #19) Music by The Local Moon, recorded in May 1988 René Le Doil: keyboard Ronald Lippok: keyboard, voice Charlotte Jansen: oboe, voice Alex Wolf: percussion Bo Kondren: emax, traktor Detelf Pegelow: guitar Robert Lippok: clarinet, ethno brass Produced by Bo Kondren Recorded at Gunther Krex Studio Vinyl published by Henryk Gericke Texts and liner notes by Henryk Gericke Remastered by Calyx/ Bo Kondren Digital distribution via aufnahmeundwiedergabe.de

This collectors' special edition on 180g yellow vinyl presents 17 seminal
tracks featuring Vincius De Moraes' poetic lyrics set to music composed
by Antonio Carlos Jobim, longtime collaborates and icons of Brazilian
music
Brazilian poet, lyricist, essayist and playwright, Vincius de Moraes (1913-1980)
became a seminal figure in modern Brazilian music and literature. He served as a
national diplomat, composed his own bossa nova music and recorded several
significant albums. Along with his longtime collaborator, composer, arranger,
singer, and pianist/ guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim, he composed hundreds of
songs that have become true classics and have transcended the bossa nova, as
they continue to be played and recorded by countless singers and
instrumentalists within Brazil and throughout the world.

'Find A Better Way', by Canadian classic four-piece rock roots band, The
Commoners, possesses a sound tapped from the oaken belly of a
whiskey barrel
Described as "a classic rock and roll affair," the nine songs on 'Find A Better Way'
take the listener on a sonic voyage through the lives of the band, from the dusty
back roads of rural Ontario to the bright lights of the big city. Offering their own
blend of rock and roll, southern blues, and roots music, the Toronto-based fourpiece band are known for their high- energy riffs, soulful vocals, and rich
harmonies. The result is an authentic Southern-style rock experience.
The group was cobbled together over the course of a decade, adapting through
numerous obstacles to form the unit as it exists today: Chris Medhurst (vocals/
guitar), Ben Spiller (bass), Ross Hayes Citrullo (lead guitar), and Adam Cannon
(drums). Often joined by their friend, organist Miles Evans- Branagh, The
Commoners unite under a shared dream: to write, perform, and share music that
is an authentic nod to the greats who paved the way before them.
"The new album authentically embodies the rock and roll, soul, and blues rock
experience," says the band's lead singer, Chris Medhurst. "That's something we
really wanted to bring back. That's the roots. That's what we listen to."

Available from Blank Forms for the first time since its original 1980 release on ALM-Uranoia, New Sense of Hearing documents a collaboration between Takehisa Kosugi and Akio Suzuki, two luminaries of Japanese experimental music in the lineage of Fluxus. Blank Forms's high-quality reissue of the sought-after, long out of print LP, is produced by musician-artist Aki Onda and mastered from the original tapes recorded on April 2, 1979, at Tokyo's Aeolian Hall. Described by Suzuki as the "culmination" of their sound,New Sense of Hearing features the two musicians improvising together in that empty Tokyo theater, Kosugi on vocals, violin, and radio transmitter and Suzuki on the Analapos, his namesake glass harmonica, spring cong, and kikkokikiriki, all apparatuses of his own invention. Suzuki and Kosugi first met at the city's Minami Gallery in 1976 on the occasion of "Sound Objects and Sound Tools," an exhibition of Suzuki's homemade instruments. Two years later, at the Festival d'Automne in Paris, Suzuki invited Kosugi to join him for a suite of performances as part of the exhibition "MA: Espace - Temps au Japon," organized by architect Arata Isozaki and composer-writer Toru Takemitsu. Suzuki and Kosugi performed together at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, nearly fifty times, honing their approach to mutual improvisation, before traveling with the exhibition to Stockholm and New York_critic Tom Johnson wrote in the Village Voice that he had "seldom seen two performers so completely tuned in on the same types of sounds, the same performance attitude, the same philosophy, the same sense of what music ought to be."For New Sense of Hearing, the duo reunited in Japan and produced an extraordinary dispatch from their collaboration of arioso violin, echoing vocals and bangs, and metallic twangs. As Johnson observed in 1979, Kosugi and Suzuki are "in a very subtle artistic world where there can be no direct relationships. . . . Only coincidence." Takehisa Kosugi (1938-2018) was a composer, artist, and violinist from Tokyo. In 1960, Kosugi founded Group Ongaku, the country's first improvisational performance collective dedicated to Happenings, with Mieko Shiomi and Yasunao Tone. Four years later, Fluxus leader George Maciunas published Events, an eighteen-piece set of his text compositions. Between 1971 and '74, his band the Taj Mahal Travelers produced four live albums. In 1977, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company invited Kosugi to be their resident musician; from 1995 to 2011 he served as the company's musical director. The Whitney Museum of American Art presented "Takehisa Kosugi: Music Expanded," a two-day retrospective of Kosugi's work, in 2015. Akio Suzuki (b. 1941) was born in Pyongyang, North Korea, to Japanese parents. For the artist-musician's first Fluxus-style work Kaidan ni Mono wo Nageru (Throwing Things at the Stairs), 1963, Suzuki tossed a bucket of miscellaneous objects down a flight of stairs in Nagoya Station and listened to the sounds it produced. During the next decade, he would create original instruments including the Suzuki-type glass harmonica and the echo instrument Analapos. In 1976, Tokyo's Minami gallery hosted his first exhibition, "Akio Suzuki's World: Sound Objects and Sound Tools." For his 1988 performance piece Space in the Sun, Suzuki spent twenty-four hours listening to his surroundings on the meridian line which runs through Amino, Kyoto. Suzuki has performed and exhibited at many venues and music festivals, including Documenta 8 (Germany, 1987), the British Museum (2003), Musée Zadkine (France, 2004), Kunstmuseum Bonn (Germany, 2018), and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2019).

Symposium, the pop-punk band heralded as ‘the best live band in Britain’ by Melody Maker in the 90’s, release their first Best Of compilation: ‘Do You Remember How It Was?’ A compilation that gathers together their finest moments in one place and provides a fully rounded view of what made them so intoxicating in the first place. Symposium’s achievements in just six years of being a band read like a 90’s rock‘n’roll-call; supported by the likes of John Peel, Jo Whiley, and Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 1, heralded by music mags such as Melody Maker, Kerrang! and NME, and performing on TV shows such as TFI Friday and Top of the Pops. During their appearance on Top of the Pops in 1997 performing ‘Fairweather Friend’ completely live, frontman Ross became the only singer in the show’s history to stage dive, and the band received only the third ever stage invasion from the audience after Nirvana and Oasis. This set contains the hit singles ‘Farewell To Twilight’, ‘Fairweather Friend’, ‘Drink The Sunshine’, and the previously unreleased track ‘Bleach’.

There's a certain winking resignation to the title of Nick Lowe's At My
Age, as if it were designed to be spoken with a soft, knowing sigh
Now in his late fifties, Lowe is hardly running away from his advancing years --
quite the contrary, the singer/songwriter is comfortable in his skin and his years.
Certainly, he's comfortable in his music, since At My Age marks the fourth time
that he's mined the intimate, well-worn country-rock vibe of The Impossible Bird,
and if at this point it no longer is a revelation, it's hardly lost its appeal, either. Part
of that lies in Lowe's ever-potent charm, and to overlook an album as exquisitely
crafted as At My Age is to be a fool, because nobody does this kind of relaxed
Americana as well as Lowe, who is still writing songs that stand proudly
alongside his previous classics. For instance, there's "I Trained Her to Love Me," a
song as wickedly witty and bitterly self- loathing as "Cruel to Be Kind" or "The
Beast in Me," a tune that's balanced by the wry new-love anthem "Hope for Us All,"
which has its share of gently funny lines but is nevertheless a ringing, sincere
endorsement of love, worthy of the man who wrote "(What's So Funny 'Bout)
Peace, Love and Understanding?" And that's always been one of Lowe's greatest
gifts, that he is possessed with rare humor but also a big heart, which is what
gives his music great resonance. This 15th anniversary edition of At My Age is
pressed on silver vinyl and limited to 2,500 copies worldwide. This marks the first
time this long- out- of- print classic has ever been available on color
vinyl.Packaging; LP jacket; silver vinyl

It is our distinct pleasure to announce the debut solo effort from Thee Sacred Souls' own Jensine Benitez. Anyone who has had the privilege to catch Thee Sacred Souls live is already well familiar with Jensine. On a nightly basis, when she gracefully steps into the spotlight for one of her solos, her mellifluous voice and commanding stage presence sends the crowd into a frenzy of adoration and unadulterated joy. With this single she enriches that charm with honeyed melodies set to floaty rhythms that are sure to have you bobbing your head with the windows rolled down. "Ilusión de Amor" is a lilting lament sung en español about a forlorn lover whose deep, brooding sadness has left them yearning well beyond any hope of reconciliation. On the flip is "The Spar kle in Your Eyes," a vibey, mid-t empo mover that will have couples crowding dance-floors for decades to come. A stunning two-sider that epitomizes the kind of soul music we dig. Snatch this one up quick, or tears may fall..

While frontman Tom Greenhouse’s off-kilter observations and bizarro anecdotes remain front and centre, this time round the band up their game with a more vigorous sound that keeps pace with Greenhouse’s wholly distinctive lyrical style. Greenhouse continues to revel in telling increasingly surreal short stories, rejoicing in the power of the deadpan one-liner and bedecking his songs with far-flung cultural references. But now the band employ a variety of techniques with improved pro- duction, from the impulsively bashed keyboards and jubilantly repetitive guitar stabs that have be- come their trademark, to flirtations with–heaven forbid!–melody, chord progressions and arrangements which elevate their tried-and-tested blueprint into a more exciting and cohesive whole.

Opener Musicians is the perfect embodiment of this conscious development. Here, Greenhouse re- counts a sarcastic tale of half-truths that see him galavanting around town trying to put a band to- gether. Sonically, it begins with a caustic callback to the group’s first EP Crap Cardboard Pet and its über-minimalist aesthetic. But by the end of the song a joyous festival of afrobeat-inspired in- struments including samba whistles, bongos and saxophones are added to the mix as the front- man, ironically, fails in his mission to recruit more players.

With Get Unjaded, the band have somehow conjured something close to pop, without abandoning the repetition and wit that’s relished by their early fans. I Lost My Head also adopts a jangle-pop sheen with a luscious synth melody, as the frontman ditches the spoken-word for a surly croon (his first known attempt at actual singing!) that provides a welcome breather from the onslaught of dense recantations that are the band’s bread-and-butter.

While the lyrics here are still often humorous and political, Greenhouse has also notably expanded his interests on this album to include a new host of topics. The influence of extraterrestrials, for ex- ample, infiltrates the subject matter frequently. On The UFOs, the mysterious protagonist Blinkus Booth’s isolationist lifestyle is apparently interrupted by the spectres of otherworldly visitors, while closer The Neoprene Ravine feels like an extract from a deep space rock opera. Here, jaunty and angular instruments pile-on as we are fed images of an interstellar Spinal Tap, the titular fictional band “The Neoprene Ravine” who are “the alien equivalent of the Velvet Underground” and include an alien Lou Reed yelping “too busy sucking on my little green ding dong!”.

Meanwhile, Hard Rock Potato is propelled by a vortex of keys and synths, a real noise-pop gem comprised of real guitar chords (!) and rock-orientated riffs. Here the stream-of-consciousness lyrics take shots at the sinister financial industry, and include one of the many top-tier one-liners on the album: “It’s not gambling if you’re wearing a tie (even if you’ve got no trousers on)”.

On Sod’s Toastie, The Cool Greenhouse have pushed their distinctive flavour of post-punk to the point of perfection – their incongruous riffs, alchemical instrumental chemistry, and irreverent spo- ken-word vocals are a delight throughout. Sod’s Toastie is hilarious at times, and at others just hilariously good – a not-so-difficult second album.

Eugene Lamont Johnson a.k.a E Lamont Johnson or Lamont Johnson holds the distinction of being the first internationally recognized fretless bassist in R&B music. Born April 20th 1955 in Highland Park, Michigan. Lamont rose to prominence as a session musician on Gloster Williams &The King Vision’s 1977 gospel album project “Together” (Gospel Roots -5005). In the same year Lamont featured as part of the celebrated Detroit based band Brainstorm their best-selling 1977 album “Stormin’” for Tabu Records. Brainstorm was initially formed during 1975 by bandleader and saxophonist Charles ‘Chuck’ Overton, and included lead vocalist Belita Woods, Lamont Johnson on Fretless bass, Renell Gonsalves on drums, Trenita ‘Treaty’ Womack on percussion, flute and backing vocals, Bob Ross (a.k.a Professor RJ Ross) on keyboards, Gerald ‘Jerry’ Kent on guitar, Jeryl Bright on trombone and ‘Leaping’ Larry Sims on trumpet and flugelhorn. The album was recorded during 1976 and released the following year. It contained the disco hit “Loving Is Really My Game” the popular “Wake Up And Be Somebody” and the radio hit “This Must Be Heaven” a beautifully crafted ballad featuring the lead vocals of Lamont which still receives continued airplay to this day. Lamont did not feature on the band’s two subsequent album projects “Journey To The Light” (Tabu 35327) in 1978 and “Funky Entertainment” (Tabu 35749) in 1979.

The year1978 was to prove to be one of the most prolific of Lamont’s recording career, playing bass on three studio albums. Firstly, on Hamilton Bohannon’s “On My Way” (Mercury SRM-i-3710), Jimmy McKee’s “First Time Out” (Champion- 8083N5) and Keith Barrows “Physical Attraction” (Columbia JC-35597) albums respectively. The final project of that year would be Lamont’s own album project “Music Of The Sun” (Tabu-35455) featuring Lamont on both bass guitar and vocals, the album also spawned two lead 45’s “Sister Fine/Yours Truly, Discreetly” and “Hey Girl/Differently”.

During 1979 Lamont would feature as a guest bassist on a further two studio album projects, firstly the self-titled debut album of fellow Detroit musicians Chapter 8 (Ariola 50056) followed by another self-titled album “Nightflyte” (Ariola 50060) who’s line-up included Howard Johnson prior to him embarking on a solo career. During 1980 Lamont began work on a second solo album for Tabu. Two lead 45 singles were recorded “Rock You Baby/Something More” (Tabu ZS9-5521) followed by the album’s title song “Rhumba” backed with the modern soul favourite “Masta Luva” (ZS9-5525) for whatever reason CBS/Tabu decided to shelve the remainder of the project. Later recording projects to feature Lamont instrumental talents were Was Not Was ‘s “Tell Me I’m Dreaming and Robert Lowe’s “Double Dip” jazz funk album. Later solo CD album projects from Lamont, “This Must Be Heaven” arrived in 2004 and “Amore’ Dance” in 2001 both on his own Allee Records Label. From the mid 70’s through to the present day, Lamont has been a notable electric bass instructor in the Detroit area and beyond. As well as the previously mentioned projects, Lamont and many of his prot’eg’es work can be found on many other world renown artists recording projects the most notable being, Earth Wind & Fire, The Dramatics, Anita Baker, Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, Phyllis Hyman, Beyonce, Howard Johnson, David T. Walker, Aretha Franklyn, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, The Temptations, The Winans amongst others.

Fast forward to the present and Soul Junction have licensed two previously unissued dance orientated Lamont Johnson produced compositions for this 45sinlge release with more to come. Under the project/artists name of “Lamont Johnson & Eugene” the recordings feature several different local Detroit musicians and vocalists. The a-side is a male vocally led early 90’s mid-tempo feel good dance number. While the b-side in contrast is a more synthesized bass driven 80’s female dancer which should appeal to the Boogie crowd,

Enjoy.

dreamcastmoe is the recording project of singer, songwriter, producer, and DJ Davon Bryant, a lifelong resident of Washington, DC. His music moves freely between moods and modes, hypnotic, romantic, traversing electronic, R&B, funk, soul, and hip-hop... Resident Advisor dubs it "soulful, cross-genre dance music." This ability to adapt and finesse, to twist in different directions while staying true and coherent in vision, can be traced to his home city and its complex cultural history. "Most Black kids in DC don't ever get to this point," he says. "This is what I am making this music for, in the DC tradition of soul and empathy and love that is rooted in this city. My music is for real people dealing with shit every day." A versatile, modern artist and collaborator, dreamcastmoe has thrived in the underground since his first uploads to Soundcloud and Bandcamp in 2017 and subsequent releases with labels like People's Potential Unlimited, Trading Places, and In Real Life Music. Bryant's laid-back personality, emotional honesty, and infectious energy shine through his work and how he talks about it, as Crack Magazine notes in their 2021 Rising feature: "a steady combination of confidence, creativity, and calmness." He grew up playing drums in church; he's worked dead-end jobs, had ups and downs, even sold off all his gear one time, but never stopped reinvesting in himself. He is quick to praise his co-producers, rattle off influences _ the visual feel of NBA 2K, the comedic timing of Bernie Mac, the savvy legacy of Duke Ellington, for starters _ and credit resourceful DC breakouts like Ankhlejohn that showed him the roadmap. His voice, a steady instrument, seemingly connects it all, capable of slow falsetto flow, swaggering talk-rap, and outright croon. His storytelling style is choppy yet fluid, like a mixtape, which is how Bryant sees Sound Is Like Water, his debut on Ghostly's International's freeform label, Spectral Sound. The two-part project culminates as a full-length LP release in November 2022. The first side, released as Part I, opens on the blurred beats of "El Dorado," which dreamcastmoe dedicates to his journey. It's a head-nodder, an off-kilter earworm co-produced by Max D (Future Times, RVNG Intl, etc.), with Bryant harmonizing hooks with synth jabs and a pitched-down presence. "Complicated" is the slow jam, delivered smoothly from a Saturday night crossroads. dreamcastmoe is contemplative and committed... gliding and locking ad-libs into skittering rhythms courtesy of co-producer Zackary Dawson _ but also willing to let something go, "acknowledging that everything in life IS NOT easy." "RU Ready" takes off from the jump as a tribute, challenge, and promise to his partner and his city ("The times you sat with me when I needed you the most / Told me the things that I needed to see / Young black man, really trying to be what I can be / And I'm really from DC). In its potent two-plus minutes, the sonics (co-produced by ZDBT) press the message, all cymbal crashes, breakbeats, and serrated synth lines. "Cloudy Weather, Wear Boots" is a blitzing dance-punk track made in collaboration with Jordan GCZ on Bryant's first trip to Amsterdam. The album's flipside opens on "Much More," the first of two synth-and-beat ballads co-produced by ZDBT. Later on "Long Songz," he claims, "I'm not writing love songs no more," prioritizing the vibe with "all my day ones." He calls it "a cry for more normal moments. Everything doesn't have to be a fantasy love story, more time spent getting to the money, growing, and making a way." He saves two of his most propulsive cuts for the finale, co-produced by Sami, co-founder of DC dance label 1432 R. As their titles suggest, "Take A Moment" and "Make Ya Mind" operate as anthems for movement, with Bryant free-flowing commands above wildly-styled percussion. Per Bryant, the latter is both "wake & bake jam" and a "dance floor bomb." His parting line: "Action / You got to show me action / Reaction." The world of dreamcastmoe straddles virtual reality and the realness of DC, images both imagined and lived-in. Bryant has a knack for unexpected melodies but what makes his music so exciting is his capacity to defy the expectations of genre and image. A fluid ingenuity and vulnerability bottled by Sound Is Like Water, and this is just the beginning.

