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- New signing to Basin Rock label who released breakthrough albums by Julie Byrne, Nadia Reid, Aoife Nessa Frances, Jim Ghedi, Andrew Tuttle, Trevor Beales….
- Limited edition black vinyl with download code.

French lullabies and traditional folk songs dating as far back as the 14th century, adapted with contemporary arrangements and faint tape manipulations in Dublin, Ireland.
Imagine Serge Gainsbourg, John Martyn and Gábor Szabó squeezed on a small stage in the early hours of a smokey backstreet Parisian jazz club, slowly hypnotising the audience into hypnagogic hallucinations.
Growing up, Kevin Fowley split his time between living in France and Ireland. He listened to French lullabies sung by his mother in one room, while his father would be playing Donegal tunes on the fiddle in another. “I’m lucky to have been brought up bilingual and bicultural,” he says. “What I find interesting is that I usually think in English, but if I intentionally start thinking in French, a markedly different side of my personality comes through, encouraging different thought patterns.”
And this is apparent on his beautiful record of French lullabies À Feu Doux, which encompasses musical elements from both worlds, as it seamlessly glides across folk, jazz, and a rich yet shimmering in between sound. Varnished and exposed is the feeling that floats through À Feu Doux like a gentle gust of wind creeping in through the open window at night. Real night time music.

'You've Changed' was a transcontinental creation that was first released in 1986 on the Sally B label. It melds Jamaican roots with Canadian electronic enhancements at the legendary Channel One Recording Studio. Jamaican reggae don Horace Martin drew inspiration from greats like Dennis Brown, and Horace Andy, and comedy legends like Richard Pryor and Charlie Chaplin and has an eclectic career spans albums like Watermelon Man from 1985 and this one, the avant-garde gem that arrives now on Arabusta. It's a busy and digitally infused reggae sound with elements of dance hall and plenty of catchy rhythms which all lead to international success, performances across 24 countries and having more than 400 songs aired on 9000 radio stations around the world.

I was sent an unfinished version of Dose Your Dreams so that I might contribute string parts. I couldn’t stop listening to the rough mixes I received. A friend asked me how the record was. I replied, “My God, Fucked Up have made their Screamadelica.” And psych-rock-groove it is. The drums mixed wide, propensity for drones, for delay pedal, for repetition, groove. The politics and aesthetics of hardcore married to an “open format” approach to genre. Elements of doo-wop, krautrock, groove, digital hardcore. “None of Your Business Man” opens the album in familiar enough territory, a sax assisted exit from an office space. But things get psychedelic very quickly. By the time the title track arrives, Mike Haliechuk is whispering, wah pedals are in full effect, and we’re wearing oversized t-shirts and pinwheeling. “Accelerate,” the lyrical centrepiece of the album, storms in like Boredoms on a bullet train and dissolves into a digital nightmare. The album closer, “Joy Stops Time,” finds Fucked Up at their most Düsseldorfian, nearly eight minutes of blissful motorik. At the center of it all is Damian Abraham’s scream a man chained, a man tortured, a true protagonist. The effect is one of an epic, every chapter attempting its own narrative devices, its own genre hybridization and it works, it works so insanely well. The drama unfolds like a miniature world of many parts being explored, a map being illuminated, location by location. As with David Comes to Life, there is a story here. David who once came to life is now indentured to a desk job. David meets the elderly Joyce who closes his eyes, opens his mind, and sends him on a spiritual journey. David embarks on his own metaphysical odyssey. He sees a stage adaptation of his own life. He speaks to an angel in a lightbulb. He sees an infinite series of universes as simulations within simulations. Meanwhile, Lloyd Joyce’s lover was sent, decades ago, by Joyce on the same odyssey, but was lost in the void. Lloyd seeks to be found and reunited with his lover. Where will David end up? Will Joyce and Lloyd be reunited? Dose Your Dreams meaning: treat your dreams as you would a dream, allow yourself to be lost within them, allow them to open your heart and your mind, enjoy them as you would a drug. Reach out for my hand and pull me close. Owen Pallett.

Scottish experimental/electronic musician Drew McDowall's lifelong interest in an elegiac solo bagpipe style called pibroch (ceòl mòr in Gaelic) has been an inspiration for much of his previous work (including Coil's legendary Time Machines). This form, often traditionally used for laments and for tributes to the dead, fuses modal drones with flickering dissonance and plaintive melody evoking an ancient, solemn mood. His latest work, A Thread, Silvered and Trembling, both incorporates and transforms these elements via exploratory electronic processing, weaving an electro-acoustic tapestry of strings, shudders, voids, and voices, alternately disembodied and displaced. Co-produced with engineer Randall Dunn at Circular Ruin Studios in Brooklyn, the collection's four pieces capture McDowall at his most elevated and elusive, in thrall to "the ineffable - that which refuses to be spoken." McDowall's palette here is unusually eclectic, sourced from a dynamic orchestral ensemble arranged by Brent Arnold and comprised of cello, viola, violin, harp (Marilu Donovan of LEYA), and french horn. Ebbing between shrouded electronics and enigmatic, sometimes spectralist orchestration, the album moves with a seething, simmering energy, surging into elegant, uneasy crescendos. The first two pieces are inspired by a liberatory hijacking and inversion of a grim biblical story (and by a cryptic and strange UK simple syrup branding). Opener "Out of Strength Comes Sweetness" shivers with short echo and resonant pads, before shifting into the album's centerpiece: the 14-minute saga "And Lions Will Sing with Joy." A murmuring electrical storm of keening strings and disorienting drones gradually grows darker and denser, until suddenly there's a crack in the clouds, revealing mutated choral voices and sparkling harp. McDowall describes the track as "an incantation to help usher in a break, and a new beginning." The record's latter half evokes a deep untamed animism shot through with spiraling radiance. "In Wound and Water" sways with harp, plucked strings and eerie cello undertows while lush layers of disorientated electronics hang in the dusk. There is no resolution, only a faint gradient of fragile dissipation, leading into the album's harrowing and climactic closer, "A Dream of a Cartographic Membrane Dissolves." Processed voices (credited on the liner notes to "The Ghosts Who Refuse to Rest") contort, whisper, and gather as the rest of the ensemble sharpens, poising to strike. Then it does - grand, tragic stabs of strings and horns lashing the sky, storming heaven by force. The fallout is poetic and inevitable, raining embers into a dark sea. But the journey and catharsis of A Thread linger long after it goes silent. Like so much of McDowall's multifaceted catalog, this is music of immanence and alchemy, attuned equally to the sacred and the profane, to the tile and the mosaic.

Pleasure Planet’s kaleidoscopic debut album has been a long time coming, but good things come to those who wait. Developed over years of late-night studio improvisations, ‘Pleasure Planet’ is an affectionate and colorful patchwork of the New York City-based trio’s knotted influences that’s suspended between the rave and the chill-out room, weaving glistening pads and chunky basslines into vocal earworms and warm, saturated rhythmic cycles. Bandmates Andrew Potter, Kim Ann Foxman and Brian Hersey enter into a lysergic dialog with their discrete personal musical histories, drawing inspiration from vintage EBM, ambient music and heady early ’90s West Coast rave sounds and launching these classic elements into a transcendent new sonic universe.

Celebrated DJ and producer Foxman was a lead singer of Hercules and Love Affair when she first ran into DC rave veteran Potter, and the two rapidly realized their musical interests overlapped. So when Potter was recording with his studiomate Hersey, a NYC underground club scene mainstay, and they needed to bring in a vocalist, the choice was simple. Working together was a refreshing, freeing experience for the three seasoned artists, and the more they experimented, the closer they became; Foxman ended up moving into the studio, and Pleasure Planet was manifested into existence. “We’re like family,” says Potter. “We’re always on the same page – we couldn’t make this music solo.”

