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The album opens with the ominous guitar-driven Hollow Sky, accompanied by its haunting music video's verdant vistas. The song, with Iceglass ghostly vocals, shimmers with that sounds like an Omnichord flittering like sonic firefly lights and brooding bass. This perfectly scores the less traveled wanderings through the dark wooden path of Dante's perdition, leading to the titular well that graces the album cover. The Crater opens with an unsettling riff and bass, with low, repetitive frequencies on the synth create a sense of unease. Here, Iceglass recounts a fatalistic requiem for the king of romance that is cataclysmic and leaves a scar upon the earth. With Fall Industrial Wall, once again, Iceglass channels a silky and Nico-like emotive deadpan; against a dirgelike melody backed by minimal synth, bass, and drum. Almost medieval and plaintive, with its folk droning horns, deep and shallow in their resonance. This song is anachronistic, setting the scene of ruins centuries-old with crumbling edifices strewn about like memories lost in time. With the poetic lyrics of The Chamber do we find the eponymous abyss. Here, dualities are laid bare; besides love, there is heartbreak, and without this sorrow, what meaning would there be to love if one knows not what it is to lose? This song encapsulates the idea that love is heartbreak, and love lost is reaching the deepest chamber of the heart. This is carried through a sombre horn, minimalist drum machine, and deliberate bassline overlaid with Iceglass german and english lyrics. The Well is led in with a softly distorted bassline overlaid with eerie banshee howls give way to Iceglass otherworld vocal refrain, echoing through time as if emanating from a hole in the ground, and encircling that hole is a garden of woe and despair. The sinfully seductive song The Moor features a captivating SAX SOLO courtesy of Perseas; a welcome shift in tone, juxtaposed well with the intensity of Iceglass tenebrous vocal purr. This hitherto unexplored foray into dark sensuality takes the song into sordid mid 80s territory, bringing to mind a dusky drive along a serpentine road, with equally haunting instrumentations straddling time with icy fire. Broken Characters is an acoustic folk interlude featuring Selofan's Dimitris Pavlidis on guitar. Here we find a more gentle approach with its earnest and romantic lyrics. The song's melodic hook is a soft caress along with the forlorn horn elements highlighting Iceglass at her most Nico-sounding vocal yet, singing the sorrowful truth that most artists are indeed broken characters. Chimerical opens with dirgelike synth organs. The chill of winter has befallen the lamentations sung by Iceglass carried by haunting chord progressions and minimal percussion, plaintively beseeching the song's subject to remain elusive, idealistic, and a dreamer. After an album highlighting more Jill than Jack, our male protagonist finally makes his ascent in the sonorous and breathtaking Dark Hill, a masterful march of sweeping synth horns, and trepidatious drum machine with William Maybelline's bellowing voice cracking like thunder, rattling the atmosphere like his heart against his ribs. Spirals swirls in a cautionary knell of cathedral-esque droning synth dirge, with Icarian lyrics shining like a sombre ray of hope; like the sun's rays creeping into the darkest of places. The song, minimalist in its tight percussion, echoes with the solace of Larissa Iceglass vocal litany; invoking elements of the supernatural, almost like a Casio preset sequenced to the beating of an angel's wings.

‘Distracted’ is Thundercat’s fifth studio album, featuring contributions from an incredible cast of friends including A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Lil Yachty, Channel Tres, and a long awaited collaboration with the dearly departed Mac Miller. The record was primarily created in close collaboration with a new creative partner – the super-producer Greg Kurstin – plus Flying Lotus, Kenny Beats (Kenneth Blume) and The Lemon Twigs. In the six years since his GRAMMY-winning album ‘It Is What It Is’, Thundercat’s star has risen: playing stadiums worldwide with Red Hot Chilli Peppers with Flea naming Thundercat “the best bass player on the planet”; performing live with A$AP Rocky, Steve Lacy, Tame Impala, Gorillaz, Silk Sonic, Erykah Badu, Spinal Tap, Yo Gabba Gabba; collaborating with Haim, Smino, Kaytranada, Kamasi Washington and Justice. He also branched out into acting with a role in Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett. His warm, playful presence is never too far away, and life’s all the more enlivened by it.

At the turn of the millenium the original „Astral Disaster“ subcription-only vinyl release was somewhat of an Unholy Grail for Coil collectors!



Virtually unobtainable in its original fiercely limited format of only 99 copies, it is the only album apart from the original „Musick to play in the
Dark“ record to combine the genius of Balance and Sleazy with both Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra's talents.

Like „Musick“ it is an essentially tidal/lunar record with literal washes of sound enveloping the listener. Intensely engaging tracks like „The Avatars“ and the later concert tour-de-force „I don't want to be the one“ owe equal amounts to drone and kraut, but are quintessentially Coil.

The record was re-imagined and enhanced a short time later, but even this more widely available re-edition on Coil's own Thresholdhouse imprint has been unavailable for too long now.

At the turn of the millenium the original „Astral Disaster“ subcription-only vinyl release was somewhat of an Unholy Grail for Coil collectors!



Virtually unobtainable in its original fiercely limited format of only 99 copies, it is the only album apart from the original „Musick to play in the
Dark“ record to combine the genius of Balance and Sleazy with both Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra's talents.

Like „Musick“ it is an essentially tidal/lunar record with literal washes of sound enveloping the listener. Intensely engaging tracks like „The Avatars“ and the later concert tour-de-force „I don't want to be the one“ owe equal amounts to drone and kraut, but are quintessentially Coil.

The record was re-imagined and enhanced a short time later, but even this more widely available re-edition on Coil's own Thresholdhouse imprint has been unavailable for too long now.

