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This is the third release by Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle, Fantomas, Trio Convulsant, various with John Zorn) and Kevin Rutmanis (Tomahawk, Melvins, Cows, Hepa/Titus) On this outing Trevor joins Lords and Lady Kevin (duo of Kevin Rutmanis and drummer/artist Gina Skwoz) for a full length LP "Last Days at Hot Slit"

Songs are loosely based on assorted gospel, blues and jazz songs, some original, some covers. Included is a re-working of Mingus "Devil Woman". The trio based the pieces on improvisations that were then arranged and used to build free standing songs. A multitude of instruments were exploited by all those involved, to create a sizzling blend of aural delicacies. The album title is from a collection by writer Andrea Dworkin, often sited as the Celine of feminism. Less outre perhaps than their previous recordings, these songs hover somewhere between soundtrack- like excursions, to jazz/ blues mutations to a demented "rock" sounding affair. Something for everybody, or perhaps, nobody! Uniting former and current members of Tomahawk, Last Days At Hot Slit marks a powerful reunion between Rutmanis and Dunn. The record took shape gradually, born from Rutmanis's raw, unconventional bass recordings. "I sent Trevor a phone recording of some hideous bass racket and asked if he wanted to add anything," Rutmanis shares. "What he sent back was something like delicious fresh cherries with ice and banana slices." The pair's combined creativity gave rise to a new, immersive soundscape, while their collaborative piece, Crackpot Whorehead, set the tone for the current formation of Lords and Lady Kevin."

The complete album - limited edition pressing on 180g crystal clear vinyl

Although both Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong had met and performed and recorded a number of singles together during 1940s for Decca, they wouldn't be heard on LP together until 1956 when producer Norman Granz paired the two for this first album session, Ella & Louis, which became an immediate hit. Two further sessions under Granz, followed, Ella & Louis Again, and Porgy & Bess. All three albumswere both critically acclaimed and commercial successes - appealing to audiences in and beyond the confines of jazz per se. Ella & Louis features the incredible Oscar Peterson Trio plus legendary drummer Buddy Rich. As one of the most iconic and fascinating jazz albums ever produced, its appeal and commercial sales haven't waned during the sixty-nine years since its first release. "Ella & Louis is one of the very, very few albums to have been issued in this era of the LP flood that is sure to endure for decades." - ***** Nat Hentoff, DownBeat

James Brown wants to know one thing before he and his band begin Sex Machine. “Can I get into the thing, really?,” he asks. His cohorts enthusiastically respond in the affirmative. And for the next hour and change, Mr. Dynamite gets into it and more, turning in a sweat-soaked, feet-moving, hip-swiveling, emotion-purging, in-the-red, drop-everything-you’re-doing-and-dance performance for the ages. Ranked by Rolling Stone among the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the sweeping 1970 effort towers as a testament to Brown’s inimitable legacy as well as the peak powers of his voice, vibrancy, and bands.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 33RPM 2LP set presents Sex Machine in audiophile sound for the first time. It explodes with the energy the lightning-strike music demands. Dynamic, immediate, present, airy: Everything from the brassiness and fluidity of the horns to the snap and decay of the snare to the swell and carry of the organ comes across in full-range perspective.

Then there’s Brown’s superhuman singing, which here emerges with a purity, naturalism, and transparency that ensure you feel everything. Screeching, shouting, pleading, moaning, preaching, stinging, commanding, testifying, crooning, humming: The Godfather of Soul contributes one of the finest vocal performances known to man. This definitive 55th anniversary reissue of Brown’s monster funk statement further exhibits a combination of clarity, solidity, separation, and imaging that helps bring to light what he and his crack ensembles committed to tape. Both in the studio and on the stage.

Just how lifelike does this reissue sound? Senior Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab engineer Krieg Wunderlich, who handled the remaster, notes: “There were some artifacts that sounded a bit like mistracking. But they turned out to be breath blasts on the vocal microphone. That is part of history. JB was workin' hard, and breathin' hard. And there was an edit the timing of that was truly strange. Again, a part of history.”

