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The song sets the tone of this album. A simple structure, over which a web of rhythm is woven using an instrumentation of old drum machines in dialogue with live drums and percussion. Lots of sax, tenor and baritone! A pumping bass. A frisky pizzicato violin. And some classic keyboards: the Fender Rhodes, the Hohner Clavinette D6, the L-100 Hammond organ. And lots of analogue synthesisers: a rippling Juno-106 marks the path to follow, which is crossed with phrases from other museum pieces: Crumar's Stratus, Farfisa's Synthorchestra, Sequential's Prophet-10. Or still the Casio Club M-100, which is basically a toy, but has been subtly colouring SKC's songs for years!

SKC has often dived deep into the repertoire of artists he holds in high esteem, looking for pearls, forgotten or not, to work on. Likewise on this album with versions of songs by Prince, Dez Mona, Alain Bashung…

Matt Watts (1987–2024) was born in Philadelphia, in the USA. He recorded his first songs along the banks of the Missouri River in Montana when he was 15, touring the north-western states extensively as a young troubadour. He arrived in Belgium at the tender age of 19 and grew into a full-fledged singer-songwriter that combines a profound respect for the folk tradition with contemporary influences.

His solo album, Songs from a Window, was released in 2014 by Starman Records and received glowing praise in the press.

Matt Watts played dozens upon dozens of shows in the Benelux, often together with Stef Kamil Carlens and Nicolas Rombouts. While his predecessor Songs from a Window was a true solo album, How Different It Was When You Were There includes personal stories by Watts that have been subtly seasoned with wonderful musicians such as Nathalie Delcroix, Bjorn Eriksson, Geert Hellings (Stanton, Guido Belcanto), Maarten Moesen (Guido Belcanto), and bassist and this album’s producer, Nicolas Rombouts (formerly with Dez Mona, Stef Kamil Carlens, The Colorist, Guido Belcanto, and many others).

One of the highlights of this album, which truly showcases Matt Watts’ awakening, is “Many a Friend Too Kind”: a fabulous duet with Stef Kamil Carlens. Watts also performed in Zita Swoon Group’s production, The Ballad of Erol Klof. Sadly, Matt Watts passed away in June 2024.

MORE QUOTES

“Watts, who washed up in Belgium, sings his personal, poetic lyrics in a high, whispering voice that immediately brings Nick Drake to mind.” 4/5 **** (De Standaard)

‘This is an album full of sincere sentiment and stimulating, evocative stories in fine songs that have been beautifully coloured by Watts and his band, and on which he brings the narrative aspect to the fore more than ever.’ (daMusic)

‘Sensitive songwriter, exceptional storyteller... Introverted, dark, more country, less Nick Drake.’ (OOR)

‘This is real, raw, authentic. Well done, Matt, very well done.’ (Keys And Chords)

‘And no matter how young Matt Watts may be, the singer/musician writes timeless songs reminiscent of those by David Blue and John Martyn...’ (Rootstime)

‘Matt knows how to strike that chord in the same way as Cohen, which immediately moves you. From the beginning to the end of this record.’ (Gigview)

‘A singer-songwriter who believes in simplicity (not a note too many), but grabs you by the scruff of the neck from the start and confronts you with the painful beauty of romance.’ (Luminous Dash)

‘Let's be honest here: Belgium has simply become too small for an album like “How Different It Was When You Were There”. Song material of this calibre deserves a much, much wider audience!’ 4.5***** (ctrl.alt.country)

Der legendäre Gruff Rhys kehrt mit "Dim Probs" zurück, seinem neunten Soloalbum, dem vierten walisischen Longplayer und der ersten Veröffentlichung über Mogwais Rock Action Records.

Mit den walisischen Künstlerkollegen Cate Le Bon und H. Hawkline an den Backing Vocals und produziert mit seinem langjährigen Kollaborateur Ali Chant (Yard Act/PJ Harvey) in dessen Studio in Bristol, UK, erinnert "Dim Probs" an die Wärme und Nähe von Gruffs karrierebestimmendem ersten Soloalbum ("Yr Atal Genhedlaeth" von 2005) und die sternensuchende Melancholie von "Seeking New Gods" von 2021.

Auf „Dim Probs“, das komplett in Walisisch/Cymraeg geschrieben und eingesungen ist, sitzt der Hörer Seite an Seite mit einem der größten und nachdenklichsten Songwriter des Landes in einer Ecke des Studios, während die Songs sich aufbauen. Das Ergebnis ist eine intime und hypnotische Platte, die akustischen Folk mit dem Sound verkratzter, primitiver elektronischer Maschinen mischt.

"Dim Probs" ist Gruff Rhys' erstes komplett walisischsprachiges Album seit "Pang!" von 2019 und der Nachfolger seines gefeierten Albums "Sadness Sets You Free" von 2024, das bei Rough Trade Records erschienen ist und vom Mojo Magazine (UK) als eines der 20 besten Alben des Jahres bezeichnet wurde.

Der legendäre Gruff Rhys kehrt mit "Dim Probs" zurück, seinem neunten Soloalbum, dem vierten walisischen Longplayer und der ersten Veröffentlichung über Mogwais Rock Action Records.

Mit den walisischen Künstlerkollegen Cate Le Bon und H. Hawkline an den Backing Vocals und produziert mit seinem langjährigen Kollaborateur Ali Chant (Yard Act/PJ Harvey) in dessen Studio in Bristol, UK, erinnert "Dim Probs" an die Wärme und Nähe von Gruffs karrierebestimmendem ersten Soloalbum ("Yr Atal Genhedlaeth" von 2005) und die sternensuchende Melancholie von "Seeking New Gods" von 2021.

Der legendäre Gruff Rhys kehrt mit "Dim Probs" zurück, seinem neunten Soloalbum, dem vierten walisischen Longplayer und der ersten Veröffentlichung über Mogwais Rock Action Records.

Mit den walisischen Künstlerkollegen Cate Le Bon und H. Hawkline an den Backing Vocals und produziert mit seinem langjährigen Kollaborateur Ali Chant (Yard Act/PJ Harvey) in dessen Studio in Bristol, UK, erinnert "Dim Probs" an die Wärme und Nähe von Gruffs karrierebestimmendem ersten Soloalbum ("Yr Atal Genhedlaeth" von 2005) und die sternensuchende Melancholie von "Seeking New Gods" von 2021.

Auf „Dim Probs“, das komplett in Walisisch/Cymraeg geschrieben und eingesungen ist, sitzt der Hörer Seite an Seite mit einem der größten und nachdenklichsten Songwriter des Landes in einer Ecke des Studios, während die Songs sich aufbauen. Das Ergebnis ist eine intime und hypnotische Platte, die akustischen Folk mit dem Sound verkratzter, primitiver elektronischer Maschinen mischt.

"Dim Probs" ist Gruff Rhys' erstes komplett walisischsprachiges Album seit "Pang!" von 2019 und der Nachfolger seines gefeierten Albums "Sadness Sets You Free" von 2024, das bei Rough Trade Records erschienen ist und vom Mojo Magazine (UK) als eines der 20 besten Alben des Jahres bezeichnet wurde.

glo-worm produce chiming pop music of a nonbouncing variety that sounds pure, forlorn and unencumbered. Glo-Worm are at the heart of the `90s East Coast independent pop music scene that brought us Slumberland Records, Velocity Girl, Versus and chickfactor magazine. glimmer KLP054 brings all the various glo-worm 45s together under one roof. It's a real charmer, and now available for the first time as a long playing (LP) phonograph record. glo-worm formed in Washington D.C., summer 1993 and features the voice of Pam Berry ( cofounder of chickfactor magazine) accompanied by Dan Searing (drums, percussion) and Terry Banks (guitar). Previously, Pam had sung in Black Tambourine. Terry played in Tree Fort Angst and a stint in English underground combo St. Christopher. Dan had been in Whorl. During the course of glo-worm's two-and-a-halfish year lifespan, the band released three 7" EPs (issued by the Somersault, Slumberland and K labels) and had songs on a couple of compilations, all leading up to the glimmer [KLP054] album, which compiled the 7" EPs and added a cover of The Cure's `Friday I'm in Love' and was released by K in 1996.

