'A bold voice for a frustrated generation, Mae Muller makes pop music that packs a real punch, and her debut album is no exception. The 17 track LP is full of songs that are deeply personal yet demonstrate her deft ability
to celebrate the female experience at large, capturing the mood of her generation with playful precision. Mae explores love and loss, dating and relationships with fearless honesty, confronting her own experiences whilst also capturing the broader frustrations of young women today. Whilst a fierce feminism often informs her songwriting, her new music exposes a much more vulnerable side. Beginning a dynamic new era, 2023 has been an incredible year for Mae. In January she was chosen to represent the UK at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool with dance-pop anthem, ‘I Wrote A song’. Following the show, the track became the No.1 trending song in the UK and charted Top 10 this week, giving Mae her first top 10 single.
CELESTE have been breaking the outer boundaries of heavy music for over fifteen years. When they first evolved from the Lyon hardcore punk scene, they were absolutely brutal and entirely unique, delivering extremity on their own terms that they pushed further and further with each successive album. “We just wanted to get darker and more violent,” says drummer Antoine Royer, until 2017’s Infidèle(s) saw the incorporation of a more melodic streak. Their most focussed record yet, it was tremendously received, critically adored, and backed with the band’s biggest shows to date.
Its follow-up was always going to be something radical. Even by their own inordinately high standards, however, new record Assassine(s) is one hell of a step forward. Even if this album still contains cyclonic walls of guitar, of battering rhythm, and passages of blissful, rushing release. it’s unlike anything the band have ever released; embracing a modern and forward-thinking production, they're just as complex but more direct, diverse and accessible than before. “Our leitmotif here was to open our minds,” says guitarist Sébastien Ducotté. “We made a real effort to think outside of our box.”
During lockdown CELESTE’s members were forced to each write individually. “We each went further into our personal, inner views of what the songs were,” says bassist and vocalist Johan Girardeau. When eventually they began sessions under producer Chris Edrich, it was gruelling. “We ended up exhausted, physically and mentally” says Johan. “There was no break in two weeks. We didn’t see the sun at all during that time. Every night we were so tired that we didn’t enjoy being together as much as we’re used to.” Nevertheless, in the same way the hardships of isolation led to richer and more complex songwriting, it’s that relentlessness that led to the record’s razor-sharp edges.
Above all else, CELESTE are innovators. Whether by pioneering French avant-garde metal when they formed at the turn of the millennium, by making their boldest leaps despite being seven albums deep into their career, or using two years away from live shows to tightly finetune their stagecraft, they refuse at all costs to rest on their laurels. There can be consequences to this instinct – fans of the band’s older work might be thrown off by their constant shifts of pace – but they’re throwing caution to the wind. A bit of backlash “would be a good thing, because it would mean that we’ve really changed,” says Guillaume . “It's not disrespectful, it's just that we never made music to please people, but just to enjoy what we're doing.” In the end, CELESTE are a band so forward-thinking that they can only be judged on the strength of their latest work. And when it comes to a record as bold as Assassine(s), they’ve hit a whole new peak entirely.
”Show” ist ein Live-Album der britischen Alternative-Rock-Band ”The Cure” aus dem Jahr 1993. Es wurde während der erfolgreichen Wish-Tour 1992 an zwei Abenden im Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan live aufgenommen und enthält 18 Singles wie ”Pictures of You”, ”Lullaby”, ”Just Like Heaven”, ”The Walk”, ”Let’s Go To Bed”, ”Friday I’m In Love” und ”Inbetween Days”.
Erstmals Remastered von Robert Smith und Miles Showell in den Abbey Road Studios, London, ab dem 08.09.2023 als 2LP verfügbar
Millennial dream boy Gen-Y and his twisted takes on everything! With his roots in Iran, hailing from Berlin he goes deep in, mixing up styles like Kanye mixes up opinions. On this follow-up Ep to the critically acclaimed Saturn Flow Ep from 2021, he keeps it funky and upbeat! On the opener Dreamboy, he collabs with Estonian singer Maryn E. Coote and takes the dancers on a smooth ride with a touch of 80's proto-house, electronic funk sound and vocals from Maryn's original version. River of Light and Time Of Death are proper flowing electro-funkers while Type 0.7 and Rari Jack ft. DJ Ebhardy are proper jackin Dj favorites! Closer Kirby Step takes the term 'funky acid' to another level. When you make tunes that are this cool there is no need to stick to one style... just enjoy what the universe transmits to the ether and vibe along!
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For the second instalment of his new born label, U FIT, Nico Lahs doesn't make any exceptions and delivers another sublime EP of high quality, the usual we are used to, showing how the Italian producer can equally release a lot of material in just a few months, but still of the best substance.
Another 4-track EP that will get all deep/house heads in agreement: from the heavy house for sweaty basements to quirky and hypnotic/ethereal stuff.
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Read any article or comment thread about the Seattle noise-rock outfit GREAT FALLS and you're likely to see descriptors like cathartic, heavy, crushing, and unhinged. Maybe even psychotic. And sure, those are all apt: For over a decade, vocalist/guitarist Demian Johnston and bassist Shane Mehling (who also played together in the early-2000s noisecore band PLAYING ENEMY and the experimental duo HEMINGWAY) have honed their sludgy, overwhelmingly intense brand of heaviness, punctuated by delectably discordant riffs, terrifyingly low, thwacking bass lines, and mesmerizingly tight percussion. In the live setting, too, they’re notorious for a stage presence that is so aggressively confrontational and menacing that Mehling once broke his own arm mid-set.
But the most striking aspect of GREAT FALLS, setting them apart from the murky sea of sludge metal and AmRep-inspired noise-rock bands, is their ability to paint a deeply, utterly human story through an all-out assault on the senses: an art the band has perfected on their fourth full-length album OBJECTS WITHOUT PAIN, out September 15 via NEUROT RECORDINGS.
