quête:d roc

Ranil is undoubtedly the most unconventional figure among the greats of Amazonian cumbia, earning a well-deserved place alongside iconic bands like Los Mirlos, Los Wembler's, and Juaneco y su Combo. This compilation offers a glimpse into the vast musical output Ranil created in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Psychedelia, rock fusion, cumbia, salsa, mambo, Amazonian folk_ you'll find all these flavors blended into the vibrant, jungle-rich sound Ranil crafted. DESCRIPTION Ranil is undoubtedly the most unconventional figure among the greats of Amazonian cumbia, earning a well-deserved place alongside all the better-known iconic bands. He worked as a teacher, criollo guitarist, radio host, TV entrepreneur, and politician, but gained lasting fame as the founder of Ranil y Su Conjunto Tropical in the 1970s. By 1968, around the same time Los Destellos were making waves in Lima, groups like Los Wembler's de Iquitos and Juaneco y su Combo began electrifying cumbia in Iquitos. This new genre, dubbed Amazonian cumbia, exploded nationwide in 1973, thanks to hits by Juaneco y su Combo, Los Mirlos, and Los Wembler's. The success these bands achieved spawned dozens of other groups from the Amazon. Ranil, always a visionary, recognized the movement's potential and joined forces through his first single recorded on the Dinsa label in 1974. Unhappy with the contractual terms, he went on to found Producciones Llerena, the label on which he would release the rest of his discography. Over the years, Ranil y su Conjunto Tropical featured guitarists like Límber Zumba and Luis Nigro, while Ranil remained the lead vocalist and bassist for group. Zumba and Nigro had already played with other regional bands and written songs for groups like Los Destellos and Los Mirlos. This compilation offers a glimpse into the vast musical output Ranil created in the late 1970s and early 1980s, bringing together 14 tracks from the band's 10 LPs. These records have always been hard to come by as, despite being recorded in Lima, they were distributed by Ranil from Iquitos. Psychedelia, rock fusion, cumbia, salsa, mambo, Amazonian folk_ you'll find all these flavors blended into the vibrant, jungle-rich sound Ranil crafted.

Opener “That’s Magic” features a magician talking us through a convoluted magic trick, to a mysterious synth theme that a celebrity conjurer might use to help the pyramids disappear. It’s probably one of the only pieces of music to draw influences from Paul Daniels. “Carpet Squares” is a hefty slab of squirming machine bass, acid squidges and clanking industrial drums, its samples extolling the virtues of fitting comfortable flooring, with a voiceover recorded on a Canadian golf course. “Vanja & Slavcho” tells the odd story of twins who have an extraordinary ability to a bustle of spiralling arpeggios and comedic sound effects, while “Tiktaalik” has a glam rock beat, guitar twangs, wild synth runs and dance music drum rolls that build to nowhere, plus processed dolphin noises and a vocal about evolution. Then there’s “Piccolo’s Travels”, a spellbinding mix of classical strings and... is that a malfunctioning Clanger?

“Album Titles” lists rejected names for the record to hilarious effect, with outlandish blips, accordion riffs and bubbling percussion setting the scene, “The 38th Parallel” is a wonky slab of electronica, while “Push It” has everything from rock guitar interjections to explosions and birdsong. If “Customer Services” imagines the bewildering experience of dealing with a sentient automated phone call, then the following “Nothing To Write Home About” is a waltz-time organ piece with a nostalgic, bittersweet air. “Ready?” lists practically every genre under the sun and gives you a burst of it, from drill to country & western, hardcore to Miami bass, and the final track, “The Void”, is an AutoTune-laced R&B track with a deep, emotional core.

That’s the genius of Wevie Stonder: their ability to make you laugh one minute, and the next transport you
to an atmospheric reverie.

Son of Lee is Brooklyn-based DJ and producer. A native New Yorker, he has been active in Brooklyn's dance music underground for over a decade. The Hollowbody EP delivers two new reworks of a little-known American jazz-funk treasure. "One Time" is a filter house-inspired floor filler that's been dubplate tested to great effect on many a dance floor over the last year. "Get Ya, Have Ya" is a downtempo beatdown stomper reminiscent of LTJ and Cottam at their finest. Son Of Lee has been refining a unique blend of leftfield disco, cosmic, and deep-dug funk and r&b that he's showcased on earlier releases with Dailysession, Disco Bizarre (DE) and Rocksteady Disco.

