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cLOUDDEAD's debut album, compiling six 10" EPs that appeared between 2000-2001, is aurally dense and obscured. A sprawling mass of miniature beat-suites and Dadaist lyrics, this strange and beautiful 3xLP would influence a myriad of sub-genres (cloud rap, hauntology, lo-fi hip-hop, etc.) in the two decades since its initial release.

Only the three members of cLOUDDEAD – Why?, Doseone and Odd Nosdam – can speak to the group's origins, but in the context of underground hip-hop towards the end of the 20th century, their arrival makes perfect sense. Cincinnati had a vital scene; home to Scribble Jam, an annual confluence of MCs, DJs, B-boys and graffiti artists. While the trio soon relocated to the Bay Area where they co-founded the Anticon collective, their Midwestern roots – in ramshackle basements of off-campus hovels, as the "cerberus of Southern Ohio" – would remain the atomic heart of their early recordings.

As Chris Martins writes in the liner notes, "The only reason we know their names today is because of how loudly and curiously they aired their insularity. They rewrote the entire world as they knew it through their own fucked perspective, and when those mysterious 10-inches started popping up in record shops, it wasn't just a puzzle to investigate: there seemed to be a whole cosmology hidden in those grooves."

Each side of the album represents one of those elusive 10-inches, each embodying a universe unto itself. Opening salvo "Apt. A" and "And All You Can Do Is Laugh" are perhaps most emblematic of the cLOUDDEAD experience. Why? and Dose create a new language through boundless non-sequiturs, sing-song non-choruses and call-and-response hooks, while Nosdam's dexterous production shifts from crackling ambience of Flying Saucer Attack to tight Ohio Players drum breaks and oblique film samples.

Taken all together, cLOUDDEAD is an original interpretation of hip-hop in the surreal Y2K glow – a bizarre meeting point between William Basinski's Disintegration Loops and MF DOOM's Operation: Doomsday. All it took was a Dr. Sample SP-202, Tascam cassette eight-track and cheap RadioShack mic. There's truly nothing like it.

This edition has been faithfully restored by Nosdam. European exclusive version comes on clear vinyl, incl. fold-out poster and liner notes insert.

2024 Repress

“Live at Sound City” is an instrumental collaboration between bassist Pino Palladino, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist/producer Blake Mills, and LA-based saxophonist Sam Gendel. Recorded in one day at the legendary Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, the EP presents new versions of compositions from Palladino & Mills’ Grammy-nominated 2021 album “Notes with Attachments” in an intimate chamber trio setting. Across four tracks, the accomplished trio explores common musical vocabularies, then goes about the work of defamiliarizing them in search of something new, blending the sounds of West African and Cuban music, jazz, R&B, English folk, pop, and beyond.

Pino Palladino is a Grammy Award winning songwriter, producer and bassist who helped create the rhythm-section sound of D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Black Messiah, and over a four-decade career has worked with artists including Keith Richards, Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Nine Inch Nails, Questlove, John Mayer, Paul Simon, Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock and Adele.

Blake Mills is a two-time Grammy Awards Producer of the Year nominee. He has released four solo albums and produced and recorded with artists such as Alabama Shakes, Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan, John Legend, Perfume Genius, Jim James, Moses Sumney, Laura Marling, Phoebe Bridgers, Cass McCombs, The Killers, Sara Bareilles, Weyes Blood and Randy Newman. His most recent album Mutable Set, released last year, was praised by Pitchfork as “a hushed collection that floats through the subconscious like a tender dream,” and earned their Best New Music title.

Sam Gendel is a musician living in Los Angeles, CA. He is most known for his work with the saxophone, though he is proficient on multiple instruments. His work is diverse and includes collaborations with a wide range of artists including Ry Cooder, Laurie Anderson, Mach-Hommy, Sam Amidon, Perfume Genius, Moses Sumney, Knower, Vampire Weekend, and inc. no world.

