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In keeping with tradition, the new year brings another offering from Portuguese pianist and composer Tiago Sousa. »Organic Music Tapes Vol. 3,« the third instalment in Tiago’s ongoing series, continues to develop a freeform dual approach to organic and fluid compositions for Piano and Organ - this time adding a real church tube organ to the proceedings.

Evolving from the foundation laid in the first two volumes, Sousa introduces the pipe organ into his signature piano compositions, expanding his sonic palette into an even more otherworldly organic realm.

Much like its predecessors, »Organic Music Tapes Vol.3« immerses listeners in a nebulous sonic landscape, where the compositions exist in a nebulae-like state— eternally floating over stars and planets. The contours of these musical pieces are indefinite and indeterminate, refusing to settle or conform, a testament to Sousa's commitment to pushing the boundaries of traditional minimalism while still paying respect to the American pioneers of the genre, such as Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

Enter then the third volume and be locked in a new theatre of eternal music by an artists that keeps pushing his own style to ebullient highs.

Grey Marbled Vinyl

The official re-release of the scarce DJ classic. Ralf Nowy produced this unique mix of Krautrock, Space Disco and proto Techno vibes in Berlin in 1980. The collaboration featuring also famous German star producer Jack White and Tom Müller aswell Vicky Brown from UK as singer who worked together also with bands as for example Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, Cerrone and Bryan Ferry.

Seasoned UK producer, Darren Nye, is set to captivate listeners with his exciting new album, "Thoughts And Emotions," released on Deeptrax December 1st, 2023. The long-player delves deep into the realms of techno, harking back to the golden era of the 90s and channeling influences not just from Detroit, but also the electronic waves that emanated from the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

'Thoughts And Emotions' is a labor of love, where Nye masterfully explores and curates a rich collection of sounds, all bearing his distinct signature. Across twelve tracks, the listener is treated to an exceptional journey that encompasses bubbling electronica, down-tempo jazzy flourishes, and cosmic string-laden soundscapes. Darren’s socially conscious titles also add an extra layer of meaning to the listener's experience, creating a soothing and moving soundtrack that speaks to the soul.

Following the release of the first volume of Music 4 Tesla last April, Kaba and Hyas (ex-residents of Le Sucre & Rinse FM) continue their musical exploration between rap and UKG/electronic music, going even further on volume 2.

While the influences already present on the first album are still present: UK Garage, Acid House, Ghetto House and 2step, Kaba and Hyas experiment with new sounds. Incisive flow is joined by more sung, almost r&b vocals (10 Machines, Facts, Coup du sort), new textures with crunchy sounds (Mood 4 A Classic), and sampling (Lick It).

The 7 tracks that make up "Music 4 Tesla Vol.2", including a featuring with Detroit trio HiTech (the latest signing to Omar-S's label), are a blend of pervasive house influences and bouncy basslines borrowed from the sounds of funk. Over the course of 20 minutes, they depict a captivating gradation of festive ambiences, proving once again that the marriage of rap and house is definitely made to last.

After a first festival tour, including a notable appearance at Grünt in September, the Kaba x Hyas duo will be in concert at Point Éphémère on December 16, 2023.

C-thru - The Otherworld is a collection of introspective cosmic-leaning dance music that gives a healthy nod to the golden era of trance, ambient, and down- tempo from Austin, Texas based producer Jesse Edwards. Inactive for several years, these 10 tracks mark a new chapter for Jesse Edwards.

Previous works include his well received psychedelic project, Red Morning Chorus, that included Boards of Canada amongst its fans. Edwards began his musical journey in the late 90s playing shoegaze and experimental music with Jessica Bailiff (Kranky). The pair collaborated on several albums together including works with Flying Saucer Attack, His Name is Alive, & Odd Nosdam (Anticon).

A new release on this label; this time several well known tracks from the past!

Known for his viral video series Sexta dos Crias, Ramon Sucesso is a virtuosic DJ who crushes, reimagines, and rearranges songs to such a degree that the original tracks become virtually unrecognisable. He has turned his controller into a particle accelerator, creating firework-like bursts of classic funk carioca samples, his own productions, mainstream tracks, nonsense TikTok sound bites, and tons of his trademark beat bolha. All contained within an unparalleled, mischievously non-linear rhythmic flow.

‘Ramon’s social network profiles are as outrageously unpredictable as his mixes. He posts interactive emoji games, bountiful fast-food feasts with his family, comments about the Flamengo football team, and videos of him playing FIFA. He has a prolifically restless mind, constantly riffing and improvising; he does whatever it takes to get by, to navigate the reality of life in Brazil and overcome the daunting challenges of the music industry.

‘Sexta dos Crias is the culmination of Ramon’s DJ work. A LP that embodies the newest in funk carioca, a faithful transposition of the bailes to vinyl. Ramon has unpretentiously ushered in a new age of experimentation for the genre – making a daring and unprecedented foray into a territory where extreme and radical sounds abound.’

Amazing garage punk cult band featured on the "Brazilian Nuggets" Vol 1 and Vol 2 compilations. Recorded in 1968, this EP is almost impossible to find and has never been sold on Discogs. It comes with a 12-page booklet with liner notes, photos and memorabilia. This release is a collaboration between Discos Nada, Fatiado and Munster Records. The Beggers were formed in the industrial ABC Paulista region, the birthplace of the Brazilian punk rock scene. But many years before that, The Beggers were already a kind of proto-punk act, as can be heard on the first track of this 7" record, 'Estes Homens Farrapos', a rather unusual social commentary song in those flower power days. Considered a protest song, it ended up being censored. However, the most psychedelic and experimental track is 'We're Going, to Aid You', a song about a fictional alien invasion. The creepy effects created by the group in the studio can be compared to those by the greatest international bands of the time. The Beggers only had three original compositions and a fourth one was missing to complete the EP. This was how 'We're Going, to Aid You' was eventually created as an experiment in the studio, just to complete the record. With "Metamorfose" banned from the shops, the members of The Beggers were running out of money, and without any gigs they had no other choice but to break up the band shortly after the release of their mighty EP. Bento Araujo (author of the book series Lindo Sonho Delirante) An amazing example of genuine teenage garage rock from 60s Brazil reissued for the first time, as result of a collaboration between Discos Nada, Fatiado and Munster Records.

As with all albums on Shabaka Hutchings' Native Rebel Recordings the plan was the same: the musicians gather at the RAK Studios for three days, without rehearsal and consider the rehearsals part of the recording, with Shabaka producing

The performers featured here are Jas Kayser who has performed with Alfa Mist, Nubya Garcia and Jorja Smith among others, Alexander Hawkins of the Convergence Quartet and Decoy, Daisy George, and Ross Harris of Speakers Corner Quartet.

