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Die-cut sleeve. In the fall of 2013 Bry Webb was putting the finishing touches on his second album Free Will. Released on May 20th 2014, Bry, with his newly assembled band The Providers, spent the following few years traversing North America playing clubs, festivals and storied stages such as Toronto’s Massey Hall. Nothing new for an artist who had spent the aughts in a constant state of motion with Constantines, a band who on average had performed one of every three nights on a stage somewhere in the world. In fact, running in parallel to Bry’s solo touring schedule was a reunion with his former Constantines’ bandmates to once again present their incendiary live show and celebrate the 11th anniversary reissue of the band’s Shine A Light. It is what happened as the decade wound down that seemed out of character for an artist who had spent close to 20 years immersed in the studio and on the stage: the music stopped altogether. Bry explains his feelings at that time, “I lost the musical plot about 5 years ago and stopped playing music entirely, sold instruments and recording equipment, and committed myself to the idea that I was absolutely done”. Webb dedicated himself to his ongoing work in community radio, months turned to years and musical life seemed to be all but gone from view. Now in an unexpected turnaround 10 years on from the recording of his last studio album, there is not only a return to the stage for Bry but also a new record. Primarily composed in a season of upheaval, Run With Me contains some of Bry’s rawest sentiments. Fresh and painfully present there is an immediacy one can hear as emotional walls collapse in real time. Bry explains the context of the album’s creation: “In early 2023 my personal life exploded. In the process of dealing with that, I started writing music again and started recording at home. Advised that I needed to figure out how to ask for, and accept, help from other people, I sent early recordings of songs to friends from twenty-five years of music making - many folks I hadn’t connected with in years - and asked if they’d contribute anything to the songs. People came through in ways that overwhelmed me to the point that I cried when I wrote out the list of players for the liner notes. I felt incredibly cared for. From Andy Magoffin, who recorded the first Constantines album in 1999, to members of the Cons, to my nieces Addy and Ella playing drums, and a doppler recording of my daughter’s heartbeat, the record is a document of my creative life, and the people who made it possible to make music again.” If the cover of Run With Me looks familiar, it is with full intent. The album’s technicolor marbling and die cut text serve to signal the inclusion of the album in a trilogy started with Bry’s first record Provider. Just as that album starts with the track Asa, this new one introduces itself with the instrumental Webb. The trilogy is now completed with his daughter's first, middle and last names represented as the first tracks on each of the three albums. While the LP’s package signals its place in the collection, and tracks such as Older Than The Dirt and What I Do revisit their predecessor’s familiar sonic starkness, Run With Me is the outlier of the trio. A number of new tracks forego the quietude of Provider and Free Will, clearly recalling the rallying rhythms of Constantines’ anthems. Thunder Bay (instrumental backing courtesy of The Harbourcoats circa 2009), with its insistent kick drum and wall of electrics, support one of Webb’s most indelible melodies, and the not so subtly psychedelic Modern Mind reveal an expansion of Webb’s palette. Perhaps the furthest afield is the contextual centerpiece of the album, Goodbye, where we not only hear a joyful voice that lay dormant for years, but hear it reclaim its power. Backed by Constantines’ Will Kidman, Doug MacGregor and Dallas Wehrle, Bry belts out “I’m through with all the rage, now watch the light pour out of me.” As with all of Bry’s work, Run With Me’s lyrics take their time to settle in. Songs of self-examination, reconfigured love ballads, and songs for those who work to help others. Songs of singing abound. It’s there in Older Than The Dirt’s second verse: "Logic to the last intention, logic in the way we kept holding on forever, singing as the floor- was swept”, ten thousand birds sing a warning song in Thunder Bay and again in Goodbye’s telling of a cathartic return to one’s true self with its celebration of those “Who sing - sing all joy - all joy of language, in a single word”. Joining Bry in singing Run With Me’s songs of “death, transition and hope,” are kindred spirits Jennifer Castle, Julie Doiron, Daniel Romano and Steph Yates. All of these singers elevate the album’s healing sentiments and help express the album’s central plea; a prayer of sorts wrapped in the traditional Scottish Gaelic melody of She Is Here’s second verse: “Let the sun rise in the morning and any witness bring. Let all the blooming cosmos teach us to sing”.

Limited edition 180g audiophile pressing, high-definition premium vinyl for super fidelity - the complete LP + 2 bonus tracks 'Monk's Dream' was the first album Thelonious Monk released on Columbia Records after his less than amicable departure from Riverside Records. Even though Monk had already recorded all the tracks on the album before (apart from Bright Mississippi), in a variety of settings, the powerful cohesion of the quartet this Columbia session produced a first-rate work worthy of the praises it received when released, and which it still receives today. It was Monk's best-selling album ever. "This important album, Monk's first after a long absence from the recording studio, is a stunning reaffirmation of his power as a performer and composer. It is a brilliant and absorbing program of five Monk originals and three standards (and they might just as well be originals, so startling is their transformation at his hands). This is a beautiful album in every respect, completely stimulating in each second of its more than 47 minutes" - ***** Pete Welding, DownBeat

Parallel zur Singleveröffentlichung hat die Band aus Los Angeles auch erste Details über GODMODE bekanntgegeben. Das achte Studioalbum von In This Moment, das in den Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas aufgenommen wurde, vereint insgesamt 10 Tracks. Produziert wurde es von Kane Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch) und Tyler Bates (John Wick, Jerry Cantrell, Bush). „Wir können es echt kaum noch abwarten, bis alle hören, was wir dieses Mal aufgenommen haben“, so Howorth.

