Search:for all we know

As one half of Red Axes, Dori Sadovnik could perhaps already stake a claim as one of the most prolific men in electronic music. A natural artist, Sadovnik is the sort of musician who never stops recording, a creator ahead of a consumer, well-adapted to a frenetic lifestyle.

This particular impulse has been funneled into a project known as Kapitan, an already expansive collection of tracks clocking in anywhere between 130 and 150 beats-per-minute.

As for a home, it just so happened that DJ Tennis, friend, collaborator and founder of Life and Death, was processing similar instincts, borne out of his love and association with the nineties heyday of IDM, pioneered by labels such as Warp and Rephlex.

“I don't really know what led me there but I had a feeling that I needed to be in the mountains”, explains Sadnovik. “I'm not a nature guy, nor do I feel particularly spiritual, but I was always struck by the harmony of it all. Everything is in the mix.”

This all-encompassing, blissful philosophy is deeply felt throughout this journey, a fluid blend of analogue and digital sounds rendered as organic as the landscape that inspires the album. Interlocking rhythms evolve into unexpected chamber pieces and bubbling acid lines blossom into rave psychedelia on opening tracks such as ‘Weird Day’ and ‘Flowers’, progressing to the sound of ‘Takak’, which inspires meditations on enormous bass weight, as mantras creep in from the surrounding forest of sound.

In the album’s second-half, this sincere sense of awe expands further still. Centrepiece tracks ‘In The Valley’ inspires a true sense of wonder and transcendence, complex rhythms blending with wide-eyed reverence. ‘Smile’ is trippy and innocent while ‘Elleven’ crackles with whispering energy over whiplash breakbeats. Concluding with ‘Heart’, Sadnovik reduces the pace to a stepping, heavy rhythm, commanding a deep sense of respect for the untamed wilderness that has served as such a unique muse.

Rock ‘n’ roll is often hard to define, or even to find, in these
fractured musical times. But to paraphrase an old saying,
you know it when you hear it. And you always hear it with
The Wallflowers. For the past 30 years, the Jakob Dylanled act has stood as one of rock’s most dynamic and
purposeful bands - a unit dedicated to and continually
honing a sound that meshes timeless songwriting and
storytelling with a hard-hitting and decidedly modern
musical attack.
That signature style has been present through the
decades, baked into the grooves of smash hits like 1996’s
‘Bringing Down the Horse’ as well as more recent and
exploratory fare like 2012’s ‘Glad All Over’.
But while it’s been nine long years since we’ve heard from
the group with whom he first made his mark, The
Wallflowers are silent no more. And Dylan always knew
they’d return. “The Wallflowers is much of my life’s work,”
he says simply. That life’s work continues with ‘Exit
Wounds’, the brand-new Wallflowers studio offering. The
collection marks the first new Wallflowers material since
‘Glad All Over’.
‘Exit Wounds’ is an ode to people - individual and
collective - that have, to put it mildly, been through some
stuff. “I think everybody - no matter what side of the aisle
you’re on - wherever we’re going to next, we’re all taking a
lot of exit wounds with us,” Dylan says. “Nobody is the
same as they were four years ago. That, to me, is what
‘Exit Wounds’ signifies. And it’s not meant to be negative at
all. It just means that wherever you’re headed, even if it’s
to a better place, you leave people and things behind, and
you think about those people and those things and you
carry them with you. Those are your exit wounds. And right
now, we’re all swimming in them.”

Repress

Calibre's mighty wind has blown through the drum 'n' bass scene ever since his first tentative forays into production in 1998. As a trained musician and student of the genre, he quickly developed a unique sound that was warm, orchestral and hypnotic. Attracting the attention of tastemakers like Fabio, the Belfast-born producer and DJ was encouraged to work harder and faster on this liquid funk, resulting in what would become his signature sound. By the time his sophomore album, "Second Sun", came into orbit, Calibre was recognised as a shining star of the scene.

One of the few who had realised the potential of the album format, he crafted dubbed out house grooves, jazzier downtempo numbers, and introspective vocal-led tracks amongst the more trad tempos the largely dancefloor single-based genre was known for.

The album is awash with high points, from the anthemic "Drop It Down", to the more reflective MC tracks like "Timeout" and "Blink Of An Eye". Most producers would labour over such delicately balanced arrangements for weeks, but the fact that Calibre can knock such masterworks out in a matter of hours tells you how effortlessly and naturally his music comes to him.

"Working quickly gives me a unique and personal sound," says Calibre. "It also helps that I like to sample my own playing. Any type of instrument I could get my hands on, I'd record it live. Maybe quite badly, but I still did it. It helped create my own sound. If you can play an instrument, and you can play it with a little bit of passion and a little bit of love, it'll give you something back."

In the fourteen years that have passed (Second Sun dropped in October, 2005) Calibre has written more material than quite possibly anyone else in the scene, and this year shows no sign of him slowing up. Besides the usual wealth of remixes in the pipeline, and a forthcoming techno album on Craig Richards' label, a sixth Shelflife compilation of unreleased Calibre material will be dropping on his own Signature Records label. But for now, let's rewind the story, as the man himself takes us, track by track, through Second Sun.

Next up on Slow Motion, Rodion and Fabrizio Mammarella are back with another precious collaboration EP since “Appennini” released in 2012 but never forgotten in the fame.

They have been like brothers for many years, and after many collaborations, these two producers are well attuned to each other in their musical soul. Rodion and Fabrizio are both very sophisticated producers and known for their dramatic melodies, mixed with synthesized funk and disco, which turns it into emotional freaky electronic music.

All tracks are recorded in Mexico City, bringing in Mexican artist Mijo as a featuring on the track ‘’Cerro Gordo’’. Moreover, italo-belgian duo Front De Cadeaux join with a remix that grabs elements from both the original tracks, reworked in one timeless piece of music.

We are proud and delighted to present to you: “Sierra Madre”.

Musique Pour La Danse is proud to present SPACED OUT!, a compilation curated by Belgian artist and producer DJ Athome (Front de Cadeaux) which focuses on psychedelic dub, space rock, and early electronica created in the UK's festival scene between 1986 and 1996, the result of a life long passion and 30 years of following artists from the festival scene.

It was a loosely organized British musical movement born in the early 80s and focused on free festivals in Stonehenge and other countercultural sites across the country. It represented a continuation of the psychedelic spirit of the 60s, with altered states of consciousness, dub production techniques, non-Western influences as well as instruments featuring heavily, along with a desire to side-step mainstream venues, labels, and attitudes.

Musically, it took on many forms, from mind-expanding space rock to third eye-opening electronica to shattering psychedelic dub. Visually, the zines, cassettes, LPs, and CDs created by this scene also displayed heavy influences from 60's psychedelia, updated for the late 80s and early 90s.

In the 90s, the zines and cassettes reached the eyes and ears of DJ Athome, then a young DJ living in Liège. After meeting a group of like-minded individuals organizing local gigs which was single-handedly responsible for putting Liège on the map for many British bands, he dived headfirst into the sights and the sounds of this festival scene, gathering as many albums as possible and joining local collectives involved in the organization of events.

This compilation is in equal amounts an introduction for newcomers and a confirmation for those who already know that this was without a doubt one of the trippiest and most compelling psychedelic musical movements of the last decades, notable for its hybridity, its sincerity, and above all its wonderfully life-changing effects for listeners and performers alike.

The compilation is presented in 2LP format, along with a limited edition Riso printed scene which features a foreword by acclaimed philosopher Timothy Morton, along with liner notes by David Borsu, one of the key players of Liège's musical collectives in the 90s and illustrations by designer Andrew Beltran.

Greetings to the new generation of ‘Hip-Hop’ and ‘Shake Your Butt’ music. The man behind ‘Timeless Funk’ ain’t exactly no ‘Spring Funky Chicken’, yet he is still the ‘Funkiest Soul’ to rock this here nation.
Rufus Thomas is the Soul King and Grand Daddy of Funk; as his generation knew him then, as we know him today.

In the beginning, the ‘Power of the Most High’ said: ‘Let it be funky’. Then there was Rufus.
Rufus Thomas was born in 1917 in a small town outside of Memphis, Tennessee. At the age of ten he became a tap dancer. In the 1930s, Rufus worked professionally at the infamous Palace Theatre, Memphis, TN, as M.C., performing comedy and dance routines.

During the early 1940s, Rufus began his singing career. He also continued his M.C. acts at various notable nightclubs and theatres, for amateur nights. He was then considered to be a triple threat: dancer, comedian and singer! The notables he crossed hands with in those days were B.B. King, Bobby Bland and Johnny Ace. In the 1950s Rufus became one of the ‘Hip-pest’ DJs in Memphis TN W.I.D.A. radio station and is affiliated with the company to this day. He was quoted as saying ‘I’m young and loose and full of juice’. At those times he recorded ‘Bear-Cat’ for Sun Records, their first R&B hit for the label.
All-right ‘Kiddies,’ now I take you into the light of Rufus in the 1960s. When most of us were on our way to our happy existence, Rufus was already 30 years in the entertainment circuit. He was affiliated with STAX Records. With daughter Carla Thomas, he gave STAX their first hit, the duet, ‘Cause I Love You.’ Rufus’ world famous hits continued under this label, pouring songs out such as ‘Memphis Train,’ ‘Can Your Monkey Do The Dog,’…

The foregoing is merely a scratch on the surface of a remarkable man, who has dedicated most of his life to the entertainment business. It’s kept short and sweet so you know what you are dealing with.
Rufus was quoted as saying, ‘I ain’t a star, I don’t want to be a star. Stars have a habit of falling. I’m like the moon. Clouds may come and cover it occasionally, but it’s always there, and always shining. It’s just sometimes you don’t see it for a while but it’ll be back.’

