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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DNO hits double figures as Denver’s Trisicloplox & Sectra return with more industrial-strength electro-sludge.

Sectra sets the tone with ‘Mail Theft’, a hulking mass of sand-blasting static, insectoid jitter and low-end boom. It’s an intimidating, uneasy listen, like tuning through the haunting emptiness of post-apocalyptic broadcast frequencies, only to be interrupted by sudden bursts of unseen filth and gore.

Trisicloplox follows with a brace of tracks. ‘Bruised’ does exactly what it says on the tin, gargantuan kicks pummelling layer upon layer of dense sound into an impenetrable wall of noise. Ritualistic rhythms and gluttonous amounts of overdrive swarm over distant wails, sending everything into a spiral into despair.On ‘Megastructure’, doom metal meets hip-hop, as rough-hewn drums crunch above a bassline that takes its cues from the Super Hans School of Electronic Music: “The longer the note, the more dread.”

And finishing up the vinyl offerings is ‘Dead On Arrival’. Coming courtesy of Sectra, the most traditionally ‘club-focused’ effort of the lot sees a serrated breakbeat and venomous acid lick sparring over dissonant pads.

As always, digital listeners are offered a little bonus, this time the only full collab: ‘The Dead InTheir Shrouds’. Shunted along by a systematic kick, the track’s jackhammer subs become all-consuming, seemingly sucking all the air from the room and hurling it back out of the bassbins in a violent frenzy.

A bold release that’s not for the faint of heart, the ‘Dead Structure’ EP further cements Trisicloplox & Sectra as truly original talents and DNO as an outlet that can never be pigeonholed.

Rhythms of postmodern realism at the very bottom of the DNO.

Limited edition picture disc in full colour printed sleeve

Covered In Stars featuring members of Luna, Spacemen 3, Slowdive, Spectrum, Add N To (X), The Vacant Lots, Spiritualized, Slipstream and more.

This is a wonderfully colourful, beautiful fun and powerfully transcendent album by Fuxa, Featuring driving drum machines, gritty fuzz bitten guitars on The Sun Is Shining and Mary, 80's neon midnight post-punk disco grooves on Shadazz and perfectly blissed out floating in space vibes (Help Me Please and Cluster Fuxa). The synths shimmer and elevate, guitars attack and sparkle and the vocals deliver dark romanticism which evoke often David Cronenberg inspired fantasies such as photographs of car crashes, crushes on perfect strangers and unknown futures. 
 - Simon Scott (Slowdive)


Fuxa returns in 2022 with a new album  'Covered In Stars'
 
Eight new songs and several years in the making, of what can best be described as a full on sonic explosion. Mixing space-rock elements, krautrock rhythms, punchy beats and swirling electronic sweeps and beeps that would make for a perfect soundtrack for any warp speed travelling cosmonauts with phasers set to fun!!
 
For the past 25 years Fuxa front man Randall Nieman has no doubt been on a cosmic journey in sound and space. from his early beginnings a part of Detroit locals Windy and Carl as a guitarist/synth player, running and releasing close to 100 releases on his own label Mind Expansion, to later joining Sonic Boom's (Spacemen 3) group Spectrum for close to a decade. Performing the songs that Spacemen taught him touring across North America and Europe as well as recording and releasing several releases with Sonic under the Spectrum moniker. 
Randall has since worked with and released numerous amounts of material with the likes of Martin Rev (Suicide), The Telescopes and Dean and Britta (Luna) to name a few.
 
It is no surprise that Randall would once again build this new album with friends that he became close to over the years musically and there's certainly no shortage of indie royalty star power on this album
 
Produced by Randall Nieman, Richard Formby and Stefan Persson.
Mastered by Simon Scott (Slowdive)
This album features guest appearances from Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham (Luna), Ann Shenton (Add N to (X)), Mark Refoy and Jonny Mattock (Spiritualized, Slipstream), Roger Brogan (Spectrum/Dean Wareham), Jared Artaud (Vacant Lots) and more! Each adding an unmistakable and timeless element that Fuxa's core members have created. 
It would be hard not to notice the sheer aesthetic glory of this release as once again Randall has chosen the amazing James Marsh (most would remember him as the phenomenal artist responsible for all the Talk Talk albums over the years. His artwork is not only featured on the jacket but on both sides of the limited edition picture disc vinyl.
Covered in stars is a celebration of 25 years of music and friendships made along the way. 

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Fuxa! 

INCANTATION celebrates 30 years as one of the most influential and iconic underground Death Metal bands with the new Tricennial of Blasphemy collection! A triple LP set that catalogs rarities and unreleased tracks, Tricennial of Blasphemy traces all eras of the band's infamous history. From a previously unavailable demo version of the band's classic "Impending Diabolical Conquest" featuring Will Rahmer (Moritican) on vocals, to never-before-heard tracks like "Pest Savagery" - Tricennial of Blasphemy is another crucial part of INCANTATION's legacy. Tricennial of Blasphemy was mastered by Dan Swano, and features art by Wes Benscoter!

Ekin Fil returns to the guitar on Dora Agora. Her earliest recordings, notably her debut on Root Strata, prominently featured guitar in this urgent expressions of a dreamy dreariness that immediately offered enthusiastic comparisons to Grouper. In her development as composer of ephemeral ghostliness for numerous albums as well as her scores to film soundtracks, that instrument has given way to keyboards, organs, synths, and various mood engineering devices, in her beautifully melancholy pursuits of an emotional emptiness through sound. Yet, the pandemic era gave Ekin pause to reflect on her creative process and she picked that instrument back up to create one of her greatest albums to date.

As direct and urgent as these songs can be, Ekin swaddles her acoustic guitar chords in soft-focus reverb and polyphonous shadow, colored with a judicious amount of shoegazing drone and somber atmosphere that speaks to her continued development as a composer. "Ghost Boy" in particular is a bittersweet, wistful tune whose arrangement harkens to Johnny Marr at his peak of effortless downer simplicity. "Farba" and "Yo Feelings" turn the emotional screws with soul-crush crescendos of vocal melodies that build upon Ekin's lonely guitar chords. Again, Grouper emerges as one of Ekin's closest neighbors, alongside Carla Dal Forno, Slowdive's Pygmallion, and Movietone.

