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Acclaimed Los Angeles indie songwriter Alex Brown Church has announced the release of Sea Wolf - “Through A Dark Wood (Deluxe)” on November 19 via Dangerbird Records. “Having it come out now feels kind of fitting,” Church remarked. “‘Through a Dark Wood’ originally came out in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, when we were all entering into a new ‘dark wood’ together. We’re beginning to figure it out, though we’re still not sure what’s next. Just like the story of the album.” “Through A Dark Wood (Deluxe)” includes 5 new songs from the original sessions where Church, coming out of a bruising divorce, wrote, recorded and scrapped a full album's worth of material before starting anew. Deluxe Tracklist: 1. Witchknife 2. Reflections On A Grey Dawn (feat. Dustin O'Halloran) 3. Two Figures 4. Here For You 5. Animal Mind

Outernational Sounds very proudly Presents The Mallory-Hall Band "Song of Soweto" & "The Last Special".
Limited, fully licensed digital and vinyl reissues of two crucial South African sessions led by Charles Mallory and Al Hall, Jnr., featuring Kirk Lightsey, Marshall Royal, Rudolph Johnson, Billy Brooks and more! Essential companion pieces to Kirk Lightsey’s legendary ‘Habiba’.
Featuring tracks:
Song Of Soweto: Side A – ‘Song of Soweto’, ‘Hamba Samba’; Side B – ‘Cape Town Blues’, ‘Moroka Rock’, ‘The African Night’
The Last Special: Side A - ‘The Last Special’, ‘Princess of Joh’Burg’; Side B - ‘Amafu (Clouds)’, ‘Blue Mabone’
Never released outside South Africa, and out of print since 1974, Outernational Sounds presents two long-lost Johannesburg sessions from the Mallory-Hall Band – an all-star review of West Coast jazz stars who toured apartheid South Africa in the mid-1970s.
Sanifu Al Hall, Jnr. is a musician’s musician. During a storied career stretching across six decades, Hall has recorded with the greats of the music including Freddie Hubbard, Doug Carn, and Johnny Hammond, and leads his own Cosmos Dwellerz Arkestra. But until recent years, the only records on which he had appeared as leader were a brace of rich, funky LPs, Song Of Soweto and The Last Special, issued only in South Africa under the moniker of The Mallory-Hall Band (named for Hall and his co-leader, guitarist Charles Mallory – musical director for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Mallory was conductor for Dusty Springfield touring bands, and had worked with John Lee Hooker, Stevie Wonder, and many others). Neither LP had any wider release, and both have remained out of print since 1974. How did a young stalwart of the Los Angeles jazz scene end up in a recording studio in apartheid South Africa?
Al Hall, Jnr. and Charles Mallory had arrived in South Africa as part of the touring band for the singer Lovelace Watkins. Sometimes billed as ‘the Black Sinatra’, the Detroit-born Watkins sang standards and ballroom classics on the Las Vegas circuit. He never made it big in the US, but in his 1970s heyday he was a huge star in southern Africa, and 1974 he hired a jazz big band to accompany him on a tour of South Africa – Hall and Mallory were part of the line-up, alongside Mastersounds bassist Monk Montgomery, pianist Kirk Lightsey, tenorist Rudolph Johnson, drummer Billy Brooks, and Marshall Royal, musical director of the Count Basie band. The tour was a huge success, and during downtime from performing, members of the group managed to independently record no fewer than three albums. Lightsey and Johnson’s stunning Habiba was the first (reissued as Outernational Sounds OTR.013), and it was followed by two crucial sessions led by Hall and Mallory – Song of Soweto and The Last Special, issued on the local IRC imprint.
Visiting apartheid South Africa in 1974 was a controversial choice for any artist. Numerous artistic and cultural bodies around the world had already announced that their members would boycott the country in solidarity with the struggle against apartheid, and working in South Africa was severely frowned on by anti-apartheid activists everywhere. For a Black band, touring the country to play to mostly white audiences could have been seen by many both inside and outside South Africa as a questionable decision. ‘It was a batch of mixed reactions when I choose to visit South Africa whilst apartheid policies were in place,’ Hall recalls. ‘To me the choice was a simple one – “I wanna see for myself!” I also wanted to be a part of breaking down racial barriers, having been down some of the same roads in my own country.’
The albums were recorded by a twelve-piece band at Johannesburg’s Video Sounds Studios in December 1974, and feature the legendary pianist Kirk Lightsey, Black Jazz recording artist Rudolph Johnson, and the rest of the touring band. Both records are superbly arranged slabs of peak 1970s funky big band soul jazz, with tasteful Latin inflections and more than a nod to South Africa’s upful township jazz sound. They are the sonic traces left by a seasoned African American band who were touring South Africa in the depths of the apartheid era, and who immediately moved beyond the segregated hotels and ballrooms to build links with local South African players and audiences.
Never previously available outside South Africa, Outernational Sounds’ new editions of Song of Soweto and The Last Special (alongside our edition of Kirk Lightsey’s Habiba) represents the first time these albums have been in print for nearly fifty years. Fully licensed from Gallo Records and pressed at Pallas in Germany from Gallo’s original masters, they feature new sleeve notes from Francis Gooding (The Wire) based on interviews with Al Hall, Jnr., and a reminiscence from pianist Kirk Lightsey.

24 Songs. A new project from The Wedding Present. A new 7” single every month throughout 2022. 24 Songs sees David Gedge writing with legendary Sleeper guitarist Jon Stewart for the first time, and a more perfect union could not have been predicted. The first release includes a gorgeous duet featuring David and Louise Wener also from Sleeper on ‘We Should Be Together’, and it’s coupled with a rousing new track called ‘Don’t Give Up Without A Fight’ which combines classic Wedding Present feistiness with a Krautrock finale. The notion of a monthly 7” single is not new to The Wedding Present, but 24 Songs shows us that even classic concepts can be reinvented. The series also continues the band’s association with photographer Jessica McMillan, who has created stunning images and films as a visual accompaniment to the recordings.‘We Should Be Together’ will be available to listen to at The Wedding Present’s official YouTube channel from Tuesday 19 October at 12 noon. Subscription details with an early bird incentive can be found at 24songs.scopitones Individual singles and a collector’s box can be ordered from the same site or via all participating record shops. Explaining 24 Songs, David Gedge said: “In 1991, The Wedding Present were rehearsing in a studio in Yorkshire when we hit upon an idea that immediately thrilled us all. Our bass player Keith Gregory had been a member of the ‘Sub Pop Singles Club’ - a service that allowed subscribers to receive 7”s released by that Seattle label on a monthly basis. Keith wondered if we, as a band, could attempt a similar thing. In that instant, The Wedding Present’s Hit Parade series was born and, during 1992, we managed to release a brand new 7” single each and every month. “The Hit Parade went on to become something of a significant milestone in the history of the band and it’s a project about which I’m often asked. As its thirtieth anniversary approached, I began to wonder if we should celebrate it in some way. A ‘Hit Parade Part 2’ didn’t feel quite right, though. Then, someone said to me: “Other bands have released music in similar ways but there has been nothing like the Hit Parade.” And they were right! A 7” single a month seems, somehow, very ‘Wedding Present’. So, inspired by that little idea from three decades ago, we’ve embarked on this new project, 24 Songs. “Even though The Wedding Present have never been known for taking the easy route, the idea of recording 24 tracks and releasing them in this way could seem daunting to any band. However, I’ve been inspired by the music that has been written since Jon and Melanie joined the group. The thought of celebrating this exciting new line-up with an exciting new series has motivated us all… and I suppose we also didn’t want any of these songs to be hidden away in the middle of an album!”

