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Be With is delighted to present Jorge López Ruiz’s El Grito (Suite Para Orquesta De Jazz), eternal Argentinian magic released on CBS in 1967 that must be one of the most sought-after South American jazz LPs.

Living in Buenos Aires in the 60s, driven by creative impulse and rage Jorge López Ruiz used music as his platform to protest the Argentine military dictatorship: “I could never stand dictatorships, to be told how you have to think, what you have to do. Nor did I endure discrimination”.

A young López Ruiz had appeared on a television panel alongside writer, politician and philosopher Arturo Jauretche, criticising the Onganía dictatorship. Jauretche told López Ruiz “Now say it with music”. This was the deep inhale that lead to El Grito, literally “The Scream”. As López Ruiz later explained “Jauretche urged me that my protests should not remain in words and acquire the consistency of a work… but it was not so much what he told me but how he told me, what prompted me to make the work take shape, first in a live concert and then in a recording”.

As the police and military began resorting to kidnapping, torture and summary executions to quiet dissent, with depressing inevitability the artist community and their work were a particular target of the increasingly brutal regime. El Grito was banned not long after it was released and the majority of original copies were unceremoniously destroyed.

The work of a genius artist living under an opressive dictatorship, erased by the government of the time, this is buried treasure in every sense and it’s been a rare record for over 50 years. But it isn’t just being hard to find that has pushed up the prices of those few original copies that survived, this is a foundational record in the development of jazz in South America.

El Grito (Suite Para Orquesta De Jazz) is a showcase for Jorge López Ruiz’s skills as a composer and arranger as he leads a virtuoso orchestra of the likes of Mario Cosentino (alto sax), Baby López Furst (piano), Pichi Mazzei (drums), Gustavo Bergalli (trumpet), Oscar López Ruiz (guitar), Arturo Schneider (flute) and Jorge López Ruiz himself plays double bass on the fourth and fifth movements.

As the album’s sub-title explains, The album is a Jazz orchestra concept suite. Five movements, to be heard as a whole, that end where they begin.

“When I wrote it there was no history of a cyclical work in jazz. But I didn't notice that, I needed to express something and I did it. At that time they told me I was crazy, that such a thing was very difficult to do. But hey, I like challenges”.

Yet this is not challenging jazz. There are certainly avant garde, free jazz flourishes, but the hard bop characteristics make this a very accessible album: easy to listen to without being easy listening. López Ruiz’s love of film brings a definite cinematic feel.

The title movement opens the album in bombastic style. “El Grito” grabs you by the lapels and refuses to let go. Raw then controlled, it’s by turns stabbing then soothing, with rage weaved in and out of the elegant styles. “M.A.B. = Amor” is our favourite here. With a tense introduction and a patient build, a gentle sax sweeps in to lift everything up to meet the serene piano and soft drums. Elegantly paced, it moves back and forth between deep contemplation and a more urgent call and response between strings and horns. A near-eight-minute, slow motion marvel.

The second side eases in with the beautifully-titled “Hasta El Cielo, Sin Nubes, Con Todas Las Estrellas” (“Up To The Sky, No Clouds, With All The Stars”) a relatively brief mid-tempo piece featuring López Ruiz’s insistent bass notes high in the mix, and again blending the sublime with the emotive with its wild horns and tight rhythm section.

It’s followed by “Tendré El Mundo” (“I Will Have The World”) which also leads with hypnotic bass, but this time swifter, driven by crashing drums, rapid horn conversations and effortlessly cool piano flourishes. Rounding out the suite, “De Nuevo El Grito” (something like “The Next Scream” or “The Scream Renewed”) is a stylish closer. Whilst López Ruiz’s bass shifts the track along, the horns and piano are more restrained, yet no less stunning.

This Be With edition of El Grito sounds sensational, if we do say so ourselves. Working with audio from the original analogue tapes, the vinyl mastering chops of Simon Francis are on full show here in what he considers to be some of his best ever work for Be With. Pete Norman’s cutting skills have made sure nothing is lost. The tortured artwork has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to helping this revered work find a rightful place in every protest art collection.

Originally released as a 12” single in 1982, ‘Every Brother Ain’t A Brother’ was the final record from Brooklyn multi-instrumentalist and producer Freddie Thompson’s Panaché band. Built around a fully cleared sampled bassline from ‘The Message’ by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, ‘Every Brother Ain’t A Brother’ plays out like a summertime stroll through New York in the early 80s. The streets are full of excitement, but as the lyrics, written by vocalist Denise Williams (not to be confused with Deniece Williams of ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy’ fame) make it clear, they’re dangerous as well.

Thirty-nine years later, Isle of Jura is proud to present the first official 12” reissue of ‘Every Brother Ain’t A Brother’. A cult classic from the disco-rap era, the reissue includes the original vocal and instrumental versions of ‘Every Brother Ain’t A Brother’ plus a Jura Soundsystem special version with additional live percussion.

Originally made up of Freddie, his wife, the singer Debra Thompson and keyboardist Douglas Glover, Panaché formed at the behest of a local disco DJ, Carl Nelson. In the wake of Chic’s early singles, Carl felt a French name would give Freddie a competitive edge. “He explained it to us that it was a French word for style and elegance. Panaché, a step above chic,” Freddie reflects.

Business minded, Freddie formed his own label, Roché Records and joined SIRMA - The Small Independent Music Manufacturers Association. “It was very hard for the independent manufacturers to get airplay and distribution at the time, so we all came together,” he remembers. Through SIRMA, Freddie met Joe and Sylvia Robinson from Sugar Hill Records, who several years later, let him sample ‘The Message’ for ‘Every Brother Ain’t A Brother’.

In 1979, Panaché scored some radioplay when they covered ‘Not On The Outside’ by ‘60s D.C R&B group The Moments. Emboldened, they brought onboard backing vocalists and recorded their only album. This Is Panache saw the band blurring the boundaries between soul, jazz-funk and disco and become a sought after collectible.

By 1982, Debra had stepped back, and one of Panaché’s backing singers was center stage, Denise Williams. “Denise was good with writing poetry,” says Freddie. "She had one called ‘Every Brother Ain’t A Brother’. It was about the unrest that was going on in the city at the time. I thought I could do something with that.”

After releasing ‘Every Brother Ain’t A Brother’ in 1982, Panaché quietly moved from center stage to behind the scenes. Over the last thirty-nine years, Freddie has continued to work in the music industry as a session musician and producer. “As soon as we stopped trying to become stars as Panaché, we became busy working in the industry,” Freddie laughs.

Orange and black. Fire and ebony. Fury and pride. Wearing its signature colors proudly and raising its exclamation point high, Impulse! Records was the go-to label for music that harnessed the searching and political stand-taking of the Sixties. Launched in 1961, Impulse grew to become an inherent part of the era’s velocity as well as its volume, pulling jazz into the age of Black Power, Afrocentricity, and Spiritual Expansion. In its balance of tradition and transition, it bridged the golden age of jazz, that brief window from the late Fifties to the Seventies when players representing every jazz era were alive and active—from Louis Armstrong to Albert Ayler, from the legends of lore to a new generation of energy players. Impulse treated all its musicians as innovators, revolutionaries even—from swing and bebop, to free and Afrofuturist. The performances on Impulse Records: Music, Message and the Moment draw their staying power from a wide embrace of styles and sounds, as well as a tight focus on a historic moment when the promise of change was in the air and the message of racial harmony was in the music. Today that music has lost none of its relevance: the promise still deferred, the message still on time.