If it wasn’t for Rufus, Soul Music would be missing one of its loudest sons. If he didn’t exist, somebody

Continued over…

would have to get up and invent him. And Funk? The man practically invented the stuff with James Brown.
Now at the age of 75 ‘The Oldest Teenager Alive’ check him out on this recording of ‘Timeless Funk’. We’ll agree and leave you with this note: Rufus is the ‘Moon’ that brought us what was ‘Funky’ then to what is ‘Funky’ now. So let us get ‘Buck Wild’ on the Funky side of things

Following the 70s Peruvian cumbia compilation by Ranil last year, Analog Africa returns to Latin America to highlight the work of one of Perú’s undisputed masters of the electric guitar: Manzanita. This 13th release in the Limited Dance Edition Series includes 14 mostly instrumental compositions of electrifying Peruvian cumbia and guaracha. Manzanita's unique guitar lines rest on confident foundations that shifts gears effortlessly. Limited Edition LP in Gatefold Cover pressed on 180g high quality virgin vinyl

"I was in Lima, hanging out with collector-extraordinaire Victor Zela, who had spent the previous few years pouring his passion for Peruvian Cumbia into the blog „la cumbia de mis viejos“, a trove of incredible music. But after the birth of his first child, his priorities shifted and he decided to part with some of his rarest LPs. I was one of the lucky few given an early chance to examine his treasures, and when I picked up the album Manzaneando com Manzanita, Victor said: “Take it! its one of the best LPs ever recorded in Perú … easily in the top five”. That was all the encouragement I needed … two years later many of the songs from that masterpiece have made it onto Manzanita y su Conjunto, a compilation of electrifying Cumbia sides from Manzanita’s golden era.

Berardo Hernández – better known as Manzanita – first surfaced during the psychedelic Cumbia craze. At the head of the scene were the magnificent Los Destellos, whose leader, Enrique Delgado, was such a six-string wizard that other guitarists found it impossible to escape his shadow. But when Manzanita arrived, his electric criollo style sent shockwaves through Lima’s music scene and posed a serious threat to Delgado’s dominance as king of the Peruvian guitar.

Manzanita had come to Lima from the coastal city of Trujillo, five hundred miles up the coast – a place where Spanish, African and indigenous populations had been living and making music together for centuries – and came of age at a time when the first wave of psychedelic rock from the US and UK was starting to sweep the airwaves. But the sounds of Cream and Hendrix disappeared from the radio just as quickly in 1968 when Juan Velasco seized control of the country in a military coup. The new regime, which favoured local traditions over cultural ‘imports’ from the north, was a blessing in disguise for the Peruvian music scene.

Record labels flourished as new bands, raised on a hybrid diet of electric guitars and Cuban rhythms, rushed in to fill the vacuum created by the lack of imported rock. A new genre, known as Peruvian cumbia, was born and Manzanita quickly became one of its most original voices.

Starting in 1969, Manzanita y su Conjunto released a steady stream of singles that used Cuban guaracha rhythms as the foundation for dazzling electric guitar lines. After countless 45s and several years on the touring circuit, the band signed to Virrey, an important Peruvian label, and recorded two LPs acknowledged as masterpieces among aficionados of tropical music. Most of the songs on Analog Africa’s new compilation Manzanita y su Conjunto are drawn from those legendary sessions of 1973 and 74.

Although he scored a few more hits in the later 70s, his dissatisfaction with the music industry caused him to withdraw from the scene for several years; and when he finally retired for good, the golden age of Peruvian cumbia was a distant memory. But when Manzanita was at the top of his game he had few equals. Victor Zela was right: this is some of the best music ever recorded in Perú."

The Go! Team return with their new album ‘Get Up Sequences
Part One’ out via Memphis Industries and featuring the singles
‘Cookie Scene’, ‘World Remember Me Now’ and ‘Pow’.
On ‘Get Up Sequences Part One’, Ian, Ninja, Nia, Simone, Sam
and Adam have created a musical world distinctly of their own
making. A place where routine is outlawed and perfection is the
enemy. Where Ennio Morricone meets The Monkees armed
with flutes, glockenspiels, steel drums and a badass analogue
attitude. We’re talking widescreen, four-track, channel hopping
sounds that are instantly recognisable.
In The Go! Team's world, old’s cool, the future’s bright and
melody is the star. Just check the second cut ‘Cookie Scene’
with a bouncing flute and junk shop percussion it introduces
guest rapper Indigo Yaj, who delivers an old school vocal that
continues this sonic trip. ‘Pow’ channels Curtis Mayfield and
enter stage centre, the inimitable Ninja in full flow and you don’t
stop, you won’t stop to this flute driven free for all.
By way of demonstrating The Go! Team’s old’s cool manifesto
comes the ‘needle-in-the-red’ ‘I Love You Better’, a defiant
message to an ex love, spelling out exactly how he’s messed
up - and then there’s those steel drums. Following that comes
the soda fountain soul courtesy of ‘A Bee Without Its Sting’, a
groovy protest song that makes its point with a tambourine.
The musical wagon train then takes you into the widescreen
windswept Western that is ‘Tame The Great Plains’, heading off
into a polyrhythmic panorama that’s full of hope. Slappin’ you
back to reality comes ‘World Remember Me Now’, a timely
reminder that when you’re lost in the routine of life, you can
always count on The Go! Team.

The Go! Team return with their new album ‘Get Up Sequences
Part One’ out via Memphis Industries and featuring the singles
‘Cookie Scene’, ‘World Remember Me Now’ and ‘Pow’.
On ‘Get Up Sequences Part One’, Ian, Ninja, Nia, Simone, Sam
and Adam have created a musical world distinctly of their own
making. A place where routine is outlawed and perfection is the
enemy. Where Ennio Morricone meets The Monkees armed
with flutes, glockenspiels, steel drums and a badass analogue
attitude. We’re talking widescreen, four-track, channel hopping
sounds that are instantly recognisable.
In The Go! Team's world, old’s cool, the future’s bright and
melody is the star. Just check the second cut ‘Cookie Scene’
with a bouncing flute and junk shop percussion it introduces
guest rapper Indigo Yaj, who delivers an old school vocal that
continues this sonic trip. ‘Pow’ channels Curtis Mayfield and
enter stage centre, the inimitable Ninja in full flow and you don’t
stop, you won’t stop to this flute driven free for all.
By way of demonstrating The Go! Team’s old’s cool manifesto
comes the ‘needle-in-the-red’ ‘I Love You Better’, a defiant
message to an ex love, spelling out exactly how he’s messed
up - and then there’s those steel drums. Following that comes
the soda fountain soul courtesy of ‘A Bee Without Its Sting’, a
groovy protest song that makes its point with a tambourine.
The musical wagon train then takes you into the widescreen
windswept Western that is ‘Tame The Great Plains’, heading off
into a polyrhythmic panorama that’s full of hope. Slappin’ you
back to reality comes ‘World Remember Me Now’, a timely
reminder that when you’re lost in the routine of life, you can
always count on The Go! Team.

Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie, alongside solo artist and Savages vocalist Jehnny Beth, presents this stunning debut solo project collection - exploring loss, miscommunication and emotional inarticulacy that a married couple experience as they realise that their relationship is breaking down.



‘Utopian Ashes’ draws on the tradition of country soul classics, such as Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris’s ‘Grievous Angel’ and George Jones and Tammy Wynette’s ‘We Go Together’, to deal with the heavy realities of love turning sour. It’s an album for people who have dealt with the inevitable sadness that comes with age and acknowledged the realities of life. There is no sweetening of the pill, but it does achieve what should be the goal of all good art: to make us feel less alone. And while it’s not autobiographical, it channels heartfelt truth from the songwriters’ own experiences.



In addition to Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth, the album features Johnny Hostile (bass) alongside Primal Scream trio Andrew Innes (guitar), Martin Duffy (piano) and Darrin Mooney (drums).

Classic Tubby Hayes Sextet LP ‘Tubby The Tenor’ pressed on limited edition
180g audiophile vinyl, with 2 bonus tracks.
One of the best-known of all British saxophonists, Tubby Hayes was invited in
1961 to play at the Half Note Club in New York. While in America, he recorded
this brilliant LP with Clark Terry, Eddie Costa, and Horace Parlan. This album
is released with the added bonus of two tracks from the same session not included on the original LP.
“Top English saxophonist and an excellent hard bop stylist, Hayes’ solos were
dynamic, expertly articulated, and imaginative.” ***** Thom Jurek, AllMusic

A fantastic little record – and very much the kind of set that the Strata East label was created to represent! The music here would hardly have found a home on the bigger jazz labels of the period – not because it's too avant-garde or non-commercial, but just because it's so deeply personal and powerful – the boldest vision on record of trombonist John Gordon, who composed a mind blowing suite of tracks for the first side of the album, as well as some equally great tunes for the second half! Gordon leads the group on trombone – with solos that are soaring and soulful, alongside work by the great James Spaulding on alto and flute, Waymond Reed on trumpet, John Miller on piano and keyboards, Lyle Atkinson on bass, and Frank Derrick on drums! If you know some of the other players here from their own work of the time, you know you're in for a treat – as the music has this fantastic sound of strong individual voices coming together, instruments lifted high on a mission of music – with results that are as fantastic all these many years as they were in the 70s.

Re-mastering by: Cicely Baston at Alchemy/Air Mastering, London

Electric blues guitarist Melvin Taylor had been sporadically recording solo albums for 20 years when Dirty Pool arrived — and was somehow just beginning to find fame. Already a hit in Europe, it had taken a steady run of performing in Chicago’s famed blues clubs to slowly earn Taylor a well-deserved reputation as an equal talent among the giants before him, such as Otis Rush, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

While early records like Melvin Taylor Plays the Blues For You show off an equally amazing jazz side, Taylor traded away his Wes Montgomery-inspired runs for more Luther Allison/Jimi Hendrix attacks with the formation of the trio Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band in the mid ’90’s.

