quête:el sam

Abaeté, a vocal trio from Bahia, made a remarkable debut with masterfully crafted jazz-funk sambas, at a time when Bahian musicians were true masters of the genre. There"s virtually no information about the band, apart from the music itself, which seems to be limitedto two releases: a single and that much-loved 1977 self- titled album, now a cult classic. A collection of killer tunes, funky samba, synthesizer sounds and free rhythms with a North Brazilian flavour. The band also wrote songs for Clara Nunes and Elza Soares in the 70s. Mixed by Waldir Lombardo Pinheiro (Tom Ze, Zeca Do Trombone...).

While continuing in the spirit of Dope Jams NYC Volume 1: 2005-2012, which compiled some of the shop’s most cherished tracks from its seven-year run in Brooklyn, here 10 years later we present the collection’s second addendum EP. It moves partially beyond the title’s timeframe – pulling together a couple of the store’s more recent favorites since its 2013 reopening upstate, along with two older gems from its Myrtle Ave days.

Kicking things off is a full-sided pressing of aptly titled techno stormer “Direct Contact.” Bursting forth with a no nonsense, party rockin’ swagger, Greek producer June’s blistering monster of a tune swiftly unleashes an arsenal of arpeggiated synths, jackin’ percussion and out-of-nowhere flourishes with the single-minded purpose of movin’ the crowd. Gracing the B-side are a trio of selections that occupy far moodier terrains. “Imprints,” the lead-off track from T.E.A.L.’s debut LP Cuttings, is a fine example of Dope Jams’ long-held but largely overlooked penchant for dark and dynamic ambient musics. Heavily textured with ripping distortion and space-enhancing tape delay, the piece offers up a brief yet haunting dispatch from a doomed and desolate mind-state. In a more upbeat vein, “Music on My Mind” looks back almost 25 years to the creative apex of Garden State garage royalty Smack. Operating under their Mental Instrum alias, the low-profile production unit crafts an elegant blend of feather-light chords and bumpin’ kicks to firmly underscore guest collaborator Storm’s sincere vocals. Fittingly capping the record is “Blast Knuckles,” the first completed – and hitherto unreleased – track by Dope Jams friends Beige. Rawly produced yet intricately layered, it sketches a fleeting picture of the unique style of lo-fi deep techno the duo developed over the course of their woefully brief partnership.

These ultra heavy industrial metal tracks were recorded over two sessions at the iconic Maida Vale studios: 28th April 1991 and 30th March 1993 and were sourced directly from the BBC Archives (with thanks), with careful remastering for CD and vinyl. The 1991 session was recorded during the same period as "Industrial" (Deaf Records / Peaceville), with the 1993 session recorded around the time of "Desensitized" (Earache). "If you look on your PITCHSHIFTER albums you will see that we always credit John Peel. He was instrumental in getting the band out there and often played our music on the radio when no one else dared. The 'Peel Sessions' we did were a great honour and every time I met John he was always such a great guy... a legend" (JS). Founded in Nottingham in 1989, PITCHSHIFTER's early style was heavy industrial metal, being cited as one of the originators of the genre along with Godflesh - a style which they termed "Death Industrial". These sessions and albums mark the end of that classic period, before a shift towards the more commercial, beat-driven Industrial style from the mid-90's onward that they are still known for.

These ultra heavy industrial metal tracks were recorded over two sessions at the iconic Maida Vale studios: 28th April 1991 and 30th March 1993 and were sourced directly from the BBC Archives (with thanks), with careful remastering for CD and vinyl. The 1991 session was recorded during the same period as "Industrial" (Deaf Records / Peaceville), with the 1993 session recorded around the time of "Desensitized" (Earache). "If you look on your PITCHSHIFTER albums you will see that we always credit John Peel. He was instrumental in getting the band out there and often played our music on the radio when no one else dared. The 'Peel Sessions' we did were a great honour and every time I met John he was always such a great guy... a legend" (JS). Founded in Nottingham in 1989, PITCHSHIFTER's early style was heavy industrial metal, being cited as one of the originators of the genre along with Godflesh - a style which they termed "Death Industrial". These sessions and albums mark the end of that classic period, before a shift towards the more commercial, beat-driven Industrial style from the mid-90's onward that they are still known for.

