quête:divine

The unforgettable sound of Sarah Vaughan is captured in this collection of essential recordings. From the swinging hits, "Lullaby Of Birdland" and "It’s Crazy", to her best-loved recordings, including “Misty" and “Broken-Hearted Melody”, this album highlights Vaughan's impeccable phrasing, emotional depth and remarkable range. Whether backed by a trio or a full orchestra, singing hits of the day or jazz standards, every track serves to remind us why Sarah Vaughan is still known as ‘The Divine One’.

It contains all the signatures of her best lyricism: delicate and precise phrasings, moments that flicker between beauty and banality, meaning that forms through the accretion of observations, memories, and unexpected adages. This is an album that is at once post-theistic and devoted to a relationship with the divine, each song blinking in and out of "the fragile plane," a place Krieger describes as "a middle ground in the universe," both abstract and peaceful, where time, bodies, and names don't exist.

Krieger initially collaborated with Luke Temple and Jeremy Harris to record her vocals and guitar to tape at Panoramic Studios in West Marin, CA. As the album continued to form, Krieger envisioned instruments - like the French and English horn (Nancy Ranger and Priscilla Reinhart), electric guitar (Jacob Drab), and pedal steel (Kevin Copeland) - as characters which would walk in and out of the soundscape. What emerged from conversations with composer Sammy Weissberg, are brass parts that have a dark, almost surreal logic: horns arise to emphasize a word or phrase, fall out completely, only to rush back with dissonant orchestrations that gesture simultaneously toward deterioration and generation.

While Krieger takes inspiration from Elliot Smith's honesty, Judee Sill's cosmic reaching, and Joni Mitchell's sharp noticing, the dream-like association, harmonic dissonance, and angular melodic ascensions in each song are singularly and delightfully Krieger's.

"I Keep My Feet on the Fragile Plane" is a daring collection of songs by an artist who scries with both the cold glass eye of truth and the beating heart of empathy; who portrays life in all its twisted complexities.

“Orlando Furioso is a haunting, one-of-a-kind statement, from an important new voice in improvised music.” - Steve Lehman

“…imagining instruments that haven’t been invented yet: space harps, cosmic gamelan, Venusian banjo. It’s the purest distillation of Atria’s musical language, simultaneously grounded and unearthly.” - Stewart Smith for The Wire (November 2022)

“Making liberal use of microtonal harmony and hypnotic, ostinato rhythms – as well as the occasional stylistic smash-cut, reminiscent of John Zorn – Orlando Furioso announced itself on Wednesday as a punchy, creative force on the New York scene. (…) Atria’s rhythms had a welcoming, social propulsion, and the microtonality of his writing for keyboard proposed an individual – even insular – language.” - Seth Colter Walls for The New York Times.

Early European composers felt that their work reflected in its structure the divine nature of the material world. Via tuning, form, and contrapuntal alchemy, these musicians sought to illuminate and edify the complex and perfect order of existence. The music recorded here also reflects the contours of an ordered world, but it is no place any of us has ever visited. By assembling far-flung building blocks from the detritus of a 21st-century musical vocabulary, Orlando Furioso brings the listener into a bizarre new cosmos. The result is deeply expressive music that speaks not with the voice of a narrator or memoirist, but with that of a cartographer.

Like a science-fiction Dante, the listener is taken on a tour of many diverse and colorful provinces of an alien world. Though each composition references its own set of real-world musical locales (from the Andes to Indonesia to Italy to New Orleans), they are bound by stylistic consistency into a coherent, continuous geography. Permeating this world is an uncompromising commitment to microtonal harmony, rhythmic intensity, and an ability to deploy the esoteric (Nicola Vicentino's notorious 31-tone temperament) and the head-smackingly obvious (a surprise djent breakdown) with equal conviction. Though Vicente's compositions are steering the ship, serious recognition is due to all the players on the record for their ability to meet these demands.

Our omnivorous musical diets offer real abundance. They enrich our craft by providing access to limitless approaches from which to choose - more masters to study, traditions to absorb, and techniques to hone than is possible in multiple lifetimes. They can also inflict heavy and often contradictory burdens of influence. When every corner of the map has been charted, it becomes difficult to find a new direction in which to travel. One solution I hope to see more often is the one pursued on this record: breaking down distinct musical worlds into component parts and reassembling them into a language. When completed with precision and with no stone left unturned, the seams between the pieces vanish and the listener is deposited somewhere beautiful and strange, left to assign their sensations meanings of their own. - Mat Muntz

Orlando Furioso is led by Vicente and features David Acevedo, David Leon, Andrew Boudreau, Alec Goldfarb, Daniel Hass, Simón Willson, and Niña Tormenta. Orlando Furioso celebrated its release at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, NY, as a part of Wet Ink Ensemble's 24th Season opening concert, a performance which The New York Times heralded as "virtuosic", "punchy, creative" and "even revelatory."

