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The iconic baritone country singer Johnny Cash sold over 90 million records, an incredible achievement for one who endured terrible hardship in the Great Depression, picking cotton with his sharecropper family from the age of five. After a spell in the Air Force, Cash settled in Memphis and with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant, known as the ‘Tennessee Two,’ Cash pitched up at Sun Records just as Carl Perkins and Elvis were trying their luck, Cash’s brilliant debut With His Hot And Blue Guitar containing all-time anthems like ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and his perky cut of ‘Rock Island Line’. A must for all Cash fans.

The iconic baritone country singer Johnny Cash sold over 90 million records, an incredible achievement for one who endured terrible hardship in the Great Depression, picking cotton with his sharecropper family from the age of five. After a spell in the Air Force, Cash settled in Memphis and with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant, known as the ‘Tennessee Two,’ Cash pitched up at Sun Records just as Carl Perkins and Elvis were trying their luck, Cash’s brilliant debut With His Hot And Blue Guitar containing all-time anthems like ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and his perky cut of ‘Rock Island Line’. A must for all Cash fans.

The iconic baritone country singer Johnny Cash sold over 90 million records, an incredible achievement for one who endured terrible hardship in the Great Depression, picking cotton with his sharecropper family from the age of five. After a spell in the Air Force, Cash settled in Memphis and with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant, known as the ‘Tennessee Two,’ Cash pitched up at Sun Records just as Carl Perkins and Elvis were trying their luck, Cash’s brilliant debut With His Hot And Blue Guitar containing all-time anthems like ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and his perky cut of ‘Rock Island Line’. A must for all Cash fans.

The iconic baritone country singer Johnny Cash sold over 90 million records, an incredible achievement for one who endured terrible hardship in the Great Depression, picking cotton with his sharecropper family from the age of five. After a spell in the Air Force, Cash settled in Memphis and with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant, known as the ‘Tennessee Two,’ Cash pitched up at Sun Records just as Carl Perkins and Elvis were trying their luck, Cash’s brilliant debut With His Hot And Blue Guitar containing all-time anthems like ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and his perky cut of ‘Rock Island Line’. A must for all Cash fans.

The iconic baritone country singer Johnny Cash sold over 90 million records, an incredible achievement for one who endured terrible hardship in the Great Depression, picking cotton with his sharecropper family from the age of five. After a spell in the Air Force, Cash settled in Memphis and with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant, known as the ‘Tennessee Two,’ Cash pitched up at Sun Records just as Carl Perkins and Elvis were trying their luck, Cash’s brilliant debut With His Hot And Blue Guitar containing all-time anthems like ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and his perky cut of ‘Rock Island Line’. A must for all Cash fans.

SOURCED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES: 2LP SET PRESENTS 1991 ALBUM IN 45RPM SPEED FOR FIRST TIME.

PCM Digital Master to Analog Console to Lathe.

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.

Colbie Caillat is a master storyteller whose breezy SoCal folk-pop songs laced with a country shimmer speak truth to both the pain of endings and hopefulness of what’s to come when you’re brave enough to follow your wild, wild heart. Along The Way, Caillat’s solo country debut, embodies the positivity in heartbreak’s wake. Though her move to Nashville was done as one-half of a romantic partnership - a personal and professional adventure to the southern city for this west coast girl - she thrived in all of life’s changes. In her musical journey and experimentation with new sounds, Caillat vividly captured a moment in her life through song. The California-raised, Nashville-based girl delivered songs with gratitude for having known this love, learned so many lessons and the joys shared along the way. “The love that you shared shouldn’t be wasted: you help each other grow and become a wiser and more evolved person. We needed to be together to become who we are today, even if we didn’t end up together.” If Joni Mitchell’s quintessential Blue is the deep dive into the caverns of grief following a break-up, Along The Way is a bright, shiny compass Caillat offers to guide people through the tough times and raw feelings that accompany any dissolution. Lover, leaver, left, the woman who’s sung at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert wants to sow compassion for all parties involved.

The official new edition from this rare and great Afrobeat & Soukous masterpiece from Nigeria !

"Vibro Success Intercontinental Orchestra was an extraordinary group from the Central African Republic, founded by the sax player Rodolphe 'Beckers' Bekpa, also known as Master Békers, in the late 60's. The band achieved surprising domestic success after Beckers introduced the first drums to the Congolese Rumba rhythm. His innovation proved to be wildly popular so they were hired as the resident band of “ciel d’Afrique au Km5”, a night club in Bangui. The club was renowned as the temple of the Olympic Réal football team's fans and that visibility propelled them into becoming the official national orchestra.

1970 marked beginning of the band's international fame . Their fame spread beyond national borders until they became so popular that invitations began to arrive from nearby countries like Cameroon and Chad, the former of which the band would then tour that same year. The success of their performances prompted a further tour in 1972. According to Rodolphe Bépka, the audience enthusiasm Vibro encountered was bewildering. "We filled the old military stadium in Yaoundé in 1970, in 1972 the new Amadou Haïdjo stadium ... We are running with great success in the cities.” Their popularity was also growing in Chad, where they would tour several times through the early and mid 70's.

Towards the end of 1976, Vibro Success decided to take their music global and introduce Central African music to listeners worldwide. It worked. The turning point came in Nigeria. There the group achieved extraordinary success, with live performances followed by contracts with local labels like Scottie and Ben/Clover resulting in hit releases. Most of their LP's were originally released on this later label, Ben Limited, owned by Ben Okonkwo.

Ben, also known as Clover Sounds, brought a great number of the biggest bands from the country to market, bands like The Apostles, Akwassa,The Doves, Aktion, The Visitors, Mansion, Folk 77 and many others. Nearly all those groups started their recording careers in the label's studios based in the commercial heart of Aba, Abia State, one of Southeastern Nigeria’s largest cities. Aba at that time was a flourishing city, an important crossroads of people and culture with an intensive and active and cutting edge live music and nightlife.

But after that golden era the group began to lose its popularity. In the 1980's they returned to Bangui and resumed their old-time gigs in dance halls there - only to realize that their music didn't have the appeal it used to. Making matters worse, the domestic economic downturn accelerated, forcing the orchestra to slowly end its activities . Vibro Succès Intercontinental Orchestra disappeared at the end of the 80s and most of its members died in the 90s.

We discovered this LP during our first trip to Nigeria in 2016. While traveling in the east to meet up with a musician, we stopped for a night in a village. As often happens in Nigeria, information has a way of traveling fast. The news that a couple of white guys looking for records had arrived in the village the day before spread like light. When we awoke, we found a couple of elderly music lovers in the hall of our hotel with a little pile of records for sale. The nice cover of the “Drunkard” album was right on top!

At first we thought it was just another really good soukous album made by Vibro Success but after we heard “Drunkard” - we knew we had stumbled onto something very special. That was the “easy” part. Soon after, we had the idea of reissuing this LP and that was a bit harder. There were no credits on the cover and not much information about Vibro Succès. We started to ask to our friends to ask around, see if somebody knew them or the producer. That's when sadly we discovered that Ben Okonkwo had passed. So with no leads to follow and seemingly without any possibility of making progress on the matter, we "gave up" and returned to Italy.