Originally marketed as a live album, Sex Machine contains six songs recorded in the studio and later overdubbed with canned crowd noise and reverberation. Save for “Low Down Popcorn,” the tracks on the latter half stem from a phenomenal performance captured in October 1969 at Bell Auditorium in Brown’s adopted hometown of Augusta, GA. The special relationship between the singer, the audience, and the location is palpable.

As the 1960s gave way to a new decade, Brown experienced immense success and dealt with unexpected change. Soul Brother Number One soon expanded his idea for an official live album captured in Augusta when the ensemble that backed him on that date morphed into the original version of the world-famous J.B.’s just months after the show. The virtuosic abilities, sticky chemistry, and rhythm-forward nature of the J.B.’s prompted him to book a one-off session in Cincinnati, OH, on a late July night.

Anchored by brothers William “Bootsy” Collins and Phelps “Catfish” Collins, the group — as well as two different drummers — laid down a nearly 11-minute rendition of “Get Up I Feel Like Being Like a Sex Machine” and a thrilling medley of “Bewildered,” “I Got the Feeling,” and “Give It Up or Turnit a Loose.” A pair of then-recent studio singles cut in separate locations in 1969, “Brother Rapp” and “Low Down Popcorn,” each featuring his prior group, took care of the second LP worth of material that complements the originally planned live set.

Complicated? Somewhat. Unusual? Definitely. But just as he elevated the expectations for all present and future R&B artists, Brown not only makes it all work. He makes it positively electrifying.

“Get Up I Feel Like Being Like a Sex Machine” is alone deserving of a dissertation on the art of funk music, seeing it moves up and down akin to an oil derrick, witnesses Brown unleashing a trademark series of grunts, squeaks, and “good god” asides, and glides to a hypnotic groove that won’t quit. Or look to the syncopated rhythms of “Brother Rapp (Part I and Part II),” one of multiple pieces here that signify the point where Brown began viewing every instrument as a percussive tool. Brown closes the three-song medley with his new band with a skedaddling “Give It Up or Turnit a Loose,” which provides jolts on the order of sticking your finger into a socket.

Not that the actual live material falls short in any way. Setting an insistent tempo for the vitality that follows, “I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing” positions Brown as a role model, leader, and self-sufficient entrepreneur. All simmer and boil, the short and sweet “Licking Stick” dares you to keep pace. The floating, almost comforting “Spinning Wheel” spotlights the instrumental prowess of Maceo Parker and company, and functions as a seamless segue into the tender, horn-saluted “If I Ruled the World.”

And Brown and his mates still aren’t done. Just try to resist the one-two closing punch of “I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)” and “Mother Popcorn.” Mercy.

Ain’t it funky? Sure ‘nuff.

“Godzilla just walked into the room. People just stood there with their eyes and mouths wide open.” To hear Randy Holden describe the audience’s reaction in 1969 to his solo debut performing with a teeth-rattling phalanx of 16 (sixteen!) 200 watt Sunn amps is about as close as one will get to truly experience the moment heavy metal music morphed into existence. However, at last Riding Easy have unearthed the proper fossil record. Population II, the now legendary, extremely rare album by guitarist / vocalist Holden and drummer / keyboardist Chris Lockheed is considered to be one of the earliest examples of doom metal.

Though its original release was a very limited in number and distribution, like all great records, its impact over time has continued to grow. In 1969, Holden, fresh off his tenure with proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer (appearing on one side of the New! Improved! Blue Cheer album and touring for the better part of a year in the group), aimed for more control over his band. Thus, Randy Holden - Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present. “I wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before,” Holden explains. “I was interested in discordant sounds that could be melodic but gigantically huge. I rented an Opera house for rehearsal, set up with 16 Sunn amps. That’s what I was going for, way over the top.” And over the top it is. The six-song album delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. It’s incredibly heavy, but infused with a melodic, albeit mechanistic, sensibility.

