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White Vinyl

Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 Reissue Series.
Limited to 800 copies worldwide. Please check your allocation with your sales rep.
Pressed on White Vinyl.
Includes postcard and poster. Non-Returnable.
The Wake formed in Glasgow (Scotland) in April 1981, after singer/ guitarist Caesar teamed up with drummer Steven Allen and a bassist, Joe Donnelly. Previously Caesar had played guitar in Altered Images, writing first single Dead Pop Stars and appearing on the first two John Peel sessions, but left the group shortly before they crashed into the mainstream pop charts with Happy Birthday.
With few opportunities to play large live shows the new group financed a single on their own Scan 45 label, coupling upbeat indiepop number On Our Honeymoon with Give Up, a darker song featuring a keyboard line picked out by band friend Robert ‘Bobby’ Gillespie.

Ever get the feeling you’re being manipulated? Ever get the feeling you’re manipulating things? Somewhere between these two questions exists this seismic slab of dark post-disco drama from Leipzig duo New Hook: ‘Manipulation’.

The original version of ‘Manipulation’ has recently been released on Underground Pacific album ‘The Only Good Wave Is A New One’. But there’s more to story… Now redeveloped and reworked, ‘Manipulation’ has been manipulated into this epic club missile on Riotvan. Electrified and strident in its swagger, this new version maintains the duo’s sultry, provocative vocal but carries much more dancefloor weight. Every bit as sharp and to the point as the name New Hook suggests, it’s also been blessed with an equally forthright twist from dark disco don Curses who brings a little added funk to the bassline, manipulating the already manipulated ‘Manipulation’ with his own unique flare.

Now it’s time for your turn to manipulate it in the mix…

Joona Toivanen Trio makes their We Jazz Records debut with their new album "Both Only", out 25 Feb 2022. A landmark work for the long standing group, the album showcases a new sound for the band, trekking deep into new ideas for an acoustic jazz piano trio. Since their formation as teenagers in mid-1990's, the trio of pianist Joona Toivanen, bassist Tapani Toivanen and drummer Olavi Louhivuori (of Superposition, Ilmiliekki Quartet and Linda Fredriksson "Juniper") has developed their remarkably coherent band sound step by step, touring the world over. Nowadays, the trio is geographically split between Gothenburg, Sweden (Joona), Copenhagen, Denmark (Tapani), and Helsinki, Finland (Olavi), but the unit has never sounded so together as one, and as adventurous as on "Both Only".

"Both Only" by Joona Toivanen Trio is a cocoon, a welcoming shelter of sound that opens up naturally for the listener to inhabit. The album is moody and introspective, even dark at times, but by the time you get to the closing track, "This and This", you'll likely notice something hopeful brewing up. This is not music dealing with nostalgia or a world lost. Instead, it's a body of work with delicate dynamics, taking a minute just to listen and to look inwards to learn something, to move forward.

The first single "Enlightened" is perhaps the most traditional piece on the album, yet it flows like a vessel beyond genre, conveying a mood, a feeling and an idea. Listen to how the piano, bass and drums discuss, how the groove moves with the instruments having their clear roles but also supporting each other and documenting a musical aging process exactly as that of a quality bottle of red wine. As a song like "Direction" proves, the melody is there all the way, yet there is nothing obvious about how it's carried by the trio. Things remain surprising, fresh and moving at all times. "Except For" keeps its intensity, while nearly erupting into a full on 4-to-the-floor banger. Nearly! The key here is how the energy sustains itself, building the intensity within the music.

"Both Only" is a powerful statement from a band ready to renew itself time and again, and one willing to do it slowly, outside of the hype. This process makes the impact enduring, nuanced and lovely.

WJLP37 Joona Toivanen Trio "Both Only" is available on vinyl as a black vinyl edition and as a LP+7" bundle also including WJ0716 "Except For (7" Edit)" / "Keyboard Study No. 2".

“More excellent poetic soundscapes from We Jazz! Love the flow through the tracks here – textural pieces moving into more rhythmic jazz abstractions. Beautifully recorded too.”
Quinton Scott — Worldwide FM

“Following on from the excellent Linda Fredriksson album We Jazz extend the journey with this innovative Joona Toivanen Trio set.”
Paul Bradshaw — Straight No Chaser

“You’ll look in vain here for extravagant splashes of color or bright swathes of sound, but what you will discover are a finely-chiselled set of compositions that make the most of the trio’s limited palette: flint-sharp melodies hewn from the ice, crisp and crackling rhythms.”
Cal Gibson — Ban Ban Ton Ton

“Incredible album from Joona Toivanen Trio and a strong start to the new year from We Jazz.”
Kerem Gokmen — Dubmission

“Encapsulating a new movement in jazz.”
Jay Scarlett — Sounds Supreme

“Interesting listen on the shortest day of the year. They have a very definite and saturated style.”
John Chacona — All About Jazz

“Airplayed the track”
Tom Ravenscroft — BBC6 Music

“Jazz album of the year released already in February?”
Ralf Sandell — Hufvudstadsbladet

“★★★★★”
Iida Simes — Voima Magazine

Höga Nord Rekords kindly welcomes Teecwa back to the label, following up his last full length-album “Beyond the Altai” with “Elysian on Moon Lake”. He is still exploring the intersections between house, electro, techno and dub and once again he manages to harness the analogue electronics in his machines to produce modern psychedelia.

“Elysian On Moon Lake” is rawer, less airy and not as sparkling as his last album. This is a tighter, and slightly darker experience than Teecwa’s previous work, maybe caused by being in quarantine for extensive time during production, letting some of the dreaminess aside for the harsher reality in a pandemic world. Still, you get a mind-altering experience in a lot of tracks since the album starts off in a lighter tone than how it later develops. Switching from the A- to the B-side works as a rite of passage going from dusk to night; the sun rays through the blinders are replaced by neon light dancing on the walls and ceiling.

Regarding the dramaturgy of “Elysian On Moon Lake”, this album has movielike qualities; a well-directed piece from the opening impact and setup through the confrontational part where intensity builds up to the climax in “Hythmdoser” to the cooling down effect of the peaceful closer “Celestial Trails”. The trip eventually ends up in a safe and happy place after the cathartic finale.

This is not a just collection of songs, this is an album made to experience in full length without interruptions.

“I’m closing a chapter in my life,” Barbie Bertisch says to me from a park bench in Greenpoint, “I spent the last four years working towards gaining confidence around my ideas and my creative perspective. This feels like a culmination of that process” The “this,” in question is Bertisch’s debut record Prelude, a collection of eleven songs that chronicle 5 years of Bertisch’s life. The legendary musician Anna Domino describes the record best: “Prelude is a record of layers and depths. The melting phases and soaring distances.”


Raised in Buenos Aires and Miami, Bertisch has called New York home for most of her adult life. When she started piecing together Prelude, she was in her Brooklyn kitchen. It was early quarantine. Stuck at home instead of DJing at clubs, she found the space to parse through the archives. What she previously considered unworthy of attention in the era of distractions, finally made sense as a whole once all the noise was turned down. Compiling a list of songs in various states of completion, Bertisch dreamed up an album, a chronicle in growth and healing frustrations of the past, an honest account of someone trying to find her own voice. That in and of itself was a journey. It took years for Bertisch to accept that she was an artist. “I felt like I was surrounded by men who ruled every space. I constantly felt like I had to ask permission to enter, always around bands but never the girl in the band” she says.


Prelude is an introspective record. It explores all of the valences of being and feeling. Some songs are chaotic and choppy. Others are soft and searching. There is rage and innocence, and moments of forced stillness, like capturing the aftermath of panic attacks, as in “After The Storm”. Bertisch also focuses on rhythm, bass guitar being her main instrument, and no stranger to the power of the beat. The record also draws on influences as varied as Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Cocteau Twins, Berlin School, and pioneering producer François Kevorkian. Both sonically and conceptually, Prelude is a portrait of who Bertisch is as a person.“Is This What You Wanted?” is fiery, a pointed provocation to domineering figures from her past. It’s full of strobing, strident synths, and heady lines of bass. It gives off the same vibe as a fire alarm, as a big room dance track that subverts your expectations of what it means to dance in a sea of bodies. “28,” the record’s opening track is more peaceful. It’s all languid keyboard arpeggios with the occasional flourish of a cascading synth effect.


Since most of the songs already existed in some form or another, Bertisch’s job on Prelude was to refine and reimagine music that had previously been private. She spent time rearranging, rewriting, adding elements newly available to her, such as the saxophone, and pushing the limits of the rough mixes to mold the universe she envisioned. Along the way, Bertisch grew more excited about her abilities as a musician. The resulting record is one that is inherently confident.


Prelude is also a homespun release. It’s coming out on Bertisch’s own label, Love Injection Records, which she runs with her partner Paul Raffaele. The two also DJ and make zines under the name, which started in 2015. Love Injection is a love letter to New York. Prelude is a word of encouragement to those struggling with self-actualization. The record was mixed by Justin Van Der Volgen and mastered by Walter Coelho. Love Injection Records holds the remix tradition in high regard, and they’ve enlisted reworks by some of Barbie’s favorite producers. It’s all a labor of love for Bertisch. Prelude is her: Barbie the musician.
©℗ Love Injection Records 2022

After an extended interval between releases, Data Arts Group owner/operator Document Swell (real name Simon Cotter), presents his first full length LP "Hybrid Emotion". Document Swell's first musical contribution to Data Arts Group is also the first vinyl release for the label and brings DAG into the new world of 2022 and beyond. Song-writing, and sound sketches for "Hybrid Emotion" took place over a time span of approximately 5 years in various bedroom studios and life-phases throughout northern Melbourne/Naarm, as well as small setups in the Berlin localities of Templehof and Schöneberg. Arranging and mixing was completed in Northcote, throughout that period of ample time in Melbourne's Covid-19 lockdowns. The album spans a rich tapestry of ideas and moods which can be perceived as something between Document Swell's classic playful dance floor style to a more reflective and brooding tone.

The opening track "River Heart", is built of rudimentary pitched percussion, warm Juno pads and randomised Blofeld synthesis to construct an electronic impression and nostalgic sense of life by the river. The title track "Hybrid Emotion" brings the album closer to the realm of the club with relaxed house grooves and moody but spirited melodies, along with hybridised vocal samples."Why Then Here" pushes the album's character towards something less human, with a more synthetic affection portrayed by repetitive vocal samples and individualistic synth tangents. "Now and Then" realigns the trajectory to a warmer and more predictable landscape with chugging Balearic rhythms, glassy synths and jottings of lush electric guitar. On the flip side, "Day of Thunder" drops things down into an animated variety of industrial darkness, with heavy weight kick drums, metallic percussion and bleak vocal messaging. "Little G", an ode to a well loved cat, lightens things up instantly with playful synth noodlings, disco beats and clatter from pots and pans. "Vergangenheit" exhibits Simon's explorations into the acid world, with 303 squawks, cassette crunched drums and shadowy synth pads. The closing track "Epic Sands" ends the album, not with an end note, but a sense of ongoing possibilities.

‘Self Oscillation’ is made up of 5 club-ready psychedelic workouts swaying with natural momentum, from
Ecuadorian superstar Nicola Cruz, who makes his 2nd appearance on London’s Rhythm Section INTL.

The internationally renowned producer, Nicola Cruz, has been instrumental in pioneering the sound of Andean music over the last decade. Born and raised in Ecuador, Nicola has found his own unique way to tap into Latin America’s illustrious musical past to create something utterly contemporary. His previous projects have had the 4 elements running through as major themes: Fire and lava erupted during his sophomore album, Siku, with an Ecuadorian volcano doubling up as a recording space. And now, with his second Rhythm Section release, we are met with sounds of flowing water that Nicola describes as “aqueous explorations”. On this EP, ‘Self Oscillation’, Nicola Cruz fuses experimental production techniques with underwater, bass-heavy constructions. Moods change like the tides; from euphoric highs with acid riffs and latin drum patterns, the music quickly dives to moody submarine basslines and dark, frenetic rhythms.

