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"As Bill Orcutt’s most mature and exhilarating LP to date, Music for Four Guitars was a slab of undeniable Apollonian beauty. Its approachability and obvious novelty landed it not only on the year- end lists of every key-pushing codger in the underground in 2022, but also on NPR in the form of the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, an ensemble assembled to perform this music and featuring Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza, and Shane Parish in addition to Orcutt. But while their Tiny Desk Concert gave a whiff of the quartet’s easy intimacy, the sterile confines of the virtual recital medium still left a puzzle unsolved: how might these brutally mannered bricks of minimalist counterpoint sound on a stage in front of actual breathing bodies?" "This was the question foremost in my mind when I first saw the quartet in San Francisco a few months before this double live LP was recorded. I was already familiar with the prowess of Eisenberg and Mendoza, two of the most technically intimidating shredders to blast out of the noise/improv underground, and knew Parish as the mastermind behind the epic translation of Orcutt's quartet recordings into a fully notated score. I was ready to be 'blown away'—and I most assuredly was. The quartet navigated Orcutt's jaggedly spiraling right angles into the shining core of the compositions with joyous ease, faithful to the originals in nearly every way (though their tempos were slightly ramped up, Blakey style, to communicate their breathless rush). The renditions were flawless, stellar and inspiring. I had expected nothing less." "Which leads us to this album, Four Guitars Live, recorded in November of 2023 at Le Guess Who? festival during the quartet’s first European tour. The true essence of this set is not simply in its faithfulness to the source compositions, but in the group's easy familiarity (no doubt the result of weeks on the road) and the generosity of their improvisations, both collective and solo. Orcutt, clearly cognizant of both the caliber of his collaborators and the singularity of their voices, has given everyone room to stretch out, and all have delivered some of their most moving passages to date." "One of this record's great thrills for me is imagining a listener, perhaps unfamiliar with the outer limits of contemporary guitar improvisation (or the Tzadik catalog), slammed into catatonia by Mendoza's liquefying lines on Out of the corner of the eye, then revived and healed by the languid, breathy lines of Parish's unaccompanied, spaced-out breakdown of the track's main theme, finally only to be crushed by Eisenberg’s staggering extended solo on Only at dusk (somehow channeling both Eugene Chadbourne and Buck Dharma)." "There's another peak, which begins at the end of side B, in Orcutt's own languid solo, encapsulating the flowing focus of his recent solo LPs, and serving as an introduction to the next side's ensemble tour de force, the psychic heart of the album, On the horizon: its melodic core passing first to Orcutt, launching into a sublime solo turn by Eisenberg, a duo of Parish and Mendoza, before parachuting back into the ensemble for a smashup rendition of Barely visible and Glimpsed while driving (renamed Barely driving) knitted together with an softly bubbling ensemble improvisation. The transfer is orchestrated yet seamless, its tonal form undeniable even in the presence of obvious dissonance." "The breadth of Four Guitars Live gives lie to the false notion that agile, polytonal improv is necessarily without soul, is necessarily inaccessible. Rather, Four Guitars posits a human avant-garde music that the most conservative will recognize as virtuosic and revel in its classic intervals, boiling counterpoint, and precisely- layered facets. Even the rockers in your life might dig it, so why not pass it on?"—Tom Carter

For Forever folds time and space. While the sounds and stories will be recognizable to fans, they arrive with considerable bruises incurred on the journey from Set Free until now.

For those unfamiliar with The American Analog Set, this should be a simultaneously dark and vibrant introduction. Troubled lyrics permeate throughout, and the accompanying sounds are occasionally damaged and snarling. Not all things languid and dreamlike from past records have been abandoned or forgotten, but the dreams represented here are darker.

While the previous eras of the band are referenced, they are carried forward and incorporated without a hint of patronizing nostalgia. For Forever is a document of a group that acknowledges their past while they advance into new territories and evolve.

This release is entirely new material and is not connected to the forthcoming Numero reissues of the band's first three records.

Soulsavers veröffentlichen zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum ihres Debütalbums 'Tough Guys Don’t Dance' aus dem Jahr 2003 ein Rework des Albums mit dem Titel '20'. Remixed, remastered und mit neuem Artwork wird '20' mit einer sehr limitierten Auflage auf rotem Vinyl neu aufgelegt. Musikalisch zeigt das Album die Liebe des Duos zu Harmonia und NEU!, ist aber auch stark von den Film-Soundtracks von Ennio Morricone beeinflusst - Ein Einfluss, der sich über die nächsten zwei Jahrzehnte und drei Top20 Alben in Deutschland (u.a. zwei mit Depeche Mode Sänger Dave Gahan) noch stärker ausprägen sollte.

One of the hardest working singer-songwriters in the game is named Katie Crutchfield. She was born in Alabama, grew up near Waxahatchee Creek. Skipped town and struck out on her own as Waxahatchee. That was over a decade ago. Crutchfield says she never knew the road would lead her here, but after six critically acclaimed albums, she"s never felt more confident in herself as an artist. While her sound has evolved from lo-fi folk to lush alt-tinged country, her voice has always remained the same. Honest and close, poetic with Southern lilting. Much like Carson McCullers"s Mick Kelly, determined in her desires and convictions, ready to tell whoever will listen. And after years of being sober and stable in Kansas City-after years of sacrificing herself to her work and the road-Crutchfield has arrived at her most potent songwriting yet. On her new album, Tigers Blood, Crutchfield emerges as a powerhouse-an ethnologist of the self-forever dedicated to revisiting her wins and losses But now she"s arriving at revelations and she ain"t holding them back.

One of the hardest working singer-songwriters in the game is named Katie Crutchfield. She was born in Alabama, grew up near Waxahatchee Creek. Skipped town and struck out on her own as Waxahatchee. That was over a decade ago. Crutchfield says she never knew the road would lead her here, but after six critically acclaimed albums, she"s never felt more confident in herself as an artist. While her sound has evolved from lo-fi folk to lush alt-tinged country, her voice has always remained the same. Honest and close, poetic with Southern lilting. Much like Carson McCullers"s Mick Kelly, determined in her desires and convictions, ready to tell whoever will listen. And after years of being sober and stable in Kansas City-after years of sacrificing herself to her work and the road-Crutchfield has arrived at her most potent songwriting yet. On her new album, Tigers Blood, Crutchfield emerges as a powerhouse-an ethnologist of the self-forever dedicated to revisiting her wins and losses But now she"s arriving at revelations and she ain"t holding them back.

“My heart is loud,” Julia Holter sings on her sixth album Something in the Room She Moves, following an inner pulse. The Los Angeles songwriter’s past work has often explored memory and dreamlike future, but her latest album resides more in presence: “There’s a corporeal focus, inspired by the complexity and transformability of our bodies,” Holter says. Her production choices and arrangements form a continuum of fretless electric bass pitches in counterpoint with gliding vocal melodies, while glissing Yamaha CS-60 lines entwine warm winds and reeds. “I was trying to create a world that’s fluid-sounding, waterlike, evoking the body’s internal sound world,” Holter says of her flowing harmonic universe.

“What is delicious and what is omniscient?” she sings on “Spinning”, the album’s incantatory centerpiece. “What is the circular magic I’m visiting?” Or as Holter put it: “It’s about being in the passionate state of making something: being in that moment, and what is that moment?” She found it anew on Something in the Room She Moves, singing in somatic frequencies.

“My heart is loud,” Julia Holter sings on her sixth album Something in the Room She Moves, following an inner pulse. The Los Angeles songwriter’s past work has often explored memory and dreamlike future, but her latest album resides more in presence: “There’s a corporeal focus, inspired by the complexity and transformability of our bodies,” Holter says. Her production choices and arrangements form a continuum of fretless electric bass pitches in counterpoint with gliding vocal melodies, while glissing Yamaha CS-60 lines entwine warm winds and reeds. “I was trying to create a world that’s fluid-sounding, waterlike, evoking the body’s internal sound world,” Holter says of her flowing harmonic universe.

