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As pieces of musical curation go, Kenny Dope’s reimagining and reediting of the Wild Style breakbeats is outstanding. While the music from the ‘Wild Style’ OST is truly seminal, the story behind it is even more fascinating.

Underneath the voices of important rappers from hip-hop’s first wave – Cold Crush Brothers, Double Trouble, Rammellzee, Busy Bee and more – were a selection of backing beats that have underpinned and influenced a whole lot of hip-hop ever since.

It would be easy to mistake them for genuine breakbeats dug out of crates, but they’re not. Overseen by hip-hop impresario Freddie Braithwaite – better known as Fab 5 Freddy – in collaboration with Blondie’s Chris Stein – the songs from the Wild Style soundtrack are all unique creations intended as a homage to the early breakbeats.

Drummer Lenny Ferrari – who had played for Aretha Franklin before emerging on the punk scene – and bassist David Harper played many of the iconic grooves, two somewhat forgotten participants in shaping a legendary sound. They – and Chris Stein – weren’t even in the same studio at the same time.

Kenny Dope, a long-time fan of the music, later acquired the original reel-to-reel tapes from Charlie Ahearn, the film’s director. Using the Wild Style breakbeats – many just a minute or so long – he transformed them into longer edits that give them more room to breathe. ‘Down by Law’ and ‘Subway Beat’ are two of the most famous, breakdance classics that summon up visions of graffiti’d trains speeding through the South Bronx.

The original Wild Style soundtrack is such a landmark that it has spread its DNA throughout hip-hop ever since. So many artists found inspiration in it, so many producers fished for samples among its choppy waves. If you haven’t played it for a while, it still has the power to surprise – hook after hook that fed into hip-hop history. That countdown from Public Enemy’s ‘Louder than a Bomb’? The chorus from Cypress Hill’s ‘A to the K’, vocal samples that underpin MF Doom classics and A Tribe Called Quest gems? All here.

Phat Kev – aka Kev Luckhurst – teases out some of those notable moments in his superb cut-up from the 2007 reissue. The Brighton-born DJ subjects the Wild Style OST to a classic ‘Lesson-style’ cut and paste, teasing out some of the most classic moments, taking you on a whirlwind tour of the finest beats and most indelible rhymes. Here you’ll find ‘Stoop Rap’ interwoven with ‘Basketball Throwdown’ and ‘Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie’.

The temptation to overcomplicate matters is wisely resisted – Phat Kev lets the guitar of Chris Stein, the drums of Lenny Ferrari and the lyrics of legends such as Grand Master Caz, Busy Bee and Rammellzee shine in their own right.

Available for the first time on 7”, this is an outstanding tribute to one of the key records in hip-hop history.

Following contributions to Manchester based label Chequered Wax and an emotionally elevated weapon on Groove Estate Records in June last year, Twenty Angels EP sees Eyerate continue to explore the outer limits of techno, trance and future-facing club; in an EP both clinical and entrancing.

The Norwich based producer wastes no time with a thunderous opening on ‘Undone’ - a kick-drum enthralled in reverb and so heavy, it’s destined to blow the roof off any club system. Rave painted tabs and underlining atmospherics give the track an even greater sense of largeness; best heard in dark corners with high-ceilings. A masterclass in contrast ‘IDK You’ bulldozes through with its threatening, industrial tone; its peripheral vision absorbed in light, as lasers shoot straight ahead.

‘Twenty Angels’ aptly follows-suit with its knee-jerking grooves and pace setting enthusiasm. The track's beauty comes from how it muses between hypnotic states of consciousness and raw, untethered energy. The record's arc comes to an end in ‘Youth Eternal’ touching on everything from trippy 303s to emotionally charged trance and techno; in a club-facing track made for journeying.

Emerging from Lower Franconia's hidden reverse, Johannes schebler, known as ambient-poltergeist "Baldruin" and surreal folklorists Christian Schoppik & Katie Rich of "Brannten Schnüre"-fame have puzzled and amazed outernational audiences from the stranger end of the avant/lo-fi spectrum in recent years. The trio is now collectively dreaming as "Freundliche Kreisel",reaching for terra incognita rather than common ground on their most bewildering and accessible outing to date. Arch-pontifices of the electro-acoustic and outsider-art realm, they fill in gaps and invent missing links on the go with somnambulistic ease, confusing the hypersensitive and hyaline timbres of contempo-electronic aesthetics with the naïve charm of Germany's obscure Kassettentäter and mutant-NDW.

Think Daniele Mana and Lorenzo Senni digitally rewiring the 4-track recordings of Gareth Williams' Flaming Tunes or sometimes, much scarier, it feels as if it's the other way round. There certainly is an air of whimsical yet post-ironic romanticism to the songs contained here, a madcap, tongue-in-cheek ghost story as filtered through the transcendental senses of a childhood perspective. This attitude is best personified in the disarming innocence of Katie's vocals whose intonation touches on nursery rhymes as much as on dirges and bizarre 'schlager' kitsch.

Heirs to the tradition of magic realism, examining fragments of an arcane sacred mundanity like a crack in the concrete of everyday life, Freundliche Kreisel dwell on this often neglected microcosmic topography, yielding an adventurous and visionary piece of a decidedly Franconian next-level post-modern folklore.

This is Lost Soul Enterprises big 15th release on wax, a tidy compilation of off-kilter dance floor cuts and misfit synthpunk anthems.

Side A commences with the gothic, neon-soaked Miami bass of ALONZO's "Cruising with Pap," featuring sinister verses delivered by a shadowy syrupsipping secret guest vocalist. Up next is bucking bronco NICK KLEIN's slow-mo industrial headbanger "Posture Test. The sonic equivalent of a sweat-soaked concrete floor, it lurches along at its own mechanical pace amid the metallic hiss and howl. Lastly, wild synth lines and ethereal dubbed-out samples dart in and out over a tough, punchy rhythmic foundation in NAEEM's "TLX," an android's sci-fi electro vision gone haywire.

On the B side, HEIDI SABERTOOTH's "Was It You" launches us deep into chugging acidic territory, combining enigmatic spoken vocals and a psychedelic, slowly evolving SH-101 line over a persuasive groove. Like a slap in the face after that comes raucous synth-punk powerhouse SSPS with "Paradise Lozt," raw as fuck, chanting a litany of dystopian tales atop pumping drums and a wash of demented organ-like synth stabs. Finally we close with the short but powerful "New Vape City" by the nomadic DOUCE ANGOISSE - an absolute earworm, a doleful coldwave ballad whose lush production plays perfect counterpoint to the icy, deadpan sentiments within.

"Rush to Riot" is the 3rd EP to be released in mid of July 2021 on the Berlin Techno Label INHERIT. After dropping the first Inherit selection IHT S01 back in May 2021 with tracks by Bacch, Geerson, CLTX and many others we are more than happy to announce that this remarkable journey continues - not only with two more original tracks by the co-founders of Inherit, Daniel Heinrich & Disguised, but rather with two exceptional remixed bangers by Hadone & Hioll on IHT 003.

"Rush to Riot" is definitely one of the most ambitious & remarkable tracks ever published on INHERIT so far. The noteworthy collaboration between the co-founders Disguised & Daniel Heinrich brings together what belongs together: trancey basslines and melodic vibrant tunes captivating you on every dancefloor around the world.