‘Self Oscillation’ sees Nicola’s production move to new heights as he expertly bridges the gap between natural and mechanical sounds. With the help of iconic 80s and 90s synths and the retro colours of a Roland Space Echo, his newest work is a hybrid of electronic dance music and a synaesthetic image of nature. In the spirit of his previous EP on Rhythm Section INTL, ‘Self Oscillation’ showcases the synergy - or rather ongoing battle between the organic and inorganic, the analog and digital, civilisation confronted and confounded by nature. It’s within this dichotomy that Cruz revels, and manages to say so much, without words.

Dove Award-nominated band We Are Messengers, who has amassed over
187 million on-demand streams and played to over 2 million people
worldwide, is back with the brand-new album, 'Wholehearted', which
features current radio single "Come What May
" Lead singer Darren Mulligan shares, "Like most artists, our world kinda fell apart
when touring got shut down. So we did what every good songwriter should do, we
catalogued every feeing imaginable and tried to make sense of a strange new
world. We danced in the darkness, wrestled with doubt, reconnected with God in a
really authentic way, and found the beauty in the forced simplicity of our lives. We
gave ourselves fully to the process of telling the truth again and not caring about
what the world thought of us. This album captures the heart of a follower of
Jesus in one of the most wonderful and horrific times we have faced in modern
history. We went all in, held nothing back. This one is 'Wholehearted'."

Sweetness and noise, light and dark, soul and body - KICK are back with
the new album Light Figures
KICK are Chiara Amalia Bernardini (vocals, bass) and Nicola Mora (guitars,
electric piano, synths, samplers), from Brescia. Their sound combines rough
elements and others more dreamy in a sound that could ideally be defined "sweet
noise", a style on their own melting the noise with the softness of the
atmosphere, without any limits of genre. The production of Light Figures,
composed between 2019 and 2020, was curated together with Marco Fasolo
(Jennifer Gentle, I Hate My Village), known for the international reach of his
works.

Leeds art-rock group Mush (Dan Hyndman vocals / guitar, Phil Porter drums,
Nick Grant bass, Myles Kirk guitar) are set to return with album ‘Down Tools’
via Memphis Industries. The new record marks the prolific band’s third album
in as many years, following hype-building early singles ‘Alternative Facts’
and ‘Gig Economy’, 2020’s debut album ‘3D Routine’ and 2021’s acclaimed
‘Lines Redacted’, which pushed their sound further and, as Uncut wrote, saw
them become “kindred spirits to Wand and King Gizzard & The Lizard
Wizard, two other bands prolifically honing their sound and approach,
steadily developing their voice.”
 On ‘Down Tools’, this voice grows again into a more brilliantly singular
sound. It sees Mush getting loose, moving away from the defined moods and
textures of ‘Lines Redacted’ with a musical openness, straddling genres
while avoiding pastiche. Hyndman says of the lyrics on ‘Down Tools’ that
“there was a conscious decision to retreat further from an observational
approach” with vocals being ad-libbed lending the record a more abstract
feel. Hyndman continues: “this album is less dark than the previous one. The
Armageddon obsession has eased, or at least the symptoms have become
milder due to saturation. Musically there’s a lot more chill on the record -
there’s a few more mellow tracks out there and the most astute listener may
even be able to decipher some of the words, fingers crossed.”
 While grief and work balance form themes on the record, Hyndman’s
approach is largely made up of abstract, disconnected streams of
consciousness and lines liberally taken from books, paintings, films and
beyond. On ‘Human Resources’, Hyndman dramatically retells a battle he
had with an HR department at a job in a David and Goliath style. The song
‘Group Of Death’, a phrase chillingly familiar to any football fan, is
emblematic of the turn towards softer, more considered sounds. Hyndman
says: “In my warped imagination it just sounds like a Paul McCartney song,
but it won’t to others. I initially had the idea of doing a World Cup song called
‘Group of Death’, but by the time it was written nothing beyond the title had
any relevance to football. Anyway, the next World Cup is in Qatar so fuck
that shit.”
 ‘Northern Safari’, meanwhile, is a song about the way the North of England
has been portrayed in the media and used as a mirror to reflect some of the
nastier elements of what’s going on in society, in particular vox pops around
Doncaster, portraying a particular narrative of the collapse of the red wall and
the disgruntled ex-miners.
 ‘Down Tools’ sees Mush idiosyncratically ping-pong from finger picked
looseners to noise-rock bangers to brilliantly entertaining effect, avoiding
post punk saturation with an easy style and wit.

It's dark in the forest. Especially in the »northwest«. You have to adjust all your senses. But once you have, the forest will take you in his arms. The forest will protect you. Just like Daniel Herrmann's first album for Live At Robert Johnson will protect you.

Herrmann is far from being unknown in the world of music - let alone in the art or photography world. In the music field, he is probably much more known under his Flug 8 moniker where he released five albums on Disko B, Doxa Records, Ransom Note, and Acid Pauli's Smaul Recordings. Under his given name, Daniel Herrmann's relationship with LARJ's label boss Ata Macias goes way back. As an artist and photographer Herrmann was the only one allowed to take pictures inside Ata's ROBERT JOHNSON club, thus creating an iconic series of pictures of clubbers and club life in general. Herrmann’s pictures of the partying punters themselves were presented as wallpaper all over Robert Johnson back in 2002.

With »Enroute« Herrmann enters new territory: It is his most ambient work up to today. And yes, it is a piece of work created during the lockdown. Herrmann's studio is situated in the outskirts of Frankfurt, near the forest - a quite remote place already in-between the Taunus mountain range. Imagine life during the lockdown in such a place … This is where Herrmann set up his former basement studio in the large living room with a variety of instruments besides a cozy fireplace spending warm light and warmth. A warmth that despite its seemingly rather "cold" atmosphere can be heard all over »Enroute«. Once you soak in the sounds (or get soaked into the sounds) of the first tracks like album opener »northwest«, »Fly By Wire« or the 11min »Dark Trace« you might feel this warmth too. A cold warmth you could say, yet a warmth that only modular systems and synthesizers can create.

There is a change of mood with »Intercontinental« - literally as it seems that Herrmann indeed is on an intercontinental journey here despite the strolls and long walks in silence through the Taunus forest. This is also the place where Herrmann took many photographs of the forest and its trees (to be seen on his Instagram account) - and the picture on the cover: This spooky yet fragile high seat in the mist in front of those trees. Yet darkness alone is not dominating this album. Even during these dark days, there was a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. And it shows in the beauty of »Bouncing Rays«.

»Enroute« is done all alone and in total isolation. And one can hear it. But it also invites the listener to be a part of this lonely world. And we all know that being lonely is made easier with someone on your side - »Enroute« to a better place. A place that isn't lonely at all.

PS: For all digital music lovers we have included two bonus tracks: The GLOK remix of »Bouncing Rays« and Herrmann's clattering and creaking tune »Economy« - enjoy!

Hot on the heels of 001, Tonal Oceans proudly presents 6 carefully selected tracks from Nicole Skeltys' rather extensive catalog.

Compiling tracks from her Artificial alias, TNL-OCS002 consists of material which draws from her self-released 12"s, a long lost 7" lathe cut, as well as some CD-only material.

Being active since the 90's, Nicole has paved her way through many genres and moods, which together represent all things "Antipodean Electronica" excellently.
Also features a track from close friends Dark Network.

"The past 5 years we have taken our music all over the world: Europe, Asia, Africa besides our homeland Denmark, and even though we cannot speak with many of the people we meet, our music is a universal language that transcends borders. The meetings we have had (and continue to have) all over inspire us to create new music. But of course we are the composers of the music, so this is our representation of those meetings.

Our 3rd album is called AFROTROPISM. Tropism is a biological phenomenon that indicates growth of a plant in response to the environment; so when you see a plant turning for the sunlight, this is tropism. In other words, this is not so much about the plant's roots but more about how it reacts when it touches the air, feels sunlight or rain - in other words the outside world. So AFROTROPISM refers to the fact that we are drawn towards the African traditions, but we are "growing" our own music.

On our first two albums we have recorded extensively with African musicians, and AFROTROPISM is centered around The KutiMangoes (TKM) as a band. We are developing our artistic direction by going more in depth with how we can mix our inspirations with our own musical heritage. Our musical mission is (and has always been) to mix cultures and create our own sound.

With our background in jazz music, TKM counts virtuoso instrumentalists with a heartfelt intent and sound innovators with our horns, effect pedals, synthesizers, drums and percussion from all over the world. AFROTROPISM is a further and deeper development of our trademark bold sound that experiments with synthesizers, soundscapes and a bit of electronic effects without losing it's focus on groove, melody, atmosphere and musicianship."

The KutiMangoes, July 2019


About each track:

STRETCH TOWARDS THE SUN
This track opens up with a synthesizer groove that is inspired by the polyrhythmic grooves played by the balafon (a predecessor of the piano) from West Africa. Our rolling sequence could not be played on the balafon because of the key changes, but the basic idea comes from that instrument. Quick and light, we wanted to write a song where you can feel the sun coming out and feel the energy it's rays give. The combination of the programmed groove, the horn-arrangement, the huge percussion section and the live instruments makes for a sound that we have not heard before, and it illustrates what this album is all about (and what the track's title refers to): that we stretch towards the things that give us energy – and that although our roots are in Denmark, when we encounter a musical tradition as rich as in West Africa, it changes us and our music.

A SNAKE IS JUST A STRING
The first time we saw Mali-bluesman extraordinaire Vieux Farka Touré on stage was just after we had played at a huge festival in Burkina Faso, and we almost literally caught on fire. Their groove was so strong and insistent that we were mesmerized, and it inspired us to come up with the opening guitar part of this song. Basically a bluesy tune with some unusual chord changes and a crazy synthesizer solo by Johannes Buhl Andresen reminiscent of that fuzzy guitar-sound we love so much in the Mali blues. The title is an homage to the Nigerian writer Chinua Acheba, who in his masterpiece novel "Things Fall Apart" tells that in the village during the night, to ward off the fear of darkness, people would call dangerous animals by a different name: don't be afraid, a snake is just a string.

KEEP YOU SAFE
It is a basic human necessity to have a place where you can feel safe. But there are far too many people in our world that fear for their safety, their livelihood, their children, their relatives – and this is surely not a feeling that helps us to flourish as humans. With this song we are saying that we all need to make it a priority to help our fellow humans to feel safe. And of course, if our song can offer a feeling of safety and comfort for a short time to those who listen, we are truly thankful.

MONEY IS THE CURSE
This track is directly inspired by Fela Kuti's ability to create music that is both physical and political. Dance music with a serious message about our times. For the solo part we wanted a more melancholy, pensive feel (than the full-on baritone-trombone melody) and also wanted to experiment with some choppy, stuttering effects to make the horns sound desperate. Money is the curse because it can become the objective of our life; money is the curse because it changes the relationships we have with our fellow humans. Money is the curse.

THORNS TO FRUIT
This melody is inspired by the scales and developments of a traditional Bambara folk-song. We love the way these melodies constantly evolve with small developments and changes. We felt like an accompaniment that is really dry, sparse and earthy would fit well and then made a contrasting solo part. As a group we are interested in how to develop our improvisations together and create sonic landscapes that evoke a distinctive atmosphere – so here, we have no soloist, but a collection of synthesizer parts, saxophone lines and guitar-sounds that together create a dreamy and lush ambience.

SAND TO SOIL
We started out with a short ngoni riff played by our good friend and master musician Aboubacar Konaté. We then sampled it, built soundscapes and our own both meditative and pumping groove around it. We created a melody with both melancholy and joy, with afterthought and impulse and then the brilliant Aske Drasbæk added an emotive and blistering saxophone solo. The title refers to the contrasts in our humanism. As part of our human nature, we have a dark side that drives us (and each other) towards destruction – making the fertile soil into barren sand. The title is an encouragement to emphasize the opposite movement in our nature: to create life and help it flourish. We keep ourselves human by insisting that we must never forget this side of our nature no matter how tough, tiresome or trying it might be. Let's keep our focus on the light, the warmth, the positive energy – that can turn the cold stone into fertile ground.