The album is not only their NEUROT debut, but also the first LP featuring drummer Nickolis Parks (GAYTHEIST, BASTARD FEAST), who joined the band prior to the release of their exhilarating, cacophonous 2023 EP,FUNNY WHAT SURVIVES.
OBJECTS WITHOUT PAIN takes us on a bleak, purgative journey through a separation–a snapshot of the turmoil and indecision that occurs after the initial realization of someone's misery, and before the ultimate decision to end a decades-long partnership. From the foreboding intro riffs of “DRAGGED HOME ALIVE” to the end of the 13-minute closer “THROWN AGAINST THE WAVES,” its eight tracks explore the thoughts that come up when a person is staring down the barrel of blowing up their life: How did this happen? Is it too late for a new life? Will the kid be OK? What will make me happier: familiar torment or unknown freedom?
The latest full-length from Larkin Poe, Blood Harmony is a whole-hearted invitation into a world they know intimately, a Southern landscape so precisely conjured you can feel the sticky humidity of the warm summer air. In bringing their homeland to such rich and dazzling life, Georgia-bred multi-instrumentalist sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell fortify their storytelling with a rock and blues-heavy sound that hits right in the heart, at turns stormy and sorrowful and wildly exhilarating.
Apnea 105 presents Kyle Hall in pure Detroit Techno explorations, deep and cosmic dancefloor burners crafted around Hall's signature syncopated rhythms, reminiscent of Detroit's 90s Matrix Records era.
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From the intricate fictional details packed into the cover art (cocreated by Palomo and designer Robert Beatty), to the lyrical collage
of pop culture and political references, to the music’s early-digital
sheen, the album evokes the 80s golden age of rock stars like Bryan
Ferry and Sting leaving their own breakthrough projects to strike out
as jazzy solo musicians. It’s parody, sure - of rock star ego trips, the
mall-ification of America, and our own self-obsession, even on the
brink of apocalypse - but it’s also dead serious, the sound of history
repeating itself as the Doomsday Clock clicks past its Reagan-era
maximum and nuclear anxiety comes back into style along with digital
synthesizers and sax solos. The deeper it pulls you into its own
uncanny reality, the clearer it becomes how thin the borders are
between Alan Palomo’s ‘World of Hassle’ and our own.
The last time Canadian underground techno tastemaker Rennie Foster had a record on a French label it was the historic F-Communications. Back then Rennie’s penchant for bringing warehouse nostalgia together with hi-tech futurism was a consistent theme and in 2023 this fusion based musical concept is realized further toward the future through a new EP release, Cryptic Layers on Parisian imprint Skylax Records.
The record opens with Let It Go, a simple title for a complex and dreamy piece of lo-fi rave house featuring clattering breaks, ear worm vocals and a drastic bassline driving the whole custom vehicle. Then the similarly, simply titled Just Do It explodes into action with an inspired mix of Detroit inspired dub techno chords, fierce amen breaks and a hip-house energy akin to both current urban style and authentic musical roots. These tracks sound like they could have been released at any time during the past decades but still sound current, or even futuristic. Apparent is craft, design and an understanding of dance music from the perspective of obsession, experience and passion.
The remixes come from absolute legends in the world of techno, representing Rennie’s other home-base territories, the techno cities Detroit and Tokyo. Japanese electronic music icon Ken Ishii provides a storming acid remix of Just Do It with liquid 303 bass, anxious and trip vocal snips, and punchy drums that will sound absolutely ace in a club. Detroit third wave pioneer Sean Deason closes out the record with a crisp dose of hi-tech funk that is sure to be a DJ weapon with it’s hypnotic energy and timeless production style.
The digital only portion of Cryptic Layers begins with a second version from Ken Ishii, this time sans vocals leaving the acid stripped down and bare. Two more original tracks by Rennie Foster are also on offer. Sadlands is an organ laden deep house, synth-wave, contrasting piece of melancholic dream dance while I Say Peace signs off the project in a layered classic house style with early rave stabs and grooving after-hours appeal.
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We’ve waited over 20 years and finally Vince Watson is releasing the follow up to his seminal ‘Moments In Time’ album released on Ibadan and Alola, entitled ‘Another Moment In Time’. Over the twenty years since the release of ‘Moments In Time’, Vince has put out more than ten LPs of various flavours. Here he returns to the vibe and feel of those early works. ‘Another Moment in Time’ wastes no time in exploring those rich, melancholic tones with his stunning piano chords and an essence of nostalgia that is both thought provoking and deeply satisfying. This album takes Vince Watson ever further into his original sound but with a pristine quality and finesse that his early work was yet to benefit from.
There are many highlights, from the opener with its rich acid deepness and subtle keys, to the energetic and deeply fulfilling ‘Flashback’ that gives a nod to Funk d’Void’s Diablo or KiNK. ‘Peace Of Mind’ features the incredible talents of the hallowed Underground Resistance ‘Timeline’ keyboard master Jon Dixon as co-writer, this combination of both musicians is an ear to behold; the piano and Rhodes playing is straight up high-tech jazz. ‘Lost In the Deep’ takes its cues from Detroit but hits different with twisting chords and grooves. ‘Whispers’ delivers the most melancholic deepness on the LP, whereas ‘Sunshine’ is pure out and out happiness with its twisting chords and a firm foundation in Detroit. Written on the first sunny day after the winter, you can hear the breath of relief within the track.
‘Rendezvous Finale’ is the 3rd and final version of a cut that’s had a long and satisfying journey. Originally released on Carl Craig’s Planet E in 2006, it was then formatted into Afro House for Osunlade’s Yoruba Records in 2018, and in ‘22 this new version was debuted for Carl Cox’s Birthday at DC10 in Ibiza for Vince’s live set. The reaction sealed the deal! ‘Forever’ and ‘Make A Wish’ are straight up club cuts that featured on a single also in ‘22. The album closes out with the peacefully beautiful ‘Sleep’ that rounds things off to sonic perfection.