The title song of the second album by that outfit, “Dirty Pool,” is actually more the balls-to-the-wall, no-compromise, hard-rockin’ electric Texas blues of Vaughan and Johnny Winter than the sweet Chicago soul of Buddy Guy.

Indeed, three tracks on this 1997 release, including “Dirty Pool,” were SRV tunes. Other standards, like “Kansas City” and “Floodin’ in California” also have more of a Lone Star State approach to them. But the Jackson, Miss.-born Taylor’s guitar is cleaner than his forebears and technically, he even surpasses them, yet the anger and sorrow of the blues is readily evident in his playing.

This rare combination of qualities really comes out in a slow blues tune like his solo in “Dirty Pool,” which after repeated listens, still makes me head shake in disbelief when I hear it.

“Too Sorry” is a good example of how well Taylor fares when he treads in Jimi Hendrix territory, whereas his rhythm work is the best I’ve heard from a lead guitarist since Vaughan; listen to “I Ain’t Superstitious,” “Born Under A Bad Sign” and the funky “Telephone Song” for your proof.

It also helps that Taylor’s drummer James Knowles is well in synch with him, while Ethan Farmer completely owns the low end of the sound. Farmer’s peppering bass lines in and “Floodin’ in California” is the textbook way electric blues bass should be. Overall, a tight little band.

Taylor’s vocals certainly won’t draw any comparisons to the Wide-Brimmed–Hatted One but he holds his own just fine until it’s cuttin’ time. This is right at the top of my list of best blues guitar playing on record over the last couple of decades. If you decide to give this one a listen, prepare to be blown away.

Where have you gone, Charles Tolliver? There was such promise in the concept of Music Inc., and in Strata East, but evidently the music world's attention was elsewhere and this tremendous live set was probably heard by only a few hundred sets of ears. On the back of the record sleeve, Tolliver undersigned his mission statement: "Music Inc. was created out of the desire to assemble men able to see the necessity for survival of a heritage and an Art in the hopes that the sacrifices and high level of communication between them will eventually reach every soul." And he isn't kidding. You won't find a much higher level of communication than he, Cecil McBee, Stanley Cowell, and Jimmy Hopps engaged in on May 1, 1970 at Slugs' in New York City. This was much more than an attempt to merely 'preserve acoustic jazz' as in the stilted Marsalis vein. This was an attempt to preserve a measure of authenticity while maintaining the notion of forward-thinking, present-tense improvised music. They deserved a greater response than the lukewarm, sparse applause they received that night, and continue to deserve a far more cognizant audience for their efforts.



Tolliver ('Drought"), McBee ("Felicite"), and Cowell ("Orientale") each contribute a track to the set; though very much distinct, each is equally strong. "Drought" is the kind of dark-hued, well-honed burner which Tolliver routinely produced in his fertile years. "Felicite" is a more contemplative affair, a deeply felt and empathically performed piece; the unit here is in particularly sublime form, merging considerable skill with a staggering depth of emotion. "Orientale" falls somewhere in between the pace of the two, with Cowell's Eastern scales establishing an austere, industrious tone throughout its seventeen-and-a-half-minute length.



Through its duration, the music on Live at Slugs' is often riveting and incessantly compelling. Hopps is a lesser-known entity to me, but the other three players featured here are some of the all-time underrated presences in the jazz pantheon, and they play nothing short of masterfully. Always a presence on his recordings, Tolliver demonstrates tremendous range, flair, and command as a trumpeter and leader. Had he not come along at a time when pure jazz was falling out of favour, I have to believe his name (along with Woody Shaw's) would be every bit as prolific as Freddie Hubbard's or Lee Morgan's; the same holds for the always brilliant and expressive McBee on bass.



I feel saddened that Music Inc. fell so far short of "eventually reaching every soul" - yet fortunate that it eventually reached mine.

The original versions were released (digital only) some years ago, but stayed under the radar, until some dj's rediscovered it a while ago. It only started living then, and has continuously gained momentum ever since, with streamings now over half a million and counting fast. All involved agreed: it had to be turned into a vinyl release. It's mostly the original of "She Knows" that's been getting all the love, even though the DJ Rocca & Italian Cosmic legend Daniele Baldelli is an equally impressive showstopper in its own right. Throw in a new and exclusive deep (tech)house mix of "The Sound" by Hugo Ballistik, and you've got a release that merits curtsying and hats off. Limited to 400 copies, and remastered for top quality sound.

Nonesuch Records releases an album of songs written and performed by Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion, Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. The musicians, who have known each other since their student days, were presented with three days of gratis studio time and decided to experiment with ideas they had begun putting to tape during the sessions for their January 2021 Nonesuch release Narrow Sea. With Shaw on vocals and Sō – Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting – filling out this new band, they developed songs in the studio, with lyrics inspired by their own wide-ranging interests: James Joyce, the Sacred Harp hymn book, a poem by Anne Carson, the Bible’s Book of Ruth, the American roots tune ‘I’ll Fly Away’, and the pop perfection of ABBA, among others. The album is co-produced by Shaw, Sō Percussion, and the Grammy Award–winning engineer Jonathan Low (The National, Taylor Swift).

Shaw, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her vocal composition Partita for 8 Voices, written for and performed with Roomful of Teeth, makes her solo vocal debut with Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. The album’s first track, ‘To the Sky’, from the Sacred Harp, takes its lyrics from Anne Steele. “I love the songs about death, and going home, and looking toward a time that is better or brighter, which, if there’s one thing to think about in the world, maybe that’s the thing,” Shaw says. “This one I love in particular. There’s a line, ‘Frail solace of an hour / So soon our transient comforts fly / And pleasure blooms to die.’ It’s meditation on the ephemeral, and I love it.”

“I hadn’t written very many songs, but I have certainly loved many in my life. I’ve been thinking of making a solo album for seven or eight years, but it takes having the right friends and community in the room,” Shaw says. “The prompt for all of us was: What would we make in the room together with no one person in charge, like a band writes in the studio?”

Cha-Beach recalls of the early test run during the Narrow Sea session: “It had that capturing-lightning-in-a bottle feeling.” When the opportunity to have three days in their friends’ studio, Guilford Sound, came up, the five musicians decamped for Vermont with engineer/co-producer Jonathan Low. “Jon is an amazing editor,” Cha-Beach says. “He is so helpful in thinking about: ‘We have these ideas: how do we shrink those and make them come across on an album?’”

One such idea was for Shaw to do a duet with each member of Sō. She sings with Josh Quillen on steel drums on the title track, which she wrote in under an hour in a “free-writing zone, very inspired by James Joyce, taking on that brain space,” she says. Lyrically, the song is “related to some math bits that I love, but also memory, and love songs of somebody who’s gone or passed away, or that you’re no longer with: what is the sound of that kind of devastation or confusion or love?” They recorded the song only twice, and the first take is on the album. “It’s very spare. The playing is very Josh; it’s so sensitive,” Shaw says.

Adam Sliwinski’s marimba duet with Shaw is an interpretation of the ABBA song ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’. She explains, “It’s really a Bach chorale. Also, the idea of someone singing ‘Don’t go wasting your emotion / Lay all your love on me / Don’t go sharing your devotion / Lay all your love on me,’ over and over again very slowly, there’s a certain tragedy in it. And then Adam did some absolutely exquisite layering that built this stunning world from the marimba.”

Jason Treuting on the drum kit joined Shaw for ‘Long Ago We Counted’. She suggested, “Why don’t we start with the voice and the kit having a weird conversation, sort of like two babies talking to each other? And then we built this loop, and we go from this place that’s totally uncomfortable and nonsensical to something that’s rich and rolling and satisfying.” For ‘Some Bright Morning’, the duet with Cha-Beach – who here plays electronics, piano, and Hammond organ – Shaw drew upon a twelfth century liturgical hymn she had sung regularly in church during her college years: ‘Salve Regina’.

“Some songs on Let the Soil… were very specifically composed by Caroline,” Cha-Beach says. “But others were this assemblage of ideas: finding words, an idea for how a melody could work, a harmony, and then tossing it in a blender and trusting each other.” Shaw adds, “What I love about Sō is the curiosity about how objects make sounds and how they speak to each other. There was an underlying thread of thinking about what goes into soil, how we take care of it, how we allow it to be itself, how we contain it, and what can come out of it if you cultivate the right environment, which for me is always this wonderful metaphor for creativity and collaboration: let people be themselves and see what happens,” she concludes.

Caroline Shaw is a New York–based musician – vocalist, violinist, composer, and producer – who performs in solo and collaborative projects. She was the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for Partita for 8 Voices, written for the Grammy–winning Roomful of Teeth, of which she is a member. Shaw’s film scores include Erica Fae’s To Keep the Light and Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline as well as the upcoming short 8th Year of the Emergency by Maureen Towey. Hailed for ‘astonishing both the pop and classical music worlds’ (Guardian), she has produced for Kanye West (The Life of Pablo; Ye) and Nas (NASIR), and has contributed to records by The National and by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. Shaw currently teaches at NYU and is a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School. Her 2019 Nonesuch/New Amsterdam album Orange won a Grammy Award.

Through its interpretations of modern classics, innovative multi-genre original productions, and ‘exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam’ (New Yorker), Sō Percussion has redefined the scope and role of the modern percussion ensemble. Sō’s repertoire ranges from twentieth century works by John Cage, Steve Reich, and Iannis Xenakis, to commissioning and advocating works by contemporary composers such as David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Steven Mackey, to collaborations with artists who work outside the classical concert hall, including Shara Nova, choreographer Susan Marshall, The National, Bryce Dessner, and many others. Sō has recorded more than twenty albums, including a performance of Reich’s Mallet Quartet on the Nonesuch record WTC 9/11; appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Hall, the Barbican, the Eaux Claires Festival, MassMoCA, and TED 2016; and performed with Jad Abumrad, JACK Quartet, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and the LA Phil and Gustavo Dudamel, among others.