For Foxman, the open-ended jam sessions provided her with a chance to try something new, a few steps from the dancefloor-forward DJ tracks she’s best known for producing. And as the trio pooled their adolescent rave memories, reflecting on them with more mature ears, they began to develop the signature sound that was first heard on the Throne Of Blood-released ‘Animals’ 12″. Pleasure Planet aren’t trying to re-capture the past, but suggest a poetic contemplation that layers their recollections and musical obsessions into a hypnotic sci-fi dream. Harnessing a self-described “Aladdin’s cave” of analog and digital gear that help galvanize the timeline, they bridge the gap between avant-pop and icy bleep techno, curving suggestive words through lattices of tightly-engineered electronics.

On ‘Endless’, Foxman’s voice is echoed into a glistening haze that hovers around ethereal pads and tense, electroid pulses. Slow-moving and evocative, it’s a track that capture the open endedness of post-rave euphoria, touching the afterparty but moving far beyond the material world. She’s more recognizable on ‘Alien’, the album’s most upfront track, singing in a glassy, upper-register coo over urgent bass bumps, taut guitars and florid electronic atmospheres. “Are you an alien, or are you an angel?” she asks, fractalizing the borders between genres. And the band’s sense of cosmic togetherness bubbles to the surface on ‘Saved by the Bells’, a meditative after-hours experiment that diminishes the pulsing beats for a moment to bring out a spectrum of interconnected, serpentine melodies.

Modular bleeps and echoing percussion anchor the swooning ‘Planet Love’, one of Pleasure Planet’s most recent compositions and one of the album’s most outwardly psychedelic cuts, while the urgent and anthemic ‘Go With Madness’ steps back towards the main stage, evaporating Foxman’s memorable calls into a thumping procession of analog drums and squelchy, acidic bass tweaks. But they save the best for last, tugging at the heartstrings with ‘Remember (In Dreams)’, a giddy spiral of blipping synth arpeggios and haunting, reverberated chorals. It’s the perfect way to conclude an album that cryptically gestures towards the vulnerability of friendship, celebrating the shared experiences that result in some of the most meaningful memories of all.

The superb Philoxenia Records, which is spearheaded by Luigi Di Venere and Neu Verboten, here unveils a coveted addition to its collection with the the super limited Last Place On Earth EP from Vilnius-based Dovydas Platakis aka Jokios Kulturos. It's a cinematic work that immerses listeners in a dystopian realm that blends avant-garde tones with manga-inspired cyberpunk vibes. Each track serves as a gateway to a world where technological progress intertwines with societal decline, which is of course often the focus of classic cyberpunk literature. Di Venere and Verboten also combine under their Affekt Unit alias to deliver captivating remixes and bring trance and tribal techno elements to the party.

"The Remedy," is I G Culture's latest album under Likwid Continutal Space Motion, Culture draws parallels between the complex world of fungi and London's Underground dance music scene. Both are intricate networks that thrive beneath the surface, connecting diverse elements and influencing one another. The London dance music scene, like fungi, encompasses a variety of styles and genres, from drum and bass to Garage Dance Subcultures may go unnoticed to the casual observer but are musical corner stones in our society. Dance floors and clubs serve as spaces for communal healing, allowing people to let go of daily stresses and connect through music and dance. I G Culture's "The Remedy" celebrates this vibrant underground culture and highlights the interconnectedness of all musical styles. Through his innovative production and thematic depth, he underscores the transformative power of dance music, emphasizing its role in promoting well-being and unity. The idea of Fungi also is expressed in the artwork by Amsterdams 'Machine' with IG's direction, who used fungi in an original collage revealing a secret world.

2024 Restock

(180 gram pressing) A great 70s album by Os Novos Baianos - a wonderfully youthful group that was one of the bright spots in Brazilian music after the Tropicalia years. Titles include "Sorrir E Cantar Como Bahia", "Dagmar", "Vagabundo Nao E Facil", "Cosmos E Damiao", "Com Qualquer Dois Mil Reis", and "Os Pingo Da Chuva".

A great 70s album by Os Novos Baianos - a wonderfully youthful group that was one of the bright spots in Brazilian music after the Tropicalia years. The band had a style that mixed folksy percussion with honest personal songwriting, plus occasional touches of elements gleaned from the larger influences in Brazilian rock at the time. The album has a sound that's a lot more intimate than later work, with some especially great work on guitar and bandolim, and great production on the band's vocals. Titles include "Sorrir E Cantar Como Bahia", "Dagmar", "Vagabundo Nao E Facil", "Cosmos E Damiao", "Com Qualquer Dois Mil Reis", and "Os Pingo Da Chuva".

Glasgow septet The Joy Hotel are announcing their debut album Ceremony with the release of its lead single, the surging and rapturous 'Jeremiah'. It’s a song that grapples with the idea of approaching unknowns, and how conflicting attitudes illicit different responses to the same situation. More directly, it’s about staring death in the face and choosing how to come to terms with it.

Newly signed to SO Recordings and with a debut album proper in hand, The Joy Hotel have become a word-of-mouth success story in the Scottish DIY scene, and have since taken their live show across the UK and Europe, playing festivals including Hidden Door, Doune the Rabbit Hole, Connect, TRNSMT, Twisterella, Latitude, Sound City and The Great Escape.

The band spent eleven days at Rockfield, the legendary studio in Monmouth, Wales, recording live-to-tape. When they left, they had a sound. It is often contradictory, in that it combines the songwriting sensibilities of pop and country with arrangements reminiscent of the psychedelic scene of the 60s, six-part vocal harmonies with elements of noise rock, beautiful balladry with a sense of humour, and a cinematic quality. The result of those eleven days is debut album Ceremony, a record that searches for the profound in the seemingly routine, and reaches out with arms wide open to wring celebration out of each moment.

Ceremony will be accompanied by a short film documenting the creation of the album called ‘Come The Ringing Bell’.

This isn't just a seminal album. It is an estuary. All the black rivers that would form Brazilian funk/hip-hop flow through it. Led by Paulista pianist Salvador Silva Filho - Dom Salvador - 'Som, Sangue, e Raça' from 1971, one year after the explosion of Tim Maia on the scene, catalyzed the bossa nova and jazz background of its leader with the rhythm and blues of its members like saxophonist Oberdã Magalhães, nephew of samba-enredo master Silas de Oliveira and future leader of Banda Black Rio, who since the group Impacto 8 (which had, among others, Robertinho Silva on drums and Raul de Souza on trombone) had already been trying to reconcile MPB with Stevie Wonder and James Brown. Add to all this a mixture of samba, Nordestino accent, and even the black side of the Jovem Guarda represented by the authorial presence of Getúlio Cortes (older brother of Gerson King Combo, our James Brown 'cover') in 'Hei! Você'. Alongside these elements and the presence of Rubão Sabino (bass), who still called himself 'Rubens', drummer Luis Carlos (another member of Black Rio), the record enlists the trumpet and flugelhorn of symphonic musician Darcy in place of the original Barrosinho (yet one more founder of Black Rio), who was traveling during the recording but would end up being a leading force of the band.

The album 'Som, Sangue e raça' paves the way for future generations of musicians and producers of the Carioca scene at the beginning of the 1970s. The lyrics that dealt with the question of race and the explosive fusion of samba, soul, jazz, and funk, elaborated by Dom Salvador and his troupe, Abolição, established the bases for the development of new sounds and tendencies in Brazilian music.

Ein Must-Have in der Geschichte des amerikanischen Death Metal, remastered!