Winner of the Deutscher Jazz Preis: Best International Debut Album 2023

Cursed to ride forever on this mortal plane after partaking in a satanic drug ritual, the Death Wheelers pledge allegiance to the god of hell and fire. However, in order to prove themselves to their newly anointed leader and for the spell to take effect, the club Will need to engage in a series of lewd acts of sex and violence across the country.Immortality comes at a price and you’re about to pay for it… The beating heart of The Death Wheelers is a rumbling engine. Since their self-titled debut in 2015 and in 2020’s cinematic-storytelling breakout, Divine Filth, the Canadian outfit have tapped into wind-through-hair freedom and careened down open roads of groove, not a cop in sight. Their third record, Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness, more than lives up to its name on all fronts. With songs like “Morbid Bails” and “Lucifer’s Bend,” the in-the-know references abound, and The Death Wheelers draw from classic underground metal, scummer heavy rock and cast themselves into a cauldron of cultish biker devil worship, reveling in any and all post-apocalyptic dystopias with genuine glee at having just seen the world eat itself. You might hear some surf guitar. Crazy things can happen. A sample in “Triple D (Dead, Drunk and Depraved)” underscores the message: “We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man. And we want to get loaded.” That line, from Roger Corman’s 1966 film The Wild Angels, serves as a mission statement, and as “Lucifer’s Bend” starts by laughing about how you can’t get away from Satan, they might as well carve it into their forearms to be ready when the blast of distortion hits, as much Entombed as Motörhead, galloping and sinister, coated in road dust and blood. The band tells the story like this: “Cursed to ride forever on this mortal plane after partaking in a satanic drug ritual, the Death Wheelers pledge allegiance to the god of hell and fire. However, in order to prove themselves to their newly anointed leader and for the spell to take effect, the club will need to engage in a series of lewd acts of sex and violence across the country. Immortality comes at a price and you’re about to pay for it…” While forging songs adherent more to ideology than style, The Death Wheelers cast their biker cult in their own image, and on Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness, they challenge death head-on as only those with no fear of it could hope to do.

If you dig deep enough into the underground you will find the most precious jewels and it ain't that much of an effort these days to turn on the computer and trip through the colorful World Wide Web. But beware for not all the glitter is gold. I stepped by some dark and dusty back street club in Atlanta / Georgia, USA and some enchanting music tempted me to enter. A powerful raspy voice screaming out the pain of the world no matter if it were big or small affairs. "California dreaming on such a winter's day", wow, when the MAMAS AND PAPAS sang this in a sweet folk manner it was a light and joyful anthem for all hippies and hipsters back in 1966, like a call to love. Lee Moses' version is more of a desperate cry for sunshine and freedom. And it goes on this way. His voice has this special phrase showing determination, pain but also sheer joy of life. His 1971 album is a steady groover with a steaming hot band performing , which includes a brass section of divine greatness. These devoted players build up a massive wall of groove and melody on which Lee Moses can unleash his voice like a volcanic eruption. The groove itself stays quite relaxed but definitely hypnotizing throughout the whole album and clears up your mind for the message of love Lee Moses raves about. The high skills of Lee's backing band gets showcased in a steaming instrumental version of THE FOUR TOPS' "Reach out (I'll be there)", which appeared on an early 7" first and got added here as a bonus track. They don't stop for THE BEATLES' "Day tripper" either and next to "California dreamin'" you can find another heart warming version of "Hey Joe" on the regular album. Not as extraordinary outraging as Hendrix' turn on this classic Lee and his mates make it a slightly more epic effort. All in all this is a soul album with very few covers and even more classic anthems of this genre that should actually be worshipped by lovers of the late 1960s Motown sound. Especially the bonus tracks will drive you wild. Go for it, brothers and sisters.

Mysteries Of The World is the stunning final studio album from legendary Philly supergroup MFSB. Expertly co-written and produced with the mighty Dexter Wansel, it features the untouchable, sparkling masterpiece "Mysteries Of The World". The whole album is truly exquisite; a stylish, classy collection of pure Philly soul and orchestral jazz-funk.