“What is delicious and what is omniscient?” she sings on “Spinning”, the album’s incantatory centerpiece. “What is the circular magic I’m visiting?” Or as Holter put it: “It’s about being in the passionate state of making something: being in that moment, and what is that moment?” She found it anew on Something in the Room She Moves, singing in somatic frequencies.

READ THE AIR is the new full-length record from MARBLED EYE, the four-piece punk band responsible for all of that noise coming out of Oakland for the last couple of years. The opening title track sets the album's tone immediately, guitars starting and stopping to match a staggered drum beat before guitarist and co-vocalist Chris Natividad's lyrics act as a mission statement for the album's recurring theme of self-reflection: "Searching / shaking / life simulating_ read the air / count me out."Engineered mostly by the band themselves, Read the Air's ten songs are both overdriven and ominous. Songs like single "In the Static" offer riffs worthy of a Marquee Moon or Entertainment! comparison, but the band still can't shake the dread of modern times. The song's refrain treats time like a threat, with Natividad's constant shout of "staring at the clock" acting as a haunted refrain. The combined playing of drummer Alex Shen and bass player Ronnie Portugal give songs like "Tonight" and "See It Too" an angular and driving edge. With additional recording from Toro Y Moi's Chaz Bear and mixing from Grace Coleman (Courtney Barnett, Spiritual Cramp), Marbled Eye have dialed in a record that feels destined to live in the noisy post-punk canon for years to come.Marbled Eye's new album Read the Air arrives this March via Summer Shade Records.

When the grunge explosion of the early `90s elevated Seattle's flannel-clad misfits out of the divey clubs of downtown and into the mainstream, a new generation of restless artists filled the void left in the Pacific Northwest's underground music scene. The under-21 crowd making music in the wake of Nevermind seemed even less enamored with the slick production values, classic rock nods, and testosterone-fueled moshing culture that came with the Zeitgeist, favoring their own kind of Revolution Summer-style pivot away from the popular sounds of the era towards a more emotionally nuanced, melodic, and inclusive style of punk. The Puget Sound trio Lync perfectly captured the spirit of that era, blending the passionate chaos of the DC and San Diego scenes with the rough-hewn DIY pop sensibilities of Olympia's thriving indie community into one unified sound. Though they were only a band for two years, they helped define the next era of the Northwest underground, inspiring countless other artists and instigating the creation of beloved records from the region. After being out of print for over a decade, the band's sole LP These Are Not Fall Colors has been remastered and expanded into a 2xLP with the inclusion of "Can't Tie Yet"_a compilation track from the album's recording session_into a deluxe edition available courtesy of Suicide Squeeze Records. Originally released on K Records in the summer of '94 just a few months before the band called it quits, These Are Not Fall Colors is a boisterous collection of scrappy basement-show anthems played on duct-taped-together gear. Led by the off-kilter melodies of late singer/guitarist Sam Jayne and hammered into place by the driving bass of James Bertram and drum battery of David Schneider, the album's eleven songs channel that undefinable sound of the early `90s before descriptors like "post-hardcore" and "emo" became pejorative terms. Sure, you get a sense of the more sophisticated mid-tempo punk approach on songs like "B" and "Silverspoon Glasses," and maybe catch wind of wistful songwriting on "Pennies to Save" and "Cue Cards," but Lync seemed to cull their ideas from whatever bits of inspiration they could find in the gray gloom and geographic isolation of western Washington, absorbing it all and churning it together into a style uniquely their own. Despite Lync's short existence, modest aspirations, and DIY approach, their work had a ripple effect. Jayne would go on to make music under the moniker of Love As Laughter. Built to Spill's Doug Martsch was so enamored by the album that he enlisted Bertram and Schneider to serve as his rhythm section on the There's Nothing Wrong with Love tour. These Are Not Fall Colors engineer Phil Ek would go on to help record and produce records by Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, and The Shins. Early bassist Isaac Brock and These Are Not Fall Colors album art contributor Jeremiah Green would go on to form Modest Mouse. Bertram and Green would also go on to form the revered indie rock group Red Stars Theory. At times it feels like you could pick any major Northwest indie rock group from the `90s and `00s and trace their DNA back to Lync. The deluxe edition of These Are Not Fall Colors comes pressed on 180g vinyl and packaged in a gatefold cover with printed inner sleeves and expanded artwork by Jesse LeDoux. The 2xLP also features an 18x24 poster with extensive liner notes by Brian Cook. Altogether, this new version of These Are Not Fall Colors not only brings this celebrated classic back into analog libraries of old fans, it also provides new context and appreciation for Lync's ongoing impact on both a local and international level.

"Branigan is the debut studio album by American singer Laura Branigan, released in March 1982. The album features guitars by Steve Lukather from Toto. The album's lead single ""All Night with Me"", reached number 69 on the US Billboard Hot 100, while the second single, an English version of Italian singer Umberto Tozzi's song ""Gloria"", was a commercial success, propelling Branigan to international prominence. ""Gloria"" topped the charts in many countries, stayed on the US Billboard Hot 100, and earned Branigan a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance Female Branigan is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on red coloured vinyl. "

Branigan by Laura Branigan, released 22 March 2024, includes the following tracks: "Lovin' You Baby", "If You Loved Me", "I Wish We Could Be Alone ", "Maybe I Love You" and more.

This version of Branigan comes as a 1xLP.

The vinyl is pressed as a red disc.

With his latest release, Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa, Taj adds to his legendary legacy with an extraordinary set recorded at the Tulsa studio best known as the home base of the late, great Leon Russell. The ten songs reach across multiple genres that he has explored in his incomparable career, and feature his long-time quartet—bassist Bill Rich, drummer Kester Smith, and guitarist/Hawaiian lap steel player Bobby Ingano—augmented by dobro player Rob Ickes and guitarist and vocalist Trey Hensley. In a career spanning seven decades and almost 50 albums, Taj Mahal has not only helped popularize and reshape the scope of the blues, but he has also personified the concept of “World Music” since years before the phrase even existed. From a base of traditional country blues, Taj has explored and incorporated reggae, Latin, R&B, Cajun, Caribbean, gospel, West African, jazz, calypso, Hawaiian slack-key, and countless other musical styles into his astonishing body of work.

Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa by The Taj Mahal Sextet, released 22 March 2024.

This version of Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa comes as a 2xLP in a(n) Gatefold Sleeve packaging.

The vinyl is pressed as a splatter, white & gold disc. Another vinyl is pressed as a splatter, white & gold disc.

Buvette, also known as Cédric Streuli, is a constantly evolving artist, whose music captures the nuances of the distance he’s covered so fat.

Originally from Leysin, Switzerland, Buvette has traveled across ten years and four studio albums, from India to Mexico.

His last album, Tales of the Countryside is a musical adventure that subtly hints at his previous songs. By going back to the basics of an autodidact who only packed what he’d need for the journey, Buvette offers a delicacy that blends modern country music with Latin overtones and rhythmic ballads shaped like waves, in a format that’s simple, straight, and versatile.