Buzzing new Glasgow five-piece VLURE release their hotly anticipated
debut 7” ‘Shattered Faith’ via London-based label Permanent Creeps
Records.
Bursting onto the scene at the dawn of 2020, VLURE introduced
themselves to the world with a live audio/visual performance of their
phenomenal track ‘Desire’, captured in beautiful cinematography from
the loading bay of their Glasgow studio space. Blurring the lines between
live electronics, jarring guitars and the performance sensibilities of their
post-punk contemporaries, the video offered a keyhole view into their
captivating live shows.
Combining synth laden hooks, heavy club influenced rhythms and
emotionally confronting lyrics, VLURE have already seen support from
the likes of So Young and Wax Music praising their life affirming, intense
and enigmatic live performances.
Recorded between the halls of a deconsecrated church in the heart of
the Scottish Borders, the self-produced ‘Shattered Faith’ is an indulgent,
genre bending coming of age anthem influenced by the rhythms,
repetitions and euphoric hooks of Glasgow’s thriving afterparty and club
scene with an angular post-punk foundation. Speaking on the track the
band explain: “We wanted to create something that felt at home on the
dancefloors that we all found ourselves on growing up, yet still equally at
home in the sweat-filled venues that the band was conceived in. At its
crux, ‘Shattered Faith’ is about self-empowerment. It’s the
disillusionment with where you are and what you’ve been given. It’s lying
on your kitchen floor at 3am realising who you truly are and finding
power in that - it’s a new lease of life. We believe that, if they want to find
it, there is something for everyone in this song.”
“There is nothing comparable - this is a new era of musically skeletal
human showmanship” - So Young Magazine
“Urgent, destructive and completely absorbing. Brutalist in form -
unyielding, massive-sounding, distinctive - their atmospheric, yearning
mood is overflowing with inclination and exposed tenderness -
vulnerable and exasperated. They pound the door down with every inch
of blood, sweat and tears in their vessels” - Wax Music
“This is post-punk, but not as you might familiarly expect” - Little Indie
Blogs
“One of Scotland’s most exciting new bands” - Tenement TV

Repress

The 10th release on BLKMARKET MUSIC features Payphone, with ‘Unicorn System.’ From the founders of Toronto’s Payphone Studios and members of the Hypnotic Mindscapes crew and record label, the Payphone trio make their label debut with 4 hardware-heavy tracks. This elusive 3-member live-act take a functional yet improvisational approach, influenced by years of chasing the wonk during late-night jam sessions.

Kicking-off the EP is the retro futurism of ‘Don E = Dark O’ - a melancholic, chiaroscuro-esque house-meets-techno track harking back to a bygone era of rave. The A2 ‘Fool Circle’ shifts gears into the afterhours with an infectious, metallic groove. On the flip, aquatic-deep techno cut ‘Sea Sex Librarian’ dubs things out with trippy vocals and a booming round baseline. Rounding out the EP, ‘Get Outta 84’ conjures cinematic dystopia with deep electro-infused breaks.

All tracks written & produced by Cosmic JD, Ryan W, and Tro

Olafur Arnalds' highly anticipated second full-length album '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness', continues his mission to lure an indie-generation of pop and rock fans into an emotive world of beguiling electronic chamber music and delicate classical arrangements. The sense of an organic crossover recording is reinforced by the involvement of co-producer Bar?i J?hannsson of eccentric pop/rock/electronica-formation Bang Gang. Bar?i has successfully coloured the brittle minimalism of previous releases through the addition of an array of new instruments.

Those expecting a mere continuation of the minimal melancholia of his previous albums are therefore in for a surprise, as the record may be the most uplifting and richly orchestrated work of his career: "The album has a very clear theme", Arnalds relates, "which is that there is always light after darkness. To me, it has a more positive note than my previous works." When ?lafur saw how the opening scene of a Hungarian indie film metaphorically described a solar eclipse, he instantly connected it to the concept, naming the album after a key line of the film's introductory monologue. Staying true to this positive note, '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness' will herald another intense year for ?lafur Arnalds, with the album being accompanied by a world tour, starting in China in March 2010.

Born in the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsb?r, a few kilometres outside of Reykjav?k, the 23-year old composer has always enjoyed pushing boundaries with both his studio work and his live-shows. His new opus is set to again challenge his fan base, which is still growing rapidly. Over the past eighteen months Arnalds has advanced from a former support-act for Sigur R?s to an internationally respected artists in his own right. He was privileged to be invited to write the 'Dyad 1909' score for award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor, aired on BBC Four and on ITV1's South Bank Show. 'Found Songs', a collection of pieces each written, recorded and released in a single day via the Erased Tapes label website, as well as the video for 'Lj?si?' have since managed to generate half a million downloads and video views.

In many ways, the new record is clearly inspired and informed by these events. Several of the pieces were, in fact, written on and off throughout his tour and benefit directly from the intensity of the live situation and the emotional roller-coaster-ride of life on the road: "The first half of 'Gleypa okkur' was written in a sound check in Munich, for example", Arnalds relates, "while the second part was scored in Braunschweig, Germany." On the other hand it is the result of meticulous studio work, of refining compositions in close co operation with compatriot Bar?i Johannsson, known for his eccentric personality and unique electro-acoustic sound: "I definitely wanted to do something a bit different this time, something more. Working with a producer was a part of that." The enthusiasm translates to arrangements displaying a new sense of sonic diversity.

?lafur Arnalds has created an even more open and spacious sound and taken his distinct style to a new level. Compared to his previous works, '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness' makes use of diverse instrumentation ? drums, guitars, voice, Rhodes, a selection of subtle synthesisers, alongside Arnalds' trademark piano as well as Tony Levin on bass. Traditional terminologies become void on his latest offering, which blends contrasting elements into an original, entirely organic new language and a sensitive ballet of the mind.

Arnalds fusion of 21st century electronics and classical vocabulary thereby continues to decisively unwrap the sealed-off world of classical music.

For a good number of Spanish musicians, attracting attention from somewhere outside of Madrid was a mission impossible for several decades. While the Movida Madrileña, commonly referred to as the “Madrid scene” in English, stirred things up and made front page news on the basis of new wave music, musicians that were on the fringe or directly beyond it had few platforms from which to be heard.
Although Javier Segura has been recording music in his studio almost continuously since the 70's, his relevance and recognition as a musician has been limited to underground music circles. The fact
that he worked outside of the country's spotlight of power kept his name relatively unknown for years, something which even the arrival of the internet could not illuminate. Only the appreciation of a few collectors and disc jockeys kept the light on.
Passat Continu delivers here the first ever compilation by the spanish musician Javier Segura (born 1955), who worked as an isolated cell from his home studio in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, in the Canary Islands. Working for decades from the underground, Segura build up some brilliant ideas producing dozens of richly textured songs, stretching borders on ambient, experimental rock, dreamy folk or concrete music. Using guitars, rhythm boxes, trumpets synths or simply pedals, Segura managed his own career and produced while published a handful of albums by himself: El ser y el tiempo (1976), No mires atrás (1983), Nostalgia de lo humano (1986), Lamento bereber (1989), El ángel caído vol I, la lluvia azul (2004), Levántate (2005) and El orden y el caos (2006).
He also teamed up with Juan Belda on only impro project Arte Moderno (1981-1982), using the Roland TR-808 rhythm box as a main actor for the first time in the post-Franco’s Spain era.
'El sol desde oriente' uses three of that songs and add six more previously unreleased productions from 1980 to 1990, probably his most active period of time. Available on vinyl and digital through
Bandcamp. Digital version includes two extra tracks. Vinyl comes with insert with unseen photos and liner notes by Javier Segura and Passat Continu’s curator David G. Balasch.
All music written by Javier Segura except Jardín marroquí, written by Javier Segura and Juan Belda
under the name of Arte Moderno.

The American Negro is an unapologetic critique, detailing the systemic & malevolent psychology that afflicts people of color. It should be evident that any examination of black music is an examination of the relationship between black & white America. This relationship has shaped the cultural evolution of the world and its negative roots run deep into our psyche. With an elaborate orchestral and soulful display, The American Negro re-invents the black native tongue: a politically conscious LP with a prescription to eradicate hate in America. "The American Negro is the most important creative accomplishment of my life. This project dissects the chemistry behind blind racism, using music as the medium to restore dignity and self-worth to my people": Adrian Younge is a multi-instrumentalist, film composer and producer with an analog studio and record store in Los Angeles. He is a member of The Midnight Hour and has produced for entertainment greats ranging from Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar and Wu Tang Clan. He's composed for television shows such as Marvel's Luke Cage (with Ali Shaheed Muhammad), and films including Black Dynamite. He owns the boutique record label, Linear Labs, and is co-owner of Jazz Is Dead. When he's not working on scores for major studios or networks, he's making albums that speak to his own artistry. For The American Negro, Younge not only wrote, but played every instrument of the album's rhythm section; he also orchestrated a 30-piece orchestra and recorded them in his analog studio.