Rocksteady took over Orange Street ,Kingston, Jamaica around 1966,the same time that an extreme heat wave hit the Jamaican Island.
Some say the previous jerky Ska Rhythms proved too strenuous of an activity to partake in during the all night Sound Systems.
So it proved a winning formula to slow the beat down to a more leisurely pace.

Whatever the reasons were this two year period that ran until 1968 would see some of the power escape from the big three producers,Clement 'Coxonne 'Dodd,Prince Buster and Duke Reid...who up to that period ruled the airwaves. It was time to make room for a new wave of up and coming producers that also had something to offer the people.

So sit back and enjoy some Rocksteady straight from the dances of Jamaica...Hope you enjoy the set...............

2025 Repress


Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel. It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and bassist Hartmut Enke.
Engineered by Conny Plank it was recorded in March 1971 and released in June 1971 on Ohr Records.

This 50Th Anniversary Album will be Released in Memoriam of all the Musical Contributors to this Release and on Manuel Göttsching´s MG.ART label. It´s the fourth and headlining edition in this series and was finalised, carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself in the late Autumn of 2022.

Much has been written about the record and band.

Having finished a first musical chapter with their Steeple Chase Bluesband and still at very young age of only 17 and 18 years old Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke met Klaus Schulze. Together they started to write and and compose what, to many, became one the holy grails of Psychedelic Rock and early Electronic Music -
the German variant which was later also named "Krautrock":

Ash Ra Tempel´s self-titled first album "Ash Ra Tempel".

"The trio of Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke decided to abandon conventional composition and song writing, in favour of free-form improvising and developing a new musical language. As such, they became notorious for jams that could exceed 30 minutes." Says Discogs. "Some of these recordings can be found on Manuel Göttsching´s "The Private Tapes" releases", which will be re-released on MG.ART as well, following this edition.

"Krautrocksampler" author Julian Cope mentioned it to be "… one of the greatest rock 'n' roll LPs ever made." (Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage | Unsung | Reviews | Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel". 15 March 2000.)

AllMusic called the album "both astonishingly prescient and just flat out good, a logical extension of the space-jam-freakout ethos into rarified realms."

Here we would like the Band to be heard, for what can easily be said as the first time in 50+ years, with the exception of some early Journalists for whom the young Manuel Göttsching wrote a statement of intent (the original text can be found inside this edition) as following:

"Our musical concept is based on a combination of blues rock and delicate collages of electronic sound. These two elements should remain inseparable. And in their complex unity, the different musical philosophies of each musician find a common sweet spot. Our music is a permanently impulsive experience left to develop as it will, starting from a common fixed point of departure. This is where the difficulty of the music begins: No standardized formulation of our music can and should be possible. Only the constant reaction within the band can determine the musical result. And this requires constant listening with full concentration on the part of the creators. The idea of a particular musician will be - if flexible enough - absorbed by the others, transposed to their own instrument, and reflected back into the music as an individual contribution. This reciprocity within the band is then transferred over to the audience. And this process means that their reaction is not only a contribution to the end result; it actually makes them jointly responsible for the creation of the final musical product.
…
On our album, the track "Amboss" represents the first layer. Conventional instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through electronic means. In the second track of the album - "Traummaschine" - the actual basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from any and every association, can finally begin - and the music can be absorbed and processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions.

Thank you for your attention."
(Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)


Hartmut Enke, Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze aka. Ash Ra Tempel travelled to Hamburg in March 1971 to record their debut, with assistance of another Icon, legendary engineer Conny Plank.
The rest is history.

2025 Repress

Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel. It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and bassist Hartmut Enke.
Engineered by Conny Plank it was recorded in March 1971 and released in June 1971 on Ohr Records.

This 50Th Anniversary Album will be Released in Memoriam of all the Musical Contributors to this Release and on Manuel Göttsching´s MG.ART label. It´s the fourth and headlining edition in this series and was finalised, carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself in the late Autumn of 2022.

