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Barcelona's Pau Roca is back with his 2nd release on LA label Pleasure of Love, EP of cool-hazy balearic house with equal parts sunrise and sunset energy.

Roca is a standout in the Barcelona DJ scene, with his party Libido and labels Escola and Bons Records, he’s established himself as a premiere record collector/DJ and a producer in the scene. You can hear it in "Euphoria", a track that shows Roca’s deep understanding/appreciation of this music’s roots while updating the sound and capturing the mood and essence of the title. "Marble Arch" is another chugging, deep italo/spanish house number - filtering in breakbeats, choir patches, and a resonant lead to hypnotizing effect.

The legend Pal Joey brings a trademark sound to his version of "Euphoria" on the flip, lending vocals and organ to a tripped out and blissful vision of the track. "Hope" rounds out the EP, a downtempo, uplifting piece for lovers of atmospheric retro-house.

The Ember, The Ash is 鬼 from Unreqvited’s post blackened death metal project that explores the heavier, darker, deeper and weirder sides of the DSBM genre. "Throughout all of Unreqvited’s manifestations, 鬼’s roots in post-hardcore ring out in the form of bright, building riff-walls that welcome the dawn of a new day. More of a DSBM artist through his general emotional intensity that escapes the prison of despair, Unreqvited becomes a candle in the depths of darkness. Surely, there needs to be a place to store overwrought feelings in order to arrive at a place of hope, and that’s where The Ember, The Ash comes in. 鬼 has added the new band to his list of rock and metal ventures, and it is arguably the gloomiest yet. While his songwriting still very much mimics the building of a staircase, it is one that aims steadily downward to the pits instead of upwards to the heavens." - INVISIBLE ORANGES

Romantic Images, Molly Burch’s third album, marks a distinct evolution for Burch, both emotionally and sonically. Recorded in Denver with Ten - nis’ Alaina Moore and Pat Riley producing, the collection celebrates the timeless delights of a well-crafted pop song, flirting with Blondie, Madonna, and even Mariah Carey as it forges a joyful soundtrack to liberation and self-discovery.

Burch deliberately worked with more women collaborators than ever before on the album, and the results are transcendent, reveling in the passion and the power of the divine feminine. The collection prioritizes ecstasy and escape, and Burch’s commitment to collective catharsis in her lifted, airy delivery manages to exude both thoughtful introspection and carefree abandon all at once. The shadow still lurks on the album, to be sure, but the light ultimately wins, and the result is an intoxicating collection all about coming into our truest selves.

Whispers And Sighs is the final studio album by the late David Olney,
beloved folk songwriter’s songwriter, in collaboration with Anana Kaye, a
young Eastern European powerhouse taking Americana by storm.
If the futile longing to reach back through memory and grasp what is in the
past could be set to music, it would sound like Whispers and Sighs. Over the
course of 13 tracks, David Olney and Anana Kaye manage to craft a journey that
amounts to far more than just another Americana album.
And while it’s hard to escape the seeming cosmic significance of the album as
posthumous Olney release, at no point does this create the air of morbidity;
rather, it lends the project a bittersweet ambiance. Within Whispers And Sighs
is an undeniable reminder that David Olney’s extraordinary legacy can never
fade, while Anana Kaye’s star grows deservedly brighter by the day.

"Gaspard Auge is releasing his Debut Album “Escapades”, out in June 25th
He is best known as one half of Justice, the duo that united rock and rave and whose dancefloor smashes defined a generation.
Gaspard made an instrumental album whose sound will be familiar to Justice ’s fanbase , echoing some previous works & inspirations of the cult duet.
Escapades sounds like a UFO landing from another galaxy, or time, a baroque masterpiece that reimagines European classical music for this century. OFFICIAL BBC THEME FOR THEIR COVERAGE OF THE EUROS."

A deep dive into the one of most collectable jazz catalogues in the world, a selection of some of the rarest and most sought-after recordings from the 60s and 70s, a time when British jazz began to find its own identity. Drawn from the iconic labels of Decca, Deram, Argo, EMI Columbia/Lansdowne Series, Fontana, Mercury, & Philips. A figure in British modern jazz for over half a century, Don Rendell was both active protagonist and key witness to the main developments in the music from its rise out of tiny clubs and back rooms on up to the most prestigious national stages. From his earliest performances in London’s West End and his work of the 50s and 60s — most not ably with the Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet — to the lower profile work of the 70s and 80s, his quite assurance and consistent performance marked him out as a highly respected figure among his peers. He is one of a handful of British artists to feature on Blue Note Records and appeared on some of the most distinctive and characterful British jazz albums by the likes of Michael Garrick, Stan Tracey, Amancio D’Silva, and Neil Ardley. Even though Rendell eschewed much of the free and electric fusion styles that came to the fore in the late 60s, in the main sticking to an acoustic sound with melody and rhythm at its heart, he similarly bridled at any notion that he was merely a ‘bopper’, a description he positively hated. In many ways, Space Walk was as much a valedictory as transitionary album for Rendell. It was his last for Denis Preston, the fabled producer behind Lansdowne Studios, described by Neil Ardley as a ‘rare Diaghilev like figure’ who steered many of the key figures of the British jazz scene into the studio when nobody else would record them. It was also Rendell’s final project for EMI Columbia and his last as a leader for a major record label. After Space Walk, Rendell would record for smaller, independent labels like Spotlite. But as much as the album is a farewell to one chapter, it also marked the way forward to the next..

Tones 1.0 is a record specifically made for the purpose of melodic scratching, although it is not limited to just that; it can be also used as a production tool.

Think of Tones 1.0 as a synthesized toolkit that blurs the lines between live performance and production.



Side A consists of 16 locked modulating tones (8 bass tones and 8 lead tones) that have been recorded from various analog synthesizers. They were recorded live while manipulating cut-off frequencies, resonance and LFOs to a click track at 133.33 BPM. This gives the tones extra rich sonics and more depth while being scratched. Each bass tone is recorded at middle C (C3) while each lead tone has been recorded an octave higher (C4).



Side B consists of musical phrases, chords, drums, experimental tones and skip-proof atonal scratch sounds, all of which have been recorded at 133.3 BPM.