20 years is a long time to wait, and it would do ‘Another Moment in Time’ no justice to simply say it was worth the wait. This feels like the next evolution in Vince Watson. The finesse, the musicality, musicianship, and the production levels are of the highest level. ‘Peace of Mind’ and ‘Flashback’ may well be two of the biggest tracks that Watson has released to date.
g D1 Rendezvous Finale
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Fortunea Records continues its release schedule of 2023 with the 4th edition of their VA-series ‚Fortunea Cookies‘ to highlight the status quo in Austrian house music.
A band that is generating buzz in this country right now is Spitting Ibex. Their music is a mixture of funk and heavy rock, in the style of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prince and Rage Against The Machine. Currently they are touring with their brand-new album ‚E.G.O.‘ through Europe and Peletronic had the honor to remix the title-track of their
previous record ‚Love Hate Fear Fate‘. In this ‚Disko Miks’ he transforms the song into a driving house weapon.
In 2021 Nick Hanzo released his ‚Candy Places‘ EP. And on this record was a memorable abstract lo-fi house track called ‚Saturn Nate’ that gets on FC4 a treatment by Klaus Benedek. In this new version he accelerates the speed and focuses even more on the aspect of space travel with the addition of sound fx, pads, pianos and a Italo disco-inspired baseline.
Of course this release has not only remixes of previous tracks, but also 2 originals!
The B-side features Dzc. again with her ‚Expressions‘ of night culture. Caution! This will catapult the crowd up to new heights. An energetic peak-time tune that delves deep into 90s house and trance sonic images.
And finally Markus Quittner returns from Linz and brought his ‚Game‘ to the table. A board full of bouncing dices, strong drum patterns and funky orchestrations. A pleasure for the ears.
Fortunea Cookies Vol. 4 will come out this summer on white limited vinyl. Don’t sleep on this!
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Invisible Inc is back with another remarkable release, this time diving even further into ambient, spiritual and folk-infused psychedelia.
“Mondo Organico”, as the name suggests, is a concept compilation that captures the “organic” side of Invisible Inc. The use of non-electronic instrumentation is a familiar theme explored by the label previously with the likes of Komodo Kolektif, Immaculate Rivombo and Peter Power...but this time the instruments and voices, tranquil and meditatively hypnotic in places, display an even deeper spirituality.
Featuring the talents of Andi Otto and his fello (electronic cello), Anna vs June's ethereal vocals, Tyler Ov Gaia's zoned-out mantra rhythms, Pieter Kock's 8-minute bass and guitar psych odyssey, as well as label favourites Sordid Sound System and Puma & The Dolphin, the record is enthralling and mesmerizing from start to finish - and yet another notch in Invisible Inc's rather idiosyncratic belt.
This record was pressed on eco vinyl. Everything from the sleeve to the inks are recycled too, in an attempt to address some the environmental issues we face today, albeit fractionally.
“Mondo Organico” is the future.
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Here is another mystery from the universe comming straight out from London! Popping up from nowhere, don’t expect any infos about the person behind, it’s a very well kept secret… actually Tutu Ta reached us by telepathy to propose this sensationnal album for Macadam Mambo.
A concentrate of punkish dubby tunes combining ruffness, deepness, darkness, light, humour and serious vocals on very heavy beats and supa loud basslines. It’s raw but so gracefull in the meantime, 12 tracks, 47 min of pure bliss that won’t leave you on your knees, grab it fast it’s high demands style of music
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Toronto-based producer and DJ Ciel is renowned for a style of dancefloor material that’s as heady as it is visceral. The Xi’an-born artist’s ascendant profile has seen her cutting- edge and club-ready EPs released on UK labels Peach Discs and Coastal Haze, as well as Stateside imprints Spectral Sound and Mister Saturday Night.
As a member of the renowned collective Discwoman and the creator of femme-forward party Work in Progress Ciel’s thoughtful narratives are clear, running in parallel to the perception-altering sounds that are consistently woven deeply into her wide-ranging sets, beloved mixes and inventive collaborations. Now the Parallel Minds label co- founder is crystallising her imaginative and omnivorous sound with her !K7 Records debut, ORLANDO.
Written during her emergence from an uncharacteristic bout of writers’ block, the three original tracks of Orlando chart a return to the musical self, spurred along by a cinephile’s embrace of film, a love of classic literature, and a curiosity for the oddest corners of popular culture. “SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE” might share a name with the episodic series, but is rather a nuanced critique of the modern rite of union, moving through structured chapters, and mirroring the un-static nature of longtime love.Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s radical novel, and its superphysical protagonist, “ORLANDO” considers the cult literary figure who lived from the renaissance to the modern age, and embodies both sides of the sex binary.
The thrown sounds and aural illusions of “EL CALIFA” create the effect of a beckoning, beguiling psychedelic experience. To complete the EP, Ali Berger, Ciel’s recent collaborator on the Jacktone Records’ release Damn Skippy! repurposes the mind-bending flourishes of “El Califa” into a noodly and spacious deep house production, replete with pillowy, gauzy pads.