"I really feel like I've gone back to a time when I was recording songs with a guitar and keyboard when I was very young. It's kind of like embracing Ekin from that period with my current ideas & mood. it's an homage, it's a wave, a hug from my present to my past…" (Ekin Fil, August 2022)

Black & White Splatter Vinyl

To celebrate the 30 year anniversary of Shakespears Sister’s seminal album ‘Hormonally Yours’,London Records have announced special edition releases across multiple formats.
A double platinum and top 3 UK album ‘Hormonally Yours’ secured Siobhan Fahey and Marcella Detroit a place in British pop history, spawning the single Stay - which spent a staggering eight consecutive weeks at the top of the UK charts - and winning the duo an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection.
‘Hormonally Yours’ also features singles ‘Goodbye Cruel World’ and ‘I Don’t Care’, tackles friendships gone wrong on ‘My Sixteenth Apology’, powerful, dangerous attraction on ‘Emotional Thing’ and documents a friend’s coming out on ‘Are We In Love Yet?’ Fan favourite ‘The Trouble With Andre’, the full-throttle glam-blues of ‘Cat Woman and glorious finale ‘Hello (Turn Your Radio On) is the album’s glorious finale: an exhalation; a glorious, earth-shuddering moment that recalls the epic melancholy of David Bowie’s ‘Five Years’ and The Beatles’ ‘A Day In The Life’.
Shakespears Sisters second LP, Hormonally Yours, provided the perfect encapsulation of Shakespears Sister’s musical ying and yang; a deftly delivered balance of pop melody with a spikey alternative darkness

'WINGS' is taken from THE INVISIBLE's album 'RISPAH', and comes with an exquisite remix from Floating Points !
While the lead track from Mercury Nominated indie-electronic mopey types The Invisible is a goodun, our money's on the phenomenal remix from the ever on-form Floating Points. Taking the crunchy drum-machine rhythm, tape hiss and guitar jangle from the original, Sam Shepherd reconfigures the track into a near eight-minute opium opus, whimsical synths and all. Funnily enough Dave Okumu's haunting vocals sound even more focused here as Shepherd tranforms them into a ghostly memory, reframing them as a complex recollection of loss. It's harrowing and beautiful stuff

Inspired by space travel, arts and mental health, the primary aspiration of Kolibri Space Shuttle (KSS) is to offer ravers a trip full of emotions. Beyond the raw and hypnotic beats, Kolibri Space Shuttle EP delivers extraordinary atmospheres, superb sound design and highly driven grooves through 5 unique journeys. 5 tracks to make you travel and sweat. Side A is dark, strong and hypnotic whilst side B is driven, melodic and sometimes emotional, “featuring a cover of the incredible track ‘Rej’ by Âme”. Welcome aboard the Kolibri Space Shuttle – you’re in for a special journey. PETRU The Corsican techno artist and producer PETRU is a creative, charismatic and energetic Live performer. From the Kolibri Space Shuttle he observes and cruises through constellations that he translates into sonic experiences. His passion for storytelling drives him to experiment with various sub-genres of techno developed through NSTNKT, Kolibri, Grounded and Tribute series. PETRU’s music is oscillating between hypnotic and dark beats, melodic and beautiful journeys, from impactful techno rollers to experimental soundscapes – occasionally paying homage to his major sources of inspiration.

Super limited edition pressed on heavyweight 180g vinyl housed in a picture sleeve and clear plastic outer sleeve – never to be repressed. Only 175 units.

Tokyo-based DJ, producer and sound artist Yuu Udagawa inaugurates the freshly launched Cyphon Recordings with her debut EP, ‘Forever’.

Growing up on a cocktail of everything from rock, hip-hop and Latin jazz to techno and house, Yuu’s immersive musical output draws inspiration from this diverse pool of influences to create ‘uplifting and healing’ music for the mind and body. There’s an elegance and sophistication to her productions, which stems from her desire to make music guided by the Golden Mean philosophy of finding a middle ground between two extremes: excess and deficiency.

Active as a DJ since the millennium, which saw her playing at clubs, festivals and fashion shows across the country, she soon turned her attention to music production and has since self-released a handful of singles and contributed audio commissions for Sony Playstation3, museums, theatres and apparel brands. Yuu’s meditative pallet of sounds instantly grabbed Cyphon’s third ear which led to the tracks that make up ‘Forever’: a collection of analog slo-mo electronica and leftfield minimal house that strike a perfect balance between warmth and depth.

The release opens with the titular track: a deep, emotive electro cut punctuated by a twinkling synthline and blissful vocals. ‘Mojito’ continues the EP’s voyage into the deep, matching softly spoken word with jazz-tinged chords and meandering melodies, before ’Hug Close’ strips things back, guided by a crunchy minimal groove, warm, resolute keys and reflective synths.

The B-Side steers things on a soulful course. The dark, enveloping atmosphere of ‘Illuminated Night' is lifted by bright synth stabs and harmonic R&B-flavoured vocals. These influences continue on closer ‘Stay With Us’. Slowing down the pace, the track is a wash of shimmering funk-inspired chords and shuffling rhythms, laced once again with effortless, soaring vocal tones.

DJ Feedback:

Joyce Muniz - Nice one!

Andrew Wowk - "Mojito" is awesome - such a nice groove (followed up)

Geordie Elliot-kerr - Some really interesting stuff in here. Digging the whole thing.

Simon Caldwell - Cool and different.

Paul Beller - super star release.

Fred Peterkin - Dope...

Alex Barck - Sounds fresh to me

Ruben Mandolini – Nice

Gabriel Izarraraz - great music will play for sure

Kristijan Molnar - Very nice!

Chris Loxton - superb

Danton Eeprom - Really love the production and original vibe of this record. bring it on!

Raymundo Rodriguez - cool release

Steel, Speed, and Destruction!
*Behold the debut album from Power Trip!!!!
*Drawing from the sacred texts of the Cro-Mags, Vio-lence,Leeway, Exodus, and Nuclear Assault, Texas savages Power Trip have unleashed their debut album with Southern Lord.
*They leave in their wake a multitude of crushed generic and feeble contemporaries. POWER TRIP don't emulate they properly channel the old-school energy of the old cross-over gods and add their own brand of modern thrash warfare.
*'Manifest Decimation' was recorded/produced by Arthur Rizk (War Hungry, Mother of Mercy, Inquistion). The recording is absolutely face-peeling and will ensure
maximum head-banging from the hordes.
POINTS OF INTEREST:
- Huge buzz in underground hardcore, crust-punk and metal scenes. A very highly anticpated debut album
- Have played several high profile festivals including: The Power of the Riff, This is Hardcore, United Blood etc..

"Expanding Senses" - der heftige Nachfolger von "Insanity" - bietet viel Abwechslung in den Songs. Es gibt die schnelleren Tracks voller Chops, und dann gibt es mittelschnelle Songs mit viel Gitarren-Crunch (ein neuer Aspekt von DARKANE). Und natürlich dürfen wir die Tracks nicht vergessen, die beides mischen und sich von brutal zu melodisch und wieder zurückbewegen, während sie auf dem Weg dorthin das atmosphärische Cyber-Gefühl einbauen.