The features on the album are incredible too, and highlight the eclectic nature of Native Rebel. We have billy Woods on album opener “Apothecary", TS Elliot prize winning poet Anthony Joseph on "By Now", Confucius MC of Speaker's Corner Quartet and Con & Kwake on "Flowers In The Dark", Elucid on "Show Me", ganavya on "Increase Awareness", and Siyabonga Mthembu of The Brother Moves On and Shabaka and The Ancestors on “Aim".

As always with Native Rebel releases, the physical product is on double heavyweight vinyl, in high quality sleeves with printed inner sleeves and with side D on this release featuring etched artwork.

Repress!

Following his first ep for Accidental Jnr in the summer Bambooman is now back with something entirely different. The downtempo experimental designs of the 'Feel EP' give way to his latest offering 'Shudder'. Available on 12' and digital the 4 tracks of Shudder weave through a club music tapestry like a chainsaw through custard. The opening and title track is hard to describe, a mix of off kilter synth stabs and hammering snare that routes you to the floor - it's one of those tracks to whip out of your bag to remind the crowd they have no idea what is coming next. Track 2 'Grasp' with a blissful Detroit groove under deep rich melting chords is a perfect blend of early funk house style and super crisp new production.Side B opens with 'M1' a lazy floor track with washes of bells, static and detuned synth above a bed of solid kick and shuffling bass. Finally 'Kyrian' closes proceedings, another club friendly slice (despite being in a 7/8 time signature), the track could have led the EP in its own right but feels like the perfect bookend with its shifting almost garage like 2-step feel and glancing vocal hook.Bambooman wields refined live recordings, warm exquisite melodies and a silvery vocal into the track's rich musical fabric. It's hard to suppress the emotions with this one' - Boiler Room on 'Feel EP'

The official new edition from this rare and great Afrobeat & Soukous masterpiece from Nigeria !

"Vibro Success Intercontinental Orchestra was an extraordinary group from the Central African Republic, founded by the sax player Rodolphe 'Beckers' Bekpa, also known as Master Békers, in the late 60's. The band achieved surprising domestic success after Beckers introduced the first drums to the Congolese Rumba rhythm. His innovation proved to be wildly popular so they were hired as the resident band of “ciel d’Afrique au Km5”, a night club in Bangui. The club was renowned as the temple of the Olympic Réal football team's fans and that visibility propelled them into becoming the official national orchestra.

1970 marked beginning of the band's international fame . Their fame spread beyond national borders until they became so popular that invitations began to arrive from nearby countries like Cameroon and Chad, the former of which the band would then tour that same year. The success of their performances prompted a further tour in 1972. According to Rodolphe Bépka, the audience enthusiasm Vibro encountered was bewildering. "We filled the old military stadium in Yaoundé in 1970, in 1972 the new Amadou Haïdjo stadium ... We are running with great success in the cities.” Their popularity was also growing in Chad, where they would tour several times through the early and mid 70's.

Towards the end of 1976, Vibro Success decided to take their music global and introduce Central African music to listeners worldwide. It worked. The turning point came in Nigeria. There the group achieved extraordinary success, with live performances followed by contracts with local labels like Scottie and Ben/Clover resulting in hit releases. Most of their LP's were originally released on this later label, Ben Limited, owned by Ben Okonkwo.

Ben, also known as Clover Sounds, brought a great number of the biggest bands from the country to market, bands like The Apostles, Akwassa,The Doves, Aktion, The Visitors, Mansion, Folk 77 and many others. Nearly all those groups started their recording careers in the label's studios based in the commercial heart of Aba, Abia State, one of Southeastern Nigeria’s largest cities. Aba at that time was a flourishing city, an important crossroads of people and culture with an intensive and active and cutting edge live music and nightlife.

But after that golden era the group began to lose its popularity. In the 1980's they returned to Bangui and resumed their old-time gigs in dance halls there - only to realize that their music didn't have the appeal it used to. Making matters worse, the domestic economic downturn accelerated, forcing the orchestra to slowly end its activities . Vibro Succès Intercontinental Orchestra disappeared at the end of the 80s and most of its members died in the 90s.

We discovered this LP during our first trip to Nigeria in 2016. While traveling in the east to meet up with a musician, we stopped for a night in a village. As often happens in Nigeria, information has a way of traveling fast. The news that a couple of white guys looking for records had arrived in the village the day before spread like light. When we awoke, we found a couple of elderly music lovers in the hall of our hotel with a little pile of records for sale. The nice cover of the “Drunkard” album was right on top!

At first we thought it was just another really good soukous album made by Vibro Success but after we heard “Drunkard” - we knew we had stumbled onto something very special. That was the “easy” part. Soon after, we had the idea of reissuing this LP and that was a bit harder. There were no credits on the cover and not much information about Vibro Succès. We started to ask to our friends to ask around, see if somebody knew them or the producer. That's when sadly we discovered that Ben Okonkwo had passed. So with no leads to follow and seemingly without any possibility of making progress on the matter, we "gave up" and returned to Italy.

A couple years later, in the summer of 2019, we found ourselves again in Aba. This time we had the chance to meet Nnamdi Okonkwo, the eldest son of the late Ben Okonkwo. After Nnamdi's mother and family agreed, he was glad to cooperate with us for the re-release of this special album."

Telephone Explosion proudly presents the self-titled debut LP from Toronto’s UH HUH, out physically and digitally on April 14, 2023. The album features eight tracks of dub-damaged art rock which conjure a potent vision of spaced-out 1980s post-punks feeding their angular rhythms and bass-heavy grooves through layer upon layer of grime-spattered spring reverb.

There is a palpable sense of discovery and exploration throughout UH HUH’s 37 heady minutes. Elastic basslines and serpentine guitar phrases throb and glide, cutting through dubwise reverberations like hands moving through an opaque cloud of reefer smoke.

Formerly known as Teenanger, the reconfigured (and reinvigorated) group’s newfound sense of sonic identity is put on display the moment the door kicks open. The percolating spaciousness of opener “Somewhere Beyond” is followed by the cyclical grooves of “Redemption Pause.” Vocalists Christopher Swimmings and Melissa Ball each take respective turns at lead vocal duties, showcasing their contrasting yet complimentary styles.

“Babylon”, a slab of overcast, loping funk features both singers on the same track, alternating between Swimmings’ stoned syncopation and Ball’s saccharine melancholy. This juxtaposition leans against a backdrop of reverb-soaked drums, watery guitar chords and rippling trumpet.

The slinking, fractured grooves of “Rain (In The Afternoon)” and “Citrus Song” call to mind the deranged minimal dub-wave of Naffi or Vivien Goldman. Both songs feature lyrical content heavily inspired by the Florida swamplands, although the aural landscape on these tracks is decidedly more brutalist than Boca Raton. Two of the songs included here are reworkings of previously released Teenanger numbers. “Blinds Drawn” is reduced to its core elements of bottom-heavy rhythm, spliced guitar shanks and Swimmings’ murmured ruminations. “Good, You”, on the other hand, is completely re-imagined as a blissed-out melt of opiated bossa nova.