Cult French duo Principles of Geometry is back after an 8 years hiatus with a 26 tracks love letter to IDM & electronica, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.

A construct on the language which composes their musical lexicon, a sonic grammar which has been their common thread through 5 albums now.

This album is inspired by classic albums such as Artificial Intelligence on Warp Records, Braindance on Rephlex and was teased online this summer with singles "Cmd Ctrl" and “Hummerican”.

The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (commonly shortened to Makaveli) is the fifth studio album by Tupac Shakur, his first posthumous record and the last released with his creative input. Recorded in seven days in August 1996, it was released on 5th November, 1996, almost two months after his death, under the stage name of Makaveli, through Death Row Records, Makaveli Records and Interscope Records.

The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory debuted at number one. It is his only album released under the new alternative stage name and features guest appearances from his rap group Outlawz and rapper Bad Azz, as well as R&B singers Aaron Hall, Danny Boy, K-Ci and JoJo, Val Young and Tyrone Wrice, along with uncredited vocal contributions from reggae musician Prince Ital Joe.

Originally intended as an underground release and preceded by the release of “Toss It Up” as the lead single, the album peaked at number one. “To Live & Die in L.A.” and “Hail Mary” were released later as singles and both garnered praise as standout tracks from the album. All singles charted within the top twenty of the UK Singles chart.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce Uri Katzenstein’s Audio Works, produced in collaboration with Holon’s Centre for Digital Art. Spanning sculptural installation, performance, video art, and many other media, Katzenstein’s absurdist, poetic, and often hilarious work made extensive use of sound and music. This, however, is the first release dedicated to the artist’s audio work, collecting 28 tracks produced between the early 1980s and 2017. Compiled from dozens of hours of recordings left uncatalogued (and in some instances unheard) at the artist’s death in 2018, these four sides are a treasure trove, offering a captivating glimpse into a uniquely uninhibited creative practice. Predominantly recorded alone, with some contributions from regular collaborators such as Ohad Fishof on the later pieces, many of these tracks stem from Katzenstein’s time living in New York in the 1980s. Feeding on the cross-pollination of post-punk energy, radical art practice, and new media possibilities that characterised the New York scene at this time, many of Katzenstein’s recordings squeeze multilayered vocal experimentation into synth-based miniatures with a distinctively pop twist, their forms ruptured with anarchic bursts of free-form electronics, sounds from self-built instruments, and field-recorded snatches of the outside world. Katzenstein’s electronic production calls up touchstones of skewed 80s art pop like Laurie Anderson, Ambitious Lovers, and Scritti Politti, but imbued with DIY directness and economy of means. The arrangements of synths, percussion, and noise elements are invigoratingly raw and, at times, almost austerely minimal. On ‘Intermission’, thick distorted chords accompany a wandering portamento melody, inhabiting the wayward carnival space of Roedelius’ most unhinged efforts. Many of the tracks centre on Katzenstein’s multi-tracked vocal performances, often moving between multiple languages, (most commonly English, German, French, and Hebrew). A bewildering range of vocal approaches are present on these pieces, from sweet wordless harmonies to hammed-up growls and monastic recitations. On ‘Skin O. Daayba – Complex Habits no. 3’, improvised resonance singing against a backdrop of echoing electronics and radio snatches. ‘Half Monk Half Herring’ layers multi-lingual syllabic fragments, crossing sound poetry techniques with melodic invention in a way rarely heard outside of Caetano Veloso’s Araçá Azul. On ‘Attempt to Raise Hell’, Katzenstein’s distorted voice spits out streams of alliterative nonsense (‘the hemlock of Henry, he was a hermit…purple pumpkin pulsates to pops’), while on the hilarious ‘Eric’, Katzenstein appears to instruct a small boy simultaneously in basic French and German conversation. On ‘Chicken’, vocal harmonies accompany the pecking and clucking of the titular fowl. Moving from bent, outsider synth pop to snatches of Jo Jones-esque automated instrumental clang and absurdist linguistic experiments, these are far more than footnotes to an artist’s gallery works. Accompanied by extensive, beautifully written liner notes by Roee Rosen and the little information that exists on the individual tracks, Katzenstein’s Audio Works inhabits an outer fringe of DIY pop and sonic experiment reminiscent of Pascal Comelade or Die Welttraumforscher, where accessible forms convey radical interrogations of song, word, and sound.

The Netherland’s De Ambassade have dropped the ‘De’ and are now known as Ambassade. Optimo Music is extremely happy to be working with them and will be releasing their second album in 2023. Ahead of that is this glorious 2 track 12” featuring music that took our breath away when we first heard it. Both tracks are exclusive to this release.

We asked Ambassade to tell us a bit about the tracks…

“These 2 songs were born after a collaboration with Naama Freedman. She’s an artist from Amsterdam and former member of Ambassade. She brought a couple sketches to the studio and we came out with these 2 songs.

The lyrics on ‘Young Birds’ come from an old traditional English folk song from around 1903. It has been re-arranged a couple times throughout the years by multiple artists. The song reflects our development in sound and arrangement with extended synthesiser parts, less conventional song-writing. Also, us singing in English is a new path.

The pulsing song ‘Palette’ is a perfect combination of sequence and extended legato vocal parts. It creates a tense atmosphere which builds up to the very end.”

Born and raised in Lake, Mississippi, a small town east of Jackson, Houser was the son of a musician and took to music himself at an early age. Picking up the guitar before his tenth birthday, he played in bands throughout his adolescence, sharpening his songwriting skills as he attended East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi. Prior to his success as an artist, Houser lived as a songwriter, co-writing singles including "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" by Trace Adkins, "Back That Thing Up" by Justin Moore, and "My Cowboy" by country pop artist Jessie James.

A wise character once reminded her to tread the heavy ground with light feet. After a whirlwind two years since moving back to Hong Kong and starting from scratch, Xiaolin has re-emerged from the depths of her studio stronger than ever with a second EP - her first vinyl release to date.

Inspired by the Tower card from the Tarot, Tower Moment EP is a cosmic journey through four stages of healing: darkness, acceptance, transformation and freedom.

The record begins with “Dark Night” (of the Soul), followed by the gentle comfort of “Safe With Me”, a nostalgic electro ballad. On Side B: a chuggy tune layered with textures and samples, “Lemuria”, transports listeners to a surreal land of self-discovery, while Blue Hour completes the experience with his anthemic “Elevator” remix.

With her signature mix of 909 kicks and 808 breaks blended with acid bass lines, subtle percussion and ethereal melodies, Xiaolin’s organic approach to techno and electro showcases her colourful palette and sensitivity as a musician, along with a love for jazz and warm synth sounds from the early 90’s era.

Ltd Edition White Vinyl, DL card.

Debut from genre-defying producer, Yosa Peit. Laurie Anderson meets Bjork; Prince overlapped with Arthur Russell and the hum of Blue Velvet, with jarred and splintered ambient production reminiscent of Aphex Twin. ‘Phyton’ gets a special expanded edition via Fire Records, featuring unreleased tracks; ‘Tyrann’, a live version of the haunting album track ‘Serpentine’ and end of the night lament, ‘Rise’. ‘Phyton’ is a conundrum with its own humour and beauty amid the electronica soundtracking; it’s a record that’s defied genre categories when first released on Tax Free Records two years ago. Yosa’s ascension from singer to producer is now complete. “In my head I was making a movie,” Yosa told No Wave magazine, “I dreamed up a Coen Brothers’ movie scene for a few tracks.” The result is a haunting, provocative sound; a soundscape where songs merge and splinter, a trip that’s never predictable.

"The production is super fresh" Holly Herndon. // “Warped lo-fi meets glitchy electronica and pop” The Vinyl Factory //

Download extras: 1. Serpentine (Live Bonus) 2. Rise (Bonus)

Having torn up raves for well over a decade, the Detroit duo Rickers and Ted Krisko AKA Ataxia present their debut longplayer ‘Out Of Step’. Featuring guest spots from close peers DJ Minx, Andrés and Mr Joshooa, they twist house, techno, electro, breakbeat and rave into revitalized new shapes; embellished with a touch of soul, funk and hip hop. With backgrounds in hardcore and punk, Ataxia’s debut is suffused with that energy, attitude, and approach; this is raw, lean and unashamedly no-nonsense dance floor tackle that goes straight for the jugular. Heavily analogue, the album experiments with tape saturation, which harks back to the duo’s formative years in bands, recording demos to cassettes. These straight-up, in-the-red tracks give preference to overdriven drum machines, rather than generic polished sheen, but conversely, it’s all deceptively well-crafted too; ‘Out Of Step’ is a standout record that’s big in character, bringing to mind the renegade spirit of Underground Resistance, and the bombastic brilliance of The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers.

Defiantly optimistic despite the state of the world, a “life is good” vocal sample meets minor chords sliding over 808 hats on the exemplary house/techno pumper ‘Detroit Gospel’, before a lighter moment on the album, but no less impactful with its hefty low-end thump, is ‘Pine Island’ featuring Motor City hero Andrés. Together they cook up a Motown-inspired house cut awash with horn swells and backup singers, bouncing to wide swung funk bass, in classic 313 style. ‘Language’ turns the club on its head – busting out one of the most distinct basslines in recent times, and bristling with buzzy, undulating chords, whilst ‘Maxia’ features influential Detroit royalty DJ Minx. Inspired by her classic ‘A Walk In The Park’, with a fat distorted kick and stealthy bass groove, this is low-slung, stripped-back, heads-down coolness. The high-tech funk of ‘Spit In Your Percolator’, is laser-guided in its efficiency, with a strobe-like, increasingly intensifying energy, peppered with clever, tripped up vocal chops. With the next cut, conveyor belt noises and fast churning low-end gives way to a dubbed-out breakdown, on the deep breakbeat roller ‘98 Degrees’. Charged with a blistering, rave intensity, ‘Number Streets’, is a futuristic distorted techno workout that booms through the subs, whilst ‘The Formulator’ mixes filtered snippets, abstract synth noises and melodic bleeps with a bassline echoing Paperclip People’s ‘The Floor’. Closer to the UK definition of hardcore, combining 4/4 and breakbeat, ‘The Pusher’ evokes the spirit of late 80s orbital raves, adding a natty keys solo, and deadly bass used sparingly, for even deadlier effect. ‘Feels Like’ sees Rickers and Ted team up their studiomate and fellow TV Lounge resident and club booker, Mister Joshooa. Inspired by Photek but also almost UKG in style, this breakbeat session is stamped with MJ’s signature chopped vocals and intricate rhythmic interplay. The bubbling, wobbly loose swing of ‘WM’ is constructed around a classic chopped-up MTV cribs sample, with a filtered vocal creating a far out psychedelic effect – all of which is propelled apace by a huge bruising LFO. The LP concludes in fine style with ‘Dance The Bridge’, where bouncy beats and wigged-out keys meet bright, gently uplifting synth chords that bring a clear-skied mood; ending the record as it began, on an optimistic note.

‘Out Of Step’ marks another chapter in the ongoing relationship between Life and Death co-founder DJ Tennis and Ataxia. Their connection goes back to the earliest days of the label, where they played gigs together on some of Tennis’ initial visits to Detroit. It’s a friendship that’s blossomed organically over the last decade through their shared love of punk and hardcore, and led to the fruition of one of Ataxia’s most compelling projects to date. Labels to release Ataxia’s output include legendary Detroit techno imprints Planet E and KMS, plus the seminal American house label Nervous Records. Their catalogue also includes music for Visionquest, Leftroom, 20/20 Vision and Seth Troxler’s Play It Say It.

HDIGH (acronym for How Did I Get Here) by Dave East x Mike & Keys is now available on vinyl format. The album was produced entirely by frequent East collaborators Mike & Keys and features Method Man, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton, Benny The Butcher, Trae Tha Truth and Steven Young. On HDIGH, Mike & Keys bring their “A-Game”, incorporating heavy boom bap and smooth melodic instrumentation into their production throughout the album, providing the perfect backdrop for East to spit his patented braggadocios bars. HDIGH is the first project to come from the East Harlem rapper since he linked up with Harry Fraud in 2021 for HOFFA, and has East reflecting on his upbringing and rise in the music industry.

HDIGH is available in your choice of a blue and pink splatter or black vinyl pressing

The 6th release in the 'Foundations' series of classic House curated by DJ Spinna and Kai Alce, Sandee's 1988 masterpiece Notice Me joins seminal tunes from Ralph Rosario, Dreamer G, Cajmere, Chip E & K-Joy and Tyree Cooper to complement this amazing selection of hugely significant and killer heritage tracks. Written by Robert Clivilles and co-produced with David Cole (C+C Music Factory), the pedigree of Notice Me is seriously enhanced by the vocals of Latina singer and original member of the vocal group Exposè, Sandeé (Sandra Casañas) and the sound editing of long time Clivilles & Coles collaborator, the producer and percussionist Luis Rivera. Bass heavy and featuring a drum break that inspired so many great House cuts Notice Me was picked up by DJs of the calibre of Frankie Knuckles and Roman Ricardo on release in 1988. Notice Me became a dancefloor favourite at legendary clubs such as Tunnel and Palladium in New York City and the Riviera in Chicago , subsequently reaching number 9 in the Billboard Dance Charts in 1989. Tragically both Sandeé and David Cole died at far too early ages (46 and 32 respectively) but their places in the pantheon of House music history are assured as the vocalist and the co-producer of Notice Me. Indeed it is an era defining track and definitely a must have in your vinyl collection. A word about the Foundation Series from its curators: Kai:“Well my interest in 7”s is new. I have been a collector of 12”s all my life, House & Disco. Being inspired by JRocc after playing one of Discogs’ Crate Diggers events, my initial focus was on finding House 7”s which proved to be harder than I thought… Most were not available in 7” format & the popular ones that existed were quite rare. So now me and Spinna are trying to fill some of those empty spaces.” Spinna:“45 DJing has become a new excitement among vinyl DJs, but although endlessly repressed on other formats, a few classic house titles have simply never been pressed on 7” vinyl. We ran our ’45 wish list past BBE and the rest is history. When creating the edits we tried to imagine we worked for the original record label and were cutting the ‘radio edit’. The aim: to keep the heart of the track intact while reducing the length to fit the format.”

HDIGH (acronym for How Did I Get Here) by Dave East x Mike & Keys is now available on vinyl format. The album was produced entirely by frequent East collaborators Mike & Keys and features Method Man, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton, Benny The Butcher, Trae Tha Truth and Steven Young. On HDIGH, Mike & Keys bring their “A-Game”, incorporating heavy boom bap and smooth melodic instrumentation into their production throughout the album, providing the perfect backdrop for East to spit his patented braggadocios bars. HDIGH is the first project to come from the East Harlem rapper since he linked up with Harry Fraud in 2021 for HOFFA, and has East reflecting on his upbringing and rise in the music industry.

HDIGH is available in your choice of a blue and pink splatter or black vinyl pressing

AMRA, the collaborative project between Paul Purgas (Emptyset) and artist and filmmaker Imran Perretta, continue their excavations into syncretic mythologies, diasporic echoes and ancient rhythmic talas. hills/demons ruminates on spectral landscapes whilst bringing together a wider group of collaborators, forming a collection of dense percussive polyrhythms alongside sitar improvisations from British-Pakistani multi-instrumentalist Nabihah Iqbal and guest vocals from Bangladeshi singer Sohini Alam. Developed for a performance with the London based commissioning platform Artnight, the release expands on AMRA's exploration of archival traces and the struggles that marked South Asia's partition, summoning alternative histories and the echo of ancestral voices.

“The Long Meadows is the endless stream never getting to the sea, through the lens of a couple in love unable to buy a home. It's the Now and the Past both melding into one cry of confusion, unanswered and forever in pursuit, “locked out of the next life”.

Following both a global pandemic and an acclaimed, landmark debut album, inimitable Irish Alt-Folk act Junior Brother returns today with details of his new album The Great Irish Famine, and a new single titled “No Snitch”. The album follows his much lauded 2019 Pull The Right Rope and is out 2nd September via multidisciplinary Irish label Strange Brew.

The Great Irish Famine leaps boldly forward into an exciting new chapter, and into a shaken new world - staggeringly profound, brutally beautiful in its epic sweep.

Speaking about the themes across the album Kealy further explains, "I was very conscious to bring each element of the debut into this follow-up, but dramatically dig ten times deeper and stretch ten times further down into each avenue”. “No Snitch" soars amidst darkly comic self-reflection ("This Is My Body"), anxious reflexes on modern living ("No Country For Young Men"), and the painful role the past plays in a nation's present ("King Jessup's Nine Trials").