Pleaser’s musicality, ethics and community are undeniably punk, but their expression is vast and more personal than it is bound by the confines of any one genre. The band projects the heart-on-sleeve earnestness of early emo, the in-your-face vivaciousness of punk rock and a metal-tinged darkness, as well as infusing both classic rock and modern experimental elements into their own unique aural aesthetic. Songs are both catchy and impenetrable at the same time, with the band appreciating a pop hook just as much as a labyrinthine song structure. Pleaser chews it all up and infuses it with their own noisy but charming melodic rattle.
Double lead vocalists and guitarists Annie Nyvold and Suo Fei, drummer Oliver Nehammer and bassist Olle Bergholzall enjoy omnivorous taste in music, and a pure love for creative expression.
Pleaser’s 2023 debut was acclaimed internationally by media such as Cvltnation, Bandcamp and Maximum RocknRoll. Aligned with the release of their debut album, Pleaser played a wide range of concerts in Denmark, from underground punk shows to well established festivals such as Roskilde Festival, K-Town Hardcore Fest and Metal Magic. This sparked a new wave of attention and airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music, and led them to stages in Scandinavia and Germany.
With their new album more cohesive than ever before, Pleaser persists in experimenting with their catchy, yet aggressive and dynamic sound, heightening listeners’ emotions in the process. The forthcoming full-length presents a series of adventurous new punk songs, fusing their creativity with a new force of excitement and curiosity. This new universe revolves around the journey of self-exploration, liberation from inner darkness, and transcending that darkness to form new pathways.

A SIDE: "Smooth Co-Operator" 124 BPM
Deep within the Co-op laboratory, a timeless classic was lifted from the ether and reborn under the alchemists’ touch. "Smooth Co-Operator"
takes the silk and smoke of Sade’s iconic Smooth Operator and fuses it with the pulse of an uptempo soulful house rhythm. Sprinkled with the
magic dust of hip-hop and funk samples, the track moves effortlessly—grooving on a smooth, rolling bassline, locked into a four-to-the-floor
heartbeat. The result? A dance where elegance meets momentum, where the past is reimagined for the now. Let yourself be carried away—
this is RnB soul jazz, remixed for the future.

B SIDE: "Dream Alchemy" 120BPM
Summoned from the realm of dreams, "Dream Alchemy" is a hypnotic, Kubrickian voyage through sound and shadow. Co-op bends time,
doubling the original tempo into a driving force of tech-house vibes. J Diggns layers ethereal, cascading keys—melodies that flicker like lucid
visions—while Whiskey Drop layers in A$AP Rocky and grounds the experience with a deep, rolling bassline that pulses from the underground.
The groove is relentless, the atmosphere cinematic. Step inside—The dream and the Sandman await.

NOW is proud to present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series, and the final one representing an individual year from the 1980s: NOW – Yearbook 1989. 78 tracks across 4CDs – celebrating a magnificent and eclectic year in pop! This release is available as a standard 4-CD set, and as a special edition 4-CD set in ‘hardback book’ packaging, which includes a 28-page booklet packed with notes about all of the 78 featured tracks. Also available as 42 tracks across 3LPs, pressed in stunning pink vinyl…celebrating a magnificent and eclectic year in pop!

Peletronic comes back on Fortunea Records with another great 4-tracker! After his successful Hazy Jane EP and the broken beat contribution ‚Goldfinch’ on the latest 10 year anniversary compilation, he delivers us four brand-new contemporary and intensive cuts on here. Restless, the title-track of this record, is a sub driven deep house work out with boasting swelling loops and an irresistible vocal sample. Afterwards dreamy acid lines and energetic drum patterns prepare you for several ‚Timeless Travels’. ‚Malibu Orange’ on the B-side captures the elusive late-hours in the morning. And the record ends with the minimal flamboyant beats of ‚1160 Dub'. A lovely homage to his favorite district in the Austrian capitol. The Restless EP will come out on the 23rd of may. This record is limited to 200 copies. There will be no repress!

'Quiet Pieces' initiates Abul Mogard’s personal imprint Soft Echoes with a definitive self-portrait of calm, contemplative, and discreet inner landscapes made audible. It is the first solo album on vinyl in four years. RIYL Alessandro Cortini, William Basinski, The Caretaker.

