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Elvis' debut LP, titled Elvis Presley, was the first rock album to reach number one on
the US charts. It was recorded for the RCA label, which had paid what was then a
king's ransom to buy his contract from Sam Phillips' Sun Records in Memphis. The
album was produced by Steve Sholes, head of RCA's Country & Western and Rhythm &
Blues division, and released in March 1956.
"This was as startling a debut record as any ever made, representing every side of
Elvis' musical influences except gospel - rockabilly, blues, R&B, country, and pop were
all here in an explosive and seductive combination. Elvis Presley became the first rock
& roll album to reach the number one spot on the national charts, and RCA's first
million dollar-earning pop album." - ***** Bruce Eder, AllMusic

NOW Music proudly presents NOW That’s What I Call Gold – The Ultimate Hits – this essential 3-LP set brings together 46 tracks by legendary artists with timeless anthems, celebrating some of the greatest hits of all time, including chart-topping classics and enduring favourites.



LP1 sets the stage with Queen’s electrifying ‘A Kind Of Magic’, followed by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins’ #1 ‘Easy Lover’. The Police feature with their #1 smash ‘Message In A Bottle’, while The Killers follow with their record-breaking anthem ‘Mr. Brightside’. The massive ‘Stick Season’ from Noah Kahan is up next before the first side finishes with Lana Del Rey’s stunning ‘Video Games’. Flip the LP over for contemporary classics from Coldplay and Duran Duran. Sinéad O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ still sounds raw and breath-taking and is followed by classics from the Pretenders, Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, and Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’, one of the best-selling UK singles of the ‘80s, whilst another of those closes out the first LP: Ultravox with their masterpiece, ‘Vienna’.



LP2 delivers a legendary lineup, including Billy Joel with his Grammy-winning ‘Just The Way You Are’ and Céline Dion’s powerful version of ‘All By Myself’. John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ and Paul Simon’s groundbreaking ‘Graceland’ are featured along with the pop genius of Electric Light Orchestra with ‘Last Train To London’. While on the other side timeless ballads from Elton John with ‘Tiny Dancer’ and Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Someone You Loved’ come ahead of Wings, Simply Red and ‘60s gems from Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and the peerless ‘Walk On By’ from Dionne Warwick.



LP3 opens with Neil Diamond’s universally beloved singalong anthem, ‘Sweet Caroline’ and Cliff Richard’s mid-70s classic, ‘Devil Woman’. Disco legends Donna Summer (‘MacArthur Park’) and Gloria Gaynor (‘I Will Survive’), lead into Sophie Ellis Bextor’s ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ which became a smash for the second time recently. Ed Sheeran and Pharrell Williams had enduringly popular hits with ‘Galway Girl’ and ‘Happy’, and the side closes with the harmonic vocals of All-4-One and their beautiful signature song ‘I Swear’. The final side is packed with anthemic and uplifting classics kicking off with Spandau Ballet’s ‘Gold’, Survivor’s ‘Eye Of The Tiger’, and Take That’s soaring ‘Rule The World’. The remainder of the collection celebrates and showcases some of the ‘70s greatest tracks including Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Lost In France’, Marianne Faithfull’s poignant ‘The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan’ and Blondie’s era-defining and genre-defying #1 ‘Heart Of Glass’.



NOW That’s What I Call Gold is a must-have for all music lovers —packed with legendary artists, timeless hits, and unforgettable moments in pop. Don’t miss out on this golden treasure trove of musical brilliance!

You may not require any introduction to the members of ROACH SQUAD, or at least one or two of the band. Needless to say, Hugo Mudie (The Sainte Catherines), Frankie Stubbs (Leatherface), Graeme Philliskirk (Leatherface) have all graced the Paradise Gutters around the Punk Rock world for some time. Joining them is Alex Keane (The Murderburgers), along with another local Sunderland Lad, Sim Robson. As with many of the members previous works, a DIY approach to writing and recording the album was taken. The bulk of the recording took place at their own Rocket Studios in Sunderland, UK with the exception of Hugo laying down the vocals from his home in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). Some of you will have noticed the line-up contains two vocalists, and indeed this is the case. For this new Band, Frankie wanted to take some time out from vocal duties and concentrate on playing his guitar. This sees Hugo taking front stage... Not for every song, though! Who knows what you expect, but what we do ask of you before listening is that you find your comfortable spot, abandon any preconceptions, and as always play it loud.

The late, great Calvin Keys’1971 debut album for the Black Jazz Records label announced the arrival of a new star in the jazz guitar firmament. Keys had spent the ‘60s backing up the crème de la crème of jazz organists—Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Jack McDuff, Richard “Groove” Holmes—but for his first record as a leader, he was eager to play with a piano player instead. So he recruited one of the best—Larry Nash, who, besides being a member of the L.A. Express, played with everybody from Eddie Harris to Bill Withers to Etta James. Bassist Lawrence Evans, drummer Bob Braye, and flautist-songwriter Owen Marshall rounded out the group on Shawn-Neeq, which might remind some of Pat Metheny’s early work (Metheny acknowledges Keys as an influence), or Grant Green.

But what gives Shawn-Neeq extra depth is that it comes from the heart; as Keys says in Pat Thomas’ liner notes, which feature an interview with the artist: “My thing was, I write about some of the experiences that I’ve had in my life.” Keys became a fixture in the Bay Area jazz scene before he passed in April 2024; this is the album that started his journey. Another gem from the celebrated Black Jazz catalog, pressed in blue with black swirl vinyl limited to 750 copies!

After more than two decades of taking the underground by storm, Nightstalker return with their most colossal and bold statement yet: "Return From The Point of No Return". More than just a continuation of their career, this seventh studio album is the moment they transcend everything they have accomplished in their thirty-year history. As soon as the rip-roaring, banger-heavy fire of the anthemic opening track "Dust" sets your stereo ablaze, you're in for an epic ride. On "Return From The Point of No Return", Nightstalker's signature sound of gritty, massive blues-laden riffs and hypnotic grooves crowned by the commanding vocals of legendary frontman Argy Galiatsatos has gone deeper, darker, and more expansive. It's a record that speaks to the soul as much as it pounds the body, leaving you wondering how you ever lived without it.

After more than two decades of taking the underground by storm, Nightstalker return with their most colossal and bold statement yet: "Return From The Point of No Return". More than just a continuation of their career, this seventh studio album is the moment they transcend everything they have accomplished in their thirty-year history. As soon as the rip-roaring, banger-heavy fire of the anthemic opening track "Dust" sets your stereo ablaze, you're in for an epic ride. On "Return From The Point of No Return", Nightstalker's signature sound of gritty, massive blues-laden riffs and hypnotic grooves crowned by the commanding vocals of legendary frontman Argy Galiatsatos has gone deeper, darker, and more expansive. It's a record that speaks to the soul as much as it pounds the body, leaving you wondering how you ever lived without it.