MFSB, an acronym for Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, was formed by producers Gamble & Huff of Philadelphia International Records. The band's roots can be traced back to the house band at the legendary Sigma Sound Studios, where they played on numerous hit records by artists like The O'Jays, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and The Stylistics. Mysteries Of The World comprises slick jazz-funk grooves, mostly penned by Wansel, who produced a fair chunk of the album in a similar style to his space-funk records. MFSB's smooth sound is retained but it receives a fresh, elegant and jazzy upgrade. While this album is as mellow as the rest of the latter-period MFSB recordings, it never forgets the group's soul music underpinnings.

Swaggering, well-timed horn blasts, sweeping strings and a percolating, hard thumping slap-bassline combine to devastating effect on amazing opener "Manhattan Skyline". It's a sexy mid-tempo instrumental which sets us up nicely for what follows. Essays could be written analysing the perfection of title track. Arguably the finest jazz-funk instrumental ever made, it's absolutely magnificent. Featuring musicianship of the highest calibre, the band play with their trademark tight discipline, cooking up a syncopating rhythm with an array of exploratory keyboard riffs wrapped around a punchy bassline sent from heaven. It sounds like house music, it's that ahead of its time. The string intro is sumptuous, hypnotic and divine and that's all before the beat hits. The track fuses classical, jazz and funk into a musical journey that you never want to end. Absolutely flawless, it's a dramatic disco dancefloor killer.

Says Dexter Wansel himself: "You know, of all the songs I wrote/produced/arranged for MFSB, this is for me the most different. I think it's an experiment in rhythmic, soft sonic synth and live string and harp combinations. I composed it in an effort to blend a funky groove, along with synthesis, and orchestral sounds. There are 3 synthesizers: Oberheim 4 voice, Polymoog, and of course Arp 2600v. And, as I remember, I recorded the track with the rhythm section, string, harp and flute players first. Then I added synthesis."

The profound elegance remains in abundance on the slinky, harp-laced "Tell Me Why"; Carla Benson's beautiful voice truly shines on this sophisticated cut. The side closes out in dramatic style with the string-drenched "Metamorphosis". It's a staccato, Blaxploitation groove workout featuring wah-wah guitar, creeping basslines, rich horn solos and soulful vocals drifting in and out of the mix. The bouncy, irrepressible "Fortune Teller" opens the B side in the bass-heavy orchestral funk style before the beautiful "Old San Juan" glides in, a Balearic-adjacent track with intricate arrangements, building its mellow soul groove around an atypical flamenco guitar hook. Melancholy, guitar-led instrumental "Thank You Miss Scott" is a real highlight, with gorgeous flute, string and percussive elements whilst closer "In the Shadow" works an otherworldly synth line into its bossa nova groove.

An essential record for fans of Philly soul and groovy jazz-funk, Mysteries Of The World was mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis and cut by Cicely Ralston for Alchemy at AIR Studios. The stunning artwork, the work of renowned illustrator Robert Giusti, was restored at Be With HQ to round out this beautiful reissue.

Robert and Lyric Hood return as Floorplan to Classic Music Company with another double release of divine house goodness. ‘We Give Thee Honor’ is a high energy rave number with an instantly recognisable hook as a syncopated organ stab is juxtaposed with a wild vocal loop and unpredictable gospel interjections, creating the unique energy of worship in full flow. The second cut, ‘Makes Me Wanna’, has a more minimal approach to production, playing to Floorplan’s club expertise. Both tracks are packed full of powerful, feminine vocals that celebrate the duo’s spiritual influences.

First appearing on TV screens in September 1968, Joe 90 was a unique nine year old boy with the ability to absorb the brain patterns of top experts

enabling him to become the most special agent of W.I.N. (World Intelligence Network).

Whilst there are arguably better-known scores amongst Barry Gray's sublime catalogue of work with the Andersons, the composer's work for Joe 90 is in many ways

the most consistent and inventive selection he ever wrote. Developing a theme for the new series was always the musician's starting point, and for Joe 90, the pop charts breezed into Gray's studio,

with an opening tune featuring a genuine groove. Mixing Gray's inventive electronics with 60s "surf rock" guitars was an inspired decision.

It is no wonder that this piece has gone on to enjoy a second life as a Northern Soul disco floor-filler.