After countless hours of experimentation during the album’s recording sessions at Toronto’s Studio Z, the band decided to send their drum machines, snare drums and percussion through an obscure 1960’s Japanese Guyatone guitar amp with a notoriously ecstatic spring reverb sound. The result was immediately inspiring.

The dank, busted and clanking tones produced by the Guyatone evoke a muggy, humid atmosphere that mimics the photo on UH HUH’s cover. The process of re-amping is literally the means through which UH HUH found the sound of this record. UH HUH is a record that asks more questions than it does provide answers. This is searching music that requires that the listener lean into it, the more time you spend in between the beats, bars, notes contained within, the more vivid the picture becomes.

Texan country blues legend Lightnin’ Hopkins was a fingerpicking genius with a mournful voice who, after a spell in prison, first came to prominence through recordings for Aladdin and Gold Star in the late 1940s. Somehow, by the mid-1950s, his star had waned, but when Samuel Charters appeared at his one-room Houston apartment with a bottle of gin, Hopkins agreed to cut ten unaccompanied songs for Folkways, the resultant Lightnin’ a pivotal success that reignited his career, sparking the blues revival in the process. Full of haunting loneliness, despair, sly innuendo and doses of good humour, this must-have LP is absolutely brilliant!

Repetitive actions, looping in your head forever. Forever? Never. Zero is endless. All flowers and fades. No permanence is ours. We are a wave, that flows to fit. And yet, “Music for a film”, a cassette tape by Swedish artists Sofie Herner aka Leda, inheres the power for perpetuity. A circulating dreamland, built on loop pedals, guitar, and tape manipulation.

The Malmö based artist, who is already famed in the global experimental, improvisational, lo-fi noise underworld for her own musical creations as well as being part of bands and projects like Enhet För Fri Musik, Källarbarnen, or Neutral, brings music made for the film “Dödfött“ - an interactive flick by director Niklas Hansson about failed online karate and caducity, screened with a stage art performance at Hypnos Theatre, Malmö, in early autumn 2022. Cinematic sounds for all the Velvets, that never awaken from their first DIY Super 8 dream.

Colorful, yet monochrome electrified and acoustic guitar melodies, monotonous, working like drones, getting all stranded in the zones. Six minimal compositions. Full of plenty, always friendly. Heavy, calm, dreamy, shredding, scratching, created for the woman of the world. And all other creatures, that seek features in unbroken repetition. As nobody keeps any of what he has, one day the eternal veil of forgetfulness will warp us all. Until that hour we dance in circles. Making karate moves, sidestepping caducity, reenacting ourselves, endless at the edges, through night and day, craving form that binds. As form is emptiness, emptiness is form itself. Welcome to the world of Leda, riff, 7/4, loop, the young, the middle aged, the old…

Tape is hand-stamped along the top, in printed card housing, with

SOURCED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES: 2LP SET PRESENTS 1991 ALBUM IN 45RPM SPEED FOR FIRST TIME.

PCM Digital Master to Analog Console to Lathe.

Dire Straits never made a big to-do about its final run. In classic understated British fashion, the band simply let its music speak for itself. And how. Originally released in September 1991, On Every Street became the group’s swan song – a lasting testament to the influence, musicianship, and integrity of an ensemble whose merit has never been tainted by cash-grab reunions or farewell treks. It remains an essential part of the Dire Straits catalog and a blueprint of the distinctive U.K. roots rock the collective played for its 15-year career.

Sourced from the original master tapes, housed in gatefold packaging, and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set of On Every Street presents the album like it has always been meant to be experienced: in reference-grade audiophile sound. Recorded at AIR Studios in London and produced by Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler, it features all of the band’s sonic hallmarks – wide instrumental separation, visceral textures, seemingly limitless air, broad soundstages, atmospherics that you can almost reach out and feel. Each element is made more vibrant, physical, and lifelike on this collectible reissue, which marks the first time this 60-minute work has been available at 45RPM speed.

Afforded generous groove space and black backgrounds, the songs from On Every Street burst with nuanced details and vibrant colors. Dire Straits’ playing appears to float, their intricate performances organized amid hypnotic, fluid, three-dimensional arrangements. Mobile Fidelity’s definitive-sounding set also brings into transparent view Knopfler’s finely sculpted guitar lines, expressive tones, and laid-back vocals – as well as the balanced accompaniment from his band mates. Here’s a record on which you can hear the full blossom and decay of individual notes, and imagine the size and shape of the studio. It is in every regard a demonstration disc. And it happens to be filled with timeless fare.

Remarkably, On Every Street almost never came to light. Dire Straits initially dissolved in September 1988 after touring behind its blockbuster Brothers in Arms and suffering the departure of two members. At the time, Knopfler professed his desire to work on solo material; bassist John Illsley also explored side projects. But Knopfler’s decision in 1989 to form the country-leaning Notting Hillbillies reignited a spark to reconvene his primary band and craft a fresh batch of songs. Six years removed from Brothers in Arms, Knopfler, Illsley, keyboardist Alan Clark, and keyboardist Guy Fletcher teamed with A-list session pros – steel guitarist Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings, saxophonist Chris White, guitarist Phil Palmer included – to create what still stands as an unforgettable farewell.

The platinum record brings the band full circle in that it returns Dire Straits to a quartet formation; finds the group refreshingly out of step with the era’s prevailing trends; and sees Knopfler and Co. knocking out song after song with the deceptive ease of a punter tossing back a pint at a pub. That subtle cool, clever poise, and innate control – signature traits that no other band ever matched – dominate On Every Street. Knopfler’s clean, virtuosic six-string escapades unfurl with dizzying melodicism and economical efficiency. Led by his winding fills and focused solos, Dire Straits traverse a hybrid landscape of rock, jazz, country, boogie, blues, and pop strains with near-faultless prowess.

More than any other entry in the group’s oeuvre, On Every Street welcomes quick detours down back alleys and into the depths of human souls. What makes it more brilliant is its staunch refusal to cater to commercial expectations or take advantage of prior successes; every passage feels true, every measure echoed in the service of song. It’s evident in the humorous satire of “Heavy Fuel,” closeted desperation of the witty “Calling Elvis,” and shake-and-bake bounce of “The Bug.” It pours from the album’s darker corners, as on the high-and-lonesome melancholy of the title track and bruised emotionalism of “When It Comes to You.”