Both startlingly dynamic and profoundly accomplished, The Great Irish Famine reflects fall-out of trauma both personal and universal, national, and international, minor, and mountainous, historic, and contemporary - all uncompromisingly conveyed through the magnetic, emotionally potent vision of a one-of-a-kind artist at the top of his game.

Written and recorded between 1972 and 1982 in Western Oregon, Back to the Woodlands is a previously unreleased, and nearly lost, album made by Ernest Hood during the same era as his near mythical album Neighborhoods. A visionary combination of field recordings, zithers, and synthesizers, Back to the Woodlands offers an unprecedented depth of access to this singular artistic mind.

Born into a musical family, Ernest Hood began a promising career as a jazz guitarist during the 1940s, touring internationally with his brother Bill Hood and the saxophonist Charlie Barnet, before contracting polio in his late twenties. The disease left Ernest unable to play the guitar and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It also forced him to adapt and innovate around his musical practices in the face of adversity; Hood’s value of sound matured with a remarkably democratic and nonhierarchical approach and application.

Taking up the zither, a less physically-demanding stringed instrument to the guitar, embarking upon the unprecedented process of incorporating field recordings into his work as early as 1956, and eventually discovering the synthesizer, Hood’s music became imbued with optimism and subtle cultural critique. This ethos and technique - refined over the coming decades - would lay the groundwork for a sprawling body of radio work, mail order recordings for homebound listeners, and Neighborhoods, self-issued as a small vinyl edition in 1975.

Where Neighborhoods, a nostalgic opus, drawing from a well of collective memory of the 1950s, is defined by traces of human activity, Back to the Woodlands leaves the modern world behind, delving into Hood’s love for nature. Only recently discovered in his archives, the album dramatically expands his concept of “musical cinematography,” imagistically triggering states of sensory memory from within its zither and synthesizer melodies, intertwined with field recordings made during Hood’s extensive travels throughout Oregon. If Neighborhoods is a retreat into the gauzy joys of a romanticized past, Back to the Woodlands is an immersion in the timeless sanctuary of the natural world.

Mouth Full of Glass is the debut album by Chicago singer, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Macie Stewart (She/They). Their story is one of finding solace and strength in solitude, where lush arrangements search for the meaning of

self, both within and without partnership. Exploring loneliness, as well as the growth and beauty blooming from it, Macie’s inner meditations reassess their own relationships in a singular voice that could ring true to anyone.

“Life is a perpetual discovery of your own habits and perceptions,” Macie explains. “This record is about digging into and embracing those less favourable parts of yourself in order to shed them. The hope is always to find the most authentic self while honouring who you once were, and who you could be.”










[i] 9. Defeat

Since its formation in 2010, the Melt Trio has become one of the world's most innovative guitar trios in contemporary jazz. And way beyond. Stylistically speaking: If you like Tortoise, Khruangbin, but also Philip Catherine, Bad Plus or Marc Ribot, you can already look forward to one of the outstanding albums in November of this crisis-ridden year.

On their countless concerts and tours all over the world, the three Berliners have refined their special style more and more and show an even stronger will to create in details. Their combination of acoustic and electronic sounds seems more subtle and at the same time more powerful than ever, specific influences from jazz and classical modernism to post- and prog rock can at best be made out dimly, because the music simply sounds like Melt Trio. It is and remains a guitar trio that does without any comparison. "Melt is neither Nirvana on jazz, nor Bill Frisell Trio in rock, nor Massacre in ambient. Melt is Melt, unique, individual, gripping and moving," it was once said elsewhere.

Texas born, Swindon bred, South Londoner Rainn Byrns is no stranger to the independent music press having enjoyed coverage in The Line Of Best Fit, DIY Mag, Dork, So Young, Hard of Hearing and The Guardian for his recent singles and Country Living EP. With the build up to his debut album New In Town, BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, Amazing Radio and Radio X’s new music guru John Kennedy have all been playing tracks from it (+ John Kennedy has invited Rainn on to his X-Posure show for a session and interview during the week of release). Rainn’s innate talent for writing from the heart with total honesty shines bright on the album through a collection of indie lo-fi future classics, jam-packed with melodies and a tasteful bedroom-pop sensibility. Tinges of Americana, inspired by his early years growing up in Texas can be heard throughout, and combined with Rainn’s on the nose lyrical delivery, make this an exciting debut long player from an artist brimming with talent and potential. Further support from 6Music, Radio X & Amazing Radio

Sinnlich und hypnotisch, pendelnd zwischen minimalistischen und melodischen Tracks kommt die vierte
Veröffentlichung aus der “Morricone Segreto”-Serie vom Label CAM Sugar daher: die erstmals komplette
Veröffentlichung von Morricones psychedelisch-erotischer Musik zum Filmdrama „Quando L’amore È Sensualità“ (When Love is Lust, 1973), eines der vielen Meisterwerke des legendären Italieners.
Einige Titel waren bereits auf Compilations zu hören und haben Kultstatus bei Morricone-Fans, hier ist
erstmals der ungekürzte Soundtrack mit 11 bislang unveröffentlichten Tracks zu hören, frisch von den
analogen Originalbändern remastert.

Bubbling up from the psychedelic tar pits of L.A., Frankie and the Witch Fingers have been a constant source of primordial groove for the better part of the last decade. Formed and incubated in Bloomington, IN before moving west to scrap with Los Angeles’ garage rock rabble, the band evolved from cavern-clawed echo merchants to architects of prog-infected psych epics that evoke a shift in reality. After a stretch on Chicago/LA flagship Permanent Records the band landed at yet another fabled enclave of garage and psychedelia - Brooklyn’s Greenway Records, now working in tandem with psych powerhouse LEVITATION and their label The Reverberation Appreciation Society, the groups latest effort is dually supported by a RAS / Greenway co-release. After years of searching for the specific alchemy that would tear open the cosmos, they found the formula with the addition of Shaughnessy Starr on drums in the summer of 2018. They began a new cycle and tripped into tip-on double gatefold territory, flesh-ing out their lysergic impulses into a monolith of sound that closes in from all sides. The band reached new levels of grandiosity and utilized every minute to manifest their psych-soul Sabbath in four dimensions, spilling psychic blood on a populace ready and eagerly waiting. Yet, as expansive, inventive, and immersive as any studio album might be, the band is born for the stage. As their live prowess caught the ears of some legends in their own right, the band practically lived on the road last year with stints opening for Oh Sees, Cheap Trick and ZZ Top. Along the way the constant pulpit of the stage would form ZAM into a transformative experience while plotting their next permutation of space and time. That transformation, Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters... (repeated infinitely,) rises like a Phoenix from the road tar, van exhaust, and ozone crackle of amps in heat. Once off the road it was recorded in just five blistering days. Though, while the tour may have hammered the album into shape and brought about a wind of change, those changes stretched to the band itself as well. In the wake of the tour the band’s longtime bassist Alex Bulli made his exit, with the majority of bass parts on the album being written and played by multi-instrumental magician Josh Menashe with occasional pitch in from songwriter Dylan Sizemore. Stripped to their core the band has created their most ambitious work to date, an album that takes the turbulence of ZAM and crafts it into a beast more insidious and singular than anything in their catalog. Moving forward, the band has taken on new blood. Completing their lineup, Nikki Pickle (of Death Valley Girls) will join them working the new album out roadside on bass. A new horizon of Frankie and the Witch Fingers draws near and we’re all set to follow them into the unknown.

Fangst never announced their arrival – without a warning they were just there, and so was the demand for their music. The band’s hook-laden songs were quickly embraced by audience and press alike. Suddenly there was a new challenger to the throne of Norwegian “mother tongue rock”. Fangst appeared with a bang – releasing four singles in quick succession in 2021. Seeing the band live, it’s easy to be seduced by the four band members and their magnetic stage presence. Now they’re ready with their debut album on Jansen Records. But this is hardly a musical debut for the guys who make up this four-headed beast. All members of Fangst come with heaps of musical experience, and the bare mention of their other bands – Death By Unga Bunga, Honningbarna and Hvitmalt Gjerde – will awake fond memories in every concert goer who’s ever encountered those bands. Fangst’s debut full-length will be out in the fall of 2022, and if captivating Norwegian lyricism or very, ehm…rocking rock (or even both!) is your bag, then you’ll get your fill here. The band’ sound is a result of their diverse musical backgrounds and combines to create beautiful rock music – sporadically dangerous and at times plain cute.

Her Shadow offers dreamy pop music with moonlight melodies, heavenly hooks and Lynchian twists. The ethereal soundscapes come to life in a dream noir universe oozing with catchy choruses, Morricone motifs and vintage sounds interweave with state of the art production. The birth of Her Shadow was inevitable. Old friends, guitarist-songwriter Tomi Henttunen (Royal Lips) and keyboardist-lyricist (Kuolemanlaakso) had a versatile but very different background in making music but a shared obsession with Twin Peaks and Lana Del Rey. The original idea in 2016 was to combine the best of both worlds, and spice up the mix with film noir and dream-like elements – to make music that they love, but had never done before. They recruited the enigmatic singer Anna Carolina (Royal Lips), drummer extraordinaire Toni Ronkainen (Kuolemanlaakso) and producer-engineer Jaani Peuhu (Swallow the Sun, Lord of the Lost etc.), and recorded a four-song demo. They instantly got signed to Svart Records, and started working on their debut album. After five long years of hard work, it is finally ready to be released upon the world. As they say, good things come to those who wait: The Ghost Love Chronicles will be released on November 11, 2022. The album was produced by musical and visual mastermind Henttunen, mixed by Sampsa Väätäinen (Ismo Alanko, Neøv etc.) and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Paradise Lost, Opeth etc.). The songs range from the mellow Motown mood of Fifth Season to the modern pop banger Kinda Love You, from the Morricone-inspired Vigilante to the nightmarish haunted house thriller What Hides in the Dark and from eerie playfulness of White Lane to ghoulishly beautiful Devil Inside. It remains to see, if The Ghost Love Chronicles will grow into a hit album or a cult classic, but it sure has the potential for both. Slip into something comfortable, open the doors of your perception and enter realm of Her Shadow. HER SHADOW Anna Carolina – lead vocals Tomi Henttunen – guitar, bass, keyboards Markus Laakso – keyboards, backing vocals Toni Ronkainen – drums and percussion Harri Hyvönen – live bass Otto Daavitsainen – live guitar

Her Shadow offers dreamy pop music with moonlight melodies, heavenly hooks and Lynchian twists. The ethereal soundscapes come to life in a dream noir universe oozing with catchy choruses, Morricone motifs and vintage sounds interweave with state of the art production. The birth of Her Shadow was inevitable. Old friends, guitarist-songwriter Tomi Henttunen (Royal Lips) and keyboardist-lyricist (Kuolemanlaakso) had a versatile but very different background in making music but a shared obsession with Twin Peaks and Lana Del Rey. The original idea in 2016 was to combine the best of both worlds, and spice up the mix with film noir and dream-like elements – to make music that they love, but had never done before. They recruited the enigmatic singer Anna Carolina (Royal Lips), drummer extraordinaire Toni Ronkainen (Kuolemanlaakso) and producer-engineer Jaani Peuhu (Swallow the Sun, Lord of the Lost etc.), and recorded a four-song demo. They instantly got signed to Svart Records, and started working on their debut album. After five long years of hard work, it is finally ready to be released upon the world. As they say, good things come to those who wait: The Ghost Love Chronicles will be released on November 11, 2022. The album was produced by musical and visual mastermind Henttunen, mixed by Sampsa Väätäinen (Ismo Alanko, Neøv etc.) and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Paradise Lost, Opeth etc.). The songs range from the mellow Motown mood of Fifth Season to the modern pop banger Kinda Love You, from the Morricone-inspired Vigilante to the nightmarish haunted house thriller What Hides in the Dark and from eerie playfulness of White Lane to ghoulishly beautiful Devil Inside. It remains to see, if The Ghost Love Chronicles will grow into a hit album or a cult classic, but it sure has the potential for both. Slip into something comfortable, open the doors of your perception and enter realm of Her Shadow. HER SHADOW Anna Carolina – lead vocals Tomi Henttunen – guitar, bass, keyboards Markus Laakso – keyboards, backing vocals Toni Ronkainen – drums and percussion Harri Hyvönen – live bass Otto Daavitsainen – live guitar

Finnish metalheads have always been puzzled by the question of which is our country's first heavy metal band. Svart Records gives the answer. It's Hard Rock Sallinen, which was founded in 1974, and so far we haven't found an older Finnish metal band. If you have better information, you can contact the history and UFO department of our record company. In any case, the band's founder and bass singer Seppo Sallinen says he is looking into the band's background. -"Even though Hard Rock Sallinen was our country's first heavy band, it wasn't my first band. I already played with my nephew Juke Salline in various gigs in Ostrobothnia, covering Led Zeppelin, Cream and other contemporaries with the band Jew's Harp", When Hard Rock Sallinen was founded, the source of inspiration for the line-up moved to the heavier department, when Rainbow, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Mountain, Aerosmith and Cactus were selected as influences. The band started with the name Sallinen, but the words hard and rock were soon added to the name. This was simply due to the fact that the band was mistaken for a hit band based on the name at early gigs. After facing an aggressive and drunken crowd, the band changed into Hard Rock Sallis to make a clear difference to the music taste of the trampers. It took a long time before the band signed their first recording contract, when in the early 1980s the Finnish Zero Records signed the band. The debut album Heavy Metal Symphony began to take shape quickly and the album recorded at Esko "Suikki" Jääskä's Botnia Sound Studio still evokes emotions in its creators. -"Contemporary critics and the public liked the record, musically it is on point, but of course the overall sound is a product of its time. Of course, it's great that the album is being re-released after 40 years, because the original edition has become a valuable collector's rarity", Seppo Sallinen says about his feelings. Why then did Hard Rock Sallinen stop already in 1984? The background is a familiar story: the band worked excellently, but in Finland at that time there were no managers, proper gig sellers or really any infrastructure that could have pushed heavy rock forward. The result was only frustration and the band simply disappeared from the world map.

Zeke Sky is an American guitarist, pianist, vocalist and composer who has made continuous impact since videos of his playing and songs emerged on the internet in 2018. Combining influences of psychedelic rock, progressive metal, heavy metal and world music, Zeke goes against the grain in writing and performing bold and visionary songs without limitation, dealing with complex lyric issues ranging from toxic love to kingly conquests.

In the same year, Zeke played his first live event opening for KING'S X as part of a home recorded album effort. Despite the total infancy of his name, an impressive number of copies were sold of this obscure album on the web. Zeke followed up with a pair of singles in 2019 and 2020 with updated production ethics and of course more aggressive playing, and those saw favorable reviews all over the world, including in Rolling Stone Magazine (“ZEKE SKY is an incendiary of heavy metal.”).

In 2021, Zeke completed a debut label effort, »Intergalactic Demon King,« for release in late 2022. For this young composer, the future is as bold as it is long, for only the brave who accept the challenge will taste the fruits of the golden mountain. --- ---

After releasing his self-titled debut album in 2017 (On Agitated AGIT044R), Dion Lunadon (The D4, ex-A Place To Bury Strangers) and In The Red Records is proud to release his sophomore album, Beyond Everything. Beyond Everything will be Lunadon’s first release on In The Red (an ideal match for his music), as well as his first full-length since departing A Place To Bury Strangers. Written, performed and recorded by himself, the songs tap into a raw, palpable energy that blur the line between the music and the person. Drums on the record were played by Blaze Bateh (Bambara) and Nick Ferrante (The Black Hollies). Lunadon says; “The record was written and recorded sporadically between 2017 and 2019. I probably wrote about one hundred songs during this period. The first album was pretty relentless which I liked, but I wanted to make something more dynamic for the second record. Something that could be more conducive to repeated listens. I’d get in my studio, come up with a song title, and start working on any ideas that I had. For example, with ‘Elastic Diagnostic,’ the idea was to create a hum that evokes the sound of life coursing through your body. Everything else kind of formed around that idea.” “An arresting, noise-infected dose of psych-garage.” on “It’s The Truth”—Brooklyn Vegan “An amped up garage psych ripper.” on “Living And Dying With You”—Brooklyn Vegan “A ferocious rocker.” on “Living And Dying With You”—Destroy Exist “A gritty and raw glam-like anthem centered around chugging power chords, Lunadon’s howled and desperate delivery, forceful and propulsive drumming paired with an explosive feedbackdriven coda, ‘It’s The Truth’ further cements the Kiwi-born, Brooklyn-based artist’s reputation for crafting anthems meant to be played as loud as humanly possible.” —Joy Of Violent Movement

Jozef Van Wissem- Lute, Electronics, Beats, Electric Guitar, Found Bird Sounds. In 2013 van Wissem won the Cannes Soundtrack Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive “. In December 2017 Jozef van Wissem was invited to perform the madrigal depicted in Caravaggio’s painting The Lute Player (1596) at the Hermitage museum of Saint Petersburg. In 2022 three of his works were used for in the soundtrack and trailer of Irma Vep (HBO). His completely unique musical world can be easily verified by his collaborations, especially that these relationships are also strengthening his own musical character. He worked together with Zola Jesus, Tilda Swinton, Jarboe as well as with his long-time collaborative partner, also his friend, Jim Jarmusch. “La Cinémathèque Française in Paris commissioned me to write and perform the score at the presentation of the restored version of Nosferatu. I was a bit overwhelmed by its success. It was sold out. I wasn’t going to repeat it. But people kept asking. In the beginning the soundtrack was more improvised and reactive to the images but after a few times the audience kind of showed me the way. To start with a few notes and building the score slowly to a dense slow metal ending. I found an old 7-inch single with recordings of extinct birds on a market, I electronically processed and added them to the score . “ Manipulating the sounds of electric guitar in alternate tuning he manages to create the feeling of fear, equal to the experience of the victims of Count Orlok. “To me Nosferatu personifies this Death Bird of the Plague. The Black Death depicted in the film offers a timeless parallel with contemporary society. The vampire Count Orlok infests the city with rats and people are infected with the plague. They must quarantaine. This provokes hysteria. Much like nowadays”. With a melodic almost medieval magic and mystery Jozef van Wissem has reignited the light through the filters of dark energy post punk and even black metal into a wondrous new melodramatic cinematic space…- John Robb (Louder Than War) Beginning with a solo played on the lute, his performance will incorporate electric guitar and distorted recordings of extinct birds, graduating from subtlety to gothic horror. – New York Times Delightfully macabre, intense and electrifying – MXDWN

Yellow and black splatter

While frontman Tom Greenhouse’s off-kilter observations and bizarro anecdotes remain front and centre, this time round the band up their game with a more vigorous sound that keeps pace with Greenhouse’s wholly distinctive lyrical style. Greenhouse continues to revel in telling increasingly surreal short stories, rejoicing in the power of the deadpan one-liner and bedecking his songs with far-flung cultural references. But now the band employ a variety of techniques with improved pro- duction, from the impulsively bashed keyboards and jubilantly repetitive guitar stabs that have be- come their trademark, to flirtations with–heaven forbid!–melody, chord progressions and arrangements which elevate their tried-and-tested blueprint into a more exciting and cohesive whole.