Otis Spann is widely recognised as one of the greatest blues pianists of all time. Although Spann made a name for himself in Chicago by the mid 1940s, it wasn't until 1960 that he got the opportunity to record an album of his own. Otis Spann Is The Blues is not only the first solo album ever recorded by Otis Spann, it is also the first album ever recorded for the fledgling New York City based Candid Records label. Stripped down to just the two musicians this magnificent set showcases Spann's voice and piano.

IATT is pleased to once again team up with Black Lion Records for the follow up to 2019's Nomenclature; our new full length album entitled Magnum Opus. We've meticulously crafted this album to leap from where Nomenclature left us thematically.
The listener is catapulted from the 1700s (Arsenic Ways) further back in time to a much darker, older world and the esoteric sciences of Alchemy. It was in this time man aimed to harness the world around him, bending the natural elements in a quest to obtain power, knowledge, control, and even immortality itself.
Alchemy was the key to unlocking the secrets of existence and elevating one's self to the pinnacle of enlightenment through transmutation and manipulation of the earthly elements. It was only through the process of Magnum Opus (the great work) that alchemists could harness the elementals in their purest form to create the Philosopher's Stone - the key to power, enlightenment, and immortality.
Just as in alchemy itself, creating this album has been a journey of transformation for us; a period of great growth as individuals and as a unit. It's through adversity, struggles, and the forging of the elements - of literal blood, sweat, and tears - we strive to transcend and elevate to our highest selves, "the great work", Magnum Opus.

Sound Like: (Immolation, Spawn of Possession, Death, Emperor, Obscura)

Mit ,Happy Hour" reift HOLLIE COOK endgültig zur Königin des modernen ,Lovers Rock", dem opulenten wie harmoniebetonten Reggae-Stil, der in Großbritannien seit den 1970er Jahren beliebt ist. Als Teenagerin tourte sie mit den Punk-Legenden THE SLITS (auf deren EP ,Revenge Of The Killer Slits" sie 2006 mitsang) und entfachte so die wilde Seite ihrer liebenswürdigen Persönlichkeit. HOLLIEs Mentorin war Ari Up, die inzwischen verstorbene Leadsängerin der legendären Punk-Formation und eine lebenslange Freundin von COOKs prominenten Eltern. Sie ist die Tochter des Sex Pistols-Schlagzeugers Paul Cook und der Culture Club-Sängerin Jeni Cook (ihr Patenonkel ist Boy George!). ,My father always said I would be a singer. But I discovered lovers rock on my own. I heard it on pirate radio and with friends, and I was bewildered, enchanted," erinnert sich COOK. "The Slits are the reason I have pursued this career. I was surrounded by powerful women at a young age, and when my time came, I was never fazed by male dominance. They were my wall of courage." Auf diesen kämpferischen Fundament ist HOLLIEs Liebe zur Musik entstanden. Ihre gefühlvolle Direktheit auf ,Happy Hour" ist so nachvollziehbar wie authentisch. ,I can't get away from it" sagt sie. ,Making this music that I love, I do turn deep inside myself. It makes me explore a lot of human truths and feelings that we should not shy away from, and it feels like a release to turn them into songs."

Und dies trifft 100% zu: kunstvoll vereinen BATTLE AXIS Thrash-Einflüsse mit starkem Power-Metal. Teils Doom-lastige Schwere und rockige Elemente. Wagemutig, atmosphärisch, teutonisch, BATTLE AXIS!

Er gründete die Band im Oktober 1982 gemeinsam mit Schlagzeuger Vinny Appice, nachdem beide ihre Band Black Sabbath verlassen hatten. Ergänzt wurde die Band durch den irischen Gitarristen Vivian Campbell (Sweet Savage) und Bassist Jimmy Bain (Rainbow, Wild Horses). Im Mai 2010 verstarb Ronnie James Dio. Dies war der Grund für die Auflösung der Band. 1994 war für DIO eines der erfolgreichsten Live-Jahre. Am 10.Juli 1994 absolvierte die Band ein grandioses Konzert in den USA, welches vom US-Radiosender FSW-5 mitgeschnitten und nun freigegeben wurde. Diese strikt limitierte
Schallplatte enthält alle großen Hits und Alltime-Klassiker der US-Rock-Gruppe und kann als zeitliches Dokument angesehen werden.

“Lovage” is defined as “an herb that is said to be a benefit for relieving abdominal pains due to gastrointestinal gas…also touted to reduce flatulence when consumed as a tea.” But when placed in the able hands of sonic mastermind Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, recording under the guise of musical lothario Nathaniel Merriweather, the result is a concept album of “music to make love to your old lady by.” With the help of collaborators such as Mike Patton (vocals), Jennifer Charles (vocals) and Kid Koala (turntables), Merriweather serves as your personal guide to the sensual side of life, painting a satirical, darkly funny portrait of love and sex with left-field hip-hop and instrumentals as only he can do.

”Sometimes, Forever” - das dritte Album von Soccer Mommy erscheint am 24.06. und beweist Sophie
Allison endgültig als einer der talentiertesten Songwriterinnen der Rockmusik unserer Zeit. Mit cleveren
Anspielungen auf Synthie-Subgenres wie New Wave und Gothic erweitert die heute 24-Jährige die Grenzen
ihrer Ästhetik. ”Sometimes, Forever” ist eine faszinierende Sammlung, die sowohl von der Vergangenheit
als auch von der Gegenwart geprägt ist und damit das gewagteste und ästhetisch abenteuerlichste Werk
von Soccer Mommy. Das Album lebt von widersprüchlichen Kräften: Verlangen und Apathie, Ekstase
und Elend, Gut und Böse, Selbstbeherrschung und Wildheit. Unverblümte Liebeslieder reiben sich an viel
düstererer Kost mit makabre Bildern, die selbst die fröhlichsten Passagen heimsuchen. Aber da es ihr heute
besser geht als zu der Zeit, als sie die Lieder schrieb, hat sie keine Probleme damit, in den Momenten des
unkomplizierten Glücks zu schwelgen, die neben der Dunkelheit existieren. Sie sagt: ”Ich wollte nicht etwas
super Deprimierendes ohne jeden Sinn für Magie machen”. Der Album-Titel bezieht sich auf die Idee, dass
sowohl gute als auch schlechte Gefühle zyklisch sind. ”Kummer und Leere gehen vorbei, aber sie kommen
immer wieder - genauso wie die Freude”, sagt Allison. ”Irgendwann ist man gezwungen zu sagen: Ich muss
einfach beides nehmen.”
Produziert wurde der neue Longplayer von Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never.

Mark Korven's original soundtrack for 'The Lighthouse,' starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, marks his second collaboration with director Robert Eggers (The Witch).
"Robert Eggers and I were rather like the two wickies that went insane in The Lighthouse, musically speaking. We travelled to some very dark harmonic and textural places. We both enjoy not just breaking the rules, but blowing them to smithereens. The spirit of experimentation was always present."
-Composer Mark Korven


"Composer Mark Korven and I developed a shorthand working together on The Witch. This made collaborating on The Lighthouse an incredibly enjoyable process. But it was not without its many challenges. Originally, I wanted a score with no strings at all. The Witch soundtrack was so string-prominent that I wanted a full departure. I only wanted horns, pipes, conch shells, concertina - things that sounded like the sea - or the lighthouse station's ominous foghorn. It would be a minimalist aleatoric soundtrack with a nod to sea shanties and ancient Greek music. As Mark and I embraced the sound of big brass sections, it quickly became a maximalist aleatoric soundtrack.

Following appearances on Ellen Allien’s UFO Inc. and Bpitch Control, Lobster Theremin,and many more, NYC-based singer,multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and producer Heidi Sabertooth readies her first appearance on New York Trax this Spring, turning in a fierce four track EP of gritty hardware techno jams. Leading the release, ‘BeMyISM’ brings raw and crunching percussion alongside grinding low end for a high energy start to the EP. The fast-paced ‘JupiterCalling’ follows, raising thetempo to 150bpm as pounding kicks meet grinding, machinist percussion while trippy synthesis unfurls towards the tail end of the track. On the flip, ‘Welcome2MirrorWorld’ sees warped acid lines and sizzling percussion bring a dark and moodyatmosphere, before ‘You Must Have 10000 Followers (For Me To Book You)’closes out the release. A jittery slice of bass heavy electro, the punchy track makes use of squelchy synthesis, knocking drums and an assortment of unruly sounds. Heidi Sabertooth ‘Nine Hundred Lives EP ’drops this Spring

Friendsome Records and Belaria are delighted to present her debut EP Boost & Doubt. After only two singles and a remix to date she already managed to leave quite an impression, launching a very promising career. The young ‘home grown’ prodigy has produced this beautiful four tracker to take you on a retro-minimal journey of heavy beats and melodic synth.

Oscillating between Dark-Disco, Italo and Synth-Wave, starting and ending with two dancefloor oriented tracks Boost and Esteem (A1 & B2). Neither will allow you to sit still, in the middle of this you’ll find Rest In B (A2), a more poppy but still minimalist track that will remind you of throw backs of Chloé or Peaches. All sat alongside Burning Inside (B1) a downer tempo intimate song that would suite a room three or a long summer road trip. Enjoy the ride!

Philip Lawn is an Italian music producer, co-founder of Turbokitchen, releasing on labels such as Motek and My Favorite Robot Recordings.

In his debut EP as solo artist for Thisbe Recordings, “Ten Years of Travel”, he tells the tale of the Odyssey and his protagonist Ulysses through the use of machines (such as Nord Lead 4, Roland SPD-30, Behringer TD -3, Yamaha Reface CS & Moog sub 37) and hot grooves. Out of his secret garden, a perfect acoustically isolated walk-in closet, “Ten Years of Travel” was born. Particular to the structure of the EP is that each track has its own remix.

With a rework of “Distorted View”, Days of Being Wild deliver a dark disco classic, true to their idiosyncratic sound and original beats, mesmerizing the dancefloor straight away. Traveller and cosmic poet Pyrame rework of the single “Start” first feels like rain dropping before the storm comes and reveals an euphoric feeling as the break starts. Romain FX nails a fine remix of Ten Years of Travel, the main single of Philip Lawns´EP. His remix is a pure italo disco rework of the original, infused with pop synths and keys, that won´t leave anyone still and quiet. Banger.

Mit ,Happy Hour" reift HOLLIE COOK endgültig zur Königin des modernen ,Lovers Rock", dem opulenten wie harmoniebetonten Reggae-Stil, der in Großbritannien seit den 1970er Jahren beliebt ist. Als Teenagerin tourte sie mit den Punk-Legenden THE SLITS (auf deren EP ,Revenge Of The Killer Slits" sie 2006 mitsang) und entfachte so die wilde Seite ihrer liebenswürdigen Persönlichkeit. HOLLIEs Mentorin war Ari Up, die inzwischen verstorbene Leadsängerin der legendären Punk-Formation und eine lebenslange Freundin von COOKs prominenten Eltern. Sie ist die Tochter des Sex Pistols-Schlagzeugers Paul Cook und der Culture Club-Sängerin Jeni Cook (ihr Patenonkel ist Boy George!). ,My father always said I would be a singer. But I discovered lovers rock on my own. I heard it on pirate radio and with friends, and I was bewildered, enchanted," erinnert sich COOK. "The Slits are the reason I have pursued this career. I was surrounded by powerful women at a young age, and when my time came, I was never fazed by male dominance. They were my wall of courage." Auf diesen kämpferischen Fundament ist HOLLIEs Liebe zur Musik entstanden. Ihre gefühlvolle Direktheit auf ,Happy Hour" ist so nachvollziehbar wie authentisch. ,I can't get away from it" sagt sie. ,Making this music that I love, I do turn deep inside myself. It makes me explore a lot of human truths and feelings that we should not shy away from, and it feels like a release to turn them into songs."