Vom "Klassik-Star der Gen Z" zum Pianisten der Stunde: Louis Philippson "My Way"Nur sieben Monate nach seinem Debüt "Exposition" beleuchtet "My Way" die rasante Entwicklung des jungen Pianisten, Social-Media-Stars und Moderators Louis Philippson vom "Klassik-Star der Gen Z" (Süddeutsche Zeitung) zu einem der Pianisten der Stunde. Vom britischen Sender Classic FM wurde Louis als einziger deutscher Künstler in die "Top 30 artists under 30 in 2025" aufgenommen, während BR-Klassik erklärte: "mit Louis Philippson hat die klassische Musik einen neuen Rockstar gefunden." Auch auf den 12 restlos ausverkauften Konzerten seiner Debüt-Tour im Mai 2025 und bei den Arena Shows der "Night of the Proms" im Winter 2024 begeisterte er tausende Menschen für die Klassik auf seine eigene Weise. Daran knüpft Louis Philippson mit seinem Album "My Way" an. Aufgenommen mit dem MDR Sinfonieorchester unter der Leitung von Dirigent Ben Palmer, verbindet es neue Originalkompositionen mit neuen Bearbeitungen bekannter Themen aus der Klassik oder Filmmusik für Solo Piano sowie Piano und Orchester. Zu den neuen Werken zählen unter anderem der virale Hit "Beethoven Virus" für Klavier und Orchester, "Show Waltz" für Klavier und Orchester, "Supernova" für Klavier, Sopran und Orchester, sowie mehrere Solostücke für Klavier. Unter den neu interpretierten Klassikern finden sich das mitreißende Medley "Dancing Bee" für Klavier und Orchester, "Cornfield Chase" für Klavier und kleines Ensemble, sowie eine Bearbeitung von Themen aus den Vierjahreszeiten mit dem Titel "Vivaldi Storm". Key Dates: • 6th June: German public broadcaster MDR broadcasting a studio concert featuring the MDR Radio Symphony Orchestra (reach 1 Mio)Pre-oder start and 1. Single "Für Elise"• 23rd July: German public broadcaster ARD "3nach9" talk show (reach 1 Mio)• 11th Sept: German public broadcaster TV gala ARD Deutscher Radiopreis - 2 performances live (reach 1 Mio +)• 12th Sept: German public broadcaster TV gala MDR Goldene Henne - Performance (reach 2 Mio)Album Release • September: pitch for ClassicFM Gala London • 26th Sept. German public broadcaster MDR Riverboat Talkshow (reach 2 Mio)• October - November: Concerts in GSA in venues up to 3,000 cap (e.g. Hamburg CCH / München Prinzregententheater / Düsseldorf Tonhalle etc.)• 6th Dec: German public broadcaster ARD charity show Ein Herz für Kinder (reach 3 Mio)• Dec: concert at Royal Albert Hall London • Spring 2026: Europa-Tour mit Konzerten in Paris, Benelux, Polen, Spanien usw.In the making: documentary about his life similar to Anastasia Kobekina

David Bowie 6. I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002 - 2016) is the sixth in a series of box sets spanning Bowie’s career from 1969. The eighteen-piece vinyl box set is named after the closing track on ★ (BLACKSTAR), Bowie’s final studio album. The box sets include newly remastered versions (except ★ and No Plan), with input from David’s co-producer Tony Visconti.

Exclusive to each of the box sets are Montreux Jazz Festival and Re:Call 6. The former was recorded on the 18th of July 2002 at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival and among the 31 tracks features a full performance bar one song of one of Bowie’s most revered albums, Low.

Re:Call 6 features 41 non-album / alternative versions / b-sides and soundtrack songs, including tracks never previously available on vinyl.

An accompanying 84 page book features previously unseen notes, drawings and handwritten lyrics from Bowie and photos by Sukita (who took the set’s cover shot), Jimmy King, Frank W. Ockenfels 3, Markus Klinko, Mark ‘Blammo’ Adams and more as well as memorabilia, technical notes about the albums from co-producer Tony Visconti and design notes from Jonathan Barnbrook.

18 LP Box Set:
84-page hardback book
Heathen (Remastered) (1LP)
Montreux Jazz Festival (4LP) (Previously unreleased)*
Reality (Remastered) (1LP)
A Reality Tour (Remastered & Re-sequenced) (3LP)
The Next Day (Remastered) (2LP)
The Next Day Extra (Remastered) (1LP)
★ (Blackstar) (1LP)
No Plan (1LP)
Re:Call 6 (Non-album singles, edits, single versions, b-sides and soundtrack music) (Remastered) (4LP)*

Anlässlich des 30-jährigen Jubiläums von ,Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" erscheint über Oh Boy Records eine Deluxe-Edition von John Prines beliebtem Album mit fünf bisher unveröffentlichten Demos und alternativen Takes sowie dem bisher unveröffentlichten Titel ,Hey Ah Nothin'". Dieses lange verschollene Juwel wird sowohl langjährige Fans als auch Neulinge begeistern und bietet einen intimen Einblick in die Entstehung des Albums und den spontanen Geist, der die Sessions geprägt hat. Das für einen Grammy nominierte Album wird außerdem zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl veröffentlicht, neu gemastert von den Originalbändern. ,Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" wird wegen seiner Wärme, seinem Witz und seiner Tiefe sehr geschätzt, und diese Neuauflage bietet einen noch genaueren Einblick in eine der fröhlichsten und kreativsten Phasen in Prines legendärer Karriere. "Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" erschien ursprünglich 1995 nach Prines Grammy-prämiertem Album "The Missing Years" und festigte seinen Ruf als einer der größten Songwriter Amerikas. Produziert von Howie Epstein von Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, zeigt das Album Prine auf einem persönlichen und künstlerischen Höhepunkt, erfüllt von der Freude über eine neue Liebe, seine Vaterschaft und einer unerschütterlichen kreativen Chemie. Unterstützt von einem All-Star-Ensemble, darunter Heartbreakers-Pianist Benmont Tench und Gastsängerinnen Carlene Carter und Marianne Faithfull, ist ,Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" ein lebendiges Beispiel für Prines unvergleichliches lyrisches Talent. Das Album fließt mühelos von der ironischen Zufriedenheit von ,Ain't Hurtin' Nobody" zu der epischen Erzählung von ,Lake Marie", einem Song, den Bob Dylan einmal als einen seiner Lieblingssongs bezeichnet hat. Mit seiner Mischung aus herzlichen Balladen, surrealen Erzählungen und verspieltem Humor bleibt ,Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" eines der umfangreichsten und beliebtesten Werke von Prine. Mit 14 Titeln und einer Länge von fast einer Stunde fängt es die Fülle der Erfahrungen der Lebensmitte ein, ehrlich, entspannt und voller Leben. Dreißig Jahre später lädt diese Veröffentlichung dazu ein, ein Album wiederzuentdecken, das weiterhin tröstet, überrascht und inspiriert.

