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Joy Anonymous - Cult Classics LP

Joy Anonymous

Cult Classics LP

12inch5592318
Island
03.11.2023

The last twelve months have been a whirlwind for Henry Counsell and Louis Curran, the men who make up Joy (Anonymous). Having established themselves during the Covid-19 era by playing impromptu meet-ups on London’s South Bank, they have graduated to bigger venues, travelled to far-flung locales and recorded their second album, Cult Classics, while maintaining the spontaneous energy and irrepressible joy that made their name. Their music revels in the euphoria of being alive and all the feelings, good or bad, that come with it. It invites us into a community, draws us close and promises the night of our lives.

Recorded over the course of a year, the blueprint for Cult Classics was laid down over a two-week span at Imogen Heap’s Round House in east London. Joy (Anonymous) invited friends old and new to visit - they’d record live instruments in jam sessions upstairs and then retreat to a second room to flip and loop and generally mess with the sounds, moulding them into sizzling dance tracks. “Loads of people were coming up to me like ‘I thought this was going to be a dance record?’” Louis says, remembering the quietly beautiful music they’d be recording. “I’d be like, don’t worry about that, just keep playing.” He’d send it back to people later and they’d be floored - “That was my bit and you’ve made it... jungle!”

It was an organic and creatively fulfilling approach, one that didn’t allow any of the music to get stale or stagnate. As they built the tracks from the sounds they’d collected, Joy (Anonymous) would weave the new songs into their famously improvised live sets, testing them, refining them, taking note of the audiences’ reactions. In a year punctuated by a lot of travel, they’d also incorporate the voices of people they met along the way - “Beazley’s Poem”, which opens the record, features the words of a man who was working security at a Fred Again show at New York’s Terminal Five. “He was basically doing the opposite of his job and being a hype man, climbing on the fence and ramping up the crowd - we ended up hanging out with him - like, who’s this legend?” Louis explains. “He just speaks really amazingly about his life, all these amazing thoughts and opinions - he started jumping on the mic when we were playing, preaching these amazing messages to the crowd, like that we all need to be nicer to each other. The first time we played the record in its entirety, he introduced us and that’s the recording we’ve used.”

Joy (Anonymous) remain dedicated to the spirit of spontaneity. They shut a street down with a surprise waterside party in New York. On a trip to Copenhagen they played an impromptu set in a cafe, which turned into a house party and a night-long good time. In Lithuania, they ended up playing in a decommissioned prison. It’s harder, perhaps, to keep that spirit alive now that they are operating more within the confines of the music industry but they will keep lugging their kit to wherever the party calls for as long as they can. “I think if we lose that, we’ve kind of lost what makes us us,” Henry says.

Bursting with multi-genre reference points and disparate influences, Cult Classics is very much a dance album. The samples we made ourselves or we took from music that is quite different to dance music, but we definitely wanted to shout out a lot of the dance influences that we love,” Henry says. They listened to a lot of Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx as well as The Prodigy (“more rage stuff”), taking songwriting tips from their dance forebears, but also recording bits that felt more like jazz and motown (see: A Place I Belong and the lovely album closer, You’re In Or You’re Out). Emir Taha’s gentle classical guitar runs like a thread throughout Cult Classics, washing into the undertones of the record, tying it all together.

The album follows the beat of a night out, from frenetic, sweaty movement to the gentler winding down as the dawn breaks. At times it is euphoric, celebratory and pure, whirling fun, at others it seeks the joy in the darker emotions that life throws our way. 404 is designed to encapsulate everything about the Joy (Anonymous) journey so far. Skittering beats and ghostly vocals give way to vibrating house chords: sirens blare as we approach a dubstep drop. It’s dramatic and wild, ratcheting up, seeming to settle then hitting you with an intense and frantic breakdown before the ghostly vocal returns to lull us back into the world. It has the feel of a hungry cat playing with a mouse, toying with it before letting it get away.

What sounds like someone playing the spoons on playful, housey How We End Up Here is actually Louis’ restless habit of clicking his rings on everything, one of a myriad of calling cards and easter eggs that day one fans will recognise. They rework Miley Cyrus and Swae Lee’s Party Up The Street into a French-electro-inspired future classic, adding a note of melancholy to a tune that you can imagine hearing blaring from every car on a summer drive. The lyrics on Cult Classic are generally reassuring, inspirational, originally drawn from Henry in stream-of-consciousness freestyles. You’re fine the way you are, they seem to say - the repeated “No need to try” of A Place I Belong, the assurance that “It’s in me all the time” on In Me All The Time. Even the summery but regretful Did You Wrong hints at the growth that is possible from less than ideal behaviour. For Joy (Anonymous), joy isn’t about just being “happy” all the time - it’s about relishing every element of your being.

The name ‘Joy (Anonymous)’ is taken from the work Henry did with Alcoholics Anonymous groups: it is a way to build a community around sharing joy. Their impromptu live sets are known as ‘meetings’; they encourage fans to share moments of joy to their website. They care deeply about the scene they’ve come up in and are determined not to leave it behind. Every show is another chance to reach out and connect with people who love to come together and revel in music as loud as it can go.

Support slots for Fred Again and The Streets, wild B2Bs with Fred and Skrillex, and a set at Four Tet’s Finsbury Park all-dayer this summer have given the duo the opportunity to live out childhood dreams and introduced their infectious live shows to new audiences at huge venues.

With an album as assured and joyful as Cult Classics on the horizon (and a killer collab with The Blessed Madonna coming up), they’re only going to reach higher heights. But the essence of Joy (Anonymous) remains on the South Bank. Between shows at Ally Pally in September, they dragged their camping chairs and gear back down to the banks of the Thames: and it just felt right.

pre-order now03.11.2023

expected to be published on 03.11.2023

28,99 €
The Wreckery - Fake is Forever LP

During the peak of Australia's post-punk scene, Melbourne's The Wreckery captivated with their darkly atmospheric rock, combining swamp blues, noir-jazz, and deadpan rock. Fast forward 35 years, and "Fake is Forever" resurrects The Wreckery's signature sound, featuring Charles Todd's baritone sax, Hugo Race's poignant lyrics, and Clayton-Jones' angular guitars. With Nick Barker and Frank Trobbiani providing a solid rhythm, this iconic band delivers an album that ranges from sarcastic and provocative tracks like "Smack Me Down" to romantic melodrama in "The Devil in You," all with a quieter yet equally menacing and intoxicating presence compared to their '80s brashness.

pre-order now03.11.2023

expected to be published on 03.11.2023

26,47 €
VARIOUS - BOBBY GILLESPIE PRESENTS I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE GONE (2x12")

Following on from the Primal Scream frontman’s brilliantly-received previous release for Ace, ‘Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down’ (accolades included being short-listed for Rough Trade’s compilation of the year), Bobby Gillespie brings us another slice of the music that soundtracks his life. And in this case, it’s his touring life. Drawing on the experience of ‘the way that the noise and clamour of the road can tire you out, wear you down and frazzle your nerves to shattered fragments of jangled exhaustion’, these are the records Bobby turns to for solace, for comfort, for empathy and for resourcefulness.

