Search:exist

Bob Dylan was at several crossroads in the mid-1970s. Artistically, he was largely written off as being past his prime. Emotionally, he was suffering through a painful divorce from his then-wife Sara Lowndes. Creatively, he appeared at a stalemate, his previous decade's unprecedented run of transformational brilliance finished. Then came Blood on the Tracks.

A start-to-finish cycle that documents a lover's pursuit of, entanglement with, and loss of a woman, the bracingly intimate 1975 effort remains one of the most encompassing break-up albums ever made and ranks as the most personal statement of the Bard's career. To hear it is to experience the agony, frustration, trauma, highs, lows, confusion, sadness, and, ultimately, requisite redemption associated with intimate relationships gone astray. Dylan maintains it's a work of fiction, but it's evident close-vested autobiographical premise is what helps make it universal: It's the icon singing through tears, going out of his mind, battling hallowing emptiness, firing shots across the bow, and accepting culpability. It is, in short, a consummate expression of love's darker sides and the consequences of what happens when dreams unravel.

As part of its Bob Dylan catalogue restoration series, Mobile Fidelity is thoroughly humbled to have the privilege of mastering the iconic LP from the original master tapes and pressing it on dead-quiet LP at RTI. The end result is the very finest, most transparent analogue edition of Blood on the Tracks ever produced – and the first-ever proper analog reissue. Fantastically presenting both the solo acoustic and band-supported songs with the utmost clarity, dynamics, presence, immediacy, spaciousness, imaging, and balance, this version shines a high-powered light on the fluid vocal phrasing, timbral shifts, functional rhythms, and inward-looking strumming that contribute to every song here serving as a wound-exposing confessional.

For all the melancholic pain, unresolved questions, shattered memories, wasted times, unrequited dialogues, and weary regret within, Blood on the Tracks remains as daring as it is reflective. Rather than follow for a monotone caustic vibe, Dylan's songs burrow into the subconscious for the manners in which they are even-keeled, mellow, and occasionally, even peaceful. Dignity, honour, poignancy, and fairness – all traits uncommon in any situation in which partners dissolve histories, change hearts, and attribute blame – instil the record with equilibrium on par with the consistency of the flowing melodies.

Throughout, tunes come on and proceed as if they could continue forever, Dylan spinning poetic verses and conversations amidst finely tied knots of acoustic notes, chords, and fills, the deceivingly simple architecture conjuring the intertwined refractions of a bezeled jewel, various angles, colours, and textures conjoining into a gorgeously inseparable whole. Backed by Tony Brown's flexible albeit subtle bass, Buddy Cage's country-streaked pedal-steel guitar, and Paul Griffin's soul-baring organ – an instrument used to shadow, tuck-point, and illuminate here as effectively as any time in rock history – Dylan pours soulful emotion, open his veins, and bleeds.

Ranked 16 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and replete with existential thought, piercing directness, raw singing, and majestic arrangements,

Given the sonic and artistic merit of this album, we anticipate huge demand.

The EP FACE II is a continuation of the Faces EP series, of which the first EP was released in october 2022. The basis here is also a literary fixpoint with KAFKAS VER- WANDLUNG.

the examination of the urban modern man has its origin in the album JAHRE and is now explored in more detail here. What happens to us in a time of digital transparency as a glass human of the city and night.

It starts with THE VOID, which was originally intended as a poem about being lost. We go out into the night, some to search, some to forget and some to never come back as the same again. On our journey we often take substances that we expect to make this journey easier and faster. the escape from ourselves and from our relationships to the environment and humans can‘t just be skipped. a fast way is always a dangerous way and often leads to an even bigger EMPTINESS.

In THE GHOST something appears to us late at night, it is like a shadow of the previous hours, something that has followed us on the streets and accompanied us un- discovered until we reached our home. We wake up and at first it is unclear whether we are dreaming.

In half-sleep the dimensions blur together and the whole polyva- lence of the different existences gapes open. We blink into the DARKNESS and try to recognize something, the light remains far away and yet we hear this piercing sound, which in the end leaves us only with ourselves. we are the spirit of the night, trapped on an old tape in the chest of nothing.

The next section THE MOON shows us the light in the darkness. The shadows and ghosts give way for a moment and the light flows through our veins and molecules. The poem describes our unspoken longing to follow the light, in the light our fears disappear and everything blurs into an unknown familiarity. We stagger back and forget the encounters with our inner DAWN.

In the light the ghosts disappear like childhood memories left behind.
The last chapter is written by THE DAWN, a stanza from the poem of the same name as a spoken reconciliation with the world. In spite of everything, we seek harmony and connectedness. No one wants to become an exile, even if we can‘t always bring it about ourselves. We love LIFE and we hear and feel everything around us, if we let ourselves ...

ALL LOVE
AMAS_DHE / AMAS_PHI

Julian Cannonball Adderley's only Blue Note album, Somethin' Else, would likely forever be famous in music lore if just for the presence of Miles Davis. The iconic composer/trumpeter steps into the role of sideman on the 1958 set, one of just a handful of times he'd make such a move after the calendar passed the mid-1950s. Yet evaluating Somethin' Else strictly on Davis' involvement misses the big picture. Plain and simple, Adderley's jubilant work remains a jazz landmark due to the chemistry of its Hall of Fame personnel, enthusiasm of its participants, and sophistication of its arrangements – not to mention the reference-grade production and inclusion of the definitive renditions of two all-time jazz standards.

Limited to 6,000 numbered copies, pressed on dead-quiet MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition pays tribute to the record's merit and includes the bonus track "Allison's Uncle." Offering reference-calibre sonics, this spectacular collector's version provides a clear, transparent, ultra-dynamic, and up-close view of a cornerstone effort that witnesses Adderley and Davis sharing horn duty alone for the only time in their fabled careers – an arrangement that occurred as a result of Adderley having joined Davis' majestic sextet a year prior.

The premium packaging and beautiful presentation of the UD1S Somethin' Else pressing befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendour of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artefact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the iconic photos to the gorgeous finishes.

The vibrant potency reveals itself openly on an analogue set that provides full-range reproduction of an ensemble that also includes pianist Hank Jones, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art Blakey. Each and every snare hit, downbeat, and cymbal splash registered by the latter take on realistic proportions, blooming and decaying as they would right in front of you on a stage. Jones' foundational bass lines register with uncommon depth and palpability, the litheness of the strings and fullness of the instrument epitomizing the definition of rhythm. Stellar, too, are the surefooted 88s. Sublime in scale, tonality, and attack, with the delineation such you can practically separate the white and black keys in your mind. As for that liquid interplay between Adderley and Davis? Breathtakingly lifelike in timbre, naturalism, purity, and presence. This collector's version takes you there – there being Rudy Van Gelder's legendary New Jersey studio in March 1958 to witness it all unfold, again and again.

For reasons that extend far beyond the outstanding playing and flawless repertoire, Somethin' Else is without question a record you'll always want to watch and hear come together. As veteran critic Bob Blumenthal observed writing about the album four decades after its release, "The instant rapport achieved by the quintet is thus the product of much shared and common history, though the tensile strength that they create throughout created a totally unique feeling that can be attributed to the sensitive musicianship of all concerned, including the supposedly hard bopping leader and drummer." Such inimitable feeling, or emotion, courses throughout every passage, and no where more obviously than on "Autumn Leaves" and "Love for Sale."

Without question, the discreet interpretations of the Johnny Mercer and Cole Porter songs, respectively, found on Somethin' Else have long been considered part of jazz's alluring mystique. Adderley and Davis bring contrasting approaches to the table yet sound of a singular mind on "Autumn Leaves," with the latter's muted trumpet and the headliner's lush alto saxophone dovetailing into a performance that endures as a blueprint for expression, counterpoint, sophistication, fluidity, and linearity. Blues, melody, and romance pour from their horns. Their bandmates, picking up on the intimate vibe and calm mood here – as well as on the spry, head-over-heels spirit of "Love for Sale" – join in on the conversation with sharp economy and float-on-air roundedness.

Not to undersell the other three numbers, all deserving five-star status. Twelve measures in length, the title track offers a slow burn in swing. Written by Adderley's brother, Nat, the 12-bar "One for Daddy-O" transmits funk flavors. The closing "Dancing in the Dark" pops with lushness and temptation, its stream of bold colours and understated textures calling for a moonlight twirl, or at least fantasies suggestive of a memorable night. Somethin' else, indeed.

Santilli returns to Mad Habitat after a European sojourn on Growing Bin! The Eora-based multi-instrumentalist is one half of Angophora, but his solo work exists in the lineage of electro-acoustic visionaries like Steve Tibbetts. With each subsequent release, Santilli strikes the balance between mining his well-defined personal aesthetic and expanding his vision.

The instrumental palette of this record is centered around guitar and synthesizer, bolstered by an incredible array of idiophones and membranophones. There is no shortage of spellbinding moments, like the glacial synths that pan across “Mirrors”, the cascading beauty of “Colours” or the woodland symphony of “Hollow” - the latter even recalls the environmentally-focused work of Waak Waak Djungi’s Peter Mumme.