"Expanding Senses" ist etwas weniger progressiv und chaotisch, sondern eher geradlinig. Das ist aber in Ordnung, denn DARKANE haben es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, ihre Songs konzentrierter, aber nicht zu einfach zu halten.

Andreas Sydow zeigt einen Gesangsstil, der eher an Slayers Araya erinnert, was perfekt zu den Songs passt.
Zu den herausragenden Tracks "Innocence Gone" und "Chaos vs Order" wurden zwei Videos produziert, die DARKANE einen weiteren Schub gaben. Diese beiden Songs werden immer noch bei den meisten Live-Shows gespielt.

Um "Expanding Senses" gebührend vorzustellen, absolvierten DARKANE ihre ersten größeren Tourneen, u.a. mit Testament, Behemoth, Death Angel und Marduk, und sie traten auch auf einigen Festivals wie dem Sweden Rock Festival und dem Wacken Open Air (Deutschland) auf. Auch in Japan und Israel waren sie erstmals zu Gast.

Tresor Records are proud to reveal the outcome of a new collaboration between two of techno music's most remarkable artists, Maedon and Adam X. The Lion & The Ram is a unique and exciting hybrid of industrial, rave, and hypnotic techno sounds. This LP marks the full debut for both artists on Tresor Records, with Adam X having appeared for a remix of Neil Landstrumm in 1997. Both Berlin-based, Maedon and Adam X have worked tirelessly over the forced Lockdowns, finding a kindred spirit in locating and sculpting the most badass kick. This album is undoubtedly an impressive representation of the range of kick drum synthesis, from thunderous impacts to carefully tuned pulses.
The duo's competitiveness over kick drums has led to a masterpiece of mesmerising techno. Across the thumping drums and sparse, mechanical soundscapes,
every track on the album follows a journey into the dark and unknown.
Tracks grow with increasing power sourced from dystopian samples, such as Human Replacements, "people are being duplicated, there is something missing". It reflects the stifled time we all spent, haunted by uncertainty, cooped up and seeking expression. Corrupt Pigs emphasises this with the refrain, "welcome to the land of fuck". Crunching bass and rusty percussions gather as a herd, like a rallying call to signify that, at last, we may let loose. With its unrepentant rhythms and ruthlessly brutal sound design, The Lion & The Ram discharges Maedon and Adam X into daring new terrain.

The Independent - 5 star Glastonbury set review “Making their Glastonbury review, IOW collective Plastic Mermaids are a joy to behold at the Croissant-Neuf stage.” New single 'Girl Boy Girl' Girl Boy Girl is an uncomfortable place, an unspoken awkwardness and tension. Always convoluting, never resolving. Just like this perpetual frustration when a relationship isn’t right but none has the language or understanding to fix it. And then thinking that adding a 3rd party to the mix is going to solve the problems…oh dear. We took some inspiration from the song ‘Night Call’ on the Drive soundtrack and also some of the slower Daft Punk tunes. Kinda wanted it to feel like something you’d stick on cruising in your car after dark in the 80’s. It has been two years since Plastic Mermaids released their critically acclaimed debut ‘Suddenly Everyone Explodes’, and now they return to spread some eagerly awaited blissed out joy with new single Disco Wings & b side Environmental with their second album due next year. The band have been working hard in the studio teaming up with producer Ant Whiting, who has worked with the likes of MIA, John Newman and Lana De Ray, in what proved to be an exciting mix of creative ideas.

Lee Baggett began a new chapter of his eclectic and varied songwriting career with the 2021 release of Just A Minute, and he’s continuing his experimental streak with his latest full length, Anyway. The seasoned musician is changing his stripes again with this 10-song collection by leaning into a more rollicking sound at times, as evidenced by the brisker feeling “Fruit Dog,” the album’s lead single, and the bustling and twangy penultimate track, “Highway Roll.” By embracing more country-tinged sonic elements like banjo, organ-sounding keys, and harmonica, Baggett is able to weave through winding narratives that poignantly parse through the challenging nature of change and evolution. On “Highway Roll,” he confronts how landscapes and settings he once knew are now unrecognizable, and takes that motif a step further on “Earlier Than The World” by achingly and vividly describing “concrete and rubble” amongst a sea of delicate, yet biting guitar riffs. Escape seems to be a viable option for Baggett with “Sink In My Dreams” and “Dust In The Wind” serving as the album’s soothing remedies, inviting the listener to sit back and get lost in Baggett’s mesmerizing guitar playing. His nimble guitar work is a prominent fixture on Anyway, acting as a crux at several key points. It resonates forcefully and feels emotionally charged. Just take the meandering bridge on “Earlier Than The World” as a prime example of how Baggett can aptly convey feeling through riffs.



Delving deeper into Anyway finds some familiar sounds, with songs like “Oh Well” and “Anyway” evoking the seaside melancholy of Baggett’s prior works. But there’s decidedly more intimacy hidden in the crevices of his words and hooks. Throughout, Baggett uses his refined storytelling skills to share his relatable fears and coping mechanisms, his river-like path to unexpectedly finding love, and his musings on an ever-changing world, amongst other experiences. His conversational disposition, folk-styled lyricism, and emotive sonic backdrops make for an immersive listening experience. - Tom Gallo