Troubles with the album’s release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. It was bootlegged several times over the years, but until now hasn’t seen a proper remaster and has yet to be available on digital platforms. “The original mastering just destroyed the dynamics of it,” Holden says. “They flattened it out. Now we got a really nice remaster that should be the closest thing to the original recording.”

Heavy, melodic and passionate, Flat Earth is a hard rock band from Helsinki, Finland, founded by Ex-Amorphis bass player (Niclas Etelävuori) Ex-HIM guitarist (Linde Lindström) Ex-HIM drummer (Gas Lipstick) and Polanski singer (Anthony Pikkarainen).
The band produces heavy riffs, blasting beats and cinematic chords that combine to create an unforgiving, passionate, and dynamic sound. The band's debut single ‘Blame’ premiered on Radio Rock in 2018, immediately gaining popularity, throughout Finland and the rest of Europe.
The single Cyanide followed in the footsteps of the debut single, gaining public recognition and earning them a spot opening for ‘Alice in Chains’, in Helsinki. To date, they have over half a million streams on Spotify, alone.
In the beginning of 2019, the band entered the studio to record the follow up to their debut album ‘None for One’. This time with legendary producer Tim Palmer behind the mixing desk.

Mid Price Campaign! Heavy, melodic and passionate, Flat Earth is a hard rock band from Helsinki, Finland, founded by Ex-Amorphis bass player (Niclas Etelävuori) Ex-HIM guitarist (Linde Lindström) Ex-HIM drummer (Gas Lipstick) and Polanski singer (Anthony Pikkarainen). The band produces heavy riffs, blasting beats and cinematic chords that combine to create an unforgiving, passionate, and dynamic sound.
The band's debut single ‘Blame’ premiered on Radio Rock in 2018, immediately gaining popularity, throughout Finland and the rest of Europe. The single Cyanide followed in the footsteps of the debut single, gaining public recognition and earning them a spot opening for ‘Alice in Chains’, in Helsinki. To date, they have over half a million streams on Spotify, alone.
In the beginning of 2019, the band entered the studio to record the follow up to their debut album ‘None for One’. This time with legendary producer Tim Palmer behind the mixing desk.
Flat Earth is: Anthony Pikkarainen - Vocals (Polanski) Linde Lindström - Guitar (ex-HIM) Gas Lipstick - Drums (ex-HIM) Niclas Etelävuori - Bass (ex-Amorphis).

T.O.Y.'s new album, The Prophet, is passion, history, a vintage museum, and full of great songs that are waiting to be heard. T.O.Y. is a German synthpop and futurepop band founded in 2001 by Volker Lutz. Highlights include collaborations with Alphaville's singer Marian Gold ("Turn On!") and FAITHLESS drummer Andy Treacey ("Silent Soldiers"), blending T.O.Y.'s atmospheric sound with iconic voices from the electronic music scene. "The Prophet is something truly special. During the Corona pandemic, wrapped in isolation, we all needed consistency, a sense of comfort, and security. I found that feeling through sounds--the sounds I have known my whole life: the music of the 80s. Courageously and full of ideas, one song after another emerged. Motivated by the wonderful collaboration and friendship with Alphaville frontman Marian Gold, who kept encouraging me with words about how good this record was, the pandemic passed, and so did one year after another. Through my friendship with Faithless drummer Andy Treacey, I got in touch with Jonathan White, also a member of the Faithless family. A true genius on bass in live performances, he became part of the album as well." - Volker Lutz