Much has been written about the record and band.

Having finished a first musical chapter with their Steeple Chase Bluesband and still at very young age of only 17 and 18 years old Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke met Klaus Schulze. Together they started to write and and compose what, to many, became one the holy grails of Psychedelic Rock and early Electronic Music -
the German variant which was later also named "Krautrock":

Ash Ra Tempel´s self-titled first album "Ash Ra Tempel".

"The trio of Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke decided to abandon conventional composition and song writing, in favour of free-form improvising and developing a new musical language. As such, they became notorious for jams that could exceed 30 minutes." Says Discogs. "Some of these recordings can be found on Manuel Göttsching´s "The Private Tapes" releases", which will be re-released on MG.ART as well, following this edition.

"Krautrocksampler" author Julian Cope mentioned it to be "… one of the greatest rock 'n' roll LPs ever made." (Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage | Unsung | Reviews | Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel". 15 March 2000.)

AllMusic called the album "both astonishingly prescient and just flat out good, a logical extension of the space-jam-freakout ethos into rarified realms."

Here we would like the Band to be heard, for what can easily be said as the first time in 50+ years, with the exception of some early Journalists for whom the young Manuel Göttsching wrote a statement of intent (the original text can be found inside this edition) as following:

"Our musical concept is based on a combination of blues rock and delicate collages of electronic sound. These two elements should remain inseparable. And in their complex unity, the different musical philosophies of each musician find a common sweet spot. Our music is a permanently impulsive experience left to develop as it will, starting from a common fixed point of departure. This is where the difficulty of the music begins: No standardized formulation of our music can and should be possible. Only the constant reaction within the band can determine the musical result. And this requires constant listening with full concentration on the part of the creators. The idea of a particular musician will be - if flexible enough - absorbed by the others, transposed to their own instrument, and reflected back into the music as an individual contribution. This reciprocity within the band is then transferred over to the audience. And this process means that their reaction is not only a contribution to the end result; it actually makes them jointly responsible for the creation of the final musical product.
…
On our album, the track "Amboss" represents the first layer. Conventional instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through electronic means. In the second track of the album - "Traummaschine" - the actual basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from any and every association, can finally begin - and the music can be absorbed and processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions.

Thank you for your attention."
(Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)


Hartmut Enke, Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze aka. Ash Ra Tempel travelled to Hamburg in March 1971 to record their debut, with assistance of another Icon, legendary engineer Conny Plank.
The rest is history.

Get ready for the rawest, dirtiest rock NYC has to offer! TAXIDERMY GIRLS, a band featuring legendary talents from Jon Spencer JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION, TELEVISION, MERCURY REV, SPEEDBALL BABY y FIVE DOLLAR PRIEST, is back with a new LP that will blow you away. Rte 209 Blues by Taxidermy Girls delivers gritty, powerful sound straight from the streets of New York City-pure, unfiltered, and full of that authentic underground energy. Once known as Taxi Girls, this band has evolved but still carries that rebellious attitude and raw edge that make them stand out. From gritty riffs to catchy melodies, each track is a trip through NYC's underground scene, where dirty, honest rock reigns supreme. Don't miss out on the new release from TAXIDERMY GIRLS-a record that proves the spirit of NYC's rock scene is alive and kicking stronger than ever.

