This is the 1st release from Seba & Paradox since 2011. It carries the traditional breakbeat sound that the duo is known for, but with a sense of modern electronic music.
Delusions is a 'think break' based track with a monotonous beep that brings the thoughts back to minimal techno. The
sub on this track is very low! Make sure your system can handle it.
Future now is an 'amen' track with typical Seba & Paradox break edits and vocal samples. This track has already gained a lot of interest within old Seba & Paradox fans.
This is a reissue of a now out-of-print album from live trio date by the legendary LA-based pianist, composer and multi-bandleader, Horace Tapscott. Pianist Horace Tapscott is always at his best when he is leading a trio. Born in 1934 in Houston, Texas, Horace came from a musical family centered around his mother, Mary Malone Tapscott, who worked professionally as a singer and pianist. When Horace was nine, the family moved to Los Angeles. As a teenager in the late 1940's, Horace was surrounded by the music of Central Avenue: Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, were among the many cats on the set. Around this time, Horace also began to take music lessons from teachers Dr. Samuel R. Browne and Lloyd Reese, whose other students included Eric Dolphy and Frank Morgan. Horace's musical studies included trombone in addition to piano.
In 1952, Horace graduated from Jefferson High, got married to Cecilia Payne and went into the Air Force. Horace played in an Air Force Band while he was stationed in Wyoming for his term of duty. After mustering out, he returned to Los Angeles where he worked around on various gigs until he joined the Lionel Hampton Big Band as a trombonist.
In 1959, Horace finally went with the Hampton Big Band to New York, where his friend Eric Dolphy introduced him to John Coltrane. A tough winter, a lack of gigs, and too many nights on the floor of a friend's art gallery finally sent Horace packing for sunny Southern California, where a life with wife and family awaited his return.
The sixties saw Horace emerge as a die-hard leader of the Avant Garde. Horace began to gain public notice playing with his own group, that included alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, bassist David Bryant, and drummer Everett Brown II. Horace also appeared on records for the first time.
Horace was always outspoken about racism, politics, stereotypes, and social ethics. His forward-minded vocal presence on and off the microphone is as much a part of his art as his piano playing. As a result, he was labeled a "dissident," categorized as an "employment risk," and black-listed from the music industry establishment in the early 1970's. None of this slowed Horace down. He began gigging sporadically at Parks and Recreation events and for churches around Watts. This "dark period," with his only regular gig at his friend Doug Weston's Troubadour on Los Angeles' "Restaurant Row", was also a time of intense creativity.
Around 1977, Horace reorganized the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra with the help of several old friends and many new faces. The Arkestra performances involve singing, dancing, and poetry in addition to the music. Soon after the new group's debut, Horace came to the attention of producer Tom Albach who contracted Horace to record a number of albums for Nimbus Records. Albach also helped introduce Horace to an international audience by arranging several European tours.
The 80's saw Horace emerge as one of jazz's premiere solo pianists. He recorded several solo piano albums for Nimbus.
Can Love Be Synth are in love with old analogue machines and define their specific sound in the legendary Synthesizer Studio Hamburg. A synth collectors paradise hidden behind the big grey walls of a Bunker building and the club Uebel & Gefährlich between the Reeperbahn and Schanzenviertel district in Hamburg, Germany.
Their new song ‘Bunker’ is now available as a digital and vinyl release on A CLEAN CUT including fantastic remixes by Richard Fearless, Terr and quadratschulz.
The Bunker building is currently extended with a 54-meter-high superstructure for an ultra-violent instant gentrification. In the original version of the song the heavy blows of hammers are clearly audible. This sound journey from zen to noise is a beautifully shimmering ‘black hole made from music’, where implosion and explosion energetically meet. If it needed another reason for the clubs to reopen, this song would be the one - it is perfect for long nights and for days without light rays.
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Few artists in the music profession are as unclassifiable as
Nina Simone. During her long career she tackled material from
a variety of styles, garnering an audience that included soul
devotees, folk followers, R&B lovers and even jazz buffs.
Embarking on this project, she joined a host of seriously
talented individuals: the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah
Vaughan, Billy Eckstine and Frank Sinatra, who had recorded,
and would continue to record, items from the Ellington
songbook for many years to come
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Keplar re-issues the fourth album 'Chessa' by Dan Abrams' project Shuttle358 on vinyl for the first time. The double LP edition includes 3 previously unreleased tracks from the same recording sessions back in 2004, as well as an extended artwork with unseen photographs by Dan Abrams.
While undoubtedly associated with the microsound and 'clicks & cuts' movement around the turn of the millennium, on 'Chessa' Shuttle358 left behind the classical rhythmic patterns of the genre and shifted further towards warmer territories, meandering between modern digital minimalism and the soft tones of ambient music. Counter to his microsound synthesis approach on Frame (2000), Abrams created Chessa by writing software that manipulated samples from his unreleased songs, guitar pieces, and vintage japanese films sampled from video tape. In particular, a special granulating technique was written and performed at intentionally low sample rates that gave the uniquely fragile, yet dense sound to the album. Over fourteen tracks Abrams arranges slowly evolving sonic entities of unfading elegance. Strayed and hazy melodies pulse and cascade, elongated but brittle harmonies shimmer and disappear, echoing far-off in the rounded corners of the mind. The patient and detailed way Abrams combines the broken with the beautiful in creating organic collages of sound that retain the euphonic essence of a song, makes this piece of work so powerful and timeless, sounding just as relevant today, as it did 17 years ago.
Under modern scrutiny in Abrams latest studio, he refocused the original recordings to emphasize the elements most important to the original vision. The final mastering and vinyl preparation was done in collaboration with Stephan Mathieu, vinyl was cut by LUPO.
From the original press release in 2004 by Taylor Deupree:
Without a doubt Shuttle358 has become one of the most admired artists to emerge from modern electronic music’s sea of musicians. From the humble beginnings of a demo CD in 12k’s mailbox to 4 critically acclaimed CDs, Dan Abrams is, to some, the one credited for bringing a warmth and human touch back into what has often been considered a very cold, sterile genre. It began with 1999’s Optimal.lp (12k1005), a groundbreaking debut release that immediately defined the Shuttle358 sound; a hybridization of the then-emerging “microsound” genre with Eno’s true ambient explorations. In 2000 Abrams outdid himself with Frame (12k1011) by honing his sound design and exploring production techniques at rates that made his “now” quite brief and creating what was to become one of the most sought-after CDs in the 12k catalog.
Chessa is the third release from Abrams’ Shuttle358 moniker on 12k and he continues to do what he does best: attempt to move microsound away from the world of theory and towards absolute real life. Like his photographs, Chessa is music about, and to be listened to in, unexpected places. It is a narrative, a simple slice of life that plays out through the incidental photography of the cover artwork. To achieve this Abrams fuses irregular granular sound particles, like the movements of everyday life, with a deliberate melodic base that captures emotion and simplicity.