In This Moment sind Maria Brink (Leadgesang), Chris Howorth (Gitarre), Travis Johnson (Bass), Randy Weitzel (Rhythmusgitarre) und Kent Diimmel (Schlagzeug)


Über In This Moment:

Seit der Gründung im Jahr 2005 haben sich In This Moment aus Los Angeles eine riesige internationale Fanbase erspielt. Unterstützung bekommen die „Mother“-Figur und Sängerin Maria Brink und der Leadgitarrist Chris Howorth (ebenfalls ein Gründungsmitglied) aktuell vom Bassisten Travis Johnson, dem Gitarristen Randy Weitzel und dem Schlagzeuger Kent Diimmel. Besonders ihre gefeierten Live-Shows bescherten den Kaliforniern eine gewaltige Fanbase, weshalb sie ganz beiläufig zu einer der einfluss- und erfolgreichsten Bands des 21. Jahrhunderts avancieren konnten: Inzwischen gehen mehr als 1,3 Milliarden kombinierte Streams aufs Konto der US-Metalcore-Institution.



Nachdem ihnen schon das 2012 veröffentlichte Album Blood US-Gold beschert hatte, konnten zwischenzeitlich neben einem halben Dutzend Gold- und Platinsingles gleich drei Alben in Folge die Top-25 der US-Albumcharts aufmischen: Nach Blood und Black Widow (2014) stieg auch Ritual (2017) direkt auf Platz 23 in die Billboard-200 ein. Auch künstlerisch auf einem ganz neuen Level angekommen, sollten allein die Songs von Ritual seither mehr als eine Viertelmilliarde Streams generieren.



Neben ausverkauften Headliner-Tourneen rund um den Globus füllten sie die größten Stadien auch schon zusammen mit Disturbed und traten dazu bei den größten Festivals auf (u.a. Rockville, Sonic Temple).



Unterwegs zwischen den größten Bühnen war zuletzt das siebte Studioalbum Mother (Roadrunner Records) entstanden, das die US-Band mit dem angestammten Studiopartner Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Five Finger Death Punch) aufgenommen hatte. Waren bei Ritual auch Blues-Elemente in ihrem knallharten Sound aufgetaucht, zog einen Mother schon mit der ersten Single unweigerlich in seinen Bann: Die Auskopplung „The In-Between“ wurde hinterher auch für einen GRAMMY Award nominiert. Im Jahr 2022 veröffentlichten In The Moment die EP Blood 1983 (BMG), ein musikalisches Update zum 10. Jubiläum des Blood-Albums. Außerdem war der Exklusivtitel „I Would Die For You“ auf dem Soundtrack zum Kinofilm John Wick: Chapter 4 zu hören.

Parallel zur Singleveröffentlichung hat die Band aus Los Angeles auch erste Details über GODMODE bekanntgegeben. Das achte Studioalbum von In This Moment, das in den Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas aufgenommen wurde, vereint insgesamt 10 Tracks. Produziert wurde es von Kane Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch) und Tyler Bates (John Wick, Jerry Cantrell, Bush). „Wir können es echt kaum noch abwarten, bis alle hören, was wir dieses Mal aufgenommen haben“, so Howorth.

In This Moment sind Maria Brink (Leadgesang), Chris Howorth (Gitarre), Travis Johnson (Bass), Randy Weitzel (Rhythmusgitarre) und Kent Diimmel (Schlagzeug)


Über In This Moment:

Seit der Gründung im Jahr 2005 haben sich In This Moment aus Los Angeles eine riesige internationale Fanbase erspielt. Unterstützung bekommen die „Mother“-Figur und Sängerin Maria Brink und der Leadgitarrist Chris Howorth (ebenfalls ein Gründungsmitglied) aktuell vom Bassisten Travis Johnson, dem Gitarristen Randy Weitzel und dem Schlagzeuger Kent Diimmel. Besonders ihre gefeierten Live-Shows bescherten den Kaliforniern eine gewaltige Fanbase, weshalb sie ganz beiläufig zu einer der einfluss- und erfolgreichsten Bands des 21. Jahrhunderts avancieren konnten: Inzwischen gehen mehr als 1,3 Milliarden kombinierte Streams aufs Konto der US-Metalcore-Institution.



Nachdem ihnen schon das 2012 veröffentlichte Album Blood US-Gold beschert hatte, konnten zwischenzeitlich neben einem halben Dutzend Gold- und Platinsingles gleich drei Alben in Folge die Top-25 der US-Albumcharts aufmischen: Nach Blood und Black Widow (2014) stieg auch Ritual (2017) direkt auf Platz 23 in die Billboard-200 ein. Auch künstlerisch auf einem ganz neuen Level angekommen, sollten allein die Songs von Ritual seither mehr als eine Viertelmilliarde Streams generieren.



