‘The Oakland band’s wide-ranging debut is a whirlwind of biting critique, nervy post-punk guitars, and absurdist humor. Rarely does a first record speak with such a trenchant voice.’ 7.5 PITCHFORK
‘Post-punk lovers have a new act to follow" - PASTE
Fake Fruit’s visceral indie rock operates so firmly in the present that it’s transportive and unmooring. The Oakland trio’s songs careen with volatile energy and lead singer Ham D’Amato’s lyrics are enveloped with acerbic humor and resonant perceptiveness. Though their new LP Mucho Mistrust is a sly reference to a beloved Blondie lyric, the title encapsulates both the anxieties of daily life, a bloodless music industry, and global capitalism as well as the clear-eyed skepticism needed to rebel against it. Across 12 propulsively unpredictable tracks, the album is both their most collaborative and most immediate yet.
Following the 2021 release of Fake Fruit’s self-titled debut LP, the band’s personal lives hit a turbulent and transformational period. “There were big life changes and I was so close to boiling over,” says D’Amato. “I left a bad relationship, entered a more stable and loving one, got diagnosed with alopecia, and I'm turning 30 soon too.” This personal upheaval was channeled into the explosive lead single “Mucho Mistrust.” The track is simultaneously disorienting and direct, with clanging guitars from Alex Post, off-kilter drums from Miles MacDiarmid, and D’Amato snarling, “How you gonna blame me / when you could’ve done something about it / it’s not right / How you gonna marinate me / in shitty things overnight.” She explains, “This song was a snapshot of how I got through a difficult year.”
Recorded live at the Bay Area’s Atomic Garden studio with producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Home Is Where), the band’s palpable ferocity shines throughout the record. Single “Más o Menos” is searing punk, with buzzsaw guitars and surging bass. It’s a clenched-fist song, one where D’Amato sings, “I decided to assert myself / After I lost all my sense of self.” Later in the track, D’Amato, who is Chicana, sings in Spanish, “¡No me hables! / ¡No escuchare!” While some of these songs deal in heartbreak, they are charged with way bigger themes. “There's also wanting to break up with capitalism and feeling upset about things politically,” says D’Amato.
For the band, these themes are personal. “I'm managing us while I'm in between changing diapers in my day job as a nanny,” says D’Amato. “Everyone in the band still believes in it and is motivated to keep wading through the bullshit.” On this album, they had no choice but to bet on themselves and each other. No track broadcasts their evolution better than the single “Cause of Death,” which morphs from a gorgeous sax-laden banger to something cathartic and anthemic.
As adventurous and righteous as Mucho Mistrust gets, there’s still an inviting core that never takes itself too seriously. From the ripping “Cause of Death,” which self-deprecatingly takes aim at anxiety and indecision, to the searing title track, Fake Fruit imbue their songs with humor and heart. “Our band is fun,” says D’Amato. “My number one coping mechanism for all of life is to joke about it. Even when the album talks about serious things, I am proud of how funny it can be.”
Cerca:energy
With their new album 'Rhapsody, the extraordinary vocalists fedayo Gatling, Dennis Bailey, and George Marage are able to fully explore the entire range of music that influenced them. The follow-up to their acclaimed 2021 release 'Look Up!', the record is a dive into a lesser-known but hugely important era in the evolution of gospel music.
Starting in the mid-1960s, local gospel groups and singers began incorporating elements of popular soul and funk styles and in 2006, Chicago-based reissue label Numero Group released Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal. HGT's longtime friend and mentor Eli.
"Paperboy Reed" approached the group with the idea of digging through the Numero catalog and recording some of the gospel funk material, reinterpreted in their own way from the high-energy, old-school soul of "God's Been Good to Me" to the hip-hop-inflected "Get Involved."
The Harlem Gospel Travelers story began when Gatling and Marage met while studying under Reed's tutelage. The group put out their debut LP, 'He's On Time', to rave reviews in 2019, earning them high profile fans like Elton John and landing them festival slots everywhere from Pilgrimage to Telluride Jazz. Originally a quartet, they brought in Bailey and reconfigured as a trio prior to recording Look Up!, their first album of all original material.