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DEEWEE ‘s new releases now worked with Because Music. Formed in 2012, Asa Moto purvey non-standard body music from their Ghent outpost, Studio Martino. Closely affiliated with famed Soulwax imprint, DEEWEE, the Belgian duo’s recorded offerings carefully juxtapose expert synth-work with aesthetic imperfection. Charming melodies and throbbing rhythms come courtesy of archaic tone generators and acoustic instrumentation alike, landing Asa Moto in a zone of confident sonic idiosyncrasy. Their studio prowess has hardly gone unnoticed and during their breakout year of 2018, Resident Advisor, Redbull and the BBC were quick to take note of the group’s steady ascent. Via their ever-changing live performances, Asa Moto have become regular fixtures on the European touring circuit, touching down for club nights and festival appearances across the continent. As astute selectors, they operate a bi-monthly radio show in Brussels, digging into their sprawling collection, ranging from obscure jazz records to contemporary electronic cuts. Asa Moto have re-adapted their unmistakable strain of body music into a live show, which premiered on the Mainstage of the Lokerse Feesten 2019 and at the 40th anniversary of Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. In 2020, they co-produced and mixed the Turkish band, Altin Gün album 'Yol' marking the first time that the band has collaborated with outsiders.
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Mali Hayes has been simmering to the surface for a while now. Emerging from a Manchester jazz community that's enjoying its own renaissance away from the much-reported on London scene, the vocalist and songwriter's bittersweet neo-soul sound is trans-Atlantic – think initial progenitors such as Erkyah Badu, D'Angelo and Jill Scott – but is rooted in Manchester's mixed communities and the different walks of life she encounters.
Forgive You / Come Closer – owes itself to Gilles Peterson and Brownswood Music's Future Bubblers programme, when Hayes met producers Cult Architect and Medikul while part of the mentorship scheme. Airplay from Gemma Bradley, Victoria Jane & Mo Ayoub on Radio 1, Jamz Supernova & Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 6, Victoria Jane on BBC Introducing, Jamz Supernova on Selector Radio. Features in Clash Magazines 'Next Wave' playlist and Spotify's 'Rhythm & Groove by DJ Taro' playlist.
The two tracks come out as part of a new series of 7" releases from Manchester institution Band on the Wall and their new label Band on the Wall Recordings. Based out of the iconic music venue, charity and cultural hub, the label builds on a successful compilation released to raise funds during the Covid-19 pandemic
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Sammy Virji returns with ‘We’ll Be Alright’, an EP
full of summer heaters just in time for impending
freedom and the promise of a return to the
dancefloor.
Hot off the back of his triumphant debut album,
‘Spice Up My Life’, and energetic Shift K3Y collab
‘Runaway’, Sammy announced the EP with
‘Alright’ (ft Lucy Virji), an optimistic sizzler
characterised by his now signature skippy 2step
production.
Virji’s bass-driven production is now a staple in the
NUKG scene. ‘We’ll Be Alright’ satiates pop’s
recent appetite for modern Garage and cements
his ability in delivering yet another project set for
crossover success.
Sammy has been championed across the board,
from the likes of Annie Mac, Jack Saunders,
Toddla T, Mistajam and Majestic, achieved Top Ten
status in the UK Dance Albums chart and is now
streaming in the millions across all platforms.
Yellow vinyl 12” housed in a clear PVC bag
featuring hidden track ‘Quarantine Done’, a fan
favourite set for release by popular demand
following various plays on online DJ streams
throughout the pandemic but, as yet, unannounced
as appearing on the vinyl product.
Jorja Smith returns to announce a new 8-track project. ‘Be Right Back’ is due May 14th and is the first body of work from Jorja since her 2019 critically-acclaimed, Mercury Prize nominated debut album ‘Lost & Found’, for which she won her second BRIT Award for ‘Best
Female’ and earned herself a nomination for ‘New Artist’ at the GRAMMY Awards.
The project finds Jorja delivering some of the most emotive and imaginative songs of her career. Over string-heavy production, she unveils a collection of songs that are diverse in their range but still extremely cohesive as a body of work - “It’s called be right back because it’s just something I want my fans to have right now, this isn’t an album and these songs wouldn’t have made it. If I needed to make these songs, then someone needs to hear them too.” - Jorja says of the project.
To coincide with the announcement, Jorja is sharing new single ‘Gone.’ Highly anticipated,
Smith states that “There’s something about being able to write about one thing and for it to mean so many different things to others. I love that this song, well any of my songs really, will be interpreted in different ways, depending on the experiences of the people listening.
This one is just me asking why people have to be taken from us.”
‘Gone’ follows in the footsteps of Jorja’s stunning March release ‘Addicted’, which also appears on ‘Be Right Back’, alongside 6 additional unheard tracks including a feature from
rising South London rapper, Shaybo on track 3, ‘Bussdown’.
Over the past three years, Smith has been celebrated unanimously across the world for her evocative song-writing, powerful delivery, pure emotion and unbridled talent as a young woman navigating her way through the world. Smith has graced multiple magazine covers,
performed at awards ceremonies and on late night TV, and sold out shows across the globe, now surpassing over one billion global streams. Her 2019 hit single ‘Be Honest’ featuring Burna Boy has become her biggest song to date at almost 250M streams worldwide. Smith continues to hone her craft and ‘Gone’ serves as a much-anticipated prelude for the release of ‘Be Right Back’ on May 14th.
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New York City 4-piece deliver a modern blues rock masterclass on their feisty debut album.
“A timeless classic rock sound that revels in lean riffs and raw emotion.” – Afropunk
In an age where artistic merit is awarded to those who shout the loudest, Dakota Jones pride themselves on an unwavering ability to leave a lasting impression. Spearheaded by Tristan Carter-Jones fierce and unashamedly uncensored songwriting, the band’s fast-growing reputation as formidable live act has stamped Dakota Jones with the hell-hath-no-fury power of Chaka Khan, the wild spontaneity of Janis Joplin, and the honey-dripping sensuality of Marvin Gaye. Their debut album’s message of proud black heritage and triumphant queerness manifests itself in Carter-Jones’ ability to challenge norms of adulthood and femininity as she takes a deep dive into some of life’s most visceral emotions.
Tristan Carter-Jones: “I’m a black, queer woman expressing myself through love and music. Some folks still find that to be a transgressive act in and of itself. I work to fight that idea. I write a lot about my
Continued over…
sexuality and the ways in which I express it. Songs about sex and love bounce back and forth between songs about heartache, hangovers and self-medication, and the pleasure and pain of truly finding yourself. I don’t think we get to hear these things from a woman’s mouth as often as we should.”
Serving as an instant tone setter, the album opens with the line "Stretch marks from growing pains" with Carter-Jones lamenting the woes of adjusting to adulthood on lead single ‘Did It To Myself’ - her husky and commanding vocal instantly asserting its place in the spotlight. The atmosphere soon turns steamy on the flirtatious title track ‘Blacklight,’ whilst fantasising over a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde love affair the funk-laden ‘We Playin Bad Games’ packs a punch with its tale of free spirits entwined in a haze of late-night revelry.
