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Music in Exile is excited to announce a new 12” maxi-single release from the “King of Music”, GORDON KOANG. Titled Coronavirus / Disco, this double-A-side release share’s Gordon’s messages of peace, love and positivity, and is his first original offering since his acclaimed Unity album was released in late 2020.

The first single, Coronavirus, was penned by Koang in July 2020 as a response to his personal experiences of the global pandemic. As his hometown of Melbourne went into lockdown, Gordon resided in the outer suburbs of Melbourne with his cousin, Paul, and his four-stringed, guitar-like instrument, the thom. Throughout this single, Gordon offers his condolences to those affected by the pandemic, alongside messages of his faith in frontline workers and the hope that circumstances will improve soon. “People suffer a lot. I ask that God gives the doctors the big wisdom to defeat the coronavirus. When people hear my song, I hope that this music counsels them. The song has a lot of meaning, it is telling them to be hopeful.”

With the cancellation of a national tour and numerous festival appearances, Covid-19 had not only impacted Gordon’s career here in Australia but also his opportunity to visit family he hadn’t seen in five years. After receiving Australian permanent residency, Gordon and Paul were now able to visit family in Uganda, however this was made incredibly difficult due to border closures and the potential health risks. Taking a last minute opportunity, Gordon and Paul travelled to Africa and whilst excited to visit their families, they also experienced the impact of the pandemic on their home communities. “In Africa, it is not like us here, there is no medicine and in Africa there is also no Centrelink if you are in lockdown. It is difficult getting services. Even getting food is difficult.”

After two weeks in hotel quarantine, Gordon and Paul returned to Melbourne, eager to record music once more. With lockdown lifting, Gordon headed to the studio with a new band featuring Zak Olsen (ORB, Traffik Island) Jack Kong (Baked Beans, Traffik Island), David “Daff” Gravolin (ORB), and Jesse Williams (Leah Senior, Girlatones). This new release is the result of these studio sessions, jamming and recording at Button Pusher in Preston, Melbourne.

For the DJ’s out there, both tracks will feature on a limited edition, 12” maxi single vinyl complete with pull-out poster from Gordon, encouraging listeners to stay positive during this difficult time.

“My condolences to you, my audience in lockdown. We are all suffering from coronavirus. Let us stand firm and be strong. Let us look after each other, until the time comes when God brings us together. I give my condolences to people who have died of coronavirus, in aged care and disability. We are heartbroken for everyone. Let us take it easy, and pray in our houses, all around the world. If you believe in God, pray to the God you believe in, and they will help you. God will give us the chance to go back to normal and open all events. Even if it is a bad time now, there will be a change and it will be a good time for us. Thank you to everyone.” - Gordon Koang

‘Anomie & Bonhomie’: Originally released in 1999 and only on CD, never released on
vinyl. Includes sleeve notes written by Green Gartside and David Gamson.
11 years after the release of previous album ‘Provision’, Scritti Politti erupted back into life
with 1999’s ‘Anomie & Bonhomie’. Recalibrated, re-evaluated, re-imagined and,
eventually, rewarded, ‘Anomie & Bonhomie’ is the heady results of this artistic rebirth.
Illuminated by the band’s stylish pure pop spotlight, collaborations with Mos Def, Lee
Majors and Wendy Melvoin give the record a neon-lit, nocturnal shimmer. Hip-hop
flourishes sit side-by-side with heart-hitting balladry, as truly touching melodies match
moments of uncompromising musical grit with their emotional impact.

For the Perth group, creativity and production hasn’t stopped in 2020. Despite
much of this year’s tour plans being put on pause, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have used their time off road to continue preparing themselves for the release of their fourth studio release, and an eventual blistering return to stages
around the world with a heavy-hitter of an album primed for the live space.
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have already given fans an early taste of the forthcoming SHYGA! era, with ‘Mr. Prism’ in August. The creation of SHYGA! The
Sunlight Mound, especially off the back of 2019’s huge LP And Now For The
Whatchamacallit, came together in a different environment for McEwan and
the results speak to the band’s evolution and McEwan’s evolution as a songwriter.
“For the first time in a long time I was home without any tours booked, no
work, no deadlines and I felt free to create. My writing process became ritualistic; every morning starting with a small walk to the local bottle shop at 11am
and writing whatever flowed, allowing myself to design in all styles without
boundaries, and not trying to theme the album early on. I haven’t had the luxury of writing this way since the first record, which I spent almost a year working
on. It felt like I was myself again, creating without opinion or constraints. I was
gliding through weeks with a day seeming to pass.

If Shelter swam through the serene side of the Library experience on GBR016, CV Vision blasts off in the opposite direction, riding an explosion of funk breaks and frazzled synths into the event horizon on his retro-futurist opus ‘Insolita’.

As contemporary life accelerates way past peak-weird, CV Vision leans into uncertainty and leaves Earth in the rear-view. Strung out on Simulacron-3, World On A Wire and Omaggio Ad Einstein, the Berlin-based musician imagines his own Brave New World, an alternate eXistenZ in a secret simulation.

Using the space age obsession of the Italian libraries as a launch pad, Dennis Schulze slathers a sonic storyboard with ferocious percussion, psychedelic fuzz and the pastoral electronics of Germany’s Kosmische movement. But this is less Can, more uncanny - and Schulze perfectly renders the cognitive estrangement of a simulated reality through his adventurous production. The monolithic live drums, recorded in a Neukölln garage on a battered Soviet kit are smeared with tape hiss, compressed to death and fired through LFOs, re-materialising on record in impossible scale. Time slips out of joint under the wow and flutter of the reel to reel, drum computers add digital interference to organic rhythms and the unfaltering slew of the 303 lends the hallucinatory thrill of the club sound system to an already psychedelic affair.

As Schulze’s imagination runs free, we’re taken through epic space battles and narrow escapes, moments of reflection and affection and a final resolution, all expressed through a dexterous control of movement and mood. For every explosion of break-fuelled adrenaline, there’s a cruise into cryo-chamber music and holodeck exotica. For each neck-snapping blast of acid funk, there’s a zero gravity lullaby waiting just around the corner.

So put isolation on ice and surrender to the strange, this is a trip you don’t want to end.

The first release in what will be an ongoing three-part series, Part I features nine tracks for bass guitar and tenor saxophone. Part II, an exploration of a slightly larger, more sonically diverse musical world will feature string quartet and voice. Finally, Part III will collaborate with choreographer Siobhan McKenna, who alongside Nick will develop a percussive movement work that seamlessly intertwines with the musical work.

“My aim is to create music that is sonically and musically atypical whilst still belonging to an accessible contemporary scene. Each project, album or ‘part’ will set out to explore a single ensemble or group of instruments. In the case of Part I, that ensemble is hollow body bass guitar and tenor saxophone. “ - Indigo (Nick Roder)

The Indigo project itself was inspired by Saxophone & Bass Guitar by Sam Gendel and Sam Wilkes, which prompted Nick to write an album of music for the same type of ensemble. Having only just purchased a bass guitar for a different project, the instrument was still very new to him.