Terry Usher takes things deep on a new outing for Saint Wax that has spiritual overtones and Afro vibes exuding from every beat. '8 Hours' opens up with the sort of spine-tingling vocals and pensive pads that take any floor higher. 'Never Leave You' is a percussive groove with an infectious sense of skip and 'M' Pon' then picks things up with chanting vocals and warrior leads next to rousing horns full of soul. 'O' Wey' closes out with steel-plated drums and soft shakers bringing plenty of late-night magic.

BMP Crew introduces a new opus cooked by Luke Seager, a young and promising newcomer hailing from Paris.
We have the honor to host his first vinyl release, after a dope digi pack released on Mari.Te's Tresydos.

On the menu: 4 energy-fueled tracks that we fell in love with instantly and heavily played!
Catchy grooves, square wave B-lines, sizzling hi-hats, haunting chords, wholesome ambiances... Everything necessary to mesmerize sunny dancefloors is in there.

If you're more into dark basements and gritty sounds then the remix by mysterious duo Techline ™ is made for you. Mental!

The Shard: A colossal feat in engineering, savagely piercing the London skyline with zero f**ks.

Shard View: An uncompromising moment in Boylan’s bass engineering, piercing the London soundscape with even fewer f**ks.

It’s 2025. We’ve officially moved a second closer to extinction and Boylan’s wasting no time. After years of releasing noxious missives on the most influential likes of FWD>>, Artikal, Deep Dark & Dangerous, Sentry and Mean Streets, he finally launches his own label - Shard View.

A brand new vehicle for the potent strain of ice cold apocalyptic breakbeat he and his closest allies are currently making, Shard View is inspired by the vista he and the likes of Slimzee, Trends, D.O.K, U.S.F and Youngsta see every time they’re cooking up a darkness in his Peckham studio.

Coated in visual armor from Simon Oil Gang, Shard View is London, Detroit and Berlin wrapped up in one. It’s bass, it’s techno, it’s tribal, it’s No U-Turn, it’s Virus, it’s Horsepower, it’s warehouse raves. It’s timeless. And it starts with ‘Tunnel’, an extensive 10 track trip into instrumental, full physical, heavily percussive unapologetic breakbeat music. Boylan is the main consistency throughout but all the above-mentioned names are involved and always will be. Like the great collectives of past bass epochs, the energy here is molten as the friends inspire each other with this fresh take on a classic sound.

Two more EPs should follow later this year. And as the world continues to ramp up the turbulence, so will Shard View. This is not a drill.
Any questions about any of these products feel free to get in touch and we'll help you out!
albert.preston@sequence.cc

Get ready for a mind-blowing journey into the heart of acid with Acid Sessions Vol. 3, featuring five exceptional Acid Techno/House artists:

Acidulant kicks things off with 'Serpentacid', a track that slithers through your speakers with hypnotic 303 grooves and an unstoppable energy.
Sarufaromeo & Papaverhof bring 'Acid Nihonshu', a perfect blend of atmospheric depth and chaotic acid vibes that will leave you in awe.
G303 takes you to the stars with 'Live Long and Prosper', an interstellar anthem packed with cosmic acid energy and resonant grooves.
Paul Renard rounds it out with 'SO36', delivering pulsating rhythms and a relentless dancefloor drive that defines his signature sound.

This release is a must-have for acid enthusiasts everywhere. Don't miss your chance to own this incredible collection of cutting-edge underground acid!

Wellen.Brecher is an electronic band with punk attitude, which has been transcending and subverting electronic music genre boundaries for the past 6 years. After the release of Tierisch Verboten, which can confidently be described as the "soundtrack to inclusion", and a strong second release on our label Killekill, LIEBESERKLARUNG is the band's first full length album. Including a series of first-class remixes.
Refreshingly, the entire release is not based on the corny bad trance traditions loved by contemporary Buffalo shoe wearers. Instead - intentionally or not - it follows a series of almost historical musical quotations from over the last 40 years with each track on the album feeling like a new adventure.
The album opens with TUROFFNER, which has a kind of an Afrika Bambaataa intro, before turning into a wonderfully tresoresque/Detroit techno beast, always commented on or counteracted by the vocals - just like (almost) all the tracks on the album: a new round, a new crazy ride - bumper car lyrics on a powerful stomping reduction of a 90s track.
From here we leap backwards in time into grey West Berlin of the 80s with ROBOT GIRL which shifts and drifts like a bug in buttermilk somewhere between Grauzone and Alan Vega. Next track KAPUTT kicks in with a bang and smashes everything in the best EBM tradition - this could have been played in a techno club in Frankfurt, both in terms of lyrics and sound. Line up for Elektropogo please!
After all the stomping Wellen.Brecher bring in something completely different with VOICE OF A GENERATION: dramatic vocals over delicate breaks which gradually dissolve into arpeggios on a high-quality trance carpet. Challenge complete!
JULIA takes us back to the late eighties in the dark but fun Belgian-Detroit early trance with new beat appeal. TUNNEL TRANCE would have been a good fit for dancing around the Berlin Siegessaule in, let's say, 1998. Relentless 4/4 beats with a hook-line on speed surrounded by acidophilic bows and, on top, the vocal commentary arriving as if from the man behind the glass of the Ferris wheel. In
your mind's eye, you can see fur-shoed gym ravers in bright neon jumping through the Tiergarten like rubber balls. The cover version of the classic TECHNO DJ is an hommage to good old punk - torn apart and reassembled in true Wellen.Brecher style. The closer TIERISCH VERBOTEN brings all the emotion rushing back: fat beats beckon slowly from afar, before the curtain comes up for an epic synth finale.
The harsh, albeit true words really drive you in. It's not necessary, but perhaps it's good to point it out: Inclusion can easily be experienced with music like this. Fuck AfD!

Wellen.Brecher is an electronic band with punk attitude, which has been transcending and subverting electronic music genre boundaries for the past 6 years. After the release of Tierisch Verboten, which can confidently be described as the "soundtrack to inclusion", and a strong second release on our label Killekill, LIEBESERKLARUNG is the band's first full length album. Including a series of first-class remixes.
Refreshingly, the entire release is not based on the corny bad trance traditions loved by contemporary Buffalo shoe wearers. Instead - intentionally or not - it follows a series of almost historical musical quotations from over the last 40 years with each track on the album feeling like a new adventure.
The album opens with TUROFFNER, which has a kind of an Afrika Bambaataa intro, before turning into a wonderfully tresoresque/Detroit techno beast, always commented on or counteracted by the vocals - just like (almost) all the tracks on the album: a new round, a new crazy ride - bumper car lyrics on a powerful stomping reduction of a 90s track.
From here we leap backwards in time into grey West Berlin of the 80s with ROBOT GIRL which shifts and drifts like a bug in buttermilk somewhere between Grauzone and Alan Vega. Next track KAPUTT kicks in with a bang and smashes everything in the best EBM tradition - this could have been played in a techno club in Frankfurt, both in terms of lyrics and sound. Line up for Elektropogo please!
After all the stomping Wellen.Brecher bring in something completely different with VOICE OF A GENERATION: dramatic vocals over delicate breaks which gradually dissolve into arpeggios on a high-quality trance carpet. Challenge complete!
JULIA takes us back to the late eighties in the dark but fun Belgian-Detroit early trance with new beat appeal. TUNNEL TRANCE would have been a good fit for dancing around the Berlin Siegessaule in, let's say, 1998. Relentless 4/4 beats with a hook-line on speed surrounded by acidophilic bows and, on top, the vocal commentary arriving as if from the man behind the glass of the Ferris wheel. In
your mind's eye, you can see fur-shoed gym ravers in bright neon jumping through the Tiergarten like rubber balls. The cover version of the classic TECHNO DJ is an hommage to good old punk - torn apart and reassembled in true Wellen.Brecher style. The closer TIERISCH VERBOTEN brings all the emotion rushing back: fat beats beckon slowly from afar, before the curtain comes up for an epic synth finale.
The harsh, albeit true words really drive you in. It's not necessary, but perhaps it's good to point it out: Inclusion can easily be experienced with music like this. Fuck AfD!