Elsewhere, stories of caustic heartache twist the knife into wounded blues guitar riffs on ‘Like That’ and ‘Black Magic (That Power)’, in which Carter-Jones’s stoical voice never once faulters as she mourns the memories of a previous flame. Personal prayer ‘Lord Please’ recites empowered words of reassurance, and solidarity in the face of injustice erupts into a rallying cry for change on the classic sounding ‘Noise’ – written as a reaction to the 2016 US election. “I woke up after the election feeling pure panic and fear in my body,” remembers Tristan. “I wanted people in a place of privilege to stand up for what I was feeling, stand up for injustice, stand up for all of the things we need to change as a country. I wanted their rage, and I wanted their noise.”
Finally, the band’s tender tropes of togetherness eventually boil into gritty, guitar-slung balladry on hidden bonus track, ‘California,’ where, knees buckling under the weight of past trials and tribulations, Carter-Jones sets out on one final journey of self-discovery, hastily pulling out from reality and leaving only a dust cloud in her wake.
Production comes courtesy of the Grammy-winning John Wooler, ex Virgin Records A+R and founder of the Blues label Pointblank who has worked with everyone from John Lee Hooker and John Hammond to Isaac Hayes and Van Morrison. The album also features a wealth of hugely talented and accomplished musicians, including backing vocalist Kudisan Kai, former backing vocalist for the likes of Elton John, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Beck, Sting, Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott. Also present; Grammy winning keyboardist Jon Gilutin, who has spent years working with some of the industry’s most respected and iconic artists including Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Jackson Browne, Celine Dion, Bonnie Rait and Carole King. You’ll also hear the talents of acclaimed guitarist Michael Toles. Most well-known for being a part of the Stax Records group The Bar Kays, and for his contributions on famous records by Issac Hayes, Al Green, BB King, Johnny Taylor, Rufus Thomas, Albert King to name just a few.
Dakota Jones are a rising funk, soul and blues rock band from Brooklyn, New York City. Comprising of Tristan Carter-Jones (vocals), Scott Kramp (bass) Steve Ross (drums), and acclaimed musician Randy Jacobs (guitar) - former member of Was(Not Was) who has recorded for Seal, Bonnie Raitt, Tears for Fears, Elton John and many others. Though Carter-Jones and Ross first met in 1999 whilst at primary school, the band formed years later following a series of home jam sessions in 2016. The band’s collective alias originates from Carter-Jones’s middle name, ‘Dakota’. Dakota Jones have since released a string of acclaimed singles and EPs as well as received international attention for their track, ‘Have Mercy’ after it featured on Netflix’s 2019 film, Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park – and now after years of hard work and determination, the band are finally set to reveal their long awaited debut album. “We’d been regularly releasing EPs, waiting for our chance to come, and wondering what that would look like,” says Carter-Jones. “We didn’t realise until we started making this record that we needed to stop waiting for some break to come along, and just do it ourselves, independently.”
“Black Light really dives into a place of funk soul and everything that comes with it. There’s joy and dancing, sleek guitar licks and funky bass slaps. There’s pain and longing, and there’s the feeling of relief when you come out of that place and find your joy and purpose again. Black Light is my story.”
• Although the album was produced by David Tickle, Belinda’s sole album for the Chrysalis label in 1996
saw her re-united with the writers of her biggest chart successes, Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley and fellow
Go-Go Charlotte Caffey. Nowels’ “In Too Deep” reached # 6 and Roxette’s Per Gessle’s “Always
Breaking My Heart” was another Top 10 hit. “Love In The Key Of C” followed them into the charts,
while the fourth hit “California” features backing vocals from none other than Brian Wilson.
• The two bonus LPs feature seventeen tracks: non-album B-sides, including covers of “Jealous Guy” and
“The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan”, plus “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” – Belinda’s contribution to the soundtrack
of the Disney film “Hercules”, a cover of the Sex Pistols’ “Submission” recorded with Radiator for a
compilation album, plus live and acoustic versions of her earlier hits, and three very rare remixes.
• This anniversary box set contains three LPs pressed on 180g vinyl, in individual outer and inner sleeves,
plus a 12 x 12 booklet, all in a lift-off lid box.
r d1. Remember September JPO Club Pipes
[s] d2. Remember September [Beam’s Club Mix]
[t] d3. Remember September [Beam’s Vocal Mix]
[u] e1. Big Scary Animal [live]
[v] e2. I Get Weak [live]
[w] e3. Leave A Light On [live]
[x] e4. Live Your Life Be Free [live]
[y] f1. In Too Deep [live]
[live]
[xa] f3. In Too Deep [acoustic live version]
[xb] f4. Circle In The Sand [acoustic live version]
Southern Avenue Announces New Album, ‘Be The Love You Want’. Out August 27 via Renew Records/BMG, produced by Multi-Grammy Winner Steve Berlin
(Memphis, TN) – Memphis soul powerhouse Southern Avenue has announced the release of their third full-length album. BE THE LOVE YOU WANT was produced by multi-GRAMMY® winner, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Deer Tick, Susan Tedeschi, Jackie Greene), and co-produced by Ori Naftaly. The album, arriving via Renew Records/BMG on August 27, 2021, is preceded by today’s release of the sultry first single, “Push Now,” available at all DSPs and streaming services.
BE THE LOVE YOU WANT is Southern Avenue’s most ingenious and personal effort thus far. Since their inception, the band has produced a wide-ranging collection of original music – predominantly co-written by Israeli-born guitarist Ori Naftaly and powerhouse lead vocalist Tierinii Jackson – that links them to their home city’s glorious past while at the same time, demonstrates their ambitious intent to evolve Memphis music to contemporary effect.
BE THE LOVE YOU WANT sees Southern Avenue teaming up with artists like multi-GRAMMY® award-winning pop superstar Jason Mraz and certified Platinum producer Michael Goldwasser from Easy Star All-Stars on “Move Into The Light” for a churning, funk-blasted burner. Besides writing with him on the first single, the band also collaborated with Cody Dickinson from North Mississippi Allstars for the song “Heathen Hearts.” The songwriting core grew within the band as well, as drummer Tikyra Jackson and bassist Evan Sarver collaborated to co-write “Let’s Get It Together” and “Pressure.”
The band brilliantly bridges the power of Memphis soul with jamband liberation, gospel blues, and R&B to craft their own timeless brand of American music. The ambitious sonic approach expertly complements BE THE LOVE YOU WANT’s rich themes of self-love, self-empowerment, personal accountability and the desire to push through towards something greater in life.
• Although the album was produced by David Tickle, Belinda’s sole album for the Chrysalis label in 1996
saw her re-united with the writers of her biggest chart successes, Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley and fellow
Go-Go Charlotte Caffey. Nowels’ “In Too Deep” reached # 6 and Roxette’s Per Gessle’s “Always
Breaking My Heart” was another Top 10 hit. “Love In The Key Of C” followed them into the charts,
while the fourth hit “California” features backing vocals from none other than Brian Wilson.