Neben ausverkauften Headliner-Tourneen rund um den Globus füllten sie die größten Stadien auch schon zusammen mit Disturbed und traten dazu bei den größten Festivals auf (u.a. Rockville, Sonic Temple).



Unterwegs zwischen den größten Bühnen war zuletzt das siebte Studioalbum Mother (Roadrunner Records) entstanden, das die US-Band mit dem angestammten Studiopartner Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Five Finger Death Punch) aufgenommen hatte. Waren bei Ritual auch Blues-Elemente in ihrem knallharten Sound aufgetaucht, zog einen Mother schon mit der ersten Single unweigerlich in seinen Bann: Die Auskopplung „The In-Between“ wurde hinterher auch für einen GRAMMY Award nominiert. Im Jahr 2022 veröffentlichten In The Moment die EP Blood 1983 (BMG), ein musikalisches Update zum 10. Jubiläum des Blood-Albums. Außerdem war der Exklusivtitel „I Would Die For You“ auf dem Soundtrack zum Kinofilm John Wick: Chapter 4 zu hören.

Experience the captivating soundscape from one of 2023’s biggest blockbusters on the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Original Score) vinyl. The sequel to 2019’s Oscar-award winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse broke the global box-office on release, and the critically acclaimed, viral hit-making score is now available on vinyl and CD for the first time.



Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA-nominated composer Daniel Pemberton returns to expand upon the Spider-Verse’s iconic, multi-versal soundscape with a genre-defying score that seamlessly combines a 100-piece orchestra with DJ scratching, operatic vocals, techno beats, punk rock, acid-house-inspired Indian percussion, soaring synth solos, and even…a prominently sampled goose. From the Gwen Stacy’s fan favorite motif to Spider-Man 2099’s internet-breaking theme music, the film and its intricately-woven score is sure to transport you into some wildly unexpected parallel dimensions.



This double vinyl release comes pressed on two white and dark purple marbled LPs, featuring highlights from the score hand-selected by Daniel Pemberton. The package includes a stunning soft-touch gatefold jacket with spot gloss, a double-sided collectable poster and two printed sleeves with custom art – plus, an 8-page art booklet featuring liner notes from Daniel Pemberton and art from the film.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra came to life in basements and bedrooms, the musical vision of Portlander-via-New Zealand Ruban Nielson that fused guitar-god riffs, choppy percussion, soul and funk. II, the sophomore album from UMO, emerged in an era rampant hedonism and isolationism and became the blueprint for everything Nielson has become renowned for. It was, and is, the solidification of Unknown Mortal Orchestra as an endlessly intriguing, brave and addictive band. Ten years on, it's back with an expanded edition. Written during a punishing, debauched touring schedule during which Nielson feared for both his sanity and health, II illustrates the emotional turmoil of life on the road, painting surrealist, cartoonish portraits of loneliness, love and despair. These conflicting themes are evident immediately; on the album's sleeve is an unnerving image of Janet Farrar, the famous British witch, Wiccan, author and teacher of witchcraft. The chilling refrain of opener "Into The Sun" sees Nielson deliver the line "Isolation can put a gun in your hand," softly, his words starkly intelligible above a warm, slow-burning melody that quickly brands itself onto your brain. His playful imagery ("I'm so lonely I've gotta eat my popcorn all alone") mirrors the melody, before a solo that borders on psychotropic ends II`s introduction. UMO is unafraid to dig deeper than the rest, their intoxicating, opiate groove bringing rock'n'roll's exaggerated myths to life. And as it unfolds, II does find Nielson reenergized. "One At A Time" and "Faded In The Morning" boast dizzying choruses and instrumentals; these crusty hunks could have been excavated from a lost 1960s treasure trove. "Monki" unravels over seven minutes like the yarn from a stoner's cardigan with an eye-frying pattern. "Dawn" is a minute of disconcerting noise that stands out between the nooks and crannies of the choruses, guitar solos, groove-heavy bass and drums that were recorded live by newly-recruited drummer Greg Rogove and Kody Nielson in a move away from the electronic percussion employed on album one. II closes with "Secret Xtians," a tender observational puzzle that fizzes to a satisfied end. In celebration of the album's 10th anniversary Nielson's complete collection from the II era is finally available in one compilation, and features the five acoustic tracks from the Blue EP as well as two additional B-sides. Unknown Mortal Orchestra was once Nielson's closeted concern. With an album that uses his singular musical imagination and extraordinary talent to parade his emotions with unyielding honesty, it is now a fully realized band operating at the peak of its powers ten years on.

