For more than 20 years, every CASPIAN album has been driven by a desire to stretch boundaries — a relentless ambition that's resulted in one of post-rock's most revered catalogs and established the Massachusetts quintet as an enduring, global force in the genre's modern era. On CASPIAN, the band’s first album in six years and debut for Wax Bodega, the more unexpected way forward was to stop searching for what they hadn’t yet done and instead trust what had defined them from the beginning.
The six-song, 39-minute effort draws freely from the musical vocabulary the band have spent their career writing: evocative melodic themes, dense textures, swelling crescendos and crushing heaviness that rolls in like a slow-moving storm on the horizon. But they still find new possibilities within those familiar contours, allowing patient development and repetition to carry as much weight as surprise. The nine-minute “Remain” turns a recurring melody into a sweeping study in tension and release, while “No One Left to Tell” layers subtle shifts around a hypnotic tremolo figure and “A Great Fire” sends serpentine guitars crashing into buzzsaw riffs. Even the graceful 3/4-time closer “Waltz for the End,” completed in a half-hour burst of inspiration, reflects the quiet confidence of five musicians comfortable enough in their skin to resist tearing everything down for the sake of reinvention, even as the circumstances surrounding them change dramatically.
From Richmond, Virginia, Shy, Low have a reputation as one of the most compelling voices within the modern instrumental underground. Their music speaks to fans of post-rock's emotional grandeur and post-metal's crushing intensity alike, while simultaneously appealing to listeners drawn to experimental, atmospheric, and cinematic forms of heavy music. The band's ability to merge these seemingly disparate qualities has resulted in a body of work that is immediately recognizable and continually evolving. Luminous melodies, driving heaviness, layered textures, and carefully controlled tension allows `Purity Spiral' to move effortlessly between fragile moments of introspection and towering passages of intensity. Whether constructing intricate layers of harmony or driving songs toward explosive climaxes, there is a deep understanding of pacing, atmosphere, and the power of restraint. Momentum is at the heart of this album, through intricate rhythmic detail, and explosive bursts of energy, drums become the anchor and catalyst, supporting the band's expansive arrangements while pushing them toward moments of cathartic release. What distinguishes Shy, Low is their ability to balance enormity with restraint. Their music unfolds patiently, allowing tension to accumulate through layers of texture, melody, and dynamics. Moments of delicate clarity often coexist with overwhelming weight, creating a sense of organic motion. At the core of the band's sound lies an acute understanding of contrast. From shimmering, expansive passages to towering walls of distortion, the rhythm section provides both propulsion and atmosphere, becoming integral narrative voices that shape the emotion. There is a disciplined sense of purpose in their writing, an understanding that every note serves a larger arc. Shy, Low thrives in the space between introspection and catharsis, where subtle details become as impactful as the heaviest climaxes, and listeners are taken on a journey that is as visceral as it is profound. FOR FANS OF Caspian * Russian Circles * If These Trees Could Talk * Pelican * Toundra
From Richmond, Virginia, Shy, Low have a reputation as one of the most compelling voices within the modern instrumental underground. Their music speaks to fans of post-rock's emotional grandeur and post-metal's crushing intensity alike, while simultaneously appealing to listeners drawn to experimental, atmospheric, and cinematic forms of heavy music. The band's ability to merge these seemingly disparate qualities has resulted in a body of work that is immediately recognizable and continually evolving. Luminous melodies, driving heaviness, layered textures, and carefully controlled tension allows `Purity Spiral' to move effortlessly between fragile moments of introspection and towering passages of intensity. Whether constructing intricate layers of harmony or driving songs toward explosive climaxes, there is a deep understanding of pacing, atmosphere, and the power of restraint. Momentum is at the heart of this album, through intricate rhythmic detail, and explosive bursts of energy, drums become the anchor and catalyst, supporting the band's expansive arrangements while pushing them toward moments of cathartic release. What distinguishes Shy, Low is their ability to balance enormity with restraint. Their music unfolds patiently, allowing tension to accumulate through layers of texture, melody, and dynamics. Moments of delicate clarity often coexist with overwhelming weight, creating a sense of organic motion. At the core of the band's sound lies an acute understanding of contrast. From shimmering, expansive passages to towering walls of distortion, the rhythm section provides both propulsion and atmosphere, becoming integral narrative voices that shape the emotion. There is a disciplined sense of purpose in their writing, an understanding that every note serves a larger arc. Shy, Low thrives in the space between introspection and catharsis, where subtle details become as impactful as the heaviest climaxes, and listeners are taken on a journey that is as visceral as it is profound. FOR FANS OF Caspian * Russian Circles * If These Trees Could Talk * Pelican * Toundra
ADULT. kooperiert nicht. Seit über 25 Jahren verkörpert die dystopische Detroit-Synth-Punk-Institution, gegründet von Nicola Kuperus und Adam Lee Miller, unbeirrbare Frustration, Misstrauen und Beklemmung. Man könnte erwarten, dass sich die Kanten mit der Zeit abschleifen, doch ADULT. hat kein Interesse am Komfort eines Vermächtnisses. Noch nie klang die Musik des Duos so unmittelbar, so dringlich und so unverhohlen wütend wie auf dem abschließenden, kompromisslosen Kissing Luck Goodbye.Mit aufgerüstetem Equipment und einer neuen Klangbibliothek gebaut, ist das Material erdrückend dynamisch, lauter - und zugleich klarer. Kuperus' dominante Darbietung rückt im Mix stärker in den Vordergrund und skizziert ein Arsenal aus lebhaften, ätzenden Rufen, Sprechchören und Gedankensplittern. Lachen - ob in den Texten oder als besessene Präsenz - fungiert als Leitmotiv und verweist auf die bedrohliche Absurdität der modernen Zeit.,THE CHAOS IS WHAT THEY WANT", singt sie in ,R U 4 $ALE" - zugleich eine Absichtserklärung: einer brennenden Welt aus Gier und Unordnung mit trotzigem, meisterhaft zusammengebautem Chaos zu begegnen. ,Du hast in dieser Höllenlandschaft, in der wir gerade leben, zwei Möglichkeiten: kämpfen oder depressiv sein", sagt Miller. ,Beides ist okay. Aber, na ja, die Entscheidung war einfach."ADULT. ist bekannt für hochriskante Katharsis auf der Bühne und griff kürzlich auf seinen Backkatalog an Bassgitarren-Songs aus den 2000ern zurück, wobei sie die vorausschauende Anxiety Always-Ära erneut nachzeichneten - teils aus Notwendigkeit angesichts der heutigen politischen und technologischen Angsttemperatur. Die Reaktion war sofort spürbar: ,Wir waren in Paris, und die Kids sind von der Bühne gesprungen. Und ich dachte nur: Das ist großartig. Das ist irgendwie die Energie, in die ich wieder zurückwill", sagt Kuperus.Diese Erkenntnis fiel mit einer Reihe von Rückschlägen zusammen - Kuperus' Anfällen von chronischem Schwindel, dem Verlust ihres engen Freundes und Kollaborateurs