At a moment when the world is reconsidering the concepts of genre and category and who's allowed to participate in which traditions, HGT are squarely on the cultural pulse.
"We always found it difficult to stay in this one lane of what people think gospel is supposed to be," says Gatling. "This record allowed us to hear people that were innovators in their own time, pushing how gospel music sounded, and now we've created this project that is message-wise gospel, but the feeling and the sound can be whatever you want it to be."
With their new album 'Rhapsody, the extraordinary vocalists fedayo Gatling, Dennis Bailey, and George Marage are able to fully explore the entire range of music that influenced them. The follow-up to their acclaimed 2021 release 'Look Up!', the record is a dive into a lesser-known but hugely important era in the evolution of gospel music.
Starting in the mid-1960s, local gospel groups and singers began incorporating elements of popular soul and funk styles and in 2006, Chicago-based reissue label Numero Group released Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal. HGT's longtime friend and mentor Eli.
"Paperboy Reed" approached the group with the idea of digging through the Numero catalog and recording some of the gospel funk material, reinterpreted in their own way from the high-energy, old-school soul of "God's Been Good to Me" to the hip-hop-inflected "Get Involved."
The Harlem Gospel Travelers story began when Gatling and Marage met while studying under Reed's tutelage. The group put out their debut LP, 'He's On Time', to rave reviews in 2019, earning them high profile fans like Elton John and landing them festival slots everywhere from Pilgrimage to Telluride Jazz. Originally a quartet, they brought in Bailey and reconfigured as a trio prior to recording Look Up!, their first album of all original material.
At a moment when the world is reconsidering the concepts of genre and category and who's allowed to participate in which traditions, HGT are squarely on the cultural pulse.
"We always found it difficult to stay in this one lane of what people think gospel is supposed to be," says Gatling. "This record allowed us to hear people that were innovators in their own time, pushing how gospel music sounded, and now we've created this project that is message-wise gospel, but the feeling and the sound can be whatever you want it to be."
Søren Skov Orbit's debut album, "Adrift," is at once subtle and profound. The saxophonist and his collaborators have created something quite special and consistently deep. This record may not easily be classifiable, but the most interesting music creeps between the lines
Danish tenor and soprano saxophonist Søren Skov (Debre Damo Dining Orchestra) and keyboardist Peder Vind co-founded the trippy quintet Søren Skov Orbit in 2016 to explore “more jazzy ideas,” as the saxophonist puts it. Joined by a rhythm section steeped in contemporary improvisation and psychedelia, bassist Casper Nyvang Rask, drummer Rune Lohse and percussionist Ayi Solomon of the legendary 80's Ghanaian roots/highlife band Classique Vibes, the Orbit belts out a richly focused helping of broadly African-inspired modern jazz with a hazy sheen.
On the opening “Notifications of Nothingness,” Skov digs in his heels, a steely but languid unspooling of burnished tenor lines atop condensed, quavering piano and the thick footfalls of bass and percussion. As a tenor player, Skov has done his homework and has a kinship with Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, J.R. Monterose, and the Dutchman Hans Dulfer, but he clearly has got his own robust phraseology and expressiveness. He also cites multi-reedists John Gilmore, Yusef Lateef, and Bilal Abdurahman as, “some of the players I’ve been listening to the most for the last 10-15 years.”
A healthy dose of reverb is present throughout the album, echoing Alton Abraham’s studio wizardry with the Sun Ra Arkestra or the trance-inducing and compressed fidelity of certain Ethio-jazz and Mystic Revelations of Rastafari sessions. Skov notes that, “everything is recorded live at the same time in the same room. I wanted to do it that way in order to catch the dynamics and authenticity of the music.” There is, in fact, a complex teeter- totter between crisp and hazy execution, achieved by a delicately balanced mix that keeps the group’s sound simultaneously advancing and receding. Vind’s phrasing is terse and introspective, a vibrating echo that nudges and reflects on Skov’s brusque tenor in a dance of sonic displacement.
