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Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five albums of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.”

Across decades of activity Cinder’s body of work has forever followed its own elusive muse but nowhere is this restless spirit more apparent and ambitious than the 4th Cindytalk LP, Wappinschaw. Conceived as “a call to arms” inspired by Scotland and its struggle for independence, the title refers to an archaic Scottish battle inspection during which clan chieftains surveyed their group's weapons to ensure they were combat ready. A mindset of reflective preparation threads throughout the record, manifested in forms both naked and noisy, ancient and anguished.

Opening with an aching solo vocal rendition of the British folk standard “The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face),” the album then surges into the Cindytalk classic, “A Song Of Changes,” sparkling and spiraling in strange waves of sorrow and joy. From there the mood fragments, tracing asymmetrical paths of feverish dirge, pensive spirituals, noir abstraction, spoken word (landmark Glaswegian writer Alasdair Gray guests on “Wheesht”), bagpipe drone, and apocalyptic post-punk. Given its aggressive eclecticism, it's not surprising that Cinder describes the creation of Wappinschaw as a “precarious” process, composed from “scraps” with abruptly shifting personnel – a situation only compounded by the impending dissolution of their label at the time, Midnight Music.

Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five albums of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.”

Across decades of activity Cinder’s body of work has forever followed its own elusive muse but nowhere is this restless spirit more apparent and ambitious than the 4th Cindytalk LP, Wappinschaw. Conceived as “a call to arms” inspired by Scotland and its struggle for independence, the title refers to an archaic Scottish battle inspection during which clan chieftains surveyed their group's weapons to ensure they were combat ready. A mindset of reflective preparation threads throughout the record, manifested in forms both naked and noisy, ancient and anguished.

Opening with an aching solo vocal rendition of the British folk standard “The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face),” the album then surges into the Cindytalk classic, “A Song Of Changes,” sparkling and spiraling in strange waves of sorrow and joy. From there the mood fragments, tracing asymmetrical paths of feverish dirge, pensive spirituals, noir abstraction, spoken word (landmark Glaswegian writer Alasdair Gray guests on “Wheesht”), bagpipe drone, and apocalyptic post-punk. Given its aggressive eclecticism, it's not surprising that Cinder describes the creation of Wappinschaw as a “precarious” process, composed from “scraps” with abruptly shifting personnel – a situation only compounded by the impending dissolution of their label at the time, Midnight Music.

Lunar Tredd – Fimber Bravo’s first album on Moshi Moshi since the much acclaimed Con-Fusion – tells the tale. The highlife fusion of You Can’t Control Me resonates in the wake of the global Black Lives Matters protests. There is fire in these impactful clarion calls to resist oppression, recognise strength in resilience and fight against the corruption of power.

Bravo’s been a constant collaborative force - as his time as leader of 20th Century Steel Band, as musical director of Steel ‘n’ Skin, and appearances with everyone from Sun Ra Arkestra to Hot Chip, shows. Lunar Tredd reflects the influence of the music handed down to him by “ancestors” . Helped by an enviable cast of friends and collaborators, Fimber has shifted those touchstones to create something that sounds resolutely like the here and now.

Those friends that appear on Lunar Tredd, include Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and The Horrors’ Tom Furse; The Invisible drummer Leo Taylor and Senegalese percussionist, Mamadou Sarr dropping in on rhythm duties, while there are also appearances from Susumu Mukai aka Zongamin, the brilliant Kora player Kadialy Kouyate, vocalist Cottie Williams, Vanishing Twin’s Catherine Lucas, and production from Lapo Frost and Ghostpoet producer Shuta Shinoda. Some, like Zongamin and Williams go way back with Fimber, other connections are newer, but all have quickly become part of the London-based musician’s musical family.

Indeed, Fimber never loses sight of where he’s come from on LUNAR TREDD - even as he looks to where he might go next. As a musician, he’s still finding new creative peaks nearly 50 years after he began.

»Dog Mountain« is the second release by the Zurich-based producer and composer Laurin Huber on Hallow Ground. After last year’s »Juncture« saw the Edipo Re co-founder work mostly with synthesizers and programmed rhythms, the four tracks are much more restrained, drawing on tape loops and feedback, recordings of acoustic guitar and synthesizers such as the Korg MS-10 as well as field recordings that relate to the overarching topic that informed the making of the record. While »Juncture« had previously aimed at deconstructing the binaries and dualities that shape our lives and thinking, »Dog Mountain« is dedicated to geographical divisions that result from political processes and social constructions. »›Here‹ means one nation, ›there‹ another,« writes Huber in a literary piece that accompanies the record. »Being in sound, such a separation seems odd.«

While treating the metaphor of the border as a »membrane, registering and translating the vibrations of its surroundings« and thus as something that is constantly (re-)defined, maintained and defended however, the artist also takes into consideration that »one cannot escape one’s standpoint,« as he puts it. The music on »Dog Mountain« may transcend and overcome certain borders, but it does not deny the realities that they impose on each and every one of us – whether in our political lives or in the realm of sound. This is mirrored in Huber’s engaging in the structural and sonic interplay of repetition and difference. Working with slowly evolving and modulating elements that are exposed to slight shifts, »Dog Mountain« puts a focus on the interaction between small elements that together form a bigger whole which is marked by constant evolution and change.

Opener »Raja« (»border« in Northern Sami and Finnish) starts off with a two-note melody played on an out-of-tune guitar. Different field recordings and synthesizer sounds drop in and out of the mix until the dynamic shifts and Huber starts playing more notes on his instrument, thus increasing the tension. It’s a meditation on minimalism, but also a piece that mediates between notions of what constitutes the difference between noise and music or referentiality and abstraction in sound. After »Nickel« (named after a Russian monotown near the border to Norway) dedicates itself to explore the friction between hissing white noise and melancholic tape loops, »A Town Is Not a Town« (a phrase taken from the documentary »Kiruna – Rymdvägen«) structurally mirrors the experiment of »Raja« with very different sonic means.

Closing the record, »Storskog-Borisoglebsk« (the title refers to the northernmost land border between Schengen-Europe and Russia) is the longest and most challenging piece, working with both long-form drones and musique concrète elements. It proposes a synthesis of the opposites that are explored patiently and with much attention to detail throughout this record.

Singer, guitarist, flautist (and practitioner of the double tin whistle), John is
also a member of celebrated traditional group Skipper’s Alley and is joined
here by bandmate Ultan O’Brien (also of Slow Moving Clouds).
Also contributing to the record are singer Consuelo Breschi of the duo Varo,
sean n s singer Saileog N Ceannabh in, Phil Christie (O Emperor / The Bonk) on
keyboards, and drummer & composer Ross Chaney who created many of the
Tascam tape-loop drones that bind the album together.
The record was produced, engineered and mixed by Brendan Jenkinson (Villagers / Cloud Castle Lake) who also joins in on a host of instruments for the record. It was recorded and mixed at Oxford Lane and Sonic Studios, Dublin. The
material John Francis Flynn has chosen to record includes songs learned from
recordings of Shirley Collins, Frank Harte and settled Traveller Paddy Quilligan,
two songs written by activist and folk revivalist Ewan MacColl, and a West Indies halyard shanty published by “Last Working Shantyman” Stan Hugill, alongside in-studio improvisations and tunes picked up by John along the way

‘Medieval Femme’, Fatima Al Qadiri’s new ten track suite inspired by the classical poems of Arab women, invokes a daydream through the metaphor of an Islamic garden, at the border between depression and desire, where the present temporarily dissolves, leaving only past and future. Mixing neon drones and the faint outlines of Arabesque melody, ‘Medieval Femme’ reveals a fully-realised, dreamlike setting, shaded with colour and subtle friction. Conveying a thematic state of melancholic longing, Fatima seeks to transport the listener to a place of reverie and desolation, to question the line between two seemingly opposite states and rejoice in celestial sorrow. ‘Medieval Femme’ takes instrumentation from music of the Middle Ages, recast in a futuristic setting; soft-synth lutes, organs and pipes reverberate in space while gauzy pulses ripple in response. Fatima's vocals of repeated, mantra-like phrases are sometimes pitched and altered, drawing out increasingly intense peaks, angelic choruses and yearning incantations. On ‘Tasakuba’, Kaltham Jassim’s recitation of a couplet from the 7th century poet Al-Khansa', the sorrow of her words are given a turbulent, hallucinatory setting, before the album resolves on the final song, the limpid, airy ‘Zandaq’.

There’s liberation on the dance floor in the songs of Matthew Urango – glimpses of revolution that glimmer beneath the disco ball. “I want my music to bring people together,” says the Californian pop innovator, best known as Cola Boyy. “Because standing together is our best chance at fighting this shit show.” The shit show in question is a broken, brutal system the acclaimed multi-instrumentalist has witnessed up-close. Urango was born with spina bifida and scoliosis in Oxnard, California: a town in which almost 30,000 are estimated to live in poverty. Prosthetic Boombox, his eagerly awaited debut album, might at first glance seem a joyous confetti-burst of pop eclecticism, engineered to sound like “scanning between stations on a car radio, landing on all these different sounds and styles” as Urango puts it. Dig deeper, though, and you’ll discover a simmering sense of rebellion. “The working class are injured, struggling to pay rent and struggling to put food on the table,” he says. “I want to represent that.” Prosthetic Boombox
achieves that goal in a thrilling flurry of inventive indie, funk and soul: take Urango’s car radio analogy, place it in a time-travelling Delorean with Prince in the passenger seat, and you’re half-way there.

Look no closer than Prosthetic Boombox’s euphoric opener, the Avalanches-assisted ‘Don’t Forget Your Neighbourhood.’ The track – which Urango says mixes “the Beach Boys, French disco, house keys and ragtime piano, kinda like the Cheers soundtrack!” – ends with lyrics urging listeners to “fight for your town with your fist closed, strike it and make it more than just a memory.” It’s a reminder that the working classes need to “turn our fists against our oppressors instead of each other,” he explains. After that emphatic introduction comes a horn-laced funk wig-out titled ‘Mailbox’ – a song that gives Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia a run for its Studio 54-themed money, featuring rising Londoner JGrrey. Elsewhere, ‘Song for the Mister’ ventures into smooth R&B territory, before ‘Roses’ – a collaboration with Myd of Ed Banger fame – offers a bouquet of bustling disco guitars and infinite bisous of Connan Mockasin’s band drops in on the immaculate ‘Go the Mile’. Urango saves his most introspective moment for the album’s starry closer. ‘Kid Born in Space’, a cosmic collaboration with MGMT frontman Andrew VanWyngarden, sees the artist reflect on what he once had to overcome as a disabled person of colour. “I see them looking down on my dreams of being,” he sings tenderly. “I hear them making fun of my voice, but I keep on moving forward, I refuse to live in anyone else’s shadow.” Prosthetic Boombox, on this subject, is more than an album title – it’s a statement of intent.

“The message of my music is that our class is exploited, oppressed and murdered on the daily. That’s not right, and the system that enables that deserves to be wiped off the face of the earth,” he says. “The only way that happens is if we’re united. That’s the point of my music – to relate to people and unite them.” And what unites more than raucous, irresistibly danceable pop? Prosthetic Boombox is a riot of joyous grooves and catchy hooks for good reason. “I want to reach and spread my message to as many people as possible. You can’t do that if you’re some obscure motherfucker, you know?” he laughs. Don’t bet on him being an “obscure motherfucker” for long.

Forged in the cavernous labs of Indianapolis, the XK3 EP by producer D.Strange, dives into the metallic underworld of alienated shadows to create brutal, icy electro. The submerged acid-tinged opener, "Sonic Recoil" ascends with a snarling pathos of trap hats that pierce through the looming fog of the club. "Negative Center" haunts in cunning dexterity and grooves with a jacking pace of brooding momentum. Somewhere in the maze of resonance droplets, cascading hats, and the ominous synth pads, the track "A Black Liquid Filled My Lungs" hypnotizes in its atmospheric acid electro hybrid. Right out of the gate, the self-titled track "XK3" punishes with off-beat synth shards and glitchy, mechanical snares that snap in anthemic propulsion. While "Ghost of Kashif" weaves itself in esoteric, yet evocative, soundscapes with an absolutely grooving, club menacing fashion. Rounding out the release, fellow Indianapolis producer Noncompliant contributes a cruel electro sub-heating take of "XK3" to help warm the boreal landscapes of the EP.

Marc Moulin’s debut LP Sam Suffy (1975) is a compelling and unique mosaic of jazz, soul, and electronic elements that employs sampled sounds and sequencers to startling effect, vividly anticipating the music of the not-so-distant future.

While rooted in collective improvisation, cuts like the opening “Le Saule” and “Le Beau Galop” foreshadow the emergence of house music via their underlying electronic motifs; even more impressive is the five-part, 17-minute epic “Tohubohu,” a remarkable update of Musique Concrète sensibilities that creates drumbeats from water drops and pits trumpeter Richard Rousselet against a herd of hippos.

But for all its complexities and innovations, Sam Suffy is above all a sublime listening experience, closer in spirit and scope to trip-hop than the more abstract fusion classics it follows

Sam Suffy is released as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent vinyl.

In January 2019, at the invitation of fiddler Hans Kjorstad, Alasdair
Roberts travelled from his home in Glasgow, Scotland to Oslo,
Norway, where the two men convened with five additional
Scandinavian musicians at Riksscenen, Oslo’s centre for
Norwegian traditional arts and music. Thus newly-formed, the
group worked on arrangements of songs - self-written and
traditional - from Alasdair’s back catalogue, in preparation for
performances at Riksscenen as well as at ALICE in Copenhagen,
Denmark and the bucolic western Danish island of Fanø. The
group was named Völvur (The Seeresses), a reference to the
ancient Icelandic apocalyptic text Völuspa (The Prophecy of the
Seeress).
In January 2020, Völvur visited England and Scotland, to perform
with Alasdair Roberts at Cecil Sharp House, London and at
Platform, Glasgow, the latter as part of Celtic Connections festival.
The group had new material - freshly written songs by Alasdair
and several traditional Norwegian songs sung by Marthe Lea - and
over a couple days at Sam and Rachel’s Studio in Hackney, laid
down the music which now flows forth as ‘The Old Fabled River’.
The musicians who make up Völvur - Marthe Lea, saxophone,
clarinet and voice, Fredrik Rasten, guitars and voice, Andreas
Hoem Røysum, clarinet, Egil Kalman, bass and electronics, Jan
Martin Gismervik, drums, percussion and the aforementioned
initiator of the project, Hans Kjorstad on fiddle - are a busy and
artistically inquisitive group, involved in a diverse range of projects
with a wide variety of musical interests, from folk and jazz to free
music, modular synthesis, microtonality and beyond. They make
an ideal pairing for such voyages in the alchemical world as
Alasdair pursues in his own music.
On ‘The Old Fabled River’, Alasdair Roberts og Völvur meld their
worlds: fiddle and vocal styles formed in the Norwegian valleys
blending now with exploratory clarinet, saxophone and metallic
bowed guitar drones, now fashioned into baroque folk
arrangements. In one case, instrumental accompaniment is laid
aside, as three voices locate a questing fullness harmonizing
together.