• The two bonus LPs feature seventeen tracks: non-album B-sides, including covers of “Jealous Guy” and
“The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan”, plus “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” – Belinda’s contribution to the soundtrack
of the Disney film “Hercules”, a cover of the Sex Pistols’ “Submission” recorded with Radiator for a
compilation album, plus live and acoustic versions of her earlier hits, and three very rare remixes.
• This anniversary box set contains three LPs pressed on 180g vinyl, in individual outer and inner sleeves,
plus a 12 x 12 booklet, all in a lift-off lid box.
r d1. Remember September JPO Club Pipes
s d2. Remember September [Beam’s Club Mix]
[t] d3. Remember September [Beam’s Vocal Mix]
[u] e1. Big Scary Animal [live]
[v] e2. I Get Weak [live]
[w] e3. Leave A Light On [live]
[x] e4. Live Your Life Be Free [live]
[y] f1. In Too Deep [live]
[live]
[xa] f3. In Too Deep [acoustic live version]
[xb] f4. Circle In The Sand [acoustic live version]
Dynamite Cuts 45s series is proud to release another double-pack; loaded with jazz funk 7” wonders. F.B.I. (Funk Band Inc) was the UK’s original Jazz-funk band. Four tracks from this timeless LP are now on 7” for the first time. Originally released in 1977, this LP is now massive with the collectors, and is in the ‘must-have’ category. The incredible ‘Bad Deal’ (my personal favorite), and, yes, the outstanding, “Talkin about love”, are both on there. This Dynamite Cuts release is a gatefold edition; with some previously unseen photos of the band. Unmissable
Things become intangible. On his 3d album "Take Care Of Me", Murena Murena does an about-turn: his new songs are silhouette vehicles in the reverse of all traffic formulas that strive for speed and progress. You can also do it with your back on the floor, you can also go backwards! In Murena Murena's Augmented Reality Roll, language, rhythm and harmony always turn and expand in the opposite direction. The direction we / they came from. If the idea of a monoposto was to replace the front passenger with a rear-view mirror, and from then on to let the driver run the distance forwards and backwards in the driver's eye, then you can also carry out a U-turn while sitting on a chair with eyes painted on the lids. A mandrill will quickly become the Sphinx. And a hawk moth sees just as much as a fire bug. Dry sump lubrication in the box: camshafts driven by a spur gear cascade ensure additional turbulence of the helium mist in the crankcase through their rotary motion. Of course, that's hard to believe. Gone, the wet sump lubrication of ,Shame Over,! You, listener, now have to grab the ropes yourself and perform wave-like movements, pull the ropes and let them pop. If your eyes go black, you have both hands free again.
After the release of ‘Kuarahy’ concurred with the blast of the worldwide pandemic and all the consequences it has generated, WHITE STONES - Martín Mendez’s project (OPETH’s bass player) - are ready to launch their second record.
When WHITE STONES released ‘Kuarahy’ they became the first Spanish band signed to Nuclear Blast Records, cementing their first album as an unprecedented milestone. Now, with ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’, the band returns with a more compact sound, having been hard at work ensuring the utmost attention to every detail for a result that is even better than the first record.
The topics covered on this second album draw on the feelings that Martín himself affirms he has lived through during the lockdown imposed by the covid-19 pandemic. “I started it very calmed in March when »Kuarahy« was released and the lockdown started. I wrote the new record and it just flowed so well. It’s my point of view, of the feelings I had during the lockdown period, in this weird year. I took advantage of the moment and I feel excited about it”, reveals the musician.
The most outstanding musical elements on this new record are the disparate genres that manage to co-exist. There is an element of aggression, that can be seen rearing its head in an instrumental frenzy, as well as soft and delicate intricacies that develop an atmosphere which surrounds the listener. There are distinct dynamics among the songs, with interludes allowing the listening to take a breath and appreciate what they’re hearing.
The writing process of ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ has been pretty similar to the previous ‘Kuarahy’ but with some clear changes. Martín composed all of the instrumentals for the album but, as he says, “I’ve left sections open to the interpretation of each of the other musicians, both in the drums and in the vocals. Eloi wrote the lyrics this time and we then workshopped them together whilst working out the vocal parts to get the final result in the studio”.
WHITE STONES once again recorded at Farm Of Sounds Studios (Barcelona), owned by their singer Eloi. They were satisfied with the sound of ‘Kuarahy’ and the experience of the recording of that album and the comfort of making everything with their own tools made it all easier. “Everything has been ‘homemade’ because it’s a way of working and a philosophy I like. You have more control and you can better enforce your ideas”, Méndez explains -who also created the cover for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ together with Sandra, his partner for many years.
The final mix and mastering of this second album was done by Jaime Gómez Arellano at Orgone Studios (UK) because the band were more than satisfied with the work he did on ‘Kuarahy’ and they wanted to repeat that great experience. Eloi, as the singer and also the guy who recorded the music sent to Orgone Studios, acknowledges “the recording had more experience and a better sound quality because we made better decisions during the pre-production thanks to a higher level of self-awareness of ourselves as a band. Jaime knew us better too, so that simplified the process and in turn helped to make »Dancing Into Oblivion« as good as it can be”.
The line-up has been enhanced with the participation of the multifaceted Joan Carles Marí Tur on drums (who also plays in other bands like FACE THE MAYBE). The guitar solos were the job of Joao Sassetti (who was already a member of the touring line-up of WHITE STONES). Sassetti lives in Portugal and he couldn’t be in the studio in Barcelona, so he recorded his solos and digitally sent them over for integration into the final songs. The recording of the instruments has been more organic and as Boucherie says. “The original sound has been retained as much as posible in each and every element” and it has brought a natural/raw touch for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ just as the band had hoped and expected.
Canadian collective The Hello Darlins, dubbed “the Broken Social Scene of
Americana”, release their first full-length LP Go By Feel on June 11, 2021.
With over 500,000 combined Spotify streams for their initial three singles, it’s
safe to say there’s a lot of anticipation for their debut album. The buzz began
building almost immediately after the Calgary, Alberta-based Americana collective debuted on the scene in early 2020, with American Songwriter calling the
group “the product of a talented pool of session musicians craving more,” while
Americana UK stated, “It’s great to see a band put together by the talented
folks who would usually be ‘behind the scenes.’”
So, who exactly are The Hello Darlins? The seeds of the band took root in 2016
when vocalist/producer Candace Lacina crossed paths again with keyboardist/
producer Mike Little after first meeting at a recording studio years earlier. Once
reconnected, they soon found themselves making music together in between
their work with other artists, an impressive list that ranges from Shania Twain
to Charlie Major, The Road Hammers to George Canyon as well as the late B.B.
King.
In short order, the couple began inviting others within their circle to participate, including Murray Pulver (Crash Test Dummies), Clay- ton Bellamy (The
Road Hammers), Matt Andersen, Dave and Joey Landreth (aka The Bros. Landreth), Russell Broom (Jann Arden), and ace fiddler Shane Guse.