Opener Musicians is the perfect embodiment of this conscious development. Here, Greenhouse re- counts a sarcastic tale of half-truths that see him galavanting around town trying to put a band to- gether. Sonically, it begins with a caustic callback to the group’s first EP Crap Cardboard Pet and its über-minimalist aesthetic. But by the end of the song a joyous festival of afrobeat-inspired in- struments including samba whistles, bongos and saxophones are added to the mix as the front- man, ironically, fails in his mission to recruit more players.

With Get Unjaded, the band have somehow conjured something close to pop, without abandoning the repetition and wit that’s relished by their early fans. I Lost My Head also adopts a jangle-pop sheen with a luscious synth melody, as the frontman ditches the spoken-word for a surly croon (his first known attempt at actual singing!) that provides a welcome breather from the onslaught of dense recantations that are the band’s bread-and-butter.

While the lyrics here are still often humorous and political, Greenhouse has also notably expanded his interests on this album to include a new host of topics. The influence of extraterrestrials, for ex- ample, infiltrates the subject matter frequently. On The UFOs, the mysterious protagonist Blinkus Booth’s isolationist lifestyle is apparently interrupted by the spectres of otherworldly visitors, while closer The Neoprene Ravine feels like an extract from a deep space rock opera. Here, jaunty and angular instruments pile-on as we are fed images of an interstellar Spinal Tap, the titular fictional band “The Neoprene Ravine” who are “the alien equivalent of the Velvet Underground” and include an alien Lou Reed yelping “too busy sucking on my little green ding dong!”.

Meanwhile, Hard Rock Potato is propelled by a vortex of keys and synths, a real noise-pop gem comprised of real guitar chords (!) and rock-orientated riffs. Here the stream-of-consciousness lyrics take shots at the sinister financial industry, and include one of the many top-tier one-liners on the album: “It’s not gambling if you’re wearing a tie (even if you’ve got no trousers on)”.

On Sod’s Toastie, The Cool Greenhouse have pushed their distinctive flavour of post-punk to the point of perfection – their incongruous riffs, alchemical instrumental chemistry, and irreverent spo- ken-word vocals are a delight throughout. Sod’s Toastie is hilarious at times, and at others just hilariously good – a not-so-difficult second album.

First Pressing of 1,000 on Green Vinyl. Toured with Tori Amos in Spring 2021. At just 23-years-old, identical twin sisters Sophia and Jo Babb had faced a decade of darkness. Then, as Companion, they built lighthouses. With their debut album Second Day of Spring, the duo arrive at the start of a blooming new season, holding a work that softly glows with a sincerity, vulnerability, and hopefulness that they fought hard to find along their way. “A lot of this album is rooted in healing from grief and familial hurt,” says Sophia. “There are songs about marriage and healing from mistrust. Family ties that have been broken.” Second Day of Spring introduces two brilliant songwriters and mesmerizing singers as they share their stories with gazes at once light and weighted, offering listeners comfort in despairing corners.

12 of the heaviest early tracks by the master of rebetika music. Markos Vamvakaris sings from the hash dens of the Greek ports of the 1930s - mournful, poetic, bitter music of love and long nights. Rebetika is the sound of Greece and Asia Minor clashing amid civil war, mass population exchange, and the anarchy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Poetic, mournful, and bitter, rebetika music was born in the hash dens (tekes) of Mediterranean ports, its verses whispered in Greek prisons before spilling out to the greater population in the 1930s, propelled in no small part by a series of remarkable recordings by Markos Vamvakaris. Markos, as he’s known to this day, sang heady, drugged out songs of love, pain and yearning at brothels, bars and hash dens in the port of Piraeus. He arrived as a youth in 1917, working as a skinner in a tannery. By the time he picked up the bouzouki around 1924, he was fully taken by the life of the manges, the lowest rungs of the Greek social ladder. They lived by their own code and in total opposition to the rest of the population, and rebetika was their music. On these twelve early tracks, recorded in Athens between 1932 and 1936, Markos was already a master of the bouzouki. His forceful, clean playing compliments his hoarse voice and his stunning rhythmic sensibility, the result of his years as a champion zebekiko dancer. Tracks build and spiral outward, his open-note drones and melodic lines drawing calls of ecstasy and encouragement from his fellow musicians. Translations of songs like “Hash-Smoking Mortissa” and “In The Dark Last Night” provide a glimpse into the life and language of the manges - Ottoman cafe music, the calls of displaced Greeks of Smyrna, the chaos and suffering of port life, it all comes through Markos’ songs. These recordings, incredibly rare and expertly remastered, mark the height of rebetika, the brief period between the music’s emergence on the recording scene in the early 1930s and government censorship of all lyrics starting in 1936. During the Axis occupation there was no rebetika recording, and though Markos had some hits in the years after the war, he never again attained this level. These are the dizzying, entrancing, and heaviest works of one of the great artists of the 20th century. Pressed on 160gm vinyl, includes full size 8 page booklet with historical notes, rare photos, and lyric translations.

INTRODUCING: TRADER Hailing from Aarhus, Denmark, this explosive, close-knit four-piece have created what is best described as a sonic freight train. Equally noisy and catchy, the songs are driven by distortion, relentless drumming and an enchanting sense of directness. Throughout their existence Trader have thrilled audiences and critics alike, gaining a reputation as a riveting live band as well as trusted deliverers of potent rock anthems. This October, Trader will release their sophomore album “Their Best Work So Far”. The album sees Trader taking on a more diverse and dynamic sound while still homaging their beloved grand era of American 90’s alternative rock music. As the album title wittily indicates, the band took the ambition of good, sincere songwriting and craftsmanship as their cornerstones. To fulfill this ambition, the band relocated from the confines of their home studio to the legendary Silence Studio in Sweden - an old, refurbished two-storey school house hidden in the woods of small-town Koppom. This was the perfect remotion for Trader to escape the everyday humdrum and focus their piled-up energy into 9 songs. Being a hard-working band with no big commercial payoffs in sight can make you question if you chose the right path in life. Drummer Kristian Vissing elaborates: “We just had an anniversary at our old high school and met with our class mates from back then, who talked about how great it was to finish university and finally have a career going. These expectations from peers and society on how to lead a good and proper life can get you down sometimes and leave you with doubt. It’s sort of a theme on this album. We want to urge everyone to take a halt and enjoy where you’re at right now and not always have your eyes set on the future.” “Their Best Work So Far” is out on November 11 via Part Time Records.

Léonore Boulanger studied drama, experimental jazz improvisation and Persian music in Paris. Her music reflects her wide interest in African folk and in composers such as George Crumb, Teiji Ito, Harry Partch and singer Meredith Monk. For their fifth album, "Un lièvre était un très cher baiser " Léonore Boulanger & Jean-Daniel Botta with percussionist Laurent Sériès compose and decompose a set of fragments of the outsider art poetry of Ernst Herbeck from Gugging center in Austria. Small formats for the movement, singed in german as in a Kindergarten Krautrock: imaginary folk, music boxes, r'n'b medievalism, motets and futuristic madrigals set up like hopscotches, Byzantine mathematics. UK Tour Dates: Oct 20th CANTERBURY Free Range Oct 21st BIRMINGHAM The Edge (with Judy Brush) Oct 22nd HAY-ON-WYE The Old Electric Shop Oct 23rd LONDON (Léo) Cafe Oto Oct 24th LONDON (Howie) Kennington Cafe Oct 26th MANCHESTER Talleyrand Oct 27th SHIPLEY Triangle Oct 28th NEWCASTLE Cumberland Arms (with Nev Clay) Oct 29th EDINBURGH Settlements Project Oct 30th LIVERPOOL Invisible Wind Factory.

Repress in soon, note new price. Algernon Cadwallader was an emo band from Philadelphia comprised of Peter Helmis (Bass/Voc 2005-2012), Joe Reinhert (Guitar 2005-2012), Nick Tazza (Drums 2005-2008), Colin Mahony (Guitar 2005-2008) and Tank Bergman (Drums 2008-2012). Their succinct, evocative songwriting stretched across raw, distinctive vocal stylings and signature "twinkly" guitars have earned them near-cult status. Since their disbandment, publications including Rolling Stone and Spin have cited them on "Best of Emo" lists and credited them with in­fluencing a new wave of emo. The members have gone on to play in a number of important DIY and indie bands, including Hop Along. For the ten-year anniversary of Algernon Cadwallader's first full length, "Some Kind of Cadwallader," Lauren Records and Asian Man Records are reissuing the record along with their second album, "Parrot Flies" (2011), and a new self-titled collection LP. The 16-track collection includes EPs, B-sides, previously unreleased versions, and two covers. Side A re­flects one era of Algernon Cadwallader, and Side B the other. “Ten years and many label rosters’ worth of imitators later, Some Kind of Cadwallader still leaps out of the speakers...” - Pitchfork “Some Kind Of Cadwallader is essentially the starting point for the entire emo revival and thus also required listening for anyone interested in how DIY indie rock took shape in the past decade...” Stereogum…..

Hate Propaganda's far too overlooked 2019 debut EP "World War 666" sees a much needed reissue on vinyl, remastered and enhanced by brand new artwork commissioned for the purpose by Xerox master P. Van Trigt. When it was first released on cassette tape back in 2019 by War Arts Productions, this war-torn debut offering of primeval warnoise by the mysterious Portuguese war criminals stood out immediately as a crown jewel debut for the genre and as one of the year's most definitive and underrated manifestations of extreme metal's most hateful and berserk fringe. Packing in nineteen minutes of absolute hatred, the annihilating MLP manifests as a nightmare hallucination of complete violence and negativity, evoking eons of perennial apocalyptic global planetary war and terror on the wings of its nefarious design of achieving maximum annihilation in the shortest amount of time possible. To harness this bleak pantheon of ruin, the Portuguese conquerors have assembled a weaponized and uncontrolled sonic chain reaction where grindcore, black metal, death metal and hardcore punk are all accelerated and instigated into an inescapable payload of death aimed straight at the vital sinews of humanity. A sonic maelstrom churned into shape by an onslaught of obscure violent riffs, psychotic leads and ominous laughter which, parallel to a pulverizing drum performance, emanates from oblivion with an antediluvian, negative aura. Comparisons to bands like Diocletian, Heresiarch, Tetragrammacide and Nuclearhammer will run abound, yet these would be only easy superficial conjectures as this is a manifestation of sonic extremism which dwells on a plain of excellence entirely its own. Its uniqueness transpires particularly in the maniacal drumming which underlines the band's hardcore and punk influences, and is exalted further by an unusually crystalline production and by a masterful onslaught of uber-audible riffs hiding behind nothing and seemingly going in the opposite direction of the homogenous and indiscernible sensorial smothering the genre usually opts to go in. Tracklisting: 1. World War 666 2. Neverending Mass Graves 3. Violent Nature of Human Annihilation 4. Welcoming the Nuclear War With Open Arms 5. Let the Sirens Signal the End of Times

Singer/songwriter, violinist, and producer hunter Maya Killtron releases her sophomore album, Persimmon. A mix of modern boogie, funk, string quartet and yacht rock, the record is a definitive coming–of-a-certain-age for the Toronto native. The eclectic feel-good record came as a result of our collective pandemic upheaval. Tracks “Out Of My Life” and “Do It Again” that were created alongside producer HiFiLo, highlight the frustration with the status quo and a need to break the mold. Killtron keeps to her modern boogie roots with “Night Moves”—a glossy roller-worthy track made with long time collaborator Gil Masuda of Toronto’s Love Touch Records. She simultaneously evolves and returns to her roots as a classically trained violinist and arranger in her self produced track, Persimmon, which features her string quartet, Bowed Arts. Rounding out the record is “Guaranteed,” a co-produced track with UK’s Format-440 and also her tribute to “Reading Rainbow” through the lens of Ryan Farley’s Phil Collins-esque production in Del Rey. With Persimmon, Maya is solidifying her place as an established voice in modern boogie while breaking into new mainstream markets worldwide.

Issued by Leo Fegin's visionary record label in 1993, this refreshed and revised reissue collection of Hungarian composer Tibor Szemző's chamber pieces with spoken text – composed at 1980s for the legendary GROUP 180 – is unlike anything else of its kind.

No one has survived life. Everyone has died from it so far. Man must realize that He is responsible for His own life and fate and must insist upon this responsibility beyond all limits. And since Man has dissociated Himself from the sphere of irrationality, He has no way of getting in touch with death, or of establishing control over it. How we achieve the final result is merely of secondary importance. If the vision is clear to everyone, there is no need at all to look back. In a time of complete mental disturbance, only one chance remains to us: crystal-clear thinking. This leads us back to total mental disturbance, which everyone has died from so far. (Pavel Havliček – Miklós Erdély – Tibor Hajas)

Text and Music | Language and Speech | Sound and Music

The common basis of the three works by Tibor Szemző heard on this album is the inalienable relationship to text – as an a priori principle. Text and music: the formal attributes of significance, intentions, and levels of meaning inherent in verbal communication as it is transformed into audible code. Language and speech: the structural level of communication, where it becomes purposeful expression, acoustic statements of variable modality. Vocalization as sublimation. Sound and music: By becoming an auditory signal, communication is deprived of its sense and reduced to musical articulation and abstraction.

Skullbase Fracture: Shards of reality – senseless, disconnected fragments of recorded “living speech” – simultaneously disintegrate and merge to create meaning through the musical process, while it is degraded and stylized to represent a single layer of the ambient noise one would hear in a hospitality setting.

Optimistic Lecture: The theses – like a practical, everyday user’s manual to cognitive tendencies and aims as they apply to the entirety of existence – convey their meaning through simplified rhythmic speech, galvanized into commands. As a counterpoint to recited prayers, they comprise a uniform soundscape.

The Sex Appeal of Death: The head-on simplicity of communication creates such extremely reductive musical interrelations that they cannibalize themselves in a necessary and inevitable fashion. And, in this manner, the text as well

Robert Groslot's Concerto for Bass Guitar and Orchestra represents the
next step in the evolution of the bass guitar
Groslot's composition pushes the instrument to its technical limits, while creating
a unique symbiosis between the soloist and the orchestra. Although he may not
be the first composer to write for the bass guitar in a symphonic setting, Groslot
brings a level of artistry and sophistication to the composition that will continue
and accelerate the legitimation of the bass guitar within contemporary classical
music. "The idea of a concerto for bass guitar is something that I have been
dreaming of for decades. Since its invention, the bass guitar has firmly
established itself as an essential and integral part of practically every genre of
music. The bass guitar, as we now know it, was invented and produced by Leo
Fender starting in 1951. The more portable bass guitar, in comparison to the large
and unwieldy double bass, was capable of playing at higher volumes via
amplification and satisfied the new sonic demands created by the widespread
use of electrification in popular music. By increasing the overall scale of the
electric guitar and only using the lowest four strings (E, A, D, G), Fender gave birth
to a new instrument. Traditional double bassists could quickly adapt, with the
added benefit of more accurate intonation due to the frets. Hence the original
name: The Precision Bass. At the same time, guitarists could also become bass
players when called upon. As a result, many of the early bass guitarists began
their musical life as guitar players, with the most well-known example being Paul
McCartney of The Beatles.
The fact that the bass guitar had no direct lineage like the evolution of the piano
or violin over time, led to a variety of disparate playing styles without any
fundamental methodology. Unlike the more traditional instruments, the bass
guitar does not sit upon a foundation of centuries of proven methods and
established schools of playing. The evolution of the bass guitar has been a
patchwork of trial and error by active musicians. This has led to a plethora of
personal approaches and hybrid-styles, effectively leading to the rapid evolution
of bass guitar technique. Given its relatively young history, it is remarkable how
the bass guitar has grown from being an instrument taken up out of necessity, or
as an afterthought, to being as respected and vital to modern music as any of the
older, more established instruments." - Thomas Fiorini

Iris DeMent released Infamous Angel in 1992 - Nearly 30 years later, the
album remains among the most singular and fully realized singersongwriter debuts since the invention of that category in the early '70s
The abiding strengths of the album are especially impressive ' even a bit startling '
because 1992 is not a moment usually associated with her intimate brand of
acoustic country music. In country history, the year 1992 is most immediately
affiliated with Garth Brooks, whose album, The Chase, topped both the country
and pop album charts that year, and with Billy Ray Cyrus' 'Achy Breaky Heart,'
which fueled a line dance craze. Squeezed into a playlist alongside such hits,
DeMent's doleful, hushed 'Our Town' would've sounded as if it were being
broadcast from another planet. 'People call me country,' she told journalist Ben
Thompson while on tour in Britain a couple years later. 'But country doesn't call
me country.' Let's call her country. The genre is always more expansive than what
radio stations program. It happened Infamous Angel is close kin to a different
sort of country music that was just then having a moment: specifically, country
singer- songwriters, focusing on personal, but universal, loss and hope and
favoring small acoustic combos. It may have been out of step with the
mainstream, but Infamous Angel arrived right on time

coalesce koh-uh-les 'to come together in or form one mass or whole'
Tritonal have embarked on a brand new chapter in their story which
began with 'Out Of The Dark', the first single from their upcoming fifth
album 'Coalesce'
Encompassing all that they've learned on their musical journey thus far, the
upcoming album solidifies production, art and meaning.
The upcoming record is a grandiose progressive trance production that sees
Tritonal's refined sound at its very best, supported by outstanding vocal
performances from a variety of collaborators, and is already set to be a favorite
amongst fans and supporters alike. In recent weeks, the duo wrapped up festival
appearances at EDC in Mexico City and Las Vegas, Metropolis Festival in
Brooklyn, and Dreamstate Harbor in Los Angeles, bringing their captivating and
vivacious sets to crowds across the country.
Double Gatefold, Neon Magenta Color Vinyl, Insert

Surging brass and organ-laden funk wonderment! Formed in 1967, Crow
combines gritty blues with nasty, hard-charging garage rock
Inspired by the likes of The Ventures and The Trashmen, Minnesota natives Harry
Nehls, Dick Wiegand, and Larry Wiegand combined forces with ex- Jokers Wild
members David Wagner and Dave Kink Middlemist. Originally known as South 40,
the band released two singles and one album, Live at Someplace Else, on
Metrobeat Records.
After winning a recording session with Columbia from a battle of the bands
contest in Des Moines, Iowa, the band recorded five demos: Evil Woman, Time to
Make a Turn, Busy Day, and White Eyes. Columbia didn't offer the band a contract,
but Dunwich signed the band.
To give their sound a more commercial appeal, Dunwich added horns to Evil
Woman without the band's knowledge- and it worked! Crow signed with Capitol
subsidiary Amaret Records after turning down Atlantic, hoping to be a big fish in a
small pond. Recording their first electrifying album, Crow Music, in 1969, Crow
delivered their very best. Before it was covered by Black Sabbath and Ike & Tina
Turner, their acclaimed single, Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games With Me), hit
the Top 20 that Fall. Reminiscent of Blood, Sweat & Tears, Deep Purple, and
James Gang, Crow blends an alluring mix of soul, funk, blues, psychedelia, and
garage rock into one package. I'm sure you'll agree Crow Music is a holy grail of
heart-poundin', grease grindin' rock!