In 2014, Wye Oak released Shriek, their fourth album. It was a necessary departure for Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack, who found themselves on uncertain ground after two years of constant touring for 2011's Civilian, living on opposite ends of the country and trying to revitalize their creative partnership. Wasner set aside her guitar for a bass. Stack took on the band's upper register, playing syncopated, meditative keyboard parts that interacted with Wasner's voice, which was newly freed from its call-and-response relationship to the guitar_what had been, until then, a signature of Wye Oak's sound. "This idea and the ensuing creative reworking of our band did what it was meant to do," Wasner writes in 2024. "It ended a long, painful period of creative stagnancy and reconnected me with the joy of making music." During that period, Wasner and Stack were introduced to William Brittelle, the Brooklyn-based composer whose 2019 LP Spiritual America featured Wye Oak, the Metropolis Ensemble, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. His orchestral reimaginings of five songs from Shriek (Shriek: Variations, if you will) are the centerpiece of this package, which serves not only to mark the tenth anniversary of a great album, but to demonstrate the richness of Wye Oak's compositions. Stack says of Shriek: Variations: "It's like looking at the songs in a funhouse mirror. The songs on Shriek can be stripped down or embellished_this is maximal embellishment. William took the album and blew it to smithereens, looking at it in a weird, prismatic way." Through Brittelle, Wasner and Stack found themselves at the intersection of classical, experimental, and pop music. Further collaborations, like the Brooklyn Youth Chorus- featuring No Horizon and Paul and Michi Wiancko's string arrangements on "My Signal" from The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs, followed, as this connection fundamentally changed the way Wye Oak approached making records, incorporating an entirely new palette of sound into their work. That shift began here. Shriek: Variations may feel like a startling take on the material, something like light bursting into a room through drawn curtains, but Brittelle's arrangements are largely original to his first collaborations with Wye Oak a decade ago, suggesting that his maximalist arrangements have lived comfortably within the framework of Shriek the whole time, waiting for the right moment to emerge. It's a fitting reintroduction to the album, which upon its initial release was pigeonholed into the easy one-note talking point of being the "no-guitar" record. But even so, as that happened, Shriek quietly started to become a staple among Wye Oak's core fans. Here, with help from Brittelle's expansive compositions, the release draws attention back to the songwriting_how, regardless of the instrumentation, Wasner and Stack's uncanny musicwriting partnership at the core is what makes both Shriek and Wye Oak excellent. Joined by the Metropolis Ensemble, Paul Wiancko, and Lizzie Burns, Wye Oak turn songs like "Logic of Color" inside out, reaching towards a kind of pastoral bombast, Brittelle's aesthetic with Wasner and Stack as an anchor. In fact, "Logic of Color" in this iteration takes that "no-guitar" script and flips it, with Wasner playing the synthesizer ostinato on acoustic guitar at its center. If Shriek is a record that charts the depths of solemnity and inner space, its Variations, roiling in a sea of winds, brass, and strings, recolors that space and complicates it, a gorgeous, unexpected response to the original's siren call.

With two critically acclaimed albums and a swathe of award-winning production turns under their belt, Ana Frango Elétrico present their most confident and accomplished work to date: Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua / Call Me They That I’m Yours. Gesturing to a tradition of Brazilian boogie music, but bouncing with modern pop ebullience, the album sees the Rio artist evolve from a captivating upstart into a surefooted scene leader in full stride.

At just 25, the prolific artist and producer has already garnered worldwide admirers. Ana’s sophomore Little Electric Chicken Heart was nominated at the 2020 Latin Grammys. Since then, standalone singles have received the WME ‘Best Music Producer’ Award, recognising Ana’s deep passion for music production – a passion which has led to collaborations with nascent Brazilian stars Dora Morelenbaum, Illy and Sophia Chablau. Most recently, Ana was hailed for their co-production of Bala Desejo’s 2022 Latin Grammy-winning album Sim Sim Sim.

The new album finds Ana at their most assured and full voiced. Album opener “Electric Fish”, with funky bass and shimmering backing vocals, sets a buoyant tone. “Boy of Stranger Things” is its bombastic counterpart. It’s the grooviest Ana has ever sounded. And the most brazen. Lyrically, where Ana was once oblique on personal matters, they are now forthright – lucidly exploring their gender identity, citing accessible cultural references, and often singing in English.

“I started this album in 2021 with the intention of showing, in means of sound, understandings and feelings about queer love, subjectively exposing myself,” the non-binary artist states – before qualifying that though “feeling was its driving force, the album is really about musical production.”

“There’s so many references to different decades,” Ana explains. “Seventies drums with eighties processing … Going back, getting beyond … Testing the limits of organic sounds”. Characteristically playful, on Me Chama, Ana takes vivid and rewarding detours through funk-inflected R&B (“Dela”) and art pop (“Dr. Sabe Tudo”). “Nuvem Vermelha” is a cinematic chanson with lush strings that recalls Arthur Verocai. Then, “Coisa Maluca” loafs with the indie insouciance of Canadian slacker Mac Demarco. Later, “Let's Go Before Again”, is a full-on drum machine workout evocative of Stereolab.

“Even if people don't find my own references here, they'll find theirs,” observes Ana. “Maybe that’s this record’s biggest goal.”

Kilo Kish has always been in a league of her own. Constructing herself from the ground up, Kish’s career in music began over a decade ago, when she was relatively well-known for providing breathy, uninhibited guest appearances on songs with Childish Gambino, Vince Staples, and more.

Since then, she’s been equipped with creating her own multi-dimensional worlds. On her conceptually progressive 2014 EP Across, Kish took it one step further, taking a cross-country drive over dreamy, experimental soundscapes from producer Caleb Stone. Upon returning to New York City, Kish felt restricted by the environment that shaped her and looked to Los Angeles. Enter Reflections in Real Time, Kish’s debut album that acts as a sonic mood board where she is alone in her thoughts, whether probing her social media curiosities or meditating on her life’s purpose.

Canadian performer and composer Sarah Belle Reid’s 2021 acclaimed album, first time on vinyl, expanded with two new incredible songs, remastered featuring new artwork. From distant ocean song to the clang and howl of a murky forgotten memory, MASS is a dreamlike collage of shrill shrieks, gasps, corroded brass choirs, and melting modular synth soundscapes, all heard through a mist of hiss and noise. Fused with equal parts spastic improvisation, shrouded ritual, and meticulous arrangement, it presents a sonic topography at once tongue-in-cheek, sensitive, and nightmarish. With discordant chorales and angular trumpet improvisations churning in an ever-evolving wash of whispers and howls, MASS is a collection of three hazy, harsh, and frightful sound worlds. With tracks meandering between aggressive rhythms, eerie ambiances, and abrasive cut-up electronic textures, MASS draws inspiration from early tape music, horror film soundtracks, and grindcore. It was assembled between listening to extended doses of Else Marie Pade, Daphne Oram, Eliane Radigue, the Locust, Edgard Varèse, Maryanne Amacher, Dick Raaijmakers, Naked City, Mr. Bungle, and Thomas Ankersmit, bringing a little bit of all of them along with it. MASS was recorded and mixed over the course of three weeks in January–February 2021 while in the midst of a cross-country move. Recorded entirely in short-term housing away from her studio (and most of her instruments), Reid relied exclusively on her voice, trumpet, flugelhorn, household objects, and Make Noise's Strega semi-modular synthesizer for all sound materials. Original sound materials were recorded loosely and independently with little to no overdubbing, instead relying on meticulous editing and processing in the manner of classic tape music.

Canadian performer and composer Sarah Belle Reid’s 2021 acclaimed album, first time on vinyl, expanded with two new incredible songs, remastered featuring new artwork. From distant ocean song to the clang and howl of a murky forgotten memory, MASS is a dreamlike collage of shrill shrieks, gasps, corroded brass choirs, and melting modular synth soundscapes, all heard through a mist of hiss and noise. Fused with equal parts spastic improvisation, shrouded ritual, and meticulous arrangement, it presents a sonic topography at once tongue-in-cheek, sensitive, and nightmarish. With discordant chorales and angular trumpet improvisations churning in an ever-evolving wash of whispers and howls, MASS is a collection of three hazy, harsh, and frightful sound worlds. With tracks meandering between aggressive rhythms, eerie ambiances, and abrasive cut-up electronic textures, MASS draws inspiration from early tape music, horror film soundtracks, and grindcore. It was assembled between listening to extended doses of Else Marie Pade, Daphne Oram, Eliane Radigue, the Locust, Edgard Varèse, Maryanne Amacher, Dick Raaijmakers, Naked City, Mr. Bungle, and Thomas Ankersmit, bringing a little bit of all of them along with it. MASS was recorded and mixed over the course of three weeks in January–February 2021 while in the midst of a cross-country move. Recorded entirely in short-term housing away from her studio (and most of her instruments), Reid relied exclusively on her voice, trumpet, flugelhorn, household objects, and Make Noise's Strega semi-modular synthesizer for all sound materials. Original sound materials were recorded loosely and independently with little to no overdubbing, instead relying on meticulous editing and processing in the manner of classic tape music.