On Go By Feel, this incredible collection of talent has forged a hybrid of country,
gospel and blues like no other, from the heart-wrenching ballads “Aberdeen”
and “Prayer For A Sparrow” to the classic country-rocker “Mountain Time” and
the album’s soulful title track.
Making music influenced by times of joy and sorrow is natural for Candace and
Mike, as both come from families with long musical traditions within Canada.
It all adds up to The Hello Darlins preferring to add “North” to the Americana
genre, a more than symbolic gesture that’s in line with a musical vision that will
continue to evolve as soon as the band gets a chance to play live with a lineup that could potentially consist of anywhere between five to nine players on
stage.
Until then, audiences will now be able to fully savour the tunes, musicianship
and production of Go By Feel, proof positive that teamwork ultimately leads to
exceptional results.
Having taken a break from music for a few years, South London’s ME REX began life in 2018 in the home of songwriter Myles McCabe experimenting with shouty, electronic bedroom pop. Armed with a slew of “surging gargantuan hooks” and themes of friendship, forgiveness, joy and dinosaurs, McCabe was quickly joined by longtime friends Kathryn Woods (guitar/vocals), Phoebe Cross (drums/vocals) and Rich Mandell (bass/keys/vocals). Now, graduated from producing songs at home to recording at Resident Studios in North London with Mandell behind the mixing desk: ME REX spent the latter half of 2020 bashing down the doors to the indie world with double EP ‘Triceratops/Stegosuarus’. Finding their penchant for constructing delicate threads of vocal layering to convey feelings of calm while building on luscious swathes of reverberated guitar and keys on single ‘Rites’, the band are not afraid to explore different musical concepts: shaping material that strays from traditional album and single structures that results in a sound that could easily find a home on the big screen as they do behind closed doors. Described as “making for both a potent and cathartic listen all round” by DIY magazine — as well as seeing praise from Stereogum, BBC 6Music, Radio X, Amazing Radio, For The Rabbits and Circuit Sweet — ME REX are back with a new and ambitious project ‘Megabear’, an album made up of 52 tracks that has no beginning or end but exists as a cyclical body of work.
Runnner's Always Repeating yearns for a sense of place. The project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman, Runnner's poignant reflections on the isolation and anxiety caused by a sense of rootlessness radiate with wit and charm. Self-produced and recorded wherever he called home at the time, Always Repeating documents this cycle of looking back and moving forward, of alienation changing to reconciliation. For Weinman, Runnner is primarily a solo endeavor with an ever - expanding musical community of musicians collaborating on his albums and shows, which at times have been known to feature up to a 7-piece live band (he also has a burgeoning career as a producer, notably working on Skullcrusher's critically-acclaimed debut EP for Secretly Canadian). Weinman completed Always Repeating last fall in Western Massachusetts and Woodstock using a mobile studio set-up. He played the majority of the instruments himself, including guitar, bass, trumpet, banjo, piano and synth. The goal was to create the perfect balance of intimate and melancholy songwriting through the lens of hi-fi/lo-fi dynamics, inspired by his favorite artists like Bon Iver, the Microphones, and Julien Baker. The 10-track collection is composed of five re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on Runnner's 2017 debut, Awash, and 2020's One of One EP. Although the songs were written over the course of three years, all find Weinman grappling with the same thing: feelings of uncertainty about his life. Always Repeating ultimately tells the start of Weinman's journey as Runnner, and his cyclical feelings of being connected and then disconnected from the world over and over again.
Runnner’s Always Repeating yearns for a sense of place. The project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman, Runnner’s poignant reflections on the isolation and anxiety caused by a sense of rootlessness radiate with wit and charm. Self-produced and recorded wherever he called home at the time, Always Repeating documents this cycle of looking back and moving forward, of alienation changing to reconciliation.
For Weinman, Runnner is primarily a solo endeavor with an ever-expanding musical community of musicians collaborating on his albums and shows, which at times have been known to feature up to a 7-piece live band (he also has a burgeoning career as a
producer, notably working on Skullcrusher’s critically-acclaimed debut EP for Secretly Canadian). Weinman completed Always Repeating last fall in Western Massachusetts and Woodstock using a mobile studio set-up. He played the majority of the instruments himself, including guitar, bass, trumpet, banjo, piano and synth. The goal was to create the perfect balance of intimate and melancholy songwriting through the lens of hi-fi/lo-fi dynamics, inspired by his favorite artists like Bon Iver, the Microphones, and Julien Baker.
The 10-track collection is composed of five re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on Runnner’s 2017 debut, Awash, and 2020’s One of One EP. Although the songs were written over the course of three years, all find Weinman grappling with the same thing: feelings of uncertainty about his life. Always Repeating ultimately tells the start of Weinman’s journey as Runnner, and his cyclical feelings of being connected and then disconnected from the world over and over again.
Freiburg based Italian stallion Enea releases his 2nd longplayer "Overview" on his own, soulful South-German imprint, Beatalistics Records.
The 10 track album once again showcases the versatile background of the former Bass-Player, who grew up on the picturesque Lake Constance. Having been a familiar name in the international Drum'n Bass scene for more than a decade, Enea now also takes us beyond the classic 170+ bpm rhythm structures to give us a proper "Overview" of his musical philosophy.
Comprising his typical softer rolling, Liquid based tunes like "Wonders" featuring label partner MC Fava, "Earthrise" with "Freebird" or "Moon" alongside the vocal talent Vavunettha, he additionally presents various influential styles throughout the album. "Interstellar Dub" and the dub remix of "Nuh Smile" featuring Kyrad from Switzerland lead us off the beat on dubby paths, whereas the title track "Overview", "Clouds" or the remix of "Fly High" with Meks Sample & El Tronic show his affinity for smoother Trip-HipHop grooves. By the way, you might recognize an organic and pulsating bass here and there, of course played by the maestro himself! This is warm and beautiful music for sophisticated and open minded souls. Enea!
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'Deutsche Krimi passionnel' oder 'Ostalgie fuer begeisterte Kranken'? Well, this album may very well have been the perfect soundtrack of some very obscured 5-year-planned and very mentally disturbing, for truly some very fucked-up alienating D.D.R. / East German Democratic People's Republic remake of Tarkovski's old sci-fi classic 'Stalker' and that somehow, thank God, never made it to the Elevated Socialist Working Masses, for otherwise that 'Berliner Mauer' would have collapsed much earlier and certainly with a hell lot of more drastic damage! I mean, ''Mein Selbstmord! Im Monschein hinter dem Baum!'', now, what psychotic poetry of Goethean-Nietzschean 'Faustian' 'Sturm und Drang Tragoedie' and Romantic Mass-Industrial 'Todestrieb' Mantra is that? 'Das Ewig Weibliche (oder gibt's vielleicht auch Das Ewig Maennliche?) des alten Werthers Leiden in Teutobuerger Schwarz-und-buchenwaldklinik?' For this dark synth-guided croonin' could have turned into the ultimate 'Alan Vega Suicide' Project of the Soviet Bloc, its bloody very last Collective Act! Mastered by Guy Tavares.