You’ll find a rich tapestry of ideas to choose from ranging from funk basslines/chords and licks, soul chords and licks, drums, atonal scratch sounds and experimental tones that create futuristic atmospheres. Major and minor 7th chords follow the circle of 5ths so that they are all relative to each other, perfect for creating music quickly. Once you’ve created a beat/sketch you can then jump to the skip-proof atonal scratch sounds and solo over the top. Enjoy.

Director David Lynch once said "I long for a kind of quiet where I can just drift and dream. I always say getting inspiration is like fishing. If you're quiet and sitting there and you have the right bait, you're going to catch a fish eventually. Ideas are sort of like that. You never know when they're going to hit you." Inspired by this quote in both name and spirit, Hollie Kenniff's The Quiet Drift is an ambient gallery of cloudlike synths, seraphic strings, echoing guitars, and other celestial textures guided to cohesion by Hollie's own wordless singing. Though the album certainly creates (and originates from) the kind of space where Lynch's proverbial "fish" can be caught, The Quiet Drift is a fitting title for Hollie's own history, both recent and distant. During the course of the album's creation, Hollie and her family moved cross-country from an island in Washington state, to an island in Maine before ultimately relocating to Canada. "As a child I visited Ontario year-round," she explains in her own words. She continues "More than any other landscape, I think the lake, rivers, and woods there left the most enduring impression on me. The landscape and pace of life of these places will always stay with me." But the reverberant spaces Hollie crafts need no physical headquarters. Instead of conjuring views of nature at the ground level, her sound more readily evokes a top-down perspective, with the distinct features of the land shrinking underfoot as the listener becomes untethered from geography altogether. The Quiet Drift belongs more to the liminal spaces between life and afterlife, memory and fantasy, landscape and dreamscape, than any mappable locale. Describing her formative years, Hollie says "As a dual US/Canadian citizen who spent my childhood in a rural town-- one that I haven't returned to in many years - I have a sense of not entirely belonging anywhere. When I was a teenager my close friends were male musicians, so I was also an outsider to the degree that they were wild and anarchic in a way that I wasn't. I was a quiet book reader and avid music listener who enjoyed being around a creative group. I was also a radio DJ for alternative and punk music throughout high school." In this light, The Quiet Drift attests that creativity is placeless, and calls into question the stereotype of artists as scene-centric city dwellers. Having come of age in the absence of metropolitan sensory overload, Hollie learned to spot the muse in nature, and within herself, instead of the echo chamber of a frenzied peer group. On The Quiet Drift Hollie Kenniff wholly escapes from such pop-culture feedback loops into transcendent, shimmering realms, and she brings the listener along with her. In this age in which we have all been called to reevaluate our relationship to indoor spaces, and seek refuge in the great outdoors, The Quiet Drift provides an apt soundtrack for such rebalancing.

70s/80s influenced ambient mixed up with a healthy dose of UFO's, abduction, occultism, paranoia, astral flow, new age and long lost Atlantis. 2020 was the year when Albert Kuningas debut vinyl on Escape From Synthesis was released and now the second part of this ambient/
dark ambient masterpiece is available! Finally it's time to get physical vinyl copies of legendary Bandcamp-only release "Music for UFO document programs 2" with a never before heard bonus track called 'Sateenkaarisilta 2'! Don't sleep on this one as it's limited release of 200pcs only.

Lee Foss and Franky Wah join forces in the ‘Name of Love’ for this hypnotic house track on Club Sweat complete with a bumping Torren Foot Remix. Lee and Franky escape their own sonic boundaries to conjure up a pertinent soundtrack for everyone feeling the need to escape their physical confines after this past year and reconnect with loved ones. Filled with a lush piano melody, crisp drums and blissful vocals of SPNCR the track slowly brings in lush deep-tech undertones to create a euphoric soundscape.

On teaming up with Lee Foss, Franky Wah said, "I’m buzzing about this record because if it wasn’t for Danny Howard and Radio 1 this collaboration would never have even happened. I’d say Lee and I are in different lanes sonically but this track is a perfect example as to why artists should experiment and forget about the boundaries and rules that they set themselves. It’s a record that everyone needs to hear given the year we’ve all had and another one that I hope will resonate with all of us."

Superb progressive tribe / Trance / techno shouter !
3 magestics tunes opening a new way for Hashtek23... bring the peace

Repress from the "Decadance 02", originally out in 2004.

With a B2 bonus tunes

fter a hiatus of over eight years Fuzzy Lights are making a welcome return. Burials is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed album Rule of Twelfths, and the fourth album from the Cambridge-based post-folk collective. 

Their sound has been stripped back to its component parts, deconstructed and rebuilt under less obvious influences. There’s a bedrock of folk-rock - predecessors like Trees and Fairport Convention - but this is then built upon through multiple layers, from the stillness of Talk Talk to the orchestral chaos of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. With Burials Fuzzy Lights have cultivated these sounds and influences into something new and fresh that distances the album from the rest of the folk-rock crowd.

The most striking element of these songs is how intimate they are. Lyricist Rachel Watkins has revealed a lot about herself in these seven songs, which have been written from a very personal perspective. Raw experiences have been distilled into each piece, her translucent vocals often betraying the content of the songs themselves. The album is bookended with the most personal of these. Opener ‘The Maidens Call’ reveals her loss from suffering a miscarriage, whilst album closer, ‘The Gathering Storm’ frames the rallying cry of women’s rights around how individuals must work together now, and in future generations, to destroy prejudice. There is also engagement with humanity’s immediate surroundings and the environment. ‘Under The Waves’ deals with devastation of coral reefs, ocean resources and our natural world, and ‘The Graveyard Song’ imagines the perception of time from the juxtaposed views of a yew tree and a young woman.

As scenarios, paths, and outcomes shift around us, Burials’ amalgam of glowering, intense instrumentation, timeless, weightless melody, and exactingly revealing lyricism carves a very particular path through the world. This is music that tears us away from the everyday not just as a form of escapism, but as a means of self-reflection on hardship and the strategies we develop to overcome it.  It is the band’s rawest yet most accomplished statement to date.