While sifting through archived material left idle from earlier projects, a chance encounter with a late uncle’s trove of beloved 78rpm classical and opera records prompted the reworking and completion of what would eventually become the album. Spinning dusty records at 33 and 45rpm, Abul Mogard recombined their enduring spectres with unfinished sketches from his archive. The resulting soundscape blurs distinctions between his memories and those of another, exquisitely short-circuiting the senses with its waking, dream-like lucidity.

This was a process I hadn’t explored in my earlier works. I began sampling brief moments from these records, altering them with studio effects and playing them at slower speeds. In many cases, I wasn’t entirely sure how the original music sounded. These fragments, once further processed, became a source of inspiration for my new compositions. Over time, I realised that the old pieces from the archive and the new material derived from the samples naturally complemented each other.”

The resulting pieces hover over a threshold, a liminal space that harmonises the old and older material. Voluminous waves of quiet and loud undulate between consonance and dissonance, conjuring imagery of a decaying grandeur that humanity’s decadence has surrendered to the elements. Abul Mogard’s seemingly abandoned yet vast landscapes are nevertheless intimate with timbral frissons of red-lined distortion. Elusive, yet as tangible as sea spray or smog, they affect the olfactory senses with a rarified, synesthetic quality that modestly engages one’s emotional register – a hypnotic, distinguishing feature long hailed as one of the hallmarks of his work. A fidelity to memory and dream recall is sensitively probed in the journey from the stately symphonic stasis of 'Following a dream' to the almost industrial, untethered brutality evoked by a looming silhouette that’s never fully visible in 'Constantly slipping away', culminating in the foreboding coda of 'Like a bird'. Those pieces appear to shield the album’s sentimental core, where the tempestuous play of light and shadow of 'In a studded procession' escalates to breathtaking, panoramic climax, while 'Through whispers' evokes an out-of-body-like experience encountered with visceral poignancy.

Looking back, Mogard notes an unexpected influence: “I realise being inspired by Phill Niblock, whose work I had barely known at the time but explored after his passing in 2024. His album 'Boston Tenor Index' changed the way I approached dissonance. It encouraged me to push my sound further, to the edge of a space where I began to feel uncomfortable.”

The album artwork, created by longtime collaborator Marja de Sanctis, features a photograph taken at the Temple of Jupiter Anxur, an archaeological site overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Captured with an iPhone, the image traces the residual presence of construction techniques and architectural forms of the Romans, where material history is transcribed through contemporary tools. The convergence of ancient and modern technology aims to reverberate the site’s lasting spiritual presence – an echo persisting in what is now perceived as a quiet, emptied space. The spiral gestures towards infinity and light. Past and present dissolve into one another, reflecting 'Quiet Pieces' meditation on sound, memory, and time.

RIYL Alessandro Cortini, William Basinski, The Caretaker

SAMOSA RECORDS EARTH, WIND & FUNK VOL.2 - Pt.1

Samosa Records comes at you with all the elements for Earth, Wind & Funk Vol. 2 – a succulent double slice of vinyl heaven!

On side A1 label favourites Dirty Elements & Drunkdrivers start the party with the knee-slapping treat ‘Koko’. A bouncing bassline and some sweet clavinet keys act as the starters to this trip around the discophere. Lush strings and sassy vocals provide a delicious cherry on top. Mesmerising stuff.

For A2, Macchianera undergoes a De Gama Re-Groove with ‘Gotta Dance’, a deceptive 115bpm chugger that could travel the tracks for an eternity. Deep, groovy bass and soulful vocals combine perfectly in the build-up to the brass-soaked chorus line. Oh, and you know that rhythm guitar is gonna get you.

Side B1 finds Niels F. ‘Trying To Love’ with a little help from some De Gama Re-Drums. ‘Trying To Love’ breaks out into its stride from the off. With an almost ‘2-step’ vibe at the intro, ‘Trying To Love’ nicely builds to a rag time jam of lush strings, smile-inducing brass and a wicked vocal – all applied perfectly and filtered expertly. Let the good times roll!