Brilliant second album from the wholly original cult Sheffield post punk band. Released in 1983 on Red Flame ‘One Afternoon In A Hot Air Balloon’ is an adventure on its own. Artery somehow replaced the somber post-punk of the debut with a stream of melancholic pop paeans influenced by british folk and certain ballroom dances, with a spectral keyboard sound worth killing for. The secret weapon - when compared to the rest of their discography - is largely explained by the presence of keyboard player and (by now) main composer Christopher Hendrick. The band was in fact reduced to a trio with former members Mark Gouldthorpe (guitar) and Garry Wilson (drums) now supported by the singular effort of Hendrick (also on bass and xylophone). At the same time Garry Wilson was playing in an early incarnation of Pulp. Despite the early Joy Division influence - which the band firmly dismissed – Artery is moving forward into the so-called new romantic era. A vaudeville scenario light years ahead from the streets and the aggro-culture, a way to some pleasant and revealing experience.

For our 5th vinyl release on Bouquet. Recs, Trent is toeing the line between fresh and trippy, but undeniably dance floor heat on his first solo EP, and first release on our label.
We are proud to share his momentous solo effort. Recorded in Berlin between 2018 and 2020, 'Transition 35' takes cues from multiple eras of dance to characterise the ever changing colours of nightlife. C'mon ride the train - final destination? The limits of your sensual abandon. Stops along the way? 90's rave. Psychedelic space station.

Trent is a Berlin-based Italian DJ and producer who co-created the party series and label 'Oscillator' with fellow Italians Dama and Budino.
Alongside resident and cosmic pioneer Beppe Loda, they curated one of Berlin's remarkable events for obscure italo, disco and electro.

Taking lessons from the past Trent weaves together a highly sophisticated yet playful sound for the contemporary club goer. Having spent many years as part of collectives, his solo aesthetic is thoughtfully considered and always surprising.
A longtime fixture of the infamous playground party Cocktail d'Amore, Trent collaborates with Juan Ramos under the shared byname Greenvision, releasing together on Cocktail d'Amore, ESP Institute and Ene Tokyo.
'Transition 35' marks Trent's first solo EP sojourn and a triumphant showcase of his individual voice, on Bouquet. Recs

TRACK DESCRIPTIONS

A1. Like a fast train barreling out the station to destinations unknown, This is a Trip hurtles forward like a 90's rave classic, with new wave and nu beat inflections that keep you hooked through unexpected transitions to its explosive finale.

A2. Gasping lysergically, the sci-fi sounds of Don't Stop evoke ecstasy on the dancefloor. That internal scream as you summon more energy, eyes closed, enjoying the trip with a smile.

B. Touch Me is a spell of primal percussions and ominous warlock voices to make for a dark, hot situation

‘Archive Series Volume no. 5: Tallahassee Recordings’ is the lost-in-time debut
album from Iron & Wine. A collection of songs recorded three years prior to his
official Sub Pop debut, ‘The Creek Drank the Cradle’ (2002). A period before the
concept of Iron & Wine existed and principal songwriter Sam Beam was studying
at Florida State University with the intent of pursuing a career in film.
‘Archive Series Volume no. 5’ documents the very first steps on a journey that
would lead to a career as one of America’s most original and distinctive singersongwriters. ‘The Creek Drank the Cradle’ arrived like a thief in the night with its
lo-fi, hushed vocals and intimate nature, while almost inversely Tallahassee
comes with a strange sense of confidence. Perhaps an almost youthful discretion
that likely comes from being too young to know better and too naïve to give a
shit.
The recordings themselves are more polished than ‘The Creek Drank the Cradle’
and give a peak into what a studio version of that record might have offered up.
‘Archive Series Volume no. 5’ was recorded over the course of 1998-1999 when
Beam and future bandmate EJ Holowicki moved into a house together. Beam
had not been performing publicly however, he was known for playing an original
song or two in the early morning glow of a long night. Holowicki - also in the film
program and who would go onto a career as a sound designer at Skywalker
Sound - had a mobile recording device and after some prodding convinced his
friend to record these late-night meditations.
Together they would record close to twenty-four songs, ideas and sketches, with
EJ on bass and Sam on vocals, guitar, harmonica and drums. The recordings -
all captured in the house where they lived - have a ‘live in the room’ feel akin to
say Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ or Nick Drake’s ‘Five Leaves Left’, rather than the
homespun lo-fi 4-track home recording experiment taking place at the time.
These recordings, minus one track, have never been made available and were
instead left preserved on a hard drive for the last twenty years. The one track
that floated out there, called ‘In Your Own Time’ was shared without a title to
childhood friend Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) at some point. The song became
known as the ‘Fuck Like A Dog’ song and Ben shared it with more than a few
folks during the golden era of mix CDs. Two of those folks were Jonathan
Poneman from Sub Pop and journalist Mike McGonigal, who included it on his
best songs of 2001 mix CD, passed out to friends and acquaintances. And for
many that is where the Iron & Wine story begins, until now.
‘Archive Series Volume no. 5’ is the foreword to your favourite book that you’ve
somehow skipped over time and time again. It’s an alternative history mixed with
some revisionist history told over the course of eleven songs. It’s also the debut
record by Iron & Wine some twenty years after the fact.

Debut release from Kataan, the post death/black metal outfit featuring Nick Thornbury (Vattnet Viskar) and Brett Boland (Astronoid).

Hugh Padgham-produced albums have sold well over 100 million copies worldwide, and gathered over 100 billion streams on digital platforms to date. Despite these stratospheric stats, the multi grammy award-winning producer has not been involved in any new material for well over a decade, and it would always take something ultra-special to pique Hugh's attention enough to get him back into the studio. This new album by Drummer/Composer Graham Costello, co-produced by Padgham and out May 7th on Gearbox Records, is most definitely that. Veering away from solid Jazz and into minimalism, electronics and post rock, Costello builds triumphantly on the foundation he laid down on 'Obelisk', his debut 2019 release which was nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year Award. It garnered much attention from the UK press and further, receiving 5-stars from The Scotsman and strong accolades from the likes of Clash Magazine, who called it ”startling, groundbreaking...it explodes definitions to seize fresh space”. 4 leading singles will drop to dsps in advance of the album street date of May 7th - each chosen to unpeal a little of the multiple layers to be discovered on the full set. 2nd single 'Circularity' (March 10th) hints at Blackstar-era Bowie while calming the soul with its sensuous hypnoticism, while 'Impetu' (April 9th) reveals a dense, lustrous sound bursting with colour, rich in energy, and 'Legion' (April 30th) explodes with muscular force and purpose.

Clear Vinyl

Post-minimalist American composer Rafael Anton Irisarri makes his Umor Rex debut with his new album, The Shameless Years. Inspired by a troubled socio-political climate, buried melodies punch their way through a bleak cover of noisy drones, periodically veering into some of Irisarri's most eerily pertinent music to date.

One of Rafael Anton Irisarri's most thematically and sonically cohesive records to date The Shameless Years came together in a relatively short burst of creativity starting at the end of 2016. Rediscovering some relatively older tools - namely Native Instruments' Reaktor, Absynth, and Kontakt software - Irisarri combined them with his collection of guitars, pedals, amps, and analogue processing gear, turning his Black Knoll Studio north of NYC into a powerful writing tool. Completed quickly by Irisarri's standards, let alone during a period of social upheaval in American society, the record faces down several key personal themes. The title, suggests Irisarri, could in fact be seen as a reflection of the era of shamelessness we're currently living in, a time of fake news and alternative facts.

Two tracks were completely remotely between Irisarri in New York and Umor Rex veteran Siavash Amini from his home in Tehran, Iran. This music came together at the peak of all the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric happening in the USA, not to mention the banning of Iranians from entering the country, explains Irisarri. The diptych with Amini, 'Karma Krama' and 'The Faithless', seems bathed in additional waves of sorrow and dread. The wash of symphonic stormclouds of synth drones and processed notes on the latter gradually appears and disappears over the course of thirteen mournful minutes.