Die legendäre Chicagoer Death Metal Band Oppressor wurde 1991 von Bassist/Sänger Tim King und Gitarrist Adam Zadel gegründet, bald kamen Gitarrist Jim Stopper und Drummer Tom Schofield hinzu. Oppressor hat sich neu formiert und spielt wieder live!Oppressor nahmen zwei Demos auf...

und ihr zweites Demo, "As Blood Flows" von 1993, brachte sie 1993 unter Vertrag. Dieses Demo wurde als eine sehr starke Veröffentlichung angesehen, die über 30 Minuten dauerte und eine anständige Produktion aufwies. Im darauffolgenden Jahr wurde das Debütalbum "Solstice of Oppression" veröffentlicht, das von ausgiebigen Tourneen begleitet wurde, aber das Label von Oppressor ging kurz darauf in Konkurs. Um ihren Namen in der Öffentlichkeit zu halten, veröffentlichten Oppressor eine halb Live- und halb Studio-Compilation namens "European Oppression Live/As Blood Flows", die Live-Material von ihrer europäischen Support-Tour für ihr Debüt und Studiomaterial enthielt, das aus dem kompletten "As Blood
Flows"-Demo der Band von 1993 bestand.

*REMASTERED ROUGH TRADE DEBUT LP LIMITED TO JUST 500 COPIES WITH EMBOSSED OUTER SLEEVE AND ORIGINAL INNER SLEEVE ON BLACK VINYL*

Dream POP, they called it. Given AR Kane’s Alex Ayuli once worked for advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, it’s no surprise that he and collaborator Rudy Tambala invented their own genre before critics could stick their oar in. It was a canny move, but more importantly, it was accurate: the music of AR Kane was made for dreamers, by dreamers, and its languor and longing made it particularly bewitching listening; their music is often smeared and blurry, happily lost in its own indefinable pleasures. “We wanted dream pop,” Tambala says, “that feeling of a dream where the rules are different. Dream logic.”
-UNCUT REISSUE OF THE MONTH

"A.R. Kane carved out a unique musical path, welding elements of pop, psych, dub, electronica, funk, noise, jazz, ambient and more in a way that had never been done before. Or since. Their debut in particular is a work of unbridled brilliance."
*Electronic Sound*

‘Sixty Nine’ the group’s debut LP that emerged in 1988 had critics and listeners struggling to fit language around A.R. Kane’s sound. As a title it was telling - the year of ‘Bitches Brew’, the year of ‘In A Silent Way’, the erotic möbius between two lovers - and as originally coined by the band themselves, ‘dream pop’ (before it became a free-floating signifier of vague import) was entirely apposite for the music A.R. Kane were making. Crafted in a dark small basement studio in which Tambala recalls the duo had “complete freedom - We wanted to go as far out as we could, and in doing so we discovered the point where it stops being music”. There was an irresistibly dreamy, somnambulant, sensual and almost surreal flow to ‘sixty nine’s sound, but also real darkness/dankness, the ruptures of the primordial and the reverberations of the subconscious, within the grooves of remarkable songs like ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Crazy Blue’. Alex’s plangent vocals floated and surged amidst exquisite peals of refracted feedback but crucially there was BASS here, lugubrious and funky and full of dread, sonic pleasure and sonic disturbance crushed together to make music with a center so deep it felt subcutaneous, music constructed from both the accidental and the deliberate, generous enough to dance with both serendipity and chaos. ‘sixty nine’ remains - especially in this remastered iteration - ravishing, revolutionary – Neil Kulkarni


"A.R. Kane made some of the most exciting, forward-thinking, and science fictional music of their era".s*

Having spent the last decade evolving into one of dance music’s most sublimely effective producers, CWPT is delighted to welcome Theo Kottis at the peak of his powers, delivering a further four tracks that demonstrate a playful mastery of widescreen sounds for wide-eyed dancefloors.

Capturing the light still shining from his beloved ‘Lighthouse’, finally released earlier in 2024 via Dekmantel and escalated into notoriety thanks to support from trusted selectors such as Ben UFO, Francesco Del Garda and our own Palms Trax, title track ‘Rain’ retains a similar, blindingly authentic nineties reverence, finding ecstasy in a wash of cascading synths, powerful plunges of sub-bass and layer upon layer of elasticated everything.

The Scottish producer’s positive education in the foundations of club music with real personality makes itself known without indulgence; a belief in the subtle tweaks and imagination of classic tech-house, alongside a welcome flirtation with the over-the-top elements that create something potentially anthemic. In this regard, ‘Benirras’ proves to be pure pleasure for dancers who love to be toyed with, its stripped back opening giving way to slowly-escalating, wobbly-jawed hysteria.

On the flip, ‘Grazie’ proves as cordial as its title, a warm and refined slice of sleek house minimalism, a roller with Alfa Romeo sensibilities. Things take a more aquatic turn on ‘Lowkey’, a logically headsy conclusion that sees Kottis sensually bounce the word ‘electro’ around in that very style, its slower tempo and wider space allowing the impressive intricacies of his productions to float up for fresh air.

LINGUA IGNOTA, the solo project of multidisciplinary artist Kristin Hayter, takes a radical, unflinching approach to themes of violence and vengeance in ways that are moving, brutal, and harrowing. Her music is intentionally situated at specific and strange intersections, incorporating elements of power electronics, death industrial, and black metal alongside baroque classical, spiritual minimalism and folk. Relentless intensity and soaring dramatic arcs are informed by Hayter's background in classical music, and the major sonic locus of the project is her voice, a dynamic entity that rushes from unhinged screaming to lilting soprano to angular belting with an artistry and ferocity that has drawn comparisons to Diamanda Galas. She is notorious for confrontational live performances that can leave an audience breathless or in tears. Hayter began classical training at the age of ten with intent to pursue an operatic conservatory track. Instead she developed an interdisciplinary fine arts practice at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She continued with graduate work at Brown University, producing a controversial thesis titled BURN EVERYTHING TRUST NO ONE KILL YOURSELF. LINGUA IGNOTA was born out of this thesis which re-contextualized misogynist content as biblically vitriolic anthems for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. A survivor herself, Hayter seeks to give a singularly aggressive voice to the unheard, silenced, and dismissed.

The 2019 released "Caligula" took the vision of Kristin Hayter's vessel to the next level of grandeur, her purging and vengeful audial vision went beyond anything preceding it and reached an unparalleled sonic plane within her oeuvre. Succeeding her self-released 2017 "All Bitches Die" opus, "CALIGULA" saw Hayter design an ambitious work, displaying the full force of her talent as a vocalist, composer, and storyteller. Vast in scope and multivalent in its influences, with delivery nothing short of demonic, "CALIGULA" is an outsider's opera; magnificent, hideous, and raw. Eschewing and disavowing genre altogether, Hayter built her own world. Here she fully embodied the moniker Lingua Ignota, from the German mystic Hildegard of Bingen, meaning "unknown language" _ this music has no home, any precedent or comparison could only be uneasily given, and there is nothing else like it in our contemporary realm. Whilst "CALIGULA" is unapologetically personal and critically self-aware, there are broader themes explored; the decadence, corruption, depravity and senseless violence of emperor Caligula is well documented and yet still permeates today. Brimming with references and sly jabs, Hayter's sardonic commentary on abuse of power and invalidation is deftly woven. Working closely with Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Hayter stripped away much of the industrial and electronic elements of her previous work, approaching instead the corporeal intensity and intimate menace of her notorious live performances, achieved with unconventional recording techniques and sound sources, as well as a full arsenal of live instrumentation and collaborators including harsh noise master Sam McKinlay (THE RITA), visceral drummer Lee Buford (The Body) and frenetic percussionist Ted Byrnes (Cackle Car, Wood & Metal), with guest vocals from Dylan Walker (Full of Hell), Mike Berdan (Uniform), and Noraa Kaplan (Visibilities). "CALIGULA" is a massive work, a multi-layered epic that gives voice and space to that which has been silenced and cut out.

Tate McRae's One Day is the point of origin for one of the biggest pop artists in music today. These 9 songs capture the defining elements of Tate's songwriting and vocal style and include the hits "One Day" and "Teenage Mind," that have amassed over a half a billion streams to date.