Hadone is one of the most exciting Techno artists from France these days and without any doubt his remix of Rush to Riot adds an unique & outstanding layer to IHT 003. His well-known evocative melodies propped up on pounding kicks unite with a more forward-driven interpretation of the original track that brings so much energy to the EP.

"Against the Current" is the 2nd original track on IHT 003 by cofounder Daniel Heinrich with a remix by Hioll, one of the rising stars within the Cuban electronic music scene. While the original track with the progressive baseline by Daniel Heinrich sounds like a famous club banger already Hioll created with his remix a new and distinctive sound, hypnotic techno supported by industrial elements lifting the original track to a new level.

IHT 003 leaves us with the feeling how hard we crave for the clubs to reopen again soon. Until then enjoy your catchy four track compilation by Daniel Heinrich, Disguised, Hadone & Hioll.

International musicgroup SexJudas feat.Ricky returns to Optimo Music this Winter with a new album: Night Songs. The eight track LP draws inspiration from the night and features Malian percussionist Sidiki Camara,jazz clarinetist Andreas Røysum and noise rocker Linn Nystadnes. Making their own blend of disco, post punk and African music.

“It’s the return of Sex Judas feat.Ricky, this time as a six piece in fully fledged band mode. We’re here to take you on a journey through suburban psychedelia, forming our own brew of postpunk, disco and electronic, as well as traditional music from Mali. Night Songs is a meditation on the night time. The excess, the dreams, the highs and lows of night time activity.”-Sex Judas feat. Ricky.

“Black Cat In A Black Room” begins proceedings, taking the form of a psychedelic six-minute offering packed full of tribal drums and desert-like percussion. “A Man Without Purpose” comes next with its African-inspired vocal, before “Hab Mich Lieb” soon arrives. The six-minute cut is hypnotic, trippy and relaxing all in one, as is “Slow Down” feat. Linn Nystadnes. Taking on more of a funk-rock feel, there’s plenty of groove in the guitar-laced bassline, whilst in “Cold Clementine”, Sex Judas tells the sad tale of rave casualty over a dark and funky groove.

We’re taken down a spiritual path on The Light You Saw Was Not For Real, as Andreas Røysum’s clarinet solos sit underneath shamanic vocal offerings that open neatly into The Night Within The Night. Aslow-burning cut, riffs and hats serenade us before When You Wake Up Everything Will Be Fine brings proceedings to a close. Dream-like chords wrap us in a warm and glowing hue, with the harp-like sounds from Sidiki’s Ngoni, leaving us in a starry-eyed state to finish.

The calming nature of the album is a nod to the band’s influences: they were inspired by the great meditative records of the past, setting off on a musical trip that saw them record the whole release at legendary Norwegian studio Athletic Sound. This happened during lockdown and whilst the LP was never meant to be comment on the pandemic, there remains a brooding intensity to each track because of it. Sex Judas feat. Ricky originally began life as the solo project of Tore Gjedrem (from electronic duo Ost & Kjex), but has since grown into a steady six piece involving the talents of Sidiki Camara (djembe/ngoni/balafon), Ivar Winther (guitar/keys), Tracee Meyn (vocals), Tore Brevik (drums/percussion) and Kristian Edvardsen (bass). Centre stage is also illustrator and comic artist Sindre Goksøyr, this time portraying each character as they paddle their way into the sunset and uncharted territories.

Malian-born, Norwegian-based percussionist Sidiki Camara has played a pivotal role in promoting “Night Songs” to world music circles. Having lived in Norway since 2006, he has helped bring WestAfrican rhythms into the country’s wider jazz scene.

10th anniversary reissue of this rhythmically churning one-man-band monster of an album, recorded in a single inspired studio session & originally released in 2012 on Editions Mego.

From the original Editions Mego press release:

“For anyone who still associates Oren Ambarchi exclusively with the clipped, bass-heavy tones of solo electric guitar works such as Suspension, this rhythmically churning one-man-band monster of an album-length piece might seem to come out of nowhere. However, listeners who have followed the breadth of his work for the last few years (solo and in projects with collaborators from Jim O’Rourke to Stephen O’Malley and Keith Rowe to Keiji Haino) will have noted how Ambarchi has allowed increasingly clear traces of his enthusiasms as a music listener (for classic rock, minimal techno and 70’s fusion, among other areas) to surface in his performances and recordings, all the time filtering them through his signature long-form structures and psychoacoustic sonics.

Recorded in a single inspired studio session, Sagittarian Domain displaces Ambarchi’s trademark guitar sound from the centre of the mix, its presence felt only as an occasional ghostly reverberated shimmer. Endlessly pulsating guitar and bass lines sit alongside electronic percussion and thundering motorik drumming (familiar from his work with Keiji Haino) at the core of the piece, locking into a voodoo groove like Faust covering a 70’s cop show theme. The work is founded on hypnotic almost-repetition, the accents of the drum hits and interlocking bass and guitar lines shifting almost imperceptibly back and forwards over the beat as they undergo gradual transformations of timbre. Cut-up and phase-shifted strings enter around the half-way mark like an abstracted memory of the eastern-tinged fusion of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s classic Visions of the Emerald Beyond, before returning for an extended, stark yet affecting come-down coda, equal parts Gavin Bryars and Purple Rain.

While Sagittarian Domain contains traces of a diversity of influences, it mines all of them to uncover something that is clearly an extension of Ambarchi’s own investigations up to this point, exhibiting the same care for micro-detail and surrender to the physicality of sound that are present in all of his work, extending them in new ways to repetition, pulse and rhythm”.

LIMITED 300 ONLY TRANSPARENT GREEN VINYL LP. HOUSED IN A REVERSE BOARD
PRINTED SLEEVE WITH POLYLINED INNER BAG AND DOWNLOAD CODE.NON-RETURNABLE.

The wonderfully named Kevin, are a three-piece band formed in Osaka, Japan in 2017. The line up at the time of recording/releasing this debut album ‘Aftermath’ consists of Hayato Izawa (vocal), Yutaro Umemoto (guitar) and Yuichi Umemoto (drums).

The band has been influenced by psychedelic rock, krautrock, folk music and free jazz. But Kevin are less full on psych-rock than some of their Japanese contemporaries (and new label mates) like Acid Mothers Temple, Mainliner, & Hibushibire.

The strong krautrock influence is more prominent in their unique sound. Taking influence from the likes of Can and This Heat

Their sound was initially based on noise music. Nowadays, they are minimizing their equipment and developing their own music with a groovy, delicate and devastating band sound.

In 2019, the band successfully performed their first show abroad, in Taiwan, and with the worldwide release of ‘Aftermath’ now via Riot Season records they intend to travel and play far and wide (when rules allow)

Brazils Bungle is no stranger to Drum & Bass, with releases on some of the most respected labels in the genre. Now in 2022, he delivers his debut 117 EP with four futuristic and emotional tracks that will stir deep feelings in your soul.

Available in limited edition purple vinyl.

When we first heard from recent Kompakt signing Emma Kollmorgen, with 2021’s “You Are The”, she was hymning the complexity of romance: “Love is scary as fuck!”, she said. On her debut EP, “1243”, she’s built on that intensity and offered up a five-track suite of night-vision electronic pop, bristling with a stealthy sensuality. It’s a cinematic collection, building from the brooding “Escape”, through the drifting, tactile pulses of “Taciturn”, the gritty, bustling noises that run underneath the smoke-signal torch-song of “All The Wild Animals”, and the closing, tear-stained melancholy of “Home”. “You Are The” reappears here as well, settling in perfectly amongst new friends.