Douglas McCarthy von Nitzer Ebb, dem das Album gewidmet ist - alles unter dem drohenden Regime noch einmal erheblich verschärft. ,Wir dachten nur: Alles zerbricht. Wir zerbrechen. Wir sind kaputt." Dieses Gefühl hielt jedoch nicht an, denn letztlich waren sie viel zu sehr von Wut aufgeladen, um stillzuhalten. Die Stimmung vor Kissing Luck Goodbye waren vier Mittelfinger, die kerzengerade nach oben zeigten.Anstatt sich zurückzuziehen, konzentrierten sie sich auf den Prozess und überarbeiteten ihr Setup - inklusive der ersten neuen Mikrofone seit 20 Jahren. Hält man das Album an irgendeiner Stelle an, zählt man wahrscheinlich ein Dutzend Dinge, die gleichzeitig passieren, in seltsamer, schwindelerregender und dissonanter Harmonie. ,No One Is Coming" attackiert Untätigkeit angesichts des Faschismus - ,NO ONE IS COMING TO YOUR RESCUE". ,None of It's Fun" feuert mit atemloser Dringlichkeit, rasenden Glissandi und pointierten Zeilen wie: ,OH I AM TEARING MY GUTS OUT / LOOK AT ME_ DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS AMUSING?"Eine geradlinige Basslinie und Kickdrum prallen im Abschlusstrack ,Destroyers" auf pulsierende Mantras, werden dann vollständig gesättigt und kakophonisch. Ihre jüngeren Ichs hätten den Song vielleicht sich selbst zerstören lassen, doch hier gelang es ihnen, die Lautstärke durch alle Extreme hindurch zu stabilisieren und Raum für ein eindringliches, abschließendes A-cappella zu schaffen: WE PAY THE PRICE FOR THOSE IN POWER EXPLOITING YOU EXPLOITING ME CONSUMING YOU CONSUMING ME SICK SICK SICK SICKENING IT IS US THAT ARE DEVOURED BY EVERYTHING I WILL EAT YOUR HATE
Fila Brazillia is the name of the decidedly singular collaboration between Steve Cobby and David McSherry, born in the coastal town of Hull in the UK. Bending—and often outright breaking—more or less every rule in the book, they've been effortlessly blending deep house, downtempo, breaks, ambient, and wry humour, sampling anything they can get their hands on. Their first outing was the 1990 single-sided white label 12" Mermaids, an airy deep house tune featuring a cheeky sample taken from the theme from Robison Crusoe. Since then, they've released a boat load of singles, seven highly regarded full-lengths, and more than 60 remixes for artists such as Radiohead, Busta Rhymes, and Lamb.
Black Market Gardening is their third full-length and marks a creative high-point for the duo. Over nine tracks, Fila Brazillia guides you through hazy, bass-heavy trip hop, cosmic synth lines, brisk breakbeats, funky guitar riffs, and even touch of drum 'n bass (it's the mid-1990s after all...). There's just so much to take in, leaving the listener wondering where the samples end and the live instrumentation begins. Yes, Fila Brazillia's output fits squarely within the chill-out tradition prevalent in the UK at that point in time, but their unmatched creativity and boundless approach to the studio process makes their music truly timeless.
Black Market Gardening is available as a 30th anniversary edition for the first time since 2001.
Overleaf is the new album by Paris-based musician Théo Martin, following Anti Atlas, released on LAAPS two years ago.
Overleaf was recorded over the course of a few intense months in 2026. Every recording made during this period eventually found its place within the album, transformed, fragmented and reassembled, sometimes far removed from its original form. The process gradually became a kind of puzzle, built from accumulated sounds, accidents and imperfections.
Tape remains at the heart of the album, but this time it is intertwined with a more extensive use of digital tools, opening new paths for transformation and layering.
Overleaf is about carrying what remains into what is yet to come.
On January 17th, 2026, Grammy Award-winning hip-hop icon Lupe Fiasco joined Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble, a hybrid orchestra dedicated to reimagining music from all genres, for a special concert at Miami Bandshell. This Juneteenth, Lupe and Nu Deco will release the recording for the whole world to hear, presenting Lupe Fiasco’s hits and new classics as they have never been heard before. Invigorated by the backing of the 33-person full orchestra, led by conductor Jacomo Bairos, Lupe forcefully rhymes every word of career highlights like “Daydreamin’,” “Kick, Push,” and “Paris, Tokyo,” emphasizing the musicality innate to Lupe’s tongue-twisting bars. In addition, Lupe presents unique live versions of new hits, including “Samurai,” from his critically acclaimed 2024 album of the same title, and “SOS,” an outtake released for the first time on 2025’s Samurai DX. The Nu Deco version of 2015’s “Dots & Lines” begins with a solo guitar exhibition from Aaron Lebos, while songs like “Daydreamin’” and thrilling closer “Superstar” benefit from the powerful pipes of backing vocalist Kelley Kessell and J Howard. The 9-track set is a scorcher, reaffirming Lupe’s status as one of the most proficient and electrifying live performers in hip-hop today.
Without turning anything upside down, the trio has released their second album, gracefully deepening the unique path they have carved out for themselves. It is an album that already stands in stark contrast to the attention-deficit culture of our times. Indeed, whilst music sometimes seeks to concentrate the intensity of its references and artefacts, the trio takes a step back, deploying an intensity that is subtly distributed. Thanks to their progressive instrumental tracks blending elements inherited from dub, jazz, folk and even musique concrète, the trio has never allowed the quality of their music to suffer from their experimentation; at the same time, they have never been afraid to venture off the beaten track to achieve the sound they desire. Every single track of this album cast like fragile bridges over various landscapes that explore cycles and the natural rhythm within. It is up to the listener to tread carefully and not lose their footing and embrace the cinematic movement of this music. The three artists have indeed achieved a musical expression so free that it possesses the power of illusion. We are suddenly swept up in all these illusions, to the point where our memories are in flux. Both haunting and in motion, this trio’s music offers an impregnable mental retreat and an invitation to dance. This album conveys a dreamlike conviction that time, in its relentless flight, might—if only for a moment—be brought to a halt. A halt that awaits you.
John Diva & The Rockets of Love make a triumphant return with their explosive new album “Your Favorite Drug”, set for release via Frontiers Records. Bursting with attitude, swagger, and unapologetic energy, the band delivers a full-throttle hard rock experience that feels both timeless and electrifyingly fresh. Packed with massive hooks, soaring choruses, and razor-sharp riffs, “Your Favorite Drug” showcases the band at the peak of their songwriting power. Standout tracks like “Bigger Than America” and “The Devil’s Got My Back” emerge as true anthems, destined to ignite stages and thrill every hard rock fan with their infectious energy and sing-along choruses. Produced by Hannes Braun, the album captures a polished yet gritty sound that perfectly amplifies the band’s larger-than-life personality. This is more than a comeback — it’s a statement. John Diva & The Rockets of Love are back, louder, bolder, and more addictive than ever. One of the best hard rock releases of the year!
After decades contributing to records where a single riff could transform a dancefloor, Charlie May turns that instinct inward on Trusted Farms.