Considered one of the most innovative groups on the Colombian musical circuit in 1973, Columna de Fuego forged its sound by creatively and organically mixing elements of heavy rock with rhythms rooted in the music of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of the country. Columna de Fuego, the first Colombian rock band to tour outside South America, was the supporting act for Leonor González —La Negra Grande de Colombia— for months and featured members of Los Young Beats, Los Speakers and Siglo Cero. Their only LP, recorded in Spain and released in Colombia only in 1974, was a turning point in the history of Colombian rock, an album full of funk, soul, cumbia and currulao that maintains a fast pace from start to finish. After unsuccessful attempts to establish themselves in Europe, the group parted ways; some members returned to Colombia and others stayed in Europe as part of La Banda Salsa, a vibrant and little mentioned chapter in the history of Latin rock. Roberto Fiorilli, the stand-out drummer of Colombian rock, returned to his native Italy. Over the following five decades, the myth of Columna de Fuego, that wonderful Bogota rock band that dared to experiment with the music of the Colombian coastline, grew. The curiosity of musicians interested in the traditional music and folklore of the coasts since the late 80's, the consequent mixture of different musical genres (modern and roots) at the end of the 20th century and the almost impossible desire of collectors to find a copy of the album or one of the band’s singles, gave it the status it should always have had as a pioneer, milestone and beacon. After remaining unavailable for five decades, we are proud to now present the first-time reissue of this obscure gem with its original artwork, including an insert with notes and rare photos. Sleeve

and Sebastian Kokus and the prolific Ulf Schütte, the Hamburg-based trio has tirelessly expanded upon its sound and extended its musical style. After 2022’s »S/T« documented the results of their first jam sessions as a newly-founded group, »V.A.« started even more modestly and became an even bigger undertaking. Originally conceived as a small one-off release, it grew into a full record which sees the group embracing dub music, collaborating with Peaking Lights’ Aaron Coyes and inviting other artists—No UFO’s, Seekers International, Coco Em—who reworked select tracks in true dub style. »V.A.« is marked by inconsistency, openness, and heterogeneity in the best sense of those words: ever-changing, constantly surprising and consistently in motion.

The starting point for »V.A.« was a Hamburg concert in December 2022 together with Coyes, who played a solo set as Peaking Lights. On the request of the event organiser, Cloud Management teamed up with him for a jam session after the gig, laying the foundation for a track that the group took to the studio before sending it to Coyes to record vocals for it. Another song quickly followed and even though the band initially intended to release »PST« and »0rten Pitch« as standalone 7” single, they soon decided to have others create versions of the two tunes to round them off in the form of a 12” EP. Once more though, one thing led to another and now »V.A.« collects five original pieces by Cloud Management as well as three—four on the digital version—remixes by other artists.

Collaborating with Leipzig-based Canadian producer No UFO’s, the Canadian Seekers International collective, and Kenyan multi-disciplinary artist Coco Em came about organically. As fans of their friend Konrad Jandavs’ work for labels such as Spectrum Spools, Root Strata and his own Nice Up International, Korf, Kokus and Schütte asked him for a remix and granted him full creative freedom for his take on »PST«. Jandavs also connected them with the prolific Richmond-based soundsystem worshippers, who present their take on the same track on this record as well as a version of »Electric CD.« Also this track appears three times on the record, having been re-rubbed by Emma Mbeki Nzioka, who was introduced to the the trio by its label Altin Village & Mine.

There isn’t really a common thread running through the rough digi-dub of No UFO’s take on »PST«, Seekers International’s traditionally-minded yet infinitely playful dub-psychedelia and Coco Em’s bass-heavy, percussive, pulsating take on »Electric CD.« However, as a group dedicated to staying in flux at all times, Cloud Management ended up embracing the creative differences between their own work and those of their respective collaborators. In calling it »V.A.,« they paid tribute to their somewhat loose, but conceptually consistent concept of giving various artists full creative licence over their own work. Neither a true album in the strict sense of the world nor just a compilation, »V.A.« is actually the essential Cloud Management record: ever-changing, constantly surprising, consistently in motion.

‘Life And Death - The Five Chandeliers Of The Funereal Exorcisms’ pulls back the veil unto a nocturnal scene populated by shadows, embers burning coldly in the underworld. Marina Zispin is your guide, siren and protector both. Marina Zispin is the negative space between musicians Bianca Scout and Martyn Reid. Love And Death is the duo’s debut release, five chandeliers of melancholic, vibrant synth pop twinkling in the inky blackness. Both originally hailing from the North East of England and forming a musical partnership before lockdown, Bianca Scout and Martyn Reid initially worked remotely. Having relocated to South London and Newcastle respectively, Marina Zispin was born in earnest after the duo could begin writing and practising in the same space. Bianca Scout is a celebrated musician and dancer with a number of solo and collaborative works in her discographywhile Martyn Reid is a mainstay of the UK noise and power electronics scene, most recently with solo project Depletion. Marina Zispin largely eschews both Scout’s deconstructed approach to song and Reid’s focus on visceral, noise- based productions; the result is a new entity, the underground pop star that exists only in darkened dreams. Marina Zispin, then, is an avatar cajoled, nurtured and directed by Scout and Reid. Analogue electronics redolent of the early 80s Cold Wave and Synth Pop era form the base of the Zispin worldview, with Bianca Scout donning the Marina disguise, embodying the character over five songs of swooning drama, playful melodic interplays and tear-stained, doe-eyed sentiment. Flowers In The Sea opens with an austere 4/4 beat and hypnotic synth parts before Scout/Zispin floats in across the lagoon. Scout’s vocal tone is an instant winner, sweet like honey pouring down over the cold, robotic productions and stereo-panned synth work. We can almost see the petals drift into the horizon before being pulled under by the artist’s sadness. Ski Resort bursts out with a Jacno-inspired bassline and backing that could have been buried in a French disco in 1982 (think Stereo or Linear Movement) before Scout’s narrative details frivolousness and regret before a magical shift for the final coda into major key. Backworth Gold Club closes Side A, a mysterious rigid beat and minor chord synth arpeggios swimming in space, floating and obscure. On Side B, Hymn carries the tone on, church-like synths holding down the pattern for Zispin/Scout to float above in a flowing gown of reverb. The marriage of Reid’s cold musical backbone and Scout’s effortless vocal and co- production is in full flow here, the vocals at times rising to the rafters of this nocturnal place of worship, at other points they’re fuzzy samples cutting in and drifting out or sung with an extreme autotune, abstract and perfect in the moment. Surprise Party is the most straightforward pop bullet, Scout/Zispin’s vocal peering out more from the fog, perhaps revealing more than usual: vulnerability, maybe, the wandering muse of the artists behind the veil or just another layer of mystery behind the enigma? Marina Zispin’s Life & Death - The Five Chandeliers Of The Funereal Exorcisms ends as it began, scintillating in obscurity, leaving everything unanswered but open.