It’s a completely assured first EP from an artist who’s been slowly and steadily building her own sonic world. From her early days, when she busied herself by learning guitar and joining bands, Kollmorgen always had a vision of doing something “more independent”, to allow her to find her own sound and write her own songs. A brief creative alliance with the Berlin DJ duo Dole & Kom led to some recordings and live performances. All the while, Kollmorgen was carefully shaping her production and sound designing skills with Ableton Live, and exploring distinctive musical terrain in collaboration with co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Paul Seidel (The Ocean Collective, Fern, Nightmarer). She joined the Kompakt family after a recommendation by Patrice Baumel, who also remixed her debut single with typical flair.

On “1243”, though, Kollmorgen fully inhabits her songs, gifting each of them with a sweet, subtle sway, her vocal and lyrical openheartedness balancing the bluer hues of her production. Each song is confident and poised, Kollmorgen relying on cross-thatched patterns of texture as a web to support her melodies: “I like patterns,” she says, “they give me something to hold onto, something stable in an unstable world.” The songs feel as though they’re grappling with moments of revelation and experience in Kollmorgen’s world, which makes sense, given her approach to music: “I never had a diary,” she reflects, “so writing songs is my way of expressing and dealing with life.” On 1243, you’ll catch some glimpses of life lived, made sonorous through songs beautifully sung.

Als wir das erste Mal von Emma Kollmorgen hörten, nachdem sie sich KOMPAKT angeschlossen hatte, besang sie mit "You Are The" (2021) die Komplexität von Romantik: "Liebe ist verdammt beängstigend!". Auf ihrer Debüt-EP "1243" baut sie auf dieser Intensität auf und präsentiert uns eine fünf Tracks umfassende Suite von elektronischem Pop mit ausgeprägtem Nachtsicht-Faktor, die vor verborgener Sinnlichkeit nur so strotzt. Ein geradezu cineastischer Spannungsbogen, der sich vom grüblerischen "Escape" über die treibenden, taktilen Impulse von "Taciturn", die düsteren, umtriebigen Geräusche, die den Rauchzeichen sendenden torch song "All The Wild Animals" untermalen, und die abschließende, tränenreiche Melancholie von "Home" aufbaut. Auch "You Are The" taucht hier wieder auf und fügt sich perfekt in die neue Gesellschaft ein.

Eine überzeugende erste EP von einer Künstlerin, die sich langsam und stetig ihre eigene Klangwelt aufgebaut hat. Seit ihren Anfängen, als sie Gitarre lernte und in Bands spielte, hatte Kollmorgen immer die Vision, etwas "Unabhängiges" zu machen, um ihren eigenen Sound zu finden und ihre eigenen Songs zu schreiben. Eine kurze kreative Allianz mit dem Berliner DJ-Duo Dole & Kom führte zu einigen Aufnahmen und Live-Auftritten. Währenddessen feilte Kollmorgen an ihren Produktions- und Sounddesign-Skills und erkundete gemeinsam mit dem Co-Produzenten und Multi-Instrumentalisten Paul Seidel (The Ocean Collective, Fern, Nightmarer) ihr eigenes musikalisches Terrain. Zur KOMPAKT Label-Familie kam sie auf Empfehlung von Patrice Baumel, der auch ihre Debütsingle remixte.

Auf "1243" lebt Kollmorgen ihre Songs voll und ganz aus und verleiht jedem von ihnen einen süßen, subtilen Twist, der ihre stimmliche und textliche Offenheit mit den melancholischen Tönen der Musik in Balance hält. Voller Selbstbewusstsein und Ausgeglichenheit verlässt sie sich auf durcheinander laufende Texturen und Pattern, die ihre Melodik unterstützen: "Ich mag Pattern", sagt sie, "sie geben mir etwas, woran ich mich festhalten kann, etwas Stabiles in einer instabilen Welt."

Die Songs fühlen sich an, als würden sie sich mit realen Momenten der Offenbarung und mit Erfahrungen aus Kollmorgens Lebenswelt auseinandersetzen, was angesichts ihrer Herangehensweise an Musik durchaus Sinn ergibt: "Ich hatte nie ein Tagebuch", erzählt sie, "also ist das Schreiben von Songs meine Art, mich auszudrücken und mit dem Leben umzugehen." Auf "1243" gibt sie uns einige Einblicke in dieses gelebte Leben, das durch wunderschön gesungene Lieder zum Klingen gebracht wird.

Soft piano notes kiss trippy electronic tones: “Kossaiko”, the only collaborative record that japanese piano player Saiko Tsukamoto and globally known electronic producer Kuniyuki Takahashi ever produced, is an unmissable profound soft classic music burner.

Together they composed and produced an eight-chapter strong deeply absorbing narrative, whose enthralling story arc dives profound into authentic drama zones, that sound like they jumped right out of a Claude Sautet movie.

Originally released in 2007 as cd only, the perfectly put together longplayer now enters the world for the first time in a vinyl edition that is tragically hip. deeply starry-eyed composi-tions full of minimalistic piano melodies that creep, twist, and dance around unobtrusive electronic notes who never call the tune, but always elevate the spectacle into higher elec-tronic spheres.

In the center of each between five- and nine-minutes long composition is the piano play of Saiko, gently hitting the keys, giving space to each note to vibrate in an endless “Pauline Oli-Veros” way, drifting until the very last sound vanish. around them, Kuniyuki plays his charming electronic tricks, opening the space for tones that sometimes pulsate, sometimes flow the ambient way.

Furthermore, occasionally a guitar notes pop up or accordion melodies cover the sorcery with a severely romantic veil.

Modern classical music, that has no fear of electronic meltdowns, that embraces digital tones while staying organic in its very inner circle.

A wise man once said: when words leave off, music begins. Those who fall for the eight poems of Saikoss will lose their speech and in return get pleased all agitations of their soul.

40th anniversary edition of the debut album by the multi-talented musician Carlos Perón. “Impersonator” was originally released in 1981 when he was still a member of Yello. This first solo work represents a desire to conduct daring electronic experiments, to achieve stylistic variety and musical intensity while at the same time it is an example of Mr. Perón’s bizarre sense of humour.
Since the beginning of his career he pushed experimentation beyond limits with noise atmospheres, loops and complex textures which he has long used since before the introduction of sampling technology. With the arrival of sound sampling, he was among the first to experiment with equipment such as the Fairlight, Emulator and Mirage. During his time with Yello, Carlos may well have been one of the world’s first sampling masters.

This new re-issue of “Impersonator” includes all original tracks with some bonus including the whole Frigorex EP from 1984 and six previously unreleased cuts recorded between 1982 and 1983. Limited edition of 500 copies with gatefold sleeve and an exclusive postcard.