The latest addition to Chick Corea's remarkable discography is Chick
Corea Akoustic Band 'LIVE', the long-anticipated reunion of his beloved
Akoustic Band with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl,
together as a trio for the frst time in more than two decades
Under any circumstances, these thrilling live recordings would be a welcome
addition to Corea's prodigious discography. With the news of his passing still so
fresh in listeners' minds, its release comes as an opportunity for fans to bid
farewell while cherishing the communal energy and playful vigor that made the
pianist a favourite of jazz lovers around the world for nearly 60 years. 'LIVE', the 2-
CD/3-LP set was recorded January 13, 2018 at SPC Music Hall in St. Petersburg,
Florida. The trio's intricate interplay and highwire jousting refects more than 30
years of collaboration between Corea's Akoustic and Elektric Bands and serves as
a celebratory reminder of Corea's singular genius, with more than two hours of
inspired playing and spirited camaraderie.
Chick Corea attained iconic status in music. The late keyboardist, composer and
bandleader was a DownBeat Hall of Famer and NEA Jazz Master, as well as one
of the most nominated artists in GRAMMY Awards history with 68 nods - and 24
wins, in addition to 4 Latin GRAMMYS. From straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop
to jazz- rock fusion, children's songs to chamber and symphonic works, Chick
touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his career after playing with
the genre-shattering bands of Miles Davis in the late '60s and early '70s

South Africa is in fact the only country in the whole African continent that has developed a strong Jazz tradition. Initially influenced by the great American stylists, (Ellington, Gillespie...) South Africa gradually developed its own soulful style based on a distinctive taste for melody and a deep sense of groove. Masterfully selected from the so-called Golden Age of the genre, (late Fifties / early Sixties), this compilation represents the best introduction to the work of a large and varied body of musicians and composers who inevitably developed their music as part of the historical Anti-Apartheid struggle, and as means of self expression in the dark times of exile. Kippie Moeketsi, Hugh Masekela, Dollar Brand, Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Mongesi Feza, Barney Rabachan, Nick Moyake and of course the queen Miriam Makeba are just some of the main voices represented here. A bunch of true warriors. in one word: A must!

As no strangers to the West End Records back catalogue – both having taken on remix duties individually in the past – 2022 sees Michael Gray and Dr Packer combine to give two classics the Rework treatment. Brenda Taylor’s seminal “You Cant Have Your Cake And Eat It To” is finessed into a contemporary disco standard: Taylor’s voice still cutting through with plenty of soul while synth and pianos provide the groove. “Don’t Make Me Wait” cuts a slightly edgier tone, with acid-like bleeps and plenty of reverb making it a perfect counter track as part of this release.

Another set of essential Reworks from West End.

As funny as it may sound, Anaïs Mitchell has spent the past 15 years in some kind of hell. OK, not actual hell, but the multi-faceted world of Hadestown, a musical project she began in Vermont in 2006 that has grown into a Tony®- and Grammy®-award-winning Broadway phenomenon with touring editions now delighting audiences as far away as South Korea.

“I experienced so much joy working on Hadestown, but it just kept ramping up and up and requiring more and more attention,” Mitchell admits. “I had to become so single-minded and really put blinders on to my other creative life.” As it did for many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly offered Mitchell a blank slate to reconnect with her own music. The result is a new self-titled album made with close collaborators from Bon Iver, The National and her own band Bonny Light Horseman, Mitchell’s first collection of all-new material under her own name since 2012’s Young Man in America.

“I was nine months pregnant when the pandemic reached New York, so we made an 11th hour decision to leave and have the baby in Vermont,” Mitchell recalls. “We left the city and had the baby a week later, and then like everyone, we were in the midst of this unprecedented stillness. It felt like I could see behind me: oh, there’s New York City. There’s Hadestown. There’s my life with just one kid. A certain kind of stress and expectations. In Vermont, we moved onto my family farm and lived in my grandparents’ old house, with a new baby. I’d look at pictures on my phone from a few months earlier and wonder, whose life was that? This record, and the songs that are on it, came out of that time. I got into a flow again that I hadn’t felt in a really long time.”

Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation,” Mitchell is a master of the worlds of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Those talents are evident from the first moments of the new album, as Mitchell narrates what she calls “an unbearably romantic” trip over the Brooklyn Bridge colored by Bon Iver member Michael Lewis’ heartstring-tugging saxophone accompaniment. “Having left New York, I was able to write a love letter to it in a way I never could when I was living there,” she says. “It was like, fuck it. This is how I feel. There is nothing more beautiful than riding over one of the New York bridges at night next to someone who inspires you.”

Produced by Mitchell’s Bonny Light Horseman bandmate Josh Kaufman, the album proceeds to chronicle Mitchell’s reconnection with the Vermont roots that have been so formative in her life and music. “Bright Star” finds her making peace with the idea of being at peace in the familiar setting of her grandparents’ house, while “Revenant” was inspired by paging through a box of journals and letters belonging to herself and her grandmother — “a very pandemic activity,” she says. “That house is literally my happy place. I can picture myself as a kid, in this house, laying on the carpet with a sunbeam coming through the sliding glass door. There’s something about it that is really connected in my mind to my childhood and a very free, imaginative, creative time. “Revenant” has a lot to do with that house and reconnecting with my childhood self.”

Mitchell concedes that she tends “to be someone who thinks it has to be hard in order for it to be good or beautiful,” but that feeling has changed, partly thanks to her deep connection with musicians she’s met through the 37d03d collective established by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. During the pandemic, some of those artists participated in a “song a day” writing group — an idea Mitchell says is usually “totally opposite of how I roll. But it really helped me to gain access to some kind of trust and intuition and flow. I began a bunch of these songs while doing that.”

“It unlocked something that allowed me to finish a bunch of songs I’d been sitting on, and feeling a bit paralyzed about how to finish them,” she continues. “Because no one was touring, it’s not like I was playing them for anyone before we were in the studio. In other times, I’ve trotted things out in advance. Here, it was like, here’s all these brand new songs. Let’s discover what they can be. That was really exciting.”

That discovery process took flight at Dreamland Recording Studios outside Woodstock, N.Y., which Mitchell describes as “this weird, janky, beautiful church - it’s my favorite studio in the world.” Kaufman, Lewis and Big Red Machine drummer JT Bates formed a core band around Mitchell, while Aaron Dessner and Thomas Bartlett joined the sessions mid-week on guitar and piano, respectively.

After the appropriate COVID tests came back negative, “it was a pretty extraordinary feeling to hug, kiss and share the same space playing together,” Mitchell says. “We went into that world for a week and didn’t leave the studio for any reason. I felt very safe with all those guys. It was warm and joyful.”

Mitchell says this environment brought out unexpected details in the material, which was recorded almost entirely live together in the room. “Sometimes we tried separating things out, like vocals, but we always ended up back in the room together,” she says. Indeed, after spending the better part of a day recording overdubbed versions of “Little Big Girl” that nobody loved, the musicians gave up and tracked it again live. “We got so frustrated that we went in and I was like, I’m just going to sing this as hard as I fucking can. It felt like that’s what the song wanted to be,” Mitchell says. “It felt like all those songs wanted to be recorded as live as possible.” The exception to the rule was Nico Muhly's arrangements for strings and flute, which were added from New York City afterward.