Aquaregia mainstays, Troma & PERS1, return for their fourth release on the label. Their Kaede EP exhibits the duo's signature exquisite acid lines though a tracklisting of five dripping dreamscapes.

"Kaede" introduces the release with a bubbling acid line and up-tempo groove. A euphoric journey through a new destination; a mental escapade moving from excitement and anticipation to pure bliss.

"Samara" takes over with a haunting acid line and eerie pads, venturing deeper into the unknown. Atmospheric fog intertwines between the rosy foliage of the Japanese maples; a cool breeze propels the ripened samara, helicoptering from their stems.

"Crimson Breath" relieves the tension with a chilled out and dubby trip. We're taken bankside of a babbling brook, sheltered by an enclosing leafy canopy; comforted in a safe haven.

Next, "Autumn Moon" gently guides us on a psychedelic excursion laced with intricate dribbling acid lines and breaky percussion. A walk through a shadowy limestone cave, water trickling down and plinking from the luminous stalactites.

Not Waving renders his pop soul on a definitive album opus ‘How To Leave Your Body’, starcrossed with guest appearances by Jim O’Rourke, Jonnine Standish, Marie Davidson, Spivak and Mark
Lanegan
An escapist parable for the times, Alessio Natalizia marks a career high with his most sensitive production and songwriting illuminated by a coterie of notable collaborators. Its 11 songs deal with the necessity of friendship, the fragility of loss and spiritual transcendence via a spectrum of strategies that ultimately arrive at a mutual conclusion: love is the message. It packs sample amounts of nostalgia into a fantasy sequence of elegiac pop, skewed rave and midnight lullabies that fine-tune over 20 years of devotion to his craft, perfectly matching experimental restlessness with enduring pop appeal.
Perhaps unavoidably, circumstances had a hand in the creation of ‘How To Leave Your Body’, forcing Natalizia to work with collaborators remotely. Yet the strength of his bonds bleeds through in the album’s handful of poignant vocal pieces, none more so than the hushed intimacy of Marie Davidson on the bewitching downbeat trance hymn ‘Hold On’, but also in the bruised blush of ‘My Sway’ featuring Jonnine’s spine-tracing lilt over hovering organ and dembow bumps, while the hook-up with Mark Lanegan once again yields bittersweet fruit on ‘Last Time Leaving Home Part 2’, with gravelly blues vox diffused into detuned, miasmic cello that really tugs.
Effortless and made for rinsing, the whole album is testament to the humility and pathos of Natalizia’s oeuvre, which has gotten better with age. It plays out like a lovingly crafted mixtape, decanting all original material with a classic cadence and fleeting play of styles, from aerial jazz notes in ‘You Are Always Younger Than The Future’, to the gnawing club grind of ‘Define Normal’, a noisily gurning ‘Self-Portrait’, and the lushly resolved admittance of ‘My Best Is Good Enough.’
Comparisons don’t really work with this one, it’s just Not Waving.

• With more than 60 MILLION STREAMS across his catalogue listened to by fans all around the world, ‘…TO BE CONTINUED’
is the best ‘greatest hits’ album that you’ve never heard!
• This 12-track Limited Edition Vinyl LP collection, with a brand new floorfiller, features his most popular tracks and fans’
favourites, and this is his first Physical release album to celebrate, LE FLEX has signed 500 prints for this Limited Edition.
• Although LE FLEX clearly states that “I just make Pop music”, his 6 EPs and 6 Studio albums are nothing short of serious and
brilliantly creative blends of nudisco, poolside vibes and slow-jams but retaining the essence of his familiar ‘80s
synthpop/dance-based infusions. The accompanying videos are purely tongue-in-cheek, with more than a smattering of
self-deprecation, as you will see on his dedicated YouTube channel.
• Judging by the comments from long-established fans and music lovers from South America to Australia, via the UK, through
Europe and the Far East, discovering LE FLEX for the first time, they are quick to state that his vocal inflections share more
than a passing resemblance to George Michael, an icon about whom LE FLEX modestly says, “I’m not fit to shine his shoes”.
• LE FLEX is a renowned Producer with his popularity rising, having worked with Jaki Graham, Lemar and Ben Macklin and
was commissioned to produce new Donna Summer remixes in 2020.
• Released on heavyweight 180g Clear Vinyl, if you fancy summery escapism, there aren’t many better ways than doing so
than with LE FLEX

Following the 70s Peruvian cumbia compilation by Ranil last year, Analog Africa returns to Latin America to highlight the work of one of Perú’s undisputed masters of the electric guitar: Manzanita. This 13th release in the Limited Dance Edition Series includes 14 mostly instrumental compositions of electrifying Peruvian cumbia and guaracha. Manzanita's unique guitar lines rest on confident foundations that shifts gears effortlessly. Limited Edition LP in Gatefold Cover pressed on 180g high quality virgin vinyl

"I was in Lima, hanging out with collector-extraordinaire Victor Zela, who had spent the previous few years pouring his passion for Peruvian Cumbia into the blog „la cumbia de mis viejos“, a trove of incredible music. But after the birth of his first child, his priorities shifted and he decided to part with some of his rarest LPs. I was one of the lucky few given an early chance to examine his treasures, and when I picked up the album Manzaneando com Manzanita, Victor said: “Take it! its one of the best LPs ever recorded in Perú … easily in the top five”. That was all the encouragement I needed … two years later many of the songs from that masterpiece have made it onto Manzanita y su Conjunto, a compilation of electrifying Cumbia sides from Manzanita’s golden era.

Berardo Hernández – better known as Manzanita – first surfaced during the psychedelic Cumbia craze. At the head of the scene were the magnificent Los Destellos, whose leader, Enrique Delgado, was such a six-string wizard that other guitarists found it impossible to escape his shadow. But when Manzanita arrived, his electric criollo style sent shockwaves through Lima’s music scene and posed a serious threat to Delgado’s dominance as king of the Peruvian guitar.

Manzanita had come to Lima from the coastal city of Trujillo, five hundred miles up the coast – a place where Spanish, African and indigenous populations had been living and making music together for centuries – and came of age at a time when the first wave of psychedelic rock from the US and UK was starting to sweep the airwaves. But the sounds of Cream and Hendrix disappeared from the radio just as quickly in 1968 when Juan Velasco seized control of the country in a military coup. The new regime, which favoured local traditions over cultural ‘imports’ from the north, was a blessing in disguise for the Peruvian music scene.

