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UK techno legend Mark Broom returns to Rekids ahead of new album with ‘100% Juice Album Sampler’.

Following the acclaimed ‘Funfzig LP’ on Rekids in 2021 as well as his ‘Mutated Battle Breaks’ series on the techno focussed sub-label Rekids Special Projects, UK stalwart Mark Broom returns to Radio Slave’s Rekids with ‘100% Juice Album Sampler’, a four-track taster for his next album titled ‘100% Juice’, scheduled to be released in April.

Leading the A-side is ‘100% Juice (Sampler Mix)’, a jacked-up take on the album’s title track, with chunky kicks, off-kilter stabs, and crunching claps kickstarting the record. ‘Contigo’ follows, with trippy synths providing a dose of silliness alongside razor-sharp drums. On the flip, ‘Nod To The D’ pays homage to classic Detroit sounds, as light arpeggios and bright synths weave their way through silky pads before closer.

‘Spiked’ sees a funk-laden groove take charge as unruly leads flutter atop the jacking groove.
Releasing on labels such as Rekids, M-Plant, and Blueprint, the wildly prolific Broom has consistently been at the forefront of the techno scene for decades with his gritty, groove-based output while, away from the dancefloor, his The Fear Ratio project with James Ruskin continues to win critical acclaim.

2LP with a 4-page colour insert

As Guadeloupean vocalist and composer Marie-Line Dahomay writes in her liner notes to the compilation, gwoka is more than a style of music, it is “a way of living and thinking.” Rooted in the social, musical and ritual practices of enslaved African people and their descendants on Guadeloupe, gwoka has always sought to express the spirit of independence and resistance authentic to the island.Building on its traditional call-and-response form and the ideas of pivotal figures like Gérard Lockel and Christian Laviso, modern gwoka evolved throughout the second half of the twentieth century to include funk, jazz and electronic influences.

Defined by its propensity for innovation and experimentation, this compilation charts the most radical changes to modern gwoka, capturing a sensory riot of traditional répertoires, rhythms and makè techniques fused with genre-defying experimentation.Whether heard in the deeply cosmic, spiritual music of Dao, Freydy Doressamy and Gaoulé Mizik, or the jazz funk inflections of Gui Konket and Horizon, the music here is united by the feeling of santiman ka, crucial not only to gwoka music but the identity of Guadeloupe at large.

As co-curator Cédric Lassonde (Bueaty & The Beats) writes: “What unifies these selections is the depth of the compositions, the experimentation around the santiman ka, and the spirit of resistance and liberation against slavery, be it modern or ancestral. With a thirst for innovation typical of the island’s creole culture, the ka spirit is deeply rooted in collective history and in a quest for identity.”

Co-curator Brandon Hocura (Séance Centre) continues: “The creative energy of these musicians is powerful and demonstrates a universal pursuit of resistance, freedom and identity. Their voices are distinct, but the chorus rises high and carries their message far across the sea.”

Lèsprit Ka: New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010 is the first compilation of its kind to bring the sound of modern gwoka to a wider audience, with many of the featured musicians still active today. Presented as a double LP, the release features a specially commissioned essay by Guadeloupean musician Marie-Line Dahomey, and extensive liner notes from Cédric Lassonde and Séance Centre’s Brandon Hocura.

True to the hybrid nature of the music, the compilation seeks not to provide a definitive sound, but express the variety of contemporary forms that have evolved from gwoka. Just as Guadeloupean trailblazers Kassav fused gwoka with funk and cadence to create zouk, so did the musicians on this collection push gwoka in new directions rarely heard beyond its shores.

In the words of Gérard Lockel, “gwoka is the soul of Guadeloupe”

Alex Cameron has always been a great storyteller,
finding his ways into the depths of the places where not
many others are looking, and ‘Oxy Music’ continues on
that trajectory. It’s filled with stories of people who fall
outside the system and exist in the grey areas of life.
 And much like 2017’s ‘Forced Witness’, ‘Oxy Music’ is a
work of fiction. In its design - its music, lyrics and
tracklist - lies the journey a person can take, if the
circumstances present themselves - down the road of
heavy drug and alcohol abuse. Initially inspired by Nico
Walker’s ‘Cherry’, Cameron was spurred into yet another
commentary on American Life, this time about the opioid
crisis that has taken over the country.
 Alex says about ‘Oxy Music’: “The album is a story, a
work of fiction, mostly from the perspective of a man.
Starved of meaningful purpose, confused about the state
of the world, and in dire need of a reason to live - a
person can, and according to the latest statistics,
increasingly will, turn to opioids. This is one of those
people.”
 While ‘Oxy Music’ could be dark, it’s instead brighter and
more buoyant than much of Cameron’s previous work, a
shift in mood first seen across 2019’s ‘Miami Memory’.
It’s told from a place of optimism and through the lens of
Cameron, in the way that only he can tell it.
 Co-mixed by Mount Kimbie’s Kai Campos.
 Past collaborators include Angel Olsen, Brandon
Flowers (The Killers), Jason Williamson (Sleaford
Mods), Kirin J Callinan and Roan Yellowthorn.

Franz Ferdinand announce ‘Hits To The Head’, a 20-track greatest
hits collection showcasing the world-conquering success of the
band’s career to date.
 Released on Domino, ‘Hits To The Head’ also features two brandnew tracks - ‘Billy Goodbye’ and ‘Curious’, produced by Alex
Kapranos, Julian Corrie and Stuart Price (Dua Lipa, Madonna, Pet
Shop Boys).
 Armed with an astute sense of what constitutes the ‘classic pop song’
(famously proclaiming that they write music “to make girls dance to”),
the music of Franz Ferdinand continues to resonate globally and over
the course of nearly two decades they’ve become, commercially and
critically, one of the biggest UK bands in the world, selling over 10
million albums, 1.2 billion streams to date, 14 Platinum albums,
winning Brit, Ivor Novello and Mercury Prize awards, Grammy
nominations and selling six million tickets for their incendiary live
show worldwide.
 Deluxe CD in hardback book-style sleeve with 48-page case-bound
booklet with liner notes by JD Beauvallet plus lyrics.
 CD in standard jewel case with clear tray and 24-page booklet with
liners by JD Beauvallet.
 2LP into black poly-lined inner sleeves plus 16-page booklet with
liners by JD Beauvallet and digital download card.

“Boot licking, piss drinking, finger frigging, tit tweaking, love biting, arse licking, shit stabbing, motherfucking, spunk loving, ball busting, cock sucking, fist fucking, lip smacking, thirst quenching, cool living, ever giving…”

There’s no fairer introduction to ‘Fist’, Joshua James’ latest contribution to Phantasy, than to advise one simply to prepare themselves. Sampling iconic performance artist, club promoter and designer Leigh Bowery, James connects the expert dancefloor pressure he exacts each weekend as one of London’s best-loved club residents with the unapologetic, defiant legacy of a personal hero. None other than Peaches then takes up the remix mantle for ‘Fist’, intertwining the provocations of two radical performers and connecting three generations of underground queer culture in one sonic menage-a-trois, perhaps the straight-up rudest club record in recent memory.

On the original production, James shifts his sound in a heavier direction still since last summer’s euphoric Amber Rush, which was remixed by labelmate and friend Daniel Avery. A bouncing industrial tilt underscores the heavy-duty production, as Bowery, originally recording alongside Richard Torry in their band Minty, espouses a catalogue of sexual acts - some specialist, all sensational - as James pushes dancers further down into the belly of some revolting rave beast.

A multi-faceted match to Bowery themselves, Peaches continues a decades-long journey dedicated to genre and gender deconstruction with her wild and playful take on ‘Fist’. Dripping in cybernetic club juice, Peaches wraps herself around Bowery’s own teaches on the mic, easily matching his demands as she careens towards a system-rattling techno conclusion.

Reissue of George Duke's classic 1976 jazz-funk-fusion album 'Liberate Fantasies'

This 1976 album, the last one of the MPS fusion series, continues George Duke's tendency to couple his fusion world with accessible R&B songs. Once again, he shows a discernible vocal development. In "Tryin' And Cryin" the Californian together with rock singer Napoleon Brock overlays multiple vocal tracks.
On "Seeing You" Duke lays on a glaze of soulful tenderness, whereas "What The…" is 30 seconds of frivolous funning around. "Back to Where We Never Left" is a witty gem in which Duke bundles his pool of synthesizers into a united groove, whereas "I C'n Hear That" shows off synth and marimba tonal colors in dialogue, with the bass riffing on the bottom.

The album flows into the final bend carrying along the sonorous richness of Brazil. "After the Love" plays with the languorous erotic colours of the tropics, whereas all the band members are allowed to shine on the epic circa ten minute title track with its hot samba flair: the rhythm section with "Ndugu", Al Johnson, and Airto Moreira's percussion arsenal, Daryl Stuermer with his rock interludes on guitar, and Duke himself with inspired virtuosity on all sorts of synths and
keyboards.

Long-awaited vinyl edition of Adia’s 2021 album. UK live dates due in the summer (announced soon!).

In Adia’s words: "This album is the culmination of years spent digging for the subtext of southern identity, and the bones of belonging down in Dixie. it was the challenge issued forth by Skip James, Victoria Spivey, Bessie Smith, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Junior Kimbrough to keep on contextualizing the blues."

With A Southern Gothic Adia continues her journey through the conflicts of the American South and the troubling resonance of its past. Sonically, the album is full of frequent juxtaposition. It is equal parts historical montage and modern prophesy, dark and light, love and loathing. The 14 tracks are the musical embodiment of the relationship that so many people, especially Black women, have with the South.

A Southern Gothic, was executive produced by T Bone Burnett, and features guest contributions from Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and Matt Berninger.

High Focus ​Records linchpin ​Fliptrix announces his 8th solo album ​‘Light Work’. The 16-track project is a complete representation of ​Fliptrix as both an artist as well as reflecting the person behind the artistry. The album tackles deep rooted issues within society, the current state of the world as well as portraying an overarching message of peace, openness and optimism.

“Light Work is the culmination of years of experience, emotion, research and love. Crafted to heal, fulfil my desire to create and further raise vibrations.”

The London born, Brighton based lyricist’ creative CV has become one of legends. His long-standing trade as a solo artist is paired with him being one-quarter of the acclaimed collective ​The Four Owls (Big Owl)​, adding in Founder and Director of ​High Focus Records and not to forget becoming a first-time dad earlier this year. Operating at this level has been achieved by years of self-development and his mission is to pay it all forward.

Both Fliptrix and High Focus Records have been irreplaceable cogs in the UK HipHop machine for well over a decade. He and the label have been there for the hard times and the glory days but have never sought out fame or verification. Albums such as ​‘The Road To The Interdimensional Piff Highway’ and ​‘Patterns Of Escapism’ ​were pioneering amongst peers and resulted in multiple global tours and a dedicated fanbase across the world.

Kicking off the album is the title track ​‘Light Work’ which starts with faded, eerie laughter whilst Fliptrix unleashes a barrage of flows ending with “DMT be elevating my consciousness​”​. An introspective cut,

‘Light Work’ expresses his undeniable passion for his craft whilst tackling personal demons and overcoming them through altered states of consciousness. ‘​Multicolour’ paints a raw psychedelic picture and encourages us to think outside the box and not take everything for face value. His vivid storytelling continues throughout with feelings of being burnt out expressed in ‘​Broken Glass​’ whilst ​‘Powerizm’ ​switches up the tempo and he conveys his daily grind whilst paying homage to his fallen friend and legendary London graffiti artist ‘POW’ as well as his recently born first child. Tracks ‘​Problem, Reaction, Solution & ​The Realisation Part 2​, tackle the world's current situation head-on with a no holds barred viewpoint. Coming full circle, ​Fliptrix closes the project with ‘​Vibes’​ which is full of positivity and hope.

No stranger to talking openly about his mind-altering experiences, spirituality, quest for knowledge and dedication to the exploration of consciousness, Fliptrix’s raw flow and intricate lyricism perfectly portray the albums hard hitting narratives and set him apart from the rest of the scene. Self-reflection, personal improvement, determination and revolution are at the core of ​‘Light Work’ and they come together harmoniously under one roof.

>>>>Cryovac Recordings is allowed to exist by artists and craftsmen that take up the cause and come together to share their skillset. A Cryovac artist is a master of their own style. They are heros that represent the best of Detroit’s spirit. From Dietrich to Desmond to the house of Archer, Cryovac is a product that is crafted at each step by years of know-how. The Cryovac machine continues its course through an ever changing technosphere.

>>>>James “jit” Pennington a.k.a. The Suburban Knight has the honor of techno nobility; with a warrior ethos he loyally defends Detroit around the world. The Knights tracks are legendary and his service to the underground code compels him to come to the aid of Cryovac. ”Lectrasonic” activates a hypersensitive conga rattling the night air and through swelling synth predatory melody becomes prey to a breaking kick.
>>>>Mike Petrack is a cool customer with an easy style and his tracks are the same. Petrack’s Info Lines record label is the latest concoction from this ever innovating techno collaborator. “Holy Redeemer '' rises with an infectious melody through bossa nova rhythm to a point of spiritual awareness inside a natural funk.
>>>>a.garcia & M. kretsch are a team that have learned to work in unison to develop all parts of a space with sound. Their construction and deconstruction of the techno sound is a reflection of a spartan Detroit ethos. “invasion” is a 4/4 minimal rocker that rings to life with an eerie synth attacking with waves of effect bringing a tone of other worldly dread.
>>>>Mollison folson a.k.a. Body Mechanic brings his gregarious personality to all genres he delves into. He is a musician of instrument and computer with a focus on freeky love music. “Everything” is a smooth and jazzy minimal mover that harmonizes synth over a funky bass line.

Robert Hampson, the indefatigable visionary behind inspirational sonic architects Loop, whose eagerly anticipated fourth LP Sonancy (Latin for “to create noise”) is the perfect document for these strange times. Dynamic, dystopian, righteously angry and unashamedly Loop-ian, it’s an album that marks a vital re-emergence for Hampson and co. Formed in South London in the mid-1980s, Loop blazed a trail with their potent mix of motorik beats and heavy guitar riffs, recording a trio of brilliant albums that set the indie charts alight before imploding in 1990 after the release of album number three, A Gilded Eternity. As critics enthused at the time, Loop were the sound of Suicide jamming with the Stooges aboard a spaceship built by Hawkwind and piloted by CAN. They were post-psychedelic, pre-shoegaze figureheads in a world of anodyne pop jangle and baggy rhythms, and even their closest contemporaries like Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine didn’t plough such a distinctive furrow as theirs. Today, Loop stand as innovators in a musical world that has embraced and followed their defiantly individual sound – there are hundreds of contemporary neo-psych artists out there who arguably would not exist without Loop’s pioneering music, music that continues to evolve and grow in the most startling of ways on Sonancy.