Mitchell will debut the new material during various headline tours in the U.S. and Europe in 2022, at which she’ll be accompanied by players from the album. On stage, she can’t wait to further hone the sights, sounds and scenes that bring the songs to such vivid life. “I’ve spent a lot of time trying to write in the voice of other characters, especially with Hadestown. It’s fun for me, but these songs are not that,” she says. “Weirdly, they’re all me. The narrator is me. That’s why it felt right to self-title the album. It felt like after so many years of working on telling other stories, now here are some of mine.”

As funny as it may sound, Anaïs Mitchell has spent the past 15 years in some kind of hell. OK, not actual hell, but the multi-faceted world of Hadestown, a musical project she began in Vermont in 2006 that has grown into a Tony®- and Grammy®-award-winning Broadway phenomenon with touring editions now delighting audiences as far away as South Korea.

“I experienced so much joy working on Hadestown, but it just kept ramping up and up and requiring more and more attention,” Mitchell admits. “I had to become so single-minded and really put blinders on to my other creative life.” As it did for many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly offered Mitchell a blank slate to reconnect with her own music. The result is a new self-titled album made with close collaborators from Bon Iver, The National and her own band Bonny Light Horseman, Mitchell’s first collection of all-new material under her own name since 2012’s Young Man in America.

“I was nine months pregnant when the pandemic reached New York, so we made an 11th hour decision to leave and have the baby in Vermont,” Mitchell recalls. “We left the city and had the baby a week later, and then like everyone, we were in the midst of this unprecedented stillness. It felt like I could see behind me: oh, there’s New York City. There’s Hadestown. There’s my life with just one kid. A certain kind of stress and expectations. In Vermont, we moved onto my family farm and lived in my grandparents’ old house, with a new baby. I’d look at pictures on my phone from a few months earlier and wonder, whose life was that? This record, and the songs that are on it, came out of that time. I got into a flow again that I hadn’t felt in a really long time.”

Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation,” Mitchell is a master of the worlds of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Those talents are evident from the first moments of the new album, as Mitchell narrates what she calls “an unbearably romantic” trip over the Brooklyn Bridge colored by Bon Iver member Michael Lewis’ heartstring-tugging saxophone accompaniment. “Having left New York, I was able to write a love letter to it in a way I never could when I was living there,” she says. “It was like, fuck it. This is how I feel. There is nothing more beautiful than riding over one of the New York bridges at night next to someone who inspires you.”

Produced by Mitchell’s Bonny Light Horseman bandmate Josh Kaufman, the album proceeds to chronicle Mitchell’s reconnection with the Vermont roots that have been so formative in her life and music. “Bright Star” finds her making peace with the idea of being at peace in the familiar setting of her grandparents’ house, while “Revenant” was inspired by paging through a box of journals and letters belonging to herself and her grandmother — “a very pandemic activity,” she says. “That house is literally my happy place. I can picture myself as a kid, in this house, laying on the carpet with a sunbeam coming through the sliding glass door. There’s something about it that is really connected in my mind to my childhood and a very free, imaginative, creative time. “Revenant” has a lot to do with that house and reconnecting with my childhood self.”

Mitchell concedes that she tends “to be someone who thinks it has to be hard in order for it to be good or beautiful,” but that feeling has changed, partly thanks to her deep connection with musicians she’s met through the 37d03d collective established by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. During the pandemic, some of those artists participated in a “song a day” writing group — an idea Mitchell says is usually “totally opposite of how I roll. But it really helped me to gain access to some kind of trust and intuition and flow. I began a bunch of these songs while doing that.”

“It unlocked something that allowed me to finish a bunch of songs I’d been sitting on, and feeling a bit paralyzed about how to finish them,” she continues. “Because no one was touring, it’s not like I was playing them for anyone before we were in the studio. In other times, I’ve trotted things out in advance. Here, it was like, here’s all these brand new songs. Let’s discover what they can be. That was really exciting.”

That discovery process took flight at Dreamland Recording Studios outside Woodstock, N.Y., which Mitchell describes as “this weird, janky, beautiful church - it’s my favorite studio in the world.” Kaufman, Lewis and Big Red Machine drummer JT Bates formed a core band around Mitchell, while Aaron Dessner and Thomas Bartlett joined the sessions mid-week on guitar and piano, respectively.

After the appropriate COVID tests came back negative, “it was a pretty extraordinary feeling to hug, kiss and share the same space playing together,” Mitchell says. “We went into that world for a week and didn’t leave the studio for any reason. I felt very safe with all those guys. It was warm and joyful.”

Mitchell says this environment brought out unexpected details in the material, which was recorded almost entirely live together in the room. “Sometimes we tried separating things out, like vocals, but we always ended up back in the room together,” she says. Indeed, after spending the better part of a day recording overdubbed versions of “Little Big Girl” that nobody loved, the musicians gave up and tracked it again live. “We got so frustrated that we went in and I was like, I’m just going to sing this as hard as I fucking can. It felt like that’s what the song wanted to be,” Mitchell says. “It felt like all those songs wanted to be recorded as live as possible.” The exception to the rule was Nico Muhly's arrangements for strings and flute, which were added from New York City afterward.

Mitchell will debut the new material during various headline tours in the U.S. and Europe in 2022, at which she’ll be accompanied by players from the album. On stage, she can’t wait to further hone the sights, sounds and scenes that bring the songs to such vivid life. “I’ve spent a lot of time trying to write in the voice of other characters, especially with Hadestown. It’s fun for me, but these songs are not that,” she says. “Weirdly, they’re all me. The narrator is me. That’s why it felt right to self-title the album. It felt like after so many years of working on telling other stories, now here are some of mine.”

The wheels rattle into the thrilling unknown on The Coral’s first new music since 2018, finding the unsurpassed, metamorphic gonzo-pop five-piece in the company of crooks, sell-by-date candyfloss and plastic skeletons as they release Faceless Angel. Of misplaced memories from a place and time that might never have been, the track precedes a new and vividly evocative body of work from the legendary Merseyside band in the form of their TENTH and first, ever double-album: Coral Island.

Squinting into the neon-lit penny arcades and draining an after hours glass with the displaced and dispossessed once the power is pulled, The Coral’s latest caper concerns listeners with the light, shade, thrills and profound melancholy of coastal palaces packed with fun and fright. Both now and then, or perhaps never as fiction encroaches on reality, the feverous anticipation of a night amongst the screams, fights and romance of the fair become part of life on the newly-built Coral Island.

Welcoming travellers one trepidous step at a time, Faceless Angel sits amongst a series of promised audio visual portraits of and inspired by the Island’s inhabitants. Conceived and created by artist, Edwin Burdis, the single’s video was filmed ‘on’ Coral Island itself, a sprawling diorama purpose-built inside a deserted Chinese restaurant in Cardiff. It’s the band and fans’ first venture onto the surreal land mass, populated by surreal sculptural forms, charity shop-finds, looming mountains and gathering storm clouds. Filmed in debt to the traditional model-based filmmaking methods of greats like George Lucas or Ray Harryhausen, Burdis navigated Coral Island at waist-height and via camera-friendly pathways to gather 360 degree footage from inside and outside his and The Coral’s fascinating, fabricated world. The expansive and ambitious installation also provides the album artwork for Coral Island as well as designs for Faceless Angel and future singles.

Indebted in part to the classic pre-Beatles rock and roll era of Duane Eddy and Chuck Berry alongside the clattering of a weary ghost train’s rusted wheels on worn steel, Faceless Angel’s title evokes DC Comics ominous occult detective series, Hellblazer and the broken character of the strip’s protagonist, John Constantine.