LP comes with a Side D etching in triple gatefold jacket + full album download. The Will to Live was produced by Titus Andronicus singer-songwriter Patrick Stickles and Canadian icon Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, The Whole Nine Yards) at the latter’s Hotel 2 Tango recording studio in Montreal. Drawing on maximalist rock epics from Who’s Next to Hysteria, Bilerman and Stickles have crafted the richest, densest, and hardest hitting sound for Titus Andronicus yet. All at once, the record matches the sprawl and scope of the band’s most celebrated work, while also honing their ambitious attack to greater effect than ever before. “It may strike some as ironic we had to go to Canada to record our equivalent to Born in the USA,” quips Stickles, “but the pursuit of Ultimate Rock knows no borders. ”For his recent stretch of personal stability, he credits a newfound domestic bliss and steadfast mental health regimen (“Lamictal is a hell of a drug”) as well as the endurance of what has become the longest-running consistent lineup of Titus Andronicus—Liam Betson on guitar, R.J. Gordon on bass, and Chris Wilson on drums. On the crueler side of the coin, however, The Will to Live was created in large part as an attempt to process the untimely 2021 death of Matt “Money” Miller, the founding keyboardist of the band and Stickles’ closest cousin. Stickles explains: “The passing of my dearest friend forced me to recognize not only the precious and fragile nature of life, but also the interconnectivity of all life. Loved ones we have lost are really not lost at all, as they, and we still living, are all component pieces of a far larger continuous organism, which both precedes and succeeds our illusory individual selves, united through time by (you guessed it) the will to live.” “Naturally, though, our long-suffering narrator can only arrive at this conclusion through a painful and arduous odyssey through Hell itself,” he qualifies. “This is a Titus Andronicus record, after all.” When Titus Andronicus made their long-awaited return to the stage in 2021, it was to celebrate the anniversary of their landmark breakthrough The Monitor, and the act of playing that material before an ecstatic audience left the band determined to deliver an album that would reach for those same lofty heights, relying this time less on the reckless fire of youth and more on the experience and perspective at which a band only arrives with a thousand shows under their belt. Through this golden ratio, Titus Andronicus have arrived at the peak of their creative powers. From its adrenalizing opening instrumental “My Mother Is Going to Kill Me” to its wistful closing benediction “69 Stones,” The Will to Live conjures a vast landscape and sends the listener on a rocket ride from peak to vertiginous peak. Rock fans will find themselves a feast, whether they crave barn-burning rock anthems such as “(I’m) Screwed” and “All Through the Night,” rapid-fire lyrical gymnastics (“Baby Crazy”), symphonic punk throwdowns (“Dead Meat”), or an adventurous excursion into the darkness that delivers thrills as it breezes boldly past the 7 minute mark, “An Anomaly.” As if that wasn’t enough gas for the tank, The Will to Live features sterling contributions from members of the Hold Steady, Arcade Fire, and the E Street Band, as well as duets with the aforementioned Betson, former Titus Andronicus drummer Eric Harm, and Josée Caron of the Canadian rock band Partner. The album comes packaged with gorgeous triple-gatefold artwork by illustrious illustrator Nicole Rifkin, a Hieronymus Bosch–inspired triptych which mirrors the three-part structure of the narrator’s perilous voyage across the corresponding three sides of vinyl. All together, this esteemed ensemble, with Stickles and Bilerman determined and defiant at the helm, have found The Will to Live—now, the question is… will you?

SIDE A 1. My Mother is Going to Kill Me 2. (I’m) Screwed 3. I Can Not Be Satisfied 4. Bridge and Tunnel SIDE B 5. Grey Goo 6. Dead Meat 7. An Anomaly SIDE C 8. Give Me Grief 9. Baby Crazy 10. All Through the Night 11. We’re Coming Back 12. 69 Stones SIDE D Etching

Debut solo album from Julia Kugel (The Coathangers). Limited edition first LP pressing on heartbeat pink color vinyl, includes DL (1500 copies). If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust? This is the crucial question at the core of Julia, Julia, the moniker for Julia Kugel, founding member of garage punk icons The Coathangers and the dream pop duo Soft Palms. On her first solo full-length album Derealization, Kugel shifts her focus from collaboration and band dynamics towards a singular artistic vision and private self-discovery. Steeped in the beguiling pop elements of her past work, Derealization is a meditative deep dive into the mind of a person struggling to understand a crumbling internal and external world. The album traverses a landscape of ethereal folk, atmospheric deconstructed pop, and dubbed-out country ballads, all centered around straight forward and direct lyrics. This juxtaposition of nebulousness and lucidity gives the album a sense of clarity emerging from the haze, an apt refection of Kugel's personal growth and journey toward self-acceptance. Derealization is based on weaving the unreal, unsaid, and unknown into an undulating sonic fabric. Vocal layering and abstract instrumentation convey a blurred desperation to connect to an emotional and psychological focal point. Moody, dark, and sumptuous, the record is a flow chart of Julia Kugel coming into herself as an artist and songwriter. The album finds Julia playing almost all the instruments and taking her first stab at engineering at COMA, her and her husband's home recording studio in Long Beach, CA. “You know how touring musicians often speak of whether home is real or tour is real? Well, it can lead you to lose grasp on ‘reality,’ especially when touring is taken away and you are left to wonder if anything was ever real, including yourself. Like you we're just playing a character,” Kugel says of her headspace leading up to the creation of Derealization. “Honestly, I kinda lost it, and through making this record I made peace with it and reconciled myself as a real person. I forgave myself and in turn forgave those around me. The song ‘Forgive Me’ is the apology I wanted to say and to hear. I wrote every song from that place and gained the confidence I was pretending to possess.” This raw and personal approach to the lyrics is present throughout Derealization. On the opening track "I Want You," Kugel creates a woozy sense of space with reverb-soaked drums and spaghetti western guitars while she lists off her desires for a mysterious “you.” Is she actually listing off her desires for herself? For the people around her? As she repeats "do you feel it?" in the song’s chorus, it feels as if she’s conjuring a magical thread by which we are all connected, showing us how our desires are all the same. On "Fever In My Heart" the listener is treated to a lush, acoustic techno track detailing the exhilarating madness of an emotional breakdown. Simple truths percolate to the surface on "Words Don't Mean Much,” as if clearing away the murk of platitudes and empty gestures. The journey continues on the detached and conflicted "Do It Or Don't,” an alluring walk through the winding road of lonely choices. The name for the project Julia, Julia is a look in the mirror, a reflection of what is hidden and unanswered, of what is real and what is transient. The experience of living life not as you planned it but as it unfolded, and the mysterious, magical pain that creates meaning.

Tracklisting 1. I Want You 2. Forgive Me 3. Impromptu 4. Fever In My Heart 5. Words Don’t Mean Much 6. Do It Or Don't 7. No Hard Feelings 8. Big Talkin' 9. Paper Cutout 10. Where Did You Go 11. Corner Town

San Francisco band touches upon black metal, blues, ambient and more. Of all things, it’s laughter that pervades Mamaleek’s Diner Coffee, the San Francisco metal deconstructionists’ sonically crushing ode to the humor found within catastrophe, American diners, and “the little things.” Featuring a mix of live performances, samples, and field recordings, Diner Coffee laughs through its harsh songs in an attempt to reflect the camaraderie found at the heart of global calamities and changing personal situations. It’s an homage to the quotidian set to the backdrop of the mythologized, sanctuary-like properties of a diner, reveling in irony-less nostalgia. Mamaleek embodies this ethos on and off the record. Originally two anonymous brothers, the past few years have seen Mamaleek adding members and venturing into live performance. Diner Coffee, following in the footsteps of 2020’s Come & See, features new, unfamiliar, unknown voices—including expanded experiments with horns, woodwinds, and strings and a Bay Area-local blues harmonica player who improvised recorded selections during practices. The resulting tracks touch on signifiers from black metal, blues, ambient, and more. Diner Coffee simultaneously represents the band’s artistic progression and the state of the world. Taking a surprisingly optimistic perspective, Mamaleek once again puts forward a project of left-field, wholly unique compositions, eluding easy categorization and furthering their abstraction of genre. “The group cloaks its music in the kind of warm, hypnotic distortion that defines shoegaze, and underneath that haze is a style that’s conceptually abrasive yet altogether beautiful.” Forbes //