Lonefront puts out his first EP on wax with Kajunga Records. Two raw and hypnotic techno tracks channeled from deep.

“Additive spectra” uses the basics masterfully to draw in the mind and body and transport the spirit to ancient spaces. A deep kick and bass drive through the whole track while the high end remains sparse with a subtly shifting pulse and restrained hi hats keeping the tension alive.

On the B side, “South of Forever” is an even more stripped back, slow burner. Nonstop kick and trance inducing percussion anchor the listener in while resonations and reverberations are twisted and mangled to create a strange evolving space out of darkness.

Lonefront is an artist out of MN by way of the bay area. He produces raw explorative techno tracks and performs live using modular hardware. His stripped back productions shift between the speculative future of progress and the drone of decay. Get in tune with carcasses of factories, a chorus of tongues spouting silent mantras, a silent stream of error-riddled program scripts: the flux and snap of trauma incants the noise beyond language that compels movement, and sets you free.

Camisole is proud to unveil another part of the french cold wave history with the reissue of "Paroles Absurdes" LP by White Pain.

Hailing from Lyon the band began as a duo with Patrick Saveau and Patrick Gravier in 1984.Active figures in the underground scene of their city, they played some gigs and even had their own show on the local radio station.They developed a small following around them and recruited other members to record this album in 1986.

"Paroles Absurdes" is driven by the feeling that you can't escape your fate. Saying Words that you sometimes regret but you feel to be true.This testimony infuses this whole album.However, positive assumptions flow from time to time and left their more pop appeal roll into some songs.

This reissue also includes the first two tracks of the group only released on tape in 1985.As a duo, White Pain was a synth and drum machine band inspired by early 80's german pioneers like DAF or Din a Testbild.They used to have a raw, powerful, and dark sound quite unique in France at this time."Vienna" is probably the best way to resume their first intention.

After his contribution to the label’s 2nd Anniversary compilation, Justin K. Broadrick returns to KR3 with a 6-track solo EP as JK FLESH. One of the most legendary names in the British alternative music scene, with a career spanning three decades with various projects such as Godflesh, JK Flesh, Jesu, ZONAL and more, Broadrick has always been able to push the emotional boundaries that lie within us through sonic violence, and yet he strikes once again with this new release. VENEER OF TOLERANCE – is pure electronic power, brain-scratching metal techno. The album opens its dark doors with a rough intro; a driving speech that Justin himself proclaims to be a manifesto on the irregularity and unpredictability of life. From then onwards, the whole album assumes the appearance of a running horse. Heavy bass lines with raw resonances feel like an approaching earthquake… A brutal cerebral assault!

Because is proud to announce the signing of French artist Aime Simone.
Aime is a young singer and songwriter making flamboyant, epic and minimalistic pop songs. Previously based in Berlin, where he crafted his sound and found his voice, Aime is now based in Paris. Since he started making music a few years ago, he has been working fully self-produced and self-distributed, amassing over 10 M streams worldwide and getting a lot of attention from international fans. He released digitally only his debut album ‘Say Yes, Say No’ last summer which includes songs such as “Shining Light” & “In The Dark Time”.
Following the steps of artists such as Christine and The Queens & Feu! Chatterton, he was recently awarded with the prestigious Chorus new talent prize. Because Music now releasing the first time very physical edition of “Say yes Say Now” and working with him to develop his audience & live dates happening this summer in France. International tour dates expected after summer time. In the meantime Aime Simone is writing his new album .

(Emmanuel Top, Tom Hades, Kony Donales + original remastered) Zolex heads up our next Bonzai Classics vinyl release with his 1993 cut, Time Modulator. New remixes come from Emmanuel Top, Tome Hades and Kony Donales who add their own unique twists to a techno classic.

Zolex heads up our next Bonzai Classics vinyl release with his 1993 cut, Time Modulator. New remixes come from Emmanuel Top, Tome Hades and Kony Donales who add their own unique twists to a techno classic. Back in the mid-nineties, Frank Struyf was churning out top club hits on Dance Opera, Circus, Frank’s own Zolex Records and our very own XTC and Bonzai Records imprints. Despite his busy DJ schedule Frank still found the time to produce his own sounds. Many years of producing quality records followed and he is still twiddling the knobs and spinning sets to this day.

The Original Mix graces the A1 slot, with its dark drums and rolling techno vibe hitting the spot. Moody and twisty, the groove becomes infectious and hypnotic thanks to a combination of blippy, bleepy sounds and relentless strings. The energy levels rise after the break, causing chaotic scenes on the floor, an absolute stomper. French DJ and producer Emmanuel Top takes up the A2 slot, delivering a fine remix with his instantly recognisable signature sound. Responsible for so many acid laden moments throughout his career, Emmanuel Top remains an inspiration to many. On the remix here, the tension mounts as 303 lines fade up alongside a hybrid drum construction and hypnotic FX. The acid effect takes hold, dominating the groove, the perfect set builder to whip up the crowd. Over on the flip, Belgian artist Tom Hades offers up his interpretation, turning the original into a slamming slice of techno for the modern dancefloor. Undoubtedly, Tom is responsible for some of the best techno joints released in recent years. Here, he employs his skills to great effect, using banging beats and minimalistic sounds that drive a solid, dark room techno vibe. This one is a must have, no doubt. To complete the vinyl, we have French artist Kony Donales on remix duties. Kony is the owner of Cayden Records which has churned out top techno tracks since 2011. He is known for his minimal style and he definitely knows how to work a track. The remix here brings the essence of Time Modulator into the 21st century with a strong contemporary groove. Nice pounding kicks and crispy percussions set the rhythm loose as metallic hits join raucous percussions and FX. Top-notch stuff once again.

12" LP (300) 'Nostalgia Por Mesozoica' is an exploration of "experimental exotica" consisted of synthesized tropical attributes — an artificial landscape isolated behind the glass frame.Reminiscent of recording techniques and sonorities ubiquitous in the 60’s and 70’s, it could conceivably have been intended as a soundtrack for the Mesozoic Era exhibition at your favorite Natural History museum.

* Over the past six years, Dimensions has become a leading name in the underground, with its festival, International Series, DJ Directory and Dimensions Soundsystem. Now, Dimensions extends its influence with the start of its label - Dimensions Recordings. The label launches with a 12-track compilation across three separate discs. 'An Introduction' makes a huge statement in setting out the label's intent and breadth. With artists established and new stepping up to present 12 exclusive tracks.

* Dimensions Recordings explores its darker side on An Introduction Part 3 with intergalactic oddities and twisted techno constructions, the release is definitely ones for the late hours. 'Crosstalk' from gear heads London Modular Alliance opens; a squelching, electro, hardware excursion demonstrating a small snippet of what's to come from the talented trio. Next, French artist, Upwellings steps up to demonstrate his purist approach as he unites elements of dub and techno to create the beautifully spacey 'Soft Shadows'. The third offering comes courtesy of Fachwerk label boss and prolific techno artist, Mike Dehnert; who presents raw but melodic track in 'Tokio,'which maintains his minimal and stripped back aesthetic beautifully. Chicago's Steven Tang in his Obsolete Music Technology rounds off the release with 'Comb Freq,' a devastatingly powerful mix of acidic, bleeping dance floor energy!

back in !

Tetra Hydro K is a laboratory in which two dub alchemists are experimenting with multiple sounds to mark their imprint on the French electro-dub scene. The duo of producers returns this year with a new album "Odyssée".

Coming respectively from the free party and trip-hop universe, they took their inspirations from French dub tenors such as High Tone, Improvisator Dub or Kaly Live Dub. Kanay creates a strong rhythm while Krilong brings his melodic genius with his saxophone. Electronic? Acoustic? Dub? Drum'n'Bass? Tetra Hydro K focuses on the combination of organic elements in an electronic universe. After 4 EPs since 2010, the band decided to evolve in 2016 with a first album "Labotomie". It was followed by 2 albums in 2017 and 2018 and season 1 of the amazing "Smoking Sessions" last year.

With this new album "Odyssée", THK rightly marks its stamp on the French dub landscape. They turned their passion in a life-size experimentation, a great diversification of the genres and musical influences that shines through various guests. The stellar dub of the French producer Panda Dub remixed by THK in "Labyrinthe" confronts with the Raggatek rhythm of the track "Nah Come Fi Test" for a top-notch collab alongside Sensi T. On "Black Ship" the duo signs a deep instrumental with a dark and dubby psychedelic vibe.

The rapper KT Gorique shows all her power on the track "L'impasse", displaying her powerful flow, no matter the rhythm. On this album, THK collaborates on two tracks with Tom Spirals. This MC from Glasgow lay down his voice in two different ways, first with a Hip-Hop vision, slightly Trap, in "Expedition 808" then with a Reggae flow on "Cut to the Chase". "Skanking Trip" adds a touch of Dub Stepper in this album with vocalist Loïc Paulin in full power over the heavy-weighted bass. Three instrumental tracks complete this album including the monstrous "Charcuterie Monin".

Tetra Hydro K is back on the road in 2022 to take us in their new odyssey !

Tropical Horses has been a figure of the Parisian underground for a little decade. After almost mistakenly seducing young talent runners who had only understood his music at its brightest, the boy released the very dark "Mirador" on Anywave in 2016, a hybrid between malevolent pop, walls of sound and assumed madness.

Since then, this great loner has never stopped rising to the hard, alone with his loopers, in intense and rough concerts while finely mixing extra-western grooves and melodies to his art. From these 5 years of maturation and opening results Fever, haunted, joyful and overpowering record.

Vinyl includes A 2-Part Full-Colour Vaughn Bodé Panoramic Collage

4 x VB Stickers (10x10mm)
Frame-able Insert Print (300x300mm)
180gm Black Vinyl
Shrink-Wrapped Gatefold Sleeve

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of “Unorthodox Jukebox”, a limited Dark Red Vinyl edition will be released on the 17th June, with the pre-order going live on the 19th May. “Unorthodox Jukebox” is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200, The record also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the U.K.. It became Mars's fastest-selling album in the latter country in 2012, the third best-selling album in Australia in 2013, and the fifth best-selling in the United States in 2013. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Unorthodox Jukebox was globally the fourth best-selling album in 2013. “Unorthodox Jukebox” also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Grammy Awards.
Bruno Mars is a 21-time GRAMMY Award nominee and multi-GRAMMY winner. The celebrated singer, songwriter, producer, musician has sold over 171 million singles worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. His most recent critically acclaimed and RIAA certified platinum album, “24K Magic,” made an impressive debut atop the Top Digital Albums and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Additionally, the album and its lead single, “24K Magic,” simultaneously hit No. 1 on the iTunes Overall Albums and Overall Songs charts week of release. The single has since climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has also officially been certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler have joined forces on For All Our Days That Tear The Heart, a collection of twelve mesmerising new songs. The meeting of an Academy Award-nominated actress and singer, and a Brit Award-winning producer and musician, feels like the tale of two distant stars coming together and forming their own constellation. For All Our Days That Tear The Heart is a remarkable work of windswept beauty and catharsis, and given that it seemed to come out of nowhere, it also feels like a gift. “More than anything, I wanted it to be joyous – properly joyous – because there is such joy in Jessie, there really is,” says Bernard. “In spite of the darkness and the intensity in these songs, I’m just flying when I listen back to them.”

Kalita are proud to unveil the first ever compilationvfocussing on the phenomenon of 'Burger Highlife', avcrossover of West African melodies with synthesizers, discovand boogie that took over Ghanaian airwaves during the 1980's and beyond. Highlighting key recordings fromvgenre-defining artists including Thomas Frempong andvGeorge Darko, as well as more obscure sought-after tracksvby elusive bands such as Aban and Uncle Joe's Afri-Beat,vKalita come to the rescue of audiophiles, DJs andvmusic-lovers alike with 'Borga Revolution!' Spread over avdouble-LP housed in a gatefold sleeve. Accompanied by av16-page booklet featuring extensive interview-based liner notes on each artist and never-before-seen archival photos.