Capturing phantom drones behind dusty beats and haunted twangs, Ellis Swan and James Schimpl return for their third album as Dead Bandit. Locked into a musical language unique to their collaboration, the duo once again put us out to pasture across broad sonic plains, drums flapping like loose fence panels in the prairie breeze and bass rumbling like distant thunder. True to their previous two records, Swan and Schimpl keep the strung out guitars at the front of what they do, whether playing a naked, desolate strum or running six strings through disruptive effects processing until they're barely recognisable.
But while there are details of disturbance when listening to Dead Bandit's self-titled record up close, the wider impression is a smoother, more direct affair that toys with post-rock complexity and matches it with the emotional weight of melodic simplicity, gentle grooves and conscious arrangements. 'Weeds' offsets its languid fuzz guitar with shimmering sustained notes before settling into a patient, heavy-hearted composition charged with heartbreak leads pealing out in the middle distance.
By comparison, 'Glass' has a smoky, half-hidden backroom quality. Its brushed whisper of a beat, lingering guitar drones and subtle sub bass come on like a dub wise flip of a sad-eyed country ballad. The mood maintains on 'Half Smoked Cigarette', which captures the grey sky sullenness of post-punk and reframes it in the seductive isolation of rural America. While there's a thickness to the sound on these most direct of tracks on the album, there's also fragility inherent to the sound world Dead Bandit have been shaping out over these past few years.
'Buttercup' swaps sadness for sinister undercurrents, once more drawing on fulsome low end to fill out the sparse threads of instrumentation up top. 'Pink' finds a steady momentum for its own brand of brooding mystery, the sharp end of the beat bringing focus to the many-layered approaches to the guitar which roundly define the Dead Bandit sound. There's an even clearer direction mapped out in the vintage drum machine pulse of 'Koyo', all the better to carry swirling effects treatments and moody melodic figures. Even in these ominous climes there's space for plaintive, endearing hooks which land as the most direct phrases in Dead Bandit's musical lexicon to date.
The fundamental sound across this album holds true, but Dead Bandit are never bound to a singular practice. 'Lucien's Bitters' strikes up a pronounced drum machine beat which comes on like 90s downtempo, and it feels like a natural vessel for the heavy, shoegaze tinted lament of the guitars. At every turn, Swan and Schimpl prove their affinity for all kinds of approaches, and yet the end product is a deeply cohesive, immediate listen that shows just how clear their creative vision really is.

Als Karl Wallinger Mitte der 80er die Waterboys verliess, um World Party zu gründen, brauchte es einen einzigen Song, um die Fans davon zu überzeugen, dass dies kein Nebenprojekt war. Dieser Song, "Ship Of Fools", ist zusammen mit "Is It Like Today?", "Way Down Now", "Put The Message In The Box" und "She's The One" auf dieser ersten weltweiten Veröffentlichung des 17 Songs umfassenden Greatest Hits-Pakets "Best In Show" auf Yellow & Red Double Vinyl im Gatefold zu finden, das sich aus den besten Songs aus den Alben "Private Revolution", "Goodbye Jumbo", "Bang!", "Egyptology", "Dumbing Up" und "Arkeology" zusammensetzt.

PS: Eine gleichnamige 13-Track-Best-Of-CD erschien 2007 ausschliesslich in Australien & USA. Das Vinyl ist eine Erstveröffentlichung und enthält den zusätzlichen Bonustrack "Best Place I've Ever Been".

‘Moonlight Concessions’ goes back to basics, a return for Throwing Muses to their esoteric off-kilter best courtesy of Kristin’s pin-sharp sketches and their suitably abrasive musical arrangements. The album follows their acclaimed ‘Sun Racket’ from 2020, a heady set filled with tough and tender tales spiked with surreal imagery. Produced by Kristin Hersh at Steve Rizzo's Stable Sound Studio in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, ‘Moonlight Concessions’ is a collection of snippets from everyday life writ large - think Raymond Carver Short Cuts, overheard conversations, recounted happenings and telling one-liners, all sewed together to illustrate the times as they slowly mature, fully peppered with original Muses’ vim and vigour. ‘Drugstore Drastic’ is a kerbside soliloquy caught en route to a more alluring rendezvous. Built on a brisk acoustic strum with a guitar sub-melody underpinning proceedings, it’s an unfolding tale of social awareness from a blurred sub-conscious. ‘Summer Of Love’ began as a bet with a guy for a dollar that revolved around the idea that the seasons don’t change us. The album opener, it’s a haunting baroque overture, bowed and brooding. ‘Libretto’s strings offset the acoustic ambience, the hot and cold of longing at the very heart of it, a thematic driver filed with warmth in a safe haven lubricated by tequila. Written in the differing South Coast environs of The Gulf Of Mexico and Southern California, ‘Moonlight Concessions’ pulls from the star clusters that light both, generating optimism and hope in varying degrees. Hersh explains, “In New Orleans the stars look greenish-blue, as it’s below sea level and swamp-lit. But on Moonlight Beach, they glow icy white. All these songs were written in these two glowy places, which helped our sonic technique find itself.”

compiled by tsunaki kadowaki
artwork by yoshirotten
mastering by kuniyuki takahashi

Tsunaki Kadowaki, a staff member at Kyoto’s record store Meditations, the supervisor of "New Age Music Disc Guide", and the founder of Sad Disco, curates the fourth installment of "Midnight in Tokyo" themed around Ambient Kayō.

The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights—whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. After a six-year hiatus, the fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayō" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music.

For this long-awaited fourth installment, selections were made regardless of record label status (major or independent), era, format (vinyl or CD), original release price, or prior reissues. Instead, the focus was on music that deeply moves the listener, is open-minded and evocative, brims with inspiration and spiritual insight, and embodies the "utagokoro" (singing heart) of Japanese artists.