After the surprising debut with ‘Monochromatic’, Milano 84 - the musical project of Fabio Di Ranno and Fabio Fraschini - returns with a new album that brings the formula into even sharper focus. Synth pop, new wave, Italo disco acquire a contemporary dimension and an international flavour.

‘Ultradisco’ brings together eleven tracks, some in English, others in Italian. They are velvet dancefloor songs, emotional and romantic, elegantly distant from the obvious. Milan 84's fellow travellers include, among others: Johnson Righeira, here in the futurist reinterpretation of a Franco Battiato classic (Summer on a solitary beach); Anita Dadà – a well-known avant-garde artist - is with Fabrizio Massara (Baustelle) in the languid and intense ‘Darling’; Andy (Bluvertigo) and Alice Silvestrini (Laison) illuminate the prismatic ‘Crystal’; Anna Soares - a revolutionary performer - and Eugene - electro songwriter - colour ‘Italopop’, a manifesto made up of décollage quotations; Fred Ventura ignites the engines of the new wave to come with ‘The right words’. And he is also artistic supervisor of this unmissable album for all lovers of the 80s, the decade that never ended.

DaRand Land, who hails from the post industrial confines of Buffalo, NY was one of the leading figures of Deep4Life, a cult label known for submersible oriented, yet dancefloor-friendly productions. With ambient synth-driven tones and heavy funk basslines being at the center of his sound, DaRand Land’s music often evokes an introspective quality, without losing its groove fundamental. DaRand’s works, which span decades on deep house labels such as Downbeat, Confluence and Pulp have been described as “uncompromising” and has afforded him a passionate following of listeners who seek a more emotive, thought-provoking brand of underground music.
Teaming up once again with Scissors and Thread - the perfect fit for his sound - DaRand Land drops an album full of crafty, trippy house for the heads. Wander Being contains 10 tracks on the double vinyl release with a pair of additional tracks for the digital release. The vibe is deep and sleek, with a rough, bumping edge. The title track sets the tone, a smattering of percussion accompanying a thick, round kick drum and Rhodes chords, giving off a classic Detroit feel. Tracks like Turn to The Music ramp up the energy somewhat, but overall the tracks sit in the sweet spot between dancefloor burners and soulful, jazzy, deep cuts. Noticeable is the space given to each element across the tracks - the hi-hats sparkle, the snare snaps, and the basslines roll and rumble. Add to this the magic melodic flourishes provided by the pads and synths, reminiscent of the late Mike Huckaby in places, made this whole album a thoughtful, joyful experience.
„The genesis for the Wander Being LP”, says DaRand “was a desire to return to the essence of some of my original Deep4Life productions. How was this accomplished? Principally, through the exclusive use of hardware components, minimalist arrangement, and a minds-eye approach to source the musical elements. In particular, the single, The Nature of Reality was written to convey a sense of what it feels like to be in a state of suspended animation. There is a natural tension introduced via the organic, swirling pad progression juxtaposed against endless vocal echoes and the low-end groove of the bassline. Thematically, I wanted to carry this forward through the entirety of the album.
balancing subdued keys and strings with ethereal tones and atmospheres

Miles Away are thrilled to present the first-ever 7-inch vinyl reissue of the modern-soul classic "Yes It's You" now backed with the original A-Side "We're Lovers Day & Night". Officially licensed from the Smiley estate and presented in brand new picture sleeve designed by the talented Jeremy Zombie.

Eugene Smiley had soul music running through his veins. His career began with The Mists (later to be known as The Visitors), who signed to Dakar Records in the late '60s. Under the mentorship of one Carl Davis, Eugene grew into a powerful musician, who would go on to tour with the likes Rufus Thomas, Bobby Womack, Al Green, the Stylistics, Eddy Kendricks and The Chi-lites.

Released in 1978, "Yes It's You" is a three-minute, up-tempo modern soul gem that draws from the decades Eugene spent spreading quality soul music performing across America, with some of the finest cats the soul music world has ever seen. A track that wouldn't have been out of place had it been found on the Brunswick catalogue.