,Fragments" ist das Debütalbum von Billy Fuller, Mitbegründer von Beak>. Obwohl es sich um ein Soloalbum handelt, ist es kein Soloalbum im herkömmlichen Sinne, das die Gedanken und Gefühle eines Künstlers während eines bestimmten Zeitraums widerspiegelt. Es ist ein Album, das einen längeren Zeitraum umfasst, da es Fragmente von Billys Schaffen in seinem Heimstudio aus den letzten Jahren zusammenfasst. Beim Anhören entsteht der Eindruck von Kunst, die manchmal eine bestimmte Vision verfolgt und manchmal einfach nur das Ergebnis von jemandem ist, der den Schaffensprozess im Moment genießt. Während der Pause von Beak> Anfang 2025 hat Billy seine gesammelten Kompositionen erneut angehört und festgestellt, dass sie einen gemeinsamen roten Faden und eine einheitliche Atmosphäre aufweisen. Jeder einzelne Track auf diesem Album wurde von Billy allein geschaffen, und seine Persönlichkeit zieht sich wie ein roter Faden durch die 16 Tracks. Er vergleicht den Prozess der Zusammenstellung der Tracks mit dem Erstellen einer Kassettenkompilation für einen Freund, als er noch ein Kind war. Fragments ist stimmungsvoll, immersiv und völlig ungebunden. Auf dem gesamten Album spielt kosmisch angehauchte, hauntologische Electronica frei mit Melodien und findet emotionale Resonanz für unsere unvorhersehbaren Zeiten. Neu-artige Wiederholungen und motorische Grooves pulsieren unter verzerrten Electro-Texturen, und gelegentliche Spoken-Word-Passagen driften wie Übertragungen aus einer unbekannten Sendung herein und wieder hinaus. Gelegentliche Einblendungen psychedelischer Prog-Gitarren durchbrechen die dunstige Atmosphäre und bringen den Sound weiter in Richtung Fullers eigener Art von hypnagogischem Pop, der seltsam und doch zutiefst menschlich ist. ,Fragments" ist kein Album über Singles oder Trends. Es ist Musik aus Liebe zum Musikmachen, von einem Musiker, der seit über 25 Jahren ununterbrochen neue Musik produziert und veröffentlicht. Es ist ein selbstloser Triumph der musikalischen Freiheit. Billy Fuller ist vor allem als Gründungsmitglied, Songwriter und Bassist der Band Beak> bekannt. In den letzten 16 Jahren haben er und seine Bandkollegen vier Alben, zahlreiche Einzel-Singles, EPs und Soundtracks veröffentlicht, wobei Fullers Bass stets die treibende Kraft in ihren Kompositionen war und Beak> seinen charakteristischen Sound verlieh, der wie immer auf dem Bass aufbaut. Fuller hat im Laufe der Zeit auch an vielen anderen Projekten mitgewirkt. Im Jahr 2003 begann er seine 17-jährige Tätigkeit als Bassist von Robert Plant, spielte Bass auf dem Album ,Heligoland" von Massive Attack, wirkte an vier Alben von Baxter Dury mit und arbeitete außerdem mit Alicia Keys, Billy Nomates, Rachid Taha, Anika, Lucrecia Dalt, Tottenham Hotspur FC und vielen anderen zusammen.

Stacey Kent is an American jazz singer in the mould of the greats, with a legion of fans, a host of honors and awards including a Grammy nomination, album sales in excess of 2 million and more than one billion streams, and Platinum, Double-Gold and Gold-selling albums that have reached a series of chart-topping positions.

Stacey, a comparative literature graduate with a passion for music, travelled to Europe to further her studies after receiving her degree from Sarah Lawrence College in NY. Through a series of twists of fate, she found herself in London where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met her future husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson.

Kent's musical journey began with childhood piano lessons. A keen ear and true voice lead her to search out opportunities to express her love of music. However, nothing suggested the shift from the academic path to the one that propelled her to international recognition as one of the foremost jazz singers of her generation. With a catalogue of 13 studio albums, including the Platinum selling, Grammy-nominated Breakfast On The Morning Tram (Blue Note/EMI 2007) and an impressive list of collaborations, Stacey has graced the stages of nearly 60 countries over the course of her career.

Her worldwide fan base is testimony to her ability to express the emotional heart of her songs with delicately nuanced interpretations that transcend borders and defy categorization. Her unique multi-lingual repertoire includes standards, chanson, Bossa Nova, and originals written by Jim Tomlinson, her saxophonist/producer/composer/arranger husband in collaboration with the Nobel Prize-winning author, Kazuo Ishiguro with whom they have worked since 2006. She has also recorded with Brazilian legends, Marcos Valle, Roberto Menescal and Danilo Caymmi, and the celebrated French string quartet, the Quatuor Ébène.

Stacey's last studio album, Summer Me, Winter Me, was released in November 2023 on Naïve Records. A collection of fans' requests from her as yet unrecorded concert repertoire, Summer Me, Winter Me entered the French jazz charts at number 1 and has quickly established itself as a new highlight in her discography. She now returns with A Time For Love.

Chris Acker’s latest collection of songs, Famous Lunch, is in his words, a “growing pains album.” When writing the record, the New Orleans' based folk musician found himself hunting for a voice that wasn’t just an imitation of the one he’d been using on the last 30 songs he’d made. “At the same time, I worked hard to find a certain voice for myself over the previous 3 records and I didn’t want to abandon that.”

While the album finds him continuing to transcribe life’s fleeting and provocative banalities with refreshing grace, the songs on Famous Lunch are intentionally more absurd, stylizing his lyricism as both poetic and disarming simultaneously— commencing with “Sh*t Surprise”—an earworm with a vernacular that stays true to its title. Inspired by George Saunders and Sasha Pearl (and wanting to make a song that sounds like Eagles saying the word “sh*t” over and over), “Sh*t Surprise” is the most Chris Acker song possible, in that its earnestness arrives in spades and comes varnished with a one-of-a-kind, spectacular gnarliness. “We’d match our breath in the upstairs room and we’d hold together ‘til I smelled like you,” Acker sings, before nose-diving into that unforgettable chorus about stepping in a smelly, disgusting pile of sh*t.

More than anything else, Famous Lunch finds Chris Acker at his most sentimental and grateful, as he sings about Bunn coffee machines, gas pumps smelling like “the underside of a fingernail” in August, “10-inching” bread, stealing country club lawn-mower motors, father-son fables, impatient buffet lines, and a broom that “hasn’t been used since the last time I used it.” Acker’s eye for detail remains, and his lexicon includes phrasings that spin out like a hypnotic wash cycle. Seeing the world through his eyes, language remains something worth falling into—growing pains and all.

To celebrate the legendary Young Fresh Fellows' 40th anniversary remix/re-release of their first album The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest, the band took one day off their hectic touring schedule to head to Wilco's The Loft studio in Chicago. The band got GRAMMY-Award winner Tom Schick behind the boards, cut 11 brand new songs, and later added some legendary friends across the album, including Neko Case (sings lead on "Destination"), John Stirratt of Wilco (harmony vocals), Morgan Fisher of Mott the Hoople (keyboards), Jonathan Segel of Camper Van Beethoven (violin), Jenny Conlee of The Decemberists (accordion, harmony vocals), Mark Greenberg of Eleventh Dream Day (vibraphone), Peter Buck of R.E.M. (12-string guitar), and Dave "Max" Crawford of Poi Dog Pondering (trumpet). This fully realized version, Loft, has never been released before, and the cover is a faded/fated tie-in with 40th anniversary of YFF's second LP Topsy Turvy, released November 1985.

Macclesfield 3-piece Cassia make their extremely welcome return with the announcement of their most ambitious release yet in new studio album everyone, outside - out April 11th.

The album marks a bold new chapter, and recently served up a tropical-tinged first offering in ‘heat’ - with today serving a superb Round Two with the stomping, insatiable, hook-laden new single ‘friends’.

everyone, outside takes Cassia’s sound to new heights. Written fresh off the back of two years of relentless touring, the band channelled every ounce of their renowned live energy into the album, returning to a studio they built themselves in Macclesfield, after creating their previous album in Berlin. The journey provided an added twist, recording the majority of tracks live on TikTok, giving fans a unique, inclusive experience to be part of the process.