A couple years later, in the summer of 2019, we found ourselves again in Aba. This time we had the chance to meet Nnamdi Okonkwo, the eldest son of the late Ben Okonkwo. After Nnamdi's mother and family agreed, he was glad to cooperate with us for the re-release of this special album."

Texan country blues legend Lightnin’ Hopkins was a fingerpicking genius with a mournful voice who, after a spell in prison, first came to prominence through recordings for Aladdin and Gold Star in the late 1940s. Somehow, by the mid-1950s, his star had waned, but when Samuel Charters appeared at his one-room Houston apartment with a bottle of gin, Hopkins agreed to cut ten unaccompanied songs for Folkways, the resultant Lightnin’ a pivotal success that reignited his career, sparking the blues revival in the process. Full of haunting loneliness, despair, sly innuendo and doses of good humour, this must-have LP is absolutely brilliant!

Texan country blues kingpin Lightnin’ Hopkins was rated one of the top 100 guitarists of all time by Billboard, and was a notable influence on Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others. Recordings for Aladdin and Gold Star cemented his reputation, and after performing at Carnegie Hall with Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, ‘Mojo Hand’ was a breakthrough hit. The superb 1961 LP Lightnin’ (The Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins) benefits from the understated presence of King Curtis’ drummer, Belton Evans, and jazz bassist Leonard Gaskin, placing Hopkins’ guitar licks and raspy voice at centre stage, playfully relating heartbreak and woe.

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At one time participating in ground-breaking medical scientific research, in another a relentless road-trip, hoovering up rare records and tapes, in the nooks and crannies of France, Algeria, or any country that he happens to land in. And then there’s his long standing show for Rinse France.

Following his slamming mix for the Japan Blues show on NTS last year, he kindly offered up a selection for Japan Blues’ first tape release. Algeria is the focus of this tape, taking a brief dip into Sameer’s broad collection, coinciding with his research for his documentary film about the social history of Rai music, "Rai is not Dead" for Arte.

Words from the Hadj: “The medehates are traditional vocal formations of women from western Algeria. Their main role is to give some compliments to the future wife during a wedding, and pray to all the saints through long songs which could last for hours, until reaching a sort of transcendental state amplified by looped percussions, traditional flute, and violon notes. Exclusively for women, no men (including young boys) admitted. This ceremonial tradition gave an intimate space for women to speak out about taboo topics like men-women relationships, love, sins like alcohol consumption etc. Since then, some of them started freely to mention all of that in this small circle and some of them have been recorded live for release on 7″. I picked up a few from my collection in order to make this mix. They represent one of the most powerful and wildest roots of the raw traditional form of rai which appeared in the 50/60s in Algeri

Trailblazing instrumental synth pop experiments created to soundtrack Japan’s booming 1980s cartoon and comic industries. The brightly futuristic instrumentals on this collection reflect the mindset of composers and musicians who believed in a technological future where everything was possible.

In the late 1980s Japan experienced a brief but heady period where societal changes combined with new-found wealth to open up a world of possibilities. A huge influx of cash - artificially created by slashed interest rates after an agreement with the US to weaken the dollar relative to the yen - resulted in the inflation of real estate and stock market at a rapid pace. While the economic bubble it created was unprecedented and impossible to sustain, for a while money was in plentiful supply.

The musical genre City Pop reflected the aspirations of the country’s booming leisure class. Video games flourished with Nintendo's 1983 launch of their Family Computer (or FamiCom). Studio Ghibli was founded 1985 to later became one of the most famous and respected animation studios in the world, and Anime and Manga were established as major forms of entertainment for all generations of the Japanese public.

Music was no mere footnote to the anime and manga boom: the two forms of media often went hand in hand, and not simply through the presence of background melodies. With generous budgets available, even two-dimensional static manga comics could be released with an accompanying soundtrack of original music known as an ‘Image Album’.

Composer and arranger Kazuhiko Izu was one such beneficiary of this open budget approach. Written to accompany artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga comic Domu, the composer and arranger took advantage of the world-leading (and wallet-busting) Japanese synthesiser technology available at King Records’ fully equipped studio. Featured on this compilation, A3: Act 2 Scene 26 reflected the story’s sci fi themes with a blazingly futuristic yet warmly funky slice of synth pop that presents a joyful celebration of synthesisers and their seemingly endless possibilities.

Kan Ogasawara was another composer who made early mastery of the litany of synthesisers, drum machines and sequencers that had become available. Two tracks written to accompany the 1985 period manga Yume No Ishibumi are featured here; Honowo’s experimental electronic textures add spice to a jaunty electro pop melody that recalls the Rah band’s 1983 hit Messages From Stars; the jazz-tinged Utage rounds out Ogasawara’s shimmering synth textures with beautifully crafted backing from legendary musicians Yuji Toriyama (guitar), Pecker (percussion) and Jun Fukamachi (piano).

Before becoming one of the pioneers of Japanese Kankyo Ongaku (Ambient Music), Takashi Kokubo worked on the proto techno track Kiki (Jungle At Night). It was put together for the 1984 anime film Shonen Keniya (Kenya Boy) using some of the most expensive music technologies available at the time. This Africa-Inspired dance track offers a contemporary parallel to the early techno music that young Detroit based producers were then creating using cheap Japanese Roland drum machines and synthesisers.

This is the first compilation of Japanese anime and manga soundtracks curated by Kay Suzuki and Rintaro Sekizuka from Vinyl Delivery Service (a Tokyo based online record shop which also operates in East London's renowned wine and hifi shop Idle Moments). With a cover by artist Kazuki Takakura and two pages of liner notes, this vinyl only compilation of music never before released outside of Japan, captures a vital aural snapshot of an era whose forward-thinking sounds went hand in hand with cutting edge technology.

Hot Apple Band’s long-awaited debut album, So Long, Noodle House is a collection of 11 tracks recorded between 2019-2022, mostly at Jack Kinder’s home studio in Strathfield, Sydney. Once the pandemic hit, Jack and Lewis Mosley had ample time to give birth to the songs, allowing for this body of work so it could become all that it deserved to be. The resulting album will no doubt please long-time fans, with a number of songs being staples from the band’s live repertoire. So Long, Noodle House is symbolic sign-off on the band’s past and an exciting peek into what’s to come. The record covers broad ground, from 70s imbued alt-country and catchy Beatles-era pop, through to emotive folk and soft rock. Coming-of-age themes run deep in the album, as Jack Kinder's lyrics touch on life changes, friendship, shitty jobs and of course, love. With Kinder's smooth vocals, clever arrangements and gorgeous vintage production, and Lewis Mosley’s unforgettable lead guitar, slide and keyboard performance, Hot Apple Band’s debut has the same charm of some of the best records from the early 1970s, radiating George Harrison, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Harry Nilsson and Fanny in a similar style to modern counterparts such as Drugdealer, Weyes Blood, Daniel Romano and The Lemon Twigs.