Operating since the late 2010s, Vienna-based sound artist the concept horse has quietly amassed a distinctive and diverse discography, drawing inspiration from the rich traditions of musique concrète, noise, plunderphonics, microsound, and free improvisation. “Public Detail” follows releases on labels such as FALT and czaszka rec., as well as the artist’s own eë editions, and neatly encapsulates the polyglottic breadth of the project. Patinaed piano loops and wistful ambience give way to chance percussion environments, beat research, and treated location recordings, resulting in a suite of evasive and diffuse music informed by dialectics such as repetition/unrepeatability and formal rigor/chaos.

“A door space to further diagrams, white on blue, a window.”

recorded and arranged in vienna, austria between 2021-2023.
35mm photograph taken by the concept horse.
risograph print and cover design by marie vermont.
mastered by angelo harmsworth.

BRAND NEW STUDIO ALBUM FOR AN ITALIAN PROG-ROCK LEGENDS!

The comeback of the Milanese band Alphataurus can only have the status of a big event among fans of Italian progressive rock, thanks mainly to the indelible mark left several decades ago with their 1973 eponymous masterpiece. After ten years of absence, filled with a long series of live appearances, Alphataurus once again knocks on the doors of prog-rockers with a brand new album, whose long recording process unfortunately ended with the departure of founder guitarist Guido Wassermann.

“2084: Viaggio nel Nulla” (2084: Journey into Nowhere) is a 100% Alphataurus record, starting from its beautiful and futuristic three-panel cover illustrated by the band’s new drummer, recalling the paintings of the magnificent debut album.

Howlin Rain’s grand 3xLP archival statement and untold story, written over nearly two decades in invisible ink between the lines. Features never before heard songs from The Russian Wilds, The Dharma Wheel, The Alligator Bride, Mansion Songs, Live Rain and the lost Ethan Miller Band sessions. With a broad cast of musical characters including Rick Rubin (Producer/American Records), Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue), Joel Robinow (Once and Future Band), Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless/ The Black Crowes) and many more. Includes songs by The Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Leon Russell and Neil Merryweather. “I wanted to compile the record so it would have impact like our grandest, wildest, most unabashed studio album. I left out home demos, and songs from quiet corners, sketches, etc, in favor of fully formed, fully finished, studio level tracks from front to back. Lost at Sea is intended to be something that you can pour yourself into and get swept away in.” — Ethan Miller (Founder, bandleader)

Limitierte Neuauflage zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum des mit Gold ausgezeichneten Debütalbums von Hawthorne
Heights, The Silence in Black and White.

Dieses 2-LP-Set ist in einem Klappcover mit zwei bedruckten Innenhüllen und alternativem Artwork untergebracht. Die Band reflektiert das 20-jährige Jubiläum des Albums auch in erweiterten Liner Notes. Das elektrisierende Debütalbum der Hardcore-Giganten enthält den Gold-zertifizierten Track „Ohio is for Lovers“ und Fan-Favoriten wie „Niki FM“, „Silver Bullet“ und mehr.

In 2012, Army of God released a cult cut of cold wave: “Salvation”. This was the only EP by the partnership of Aroy Dee and Miss Jagroe, the only EP until now that is.

Army of God are back, after more than a decade the duo return with Endless Skies. Analogue warmth is sliced by surgical synth stabs and bittersweet strings, Jagroe’s unmistakable voice echoes into the distance with the beseeching mantra of “until the music dies”. Aroy Dee’s edit of the title piece fortifies drums for the floor, emotion is further stripped from the already deadpan lyrics as melodies bleed into distorted wonder. The black streak that characterises Army of God turns a shade darker for the flip. A throbbing bass is inked by off-kilter keys, clusters of claps piercing the thicket of static and chilling chorus of “Fear the Night”. Venturing ever deeper into the night, the darker version will set speaker cones shaking and shivering.

Juddering and trembling, basslines are bolstered with vocals invoking the very darkest regions of the dancefloor.