“I was curious to see what I would write with my self-imposed rule of not being able to overdub material, and further, how my limitations as a relatively green bass guitarist would influence the writing of the material. A strong focus on harmonic movement and melodic material was where I eventually found my happy place.”

The result is a phenomenal debut. Burrowing into the space between it’s sparse instrumentation and dulcet tones, Part I is the realisation of a minimalist and concise vision of what a symbiotic relationship between two instruments can yield.

About Indigo
Indigo is the moniker and ongoing project of Melbourne-based composer and arranger, Nick Roder. The Indigo project was conceptualised in 2020 and focuses on deep sonic exploration of little-heard ensembles in a contemporary space.

Since 2018, Nick has been composing soundtracks for video games including The Invisible Hand, Roadwarden, N1NE: Splintered Mind, This Dead Winter and Miska. Nick has also played in art-rock ensemble, Tulalah, exploring sonic textures, combining contemporary jazz/rock with chamber sounds. The modular ensemble released The Flood (Equinox Recordings, 2015) and The Question (Independent, 2017).

In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the release of
legendary singer / guitarist Thalia Zedek’s ‘Been Here
and Gone’, Thrill Jockey are proud to present the
album on vinyl for the very first time, remastered by
Sarah Register.
Thalia Zedek has been one of the most enduring rock
musicians of the past four decades. From her
auspicious beginnings in bands Uzi, Live Skull and
Dangerous Birds to her wider recognition in Come,
Zedek established herself as a singular voice accruing
accolades from critics and contemporaries including J.
Mascis, Kurt Cobain and Bob Mould.
‘Been Here and Gone’, her debut solo release,
originally released on Matador in 2001 on CD, marked
a turning point in Zedek’s music. As Come were
coming to a close, Zedek began exploring writing and
performing as a solo artist, eventually backed by violist
David Curry, pianist Mel Lederman (both went on to
perform with Zedek for two decades), as well as former
Come bandmates Chris Brokaw and Daniel Coughlin.
The idiosyncrasies of her voice were laid bare for the
first time, revealing an even greater depth to her
unique songwriting. The more spacious and rich
arrangements sprawl and whisper with powerful
vulnerability.
Deluxe packaging featuring photos of the recording
session on the inner sleeve. Includes digital download
card.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release legendary singer/ guitarist Thalia Zedek's Been Here and Gone, Thrill Jockey is proud to present the album unlike it has ever been heard before: on vinyl, re-mastered by Sarah Register. Thalia Zedek has been one of the most enduring rock musicians of the past four decades. From her auspicious beginnings in bands Uzi, Live Skull, and Dangerous Birds to her wider recognition in Come, Zedek established herself as a singular voice accruing accolades from critics and contemporaries including J. Mascis, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Mould. Been Here and Gone, her debut solo release originally released on Matador in 2001 on CD, marked a turning point in Zedek's music. As Come was coming to a close, Zedek began exploring writing and performing as a solo artist, eventually backed by violist David Curry, pianist Mel Lederman (both of which went on to perform with Zedek for two decades), as well as former Come bandmates Chris Brokaw and Daniel Coughlin. The idiosyncrasies of her voice were laid bare for the first time, revealing an even greater depth to her unique songwriting. The more spacious and rich arrangements sprawl and whisper with powerful vulnerability. "There was definitely something magical about the making of Been Here and Gone," says Zedek. "I'm not sure if it was because it was made at a studio called Higher Power in a recently desanctified church in Stuyvesant, NY, or if it was because it was the end of a century, not to mention a millennium, the end of a decade of being in Come, the longest running band I'd had up to that point, and the end of 5 years of unhappy breakups and tumultuous relationships in my personal life." The eleven tracks that comprise Been Here and Gone embody that tension of uncertainty with a hopeful edge of renewal. Zedek's indelible resilience lifts even the somberest laments into triumphs. Even on the album's three cover tunes, including a haunting rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love," Zedek's voice and guitar color every note with raw emotion, making each passing gesture personal. Been Here and Gone channels the thunder and roar of Zedek's past into a fragile magnificence.

Thomas Köner is one of the most influential modernist minimal composers. Alongside Wolfgang Voigt's "Gas" project, Köner has been centrally responsible for electronic music's fascination with depth and reduction. His signature sound is vast, seemingly endless, which at first seems homogenous and infinite, but once exposed to it, when our senses calibrate to the fine nuances of changes, we discover and immerse into abundance of textures, richness of modulations and almost infinite range of sonic titilations. Köner's work was inspired by his frequent travels in the Arctic, and listeners feel his music as a journey to mysterious worlds of the Arctic region. The experience of being exposed to the extreme cold, the hightening of our senses and ability to notice even the slightest changes in color, sound, light or density that creates this dangerously reductive environment, is like an immersion in the sonic world of this German artist, where masterfully crafted layers of sound open into colossal spaces, teeming with aural life, waiting to be discovered by those who venture into it. The titles of Köner's highly regarded albums from the 90's ever so often play with this affinity - Nunatak, Permafrost, Teimo - all reference to the world of the Artic region, just as his album Nuuk that points us to the capital of Greenland. Subdued and minimal at first glance, this album is brimming with low-end frequences, shadowy resonances and boreal ambience, but at the same time, constant fluctuation and vulnerability of sonic events, makes it very organic, human and almost comforting, like the tiny harbour existing in the sea of ice, it is named after.

"The Shape Of Jazz To Come" - Ornette Coleman (as); Don Cherry (crt); Charlie Haden (b); Billy Higgins (dr)

It was John Lewis, pianist of the Modern Jazz Quartet, who brought Ornette Coleman to the renowned Atlantic label, having heard him play in Los Angeles. »Ornette Coleman is doing the only really new thing in jazz …« he reportedly said. The present initial Atlantic album was released just in time to coincide with the New York debut of the Coleman Quartet in November 1959. Lewis was sure that Coleman would open up new paths for jazz, and his opinion is reflected in the title of the album – "The Shape Of Jazz To Come". After the rather worn-out hard bop routine of the past years, this music was like a breath of fresh air. The fast numbers ("Eventuality", "Chronology") remind one of wildly hyped-up bebop. Other numbers ("Congeniality", "Focus On Sanity") juggle with catchy, almost folk like short motifs. This album contains two of Coleman’s most beautiful compositions: "Peace" and "Lonely Woman", which was later given lyrics and often heard in its vocal version. The Mulligan-Baker Quartet provided the model for the pianoless quartet – and when the band swings along once in a while with a moderato tempo, it is truly reminiscent of cool jazz. Be that as it may, the two wind instrumentalists just love the frenetic 'cry' and the intentionally 'imprecise' interplay. Clearly defined stanzas or traditional harmonic forms were not for them. The jazz musicologist Peter N. Wilson wrote: »A record, which is not unjustifiably so entitled« about this LP which was given 5 stars by the magazine Rolling Stone.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under pure-analogue

All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: May 1959 at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA, by Bones Howe