Anlässlich des 30-jährigen Jubiläums von ,Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" erscheint über Oh Boy Records eine Deluxe-Edition von John Prines beliebtem Album mit fünf bisher unveröffentlichten Demos und alternativen Takes sowie dem bisher unveröffentlichten Titel ,Hey Ah Nothin'". Dieses lange verschollene Juwel wird sowohl langjährige Fans als auch Neulinge begeistern und bietet einen intimen Einblick in die Entstehung des Albums und den spontanen Geist, der die Sessions geprägt hat. Das für einen Grammy nominierte Album wird außerdem zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl veröffentlicht, neu gemastert von den Originalbändern. ,Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" wird wegen seiner Wärme, seinem Witz und seiner Tiefe sehr geschätzt, und diese Neuauflage bietet einen noch genaueren Einblick in eine der fröhlichsten und kreativsten Phasen in Prines legendärer Karriere. "Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" erschien ursprünglich 1995 nach Prines Grammy-prämiertem Album "The Missing Years" und festigte seinen Ruf als einer der größten Songwriter Amerikas. Produziert von Howie Epstein von Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, zeigt das Album Prine auf einem persönlichen und künstlerischen Höhepunkt, erfüllt von der Freude über eine neue Liebe, seine Vaterschaft und einer unerschütterlichen kreativen Chemie. Unterstützt von einem All-Star-Ensemble, darunter Heartbreakers-Pianist Benmont Tench und Gastsängerinnen Carlene Carter und Marianne Faithfull, ist ,Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" ein lebendiges Beispiel für Prines unvergleichliches lyrisches Talent. Das Album fließt mühelos von der ironischen Zufriedenheit von ,Ain't Hurtin' Nobody" zu der epischen Erzählung von ,Lake Marie", einem Song, den Bob Dylan einmal als einen seiner Lieblingssongs bezeichnet hat. Mit seiner Mischung aus herzlichen Balladen, surrealen Erzählungen und verspieltem Humor bleibt ,Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings" eines der umfangreichsten und beliebtesten Werke von Prine. Mit 14 Titeln und einer Länge von fast einer Stunde fängt es die Fülle der Erfahrungen der Lebensmitte ein, ehrlich, entspannt und voller Leben. Dreißig Jahre später lädt diese Veröffentlichung dazu ein, ein Album wiederzuentdecken, das weiterhin tröstet, überrascht und inspiriert.

Charles D has got the touch right now. Following ‘The Bouncer’, his blistering collaboration with Space 92, he returns with another slice of peak-time perfection, ‘Control’. The New Yorker has become one of the most promising artists to emerge on Drumcode in recent times; from his terrific body of remixes, led by Adam Beyer & Bart Skils ‘Your Mind’ and Mike Macaluso’s ‘Final Chapter’, to cuts on the label’s A-Sides compilation (‘Traction’ and ‘Yantee’), right through to his breakthrough EP release in 2023 ‘Don’t Stop’. With a recent standout collab with Space 92 ‘The Bouncer’ under his belt, you can always rely on the artist to craft captivating, big-moment productions.

Host of the popular Synthesized Radio and soon to be launching his own label project KONKRTE, Charles D says the writing process for ‘Control’ came quickly, with the first ideas coming together on the plane home from an energising weekend of gigs. “I'm really inspired by a lot of the new music out there, and wanted to make something that felt peak time, but had some melodic techno and tech house flavor to it. I made several versions of it, but the very first version was the one that made the cut. When I heard Adam play it at Drumsheds and Resistance in Miami and saw the crowd’s reaction, I knew not to mess with it too much.” – Charles D ‘Control’ is a high-octane trip and deliciously dynamic. Framed by the producer’s trademark plump basslines and crisp percussion, it makes a statement via a torrent of head-scrambling riffs and effects.

Expansive and ambitious, Tender Revolutions is the latest from Vietnam-born, Portland, Oregon-based multimedia artist Dao Strom. A fluid album, existing between genres—part ambient folk, part sound collage, part spoken word, part post rock—it blurs the line between the work of an experimental composer and the work of an accomplished singer-songwriter. Instruments slip in and out (guitar, piano, synthesizer, strings, drums, percussion) amid field recordings and samples, all anchored by Strom’s singular voice.

The songs of Tender Revolutions reflect on and embody themes of “yellow subjectivities”—the Asian body as perceived; the Asian feminine body as reflection/catalyst/consort—offering their own forms of response to troubling representations of Asian women in popular media in the West. A “re-voicing” of the problematic hit song “China Girl” by David Bowie re-inhabits this song from a discomfiting silence at its center, and serves as a fulcrum point in the album’s sequencing. Other songs utilize voice as both texture and lyric-driven telling to deepen angles of interiority and thematics of voice/silence.

While Tender Revolutions stands alone as its own whole, it also exists as part of a larger multifaceted project, drawing from a four-part song-cycle (Nhạc Vàng 1-4) and accompanying a series of hybrid-genre literary chapbooks (Yellow Songs 1-4). Released in collaboration with The 3rd Thing, an interdisciplinary publisher in Olympia.



[a] tender variation i [what is tender?]
[b] tender variation ii [when was the first time u felt loved?]
[c] tender variation iii [associations of yellow]
[d] tender variation iv [love object treason]




[i] [hailing tender]

Gothenburg/Malmö-based post rock power trio Barrens return with Corpse Lights, the band's second full-length release following their critically-acclaimed 2020 debut Penumbra. Five years in the making, Corpse Lights sees Barrens strike a breathtaking balance between light and dark, beauty and brutality. Corpse Lights, Barrens' sophomore album, is somehow deeper, richer and headier; imbued with an alluring compositional patience that serves as unspoken testament to the combined creativity of the trio in their element, as something so much greater than the sum of its parts. Recorded and produced by Kristofer Jönson, who also helmed Penumbra, and mixed and mastered once again by Cult of Luna's Magnus Lindberg, shimmering synthesizers and sprawling guitars lead the charge propelled by exhilarating drums and percussion but Corpse Lights also finds Barrens using space, silence and atmosphere as another instrument if not as another band member entirely. `Corpse Lights' is the name given to the folk belief that small coloured lights often appear near the home of someone about to die, leading them along the path to their eventual resting place. Often considered to be evidence of the soul leaving the body, the concept of corpse lights embodies Barrens' approach to creating music as a cathartic release; not just writing music because they want to but because they have to. Their writing process is one of joy, light and release as much as it is dark, heavy and tense. The result is Corpse Lights, a collection of nine pieces that guide us through five tumultuous years of highs and lows, of loves and losses and victories and defeats without ever needing to say a word. FOR FANS OF Mono, PG.LOST, Caspian, Mogwai, This Will Destroy You, Russian Circles, Pelican, Scraps Of Tape, God Is An Astronaut. Vinyl is a gatefold, the sleeve comes with metalic ink

Gothenburg/Malmö-based post rock power trio Barrens return with Corpse Lights, the band's second full-length release following their critically-acclaimed 2020 debut Penumbra. Five years in the making, Corpse Lights sees Barrens strike a breathtaking balance between light and dark, beauty and brutality. Corpse Lights, Barrens' sophomore album, is somehow deeper, richer and headier; imbued with an alluring compositional patience that serves as unspoken testament to the combined creativity of the trio in their element, as something so much greater than the sum of its parts. Recorded and produced by Kristofer Jönson, who also helmed Penumbra, and mixed and mastered once again by Cult of Luna's Magnus Lindberg, shimmering synthesizers and sprawling guitars lead the charge propelled by exhilarating drums and percussion but Corpse Lights also finds Barrens using space, silence and atmosphere as another instrument if not as another band member entirely. `Corpse Lights' is the name given to the folk belief that small coloured lights often appear near the home of someone about to die, leading them along the path to their eventual resting place. Often considered to be evidence of the soul leaving the body, the concept of corpse lights embodies Barrens' approach to creating music as a cathartic release; not just writing music because they want to but because they have to. Their writing process is one of joy, light and release as much as it is dark, heavy and tense. The result is Corpse Lights, a collection of nine pieces that guide us through five tumultuous years of highs and lows, of loves and losses and victories and defeats without ever needing to say a word. FOR FANS OF Mono, PG.LOST, Caspian, Mogwai, This Will Destroy You, Russian Circles, Pelican, Scraps Of Tape, God Is An Astronaut. Vinyl is a gatefold, the sleeve comes with metalic ink, the Periastron edition is transparent "white" Vinyl

Black Truffle is thrilled to present the first ever solo Donso n’goni recording from octogenarian Swedish multi-instrumentalist Christer Bothén. Active in the Swedish jazz and improvisation scene since the 1970s, often heard on bass clarinet, Bothén travelled to Mali in 1971, eventually making his way to the Wassoulou region in the country’s south where he encountered the Donso n’goni, the sacred harp of the hunter caste of Wassoulou society. Though playing the instrument has traditionally been restricted to those who belong to the hunters’ brotherhood, Bothén found an enthusiastic teacher in Brouema Dobia, who, after many months of intensive one-on-one lessons, gave Bothén his blessing to play the instrument both traditionally and in his own style. Returning to Sweden, he would go on to pass on what he had learned to Don Cherry and play the Donso n’goni in a wide variety of inventive settings, including the driving Afro-jazz-fusion of his Trancedance (reissued as BT118).