“Orbiting” pits a chunky backbeat and the teetering, taut hand-rhythms of Solomon against an infectious, almost microtonal piano riff, while Skov’s arpeggios are clean and florid as he patiently rises up from under a carpet of funky loops. Following the freer “Reflections of Rif,” “Naration” lilts with a wink at “Footprints” and tugs between up-tempo polyrhythmic drive, clanging keyboard accents, and the innately steadfast keenness of the bandleader. The coupling of Solomon and Lohse is a big part of the group’s detailed energy; as the leader puts it, “Ayi knows everything about regional differences in drum patterns. He is always listening and super responsive, and his and Rune’s dynamics are amazing.” The music both presents a “vibe” and keeps the door open for engaging well under the surface as repeated listens will be extremely rewarding.
Presenting 3+5, the long-awaited eighth album from Tokyo-based noise-rockers Melt-Banana on their own A-Zap label! The album showcases the duo’s visionary musical approach and extraordinary abilities as performers: Yasuko Onuki’s giddy, hyperactive vocalizing and Ichiro Agata’s glitchy, cyberpunk guitar, delivered at dizzying speed, bathed in aggressive electronic sounds. Their aesthetic approach is exultantly experimental, fusing diverse genres imbued with chaotic energy. As on their previous works, the music on 3+5 is unpredictable, always filled with surprises and excitement. 3+5 synthesizes elements of a variety of extreme music, hyper-pop, classic punk, vintage metal, and noise. It partakes of Japanese culture overall, especially the subcultures of gaming, anime and underground music. Melt-Banana seek to offer possibilities to musicians who won’t start a band if they can’t find a drummer, young women afraid to express themselves in their own unfiltered and unique voices, bedroom musicians and egg punks seeking to blend electronic noise with live instrumentation. 3+5 provides a fresh experience and perhaps inspiration for all. While Melt-Banana hasn’t explicitly explained the meaning behind the album’s title, 3+5, prime numbers symbolize mathematical integrity and independence, which could represent the band’s uniqueness and freedom. Why “3+5” and not “1 + 7”? One is left to ponder.
BBsitters Club is a rock band based in Chicago that features Doug Kaplan and Charlie Olvera on guitar and vocals, Max Allison on bass, and Paul Birhanu on drums. As the label’s de-facto in-haus band, BBsitters Club satisfies Hausu Mountain co-founders Allison and Kaplan’s urge to remain connected to the rock and roll music they grew up loving and playing — far across the spectrum from the experimental electronics featured on the lion’s share of HausMo releases.
A solid four years after the one-two-punch releases of BBsitters Club & Party, the band’s 2020 debut studio album, and Joel’s Pick’s Vol. 1, the first volume in a series of audience-recorded live takes from shows around Chicago, we find the BBs reviving the Joel’s Pick’s series with Vol. 2. Charged with the energy of a close-knit group of friends willing to follow along with each other’s most outlandish ideas both in composition and live performance, JPV2 offers us a bewildering yet always tongue-in-cheek palette of ideas cherry-picked and mashed together into amalgams that both embrace “rock traditions” and defy them with a cherubic grin.
BBsitters Club’s amorphous compositions land somewhere between the world’s most baked prog band and a jamband that’s never content to lapse into wheel-spinning complacency. On JPV2, BBsitters Club cartwheel between eras and styles of rock music with abandon — a TV stuck flipping channels after your dad falls asleep with one leg on the remote. We encounter the elliptical dueling guitars and autumnal atmospheres of midwest emo / math rock, the gregarious stomp of electrified country rock, blues rock that has melted from ingesting one too many hallucinogens, and fried Devo-style art punk that breaches into the realms of ska before melting into free-form noise rock flecked with the bizarro imitative instrument tones of Kaplan’s MIDI guitar.
Compiled with the assistance of the band in 2007, Some Furtive Years - A Ned's Anthology collects 16 tracks from the high energy, post ""Madchester"" alternative rock outfit Ned's Atomic Dustbin. A tad shorter than 2003's superior Terminally Groovy: The Singles compilation, Furtive Years dutifully covers all the highlights like ""Grey Cell Green"", ""Kill Your Television"" and ""Until You Find Out"", proving what an underrated band Ned's Atomic Dustbin was. For the first time, Some Furtive Years - A Ned's Anthology is released on vinyl. This 2LP is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on yellow coloured vinyl and includes an insert. The D-side contains an etch of the bandlogo.