The album’s title is a metaphor for embracing your truest self and reflection of a band who are at their happiest outside. It’s a message that speaks to the idea of reconnecting with nature and Britain’s finest summers. As frontman Rob explains, “That title, ‘everyone, outside’ started as a song about how weird it is that we stay inside all the time when being out in nature always makes us feel better. Over time, it came to mean more than that - like a metaphor for being your truest, most natural self, unburdened, like when no one’s watching.”

Drawing influences from a host of genres and cultures, everyone, outside reveals Cassia’s venn diagram of global sounds and intimate storytelling. A trip to Mexico during the writing process injected the record with a new energy, while their time spent in their new space back home gave the band a freedom to try new instruments, new sounds, acquire new tools to hone their production skills - and to simply have fun and explore. “The time we spent in Berlin taught us so much, but coming back home to Macclesfield allowed us to really focus on making something that felt like it came from us. No distractions, just pure creativity,” says drummer Jacob Leff.

Cassia’s rise has been impressive. From their early days busking the streets of Cornwall to playing major festivals, touring the world and receiving critical acclaim from BBC Radio 1, Radio X, The Independent, Rolling Stone UK, Clash & many more, the band has carved out a unique niche. Their sound, influenced by the African music Rob’s father introduced him to, combined with the indie heritage of nearby Manchester, combines the positivity of bands like Foals and Vampire Weekend, with the jazz-tinged afrobeats of Fela Kuti and Ebo Taylor.

After signing to Distiller Records in 2018, the band gave up their full-time jobs and ventured to Bath to record their debut album, Replica. Tracks such as ‘Right There’, ‘Drifting’ & ‘100 Times Over’ have amassed millions of streams, seeing the band sell out multiple headline Tours both in the UK and Europe. Playing to a homecoming capacity crowd at Manchester’s O2 Ritz, as well as sold out headline shows at London’s KOKO & The Garage, the band have accrued a huge, loyal following and their live shows earned them a nomination for Best Live Act at the AIM Awards alongside Idles and DMA’s, as well as making them the winners of Reeperbahn’s Anchor Award in 2022.

Cassia will tour the UK in May 2025, playing songs from the new album and some of their biggest tracks - headlining Leeds, Bristol, a newly added night in Southampton, a special Manchester homecoming, Glasgow, Birmingham, & a huge show at London’s HERE @ Outernet - dates below & Tickets Here. The band will also take things Stateside this year for their first ever run of headline shows in the US & Mexico.

Die Wiederveröffentlichung von Connie Converses How Sad, How Lovely auf Third Man Records erscheint fast 51 Jahre nach dem Verschwinden der Singer-Songwriterin und ist damit die erste Neuauflage dieses Albums seit beinahe zehn Jahren - und das in jedwedem Format. Die Veröffentlichung umfasst 20 Tracks (darunter eine Bonus-7"-Single mit dem bislang unveröffentlichten Stück ,House" sowie einem neuen Remix von ,Playboy of the Western World", beigesteuert von Dirick Cummins), die nichts von ihrer Eindringlichkeit und Kraft verloren haben. Sie präsentieren eine Künstlerin, die ihrer Zeit um Lichtjahre voraus war.

A meteorite and a lost EP from an experimental electronic talent escape their grim fate: remain unknown to human civilization forever.

Around 2015, Gareth Smyth (aka Lumigraph) produced two tracks before uploading them on his Soundcloud page under the name “Canyon Diablo”, a tribute to a meteorite that crashed in Arizona 49,000 years ago. Amazed, the future co-founder of M+M Disques barely had time to download them onto his hard drive before they were deleted... until today.

Behind the extraterrestrial sounds of this 2-tracker, Lumigraph seems to want to establish communication with planet earth using its own means. In the dubby “Flamingo Drive”, he patiently builds up his sluggish groove before bringing in a reassuring and catchy bassline. On the B-side, the avant-garde “America Song” combines industrial rhythms, drone guitar, and Pierre Henry-ish noises.

* fine art printed insert + PVC sleeve

This murder three track 12" is the next installment in our ongoing Park Heights series. The Heptones "Get Up & Chant" is a certified roots anthem, FINALLY retrieved from album duty and now on a nice fat single for the first time, heavy anthemic roots with a killer mix and lashing reverb. Following this is another total gem formerly hidden away exclusively on an old Park Heights compilation - Bobby Floyd's "Need to Belong", a beautiful soulful roots tune with harmonies by the Heptones. On the flip side we have a total killer previously unreleased Stranger Cole roots tune from the early 80s, in extended discomix style.

Blau-weiße Corona-Vinyl Doppel-LP im Klappcover. Ursprünglich 2017 rausgebracht und jetzt zum ersten Mal in Europa über Sub Pop erhältlich! Pure Comedy, das dritte Album von Father John Misty, ist eine komplexe, oft sarkastische und ebenso oft berührende Reflexion über die verwirrende Torheit der modernen Menschheit. Father John Misty ist das Projekt von Singer-Songwriter Josh Tillman. Wir könnten viel über Pure Comedy sagen, zum Beispiel, dass es ein mutiges, wichtiges Album in der Tradition amerikanischer Songwriting-Größen wie Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman und Leonard Cohen ist, aber wir denken, es ist am besten, wenn sein Schöpfer es selbst beschreibt. Los geht's, Mr. Tillman: Pure Comedy ist die Geschichte einer Spezies, die mit einem unvollständig entwickelten Gehirn geboren wurde. Die einzige Überlebenschance dieser Spezies, die sich auf einem grausamen, unberechenbaren Felsen wiederfindet, umgeben von anderen Spezies, die in dieser ganzen Sache viel geschickter zu sein scheinen (und für die sie eine Delikatesse sind), besteht darin, sich auf andere, etwas ältere, halb ausgebildete Gehirne zu verlassen. Diese Abhängigkeit bekommt im Laufe der Geschichte verschiedene Namen, wie ,Liebe", ,Kultur", ,Familie" usw. Mit der Zeit und da sich ihre Gehirne als bemerkenswert gut darin erweisen, Bedeutung zu erfinden, wo keine ist, wird die Spezies zum Lieferanten immer bizarrerer und raffinierterer Ironien. Diese Ironien sollen helfen, mit der abscheulichen Verletzlichkeit der Spezies fertig zu werden und zu versuchen, ihre Fantasie mit der Monotonie ihrer Existenz in Einklang zu bringen. So in etwa. Pure Comedy wurde 2016 in den legendären United Studios (Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Beck) in Hollywood, Kalifornien, aufgenommen. Produziert wurde es von Father John Misty und Jonathan Wilson, die Tonarbeit übernahm Mistys langjähriger Tontechniker Trevor Spencer und die Orchesterarrangements stammen vom bekannten Komponisten und Kontrabassisten Gavin Bryars (bekannt für seine umfangreichen Soloarbeiten und seine Zusammenarbeit mit Brian Eno, Tom Waits und Derek Bailey).