For over thirty years, Charlie has occupied a position that seems increasingly rare in electronic music: the musician’s musician, the person behind the machines, the extra pair of hands in the studio, and quite often, the person responsible for the melody you end up carrying around in your head for weeks on end.
Alongside Duncan Forbes as Spooky, Charlie helped shape some of the most important electronic music to emerge from the UK in the early ’90s. That partnership would also sow the seeds for one of Sasha’s defining records: the central riff behind Xpander began life in Spooky’s live material, before Charlie brought the idea into the studio with Sasha and helped transform it into one of electronic music’s most enduring anthems.
Listen closely to Charlie’s work and there’s a particular instinct that keeps returning: knowing when a simple synth line is enough. Knowing which note needs to change. Knowing when repetition stops being repetition and starts becoming the entire reason a track works. More recently, as one-third of Quiet Places on ASIP, he’s taken those same instincts somewhere looser — beatless, gridless and led by improvisation.
Trusted Farms puts those instincts front and centre.
Tiny melodic phrases appear and refuse to leave. Synth lines repeat just long enough to become lodged in your head. Parts rub against each other without being tidied into submission. There’s a sharpness and directness to it all amongst the purposeful analogue warmth.
Some of these tracks feel almost ridiculously simple at first. But simplicity is difficult when you’ve spent decades learning every possible way to complicate something. Many of the parts on Trusted Farms were performed live with minimal editing. A synth line might be doubled, distorted, re-recorded and pushed back through another piece of equipment, but it remains the same idea. Instead of filling the gaps, Charlie works on the weight and character of what is already there. The melodies become physical; slightly worn around the edges.
For someone whose fingerprints can be found across some genuinely monumental moments in electronic music, Charlie has spent decades knowing what to add.
Trusted Farms is about knowing exactly what to leave alone.
Available on black 12”, mastered by Andreas Lupo LOOP-O Lubich and featuring artwork by Peter Skwiot Smith,
The new album is inspired by the simultaneously magical and insidious ways that advertising and name-brand technology wraps itself around our memories. It’s an ambivalent ode to the nostalgic pull of commercial jingles and proprietary start-up sounds. The best things in life may be free, but childhood and corporate entertainment products are completely intertwined. The obsession with advertising and consumer technology informs the sonic make-up of the music as a source of raw material out of which the foundations of the tracks were built. Speaking on this impetus for the album Robbie Chater says ““It seems to be bound up with the nature of sampling itself. Once we start digging through forgotten sounds and uncovering their meaning, almost inevitably you get sent down a path of discovery. Every forgotten sound opens another door. And that’s what I love - feeling like a kid again. Diving into this whole world of advertising, looking at how jingles get made, it’s the kind of thing that keeps me interested in sampling as a process, an art form.”
For Louis Johnstone, making music has never been about waiting for the right equipment, the right environment or the right moment. Across more than a decade of work as both Wanda Group and A Large Sheet Of Muscle, the Huddersfield-based musician has built one of British experimental music's most singular bodies of work by embracing whatever happens to be within reach, allowing instinct, improvisation and circumstance to shape the outcome as much as conscious composition.
"'Chinese Benefits' was made over a year ago on an iPhone that had a broken microphone and was on its way out," he explains. "I have made many records after this with clearer sounds. Sharper ideas. That is never the point, though. You work with what you hold in your hands."
Recorded entirely on a failing iPhone 6 that stopped working shortly afterwards, 'Chinese Benefits' isn't a record about damaged technology. It is a record shaped by it. Rather than resisting the limitations of the device, Johnstone allows them to become part of the music itself, where distortion, interference and deteriorating fidelity are inseparable from the recording process.
Across twenty brief but disquieting pieces, corroded spoken word, environmental recordings, abrasive noise and fractured electronics continually emerge and dissolve. Voices drift in and out of range, reverberation stretches everyday sounds beyond recognition, and bursts of white noise interrupt moments of uneasy calm. There are echoes of radio transmissions, field recordings and musique concrète throughout, yet 'Chinese Benefits' never settles comfortably into any one tradition. Instead, it inhabits a space where accident and intention become almost impossible to separate.
That philosophy has long defined Johnstone's work. Through a vast catalogue of self-released recordings on his Umbro G imprint, alongside releases for labels including The Trilogy Tapes, he has consistently favoured immediacy over refinement, embracing imperfection not as an aesthetic but as a practical reality. His recordings are less concerned with perfection than with capturing the conditions in which they were made.
Looking back on 'Chinese Benefits', however, Johnstone's own assessment is characteristically understated.
"Listening back fully, it's quite a nice record actually. Fair enough, I make them and never really listen again TBH. Even better, it was the last Large Sheet Of Muscle record made on that phone with grit and damaged guts."
Like much of his work, 'Chinese Benefits' offers few fixed meanings. Its titles remain cryptic, its voices partially obscured and its structures deliberately unstable. What emerges instead is a deeply personal document of process over perfection, where the limitations of the tools become inseparable from the music they produce, and where the act of making something matters far more than the conditions in which it was made.
Murmuration’ is the low hum made by vast, beautifully choreographed flocks of starlings as they simultaneously flap their wings and take to the sky. Some people say that the frequency of this unique, rumbling, oscillating sound can cure diseases...
One of the most exciting live bands in the UK, British Birds combine the garage-punk energy of Billy Childish, the wry English sophistication of XTC and the witty pop inventiveness of The Lovely Eggs. Like a murmurating flock of starlings, they create a unique sound, and might even be able to cure diseases.
Based in Chorley, Lancashire, British Birds are a resolutely DIY band. Bobby records and mixes all the music; Emma creates all the artwork. Their first two albums were self-released, selling hundreds of copies at gigs and at a few chosen record stores. British Birds didn’t wait for permission to take flight. They just got on with it. Their songs are sophisticated, hard-hitting, and very skilful. It may be DIY, but it’s big and it’s ambitious.
Sessions for Marc Riley and Gideon Coe have followed, along with tours supporting The Bug Club, BC Camplight and Lovely Eggs.
‘Murmurate, Oscillate’ kicks off with Lie Down With Dogs, Stand Up With Fleas, a rousing expression of exasperation at our passivity in the face of lame authority. British Birds are acute observers of the English political scene, shrouding their observations in humour and surrealism. Polka Dot Eyes is another piece of sharp social observation: it portrays Lancashire lads – friends from school – who join the Army and return home physically and mentally damaged. The song is simultaneously disturbing, funny and catchy as hell. From the fog of disinformation and doubt that surrounds us all in 2020s Britian, British Birds embrace the darkness, but with wit and verve – no slogans, no easy answers – and with an energy that helps us escape the mundanity of a declining island. This might all sound a bit bleak, but it’s not: every single one of the songs on this album has a chorus as big as a house.
There are personal songs too: Scary Movies is a poignant description of Bobby and Emma’s grandfather, who delighted in showing them horror films when they were kids – giving them sneak previews of the darkness they’d come to embrace as adults; Just Like Them is a celebration of introversion: it might not be fun, but it’s better than being an idiot. (Paradoxically, any other introverts who hear this song will feel impelled to join in in the chorus.) Blame Game and Thunder Claps examine the darkness inherent in relationships: there is always an impending storm, if you recognise the low hum of the imminent thunder. Once again: the choruses of these songs confound the melancholy sentiment.