Tracklist 1 Libations to Sacred Clowns 2 Boiler Room 3 Badtimers 4 Save Your Poor Wicked Soul 5 Grief and a Headhunter's Rage 6 Wharf Rats in the Moonlight 7 Diner Coffee

Limited Clear Grey Vinyl 7". For Fans Of… Piero Umiliani, Amedeo Tommasi, Dorothy Ashby, Sandro Brugnolini, El Michels Affair, Sven Wunder. Breezy and carefree, Dragatto reminisces on a day spent exploring the streets of Madrid with only a camera, a few rolls of film and the shoes on his feet. Heavily inspired by the European adaptation of Bossa nova in the 1960’s, Salvator creates his own unique mood that’s equal parts sunny and joyful using simple melodic themes opposite lush string arrangements. A surefire companion for the next road trip down the coast or excursion through a foreign city. On the B side, as if delivered from the future, the sweet and punchy Return to Normal is a message of hope and optimism letting us know that things will indeed get better. Dreamy harp arpeggios float effortlessly atop a crushing rhythm section tip-toeing the line between calmness and urgency. Turn this one up loud, light one up and let go.

Tracks 1. Mind On Madrid 2. A Return To Normal

This album marks the debut recording for Venezuela's Velvet label by pianist Ray Pérez and his trombone-led salsa band Los Dementes. Heavy dance numbers and the distinctive vocals of Perucho Torcat make this historic 1967 rarity a sought-after collector's item. Now the LP has been lovingly restored, mastered from the original tapes, with its original artwork intact, preserving the legacy of Los Dementes for today's generation of salsa lovers everywhere. First time reissue. Salsa pianist, vocalist, composer and arranger Ray Pérez, acquired his nickname "Loco" by being a free, independent spirit, an innovator and iconoclast who was initially branded as "crazy" for the freshness and audacity of his sound. Amazingly, he is not that well known in the US, where he spent some time in the late 1960s and salsa was king during the 1970s. Yet he was quite popular in his home country from the beginning, especially amongst the working class of Caracas and Maracaibo, who adopted Cuban music played by New York Puerto Ricans as their own and called it "salsa" years before the term was employed by US labels like Fania as a marketing tool. Pérez is revered in Venezuela, as well as in Mexico and Colombia, and his storied career, which spans seven decades and thousands of concerts, has yielded more than 35 albums recorded by his various bands, including Los Dementes, Los Kenya, and Los Calvos, all of which are collector's items today. At the start of 1967 Pérez debuted Los Dementes, with vocalists Claudio Zerpa and Perucho Torcat backed by an ace band featuring only trombones in the brass section. Titled "¡Alerta mundo! Llegaron los 'The Crazy Men'" the record was released on the small Venezuelan label Prodansa. Soon after, Prodansa folded and Los Dementes were left without representation or much compensation for their efforts, being paid only in records. In the end of February of that year, Pérez returned to Caracas from a stint in Maracaibo in order to finish his first LP with the well-established and larger Velvet label, entitled "Manicomio a locha". In the first quarter of 1967, Velvet unleashed a trilogy of salsa records in order to compete with rival label Palacio and their recent success with Federico y su Combo Latino: "Porfi '67 Salsa & Boogaloo" by Porfi Jiménez y su Orquesta, "Guasancó" by Sexteto Juventud and lastly "Manicomio a locha". The LP begins appropriately with the boisterous title track, written by the band's conguero Carlos "Nené" Quintero, who would become a legend in coming years. Torcat describes a jam session in mental institution and introduces the band, with tasty solos by trombonist Rufo García followed by Ray on piano. Already you can hear something was different about Ray and his "Crazy Men"-a sound as wild and innovative as what was happening in New York with Eddie Palmieri, but with a more unhinged, raw feeling in line with Willie Colón and other younger Nuyorican bands. Next up is an intriguing track sung in a mix of Italian, English, Spanish and Papiamento by Pérez himself, performed in the complicated rhythm of the mozambique, an Afro-Cuban carnival beat developed in the early 1960s. This is followed by the heavy dancer 'Rico guaguancó', penned by Angelito Pérez, which changes from the guaguancó to the mozambique rhythm mid-way through, proving that Los Dementes were "different from the rest" as the lyrics say. 'Puerto Libre', sung by Torcat, is dedicated to the Venezuelan island of Margarita in the Oriente region, and the independent spirit of its working people. The rhythm changes from guaguancó to guajira and back again but remains danceable all the way through. The side closes out with a "3 in 1" medley inspired by the popular formula of the mosaicos of Billo's Caracas Boys, seamlessly knitting together several different tempos, rhythms, moods and compositions. Side two starts strong with the fierce yet satirical 'Corte e' patas', then 'Alma Cumanesa', a typical folk song refashioned as a guaguancó. This is followed by the funky 'Guajira con Boogaloo'. The tune echoes the sound of young Latin New York, pointing out the connection between Cuban and African American soul music. The pace picks up again with 'Fiesta de trombones', a hot descarga and then the album closes with another medley. Though this marks the end of a rather short album, it also signaled the emerging success of Los Dementes and their involvement with the salsa boom in Venezuela, quickly selling out of its initial run of 1000 records and making for a memorable debut on the Velvet label. Now this rare and sought-after LP has been lovingly restored, mastered from the original tapes, with its original artwork intact, preserving the legacy of Los Dementes for today's generation of salsa lovers everywhere.

For Fans Of.. Durand Jones & The Indications, Frightnrs, Thee Sinseers, Jr. Thomas & The Volcanos, Bobby Orozo. Producer, songwriter, and member of Thee Sinseers. Upcoming LP on Colemine Records. Joey embodies the East LA sweet soul scene, and it now dipping into reggae! As the leader of the modern Chicano soul outfit, Thee Sinseers, and releasing a string of singles as a solo artist, Joey Quinones and his crew have recently been ushering in a new era of modern soul. It is the type of music that shares a genesis with the birth of soul and R&B sounds emitted from the classic lowrider cruising down Whittier Boulevard to the sunshine-y vibes of traditional ska and dancehall reggae. And with his debut 45 on Colemine, Quinones shows that he's adept at not just the slow and low, but also the mellow sounds of early reggae. We are proud to present "For You" by the ever-sweet and oh-so-talented Mr. Joey Quinones.