Limited pressing of 300 LPs ! 180gm VINYL LPS w/ INSERT & DOWNLOAD FILE UNDER : GARAGE ROCK / PUB ROCK "I wanted to make a very NOW album, our past was fantastic at the time but it was exactly that.the past. We've learned a lot since then and with the combination of influences and personal tastes we've concocted a combination of Raw Power guitar grunt, a touch of The Cars' pop sensibilities and Bad Seeds brood." Dave Butterworth Veteran rockers The Double Agents return with their third album New Motion a powerful new recording evoking directness and immediacy and marking their first release of new material in nearly two decades. The Double Agents' initial incarnation circa 2000 saw the fiercely independent quintet rise from humble stages to becoming one of Melbourne's most revered pub rock bands. They twice toured Europe and eventually shared the stage with iconic luminaries Dead Moon, Mudhoney, The Dirtbombs, Celibate Rifles, The White Stripes and The Black Keys before an amicable hiatus in 2008. New Motion is a modern Australian rock record and marks a departure from their garage rock roots, as best exemplified in their self released 2023 anthology compilation Best Bits. So Far spanning their first three releases. The familiar twin vocals remain, Kim and Dave summoning that deep Dead Moon energy, as does Ryan Tandy's singular lead guitar playing and the rock solid backbeat of Myles Gallagher, but the band's scope seems to have widened on this record, with the inclusion of longtime cohort Mick Stylianou (Saint Jude) adding style and harmonic punch on bass guitar and backing vocals. ..The New Motion sessions were tracked to analog tape by Finn Keane at Head Gap and Julian McKenzie at Newmarket with vocal post production by Dave Larkin (Dallas Crane), mixing by Callum Barter (Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile), mastering by Mikey Young. Dave Butterworth also produced the album.
MRAK unveils a six-track collection of new material. “This is a snapshot of my reality. It is a composition, a challenge, that I took not knowing the outcome and its price - the amount of logical mazes I had to overcome and I still am. The biggest honour and most humble experience is the possibility to feel any sparkle of emotion, providing fragments of the music and the reality that I’ve developed as an artist over the years. My imprint soul and commitment to melody are adamant, as is the pledge to deliver and be loyal to this abstract entity called music; that gently accompanies our lives.” MRAK As one of the founders of Afterlife, MRAK is now reshaping the afterlife paradigma. Introducing a sharp and elegant but distinctive musical equation. On The Pledge, he presents six compositions, all bound to the Afterlife ethos. ‘The World‘ featuring vocalist braev. Sombre piano keys and urgent strings accompany energetic synth layers. ‘The Process works from a hypnotic low end, supporting a solid melody that increases in intensity as the track develops. For ‘Their Law ’MRAK teams up with David Lindmer, crafting an undulating track with captivating melodies and harmonies. With ‘Portal ’the realm of consciousness beckons us in, with a female vocal reverberating intermittently, complementing the dark bassline and bright synth lines. Penultimate track ‘The Flame features braev and Canadian vocalist Wasiu for a three-way collaboration steeped in emotion. It utilises a heartfelt vocal alongside a spoken-word segment, striking the balance between emotion and high energy. Lastly, MRAK collaborates with Omnya on the remix of ‘Never Ends’. The main melody provides an uplifting vibration, juxtaposed with the darker elements of this journey to the close of the EP…
Repress!
Today – Friday 9th July – artist, producer, DJ and club culture icon Peggy Gou releases the second of a pair of summer singles. Released via Gou’s own Gudu Records, “I Go” is an incredible piece of club-focused electronic music and showcases a very different sound to previous single “Nabi”.
Described by The FADER as “the kind of dazzlement you get from light dancing off of ocean water on a hot day: pure dopamine activating bliss” and Resident Advisor as “a refreshingly low-key jam”, “Nabi” was an evocative piece of slow-burning, 98bpm electronic pop, inspired by 80s synth classics, the piano pieces of renowned composer Erik Satie and the 80s and 90s Korean songs Gou's mother used to play at home during her childhood.