Surging brass and organ-laden funk wonderment! Formed in 1967, Crow
combines gritty blues with nasty, hard-charging garage rock
Inspired by the likes of The Ventures and The Trashmen, Minnesota natives Harry
Nehls, Dick Wiegand, and Larry Wiegand combined forces with ex- Jokers Wild
members David Wagner and Dave Kink Middlemist. Originally known as South 40,
the band released two singles and one album, Live at Someplace Else, on
Metrobeat Records.
After winning a recording session with Columbia from a battle of the bands
contest in Des Moines, Iowa, the band recorded five demos: Evil Woman, Time to
Make a Turn, Busy Day, and White Eyes. Columbia didn't offer the band a contract,
but Dunwich signed the band.
To give their sound a more commercial appeal, Dunwich added horns to Evil
Woman without the band's knowledge- and it worked! Crow signed with Capitol
subsidiary Amaret Records after turning down Atlantic, hoping to be a big fish in a
small pond. Recording their first electrifying album, Crow Music, in 1969, Crow
delivered their very best. Before it was covered by Black Sabbath and Ike & Tina
Turner, their acclaimed single, Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games With Me), hit
the Top 20 that Fall. Reminiscent of Blood, Sweat & Tears, Deep Purple, and
James Gang, Crow blends an alluring mix of soul, funk, blues, psychedelia, and
garage rock into one package. I'm sure you'll agree Crow Music is a holy grail of
heart-poundin', grease grindin' rock!

Started in 2010, tricot have developed a unique sound that utilizes
captivating guitar interplay and stop-and-start percussion over complex
polyrhythms while harnessing the emotional vocals of singer Ikkyu
Nakajima - The end result is somehow neatly packaged and delivered as
dense, and invigorating pop songs

Started in 2010, tricot have developed a unique sound that utilizes
captivating guitar interplay and stop-and-start percussion over complex
polyrhythms while harnessing the emotional vocals of singer Ikkyu
Nakajima
The end result is somehow neatly packaged and delivered as dense, and
invigorating pop songs.

Started in 2010, tricot have developed a unique sound that utilizes
captivating guitar interplay and stop-and-start percussion over complex
polyrhythms while harnessing the emotional vocals of singer Ikkyu
Nakajima
The end result is somehow neatly packaged and delivered as dense, and
invigorating pop songs.

Brilliantly unclassifiable ambient midi-jazz salvo from Brazil’s Gabriel Guerra aka Guerrinha - member of PAN/Future Times' Lifted ensemble and lynchpin of the Rio De Janeiro underground. Very highly recommended noir sleaze x fantasy lounge music somewhere on the spectrum between Gigi Masin, Spencer Clark, 0PN, Flanger and Koji Kondo’s iconic video game soundtracks.

Deployed as the third release on the expertly curated confuso editions, ‘Cidade Grande’ sees Guerra unfurl an immersive and deeply enveloping variant of lounge jazz noir intersecting Japanese city pop, classic video game soundtracks and future-primitive kosmische signatures in a way that defies easy categorisation. Guerrinha colours outside the lines in swirling, exquisitely trippy designs that are as easy on the ears are they are hard to fully fathom over a single sitting.

Mirroring a strain of jazz music’s evolution from sophisticate lounge soundtrack to more psychedelic lustre when musicians found acid and Brazilian styles in the ‘60s, Guerrinha slants the paradigm thru the prism of late ‘80s midi with a c.21st suss that coolly echoes hauntological takes from Spencer Clark & James Ferraro to Leyland Kirby, and Eli Keszler’s electro-acoustic jazz proprioceptions, as much as emotive Kenji Kawai soundtracks. There's a complete lack of cynicism in his approach, and dense, hypnotic tracks like 'Venda Casada Village' and the moving 'Kafta Hoje' sound so completely straight-faced it's impossible not to respect the flex.

It’s a hugely trippy listen, at once calming and eerily evocative, with a wipe-clean palette of deft midi orchestrations that conjure flashbacks to soundtracks for everything from Twin Peaks to Sharky & George or Patlabor, but with more opalescent depth, dancing around motifs in holographic designs that mark the uncanny valley of perception.

Laila Sakini's new album 'Paloma' arrives via Modern Love and is her most striking and ambiguous to date - a pointed and timely meditation on hope and hierarchies that riffs on Zbigniew Preisner's magical "The Double Life of Veronique" score and enduring outsider music tome "The Langley Schools Music Project". Subtly transcendent, fathoms-deep music.

When Laila Sakini's debut album ‘Vivienne’ arrived in 2020, it felt like the record we were waiting for to map out our tangled reactions to an uninvited reality. Never self-consciously strange, it revealed itself slowly and cautiously, like a shadow in the corner of the eye, or an alchemical symbol in a bowl of alphabet spaghetti. This time around Sakini has worked her unique world-building to an even finer point, forming six tracks around a theme that's so close to our heart it's almost beating in time. Initially inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1991 arthouse classic "The Double Life of Veronique", the cult Polish director's enduring modern fairytale that serves as a cosmic rumination on identity and choice. Detailing two identical women - both singers, both in love - the film lets one live as the other dies, forcing us to consider the implications of art and endurance in the face of life's myriad challenges.

Sakini takes Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner's influential score for the film and uses it as a jumping-off point for ‘Paloma’, bending the more grandiose moments into baroque awkwardness on opening track 'Fluer D'Oranger' and evoking the mood of scene-setting cues 'Weronika' and 'Véronique' on the recorder-led 'The Light That Flickers In The Mirror'. And while Preisner's score zeroed in on the musical virtuosity of the film's lead characters, Sakini reinterprets that as a metaphor for self-discovery. Playing piano, violin, glockenspiel, timbale, recorder, and occasionally singing, Sakini captures a mood of innocence that immediately transports the listener back to simpler times. Her music isn't self-consciously simplistic, but forcing herself to interface with instruments impulsively rather than studiously, her sounds are all heart, no filigree.

In spirit, it reminds us of cult Canadian album "The Langley Schools Music Project", a collection of 1970s recordings of school kids singing rudimentary renditions of pop songs in a school gymnasium. That album's genius was in the bottling of hope and innocence: the feeling of joy from hearing and wholesomely interacting with music that's known and loved without a sense of hierarchy or desire for cultural clout. Sakini subtly subverts this by evoking the amateur spirit in the most bewitching way; instead of sourcing her ideas from Bowie, Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys, her stock is the established art canon, and by reforming those sounds she makes an insightful comment on intellectualism and access. European classical music is all too often trapped behind the frosted glass of respectability and assumed skill - craft replaces spirit, and technique replaces soul. By approaching these gestures from a different angle, Sakini softens the edges sonically and intellectually, finding music that bubbles with emotion, and most strikingly - hope.

Her choice of instruments and the way she interacts with them allows us to feel as if we're not only listening but contributing. It's a bottom-up way of absorbing art that's traditionally been top-down, and a reminder that we're all part of the experience, whether we're humming along to the remnants of a theme as it dribbles out of an ear in the shower, or dreaming of spotlights in a parallel life that may or may not be real. Sakini's music is nostalgic in a sense, but nowhere near the buttered popcorn and high-fructose candy migraine of the Netflix/Spotify algorithm generation of regurgitated churn. She makes sounds that remind us of what time and experience may have stolen from us, and how we might recover it.

Many will know Bernie Marsden for being a founder member of
Whitesnake, one of the biggest rock bands of all time, and writing the
iconic global smash, "Here I Go Again"
Since leaving Whitesnake 40 years ago, Bernie has forged an impressive solo
career, culminating in TWO UK Top 40 selling albums in 2021 with KINGS then
CHESS. Both were #1 in the Blues Charts and resulted in him receiving the Lord
of the Blues award by HRH.
He is acclaimed as one of the premier British blues guitarists. He has written and
recorded with some of the biggest names in the industry, composed music for
film & TV, forged a successful career as an author, hosted radio shows, awarded
an honorary doctorate from Buckingham University and amassed a priceless
collection of guitars.

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh & Irish Chamber Orchestra have breathed new life into the noble, classical songs of our ancestors with this new album, R is n Reimagined.The sean n s tradition is undergoing a revival During lockdown, award- winning singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh's renditions of classic sean n s songs such as An Ch ilfhionn or R is n Dubh introduced a new generation of listeners to these melodically complex and richly ornamented songs. Now Nic Amhlaoibh joins the Irish Chamber Orchestra for R is n
ReImagined, an exciting new project that pairs her peerless vocals with fresh
orchestral arrangements of sean n s songs. Kilkenny Arts Festival and the Irish
Chamber Orchestra have co- commissioned special arrangements from six
leading Irish composers: Cormac McCarthy, Paul Campbell, Linda Buckley, Sam
Perkin, Niamh Varian- Barry and Michael Keeney. Produced by D nal O'Connor,
Roisin ReImagined explores the connections between classical and traditional
music, and reimagines these timeless songs for a new era. These works typically
date from the 16th-19th century, and bear the hallmarks of high art and learning.
In many instances, they bear witness to the artistic culture of Gaelic Ireland,
which was under siege and endangered; the high art of their era. Amongst them
are classics such as R is n Dubh, An Ch ilfhionn, Sl n le M igh & An tSeanbhean
Bhocht. Nic Amhlaoibh's distinct voice and outward- looking approach has
elevated these songs to yet another level through this project, and along with the
Irish Chamber Orchestra and producer D nal O'Connor, she has given a platform
to a tradition that gives a deep insight into the Irish psyche. These sean-n s songs
emerged from a practice that was part of a wider European and international
culture, and this project will resonate with people from every corner of the world.
The new incarnation of these old songs is a beautiful, uplifting sonic journey,
especially for those fortunate enough to experience it live, and is sure to leave an
imprint on the consciousness of the Irish song tradition.

Known for her time as vocalist in Fairport Convention and respected
globally , Sandy Denny left a beguiling, ever-evolving body of work - Kate
Bush was to namecheck her in song, and Denny's influence can be heard
in generations of singer-songwriters
From the power chords that open it, 1977's Rendezvous aimed squarely at giving
Denny her commercial breakthrough. It demonstrates an artist evolving. Gold
Dust really underlines how Denny could be viewed as the British Joni Mitchell,
and its late- night jazz funk backing (with Steve Winwood on clavinet) offers a
beguiling glimpse of where Denny may have travelled next. Rendezvous closes
with No More Sad Refrains, which updated her late 60s ballad style. As Denny
died tragically young less than a year after the album's release, it became a
poignant full stop to such a promising career. Long out of print on LP, this re-issue
faithfully replicates the original 1977 Island Records UK release with lyric inner
sleeve and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

Saxophonist, dancer and rapper tyroneisaacstuart's debut album S!CK is
a simmering hybrid of choreography and improvisation, featuring some
of the UK's finest jazz musicians
An out- pouring of individual expression and creative collaboration, S! CK is an
album that does not compromise, from an artist whose sound is singular in its
multitude.
Divided into three acts - GUMBO, Apology and Peace – S!CK draws on the spirit of
the traditional New Orleans dish to bring a mix of diasporic musical ingredients to
tyroneisaacstuart's work at the intersection of jazz, contemporary dance, and
visual art.
Peppered with contributions from Moses Boyd, Theon Cross, Shirley Tetteh, Nikos
Zarkias, Jamie Murray, Jack Polley, Reiss Ellis Beckles, Kwaku Aacht and Zuri
Jarret- Boswell, S! CK's gumbo style blends ferocious group improvisations with
punchy production and visceral lyricism. Together it reflects the polyphony of
creative experiences Issac-Stuart has accumulated.

27 of the greatest hits by the central figure in the golden age of Cuban
music and multiple Grammy Award winner, Bebo Valdes
Includes the classics 'Lágrimas Negras', 'El Manisero', 'Descarga Caliente', and
'Ansiedad'. Package comes with a comprehensive 12- page booklet. Presented
here are Cuban pianist and legend Bebo Valdés' greatest hits recorded during the
most prolific period of his career from the mid-'50s to the beginning of the '60s.
Bebo is the leader on all of these recordings, which feature diverse formations
and include many of the greatest Cuban jazz musicians, as well as the singers
Celeste Mendoza, Pacho Alonso, Rolando Laserie, Fernando Alvarez, and Pío
Leyva.

180gm Clear Vinyl housed in a 3mm wide spine sleeve with printed
inners, Remastered by Alchemy Mastering At AIR from the original
production tapes
The Selecters's second album, Celebrate The Bullet was released in February
1981 as the follow up to the successful 2 Tone debut album Too Much Pressure,
along with the hit singles On My Radio, Three Minute Hero and Missing
Words.Switching labels to Chrysalis Records, the band returned to On My Radio
producer Roger Lomas, moving into a more melodic slower pace, whilst keeping
their lyrical commentary on racial and social issues. Original members Desmond
Brown and Charley Anderson departed before the recording began, with Lomas
and Norman Watt- Ray (Ian Dury) helping on bass before new members James
Mackie and Adam Williams joined to complete the recording.
Due to unfortunate timing, upon release the title of this album was
misunderstood due to the recent murder of John Lennon and an assassination
attempt on U.S. President Ronald Regan meant radio stations didn't support the
single or album and the release was largely ignored.
This forgotten classic from the 2 Tone era is a timely reissue and will give time
for a re- evaluation in the same way the 2021's reissue of too Much Pressure
showed the band as relevant.
Pauline Black, who was recently awarded an OBE in 2022, and the band will be
touring in November 2022 and into 2023 performing the album in full along with
selections of their previous album.