For more than twelve years, Morphology have been re-writing the rules of electronics. Michael Diekmann and Matti Turunen have melted electro, IDM and techno into their own unique sound. To celebrate their achievements, FireScope has sifted through the impressive discography of this Finnish pairing to bring long out of print tracks back to life.

Twelve 2 brings together a decade’s worth of music released between 2009 and 2019, a dozen works that traverse genres and labels like Abstract Forms, AC Records, Analogical Force, Central Processing Unit, Cultivated Electronics, diametric., Inner Space Records and Vortex Traks. Spliced beats and bulging bass lines introduce the album with "Karma Flies.” Rhythmic patterns are condensed and stretched in “Inversion Layer” and “Amphidiscosa”, the latter’s aquatic undercurrents melting an organic touch with the coldness of the machine. Darker tones lurk, the long shadows cast by “Convince the Computer” spread to other tracks like “Nucleosynthesis.” Yet, despite these more sombre shades, pieces with a human element punctuate the album. The frenetic pace of “Fluid Dynamics,” with its playful melody, throbs with the pulse of a city while the ebbs and flows of the watery “Active Optics” explore an ever morphing and shifting sound. An imagined future is never far away in Morphology’s machinations. These other places are given sound in the frigid grooves of “Sentinel,” the primal beauty of “New Horizons” and the stark structures of “Landforms.”

Not only does this double LP gather rare tracks never heard together before, but also each piece has been lovingly remastered to breath new life into these wonderful works. Twelve 1 celebrates the music of Morphology in all its glory, two masters of modern electronic music who continue to re-define and re-design genres.

Dark techno EP by the prolific and versatile Finnish producer Empath. Four hard and distinctive tracks inspired by cold cyberpunk fiction and built for sweaty warehouses.>

Re-issue of The Hasbeens "Make The World Go Away". 3 timeless energetic Mechanical Disco tracks with dark new-wave/synth atmosphere.

The debut release from MAJIKAL featuring 4 dark hypnotic house cuts from the legendary El-B

Rarely do two types of music meet on a level where they threaten to cancel each other out - let alone create something even more meaningful in their mutual vanishing. But the music created within the seminal Murder Ballads (Drift) by Martyn Bates (Eyeless in Gaza, & parallel solo career) and Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Lull, Painkiller, Scorn) creates just such a world. Murder Ballads (Drift) evolves Martyn Bates vocalisations / storytelling song-voices, by turns expressed as labyrinthine layers, calls and responses, muted and distant echoes, sung whispers and counter-melodies, ultimately resulting in a mesmeric conversation of musical inferences and correspondences. Murder Ballads (Drift) created the post-isolationist frame of reference, innovating and extemporising into a truly original dazzlingly unique form.

Mick Harris traffics in the isolationist ambience of Lull, while Martyn Bates is the emotive voice of literate cult-pop duo Eyeless in Gaza. The unlikely pair - one given to terminally frigid drone, the other to impassioned, bittersweet voicings - finds common ground in folk music's most macabre tradition, the murder ballad. These ghoulish parables are awash in blood and tears, the strands of love, hate, birth, death, sin, and salvation entwined within like the roots of an ancient tree. Mothers callously kill their children; suitors slay their maidens without remorse; and fate exacts its cruel price from all.

The archaic murder ballads that leak from Bates' vocal cords are intensely sad and carnal. They tend to leap off cliffs of hollow effects or drone darkly, offering neither a robust delivery nor an element of irony to take the edge off. The archetypal characters that live and die in them give life's full tragedy back to Harris' electronically numbed "post-isolationist" dreaming.

Drift (originally released in 1994) plays out an unbreakable and timeless cycle of bloody folklore (people) and hypnotic soundscapes (the god who watches). The effect is chilling yet engrossing. Where most ambient music has barely enough courage to ring the doorbell and run, Murder Ballads slips through the cracks of the unconscious and does its work with remarkable ease.

All the more reason to listen thoughtfully.

In 2021 - re-emerging nearly twenty years after its initial inception, and first time on vinyl - somewhat surprisingly, Murder Ballads (Drift) still remains/exists in an area overlooked by other artists, an area that truly still remains the sole province of M.J. Harris / Martyn Bates.

Vinyl now gone back to June. RIYL: Slowdive, DIIV, Electric Youth, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine. Solo project of Los Angeles based Matthew Doty (ex-Saxon Shore). For Matthew Doty, Deserta has always been about exploring a sonic universe that allows him to express a kaleidoscope of emotions, without having to say much at all. Through a patchwork of reverb-tinged textures – drone guitars, lingering synths and driving percussion – the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist weaves together stories of care, frustration and catharsis that ultimately stretch to a gentle resolve. On new album Every Moment, Everything You Need, Doty chronicles the kind of year we all fear, full of uncertainty, tension and sustained pressure, and transforms it into a celebration of perseverance. It’s an essential reminder that we have the power to shape the stories we tell. The pandemic meant that Doty had to give up his studio and downsize a lot of his gear and instead, carve out a space in his two-bedroom apartment to craft the next chapter of Deserta. Sharing the space with his wife and son, Doty and his partner are also essential healthcare workers, which meant the couple would often have to tag-team childcare, along with 13-hour shifts in PPE and people constantly calling with questions about the ever changing guidelines and protocols. Once the blueprint for Every Moment, Everything You Need was set, Doty reached out to a number of collaborators to stitch together his vision for the sonic landscape. James McAlister (Sufjan Stevens, The National, Taylor Swift) came onboard to perform and record drums, while Caroline Lufkin (Mice Parade) wrote and performed vocals on the ethereal “Where Did You Go.” Elsewhere, the LP was mixed by Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, Mogwai, Interpol), with Beach House and Slowdive producer Chris Coady engineering and co-producing, making this the first time Fridmann and Coady had worked together on a project. While the vocals are more prominent than Deserta’s previous albums, it’s their amalgamation with the instrumental aspects that secures Every Moment, Everything You Need as Deserta’s most confident and assured release to date. An affecting emotional candor teamed with persistent riffs and tenacious rhythms sees Doty unafraid to dive deeper; an unrestrained approach that ushers in a lustrous purging of agitation and anxiety. Showcasing those dark, exhaustive thoughts through crucial swells and looped, electronic soundscapes, it’s an LP that’s infinitely layered, with something new to discover with each and every enchanting listen.

Ted K. Kaczynski is notorious for both tragically murdering three people (and wounding an additional 23) via bombs sent in the mail and for his numerous writings on the evils of technology he composed during his primitive residency in the woods of Montana. Film director Tony Stone's choice to have the renowned electronic artist Blanck Mass score the film is somewhat ironic and creates an obvious tension perfect for the controversial and complex subject matter. 2020 saw the first Blanck Mass movie score, for the soundtrack to Nick Rowland's acclaimed cinematic debut Calm with Horses. This expansion into new areas of melodic composition and textural exploration won Blanck Mass many new fans, with the BBC's acknowledged number one film buff Mark Kermode proclaiming the work the soundtrack of the year. In 2021, Blanck Mass won the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Film Score and has firmly established himself at the forefront of the latest wave of experimental soundscape wizards. Recording during lockdown at his studio in Edinburgh, Scotland, Blanck Mass's Ben Power was in the perfect setting for a musical piece intended to capture the isolation central to Kaczynski's story. Power was also working with a director in a time zone 10 hours behind and thus many sessions required working in the middle of the night, which added a fitting intensity to the composition process. He said of the project "I wanted it to feel like an `epic'" and drew on the legends Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone for inspiration in encapsulating the energy of the perceived good vs. evil. The gentle madness of sound achieved is exquisite and slowly builds in intensity and desperation as the score moves along. Power is able to perfectly capture the complexity, the terror and the deep emotionality of the film while presenting an often breathtakingly beautiful and always masterful album that stands on its own as a work of art. For Fans of Tim Hecker, Oneohtrix Point Never, DJ Shadow, Coil, Arca, Andy Stott, Fuck Buttons.

“Whoever gives nothing, has nothing; the greatest misfortune is not to be unloved, but not to love “ - Albert Camus

Cristian Marras - OCD - JoeFarr - Codex Empire

After a massive 30-tracks digital compilation celebrating a decade of existence, Gegen keeps moving forward with the release of their third vinyl record.

Starting it off is Berlin-based Cristian Marras: DJ, Producer and Rebels Conspiracy label founder who plays solid driving Industrial Techno and his track for Gegen is no exception. Opening with ethereal chants like a coven calling to arms, Asymmetric sounds like an existential journey from awakening to action, the switch in state of mind materialized by a menacing acid line immerging halfway through, leading us out of darkness.

Next is UK’s JoeFarr, a versatile and skilled craftsman who recently got music out on Soma followed soon by a release on Rebekah’s Elements. His track for Gegen is the bittersweet Timeless, built on the duality between soft emotional hopeful melodies and raw distorted cutting martial basslines and crushing sound design.

On the B side, Berlin’s OCD’s artist statement centered around the ideology of pain and the battle against anxiety caused by a senseless world with the goal to turn people’s fear and information overload into rage and find pleasure from overwhelming emotions in modern rhythms is in full effect on her track Egoismus. With its mournful pads like heartbroken fairies floating above an army on the move and thumping kicks characteristic of her hard sound, OCD brings you into an oneiric state where everything is out of control and too fast — a metaphor for our ages.

To round it all up is British-born, Vienna-based Codex Empire whose productions you might have heard on aufnahme + wiedergabe or Sacred Court. He brings to Gegen his signature dark and intense techno with Hagane, a track built on heavy rhythmic elements and metallic pounding sounds bouncing off each other for an unstoppable groove.

When Mani Festo isn't designing the artwork for Club Glow - the collective he forms part of alongside Borai, Denham Audio and LMajor - or running his own imprint "Flightpath", he uses his DJ sets and production to pay homage to the soundsystem-oriented music that made him. A real artist of the moment, the past couple of years have seen Mani Festo get the recognition he deserves, with many citing his prowess in capturing the darkly seductive essence of hardcore's antecedents, creating something at once nostalgic and futuristic.

Those searching for this fine balance will not be disappointed by Pathfinder EP, the next instalment of Basement Trax: a series which focuses on club-fuelled Techno and Electro. "Powertriip" is a full-bodied electro slammer, coloured by the metallic textures of an industrial soundscape. The title track continues with the same high-voltage pressure, this time with hi-hats that give it double-time energy.

The B-side is about computer love: "Big Rooms" is driven by a highly-processed acid melody whilst "Auto Sequence" is a dizzying take on breaks with high-pitched arpeggios and deranged vocal chops that add to the track's eeriness.

Jodorowsky's Dune tells the tale of cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's unsuccessful attempt to adapt Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel, Dune, to the big screen. Composer Kurt Stenzel gives life to a retro-futuristic universe as fantastic as Jodorowsky's own vision for his Dune-a film whose A-list cast would have included Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, and Mick Jagger in starring roles and music by psychedelic prog-rockers Pink Floyd.

Building upon director Frank Pavich's idea for a score with a Tangerine Dream-type feel,' Stenzel lays out a cosmic arsenal of analog synthesizers that would make any collector green at the gills: among other gems are a rare Moog Source, CZ-101s, and a Roland Juno 6, as well as unorthodox instruments like a toy Concertmate organ and a Nintendo DS. I also played guitar and did vocals,' says Stenzel, some chanting... and some screaming, which comes naturally to me.' The score also features narration by Jodorowsky himself. As Stenzel notes, Jodo's voice is actually the soundtrack's main musical instrument-listening to him was almost like hypnosis, like going to the guru every night.'

This highly-anticipated soundtrack LP was sequenced and mixed by Stenzel with the listener in mind and flows through a four-sides' LP approach. I wanted it to play like the records I grew up with, where every side was a journey.'