"Sun Racket" is the brand new album from legendary Boston trio Throwing Muses, consisting of Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo and Bernard Georges. The follow up to 2013's 'Purgatory/Paradise' is an outpouring of modal guitars, reverbed shapes, echoey drums and driving bass set behind Kristen Hersh's well-thumbed notebook of storylines. A ten-song opus of suitably wrought tales set against a wall of sound that's at once calm and ethereal before building into glorious cacophonous crescendos.

When Throwing Muses wrote their last album, they were shattered. Pieces were coming and going, elements repeating and charging the whole. "It sounded beautiful jumping around like that". Two-minute songs reappearing as twisted instrumentals or another song's bridge.

They mimicked the effect live which kept them on their toes. Whatever was happening was already over in other words. 'Sun Racket' is the opposite. It refused to do anything but sit still. It says, "sit here and deal". "All it asked of us was to comingle two completely disparate sonic vocabularies: one heavy noise, the other delicate music box.

Turns out we didn't have to do much. Sun Racket knew what it was doing and pushed us aside, which is always best. After thirty years of playing together, we trust each other implicitly but we trust the music more" - Kristin Hersh And so, they continue. Business unusual.

"A ground-breaking band who changed the face of alternative music rather than follow the rule book." MXDWN "Pioneers of the 80'/early 90's college rock sound" Pitchfork "One of America's finest guitar bands" - The Quietus.

Habibi Funk is thrilled to share a second collection of deep grooves and unreleased songs from Algeria's Ahmed Malek, often compared to Italian heavyweight Ennio Morricone. Malek’s music effortlessly switches between thematic jazz, funk, reggae and Algerian folk – creating indelible soundscapes that intersect the musical innovations made in African jazz by Mulatu Astatke, Bembeya Jazz National along with some of Europe’s finest experimental composers like Piero Piccioni and Janko Nilovic. “Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” is out June 28th, 2024 via Habibi Funk.

Whenever an interview asks about a “memorable moment” in Habibi Funk label history, one we always reference is how we got in touch Ahmed Malek’s (22K Spotify Followers, 285K Spotify Monthly Listeners) music and subsequently his family. It all started with us coming across Ahmed Malek’s music on YouTube in 2012. We were mesmerized by how effortlessly the music would switch between jazz, funk and Algerian folk while counterweighting it with an undertone of melancholia. Musical perception is different for every person, but there is a chance that his music will touch you in one way or another. At the time, we had just started the Habibi Funk label and we felt Ahmed’s music might be a good fit for the sound we were trying to highlight. Fast forward three years: we had become captivated with the idea of reissuing some of Ahmed Malek’s music. We knew some people had tried to locate his family but, but with no success. In the end it was an incredible amount of luck that made it possible for you to read these words and listen to Ahmed’s music. We were on a DJ gig in Beirut playing old Arabic records and we mentioned our passion for Ahmed Malek’s music to a friend. She said she knew one person in Algier, and as much as it would be a shot in the dark, she could ask her if she had an idea of how to find Malek’s family. Two weeks went by before we heard back, and what we got was incredibly good news - her Algerian friend was the neighbor of Ahmed Malek’s daughter! We’re not spiritual people, but it felt like the universe wanted to see the release happen. We started to speak with Henya, Ahmed Malek’s daughter and she was more than happy with our idea. She assured us that her father would have loved the plan as well. She provided us with tons of awesome material, from great photos, to unseen video footage and unreleased tracks. Eventually we visited Henya in Algeria and we licensed some of her father’s music, first for one (Habibi 003), then for another (Habibi 005), then we eventually organized an exhibition in June/July 2019 – Planète Malek – Une Rétrospective – at the Musée Public National D’Art Moderne & Contemporain in Algiers, focusing on Ahmed Malek’s artistic life. We also produced a small movie about him that our friend Paloma Colombe shot and directed. “Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” is a deep collection of unreleased songs and stemmed grooves from the Algerian master, from jazz, funk, psych to reggae rhythms and Latin flavors, all under the sonic umbrella of “Planète Malek;” and to quote the maestro, “I didn’t choose music, music chose me.” Lead single is the subtlety funky “Thème Rythme Léger,” out May 3rd along with LP Pre-Order (coincided with Bandcamp Friday for a larger impact) a delicate sonic dance between flute, piano and Spanish guitar with a Bossainfluenced groove. The steady, swingin’ drum groove is cloudlike - definitely toe-tapping friendly so just grab a partner to feel the Rhythme Léger. Second single out May 17th is the reggae-infused “L’Empire Des Rêves” – a sultry sax melody weaves through a prismatic rocksteady thematic groove. 3rd and final single “Thème Djalti feat. Aïda Guéchoud” – is a true Western-inspired ode to his Italian counterpart Ennio Morricone. “Thème Djalti” features the haunting vocals of Aïda Guéchoud, and combines elements of baroque and Bossa-jazz in a timelessly thematic way that seems grandiose yet remains uniquely personal to your ears. Swelling strings, trumpet, fem vox, flute, and plucked guitar expertly arranged, feels like you’re riding a horse into the sunset. Focus track “La La La” is fiery afro-arab-funk of the highest order! Put on your dancing shoes as Ahmed cuts the rug and gets us grooving along. Sonically the cut sounds like if Ahmed ran into The JB’s and Fela Kuti at a Cymande concert. Driving guitar and organ solos vie over pulsating bass riffs and afro-funk drumming that’ll have you out on the dance floor in no time. As always, both vinyl and CD come with an extensive booklet featuring background and interviews with Ahmed compiled through found newspaper clippings and newsreels, also including unseen photos, scans and more. “Ahmed Malek: Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” will be out everywhere June 28th.

Iconic early 90's Ibiza downtempo sound, “Daybreak” would have undoubtedly been the soundtrack to many sunrises in the Baleares. Simon Monday mixes the essential ingredients for bliss in perfect balance, a production so simple yet so effective, no rocket-science just pure intuition, honesty and sharp club sense. All elements coming together to make such an effortlessly powerful sounding instrumental house classic that will forever stand the test of time. Repacked in this new remastered re-issue with full artwork and with 2 new mixes: an extended 9 minute dub version with a new religious edge to it along with an additional re-drummed percussion heavy “bonus beats” for good measure. A no brainer buy-on-sight release for any proper record collection, just in time for the summer season.

Come Play With Me and Breed Media are excited to present Come Play With Breed, Vol. 2. Featuring D5, Graft, Hannah Rowe and Mica Sefia, the 10” compilation spotlights the Northern Hip Hop and Soul scenes respectively. On the A-side, D5’s upbeat UK Rap opener, “What’s That”, is followed by Graft’s reflective Jazz-influenced Hip Hop track “Vows To The Art.” Hannah Rowe opens the B-side with an addictive fusion ballad for old souls. Finally, Mica Sefia closes the release with a powerful narration on her experiences as a black woman.

Artist Bios:

D5

Hailing from Leeds, West Yorkshire, D5 draws influence from the likes of Drake, Skepta and Brent Faiyaz and his sound flits between moody R&B and upbeat Rap that oozes a calm confidence. Elements of genres such as Garage, UK Rap and US Hip-Hop intertwine neatly to create his signature style. A style that crystalised on his 2020 EP Channel 5. Consisting of 8 songs, all helmed by producer and close friend CSHARP, the project is D5 at his most personal and led to the video for lead single ‘Silence’ premiering on Link Up TV and garnering him his highest streams to date. However, before ‘Channel 5’ D5 had created the EP If Only We Could Go Outside during the height of the pandemic. The track ‘Movies’ received airplay from the esteemed BBC Radio 1 Presenter Melvoin Odoom. With backing from the likes of GRM Daily and DJ Target spinning 2022 single ‘What’s Up’ on BBC Introducing, D5’s star is surely set to rise as he continues to develop his artistry. In addition to this, he has opened up for the likes of Novelist and fellow hometown hero Graft, proving with every successive performance and release that he is worthy of being a headline act.