2001’s »Anima« was the third album released by Sasu Ripatti under his Vladislav Delay moniker and marked a turning point in the stylistic development of the prolific producer. Clocking in at roughly 62 minutes, the single piece draws on dub aesthetics while working with Musique concrète-like methods through the liberal use of samples to create a dreamlike logic. Muffled voices, lush chords, subtle rhythms and indefinable sound events are not so much integrated into a composition with a predetermined outcome but rather engage with each other freely in a constant sonic flow, forming constellations in one moment before moving on to connect with other elements in the next one. »Anima« marked the first time Ripatti was using a DAW in his working process, creating a piece constantly in motion that subtly evolves over time. This vinyl reissue on the German Keplar label follows up on the 20th anniversary edition of 2000’s »Multila« and will be complemented by a ten-minute long version of the original piece, previously only available on the CD version released by the artist on his own Huume label in 2008.

After the release of his »Ele« and »Entain« albums in 1999 and 2000, respectively, Ripatti took the 1998 independent movie »Hurlyburly« as a conceptual starting point to experiment with different gear and production methods. »Until then I had worked with an old MSQ-700 MIDI sequencer and an Ensonic EPS16 sampler/sequencer that had one or two MB of sampling memory and mixed the music live on a Mackie, which was very limiting arrangement-wise,« says Ripatti. Loading a slightly shortened version of the film into his DAW however allowed him to play along to it with the DrumKAT MIDI controller, triggering and playing all the sounds that can be heard on »Anima« while also contributing synths, bass and other sounds during repeated playthroughs before mixing a total of six stereo tracks together. »This way, after I had edited out most of the few parts that had music in them, I was in the movie; almost like an extra character playing music,« explains Ripatti. »This was certainly the most organic way in which I have ever made music, and I have never again approached another record like this.«

While »Anima« sounded like an unusual Vladislav Delay record at the time of its release, it also prefigured many of the developments Ripatti would go through in the course of his long career. Combining visceral immediacy with a sense of abstraction, it is far more than a mere missing link in his discography but rather a conceptually and musically outstanding piece of work that remains as engaging as it was 21 years ago.

All tracks composed and recorded by Vladislav Delay.
Originally released on Mille Plateaux in 2001.
Remaster and cut by Kassian Troyer @ D&M.
Art direction and design by Marc Hohmann.
Text by Kristoffer Cornils.

Since 2014, Public Release has been enlisting the raw, trademark groove of Richard Sen on a variety of now- renowned remixes. Label boss Eug has cited him in numerous interviews as being one of his all-time favourite producers, so it was inevitable that a solo EP would eventually materialize. That time has finally come, and in the Spring of 2022, the UK legend drops his solo EP “My Definition of Funk” on Public Release.

These three raw, gritty, hard-hitting, peak-time tracks are quintessential Richard Sen, combining the energy and influences of post-punk, breaks, and house in one sturdy sonic package.

Best known for their participation in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, Belgian synth pop band Pas De Deux present their complete collection. These songs were made in 1982 and 1983, including the cult hits 'Cardiocleptomanie', 'Mani Meme' and various versions of 'Rendez-Vous'. These songs were never together on one album. Some of them were only released as a single or on some special compilations made in Spain and Germany after their much discussed participation to the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in 1983.

The 2LP vinyl compilation is a tangible thing, a must-have for the fans with some new photos from the band's first video and all the info, credits and lyrics of the songs. Remastered & compiled on this deluxe 2LP with a special etched D side. The inner sleeves include some reactions triggered in the national printed press at that time. Are we lucky that it was before the social media took over?

Highlights of the release:

"RENDEZ-VOUS IN MÜNCHEN", for the first time on vinyl!

"At the ESC we performed Rendez-Vous, a 'minimalistic synth-pop song', accompanied by the Dieter Reith Orchestra, directed by Freddy Sunder, on a backing track with synthesizers and drum machines. Apart from the Eurovision broadcast on 23 April 1983, this (mono!) recording was never released before. We've put it on this compilation, together with 4 other alternative versions of the original song."

CARDIOCLEPTOMANIE, MANI MEME

"Cardiocleptomanie was part of the compilation 'The Hidden Tapes' by Minimal Wave in 2011. It was also the title of a personal compilation of our songs by Veronica Vasicka of Minimal Wave (sold out vinyl). It became our N°1 digital track (thank you Lieven De Ridder)."

"On our mini-LP Des Tailles (Parsley, 1982) we covered Mani Meme, an unreleased song by DE NOTA. To our happy surprise, the song was chosen by the GUCCI Epilogue collection 2020 for their campaign video. It boosted our audience internationally."

Forming at a Bristol club night in 2019 with a collective
appreciation for all things shoegaze, DAMEFRISØR bring bags
of driving rhythms and swirling guitars. They are Kazhi Jahfar
(vocals), Nyle Dowd (drums), Garin Curtis (guitar), Jamie Brown
(guitar) and Sam Nobbs (synth).
 Taking the typical band route, they spent their time in garages
finding a sound, until they outgrew that space and headed to
the studio. With only a handful of shows under their belts the
band enlisted Bristol producer Dom Mitchsion (Spectres, LICE,
Heavy Lungs) to record their first singles ‘Huile’ plus ‘And You
Know’.
 Taking influence from their admiration for Kevin Shield’s wall-ofsound and the dark undertones of post-punk, ‘Huile’ gave an
indication of what was to come from the band. Following a few
months later with ‘And You Know’, which gained plaudits from
So Young Magazine, DIY, Hard of Hearing and more. The track
became a key part of the energetic, captivating live set; one that
would see them invited to perform with the likes of Talk Show,
ALASKALASKA and Bull.
 Just as the band were gaining the momentum, fans and praise,
the world came to a grinding halt. Cancelled shows and
postponed studio time allowed the band to take a step back and
look for a fresh direction. With the addition of a synth in the mix
the band took on a more progressive sound, experimenting
more with their tones and techniques.
 In February the band finally got back to the basement studio of
The Louisiana with producer Will Carkeet (Robbie & Mona, Pet
Shimmers) to record their new singles. They are now proud to
present their debut 7” single, ‘Do You Think I’m Special?’,
released via Permanent Creeps Records.
 “The track is beautifully textured, drenched in trembling reverb
but basking in a bright, almost optimistic tone - as if finding a
sense of finality in the cacophonous noise washing over them.”
- So Young Magazine

„Canê“ heißt das vierte Studioalbum von Rapperin Ebow, ein kurdisches Wort für „Liebling“, oder auch
„Seele“. Mit ihrem neuen Album geht Ebow nicht nur back to the roots, representing München-Giesing
und Free Kurdistan – sie geht den widersprüchlichen Sehnsüchten auf den Grund, die unsere Zeit in sich
birgt. Schnelle Autos und politischer Kampf. Schüchterne Flirts und die ewige Suche nach Trouble. Prada
Bags und Protest. Ebow muss sich kein Alter Ego zulegen, um Ambivalenzen zu verbergen, sie hält sie aus.
Die Rapperin muss sich nicht ausgeben für etwas, das sie nicht. Ebow ist beides: Widerständig und hyped.
Straße und Softie. Hochpoetisch und not giving a fuck. Oder um es mit dem Opener-Track „Dersim62“
zu sagen: „Mein größter Flex ist, dass ich ich selbst bin“.
Die zwölf Songs sind dramaturgisch so gesetzt, dass sie sich zu zwei Grundstimmungen zusammensetzen,
aus denen das Album besteht, wie zweite Seiten eines Mixtapes: Der erste Teil ist härter und schneller, es
geht ums Flexen und um Fun. Der zweite Teil ist reflektierter und behutsamer, dreht sich um Nähe, um
Widerstand und Überzeugungen. Es sind die zwei Seiten, die für die Gegensätzlichkeiten der Seele stehen
auf„Canê“

On the tribute album Songs for Tres, Psychic Ills band members come together to commemorate the late Tres Warren who passed away just as the world turned upside down in March of 2020. Isolated, feeling helpless and lost by the death of her musical soul mate and collaborator of 18 years, bassist Elizabeth Hart found making music to be her only outlet in a time where people were unable to be physically together to mourn. So, she reached out to Adam Amram, Jon Catfish DeLorme and Brent Cordero, the main players in the Ills line up since the release of their last full length album Inner Journey Out (2016), to ask if they would embark on this cathartic journey with her. This was a different kind of production endeavor for Hart driven solely by “the aching need and urgency” to do something to honor her friend.