Robert Hampson, the indefatigable visionary behind inspirational sonic architects Loop, whose eagerly anticipated fourth LP Sonancy (Latin for “to create noise”) is the perfect document for these strange times. Dynamic, dystopian, righteously angry and unashamedly Loop-ian, it’s an album that marks a vital re-emergence for Hampson and co. Formed in South London in the mid-1980s, Loop blazed a trail with their potent mix of motorik beats and heavy guitar riffs, recording a trio of brilliant albums that set the indie charts alight before imploding in 1990 after the release of album number three, A Gilded Eternity. As critics enthused at the time, Loop were the sound of Suicide jamming with the Stooges aboard a spaceship built by Hawkwind and piloted by CAN. They were post-psychedelic, pre-shoegaze figureheads in a world of anodyne pop jangle and baggy rhythms, and even their closest contemporaries like Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine didn’t plough such a distinctive furrow as theirs. Today, Loop stand as innovators in a musical world that has embraced and followed their defiantly individual sound – there are hundreds of contemporary neo-psych artists out there who arguably would not exist without Loop’s pioneering music, music that continues to evolve and grow in the most startling of ways on Sonancy.

In 2002 well-known for his albums by the progressive rock project Ayreon, Star One “Space Metal” is an exciting project from one of rock's great visionaries, Arjen Lucassen. With its stellar musicianship, visionary production and a simple yet far-reaching concept, Star One “Space Metal” shines bright as a giant sun in the galaxy of rock. “Space Metal” isn't a continuous story or a rock opera like the Ayreon albums. Yet it is still very much a concept album and a journey through Arjen's mind and memory. He takes the listener on a trip where they relive those great science fiction space films that made such an impact on him. Without a doubt Arjen Lucassen set a trend with his Ayreon albums. Especially after the highly successful release of “Into the Electric Castle” many musicians and producers have followed in his footsteps and new rock operas with multiple singers are surfacing all over the world. To ensure to keep the involved voices diverse he used very different sounding singers appearing in the same songs -- different singers for different moods. Dan Swano (ex-Edge of Sanity, Nightingale) sings the low parts, Russell Allen (Symphony X and more) sings the powerful rough parts, Damian Wilson (ex-Threshold, Headspace) sings the high clear parts, and to top it off, Floor Jansen (Nightwish) sings the really high choruses. Robert Soeterboek (Ayreon) sang the backing vocals with his huge smoky voice. Of course Ed Warby played the powerful drums, and Erik Norlander once again added his huge analog synth leads. Arjen also managed to get Jens Johansson (Yngwie Malmsteen, Dio, Stratovarius) who played some incredibly fast synth leads as well. Arjen even succeeded in getting Hawkwind's Dave Brock to make a guest vocal appearance, something no one has ever managed to do before. “Space Metal (Re-issue 2022)” is available as: Ltd. 2CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP+2CD & LP-Booklet and Digital album (2CD).

Green vinyl format of the hits packge that was released in 2021. Continued marketing.

Alex Lentini & STOMP BOXX return to Drumcode following January’s outstanding contribution ‘Natural Desire’.

The release marked the first in 2021 for the label and perhaps, fortuitously, their follow up ‘Split the Noise’ marks the final on Adam Beyer’s imprint for the year, reinforcing the respect the DC boss has for the Italian pair and their developing studio talents.

‘Split the Noise’ EP continues their creative, multi-faceted production approach. ‘Solstice’ is a distorted concoction of bass and techno, abrasive and beautifully eerie.

One for the winter warehouse season ahead. ‘Azimuth’ is an intergalactic trip to the moon and explores the more experimental side of techno, while having enough streamlined drive to move the dancefloor forward. ‘Equimulate’ works through a range of perky moods before a rasping bottom appears and propels the track into brain spangling territory.

The title track is an immersive weapon that sucks you in via knife-sharp percussion, spit-fire effects and a ripping Reese-inspired bassline. A full assault of noise and delicious bass that takes no prisoners.

Arriving 6 years after the release of his breakout EP, El Búho returns to Wonderwheel with a very special Deluxe Version of said Cenotes EP including 3 previously unreleased tracks: "Manana Tepotzlan (feat. Gotopo) Vocal Version," "Tecolotin (Chancha Via Circuito Remix)," and "Tecolotin (Dub Version)." The EP is also set to be pressed to vinyl for the first time with a special splatter 12" invoking the cover art.

"Cenotes" was originally released in 2015 to widespread fan acclaim, firmly planting El Búho in the upper echelons of the Latin Electronic pantheon. Recorded in Mexico City after relocating from Amsterdam, "Cenotes" marries his influence of Dub, IDM and Electronic vibes with the rhythms, traditions and melodies of Latin American & Andean folk and the organic sound of waterfalls, birdsongs and crackling leaves, resulting in a dreamy, deep, melodic journey that entrances as much through headphones as it does on the dancefloor. Having studied Latin American Studies in Glasgow, El Búho (aka Robin Perkins) spent time living, studying and working in Argentina and travelling throughout the continent. Alongside his music, El Búho is also an environmental activist, having worked for over eight years at Greenpeace, being a member of DJs For Climate Action and coordinating the non-profit project "A Guide to the Birdsong" a series of albums that raise funds and awareness for endangered bird species through electronic music.

"Cenotes (Deluxe Version)" hits all digital streaming services December 3rd, with the vinyl 12" to follow shortly after.

Today sees Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul announce their debut album Topical Dancer, due for release on March 4 2022 via Soulwax’s iconic label DEEWEE.
Cultural appropriation. Misogyny and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures Charlotte and Bolis’s essence as musical collaborators and the conversations they’ve had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Beyond the album’s thematic heft, Topical Dancer reflects Charlotte and Bolis’s idiosyncratic sound: it’s thoughtful but it bangs. Their take on familiar genres is always off-kilter; songs sound undone or a little wonky; but these are nocturnal heaters to make the club throb. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” laughs Bolis. “We cringe when we feel like we're making something that already exists, so we're always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”

Topical Dancer is fizzing with ideas – there’s certainly no filler among its 13 tracks. But above all, perhaps, it has a restlessness, a desire not to be boxed in and to escape others’ narrow perceptions of who they are. It’s summarised by the refrain of their new single, ‘Blenda’: “Don’t sound like what I look like / Don’t look like what I sound like.” “One thing that always comes up,” says Bolis, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”

‘Blenda’ in particular references how “I am a product of colonialism,” says Charlotte, “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country.” The song was inspired in part by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Charlotte continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.”

On Topical Dancer, it’s less about finger pointing or being dogmatic about all the things they speak about. It’s about emancipation through humour. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” says Charlotte. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

Ltd Black & White LP

Today sees Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul announce their debut album Topical Dancer, due for release on March 4 2022 via Soulwax’s iconic label DEEWEE.
Cultural appropriation. Misogyny and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures Charlotte and Bolis’s essence as musical collaborators and the conversations they’ve had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Beyond the album’s thematic heft, Topical Dancer reflects Charlotte and Bolis’s idiosyncratic sound: it’s thoughtful but it bangs. Their take on familiar genres is always off-kilter; songs sound undone or a little wonky; but these are nocturnal heaters to make the club throb. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” laughs Bolis. “We cringe when we feel like we're making something that already exists, so we're always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”

Topical Dancer is fizzing with ideas – there’s certainly no filler among its 13 tracks. But above all, perhaps, it has a restlessness, a desire not to be boxed in and to escape others’ narrow perceptions of who they are. It’s summarised by the refrain of their new single, ‘Blenda’: “Don’t sound like what I look like / Don’t look like what I sound like.” “One thing that always comes up,” says Bolis, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”

‘Blenda’ in particular references how “I am a product of colonialism,” says Charlotte, “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country.” The song was inspired in part by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Charlotte continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.”

On Topical Dancer, it’s less about finger pointing or being dogmatic about all the things they speak about. It’s about emancipation through humour. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” says Charlotte. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

Nonesuch Records releases Ghost Song, the label debut of singer/songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant. Ghost Song features a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia, and yearning. Salvant says, “It’s unlike anything I’ve done before – it’s getting closer to reflecting my personality as an eclectic curator. I’m embracing my weirdness!” Cécile McLorin Salvant plays at Cadogan Hall on November 16 as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, four shows at SFJAZZ in February, and two nights featuring the music of Ghost Song at Jazz at Lincoln Center in May. Salvant says of the title track, out now, “What if the love has gone, the love has left you and you have the emotions around that, and you’re still going through them, still engaging with the ghost of that love?” She continues, “Some songs are so painful to come out but this one came out pretty quickly. I’ve had some loss the last couple of years: my grandmother, the drummer in my band Lawrence Leathers.”



Ghost Song opens and ends with a sean-nós (traditional Irish unaccompanied vocal style) performance by Salvant, recorded in a church. On track one, she transitions into Kate Bush’s 1978 classic ‘Wuthering Heights’. Salvant says of the song, “Wuthering Heights is a book that really struck me to my core as I was making this album, during the pandemic. And the best interpretation of the novel is Kate Bush’s song.” She continues, “It’s the most classic ghost story. I decided I wanted to do an album called Ghost Song, and I knew that one had to be on it. Then I had the idea to mix it in with the sean-nós ‘Cúirt Bhaile Nua’, which binds it to the traditional ‘Unquiet Grave’, the last track on the album. The ghost is not haunting me; now I am haunting the ghost. They parallel each other so well and they’re such different time periods. I wanted the album to be a circle, with the sean-nós reference at the beginning and at the end. So it is the first track but it’s also the last track and it’s also the middle track, which is how I listen to music, walking around my neighborhood, on a plane, travelling somewhere, putting stuff on repeat.” “All the songs on the album kind of mirror each other. I tried to create this strange symmetry. So as you go in from both ends, the songs are sort of matched together,” Salvant says. “‘I Lost my Mind’ is the center of the Russian doll. I wrote that in the middle of the pandemic. There were nights when I wanted to just scream. It was this deeper part of me saying, ‘It’s OK if this sounds completely crazy, OK to just go with the completely crazy thing and not worry if people think you have lost your mind for doing it.’



“The bands also mirror each other from top to bottom. In terms of the instrumentation, everything,” Salvant explains. “That’s why the songs are there in that relationship: they match each other, they’re like fraternal twins, or one is the evil twin of the other. I, as the living, am visited by the ghost, and then I go visit the ghost in turn. I am haunting the ghost and annoying the ghost, which is saying, ‘Get out of here and go live.’” Of the sonic variety on Ghost Song, Salvant says, “Texture is a big part of how I sing, having multiple textures in one song. It’s almost a compulsion. I can’t allow myself to stay in one texture. The instrumentation creates that but the recording process as well. It’s something I like, even when I’m eating. You want the creamy and chewy and crunchy at the same time. Warm and cold.”



Cécile McLorin Salvant, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy Award winner, is a singer and composer bringing historical perspective, a renewed sense of drama, and an enlightened musical understanding to both jazz standards and her own original compositions. Classically trained, steeped in jazz, blues, and folk, and drawing from musical theater and vaudeville, Salvant embraces a wide-ranging repertoire that broadens the possibilities for live performance. Salvant’s performances range from spare duets for voice and piano to instrumental trios to orchestral ensembles. Her unreleased work Ogresse is an ambitious long-form song cycle based on oral fairy tales from the nineteenth century that explores the nature of freedom and desire in a racialized, patriarchal world. Salvant studied at the Université Pierre Mendès-France. She has performed at national and international venues and festivals such as the Newport Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Village Vanguard, and the Kennedy Center. Salvant is also a visual artist.

It’s time for a new Reinhard Voigt EP on Kompakt? It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago since we last heard from him but then again, time is running! His latest release on Kompakt "Was wir spüren" (KOM 402) was released in May 2019. From there we encountered Reinhard's musical work mainly in the form of various digital reissues or in union with his brother Wolfgang together as Voigt & Voigt. Then in August of 2021, a glimmer of musical life from Reinhard reached his loyal fans in the form of a continuation of his RV ultra-minimalist concept series as "RV 05 / RV 06" via our KX imprint.

So that brings us to the present. Two new tracks that preach and spin on the classic Reinhard Voigt sound. Tracks that are as relentless as they are consistent to his signature stoic, radical, minimal techno. "Cha Cha Club" creaks and stomps along so mercilessly that they leave us impatient for the reopening of a dark, foggy club room and to have the bitter taste of gin and chemicals on our palates. Bass drum in, bass drum out - sometimes that's all it takes to be happy.

With "Die Frau, die nach Deutz ging" Reinhard discloses a small tale in the title...that this is the continuation of "Der Mann, der nie nach Deutz kam", a track from “Was wir spüren”. Elements recall Reinhard Voigt's SPEICHER tracks; sovereign, modern techno, monotonous in principle, but here and there interrupted and structured by unexpected signals and sounds in such a way that the track will also work on larger dance floors.

Eine reguläre, brandneue Reinhard Voigt 12inch? Das ist nicht nur gefühlt schon eine ganze Weile her. Time ist ja bekanntlich running. Seit “Was wir spüren” (KOM 402), erschienen im Mai 2019, begegnete uns Reinhards musikalisches Schaffen vor allem in Form diverser digitaler Wiederveröffentlichungen oder im Duett mit seinem Bruder Wolfgang als Voigt & Voigt. Im August letzten Jahres erreichte die treue Fangemeinde dann wenigstens ein kleines Lebenszeichen in Form der “RV 05 / RV 06”, der Fortsetzung seiner ultra-minimalistischen Konzeptreihe auf KX.

Nun also zwei neue Tracks, die so unerbittlich wie konsequent den klassischen Reinhard Voigt-Sound predigen und weiterspinnen – stoisch, radikal, minimal. “Cha Cha Club” knarzt und stampft dabei so gnadenlos voran, dass wir die Wiedereröffnung von geschlossenen Räumen voller Nebel und Dunkelheit und mit dem bitteren Geschmack von Gin und Chemikalien an unseren Gaumen kaum erwarten können. Bassdrum rein, Bassdrum raus, mehr braucht es manchmal nicht zum glücklich sein.