Hooligan (aus Dublin) mit Szene-Veteranen von Angelic Upstairs, Cockney Rejects und UK Subs starteten 2009 und veröffentlichten ihre Songs weltweit nur auf limitierten (ausverkauften) 7inch EP's. Jetzt gibt es zum ersten Mal auf 12"-Vinyl die Retrospektive für Sammler mit allen Hits, limitiert! Ihr Sound ist eine geniale Mischung aus Streetpunk, 77er Punk, Dub/Reggae und beeinflusst von ihren Hauptbands und Klassikern wie The Clash ("Calling Joe Strummer" ist einer der besten Tribute-Songs), Addicts, Pistols bis hin zu Cockney Rejects oder Undertones und vielen mehr. Kein Wunder, denn die Jungs haben ihre Jugend in dieser großartigen Zeit der späten 70er zusammen mit den Bands verbracht und das Cover-Artwork enthält ein Bild von Sänger Dave aus diesem Jahrzehnt. "First offence" enthält 12 Songs, die man sich nicht entgehen lassen sollte, wenn man auf diesen Streetpunksound steht! Vinyl Irish Grün mit Orange, limitiert!

Recorded in 1957, Paris.
Original LP issue: Guilde du Jazz J-1239.
When Miles Davis heard Barney Wilen for the first time during a jam session at the Club Saint-Germain in Paris, he exclaimed: “This is the best tenor saxophone I’ve heard in Europe, he plays tenor in an authentic way, much better than many current stars in the States.”

Barney Wilen’s mother was French, his father a successful American dentist-turned-inventor. He grew up mostly on the French Riviera; the family left during World War II but returned upon its conclusion. According to Wilen himself, he was convinced to become a musician by his mother’s friend, the poet Blaise Cendrars. As a teenager he started a youth jazz club in Nice, where he played often.

He moved to Paris in the mid-’50s and worked with such American musicians as Bud Powell, Benny Golson, Miles Davis, and J.J. Johnson at the Club St. Germain. His emerging reputation received a boost in 1957 when he played with Davis on the soundtrack to the Louis Malle film Lift to the Scaffold. Two years later, he performed with Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk on the soundtrack to Roger Vadim’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1960). He’s probably the first non-US musician to play at the Newport Jazz Festival – it was in 1959.

In 1957 he made his very first album as leader, The Barney Wilen Quintet for the US label Guilde du Jazz / Jazztone at the age of 20. Unfortunately, this record was not widely distributed in France because Barney was under contract with the French label Vogue. This album reflects joy and sadness on an emotional level by the subtletly of Wilen’s musical imagination and physical releasing the essential siprit of jazz swing. On this so rare record, Barney plays with : on alto Hubert Fol, who recorded couple of times with Django Reinhardt. On Piano Nico Buninck, born in Amsterdam, is considered one of the best Young pianist in his country. Lloyd Thompson is a Young talented bassist who played with Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clarke. On drums Al Levitt, 25, has already toured in the USA with Charles Mingus, Lennie Tristano, Stan Getz and Lee Konitz.

Kyiv (Ukraine) born Sasha Renkas, made music as Antenna for almost a decade, releasing many EP's and a full length album. Now he follows his urge to make a different kind of music. The result is a full length album with slow, intimate, nighttime music varying from abstract pop ballads to ambient movie score pieces. At times they sound like stripped down Kate Bush instrumentals, drenched in reverb, or introvert Roxy Music with a touch of dub and nineties trip-hop. "This time I wanted to compose music and then perform my instruments live making this album. I used mainly old synthesizers and other instruments and a heavy layer eighties reverb machines. Before moving to the Netherlands, I was growing up in the nineties in Kyiv, surrounded by economic turbulence and a weird mix of music from different decades that overflowed the country after years of isolation. Accompanied by the weird early Ukrainian visual culture I was mesmerized by the music videos I saw on TV and I wanted to belong there. I guess I never really grew up, still drifting like a cowboy through imaginary spaces, in a timeless vacuum, outside of real life. I decided to release this album as Sasha Renkas, because it felt very personal and pure, all coming from a spacious, misty place where everybody is still alive and safe."

Finnish Recue debuts on Analogical Force with 'Paramnesia EP', where Riku Annala explores the murkier side of electronic soundscapes with distorted and gritty undertones. With impeccable production, Recue guides us through this expedition in his highly distinctive style that blurs boundaries between bass music, idm and reflective electro-nix. 'Paramnesia EP' takes you on a cinematic journey through post apocalyptic soundscapes full of deep bass, textures and nuances. Some of Paramnesia's tracks have accompanied Recue in his live sets, acting as a counterbalance for the most nolanesque moments, when the music starts driving the listener forward in full speed. Some have started as reworks of other material, gradually morphing into something completely different, leaving only a memory of something that never came to be. The release is the result of a dialogue and curation together with AF, and the end result is something that sits comfortably in the sound that is Recue and undertone that's Analogical Force. You know what to do!

After winning three leading Belgian music awards with Humo's Rock Rally, De Nieuwe Lichting and Sound Track, girl band BLUAI is expanding its horizons. On their debut album Save It For Later, the trio leaves for a road trip through the sonorous areas populated by the likes of Big Thief, Pinegrove, Haim, and Alabama Shakes.
Save It For Later is a record not unlike a Polaroid picture. Belgian songwriter Catherine Smet captures the memories of her youth in lyrics with a perfume of Americana, country pop, and indie folk. The stories areset in her native Flanders, but close your eyes, and galloping horses on a ranch in Mississippi form the backdrop of BLUAI's debut album.

Catherine Smet (vocals, guitar), Mo Govaerts (drums), and Caitlin Talbut (bass) joined forces with producer Willem Ardui (blackwave.) for this record. BLUAI's instrumentation was expanded with banjo, twelve-string guitar, and lap steel. Engineer Tobie Speleman received 'Nashville tuning' as a briefing. BLUAI thus shifts the focus from indie rock to Americana and breaks open the band's frame of reference, with influences ranging from Maggie Rogers to Alabama Shakes to The Japanese House.

Save It For Later is the creation of a group that came together two years after the formation of BLUAI, found a common drive, and is now cruising at full speed. BLUAI is here to stay.

This is a repress of Tycho's second release with Ghostly International to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of this masterpiece, while Ghostly International celebrates its 25th year anniversary. For nearly a decade, Tycho has been known as the musical alias of Scott Hansen, but with the release of Awake - his second LP for Ghostly International - the solo project evolved into a three-piece band. Relating closer to post-rock than ambient soundscapes, the record is situated in the present, sounding more like Hansen than drawing from his influences. This is, in many ways, the first true Tycho record. Following 2011's Dive LP, the San Francisco-based designer toured extensively, and with a full band on stage, his sound coalesced into a percussive, organic whole. Zac Brown (guitars, bass) rejoined Scott on the road for this tour, but it was the particular addition of Rory O'Connor's live drumming that ultimately sent Hansen back to the studio with a more precise vision. "After the tour, I decided that I wanted to capture the more energetic, driven sound of the live show on the next album," Hansen recalls. Bringing musicians into Tycho's creative process was a step towards expanding his own songwriting and advancing the project beyond its current sound. In a cabin near Tahoe last winter, Zac and Scott began fleshing out the structure of the new record, but it wasn't until they set up shop in the hills of Santa Cruz with Rory that it all fell into place. "It crystallized the vision of how the drums would come to the forefront on this record," says Hansen. The sound was much more stripped-down and concise with more organic instruments in the fold. Songs like "Montana" and "Awake" are a departure from Tycho's previous material - unique to the group effort poured into the songs on the new record - while "See" and "Dye" echo ideas from previous works, bridging a middle ground between the old and new. Working with Count Eldridge, who also engineered Dive, the team could fixate on the pulses that Tycho might previously layer under synthesizers and exhume them with distinct bass and guitar patterns. Also known for his design work as ISO50, Hansen's visual and sonic efforts have dovetailed throughout the course of his career. "This is the first time in my life I've dropped everything to focus on one artistic pursuit," notes Hansen. Previous Tycho releases came to fruition when an amalgam of songs were nearing completion, but Awake is where music becomes the focus and true expression becomes the result.