For episodic incidentals, Gray was freed from the detached unearthly premise of Captain Scarlet and able to bring back a playful sensibility

and a more mature musical palette which are amply illustrated in this 24 track collection.

Blaue Vinylversion! Exklusiv für den Indie-Handel! Vona Vella (Izzy Davis und Dan Cunningham), die Antwort von Leicestershire auf Jane Birkin und Serge Gainsbourg, veröffentlichen diesen Sommer ihr gleichnamiges Debütalbum über Strap Originals. Zwölf sensationelle Indie-Perlen, die die Kunst des Duos sonnige Gitarrenklänge mit poetischern Texten zu kombinieren, die nicht immer so niedlich sind, wie sie auf den ersten Blick klingen. Vona Vella" wurde im Albion Rooms Studio von The Libertines in Margate aufgenommen und von Jason Stafford (Jamie T, Sports Team, The Libertines) und Vona Vella produziert. Alle zwölf Tracks des Albums wurden von dem Duo gemeinsam geschrieben: Dan an der Gitarre und am Klavier, Izzy an der Gitarre und der Flöte... und Jake Bott am Schlagzeug. Nachdem sie letztes Jahr als Support für die Libertines, Tim Burgess und Morcheeba und letzten Monat für Peter Doherty auf Tournee waren, traten Vona Vella auch bei The Great Escape in Brighton auf. Weitere Headline-Shows und Festivalauftritte werden in Kürze bekannt gegeben. Vona Vella besteht aus den einundzwanzigjährigen Singer-Songwritern und Multiinstrumentalisten Izzy Davis und Dan Cunningham. Die Band wurde offiziell im Herbst 2020 gegründet, nachdem Ross Godfrey von der Band Morcheeba ihre (damals noch unveröffentlichte) Single "Sun" gehört und beschlossen hatte, sie zu remixen. Nach der Veröffentlichung erwies sich der Song als sofortiger viraler Hit und wurde über 1 Million Mal gestreamt. Anfang 2022 veröffentlichten Vona Vella ihre Debüt-EP "Go Outside Forever", die von keinem Geringeren als Paul Heaton (Housemartins, Beautiful South etc.) in den höchsten Tönen gelobt wurde. Im Januar dieses Jahres wurde ein Remix des Titeltracks der EP, "Go Outside Forever", im äußerst erfolgreichen Videospiel NBA2K23 verwendet.

A little more than two years after the reunion album ‚The Art of Navigating by the Stars‘, which was received fantastically by the press, SIEGES EVEN released the follow-up ‚Paramount‘ in autumn 2007. The songwriting had started directly after concerts in Russia (Moscow), Greece (Larissa and Athens) and a double headlining tour with DEADSOUL TRIBE.

It was clear from the beginning that this album - the second with the new singer Arno Menses - would not be a concept album. Rather, the band put more emphasis on writing autonomous, partly shorter songs, which were not connected by any concept in terms of content.

For the production they decided this time to work with Kristian ‚Kohle‘
Kohlmannslehner, who had rather made his mark in the field of harder music. The production style was quite different from the work of Uwe Lulis on ‚The Art of Navigating by the Stars‘: There, a lot of the material was recorded live and without clicktrack, whereas Kristian Kohlmannslehner focused more on precision and modern editing techniques. Without judging which approach is the better one, one can say that ‚Paramount‘ sounds perhaps a bit punchier, more conducive to the somewhat altered songwriting and extremely transparent.

The lyrical spectrum ranges from experiences on the mountain Corcovado in the urban area of Rio de Janeiro (‚Iconic‘), human hubris (‚Paramount‘), the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima (‚Bridge to the Divine‘) to personal narratives (‚Tidal‘ or ‚Leftovers‘).

‚Paramount‘, like its predecessor, was very well received by the press. The band embarked on a European tour immediately following the release of the album in the fall of 2007 and played at the renowned ‚ProgPowerEurope‘ festival in the Netherlands, among other venues. In 2008 followed a show at the ‚Rock Hard‘-Festival as well as three concerts in the support of the American AOR legend JOURNEY. The live album ‚Playgrounds‘, released in spring 2008, documents the concerts of this tour. The stars were actually aligned favorably for SIEGES EVEN, so it was all the more surprising that the band‘s journey finally came to an end at the last of the three support shows for JOURNEY in Bamberg in the summer of 2008.

„Paramount“ was not available for many years and was only released on CD in 2007.