Unrestrained by notions of style or genre, there is a distinct air of freedom that permeates Picture Music, the new project from André Bratten. On what is his fifth album, the electronic visionary didn't enter the studio with the notion of making a particular type of record. Conversely, it was viewed as an opportunity to simply create - to let the music take over and guide the journey. Bringing together sparse strings, meditative synths, lingering piano chords and fleeting field recordings, the result is a collection of captivating sonic vignettes - deftly assembled into something profound and endearing. Eschewing the darker, more abrasive elements of most recent LP Silvester, Picture Music features some of Bratten's most accessible and melodic music to date - a shift in outlook no doubt expedited by the isolation of multiple Covid-19 lockdowns. These minimalist compositions ruminate on how the past two years have forced people to reconsider the concept of "normal life", as well as the birth of Bratten's second child - an experience he describes as "like death in reverse". The album title is taken from a compilation on the legendary Sky Records, a label that has been an enduring source of inspiration for Bratten along with that of Klaus Schultze's Innovative Communication. But rather than mimicking the work of these electronic luminaries,Picture Music sees him forge his own path: one that uncovers beauty in the simplicities of everyday life. Norwegian electronic artist André Bratten released his debut album Be A Man You Ant on Prins Thomas' Full Pupp label in 2013. He has since released three albums on Smalltown Supersound, and more recently produced Cracks, the acclaimed project from avant-garde saxophonist Benedik Giske. On June 10th Bratten returns with fifth studio album Picture Music.

The album, which features some incredibly exciting and varied names including neo soul up-and-comer Greentea Peng, American jazz & soul vocalist Lady Blackbird (on ‘Sunlight’) and British blues vocalist Natalie Duncan, shows off both the rich history and calibre of Goldie and James Davidson’s individually but also how they can create something together that’s so cohesive and forward thinking. The sound the duo have been able to create is also partly due to their geographical locations over the past 18 months, bouncing ideas between Davidson’s studio in Bournemouth on the south coast and Goldie’s house in Phuket, Thailand; showing two songwriters and producers at the top of their game responding to a year and a half in very different atmospheres but similar trying circumstances.
Lead single from the album ‘Dassai Menace’ (released with double A-side ‘Fathoms’) was picked up by Virgil Abloh who used it to soundtrack his Louis Vuitton SS22 fashion film ‘Amen Break’ (watch here), with Goldie walking in the accompanying catwalk show. Goldie will also be in residence throughout the month of February 2022 on BBC Radio 1 alongside the likes of world renown DJ’s Sama' Abdulhadi, Folamour, Or:la, LCY and Scratcha DVA.

Clear Vinyl

Music became an escape for Greta during lockdown, and her new songs tell us about the feelings of love and longing that became an essential part of the pandemic for the German, Copenhagen based singer-songwriter. The songs follow last year’s successful debut album ‘Ardent Spring’ and together they make up her new album ‘Forever We’ll Be Dancing’, which will be released on February 4th 2022

Like so many of us, Greta spent most of last year trapped inside her apartment. While some have been making puzzles or knitting sweaters Greta has been writing songs about love, euphoria and longing; longing for the clubs of Berlin, longing for social contact and trying to find a way out of an emotional darkness.

During the Corona lockdown, Greta found herself in a romantic symbiosis with her husband and though the isolation brought them closer, it was also a challenging time where Greta’s husband struggled with depression.

»Music became my escape and if I needed to take a break and connect with myself, I could disappear into my computer and write a lot of songs. That was a good thing. Difficult, but good. It’s extremely hard to be close to someone who’s in pain when you have to carry them because they’re not able to carry themselves. In that sense, lockdown has been a good thing. My husband needed me and because of the lockdown I didn’t have to worry about missing out on anything. I feel that I’ve reached a deeper understanding of his feelings because we’ve had time to talk about them«, Greta says.

»Zwei Herzen«
The bubble of love and depression became a source of strength and personal growth, but it also caused Greta to miss the world outside and her family in the small German town Husum. Because of this, Greta wanted to fulfill a wish she had kept for a long time – she wanted to write songs in her native tongue, German. This is why multiple of her songs carry titles such as ‘Nicht Allein’, ‘Genug’ and ‘Drei’.

»I’ve been crazy homesick and that has definitely inspired the album. I have not written in German before, so for me this was a way of connecting with my roots. I can listen to German with Danish ears now, because I’ve lived here for so long now, and it allowed me to use the language differently and more rhythmically«.

Mit "Zeitlang" legen die bayrischen Schwarzmetaller GRÀB ihr lang erwartetes, harsches Debütalbum vor. Der ehemalige DARK FORTRESS Sänger und Bandgründer Grant hat sämtliche Texte dieses Konzeptwerks in einem lokalen Dialekt von Deutschlands südlichstem Bundesland am Rand der Alpen verfasst. Musikalisch greifen GRÀB den Faden der frühen GEHENNA, ULVER und DARKTHRONE auf, lassen sich aber auch hörbar von den deutschen NAGELFAR und LUNAR AURORA inspirieren. Dennoch bleiben die Bayern stets ihrem Thema treu und beziehen traditionelle lokale Elemente mit ein, was beispielsweise instrumental durch den im Metal ungewöhnlichen Einsatz von Hackbrett, Zither und Alphorn zum Ausdruck gebracht wird.

Gatefold-2LP (transparent blaues Vinyl, 180g) mitgefütterten Innenhüllen, bedrucktem Einleger und Schutzhülle

40-plus years since its original release, the pop-punk-new wave inventions of Anthony
Moore’s ‘Flying Doesn’t Help’ are freshly remastered, blasting the sparkling, angular
sounds into today with perfect vitality.
 After spending the early years of the 1970s making experimental music first as a solo
artist, then with Slapp Happy and Henry Cow, 1976’s ‘OUT’ sessions had reinvigorated
Anthony’s youthful love of the naive pop melodies of pop radio, the undeniable excitement
of songs. While ‘OUT’ ultimately went unreleased at the time, the iconoclasm clouding the
late ’70s air was addictive and transformative for Anthony. England seemed to be roiled
as violently as it had been in counter-cultural days a decade earlier; the UK pop charts
breathlessly reflected the changing spectrum with equal parts aging hippie and prog
delicacies alongside new ascendant sounds: rough-hewn pub and punk rock, plus dub
reggae and disco and ska and Stiff and Krautrock. This proved to be an ideal environment
for Anthony to make records by exploring, as he puts it, the “deep connection between
minimalism, repetition, working with tape and celluloid and forming the modules of a
three-minute pop song.”
 Caught up in a no-holds-barred era, Anthony was more than happy to play the out-of-hishead madman, raving through outrageous exchanges with the press, while ‘Judy Get
Down’ received Single Of The Week honours from the NME (with review penned by Brian
Eno). Represented by Blackhill Enterprises, Anthony did production work throughout
1978-1979, on Kevin Ayers’ ‘Rainbow Takeaway’, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s ‘Angel
Station’ and the first This Heat album, meanwhile cutting his own songs on a dead time
deal at Workhouse Studio with engineer / producer Laurie Latham. Through the wee
hours of countless nights, the two pieced together ‘Flying Doesn’t Help’, with a little help
from friends (an inspired bunch, including Bob Shilling, Charles Hayward, Chris Slade,
Robert Vogel, Festus, Matt Irving, Sam Harley, Bernie Clark, Edwin Cross and Martine
Moore on the telephone).
 Building upon the axis of pop and experimental impulses that distinguished ‘OUT’, and
informed further by the raw sensibilities exploding everywhere, ‘Flying Doesn’t Help’
blasts out of the speakers with its own unique blend of sophistication and aggression,
Anthony’s keyboard flashes between arpeggiations and outright stabs among the noise of
slicing guitars, funk basslines and the reverbed blare of the drumkit. Opening with
Anthony’s greatest hit, ‘Judy Get Down’, and containing a noise-laden remake of the
Slapp Happy/Henry Cow number, ‘War’, among other delightful sweet-and-salty
confections, ‘Flying Doesn’t Help’ never stops moving, fuelled with raw outrage and dark
satirical intent, churning with the energy of next-gen types like Tubeway Army and DEVO,
while shimmering with the elegance of the still-challenging old guard types, like Cale and
Bowie.
 Clearly, ‘Flying Doesn’t Help’ was steeped in the time, and the original release reflected a
deep mistrust of the corporation mindset. Information was a dubious concept, and
connections to any recognizable organization were seen as untrustworthy, so facts like
musician credits were left out of the package, and even Anthony’s name was altered (he
was credited as A. More on the album and Tony More on a single release). The label
name QUANGO was conceptual as well, standing for ‘Quasi Autonomous NonGovernmental Organization’; each record was sealed with red tape that the listener was
required to cut through in order to get to the music. Rather than recreate the conditions of
the original release of ‘Flying Doesn’t Help’, this reissue instead embraces the changed
environment of the current time and place: instead of no credits, now they are complete,
with Anthony’s full name restored and even the artwork subtly ‘relocated’ to reflect a new
set of relationships. All of which brings the forward-looking sounds of ‘Flying Doesn’t Help’
into the more independent-minded 21st Century syntax where it belongs.

Peer through the windows of the sun-dappled homes in Sicily and you will be faced with a small, strange ceramic object adorning each hallway. It is a glistening pine cone standing upright – a pigna – the longstanding symbol of Sicilian openness and welcome hospitality.

The pigna is a delightfully unusual and yet apt symbol for the title of the third record from Benjamin Harris, AKA Yarni. Ever since his debut LP release in 2017, Yarni has established a following committed to his musical openness, an intuitive curiosity that has spanned everything from house and techno to cinematic ambience and Japanese percussion, as well as jazz horns and afrobeat fanfares. For Yarni, anything goes and everyone is welcome. Now, Pigna sees Yarni reach his fullest and most musically diverse expression, taking its name and ethos from Sicily, but finding a sonic home in the luscious orchestration of a new ensemble of musicians.

Here, at the helm of a nine-person ensemble, Yarni artfully pieces together live improvisations to create the warmth of a seasoned group performing deep within the groove. Opener “Midnight Getaway” places the listener squarely within the disco-funk of Daft Punk as Yarni’s top-line synth intersects with a rolling bassline and a lyrical flute solo from Rachel Shirley. This optimistic tone of sunlit spaciousness is then heightened on “Utopia”, as Yarni’s horn section comes to the fore to pay homage to the ineffable syncopations of Fela Kuti’s pioneering afrobeat.

Rather than scratch at the surface of these musical genres, Yarni’s attuned ear embodies the emotive essence of his various sounds by paying intimate attention to their creation. There is the punch of that afrobeat sax on “Utopia”; the rhythmic skitter of breakbeats on “The Astral”; the sludging thump of funk in the bassline on “Nova”. Collaborators are given free reign, too, to incorporate their own unique stylings into this remarkable whole, from vocalist Emily Marks’ languid tone on “In A Dream”, to saxophonist Jonoa’s innate swing on “Cherub”, and the metronomic movement of bassist Ally McMahon’s playing throughout.

Listening to Pigna is ultimately to find yourself squarely within the comforting embrace of Yarni’s musical mind. It is a truly LP experience – a record to be placed on the turntable’s platter and then left to play, allowing yourself an immersion in these journeying soundscapes. It is no wonder fellow sonic travellers such as the late Andrew Weatherall and DJ Harvey have been supporters of Yarni’s work, since here is a kindred spirit – an artist shaped in the form of radical openness, speaking the hospitable, universal language of beautiful music.

Peer through the windows of the sun-dappled homes in Sicily and you will be faced with a small, strange ceramic object adorning each hallway. It is a glistening pine cone standing upright – a pigna – the longstanding symbol of Sicilian openness and welcome hospitality.

The pigna is a delightfully unusual and yet apt symbol for the title of the third record from Benjamin Harris, AKA Yarni. Ever since his debut LP release in 2017, Yarni has established a following committed to his musical openness, an intuitive curiosity that has spanned everything from house and techno to cinematic ambience and Japanese percussion, as well as jazz horns and afrobeat fanfares. For Yarni, anything goes and everyone is welcome. Now, Pigna sees Yarni reach his fullest and most musically diverse expression, taking its name and ethos from Sicily, but finding a sonic home in the luscious orchestration of a new ensemble of musicians.