Die Wiederveröffentlichung von Connie Converses How Sad, How Lovely auf Third Man Records erscheint fast 51 Jahre nach dem Verschwinden der Singer-Songwriterin und ist damit die erste Neuauflage dieses Albums seit beinahe zehn Jahren - und das in jedwedem Format. Die Veröffentlichung umfasst 20 Tracks (darunter eine Bonus-7"-Single mit dem bislang unveröffentlichten Stück ,House" sowie einem neuen Remix von ,Playboy of the Western World", beigesteuert von Dirick Cummins), die nichts von ihrer Eindringlichkeit und Kraft verloren haben. Sie präsentieren eine Künstlerin, die ihrer Zeit um Lichtjahre voraus war.

Die Wiederveröffentlichung von Connie Converses How Sad, How Lovely auf Third Man Records erscheint fast 51 Jahre nach dem Verschwinden der Singer-Songwriterin und ist damit die erste Neuauflage dieses Albums seit beinahe zehn Jahren - und das in jedwedem Format. Die Veröffentlichung umfasst 20 Tracks (darunter eine Bonus-7"-Single mit dem bislang unveröffentlichten Stück ,House" sowie einem neuen Remix von ,Playboy of the Western World", beigesteuert von Dirick Cummins), die nichts von ihrer Eindringlichkeit und Kraft verloren haben. Sie präsentieren eine Künstlerin, die ihrer Zeit um Lichtjahre voraus war.

Following up their 2016 release Satan’s Heavy Metal, Aggressive Perfector’s debut full length, Havoc At The Midnight Hour, finds the English trio in resolutely evil form as they take a major step forward on their path of destruction. Embracing a wealth of haunted sounds and textures, this sepulchral slab of metal conjures an atmosphere rich in the romantic repugnance of horror’s past masters which it uses the setting for a 37 minute nightmare of nocturnal menace, occult fascination and bloody vengeance. Summoning the ghosts of Metal past – Tank, Slayer, Venom and Mercyful Fate all playing a part- Havoc… fixates on the nuclear fury of an apocalyptic future, from which it culls new ways to pervert the course of heavy metal in the present. Follow Aggressive Perfector into the nightmare when Havoc At The Midnight hour is released on November 1st.

Over half a century after it set them on the path to superstardom, Queen’s regal second album, Queen II, has been remixed and remastered.

Arguably the heaviest Queen album, Queen II was originally released in 1974 and widely heralded as their first true masterpiece. With Brian May and Roger Taylor as executive producers, the album has been stunningly mixed by the team of Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae and Kris Fredriksson.

Sub Pop und Wolf Parade bringen eine neue Pressung ihres legendären Albums ,Apologies to the Queen Mary" auf pinkfarbenem Vinyl raus. Diese Ausgabe lässt das lange vergriffene Album wieder in seinem ursprünglichen Single-LP-Format erscheinen, kurz nachdem die TV-Serie ,Heated Rivalry" in 2025 die Single ,I'll Believe in Anything" aus dem Album einem riesigen neuen Publikum vorgestellt hat, wodurch der Song zu einem echten Viral-Hit wurde. Wolf Parade wurde 2003 in Montreal, Quebec, gegründet. Nach zwei selbstbetitelten EPs veröffentlichte die Band - Hadji Bakara (Elektronik), Dan Boeckner (Gitarre, Gesang), Spencer Krug (Keyboard, Gesang) und Arlen Thompson (Schlagzeug) - im September 2005 ,Apologies to the Queen Mary", das auf breite Zustimmung stieß. Das Album wurde von Modest Mouse-Frontmann Isaac Brock und Toningenieur Chris Chandler bei Audible Alchemy in Portland, Oregon, aufgenommen. ,Apologies to the Queen Mary" stürmt mit voller Kraft und atemlos durch Songs, die in den ersten Jahren der Band Wolf Parade geschrieben wurden. Die eingängige, energiegeladene Dringlichkeit des Albums machte sie sofort zu einer der prägenden Kräfte des Indie-Rock der 2000er Jahre. Es wurde 2006 für den renommierten kanadischen Polaris Music Prize nominiert; The Guardian schwärmte: ,insgesamt großartig"; Pitchfork gab ihm eine Bewertung von 9,2 und meinte: ,Das wahre Talent von Wolf Parade besteht darin, das Alltägliche in etwas Beispielloses zu verwandeln." Später schloss sich Pitchfork dem Chor der Kritiker an, die es zu den besten Alben der 2000er Jahre zählten. Zwei Jahrzehnte später hat "Apologies to the Queen Mary" nichts von seiner Lebendigkeit eingebüßt und gewinnt weiterhin neue Generationen von Fans für sich.

Alongside the legendary Mercyful Fate and more obscure acts such as Alien Force, Randy, and Crystal Knight, Copenhagen's Witch Cross are undoubtedly one of the best Danish metal bands of all time. Their 1984 album “Fit For Fight” is definitely among the top five metal records in the country. One of the two guitarists on this masterpiece was a certain ‘Cole Hamilton’. His real name is Ole Hamilton Poulsen. He joined the band after the recording of Witch Cross' debut single, “Are You There” (from 1983). His partner on guitar was Mike Wlad (his birth name is Michael Koch). Mike Wlad is not only a founding member of Witch Cross, but also their main songwriter. After the premature end of the original Witch Cross, Mike Wlad formed a band called Harlot, which released a hard-to-find album called “Room With A View” in 1988. He then moved to London. Witch Cross are now active again and are currently working on their third album.

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present ZERRE’s highly anticipated second album, Rotting on a Golden Throne, on CD and vinyl LP formats. From the cellars of Würzburg, Germany, ZERRE have been keeping the torch of old-school thrash metal burning while carving their own vicious path. Their sound draws on the razor-sharp aggression of classic Metallica and Exodus and the stomping groove of early Faith No More: no frills, no mercy. Their third full-length, 2024’s Scorched Souls, tore through the scene and earned critical acclaim for its searing riffs and unflinching energy. Now, ZERRE take a decisive step forward with Rotting on a Golden Throne. Darker, more overtly political, and more aggressive than its predecessor, this fourth full-length dives headfirst into the rot of power, corruption, and human decay – a brutal soundtrack for a world teetering on the edge. Onstage, ZERRE embody the chaos of their music: riff-driven assaults, breakneck tempos, and a raw intensity that leaves no room to breathe. On record, while those influences still remain, but the DNA has been splintered into something more unique and definitely more powerful: thrashing, yes, but within a crossover framework that feels titanic. The production is razor-sharp, but with ominous atmosphere to spare; the execution is even sharper, as the drumming especially pulses like a dread locomotive; and vocals spit forth venom, raging against a machine fatted by suffering. As the throne collapses, ZERRE deliver the anthem of its fall. Keep on Rotting on a Golden Throne!