Opening the compilation is "Umi e Kinasai" by Yōsui Inoue, a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter whose works have recently gained renewed interest as hidden gems of Walearic and ambient pop

Composed and arranged by Katsu Hoshi—who is also known for his arrangements on Inoue’s masterpiece Ice World—the track features renowned players such as Masayoshi Takanaka, Hiroki Inui, and Shigeru Inoue. The song embodies a yearning for Balearic horizons, tinged with youthful vibrancy and sentimentality.

Next, "Oritatamu Umi", compiled from Keiko Nosaka, a 20-string koto player, and George Murasaki, a pioneer of Okinawan rock, is an instrumental track from their album "Niraikanai Requiem 1945". As the title suggests, it carries themes of requiem and remembrance, conveying poetic lyricism even without words. Blending Ryukyuan/Okinawan harmonies and indigenous elements, it unfolds as an intimate and nostalgic piece of progressive rock.

Also featured is "Natsu no Kowareru Koro" by Higurashi, a folk-rock band led by Seiichi Takeda, formerly a guitarist of The Remainders of The Clover, the predecessor of RC Succession. Like the opening track "Umi e Kinasai", this song was also produced by Katsu Hoshi. It stands as a folk/new music piece that takes a step into an "otherworldly" realm, recommended for fans of Twin Cosmos and Masumi Hara.

From the enigmatic Blue, the only work left by the mysterious composer S.R. Kinoshita, comes "Mangrove", a hidden treasure of Japan's ambient/new age scene from the CD era. With an oriental and enigmatic atmosphere, the track evokes a mystical world of deep, uncharted jungles, unfolding as an otherworldly New Age Kayō.

"Yaponesia Sakura", selected from Rehabilual’s sole album New Child, is a masterpiece of Japanese new age music. Produced by Swami Dhyan Akamo, a disciple of Indian meditation teacher Osho and a renowned balafon player, the track features Michio Ogawa (Chakra) and Atsuo Fujimoto (Colored Music). Their collective artistry creates an exquisite spiritual ambient pop sound.

"Asa no Hitoshizuku", the opening folk song from Sachiko Kanenobu’s album Sachiko, is also included. Known for her legendary folk album Misora, produced by Haruomi Hosono, Kanenobu’s fourth album after resuming her career was inspired by her experiences living in San Francisco and revolves around the theme of "love." This track carries the same intimate poetic world as Misora, imbued with a pure, crystalline innocence.

From the synth-pop band E.S. Island, known for the Haruomi Hosono-produced *Teku Teku Mami", comes "Yume Fūrin ", selected from their long-lost new age classic Nanpū from Hachijo. Created while the band’s core duo was living in Hachijō Island, the album aimed to sonically capture "the high and happy vibrations of everyday island life." This track offers a dynamic, tribal-infused New Age Kayō experience.

Dubbed "the world's first Min’yō House Mix" "Esashi Oiwake (Maeuta) " comes from Kanazawa Akiko HOUSE MIX Ⅰ, a collaboration between Japanese house music pioneer Soichi Terada and Akiko Kanazawa, a renowned min’yō singer. Through the prism of club music, Hokkaido's Esashi Oiwake, one of Japan’s most iconic folk songs, is transformed into a futuristic ambient pop piece with intricate sound design.

The compilation also includes "Sweet Ong Choh", a track from Voice From Asia, a group active between 1989 and 1992 featuring vocal artist Shizuru Ohtaka. Taken from their imaginative minimal work Voice From Asia, released under Aoyama Spiral’s music label Newsic, the song presents a tranquil, tribal-minimal soundscape enriched by ethnic instruments.

Hailed by Haruomi Hosono as having “a shaman residing in her voice,” singer-songwriter Nami Hōdatsu also appears in the selection. Known for her collaborations with Henry Kawahara, her debut album featured "Asa-Hikari-Ame-Yume", a track that now stands as a precursor to modern vocaloid/synthesized vocal music—a hidden gem of post-choir aesthetics that deserves rediscovery.

Likewise, "Tennessee Waltz", from Naomi Akimoto’s album One Night Stand, supported by members of Mariah, serves as another early prototype of vocaloid/synthesized vocal music. The track weaves fragmented vocal samples, pastoral yet sweetly minimal synth sounds, and mechanical beats into a strikingly unconventional piece in the history of Japanese music.

Closing the compilation is "Heaven Electric", a track from Nav Katze’s album Gentle & Elegance, which featured remixes by Autechre, Seefeel, and Sun Electric. Merging elements of IDM, ambient techno, and chillout, the song embodies an optimism reminiscent of space music while seamlessly blending a mystical Japanese aesthetic—an ambient pop masterpiece.

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The album presents 12 exquisite pop tracks infused with an ambient feeling, resonating deeply with the evolving landscape of the mid-2020s—a time of post-hyperpop and Y2K revival.

Tsunaki Kadowaki (Compiler)

Born in 1993 in Yonago, Tottori, Tsunaki Kadowaki is a staff member and buyer at Kyoto’s Meditations record store. He is the editor of New Age Music Disc Guide (DU BOOKS) and a contributor to Music Magazine, Record Collectors' Magazine, ele-king, and more. Kadowaki has written liner notes for multiple Japanese releases (Brian Eno, Masahiro Sugaya etc.) and runs the Sad Disco music label under Disk Union. He also curates Spotify’s official New Age Music playlist and performed as a DJ at YCAM’s Audio Base Camp #3 in 2024.

"Invisible Threads" is a sonic assault that penetrates the darkest depths of existence. This album explores themes of human degradation, unspoken fears, and wars that ravage not only bodies but also minds. A fierce manifestation of death metal, "Invisible Threads" overwhelms the listener with a crescendo of sonic brutality and raw emotions_an unrelenting frontal impact from the first to the last track, destined to leave a lasting mark.

"Invisible Threads" is a sonic assault that penetrates the darkest depths of existence. This album explores themes of human degradation, unspoken fears, and wars that ravage not only bodies but also minds. A fierce manifestation of death metal, "Invisible Threads" overwhelms the listener with a crescendo of sonic brutality and raw emotions_an unrelenting frontal impact from the first to the last track, destined to leave a lasting mark.

The Haunting ist ein übernatürlicher Horrorfilm aus dem Jahr 1999 mit Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones,
Owen Wilson und Lili Taylor in den Hauptrollen. Der Film folgt einer Gruppe von Menschen, die sich auf
einem weitläufigen Anwesen zu einer scheinbar freiwilligen Studie über Schlaflosigkeit versammeln, nur um
festzustellen, dass sie von paranormalen Ereignissen geplagt werden, die mit der düsteren Geschichte des
Hauses zusammenhängen. Diese Deluxe Edition des 2-LP-Sets ist die allererste Vinyl-Pressung von Jerry
Goldsmiths gruseliger Filmmusik und enthält brandneue Artworks.