‘The Afro Modern Seventies Sounds of Soweto’s First Nightclub

• Over ten years in the making, this is the first compilation from South African vinyl re-issue specialists Matsuli Music

• Ten track double gatefold album journey through jazz, funk, fusion and disco, detailing the incredible story and sounds behind the Soweto nightclub during the height of apartheid

• Uniquely South African take on the trans-Atlantic sounds of Philadelphia, Detroit and New York City

• Cover artwork by Zulu Bidi (of Batsumi fame) with unseen photographs, and liner notes by Kwanele Sosibo featuring interviews with key musicians, players and a former president of South Africa

• Audio mastered and cut for vinyl by Frank Merritt at The Carvery with heavyweight 180g vinyl pressed at Pallas in Germany

A night-time haunt in the backstreets of Soweto run by a well-known bootlegger should have been a prime zone for nefarious underworld activities. Instead, it nurtured an underground of a different kind. Soon after its opening in 1973, Club Pelican became a spot where musicians steeped in the tradition of South African jazz began to cook up experimental sounds inspired by communion, competition and the movements in funk and soul blowing in from the West. Located in an industrial park on the western edge of Orlando East, Soweto, Club Pelican was off the beaten track, among a matrix of railway and industrial infrastructure. In a different time and place, this would have been a prototypical nightclub location, except there was no local precedent to follow. This was Soweto’s first night club.
In the intervening years, this location has served to heighten the now-defunct spot’s legendary status as a singular venue, one that ruled the night in the Seventies. Initially called Lucky’s and established in 1973, the Pelican’s impact on the Soweto cultural landscape was immediate. Lorded over by a charismatic figure known as Lucky Michaels, the club became the jewel in a nondescript collection of family businesses. It boasted a diverse pool of talent in its succession of house bands and an A-list of ghetto-fabulous singers as

its cabaret stars. Its VIP section was a veritable who’s who of Soweto society and its stage, hosting a mix of the day’s pop culture infused with the creativity and individual histories of the musicians, the Pelican filled a live music vacuum.
One Night in Pelican captures the halcyon seventies period with a single nightclub embodying an indomitable spirit of its troubadour players. While schooled and rooted in “standards” and local forms, the music could take any direction, at a moment’s notice. This compilation features all the key groups and players of the time: Abacothozi, Almon Memela’s Soweto, The Black Pages, Dick Khoza and the Afro Pedlars, The Drive, Ensemble of Rhythm and Art , The Headquarters, Makhona Zonke Band, the Shyannes and Spirits Rejoice.’

The wheels rattle into the thrilling unknown on The Coral’s first new music since 2018, finding the unsurpassed, metamorphic gonzo-pop five-piece in the company of crooks, sell-by-date candyfloss and plastic skeletons as they release Faceless Angel. Of misplaced memories from a place and time that might never have been, the track precedes a new and vividly evocative body of work from the legendary Merseyside band in the form of their TENTH and first, ever double-album: Coral Island.

Squinting into the neon-lit penny arcades and draining an after hours glass with the displaced and dispossessed once the power is pulled, The Coral’s latest caper concerns listeners with the light, shade, thrills and profound melancholy of coastal palaces packed with fun and fright. Both now and then, or perhaps never as fiction encroaches on reality, the feverous anticipation of a night amongst the screams, fights and romance of the fair become part of life on the newly-built Coral Island.

Welcoming travellers one trepidous step at a time, Faceless Angel sits amongst a series of promised audio visual portraits of and inspired by the Island’s inhabitants. Conceived and created by artist, Edwin Burdis, the single’s video was filmed ‘on’ Coral Island itself, a sprawling diorama purpose-built inside a deserted Chinese restaurant in Cardiff. It’s the band and fans’ first venture onto the surreal land mass, populated by surreal sculptural forms, charity shop-finds, looming mountains and gathering storm clouds. Filmed in debt to the traditional model-based filmmaking methods of greats like George Lucas or Ray Harryhausen, Burdis navigated Coral Island at waist-height and via camera-friendly pathways to gather 360 degree footage from inside and outside his and The Coral’s fascinating, fabricated world. The expansive and ambitious installation also provides the album artwork for Coral Island as well as designs for Faceless Angel and future singles.

Indebted in part to the classic pre-Beatles rock and roll era of Duane Eddy and Chuck Berry alongside the clattering of a weary ghost train’s rusted wheels on worn steel, Faceless Angel’s title evokes DC Comics ominous occult detective series, Hellblazer and the broken character of the strip’s protagonist, John Constantine.

Double BLACK Vinyl, Gatefold sleeve, DL card. René Laloux’s celebrated 1973 sci-fi animation ‘La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet)’, is overhauled with a re-imagined soundtrack by electronic modernists Stealing Sheep and legendary sound innovators The Radiophonic Workshop. This exclusive release is part of Fire Records’ re-imagined score series. “No institution has had a greater impact on the development of electronic music than the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.” The Vinyl Factory. It’s a real pre-Avatar conundrum that Stealing Sheep, with the help of Bob Earland, Dick Mills and Roger Limb from the Radiophonic Workshop, unravel. Creating an ethereal excursion that’s narrated by Roger Limb; like a futuristic Martin Denny, or Dr Who gone ambient techno, with a hint of Forbidden Planet 50 years on. It’s an analogue swirl set in an off-world paradise; a field recording from the future. This is a creative, generation-spanning, union brought together to score this unique cult film. A must for fans of psyche electronica and Stealing Sheep’s formidable ‘Big Wows’ album. “Stealing Sheep devour a broad range of styles, incorporating everything from the dark dance-pop of Grace Jones to the experimentations of Radiophonic Workshop pioneer Delia Derbyshire and John Carpenter soundtracks.” The Guardian // ‘La Planète Sauvage’ is a thing of ambient beauty punctuated with electronic earworms that switches from intensely ominous to otherworldly dream like moments.

Eric Gales is a blues frebrand
Over 30 years and 18 albums, his passion for the music and his boundless desire
to keep it vital has never waned, even when his own light dimmed due to his
substance struggles. Throughout it all, he continued to reinvigorate the art form
with personal revelation in his lyrics and bold stylistic twists in his guitar playing
and songwriting. Five years sober, creatively rejuvenated, and sagely insightful,
Eric is ready for the fght of his career. Aptly, he calls his masterful new album,
'Crown', out January 28th, 2022, on Provogue/ Mascot label Group. Here, Eric
opens like never before, sharing his struggles with substance abuse, his hopes
about a new era of sobriety and unbridled creativity, and his personal refections
on racism. The songs are delivered with clarity and feature Eric's personal
experiences and hope for positive change. In addition, the 16- track collection
boasts his fnest singing, songwriting, and his signature guitar playing that burns
throughout. Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, this is Eric at his most
boldly vulnerable, uncompromisingly political, and unfinchingly confdent.
The 'Crown' album journey is exhilarating, and, much like Eric's life, winds through
moments of victory and vulnera-bility. Along the way, Eric shares his story and his
feelings through the majesty of the blues. He says: "When I play, the core is
always the blues, and on this album, we go through a theme park of the blues,
exploring all kinds of blues. We visit the carousel, the bumper cars, the water
rides, the concession stands, and we all come out with smiles."
• 'Crown' was produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, and features
contributions from ace songwriters Keb Mo, Tom Hambridge and James House •
Eric Gales' most recent album, 2019's 'The Bookends', debuted #1 on the
Billboard Blues Album chart and that year Eric won a Blues Music Award for Blues
Rock Artist Of The Year • Extensive social media and lifestyle campaigns on
Facebook, Google, YouTube, along with online adverts on key websites • Reviews,
consumer ads and interviews in a wide range of media including Blues, Rock,
Mainstream, Lifestyle and newspapers

Gonzalo Benitez and Luis Alberto Valencia were kingpins of the musica nacional movement in Ecuador. Check them out on the cover, on a rooftop in Quito’s Old Town, surveying their dominion. In 1970, when Valencia collapsed onstage during a performance of the yaravi Desesperacion — ‘My heart is already in ashes’ — and died four days later, aged 52, his coffin was carried through those city streets on the shoulders of his fans.