The duality of "man" is a subject that has been explored in art for centuries, from writings of the Bible to Descartes, all the way up to filmmakers like Lynch, Cronenberg, & Carpenter. Who is your "true self" & what do they want? With their sixth studio album "Wish Defense" (again for longtime home Trouble In Mind Records), Chicago trio FACS take a good, long look in the mirror to face themselves. The return of original member Jonathan Van Herik - who stepped away from the group just before their debut album "Negative Houses" was released in 2018 - replacing longtime bassist Alianna Kalaba brings renewed vigor & a marked angularity from the band's more recent output. The songs still hit hard, but the approach is sideways - the roles have changed since Van Herik's original tenure & his previous time with Case & powerhouse drummer Noah Leger in Disappears; now on bass, Van Herik was originally the group's guitar player and features on the debut, while current guitarist Brian Case played bass. This role reversal has helped the band's dynamic, offering up a different musical perspective than before, now revisiting the trio's long-going collaboration with some distance and time. Case notes that the lyrics on "Wish Defense" revolve around doppelgängers or "doubles", tackling the idea of facing yourself and observing your ideas and motivations. Look no further than the album's title track; "Enter the mirror / Double walker / An intimate / Wish defense / Is it real? / You beside me / The detail / Terrifying / Abject self / Your grief / A public / Performance". Case lays out the entire album's theme in one stanza; Are your actions & emotions your true self? Or are they a performative aspect of that "other" person you put forward? Case says that ultimately the sentiment is "_don't let the bastards get you down, there's something beyond this moment, like hope - but not in the naive belief that ultimately people are good". "Wish Defense"s artwork is also a subtle reference to "Negative Houses"' art, returning to that album's black & white starkness & minimalism. The album's checkerboards everywhere are offset reflections of themselves, mirrored with the album's lyrics printed front & center on the cover. Everything is out in the open. A final note; "Wish Defense" is the last album engineered by Steve Albini. Two days were recorded at Electrical Audio in early May of 2024 before Steve's untimely passing, with renowned engineer & friend Sanford Parker stepping in to finish the session 24 hours later, tracking the last bits of vocals and overdubs. Longtime collaborator John Congleton mixed the album as Albini would have; in Electrical Audio's A room, off the tape, using Albini's notes about the session.

Elations Recordings presents "Return of the Airpoets", an exploratory recording from longtime collaborators Reuben Lewis (I Hold The Lion's Paw) & Adam Halliwell (Mildlife, IHTLP), occupying a unique space between contemporary experimental music and avant jazz. Engineered and mixed by Reuben Lewis in 2023, and featuring guest appearances from acclaimed Australian drummer Ronny Ferella.

"Return of the Airpoets" continues a conversation begun with 'Cygon Dance', an extended duo between Lewis and Halliwell from Halliwell's 2023 LP "Freedom Lapse"; a dialogue that stems from a shared love and respect for Jon Hassell's Fourth World music. Sonic pioneer and adventurer, Hassell's futuristic vision advocated possible musics, stressing plurality and multiplicity. Faithful to his vision, Adam and Reuben, as trailblazers rather than imitators, delight in boundless musical possibilities, adopting Hassell's futurism as stock-in-trade, making it their own while augmented with neo noir hues and hints of the tilted electro-funk of Miles Davis' collaborations with Marcus Miller.

These nine tracks flow together as a unified suite, their shadowy presence stitched from fractured narratives: imaginary crimes, murders, dreams, the unspoken. At the same time, you can detect the artists' meticulous attention to sonic detail, feel the undercurrents, the complex layering. This music has been distilled, winnowed, from extended improv sessions, with the artists - as producers - zeroing in on offcuts, shards, and splinters, seamlessly patching together fragments in post-production to construct intricately layered sound collages, taking a leaf out of Tao Macero's book, building from the ground up.

Who are these airpoets? Their mystifying trial suggests the travails of Joseph K, sentenced for unspecified crimes. But I prefer to see them as fugitives escaped from Robert Bolaño's novel, "Savage Detectives". In Bolaño's book, poet Juan Garcia Madero is granted admission to the shadowy group of poets, the Visceral Realists, whose movement has no clear aims, and whose members "walked backward . . . gazing at a point in the distance, but moving away from it, walking straight toward the unknown." Like the visceral poets, these airpoets, Reuben Lewis and Adam Halliwell, set their sights on a point on the distant horizon, setting off without map or compass, drawing nearer and moving away, towards the unknown.