After forming a friendship with Japanese hip-hop talent DJ Motive, Hell Yeah is releasing his previously CD-only album Sunset Sunrise. After initially being released as a promo to support the 7 inch lead single 'Sunrise,' it now comes on 2 x 12 inch for the first time with fresh mastering by Justin Drake. DJ Motive hails from Gifu, a small and charming city 30 minutes from Nagoya. From there he has built up a cult following for his blend of Latin, jazz and hip-hop beats over a number of albums and EPs in the last 20 years. He is also the producer behind the DeadBundy outfit that was previously remixed by countryman Calm on this label's Calm Reworks EP back in 2020. Thanks to a link from Calm, Hell Yeah founder Marco first hooked up with Motive in the pre-Covid days, twice playing his Alffo event in Gifu and hanging out to chat music. One of the many things that came up was a CD of Sunset Sunrise which has remained on firm rotation on Marco's stereo ever since and is a worldly trip into sample-heavy sounds, indie rock, hip-hop and jazz. Opener 'Sunrise' ft. Deadbundy & Chemical Codex opens with drums that lap like gentle waves on a beach as thoughtful strings and filtered vocals add to the sense of bliss. From there, DJ Motive lays down lazy broken beats and twinkling melodies that take your head above the clouds amongst lush pads and nostalgic samples. 'Chill On A Lotus' sounds like a damaged old tape as vocals, chords and strings all get smudged and smeared into a heavenly ambient soundscape, and there are plenty of loose mixes of dusty drums and jazzy keys, 'Howling 2 You' is a fusion of jazz drums and Balearic energy that slowly sweeps you off your feet and 'Walker' has squelch synth bass and heat damaged keys.

This escapist trip carries on through more broken beats and yacht rock, inquisitive jazz interludes and sunset grooves that all come with a heavy sense of inward reflection. The fragments of vocal are like half-remembered dreams, and the hooks remind of a forgotten lover while the louche beats move things forward with subtle optimism. Sunset Sunrise takes you through a full day in the life of DJ Motive and it makes for a vibrant collage of sound that reveals something new with every listen.

Demonstrating the poignant power of experience + human connection + innate musicality + operating in the present moment, Jeff Mills' Spiral Deluxe collective unveil their second album - The Love Pretender. Driven by the free expression and creativity of improvised performance, Spiral Deluxe is an electronic jazz fusion project comprised electronic music visionary Jeff, along with legendary keyboardist Gerald Mitchell (Underground Resistance/ Los Hermanos), Japanese rocker Yumiko Ohno (Buffalo Daughter/Cornelius) on Moog synthesizer and the Japanese bassist, adopted New Yorker, Kenji "Jino" Hino - son of Terumasa Hino, the world famous jazz trumpeter. Together, the four key players formed a band centred around completely improvised journeys through sound.

During their unrestrained performances, what Jeff describes as sonic "conversations" arose between the musicians, as they each contributed to full-length live shows, and studio sessions. Within the boundless parameters of freeform spontaneity, they developed an unspoken understanding of one another, finding balance and poise within the unplanned performances. The resulting recordings have been used for three releases so far: Two EPs, Kobe Session (2016) and Tathata (2017), and their debut album Voodoo Magic in 2018. With The Love Pretender, we're presented with another stunning collection of "tracks" extracted from one long improv session.

With each musician proficient in their specialism and, of course, an all-out music lover, the communication between the group members became almost telepathic. Very little preparation was needed, and their performances flowed naturally and organically. This can be heard, and felt, throughout The Love Pretender. Tracks like 'The Soloist' evolve effortlessly, each new shift subtly influenced by one of the musicians nudging the conversation into a different phase, and the rest responding accordingly, or vice versa. It's music that embodies the true nature of mindfulness and letting go of fear. In their unstructured, liberated cocoon the artists thrive and create musical moments that have, fortunately, been captured for us all to immerse ourselves in. Jazzy notes fill the air, combined with electronic bass, synthesised beats, sparkling keys and an all-round warm and welcoming atmosphere, with the slight edge you can only get from improvised performance.

Sylvain Luc's posthumous appearance on the album is of significance too. The French guitarist died in March 2024 at the age of 59. His natural flair adds another dimension to the album, bringing a touch of that laid back 1980s American California Coast feeling to tracks such as 'Society's Man'. These contributions to the LP, recorded separately, add character - a final sprinkling of humanity to complement the aliveness and presence of this body of work. Three other musicians also added their creative energy to the project. They were; TOKU, a Japanese jazz musician who specialises in wind instruments, especially the cornet, trumpet and flugel horn. And there's Masa Shimizu, who also has wide-ranging with the guitar, as well as being a producer.

Themes on the album include the optimism one can have by simply trusting the process and trusting that everything will work out in the end. By playing together in the way they do, Spiral Deluxe place their trust in the mystery of what will happen next. Getting comfortable with not knowing is key to a sense of peace with regard to the future and this energy is vital to their collective musical output. By embracing the notion of the unknown, you become an eternal optimist, living in the moment, rather than projecting into the future. This cultivates excitement, an antidote to anxiety.

Meanwhile, the title alludes to the shifts and changes that have occurred in today's society, whereby it's possible to achieve success through pretending. The superficiality, and falsehood, that can often be presented via social media, can lead to questions about what's real and what's not. From AI to the fake personas that populate the dominant platforms, The Love Pretender speaks to a process that is symbolic of the time we're living in. Behaviour that has become acceptable in today's world, which may not have been as welcomed a few decades ago. But this is part of the cycle of life...

Jeff's intention with this music is to present it in high-fidelity, to be listened to over and over and over again. In post-recording he worked for hours to ensure the audio quality was as high as it could be. The goal is to create music that people can live with their entire lives, from his solo work to these masterful improvisations. Music that comes to life, music that has a voice we can replicate with our own vocals. Expressive, unstructured, and alive...

With The Love Pretender Jeff Mills continues his mission to experiment with music outside the bounds of what is typically expected. It's freeing, enlivening, vibrant and uniquely human. As ever, Jeff's visionary outlook and bold approach to musical performance and recording has produced a body of work that epitomises his often revolutionary capabilities. There's no pretending here, just pure unadulterated sonic transmissions from a wonderfully daring, inspiring and optimistic ensemble...

Introducing the ultimate Rock and Power Ballads collection - NOW That’s What I Call Rock Anthems – Out 31st May! Get ready to crank up the volume and let the music take you on a journey through 79 epic hits, spread across 4 CDs.and with 45 epic hits on 3-LP’s pressed in stunning Neon Violet Vinyl

I wrote The Shit Punx Hate for Realicide in 2005. This version was made for Decide Today around a decade later, maybe 2015? It was about the pathetic narrow-minded dogmas that were common in Cincinnati punk, being discriminated against when our approach defied dominant aesthetic criteria, chronically misunderstood and rejected without consideration.

This experience in my formative years led to a long path of thought as I entered adulthood. Those feelings of being "other"ed, treated poorly based on who I was, started to seem less significant compared to the prejudices I saw friends faced with. Targets of bigotry due not to a subcultural choice, but aspects of themselves they were born into. Of course I mean things like race, gender, class, abilities. If being dissed by punk rockers sucked for me, imagine what it must feel like being the only black kid in a social circle that can't even recognize its own racism, the only woman in places misogyny is the celebrated standard, having a non-white family at risk of deportation, growing up "male" or "female" when you've always known they are wrong about you, etc. This was my mental gateway into prioritizing these struggles, wanting to become an ally, then even more so an accomplice.