On 22nd June, 1971, Joni Mitchell released Blue, concluding her prolific four album run for Reprise Records with an album considered by many to be one of the greatest of all time. Its stirring, confessional songs have been celebrated by music lovers and critics alike for decades while inspiring a wide variety of artists as diverse as Prince and Taylor Swift. Even today, its stature as a masterpiece continues to grow. Just last year, the album was named #3 on Rolling Stone’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

To celebrate the album’s 50th anniversary, Rhino is releasing THE REPRISE ALBUMS (1968-1971), the next installment of the Joni Mitchell Archives series, featuring newly remastered versions of Blue (1971) and the three albums that came before it: Song To A Seagull (1968), Clouds (1969), and Ladies Of The Canyon (1970). In the case of Song To A Seagull, the original mix has been recently updated by Mitchell and mixer Matt Lee. “The original mix was atrocious,” says Mitchell. “It sounded like it was recorded under a jello bowl, so I fixed it!”

THE REPRISE ALBUMS (1968-1971) will be available on 25th June in a 4-LP 180-gram vinyl boxset (Limited Edition Of 10,000).

The cover art for THE REPRISE ALBUMS (1968-1971) features a previously unseen self-portrait Mitchell sketched during the time period. The collection also includes an essay by Grammy winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, another artist who’s been influenced greatly by Mitchell. She writes: “In my opinion Blue is the greatest album ever made. Blue didn’t make me a better songwriter. Blue made me a better woman… No matter what we are dealing with in these times we can rejoice and know that of all the ages we could have lived through, we lived in the time of Joni Mitchell.”

Over the past decade, Egyptian-born, Barcelona-based DJ and techno producer Raxon, known to friends and family as Ahmed Raxon, has popped out a steady stream of twelve-inch singles, precision-tooled, for labels like Cocoon, Drumcode, Diynamic, Truesoul, and Ellum Audio. An alumni of Kompakt’s Speicher series – check the insistent, vibrating pulses of “The Ancient” and “Dark Light” on 2019’s Speicher 107 – with Sound Of Mind, Raxon has produced a long-awaited debut album that’s ready and aching both for the dancefloor and the boudoir, traversing the heat of the club and the warmth of the home.

“The idea of an album has always floated around in my head for the past few years,” Raxon confirms, “but it was never the right moment in my mind.” Instead, he’s been insistently pursuing his vision of deep, elegant techno, taking him from early DJ gigs in Dubai, including the legendary audio tonic night, then relocating to Europe on the recommendation of Herman Cattaneo, all the while allowing his experiences to inform and transmute his producer’s thumbprint. He’s an architect by training (though he gave architecture up for electronic music), which might explain why Raxon productions are so sturdy and well-designed; but remember also that architecture is a field filled with brave experimentation, something Raxon definitely draws on throughout Sound Of Mind.

Like many albums from the past twelve months, Raxon’s debut developed partly thanks to the unique social situation the planet has found itself caught within. “In the beginning of 2020 I started working on a few tracks with the album in mind,” he recalls, “with no idea of what’s to come in the next few months. As catastrophic as the situation was/is, I found myself in the studio; in a way the lockdown gave me that creative freedom in the studio, to try to tell my story through sound.” And indeed, there is something in the way of ‘life writing’ about Sound Of Mind, particularly in the way Raxon’s productions pay subtle homage, perhaps, to his formative listening experiences in the late nineties.

It’s no retro trip, but there’s plenty of variety here, and a few moments that’ll tickle the collective memory – see the prowling pulsations of the opening “Majestic”, the alien breakbeat action of “Vice” and “Journey Mode”, where the interstellar tones feel like Foul Play or Steve Gurley, the leaking gas and woozy keys that make “Droid Solo” so subtly destabilising, or the strobelight drones that sputter and flare throughout “El Multiverse”, where dappled organ tones fight it out with interdimensional transmissions, all sucked into the vortex of a late-night techno mantra. Beautifully sculpted, Sound Of Mind feels consummate, an elegant set that pulls Raxon’s vision into its sharpest focus. Alive with possibilities, it’s a fever dream of creativity.

In den letzten zehn Jahren hat der in Ägypten geborene und in Barcelona lebende DJ und Techno-Produzent Raxon, der Freunden und Familie auch als Ahmed Raxon bekannt ist, eine ganze Reihe von 12inch-Singles auf Labels wie Cocoon, Drumcode, Diynamic, Truesoul und Ellum Audio veröffentlicht. Wir kennen Raxon außerdem durch seinen Beitrag zur Kompakt Extra/Speicher-Reihe – man höre sich nur mal "The Ancient" und "Dark Light" auf dem 2019 erschienenen Speicher 107 an. Nun hat Raxon mit “Sound Of Mind“ sein lang erwartetes Debütalbum produziert, das sowohl für den Dancefloor als auch für die eigenen vier Wände geeignet ist und dabei sowohl die Hitze des Clubs als auch die Wärme des eigenen Zuhauses durchmisst.

"Die Idee eines Albums schwebte in den letzten Jahren immer in meinem Kopf herum", bestätigt Raxon, "aber es gab nie den richtige Moment." Stattdessen verfolgte er leidenschaftlich seine Vision von tiefem, elegantem Techno, die ihn von frühen DJ-Gigs in Dubai, einschließlich der legendären Audio-Tonic-Nacht, dann auf Empfehlung von Hernan Cattaneo nach Europa führte. Im Laufe dieser Zeit sammelte er unzählige Erfahrungen, die es ihm erlaubten, seinen Stil als Produzent mehr und mehr zu transformieren. Raxon ist gelernter Architekt (obwohl er die Architektur für die elektronische Musik aufgegeben hat), was vielleicht erklärt, warum seine Produktionen so robust und gut durchdacht sind; aber man sollte auch nicht vergessen, dass Architektur bestenfalls immer ein Feld mutiger Experimente ist, etwas, worauf Raxon in “Sound Of Mind“ definitiv zurückgreift.

Wie viele andere Alben der letzten zwölf Monate auch wurde Raxon’s Debüt von der einzigartigen gesellschaftlichen Situation, in der sich der Planet momentan befindet, beeinflusst. "Anfang 2020 habe ich angefangen, an ein paar Tracks für das Album zu arbeiten", erinnert er sich, "ohne zu wissen, was in den nächsten Monaten auf uns zukommen würde. So katastrophal die Situation auch war/ist, ich fand mich im Studio wieder; in gewisser Weise gab mir der Lockdown auch eine kreative Freiheit im Studio, um zu versuchen, eine Geschichte durch meinen Sound zu erzählen." Und in der Tat gibt es auf “Sound Of Mind“ so etwas wie eine "Lebensgeschichte", besonders in der Art und Weise, wie Raxon’s Produktionen eine subtile Hommage an seine prägenden musikalischen Erfahrungen in den späten Neunzigern darstellen.

Es ist fürwahr kein Retro-Trip, aber es gibt hier viel Abwechslung und ein paar Momente, die das kollektive Gedächtnis kitzeln werden - zum Beispiel der sich langsam heran pirschende Pulsschlag im Eröffnungstrack "Majestic", oder die außerirdischen Breakbeats von "Vice" und "Journey Mode", in denen sich die interstellaren Sounds ein wenig wie Foul Play oder Steve Gurley anfühlen. Dann das ausströmende Gas und die wummernden Tasten, die "Droid Solo" subtil destabilisieren, oder die Strobo-Drones, die in "El Multiverse" herum sprudeln und flackern, wo einzelne Töne einer Orgel mit interdimensionalen Transmittern um die Wette strahlen und schließlich in den Strudel eines nächtlichen Techno-Mantras gesogen werden. “Sound Of Mind“ fühlt sich formvollendet an, wie ein elegantes Set, das Raxon’s Vision verstärkt in den Fokus rückt. Ein Fiebertraum voller Kreativität und Möglichkeiten.

Produced by long-time friend Cate Le Bon, ‘Boy from Michigan’ is Grant’s most
autobiographical and melodic work to date. Grant stopped being a boy in Michigan aged
twelve, when his family moved to Denver, Colorado, shifting rust to bible belt, a further
vantage point to watch collective dreams unravel. Across 12 tracks, Grant lays out his
past for careful cross-examination.
In a decade of making records by himself, he has playfully experimented with mood,
texture and sound, all the better for actualizing the seriousness of his thoughts. At one
end of his musical rainbow he is the battle-scarred piano-man, at the other a robust
electronic auteur. ‘Boy from Michigan’ seamlessly marries both.
With Le Bon at the helm, Grant pared back his zingers, maximizing the emotional impact
of the melodies. A clarinet forms the bedrock of a song. One pre-chorus feels lifted from
vintage Human League. There is a saxophone solo.
‘Boy from Michigan’ ultimately swings between ambient and progressive, calm and livid.
The album’s narrative journey opens with Grant at his artistic prettiest, three songs drawn
from his pre-Denver life (the Michigan Trilogy, as Grant calls them): the title track, ‘The
Rusty Bull’ and ‘County Fair’. Each draws the listener in to a specific sense of place,
before untangling its significance with a rich cast-list of local characters, often symbolizing
the uncultivated faith of childhood.
Elsewhere, tracks like ‘Mike and Julie’ and ‘The Cruise Room’ offer an affecting plunge
deep into Grant’s late teenage years in Denver, while the midpoint of the album is
highlighted by ‘Best In Me’ and ‘Rhetorical Figure’, a pair of skittish, scholarly dance tunes
that build on the lineage of Grant’s electropop heroes, Devo.
Childhood as a horror narrative is the theme of ‘Dandy Star’, which observes a tiny Grant
watching the Mia Farrow horror movie ‘See No Evil’ on an old family TV set and finally, on
‘The Only Baby’, Grant removes his razor blade from a pocket to cleanly slit the throat of
Trump’s America, authoring a scathing epitaph to an era of acute national exposition.
Though he has lived in Iceland since 2011 - the same year he was also diagnosed HIVpositive - Grant spent his childhood and formative years in the US and maintains US
citizenship. Growing up, Grant was subjected to a deeply ingrained hatred of anyone
perceived as homosexual at school. Following the demise of his first band The Czars,
Grant left music entirely for over five years, only to achieve greater success as a solo
artist (his acclaimed 2015 solo LP ‘Grey Tickles, Black Pressure’ went Top Five in the
UK). Grant has sold out Royal Albert Hall, performed at Glastonbury, Latitude and more
and his song ‘Snug Snacks’ was featured on Pitchfork’s Songs That Define LGBTQ Pride.
BBC Radio 6 host Mary Anne Hobbs described Grant’s music: “Most songwriting, even if
it’s based on a true story ... is embellished in some way. But John's lyrics - they’re so true
they might as well be written in blood.”