DJ ROSS and ERIKA present “Who I Wanna Be”, an uptempo song inspired by Eurodance 2000, with both techno trance influences and sounds and an ethereal piano, all crowned by Erika's sweet voice.
This is not a tribute to the past, but a novelty that will make their fans dance again.

DJ Ross and Erika have collaborated on several musical tracks in the past, they have reached the top of the charts not only in Italy, but in many countries around the world and which has led them to perform from Brazil to the United States, in several European countries, from 'Egypt to Russia.

The first was "Relations", then "Save My Heart", "Ditto" and "I Don't Know", among the most representative of the 2000s. Subsequently, in 2015 they also collaborated on the song "I Think About You", published with Warner Music and which reached the official Italian top 50 airplay.

In general, the collaboration between DJ Ross and Erika has always been very positive and gave birth to some of the greatest hits in dance music which are still among the most danced to today together with the HITs of that time.

The vinyl containing the original version and the new remix by Rudeejay & Da Brozz who gave a more club/festival twist to the song, both in an extended version. Writers: Rossano Prini, Erika de Bonis, Andrea Mitidieri Published by: Briscolas Publishing Sas

Aural architect Skygaze follows his 2022 ‘Astral Trip EP’ for Flumo Recordings, offering an advanced fusion of house, broken boogie, and future jazz, with five brand new reinterpretations from the extended Flumo family.

Skygaze’s diverse sound, breaking down barriers between house and techno, broken beat, jazz, ambient, hip hop, jungle, and even esoteric IDM, has been showcased across a growing catalogue of releases across Guayaba records, Riverette, Flumo and Thirty Three Circular, and remixes for Ed is Dead and Contours & Yadava; earning the producer support from the likes of Mr. Scruff, Simbad, k15, Bandcamp’s Andrew Jervis, and Gilles Peterson.

Feted singer, musician and producer Alysha Joy, rising producer Divorce From New York, ones-to-watch, Footnote and Karmasound, and Skygaze himself under his Jailed Jamie guise, joined by Lorenzo Soria, put a new spin on ‘Astral Trip’, whilst staying true to the originals’ spirit.

The multi-talented Allysha Joy, of 30/70 Collective & LCSM fame, remixes ‘’Night Heat’’, enhancing the groove with broken beats and her undeniable first-rate vocals.

Jailed Jamie & Lorenzo Soria, reshape ‘’Gimme Five’’ with rough synths and jacking bassline driven “Think” beats.

Divorce From New York boosts the tempo and infuses ‘’Wagwan’’ with Latin rhythms, perfectly balanced by high-energy synth lines.

Italian producers, Footnote and SofaTalk, delve deeper into ‘’Minor Mood’’, adding softer, retro-infused sound structures in a broken boogie mould.

Barcelona’s Karmasound explores the ruminating nature of ‘’City Cathedratics’’ and its counterbalance between broken beat and house.

The diverse but complementary set of remixes is sure to move bodies on sophisticated dance-floors this year and shed further light not only Skygaze’s production but also his talent for melody and song-writing. A feather in his and Flumo’s bow.

DJ Support:

Ashley Beedle (Back To The World Records)

Bolam (Lobster Theremin)

Crazy P (Hot Toddy / 2020 Vision)

Dan Curtin (Mobilee)

Fouk (Heist / Toy Tonics)

Joshua James (XOYO, Glorias, Rinse)

Laurent Garnier (F Communications)

Severino / Horse Meat Disco (Strut / !K7 Records)

Speaking Minds (Circoloco, Italy)

tapetopia 015 The name L’Ambassadeur des Ombres goes back to the
French science fiction comic “Valérian et Laureline”. The Ambassadors of the Shadows combined pop appeal and experimentation as the soundtrack to the zero hour of their generation in the GDR’s waning days. The music was made in a children’s room, but the edifice of ideas was a demolition site. L’Ambassadeur des Ombres existed as a hybrid of the wave bands Die Vision and Neuntage. The open ensemble’s family tree can however be traced back to buried DIY projects such as the Mahlsdorfer Wohnstuben Orchester, Zerstörte Umwelt and dark-wave protagonists Fellini Prostitutes or Nontoxic. In the short time of their existence in 1988/89, L’Ambassadeur des Ombres did not give a single concert. The tape “Strike Me If I Shriek” was circulated among friends and musicians only as an on-request work report – it’s a long overdue discovery. The tapetopia series, using the original layouts and track lists, publishes cassette editions from the GDR underground of the 1980s, especially from the “walled-in” scene in East Berlin. More than three decades after their initial “release”, most of these tapes have yet to be heard on either vinyl or CD, even though they made an audible mark in the canon of GDR subculture. Despite the tiny original editions of the time, many of the bands were considered cult in countercultural circles, which made them highly suspect in informed circles.

Repress!

Presenting a collection of deep spatial gems mined from the ever impressive TK Disco vaults for your playback listening pleasure!

The TK Disco music empire has blessed our ears and minds with an endless stream of music since it's late 1960's inception. Countless soul and funk sides were produced, cut and released by label founder Henry Stone and his associates, in turn changing the face of contemporary black music in the USA and across the world forever. It is true that the TK story originated on America's 'Space Coast', the modern frontier of lunar exploration and galactic travel, the home of NASA and countless missions beyond the stars nestled on the East Coast of the United States.

'Moon Ride' - The compilation you hold in your hands, is merely one strand of the incredible music that was beamed out of Hialeah, FL over the decades. The focus on this collection is the idea of the 'cosmic' from the Disco era. These are records that emit a spacey vibe, either from their lyrical content or equally from their sonic qualities, imbibing synths and electronics to create otherworldly grooves. These records were big hits on underground music scenes such as Daniele Baldelli's cosmic movement in the 70's and 80's in Lake Garda, they were vehicles of escapism and hedonism on the discerning dancefloors of NYC in the hands of progressive DJs like David Mancuso and Nicky Siano and they were also essential building blocks in the creation of House and Techno music in the Midwestern cities of Chicago and Detroit, inspiring legendary artists such as Mr Fingers and Jeff Mills and countless others. An essential collection of music for listening, dancing, loving and travelling!

TK Disco's influence is still felt today and this carefully curated selection of tracks showcases some absolute classics, overlooked nuggets and rarities from the label's huge output. Mastered with love by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK. Brought to you by TK Disco / Henry Stone Music & Above Board Distribution 2021.

Beside Trawbreaga Bay, in Co Donegal, on the north coast of Ireland, in an old schoolhouse, with a suitcase full of hired recording gear, Oisin Leech strums gently on an acoustic guitar and watches the tide pull the water away from the ancient inlet - The thickness of Oisin's voice soothes the room as the sound waves bounce around in the land where his ancestors still live and still wander - With a musical history that led Leech from the street punk bands of yesteryear through an ongoing stint with folk duo The Lost Brothers, he found himself for the first time working on songs to sing alone. In his mind, the songs became imagined vignette films playing behind closed, guitar eyes. After writing nearly 40 new songs in this fashion, Leech wrote "October Sun" which would become the foundation for his debut solo record, Cold Sea.

Cold Sea was produced by guitarist/songwriter Steve Gunn. Leech dreamt of making the record in Donegal Ireland, a county significant to him because it is the home of his ancestors. Pitching this idea to Gunn sparked the first of several serendipities circling the Cold Sea sessions - Gunn had always wanted to visit Donegal to connect with his own familial roots in the region.

Cold Sea is perhaps most notable for its tremendous warmth. Each song was recorded in a few takes and adorned gently with synthesizers and guitar from Gunn. Several songs feature contributions on the upright bass by Bob Dylan band stalwart Tony Garnier. M. Ward plays guitar on October Sun and there are strings by Roisin McGrory and bouzouki by the legendary Donal Lunny throughout. It is a friendship record but even at its most collaborative, Cold Sea remains centered around the humble acoustic guitar and wool blanket vocals of Leech.