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- Two previously unreleased tracks from the outsider disco outfit - Strange
Christopher Spraggins & The Strange Band out of Rochester, N.Y released a total of one record. . A spaced out druggy disco band that had a hint of Rick James with a deeper trippier vibe that's truly unique, reproduced for you here for the first time since 1978. The band was introduced to the world by Cleveland Unlimited Records who still exist to this day, unfortunately as these things go, the record failed to gain sales needed to justify further but a whole LP was recorded, here we bring you the best tracks from that unreleased LP on your favourite format
Ariel Posen's music occupies the space between genres. It's a rootsy sound that nods to his influences — heartland rock & roll, electrified Americana, blue-eyed soul, R&B, Beatles-inspired pop — while still moving forward, pushing Posen into territory that's uniquely his own. Posen seeks answers with new album, Reasons Why. The internationally known Canadian rocker wrote this new reflective album coming out of half a year of lockdown and was extremely inspired creatively, 30 songs turned into a batch of 10 tracks for the new album and were recorded in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Montreal, Quebec. Reasons Why shows once again that "best" is a high standard for Posen. The new songs represent another step forward in every aspect – lyricism, musicality, playing, sonics. The songs are nuanced but impactful, deeply resonant but universally accessible. Posen blends craftsman's care with the daring do of a seasoned live player, resulting in an immersive adventure that reveals fresh merits on every listen. On Reasons Why Posen determinedly defies any easy genre identification and refuses to be sealed in any sonic cubbyhole.
Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like "explosive" and "thunderous" barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billowing smoke, Boris has shared with audiences across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way. This is the highly-requested, unbelievably-anticipated official vinyl and streaming release of Boris's 2002 album and first dive into the stoner rock idiom, originally released in Japan on CD only. Heavy Rocks (2002) is heavy, sure, but fuses sludge, noise, stoner rock and hardcore all together for a deeply bone-shaking and unforgettable trip. For fans of: Melvins, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, BORIS
You can't get Deeper if you're standing still. That's intentional, says the Chicago quartet's Nic Gohl. "Does it feel good when you're listening to this song? Does your body want to move with it?" These are the questions he asked himself as he and bandmates Shiraz Bhatti, Drew McBride, and Kevin Fairbairn were writing and recording Careful!, their third record and Sub Pop debut. "I wanted these to be interesting songs, but in a way where a two-year-old would vibe out to it," Gohl adds.
"It's pop music, basically." That "basically" qualifier is working pretty hard, as fans of 2020's Auto-Pain might suppose. On Careful!, they're not reimagining their sound so much as testing its limits. If you want to, you can hear echoes of David Bowie's Low in the snapping rhythm and gray-sky synths of "Tele," but you can also hear a bit of Auto-Pain in the nailed-in, stippling lines being spit out by Bhatti's drum programming and McBride's synthesizer.
"Fame" seems to stumble together and nearly fall apart, the dialed-up noise making the beat feel maniacal and a little invincible, the whole thing a series of short, snipped, autonomous gestures that are by now Deeper's trademark. "Build a Bridge" pushes in the opposite direction, using a prickly guitar line to launch into big, smeary art-pop, its emotional palette clear, well-defined, and easy to latch onto.
On "Sub," Gohl sings above and below the melody like Ian McCulloch, bellowing and wondering and ruminating and rounding into swaggering confidence that the band rises to meet. It's festival headliner music that still feels like it was written in a garage. That fraternal interdependence is near the center of Deeper's music. The musical and lyrical devotion to mutuality makes this restlessly curious, stylistically broad album feels like the most coherent portrait of who Deeper is. Or, as McBride ultimately frames it, "Careful! is about looking out for one another."
You can't get Deeper if you're standing still. That's intentional, says the Chicago quartet's Nic Gohl. "Does it feel good when you're listening to this song? Does your body want to move with it?" These are the questions he asked himself as he and bandmates Shiraz Bhatti, Drew McBride, and Kevin Fairbairn were writing and recording Careful!, their third record and Sub Pop debut. "I wanted these to be interesting songs, but in a way where a two-year-old would vibe out to it," Gohl adds.
"It's pop music, basically." That "basically" qualifier is working pretty hard, as fans of 2020's Auto-Pain might suppose. On Careful!, they're not reimagining their sound so much as testing its limits. If you want to, you can hear echoes of David Bowie's Low in the snapping rhythm and gray-sky synths of "Tele," but you can also hear a bit of Auto-Pain in the nailed-in, stippling lines being spit out by Bhatti's drum programming and McBride's synthesizer.
"Fame" seems to stumble together and nearly fall apart, the dialed-up noise making the beat feel maniacal and a little invincible, the whole thing a series of short, snipped, autonomous gestures that are by now Deeper's trademark. "Build a Bridge" pushes in the opposite direction, using a prickly guitar line to launch into big, smeary art-pop, its emotional palette clear, well-defined, and easy to latch onto.
On "Sub," Gohl sings above and below the melody like Ian McCulloch, bellowing and wondering and ruminating and rounding into swaggering confidence that the band rises to meet. It's festival headliner music that still feels like it was written in a garage. That fraternal interdependence is near the center of Deeper's music. The musical and lyrical devotion to mutuality makes this restlessly curious, stylistically broad album feels like the most coherent portrait of who Deeper is. Or, as McBride ultimately frames it, "Careful! is about looking out for one another."
A.R. Kive collates the three most astonishing works from that most miraculous of duos - A.R. Kane - comprising the ‘Up Home’ EP from 1988 that signified the band’s dawning realisation of their own powers and possibilities, their legendary debut LP ‘sixty nine’ (1988) and its kaleidoscopic, prophetic double-LP follow up ‘i’ (1989).