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Tré Burt is no stranger to coincidence. Much of his music career has been marked by chance encounters and happy accidents, the kind of stuff you see in movies but rarely experience in real life. It'd be easy to chalk such happenstance up to luck, then, but for Burt, being in the right place at the right time is a phenomenon born from his lifelong passion for music and his unwavering adherence to living authentically as an artist. 'You, Yeah, You' is Tré's 2nd full length album release though Oh Boy Records and is the follow up to his debut album release, 'Caught It From The Rye'. This new collection of original songs was recorded with the help of producer Brad Cook and backed by a talented cast of guest musicians including Phil Cook, Matt McCaughan, Alex Farrar, Amelia Meath and Kelsey Waldon.
Mondo is proud to continue its on-going celebration of the DC film universe, with an all-new limited edition pressing of one of the most iconic film soundtracks of all time: John Williams' legendary score for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE.
The marketing for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE cleverly described itself as a film that would make you "believe a man could fly," but no one involved in the film could be prepared for how that newfound belief would change the world forever. Now, nearly 43 years later, the superhero film industry shows no signs of slowing, but very few have achieved the visual and sonic miracle that the late Richard Donner and the inimitable John Williams were able to do with their epic origin story.
Featuring all new artwork by DKNG, Produced by, and featuring extensive liner notes by Michael Matessino, and pressed on 2x 180 gram black vinyl.
WSTR were born from the belly of Liverpool in
2014 and had a swift rise as a part of the
burgeoning UK pop punk scene alongside bands
like Neck Deep, Boston Manor and As It Is.
Originally released on No Sleep Records, where
they signed before they had even played a show,
the band's debut EP ‘SKWRD’ and debut album
‘Red, Green Or Inbetween’ cemented them as one
of the favourites of the scene and saw them tour
the world multiple times over.
Now on Hopeless Records, who are reissuing
these titles on coloured vinyl (‘Red, Green Or
Inbetween’ on purple & bone split and ‘SKRWD’ on
red & bone split coloured vinyl) after having been
out of print for years.
For fans of Neck Deep, As It Is, Boston Manor.
Born in Naples, educated in New York and now residing in Paris, drummer Francesco Ciniglio combines spotless drumming facility with substantial compositional flair, and has the capacity to move, reflect and express through his music. An in-demand sideman, Ciniglio has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Shai Maestro, Aaron Parks, Dayna Stephens, Seamus Blake and Tony Tixier. Following his debut solo solo release ('Wood', with Parks and Joe Sanders), Ciniglio returns as leader for his Whirlwind debut, 'The Locomotive Suite', a set of compositions for sextet that combine a personal metaphor of resilience with snapshots of his formative familial influences. Barcelona-based Raynald Colom (trumpet), fellow Paris emigrée Matt Chalk (alto) and Matteo Pastorino (bass clarinet) take the frontline duties, with Frenchman Alexis Valet on vibraphone and rising star Felix Moseholm on double bass.
Double Ultra Clear LP, Gatefold Jacket, Insert, Printed Inner Sleeves
A graduate from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Ashe has been lauded by the likes of The FADER who raved about her ‘effortless voice’; People called her music, ‘deeply emotional yet so fun,’ Consequence of Sound
described her songs as, ‘accessible yet emotional’ and NME declared she’s ‘a
formidable new force in the pop world,’ among other accolades. Ashe’s touring resume includes performances at Coachella with Big Gigantic, and opening
slots for The Chainsmokers, LAUV, Louis The Child, Lewis Capaldi and more.
On TikTok Ashe gained 1 million followers, hitting over 2.5 billion video views
and 2.5 million videos created. On Instagram she has over 950K followers and
growing, approaching 520K followers on Twitter, and over 7.3 million monthly
listeners on Spotify. Her double EP Moral of the Story Chapters 1 & 2 is out now.
In 2020, Ashe also released the single ‘Save Myself,’ which garnered over a
million streams a week last summer, while the official music video saw #SaveMyselfMV trend on Twitter worldwide after its debut, including the U.S. at #5.
She recently contributed an original song, ‘The Same,’ to the new film and
soundtrack, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, her second placement in the
wildly popular Netflix franchise.
Ashe made her stunning late-night TV debut alongside Niall Horan on The Late
Late Show with James Corden, taped at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall and
her daytime debut on Ellen at the top of 2021. ‘Till Forever Falls Apart’ is the
first hint of more exciting new music which Ashe and FINNEAS recently performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Ashe’s debut album Ashlyn includes 14 songs
which she describes as ‘...deeply reflective and honest, full of stories of my
experiences with fear and pain and turning those hard things into joy and independence.
I’m an experiential writer and there was no way I was going to make an album
that didn’t address my personal journey, from my brother’s death this last year
to my own experiences with emotional abuse. I think you have to be vulnerable
to create something really great and I believe I did that. Writing this album was
also an opportunity to show that I’m not just a songwriter and a singer but a
producer and a musician with a very clear vision for my art.
Joni Mitchell refers to herself like a bee, gathering stories like pollen and trying
to make honey from it, ‘whether or not the flavor suits people is something
beyond my control.’ I really tried to take that approach to writing this album,
making something I loved above everything else. I couldn’t be more proud of
Ashlyn and I hope many people happen to love it too.”
WSTR were born from the belly of Liverpool in
2014 and had a swift rise as a part of the
burgeoning UK pop punk scene alongside bands
like Neck Deep, Boston Manor and As It Is.
Originally released on No Sleep Records, where
they signed before they had even played a show,
the band's debut EP ‘SKWRD’ and debut album
‘Red, Green Or Inbetween’ cemented them as one
of the favourites of the scene and saw them tour
the world multiple times over.
Now on Hopeless Records, who are reissuing
these titles on coloured vinyl (‘Red, Green Or
Inbetween’ on purple & bone split and ‘SKRWD’ on
red & bone split coloured vinyl) after having been
out of print for years.
For fans of Neck Deep, As It Is, Boston Manor.
A vibrant electronic fusion of lounge, jazz, and disco is maybe not the first (or fifth) thing you would expect to hear from one of the world’s most renowned modern composers and ambient tape loop pioneers, but upon first listen, it makes so much sense that one wonders why it didn’t happen sooner.
After years of producing and mentoring slews of young artists in 1990s Williamsburg, Brooklyn, William Basinski moved to Los Angeles. There he hired a young studio assistant, Preston Wendel, who eventually introduced his own works to the curious composer. That spawned a creative partnership that inspired Wendel to persuade Basinski to haul out his saxophone. Five years later, SPARKLE DIVISION has arrived with their enchanting debut album, To Feel Embraced.