Mit “Die Frau, die nach Deutz ging” erzählt uns Reinhard zumindest im Titel die Fortsetzung von “Der Mann, der nie nach Deutz kam”, einem Track von “Was wir spüren”. Hier erinnert manches an Voigts SPEICHER-Tracks, souveräner, moderner Techno, vom Grundsatz her monoton, aber hier und da von unerwarteten Signalen und Tönen so unterbrochen und strukturiert, dass er auch auf größeren Tanzflächen funktioniert.

In the small inland town of São Domingos on Cape Verde's Santiago Island, The Ano Nobo Quartet delivers a fresh take on Koladera, a guitar-driven, subtly rhythmic sound of a lighter spirit. Their sound tells a global story with Cape Verde at its center, a creole melting pot in the middle of the Atlantic attracting the best from four continents: hypnotic, haunting Koladera guitars inflected with twangs of Salsa Cubano, Spanish Flamenco, Brazilian Samba Canção, Jamaican Reggae, Argentine Tango, Mozambican Marrabenta, and finished with a dash of Black American Blues. It's all here. Absent percussion, the quartet's sound still drips with rhythm. Rich, raw acoustic music you can dance to.

This album was recorded in three locations on Santiago Island: at homes, by the sea, and on the volcanic hills of Cape Verde. Each location used a mobile recording studio equipped with different mics placed near and far to capture both the Spanish and Chinese-made guitars and the natural environment that shapes the saudade, a melancholic longing, of Koladera. Each space has its own atmosphere heard in the interludes.

A double LP pressed at 45 RPM for an even silkier listening experience and packaged in a luxurious matte-laminated gatefold with a high quality 12-page booklet along with a hardcover bookcase CD with a 24-page booklet.

Strut presents the first compilation of legendary Afghan Ghazal singer Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat a.k.a. Nashenas, recorded at the Radio Afghanistan Studios and later released on singles by the Royal label in Iran. Nashenas first made his move towards music aged 16 in 1951 when he approached Afghanistan’s national radio station, Radio Kabul, with an idea for a broadcast and, impressed with his language skills, they offered him a permanent job. “I was in close contact with some of the big names in Afghan music like Jalil Zaland,” Nashenas explains. “My father had a gramophone and we listened to other singers like Ustad Qasim Khan and Kundan Lal Saigal.” After unsuccessful initial forays into singing sessions for the station, he honed his skills as a writer, singer and musician, playing the harmonium. Inspired by a movie he had seen at the cinema, Nashenas wrote a new poem and sang on air again after the evening news, using the name ‘Nashenas’ (meaning ‘unknown’) for the first time. Following a wave of positive feedback from the public, he was given a new weekend slot and built his reputation through film song interpretations, famous poems set to music and his own compositions sung in Dari and Pashto. Nashenas would witness turbulent times as Afghanistan found itself caught up in the Cold War and the early ‘90s civil war until it became too dangerous to stay in the country. Through a friend in the U.N., he was able to seek asylum for himself and his family and take up residence in London, continuing to work as a musician and giving concerts globally. Most of Nashenas’ recordings during this period were only made for broadcast, later surfacing on singles through the Royal label in Iran. Life Is A Heavy Burden is compiled from these singles by Chris Menist and Mads Jensen. All tracks are remastered by The Carvery and both formats feature new liner notes including an interview with Nashenas. The album is part of the new United Sounds of Asia series curated by Chris Menist and Maft Sai of Paradise Bangkok.

Since its inception in 2007, Minimood has continued to explore the deeper, dubbier realms of techno, house and minimal, playing host to the likes of CV313, David Hausdorf, Steve O’Sullivan, Luke Hess, Sascha Dive, Delano Smith and many more. Now, label head Voltmar returns to the subseries Minimood Extra together with his good friend Polish DJ/producer Blazej Malinowski to serve up two individual atmospheric, dub-techno reworks of Russian underground duo Advanced Dreams’ ‘Blurred Trip’ pressed on transparent wax.

Inner Tension chief Blazej Malinowski’s interpretation of the aptly titled ‘Blurred Trip’ creates a complex sonic soundscape as evocative keys, subtle percussion, reverberating basslines and ethereal samples work in harmony. On the flip, Voltmar offers up a chuggy, stripped back reshape as ghostly echoes, tight snares, and a punchy bassline carry this profoundly emotive cut.

As a confluence of ideas and methods, WILD ROCKET endeavour to interpret the subtle signals of the universe - the interplanetary vibrations - and present them as brash manifestations of sound. Scientists and Shaman alike have endeavoured to interpret the universal whispers, to elucidate meaning from the measurable and the sensible. It is known that to measure and interpret is to alter and colour those signals and this is what drives the development of WILD ROCKET's sound and interpretation.
FORMLESS ABYSS showcases the band's unflinching pummelling style, drifting from repetitive blows to unhinged swirls of din yet always remaining innately infectious and perhaps surprisingly danceable. The record is presented as a continuous piece in three parts.
The title track A FORMLESS ABYSS appears here for the first time in recorded form – a behemoth of a tune which builds around a drone, joined by dual drums and minimal bass locked into a repetitive groove. A groove that is slowly expanded via multiple guitars and synthesis. Vocals eventually join at just the right moment imploring the listener to “leave your criticisms down” and realise “we're all equal now” in the formless abyss or the place between worlds where our earthly preoccupation with human differences are meaningless. We're all in it together, whether we realise it or not.
The second track INTERPLANETARY VIBRATIONS may seem familiar to some in a simpler form. The expanded line up and extended development of the core theme brings a new interpretation and experience that is more than worthwhile. The track's vocals juxtapose the hybrid Germanic language of English with the ancient native Irish language of Gaeilge. Both used to promote meaning and interpretation of the interplanetary vibrations felt by all. The track features large dynamic shifts and changes of pace as the message that “it's time to leave” propagated by the Earth itself becomes more frantic and more desperate. The track culminates in a wash of smashed gongs and distorted guitars, leaving the listener to interpret the message for themselves. Should we leave, to protect ourselves or the Earth itself?
The final track FUTURE ECHOES is a doom/kraut juggernaut coming in at just under twenty minutes. Only one question is asked and none answered, are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of previous civilisations over and over, or can we find the cracks of light that echo through and show us a new way forward? We're left in a swirling formless abyss to consider who we are and where we're headed. Will we ever reach the cosmic truth? Or will we be continuously mocked by the cosmic trout?
WILD ROCKET have proven themselves on the live circuit, playing with such visionaries as Ufomammut, Slomatics, Earth, Boris, The Cosmic Dead and old school rock legends Girlschool. One of the heaviest bands to emerge from the melting pot of talent in the Irish music scene, WILD ROCKET's reputation precedes them wherever they travel and audiences and venues alike are left to piece themselves together in the discombobulation.

"Whether it's the last hour you were allowed to play outside as a child before you had to go home, a reference to the fight against time in regard to the climate crisis or the last minutes of a person's life - ""An Hour Before It's Dark"" certainly doesn't lack interpretations. Be it ""Seasons End"" on the 1989 album of the same name or the much discussed track ""Gaza"" on the 2012 album ""Sounds That Can't Be Made"" - Marillion have never minced their words and don't do so on this album either. ""An Hour Before It's Dark"" is not only the title of the album, but also the overarching theme that creates a connection between all the songs on the album.
Recorded in Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, Marillion remain musically true to themselves and continue swimming against the path of adjusting to norms and limitations.
DVD and Blu-ray come with a Hi-Res stereo mix and HD video content including a documentary on the making of the album and a performance of Murder Machines from Real World Studios."

"Whether it's the last hour you were allowed to play outside as a child before you had to go home, a reference to the fight against time in regard to the climate crisis or the last minutes of a person's life - ""An Hour Before It's Dark"" certainly doesn't lack interpretations. Be it ""Seasons End"" on the 1989 album of the same name or the much discussed track ""Gaza"" on the 2012 album ""Sounds That Can't Be Made"" - Marillion have never minced their words and don't do so on this album either. ""An Hour Before It's Dark"" is not only the title of the album, but also the overarching theme that creates a connection between all the songs on the album.
Recorded in Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, Marillion remain musically true to themselves and continue swimming against the path of adjusting to norms and limitations.
DVD and Blu-ray come with a Hi-Res stereo mix and HD video content including a documentary on the making of the album and a performance of Murder Machines from Real World Studios."

'Revisited' is a hybrid of studio and concert recordings from the
acclaimed Norwegian pianist/composer Helge Lien and his trio
Miraculously, however, you can't hear the hybrid nature of the source material. All
tracks blend into a cohesive, 50- minute piece: There are no sounds from the
audience and the studio takes feel as urgent as the live performances.
After the departure of Frode Berg (after 'Guzuguzu') and Per Oddvar Johansen
(after '10'), Helge Lien had to re-think and re-assemble his trio. All the while, he
continued to record and (virtually) perform you could call it improvisation
squared.
The courage has paid off: The new formation - Johannes Eick joining on bass
alongside the returning Knut Aalefjaer on drums - arrived at interpretations which
felt like a look back and a fresh departure all at once: This is not a revolution, it's
passion under the microscope.

TRANSMISSION 2LP EDITION OF PORCUPINE TREE'S 1991 DEBUT
ALBUM
Having recently announced that Snapper Music will be representing
Porcupine Tree's Transmission label worldwide, new CD & LP reissues of
the band's extensive catalogue continue to roll out throughout 2021
Porcupine Tree's 1991 debut album 'On The Sunday Of Life' is an album that
stands up as a modern-day pop-psych classic.
With acid warped lyrics courtesy of Alan Duffy (the brains behind the late
lamented Imaginary Records label) the album is a surreal delight containing gems
such as "Jupiter Island" & "Linton Samuel Dawson" filled with quirky melodies,
effected vocals & trippy backwards guitar work. "Nine Cats", the undoubted
masterpiece of the album, is pure Edward Lear styled psychedelia.
'On The Sunday Of Life' also hints at the direction the band would later take with
more progressive influenced material such as the epic "Radioactive Toy".
Porcupine Tree released their last album, 'The Incident', in 2009, marking another
step forward in the incredible journey of the band that began as a solo studio
project created by Steven Wilson in the late eighties to a multi grammy nominated
act & one of the world's most revered live bands, selling out arenas across the
globe & wowing fans with their incredible performances.
"Refreshingly original – a wonderful musical adventure" Record Collector "A debut
disc of unearthly delights… deadly seducing stuff" NME 2LP 140g Gatefold
Edition

Back in stock! Ghanaian Afro-Rock From Producer/Composer JJ Whitefield, Inspired By His Karl Hector & The Malcouns And Whitefield Brothers Projects JJ Whitefield, who in the early ‘90s revived the gritty, analogue Funk sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s with his Poets Of Rhythm, has been working with Now-Again Records for over decade, releasing a flock of acclaimed projects with Karl Hector & The Malcouns, Whitefield Brothers, Rodinia and the Original Raw Soul anthology. He first started exploring African rhythms with the Whitefield Brothers in the late ‘90s, continuing in the ‘00s with Karl Hector & The Malcouns. He’s been instrumental in launching Ghanaian Afro Beat/Funk legend Ebo Taylor´s international career, decades after the maestro recorded the landmark albums that have inspired thousands. Whitefield recorded two new studio albums with Taylor and toured in his band between 2009 and 2013, where he met Taylor’s son Henry and percussionist/Singer Eric Owusu. The trio now front the Johnny! band and find inspiration not only in Ghana’s hypnotic grooves, but also the full frontal fuzz guitar assault heard on the legion of 70s Zambian Zamrock albums reissued by Now-Again. Indeed, Whitefield credits his tours with Zamrock godfathers Rikki Ililonga and WITCH’s Jagari Chanda as instrumental in creating the Johnny’s sonic backdrop. The band is rounded out by Turkish drummer Bernd Oezsevim (Woima Collective, Rodinia) and Indonesian bassist/multi instrumentalist Tomi Simatupang (Whitefield Brothers). This is what was oft-called “Afro Rock” at the core, with the possibilities to stretch out into swinging highlife, sweet soul or psychedelia . The results, point at a new direction for the music inspired by the Great Continent. One that takes a direction once mocked as derivative and asserts its importance on the globe’s current musical stage.

Her debut LP, Banshee, was released on Wax Poetics. Has collaborated with MF Doom, Czarface, Ghostface Killah, Dennis Coffey, and more. Kendra Morris’s Nine Lives, to be released on Karma Chief Records (a division of Colemine Records) in early 2022, marks not only the culmination of the decade since the release of her first LP Banshee, but also a turning point in Kendra’s life. Nine Lives heralds the beginning of a new chapter; label, and an evolution to the next level of adulthood. This collection of her original songs encapsulates moments from what could be nine lifetimes. Kendra, while very much a New Yorker and veteran of almost 2 decades on the NYC scene, hails from Florida and aesthetically embodies the broader sense of American culture, bringing to her contemporary sound influences found in music and cinema dating back to the mid 20th century. Her music conjures imagery evocative of road trips to weird and wonderful places. Concurrently a visual artist, filmmaker and animator, Kendra harnesses the feline nine lives metaphor repeatedly. In the context of the chapters of her musical trajectory alone, we see at least 9 lives. From discovering multi-tracking on a karaoke machine as a child, to playing in bands in Florida, moving to NYC and creating music alone on an 8 track, releasing her first 2 LPs on Wax Poetics, releasing her 2016 EP Babble and collaborating with DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, MF Doom, Czarface, Ghostface Killah, Dennis Coffey, and David Sitek, to name a few. The life of this multi-disciplinarian artist contains units of time and story lines through which we can all relate to universal themes of love, loss and overcoming one's fears. Kendra, never ceasing to heed her spiritual calling to continue creating music and art, no matter what, has no plans of slowing down but a belief in only evolving, eager to begin experiencing her next nine lives.

Jungle, an ever evolving genre still rooted in it's birth some 30 years ago. Paying homage to this evolution, E-Beamz presents Continuum-z, 9 tracks of retro-futurism crafted by some of today's leading artists.

Featuring a core of UK talent such as Tim Reaper, Mani Festo and Denham Audio as well as a smattering of international artists from places as far afield as Brazil & New Zealand, Continuum-Z encapsulates Jungle's enduring global appeal, with the genre in ruder health than ever before in 2022.

Jimpster’s lockdown LP was made throughout 2020 and finally sees the light of day at the end of February 2022 having been delayed around 6 months due to the ongoing vinyl pressing hold ups. Birdhouse is the revered producers seventh full length LP and can be considered a full circle as he takes a step away from the dance floor to revisit his early inspirations of jazz, 70’s fusion, library music, ambient and sample-based downtempo electronica. With its soulful touches, vocal and live musician features and trademark warm Jimpster production, we also think it could be his most accomplished and accessible yet.