“I Go” takes inspiration from a similar era but this time the energy comes from Gou’s love of 90’s dance anthems, many of which she revisited during lockdown and an enforced break from touring. Both retain the hallmarks of Peggy Gou’s unique take on electronic music; at once both nostalgic and totally modern. But on “I Go”, the tempo, 808s and 909s are dialled right up for a self-motivating anthem that is set to soundtrack a summer when we can all hopefully dance together in our thousands again.
Talking about “I Go”, Peggy says:
“When I was a teenager in Korea, we didn’t have rave culture like there was in the UK. “I Go” is a tribute to that era, my own reimagination of the sounds I grew up loving. The lyrics are inspired by a note I wrote on my phone in 2019, staring at myself in the mirror of an airport toilet – I looked so exhausted but there was no way I wasn’t going to keep going! “I Go” is basically me motivating myself, finding courage and returning to a feeling of innocence. I hope people feel the same sense of positivity when they hear it”
Meanwhile, Peggy Gou is set to make a handful of DJ appearances in Europe over the summer. These include a huge sold out London event in August in the form of The Pleasure Gardens; an outdoor party in Finsbury Park created and curated by Gou herself and featuring a stellar supporting line up including DJ Harvey, Anz and Spencer.
Track List:
Double LP set capturing some of Causa Sui's heaviest, most psychedelic tunes recorded live at Loppen - a legendary Copenhagen venue, located in the famous - and infamous - Freetown Christiania commune. This is the sound of Causa Sui at their home turf, stretching out and exploring eight epic fan-favourites from their entire catalogue in front of a small crowd of 400 people in a packed sold-out venue. The show was recorded the first week that Covid restrictions were lifted on venues in Denmark, which called for an especially buzzing night, even for a band that has exclusively played no more than a handful of shows each year since their 2005 debut. Each Causa Sui show is unique. Here we're offered a different perspective of the band's music - it's looser, more free-flowing, and some tracks are warped into something far from their original versions, bouncing off the wooden beams on the low ceiling of Loppen with renewed energy. At one point you can hear the band calling to take a breather and let some air inside the sauna-like temperature of the show, which just weeks before seemed impossible. Loppen 2021 offers a complete set from start to finish, so since chances that you'll catch the band live in person are slim, this is the next best thing. Mixed and mastered by Jonas Munk. Edition of 1000 copies on coloured ecomix vinyl.
Next up on Aris is a particularly special one - Ireland's first electronic music 12''- Carrier Frequency's Telecaster Man, a particularly Irish take on the acid house sounds of the late 80's, that still does the job 35 years later. ''A nine minute tune with two chords, it's just f-ckin' madness mostly - distortion and drum machines.'' simply put by one of the artist himself, but it's much more really. The record originally released in 1989 was a collaborative effort featuring the talents of Mr. Spring, Leo O'Kelly of 70's folk heroes Tir Na nOg, and Trevor Knight of 80s synth pop band Auto Da Fe, Mr. Spring, a veteran of pirate radio since his early teens and the local go to studio guy for dreamers and the Depeche Mode and Talk Talk clones of the time, spearheaded the project. Drawing from his extensive experience and technical prowess, Spring had already established his own studio in 1987, equipped with state-of-the-art gear including an Atari sequencer and an Akai s900 sampler. They decided to work together on it as Spring says ''We wanted to get a Cabaret Voltaire sound to it and have a bit of fun.'' Fueled by a shared passion for experimentation and sonic exploration and inspired by the dynamic energy of the club scene and the rapidly evolving sounds of electronic music, the late-night recording sessions in Spring's studio characterized by spontaneity and innovation. The result of their collaboration was ''Telecaster Man,'' a nine-minute tour de force combining distorted guitars, hypnotic rhythms, and pulsating synthesizers. The 12 inch comes with the original and Sinewave mixes plus a new Mr. Spring remix from the original multi tracks rounding it out with the replication remix and a bonus acapella. Full colour sleeve and comes with extended liner notes.
Since first splashing on to the Southern California circuit in the mid-aughts, Geneva Jacuzzi (née Garvin) quickly cemented herself as the queen of the Los Angeles underground. Her immersive and unhinged multimedia performances are the stuff of legend, a psychotropic gallery of masks, costumes, confrontation, and massive art installations. Jacuzzi’s recordings are equally revered, catchy hooks and cryptic moods dusted in 4-track grit. The arrival of her third official full-length, and Dais Records debut, is cause for such celebration. Triple Fire vividly expands and crystallizes Jacuzzi’s signature fusion of midnight melody and mutant aerobics across a 12-track hit parade of wildcard synth-pop and sly post-apocalyptic camp. Her enthusiasm for the album is as bold as her body of work: “Halfway through, we started calling this the record of the prophecy, the record that’s going to save mankind.”