Produced by SPARKLE DIVISION at Basinski’s Musex International in Los Angeles, the duo were joined by a few notable friends: Mrs. Leonora Russo (who Basinski affectionately calls “the true Sicilian Sparkle Division, my Brooklyn Mom, the Queen of Williamsburg”) offers her sparkling voice to “Queenie Got Her Blues”; fabled free-jazz icon and genuine bodhisattva, the late Henry Grimes, contributed upright bass and violin to the aptly-named “Oh Henry!” (“Lotta babies gonna be born from this one,” Henry and Margaret Davis Grimes playfully declared); and London vocalist Xeli Grana offers her ethereal voice to the album’s meditative title track.
You Don’t Feel Like Home is Jack In Water’s debut album. It is a very personal work, where he looks back in his childhood memories and relationships, digging back into uncomfortable emotions and abuse, in order to process past traumas and appreciate the new and strong person he is now.
Rage, confusion, despair, self-deception, and introspection Madi Diaz cycles
through the full spectrum of emotions on History Of A Feeling,
her debut on ANTI-.
It’s an album that undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a
craft she’s spent years refining, and one wherein Diaz establishes herself as an
artist capable of distilling profound feelings with ease.
Diaz pulls from a range of folk, country, and pop leanings she is as much influenced by Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as she is the sonics of PJ Harvey
and directness of Kathleen Hanna. On History Of A Feeling, the Nashville based
songwriter comes to terms with the dissolution of a meaningful relationship.
By the end of it, she wills herself into a self-reflective state where she doesn’t
hate herself for being so heartbroken.
The songs on History Of A Feeling, are the most direct and introspective songs
Diaz has ever written. In the few times she’s gotten to perform them live in
front of an audience, Diaz describes the experience as one where she feels
acutely present even though she’s singing about emotions that started to take
root years ago.
It’s relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and great change in
some manner, and this profound sense of intimacy and camaraderie she seamlessly weaves into the songs was important to her.
“I wanted it to sound conversational, like I had just walked over to your house
and we’re sitting and at the end of your driveway talking just like we’re hashing it out in the same way that you’d call a best friend at one in the morning
because you needed to talk about what just happened.”
Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter and former frontman of The Ugly Americans and The Scabs, Bob Schneider has become one of the most celebrated musicians in the live music capital. Combined with his scruffy good looks and diverse musicals styles, Schneider's talent has defied genres. Combing elements of funk, country, rock, and folk with the more traditional singer/songwriter aesthetic, Schneider draws inspiration from the '70s with a modern twist reminiscent of Beck. His powerful lyrics tackle tough subjects about alienation, drug addiction, and lost romance. Schneider has won more than 59 Austin Music Awards including Best Album, Best Songwriter, Best Musician, and Best Male Vocals making him the most decorated artist in Austin music history. Schneider's fan base reaches far beyond the city limits of Austin. He started gaining national recognition when released 2001's Lonelyland, his major-label debut for Universal Records, followed by 2004's I'm Good Now. Since leaving Universal, Schneider went on to release more award-winning albums under Vanguard and began releasing "side projects" on his label, Shockorama Records. He has released more than a dozen albums and doesn't plan on slowing down anytime soon. Schneider and his team will be releasing a new record 'In A Roomful Of Blood with A Sleeping Tiger' dropping in August 2021 as well numbers live shows all throughout Texas.
Fractal City, the latest Cubenx album is a collection of terrestrial jams and arachnean ambient ballads that are particularly apt for urban listening. If its predecessors cracked the musical codes in force and shone by the versatility of their references, this new opus offers its listener an intense and symbolic sound environment.
The raw material of Fractal City was first conceived as a series of sound patches, designed to run in parallel with Canadian digital artist Maotik's installation. Broadcasted in real-time by generative patches reacting to various external and non-human data, those musical excerpts have been rendered in hundreds of nuances and extended over infinite durations. This unusual approach confers to the recording of the finished album's outstanding immersive strength.
Recorded live on a single track over a short period of a few weeks, the nine compositions of Fractal City capture the obsessions of its author for postmodern urban landscapes, and the revelation of new perspectives on the city of Paris.
The opening piece `Ssarg´ seems to hide the figure of the Mexican ambient producer Jorge Reyes. Cubenx built a cocoon of energetic layers, a new home of the mystical kind harmoniously integrated in a flourishing rainforest ecosystem.
`Transect ´refers to the urban development model of the same name, which is based on a division of the city into autonomous "fractal" zones. It also echoes the concept of "metro polarities" which considers the city as a mosaic of social groups. "By cycling in the evening with a friend, we could get away from the city centre to the suburbs of Paris. The contrasts are striking. You move from chic districts to bedroom communities, from industrial zones to improvised caravan camps. But there is a kind of energy in this heterogeneity that pushes you to always pedal further."
A few miles away, it would look like Art and urbanism have tried to level the cultural and social discrepancies of the outskirts of Paris. "Architectural sites like the Arcades of Bofill are splendid. There are completely extravagant projects, which seem to emerge from nowhere."
These buildings with ambitious aesthetics off the beaten tourist track, deteriorate over time and often remain far from the expectations of the local population. A feeling of nostalgic beauty is particularly perceptible on the slowest and most introspective ballads of the album as 'Urban Decay', 'Hagel' or 'Axe Majeur'. The producer leaves nonetheless no room for melancholic emptiness. "Every time, I have the impression that urban culture is taking its rights back and that young people appropriate the places in one way or another."
Just like `Transect', ` Quantified' and `Fractal City' present themselves as mirrors of a daily urban life in constant motion. All three are empowered by an overheated factory, which dispatches hypnotic beats and burst of analogue compressors with a clinical precision and direct them straight away to the reptilian areas of their listener's brains.
The sequencing leaves however space and time to take breath and makes way for aerial sonic excursions of spiritual and enlightened nature. On `Human Dilemma', Cubenx shows some concerns to opening the Pandora's box of transhumanist theories. While a long cosmic wave gives the listener a feeling of perfect fullness, a dizzying guitar distortion cast doubts on long term outlooks. `Smash Other' on the other way alternates gentle dissonances over an ocean of white noise and concludes the album on ethereal note.
With ´Fractal City", Cubenx eludes his irreconcilable love for shoegaze pop song and techno to concentrate exclusively on the production of mutant experimental materials. The result is an uncanny musical object, rich in image and sensation. Cubenx give us a guiding framework, enthralling enough to engage the listener to a tour of town. But he leaves it to the sole listeners to design their own projection of the city.
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JJ DOOM is the artist name for producer/vocalist Jneiro Jarel and British-born, mask-wearing maverick DOOM (AKA MF Doom).The nine track EP features tracks from the expanded Butter Edition of the duos debut album 'Key To The Kuffs' including DOOM collaborations with Clams Casino, BBNG, Del The Funky Homosapien, Beck, Thom Yorke & Johnny Greenwood. Originally released in 2014 as a limited edition picture disc, now available in 180g black vinyl.