The opening title track sets the tone for what’s to come with rustling percussion, widescreen choral samples, dub FX and drifting pads all coming together to create a sense of optimism. The first of six vocal features comes next. Ascension with UK vocalist Oliver Night (featured on IG Culture’s recent Earthbound LP) is a simple soul jam with live bass from Nick Cohen and Jimpster’s beloved Fender Rhodes joining the lo-fi drum groove.

Next up we’re treated to Voodoo featuring brilliant young NYC MC/poet/producer who first grabbed Jimpster’s attention with his mind-melting track Signs, released in 2020 on Youngbloods. Yoh’s sung (not sung) vocal flow adds a new dimension to the Jimpster sound and is hopefully the first of many more collaborations to come with this perfect pairing. Still Believe takes us on a tripped-out journey into slo-mo, lopsided MPC beats punctuated with otherworldly vocal samples, live bass and Rhodes making for an immersive late night mood.

The first of two tracks on the LP featuring London vocalist and songwriter Cairo drops next entitled Beautiful Day. Another incredibly talented young artist introduced to Jimpster through a mutual friend, Cairo adds a deep and uplifting vibe making for a track you’ll come back to time and time again. A slow-burning nu-soul groove which will draw you in with its warm glow. Lazarusman is a Johannesburg-native poet and vocalist known for his collaborations with Stimming, Joris Voorn and Booka Shade. Here he delivers a poem called Heavy, perfectly punctuating the haunting reverb-drenched horn, Detroit-esque chord stabs and filtered drums.

Future Paradise drops the BPM's further still for a slow-stepping synth ride mixing up rising arpeggios, dubby flugel horn FX and the lushest of strings. It’s been 15 years since Jimpster and Capitol A last joined forces on Left n Right from Jimpster’s Amour LP. Known for his work with Jazzanova, King Britt, Mark De Clive-Lowe and 2008 club anthem Serve It Up on Mantis, the San Francisco native MC delivers his inimitable flow to a blunted jazzy hip hop groove making for one of the LP highlights.

Up next, Rain is an intimate and understated slice of contemporary soul music which pushes another spellbinding Cairo vocal front and centre, underpinned by loose, crunchy beats, dusty keys and moogy flourishes. Picking up the pace, Doors Of Your Heart sees Jimpster get busy chopping up a funk groove whilst Nick Cohen lays down another killer live bass line. Lush keys, modular synths and some crazy FX processing take this into the stratosphere and call to mind some of his earliest productions in the late 90’s on his seminal LP Messages From The Hub.

Winding things down, Jimpster continues to revisit some of the sounds and flavours of his earliest work on Tell You, which goes seriously deep with touches of cinematic big band horns and a looped up vocal sample. Closing out the LP we have the aptly titled Full Circle complete with sublime Metheny/Mays-style pads, muted synth arps and subtle FX to drift away to.

A staggering collection Detroit techno-soul music, beamed directly into your consciousness from 1994. Kenny Larkin should need no introduction to those whose ears are trained in the ways of the motor city and her musical sons and daughters. He is one of a handful of artists from the city whose original and unique sonic output has helped shape and advance techno as an art form and as a serious musical movement across the world and it's galaxies beyond, a formidable DJ and producer whose music continues to push the envelope today. 'Azimuth' gives us what would be Larkin's first full length offering, and across 11 tracks of blistering hi-tech machine funk, ambient, soul drenched rhythms and futurist club music he deftly crafted a classic. This is the album you hold in your hands now, here in 2021. Originally released on Warp Records, 'Azimuth' is back here in it's expanded form of a 2 x LP and bonus 10" reissue. A record that effortlessly sounds like it came to earth yesterday while being 25 years old, a true Detroit classic that still makes waves across the planet today. File under - 'Essential'.

'Azimuth' has been legitimately reissued for 2021 on Kenny’s own Art Of Dance imprint. Remastered from DAT tapes and original sources by Curve Pusher. Designed by Atelier Superplus

After their debut album Space Voyage for Warner Chappell, Eleven76 are back with a new album commercially available for the first time entitled Occhio Occhio.

The album contains insect-themed outernational grooves with tropical and Arabian flavours and smooth and buttered tunes with soulful vibes that are reminiscent of classic European library music. Vintage synthesizers and hot tape-recorded drums continue to lead Eleven76's mystique, with travels through funk territories and all the while frenzied percussion-heavy break beats keep b-girls and b-boys moving on the floor.
Including the sold-out first two singles "The Scarab’s Quest" & "The Hornet’s Nest" plus 3 exclusive tracks for this vinyl edition.

Sam KDC presents the first Auxiliary 12" EP of 2022, entitled Shedding Skin, a varied four-track odyssey that goes far and beyond the conventions of techno and 170 bass music. The EP opens up with the ominous underworld tones of Silver Serpent. Menacing snarls of metallic synthesis set against the backdrop of frenetic hi-hats and slow pulsing heavyweight bass make this a surefire way to inject something unique into any DJ set.

False Idols then takes things a step further with its relentless percussive torrent, set against a sea of uneasy undertones that wash in and out of proceedings. Prophecy Unfurling introduces breakbeats to devastating effect, as the journey continues underground. Dystopian pulses of synths interacting with the breaks play off each other in a distinct fashion that has become a trademark of Sam's after 2019's Omen Rising LP on Horo.

Finally, Sam brings it all to a head with the uptempo frenzy of Bloodstone. It's been a while since Sam has toyed with this tempo, but Bloodstone shows just why he's revered as one of the true innovators of 170. An almost playful bouncing ring-modulated bass tone sets the scene for Sam's now trademark ominous dark palette to paint a truly captivating picture for the listener. Shedding Skin shows an artist at the top of his craft truly doing his own thing.

From Richmond, Virginia arrives Tempter, a soundtrack for end times hurtling along to the speed of global rage and impending doom. Merging the very best parts of crossover metal and hardcore from the 80s Japan, Sweden and UK, Tempter bring a new voice to a legendary sound. It comes perhaps as no surprise then that the group comprises of veterans of the hardcore scene from bands such as Candy, Division of Mind, Nosebleed, Ekulu and more. Instant bulldozers Sacricide and Pestilence, with their punchy riffs and wild solos bookend the S/T EP, whilst Uniformed Madness and Night Terror run along with at times almost apocalyptic walls of acidic noise. The production provides a dense atmospheric swamp of rage, mixed by Fucked Up’s Jonah Falco, providing a fitting soundtrack for Valentina Lopez’s huge vocal that sounds like 1000s of witches chanting. La Lluvia, with its use of samples and layers of synths, dances around spoken word sections that read out a poem of the same name by Roberto Bolaño, one of Chile’s greatest literary writers. Bolaño’s work fits perfectly with a biting satirical punk mood that Lopez exudes with every breath. He often questioned the privilege of making art whilst the junta would torture people in basements. Hardcore, punk and metal often likes to think of itself as a political act more than music, whether in its DIY ethic or protest lyrics. However, perhaps we find it too easy to fall into its angry embrace and eat each other alive whilst the world outside continues to fall. This music makes hell on earth that little bit more bearable, however ultimately Bolaño, and Lopez, call on counterculture music to have meaning and political action.

24 Songs. A new project from The Wedding Present. A new 7” single every month throughout 2022. 24 Songs sees David Gedge writing with legendary Sleeper guitarist Jon Stewart for the first time, and a more perfect union could not have been predicted. The notion of a monthly 7” single is not new to The Wedding Present, but 24 Songs shows us that even classic concepts can be reinvented. The series also continues the band’s association with photographer Jessica McMillan, who has created stunning images and films as a visual accompaniment to the recordings.

Straight from the fertile imagination of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs guitarist Sam Grant comes Rubber Oh - a place where an irreverent magpie spirit has its way with the eternal psych-pop continuum. ‘Little Demon’ is the first sample of this fresh foray - a bass-driven, blissed out mantra that sets out its stall where the travails of the everyday fade into the transcendental realm of the astral plane. A whole new box of sonic delights from a curious and artful talent, this track maps out a refreshing new landscape on which shameless melodic suss and wayward aural eccentricity lock horns. Some may be reminded of the likes of Air’s ‘10000Hz Legend’ and Super Furry Animals ‘Radiator’ by the montage of 60s-tinged mind-melt and sleek futurism here, but the truth is that Rubber Oh is a manifestation of a very personal vision. Alchemically assembled in his own Blank studios in Newcastle, ‘Little Demon’ - in all its thundering, earcandy glory, and accompanied by a Faustian, abstraction-embracing remix by friends and cohorts Richard Dawson and Circle’s Jussi Lehtisalo - is merely a first step into the unknown. “It’s a reference to when you’re lying in bed and your thoughts sabotage you” reasons Grant of ‘Little Demon’ - “It’s all meant to be this fixed loop - the lyrics, the riff, the drums - a constant repetition that keeps going round, maybe like a fever dream. The little demons that when you’re in bed suddenly start in your psyche, opening a door that just leads to another door” Wherever this door leads, ‘Little Demon’ is a psychic journey to be returned to on repeat.A. Little Demon B. Little Demon (Richard Dawson’s Haunted Wine-Cellar Version – Feat: Jussi Lehtisalo

Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen (born 30 May 1962),(1) a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.

Patashnik was originally released by R&S Records/Apollo in 1994. It was number 1 in NME´s Independent Chart in March 1994 and reached number 50 in the UK official album chart.

The track Novelty Waves was used in Michel Gondry's Levi's 501 Jeans "Drugstore" spot, and holds - according to the Guinness World Records 2004, the record for "Most awards won by a TV commercial".

One reason why Jenssen's work stands out from the flood of early '90s ambient/techno releases is his strong sense of the quirkily creepy -- not in an Aphex Twin mode, but in his own particular way. The contrasting samples of a child quaveringly saying, "We had a dream last night," followed by a rougher sample saying, "We had the same dream," gives opening number "Phantasm" an unsettling feeling. Intensified by the, on the one hand, pretty, on the other, disturbing music, buried synth strings and a soft pulse accentuated by clattering noises deep in the mix, it kicks off the striking Patashnik very well. Though not as openly dark as acts like Lull, for instance, Biosphere still has an edge which isn't just melancholic, it's downright ominous at point. There's the slow crawl of "Startoucher," for instance, with its buried vocal snippets and deep bass drone, or the blend of the space signal atmospheres of "Mir" into the low, brooding intro to "The Shield." Not everything is so shadowy, though, Patashnik is primarily a relax and chill listening experience, but not without its gentle high points. "Novelty Waves," which became a crossover single in some quarters, has a good dancefloor sharpness to it even as Jenssen slyly sneaks in odd drones and samples through the mix. The opening snippet talking about an extraterrestrial disc jockey on "SETI Project" is good for a smile, as well as acting as a sharp lead-in to a fast rhythm track. Mostly, though, things continue on a deliciously unnerving pace throughout, gentle enough to go down easy but still just off enough to ensure you can't call this new age folderol for the rave generation.

Now on album number seven , Metronomy has continued where many of their 2000s ‘cool’ band peers have dropped off along the way. Small World is a return to simple pleasures, nature, an embracing in part of more pared down, songwriterly sonics (some moments wouldn’t sound amiss on a Wilco release), all while asking broader existential questions: which feels at least somewhat rooted in the period of time during which it was made – 2020. For all that Mount seems to think he has made a comparatively sombre record, much of Small World still pulses with the zesty, tongue-in-cheek joie de vivre you’d expect of a Metronomy record.
So sure, things are different now Joe Mount is getting older and what’s on his mind is changing, but that doesn’t mark a change in quality for Metronomy. An immaculate set of tracks, Joe Mount’s ability as a songwriter and arranger shines through on Small World, evergreen. Metronomy might be growing up, but they’re not afraid to still have fun with it all. Through the tumultuous ebb and flow of the years, Metronomy continues to endure and make great pop music – and, really, that’s all that we could ask for.

4 Hands, an intimate and surreal musical conversation on the piano from German sound pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius and American composer Tim Story, is an example of all the warm yet otherworldly beauty that can come from approaching a shared love for a singular instrument from overlapping directions.

Recorded sequentially but on one and the same grand piano, Roedelius laid down a few impromptu piano études in May 2019 whilst visiting his transatlantic friend Story. Tim then learned all their intricate phrasings to add his own parts in the following months.

"Together we shaped the basic compositions, sometimes carefully preparing the piano with various materials (including my own hands), and Achim’s performances were committed to tape. I continued to compose and refine my parts in the following months. Because it was all recorded on the same piano, the result has a very appealing consistency of sound, and hopefully blurs our individual contributions into a single integrated voice,” Story explains.

4 Hands encapsulates rippling minimalistic patterns and delicate, ghostly interactions with surprising harmonic twists. Roedelius’ intuitive and instinctive approach based in improvisation, paired hand in hand with Story’s deliberate distilling of ideas over time, creates two sides of an engaging and thought provoking conversation that seems to evolve and deepen with each successive listen.

"4 Hands is not just a new album — the logical continuation of the long-standing friendship between two composers. It’s our tribute to awareness and listening, coaxing a new sound language from the endless possibilities of a single piano played by our four hands. For me, these pieces express a different kind of beauty, they evoke more than the sum of their parts, they are a wordless dialogue, a bridge across the great water that separates our cultures from one another. Allons enfants des deux patrie, haha!” adds Roedelius.

The pair continue to explore their love of Italian film soundtracks and library music with these two fresh offerings. The title track "Acqua" is a joyful upbeat song with a steady 6/8 groove accompanied by optimistic flutes, winding saxophones and a multitude of arpeggiated synthesizers.

The B side, "Tema Cinque", is more like an electro ballad with a hypnotic drum machine that provides the back drop to luscious sweeping pads and a moody soprano saxophone solo. These two tracks give listeners another taste of what's to come from Lorenzo
Morresi and Tenderlonious' forthcoming album, which is due for release on 22a later in 2022.

Gold Vinyl

Madrid based artist _asstnt returns to his Opera 2000 label with a four tracks EP entitled "Love War" EP.

At the age of 14, _asstnt found in music a way to tell stories. In Madrid, his hometown, he discovered techno and embodied this musical genre to turn it into his own language. With his particular style, he bursts onto the scene again with this EP called "Love War". Love and war, two antonyms that end up merging through a mixture of romantic and melancholic sounds, along with the dirty roars characteristic of hardtechno. This trip through good lovin', a journey between heaven and hell, features the version of his admired partner, SlugoS, who adds the finishing touch on this four-track EP.