Working with elite keys player Ross Stanley (steadily making ripples on the world stage through his work with legends like Maceo Parker, and more recently with Robben Ford), guitarist Nigel Price says: "I've never heard Ross play a bad note, and he absolutely played out of his skin on this record." Joel Barford is one of the most exciting and vibrant young drummers on the scene today. He relishes the space and freedom of the organ trio format, which is totally evident on this new recording.

Six of the nine pieces are original Price compositions, confirming his strength as a writer, especially for this tight, powerful unit. A relaxed recording session brought out the best in these three master musicians, and the result is an exciting collection of captivating music. Nigel Price is acknowledged as one of the foremost UK exponents of jazz guitar. He has played on more than 60 albums including eight as a leader, spent 10 years with acid jazz outfit The Filthy Six, was a member of James Taylor's band, JTQ, for three years (with whom he recorded five albums) and performed with the legendary David Axelrod. Price has worked tirelessly to organise his own tours, with epic tours he's organised for the Nigel Price Organ Trio becoming the stuff of legend.

As genre conventions continue to morph and blur, there's a wealth of stunning
new music being made wherever groups of musicians have the imagination
and ingenuity to transcend the old boundaries and just play whatever comes
naturally
Sun Speak are such a group and their album Probiotic Orchestrations is full of music
that's urgent, powerful, accessible and humorous, pulling together sounds and
textures from the worlds of rock, jazz, electronica, Americana and the outer reaches of
progressive music into compelling whole. Guitarist Matt Gold and drummer Nate
Friedman first came together as Sun Speak ten years ago amid the white heat of the
Chicago experimental scene, where they'd worked with such luminaries as Makaya
McCraven and Patricia Barber.
On this, their sixth release, they continue to develop their own distinctive sonic world
with the aid of fellow Chicagoan Daniel Pierson who joined as engineer/ sound
sculptor and now increasingly takes a collaborative role as a third member of the
band on keyboards. Now the trio are dispersed and live in different corners of the USA,
but in 2024 they came together in a remote seaside cabin in New Hampshire, writing
and recording every day in an intense undisturbed whirlwind of creativity. Probiotic
Orchestrations is the result - a dazzling mix of improvisation and composition,
exploring rhythm, colour and texture with the directness of rock and the fearless
improvisatory flair of jazz.
Available on heavyweight black vinyl + 6-panel digipak CD editions.

The album is made up of two sessions recorded for BBC Radio 1 at Maida Vale Studios, from 1973 and 1978 that feature vocalist Norma Winstone, trumpeter Henry Lowther, saxophonists Art Themen, Tony Coe and Alan Wakeman, trombonist David Horler, bassists Dave Green and Jeff Clyne, and drummers Trevor Tomkins and John Marshall. The material, all composed by Garrick, includes some favourites from the classic LPs 'Troppo' and 'October Woman'. He wouldn't record the tracks "River Running" and "Galilee" until decades later, so this is the first time these '70s arrangements have been released. Whereas "Robin's Rest" and the title track are exclusive to this album - providing a fascinating insight into this uniquely talented artist.

Garrick was at the forefront of British jazz from the mid-1960s until his death in 2011 aged 78. He was a key member of The Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet, composing the jazz gems "Dusk Fire and "Black Marigolds" and released a series of seminal 1960s and 1970s LPs including 'Cold Mountain', 'The Heart is a Lotus' and 'Black Marigolds'. Remastered by Caspar Sutton-Jones @ Gearbox Records, 'Late Autumn Sunshine' is available as a 2LP set housed in a gatefold sleeve (a limited edition of 600 copies) and 'mini-LP' gatefold CD, with sleeve notes by Daniel Spicer (Jazzwise, The Wire). 'Late Autumn Sunshine' celebrates Michael Garrick's memory and should introduce him to many new fans.