You’ll get the same impression if you see British Birds live: Bobby’s ferocious guitar and dark lyrics are counterpointed with Emma’s sometimes haunting, sometimes playful vocal responses and insistent rhythms. You’ll be swept away by the energy of a band who don’t know the meaning of limits. And as the songs get darker and darker the smile on your face gets wider and wider.
The core members of British Birds are siblings Bobby and Emma Townson, working from their HQ-cum-nest in Chorley. Drums are by Dominic Lawson (apart from Michael Aindley on ‘Just Like Them’). Bass is by James Robinson.
British Birds will be embarking on a headline tour of the UK in early 2027.
Teen of Denial: Joe’s Story is a freshly reimagined take on Car Seat Headrest’s beloved breakout, Teens of Denial, now celebrating its 10th anniversary.
On the original album, Toledo often used the name “Joe” as a pseudonym – a sly homage to Daniel Johnston. Revisiting Teens in the run-up to its 10th birthday, he felt called to give Joe a unique backstory and began tweaking the album to tell that tale. The group returned to the studio with Teens producer Steve Fisk to update accordingly – tweaking lyrics, revising arrangements, and recording new songs in the “Denial-style,” including ‘Optimistic Son” and the anthemic ‘Joe Drives Again’. The result retains Teens’ dark edge and youthful cynicism, but allows a bit of hard-won compassion into the mix.
From Will Toledo:
Sometime last year, it was suggested to me that we do something for the ten-year anniversary of ‘Teens of Denial,’ so I started looking back on the album to see what we might do. In spite of some of its songs being a regular part of my life for the past decade, it wasn’t a record I’d thought much about as a whole since it came out. Most of the songs I’d come up with over a two-year period at the end of my college days, when I was struggling a lot with cynicism and misplaced aggression. But by the time the songs were done, I was living in Washington, Car Seat Headrest was a full band with a record label, and in spite of the turmoil of the writing process, the final album was pretty enjoyable for everyone to work on.
This time, looking back at the songs, I started to feel like there was a story being told through the album, though I’d never imagined it as being a narrative work. On ‘Hi, How Are You?’ Daniel Johnston had used the name “Joe” in the titles of a few tracks –“No More Pushing Joe Around,” “Keep Punching Joe” – as a sort of joke, a stand-in for himself. I borrowed the idea, and the name, for titling songs on ‘Denial.’ This time, I started thinking - who is Joe? And how do the songs, in the way they’re sequenced on the album, reflect what he’s going through? As I started asking this question, a story emerged with startling wholeness and clarity, like finding the foundations of an ancient city while digging in my backyard. As I kept digging, certain songs from the original album fell by the wayside, as they seemed misplaced in this new context; others asked for new lyrics, to fully give birth to the story contained in the music.
The resulting work feels more like the album ‘Teens of Denial’ was meant to be. When you’re writing from a dark space, it’s hard to have perspective on where you’re at. This time, I could pull from memories of that darkness, and use the distance and additional perspective of ten years of life to shed a fuller light on the experience. Joe is a character going through some of what I experienced, and some of his own problems. Telling his story, and not just my own impressions of life at the end of the teen years, brought a new level of compassion and wholeness to the album. It gave us the opportunity to write new material in “Denial style”, embracing a snappy and simple(ish) rock aesthetic, and in an additional blessing, we were able to team up once with Steve Fisk, a joy and inspiration to get back into the studio with after ten years. We mixed the material at his house in Tacoma, and were constantly amazed at the lack of divide between past and present, as we’d punch in vocal overdubs ten years later into the same gear, hearing my voice now running alongside a 2015 Will. For someone coming across this album or this band for the first time, this is how they’d hear the record, not as a relic of the past but as a new piece. It was immensely rewarding to experience that on our side.
For anyone familiar with ‘Teens,’ comparisons with the original will be inevitable, but I do hope that as much as possible, people can come to this album on its own terms, approaching it as a teen, hearing the music and story for the first time. I believe music is an ongoing story, and albums don’t always do justice to its dynamic, ongoing nature. What gives it life is the new ears that hear it, and the new hearts that engage with it. I’m so grateful that this is a work that people have kept coming to, and I hope that this presentation does them honor with a fresh offering to the conversation. We’ve known that “it doesn’t have to be like this”; now we can wonder - “what it if were like this?”
The Dutch composer and conductor, born in 1993, has assembled a powerful collective with his "hugely inventive and fast- thinking" (UK Jazz News) Brainteaser Orchestra, uniting the vanguard of the current Amsterdam scene - including guitarist Teis Semey , saxophonist Kika Sprangers , drummer Jamie Peet , violinists George Dimitriu and Yanna Pelser , trombonist Nabou Claerhout , clarinetist Federico Calcagno, and bassist Alessandro Fongaro. This lineup has been making international waves, highlighted by invitations to major European festivals and a recent performance alongside Pat Metheny at the North Sea Jazz Festival. Now comes Tonepool Paradox, the orchestra's second album, commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Amsterdam's legendary BIMHUIS. Wybenga's compositional approach radically breaks with big band conventions. His process mirrors that of a hip- hop producer: he records solo improvisations by his musicians, chops the material into pieces, and uses these fragments as samples to build entirely new tracks. Wybenga layers jazz, electronics, and contemporary classical music without ever sounding academic or overintellectualized. For Tonepool Paradox , he expanded this concept internationally, bringing in guests such as Berlin-based saxophonist Otis Sandjo, Parisian violinist Theo Ceccaldi, singer Lizz Wright , and hip- hop vocalist Pink Oculus . Mixed by Grammy winner Nic Hard (Snarky Puppy), the sound brings together the diverse musical styles of everyone involved, juxtaposing the angular lines of the horns with sweeping, melodic string passages.
Ever since his 2015 debut EP, Nocturne, Alfa Mist has effortlessly moved between jazz, hip-hop and classical music and built unique sonic worlds. Across six critically acclaimed albums, the east Londoner has eroded genre boundaries with an expansive vision. On his last album Roulette, the prolific producer, songwriter, pianist and MC went one step further by creating his own sci-fi universe. 2025’s Roulette was a series of short stories, set in an imagined near-future where reincarnation is discovered to be a potent tool linking dreams and past lives. But with this discovery comes consequences: ethical, moral and philosophical. “If reincarnation is real, how does that shape society?”
As is traditional for Alfa Mist, he also explored the depth of the songs during a live-recorded session. This time the artist ventured to Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios - a location known both for its unusual architecture and its forward-thinking approach to music. Originally broadcast on Youtube only, it seemed a waste to not officially release the session. “When time's running out and you know you can't redo anything, there's an acceptance everyone has and it actually makes you relax a bit. It’s like recreating our live set in the studio.”
With Kaya Thomas-Dyke on Bass, Jamie Houghton on Drums, Jamie Leeming on Guitar, Johnny Woodham (aka JSPHYNX) on Flugel and Trumpet, and Samuel Rapley on Sax and Bass Clarinet.