The classic 1991 album remastered and expanded with rare and previously
unreleased tracks. Extensive liner notes by band biographer Keith Cameron.
A landmark of the grunge era.
By going back to basics with ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’, Mudhoney
flipped conventional wisdom. Not for the first time - or the last - they would be
vindicated. A month after release in July 1991, the album entered the UK
album chart at Number 34 (five weeks later, Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ entered
at 36) and went on to sell 75,000 copies worldwide. A more meaningful
measure of success, however, lay in its revitalisation of the band, casting a
touchstone for the future. The record is a major chapter in Mudhoney’s
ongoing story, the moral of which has to be: when in doubt, fudge it.
The album began at Music Source Studio, a large space equipped with a 24-
track mixing board - downright futuristic, compared to the 8-track setup that
birthed the band’s catalytic 1988 debut, ‘Touch Me I’m Sick’. The Music
Source session quickly turned into a false start when the results, in guitarist
Steve Turner’s words, “sounded a little too fancy, too clean.” Lesson learned,
the band went primitive and got to work at Conrad Uno’s 8-track setup at Egg
Studio. Named after the cartons pasted on the walls in an optimistic attempt
at sound-proofing, Egg boasted a 1960s vintage 8-track Spectra Sonics
recording console, originally built for Stax in Memphis.
So it was that, in the spring of 1991, Mudhoney made ‘Every Good Boy
Deserves Fudge’. The resulting album is a whirlwind of the band’s influences
at the time: the fierce ‘60s garage rock of their Pacific Northwest
predecessors The Sonics and The Lollipop Shoppe, the gnashing posthardcore of Drunks With Guns, the heavy guitar moods of Neil Young, the
lysergic workouts of Spacemen 3 and Hawkwind, the gloomy existentialism
of Zounds and the satirical ferocity of ‘80s hardcore punk. The quartet’s
special alchemy meant these fond homages never slid into pastiche.
Ultimately, ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’ epitomised the best of
Mudhoney: here was a band reconnecting with its purest instincts and, in the
process, reinventing itself.
This 30th Anniversary edition, remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago
Mastering Service, stands as testimony to the creative surge that drove them
in this period. The album sessions yielded a clutch of material that would
subsequently appear on B-sides, compilations, and split-singles. This edition
includes all those tracks and a slew of previously unreleased songs,
including the entire five-track Music Source session.

Bella Union announce the release of Piroshka’s stunning second album,
‘Love Drips And Gathers’. The album builds on the acclaim of the band’s
2018 debut LP ‘Brickbat’ and the reputations of former members of Lush,
Moose, Elastica and Modern English.
Piroshka emerged in 2018, four individuals with distinct musical identities but
also overlapping histories - a combination that might have unsettled, or even
overwhelmed, some bands. But in their case, the bond only got stronger.
After ‘Brickbat’ explored social and political divisions by way of what MOJO
described as “Forceful, driving garage songs and dream-pop epics,” ‘Love
Drips And Gathers’ follows a more introspective line - the ties that bind us, as
lovers, parents, children, friends - to a suitably subtler, more ethereal sound,
whilst still revelling in energy and drama.
“If ‘Brickbat’ was our Britpop album, then ‘Love Drips And Gathers’ is
shoegaze!” reckons vocalist/guitarist Miki Berenyi, formerly of Lush, a band
that effortlessly bridged the two genres like no other. “It wasn’t intentional; we
just wanted a different focus. I’ve always seen debut albums as capturing a
band’s first moments, when you really have momentum, and then the second
album is the chance for a more thoughtful approach.”
Bassist Mick Conroy (Modern English) agrees. “‘Brickbat’ was a classic first
album; noisy and raucous. On ‘Love Drips And Gathers’, we’ve calmed down
and explored sounds, and space.”
The way ‘Love Drips And Gathers’ changes shape and dynamic is less a
reprise of Nineties Brit indie than a transformation into a more shivery, Euromantic version with glistening electronic filigrees. The opening ‘Hastings’ sets
the tone. Luminous drops of guitar underpin Miki’s becalmed vocal before
drums, bass and a Mellotron add pace while the decorative coda features
their old pal Terry Edwards on flugelhorn.
‘Love Drips And Gathers’ - named after a line in a Dylan Thomas poem - was
inspired by love, family, belonging, memory. Miki and Moose split the eight
lyrics, with some poignant overlaps here too. Miki’s ‘Loveable’ looks to
Moose; Moose’s ‘The Knife-Thrower’s Daughter’ looks to Miki but also their
daughter Stella and his sister Anna; an empathic, touching embrace of the
women in his life.
Staying within the family, Moose eulogises his late mother (the idyllic
childhood seaside trip of ‘Hastings 1973’) and father (the more conflicted
‘Scratching At The Lid’). On ‘V.O.’, Miki pays fond tribute to Vaughan Oliver,
4AD’s legendary in-house art director who died suddenly in December 2019
and who had a particularly close relationship with Lush during their time on
the label (like ‘Brickbat’, ‘Love Drips And Gathers’’ beautiful and enigmatic
artwork is by Vaughan’s former design partner Chris Bigg).
LP pressed on clear vinyl.

oracle and audioMER. are honoured to announce the release of a new LP; Reading the City with music by oracle, Laszlo Umbreit & Mira Sanders.

In 2019 oracle invited artist Mira Sanders to interact with their practice through her writing. Due to the corona crisis, their shared working time couldn’t happen in the planned way:

“The writing project was originally planned as an exchange while travelling together one week on the Buratinas boat, navigating on the canals and rivers starting from Brussels. Due to the sanitary conditions with the Covid19, the trip together could not be realised or at least was complicated.

Instead of seeing the situation as an obstacle, I saw it as an opportunity to travel with them from afar. Me, living outside the city and them, inside. My question was ‘how, through their voices echoing with the urban spaces, will I imagine the city’s everyday life?’. Because one of the things that oracle’s practice does is to offer ways to perceive and encounter the city and its inhabitants.

For the texts I was inspired by the recordings oracle sent me every day during one week. Besides that, the book Invisible Cities written by Italo Calvino gave me a way of structuring my imagination.” – Mira Sanders

Following this artistic exchange and during a collaboration with sound artist Laszlo Umbreit, the idea of the record Reading the City was born. The existing recordings and the written sci-fi episodes by Mira Sanders functioned as a source of inspiration for the electronic sound composition Places, infiltrated by the original voices and city soundscapes. The recordings of the texts From Afar reflect oracle’s playful and spontaneous way of interacting with their given environment. From Afar is an invitation for the reader to immerse in the city while being in movement. Each track on this side has its own identity or colour, often in relation to what Mira’s text evoked, but this also happened in an empirical way, by trial and error.

Places is a composition in movement, following the idea of interaction with imaginary cities but regularly coming back to a presence of the workshop’s raw documentary sound. While being a carefully edited piece, it tries to keep a certain sense of immediacy and improvisation through semi-random dropping of heterogeneous sound materials in the timeline. Accidents are welcome. The arc drawn by the journey through different “places” is an interpretation of what can happen inside (and outside) when experiencing the oracle practice: being around them, imagining what was felt at different moments in the street, from a distance, preparing the itinerary in the city beforehand, talking about what oracle could be as a record and if it can exist outside the moment it happens.

CRESCENT was formed in 1998 by Ismaeel Attallah and Amr Mokhtar in Cairo, Egypt. It started as a Black Metal band influenced by the Swedish Black Metal scene. In 2014, the band released their full-length debut ‘Pyramid Slaves’, focusing on Ancient Egyptian history/mythology, which marked the band’s complete transformation towards Black/Death Metal infused with Egyptian elements. In the following years, CRESCENT was booked to major Metal festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Inferno Metal Festival, Fall of Summer festival among others . 2017 CRESCENT ’s much anticipated second full-length ‘The Order of Amenti’,a tribute to the Ancient Egyptian gods, showed more emphasis on the blackened death Metal epic soundscapes and thematic atmospheres while maintaining its primordial Egyptian Death Metal essence. CRESCENT’s new album 'Carving the Fires of Akhet' was mixed/mastered by Victor ‘Santura’ Bullok (Triptykon, Dark Fortress) at Woodshed studio. The artwork was done by Khaos Diktator (Thron) , which is a Baroque-style recreation of one of the most influential and ancient Egyptian relics. The album title acts as the thread that holds all tracks together. The Fires of Akhet represents the great divine will that was carved into humanity's history and future. A value that brought nations to their apex and brought others to their knees, and the cycle goes on. Lyrically, the album touches upon a primeval epic story that is full of struggle and blood. It also reflects drunkenness with divine power, and pure evil in its religious and historic form (and beyond). Finally, the album lays a dark path of philosophical and material decay. The themes will not only be represented by the sound, but also by artworks that relays the sub-themes. It manifests CRESCENT's growing identity and beyond any of its previous works, starting a new era for the band.

“I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” The debut LP from Ocean City Maryland’s Jarhead Fertilizer is a hot dose in your veins. Our modern dystopian reality meets a brutal mixture of death and grind with primitive groove with blistering low end. On Product of My Environment, Jarhead Fertilizer makes a simple statement. Death is easy. Life is hard

Having already unearthed three collections of archival ‘70s recordings by Catherine Christer Hennix, Blank Forms continues their annual illumination of the visionary Swedish composer’s music by turning to more recent work with this first-time vinyl edition of Hennix’s “Blues Alif Lam Mim in the Mode of Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis,” a 2014 piece first released as a CD in 2016 (Important Records).

The double album captures the April 22, 2014 premiere of Hennix’s composition by by the Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, her expanded just intonation ensemble, featuring a brass section of Amir ElSaffar, Paul Schwingenschlögl, Hilary Jeffery, Elena Kakaliagou, and Robin Hayward; live electronics by Stefan Tiedje and Marcus Pal; and voice by Amirtha Kidambi, Imam Ahmet Muhsin Tüzer, and Hennix herself. Intended to reveal the blues’ origins in the eastern musical traditions of raga and makam, “Blues Alif Lam Mim in the Mode of Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis” has its roots in Hennix’s 2013 realization of an “Illuminatory Sound Environment,” a concept developed in 1978 by anti-artist Henry Flynt on the basis of Hennix’s own “The Electric Harpsichord.”

As Hennix explains in Other Matters, Blank Forms’ 2019 collection of her writings:

“Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis presents fragments of ‘raga-like’ frequency constellations following distinct cycles and permuting their order, creating a simultaneity of ‘multi-universes.’ When two such ‘universes’ come in proximity of each other and begin unfolding simultaneously along distinct cycles, there is a kaleidoscopic exfoliation of frequencies as one universe is becoming two, but not separated—the effect of cosmosis is entrained, binding two or more frequency universes into proximity where their modal properties interact and blend, creating in the process entirely new microtonal constellations in an omnidirectional simultaneous cosmic order with phenomenologically ‘transfinite’ Poincaré cycles (cyclic returns to initial conditions).”

As with Hennix’s best work, the organic unfolding of this quivering drone belies a precision that opens onto the infinitesimal. Upon its mesmerizing ebb and flow, the vocalists incant a devotional poem written in Arabic by Hennix and featuring quotations from the Quran. Also reproduced on the album’s gatefold jacket, Hennix’s reduction of the sacred text to its most elegant formulation invites the contemplator to bring their inner knowledge to the composition for use as a prompt for meditation. Yet the piece offers depth to even the most secular listener willing to immerse themselves in music brimming with such serene intensity.

Catherine Christer Hennix (b. 1948) started her creative life playing drums with her older brother Peter, growing up in Sweden where she heard jazz luminaries, such as John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Dexter Gordon, Archie Shepp, and Cecil Taylor perform from 1960 to 1967. Directly after high school, Hennix went to work at Stockholm’s pioneering Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), where she developed early tape music, incorporating computer generated speech done at the Royal Technological University (KTH), where she was an undergraduate student. After traveling to New York In 1968, she met artists Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles who invited her to stay at the Something Else Press Town House where she had the opportunity to meet, among others, composers John Cage, James Tenney, and Phil Corner. During the following years she developed fruitful collaborative relationships with many composers in the burgeoning American avant-garde, including, most significantly, Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. Young introduced Hennix to Hindustani raga master Pandit Pran Nath and she would later study intensively under him as his first European disciple. While Hennix continued to make music performing alongside Arthur Russell, Marc Johnson, Henry Flynt, and Arthur Rhames, she also served as a professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at SUNY New Paltz and as a visiting Professor of Logic (at Marvin Minsky’s invitation) at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In recent years Hennix has led the just-intonation ensemble the Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, which has featured musicians Amelia Cuni, Amirtha Kidambi, Chiyoku Szlavnics, Hilary Jeffrey, Amir El-Saffar, Benjamin Duboc and Rozemarie Heggen. She currently resides in Istanbul, Turkey pursuing studies in classical Arabic and Turkish makam.

"Emotional Rescue and HMV Record Shop (Japan) present the 2nd DISCO REGGAE LOVERS with the music of Haile Maskel and his 101 Band and their cult Jamaica meets America reggae disco bomb Crazy Kind Of Feeling, in it's super rare 7" Mix.

Heralding from the furtive 60's Trenchtown, Jamaica, Michael Ashley aka Haile Maskel grew up around music, recording his first sessions with friend Bob Marley, alongside the likes of Peter Tosh, Robbie Shakespeare and Carlton Barrett.

Working with Lee Perry, he joined Light Of Saba, while touring with Dennis Brown and Sugar Minott led him overseas, settling in Los Angeles in 1983 and soon launching his Opulence (Sound) label.

The label's in house project, Maskel's 101 Band mixed a conscious message in love song, crafted around a boogie discodub. Coming as 7" and 12" (ERC101) releases, here the single is presented alongside the true dub version.

Dub Take 2 was discovered when the original master tapes were recently unearthed and while the recent 12" reissue featured an "instrumental alternative mix", Dub Take 1, this 7" includes a real dub version, cutting and dropping back and forth between drums, bass, key, vocals and horns in a cool excursion for the heads."

Clear Vinyl

Freddy Fresh is a legend. Period. From a plethora of 12“es on labels like Nu Groove, Drop Bass Network, Forced Nostalgia, Spaziotempo, Lone Romantic or Toolbox Killers to albums on 90s scene mainstays like Harthouse, Anodyne or Eye Q to countless releases on his own imprints like Howlin Records, Analog Records USA and Electric Music Foundation. From remixes for the likes of GusGus, Heaven 17, Kitachi, Steve Stoll, Frankie Bones and many more to hitting the UK Top 40 with the massive BigBeat smasher „Badder Badder Schwing“
produced alongside Fatboy Slim. The man has done it all. Nearly.
And therefore Intrauterin Recordings is proud to present the first ever Drum'n'Bass release in the more than 30 year spanning career of the one and only Freddy Fresh!
With „333“ Freddy Fresh is going down a twisted, hard stepping and yet positive alley of what the man himself refers to as Modular Drum'n'Bass that is unmistakably cooked up live and direct in his Minneapolis-based studio. Expect a whirlwind of swirls, swooshes, bleeps and FX alongside raw junglistic beats and the most positive Synth bass motif you've heard in a long while.
Yet the singles' main dancefloor smash is to be found on the flip side. „Watch It Go Roun Roun“ is a raw classic, a heavy original JumpUp banger driven by a killer vocal performance by Mike Gates a.k.a. Mikey Dredd. Likely better known to many for his Techno productions on labels like Kanzleramt, Creation Rebel or Howlin Records rather than for his MC skills this is the very first time Mikey Dredd's secret love for taking up the microphone as a proper Jungle / Drum'n'Bass MC is officially recognized and revealed on wax as a late tribute to and
honoration of a large scale talent which passed away way too soon in 2019. Lighter crew!
Initial pressing will be limited to 225 copies on 7“ whitelabel vinyl. Hand-stamped with stickered cover.


b B1: Watch It Go Roun Roun featuring Mikey Dredd

Whie Vinyl

TIP!!!