“There’s something about sitting there—just me, the keys, and the silence. No beats, no drops. Only raw emotion.”

Containing 15 intimate piano songs, this album shows a different side to the world-famous DJ and producer:

more personal, more emotional. First recorded on his Steinway, then arranged into proper scores alongside piano teacher

Geronimo, this body of work is saturated with the vulnerability of stepping beyond his comfort zone.

Piano is available on a 2LP set, complete with 16-page booklet including pictures and liner notes by Armin.

Undun is the story of a man, Redford Stevens, dying in reverse, rewinding from the moment he became a statistic and hitting the points in his life where he's at his most self-aware. That he's a criminal who got caught up in the familiar street-hustle trappings that the modern media's documented countless times is a pivotal detail-- it's hit at an angle that seems to emphasize the futile inevitability of it all. His life could be any number of misdirected narratives that ends with a toe tag, and what details listeners learn about him are hazy, buried under archetypal turns of fate and decisive struggles. That this protagonist is a fictionalized composite of a handful of real people, filtered through a matter-of-fact narrative that splits character ambivalence with journalistic impartiality, only makes his lack of direction and the failure of any real closure stand out even more. "Lotta niggas go to prison," Dice Raw states on "Tip the Scale", "how many come out Malcolm X?"

So the Roots' latest album isn't a sprawling, rise-and-fall crime story, not a condemnation or a veneration of a man living outside the law, not a bullet-riddled grand guignol heavy on explicit details of soldiers getting cut down. It's a character study of a man whose existential crisis ends only with his death-- a death gone largely unspecified, the glamor and tragedy washed over with a doomed resignation. That's a hard thing to pull off, even for a band as given to deep-thinking concepts as the Roots are. And when your main lyrical catalyst is Black Thought-- a man more given to allusions than direct statements-- it's likely that it'll take a while for the full scope of Undun to really sink in.

If and when it does, it might strike listeners as a bit skeletal: omit the mood-setting instrumental bookends, including a brief, four-part orchestral suite that builds off Sufjan Stevens' "Redford (For Yia-Yia and Pappou)", and you've got maybe a half hour's worth of material. By ?uestlove's accounts, writing Redford's story introduced the headaches and challenges that come with scriptwriting into their songwriting, and what's left on Undun is the end result of frequent revisions and rewrites that attempt to reconcile character, theme, and continuity. If it comes at the expense of nuance, it's not always obvious: There's an easy-to-trace narrative line from Redford's acceptance of his fate ("Sleep") to his acknowledgement of how close it's approaching ("Make My"), back through declarations of aggravated toughness ("One Time"), and celebratory fatalism ("Kool On"), along ups and downs that juxtapose motivation ("Stomp") and helplessness ("Lighthouse"). When the vocal portion of the album ends with two of the bleakest sets of verses in the Roots discography, peaking with the estrangement of "I Remember" and the desperation of "Tip the Scale", Undun reveals itself as a story where a man's actual death isn't quite as tragic as the circumstances that pushed him to it.

A Profound Non-Event, the debut album by Sydney-based three piece Daily Toll, comprises 11 songs traversing three years of forged friendships, collaborative experimentation and a shared love of growing through words and song.

Those attuned to the ever-vibrant Australian underground may already be well familiar with Daily Toll, their consistent live presence since their inception in 2021 embroidered by a handful of (mostly) home-recorded, (mostly) digital self-releases that have steadily accumulated an appreciative following. Initially the project of self taught musician, poet & artist Kata Szász-Komlós(they/them) and Jasper Craig-Adams(he/him), and expended to a three piece with the more recent addition of friend Tom Stephens(he/him), Daily Toll represents the union of three unique creative dispositions, of relationships blooming through the push and pull of creative practice. Mapping the band’s existence through their recorded output is to bear witness to the flux of three people learning to respond to one another and gently ossify into a collective vision that at once calls to mind folk song intimacy, post-punk dynamics and the artful poeticism of an adjacent Flying Nun legacy.

If those earlier recordings reflect a band imagining themselves into being in real time, A Profound Non-Event observes a clear shift in both conviction and approach. Recorded in just three days with Alex Bennett at the purely analogue Sound Recordings studio in Castlemaine and holing up at night in the century old cottage situated beside the studio, sheltering from the late-June wind and rain within walls littered with instruments and microphones, lighting fires to stay warm. Kata describes the experience as defined by “candle light and creative camaraderie”, an idyllic account of a collection of songs that glide with an undeniably warm, easy charm, evidenced in particular in the record’s second half as the tone turns increasingly introspective, the very sound of a cold evening’s drift into night. When contrasted with the moody swirl and sing-song bounce of the opening trio of tracks, there’s clear evidence of a band not simply in the process of becoming, but committed to finding their truth in that process.
Still, if Daily Toll display a reluctance to be wholly defined, then album centerpiece ‘Killincs‘ (positioned in the middle for a reason) might just be their Rosetta Stone. A verbose rumination on unsettled feelings of isolation and longing, exploring the challenges in making peace with one's decisions amidst the uncertainty of an often harsh world and the realisation that some things remain best unresolved - “I have the keys still, but I’ve buried the path”.

I Made It All Up For You is the new record by Hugo Race Fatalists, their 6th studio album, set for release March 20, 2026 thru Gusstaff Records / Helixed on LP/CD and digital.
"In his 40-year career, Hugo Race has lived a thousand lives and played the role of songwriter, producer, musician, performer, head of a record label (Helixed). His music went from folk to lounge, from "trance industrial blues" to psychedelia, from world music to electronics. Starting from post-punk Melbourne in the 1980s, he took fascinating paths that led him from Africa to Turkey, from Berlin to Romagna…"
Hugo Race returns after highly successful collaborative albums with Michelangelo Russo (100 Years), The Church frontman Steve Kilbey (Speed of the Stars) and Gianni Maraccolo (The Vigil, winner of the prestigious Premio Ciampi) with I Made It All Up For You, an epic album with his Italian band Fatalists - existential songwriting framed by the band's signature fusion of roots music, electronica, Italian soundtracks and desert rock.
"I wanted to create something melodic and beautiful in defiance of our current reality. The songs started as bare acoustic sketches written in a remote mountain cabin in Italy where I had two weeks off during a solo tour. The weather turned into a raging blizzard, the days a struggle to keep the wood fire lit and the smoke out of the house. I wrote about twelve songs, threw them all away, started again with an unplugged electric guitar in front of that
damp fire, searching for the album's theme. When the smoke cleared, I was at the crossroads of a long term relationship unraveling under a blazing antipodean sun.
Fatalists recorded the basic tracks at the floating studio on the Puccini lake an hour out of Florence - Giovanni Ferrario (Scisma, PJ Harvey) on guitars and synth, Francesco Giampaoli (Brutture Moderne) on bass and Diego Sapignoli (Sacri Cuori) on percussion.
Violinist Massimiliano Gallo met me in Sicily for a short tour to learn the new songs, adding layers of his Calabrian magic to the mix. Jennifer Charles (singer of New York band Elysian Fields) and I had been talking for a long time about making new music and this was the occasion when we made it happen. Jennifer's distinctive voice graces this
album on the songs I Collide and Broken Love, the lyrics of which were written by author and designer Alannah Hill. My longtime road brother Michelangelo Russo also dusts the tracks with his otherworldly electric harmonica on Against The World, Born To Fly and Open Field. A lot of joy and pain and reflection went into the making of this album and I hope that comes across; this is about the darkness yes, but also the light. Everything changes and every ending is a new beginning but it's how we experience transformation that really matters. I hope you love this album. I made it all up for you."
Hugo Race, Naples, 2025

Formed in 1987 by Fruitbat and Jim Bob, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine burst onto the scene with their signature style of punk-pop infused with samples, drum machines, and social commentary. Join Jim Bob and Fruitbat, as they take a retrospective look back at the complete Carter U.S.M. singles, from 1988 to 1997.