The compilation features an introduction from the man himself, talking us through his personal choices as though he’s sitting cross-legged on the carpet going through records with you in his lounge. Also long-time cohort of the band, Kris Needs has written extensive liner-notes, serving up an intensive track by track insight and analysis.

Titled after and kicking off with the Willie Nelson track of the same name, ‘I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone’ leads us through a darker and deeper exploration than its predecessor, featuring Nick Cave’s funereal version of ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ and Ry Cooder’s sparse and beautiful reworking of ‘Dark End Of The Street’. And we get there via such greats as Bob Dylan, JJ Cale, Donnie Fritts, Crazy Horse, Lee Hazlewood, Al Green, Thin Lizzy and so many more.

In Bobby’s own words: ‘These songs are soul savers to soothe frayed and battered nerves and to ease and settle the heart. They work on me like medicine every time. I would like to share this wonderful music that has given me strength, joy and inspiration over the years with you the listener, so that you too might get the same feelings of protection and inspiration that I do whenever I listen to these songs. We're all travellers on some kind of road through this life, and we all need respite from time-to-time - the music on this compilation is soul food of the highest order - I hope you enjoy it.’.

pre-order now31.10.2023

expected to be published on 31.10.2023

34,41 €
Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition (12x12" + Blueray)
 
76
also available

Remastered Clear vinyls[51,68 €]

Remastered Black vinyls[41,98 €]


Paisley Park Enterprises, in Partnership with Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Records, announces expanded reissue of Prince & the New Power Generation’s multi-platinum album Diamonds And Pearls. This 12LP+ Blu-ray features 47 previously unreleased tracks and over two hours of live filmed concert footage in high definition.

Following the successful release of the 1999 Super Deluxe Edition (2019), and Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition (2020), the Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition represents the third deep dive into Prince’s vault. It includes a total of 75 audio tracks across 7x CDs and 12x 180g vinyl records.

The set offers a newly remastered version of the album, plus 15 of the incredible remixes and B-sides from the era, including the never commercially released “Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Min.)” mix. The Super Deluxe Edition also features 33 previously unheard studio gems from Prince’s Illustrious vault, ranging from alternate versions of album tracks to numbers Prince gave away to other artists, and songs recorded while on the road in 1990.

Prince & The NPG previewed the Diamonds And Pearls Tour at Prince’s Minneapolis club, Glam Slam, on January 11, 1992. The sweaty, sold-out, last-minute show captures the sheer joy and sense of endless possibility that came to define this era. This previously unreleased live concert performance has been mixed from the 24-track master and rounds out the audio content of this 12LP set.
This same previously unreleased concert is also presented in stunning 2K video on the Blu-ray disc that accompanies both Super Deluxe Edition formats, in Stereo, 5.1 Dolby True HD, and Dolby ATMOS audio formats. The Blu-ray also features Prince & The New Power Generation’s performance at The Special Olympics at the Metrodome in Minneapolis in July 1991 (also in Stereo, 5.1, and ATMOS), as well as a previously unseen soundcheck.

The Blu-ray is completed by the long out of print Diamonds And Pearls Video Collection, originally released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1993. The 120-page hardback book which accompanies the SDE set features unseen photos by Randee St. Nicholas, and essays by: author & broadcaster Andrea Swensson; Archivist and Senior Researcher for the Prince Estate Duane Tudahl; British music critic and Prince expert Jason Draper; De Angela L. Duff, an Industry Professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn; Social Media Personality KaNisa Williams; and an introduction from Public Enemy founder, Chuck D.

pre-order now27.10.2023

expected to be published on 27.10.2023

362,98 €
Red Snapper - Red Snapper Live at The Moth Club

Musical innovators, Red Snapper, have announced that they will release a new album on Lo Recordings on the 20th of October 2023.

‘Live at The Moth Club’, the follow up to 2022’s acclaimed ‘Everybody Is Somebody’ long player, features nine tracks from a vast and impressive back catalogue on Warp Records and Lo Recordings and captures perfectly the energy of their celebrated sold out London show from May 2022 in Hackney.

With an incredible and genre bursting career that spans nearly thirty years, the new album demonstrates the band’s ability to constantly rework classic and new tracks, keeping them impassioned, experimental and relevant. The collection includes a version of ‘Suckerpunch’ which originally appeared on their 1998 album ‘Making Bones’ and will now be released as a single on the 15th of September 2023.

Notorious for casting convention aside, and remaining one of the UK’s most forward thinking and rule breaking live bands, Red Snapper embrace a unique blend of live, euphoric Afro-Jazz, Future Funk, Dub, Dark Hip-Hop and fragile soundscapes.

Formed in 1994, the original line up of Rich Thair (drums), Ali Friend (double bass) and David Ayers (guitar) released three EPs on Rich Thair and Dean Thatcher’s label Flaw Recordings. The first EP ‘Snapper’ featured Beth Orton on vocals.

Over the initial years the band released the sonically pioneering albums; ‘Reeled and Skinned’, ‘Prince Blimey’, ‘Making Bones’ and ‘Our Aim Is To Satisfy Red Snapper’ (Warp records), touring globally and supporting the likes of Massive Attack, Bjork, The Prodigy, De La Soul and The Fugees. They also acquired a reputation for innovative and expansive remixing – reworking tunes by Trouble Funk, David Holmes, Sabres of Paradise, Garbage, Lamb, S-Express and Edwyn Collins amongst others.

Since then the band have released the eponymous ‘Red Snapper’ and ‘A Pale Blue Dot’ on Lo Recordings followed by ‘Key’ on V2 Records which featured the track ‘Spikey’ which was on the soundtrack for El Camino, the Netflix Breaking Bad film directed by Vince Gilligan in 2019.