"Love War" delves into the origins of the artist and dares to mix flamenco rhythms with acid. The zapateado and the cajon, two of the most characteristic sounds of Spanish folklore, are presented in the song accompanied by an hypnotic vocal that is soaked in techno 303. The journey continues with "Catwoman Spotlight", which crosses a rainy and gray city with a seductive female voice as a guide. A sharp, and metallic snare takes over to give way to a warlike melancholy that takes us to heaven and gets broken by a stimulating and unsympathetic electric guitar.

The end of the celestial opens the gates of hell for us with "Track For The Apocalypse". The frenetic start is on a hard beat, a beastly crunch that progressively introduces us into the apocalyptic atmosphere with aggressive percussion. The atmosphere develops with a paralyzing break in which we can hear the passage of the riders threatening with the arrival of the end. The Berlinbased artist from Madrid, SlugoS, does a reading of the song at a 4/4 rhythm while offering a respite to the bass drum that maintains the crunch of _asstnt injecting his hard and raw style into the track.

The Ring Orchestra is an eight-person effort, a collective coming together to tackle opera and one of the genre’s controversial poster boys. 18 compositions, the artists Born in Flamez, Gil Schneider, Simonne Jones, Leo Luchini, Legion Seven, P.A. Hülsenbeck, Isa GT, and Ixa create a collaborative musical score that uses Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen as the point of departure. Originally, the music was cre-ated for a staging of Der Ring des Nibelungen at Schauspielhaus Zürich, directed by Christopher Rüping and written by Necati Öziri. Far from being an affirmative tribute, the orchestra sets out to decon-struct and break down what Wagner and his opus magnum represent: collaboration over singularity and openness instead of conservative rigidity. The resulting score doesn’t shy away from ambivalence by de-centralizing authorship and encompassing everything from ambient to pop, reggaeton, and a wider vari-ety of non-western musical influences.

THE ELECTRONIC VISIONARIES RETURN WITH THEIR NEW STUDIO
ALBUM
.On their new album 'Raum', Tangerine Dream develop the concept of its
precursor EP (Probe 6—8) further
Composed & produced with full access to Edgar Froese's Cubase arrangements
(& Otari Tape Archive with recordings from 1977-2013), Thorsten Quaeschning,
Hoshiko Yamane & Paul Frick deliver late-night real time compositions combined
with classic studio productions, sequencer driven haunting soundscapes
alternate with anthemic warm synthesizers.
Composed in a time of social distancing & cancelled shows, the tracks cannot
exactly be recreated (or will at least need significant re-instrumentation for a live
performance). With the 17-minute 'In 256 Zeichen', they lay the fundament of this
record. 'Continuum', with its repetitive sequence & broken beat shows glimpses of
acid sounds & increasing choral atmospheres. 'You Are Always On Time' is built
on PPG wavetable sounds & eerie field recordings. The title track 'Raum' makes a
nod towards the early live studio performances like 'Zeit' & 'Phaedra' - the melody
accompanied by a chorus- like Roland Jupiter 8 part. An ambient rave Moog
Minitaur sequence highlights the final peak, till the violin slowly transports the
listener out. A heavy Moog bass marks the beginning & the end of this 15-minute
piece.
'Raum' is the band's second studio album after the passing of the founder Edgar
Froese in 2015. With deep respect for the sound of the previous five decades, this
record continues in the ever-evolving pathway of Tangerine Dream.
The band will be supporting the release of 'Raum' with live shows in 2022, starting
with an extensive headline tour of the UK in March. 'Raum' will be released as a 7
track CD presented in a digipak with a 12-page booklet

Jesse B Weaver, since christened Schoolly D, is one of the most iconic
figures in rap music.
Within the hip-hop industry, Schoolly is considered to be the creator of
gangster rap via his globally acclaimed singles 'P.S.K.' and 'Gucci Time'
Schoolly D has transcended the boundaries of genre and created "rap" music that
has been integrated in films, animated series and sampled by some of the most
prolific acts in music including Beastie Boys, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Lil Wayne
and The Chemical Brothers.
Deemed a "pioneer" by Jay-Z (Decoded, 09) and credited by Ice-T as releasing the
first gangsta rap record (Props Magazine), Schoolly D's career has given
inspiration to countless musicians and fans alike. Songs like 'Gucci Time',
'Saturday Night' and 'P.S.K. What Does It Mean?' have become classics and
illustrate the uncompromising narrative that has become synonymous with the
hardcore gangsta rap of the eighties. His true-to-life lyrics give a snapshot of the
streets of his hometown, Philadelphia, and the influences that drugs and gang life
had on him as a young man. Today, Schoolly D has an almost cult-like following,
as his music continues to be referential. Even younger generations have been
turned onto him thanks to his work with Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
This release is Schoolly's 2021 album 'Cuz Schoolly D Is Crazy' and features a
remake of his classic 'P.S.K.' with appearances by B-Real from Cypress Hill and
Too Short. The album also features appearances by Chuck D and Ice- T. The
album was recorded using the same studio and production of his legendary first
three albums. It's reminiscent of his early work and showcases his rhythmic raps,
mastery of beats and sometimes-explicit lyrics, proving the lasting power of one
of rap's legendary b-boys.

Brand new album by the legendary Swamp Dogg.In 1954, 12 year old
Jerry Williams, then performing under the name Little Jerry Williams,
made his first recording for Mechanic Records, a blues stomp with a
shockingly mature vocal performance - Through the 60"s Williams' career
developed with a number of successful singles, including 'I'm the Lover
Man' and 'Baby You're My Everything', as well as writing and producing
hits for Dee Dee Warwick, Doris Duke, and Patti LaBelle and the Blue
Belles. It was in 1970, however, that the full extent of Williams' eccentric
creative genius was unleashed on the world for the first time, with the
birth of his musical alter-ego, Swamp Dogg
Created to 'occupy the body while the search party was out looking for Jerry
Williams, who was mentally missing in action due to certain pressures, maltreatments and failure to get paid royalties on over fifty single records,' the
Swamp Dogg alias, still in use today, allowed Williams to create music that was
bolder, raunchier, and more honest to his creative instincts. The Dogg's cult
classic debut 'Total Destruction to Your Mind' struck a powerful blend of Williams
classic soulful sensibilities and the blooming psychedelia of the time. Infused in
the swirling brew is Swamp's blink- and- you'll- miss- it humor, a number of acid
odes, and a heavy dose of sharp political insight. Though the psychedelic
strangeness alienated R&B fans of the time, and the authentic R&B infrastructure
prevented it from clicking with hippie audiences, it has retroactively received
legendary status in cult music circles.Now, 50 years after Total Destruction
introduced Swamp Dogg to an unprepared world, and nearly 70 since Little Jerry
Williams went into the studio for Mechanic, Williams brings us I Need A Job' So I
Can Buy More Autotune. A spiritual successor to 2018"s hit Love, Loss and
Autotune, this album continues to push Swamp's sonic exploration of the effect
as one of his many creative weapons. In the extended tradition of Total
Destruction, Swamp Dogg's 2021 LP neatly balances sleek modern production
techniques with that classic Dogg sound that has anchored William's music since
the 70s. Subtle yet soulful drumming, skin- tight horn grooves and meandering
funk guitar leads create a sonic landscape fitting Swamp Dogg's iconic croon,
occasionally drenched in the titular autotune. At 78, Swamp Dogg is as sharp of a
singer and songwriter as ever. His raunchy yet charismatic sense of humor takes
a more forward role on I Need a Job' So I Can Buy More Autotune, with earnestly
delivered lyrics about all day sex and an entire song dedicated to the perils of
'Cheating in the Daylight.' Many of the record's most charming moments emerge
from the juxtaposition of Swamp's left field humor with genuine messages of
love, such as 'She Got That Fire', which weaves descriptions of imagined sex acts,
including but not limited to an encounter involving edible underwear, in between
relatively wholesome proclamations like 'she must be an angel on earth,' and
'when she looks at you, it's like sunshine from her eyes'. I Need a Job does more
than prove that Swamp's still got it, it proves he's still getting better.

"The beauty of Jiha's work lies in the spaces she leaves" - The Guardian
The highly acclaimed Korean multi-instrumentalist and composer Park
Jiha, returns with a luminous third album
A deep meditation on the intersection of music and light, The Gleam further
extends Jiha's reputation for uncompromising sonic explorations. Pop Matters
called her musical art "a near flawless fusion of folk tradition and new
composition."
How often do we consider light? We revel in the soft wonder of a sunrise or the
majesty of a glorious sunset, but all through the day its quality and texture is
continually changing, second by second, in ways we rarely register. That beauty is
the inspiration for The Gleam.
"The Gleam continues Park Jiha's solo expedition into experimental Korean
neoclassical braindance. Once again, she plays all the instruments herself – piri
(an oboe), saenghwang (a multi-pipe mouth organ), yanggeum (a dulcimer) and
glockenspiel – overdubbing multiple parts to build songs that shimmer with
levels and degrees of light." - The Wire: Adventures In Modern Music Upcoming
live shows

Exploring hybrid music styles and outernational, borderless musical influences, DJ soFa’s Elsewhere compilation series continues with a sixth instalment, and the second to appear on Kalahari Oyster Cult.

Always ahead of the tide, the Kalahari Oyster is a fine specimen when it comes to the discipline of next-level sound-snooping. Meticulously curated by Belgian sonic globetrotter soFa, Elsewhere XX showcases a dozen outstanding tunes, each dwelling in their own personal space between the imaginary worlds of post-kraut, DIY synth-punk and odd-pop ballads.

Melting these genres with contemporary club music is the mission here. Doused in a thick fog of arcane machine talk, tribal rhythms and cosmic synths, Elsewhere XX is an invitation to escape the hall of LED-backlit mirrors that we’ve so mistakenly come to call our “reality”.

Gathering artists from all corners of the globe – including Radio Hito, Anatolian Weapons, Eylul Deniz, Dame Area and Electronic Body Girl – soFa’s curation lays the groundwork for a unique and thoroughly immersive listening and dancing experience. Through a carefully selected suite of like-minded, yet diverse joints, we run the gamut from distorted funk (“Anita”, “Confiture") and cross-pollinated electroid blueprints (“Walk Away”, “An Abhainn Mhor") to oddball synthpop (“Credo” & Twin Peaks cover "She Can't Die"), reverb-soaked audio safaris (“Fifty Fifty (Anatolian Weapons Dub)") and static-filled postpunk (“Umani”).

soFa's Elsewhere series started in 2017 and this is the sixth compilation to date. Shifting focus with every new instalment, the compilations have previously appeared on labels likes Music For Dreams, Emotional Response and Crevette Records.

Together, sisters Noa, Naomi and Nataja form the band Velvet Volume. Things have moved quickly for the trio since their first concert in 2013. They have already released two albums, played at a myriad of festivals such as Northside, Tinderbox, Smukfest, Reeperbahn, Eurosonic, JA JA JA, Musik i Lejet, Rolling Stone weekender and Alive Festival. They have also performed at both The Crown Prince Couple's Awards, Gaffa Award and several times at P6 Beat Rocker. Velvet Volume has always been the guarantor of a fantastic live experience, where the audience gets to feel the sibling-energy, with all its synergy, love, and temperament - they are sisters with the same origin, but they are also three women, three individuals, and three personalities, unfolding the second they enter the stage. With new music on the way, they continue the study of their own musicality, which stands as an independent and unique sound in the Danish music landscape. What started as three girls playing rock music has now evolved into three young women who are so much more than that and who challenge the genre melodically and musically. Deep engagement to their different instruments – Bas, Guitar and Drums taking their playing to new heights and also now dareing to thing and work with more melody and listener friendly productions. Their third album “nest”will be released in Feb. 2022.

His last LP has barely touched record store shelves and Ivan ave is back with a EP for Mutual Intentions. Mid Season finds Ivan Ave in bloom as he evokes the sounds of
spring on his latest offering. The EP title also refers to a mid-album-recording process, which Ave currently finds himself in. Mid Season gives the listener insight into a
forthcoming full length album, entitled All Season Gear.
The prolific Norwegian rapper continues to charm with a seductive baritone that blows like a cool breeze through the production’s warm accompaniment. Dusty drum
machines under glacial keys and guitars offer a platform from which Ivan waxes lyrical about everything that touches him. He has crafted a unique voice in Hip Hop echelons, finding quirky analogies in the mundane. While in the past, he could find a parable for love in a bicycle lock or existential questions in an worn out sock, he turns his
attention increasingly to social realities.
He regularly takes aim at the ridiculous aspects of our contemporary society throughout Mid Season, with lyrics that poke fun as much they ask what the fuck?
“Spotify owner 'bout to buy a whole ball team… That mean I own a corner flag or some seats at least?,” he sings on «What a Day!!!». The record is peppered with these
types of anecdotal metaphors that come together like a social media story through a bionic AI. Ivan Ave is the product of this generation and it’s only right he should reflect
that. He does it in a unique way that requires the listener to untangle these preternatural allegories.
Playing with a dichotomy of words, he doesn’t labour on a thought before he’s lazily propelled onto the next at the turn of each bar. His laissez faire approach is only
emboldened by the slow moving percussion and keys that have come to define his sound. Picking up on early nineties influences from the likes of Native Tongues or Dilla,
the music on Mid Season continues to reassess and revolutionise these archetypes. It’s in the keyboard sounds of this latest EP, that Ivan Ave and producers have found
yet another new evolution in his sound.
Synthesisers that sound like they belong to a Maynard Ferguson record rather than a Hip Hop EP make the record come alive over a chugging and forceful rhythm section. It provides an airy and playful contrast to the more serious elements on the track, and much like Ivan Ave’s lyrical prowess offers an extra layer of depth that often
eludes Hip Hop’s most successful stars. The more you listen to Ivan Ave the more you get entrenched in his work and Mid Season continues to send the artist on an
exciting trajectory.

Following the collaborative releases with DJ Duckcomb, Emotional Rescue teams with “discodub” specialist NAD aka Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys) in the continual documentation of the crucial role played by the Caribbean diaspora in Britain’s music history.

Of the many who have made a mark, Clifton “Sonny” Roberts maybe one of the most unheralded. Upon arrival in the early migration from the Caribbean, Roberts used his carpentry vocation to build and operate the first Jamaican recording studio and then black owned record shop in the country.

Working alongside and sharing offices with a young Chris Blackwell and Trojan founder, Lee Gopthal, Roberts’ trailblazing through his Planetone and Orbitone labels were pivotal in bringing first Ska, then Reggae and on to Lovers Rock to prominence, as well as releasing influential Afrobeat and rising Disco sounds of the day.