INFINITE ICON is a self-reflective journey through Hilton’s life, exploring themes of fame, female empowerment, mental health, and motherhood. The 12-track collection marks Hilton’s first album in nearly two decades and features collaborations with some of today’s most exciting names in music including Sia (“Fame Won’t Love You”), Meghan Trainor (“Chasin’”), Maria Becerra (“Without Love”), and Rina Sawayama (“I’m Free”). Musically, INFINITE ICON serves shimmering electronic arrangements, driving dancefloor beats, summertime poolside vibes, and emotional ballads in a glittery swirl of unapologetic pop glamor that can only have come from Paris Hilton.

The No End In Suffering EP is a compilation of songs that are a bit more outside the box of traditional HAGGUS material. On this record HAGGUS experiments with brand new riff territories, added previously unused tempos and left no stone unturned when it came to delivering this slab of horror-inducing sonic butchery. Production-wise the band purposely went for a more raw 90’s goregrind sound while still adhering to the downtuned, heavy theme of the Three Cadavers EP. Limited Blood Red Vinyl for retail. Haggus was formed in 2014 by guitarist / vocalist, Hambone, as an outlet to merge the traditional sound and politics of Mincecore with the sonic barbarity of old school Goregrind. Obsessed with pitch shifters but finding a lack of bands using them that were not labeled misogynistic porno-grind, Hambone set out on an unstoppable quest to put his brand of “Mincegore” on the map. Solely influenced by the mighty Agathocles, Hambone was determined to keep the spirit of true Mincecore alive (encompassing everything from their relentless release schedule to their uncompromising political agenda speaking out against misogyny, sexism and homophobia in the scene) while adding his own style of gore infused vocals into the mix. Coming from a purely crust and punk background, Hambone has taken a strictly DIY approach with Haggus since inception. With a tireless work ethic, the band dropped close to 100 songs within the first 6 months of existence followed by self-releasing over 60 splits, 10 EPs and 3 full length albums while touring over 20 countries since 2014. In traditional Mincecore fashion (just like Jan is to Agathocles), Hambone is the sole founder and only remaining original member of the band. After a decade of DIY, Hambone is proud to announce the partnership with the now legendary Bay Area label, Tankcrimes, and wants any Haggus fans to know that this is only the beginning… gore freaks and mince mongers commence - for worldwide Mincecore domination is upon us!!!

The Three Corpses EP is a heavier, fresh take on HAGGUS traditional brand of mincegore, debuting their new drummer and lowest tuning yet (drop G) to the world. Expanding on the classic HAGGUS approach, they’ve made it the heaviest and nastiest it’s ever been without straying too far from the traditional HAGGUS sound. In traditional fashion this was recorded in the HAGGUS practice space by Hambone but professionally mixed and mastered by Chris Revill of the now defunct band Shitlife. Limited Neon Green Vinyl for retail. Haggus was formed in 2014 by guitarist / vocalist, Hambone, as an outlet to merge the traditional sound and politics of Mincecore with the sonic barbarity of old school Goregrind. Obsessed with pitch shifters but finding a lack of bands using them that were not labeled misogynistic porno-grind, Hambone set out on an unstoppable quest to put his brand of “Mincegore” on the map. Solely influenced by the mighty Agathocles, Hambone was determined to keep the spirit of true Mincecore alive (encompassing everything from their relentless release schedule to their uncompromising political agenda speaking out against misogyny, sexism and homophobia in the scene) while adding his own style of gore infused vocals into the mix. Coming from a purely crust and punk background, Hambone has taken a strictly DIY approach with Haggus since inception. With a tireless work ethic, the band dropped close to 100 songs within the first 6 months of existence followed by self-releasing over 60 splits, 10 EPs and 3 full length albums while touring over 20 countries since 2014. In traditional Mincecore fashion (just like Jan is to Agathocles), Hambone is the sole founder and only remaining original member of the band. After a decade of DIY, Hambone is proud to announce the partnership with the now legendary Bay Area label, Tankcrimes, and wants any Haggus fans to know that this is only the beginning… gore freaks and mince mongers commence - for worldwide Mincecore domination is upon us!!!