Hart, Amram, DeLorme and Cordero reunited for the first time five months after losing Warren at Amram’s loft – the same spot where they’d rehearsed countless times before – although this time with a different objective. In an effort to share, support and create, the old friends joined in the painful and healing experience of making this tribute album to cope with their loss. The band members wrote, arranged, and rehearsed for months and the result of their work culminated in a weekend of recording in the southern Catskill mountains at the end of 2020. This isolated and intimate environment was a perfectly serene and fitting location to finalize their story.

Throughout the album, Hart, Amram and DeLorme take turns as the vocal lead on each of the songs while Cordero showcases his finger-picking guitar skills in addition to his piano and organ playing, which he is known for. Along with the core band members, a number of other musicians played on the album, many of whom had collaborated on prior Psychic Ills releases and wanted to be a part of this last collaboration in memory of Warren. Keeping the project in the Ills family, Hart produced the album alongside Iván Diaz Mathé, the long-time Psychic Ills sound engineer.

The album consists of five original tracks and four cover songs. Initially, learning the covers was just a method for the musicians to “break the ice” and play together again for the first time without their band leader. However, those tracks became just as important to include as the originals because of their essential role in the process of coming together to make the album. The cover songs were chosen because of their unique connections to the band’s memories of Warren. Dennis Wilson’s "Rainbows" and Fleetwood Mac’s "Station Man" come from two of Warren’s favorite albums, Pacific Ocean Blue and Kiln House. The band also recorded Blaze Foley’s "Clay Pigeons" and Powell St. John’s "Right Track Now." The idea for the latter was suggested by Amram. Warren once sent him a clip of Roky Erikson singing a moving rendition of that song in the film Demon Angel and it had stuck with him ever since.

Hart wrote "I’ll Walk With You" on the day of Warrens’ passing, at the time not knowing what it meant. When she got the call with the heartbreaking news, it became clear to her what the song was about. Relying on a gently lilting string arrangement to set the tone, this duet features Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval alongside Hart. Sandoval previously collaborated with Psychic Ills accompanying Warren on "I Don’t Mind" (2016). The ideas for "Home" and "Walk Around," two other songs on the album by Hart, started simply with an acoustic guitar and lyrics, a hopeful exercise to connect with her lost friend. Brent Cordero’s instrumental "Whole Lotta Piece of Mind" is nothing short of a transcendental experience. By running his pedal steel through a Leslie speaker, Jon Catfish DeLorme crafts the unique tone showcased on Wonderful Feeling, a moving example of studio experimentation combined with old school techniques. DeLorme describes it as “an attempt to highlight the musical experience I shared with Tres both sonically and thematically. What resulted is the unguarded exaltation I feel lucky to have shared with my fellow bandmates.” Adam Amram’s “Into the Sea” was composed spontaneously the week Warren passed. The melodic tune has a hopeful lightness and Amram describes it simply as “a song to my brother”. Their connection shines through.

In fact, the entire album is one that radiates the layers of friendship, love and music that will forever exist between this family of musicians. As the band themselves state: “This album was made out of love and a commitment to honor our dear friend and bandmate.” A portion of the proceeds from the album will be donated to RAICES, a charity who aids children who have been displaced at the Texas/Mexico border.

Octahedron Each of the Mars Volta albums that preceded Octahedron had pushed the envelope further, their music growing larger, more intense, more complex.

Each had delivered an implied, unspoken challenge to its makers within milliseconds of its final notes: “top this”. And with each subsequent album, Omar and Cedric had turned their creative dials up one more notch, a further step past “eleven”.

With the addition of new drummer Thomas Pridgen, and their ranks swollen by extra guitarists, more percussion and a sax-player, the intensity of The Mars Volta’s sound had increased. Octahedron, however, would follow The Bedlam In Goliath’s brilliant excesses with a sideways step few were expecting, even though the group had telegraphed their intentions to take this new direction for years.

“This one didn’t have multi-layered sub-texts or any sinister spirits,” says Omar, referencing predecessor Goliath’s traumatic birth. “Octahedron was like an expression of will into reality. Like, ‘This one will be easy, this one will be fun’. Everything had a different process.” “Octahedron was a rebellion,” adds Cedric. “Us saying, ‘This isn’t like anything we’ve done before. This is our “pop” album.’ We’d always promised we’d do a ‘pop’ album.’ This was it.”

The instrumental Bruges based trio VENTILATEUR released a promising self-titled EP in 2019. Slowly, plans were forged to record a first full album. The corona pandemic caused those plans to be pushed back, but it provided more time and focus for the music to grow. In April 2021, they finally "went into the studio" to record their debut album. The choice was made not to crawl into a classical studio, but to loft for a week in a country house in a small town in Zeeuws Vlaanderen: Hoofdplaat. It became the title of their first full album.
For this record the band went in search of the most unadulterated and pure form of themselves. The result is minimalistic and stylized compositions that radiate inner peace. Simple but catchy guitar lines, refined bass parts and purified drum grooves are the main ingredients of this cinematic and melancholic album.
Their infectious blend of jazz, post-rock and instrumental soul produces a unique and compelling sound reminiscent of groups like Khruangbin and closer to home Dans Dans.
The album is recorded and produced by Jeff Claeys, who has produced albums by Millionaire, The Van Jets, Isolde Lasoen and others, and who will also produce the new record by Zwangere Guy.

SPOOK - Dutch for GHOST - is a brand new trio by Simon Segers (De Beren Gieren, Black Flower) on drums, Nicolas Rombouts (Ottla, Dez Mona) on double bass and Filip Wauters (Het Zesde Metaal, BackBack) on pedal steel and guitar.

What started in the summer of 2019 as a one-off meeting has now grown into a fully-fledged collective that breaks the boundaries between improv and composition with intense interplay and sparse themes. The prominent presence of the pedal steel gives SPOOK an allure of "free country" or "post western". Add some pulsating progrock rhythms and the free spirit and virtuosity of jazz and you capture the unique sound of SPOOK.