It is on the sub-label Cartridge that the mega-rarity I Want You appeared in summer 1982. Teaming up with vocalist Joseph “Remy” Martin, the original 12” is a wonderful mixture of all their influences; soulful vocals, unrelenting boogie groove, afro keys, all pinned by reggae bass.

A heavily saturated Discomix is then created by Dan Tyler aka NAD. A dub masterclass with live desk filter passes and flanging, all running through spring reverb for a true Tubby disco-rockers ride, this is a sound system treasure with more to follow soon.

Snowmelt is a new record by Australian artists Seaworthy (aka Cameron Webb) and Matt Rosner, the long awaited follow up from their 2010 collaboration Two Lakes. Matt Rosner continues to explore the natural world to inspire his work based out of remote Western Australia. His most recent release being No Lasting Form (Room40). Webb's output as Seaworthy has been sparse in recent years as he continues to pursue a career in environmental research, focusing on urban wetlands and their ecosystems. This marks the first substantial release since Wood, Winter, Hollow, a collaboration with Taylor Deupree in 2013.

Khruangbin and Leon Bridges announce their latest collaborative EP, ‘Texas Moon’, out on Dead Oceans.

 An extension of the two’s chart-topping four-song ‘Texas Sun’ journey, ‘Texas Moon’ is an introspective stroll through the dark. “Without joy, there can be no real perspective on sorrow,” say Khruangbin. “Without sunlight, all this rain keeps things from growing. How can you have the sun without the moon?”

 Crediting their mutual home state for inspiration, ‘Texas Moon’ pensively examines Texas’ musical perception, while paying homage to the marriage of country and R&B that’s become synonymous with the lone star state. Propelled by rolling guitar licks, conga and bongo, lead single ‘B-Side’ meditates on meeting in a dream and frolics across the nearing contemplative night-time state with its longing joy.

 Elsewhere on ‘Texas Moon’, the artists channel a newly intimate musical scope that’s illustrated most dramatically when the spacy sensuality of the minimalistic ‘Chocolate Hills’ leads into the stark spirituality addressed on ‘Father Father’, a reminder of both acts’ gospel roots. Over a simple rolling guitar figure, Bridges pleads with the heavens - “Look at the mess that I made / Just a man with unclean hands” - only to be reminded of God’s eternal love.

 For Khruangbin, one song in particular was indicative of the trust that Bridges put in them. “The song ‘Doris’ is about his grandmother making the transition from this world to the next realm,” says Khruangbin’s Donald Ray ‘DJ’ Johnson Jr. “It’s a very somber, very deep record. And when someone places that kind of work into your
hands, the last thing you want to do is junk it up, overproduce it, or do too much. We treated it with the respect it deserved, and treated Doris with the respect she deserves.”

 “It’s like a short story...,” says the band’s Laura Lee of the music. “And it leaves room to continue having these stories together. It’s not Khruangbin, it’s not Leon, it’s this world we created together.”

 Upon its release, ‘Texas Sun’ soared to the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart along with landing the No.1 on spot on Americana/Folk Albums, among many others. Significantly, both parties’ musical directions were deeply affected by their time working together on ‘Texas Sun’.

 Khruangbin’s most recent studio album, ‘Mordechai’, moved their own vocals to the forefront, a change they readily admit was a direct result of working with Bridges.
Their sound was also tapped for remix / reinterpretation of a Paul McCartney song for the ‘McCartney III Imagined’ project. Meanwhile, in addition to his genre-defying Grammy-nominated album ‘Gold-Digger’s Sound’, Bridges has put out several other challenging, shared collaborative tracks, including work with John Mayer, Lucky Daye and, most recently, Jazmine Sullivan. Each of the artists appeared recently on Austin City Limits and will tour throughout the new year.

BIOHAZARD formed in Brooklyn in 1988 and soon after released their first demo. The band consisted of founding members Billy Graziadei (vocals, guitar), Bobby Hambel (lead guitar) and Evan Seinfeld (vocals, bass). After the release of their second demo in 1989, drummer Anthony Meo left the band and drummer Danny Schuler replaced him. BIOHAZARD released their combined the urban sounds of hard-core, metal and rap with scorching lyrics describing the forces at work in our modern urban lives. With an impressive career spanning over 20 years with 10 albums (on both indie and major labels), the band sold over 5 million records. In 1990, Biohazard signed a recording contract with Maze Records. The band's self-titled debut album was poorly promoted by the label and sold approximately 40,000 copies. The album's subject matter revolved around Brooklyn, gang-wars, drugs, and violence.

In 1992, Biohazard signed with Roadrunner Records and released Urban Discipline, which gave the band national and worldwide attention in both the heavy metal and hardcore communities. The video for the song "Punishment" became the most played video in the history of MTV's Headbanger's Ball, and the album sold over one million copies. The band also began opening for larger acts such as Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, House of Pain, Fishbone, and The Cro-Mags. In 1993, the hardcore rap group Onyx brought on Billy Graziadei for an alternate "Bionyx" version of their hit single "Slam" with Biohazard as their backup band. This led to a collaboration on the title track of the Judgment Night soundtrack. The soundtrack would go on to sell over two million copies in the United States. Months later, the band left Roadrunner Records and signed with Warner Bros. Records Inc. who released their third studio LP, State of the World Address. The album was produced by Ed Stasium in Los Angeles and contained the single "How It Is" featuring Sen Dog of Cypress Hill, for which a video was also shot. During their 1994 tour, the band made an appearance on the second stage at the Monsters of Rock festival held at Castle Donington. State of the World Address went on to sell over one million copies, and Rolling Stone magazine selected the Biohazard logo as the best logo of the year.

This was the last Biohazard album with Bobby Hambel, who left due to differences with the rest of the band. The band recorded their fourth studio album, Mata Leao, as a three piece in 1996. It was produced with the help of Dave Jerden. For the 1996-97 Mata Leao Tour, former Helmet guitarist Rob Echeverria joined the band. The band also played on the Ozzfest mainstage alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Danzig, Fear Factory, and Sepultura. While touring Europe in support of the Mata Leao album, the band recorded their Hamburg, Germany, show for their first live album, No Holds Barred (Live in Europe), which was released in 1997 through their former label, Roadrunner Records. The band signed to Mercury Records and released their fifth studio album, New World Disorder, in 1999, once again with Ed Stasium as a producer.

The relationship with Mercury Records soured quickly as the band felt betrayed and misunderstood by the label. They severed their ties with the label amidst the merger of Mercury Records, Island Records, Def Jam Records, and Polygram into the Universal Music Group. The following year, Biohazard signed two new record deals with SPV/Steamhammer in Europe and Sanctuary Records for the remainder of the world. Despite the new record deals, the band took some personal time in order to work on other projects. Graziadei and Schuler also collaborated in transforming the band's rehearsal Brooklyn studio into a digital recording studio, known as Rat Piss Studios and soon after changed the name to Underground Sound Studios. Re-investing into the band, Graziadei and Schuler honed their engineering and productions skills while recording and producing local acts and new Biohazard demos. The band then undertook the process of writing, recording, and producing their own music. Their studio work led to the band's sixth studio album, Uncivilization, released in September 2001.
The album featured several guest appearances by members of bands such as Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Pantera, Slipknot, Sepultura, Cypress Hill, Skarhead, and Type O Negative. Shortly after the release of Uncivilization, guitarist Leo Curley left the band and was replaced by former Nucleus member Carmine Vincent, who had previously toured with Biohazard as part of their road crew. The band had to cancel scheduled European festival dates when Carmine Vincent underwent major surgery. The band did manage to find a temporary guitarist, Scott Roberts, formerly of the Cro-Mags and the Spudmonsters, in time to join the Eastpak Resistance Tour with Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Discipline, Death Threat, Born From Pain and All Boro Kings. Biohazard completed their seventh studio album in seventeen days; Kill Or Be Killed was released in 2003. While touring North America with Kittie, Brand New Sin and Eighteen Visions, Biohazard announced that Roberts would remain as their permanent lead guitarist. The tour was curtailed when it was announced that Seinfeld had fallen ill. With more downtime due to Seinfeld's illness, Graziadei and Schuler collaborated to mix Life of Agony's live comeback album, River Runs Again: Live 2003. Once Seinfeld was healthy again, the band toured Japan and North America, headlining over bands such as Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Throwdown, and Full Blown Chaos.

By the end of 2003, the band had begun recording its eighth studio album, Means To An End. The completed album was lost in a studio disaster, forcing the band to completely re-record the album, which was finally released in August 2005. In October 2004, Graziadei announced that Means To An End had been the final Biohazard album and that he would continue playing with his new band Suicide City as his main focus. One month later, on the Biohazard website, it was announced that there would in fact be a 2005 Biohazard tour. On December 15, 2005, Seinfeld and Graziadei participated in the Roadrunner United conglomerate event at the Nokia Theater in New York for an all-star event. The show opened with Biohazard's "Punishment," performed by Seinfeld, Graziadei, Sepultura's Andreas Kisser, former Fear Factory member Dino Cazares, and Slipknot's Joey Jordison. Graziadei and Schuler relocated their recording studio to South Amboy, New Jersey and renamed it Underground Sound Studios. The studio was renovated to include a live room with 20-foot (6.1 m) ceilings and 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of studio space. After Schuler's departure from the studio business, Graziadei relocated the studio to Los Angeles and changed the name to Firewater Studios. In January 2008, the classic lineup of Evan Seinfeld, Billy Graziadei, Danny Schuler and Bobby Hambel made the announcement that rehearsals had begun for a 2008 summer tour to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary. They toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Chimaira, Throwdown, Bloodsimple and headliners Korn to celebrate their newly declared reunion. The band also took part in Persistence Tour 2009, and announced at one of their shows that they were working on a new record. Biohazard brought in producer Toby Wright to work on the album and after several months at Graziadei's Firewater Studios in Los Angeles, the band completed their recording sessions. In June 2011, Biohazard announced that Evan Seinfeld had quit the band and Scott Roberts returned to replace Seinfeld for two UK dates but no decision regarding a permanent replacement was made. In January 2012, the band decided that Scott Roberts would remain with the band as a permanent member. The new album, Reborn In Defiance, was released worldwide, with the exception of North America, on January 20, 2012 through the Nuclear Blast label. In support of the album, Biohazard embarked on a short co-headlining tour of Europe with Suicidal Tendencies in the latter half of January 2012. After touring the world in support of Reborn in Defiance, the band entered the studio to work on a new release and after a falling out, Roberts departed the band.

Biohazard remains as it’s core founding members of Graziadei, Shuler and Hambel. Graziadei has since ventured off onto a solo career as BillyBio and teamed up with Cypress Hill frontman Sendog to start Powerflo. Both groups are working on their second releases due out late 2021 and early 2022.

The Nonesuch debut of Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra), LIFE ON EARTH, is a departure for the Bronx-born, New Orleans-based singer/songwriter. Its eleven new “nature punk” tracks on the theme of survival are music for a world in flux – songs about thriving, not just surviving, while disaster is happening. Hurray for the Riff Raff tours North America this spring, beginning March 19 in Atlanta and continuing through April 20 in Nashville, with stops in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, among others. International tour dates will be announced shortly.

For her eighth full-length album, Segarra (they/she) drew inspiration from The Clash, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bad Bunny, and the author of Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown. Recorded during the pandemic, Life on Earth was produced by Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver, Kevin Morby).

Life on Earth’s first single, ‘RHODODENDRON’, is about “finding rebellion in plant life. Being called by the natural world and seeing the life that surrounds you in a way you never have. A mind expansion. A psychedelic trip. A spiritual breakthrough. Learning to adapt, and being open to the wisdom of your landscape. Being called to fix things in your own backyard, your own community,” says Segarra.

Of the ‘Rhododendron’ video, which was directed by New Orleans-based artist Lucia Honey, Segarra says: “It is really far out and fun. I got this bodysuit that just looks like the inside of the human body. It looks like you’re skinless. It’s in a scene where I’m playing to an audience of plants. Just really absurd, but I put that suit on and I was like man, this feels really good. It feels like, ‘This is who I am. Let’s just take the skin off.’

“It reminds me a little bit of Kids in the Hall,” they continue. “With this ‘Rhododendron’ shoot, something clicked in me where I was like, ‘All I have to do is be myself.’ I had been thinking that I had to be something bigger than myself. I felt like I was just never quite making the mark and then something clicked where I was like, ‘I just gotta be me. I could do that. I could show up and be me. And if people don’t like it, then I don’t know what to fucking tell them.’ It was like a brain shift of, ‘Oh, this can be fun. It doesn’t have to be suffering.’ With so many videos and photo shoots before, it really felt like suffering. I felt so uncomfortable being perceived. I didn’t know who I was.”

Honey adds: “We wanted to create something surreal, playful, and saturated that indulged heavily in the aesthetic of the early ‘90s. Alynda and I had many overlapping visual and philosophical references which sparked the initial collaboration. We wanted to make this video an homage to Gregg Araki’s Teenage Apocalypse trilogy but as a nature documentary crossover. I came across Araki’s work as a queer teenager, and he’s always been a big inspiration. Sex, blood, punk rock, camp, etc.

“We live in a moment where the future is bleaker and more unknown than ever, so there becomes a deep comfort in nostalgia and reliving the past. Through our talks, I realised Alynda’s new album touches on many of these same subjects, but perhaps in reverse; running from a past that is always haunting you. Shifting into a more refined self/identity through confronting one’s trauma and baggage. It was easy to reach collaborative synergy for this video project because we’re both interested in tackling similar issues.”

Alynda Segarra was born and raised in the Bronx, which they left at the age of seventeen, running away from everything and everyone they knew, hopping freight trains or hitchhiking across the country in the company of a band of street urchins. Segarra moved to New Orleans in 2007 and formed two bands: Dead Man’s Street Orchestra and Hurray for the Riff Raff. In 2015, Segarra decamped to Nashville, then to New York, to make her most recent album, 2016’s critically praised The Navigator, an ambitious and fully realized concept album that was her quest to reclaim her Puerto Rican identity. Segarra’s previous records as Hurray for the Riff Raff are Crossing the Rubicon (EP, 2007), It Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You (2008), Young Blood Blues (2010), Hurray for the Riff Raff (2011), Look Out Mama (2012), My Dearest Darkest Neighbor (2013), and Small Town Heroes (2014).

Tape

The occult and folk music have been friends for a while. In the 21st century, hauntology and the resurface of some cult soundtracks from the 1970s and 1980s helped to create a new sense of folk, not associated with the typical acoustic feeling, but more relatable with library, krautrock/kosmische and industrial music. João Kyron and Tony Watts, long time collaborators since the late 1990s with their band Hipnótica, and more recently with Beautify Junkyards (Ghost Box) are well acquainted with this friendship. Hidden Horse is their new project as a duo and “Opala” their first release.