First Word Records is proud to present 'Nothing Leaves The House - The Anthology'. A vinyl-only album of 16 hip hop instrumentals from Mr Thing, kidkanevil, Tall Black Guy & Eric Lau. This is a collection of a long-out-of print series of beats from four of the most revered beat-makers in the underground scene.

This double-vinyl collection features four brand new tracks specially created for this 10 year anniversary release. The concept behind this project was originally birthed on Record Store Day 2012. First Word label founder Gilla explains "as we dipped in and out of London's Soho record shops, kidkanevil mentioned to me that he wanted to mine Mr Thing's vast record collection for samples. An idea formed to invite a couple of other beatmakers to join him and to press the resulting beats onto vinyl.

Mr Thing enthusiastically agreed to the idea with one stipulation: they could sample what they wanted, but the records had to stay within the walls of his flat. We quickly enlisted Eric Lauand Tall Black Guy to complete the quartet and 'Nothing Leaves The House' was born." The release came to fruition and was released a decade ago, for Record Store Day in April 2014. The quartet met up once again shortly after in another London record shop, to work on a follow up project.

For this one, Mr Thing brought one record for each producer from his collection for them to sample. They reciprocated by picking a record from the racks in the shop for him to use. 'Thing Leaves The House' was then released in 2015. Completing the trilogy of releases, the crew were invited to the legendary John Peel Archive to dig for samples there. After trawling the legendary Peel Acres collection, the producers individually selected sound snippets to create new beats from; this time under the stipulation that 'Nothing Leaves The Archive'. This double 7" release again landed on Record Store Day, 2016. Gilla says "10 years on from the release of the first record, and almost 9 years to the day since we were at Peel Acres, we are now releasing the 4th and final volume.

Whilst Mr Thing is still in England, the other three have travelled far and wide. Eric Lau is now in China, Tall Black Guy has returned to the US and kidkanevil has moved to Berlin. Our indie label budget didn't extend to uniting everyone from the different continents, so instead Mr Thing uploaded a folder of tracks for the trio to work from. With the previous volumes now long sold out, we've added the original beats to this anthology and have moved up from a double 7" to a double 12" LP. One side for each producer; four tracks made across 10 years." 'Nothing Leaves The House - The Anthology' is released on double vinyl, on Black Friday, November 29th 2024.

Released in 1956 this album is a compilation of recordings from different sessions held between 1953 and 1954

Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins were both giants of jazz, each known for their individual approaches. Monk, with his unorthodox approach to rhythm and harmony, was one of jazz's most original composers and pianists. Rollins, one of the greatest saxophonists in jazz history, was known for his inventive and bold improvisations. Thelonious Monk was still establishing his reputation during this time. Though considered a genius by some, Monk's highly original style, marked by dissonant harmonies, abrupt rhythmic shifts, and a percussive attack on the piano, was still divisive among critics and audiences in the early '50s. It wasn't until later in the decade, when he started working with Columbia Records and gained wider recognition, that he achieved broader commercial success. Sonny Rollins, though younger, was already a notable figure in the jazz scene by this point, having played with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Bud Powell. He was known for his inventive and bold improvisational style. In these recordings, Rollins was solidifying his status as one of the major voices on tenor saxophone. The album shows both musicians in their prime, experimenting with harmonies and extended forms. Even though the sessions were recorded at different times, there is a strong synergy between them, particularly in how Monk's percussive piano style complements Rollins' flowing saxophone. A record that captures a moment in jazz history, a testament to the artistic brilliance of both musicians and a significant piece of jazz history, blending the freewheeling spirit of jam sessions with complex, forwardthinking compositions.

Producer, designer, publisher, filmmaker, all-round scene phenom - Lasse Marhaug returns with his first album since relocating from Oslo to the Arctic Circle, surveying his 35-year career for a set of grizzled, doom-pocked rhythms and foghorn drones pulled from the aether. Expansive and hard to categorise, it's a precision-tooled set of ice-cold tonal productions that heavily lean into Mika Vainio’s rhythm experiments, with extra levels of growling bass and curious noises to send us deep into the uncanny.