In 2013 Red Snapper composed a new soundtrack to the 1970’s Senegalese, psychedelic road movie Touki Bouki which had been restored by Martin Scorsese. The band toured Europe performing the soundtrack live to the film, culminating in the celebrated sell-out show at The Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank. In 2014 the album ‘Hyena’ was released on Lo Recordings featuring all the music from their original film score.

pre-order now27.10.2023

expected to be published on 27.10.2023

22,90 €
Elm Street - The Great Tribulation

Elm Street

The Great Tribulation

12inchMASLR1343
Massacre
27.10.2023

Nach einer anspruchsvollen, mehrjährigen Tournee, bei der die Band ihre Heavy-Metal-Power nach Europa, Kanada und in die USA brachte, kehren die Australier ELM STREET endlich mit ihrem dritten Album zurück: "The Great Tribulation"
"The Great Tribulation" ist ein Soundtrack für unruhige Zeiten oder wie ein verkohlter Spiegel, der den Zustand der heutigen Welt widerspiegelt. Es kommentiert aber auch die dunklen Seiten des Lebens, gepaart mit der bis dato anspruchsvollsten und heftigsten Musik der Band.

pre-order now27.10.2023

expected to be published on 27.10.2023

27,35 €
Elm Street - The Great Tribulation

Nach einer anspruchsvollen, mehrjährigen Tournee, bei der die Band ihre Heavy-Metal-Power nach Europa, Kanada und in die USA brachte, kehren die Australier ELM STREET endlich mit ihrem dritten Album zurück: "The Great Tribulation"
"The Great Tribulation" ist ein Soundtrack für unruhige Zeiten oder wie ein verkohlter Spiegel, der den Zustand der heutigen Welt widerspiegelt. Es kommentiert aber auch die dunklen Seiten des Lebens, gepaart mit der bis dato anspruchsvollsten und heftigsten Musik der Band.

pre-order now27.10.2023

expected to be published on 27.10.2023

27,35 €
Incognito - Into You LP 2x12"

Splash Blue is honoured to present Incognito's latest album, Into You, a 16-track masterpiece of jazz-funk and soul. The album features original compositions, all with the signature sound of Incognito. Led by the production of band leader and multi-instrumentalist Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick, Into You showcases the band's incredible musicianship and lush soundscapes. Along with Bluey, the album features the band's new vocalists Natalie Duncan & Cherri V alongside renowned vocalist Tony Momrelle. Into You is the perfect blend of old and new, and will captivate fans of Incognito and soul music. The album is available on Double Vinyl only currently.

out of Stock

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Last In: 2 years ago
30,67 €
The Chills - Brave Words LP 2x12"

The Chills

Brave Words LP 2x12"

2x12inchFIRELP673G
Fire Records
20.10.2023

The songwriter that helped kick off indie rock as we know it" NPR… // Remixed and remastered under the supervision of Martin Phillipps, this expanded edition of The Chills’ debut album is reissued for the first time in over 35 years. The newly mixed edition features additional rarities and unreleased tracks from The Chills vaults, along with brand new reimagined artwork by Martin Phillipps and a host of additional liner notes. Originally produced by Mayo Thompson (Pere Ubu/Red Krayola) and featuring standout tracks ‘Wet Blanket’, ‘Night Of Chills Blue’, this extended 18-track edition includes much-lauded tracks from the era, such as ‘House With A Hundred Rooms’ and the awesome ‘Party In My Heart’. Part of the 80s extraordinarily vibrant and innovative independent music scene in New Zealand, The Chills became flag bearers, taking the Dunedin sound, as championed by the Flying Nun label, to the world. Long recognised as one of New Zealand's most influential bands, Brave Words is a shining example of their unique sound and has been praised as a masterpiece by critics and fans alike. “‘Brave Words’ may well be The Chills' finest album

pre-order now20.10.2023

expected to be published on 20.10.2023

33,57 €
Suzanne Langille, Andrew Burnes, David Daniell, and Loren Connors - Let the Darkness Fall

Recital publishes the first vinyl edition of Let the Darkness Fall, a forgotten corner from the vast discography of Suzanne Langille & Loren Connors. Joined here by David Daniell and Andrew Burnes (of the Atlanta-based group San Agustin), Darkness was recorded in the summer of 1998 on a Tascam Porta-5 in Loren and Suzanne’s Brooklyn living room, and issued the following year as a limited CD by Secretly Canadian.

The tender gloom of Let the Darkness Fall sounds like a broadcast of some private séance. The trio of guitarists here show a beautiful restraint, hovering just underneath vocalist Suzanne Langille’s ephemeral poetry. Once they hit RECORD, the sensitivity of the players melded this quartet into a sole-entity; finishing each other’s phrases in slow motion. Suzanne’s gentle voice glows through the wispy guitar shadows with a quiet determination. One could almost imagine her building a nest out of the guitar lines she’s gathered.

This collection of musicians is a precursor to the band Haunted House, a wild sort of jam-band playing the blues without playing structure. Recital continues the series of Loren Connors-related editions, stretching from his art books Wildweeds & Night of Rain, to his masterpiece solo LPs Airs & Lullaby. And Recital is equally thrilled to highlight Suzanne Langille’s mystifying command of voice and word and the intricate guitar work of Andrew Burnes and David Daniell. Come revisit the mist that filled that living room 25 years ago.

pre-order now13.10.2023

expected to be published on 13.10.2023

28,53 €
The Candles Burning Blue - Pearls Given To The Swine LP 2x12"

This is the first official reissue of The Candles Burning Blue’s highly appraised cult album Pearls Given To The Swine. For two decades the original CD pressing has been sought after but nearly impossible to find. Known for their violent and chaotic gigs, The Candles Burning Blue were an unconventional Gothic Rock band. Instead of romantic beauty they dealt with the harsher aspects of the darkness oozing from their own troubled lives. Even though they only released two CD-r, a split 7” and one full album, their impact on the Finnish Goth underground was a lasting one. Pearls Given To The Swine was recorded in 2000 and released in 2001 on CD, with only 500 official copies pressed. Some years later new copies appeared from shady sources, but basically the album disappeared from the face of the Earth. In 2001 the band started to work on the second album Pleasure Dome and also had some material recorded for the projected third album Abhorrence, but ceased to exist before any of this material was released. Until now. This reissue has a full length bonus disc consisting of these songs. The Candles Burning Blue had its roots firmly in Gothic Rock as performed by bands like Bauhaus, Christian Death, Virgin Prunes and The Cure, but they mixed in elements of experimentalism and art rock. Pearls Given To The Swine is a lost and found classic of Finnish Gothic Rock, and a fine example of Finnish dark culture around the turn of the millennium. Members went on to play in bands like Reverend Bizarre, The Puritan, Werwolf Lodge and Opium Warlords, but never reunited.