Deluxe 2LP pressed on 140g black vinyl in inner sleeves with paintings by Gil Corral, 2
unique prints, 36-page photo booklet, pull out lyric sheet and digital download card, all
housed in a beautiful black velvet O-Card gatefold sleeve with Glitter Spark Eye.

Produced by long-time friend Cate Le Bon, ‘Boy from Michigan’ is Grant’s most
autobiographical and melodic work to date. Grant stopped being a boy in Michigan aged
twelve, when his family moved to Denver, Colorado, shifting rust to bible belt, a further
vantage point to watch collective dreams unravel. Across 12 tracks, Grant lays out his
past for careful cross-examination.
In a decade of making records by himself, he has playfully experimented with mood,
texture and sound, all the better for actualizing the seriousness of his thoughts. At one
end of his musical rainbow he is the battle-scarred piano-man, at the other a robust
electronic auteur. ‘Boy from Michigan’ seamlessly marries both.
With Le Bon at the helm, Grant pared back his zingers, maximizing the emotional impact
of the melodies. A clarinet forms the bedrock of a song. One pre-chorus feels lifted from
vintage Human League. There is a saxophone solo.
‘Boy from Michigan’ ultimately swings between ambient and progressive, calm and livid.
The album’s narrative journey opens with Grant at his artistic prettiest, three songs drawn
from his pre-Denver life (the Michigan Trilogy, as Grant calls them): the title track, ‘The
Rusty Bull’ and ‘County Fair’. Each draws the listener in to a specific sense of place,
before untangling its significance with a rich cast-list of local characters, often symbolizing
the uncultivated faith of childhood.
Elsewhere, tracks like ‘Mike and Julie’ and ‘The Cruise Room’ offer an affecting plunge
deep into Grant’s late teenage years in Denver, while the midpoint of the album is
highlighted by ‘Best In Me’ and ‘Rhetorical Figure’, a pair of skittish, scholarly dance tunes
that build on the lineage of Grant’s electropop heroes, Devo.
Childhood as a horror narrative is the theme of ‘Dandy Star’, which observes a tiny Grant
watching the Mia Farrow horror movie ‘See No Evil’ on an old family TV set and finally, on
‘The Only Baby’, Grant removes his razor blade from a pocket to cleanly slit the throat of
Trump’s America, authoring a scathing epitaph to an era of acute national exposition.
Though he has lived in Iceland since 2011 - the same year he was also diagnosed HIVpositive - Grant spent his childhood and formative years in the US and maintains US
citizenship. Growing up, Grant was subjected to a deeply ingrained hatred of anyone
perceived as homosexual at school. Following the demise of his first band The Czars,
Grant left music entirely for over five years, only to achieve greater success as a solo
artist (his acclaimed 2015 solo LP ‘Grey Tickles, Black Pressure’ went Top Five in the
UK). Grant has sold out Royal Albert Hall, performed at Glastonbury, Latitude and more
and his song ‘Snug Snacks’ was featured on Pitchfork’s Songs That Define LGBTQ Pride.
BBC Radio 6 host Mary Anne Hobbs described Grant’s music: “Most songwriting, even if
it’s based on a true story ... is embellished in some way. But John's lyrics - they’re so true
they might as well be written in blood.”

Deluxe 2LP pressed on 140g black vinyl in inner sleeves with paintings by Gil Corral, 2
unique prints, 36-page photo booklet, pull out lyric sheet and digital download card, all
housed in a beautiful black velvet O-Card gatefold sleeve with Glitter Spark Eye.

Beautiful orange & yellow sunburst vinyl - Solstice '21 sees twelve bright lights of independent electronic music mark the coming Summer Solstice. In such dark days, the age-old practice of celebrating the move from shadow to light, feels steeped in a renewed symbolic power. Solstice '21 marks this significant moment with a rich array of musical offerings. Reflective, lively, and always powerful, this collection is spun with modern twists of an ancient thread. Rotator - This is the first outing under this moniker from Justin Owen, also known under the alias Licit, as well as being a protagonist in the world of modular synthesis as the man behind the Abstract Data modules; Letters from Mouse - "Bubbling analogue synthesis from Scotland." This analogue synth maestro and inimitable broadcaster (aka The Magic Window), boasts a string of quality releases, including the recent highly acclaimed album An gàrradh, also on Subexotic; Cub/cub - "Cub/cub explores the world in-between nostalgia and nihilism, analogue and digital, real and false; creating evocative and mournful musical collages." First discovered on Boards of Canada forum Twoism, Cub/cub's two debut releases with Subexotic demonstrated his considerable talent to mix fascinating texture with beguiling melody. With an astonishing follow-up album coming soon, his rising star feels unstoppable; Orbury Common - "aural ephemera from the home of the orbs." This mysterious duo from the West of England are blessed with delightful musical cunning; their brilliant debut on Subexotic lifted the lid, and this offering reaffirms exciting times lie ahead; Onepointwo - "Minimal electronics, abstract radio signals and dystopian soundscapes are proceeded from both digital and analogue sources." A creator of intricate yet powerful collage, with finely wrought motifs that repeat and build to create a shimmering psychedelic impact. This is Onepointwo's glorious trademark. Spell-binding releases already exist on Woodford Halse, Poeta Negra, Lotus, as well as an imminent powerhouse album forthcoming on Subexotic; Giants of Discovery - "Experimental electronica with the occasional noisy guitar thrown in." Giants of Discovery's ability to get to grips with the musicality of his subject, has lead to previous exquisite sojourns into realms such as Victorian cosmic horror and Greek mythology, as well as an equally fantastical, towering follow up album on Woodford Halse; Wonderful Beasts - "A Wonderful collaboration between boycalledcrow and Xqui." Their playful interaction finds ways of crafting acoustic fragments into unexpected kaleidoscopes of sound. With beguiling debuts on cult label Wormhole World (soon to be followed up by an extraordinary new album on Subexotic), there is a kind of breathless magic about everything they do; Dogs versus Shadows - Electronic Sound Magazine says "A rare example of gamekeeper turned poacher...a welter of impressive electronica." Lee Pylon's ability to straddle a wealth of uncompromisingly inventive creations, and his broadcasting prowess as the much loved Kites & Pylons, is already the stuff of legend. A multitude of releases across many labels including Subexotic, Woodford Halse, Miracle Pond, Third Kind, Submarine Broadcasting, Sensory Leakage, provide a glittering treasure trove of work; Counter Silence - A stalwart of Subexotic, Counter Silence's sparkling and wistful musical work very much stands alone in temperament and style. 2020's Pathways EP on Subexotic remains a precious oasis, imbued with a haunting solitude that lives on in the memory; Transient Visitor - "All music unlocked by Alex Cargill (C.O.I. Central Office of Information) and Martin Jensen (The Home Current)." These two intercontinental maestros (well Sidcup & Luxembourg) boast impressive solo back catalogues across many labels (including Castles in Space, Polytechnic Youth, Woodford Halse). Their newly conceived collaborative Transient Visitor project, brought about the superb TV1 album in 2020 - we can see the sparks fly again in this welcome 2021 return; Simon Klee - "Natural, Electric, Organic Psychedelic - Sounds, noise and psychedelic beats." Klee's playful alchemy engages the mind and spirit, as witnessed in a flurry of top quality releases in recent times (e.g. Subexotic, ANR, Woodford Halse), and there is a visceral joy in his work that is perfectly placed for a midsummer celebration. Klee also produces a truly excellent mixcast and increasingly essential tape label, both under the guise of Anticipating Nowhere; Rupert Lally - "Hailing originally from England but now based in Switzerland, Guitarist, Percussionist and Electronic Musician Rupert Lally began his career as a Sound Designer and Composer for Theatre and TV, before launching his solo career in 2005. Since then his releases have blurred the boundaries between electronic and acoustic music." Lally's consistently brilliant work is always a highlight of the electronic music calendar, including recent stellar works across many labels such as Spun Out Of Control, Third Kind, Woodford Halse, and Modern Aviation.

From Jagjaguar: “Somewhere along the way, I got the idea
that Richard Youngs’s ‘Sapphie’ was all about a dead dog.
“I don’t know if someone insinuated this idea in front of me
or if I psychologically tethered the title to the tenderly
printed dog paw on its cover. Either way, I’ve gone over a
decade thinking this remarkable, windswept album of torch
songs was about a dearly departed pet.
“And yet, as we approached a reissue of this Jagjaguwar
classic and a new, reimagined version by artists Hypnotic
Brass Ensemble, Moses Sumney, Sharon Van Etten, and
Perfume Genius, Richard Youngs was straightforward and
unsentimental about its meanings. ‘The lyrics are not
about anything in particular,’ Youngs wrote.
“The paw prints on the cover are, in fact, that of a friend’s
dog (‘The first dog I ever loved,’ Richard said), but there is
no devastating loss at its center.
“And so, I want to tell Richard how this album has become
a centering album for a great many of us, a transcendent
and meditative piece of art.
“‘What does ‘the mindfulness drill’ have to do with it?’
Richard asks me dryly in a note.
“It’s about being relentlessly present, Richard. It’s how
when we listen to your album, we feel like a lonely traveler
in a foreign country. How everything has a newness to it
and there’s no one to share it with but the you inside of
you. And that fine, fine line is where ‘Sapphie’ lives,
Richard. Thank you for this, Richard.”
A reimagining of Richard Youngs’ ‘Sapphie’ with
instrumentals from Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and vocal
contributions from Moses Sumney, Perfume Genius and
Sharon Van Etten.
Available on Opaque Black & White Explosion vinyl.