Recorded from late 1996 through early 1997, Hold Onto I.D., The Shadow Ring's fourth album, marks the apogee of the trio's experimental rock epoch - their last record clinging to their factitious bandness before they let all song and structure go awash in sonic malaise for their final run of releases on Swill Radio. The surrealist dreams of City Lights and Put the Music in Its Coffin give way to pseudo-expressionistic lyrics mired in the banality and bleakness of the everyday, set against the backdrop of the Coombe House (as pictured on the album's cover). While Hold Onto I.D. is the group's most overtly autobiographical release to date, Lambkin's lyrics obfuscate his expressionist tendencies filtering them through the codes and languages of officialdom, linking the "inner self" with documents of the state_identification cards, National Insurance numbers, and British passport numbers. Having moved out of their parents' homes and into the top floor of the famed Coombe House, Graham Lambkin and Darren Harris set out to rework material drafted over the previous year, aided by Tim Goss, still safely in residence at the "Valebrook Inn." While the familiar sounds of Harris's deadpan recitation and Lambkin's electric guitar, amateurishly strummed, dominate the album, the emotive interludes of Goss's keyboards populate the record along with of home-cooked tape experiments and dime-store concrète. Originally released on CD and supported by a US tour with friends Scott Foust and Karla Borecky's Idea Fire Company, Hold Onto I.D. is perhaps the band's best-known and most accessible album. (The Shadow Ring's sole representative on a streaming platform, it was once acknowledged by the Guardian as one of "the 101 strangest records on Spotify.") Offered here for the first time on vinyl, Hold Onto I.D. is an essential album for both completists and the uninitiated alike. Throughout their legendary, decade-long run, the Shadow Ring were an enigmatic force on the international musical sub-underground. Before their disbandment in 2002, this shambolic rock outfit, formed by a group of rowdy teenagers in southeast England, left behind a mighty run of eight LPs, a handful of 7"s, and a spate of raucous live shows and cryptic zine appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, all which have bolstered their enduring word-of-mouth mystique. Beginning in 2023 with the first-ever vinyl pressing of the self-released pre-Shadow Ring tape The Cat & Bells Club (1992), Blank Forms Editions has been conducting a systematic retrospective of the storied group. Wax-Work Echoes and Hold Onto I.D. are the latest releases in a multiyear reissue effort that includes several LPs, a comprehensive CD box set, and a nearly five-hundred-page book.

Chickasha, Oklahoma is not a place known for producing a lot of original proto-punk bands. In fact, there is, to our knowledge, only one: Debris'. Formed in 1975 by bassist Chuck Ivey, guitarist Oliver "Rectomo" Powers and drummer Johnny Gregg, the trio created some of the most art-damaged outsider rock 'n' roll this side of MX-80 Sound.

When a local studio offered the package deal of ten hours for recording and mixing as well as pressing 1,000 LPs and two-color jackets, Debris' came in well-rehearsed – nailing all eleven of their songs in just one take. In April 1976, the same month as Ramones' debut album, Debris' would release their lone record onto the world.

Opener "One Way Spit" could easily be mistaken for a lost KBD single – from Chuck's bizarre count-in to the band's trashy start-stop rhythms, unfurling a Dadaist flag around Johnny's visceral vocals. On "Tricia," a reference to the then-current Patty Hearst trial, Oliver's gruesome groans are sardonically juxtaposed with an electric saw. These LSD-tinged tunes are a potent mix of Beefheart-ian controlled chaos and the genuinely weird avant-rock associated with the mid-'70s Cleveland scene.

Enhanced by analog synthesizers and electronic effects, the album sounds like Eno-era Roxy Music or Stooges' Fun House buried deep in the red Oklahoma dirt. While punk would spark a handful of bands who boldly straddled the line between the primal and the experimental, the relatively unsung Debris' were one of the first to do so.

Debris' had a standing invitation to play New York at Max's Kansas City and CBGB in 1976, although they never made it out of Oklahoma. The private-press edition of their self-titled album (also known as Static Disposal, which was actually the label name printed on the original front cover) has since become a collector's item and is even namechecked on the infamous NWW list.

Moss green vinyl. After two pandemically conditioned 'reaction' albums - Yay! (2023) and Neigh!! (2024) - a few non-album singles and a compilation album, a downsized and sleek Motorpsycho is back where we all know and love them, with an epic, sprawling double album, filled to the brim with inventive, organic and ecstatic rock-based music. Rejoyce Psychonaut! This eponymously titled, 11 song work, has exactly as much variety & diversity, accord and discord, as one expects from a band that has released a few albums before, and that these days must be regarded as an institution in European rock. From concise 3min-something pop-rockers, to 20mins-plus progressive epics, via acoustic intimacies and psychedelic wig-outs, this is concentrated Motorpsychosis: commenced Rebis, countdown initiated. Ever closer. Ever sharper_