'Rh Negative' marches gigantic guitars through towering valleys of scarred ambient noise dealing with Irisarri's own heritage, many of his ancestors having come to America to escape poverty and oppression. The refusal of modern America to extend similar sanctuary to refugees escaping turmoil weighs heavily on the composer. Elsewhere an emotional onslaught of notes buried in mounds of greyscale noise on 'Sky Burial' aims to deal with Irisarri's very own mortality - something he was recently confronted with following health scares, an accident, and a near-death experience in 2016. Pushing 40 as this album was being made, the composer is constantly aware that he's already outlived his own father, who died at the age of 32. Facing down both intolerance and the void, the epic soundscapes of The Shameless Years are a vast cry of emotion from Irisarri. The clock is ticking - gotta make the most out of it while you still can.

All songs written and performed by Rafael Anton Irisarri, except #5 & #6 written and performed with Siavash Amini. Design by Daniel Castrejón, photos by Camilo Christen. Mastered by James Plotkin.

Wah Wah 45s make a welcome return to the world of re-issues. Having started out over two decades ago releasing dance floor funk from Benny Poole, Cheyenne Fowler and The Googie Rene Combo, and later re-releasing obscure Kompa-funk from Haitian pianist Henri Pierre Noel, they now turn their attention to an overlooked early 90s acoustic soul gem.

About thirty years ago, music teacher and budding producer Alex Boyesen found himself working as part of the Haringey Music Workshop - a community programme and outreach project funded by the local council in Haringey, North London (coincidentally the area in which the Wah Wah head office is now based!).

"Anyone could come and get lessons for free - ranging from piano, sax, guitar, drums, bass, singing and workshops including choral, jazz band and more." Alex Boyesen

It was during that time that Alex came across a young Sam Edwards.

"One day I went into one of the rehearsal rooms and there, by herself, was this girl playing a piano and singing. It was the most incredible voice I had ever heard."

Before long, the pair were playing all over London as a duo with Alex on guitar and Sam on vocals.

"Sam had never had professional training, she was simply an utter natural."

The Haringey Music workshop was connected with other projects in the borough, in particular a community project called the Selby Centre. Here they ran training programs for young people and one of these was a music business course. The idea was that they found an artist, recorded them and then promoted them. One way or the other they ended up picking Alex and Sam to be on their roster.

"My good friend Nixon Rosembert was brought in to oversee the recordings and they hired the Islington Music Workshop to do the recording. We got musicians from the Haringey Music Workshop to play on the sessions and spent a day recording two songs -American CarsandLife. The training workshop had created a label called Progression Music and out the record went."

Three decades later and out of the blue Alex started to get interest again in the record he'd almost forgotten about all those years ago. It had become something of a sought after gem on Discogs, and there seemed to be an interest in that 'acoustic soul' sound once again.

"I got three people asking if they could re-release it and finally here we are with Wah Wah 45s doing the business after all these years."

It was Hospital Records and Wah Wah 45s founder, Chris Goss, who first brought the idea of releasing this record to the table.

"This is a really special record for me, picked up 30 years ago, from a young James Lavelle at Honest Jon's in Ladbroke Grove. Sam Edwards would go on to perform and write songs with North London's Izit, the acid jazz collective fronted by Tony Colman - with whom I have built a music company, these past 25 years. Alex Boyeson worked with Tony at the Haringey Arts Project, who produced a one-off vinyl release of Alex's two compositions back in 1991. Thanks to Alex and Tony, we have been able to clean-up the original audio, uncover photos and lyric sheets to present, with real love and affection, these two lost gems from a bygone era." Chris Goss, Feb 2021.

The project was then expanded by Dom Servini, who got heavy disco legend Ashley Beedle and co-label owner and erstwhile producer Adam Scrimshire in to take on remix duties.

"When approached by Dom Servini to reworkAmerican CarsI had no idea about the history of the original song. After a good listen myself and studio partner Darren Morris set to work and all I can say that it was a lovely experience keeping the vibe of the original but giving it a spaced out feel in true Afrikanz On Marz fashion." Ashley Beedle, Feb 2021.

"Remixing without multi-tracks always brings a bunch of challenges, getting the balance between the bass and drums in the original and what you want to do with your own version. The song really dictates certain things to you.

But it was such a pleasure to explore that with this beautiful song and vocal performance. So many ways to approach it. I just wanted to draw out more of the melancholy in the original and make it an absorbing experience." Adam Scrimshire, Feb 2021.

Perhaps the last word should be given to Alex himself, who's very much enjoying the new lease of life that his music with Sam is getting.

"As I write this we are trying to locate her, she's somewhere singing something, that's all she ever did. Thanks for being part of my life Sam and I am so glad that this small bit of that time is being remembered." Alex Boyesen, Feb 2021.

Recorded in 1959 at the height of the Latin Jazz Era, This is Mongo Santamaria's second album for Fantasy Records. A deep and fascinating investigation of Afro-Cuban roots run by the great percussionist and a
quite large group featuring Paul Horn on flute, Emil Richards on vibraphone, Al McKibbons on bass and of course lots of multicolored percussion and vocals split by a bunch of masters players including
Armando Peraza and Willie Bobo.The album opens with the redolent melody of "Afro-Blue" one of his most beautiful compositions which later became a classic Jazz standards with historical renditions by
the likes of John Coltrane, Abbey Lincoln and Oscar Brown Jr.

Toronto’s infamous psychedelic multimedia collective, Intersystems, make a surprise return with a new full-length LP, #IV. Coming via Waveshaper Media, #IV is Intersystems’ first new material since 1968! Intersystems’ pioneering avant/electronic music sounded positively alien in the 1960s, and more than 50 years later, this latest body of work sounds just as otherworldly.

When they arrived on the scene in the late 1960s, Intersystems stood out from their peers. Comprised of architect Dik Zander, light sculptor Michael Hayden, poet Blake Parker, and musician John Mills-Cockell (of Syrinx, Kensington Market and more), the group mounted groundbreaking pan-sensory events and released a trilogy of defiantly disorienting records.

Where more conventional purveyors of sonic psychedelia were content with fuzztone guitar and orientalist tropes, Intersystems managed to approximate the full psychedelic experience in all its euphoric wonder and terror. Initially wrangling homespun gadgetry, feverishly spliced-together tapes, and mutant beat poetry, Intersystems were also among the very first to deploy a Moog Synthesizer; their Moog modular system was the first to be imported into Canada. Intersystems’ three vinyl LP recordings, meanwhile, justifiably became coveted collector's items given their scarce quantity and singular unsettling vision.

The reissue of Intersystems’ full discography in 2015 prompted acclaim from a number of major outlets. Among them, PopMatters hailed the set as "one of those great lost recordings (three of 'em actually) that comes from the lysergic era..." Mills-Cockell’s work in Syrinx has also been reissued to great acclaim in recent years.

Fifty-plus years after their 1968 album Free Psychedelic Poster Inside, Hayden and Mills-Cockell decided to revive the long-dormant project with a series of sessions at Hamilton's storied Grant Avenue Studio. The resultant music remains remarkably congruent with the project's original vision while clearly emerging from the present moment. With original poet/lyricist Blake Parker now deceased, Hayden and Mills-Cockell made the counterintuitive (yet strangely apt) decision to render Parker's words electronically. As the computer-synthesized voice alternates between an eerily life-like delivery and slurred cybernetic faltering, it brings a new dystopian tint to the group's anxious surrealism. Taking cues from its predecessor, Free Psychedelic Poster Inside, a modular Moog Synthesizer system is the primary instrument, yet here it offers a dynamic blend of different sonorities: barbed wire basslines, Subotnickesque chirping, gestural plumes of colour and percussive filigree.

While the group cut their teeth in the 1960s, make no mistake these new Intersystems recordings aren't a “comeback" or an attempt to rehash the "good old days". What one hears instead is the sound of Mills-Cockell and Hayden re-energizing the project, bringing with them the myriad experience they’ve accumulated in the intervening 50 years. These aural concoctions—no less perplexing than their 1960s predecessors—build upon the Intersystems foundation but very decidedly reside in the present moment, reminding listeners of just how forward-looking this group was in the first place.