Here, at the helm of a nine-person ensemble, Yarni artfully pieces together live improvisations to create the warmth of a seasoned group performing deep within the groove. Opener “Midnight Getaway” places the listener squarely within the disco-funk of Daft Punk as Yarni’s top-line synth intersects with a rolling bassline and a lyrical flute solo from Rachel Shirley. This optimistic tone of sunlit spaciousness is then heightened on “Utopia”, as Yarni’s horn section comes to the fore to pay homage to the ineffable syncopations of Fela Kuti’s pioneering afrobeat.

Rather than scratch at the surface of these musical genres, Yarni’s attuned ear embodies the emotive essence of his various sounds by paying intimate attention to their creation. There is the punch of that afrobeat sax on “Utopia”; the rhythmic skitter of breakbeats on “The Astral”; the sludging thump of funk in the bassline on “Nova”. Collaborators are given free reign, too, to incorporate their own unique stylings into this remarkable whole, from vocalist Emily Marks’ languid tone on “In A Dream”, to saxophonist Jonoa’s innate swing on “Cherub”, and the metronomic movement of bassist Ally McMahon’s playing throughout.

Listening to Pigna is ultimately to find yourself squarely within the comforting embrace of Yarni’s musical mind. It is a truly LP experience – a record to be placed on the turntable’s platter and then left to play, allowing yourself an immersion in these journeying soundscapes. It is no wonder fellow sonic travellers such as the late Andrew Weatherall and DJ Harvey have been supporters of Yarni’s work, since here is a kindred spirit – an artist shaped in the form of radical openness, speaking the hospitable, universal language of beautiful music.

Rarely do two types of music meet on a level where they threaten to cancel each other out - let alone create something even more meaningful in their mutual vanishing. But the music created within the seminal Murder Ballads (Drift) by Martyn Bates (Eyeless in Gaza, & parallel solo career) and Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Lull, Painkiller, Scorn) creates just such a world. Murder Ballads (Drift) evolves Martyn Bates vocalisations / storytelling song-voices, by turns expressed as labyrinthine layers, calls and responses, muted and distant echoes, sung whispers and counter-melodies, ultimately resulting in a mesmeric conversation of musical inferences and correspondences. Murder Ballads (Drift) created the post-isolationist frame of reference, innovating and extemporising into a truly original dazzlingly unique form.

Mick Harris traffics in the isolationist ambience of Lull, while Martyn Bates is the emotive voice of literate cult-pop duo Eyeless in Gaza. The unlikely pair - one given to terminally frigid drone, the other to impassioned, bittersweet voicings - finds common ground in folk music's most macabre tradition, the murder ballad. These ghoulish parables are awash in blood and tears, the strands of love, hate, birth, death, sin, and salvation entwined within like the roots of an ancient tree. Mothers callously kill their children; suitors slay their maidens without remorse; and fate exacts its cruel price from all.

The archaic murder ballads that leak from Bates' vocal cords are intensely sad and carnal. They tend to leap off cliffs of hollow effects or drone darkly, offering neither a robust delivery nor an element of irony to take the edge off. The archetypal characters that live and die in them give life's full tragedy back to Harris' electronically numbed "post-isolationist" dreaming.

Passages (originally released in 1997) plays out an unbreakable and timeless cycle of bloody folklore (people) and hypnotic soundscapes (the god who watches). The effect is chilling yet engrossing. Where most ambient music has barely enough courage to ring the doorbell and run, Murder Ballads slips through the cracks of the unconscious and does its work with remarkable ease.

Solo bedroom-pop project of Michael Ramos (Flowertown, April Magazine, Hectorine). Mostly recorded between last Christmas and New Year's during a window of isolation at home, “Hey There Flower” preserves Tony Jay’s prowess at making beautifully eerie lo-fi pop; like a hazy memory where your favorite Sixties girl-group melody is perpetually slowed down. Without a band to practice with, Tony Jay recorded the music alone, but recruited a slew of friends to remotely record backing vocals: Karina Gill (Cindy), Griffin Jones (Galore), Kati Mashikian (Mister Baby), Alexis Harper (Al Harper), & Hannah Lew (Cold Beat). "Hey There Flower", the most recent release from the prolific and mysterious Tony Jay delivers real melodies -- both lacey with vocal harmonies and dusty with layered guitars -- as fans have come to expect. This release also carries forward and elaborates on Tony Jay's tradition of songs that express a kind of naked honesty about things we all know -- love and loneliness and all that -- while communicating at the same time a wry edge of skepticism, so that the songs are like coins spinning on edge before landing heads, tails, or lost under the couch. Tony Jay brings us into a nostalgia where we recognize moods from music of the past -- Marc Boland definitely comes to mind, as well as Velvet Underground of the Nico era, and Tony Jay even covers Francoise Hardy on this collection -- but the songs create a three dimensional space with what feels like a thousand layers so that instead of being thrown back in time, it's like stepping into a little world with its own laws of nature, of which the listener gets just a few hints. - Karina Gill, Cindy/Flowertown. “Hey There Flower” is introduced by thudding snare beats eliciting reverb-stained tattered noisy guitar scrapes, to weave abrasive shimmery emotive vibrations, imbued with shattered nostalgic dreams, lit by brittle yet dazzling forsaken keyboard flows, over submerged and distorted male vocal’s whispery deluge of obsessive longing, lonely melancholy, and dark desire to exude a hazy gritty concoction of awkward sadness and brooding unrest.” White Light // White Heat // “What Tony sketches are concise commentaries on love, loneliness and a few things in between. His mode of expression is sparse, intense, and captivating. The arrangements are invariably lo-fi and slow tempo, blanketed with a fuzzy hiss. And it only took one listen to decide that it is a very special album. It has a '60s feel, albeit washed in an eerie slowcore machine. An ace example is "September Skies", which could be the 1965 'last dance' at the prom for the introverted students.” - When You Motor Away

Mieko Shimizu is a London based Japanese singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Mieko first erupted onto the UK electronic scene as Apache 61; her searing alter ego, fusing layers of cross-woven breaks and battling shards of sub-bass within stateless melodies drawn from the fringes of the avant-garde. Garnering plays by John Peel she quickly build herself a name across the underground scene. Originally trained in Jazz, she cites the multidisciplinary performance artist Meredith Monk and composer Terry Riley as early influences, but also draws inspiration from many genres.

Phenomena of the mind is a re-mastered EP of selected tracks from the album of the same title released in 2006, the year after the London Terror attacks. Something dispirited and unexplainable lay heavy in the air of this immense city that we lived and breathed. In the title song “ Phenomena of the mind” Mieko’s intense Japanese rap echoed the din of the chaotic streets we walk.‘Visualise’, she says, try to imagine a way to fight our way our way out of this ominous struggle.
In the track “Signal Found”, the theme continues to shattered Dance Hall beats that reverberate to the “Twisted Sound” of “Broken down” “London Town”. “Have you lost a plot? Are you ok?” she asks?

In the track ‘Black Salt” a dark melancholic theme floats over fragmented, glitchy beats compounded by the repetition of the word “black” which hammers the constant bombardment of racism prescient of the call for freedom that “Black Lives Matter.”

Wonderland Magazine has described Mieko’s music as “beautiful poetic verses and stunning musical arrangements and Mark Taylor describes Mieko in Record Collector as “An avant-garden artist pushing boundaries”



• Re-mastered EP of selected tracks from the album of the same title released in 2006

• Premiering the re-release at Twenty One in Southend on 21st April

• Mark Taylor describes Mieko in Record Collector as “An avant-garden artist pushing boundaries”

LIMITED WHITE VINYL EDITION OF THE 1992 DEBUT OF ATMOSPHERIC
DEATH/DOOM FROM THE DUTCH LEGENDS, MARKING THE ALBUM'S
30th ANNIVERSARY. The Gathering is a Dutch alternative rock band &
was founded in 1989 by brothers Hans & René Rutten & vocalist Bart
Smits
The early incarnation of the band featured a much more death & doom metalbased style than the more atmospheric rock & experimental music they became
known for over the years, having enjoyed a highly successful career globally over
a 20-year period. The band recorded 2 demos initially before making their studio
debut with 'Always…'. 'Always…' was The Gathering's debut full- length album.
Originally released in 1992 , it is a prime example of classic atmospheric death/
doom metal with brutal vocals & slow funereal riffing influenced by bands such as
Celtic Frost, as well as the implementation of keyboards to accentuate the dark
ambience. Now released on Peaceville for the first time, a track from the release
was even featured on an early Peaceville Records compilation, 'Volume 4', with
the track 'In Sickness & Health'.

Canada’s sons of darkness present an enthralling three song release
entitled “Confluence”
Conceived in Covid isolation, Wake present their ever- expanding evolution and
their most ambitious music to date!

Pokey LaFarge's 7th studio solo album, In the Blossom of Their Shade,
showcases the positivity of coming out of the darkness and into the light
When the 2020 global pandemic hit, LaFarge's rigorous work ethic powered him
through the potentially challenging creative period. As days became a couple
months, songs blossomed from embryonic ideas into full- formed ones and he
was ready to move on, which typified his mindset as a working artist. With this
record LaFarge captures the thematic notion of being the perfect summer
afternoon soundtrack...the type of music you want to listen to while having a
cocktail with your significant other. It makes sense musically as well - LaFarge
intentionally crafted songs that created space and have melodies that can glide
throughout a composition that's a far cry from the swing and blues-infused songs
of his earlier work. LaFarge is an artist who refuses to rest on his laurels and
compromise. He's always motivated and ready to create. With In the Blossom of
Their Shade the album is one of LaFarge's strongest and most mature efforts to
date.

Ted K. Kaczynski is notorious for both tragically murdering three people (and wounding an additional 23) via bombs sent in the mail and for his numerous writings on the evils of technology he composed during his primitive residency in the woods of Montana. Film director Tony Stone's choice to have the renowned electronic artist Blanck Mass score the film is somewhat ironic and creates an obvious tension perfect for the controversial and complex subject matter. 2020 saw the first Blanck Mass movie score, for the soundtrack to Nick Rowland's acclaimed cinematic debut Calm with Horses. This expansion into new areas of melodic composition and textural exploration won Blanck Mass many new fans, with the BBC's acknowledged number one film buff Mark Kermode proclaiming the work the soundtrack of the year. In 2021, Blanck Mass won the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Film Score and has firmly established himself at the forefront of the latest wave of experimental soundscape wizards. Recording during lockdown at his studio in Edinburgh, Scotland, Blanck Mass's Ben Power was in the perfect setting for a musical piece intended to capture the isolation central to Kaczynski's story. Power was also working with a director in a time zone 10 hours behind and thus many sessions required working in the middle of the night, which added a fitting intensity to the composition process. He said of the project "I wanted it to feel like an `epic'" and drew on the legends Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone for inspiration in encapsulating the energy of the perceived good vs. evil. The gentle madness of sound achieved is exquisite and slowly builds in intensity and desperation as the score moves along. Power is able to perfectly capture the complexity, the terror and the deep emotionality of the film while presenting an often breathtakingly beautiful and always masterful album that stands on its own as a work of art. For Fans of Tim Hecker, Oneohtrix Point Never, DJ Shadow, Coil, Arca, Andy Stott, Fuck Buttons.

Born in Marseille, Bonnie Li grew up in Hong Kong, began her adult life in
Paris and is now based in Berlin
She writes, composes and sings her melancholic and touching ‘Trip Pop’ in three
languages (English, French & Chinese Mandarin), giving her music a multi-lingual
cinematic experience.Described as "smoky Portishead-esque glittery Trip Hop" by
The Line of Best Fits and “Dark and Fascinating” by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Credic ist ein fünfköpfiger Melodic-Death-Metal-Juggernaut aus Stuttgart, der klingt, als würde die frühe Göteborg-Szene einen Spaziergang durch die klangliche Unterwelt von 'Stranger Things' machen. Mit 'Vermillion Oceans' präsentieren uns Credic ihr zweites Studioalbum. Atmosphärisch düsterer Melodic Death für Fans von Bands wie Dark Tranquility, Amorphis, In Flames oder At The Gates!