Leeds-based noise-rock band Thank drops their second EP Please. Coming out as a joint venture between Buzzhowl Records and Belgium's EXAG, Please is the follow-upto the group's debut EP, 2017's Sexghost Hellscape. While the tension in Please could be too much for some bands to hold, Thank sustainit expertly across the four tracks here. This is thanks in part to superbly-balanced production by Rob Slater and Jamie Lockhart (Greenmount Studios) as well as a meaty mastering job from Declared Sound's Dominic Clare. Furthermore, vocalist Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe (Beige Palace) acts as a lightning rod for both elements of Thank's sound. Vinehill-Cliffe's lyrics tackle by turns Catholic guilt, deaths in the family, his experiences in therapy, sex, loyalty and betrayal. Whatever the subject matter, every syllable of Please is delivered in a selfflagellatingyelp that is equal-parts Xiu Xiuand post-Nite Flights Scott Walker. Such a tragi-comic performance is the perfect focalpoint for Thank's harsh, powerful Please. "A brutally deranged band that mixes krautrock and experimental electronic music into their caterwauling punk, reforming noise rock with robotic grooves and manipulatedsynths." - Post Trash "Thank trade in groovily abrasive riffs, burbling synths, disco-punk drum patterns and high level ranter vocals." - The Quietus

Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.

Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.

Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.

Manche Alben sind mehr als bloße Hit-Sammlungen - sie sind Zeitkapseln. Greatest Hits Volume I & II gehört genau dazu. Ursprünglich 1985 veröffentlicht, bündelt diese Doppel-LP über ein Jahrzehnt Popgeschichte. Vom schwelgerischen Storytelling in "Piano Man" über die Ironie von "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" bis zur emotionalen Wucht von "Just the Way You Are": Billy Joel erzählt darin nicht nur seine eigene Geschichte, sondern auch die einer ganzen Generation.

Das Album wurde weltweit millionenfach verkauft, mehrfach mit Platin ausgezeichnet und gilt heute als eines der erfolgreichsten Greatest-Hits-Alben aller Zeiten. Es zeigt Joel als Songwriter, Performer und Chronist des Alltags - mal romantisch, mal bissig, immer unverwechselbar.

Mit der Reissue erscheint dieser Klassiker nun neu remastert auf hochwertigem Vinyl. Die Tracklist umfasst alle Schlüsselwerke der Jahre 1973 bis 1985, darunter auch Studio-Neuaufnahmen wie "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" und "The Night Is Still Young". Diese Veröffentlichung ist die ideale Einstiegstür für Neuentdecker und ein wertvolles Sammlerstück für langjährige Fans.

"Astral Americana hymns hovering somewhere between the dirt and the stars" Pitchfork

"Mood music for moments of solitude, best experienced without distraction" The Times

"Overwhelmingly effective and ravishingly beautiful" The Wire

American Dust is an ode to the beauty of the American Southwest, where vast desert landscapes hold stories both stark and tender. Eve Adams’ characteristic folk noir weaves a vivid tapestry of love, sacrifice and quiet revelation, conjuring images of dust storms, stray dogs and far off trains.

The high desert of California is a vast and confounding place. Equally inspiring as it is punishing, it’s a landscape that carries magic in its deep dark nights, holding stories both tender and stark in the coarse layer of dust that settles upon everything. It’s long been a source of inspiration for musicians, writers, and painters, each of them adding to the same current, carried forward over time, through hope and hardship and the passing years.

Somewhere out there in that broad and boundless landscape, Eve Adams has been living her own desert life, quietly writing the follow-up to 2021’s Metal Bird LP. Where that album sang of liminal space, the dream-like turbulence of Hollywood’s golden age, American Dust is far more rooted in traditional storytelling; a eulogy for the American Dream channeled through that sweeping part of the country that holds such power and mystery. Slipping into different and varied costumes throughout its ten songs, it finds Eve not just observing the people around her but stepping into their shoes and peeling back the layers of their quiet lives.