Record labels flourished as new bands, raised on a hybrid diet of electric guitars and Cuban rhythms, rushed in to fill the vacuum created by the lack of imported rock. A new genre, known as Peruvian cumbia, was born and Manzanita quickly became one of its most original voices.

Starting in 1969, Manzanita y su Conjunto released a steady stream of singles that used Cuban guaracha rhythms as the foundation for dazzling electric guitar lines. After countless 45s and several years on the touring circuit, the band signed to Virrey, an important Peruvian label, and recorded two LPs acknowledged as masterpieces among aficionados of tropical music. Most of the songs on Analog Africa’s new compilation Manzanita y su Conjunto are drawn from those legendary sessions of 1973 and 74.

Although he scored a few more hits in the later 70s, his dissatisfaction with the music industry caused him to withdraw from the scene for several years; and when he finally retired for good, the golden age of Peruvian cumbia was a distant memory. But when Manzanita was at the top of his game he had few equals. Victor Zela was right: this is some of the best music ever recorded in Perú."

KAMA Kollektiv ist eine multinationale Gruppe um die junge finnische Sängerin und Trompeterin Kirsi-Marja "Kiki" Harju. Das Wort KAMA ist finnisch für "Dinge" oder "Zeug", und es beschreibt, worum es in der Musik der Band geht: die kleinen Dinge des Lebens, die oft so leicht übersehen werden. Kiki erzählt Geschichten - einige auf Finnisch, einige auf Englisch - über Liebe und Verwandlung, Wälder und Tiere, kleine alltägliche Freuden und eine mystische, romantische Sicht auf die Natur. Die Musik ist eine hypnotisierende Mischung aus Jazz, nordischem Folk und Indie-Pop. Sie nimmt die Zuhörer mit auf eine Reise in märchenhafte Länder und intensive Gefühle. Die Band ist in Amsterdam beheimatet, aber Kikis Songs sind voller Erinnerungen an die wunderschönen Landschaften, dunklen Wälder und den eisigen Frost ihrer Heimat Finnland. Der Titel des ersten Albums des KAMA Kollektiv ist KOTI, ein finnisches Wort für "Zuhause".

Following the release of Limewax's Untitled and Speed Dealer Moms' SDM-LA8-441-114-211, Trickfinger and Aura T-09's Evar Records imprint is keeping its foot on the gas, officially introducing the arrival of its sub-label, RAVE4EVAR. Embracing more of an outlaw mindset, RAVE4EVAR was created as a place for rebellion to collide with rave, offering refuge for off-the-cuff releases, special projects and occasional one-off collaborations.

Ushering in the sub-label's inaugural release, RAVE4EVAR is proud to present Chicago-based DJ, producer and new media artist S4M23's debut EP, Angelface. The five-track project, set to arrive on July 2nd via a limited edition cassette and digital download, combines haunting vocals with pounding kicks and rave synths to create a moving take on hardcore. Written and recorded during a weeklong session in April 2020, the creation of Angelface took place during a period of processing grave personal loss juxtaposed with the collective state of chaos, grief and fear brought on by the covid-19 pandemic.

Within that specific period of time, S4M23 channeled intense emotion to reflect how cathartic it can be to honor the connections we build with one another despite how frenetic and heart-wrenching the circumstances of a particular moment or experience can be. Pouring an immense spectrum of emotions into Angelface, these productions eschew simple repetition to create unexpectedly complex rhythms and textures that evoke the sounds of British club music and '90s rave, while simultaneously creating something entirely new.

Born Bad continue their mind-expanding and totally essential series of library music ‘Space Oddities’ compilations with this set focusing on French musician and composer Sauveur Mallia.
In the ever-expanding universe of 70s and 80s French library music, Mallia holds a special place; his career, multifaceted work and the uniqueness of his talent have made him an exemplary figure in the unsung world of library musicians.
In those years a few of them, often for economical reasons, would set off on a
space conquest, taking along just a few synthesisers.
Their ambition well surpassed the modesty of their means; it was in turn the
condition to their experimentations with sound which were to create a new
sonic space: that of a nation tumbling into modernity. From French soil to the
farthest reaches of the cosmos, there were just a few steps to take. It’s with the
label Tele Music, boarding the spaceship Arpadys, along with the Voyage crew,
that Sauveur Mallia took the big leap.

8-Infinities represents Discos Transgénero’s first contemporary release after several reissues and archival projects. Stepping away from customary North-American guitar traditions, Ameel Brecht (core member of Razen) presents an utterly singular take on early European music with an album which evokes the inner conflicts of growing up and their connection to the concerns of fatherhood.

A classically trained musician, Brecht resorts once again to the use of resophonic guitars and mandolins as a way of finding a middle ground between the virtues of being a schooled musician and the ability to escape pre-established tendencies in pursuit of what he has referred to as ‘metaphysical freeform string music’.

Additionally, the album features a series of fascinating and subtly merged contributions by label associates Marnie Weber and Jabir, along with Bob Rutman’s distinguished steel cello and Walter Hus’ automated glockenspiel. Echoing the likes of Renaissance and Baroque music on plucked instruments, Brecht assembles here a collection of timeless compositions.

Brooklyn’s TOUCAN SOUNDS presents a talent heavy compilation of Boogie, Afro, Nu Disco & House from JACQUES RENAULT, ADELINE, ELI ESCOBAR, DJ PASTA , I.M. YONI, TONY G & HARUKA SALT. All 6 tracks are excellent without any filler!

Shifted offers the latest distillation of his trademark sound.

Following on from the recent release of “The Dirt On Our Hands” – Guy Brewer’s fourth studio album and the first to arrive on his own Avian imprint, “Constant Blue Light” – another full length, explores new avenues in caustic minimalism.

Eschewing the booming effervescence of his own more plosive dance floor material – Shifted takes a no less nuanced, but decidedly more introspective angle on this new LP. At the centre of Brewer’s practice as an artist, there has always been a sense of dedication to the refinement of a singular idea. In some ways “Constant Blue Light” represents a move closer to the apex of this approach.