Familiar. Usually reserved for things we think we know. A face, a place, a feeling, a record perhaps. Until, of course, they aren’t quite the same anymore. Or maybe you aren’t.
Jennifer’s debut album lives somewhere around there.
It’s a record about time, which is already a fairly ambitious subject considering nobody seems to have figured that one out yet. More specifically, it’s about what
time does to a person. The old versions, the new versions, and all the ones in between that you only notice when something suddenly brings them back. Someone you
haven’t seen in years. A room you used to know. A certain way the light falls. That sort of thing.
There’s a bit of a doppelgänger situation going on, too. Finding something completely new and somehow recognising it. Meeting yourself again without immediately realising who you’re talking to.
Which can be nice. Or strange. Usually both. The songs on Familiar sit comfortably with that contradiction. Looking backwards without wanting to go back. Missing things without necessarily wanting them
returned. Realising that people who once occupied most of your waking hours can become people whose address you don’t know. Meanwhile, some tiny, seemingly irrelevant detail from fifteen years ago remains perfectly intact.
Memory has its own filing system. Not a particularly sensible one.
Jennifer wrote a series of poems alongside the album. In them, familiarity appears in melting snow, rough coastlines, a kitchen already warm in the morning, somebody’s hands fitting into yours. Elsewhere she wonders about someone she
once knew everything about and now knows nothing about. They could live around the corner. They could live on another continent. They could, technically, be dead. Probably not. But that’s time for you.
Maybe Familiar is less about remembering who you were than realising you never entirely stopped being them. Things get added. Things disappear. Things come back looking slightly different.
And somehow, you recognise them.
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Grace Ives' melodic ideas simply do not leave her alone. She is always singing. Much of her work stems from simple and relatable nuggets of experience. It is almost as if putting her thoughts to a melody are a way of processing the world as she sees it unfold around her. These humble origins of her ridiculously catchy songs are, she says, result of a “keep it simple, stupid” approach, one that she pulls off with the fire-y confidence of artists such as Bratmobile or Minutemen. As Grace would have it: “I’m a man of few words, or just the same words over and over again. Everything about me is very laid back, my music is just supposed to be fun, danceable. I write songs so that they get stuck in people’s heads. I follow a formula. Butterfly is two notes, Mansion is six. I’m trying to keep it minimal, just so I can get this idea out and listen to it. I just try to crank these out, not so I can do something else, like sleep, drink, or go to a party, but so I can do more. I’m relatable, I shop on a budget, I’m your friend, and I want to write songs for you… to dance to. And I’m a great cook—I make a killer bolognese.”
The legacy of Joey DeFrancesco was solidified decades ago, not only by single-handedly resurrecting the organ’s prominence in jazz, but through the passion and power of every note he played on any instrument he touched. Live at Keystone Korner, the first posthumous album from the legendary organist and multi-instrumentalist following his untimely passing in 2022, was recorded only weeks before his transition and stands as his final known recording as a bandleader—capturing a virtuoso at the height of his ever-evolving innovation. With his extraordinary talents on organ, trumpet, tenor saxophone and a rare vocal feature in the spotlight, it is safe to say Joey’s influence on the musical community will resonate far beyond our lifetime, inspiring generations to come.
These songs have been accumulating in my life since the 1960s, long before I ever began writing my own. Many remained with me as warm-up pieces, familiar companions I would return to before a performance, or simply as a welcome respite from singing my own words. Every so often, another would find its way into the collection. I'd be idly playing the guitar, stumble across a progression that reminded me of a song—"You Belong to Me," for instance—and realize I needed to go back and truly learn it. Some of these selections are deeply sentimental favorites, while others fascinated me as musical journeys across the guitar's fingerboard. Together, they form more than a collection of songs; they are milestones, each connected to a particular time, place, or memory, tracing the subtle contours of a life lived through music. - Bruce Cockburn
Long-time collaborators Winter McQuinn (Sunfruits, Beefheart & McQuinn, jade imagine) and Acacia Pip (PINCH POINTS, Slush) return with Disassociating On The Travelator, the beautifully understated second EP from one of Melbourne/Naarm's most compelling songwriting partnerships. Released by Australia's Third Eye Stimuli Records, the vinyl edition arrives as a special double EP alongside the duo's 2024 debut EP, Recently I've Been Missing The Colour Green—bringing both releases together on vinyl for the very first time. Recorded at the legendary Bakehouse Studios with acclaimed songwriter and producer Liam "Snowy" Halliwell, the four-track collection expands on the warm indie folk, jangling guitar pop and folk-emo leanings of the duo's acclaimed 2024 debut, Recently I've Been Missing The Colour Green. Recorded live, the EP captures the pair's instinctive chemistry while embracing a richer, more spacious studio sound. Across four intimate songs, McQuinn and Pip reflect on the quiet complexities of contemporary life—trying to make sense of changing relationships, the passing of time, self-doubt and finding happiness in everyday moments. Built around shimmering guitars, warm acoustic textures and effortlessly melodic songwriting, Disassociating On The Travelator recalls artists such as Andy Shauf, Courtney Barnett, Elliott Smith, Kurt Vile and Bonny Doon, while retaining a voice that feels entirely their own. Featuring the lead single "Exactly The Same", a bittersweet Melbourne winter anthem about embracing the path that has brought you to where you are today, the EP further cements the duo's gift for pairing emotionally resonant lyrics with quietly irresistible melodies. It's a thoughtful, timeless collection that rewards repeated listening, revealing new emotional depth with every spin.
Long-time collaborators Winter McQuinn (Sunfruits, Beefheart & McQuinn, jade imagine) and Acacia Pip (PINCH POINTS, Slush) return with Disassociating On The Travelator, the beautifully understated second EP from one of Melbourne/Naarm's most compelling songwriting partnerships. Released by Australia's Third Eye Stimuli Records, the vinyl edition arrives as a special double EP alongside the duo's 2024 debut EP, Recently I've Been Missing The Colour Green—bringing both releases together on vinyl for the very first time. Recorded at the legendary Bakehouse Studios with acclaimed songwriter and producer Liam "Snowy" Halliwell, the four-track collection expands on the warm indie folk, jangling guitar pop and folk-emo leanings of the duo's acclaimed 2024 debut, Recently I've Been Missing The Colour Green. Recorded live, the EP captures the pair's instinctive chemistry while embracing a richer, more spacious studio sound. Across four intimate songs, McQuinn and Pip reflect on the quiet complexities of contemporary life—trying to make sense of changing relationships, the passing of time, self-doubt and finding happiness in everyday moments. Built around shimmering guitars, warm acoustic textures and effortlessly melodic songwriting, Disassociating On The Travelator recalls artists such as Andy Shauf, Courtney Barnett, Elliott Smith, Kurt Vile and Bonny Doon, while retaining a voice that feels entirely their own. Featuring the lead single "Exactly The Same", a bittersweet Melbourne winter anthem about embracing the path that has brought you to where you are today, the EP further cements the duo's gift for pairing emotionally resonant lyrics with quietly irresistible melodies. It's a thoughtful, timeless collection that rewards repeated listening, revealing new emotional depth with every spin.