How would Roc Marciano and MF Doom sound if they were born in Athens to immigrant parents?
MC Yinka & DJ Booker provide an answer by teaming up to bring us their first LP “Night Lights”.
MC Yinka finds inspiration in blighted areas, urban struggles and multicultural subcultures. With a unique and characteristic voice, he touches on various social and spiritual matters and concerns.
Night Lights is fully produced by DJ Booker who surprises with his sample selection and the overall approach on the production. He balances between trippy and minimal sounds with dark and abstract samples. The beats vary from broken to “J Dilla – inspired” rhythms to discreet patterns that trigger the imagination and the expectations of the audience.
Not to mention the scratching skills of DJ Booker which spice up the music production and established him as one of the best scratch DJs in Europe according to British magazine “Undercover Hip-Hop”.

The album features one of the most “conscious” MCs, Mr. Lif, well known for his collaboration with the Thievery Corporation, and the hip-hop street performers Twinsanity who call our attention to the raw reality from Athens to Boston.

Night Lights will be released on vinyl by the label Mind The Wax in February 26th, 2021 and includes 10 tracks.

Crammed's legendary MADE TO MEASURE Series of New Music was described at the time as the aural equivalent of a collection of art books. Charting a map of some of the most interesting instrumental music of the era, thirty-five albums came out between 1983 and 1995, including works by artists such as Hector Zazou, John Lurie (his soundtracks for the Jim Jarmusch films), Fred Frith, Arto Lindsay, Zelwer, Steven Brown, Peter Principle, Harold Budd, Brion Gysin, David Cunningham, Benjamin Lew, Ramuntcho Matta, Karl Biscuit, Daniel Schell, Aksak Maboul, Minimal Compact and more. The loose idea behind the title of the series was: this is music which has been or could have been "made to measure" as a soundtrack for other media (film, theatre, dance, video). We'll also be rolling out selected vinyl reissues of some of the series' classic early releases, starting with the inaugural volume, MADE TO MEASURE VOL. 1, the multi-artist album from 1984, containing music created by Minimal Compact, Benjamin Lew, Aksak Maboul and Tuxedomoon for films, theatre plays and dance performances.

Released in 1983, Sandra Sá's 'Vale Tudo' is one of the essential Brazilian-boogie-funk records of the era. Pure class throughout, with a dream team of incredible musicians and producers behind the scenes. For some, this album is regarded as Sandra's magnum opus.

It is drenched in the essence of the Brazilian 80s boogie and funk sound. A driving force behind this is the writing, arrangement, and musicianship of Lincoln Olivetti, who was instrumental in forging this unique sound within Brazilian production at the time. It is heightened even further by the astonishing team that feature on the record. Brazilian icon and heavyweight Tim Maia, Robson Jorge, Serginho Trombone, Oberdan Magalhães, Claudio Stevenson and Jamil Joanes (of Banda Black Rio fame), Junior Mendes, the list goes on. This crew of musicians synergised perfectly with Sandra's vocal style, all complementing each other to create a classic.

One of our favourites from the album is the opening track 'Trem Da Central', an infectious groove that when paired with Sandra's cool and relaxed swaggering vocal resulted in an essential dancefloor jam! Equally delightful and dancefloor summoners are the catchy boogie funk of ‘Candura’, and the Earth, Wind & Fire sounding 'Pela Cidade'. Tim Maia features on the fast-paced duet 'Vale Tudo', which was written especially for Sandra to sing with Tim, who at the time was one of the biggest stars in Brazilian music. These boogie and funk compositions are balanced by fine slow jams giving the album a satisfyingly well-rounded feel.

Sandra had been working in music since the 70s and continues to do so to this day, but this period of the early 80s was a rich and prolific time for her. If you are a fan of Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti's self-titled album from 1982 or Marcos Valle's 1983 album featuring the song 'Estrelar', then this one is definitely for you. 'Vale Tudo' is a must-have record from a talented artist at the top of her game and Sandra makes it all sound so effortless.

Pera Sta Ori is the pseudonym of greek sound artist and producer, George Kontogiannidis. Professing a futuristic style, his music blends senses from DnB, IDM and bleep. Bursting into the general consciousness back in 2017, time has only seen this promising artist grow with releases on brokntoys, Furthur Electronix and Yellow Machines. He now readies his next EP with us at MUSAR, titled 'IMMI'.
Short for 'Immigrant', 'IMMI' EP is dedicated to uprooted people. Within, Pera Sta Ori explores an imaginary world in which misery is erased from memory. Projecting into vast expanses, each track forms an echo chamber. From the urgent and frenetic vocals of 'SCATTER 0^', layered with crunching percussion and swarming bass, to the ambience of 'Bouncing/Lassitude' and downtempo quirks of 'CIN1', Pera Sta Ori provides a variance of headscapes to slip into.
Chilean celestial spark Kamila Govorcin creates her own world on the remix of 'CIN1'. Jagged percussion ripple and ricochet with near-industrial inflections. Peppered with openings of etherealism, the samples of the original glide whilst Govorcin keeps things driving with four-to-thefloor punches.

Following recent super-deluxe editions and multi-format releases of classic Who albums – ‘My Generation’, ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia’, and the success of ‘Live at Fillmore’, we follow with The Who Sell Out – this set shaping up to be the most superlative of all…!!
Released in December 1967 – the album reflected a remarkable year in popular culture. As well as being forever immortalised as the moment when the counterculture and the ‘Love Generation’ went global, 1967 produced tremendous musical upheavals as “pop” metamorphosed to “rock”.

Originally planned by Pete Townshend and the band’s managers, as a loose concept album including jingles and commercials linking the songs styled as a Radio London broadcast – born out of necessity as the band’s managers wanted a new album and there weren’t enough songs.

The original plan was to sell advertising space on the album – Jaguar cars, Coca-Cola etc. The jingles pay tribute to the pirate radio stations and expose the myths of ‘pop-culture’ and mock consumer society – way ahead of their time…

The homage to pop-art is evident in both the advertising jingles and the iconic sleeve design – created by David King (art director at the Sunday Times) and Roger Law (who invented Spitting Image) producing four giant images for each band member – Odorono deodorant, Medac spot cream, Charles Atlas and Heinz baked beans (Roger apparently caught pneumonia from sitting in the cold beans for too long).

Photography by renowned portrait photographer David Montgomery (rare out-takes included)

The album is a bold depiction of the period in which it was made – the tail-end of the ‘swinging-60s’ meets pop-art mixed with psychedelia and straight-ahead pop craft. It’s glorious blend of classic powerful Who instrumentation, melodic harmonies, satirical lyrical imagery crystallised for what was only the group’s third album – the ambition and scope is unrivalled by the Who, or any others from that period.

Within the bold concept, were a batch of fabulous and diverse songs – I Can See for Miles (a Top Ten hit) is a Who classic, Rael, a Townshend ‘mini-opera’ with musical motifs that reappeared in Tommy and the psychedelic blast of Armenia City in the Sky and Relax are among the very best material of the 1960s.

One of the most extraordinary albums of any era – it’s The Who’s last ‘pop’ album. Two years later came Tommy – a double concept album about a deaf, dumb and blind kid…

“We were hoping to get free Jaguars. We got fifty tins of free Baked Beans”

Pete Townshend

PM Warson grew up in an English town, in a post 9/11 world, drifting into financial crisis, against the staple suburban musical landscape of heavy rock, the ghost of the New Wave, and the fading star of the Indie Boom of the Noughties. He found his own fit in the form of Rhythm & Blues from half-a-century before, drawn in by records in the family collection, engaging at a visceral level, abstract from any subcultural connotations. While an outlier stylistically, he found camaraderie and direction among musically inclined peers, saving up two summers straight for a Rickenbacker guitar, getting the taste for playing live with an archetypal teenage power trio. After a move to London to study, he was without a band for a while. The Rickenbacker was sold for an archtop, and he delved deeper into his musical vocabulary - delta blues, Americana, early jazz and Rock'n'Roll. Meanwhile, via the capital's blues clubs and soul nights, he discovered a new setting for the music that had enticed him the first place, existing, not in a vacuum, but alive and in the moment.