Revolutionary Reason was written in 2018 during my time working with Mass Action for Black Liberation, and revised abruptly this year while recording for this record, as it was inconceivable not to address the epitome of merciless colonial atrocity orchestrated by the state of Israel. While I write this, the IOF is massacring families in the West Bank. The death toll in Palestine is currently estimated at around 41,000 and it hasn't even been a year since this modern Nakba began. I hope these songs help make apparent that whatever you said you "would do" during Jim Crow America, Nazi Germany, Apartheid South Africa, any archetypal history now synonymous with wrongness, yes I can confirm NOW IS THAT TIME to do it ...if you were for real about it that is.

Big respect to my Arab friends who are so patient while I learn the stuff my school conveniently omitted, to my Jewish friends tirelessly combating the violence of their ethnicity being shackled to a cult of Zionism, to native resistance across Turtle Island that articulates so well that this fight is also still/always very domestic, to contemporary hiphop telling today's stories while rock music often merely offers retro fashion, and of course to Kieren and Borg my homies in OZ.

All my love to intifada direct action everywhere dismantling the imposed global suicide pact that is white supremacist capitalism.

~ Robert Inhuman 28 August 2024

Released in 1997, this Stunning EP from Kerri Chandler is considered by many to be the best of his Raw Grooves series and maybe even his best work of the late 1990's. Ladbroke Grove and What About Us are the classics here while Dub Music and Can't You See tread into darker minimal Chandler territory. Out of print since 2001, this is another slab of Large Music essential wax for every serious collector.

The B is back! Roza Terenzi puts the B in SBC; bounce, bass and.. Boss. Returning with a four track all original EP “Ministry of Wish” the label head is calling on corners of her ever expanding distinctive sound with a sliding scale (etherial to filth) sound bath. Something for every occasion, whether you’re looking to get down and dirty, leave the dancefloor in dust or stargaze via subbass, we got you covered. Recorded between Berlin and Perth, the tracks all signify moments in time that feels like it’s going too fast, an archival stamp on the year 2024; sometimes after a party that lingers with mythical adrenaline, sometimes a personal moment to express reflection.

With the only predictability being Roza’s penchant for Genre Bending, STEP14 sets the tone for the freaky, fabulous year to come of Step Ball Chain in 2025.

This re-issue of the Cocteau Twins' 1993 album has been remastered by Robin Guthrie and is pressed onto high quality 140g vinyl . Cocteau Twins vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist Robin Guthrie, and bassist Simon Raymonde formed in Grangemouth, Scotland in the late 70s. The brainchild of Guthrie and original bassist Will Heggie, by 1981 they had added Fraser and the following year signed to 4AD, one of the most illustrious of the indie labels. With Raymonde replacing Heggie in 1983, the trio went on to create some of the most unique and otherworldly music of the 80s, built around Guthrie's chiming guitar and Fraser's unmistakable soprano. By the early 90s, the group had just released their most successful album, the commercial Heaven or Las Vegas, but the relationship with 4AD was coming to an end. Mercury imprint Fontana was going through something of a purple patch, signing former underground bands, and by 1992, Cocteau Twins had joined The Fall and the House Of Love. The group's debut album for Fontana, Four-Calendar Cafe, was released in October 1993. Its gossamer melodies and largely upbeat pop bely the turmoil the group were going through. Barney Hoskyns, writing in Mojo, said that Four-Calendar Caf was "the most poignant, heartrending Cocteaus record of all, an album of naked confession and raw beauty . . . Sadness never sounded so luscious." Simon Raymonde agreed: "I think in time people will realise what a great album Four-Calendar Caf is. Because I think it's beautiful." Led by the single Evangeline, the reached No 13 in the UK album chart and is much-loved by fans.

Low Order returns with his sixth EP in five years, building on his reputation for relentless industrial body musick. Opening with immersive noise textures, the record takes shape with the stern syncopated bass drum pressure of “See The Land”, echoing Portion Reform’s classic The Supreme Negative. Disciplined cuts such as “Angel Cycle”, “Stand Still” or the remorseless title track further demonstrate the unstoppable forward momentum with which he’s been tearing up clubs across Europe. The final “Eyes On You” cloaks the listener with dream-pale atmospheres of drones, feedback and mutated vocals that almost feels like the embodiment of a gritty realization, of a burdened history that inescapably lingers within. It rounds off an EP that is clearly rooted in the rich history of extreme styles but never takes its eyes off the dancefloor. Recommended for everyone who’s into all the hard, uncompromising stuff!

The third release on Small Steps comes from a German DJ and producer, DJ Balduin. “Everything” is a three-track EP that captures the fleeting moment of the light meeting the dark.

The dusky “Andever” sets the tone with the atmosphere of a starting journey, an endeavor that is both forward-looking and nostalgic.

“Somar” glides after, transmitting the cinematic vision of dreamland life that settles for the night to the intimate dance of ethereal voices. While “You” invites on a lush sonic walk along its warm bassline, straight into the dawn, shimmering with euphoria.

“Everything” is a melodic tapestry oscillating between real and imaginary, on the edges of the day and night, losing itself in the shadow of melancholia to be found again under the ray of hope.