The five members of Sun June spent their early years spread out across the United States, from the boonies of the Hudson Valley to the sprawling outskirts of LA. Having spent their college years within the gloomy, cold winters of the North East, Laura Colwell and Stephen Salisbury found themselves in the vibrant melting-pot of inspiration that is Austin, Texas. Meeting each other while working on Terrence Malick's 'Song to Song', the pair were immediately taken by the city's bustling small clubs and honky-tonk scene, and the fact that there was always an instrument within reach, always someone to play alongside. Coming alive in this newly discovered landscape, Colwell and Salisbury formed Sun June alongside Michael Bain on lead guitar, Sarah Schultz on drums, and Justin Harris on bass and recorded their debut album live to tape, releasing it via the city's esteemed Keeled Scales label in 2018. The band coined the term 'regret pop' to describe the music they made on the 'Years' LP. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, it made perfect sense ~ the gentle sway of their country leaning pop songs seeped in melancholy, as if each subtle turn of phrase was always grasping for something just out of reach. Sun June returns with Somewhere, a brand new album, out February 2021. It's a record that feels distinctly more present than its predecessor. In the time since, Colwell and Salisbury have become a couple, and it's had a profound effect on their work; if Years was about how loss evolves, Somewhere is about how love evolves. "We explore a lot of the same themes across it," Colwell says, "but I think there's a lot more love here." Somewhere is Sun June at their most decadent, a richly diverse album which sees them exploring bright new corners with full hearts and wide eyes. Embracing a more pop-oriented sound the album consists of eleven beautiful new songs and is deliberately more collaborative and fully arranged: Laura played guitar for the first time; band members swapped instruments, and producer Danny Reisch helped flesh out layers of synth and percussion that provides a sweeping undercurrent to the whole thing. Throughout Somewhere you can hear Sun June blossom into a living-and-breathing five-piece, the album formed from an exploratory track building process which results in a more formidable version of the band we once knew. 'Real Thing' is most indicative of this, a fully collaborative effort which encompasses all of the nuances that come to define the album. "Are you the real thing?" Laura Colwell questions in the song's repeated refrain. "Honey I'm the real thing," she answers back. They've called this one their 'prom' record; a sincere, alive-in-the-moment snapshot of the heady rush of love. "The prom idea started as a mood for us to arrange and shape the music to, which we hadn't done before," the band explains. " Prom isn't all rosy and perfect. The songs show you the crying in the bathroom,, the fear of dancing, the joy of a kiss - all the highs and all the lows." It's in both those highs and lows where Somewhere comes alive. Laura Colwell's voice is mesmerising throughout, and while the record is a document of falling in love, there's still room for her to wilt and linger, the vibrancy of the production creating beautiful contrasts for her voice to pull us through. Opening track 'Bad With Time' sets this tone from the outset, both dark and mysterious, sad and sultry as it fascinatingly unrolls. "I didn't mean what I said," Colwell sings. "But I wanted you to think I did." Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a second record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward from the band that created that debut record, but also one that once again is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.

Sean La’Brooy is an Australian producer and composer currently based in New York, who’s work traverses ambient, jazz and house music. He is the co-founder of Australian ambient label Analogue Attic Recordings. With this release, La’Brooy has hooked up with the Scissor and Thread label to put out Merchant - five dreamy and versatile tracks featuring his distinct style of harmonically complex pads mixed with jazz-influenced instrumental melodies and solos. Snow Storm starts the journey, coupling field recordings with snippets of gentle jazz lines and wandering percussion. Cargo is the most dancefloor-oriented of the release, and locks into a driving groove early on, featuring various synth and piano fragments to add and flow through the track. Pilot is a track that also finds an off-kilter groove, embellished with dubbed-out percussion by fellow Australian Joseph Batrouney and samples. Storage too features a guest—New York based drummer Leo Yucht—who delivers a rolling breakbeat which is intertwined with live percussion, airy pads and snippets of piano to build a rich atmosphere. The closing piece is Helipad, a dubby bassline providing the anchor for an intricate rhythm of bongos and synth to support a light-as-a-feather melody.