pre-order now13.10.2023

expected to be published on 13.10.2023

28,15 €
HJALTE ROSS - LESS LP

Hjalte Ross neues Album "Less" erscheint im Oktober 2023 und zeigt sein bisher direktestes, verletzlichstes und ausdrucksstärkstes Songwriting. Selbst-produziert, minimalistisch, schön und tödlich - das ist das neue Album von Hjalte Ross. Bereits mit den beiden Alben, dem Debüt "Embody" (2018) und dem Nachfolger "Waves of Haste" (2020), etablierte der preisgekrönte junge Künstler seinen Namen sowohl in Dänemark als auch in der internationalen Songwriter-Szene. Auf die Platten folgten von der Kritik gefeierte Konzerte und große Aufmerksamkeit. KEXP, MOJO, Uncut, Clash Magazine, sind nur einige derer, die ihre Liebe zu dem dänischen Songwriter gezeigt haben. Wild und sanft ist der neue Hjalte Ross, der beschreibt, dass Less" eine Sammlung von Liedern für deine heilige Stunde ist, die sich mit deinen Gefühlen verbindet. Hjalte Ross stellt sein Album vor: "'Less' umfasst Songs, die in schwierigen und herausfordernden Zeiten entstanden sind, aber trotzdem geschrieben wurden. Less' enthält nicht nur ein bestimmtes Gefühl, sondern vielmehr eine Sammlung von Gefühlen, die alle unter das Thema der Unzulänglichkeit fallen." Ross legt seine innersten Gedanken offen und schafft so eine Atmosphäre gemeinsamer Intimität. Ross' künstlerische Reise wurde nicht allein unternommen. Die Zusammenarbeit mit seinen Musikerkollegen Mads Lang, Astrid Matthesen und Jonas Kardyb sowie das geschickte Händchen des Toningenieurs D. James Goodwin haben "Less" einen Reichtum verliehen, der in jeder Note nachhallt. Der Titel ist keine bloße Beschreibung, sondern ein Tor zum thematischen Kern des Albums. Ross erforscht die Komplexität von Emotionen und stellt die Vorstellung in Frage, dass diese Gefühle nur seine eigenen sind. "Less" ist eine Einladung zu einer gemeinsamen Erfahrung - Trauer, Hoffnung und Wachstum - die über das Individuum hinausgehen und uns als Menschen verbinden. In einer Welt, die oft das Spektakel schätzt, ist "Less" ein unaufdringlicher Triumph - ein Spiegelbild von Ross' Entschlossenheit, sich seiner eigenen Verletzlichkeit zu stellen und die Schönheit darin zu beleuchten. Dies ist "Less". Klappcover, rauer Karton, 140 gr klassisch schwarzes Vinyl mit 28seitigem 12"-Booklet!

pre-order now13.10.2023

expected to be published on 13.10.2023

27,69 €
Jerry David DeCicca - New Shadows lp

New Shadows peaks into corners where interior and exterior worlds collide, where miniscule revelations can be found in the darkness of ourselves and our community: lost children, unheard prayers, bugs, money, depression, romantic relationships, regret, and Zoom funerals, all become a lens for self-reflection.

The production (by Don Cento and JDD) is modeled after DeCicca's favorite early 80's albums (Lindsey Buckingham's Law & Order, ZZ Top's Afterburner, Robert Palmer's Clues, Lou Reed's New Sensations,) while the songs' architectures and pathos lean more towards Warren Zevon, Townes Van Zandt, and John Prine - all these record- makers and songwriters are embedded in DeCicca's DNA, having seen them, and in some cases met them after gigs, when his brain was still developing between the ages of 13-19 years old.

The virtual collaborators are the musicians whose kept him company while isolated in his rural town, Bulverde, TX: Brian Harnetty's Many Hands, Rosali's No Medium, Irreversible Entanglements' Who Sent You?, James Brandon Lewis's Jessup Wagon, Jeff Parker's JP's Myspace Beats and Suite for Max Brown, and the Los Lobos discography.

New Shadows isn't so much about DeCicca's new discoveries, as it is the penumbrous reminder of what's always been there.

pre-order now13.10.2023

expected to be published on 13.10.2023

31,05 €
Eric McFadden - Lucky Man

Eric Mcfadden

Lucky Man

12inchBAD230501
Bad Reputation
13.10.2023

FIRST E.P FROM THE VOODOO MAN / INCLUDING INSERT WITH PIC / INCLUDING TIM CURRY cover: Ain’t No Love On The Street. Eric McFadden is back with his first 4-track vinyl, ahead of his new album in autumn/winter 2023 and has taken advantage of this release to complete a frenzied summer tour of France (Avignon, Cavalaire, Saint Cyr Sur Mer…) that he has a secret for. His recent acoustic tributes to AC/DC and Alice Cooper have introduced him to a much rockier audience, and his performance at Patrimonio (Corsica) in July 2019 and 2023 with Pat McManus did not go unnoticed. On the menu for this new opus: blues and rock and a cover of a Tim Curry song (No Love On The Street), all wrapped up in a dark, Tom Waits-style voice and a unique guitar style with high flights of fancy. Thrills guaranteed!

pre-order now13.10.2023

expected to be published on 13.10.2023

23,32 €
BLACK DISCO - DISCOVERY 1975-1976 LP

Essential South African jazz, funk and soul - An anthology dedicated to the legendary Black Disco ensemble. Distilling the group’s recorded output into a single commemorative document, Discovery 1975-1976 compiles cuts from the lauded Night Express album alongside rare gems from the group’s long-out-of-print first and third albums. The newly remastered selection features previously unissued single versions of the mighty “Night Express” itself, a funk juggernaut with piercing flute whistles and rapturous sax cries as well as “Dawn” from the album Black Disco 3, a trippy, flute-driven awakening of soft light and gentle colours.

With a Yamaha organ and a dream, Pops Mohamed started his musical journey in the mid-1970s as the bandleader and composer of Black Disco, creating a hip melange of chill-out jazz with futuristic drum machine sounds and spiritual overtones. His cosmic organ transmissions were accompanied by two of the most sought-after session players on the South African scene, the sax and flute wizard Basil Coetzee, who had risen to fame in 1974 as one of the soloists on the hit “Mannenberg,” and Sipho Gumede, the young bass prodigy who was already rubbing shoulders with the old guard at the outset of his career. Backed at first with polyphonic beats from Mohamed’s electric organ and later taking on a drummer, Black Disco created a signature sound and a trilogy of innovative albums in a burst of studio creativity between 1975 and 1976.

On the heels of their epic various artists compilation, As-Shams Archive have produced a doozy of a compilation of some very essential South African jazz.

out of Stock

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Last In: 2 years ago
22,65 €
TERRY CALLIER - Speak Your Peace LP
  • A1: Monuments of Mars
  • A2: Running Around
  • A3: Darker Than a Shadow
  • B1: Brother to Brother
  • B2: Speak Your Peace
  • B3: Imagine A Nation

Mr Bongo is thrilled to announce a special RSD Black Friday edition of 'Speak Your Peace,’ a stunningly beautiful album by the legendary Terry Callier. This remarkable record not only showcases Terry Callier's immense talent, but also features production by Bluey (Incognito) and Marc Mac (4 Hero). It includes the single, ‘Brother to Brother’, a song co-written and performed with British musical icon, Paul Weller. This stellar cast of producers and collaborators infuses the album with modern sensibilities while maintaining the integrity of Terry Callier's unique sound.

'Speak Your Peace' is a testament to Terry Callier's enduring legacy as a singer-songwriter and guitarist. Known for his ability to blend genres seamlessly, here he takes listeners on a transcendent journey through soul, jazz, folk, and blues. His captivating voice and exceptional guitar playing create a musical landscape that is both timeless and profound. This collection of songs tackles a range of themes, from love and introspection to social justice and the human experience. Terry Callier's poignant lyrics and soul-stirring melodies intertwine, creating a multi-dimensional work of art. It rates with his incredible Cadet work in its vision, articulation, and execution.