Jesus and Mary Chain, Shop Assistants, Black Tambourine, Sarah Records, My Bloody Valentine. Star Party began in March 2020 as a Seattle living room project between Carolyn Brennan and Ian Corrigan (Gen Pop, Vexx) - both sharing a love of high energy rock n roll music. The idea to start a band percolated during trips to the high deserts of eastern Washington to pick sage and see the sun as a brief reprieve from the misty and grey Pacific Northwestern Spring. A few months later, Star Party released Demo 2020 on Feel It Records, featuring two originals and covers of The Shop Assistants' "Something to Do" and the classic "All I Really Wanna Do" (in the vein of Cher's version). Over the course of 2021, Star Party wrote and recorded their debut LP, Meadow Flower, wherever and whenever they could. Employing like-minded Feel It label mate Caufield Schnug of Sweeping Promises (who also moonlights as one part of Melody Men Mastering) to mix and master the album, Meadow Flower follows a direct line from where Demo 2020 left off. Brennan's soft and clearly American vocals float over waves of feedback and drum machine racket like a delicate mist sitting just above a mountain lake. Melodies bob and weave inside an omnipresent static that fills in every nook and cranny of the recording. Drawing from a quiver of influences such as Black Tambourine, Confuse (JP), The Count Five, and of course The Shop Assistants (RIP Alex Taylor), Star Party's debut album seamlessly meshes together noise, melody, and harmony

Scott Walker, PJ Harvey, Coil, Matmos, Autechre & Pan Daijing. 180g LP with inner, 12”x24”poster + DL card. The Debut Full-Length By Montréal Producer Kee Avil, The Project Led By Avant/Improv Guitarist Vicky Mettler, Also Known As A Member Of Sam Shalabi’s Land Of Kush And As Co-Founder Of Concrete Sound Montréal. Advance Single “See, My Shadow” Premiered By Mary Ann Hobbs On BBC6 And Picked Up By Music & Riots, Backseat Mafia, Aural Aggravation, Etc In Dec 2021. Kee Avil, a project led by Montréal producer and guitarist Vicky Mettler: a singular expression of fractured dream logic concretized in chiselled postpunk guitar, sinuous low-end electronics, a panoply of organic and digital samples creating alternately twitchy and propulsive rhythm, and the anxious intimacy of her finely wrought lyricism and vocals. Bound by an outstanding production sensibility throughout, Crease unfolds one oblique earworm hook after another, with compositional innovation anchored to an inscrutable and compelling voice across 10 songs of tremendous and imaginative sonic detail. Kee Avil brings a contemporary electroacoustic sensibility to bear on traditions and conventions of pop, postpunk, electronic and sound-art songwriting, where touchstones range from Scott Walker and Coil to Fiona Apple, (early) PJ Harvey and (later) Juana Molina to Eartheater, Pan Daijing and Smerz; or Grouper produced by Autechre. Her unconventional alloys also conjure the guitar-inflected deconstructions of Gastr del Sol and the crystalline micro-worlds of Bjork, Matmos and Rashad Becker. Crease is one of those debut records that excites a wide range of peerless references precisely because it's so compelling in its own idiosyncratic authority, originality and execution. Each song on Crease is its own sculpture, meticulously assembled to resemble disassembly: “each of these worlds was built without consideration for the other; it felt impossible to me, once I would enter the atmosphere of a song, to try to start another until that idea was finished.” The album nonetheless unfolds in impressive holistic integration through a palette of textures and techniques deployed in recurring but continually refracted ways. Alongside her superb austere guitar work stitched into electro-industrial, dark-ambient and minimal-techno soundworlds, it’s her voice and lyrics confidential, hermetic, implacable that provide the galvanizing, always captivating through-line. Her more compositional, exacting, (de)constructed musical identity was first unveiled with the self-titled Kee Avil EP (Black Bough Records) and further honed by pre-pandemic tours sharing stages with Pere Ubu, Marc Ribot and Bill Orcut among others. Woodshedding since then, Crease presents a quantum leap in Kee Avil's exploration of studio-based experimentation, arrangement and production, signaling the arrival of a brilliantly genre-melding, refined and assiduous new voice in avant-garde songcraft.

Spaceship is Mark S. Williamson, a musician, sound artist and educator based in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. His work is often made in response to his environment, working on location, combining field recordings with electronic and acoustic instrumentation, usually recorded outside, amid the landscape and weather. Mark has recorded for wiaiwya, Apollolaan, the Dark Outside and his own Forged River Recordings. His work has been reviewed by The Wire, Electronic Sound, Shindig and The Quietus and he was recently one of the fourteen artists featured in Electronic Sound Magazine’s ‘field recording special’. His collaboration with Luke Turner on series of readings from Luke’s book ‘Out of the Woods’ has seen performances at Cecil Sharp House, Port Eliot Festival, The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, Krankenhaus Festival and the Horse Hospital and he recently collaborated with the artist Michael Powell on his Calderfolk project. A direct sequel to 2019’s Outcrops (also on wiaiwya), Ravines moves its focus from the uplands above Todmorden to the narrow, steep sided ravines, known as cloughs, that contain the streams that flow down the valley sides to feed the River Calder. These valleys, formed over hundreds, if not thousands of years can be peaceful sanctuaries, their stepped pools and waterfalls a shelter from the windswept moors. In time of heavy rainfall though, they become the conduits for the rapidly descending overland flows which reach the Calder and, in extreme circumstances, cause the floods which remain a part of valley life. These cloughs also saw the beginnings of industry in the area. Colden Clough and Jumble Hole Clough contain the ruin of small water fed mills which would evolve into the much larger steam powered facilities in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge. Mostly recorded in the field using portable equipment, these pieces are intended to reflect all three of these aspects; the peace, the violence and the beginnings of humankind’s ultimate separation from the landscape brought on by the industrial revolution. The sleeve is by Maxim Peter Griffin, an artist, illustrator and writer based in Lincolnshire. A fine art graduate and former stonemason, over the past few years he has been building a body of work that echo his experiences on foot between the North Sea and the hills. "...a luminous soundtrack to the passage of geological time." Shindig // "Williamson is building desire tunnels, churning through the layers of rock and soil to find his conclusions." The Wire // "These rumbling synth drifts and ominous drones transport you to entirely different places-like being cast adrift in a cosmic void" Electronic Sound // "...the droning synthesizer waves conjure up something spectral and eerie, stretching out like the wide horizon..." The Quietus // "Beautiful." Hannah Peel

Nearly 24 years ago, on 7th July 1998, the first Hefner LP was released, it garnered some great reviews, ensured the band were to become one of Peel’s favourites (they had 5 entries in 1999’s festive 50!), and cemented their reputation as Britain's largest small band. NME - “truly independent, unassuming and painfully honest: the sound of thin, white indie dukes in spectacles.” Melody Maker - “heart-skeweringly astute” combination of “grimly sweet lyrics and delicate, tentative tunes.” Time Out - “awe-inspiring in their naked honesty” More recently, the album was number 25 in Pitchfork’s 50 greatest Britpop albums, above A Northern Soul (Verve), Fuzzy Logic (Super Furry Animals), Vauxhall and I (Morrissey) and Tellin’ Stories (the Charlatans) Breaking God’s Heart now gets the essential 20th anniversary vinyl re-issue, accompanied by some shows where Hefner frontman, Darren Hayman, will play the album in full Here’s what Darren has to say about the record now: Breaking God's Heart is an awkward, over confident start to my career. I have yet to get to grips with it again properly in preparation for these anniversary shows. It's so far away in my past that I have some difficulty in relating to the person who made it. Mostly when I hear it I'm just amazed at the confidence, and possibly arrogance, I had then. I insisted on mostly first takes being used, vocals being recorded live in the room with the instruments, a ban on any reverbs or ambience being used. It was like I was trying to sabotage my career at the first hurdle. Many of those decisions were based on half understood, interviews with my idols from the American Lo-Fi scene but I really didn't know what I was doing. It does make a bizarre and caustic record though, and I know there are plenty of people who think this is my best work and I never got back to the blunt energy of these recordings. I do see their point. Quotes - Hefner's is a bedsit world of spindly guitar and towering passions; of skewwhiff ideals and surprisingly smooth melodic surges; of awkward outbursts and slow-burning lo-fi for lovers… 'Breaking God's Heart' is all about sparkling melodies, twinkly-eyed poetry, intimate confessions, a thrillion knowing references to sex, soul and sadness and the sort of chipper attitude that says: 'This is a record you will relish for years to come'. So save yourself time, start treasuring it now. 8/10 NME // Hefner are running on the same rock-not-rock fuel as early Violent Femmes or The Modern Lovers, and like those groups are expert at building emotionally charged arrangements by adding or subtracting at precisely the right time. 8/10 Drowned In Sound