Hazy, unhurried ambient escape Hidden Hour feels less like an album and more like a collection of small, deliberate pauses from Los Angeles-based Cynthia Bernard. The 18 tracks add up to an album exactly an hour long, and each one is tied to a specific place, be that a bridge, a mountaintop in Los Padres, a friend's tea hut in Mendocino, and you can hear that groundedness in every choice, from glockenspiel to piccolo guitar to lap steel. Collaborations with Liom and Dimming blend in seamlessly to Marine Eyes' first solo release on her own label, Cloud Collecting, and it carries the mark of someone able to soundtrack stillness with real beauty.
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For over 25 years, David Madson (aka Odd Nosdam) has been stationed away from the light of the mainstream, diligently working the nightshift. Every so often, we awake to find another of his bleary and beautiful missives slung into the waking world – albums whose assemblages of sampled grooves, atmospheres and voices are unified by a hallucinatory sense of melody, like disparate visions strung together through ribbons of sleep-talk. From his earliest days as a member of the seminal group cLOUDDEAD, through his remixes for artists such as Boards of Canada and Black Moth Super Rainbow, Nosdam has been reporting back from his rounds upon the perimeters of culture and consciousness, forging a musical language all of his own.
On Patrol is the second Odd Nosdam LP to be released on The Notwist’s imprint Alien Transistor – following on from the 2019 album Mirrors – and continues a collaborative history that begun with a 2008 remix of The Notwist song, “Sleep”. It’s a love letter to the vinyl format, produced with the aim of optimizing for a single LP. This objective permeated every aspect of the album’s production, from the duration of each side through to the vinyl mastering (Jessica Thompson) and lacquer-cutting (Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin). As we've come to expect, the album is built almost entirely from found sounds, many of which were taken from obscure and second-hand vinyl gathered during Nosdam’s ceaseless crate-digging escapades. Other sources include field recordings made in 2022 at the Catalonia summer home of artist Salvador Dalí, which are baked into the swirling sci-fi glide of “Here to Know (Adéu Mix)”, and a sumptuous clunking bass line courtesy of Organi’s Mike Walti, which runs like an infinite highway through the fuzzy, sunbaked sprawl of “Deepsimple”.
Odd Nosdam’s work has always swept the entire atmospheric spectrum, from rhythmic vigour to levitational beauty. On Patrol is perhaps his finest assimilation of these extremes. “Sgt. Pepsi” is the perfect case in point: a formidable slow groove capsizes into vinyl crackle after a mere minute, before the song resurrects itself through sweeping strings and vocal harmonies, sliding against each other like the overlain romantic denouements to a dozen Hollywood films from the 1940s. Elsewhere, “Get You In (Belong Mix)” drapes shoegaze guitar over a trundling funk backbeat, straddling the physical world and the outer realms, while hushed voices point toward the song's implied themes of cultural cliques, critical consensus and the plight of the eternal outsider: “Sure, I can get you in... these people are my friends, I’m one of them - I belong.”
This is music that both endures and disappears. Odd Nosdam has always wielded a strange relationship with time, scrambling association with any specific era, weaving together numerous tempos simultaneously. There is no master clock. Each track could happily hold up as an infinite loop, yet Nosdam clearly favours the potency of the gone-too-soon, applying the fadeout just as hypnosis starts to crest. Indeed, the songs are both the product of meticulous long-term construction and spontaneity. While the foundations of On Patrol have come together over several years, the recording process involved channeling vibes through a vintage Roland Space Echo and bouncing song fragments back and forth from hard disk to cassette 8-track, gifting a phased permanence to creative decisions made on the fly – a hat-tip to the production processes of Nosdam's longtime hero, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. Like a recurring dream, On Patrol appeals to both the plains of momentary ephemera and the long-established backchannels of the unconscious, equal parts revelation and deja vu.
Text by Jack Chuter
Artwork by Ian Ferguson
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Bali-based producer/DJ STAY GOLDEN makes his debut on All Day I Dream with Silent Covenant, a seven-track album exploring unseen connections, out now.
Silent Covenant traces a near 40-minute path through hypnotic indie-dance textures, melodic techno tones, and deep house grooves. The title track opens with funky drive and a quick-tongued topline before ‘Fragments of a Dream’ pushes into darker territory. From there, ‘RITUAL PAUSE’ and ‘Stay With Me’ return to organic rhythms and deep vocals, balancing cohesion and contrast across the project.
“A seven-track journey through emotions and the invisible connections that shape our lives. Each track is another step in the same journey. The strongest connections are often the ones that never need to be spoken. They live in shared moments and the memories we carry with us. Silent Covenant is my way of translating those invisible bonds into music.” – STAY GOLDEN
Collaborations with Alexey Union, Broken Hill, Kinky Sound, ÜNAM, ANTICALM, and David LeSal broaden the project's sound throughout its second half. ‘Synth Lines’ adds a deeper edge, while ‘In Your Heart’ turns toward airy melodies. Closing with ‘Everything Sacred,’ Silent Covenant brings its themes of memory, connection, and shared experience full circle.
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The voraciously prolific Brit producer Four Tet returns to his untypeable-but-highly-listenable windings alias for this surprise new album on his own Text label. Remaining as a vinyl-only LP for now, and currently limited to 2000 copies, it was announced just a week or so ahead of the release. No track titles or details and a bucket load of vibes and strange ideas. Opening softly with gentle eastern instrumentation, he gradually pulls us deeper and deeper into his unique universe with every bendy frequency and strange accent. By the time we're three tracks in, we're bopping away to big bodied dubstep/garage mutations laced with chimes and all kinds of textures that only Keiran Hebden would choose to use. The B-side bares a similar varied, opened-hearted soul as we move from bumping club grooves to slo-mo ethereal shuffles that wouldn't sound out of place in a cathedral. Textbook Text. Grab this if you can, it won't hang around
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On My Way is a forthcoming photo memoir that follows Larry Heard to over 30 countries across 40 years, performing in Fingers Inc, The It, Mr. Fingers, and Larry Heard Live. Published independently by Alleviated Records, this 380 page book draws from Mr. Heard's extensive archive of thousands of photographs, event flyers, and historical documents, many of which have never been seen before. On My Way contains excerpts from over 8 hours of interviews, but the journey is primarily visual: the photographs taken by Mr. Heard and his collaborators serve as a personal and artistic odyssey, documenting almost every single one of the over 350 gigs Mr. Heard has performed in his career. On My Way also presents a history of technology in the arts. We see music equipment evolve, become sleeker, sexier, the studios housing the gear more grandiose. Personal cameras transition from 35mm to digital, first declining in quality as the world embraced the freedom of lightweight yet low resolution lenses, eventually arriving at the contemporary DSLR. The designs of rave flyers begin with photocopied images and hand drawn text, evolving with the genre through the 90s and 00s to take on a futuristic, utopian quality. We watch trends in fashion and art become referential as the 21st century embraces nostalgia. Institutions rise up to support this scene, most notably Red Bull Music Academy, a significant patron of electronic music in the 2010s that sought to connect new musicians to their roots by hosting visionary global festivals and panel discussions. Along this journey we see familiar faces: singers, DJs, club kids, and music industry professionals, as well as the enigmatic gaze of the man whose work has inspired millions.