Recommended If You Like: Trentemøeller, Nine Inch Nails, Zola Jesus, Tropic of Cancer, Chelsea Wolfe, William Basinski, oOoOO, The Focus Group/Ghost Box -- hauntology in general. LP on Blood Red Vinyl, LP & CD packaged in a gatefold jacket. First new music since 2018’s Lingering Pt. II. Featuring k Hover (Sound of Ceres) on “Moldering Fragments”. Sleep Party People’s Brian Batz dives into the darker edges of orchestral pop on new album Heap of Ashes. Influenced by primarily Bulgarian choral music, old-school metal, and 21st century experimental composition, the music of Sleep Party People exposes every facet, every moment, and every wound, finding beauty even when the last glow of hope looks like it’s ready to fade into the ashes. Heap of Ashes includes contributions from Halvcirkle, GNOM, and Sound of Ceres’ K Hover. Track Listing 1 It Won't Be Cinematic 2 Tide 3 Spider Cracks 4 Moldering Fragments 5 No. 3147 6 Labyrinth 7 Parched Bodies 8 Pagan Flames 9 Needle

Recommended If You Like: Trentemøeller, Nine Inch Nails, Zola Jesus, Tropic of Cancer, Chelsea Wolfe, William Basinski, oOoOO, The Focus Group/Ghost Box -- hauntology in general. LP on Blood Red Vinyl, LP & CD packaged in a gatefold jacket. First new music since 2018’s Lingering Pt. II. Featuring k Hover (Sound of Ceres) on “Moldering Fragments”. Sleep Party People’s Brian Batz dives into the darker edges of orchestral pop on new album Heap of Ashes. Influenced by primarily Bulgarian choral music, old-school metal, and 21st century experimental composition, the music of Sleep Party People exposes every facet, every moment, and every wound, finding beauty even when the last glow of hope looks like it’s ready to fade into the ashes. Heap of Ashes includes contributions from Halvcirkle, GNOM, and Sound of Ceres’ K Hover. Track Listing 1 It Won't Be Cinematic 2 Tide 3 Spider Cracks 4 Moldering Fragments 5 No. 3147 6 Labyrinth 7 Parched Bodies 8 Pagan Flames 9 Needle

First Time On Black vinyl. A lot has happened to the Magic Castles since this was released in April 2021 this release took over a year to be manufactured, the band have toured with the Brian Jonestown Massacre & the Warlocks in the USA in 2022 & the the track “Lost Dimension” was used in the HBO series “Succession” so not a bad 2022 for the band. Sun Reign is the band’s fourth release on Anton Newcombe's label ‘A’ Recordings Ltd. Ironically similar to BJM, the Magic Castles have been plagued by lineup changes over the years. In November of 2019, tragedy struck and Edmonds was seriously injured in a car accident that required hospitalization and surgery. Friends started a Go Fund Me that raised over $20k USD for the uninsured musician’s hospital bills, showing an incredible outpouring of love and support for him and his family. Fortunately, Edmonds has made a complete recovery from his injuries and has bounced back remarkably well. In early 2020, Edmonds managed to finish the remaining work on the album “Sun Reign”, including a previously unreleased song, “Surmise'' penned by guitarist Jermiah Doering, and a rare cover of a moody 1966 garage rock song “Ode to the Wind” by Danny and the Counts. Edmonds also began working with a booking agency, planning a return tour to Europe with the band to support the new album. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Due to the global pandemic crisis of Covid-19, the album was delayed until 2021, and the promising tour was cancelled. In May of 2020, Minneapolis police killed George Floyd two blocks from Edmonds’ home, which incited riots across the country. The protests led to the burning of Minneapolis, where a long time music venue and many other buildings were lost. Edmonds’ studio was not destroyed although many nearby buildings were. Edmonds is a known supporter of Black Lives Matter Tracklisting:- 1) Sunburst , 2) Lost Dimension , 3) Ode to the Wind , 4) Asuras , 5) World of Time , 6) Valley of Nysa , 7) Magna Mater , 8) Surmise , 9) Gates of the Sun , 10 ) Relax Your Mind

Rare Italo disco pop project Galvanica gets a beautiful re-issue! This is what the label writes about the release; "Galvanica, a voice with unusual qualities, refined, balanced, also high-pitched, sensual, embellished by an orgasmic inspiration with fluid and spaced solo's in hypnotic rhythms that often change scenery. 'Nightlights in Japan': an extraordinary piece of pure and profound creativity where each version seems to have been built apart and where the West meets the East. A splendid interpreter for a truly stunning piece, as fresh and far-sighted as the day it was recorded in Calenzano at Studio Emme by Marzio Benelli with the Yamaha DX7 synth and Linn 9000 drum sequencer that are at the base of the piece, made and re-interpreted in the four original versions, all sung in the Eastern Asian pentatonic scale. 'Nightlights in Japan' was also written by Massimiliano Orfei, at the time collaborator in the advertising projects from label Smash One Music of Pino Toma, the producer who drew new inspiration to venture into the record market which in 1987 became every day more difficult and this song was considered out of fashion, even if each version of this song was expertly arranged by the talented Giorgio Costantini. We've clarified as to whom Galvanica's velopendulus belongs, in order to be able to rightly consider this artist as a contributive voice of disco music, despite being part of the "second wave" of the Italo-Disco scene, has strongly contributed to it as Otero, Belen Thomas, Angelby and previously with the disco-project Plustwo creating 'Melody' (which after 40 years gets a new extraordinary success with over 134 million plays on TikTok and around 18 million streaming). However, it's clear as day that the gorgeous artist behind Galvanica was Antonella Bianchi and that Giorgio Costantini was not only her producer and composer - as in 1985 for 'I Know', a sweet synth-pop ballad sung with her stage name 'Angel', but above all her ... 'guardian angel'. For many artists using a stage name is a custom. The absolute record of pseudonyms as a true equalizer of identity is held by Stendhal having used 350 throughout his career. This multifaceted artist who, until now has never used so many 'a.k.a.', in a wonderful game of musical mirrors, has represented an opportunity to challenge the market, a trait of non-acceptance of the role that the discography attributes to certain artists. So also Galvanica was an invitation to reflect, with a pinch of provocation, a behavior that Antonella Bianchi has in the DNA of her family. Ultimately, Best Record is not at all worried about the modernization that surrounds it, sure that 'Nightlights in Japan' will be one of the most coveted vinyl reissues in the second half of 2022.

White Vinyl LP. RIYL: Aldous Harding, Jenny Hval, Marlon Williams, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen. Revered Sydney songwriter Laura Jean returns with new album Amateurs, her first record since the much-celebrated Devotion in 2018. Amateurs is a stunning, string-laden album, set at a mystical midway point between the deep synth-pop of Devotion and the folkier sounds of Laura’s earlier work. The album features backing vocals from Aldous Harding and Marlon Williams on three songs (Teenager Again, Amateurs and Folk Festival). Laura worked with producer Tim Bruniges around Sydney’s long 2020-2021 lockdowns. Erkki Veltheim (Gurrumul, Cat Power) arranged gorgeous strings for the album, which were recorded in Melbourne by Devotion producer John Lee. Amateurs is an album about anti-art and anti-intellectual culture in Australia (but applies equally to other parts of the world). It sees Laura questioning her role as a songwriter and examining the reality of her choices to prioritise art over other parts of her life. It is also a warm hearted, humorous and sonically breathtaking album. “Amateurs means to do something for love, not money, and somehow it’s become a dirty word, shorthand for a failure,” says Laura. “These songs arise from my acceptance that I will always be an ‘amateur’.” 2018 album Devotion had superlative reviews from Pitchfork, Gorilla Vs Bear and elsewhere, and made it into end of year lists for Spin, Idolator, Apple Music and more. Laura also acquired some high-profile fans such as Lorde and actor Brie Larson. She did two UK/Europe tours in 2018-19 with Courtney Barnett and Aldous Harding. Laura has twice been shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize and has recorded with Jenny Hval as well as Aussie icons Paul Kelly, The Drones, and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. “Maybe the sharpest communication of the spooky, all-consuming nature of feminine love” – Lorde. Selling Points: Backing vocals on three tracks from Aldous Harding and Marlon Williams. Sumptuous string arrangements from Errki Veltheim, who has played with everyone from Cat Power to Mike Patton. Laura featured on Jenny Hval's 2019 album The Practice Of Love, and Jenny sang on Laura's self-titled album from 2014.

The musician Roberto Enrique "Tito" Chicoma forged one of the most solid and constant career paths in Peruvian music. Self-taught, he started playing tenor saxophone in his father's orchestra, also playing the trumpet, piano or trombone when the occasion arose. In 1959, at the age of 23, Tito moved to Lima, where he soon joined ensembles such as the Koki Palacios and Armando Boza orchestras, which took him abroad for the first time on tour. A recognized musician in his own right, Tito would later decide to form his own orchestra, which was soon hired by América Televisión, starring on programs such as "El Show de Juan Silva", where he accompanied international artists that visited Lima. In 1966, Tito made his first record under his own name on the MAG label, performing two cumbias by the Colombian group Los Teen Agers. The praise the single received led to the recording of his first LP, "El ritmo de moda", where he continued to compile Colombian songs. At the end of 1967, he dedicated his new LP project to recording two fashionable rhythms at the time: cumbias y boogaloos. The Colombian cumbia became popular in Peru from 1964 onwards, when local orchestras like those of Andrés de Colbert, Mario Cavagnaro, Eulogio Molina and Lucho Macedo recorded cumbia hits, then the genre soared when groups like Los Pacharacos and Los Demonios del Mantaro mixed it with Andean music.

Forget your search for a holy grail, THIS is The Lost Ark Of The Covenant.

Walter Gibbons presents 'The Ten Commandments Are The Law Of The Land'
It will melt your face and make you clap yo' hands!
Mythical disco foundations from Sunshine Sound.




Label Info:
Take a journey to the dawn of DJ culture with Sunshine Sound, the NY imprint that through a series of genre defining Disco Edits became recognised as the 'Birthplace of the Edit'.

These 'Disco Adjustments' would become the hottest tracks in a DJ's crate, spawning countless bootlegs & imitations since they first appeared so many years ago.
As influential as these recordings were, most only appeared as acetate discs individually cut in mono & sold direct to DJs.
Some of these were cut in such small quantities it could be debated as to whether they ever really existed at all.
40 years later and all that remains are remakes & rumours...

...or so it was thought.



Sunshine Sound rises again to bring you a series of classic, legendary & mythical Edits.
Travel back with us to re-discover monumental works that helped shape the sound of dance music as we deepen the textures of history with a series of exclusive Digital & limited Vinyl releases selected from the vault.
Sunshine Sound releases are distributed by Moonshine Sound, bringing you antiquities of historical Disconificance.

Ever since he remixed Abimaro & The Free’s ‘Mark’ back in 2014, NuNorthern Soul boss Phil Cooper has kept in touch with Daniel Stenger, the producer and self-taught multi-instrumentalist behind the Flashbaxx project. Cooper was always convinced that Sanger would be capable of crafting a very special release for the label but was willing to give him time to come up with something special.

With Take Care My Friend, a mini-album inspired by the German producer’s deeply rooted love of jazz-funk, Stenger has repaid the faith shown in him. He’s deliv-ered a collection of quality cuts marked out by audible warmth, effortless musicality and memorable, sun-soaked songs.

As he makes clear in the liner notes included with the vinyl version of the mini album, the project began with the recording of luscious, Rhodes-laden opener ‘Al-right’. After staying up all night recording the track, Stenger not only decided to continue recording with the same relatively limited set of instruments (think bass and electric guitars, drums, piano, electric piano, organ, hand percussion and a handful of synthesizers), but also stick to a hybrid sound that added a subtle Lat-in shuffle to his Balearic-minded take on jazz, funk and soul fusion.

We’re biased of course, but there’s no denying that Stenger’s creative choices have resulted in a superb set of tracks. While the restricted kit list provided focus during the music-making process, there’s still plenty of musical variety across the six tracks that make up the set.

For proof, compare and contrast the jazzy, loose-limbed headiness of ‘It Just Happens’, where simmer-ing synth-strings, twinkling melodic motifs and glis-tening guitar licks rise above smooth jazz-funk bass and a gentle broken beat rhythm, and the slow-motion soul brilliance of ‘Strangers’, where Kathryn Kempf’s evocative and poignant lead vocals rise above a sump-tuous downtempo groove and heart-aching piano lines.

This subtly varied but musically coherent vibe contin-ues across the mini album. Stenger indulges in a bit of New York daydreaming on ‘Brooklyn Love Boat’, a wonderfully musically detailed chunk of 1970s style jazz-funk heat that offers knowing nods to Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock and the jazz-fusion stylings of Azymuth, before opting for a deeper, slower and even more seductive sound on the Hammond-sporting bliss of ‘Take Care My Friend’.

Closing cut ‘City Lights’, a gorgeous, soft-focus affair smothered in echoing Rhodes riffs and immersive chords, has the feel of an underground classic in wait-ing: a stirring, string-drenched future sing-along whose emotion-packed lyrics are delivered brilliantly by Glasgow-born singer/songwriter Chris Pookah.

Despite the song’s subject matter – the painful final breakdown of a relationship – there’s something strangely uplifting about the combination of Pookah’s pitch-perfect vocal delivery and the absorbing warmth of Stenger’s comforting and sonically detailed music. It provides a fittingly impressive finish to a mightily immersive mini album.

(reissue)

Pluto Shervington's move from his native Jamaica to Miami had a huge influence on the musician, singer, engineer and producer's sound. That is captured in this gloriously fresh take on reggae: it reflects The Magic City's bright lights and shiny metropolitan feel, technological advancements of the time and urban swagger of the people. It was recorded by the former member of the Tomorrow's Children show band at Earthman Studio in late 80's Miami and brings in lashings of funk, soul and disco to the clean digital sounds and fleshy reggae drums. His own mic work adds to a sound that calls 'urban reggae folklore' and makes for a superb listen.

Es sind die wohl bedeutendsten Alben ihrer Karriere: 1991 veröffentlichten Guns N‘ Roses ihr drittes und
viertes Studioalbum “Use Your Illusion I & II“ - beide am selben Tag, dem 17. September. Beide Alben,
die in ihrer ersten Verkaufswoche mit 685 Tsd. und 770 Tsd. Alben in den USA einen Verkaufsrekord aufstellten und selbstverständlich Platz #1 und #2 der Billboard Charts belegten, warfen legendäre Hits, wie
”November Rain”, ”Don’t Cry”, ”Knocking On Heaven’s Door”, ”You Could Be Mine” oder ”Civil War” ab.
Zum ersten Mal erfuhren nun alle Tracks eine musikalische Aufbereitung und kommen in zeitgemäßer
Tonqualität daher. Neben allen bekannten Albumtracks gibt es auf den Deluxe Versionen Aufnahmen von
zwei Live-Konzerten in Audio- und BluRay-Qualität, sowie eine neue Version von “November Rain“ mit
einem 50-köpfigen Orchester.
Die größte Deluxe Version der neuen Editionen bringt es auf 97 Tracks – 63 davon bisher unveröffentlichte
Audio und Video-Tracks - sowie ein 100-seitiges Hardcover-Buch, Backstage-Pässe und vieles mehr.

Beatservice Records are thrilled to present the hotly-anticipated third album from Oslo-based production maestro, Third Attempt. 'The Novel Sound' follows on from the widely acclaimed 'Beats From The Quarantine' album released in April 2021, and further compliments the young artist's deserved reputation as one of the dance underground's most exciting talents to emerge in recent years.

Third Attempt (aka Torje Fagertun Spilde) has been dazzling us with his far-reaching music since arriving in the Beatservice fold with 'Shoreline' back in 2018, and since then his ever-evolving repertoire has continued to serve up immaculate sonic surprises. The fast-rising 23-year old artist has wasted no time making his indelible mark, displaying a frenetic work rate alongside an impeccable ear for constructing compelling leftfield grooves.

'The Novel Sound' opens with the rolling deviance of 'Freak Out', where a dusty string sample makes way for vocal samples, scratches, and searing sirens permeating a bass-heavy groove, setting the tone magnificently for the music that's primed to unfold. Next, we arrive in the mid-tempo chug of 'Age Of Steam'. Evolving over a crisp, club-ready rhythm, heavy funk guitars, dancing keys and distant vocal stabs cascade over driving bass before soaring strings herald the arrival of a slick breakdown section. The icing on the cake arrives as bubbling acid joins sensational horn motifs, breaking down once again for a starry-eyed beatless passage that leaves us yearning for a reprise.

'My Girl' features amorous vocal samples hovering over an irresistible disco beat, with alluring rhythm guitars and dreamy e-piano chords setting the scene for rousing horns to blast off into blissful summer skies. Before we've found time to catch our breath, 'Nu Funk' arrives with snappy hip hop samples scratched over tight beats and a delectable bass guitar hook. The groove pauses for dubbed-out space delays to echo into the night before a singing lead guitar joins the rhythm elements to burst back into life, with flute motifs, elegant strings, and otherworldly sweeps elegantly meandering across the panorama.

Set over a groove that arrives like a cool summer breeze, 'Sunbeam Symphony' drifts over soul-soothing chords, weighted bass and slick, rolling beats. Hypnotic keys guide us into position as the drums build energy and the bass notes power us forward. Third Attempt's dextrous keyboard solo dazzles momentarily before subsiding for a dub-infused break, with spaced-out vocal chops and rising sweeps building tension before the groove resumes and the virtuoso solo once again majestically soars. Maintaining the sun-kissed meditations, 'Definite' effortlessly floats through waves of thick bass, funk guitar chops and elegantly fused samples, with seductive chords, hypnotic horns and laser-tight drums combining to create a near overpowering dream state.

The heavy trip-hop rhythms of 'Nightfall' enrapture the listener as rich chords discreetly beckon, with cascading congas, mysterious melodies and exotic refrains building before the glorious lead vocal appears like a hyper-luminous flash of light. The chords disappear into the nothingness, before the carefully selected sample of 'Working Man' drifts in to fill the empty space. Smokey drums soon arrive, joined by weighted bass, foggy chords and an enigmatic whistle lead, fusing to conjure a half-lit world lifted from the pages of an evocative film noir novel.

The enlivening tablas, glitchy effects and saucer-eyed sweeps of 'Greed' hide subliminal messages casting a knowing eye over the consumer-driven society and self-help culture that pervade our society, before we arrive at the album's charmed finale. 'Last Winter Of My Childhood' yet again manages to transport the listener into a gently hallucinatory realm, with drowsy bass notes, tripped out pads and emotive strings building to a profound and rush-inducing crescendo.

'The Novel Sound' once again sees Third Attempt dextrously merging expansive musical aesthetics that fuse trip-hop, funk, soul and disco to deliver a sound that – although endowed with vintage sensibilities – feels proudly up to date. Continuing his breathtaking development in dazzling style, the album feels destined to echo over blissed-out sunsets, back-room excursions and twilight skies for many years to come.

Akae Beka's inimitable style of rich, deep, multi-layered songwriting, uncompromising devotion to RasTafari and soulful healing melodies developed over decades performing with St. Croix based band Midnite and countless recordings. At the point of his untimely passing in 2019, he had released over 70LP's. He is without a doubt one of the most prolific reggae artists ever known.

The stellar production trinity that is Zion I Kings have been involved collectively and individually in creating some of the most highly regarded contributions to the vast Akae Beka catalogue. The timeless songs of 'Mek A Menshun' amply reward the listener who can penetrate into the mystical musical realms of Rastafari. Longtime fans of Midnite and Akae Beka will note that Vaughn Benjamin's singing on 'Mek a Menshun' reached new heights of melodic delivery and emotional intensity. Coupled with his always poetic and insightful lyrics, these 10 original songs rank among his best recordings to date. The title track 'Mek A Menshun' includes vocals by Protoje Grammy (R)-nominated artist.