There’s a common thread across this album in the way it evokes the expanse of nature that Santilli spends much of his time in. All 9 tracks feel like a glimpse into an exquisitely realized scene and across all of them, Santilli's music is suffused with an unhurried sense of ease. The music here feels immersive and panoramic as a result, and we’re grateful to share a glimpse into the worlds Santilli captures.

"Don't Stop" is the third album retrospectively released by Ghia. As the subtitle "Early Works & Artefacts 1984-1987" implies, it features some of their earliest compositions as well as tracks that were recorded during the same period as their "Curaçao Blue" LP.

The album is a fusion of diverse music styles. Listeners will delight in a range of genres, including electro, funk, soul, jazz-funk, synth pop, and even rap/hip-hop, all woven together as a cohesive work that remains mostly instrumental. As a whole, "Don't Stop" represents Ghia's funkiest and most experimental release to date. Notably, the LP features a rap version of Hermann Hesse's controversial German poem "Armer Teufel am Morgen nach dem Maskenball" ("Poor Devil the Morning After the Costume Ball") from 1926, accompanied by a drum machine rhythm and funky guitar. This poem depicts a person who drank too much the night before, telling the story and describing his hangover. The title track "Don't Stop" and the thrilling minimal electro-funk tune "3 A.M. at Moëf Gaga" both evoke old-school electro influences. The latter references the Spanish discotheque Moëf Gaga, located on the Balearic coast, which the dynamic duo of Lutz Boberg and Frank Simon frequented during their 1980s holidays. While the exact music played at 3 A.M. is unknown, listening to Ghia's track will undoubtedly capture the mood of the place.

One of the key tracks of the album is "Message From The Other Side", which could easily be noted as one of the nicest European synth-funk instrumental pieces ever. The track is based on a sick synth bass line, sparkled with DX7 chord hits, funky guitar, and a delightful "marimba" solo in the last third. The solo was actually played on Boberg's keyboard, using a special sound cartridge. This particular track had to be edited and technically revised by Marian Tone and DJ Scientist as the existing demo version of the song could not be used as is. With its stunning groove, this track will surely be a DJ's favorite.

Listening to the complete album, there is more of Boberg's keyboard wizardry: could you believe that the trumpet solo on "Jump In The Water" as well as the short but stunning slap bass solo on "Talk Too Much" were both played by on the DX7? However, this new release, unlike the jazzy "Curaçao Blue", is not about solos or virtuous playing - it clearly shows the duo's direction towards more electronic composition and clear song structures. The versions of "September Garden", "When The Rain is Falling" as well as "Talk Too Much" are actually instrumental mixdowns of vocal songs. And again, we get a blissful take of "Close To You", here a version from 1986. This soulful jazz-funk ballad could already be heard on "Curaçao Blue" while the final vocal version with singer Lisa Ohm can be found on the recently released "This Is" LP. This shows that the Ghia composers, Boberg and Simon, were perfectionists - tracks were reworked again and again, making them better and better.

The album was mastered and restored with great care, and we are pleased to provide you with a perfect example of mid 1980s home-recording pleasures, tinged with a youthful spirit and providing a sound that cannot be recaptured anymore nowadays. Alongside "This Is" and "Curacao Blue" it should be another perfect addition to any 80s groove collection as well as a great pick for DJs that love and play disco, leftfield electro and funk. The LP is limited to 500 copies.

MIZMOR, is a one-man heavy music exploration that began in 2012 as a
way of dealing with the mental and spiritual anguish mastermind A L N
feels as a person
More specifically, the content behind the project is that of the existential - primal
and innate musings about cause, purpose, self, and god. It is the search for light
and truth, or the fact that there is none. It comes from an embittered, burned,
confused, and broken heart. It is the fight for survival when reason and
foundation has turned to nothingness. It is the crashing down of towers of
falsehood and the freedom that comes through a certain kind of grief. Ultimately,
MIZMOR is the manifestation of my long-felt depression, and neither have an end
in sight.
In A.L.N.'s own words behind the new MIZMOR album "Prosaic":
"The idea behind "Prosaic" was to make an intentionally less conceptual, more
slice- of- life record. I wanted to make an album that was less precious and
obsessed-over, more honest and real; less grandiose and more human. I found it
an interesting challenge to find the line between 'you can do better' and 'you're
beating a dead horse.' I tried to make my process more efficient and even fun at
times. I simply wanted to share, but if that meant exacting all-out perfectionism, I
wasn't going to make a record. Right now I'm interested in making less selfindulgent music. The themes are the absurdity/futility/purpose/meaning of work,
mindfulness/ consciousness/ living in the present moment/ shedding illusions,
depression/ acceptance/ contentment. This is the first MIZMOR album without
any content relating to god/atheism. You also won't hear any shrieks."

This Moment' - Shakti's first new studio album in more than 45 years - is
a work of immense depth and radiant optimism
With John McLaughlin (guitar, guitar synth) and Zakir Hussain (tabla) joined by
vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and percussionist
Selvaganesh Vinayakram, the Shakti of now is a powerfully dynamic collective,
defined by deft interplay, dazzling unison passages, extraordinarily dexterous
improvisations, and the ability to draw from a vast well of global traditions and,
miraculously, put them in conversation with one another.
As a cornerstone of what is now called World Music, the vision and virtuosity of
Shakti has inspired generations of musicians from around the world to explore
sonic hybrids once thought impossible. Born of the musical and spiritual
brotherhood shared by the revolutionary British guitarist and bandleader John
McLaughlin and master Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain, Shakti's soulful,
organic intermingling of Eastern and Western musical traditions has proven
transformative for both the band's members and its listeners. Fifty years after the
informal conversations and jam sessions that sparked the band into existence,
their music continues to resonate and evolve.
Despite the large gap in their studio discography, Shakti has persisted
intermittently over the years as a live proposition, releasing several concert
recordings. "Shakti is very much a 'live' band, " explains McLaughlin. "A part of the
problem with making a studio recording has always been the fact that we live on
different continents, and we all follow our individual careers – in addition to
working together in Shakti. 'This Moment' is the result of me calling everyone in
the fall of 2021 and persuading them to use today's recording technology to
realise it."
Recorded and mixed in the U.S., Monaco, India, and Great Britain, This Moment is
nevertheless cohesive, bound by the deeply held bond shared by the players - a
bond that is audibly apparent across the album's eight tracks.

Raised on Colombia's Caribbean coast and united by its capital, Bogota, Ghetto Kumbé combines the rich musical heritage of their home, to invoke the spirit of digital rumba in audiences all over the world. The secret behind their irresistible electronic ritual lies in their powerful percussion base; Caribbean house beats and traditional afro-Colombian rhythms inherited from West Africa. The album's co-producer, The Busy Twist, adds all the legacy of UK's Bass scene to the Afrofuturistic sounds of the 3 Colombians. Inspired by the different revolutionary movements emerging all over the world, Ghetto Kumbé will release their first full-length album in July 2020 on pioneering Latin Ameri-can electronic label ZZK. Their self-titled debut is visceral, committed, and rebellious, denouncing through frantic rhythms the inequalities and abuses imposed by corrupt governments, while simultaneously enticing listeners to join in the fight. Dance mingles with awareness to create a global community, where family, friends, and strangers come together through our shared love of music and activate change amongst themselves. Using musical motifs from Africa and Colombia's Caribbean coast such as the gaita, call-and-response vocals, and an array of hand drums and rhythms, coupled with the elegant electronic production of Tech/House, Ghetto Kumbé creates an Afro-futurist soundscape with lyrics to motivate, elevate, and inspire. Their first single to come out, `Vamo a Dale Duro', is a fluorescent criticism of the unjust divide between the poor and the rich, the rising prominence of dirty politicians, and the ethics of the capitalist sys-tem while encouraging people to stand up and fight for a dignified existence. The al-bum's tone fluctuates fluidly between tracks that include ancestral chants, voices both deep and resounding, and anthems to uplift and inspire, as well as features by up-and-coming Réunion island artist Melanie and the Palenque-based folk/hip-hop band Kombilesa Mi. In the Americas, Ghetto Kumbé has become one of the most important alternative groups to come out of Colombia. They've played Barranquilla's world famous Carnival, Bogotá's recent Boiler Room, and have even opened for Radiohead. The ancient yet modern sound of the three powerful musicians has made them a legitimate representative of the new Afrohouse scene burgeoning all over the world.