Berlin’s Pure Hate drops its first release for 2021 from Toronto’s MDD. The Consume + Impose EP consists of 3 original tracks with remixes from Swarm Intelligence & Mickey Nox.

MDD is a live performance and studio project created by Measure Divide and Dolgener.

Having released on HANDS, South London Analogue Material, Inner Surface Music and Drøne, MDD’s tough industrial infused rhythms oscillate frequencies ranging from the realm of techno to punk. On the performance front, each set is an improvisation of heavy drum grooves, edgy basslines and distorted elements.

No Pure Hate release would be complete without remixes and this time they welcome Swarm Intelligence & Mickey Nox to the label. A regular artist on 47, Swarm intelligence takes on lead track Apex Switch with his distorted broken beat style while S.L.A.M. & Perc Trax artist Mickey Nox hammers Hate Pusher squarely to the floor.

NewDad emerged from Galway at the beginning of last year, self-releasing their first string of songs. The ‘Waves’ EP is their debut EP and features the BBC 6Music A-list singles “I Don’t Recognise You” and “Blue”.

Lesley Rankine (Silverfish) and Mark Walk (Skinny Puppy) formed Ruby in 1995. Ruby’s first album, Salt Peter, was released in 1995. The album would produce three singles, all of which would chart in the UK. It was made almost entirely using computers and without a band. Salt Peter’s first single was “Paraffin”, released in November 1995. The compilation New Voices vol. 3 from Rolling Stone featured this song as its second track. It was followed up with what is perhaps Ruby’s best known song, “Tiny Meat”, which was also released in 1995. It would be the only song by the band to chart in the United States, reaching at #22 on the Modern Rock Tracks list. This song was also included in the compilation MTV Fresh 2. Another single, “Hoops” came out in early 1996. Later in that year the promotion-only single for the track “Swallow Baby” was put out for radio play. Additionally, the song “This Is” was used on the soundtrack to the popular 1996 film The Cable Guy.

Salt Peter is a dark, eerie fusion of trip-hop and industrial, with quietly menacing beats and droning synths. Provocative, as well as well- written. Salt Peter remains a promising debut. It is released as a limited edition of 500 individually numbered copies on “Tiny Meat” (transparent red & black mixed) coloured vinyl.

A joint effort long past due, PITP founders zake and Isaac Helsen team up to bring forth three arrangements that encompass textured ambient washes and drone-laden guitar work titled 'Beliefsystems'.

Legendary psychedelic guitar music from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania finally available on vinyl!
Originally released as a double CD in 2010, Wallahi Le Zein! has persisted as a cult classic, a collection of a rarely heard and utterly unique underground music scene, raw and unfiltered.
For fans of the more raw side of Sublime Frequencies, Sahelsounds, the ripping tape-hiss psychedelia of Les Rallizes Denudes, and anyone remotely interested in GUITARS.
12” 160 gram black vinyl LP, with 2 spot color reverse-board jacket, and 8-page full sized booklet with extensive notes and photos, and a history of Mauritanian guitar playing.
‘’this is the first curated collection of unfiltered Mauritanian guitar music ever, and I'm glad it's been introduced with such thoroughness and care.’’ 8.0 Pitchfork
The LP version we now present is intended as an immersive entry into this music: gnarled and virtuosic electric guitars weave hypnotically throughout melismatic sung poetry and exclamations, pulsing hand drums, party chatter, buzzing rigged desert sound systems, and all manner of the ambient sounds of Nouakchott wedded to oversaturated cassette in all its swirling, breathing, psychedelic glory. Operating entirely outside of any local recording industry, these songs were collected from bootleg tape stalls, wedding souveniers, and networks of musicians, expertly curated, researched and produced by Matthew Lavoie.
Drawing from the deep well of Mauritanian classical music, the gamut of musical modes and the tidinitt lute repertoire are transposed to the electric guitar - often with frets removed or additional frets installed, “heavy metal” distortion pedals and phasers built into guitar bodies, blurring the lines between Haratine and Beydane musical cultures, the ancient and the futuristic. At times transcendent and transfixing, and conversely a furious and cascading intensity that commands jaw-dropping attention.

COS might not be the first genre defying progressive music group you’ve heard who share both wordless onomatopoeic vocals and a snappy three letter title (complete with philosophical leanings and alchemic penchants) but on listening to this first ever custom Cos compendium you might have just discovered a new favourite!

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that COS share close spiritual, stylistic or social connections to the aforementioned bands, as one of the few long-withstanding single-syllable ensembles to remain utterly idiosyncratic and incomparable within their hyper-focussed and impenetrable creative bubble. But as a 1970s group that effortlessly MIX head-nod prog, synth-driven jazz, cinematic sound-designs, dislocated disco, arkestral operatics and high-brow conceptual anti-pop grooves, it’s easier to remember the name COS than thumb the vast amount of genre-dividers in your local record shop which COS COULD occupy. With the crème de la crème of Belgian jazz/prog/psych/funk within their ranks, their combined idea-to-ability ratio litters the Cos-ography with concepts that aficionados, future fans, collaborators and critics still haven’t began to unravel.

With their earliest roots in the compact jazz group Brussels Art Quintet the group spent their sapling years creating art-school prog under the name Classroom, this flourishing collective, cultivated by multi-instrumentalist mainstay Daniel Schell, would soon shed its leaves, dropping band-members and typographics reducing its moniker to simply COS (a multi-purpose, globally recognised word, with links to Alchemy and philosophy, with a hard phonetic delivery to suit the groups heavier rhythmic approach). In it’s new skin COS also shed all forms of orthodox language to find its true exclusive voice. Fronted, in the conventional sense, by the daughter of author and part-time jazz player Jean De Trazegnies, the bands wordless singer changed her name to Pascale SON, to accentuate the French word for “sound”. Drawing comparisons with sound poets like Polish jazz legend Urszula Dudziak or Hungarian Katalin Ladik, but retaining the crystalline femininity (and funk) of Flora Purim, while effectively sharing an imaginary lyric book of non-words with Damo Suzuki, Magma or a future Liz Fraser... To use the word “unique” would, by COS academic standards, be lazy journalism.

“We’re proud to announce the release of our debut EP ‘Reporting
Live From The Living Room Floor’ via Nice Swan Records. A
prologue chapter within the world we call Hallan, ‘Reporting Live
From The Living Room Floor’ introduces the 21st Century to the
Gumshoe Boy. The boy is always the man for the job. He’s the man
on the inside. He’s the Agency’s number one frontman and he’s
armed with a tape provided by an anonymous source. An undercover
operative in a satirical, Orwellian world, ‘Reporting Live From The
Living Room Floor’ paints a semi-abstract but tangible image of the
new decade, holding a mirror up to not only our modern society but
our individual selves. The time is now right. From the corner of his
bleak bedroom the boy plans his plan, and from the corner of ours we
do the same.” - Hallan
The EP draws influence from everyday observation, mainstream pop
culture and laughable tabloid fiction. ‘Reporting Live From The Living
Room Floor’ paints an semi-abstract but tangible image of the new
decade, holding a mirror up to not only modern society but
individuals.
Frontman Conor speaks on the track: “Our sound changes depending
on our agenda at any time, finding a different stride with every step.
With ‘Hands Up’ we found ourselves dropped into a Western rerun
armed with a fiercely cowboyish twang on our six string shooter. We
wanted to forth a thematic, semi abstract prose, attacking
businessmen and penny pinchers in a flurry of suitably delirious
criticisms.”
While struggling to find a studio which didn’t just place Hallan in the
cogs of a much larger machine, the band found Rob Quickenden of
Ford Lane studios for their last single, ‘Modern England’. Returning to
the rural depths of Yapton, Hallan once again join forces with
Quickenden on their debut EP. In a studio setting where no ideas
were out of the question and experimentation and exploration were
the words of the day, expect ‘Reporting Live From The Living Room
Floor’ to be a no-holds-barred exploration into the minds of Hallan.
Back in the far forgotten world of live events, Hallan supported the
likes of Sports Team and Porridge Radio. Yet 2021 sees the band
carve their own path all together. Backed by Nice Swan Records
(Sports Team, Courting, Sprints) Hallan are finally ready to release
their latest imaginings to the world.

Synth legend Suzanne Ciani, Demdike Stare’s Sean Canty & Finders Keepers’ Andy Votel come together on this killer hour-long 2014 synapse popper of a collaboration pooling the occasional group’s esoteric collage-based approach into a remarkably foreboding session pregnant with a dread that’s never quite resolved. Think Vladimir Ussachevsky, Todd Dockstader, Spectre and Company Flow melted thru the Deutsch-Italo industrial DIY tape era and funneled thru an almost impenetrable fog of Ann Arbor basement noizze.

Hustling some of Neotantrik’s most amorphous gestures, ’241014’ is a four-segment movement of reduced Buchla treatments, destroyed vinyl loops and scraping foley suspense; like a cosmic dream diary layered into a collage of drones and clatters. Little in Ciani’s extensive catalogue has hinted at what’s on display here; the joyful lullaby-pop of “Seven Waves” or metallic alien soundscraping of “Flowers of Evil” are only hinted at. She instead paints new sonic vistas, allowing space for her collaborators to make themselves known; Votel’s chiming toy autoharp and Bubul Tarang (a Punjab string instrument) add a distinctive flavor, while Canty’s grimy drones and noise-soaked textures drizzle pitch-black molasses into the cracks and crevices. Together, the effect is a bit like hearing Philip Jeck improvising over Popol Vuh’s peerless Moog-led debut “Affenstunde” or Demdike Stare knocking out impromptu reworks of Tangerine Dream’s abstrakt early run.

Perhaps unusually, the trio have still never set foot in a studio together, exclusively maintaining their practice in-the-moment and on stage when schedules intersect. So it’s all the more remarkable that their improvisations naturally find a democracy of role and such a heightened level of intuition, beautifully converging their thoughts to mutual, open-ended conclusions that leaves billowing room for interpretation. In a most classic sense, it’s like the sensation of sleep paralysis or dream/nightmare ambiguity, with a level of suggestiveness that’s disorienting from end to end.

For the first time the recordings are now available in high fidelity (there was a tape version a couple of years back) - now remastered by Rashad Becker to better represent the otherworldly scope of their actions on stage, from the NWW-like queues and drone of ‘Scanned Accents’ and keening silhouette of ‘Second Action,’ to new sections of subaquatic Porter Ricks-like murk in ‘Anti-Contraction’ and the levitating webs of synth and tactile, sampled textures in ‘Last Canción.’ Tape music and synth music have long shared a passionate embrace, and here turntablism coolly slides in on the action. Canty and Votel’s background in beat tape assembly and crate digging pays off: they’re keenly experimental creators but bring an unfussy sense of rhythm and performance that’s miles beyond any facile repetition of a nostalgia for vintage glory. Combined with Ciani’s delicate Buchla work - it’s a unique proposition.

CHIWAX proudly welcomes Gene Hunt!
We are happy to present you some unreleased treasures from the 90's on "Volume One" EP!
Furthermore there will be another two releases out in 2021 from the Chicago Master. Stay tuned!

Etruria Beat founder Luca Agnelli unveils his long-awaited debut album, ‘Source Drops’ – presenting a ten-track journey through techno and beyond.
A name at the centre of Italy’s rich house and techno scene for over a decade, Etruria Beat head-honcho Luca Agnelli continues to showcase his talent as a leading DJ, producer and label boss on the international stage. With releases via a host of globally renowned labels, plus standout remixes including Moby’s iconic ‘Porcelain’, the Tuscany native’s reputation has seen him become of the genre’s leading artists when combining energetic, entrancing productions throughout his powerful DJ sets. Yet, the core of his work has always found a perfect home on his own Etruria Beat imprint, with July now welcoming the arrival of his highly-anticipated debut album ‘Source Drops’ – an in-depth musical story presenting growth, development, self-reflection and raw emotions via a collection of ten tracks ranging from powerful peak-time anthems through to EBM influenced cuts and slower, hypnotic productions.
“This is the journey that traces my musical evolution of the last 20 years, discovering more conceptual, deeper musical territories; taking inspiration from what influenced me in my career as a DJ and from my continuous research without musical barriers. A journey always in equilibrium, at times dark and sharp, solar and fluid, that develops a different creative vision in each track trying to convey my most intimate and strongest emotions". – Luca Agnelli
Opening via the slow-blooming builds and atmospheric and waves of ‘Black Mirror’, before diving into the heady and menacing tones of ‘Mutant Circle’, the ten-track project quickly showcases a wide-reaching range of influences and nuances central to Agnelli’s development as an artist over his career. Productions such as ‘Balance’ and ‘Oxigen’ contrast with one another whilst bringing space to proceedings, guided by breaks-influenced percussion, minimal arrangements and warping leads, whilst the driving ‘Resistance’ harnesses classic techno tendencies to provide an energetic and lively, snaking journey through rich soundscapes.
Title cut ‘Source Drops’ brings that trademark Luca Agnelli energy to the heart of the project, merging scintillating melodies, acid-tinged stabs and icy hats to unveil a high-octane ride into the peak-time, whilst ‘Raw Surface’ keeps the tempo high with sweeping leads, oscillating basslines and resonant lasers. Next, ‘Omega’ spirals into an off- kilter ride through glitchy echoed vocals, crunchy percussion and rumbling low-ends, with the epic ‘Losing Control’ welcoming an infectious lead melody at its core guided by punchy kicks and slick drum licks. To close, the package veers to an eerie yet ethereal close as hazy, celestial vocal chants meet panning sirens and swooping electronics – punctuating an expansive and diverse offering from the Italian favourite and shaping up an impressive debut LP in the process.

7" of this funk classic re-issued for the first time from recently discovered Master Tapes.

Funky Soul (originally titled "Going To See The Man") was a routine crowd pleaser during live shows that even had its own dance "rock the ship." This was the part two of the song. It was part one that was created in the studio as a riff off of part two. The raw energy of this song when performed live created hysteria and drove spectators into a frenzy. It didn't take long for word to get around and catch the attention of the famous WYLD DJ Larry McKinley. McKinley wanted to capture this magic onto record and helped arrange the session at Cosimo Matassa's studio. He drove Isaac Hayes down from Memphis to New Orleans in 1968 and organized Issac Hayes to arrange the horn section on this record while he was working with the Okeh label and developing an emerging artist named Margie Joseph. It was during this time that Margie recorded two singles Why Does A Man Have To Lie/See (Okeh, 4-7304) and Show Me/A Matter Of Life Or Death (Okeh, 4-7313).

David Batiste & The Gladiators were a band David Batiste and several of his brothers formed while they were in High School in New Orleans back in 1961. The band won a talent show in 1965 at Harlem's famous Apollo Theater and are the pioneers of what is now known as "Funk." David Batiste & The Gladiators were legendary mainstays of every bar in New Orleans that every band was hustling trying to get booked at.