The seven pieces of Christer Bothén Donso n’goni offer up a stunning showcase of Bothén’s work on this remarkable instrument, heard entirely unaccompanied, except for the final piece where he is joined on a second Donso n’goni by his student and collaborator, the virtuoso bassist Kansan/Torbjorn Zetterberg, and Marianne N’Lemvo Linden on the metal Karanjang scraper. Recorded in three sessions in Stockholm between 2019 and 2023 in richly detailed high fidelity, the instrument’s buzzing, sonorous bass strings make an immediate, overwhelming sonic impression. Hyper-focused on hypnotically repeating pentatonic patterns, the seven pieces are at once relentlessly single-minded and endlessly rich in subtle variations. The concentrated listening environment turns small details, such as the deployment of the instrument’s segesege rattle on two of the pieces, into major events. Six of the seven pieces are traditional, with Bothén contributing the remaining ‘La Baraka’, but the line between tradition and the individual talent is imaginary here: as Bothén explained in a recent interview with The Wire’s Clive Bell, ‘I play traditional and untraditional, and I play the music forward and backward’. While the traditional Wassoulou pieces provide the rhythmic and harmonic elements, Bothén’s individuality as a performer is alive in every moment, felt acutely in boundless variations of attack, improvisational flourishes, and unexpected accelerations and decelerations. Captured entirely live and bristling with spontaneity, this music is undeniably the product of almost half a decade of Bothén’s devotion to the Donso n’goni and its traditional music.

Accompanied by detailed new liner notes by Bothén and stunning colour photos from his time in Mali, Christer Bothén Donso n’goni is a stunning document of a remarkable instrument, played with an almost spiritual intensity by one of contemporary music’s great explorers.

"Irritating Post Punk New Wave Kraut Disco Trash Duo from Switzerland in Glitter Tights and Spandex Wigs with obscure and high potential Dancing Beats and and songs that stick in your brain like chewing gum". It's their fifth' full lenght amd second for VVR! DIE GROSSE KUNST DER REDUKTION: BLIND BUTCHER ist ein abstraktes musikalisches Künstler/Musiker-Duo aus Luzern der Schweiz, welches Glitzer-Leggings trägt und das Gesicht hinter einem Leuchfarben-Spandex Vorhang versteckt. Ihre Ästhetik und Outfits werden angefertigt von Corinne Odermatt, aber vor allem überzeugen sie durch ihre Musik, die einem, wenn mensch sie live erlebt, nicht aus dem Staunen herauskommen und perplex im Raum stehenlässt. Wie zwei obskure Kreaturen von einer anderen Galaxie treiben sie ihren Disco Beats durch den Raum, oder wie hier durch die Rille einer Vinyl-Schallplatte. Aufgenommen wurde diese zweite Produktion für Voodoo Rhythm beim renommierten Swamp Land Studio in Toulouse Frankreich mit Lo Spider (Destination Lonely) und gemastert in Detroit von Bill Skibbe at Third Man Mastering. Das Coverfoto und Artwork entwarf Ralph Kuehne. Classic black Vinyl LP 180g including Booklet and free Download Card

Deaf Club continues their scathing indictment of society with their second full-length album, being released on Southern Lord and Three One G: We Demand a Permanent State of Happiness. Fast wit and faster blast beats are mainstays of the band, but there is also a sense of growth. This is their strongest songwriting yet, incorporating more hooks and good old-fashioned moments to mosh while staying as weird as ever. Raygun guitar riffs and unexplainable sounds abound. Justin Pearson, Brian Amalfitano, Scott Osment, and Jason Klein excel at inciting emotion in the face of apathy and voicing disgust amid a world rapidly burning.

Transparent green vinyl. After an uncomfortably long five-year hiatus-likely spent arguing about time signatures, chord progressions, and who forgot to bring snacks to rehearsals-Glutton is finally back. The beloved (by at least a few people) trio is ready to unleash their questionable wisdom upon an unsuspecting world with their upcoming album: "Skiva heter Vishnu!" On their latest outing, Glutton boldly ditches vocals (likely realizing that nobody was really listening to their lyrics anyway) and commits fully to an instrumental format. This time around, it's only guitar, bass, and drums-because who needs keyboards or vocalists when you have enough distortion pedals and élan? Guitarist Eirik Orevik Aadland (Spurv), bassist Ola Mile Bruland (Actionfredag, Jordsjo), and drummer Jonas Eide Hollund (Mt. Mélodie) clearly didn't bother to consider commercial viability while crafting this sonic oddity, delivering tracks like "Hallux Valgus," "Orkensur," and "Rematusenogennatt" with absurd seriousness and delightfully misplaced confidence. Expect a reckless fusion of punk attitude, jazz complexity, and prog rock pretentiousness, presented with complete sincerity and zero self-awareness (well, almost zero). Each track is carefully constructed to give the illusion of a band deeply serious about their art, while simultaneously admitting that they may have no idea what they're doing. Whether you're a sophisticated music connoisseur with an ear for complexity, or just someone who enjoys pretending to appreciate weird music, Glutton's latest record promises to be precisely the type of organized hotchpotch you didn't realize your life was lacking. "Skiva heter Vishnu!" - because of course it does.

Die Black Lips sind mit einer 40-minütigen Rock'n'Roll-Odyssee quer durch die Genres zurück, bei der Garagenrock auf New-Wave-Pop trifft und verärgerter Country sich die Hand mit epischen Western-Soundtracks gibt. Das 14-Track-Album fängt die Energie und den Geist der frühen Black Lips ein und geht gleichzeitig neue Wege beim Songwriting. Das Album ist ein musikalisches Karussell, eine Trip mit straßengeschundenen Geschichten aus der Schattenseite eines lichtlosen Amerikas. Die Rahmung bildet "The Illusion", pt.I und II: eine Suche nach Hoffnung, Angst und Hass in einer Bar, die immer wieder von einem Gefühl der Resignation durchkreuzt wird: ,you reach for the sky / but it's an illusion". An anderer Stelle spielt sich "Wild One" wie ein Morricone-Taumel durch einen weiteren Tag in der Hölle ab. Ein Mantra für verkatertes, himmelschreiendes Klagelied zum Lob des Wilden im Herzen. "Tippy Tongue" zeigt, wie Black Lips den Soul der 60er-Jahre-Girlgroups aufgreifen, wie Shangri-Las oder Ronettes, die von Jayne/Wayne County infiltriert wurden, und ist eine Hommage an Buddha Records. "Kassandra" hat einen sonntäglichen Gitarrensound, der sich wie The Chocolate Watchband mit Zappa am Gesang durch immer wiederkehrende Salven schlängelt. "Zulu Saints" ist ein beschwingter Country-Hupf, ein Gute-Laune-Stück mit Bravour, gespickt mit Cole in einer ungläubigen Radio-Telefon-Show, der nach schwarzäugigen Erbsen sucht und an den Spielautomaten groß gewinnt. Für die Aufnahmen verschanzten sie sich in der idyllischen Umgebung von Schlagzeuger Oakleys neuem Sound At Manor Studio in den Catskills (das erste Album, das dort aufgenommen wurde, seit Oakley das Studio 2020 baute). In dieser idyllischen Umgebung entzog sich die Band dem Stadtleben und nahm ihre Musik analog auf Band auf - Teil ihres Bestrebens, Spontaneität zu leben und die Energie eines Live-Konzerts der Black Lips auf Platte einzufangen. Gelungen! "Simply masters in their field" NME" - Limitiertes, cremefarbenes Vinyl mit DLC sowie CD im Digisleeve

An unrelenting storm of Minyo, Latin, and Jazz—fierce, thrilling, and utterly original. A groundbreaking work of classical artistry, created by two
masters: Naotero Misuna and Norio Maeda.