The electric eels were the first punk band, full stop. They may not have “started” the genre, but they were the first to tick all the boxes. The eels rejected every 1970s rock convention—professionalism, virtuosity, subject matter, image. Dave E.’s caustic vocals, complete with an aggressive lisp and a head full of snot, would become de rigeur a few years after the group disbanded. Meanwhile, the songs’ focus on car crashes, suicide, neuroses, and generally hating people were as far out of the mainstream as possible. The two eels tracks that do approach the subject of romance couch it in terms of not really caring that much about it (“Jaguar Ride”) or placing it in the context of a grisly murder (“Silver Daggers”). Also consider John Morton’s signature guitar sound, a nails-on-chalkboard tone with brutally free soloing inspired more by Albert Ayler than the blues or aspirations to technical facility. Ditto Dave E.’s clarinet playing and affection for lawnmowers and vacuums during live performance. They were notoriously violent not only among themselves, but towards audiences, police, and anyone unfortunate enough to be around them when things went south. Then of course there are the leather jackets, the clothing festooned with rat traps or safety pins. And no bass player, why bother. There is simply no other “proto” band to have had all these pieces in place circa 1973- 1975. Yet it is a mistake to consider the eels exclusively in such a context. Yes, the eels could and did shock anyone who encountered them, but they also had great songs. While both Dave and John were visionary writers, they also had rhythm guitarist Brian McMahon, a melody and riff machine who wrote many of the band’s signature songs. And they were no one-trick pony. Although much of the band’s material is appropriately high-energy, there is also the downer eels—morbid, harmonically risky, and in full existential crisis. Although it’s not a focus of this compilation, the eels also had a penchant for completely free improvisation. Over the last forty plus years, there have been several electric eels compilations. Spin Age Blasters is quite simply the best one ever assembled, every single key track is here in its best version, properly mastered by John Golden, and sequenced with an eye towards both flow between tracks as well as individation between sides. A true monster of an album.

Next up in Veyl’s ever-evolving and diverse catalog comes of an experimental sonic experience from Llimbs.

The project of Hagen Ebejer, he began making music in the early 2000’s and started Llimbs in 2016, which allowed him to officially release music and perform live, making his debut at Berlin’s legendary Tresor. Now he arrives on Veyl with Midnight Amber, an 8-track album which fully realizes the Llimbs sound and vision. Inspired by dark and experimental sounds, Midnight Amber is a tour de force of genre-bending compositions, conjured using downtempo and dreamlike sounds which explore both the organic and digital.

The result is an undefinable affair which is both haunting and infectious at once. 'Unfold' commences the album with a soft yet powerful piece of melodic melancholy, inviting the listener through the gates and into the world of Llimbs. 'Divergent' picks things up with a ritual work of stirring chants which leads us to the evocative chords on 'Origin'. Finishing off side A is 'Absent', a slow burning rhythmic piece which encapsulates the listener, creating an almost nostalgic atmosphere for a time unknown.

'Phase' begins the B side with cinematic flair, creating a palpable tension which then evaporates into the ether. 'Eclipse' returns to a familiar dreamworld, traversing the skies which feel both familiar yet mysteriousbefore 'Fragment' dives deeper into a hidden universe of emotion, fusing ancient works with modern technology. Concluding the album is 'Midnight', a perfect end to a journey which exists at the intersection of the natural and mechanical, reality and surreality, marking a tremendous finale which can only lead to a new beginning.

La Tragédie D’Oreste Et Électre is the high-water mark of Cranes’ work in a specifically high-art realm. Recorded before the release of 1993’s Loved, its release was held up until 1996 due to copyright clearance issues from the estate of French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, whose work is used as the album’s lyrics.

Highlights from the release include “Danse D’Electre,” a gentle piece that turns into a haunting wash of ambient sound, and the understated chills of “Au Temple,” one of Shaw’s best vocal turns on the album.

La Tragédie D’Oreste Et Électre is available on vinyl for the first time as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on crystal clear vinyl. The package includes a 16-page booklet containing all the story notes for the adaptation in both English and French.

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, or simply Bardo, is a 2022 Mexican epic black comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. The film stars Daniel Giménez Cacho alongside Griselda Siciliani and follows a journalist/documentarian who returns to his native country of Mexico and begins having an existential crisis in the form of dreamlike visions.

Bardo premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in competition for the Golden Lion. Critics praised the performances, cinematography, and direction. It received a nomination for Best Cinematography at the 95th Academy Awards.

Bryce Dessner, of The National, made the score and wrote; "We recorded the score in Mexico at the beautiful Sony Music Studios in Mexico City and Topetitud Studio in Coyocan. The process of recording the music for Bardo and working with amazing Mexican musicians, including Brass bands from Oaxaca and musicians from the National Symphony, in the studio was an incredible joy for me and something I will remember for the rest of my life."

The soundtrack of Bardo also contains songs by David Bowie, Genesis, José José a.o. The 2LP is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on green (LP 1) and white (LP 2) coloured vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve and includes 2 printed innersleeves.

“All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” (Realia006) is the forthcoming record from LATHE 00, the new moniker under which Umbria-based artist Leonardo Carloni has recently started to operate.

Preceded by several collaborative undertakings, LATHE 00’s debut solo album is akin to an experiment in autotheory, where art-making practice and theoretical inquiry are entwined to the point of being virtually inseparable. Through the combined use of autobiographical and philosophical elements, “All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” meditates on individuality, technology, and new forms of (post-)human existence.

The record has been conceived as a three-act project, with each act comprising four compositions that correspond to as many recurring themes: birth, love, death, and emptiness. Produced over the course of two years, the album has a total of twelve tracks, the majority of which run for less than two and a half minutes. Upon closer inspection, these tracks feel less like standalone pieces of music and more like outtakes of a single but continuously mutating continuum.

LATHE 00’s first feature is a work of rare beauty. As a one-person debut project, its stylistic variety, compositional maturity, and technical rigor are outstanding. By combining a forward-looking production style with references as varied as ambient, hyper-pop, instrumental post-rock, world-beat, and modern classical and folk music, LATHE 00 develops a mode of expression that transgresses genres and is distinctively his own.

The result is a signature sound that feels equally primordial and hyper-contemporary, fleshly visceral and detached. The inclusion of the artist's own vocals in the music is a notable aspect of this style. Alongside sampled materials, his non-lexical vocalisations appear as both an affirmative and negative act, simultaneously gesturing towards bodiless dissolution and a desire to reclaim one’s all-too-embodied presence in this world.

Despite being a concept album grounded in a profound theoretical substrate, “All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” surprisingly relies on wordless communication only. As such, in it, song titles become key vectors of information. Appealing primarily to the listener’s sense of sight, they are used in a way that seamlessly blends the aesthetics of the digital (“Loading of Image Aborted!”), nature (the title track), and ritual (Pouring Blood into the Lake).

The album will be released in digital format alongside a limited-edition printed publication conceptualised and designed by Lidia Ginga Cozzupoli and Bernardo Berga.

The follow up to the band’s celebrated 2020 release Fish Pond Fish and Darlingside’s fourth LP marks a subtle but remarkable departure for the Boston-based quartet NPR once described as “exquisitely arranged, literary minded, baroque folk- pop.” While the album retains much of the lushness and sophistication of Extralife (2018) and Fish Pond Fish, the band’s latest work highlights the individuality of the four songwriters in a way that adds a fitting element of reinvention to an album that captures brilliantly the quality of the moment in which it was made. Grappling with change both personal and universal, with quandaries domestic and existential, Everything Is Alive is an album about loss and the struggle for a semblance of redemption; themes of grief, distance and hope permeate an album filled with vivid imagery and lyrical creativity. Comprised of Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji, Harris Paseltiner and David Senft, four likeminded multi-instrumentalists who first met at Williams College in 2009, Darlingside’s career has been defined by the elegance of their compositions and the remarkable unity of their four voices. Their talent for harmony and melodic world-building is part of what garnered praise from outlets like NPR, Rolling Stone and The New Yorker, and what has created demand worldwide for their extraordinary live performances. Becoming beautifully unindividualized has, in other words, worked very well for Darlingside in the past. With a vigor and discipline more common to graduate-level writing workshops than to indie rock, Darlingside have, over the years, experimented with all manners of idiosyncratic methods for elevating and upholding a truly democratic process of songwriting—processes that include multiple rounds of group writing and recording exercises—all with the aim of escaping the trap that bands with multiple songwriters often fall into: the ruse of ego-driven infighting and artistic incoherence. Everything Is Alive is Darlingside taking a risk. Nudged by the limitations created by pandemic isolation, as well as through other more voluntary catalysts, the album, which was produced and recorded by the band and mixed by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens, Iron and Wine), foregrounds in a sustained and heretofore untried way the individual voices of each member.

Borrowed Tongue is the debut solo album by Korean singer-songwriter Minhwi Lee. It’s a mysterious, strangely compelling thing, an album of rare poetry, and remarkably self-assured. Originally released in November 2016, the album made waves, winning best folk album of 2016 at the 14th Korean Music Awards. Its eight songs, written and predominantly arranged by Lee, don’t reveal their secrets easily, or at first blush; rather, they take their time slowly to unfurl in her listeners’ worlds. There are hints of other music here, from time to time: the intimacy of Stina Nordenstam, perhaps; the gauzy haze of Hope Sandoval, on the blissed-out pop of “Broken Mirror”; there are touches of acid-folk, and ECM jazz, and a slyly filmic approach to songwriting and arrangement that makes every song fit perfectly into the album’s arc.