Hefner's second album 'The Fidelity Wars' was the album that won them their critical acclaim and their cult audience. 'Hymn for the Alcohol' and 'Hymn for the Cigarettes' made it to numbers 2 and 3 in John Peel's Festive 50 in 1999, and the album itself was number 1 in the indie charts on it first release. it has not been available on vinyl for close to two decades. "It's always about the sex isn't it with Hefner? You never hear them doing songs about drag racing or putting up shelves or anything like that " John Peel // "The Fidelity Wars’ is a treasure and comfort for anyone who’s set out on the bumpy road to love, and gotten distracted by the scenery along the way." NME // "On Hefner's second album, the aptly- titled Fidelity Wars, Hayman and Co. run down the list of romantic entanglements. From the sad- sack self- pitying of "A Hymn to the Alcohol" to the brazen lust of "May God Protect Your Home;" from the sincere "why'd she leave me" lament of "We Were Meant to Be" to the unrepentant tale of cheating detailed in "Fat Kelly's Teeth," pretty much every angle on relationships is explored, sometimes in excruciating detail" Pitchfork …

Transparent frosted clear vinyl, no downlode code. Their third album 'WILDLIFE. The Eggs returned with an album that encapsulates the isolation of extensive touring and brief time back in their home town Lancaster. The two piece raucous noise pop duo combine their gritty British northern surreal lyrics with thunderous guitars and crashing drums on this their third self-recorded gem. Working alongside Gruff Rhys who produced Allergies and Cornershop's Tjinder Singh who has remixed Food for a special digital download, Wildlife is yet another wonderful and unique album from a band who continue to cement their reputation as one of the most genuinely exciting and essential bands around today. Already lead track Allergies, the first single taken from Wildlife, released on the Too Pure Singles Club, has won the BBC 6 Music Rebel Playlist - with 82% of the public vote and declared winner of Steve Lamacq's 6 Music Round Table as well as Artrocker's single of the month. For The Lovely Eggs being in a band is a way of life. True to this, they live the way they play. Fiercely, constantly in search of the good times. With this their third album in three years The Lovely Eggs explore further into their own world and the bizarreness of reality and invite you to come inside to join the party, strange as it is!

Together, Janko Nilovic and The Soul Surfers have built Maze Of Sounds, a musical labyrinth paved by the master's keyboards where the soul-funk groove of the fiery Russians is the listener's thread, his point of reference in this maze of atmospheres and emotions, at once cinematic, nostalgic, dancing, dreamlike and contemplative.
This exclusive 7inch presents two tittles ,"Sweet Path" taken from the LP Maze Of Sounds and an alternate take of the title "Maze Of Sounds".

A guitarist, a composer, a sought-after musical enabler and sideman? Of course, he's all of those things and more, but none of those descriptions really do the seven-time Juno Award-winning musician justice.

Like all of Steve's albums, 'Gone, Long Gone' features brilliant instrumental performances from some of the finest players in roots music. Jeremy Holmes holds everything together on bass with drumming split between Gary Craig and Jay Bellerose (both drummers play together on 'Six Skeletons'), while Kevin McKendree and Chris Gestrin laid down the piano, organ and other keyboards.
Keri Latimer joins in on vocals on two songs, and Steve's old 'Birds of Chicago' band- mate, Allison Russell joined in to sing on a few as did Steve's daughter Casey Dawson. John Prine alumnus Fats Kaplin also dropped in to add some sweet fiddle and mandolin.
'Gone, Long Gone' is just the first of three new albums that Steve created during the lockdown. The next two will come to light over three month intervals throughout 2022. Be on the lookout for a moody, psychedelic pedal steel excursion coming up next!

New West Records is proud to present the reissue of two classic Antone's Records blues titles.

These two titles have been remastered for vinyl. Each LP is displayed in a beautiful, one of a kind package (leather texture, die- cut, embossed logo) and pressed onto 180- gram vinyl that is manufactured in the USA. These limited edition pressings are now available on color vinyl for the first time. Pressed on Limited Edition 180 gram Purple Color Vinyl.

With the world in chaos, exhilarating new music has become more
important than ever before.

As a re-sult, the emergence of French tech-metal mavericks Stengah could hardly be better timed. One of the most exciting new bands on the planet, the French quintet have spent the last few years in a state of per-petual evolution, armed with some of the most visceral and forward- thinking riffs and refrains in recent memory. Now, the band are ready to introduce themselves to the world. Founded by drummer Eliott Williame in 2013, Stengah have the sound, the smarts and the
ambition to push heavy music ever further into the future. After years of steady evolution and meticulous attention to detail, the band – completed by bassist Benoit Creteur, lead guitarist Maxime Delassus, rhythm guitarist Alex Orta and powerhouse frontman Nicolas Queste - have honed their sound to a state of cutting- edge perfection, as showcased on their formidable, forthcoming debut album SOMA SEMA."The music is about (re)connecting with yourself," says Eliott.
"It's about people, their fears, their faiths and their philosophies. How sometimes those things can guide them, and how sometimes they can blind them. It asks, with no judgement, about how odd and how strange the social and emotional behaviors of human beings are. It's all about the power to believe, in creativity, and in consciousness. Our music is technical but fun to play," adds Eliott. "People often become surprisingly transfixed by our energy, espe-cially when they haven't
seen us before. We love being on stage, we are truly passionate and that is what you see and feel during our live performances, from the first to the last song."

The history of metal is littered with the burnt-out shells of bands that lacked the vision and the vivacity to make things happen. For Stengah, the sheer power and fury of their music drives them forward. Mean- while, the sheer quality and ingenuity of Soma/ Sema looks certain to propel the band swiftly up the heavy music ladder and into the spotlight. Newly signed to Mascot Label Group, they're just getting start-ed and the sky's the limit!

Born from ten-hour jam sessions in peeling Brighton bedsits, the
technical parameters of a bootstrap recording process and the osmotic, multi-genre influence of internet music archives, quintet Ebi Soda have been steady-cultivating a unique sound amidst the exploding UK jazz scene.