As part of Lossless Music's 10 year celebrations Soul Intent enlisted the skills of some of the scenes brightest stars and tasked them with remixing their favourite track from his debut long player 'Delusions Of Grandeur' released back in 2017.

Soul Intent is also on remix duties himself, with a special VIP mix of 'Nearly There' featuring the divine vocals of jazz singer Sula Mae.

Blaue Vinylversion! Exklusiv für den Indie-Handel! Vona Vella (Izzy Davis und Dan Cunningham), die Antwort von Leicestershire auf Jane Birkin und Serge Gainsbourg, veröffentlichen diesen Sommer ihr gleichnamiges Debütalbum über Strap Originals. Zwölf sensationelle Indie-Perlen, die die Kunst des Duos sonnige Gitarrenklänge mit poetischern Texten zu kombinieren, die nicht immer so niedlich sind, wie sie auf den ersten Blick klingen. Vona Vella" wurde im Albion Rooms Studio von The Libertines in Margate aufgenommen und von Jason Stafford (Jamie T, Sports Team, The Libertines) und Vona Vella produziert. Alle zwölf Tracks des Albums wurden von dem Duo gemeinsam geschrieben: Dan an der Gitarre und am Klavier, Izzy an der Gitarre und der Flöte... und Jake Bott am Schlagzeug. Nachdem sie letztes Jahr als Support für die Libertines, Tim Burgess und Morcheeba und letzten Monat für Peter Doherty auf Tournee waren, traten Vona Vella auch bei The Great Escape in Brighton auf. Weitere Headline-Shows und Festivalauftritte werden in Kürze bekannt gegeben. Vona Vella besteht aus den einundzwanzigjährigen Singer-Songwritern und Multiinstrumentalisten Izzy Davis und Dan Cunningham. Die Band wurde offiziell im Herbst 2020 gegründet, nachdem Ross Godfrey von der Band Morcheeba ihre (damals noch unveröffentlichte) Single "Sun" gehört und beschlossen hatte, sie zu remixen. Nach der Veröffentlichung erwies sich der Song als sofortiger viraler Hit und wurde über 1 Million Mal gestreamt. Anfang 2022 veröffentlichten Vona Vella ihre Debüt-EP "Go Outside Forever", die von keinem Geringeren als Paul Heaton (Housemartins, Beautiful South etc.) in den höchsten Tönen gelobt wurde. Im Januar dieses Jahres wurde ein Remix des Titeltracks der EP, "Go Outside Forever", im äußerst erfolgreichen Videospiel NBA2K23 verwendet.

Der Geruch des Todes kriecht aus den Gräbern...
...aus der Türkei kommend, begrüßen wir die klassische Death Metal Truppe ABOLISH im Roster von FDA Records. Ohne Demo oder EP-Veröffentlichung beginnen wir mit dem Debüt-Album '...From The Depths'.
Verdorbener und morbider Female Fronted Death Metal für Fans von CEREBRAL ROT, GRAVE MIASMA oder DISMA.
'...From The Depths' wurde von Ozan Yildirim-Atakan Güçlü im Deadhouse Studio aufgenommen, gemischt und gemastert, Coverartwork von Ozan Yildirim.

Cathalepsy ist ein Metal-Projekt aus Valparaiso, Chile, gegründet von Luigi Ansaldi, das 2006 sein Debütalbum "Fight in the sky" veröffentlichte, das in Ländern wie Brasilien und Japan großen Erfolg hatte. Leider war das Abenteuer nur von kurzer Dauer und die Band löste sich 2010 auf. Im Jahr 2019 beschloss Luigi, die Band wiederzubeleben, diesmal jedoch als Projekt, und begann, kraftvolle und energiegeladene Songs mit Texten mit starken Botschaften zu komponieren. Heavy Metal mit Herz und Wut, dies ist ein kraftvolles und wütendes Album, es ist für alle Metalheads, ohne Scheuklappen. Im Jahr 2019 schließt sich Fabián Valdés diesem Abenteuer an, ein prominenter chilenischer Gitarrist. Cathalepsy sind dabei, den Heavy Metal Fans die ganze Kraft ihrer Musik näher zu bringen! "Blood and Steel" ist der Inbegriff erstklassiger Metal-Musiker in nur einem Album mit Gästen, die von Sängern wie Tim "Ripper" Owens (KK Priest, ex-Judas Priest), Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Harry Conklin (Jag Panzer, ex-Riot), Herbie Langhans (Avantasia, Firewind), Frank Beck (Gamma Ray), Giacomo Voli (Rhapsody of Fire), Ivan Giannini (Vision Divine), Thiago Bianchi (Shaman, Noturnall), David Readman (PinkCream 69, Voodoo Circle), Sologitarristen: Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake), Roland Grapow (Masterplan, ex-Helloween), Ross The Boss (ex-Manowar), Glen Drover (ex-Megadeath, King Diamond, Testament), Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall), Thobbe Englund (ex-Sabaton), Jens Ludwig (Edguy), Danilo Bar (WhiteSkull), Sigurd Fylling (Legend Of Valley Doom), Keyboarder: Scott Warren (Dio, Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath), Oliver Palotai (Kamelot). Das ist Heavy Fuckin Metal.