Ajay Saggar is BHAJAN BHOY. "With BHAJAN BHOY, Saggar synthesizes all of the stylistic approaches he’s explored over the years, swirling them into an intoxicating musical blend, with an earthy spirituality. Even the project’s name reflects the dual aspects of Saggar’s upbringing coming together in harmony. In Hindi, a “bhajan” is a devotional song, sung in the mandir, or temple, while “bhoy” is a Scottish and Irish derivation for a young man. There’s a searching quality to Bhajan Bhoy, as if Saggar is still hunting for transcendence with each track, whether through an expansive drone, an orchestral facility on the piano, or an electronics-augmented raga that threatens to dip into noise” (Erick Bradshaw / writer and WFMU DJ). This album presents a rich and varied set of compositions that showcase Saggar’s skills as an incredibly talented and accomplished composer and musician. With each and every Bhajan Bhoy LP, you are are carried to a higher place. With ‘Bhoy On The Wire’, the 35 minutes laid out unfolds like a cosmic tapestry, an extraordinary exploration that shimmers and reverberates with newfound vibrancy. The songs were broadcast as part of a session on Steve Barker’s “On The Wire” radio show in April 2024. They were a gift to Steve and his team for 40 years of broadcasting. “On The Wire” is simply the greatest radio show in the world. As Ajay explains in his own words : “In September 1984, I started a degree course at the University of Lancaster. On a wet and soggy Sunday afternoon towards the end of September, I sat in my room staring out at the grey Lancashire landscape, and decided to alleviate the boredom by seeing if there was anything to listen to on the radio. Most of the stations I tuned into were as dull as the weather outside. However, as I neared the end of the FM dial (and was about to give up hope), I chanced upon a station where I was taken by the music being played. That show was “On The Wire”, introduced by Steve Barker. From there on in, every Sunday, between 2-5pm, I tuned into Radio Lancashire to listen. Steve’s shows had an incredible and wide reaching selection of music and genres, that thrilled your ears and left you wanting more. Tied to that, his deep knowledge of the material he played helped the listener dig into the sounds even more, and also left you in admiration of this trait. In 1985, I started putting on DIY shows in Lancaster (inviting the likes of Bog-Shed, bIG fLAME, The Membranes, The Wedding Present, etc etc) and Steve was kind enough to mention the shows on-air, which helped in getting people from different parts of the county to come to the shows. At the tail-end of 1985, he invited me to the studio to come and hang out. When in 1988, the group I was in, Dandelion Adventure, released our first (demo) cassette, it was Steve, who not only played tracks off it, but invited the group to the studio for an interview. Now if you’re a young band, that is a massive thrill! And in 1990, when Dandelion Adventure did a John Peel session, I actually used “On The Wire” jingles (that Steve had put on a cassette and given to me a few years before) on the track “All the World’s A Lounge”. Since then, the show has been a mainstay for me, and so many others around the world, to get turned onto incredible sounds from around the world. And over the course of 40 years, Steve has always supported my music. These six tracks are a 40th birthday gift to the “On The Wire” team (Steve, Michael “Fenny” Fenton (an absolutely critical part of the show), and Jim Ingham (engineer who keeps the technical side of things going)) for sharing so much amazing music, and making the world a better place. They were originally broadcast as an exclusive session in April 2024 on “On The Wire", and are here for your listening pleasure. Music like shower”. Artwork by Jake Blanchard

Recorded in 1958, this album showcases Chet Baker’s undeniable charm as both a singer and trumpeter, embodying the essence of cool jazz. Accompanied by an elegant trio featuring Kenny Drew on piano, George Morrow on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums, Baker revisits standards with disarming grace. His soft, melancholic voice shines on tracks like “Do It the Hard Way” and “Everything Happens to Me,” where each note feels suspended in time. His airy trumpet subtly converses with Drew’s piano, creating moments of pure musical poetry. A must-listen for fans of intimate and refined jazz.

Cindy Lee, Arthur Russell, Viagra Boys, On-U Sound. In the discourse around new albums from singular, world-building artists, the phrase “a big step forward” can often be a blinking red warning sign. You know you’re about to be pulled somewhere new against your will. Inertia is a hell of a thing. It’s nice here. Surely, the party’s not over yet? JJULIUS’ Vol. 3 album is a big step forward, or a step up, out of the murky basement of the preceding two volumes. There’s no time to acclimate. A spindly violin grabs you by the hand and pulls you into the pastoral bounce of “Brinna ut,” which, in spite of its meaning (“Burn out”), creates the kind of blind positivity and warm stomach feeling less cynical people might find in self-help seminars. For us, we have records like this. And, inertia be damned, Vol. 3 has charm like a balm. JJULIUS records have always arrived like meteors from another planet, an impression hammered home by the fact that they’re titled like compendiums of artifacts. And while Vols. 1 and 2 carried that notable tinge of darkness, Vol. 3 has (almost!) cast that shadow, adding elements of disco (“Dödsdisco”) and dream-pop (“Etopisk hallucination”) to his forever favorites Arthur Russell, African Head Charge, and The Fall. Some of that new car smell could be attributed to a change in process. Each song was written over beats played by Tor Sjödén of the wild-eyed Stockholm group Viagra Boys, beats that were themselves inspired by tracks from the likes of Patrick Cowley, CAN, Count Ossie, Black Devil Disco Club and others that Julius would send to him as inspiration. Unless you’re Mark E. Smith, fervor fades. Eventually we all crave a lie down in some nice grass, a few minutes to gaze at the sky and wonder if everything is actually all that bad. Vol. 3 gives you 35 of those respiting minutes. “No looking back, no misery, no talking trash, no enemies.”

Repressed LP on Neon Orange Vinyl, includes download card. It feels like someone left the light on in the studio and it all just ran itself, there had been a funky human input earlier in the day but, by a Darwinian machine-led kind of osmosis, the tracks recorded spent the wee small hours self-reducing and simplifying themselves. Marinated in music. “I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil,” said Truman Capote. ”Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” opined Leonardo da Vinci much earlier in proceedings. Yes, it’s the space around the object, what you leave out that makes what you leave in so important. ESG know this. Sure they can play the game but it’s the swagger of the groove and the minimal topping – like an anti-cup cake – that makes this unique New York sisterhood so appealing on ‘Keep On Moving’. Sampled on TV ads, lauded by critics and swooned over on the dancefloor, ESG’s post-punk took out the grunge and polished the basics. Cut them open and “less is more” is written all the way through. ‘Keep On Moving’ was released over ten years ago to much praise (Q said it was “even better” than 2002’s much loved ‘Step Off’). ESG had been sparring partners for PiL and early hip hop and four years after the ‘Off’, they were onto something new – rhythm as core, reflective storylines about relationship management, sensuality and insanity gather around the bass fix but they’re much blurrier than the incessant beats. Inadvertently they unmask techno and glitch and leave out any kind of superfluous fluff. It’s hard and temple throbbing. Turn it up. And keep moving. “If there's one tune which sums up ESG's enduring lust for life, it's the beautifully-judged Black Flag/early techno crossover of the closing 'Gimme A Blast'.” The Guardian 5/5 // “This album's every percussive aspect has been honed to impart the maximum amount of pleasure.” The Observer // “Despite their influence on younger bands (you can hear LCD Soundsystem's knobbly grooves on ‘Insane’), ESG still sound like nothing else.” The Guardian

Actual Earth Music - Volume 1 & 2’ presents two caustic, yet alluringly unreal live sets from Canadian noise-rock entropy hunters Earth Ball. Following on from the group’s critically appraised ‘It’s Yours’ LP (released 2024 on Upset The Rhythm - UTR164) this release captures the band at the peak of their powers, playing live, composing spontaneously.
Side A features Earth Ball live at The Fox Cabaret in Vancouver, supporting Wolf Eyes on August 4, 2023. Jeremy Van Wyck from the band considers this “the gig that sent us into orbit, really. Causing Olson & Young to wax poetic about our interstellar jams to a fine bloke across the big sea. Upsetting our casual rhythm and forcing our hand. All that talk led to an LP, ‘It’s Yours’, and a full UK tour the following spring”.
Now, with the birth of this live series ‘Actual Earth Music’, it seems only fitting that Volume 1 should be this gig. It’s a doozy. Listening back is a pure revelation. Earth Ball whip up a vortex of thrashing wild energy, the ecstatic release is off the charts. “You don’t always catch every nuance of the jams as they come down. I mean, this one felt good, but upon listening back to the tapes, it sounded very good” confides Jeremy. “It reminded me of Von Trier’s Melancholia: the sound of a large sphere coming toward you to bring doom. However, this one reverses course, heading away to some other shore, bathing you in reflective bliss before saying goodbye—instead of ending humanity as we know it”.
Volume 2 occupies Side B of this LP, showcasing a collaborative summit from the second night of their recent Café OTO residency on May 21, 2024. This event featured Earth Ball laying down three separate sets—all collaborations. This second recording presents their opening performance and features pivotal UK improv luminary Steve Beresford on piano and free-jazz phenomenon Chris Corsano on drums.
Running Time: 42 mins

The industrial treasure chest of Laurent Petitgand & Thierry Mérigout Geins’t Naït unit gets a third and final archival jag, playing to a spectrum of styles from misfit tape cut-ups to sludgy grooves and trampling sidewinds of the filthiest, sickest calibre.