Production: Nesuhi Ertegun

A little over a year ago, Nathan Williams found himself back in San Diego, writing what would eventually become Hideaway, his seventh album as Wavves, in a little shed behind his parents’ house. It was also the place where he made some of his earliest albums, before he became known for his uncanny ability to write songs that sneered at the world while evoking pathos, sympathy, and a deep understanding of how sometimes we’re our own worst enemies, and that can be okay. Williams’ return to his childhood home was not just a symbolic attempt at jumpstarting creativity. It came as a result of a series of major life changes. A decade ago, Williams released King of the Beach on the maverick indie label Fat Possum. The album was a cocky collection of pop punk gems that catapulted him into the public consciousness, eventually prompting a jump from Fat Possum into the major label system, where he released two albums before becoming disillusioned by the lack of creative agency available to him. In 2017, Williams self-released You’re Welcome on his label, Ghost Ramp. Now, Williams has returned to Fat Possum with a barbed collection of anxious anthems that grapple with the looming sense of doom and despair that comes with getting older in an increasingly chaotic world. “He’ll always skew toward the Bart Simpson character,” says Matthew Johnson, founder of Fat Possum. “But that does not mean that he doesn’t have some commentary, and once in awhile, it’s totally spot on.” Across its brief but impactful nine tracks, Hideaway is about what happens when you get old enough to take stock of the world around you and realize that no one is going to save you but yourself, and even that might be a tall order. The album features Williams’ most universal and urgent songs yet. “Honeycomb” lopes along sunnily, as Williams sings affecting lines like “I feel like I’m dying, it’s cool, it’s great, just pretend I’m okay.” His directness is shocking, and proof that Williams is the kind of songwriter who can capture pain and uncertainty with resonant brutal force. “It’s real peaks and valleys with me,” Williams says. “I can be super optimistic and I can feel really good, and then I can hit a skid and it’s like an earthquake hits my life, and everything just falls apart. Some of it is my own doing, of course.” It’s this self awareness that permeates each of Hideaway’s songs, marking them each as mature reckonings with who he is. After realizing the material he’d been working on in the hideaway was starting to take shape, Williams, along with bandmates Stephen Pope and Alex Gates workshopped the songs in a series of now-abandoned studio sessions, before linking up with musician and producer Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio to help fully realize their new songs.

• Within a year of her ground-breaking Double-Album “Bad Girls”, Donna Summer left Casablanca Records
to become the first Artist signed to the new Geffen Records label, with “The Wanderer” being the first
album released on the label.
• Legendary producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte remained at the helm.
• With the US #3 hit of the title track and other standout tracks ‘Looking Up’, ‘Cold Love’, ‘Who Do You Think
You’re Foolin’’ and ‘Nightlife’, “The Wanderer” continued Donna’s creative output.
• “The Wanderer” was released the year after the ‘Disco Demolition Night’ event - which was held,
ironically, two days before ‘Bad Girls’ became a US #1 single - and introduced more rock-infused
dance/pop tunes – which paved the way for many Artists throughout the 1980s.
• Donna received two Grammy Award nominations. Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for ‘Cold Love’
and Best Inspirational Performance for ‘I Believe In Jesus’.
• In 2020, “The Wanderer” had a resurge in interest and a re-appraisal, with several tracks being remixed for
a new generation, resulting in a one month stop at #1 on one of the UK’s top Soul radio stations.
• This special edition revisits the original album on 180g White Colour vinyl

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

‘The Woman You Want’ is Eliza’s 2nd album to be released on July 16th the same day as the single ‘Fine & Peachy’ with a firm nod to the female greats of the 90s is a solid guitar/bass/drums indie classic in the making. Eliza’s vocal oozes a sardonic disquiet that immerses the listener into her fury culminating in an almost evangelical middle 8. The campaign so far has had support from Radio 1, 6 Music, BBC Intro, BBC Scotland, The Times, The Independent & Clash. 12 date UK tour is on sale for November and a major live event will go live on Sky Arts 15.7.21 ‘The real deal’ Guy Garvey (Elbow) BBC 6 Music. Available on CD and 'bottled green' vinyl formats.

A limited edition of 500 copies on white vinyl. First ever reissue of Alternative TV's "Action Time Vision", compiled in 1980 and featuring the group's 7"es from 1977 to 1979. Including bonus track "You Bastard" and new liner notes by ATV singer Mark Perry, the founding editor of punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue.

What Mark Perry says:
"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Punk turned my world upside down! In July 1976, after hearing and seeing the Ramones, I went from just another music fan, avid reader of the NME and Melody Maker, to become editor of punk's premier fanzine, Sniffin' Glue. It was almost an instant success and by December 1976, through our no nonsense approach, our position as the 'punk Bible' was assured. But it was never enough for me. As I saw the initial punk explosion subside into a succession of third-rate copycats, I wanted to have a go myself.

My first attempt at forming a band was in late '76. We called ourselves the 'New Beatles' and it ended after a couple of rehearsals. It wasn't until I met guitarist Alex Fergusson, a mate of Sounds writer Sandy Robertson, in early 1977, that I started putting together some more interesting ideas for a band. I worked on a bunch of lyrics and, pretty quickly, Alex had put tunes to them. Eventually calling ourselves Alternative TV, we had our first rehearsals at Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Studios in March '77.

That initial line-up was just me singing and Alex on guitar, with Genesis P-Orridge helping out on some bass and drums. We did ask Gen to join fulltime, but he decided against it and stuck with Throbbing Gristle. After more rehearsals, we played our first gig at the Nottingham Punk Festival in May 1977, joined by Mick Smith on bass and John Towe (ex-Generation X) on drums.

I started thinking about doing a record almost from the start because, by this time, I was running the Step Forward record label with Miles Copeland, who was also to become the band's manager. It seemed like a natural move to put out my own record, but it instead ended up on Deptford Fun City, another of Miles' labels. Before that actually happened, we made a slight detour by recording a demo for EMI. They didn't want to sign us, but we did end up with the tapes…"

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.

In 2015 we stumbled across an EP by a low-profile Romanian producer, which retrospectively was a pivotal event for the development of the label. This record was Serb's 'Transient Recs 1', released via Listen2me from Bucharest. We were deeply touched by the harsh and progressive sound of the tunes, which at the same time were so musical.
After a remix for Fehlzuendung and his LP 'A12 Proceedings' in 2018, things are coming full circle in 2021 as Șerb returns to NDR with 'Transient Recs 2', a collection of tracks produced between 2015 and 2018.

Muck Spreader found a home in the London circuit, performing alongside the likes of Fat White Family, Wolf Alice, Warmduscher and Black Midi; though this is not an indication of their sound, which continues to be forever morphing, unique and uncategorizable. The band’s latest EP Abysmal is their first vinyl release and signals a louder and further departure into sonic experimentation.