Sniffany & The Nits are a deranged, genuinely troubling punk band
from London featuring members of Joanna Gruesome, Ex-Void and
The Tubs. Their debut album, ‘The Unscratchable Itch’, is released
via PRAH Recordings.
Drawing a through line between the British post-punk of The Fall and
the new wave of insolent hardcore typified by bands like Lumpy &
The Dumpers, The Nits have developed a knack for writing unhinged
punk earworms.
But it’s Sister Sniffany, and her singular lyrical and performance style,
who elevates the band beyond the sum of their influences. Her lyrics
inhabit the same world as her “macabre, visceral” (It’s Nice That)
cartoons - a world of hidden humiliations, girl abjection, crumpled
lager cans, clam chowder and lumpy, over-stuffed dollies.
Over the course of ‘The Unscratchable Itch’, Sniffany ventriloquises a
cast of pathetic, unbalanced characters: A secretarial administer tails
her Casanova husband to a suburban swingers party: “I can smell
him from here: a mix of Vaseline, foot cream and Stella beer.” A poor
old grandmother’s glasses fog up as she chastises her
granddaughter: “You self-entitled selfish little twat! / Left me to die in a
popcorn-walled flat! / Spotty little smelly little prick! / Making your poor
grandmother sick!”
But these characters aren’t detached, impersonal creations. As
Sniffany explains: “In Sniffany & The Nits I like to exorcise and exhibit
the deeply shameful parts of myself that I see as the toxic aspects of
my own femininity.” These are confessional songs about love
addiction, jealousy, possession, self-loathing and “egg smashingfury.” Though occasionally they are literally just about Sex & The City,
red-pilled incels or grandmothers.
O Williams (drums), Max ‘Wozza’ Warren (bass) and Matt Green
(guitar) have been entrenched in the UK DIY scene for years, having
played in the aforementio ned bands, as well as countless others.
Warren also runs the influential left-field label Gob Nation - a home
for ‘egg punks’ across the country. As such, the band veer between
atonal no-wave guitar assault, straight-up hardcore, goth/anarcho or
whatever takes their fancy, while remaining identifiably Nit-like.
Always grounded by a pounding, pogo-ing rhythm section, The Nits
provide the perfect backdrop for Sister Sniffany’s wild, relentless live
performances. See them live at 2022’s End of the Road Festival.
Cream vinyl LP.

12” black vinyl, lyrics insert, edition of 250. Let’s Whisper started many moons ago as a home recording project between Colin Clary and Dana Kaplan, during time off from their other outfit, The Smittens. Since then, the line up of the Vermont outfit has expanded, and now includes Brad Searles, The Essex Green’s Jeff Baron and Emma Kupa of Mammoth Penguins/Standard Fare. In addtion, Jeff’s bandmate from The Ladybug Transistor, Gary Olson, produced, engineered, plays trumpet and sings on the record. The In-Between Times is a leap forward for Let’s Whisper, taking the lush orchestration familiar to fans of The Essex Green and Ladybug Transistor. It’s a tender, brave, and earnest album, exploring grief, gender, and goodbyes. The times between pronounced transitions: life and death, pre- to post-testosterone, the storm to the calm after. Tracklist: A1) You Are Loved A2) The Thing That Defines You A3) Sing! A4) Simple Times A5) Hey You A6) This Might Not Be A Crush A7) 40 Ways To Love You B1) Balloon In The Sky B2) Long Run B3) I Don’t Know What I Would Do Without You B4) Hey There B5) When We Were Young B6) The Year Of Getting High

A huge, booming sound prevails across these ten songs, riddled with hooks and accessible in its own odd way: you might catch shards of WIPERS,INSTITUTE"Philadelphia death rock/dungeon punk band Poison Ruïn consolidate their two EPs into one ten-song, self-titled album. Brained, fleshed, and recorded by Mac Kennedy, this effort is one of a personal nature. The sonic nature of the album has a human looseness, apparent like a cassette tape warbling from being wound and rewound. At times the songs sound thin and brittle, as though they are breaking apart simply by being played. The lyrics walk the same path and describe a world of cosmic horrors and environmental disaster. With their soft, eerie, medieval-hall introductions, each song transports the listener to a world of runes and swords, but staves off dorkiness with the relevance of a chewy post-punk center. Rife with sweetly stark guitar hooks and drums that flail like a death march, this self-titled LP gives off black metal at first glance. On further inspection, there is a gradation of inspirations ranging from pond-hopping blues guitar solos, heavy-handed punk drumming, gothic ambiance, and progressive song structures."

TRACKLIST: 1.Carrion 2.Crucifix 3.Demon Wind 4.Sacorsanct 5.Fog of War 6.Paladin's Wrath 7.Doppelganger 8.Morning Star 9.Exiles/ Hell Hounds

The "Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of a celebrated impromptu
session that brought rock & roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry
Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins together for the first and only time
2LP set in gatefold sleeve edition - 180g coloured vinyl (disc 1 red, disc 2 yellow).
On December 4, 1956, these four young musicians gathered at Sun Records in
Memphis for what would be one of the greatest jam sessions ever. This essential
double LP edition (gatefold open cover) presents that legendary event in its
entirety, while maintaining the original recording sequence.
Rock & roll was born of gospel, country, doo-wop, blues, pop, and cowboy songs,
all of which can be heard here. Included here are several popular numbers from
that period, such as "Rip It Up," "Don't Forbid Me," and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind,"
plus some of Elvis' own songs ("Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender," and
"Paralyzed"), and covers of Chuck Berry's "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" and "Too
Much Monkey Business," as well as traditional tunes, and some classic country
and bluegrass songs penned by Hank Snow, Faron Young, Gene Autry and Bill
Monroe.
The joyous spontaneity and the fly- on- the- wall feel of the occasion make for
fascinating listening. This set represents a memorable slice of American culture
and allows listeners to experience a historic moment of the original rock & roll
era.

Hardfloor bangers : serious beat melting acidcore, hardfloor and hard techno oldschool sound !

Maaasive !

Hervorragendes Album eines fantastischen joint venture Teams: Inkswel aus Australien und Colonel Red aus Birmingham machen unbeschwerten Hip Hop-beeinflussten Downbeat mit Soul. Perfekt balancieren sie fette Beats, gute Melodien, geradeaus Messages mit geräuschvollen Unter- oder Obertönen.

Beide haben eine beeindruckende Vita mit tollen Produktionen. Colonel Red kennt man von einigen West London Produktionen (Bugz In The Attic) und cutting edge Songwriting für Teddy Pendergrass, Amp Fiddler, Maurice White, Tony Allen u.a.
Inkswel ist nicht nur durch seine Arbeiten für Talib Kweli, Lee Scratch Perry, Andrew Ashong, Dwight Trible, Amp Fiddler u.v.m. bekannt.

Checkt das Video zu “Make Me Crazy” und auch die grandiosen Remixe von Moodymann, Potatohead People, Moodorama.
Das Cover wurde von Our Machine aus Holland gestaltet, die viel für Kindred Spirit, Tom Trago, Versatile, Build An Arc et cetera designed haben.