Drop the needle on this latest dispatch from the tape vaults, and we are back in Chicago at The Curtom Studios in 1977. For instalment number five in the "Hutson Sevens" series, Home of The Good Groove Records are so very honoured to deliver this previously unreleased cut from Leroy Hutson—a true titan of soul music and an absolute master of his craft.
"Betting On My Love" carries that signature smooth orchestration we have come to expect from Hutson’s finest hours. It moves with a wonderful, breezy optimism. Hutson’s joyful, velvet lead tones skip effortlessly across the groove, wrapped in lush backing harmonies that instantly evoke the feel of the Hutson II
classic, "I Think I’m Falling in Love".
Now, a brief confession of pure, crate-digging indulgence: if tailored strictly for the dancefloor, the track arguably hits its logical peak and fade just past the three-minute mark. But to cut it there would strip away the raw human magic of the session. If you let the wax ride to the very end, the arrangement dissolves into a wonderful, lingering instrumental outro, culminating in the studio players purposely "clattering" their instruments in a moment of pure creative release. It is a brilliant, candid studio artifact that was fortunately preserved on the original master recording. Essential listening for the global soul family—do not sleep on this debut pressing.
For the flip we present Leroy Hutson’s 1979 cut “ So Nice”, a masterclass in late-70s soul music. A stand out track from the “Unforgettable” album and a vital reminder of Hutson’s unmatched ability to inject sophisticated romanticism into the bleeding edge of that disco era.
Slightly edited for the 7-inch pressing, up steps our remastering and editing maestro Mr Phil Ward. Phil always has the utmost respect when remastering and editing original content, ensuring that every second of the groove is fully respected and preserved. His stellar work here includes the studio recording of the three-count drum intro, never heard before now, leading into that meditative smooth groove layout.
It is an exquisite arrangement of simmering electric keys, nimble basslines courtesy of the legendary Keni Burke, and subtle bongo accents that collectively deliver a timeless masterpiece. Now available on 7-inch vinyl for the first time.
Rod Bartlett
Home of The Good Groove Records
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Yes, yes funky people, another super sexy, soul, classic dancer makes it onto the DYNAMITE CUTS 7” series. This all-time soul gem “That what friends are for” by the amazing Madeline Bell and Alan Parker. This version is taken from her solo album, uplifting, with a touch of Latin hip movement, is the fresh, must-have 45 everyone is waiting for. On the flip “That’s the way I like it” is a banging version club mover. When you get the best British Library musicians with one of the hottest American soul singers, the magic happens. The band is made up of some of the biggest library legends; Alan Parker, Alan Hawkshaw, Chris Karan and Duncan Lamont to name a few.
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Doppler Effect is the brainchild of singer and songwriter James Straight. Formed in Boston in 1981, the band explores what Straight describes as the “encyclopedia of electronic music”. Since its inception, the project has explored and incorporated almost every style of electronica, from Ambient and Industrial to Techno, Synth-pop, EBM, House, Darkwave, Acid and Disco, with touches of Punk and Funk around the edges. It all depends on the song, as Straight sees his work as a series of mini-films he is directing, a sort of “seeing with your ears”. Utilizing the entire palette to achieve the desired effect, his only rule is that it must work for the song.
“Genesis: Studio Recordings” compiles a selection of recordings made between 1981 and 1985, including numerous previously unreleased songs and early versions ranging from synth-punk and new wave to minimal wave and synth-pop. Limited run of 300 copies on black vinyl with insert.
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For the 10 year anniversary of La Luna, we are excited to share with you this special 007 from Akasha Chronicles, an alias of Silat Beksi.
Akasha Chronicles released his first EP on the Wex sub-label, AHAAD, back in 2018.
After 8 years, he returns with this sentimental mini LP dedicated to his home country, Ukraine.
This release holds a special place in his heart, as he transformed his pain and dealings with the ongoing war into these six tracks which make up History of Great People.
He also wrote a manifesto about the album, his feelings, and the process behind the creation of the album.
Berlin-based artist Memo, who also did the artwork on the first La Luna, returns after 10 years to gift us with another one of his trippy and complex paintings, filled with different worlds the more you observe.
A portion of the sales will be donated to the Ukrainian NGO Repair Together, which focuses on dancing and raving to electronic music while they repair houses destroyed by the war in Ukraine.
Written and produced by: Anatolii Antipin Artwork by Memo Mastered & Cut by Analogcut, Berlin
Limited 200 copy press.
Man of the moment Tino makes a big splash landing on M.A.D Records.
Fun, playful and deadly this EP has it all and without a doubt our most requested ID’s every time we play. A 4 tracker of tried and tested weapons already picking up huge support from the likes of Eris Drew, Dr Banana and Moxie.
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Bring home Freya Skye's live fan favourite "bad taste" on 7' translucent red vinyl. After performing the song for audiences across the globe on her sold-out Stars Align Tour, Freya is releasing "bad taste" for the very first time as an official studio recording. This collectible is a must-have for every Skylight -- get yours before it's gone
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It’s time for Ahad’s biggest move yet: his first full-length album, P*KI. Powerful, deeply personal and unapologetic, the album is rooted in the dancefloor and in Ahad’s belief that club culture is a space where he can “exist completely authentically.” By reclaiming a word he has personally been confronted with, Ahad transforms P*KI (pronounced Pee-Star-Kay-Eye) into a statement of joy, pride, celebration and self-love. The album’s singles capture that spirit: ‘Put That Banger On Next’, featuring London MC Capo Lee, brings a high-voltage grime energy; ‘Make Space’ is a euphoric tribute to the diverse communities who find solace in London nightlife; while ‘Left / Right’, made with Dismantle and Jam-akabi, delivers a dark, futuristic breaks sound built for warehouse dancefloors. Across the record, Ahad’s signature UK club sound is pushed further, with tracks drawing on everything from gqom and drum’n’bass to South Asian classical instruments, Punjabi folk and devotional music such as qawwali.
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This LP, the second set from Soul4Real based on songs mostly associated with Jackson, MS label Malaco, is another stunning showcase of the breadth of soul music. Featuring tracks ranging from the 70s through to the new millennium and from the deepest of blues-tinged ballads to disco beats, there is something on this LP for all soul enthusiasts to relish. The biggest name here is undoubtedly Bobby “Blue” Bland. A towering presence in both soul and blues for over 50 years, his influence – and sales – were immense. Other hitmakers are here as well, such as the prodigious vocal talent of Shirley Brown, whose massive “Woman To Woman” kick-started her long and successful career, and the delightful Dorothy Moore, whose immortal “Misty Blue” saved Malaco from bankruptcy in the mid-70s. Moore’s lovely duet with star Eddie Floyd was a one-off, as was Natural High’s Malaco subsidiary Chimneyville album. Always welcome on sets like this are lesser-known artists like sometime funk band Solid Gold Revue member Ray Crumley, who released a small handful of solo 45s,New Orleans singer Richard Caiton, who has had Northern soul plays, and mystery Mississippi native J.J. Lewis. Cult southern soul heroes such as the outstanding Tommy Tate – memorably described by Malaco boss Tommy Couch as “America’s best kept secret” – and the gifted and prolific down home songwriter George Jackson, whose BMI catalogue runs to over 400 songs, are prominent here. Jackson’s effort is previously unissued, and the more obscure item from Marvin Morrow is a first time on vinyl. Like Jackson, Morrow earnt his living as a writer for such luminaries as Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan. A treat for all connoisseurs. Malaco gave themselves the byline of “The Last Soul Record Company”, and listening to their output of over 50 years and the way they outlasted every other southern independent label, it’s impossible to disagree.