They began singing as a duo in their mid-teens. During twenty-eight years together they recorded more than six hundred songs, for Discos Ecuador, Nacional, Granja, Ortiz, Rondador, Onix, Fuente, Real, Tropical, Fadisa, RCA Victor — and of course CAIFE.

Their exquisitely romantic harmonising is a sublime blend of collected forbearance and abject self-annihilation, underpinned and elaborated by the heart-piercing, improvisatory guitar-playing of Bolivar Ortiz. Effectively the third member of the group. ‘El Pollo’ sets the tone and intensity for everything that follows: listen to his soloing at the start of our opener, Lamparilla.

Musically a pasillo — a cross between a Viennese waltz and the indigenous yaravi rhythm — Lamparilla draws its verses from a poem by Luz Martinez from Riobamba, written in 1918 when she was 15, under the influence of Baudelaire and Mallarme. Another pasillo here, Sombras is one of the best-loved songs in the musica nacional canon, setting lines about undercover sex and loss by the Mexican poet Maria Pren, which were considered pornographic on publication in 1911.

And Benitez & Valencia looked back still further, to the indigenous roots of Ecuadorian music, as the key to its future. Carnaval de Guaranda is their take on a song dating back to the era of the Mitimaes, a broad group of Bolivian tribes conquered by the Incas and displaced to Ecuador. ‘Impossible love of mine / I love you for being impossible / Who loves what is impossible / Is the truest lover.’

Lovingly presented in a gatefold sleeve with spot-gloss, and printed inners, with stunning photos and expert notes. Excellent sound, drawn from original tapes, by way of Abbey Road, D&M and Pallas.

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.

Scott Lavene is set to release ‘Broke’ on 7th June 2019, an album that is drenched in living in the gutter but staring at the stars.

Lavene has the lyrical smarts and the fairground bark of an Ian Dury, the incisive wordplay of a Costello and the deadpan pop of Madness in his creative DNA, along with the street poetry of an Essex boy version of Lou Reed, the dislocated funk of Talking Heads, the jellied eel lyrical bounce of Chas and Dave, and the inventive surreal see-saw of a Tom Waits, and many other nonconformists.

It’s an intoxicating brew that he makes his own in this collection of wonderful quirky songs that make up ‘Broke’.

These are songs that are full of detail and a life lived in scuffed shoes, rainy towns and the magic of the everyday. Songs about small talk, being skint, doomed affairs and the sweetness of falling in love over a cup of tea.

Creating unconventional backdrops for his street tales Scott builds up shapeshifting rhymes and looping grooves.

Recorded in 2012 following their breakthrough LPs for Freestyle Records - and stored in The Apples vault maturing ever since!
It seemed like the band were a ways past due a return to the label, and what better way could there be than to release this powerful, uplifting & headbanging Blur cover.

Wherever you are and whoever you're with, whenever you feel like screaming on the edge of a cliff or to simply dance like the end of the world is coming (all imminently possible!) this one is for you. Backed up with the irresistible klezmer-funk energy of The Apples' 2009's take on The Power, because we just couldn't resist giving it another blast on wax.

Produced By Yonadav Halevy
Recorded, Mixed & Mastered By Uri "MIXMONSTER" Wertheim
Executive Producer: Erez Todres
Arthur Krasnobaev – Trumpet
Yaron Ouzana – Trombone
Oleg Naiman – Tenor & Soprano Saxophones
Yakir Sasson – Baritone Saxophone
Erez Todres – Turntables
Ofer Tal – Turntables
Alon Carmely – Double Bass
Yonadav Halevy – Drums
Uri "MIXMONSTER" Wertheim – Sound Console, Tapes, Effects
Recorded At Luna Studios, Tel Aviv With Roy Nadel, 2012.
Art by The Bitterman Sisters. Thanks To Fada Zach Bar.

Hamburg-based sludge metal act High Fighter are
gearing up for release of their first live album ever.
 Soon after their sophomore album, the critically
acclaimed ‘Champain’ in 2019, the band were
forced to stop promoting the record live due to
obvious reasons, when they got invited by German
tv and iconic live format WDR Rockpalast to be
part of a special Offstage series.
 Filmed in August 2020 at an industrial, breathtaking setting of the Landschaftspark DuisburgNord, Germany, High Fighter’s only show since the
beginning of the pandemic, without a crowd, was
aired on national television.
 This live album was recorded by Dominik Schenke
with a pre-mix by Christoph Scheidel at 79 Sound
Studio, while Jan Oberg (Earth Ship / Grin) added
the final mix and mastering at Hidden Planet
Studio in Berlin.
 With their vibrant blend of sludge metal, doom and
stoner blues, High Fighter‘s ‘Live At WDR
Rockpalast’ features a heavy set and collection of
songs taken from the band’s first three records: the
rough and raw 2014-debut EP ‘The Goat Ritual’,
their first full-length album ‘Scars & Crosses’
(2016, Svart Records) and the latest, fast-paced
and brutal sludge juggernaut ‘Champain’, released
in 2019, also on Argonauta Records.
 White coloured vinyl.

Vega Records presents the first Tony Touch / Louie Vega collaboration, the summer anthem “Sacude” now on a special vinyl double pack with remixes by Vega, Manoo, Oscar G, & Touch. If you had one latin house track to play during your set, this surely is the one with the universal appeal. Tony Touch delivers with the infectious hook “Sacude” and the remixes compliment his vocal with powerful drive. Whether the Afro House sounds of Manoo, to the latin underground house of Vega, the hard latin house sounds of Oscar G, or with latin hip-house vibes of Tony Touch, any one of the remixes will have people stomping’ their feet and singing the hooky “Sacudeeeeeee”.

EELS release their fourteenth studio album, ‘Extreme
Witchcraft’, via PIAS and the band’s own E Works
Records.
 EELS leader Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, co-produced the
record with PJ Harvey producer and guitarist John Parish,
marking the first time the two have recorded together since
2001’s ‘Souljacker’ album.
 EELS have had one of the most consistently acclaimed
careers in music. The ever-changing project of principal
singer / songwriter E (Mark Oliver Everett), EELS have
released 13 studio albums since their 1996 debut,
‘Beautiful Freak’. In 2008, E published his highly acclaimed
book ‘Things the Grandchildren Should Know’ and starred
in the award-winning ‘Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives’
documentary about the search to understand his quantum
physicist father, Hugh Everett III. 2020’s ‘Earth To Dora’
album, received extensive critical praise, and was
described as “their sweetest natured album ever” by The
Independent and awarded four stars in MOJO and NME.
 Deluxe box set features 45rpm 180g translucent yellow
double vinyl LP in heavy cardboard packaging, lenticular
print, custom EELS Ouija board, CD with booklet and an
A5 sticker sheet.
 Single LP format pressed on 180g vinyl with screen printed
poster and digital download.
 Tourdates - March 11 Telegraph Building Belfast, 12 Olympia
Theatre Dublin, 14 Roundhouse London, 15 Albert Hall
Manchester, 16 Barrowland Glasgow, 17 Rock City Nottingham,
18 O2 Guildhall Southampton.