'Body Riddle', ein Highlight des frühen Clark-Katalogs, von Produzenten wie Arca, Rustie und Hudson Mohawke als massgeblicher Einfluß bezeichnet, wurde unter persönlicher Betreuung von Clark neu für mehr Dynamik remastered und erscheint erstmals wieder seit 16 Jahren.

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BIO: Chris Clark arbeitet seit 20 Jahren mit Musik und Ton. Schon in jungen Jahren wurde er von Warp Records gesignt und veröffentlichte bis dato 13 Alben und eine Vielzahl an EPs und Singles. Sein jüngstes Studioalbum 'Playground In A Lake' für das Klassik-Label Deutsche Grammophon verschmolz sein Markenzeichen, die elektronische Musik, mit den Streichertönen des Cellisten Oliver Coates, der Geigerin Rakhi Singh und des Budapest Art Orchestra.

Nach seiner ersten Filmmusik für die Sky/Canal+ TV-Serie 'The Last Panthers' schrieb Clark die Scores zu 'Rellik' (BBC1/HBO) und das Drama 'Kiri' (Channel 4/Hulu). Kürzlich lieferte er die Filmmusik für Apple TV+ 'Lisey's Story', basierend auf Stephen Kings gleichnamigem Roman, sowie für 'Daniel Isn't Real', einem psychologischen Horrorfilm von Spectre Vision, der Produktionsfirma des Nicolas Cage-Kultfilms 'Mandy'. Dieser OST wurde ebenfalls von der Deutschen Grammophon veröffentlicht.

Chris arbeitete mit der Choreografin Melanie Lane zusammen und vertonte 12 zeitgenössische Tanzprojekte, darunter die Aufführung ihres Soloprojekts 'Tilted Fawn' im Sydney Opera House und zuletzt 'Personal Effigies', das im März 2018 mit dem Kier Choreographic Prize ausgezeichnet wurde, sowie 'WOOF' für die renommierte Sydney Dance Company.

Chris' umfangreiches Verzeichnis an Remixen für Künstler wie Thom Yorke, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode, Max Richter, Battles und Nils Frahm wurde 2013 als Doppelalbum 'Feast / Beast' veröffentlicht.

'What's always set Clark apart is his eclecticism, dynamism, and flair for the dramatic... His tracks don't drop as much as they slip or swerve... He'll end a techno album with eight minutes of beatless, sky-cracking ecstasy and it will make sense. He's allergic to the idea of standard sounds and presets. And unlike many of his more insular peers, Clark can be open to sentimentality — not schmaltz — as much as a belief in humanness and all its inexact wonder. In electronic music's never-ending battle between man and machine, he's seeking a third way.' - Pitchfork

Thirty years after releasing his debut album, Chill Rob G teamed with super producer C-Doc to present “Empires Crumble”, a boom bap odyssey filled with the wisdom of one of hip hop’s elder statesmen. Featuring a Flavor Unit reunion with Double J, God Lakim (formerly Lakim Shabazz) and The 45 King, Rob also teams up with Public Enemy’s Chuck D to present a rugged new version of his 1990 hit, “The Power.”

1st Time EVER on LP for the 40th Anniversary Remasters
‘Shout At The Devil” is the album that established The Crüe as a headline act. It is certified 4x platinum in the US and reached #17 on the charts. Includes the singles and MTV favourites “Looks That Kill” and “Too Young To Fall In Love”.

Diplo (Life And Death Remixes)' EP sees DJ Tennis tap an all-star lineup of artists from his Life And Death label roster to remix tracks from Diplo's acclaimed new self-titled album showcasing the synergy and close relationship of Diplo and DJ Tennis and their respective imprints Higher Ground and Life And Death. From the suave and expansive sounds of DJ Tennis and Carlita's remix of 'Don't Be Afraid' the mesmerizing and complex drum patterns of Red Axes' rendition of 'Right 2 Left' to the complete reimagination of BEÃTFÓØT & Ashee's 'Forget About Me (Nite Version)' as well as remixes from Danny Daze and Sebra Cruz. DJ Tennis has curated an impressive collection of remixes from Life And Death artists bringing the energy from all directions.

Musician and sound/video installation artist Steve Batespresents a solo ambient/noise album ofmelodic smear, radiostatic blur, panoramic noise clouds and dissolving tones. Made primarilyunder the self-imposed 'limitation' of a Casio SK-1, this is his first entirely solo full-length albumin almost a decade. All The Things That Happen showcases the more deliberate, intensive, noise-clustered side of Bates' wide-ranging sonic sensibilities and practices. An isolation record (like so many), itcombines an ineffable melancholy with claustrophobictension and simmering political rage.Powerfully composed from layers of glistening distortion-drenched melody, pulsing and droningoscillation, bursts of blown-out chords, sweeps of static and sheets of crackling hiss, Bates hasmade an impressively dynamic, ardent and iridescent noise album of real depth and underlyingdevastation."This was supposed to be an ambient record; quiet, minimal and sad. These tracks all startedoff that way but I kept reaching for more texture and noise. Somehow the noisier the record got,the less sad it was also. I was listening to, and loving, a lot of music by Andrew Chalk and I hadfinished a year-long run of listening to Eno's 1 and 4. I preferOn LandtoMusic for Airportsalthough I love both.On Landjust has a darkness and uncertainty that appeals to me. Addingmore noise also got me excited about ways this material could be played live even though italso felt like that could never happen again.In 2022, I opened for Godspeed You! BlackEmperor in Saskatoon to give it a try and waspleasantly pleased to hear it all live and loud."A fixture of Winnipeg's burgeoning punk and social justice community in the 80s-90s, Batesplayed in hardcore and indie rock bands (Pull My Daisy, Bulletproof Nothing) prior to foundingthe Send + Receivefestival in 1998. A crucial development in putting Winnipeg on the map foravant music and sound art, Bates helmed Send + Receive for seven years, then moved toTiohti:áke/Montréal, became Sound Coordinator at Hexagram (Concordia University), releasedsolowork on Oral and two albums with his Black Seas Ensemble on Dim Coast, and pursuedmyriad other ongoing audio research, installation and collaborative projects. Relocating toTreaty 6/Saskatoon the year before pandemic,All The Things That Happenis Bates' mostrecent purposive and purely 'recorded' work.Thanks for listening.

How many forms can a drum break take across the course of one EP? Needing little introduction are TIN mainstays Frankel & Harper who, with the help of Bakey, help us get to an answer. Buffalo Skank EP is a celebration of breakbeat. Whilst proving the duo's prowess in rhythmic variety, there is an emphasis on fun as they form complex drum patterns only for them to be chopped and screwed into myriad formations. At times, an Amen break is accompanied by blissed-out atmospherics borrowed from old school dnb ("Buffalo Skank"). At others, an unapologetic rhythm drives forward as if crushing anything in its way ("Oblivion"). On "Taz &" ricocheting snares evoke the music of junglist Sully before Bakey strips them entirely in favour
of a more minimal sound.