Lasse Marhaug has put his mark on literally hundreds of albums - working with artists like Jenny Hval, Merzbow, Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm, Hilary Woods - so many others - yet he still regards himself as a primarily visual artist who got diverted into an occasionally different path. If his last album 'Context' was a kiss goodbye to decades of life in Oslo, 'Provoke' turns a new page, but one that draws heavily from memories of the distant past, reflecting on the way the topographies of Norway's frozen north helped shape his creative worldview. Weaving electronics into environmental recordings captured in the bleak Arctic winter, the album was mixed during the Polar night season, when, for two straight months, the sun never rose past the horizon. Somehow, even at its bleakest, Marhaug avoids the usual aesthetic signifiers for this kinda thing, finding elements of queered beauty in all the severity, juxtaposing elements that shine a bright light on all the odd spaces in-between.

A consideration of noise music's place in 2024, and whether it can still be a tool for subversion when its aesthetics have been so commodified, ‘Provoke’ also refernces an experimental '70s Japanese art magazine that attempted to define a new language for photography. Operating somewhere between these two guiding poles, Lasse feels his way through a subtly altered mode of expression, a new approach to familiar concepts. Album opener ‘Plates’, for example, gives it the full Ø treatment, like some exceptional ‘Oleva’-outtake, but , eventually, shards of interference start to exhale like horses blowing, creating uncanny sensations that hit through ambiguous feeling rather than sheer noise terror. Ritualistic, corporeal - hard to know what you’re listening to and why it makes you feel that certain way - so much more than just machine cycles optimised for their ultimately hollow brutalist aesthetic.

Marhaug paints vivid pictures from a carefully chosen palette, drawing us into a soundworld that's rich with contradictions and contrasts. Even the relatively deafening 'New Topographics' offsets its wall of distortion with a muffled, perforating kick drum, cutting into the noise like a knife through butter. And all of this preparation makes the album's lengthy centrepiece 'Monochrome Head' even more impactful; hinging on a Pan Sonic-like alloy of bass and drums, the track snowballs through tempered feedback and improv scrapes and whistles that pick up into an orchestral din. Marhaug accents the bluster with rhythmic hums that gather in momentum until they're almost oppressively heavy, as if everything's about to collapse.

A masterclass in quietly subversive world-building, 'Provoke' invites us to peer at an expansive sonic landscape and marvel at its intricacies, but this time around there's a Lovecraftian behemoth lurking somewhere beneath its icy surface.

Introducing Wishy, a brand new band from celebrated Indiana songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites. Wishy came to life as a musical partnership between the two Indianapolis musicians when Pitchkites moved back home from Philadelphia in 2021. The two bonded over their love for 90s alternative bands like The Sundays and My Bloody Valentine and soon began crafting their own brand of swirling pop-rock with an introspective, grungy flair. By day Krauter works as a music teacher, giving drum and guitar lessons to students, while Pitchkites is a seamstress by trade and often makes embroidered merch for the band. While Krauter spent the better part of the last decade cementing his place as a torchbearer of Midwestern dream pop with 2018's Toss Up and 2020's Full Hand, Pitchkites delved into her own indie electro-pop project Push Pop, writing songs like "Spinning" that would later be reworked for Wishy. To round out the live band, Pitchkites and Krauter enlisted guitarist Dimitri Morris, bassist Mitch Collins, and drummer Conner Host. Across two trips to Los Angeles in late 2022 and early 2023, Krauter and Pitchkites linked up with friend and producer Ben Lumsdaine, who had some spare time between Durand Jones tours to record the pair's newly written songs. The result of their fruitful time in sunny California is the aptly named Paradise, a breezy and melodic EP that puts on full display the songwriter's musical fluency. Tastefully blending shoegaze, dreampop, and alt-rock into a heavenly haze, Wishy delivers a strong 5-song introduction that's dense with melodic earworms and stirring sentiment. Wishy's debut single for new label home Winspear, the driving and distorted "Donut," showcases Pitchkites' hypnotic vocal and Krauter's melancholic wash of guitars. Written after a period when Pitchkites was driving on a spare, "Donut" laments the cynical capitalism of Midwest living and the reliance on a car to get around. Of the song Pitchkites says "When you've got the possibility of the open road plus the limitations of your shitty car-and you're stuck driving on a donut spare tire- it's a Catch 22." Throughout Paradise, the band laments on American loneliness and idealism as it relates to our everyday lives. Across the EP's five tracks, Pitchkites and Krauter trade bittersweet reflections on love and self actualization over vast, scrappy guitar chords. The whole thing feels equally indebted to early aughts alt-rock and '90s jangle pop. Wishy's music is cathartic, yet underlined by a subtle brooding energy-sitting nicely alongside the work of their contemporaries like Momma or Tanukichan, both of whom Wishy will have shared the stage with. Wishy will be touring this Fall supporting Tanukichan, and the band will make their first festival appearance at LEVITATION in Austin, TX. After that, they have their eyes set on finishing their debut album, slated for release via Winspear in 2024