First released in 1995, 'Straw Donkey' is an essential introduction to Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, featuring the U.K. Top 20 singles 'The Only Living Boy In New Cross', 'After The Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way)', 'Rubbish', and 'Lean On Me I Won't Fall Over', along with classics such as 'Sheriff Fatman', 'Anytime Anyplace Anywhere' and 'Bloodsport For All'.

With two deeply cherished compilations already in the bag, Luke Una steps up for the third volume in his É Soul Cultura series on Mr Bongo. A love letter to the dancefloor and its power to unite people from all corners of society amid growing division and extremist politics. Genre-spanning in nature, the 15 tracks travel between cosmic soul, boogie, proto-house, slo-mo technoid grooves, drum machine afro, astral bass-bugging futurism, jazz funk, dance, and disco. Each having the ability to move the body as much as the heart.
 
From his formative years in Sheffield to co-founding Manchester’s much-fabled Electric Chair with Justin Crawford, through to helming the iconic LGBTQ institutions of Homoelectric / Homobloc, Luke has spent 40 years immersed in dance music. His latest outlet, É Soul Cultura, has grown from a label to a globe-spanning events series with Luke holding residencies and embarking on tours across the world from Japan and Australia to America and Europe. 
 
“For me, the dancefloor was never about a one-dimensional, thudding, 130 BPM beat only. It's a much more dynamic, broader vision than that. I cut my teeth in an era where a 100 BPM record had as much impact, excitement, and energy as a 134 BPM dancefloor jazz funk or techno record”, Luke mentions. É Soul Cultura Volume 3 is the perfect embodiment of that notion: “It’s about four decades in the trenches playing dance music, the late-night afters, the shebeens, the basements, warehouse parties, the eight-hour journeys in East London, through to festival sets at Houghton and We Out Here. It’s music unconstrained by genre or tempo and more about making your body move”. 

But this isn’t simply a collection of disparate dance tracks; they carry meaning and soul. “It’s less about escapism, more about reconnection. My experience of post-covid has been the coming together of all the clans in various clubs and gatherings. A reaction to a very toxic world out there, where the aggro rhythms of division have sought to divide us, and people don't meet as often. The coming back together face-to-face in clubs has encouraged a real love in the air, there's a real togetherness and collective spirit”.
 
Opening up the compilation is a track that channels that very message, the transcendental, soul-rousing Harris & Orr ‘Spread Love’. Joining the dots from there, to the low-slung deep house closer of Fatdog ‘Remember’, you’ll find electronic drum machine Nigerian funk, sitting side by side with dancefloor Cape Verdean brilliance, a post-punk cover of Fela Kuti, rubbing shoulders with cosmic electro, and an Una-championed, 8-minute, kickless DJ Harvey remix. There’s jazz funk in various guises moving from boogie synth to astral travelling, slo-mo acidic raw techno, and a ‘79 soul stepper, alongside swirling percussive Italo disco and tribal-charged house. All infused with an innate ability to bring people together.
 
As society becomes increasingly fractured, É Soul Cultura Volume 3’s message is more than movement. It’s about dance music’s power to unify people from all walks of life and break down the barriers that divide us.

Father Sheed steps up to deliver a saucy meze for M.A.D Records sixteenth outing, following the groove-laden "Pancumbia" for A MAD 5 Years compilation!! The Austin, Texas based producer brings 5-tracks to ignite the discotheque with quirky sampling, punchy drum grooves and immaculate synth-scapes!

The definition of the word 'fado' is technically 'fate', though the Portuguese meaning bound up with this term is more complex. The music itself can be fairly closely compared with that of Greek rebetika - also the American blues or the original working-class tango music of Argentina and Uruguay - and similarly takes it's common subject matter from the various cruel realities of the world. Though perhaps what distinguishes fado in character is it's often poised acceptance of the pains of life rather than protestation or resistance - as writer Paul Vernon says "It speaks with a quiet dignity born of the realisation that any mortal desire or plan is at risk of destruction by powers beyond individual control"

Death Is Not The End compile here a spine-tingling collection of fado recordings, taken from records issued in the mid 1910s through to the 1930s. The fado's Lisbon and Coimbra variants are presented here by some of the music's earliest recorded stars - spanning a time period leading up to the emergence of the fado's all-conquering star, Amália Rodrigues.

Lush Life is the Sonar Kollektiv debut EP by German singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Flo Naegeli.

Originally hailing from the Bavarian forests of southeastern Germany, Naegeli began his musical journey at the age of seven as a folk accordionist, later switching to electric guitar and developing a disciplined approach to songwriting and musicianship that led to formal music studies and a professional career. After moving to eastern Germany, he gradually stepped away from band projects to focus on solo work, embracing self-production tools to realise a sound that blends soulful songwriting with warm, organic instrumentation.

Written and largely recorded by Naegeli himself, Lush Life is a deeply personal yet accessible collection of songs reflecting on fatherhood, family relationships and friendship.