Temples is a tempting invitation into another world, full of light and movement. From the second the synth comes in this track has got us deep in its pocket. Shotter manages something that is hard to achieve - he has us floating completely, yet steadily carried by tip-toeing metallic rhythm elements and the relentless swells of bright synths. The game changer in the second half is a new, gritty bass quality, which couldn't roll in any more fiercely. At its fullest the track has us in an uncompromising trance, a relentless movement that we don't ever want to escape from. Breaking back down to pleasantly gentle hi-hat reverb-tails and inducing synth patterns Temples lets us down easy, with the unspoken promise to return.

Ueno claims the room to itself completely and immediately. The rise and fall of melodic synth lines lead us through a labyrinth at first, leaving plenty of space for imagination. Before we notice playful call-and-response rhythms are teasing our ears, until the track surrenders itself to an ever-growing wave of synth patterns and their behind-the-beat-delay. It climaxes into a haunting silence with tenuous high-pitched sounds and a clear outer space feel. Finally, all elements lock into a comforting groove, driving us forward, not too fast, not too slow - exactly right.

The track starts off with a blissfully nostalgic vintage-feel - slightly muffled, like the humbling quality you get from an old Technics playing your favourite LP. But don't be fooled, Cube March is bold. And unexpected. Stomping rhythms take over quickly and full-blown gritty synth-stabs cut the air effortlessly, like blades. An unapologetic and careless pumping bass line makes us want to move with every cell in our body. Shotter demonstrates his fearlessness in experimenting with heavy contrasts and elements from different genres here. A break with tastefully placed repetitive rhythm elements is complemented by the constant ebb and flow of melody lines. Both in volume and presence they fluctuate, one handing over the spotlight to the other seamlessly, keeping us hooked until the very end.

This remix lures you away from reality in a matter of seconds, with Definition's signature heavy hitting bass dominating. He expertly weaves shimmery fills into buoyant synth lines and brings us a skilful mix of dark minimal techno, breaks and infectious monster synth lines. Every so often, he adds a new layer, increasing the depth of the track, before letting it all crumble in a breakdown where time stops and tension grows, as we impatiently await the next rise to carry us away. The lengthy build-ups give this remix the energy to fill any room, easily. It is subtle, yet propulsive, too - a lane that Definition seems to manage regularly.

Breezy and carefree, Dragatto reminisces on a day spent exploring the streets of Madrid with only a camera, a few rolls of film and the shoes on his feet. Heavily inspired by the European adaptation of Bossa nova in the 1960's, Salvator creates his own unique mood that's equal parts sunny and joyful using simple melodic themes opposite lush string arrangements. A surefire companion for the next road trip down the coast or excursion through a foreign city. On the B side, as if delivered from the future, the sweet and punchy Return to Normal is a message of hope and optimism letting us know that things will indeed get better. Dreamy harp arpeggios float effortlessly atop a crushing rhythm section tip-toeing the line between calmness and urgency. Turn this one up loud, light one up and let go.

Unstoppable Ukrainian metalcore unit SPACE OF VARIATIONS ascend to the next level of mind-bending modern metal on their upcoming, in-your-face full-length, IMAGO, out March 18, 2022. Following their 2019 Napalm Records debut, the XXXXX EP, the unbridled outfit breaks new ground and transcends all expectations with their exciting and undeniably fresh second studio album. IMAGO’s multifaceted, cathartic delivery seamlessly mixes gut-punching hardcore riffs and catastrophic breakdowns with colorful electronics, brutalizing vocals and, at times, trance-like synth – exploring elements of djent, hip-hop and even hyperpop influence along the way. The album’s addictively erratic, emotive atmosphere echoes their spontaneous live performance; having previously toured with modern metal giants JINJER, the four-piece relentlessly smashed European stages while captivating each listener with futuristic stylings reverberating the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Norma Jean and LANDMVRKS. Furiously crashing opener “SOMEONE ELSE” sets free the uncompromising spirit of SPACE OF VARIATIONS – instantly breaking down genres and placing a forceful exclamation mark at the start with smashing instrumentation and a feverish vocal and lyrical assault by Dmytro Kozhukhar and Olexii Zatserkovnyi. Devastatingly heavy “1M followers” takes no prisoners from the first second and features a hefty appearance from former Asking Alexandria vocalist Denis Stoff, resulting in a fearless, addictive metalcore banger. Tracks like eponymous “IMAGO” and intense mid-tempo “Serial Killer” emphasize the multifaceted nature of SPACE OF VARIATIONS with sporadically scaled-back instrumentation and emotion turned to 10. On the contrary, previously released penultimate post-hardcore dystopia “Ultrabeat” delivers bone-crushing beats and is by far no stranger to the band’s devotees. Closing with an insane verse from Ukrainian rap sensation ALYONA ALYONA, the track undeniably marks a milestone in the unit’s soon-to-be revered history while representing the seething desire to expand all limits of songwriting and creativity. This mindset embodies SPACE OF VARIATIONS and their sonically boggling ode to the future, IMAGO. 1. SINGLE - EN Unstoppable Ukrainian metalcore unit SPACE OF VARIATIONS steps up its game with hard-hitting opener “SOMEONE ELSE” from the upcoming full-length album IMAGO. Previously touring with modern metal giants JINJER, the five-piece already smashed numerous stages across Europe. “SOMEONE ELSE” promises aggressive screams, charging transitions and deadly synth parts straight to your face. Stay tuned for this futuristic metal monster called SPACE OF VARIATIONS! 2. SINGLE - EN Unstoppable Ukrainian metalcore unit SPACE OF VARIATIONS drifts off into distant universes with their second single “vein.mp3” from the upcoming full-length IMAGO. Previously touring with modern metal giants JINJER, the five-piece already smashed numerous stages across Europe. Like a bestial alien, "vein.mp3" goes wild with its shattering drums, thudding bass, heavily distorted guitars and evil screams. Beware of this musical demon called SPACE OF VARIATIONS! 3. SINGLE - EN Unstoppable Ukrainian metalcore unit SPACE OF VARIATIONS reveals its album title track “IMAGO” from the upcoming full-length IMAGO. Previously touring with modern metal giants JINJER, the five-piece already smashed numerous stages across Europe. With melodic, yet distorted and heavy riffing, booming drums and deep growls, "IMAGO" proves itself as SPACE OF VARIATIONS’ anthem! 

(Remastered)

1st Time EVER on LP for the 40th Anniversary Remasters
‘Theatre of Pain” is certified 4x platinum in the US and their first top 10 album – making it all the way to #6. Includes the timeless classic, with the record-setting video “Home Sweet Home” and first top 40 hit “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” (#16)