A collection of previously unreleased material (between '75 & '90) by Enno Velthuys.
Compiled by Hessel Veldman.
"Hello boys and girls, my name is Enno Velthuys and I am the idiot of the group (and also the
most intelligent, the most sensitive, the most artistic and he who has to carry the heaviest
load, because this boy's luggage, DAMN, it's pretty heavy).
Luckily, I had already been through a lot when I got this ‘knock in the head’. Sex, drugs, lots
of rock and roll and a sunny childhood with beautiful views I look back on with nostalgia.
Later on I lost my focus and I only thought about one thing: how to get out of it (that damn
problem, my shifted reality, my blind spot, that piece of poisoned apple of forbidden
knowledge choking my throat)!
But I can't think my way out of it, psychiatrists are just ordinary people, and very heavy pills
suppress everything (I'll just take my pills) FLASH!
You ask me what it takes to create music or art that is meaningful and tells a story. It’s hard
when you haven't had enough setbacks, nothing more than maybe a little blues. I'm not
saying it was the right path, but at least I've come a long way. And now I'm a fish in a pool.
Please understand that this is very disturbing. It's not my waterway. A fish belongs in a river.
And my star sign is fish. >))D
See you soon, EnnO"
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The follow up to her UK number 1 album This Is How Tomorrow Moves, the stark and striking fourth album by beabadoobee is named for the electricity towers that dot every major artery in the world—the strong, spindly structures that reminded Beatrice Laus of her connection to friends and family at home while she was staring down extreme disconnection and isolation on tour over the past few years.
The title can also be read as an allusion to Laus’ spiky, forceful new sound—the waves of distortion that crash and shatter across this record’s 14 songs mirroring the intense crackle you hear when walking under power lines. The pylon is also a fitting symbol for an album that reckons with the repetitive anxieties of your mid-twenties: What if I’m always going to be this way? What if life is just pylon after pylon on the road?
The album’s first single is available to stream and buy from today: “Sun Has Set” introduces Pylon as, in essence, a set of songs that began as diary entries, words that Laus thought she’d never be able to say out loud. “A lot of the songs on this record are things I wish I could have said to someone,” she says. “This song has this petty tunnel vision—it’s like, I hate you. You’re gonna stay here and listen to how much I hate you. Because I never got to say that.” The single comes accompanied by a striking first person video directed by Bea’s partner and longtime visual collaborator Jake Erland.
Ever a devotee of pure rock music—both as something to be cherished and something to be played with—Laus casts these feelings in songs that touch on classic grunge, midwest emo and ‘90s radio rock, zeroing in on a sound that is both harsher and more direct than any of her previous records. She says the music she’s loved has “always been an influence” on her music, and so for B4 she went straight to the source. A fair few of Beabadoobee’s composite influences contributed to Pylon, a fact that speaks to the goodwill and respect Laus has amassed over the course of her relatively brief career.
Hayley Williams sings on “Nothing to Prove,” a deeply anthemic indie-rock song about getting your power back from fairweather friends who just want a bit of your success. The moody “Powerlines” features a verse from Turnstile singer Brendan Yates, a master of matching vocal force with emotional nuance. Elsewhere, you’ll find contributions from Pinegrove’s Evan Stephens Hall, Deftones’ Chino Moreno, and Title Fight’s Shane Moran, as well as, on “Write Me A Letter”, production work from Laus’ longtime friends and collaborators Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975.
Beabadoobee will debut songs from the record on the Powerlines Tour, her first ever arena shows and biggest tour to date, taking in shows across North America, the UK and Europe this autumn-winter. The Powerlines Tour kicks off 1 October and includes stops at Madison Square Garden, The Kia Forum, The O2 and more (full routing below). Support comes from Wisp in the US, Canada and UK and Violet Grohl in France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Born in the Philippines and raised in London, Beatrice Laus emerged as a British alternative music icon across three acclaimed albums and five EPs. She has garnered multiple BRIT Award and BBC Sound Of nominations, and won NME’s Radar award, whilst amassing over 10 billion streams worldwide and more than 12 million followers across her social channels.
This Is How Tomorrow Moves became her first record to reach number 1 on the UK Official Album Chart in 2024, following her Top 10 albums Fake It Flowers (which reached number 8) in 2020 and 2022’s Beatopia (#4). Earlier this year, beabadoobee released the one-off single ‘‘All I Did Was Dream Of You,” teaming up with Grammy-nominated best New Artist The Marías, the result of a longtime mutual creative admiration between María Zardoya and Bea.
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Danielle Ponder is done waiting for a future version of herself to arrive. Now, the Rochester-born, Atlanta-rooted singer-songwriter is unapologetically living in the moment. This realization powers Everything Has Changed, Ponder's anticipated sophomore album (and debut on Dead Oceans in partnership with Phoebe Bridgers). The LP is Ponder’s most self-assured statement to date: it was crafted through a period of immense transformation as the beloved vocalist propelled from being a lawyer to a full-fledged musical powerhouse. That artistic freedom threads the album, as heard on lead single, “Power”, which serves as both a declaration and an affirmation for the Black diaspora. Other highlights include the revelatory “Sun and Moon”, the towering blues ballad “God of You”, and the devastatingly vulnerable “Open Windows”. Everything Has Changed dismantles the stories Ponder once told herself and finds peace in what remains—all themes that have shaped much of her journey. Music was always a constant presence throughout her life, but practicality initially took over in adulthood. While performing with her family’s band and later developing her own projects, Ponder pursued a legal career focused on criminal justice reform.
It wasn’t until her late 30s that she allowed herself to seriously imagine music as more than a side pursuit. In 2021, at age 39, she finally took the leap, leaving law behind to pursue her artistry full-time. The gamble paid off: she signed her first record deal in 2022, becoming a trailblazer on her own unusual path to worldwide renown. Her debut album Some of Us Are Brave introduced Ponder as one of soul music’s most compelling new voices, thanks to singles like “Someone Like You”, “Roll The Credits,” and the empowering title track. The LP earned critical acclaim along with dozens of major sync placements, including the latest Apple campaign for the iPhone 16 Pro. She’s since had four major TV appearances, including Jimmy Kimmel Live! Ponder has also sold out shows across North America and Europe, including festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Afropunk, and the Montreux Jazz Festival.
But if that album documented her arrival, Everything Has Changed documents her evolution.