Lisa Milberg and Jon Bergström started their band Miljon over a pitcher of margarita in Mexico City and have since kept busy writing gorgeous little pop-songs in makeshift studios in and around their hometown of Stockholm, Sweden – mostly in their bedrooms and various cabins in various woods surrounding the city, never staying too far from the pine trees.
Having assembled a collection of 13 pieces of proper flaskpost-disko, these demos were passed on to Studio Barnhus’ in-house mixmaster Matt Karmil, who worked his studio magic on the recordings, turning them into a seductively warm and spacious debut album. “Until then, our only expenditures for the album were wine bottles and taxis”, says the band.
This isn’t the first time Miljon has teamed up with Studio Barnhus, the ever-explorative Stockholm dance label. The band collaborated with Barnhus co-founder Axel Boman on the wistful piano-house ballad “Forgot About You” in 2018 (“a summer anthem … a marvel of simplicity” - Pitchfork) and the label’s core personnel are all regulars at Arranging Things, the design store (“Stockholm’s coolest” - Vogue) that Lisa runs with another friend.
Going further back, Miljon isn’t the first musical project of neither Lisa’s nor Jon’s – the former enjoyed her fair share of 00's indie rock success as drummer and eventually lead singer of The Concretes, while Jon has earned a reputation as the hardest working man in several Swedish music scenes, bringing energy and expertise to punk stages around the country as well as Stockholm’s electronic underground.
With Miljon, the two friends make sure to keep it short and sweet, happily celebrating imperfections. “We believe in ‘first thought, best thought’ and try to work on the songs as little as possible, instead trusting a good melody and a nice vibe, not overthinking it. We dare you to find a bridge on this album!”
With “Don’t They Know”, the duo presents not only 13 beautiful songs (perfect for shower-humming, living roomshuffling and warm summer night boombox-blasting alike) but also an album that turns into something grander than the sum of its parts.
“We made it because it’s the kind of album we’ve been wanting to hear ourselves. It’s all quite song-centric these days and it feels rare to find a whole album to step into and stay inside, you know? We hear great songs all the time, but we wanted an album that was its own little universe, with its own mayor, own happy hour, its own yard sales and extramarital affairs.”
“Don’t They Know” is released through Studio Barnhus as a vinyl LP June 18.

It’s testament to the man they call Medlar, that you never quite know what you might get with one of his releases. WOLF Music family since the early days, his latest mini-LP on the label is no exception. Seven cuts that prove this man can do anything, taking you on an otherworldly, island tour.

First stop, ‘Aerial’, channelling that inner Wally Badarou for a cosmic, sand-stomping chuggathon, heavy on the juiced-up basslines, tripped out synth wizardry and space delay goodness. Your pace quickens, ‘Iguanadon’ rattles the world around you, shamanic echoes swirling through your skull as that acidic stab hypnotises you into a stupor.

Out the other side, you stumble across an ‘Elephant Bingo’. Cup of tea, track three. Slap bass, bongos and synth stabs lifting the spirits.

Back on the beach you drift off into a slice of sleazed up Balearic business, turning the funk dial all the way up to 11 via ‘ELV’. Suddenly things take a trippier turn. Are you dreaming? ‘CR78-108’ booms in the background, pure jungle-tinged, digi dubwise movements.

A few stiff drinks and you’re on your feet again. ‘Phoenix Lights’ New York house stylings pump you with life, even if your hazy brain is still hearing wild echoes all over the place.

How did you end up here, 10 hours later? One too many ‘Sin Prisa’ homebrews no doubt, yet you’re still stompin through, granted it’s of the slow-mo, acid-laced variety though.

What was in that welcome drink Medlar handed you at the start? Who knows, who cares when you get that kinda bang for your buck.

Papiro’s approach to music is never technical, but always personal. Since the mid-Nineties, he has released a handful of noteworthy albums, each carefully put together and seemingly self- contained, yet all sharing an unmistakable musical language and a certain escapist aura.

La finestra dentata (The Toothed Window), is no exception. It includes both studio and concert recordings from 2016–2020. The sounds on this album appear infinite and full of marvels, ingenious in portraying imaginary creatures and environments.

The title track and Anelli take up most of the first side and include live outtakes. Papiro likes to describe his performances as therapeutic. These swirly symphonies are specifically intended as immersive deep-listening experiences for concert venues, and have been edited for this album to meet the physical demands of vinyl and domestic use. Imagine the younger cousins of Laurie Spiegel’s Concerto Generator performance, or Terry Riley’s Shri Camel.

However, those who know Papiro only from the stage might be unaware of a different side to his oeuvre; starry-eyed miniatures that may appear frivolous in comparison to the more heady stuff, but are nonetheless well worth discovering. Each piece adds a chapter to a phantasmagoric world populated by such characters as "Giant Duckling", "King Hard-Beard", or the "Bodulator". Tracks like the opener Odilon or Il triciclo nascosto, meanwhile, emanate a candor rarely found in the domain of serious music, and revisit Papiro’s early days of instrumental storytelling.

About Papiro:

Marco Papiro is a Swiss-Italian musician, composer and graphic designer. He teaches at the Schule für Gestaltung in Basel and is known for the posters and album covers that he's created for a number of prolific artists (Sun Araw, Sonic Boom, Panda Bear, Oren Ambarchi)

Those who pay close attention to DJ Harvey’s sets should already be familiar with NuNorthern Soul’s next single, a fully licensed reissue of a sought-after 1980 promotional seven-inch from legendary Spanish Flamenco singer Manuel Mancheño Peña, better known as El Turronero (‘The Nougat’).

Both ‘Las Penas’ and ‘Si Yo Volviera A Nacer’ have long been secret weapons in the sets of dusty-fingered Balearic DJs, with Harvey regularly dropping the tracks during his sessions at Pikes Hotel on the White Isle.

Both tracks first appeared on Pena’s 1980 album New Hondo, a set that updated the then veteran Flamenco artist’s sound for the disco era. Whereas most of his previous albums were more traditional Flamenco affairs, New Hondo combined his throaty, effervescent Flamenco singing style with the driving grooves, swooping orchestration and spacey synthesizer sounds of European disco.

To promote the album, Spanish label DB Belter pressed up a promotional “45” featuring two of the most club-friendly cuts on the album. It’s this release that is being reissued for the very first time by NuNorthern Soul.

A-side ‘Las Penas’ is undoubtedly an off-kilter, late-night disco classic. Built around a flanged, action-packed disco-funk bassline, metronomic beats. soaring and layered female backing vocals, intergalactic synth sounds and stirring strings, the track steps up a level when ‘El Turronero’ takes to the microphone to belt out an infectious, energetic vocal in his trademark Flamenco style. It’s the kind of cut that’s as haunting and intoxicating as it is funky and floor friendly.

Flipside ‘Si You Volviera A Nacer’, another of New Hendo’s most sought-after tracks, is another unique and righteous concoction. Looser, groovier and warmer in tone, it sees another sublime, Flamenco style lead vocal from Pena accompanied by even funkier bass, spiralling ’70s synthesizer sounds, sweaty drums and some seriously exotic instrumental flourishes (think sitar and kalimba). It’s every bit as alluring as the more driving A-side, and equally as playable.

Both tracks may be unusual in comparison to the artist’s other releases, but they expertly capture a moment in time, when disco dominated dancefloors all over the world and inspired even the most traditional and historic of European musical styles. Quite a number of flamenco-disco records were made in Spain during the late ’70s and early ’80s, but very few are quite as magical as these.

Repress

Next round for Another Picture. After exploring the highs in electricity and the lows of the deep grounds we go further into things. Sensing vibration of the fire below and turning it into a never-ending evolution of sound and groove. This is what you might know about Losoul tracks - and here you can't go wrong either. There are scattered artefacts of the city bringing vibe and inspiration - the streets, the people, the concrete, the action - it's all in between. Then there's the ever-changing beauty of nature out there on a day to just leave things as they are. Soul, movement and emotion. Again Losoul gives a strong example of experience from his longterm career in house and techno production and performing. Two pieces of music timeless in many ways. See you on the dancefloor. And everywhere else.

In the past years, the multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and music enthusiast Jeff Özdemir had been focusing on organising the Live-Mixtape series in Berlin, inviting numerous artists to join him on stage for every single event. However, the year 2020 put an end to this for all the painfully obvious and obviously painful reasons. Undeterred, he instead put together the third instalment of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, working with singers, musicians and groups such as Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex, F.S. Blumm, Joanna Gemma Auguri, Elke Brauweiler and Elmer Kussiac for an 18-track … Now, is this a compilation or an artist album? Well, why just either this or that when it can just be both at once? This is »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« after all, emphasis on »&«.

Released on Karaoke Kalk like its two predecessors from the years 2015 and 2017, respectively, »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« sees the man behind Kreuzberg’s 33rpm record store and the 33rpm Records label showcase his qualities as a people remixer, songwriter and versatile musician. He put together a collection of groovy tunes picking up on funk and afrobeat rhythms, introspective ballads, a musically channeled punk attitude, shoegaze sentiments, spoken word passages, drones, glockenspiel sounds, seriously fun experimentation and much more. Just like on the cover artwork - courtesy of Marion Eichmann, Özdemir’s favourite visual artist - everything here seems to discreetly exist for itself while being tightly connected to everything else at same time.