Graft

Graft, winner of MOBO Unsung and BBC Three's The Rap Game UK, has propelled himself to national recognition for his unwavering sense of self and musical talent. Hailing from the vibrant city of Leeds, Graft’s topical and poetic approach to songwriting takes inspiration from genres such as Hip Hop, Neo-Soul, Jazz and Alternative Rap. This fusion of inspiration has seen him grace the stage at the acclaimed Reading and Leeds Festival, and has collaborated with esteemed brands such as Adidas, Virgin Media, Boohoo and Leeds United. Now with this national acclaim, Graft prepares for the release of his highly anticipated EP, Golden Child.

Hannah Rowe

Hannah Rowe’s emotional range transcends generations; the young singer writes about experiences and shifts in life, offering all listeners a sense of reflection within her rich, authentic, jazz-infused sound. Hannah is backed by a group of highly accomplished musicians who happen to be her adored closest friends. After finding one another at university, Sam Hughes on guitar, Luke Harrison on bass, Owen Moriarty on keys and Charlie Tanner on drums intertwined their varied influences to paint their own alluring and soulful sound - one difficult to define, but has been said to resemble the likes of Raye, Lianne La Havas, Moonchild and Yebba.

Mica Sefia

Liverpool born, Leeds-based future-soul Queen Mica Sefia endorses the interpretive nature of music as an art to be studied and related to by the public. Mica’s own exploration of self-expression solidified her passion in the production of a timeless and authentic style of music. Preferring to keep her lyricisms and narrative open to interpretation, Mica relates to a balanced approach to songwriting, in which her music remains subjective, but retains its emotive sensitivity. Mica’s music leans into the genres of Alt Soul, Rock and Jazz intertwining them to create atmospheric sounds and textured layers.

Veiga lands straight on the dancefloor, no ambiguity about it. Spurred by the guys from RS Produções, he's been honing his DJ skills since he was 17 (currently 23), initially with partner Nunocoox, who gave him even more motivation. Production came naturally sometime in 2020. We venture: maybe one of the good things coming out of the lockdown? Summer of '22, his debut at Musicbox (at the Príncipe monthly residency) is recorded as a festive, lively set, punctuated by the kind of crowd shouts only heard when things go really happy and sweaty. Since then, Veiga's name has been spotted regularly in the afro club scene, growing in reputation

This side of kuduro, "Leandro" is as expressive as it gets, with percussive forces pulling in deceitfully different directions, much in the same style as the slower form of tarraxo. But we can call this house, yeah? No niceties, however: little over 3 minutes and the track abruptly cuts into silence, exuding the raw power of something made for the mix, not in the least "for the people". In a similar pragmatic mode, the stabs in "Sem Nome" get the party started unannounced. Full mode, for the duration. Minimal groove, broken beats and emotive highlights. "Boiler Room" may be wishful thinking, an interpretation of what is required to rock the place or, ultimately, just a title to wrap up the project. In any case, here's a feisty vocal-and-whistle driven stormer, building up to perfection over three and a half minutes. All elements exactly where they belong. Relentless pace in "X de Destroi", a dark side operation, unreal ambiance, breakneck beats, a purgation?

The title "Tudo É No Guetto" contains all the necessary theory. Everything happens in the ghetto. This uplifting house slab celebrates life as it is, freezing hardships for a moment, the ghetto seen as welcoming, a natural place to be. Vocals stashed away in his cell phone come from the animação crew Os Twinni (he joined them for a while). Clipped, repeated and manipulated to convey the very simple feeling of good times. Veiga himself talks about growing up with minimum resources but still happy. That is the memory he retains from being a kid in the ghettos of Amadora, just outside of Lisbon, born to a Cape Verdean father and Portuguese mother. Though the music sounds carefree and the message is chilled, let us not be tempted to rebrand Reality.

Circling guitar lines; the rise of fall of delicate bass; deep, breathy horns: sonic elements that exist in a state of slow, perpetual motion, like ideas sprouting from some kind of cognitive compost. With wonder and charm, G. S. Schray's new solo album, Whispered Something Good, evokes a realm of new growth while offering a fitting soundtrack for its exploration, as if tailor made for both the daydreamer and silly adventurer.


We start in the darkness of "Unlit Center" with elliptical phrases of jazz guitar. A conversation between double bass, synthesiser, and piano plays out on "In Tears Twice A Page" before we're ushered into the reflective zone of "Another Haunted Mirror." There is synth mist which trumpet cuts through decisively like a shaft of light from the sun: warm and clear. As the album proceeds, firmer rhythms coalesce. On "Prelude for Probably," clattering drums lock into a triumphant groove with horns. And then, to close, the instrumental art-pop of "Gone in Amber," probing not necessarily towards a final destination but another stop-off, one of distant birdsong and the faintest flicker of synth. Intimate and inviting, the act of listening to Whispered Something Good is akin to digging through an imagination. It's a place of subliminal melodies blooming into rhizomatic musical shapes, stray musings coalescing as bolts of inspiration — change fostering yet more change.

*REMASTERED ROUGH TRADE DEBUT LP LIMITED TO JUST 500 COPIES WITH EMBOSSED OUTER SLEEVE AND ORIGINAL INNER SLEEVE ON BLACK VINYL*

Dream POP, they called it. Given AR Kane’s Alex Ayuli once worked for advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, it’s no surprise that he and collaborator Rudy Tambala invented their own genre before critics could stick their oar in. It was a canny move, but more importantly, it was accurate: the music of AR Kane was made for dreamers, by dreamers, and its languor and longing made it particularly bewitching listening; their music is often smeared and blurry, happily lost in its own indefinable pleasures. “We wanted dream pop,” Tambala says, “that feeling of a dream where the rules are different. Dream logic.”
-UNCUT REISSUE OF THE MONTH

"A.R. Kane carved out a unique musical path, welding elements of pop, psych, dub, electronica, funk, noise, jazz, ambient and more in a way that had never been done before. Or since. Their debut in particular is a work of unbridled brilliance."
*Electronic Sound*

‘Sixty Nine’ the group’s debut LP that emerged in 1988 had critics and listeners struggling to fit language around A.R. Kane’s sound. As a title it was telling - the year of ‘Bitches Brew’, the year of ‘In A Silent Way’, the erotic möbius between two lovers - and as originally coined by the band themselves,
‘dream pop’ (before it became a free-floating signifier of vague import) was entirely apposite for the music A.R. Kane were making. Crafted in a dark small basement studio in which Tambala recalls the duo had “complete freedom - We wanted to go as far out as we could, and in doing so we discovered the point where it stops being music”. There was an irresistibly dreamy, somnambulant, sensual and almost surreal flow to ‘sixty nine’s sound, but also real darkness/dankness, the ruptures of the primordial and the reverberations of the subconscious, within the grooves of remarkable songs like ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Crazy Blue’. Alex’s plangent vocals floated and surged amidst exquisite peals of refracted feedback but crucially there was BASS here, lugubrious and funky and full of dread, sonic pleasure and sonic disturbance crushed together to make music with a center so deep it felt subcutaneous, music constructed from both the accidental and the deliberate, generous enough to dance with both serendipity and chaos. ‘sixty nine’ remains - especially in this remastered iteration - ravishing, revolutionary – Neil Kulkarni


"A.R. Kane made some of the most exciting, forward-thinking, and science fictional music of their era".
*Reissue Of The Week In The Quietus*

Side A / Double A / Gotta be a Sucka 4 Luv
After almost two years on digital, Double A’s “Gotta be a Sucka 4 Luv” finally gets its vinyl
release. Blending elements of classic funk and soul with “that vocal!”, it’s an instant party
rocker. Snappy drums, bigged up for the dance floor, an unmistakable bass line, and horn
stabs for days are the icing on the cake. You know the sound!
Side AA / King Most / Standing Out
Another long-awaited vinyl pressing for a digital-only sure-shot! San Francisco’s King Most
delivers the goods once again. Classic funk and R&B vibes with a killer male vocal and drums
for the club. This one has been a staple in digital crates for a while now, and hits any time of
night.