B2 brings the Afro inspired delights of MP Soundworks and ‘Gotta Get It’. There’s a tribal vibe in the air at this party, a hypnotic runaway train of a track that makes full use of filtered build ups, looped vocal samples and a wicked, wicked bassline. Bouncier than supper-concentrated Zectron.

In Earth, Wind & Funk Vol. 2 Samosa Records has produced a stunning double slab release, featuring a good mix of some of the label’s most prolific artists and some welcome newcomers.

Für alle Krautrock Fans gibt es jetzt eine LP Box in streng limitierter Sammler Auflage, zweier einflussreicher Bands aus der deutschen Krautrock-Szene der 1970er Jahre. Guru Guru, bekannt für ihre improvisierten und experimentellen Klänge, sowie Floh de Cologne, berühmt für ihre satirischen und politisch-engagierten Texte, prägten beide das Genre auf ihre eigene Weise. Diese Box ist bestückt mit insgesamt 3 der bedeutendsten Alben, wie „Hinten“ & „UFO“ von Guru Guru und „Fließband Babys Beat Show“ von Floh de Cologne. Mit einer Mischung aus psychedelischen Klängen, avantgardistischer Musik und sozialkritischen Texten geben diese Aufnahmen einen faszinierenden Einblick in die kreative Vielfalt der deutschen Musikszene dieser Ära.

2025 Repress

Om Unit surprises us with a second volume of his 'Acid Dub Studies' project, once again fusing his love for the 303 with studio techniques given to us by musical heroes such as King Tubby, Adrian Sherwood, Jammys and Basic Channel

This second volume further solidifies the convincing narrative created by its best-selling predecessor, heading in a more groove-based direction in places whilst being underpinned by the same sonic narrative that has been enjoyed by many music fans from a variety of different spheres for the past 18 months or so

Support so far for the Acid Dub Studies project has come from many corners including some of the most highly respected names in UK Radio such as Don Letts and Steve Barker, Benji B and Tom Ravenscroft as well as a whole host of truly global worldwide underground support both via radio and in the dance

Om Unit says of this record: 'I felt encouraged by the sheer love for the original selection of works to go back in again and continue to experiment with this approach to writing whilst refining some of the process. Being able to combine processes and influence has been the mainstay of my creative life and I hope this next volume of Acid Dub will be enjoyed by everyone who was a fan of the first'

The beloved 303 bassline continues to inspire every new generation and Acid Dub Studies II is another storybook of sound in that vast continuum that shows no sign of slowing down.

The project by Jens-Uwe Beyer and Thomas Venker boasts a remarkable origin story. In 2017, Venker, co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of Cologne’s Kaput magazine, hosted a gathering at Beyer's house, bringing together journalists, creatives, and musicians. To mark the occasion, the pair decided to join forces for an impromptu ambient-electronic performance, presenting themselves as a two-man band. That evening, donned in special costumes designed by artist Sarah Szczesny and fuelled by a generous amount of Japanese whisky, Hasan Poppu was born. Over the course of the pandemic, the duo thought about creating a record based on the live recording of their premiere show. However, the synergy of their collaborative creative energies led them in entirely novel directions. Their self-titled, double-sided album traverses a wild and raucous terrain, moving swiftly from hybrid noise-techno to giddy party ecstasy, to strange and shadowy atmospheres.

Including remixes by YPY, Hibotep, Lena Willikens, Efdemin and Barnt, the 11 tracks span a dizzying array of experimental dance-facing styles. 'Die-Biden' kicks off as a high-vibrational vocal experiment seemingly voiced by a sentient German vocoder. 'Kodō' follows, featuring Venker's playful mantra set against a stomping beat. Willikens' reimagining of 'Teiko' transports the track to obscure realms inhabited by strange creatures emitting ungodly sounds. Meanwhile, Efdemin's take on 'Ekusutashī' pulsates with a kinetic buzz. Flipping over to the B-side, 'Sakura' is a euphoric wall of drone punctuated by eerie whispers and mystical singing. Then, the second installment of 'Kodō' takes a fresh trajectory with a touch of Barnt’s electronic groove stylings. Finally, Hibotep's 'Shojo no yo ni flp' serves as the finsher – an unrepentant trance belter that disintegrates into sampled fragments. Loosely translating to "broken pop music," Hasan Poppu is informed by Beyer and Venker's shared love for Japan. The band takes their cues from the country’s rich sonic cultures while also drawing on Venker's wordsmith background and Beyer's flair for melding melodic tech-house with song-based synth-pop. Originally out on Beachcoma Recordings, Hasan Poppu’s debut album gets a new lease of life on Osàre! Editions with a digital and limited edition cassette tape release. Sarah Szczesny reprises her role in shaping the visual identity of Hasan Poppu by creating beautiful, painterly artwork for the record. words by Hannah Pezzack