END REIGN makes their Relapse Records debut with their explosive album, The Way Of All Flesh Is Decay. Masterminded by underground music fixture Domenic Romeo (Integrity/Pulling Teeth/A389 Recordings) and featuring an all-star cast of musicians and contributors, END REIGN fuses apocalyptic hardcore with vicious metal in a deadly collision of the classic and the modern. Taking musical inspiration from ’80s linchpins Amebix, Bathory, Slayer and Cro-Mags, END REIGN features the talents of Mike Score of New York metalcore kings All Out War, Adam Jarvis of grind titans Pig Destroyer and Misery Index, the former Bloodlet bassist Arthur Legere and Exhumed/Noisem shredder Sebastian Phillips. Score’s lyrics explore the psychological torment of being trapped between opposing realities. “Most of the album, especially songs like ‘The Hunger’ and ‘Death Comes Crawling,’ deal with being caught between two worlds—the living and the dead, heaven and hell, what was and what is to come,” the vocalist explains. Recorded over a year at Landmine Studios with Len Carmichael at the helm, END REIGN’s full-length debut features vocal cameos from Romeo’s longtime collaborator and Integrity bandmate Dwid Hellion, Full Of Hell’s Dylan Walker and—incredibly—Ed Ka-Spel from avant-rock fabulons The Legendary Pink Dots. The result is one of 2023's most aggressive and enthralling albums. “This album is like riding a rollercoaster in a theme park based on all the extreme music I’ve enjoyed throughout my life,” Romeo says. “I hope that any fans of our musical family tree will enjoy the ride as much as we did.”

Keni Burke's seminal Changes yielded the eternal club classic "Risin' To The Top". You need this record for this iconic steppers anthem alone. However, it's crucial to acknowledge that the whole of Changes, first released in 1982 on RCA but now a tricky one to find, is something truly special. It's a masterpiece of sophisticated 80s groove, containing first class funky soul that sounds as fresh as ever. This is multi-tempo soul music conceived in heaven.

Ace bass player, songwriter, arranger and producer, Keni Burke was discovered by Curtis Mayfield and a childhood member of the Five Stairsteps. Emanating from that magical 81-83 era and pristinely recorded at Philadelphia's legendary Sigma Sound Studios, his third solo album Changes really perfected Keni's groove. It incorporated tight, snappy rhythm arrangements which, despite the era, featured *real drums* courtesy of Steve Ferrone (from Average White Band) to compliment Keni's meaty bass lines. With Dean "Sir" Gant on synths and keyboards and Ed Walsh handling the Vocoder-OBX and Prophet 5, wonderful lines from Earth, Wind & Fire's legendary horn section and hooky rhythm and lead guitar riffs courtesy of Ed "Tree" Walsh, Keni was truly spoiled for excellence. With Doc Gibbs on percussion and Vince Montana on vibes elevating the sensational writing and arrangements, Keni couldn't really go wrong.

“Risin’ To The Top” is undoubtedly the defining crown and lasting legacy of this album. Wth its instantly captivating bassline, slowly creepin' groove and uplifting lyrics, it was a favourite among both the 80s soul steppers and hip-hop crowd and remains canonical to this day. Written by Burke, Allan Felder, and former Chic member Norma Jean Wright, it incredibly failed to garner much American radio play or really trouble the soul charts. Whilst it was an instant classic in the U.K., in the States it took the hip-hop generation and later R&B and hip-hop samples of the tune to finally make it popular, many years later. Of note, Big Daddy Kane sampled it for "Smooth Operator", LL Cool J for "Around The Way Girl", Pete Rock & CL Smooth for "Take You There" and O.C. with "Born 2 Live".