Lee arrived at her solo music through a complex, circuitous route. After studying musicology in Seoul, she learned her trade, film scoring, in New York and Paris. She also studied classical music, blowing off steam in a wild punk duo, Mukimukimanmansu, who released one album, 2012, on Korean indie label Beatball. Subsequently, Lee has been refining her music, focusing both on her solo songs, and on writing for television series and films; she’s written scores for films by such directors as Sangmoon Lee, Jeongwon Kam, and Wanmin Lee. She also plays in the jazz outfit Cubed, and recently joined doom metal group Gawthrop on bass.

Since its release in 2016, Borrowed Tongue has slowly bewitched listeners with its idiosyncratic arrangements and evocative songwriting. It’s an album that hints at plenty, but refuses to make grand statements, something Lee seems intent to pursue: in correspondence, she’s very clear that she wants these songs to enact a kind of transmutation, to be adopted into the listeners’ lives and exist within their own imaginings. She does, however, offer a few hints to what propels these mercurial songs, explaining, “this album is about a person who again opens their mouth, which was once shut. The album deals with what it means to speak: things that are known but not said, things that should be said but are not, things that cannot be said but nonetheless are.”

This may well explain the curious mood of Borrowed Tongue, the multiple ‘voices’ that inhabit the album; Lee’s singing voice is pliable and mutable, approaching each song as its own diorama and ensuring the song is sung with just the right tone. The arrangements Lee conjures for her songs are all in service to narrative and melody; they appear to her alongside the composition, which is surely why everything here fits together so beautifully. From there, Lee approaches her songs carefully, in deference to their ‘need to be sung’ a certain way. There isn’t a moment wasted: everything on Borrowed Tongue is as it needs to be, whether a melancholy folk song taking to the air, or a psychedelic reverie dreamed into being. It’s a beautiful, poised and confident debut.

Sound Metaphors gives they keys of the label's catalogue vaults to Aggelos Baltas aka Anatolian Weapons and this is the result. 5 tracks previously released on our labels now submitted to the studio prowess of the Greek machine. Dubbed out, tripped out, slowed down, sped up, mind blown. Aggelos brings his distinctive flavor to the table and re-constructs some of our dacefloor oriented favorites from the early 90's. From California's Exist Dance label to Italian underground tracks and even a Disciples' number, Aggelos cherry picks his weapons for the most spaced out of dance floors, sounding big and effective, can't go wrong.

[n] B7. Alain Goraguer – Les Hommes [La Grande Co-Existence]

Western Massachusetts band Landowner play abrasively clean minimalist-punk. Singer Dan Shaw began Landowner in 2016, writing and recording Impressive Almanac with a practice amp and a laptop drum machine. Those available tools would inform the band’s unapologetic sound—clean, confrontational, and absurdly stark. With a stated goal to sound like “Antelope playing Discharge”, Landowner’s diamond hard structures, repetitious instrumentals and caricatured hardcore make space for lyrics that reflect on the global systems our lives are tangled in and the dark absurdities we take for granted.

Landowner’s fourth Born Yesterday full length Escape the Compound focuses on the powerful grips manipulators and reality-deniers have on their victims, examining the social, political and interpersonal damage of cult-like influence and control. “A lot of the lyrics focus on cult manipulators and narcissists: falling victim to their toxic dynamics, and the difficulty of escaping their grip” says Shaw. From climate change deniers and conspiracy theorists to deceptive narcissists and actual cult leaders, Landowner explores the ubiquity of modern unreality through evocative imagery and a keen sense of awareness. The band’s plain instrumentation sheds and subverts hardcore punk’s noisy veil in favor of a direct, unswerving examination of these themes.

Written and recorded following the release of 2020’s Consultant, Escape the Compound finds Landowner leaning into the studio through deeper experimentation with a wider palette of sounds. The group’s lineup of Josh Owsley (bass), Elliot Hughes (guitar), Jeff Gilmartin (guitar), Josh Daniel (drums) and Dan Shaw played often since coming together in 2017. But with pandemic restrictions in place, the making of Escape the Compound became a much more insular pursuit, one where the mixing and mastering process helped turn the band’s most varied batch of material into a cohesive, thematic collection of songs.

Album opener “Witch Museum” is a collage of dark Massachusetts historical imagery. The song evokes a kind of cult dynamic travelling like a shadow through time, where dark absurdities are taken for granted, toxic behaviours are excused, and normalcy begins to shift. The line “Gail's behaviour has changed” casts fictional “Gail” as the dark manipulator, whose whim we’re at the mercy of. She sheds her toxic behaviour and the crisis finally ends - “and peace returns to the Commonwealth”- an absurdity, given that cult leaders and narcissists rarely seem to change.

By considering the past, Landowner sheds light on the present. The band challenges egomaniacs reluctant to accept an uncomfortable reality with both cynicism and concern. The literal landowner described in “Heat Stroke” collapses in exhaustion, cooked by a suffocating bass line and sizzling hi-hats. “You'd rather die of heat stroke than to let anybody see you change your mind,” Shaw gasps, later pleading with the character in “Floodwatch” to “please reconsider” their brazen stubbornness as they plunge through the rising waters of a flooded road.

The character in “Swimmer of Note” refuses to admit their miscalculations, instead doubling down on an ever-growing and increasingly-unsteady tower of lies. The sneering “Damning Evidence” sets a scene all too familiar: a smoking gun scenario with zero consequences. Shaw’s exaggerated vocal refrains and sarcastic inflections mock false hope: “how will they be expected to keep their minds intact, at the shock of simply hearing such damning evidence?”

“Beyond the Darkened Library” creaks open a secret passageway into a dimly lit, endless labyrinth of conspiracy theories, in which the character becomes hopelessly lost. “Aftermath” sounds the alarms: “stare so long that you start getting used to it; one glance says you should never get used to it.” The pair of “Tactics” tracks express what Shaw calls “an interpersonal microcosm of the album’s themes.”

Perhaps the most ambitious arc on Escape the Compound loosely begins with the title track. The subject in “Escape the Compound” gradually recognizes their own victimhood and plans a calculated flight from the “captivating shepherd” – hop the fence, flee, and regain autonomy. As the narrator escapes their stifling and abusive cult microcosm, a much grander existential timeline begins to appear. “Thousands of Years in Fast Forward” narrates a psychedelic surrender to the shared human experience through space and time, an ego-death adjacent to our ancestry, our own existence, and the before and after. “At the site of the crater, molecular hands unclasp molecular hands as you lose conditioning,” Shaw sings on the title track, “Your grandmother's garden. Your grandmother's kitchen. Your grandmother's primordial ocean.” It’s a profound actualizing glimpse into a true, forgotten reality and a startling reconnection with the self.

Voyager Gold Vinyl

On Jupiter, Brooklyn trio Upper Wilds voyage deeper into the cosmos, mapping out the overwhelming enormity of the universe in soaring hooks and blistering noise. The third installment in the trio"s exploration of our solar system looks to its largest planet for a daring exploration of scale and perspective. New York underground mainstay Dan Friel"s melodic gifts and wry lyricism are magnified and propelled ever outwards by the thundering rhythm section of bassist Jason Binnick and drummer Jeff Ottenbacher, all immersed in rippling fuzz. Just like its namesake, Jupiter stands as Upper Wilds most colossal offering in their catalog. The raw power of their music is amplified to titanic proportions, sky-clawing riffs invoking the sheer awe that the heavens inspire. More than any Upper Wilds album before it, Jupiter makes humanity"s endeavors in space exploration an inseparable part of its sonic DNA . Recorded with Travis Harrison at his studio Serious Business in Brooklyn (Guided By Voices, Dope Body, The Men), the trio"s live recordings are inspired by the Voyager Golden Record - a double LP launched with the 1977 Voyager probe spanning field recordings to compositions by J.S. Bach and Laurie Spiegel. While the Voyager Golden Record"s intended audience may have originally been the extra-terrestrial beings that might encounter the probe, Upper Wilds bring cosmos-seeking sounds back to earth with a record made for and about humanity. Jupiter finds comfort in space"s unending expanse. Far from feeling defeated by the smallness of our existence in the face of an uncaring universe and ever-expanding infinite, Upper Wilds capture the power of creativity to extend our lifespans far beyond our limited time on earth

Western Massachusetts band Landowner play abrasively clean minimalist-punk. Singer Dan Shaw began Landowner in 2016, writing and recording Impressive Almanac with a practice amp and a laptop drum machine. Those available tools would inform the band’s unapologetic sound—clean, confrontational, and absurdly stark. With a stated goal to sound like “Antelope playing Discharge”, Landowner’s diamond hard structures, repetitious instrumentals and caricatured hardcore make space for lyrics that reflect on the global systems our lives are tangled in and the dark absurdities we take for granted.

Landowner’s fourth Born Yesterday full length Escape the Compound focuses on the powerful grips manipulators and reality-deniers have on their victims, examining the social, political and interpersonal damage of cult-like influence and control. “A lot of the lyrics focus on cult manipulators and narcissists: falling victim to their toxic dynamics, and the difficulty of escaping their grip” says Shaw. From climate change deniers and conspiracy theorists to deceptive narcissists and actual cult leaders, Landowner explores the ubiquity of modern unreality through evocative imagery and a keen sense of awareness. The band’s plain instrumentation sheds and subverts hardcore punk’s noisy veil in favor of a direct, unswerving examination of these themes.