The EP follows Rodeo Mistakes, released last year to acclaim from the likes of So Young Magazine, DIY, Dork, Huw Stephens at BBC 6music and Jack Saunders at BBC Radio 1. With Abysmal we find deranged screams and a music rich with filthy bass, sludgy guitar, shrieking saxophone, and glitchy effects. The drums anchor the chaos.
On EP openerTake Flight Muck Spreader offer the following: "Fasten your seatbelts, find your nearest exit, and in the event of an emergency please assume the brace position. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. You are now in the safe hands of Captain Frosty Theodore, and the crew will do everything in their power to Keep it Mucky Take Flight"

Riding the razor’s edge between rigorous experimentation, innovation, and tradition, London based, Italian composer, cellist, and electronic performer, Sandro Mussida, joins the Die Schachtel family with Rueben, his 3rd solo LP.

Active since the early 2000s, Sandro Mussida worked extensively with Mark Fell, Curl Collective, Lorenzo Senni, Oren Ambarchi, and Alessandra Novaga, among others, as well as a founding member of the interdisciplinary artists' group TQS Collective, before releasing his solo debut, Ventuno Costellazioni Invisibili, on Metrica in 2017, followed by Eeeooosss, released by Soave in 2019. Rueben, like its predecessor, deploys a microtonal vocabulary within a three-instrument sound palette and builds upon Mussida’s long-standing investigations of active listening, augmented by a developing practice that challenges aural perceptions of historical, non-equal-tempered tuning systems.

The 3rd instalment of Die Schachtel’s Decay Music series - launched to highlight inspired contemporary experimental efforts in the ambient, ethereal, and emotively abstract music - Rueben was recorded during 2018 in the church of St.Giusto in Volterra, Italy. Deeply inspired by Italian Renaissance paintings encountered by Mussida during the work’s composition, and conceived at the intersection of acoustic and electronic aural fields, in careful response to the space itself, the sounds of electric guitar, bass clarinet and cello - treated as minuscule sound atoms, rapidly projected to form structures of evolving densities - harmoniously enter into dialogue, forming a multi-layered, contemplative sonic landscape, within the interwoven complexity of their own reflections.

Central to Mussida’s work is the role of the performer, the experience of sound in a given space, and the relation of those sounds to memory and observation. Across the length of Rueben, bound to the work’s inspiration in the visual realm, the interplay between the senses blurs, presenting the act of listening as a mirror for the experience and legacies of seeing. In Mussida’s hands, sound emerges as a trace or memory suspended in a non-linear conception of time, where imprint, movement, and event, as they relate to place and happening, are perceived by the ear, recalling the Russian theologian Pavel ​Florenskij​’s idea of ‘reverse time’, that likens temporal condition activated by experiences with art as similar to that of dreams.

Vast in scope and intricate detail, the 9 discrete compositions that form ​Rueben​ unfold in a series of interconnected, shimmering landscapes of tone and texture, each, through the interplay of their elements, configuring a radically dense rendering of minimalist, ambient music that challenge the perceived boundaries of those historical definitions. The identity of individual sound sources fades against their collective whole, sculpting an inward-looking aural image of the church of St.Giusto, that echoes the radiance of the paintings that lay at the heart of the album’s inspiration.

An inspired and radically forward-thinking realization of electro-acoustic music, Mussida pushes toward innumerable possible futures of experimental practice, imbued with ghosts and histories of the past. Rueben is issued Die Schachtel on vinyl in a one-time edition of 250 copies, pressed to 180g marble vinyl and housed in a pro-printed inner sleeve and jacket, featuring an original Sumi-e painting by Japanese artist and avant rock drummer Akihide Monna (Bo Ningen), contained in a silk-screen PVC sleeve.

Musique Pour La Danse is proud to present SPACED OUT!, a compilation curated by Belgian artist and producer DJ Athome (Front de Cadeaux) which focuses on psychedelic dub, space rock, and early electronica created in the UK's festival scene between 1986 and 1996, the result of a life long passion and 30 years of following artists from the festival scene.

It was a loosely organized British musical movement born in the early 80s and focused on free festivals in Stonehenge and other countercultural sites across the country. It represented a continuation of the psychedelic spirit of the 60s, with altered states of consciousness, dub production techniques, non-Western influences as well as instruments featuring heavily, along with a desire to side-step mainstream venues, labels, and attitudes.

Musically, it took on many forms, from mind-expanding space rock to third eye-opening electronica to shattering psychedelic dub. Visually, the zines, cassettes, LPs, and CDs created by this scene also displayed heavy influences from 60's psychedelia, updated for the late 80s and early 90s.

In the 90s, the zines and cassettes reached the eyes and ears of DJ Athome, then a young DJ living in Liège. After meeting a group of like-minded individuals organizing local gigs which was single-handedly responsible for putting Liège on the map for many British bands, he dived headfirst into the sights and the sounds of this festival scene, gathering as many albums as possible and joining local collectives involved in the organization of events.

This compilation is in equal amounts an introduction for newcomers and a confirmation for those who already know that this was without a doubt one of the trippiest and most compelling psychedelic musical movements of the last decades, notable for its hybridity, its sincerity, and above all its wonderfully life-changing effects for listeners and performers alike.

The compilation is presented in 2LP format, along with a limited edition Riso printed scene which features a foreword by acclaimed philosopher Timothy Morton, along with liner notes by David Borsu, one of the key players of Liège's musical collectives in the 90s and illustrations by designer Andrew Beltran.

2021 Repress

Rone is a stalwart of the French electronic scene and returns with his fourth album, 'Mirapolis', a synesthetic journey with features from Bryce Dessner (The National), Baxter Dury, John Stanier (Battles) and Saul Williams. The artwork was created by the critically acclaimed director Michel Gondry.
Stepping into Rone's music is like sleepwalking through a vividly colourful dream, eventually stumbling across a strange, scintillating Megapolis of saturated light and colours: 'Mirapolis'. Its twelve tracks / districts, each with their own specific planning, pulsate as though animated by their musical mastermind.
The project was an opportunity to get reacquainted with long- time stage and studio partners John Stanier, Gaspar Claus and the Vacarme band and Bryce Dessner (guitarist for The National,) while bringing in new collaborators (and thus, new interpretation of Rone's dreams). We find American slam-poet Saul Williams, who happened to be in Paris for a moment and contributes a searing anti-Trump screed, Baxter Dury, who brings an irresistible East London touch to 'Switches', a kind of fan fic that reimagines the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper lounging pensive in a club chair, Israeli electronic music muse Noga Erez, who inspired 'Waves' which, despite being recorded remotely, betrays a euphoric partnership, and finally, Kazu Makino, Blonde Redhead's bewitching singer and multi- instrumentalist, who contributes to the album's closer, the gauzy 'Down For The Cause'.
Rone remains a producer of grand instrumental pieces, which cannot be easily categorized in the architectural canon of our electronic music galaxy. Hypnotic, cinematic opening track 'I Philip' is an offshoot from the score for the first French virtual reality fiction, built around Philip K Dick - the perfect gate into a city that then opens up myriad temporal perspectives.