But the highlights are not restricted to this one behemoth. For example, the track which precedes "Risin'" on Side B is another steppers favourite. "One Minute More" is a perfect mid-tempo ballad and the epitome of deep modern soul. A truly timeless work of genius. We, for one, struggle to think of a better song segue than the moment you're still reeling from the intense beauty of "One Minute More" and "Risin'" elegantly stirs into action. Frisson in excelsis. The propulsive, bass-heavy opener "Shakin" is an indisputable cracker and its followed by the timeless mid-tempo class of "Hang Tight". Just gorgeous. Next up, "Can't Get Enough" is another emotional, horn heavy chugger. The side closes with the sparse, tender, floating sl-o-o-w jam "Who Do You Love"; a truly divine ballad. The B-side beings with the title-track, "Changes", a squelchy, melodic boogie banger with fantastic keys, incredible vocals, ace shuffling percussion and spacey synths. It's followed by the ultimate one-two in "One Minute More" and "Risin'" before this sensational set closes with the glorious easy glide "All Night".

An absolutely essential record for fans of deeply soulful modern-funk, Changes was mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis and cut by Cicely Balston for Alchemy at AIR Studios. The artwork was restored at Be With HQ over many painstaking months so, hopefully, this fresh new edition ensures this long-lusted after album is no longer so awkward to find.

For more than a decade, Freak Heat Waves have been steadily amassing a cult following and earning acclaim from both critics and underground aficionados alike. Their music is a heady cocktail that defies easy categorization, blending elements of post-punk, psych, dub, ambient, house, and techno.

Their eclectic sound has served as the soundtrack to countless DIY punk shows, outsider galleries and sleazy discos, establishing the duo as iconoclasts with a reputation for ignoring expectations and subverting genre conventions. While at times, the term ‘acquired taste’ may have seemed fitting, their latest release offers their most alluring output to date.

Mondo Tempo, the duo's fifth LP, released through Vancouver's Mood Hut, was primarily recorded at their home studios in Montreal and Victoria. Building upon the electronic explorations of their previous record, Zap The Planet (Telephone Explosion), they inject their signature sound with a smoother and sweeter blend of dance music. The album’s tracks feature midi smoothness, trance mantras, dancehall grooves, ambient textures and vocal samples, creating a world that is both captivating and immersive.

Notably, the lead single “In A Moment Divine” features a collaboration with Cindy Lee, resulting in a dance floor number that boldly ventures beyond the familiar wheelhouses of both acts. With Mondo Tempo Freak Heat Waves solidify their reputation as one of the most exciting and unpredictable acts around.

Foundation music are proud to present our second project with the formidable talent that is Crooked Man aka Parrot, known to his mother as Richard Barratt.

The DJ turned producer from Sheffield, founder and resident at the seminal Jive Turkey night, member of Warp’s Sweet Exorcist, musical partner with the late great Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire), producer to such maverick talents as Roisin Murphy and Add N to X, longtime Jarvis Cocker collaborator and remixer to a myriad of artists over several decades.

More recently, Parrot's project with internationally renowned Jazz singer Lady Blackbird, Athletes Of God, released two singles on Foundation Music ‘Don’t Want To Be Normal’ and the clubland hit ‘Fontella’ that were both playlisted by 6Music.

Lady Blackbird now flies the nest, with the divine Earth Angel swooping into her place. A seminal, reclusive, heavenly voiced singer, also from Yorkshire and with deep roots in the soul and dub scenes… And no, it's not Lisa Stansfield!

A project that has its roots way back in the Sheffield’s Blues parties and Jive Turkey itself. The club being a home to all forms of exciting new Black music, from ’85 through to the early days of the UK’s dance explosion. It sees Parrot take all that he has achieved, written and learnt over the years at the cutting edge of electronic, dance-inflected, production and DJing returning to those heady days of down tempo, body moving, speaker shaking music that would move the British underground soul/funk scene in the mid to late 80’s.

Call it 'street soul', '80’s soul', 'electro soul'… Earth Angel is all of those things but it is also very firmly rooted in the NOW! Not some retro pastiche, it incorporates so much more. With elements of techno, bleep, dub and any other studio trickery that Parrot cares to employ in order to suck you into Earth Angels’ druggy, hypnotic, sexy, “Mogadon Soul”. A four songed, eight tracked vinyl EP, featuring some classic songwriting from the glory days of soul and Crooked Man’s bass heavy electronic rhythms.