Gibt es etwas, was Iren und Franken gemeinsam haben? Eine ganze Menge! Da wäre wohl zuallererst eine ganz besondere Heimatverbundenheit und die Liebe zu seit vielen Generationen überlieferten Traditionen, mit der man sich sowohl auf der Grünen Insel, als auch im rot-weißen Frankenland seinem Brauchtum widmet. Hinzu kommt eine gewisse sympathische Eigenwilligkeit, die Dinge auf seine Weise in die Hand zu nehmen. Und nicht zuletzt eine fast todesverachtende Geselligkeit, mit der Iren und Franken gleichermaßen unerschütterlich das Leben mit all seinen Höhen und Tiefen feiern Eigenschaften, die Fiddler`s Green seit mehr als drei Dekaden in ihrem mitreißenden High Power-Sound vereinen. Seit seiner Gründung im Jahr 1990 hat sich das Erlanger Sextett den Status als eine der beliebtesten, erfolgreichsten und beständigsten Formationen innerhalb der europäischen Folk Rock-Community erarbeitet. Eine bestens geölte Irish Speedfolk-Maschine, die sich nun mit ihrem neuen Studioalbum „The Green Machine“ auf dem Zenit ihres Schaffens zeigt! Schon während der Arbeiten an ihren letzten drei Alben begann sich die Idee zu „The Green Machine“ parallel zu entwickeln, zu reifen und schließlich ein Eigenleben zu führen. Gemeinsam mit dem bewährten Produzenten Jörg Umbreit (In Extremo, Grave Digger, Die Toten Hosen) entstand so in den vergangenen 36 Monaten in der Abgeschiedenheit des renommierten Principal Studios bei Münster ein lebendiger Organismus, der Fiddler´s Green nun von ihrer abwechslungsreichsten und vielschichtigsten Seite präsentiert. Zwölf Songs lang spannt die Band den stilistischen Bogen von ihrem liebgewonnenen Vollgas-Party-Sound über berührende Balladen und poppigere Stücke bis hin zu treibenden Midtempo-Rockern und sogar Country- und Western-beeinflussten Tracks, die man in dieser Form bisher noch nicht von den Erlangern gehört hat. 50 Shades of Green sozusagen, in denen die Fiddler jede Menge Energie mit einer beispiellosen Detailverliebtheit und einem hochprozentigen Storytelling verbinden. „Irish Speedfall“-2023: Ab Anfang November gehen Fiddler`s Green auf kurze Tour in Deutschland, bevor das Sextett das neue Album im Frühjahr 2024 auf ihrer großen „The Green Machine“-Tournee live präsentiert.

Muireann Bradley is a young blues, ragtime, roots and folk guitarist and singer based in Ballybofey in County Donegal Ireland. “This is my first album. Most of these tunes were originally recorded by the great blues men and women who were making records from the 1920s and 1930s right up in some cases to the early 1970s. I have also found inspiration for the renditions recorded here in the playing of some of the musicians who began recording this music in the 1960s and later, and who in some cases learned at the feet of the greats. Many of these guitarists played pivotal roles in the 1960s blues revival and subsequent “rediscovery” of many of the greats of country blues. I grew up steeped in these old blues in the hills overlooking the valley of the River Finn just outside the town of Ballybofey in County Donegal. My father would play this music constantly at home and wherever we went in the car and talk about it endlessly whether anyone was listening or not, telling stories about the lives of these musicians as if they were legend, mythology or the evening news. My father could of course play all this stuff on guitar, I remember watching him when I was very young and thinking “I want to be able to do that”. When I was nine he agreed to teach me and bought me my first little travel guitar. I worked hard to learn how to play but as time wore on I seemed to have less and less time to practice as I became more and more invested in the combat sports I was regularly training and competing in. Then in March 2020 the first Covid lockdowns happened and all contact sports were shut down. I was lost for a while but soon found my way back to the guitar. I was now listening, playing and practicing with a new intensity and focus. In a very serious moment, I wrote out a list of tunes I was going to learn. The first tune on that list was Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues”. I’m not sure now how long it took to get that arrangement together but when it was ready we videoed me performing it and posted it on YouTube. It ended up getting a lot of attention, I remember my parents being quite shocked and soon after that Josh Rosenthal got in touch… and here we are! Each individual track on this album was recorded live in the studio and represents one entire take with me singing and backing myself up on guitar simultaneously. Most are either first or second takes. Nothing has been added or taken away, no overdubs or modern recording tricks of any kind have been used at all so at least in some respects this album has been recorded in the same way as those classics of the 1920s and 1930s

Reissue of this super hard to find self-released Brazilian garage-beat 7" from 1965. Still very unknown even among hardcore collectors of the genre, but surely an amazing example of genuine teenage garage rock from 60s Brazil reissued for the first time The band would later become Loyce e os Gnomos, a cult band featured on the compilation Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas. The reissue includes an insert with liner notes and a previously unseen photo of the band. Unearthing a forgotten chapter in Brazil's musical scene, Gatos Malucos emerges as an enigmatic garage/psychedelic band from the small city of Limera, in the Sao Paulo countryside. Comprising friends aged 14 to 16, Gatos Malucos combined their admiration for iconic acts like the Beatles and Yardbirds with an unmistakable Brazilian essence. Years later, two band members went on to form the amazing proto-punk band Loyce e os Gnomos. "I literally went crazy. I became a fanatic for the Beatles and proceeded on collecting everything related to them. Records, clothes, newspaper clippings and magazines and song lyrics. Even the Gretsch guitar, similar to the model that George Harrison played, I had the opportunity to pick up in the US. Then when the movies came up, it was pure bliss. The mood was set and, to assemble our band, it was a no brainer. After all, the music flowed harmoniously through our veins." Raphael (Gatos Malucos Guitarrist)

KID FRANCESCOLI, leader of the French Riviera Touch is back with the stellar album SUNSET BLUE out Sept 22nd 2023.

After a first sold-out world tour (over 200 concerts in Europe, USA, Asia...), and successful hits such as Nopalitos, Blow Up or Moon (now certified diamond, with more than 200 millions streams), the Marseille-based producer, crooner and multi-instrumentalist, Mathieu Hocine, is eager to share his most accomplished LP ever. This fine collection of soulful songs honor his Mediterranean roots, with elegant and pop melodies. His most recent success and the creation of his first original soundtrack with AZURO, installed him as one of the best French songwriters of his generation, with a unique signature sound.

"I live in Marseille, I spent my childhood in Corsica, I have Algerian origins, my first vacations with friends were in Barcelona, vacations with my first girlfriend in Roma,... Then, I had the chance to perform in Morocco, Greece, Turkey and Egypt: each time I spent time in the Mediterranean region, the people I met there made me feel like I was part of the same country. This shared multiculturalism is really comforting, it has its own poetry and strength, bringing uniqueness and empathy to the people. It is essential for me. I love my city: it’s the perfect place to feel good with sun, sea, family, friendships, love... It gets me emotional, bringing tears with a smile".

With his new musical gem, Mathieu Hocine unveils 11 elegant tunes of his finest craft: sunbathed French Touch (Run Run, 1986), romantic chillwave (Corsica), uplifting synthpop (You Are Everywhere, Like Magic), electronic-soul (Casino Soul), cinematic disco (Solaris), cosmic R&B (Sweet and Sour, Take Time), … Everything is in this record.

For the first time ever, Kid Francescoli paid tribute to his mixed origins with his collaboration with world-renowned lute and mandolin player Hakim Hamadouche (Rachid Taha, Patti Smith, Brian Eno, Tricky...), whom added Algerian patterns to the introspectives songs Drift in Blue and The Morning After.