With eight tracks and almost thirty minutes, their first release explores dense and greyish urban utopias. The song titles explore ideas that mix sci-fi, horror, science, space and urban phobia, and the music Kyron and Watts create delivers, using electronics and drums with great relish. Their relationship as musicians, which spans more than two decades, can be felt in the way their music flows with a continuous dialogue.

“Opala” is always keen to take you to another dimension. It lives in its own twilight zone, where the obscure entangles the most obvious senses of reality. It sounds like Jacques Tati “Playtime” with a hauntology soundtrack: it kind of feels that this imaginary world is real, but it’s not. And it sucks you in to be a part of it and enjoy it: close your eyes and let yourself go while listening to “Levitação Magnética” or “Fantasmas do Planeta”. You will feel like a foreigner in a new city.

In 2020 double bassist and composer Lara Rosseel was thé revelation of the Belgian jazz scene. With her album 'De Grote Vrouw' she managed to conquer the hearts of jazz aficionados. Her compositions are firmly rooted in the jazz tradition but spiced up with exotic influences, balancing on that enviable border between mystery and recognisability. Music that didn't rely on boastful gymnastics, but a loud beating heart tailored to a wide audience.

Now Rosseel is continuing this journey of conquest with a young quintet and a new repertoire. Foundation and fantasy are key in her arrangements, intimate digressions and fine sound paintings.

The new album Hert is released on WERF Records on 18 March 2022.

The meaning of the Blues whether sung, moaned or
shouted is a reflection of the troubled performer's
soul and there is little doubt that John Lee Hooker
was one of the most successful Blues artists that
ever lived. This collection of songs express twelve
chapters of a novel from a Blues icon who's music
continues to inspire with a legacy that lives on.

Additional Artists: McCoy Tyner Wynton Kelly Paul Chambers Jimmy Cobb Elvin Jones Steve Davis

John Coltrane's Coltrane Jazz on 180g 45RPM 2LP from ORG Music!

180g 45rpm Double LP Mastered From Original Analog Tapes!

Pressed at Pallas and Mastered by Bernie Grundman!

Mastered from the Original Master Tapes : You Will Not Hear a Better Analog Version

Meticulous LP Pressing Boasts Incredible Tones and Presence

1960 Atlantic Set Followed Groundbreaking Giant Steps

Originally released in 1960, and on the heels of Giant Steps, Coltrane Jazz came in the midst of the saxophonist's peak Atlantic period. The album is among several recordings that Coltrane issued from 1959-1961, and which, ultimately, forever changed the face of music.

Featuring pianists Wynton Kelly and McCoy Tyner, bassists Paul Chambers and Steve Davis, and drummers Elvin Jones and Jimmy Cobb, the set was recorded at three separate sessions. The expert personnel are a harbinger of the great quartet Coltrane soon would assemble for 1960's My Favorite Things. And while not as famous as that iconic title, Coltrane Jazz belongs in the pantheon of phenomenal jazz albums and is an absolute must for any music fan.

In addition to boasting superior performances and playing, the set marks Trane's first use of multiphonics, the practice of extracting more than one tone at a time from the horn, which here, and unlike on any other Coltrane record, is querulously pitched, allowing him to explore new tonalities on tracks such as "Harmonique." Innovations abound. Every cut is an original composition save for Johnny Mercer's "My Shining Hour." Not surprisingly, Miles Davis' influence is felt throughout; his rhythm section is used on all but one selection.

ORG Music continues its praiseworthy archival vinyl series, presenting this landmark jazz effort cut at 45RPM and on first-rate 180g vinyl. Mastered from the original master tapes with meticulous care, Coltrane Jazz teems with new life, with the headliner's horn playing and tonalities assuming lifelike richness, boldness, and presence. The supporting cast's movements and fills are heard in pristine clarity, and the airiness that all jazz lovers prize is here in spades.

Musicians:

John Coltrane, tenor sax
McCoy Tyner, piano (on "Village Blues")
Steve Davis, bass (on "Village Blues")
Elvin Jones, drums (on "Village Blues")
Wynton Kelly, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Jimmy Cobb, drums

Curated by Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono is various artist project covering songs of Yoko Ono compiled here by a generation-spanning group of musicians for whom her work has meant so much. It will feature contributions from David Byrne, Deerhoof, Death Cab For Cutie, The Flaming Lips, Japanese Breakfast, Jay Som, Stephin Merritt, Sharon Van Etten, Yo La Tengo & more and will be out on vinyl & CD on the February 18th 2022 with a portion of proceeds to go to WhyHunger.

On an album born out of both love and frustration, Ben evokes “the seemingly bottomless well of inspiration and enjoyment” that Yoko Ono’s music has provided, both for him and everyone else present on this compilation. “As an advocate, the tallest hurdle to clear has always been the public’s ignorance as to the breadth of Yoko’s work” he continues, as “she has consistently created melodies as memorable as those of the best pop writers”. It is his sincere hope that a new crop of Yoko Ono fans fall in love with her songwriting due in small part to this album that they have put together.

Khruangbin and Leon Bridges announce their latest collaborative EP, ‘Texas Moon’, out on Dead Oceans.

 An extension of the two’s chart-topping four-song ‘Texas Sun’ journey, ‘Texas Moon’ is an introspective stroll through the dark. “Without joy, there can be no real perspective on sorrow,” say Khruangbin. “Without sunlight, all this rain keeps things from growing. How can you have the sun without the moon?”

 Crediting their mutual home state for inspiration, ‘Texas Moon’ pensively examines Texas’ musical perception, while paying homage to the marriage of country and R&B that’s become synonymous with the lone star state. Propelled by rolling guitar licks, conga and bongo, lead single ‘B-Side’ meditates on meeting in a dream and frolics across the nearing contemplative night-time state with its longing joy.

 Elsewhere on ‘Texas Moon’, the artists channel a newly intimate musical scope that’s illustrated most dramatically when the spacy sensuality of the minimalistic ‘Chocolate Hills’ leads into the stark spirituality addressed on ‘Father Father’, a reminder of both acts’ gospel roots. Over a simple rolling guitar figure, Bridges pleads with the heavens - “Look at the mess that I made / Just a man with unclean hands” - only to be reminded of God’s eternal love.

 For Khruangbin, one song in particular was indicative of the trust that Bridges put in them. “The song ‘Doris’ is about his grandmother making the transition from this world to the next realm,” says Khruangbin’s Donald Ray ‘DJ’ Johnson Jr. “It’s a very somber, very deep record. And when someone places that kind of work into your
hands, the last thing you want to do is junk it up, overproduce it, or do too much. We treated it with the respect it deserved, and treated Doris with the respect she deserves.”

 “It’s like a short story...,” says the band’s Laura Lee of the music. “And it leaves room to continue having these stories together. It’s not Khruangbin, it’s not Leon, it’s this world we created together.”

 Upon its release, ‘Texas Sun’ soared to the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart along with landing the No.1 on spot on Americana/Folk Albums, among many others. Significantly, both parties’ musical directions were deeply affected by their time working together on ‘Texas Sun’.

 Khruangbin’s most recent studio album, ‘Mordechai’, moved their own vocals to the forefront, a change they readily admit was a direct result of working with Bridges.
Their sound was also tapped for remix / reinterpretation of a Paul McCartney song for the ‘McCartney III Imagined’ project. Meanwhile, in addition to his genre-defying Grammy-nominated album ‘Gold-Digger’s Sound’, Bridges has put out several other challenging, shared collaborative tracks, including work with John Mayer, Lucky Daye and, most recently, Jazmine Sullivan. Each of the artists appeared recently on Austin City Limits and will tour throughout the new year.

"Même Soleil" is the result of a dialog between the French photographer Gaël Bonnefon and the French musician Frédéric D. Oberland initiated by IIKKI, between December 2019 and June 2021.

Self-taught multi-instrumentalist & photographer, Frédéric D. Oberland finds himself at the crossroads of image and sound, favoring a synesthetic approach. He articulates different modes of narration, combining the raw character of the documentary form with the transfigured reality of myth and poetry, allowing him to question notions such as the sacred, the monstrous, the fraternity, while at the same time returning to the political news of the present. Attentive to the pulse of the body, his work is willingly itinerant, modulating between the ripples of dreams, watching the points of incandescence and the bursts of electricity that act as revelations of our presence in the world, here and now. He’s the co-founder of leading bands such as Oiseaux-Tempête, FOUDRE!, Le Réveil des Tropiques, FareWell Poetry and is co-curating the label NAHAL Recordings.

"Fueled by travels and their emanations, Frédéric D. Oberland’s music had to build new horizons this year, outlined by the curves of semi-modular synthesizers, the avalanches of effect pedals and the zigzagging paths of electric circuits. Même Soleil, his third solo album, manages to merge mystical visions of the unconscious and the absurdity of an apocalyptic present in a sensory whirlwind, operating an astonishing mutation with tones still unexplored in his previous releases. A visual as well as a musical journey that takes shape in a book and a record of the same title, Même Soleil is the result of a collaboration with the photographer Gaël Bonnefon. Seeking the tension between the blinding light of day and the glittering visions of saturated night skies, the two pieces in dialogue transcend reality to deliver their own truth, as bright as the first light of the sought-after morning." (Alice Butterlin)

Gaël Bonnefon graduated with highest honours from the Fine Arts School of Toulouse (Isdat) in 2008. He has exhibited at Villa Pérochon, at the Eté photographique in Lectoure, at the 104 in Paris during Jeune Création 2012, at Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles and at PhotoEspaña, at the Abattoirs Museum in Toulouse in 2014, at the Château d’Eau Gallery in 2012 and 2019 and in the Vitrine of Frac Île-de-France in 2020. His work is part of the collections of Frac Midi-Pyrénées, Château d'Eau gallery, Kulturamt in Dusseldorf and Kiyosato Museum in Japan ; he participated in Temps Zero projects Berlin, Braga, Rome, Bucarest, Groningen and Thessaloniki. He has also been granted artist’s residencies in Germany, France and Israel. His first book Elegy for the Mundane was published by La Main Donne in 2019. He continues his intimate and dense journey and presents his second publishing, Même Soleil with photographic works from 2009 to 2021.

"At first brutal and declining, the substance of Gaël Bonnefon's photography is just like a gaze that fears being one day extinguished and that is always looking to be born again. In photography as in love, recoil and desire, tension and easement, repetition, wandering and rest, flight and pursuit. Here photography allows itself to be traversed by flashes of life, renewed forces, echoes of far-off kindnesses and lost joys. It sings silently, lover of a thousand faces from which the thread of a single and same image is born, followed without relent, from the snowy peaks of childhood to the lost worlds of the present." (Michaël Soyez)

Third almanac from Good Morning Tapes, plucking exclusive pearls by label regulars Pataphysical, Nueen, Salamanda, Angel Hunt, Yama Yuki and Saphileaum, for the good of your health.

Continuing to provide succour for stressed energies with their latest volume of the hugely collectable "All Welcome” series, volume 3 opens with an exclusive addition to São Paolo-based Yama Yuki’s impressionistic projection of ‘Inverted Cities’ with the elegant froth of ‘Bucharest’, and sashes thru the lilting synthetic thumb piano and midi flute melodies on the 4th world charmer of ‘Eclipse’ by Nueen, to take in shoreside Balearic atmospheres in the rolling congas and warm breeze of Saphileaum’s ‘Arif’, and the Far Eastern environmental music of S. Korea’s Salamanda on ‘Planting a Blue Velvet’

Pataphysical follow that quietly unmissable ‘Hapticality’ tape with another arpeggiated pearl on ‘Xochitl’, this time sounding something like Bola’s classique 'Forcasa 3’, before Angel Hunt’s ’Skulp Haunt’, ends things off with a smudged tripped pop energy, like a heat-haze inversion of Massive Attack’s ‘Karmacoma’.

Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory kicks off 2022 with Mr. ID’s Language Of Jazz EP, featuring two remixes from the label boss himself alongside two original cuts.

2021 saw Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory continue to move from strength to strength, unveiling material from the likes of Dutch rising star Chris Stussy and of course Kerri himself, here we see the imprint wrap things up with a new addition to the roster, Casablanca, Morocco-based artist Mr. ID.

Up first on the release is ‘Track ID1’, a collaboration between Mr. ID and Youssef Grirane featuring Rita Mdn. It’s a unique six-minute journey through jazzy pianos and organ licks, intricate organic percussion and mesmeric, textural atmospheres. Kerri gives it the remix treatment in style extracting all of the jazziness of the original and retwisting things with the classic Chandler authentic house feel. Next, Chandler employs his revered 623 alias for the ‘623 Again Mix’ version which strips things back to low-slung drums, bumpy stabs and emotive piano lines.

The flip side houses ‘Track ID1’ in all its original glory before ‘Track ID2’ closes out proceedings seeing Mr. ID join forces with Younes Akhraz, rhythmically shifting to a jazzy 4/4 drum groove while wandering keys and warm subs fuel the mystical vibe.

DJ Feedback:

Sasha – Tasty

Laurent Garnier – Love the whole EP

Jimpster – Jazzed up piano house heaven! Love It!

Lea Lisa – Lovely remix by Kerri

Mr. V – Kerri delivers the goods once again!!!

Anja Schneider – Great. Love It.

Archie Hamilton – Nice

Andrew Treagust - Man that's some crazy production – really like it!

Mike W - absolutely classic release. how on earth could you go wrong? the world needs more piano!

Fish Go Deep - All tracks sounding great here. ID1 is a lovely warm groove and Kerri's remixes inject a little dancefloor bump to proceedings.

Daniel Troberg – incredible music

Kiki Navarro – excellent single, loving all the mixes special ID1 and the Kerri Chandler Main Remix

Ben Lovett – Remix mastery from Chandler – wonderful meeting of piano and drum – fire.

Sergio – Excellent example of classic house with personality

Hector Samper – Amazing EP!!!

The discovery continues by exploring mystical areas around the moon. SPT006 contains four galactic tracks by Lucinee, Blue Hour & Alpha Tracks, a_000 as well as co-labelhead Frank Heise.

After a hiatus of sorts NxT Records is back on home turf with the next eponymous EP from Rich NxT. The label, now seven releases strong, traces the timeline of his sound and the newest instalment continues to tell the story, in this, his first release of 2022. Feint starts off the package with one of those trademark modulated baselines that we know so well, with snatches of melody working against snippets of vocal, injected into the infectious groove. On the flip side we hear more of an experimental side with Pulley taking a brighter, more playful tone with slap bass melding with percussion alongside swirling synths, and then bringing things to a close, Rose takes us into tribal territory, where haunting, eerie synth lines meet rolling drums. Grab this one for the bag!