In founder-member Rudy Tambala’s new remastering, the music on these pivotal transmissions from the birth of dream pop, have been reinvigorated and re-infused with a new power, a new depth and intimacy, a new height and immensity. Vivid, timeless and yet always timely whenever they’re recalled, these records still force any listener to realise that despite the habits of retrospective myth-making and the
safe neutering effects of ‘genre’, thirty years have in no way dimmed how resistant and dissident to critical habits of categorisation A.R. Kane always were. Never quite ‘avant-pop’ or ‘shoegaze’ or ‘post-rock’ or any of those sobriquets designed to file and categorise, A.R. Kive is a reminder that those genres had to be coined, had to be invented precisely to contain the astonishing sound of A.R. Kane, because
previous formulations couldn’t come close to their sui generis sound and suggestiveness. This is music that pointed towards futures which a whole generation of artists and sonic explorers would map out. Now beautifully repackaged, remastered and fleshed out with extensive sleeve notes and accompanying materials, ‘A.R. Kive’ reveals that 35 years on it’s still a struggle to defuse the revolutionary and inspirational possibility of A.R. Kane’s music.
A.R. Kane were formed in 1986 by Rudy Tambala and Alex Ayuli, two second-generation immigrants who grew up together in Stratford, East London. From the off the pair were outsiders in the culturally mixed (cockney/Irish/West Indian/Asian) milieu of the East End, with Alex and Rudy’s folks first generation immigrants from Nigeria and Malawi, respectively. The two of them quickly developed and fostered an innate and near-telepathic mutual understanding forged in musical, literary and artistic exploration. Like a lot of second-generation immigrants, they were ferocious autodidacts in all kinds of areas, especially around music and literature. Diving deep into the music of afro-futurist luminaries such as Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Lee Perry and
Hendrix, as well as devouring the explorations of lysergic noise and feedback from contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers, they also thoroughly immersed themselves in the alternate literary realities of sci-fi and ancient history (the fascination with the arcane that gave the band their name), all to feed their voracious cultural thirsts and intellectual curiosity.
It was seeing the Cocteau Twins performing on Channel 4 show the Tube that spurred A.R. Kane into being - “They had no drummer. They used tapes and technology and Liz Fraser looked completely otherworldly with those big eyes. And the noise coming out of Robin’s guitar! That was the ‘Fuck! We could do that! We could express ourselves like that!’ moment”, recalls Tambala - and through a mix of
confidence, chutzpah, ad hoc almost-mythical live shows and sheer innocent will the duo debuted with the astonishing ‘When You’re Sad’ single for One Little Indian in 1986. Immediately dubbed a ‘black Jesus & Mary Chain’ by a press unsure of WHERE to put a black band clearly immersed in feedback and noise, what was immediately apparent for listeners was just how much more was going on here - a
tapping of dub’s stealth and guile, a resonant umbilicus back to fusion and jazz, the music less a conjuration of past highs than a re-summoning of lost spirits.
The run of singles and EPs that followed picked up increasingly rapt reviews in the press, but it was the ‘Up Home EP’ released in 1988 on their new home, Rough Trade that really suggested something immense was about to break. Simon Reynolds noted the EP was: Their most concentrated slab of iridescent awesomeness and a true pinnacle of an era that abounded with astounding landmarks of guitar-reinvention, A.R. Kane at their most elixir-like.
If anything, the remastered ‘Up Home’ that forms the first part of ‘A.R. Kive’ is even more dazzling, even more startling than it was when it first emerged, and listening now you again wonder not just about how many bands christened ‘shoegaze’ tried to emulate it, but how all of them fell so far short of its lambent, pellucid wonder. This remains intrinsically experimental music but with none of the frowning orthodoxy those words imply. A.R. Kane, thanks to that second generation auto-didacticism were always supremely aware about the interstices of music and magic, but at the same time gloriously free in the way they explored that connection within their own sound, fascinated always with the creation of ‘perfect mistakes’ and the possibilities inherent in informed play.
‘sixty nine’ the group’s debut LP that emerged in 1988 had
critics and listeners struggling to fit language around A.R. Kane’s sound. As a title it was telling - the year of ‘Bitches Brew’, the year of ‘In A Silent Way’, the erotic möbius between two lovers - and as originally coined by the band themselves, ‘dream pop’ (before it became a free-floating signifier of vague import) was entirely apposite for the music A.R. Kane were making. Crafted in a dark small basement studio in which Tambala recalls the duo had “complete freedom - We wanted to go as far out as we could, and in doing so we discovered the point where it stops being music”. There was an irresistibly dreamy, somnambulant, sensual and almost surreal flow to ‘sixty nine’s sound, but also real darkness/dankness, the ruptures of the primordial and the reverberations of the subconscious, within the grooves of remarkable songs like ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Crazy Blue’. Alex’s plangent vocals floated and surged amidst exquisite peals of refracted feedback but crucially there was BASS here, lugubrious and funky and full of dread, sonic pleasure and sonic disturbance crushed together to make music with a center so deep it felt subcutaneous, music constructed from both the accidental and the deliberate, generous enough to dance with both serendipity and chaos. ‘sixty nine’ remains - especially in this remastered iteration - ravishing, revolutionary.
The final part of this ‘A.R. Kive’ contains 1989’s astonishing double-LP ‘i’ which followed up on ‘sixty nine’s promise and saw the duo fully unleash their experimental pop sensibilities over 26 tracks, plunging the A.R. Kane sound into a dazzlingly kaleidoscopic vision of pop experiment and play. Suffused with new digital technologies and combining searingly sweet and danceable pop with perhaps the duo’s strangest and boundary-pushing compositions, the album did exactly what a great double-set should do - indulge the artists sprawling pursuit of their own imaginations but always with a concision and an ear for those moments where pop both transcends and toys with the listeners expectations. Jason Ankeny has noted that “In retrospect, ‘i’ now seems like a crystal ball prophesying virtually every major musical development of the 1990s; from the shimmering techno of ‘A Love from Outer Space’ to the liquid dub of ‘What’s All This Then?’, from the alien drone-pop of ‘Conundrum’ to the sinister shoegazer miasma of ‘Supervixens’ — it’s all here, an underground road map for countless bands to follow.” Perhaps the most overwhelmingly all-encompassing transmission from A.R. Kane, ‘i’ bookended a three year period in which the duo had made some of the most prophetic and revelatory music of the entire decade.