"My ambition is to create pictures in people's heads with music, to transport them instantly into a movie"

SUNSET BLUE is an instant-crush album: crystal-clear, strong, personal but universal at the same time.

It's an ecstatic soundtrack for this moment when time is suspended, the golden hour when everything seems possible. It feels like Love is in the air, you're living your best life and you're at the right place at the right time. This album embodies this magic moment where we would like to last forever… Like an epiphany, Kid Francescoli's new album is a moment of pure pleasure, a soothing way to escape reality.

"I see myself as a melodist.I would like my music to feel like velvet. There's something cinematic, classy about it, and yet comforting. It's very simple, popular and synonym of love and passion"

His friend French 79 co-produced the album, while the american rapper Bamby H2O brought his NYC swag (on Sweet & Sour), Stan Neff (Polo & Pan, Kungs, Christine and the Queens...) took care of the mix and Alex Gopher (Daft Punk, The Blaze, Bon Entendeur...) added a final touch of magic when mastering. Nicolas Despis (known for his work with Etienne Daho, Hoshi, Juliette Armanet... and many famous French rappers) later joined this dream-team to craft custom-made artworks. SUNSET BLUE is a deeply personal quest, a human adventure for Mathieu Hocine (whom explores his maghrebian origins, his feminine side, his subconscious space, ...). It's a male's work, but don't get it wrong, this LP would be nothing without women’s touch : Julietta (on Run Run and Take Time), Sarah Gaugler from Turbo Goth (on You Are Everywhere and Like Magic), and iOni (on Drift in Blue).

“Music has this magical power to broaden your vision of the world. It's fascinating because, like dreams, it's the kind of irrational things science can't explain and that makes life exciting."

Planets aligned perfectly on this project and thanks to this five-star cast of collaborators, Kid Francescoli achieved his personal holy grail : he orchestrated a great 21st century pop-music album.SUNSET BLUE is a new turning point between organic and electronic, both a mediterranean travel and a Californian dream, a bridge between Ennio Morriconne and modern electronic music.

Also, while it might be called SUNSET BLUE in honor of the sea and the Portuguese / Brazilian concept called “saudade”, but it is a really optimistic album, whose true colors would rather be "yellow-orange-red" in nod to the sun.

Created in the midst of the world tour, SUNSET BLUE is a direct result of the lives’ energy and fans’ joyful vibes: going back in the studio after smiling, singing and dancing with people all around the world inevitably gave Kid Francescoli the desire to retranscribe this ecstatic feeling in music. This album is a sensitive experience, from sunrise to sunset, from first track to last one. It’s an exploration of an everlasting summer, reaching its climax in the very final seconds of the track Corsica, making us want to press play and dive into this jewel all over again.

A beautiful cosmic trip, whether you like to stay in bed cocooning, to travel far, far away or to dance ‘till dawn, to catch the first rays of light.

Make sure to catch Kid Francescoli on his next world tour to have a good time.

"Dance My Hurt Away" is the first single from the debut album by The Faithful Brothers from Tel Aviv/Israel.

Is there a Northern Soul scene in Tel Aviv? The surprising answer is – yes, there is. If you're a soulie and in town, look for the Tel Aviv Soul Club, and you might find yourself swaying across a talcum-powder covered floor to Tel Aviv's own unique blend of classic Northern Soul 45s and early 1960s R&B sounds.

Chances are that those 45s will come out of the record boxes of one of the brothers Neeman, Johnnie and Bin. Tel Aviv Soul Club, aka TASC, is the brainchild of Yashiv Cohen, a DJ who, in 2006, lured the brothers Neeman, whose massive soul collections been hitherto confined to their respective living rooms, into playing their records to the Tel Aviv public. Yashiv is also the lead singer of Men of North Country (MONC), a Tel Aviv band with a distinct sound, blending rock, British pop and soul. Since Neeman means Faithful in Hebrew, Yashiv woke up one morning with the crystallization that MONC must create a spin-off, a more puristic soul band, called the Faithful Brothers. It took a few more years, but gradually the brothers succumbed to their fate, to continue their musical progression, from collectors to DJs to musicians. Johnnie took his guitar, Bin took to the piano, and the brothers began pouring out some of their influences, creating new songs. It is finally all coming together now.

The band Sons Of Apollo has disbanded following the recent announcement of Mike Portnoy rejoining Dream Theater after a 13-year hiatus. Sons Of Apollo, featuring Mike Portnoy, guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-Guns N' Roses), bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (also of Black
Country Communion), produced two studio albums over a three-year span.

Their second album, 'MMXX,' was re-released on Construction Records a year ago, and now we're pleased to share that their debut album, 'Psychotic Symphony,' will also be re-released. Available in two captivating colors, this reissue is set for release on December 15, 2023.

‘Psychotic Symphony’ is the debut studio album by American supergroup. It was released on October 20, 2017. ‘Psychotic Symphony’ is influenced by: Deep Purple, Van Halen and U.K. The album was produced by drummer Mike Portnoy and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. All band members were involved in the creation of the songs.

The band Sons Of Apollo has disbanded following the recent announcement of Mike Portnoy rejoining Dream Theater after a 13-year hiatus. Sons Of Apollo, featuring Mike Portnoy, guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-Guns N' Roses), bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (also of Black
Country Communion), produced two studio albums over a three-year span.

Their second album, 'MMXX,' was re-released on Construction Records a year ago, and now we're pleased to share that their debut album, 'Psychotic Symphony,' will also be re-released. Available in two captivating colors, this reissue is set for release on December 15, 2023.

‘Psychotic Symphony’ is the debut studio album by American supergroup. It was released on October 20, 2017. ‘Psychotic Symphony’ is influenced by: Deep Purple, Van Halen and U.K. The album was produced by drummer Mike Portnoy and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. All band members were involved in the creation of the songs.

Happiness Therapy is celebrating five years of releases this month ! The French label, founded by Crowd Control in 2018, has become one of the country’s most well-renowned outfits.

To commemorate such a milestone, the imprint is releasing a nine-track VA in the form of 5 Years of Happiness. Featured guests include Kolter and DJ Steaw, whilst several firm label favorites also appear on the VA, teaming up to produce a set of exclusive collaborations.

“This new release sets in stone half a decade of existence, life changing releases and unforgettable label nights” - Simon Blondeau aka Crowd Control.

Emerging from the depths of Cardiff’s burgeoning music scene, heirs to their country’s lineage of storytellers, are Slate. Formed by frontman Jack Shephard and drummer Raychi Bryant, the four-piece band are barely touching their twenties, but together, they have command of post-punk which rings with the gravitas of a death knell; a grasp of atmosphere and melody which touches on the ethereal.

With the addition of bassist Lauren Edwards and guitarist Elis Penri who completed the band at the end of 2021, the four bonded over the written word playing poetry games over pints. Together, they found an affinity with the surreal works of Arthur Rimbaud and the Welsh poets R. S. Thomas and Dylan Thomas, whose reverence for their country and its people bleeds into Slate’s own lyrics.