A chance audition thrust him into full-time work as a touring musician. He found himself, blissfully under-qualified, serving an apprenticeship alongside conservatoire-trained jazz musicians and session pros. Meanwhile, the inevitable downtime in new cities on the road allowed for significant crate-digging between coffee spots and sound checks, while feeding off the knowledge of the players around him. Becoming more and more interested in production, ever-drawn to the Golden Era of record-making, he befriended the proprietors of Soup Studio, then an all-analogue facility based on Cable Street. He started moonlighting on production projects and learning the inner workings of a studio environment. A network was building, and when it was time to break out on his own, everything was in place.

Shedding the construct of a 'band' or a 'singer-songwriter', and perhaps the monoculture of contemporary music-making, he started cutting sides with a band of friends and acquaintances found along the way. Without any wider ambition, it was as much about the process as the outcome, evoking the R'n'B records of the '50s and '60s in practice rather than emulation. His first effort, the ramshackle "You Gotta Tell Me" became a de facto single, and after being urged to press a few copies to vinyl by a friend, it began to cause a few ripples on the local DJ scene. Meanwhile, a wild, off-the-cuff cover of 'Hit The Road Jack' caught the attention of a London music agency, giving his lineup an outlet for playing out. This included house-band sets at London establishments such as the Blues Kitchen, Old Street Records and notably at the opening of the Mary Quant Fashion Exhibition at the V&A Museum.

Rich in musical associations yet utterly singular in its voice, joyous with an inner tranquility, the music of Natural Information Society is unlike any other being made today. Their sixth album in eleven years for eremite records, descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is the first to be recorded live, featuring a set from London’s Cafe OTO with veteran English free-improv great Evan Parker, & the first to feature just one extended composition. The 75-minute performance, inspired by the galvanizing presence of Parker, is a sustained bacchanalia of collective ecstasy. You could call it their party album.

This was the second time Parker played with NIS. Joshua Abrams: “Both times we played compositions with Evan in mind. I don’t tell Evan anything. He’s a free agent.”

The music is focused & malleable, energized & even-keeled, drawing on concepts of ensemble playing common to musics from many locations & eras without any one specific aesthetic realization completely defining it.

“The rhythms that Mikel plays are not an exact reference to Chicago house, but that’s in there,” Abrams says. “I like to take a cyclic view of music history, can we take that four-on-the-floor, & consider how it connects to swing-era music? Can we articulate a through line? I dee-jayed for years in Chicago & lessons I learned from playing records for dancing inform how I think about the group’s music. The listener can make connections to aspects of soul music, electronic music, minimalism, traditional folk musics, & other musics of the diaspora as well. It’s about these aspects coming together. I don’t need to mimic something, I need to embody it to get to the spirit, to get to the living thing.”

For jazz fans, the sound of Parker’s soprano & Jason Stein’s bass clarinet might evoke Coltrane & Dolphy, even though they didn’t necessarily set out to do that & they play with complete individuality. Abrams sees a bridge to the historical precedent, too. “Since we first met in the 1990s, one of the things that Evan and I connected on was Coltrane’s music,” he says. “I hoped that we would tap into that sound world intuitively. In this case, I think that level of evocation adds another layer of depth, versus a layer of reference.”

Indeed, this is a performance in which the connections among the ensemble & the creative tension between improvisation and composition build into a complex mesh of associations & interactions. While the band confines itself to the territory mapped out by Abrams’ composition, they are remarkably attentive & responsive, making adjustments to Parker’s improvisations. When Parker’s intricate patterns of notes interweave with the band, the parts reinforce one another & the music rockets upward. Sometimes, Parker’s lines are cradled by the group’s gentle pulse & an unearthly lyrical balance is struck.

Drummer Mikel Patrick Avery is locked-in, playing with hellacious long-form discipline, feel & responsiveness. Jason Stein’s animated, vocalized bass clarinet weaves in & out with Lisa Alvarado’s harmonium to state the piece’s thematic material; the pulsing tremolo on the harmonium brings a Spacemen 3 vibe to the party. Abrams ties together melody & rhythm on guimbri, a presence that leads without seeming to. Like his bandmates, he shifts modes of playing frequently, improvising & then returning to the composed structure.

“As specific as the composition is, the goal is to internalize it & mix it up,” Abrams says. “The idea is to get so comfortable that we can make spontaneous changes, find new routes of activity, stasis & byways every gig. It’s like a web we’re spinning. If someone makes a move, we all aim to be aware of it, make room for it. Experiencing & listening is what it’s about, & Evan supercharges that.”

& “supercharged” is the word for this album. With Parker further opening up their music, descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is the sound of Natural Information Society growing both more disciplined and freer, one of the great bands of its time on a deep run.

Aguirre edition: Mastered by Helge Sten, Audio Virus, Oslo. Lacquers by Dubplates & Mastering. Liner Notes by Theaster Gates. LPs pressed on premium audiophile-quality vinyl at Pallas Records. US 2xLP edition available thru Eremite records.

Veteran NYC based Scottish electronic musician Drew McDowall's latest work is his loftiest, most liturgical, and least industrial outing to date —and potentially the apex of his recent discography.Named after an ancient Greek word for votive offering, Agalmaexudes a hooded, devotional aura, creaking and keeling under vast rafters of stone, stained glass, and shredded wires. It's a music of majesty and mystery but also modernity, McDowall's refined modular system shape-shifting strings, piano, pipe organ, and choral masses into disorienting synthetic mirages of the sacred. He cites the intersection of “joy, terror, and the elegiac” as a centering inspiration –or, phrased more bluntly, “that 'what the fuck is going on' feeling.”



As a career collaborator himself, with stints in Coil, Psychic TV, and countless other shorter-lived partnerships, it's telling that McDowall chose this project to gather such an impressive spectrum of peers. Italian synthesist Caterina Barbieri, American drone organist Kali Malone, prolific multi-instrumentalistRobert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, operatic Humanbeast vocalist Maralie Armstrong-Rial, Saudi producer MSYLMA, and warped futurist beat-makers Bashar Suleiman and Elvin Brandhi cameo across the album's 42 minutes, contouring McDowall's nuanced negative spaces with shudders, shadows, and shivering flickers of serenity. Each of them shines in their spotlight, elevating these elusive alchemical states into surreal revelations of texture and transcendence.



McDowall's original working title for the record is revealing: Ritual Music.He speaks of his creative practice in ceremonial terms, negating binaries by seeking the middle path to anuminousequilibrium that erases the distinction between the inner and outer worlds.These compositions feel similarly processional and intuitive, at the crossroads of holiness and hallucination, the sacred vertigo of yawning naves rising into untouchable night skies. It's a vision of industrial music as enigma and invocation, cryptic hymnals of shroudedbeautysummoned in catacombs and crumbling cathedrals.



Despite its depths, Agalmais also an album of immediacy and emotion. Celestial laments of and for times of unrest and suffering. McDowall characterizes his initial intention for this music as an to attempt to convey experiences he felt incapable of putting into words: “To try and approach sublimity, or at least acknowledge it in some way.”Agalmamore than acknowledges the ineffable –it embodies it.

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- FIRST PRESSING OF 750 NUMBERED COPIES ON
ORANGE VINYL

Fronted by ace drummer Sly Dunbar and his venerable sideman, bassist Robbie Shakespeare, The Revolutionaries were a conglomeration of many of reggae's finest studio musicians. At the time of recording Black Ash Dub, the group were in their prime, boasting a stellar line-up that included the fanes Riddim Twins
alongside such luminaries as Ansel Collins on organ, Bingy Bunny on guitar, Gladstone Anderson on piano.

The LP provides ample evidence of their talents, harnessed by leading producer Jah Thomas, with revered dub masters, Prince Jammy and Scientist, mixing the
killer selection.

Originally released in 1980 and featuring 2 major club hits in Marijuana' and Cocaine', Black Ash Dub is today widely heralded as one of the finest dub collections of the era and considered an essential addition to the collections of all serious fans of the genre.

Available in a limited first pressing on 'Trojan' orange vinyl!