After ‘i’ the duo’s output became more sporadic with Tambala and Ayuli moving in different directions both geographically and musically, with only 1994’s ‘New Clear Child’ a crystalline re-fraction of future and past echoes of jazz, folk and soul, before the duo went their separate ways. Since then, A.R. Kane’s music has endured, not thanks to the usual sepia’d false memories that seem to maintain interest in so much of the musical past, but because those who hear A.R. Kane music and are changed irrevocably, have to share that universe which A.R. Kane opened up, with anyone else who will listen. Far more than other lauded documents of the late 80s it still sounds astonishingly fresh, astonishingly livid and vivid and necessary and NOW.
Stomu Yamash'ta's ultra-rare cult 1971 LP is reissued for the first time, it is a deep, cosmic, at time ambient performance recorded live and
featuring two other Japanese legends: Takehisa Kosugi from the TajMahal Travellers and jazz pianist Masahiko Satoh
Remastered from the master tapes with original gatefold artwork, obi and newintroduction by Paul Bowler. Recorded live at Yamaha Hall in Tokyo on April 18, 1971, the all- night concert was recorded in front of an invite- only audience consisting of friends and musicians. Yamash'ta had Satoh on keyboards along with Fluxus master and leader of the Taj Mahal Travellers Takehisa Kosugi on violin and Hideakira Sakurai on electric shamisen.
Edited down to fit two sides of an album that will become 'Sunrise From West
Sea', the performance is both hypnotic and ethereal. It starts with Kosugi's
distinctive electric violin and develops into a deep, spiritual free form
conversation between the four musicians, giving them all the space, they need to
freely improvise and interact with each other, mixing electronics, percussion,
electric organ and shamizen without ever clashing. The interaction alternates
between quiet, tranquil Eastern meditations and more paced parts, fuelled by
Yamash'ta's extraordinary percussion playing.
Yamash'ta never reached the creativity heard in 'Sunrise From West Sea' again.
The album was recorded during one of the most fertile periods in Japan where
such groups as Les Rallizes Denudes and Taj Mahal Travellers and jazz
musicians like Masahiko Satoh and Yamash'ta were revolutionising the Japanese
music scene.
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Chris Liberator's Maximum Minimum label returns with a colourful joker set to meddle with your synapses... Bad Boy Pete and Errot slam hard on the title track 'Joker' with some hard and booming techno beatz , whilst Sam DFL and Richie Five Alive go dark and minimal on 'Deeper'.
On the flip Brazilian legend Nori delivers a funked up stomping gem on 'Early', whilst Bad Boy Pete delivers more hard driving rhythms on 'Eastern Promise' to finish up the EP.
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For their fourth album, »Bear In Town«, indie avant-pop supergroup Spirit Fest made a virtue of distance, with group members split across Europe, and recording sessions taking place after a brief 2021 tour of Europe. It’s an object lesson in perseverance and commitment, as the music here is some of Spirit Fest’s most moving yet. The six songs on this album illuminate different aspects of the transnational quintet’s character – lovely, heart-rending pop songs; melancholy chants; the joys of simple repetition – with the group’s guitar pop tended by gentle flourishes of piano and electronics.
Some of those flourishes were spirited onto »Bear In Town« across the waves, with Mat Fowler (Bons, Jam Money) contributing from Britain, while the body of the music was recorded in a small apartment studio in Munich by the other members of Spirit Fest: Saya and Ueno (Tenniscoats), Markus Acher (The Notwist) and Cico Beck (Joasinho, Aloa Input). »Bear In Town« is concise and powerful, the infectious joy of the spirit communicated, beautifully, by melodies that balance the heartfelt with the melancholy. Reflecting on those sessions, Acher says, »I think the album captures how well we played together at that time.« It’s all the more impressive given this material was put down live in the studio, with a few vocal overdubs. The depth of feeling at the core of Spirit Fest’s music is evident from the opening notes of »Bear In Town«.
»Kou-Kou Land«, the first song on the album, recalls several earlier Tenniscoats songs, like »Baibaba Bimba«, in the way the musicians weave gentle complexity around a simple, repeated chant; the stop-start structure of »Kou-Kou Land« builds anticipation, while Saya’s simple melody is lovely, delivered in an absent-minded hum that’s deeply affecting. »Lost & Found« revolves around a delightful descending chord change that breaks up the swaying, folksy verses, gorgeous electronic whirrs and purring winds floating through the song. The following »In Our House« possesses such sweet sadness, it’s one of Spirit Fest’s most moving songs yet.
»Like A Plane« repurposes a song that Markus Acher originally wrote and recorded for his solo EP of the same title, released on a 2022 10-inch single on Morr Music. The original was a gentle, introverted lament, but the version on »Bear In Town« has a widescreen tenderness, its melancholy framed by raindrop piano. The album concludes with two moments of playful splendour, the bossa-inflected »Hill Blo«, and the driving title track, both led by Saya, who is in stunning voice on this album; on »Bear In Town«, her awestruck wonder perfectly captures the sense of possibility in the song’s capacious chords. Like the rest of the album, it’s full of kindness, rich with psych-pop splendour… a balm for troubled times.
This is the first ever solo album from the legendary cult singer Attila Csihar, known for his work in Mayhem, SUNN O))), Plasma Pool and Tormentor. For this album Attila traveled to the Monolith of Baalbek archeological site in Lebanon and conducted two sessions. The first was an all night session situated directly across from the massive trillion stones of the Temple of Jupiter. For the second session he recorded directly on one of the 900 tons trillions a few km from the temple site. A work in progress for ten years, I am deeply honoured to have the chance to present Attila's work on Ideologic Organ. He has continued to be an inspiration of what is possible to surprise and develop within the extreme sides of music, in a radical and intelligent way. To say he has been a fundamental inspiration of art music creation is an understatement.