Mr Bongo Records is honoured to present 'Speak Your Peace’ and to celebrate the legacy of Terry Callier and his impact on the musical landscape.

pre-order now02.10.2023

expected to be published on 02.10.2023

39,03 €
Allman Brothers Band - Collected LP 2x12"
 
21

180gr./Gatefold/Pvc Sleeve/Black Vinyl

The Allman Brothers Band was one of America’s greatest Southern rock bands. Both their massive hits as the hidden gems are now all available on the exclusive 2LP Collected release. It covers the music from their late ‘60s to the ‘90s, including hits like "Ramblin' Man", "Jessica" and "Melissa". Besides tracks from the band The Allman Brothers Band Collected also includes songs by the related projects The Allman Joys, The Hour Glass and solo work from Duane & Gregg Allman.

After the famous 1971 live release At Fillmore East, The Allman Brothers Band represented an artistic and commercial breakthrough. With their extended live jam improvisations they became famous all over the world. As one of the pioneering bands in the Southern rock they recorded several successful albums and singles. The group largely infused hints of the blues, jazz, and country into their music.

pre-order now01.10.2023

expected to be published on 01.10.2023

36,93 €
Blues Lawyer - Sight Gags On The Radio

Blues Lawyer is back on Dark Entries with a new 7” EP of summery alt-pop. Fresh off the heels of their critically acclaimed Dark Entries debut, Sight Gags On The Radio expands the Blues Lawyer universe, one where lovelorn millennials struggle to find their place. The four songs were recorded one afternoon by Rob I. Miller, Blues Lawyer co-founder and chief songwriter, in the band’s Oakland rehearsal space. It was recorded just days before Elyse Schrock (singer, songwriter, drummer, and music video creator) would be leaving the Bay Area – her home for the past decade – due to the soaring cost of living. The first single, “Have Nots,” shows the band moving away from the rapid chord changes that characterized their earlier work towards hazy guitar textures. It is accompanied by a tender music video portrait of the band reuniting in Portland, where Schrock now resides. The video documents the band’s touring life: playing pizza parlors and billiard clubs, sleeping on floors, and killing time between gigs. These touching images are elevated by Schrock’s trademark animations and editing style. Blues Lawyer also experiment with new songwriting configurations on this EP. “True Love’s Only Name,” was musically developed by Blues Lawyer guitarist, Ellen Matthews, lyrically by Miller, and sung by Schrock. Sight Gags On The Radio captures the essence of the band's sound but also reflects their development as songwriters. The outcome is Blues Lawyer’s most compelling artistic proclamation to date. Each 7” is housed in a warm orange toned jacket designed by Eloise Leigh featuring lyrics on the back. Blues Lawyer - Sight Gags On The Radio 7” EP releases Friday, September 29th via Dark Entries days before the band embarks on their first tour of Europe and the United Kingdom.

pre-order now29.09.2023

expected to be published on 29.09.2023

9,87 €
BLOOD COMMAND - WORLD DOMINATION

Neon violet vinyl.

Bergen, Norway- Blood Command have announced their new studio album, "World Domination"(Produced by Yngve Andersen) to be released on the 29th September 2023 through Hassle Records. Whilst early singles have cradled audiences with their ethereal death pop sound, make no mistake, the album "World Domination" is 20 rapid bursts of every side the band has to offer. Infectious grooves, blast beats, singer Nikki Brumens powerful screams and riot grrrl chanting, techno interludes and that delicate side which lulls you into a false sense of security before ripping into the listener once more.

The record dives into unrequited love, the hatred of the unjust, the power of faith and the darkness of the abyss and never giving up on trying to climb out of it. "Like various underground religious groups throughout history, Blood Command's ever growing following, The Awaketeam, is rising around the globe, and we are not stopping until World Domination. So keep your eyes peeled for purple shrouds, three stripes and black and white sneakers."

This is Blood Command at its most interesting. Come and be a part of the movement.

pre-order now29.09.2023

expected to be published on 29.09.2023

28,15 €
BLOOD COMMAND - WORLD DOMINATION

Milky clear vinyl w/ black / neon green splatter.

Bergen, Norway- Blood Command have announced their new studio album, "World Domination"(Produced by Yngve Andersen) to be released on the 29th September 2023 through Hassle Records. Whilst early singles have cradled audiences with their ethereal death pop sound, make no mistake, the album "World Domination" is 20 rapid bursts of every side the band has to offer. Infectious grooves, blast beats, singer Nikki Brumens powerful screams and riot grrrl chanting, techno interludes and that delicate side which lulls you into a false sense of security before ripping into the listener once more.

The record dives into unrequited love, the hatred of the unjust, the power of faith and the darkness of the abyss and never giving up on trying to climb out of it. "Like various underground religious groups throughout history, Blood Command's ever growing following, The Awaketeam, is rising around the globe, and we are not stopping until World Domination. So keep your eyes peeled for purple shrouds, three stripes and black and white sneakers."

This is Blood Command at its most interesting. Come and be a part of the movement.

pre-order now29.09.2023

expected to be published on 29.09.2023

26,85 €
D. Carbone - Raving Disorder Vol. 5

We want to celebrate the 5th Volume of our best series "Raving Disorder" in a special way.
Our Boss D. Carbone choose 6 of his favorite Artists on the label to make a Collab with each one.
DSTM, d_b, Hypnoskull, Lucas Campagna, SDBX, and Valerio Innorta are the mans who joined the boss in this amazing feature it creates a don't-miss duty bomb for your night.

A1 Never Stop The Raveolution is a dark and heavy techno banger that takes the mentality of D. Carbone and DSTM and brings it furthermore in the Techno Revolution Aim.

A2 The boss meets the mysterious d_b again after their debuts on Green Fetish Records "The Bad Dance" is a groovy Banger singed by d_b himself accompanied by powerful kick and 90's groove with dystopian noises and bells deliver the Kaos.

A3 D. Carbone featuring one of the most underground legends in Techno Hypnoskull with "We are Stronger".
The track is a Hymn against capitalism, a selfish attitude, and all the bad things of the Modern Era.
Listen deep to it!

B1 Starts with "Social Pressure" along with boy Lucas Campagna who meets the boss to create an absurd heavy banger, dreamy, powerful, complex, and modern make this a don't-miss bomb in your collection.

B2 is "Pitch You Back" along with SDBX a truly hit played by D. Carbone in almost every set during last year, is the first of long series of heavy hitters by this duo who is already working on EP, since the first listen to this track will be unforgettable.

B3 "Push Your Back Spin" is the Collaboration with the Roman hardcore boy Valerio Innorta, as the title says this track will let your back spin a heavy dance, the track came out after last Valerio's release on Carbone Records and blends in a perfect way this new style with the D. Carbone powerful sound.

Don't miss this vinyl, limited to 300 Marbled blue.

Rave On!