The 7" collects Slate's stunning 1-2 of debut singles 'Tabernacl' and 'St Agatha', which were both produced by Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard's Tom Rees. Both songs come loaded with frontman Jack Shephard's distinctive, poetic drawl, blistering yet gothic and ornate guitars and rollicking, road-ready drums. Together they offer a snapshot of a band born fully-formed and prove a statement of intent that's hard to ignore.

Of the track, Shephard explains: "'St Agatha' is the first song we wrote about being Welsh. Though, living in in the south, we each converge at the forefront of anglicisation. At the time of writing, we were indulging in literature, landscapes as well as each another, in an attempt to re-connect with much of our disregarded national identity. So much was left unrevealed to us in school. We read about a churchyard on the border, where some people are buried with their heads in Wales and their feet in England. It was the perfect place to tell the story of a conflicted protagonist. Severed at St Agatha’s, between there and the homeland

Pilah returns 8 years later with a new album! Founder of the Dub Addict Sound System and a perfectionist, he found the inspiration with singer Birdy Nixon to offer this opus described as Deep Dub.

Repress!

Synergy in motion, London five-piece Ezra Collective are proving themselves as a harmonious tour de force. Their sound nods respectfully to a classic jazz footprint, celebrating the originators whilst simultaneously carving a path solely their own.

Ezra Collective marry the delicate technicalities of jazz musicianship with afrobeat and hip hop, tied together by a sound that's unmistakably London. Their live show is one of dynamic union; the strength of their partnership shines in performances that are commanding yet sensitive, soulful and pertinently groove-laced.

Following a joyous and stunningly cohesive show in May 2016, Boiler Room rightly labelled the group as 'pioneering the new-wave of U.K. jazz'. As the genre enjoys a new lease of life that is gaining momentum across the country, Ezra Collective are adding their own fresh and imaginative face to a style that continues to be 'as entertaining as it is educational' (Trench).

In a year that saw them sell out legendary London venue Ronnie Scott's not once but twice, 2017 also bought with it the release of their genre-bending second EP, Juan Pablo: The Philosopher.

After Ezra Collective took the EP on a successful tour across the U.K and Europe and completely sold out of the vinyl, Juan Pablo: The Philosopher went on to win the accolade of Best Jazz Album at Gilles Peterson's esteemed Worldwide Awards Jan 2018

iPhupho L’ka Biko, the highly acclaimed Africanist experimental jazz band, is thrilled to announce the release of their debut EP, ‘Azania’ vinyl through Canadian record label, We Are Busy Bodies. Following the success of their two acclaimed singles, ‘Abaphezulu’, released through Brownswood Recordings, and ‘uThixo uKhona’, distributed by Platoon.

The band dedicated the year 2022 to recording and producing this eagerly awaited EP. Azania delves into a rich tapestry of themes that are close to the hearts of the band members, including spirituality, Pan Africanism, freedom, love, ritual, tradition, culture, and displacement. The EP showcases iPhupho L’ka Biko's unique musical fusion, blending jazz with indigenous African music of imvumane in tracks like Qamata, and infusing jazz with gospel influences in songs like Singabakho. This eclectic approach reflects the fluidity and diversity of the band’s sound, promising an immersive and captivating musical journey.

The band’s dynamic sound has been honed and perfected through their numerous live performances across the country, which have garnered them a devoted and loyal fan base. iPhupho L’ka Biko’s ability to connect with audiences through their energetic and soul-stirring performances has elevated them to become one of Johannesburg’s most revered musical collectives. “Azania the EP is an introduction of iPhupho L’ka Biko to the world, marking the beginning of a new era,” shares Nhlanhla Ngqaqu, the band's founder and composer.

Sourced from the Original Master Tapes and Presented in Audiophile Sound for the First Time: Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g SuperVinyl LP Plays with Riveting Detail
Three decades before he released The Philosophy of Modern Song — an insightful book devoted to 66 tunes that both impacted his career and the music world at large — Bob Dylan issued Good As I Been to You. The under-heralded 1992 album, Dylan’s first solo acoustic album in nearly 30 years and first all-covers effort in nearly 20 years, can be seen as a prophetic prelude to what has become the Nobel Laureate’s celebrated late-career arc. It’s also an absorbing continuation of the custom Dylan has embraced since he first picked up a guitar.


Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at RTI, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g SuperVinyl LP of Good As I Been to You reveals the immediacy, detail, and stripped-down nature of recording sessions that took place in Dylan’s garage studio in California. Simple, raw, and unplugged, the record presents Dylan in peak form — and showcases a diversity of vocal phrasing, soulful chording, harmonica accents, and close-up ambience that on this reissue emerge like never before. As the first-ever audiophile edition of this almost-lost classic, this LP also benefits from SuperVinyl’s extraordinary properties: a nearly inaudible noise floor, superb groove definition, and dead-quiet surfaces among them.

Recorded and mixed by Micajah Ryan, and supervised by Debbie Gold, Good As I Been to You took shape at Dylan’s home shortly after the singer-songwriter completed sessions in Chicago with a full band. Unaccompanied, he again gravitated to existing works — in this case, traditional folk music — and, with Gold serving as a trusted advisor, performed the songs in multiple keys and tempos until he arrived at what he desired. That careful, determined albeit loose, organic approach emanates from this reissue, on which each note, movement, and space come across more directly, fully, and immediately than on the original formats. It helps draw a through-line to Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) as well as the similarly themed follow-up, World Gone Wrong (1993) and immersive old-world storytelling of Tempest (2012) and Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020).

Well before Dylan made those renowned 21st century LPs, however, he needed to find a way out of a funk that — save for his 1989 collaboration with Daniel Lanois, Oh Mercy — followed him for years. As author Clinton Heylin reported Dylan admitting in 1997: “My influences have not changed — and any time they have done, the music goes off to a wrong place. That’s why I recorded two LPs of old songs, so I could personally get back to the music that’s true for me.”

Truth: Few, if any, concepts better encapsulate Good As I Been to You. It resonates with the same originality, honesty, resolve, and age- and time-defying relevance as the seminal Anthology of American Folk Music that fired Dylan’s imagination as a kid in small-town Minnesota and, later, per Greil Marcus’ That Old Weird America book, informed Dylan and the Band’s Basement Tapes sessions. This record also contains the type of music Dylan was playing during his acoustic sets at his period Never Ending Tour shows; within a year of the record’s release, Dylan would play half the album’s songs live.

As for those songs: Rife with strange mystery, common circumstance, and epic adventure, the stories appeal to our base instincts. Their themes — jealousy, temptation, sacrifice, love, revenge, identity, opportunity — operate on a fundamentally human level immune to trends, generations, or eras. They’re ancient and modern, serious and comical, open and disguised, simple and multi-layered. They talk of vengeance and justice (“Frankie & Albert”; “Jim Jones”), romance and tenderness (“Tomorrow Night,” “Froggie Went a Courtin’”), the troubled and trouble-free (“Hard Times,” “Sittin’ on Top of the World”). They lend voice to lovers scorned and freed (“Blackjack Davey”), the used and users (“Diamond Joe”), the powerful and powerless (“Arthur McBride,” “Canadee-I-O”), the followed and followers (“Little Maggie”). And akin to much of Dylan’s finest output, things are not always what they appear to be.