Today, Anjimile Chithambo, better known as Anjimile, announces his new album, The King, out September 8th, his first full-length since 2020’s breakthrough Giver Taker. To herald the announcement, he shares lead single, ‘The King’, accompanied by a visualiser by Daniela Yohannes, whose striking painting takes centre stage on the album cover.
Highlighting the artistic shift from Giver Taker to now, ‘The King’ opens with a lofty, melodic choir, an intro that belies the song’s motives. Suddenly, sinister arpeggios interrupt the reverie, and the voices grow darkly serious. Deeply steeped in the confusion, grief, and rage of being Black in America, ‘The King’ pushes back against the tired adage, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” hissing, “What don ’t kill you almost killed you// What don’t fill you//pains you// drains you.”
“If Giver Taker was an album of prayers, The King is an album of curses.” In his second album, Anjimile continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America. The brutally honest reflection of 2020’s deadly summer is less reminiscent of the pink cloud of early sobriety and more rooted in the reality of seeing brutality with clear eyes. Drawing from influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward for Anjimile. Nearly every sound you hear on The King comes from two instruments: an acoustic guitar and Anjimile’s own voice. Other than a few beautiful contributions from Justine
Bowe, Brad Allen Williams, Sam Gendel, and James Krivchenia (Big Thief), the album is the result of a year in LA working intimately with Grammy and Juno winner Shawn Everett.
Today, Anjimile Chithambo, better known as Anjimile, announces his new album, The King, out September 8th, his first full-length since 2020’s breakthrough Giver Taker. To herald the announcement, he shares lead single, ‘The King’, accompanied by a visualiser by Daniela Yohannes, whose striking painting takes centre stage on the album cover.
Highlighting the artistic shift from Giver Taker to now, ‘The King’ opens with a lofty, melodic choir, an intro that belies the song’s motives. Suddenly, sinister arpeggios interrupt the reverie, and the voices grow darkly serious. Deeply steeped in the confusion, grief, and rage of being Black in America, ‘The King’ pushes back against the tired adage, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” hissing, “What don ’t kill you almost killed you// What don’t fill you//pains you// drains you.”
“If Giver Taker was an album of prayers, The King is an album of curses.” In his second album, Anjimile continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America. The brutally honest reflection of 2020’s deadly summer is less reminiscent of the pink cloud of early sobriety and more rooted in the reality of seeing brutality with clear eyes. Drawing from influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward for Anjimile. Nearly every sound you hear on The King comes from two instruments: an acoustic guitar and Anjimile’s own voice. Other than a few beautiful contributions from Justine
Bowe, Brad Allen Williams, Sam Gendel, and James Krivchenia (Big Thief), the album is the result of a year in LA working intimately with Grammy and Juno winner Shawn Everett.
The Vaselines have long been celebrated by musicians and music enthusiasts across genres and across the globe, including super-fan Kurt Cobain. Emerging in the mid-eighties under the wing of The Pastels' Stephen McRobbie, The Vaselines came to define the sly wit and irresistible pop hooks of the era's Scottish indie scene. Sub Pop's remastered reintroduction of The Way of The Vaselines is an opportunity for those already familiar with the Scottish band's brief career to delve deeper into their body of work, while those new to their music can experience firsthand why so many hold them in such high regard. Originally mastered from a cassette tape (and since remastered on much better equipment in the new millennium), The Way of The Vaselines compiles the band's two EPs (Son of a Gun and Dying for It) and their sole LP release (Dum-Dum). This 2023 edition is the first ever vinyl release of The Way of The Vaselines, which originally came out on CD in 1992.
The Vaselines have long been celebrated by musicians and music enthusiasts across genres and across the globe, including super-fan Kurt Cobain. Emerging in the mid-eighties under the wing of The Pastels' Stephen McRobbie, The Vaselines came to define the sly wit and irresistible pop hooks of the era's Scottish indie scene. Sub Pop's remastered reintroduction of The Way of The Vaselines is an opportunity for those already familiar with the Scottish band's brief career to delve deeper into their body of work, while those new to their music can experience firsthand why so many hold them in such high regard. Originally mastered from a cassette tape (and since remastered on much better equipment in the new millennium), The Way of The Vaselines compiles the band's two EPs (Son of a Gun and Dying for It) and their sole LP release (Dum-Dum). This 2023 edition is the first ever vinyl release of The Way of The Vaselines, which originally came out on CD in 1992.
Primal Fear, die Helden des Power Metal, verkünden stolz und lautstark die Ankunft ihres neuen Albums "Code Red" für den 1. September 2023. Nach dem riesigen Erfolg ihres letzten Albums "Metal Commando" (das 2020 u.a. mit #7 in Deutschland, #6 in der Schweiz und #28 in Österreich die höchsten Chartplatzierungen der Bandgeschichte erreichte) ist "Code Red" ein neuer Meilenstein und bietet alles, wofür man Primal Fear liebt:
Der unverwechselbare Gesang von Ralf Scheepers, prägnante Melodien, eingängige Refrains und die gewaltige Soundwand (erneut war hier Jacob Hansen am Werk) machen "Code Red" auf Anhieb zu einem echten Erlebnis - und zukünftigen Klassiker.
Primal Fear, die Helden des Power Metal, verkünden stolz und lautstark die Ankunft ihres neuen Albums "Code Red" für den 1. September 2023. Nach dem riesigen Erfolg ihres letzten Albums "Metal Commando" (das 2020 u.a. mit #7 in Deutschland, #6 in der Schweiz und #28 in Österreich die höchsten Chartplatzierungen der Bandgeschichte erreichte) ist "Code Red" ein neuer Meilenstein und bietet alles, wofür man Primal Fear liebt:
Der unverwechselbare Gesang von Ralf Scheepers, prägnante Melodien, eingängige Refrains und die gewaltige Soundwand (erneut war hier Jacob Hansen am Werk) machen "Code Red" auf Anhieb zu einem echten Erlebnis - und zukünftigen Klassiker.