FBK has been pumping out releases since 1994 as a staple in the midwest. Under aliases The Sleep Engineer (Xplor) and Powerhouse on The Acid Junkies' the Acid Life, he has been a shapeshifter with a steady stream of minimal, pure motorik pulsations that embody that Midwest Freak power. Measured yet transcendently driving - a mind-bending wormhole that weaves dark introspective turns into the unknown, Think For Yourself covers a diaspora of modes for the floor - all while encapsulating the energy of his live sets that we know and love. Topped off with a subterranean remix by undeniable icon Marcel Dettmann - a huge honor to have his name grace this release.

Das vierzehnte Studioalbum der Alternative Country/Southern Rock Band aus Athens, GA zollt jener gleichnamigen Honky-Tonk Bar in Muscle Shoals, AL Tribut, in der Gründungsmitglieder Patterson Hood und Mike Cooley ihre Anfänge hatten und markiert eine deutliche Abkehr von den pointierten Kommentaren von The Unraveling und The New OK (beide 2020 veröffentlicht). Produziert von Langzeit-Kollaborateur David Barbe und live aufgenommen im Sommer 2021 in seinem Studio in Athens, GA, war Welcome 2 Club XIII nach nur drei Tagen auch schon eingespielt. Umso bemerkenswerter, hatte die Band doch eigentlich gar nicht die Absicht, ein neues Album zu machen. Gäste wie Margo Price, Mike Mills von R.E.M. und die in Mississippi aufgewachsene Singer/Songwriterin Schaefer Llana steuerten Background Vocals bei.

dark red marbled vinyl

Kavinsky is a zombie who came back from the dead after his Testarossa crashed in 1986.

His first song, "Testarossa Autodrive", was an instant success, and was followed by two singles. In 2007, he was chosen by Daft Punk to open their now legendary "Alive" tour.

In 2011, his track "Nightcall", produced with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, became the theme song for the film "Drive", and consequently a worldwide success.

Kavinsky's first album, "Outrun", was released in 2013, followed by a collaboration with The Weeknd on the song "Odd Look".

In 2022, Kavinsky is back with "Reborn", his second album recorded at the famous Motorbass studio in Paris, due March 25th. "Renegade" which was recorded in collaboration with Victor Le Masne and Gaspard Augé (half of Justice) reinvents the French producer’s unique recipe: dark mood but with a thunderous groove. With a vocal assistance from Cautious Clay, « Renegade » announces one of this years’ most anticipated comebacks.

On their first official collaboration, Japanese noise pioneer Masami Akita aka Merzbow and Australian sound sculptor Lawrence English present a harrowing, surrealist portrait of nocturnal industrial activity, spawned by field recordings made in a sprawling factory complex seven hours north of English's home in Brisbane. He characterizes the area as "uneasy and unsettling," awash in the sickly glow of smelters and refinement machinery, somehow not of this world - a liminal quality vividly captured in Andrei Tarkovsky's sprawling purgatorial opus, Stalker, to which the title alludes. Akita, too, described early drafts of Eternal Stalker as feeling "like the soundtrack to a dystopian science fiction opera." A mood of mechanical dread and ruined futures permeates each of the album's seven potent compositions. Opener "The Long Dream" sets the stage with steady rain on sheet metal, punctured by thunder and metallic echoes, reverberating to the rafters in a collapsing warehouse. Quickly the tempest rises. "A Gate Of Light" and "Magnetic Traps" both convulse in churning furies of electric demolition and rattling chains, roaring and relentless. "The Visit" and "Black Thicket" operate more at a distance, surveying the topography of steam, rust, and liquid metal from above, their flickers of violence swallowed by blankets of darkness. This is noise at its most elemental and unknowable: brooding, bristling, and opaque, stalking forbidden peripheries of chaos and creation. Discussing Akita's music, English refers to its "intense substrata that is purely psychedelic; it consumes and confounds." The seasick swells of friction and fracture subsume the listener, forcing an auditory surrender: "this saturation of the senses can be a euphoria." Proof comes halfway through "The Golden Sphere," when the howling mayhem subtly recedes, revealing an eerie siren drone hovering in the void, like the resonance of a dead star galaxies away. Slowly a seething, venomous wall of volume returns, shredding the signal until its frequencies fray, whipping away into the eye of the storm. The combined effect merges obliteration and liberation, rapture and ravagement; it's the sound of dissolution as resolution, uprooted and unmoored, finally freed from form.

On their first official collaboration, Japanese noise pioneer Masami Akita aka Merzbow and Australian sound sculptor Lawrence English present a harrowing, surrealist portrait of nocturnal industrial activity, spawned by field recordings made in a sprawling factory complex seven hours north of English's home in Brisbane. He characterizes the area as "uneasy and unsettling," awash in the sickly glow of smelters and refinement machinery, somehow not of this world - a liminal quality vividly captured in Andrei Tarkovsky's sprawling purgatorial opus, Stalker, to which the title alludes. Akita, too, described early drafts of Eternal Stalker as feeling "like the soundtrack to a dystopian science fiction opera." A mood of mechanical dread and ruined futures permeates each of the album's seven potent compositions. Opener "The Long Dream" sets the stage with steady rain on sheet metal, punctured by thunder and metallic echoes, reverberating to the rafters in a collapsing warehouse. Quickly the tempest rises. "A Gate Of Light" and "Magnetic Traps" both convulse in churning furies of electric demolition and rattling chains, roaring and relentless. "The Visit" and "Black Thicket" operate more at a distance, surveying the topography of steam, rust, and liquid metal from above, their flickers of violence swallowed by blankets of darkness. This is noise at its most elemental and unknowable: brooding, bristling, and opaque, stalking forbidden peripheries of chaos and creation. Discussing Akita's music, English refers to its "intense substrata that is purely psychedelic; it consumes and confounds." The seasick swells of friction and fracture subsume the listener, forcing an auditory surrender: "this saturation of the senses can be a euphoria." Proof comes halfway through "The Golden Sphere," when the howling mayhem subtly recedes, revealing an eerie siren drone hovering in the void, like the resonance of a dead star galaxies away. Slowly a seething, venomous wall of volume returns, shredding the signal until its frequencies fray, whipping away into the eye of the storm. The combined effect merges obliteration and liberation, rapture and ravagement; it's the sound of dissolution as resolution, uprooted and unmoored, finally freed from form.

Benefits are an issues-based music collective from Teesside in the
North East of England. They write songs about the urgencies that
concern them, and they play them loud.

Forming in 2019 and consisting of Kingsley Hall on vocals, Robbie
Major and Hugh Major on synths and noise, and Jonny Snowball
on drums, they quickly evolved from a standard shouty punk rock
outfit into a minimalist, overtly political band that merges noise,
hip-hop and industrial rock, creating an effect that feels urgent,
darkly hilarious and unsettling all at once.

Thus far, Benefits have been completely DIY yet, via a succession
of digital singles and accompanying videos through 2021, they
built a following that enabled them to complete a sold-out headline
UK tour in March 2022. They also gained fans in high places,
including Sleaford Mods, Black Francis, Garbage and Elijah Wood
and Steve Albini.

James and Ryan of Yard Act were also instant admirers and that’s
where their label Zen F.C. comes in. Using their ill-gotten major
label gains Zen F.C. are pressing Benefit’s single ‘Flag’ (backed
with ‘Empire’) on vinyl.

On working with Yard Act, Kingsley comments: “I think Benefits
come at some of the same subject matter that they talk about but
from a slightly different angle (and by ‘slightly different’ I really
mean ‘more frequent swearing’, though we've never said the C
word in a song unlike...ahem). We appreciate every bit of help
we’ve had off them, we just wish we could somehow repay that
kindness (not monetarily mind, we're totally skint).”

Yard Act’s James Smith says of the release: “Lots of bands are
saying all this stuff so what makes Benefits so special? Why do I
need to be told what I already know over and over again by a
shouty man from Teesside? Well, because no one else is saying it
with such physicality they sound like their voice box is about to
leap from their throat and eat your eyeballs. With that little bit of
influence we’ve garnered and the small fortune of money we now
have kicking about, I’m so glad we can play a part in spreading the
word on Benefits, because I think they’re well on their way to a
classic debut album, and I’m going to fucking love being able to
brag about how important I was in making it all happen.”

A question popular among followers of Thrash Metal is undeniably this, “Which is considered the fastest Thrash Metal album of all time?”. There would be a high percentage of answers supporting “Reign In Blood”, Darkness Descends” or “Pleasure To Kill”. Now here’s a startling reality. Wehrmacht’s debut album makes those albums sound as if they were meant to be listed under progressive Metal. The sheer ferocity of these guys is enough to convince you why they were considered the fastest Heavy Metal band in the underground. So what is it that makes this record worthy of being called an underground classic? Right from production to musicianship, the concoction of several different ideas results into one colossal and inevitably unique style of their own. Many of you would probably wonder that there might just be a natural leaning towards sloppy playing especially considering my description of their astoundingly fast nature earlier. But the major surprise here is that all the musicians are extremely tight and precise with no single riff, solo or beat falling out of place. Tito Matos is one of the most versatile Thrash singers one has ever heard till date. His clarity of words and ability to keep up with the rest of the band with his lightning fast singing is simply commendable. The songs in here are all ridiculously speedy pieces of Thrash Metal with practically little or no remorse for the listener. The title track with that brilliant rendition of the famously eerie “Jaws” theme kicks off the onslaught with a tearing main riff that shreds away with speed and precision. Teutonic, Bay Area and a few east coast Thrash Metal bands have been instrumental in forging the whole genre altogether but taking the intensity a couple of notches higher was undoubtedly achieved by bands like Cryptic Slaughter, Soothsayer and finally Wehrmacht. For a year that was 1987, “Shark Attack” was way ahead of its time and has been highly regarded as the release that influenced many a band in the Grindcore and Black Metal genres. To testify this statement of mine, U.K Grindcore pioneers Napalm Death have covered Wehrmacht on one of their studio compilations, thus proving the exemplary effect this band had in the years to come. Yet the irony still stands out as to why only the most devoted of Thrash Metal/Crossover freaks know about this band. As for some of you guys, quit wasting your time listening to the senseless offshoots of Grindcore and shitty Black Metal and get a hold of this classic instead.

Nectar’s Kamila Glowacki spent four months painstakingly painting the album cover for No Shadow on canvas. A pink mirror re­ects the image of lemons posed directly in front of it as well as the unseen, empty space beyond. Flip over the record and you’ll ‑nd the tracklist printed on the back of the canvas, revealing the physical record itself to be a facsimile of Glowacki’s painting. Inspired by Dutch still life paintings, Glowacki describes the process as a meticulous labor of love that required her to “wring out every possible drop” of herself into the band’s latest release. No Shadow is two works in one, then: an album and a painting created in separate but parallel artistic processes, two mirror images in constant conversation with one another. No Shadow follows up Nectar’s 2018 full-length debut Knocking at the Door with ten tracks co-produced by Glowacki and Champaign-based composer and producer Andrew M Rodriguez. Recorded over the course of a year, No Shadow finds Glowacki at her most self-assured as a songwriter and vocalist. No Shadow’s title references the dual concepts of certainty and enlightenment. Evoking Plato’s allegory of the cave, Glowacki describes turning to face the sun and rejecting the false illusion of reality created by the darkness of depression.

Noamm, the darkest entity on Planet Earth delivers an extraordinary album full of analog sequences and surgical drums. Haunting electro at its best! Warning: the content included in the track Necro Science maybe disturbing or traumatizing for some audiences. This track includes sounds and voices sampled directly from the autopsy room.