The last twelve months have been a whirlwind for Henry Counsell and Louis Curran, the men who make up Joy (Anonymous). Having established themselves during the Covid-19 era by playing impromptu meet-ups on London’s South Bank, they have graduated to bigger venues, travelled to far-flung locales and recorded their second album, Cult Classics, while maintaining the spontaneous energy and irrepressible joy that made their name. Their music revels in the euphoria of being alive and all the feelings, good or bad, that come with it. It invites us into a community, draws us close and promises the night of our lives.

Recorded over the course of a year, the blueprint for Cult Classics was laid down over a two-week span at Imogen Heap’s Round House in east London. Joy (Anonymous) invited friends old and new to visit - they’d record live instruments in jam sessions upstairs and then retreat to a second room to flip and loop and generally mess with the sounds, moulding them into sizzling dance tracks. “Loads of people were coming up to me like ‘I thought this was going to be a dance record?’” Louis says, remembering the quietly beautiful music they’d be recording. “I’d be like, don’t worry about that, just keep playing.” He’d send it back to people later and they’d be floored - “That was my bit and you’ve made it... jungle!”

It was an organic and creatively fulfilling approach, one that didn’t allow any of the music to get stale or stagnate. As they built the tracks from the sounds they’d collected, Joy (Anonymous) would weave the new songs into their famously improvised live sets, testing them, refining them, taking note of the audiences’ reactions. In a year punctuated by a lot of travel, they’d also incorporate the voices of people they met along the way - “Beazley’s Poem”, which opens the record, features the words of a man who was working security at a Fred Again show at New York’s Terminal Five. “He was basically doing the opposite of his job and being a hype man, climbing on the fence and ramping up the crowd - we ended up hanging out with him - like, who’s this legend?” Louis explains. “He just speaks really amazingly about his life, all these amazing thoughts and opinions - he started jumping on the mic when we were playing, preaching these amazing messages to the crowd, like that we all need to be nicer to each other. The first time we played the record in its entirety, he introduced us and that’s the recording we’ve used.”

Joy (Anonymous) remain dedicated to the spirit of spontaneity. They shut a street down with a surprise waterside party in New York. On a trip to Copenhagen they played an impromptu set in a cafe, which turned into a house party and a night-long good time. In Lithuania, they ended up playing in a decommissioned prison. It’s harder, perhaps, to keep that spirit alive now that they are operating more within the confines of the music industry but they will keep lugging their kit to wherever the party calls for as long as they can. “I think if we lose that, we’ve kind of lost what makes us us,” Henry says.

Bursting with multi-genre reference points and disparate influences, Cult Classics is very much a dance album. The samples we made ourselves or we took from music that is quite different to dance music, but we definitely wanted to shout out a lot of the dance influences that we love,” Henry says. They listened to a lot of Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx as well as The Prodigy (“more rage stuff”), taking songwriting tips from their dance forebears, but also recording bits that felt more like jazz and motown (see: A Place I Belong and the lovely album closer, You’re In Or You’re Out). Emir Taha’s gentle classical guitar runs like a thread throughout Cult Classics, washing into the undertones of the record, tying it all together.

The album follows the beat of a night out, from frenetic, sweaty movement to the gentler winding down as the dawn breaks. At times it is euphoric, celebratory and pure, whirling fun, at others it seeks the joy in the darker emotions that life throws our way. 404 is designed to encapsulate everything about the Joy (Anonymous) journey so far. Skittering beats and ghostly vocals give way to vibrating house chords: sirens blare as we approach a dubstep drop. It’s dramatic and wild, ratcheting up, seeming to settle then hitting you with an intense and frantic breakdown before the ghostly vocal returns to lull us back into the world. It has the feel of a hungry cat playing with a mouse, toying with it before letting it get away.

What sounds like someone playing the spoons on playful, housey How We End Up Here is actually Louis’ restless habit of clicking his rings on everything, one of a myriad of calling cards and easter eggs that day one fans will recognise. They rework Miley Cyrus and Swae Lee’s Party Up The Street into a French-electro-inspired future classic, adding a note of melancholy to a tune that you can imagine hearing blaring from every car on a summer drive. The lyrics on Cult Classic are generally reassuring, inspirational, originally drawn from Henry in stream-of-consciousness freestyles. You’re fine the way you are, they seem to say - the repeated “No need to try” of A Place I Belong, the assurance that “It’s in me all the time” on In Me All The Time. Even the summery but regretful Did You Wrong hints at the growth that is possible from less than ideal behaviour. For Joy (Anonymous), joy isn’t about just being “happy” all the time - it’s about relishing every element of your being.

The name ‘Joy (Anonymous)’ is taken from the work Henry did with Alcoholics Anonymous groups: it is a way to build a community around sharing joy. Their impromptu live sets are known as ‘meetings’; they encourage fans to share moments of joy to their website. They care deeply about the scene they’ve come up in and are determined not to leave it behind. Every show is another chance to reach out and connect with people who love to come together and revel in music as loud as it can go.