While artists like Ertan Doğancı, Désolé Léo, eng°n, F.S. Blumm and Zap have been long-term collaborators of Özdemir and were featured on previous instalments of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, new faces and forces also enter the mix. The melancholic »Love Letters« for example marks the first (though hopefully not last) collaboration with singer Joanna Gemm Auguri, while Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex’s appearance has been dreamt of collectively but hasn’t been fully realised until now.

Whether it’s Désolé Léo’s French crooner soul, the lo-fi synth pop song »Bored« featuring former Commercial Breakup singer Elke Brauweiler or the many different sounds and styles presented under the name Jeff Özdemir: no decision is ever made between either that or this musical direction, but all are being joyfully enjoyed together. Thus, throughout its 70 minutes, the stylistic diversity of »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« does not once border on randomness. Instead, these sometimes very different songs are marked by a shared atmosphere - a direct result of these very different musicians approaching their studio time together less as a chance to make music but more of a chance to carefully listen to and interact with each other.

Just like you’d expect it from someone deeply connected with the local music community who also happens to run a record store, Özdemir is also the kind of person who’ll hand you the worn copy of a record he has just fished out from the bargain bin because he knows about its potential to change your life. The contributions by Vackrow (»Kleistpark«), Gebrüder Teichmann’s old band BeigeGT (»Disco«), and Otto von Bismarck (»Zu viele Erinnerungen«, produced by The Whitest Boy Alive’s Daniel Nentwig) do not even feature Özdemir, but are simply musical pearls that were (almost) lost in the shuffle of music history and unearthed for this very special occasion. That’s just what friends do, don’t they?

The Monkees, one of the most recognizable names in the annals of pop music history, are an American rock and pop band originally active between 1966 and 1971, with reunion albums and tours in the decades that followed. The original line up was Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones. The group was conceived in 1965 by TV producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider specifically for the sitcom series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The music was originally supervised by record producer Don Kirschner, backed by the songwriting duo of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.

The Monkees self-titled debut and second albums were meant to be a soundtrack to the first season of the TV show, to cash in on the audience.Their first single, “Last Train To Clarksville” b/w “Take A Giant Step,” was released in August 1966, just weeks prior to the TV broadcast debut. In conjunction with the first broadcast of the TV show on September 12, 1966, NBC and Columbia had a major hit. The first long-playing album, The Monkees, was released a month later; it spent 13 weeks at #1 and stayed on the Billboard charts for 78 weeks.

The Monkees have sold more than 75 million records worldwide making them one of the biggest selling groups of all time with international hits, including “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” “Daydream Believer,” and “I’m A Believer.” ROG is reissuing their iconic debut album as a deluxe 2LP set with bonus tracks (several of which are unreleased mixes) and are having lacquers cut from the analog tapes for the first time since 1966—creating THE DEFINITIVE version of this album since original release!















[n] c3. This Just Doesn’t Seem to Be My Day (TV Version) [Mono]

[p] c5. I Wanna Be Free (Fast Version) [Mono TV Mix]
[q] c6. You Just May Be The One [Mono TV Version]






[x] d6. (I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love [2020 Remix]

With a 20-year-experience each in the music production, Digital Cut & Dance Soldiah are joining forces for an ambitious project entitled “Kensei/Sensei Riddim”, supported by Canna France, to be released on June 18, 2021. This double “One Riddim” album brings together 21 international artists of 6 different nationalities on 20 titles. The project is built on an innovative concept as 10 tracks are from female artists and the other 10 from male artists. Equality and parity is the essential value placed at the center of this new project.

Women are represented by the artists Khalia, Denyque, LMK, Sophia Squire, Thaïs Lona & Myriam Sow, Queen Omega, Ikaya, SumeRR, Bad Gyal Jade, Nattali Rize & Minori and men by Pressure, Jah Vinci, Blacko, Million Stylez, Skarra Mucci, Turbulence, Stranjah Miller, Riflah and Charly B.

The complementary sounds of the 2 instrumentals (or "riddims") will delight all Reggae/Dancehall fans and purists. The artwork is signed by the artist KAMO, one the French leader in manga culture, who created 2 original illustrations for the occasion.

The first music video taken from the project was released in February 2021 with the track “No Better Day” by Jamaican rising star Khalia. The track is already airplayed on radios in more than 40 countries around the world and is set to become a real hit in Jamaica. The second single highlights the French female artist LMK with a beautiful video shot in Colombia. The entire album will then be released on June 18, 2021 and more music videos will follow !

Demon Records is proud to present the ultimate reissue of the Yardbirds’ 1966 album Yardbirds, (often known as ‘Roger
the Engineer’.) Recorded by the classic line up of Jeff Beck, Keith Relf, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja and Paul Samwell-Smith,
the band began exploring new sonic territories, pushing their blues-rock sound into the realms of the avant-garde,
psychedelia and Indian music. Using original tapes, this super deluxe edition features new and definitive remastering by
Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering at AIR, overseen by original album producer Paul Samwell-Smith.
"Remastering this album has been a joy. To hear the tracks sounding just as we heard them all those years ago while we were
recording them - energetic, edgy, and in your face - is an unexpected treat. In 1966, it was a rare and exciting opportunity to be
given a recording studio for 5 days and allowed to experiment. That excitement still shows." – Paul Samwell-Smith
“This is what rock ‘n’ roll beauty is - the true freedom of creative impulse.” – Thurston Moore
“The Yardbirds produced some of the most compelling musical art of the 20th century.” – Wayne Kramer

African, funky, sarcastic, bewitching, green, ecstatic: these words collide to describe Vaudou Game and all of them are true.

Noussin is the fourth album of the french Afro Funk band. Forced into lockdown, like much of the planet, Peter Solo and his Vaudou Game had no choice but to retreat into the studio. A reunion to once again invoke the spiritual forces of the Voodoo Deities. A reunion that was Initially imagined for an EP…yet these spiritual forces behind that imagination yearned for something more, and as we all know, these forces are impossible to push away once they have decided to stay.

Under the strain enforced by the current socioeconomic climate, as much as by the environmental peril that faces us all today - they diverted the course of the groove towards daring new vibrations. Without extinguishing or diminishing its highly communicative power, they released Vaudou Game from its origins of pure Afro-Funk to gradually engage into compositions which crystallized themselves into tones resembling more rock than funk.

On this fourth album, with an entirely revisited line-up, Peter Solo separates for the first time in his career from his brassy guard, leaving saxophone, trumpet and trombone outside to invite an arsenal of keyboards to define, with him, this new voodoo sound. A sound, as usual, built on vintage and precise analogical material - grime even on the white side of the tape, a blunt instrument used to blanket anything that strived to shine too much in the mix.

Graced with tapered guitars stringing out rhythmic bumps or withdrawing a few beats to indulge in infectious solos, this album is boisterously alive with vintage 70's Funk, infused with a few digressions into other ethers of the funk timeline, nicking different sounds and frequencies to render the black and white keys of an inspired keyboard to reach new euphoric levels of melodic acidity.

Tearing off the enigmatic mask to reveal his true face: on a few titles, Peter Solo ventures outside of his sacred voodoo range to reconnect with his London years, these titles feature small nods to the time he spent in “The Smoke” where the incantations of British music culture were written within him.

Noussin which means “Stay strong” in Mina, a dialect spoken in the south-west of Togo. Noussin, a message of hope as much as a call to come together to weather the turmoil and to come out better on the other side. Don’t let them grind you down…Noussin!

VEYL is pleased to welcome Harlem to the label for a new seven track album titled ‘Bait’. The Stockholm-based duo of Martin Thomasson and Johan Skugge bring a vast history of production behind them, operating since the early aughts and known for their work in dub and minimal techno. ‚Bait’ ventures into new territory for the project, delivering infectious strains of body music, new beat, industrial and beyond coupled with soul-stirring vocals which quickly dig beneath the skin. The release is about everyday manipulation, soft power and persuasion. We exist in a world in which corporate management techniques are deployed in our everyday lives, nudging each other for short-term gain, slowly hallowing out any lasting trust while ultimately all being crushed by a hyper-capitalist system. From the opening synths of the title track to the ominous ending notes of ‘Night Vision’, we also uncover funky grooves and diabolical floor shakers which remind us of something from the past but exist perfectly in this corrupted new world. As is customary, the striking cover art was photographed by Tomaso Lisca, and it’s a fitting piece for the record, depicting a tantalizing well-oiled machine, all while something menacing lurks under the hood.

As a New Era beckons globally, Manchester’s primo Manctalo merchants – Red Laser Records – quietly unveil their latest clutch of specialist space-age kinetics. A fifth-kind encounter enabling users to bridge the continuum of dance & interaction between our Earth-dwelling selves and the inter-dimensional overlords.

Containing three brand new movements in machine music from our treasured production stable of Kid Machine, Bob SwanS and Il Bosco; it also houses an honorary appearance from revered Danish spearhead Flemming Dalum, who serves up a particle-splitting redux of a lesser-known proto-techno nugget from Belgium. Dalum’s been traversing the star-clusters on his own intrepid missions for a while, so we’re mega buzzed to have him back on the RL mothership.

Stretford based synthesizer technician, Bob SwanS has been drafted in specifically by RL head Il Bosco for his advanced skills on the patch bays. “Aphelion Run Theme”, the point of which an object’s orbit is furthest from the Sun, vividly detailing in sound the journey our collective consciousness must undergo in order to reach the Highest Elders. We highly recommend utilising this track alongside Dr. Greer’s outstanding work with extra terrestrials.

KID Machine’s celebratory, vocoder-led Manctalo message: “It’s The K.I.D” is a sonic motif to our interplanetary relatives; this cybernetic b-boy’s way of spray painting the Red Laser logo over Proxima Centauri B’s subway network in neon-blue, pyroxene paint.

Bosco lets loose with one of his most impassioned creations to date too. “We Almost Lost Oddbins” previously titled: “Save Our Scene”, a universe-wide cry for help recorded when worldwide limitations on dancing and human co-exchange were at their most aggressive; its nonetheless positive outlook inviting us all to look both inward and outward for solutions in the New Normal.