Naotero Misuna, known as “Maestro Misuna,” led the Tokyo Cuban Boys, a legendary big band formed in 1949—before Latin music had even taken
root in Japan. With over 300 recordings to their name, they are one of Japan’s most iconic ensembles. Throughout their long career, the band remained
rooted in Latin music while boldly incorporating other genres and contemporary styles. Among their most internationally acclaimed works are those that
focus on traditional Japanese music, such as folk songs and ancient melodies.

This album, Japanese Classical Arts, arranged by the great Norio Maeda, is a masterpiece that transforms Minyo + Latin + Jazz into a thrilling sonic
experience. Leading the charge is a powerful rendition of “Sakura Sakura,” which moves seamlessly between Afro-Cuban jazz and jazz-rock, captivating l
isteners around the world. The album also features meticulously crafted arrangements of “Kariboshikiri Uta,” “Yagibushi,” “Genroku Hanami Odori,” and
“Awa Odori.” The inclusion of Kohachiro Miyata on shakuhachi and Tadao Sawai on koto is nothing short of brilliant.

This is exhilarating Wa-Jazz at its finest—music that makes you want to shout, “This is it!

Text by Yusuke Ogawa (UNIVERSOUNDS / DEEP JAZZ REALITY)

The seasoned DJ & producer (GALAPOGOS4, QWEL, GLUE, ALTERED TAPES) shines a light on his love for obscure Latin disco on this scorching hot 7". In constant rotation at our office since it arrived. Def don't miss this sun drenched, surefire dance floor filler!

Continuing the sensational Spring Revisited series - Acid Jazz presents a new 12” release – Fatback Band: ‘Night Fever (Kenny Dope Mix)’ / ‘(Hey) I Feel Real Good (DJ Spinna Refreak). Spring Revisited is an exciting and unique mix project that explores the musical legacy of legendary New York label Spring Records, with a series of new mixes from top mix artists, using the original masters. Fatback Band are a disco/funk group that were at the peak of their success in the ’70s, and they were one of Spring Records’ most iconic artists. This is the second release in the series featuring the band’s classic work. ‘Night Fever’ is an electro-disco track released in 1976.

Keeping the soulful vocal and strings from the original, house legend Kenny Dope beefs up a looped section of the percussion that forms the backbone of his version. He lifts the tempo and creates a DJ friendly version, while keeping the improvised feel of the original. This rough and ready remix has the kind of bumping groove that’s infectious on a dance floor. On the flip, DJ Spinna gives a new take on the Fatback’s ‘(Hey) I Feel Real Good’. Presented in the signature Spring Revisited house-bag, looking as if it were hand delivered to you from a 1970s record pool.

Limited edition…

Born in Antwerp in 1939, Ferre became a true icon in the sixties, adored by youngsters and hippies and hated by the establishment. His successful debut album in 1966, which featured the hits “Ring Ring, I’ve Got to Sing,” “Crucified Jesus,” and “Drunken Sailor,” brought him an international breakthrough with concerts in Paris, London, and Hamburg, leading to a contract with the famous French Barclay label. The next three albums did not equal the initial commercial success — a pressure the music business was happy to put on his shoulders. Still, these three albums, reissued in their original packaging and artwork on vinyl for the very first time, are loaded with hidden gems, combining folk, blues, and psychedelics in Ferre’s original songs.

Grignard sadly succumbed to throat cancer in 1982 at the early age of 43.

Born in Antwerp in 1939, Ferre became a true icon in the sixties, adored by youngsters and hippies and hated by the establishment. His successful debut album in 1966, which featured the hits “Ring Ring, I’ve Got to Sing,” “Crucified Jesus,” and “Drunken Sailor,” brought him an international breakthrough with concerts in Paris, London, and Hamburg, and led to a contract with the famous French Barclay label. The next three albums did not equal the initial commercial success — a pressure the music business was happy to put on his shoulders. Still, these three albums, reissued in their original packaging and artwork on vinyl for the very first time, are loaded with hidden gems, combining folk, blues, and psychedelics in Ferre’s original songs.

Grignard sadly succumbed to throat cancer in 1982 at the early age of 43.

Starman Records, the Belgian label also specialized in re-releases of Belgian rock from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, has so far released five volumes in the highly anticipated and widely acclaimed Belgian Vaults Series by the press and fans.

These unique albums focus entirely on the sixties and early seventies, compiling many very hard-to-find tracks, mainly originally released as singles on small, long-forgotten labels. Pop, beat, rock ’n’ roll, psych... gems worth rediscovering. The Belgian Vaults are not just collector’s material; the albums offer restored and remastered sound quality and are specifically curated to appeal to all sixties rock fans.

Spandau Ballet, one of the most influential bands in British music, announce the release of their definitive early years collection, "Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982" - a comprehensive 9-disc box set featuring their groundbreaking first two albums alongside a wealth of previously unavailable material. It includes a beautiful 44 page book with original photos from fellow Blitz Kid Graham Smith and new commentary from the whole band.

Released September 12th on Parlophone, this meticulously curated collection captures the band's origins and meteoric rise from Blitz Club favourites to chart-topping innovators. The set includes their seminal albums "Journeys To Glory" (1981) and "Diamond" (1982) on vinyl, plus six CDs of singles, remixes, BBC sessions, demos, and a Blu-ray of Dolby Atmos mixes, videos and rare live footage.

This collection showcases the band's evolution through their formative and revolutionary period, from the electronic-infused new wave of early singles like "To Cut A Long Story Short" and "The Freeze" to the funk-influenced sophistication of "Chant No. 1" and "Instinction." They were simply the most cutting edge, futuristic band in the world, at the centre of a creative scene that defined the 1980s.

This box set features all the band's early classics including "To Cut A Long Story Short," "Chant No. 1," "Muscle Bound," "Paint Me Down," “Instinction” and "She Loved Like Diamond," and presents multiple versions of tracks that trace their development from initial demos to extended 12" club mixes.

The Blu-ray component includes Dolby Atmos and stereo remixes by acclaimed producer Steven Wilson, alongside original music videos, BBC TV appearances and the complete 56-minute concert from New York's Underground Club in 1981.

"Everything Is Now – Vol 1: 1978-1982" stands as the definitive document of Spandau Ballet's revolutionary early period, when they helped define the sound and style of a generation.

CD1: Journeys To Glory Era Singles, Remixes & Versions
CD2: Diamond Era Singles, Remixes & Versions
CD3: Diamond – 12” Singles Box Set
CD4: BBC Session 1981 / BBC In Concert Bournemouth 1982
CD5: BBC In Concert Paris Theatre 1982
CD6: Demos
Blu-Ray (Disc 7): Dolby Atmos, Promos & Extras
LP1 (Disc 8): Journeys To Glory
LP2 (Disc 9): Diamond

We are excited to announce the return of the iconic Totally Wired series with a brand new collection on LP and CD. The first 50 orders will include a special art print of the artwork. We are also doing a limited edition T-shirt to celebrate this milestone!