Dire Straits never made a big to-do about its final run. In classic understated British fashion, the band simply let its music speak for itself. And how. Originally released in September 1991, On Every Street became the group's swan song – a lasting testament to the influence, musicianship, and integrity of an ensemble whose merit has never been tainted by cash-grab reunions or farewell treks. It remains an essential part of the Dire Straits catalog and a blueprint of the distinctive U.K. roots rock the collective played for its 15-year career.

Sourced from the original master tapes, housed in gatefold packaging, and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's 180g 45RPM 2LP set of On Every Street presents the album like it has always been meant to be experienced: in reference-grade audiophile sound. Recorded at AIR Studios in London and produced by Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler, it features all of the band's sonic hallmarks – wide instrumental separation, visceral textures, seemingly limitless air, broad soundstages, atmospherics that you can almost reach out and feel. Each element is made more vibrant, physical, and lifelike on this collectible reissue, which marks the first time this 60-minute work has been available at 45RPM speed.

Afforded generous groove space and black backgrounds, the songs from On Every Street burst with nuanced details and vibrant colors. Dire Straits' playing appears to float, their intricate performances organized amid hypnotic, fluid, three-dimensional arrangements. Mobile Fidelity's definitive-sounding set also brings into transparent view Knopfler's finely sculpted guitar lines, expressive tones, and laid-back vocals – as well as the balanced accompaniment from his band mates. Here's a record on which you can hear the full blossom and decay of individual notes, and imagine the size and shape of the studio. It is in every regard a demonstration disc. And it happens to be filled with timeless fare.

Remarkably, On Every Street almost never came to light. Dire Straits initially dissolved in September 1988 after touring behind its blockbuster Brothers in Arms and suffering the departure of two members. At the time, Knopfler professed his desire to work on solo material; bassist John Illsley also explored side projects. But Knopfler's decision in 1989 to form the country-leaning Notting Hillbillies reignited a spark to reconvene his primary band and craft a fresh batch of songs. Six years removed from Brothers in Arms, Knopfler, Illsley, keyboardist Alan Clark, and keyboardist Guy Fletcher teamed with A-list session pros – steel guitarist Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings, saxophonist Chris White, guitarist Phil Palmer included – to create what still stands as an unforgettable farewell.

The platinum record brings the band full circle in that it returns Dire Straits to a quartet formation; finds the group refreshingly out of step with the era's prevailing trends; and sees Knopfler and Co. knocking out song after song with the deceptive ease of a punter tossing back a pint at a pub. That subtle cool, clever poise, and innate control – signature traits that no other band ever matched – dominate On Every Street. Knopfler's clean, virtuosic six-string escapades unfurl with dizzying melodicism and economical efficiency. Led by his winding fills and focused solos, Dire Straits traverse a hybrid landscape of rock, jazz, country, boogie, blues, and pop strains with near-faultless prowess.

More than any other entry in the group's oeuvre, On Every Street welcomes quick detours down back alleys and into the depths of human souls. What makes it more brilliant is its staunch refusal to cater to commercial expectations or take advantage of prior successes; every passage feels true, every measure echoed in the service of song. It's evident in the humorous satire of "Heavy Fuel," closeted desperation of the witty "Calling Elvis," and shake-and-bake bounce of "The Bug." It pours from the album's darker corners, as on the high-and-lonesome melancholy of the title track and bruised emotionalism of "When It Comes to You."

Hinting at the open-minded approaches and boundless curiosity he'd embrace as a solo artist, Knopfler doesn't limit himself when it comes to style or subject matter. Look no further than "You and Your Friend," a shuffle whose all-inclusive lyrics encourage an array of interpretative meanings. Another of the album's deep cuts, "Iron Hand," comes on as one of the band's most memorable moments – the narrative addressing the abuses of power at the 1984 Battle of Orgreave during the U.K. miners' strike. Given cinematic heft by the expert production, the true-fiction account puts into perspective the richness, poetry, and depth of On Every Street.

"Every victory has a taste that's bittersweet," sings Knopfler on the title track. At least that bittersweetness seldom sounded so damn good on record.

Highway Heroine Bakersfield Twang backed by the Buckaroos! - Got your ears on? This album collects Kay Adams' live studio cuts from the Buck Owens Ranch Show - Along with Tammy, Patsy and Loretta, Kay was one of country's first female artists who elevated women in the genre - Gritty and country-to-the-bone, let this one spin & cut a rug! Includes 3 bonus tracks!

Das Londoner Electro-Pop-Duo Strange Boy präsentiert - nach bemerkenswerten Kollaborationen mit Terry Riley, Nils Frahm, Clark, Squid, Jeremy Deller und Aurora - auf seiner Debüt-LP 'Love Remains' eine Welt voller Symbolik, Erhabenheit und Verbundenheit, entstanden aus den kühnen Erzählungen von Sänger/Songwriter Kieran Brunt und den atmosphärischen Klanglandschaften von Matt Huxley. Die intim-reflektierende Art des Geschichtenerzählens wird in der lofi-Vocalproduktion mit üppigen Streichern, 'November Skies' feat. Anna B Savage, deutlich, während Blunt seine Liebe zu James Blake, Anohni & The Johnsons und The Magnetic Fields mit einer Coverversion des Kultsongs '100,000 Fireflies' unterstreicht, die er in einem einzigen Take aufnahm und über gefundene Tonbandaufnahmen legte, die er mit halber Geschwindigkeit rückwärts abspielte.

Lisbet Fritze and Louise Foo have shared artistic trajectories for half of their lives, having been two thirds of pop noir purveyors Giana Factory. As Glas, the duo reveals a patchwork of everyday observations rooted in significant life changes: moving countries, becoming a mother, keeping sane with and without a significant other. The music conveys a quest for balance, riding the line between doomy drama and playing it cool.

Their 10 song, self-produced debut, Kisses Like Feathers, will be released, worldwide in March 2023, through Hamburg’s hfn music. All lyrics, vocals and instruments were performed by Glas, and recorded in their studio. The album was mixed by Anders Trentemøller, with artwork by Brunswicker studio The Copenhagen-based duo have never been short on inspiration. Lisbet has lent her vocal and guitar talents to Trentemøller, in both the studio and on stage. Louise has explored immersive music with avant-pop project SØSTR, along with her sister, Sharin Foo of The Raveonettes. Lisbet’s other life involves architectural design. Louise works with sound installations in a visual arts context. The musical ideas of these two polymaths find coherence in the newly-formed Glas.

Kisses Like Feathers embody Nordic duality. Dark at times, it also presents with an open ethereality. Some songs feel tailor-made for a club’s sound system. Others lend themselves to intimate, headphone moments. While Lisbet and Louise’s harmonious vocal stack is the common thread throughout the album, the musical fabric is interlaced with acoustic, electric, and electronic instruments. Lo-fi piano and acoustic guitars share a reciprocal space with rich, synthetic orchestration. Galloping, modern rhythms and folk arrangements are often featured in the same song. These elements, and so many others, buttress the pair’s hymns.

15 years after their last album of original music, the Robinson Brothers present ‘Happiness Bastards’- their 10th studio album. Some may say the project has been several tumultuous years in the making, but we argue it's arriving at just the right time. Call it brotherly love or music destiny that brought them back together, the highly anticipated record consecrating the reunion of this legendary band just may be the thing that saves rock & roll. In a time where the art form is buried beneath the corporate sheen of its successors, The Black Crowes are biting back with the angst of words left unsaid penned on paper and electrified by guitar strings, revealing stripped, bare-boned rock & roll. No gloss, no glitter, just rhythm and blues at it's very best - gritty, loud, and in your face.

Since The Black Crowes reunited in 2019, they've made a triumphant return to form with over 150 shows spanning 20 countries worldwide, celebrating the 30th anniversary of ‘Shake Your Money Maker’, the album that put them on the map. Upon their return from the road, they knew they needed something new to show for their lost time. The Robinson Brothers and longtime bassist Sven Pipien headed to the studio with producer Jay Joyce in early 2023 and the experiences of years past transcribed themself through the music as the band found their way back to their roots. And it's finally here!