Spanning country, folk, sea shanty, bluegrass, and blues motifs, Good As I Been to You re-confirms Dylan’s position as an elite interpreter and sculptor — not of just structure but emotion. Dylan delivers the tunes as if he’s known them forever. He plays with a subtle sense of mischievousness and retains a largely upbeat demeanour; his eyes seemingly twinkle as he sings and picks. His guitar serves as the guidepost for shuffles, boogies, ballads, and mess-arounds while his innate feel for each specific arrangement and melody helps inform pacing, tone, attack.

Like a great author, he understands the importance of adhering to concision, luring an audience, holding their attention, and maximizing the impact of details, actions, and unexpected turns. Though already coarse and ragged, his voice feels ideal for the subject matter and his phrasing — from the clever ways he stretches syllables to underline meanings on the surprise twists of “Canadee-I-O” to the sheer delight he gets from singing “rowdy-dow-dow” on the protest song “Arthur McBride” — outstanding.

"As his Double Platinum-certified album True Believers celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its release, Darius Rucker will now make the record available on vinyl for the first time.
In addition to singles including the title track and Top 10 hit “Radio,” the album most notable features Rucker’s Diamond-certified (11x Platinum) chart-topper “Wagon Wheel,” one of the top five best-selling Country songs of all time. “This album changed so much for me musically and for our live show,” says the three-time GRAMMY winner. “As a kid who worked as a clerk in a record store, there’s a part of me that has always wanted this album to live on vinyl, so this is a great way to commemorate 10 years of Believers.”"

12 original festive songs, characterised by Johnson’s characteristic songwriting excellence, ranging in tone from the sardonic to the sentimental, featuring traditional seasonal conventions (50s jazz, Father Christmas, mistletoe, sprouts etc) performed by The Xmas Irregulars: Sian Allen – vocals, trumpet, saxophone // John Forrester – vocals, double bass // Robb Johnson – vocals, guitar, tuned percussion // Fae Simon - vocals // Roger Stevens – vocal, piano with Arvin Johnson- drums, Saskia Tomkins – violin & viola // Recorded by Ali Gavan, Brighton Road Studios. Robb Johnson-Brief biography: Robb’s widely recognised as one of the UK’s finest songwriters. “An English original”, (Robin Denselow, the Guardian) “one of our best singer-songwriters ever” (Mike Harding) “one of this country’s most important songwriters (no argument!)” (fROOTS). His work includes two highly acclaimed song suites, Gentle Men, & Ordinary Giants, -a “masterpiece” (fROOTS), “monumental” (FATEA). Last year Murder at the Grange premiered to enthusiastic, sold-out audiences at The Ropetackle in Shoreham & Chats Palace in Hackney – “a cracker of a show… a delightful extravaganza and a uniquely dark and different way to celebrate the winter season” was Folk Radio’s opinion. The Xmas Irregulars: Sian Allen – actor-musician, resident singer at Walthamstow Folk Club // John Forrester – singer & songwriter, bassist in various bands // Fae Simon - studied opera, hip-hop, soul & jazz recording artiste // Roger Stevens – award-winning children's poet & novelist // Arvin Johnson & Saskia Tomkins are both ex-Irregulars – Arvin now drums with Manchester-based band Tigers & Flies, & Saskia now lives & works -to great acclaim- in Canada

Hot Water Music singer Chuck Ragan and End Hits Records will collaborate to release the sought-after THE BLUEPRINT SESSIONS of the country/folk singer for the first time in a deluxe double vinyl version. Originally, these recordings were only available through a monthly 7" subscription offered by Florida punk rock cult label NO IDEA. For over sixteen years, these singles have been out of print and have become sought-after collector's items. That's why Chuck Ragan and End Hits Records have decided to make these songs available again, combined on a double LP. The 16-track collection is packaged in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and comes with printed inner sleeves. All versions of the sixteen songs included are exclusive to this release and have been specially remastered for vinyl. The double album will be released worldwide through End Hits Records and will be available in four extravagant vinyl configurations. Additionally, End Hits and Chuck Ragan are excited to offer eco-friendly, recycled vinyl for the first time. Each recycled record is unique and will have an individual look due to the recycling process.

Hank Wangford, pioneer and Godfather of British alternative Country
music and Americana, joins forces with Noel Dashwood, Britain's premier
dobro player for a unique duo album of original songs A fresh take on
classic Country and Americana it is Studio recorded live with Hank on
guitar and ukulele and Noel on bass ukulele and dobro and harmonica
Dobro is a guitar played horizontally with a slide bar in the Hawaiian style, a
foretaste of the classic Country sound of pedal steel and lap steel guitar. They
sing spine tingling harmonies together on Hank's songs and the one non-original
Image of Me, Conway Twitty's first Country hit which Hank learned from his
mentor and inspiration the late Gram Parsons.
With Noel's lyrical dobro they celebrate the much-ignored influence of Hawaiian
music on American popular music and most especially Country music. Noel tips
his hat to the dobro of Pete Kirby - Bashful Brother Oswald of Roy Acuff's seminal
Smoky Mountain Boys - in much of his playing. Two sides to this album - first
Toetappers is up- tempo with songs about Oil and the current fossil fuel crisis,
Jump In A River about lockdowns, spiritual and societal and Simple Pleasures,
something we all crave. The second side Heartbreakers is sadder ballads about
cheating, lies, lost love, jilted wedding, drinking and broken Promises Promises.
And Something In The Air asks is there a god?
The whole album is a heartfelt tribute to the classic roots of Country that Hank
was pulled into by his friend Gram.

Double Vinyl : full set of the finale concert of their 1985 'Kick Over Apartheid!' tour + BBC broadcast tracks from their 1986 concert at the Town And Country Club. 2 x 140 grs Black LP , 25 tracks. Printed inners. introduction by Redskins founding member Martin Hewes + liner notes.

SHORT INFOS
In the mid '80s, in the midst and direct aftermath of the era defining Miner's Strike, the Redskins, as political activists, delivered their electrifying and radical Socialist Workers Party missives and broadsides through the ministry of their music - a unique post-punk rock/soul hybrid that gained their lead singer, Chris Dean, the sobriquet 'Tamla Motormouth'.

The Redskins were taking a stand for the working man and by standing up, they stood out - and never so forcefully as in the live arena! With their stellar musicianship and crack brass section honed through a never ending whorl of 'fighting fund' benefit gigs, they were the furious flames that kept the anti-Thatcher fires of dissent burning throughout those challenging years marked by her seeming unassailability.

'These Furious Flames!' is a 25 track documentation of the energy, commitment and drive of the Redskins as that campaigning live act. Issued in 2xCD capacity wallet, double vinyl and digital editions, each format couples together a recording of the full set of the finale concert of their 1985 'Kick Over Apartheid!' tour - including guest appearances from Jerry Dammers and Billy Bragg - with the BBC broadcast tracks from their 1986 concert at the Town And Country Club.

The double CD edition comes with a 40 page booklet that compiles new and period quotes by band members Martin Hewes, Chris Dean, Paul Hookham and Kevin Robertson as well as thoughts by an array of associates and celebrity fans including poet Atilla The Stockbroker, Billy Bragg, Colin Revolting, their studio album producers Pat Foley & Chris Silagyi and DJ Gary Crowley. The booklet also contains gig reviews, photographs and a condensed digest of media quotes about the band.