Pinegrove’s new album, ‘11:11’, is an unqualified triumph, an
album that seizes listeners with hook-filled songs imbuing
feelings of warmth, urgency and poetic beauty, even as it
asks some of life’s big and difficult questions.
 On previous Pinegrove recordings, band member Sam
Skinner usually oversees mixing duties, but this time out,
noted producer and former Death Cab for Cutie member
Chris Walla has assumed the role. Calling previous album
‘Marigold’’s production “crisp and contained,” Hall, who coproduced ‘11:11’ with Sam, sought more of a “messier” feel
for these new songs. Most of the recording took place at two
Hudson Valley facilities (Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock
and The Building in Marlboro) with the final touches done
side by side with Walla in Seattle.
 ‘11:11’ features lush soundscapes, organs, Megan
Benavente’s melodic and adventurous bass playing, Josh
Marre’s signature guitar work and a special guest - Doug
Hall, Evan’s father- playing piano on many tracks. The record
sounds intimate, yet expansive.
 “It spends equal time on optimism, community, reaffirming
what we are and how it’s our duty to look out for one
another,” says singer Evan Stephens Hall. “There’s anger,
love, hope and grief. The record has all of that.”
 The opening mini epic track, ‘Habitat’, is a two-part
masterpiece of texturalism, brimming with robust, percussive
guitars and driven by unsettling shifts. Another key track is
‘Alaska’, a happy-go-lucky romp of dense, bracing guitar
rock, lurching out of the gate with tectonic force and boasting
hooks at every turn. Later, the breezy, pastoral folk-tinged
‘Iodine’ glistens with exquisite vocal harmonies, and ‘Flora’ is
a beautifully appointed apology to nature, its luxurious
country rock feels connected to past masters like the Flying
Burrito Brothers or early Wilco.

Formed in 1983, Hallows Eve was a thrash metal band hailing from Atlanta, GA, whose first brush with notoriety came via the inclusion of their song Metal Merchants" in the Metal Massacre, Vol. 6 compilation two years later. Duly signed by the collection's parent label, Metal Blade, the group, comprised of vocalist Stacy Anderson, guitarists David Stuart and Steve "Skullator" Shoemaker, bassist Tommy Stewart, and drummer Ronny Appoldt, released their debut album, Tales of Terror, later the same year and then followed it with two more discs (1986's Death & Insanity and 1988's Monument). By 1989, the band had folded but eventually re-formed in 2004 with plans to record a new, as yet unreleased, effort. - Eduardo Rivadavia (All Music Guide)

As Could Change begins, you'll notice how little audio material is really needed for your brain to start turning things into things. The merest slice of a plosive becomes a beat. The notes buried in every vowel are a bass line that nobody's fingers can reach. And of course the lyrics are the music: a synthetic voice, stripped of its humanity, that will relentlessly call to your brain like a siren and beg you to make sense of what doesn't. This piece isolates your perceptive abilities in the audio realm the way an optical illusion works on your eyes. Its melody is the amount you'll struggle to turn sound into sense. On top of that, it's delightfully fucking annoying. Marc Matter first came around as part of Institut fuer Feinmotorik, The Durian Brothers and Salon des Amateurs and has been politely shoving vocal recordings through various sorts of blenders ever since. (Angela Sawyer)

”Es gibt eine Galaxie von Klaviertrios im heutigen Jazz-Universum”, hat das BBC Music Magazine festgestellt, ”aber nur wenige strahlen so hell wie das von Marcin Wasilewski”. Auf ihrem siebten ECM-Album
beleuchtet die vielseitige polnische Gruppe ein für sie charakteristisch weites Spektrum der Musik. Auf
En attendant stehen kollektiv erarbeitete Stücke neben Wasilewskis formbarem ”Glimmer of Hope”, Carla
Bleys zeitlosem ”Vashkar”, dem hypnotisierenden The Doors-Klassiker ”Riders On The Storm” und einem
Streifzug durch Johann Sebastian Bachs Goldberg-Variationen. Flüssiges Zusammenspiel ist das Markenzeichen dieses Trios, dessen mehr als ein Vierteljahrhundert langes gemeinsames Wirken zu einem geradezu telepathisch tiefen Verständnis zwischen Wasilewski, Bassist Kurkiewicz und Schlagzeuger Miskiewicz
geführt hat. En attendant wurde im August 2019 in den Studios La Buissonne in Südfrankreich aufgenommen und von Manfred Eicher produziert.

Carly Pearce veröffentlicht ihr neues Album „29: Written In Stone“.
Bereits mit ihrer Debütsingle „Every Little Thing“ erreichte Carly Pearce 2017 den Spitzenplatz in den
US-Country-Airplay-Charts und knüpfte an diesen Erfolg mit ihrem Duet „I Hope You’re Happy Now“ mit
Lee Brice direkt an und landete nicht nur ihren zweiten Nummer-1-Radiohit, sondern auch ihren zweiten
Platinsong.
„29: Written In Stone“ nahm Carly Pearce inmitten von Tumulten, Erschöpfung und tiefen, seelisch
erschütternden Enttäuschungen auf.
Das von Shane McAnally und Josh Osborne produzierte Album besteht aus 15 Songs, die ursprünglichen
sieben der EP „29“, sowie acht weitere. Die Songs begleiten den Weg der Erkenntnis, Akzeptanz, dem
Lachen und Weinen und schließlich des Weitermachens, um eine Erfahrung reicher.
Carly selbst sagt über ihr neues Album: ”Als ich anfing zu schreiben, dachte ich, ich hätte alles rausgelassen.
Aber es kamen immer mehr Songs, und mir wurde klar, dass ich dieses ganze Projekt brauchte, um wirklich
zu verstehen, wie man auf der anderen Seite wieder herauskommt, und nicht nur für eine kurze Weile.
Jetzt können die Leute sehen, wie man selbst in den tiefsten Momenten aufblühen kann”.
Das Album ist sowohl digital, physisch als CD und jetzt auch auf Vinyl erhältlich.

Warm presents a brand new compilation called 'Home'; a soundtrack for when we pause, take a breath, and use our senses to explore the magic of the world on our doorsteps. Morning to evening, dawn to dusk, our lives continue moving but sometimes the need to step back and reset is essential to create a balance in our lives. As we open our eyes and ears to our surroundings, our senses become stimulated by small details. Whether it be the sound of the sea lapping on the sand, the wind blowing through the canopy of trees or a robin heralding a new day; nothing is the same but all are unique.

'Home' has been pieced together over the last year by Warm’s Ali Tillett. With the majority of Warm - booking agents for Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, Gerd Janson, Horse Meat Disco, Hot Chip DJs, Lou Hayter, Luke Una - on pause, Ali took the chance to immerse himself in bringing together his passion for music, nature and art.

The 14 tracks, the majority exclusive and specially made for the compilation, includes contributions by Âme, Bobby Lee & Mia Doi Todd, Coyote, Crack’d Man (aka Crooked Man who produced Roisin Murphy's last album), Fug (with their first material for over ten years), Kirk Degiorgio presents As One, Turtle, and Ewan Pearson's World of Apples project (with their first material for nearly 20 years!). The tracks align with specific habitats in the local Dorset area, where Ali is situated, such as Harbour/Estuary, Heathland/Moorland, Woodland/Forest, and Beach/Cliffs.