Opener “Laps of Luxury” sets the template – a strobe-lit dreamer’s delight of swaggering synth bass, Haçienda drum machinery, and sultry vocal spellcasting (“Tragic mysteries I’ve known for centuries / I burned all memories and turned to fantasy”). The collection burns through shades of sardonic strut (“Art Is Dangerous,” “Nu2U,” “Keep It Secret”), coldwave kiss off (“Speed Of Light,” co-produced by Andrew Clinco of Drab Majesty), retro-futurist body music (“Dry,” “Scene Ballerina,” “Bow Tie Eater”), and cheeky glitterball pop (“Take It Or Leave It,” “Heart Full Of Poison” co-produced by Roderick Edens and Andrew Briggs). She likens the eclectic spectrum of moods to the continuum of human emotions: “Funny, sexy, sad, scary, witty, hopeful, menacing. Eventually it deconstructs, turns into a party, and then ends sweet and soft.”
Taken as a whole, Triple Fire comes as close as any document yet to capturing Jacuzzi’s kaleidoscopic alchemy of pop sugar and chaos energy, flickering between icy and ironic, chic and surreal, hungry and heartsick. Hers is a muse as rare as it is regenerative, forever reborn at the precipice of the next chorus: “Someone said that Alcatraz had fallen into the sea / Almost sounded like an angel calling me in a dream / I felt an electric shock when I picked up the microphone.”
- A1: Overture 1 26
- A2: Oscar Winning Tears 3 34
- A3: Hard Out Here 3 36
- A4: The Thrill Is Gone (Requiem) 1 54
- A5: The Thrill Is Gone 4 34
- B1: Five Star Hotels 4 40
- B2: Mary Jane Vs Graeme Blevins 3 24
- B3: Mary Jane 2 51
- B4: Environmental Anxiety 3 57
- B5: Body Dysmorphia 3 47
- C1: Ice Cream Man 3 29
- C2: Dani's Interlude 2 36
- C3: Flip A Switch 4 57
- C4: Worth It (Prelude) 2 00
- C5: Worth It 4 04
- D1: Black Mascara 4 17
- D2: Buss It Down 5 31
- D3: Escapism
RAYE has been on a real journey prior to her stratospheric rise to the top and notching the first #1 UK hit of 2023. Nominated for 7 x Brit Awards (the most by any artist in one year) her long-awaited independent debut album, My 21st Century Blues, made an immediate impact hitting the #2 spot on the UK albums chart. As a welcome result of her self-fulfilling new work, RAYE unknowingly created the song that has become synonymous with 2023 – the chart topping, viral global smash “Escapism” featuring 070 Shake – that earned her first Top 10 slots at US Pop and Rhythm radio and and is the biggest selling single by a Female British artist in the UK in 2023. From the radio to the club, it put RAYE on the map in a whole new way earning the Best Contemporary Song Award at the 2023 Ivors, AIM Best Independent Track and Best Social Trending Song at the Global Awards, as well as contributing to her winning a BRIT Billions Award in recognition of 1 Billion career UK streams (globally, 4.5 Billion cumulative). RAYE also received the Live Nation Best Female Award at the O2 Silver Clefs and was nominated for the Best International Act at the BET Awards. Fresh off sold-out tours with Lewis Capaldi, Kali Uchis, and SZA, she embarked on a mammoth journey of her own. Two headline tours spanning the UK, Europe, and North America saw her energy ignite sold-out crowds every night. Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage felt her command, and the Royal Albert Hall, draped in the magic of her orchestra and choir, witnessed a BBC special for the ages. This year, My 21st Century Symphony arrives at the o2 Arena, then it's on to Coachella. After playing and owning the pop game, RAYE bet on herself and won.