Written and recorded following the release of 2020’s Consultant, Escape the Compound finds Landowner leaning into the studio through deeper experimentation with a wider palette of sounds. The group’s lineup of Josh Owsley (bass), Elliot Hughes (guitar), Jeff Gilmartin (guitar), Josh Daniel (drums) and Dan Shaw played often since coming together in 2017. But with pandemic restrictions in place, the making of Escape the Compound became a much more insular pursuit, one where the mixing and mastering process helped turn the band’s most varied batch of material into a cohesive, thematic collection of songs.

Album opener “Witch Museum” is a collage of dark Massachusetts historical imagery. The song evokes a kind of cult dynamic traveling like a shadow through time, where dark absurdities are taken for granted, toxic behaviors are excused, and normalcy begins to shift. The line “Gail's behavior has changed” casts fictional “Gail” as the dark manipulator, whose whim we’re at the mercy of. She sheds her toxic behavior and the crisis finally ends - “and peace returns to the Commonwealth”- an absurdity, given that cult leaders and narcissists rarely seem to change.

By considering the past, Landowner sheds light on the present. The band challenges egomaniacs reluctant to accept an uncomfortable reality with both cynicism and concern. The literal landowner described in “Heat Stroke” collapses in exhaustion, cooked by a suffocating bass line and sizzling hi-hats. “You'd rather die of heat stroke than to let anybody see you change your mind,” Shaw gasps, later pleading with the character in “Floodwatch” to “please reconsider” their brazen stubbornness as they plunge through the rising waters of a flooded road.

The character in “Swimmer of Note” refuses to admit their miscalculations, instead doubling down on an ever-growing and increasingly-unsteady tower of lies. The sneering “Damning Evidence” sets a scene all too familiar: a smoking gun scenario with zero consequences. Shaw’s exaggerated vocal refrains and sarcastic inflections mock false hope: “how will they be expected to keep their minds intact, at the shock of simply hearing such damning evidence?”

“Beyond the Darkened Library” creaks open a secret passageway into a dimly lit, endless labyrinth of conspiracy theories, in which the character becomes hopelessly lost. “Aftermath” sounds the alarms: “stare so long that you start getting used to it; one glance says you should never get used to it.” The pair of “Tactics” tracks express what Shaw calls “an interpersonal microcosm of the album’s themes.”

Perhaps the most ambitious arc on Escape the Compound loosely begins with the title track. The subject in “Escape the Compound” gradually recognizes their own victimhood and plans a calculated flight from the “captivating shepherd” – hop the fence, flee, and regain autonomy. As the narrator escapes their stifling and abusive cult microcosm, a much grander existential timeline begins to appear. “Thousands of Years in Fast Forward” narrates a psychedelic surrender to the shared human experience through space and time, an ego-death adjacent to our ancestry, our own existence, and the before and after. “At the site of the crater, molecular hands unclasp molecular hands as you lose conditioning,” Shaw sings on the title track, “Your grandmother's garden. Your grandmother's kitchen. Your grandmother's primordial ocean.” It’s a profound actualizing glimpse into a true, forgotten reality and a startling reconnection with the self.

Berlin-based dark electronic music duo NNHMN – creates moody, dark electronic dance music infected with haunted synth sounds, eerie ambiences and mysterious female vocals. NNHMN have built up a local following and has been appreciated by numerous alternative festival organizers. The night-infused, arps-driven production is undeniably entrancing.

The newest 8-track album titled – Circle Of Doom – mirrors the state of the world we are living in. The album encapsulates eight existential tracks for the modern body music lover – body music – for the contemporary listener that is not necessarily drowned in the faraway past only, who is aware of electronic music genres that are flourishing in the world right now.

Live expect smokey electro-pop, a gloomy but sexy atmosphere, trancey techno, the fever of dance peaks and vocals that might put you into happy hypnosis or nostalgic ecstasy.

Covet is fronted by Yvette Young who is revered by guitarists around the world for her mastery of the innovative two-handed tapping technique. Yvette says of the album - "I'd like to be honest - this album process was one of the most challenging ever, and none of the reasons for that was related to the actual music. There was a moment where it felt like it might not come out ever...but I think having patience and faith does pay off. I named this record "catharsis" because the word to me feels like a triumphant exodus. No matter the dire circumstances, music is one of those things that I’ve always needed to create to survive (in all senses of the word), and time and time again, I turn to guitar and songwriting as my outlet to uplift and feel like I have control over something in this chaotic universe. The overall theme of the album is escapism and fantasy, which also feels fitting because in a lot of ways, we use music and art to escape our anxiety, our pain, and our sometimes oppressive realities...to travel to universes that we so badly wished existed. Music is so powerful for this reason because it can be so transformative- it uplifts and empathizes with you without needing to say a single word. With this music, I wanted to tell a concise but dense story that goes many places- not necessarily all joyful. I have been working on it down to the last minute, and in less than 30 minutes, I'd like to take you to all the magical places I’ve been and show you all the highs and lows that I've had the privilege of experiencing during the last 2 years of creating this body of work."

Repress!

Funkiwala Records presents the third in the series of "Lokkhi Terra meets"albums, with the London fusionistas creating another unique sound-clash, this time with ex-Fela Kuti keyboardist and legendary UK Afro-beat ambassador Dele Sosimi, and members of his critically acclaimed Afro-beat Orchestra.

This particular collaboration has been bubbling away for a few years now, teasing audience expectations with a handful of sold out shows each year in between both bands busy schedules.
Featuring the two pianos of Kishon Khan and Dele Sosimi – Cuban percussionists/vocalists Geraldo De Armas (Yoruba Andabo), Oreste Noda (Ariwo), Javier Camilo (Ibrahim Ferrer) - a horn section led by Justin Thurgur (Bellowhead) featuring Yelfris Valdes (Sierra Maestra) and Graeme Flowers (Kyle Eastwood) to name a few – this is an All-star cast.

Kishon Khan's Lokkhi Terra have over a number of years now been quietly establishing themselves as one of London's more unusual heavyweight outfits, described as "Stunning Headliners… A majestic multi-cultural blend of sounds… effortlessly builds bridges between rolling Indian raga rhythms, Afro-Cuban grooves, Acid Jazz/funk and free flowing improvisation" (Timeout London). Included amongst the band members are London's top Cuban musicians, adding their infectious rich musical history to the city's melting pot.
When the band wanted to explore Cuban links with another of their favourite traditions, Afrobeat, who better to bring in then one of the Afrobeat originators – maestro Dele Sosimi – "Sosimi creates some of the most bewitching grooves in modern African music" E Jazz News.
Bringing together two Yoruba speaking musics - with different accents, from different sides of the Atlantic - Havana meets Lagos in London – A Cuban-Afrobeat-Experience. CUBAFROBEAT.

All About Jazz 4star review

A younger version of London's Grand Union Orchestra, founded by world-jazz pioneer Tony Haynes in 1982, Lokkhi Terra was put together by keyboard player Kishon Khan in 2005. Both ensembles have made a specialism of jazz / South Asian fusion, with Lokkhi Terra also giving as much attention to music from Cuba, where Bangladeshi-born, London-based Khan lived for a while in the early 2000s.

Cubafrobeat, as the title foretells, is a blend of Cuban dance music and Nigerian / Yoruban Afrobeat—a fusion rendered seamless by the synergies existing between Afro-Cuban and Yoruban music, language and mythology. The album is Lokkhi Terra's third and partners the band with the keyboard player and vocalist Dele Sosimi .

A young-going-on-child-prodigy member of Fela Kuti's Egypt 80, Sosimi went on to become musical director of Femi Kuti's Positive Force, before relocating to London and setting up Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra, the finest Afrobeat band outside Nigeria, bar none, now with a string of consistently engaging albums under its belt. Cubafrobeat features Sosimi as lead vocalist on all four tracks, and on Fender Rhodes on two of them. His singing plays a prominent role in the Afrobeat Orchestra, but, such is the whirlwind impact of the band in full instrumental flight, that Sosimi is often thought of first and foremost for his keyboard and arranging talents. That may change by the time 2018 is over. Cubafrobeat is the third album in as many months to feature Sosimi as guest vocalist, spotlighting the gravitas, air of mystery, intimacy and ferocity his voice can bring to an occasion.

The first of these albums was the genre-bending spiritual-jazz band Emanative's Earth (Jazzman). One of the stand-out tracks, "Ìyáàmi," features Sosimi making obeisance to the titular Mother Goddesses of the Yoruba spirit worlds. His raw and intense invocations carry the track for nine mesmerising minutes. Otherwordly is not the half of it. Next up was dub / reggae / jazz band Soothsayers' Tradition (Wah Wah 45s), which featured Sosimi as lead vocalist on the compelling "Sleepwalking (Black Man's Cry)." Earth and Tradition are both outstanding albums and have previously been reviewed here.