Zooparty sind international betrachtet so etwas wie Spätzünder, wenngleich sie in der skandinavischen Punkszene seit zwei Jahrzehnten eine high credibility genießen (Skrutt Magazine: "So damn good, I really love this group") und Kenner ihre Alben im Plattenschrank schon lange wie einen raren Schatz aufbewahren. Als die Band 2024 ihr Album "No matter what you say" veröffentlichte, bemerkte nicht nur das legendäre "Maximum RocknRoll" US-Magazine, dass "I am, in fact, late to the party with this band. Fortunately, they're still raging. They fucking rock Yay, I love this. Hats off " Die mitreißende Mixtur aus poppigem Punk, englischem 77er-Punkrock, Glam und ehrlichem Streetrock'n'Roll. (Ox-Fanzine) spricht eigentlich für sich selbst und obwohl Punk-Legenden wie Glen Matlock von den Sex Pistols, Brian James/ The Damned und sogar KISS-Gitarrist Bruce Kulick ihr Potential erkannten und Songs mit Zooparty aufnahmen, sind die Schweden einfach immer zu bescheiden gewesen, um sich groß ins Rampenlicht zu rücken. Eigentlich ist jedes ihrer Alben bisher ein Volltreffer gewesen oder wie schon Englands Mass Movement Fanzine 2018 schrieb: "If you like your punk with a pop edge and relish the classic Fat Wreck Chords period, then Zooparty may well have created your favourite album of the year! Pogo, pogo!" Ihr neues Album "XX" zum 20jährigen Jubiläum steht dem in nichts nach. Jede Band bezeichnet ihr neues Album als "Ihr Bestes". Zooparty darf man das aber getrost glauben: "XX" ist voller fesselnder Punkrock-Songs, die Aggression mit Wut, Verzweiflung und der klarer Message mit einem Sound verbinden. Mit Lieder wie "Stop it now" und "An eye for an eye" fassen sie alles zusammen, was Punk seit Jahrzehnten so faszinierend macht, bringen es in die Zukunft und machen daraus ihre eigene, "pogotastische Mischung" aus Tragik und Melodie. Mit dem Black Sabbath-Cover "Never say die" verabschieden sich Zooparty zusammen mit "Nomads"-Gitarrist Hans Östlund auf ihre Art von der Legende Ozzy Osbourne. Apropos Sound: Mastermind Chips Kiesbye (Sator, Nomads, The Hellacopters, etc) hat es sich auch diesmal nicht nehmen lassen, das Album zu produzieren.

Zooparty sind international betrachtet so etwas wie Spätzünder, wenngleich sie in der skandinavischen Punkszene seit zwei Jahrzehnten eine high credibility genießen (Skrutt Magazine: "So damn good, I really love this group") und Kenner ihre Alben im Plattenschrank schon lange wie einen raren Schatz aufbewahren. Als die Band 2024 ihr Album "No matter what you say" veröffentlichte, bemerkte nicht nur das legendäre "Maximum RocknRoll" US-Magazine, dass "I am, in fact, late to the party with this band. Fortunately, they're still raging. They fucking rock Yay, I love this. Hats off " Die mitreißende Mixtur aus poppigem Punk, englischem 77er-Punkrock, Glam und ehrlichem Streetrock'n'Roll. (Ox-Fanzine) spricht eigentlich für sich selbst und obwohl Punk-Legenden wie Glen Matlock von den Sex Pistols, Brian James/ The Damned und sogar KISS-Gitarrist Bruce Kulick ihr Potential erkannten und Songs mit Zooparty aufnahmen, sind die Schweden einfach immer zu bescheiden gewesen, um sich groß ins Rampenlicht zu rücken. Eigentlich ist jedes ihrer Alben bisher ein Volltreffer gewesen oder wie schon Englands Mass Movement Fanzine 2018 schrieb: "If you like your punk with a pop edge and relish the classic Fat Wreck Chords period, then Zooparty may well have created your favourite album of the year! Pogo, pogo!" Ihr neues Album "XX" zum 20jährigen Jubiläum steht dem in nichts nach. Jede Band bezeichnet ihr neues Album als "Ihr Bestes". Zooparty darf man das aber getrost glauben: "XX" ist voller fesselnder Punkrock-Songs, die Aggression mit Wut, Verzweiflung und der klarer Message mit einem Sound verbinden. Mit Lieder wie "Stop it now" und "An eye for an eye" fassen sie alles zusammen, was Punk seit Jahrzehnten so faszinierend macht, bringen es in die Zukunft und machen daraus ihre eigene, "pogotastische Mischung" aus Tragik und Melodie. Mit dem Black Sabbath-Cover "Never say die" verabschieden sich Zooparty zusammen mit "Nomads"-Gitarrist Hans Östlund auf ihre Art von der Legende Ozzy Osbourne. Apropos Sound: Mastermind Chips Kiesbye (Sator, Nomads, The Hellacopters, etc) hat es sich auch diesmal nicht nehmen lassen, das Album zu produzieren.

Ten years after their last collaboration, Jacques Duvall and Benjamin Schoos return with Plein Sommeil, a duo album that is at once melancholic, ironic, and tender—a poetic mirror of the fatigue of the modern world.

The legendary lyricist for Lio, Chamfort, and Daho meets the indie pop producer and sonic adventurer of Freaksville, in a generational union as improbable as it is natural.
Between Brussels and Paris, they weave songs about slowness, worn-out love, and resistance through gentleness.

Blending original compositions and delicate covers (The Kinks, Higelin, Daho), the album evokes a sensual and lucid refuge amid the overheating of everyday life.
Recorded with Bertrand Burgalat, The Loved Drones, and lush string arrangements, Plein Sommeil embraces a handcrafted, timeless aesthetic.

Its motto: “Slow business” — a manifesto against the speed and emptiness of contemporary times.

Each song, balancing irony and elegance, celebrates fragility and humanity.

It's hard to fathom Martin Bramah's trajectory from his beginnings as a guitarist/writer behind two crazily influential postpunk albums - The Fall's Live At The Witch Trials and Blue Orchids' The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain) (vocalist on the latter too, of course) - then nearly three decades of sporadic-at-best activity, offering releases just frequently enough to remind fans of his peculiar brilliance . . . before another stay in the void. Chalk it up to what you want - Mark E. Smith's utter usurpation of The Fall, his split from partner Una Baines after Blue Orchids' debut, the vague collapse of rash experimentation in `underground' music as early `80s nu-pop and American college rock diluted any real spirit, a few failed attempts at working with with Mark again . . . and maybe just life getting in the way. A sense of lost opportunities isn't tough to justify. Inasmuch as Martin was originally the singer for The Fall - Mark began as guitarist but couldn't play! - and given that the group's mythology was born in an era before that gang of Mancunian misfits had even thought of playing, it's high irony that 49 years after The Fall began, Martin has both become wildly prolific and the leader of a band with more rights of inheritance to The Fall's credibility than any other living person could justify . . .yet the band isn't remarkable for that as it is for the range and wealth extent of their collective powers and talent: two great and original guitarists, three of the UK's most daringly-skilled drummers, a genuine bass legend, and a brilliant spare Blue Orchid guitarist. Four albums in, the HOUSE Of ALL is getting ambitious, with each album a subtle improvement on the last, forging a path away from their pasts without denying a thing. Inklings differs from the first three for not having being largely improvised at first, with sounds, rhythm, groove and melody later forged into songs. They rehearsed! They had fun doing it! They're going on an extended tour! There were even extra tracks! We'll leave it to fans and critics to sit down and analyse the specifics of it all, but Steve, Si, Pete, Phil, Karl and Martin have made a bold and powerful album unlike any other you'll hear in 2026 . . . stately, majestic, bold and worthy of a group of real survivors. In perverse form, the album will be officially announced and preceded by a song not on the album!