It's no wonder that this song was famously complied on BBE Records and Ubiquity in the 1990's, rediscovered and performed by Miles Tackett & The Breakestra in the early 2000's. Those compilations contained audio sourced only from the vinyl record originally pressed up twice in the early 1970s and sought after by collectors and DJs for years and years. This version is from a direct master tape transfer from recently discovered NOLA tapes. But wait… The party's just started. An entire album's worth of 1960s previously unreleased David Batiste & The Gladiators material from recently discovered master tapes is in the works and forthcoming on Family Groove Records.

Released in 2020, Rheinzand’s self-titled debut LP heralded an authentic vibe of retro-futuristic disco-pop, distinguishing themselves in the current climate of dance music. The album was met with acclaim, picked by Piccadilly Records as their nr. 1 album of the year.
Since, the material on that album have proven fertile ground for practitioners in the art of the remix. On this EP, we release a selection of those efforts.

On the first slot, we have Running Back label owner and longstanding DJ heavyweight Gerd Janson polishing off his house music fluency with a gleaming take on ‘Blind’. The swerving vocals of Charlotte Caluwaerts’ reverberate through space ray arpeggiators and burnished drum gates. Belgian compatriot Blitzzega, the neon-drenched moniker of composer Bjorn Eriksson, features with a dizzyingly switched-on version of ‘Mi Mundo’, sporting gnawing synths and hijacked funk licks.

Next, dub-pop wizards Peaking Lights serve up a heady brew of plugged-up melodies braided around Reinhard and Charlotte’s shuffling vocals. This remix blends the magenta glow of synthwave with the deep grooves of maybe late Theo Parrish.

We round off the EP with a treat form Dennis ‘Citizen’ Kane, the iconic dance music figure who emerged in mid-90s NYC downtown scene. A veteran DJ and disco-head, Kane applies a luminous hand to Rheinzand’s ’14 Again’, deepening the vibe of kittenish mystery through carefully layered work of phasing drones, wandering synths, and mushrooming rhythm section (think T-Connection).

Tkać means ’to weave’ in Polish. On this album, Swedish–Polish composer and musician Marta Forsberg delivers two compositions that capture her unique ability to transmit visions of light into glimmering sonic landscapes. To weave: crossing threads of dreams and light under and over each other.

LED AND LOVE SOUNDS is a live recording of a piece based on frozen and processed violin sounds. Weave and Dream was composed on an OP-1 synthesizer, and Forsberg’s use of LED light strips played a crucial role in the composition process.

This is tactile drone music, enriched by Nikos Veliotis' mixing work (MMMΔ) and the mastering by Mell Dettmer (collaborator of Eyvind Kang, SunnO))), Earth, Tim Hecker).

"The composer and sound artist now lives in Berlin, but is closely associated with the so-called Stockholm Drone Society around artists such as Kali Malone, Mats Erlandsson and Ellen Arkbro.

Having recently presented a composition for an installation with LED lights with her album New Love Music, now combines older material from very similar contexts: »LED AND LOVE SOUNDS« was performed in an art gallery and consists of processed violin sounds that Forsberg layers into haunting drones in front of the clearly audible soundscape of the room. »Weave and Dream« has been written for synthesiser and was part of an installation style that combined LED lights and fabrics with music.

More insistent in style and more intense in sound, the effect of »Weave and Dream« is similar to that of the first piece: Forsberg’s music enters into a dialogue with space and time that unfolds its full power even without the originally associated visual and physical experiences – very slowly and carefully, of course." (field notes)

Repress

Calibre's mighty wind has blown through the drum 'n' bass scene ever since his first tentative forays into production in 1998. As a trained musician and student of the genre, he quickly developed a unique sound that was warm, orchestral and hypnotic. Attracting the attention of tastemakers like Fabio, the Belfast-born producer and DJ was encouraged to work harder and faster on this liquid funk, resulting in what would become his signature sound. By the time his sophomore album, "Second Sun", came into orbit, Calibre was recognised as a shining star of the scene.

One of the few who had realised the potential of the album format, he crafted dubbed out house grooves, jazzier downtempo numbers, and introspective vocal-led tracks amongst the more trad tempos the largely dancefloor single-based genre was known for.

The album is awash with high points, from the anthemic "Drop It Down", to the more reflective MC tracks like "Timeout" and "Blink Of An Eye". Most producers would labour over such delicately balanced arrangements for weeks, but the fact that Calibre can knock such masterworks out in a matter of hours tells you how effortlessly and naturally his music comes to him.

"Working quickly gives me a unique and personal sound," says Calibre. "It also helps that I like to sample my own playing. Any type of instrument I could get my hands on, I'd record it live. Maybe quite badly, but I still did it. It helped create my own sound. If you can play an instrument, and you can play it with a little bit of passion and a little bit of love, it'll give you something back."

In the fourteen years that have passed (Second Sun dropped in October, 2005) Calibre has written more material than quite possibly anyone else in the scene, and this year shows no sign of him slowing up. Besides the usual wealth of remixes in the pipeline, and a forthcoming techno album on Craig Richards' label, a sixth Shelflife compilation of unreleased Calibre material will be dropping on his own Signature Records label. But for now, let's rewind the story, as the man himself takes us, track by track, through Second Sun.

Repress


Legowelt's epic Pancakes with mist album in a double vinyl pack. For all the freaks of the world!

Dublin's Splitradix delivers an EP of intense and melancholic acid / braindance with plenty of ''light in darkness'' to quote Yellow Magic Orchestra. Opener Laplace Formal is a moody, hyper melodic piece for a dreamy dance floor. The oddly titled second track, The Dry Canal, is the centerpiece of the EP. Dry, deep and stomping acid taking you through a tunnel of sound - the two dark droney melody lines slowly but surely turn the piece into something truly epic and unforgettable... Opening the flipside, Empty Sea 1000 is a slow, lazy acid cut from another dimension, very nice! Lucan 303 Distribution Service is heavy on the kick. Basic at first, it later turns into a wonderfully melodic Rephlex-like cut. Last one, Laplace Formal (Navs' No Jacket Required Remix) is a laidback and more euphoric version of the EP's opening track.

Layton Giordani takes the next step in the evolution of his sound with ‘Hyper World’.

Despite the challenging year we all shared in 2020, Giordani continued to grow in leaps and bounds as a producer. His second studio album ‘New Generation’ was a critical success and showcased the breadth of his artistry over 11 tracks, with moods fit for both the dancefloor and afterhours alike.

His latest offering, however, flexes its raving muscle and ambles up for the summer. The title track is bad arse, with swirling pads, trippy arpeggios and subtle flourishes of acid and psychedelica that all combine for a stomping finish. Fresh in every sense. ‘Astro’ is heavy on drama, driven by a big synth lead that pierces the air with intensity, before a delicious mid-track key change pushes the energy up to eleven and shortly after drops down into a celestial break, before building back up again.

LTD 100 copies / Printed Sleeve

A real brain destruction, so hard that it turns mental.
A side begins with a long bugcore electric spiking electro... A fakir track !

The second tune is experimental as well, destruction of jungle, of breakcore, of noises... Spiky too ! Fakir too !

The flip opens with a speedcore destructured tunee, keep your breath and drown into this mental distrurbance !

The finish, Zenkout... is a crunchy speedcore tune, shaking your body with a non-stop fatal kick.

A superb EP again from Les Neiges Noires De Laponie !

Yen Tech’s second album is fully eye-popping cyber-theatrical medieval deconstructed nu-metal. Like Amnesia Scanner banging out Slipknot covers with Siri and Arvo Pärt in a distant space prison.
‘Assembler’ is a bizarre record, even for SVBKVLT. Yen Tech’s debut “Mobis” was a future-facing hi-tech part rap deconstruction, all blitzed trap and vaporwave shimmer. “Assembler” is completely different proposal, addressing the post-COVID world with growling anxiety and lavish, multidimensional digital fireworks.
Hoarse semi-human vocals are meticulously painted over hydraulic, machine-gun kicks, drunken synth drones and simulated choirs. Techpilled harpsichord chimes burp and resonate over swirling, supernatural soundscapes, while alien chatter butts heads with disembodied artificial voices. “Herd immunity,” a voice echoes on ‘Leech’, as unsettling drones build through clouds of white noise.
Yen Tech takes Amnesia Scanner’s dystopian deconstructed airlock club template and debones it to fit the actual dystopia of 2021. Jarring, fanged and packed with sneering nu-metal adjacent attitude, “Assembler” sounds as awkward and genre-allergic as an algorithmic playlist. It’s an uneasy listening experience that’s both familiar (‘Extinction Game’ is almost chart-ready future pop) and defiant all at once.

We welcome another newcomer to the label, UK-badman Cartridge, who steps up with a smashing debut EP showing the world he’s not messing about. Big Things!

Stone Cold:
The aptly titled EP opener hits hard like a boulder, painting a post-apocalyptic super-metroidesque landscape, building upon the glorious ‘Flummox’ from SUBALT010. Gritty synth lines stating a simple yet catchy and evolving melody, all rounded by a fat bass exactly how we like it. A glittery rain paves the way to the breakdown and the second drop, which tells the final part of this majestic romance.

Choker:
Time to get stealthy with this one… a sinister intro erupts into a refined yet powerful barrage of bass. Solid groove, heavily panned percussion, clever wobs and synth hits, masterful reverb and delay interplays, Cartridge’s sound design really sets to impress with this superb number.

Sweet Doughs:
If the concept of ‘sinister’ was established on the previous track, ‘Sweet Doughs’ definitely takes it to the next level. Menacing car-tyre-screeching-like synths and an amusing yet slightly uncanny vocal sample set up the pace for this weighty dance-floor rattler. A saturated 808-like bass propels the track, which reveals itself as a master-class on how to blend power, bass, crafty sound design and an incredible attention to details.

Ex-Voto is the first page in a new story, where French techno artist Nao Nhil looks inwards to find pools of sonic hypnosis. Taking inspiration from both techno and ambient music, Nao Nhil explores the outer reaches of contemporary, dancefloor expression, striking a delicate balance between body and mind. Contrasts between percussive roughness and slick execution, or between brooding darkness and beams of radiance, colour the sound and hold your gaze. The pristine techno construction of "Ex-Voto" tunnels deep into Nao Nhil's core, unearthing the roots from which the laser-cut drone of "Primal Atom" and the stepping kaleidoscope of "Psylle" were born.

Clear Vinyl

DDS catch enduringly absorbing sonic alchemist Jim O’Rourke at his knottiest and most ingenious in a wormholing suite of amorphous rhythm and psychedelic electronics - a massive RIYL Autechre, Roland Kayn, Bernard Parmegiani, NYZ, Keith Fullerton Whitman.
Playing up to and into DDS’ freeform aesthetics, O’Rourke renders 40 minutes shearing hyaline synth tones and ruptured rhythm generated at his Steamroom facilities in Tokyo, a modular outzone trawling that harks back to his iconic Mego releases and some of the more recent Steamroom experiments. It’s an ideal addition to the ever expanding DDS cosmos, following Demdike’s recent ‘Drum Machine’ expo with a slice of purist and screwed modular magick that transcends early
electronics and modern styles in pursuit of musical sensations that defy stylistic brackets.
‘Too Compliment’ was assembled using a bespoke Hordijk modular system, a rare West Coast-style setup hand made by Dutch engineer Rob Hordijk. O’Rourke focuses on the frequency shifter here, using it to coax out fluxing tone thickets, haphazard frequencies and elongated drone corridors.
It’s transportive stuff, harking back to the early days of private press academic synth music but also sitting on edge alongside Autechre’s recent long-form work, as well as O’Rourke’s classic “I’m Happy, And I’m Singing, And A 1, 2, 3, 4” In O’Rourke’s hands, the mass of electronics takes on throbbing, organic dimensions, congealing
grey matter and purplish veins of fluid in viscous transitions that glisten and spark with invention as they form new tissue. What comes out is as unearthly as the earliest electronic music, but also
blessed with a psychedelc spirit in a way that’s long kept O’Rourke right out on his own, teetering between paradigms yet never settling into any single style. If you’ve always been keen on finding a way into that sprawling soundworld, ‘Too Compliment’ is a perfect entry point into a highly rewarding creative macrocosm.

Blue Vinyl
Lynch protégé and Twin Peaks sound designer Dean Hurley coaxes an incredible puzzlebox of atmospheres and mood pieces on this killer contribution to our Documenting Sound series, now remastered and pressed on vinyl for what is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most cinematic and neon-lit instalment in the series. Like a
smudged and overdubbed copy of the BoC Maxima tape, with added iridescence.
Across almost 40 minutes we transition from aerosolised synths to romantic chromatics, thru to Nurse WIth Wound-style severed rhythms and fading glimmers of hope, ‘Concrete Feather’ epitomises Dean Hurley’s prized knack for nuanced instrumental story-telling in the finest and most engrossing style we could imagine. Against the backdrop of the Hollywood film industry that has primed us for as long as we can all remember, the music spans a panorama of lush, mirage-like choral pads and starry flickers thru to gloaming
nightmare sequences and screwed drums, while touching on some of the dankest synth tones this side of his ‘Anthology Resource’ volumes or indeed his soundtrack work for Twin Peaks: The Return. It’s full of dread and a slowly unfolding sense of tragedy.
“Having a regular practice of recording is probably the single most important element to my craft. It’s a way of dropping indiscriminate mile markers while constantly moving forward in time without ability to pause.
Over the years, working for David Lynch taught me a great deal about this and the concept and importance of experimentation. I’ve found myself clinging to those lessons during this time and using them as tools for both productivity and balance. His notion of experimentation is a simple one, yet incredibly profound. It was one of the very first words I heard him say during our initial meeting, and I never stopped hearing the term daily over the subsequent 13 years working together. An ‘experiment’ can provide a legitimate mental back-entrance into the act of creation. It can position an approach toward discovery as opposed to effort, and eliminate the thought that one needs to ‘will’ something into existence. It also aids in calming the judgmental
side of a brain from stepping on/interfering with expression…after all, experiments are not about success or failure, they’re simply about learning. In the Lynch school of thought, multiple experiments then become firewood…and with firewood, one can not only build but actually sustain a fire…even turn it into a multipleacre blaze or more.
Dean Hurley

Wir haben gehört, dass Post-Punk es bis auf die Frühlingsseiten der Sunday Times geschafft hat. Oh, bleibt da dran - Desperate Journalist wüten schon seit gefühlten Äonen mit ihrer melodramatischen Mischung aus traumatisierten Gitarren und kunstvoll gebrochenem Gesang gegen den Konzern-Apparat. Sechs Jahre sind vergangen seit dem Erscheinen des teuflischen "Desperate Journalist"-Debuts in 2015. Das stürmische zweite Album "Grow Up" erschien 2017, während 2019 das stellare "The Search For The Miraculous" weit und breit zu hören war. "Maximum Sorrow!", das komplett in Crouch End inmitten der Covid-Pandemie aufgenommen wurde, strotzt nur so vor Alt-Rock-Muskeln, die in sieben Jahren unermüdlicher Auftritte und Veröffentlichungen aufgebaut wurden, wie ein wilder Panther auf der Pirsch. Angetrieben von Simon Drowners ohrwurmverdächtiger Bassline zeigt sich das Quartett schon beider Lead-Single "Fault" in makellos brutaler Form, mit Banshee-Heulen und selbstzerfleischenden Texten von Sängerin Jo Bevan: "And those teenage hangups are hard to beat / When your closet is piled up with defeat", schnauzt sie an einer besonders stacheligen Stelle, während ihr Gitarrist Rob Hardy und Schlagzeuger Caz Hellbent nur noch feuriges Öl in die akustischen Flammen gießen können. Wie ein Großteil des restlichen Albums ist "Fault" sowohl verspielt als auch voll mit Wut. Das sind Desperate Journalist in hyperdynamischer Form, superglatt, aber nie krankhaft glatt; ambitioniert und expansiv, aber immer noch selbstverliebt und durch und durch DIY. Es gibt traditionelle verzweifelte Reisen in das Herz der Dunkelheit - siehe die doomig-prägnanten Desintegrationen von "Armageddon". Und es gibt brillant beleuchtete Lichtblicke: die ohnmächtige Eleganz von "Utopia", die sardonische, melodieverliebte Frechheit von "Personality Girlfriend", die Ruhe von "Formaldehyde", ein tragisches Finale auf jedem anderen Album - hier als Opener. Ein Lob auch für die raumgreifenden, epischen Chorschübe von "Everything You Wanted" und die spektakulär bittersüßen Sehnsüchte von "What You're Scared Of", die mit verstreuten Zuckerwürfeln bestückt sind.