In 2022, Osàre! Editions founder Elena Colombi approached artists and musicians with a prompt: Every body, everyone needs love to flourish. In her book The Will to Change, the eminent author and social activist, Bell Hooks, invites men to excavate their innermost selves, challenging the way that patriarchal society limits their capacity for intimacy, tenderness, care and emotion. As hooks lays out, feminist thought and work requires the collective participation of all genders in order to realise a liberated world. How can we imagine cross-gender solidarity through music and art? And how can we tell sonic stories that facilitate our full potential as desiring beings? These are the questions that The Male Body Will Be Next starts out from.

The title of the record draws connections between hooks' writing, a film by Rebecca Salvadori and Peter de Potter's stunning photo series of the same name. In de Potter and Salvadori's depictions, men's bodies appear as vulnerable, naked and exposed.

Divided into two parts, the first instalment of The Male Body Will Be Next hinges on colliding energies – the melding of club dance floors and haunting ambient textures, agile techno and noisy experimentation.

'The sun on my skin… it’s so warm and gentle,’ speak-sings Olivia Salvadori on ‘Su Di Te M’Infrango’, visualising utopias. Laurel Halo crafts a dreamscape spun from golden threads of synth and strings. Pensive and reflective, Ben Bertrand’s bass clarinet roams searchingly, its piercing tonality full of longing. Yet, in between these lucid, cinematic passages and spoken word, The Male Body Will Be Next finds space to dance together. Moving in fervent, rhythmic patterns, Sepehr’s ‘Divooneh’ pivots between tension and release. Filmmaker unleashes a wave of energy and The Spy delivers a potent take on vintage electro, the track title hinting at the double-bind of gendered expectations. Propelled between these eclectic styles, the record encapsulates the full spectrum of sonic expression.

Eleven is a magic number in many cultures, for us maybe it is… or not, anyway our eleventh release is going to be something special with vinyl again as the main format after some only digital releases.

The man in charge of production duties is well known for crafting merciless techno exercises all over the place, RNGD is not a newcomer at all, his roots come from the late nineties and you can somehow feel that into his modern tunes.

These four cuts have a strong link with the classic Birmingham school, Regis,
Downwards, Female, Surgeon… but with a personal and unique twist.

Direct Source is a clear example of what I mentioned before, a few elements are enough to make the funk happen: a solid sequence, proper drums and a hypnotic arrangement.

Same approach on 037, proper neural funk with basic elements administered properly. B side opens with Degradation, again with the same mantra, anabolic, gymnastic and physical.

To close the release Diabólica, providing the mental slice of the pie with the
occasional pad and vocal samples but yet energetic and direct to the floor.

This is the true spirit of techno, don’t be fooled for the new trends. Timeless is the word here.