This is the demo recording sessions from Television in 1974 under Brian Eno's guidance. TheA SIDE demos were recorded at Good Vibrations Studios in NYC with Richard Hell on bass, and produced by Brian Eno and Richard Williams of Island Records.It also includes three live tracks from CBGB's in 1975 including the unreleased (I Look At You And Get A) Double Exposure, the band never recorded in studio. An abrasive 13th Floor Elevators number and the inonic Richard Hell (I Belong To The) Blank Generation It is fascinating listening to the early versions of these songs that eventually appeared on 'Marquee Moon'. Each versions are distinctly different having a 'harder edge' to them and closer to the final released editions. Sound Quality: Very good stereo

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



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



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



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

Nimbus West spirit jazz essential: the Creative Arts Ensemble's classic debut One Step Out. One of the most sought after and highly-regarded titles to have appeared on Tom Albach's celebrated Nimbus West imprint, One Step Out is a timeless work of spiritualized jazz. A true gem from the Los Angeles jazz underground, the album was pianist and composer Kaeef Ruzadun Ali's first recording as leader of the Creative Arts Ensemble, the only large ensemble group that emerged directly from Horace Tapscott's legendary Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra community jazz group. A Los Angeles native, Kaeef was introduced to the Tapscott circle in the late 1970s. His first experience of the Arkestra's ethos was through PAPA tenorist Michael Session, who took him to the famous "Great House" at 2412 South Western Ave., LA -- a large mansion house which members of the Arkestra had taken over as a space for communal living. Life in the Great House was a continuous stream of music, dance and community events. "When I walked in there," recalled Kaeef, "it was like this whole rush came over me, just from going in the front door -- It was like a very, very warm feeling of love. I went and I came out with 'Flashback Of Time', and that was my first arrangement." Kaeef quickly became a significant contributor of compositions to the Arkestra's songbook -- his piece "New Horizon" would be recorded by Horace Tapscott for the latter's Tapscott Sessions series. But "Flashback Of Time" would eventually appear on One Step Out, played by the new group he had put together from stalwart Arkestra members. Inspired by both Tapscott's example and by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Kaeef had wanted to follow their lead by assembling a larger unit. Featuring seasoned Arkestra regulars including reedsman Dadisi Komolafe, drummer Woody "Sonship" Theus and altoist Gary Bias, with veterans Henry "The Skipper" Franklin on bass and George Bohannon on trombone, One Step Out is a key document of the Los Angeles radical jazz underground. Featuring the sanctified vocals of Kaeef's sister, B. J. Crowley, the album is a tour de force of spiritually energized independent jazz music.

Strut presents one of the most in-demand and significant albums from the archives of Jimmy Gray's Black Fire Records, 'Bow To The People' (1976 )by theatre collective Theatre West, based out of Dayton, Ohio. Recorded at Arrest studios in Washington in '76, 'Bow To The People' brought together songs from several of Theatre West's best known plays including Bow To The People, The System and Black Love and unflinchingly explored serious issues around drug addiction, mental health and cultural awareness. "The whole idea of Bow To The People was to honour our black forefathers," explains Dillard. "It was important to do that for the kids that didn't know." Shelved following the original recording, the Bow To The People album eventually surfaced on a limited CD on Black Fire in 1993. Now receivingits first full international release, the album features the previously unreleased tracks 'Man Of Many Means' and 'I Don't Know Much About Love'

Limited coloured marbled vinyl edition of this album
Remember 1961 - This compilation , compiled with love, is a musical chronicle with a lot of nostalgia and
pathos. The international super hits of 1961 not only trigger memories and emotions, but also reflect the
unique spirit of the times of this calendar year.
In addition to the chart positions of the individual songs, the record also reviews the great events of the
year 1961 and this makes it an exceptional gift for all those who celebrating their 60th birthday in 2021, but
also a fascinating contemporary document and addition to any collection.

On her second album Ursgal Mongolian singer Enji creates a unique blend of Jazz and Folk with the thousand-year-old traditions of Mongolian music. Currently based in Munich, her lyrics tell personal stories about unbearable distances, the oddness of being on earth and the simple truths in life.
She's accompanied by Paul Brändle on guitar and Munguntovch Tsolmonbayar on double bass.
Born in Ulaanbaatar, Enji grew up in a yurt to a working-class family. Having always been drawn to music, dance and literature, she initially wanted to become a music teacher with little ambitions to compose or be on stage. A program by the local Goethe Institute sparked her passion for Jazz and eventually led her to become a performing artist. Inspired by the music of Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson, Enji started writing songs of her own, cherishing this newfound means of expression. Ursgal is the first record featuring her original compositions.

Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and producer Tilian releases his brand-new full-length album, Factory Reset, via Rise Records:
Earlier this week, he shared his latest single “Caught in the Carousel” along with a new visualizer. They psychedelic visual emulates the introspective and thought-provoking lyrics of the song, “Am I good enough?”

Factory Reset is both highly personal and wholly universal. Tilian began writing the album just a few weeks after the pandemic forced California into lockdown. “I was searching for meaning in isolation and found it in creating this album,” Tilian shares about the process. He decided to write, record, and produce the album himself, eventually remotely bringing in drummer/frequent collaborator Kris Crummett to help button it up.

Having full creative control allowed Tilian to experiment more than ever, and truly be himself in the process. “I wanted to make the album that I want to hear. ‘What would be my favorite band?’ as opposed to, ‘What is everyone’s favorite band?’” This resulted in his most thrillingly eclectic work to date: a falsetto-laced brand of alt-pop that spans everything from trippy psychedelia and heavy prog riffs to warped hip-hop beats and dembow grooves.

Recently, Tilian released two other singles from the album – “Anthem” and “Dose.” These were first offerings since the release of his 2018 album The Skeptic, which debuted on the Billboard charts at #1 Alternative New Artist, #2 Top New Artists, and #5 Alternative. To date, the project has garnered over 40M global streams and two music videos with over 1M views each, proving the excitement and potential for the burgeoning alt-pop artist. More recently, he collaborated with Marigolds+Monsters and Travis Barker on the exciting single “Falling out of Rhythm.”