The Pretenders were the Carnival label’s main act throughout the 70s and up to 1980. By 1977 producer Joe Evans was embracing the disco era and recorded them on the excellent Kenneth Ruffin song ,‘Just Be Yourself’. Its furious yet solid rhythm and catchy title-line has captivated soul dancers for many years making the originals expensive and very hard to find now.

The flip was their last release, an updated and disco-slanted version of Lee Williams & the Cymbals’ ballad ‘It’s Everything About You That I Love’.

MICROCORPS is the new project by artist and musician Alex Tucker (Grumbling Fur, Alexander Tucker, Imbogodom) exploring electronics, cello and voice. The debut release XMIT, an eight-track album featuring collaborations with Gazelle Twin, Nik Void, Simon Fisher Turner and Astrud Steehouder, is out on 16 April 2021. Tucker's ever-evolving soundworld continues to unfold with this collection of harsh realms centred around processed electronic systems, strings and vocal manipulations. On the new album, MICROCORPS employs altered voices, sound synthesis and atomised beat constructions. In a move away from previous projects XMIT investigates erasing the self, removing obvious traits of the hand and voice, and allowing a focus on the humanoid rather than the human. Instead of recognisable lyrics and coherent imagery, MICROCORPS evolved synthesised voices to generate alternate characters. He expands, "I was investigating how language brings our world into being and how manipulating the actual grain of the voice could open up momentary shifts in perception." Each track is born from a balance between composition and improvisation within set parameters. At each stage audio is heavily processed and then reconfigured. Setting up systems that are non-repeatable, where decisions can be premeditated and intuitive but never the same with each performance, using hardware and instruments outside of the computer to make live stereo takes that have limited room for editing and mixing. "I'd been looking into combining dream music with machine rhythms, but there are so many great examples out there of both music forms, so I started to cut up the drones and really filter the drum patterns to create a hybrid space." The album artwork features manipulated ink drawings by Tucker that originally featured in his recent comic ENTITY REUNION 2. XMIT refers to a time in which information both physical and nonphysical transfers at an alarming rate beyond human comprehension into an age which is at once banal and terrifyingly alien.

Meet Bass / House... Sweet sounds

Maximum Crisis/Maximum Calm was released within the context a solo exhibition by Rory Pilgrim at Badischer Kunstverein in 2020. The LP is based on the soundtrack of the 50'min film "The Undercurrent". Produced in collaboration with ten young climate activists from Boise, Idaho, the film and its soundtrack is a powerful statement about the era of climate crisis that explores how people are coping with this global issue on intimate and personal levels.

While musical composition has long been a core aspect of Rory Pilgrim's practice,Maximum Crisis/Maximum Calm - featuring the singers Declan Rowe John and Ezra Hampikian - is the first vinyl release of the artists's music. Interweaving spoken reflections and songs including The Towel, 3 Waters and Regenerate the Engine, the LP also features additional songs and spoken word material extracted from the film. With orchestral parts also masterfully arranged by Pilgrim for the Up North Session Orchestra the record culminates with a moving speech given at the youth climate strike at the Idaho State Capitol on September 20, 2019 by activist Liam Neupert.

MICROCORPS is the new project by artist and musician Alex Tucker (Grumbling Fur, Alexander Tucker, Imbogodom) exploring electronics, cello and voice. The debut release XMIT, an eight-track album featuring collaborations with Gazelle Twin, Nik Void, Simon Fisher Turner and Astrud Steehouder, is out on 16 April 2021. Tucker's ever-evolving soundworld continues to unfold with this collection of harsh realms centred around processed electronic systems, strings and vocal manipulations. On the new album, MICROCORPS employs altered voices, sound synthesis and atomised beat constructions. In a move away from previous projects XMIT investigates erasing the self, removing obvious traits of the hand and voice, and allowing a focus on the humanoid rather than the human. Instead of recognisable lyrics and coherent imagery, MICROCORPS evolved synthesised voices to generate alternate characters. He expands, "I was investigating how language brings our world into being and how manipulating the actual grain of the voice could open up momentary shifts in perception." Each track is born from a balance between composition and improvisation within set parameters. At each stage audio is heavily processed and then reconfigured. Setting up systems that are non-repeatable, where decisions can be premeditated and intuitive but never the same with each performance, using hardware and instruments outside of the computer to make live stereo takes that have limited room for editing and mixing. "I'd been looking into combining dream music with machine rhythms, but there are so many great examples out there of both music forms, so I started to cut up the drones and really filter the drum patterns to create a hybrid space." The album artwork features manipulated ink drawings by Tucker that originally featured in his recent comic ENTITY REUNION 2. XMIT refers to a time in which information both physical and nonphysical transfers at an alarming rate beyond human comprehension into an age which is at once banal and terrifyingly alien.

ESCAPE THE FATE is a three-word phrase synonymous with heavy rock n’ roll and hooks, post-hardcore with weight, and unrelenting genre-redefining anthems built for diverse audiences. Over a decade into their young career, they have proven to move crowds equally at major rock radio festivals, the legendary Vans Warped Tour, or on the road with Five Finger Death Punch. CHEMICAL WARFARE is the sound of a band that’s more comfortable in their own skin than ever, recharged for the next era of their career, reinvigorated, and redefined, without losing any edge. The vinyl version of the album comes coloured in Translucent Yellow with black splatter.

Long out of print and highly anticipated repress of the Andrew Weatherall ‘anti-produced’ long player. The Twilight Sad’s third full-length, No One Can Ever Know, marked a sonic shift for the band



'No One Can Ever Know' was released across all formats on 6th February 2012 and was the follow-up to 2009's acclaimed break-through 'Forget The Night Ahead'. Already flagged by the widely leaked 'Kill It In The Morning' and forthcoming first single proper, 'Sick', 'No One Can Ever Know' marked a sonic shift for The Twilight Sad. Freshly inspired by a listening diet of Caberet Voltaire, Liars, Magazine, Autechre, Banshees, Fad Gadget, PiL and Can, a synth-heavy sound characterizes 'No One Can Ever Know', a record thematically akin to 'Holy Bible' era Manics, 'Violator'-era Depeche Mode and 'The Downward Spiral' -era Nine Inch Nails.

"We wanted to be a lot more spontaneous, get outside our comfort zone - not to fall back into repeating what we've done previously", explains guitarist Andy MacFarlane. "So we moved to London for a month to record at The Pool and got Andrew Weatherall involved to bounce ideas off and to generally reassure us of the direction we were already progressing in - toward a sparser sound, with a colder, slightly militant feel."

Under the guidance of Weatherall the band experimented with vintage analogue synths - borrowed from Ben Hillier - to work on the core sounds they wanted, finding inspiration too in the distinctive production style of innovators like Martin Hannett and Conny Plank. For the first time the drums were also recorded separately utilising a lot of synthetic effects which allowed for the easy manipulation of the sounds and samples later in the process. Stylistically, the guitars tend to refract John McGeogh (Magazine/ Banshees) or Keith Levene (PiL) rather than the 'wall of sound' approach that defined The Twilight Sad's previous recordings.

Lyrically 'No One Can Ever Know' finds singer James Graham on typically ominous form, delivering lightning bolts of malevolent threat. "I'll find you - don't worry" he promises on forthcoming single, 'Another Bed' - The Twilight Sad's most radical and anthemic moment yet, it's driving disco motorik and glacial keys pushing a dizzy emotional uplift.

- First 45 from new label 3 Palm Records - Classic deep funk and soul cover featuring singer Adryon De León - Hard break beats and soaring vocals // West Coast soul and funk powerhouse Orgone returns to their roots with this scorching cover of the James Brown-produced Marva Whitney song "It's My Thing (You Can't Tell Me Who To Sock It To)." The original is considered a breakbeat classic and has been sampled by hip hop's golden era stalwarts (NWA, Public Enemy, & EPMD). Orgone brings their brand of heavy hitting, gritty production to update the song for new ears and a new era. Lead vocalist Adryon de León struts and belts with swagger and soul, riffing and owning Marva's response to the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing." Orgone's seasoned rhythm section chugs hard and heavy in their crusade to do justice to the legacy of James Brown's renowned band The J.B.'s. Topped off with percussion breaks and killer horn lines, this side is ready to be embraced by soul aficionados, beat junkies, and deep funk crate diggers_not to mention the hardcore fanbase that Orgone has established over two decades of critically acclaimed studio releases and a well-earned reputation for fiery live shows. This is the debut 45 from 3 Palm Records.