To immerse the listener even further into the soundscape, critically acclaimed sound and field recording artist Gary Moore, of Springwatch/Autumnwatch fame, has been involved to help bring nature even further to the ears. Intertwined between the music are field recordings specific to area and habitat; whether it be the sound of a ship's horn in Poole harbour, avocets on the scrape, the tawny owl in the woodland or Puffins on the ledges of cliffs.

Gareth Fuller, a fabulous artist who previously lived in Dorset, has kindly allowed one of his artworks to become the centrepiece for the compilation. Titled 'Purbeck', it's a truly wonderful piece of art that encapsulates everything about the area and enables an added dimension to the immersive experience for the listener.

“Sunlight to blue … Blue to blackness” - This was one of the more upbeat title suggestions for the very bare, back to basics, reflective album from The Durutti Column. Originally released in June 2008, Sunlight to Blue… was a conscious response to the previous two polished and ‘studio-based’ releases. Here he created some sparse, simply beautiful 'sketches' as he once called them, more reminiscent of his work from the early eighties. Many of the pieces are instrumentals played on his Juan Montero flamenco guitar, and he returns to 'Without Mercy' for the last track 'Grief' whilst reinventing 'Never Known' from LC. Now, for the first time, the LP is available remastered and re-packaged as a gatefold double 12” 180gram vinyl release.

This album also saw the debut of the then talented young pianist and singer, Poppy Morgan, who co-wrote the melancholy Ananda as a duet with what Reilly dryly called 'intrusive guitar'. For the uninitiated, Vini was the first artist signed to Manchester’s influential Factory Records, co-wrote and played on Morrissey’s first solo album ‘Viva Hate’, and was heavily featured in the Manchester music culture film, ’24 Hour Party People’. Vini Reilly has recorded under the name The Durutti Column since 1978 and has a rich portfolio of work, releasing over twenty albums in this time. Ever critical of Vini’s voice, but ever a fierce champion of his talent, the late Tony Wilson would surely appreciate this return of The Durutti Column.

For their 5th volume of the 'Downtownsounds Classics' series, Fatty Fatty Phonographics are proud to present these gems from the West End Records catalogue, the famed underground disco label that gave us so many of our dancefloor staples.

"Tell You Today" is probably the Downtownsounds anthem, a sweet song of yearning, regret and innocent joy married to Arthur Russell's wonky, wobbly percussive genius, with a perfect pop climax that has led to many moments of collective disco joy on the DTS dancefloor.

We didn't need to do much on this edit beyond adding some elements from Arthur's B-side dub, so the joy goes on for just that little bit longer.

On the flip is 'When The Shit Hits The Fan', a no-nonsense, hit-the-floor and forget your troubles disco-rap stompout from 1980.
A favourite with the likes of Theo Parrish and Dave Lee, this one always get the sneaky shebeen vibes a going...Check those lyrics!

The first Delights release of 2022 sees the return of the Haifa-Jerusalem duo SimfOnyx (Shuzin and Markey Funk) with a new psych-funk double-sider. Taking its inspiration from the long-forgotten genre cinema of East Germany, the 45 features "Der Maulwurf" (The Mole) - a drum-heavy crime funk banger, paired with a melancholic space age slow-burner "Eolomea" on the flipside.

Limited to 300 copies worldwide.

"Emotional Rescue presents the first ever reissue of Sugar Minott’s rare 12” of I Remember Mama. Recorded in Soho in mid-80s London, the Boogie meets Reggae song comes in vocal and instrumental mixes, as well as a wonderfully teasing long Discomix by NAD aka Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys).

Having grown up and become a star out of Kingston, JA, with over 50 albums and hundreds of singles for the likes of Studio One and Black Roots labels, the legendary vocalist was a pioneer of the Dancehall and then later Lovers Rock sounds.

Based in London for much of the 1980s, a chance meeting in the Wackies offices he met producer Steve Parr, who had recently opened the Sound Design Studio next door.

Hatching the idea to create a label to showcase their capabilities, Parr played all the instruments except the distinctive sax by friend Andy MacDonald, while Minott’s delivery is at his prime, storytelling in the Jamaica tradition of hardship and praise.

Released on 7” and 12”, they have striking differences. The “Sound Design” instrumental / version sees the studio team craft a disco meets reggae in a cod-style to wonderful, almost Balearic effect.

The collaboration with Dan Tyler continues, as he again works his desk dubbing magic. Extending and editing between the two mixes, teasing the instrumental before finally bringing the sax and vocals together for a ‘discodub’ finale. "

10” black vinyl with download code. File under: Indie, UK. It’s been four years since we last heard from Tigercats, with the 2018 album Pig City marking the expansion of their sonic palette from indie-pop and alt-rock, to include highlife, afrobeat, and scuzzy West African psych. The New Works EP is another step into the new for Tigercats, the sound of an increasingly political band, unbound by the records they’ve made previously, and enjoying the freedom of exploring and experimenting for these 5 new tracks. “We’ve been a band over 10 years and it felt like all of our previous recordings have been leading up to this one. After Duncan switched from guitar to kalimba a few years back, and we welcomed a horn section into the line-up, the sound has been getting denser and grittier, particularly live. With this recording we’ve finally managed to capture some of that energy on record.” The opening track New Work, a song about the relentless tyranny of labour in the 21st century, grows from the synth bass riffs and riotous brass lines with production inspired by industrial techno like JK Flesh, to display lyrical ferocity not often heard. The Space came together completely improvised in the studio, and reflects on the fight for space to create art - in a world fighting for your attention 24-7, and the depletion of available arts spaces. The intensity subsides for The Picture, a track whose origins date back to the writing of the band’s second record. More reminiscent of Tigercats’ indie credentials, drawing on the textures of Low or Yo Lo Tengo, it is developed here by a band confidently hitting their stride. New Works was written in 2019 and recorded at Lightship 95 on the Thames, and at Big Jelly in Ramsgate. Originally scheduled for a spring 2020 release, we’re excited to finally bring you these 5 tracks and the promise of a return to blistering live shows from Tigercats. Tigercats are a kalimba-led psychedelic pop band from East London. Having honed his songwriting craft in the short-lived but much much-missed Esiotrot, in 2010, Duncan Barrett went about forming a new band and recruited sibling/long-time producer Giles Barrett (bass), talented songstress Laura Kovic (keys), as well as Paul Rains (guitar, of Allo Darlin’). The band have performed throughout the UK and Europe and have supported The Wave Pictures, Allo Darlin and Darren Hayman among others. They have also performed at the End of the Road and Primavera Festivals and have appeared on Spanish TV (RTVE Radio3) and Indietracks. A tour of the USA and Canada included a headline appearance at NYC Popfest. New Works harks a return to Fika Recordings, having released the debut Tigercats album Isle of Dogs back in 2012, bookending albums with Fortuna Pop! (2014’s Mysteries) and El Segell Del Primavera (2018’s Pig City). Tigercats are: Duncan Barrett - Vocals, Kalimba. Giles Barrett - Bass, Production. Laura Kovic - Keys, Vocals. Paul Rains - Guitar, Vocals. Will Connor - Drums, percussion. Seb Silas - Baritone saxophone. Meridyth Dickson - Alto saxophone. Thom Punton – Trumpet.