Mek A Menshun features the stellar musicianship of the ZIK distinguished in typical fashion by the rock-solid drumming of Lloyd "Junior" Richards. On this album, his playing is complemented by Aston Barrett Jr. ("By Day", "Only Now") and Kirk Bennett ( "Kagm Mystory", "Mek A Menshun"). The signature stylings of the other core ZIK musicians are augmented by horns (Andrew "Drew Keys" Stoch -trombone, Donald "Jahbless" Toney -saxophone), flute- Sheldon "Attiba" Bernard, kette- Andrew "Bassie" Campbell, and the guitar of Chet Samuel. ZIK guitarist Andrew "Moon" Bain contributes a string arrangement on "Only Now". Throughout the album, Laurent "Tippy I" Alfred's spot-on organ shuffle bubbles the rhythm forward. Many of the 'Mek A Menshun' tracks were among the last recordings done by the veteran engineer Gary Woung.

Originally released digitally and on CD, this LP is now being released for the first time on as a 12" vinyl LP courtesy of Before Zero Records.

Sunda Arc are brothers Nick Smart and Jordan Smart. Best known as key members of folk and jazz influenced minimalists Mammal Hands, their Sunda Arc project takes inspiration from the likes of Jon Hopkins, Rival Consoles, Moderat and Nils Frahm as well as their own music world. Their debut EP 'Flicker' was released in December 2018 and now the duo are set to release their debut LP, 'Tides' on 7th February 2020.

Named for a volcanic arc in the Indian Ocean, created by the process of massive tectonic plates colliding, Sunda Arc strives to mingle electronic and acoustic sounds until they become almost indistinguishable from each other. It's a process where they draw the acoustic properties and quirks out of electronic sounds and find the electronic potential in acoustic sounds. "Finding the ghost in the machine or blending the human elements of playing live is something we are always trying to explore in our work.

Experimentation is a large part of our process and we tend to combine carefully composed material with chaotic ideas to find the balance between the two" — Sunda Arc 'Tides', their debut album, takes its name from the idea of unseen forces that can affect our lives in myriad ways, being pushed and pulled and at the whim of powerful forces outside of our control as well as offering a nod to things such as the tides on our planet, tectonic plate movements and weather systems. There are often chaotic elements in these systems that function in a way that produce a type of controlled randomness on a large scale. This is something they try to reflect in their music by adopting some of the ways these systems work into musical sequences, and using ideas such as chaos theory to control musical parameters. "Tides is a reference to themes we were thinking a lot about during the making of this album. These include the similarities between macro and micro systems, or the circulatory and nervous systems in the body. Things that produce a type of controlled randomness on a large scale". — Sunda Arc 'Hymn', the first single from the album, uses Nick's voice sampled and played back through a keyboard to create a human yet electronic feel.

It mixes soft vocals with heavier electronic elements to create a danceable yet human sound world. 'Dawn', is best described as uplifting-techno, its use of repeated phrases building in intensity and variations to put you into a hypnotic state whilst also being industrial and danceable. 'Daemon' is one of the tracks that really resonates live. Drawing on the sound of UK dubstep it's intense but fun and the bass clarinet blends with synths at the end to create a sound almost like a vocal. 'Secret Window' brings forward another side of the band, focusing around a lo-fi recording of felted piano and bass clarinet.

These are blended with granularised and processed versions of themselves which emerge like ghosts of the instruments throughout the track. 'Cluster' is another key track. It utilises a small group of notes looped in an unusual way to create a sense of cascading patterns over a solid danceable drum groove. It emphasises soprano sax blended into the sound world half-way through to lift into the final section.

We would like to present Paloma's seventh release: Tom feat. Rose - Lose Yourself EP
Throughout club music history, the combination of vocals and groove remains a vital element. Countless anthems have prompted singing on the floor, and have raised arms in the air. There might have been times where vocals mattered less, but right now they are probably more needed than ever.
Tom & Rose are well aware of all that, and they were willing to place themselves and their music in a tradition of dancefloor euphoria, universal messages and also a bit of bittersweetness.
Tom is a DJ, producer and mix engineer, and also a booker and resident at Paloma. Rose is an Irish singer and producer. Together they created these tunes, a testament to better times gone and ahead."How Wrong" is the sound of heartbreak, albeit locked in a UKG tinged sureshot that swings back and forth with ease between jubilant piano bliss and monolithic bass weight, and it kicks like a mule. "Lose Yourself" is both an ageless acid slam and a joyful paean dedicated to all nights that should never end. There is a pumping dub too,
equally designed to be the soundtrack to blowing a nocturnal kiss to everyday sorrows.
Also included: complementary remixes by Eluize and Massimiliano Pagliara that come up with a different take, but a similar vision.
Enjoy the music, and stay safe!

We are delighted to bring out this timeless classic techno track signed by the brilliant MARINE BOY with his ATOMIX crew, the fabulous "S.T.K. (Eternal)" released in 1991 (!) (prices on discogs are ridiculously unsane) and which has never been repressed until this day. This record represents for us all that techno has best, an incredible dynamic, sounds coming from space, when techno rhymed with FUTURE. We even think that this record also strongly influenced what later became breakbeat, led by the legendary Prodigy. Huge honor, Marine Boy also gratifies us with an unreleased from 1991 "The wonder of science" which could appear easily (& sound a million times better !) in any techno & trance mix in its noblest form today. Cherry on the cake S.T.K. (Eternal) is remixed by the great HECTOR OAKS in a version that will delight today's techno dancefloor as well as by HARDROCK STRIKER & JOE LEWANDOWSKI in an italo techno version. The sound is more than perfect since we had the chance to get the master tapes. This 12 inch is a concentrate of rage and madness, capable of reducing any dancefloor to ashes. A wonder.

6 face-melting gurners for the 21st Century’s, wilted and jilted generation.

Glasgow’s Lady Neptune follows her New Gorbals Gabber cassette E.P. with her debut vinyl release NOZ. Over the course of 23 bloody fisted minutes, Lady Neptune’s – aka Moema Meade - hyper destructed take on Gabber and Happy Hardcore breaks down the genre tropes before rebuilding them as a new pop music. If 2020’s New Gorbals Gabber showed an artist building their own language from fragments of different genres, 2022’s NOZ goes harder into the cyberpunk-ass future and takes no prisoners. Recorded and mixed at Glasgow’s legendary Green Door Studios and mastered by Rashad Becker, here Lady Neptune evolves into a monster.

With the classic weapons of Dutch Gabber – distorted 909 kick drums, bursts of noise and world-eating Rave-O- Matic hoovering synth riffs, Lady Neptune’s 6 tracks constantly threaten to careen off the speaker into the sweatiest, most gibbering, messy corners of the club. The two years since her debut has seen Meade destroying festival dancefloors, training for the full assault that is NOZ. Live performances have seen foam guns, tequila-pistols, neon stage dancers and a full, maxed-out orgy of fast-as-hell BPM, rave music burning up the cones. The experience reaps rewards from the outset on recorded form here. APOCOLYPS begins with monstrous vocals and the all-consuming kick, pulled back and taut for launch. The arsenal builds; warbling synths and high-pitched synth-strings before dropping into Bald Terror-sized hoovers and stuttering 4/4s. It quickly bleeds into MASTERER, with a looped, pitched up vocal intersecting with the synth riff. The aesthetics might be Happy Hardcore but the dynamic feels like a synthetic, evil Nu Metal-influenced Industrial music. Constantly evolving and twisting with its own natural drama, the drop at 2:15 is pure ecstatic release. fusing Meade’s inclination for pop hooks with the first out-and-out 180BPM (ish, who’s counting?) anthemic melter of the E.P., TELL ME has THE big catchy chorus, used sparingly and sung by Meade with angelic devilishness, coming at you in waves of XTC. It’s a repeater.

It’s then massive fists in the air for the ruthless Side B opener WIT. In the Welsh-Brazilian artist’s adopted home of Glasgow it translates directly as WHAT!? Itt makes sense. g. Sharp, weaponised, rhythmic punishment abounds before OH responds. Pitched up vocals and another mid-frequency synth hook wipes the slate clean. Like the best Gabber, the tension and release dynamic is used to full effect by Meade, with the thunderous low end kick -expertly tweaked in the mastering by Rashad Becker – slipping into the ghostly cavern. Industrialized 4/4 and noise-snares propel onwards to be utterly squashed by that bloody synth, stinging and horribly brilliant. Proving her genius for a ridiculous A-N-T-H-E-M, TIME 2 MAKE U FEEL GOOD closes the 23 minutes of ragged, drugged glory with a festival-slamming chorus built from the wreckage. It’s a song that does that thing we all know and love but can’t put our finger on. Sad, happy, tragedy, ecstasy, joy, horror...There’s big, minor chord changes (yes there’s some CHORDS on this slammer), the kick is submerged in layers of pads and Meade’s actual secret weapon: her vocal and knack for writing a chorus line. In the listener’s mind it’s over before it’s begun, a track destined for the big rewind.

NOZ is a breathless, E-number riddled eternal ecstasy.

For most of us, life is a series of human interactions; some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But what would life be without those peripheral characters who plant themselves into our worlds through the sheer force of their presence? Whether we speak to them or not, those vibrant contrasts to the everyday tide of ordinary people are a magical part of the human experience. Oddballs and misfits, flamboyant instigators or low-key game changers, we all clock them on our own hectic journeys, and they make the day a little brighter. Everyone has their favourite people.

Following the runaway success of their first one-shot single in 2020, Favourite People reconvene for a full-length of blues-tinged cuts stemming from sessions at Selva Studios in Brooklyn. The project’s roots predate the studio, from scattered jams and sweaty nights in New York nightspots to impromptu recordings on cruise ships, but the flashpoint of inspiration that truly set the album in motion was the arrival of a blonde 1960s Fender Telecaster. From there, the motley crew of sharp-shooting string slingers and sticks men set about crafting paeans to those striking souls who make the world a more colourful place.

The emphasis here is on the kind of forward-facing, electrically charged mix you felt (whether you realised it or not) hearing early Sabbath or Priest for the first time. With their undeniable bias towards vintage soul, Favourite People are far from heavy metal, but the same lineage of blues and by extension jazz informs the music, while the tonal crunch of that 70s era guides the sound. Feasting on tasteful overdrive and leaning on the unmistakable flavour of tape for much of the recording, the deal was sealed on this purposeful exercise in vibe thanks to the near-mythical texture of Guy Davie’s EMI Nigeria console at Electric Mastering.

Across the album there are mellow shades and bursts of good-time get-down exuberance, but the lead singles capture the essence of the band in no uncertain terms.

‘Promise Of Nibbles’ brings the Favourite People MO into sharp relief with a low-slung, hard swinging blues confection full of overheating organ and duelling guitars in pursuit of Southern-stewed boogie (im)perfection.

‘We’ll Be Late To The Party’ turns up the tempo and dials in the fuzz, striking an anthemic note which lands somewhere between urgent highway escapism and euphoric communal revelation.

‘Mass and Mustiness’ leans in on the funk dimension of the group’s sound with the sweetest licks and chops on that fabled telecaster backed up by an acutely angled beat and the slinkiest of b-lines.

These are but three of the vibrant vignettes laid down by this quietly unassuming collective of heads down jammers, loose groovers and vintage sound freaks –heavy grooving instrumentals pulled from their own moments of pure musical magic and captured on disc for your listening, dancing, living, loving pleasure.

Ian Pooley returns to Rekids with Studio A Pt.3 this September.

The third and final entry in a three-part release series based on his studio, Ian Pooley’s ‘Studio A Pt. 3’ for Radio Slave’s imprint sees him drop yet another set of bumping, hardware-focussed tracks.

Leading the A-side, ‘PSS480’ combines swinging drums, modulated low end, and trippy bleeps for a party-starting house track. ‘SP12 Electric Mistress’ brings flanged-out drums and lush pads together for a wonky yet driving cut. On the flip, ‘Viola’ sees Pooley heading toward heavier territories with rumbling kicks and heaving synths forming a pumping techno track before the ‘303 Version’ of ‘SP12 Electric Mistress’ closes out the EP, introducing tweaked-out acid lines and freaky FX to the original version.

Active since the early 90s, the German DJ/producer has released on the likes of Force Inc, V2 Records, and his own Pooledmusic, remixing for the likes of Deee-Lite, Carl Cox and many more, as well as being one of the few to be remixed by Daft Punk.

Reissue of the oud / viola virtuoso SIMON SHAHEEN's interpretations of pieces by one of the Middle East's most important 20th Century composers, MOHAMED ABDEL WAHAB. Produced by BILL LASWELL, remastered for vinyl at D&M Berlin.

MOHAMED ABDEL WAHAB (1902-1991) was "a giant in the world of Middle Eastern entertainment" (Al Jadid Magazine) - as singer, actor and composer – and is commonly considered "the father of modern Egyptian song". After a visit to Paris, he revolutionized the film industry by introducing the genre "musical film" to the Arabic world, the movie "The White Rose" in which he starred broke all records and to this day is frequently presented in Cairo's cinemas. But in 1950, WAHAB left the film industry to focus on singing and composing – he wrote over 1800 songs (among others for Umm Kalthoum, an iconic artist in the Arabic music in her own right) that were deeply rooted in classical Arabic music but also laid the foundation for a new era of Egyptian music as WAHAB was open to Western elements such as waltz rhythms or even rock'n'roll in Abdel Halim Hafez's song "Ya Albi Ya Khali". He also composed several national anthems (Tunisia, Oman, Libya, United Arabic Emirates) and re-composed the Egyptian national anthem "Belady Belady Belady", based on the original by Sayed Darwish. WAHAB received several decorations of Arabic states, and at his death in 1991, Egypt honored its famous son with a huge military funeral at the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo, the six-horse carriage procession carrying his coffin was actually led by the prime and foreign ministers, followed by the ministers of defense, interior and culture!


SIMON SHAHEEN (born 1955) is the perfect choice for WAHAB's compositions. Born into a family of gifted musicians, he learned playing the oud at the age of 5 and the violin shortly thereafter. He earned degrees in Arabic literature and music performance at the Tel Aviv University, and later pursued further studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and after his emigration to the USA (in 1980) at the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University. SHAHEEN lives in New York where he founded the Near Eastern Music Ensemble and Qantara, a formation that blends traditional Arabic Music with elements of Jazz and classical music, and he also has been organizing the Annual Arab Festival of Arts called Mahrajan al-Fan since 1994. The same year he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts at the White House. Solo albums like Saltanah (Water Lily Acoustics), Turath (CMP) or Taqasim (Lyrichord) underline his importance as one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and composers of his generation. His work incorporates and reflects a legacy of Arabic music, while it forges ahead to new frontiers, embracing many different styles in the process. SHAHEEN has participated in many cross-cultural musical projects with artists as diverse as Henry Threadgill, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, or the Jewish klezmer ensemble The Klezmatics, contributed to the soundtracks for The Sheltering Sky and Malcolm X and composed the entire score for the United Nations sponsored documentary, For Everyone Everywhere, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Charter. SHAHEENS biggest success was the Qantara album Blue Flame (2001) which has been nominated for eleven Grammy Awards.

Besides all his activities as performer, he dedicates a good part of his time to working with schools and universities, including Julliard, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Yale, University of California in San Diego, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and many others.
The Music Of Mohamed Abdel Wahab was originally released in 1990 on Axiom, the record label curated by iconic producer and bass player Bill Laswell, and has been carefully remastered for this vinyl reissue at D&M, Berlin.


Press quotes:
"Master oud player and composer Simon Shaheen finds the perfect mix on this collection of Mohammed Abdel Wahab's pieces … seven wonderful interpretations sparkling with oud and strings interplay." Stephen Cook / AllMusic


"Shaheen's violin soars over a slicing string section and a bed of percolating percussion, while accordion, oud, finger cymbals and a chorus of singers weave in and out. Produced with sparkling clarity by Bill Laswell … this record opens a new world of harmonic and melodic possibilities to ears accustomed to Western pop." Greg Kot / Chicago Tribune


Musicians:
Simon Shaheen: Oud, Violin, Viola
Najib Shaheen: Oud
Sheikh Taha: Accordion
Anton Hajjar: Ney
Paula Bing: Flute
Ramzi Bisharat: Tabla
Hanna Mirhige: Mizhar
Michael Baklouk: Daff
Bobby Farah: Sagat
Ibrahim Salman: Quanoun
Artemis Theodos, Gabriel Palka, Nessim Dakwar, Kamil Shajrawi: Violin
Mike Richmond: Double Bass
Michael Finkel, Vladimir Greenberg: Cello
Laura Shaheen, Louise Salman, Maurice Chedid, Nermine Rawi,
Simon Shaheen, Youssef Kassab: Chorus

"Jazz'n'Beats" is a new mini-compilation selected by Oonops and it's named as the eponymous "Oonops Drops"-series on Brooklyn Radio.

In the mix are renowned beatproducer DJ Mitsu The Beats from Japan who joined forces with 1Co.INR for a laid back instrumental tune with a well known core melody. Next up label-graphic design head honcho is back with a new'n'sweet mini beat called "Parakeets" before we get to the flipside. This gets started with German underground rap & producer duo 4Trackboy & Echomann a.k.a. Retrogott & Twit One who drop a sharp and jazzy dope tune for this release which gets rounded down with a beautiful jazzy hip-hop instrumental by Japanese jazz musician and composer Kazumi Kaneda.

Get your hands on these limited pieces of recycled vinyl.

Clear Vinyl

New Nordic jazz duo Svaneborg Kardyb sign to Gondwana Records and announce NPR Tiny Desk session and captivating third album Over Tage

Svaneborg Kardyb are Nikolaj Svaneborg - Wurlitzer, Juno, piano and Jonas Kardyb - drums, percussion a multi award winning duo from Denmark, where they won two "grammys" at the Danish Music Awards Jazz 2019: New artist of the year and Composer of the year. ?Drawing on Danish folk music and Scandinavian jazz influences, including Nils Frahm, Esbjörn Svennson and Jan Johansson's landmark recording Jazz På Svenska, their music is an exquisite and joyful melding of beautiful melodies, delicate minimalism, catchy grooves, subtle electronica vibes, Nordic atmospheres and organic interplay, all underwritten by the sheer joy of playing together. "We started in the earliest of mornings over the blackest of coffee, sometimes even without talking, just music.