The project brings together a stellar cast of musicians. Guitarist and producer Matthis Pascaud who crafts a rich and colourful sonic landscape, along with acclaimed drummer Raphael Chassin, pianist Thibault Gomez, and bassist Simon Tailleu. The record shines further with the participation of special guests: iconic guitarist Bill Frisell and the legendary saxophonist Archie Shepp, whose contributions underscore both the intimacy and the grandeur of Rampal's homage. Through inventive arrangements and deep poetic sensibility, 'Song For Abbey' revisits key pieces from Abbey Lincoln's repertoire, including a luminous, modern rendition of ' And It's Supposed To Be Love' .

Marion Rampal's voice, instantly recognisable and deeply evocative, breathes new life into Lincoln's world, blending tradition and innovation across jazz, blues, and folk influences. With high-profile guest artists, Bill Frisell and Archie Shepp, who elevate the album's international visibility and media value, 'Song For Abbey' is not just an album, but a resonant contemporary statement - a vibrant crossroads of jazz legacy, emotion, and artistry. "One of the most beautiful voices of her generation brings new life to the legacy of the sublime singer and songwriter Abbey Lincoln - chills guaranteed." - Jazz Magazine

Yellow vinyl. With "Una Lama D'Argento", TENEBRO take their most extreme and visionary step yet: an entire album conceived as a tribute to Dario Argento, the undisputed master of horror, giallo, and thriller cinema. Eleven tracks that are not just songs, but episodes of a single nightmare, a journey through the dark and obsessive atmospheres of the films that shaped cinema history: Deep Red (1975), Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980), Tenebre (1982), Phenomena (1985), and Opera (1987). TENEBRO translate Argento's universe into sound: riffs sharp as blades, guttural vocals emerging from the darkness, relentless drumming, and atmospheres shifting between pure violence and suffocating tension. Iconic scenes such as the mirror revealing the killer in Deep Red, the brutal mutilation in Tenebre, or the larva-filled bathtub finale in Phenomena are transformed into brutal, immersive sonic attacks, capturing the full horror and tension of the films. As with every album, TENEBRO continue to evolve, introducing new symphonies, styles, and melodies, while remaining distinctly separate from the wider underground scene. Their music explores new horizons without ever betraying the pulsating heart that has always defined their sound: extreme, theatrical, and viscerally horror-driven.

Debut solo album from DC polymath Jack Abok. When not making zines and visual art, singing for Des Demonas' or drumming AND singing for SEXFACES, Abok's busied himself by bringing this, his most personal and ferousious vision, to (immortal) life with VAMPYRES FROM AFRICA. 11 tracks of electro punk, melding Abok's massive love for the delta blues, post punk, Krautrock and hip hop. Or, in his own words: VAMPYRES FROM AFRICA MANIFESTО: 1. Ideas > skill 2. Don't be a musician 3. Cool > smart 4. It's not about money or being liked, it's about expressing ourselves. 5. Bands should have an expiration date 6. Fuck originality! 7. Don't stop creating And Syd's Angelika Piper at the Gates of Dawn: "All movements is accomplished in six stages And the seventh brings return The seven is the number of the young light It forms when darkness is increased by one Changel return / success Going and coming without error Action brings good fortune Sunset"

He cast off his old skin, fundamentally altering his studies, homeland, and life, thereby charting a new future. Recorded at Sound on Sound Studios in Montclair, New Jersey, in January, 2024, 'Ancestral' was influenced, in part, by O'Gallagher's PhD studies into the music of John Coltrane, and reunites the versatile reeds player with guitarist Ben Monder while, notably, features the first-ever recorded collaboration between master drummers Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart. "Basically, my PhD (available on O'Gallagher's website) is an analysis where I transcribed all of Trane's solos, spelling out what he does on his late recordings 'Interstellar Space' and 'Stellar Regions'. And it shows that free music is not free, not the way people think it is.