"On paper, a full collaborative album from NYC's notorious rap villain DOOM and space age production from Jneiro Jarel can't fail. In practice it's even better. DOOM is in the form of his life here." Mojo
"No less quotable than he was in '99... heavy on the diabolical brainiac grifter guise that's fueled his post-KMD creativity for some 15 years, balancing knowledge and absurdity like a master." Pitchfork
"... it's poetry. The way he freeforms his verses and puts it all together, I don't think anyone else quite does it like that... GUV'NOR was my single of 2012. It's genius, that tune." Thom Yorke, Dazed
The redoubtable renaissance man Barrie K Sharpe is back with a scorching vinyl 45 showing he’s lost none of his edge or ingenuity in producing a potent fusion of funk, soul jazz and beyond. This effusive cut sounds utterly unlike anybody else and is testament to his flamboyant superfly style cementing why he is considered to being one of the burgeoning spearheads in the Acid Jazz movement of yesteryear.
It’s interesting to note he hasn’t stood still either and has been extremely prolific releasing three exceptional albums under the banner of Rhythm Rhyme Revolution and this slow burning dance floor groove is the perfect distillation of his recent body of work.
‘BaDThingz’ falls between the sensual and the spiritual like all good dance music and the direct ‘come on’ lyrics becomes an injunction to move on the facts not just suppositions!
The groove is the epitome of seduction itself with a funkified blessedness as clear as a bell. A fantastic homily signalling the virtues of sexual chemistry whilst highlighting the modern era of cutting edge studio production to sonic perfection. The groove is simply total atomic explosiveness and DJ Tabu is someone you’d definitely want cooing in your ear!
Aided and abetted by multi instrumentalist Gareth Tasker and trumpeter Kenny Wellington it seems your man is riding his groove to glory - with a bit of added polish from Fritz Catlin. This is going to have untold longevity in any DJ’s trunk of funk. Grab it now for a shock of pure pleasure. (Emrys Baird – Blues & Soul)
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English jazz-funk band Level 42 released their tenth studio album Forever Now in 1994. While Forever Now marked the return of original drummer Phil Gould, it was the last album before the band’s breakup. Featuring the popular singles “Forever Now”, “All Over You”, and “Love In a Peaceful World”, the album was a commercial success. It reached #8 in the UK album charts. Music critics were also generally favourable, with Allmusic calling it the band’s “best album since the mid-80s heyday of World Machine and Running in the Family”.
Tom Frankel and Dayne Harper, founders of the record label Council Work and purveyors of British underground dance sounds, make their debut as duo Frankel & Harper on Time Is Now's white label series. They serve up five killer cuts of explorative bass-driven production.
The EP opens with "Track & Trace", a smooth but high intensity roller that never gives you a breather from the heavy sub bass. The breaks that hit after the drop push the momentum for the rest of the record. "Ultraheat" features clever chopped up vocals and bubbling effects that create a skippy, upbeat shine to a forward beat that would be at home in the dark of the club.
More clubwise production on "Every Grain of Sand", where echoed samples give a cavernous space to the track which is filled by shimmering arps and the low-end rumble of bass, real late night business that rolls into "Heinous Fly Trap's classic heads-down garage sound. Shuffling house energy meets two-step on "Magnolia", bringing the party energy for
the record closer.
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Originally released on cassette by Good Person Recordings in 2016, Impressive Almanac is the culmination of Dan Shaw's bedroom experiments making minimalist post-punk. The entire album was tracked by himself at home shortly after moving from Seattle to his hometown of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Dan did not yet have any backing band at the time. The album shines with his raw and unfettered creativity, repetitive DI'ed guitars, and disaffected yet deeply personal lyrics about the banality of modern life.
Shaw says of the record: "Sharing this tape with friends in the Western Mass DIY scene soon led to the formation of Landowner as a full band. Even though we're a real band now with a real drummer and everything, the drum machines and repetitive riffs of these songs still serve as an important reference point for the vibe we strive to attain in our music today."
The album was quite formative for Born Yesterday Records. Co-owner and now Deeper bass player Kevin Fairbairn met Dan at a show in Western Massachusetts. Dan gave him a cassette of Impressive Almanac. When Kevin returned from tour, he was eager to show it to me and I quickly became obsessed with it. A year or so later when we were discussing starting a record label, we both knew that Landowner had to be one of the bands we talked to first. This release will roughly mark the three year anniversary of Born Yesterday's first release, Landowner's Blatant.
With or without a drink in hand, moderate temperature, no need to jump into the wet. One night AT the pool, not inside. Palm trees or succulents - not far from here, the vegetation has adapted to the situation. A soft rustling: Possibly crickets, probably also the wind. No traffic and certainly no civilization, which right now would probably only disturb with its long agenda of responsibilities. HYPNOSIS AND MUD - Healing hypnosis, healing mud. The half-frustrating, half-liberating feeling of saturated soil between the toes. A state of inner peace. Instead of a voice, you hear primitivist percussive explorations. A groping and grasping of the bare feet, with delicate toes. Abstraction is followed by the concrete: a walk through the ORCHIDEENGARTEN RUSE, an orchid garden close to the Bulgarian town and not far from the Romanian border. Digitally, but not unreal. Perhaps even better than reality - anyone can do that. The (unofficial) soundtrack to this would not only make the Canadian composer Mort Garson happy. A lady‘s shoe kindly looks at us. If you turn around, you arrive on the other side: A LINE HAS TWO SIDES. Conundrum-like images, dissolved one-dimensionality. Candid narrative ambiance. A clarinet calls to duty. Civilization and traffic after all? SUNBEAMS ON YOUR CAR. Urgency, a clamor of voices - both in their best form. Yet again – the clarinet, the blunt reality: ONE NIGHT AT THE POOL. We are still standing here, we probably never left. A three-part journey – with delicate transitions. Three destinations: Now forever united. Dissonant and yet pensive. In the far distance the advertisement for the collected works of Meredith Monk. Hair erect, the little skin nerves contract, goosebumps - at last!
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Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde sings Bob Dylan.
The songs were recorded in lockdown by Chrissie and her Pretenders bandmate James Walbourne, almost entirely by text message. James would record an initial idea on his phone and send it off to Chrissie to add her vocal, before the tracks were mixed by Tchad Blake (U2, Arctic Monkeys, Fiona Apple). The nine-track album will be released via BMG on 21st May.
Speaking about how the album came together and its inspiration, Chrissie says:
‘A few weeks into lockdown last year, James sent me the new Dylan track Murder Most Foul. Listening to that song completely changed everything for me. I was lifted out of this morose mood that I’d been in.
I remember where I was sitting the day that Kennedy was shot - every reference in the song. Whatever Bob does, he still manages somewhere in there to make you laugh because as much as anything, he’s a comedian. He’s always funny and always has something to say. That’s when I called James and said, ‘let’s do some Dylan covers’ and that’s what started this whole thing.’
Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde sings Bob Dylan includes Chrissie and James’ versions of In the Summertime, You’re a Big Girl Now, Standing in the Doorway, Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight and Tomorrow is a Long Time.