Cubafrobeat is a total stonking blinder, too. It is an effectively nuanced affair, opening with the fiery "Afro Sambroso" and closing with the relatively reflective "Rumbafro." Sosimi's vocals light up the music, as do the several solos from trumpeters Graeme Flowers and Yelfris Valdes Espinosa and trombonist Justin Thurgur (a member of both Lokkhi Terra and the Afrobeat Orchestra). Sosimi and Kishon Khan's intertwining Fender Rhodes solos on "Cubafro" are also a delight, as is the drum and percussion section throughout.

The sound of summer, for sure, Cubafrobeat has enough depth and variety to make it something for all seasons.

Songlines 4star review

Lokkhi Terra are one of London's most authentic groups. They are a Latin-flavoured collective whose keyboard player and bandleader Kishon Khan segues from percussive montunos to complex Bengali rhythms and back, with jazz chops sparking funky and outward-looking fusions. Their collaboration with Dele Sosimi, Britain's foremost Afrobeat ambassador, has been bubbling for a while; here four tracks at ten minutes see musical conversations that never lose their sense of flow. An extensive line-up of stellar players, including trumpeter Yelfris Valdés, conguero Oreste Noda and trombonist Justin Thurgur, highlights the genre-crossing potential of world traditions. Opener 'Afro Sambroso' showcases batá drums from Gerardo de Armas Sarria before the track links Cuban grooves with Afrobeat. 'Timbafro' crackles and sways via Khan's organ, Sosimi's vocals and Oscar Martinez's timbales. 'Cubafro' features dazzling interplay between Khan, Sosimi and Javier Camillo's Spanish-language vocals. 'Rumbafro' is all rumba choruses, Yoruba vocals and Afrobeat horns. Rooted in their sources, but with musical threads intertwining, separating and reconfiguring – with grooves at a premium – this is a fusion lover's dream

Indonesian City Sound: Panbers’ Psychedelic Rock and Funk 1971-1974

The Pandjaitan Brothers or Panbers came from the North Sumatra minority Christian group, the Bataks, whose ancestry traces back to an island at the center of Lake Toba. As a minority group within Indonesia's Muslim-dominated society, this ethnic minority has produced top military generals, celebrity lawyers, and a legion of pop and rock superstars.

Suffice to say, some of the biggest names in the country's pop history were Bataks. Panbers fit the bill perfectly.

The band's strong Christianity belief looms heavily in the music they produce. The prominent use of the Hammond organ in their early materials is evocative of church music the band members have been around in their whole life. Bandleader Benny Pandjaitan's fills his characteristic wail with existential dread, with many utterances of the word "mengapa" (why).

Guilt is another central theme Pandjaitan repeatedly comes back to in his lyrics. But they balance it with joy, on songs such as "Come on You Dance" "Let's Dance Together" or "Haai" (a play on the word high), where references to recreational substances are plentiful.

Although they modeled themselves after the era's rock bands Beatles and fellow countrymen Koes Plus, Panbers had a unique aversion to the electric guitar. In "Jakarta City Sound," a fiery three-note guitar solo is laid so far down in the mix that they are barely audible. In "Haai" they modify the guitar to sound like a jungle instrument playing traditional North Sumatran music. In "Rock and the Sea," arguably their most well-known song globally, they decided to ditch electric guitar altogether and replace it with a sitar.

In the absence of an electric guitar, Panbers had to rely on Doan's inventive bass playing and Asido's drum works to do the heavy lifting - and boy, do they deliver (Their 1971 debut "Volume 1" saw plenty of drum breaks). In this compilation, listeners will hear recordings from Panbers' fertile four-year period - a time that produced in some of the grooviest and hardest-sounding psychedelic music in Indonesia's rock history.

For those uninitiated on the glory Panbers, consider this compilation an introduction to some of earliest and heaviest rock sound to come out of Indonesia.

"Bills past due, what you gon do?"

2lanes is part of the latest resurgence in Detroit's techno underground whose infamy is built via amorphous live appearances / DJ sets, collaborations with contemporaries like AceMo and John F.M., and a steady, hilarious and blunt presence on Twitter. PGS is proud to present 2lane’s 2nd piece of wax, the AA side "Baby's Born To Fish'' / "Impish Desires'' following the "Giving & Receiving" EP on NYC's Ceramic Records, February 2020.

2 Lanes first appeared in Detroit ~six years ago and quickly made a name for himself in the local scene, promoting shows with international artists and friends from NYC, all while making an effort to respect the city's unique musical identity and history. He carries the tradition of Detroit's electronic pioneers who pursued new ideas in production and gear, bringing perfection to the craft, and developing unique twists in his process.

Participating in the contemporary electronic music world required splitting your time between 2 places at once: Online, always-on, in constant engagement with friends + foe alike; In Real Life, physically traveling city to city, DJing and collaborating, all while maintaining a sense of self. And now, all that's different.

"Lately, I've been, going, going through some changes"

Releasing a club-ready 12" in the midst of a global pandemic? That's the 2 Lanes. We heard an earlier version of "Baby's Born 2 Fish" what feels like 10 years ago, rinsing "Impish Desires" when there were still gigs. Do you remember the Apollo Masters plant fire in early February? How long were pressing plants closed, again? How long have we been living in this new reality? 2lanes hopes that the messages of this music; fear, isolation, friendship, love and how we exist at this intersection comes through for the listener.

"Baby's Born To Fish" / "Impish Desires" is a heavy hitting AA side, rejuvenating, explosive, off your face. They're ready for the eventual return 2 the dance floor, and sooner for your streaming DJ set. We don't know when we can see you IRL, but we know it'll be in mixes for decades to come.

"You’re gonna cast your reel out and you don’t know if you’re gonna get a fish that day, but you’re still gonna cast it out." - 2 Lanes

Second pressing on 180g ultra-clear vinyl, printed inner-sleeve, download card included.

"When everyone left NYC, the sewer opened and we crawled out." Prolific Brooklyn institution The Men return with their ninth studio album, 'New York City'. Arriving following 2020's 'Mercy', the new LP is released February 3rd 2023 on the group's new label home Fuzz Club Records and marks a return to the more scuzzy and abrasive rock ploughed over their decade and a half spent coursing through the grimy sewers of NYC. Here, nocturnal proto-punk meets a timeless, all-guns-blazing rock'n'roll gusto. That the album leans into a more primitive, back-to-basics sound owes largely to the way in which was forged, an earlier version of the record scrapped in favour of four people playing in a room together. "The New York City album was revised, reorganized and shaped until it became clear that things fall into place like the hammer driving the nail or the scythe's swipe through the tall grass." The end result is a series of cuts played live and recorded to 2" tape in Travis Harrison's (Guided By Voices, Built To Spill) Brooklyn studio. New York City' is a record that doesn't stop moving for a second, packed full of the kind of energy you can only really capture in a live setting. "These songs became the blood of the band as the band could only exist for and of these songs. There was no place else to hang their hats. Without making this record, the group would not exist, so there really wasn't another option. NYC is fluid. It means a lot of different things to all kinds of people. We present the record in that spirit."

Lendas is the Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento’s fifth album for Now-Again Records. Like his previous albums Prelúdio and Ykytu, Lendas features do Nascimento’s compositions, this time with orchestral arrangements by Vittor Santos and also special participation by Arthur Verocai. Vittor Santos is a composer, arranger, trombonist and music producer from Rio de Janeiro, who has worked in Brazilian music for over thirty years. Do Nascimento and Santos met in Rio in 2017 during the recording of Do Nascimento’s hero, and 70s and 80s Brasilian guitar catalyst Carioca Freitas album Aquarelas. The two bonded over a mutual appreciation for Do Nascimento’s uncle Lúcio and the Bossa Nova star Leny Andrade, both of whom largely influenced Do Nascimento’s musical foundation. In Santos, Do Nascimento found an arranger who was sensitive enough in his orchestrations that he could create an orchestral dialogue between stacks of strings and Do Nascimento’s plaintive plucking. It was only natural to invite the highest regarded, now legendary, 1970s Brasilian arranger, Arthur Verocai, to contribute. Verocai, who had worked with Do Nascimento on his forays in Los Angeles, was pleased to participate. In this way, the circle of old and new, so crucial in Do Nascimento’s work, comes together and flows outwards. “Lendas” translates from Portuguese as "legends,” but the literal translation itself doesn’t describe this album. With Lendas, Do Nascimento recalls memories from places that no longer exist; from fever dreams in the Amazon; from parts of the world we might never see or engage, but can imagine through music. Fabiano Do Nascimento’s Brazilian guitar meets a full orchestra arranged by Vittor Santos and with special participation by Arthur Verocai and his string quartet. Lush yet lively, standing alongside Jorge Ben’s work with Verocai, and Tom Jobim and Baden Powell’s work with Vinicius de Moraes..

Circa Groove are squashing their first EP into wax with red-hot house talent Donnie Cosmo, after a successful run of digital releases over the past 3 years.

Donnie's sound has been turning heads and moving dance floors in a special way, with a celebrated EP under Gene on Earth's Limousine Dream. His second vinyl EP will now come into existence under the Circa Groove imprint in the form of a 4-track solo EP.