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Last In: 20 months ago
11,39 €
Doctor Who - Four From Doom's Day LP 2x12"
  • A1: The Steel Cascade
  • B1: The Martian Dilemma
  • C1: An OodHalloween
  • D1: Dark Space

Demon Records präsentiert eine brandneue Originalgeschichte, Teil des Doom's Day-Handlungsbogens, präsentiert auf unterschiedlich farbigem Vinyl. Diese vier Originalabenteuer wurden von Darren Jones geschrieben und von Sooz Kempner, Jaye Griffiths und Silas Carson gelesen. Sie sind Teil des plattformübergreifenden Doom's Day-Abenteuers zur Feier des 60-jährigen Jubiläums von Doctor Who. 2 x 140Gr. Translucent Purple & Blue Vinyl-LPs, in vollständig illustrierten Inner Sleeves.

pre-order now29.09.2023

expected to be published on 29.09.2023

23,32 €
Blue Dolphin - Robert’s Lafitte LP

Blue Dolphin was a wild, iridescent punk band from Austin, Texas circa 2016. Over the course of a year, they created a buzzing, liberatory sound, a dark blood mix of melodic ease and existential gloom. This pairing suggests monuments like ’Peace?’ or ‘Is This Real?’ but Blue Dolphin found this path all on their own, through trust and reliance, that practice space unity that the best bands build simply through the joy of playing with each other.

Emboldened by this connection, the band birthed memorably fractured, brisk music full of daring and revelation.

At times, the songs barrel along as if the band is struggling to keep their instruments under control, an unrestrainable, breathless frenzy of notes. Other times, they take on a pensive ache, a weighted despair. Every time they form a perfect skeleton for Sarah Sissy’s vocal shove. The songs will squall and sway, reach overload, rattle half to death, and yet the moment Sissy begins singing they snap into a focused beam, a bulldozing, clear-eyed force.

‘Robert’s Lafitte’ is a rush of darkness, resilience, mystery and bliss, exactly what you’d want from a record named after Texas’s oldest running gay bar, and a band maybe named after the indescribable freedom of ocean life or maybe named after a type of ecstasy.

The LP contains the entire recorded output of Blue Dolphin, including all three self-released tapes and four previously unheard songs.

Members of Blue Dolphin have played in other bands like C.C.T.V., Chalk, Mystic Inane, Chronophage and NOSFERATU.

For fans of Silver Abuse, Chalk, Twelve Cubic Feet, Chronophage, C.C.T.V., Mystic Inane.

Includes poster / insert.

pre-order now22.09.2023

expected to be published on 22.09.2023

26,01 €
Amorphis - Halo LP 2x12"

Amorphis

Halo LP 2x12"

2x12inch4251981704401
Atomic Fire
22.09.2023

For the 6th time, dark metal legends AMORPHIS hit the #1 chart position in Finland with an album and 'Halo' is a pure gem featuring some of the best melodies and progressive riffs that the band has written in their 3 decade spanning career. With hits like "The Moon" or "On The Dark Waters", 'Halo' was voted 'album of the month' in Metal Hammer (GER), Rock Hard (GER), Spark (CZ) and Legacy (GER) and now, right in time for their European Tour, AMORPHIS launch a beautiful blue blackdust vinyl of their latest album. A gem for every collector!

pre-order now22.09.2023

expected to be published on 22.09.2023

36,93 €
Death Dealer Union - Initiation 2x12"

"In 2019, metal musicians CC McKenna (drums) and Doug Weiand (lead guitars) set forth on a dark musical path - aligning diverse metal influences with otherworldly channelings of alchemy, the occult and all things esoteric. Little did they know, the final ingredient of their impending amalgamation was on the horizon, set to emerge as DEATH DEALER UNION. After meeting acclaimed frontwoman Elena Cataraga (a.k.a. Lena Scissorhands of modern metal frontrunners Infected Rain), a musical pact was instantly formed - propelling the band into the studio with producer Valentin Voluta (also recognized for his work with Infected Rain) to conjure their lauded debut collaborations “Borderlines” and “Beneath The Surface”. The tracks went on to premiere in 2022 with top-notch music video visuals, garnering nearly 1 million views on YouTube alone to date.

pre-order now22.09.2023

expected to be published on 22.09.2023

32,73 €
Garrett T. Capps - People Are Beautiful LP

Firmly influenced by Cosmic Americana releases by bands like the Flying Burrito Brothers, or, more recently, Sturgill Simpson's "Metamodern Sounds in Country Music," Capps puts his own Central Texas spin on things with nods to Doug Sahm and Roky Erickson.
This vinyl edition of People Are Beautiful is pressed on limited edition Baby Blue vinyl..

pre-order now22.09.2023

expected to be published on 22.09.2023

28,99 €
Various - Texas Wild LP

Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation, in partnership with Rambler Sparkling Water, introduce ‘Texas Wild’, a standout album featuring Texas musicians as they pay tribute to classic Texas tunes showcasing that untamed spirit found only in Texas music.

Produced by Texas singer songwriter Walker Lukens (The Song Confessional, Golden Dawn Arkestra, Darkbird, Coco Zandi), ‘Texas Wild’ is a standout album that blends the sounds of traditional Texas genres like blues, cumbia, and country with modern sounds like hip-hop, R&B and electronica, sure to please old school country fans
and new listeners alike.

Block print album art created by Texas artist, Mishka Westell.

Featuring covers of classic Texas songs by Texas musicians including Toadies, Fat Tony, Shaky Graves and Sir Woman.

Sales from the album will benefit Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation.

pre-order now22.09.2023

expected to be published on 22.09.2023

28,15 €
Brontez Purnell - No Jack Swing LP

Dark Entries and Papi Juice Records team up for No Jack Swing, the solo electronic debut of multi-hype man Brontez Purnell. The Southern-raised, Oakland-based musician and writer has centered his queerness and Blackness in projects Gravy Train and Younger Lovers as well as in his award-winning books 100 Boyfriends and Since I Laid My Burden Down. On No Jack Swing, Purnell gives us a love letter to the most beloved (and secularized) of drum patterns - that is, the electronic 808 “Amen Break”. Beginning recording in 2020, Purnell conceived of No Jack Swing as an audio zine of found sound materials: chain letters of instrumentals recorded in bedrooms, poems from boys in France, found gospel tapes from his childhood family Baptist Choir, and the sound of records skipping on his bedroom turntable. No Jack Swing is as much a homage to No Wave and New Jack Swing as it is an answering to the gods of Indie, Electroclash, Disco, and Gospel. Amidst all this background noise, the unexpected occurs: all the niche pretensions collapse to a singularity - the sound of High Pop! No Jack Swing was produced by Nightfeelings. Each copy of includes a lyric sheet with a photo of Brontez.