Text by Luis Rozalén / Hd Substance

Ein Album zum Schlafen und Wachen, zum Gehen und Fahren, zum Jagen und Fischen, zum Herumlungern vor einer Raststätte in der verwunschenen Tundra. In Fahrstühlen okay, zum Abendessen nicht so toll. Auf Caveman Wakes Up, dem neuen Album von Friendship und ihrem zweiten für Merge Records, wird die historisch weit gefasste Definition von Country-Musik noch weiter gefasst. Shambolische Gitarren werden durch Flötenpads ausgeglichen, trübe Poesie trifft auf eine Motown-Rhythmusgruppe, ein Song über Jerry Garcia und die First Lady Betty Ford wird mit einem Schlagzeugsolo ausgeblendet, als käme Talk Talk aus einem schmuddeligen Keller in Philadelphia und würde von James Tate gespielt. Der zerklüftete Bariton des Songwriters Dan Wriggins schneidet durch elf düstere, wirbelnde Country-Rock-Songs mit tiefgründiger lyrischer Substanz und Aufrichtigkeit. Wie ein Wecker, der am Rande eines Traums eingebaut ist, gehört "Caveman Wakes Up" gleichermaßen zum bewussten und zum unterbewussten Verstand, voller Hintergründe, durchdrungen von Referenzen und Experimenten, beiläufig und als düstere Warnung vorgetragen und vor allem der kreativen Seele der Musik gewidmet. Im Laufe der Jahre hat sich diese Hingabe ausgezahlt. Friendship ist zu einer Art umgekehrter Supergroup geworden, in der die Band selbst und jedes einzelne Mitglied im Zentrum einer zunehmend prominenten Szene junger Folk- und Country-Musiker und Songwriter steht. Der Schlagzeuger Michael Cormier O'Leary leitet das Instrumentalkollektiv Hour und betreibt zusammen mit dem Bassisten Jon Samuels das Label Dear Life Records, das Freunde und Kollegen beherbergt, die Friendship zu einem wichtigen Einfluss zählen, darunter MJ Lenderman, Florry, und Fust. (Samuels spielt auch die Leadgitarre bei MJ Lenderman and the Wind). Die Band 2nd Grade des Gitarristen Peter Gill ist ebenfalls aktiv und macht zahlreiche Aufnahmen. Wriggins begann mit dem Schreiben der Songs von "Caveman Wakes Up" auf einer verstimmten klassischen Gitarre von Lenderman und beendete es auf einem kaum gestimmten Klavier in einer Wohnung, die er mit G DeGroot von Sadurn teilte. Im Sommer 2023 hatte Wriggins gerade den Iowa Writers' Workshop verlassen, wo seine Liebe zur Poesie und sein Misstrauen gegenüber der akademischen Poesiewelt gleichzeitig wuchsen. Eine Beziehung ging in die Brüche, und Wriggins übernachtete mehrere Wochen in North Carolina im Haus von Lenderman und Karly Hartzman (von Wednesday ), wo er die ersten Demos von "Resident Evil", "All Over the World" und "Love Vape" aufnahm. Wriggins kehrte nach Philadelphia zurück, und die Band machte sich an die Arbeit, um neue Ideen zu entwickeln. Schließlich nahmen sie das Album in fünf Tagen mit Tontechniker Jeff Ziegler (Mary Lattimore, War On Drugs) auf, den Gesang mit Bradford Kreiger, dem Techniker von Love the Stranger. Orgel, Geige (Jason Calhoun) und Flöte (Adelyn Strei) wurden von Lucas Knapp in einer Kirche in West Philadelphia aufgenommen. Textlich bewegt sich "Caveman Wakes Up" auf vertrautem Friendship Terrain - das Heilige wird profaniert und das Profane geheiligt. "Caveman Wakes Up" zeigt Friendships besonderes Genie für visionäre Arrangements, die über Generationen hinweg dem Folk-Rock-Kanon von Neil Young, Joni Mitchell und Emmylou Harris ebenso verpflichtet sind wie Indie-Größen wie Yo La Tengo und den Merge-Labelkollegen Lambchop oder Zeitgenossen wie Lomelda und ML Buch. Mehrere der Songs verwenden Fade-Outs, die im Text von "Love Vape" scherzhaft erwähnt werden, und es gibt andere Elemente, die von Motown und 70er-Jahre-Balladen übernommen wurden: festgefahrene Schlagzeugmuster, Bassintervalle, gefühlvolle Streicherarrangements. Jede Referenz wird über das Genre hinausgeschoben, verwirbelt und wiederholt, zu etwas Neuem, das eindeutig zum Friendship-Sound gehört. Bei "Free Association", "Artex" und "Wildwood in January" ist der Groove so festgelegt, dass andere Klänge nahtlos kommen und gehen können: Mellotron-Flächen, Klavierwirbel und -stiche und klare Gitarrenmelodien, wimmelnde Texturen, die sich als Einheit tarnen. "Caveman Wakes Up" das bisher am weitesten fortgeschrittene Werk von Friendship, ein weiterer Beweis für die Hingabe und Sorgfalt der Band.