In 1988 Acid Jazz released its first compilation album ‘Totally Wired: A Collection From Acid Jazz Records’. Compiled by Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson it collated 11 tracks that summed up the early days of our scene, mixing new label signings, cool new records being played in our clubs and a couple of oldies. It sold well to the then small scene and set the template for a series, that in the wake of the international success of The Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, The James Taylor Quartet and others exploded. By the time that Volume 5 appeared, we were selling tens of thousands of copies, with major label artists vying for inclusion.

By that point ‘Totally Wired’ was a phenomenon, that sign-posted changes in both the directions of new music, but of the oldies that were played on the scene. It gave DJs new tunes to play and soundtracked 1000s of Cafés and bars the world over in the age of the CD. It was largely retired at the end of the 90s and as times changed.

Over the years we have been asked to return to the scene of the crime, but it has never quite felt right, until now. With vinyl back, and the need for easy to digest compilations becoming neccessary in the chaos of streaming’s ‘I can listen to anything I want, but can’t think what that might be’ is evident, but also we are feeling excited about where Acid Jazz is right now. New artists on the label are making great records, Matt Berry has a Top thirty album, and The Brand New Heavies are headlining the Royal Albert Hall. It’s easy to make an exciting album when that is happening.

So we are releasing “Totally Wired: A New Collection From Acid Jazz” and treating it like the important milestone that it is. From the Acid Jazz sid we have new and exclusive recordings by Matt Berry, Chris Bangs and new signings Earth-o-Naut and Quiet Fire, there is also a recent white label only 45 cut by the Soul Revivers – released ahead of their new album due this Autumn and featuring Kokoroko’s Shiela Maurice-Grey and Anoushka Nanguy. For the oldies we have dug deep into our own archives to bring you the Acid Jazz Orchestra’s version of Corduroy’s ‘Something In My Eye’ and The Brand New Heavies astounding funk take of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Rock Steady’. These are all joined by recent scene records by Carmy Love – one of the greatest voices in the UK – The Romero Brothers, and BDQ, carrying the series onwards at last.

Barcelona-based producer Ikari debuts on NIX with When It’s Over, a tightly constructed EP that brings together the weight of low-end pressure with crisp percussive detail. Built for the club but with a strong emotional pull, the release folds bass-rooted aesthetics into tightly wound techno frameworks, led by carefully sculpted sound design and a deep sense of mood.

Each track acts as a standalone world, but together they form a cohesive whole, driven by feeling rather than formula. There is a subtle melancholy running through the release, not overbearing, but present in the tonal shifts, textural tension and soft-release moments that flicker throughout. It is a record that sharpens Ikari’s already distinctive voice, pushing his technical process further without losing the raw edge that defines his work.

On When It’s Over EP, the focus isn’t on maximalism. Every choice feels deliberate: harmonic details, spatial effects, rhythmic structure. All of it is aimed at stirring something visceral in the listener. It is the sound of an artist locked into his own narrative, inviting us to step in.

Mitsubishi Fuso is the first single from Ikari’s debut EP for NIX, out on 4th of July. The full EP follows on the 18th of August as a limited stamped white label, mastered and cut by Tim Xavier at Manmade Mastering.

Everything Is Recorded, the collaborative music project centred around producer Richard Russell, returns with a brand new single, “Porcupine Tattoo” - a stripped-back lament featuring two American musical icons - Noah Cyrus and Bill Callahan - who appear on record together for the very first time. The collaboration came together while Russell was hosting sessions for a forthcoming Everything Is Recorded album, one set to build on previous acclaimed releases including 2018’s eponymous, Mercury Prize-nominated debut album. Reaching out to Callahan - an artist he’s long admired and whose song “I’m New Here” was covered by, and provided the title for, Gil Scott-Heron’s final, Russell-produced studio album - Russell asked the simple question “who would you like to write a song for?”. “Noah Cyrus” was Callahan’s reply. The final single features Callahan’s original demo vocal, pitched down and resting on layers of sub bass and complemented by Cyrus’ crystalline counterpoint vocal. It was recorded during a rainy week of sessions in a bungalow at Los Angeles’ Chateau Marmont, which Russell described as “comfortable but haunted”. The song continues a lineage of Russell productions – from “I’m New Here” to Bobby Womack’s “Deep River” and Damon Albarn’s “History of a Cheating Heart” – that explore a sparser, more acoustic side of his sound. The limited edition 7” vinyl single is released on XL Recordings in partnership with Drag City, Bill Callahan’s long term label home. The 7” exclusively features a second collaboration between Everything Is Recorded and Callahan in the form of “Norm”, a tribute to the Austin-based singer songwriter’s favourite comedian Norm MacDonald”

Texas drone pioneers Stars of the Lid take stock of a landmark career with this 30th anniversary edition of their debut LP Music For Nitrous Oxide on their own Artificial Pinearch Manufacturing imprint. Long before the brittle-yet-warm racket Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride kick up became synonymous with the achingly beautiful decay of America they were two audio geeks in Austin with almost no connection to the city’s vibrant, but rock and roll focused music scene. Finding brotherhood in mangled tape collages and engulfing fuzz, Stars of the Lid was born out of their mutual abstraction from what surrounded them. While to its creators, Music For Nitrous Oxide may have simply been a (slight) refinement from the drones Wiltzie and McBride were unleashing on unsuspecting college radio listeners at UT Austin, the rest of the world was slowly catching up to the duo’s noise-addled magic.

Australia's powerhouse Hammond Organ trio Cookin' On 3 Burners serve up a heavy double-sider, offering DJs and collectors a taste of what's to come from their first studio LP in six years, due October 2025. With a 27-year legacy in the global funk and soul scene, CO3B have earned praise from the likes of Dusty Groove, Wax Poetics, and Rolling Stone Australia, and boast over 2 billion streams worldwide — thanks in part to their breakout hit "This Girl" (Kungs remix).

Side A – Cookin' The Books
A gritty, upbeat Hammond-led instrumental cooked low and slow in the heart of Melbourne's funk scene. It's all business up front — deep pocket drums, greasy organ licks, and guitar work that snaps and struts. No vocals, no fat — just a raw funk workout that's ready for the crates.

Side B – Give a Little Bit More (feat. Stella Angelico)

A classic-feeling, mid-tempo soul joint with a message that cuts deep. Longtime collaborator Stella Angelico delivers a powerful vocal performance about generosity, empathy, and turning things around when it matters. With uplifting lyrics, smooth horns, and a groove that nods to vintage 45s, this one lands straight in the heart — timeless, spiritual, and soul-drenched.

Captured live to tape at Soul Messin' Studios using vintage gear, the record oozes warmth and authenticity. Supported with airplay from Craig Charles (BBC6) and limited to just 500 copies on black vinyl in a Soul Messin' Records disco sleeve, this 45 is a must-stock item for funk, soul, and groove-focused retailers.

FFO: The Meters, El Michels Affair, Menahan Street Band, Quantic, Daptone Records

In Guadeloupe, many people think that jazz and ka music are like a ring and a finger. To some extent, the same could be said about so called Latin music and the music played in the French West Indies.

Both aesthetics were born in the Caribbean and bear so many connections that they can easily be considered cousins. In constant dialogue, there are lots of examples of their fruitful alliance and have been for a while. The English country dance that used to be practiced in European lounges came to be called kadrille in Martinique and contradanza in Cuba. They both featured additional percussion instruments inherited from the transatlantic deportation. Drawing from shared feelings about the same traumatized identity – later to be creolized – it would be hard not to assume that they were meant to inspire each other. The golden age of the orchestras that graced the Pigalle nights during the interwar period further proves the point. As soon as the 1930s, Havana-born Don Barreto naturally mixed danzón and biguine music in a combo based at Melody's Bar. In the following decade, Félix Valvert, a conductor who was born and raised in Basse-Terre in Guadelupe, also worked wonders in Montparnasse with La Coupole, which was an orchestra made up of eclectic musicians. Afro- Caribbean performers of various origins were often hired on rhythm and brass sections in jazz bands, which used to enliven the typical French balls of the capital. In the 1930s and onwards, Rico’s Creole Band was one of them.