Opener “Slowly Counting Backwards” creates the framework for the record – reduced and meditative, owing somewhat to previous work, but still crisper and more precise. “Natural Elevation” riffs on airy patches that hiss and bend while “The Weight of It” transmits an unsettling hysteria with flanging leads and untethered rhythmic components. On the B side, the ominous dirge of “Soft Palate” brings a kind of uncanny energy to proceedings before “Into Your Ocean” utilises exquisite FM tones to create a captivating sonic montage. “Several Instances” hinges on dense low end and scattering white noise, before giving way to the machinations of “Clotting Time”. Closing piece “This I Know” offers a stunning, crystalline finish to the LP – upping the ante in its final minutes before giving way to a hiss of delay trails.

A continued exploration from a focused and diligent artist that provides yet another fully formed and beautifully articulated component to his own discography and that of the Avian label.

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

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

Gaspard Augé hat schon immer brillant reißerische, musikalische Welten geschaffen, in denen man sich
verlieren kann. Am bekanntesten ist er als eine Hälfte von Justice, dem Duo, das Mitte der 2000er Jahre
Rock und Rave vereinte und dessen Dancefloor-Smashes eine ganze Generation definierten. Sein diesjähriges
Solo-Debütalbum „Escapades“ besiegelt seinen Ruf als Meister des Maximalismus, ein elektronischer Autor,
dessen imaginäre Soundtracks ein erfrischender Ruck aus der Realität sind. Seine köstlich massiven Traumlandschaften beschwört Bilder von progressiven, heidnischen Ritualen im Orbit oder Spaghetti-Western auf
einer Raumstation herauf. Seien wir ehrlich, der Zappa-artige Produzent hatte nie vor, eine introspektive
Platte zu schreiben: „Ich war schon immer davon besessen, überlebensgroße Musik zu machen“, sagt er.
„Vor allem, weil es mehr Spaß macht“.
Das letzte Mal hörten wir von Augé, als er und Xavier De Rosnay von Justice einen Grammy 2019 für ihr
Album ”Woman Worldwide” gewannen, ein Überarbeitungspaket ihres Katalogs aus dem letzten Jahrzehnt.
”Das Tolle an den Grammys ist, dass man im Voraus nicht weiß, ob man gewonnen hat oder nicht, also kam
es völlig überraschend”, sagt Augé. Es war eine verdiente Anerkennung für ihre gemeinsame, bahnbrechende
Arbeit. ”Wir haben uns einfach gefreut und dachten: ’Wir müssen etwas richtig gemacht haben’”, sagt
Augé. ”Und wir dachten: ’Okay, jetzt können wir dieses Kapitel abschließen’.”

Death Drives A Cadillac was Spike In Vain’s second
album, never officially released and unheard in its final
form until now. Like many hardcore bands circa ’84 and
’85, the group was ready to further expand its palette and
ease off the thrash tempos. Recorded roughly a year after
Disease Is Relative with a bigger budget, the album is even
more wide-ranging, and the songs are more fleshed out.
“Despair grew inside her, I grew inside her. She named
me Spirit Death, and this is my song” sings Chris Marec,
the vocalist on half of this LP. Though less “young” than
their debut, that album’s darkness lingers, but here has a
more removed, observational quality, with many songs
sung in character or in the third person, along with a
tendency for anthropomorphic allegory. It has a bit less to
do with screaming for death to come than with a growing
resignation to being the other, a recognition of inescapable
alienation and its relation to childhood trauma. —all with
a heaping side of absurdity and a sense of wonder at the
gradually unfolding endtimes.
That said, many of the tracks wouldn’t be out of place
on the debut, and some feature exotic tunings. Bits of roots
music come into play as well—gospel, blues, and country
figure to some extent in a third of the songs, sometimes
in convoluted, Beefheart-esque ways, and at other times
toying with genre archetypes as a cat does a mouse.

The New Studio Album Of Epic Black Heavy Metal From The
Norwegian Legends
“Five heavy dinosaurs looking in wonder and bewilderment at the stars” Fenriz
With the highly revered Norwegians remaining ever-dedicated to the art of the
riff after 35 years of existence, Darkthrone return for album number nineteen
and a new dose of metallic godliness. On the back of 2019’s triumphant ‘Old
Star’ opus, the duo of Nocturno Culto & Fenriz present a 41-minute maelstrom
of Epic Black Heavy Metal across five sprawling compositions.
Organic and dynamic, the album is an exploration of the very finest vintage
metal and the best of doom, all delivered in the unmistakable Darkthrone style,
whilst also incorporating instruments such as the Moog to further expand upon
these soundscapes.
Eschewing the process of using their own Necrohell II studios - which has
served the band so well over the last 15 years - & welcoming a change of environment and the opportunity to experiment with new ideas, ‘Eternal Hails......’
was recorded at Chaka Khan Studio in Oslo, & engineered by Ole Ovstedal &
Silje H gevold, breathing new life into the sound while retaining the essence of
Darkthrone’s natural, raw feeling.
The cover artwork features the piece “Pluto and Charon” (1972), from renowned science fiction artist David A. Hardy; a hugely inspirational image for
both Fenriz & Nocturno Culto spanning several decades, and this also stands
as a symbolic link between the genre-bending styles apparent on Darkthrone’s
earliest works, to those same traits evident on ‘Eternal Hails......’.