ORANGE VINYL

Daniel Boeckner understands the grit and gravel that accumulates in the heart and that it takes an unwavering courage to crack through that clutter and burrow to the other side. And in Boeckner's hands, that quest comes via post-apocalyptic synth and guitar heroism, a rallying cry for those always coming home through the scorched clouds. Throughout his work with Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs, Divine Fits, Operators, Atlas Strategic, and more, the iconic Canadian indie rocker recognizes that few feelings are more gratifying-more memorable, more generative, more abundant-than hope. But it takes getting the hell out of your own way. A culmination of that deep library of musical reference, Boeckner is set to release his first album under his own name: Boeckner! No matter where his genre exploration has taken him, there's something about growing up in punk and DIY spaces that puts collaboration in Boeckner's blood. Composed of a collection of intimately familiar elements, Boeckner! elicits the same thrill of young passion and discovery. It's a jet-powered chase through a tech-noir cityscape-fueled by a dream and that special someone in the passenger seat. That urgency and passion have always been a trademark of Boeckner's, and writing on his own pushes those feelings further into the center of the scope. But while Boeckner may be the clear driving force behind the album, he's not without collaborators for his solo debut. After meeting producer Randall Dunn while contributing to the soundtrack to the Nicolas Cage-starring psychedelic horror film Mandy, Boeckner knew he'd found the perfect counterpart for his solo debut. "I'd been a fan of his forever, especially the Sunn0))) records he produced," Boeckner says. "Working with Randall really unlocked some suppressed musical urges, things that I enjoy in my private life but don't normally weave into what I'm releasing-like occult synth, pseudo-metal, krautrock, and heavy psych influences." That base allows Boeckner to thoughtfully weave between emotional imagism and more grounded storytelling. Throughout the record, his imagery delves into science fiction, but it's charged first and foremost by experience. The trio of Boeckner, Dunn, and drummer Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, David Bowie, Fiona Apple) formed a sort of dark engine for the album, and Chamberlain's ingenious approach of triggering a vintage Arp synthesizer simultaneously with each drum track helped Boeckner shape the record's atmosphere. That tense futurism was influenced by Boeckner's time staying in Dunn's Circular Ruin studio, a dusky, electronic aura burned into every track. By the end of the album, Boeckner! eases from sci-fi epic into something more akin to a torched VHS copy of a John Cassevetes film, the chemtrails and nuclear fallout fading long in the distance. Like all good sci-fi, the emotion and pain hits home for the author and listener alike, and the genre flourishes bolster the human experience. In revealing more than ever before, Boeckner! ratchets up the musical intensity to unforeseen levels and hopes to find some peace at the end of the journey.

In conjunction with the publication, by Hachette Books, of Truckload of Art: The Life and Work of Terry Allen, an authorized biography by Brendan Greaves of Paradise of Bachelors, Gonna California imagines an alternate reality where Allen's long-lost first studio recordings, captured with a full band in LA in 1968, saw a proper release. (Instead nearly the entire pressing was destroyed by a fire set by the so-called "Hollywood Arsonist," and remaining copies were repurposed in artworks.) This first-ever (re)issue edition, limited to 500 copies, features recently rediscovered and remastered early (and superior) mixes of both songs; the original liner notes by Allen; an excerpt from the book; a lyrics insert; and Allen's contemporaneous visual art in an arresting gatefold jacket. No veteran country songwriter sounds more attuned to the national mood. His songs still feel like little guidebooks for staring down a harsh universe. - The Washington Post

Miles Davis created just one studio album with his original sextet: Milestones. And he made every moment count. Pairing with Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, Davis not only laid the groundwork for the modalism that immediately followed but tailored a genuine modern-jazz masterwork laden with performances among the most explosive of his distinguished career. Sandwiched between the more famous 'Round About Midnight and the epochal Kind of Blue, Milestones remains a seminal work of art.

Sourced from the original master tapes and pressed on dead-quiet SuperVinyl, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g LP grants each musician their own space amid broad soundstages. Afforded the benefits of a nearly non-existent noise floor and supreme groove definition, this vinyl reissue doubles as a time machine back to the February-March 1958 recording sessions.

Colors, shapes, and dimensions appear in the manner that resembles what you'd glean from behind a studio control room's window. Davis' burnished trumpet is rendered in three-dimensional perspective and seemingly coaxes the band to play with unburdened zest. Coltrane's trademark saxophone teems with lifelike tonality and images with specificity; his solos work in tandem with and against the driving rhythms. Garland's swaggering piano lines? Visualize the keys as he hits full stride, the chords and fills slithering around skeletal frameworks.

Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and selected as a "Core Collection" record by the Penguin Guide to Jazz, Milestones is as famous for its title track – widely considered ground zero for modalism and bolstered by Jones' hallmark "Philly Lick" rim shot – as the players that produced it. The launching pad for many of Davis' improvisational flights, the album teases the explorations Coltrane would soon chase. Davis' own solo work broaches territories that far exceed what he had done in his bop-rooted past. Every song is a highlight.

Take the bravado "Dr. Jackle," featuring a hot-foot pace and bebop strains, or "Sid's Ahead," which continues the album's blues theme while juggling edgy harmonics and inside-out structures. On "Billy Boy," distinguished with an arco bass solo from Chambers, Garland gets a turn in the spotlight and channels the openness practised by one of his heroes, Ahmad Jamal. Even more instructive is the band's reading of Dizzy Gillespie's "Two Bass Hit." Three years removed from the version Davis and company recorded for the trumpeter's Columbia debut, this interpretation demonstrates the extent to which the group had jelled in a relatively short amount of time.



Then there's "Straight, No Chaser," the definitive rendition of Thelonious Monk's signature piece. Coltrane's marbled playing pulls at the tune's borders, Adderley takes liberty with solos, and Davis dances around his mates, at one point quoting "When the Saints Go Marching In" while demonstrating his knowledge of tradition and casting an eye towards the future.

About that future. Garland already had one foot out the door during the Milestones sessions to the extent Davis spells him on "Sid's Ahead." Jones would stick around for a bit longer but soon plot his exit. History proves Davis navigated the changes with visionary aplomb. Yet the chemistry, excitement, and beauty the sextet achieves on Milestones cannot be overstated. This reissue helps put the album in proper perspective – and presents the music the fidelity it deserves.

Of the countless accolades and analyses that surround Blue, no point is more significant than the fact that the 1971 Joni Mitchell album continues to become more popular, revered, referenced, and relevant with each passing day. Such vitality is not only extremely singular; it is the ultimate measure of great art and, in the context of Blue, indisputable proof of the record's accessibility, integrity, and timelessness. If the most brilliant and everlasting music seeks to find truths shared by all of humanity, Blue can be said to be universal doctrine.

Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 12,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the landmark album with reference-grade detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the beloved LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on definitive-sounding vinyl and SACD sets.

Everything about Blue sounds more intimate, involving, and inescapable on this transparent pressing, which benefits from a virtually non-existent noise floor and superior groove definition. Mitchell's voice, positioned front and center, and primarily accompanied by minimalist acoustic guitar, piano, and dulcimer playing, comes across clearly and prominently. Suspended notes and radiant chords double as question marks, commas, and phrases. The in-the-room presence and spatial dimensionality make absolute the full-range spectrum of introspective emotions — hurt and distress, self-awareness and joy, difficulty and uncertainty, warmth and desire — Mitchell navigates, queries, and contemplates throughout the record. The defencelessness the singer once spoke about is laid bare here like never before.

The packaging of the Blue UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe box, both LPs come in special foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artifact for listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including the unforgettable cover photograph of a ruminative Mitchell shot by Tim Considine.

Deemed the third Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone; universally celebrated by critics, fans, artists, and educators; and defined by a spell of disarmingly vulnerable songs that are at once confessional, intense, spare, honest, painful, hopeful, and exquisite, Blue charts love, spiritualism, independence, and loss like no record before or since. Widely considered the album that established the singer-songwriter template, the largely autobiographical LP changed everything shortly after its original release in June 1971. Amazingly, it continues to do so more than five decades later.