Trane was definitely thinking about organization in those records. This research definitely gave me ideas about how to be freer within the systems that I had developed, and how to perceive them in a more organic way." O'Gallagher's latest recording marks a significant artistic evolution, following a period of considerable personal change. After leaving Brooklyn, New York, he and his wife relocated to the UK before ultimately settling in Lisbon, Portugal. This journey, coupled with dedicated study, profoundly shaped his new music. O'Gallagher, Monder, Cyrille, Hart, and Coltrane: a potent brew. In an album consisting largely of first takes, O'Gallagher's compositions vary from through- composed pieces to skeletal charts to full- blown group compositions/ improvisations.

The work of internationally acclaimed "Japanese jazz" artist Toshio Osumi is being released on vinyl on 180g heavyweight vinyl.

Veteran jazz drummer Toshio Osumi has been gaining popularity overseas in recent years. His 2019 album "Caravan" has been re-edited and is now available
on vinyl for the first time on 180g heavyweight vinyl!

With simpatico support from double bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey, Hersch presented fresh interpretations of tunes by his favourite jazz composers, which included Miles Davis ('Milestones'), Wayne Shorter ('Iris'), Thelonious Monk ('Played Twice'), Dizzy Gillespie ('Con Alma'), and Herbie Hancock (Speak Like A Child). The album also includes an original number, 'Evanessence,' which Hersch composed as a salute to pianist Bill Evans. The Fred Hersch Trio Plays is a remarkable collection of performances affirming that jazz is about exploration, constant reinvention, and selfless teamwork.

Produziert vom kreativen Kopf der The Clash, Mick Jones, und mit einem Gesangsbeitrag von Kate Moss, fängt Down In Albion die Atmosphäre seiner Ära ein - die Gerüche, die Stimmungen, den Zeitgeist - und blickt zugleich nach vorn. Das Ergebnis ist ein zeitloses Werk, das die menschliche Erfahrung sowohl dokumentiert als auch tröstet. Neben den ursprünglichen 16 Songs enthält die Jubiläumsausgabe fünf ausgewählte Stücke aus dem Archiv der Band, von denen einige - trotz ihrer Bootleg-Bekanntheit unter Fans - hier erstmals offiziell veröffentlicht werden. "Gang Of Gin" und "352 Days" entstanden in derselben Phase wie das Album und waren ursprünglich als mögliche B-Seiten gedacht, wurden jedoch nie veröffentlicht. "Why Did You Break My Heart/Piracy" erschien damals auf der B-Seite der Single Albion. Die Songs "Do You Know Me" und "My Darling Clementine" stammen aus der von Fans geliebten BBC Radio 1 Session mit Zane Lowe vom Oktober 2004, die den kreativen Grundstein für Down In Albion legte. Babyshambles wurde 2003 gegründet, als Pete Doherty vorübergehend aus The Libertines ausgeschlossen war. Schnell entwickelte sich das Projekt zu einem alternativen kreativen Ventil, das ihm erlaubte, neue Themen in einer spontanen, offenen musikalischen Umgebung zu erforschen. In Zusammenarbeit mit Bassist Drew McConnell, Drummer Adam Ficek und Gitarrist Patrick Walden gelang es der Band, die elektrische Energie einer Gruppe einzufangen, die immer am Limit segelte - künstlerisch, kulturell und persönlich. Down In Albion ist erfüllt von klarem, zeitlosem Songwriting, das zwischen intensiven Emotionen und lebendigen Erzählungen wechselt. Diese Jubiläumsausgabe würdigt nicht nur die rohe Mischung aus persönlichen Erfahrungen und gesellschaftlichen Beobachtungen, sondern ehrt auch Patrick Walden, der Anfang des Jahres verstorben ist. Sein unverkennbares Gitarrenspiel prägt das Album tief - und sein Porträt, fotografiert von Hedi Slimane, wurde in das neue Cover mit einem speziellen UV-Glanzdruck integriert. Von dem scheinbar nihilistischen, in Wahrheit aber hoffnungsvollen "Fuck Forever", über die chaotische Energie von "Pipedown" und "8 Dead Boys", den Witz von "What Katie Did Next", die Romantik von "In Love With A Feeling", bis hin zur melancholischen Hymne "Albion" - das Debüt von Babyshambles bleibt ein mitreißendes, emotionales und kreatives Meisterwerk.