Support slots for Fred Again and The Streets, wild B2Bs with Fred and Skrillex, and a set at Four Tet’s Finsbury Park all-dayer this summer have given the duo the opportunity to live out childhood dreams and introduced their infectious live shows to new audiences at huge venues.

With an album as assured and joyful as Cult Classics on the horizon (and a killer collab with The Blessed Madonna coming up), they’re only going to reach higher heights. But the essence of Joy (Anonymous) remains on the South Bank. Between shows at Ally Pally in September, they dragged their camping chairs and gear back down to the banks of the Thames: and it just felt right.

The latest album release by acclaimed Norwegian band Erlend Apneseth Trio is made in collaboration with renowned experimental composer and vocalist Maja Ratkje. Their impromptu concert together in 2022 was a glorious kick-off for a five-day festival and was luckily put on tape. After reworking and reimagining the recorded material with their steady collaborator Jorgen Træen, the result is a refreshing take on improvisations-turned-compositions. Featuring innovative soundscapes with archival material and an engaging transitory state. Listening to the album is akin to being on a voyage of discovery, in and out of the dream state. From the very beginning, the listener is met by ancient voices on tape, surrounded by distorted and dispersed sounds. Like stars on a moonless night, the sounds fall in and out of perceptibility, most twinkling, some falling. You suddenly wake up on a speeding train. As it enters a tunnel, ghostly voices sing a lullaby. The music gradually unfolds from mesmerizing melancholia to a ritualistic blowout. The music always takes the route of the unexpected and reaches momentums which shows why this is one of Norway's most unique constellations. Orbiting sounds gather around and assemble themselves into scenes, forming uncanny rooms collectively dreamed up by the artists. The album's first track Tre Vegar follows an enthralling pathway layered with field recordings and intensified by noise, suddenly plunging into a delightful stream of chords fleeting in mid-air. The variety of sounds that make up this glorious and aptly named 'Collage' is astounding. Elemental sounds range from the howling wind and soft-bright ringing of sheep-bells to the timeless trickling of a small stream of water. Strings of many timbres soar over animated croaks and quacks, assembling into a swampy symphony. The well-balanced diversity of acoustic and electric sounds has become the band's trademark. It is ever-present, complementing and creating new improvisatory trails to follow. Erlend Apneseth: Hardanger fiddle Stephan Meidell: baritone acoustic guitar, live sampling, modular synth Oyvind Hegg-Lunde: acoustic & electronic drums, percussion, timpani Maja S. K. Ratkje: voice, electronics

Vladislav Delay presents the fourth EP in his "Hide Behind The Silence" series with five 10" releases coming throughout 2023. Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Ripatti's own label "Rajaton".

Stillness is a myth. Consider concepts such as ”still water”, or ”still air” for that matter. Go to a restaurant, ask them for a glass of still water, hold it against the light and see where we’re at. Even though the water itself has been captured and imprisoned in the glass, it never stops breathing. It’s filled with tiny particles, dancing. Everything can be explained on a molecular level, but since we’re not scientists – and even if you happen to be – it’s the natural world of perception that moves me.

Still air is very similar. A hot summer’s day with zero wind feels completely still. It’s the closest I have felt to complete stillness. Or for a more urban adaptation, imagine the same vibe inside a normal apartment. In those moments, revelations and mind- blowing experiences can be had with experiments in stillness.
Try this: Just sit down for a minute on a sunny day, making sure there’s enough natural light. Do absolutely nothing. Try not to breathe for a bit. (If you need a mental anchor, you can play Cage’s 4’33” in your head but nothing else.) Watch the tiny dots of dust dancing :..’ ̈.:; ́ ́*°.,’:,. ̈ ̈ ̈ ̈:,.’
The movement is crazy, but the feeling of stillness comes from witnessing how subtle it is. In (perceived) complete stillness, every act of microscopic mobility seems to speak volumes. Yet, it feels both reassuring and oddly threatening that the stillness is never complete. What if we would need absolute stillness? Or is it just enough that we can perceive something as such? Extremes attract, so for both water and air, extraordinary movement is equally fascinating. That is also a luxury item of sorts. For us to enjoy a very ”loud” body of water or air, we need to be safe, in enough control of the situation. So when you are, it’s worthwhile to pay attention and take it all in.
A rapid flowing free with extreme strength and just barely in control. Look at that water go! No still water on this one, only ”sparkling”. A windy day when birds seem surprised how hard it is to fly, but in the end they make it. Trees bend but don’t break. The wind shows you its movement but doesn’t hurt you. It feels friendly, like a big clumsy dog that doesn’t quite understand its size.
It’s beautiful to be a guest of the elements, but not at the mercy of them. A new kind of dialogue forms.

Q&A with Sasu Ripatti:

1) Tell us something about the EP series ”Hide Behind the Silence”, what’s the idea and what can we expect?