In 2012 Gruff Rhys embarked on a solo 'investigative concert tour' through the heart of America following the route taken by his distant relative John Evans. Every night he presented songs augmented by a power point presentation that detailed his relative's unbelievable history, along with any new piece of information that had come his way during the day. He was ultimately looking for Evans's lost unmarked grave. Along with many major cities, the tour took him to play shows at the Mandan and Omaha tribe reservations, a Missouri vineyard, villages that no longer exist and lay at the bottom the Mississippi river and a New Orleans bordello. What transpired from that ‘investigative concert tour’ was a 2014 album, American Interior, plus a book, film and exhaustive tour of the same name. With the aid of the dusted-off power point presentation, Gruff Rhys and a full band revisits the project in 2025 to perform the songs that formed both the album, and the soundtrack to the film.

Gruff says of the reissue -

“Revisiting American Interior 11 years later, feels very prescient. In following the unusual story of explorer John Evans (1770-1799) it becomes clear that faked narratives can have profound and unpredictable consequences in real life. His barely believable journey of verification in searching through continental scale wilderness for a fictitious Welsh speaking tribe believed to be living on the Great Plains of North America (an ancient folk tale perpetuated by the Elizabethan court following the subjugation of Wales, to make colonial claims on behalf of the British on the Americas) had a dramatic political effect on the fledgling USA and a devastating impact on himself and some of those who helped him on his way. I wrote an album of songs inspired by his life; American Interior, which also served as a soundtrack to a documentary film based on a book that detailed his journey, intertwined with my own investigative concert tour, all three of which I worked on simultaneously during a 2-year fever 2012-14. By far the most ambitious undertaking I’ve ever attempted. Living with one foot in the 18th century, wearing the same clothes (for cinematic continuity) for that entire period, left me pretty exhausted. (Imagine a cold extra from The Revenant movie). It took me a while to process the whole experience and its lessons and feel I owe it to my former self to take these songs back on the road for a couple of months and re-tell the story for a new decade. To celebrate it further Rough Trade will reissue a remastered version of the album with previously unreleased tracks.”

In 2012 Gruff Rhys embarked on a solo 'investigative concert tour' through the heart of America following the route taken by his distant relative John Evans. Every night he presented songs augmented by a power point presentation that detailed his relative's unbelievable history, along with any new piece of information that had come his way during the day. He was ultimately looking for Evans's lost unmarked grave. Along with many major cities, the tour took him to play shows at the Mandan and Omaha tribe reservations, a Missouri vineyard, villages that no longer exist and lay at the bottom the Mississippi river and a New Orleans bordello. What transpired from that ‘investigative concert tour’ was a 2014 album, American Interior, plus a book, film and exhaustive tour of the same name. With the aid of the dusted-off power point presentation, Gruff Rhys and a full band revisits the project in 2025 to perform the songs that formed both the album, and the soundtrack to the film.

Gruff says of the reissue -

“Revisiting American Interior 11 years later, feels very prescient. In following the unusual story of explorer John Evans (1770-1799) it becomes clear that faked narratives can have profound and unpredictable consequences in real life. His barely believable journey of verification in searching through continental scale wilderness for a fictitious Welsh speaking tribe believed to be living on the Great Plains of North America (an ancient folk tale perpetuated by the Elizabethan court following the subjugation of Wales, to make colonial claims on behalf of the British on the Americas) had a dramatic political effect on the fledgling USA and a devastating impact on himself and some of those who helped him on his way. I wrote an album of songs inspired by his life; American Interior, which also served as a soundtrack to a documentary film based on a book that detailed his journey, intertwined with my own investigative concert tour, all three of which I worked on simultaneously during a 2-year fever 2012-14. By far the most ambitious undertaking I’ve ever attempted. Living with one foot in the 18th century, wearing the same clothes (for cinematic continuity) for that entire period, left me pretty exhausted. (Imagine a cold extra from The Revenant movie). It took me a while to process the whole experience and its lessons and feel I owe it to my former self to take these songs back on the road for a couple of months and re-tell the story for a new decade. To celebrate it further Rough Trade will reissue a remastered version of the album with previously unreleased tracks.”