Immediately we felt a connection between our personal style of playing and the compositions emerged like out of nowhere. The vibe from these early sessions is still the backbone of our little band".

Svaneborg Kardyb hail from Aalborg, in Jutland, in the north of Denmark where they first met in 2013 and discussed the possibility of creating a duo over late night talks. Six years went by as they both explored other projects before they eventually realised the idea of making music together. Like their new label mates, Vega Trails, Svaneborg Kardyb are a duo, a format that gives them a lot of space to occupy - or leave blank. "We enjoy the simplicity and focus it gives to the interplay. We come from very different musical backgrounds; Nikolaj from Scandinavian jazz, and Jonas from Roots, blues and folk, so the music is a sum of our personal contributions and doesn't thrive to be anything else than that. It's quite unique for us to have this shared musical tongue and friendship".

Their music is intentionally simple at first glance, but evolves and unfolds through listening over time, with plenty of room for exploration, reflection and improvisation. Their aim is to create music that is as honest and intimate as possible "with melodies and rhythms so strong that we are left as only the messengers". And their fast-developing music chemistry allowed them to give little thought to what their musical influences were. Giving their music a captivating charm. "We explored whatever sounds and musical structures our duality gave birth to and through long jam-sessions we found small seeds of ideas that turned into tunes. Danish traditional songs, community singing and hymns are a big inspiration too. Both the tonal language, the lyrical melodies and the way generations can gather around the music, is something that is close to our hearts".

Over Tage (over roofs) is their third album, following Knob (2019) and Haven (2020) and marks their debut for Gondwana Records a label noted for working with artists such as Mammal Hands, Portico Quartet and GoGo Penguin whose music, like that of Svaneborg Kardyb delights in exploring the fertile spaces between genres. For the duo it is their most serious and thoughtful record to date. "It may be our strongest and most honest record so far. Doubts and uncertainty were kind of the foundation for the sounds of the album but there is also hope and lots of uplifting moments and we're very pleased with how it came out." And it is that mixture of elevation and thoughtfulness, honesty and intimacy that makes the music of Svaneborg Kardyb so special and Over Tage such a joy to listen to. The world awaits.

2022 limited edition of this Japanese no wave gem from 1982. With extended liner notes and interviews with band members about the recordings of the album, as well as unpublished photographs from 1981 by Jibiki Yuichi.

The Japanese punk rock movement known as Tokyo Rockers began in the summer of 1978. It incubated an independent music culture as well as a host of fascinating, individualistic musicians. One of the more striking units was the male-female duo Maria 023. NON played bass for them, and it was here that she first attracted attention. However, Maria 023 was short-lived, and NON would not reappear until the following year, August 1979, on stage at the legendary concert event "Drive to 80s". Her unbilled performance at the event consisted of several songs for solo bass and vocals, and her combination of intensity and a distinctly female emotionality made a striking impression. In the months that followed, NON continued to play solo and she became a pivotal presence among the female rockers on the scene at the time.

Finally she shifted from solo to group performance, and formed NON BAND. After several member changes, the line-up stabilized into a unique trio with Kinosuke Yamagishi on violin and clarinet, and Mitsuru Tamagaki on drums. It was with this line-up that the group reached a musical peak. At the same time, the Japanese punk and new wave rock scene was moving in a new direction, as a second generation of artists appeared and mushrooming independent labels began to play an increasingly important role. I myself started a label called Telegraph Records in 1981 and worked hard on record releases and building a distribution network.

Since starting the label, I had wanted to release a record by NON BAND. There were many vicissitudes before it could happen, but in February 1982 NON BAND's first album was released as a 10-inch LP on Telegraph Records, the label's fifth release. In the early Japanese indies scene, if a release sold 1000 copies it was counted as a significant success. The NON BAND album went through several repressing and sold 2000 copies. The album was a hit and the band's critical reception and popularity suddenly took off.

The shows that followed the release of the album were given a boost by the addition of two female rockers, the guitarist Kummy and keyboard player Mitsuwa. The group was reaching a real musical peak and everyone expected more great developments, but just six months after the release of the album the group would grind to a halt. Members quit the band one after another, and with no possible replacements to be found, NON herself faded away from the scene.

NON BAND's career in the early Japanese indies scene was thus short-lived. But their sole album was reissued twice on CD, and remained popular with listeners. However, the group's history was to have a second chapter.

NON ended up returning to her hometown, snowy Hirosaki in the far northern prefecture Aomori. There she raised two children and took over the running of the family business, an arts supplies store. Her thoughts turned once again towards music, and in 1999 she took up her bass again and began to sing. She invited two fabulous musicians, Keiji Haino and Tatsuya Yoshida, to Hirosaki, and performed together with them as well as solo. This marked the beginning of a new phase for her, and she played live in Tokyo and released a solo album, "ie". She got back in touch with Yamagishi and Tamagaki and reformed NON BAND. They added Emi Sasaki on accordion and began to play a handful of gigs each year, bringing a mature depth to their undiminished power and dazzling a new generation of fans. In 2012 the group released an album of recent live performances entitled " NON BAND Liven' 2009-2012". I released the album on the newly reanimated Telegraph Records.

NON still lives in the north, in Hirosaki. The city is famous for its summer Neputa festival. The first track on this album, "Duncan Dancin'" is almost a theme song for NON BAND, but its rhythm is taken from the ohayashi music that is performed in this festival, as large floats and troupes of dancers wind their way through the streets. The title refers to the legendary dancer, Isadora Duncan. The image perfectly represents NON herself: Isadora Duncan dancing to the earthy rhythms bubbling up out of the north land.

Nov 9, 2016 Jibiky Yuichi (Telegraph Factory)

In order to achieve a meticulous sound quality the reissue version is cut on 12" vinyl instead of the original 10" format. The original cover artwork has been reproduced and there are liner notes by Jibiky Yuichi with unpublished photos of NON BAND.

2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Suction Records, the Toronto-based electro/IDM label founded in 1997 by two emerging producers, Lowfish (aka Gregory De Rocher) and Solvent (aka Jason Amm), the latter still overseeing the label to this day. The label’s inaugural release was a split Lowfish/Solvent 12”, marking both artists’ debut vinyl appearance.

Gregory and Jason had known each other since high-school, but a deeper friendship was forged during their university years, after Gregory introduced Jason to early Rephlex releases by Aphex Twin and µ-Ziq. Gregory had been making electronic music in his bedroom for more than a decade, but it was those Rephlex releases that ignited Jason’s passion to do the same. After several years of obsessive gear buying, music making, and playing tracks for each other, Lowfish and Solvent had hit their stride, and their demos even attracted the interest of legendary early IDM labels labels Skam (for Lowfish), and Isophlux (for Solvent). But things were slow-moving in those days — letters, faxes, phone calls… nothing was panning out. So that’s when they decided to start their own label, and put out 300 copies of this 12”, suction001.

The label was heavily inspired by contemporary artists like AFX, Autechre, and Panasonic, but on suction001, those influences collided with their ‘80s synth-pop and industrial roots to create something unique. 25 years later, it still sounds fresh, and like nothing else out there. On suction001, 808 drum machines are run through distortion and breakbeats are chopped and mangled, contrasting with melodic OMD-style leads and catchy synth-pop basslines — a sound the label would refer to as ‘distortion pedal new wave.’

Over the past 25 years, Suction’s sound has morphed and evolved, but in recent years has shifted back to it’s original Rephlex-inspired roots. That makes 2022 the perfect year to revisit this wild, 1997 debut, now reissued in a new, expanded edition for it’s 25th anniversary. The reissue adds 2 bonus tracks — a 1999 remix by Detroit electro-punk duo ADULT., along with a previously-unreleased version of Lowfish’s A1 cut, and also features new and improved artwork, including an insert with full label discography.

Limited to 500 copies, and comes with a Bandcamp download card.

Following the release of acoustic EP Letters To Our Former Selves – Acoustic late last year, Youth Fountain is excited to be back at it with new single “Peace Offering" “This track was written in the perspective of knowing you could never truly love or be loved by anyone before being comfortable with who you are as a person,” shares Tyler Zanon “No matter what positive aspects can come out of a relationship - if the foundation isn’t there of having that bare minimum of self love, things inevitably tend to tarnish.” As Youth Fountain prepares to move forward, the future perfectly mirrors the past. What began as a solo project by guitarist/vocalist Tyler Zanon in 2013 under the name Bedroom Talk eventually blossomed into a full-blown band by 2017, with the Vancouver-based Youth Fountain (then a duo) proudly announcing their presence with the debut single “ Grinding Teeth ” and a pair of Pure Noise Records releases that expertly toed the line between pop-punk fervor and more reflective emo moments. Alternative Press hailed the band’s 2019 debut full-length, Letters To Our Former Selves , as one of the year’s very best, dubbing it the “ perfect blend of emo-tinged punk to soundtrack reflecting on every single life decision you’ve ever made ,” while North American tours with the likes of Free Throw, Can’tSwim, and Chris Farren cemented Youth Fountain’s sweat-soaked sound as something best experienced live – all while dodging a few stray elbows and overzealous crowd-surfers. Now once again, Zanon finds himself as a solo artist following the departure of co-vocalist Cody Muraro in mid-2020 – but this time, he’s exactly where he wants to be. Youth Fountain’s new release, Letters To Our Former Selves – Acoustic EP, re-introduces Zanon’s project to the world, reimagining fan favorite aterial from the 2019 LP of the same name.

On August 26th Gwilym Gold releases his third album, Blue Garden, on SA Recordings. Alongside the record we are pitching the beautiful Blue Garden. Gwilym began playing improvised music as a pianist and may be fondly remembered as the singer and keyboardist in psychedelic pop trio Golden Silvers but has since worked widely as a soloist. 2012 saw the release of his high-concept solo piece Tender Metal which was composed and released using Bronze; a new music technology which Gold created with producer Lexxx alongside Mick Grierson. Using Bronze, a song is enabled to rebuild itself on each playback from the musical seeds and ground sown by the writer. Music composed with Bronze is not restricted to just one playback possibility, it is a dynamic, ever-transforming representation of itself where the artist builds a new model as part of each song’s writing process. Gwilym has since collaborated with artists such as Arca, Jai Paul, Philippe Parreno and Nicolas Becker, introducing them to this new technology. One of the hopes for Bronze is that it brings some of the characteristics of performance back into previously inert musical documents, and alongside his work with Bronze, Gwilym has maintained a wide performance practice. Performing recently alongside musicians such as Dave Okumu, Tom Skinner and Lucinda Chua and collaborating with artists Eddie Peake and Holly Blakey. His two recent collections of songs, A Paradise and Sky Blue Room, stem from this, the second being recorded almost entirely live in three days alongside Okumu and drummer Dan See. Blue Garden is Gwilym’s first collection written and recorded entirely in solitude and he hoped to unburden the process of anything beyond the most primary elements. Setting up a sort of hybrid harp in a small isolated room, the aim was to let the songs flow out unadorned and record them as they were. The only addition to the album is the accompanying sound of rivers and birdsong by sound recordist and founding member of Cabaret Voltaire, Chris Watson. Gwilym started to play the new album alongside Watson’s recording ‘The Drinking Boy’ which led him to reach out to Watson. Gwilym explains “I played it to a friend once I had recorded it with Chris’ field recordings, they said it almost sounded like the quarantine birds, there was a feeling of it being a little sanctuary”. The songs on Blue Garden were written during a bittersweet time, where Gold was experiencing moments of love, loss and rebirth. The album is a loose and abstract exploration of love in all its forms, how familial, platonic and romantic love are all intertwined.

Horse Lords return with Comradely Objects, an alloy of erudite influences and approaches given frenetic gravity in pursuit of a united musical and political vision. The band's fifth album doesn't document a new utopia, so much as limn a thrilling portrait of revolution underway. Comradely Objects adheres to the essential instrumental sound documented on the previous four albums and four mixtapes by the quartet of Andrew Bernstein (saxophone, percussion, electronics), Max Eilbacher (bass, electronics), Owen Gardner (guitar, electronics), and Sam Haberman (drums). But the album refocuses that sound, pulling the disparate strands of the band's restless musical purview tightly around propulsive, rhythmic grids. Comradely Objects ripples, drones, chugs, and soars with a new abandon and steely control. This transformation came, in part, due to circumstance. Sidelined from touring their early 2020 album The Common Task in a world turned upside down, Horse Lords promptly returned to their Baltimore practice space and began piecing together the music that became Comradely Objects (Bernstein, Eilbacher, and Gardner have since relocated to Germany). Removed from their tried and true method of refining new music on the road, the quartet invested less energy ensuring live playability and more rehearsing and recording. The deliberate writing and tracking process, a rarity since the band's earliest days, led to a collection of pieces that signal a new peak of creativity and musical heft without devolving into studio sprawl or frippery. Comradely Objects reflects familiar elements of Horse Lords' established palette_the mantra-like repetition of minimalism and global traditional musics, complex counterpoint, the subtleties of microtonality, a breadth of timbres and textures drawn from all across the avant-garde_with some standout stylistic innovations. At different moments, the album veers closer to free jazz than anything else in the band's catalog, channels spectral electroacoustic tones, and throbs with unexpected yet felicitous synth. While these new elements are evidence of additional studio time and care, Comradely Objects retains the dizzying obsessive rhythmic energy that galvanizes the best moments of the band. Music for people who like Mdou Moctar, This Heat!, Battles, Ndagga Rhythm Force, Can, Captain Beefheart, Art Ensemble of Chicago, LaMonte Young.

Horse Lords return with Comradely Objects, an alloy of erudite influences and approaches given frenetic gravity in pursuit of a united musical and political vision. The band's fifth album doesn't document a new utopia, so much as limn a thrilling portrait of revolution underway. Comradely Objects adheres to the essential instrumental sound documented on the previous four albums and four mixtapes by the quartet of Andrew Bernstein (saxophone, percussion, electronics), Max Eilbacher (bass, electronics), Owen Gardner (guitar, electronics), and Sam Haberman (drums). But the album refocuses that sound, pulling the disparate strands of the band's restless musical purview tightly around propulsive, rhythmic grids. Comradely Objects ripples, drones, chugs, and soars with a new abandon and steely control. This transformation came, in part, due to circumstance. Sidelined from touring their early 2020 album The Common Task in a world turned upside down, Horse Lords promptly returned to their Baltimore practice space and began piecing together the music that became Comradely Objects (Bernstein, Eilbacher, and Gardner have since relocated to Germany). Removed from their tried and true method of refining new music on the road, the quartet invested less energy ensuring live playability and more rehearsing and recording. The deliberate writing and tracking process, a rarity since the band's earliest days, led to a collection of pieces that signal a new peak of creativity and musical heft without devolving into studio sprawl or frippery. Comradely Objects reflects familiar elements of Horse Lords' established palette_the mantra-like repetition of minimalism and global traditional musics, complex counterpoint, the subtleties of microtonality, a breadth of timbres and textures drawn from all across the avant-garde_with some standout stylistic innovations. At different moments, the album veers closer to free jazz than anything else in the band's catalog, channels spectral electroacoustic tones, and throbs with unexpected yet felicitous synth. While these new elements are evidence of additional studio time and care, Comradely Objects retains the dizzying obsessive rhythmic energy that galvanizes the best moments of the band. Music for people who like Mdou Moctar, This Heat!, Battles, Ndagga Rhythm Force, Can, Captain Beefheart, Art Ensemble of Chicago, LaMonte Young.

Pressed on Red vinyl and presented in gloss laminated gatefold sleeve.
Double album set contains the original LP plus 13 bonus tracks taken from their first four singles and the re-recorded version of In Purgatory which originally appeared on the PINK compilation E.P “It sells or it smells” plus bonus 7” a reproduction colour vinyl copy of McCarthy’s first 7” “In Purgatory”
All three tracks have been remastered from the original master tape and presented in a wraparound sleeve, just like the incredibly rare “Wall Of Salmon” original.
Also Includes
20 page 12x12” full colour booklet containing all the lyrics and packed full with photos, many previously unpublished. Press clippings and other memorabilia. Introduction by Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers and track by track commentary by Malcolm Eden.
8 x 10 Black & White press photo
Reproduction European Tour poster “The Well Of Loneliness” Promo poster McCarthy sticker
By the time McCarthy appeared on the NME’s C86 cassette they had already been playing together for a couple of years and released two excellent singles. Their debut “In Purgatory” and the indie masterpiece “Red Sleeping Beauty” (both included on this release). The following year McCarthy released the brilliant “Frans Hals” before unleashing their debut album “I Am A Wallet”
Now recognised as an indie pop masterpiece it has gone on to achieve cult status, receiving praise from the likes of Nicky Wire (Manic Street Preachers) as one of the most important albums of the 80s. Known by today's indie acolytes as the band that spawned Tim Gane and Leititia Sadier (who of course went on to form Stereolab).
It’s a seamless album reminiscent of the Byrds. Wonderful, if slightly twee, jangly guitars with complex and rarely rhyming lyrics, Malcolm Eden’s strident left wing political views are manifest on I Am A Wallet. Cloaked in pretty guitar and propulsive drums, Eden sets about attacking the pillars of the day, MPs, Prince Charles, Fleet Street, religion, the response to AIDS and on almost every song, capitalism. The horrors and inequalities of the capitalist system are laid bare for all the see. The system which enables some to get rich at the expense of others is reviled and attacked.

"You and Me" by Penny & the Quarters simply refused to stay lost. For 40 years, the song sat silent in a box of reels before heartthrob Ryan Gosling selected it to star in 2010's indie weeper Blue Valentine. The power of the track set off an international treasure hunt in pursuit of the mysterious artists behind it. Since then, "You and Me" has soundtracked thousands of weddings, spawned hundreds of YouTube covers, and tugged heartstrings for scores of advertisements and films. Fifteen years after "Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label" became Numero's worst selling compilation, we've reanalyzed the tapes and selected 11 equally-as-fascinating rehearsals caught by engineer Clem Price in Columbus, Ohio, in 1970.