An incalculable influence on generations of artists, it stands as the through-line from Carole King, Elton John, James Taylor, Joan Armatrading, and Leonard Cohen to Patti Smith, Carly Simon, Emmylou Harris, and Rosanne Cash to 21st century contemporaries like Brandi Carlile, Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, and Courtney Barnett. Teetering between agony and optimism, it is — to borrow a phrase from Mitchell's eternal "A Case of You" — a bottomless "box of paints."

The beauty of the stripped-down arrangements, intoxicating melodies, and Mitchell's wisdom on Blue didn't go unnoticed. Critical acclaim, coupled with the depth of the material and Mitchell's reputation, propelled the album into the Top 20 in the U.S. and Top 10 in the U.K. Yet while so much pop music diminishes with age, Blue has defied norms and headed in the opposite direction. Its 50th anniversary year witnessed an outpouring of tributes, reflections, and testimonials that helped frame the record's escalating importance and symbolism — apt in an age in which women have become the prominent trailblazers in rock, R&B, and hip-hop.

Perhaps most succinctly, in a 2021 article celebrating the LP, the Los Angeles Times declared: "In 1971, nothing sounded like Joni Mitchell's Blue. 50 years later, it's still a miracle." Nothing, indeed. Yet "miracle" suggests Blue partially owes to a divine agent or inexplicable circumstance. And though Mitchell's bracing conviction and forthright sincerity can appear otherworldly, her musical approach and lyrical storytelling is nothing if not personal and human. What we hear is pure truth — no matter how aching, complicated, or stark.

Much has been written about the circumstances that inspired the songs on Blue: Mitchell's romances; her time overseas; her disdain for celebrity; her lingering sense of loss at having given up her daughter for adoption; her treatment by the very same industry that her music made uncomfortable; her prolonged search for resolution. These situations and experiences pushed Mitchell to question everything — especially big-picture concepts that have always obsessed mankind: fulfilment, autonomy, love, honesty, being.

"I wanna make you feel free," Mitchell sings on the record-opening "All I Want." Mission accomplished. Blue is liberation — and the start of a freedom that continues to impact music, culture, and identity today.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

Introducing, the experimental violinist and performer Vanessa Bedoret.

The London-based French musician today announces that she’ll be joining, Scenic Route, a label renowned for selecting and nourishing rising stars for the release of her debut album, Eyes, due out on 8th of March 2024. Launching with a taste of what’s to come, today she also shares single “1/2”, a textural track that tells of the dichotomy between those who are selfless and those who are self-centred, and their need to merge as one. This duality is reflected in the industrial metallic echoes under Vanessa’s soaring vocals and the piercing strings of her chosen instrument, the violin.

Treating songwriting as an instinctive process, Bedoret transforms her deeply personal experiences into pure emotion. Not following any set narrative, Eyes takes the listener on a journey via their own experiences, prompting introspection through Bedoret’s hypnotic melodies.

Through the album, she awakens the audience's imagination, to open up their emotional response. On “Ballad”, a vague, loving lyrical letter to someone close, Bedoret’s heartbreakingly soft lament is barely audible over the dramatic atonal strings. She flips her narrative again in the titular track, “Eyes”, so the listener empathises through her isolated violin, and takes on her anguish, not needing to understand the full story.

Bedoret began her classical training at age 6 and on completion at 18 she embraced the thrill of playing guitar in punk bands, and like many at the turn of adulthood, was quickly captured by the allure of the dancefloor. Her far-reaching taste doesn’t stop there, she also counts black metal to opera and from eurodance to IDM as inspiration. Her deep understanding of musical form elevates her experimentation to a truly unique sonic experience, one that never strays too far from her original love of classical music.

With only a string of releases under her belt via independent labels like Laura Lies In and Archaic Vaults, her refined skillset has meant she’s been in high demand for both solo shows and collaborations. These accolades include playing violin with New York avant garde collective Standing On The Corner at The Serpentine, as well as a part of Kahil El’Zabar conducts MOKI at the ICA, and Linder: Another Music in a Different Arcadia at the Design Museum alongside artist Linder Sterling, Naima Cherry, Maxwell Sterling, Kenichi Iwasa & Ella Frears.

For her solo performances, she’s shared stages with Standing on the Corner, Ekaterina Bazhenova-Yamasaki, Philomème Pirecki, John T. Gast and Nexcyia to name a few. She’s also performed as a duo alongside musician Severin Black in support of their collaborative EP release, First Passage / Excommunicated.

Through the lens of a life lived to it’s fullest and one that does not shy from experiencing the rawest of emotions, it’s clear that Bedoret has a nack for translating personal observations into cinematic crescendoes. The field recordings throughout only heighten this feeling adding both a grounding and other worldy sensibility. Lyrically, she allows you to peek into her private world and for a fleeting moment letting you lock eyes with hers, asking what do you see?

This debut is a glowing experimental work that purrs with a distinctive narrative. Vanessa Bedoret is a promising new act, ready to take 2024 by storm.

One of the most successful and enjoyable debuts in history, The Cars' self-titled album doubles as a greatest-hits collection. That's because not one song here is unrecognized or unknown. A huge reason why the Boston quintet became America's most popular new-wave band, The Cars launched eight tracks still regularly heard on radio stations everywhere. Consider the hit list: "You're All I've Got Tonight." "Good Times Roll." "Just What I Needed." "Moving in Stereo." "My Best Friend's Girl." "Don't Cha Stop." If you're a fan of pop music, this album is mandatory. Just call it the best new-wave rock album ever made.

And now, The Cars sounds better than it has in any previous incarnation. Mastered from the original analogue tapes, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition LP allows the music's oscillating rhythms, futuristic keyboard passages, panned stereo images, and rippling textures to be experienced like never before. The songs take on a surreal quality, the Cars manipulating the vibrant music at will to mesmerize the listeners' senses and hold them at bay. Mobile Fidelity's pressing epitomizes the sensation of "moving in stereo."

Led by Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, the Cars managed to unite then-disparate styles: bubblegum pop melodies, angular art rock, progressive arrangements, and terse minimalism. Orr's low, understated singing and Ocasek's cool, detached vocals lend shades of doubt and double meaning to the lyrics, which are further counterbalanced by orchestral keyboard flourishes and electronic beats. The brilliant arrangements also benefit from a laidback cool and understated irony that remain uncommon in the over-the-top world of mainstream music. Obsessed with incorporating the latest technologies and sounds into its palette, the band spiced its tunes with delightfully quirky accents — country-tinged guitar fills, echoing Syndrums, reggae splashes, hard-rock tones, robotic pulses.

The results are the sounds of a creative landmark. At once accessible and eccentric, edgy and catchy, The Cars explodes with emotion, energy, and hooks. It's impossible not to get caught up humming and singing along to every song, an appeal that comes courtesy of Roy Thomas Baker's stellar production. The legendary producer, best known for his work with Queen, ensured that the record seamlessly packed a smooth midrange, spacious imaging, and call-and-answer choruses in one tight package. Baker's trademark touches with harmony vocals abound.

"The MoFi disc is much better than the original in every way. It's more dynamic, much more natural on top, and all three dimensions have a lot bigger space. This disc is great from start to finish, but "Moving in Stereo" will blow you away on a great system in a big room."
—Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio

Die 7fache Grammy Gewinnerin Kacey Musgraves veröffentlich mit ”Deeper Well” am 15. März ihr 5. Studioalbum. Mit der gleichnamigen ersten Single stellt Kacey wieder ihr großes Talent für eingängige Melodien gepaart mit in die Tiefe gehenden Texten unter Beweis. Schon in ihrem letzten Album, das die Spitze der US Charts erreichte, zeigt Kacey wie fließend die musikalischen Grenzen zwischen Pop, Americana und Country sind und hat sich somit weltweit eine riesige Fangemeinde erschaffen. In den USA schon ein Megastart wird sie mit diesem Album nun auch schnell den Rest der Welt erobern. Weltweite Touren- und Promotionbesuche sind schon angekündigt. Bestellen Sie jetzt!