With A Little Help From My Friends captures one special night on November 21, 2020 when Steve Lukather, Joseph Wil-liams and David Paich appeared with the new line-up of Toto for a global event originating from Los Angeles, CA. Join-ing Lukather, Williams and Paich for this next chapter in their indelible history are new band members bassist John Pierce (Huey Lewis and The News), drummer Robert "Sput" Searight (Ghost-Note / Snarky Puppy), and keyboardist / back-ground vocalist Steve Maggiora (Robert Jon & The Wreck). Keyboardist Dominique "Xavier" Taplin (Prince, Ghost-Note) and multi-instrumentalist / vocalist Warren Ham (Ringo Starr) segued over continuing their tenure in the ensemble. This marks the fifteenth incarnation of the Toto line-up in consideration of band members or sidemen who joined or exited.
The track listing features “Till The End,” “Hold The Line,” “Pamela,” “Kingdom of Desire,” “White Sister,” “You Are The Flower,” “I Won’t Hold You Back,” “Stop Loving You,” “Home Of The Brave,” “Rosanna,” and “With A Little Help From My Friends.” In the DVD and Blu-ray releases, a documentary is featured alongside the performance, featuring thoughts from all members of the band that appeared that evening.
Steve Lukather a.k.a. Luke shares, “When the music is performed by great musicians it honors TOTO. The documentary featured on the DVD and Blu-ray offers great insights in to our thoughts looking forward. David, who stands with us, alongside Joe and myself, desire to keep this music alive. And Paich could pop in any time for a show as a special surprise. When it came to plan this specific set list, we picked an eclectic group of songs for this one night only show.
The album will be released on June 25, 2021 on transparent 180 grams vinyl, CD+DVD and CD+Blu-ray.
The DVD is region-free, and playable worldwide. DVD audio track: PCM 2.0

This is the vinyl format of the album that was released March 26th 2021 . A 13 song album which features the hit single "Bang!". Strong UK fanbase with 2019's tour selling out (included London's O2 Forum). A recent global streamed event sold over 60k tickets and generated over 300k views. News At Ten feature last month, The Late Late Show in US, plus more TV promo planned. Ads, features, interviews sand reviews across all press. Online/ social media activity. Specialist radio support. Poster campaign and database mailout.

Transmeridian is the first album from Departure Lounge (ex-Bella Union) in 19 years. It features all four original members plus a guest appearance from legendary REM guitarist, Peter Buck, one of many long-standing admirers of a band that embodied a lost age of reflective, experimental pop music coming to the fore at the turn of the Millennium alongside The Beta Band, Tunng, Boards Of Canada and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.

The surprise new album, named after the defunct ‘golden age of aviation’ cargo airline for which singer/guitarist Tim Keegan’s dad was chief pilot, is released on Violette Records (formed by Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and Matt Lockett ) on digital and vinyl formats on Fri 26 March 2021.
Originally scooped up by Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union label (labelmates with John Grant’s Czars) following the self-funded release of their debut album Out Of Here (1999), Departure Lounge’s sophomore outing, Too Late To Die Young (2002) was equally acclaimed and was honoured as the first ever Album Of The Week on the emergent BBC 6 Music. The band toured extensively in the UK, Europe and the US, including outings with The Go-Betweens, Morcheeba, Paul Heaton and Robyn Hitchcock, peers whose stylistic contrasts reflect the eclectic nature of Departure Lounge themselves.

Calling a halt in late 2002, citing family and geographical reasons (drummer Lindsay lives in Nashville, where their second album Jetlag Dreams (2001) was recorded), the four members remained firm friends and occasional collaborators, before reuniting in late 2019 for shows at The Green Door Store, Brighton and The Lexington, London, ostensibly to support the digital reissues of their first three cult-classic albums. With no plans other than to make some new music, the next day they set off for Middle Farm Studios, Devon.
Tim Keegan (vocals/guitar), Chris Anderson (lead guitars/keyboards/bass), Lindsay Jamieson(drums/keyboards) and Jake Kyle (bass/guitar/drums) channelled their evident joy at being back together into a complete 13-track album, largely conceived and recorded in just one 24-hour session in the company of studio owner and co-producer, Peter Miles. Ranging from soulful Americana to piano and mellotron-fuelled melancholia via pastoral musings on the nature of post-youth and eerie Spaghetti Western-tinged instrumentals, the next leg on the Departure Lounge journey is a multi-mood expression of pure artistic freedom.
The ‘leak’ of instrumental track Al Aire Libre (remixed by Parisian groovemeister Kid Loco) in October 2020 gave little away as to what fans could expect from a new Departure Lounge record, the track going gracefully everywhere and nowhere on a whistled Latino breeze. First single proper, Mercury In Retrograde, covered in the twinkling lights of a music box Casio CZ101 melody, turned the clock back - this was an old live favourite that never got past the studio door. Unfinished business brought to a happy conclusion, the single returned Keegan’s honest and distinctive lyrical voice back to British music at just the time listeners needed it.
It was an emotional thread, rather than one musical style, which gave the first three Departure Lounge albums their coherence. The songs told the story of the band. Transmeridian has the same sense of deeply connected musical energy. The purring, campfire acoustica of Timber and So Long bear no obvious resemblance to the ethereal, end-of-the-evening, piano-led interlude Paging Marco Polo, whilst the quasi-glam stomp of Mr Friendly would normally have no business sharing space with the strange, spacey Gurnard Pines (named after an abandoned holiday camp on the Isle Of Wight). Yet the journey’s ebb and flow, accelerations and pauses make for compelling, grown-up listening. Australia, showcasing the chiming Rickenbacker 12-string of Athens, GA’s finest guitar slinger, leaves no doubt that Departure Lounge’s pop sensibilities also remain solidly intact.
These four friends from different musical backgrounds came together originally with the stated aim of ‘creating music to soothe the troubled soul’. Citing their love of (and placing on record their debt to) influences including Robert Wyatt, Nick Drake, Talk Talk, Lou Reed, Arvo Pärt and Cocteau Twins, the band’s diversity of taste is reflected in the music they create.
Transmeridian is only the second full-length LP released by Violette Records, formed by Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and Matt Lockett as a platform for Head’s work and developing into a respected independent label as well as multi-disciplinary event organiser, drawing in outsiders working in music, literature, art and design. The label continues to host live events whenever possible and recently initiated an ELP (halfway between and EP and an LP) vinyl series, putting out acclaimed releases by The Pistachio Kid and Studio Electrophonique.

Lisa Milberg and Jon Bergström started their band Miljon over a pitcher of margarita in Mexico City and have since kept busy writing gorgeous little pop-songs in makeshift studios in and around their hometown of Stockholm, Sweden – mostly in their bedrooms and various cabins in various woods surrounding the city, never staying too far from the pine trees.
Having assembled a collection of 13 pieces of proper flaskpost-disko, these demos were passed on to Studio Barnhus’ in-house mixmaster Matt Karmil, who worked his studio magic on the recordings, turning them into a seductively warm and spacious debut album. “Until then, our only expenditures for the album were wine bottles and taxis”, says the band.
This isn’t the first time Miljon has teamed up with Studio Barnhus, the ever-explorative Stockholm dance label. The band collaborated with Barnhus co-founder Axel Boman on the wistful piano-house ballad “Forgot About You” in 2018 (“a summer anthem … a marvel of simplicity” - Pitchfork) and the label’s core personnel are all regulars at Arranging Things, the design store (“Stockholm’s coolest” - Vogue) that Lisa runs with another friend.
Going further back, Miljon isn’t the first musical project of neither Lisa’s nor Jon’s – the former enjoyed her fair share of 00's indie rock success as drummer and eventually lead singer of The Concretes, while Jon has earned a reputation as the hardest working man in several Swedish music scenes, bringing energy and expertise to punk stages around the country as well as Stockholm’s electronic underground.
With Miljon, the two friends make sure to keep it short and sweet, happily celebrating imperfections. “We believe in ‘first thought, best thought’ and try to work on the songs as little as possible, instead trusting a good melody and a nice vibe, not overthinking it. We dare you to find a bridge on this album!”
With “Don’t They Know”, the duo presents not only 13 beautiful songs (perfect for shower-humming, living roomshuffling and warm summer night boombox-blasting alike) but also an album that turns into something grander than the sum of its parts.
“We made it because it’s the kind of album we’ve been wanting to hear ourselves. It’s all quite song-centric these days and it feels rare to find a whole album to step into and stay inside, you know? We hear great songs all the time, but we wanted an album that was its own little universe, with its own mayor, own happy hour, its own yard sales and extramarital affairs.”
“Don’t They Know” is released through Studio Barnhus as a vinyl LP June 18.