An album for sleeping and waking, walking and driving, hunting and fishing, for loitering outside a roadhouse on the haunted tundra. Okay in elevators, not great for dinner. On Caveman Wakes Up, Friendship’s new album and second for Merge Records, the band’s historically capacious definition of country music grows wider still. Shambolic guitars are offset by flute pads, bleary poetry is set against a Motown rhythm section, a song about Jerry Garcia and First Lady Betty Ford fades out with a drum solo, like if Talk Talk came from a dingy Philadelphia basement and was fronted by James Tate. Songwriter Dan Wriggins’ ragged baritone cuts through eleven murky, swirling country-rock songs with profound lyrical substance and sincerity. Like an alarm clock incorporated into the edge of a dream, Caveman Wakes Up belongs equally to the conscious and subconscious mind, fraught with background, steeped in reference and experimentation, delivered casually and as a dire warning, dedicated, above all, to music’s creative soul. Over the years, dedication has paid off. Friendship has become a kind of reverse supergroup,
wherein the band itself and each individual member are located centrally in an increasingly prominent scene of young folk and country musicians and songwriters. Drummer Michael Cormier O’Leary leads the instrumental collective Hour and, along with bassist Jon Samuels, runs Dear Life Records, home to friends and peers who count Friendship as a major influence including MJ Lenderman, Florry, and Fust. (Samuels also plays lead guitar in MJ Lenderman and the Wind). Guitarist Peter Gill’s band 2nd Grade records prolifically. Wriggins began writing the songs of Caveman Wakes Up on a downtuned classical guitar of Lenderman’s and finished on a barely tuned piano in an apartment he shared with Sadurn’s G DeGroot.
In the summer of 2023, Wriggins had just left the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where his love for poetry and mistrust for the academic poetry world grew in tandem. A relationship fell apart, and Wriggins crashed for several weeks at Lenderman and Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman’s home in North Carolina, where he recorded the first demos of “Resident Evil,” “All Over the World,” and “Love Vape.” Wriggins returned to Philadelphia, and the band got to work on new ideas, finally tracking the album in five days with engineer Jeff Ziegler (Mary Lattimore, War on Drugs). Wriggins recorded vocals with Love the Stranger engineer Bradford Kreiger, and organ, violin (Jason Calhoun), and flute (Adelyn Strei) were recorded by Lucas Knapp in a West Philadelphia church.

Im klassischen, nicht-popkulturellen Sinne bezieht sich der Begriff "Schamanismus" in erster Linie auf die spirituellen Praktiken der indigenen Völker Sibiriens. Schamanen interagieren als Beschützer ihrer Gemeinschaften über veränderte Bewusstseinszustände mit der Geisterwelt. Auf ihrem Album "Songs of the Shaman" interpretieren NYTT LAND traditionelle schamanische Gesänge und Zaubersprüche der mandschu-tungusischen Sprachgruppen unter Sibiriens Ethnien. Bei diesen Liedern kommen sehr alte musikalische Techniken wie Kehlkopfgesang und Trommeln zum Einsatz. Alle Gesänge wurden in der jeweiligen Originalsprache aufgenommen. Damit will die Band deren ursprüngliche Kraft bewahren, die auch aus der Intonation sowie dem Sprachrhythmus der Worte entsteht. Diese Sammlung alter Magie in Form von Geisterbeschwörungen, Abwehrzaubern und Segensprüchen wurde sorgfältig ausgewählt und schließt Schadflüche bewusst aus. NYTT LAND sind eine rituelle nordische Folk-Band, die das Ehepaar Natalya und Anatoly Pakhalenko im August 2013 in der westsibirischen Stadt Kalachinsk gründete, welche am Ufer des Flusses Om und als Station der Transsibirischen Eisenbahn errichtet wurde. Nach drei in Eigenregie veröffentlichten Alben, "Nytt Land" (2013), "Hávamál" (2015) und "Scopun: Songs from the Elder Edda" (2016), erschien im Jahr 2017 mit "Fimbulvinter" ihr Debüt bei einem Label, auf das kurz darauf das Album "Oðal" (2018) folgte. Während NYTT LAND auch weiterhin Werke in Eigenregie veröffentlichten, traten die sibirischen Elemente in ihrer Musik auf ihrem dritten Label-Album "Ritual" stärker als jemals zuvor in den Vordergrund.