Leng Records has long had close ties with the underground music scene in San Francisco, with low-slung dub disco and psychedelic disco outfit 40 Thieves releasing their acclaimed album The Sky Is Yours on the imprint way back in 2014. Now Leng has turned to another stalwart of the Bay Area scene, Cole Odin, on a single that’s every bit as trippy and engrossing as you’d expect from one of San Francisco’s most frequently overlooked talents. Cole made his Leng debut earlier in the year, contributing the electro-influenced track ‘Numbers Game’ to the label’s 10th anniversary compilation. On ‘Little Boxes’, he’s joined by good friend Eddie C, a much-loved disco and house producer from Canada best known for his releases on Endless Flight and Red Motorbike. The pair recorded the track while Eddie was staying with Cole in San Francisco last year.



In keeping with the low-slung, hallucinatory sound that has always been a big feature of the San Franciscan scene, ‘Little Boxes’ is a trippy, mind-altering affair in which waves of sitar sounds, cosmic synths, effects-laden guitars and kaleidoscopic electronics rise above a weighty punk-funk bassline and crunchy, snare-heavy beats. It has serious dancefloor chops but is also atmospheric and immersive: perfect 5am music for Bay Area beach parties and mushrooms-fuelled forest raves.



Fittingly, it’s 40 Thieves who provide the accompanying remix, a 10-minute epic created with the assistance of Adonis and Rodney from the psych rock band ‘Guavatron’ for additional synths and the guitars. Beginning with tabla-style percussion, swirling chords, psychedelic guitar licks and mystical sitar sounds, the remix builds in waves, with looser drums and even weightier bass propelling the track forwards at a metronomic and hypnotic pace. By the time the eyes-closed guitar solos drop two thirds of the way through, you’ll be tripping hard and reaching for the lasers. It’s a genuinely stunning remix of a genuinely intoxicating, mind-mangling track.

Where have you gone, Charles Tolliver? There was such promise in the concept of Music Inc., and in Strata East, but evidently the music world's attention was elsewhere and this tremendous live set was probably heard by only a few hundred sets of ears. On the back of the record sleeve, Tolliver undersigned his mission statement: "Music Inc. was created out of the desire to assemble men able to see the necessity for survival of a heritage and an Art in the hopes that the sacrifices and high level of communication between them will eventually reach every soul." And he isn't kidding. You won't find a much higher level of communication than he, Cecil McBee, Stanley Cowell, and Jimmy Hopps engaged in on May 1, 1970 at Slugs' in New York City. This was much more than an attempt to merely 'preserve acoustic jazz' as in the stilted Marsalis vein. This was an attempt to preserve a measure of authenticity while maintaining the notion of forward-thinking, present-tense improvised music. They deserved a greater response than the lukewarm, sparse applause they received that night, and continue to deserve a far more cognizant audience for their efforts.



Tolliver ('Drought"), McBee ("Felicite"), and Cowell ("Orientale") each contribute a track to the set; though very much distinct, each is equally strong. "Drought" is the kind of dark-hued, well-honed burner which Tolliver routinely produced in his fertile years. "Felicite" is a more contemplative affair, a deeply felt and empathically performed piece; the unit here is in particularly sublime form, merging considerable skill with a staggering depth of emotion. "Orientale" falls somewhere in between the pace of the two, with Cowell's Eastern scales establishing an austere, industrious tone throughout its seventeen-and-a-half-minute length.



Through its duration, the music on Live at Slugs' is often riveting and incessantly compelling. Hopps is a lesser-known entity to me, but the other three players featured here are some of the all-time underrated presences in the jazz pantheon, and they play nothing short of masterfully. Always a presence on his recordings, Tolliver demonstrates tremendous range, flair, and command as a trumpeter and leader. Had he not come along at a time when pure jazz was falling out of favour, I have to believe his name (along with Woody Shaw's) would be every bit as prolific as Freddie Hubbard's or Lee Morgan's; the same holds for the always brilliant and expressive McBee on bass.



I feel saddened that Music Inc. fell so far short of "eventually reaching every soul" - yet fortunate that it eventually reached mine.

New inductees to the Permanent Vacation congregation, say hi to Reznik & Mikesh. To be precise, Mikesh left his mark on the PV backcatalogue in conjunction with Filburt a couple years back already, but in pairing with Keinemusik's mainstay Reznik, it is a premiere for the label. They've previously been dropping joint EP-releases on Mike Simonetti's 2MR imprint and on Keinemusik respectively, now following up with this three chapter spanning "Number Done" EP. And frankly, it is quite a ride.

From the roughed up groove monster that is the opener "Number One" - straight forward in arrangement, yet keeping a tongue in cheek attitude. Rave launching leads, breakbeat climax, pads to fire up frenzy heaven - it is all in place. Followed by "DT64" - in title hinting towards the real-socialist upbringing of the lads, in sound leaning even into Detroit admiration and Techno realms, yet adding their very own take while flashing that subtle piano line and keeping things utmost catchy. To the closing "Almost Wanted", the House-anthem in this batch, building up floor wreaking, piano driven 808 patterns to follow up with glorious string-shaped euphoria in a break that is bound to cause numerous dancefloor meltdowns.

Los Angeles based Alt-rock quartet THE INTERRUPTERS are releasing their first-ever live album "Live In Tokyo!" with a set list that captures the live power that made them one of the busiest touring bands in the world, with fan favorite songs from each of the bands three albums including hit tracks such as "She's Kerosene," "Gave You Everything," "Take Back The Power" and "Bad Guy." Their greatest hits performed in the greatest way you can see THE INTERRUPTERS: LIVE! The past three years have been pivotal for THE INTERRUPTERS. The band toured the world in support of their Fight the Good Fight (2018) album, including their first ever tour stop in Japan, where they captured this energetic live performance for their first live album "Live In Tokyo!" This recording captures the band that is known for their powerful live performances which features the band's most popular tracks from their three Hellcat Records albums. Not to mention, an onslaught of successful touring worldwide including many sold out headlining dates as well as appearances at Download Festival, Slam Dunk and support runs with Green Day and Rancid throughout Europe and the UK. The band shows no signs of slowing down and have recently announced tour dates next year with the Dropkick Murphys across Europe and the UK.

Parisian label Chuwanaga proudly presents Latitude, Saint-James label co-founder new studio project. Keeping it close to the deep jazz-funk ethos of the label, Latitude brings to the light two luminous songs of joy and hope for a better day, highly danceable yet rich and complex grooves with a human feel to feed your soul and make you move. Their new EP Leo / Attitude presents these first effort with a Dub Remix by Mato: plenty of diverse tastes for every music enthusiasts. Available as Vinyl 12" and Digital.

Latitude is french. Not a random collection of chansons sung in french. Latitude is so french in its sheer elegance, in its simple yet so sophisticated seemingly effortless attempt to groove in a pop context, trying to create moments of grace in the process. Latitude is here with the right vibe as the chorus of "Attitude" says it in french: "It’s the bad attitude, always the good latitude". Latitude is sprung out of the wicked musicianship of Parisian jazz-funk and fusion mavericks and Saint-James tight and adventurous compositions and production. All that jazz combined with David Cukier (Greita) retro-futurist engineering skills in these intense sessions captured in his cutting edge vintage Delta studio.

On A Side, "Leo (Extended Mix)" is an uptempo disco track for the dancers but also a beautiful song for the summer. A seductive number with a pregnant classic French jazz-funk feeling with the help of Parisian singer Club Celest’s energy and beautiful voice. It comes on digital as a short edit for radio but as a serious extended 12inch mix on the vinyl with 8 minutes and 10 seconds of pure pleasure, ending in a real climax after an irresistible percussion break.

On B1, "Attitude" enchanting quality shines with a banging rhythm section and goes for the win as an anthem chorus while sweeping synths keep on growing till the very last drop. On B2, Reggae/Dub don Mato (Stix Records) delivers a sweet dub wise riddim for the Lovers Rock massive.

Kryptox records was born to show what's happening in the new scene in germany. And David Nesselhauf is the next upcoming artist. Kryptox will release his 6 track EP.?Nesselhauf is a multi-talented artists: bass player, composer, bandleader and man of very original ideas. He was already featured on the Kryptox' Kraut Jazz Futurism compilation vol 1 (2019) and now delivers his first solo EP for the label.

This EP is a follow up in a longer musical evolution that the Hamburg born talent has been making over the past years. A journey that's basically a style he is building that he calls afro-kraut. Before joining Kryptox he already released 2 albums under the Afrokraut title on his own (Bandcamp) before meeting Mathias Modica (head of Kryptox) and they decided to work together.

So on the "Rituals EP“ Nesselhauf salutes his personal pantheon of musical gods once again, leading the listener through his musical Jungle encompassing Krautrock, Downbeat, Drone, Electronica, Afrobeat, Lo-Fi, Shoegaze, Funk and Ambient textures in the blink of an eye.?The 6 new tracks share a common feel, but are colorful individuals at the same time. Some more organic, others with electronic elements.

About Nesselhaufs workflow: Four of these composition are based on quick, playful, raw jams recorded live within hours by a group of Nesselhauf's inner circle musicians. Great grooves played by a heavy rhythm section that he uses also for his live gigs. Just on a few songs Nesselhauf exchanged the human musicians with a legendary Vermona Drum Synthesizer as the main rhythm ingredient.

Guests: One more track was recorded with Julian Gutjahr, Drummer for The Drawbars. Some tracks feature guest appearances by Dennis Rux (he also mixed the EP) and Graeme Currie on guitar. Soulamadou made his way to one of the tracks just by incidentally leaving a very groovy voice message on David ´s phone ("Zeit").

The material was later bewitched into deep, organic swirls: Trippy, psychedelic somnambulistical. The rather mystical, nocturnal reworking process of the recording added even more dimension and depth, leaving the 6 Tracks ready for home listen, but also for an open minded dancefloor and an otherworldly listening experience at the same time.
The next generations of jazz are just waking up. And Davd Nesselhauf and his bunch are one of these new interesting phenomena. Working in the underground since few years, now hopefully there will be more spotlight on these great new innovators.

Limited edition gold vinyl edition.
Hamburg's funk adventurers at the top of their game with special guests Ice-T, Charlie Funk, Peter Thomas, Gizelle Smith, Lee Fields, JSwiss & the Mocambo Kidz.

Original press release note (2019):
Carrying blistering funk lines in their fingers and worldly influences in their hearts, the unique and distinctive Mocambo sound is not one to be confused with retro bands trying to recapture an era. Eschewing traditional recording methods, this DIY crew are committed to driving forwards, and 2066 sees them at the height of their powers, broadcasting a call for unity.
After reaching new audiences worldwide and earning critical praise for their two long players on Brooklyn's Big Crown Records in their tropical guise as Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the band have reassembled and refocused in their original form, the workhorses behind dozens of 45s on the Mocambo label and beyond. Crossing generations, this album introduces some of the world's youngest funk talent to step up and rub shoulders with soul and rap legends, soul sisters, an elder statesman composer/arranger and a brand new emerging artist out of New York.
As with all Mocambo releases, the two sides of the record have been meticulously sequenced by the
band. Side A welcomes us aboard with joyous instrumental stomper Preaching To The Choir, and a call to build bridges from Mocambo chanteuse and percussionist Nichola Richards, duetting with emerging rap talent, New York MC JSwiss. B-girls and b-boys are called to the dancefloor as Superstrada and Concrete Stardust commence, all buzzing synth lines and relentless drums. New Jersey legend and Big Crown associate Mr Lee Fields is guest of honour for Where Do We Go From Here before a horn workout brings us to a close with Macumba. It's time for a breather.
The B side kicks off with the grand return of the Golden Girl of Funk, Gizelle Smith, a sister who's been busy taking on the world. Composer and presenter Peter Thomas narrates a Return To Space to mark the centenary of the debut of his score to sci-fi show Space Patrol, which first broadcast in 1966. We're back down to Earth and the mean streets for the furious drums and car chase workout of Golden Shadow. Today slows down the pace for a reflective ballad with Nichola front and centre - and here's the next generation: the Mocambo Kidz sing along to their parents' instrumentation for Here We Go, a new kids' block party anthem... with no sleep 'til bedtime. The album closer makes it clear that the Mocambos are nowhere near powering down as Ice T and Charlie F unk bring their A-game for an old school attack which, since you're up bouncing anyway, gives you no excuse not to flip the LP and drop the needle right back on to Side A. Onwards!
A summation of their journey so far and a celebration in anticipation of what's to come, the album is set
to take its place in a legacy of open minded, organically recorded music, showering listeners with the crew's maze of tantalising sounds pulled from funk, afro, hip hop with cinematic composition and storytelling.