Commencing the EP is the Track 'Stargazer (Highway Mix)', like Neil deGrasse Tyson this one is seriously intergalactic. The track holds tight and shuffling drums, with no-nonsense synth leads lifting the whole track and making it shimmer. The bassline bubbles and rocks underneath the top end giving the track an unrelenting energy.

Followed on by Wired Nag, this is a track that flexes monstrous sound design to construct a deep and flowing number. Laced with electro pings and undulating synth leads, this is deep and weighty club-ready music with nods to 90s house and electro.

In a similar fashion, on B1 and B2 Donnie has delivered 2 chrome-plated, slamming numbers, likely to cause axial tilt on the dancefloor

The debut album of Istanbul born, Berlin & Copenhagen based artist Nene H (real name Beste Aydin) titled ‘Ali’. In this record Aydin has used her background as a classically trained pianist and her deep, foundational knowledge of musical theory to synergise contrasting electronic compositions and the mental process of mourning the death of a loved one.

Born as a tribute after the passing of her late father, Aydin has found catharsis through a personal odyssey, the reflection of which can be seen through these 8 tracks. Raised in a traditional Turkish family and now living in Germany with its westernized lifestyle, informs the intersections of identity and duality that Aydin exists and creates from within. This consolidation of identity has pushed her to seek solitude and confidence in the power of being able to represent the process of her existence in the scene as a Middle Eastern woman with Muslim upbringing.

Regeln sind dazu da, gebrochen zu werden, und Grenzen existieren, damit man sie überschreiten kann.

Wer wüsste das besser als Caleb Zackery Toliver alias Don Toliver , der alle Hürden und Hindernisse in Lichtgeschwindigkeit überquert. Der vielfach Platin-ausgezeichnete Sänger, Songwriter und Künstler aus Houston, Texas hat sich von einer Underground-Instanz zum Superstar entwickelt - unbestreitbar, unzähmbar und mit einem unnachahmlichen Stil ausgestattet, der von Hip-Hop-Hochglanz, intergalaktischem R&B, progressivem Pop und einem guten Schuss Rockstar-Attitüde geprägt ist. Selbst in dieser Branche voller extrovertierter Sonderlinge gibt es niemanden, der klingt, aussieht und sich anfühlt wie Don.

Sein Vehikel für den nächsten Überschalltrip: das neue Album "LOVE SICK" . Auf seinem dritten Werk stellt Toliver visuelle Anleihen aus der Disco-Kultur, Mafia-Filmen und dem opulenten Design der 70er-Jahre in einen zeitgemäßen Kontext. Das Album erzählt die Geschichte von Don, der ein Speiselokal führt, das "Love Sick Diner", und nun plant, in die Nachtclubszene einzusteigen. Dabei gerät er jedoch mit dem Gesetz in Konflikt. "LOVE SICK" nimmt uns mit in eine Welt, die so facettenreich und einzigartig ist wie der Künstler Don Toliver selbst.

In the realm of computer-generated music, all compositions are essentially binary, consisting of zeros and ones, representing data and information. Within this binary structure, every musical event exists amidst a backdrop of unchosen possibilities, creating a sense of absence and mourning for what could have been. The bittersweet emotional quality often found in certain electronic music may stem from a combination of its underlying aesthetic principles, a yearning for a lost vision of the future, and the subtle interplay between presence and absence inherent in the creative process itself.

Released for the first time on vinyl and including 2 unreleased tracks, Tales From The Silent City is a deep electronic journey with the unmistakable Niko Tzoukmanis's sound and sensitivity. The album features sequences that shimmer and persist, while gentle pads offer soothing relief to weary listeners.
Tales From The Silent City not only draws inspiration from a nostalgic era of sequencer-driven music but also anticipates the trend of seeking solace in '90s-influenced ambient techno during uncertain times.

Wenn Du auf der Suche nach dem härtesten, schnellsten und brutalsten Thrash Metal bist, solltest Du es nicht versäumen, Dir die begehrten ersten beiden Alben "Tortured Existence" (1990) und "Epidemic Of Violence" (1992) von DEMOLITION HAMMER zu besorgen. Diese gnadenlosen Alben der legendären New Yorker Band, die seit 2016 für umjubelte Live-Auftritte auf der ganzen Welt wiedervereint sind, sind endlich wieder bei Century Media Records in farbigen Vinyl-Editionen erhältlich und bieten den für die Band typischen rabiaten Gesang, rasende Riffs, wütende High-Paced-Beats, headbangfreundliche Moshparts und Brutalität en masse. Nachdem sie mehrere Jahre lang vergriffen waren, kannst du dir diese definitiven Versionen von "Tortured Existence" und "Epidemic Of Violence" jetzt wieder zu einem fanfreundlichen Preis sichern! Thrash or be thrashed!!!

Wenn Du auf der Suche nach dem härtesten, schnellsten und brutalsten Thrash Metal bist, solltest Du es nicht versäumen, Dir die begehrten ersten beiden Alben "Tortured Existence" (1990) und "Epidemic Of Violence" (1992) von DEMOLITION HAMMER zu besorgen. Diese gnadenlosen Alben der legendären New Yorker Band, die seit 2016 für umjubelte LiveAuftritte auf der ganzen Welt wiedervereint sind, sind endlich wieder bei Century Media Records in farbigen Vinyl-Editionen erhältlich und bieten den für die Band typischen rabiaten Gesang, rasende Riffs, wütende High-Paced-Beats, headbangfreundliche Moshparts und Brutalität en masse. Nachdem sie mehrere Jahre lang vergriffen waren, kannst du dir diese
definitiven Versionen von "Tortured Existence" und "Epidemic Of Violence" jetzt wieder zu einem fanfreundlichen Preis sichern! Thrash or be thrashed!!!

"Existences" is the highly anticipated first album by Neurocore, a talented French artist known for his thought-provoking compositions. This album is a culmination of years of introspection and exploration into the complexities of human existence. During the Covid lockdown, Neurocore found himself with the precious gift of time, allowing him to delve deep into his creative process and tackle profound questions through music.

Each of the 13 tracks on the album tells a story, evoking emotions and painting vivid sonic landscapes. The cover art, meticulously crafted by URRU, captures the essence of the album's concept - a mesmerizing blue vortex symbolizing the unknown and the powerful energy that draws us towards it.

Neurocore breaks free from the confines of being labeled solely as a "speedcore producer." Instead, he presents a diverse array of electronic compositions that transcend trends and embrace the full spectrum of human emotions. Rejecting the notion that hardcore music is only dark and brutal, Neurocore sees it as a representation of the inner beauty within every human being.

"Existences" invites listeners to interpret and create their own stories, as music has the power to evoke personal experiences and emotions. With this remarkable album, Neurocore celebrates the diverse facets of existence and invites us to embark on a profound sonic journey.

3x12" album + digital release
Including an A5 insert with a personal note from Neurocore

In addition to his day job transforming pop music with his own records, as well as those of Gastr del Sol, Loose Fur and Sonic Youth over the past few decades, Jim O"Rourke has been contracted for several dozen film scores over the years as well. It makes sense - his abilities as an improviser, composer and producer allow him to interpret cinematic moments with a unique understanding for their construction and how they work. It doesn"t hurt that Jim"s a well-versed cineaste, a complete and total fan of watching films, which has given him a preternatural understanding of the role of music in movies. What doesn"t make sense is how Hands That Bind is the first film soundtrack of Jim"s to ever receive worldwide release! He"s worked with filmmakers of international repute, like Olivier Assayas, Allison Anders, Werner Herzog and Kôji Wakamatsu! He served as music consultant on Richard Linklater"s 2003 laff-fest, School of Rock! He"s played in ensembles of award-winning documentaries and films alike! Throw the guy an internationally-promoted soundtrack LP every more often, why doncha? It was left to the "suits" of Drag City Records to innovate, once again, by taking a leap on an O"Rourke work. Made for an indie film that"s been seen by festival audiences and not enough others, the soundtrack for Hands That Bind is a moody, atmospheric delight. Jim"s roots in composition via tape-editing have evolved into a sophisticated assembly of found-and-processed sounds that achieve highly musical, near-orchestral majesty as they hang in the very air of the drama that unfolds in Kyle Armstrong"s Hands That Bind. Described as a "slow-burn prairie gothic drama" set in the farmland of Canada"s Alberta province, and starring Paul Sparks, Susan Kent, Landon Liboiron, Nicholas Campbell, Will Oldham, and Bruce Dern, Hands That Bind is a spellbinding trip to the existential bone of rural working life in North America. As conflict rises over the hard-worked patches of land that provide a mere and mean existence, a desperate air settles in, as a series of mysterious, often supernatural occurrences rock the small community. O"Rourke"s vaporous, serpentine musical backdrops and atmospheres reflect the obsessions and distractions of the film"s principles; moods of all sorts seen or otherwise implied. Additionally, the music highlights cinematographer Mike McLaughlin"s closely observed accounting of the farmers" environment, as well as the striking widescreen images of the big sky country with unnerving flair. For fans of Jim"s ongoing steamroom series as well as collectors of soundtracks, Hands That Bind will provide hours of engrossing listening. And if you get a chance, see the movie projected in a movie house, please - farmers aren"t the only ones struggling these days!