US Black Friday 2025 Release. There are very few albums in the psych/punk/hard rock/private presses strata that garner the sort of universal awe and accolades that Fraction’s almighty Moonblood LP does, and even fewer records in the world that could be dubbed ‘Christian Rock’ incur such fierce devotion. Indeed some records just meteorically lift themselves out any genre tag with brilliance and sheer defiance--and Moonblood is surely one of them. Based in LA, Fraction was a ragged collection of working-class musicians--the line-up was ringleader Jim Beach--vocals; Don Swanson--lead guitar, Curt Swanson--drums, Victor Hemme--bass, and Robert Meinel--rhythm guitar. Beach himself describes those early days: “The guys met through various acquaintances that we had in LA. All of us had been in bands before, but were seeking something with more teeth. We had a small studio in an industrial complex in North Hollywood and started practicing sometimes as early as 4:30 AM. We all had day jobs, so we did what we could.”

Amazingly the recording sessions for the album were recorded similarly on the fly, as Beach further states: “The Moonblood recording took place at Whitney’s Studio in Glendale, CA, early in 1971. On a strict budget, these songs were recorded in less than three hours—all of them “one takes.” We played, all 5 of us, simultaneously-- there were no studio effects, no overdubbing or any additional sound effects added. Basically what you hear is considered ‘old school’ recording.”

This workmanlike description in no way prepares one for the pure tortured genius the session wrought. Particularly noteworthy is Beach’s vocals—as commonly stated, the spirit of Jim Morrison is conjured in his deep baritone, which gives way to unparalleled pained howls, at times bathed in delay which trails into the abyss. Fascinatingly enough, Beach cites the much punker Love as his fave LA band over the Doors, and also gives influence-nods to proto-everything rockers The Yardbirds and to Dylan, whose dark word tapestries surely inspired Beach’s lyrics (though lines from The Doors’ “L’America” pop up on the LP) Whatever the case, the man clearly has a vision, as even the stark sleeve concept is Beach’s own. Equally as integral to the Fraction sound is lead guitarist Don Swanson—his blown-out fuzz riffs set a template for what is now commonly known as “stoner rock” or “acid punk,” and his solos consist of jagged, wah-wah-ed shards of notes, with his amplifier clearly pushed to the limit.

Beach says: “Don’s guitar was always my driving force and he did everything he could to keep it over the top. You’d never know that (his sound) was coming from an old, broken down Esquire. Don kept it alive!” The other members contributions shouldn’t be underappreciated though-- drummer Curt Swanson keeps things at a constant simmer, and then boils over when the whole band launches into snarling glory. The band and LP as a whole equals something indescribably intense from start to finish—comparisons to the Detroit late 60s high-energy bands like The Stooges and MC5 abound, as well as the sort of late 60s damaged spirit lurking in biker clubs and disgruntled Vietnam vets. The song cycle on side 1 of the LP in particular cuts to the emotional core, with severely charged dark lyrics like “Extend your thumbs and burn the darkness out of her.” Which brings us to the Christian aspect--it often can confuse listeners. The Fraction/Beach world of religion is complex and perhaps a bit pagan/sinister than most---fire and brimstone, temptation, and the truth-seeker being burned by this hell on earth—or perhaps as Beach himself best put it: “Speaking for myself, as a believer, it’s been a progressive experience since my childhood.

I think we’re all basically driven to live more than religion.” The album was pressed in a run of but a few hundred to little attention in the day, but now inferior bootlegs flood the marketplace, and originals of Moonblood command thousands of dollars. So enjoy this all-inclusive reissue, which also features for the first time on vinyl, 3 lost tracks-- like the more acoustic-minded “prisms” and “dawning light,” as well as the proto-metal choogle of “Intercessor’s Blues.”