With his ongoing commitment to like-minded archivist label Finders Keepers Records, industrial music pioneer Steven Stapleton further entrusts us to lift the veil and expose “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary and oft misinterpreted psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List.
Following the critically lauded first instalment and it’s exclusively French tracklisting both parties now combine their vinyl-vulturous penchants to bring you the next ‘Strain Crack & Break’ edition which consists of twelve lesser-known German records that played a hugely important part in the initial foundations of the list which began to unfold when Stapleton was just thirteen years old.
From the perspective of a schoolboy Amon Düül (ONE) victim, at the start of a journey that commenced before phrases like kosmische and the xeno-ignant Krautrock tag had become mag hack currency, this compendium is devoid of the tropes that united what many would accurately argue to be the greatest progressive pop bands in Europe
(namely CAN, Neu! and Kraftwerk) and rather shatters the ingredients across a ground zero landscape for both inquisitive fans and socially rehabbing musos to begin to assemble a unique self-styled identity. If Krautrock was the music that journalist told us lurked behind schlager (German pop) in the 1970s, then this record includes the music that skulked behind Krautrock and perhaps refused to polish its backhanded name belt.
Including lesser-known artists like the late Wolfgang Dauner, whose career proceeded and outlived the kosmische movement while consistently informing and outsmarting them whenever they got stuck in their metronomic ruts, or how about Fritz Müller, the man who
was to Kraftwerk what Stuart Sutcliffe was to The Beatles but had more in common with Yoko and quite rightly couldn’t give a stuff about the Fab Four’s Hamburg roots.
Elsewhere we have a plethora of German bands made for German audiences as they try and shed secondhand flower power Americanisms and feel the benefits of much harder drugs and the realisations of difficult second album budgets while Kommune 1
newsflashes wipe smiles from everybody’s faces and replace them with opioid chic or acid-sarcastic grins. Bonzo Cockettes show us their Big Muffs and drummers ask for extra mics while Conny Plank goes for parliamentary office and gives babies good firm handshakes for the camera.
‘Strain Crack & Break: Volume Two’ is the sound of Steve Stapleton’s sponge-like mind and the dividends of anyone who was brave enough to even peek inside those brick-thick gatefold covers never mind drop the needle.
Over forty years since Nurse With Wound’s first album was released, Finders Keepers Records and Steve Stapleton take connoisseurs of our kind of music back to the disused elevator shaft towards ground zero. Arriving at the same checkout from different departments, Finders Keepers and Nurse With Wound continue to sing from the same hymnal with this ongoing collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from Steve’s list, where many overzealous erds have faltered (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick).
After ‘Strain Crack & Break: Volume One’ merely scratched the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities, this second lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium drives a much deeper groove which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focusses exclusively on individual tracks of German origin - the country whose music forged the prototype of the NWW inventory in the form of his secondary school vinyl wantlist in the early 1970s, comprised of disassembled free jazz, unshowered stoner psych, hypnotic prog, deranged monk funk and fuzzed out Deutschmark bin bonzo beats.

A sonic clash of Tropical, On-U and Eastern proportions, t-woc drops 6 tracks of dope sound system bashment for Strangelove. Informed by Mick's musical wanderlust and prolific digging, Pentangle deftly blends a mélange of influences where Caribbean steel drum, Anatolian melodies and the sounds of the Maghreb all float through the mix.

Like his work for Macadam Mambo/ Emotional Response- its a sound hard to pin down and all woven into a heady brew percolating somewhere in the dance-floor twilight zone. With early works created pre-lockdown at an artist residency in The Dock in County Leitrim, the heads down groove of 'Crazy Bronco' & 'Goddy' don't sound out of place with an early 90's Uk bass culture. Elsewhere the deeper cuts rub against a little sunshine as the late night swing of Midnight Magic riffs off Junior Delgado's roots classic.

With killer artwork c/o Marius Houschyar Strangelove is super stoked to release this collection of outernational rhythms from the Irish vinyl wallah, mix engineer and producer

Vital Sales Points:
Follow up to the labels previous exotic waves of Scribble & Sjunne Ferger,

Over the past decade, Egyptian-born, Barcelona-based DJ and techno producer Raxon, known to friends and family as Ahmed Raxon, has popped out a steady stream of twelve-inch singles, precision-tooled, for labels like Cocoon, Drumcode, Diynamic, Truesoul, and Ellum Audio. An alumni of Kompakt’s Speicher series – check the insistent, vibrating pulses of “The Ancient” and “Dark Light” on 2019’s Speicher 107 – with Sound Of Mind, Raxon has produced a long-awaited debut album that’s ready and aching both for the dancefloor and the boudoir, traversing the heat of the club and the warmth of the home.

“The idea of an album has always floated around in my head for the past few years,” Raxon confirms, “but it was never the right moment in my mind.” Instead, he’s been insistently pursuing his vision of deep, elegant techno, taking him from early DJ gigs in Dubai, including the legendary audio tonic night, then relocating to Europe on the recommendation of Herman Cattaneo, all the while allowing his experiences to inform and transmute his producer’s thumbprint. He’s an architect by training (though he gave architecture up for electronic music), which might explain why Raxon productions are so sturdy and well-designed; but remember also that architecture is a field filled with brave experimentation, something Raxon definitely draws on throughout Sound Of Mind.

Like many albums from the past twelve months, Raxon’s debut developed partly thanks to the unique social situation the planet has found itself caught within. “In the beginning of 2020 I started working on a few tracks with the album in mind,” he recalls, “with no idea of what’s to come in the next few months. As catastrophic as the situation was/is, I found myself in the studio; in a way the lockdown gave me that creative freedom in the studio, to try to tell my story through sound.” And indeed, there is something in the way of ‘life writing’ about Sound Of Mind, particularly in the way Raxon’s productions pay subtle homage, perhaps, to his formative listening experiences in the late nineties.

It’s no retro trip, but there’s plenty of variety here, and a few moments that’ll tickle the collective memory – see the prowling pulsations of the opening “Majestic”, the alien breakbeat action of “Vice” and “Journey Mode”, where the interstellar tones feel like Foul Play or Steve Gurley, the leaking gas and woozy keys that make “Droid Solo” so subtly destabilising, or the strobelight drones that sputter and flare throughout “El Multiverse”, where dappled organ tones fight it out with interdimensional transmissions, all sucked into the vortex of a late-night techno mantra. Beautifully sculpted, Sound Of Mind feels consummate, an elegant set that pulls Raxon’s vision into its sharpest focus. Alive with possibilities, it’s a fever dream of creativity.

In den letzten zehn Jahren hat der in Ägypten geborene und in Barcelona lebende DJ und Techno-Produzent Raxon, der Freunden und Familie auch als Ahmed Raxon bekannt ist, eine ganze Reihe von 12inch-Singles auf Labels wie Cocoon, Drumcode, Diynamic, Truesoul und Ellum Audio veröffentlicht. Wir kennen Raxon außerdem durch seinen Beitrag zur Kompakt Extra/Speicher-Reihe – man höre sich nur mal "The Ancient" und "Dark Light" auf dem 2019 erschienenen Speicher 107 an. Nun hat Raxon mit “Sound Of Mind“ sein lang erwartetes Debütalbum produziert, das sowohl für den Dancefloor als auch für die eigenen vier Wände geeignet ist und dabei sowohl die Hitze des Clubs als auch die Wärme des eigenen Zuhauses durchmisst.

"Die Idee eines Albums schwebte in den letzten Jahren immer in meinem Kopf herum", bestätigt Raxon, "aber es gab nie den richtige Moment." Stattdessen verfolgte er leidenschaftlich seine Vision von tiefem, elegantem Techno, die ihn von frühen DJ-Gigs in Dubai, einschließlich der legendären Audio-Tonic-Nacht, dann auf Empfehlung von Hernan Cattaneo nach Europa führte. Im Laufe dieser Zeit sammelte er unzählige Erfahrungen, die es ihm erlaubten, seinen Stil als Produzent mehr und mehr zu transformieren. Raxon ist gelernter Architekt (obwohl er die Architektur für die elektronische Musik aufgegeben hat), was vielleicht erklärt, warum seine Produktionen so robust und gut durchdacht sind; aber man sollte auch nicht vergessen, dass Architektur bestenfalls immer ein Feld mutiger Experimente ist, etwas, worauf Raxon in “Sound Of Mind“ definitiv zurückgreift.

Wie viele andere Alben der letzten zwölf Monate auch wurde Raxon’s Debüt von der einzigartigen gesellschaftlichen Situation, in der sich der Planet momentan befindet, beeinflusst. "Anfang 2020 habe ich angefangen, an ein paar Tracks für das Album zu arbeiten", erinnert er sich, "ohne zu wissen, was in den nächsten Monaten auf uns zukommen würde. So katastrophal die Situation auch war/ist, ich fand mich im Studio wieder; in gewisser Weise gab mir der Lockdown auch eine kreative Freiheit im Studio, um zu versuchen, eine Geschichte durch meinen Sound zu erzählen." Und in der Tat gibt es auf “Sound Of Mind“ so etwas wie eine "Lebensgeschichte", besonders in der Art und Weise, wie Raxon’s Produktionen eine subtile Hommage an seine prägenden musikalischen Erfahrungen in den späten Neunzigern darstellen.

Es ist fürwahr kein Retro-Trip, aber es gibt hier viel Abwechslung und ein paar Momente, die das kollektive Gedächtnis kitzeln werden - zum Beispiel der sich langsam heran pirschende Pulsschlag im Eröffnungstrack "Majestic", oder die außerirdischen Breakbeats von "Vice" und "Journey Mode", in denen sich die interstellaren Sounds ein wenig wie Foul Play oder Steve Gurley anfühlen. Dann das ausströmende Gas und die wummernden Tasten, die "Droid Solo" subtil destabilisieren, oder die Strobo-Drones, die in "El Multiverse" herum sprudeln und flackern, wo einzelne Töne einer Orgel mit interdimensionalen Transmittern um die Wette strahlen und schließlich in den Strudel eines nächtlichen Techno-Mantras gesogen werden. “Sound Of Mind“ fühlt sich formvollendet an, wie ein elegantes Set, das Raxon’s Vision verstärkt in den Fokus rückt. Ein Fiebertraum voller Kreativität und Möglichkeiten.

Imperium Droop brings two mavericks of sweeping exploration together into new avenues of musical expression. Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner explore a liminal space between improvisation and composition, a fluid yet defined sound-space, founded on the unique chemistry of their friendship and pushing into the future. Kid Millions stands as one of the most sought after drummers and improvisers in NYC, known for his work as the drummer for Oneida, his expansive solo work as Man Forever, as well as collaborations and performances with the likes of Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Royal Trux, Boredoms, White Hills, and Spiritualized. Regardless of who he's working with Kid Millions radically redefines the drums as an instrument. Jan St. Werner has consistently remained at the vanguard of electronic music. In his work as one half of the visionary duo Mouse On Mars, as well as his acclaimed solo work both as a composer and sound artist, and in collaborations with The Fall's Mark E Smith, Oval's Markus Popp, Stereolab, and The National St. Werner constantly pushes the limits of recorded sound. Together, Millions and Werner have crafted a monument of unpredictable beauty built on breathless forays into the unknown. Werner's application of a seemingly infinite arsenal of textures unleashes colorful swaths of energy. Mats Gustaffson joins Werner on the maximalist "Color Bagpipes," unleashing torrents of swiveling melody and breathy clicks over the exponential thunder of Millions' drum kit. Pieces like "Dark Tetrad" and "Astral Stare" demonstrate the duo's mastery of space and surprise. Dark flutters flow in slow pulses across "Apotropaic" where erratic swirls of sound twist and mutate on "Sorrows and Compensations," unified as a single force by the overwhelming diversity of sounds. Millions' drums effortlessly rides each wave of Werner's prismatic deluges and channels their energy into dynamic movements. Through his singular prowess, Millions' tireless rhythms and subtle gestures mirror Werner's boundless textural palette and drive each piece towards transcendence. On Imperium Droop, Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner have combined their powers into an incomparable work of gripping and intrepid sonic fluctuations.

A year before Wild Pitch Records properly introduced us to the trio of Queens native Large Professor and Toronto’s Sir Scratch and K-Cut, the soon-to-be-legendary group self-released their own debut single. Dropping on Actual Records, the 12” of ‘Think’ and ‘Atom’ was soon a sought after rarity, with scarce originals still fetching upwards of three figures.

On it, they only hint at the greatness to come, while simultaneously showing that they’d already mastered the three-minute rap single – this is concise brilliance with no flab whatsoever.

Engineered by the late, esteemed Paul C, ‘Think’ is a study in how to turn well-worn samples into something new. The combination of several James Brown snatches, along with bits lifted from Lyn Collins and Jimmy Castor Bunch, could have been tired and almost parodic by 1989, but instead the group weave something interesting from old fabric.

‘Atom’ is arguably even better, built around a brace of elements from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 duet ‘Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl’. On it, Large Pro gives the first real hints that he’ll not just be a super-producer, but a committed MC to watch. Mixing threats with humour, positivity with braggadocio, it’s a calling card performance on a track that could have still sat comfortably on 1991’s ‘Breaking Atoms’ album.

Heavily bootlegged, this is the first official double-sided 7” release bringing together both these foundational cuts.

For Bajram Bili, every new record is the kick off for reinventing himself in a series of explorations and experimentations.
After venturing through techno, Adrien Gachet opens a new page bursting with artistic possibilities and sonic freedom. His new research is founded on two cornerstones : his reassuming of the piano, the historic medium he’s left aside those past years, and the deconstruction of contemporary electronic music. The result is a flush yet tight affair condensing the broad spectrum of its ambitions in just six tracks.
A true mine for textures and melodies, Detuning Euphoria feels like a blinding mirage. The music conjugates cinematic composition and borrowings of the 2020’s club music, where laser synths and skeletal beats melt one another in bare and frontal feelings. It’s a total work, an exhilarating and untamed piece opening a new chapter in a maniac and turbulent discography. We’re very proud to be associated to this new stage of Bajram Bili’s fascinating research for new horizons.

It’s been ten years since Adrian Gachet first ventured into electronic soundscapes under his Bajram Bili moniker. On wax, the project started with the romantic label Another Record with the Sequenced Fog EP and his dance-kraut manifest of a debut album Saturdays With No Memory.
The affair became more muscular with the acquaintance of the Neo Punks from Le Turc Mecanique. After a first warning with the break-heavy Distant Drone (with the banger ‘Roger and Stan’) and the blasting Need Meditation, the Remembered Waves LP is released, oscillating between ecstatic urgency and foggy electric landscapes.
The following Spin / Consequence was dedicated to the drills of seminal techno giving way to the quieter Reshaped Distortion EP on Chloe’s label Lumière Noire.
Those years of intense creation, massive live sets and federating DJ sets come together in today’s new research, mixing the experience of his epic machinery with the deviation of the acoustic piano, following the aesthetic of his new record Detuning Euphoria.

This album of rarities was curated by Andrew Brooksbank and Stephen Webbon with Peter Murphy's guidance. It contains 10 rare tracks that are demo versions, remixes and edits. A1: Final Solution (Club Mix 2) A2: The Light Pours Out Of Me (Original Version) A3: Tale Of The Tongue (Single Edit) A4: I've Got A Miniature Secret Camera A5: Strange Kind Of Love (Remix Edit Version) B1: Cool Cool Breeze B2: The Sweetest Drop (Rave Edit) B3: Groovy Place B4: Wish B5: Jemal (Version 2)

VERTAAL Ajit Gill & Theo Howarth sharing a love of groove & improvisation, forming

musical ideas traversing spiritual nu-jazz, Dilla-esque hip-hop, broken beat & neo-soul.

Recorded during the thick of the Covid lockdown, Kevin, Tony, & Eric hunkered down in their studio and turned their energy inward. With all live shows and future tours canceled, Brainstory had no other outlet besides their rehearsal space which had been converted into a makeshift studio. Stepping up to the obstacles of the moment, they recorded and produced an EP of brand new music. They were already highly skilled musicians two years ago, but time in the studio with Leon Michels producing Buck and playing alongside bands like Holy Hive and Chicano Batman had a profound effect on them. Their ears have developed, their ethos and their drive has matured, their musicianship is full-blown; hence the name of the EP, Ripe. Ripe is a seven song journey into who Brainstory are as people and as a band. They are lighthearted and fun but never anything less than dead serious about their artistry. In choosing to record a mostly instrumental record, they have departed from their 2019 debut Buck and are showing more of their Jazz roots. Ripe pulls from Jazz, Hip Hop, 70s Funk, 60s Soul, and life in Southern California in the year 2021. Kev's intro to the EP is a testament to their thing, his goofy and charming "let's go baby_.less go baby" is welcoming and fun and then "Scissors" drops - serious as can be. The first vocal number we hear is "Seasons", a song about maintaining through the challenges of 2020 that would make Roy Ayers proud. "Long Day" and "Rogers" are drenched in reefer and psychedelia and promise a moment away from reality if listened to in headphones. "Bye Bye" is another stone cold ballad from the group that is destined to be a staple in sweet soul sets around the globe. Ripe is a welcome ray of sunshine as we all shake off the darkness of 2020 and will hold fans over while they finish recording their full length sophomore album due out in 2022.