Hinting at the open-minded approaches and boundless curiosity he’d embrace as a solo artist, Knopfler doesn’t limit himself when it comes to style or subject matter. Look no further than “You and Your Friend,” a shuffle whose all-inclusive lyrics encourage an array of interpretative meanings. Another of the album’s deep cuts, “Iron Hand,” comes on as one of the band’s most memorable moments – the narrative addressing the abuses of power at the 1984 Battle of Orgreave during the U.K. miners’ strike. Given cinematic heft by the expert production, the true-fiction account puts into perspective the richness, poetry, and depth of On Every Street.

“Every victory has a taste that’s bittersweet,” sings Knopfler on the title track. At least that bittersweetness seldom sounded so damn good on record.

Trailblazing instrumental synth pop experiments created to soundtrack Japan’s booming 1980s cartoon and comic industries. The brightly futuristic instrumentals on this collection reflect the mindset of composers and musicians who believed in a technological future where everything was possible.

In the late 1980s Japan experienced a brief but heady period where societal changes combined with new-found wealth to open up a world of possibilities. A huge influx of cash - artificially created by slashed interest rates after an agreement with the US to weaken the dollar relative to the yen - resulted in the inflation of real estate and stock market at a rapid pace. While the economic bubble it created was unprecedented and impossible to sustain, for a while money was in plentiful supply.

The musical genre City Pop reflected the aspirations of the country’s booming leisure class. Video games flourished with Nintendo's 1983 launch of their Family Computer (or FamiCom). Studio Ghibli was founded 1985 to later became one of the most famous and respected animation studios in the world, and Anime and Manga were established as major forms of entertainment for all generations of the Japanese public.

Music was no mere footnote to the anime and manga boom: the two forms of media often went hand in hand, and not simply through the presence of background melodies. With generous budgets available, even two-dimensional static manga comics could be released with an accompanying soundtrack of original music known as an ‘Image Album’.

Composer and arranger Kazuhiko Izu was one such beneficiary of this open budget approach. Written to accompany artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga comic Domu, the composer and arranger took advantage of the world-leading (and wallet-busting) Japanese synthesiser technology available at King Records’ fully equipped studio. Featured on this compilation, A3: Act 2 Scene 26 reflected the story’s sci fi themes with a blazingly futuristic yet warmly funky slice of synth pop that presents a joyful celebration of synthesisers and their seemingly endless possibilities.

Kan Ogasawara was another composer who made early mastery of the litany of synthesisers, drum machines and sequencers that had become available. Two tracks written to accompany the 1985 period manga Yume No Ishibumi are featured here; Honowo’s experimental electronic textures add spice to a jaunty electro pop melody that recalls the Rah band’s 1983 hit Messages From Stars; the jazz-tinged Utage rounds out Ogasawara’s shimmering synth textures with beautifully crafted backing from legendary musicians Yuji Toriyama (guitar), Pecker (percussion) and Jun Fukamachi (piano).

Before becoming one of the pioneers of Japanese Kankyo Ongaku (Ambient Music), Takashi Kokubo worked on the proto techno track Kiki (Jungle At Night). It was put together for the 1984 anime film Shonen Keniya (Kenya Boy) using some of the most expensive music technologies available at the time. This Africa-Inspired dance track offers a contemporary parallel to the early techno music that young Detroit based producers were then creating using cheap Japanese Roland drum machines and synthesisers.

This is the first compilation of Japanese anime and manga soundtracks curated by Kay Suzuki and Rintaro Sekizuka from Vinyl Delivery Service (a Tokyo based online record shop which also operates in East London's renowned wine and hifi shop Idle Moments). With a cover by artist Kazuki Takakura and two pages of liner notes, this vinyl only compilation of music never before released outside of Japan, captures a vital aural snapshot of an era whose forward-thinking sounds went hand in hand with cutting edge technology.

Wrestling Music is Kean Kavanagh's most intriguing work to date, illustrating his vulnerabilities and contextualising his journey from hopelessness to vindication. Speaking on the EP, Kean explains that, “In May 2022 I suffered a vocal injury which meant that for the majority of the last year, I haven’t been able to sing or record. While I’ve been working on a lot of different music and writing a lot of songs, it has been heartbreaking and depressing at times to not be able to realise their full potential and to sing them how I hear them. On the 1st of May 2023, I wrote and recorded “The Magic” at home in Portlaoise and it helped me to embrace whatever the last year was and point me in a direction to go towards. It felt important to me and I didn’t want to just sit on it, so I gathered some instrumentals I had and worked quickly to create this EP, the Wrestling Music EP, as a timestamp of this period of my life and the loops of arrogance, introversion and acceptance that I’ve been spinning.”

Co-founder, producer and A&R of Irish Label Soft Boy Records, Kean Kavanagh is a story-teller with a strong imagination who set out his stall as both a singer-songwriter and world creator in 2020, with the release of his acclaimed project Dog Person. In what turned out to be a big year for him, 2020 also saw Kean make an appearance on the Everything Is Recorded project FRIDAY FOREVER, (curated by Richard Russell of XL Recordings) alongside Aitch, Flohio, Maria Somerville, Ghostface Killah and others, aligning himself with a tastemaker and a hotly tipped selection of musical peers.

Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series)
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records!
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway — Genesis' gold-selling sixth studio album!
180-gram 45 RPM 4LP
Mastered directly from the original master tape by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings and RTI
Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing

Genesis' sixth studio album was released as a double album in November 1974 by Charisma Records and is the last to feature original frontman Peter Gabriel. The group's longest album to date, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway peaked at No. 10 on the U.K. Albums Chart and No. 41 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S..

The album is a concept album and tells the surreal story, devised by Gabriel, of a young Puerto Rican named Rael who embarks on a journey through a series of strange and bizarre events in New York City.

Musically, the album is a departure from the band's previous works, incorporating a wide range of styles including progressive rock, art rock, funk, and jazz fusion. The album features complex rhythms, intricate melodies, and dense layers of instrumentation, showcasing the band's virtuosic musicianship.

The album is notable for its use of storytelling, with each track contributing to the larger narrative of Rael's journey. The lyrics are often cryptic and abstract, and the album's surreal imagery has been interpreted in a variety of ways by listeners and critics.

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway gained acclaim in the years after its release, reaching gold certification for sales in the U.K. and U.S.. In 1978, Nick Kent wrote for NME that it "had a compelling appeal that often transcended the hoary weightiness of the mammoth concept that held the equally mammoth four sides of vinyl together." In a special edition of Q and Mojo magazines titled Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, The Lamb ranked at No. 14 in its 40 Cosmic Rock Albums list. The album came third in a list of the 10 best concept albums by Uncut magazine, where it was described as an "impressionistic, intense album" and "pure theatre (in a good way) and still Gabriel's best work." A Rolling Stone poll to rank readers' favourite progressive rock albums of all time placed The Lamb fifth in the list.