Rose City Band is the solo project of Ripley Johnson (Wooden Shjips, Moon
Duo).
Stepping out from behind the psychedelic haze that envelops his other
output, Rose City Band’s lean yet richly textured arrangements lay bare the
beauty of his songcraft. On ‘Earth Trip’, Johnson reveals more of himself
than ever before, colouring the project’s country-rock twang with a
melancholic, wistful undertone. It charts a journey of personal growth and
introspection with surprising honesty, from pining for summers spent with
friends to meditations on space, stillness and the splendour of the natural
world.
It continues Rose City Band’s celebration of summer warmth and the great
outdoors, seen from a new vantage point and with newfound appreciation for
the freedom and joy that nature provides.
Through its daring honesty and masteful arrangements, ‘Earth Trip’ cements
Johnson’s place as a singular songwriter of inimitable skill. Its message of
mindfulness and our interconnectedness to the environment expands on a
long country and blues music tradition that draws a symbiotic relationship
between storyteller and the land, capturing the beauty of the natural world
while also emphasising our responsibility in preserving it for future
generations.
‘Earth Trip’ features an incredible line up of guests including drummer John
Jeffrey (Moon Duo), Sanae Yamada (Moon Duo) on piano, Ryan Jewell and
Barry Walker on pedal steel guitar.
Mixed by Cooper Crain (Bitchin’ Bajas, Cave) at Electrical Audio and
mastering by Amy Dragon at Telegraph Mastering.
Deluxe mini gatefold CD package.
Forest green coloured vinyl and black vinyl are available in deluxe LP
packaging, die-cut jacket with 4-colour printing on both the outside and inside
of the jacket. Also with fully artworked heavy-weight cardstock printed inner
sleeve and digital download card.
“Ripley Johnson has been responsible for some of the past decade’s most
mesmeric and beguiling albums.” - The Guardian
“Johnson’s Rose City Band incarnation may be his most dazzling and
uplifting so far... transforms the fuzz-drenched thrust of Johnson’s usual
music into a beatific choogle, a modest but potent means of escape from the
realities of 2020” - MOJO

Rose City Band is the solo project of Ripley Johnson (Wooden Shjips, Moon
Duo).
Stepping out from behind the psychedelic haze that envelops his other
output, Rose City Band’s lean yet richly textured arrangements lay bare the
beauty of his songcraft. On ‘Earth Trip’, Johnson reveals more of himself
than ever before, colouring the project’s country-rock twang with a
melancholic, wistful undertone. It charts a journey of personal growth and
introspection with surprising honesty, from pining for summers spent with
friends to meditations on space, stillness and the splendour of the natural
world.
It continues Rose City Band’s celebration of summer warmth and the great
outdoors, seen from a new vantage point and with newfound appreciation for
the freedom and joy that nature provides.
Through its daring honesty and masteful arrangements, ‘Earth Trip’ cements
Johnson’s place as a singular songwriter of inimitable skill. Its message of
mindfulness and our interconnectedness to the environment expands on a
long country and blues music tradition that draws a symbiotic relationship
between storyteller and the land, capturing the beauty of the natural world
while also emphasising our responsibility in preserving it for future
generations.
‘Earth Trip’ features an incredible line up of guests including drummer John
Jeffrey (Moon Duo), Sanae Yamada (Moon Duo) on piano, Ryan Jewell and
Barry Walker on pedal steel guitar.
Mixed by Cooper Crain (Bitchin’ Bajas, Cave) at Electrical Audio and
mastering by Amy Dragon at Telegraph Mastering.
Deluxe mini gatefold CD package.
Forest green coloured vinyl and black vinyl are available in deluxe LP
packaging, die-cut jacket with 4-colour printing on both the outside and inside
of the jacket. Also with fully artworked heavy-weight cardstock printed inner
sleeve and digital download card.
“Ripley Johnson has been responsible for some of the past decade’s most
mesmeric and beguiling albums.” - The Guardian
“Johnson’s Rose City Band incarnation may be his most dazzling and
uplifting so far... transforms the fuzz-drenched thrust of Johnson’s usual
music into a beatific choogle, a modest but potent means of escape from the
realities of 2020” - MOJO

Papiro’s approach to music is never technical, but always personal. Since the mid-Nineties, he has released a handful of noteworthy albums, each carefully put together and seemingly self- contained, yet all sharing an unmistakable musical language and a certain escapist aura.

La finestra dentata (The Toothed Window), is no exception. It includes both studio and concert recordings from 2016–2020. The sounds on this album appear infinite and full of marvels, ingenious in portraying imaginary creatures and environments.

The title track and Anelli take up most of the first side and include live outtakes. Papiro likes to describe his performances as therapeutic. These swirly symphonies are specifically intended as immersive deep-listening experiences for concert venues, and have been edited for this album to meet the physical demands of vinyl and domestic use. Imagine the younger cousins of Laurie Spiegel’s Concerto Generator performance, or Terry Riley’s Shri Camel.

However, those who know Papiro only from the stage might be unaware of a different side to his oeuvre; starry-eyed miniatures that may appear frivolous in comparison to the more heady stuff, but are nonetheless well worth discovering. Each piece adds a chapter to a phantasmagoric world populated by such characters as "Giant Duckling", "King Hard-Beard", or the "Bodulator". Tracks like the opener Odilon or Il triciclo nascosto, meanwhile, emanate a candor rarely found in the domain of serious music, and revisit Papiro’s early days of instrumental storytelling.

About Papiro:

Marco Papiro is a Swiss-Italian musician, composer and graphic designer. He teaches at the Schule für Gestaltung in Basel and is known for the posters and album covers that he's created for a number of prolific artists (Sun Araw, Sonic Boom, Panda Bear, Oren Ambarchi)

BUILDINGS was born out of a creative merger between Detroit’s 313 Acid Queen (Rebecca Goldberg) and Italian maestro Sickboy (Stefano Piseddu), their 4th and 2nd releases on Detroit Underground respectively. The duo have thoughtfully arranged a half dozen tracks inspired figuratively and literally by the landscape of Detroit. Working 7,000km and multiple time zones apart, having never met in person, their individual expressions intertwine in soundscapes reminiscent of techno’s origin and exist in a way only capable in our present time. Devoted as ever to the roots of Detroit techno, Goldberg and Piseddu have built a magnificent album around the Detroit Map Series theme conceptualized by DU label founder Kero and designed by Neubau Berlin.

Opener GUARDIAN pays homage to Detroit’s Art Deco landmark skyscraper exploring rigid textures and a mosaic of tones reflective of the building’s diverse composition.

STRUCTURE escalates through synth leads and drum breaks ascending into a powerful high-rise track.

MCS carves through an array of percussion and crooning acid as you might imagine the sounds of Detroit’s former train depot, at one time used by thousands of passengers per day traveling to and from Detroit.