Martinican violinist-clarinettist Ernest Léardée, who would become the king of biguine music as well as the main figure of French Uncle Ben's TV commercials (a dark stigma of post-colonial stereotypes), had musicians from the whole Caribbean sphere play at his Bal Blomet – and they all enchanted "ces Zazous-là" (according the words of Léardée's biguine-calypso piece). In les Antilles (French for French West Indies), music history started to speed up in the 1950s, when trade expanded and radio stations grew bigger. The Guadelupean and Martiniquais youth tuned in their old galena radio sets to South American and Caribbean music. As for the women traders, les pacotilleuses, they bought and sold goods across different islands (the "passing of items through various hands" was thought to be most pleasurable) and brought back countless sounds in their luggage. Such was the case of Madame Balthazar, who once returned from Puerto Rico with the first 45rpm and 33rpm to ever enter Martinique.

Out of this adventure was created the famous Martinican label La Maison des Merengues, a music business she opened and undertook with her husband and which proved to be a major landmark. At the end of the 1950s, in Puerto Rico, Marius Cultier competed in the Piano International Contest playing a version of Monk's Round 'Midnight. He won the first prize and this distinction foreshadowed everything that was to come. Cultier, the heretic Monk of jazz, was quickly praised for writing superb melodies, always tinged with a twist that conferred a unique sound to his music. It didn't take long for the gifted self-taught musician to get to play with Los Cubanos, making a name for himself thanks to his impressive maestria on merengues.

The rest is history. Besides, in the late 1950s, Frantz Charles-Denis, born into the upper middle class in Saint-Pierre and better known by his first name Francisco, went back home after working at La Cabane Cubaine – a club located rue Fontaine where he had caught the Latin fever. Francisco's music was therefore heavily marked by his Cuban cousins' influence, which gave the combos he led a specific style and also led to renewal. Things were swinging hard in La Savane, located in the main square in Fort-de-France. He set up the Shango club close by and tested out the biguine lélé there, a new music formula spiced up with Latin rhythms. Soon afterwards, fate had him fly to Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

As for percussionist Henri Guédon (percussions were only a part of his many talents), he was born in Fort-de-France in May 22nd 1944, the day marking the celebration of the abolition of slavery. As an old man, he could remember that in " his father's Teppaz, a lot of hectic 6/8 music was constantly playing...". In the opening lines of his Lettre à Dizzy, a small illustrated collection of writings published by Del Arco, he highlighted the huge impact that cubop had on him as a teenage boy, around 1960. He eventually turned out to be the lider maximo in La Contesta, a big band steeped in Latin jazz. He was also the one who originated the word zouk to describe music which brought the sound of the New York barrio to Paris. It was the culmination of a journey that started in Sainte-Marie: "a mythical place for bélé, the equivalent of Cuban guaguancó". In the early 1960s, the tertiary economy developed to the detriment of agriculture. Yet rural life was where roots music emerged in Martinique and in Guadeloupe.

Record companies played a major part in the process of Latin versions sweeping across the islands – before reaching everywhere else. Producer Célini, boss of the great Aux Ondes label, and Marcel Mavounzy, both the head of Émeraude records - a firm which was founded in 1953 - as well as the brother of famous saxophonist Robert Mavounzy, were big names to bear in mind. Although there were many of them - all of whom are featured on this record - Henri Debs was definitely the major figure in the recording adventure. He proved to be so influential that he even got compared to Berry Gordy. In the mid 1950s, when he acquired his first Teppaz, he worked on his first compositions: a bolero and a chachacha. Then, he became the one man who made people discover Caribbean music, from calypso to merengue. He was among the first ones to rush out to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to buy records and distribute them through a store run by one of his brothers in Fort-de-France. He had members of the Fania All Star come and perform there, which he was madly proud about. He was also the first one to pay attention to Haitian music, such as compas direct and various other rhythms which would soon flood the market. As a result, many of the combos hitting his legendary studio would end up boosted by widespread "Afro-Latin" rhythms. However, he never denied his identity: gwo ka drums were given a major role, although they were instruments which had long been banned from the "official" music spheres. The present selection bears witness to such a creative swarming. Here are fourteen tracks of untimely yet unprecedented cross-fertilization: all types of music rooted in the Creole archipelago have found their way, whatsoever, to the tracklisting. Whether originating from the city or being more rural, they all go back to what Edouard Glissant, in an interview about the place of West Indian music in the Afro-American scope, called "the trace of singing, the one which got erased by slavery." "It is so in jazz, but also in reggae, calypso, biguine, salsa... This trace also manifests through the drums, whether Guadelupean, Dominican, Jamaican or Cuban... None of them being quite the same. They all point to the idea of a trace, seeking it out and connecting to each other through it. This is the hallmark of the African diaspora: its ability to create something new, in relation to itself, out of a trace. It may be the memory of a rhythm, the crafting of a drum, a means of expression which doesn't resort to an old language but to the modalities of it." The opening track features one of the emblematic orchestras of this aesthetic identity, criscrossing many music types from the archipelago. The 1974 Ray Barretto guajira – Ray Barretto was a major New York drummer influenced by Charlie Parker and Chano Pozzo – is magnificently performed by Malavoi, a legendary Fayolais group (i.e from Fort-de-France). Additionally, the compilation ends on a piece by Los Martiniqueños de Francisco. It symbolically closes the circle as it is a genuine potomitan of Martinique culture which also functions as a tireless campaigner for Afro-Caribbean music. Practicing the danmyé rounds (a kind of capoeiria) to the rhythm of the bèlè drum, it delivers a terrific Caterete, a kind of champeta of Afro- Colombian obedience which was originally composed by Colombian Fabián Ramón Veloz Fernández for the group Wgenda Kenya. The icing on the cake is Brazilian Marku Ribas, who found refuge in Martinique in the early 1970s, bringing his singing to the last trance-inducing track. These two "versions" convey the whole tone of a selection composed of rarities and classics of the tropicalized genre, swarming with tonic accents and convoluted rhythms. It is the sort of cocktail that the West Indians never failed to spice up with their own ingredients. For instance, the Los Caraïbes cover of Dónde, a famous Cuban theme composed by producer Ernesto Duarte Brito, has a typical violin and features renowned Martinique singer Joby Valente and his piquant voice.



The track used to be – or so we think – their only existing 45rpm. The meaningful Amor en chachachá by L'Ensemble Tropicana, a band which included Haitian musicians among whom was composer and leader Michel Desgrotte, also recalls how Latin music was pervasive in the tropics in the mid-1960s. They were the ones keeping people dancing at Le Cocoteraie in Guadelupe and La Bananeraie in Martinique. Around the same time, another "foreign" band, Congolese Freddy Mars N'Kounkou's Ryco Jazz, achieved some success on both islands by covering Latin jazz classics – such as their adaptation of Wachi Wara, a "soul sauce" by Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo whose interweaving of strings and percussions can have anyone hit the dancefloor. How can you resist Dap Pinian indeed, a powerful guaguancó by Eugene Balthazar, performed by the Tropicana Orchestra and published by the Martinique-founded La Maison des Merengues? It also acts as a symbol of the maelstrom at work. Going by the name Paco et L'orchestre Cachunga, Roger Jaffory used to play guaguancó too: his Fania-inspired Oye mi consejo is one example of his style. Baila!!!!! Dancing was also one of the Kings' focus points. Oriza is a Puerto Rican bomba and a "classic" originally composed by Nuevayorquino trumpeter Ernie Agosto, which reserves major space for brasses, giving it a special sheen.