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is widely regarded as one of Genesis's most important and influential works, inspiring generations of progressive rock musicians.

James Ray kickstarted his career as a teenager in 1959 after he left Washington DC for New York, but debut single ‘Make Her Mine’ flopped. Two years later, songwriter Rudy Clark discovered Ray and got him signed to the Caprice label, the resultant ‘If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody’ a top-30 hit that the Beatles covered in early live sets. Ray’s self-titled debut album had that hit and the equally appealing follow-up, ‘Itty Bitty Pieces,’ as well as ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You,’ later successfully covered by George Harrison. An overdose would tragically cut short Ray’s career, this sole LP a testament to his enduring talent.

Following up their debut full-length on Ty Segall’s God? label, Wand presents their second album, Golem, on In The Red. Recording with Chris Woodhouse at his Hanger studio in Sacramento, Wand summons the dark and heavy power of the riff. Back in September 2013, Wand was quietly dismembered and ritually eaten in the hills near Dodger Stadium. Wand was reborn as “Wand”—an obese organ falsely organized as four overjoyous nerds. Four flesh balloons betting on a few aging amplifiers. Rumor has it they listen to Here Come the Warm Jets on loop all day and plot mail fraud. What’s more, they allegedely stole Dale Crover’s car and sacrificed it to the weather near the Los Angeles County Line. A few things, at least, are certain: Wand hears ghosts. Wand prefers serpents. The Sun is the mother of every fiction. All phenomena will be consumed in alphabetical order, but desire will recirculate ad infinitum. If all else fails, Wand will just devour more hands. Wand is coming your way soon. • Sophomore full-length from California four-piece with connections to Ty Segall, Chad and the Meatbodies

In 2006, THE DRAFT was formed by Hot Water Music members Jason Black, George Rebelo, and Chris Wollard shortly after singer/guitarist Chuck Ragan's departure. The three remaining members of the band wanted to continue making music together but chose not to continue under the Hot Water Music name, opting for a fresh start instead. The initial writing and demo sessions included the legendary punk rock guitarist Brian Baker (known for Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion). However, due to conflicting schedules, Baker couldn't commit as a full-time member, leading fellow Florida resident and former Discount member Todd Rockhill to join the band. After releasing their debut album "In a Million Pieces" (produced by the esteemed Brian McTernan) on Epitaph Records in 2006, the band embarked on extensive tours with acts like Samiam, The Gaslight Anthem, and Paint It Black. They also released several singles on the renowned No Idea Label before disbanding in 2008. With both "In a Million Pieces" and all 7" records being out of print for years, THE DRAFT has now teamed up with End Hits Records and Equal Vision Records to release a deluxe vinyl version on double vinyl. For the first time, you can find every track ever recorded by THE DRAFT: Included are the twelve album tracks, six songs featured on three 7" records, two unreleased demo versions, as well as four songs recorded during a radio session in the UK that have never been released before. Not only were all songs remastered specifically for vinyl by Brian McTernan, and detailed liner notes have been added to tell the band's history from beginning to end, but the packaging has also been completely overhauled. A special feature for collectors: the European and American versions come in different gatefold covers, which together form a complete work of art.

Rich blend of Brazilian samba and Afro percussion, more like the jazz of Getz/Gilberto than the bossa nova of, say, Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. An exquisite album, that stretches the boundaries of Bossa Nova.

Reissue of this super hard to find self-released Brazilian garage-beat 7" from 1965. Still very unknown even among hardcore collectors of the genre, but surely an amazing example of genuine teenage garage rock from 60s Brazil reissued for the first time The band would later become Loyce e os Gnomos, a cult band featured on the compilation Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas. The reissue includes an insert with liner notes and a previously unseen photo of the band. Unearthing a forgotten chapter in Brazil's musical scene, Gatos Malucos emerges as an enigmatic garage/psychedelic band from the small city of Limera, in the Sao Paulo countryside. Comprising friends aged 14 to 16, Gatos Malucos combined their admiration for iconic acts like the Beatles and Yardbirds with an unmistakable Brazilian essence. Years later, two band members went on to form the amazing proto-punk band Loyce e os Gnomos. "I literally went crazy. I became a fanatic for the Beatles and proceeded on collecting everything related to them. Records, clothes, newspaper clippings and magazines and song lyrics. Even the Gretsch guitar, similar to the model that George Harrison played, I had the opportunity to pick up in the US. Then when the movies came up, it was pure bliss. The mood was set and, to assemble our band, it was a no brainer. After all, the music flowed harmoniously through our veins." Raphael (Gatos Malucos Guitarrist)

This is a very special one-off new special edition of one of the most popular of all the Soul Jazz Records" collections that has been out of print for many years! Featuring great new sleeve design as well as a special coloured vinyl pressing, Studio One Kings is a "who"s who" of the world"s greatest reggae artists. Studio One"s list of singers launched at the famous label reads like a roll call of Jamaican music. Horace Andy, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Johnny Osbourne and more. This album features classic and rare tracks that span the breadth of the legendary Studio One catalogue: Ska, Roots, Rocksteady, Lovers and more from the 1960s and 70s. The album also comes with sleeve-notes by the great writer Chris Salewicz, author of books on Reggae Explosion, Rude Boy as well as books on Bob Marley, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Page, Joe Strummer and more.

Van Halen did more than announce to the world the earthshaking arrival of a revolutionary guitarist. Performed by an enterprising California quartet that took its name from two of its principal members, the 1978 debut ripped headlines away from punk, injected fresh energy into a then-moribund rock 'n' roll scene, reimagined how heavy music and throwback pop could coexist, and invited everyone to experience the top-down pleasures of a beach-front Saturday night every day of the week no matter where they lived. Painstakingly restored by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, and the first of a multi-album series in an exciting partnership between the famous reissue label and Van Halen, Van Halen delivers feel-good thrills and hormonally charged desires like never before.

Limited to 12,000 numbered copies, pressed on dead-quiet MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original analogue master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition pays tribute to the record's merit and allows fans to experience Van Halen's original blend of raw power, Hollywood flair, and vaudeville fun for generations to come. Playing with reference-setting sonics that elevate a 10-times-platinum landmark whose importance cannot be quantitatively measured, this definitive version provides a clear, clean, transparent, balanced, and turn-the-volume-up-to-11 view of an album that birthed entirely new styles. Since MoFi's unique SuperVinyl compound allows you to crank the decibels to your wildest desires without risking noise-floor interference, prepare to not only hear but feel Van Halen in your chest, no fifth-row concert seat necessary.

The premium packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S Van Halen pressing befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe box, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artefact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the iconic cover art to the meticulous finishes and, yes, of course, Eddie Van Halen's pioneering fretwork and his brother Alex's double-bass percussion.