The Invisible Road: Original Recordings, 1985–1990 compiles an unheard, previously unreleased body of recordings by Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz, dissidents from diametric backgrounds who met during the heady days of Downtown New York in the 1980s. This collection reveals the creative and life partners’ radical shared vision of avant-garde pop in all of its boundary pushing freedom, combining Deyhim’s singular approach to vocalization, Horowitz’s invention of new musical languages, and touchstones of traditional music from around the world, creating a new music that ultimately retains a voice entirely its own. Despite their difference in backgrounds and respective journeys, at the time of their meeting in the early 1980s in New York City, Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz were both products of the search for freedom and understanding (and resultant awakenings) that swept the globe and helped culturally define the late 1960s and 70s. Deyhim, born and raised in Tehran, spent her teens dancing with Iran’s Pars National Ballet company, performing weekly on Iranian national television, and travelling her home country studying with master folk musicians and dancers, before relocating to Belgium and joining Maurice Béjart’s prestigious Béjart Ballet of the 20th Century. Horowitz, born and raised in Buffalo, New York, had spent much of the decade before abroad, first departing for Paris under the shadows of the Vietnam War, where he studied piano, Eastern philosophy, and became entrenched the city’s free jazz scene, playing with the likes of Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton, and Alan Silva, before embarking south to Morocco where his friendship with Paul Bowles helped cultivate a deep passion for the country’s musical traditions and a shift in his musical practice.



The pair met by chance sometime in 1981 at Noise New York, a small studio on West 34th Street founded by the musician and recording engineer, Frank Eaton, as a utopian creative laboratory that beckoned artists and bands like Arthur Russell, Christian Marclay, Liquid Liquid and Butthole Surfers into its orbit. Both artists had recently relocated to the city, Horowitz having recently released his debut album, Oblique Sequences (Solo Nai Improvisations), on the legendary Paris based imprint Shandar, and fallen in with members of New York avant-garde like La Monte Young, Jon Hassell, David Byrne, and Brian Eno, and Deyhim having begun to more actively incorporate singing into her practice, notably recording a vocal score for choreography she was doing at La MaMa Experimental Theatre.



Initially bonding over a cassette tape of field recordings made by Paul Bowles that had been given to mutual friend and writer Brian Cullman (seeking answers for Ornette Coleman’s question “what is the sound of sound”), their earliest collaboration was documented on Horowitz’s 1981 album, Eros In Arabia, with Deyhim contributing vocals to the track “Queen Of Saba.” Over the coming years, their deep connection would routinely gravitate them into the studio, culminating in the body of recordings that would appear on their 1986 album for Crammed Discs, Desert Equations: Azax Attra. Unknown to nearly all but the artists, laying in wait over the decades on numerous multi-track and stereo reels, DAT tapes, and reference cassettes, were a vast array of recordings made by Deyhim and Horowitz bookending Desert Equations. The 13 pieces represented on The Invisible Road: Original Recordings, 1985–1990 were recorded largely between Noise New York and Daylight Studio in Brussels, during a period that Deyhim describes the partnership between herself and Horowitz’s as seeking a music “free of any specific cultural reference, with a personal musical signature,” blossoming into a body of sonority that embraced the energy of contemporary boundary pushing pop and the avant garde, filtered through their mutual love and study of various musical traditions from across the globe and deep engagement with the ideas and tactics of experimental music.