The double vinyl LP format has printed inner bags replete with evocative archive photographs and a written introduction by Redskins founding member Martin Hewes, with whose co-operation and input this celebratory release has been curated.

90 Day Men spent a decade boldly in conflict with the world, catering to no one and careening toward its own abyss. Forged by Midwestern teens amid a late-90s spike in angular indie rock, the band wrote itself into the lexicon of Chicago music history. Eschewing trend and time, 90 Day Men was as ornate as it was alienating, transcending genre and embracing the strange. This 5LP set, remastered by Heba Kadry, collects the band's three studio albums and a previously unreleased 2001 Peel Session, plus EPs, singles, and outtakes, all detailed within a 68-page oral history curated by Joan of Arc's Tim Kinsella.

90 Day Men spent a decade boldly in conflict with the world, catering to no one and careening toward its own abyss. Forged by Midwestern teens amid a late-90s spike in angular indie rock, the band wrote itself into the lexicon of Chicago music history. Eschewing trend and time, 90 Day Men was as ornate as it was alienating, transcending genre and embracing the strange. This 5LP set, remastered by Heba Kadry, collects the band's three studio albums and a previously unreleased 2001 Peel Session, plus EPs, singles, and outtakes, all detailed within a 68-page oral history curated by Joan of Arc's Tim Kinsella.

Harp – das gemeinsame Projekt von Tim Smith (ehemaliger Sänger und Songwriter von Midlake) und seiner Frau Kathi Zung – kündigen ihr Debütalbum "Albion" (via Bella Union) an.

"Es ist nicht das Ziel, es ist die Reise", schrieb schon der amerikanische Philosoph Ralph Waldo Emerson. Doch bei Smith scheint das Gegenteil der Fall zu sein. Der Weg zu "Albion" mag lang und kurvenreich gewesen sein, und holprig obendrein, aber die Musik, die Harp geschaffen hat, ist voller schöner Melodien, Dramatik und Details. Die zehn Songs und zwei zur Stimmung passende Instrumentals werden umrahmt von akustischen und elektrischen Gitarren, sanften Keyboardtönen und Smiths besonderer Stimme; mit anderen Worten, die Quintessenz dessen, was die Leute in erster Linie zu seiner Arbeit mit Midlake hingezogen hat.

Auf dem neuen Album ist alles jedoch in etwas dunkleren Tönen gehalten. Es sind Lieder über den Zustand des Menschen, von verlorener und gefundener Liebe, von Angst bis Freude, von Furcht bis Akzeptanz, alles in eine sehr eigene poetischen Sprache verpackt. "Albion" wurde von Smith größtenteils allein zu Hause aufgenommen, mit Gastbeiträgen des ehemaligen Midlake-Bassisten Paul Alexander bei "Silver Wings" und "Throne Of Amber", E-Gitarren von Max Kinghorn-Mills von der Band

Temple, Bassey, MacLaine and now, Hurt; in a world of Shirleys, the name Sophia Ruby Katz has chosen for her music is perhaps prophetic as it captures her stunningly emotive vocal approach. And whilst Shirley Hurt might be the perfect nom de plume for the creative Toronto-based artist, it’s her self-titled debut album which positions her as protagonist of her own universe.

Traversing sonic landscapes, Shirley Hurt’s vocals ebb and flow like lyrical Ley lines tracking the contours of her own well-travelled map. By the age of 18, Hurt had travelled extensively, having lived in upwards of 20 different apartments and houses, as a result never really feeling “at home” anywhere. At this age was when Hurt found herself in New York, dipping her toes into various scenes and musical realms. The first and only place she ever felt at home, and a partial home-base for her, she travelled between Toronto and New York until the age of 26.When the project she was working on in New York reached a dead-end she returned West, moving in with musicians Harrison Forman (Hieronymus Harry, Zones) and Patrick Lefler (Roy, Possum). Being surrounded by their improvising at all hours, a new approach emerged. “Harrison is a virtuosic guitar player, and I hadn't picked up a guitar in any serious way since I was 16,” she says, “by osmosis I started playing again for fun.” Without agenda, the process grew organically from there.

Hurt and Forman decided to travel across the US and Canada in a trailer for half a year, with the entire album written in the final months of their trip. Hurt had been writing loose ideas here and there but felt blocked creatively. When the pair reached Berkley, they wound up house-sitting for a tuned-in friend who recommended she pray, in a very direct way, to remove the block. “I took her advice and to my surprise it worked. The album was conceptualized and finished within a couple of months.” Shapeshifting in tone and phrasing, Hurt’s music alchemizes the furthest corners of experimental indie folk, pop, and country into a singular sound with elegant unpredictability.

Whilst Shirley Hurt’s lyrical and structural ideas may have emerged on the road, the album was self-produced and recorded at Joseph Shabason (The War on Drugs)’s Aytche studio in Toronto’s West End. It was engineered by Nathan Vanderwielen and Chris Shannon (Bart), and Hurt enlisted collaborators Jason Bhattacharya, Nick Dourado, Patrick Lefler, and Harrison Forman to hone her vision. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the songs until we returned to Toronto,” she recalls. “Joseph and I had been talking about working together after sending across some demos and Jason happened to recommend his studio at the exact same time, so everything came together naturally at that point.”

Whilst her most recent adventures may have seen Shirley Hurt bound for Texas as an official SXSW artist (hand-picked by Gorilla Vs Bear to perform at their own showcase), she currently resides in her native Canada, more specifically rural Ontario, close to friends and family, and is already working on her second album. The ties to lineage are interwoven in the fabric of the music. Hurt’s mother, artist Leala Hewak, instilled a lust for life and innate value of creativity in her from a young age as she explored the role of gallery owner, vintage jewellery show host, mid-century modern furniture expert, real estate agent, painter. Hurt’s father, a civil litigation lawyer and new-wave obsessed music lover with an extensive vinyl collection, introduced Hurt to a wide-range of artists at a young age such as Nina Hagen, Laurie Anderson, Tom Tom Club, and endless others.

In her video for ‘Problem Child’ Hurt’s grandmother walks her through a generationally revered pie-making process. One would be tempted to hear this, and other songs, as autobiographical. Yet, Hurt’s lyrics are rarely pulled from her relationships or personal history––at least not consciously. Rather, they arise from somewhere less tangible or defined. “Lyrics tend to come to me when I am doing non-musical things - washing dishes, brushing my dogs, walking to the grocery store. I have a lot of voice memos on my phone and half-filled notebooks and when I hear something, I have to stop what I'm doing to get the idea down. Usually it’s bits and pieces. It's rare a full song comes to me in one go, but it's great when they do, and those are often my favourites.”

Carving out a space of her own in an all-encompassing universe, Shirley Hurt is the introduction to a long artistic story, and if the journey so far is anything to go by, it will be stippled with evermore unpredictable chapters.

Many years have passed since the last album by Munich-based indie rock band dASbAND. The country has changed, the city changes and so does the band. Hard but productive years lie behind her. Lockdown paranoia, a serious illness of one of its members, dark nights. But there was always hope, light and the healing power of a creaky guitar lick, a subsonic bass line, a driving beat. Emma Luna joined last year, a new member as adept on the microphone as she is on the keys. Bassist Gurin "Gringo" Goh had joined in 2019.