Indeed, could a piece of music that transformed how countless guitarists approached their instrument be more fittingly named than "Eruption"? Likely not, and in just 102 seconds, Eddie Van Halen rewrote, reimagined, and reconfigured a vocabulary last significantly updated a decade earlier by fellow six-string wizard Jimi Hendrix. Akin to the Washington State legend, Eddie Van Halen developed his own techniques and tones all the while making his seismic accomplishments seem effortless. Devoid of the pretence, ego, and showiness that infected many of his imitators, the Dutch native sticks to a straightforward approach that underlines the authority, prowess, and visionary scope of his playing and then-unheard-of finger-tapping skills. Throughout Van Halen, he establishes himself as an instant idol – a savant whose otherworldly combination of breadth, poise, feel, speed, force, and melody seems beamed in from another galaxy.

As does nearly every song on the record, whose cohesiveness and dynamic put into perspective the advanced chemistry and one-for-all spirit the youthful band had out of the gates. Having paid its dues for years in bars and clubs – going as far as recording a 24-track demo for Kiss bassist Gene Simmons at Village Recorders only to be spurned by management companies that felt its music wouldn't go anywhere – Van Halen finally got a deserved break when Warner Bros. executives signed the group in 1977. The subsequent recording sessions further testify on behalf of the band's synergy and alignment. Completed in just a few weeks with producer Ted Templeman, Van Halen was primarily cut live in the studio with minimal overdubs and edits. The explosiveness, energy, and electricity remain definitive, and as heard on this UD1S set, put the group on a private stage – humming amplifiers, Frankenstrat guitar, bright spotlights, sweaty headbands, and then some.

Van Halen yielded just one hit in the form of a Top 40 single (a breathless cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me") but practically every song on the revered LP has become a staple. Named the 202nd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone and considered by countless experts as one of the best debuts in history, the record displays what can happen with four distinct talents gel and strive for the same purposes. In Van Halen's case, the latter almost always involved partying, freedom, sex, and, in the immortal words of singer David Lee Roth, living "life like there's no tomorrow." The celebration manifests from the opening notes of the strutting "Runnin' with the Devil" – announced with the blare of droning car horns, Michael Anthony's robust bass line, and Alex Van Halen's thumping drumming – and continues through the conclusion of the white-hot "On Fire," goosed by Eddie Van Halen's race-track-ready lines, Roth's flamboyant deliveries, and the rhythm section's cat-like pounce.

Picking out individual highlights on Van Halen is akin to trying to count all the stars in a clear nighttime desert sky: There are far too many to identify, once you see one you notice another dozen you didn't spot before, and the cluster is best enjoyed as a whole. What's evident over repeat listens is the sheer diversity, a fact that's often overlooked: The high harmonies and background funk of "Jamie's Cryin'"; the insistent cane-and-a-tophat shuffle and doo-wop shoo-bop vocal break on "I'm the One"; the throwback acoustic blues that spreads into fast-paced, single-entendre wildfire on the Roth-led standout interpretation of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man." Like the man says, on Van Halen, all the flavours are guaranteed to satisfy.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior


Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master recordings, painstakingly transfer them to DSD 256, and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl


Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

Flora Times Stop Single!

The final Samurai Music vinyl release for 2023 sees ASC return to the label with four new 160 BPM jungle excursions.

Conjuring the spirits of the more heady work of Photek, Source Direct and Innervisions, ASC dives deep and transforms the breaks, bottomless sub and eerie synths into 3 forever futurist head cannons.

In true classicist fashion, the EP culminates with the blinding emotive amen flourish of Exploration #4.

House of Leaves is ASC at full strength, again laying out a masterclass of the genre.

A1 - Synergy
A long-awaited release for seasoned fans of the label familiar with ASC's DJ sets since creating Spatial, Synergy has been requested for release many times and is finally here - and it hasn't aged a bit. A track which lifts you gradually through a true journey of escalating, dynamic atmospheric soundscapes with crisp detailed break patterns that ebb and flow to an intricate collage of synths, keys and vocal hits to an inquisitive melody. A
stunning piece which somehow has something new to offer each time you hear it.

A2 - Suspended Animation
Conjuring an ethereal feeling with grand atmospheric backdrops reminiscent of early Intense, Suspended Animation is a calming yet suspenseful track which slowly builds with expressive break patterns and minimal kickdrums as subtle basslines rumble below. Long echoing effects and melodies gently nudge the proceedings forward, ASC once again showcasing the diversity of his production toolset.

AA1 - Repetition
It's been a while since a pure two-step drum loop has had this much impact - make no mistake - the breaks of Repetition will bore their way into your brain like Pulp Fiction did in the mid 90's with a thumping kickdrum and stabbing snare tweaked to perfection. While the beats drive the track along, a collage of audio texture surrounds them with a signature female vocal sample closing out phrases filled with finely tuned synthwork.

AA2 - Pharaoh
Landing with immediate impact and building the mood with a subdued urgency, the Hot Pants breaks of Pharaoh surf the dunes of sound to an abundance of sheer atmosphere as ASC crafts a stunningly evocative track which is aptly titled, transporting the listener to mystical Egyptian sands, the synths and horns whispering like the echoes of of a bygone era demanding their timely reprise through the medium of Spatial.
Epic.

Words by Chris Hayes

Clear Vinyl

On Rock Island, their second LP, Palm produces evidence of a distinct musical language, developed over time, in isolation, and out of necessity. On the island, melodies are struck on what might be shells or spines. Rhythms are scratched out, swept over, scratched again. Individual instruments, and sometimes entire sections, skip and stutter. There is the sense of a music box with wonky tension or a warped transmission in which all the noise is taken for signal.

Like other groups so acclaimed for their compulsive live show, Palm has been burdened by the constant comparison between their recorded material and their touring set. On Rock Island, they render this tired discussion moot, using the album form to present that which could never be completely live, reserving for performance that which could never be completely reproduced.

Despite appearing behind the instruments typical of rock music, Palm trades in sounds of their own making. On these songs, one of the guitars and the drum kit are used as MIDI triggers, producing an index that can be combed through later and replaced with new information. The percussion is sometimes augmented so as to suggest a multiplication of limbs. The strings are manipulated to choke, crack, and hum like other instruments, or other bodies, might.

Working again with engineer Matt Labozza, the band spent the better part of a month in a rented farmhouse in Upstate New York. With the benefits of time and space, Palm recorded the various elements piecemeal, only rarely playing together in groups larger than two or three. While some members tracked, others holed up in the next room, experimenting with quantization, beat replacement, and other methods borrowed from electronic music. Even accounting for the many labors that brought them to be, these materials seem produced by an organic logic. Their complex friction forms a habit of thought, scores a network of grooves on the floor of the mind.