Adams writes from within. A few years ago she moved out there, to “the middle of nowhere”, finding a slowness that didn’t exist in the city, and she knows only too well about the mystical nature of the land and those who live within it. Weaving together themes of grit and romance, American Dust holds its focus on the bittersweet poetry of lives lived in solitude, most notably the women who sustain life at the center of it all. “There’s something very radical about domestic life,” Adams says of this thread. “So many women live their entire lives behind closed doors, completely in the shadows. Within those lives is such sacrifice, devotion, and love. I wanted to honor that: the poetry in the mundane, the longing in the repetition. The way love survives boredom and dust and time.”

Eve is joined on American Dust by Canadian musician Bryce Cloghesy, aka Military Genius of Crack Cloud, who plays throughout and also helped produce the album. Musically bold and vivid, it’s an ambitious and detailed stride forward from what’s come before, the scope of the LP’s narrative reflected in the radiant sweep of the playing. On top of gentle piano and guitar, gorgeous strings drift through the album, lending the songs a woozy sense of romanticism; a collaboration with Gamaliel Traynor (Cello) and Caroline’s Oliver Hamilton (Violin).

For all the drama that’s coiled around these songs, it’s the recurring notion of love and hope fighting against everything that holds true throughout American Dust. Musically it’s lush and vibrant, intimate and cinematic side by side, and always bursting with warmth. But it’s what it holds in its weary bones that elevates it to something truly special, something more than just a collection of songs penned in the heart of the desert. The characters it speaks of, and from, feel shadowed but wholly real, like they’re bursting to share their stories that have remained hidden for years and years and they allow Eve Adams to grow as a songwriter right in front of our eyes.

“The same swirling dust that clung to the covered wagons of my ancestors as they crossed the Great American Desert is the same dust my great-great-grandmother swept off her porch during the Dust Bowl of 1936 in Oklahoma, is the same dust that blows in through the cracks in my windows here in the desert, carrying stories from a time long gone,” Eve says, reflecting on the personal narrative that runs through her new album.

“It’s not just dust—it’s American Dust, the kind that settles into the bones of a family and never leaves. I think about that dust as a symbol of the passage of time. I hope this album will be part of that same current, carrying forward for the next generations of my family to find. I’ve been lucky enough to have journals and poetry from my ancestors that documents their lives during times of pure hope and pure hardship. I’d like to think of this album as a contribution to that family history.”

Get ready for a musical journey like no other as Apollo Junction, the dynamic and innovative indie rock sensation, prepares to launch their eagerly awaited new album, ’What In The World’ on August 22nd. The members of Apollo Junction hail from Leeds, UK. Known for their electrifying live performances and genre-blurring sound, the band has captured the hearts of music enthusiasts worldwide.

With a strong and dedicated fan base, Apollo Junction continues to push the boundaries of their craft, creating music that resonates on a profound level. Apollo Junction’s new album ‘What in the World’ has been years in the making - born from highs, lows, countless gigs, and all the chaos in between. It’s the most honest version of the band yet, a record shaped by every late-night argument, every breakthrough, every crazy story they have ever told each other.

Recorded at Chairworks Studio with David Watts (The Reytons, OMD, Paul Heaton, and Kaiser Chiefs) the album also features tracks co-written with Eliot Kennedy (known for his work with Bryan Adams and the Spice Girls) and includes a track with a powerful guest vocal from Brianna Corrigan of The Beautiful South. Lead singer Jamie Williamson explains the importance of the album: “This album feels exactly right for where we are now. Every track is a snapshot—of getting lost, finding our way back, and remembering why we started. It’s about making something that feels like home. We went looking for meaning and realised it was right in front of us: the band, the songs, this record. ‘What in the World’ isn’t just a title—it’s the answer we’ve been chasing all along.” Leeds-based quintet Apollo Junction is made up of Jamie Williamson (singer) Matthew Wilson (guitarist), Ben Hope (bassist), Jonny Thornton (drummer) and Sam Potter (keyboards). Their shared love of live music and dedication to performing, coupled with an incredible hard-work ethic has taken them on this magical journey which has included support slots for Shed Seven, Kaiser Chiefs, Richard Ashcroft and performing at festivals including the prestigious Isle of Wight Festival. Coming up this summer, the lads will be playing with Blossoms, Manic Street Preachers and Doves