The Shapeshifters’ studio mastery and dedication to his craft has resulted in singles that stand up alongside golden era disco records as much as they sound fresh on dancefloors today. His rich relationship with Glitterbox has yielded instant classics that epitomise the label’s ethos for preserving disco’s mission to uplift and empower, especially with his latest release and debut collaboration with the Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award-winning Billy Porter, ‘Finally Ready’. Now this special 2 x 12” vinyl package includes an array of remixes from some of dance’s most esteemed artists. A real record box essential, the first disc features the original, as well as previously unheard versions from The Shapeshifters and two remixes from disco master and Glitterbox regular Dimitri From Paris. The second disc features housier, club-friendly versions from long standing friend of Defected David Penn and ubiquitous Polish duo Catz ’N Dogs, as well as Dimitri’s ‘The Sound of Paris Remix’ and the Acapella, an essential DJ tool. This is a stand-out package, with remixes you will want to keep hold of, securing ‘Finally Ready’ a position as a modern-day disco essential.

Hooveriii - Water For The Frogs Having originally been born as a solo drum machine project by Bert Hoover, Hooveriii (pronounced "Hoover Three") has now evolved into it's true final form - a six member band adept at creating their own brand of psychedelic space rock. And after almost a decade in, the band is set to release their sophomore album and debut for The Reverberation Appreciation Society, Water For The Frogs. Influenced by Iggy’s The Idiot, Bowie’s Berlin records, and Soft Machine, the LP sees the band creating their own version of prog rock, circa 2021. In 2019, Hooveriii took their live show to Europe for the first time. Bert Hoover shares, “seeing all the old cities and beautiful landscapes while becoming closer as a band had a huge impact on this album. A lot of our favorite music came from the Krautrock scene in Germany from the late 60's-70's, and when we had a day off in Furth, Germany, we spent most of it writing the record,” he continues, “we were able to rehearse in an old German bunker that has been converted to rehearsal space. It definitely had a strange energy that helped give this album light.”

Orions Belte: «Villa Amorini» Jansen Records 2021 Do you remember the time the doorman ran after some drunken kids around the lake outside the club? As he dives into the lake, he scrapes his stomach on a sharp object in the water, but catches up and returns with one youth under each arm. At the same time the singer from the band playing inside, jumps from the loft hoping that the chandelier he grabs will hold him. It doesn’t. Endless afterparties and constantly trying to avoid visits from the police or the liquor control. Still nothing? This was the 90’s club scene in Bergen, and Villa Amorini was the place where everything happened. Starting as an 80’s fine dining spot, it evolved into an extravagant club with tons of artists and DJ’s in screaming shirts and oversized sunglasses. This sets the scene for Orions Belte’s second album. Still a mix of all the sounds they like, reminiscing eras they haven’t experienced, trying to navigate in their own musical atmosphere. Chaotic and calm at the same time. Villa Amorini is recorded at Norsk Riksstudio by engineer Njål Paulsberg, making sure the sounds were on point while leaving the band alone to play together for hours upon hours, chiseling out the base for the album. Where the debut was summery and a bit brighter, this album tends to lean a bit more towards the big city, night life and leftover food from the fridge. Mixed as always by the magnificent Matias Tellez.

Tony Joe White scored big with 1969’s “Polk Salad Annie” from the album Black & White MOVLP989 and he was having success as a songwriter too: “Rainy Night In Georgia” was a huge hit for Brook Benton in 1970.

His self-titled third album (1971) finds the “Swamp Fox” tempering his bluesy rockers with a handful of introspective, soul-dripping ballads and introducing horn and string arrangements for the first time. The addition of the Memphis Horns and other Muscle Shoals session men really worked well for the album. Many of the songs will remind the listener just how turbulent the cultural climate of the late 60’s and early 70’s was in the U.S. Songs like “The Change”, “Black Panther Swamps” and “I Just Walked Away” (the album’s first single) are testament to the era.

Planetself return with ‘The Chosen’, an exciting new collaboration with LA-based producer extraordinaire Daniel Crawford (known for his creative mixtapes and live work with artists such as Raphael Saadiq and Mary J Blige). The track also features the vocal talents of legendary US underground wordsmith Blurum13.

Planetself producer Inkswel became aware of Daniel Crawford’s work through his latest album ‘Revolution’ on Wicked Wax and his well-renowned ‘Flip Wilson’ mixtape series. He then asked Crawford to remix a track from the Planetself back catalogue, but this turned into a complete flip and rework manifested as a new song we are now proud to unleash on the world.

‘The Chosen’ is all about the newest generation of kids coming up who have been chosen by the universe to be a part of this crazy time on our planet. Our people’s evolution to bring about change and revolution in a time that we need it like we’ve never needed it before! They hold within them the love and light and strength needed to turn this world around. It’s up to all of us. If you are here now this includes you. We are all The Chosen.”

Sit back and absorb the soul-drenched, feel good vibes of ‘The Chosen’. Let the sound move you to make a positive change in the world today.

EDSEVEN
Sydney DJ/Producer Edseven has built a rock solid reputation over the last 15 years, sharing the stage DJing with the likes of Gilles Peterson, Peanut Butter Wolf, Norman Jay, IG Culture and many more across Australia, Berlin, Detroit and Amsterdam.

Always eclectic, his selections joining the dots between styles and eras with skill and respect – never losing focus on the dancers.

His latest release ‘Freaky (Meet me halfway)’ is no different. A djembe led future soul burner blessed by the legendary London vocalist Colonel Red’s scorching voice with Canadian duo Potatohead People flipping it into a dripping 80’s Boogie track.

Out on Friday 4 October, independent label Low Key Source is proud to be releasing Raiza Biza’s forthcoming album Bygones.

A hypnotic culmination of hundreds of hard drive demos, eclectic musical inspiration and collaboration, enter Bygones - a record striking the balance between the intricacies of electronic production and at times, melodic half-sung poetry, delivered with raw intensity.

The nine track record features cameo appearances from Sudanese-American rapper/producer extraordinaire Oddisee, Australia’s REMI and B Wise along with AmmoNation collaborators Blaze the Emperor, Embher, VULC, and more.

Speaking with a sense of urgency in his flowing baritone voice, Biza’s work has always carried a socially conscious heart, backed up by honest storytelling and captivating jazz/soul infused
production as the aura to his words. His new material follows a new sound arch, and with those changes comes a newly found freedom.

On Bygones, Biza found inspiration in the deeply written metaphors of the Marvin Gaye-era soul and the heart-hitting rhythms of 1970’s funk groups like Gapp Band. Binding his grounding in socially conscious thought and observational storytelling, he studies the human condition and the world around us - from his own experience.
Though this time, he admits, the record finds the balance between fun and seriousness. Rather than be ruled by the lyrics, the music plays an emotive part.

“I wanted to create space for emotional interpretation of the audience,” he reflects. “I’ve tried to find a balance between the things I’ve released in the past and the further left-sitting things on my hard drive.”

The newest generation of hip-hop has forced him to just do; and overthink less. “Being able to take that fun within the music and combine it with raw melody, you hopefully connect with people.”

He tells the angles of the human condition through high octane moments, the party life, through to the low, self-reflective moments found in tracks like ‘Stolen Youth’ and ‘Trouble’ where he teams up with Oddisee and Zenyth. Both tracks have gone onto become student radio network hits, sitting in the top 10 of the Radioscope Alternative Airplay chart in New Zealand for consecutive weeks.

A humble titan within the antipodean isles and Aotearoa’s underground scene, Biza has firmly planted roots, supporting the up-and-coming generation of local MCs and hip-hop producers. As the hearty driving force behind AmmoNation, Biza believes in the power of community and the sharing of knowledge. A voice from within the African-New Zealand diaspora, Biza has strived to bridge the gaps of understanding and preservation of his experience in New Zealand, while also supporting his fellow artists on the same mission.

“We, the African diaspora, we are no longer toddlers in the places we immigrated to. We have an identity and a growing presence.”