This is music with dimensionality. Sonic objects are deployed, developed, and dissected in various states of mutation. The listener flits about between the field and the lab. The tone is warm in a way only the sun could make, the pace as forceful and as variable as a gale. Whether one locates Rock Island in a sea or in a refinished attic (as in Greg Burak's album cover), whether one escapes to there or is banished, its psychic environs are charted clearly enough. Only at this remove from the mainland can we sense the conditions necessary for such a strange species of sound.

Soul To Burn features highly inventive and memorable avant-rock songs by trio of celebrated musicians, Reciprocate. The germ of the notion that would flower into Soul To Burn came when Reciprocate’s vocalist/guitarist Stef Kett reflected on the idea of funk rock. It ought, he thought to himself, be the best of genres but so often in practice it ends up being the poorest. True enough. Kett decided to approach the problem from a fresh angle, multiple fresh angles, grinding angles, creating an “alt-soul” in which the soul gets to stretch and burn, applied with the power of a rock’n’roll trio but dynamism and agility, rather than cumbersome bulkiness. Reciprocate is a super-group made up of highly celebrated musicians from the UK DIY music scene – their singular, searing-hot power conjured by Stef Kett (Shield Your Eyes) in tandem with drummer Henri Grimes (Shield Your Eyes, Big Lad) and Marion Andrau (The Wharves, Underground Railroad) on bass. The result is the excellent Soul To Burn, which proceeds at a cadence all of its own, halting and blasting, ducking and weaving, zooming away from its distant cousins: Taste era Rory Gallagher or Mr Zoot Horn Rollo of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band. That’s particularly evident on “Self Regarding Floor Sweepings”, with echoes of “When Big Joan Sets Up” from Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica, especially with Kett’s added harmonica as the trio hit the winding dirt track, slaloming and swerving. Here is an album of full throttle soul, an avant-rock made up of ear worms so intoxicating they borrow from deep in the mind down deeper into the heart – it’s the cool, weighty groove of Tony Joe White leathering it at full throttle, fuelled by virtuosic back beats that remind of somewhere between the rolling rock of Mitch Mitchell and the fractured noisebeat of Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale: immediate, innovative, virtuosic, exhilarating. Key to the impact of Soul To Burn is Grimes’ drumming, a force unto itself, which sometimes feels like it’s engaged in a creative and playful tussle with Kett’s virtuosic vibrato guitar. Take “Rhodia”, which sounds initially like a radical reworking, an anagram of Free’s “All Right Now”, on which Grimes doesn’t so much hit the groove as hammer it into the ground. Reciprocate tend to be averse to mere repetition, too full as they are of ideas, possibilities. But they know how to hit a riff, as on “Pissed Hymn”. Kett’s vocals are unconventionally impassioned - no vibrato or performative hollering. Rather they climb, up and and again up from the pit of the soul. There’s a sense throughout that this music is hard wrought, squeezed through small apertures, produced against the odds, born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards. There are quieter moments, however, such as the exquisitely beautiful “Ressypressocate”, which affirm the ultimately tender place from where this album proceeds, notes plucked like black flowers, twisted and cherished. Reciprocate demonstrate an astonishing virtuosity, nuance and musical sensitivity manifested through their deep mutual understanding and synergetic interactions. There are moments of sync and camaraderie that remind of the very late Beatles, those rare moments during the Let It Be Era when they loosened up, reassumed their old understanding. But then Kett’s lets fly with a long, looming note and suddenly we’re somewhere else again. With Soul To Burn, Reciprocate set out their stall of intoxicating, super catchy good-time, big heart music – a human album delivering a human message of love and love lost. By the album’s end, you’ll feel pushed and pulled through the mill, wiped out, blissfully exhausted, strangely serene

.- "Wishah" (meaning veil in Arabic) is a composition in five stages, written by Youmna Saba between 2021 and 2022, for voice, oud and electronics. Following her previous solo works "Njoum" (2014) and "Arb’een" (40) (2017), this album marks a significant turning point in Saba's journey. Created after leaving Beirut and settling in Paris, "Wishah" reveals a profound shift in her musical expression, informed by rigorous research in the sonic properties of sung Arabic phonemes and their role in shaping synthesised electronic sounds. The album employs a digital extension for the oud, a concept developed by Saba in her research project 'Taïma’. This device enhances the oud's sonic range, seamlessly integrating synthesised electronics. It also amplifies subtle, often overlooked sounds generated during playing, such as resonances and fingerboard friction. The composition is organized into five distinct stages, each contributing to a process of gradual revelation. As the tracks unfold, they strip away layers of constructed emotions and perceptions that have been intricately woven over time, to expose a space that no longer exists. Wishah is a farewell to home. Youmna Saba (born in Beirut, 1984) is a musician, composer and musicologist. Her current research focuses on instrument and space resonances in different sonic and musical contexts. With four albums to this date, she has collaborated with musicians of different musical expressions such as Kamilya Jubran, Floy Krouchi, Mike Cooper and the Neue Vocalsolisten ensemble, and has taken part in numerous artist residencies. She is the laureate of the first sound residency at Quai Branly Museum, Paris (2022-2023) with her research project and installation “La Réserve des Non-Dits”, now on view at the museum; and a laureate of the music residency program at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2020-2021).

It would be difficult to find a band that is more self-aware than longtime touring band Lucero. Since forming in Memphis in the late 90's, Lucero’s base musical hallmarks have remained similar to the band’s initial sound established with their first record The Attic Tapes. In the history of their expansive discography, Lucero has evolved and embraced everything from southern rock to Stax-inspired Memphis soul, whilst simultaneously maintaining their distinctive sonic foundations. Years later, dedicated fans of the group still flock to hear the band's punchy driving rhythms, punk-rooted guitar licks, and Iyrics that evoke the whiskey drenched sentimentality of Americana singer-songwriters. For their twelfth record, Should've Learned by Now, Lucero drew on a lot of work from their past. Literally. By adapting songs and guitar parts that had been left over from the group’s previous two albums, Lucero was able to construct one of its most comprehensive works to date. “I had a particular sound | was looking for on each record and there was no room for any goofy tock & roll or cute witticisms or even simply upbeat songs.” Said primary lyricist and frontman, Ben Nichols. “But now finally, it was time to revisit all of that stuff and get it out in the world, That's how we got to the appropriately for-us titled album Should've Learned by Now. The album is basically about how we know we are fuckups and I guess we are ok with that.” Produced by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Matt Ross-Spang, the album is a punchy, rock and roll record that utilizes the more mature production stylings the group developed over time, and combines it with the first-person introspectiveness that the band is known and loved for. From its original Ben Nichols-designed cover art to its credits, the album is a reflection of a band that knows itself, Should've Learned by Now bridges the gap musically between “old Lucero” and “new Lucero” in a manner which affixes the band’s position as the perfect intersection of punk initiative with hard-earned artistry. It's an album that recognizes the past in its sound and content, but leaves the door wide open to the future and for the lessons still in store