pre-order now15.09.2023

expected to be published on 15.09.2023

17,86 €
THE STRANGERS - THE STRANGERS

The Strangers brings together Hervé Salters AKA General Elektriks and two exceptional rappers: Frenchman Leeroy (ex-Saïan Supa Crew) and American Lateef The Truthspeaker (Blackalicious) in a new project. Evolving in the year 2222, "The Strangers" is a testament from the future in the form of hip hop with a strong funk undertone, a timeless and playful sound where the languages of Shakespeare and Molière combine and clash to describe a world of tomorrow in 2023 that no one has yet heard of: requiring the earthlings of the future to travel from an early age, society abolishes the fear of the unknown. Lateef, Leeroy and General Elektriks have therefore chosen to set their narrative in the future to better speak of today"s world. The environment, individual freedom, police violence and communitarianism are all subjects that permeate the record. But the 3 Strangers inject a healthy dose of humour and energy into their music. This album is a sonic road movie of anticipation, zig-zagging between athletic and poetic flows soulful choruses, and darker downtempos. The sound developed is fluorescent and infectious, speaking to the hips as much as the head.

pre-order now15.09.2023

expected to be published on 15.09.2023

23,49 €
LORD BUFFALO - TOHU WA BOHU

Lord Buffalo

TOHU WA BOHU

12inchBFRLPG11
BLUES FUNERAL
15.09.2023

ENG Dark, atmospheric heavy Americana from Austin, TX, haunting, psychedelic ghost-town sounds for fans of Woven Hand, Russian Circles, and Dead Meadow! Lord Buffalo is a mud-folk band from Austin, TX. They make music together under cover of darkness. Their songs are bricks with which to build a house slowly. They will not be rushed. They will not be quiet. They are the trees clapping, the rocks crying out, the whistle in your snore. Imagine the haunted sensibility of artists like Chelsea Wolfe, David Eugene Edwards (Woven Hand, 16 Horsepower) and Ian Astbury (The Cult) fused with the spacious, expansive psychedelics of Dead Meadow and All Them Witches. Lord Buffalo creates somber, crashy, ghost-town Americana on new album "Tohu Wa Bohu," thick with captivating intensity and brooding heaviness of the soul. 'The sound of Lord Buffalo - that atmospheric diving headlong into the very heart of darkness - is unsettling. And it's magnificent.' _Laurie Gallardo, KUTX Brand new 2023 pressing on sleek transparent coke bottle-green vinyl!

pre-order now15.09.2023

expected to be published on 15.09.2023

22,65 €
Various - Dead Formats Vol. 2 LP

Pure Noise Records and Pabst Blue Ribbon have teamed up again to present ‘Dead Formats Volume 2’, a 15-track compilation featuring the Pure Noise Records roster sharing their takes on classic songs from Elton John, New Radicals, The Kinks and scene favourites Taking Back Sunday and more. The concept with Volume 1 was originally curated as a way for fans to discover new, like-minded bands, the same way legendary comps like Atticus’ Dragging The Lake, Punk O Rama, or the Vans Warped Tour Compilations did in the 90’s and 2000’s. Volume 2 will open up a wealth of artists from across the years.

pre-order now10.09.2023

expected to be published on 10.09.2023

25,00 €
Porchlight - Wives Tales & Hymns of the Earth

Structured chaos- perhaps the most fail-safe description of the ins and outs of being an artist. Between the peculiar highs and all too relatable lows, chaos follows art like houses in motion; all lofty ambitions, and fast-paced progress. For Brighton’s Porchlight, chaos, and the art of being a band, in all its complex commodities, is nothing more than mere childsplay, in the grand scheme of lawless artistry.

Loosely inspired by tales of small-town rural England- cottage villages with dark exteriors, ‘Wives Tales & Hymns of the Earth’ as a whole, is the outcome of five individual tales coming together to form a conceptually emphasised entity to end all conceptually emphasised entities. Completed by the poetic brood of ‘Blue Chalk’, the jagged anxieties of ‘Spin Doctor’ and Porchlight aficionado familiarities of opening track ‘From Monday’, in just short of twenty minutes ‘Wives Tales & Hymns of the Earth’ perfectly captures the sweeping emotions of a debut; a soul-stirring, ear-pounding documentation of a group taking their first steps into a whole new unknown of their own fine-crafted design.

pre-order now08.09.2023

expected to be published on 08.09.2023

27,10 €
Jon Allen - A Heightened Sense of Everything

Described as a musician's musician, Allen's sound is built on a foundation of pop, rock, Americana, Roots and Blues influences. Jon Allen has a soulful, whiskeysoaked voice and a striking gift for melody. He has never been content to be pigeonholed, as demonstrated by the eclecticism of his albums to date.Of the album Jon writes ''The last few years have felt like a pressure cooker slowly increasing to boiling point. There is sense of threat and a feeling of impending doom. Living in a large urban centre during a global pandemic brought out a sense of paranoia. We became more aware of our need for space, our need for silence and to be close to nature to get above the noise of a city. I'm absorbing all the time and everything from the famous Will Smith slap to missing people inspired the songs. How close are we all to the tipping point? What are we likely to do in heat of the moment? What will stress do to us when pushed? But light
follows dark, and there are the moments of simplicity and you can count your blessings for the simple things life has to offer".

pre-order now08.09.2023

expected to be published on 08.09.2023

27,27 €
SPARKLEHORSE - BIRD MACHINE LP

Sparklehorse

BIRD MACHINE LP

12inch270811
ANTI
08.09.2023

ANTI- Records is honored to share a never-before-heard album by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse titled Bird Machine. Originally recorded in 2010 and mixed by Mark Hamilton (who also worked on It"s A Wonderful Life), Mark"s brother Matt notes "great care has been taken to archive and preserve Mark"s music.

We are very thankful for Mark and the beauty he brought to this world." Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band formed by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous in the mid-1990s.

Born on September 9, 1962, in Arlington, Virginia, Linkous began playing music as a teenager. Described as an artist who "compelled listeners to heed the beauty of darkness" by Pitchfork, Sparklehorse released many influential records, including the renowned albumsn Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot and Good Morning Spider in the "90s, It"s A Wonderful Life and Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain in the early aughts, and a collaborative album Dark Night of the Soul released in 2010.

Throughout his career Mark collaborated with thought provoking artists like Vic Chesnutt, Daniel Johnston, Tom Waits, Danger Mouse, and David Lynch.

While Mark recorded in various studios, collaborating with other musicians and producers, he did much of his work in his home studio, Static King, often playing and recording everything on his own. He was "very much kind of a working-class guy with a very poetic sensibility, who was drawn to artists like himself, who worked in isolation," said NPR Fresh Air"s Ken Tucker.

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Last In: 3 years ago
21,22 €
Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet - Heaven On My Mind LP

After the thematic albums 'True' (2012 inspired by Berlin and David Bowie).