COLORED VINYL IS TRANSPARENT WITH ORANGE & GREEN SPLATTER. Recorded during the thick of the Covid lockdown, Kevin, Tony, & Eric hunkered down in their studio and turned their energy inward. With all live shows and future tours canceled, Brainstory had no other outlet besides their rehearsal space which had been converted into a makeshift studio. Stepping up to the obstacles of the moment, they recorded and produced an EP of brand new music. They were already highly skilled musicians two years ago, but time in the studio with Leon Michels producing Buck and playing alongside bands like Holy Hive and Chicano Batman had a profound effect on them. Their ears have developed, their ethos and their drive has matured, their musicianship is full-blown; hence the name of the EP, Ripe. Ripe is a seven song journey into who Brainstory are as people and as a band. They are lighthearted and fun but never anything less than dead serious about their artistry. In choosing to record a mostly instrumental record, they have departed from their 2019 debut Buck and are showing more of their Jazz roots. Ripe pulls from Jazz, Hip Hop, 70s Funk, 60s Soul, and life in Southern California in the year 2021. Kev's intro to the EP is a testament to their thing, his goofy and charming "let's go baby_.less go baby" is welcoming and fun and then "Scissors" drops--serious as can be. The first vocal number we hear is "Seasons", a song about maintaining through the challenges of 2020 that would make Roy Ayers proud. "Long Day" and "Rogers" are drenched in reefer and psychedelia and promise a moment away from reality if listened to in headphones. "Bye Bye" is another stone cold ballad from the group that is destined to be a staple in sweet soul sets around the globe. Ripe is a welcome ray of sunshine as we all shake off the darkness of 2020 and will hold fans over while they finish recording their full length sophomore album due out in 2022.

Heavy music’s evolution has always been a murky swamp of sub-genres. So, combining Thin Lizzy’s glistening twin guitar harmonies with Melvins- grade sludge and a hearty dose of proto-metal psych probably shouldn’t sound so revolutionary as it does in the hands of L.A. quartet Deathchant. But theirs is a special, transcendent sound.
Waste, the band’s sophomore album and first for RidingEasy Records, is anything but. The 33-minute, 7-song blast flows seamlessly from song to song, aided by droning segues, while simultaneously slithering between genres and moods. Rumbling noise, chiming guitar melodies, bluesy boogie, NWOBHM thrash, COC grunge and punk fury all rear their head at times, sometimes all at once.
Though you wouldn’t be able to tell by the concise structures and well- crafted songs, a lot of Deathchant’s music is improvised, both in the studio and live. That’s not to suggest their songs are jammy — they’re very tightly organized compositions. But the four musicians have that special musical telepathy that allows them to keep the song structures open-ended.
“Improv is a huge things for us and always has been,” singer/guitarist T.J. Lemieux says. “The musical freedom to look at the other dudes in the band and be able to take things wherever we want to go is magical. I like the feel of flying off the hinges.”
Likewise, the band itself is similarly amorphous in its membership. “We run the band with an open door. No lineup is definitive,” Lemieux explains. On Waste, the lineup is: Lemieux, George Camacho on bass, Colin Fahrner on drums, and John Belino on second guitar.
Waste was recorded live in a rented cabin in the mountains of Big Bear, CA. “We packed a big-ass van and set up in the living room and kitchen,” Lemieux says. “Tracked it live, with overdubs after.” The whole album was recorded over two separate weekends, engineered by Steve Schroeder, who also recorded the band’s 2019 self-titled debut album.
“I’d say it has sort of a DIY LA punk aesthetic,” he adds. “Very ironically going hand in hand with a classic metal vibe: Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, classic Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and other melodic heavy rock bands.”

Heavy music’s evolution has always been a murky swamp of sub-genres. So, combining Thin Lizzy’s glistening twin guitar harmonies with Melvins- grade sludge and a hearty dose of proto-metal psych probably shouldn’t sound so revolutionary as it does in the hands of L.A. quartet Deathchant. But theirs is a special, transcendent sound.
Waste, the band’s sophomore album and first for RidingEasy Records, is anything but. The 33-minute, 7-song blast flows seamlessly from song to song, aided by droning segues, while simultaneously slithering between genres and moods. Rumbling noise, chiming guitar melodies, bluesy boogie, NWOBHM thrash, COC grunge and punk fury all rear their head at times, sometimes all at once.
Though you wouldn’t be able to tell by the concise structures and well- crafted songs, a lot of Deathchant’s music is improvised, both in the studio and live. That’s not to suggest their songs are jammy — they’re very tightly organized compositions. But the four musicians have that special musical telepathy that allows them to keep the song structures open-ended.
“Improv is a huge things for us and always has been,” singer/guitarist T.J. Lemieux says. “The musical freedom to look at the other dudes in the band and be able to take things wherever we want to go is magical. I like the feel of flying off the hinges.”
Likewise, the band itself is similarly amorphous in its membership. “We run the band with an open door. No lineup is definitive,” Lemieux explains. On Waste, the lineup is: Lemieux, George Camacho on bass, Colin Fahrner on drums, and John Belino on second guitar.
Waste was recorded live in a rented cabin in the mountains of Big Bear, CA. “We packed a big-ass van and set up in the living room and kitchen,” Lemieux says. “Tracked it live, with overdubs after.” The whole album was recorded over two separate weekends, engineered by Steve Schroeder, who also recorded the band’s 2019 self-titled debut album.
“I’d say it has sort of a DIY LA punk aesthetic,” he adds. “Very ironically going hand in hand with a classic metal vibe: Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, classic Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and other melodic heavy rock bands.”

• The tracks from the group’s two 1984 EPs together on a swanky 10-inch vinyl LP. Inner bag features liner notes by Kris Needs incorporating new interviews with all three Delmonas and a series of great photos by Eugene Doyen.

• Sarah Crouch, Hilary Wilkins and Louise Baker started singing together as a unique spark of spontaneous magic inextricably linked to their boyfriends in the Milkshakes, then rocking a garage-punk antidote to shiny synth-pop and brash chart stars with a direct lifeline back to rock’n’roll’s original simplicity and wildness. After Billy Childish and Bruce Brand formed the Pop Rivets in 1978, the guys hooked up with Micky Hampshire and Russell Wilkins to found the Milkshakes. Sarah shared a student house with boyfriend Micky plus Billy. After she and Hilary, then dating Russell, sang backing vocals on the Milkshakes’ rollicking Beatles-translated take on the Shirelles’ ‘Boys’, Louise’s arrival turned them into a girl group pretty much by accident.

• “I loved the music the Milkshakes were playing,” Louise recalls. “Loved the small, intimate venues and most of the bands that played with them, especially the Prisoners. I’d gone with the Milkshakes to Belgium and was somehow persuaded to get up on stage and sing something. Next thing I knew, there was some kind of plan to get the three of us in the studio.” At first the three girls were called the Milk-boilers, renaming themselves the Delmonas by the time Ace Records’ Roger Armstrong and Ted Carroll suggested recording the EPs that furnish this collection. “I think we were asked to each think of three songs and turn up,” says Louise. “I mostly listened to music from the 60s: lots of girl groups, Irma Thomas, Dusty Springfield, Bo Diddley, Velvet Underground, Kinks. Bruce had the best record collection; Mel Tormé was in there somewhere and one of my faves. Sarah came up with doing the Doors cover.”

• ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ was written as an instrumental before Bob Dorough added lyrics and Mel Tormé recorded it in 1962. The Delmonas’ finger-clicking, noir-dynamic version kicked off their first EP with authentic-sounding 60s production resonance, iced with mysterioso organ. The Cookies scored a hit with Goffin & King’s ‘Chains’ in 1962, the Beatles’ version providing the Hamburg Star-Club template for the Delmonas’ energised rendition. The first EP, “The Delmonas Volume 1”, rounded off with two songs from the Childish-Hampshire songwriting partnership: ‘Woa’ Now’ and ‘He Tells Me He Loves Me’, the latter recalling the New York Dolls covering the Shangri-Las’ ‘Give Him A Great Big Kiss’, mainly because it has similar chords.

• “The Delmonas Volume 2” opened with Sarah’s idea of covering the Doors’ hit. “We thought, ‘How would the Kinks have played it?’” she affirms. ‘Hello, I Love You’ had got the Doors into hot water with the Kinks’ publishers for its resemblance to ‘All Day And All Of The Night’. The Delmonas home in and highlight that similarity, adding bonkers psychedelic drop and evocative new coda. Their surf-tinged version of the Milkshakes’ ‘I’m The One For You’ is followed by the swampy screaming of ‘Peter Gunn Locomotion’, a cover of a 1963 single by Freddie Starr in his pre-stand-up comedian days as singer with the Midnighters. The set closed with the sultry organ-led vamp of the Milkshakes’ ‘I Want You’, the nearest the Delmonas get to the slowies Sarah helpfully points out they referred to as “shag songs”.

• All these tracks would re-appear on their “Dangerous Charms” album, along with out-takes and recordings from a BBC session, before the original trio splintered, leaving Sarah and Hilary to return for further adventures as Ludella Black and Ida Red. The eight tracks here capture a moment when three fun-loving friends got to live out some musical fantasies and had a blast doing it. 37 years later, it sounds just as contagious.

Frontiers is the first compositional solo album from ALC-Angelos Liaros Copola creating a mesmerizing soundtrack by blending drone, ambient and dark electronics in a powerful pulsating narrative with a strong cinematic approach.

Death Waltz Recording Co., in partnership with Milan Records, A24, and Stage 6 Films, is proud to present the soundtrack to Saint Maud.



The score by Adam Janota Bzowski is a stand-alone work of genius, it’s minimal, restrained, claustrophobic, and unrelenting. Its minimalist approach allows Bzowski to fully explore sound design and ambient drones while still creating a mesmerizing soundtrack album full of gorgeous themes. A masterpiece.

A24’s SAINT MAUD, by director Rose Glass, is an absolute tour de force. One of the best horror films of the last ten years, it’s genuinely chilling and scary. It deserves your time, continuing the winning streak from A24 started with The Lighthouse, Midsommar, and Hereditary.

Bring Me The Head of Kyle Bobby Dunn is a full length triple vinyl reissue of the original 2012 double compact disc album from Canadian composer Kyle Bobby Dunn. It was recorded at Bunce Cake studios in Brooklyn and remote parts of Ontario. The compositions are mostly long, slowly evolving minimal ambient and drone based works created from electric guitar processing. Perhaps more cinematic than previous albums, some pieces have since appeared in BBC documentaries and independent films over the years since its release. The original recordings on this Diggers Factory vinyl edition, however, have been remastered and practically rebuilt from the fog of their initial masters which have often been considered the composer's most quiet and even translucent works. Iranian composers and engineers, Milad Bagheri and Maryam Sirvan have brought out a certain clarity and freshness to the music and Dunn has considered it an almost completely different listening experience from the originals.
The album was critically praised and became a favourite of most fans and even after several subsequent albums later it remains a favourite and of the composer's as well.

JP Harris has a secret: his name is actually “Squash.” Long before Harris
became a well regarded honky-tonker, he used his childhood nickname
while playing archaic “old-time” American tunes at underground fiddlers’
gatherings, engrossed in this punkish folk music world.
‘Don’t You Marry No Railroad Man’, his debut recording of traditional music
under the moniker JP Harris’ Dreadful Wind and Rain, features ten tracks spanning the breadth of American old-time repertoire. Harris wades between ancient ballads that traveled from the British Isles to Appalachia like “Barbry Ellen,” to droning banjo ditties such as Hobart Smith’s entrancing “Last Chance,”
here played on one of Harris’ coveted homemade banjos. Harris also works as a
serious carpenter which adds a unique authenticity to his versions of the classic
“House Carpenter” and lesser known “The Little Carpenter.”
Alongside Harris’ haunting vocals, the album prominently features the lowtuned fiddle and harmony singing of his longtime friend and Old Crow Medicine Show member Chance McCoy, who produced the record at his West Virginia studio in an old barn. On this sparse and arresting recording, Harris isn’t
mining his roots as a marketing pitch, he has the chops to back it up. In fact,
this collection of songs made him who he is today. Welcome home “Squash.”

Cloudwalker was entirely written and produced between March and November 2020. The album is a welcome return of Martin Haidinger's more notable style after the floating tranquility of the ambient/drone series of albums like Entre Les Chambres and Deux Nouvelles. What's contained within Cloudwalker mirrors its name. Haidinger takes Gimmik on a somewhat weightless journey above the clouds floating between the electronic music he nurtured in the Toytronic years.
These new tracks represent a production concept where Martin saw himself more like a witness of a moving organism than a planning architect. This approach gave the music the space to evolve more freely, like clouds. It broadened the emotional sound pallet of Gimmik's style without denying its heritage. The same philosophy was implemented when choosing the produc- tion tools, representing technology from 1958 to 2019, including field recording and manipulated real instruments.
The emphasis is clearly on songwriting rather than nano edits and ball bearings down stairs beats. The result is clean melodic electronica, bouncy Electro, engaging maternal downtempo, and expertly crafted modular synthesis. Every detail has the technical Haidinger approach with a strong focus on telling a story, leaving a lot of emotional space for the imagination of the listener. Cloudwalker is a confident and warm return to form from an artist that was sorely missed in his time away.

Macro will be out on May 28th on transparent orange vinyl, meticulously mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studios.
Macro is the sophomore album from Milan-based ambient trio PCM. Francesco Perra, plus Matteo(s) Cantaluppi and Milea, have returned with a shimmering majestic offering that sidesteps their previous album Attraveso's use of drone and more crystal clear classic ambient motifs to display something more texturally visceral.

From the lush widescreen ambient of the title track to the more experimental detail of the album closer Zoom, Macro billows with gratifyingly detailed fibrous ambient punctuated by collaborations with Eraldo Bernocchi and Calibro 35's Massimo Martellotta.

ave you ever been trippin' on Brandy? Well here's your chance to get down... deep down. Served by two kings in the industry who wish to remain unnamed.
Dropping the octaves and upping the opiates, the duo slow dance an R'n'B vocal through dewy pads and echoing perx, concocting a late night anthem for the club and the bedroom.

Those who pay close attention to DJ Harvey’s sets should already be familiar with NuNorthern Soul’s next single, a fully licensed reissue of a sought-after 1980 promotional seven-inch from legendary Spanish Flamenco singer Manuel Mancheño Peña, better known as El Turronero (‘The Nougat’).

Both ‘Las Penas’ and ‘Si Yo Volviera A Nacer’ have long been secret weapons in the sets of dusty-fingered Balearic DJs, with Harvey regularly dropping the tracks during his sessions at Pikes Hotel on the White Isle.