September 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of Dome of Doom. Collecting 30 tracks spanning from 2011-2021, label founder Wylie Cable put together Decade of Doom as a reflection of the first pillar in a long and continuing story—and the many phases the label has experienced thus far. Decade of Doom comprehensively serves as a homage to many of the artists, people and experiences that tell the label’s story, splintering outward toward an abundance of communities that continue to nourish one another. These tentacles all leading back to the hand-selection of releases Cable has diligently been at the heart of since the first vinyl and cassettes were pressed.



[c] A3 Kenny Segal – Worlds To Run [VIP Dub]






















[z] D26 QRTR – And Still [Interlude]

Die Londoner Band Palace hat ihr drittes Album ”Shoals” angekündigt, das am 21. Januar über Fiction/Virgin Music erscheinen wird. ”Shoals” ist ein tiefgründiges und nachdenkliches Album, das in seinen
12 fesselnden Tracks einige der größten Fragen des Lebens kühn erforscht. Es erkundet geschickt drei
existenzielle Dilemmas vor einem breiteren Hintergrund des Staunens über die Weite und Kraft des Ozeans
und schließt seinen Bogen mit dem atemberaubenden Opus ”Where Sky Becomes Sea”. Durch das Eintauchen in Themen des Unterbewusstseins, der Träume und des Existenzialismus ist ”Shoals” im Großen
und Ganzen ein Album über das Leben mit und die Verarbeitung von Angst. Der Titel ist inspiriert von dem
scheinbar unvorhersehbaren Verhalten von Fischschwärmen, die sich genauso schnell verändern wie unsere
Ängste und Befürchtungen in Bezug auf die Welt um uns herum, erklärt Frontmann Leo Wyndham: ”Es
erforscht und hinterfragt, was wirklich greifbar und real ist - was wirklich zählt und was wir im Tod werden
- und die Angst davor. Die Angst zu existieren und die Angst zu sterben. Es ist eine Ode an die Kraft des
Ozeans und die Majestät der Natur und wie sie manchmal die einzigen Dinge sind, die sich wirklich real,
lebendig und atmend anfühlen.”

ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was originally released in 1987 as a hand-made micro-edition of about 40 cassette tapes. It was only the third ever release on the short-lived now near legendary SDV label which had been established that same year by Konrad Kraft, Bernd Sevens and Dino Oon in Düsseldorf.

Finally finding a more substantial and appreciative audience on vinyl over 30 years after its original limited release, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN is a strong testament to the explorative experiments of Detlef Funder a.k.a. Konrad Kraft, whose homebuilt studio sound attempted to bridge the clinical roughness of Severed Heads and the psychedelia of Coil with the density and force of industrial, post-punk and prototechno. Concurrent with his ever-expanding production skills, KONRAD KRAFT's sound work in the second half of the 80s stayed firmly rooted within a highly stylised underground spirit. Both his music and also the freshly launched SDV label first and foremost served as a medium for communication. The vital urgency of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN underlines the record's core narrative which arguably sounds even more futuristic today than it did 30 years ago.

Hallmarks of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN are an 8-track tape recorder, a Yamaha DX7 synth and a Roland 707 drum computer and the late 80s’ internationally ubiquitous shift from analogue to digital music production. Whilst its predecessor ARCTICA (another cassette-only release from 1986/87, previously reissued on TAL in 2018) was significantly more experimental and almost an in-between-states affair, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was the point at which Konrad Kraft really began to experiment with beat structures, sequenced synth pads and the framework of 'dance' music. However, the rhythmic elements are submerged so far beneath his expertly crafted drones it's almost impossible to label these sounds as “dancefloor oriented” work at all, as the tracks on the album joyfully disrespect the rules and boundaries of that or indeed any other genre.

ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN also epitomizes the decade's ending energy and sharp momentum with its successful merging of highly individual production and irresistible rhythm tracks.

The rich wealth of references is mirrored within the silhouettes and the graphics of the album’s unique artwork, which was created by Dino Oon. The new mastering has all sounds on ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN emerge in fresh shades and three dimensional plasticity, inviting the listener not to merely revisit the full palette of KONRAD KRAFT’s creation but offering an entirely new sound experience.

The Senior Service returns with a brand new 10” for 2022. A year or so ago, The Senior Service decided that it wanted to add a little more to its well-honed instrumental sound. On one slightly drunken night out, they approached local songwriter and chanteuse Rachel Lowrie and asked if she’d like to perform guest vocals on some specially written new material. By this time, Rachel had supplied impressive ‘pipework’ on quite a few Medway records so the band was confident that she’d be able to deliver – the band was right.
Following a lengthy hiatus in activity due to lockdown restrictions, The Senior Service was finally able to get together to record the new songs, so they piled into Ranscombe Studios to crack on. It soon became apparent that they’d lost none of the chemistry that had made them such a powerful musical collective and the instrumental backing tracks were laid down with relative ease. It was when Rachel arrived and sprinkled vocal sugar over the tracks that they really began to shine! Intuitively, she understood the approach needed and delivered a made-to-measure performance for each song. this collection includes four original tracks penned by the band plus two rollicking covers of lesser-known instrumentals; John Schroeder’s take on ‘Lovin’ You Girl’ – a slinky slice of lounge grooviness, given a slightly chunkier sound, informed by the band’s musical aesthetic, and ‘Mysterious Land’ – The Chris Lamb Orchestra’s little heard filmic masterpiece; a track seemingly tailor-made for the band to get its musical chops around. So, we invite you to spend ‘A Little More Time with The Senior Service’.

Created on the western edges of the infinite plains and prairies of coldest Canada, Edmonton, Alberta's HOME FRONT dance freely and madly along the edges of time and create their own moment amongst the revered and long frozen reserves of THE CURE, SUICIDE, ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN, "Second Empire Justice" era BLITZ, and NEW ORDER. A record bubbling over with analog synth, guitar loops, slammed 808 drums, and anthemic vocal pushes tugging at the great moment in-between the “death” of punk and the “birth” of new wave, pulling fresh sounds into their punk roots and shoving a studded leather jacket around a silk robe. Justice, violence, doubt and uncertainty a la Gary Numan narrating a Warren Miller Extreme Ski Special on the set of TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA: this is HOME FRONT. Recorded by HOME FRONT in an unheated plywood box in some semblance of fading daylight. Produced and mixed in the darkest depths of lockdown by Jonah Falco on a boat moored outside an isolated estate along the A40 in between sets of "The Evil Russian Pushup Challenge" and icy walks to Lidl

Feel-good funk and hip-hop duo, The Allergies, offer up one last ray of audio sunshine from their smash hit album, Promised Land.

Featuring the unmistakable voice of Bay Area luminary, Lyrics Born, 'Going to The Party' is the ultimate celebration of good times, good friends, and good music. Throwback raps weave wickedly with infectious grooves and a sing-a-long chorus, making this the perfect soundtrack for all your get-togethers and funky affairs. And now, the limited edition vinyl release offers up an extended version, with extra house-party warming verses from L.B!

And, that's not all. As, taking B-Side Banger status on the 45 is 'Utility Man', featuring the dynamite mic prowess of L.A rap hero, Andy Cooper. Riding a super slick double bass groove and neck snapping drums, the L.A. hip-hop legend flips fearsome rap styles, pitching his case as the ultimate go-to gun-for-hire M.C.

And who are we to argue? It's two serious sides of funky rap goodness. Or, as Andy puts it, "The beats bang and the music's timeless". Indeed.

a a1: Going to the Party (Extended Mix) feat. Lyrics Born