'Desire' (2015, an instrumental opera about longing), 'Goldbrun' (2017 a homage to Europe and Honing's interest in European art music) and 'Bluebeard' (2020, a dark album mainly inspired by the 300-year-old fairy tale of the same name), there is now 'Heaven on my mind'.An album on which the quartet's now decade- long existence undoubtedly pays off. Not only is the almost telepathic way the band members communicate with each other an important feature; this fifth quartet album also clearly shows Honing's love for Charles Lloyd, Pharoah Sanders and the freer acoustic jazz that emerged along with the 1960s hippie movement.

pre-order now08.09.2023

expected to be published on 08.09.2023

20,38 €
A.R. Kane - A.R. Kive LP 4x12"

A.r. Kane

A.R. Kive LP 4x12"

4x12inchRGIRL133
ROCKET GIRL
08.09.2023

A.R. Kive collates the three most astonishing works from that most miraculous of duos - A.R. Kane - comprising the ‘Up Home’ EP from 1988 that signified the band’s dawning realisation of their own powers and possibilities, their legendary debut LP ‘sixty nine’ (1988) and its kaleidoscopic, prophetic double-LP follow up ‘i’ (1989).

In founder-member Rudy Tambala’s new remastering, the music on these pivotal transmissions from the birth of dream pop, have been reinvigorated and re-infused with a new power, a new depth and intimacy, a new height and immensity. Vivid, timeless and yet always timely whenever they’re recalled, these records still force any listener to realise that despite the habits of retrospective myth-making and the
safe neutering effects of ‘genre’, thirty years have in no way dimmed how resistant and dissident to critical habits of categorisation A.R. Kane always were. Never quite ‘avant-pop’ or ‘shoegaze’ or ‘post-rock’ or any of those sobriquets designed to file and categorise, A.R. Kive is a reminder that those genres had to be coined, had to be invented precisely to contain the astonishing sound of A.R. Kane, because
previous formulations couldn’t come close to their sui generis sound and suggestiveness. This is music that pointed towards futures which a whole generation of artists and sonic explorers would map out. Now beautifully repackaged, remastered and fleshed out with extensive sleeve notes and accompanying materials, ‘A.R. Kive’ reveals that 35 years on it’s still a struggle to defuse the revolutionary and inspirational possibility of A.R. Kane’s music.

A.R. Kane were formed in 1986 by Rudy Tambala and Alex Ayuli, two second-generation immigrants who grew up together in Stratford, East London. From the off the pair were outsiders in the culturally mixed (cockney/Irish/West Indian/Asian) milieu of the East End, with Alex and Rudy’s folks first generation immigrants from Nigeria and Malawi, respectively. The two of them quickly developed and fostered an innate and near-telepathic mutual understanding forged in musical, literary and artistic exploration. Like a lot of second-generation immigrants, they were ferocious autodidacts in all kinds of areas, especially around music and literature. Diving deep into the music of afro-futurist luminaries such as Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Lee Perry and
Hendrix, as well as devouring the explorations of lysergic noise and feedback from contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers, they also thoroughly immersed themselves in the alternate literary realities of sci-fi and ancient history (the fascination with the arcane that gave the band their name), all to feed their voracious cultural thirsts and intellectual curiosity.

It was seeing the Cocteau Twins performing on Channel 4 show the Tube that spurred A.R. Kane into being - “They had no drummer. They used tapes and technology and Liz Fraser looked completely otherworldly with those big eyes. And the noise coming out of Robin’s guitar! That was the ‘Fuck! We could do that! We could express ourselves like that!’ moment”, recalls Tambala - and through a mix of
confidence, chutzpah, ad hoc almost-mythical live shows and sheer innocent will the duo debuted with the astonishing ‘When You’re Sad’ single for One Little Indian in 1986. Immediately dubbed a ‘black Jesus & Mary Chain’ by a press unsure of WHERE to put a black band clearly immersed in feedback and noise, what was immediately apparent for listeners was just how much more was going on here - a
tapping of dub’s stealth and guile, a resonant umbilicus back to fusion and jazz, the music less a conjuration of past highs than a re-summoning of lost spirits.
The run of singles and EPs that followed picked up increasingly rapt reviews in the press, but it was the ‘Up Home EP’ released in 1988 on their new home, Rough Trade that really suggested something immense was about to break. Simon Reynolds noted the EP was: Their most concentrated slab of iridescent awesomeness and a true pinnacle of an era that abounded with astounding landmarks of guitar-reinvention, A.R. Kane at their most elixir-like.

If anything, the remastered ‘Up Home’ that forms the first part of ‘A.R. Kive’ is even more dazzling, even more startling than it was when it first emerged, and listening now you again wonder not just about how many bands christened ‘shoegaze’ tried to emulate it, but how all of them fell so far short of its lambent, pellucid wonder. This remains intrinsically experimental music but with none of the frowning orthodoxy those words imply. A.R. Kane, thanks to that second generation auto-didacticism were always supremely aware about the interstices of music and magic, but at the same time gloriously free in the way they explored that connection within their own sound, fascinated always with the creation of ‘perfect mistakes’ and the possibilities inherent in informed play.

‘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.

The final part of this ‘A.R. Kive’ contains 1989’s astonishing double-LP ‘i’ which followed up on ‘sixty nine’s promise and saw the duo fully unleash their experimental pop sensibilities over 26 tracks, plunging the A.R. Kane sound into a dazzlingly kaleidoscopic vision of pop experiment and play. Suffused with new digital technologies and combining searingly sweet and danceable pop with perhaps the duo’s strangest and boundary-pushing compositions, the album did exactly what a great double-set should do - indulge the artists sprawling pursuit of their own imaginations but always with a concision and an ear for those moments where pop both transcends and toys with the listeners expectations. Jason Ankeny has noted that “In retrospect, ‘i’ now seems like a crystal ball prophesying virtually every major musical development of the 1990s; from the shimmering techno of ‘A Love from Outer Space’ to the liquid dub of ‘What’s All This Then?’, from the alien drone-pop of ‘Conundrum’ to the sinister shoegazer miasma of ‘Supervixens’ — it’s all here, an underground road map for countless bands to follow.” Perhaps the most overwhelmingly all-encompassing transmission from A.R. Kane, ‘i’ bookended a three year period in which the duo had made some of the most prophetic and revelatory music of the entire decade.

After ‘i’ the duo’s output became more sporadic with Tambala and Ayuli moving in different directions both geographically and musically, with only 1994’s ‘New Clear Child’ a crystalline re-fraction of future and past echoes of jazz, folk and soul, before the duo went their separate ways. Since then, A.R. Kane’s music has endured, not thanks to the usual sepia’d false memories that seem to maintain interest in so much of the musical past, but because those who hear A.R. Kane music and are changed irrevocably, have to share that universe which A.R. Kane opened up, with anyone else who will listen. Far more than other lauded documents of the late 80s it still sounds astonishingly fresh, astonishingly livid and vivid and necessary and NOW.

pre-order now08.09.2023

expected to be published on 08.09.2023

105,84 €
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