The three volumes mining the Geins’t Naït Archive have parsed some 40 years of work for the most potent industrial blatz, culminating in some of the gnarliest and richest tackle on this final volume. As also highlighted on releases via Vladimir Ivkovic’s Offen Music label, it’s hard to fully surmise Geins’t Naït’s oeuvre, but you kinda know it when it hits. It’s industrial, or more specifically post-industrial, in the classic sense of everything after Throbbing Gristle and their famous label; buzzing with atonality and often heavily rhythm-driven, but not necessarily built for the club. In some senses, it's adjacent to freakier ‘floors in a way shared by the likes of Bourbonese Qualk or Din A Testbild, likeminded miscreants who emerged in TG’s shadow during the ‘80s.

‘Archives 3/3’ opens with a particularly Gallic slant on the paradigm in ‘Michel’, and shells a slew of thee crankiest gear that shares a certain tone and thrust toward trippy abstraction with Anne Gillis. ‘Abstrac 2’ finds them speaking in ogreish tongues on an uncanny waltz, before dialling up the pomp with near-EBM levels of muscularity and fanfare on ‘Poiro’, and unleashing reverse-looped heck like a La Peste joint in ‘GN is Good For You’. The keening pulse and nose attack of ‘Rappel’ reminds us of CHBB, and the evil slug of ‘Hate’ feels summoned from Parisian catacombs, whilst ‘Wladimir’ stands out for its phosphorous synth burn and prototypical Él-G poetry, leaving ‘Base Cour’ to souse the senses in distortion and barnyard squabble.

Brian Auger’s Streetnoise, recorded in 1969 with Julie Driscoll and The Trinity, stands as a landmark of late 1960s eclecticism, where the boundaries of jazz, rock, folk, and soul blur into a cohesive, genre-defying masterpiece.

Auger was moving The Trinity on from their R&B, jazz beginnings and for Streetnoise, together with Driscoll, delivered a record that channelled their mutually progressive vision. Julie's haunting vocal performances were the perfect counterpoint to Auger’s innovative instrumentation, creating a sound that was both avant-garde yet deeply soulful. “We aimed to challenge expectations, ” Auger recalls. “Every track was a canvas to experiment and push the envelope.”

The album’s gatefold sleeve design, created by Ralph Steadman, inspired by William Hogarth's 18th-century satirical etchings, was as groundbreaking as its music. This was not just a cover, it was a bold statement about art and society, perfectly mirroring the music’s blend of historical reverence and forward-thinking innovation.

Musically, Streetnoise is a kaleidoscope of styles including jazz and R&B, fusion, folk, rock and gospel flourishes. "Ellis Island, " and “Finally Found You Out” are both intense instrumentals that embody the intense fusion of jazz and rock the group was known for. "Indian Rope Man" is one of the standout tracks. A cover of Richie Havens' original, that inspired The Charlatans ‘Indian Rope’ and All Blues, a bold reinterpretation of Miles Davis’ iconic Kind of Blue masterpiece, on which Driscoll's vocal performance may be the highlight. "Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)" is a hauntingly beautiful cover of the finale from the musical Hair. Auger's own compositions from the opening instrumental 'Tropic Of Capricorn', to the introspective solo piano and vocal Looking In The Eye Of The World' display Brian's multiple talents.

Celebrated for its fearless creativity across all 16 tracks, the album is testament to Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll’s visionary artistry. It remains a must-listen for anyone exploring the dynamic intersections of jazz, rock, and soul. The album’s reputation has only grown with time, cementing its legacy as a cornerstone of experimental music.

Streetnoise; A wholly unique album from an equally unique group

Pieter Van Dessel is not one to stand still when it comes to music: the driving force behind Marble Sounds keeps challenging himself, exploring new horizons on every album. After the more melancholic eponymous fifth album, synths and drums take centre stage for a pure and almost electronic pop sound on sixth effort ‘Core Memory’. The result is sparkling and epic indie pop, often with driving synths and delicious melodies, like on opening track and first single An Emotional High, or If You Would Prove Me Wrong Now, which did very well in The Netherlands too: Marble Sounds made the cover of Spotify's leading ‘New Alternative’ playlist and played a live session for popular NPO Radio 2 show ‘Blokhuis’. Third single Give Or Take A Few is Van Dessel's answer to A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton's smash hit from the beginning of this millennium. “And your thousand miles, I'd walk ’em too”, he sings in a touching ballad reminiscent of Eels and Tom Waits. Like with previous Marble Sounds records, Core Memory was produced by Van Dessel himself. It’s out on 7 March, followed by a release tour in Belgium and The Netherlands, playing lovely venues from Antwerp to Bruges and Utrecht to Maastricht.

Sofia Kourtesis has announced that she will release her new EP Volver on 1 August via Ninja Tune. Along with the announcement she has shared lead single ‘Unidos’ which is made in collaboration with Daphni (aka Dan Snaith aka Caribou), the first ever Daphni collaboration track.

Speaking of the single Sofia says:
“Unidos is about the power and beauty of how much stronger we are together. I always admire the light and the beautiful shine of Dan, he is a hero and he is so generous without making a big fuss about it”

While Daphni says:
“Sofia sent me a demo of this track that she’d been working on and it was immediately evident that it was a massive track. To be clear, all the good ideas in this track are Sofia’s I just added some drums and pumped up the arrangement”

Speaking of the Volver EP Sofia says:
“In the Volver EP I am paying tribute to all the LGBT+ community and all the amazing trans women that I was lucky to meet through the course of the last few years. Their bravery and existence in a world full of hate and danger, they find a way to bring the lights to the most vulnerable communities, specifically those that are behind the walls of terrible corruption in the Latino America Security and Health System.”

The EP recording itself she describes - in keeping with its title - as like a Pedro Almodóvar movie: a chaotic, painful but ultimately joyful experience, as she worked across her twin homes in Germany and Peru with dramatic changes occurring all the time. Across this process Sofia was touring the world, playing bigger and bigger shows, working with local communities in Germany and South America, navigating the continued care of her mother, and even decided to throw beginning to study medicine into the mix.

This has always been what makes Sofia such a special artist - there is so much living crammed into every inch of her music. Here she builds on that, her intoxicating spirit more present than ever.