I Made It All Up For You is the new record by Hugo Race Fatalists, their 6th studio album, set for release March 20, 2026 thru Gusstaff Records / Helixed on LP/CD and digital.
"In his 40-year career, Hugo Race has lived a thousand lives and played the role of songwriter, producer, musician, performer, head of a record label (Helixed). His music went from folk to lounge, from "trance industrial blues" to psychedelia, from world music to electronics. Starting from post-punk Melbourne in the 1980s, he took fascinating paths that led him from Africa to Turkey, from Berlin to Romagna…"
Hugo Race returns after highly successful collaborative albums with Michelangelo Russo (100 Years), The Church frontman Steve Kilbey (Speed of the Stars) and Gianni Maraccolo (The Vigil, winner of the prestigious Premio Ciampi) with I Made It All Up For You, an epic album with his Italian band Fatalists - existential songwriting framed by the band's signature fusion of roots music, electronica, Italian soundtracks and desert rock.
"I wanted to create something melodic and beautiful in defiance of our current reality. The songs started as bare acoustic sketches written in a remote mountain cabin in Italy where I had two weeks off during a solo tour. The weather turned into a raging blizzard, the days a struggle to keep the wood fire lit and the smoke out of the house. I wrote about twelve songs, threw them all away, started again with an unplugged electric guitar in front of that
damp fire, searching for the album's theme. When the smoke cleared, I was at the crossroads of a long term relationship unraveling under a blazing antipodean sun.
Fatalists recorded the basic tracks at the floating studio on the Puccini lake an hour out of Florence - Giovanni Ferrario (Scisma, PJ Harvey) on guitars and synth, Francesco Giampaoli (Brutture Moderne) on bass and Diego Sapignoli (Sacri Cuori) on percussion.
Violinist Massimiliano Gallo met me in Sicily for a short tour to learn the new songs, adding layers of his Calabrian magic to the mix. Jennifer Charles (singer of New York band Elysian Fields) and I had been talking for a long time about making new music and this was the occasion when we made it happen. Jennifer's distinctive voice graces this
album on the songs I Collide and Broken Love, the lyrics of which were written by author and designer Alannah Hill. My longtime road brother Michelangelo Russo also dusts the tracks with his otherworldly electric harmonica on Against The World, Born To Fly and Open Field. A lot of joy and pain and reflection went into the making of this album and I hope that comes across; this is about the darkness yes, but also the light. Everything changes and every ending is a new beginning but it's how we experience transformation that really matters. I hope you love this album. I made it all up for you."
Hugo Race, Naples, 2025

HELP(2) ist die Neuauflage einer der beeindruckendsten Charity-Aktionen der jüngeren Musikgeschichte. Bereits 1995 schlossen sich die Größen der britischen Musikszene zusammen, um mit den Erlösen der gemeinsamen HELP-Compilation Kindern in Kriegsgebieten zu helfen. Auch 2026 ist die globale Lage verheerend. Inspiriert vom legendären Charity-Sampler HELP aus dem Jahr 1995 hat sich in Großbritannien erneut ein Community-Projekt formiert, getragen von einigen der wichtigsten Musikerinnen und Musiker unserer Zeit. Ziel ist es, in bewegten Zeiten einen würdigen Nachfolger aufzunehmen: HELP(2). Wie schon beim Original, an dem unter anderem Radiohead, Oasis, Portishead, The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack und Blur beteiligt waren, bringt auch HELP(2) Menschen zusammen, um die lebenswichtige Arbeit von War Child zu unterstützen: schnelle Nothilfe, Bildungsangebote, spezialisierte psychosoziale Betreuung sowie Schutz für Kinder, die weltweit von Krieg und Konflikten betroffen sind. Das Album macht auf den dramatischen Umstand aufmerksam, dass heute jedes fünfte Kind auf der Welt in einem Kriegsgebiet lebt. Entstanden ist das neue Album während einer außergewöhnlichen Aufnahmewoche im November 2025 in enger Zusammenarbeit mit den Abbey Road Studios. Als Executive Producer fungierte der vielfach ausgezeichnete Produzent James Ford. HELP(2) vereint eine beeindruckende Liste internationaler Künstlerinnen und Künstler, darunter Anna Calvi, Arctic Monkeys, Arlo Parks, Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Beabadoobee, Beck, Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Black Country, New Road, Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Graham Coxon, Greentea Peng, Kae Tempest, King Krule, Nilüfer Yanya, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Sampha, The Last Dinner Party, Wet Leg, Young Fathers - sowie viele weitere helfende Hände. Die kreative Leitung des Projekts liegt in den Händen des renommierten Filmemachers und Oscar-Preisträgers Jonathan Glazer und seines Teams von Academy Films, die sowohl die visuelle Umsetzung als auch die künstlerische Gestaltung von HELP(2) maßgeblich prägten. Sämtliche Erlöse des Albums kommen War Child UK zugute und unterstützen den Einsatz für Schutz, Bildung und die Rechte von Kindern in Konfliktgebieten weltweit. HELP(2) steht für Hoffnung - für Kinder, deren Leben durch Krieg zerstört wurde - und für die Kraft gemeinschaftlichen Handelns. Es ist ein eindrucksvolles Zeichen der Solidarität von Künstlerinnen und Künstlern für eine sicherere und gerechtere Zukunft. Denn kein Kind sollte jemals Teil eines Krieges sein.

In 1962, Black Music was making its transition from R&B to soul and the Chicago music industry was exploding, producing thousands of records and dozens of new labels. The two biggest black labels Vee-Jay and Chess led in the creation of the distinctive, smooth, Chicago soul brand with names familiar and not so familiar: the former with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler and the latter with Mitty Collier, Etta James and Billy Stewart. And yet it's the smaller labels that make up the bulk of the Chicago story: Hawk with Geraldine Taylor, Lu-Cee with Roberta, M-Pac with Dorothy Prince and it's here that we explore some of the finest sounds of the era in this collection. Extensive liner notes written by Robert Pruter, author of the acclaimed 'Chicago Soul'. Side One. 1. The Town I Live In - McKinley Mitchell 2. I'm The One Who Loves You - The Impressions 3. Shake A Tail Feather - The Five Du-Tones 4. Mama Didn't Lie - Jan Bradley 5. Make It Easy On Yourself - Jerry Butler 6. Seven Day Fool - Etta James 7. The Blues Don't Like Nobody - Tony Adams 8. I've Got To Get Away From It All - Mitty Collier 9. How Much Longer - Geraldine Taylor 10. I'm On The Prowl - Roberta. Side Two: 1. Fat Boy - Billy Stewart 2. Can't Take No More - Ted Taylor 3. I Don't Want To Suffer - Walter Jackson 4. Open Your Heart - Sugar Pie DeSanto 5. Shook Up Over You - Dee Clark 6. Something's Got A Hold On Me - Etta James 7. Why Not Tonight - Dorothy Prince 8. Delilah - Major Lance 9. Money In My Pocket - Moss Tolbert