2024 Reissue

Deep in View is the debut album from Cola, a new project from Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworhty. Built on a foundation of elegant guitar grooves and knotty rhythms, Deep in View offers meditations on modern life and technology through curious lyrical vignettes, where everyday objects and scenes are never just as they seem. Cola, which most obviously is the fizzy beverage that’s bound “to poison most ordinary life on Earth,” as Darcy recites in spoken word on closing track “Landers,” but is also a term in poetics, as well as acronyms related to social security (Cost of Living Adjustment) and aeronautics (Collision on Launch Assessment).

The album sounds streamlined and intentional, as the rhythms of the punchy and exuberant guitar parts, urgent basslines, and unexpected drum patterns all tangle with each other in an elegant dance. At the center of all these elements is Darcy, whose characteristically wry voice shifts from detached to decisive to distressed, throughout the album’s course. Both enigmatically dense in meaning but precisely intricate in sound, Deep in View is an album that sparks novel interpretations with every listen, like an art object that takes on new shape with each angle from which you hold it.

One of melodic techno’s biggest breakout stars, Massano steps up for his Drumcode EP debut. The emerging DJ/producer from Liverpool already gave us a taste of his elite studio capabilities via the fantastic ‘Betrayal’, his contribution to last year’s Drumcode A-Sides Vol.12 release – one of the highlights of the compilation. Massano’s sound hits with a fantastic punch, characterised by super charged sound design and powerful melodic riffs with key releases on Afterlife and his own Simulate to date. His ‘Telepathic’ EP reinforces why we’re rightly so excited to have him on Drumcode. The title track is a juicy psy-laced stomper, propelled by a menacing low-end vocal that adds plenty of atmosphere to the cut. ‘Destructure’ is formed around rattling percussive effects, before euphoric melodic layers build in intensity throughout the second half. When the two elements coalesce, we’re treated to a track with immense peak-time power, that never loses its unique edge. ‘The Method’ is a melodic ace, shifting between laser-kisser dynamism and full throttle bass-driven energy.

Island Boogie arrives four years after Meecham’s previous full-length, Music Not Safari, and sees the veteran producer deliver his most ‘personal’ set yet – a collection of kaleidoscopic, cosmic-leaning, dub disco-influenced neo-boogie excursions inspired by his love of the custom-built soundsystem at Rotation Garden Party, an annual micro-festival founded by a group of friends including his former Chicken Lips production partner Dean Meredith. It's fitting, then, that the EP begins with a superb interpretation of ‘'Dévoilez-Vous’ by T-Kutt, AKA Meredith and long-term studio partner Ben Shenton. The pair’s ‘AM FM Club Mix’ sits somewhere between classic Prelude-style electrofunk, NYC proto-house and early British interpretations of American house music. Séverine Mouletin’s chopped-up improvised vocals weave in and out of sun-bright keyboard riffs, colourful synthesiser motifs, heady synth-strings, D-Train style synth-bass and delay-laden machine drums. It’s a superb re-imagination of one of the album’s most stellar moments.

The EP’s other headline-grabbing remix comes courtesy of Leng co-founder Paul Murphy AKA Mudd. He reworks title track ‘Island Boogie’, teasing out the spacey synths and languid jazz-funk grooves of Meecham’s original mix and dialling them up to the max. The resultant revision sparkles with crunchy clavinet licks, mazy synth and electric piano solos, and spacey chords rising above a mid-tempo dancefloor groove. To complete a strong package, Meecham adds two dubs in his distinctively stripped-back, tape echo-heavy style. He first takes on EP title track ‘Dévoilez-Vous’, wrapping vintage drum machine hits in oodles of space echo and dub delay while devoting more time and space to the killer bassline, Rupert Brown’s infectious hand percussion, and Mouletin’s vocalisations.

To round off the EP, he dubs out album epic ‘La Cassette’, another collaboration with Mouletin that also features additional percussion by Brown. Like the original synth-powered dancefloor dubs of the early-to-mid-80s that have long been an inspiration, Meecham’s ‘La Cassette’ dub features key musical elements – many drenched in trippy effects – popping in and out of the mix, while his sturdy drums and memorable bassline spar with Brown’s percussion below.

Intergalactic Noize Commander’s electrifying new EP blends elements of electro and electro-funk provoking a psycho dive into a cosmic journey. This sonic adventure unveils simple yet mysterious and dark sounds, transporting listeners to uncharted realms where pulsating rhythms collide with enigmatic melodies.

Experience a fusion of retro-futuristic vibes and captivating beats that resonate throughout the cosmos. Presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid GREEN vinyl. All tracks have been specially mastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany). Includes inmediate digital download.

Non-standard prog act Gryphon made their mark by incorporating abandoned instruments and ancient classical elements in their work, giving their self-titled 1973 debut outstanding differences to standard rock fare. With co-founder Richard Harvey on recorders, mandolin, harpsichord, and glockenspiel and Brian Gulland, on bassoon, crumhorns, and vocals, backed by guitarist Graeme Taylor and drummer/percussionist Dave Oberlé, Gryphon expertly channelled contemporary English folk through forgotten medieval and Renaissance styles; unlike later rock-oriented work, Gryphon showcases the band’s unadorned beginnings.

Formed in 1971 by guitarist John Evan-Jones and his bassist brother Trevor, obscure British prog-rock act Jonesy had a shifting line-up and unusual elements, Chicago-born Jimmy Kaleth’s battery of keyboards including a Mellotron. Sophomore set Keeping Up saw Trevor return to the fold, along with drummer Plug Thomas, fresh from sessions with Supertramp; guitarist Ray Russell’s lush string arrangements and Alan Bown’s plaintive trumpet and flugelhorn add extra musical dimensions. Capturing the group at their most eclectic, Keeping Up is a must for Mellotron fans and all lovers of pop, jazz, and blues-tinged prog.

The American psych pop quintet Paper Garden had established a solid reputation performing to university students in their native New York and in surrounding states in 1967-68 before being commissioned to cut a debut LP with British producer Geoff Turner for Musicor, the resultant sessions yielding a self-contained concept album of totally new work. With sitars and tabla on some songs trading places with baroque elements and orchestrated interludes, the breezy psych pop gets pulled in all manner of directions and often sounds closer to the British psychedelic sound than anything Stateside. A rare and rich listening experience!

From the deep confines of the universe, we receive emissions of HC Records’ 21st release - Those Dark Whims by UHF, the production duo and Gladio Operations label heads José Castillo and David Aragón. An exciting digital LP from which a selection of tracks have been extracted for vinyl along with remixes by two label regulars, Estrato Aurora and The Lost Boys.

Skynet Was Shy opens both the LP and the vinyl, a hypnotic starting point in which the most vibrant and crystalline electro fuses with acid sequences to generate a state of pure trance, complimented and driven by spiralling sequences and mantra-like vocals. The second track on the LP and A2 on the vinyl is The Lost Boys' remix of Skynet Was Shy. A rough and sharp reinterpretation where the use of 303 sequences continues but focuses on more of a physical than a mental dance.

Hanging Baskets reactivates the state of infinite mental suspension that underlies this powerful and bold composition with deft and minimalistic use of elements: sharp broken rhythms, a dense melodic environment but with occasional moments of pure light and a new vocal message that ignites in our minds.