Welcome to the heavenly world of Earth Angel, the journey starts here.


DJ Support:

Luke Una, Ross Allen, Sean Johnson (ALFOS) & Kebal.

Brian Jonestown Massacre, Velvet Underground, TOY. “Upon the highways of Freedom, where Evil is like a Ferrari… “ Unbeknownst to its members, Index For Working Musik was born on an evening in late 2019 amidst the discovery of a collection of faded b&w photocopies that had been marinating on the floor of a urine-alley in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. An assortment of sacred and profane imagery were crumpled amongst an essay on early Christian hermits, entitled Men Possessed by God, the meaning of which was enticingly vague. Received together, they planted the seeds for a new endeavour. Though Max Oscarnold and Nathalia Bruno were already engaged in a creative ping-pong of sorts, the results to this point had only totaled a 30 min long ½ inch tape containing one track and four interludes. They needed a page and they needed ink, and they needed a place and it needed energy. Suddenly by chance or divine intervention, their experimental venture had been given form and direction. Back home in London’s cursed smog, they moved themselves and their 8-track studio into a basement in E8, where the project’s gravitational pull gained strength, quickly developing into an unexpected collective with the incorporation of drummer Bobby Voltaire, double bass player E. Smith and guitarist J. Loftus. As the world shifted around them and the Plague Years followed, it became increasingly clear that they were not going to leave that small basement room. The scarcity of light or outer world presence was less a limitation, instead the main tool at hand, allowing the recording to stretch for boundaryless days in architectural isolation, and forcing them to make straight forward free guitar music, adopting a ‘first thought, best thought’ approach. 35 minutes of repeat phrased guitars, slow-clipped drums and dulcet vocals where the recurring landscape is the desert. Reel-to reel-loops of Afghan music compete with the found sound overlays of voices recorded at the queue of the pharmacy and drum machines borrowed from Spanish heroes, channelling both far-off climes and snippets from a closer reality. It’s a strange psychic brew, built of imagined mysticism and domestic realities, of fever dreams and days that stretched into weeks of months. What was sparked by that discovery in the Gothic Quarter was actually a realisation that what they were looking for was with them all the while, buried as it was in piles of voice memos and recorded guitar feedback. Men Possessed By God they may be not: it was self-possession that was to guide their way in the end. “Life, despite all its destructive changes, remains indestructibly powerful and joyful

The Search for God is a wake-up call for a troubled world that’s still worth saving, animated by a belief in the power of small connections to add up to big changes. At 10 songs delivered in a brief 15 minutes, Jimmy Whispers’ long-awaited sophomore album feels present in a way that feels brand new for the cult auteur. Like many of us, Jimmy has been affected by the pressure of the past few years. After embracing sobriety in 2019, and now as a filmmaker sharing the stories of lesser known Los Angeles community members, he’s brought his dreaming down to earth, while turning its direction even further out.

Recorded with his longtime friend Ziyad Asrar of the band Whitney (and re-recorded after a hard drive incident destroyed the original files), The Search for God was created in the wake of Jimmy’s COVID isolation, and returns to some teen influences that are out of step with the chill/lo-fi LA indie rock scene he’s found himself lumped in with. Created mostly with two vintage synths, a single Roland CR5000 drum machine, and a busted karaoke machine, it channels Midwestern emo, the Beach Boys’ Smile, subtle nods at hyper-pop production, and forgotten jewel-box era college radio of the early aughts into a pure pop sound that transcends easy categorization.

The album’s standout single—and its statement of purpose—is “Hellscape,” which packs more into a minute and 40 seconds than you’d think possible: multiple immediately-unforgettable hooks, kaleidoscopic keyboards, and a bracing reminder that even the most transcendent moments are rooted in a world full of suffering. “This is a fucking hellscape,” Jimmy sings. “This is real life / this is happening.”

That may sound like punk nihilism, but The Search for God is anything but. Every lyrical acknowledgment of how fucked things are right now comes with a promise that we can still make positive changes. Jimmy calls it “God”; you might call it Love or Peace or A Place In the Universe That Makes Some Kind of Sense.

Will The Search for God deliver whatever that is to you? Of course not. At its heart, it’s still just a really good pop album. But maybe that’s enough. For a minute or two at a time, Jimmy’s music cracks open a space where the divine can enter our lives. The utopia we’ve all been dreaming of is already here if we’re just willing to build it. Jimmy Whispers is there, ready to add his voice, whenever we want to reach out.