FOUNDATION’s original mix and rework get down to the literal with vocal samples calling out the project’s muse. Sickboy’s dynamic hits and 313 Acid Queen’s bubbling acid lines are truly reflective of both producers’ individuality within the collaboration.

RENAISSANCE represents a continued era of rebirth and is more literally named for the group of connected skyscrapers whose central tower stands as Detroit’s tallest building.

On Air is the second solo release by Alan Parsons following the split of The Alan Parsons Project. One of the creative forces was APP long-time guitarist Ian Bairnson. The concept of the album revolves around the history of airborne exploration.

The theme of “Too Close to the Sun” is escaping the labyrinth of the Minotaur. “Brother Up In Heaven” is an emotionally driven song, about the unfortunate death of Ian Bairnson’s cousin. “One Day To Fly” is a song about Leonardo da Vinci’s search to design a flying machine.

A who’s-who of lead vocalists are featured on this album; Christopher Cross, Eric Stewart, Neil Lockwood, Steve Overland and Graham Dye. The amazing looking artwork was recreated for this vinyl edition by none other than Peter Curzon of Storm Studios.

Although On Air might be the most underrated Alan Parsons albums, many consider this as one of his best albums. On Air turns 25 in 2021. This is a limited 25th anniversary edition on transparent vinyl. The package includes an insert with lyrics and pictures.

Old school sucessfull hardtek tribe... A big big mental and dancefloorrealese escapting the acid trivial style and refreshing the hardtek... Don't Miss !! As all Makes Me Dizzy:) BIG !

In this solo EP syberian98 builds up a shelter and escapes nowaday brutal and generic technoish sound. You find here acidized, much more soulful, trancy, leftfield tools. And sure, this simple three note sequence going thru the both sides reminds you a bored happy morning feelings of a loud warehouse party which you want to leave slightly away soon.

Very limited LP on Cream / Blue twist vinyl. Emma Houton is a timeless, celestial voice from New York City. We felt an urgency to share this incredibly calming product of Lockdown with the wider world, Trapped Animal Records. // "her ambient soundscapes brim with escapism _and enchantment" Highclouds Magazine // "a truly bewitching, gorgeous sonic tapestry." Beats Per Minute // Composed after ethnographic study into her Irish folk song roots, and recorded as part of her senior thesis in experimental electronic music, Emma originally wrote The Bath as a piece for eight voices to be performed live. Due to the COVID pandemic, she ended up recording all eight parts alone in her childhood bedroom, mixing and producing it herself. On recording the piece, Emma says: "When composing the album I had an interest in recreating the feelings I had hearing folk tales as a kid. We had a giant book of Irish folk tales my grandmother gave me, and I was both fascinated and scared shitless by them! I intended this to be a live performance initially and so the whole album is scored. I write most of my music by constructing layered loops of my voice using a loop pedal and then singing a melody line over them, and I was trying to translate that practice into a live performance in which each "loop" is sung and repeated, creating the effect of looping without actually recording loops. I was hoping to create something where voice is used as an instrument, rather than standing apart from instruments as it often does I took source material from hymns and traditional folk songs, with the lyrics centering on water-related themes like drowning, baptism, and purification, which I tried to reflect in the sonic environment of the piece through enveloping delays, cavernous reverb, and a general sense of being completely immersed in sound. The concept for the piece in its live form is much more of a production than the album itself, which became more of a "how do I record something written for an ensemble alone with an SM58?" project, and I've figured out how to perform these pieces solo with the loop pedal, in a very coming-full-circle turn." Emma found her way to Trapped Animal Records after a quirk in the Bandcamp algorithm led her to listen to - her now label mate - Maija Sofia's similarly named debut "Bath Time". Signed within a fortnight of making contact with the label at the end of 2020, during a bleak winter, the label quickly ploughed ahead to schedule release of "The Bath". Label partner Kerry Devine says "there was a feeling of urgency to share this incredibly calming product of Lockdown with the wider world, we felt compelled".

What began as a challenge to fight creative stagnation, soon grew into a fully-fledged audio-visual project for Belgian DJ, producer and live artist, Biesmans. Setting himself the goal of making three tracks per week for a month, he re-scored ‘80s pop culture moments – including films, TV shows and games, resulting in a brilliant 12-track work encompassing new wave, indie, dark wave, electro and
disco.
Moving his modular-heavy studio to Berlin in 2014, the ensuring years saw Joris Biesmans drop heat on Correspondent, Disco Halal, AEON, 17 Steps and Future Disco. He’s been a core member of Watergate
family since his arrival in the capital, working as the club’s sound technician. He made his debut on Watergate Records in 2020 with the well-received ‘Electric Love’ EP.
The ‘Planes, Trains & Automobiles’ album took shape in April last year as the lockdown was starting to take grip and Biesmans needed a positive distraction. Ensconced in the music of his childhood and ‘80s
pop cultural fodder, he locked himself in his studio and set about creating, later digging through archival footage to match the music. Biesmans, who previously undertook work scoring films, was so absorbed by the process, he’d sometimes do it in reverse; allowing the vintage media be the guide. Throughout the period, the clips were shared each Monday, Wednesday and Friday on his Instagram, building up a firm following from fans, friends and colleagues. And thus, the project found its wings, developing into an album.
Throughout the dozen tracks, highlights are plentiful; from the neon ambience of the Kraftwerk-inspired ‘ ‘Cosmic Cruise’, which later accompanied a smoky scene between Tom Cruise and Rebecca de Mornay in ‘Risky Business’; the sun-soaked, retro-pop title track, which became the album’s first single, and was paired with a jubilant dance scene from the Breakfast Club; ‘Cold Void’, the album’s second single, which saw Biesmans link up with fellow Belgians Boi Wonder and Tom the Bomb for a dark wave creation built around a heavy guitar solo and set against a backdrop of Blade Runner clips; and the silky electro funk of ‘Another World’ that soundtracks scenes from Miami Vice.
Biesmans explains about ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’: “I started this as a lockdown challenge, in which I would make three tracks per week for a month, alongside providing videos where I re-scored
footage of 80s pop culture moments. Inspired by the movie of the same name, I picked the title because it ties to the theme of ‘mobility’. Our society is based upon being mobile and when Corona hit us, we
could taste a bit of being immobile. As an artist that meant, I could focus on making music 100%. No distractions, no weekend gigs, no parties just making music. This new lifestyle resulted in my first album.
A journey into the past but looking forward to the future, experimenting with other genres and techniques to make a real album that goes beyond club music.”