The entity known as ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES, would like to express its excitement to be working with the Seattle, WA based BAND Sandrider, and enjoyed the previous relationship of Damm and Weisnewski in their former entity known as AKIMBO. ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES is very much a fan of previous work from the BAND on Satanik Royalty Records and highly recommend new listeners investigate the discography further. The upcoming 2-song single by BAND, hereafter referred to as AVIARY/BALEEN has a limited-edition initial pressing on blue and white splatter vinyl pressing of 300 copies, and successive runs will not be as colorful. Immediate orders are encouraged. This cheeky duality of Sandrider is also captured perfectly in the subject matter of the EP’s two tracks: The explosive first track, “Aviary,” portrays the modern hellscape of social media as sinister, soulless mama bird, willfully vomiting disinformation into the eager mouths of enthusiastically consenting participants. “PLEASE MOTHER, FEED THEM YOUR BILE. DOUSE THE BABES WITH YOUR WHOLESOME RETCH,” vocalist/guitarist Jon Weisnewski wails over massive, frenetic riffs, rounded out by bassist Jesse Roberts’ warm low end and drummer Nat Damm’s ultra-hard, punch-like beats. The song concludes in a frenzy of danceable beats, with Weisnewski doing his best Painkiller-era Halford screams as he commands you to flood the whole damn thing – drown those who wish to destroy us. As pissed off as the song is, you’ll feel triumphant by the end anyway. Side B’s “Baleen” on the other hand (while ironically the angrier-sounding song of the two), is about a lighter thought that keeps Weisnewski up at night: Do you ever think about how fucking weird whales are? They’re enormous floating creatures that can't handle gravity, and they hang out in the deepest oceans. Yet they can’t breathe underwater, so they have to stay near the top and come up for air all the time. Seems inconvenient. And you’d think that the biggest mammal that ever lived would be a brutal carnivore, right? But no. They eat the tiniest creatures, through a bunch of hair in their mouths. What the fuck? Anyway, ponder on that while you bang your head along with Sandrider’s signature primal, hypnotizingly heavy riffs.

« With their vintage organs, synths and drum machines, there are touches of Stereolab but Grand Vermont’s main mode is stranger and folkier, like Piper-era Floyd and David Allen dreaming up early Beach House. » Uncut « It’s electronic-ey, it’s French, it’s brillant » Soho Radio "Sweet minimalist post-punk" Konbini "... wonderful piece of childhood. Everything seems simple at first. Everything is luminous.” Guts of darkness "[...] somewhere between the synthetic forests of Broadcast and the kraut pop trail of Stereolab." Gonzaï

Großartige Songs aus dem reichen Fundus der Popularmusik von Scott Walker über Robert Wyatt bis St. Vincent. Auf ihren Wesenskern reduziert, in ein neues Licht getaucht und niemals übermotiviert vorgetragen. Lyrischer Jazz, Kontemplation. Pianist, Arrangeur und Produzent Uwe Schenk hatte mit Jochen Feucht (reeds), Florian Dohrmann (b) und Michael Kersting (dr) bei den Aufnahmen zu dieser LP drei äußerst routinierte Musiker an seiner Seite. Musiker, die die Schönheit der Reduktion schätzen. Die Auswahl der Songs übernahm Co-Produzent Andreas Vogel. Der DJ und Musikconnaisseur wusste dabei genau, welche Stücke bei Uwe Schenk auf fruchtbaren Boden fallen würden. Schenk schrieb daraufhin sieben Arrangements, die die Grundlage von Since You've Asked bilden. Im Jazzidiom verankert, mit einem Fokus auf Holzbläserklängen, sorgt vor allem das warme Timbre der Klarinette für den unverbrauchten und frischen Sound der Songs. Beste Voraussetzungen für eine entspannte Recording-Session und im Ergebnis eine LP, die dazu einlädt, sich ganz dem Klang hinzugeben, um tief in die Musik einzutauchen.

High Vis were formed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK's best hardcore bands. Gild-toothed frontman Graham Sayle's anguished lyrics about life in working class Britain were familiar to fans of Tremors' full-throttle thrash, but alongside his former bandmate Edward `Ski' Harper and veterans of Dirty Money, DiE and The Smear, High Vis sought to transform that energy and intensity into something entirely new.Like scene-mates Chubby and the Gang did by pulling in unlikely source material from classic doo-wop or Micromoon have by combining everything from psychedelia and metal into their high potency mix, High Vis' 2019 debut album, No Sense No Feeling showed the band were never going to be constrained by any sense of genre rules or regulations. Its claustrophobic rattle bore traces of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Crisis, The Cure and Gang Of Four lurking in the shadows. 2020's synth-driven EP, Society Exists, was further evidence of the band's restless creative MO.High Vis' second album Blending sees them open their viewfinder wider than ever before. Alongside longstanding favourites such as Fugazi and Echo and The Bunnymen; Ride and even Flock Of Seagulls were shared reference points as the band worked on the album together.From the anthemic sweep of opener "Talk For Hours", through the title track's psychedelic swirl and "Fever Dream"'s baggy groove, it sees High Vis' sound blossoming into something with an unlimited richness. The hazy drift of "Shame" or the melodic jangle of "Trauma Bonds" may take them until uncharted waters, but they still have all the power and bite that made No Sense No Feeling so remarkable.Lyrically, the album represents another leap forward too. Talking frankly about poverty, class politics, and the challenges of everyday life, Sayle's lyrics have always addressed the downtrodden and discarded communities across Britain slipping below the waterline. This time around, Sayle's lost not of that social consciousness, but he's looked at himself and his own emotional landscape, and in the process created something that feels more universal, that reaches a hand-out to people and ultimately gives a message of hope."To me, the lyrics are less selfish," reflects Sayle. "In the past, I couldn't see past whatever was going on with me. It's about accepting things and being open to conversations and learning to talk to people rather than just thinking that we're all doomed."The song "Talk for Hours" is a prime example of that. Born out of an afternoon meeting up with an old group of mates "repeating the same thing and not actually learning anything about each other" it offers to actually break the cycle and to listen and speak frankly about shared feelings and experiences. "Trauma Bonds", meanwhile, traces the broken lines of those living in lost communities, but ultimately realises that despite our shared scars, there's still hope to move on to a better future."The message of the album is you're not who you're told you are," Sayle summarises. "You're not your class background. Whatever it is, you're not that. Don't resign yourself to thinking you can't be this and you can't be that."It's a vitally important message right now, and one that could be the motto for not only Blending, but for High Vis themselves.