El Nido: a welcoming embrace in uncertain times. The world changed forever in the second quarter of 2020. The life we were used to ceased to be, as we were overcome by constant fear, distrust in all that surrounded us and a fatalist attitude towards the world we lived in. With the pandemic came lockdown, mandatory isolation for months, empty streets, face masks, hand sanitizer, the fear of going out, an absurd roll call of Covid fatalities, the daily tension of not knowing when it would all end and the urge to "get back to normal," something that certainly never happened. Out of that pandemic saturation and that urge for "normality" came El Nido ("The Nest"), the third album by Italy-based Colombian producer Montoya, who describes this record as "becoming virgins of destiny again, facing up to that fatalist world and creating that longing for tranquility. Savoring that moment prior to the pandemic, that instant when the most important thing wasn't the immediate reality or the global situation." Montoya sees El Nido as that quiet place that you think of when you close your eyes; it is a beach or a mountain, a sunrise or a sunset, a wave in the sea refreshing your body, or an almost-whispering wind that immediately silences everything around you. On his previous records, Iwa in 2015 and Otún in 2019, his work as a producer prevailed, feeding the growing wave of Latin American electronica, fusing IDM and techno with indigenous root music, Andean folklore and rhythms from the tropical Caribbean coast and ancestral Pacific in terms of instrumentation. But on El Nido Montoya splits the balance, offering us five merely instrumental tracks and six collaborations with Latin American artists, including Colombians Nidia Góngora on "Soñé," Montañera on "Sierra" and Pedrina on "Nubecita." It also features Mexican artist Pahua on "Flor del Mar," the Peruvian Lara Nuh on "El Faro" and the Franco-Venezuelan La Chica on "Palosanto." Starting from the name itself ("The Nest"), an evocation of home, El Nido is also a Filipino municipality on the island of Palawan, a place that turned out to be Montoya's last live experience before the pandemic. That place with crystal clear seas and white sand became the scene and starting point for this work, reflecting on the abstraction of a chaotic world and proposing blurred destinations with each song, like places that exist within memories when we close our eyes, letting us inhabit them, for a couple of minutes at least. On the other hand, it's a record that approaches love; as a yearning and a refuge, as a guide and an anchor, but also as a rhetorical figure that makes us vibrate and elevates us, while at the same time keeping us grounded and letting us settle in the place that we can use as our shelter.

BLACKSCAPE ist der Schlag ins Gesicht, nach dem du dich sehnst. Verschwende keinen Gedanken an den Schmerz, wenn du dich dieser musikalischen Lawine hingibst, denn du wirst reichlich belohnt werden!
"Suffocated By The Sun", das Debütalbum des schwedischen Trios ist vollgepackt mit schweren Riffs und einer Mischung aus Thrash Metal und Death Metal, die dich mit ihren majestätischen Melodien in ihren Bann ziehen und dich mit einer heftigen Dosis Metal fertig machen wird.
Die eingängigen Kompositionen des Albums beinhalten eine Fülle an innovativer Gitarrenarbeit, halsbrecherische Drums, kreischende Soli und brutalem Leadgesang.
Taucht tief in die Lyrics ein und erforscht die inneren menschlichen Konflikte in absurden Realitäten und schmerzhaften existenziellen Erweckungen.
Die Tracks des Albums verkörpern Metal in Perfektion und markieren den Beginn einer neuen skandinavischen Metal-Macht, die man im Auge behalten muss: BLACKSCAPE.

The state51 Conspiracy is proud to announce Wacław Zimpel’s long-awaited fourth solo album, ‘Train Spotter’, due for release on 31 March 2023 on state51 Records.

In the seven years since the release of his debut solo album, ‘Lines’, Wacław Zimpel has developed from his idiosyncratic approach to jazz to growing into a potent and inventive force in the field of electronic music.

‘Train Spotter’ was created for a specific brief from The City of Warsaw: to capture the Sound of the City of Warsaw. But, as Zimpel soon found out, the sounds of a city don’t exist in isolation; they’re part of a wider environment that is itself undergoing upheaval against a background of internal and external forces.

“Train Spotter is about my experience of a city that recently went through a pandemic, endless anti-government demonstrations against human rights violations against women’s right to choose and the LGBTQ community, as well as waves of war refugees from Ukraine and the extraordinary solidarity of people willing to help and unite across political divides to help others in need.”

Spread over six tracks, the manipulated samples are blended with Zimpel’s own electronic production flourishes and playing to create a seamless blend that’s uniquely his. Recording a variety of mechanised and repetitive sounds including tramlines, baggage carousels and bouncing basketballs in municipal parks among many other found sources, Zimpel fed the results through a host electronic equipment including synthesisers, keyboards and plug-ins.

For all its production methods, ‘Train Spotter’ bears an organic warmth that reflects the city that inspired it. But what also adds to the sonic intrigue is a rise in intensity within each of the individual tracks that themselves become ever more forceful as the album continues.

Singular Texan musician Craig Clouse hurtles unstoppably towards the 20th birthday of his dancefloor-splintering electronic project Shit And Shine, releasing a landmark LP, his first full-length for The state51 Conspiracy, ‘2222 And AIRPORT’. Acid house, minimal techno, electro, funk, krautrock, hip hop, found sound, spoken word, live percussion and industrial are blown apart stupendously and then reassembled – mad-scientist style, in a way peculiar to Clouse – into 13 hypnotic and transportative tracks.

Lead single SWISS, out 24 March, is a gloriously minimalist funk jam that sounds like the exact point at which someone turns the lights off at a lowkey house party and a wild night for the ages gets under way. An almost scornfully skeletal riff, sounding like a misfiring Cyberdine Systems Model 101 summoning up a Prince circa Sign “O” The Times riff while crashing head first into the hyper-processed early work of Prefuse 73, also featuring a cheeky sample of revered Mancunian DJ Luke Una talking about “existential fucking darkness”.

This is followed on 4 April by INFINITE SHITE, arguably the epic central track to the album, is a Shit And Shine banger for the ages, its dancefloor affect, undeniable. An unforgiving, pulsating Byetone-style bass drone worthy itself of being blasted on a Funktion-One rig, is just the background for a colossal acid b-line, destroying all in its path.

Micro details bristle at the liminal level, threatening to only reveal themselves to those in a club, those listening on headphones or those experiencing a heightened sensory state.

On their sophomore effort Tusky, surrealist duet Robbie & Mona ascend beyond the lo-fi scrawlings of their debut album to something altogether more grandiose. Between the lights down drama of sprawling opener ‘Sensation’, to the ‘roll credits’ coda of closer ‘Always Gonna Be A Dead Man’, Tusky exists as a glitzy, lucid journey playing out before the listener.
While debut album EW captured William Carkeet and Ellie Gray as they were finding their feet with one another, creating Tusky was a wholly symbiotic process from day one. “We got better at knowing what each other wanted,” William offers. “This was the album that we were trying to make from the beginning.”

Simultaneously evoking multiple eras of music, the album drifts through worlds of synth pop, jazz, trap, drill, ballroom waltz and leftfield electronica, with the scatterbrain sound palette melded by a peppering of instrumental motifs and William’s addiction to sampling sounds across multiple tracks. “I wanted there to be this weird dimensional thing going on,” William explains, “where songs from the album are playing in multiple places.”

The record sees an expansive cast of musicians assembled, with a much heavier focus on live instrumentation than previous outings. Alongside the expected fare of crackly synths, samplers and drum machines, Tusky gets its glossy sheen from a rich tapestry of jazz drums, double bass, grand piano and saxophone.

Most of the tracks are laden with improvised saxophone from Campbell Baum (Sorry, Broadside Hacks) and Ben Vince (Housewives, Joy Orbison), much of which was scrambled by William in post-production, lifting scraps from one song and layering them atop an entirely different track. Elsewhere, session musicians were cherry picked, including Bingo Fury, his drummer Henry Terrett, and a string ensemble led by Caelia Lunniss and Jo Silverston (Spindle Ensemble).

Most surprising is a rap feature from Monika (of South-East London collective Nukuluk), who brings album centrepiece ‘Mildred’ to new heights with a fiery verse on pain. Aside from being the most unlikely addendum to a sombre piano ballad, it demonstrates Robbie & Mona’s natural state of playfulness, forever following emotions and sensuality over any notion of traditional compositional boundaries.
Many of Tusky's tracks owe their inception to cinema, be it the soundtrack to Betty Blue, the glowing films of Wim Wenders, or the surprising parallels between La Belle Et La Bete and Bad Boys. Equally, much of Robbie & Mona's new-found sense of tension and spectacle comes from William’s recent work soundtracking independent filmmakers, while Ellie gave greater priority to threading a narrative through her stream of consciousness writing style.

In all its majesty, Tusky celebrates creativity with creation. “If you begin to see fiction as real, you can reincarnate and become different things. You can grow,” Ellie implores. “Nothing stays the same. You can shed old characters in yourself. There’s great joy in that.”