Emerging from the New York barrios crucible was also La Perfecta, a Martinique group originating from Trinidad, whose name directly references the totemic Eddie Palmieri figure as well as his own band, also called La Perfecta. Here they borrow Toumbadora from Colombian producer and composer Efraín Lancheros and interpret it by emphasizing percussions, which set fire to the track even more than the wind instruments. The same goes for Martinique's Super Jaguars, who use Tatalibaba – a composition by Cuban guitarist Florencio "Picolo" Santana which was made famous by Celia Cruz & La Sonora Matencera – as a pretext for sending their cadences into a frenzy. In a more typically salsa vein, the Super Combo, a famous Guadelupean orchestra from Pointe-Noire that was formed around the Desplan family and had Roger Plonquitte and Elie Bianay on board, adapt Serana, a theme by Roberto Angleró Pepín, a Puerto Rican composer, singer and musician also known for his song Soy Boricua. Here again, their vision comes close to surpassing the original. In the 1970s, L'Ensemble Abricot provided a handful of tracks of different syles, hence reaching the pinnacle of the art of achieving variety and giving pleasure. They played boleros, biguines, compas direct, guaguancó and even a good old boogaloo - the type they wanted to keep close to their hearts for ever, "pour toujours", as they sang along together in one of their songs. Léon Bertide's Martinican ensemble excelled at the boogaloo which had been composed by Puerto Rican saxophonist Hector Santos for the legendary El Gran Combo.



Three years later, in 1972, Henri Guédon, with the help of Paul Rosine on the vibraphone, tackled the Bilongo made famous by Eddie Palmieri. Such a classic!!!!! And so were the Aiglons, the band from Guadelupe: choosing to execute Pensando en tí, a composition by Dominican Aniceto Batista, on a cooler tempo than the original, they noticeably used a wonderfully (un)tuned keyboard in place of the accordion. On the high-value collectible single – the first one released by Les Aiglons under the Duli Disc label – there is a sticker classifying the track under the generic name "Afro". Now that is what we call a symbol. Jacques Denis

Seeking overlooked beauty and prizing reflection in a distracted world, Hammock creates cinematic music for the road less traveled. In stirring works of shimmering post-rock ambience that swell with hope and melancholic nostalgia, the Nashville-based duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson immerse listeners in living visions of moments long past, animating life's fond remembrances and scarring losses with gentle lens-flare harmonics, heart-surging neoclassical drama, and pensive silence. A direct challenge to the passive existence of modern life, where everything can be experienced but precious little is felt, Hammock demands, and richly rewards, patience and contemplation. One of Hammock's career defining works, the Mysterium, Universalis, and Silencia trilogy came to a close in 2019. The first chapter, Mysterium, was written following the death of Byrd's 20-year-old nephew and dealt with incomprehensible, shattering loss. Difficult understanding came on Universalis, and an altered reality understood through quiet reflection took hold on Silencia. Emerging from the silence, a period that brought with it the global pandemic of Covid-19 that has kept loved ones apart, conscripted months upon months of isolation, and roused directionless longing for escape, Hammock presents Elsewhere. Recorded by Byrd and Thompson at their homes, apart and with minimal equipment, Elsewhere serves as a gateway to another place, materializes feelings of separation and loss without closure, and calls listeners back to live their lives - not spend them longing to be something or somewhere else. - Wyatt Marshal

In a history that stretches back some 25 years, Faithless have long occupied a pivotal position in the world of British electronica. Marrying elements of house, trip-hop, dub and a songwriting flair into arena-filling, explosive, euphoric dance floor classics. Their accomplishments tell their own story: seven Top 10 singles, six Top 10 albums (three at Number 1), a Mercury Prize nomination for their brilliant sophomore album, 1998’s ‘Sunday 8PM’ and their impressive four times Platinum certified ‘Forever Faithless -The Greatest Hits’ adding to a career total in excess of 15 million sales worldwide

In a history that stretches back some 25 years, Faithless have long occupied a pivotal position in the world of British electronica. Marrying elements of house, trip-hop, dub and a songwriting flair into arena-filling, explosive, euphoric dance floor classics. Their accomplishments tell their own story: seven Top 10 singles, six Top 10 albums (three at Number 1), a Mercury Prize nomination for their brilliant sophomore album, 1998’s ‘Sunday 8PM’ and their impressive four times Platinum certified ‘Forever Faithless -The Greatest Hits’ adding to a career total in excess of 15 million sales worldwide

glinted’s first release pairs Copenhagen based producer gab_i with Amsterdam newcomer GATELESS. Across 43 minutes of shimmering sound, glinted 01 puts into dialogue the rawness of illbient low-ends & electroacoustic experiments, with the precision of contemporary ambient electronics. Let it wash over you.
glinted 01 is for fans of 3XL, Sferic, Asphodel & Mille Plateaux.

Mixed & Mastered by Michael James Thomas at Studio Moonchord
Vinyl distribution by One Eye Witness
Artwork by James Crossley 




a A1: gab_i – June (unvoiced) [3:40]
[b] A2: gab_i – Amber1 [4:22]
[c] A3: gab_i – Missing Are My Two Hands [4:10]
[d] B1: GATELESS – GtoX [4:36]
[e] B2: GATELESS – Outer Rail [4:43]
[f] B3: GATELESS – In Light [4:20]

Mysterious amazing Detroit Techno! Admist this cultural famine, artists in the underground must survive many battles. With the starving wolfpack the battle within to remain true, and love, can feel impossible at times. But if we don’t do this for the love, we cannot endure.This is total heart and soul. If you dont believe in it I don't think you should get in it. All music is original, handcrafted and focuses on intrinsic groove.

Introducing the Evil B-Side Twins — A New Era from Yazzus & DJ TOOL

Two of the most unpredictable forces in the underground are colliding at full velocity: YAZZUS and DJ TOOL are proud to launch Evil Twin Rekords — a label and collaborative project born from the wildest corners of their shared sonic imaginations.
Under the moniker The Evil B-Side Twins, the duo are setting out to warp time and space through a blazing fusion of trance, gnarly breaks, and techno rhythms. Their sound? Think hyper-speed rave transmissions beamed in from another galaxy — distorted basslines, and acidic euphoria intersecting 90’s psychedelic textures as they soundtrack a playful, alien-friendly universe. It’s high-energy, no-rules, evil as hell club music with a space-age edge. And their debut EP Relentless Spirit delivers just that.
Four rave-ready ‘in your face’ anthems, breaking the boundaries of modern electronic music. A collision of catchy grooves, iconic motifs from the old school trance world and mental melodies that you won’t forget easily.
Evil Twin Rekords isn’t just a label. It’s a wormhole into a sound that’s too futuristic, too feral, and too fun to fit into anyone’s algorithm. Expect inter-dimensional anthems, and records that feel like they’ve been smuggled from the B-side of a black hole.

This is rave culture turned inside out — full-throttle, unapologetically weird, and always one step ahead. From the UK to Scandinavia let the band expand your horizon and welcome you to the Evil Era. Listen without prejudice.

The artwork is a specially commissioned portrait of the twins, hand painted by friend and collaborator Ryo Koike, known for his eerie, whimsical fantastical style. Throughout his visual ident, he provides an imaginative window into the twins’ cosmos and beyond.

I was aware of Submerse from a long time ago, mainly for when he was making hip-hop & footwork tunes but I had noticed that a few years ago, on his SoundCloud page, he was uploading jungle tunes that he had started making, which got me interested in keeping tabs on what he was doing.

But it wasn't until I met him in Tokyo where he's based, when I played after him at an event at Circus (venue in Osaka & Tokyo) and then met up with him again later on that week that I realised how much he had been making.

He sent me some of the stuff he'd been doing that wasn't available publicly yet and I was really impressed by how strong the melodies were and how much influence from video game soundtracks he had in his tunes, I knew I had to get him on Future Retro London for a release.

Big up to Submerse for allowing me to put out this EP of his on Future Retro London, look out for more music from him to come on Future Retro London and other labels!