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

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

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

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

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

Documented during peak isolation times in Los Angeles, between December 2020 and January 2021. These pieces were performed as Live AV pieces from 2017-2019, at Coaxial Arts, Zebulon and Desert Daze 2019, but not documented in a release until later. Signal processing and sequencing frameworks built in Max 8 with signals generated from Prophet '08, a broken AW16G, 0-coast, Max, and a MC-909. With the context of the electromagnetic medium, the absence of live performance and moving visuals and the new "spirit" of the pestilent times, "Cutting Them All Off" should barely be represented as reworks of the originally performed pieces. What was once pulsing and blasting out of PA speakers live is now referenced as a distant past document. These pieces (for better or for worse) have been removed and cut-off from their contextual source and can only be presented in their displaced/liberated state. Like a fish out of water gasping for air, or the only drunk survivor of a car crash that was his fault.

Christopher Reid Martin started Rotary ECT in 2016. The project focuses on highly active signal processes on synchronized Audio -> Visual signals, with many signals being constructed to self-generate. Much like a rotary machine's rotation, the process is consistent and signalled when turned on. Much like electroconvulsive therapy, a human need to be there to actively monitor and attend to the process and generation of the signals being emitted.

Christopher currently works for Cycling '74, is a curatorial/programmer at Coaxial Arts Foundation and ⅓ of curators (alongside J.Prey and J. Rivera) behind the ephemeral stream Cathode TV/Cathode Cinema. Christopher continues to show gallery works, both virtual and physical, digital and video works and performs in other numerous events and projects such as Bailouts, CGRSM (with Gabie Strong), Shelter Death, Gate (with Michael Morley) and Via Injection. He has performed and collaborated with artists Joseph Hammer, Bryce Loy (RIP), Tetuzi Akiyama, Christopher Thompson, James Roemer, Andrew Scott, Gabie Strong, Michael Morley, Lev Abramov and many others.

Chart-breaking German folk rock institution SUBWAY TO SALLY have carved a unique live experience in stone with their upcoming release, Eisheilige Nacht: Back To Lindenpark, out on BluRay/DVD/CD on June 18, 2021 via Napalm Records. Since their foundation in the early ‘90s, SUBWAY TO SALLY have established themselves at the top of the scene. Having released thirteen studio records so far, the seven-piece featuring the remarkable Eric Fish on vocal duties never fails in surprising their devotees with an ingenious symbiosis of folk, heavy metal and rock. In the course of time, it became a tradition to celebrate every year with numerous fans and a final live show on December 30. What started as Eisheilige Nacht - with sold out solo-gigs in the band's hometown of Potsdam at the venue Lindenpark - turned into a whole annual festival tour shortly after, where top-notch bands heeded the call to join SUBWAY TO SALLY for some magical evenings. Due to the pandemic, 2020’s edition couldn’t take place in its usual form. As a result, the German folk rock unit decided to offer an unforgettable lockdown live event which they hope will be a unique way to fill the gap until they return to the stage. SUBWAY TO SALLY returned to Lindenpark and - supported by many great artists like Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost), Joachim Witt, Feuerschwanz, Schandmaul, Saltatio Mortis, Major Voice and Patty Gurdy - created an extraordinary live experience. In an intimate setting, the recording starts with “Messias” and “Königin der Käfer” from the band’s latest chart-breaking full-length, Hey! (DE #5). SUBWAY TO SALLY then continue to not only travel through their own discography with songs like eerie “Unsterblich”, animated “Tanz auf dem Vulkan” and live-sensation “Grausame Schwester”, but also present a bunch of enchanting features as well: Don’t miss when highly talented Birgit Muggenthaler-Schmack and Saskia Forkert (Schandmaul) join SUBWAY TO SALLY for Schandmaul’s “Dein Anblick” and a premier version of “Kleid aus Rosen”, or when the band sets the exceptional stage on fire for an explosive performance with Saltatio Mortis on their hit “Sie Tanzt allein” - just to name a selection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Once upon a time, a girl from a magical fortress isle off the coast of Finland envisioned a world of her own… That girl—Lxandra—eventually brought this world to life with soft piano, ethereal vocals, and unfiltered lyrics wrapped in swaths of technicolor production, vibrant textures, and a wondrous vintage presentation. With acclaim from OnesToWatch, EARMILK, and Refinery29 the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist stretched fantasy into reality on her forthcoming full-length debut, Careful what I dream of, Might not wanna wake up, for Vertigo Berlin. r her 2019 EP, Another Lesson Learned. The six-track project spawned a series of fan favorites, including “Dig Deep” and “Swimming Pools”. Meanwhile, it attracted widespread acclaim from Atwood Magazine, CLASH Magazine, Baeble Music, and Wonderland Magazine. Additionally, she covered the U2 classic “Pride (In The Name of Love)” for Amazon’s Man in the High Castle. Along the way, she supported Dua Lipa on tour and performed at international festivals, including Lollapalooza Berlin, Flow Festival Helsinki, and Reeperbahn Festival. She also distinguished herself through adherence to unshakable values. Not only is Lxandra a longtime vegan, but she also remains a strong voice for gender equality

High Pulp returns with a brand new instalment of covers, on Mutual Attraction Vol 2. A spiritual jazz journey, interpreting arrangements by Arthur Verocai, Cortex and Casiopea. The 8-piece fusion band pays homage to tracks and artists that have woven themselves into the DNA of their band.

The Mutual Attraction series is about paying homage and looking back to influences that have paved the way for informing the band’s sound. It was important to the band to find 3 different significant spaces to record each volume. MA Vol. 2 was recorded at a house that the group’s drummer, Bobby Granfelt holds many fond childhood memories. It is the house that his father grew up in, and a house that his grandfather built. A house that would eventually become Granfelt’s current residence and also is the band’s homebase for rehearsing and hanging out. It is a reflection of the past and the present, as are these interpretations of songs. Rich textures and cinematic grooves alongside trippy guitars, lush Rhodes keys, and soulful horns. Covering tunes that may have flown under the radar, but have impacted the group immensely.

High Pulp are an 8-piece band that emerged from the Royal Room, a legendary Seattle Jazz club where they held “Funk Church” jam sessions in 2017. Their signature sound is a Psychedelic fusion of Hip-Hop, Funk, Jazz, and Soul which come together with complex, well thought out arrangements and progressive style. After successful sessions and premieres with prestigious station KEXP, and being at the forefront of the Seattle music scene, they are now branching out and taking their sound worldwide.