Undeniably rooted in Horowitz’s study of the North Africa ney and the music of the Berber and Gnawa cultures during his time in Morocco, Deyhim’s deep engagement with the folk traditions of Iran, and the couple’s immersion in the interconnected Downtown underground music scenes, each piece on The Invisible Road offers its own vision creative and cultural hybridity. Deyhim sings in both English and Farsi, as well as a composite tongue that she developed by drawing upon numerous indigenous vocal techniques from around the world, intuitively responding to Horowitz’s simultaneous sound syntax forming and combining a wide range synthetic and acoustic instrumentation, and experimental tape techniques, within a visionary series of free-standing expressions.

black vinyl ltd. to 200 copies incl. album download code. Neun neue Songs + Interludes auf, die euch die Falten aus dem Hintern bügeln werden. Diese fast 50 Minuten feinster, eigenständiger, brutaler, technisch- klassischer Death Metal hören zusammengefasst auf den Albumtitel "From Origin To Decay" und werden als CD, LP sowie in digitaler Form am 22.11.2024 via FDA Records (Vertrieb: Cargo Records) veröffentlicht. Alles wurde einmal erschaffen. Und alles wird vergehen. Und aus allem Verfall kann eine neue Schöpfung entstehen. Dieses Thema findet sich in den Stories der 9 neuen MAAT Songs, die sorgfältig mit 2 separaten atmosphärischen Zwischenspielen arrangiert sind, um einen Klangfluss zu erzeugen. Von der lyrischen Seite werden philosophische Fragen des Werdens, Seins und Vergehens gestellt, indem lyrische Bilder und Stilmittel verwendet werden, die von der Mythologie und Geschichte des alten Ägyptens und des orientalischen Raums inspiriert sind. Textlich und musikalisch dreht sich das Album um den Haupttrack "Perennial Bliss", der das innere Selbst innerhalb von Zeit und Raum und außerhalb von beidem reflektiert. ,From Origin To Decay' ist extrem empfehlenswert for Fans von NILE oder BEHEMOTH. Alle Songs und Lyrics wurden von MAAT geschrieben und im Soundlodge Studio von Jörg Uken aufgenommen, gemischt und gemastert. Jörg hat bereits mit vielen Künstlern wie God Dethroned, Slaughterday, Keitzer oder Anvil zusammengearbeitet.

Die Debut-EP ,Kingdom of Decay" umreißt in vier Songs alle Stilwelten, aus denen Silverships aus Hamburg ihre Inspirationen schöpfen. Der Desert Rock der 90er und 2000er bildet das Fundament des Trios. Viele Spuren von Queens Of The Stone Age finden sich in den Songs wieder, in den brachialen Passagen fühlt man sich an Kyuss erinnert. Auch Klangmalereien der 70er Jahre Pink Floyd tauchen immer wieder auf. Psych-Poppige Momente der frühen Tame Impala werden abgelöst von düsterer, fast beklemmender Atmosphäre, die den Vibe von The Doors einfängt und sich auch als Soundtrack eines noch zu drehenden Films wohlfühlen würde. Charakteristisch für die Band ist neben opulenten Arrangements und abwechslungsreichem Songwriting die Liebe zu B-Parts, die die Songs mit vielen Ausrufezeichen beenden. Hinter der kraftvollen Produktion steckt Hauke Albrecht, der mit Mountain Witch den letzten größeren Stoner Export aus Hamburg produzierte. Für das Artwork konnte die Band BEWITCHED Graphics bzw. Benjamin Nickel gewinnen, der mit seinen psychedelischen Arbeiten z. B. schon das Reeperbahn Festival versorgt hat.