The B-side kicks off with Estrato Aurora's remix of Day Dream, which as usual in the work of the acclaimed Valencian producer, extends the original version to 8 minutes, giving it an unusual emotionality created by an amalgam of sound textures that interweave multiple pads, mutant melodies and pulsating percussion. Closing the vinyl, UHF's machines join forces with the lyrics of another electro heavyweight in Protestas En Las Redes Feat. Dark Vektor, a combative discourse in which the powerful and robotic vocal message of the Terrassan producer ascend alongside the futuristic melodies, extra-dimensional violins, spatial arpeggios, and metallic rhythms of the Madrid duo.

2024 repress

Bax is back. First released in 2011, Mosca’s UKG homage, ‘Bax’, did big things when it landed. Almost 10 years on, it’s time for a repress.

Though Mosca missed the golden era of garage in the nineties, he caught on to darkside pioneers such as Horsepower Productions, Benny Ill and El-B later on. A blend of homegrown British styles lies at the core of his electronic music influences, early dubstep, jungle, minimal grime and bassline, which he’d experienced first-hand at Sheffield’s legendary Niche club. (Little known fact: The name Bax is a partial nod to Steve Baxendale, the man behind Niche).

All these elements coalesced in the studio and the two-tracker materialised in a couple of days. Both sides of the record do their thing on the floor; ‘Bax’ with its now infamous ‘My DJ is live in the place’ sample, that earworm melody and a ruffneck b-line.

On the flip ‘Done Me Wrong’ sees Mosca incorporate several key garage tropes; the bassline swinging alongside soulful vocals (which get sliced and diced), not forgetting that cheeky rewind.

My DJ is back in the place...

"I wish I could turn or turn back" "Sometimes it’s hard to resist the feeling that there was a crucial turn in life out of which everything else flowed. Maybe in our more reasonable frames of mind we can dismiss that thought and take our plans and intentions very seriously. But, there’s often a lurking conviction that, like the oak from the acorn or the movie from its opening scene, it is already all there. In the first moment of Relics of Our Life, anything could happen, anything could come next. But as the suspense is broken with the first notes, the world of the record springs up as both an internal experience and a landscape of which we will learn something, but definitely not everything. The songs induce a swimming sense of cycling repetition and variation where shifting details tilt the ground under us. The round and round doesn’t make us dizzy; like breathing the right way, it makes us both heavier and higher. "Pawliczek’s songs can be located in the company of the greats of Flying Nun Records – maybe the delicacy of The Great Unwashed with the heavy heart of The Verlaines and smartness of The Chills. But, ultimately, his interests are elsewhere – a heart-break song over an earthly lover feels like only the tipping point for longing and devotion that outstrips the personal. In this sense, Popul Vuh for their hymnal geometry and switched-on Palestrina, and Terry Riley for cosmic elation come to mind. The songs have sweeping and cinematic proportions and depths of field constrained by a pop economy love of leanness. "But who’s supplicating whom here? The songs’ devotional quality is not upward to the sacred or even outward to the profane. It’s more like a magnetism between its elements – sounds, voices and rhythms. The track No Talk intones “why don’t you talk to me?” over a driving guitar and one feels visited by some kind of archaic god on whom the tables have been turned, finding himself jealous of our thousand little thoughts. The record finishes with his distorted lilting dance, trying to seduce us with some red red wine that is no one’s blood, but everyone’s favorite drug." -- Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown) 2024

Seablite is a four-piece pop band from San Francisco inspired by 80s/90s indie and shoegaze. Seablite was formed in 2016 when Lauren Matsui (vocals / guitar) and Galine Tumasyan (vocals / bass) bonded over a mutual appreciation of early 90's Britpop and UK underground music. The pair began writing songs and soon after Jen Mundy (ex-Wax Idols) joined on second guitar and Andy Pastalaniec (Chime School) would eventually join on drums. They have released an LP (2019’s “Grass Stains and Novocaine”) and 7" single (“Breadcrumbs” c/w “Ink Bleeds”) via Emotional Response Records and a 10" EP (“High-Rise Mannequins” - recorded and produced by Alicia Vanden Heuvel of the Aislers Set) in conjunction with Spain’s Meritorio Records. The band is among San Francisco’s current indie pop renaissance and have opened for the likes of Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Charlatans and Ladytron upon their recent Bay Area visits. Seablite has finished their sophomore album, “Lemon Lights” (due out this summer on Mt. St. Mtn). Recorded over the summer of 2022, “Lemon Lights” contains 12 dreamy pop tracks showcasing the group’s continued growth and maturity and marks a strong progression from their debut album. After recording basic bed tracks with Robby Joseph, the band finished overdubs in their practice space and Lauren's apartment. The freedom of home recording allowed them to experiment, resulting in an organic and intuitive manifestation of the band's emotions and creativity - a sonic inkblot of unfiltered pop appreciation. One may hear Manchester undertones on "Hit the Wall" and “Melancholy Molly”, or the feminine noise-pop of Lush on "Pot of Boiling Water" but Seablite are not to be mistaken for anglophile copycats. Seablite incorporates the jangle of their San Francisco “Fog Pop” contemporaries on tracks like “Hold My Kite” and a relentless and driving guitar on “Blink Each Day”, while the wonderfully dark elements on “Monochrome Rainbow” and the wistful closer, “Orbiting My Sleep” give them a wide range of sounds and vibes. Mastered by Mark Gardener of Ride.

We're excited to unveil our inaugural vinyl release, introducing the first Neptune ‘Disc’ to the world. Trance-inducing progressive genres, which dive into the magnetic allure of '90s progressive sounds with a distinct tilt towards the club scene. Four tracks resonating through the depths of a festival ambiance, enveloped in an enigmatic mist and bathed under shimmering purple strobes.

A1 introduces Cybernet, an emerging force hailing from the vibrant scene of Aus. Delving beyond the sounds of the '90s Cybernet brings forth a distinctive sonic narrative, intertwining intricate vocal hooks before unleashing the pulsating acid-line. An instant classic unfolds, resonating with the essence of the dance-floor.

Glen S swiftly becomes a Neptune Disc regular with "Uh!" on A2. Tailored for the club, he infuses his signature alien scattered pulses and a rolling bassline. With a deft touch, he creates a surge of energy by cutting off all elements on the drop, leaving only the bass and kicks. Expertly crafted.
Aiden's "Fanks" on the B-side boasts a mesmerising appeal, again reminiscent of the 90s-2000s era, with its pulsating bassline and entrancing soundscape. It delves into the realm of trance, offering a hypnotic journey that echoes the allure of that bygone era. With its captivating blend of trippy elements, the track creates a nostalgic yet timeless vortex of sound, drawing listeners into an otherworldly experience that resonates with the spirit of classic electronic music.

B2 showcases Tourman's prowess as a versatile producer, seamlessly delving into different genres. Overflowing with progressive energy and adorned with scattered UFO sounds, this track stands as a testament to Tourman's evolving artistry—a dynamic force ready to command diverse sonic landscapes. An ideal opener for peak-time set.