Despite their steep rise – the Brighton outfit have preserved as much as possible of their unique recording process, originating from their very first sessions. With just a two- track recorder around, the band would lay down whole takes, one instrument at a time, then immediately transform the overdub, digitally reshaping the sound with the same mischievous, adderall energy as the musical performance.‘Honk If You’re Sad’, their sophomore full-length album, stays true to these foundations, while bringing more ambitious experimentation, technical mastery and a stellar lineup of guest players to the studio including Yazz Ahmed, Deji Ijishakin and Dan Gray.In typical Ebi style, while recalling jazz pioneers in playing style, ‘Honk If You’re Sad’ draws from a vast neural network of influences:
the Ebi Brain has been marinating in a digital soup of trap, drill, dub, post-punk and no wave to name but a few. The result is a mercurial record that beams in psychedelia, dissonance, serene ambient passages, tough, neck-snapping beats and lush textures, all underscored by the intersection of jazz, hip hop and electronic music.

The Kenya born, Berlin based percussionist, vocalist, DJ, producer and "musical witchdoctor" Alai K releases his red hot debut album'Kila Mara', via On the Corner Records. Sonically speaking, this vivacious collection of frenetic, polyrhythmic and percussive workouts link the spirit of Jeff Mills, DJ Rush, DJ Bone and K Handwith beats from The Bajuni Islands, Mozambique, Malawi and the maritime Swahili coastline north of Mombasa. On moving to Berlin, Alai went raving regularly and became enamoured with underground dance music culture. "I love techno and believe that African drums influenced the percussion and programming: lt'scoming from the same place; with both you get extended periods with no chorus or verse, just occasional chanted or chopped vocals. In Africa people play drums and dance for hours, which is the same experience as western electronic music", says Alai.

New pressing on Orange Vinyl

Morcheeba have released 8 albums that have sold in excess of 10 million records in their career. 'Blaze Away', their positivity- packed ninth album, marks both a fresh start in its organic approach and a return to the joyous genre-mashing of their early days, with featured guests Roots Manuva and Benjamin Biolay. There was no template for its ten, extraordinary, future-facing songs, no self-imposed limits on style, no themes to be adhered to or rules in place to break.

UK trip-hop pioneers who have sold in excess of 10 million albums worldwide. First new album in over fve years with fantastic features and collaborations including Roots Manuva, Benjamin Biolay & Kurt Wagner.Global touring in 2022.

Dresden based scientist, producer and weightlifter DJ Pirna returns with some brand new Funk. On his "Prehistoric Passion" LP he displays lots of lovin, 140bpm soul, Akai S900 drums, some top notch rappin´, funk guitars and once again unpredictable arrangements. Inspired by 8Ball & MJG, protoscience and dance music from the 313; this one covers lots of ground in real style.

Nate Scheible's "work of gentle genius" – Fairfax – is arriving on vinyl & all digital services in February 2022. Remastered by Lawrence English and featuring brand new artwork, this edition uncovers a completely new side of the "dreamy and dramatic, meditative and somber" album by the American artist. ~~~

"Few albums have stuck with me like Nate Scheible's Fairfax. In fact, I feel lucky to have had my copy of the original tape to drop into over several years, some heartbreaks, a few streaks of loneliness; when I've not felt terribly well, or couldn't face reflecting for fear of noticing personal decay.

With fresh treatment from mastering maestro, Lawrence English, this new version has brought out fresh new colours in Scheible's elegant composition. The moments of icy isolation are sharper, while the embrace of the album's finale is warmer and heartier than ever. Scheible's found polaroids on the front of the package also fit so aptly that they barely even feel new. The album's allure and message of craving is more powerful than ever.

To anybody who hears this album, she's a great heroine of literature, the voice of Fairfax. Her frank admissions of longing and weakness are infectious cries of hope. She's a powerful woman, unashamed, the innermost voice of reason, grasping the world together selflessly. I wanted to tell her about the times when things weren't so good. I want to tell her now too, just how well things can turn out.

Scheible's beds of oozing and luscious melodies, decaying on reels or tape, flinging out from plucked bass strings, or rising from a struck vibraphone, are a truly loving soundtrack to this mysterious voice found on a tape that came into the artist's possession. The audio letters reveal the woman's story of painful hope and self-gifted redemption, while the click of the saxophone and moan of Scheible's wobbly piano snippets, they sing her – no ~our~ – mood right back to us. Fairfax reminds us that, like the protagonist, we're all gonna do something, ~someday~."
– Tristan Bath

Featuring: Deena Abdelwahed, Rabih Beaini, Fari Bradley, Dieb 13, DJ Sniff, Gavsborg (Equiknoxx), Electric Indigo, Donzilla Lion (Nyege Nyege), Marina Rosenfeld, Microhm, Muqata’a, Bob Ostertag, Rrose

Project presentation:

Sampler / Sampled is an album made of two interdependent parts rather than a double-album.

The first part of the project, Sampler, is a trumpet solo album that catalogues the unique sounds and extended techniques that Mazen Kerbaj developed for the instrument in the past 25 years; it consists of 318 pieces ranging from less than a second to forty seconds each, and presenting different sonic materials. This catalogue of sounds works on various levels: first and foremost, it is a trumpet solo that could be played in its original order, or in random mode to create different pieces of music. But it is also a collection of samples that could be used for various applications (ringtones, phone sound effects, cinema…) and, of course, to create new pieces of music based on sampling.

The second part of the project is the composition Sampled for a musician working with loops and/or samples. The composition has one instruction: create a piece of music using solely tracks from Sampler as your sound source (with the possibility to use all kind of effects or treatment). Each interpreter/musician becomes thus a co-composer who appropriates the piece and makes it their own. In this regard, the musicians that were commissioned to play Sampled were chosen from different geographical origins and musical genres to create highly different and personal pieces of music.

One important output of this project is putting in practice the overused idea of music as a universal language. This idea is very present in “free improvised music” where musicians from different origins can meet for the first time and make music together without the need to adapt to different musical traditions. But here, the collective part of creating music in real time is not involved. It is rather the contrary: it starts with one middle-eastern musician creating a new language/vocabulary for his western instrument, to be later used by other musicians from around the globe who will appropriate this vocabulary and use it with their own language/grammar.
The final output of this double faceted album that was recorded during the Covid lockdown proved to be a very efficient new way to collaborate from a distance in times of world isolation, and ultimately put in practice the universality of music by breaking the boundaries of genres that are the most difficult to break.

UK techno legend Mark Broom returns to Rekids ahead of new album with ‘100% Juice Album Sampler’.

Following the acclaimed ‘Funfzig LP’ on Rekids in 2021 as well as his ‘Mutated Battle Breaks’ series on the techno focussed sub-label Rekids Special Projects, UK stalwart Mark Broom returns to Radio Slave’s Rekids with ‘100% Juice Album Sampler’, a four-track taster for his next album titled ‘100% Juice’, scheduled to be released in April.

Leading the A-side is ‘100% Juice (Sampler Mix)’, a jacked-up take on the album’s title track, with chunky kicks, off-kilter stabs, and crunching claps kickstarting the record. ‘Contigo’ follows, with trippy synths providing a dose of silliness alongside razor-sharp drums. On the flip, ‘Nod To The D’ pays homage to classic Detroit sounds, as light arpeggios and bright synths weave their way through silky pads before closer.

‘Spiked’ sees a funk-laden groove take charge as unruly leads flutter atop the jacking groove.
Releasing on labels such as Rekids, M-Plant, and Blueprint, the wildly prolific Broom has consistently been at the forefront of the techno scene for decades with his gritty, groove-based output while, away from the dancefloor, his The Fear Ratio project with James Ruskin continues to win critical acclaim.