Both tracks first appeared on Pena’s 1980 album New Hondo, a set that updated the then veteran Flamenco artist’s sound for the disco era. Whereas most of his previous albums were more traditional Flamenco affairs, New Hondo combined his throaty, effervescent Flamenco singing style with the driving grooves, swooping orchestration and spacey synthesizer sounds of European disco.

To promote the album, Spanish label DB Belter pressed up a promotional “45” featuring two of the most club-friendly cuts on the album. It’s this release that is being reissued for the very first time by NuNorthern Soul.

A-side ‘Las Penas’ is undoubtedly an off-kilter, late-night disco classic. Built around a flanged, action-packed disco-funk bassline, metronomic beats. soaring and layered female backing vocals, intergalactic synth sounds and stirring strings, the track steps up a level when ‘El Turronero’ takes to the microphone to belt out an infectious, energetic vocal in his trademark Flamenco style. It’s the kind of cut that’s as haunting and intoxicating as it is funky and floor friendly.

Flipside ‘Si You Volviera A Nacer’, another of New Hendo’s most sought-after tracks, is another unique and righteous concoction. Looser, groovier and warmer in tone, it sees another sublime, Flamenco style lead vocal from Pena accompanied by even funkier bass, spiralling ’70s synthesizer sounds, sweaty drums and some seriously exotic instrumental flourishes (think sitar and kalimba). It’s every bit as alluring as the more driving A-side, and equally as playable.

Both tracks may be unusual in comparison to the artist’s other releases, but they expertly capture a moment in time, when disco dominated dancefloors all over the world and inspired even the most traditional and historic of European musical styles. Quite a number of flamenco-disco records were made in Spain during the late ’70s and early ’80s, but very few are quite as magical as these.

Adopted Berliner hailing originally from the US, Kyle Geiger is not just an experienced DJ and producer, having already released on staple techno imprints Soma, Perc Trax and Droid, but also a budding production teacher via his Twitch livestream started during the first lockdown of 2020. When he’s not sharing knowledge about DAWs and shedding light on diverse voices in the music scenes, he also runs his labels Cubero and Front Left.

Across three techno excursions, collectively dubbed 'Bellhouse' and numbered 1 to 3, Kyle uses recurrent themes and motifs to craft intricate techno rollers in different forms. 'Bellhouse 1' stands out as a peak time dancefloor track, complete with heavy-hitting percussion, a dramatic lead and scintillating hi hats. 'Bellhouse 2' on the other hand comes off as a more subtle, restrained groove, whose nervousness can keep the energy high, while the third track can be found more on the dubby side, with metallic synths and mechanical whirs atop a steadily evolving marching bass. Hosts Rebar take on 'Bellhouse 2' giving it their own spin - distilling its fidgety atmosphere into a more anchored, mind-bending slow burner.

In the past years, the multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and music enthusiast Jeff Özdemir had been focusing on organising the Live-Mixtape series in Berlin, inviting numerous artists to join him on stage for every single event. However, the year 2020 put an end to this for all the painfully obvious and obviously painful reasons. Undeterred, he instead put together the third instalment of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, working with singers, musicians and groups such as Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex, F.S. Blumm, Joanna Gemma Auguri, Elke Brauweiler and Elmer Kussiac for an 18-track … Now, is this a compilation or an artist album? Well, why just either this or that when it can just be both at once? This is »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« after all, emphasis on »&«.

Released on Karaoke Kalk like its two predecessors from the years 2015 and 2017, respectively, »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« sees the man behind Kreuzberg’s 33rpm record store and the 33rpm Records label showcase his qualities as a people remixer, songwriter and versatile musician. He put together a collection of groovy tunes picking up on funk and afrobeat rhythms, introspective ballads, a musically channeled punk attitude, shoegaze sentiments, spoken word passages, drones, glockenspiel sounds, seriously fun experimentation and much more. Just like on the cover artwork - courtesy of Marion Eichmann, Özdemir’s favourite visual artist - everything here seems to discreetly exist for itself while being tightly connected to everything else at same time.

While artists like Ertan Doğancı, Désolé Léo, eng°n, F.S. Blumm and Zap have been long-term collaborators of Özdemir and were featured on previous instalments of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, new faces and forces also enter the mix. The melancholic »Love Letters« for example marks the first (though hopefully not last) collaboration with singer Joanna Gemm Auguri, while Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex’s appearance has been dreamt of collectively but hasn’t been fully realised until now.

Whether it’s Désolé Léo’s French crooner soul, the lo-fi synth pop song »Bored« featuring former Commercial Breakup singer Elke Brauweiler or the many different sounds and styles presented under the name Jeff Özdemir: no decision is ever made between either that or this musical direction, but all are being joyfully enjoyed together. Thus, throughout its 70 minutes, the stylistic diversity of »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« does not once border on randomness. Instead, these sometimes very different songs are marked by a shared atmosphere - a direct result of these very different musicians approaching their studio time together less as a chance to make music but more of a chance to carefully listen to and interact with each other.

Just like you’d expect it from someone deeply connected with the local music community who also happens to run a record store, Özdemir is also the kind of person who’ll hand you the worn copy of a record he has just fished out from the bargain bin because he knows about its potential to change your life. The contributions by Vackrow (»Kleistpark«), Gebrüder Teichmann’s old band BeigeGT (»Disco«), and Otto von Bismarck (»Zu viele Erinnerungen«, produced by The Whitest Boy Alive’s Daniel Nentwig) do not even feature Özdemir, but are simply musical pearls that were (almost) lost in the shuffle of music history and unearthed for this very special occasion. That’s just what friends do, don’t they?

One of the most significant collections in Trojan’s immense catalogue, the ‘The Trojan Story’ album dramatically changed the perception of Jamaican music among the general British public outside of the country’s Afro-Caribbean population.

Prior to its release in 1971 there had never been an attempt to present a comprehensive anthology of the island’s musical development, with vintage ska, rock steady and reggae widely regarded as obsolete and of precious little merit.

The treble disc set, which became an instant best-seller, had been the brainchild of Trojan’s label manager and Black Music fan, Rob Bell, who, assisted by Trojan stalwarts, Dandy, Webster Shrowder and Joe Sinclair, produced arguably the most significant Jamaican music retrospectives of all time.

Now, 50 years following its original release, this hugely influential album has been revisited by Bell, along with reggae musician, Rusty Zinn, who have succeeded in improving what was already an almost perfect collection.

Presented in the original eye-catching artwork, the set is further enhanced by a highly illustrated 50-page booklet in which Bell relates the stories behind the release and the 50 tracks featured on the compilation.

Here’s a monster of its own. Not to be confused with Trevor Jackson early 2000 project (even if the british producer has obviously been informed by post-punk, dub, post-industrial and the likes) Playgroup was more than anything a collective, based somewhere around Bristol and London. Drummer Bruce Smith was the key figure behind the project. Neneh Cherry husband and fabulous motorik force for The Pop Group, The Slits, New Age Steppers, African Head Charge and – more recently - Public Image Limited, Bruce brought the post-punk aura into the realm of controlled chaos with several partners in crime.

Playgroup is the so-called English version of Jamaican dub, informed by the industrial revolution and the studio wizardy of On U Sound acolytes. Crucial Tony (Creation Rebel, Dub Syndicate, Singers & Players) on bass and guitars, Sean Oliver (New Age Steppers, Rip Rig & Panic) on guitar, the almighty Style Scott (Creation Rebel, Dub Syndicate, New Age Steppers) on drums and percussionists Eskimo (African Head Charge, Creation Rebel, Mark Stewart And The Maffia) and Bonjo I (African Head Charge) are among the main conspirators here. Produced by none else tham Adrian Sherwwod Epic Sound Battles Chaper One still resonates with its original dark humor and guerrilla warfare tactics.

Germany’s Tilman inaugurates his new imprint Pleasant
Systems this June with the ‘Adventures’ EP, featuring
collaborations with Will Buck and Rhode & Brown. Mainz,
Germany based producer and DJ Tilman has been dropping
his twist on contemporary house over the past decade on
labels such as Shall Not Fade, Life Is For Living and Quality
Vibes as well as his own Fine imprint, run in collaboration
with Johannes Albert. Here though, Tilman marks a new
beginning with the launch of Pleasant Systems, a new
imprint designed to shine a light on vintage inspired house
sounds from both himself and friends. Up ¦rst is ‘What’s
Mine Is Mine’, a collaboration with Brooklyn’s Will Buck which
lays down an amalgamation of airy synth pads, choppy bass
stabs, bright piano lines and enchanting §ute like melodies
atop a swinging drum groove. ‘Strawberry Fields’ follows,
stripping things back to shu©ed percussion, billowing
ethereal textures and wandering sub bass tones while
§uttering brass tones and resonant leads ebb and §ow
within. ‘Velvet Park’ opens the §ip side, this time joining
forces with Rhode & Brown, embracing a classic sound with
raw crunchy drums, delayed piano chords, bumpy bass
stabs, cinematic strings and brass hooks throughout. ‘Lovin'’
then rounds out the release, dropping the tempo, featuring
the voice of Tilman himself and laying focus on off-kilter
organic percussion, twinkling resonant tones, eighties tinged

Esteban Adame aka Frequencia drops the track list for an intergalactic backyard party with the Chicano Boombox EP. Esteban’s music career started as a DJ in L.A.’s East Side backyard party scene, he then stepped up his musical game by collecting gear and studying the piano. His evolution into a professional musician led him to gigs around L.A.’s jazz and salsa scenes. But he never lost his love for DJ culture and electronic music and that led him to join Mad Mike’s Galaxy 2 Galaxy band through his mutual friendships with UR’s Santiago Salazar and Yaxteq’s own DJ Dex. He’s released music on esteemed labels such as Underground Quality, Dolly, Mister Saturday Night, EPM, Jealous God and more. He also collaborates with DJ Dex as El Coyote.

“Rush The Floor” makes you want to do just that with its hypnotic lead synth and a breakdown that will leave the dancefloor wanting more. “Deep Function” flexes musical chops via soulful chords and a perfectly timed solo all riding over a thumping house beat. “Still Here” recalls classic Detroit Techno methodology as a reminder to keep the inspiration flowing. The EP is rounded out with “The Promise” a driving yet euphoric track perfect for watching the sunrise after a long night.

Blue Vinyl

We continue our sonic adventure with Blovk, producer and sound designer from Madrid, he has refined his musical idea with his peculiar way of understanding techno and electronic music in general.
Releasing on labels such as Awry, Subosc, Postdynamic, Subsist, Doppt Zykkler, MainConcept… and his own imprint, Outside Noises.
In our XL series we want to showcase every corner of our artists’ sound spectrum. We are not just commited to raw and direct dancefloor weapons, we are also aiming the mind of the listener.
To make attemporal electronic music is one of our objectives and this record in particular deserves a place in the list of music to be played loud when all this nightmare finishes.
First cut on wax is Of sleep and tears, an emotional title that describes a dronney atmospheric introduction. Beatless, textured, full of resonant details and space wind.
Pouring Flesh brings the beat to the scene with a clear bass drum and a shuffled bassline setting the patch to martian synth noises and stereo details, all enclosed in an intelligent structure full of subtle twists and hypnosis. The thinking hand combines synthetic details with precise beats on a progressive arrangement.Elements come into action wisely, pulsating electronic grooves fighting with floaty elements make the recipe. Fluids above the skin open the B side in a darker mood. Heavy sub bass action and profound synthesizer lines setting the mood for what comes next.
Shedding machines acts as an ambient interlude in similar coordinates as the first cut in this mini LP.
Closing the release Fluent Gods, an electrified mental dance workout using a similar sound palette as the previous ones. Detailed and precise sound design ranging from sharp asymmetrical sequences, ethereal textures and profuse bass frequencies.
Music by Blovk, text by Hd Substance

This journey, this slowly drifting sonic meditation, is an 'inner soundscape', a dialogue between the senses, the conscience and the world, inside / outside, interconnected. Like waking up from a long dream, and being stuck into its echo. The April Sessions immerges the listener into a drone-ish universe, full of random acousmatic events, inner monologues and a vast and unwritten subjective map to be drawn.

The April Sessions has been living in a seedy hotel in Brussels for a few months. She listens to the sparse traffic outside her window, locked in and locked down. 'Everything is constructed', she says to herself, 'even the sound of a solitary aircraft at 25,000 feet traverses the sky no further out than the inside of my skull'. Other weird sonic phenomena criss-cross the inner cosmos of her brain and streak across her private sky like comets. And then there is the unshakeable presence of that inner monologue, known to her variously as the Tacit Dictator, the Subvocaliser and, nightmarishly enough, the voice of the Merlucid Hake. (Anthony Moore, St Leonards, 10th of March 2021)

Anthony Moore, Dirk Specht and Tobias Grewenig have known each other and worked together since the early 2000s. They have collectively participated in a number of projects including live performances and recordings. In 2016, as part of The Missing Present Band, they released the live LP 'The Present Is Missing' on A-Musik. The following year they released 'Ore Talks', a double LP, realised in collaboration with Therapeutische Hörgruppe Köln.

Anthony Moore was born in 1948, founded the band Slapp Happy (circa 1972) with Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause, then worked alongside a.o. Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson in the unclassifiable band Henry Cow. He released several solo albums, composed soundtracks for experimental movies. His path also crossed Kevin Ayers's, Pink Floyd's, Richard Wright's. He was appointed professor for research into sound and music in the context of new media at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany. He still continues to write and perform.

Dirk Specht is a sound artist, musician and curator. He studied architecture and media art and is active in the fields of sound works for choreography, radio drama, sound art, film and video art soundtracks. He published releases with several bands and projects. He has been an assistant for research into sound from 2011 to 2016 at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, and is a founding member of Therapeutische Hörgruppe Köln.

Tobias Grewenig studied at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. He primarily deals with non-linearity in his audiovisual installative works and performances, including projects with the artist group 'Therapeutische Hörgruppe Köln', the ensemble 'The Knob, The Finger & The It' and the improvisation collective "Frequenzwechsel". The conception and development of electronic instruments and code is a key component of his artistic work. He lives and works in Cologne.

Shall Not Fade's Time Is Now series continues to showcase the cutting edge of breaks and bass oriented club music. This time they introduce Groovy D; this new solo project of one third of Sheffield-based trio Denham Audio curates a totally fresh take on garage which is soulful, unique and genre-defying.

Afterworld Groove EP features female vocalists and a collaboration with Time Is Now regular Interplanetary Criminal; vocal heavy tracks are a highlight of the record, taking the garage sound away from the confines of the club. "Outta Control" is one of these tracks; Emma Cannon's vocals walk the edge between soulful and mournful, contrasting the wild breakbeats and deep, dirty bass. The title track uses housey intoned keys; this is daytime garage, made for summer parties. Taking influence from his Sheffield home, "Keep Movin' On" has a classic bassline sound palette, cheeky stabbing synths and hyperactive breaks.

"Project Zeus" opens the B-side: stutters of snare and punching bass are broken through with a classic, uncontrollable bassline; the tongue-in-cheek sample that forms the drop will undoubtedly bring a smile to British fans. More minimalist B2 "Timeless" is a chorus of bubbling ear candy until the rolling sub bass looms into a deep, headsy climax. Manchester's Interplanetary Criminal joins to close the EP; with vocals from Anna Straker, "Higher" takes a genre-spanning approach in hazey garage percs and soaring pads. The tempo is down, and misty, romantic sax forms the backbone.