From his cult project “Chaser” in the 90’s with Lars Sandberg aka Funk D’void or releasing massive hit records under his own name and other aliases, globetrotting the world during years in consequence and securing residencies at places like Sub Club, The Arches, The Tunnel or Space Ibiza back in the days, Nigel Hayes has truly done it all and did it good but he seems to continue to do so, “Tribal Warfare” EP is just the proof of that.
We are really happy to welcome this essential UK producer to the label roster and we hope you enjoy this record as much as we did.

Introducing Tread Records, a fresh new imprint from London. Taking the reins for the debut release is the unique Guava, whose previous releases on labels such as R&S and Holding Hands, has made him one of the big names to watch in the leftfield electronic world. Collaborating on the release are two of London’s finest session guitarists, Alex Blake and Leo Abrahams. Their impressive CVs include work with artists such as Jon Hopkins and Skepta, respectively. Things open up with ‘In Cloud’, a blissed-out slab of broken techno, spaced out with guitar riffs played by Blake. Both ‘Libelle’ and ‘Equinox Meaning’ continue on this theme with a cut of bass weight with more silky guitar, performed by Abrahams, on the latter. Dublin-based Sputnik One is on remix duties, turning ‘Libelle’ into a beefed-up club weapon fit for any sound system.

Conoley Ospovat returns on his Continental Drift imprint with a warm and cozy 4-tracker of deep house gems. Opening track shows shades of a balmy Trans-Europe-Express on Dreams Of Summer, followed on by the ebullient title track with inspiring vocals.

The B-side is a little murkier, with spirited live drumming on Break The Groove and roughly-chopped vocal cuts On The Right Track. All 4 songs are primed & ready for the transition from the lounge to the dancefloor.

Stroboscopic Artefacts is proud to present the debut album of Malaysian born Bangkok based artist Wanton Witch.

Born in an isolated community of Borneo Island in 1993 Wanton Witch is a DJ and producer with a hyper-sensitive connection and approach to sound through performance. Coming of age in the relative isolation of island life, it wasn’t until relocating to Bangkok that she was able to access the different communities of musical genres that she would later travel between. With an early taste for trap and hip hop, she began working in the deconstructed club and techno scene where she found her musical voice, beginning her DJ career in 2018. Wanton is also a cofounder and original member of Queer underground creative collective ‘Non Non Non’ that has become a Bangkok nightlife staple.

Being an “outsider” musician and producer with no formal training, it was the fortuitous crossing of paths online that has sparked the creative collaboration between Wanton and label owner and creative director Lucy. Last year Stroboscopic Artefacts celebrated ten years established between experimental and dance floor spectres and this is the first record the label is releasing after one year break, marking the launch of a new chapter for the imprint. It is with releases like the eponymous debut album from Wanton Witch and the support given to emerging artists like her that the imprint continues to forge pathways within the industry.

Featuring 11 tracks, these recordings are the first body of work from the Bangkok producer, and include many different snapshots of electronic music genres from IDM and experimental to hardcore and rave, using caustic electronics to deconstruct traditional track conventions. This collection of cuts read more as a complete soundscape, like listening to a live set. The phrenetic jump from genre to genre, the mixing of diverse sound textures and landscapes reflect Wanton Witch’s own experience navigating a hostile world as a Queer trans woman in Malaysia. The intense energy with which each track is cut together reminds the listener of the nostalgia of mixtapes and a time in life when identity is being constructed.

Wanton Witch has created an album which feels like a reflection of the aggregation that already exists within musical internet sub-cultures and communities. A place where many diverse and contrasting sound palettes, textures, and structures can fit together to create a new different, Queer way of seeing the world.

Following up on Wanton’s LP, label head Lucy will also present an actual full length album named ‘Lucy Plays Wanton Witch’ featuring re-interpretations of the original material in a whole new body of work. This upcoming follow up release will not represent a mere remix edition, but a recreation from scratch and the rebirth of “one into another” so to say. Expect the quintessential Lucy treatment.

KORN changed the world with the release of their self-titled debut album. It was a record that would pioneer a genre, while the band’s enduring success points to a larger cultural moment. The FADER notes, “There was an unexpected opening in the pop landscape and KORN articulated a generational coming-of-angst for a claustrophobic, self-surveilled consciousness. KORN became the soundtrack for a generation’s arrival as a snarling, thrashing, systemically-restrained freak show.”
Since forming, KORN has sold 40 million albums worldwide, collected two GRAMMYS, toured the world countless times, and set many records in the process that will likely never be surpassed. Vocalist Jonathan Davis, guitarists James “Munky” Shaffer and Brian “Head” Welch, bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, and drummer Ray Luzier, have continued to push the limits of the rock, alternative and metal genres, while remaining a pillar of influence for legions of fans and generations of artists around the globe.
The level of KORN’s reach transcends accolades and platinum certifications. They are “a genuine movement in a way bands cannot be now,” attests The Ringer. They represent a new archetype and radical innovation, their ability to transcend genre makes barriers seem irrelevant.

Over the course of the last five years, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio have established themselves as the world's premier funky organ trio. The organ trio, along with founder and manager Amy Novo, continues to devise the perfect blend of raw, passionate music and engaging industry practices. Through a firm partnership with label Colemine Records, the trio has garnered Billboard charting albums, sold out shows, tens of thousands of albums sold, and millions of streams. Lofty accomplishments for an instrumental organ trio. Now, with permanent drummer Dan Weiss behind to kit, DLO3 is proud to present Cold As Weiss, their third studio album to date that finds them tighter than ever, and continuing to push funky instrumental music to a new generation of fans. For Fans of New Mastersounds, Soulive, Jimmy Smith, Khruangbin.

The Flower-Corsano Duo, the world’s best and only drums / Japan banjo duo return to VHF for their first album since 2009’s monumental The Four Aims. Mick Flower (Vibracathedral Orchestra) and Chris Corsano (frequently seen with Bill Orcutt, Joe McPhee, and other luminaries) work an area that’s not really jazz, not really anything—a stream of endlessly mutating free sound, a unique mind-merge between Corsano’s nimble drums and percussion and Flower’s amplified Japan banjo (also known as a Shahi Baaja, a type of electric Indian zither with both fretted / keyed and drone strings).

Flower cuts a highly original line, playing neither “leads” nor making drone-music. Less amplified here than on the more “heavy” The Four Aims, the strings ring out with distinct clarity in short snippets of melody and a canvas of pleasing electric sound. Corsano’s bag is to charm out a flow of thoughtful percussion engagement, rolling around on his kit, continually varying his attack and approach in conversational free-jazz style. The Halcyon is a precious addition to a tiny discography, a fortunate event even in today’s world of small press overabundance. Thanks guys!

Guitarist and producer HANS DEVILLE cut his rock’n’roll teeth with highly respected ska-punks KING PRAWN. It’s not an uncommon story, and during the pandemic this isn’t the only project born from a musician’s desire to keep creating.

Setting up a studio in his Stained-Glass workshop, a hybrid album of mariachi, sea shanty and twangy western began to develop. Live brass was recorded by his ska punk buddies, even his mum lending an accordion playing hand on first single Porbandar.

In addition to the KING PRAWN brass boys, Richard Glover bass player of the mighty DUB WAR, makes a special appearance on the Latino flavoured “Diva”.

On hearing the works in progress, old time friend Karl “Lost” Horton introduced Hans to “dark country” singer ANDREW J DAVIES. The pair immediately hit it off with Andrew laying down the vocals that very evening, taking influence from his Welsh roots by incorporating four level harmonies, much favoured by male voice choirs, on Porbandar the sea shanty evoking first single. The collaboration continued with half the album featuring the Hastings based vocalist.

It did not stop there. Eager to take the album “on the road”, a band of Hastings based musicians were assembled. The first show in London at Paper Dress Vintage was a sell out. Videos from the night were circulated with festival offers already coming in.

Kapingbdi came together in Liberia, West Africa, during the late 1970’s and had their own unique style. This six to seven-piece band played original compositions in a vibrant mix of African Rhythms, Soul, Spiritual Jazz, Funk and Rock. Led by Kojo Samuels on sax, flute and vocals “Born in The Night” presents the essential tracks from their rare studio LPs produced between 1978-1981. The work has been carefully edited and remastered in 2019 for vinyl LP and a 6-Page Digipack CD, which includes two additional recordings. Kapingbdi toured through Europe and the U.S. and were the only Afro funk band to ever come out of Liberia.

Kapingbdi hail from Liberia, West Africa and have their own imitable style. They effortlessly combine traditional African music in a modern mix of Jazz, Funk, Soul and Rock. The band is a fusion of the old and the new.

The word "Kapingbdi" is taken from the Sierra Leone language Mende and means "born in the night". Kojo Samuels was given the name by his Latin teacher whilst attending high school in Freetown, They often meet and debate at night in the city and soon after Kojo is called Kapingbdi. The name serves as a description of his origin. Born In Lagos, Nigeria in 1943. The son of slave children. His mother from Nigeria and father from Sierra Leone who moved the family to Liberia, during the 1950’s.

Kojo has played music for as long as he can remember. He starts with the harmonica and later becomes a drummer and percussionist in his first band at school. During his art studies 1965-1972, he tours Germany and works as an art teacher in the USA. His band Kapingbdi is reorganized five times and consists of up to seven musicians. In a VW-Bulli he drives the group from concert to concert and if the drummer fails, he jumps in himself. Between 1978 and 1981 three Kapingbdi LPs are produced for the independent label Trikont, recorded in Hamburg and Munich. During this creative period, the band plays at festivals in Africa and Europe. In 1984, the band tours the United States and shortly after, they came to an end.

At their best, Kapingbdi would rouse the audience with original compositions like "Human Rights", justice for all, especially for South Africans, and "You Go Go You Go Come". The officials and employees in the government departments have no time for the common man, for any questions such as job search, scholarship or similar, he receives the answer "go, come back tomorrow" and the same thing the following day. Or "Now Is The Time For Cry For Love." Now it is time to scream for love and finally, time for humanity and justice. Despite immense difficulties, the musicians consciously live and work in Africa and are at home in Liberia.

On April 12, 1980, ordinary soldiers and non-commissioned officers organize a coup against the government. This is an attempt to put an end to a policy of exploitation of the Liberian people. Whilst efforts to eradicate poverty, lawlessness and illiteracy are obvious throughout the country, Liberia is still Americanized to a high degree. This is evident, as the radio programs of that time almost exclusively played American disco music. Under these conditions, the people seek a reconnection to their folk music, and Kapingbdi were aware of this. Kojo tried many times to come together with traditional Liberian musicians. This passion takes him north of the country. Meeting and playing with the old hornblowers and playing music on traditional instruments, such as the elephant tusk.

Kapingbdi make high quality tape copies of their own vinyl LPs and patiently try to displace all unauthorized tapes from the domestic "market". Nevertheless, it is hard to make a living through music in Liberia. Kapingbdi, is now celebrated. The radio plays are in abundance, but royalties are not forthcoming. Their musical link is the feeling of Afrobeat and Highlife, which is found in each of the many Kapingbdi pieces. They embody Jazz, which is understood to be the most refined example of black music outside of Africa. In Liberia, Jazz is virtually impossible to hear. Bright shining names such as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker or Miles Davis were widely unknown. Thus, the Black Jazz, including its Back-To-Africa movement of the 60’s and 70‘s, passes by without leaving a trace in Africa itself.

Kojo's claim at the time, was to make African music with the depth, sensitivity and the freedom of the technical level of Jazz. This makes Kapingbdi the torchbeares. The underpaid prophets in small Liberia. It is the passion with which the founder of the band continues to work on their music for years. Tirelessly, stimulating and encouraging his fellow musicians. This is ultimately responsible for the success of Kapingbdi in Liberia itself. The local audience seems to listen to the band in fascinated astonishment. One wonders about the ability to develop as demonstrated by Kapingbdi on the basis of their music. It is African and unusually jazzy, danceable and better than the American disco music heard on the radio.

Rather than chase the money and the job opportunities in Europe, Kapingbdi are firmly rooted in Africa. The musicians live in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, at the Kabingbdi workshop, located in the Congotown area on the eastern edge of the sprawling city. Kojo works here as a sculptor, painter, batik artist and musician. The sales revenue that his activities generate, gives him the opportunity to support the development of African Jazz music. The highest percentage of funds are from Germany and Kojo’s work ethic is “to work on your own thing“. The stance taken aims to support the welfare of Liberians and Africans. The other musicians of the group live in a second house that is nearby.

For the sake of consistency, Kapingbdi is a full-time band. However, the revenue, from all of the sources, could not keep them afloat. Equally, as important to the group are Kojos's knowledge of traditional African music and his sculpting skills. His knowledge is shared with others at the afternoon workshops. It is here that they discuss new lyrics, engage in political debate and the self-imposed task of improving conditions in Africa. At times the debate became heated, especially during rehearsals. This was regarded as good and integrative, sowing the seeds of innitiative to keep the band together.

From 1980 to 1985 Kojo also opened and ran the club "Panjebota", located on the grounds of the U.S. Consulate in Monrovia. Almost every evening Kapingbdi perform the song "Wrong Curfew Walk", whose lyrics lament the killing of citizens during the curfew imposed by the Liberian government. When the head of state Samuel Doe hears the song, he behaves agressively and forces Kojo to close the "Panjebota". Kojo had already moved on. Soonafter he meets Fela Kuti at the Africa-Festival and plays concerts in Germany with Cecil Taylor's workshop band.

Kapingbdi is for thinking, dreaming, dancing. What they sing about is what they have experienced. Kojo Samuels is 76 years old today and still follows his vocation as a critical musician, artist and activist.

Ekkehart Fleischhammer / Sonorama 2019 (with the help of original press sheets and the memories of Kojo Samuels)

The Travels represents a signpost in the continuing journey that is the songs of Berlin-based artist
Molly Nilsson.

Starting out by hand-dubbing CDrs and forging a singular path in the global pop underground, Nilsson’s art has grown to the extent where hers is a precise songwriting devoid of unnecessary flourish. Her songs are perfect silhouettes of feelings everyone shares but that few can articulate with such heart-rending, icy pathos. Out of print for 4 years and in collectors market hell, NIght School has pressed 500 of this Molly classic on Transparent GREEN vinyl for RSD21