All Again. That's the title of the upcoming full-length record from Philadelphia's Queen of Jeans. The LP tracks an entire arc that, by the final hazy vibrato wash of "Do It All Again," bleeds back into the ambient first seconds of the record. "Thought I'd call tonight, hear how you're dealing," Miriam Devora sings to a distant lover on opener "All My Friends" in a neon-lit, melancholy tenor, the precise sound of lonesome love. The full band joins her in a beautiful night time sway, but it's still no use: "I got all my friends around, but I'm not home til I'm alone with you."The rest of the record follows this relationship as it tumbles through loneliness and longing, to elation and joy, to pain and anger, and finally to its foggy close, where Devora admits, "If I got to do it all again, I'd find you there like I did back then."Releasing on Memory Music, All Again is principally an enveloping, rich indie-rock record, changing dance partners between cheek-to-cheek '60s pop sweetness, '90s alt-rock dirt, spacious and pained emo, and the songcraft and melodicism of the sharpest acoustic singer-songwriter acts. Devora (vocals, guitar, keys) and Matheson Glass (lead guitar, piano) took extra care this time to create a Queen of Jeans full-length that reflected in sound and structure the emotional depths they were exploring.It's the first time since their 2015 debut, Dig Yourself, that they've had a full band, with drummer Patrick Wall and bassist Andrew Nitz, to build with. Where on releases like 2022's sparkling lockdown-pop Hiding In Place Devora and Glass had gone into producer and mix/master engineer Will Yip's Studio 4 with sketches and worked with Yip to arrange the songs in studio, this time, they went in with a complete vision for the record. That allowed them to use studio time to expand the record's sonic boundaries. "We had a lot more room to play with some of the ear candy we've always wanted to explore and get weirder in the studio," says Glass.Those elements lend a physicality and playfulness to the memory and emotions that unfurl through All Again. "We're trying to tell the story of when you look back at an important relationship," says Glass. "Years go by, and the more you reflect on it, it becomes more warped and the facts become a little bit more murky. We wanted to play with that and get surreal with the story." (Literally: listen for a "monster" voice in the already-released banger "Karaoke.") The record's artwork, conceptualized by Devora, renders this idea with devastating clarity.

First in a series of reissues from Pierre Jaubert’s Parisound studio archive on Strut Record IS Lafayette Afro Rock Band's elusive funk/Afro original album, 'Malik,' originally released in 1974. Transparent blue colored LP

In 1971, an undocumented seven-member Afro-American ensemble known as the Bobby Boyd Congress made a transformative journey from the United States to France. Bandleader Frank Abel recollects, "We sensed that the soul and funk market was saturated back home, and our original plan was a brief 6-month stint in Paris. Surprisingly, we ended up staying for a decade." Upon lead singer Bobby Boyd's return to the U.S., the group rebranded as Ice and crossed paths with independent producer Pierre Jaubert, a seasoned studio professional with credits on groundbreaking recordings alongside Charles Mingus, John Lee Hooker, and Archie Shepp, among others.

Drawing inspiration from Motown's work ethic, Jaubert initiated regular rehearsals with Ice. He recalled, "I didn't want to mimic Berry, but with seven talented musicians collaborating daily, something unique emerged." The band, residing in Paris and immersed in the African-dominated Barbesse district, began infusing African elements into their music frequently performing with Paris-dwelling Camaroonian and legendary composer Manu Dibango.

Under the new moniker Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the group's music transitioned to predominantly instrumental compositions, featuring a denser Afro-funk sound. Their inaugural recording with the new name, 'Soul Makossa,' included a compelling rendition of Dibango's classic and the impactful break in 'Hihache.' The subsequent release a year later, 'Malik,' refined their sound with the percussive Afro party jam 'Conga,' the atmospheric vocoder and piano-led piece 'Djungi,' and the robust funk of 'Darkest Light.' Despite a limited impact upon its initial release, 'Malik' found appreciation as hip-hop culture flourished in the '80s, establishing itself as a rich source of samples and riffs. 'Conga' was featured in the 'Ultimate Breaks And Beats' series, while the opening horn line from 'Darkest Light' became a pivotal hip-hop motif, employed by Jay-Z, Public Enemy, Wreckx 'N' Effect, and many others

Second in a series of reissues from Pierre Jaubert’s Parisound studio archive on Strut Record IS Lafayette Afro Rock Band's elusive funk/Afro original album, 'Soul Makossa' originally released in 1973. Transparent blue colored LP

In 1971, an undocumented seven-member Afro-American ensemble known as the Bobby Boyd Congress made a transformative journey from the United States to France. Bandleader Frank Abel recollects, "We sensed that the soul and funk market was saturated back home, and our original plan was a brief 6-month stint in Paris. Surprisingly, we ended up staying for a decade." Upon lead singer Bobby Boyd's return to the U.S., the group rebranded as Ice and crossed paths with independent producer Pierre Jaubert, a seasoned studio professional with credits on groundbreaking recordings alongside Charles Mingus, John Lee Hooker, and Archie Shepp, among others.

Drawing inspiration from Motown's work ethic, Jaubert initiated regular rehearsals with Ice. He recalled, "I didn't want to mimic Berry, but with seven talented musicians collaborating daily, something unique emerged." The band, residing in Paris and immersed in the African-dominated Barbesse district, began infusing African elements into their music frequently performing with Paris-dwelling Camaroonian and legendary composer Manu Dibango.

Rechristening themselves Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the group's musical direction shifted towards predominantly instrumental compositions, characterized by a weightier, more intricate Afro-funk sound. Their debut recording under this new moniker, 'Soul Makossa,' made a powerful impact with a dynamic rendition of Dibango's classic, coupled with the intense break of 'Hihache' and the contagious 'Nicky.' Initially released by Musidisc in France and later in the U.S. via Editions Makossa, the album omitted the title track due to publishing clearance issues.

Despite modest sales upon its initial release, the album's enduring influence became evident as hip-hop culture surged in the '80s, establishing it as a primary source for samples and riffs. The iconic 'Hihache' break found fame in Biz Markie's 'Nobody Beats The Biz,' and tracks from the album were lifted by LL Cool J, The Beatnuts, Kruder & Dorfmeister, and numerous others.

Ltd. Purple & Black Splatter Vinyl. It's been four years since Zach Saginaw, aka Shigeto, returned home to Michigan from a stint in Brooklyn, NY, and since then, the multi-faceted musician has become a part of the fabric of Detroit's music scene. While always having a personal approach to his projects, Saginaw's influences for his third album, The New Monday are more about the community of Detroit than anything else. Named after a weekly DJ event called Monday is the New Monday that Saginaw does at the unassuming Motor City Wine with a group of friends, The New Monday is the result of Saginaw diving into the city's deep record culture, where there legacy of artist's of the past help Saginaw embrace his own contributions. "It's focused on a couple things and they all kind of come together to represent dierent things," explains Saginaw. "My time back in Detroit, back living in Michigan and spending time with a lot of kind of original people who have always been here, learning from them, hearing stories from them, being influenced by them, and inspired by them." While, in the past, projects like Lineage or No Better Time Than Now were rooted in strong personal messages, family and relationships respectively, The New Monday represents a communal eort where solidarity is the key. Going for a simplified approach of just trying to make good tracks, The New Monday is diverse in its styles leaning more into a dance music direction - new ground for a Shigeto project. A new air of confidence in Saginaw has expanded his horizons since his return to Detroit, but traces of his past work will continue to be present. "I don't want people to think I'm leaving anything," says Saginaw. "I'm still me. It's a result of me being immersed in the culture, and inevitably making music that is influenced by that culture whether it be house, techno, jazz, rap. It doesn't matter. It's all coming from what I love about Michigan." While The New Monday still features the jazz textures long associated with Shigeto projects, the varied elements that make up the album cohesively come together to show the distinct inspiration that Saginaw has drew from since his return home to Detroit. Like on "Barry White", which features Detroit hip-hop artist ZelooperZ (a member of Danny Brown's Bruiser Brigade crew who Saginaw also has a side project with called ZGTO), Saginaw captures everything he's been doing all on one track. As much as it's hip-hop influenced, it's a mutant that encompasses elements of dance music, jazz, and ambient sounds. Throughout The New Monday, Saginaw poignantly references the musical influences that have either always been with him or newly discovered. It is Saginaw's interpretation of Detroit's rich culture of innovative artistry, but done so with respect for the history and to contribute, not disrupt. "I think over the past four years, I can confidently say that I found my place here," describes Saginaw. "I'm happy here and I feel that I have the respect from the people I need respect from, that I want respect from. It's all of the result of embracing it and embracing, not Detroit, but embracing community, embracing family,








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f A2D (FT. ZEELOOPERZ & SILAS GREEN) [AAPV]