Primal Fear, die Helden des Power Metal, verkünden stolz und lautstark die Ankunft ihres neuen Albums "Code Red" für den 1. September 2023. Nach dem riesigen Erfolg ihres letzten Albums "Metal Commando" (das 2020 u.a. mit #7 in Deutschland, #6 in der Schweiz und #28 in Österreich die höchsten Chartplatzierungen der Bandgeschichte erreichte) ist "Code Red" ein neuer Meilenstein und bietet alles, wofür man Primal Fear liebt:
Der unverwechselbare Gesang von Ralf Scheepers, prägnante Melodien, eingängige Refrains und die gewaltige Soundwand (erneut war hier Jacob Hansen am Werk) machen "Code Red" auf Anhieb zu einem echten Erlebnis - und zukünftigen Klassiker.
It's time to release the toys from the darkness and dive into the sound playground. "Midnight in a Toyshop" is a new Lo-Fi House project from an old hand in the electronic music business. He is launching an EP series called "Play". This will be available on vinyl and digital. All tracks are characterized by punchy, driving beats and a deep, warm, positive atmosphere. The use of 8 and 12 bit tools and tape recordings creates a nostalgic aesthetic that takes you back to a time when moments of lightheartedness and playful creativity flourished. Press play and enjoy the journey.
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The first vinyl release from American artist Sydney Spann, Sending Up A Spiral Of well encapsulates Spann’s body of work thus far. On their music, which reacts to themes of family systems and care work, Sydney writes, “people who have done care work —nannies, sex workers, therapists, nurses— may possess their own musical knowledge, developed over time through particular modes of voicing practiced to achieve a desired outcome in their labor. Attending intimately to these ways of voicing and listening and bringing them into a sound practice could be a way to legitimize a less recognized kind of musical knowledge.”
Sending Up A Spiral Of explores this unarticulated expression through sound and song. The titular piece traces Spann within some quixotic woodland, as if beginning inside of some urban fairy-story. Self-soothing singing quivers under dragging branches, peeling cement and other tactile grit. The work drops into a new proximity half-way through as electronic contours overtake the environment. Sine-tones smolder in a pulsating choreography, perhaps reminiscent of Richard Maxfield’s “Night Music” played at half-speed.
The second section of the record depicts a series of five smaller portraits, expressed (or disguised) as lullabies. An oceanic humming permeates them. “Possession” and “Purposeful Evening” are the most song-like lullabies, with their verse-chorus repetition and melodic simplicity. Innocuous words “baby” and “honey” are encoded with deeper, often painful connotations. Sydney’s voice and vision for this album is ambitious, cloaked in the strains and contradictions of what love means in the nuclear family.
A 16-page artist pamphlet of rubbings, photographs and sheet music accompanies the LP, along with a digital PDF of Spann’s thesis “Sending Up A Spiral Of: A Musical Epistemology Made Through Care Work.”
Formed in 1968, British band Yes belongs to the giants of progressive
rock/artrock. “Magnification” is their 2nd album with a full symphony orchestra. Recorded without a keyboardist, the album features a 60-piece orchestra conducted by Larry Group . Furthermore, it is the only album in the band’s history involving only four members. Now available via earMUSIC as heavyweight double vinyl gatefold edition.
Fortuna Ehrenfeld legen in gewohnt hoher Taktung nach und krönen ihr bisheriges Schaffen mit dem funkelnden Album 'GLITZERSCHWEIN'.
Mit atemberaubend souveränem Songwriting betanken sie ihr in der Indie Szene längs etabliertes Mutterschiff und bauen mit glasklarer Haltung die Aussenposten aus. Ihre tanzbaren Beat Eskalationen glänzen mit einer ungewohnt harten Kante und mit ihren deepen Balladen filetieren sie entwaffnend die Herzkammern ihrer treuen Fangemeinde.
Superb mental Tribe, progressive and twirling in a deep story telling. The EP instals superb ambiances all along these tunes... Label visual by EXP EXP is totally in the mood of the music : sound system chilling time....
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The music explores textures, colors and abstract lands. The play is wild and free.
Dunietz's new compositions go beyond the conventional song structures, and the improvisation is inspired by the roots of Jazz, while allowing itself to be stimulated by other sources such as voices of birds and trees. The album has several free improvisation pieces, bringing forth a fresh side of this very swingy rhythm section.
As a spectral musician and artist, Dunietz tends to focus on the phenomenon and acoustics of sound rather than its potential semantic qualities. Playing trio music from this perspective, created a very crisp and deep sound, beautifully captured in the recording.
Like a nervous amalgam of Death Grips' blown out bass frequencies, This Heat's jittery spasms, and Young Widows' imposing oratory, DITZ have created a sound that's equally suited for degraded dance floor gyrations and forward- thinking hardcore shows. At times a blurry tirade against invasive social media and at other times a celebration of cheap rolling tobacco, "Riverstone" was crafted while the band was on tour and deep in the delirium of road fatigue as an ode to the
hallucinatory spirit of their exhaustion. "Riverstone" by DITZ is available today on all digital platforms.
DITZ singer Cal Francis explains, "We wrote this track on a day off on our July tour. Caleb had recently bought this sub phatty and had taken it with him so we were trying to find anyway to make it fit in a track. I think we were listening to lots of Death Grips and hardcore that week. The lyrics were related to whatever we were talking shit about that day. Dirt cheap baccy and annoying invasive TikToks.
It's hard to recall."