England, 1884 - a world on the brink of change. On the morning of her 16th birthday, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) wakes to find that her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) has disappeared, leaving behind an odd assortment of gifts but no apparent clue as to where she’s gone or why. After a free-spirited childhood, Enola suddenly finds herself under the care of her brothers Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin), both set on sending her away to a finishing school for “proper” young ladies. Refusing to follow their wishes, Enola escapes to search for her mother in London. But when her journey finds her entangled in a mystery surrounding a young runaway Lord (Louis Partridge), Enola becomes a super-sleuth in her own right, outwitting her famous brother as she unravels a conspiracy that threatens to set back the course of history.

Enola Holmes was released on September 23, 2020. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised Brown’s performance. Daniel Pemberton composed the film’s score. Pemberton described it as “unashamedly melodic and emotional orchestral music” with some “messy quirky oddness thrown in as well”.




RELEASE: 4-6-2021




• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• PVC PROTECTIVE SLEEVE
• CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 2020 MOVIE ABOUT THE TEENAGE SISTER OF THE ALREADY-FAMOUS SHERLOCK HOLMES
• STARRING MILLIE BOBBY BROWN (STRANGER THINGS “ELEVEN”), HENRY CAVILL, SAM CLAFLIN & HELENA BONHAM CARTER
• MUSIC BY DANIEL PEMBERTON
• INCLUDES INSERT WITH PICTURES AND LINER NOTES BY DIRECTOR HARRY BRADBEER (KILLING EVE)
• LIMITED EDITION OF 500 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES ON SOLID TURQUOISE VINYL

This is a limited edition contains of 500 individually numbered copies on solid turquoise vinyl. The package includes an insert with pictures and liner notes by director Harry Bradbeer (Killing Eve).

A vital moment in the resurgence of the London Jazz scene. This epoch-defining set captures all the power, energy and deftness of touch that became the thrilling, visceral experience of Binker and Moses' breakthrough performance at the now-legendary (and much missed) East London venue Total Refreshment Centre. Recorded on a sweltering night in the Summer of 2017. The palpable excitement of the crowd and its energetic, liberated response to the action on stage adds extra levels to the atmospherics, and elevates the pioneering duo's performance to a new high.

Liz Phair announces ‘Soberish’, her highly-anticipated new album and first collection of original
material in eleven years. Produced by Phair’s longtime collaborator Brad Wood - known for helming
Phair’s seminal albums ‘Exile In Guyville’, ‘Whip-Smart’ and ‘whitechocolatespaceegg’ - ‘Soberish’ is
released via Chrysalis Records.
Almost thirty years since her peerless debut album ‘Exile In Guyville’ was released (voted #56 in
Rolling Stone’s 2020 list of the 500 Greatest albums Of All Time), Phair returns with a new record that
will both intrigue and satisfy her long-standing fans and introduce her to a smart young audience
whose contemporary heroes have been reading from Phair’s playbook since they first picked up a
guitar.
Liz Phair has achieved the kind of status in her industry rarely bestowed on recording artists. Her
albums in the 1990s were central to the indie rock canon of the day. Her image was featured in
countless magazines, early Apple commercials and Gap ads. Her eponymous album for Capitol
Records in 2003 took Phair in a pop direction that ruffled some critics’ feathers but nonetheless went
gold, galvanizing a host of new fans, particularly among young women who fell in love with hits like
‘Why Can’t I’ and ‘Extraordinary’, tracks that were featured in several major films and TV shows,
including 13 Going On 30, Raising Helen and How To Deal. Liz has picked up two Grammy
nominations and a spot in Pitchfork’s Greatest Albums Of The 90s, with over five million record sales
to date (including three US gold albums). She sang ‘God Bless America’ at the opening game of the
Chicago White Sox World Series victory in her hometown in 2005.
‘Soberish’ is a portrait of Phair in the present tense, taking all of the facets of her melodic output over
the years and synthesizing them into a beautiful, perfect whole. She’s at the top of her game in the
recording studio, drawing upon years of experience in television composition to weave through the
songs daring and unexpected sound design. With Brad Wood’s exquisite engineering and masterful
production, the result is a wholly fresh yet satisfyingly familiar sound that challenges on the first listen
and seduces with each subsequent play through. The earworms are strong with this one.
Phair says, “I found my inspiration for ‘Soberish’ by delving into an early era of my music development,
my art school years spent listening to Art Rock and New Wave music non-stop on my Walkman. The
English Beat, The Specials, Madness, R.E.M.s Automatic for the People, Yazoo, The Psychedelic
Furs, Talking Heads, Velvet Underground, Laurie Anderson, and the Cars. The city came alive for me
as a young person, the bands in my headphones lending me the courage to explore.”
None of the arrangements on Soberish are traditional songwriting standards but the hooks are so
catchy, the imagery so compelling, that the listener is drawn effortlessly along with the music. There
are the off-kilter, unexpected guitar chords listeners will recognize as her signature style, a mainstay
from her earliest work; the instantly knowable choruses of her most pop-friendly songs of the early
2000s; the frank lyricism and storytelling that has opened doors for countless women picking up
guitars and attempting to speak about their experiences.
Phair shares insight into the meaning of her title: “‘Soberish’ can be about partying. It can be about
self-delusion. It can be a about chasing that first flush of love or, in fact, any state of mind that allows
you to escape reality for a while and exist on a happier plane. It’s not self-destructive or out of control;
it’s as simple as the cycle of dreaming and waking up. That’s why I chose to symbolize ‘Soberish’ with
a crossroads, with a street sign. It’s best described as a simple pivot of perspective. When you meet
your ‘ish’ self again after a period of sobriety, there’s a deep recognition and emotional relief that
floods you, reminding you that there is more to life, more to reality and to your own soul than you are
consciously aware of. But if you reach for too much of a good thing, or starve yourself with too little,
you’ll lose that critical balance.”