Tracklisting
1. Overture. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 2. Oscar Winning Tears. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 3. Hard Out Here. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 4. The Thrill Is Gone Requiem. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 5. The Thrill Is Gone. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 6. Five Star Hotels. - RAYE, Heritage Orchestra 7. Mary Jane vs Graeme Blevins. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 8. Mary Jane - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 9. Environmental Anxiety. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 10. Body Dysmorphia - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 11. Ice Cream Man. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 12. Dani's Interlude. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 13. Flip A Switch. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 14. Worth It Prelude. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 15. Worth It. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 16. Black Mascara. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 17. Buss It Down. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 18. Escapism. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra
Congratulations to RAYE on her phenomenal night at the Brit Awards.. with a record breaking six wins in one night, including ..
Best British Album
Best Artist
Best Breakthrough Artist
Best Songwriter
Best R&B Act
This album was a self imposed ambitious project for us. Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo’d everything at home on cassette 4 track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it 'til I had a pile of “songs”. Tom and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of 3 octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have 4 people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys. As we were recording I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote & Brad Caulkins on tenor and Baritone saxophones :) Sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk. Poppy and hooky, heavy at times.. Sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound. Boneheaded in riff and heady in lyrics. Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio by me on 8 track 1/4” tape . So pretty hot and raw. Lots to write about today. A lot of these lyrics were taken from things people said in passing about taking on life right now that stuck with me. Things that made me reflect. Things that made me laugh. Things that made me WTF. Some folks are kind, genuine & give you love and energy. Some are greedy manipulative ghouls who hang off your veins. You must be strong, composed and take care of yourself. Be self aware and check your mind for cracks. Learn to relax and be well. There are moments of beauty and redemption. Its not all bad news and there’s always hope. People continue to surprise me one way or another. Anyhow, Hope you enjoy and good luck out there. — John Dwyer
“Sotali” (2010) by Swedish folk duo Pettersson & Fredriksson – featuring members of Otyg and Solsaate – becomes available on vinyl for the first time. Renowned for mastery with the keyed fiddle and mandola, the pair bridges their Västerbotten heritage with influences ranging from Sigur Rós’s avant-garde creativity to José Gonzalez’s serene melancholy. “Sotali” emerges as an opus that balances the energy of traditional melodies with the tranquillity of modern folk artistry.
"Three years and two EPs into their short but ascendant career, Telenova announce their debut album ‘Time Is A Flower’.
The distinctive universe of Telenova - shadowy, sample driven alt-pop with prominent trip-hop and electronica influence, plus a touch of playful energy - is the design of lead vocalist, songwriter and filmmaker Filipina-Australian Angeline Armstrong and multi-instrumentalists Edward Quinn and Joshua Moriarty."
For fans of Blink 182, Green Day and Power Punk! PUMP5 is a touring rock band hailing from southern California that has kept its wheels turning for the last 10 years. PUMP5 is comprised of respected talent such as Alex Kane (Shark Island, Enuff Z’nuff, Starz, etc….) on guitar, Andre Bonter on drums, Andrew Cates on the bass and Steven Todd Barnett on guitar and vocals. PUMP5, has been touring the lower 48 and Canada, and have no plans of slowing down. PUMP5 has found its place in American rock, and represents the brand with a high energy, in-your face live show. Full Service was independently released in 2017 and boasted stand out tracks “Flight Song”, “Painted Flowers”, and “Pills”. Now it is getting its worldwide release through Deko Entertainment. Critics and fans are taking notice, “The entire group shines with exceptional musicianship, brilliant ideas, impressive creativity, and talent. All these qualities shape their catchy, familiar, but entirely unique sound that will satisfy even the pickiest fans of the genre.”
Beneath the steel strings and steely demeanor exemplifying the spirit of bluegrass lies the heart of a wanderer: the heartbroken rambler looking for the next big break and the next story to tell. The Po’ Rambin’ Boys’ Wanderers Like Me is a quintessential bluegrass record, full of melodies that burst with energy and emotion and music driven by melancholy but refusing to succumb to it. They confront their losses with original songs that resonate poignantly across the hills and hollers where bluegrass was born. For The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys wandering is anything but aimless: they ramble not to escape the past but to experience the future.



