This very special reissue celebrates the 21st anniversary of the release of Argentinian Juana Molina’s breakthrough album ‘Segundo’ in 2000.
It has been remastered from the original tapes, and augmented with a rich 32-page booklet recounting the eventful start of Juana’s musical career, and containing numerous notes, anecdotes, original drawings and previously unreleased pictures.
Contributors to the booklet include Bruce Springsteen’s producer Ron Aniello, Domino Recording’s Laurence Bell and David Byrne who, when he discovered the album, immediately invited Juana to open for him on his 2003 US tour.
‘Segundo’ started Juana Molina’s international trajectory as a musician. After dropping a highly-successful career as a TV comedian, she turned to music making. Regretting signing with a major company, who got her to record an over-produced debut album, she resolved to find her own direction in music.
The result was ‘Segundo’ that took 4 years to make involving sessions in Argentina and the USA.
Segundo’ finally came out on a small label in Argentina in 2000, found its way to Japan where it spectacularly took off, and was eventually picked up by the Domino label in 2003. Its reception set Juana Molina on course for performing around the globe, garnering a large, devoted fan base, and going on to record five more extraordinary studio albums.

A unique new album of poetry and music featuring Marianne Faithfull set to the music of Warren Ellis, and featuring Nick Cave, Brian Eno and Vincent Ségal
With She Walks in Beauty, Marianne Faithfull with composer and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis releases one of the most distinctive and singular albums of her long, extraordinary life and career. It was recorded just before and during the first Covid-19 lockdown – during which the singer herself became infected and almost died of the disease – with musical friends and family including not only composer Warren Ellis but Nick Cave, Brian Eno, cellist Vincent Ségal and producer-engineer Head. She Walks in Beauty fulfils Faithfull’s long-held ambition to record an album of poetry with music.
It’s a record that draws on her passion for the English Romantic poets, a passion she fostered in her A Level studies with one Mrs Simpson at St Joseph's Convent School in Reading. From there she entered the world of As Tears Go By, of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, Top of the Pops and the left-hand path of pop and stage stardom. Sixties iconography and outrage followed, as did her subsequent battles with addiction before her 1979 return to powerful female and artistic autonomy with Broken English, an album which featured her setting to music Heathcote Williams’ poem of eviscerating rage, Why D’Ya Do It?
Drawing deep on the poetry of Shelley, Keats, Byron, Wordsworth, Tennyson and Thomas Hood, Faithfull’s vocal performances set to Ellis’s subtle collages of sound draw out the heart, the quick, the vibrant living matter in all these great poems, making them fresh, renewing them with the complex, lived-in timbres of her voice, and set to a subtle palette of ambient musical settings. It’s both a radical departure and a return to her original inspirations as an artist and performer.
The greatest poetry is best heard, and Faithfull’s accounts of some of the greatest lyric poetry in our language – Keats’ Ode To A Nightingale and Ode To Autumn – are spine-tingling in their deep understanding of the poetry’s powerful currents of meaning and identification. On Nightingale, her voice opens up like an epic landscape, while in Shelley’s miniature masterpiece, To The Moon, she sounds otherworldly, as if calling down from another medium, and the atonal, otherworldly sound textures provided by Eno on Bridge of Sighs and La Belle Dame Sans Merci become a compelling foil for Faithfull’s haunting interpretations of these rich, dark poems.
“They’ve have been with her her whole life,” says Ellis. “She believes in these texts. That world, she inhabits it, embodies it, and that really comes through. There’s just something about the way she can deliver that is incredibly affecting.”
“Eventually I always end up where I was meant to be,” says Faithfull. “I’ve noticed that. It may take a long time, but I get there. I never forget these things. After all these years, I’ve drawn the strands back and they still mean something and they resonate more, actually, because I now have life experience. Life and near-death experience. Many times! Not just once.” She Walks in Beauty is scheduled for release April 30th, with artwork created for the album by British artist and lifelong friend, Colin Self, and with the full texts of the poems, and commentary, included in the liner notes. While Faithfull continues to recover from the after-effects of Covid-19, and the world around us continues to struggle with the impact of the worldwide pandemic, these are poems and performances to steady and lift the spirit.

Following in the footsteps of the pathbreaking Minna Miteru compilation of Japanese indie music, Morr Music and Alien Transistor have again joined forces to release The Fruit Of Errata, a compilation introducing the world to the intimate DIY pop of yumbo. Led by songwriter, pianist, and occasional vocalist Koji Shibuya, the Japanese band has released four albums since forming in 1998. This compilation draws fifteen songs (eighteen on vinyl) from those albums, and some ancillary releases, to uncover a biographical narrative of yumbo, showing how Shibuya’s songwriting, and the group’s limber, sensitive playing, has developed over the decades. It also places them squarely within a tradition of home-spun but ambitious Japanese pop that takes in Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Tenniscoats, Nagisa Ni Te, Yuzo Iwata, Kazumi Nikaido and more.

yumbo is very much the vision of Shibuya, an amiable iconoclast whose songs seem informed by some of his early listening – there’s the playful seriousness of Maher Shalal Hash Baz’s Tori Kudo here, an avowed long-time hero for Shibuya, but also the flexibility of freely improvised music. You can also hear Shibuya’s fondness for Mayo Thompson and The Red Crayola in both the idiosyncracies of the writing and the egalitarian looseness of the playing. Shibuya also carries those energies into the group’s membership – there are fantastic stories of him having a conversation at a record shop, or overhearing someone speaking, and asking the person in question to join yumbo as one of their various singers. He seems open to chance as a driving force, as a way to make space for unexpected possibilities to blossom.

The great achievement of yumbo and Shibuya, though, is translating all of this into beautiful, unpredictable pop songs. There’s a gorgeous soul-inflected lilt to “A House” that makes it delightfully affecting; the swaying brass on “Storm” propels its melody to a moody, dreamlike conclusion; the nakedness of “The Sweetest Mass” is slightly reminiscent of Carla Bley’s more pop-focused writing, crossed with the classicism of the songs that spilled from the Brill Building in the ‘60s. Throughout, Shibuya renders pop a deeply personal experience; you can hear musings here on friendship, family, intimacy, the complexity of relationships, mortality, and imbalances of power. These musings are also shadowed by real-life events: the effects and impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 are captured in songs like “Umbrella People” from Onibi.

Throughout the performances on The Fruit Of Errata, Shibuya and the group play with tenderness; they also often draw on other players to flesh out the music even further, two such guests being the aforementioned Tori Kudo (on “Umbrella People”) and Olympia, Washington’s LAKE (on “The Devil Song”). Community-minded and generous in approach, the writing of Shibuya and the music of yumbo is never less than lovely, and The Fruit Of Errata is a welcome introduction to their world. Open and gentle, confident and generous, these pop songs are filled with charm and spirit.