Encased within a striking monolith art print, depicting the mystic energies of ancient galaxies it heralds the now widely-accepted belief that we are in no way alone in this universe and that channels of communication between more advanced civilisations than ours have already begun…

Raunchy glam band New York Dolls were the epitome of rock ‘n’ roll’s excess, prefacing punk’s rougher edges. Recorded in October 1971, when the group was still known as Actress, this essential LP is culled from demos cut before David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain joined the group; along with two raw alternates of ‘It’s Too Late,’ there are eight otherwise unknown examples of their musical mayhem, as heard on ‘Why Am I Alone’ and guitar killer, ‘Coconut Grove.’ This is required listening for all Dolls fans, and especially Johnny Thunders devotees.

A musical omnibus, ‘The Best of Lily Konigsberg Right Now’ is the
first widely distributed Lily Konigsberg physical release, as well as
the first vinyl treatment for EPs ‘Good Time Now’ and ‘4 Picture
Tear’.
The collection loosely parallels the melancholic narrative behind
the latter, where a mental break triggered Konigsberg’s
depersonalized sense of her past self. Of the ‘4 Picture Tear’ EP
Konigsberg says, “I would look at this photo booth picture I took
with Matt Norman and cry because I thought I was looking at the
person I used to be in that picture and that that person was gone.”
In retrospect, these EPs feel like distinctive vignettes of
Konigsberg’s progression as a songwriter, each version of her
past self-tethered by an invisible thread to the present through
musical alliances and fervent introspection.
‘Owe Me’, a song Konigsberg never felt fit on any of her previous
releases, now serves as an opening curtain call. “Thank you all for
coming to my show,” Konigsberg says to an invisible audience’s
applause, “If you didn’t know, now you certainly know.” It’s a
transportive moment that combines Konigsberg’s patient steps into
the underground pop limelight with her exceptional ability to
connect with a diverse and talented cohort of creatives.
One third of egalitarian art-punk outfit Palberta, the Brooklyn-born
and-based Lily Konigsberg has occupied her time with music since
her early childhood. “Basically I was born and immediately started
wanting to be a rock star,” she says.
“Even before she became a fixture of the New York underground,
Lily Konigsberg was staking out her place in local music.” -
Pitchfork (Rising Artist, 2020)
“A crisp, catchy, and concise bit of 90s-indebted indie rock” -
Stereogum
“The freewheeling, flitting melodies underline the precision of
Konigsberg’s songwriting: She knows what she wants to say and
she is methodical about how much to reveal.” - Pitchfork
“Warm and direct but tough to grasp, untraceable” - Tiny Mix
Tapes

Repress

Punctual like a Swiss watch, Driftmachine presents a new album that once again astounds and delights. We know their trademark: solid mechanical percussions, forceful bass and melodies systematically built around circular patterns. "Spume & Recollection" is the sixth Umor Rex album by the Berlin duo, and what better way to celebrate the label's 15th anniversary than with a new record from the masters of labyrinthine cables and patches. Regarding "Nocturnes" (UR 2014), their debut album, we described their sound as precise and symmetrical, identical concrete blocks mounted and articulated in a random order. Their already obsessive style continued to evolve with their third record, "Colliding Contours" (UR 2016), now pushing further into abstract dub, ultra-tense grooves, and even more kinetic loops, moving further away from conventional musical structures. Between these two albums they released the remarkable "Eis Heauton" (UR 2015), a kind of hypnotic experiment informed by shadowy atmospheres, chance, and an intuitive dialogue with their musical machines, a unique situation in which they acted as bemused observers in hunt for epiphanies, resulting in an exquisite amalgamation of lucid dream-logic and mechanical precision. A one-of-a-kind soundtrack for minute and wordless scenes unfolding in pitch-black back alleys and hidden, alchemical basements. A similar map was explored with "Shunter" (UR 2018), a superb secret meeting between avant-garde phantasmagoria and concrete experimentation. "Radiations" (UR 2017) offered B-sides and bonus tracks, in addition to collaborations with Shackleton and The Sight Below, a kind of preamble that united Driftmachine’s different expressions and leanings.

When Andreas Gerth and Florian Zimmer come up with new material, one listens with high expectation. Looking back on their discography, one could safely anticipate a high quality album densely layered with their familiar leitmotifs. And yet, "Spume & Recollection" takes us by surprise and finds a new way to transfix. Fresh methods and ideas are introduced to their dynamics and formula. Yes, of course, you can still expect a healthy dose of kosmische, which is one of the dominant features in Driftmachine’s DNA; but this is now entwined with novel materials, semi-material patterns of alien code stretching over exhilaratingly tense and detailed grooves, clouds of gas shifting on top of deep dub architecture and blocking out the sun for prismatic effect. Even more of a surprise is the immediate, streamlined nature of these tracks, making "Spume & Recollection" their most accessible record and, perhaps, the most addictive (and this without sacrificing the essential mystery and strangeness at the core of Driftmachine’s sound).

We have previously described their work as post-industrial-dub; right now, we might just call it hypno-music for man and machine to dance and dream together. "Spume & Recollection" takes this concept as far as it can go without breaking, and finds some strange new feelings, and weirdly danceable grooves, to shed some light on this dark and dazzling ride.

All songs written & produced by Andreas Gerth & Florian Zimmer in Berlin Mastered by John Tejada Artwork & Photos by Daniel Castrejón

Mind Maintenance is the new duo consisting of Joshua Abrams (Natural Information Society) and Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground Duo, Chad Taylor Trio). This is where the music begins, but Mind Maintenance can't be described simply as a summation of its parts and players. When you put on the sound, you'll know what we're saying - you'll notice how immediate and meditative it is; how simple, how "in the room," and how the natural buzz of each instrument sits remarkably well against the other. The percussive qualities of the guimbri and the mbira, so raw and unadorned individually, form with their shared resonance a soothing, sonorous whole. It's not about world music, it's not about jazz. It's about mind maintenance. The songs of Mind Maintenance exist in a zone somewhere between composition and improv. Based in melodies that unspool over time, they benefit from Chad and Joshua's intimately enmeshed sensibility and the intensity with which they listen to each other. Chad and Joshua have been playing together forever - or, if you need to think of it more tangibly, since around 1994. Based on our research, the pairing of guimbri and mbira is more than unusual - it appears to be without precedent! This is incredible if it's true, but more important to the music of Mind Maintenance is the shared ground of inspiration that both instruments occupy. Mind Maintenance pursue their inspirations on these instruments down similarly transformative paths. If some part of the 21st century isn't focused on destruction, but instead, locating a place where our traditions can work together in new ways to entertain and even ensure well-being, then that's just one more incentive for all of us to consider Mind Maintenance.

Drumcode treasures Alan Fitzpatrick and Joel Mull link for their debut collaboration, complemented by a rare Adam Beyer remix. This is special in every sense.

Tis the season for something different; interesting collaborations and the broadening of creative boundaries is the order of the day. Long-time friends and techno colleagues Alan Fitzpatrick and Joel Mull are the latest to connect for a fresh production outing, ‘We Don’t Know Anything Yet’. Inspired by the Buddhist saying ‘Nothing is forever except change’, the duo work alongside Swedish band Frangie to craft an ascendent techno cut that explores existential questions about the future, all the while being propelled by a strong rhythmic underbelly.

Beyer’s first remix in two years is inspired. The boss sharpens his focus on the vocal, while teasing out the melody, ripening the track for a mid-morning post-peak-time moment when the sun starts to bathe the dancefloor is a hazy gentle glow. A masterstroke.

“Listening to the track, it’s obviously very connected to what’s going on in the world right now. When I heard it for the first time, I fell in love with the parts so much I decided to do a remix on the spot. It’s two of the old school crew, so the release is very dear to my heart.” – Adam Beyer

First Word Records is extremely proud to welcome back Children of Zeus with their sophomore album, 'Balance'.

Following the release of their debut album 'Travel Light' in 2018 (which featured in numerous 'Album of the Year' lists), Tyler Daley and Konny Kon spent the next two years extensively touring the UK, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

With shows on ice over the last 12 months, Children of Zeus took the time to mature their sound; 'Balance' is 50 minutes of future-classic British soul music encompassing hip hop, neo-soul, gospel and r&b. Konny's laidback flow once again merges with Tyler's unmistakable buttery vocals across a set of bass-heavy backdrops and smoothed-out keys, taking the blueprint from their debut and evolving it into a deeper, more-refined sound.

As with previous material, the album is largely produced by the duo themselves, though we also see the return of Grammy-winner Beat Butcha, whose previous production credits include Jay Z, Beyonce, Nipsey Hussle, & Griselda (one of Butcha's productions graces first single 'No Love Song'). Title track 'Balance' comes from upcoming producer & Soulection regular, cay caleb and also features the only vocal feature on the album, from rising UK soul talents Akemi Fox and Georgie Sweet.

The Children of Zeus journey began with a mutual love of 90s Manchester pirate radio; consuming hip hop and beats, r&b and street soul, lovers rock and dancehall, garage and bass music. Then followed decades of performing, creating and collaborating in different guises. Over the past few years, the hip hop soul duo have garnered props far and wide; from Jazzie B to Jazzy Jeff. They've done performances for the likes of Soulection and BBC, in addition to hosting their monthly NTS Radio show and collaborating with artists like Black Milk and Goldie.

From travelling light, to travelling nowhere, it's been a time where we've all had to reflect on the lives we lead. This album is about equilibrium; walking the thin line of life and striving to keep your footing firm at all times, ever pushing forward. Balancing the rough with the smooth and the work with the play.

The Children of Zeus sound is now fully grown. It's time to bring 'Balance' into the universe. This is unashamedly big people music to be played out of big speakers. The definitive sound of UK street soul in 2021. The story continues..