On their third album, dASbAND counter the feints of existence with casual - sometimes ironic, sometimes charming - rock & roll stoicism. They skewer the hollow Zuspäthipstertum as well as the lazy facade of the new Biedermeier ("Kein Ding"), which makes itself comfortable in core- rehabilitated old buildings. They sing of the confusion of medicinal flights of fancy ("High Heals") and of „Melancholie Modul" loosely based on Martin Kippenberger. They poach in Northern Soul realms ("Darkness") and cover The Velvet Underground. "Geh weg" is an acutely danceable melange of dub- reggae and post-punk articulation. dASbAND are buccaneers in the Mehr der Möglichkeiten. They write German songs with edge, but never forget to gallantly hold the door open for you. They worship the Sleaford Mods as much as the Byrds or the wahwah pedal. They break a lance for the rogue in us, for the holy power of a bulky punk riff, for the shalala of a chorus you can't get rid of. They've learned their lessons in the "Spiel of Life." And they have fun with it.

„Spiel of Life" was recorded at Tobias Siegert's "Minga Studio" in Untergiesing and at Michael Heilrath's "Bereich 03".

Those familiar with the sound and style of the DIY scene in Chicago's Logan Square may be surprised to find out that it was the birthplace of psych pop quintet Lucille Furs. They are a little surprised themselves.

At the time it wasn't exactly the place to hear harmonies and harpsichords so much as songs about sniffing glue. This isn't to say they didn't like the raucous power of Magik Milk, on the contrary. But, as the people who would come to make up the band began to talk, it became clear that they wanted to make something different entirely. They wanted to make something with the heartbeat of sweaty city basement shows but with the unrestrained imagination of places and times where they had never been.

Bassist Patrick Tsotsos will tell you about the music of post-war Greece where his grandparents grew up. Guitarist Nick Dehmlow will tell you about the garage bands of LA. Drummer Brendan Peleo-Lazar can fill you in on a late 60s London studio session as though he was running the tape machine. Mellotron/organ player Constantine Hastalis can show you a record by some long-forgotten folk singer who writes so earnestly you won't forgive the world for forgetting it. Singer Trevor Newton Pritchett is unapologetic about what they borrow. "You might hear the Zombies for their kind of haunting and contemplative quality, the Kinks kind-of casual criticism, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band for their distant romantic quality, Temples, Love, Diane Coffee, Charles Bradley or our Chicago people Post Animal, Jude Shuma and Whitney." Now that half of the band is located in Los Angeles you'll be likely to hear those influences, too.

And that's what becomes crystal clear when listening to the upcoming album Another Land. It's an immersive listen, the kind of record you can get lost in on a cross-country drive from the midwest to the west coast. A record with warm blood running through its veins. Music where thought can be abandoned.

The whole record is dressed up in surreal and esoteric terms, in exchange for being topical. Think Dylan lyrics from the late 60s. "Paint Euphrosyne Blue" is kind of a meta-level example of that. The song is a reference to the goddess of mirth, about the human need to adapt to the point of becoming unoriginal. It's about chasing Van Gogh's depression because it makes you feel like a better painter.

The album was written through September 2017 and was recorded following the release of the self-titled Lucille Furs album later that year. It was recorded direct to tape before being completed at Treehouse Records in Chicago.

For fans of: The Kinks, The Zombies, Love, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Byrds, The Beatles, Foxygen, Triptides, Temples, Mystic Braves, Levitation Room

Those familiar with the sound and style of the DIY scene in Chicago's Logan Square may be surprised to find out that it was the birthplace of psych pop quintet Lucille Furs. They are a little surprised themselves.

At the time it wasn't exactly the place to hear harmonies and harpsichords so much as songs about sniffing glue. This isn't to say they didn't like the raucous power of Magik Milk, on the contrary. But, as the people who would come to make up the band began to talk, it became clear that they wanted to make something different entirely. They wanted to make something with the heartbeat of sweaty city basement shows but with the unrestrained imagination of places and times where they had never been.

Bassist Patrick Tsotsos will tell you about the music of post-war Greece where his grandparents grew up. Guitarist Nick Dehmlow will tell you about the garage bands of LA. Drummer Brendan Peleo-Lazar can fill you in on a late 60s London studio session as though he was running the tape machine. Mellotron/organ player Constantine Hastalis can show you a record by some long-forgotten folk singer who writes so earnestly you won't forgive the world for forgetting it. Singer Trevor Newton Pritchett is unapologetic about what they borrow. "You might hear the Zombies for their kind of haunting and contemplative quality, the Kinks kind-of casual criticism, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band for their distant romantic quality, Temples, Love, Diane Coffee, Charles Bradley or our Chicago people Post Animal, Jude Shuma and Whitney." Now that half of the band is located in Los Angeles you'll be likely to hear those influences, too.

And that's what becomes crystal clear when listening to the upcoming album Another Land. It's an immersive listen, the kind of record you can get lost in on a cross-country drive from the midwest to the west coast. A record with warm blood running through its veins. Music where thought can be abandoned.

The whole record is dressed up in surreal and esoteric terms, in exchange for being topical. Think Dylan lyrics from the late 60s. "Paint Euphrosyne Blue" is kind of a meta-level example of that. The song is a reference to the goddess of mirth, about the human need to adapt to the point of becoming unoriginal. It's about chasing Van Gogh's depression because it makes you feel like a better painter.

The album was written through September 2017 and was recorded following the release of the self-titled Lucille Furs album later that year. It was recorded direct to tape before being completed at Treehouse Records in Chicago.

For fans of: The Kinks, The Zombies, Love, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Byrds, The Beatles, Foxygen, Triptides, Temples, Mystic Braves, Levitation Room

Svante Sjoblom is ready to release his third full length album "Telling
Lies" - Just like its predecessor "Before It Breaks" the album was
recorded in Svante's workshop on the countryside in the very south of
Sweden - The album was recorded and produced by Magnus Norrenberg
and Svante Sjoblom

“F(r)icciones is a complicated piece of miscellaneous works. A set of experiments in preparation for a gig at a noise convention in Orozco that never happened, an 18 women choir piece composed for a soundtrack to a documentary that doesn’t have a release date yet or trying to create a drone piece by accumulating guitar noise. The result? Burnt psychedelic blues with electronics ”

Partly an official soundtrack to “Durangas”, a documentary focusing on women and heritage, discussing civil war, education, sex or violence in the town of Durango, Basque Country. And partly a non musical accompaniment to an imaginary movie, F(r)icciones is the new album by A. Maiah.

Self described as Guitarist / Composer / Improviser of Idiomatic Noise / Microtonal Blues Ist or Psychedelic Populist, Asier has been self-releasing albums for nearly a decade now, focusing mostly on prepared guitar or improvised noise

Durangas was composed by Asier, arranged/conducted by Garazi Navas, performed by an 18 women choir from Durango and recorded live at San Agustin Cultural Centre. All of the other tracks were recorded between 2021-2022 in between portable recorders in Burgos or at Estudios Nomadas.