Exploration of inaction. Of many kinds. In arts and in personal life, or at bigger and more serious levels. Questioning myself as a human being as well as an artist. Acknowledging the growing activism all around, and the very clear need for it, and how it reflects my own inaction.
Musically speaking, after Rakka, Isoviha and Speed Demon, I finally found some relief, but more importantly lost the need to go musically ever more outward and intensive. I felt quite strongly certain periods/moods from the past and they made me revisit some musical ideas or states of mind I was exploring early on.
It’s about live moments being captured, not much premeditation or editing. More intuitive and raw, even though the end result (to me) feels and sounds quite introspective and calm. It’s not very ambitious. Momentary and reflective.

2) Your music doesn’t sound very silent. Does it come from somewhere behind the silence?

Oh, this time to me it sounds quite quiet and playing with space if not silence. I don’t know what’s actually behind silence, but I think silence is the source of everything. We just don’t understand it yet.

3) What kind of thoughts or experiences gave inspiration to this series?

Writing this in Nov ’22, it’s not a stretch to say the world has been really unwell. Sometimes, like Mika Vainio put it, the world eats you up. I feel a bit like that. And I try to hide in my studio and stay away from it all, but it’s getting harder by the day. I’ve been questioning myself and thinking if what us artists are doing is worth anything, and whether it’s just a selfish thing I’ve been doing for the past 25 years, running away from everything. I haven’t come to a conclusion yet.

4) Is it easy for you to be in silence, or around silence?

Absolutely. I not only hide behind silence but I also love silence. It’s only since I started going back to nature as a grown-up person that I sensed and was enveloped by silence, true silence. I have begun to appreciate it a lot. I think all the people should spend more time in silence.

All tracks composed and produced by Sasu Ripatti.
Artwork by Marc Hohmann, photography by Shinnosuke Yoshimori.
Mastering by Stephan Mathieu for Schwebung Mastering.
Vinyl cut by SST Brueggemann.
Publishing by WARP Music Ltd.

Waajeed’s 2022 long player, Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz, was an aural love letter to his hometown of Detroit; an amalgam of the city’s history, coalescing the personal, political and, of course, musical past.

From the Motown soul assembly line to J Dilla’s musically dense Hip-Hop to The Stooges’ proto-Punk to the birth of Techno, the music of the Motor City has spread across the globe inspiring countless artists who in turn went on to create their own forms and genres.

Emulating this movement and transmutation, the Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz Remixes 12” sees artists from three continents repurpose elements from across the LP, transforming them into productions stamped with their own trademark styles whilst retaining the spirit of each original:

the UK’s Mark Broom loops sections of Right Now while speeding up the BPM for a classic UK-style techno remix; Ghana-born Yazzus takes on The Ballad of Robert O’Bryant adding a surprising number of twists and turns for a five-and-a-half-minute piece; Australians Jensen Interceptor and Assembler Code close the 12” out with their take on the album’s title and opening track neatly closing the loop, bringing us full circle to the start of the LP.

The release of Memoirs...remixes add another facet to the immensely heartfelt tribute to Detroit from one of its most talented citizens and a true milestone in the Tresor catalogue.

"These sides from 1970s band Smith & Gordera are prototypical for the ""Sounds Like Santana"" genre coined at the Friends of Sound record store in Austin, TX years ago. Heavy Latin Rock fusion on these tracks with just a pinch of Jazz thrown in for good measure.

""Evil Deeds"" starts right into it the moment the needle hits the groove on your turntable - heavy organ, percussion, shakers, and guitar all greet your ears. Moving into the track you get the typical shredding guitar solo, organ solo, and a sax solo, for good measure.

""Time and Space"" starts with a nod to the classic Dave Brubeck ""Take Five"" and continues on an adventure into a more psychedelic groove and more of a Rock vibe. Time changes and tempo shifts and big solos round out the side."

"These sides from 1970s band Smith & Gordera are prototypical for the ""Sounds Like Santana"" genre coined at the Friends of Sound record store in Austin, TX years ago. Heavy Latin Rock fusion on these tracks with just a pinch of Jazz thrown in for good measure.

""Evil Deeds"" starts right into it the moment the needle hits the groove on your turntable - heavy organ, percussion, shakers, and guitar all greet your ears. Moving into the track you get the typical shredding guitar solo, organ solo, and a sax solo, for good measure.

""Time and Space"" starts with a nod to the classic Dave Brubeck ""Take Five"" and continues on an adventure into a more psychedelic groove and more of a Rock vibe. Time changes and tempo shifts and big solos round out the side."

The sixth full-length release for the Scottish indie pop band was produced by Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis. Since the band started in 1987, the Trash Can Sinatras have always been reliable. Every record has delivered exactly what people needed from them: lovely guitar pop songs done with a light touch, deep emotional feelings, and melodies as rich and warm as a late-autumn heat wave. Since their original run ended in the '90s, they've come back regularly to remind people that they are just about the best guitar pop band still going, with a new album roughly every five years or so. Wild Pendulum finds the band in fine form, expectedly. It also finds them doing a bit of sonic experimentation, unexpectedly. With former Adventures in Stereo mastermind Simon Dine on board providing the kind of ""sonic scenery"" he added to many recent Paul Weller albums and producer Mike Mogis capturing fuller arrangements than usually heard on TCS albums, it's the most sonically interesting album of their long career.