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At long last, after decades out of print, the Milan based imprint, Dialogo, dives into the legendary catalog of Cramps, bringing forth the first ever vinyl reissue of David Tudor's legendary LP, "Microphone", part of an ongoing initiative dedicated to bring the imprint's seminal output back into the light. Still mind-blowing nearly half a century after it was first released, now complete with a new English translation of the album's original liner notes, this is just about as exciting as reissues come and not to be missed.

At long last, after decades out of print, the Milan based imprint, Dialogo, dives into the legendary catalog of Cramps, bringing forth the first ever vinyl reissue of Costin Miereanu's "Luna Cinese", part of an ongoing initiative dedicated to bring the imprint's seminal output back into the light. Easily one of the most singular and important experimental albums of the 1970s that remains as engrossing, creatively riveting, and as ahead of its time today as it was in 1975, this is as exciting as reissues come. Complete with new English translation of their original liner notes, it can't be missed!

Der renommierte Komponist/Regisseur John Carpenter und seine kreativen Mitstreiter Cody Carpenter und Daniel Davies haben auch zum zweiten Teil der neuen "Halloween"-Trilogie, "Halloween Kills", den Soundtrack beigetragen. Wie der Film selbst bleibt auch Carpenters Filmmusik dem Geist dessen treu, was das Original von 1978 so großartig gemacht hat, und bringt es gleichzeitig fest in die Gegenwart. Die Musik ist unverkennbar John Carpenter: die düsteren Vintage-Synthesizer-Klänge, das atemberaubende Gefühl der Bedrohung, das mit nur wenigen dissonanten Tönen hervorgerufen wird. Doch mit einer breiteren Klangpalette, neuen digitalen Techniken und einem tieferen Sinn für Musikalität ist der Score zu "Halloween Kills" das Werk eines Meisters, der auch nach fast 50 Jahren in seiner Karriere immer wieder an seine kreativen Grenzen geht und neue Wege findet, seine Fans zu begeistern und zu erschrecken. John Carpenters hypnotisches Thema zu seinem Horror-Meisterwerk "Halloween" aus dem Jahr 1978 hat mittlerweile für Generationen von Kinobesuchern die Angst vor Slasher-Stalkern verkörpert und sich so sehr in die Popkultur eingewoben, dass es zum musikalischen Kürzel für das gesamte Horror-Genre geworden ist. Es sind nur fünf Noten, die auf einem Klavier gezupft werden, so spärlich arrangiert, dass es sich wie kaum mehr als eine Skizze anfühlt, so einfach, dass ein ungeübter Spieler es leicht aufschnappen kann, aber es ist eine der größten musikalischen Errungenschaften des Kinos. 2018 kehrte Carpenter zum ersten Mal seit "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" von 1982 zu dem Franchise zurück, das er mit seiner ikonischen Schöpfung ins Leben gerufen hatte, ließ die 40 Jahre an Fortsetzungen und Reboots unter anderen Filmemachern hinter sich und kehrte zu seiner ursprünglichen Vision zurück. Während David Gordon Green die Regie für den neuen "Halloween"-Film und seine Fortsetzungen übernommen hat, ist Carpenter geblieben, um ihnen ihre unverwechselbare akustische Identität zu verleihen, die zu "Halloween" gehört wie die Totenmaske und das schimmernde Schlachtermesser von Michael Myers.

Ever since the release of their acclaimed debut EP P'eau (2018) these Mechelen-based musicians have been honing their craft in songwriting and production, building a new home studio to record future material while also expanding from a three-piece to a five-piece ensemble. By adding singer/percussionist Stefan De Graef (Psychonaut) and guitarist/singer Sander Rom (L'Itch) to their ranks, HIPPOTRAKTOR have become a more versatile outfit able to employ a broader palette of sounds, taking the band's earlier instrumental prog metal sound to new heights. Taking notes from the best moments in contemporary progressive and post metal, HIPPOTRAKTOR capture the awe-inspiring power of nature_from the delicacy of the first falling leaf to the massive cosmic energy of the sun. By combining the big, catchy riffs and the rhythmical prowess of Gojira with the relentless but equally groove-loaded complexity of Meshuggah, Meridian delivers an overwhelming experience of sound, presenting the listener with sentiments that are recognisable, but with an intensity that seems larger-than-life. "Meridian finds its origin in everyday moods, taken out of context and morphed into a stylised version that re- flects the dreamer in me," explains main songwriter and guitarist Chiaran Verheyden. "It tells the story of someone who's lost in a world too massive to comprehend, and seeks answers in places where none can be found. Meridian was written as an attempt to distillate what I felt but couldn't put into words." As the main vocalist in the group, finding these words was the job of Stefan De Graef, who carried over his fascination for philosophy and religion from his other band Psychonaut. "Meridian tells the story of a solitary wanderer on the Earth in the absence of other beings," explains Stefan. "Without anyone to share knowledge and history with, the protagonist is forced to create his own truths and stories about the nature of life, consciousness and the universe. The protagonist begins to personify and deify his surroundings, assigning sentience to the trees, the mountains, the wind, the waters etc. for they are his only companions in this desolate world." Essentially, Meridian is an exploration of the evolutionary theory of naturism, which was put forth by German scholar Max Mu"ller in the 19th century, and which argues that religion finds its origin in the deification of the forces of nature by early human beings. By juxtaposing this sociological theory with seven tracks that unfailingly conjure images of the earth, sea and sky, HIPPOTRAKTOR have created an analogy that enlarges the imaginative quality of their music to (literally) epic proportions. Combining the best of prog, groove and post-metal, Meridian comprises an incredible ride for fans of soaring hooks, technical riffing and earth-shattering breakdowns. Limited bluegreen-grey single colour vinyl edition, gatefold! FOR FANS OF Meshuggah, Periphery, Cloudkicker, Intronaut, Animals As Leaders, Gojira, Skyharbor, Psychonaut

Der renommierte Komponist/Regisseur John Carpenter und seine kreativen Mitstreiter Cody Carpenter und Daniel Davies haben auch zum zweiten Teil der neuen "Halloween"-Trilogie, "Halloween Kills", den Soundtrack beigetragen. Wie der Film selbst bleibt auch Carpenters Filmmusik dem Geist dessen treu, was das Original von 1978 so großartig gemacht hat, und bringt es gleichzeitig fest in die Gegenwart. Die Musik ist unverkennbar John Carpenter: die düsteren Vintage-Synthesizer-Klänge, das atemberaubende Gefühl der Bedrohung, das mit nur wenigen dissonanten Tönen hervorgerufen wird. Doch mit einer breiteren Klangpalette, neuen digitalen Techniken und einem tieferen Sinn für Musikalität ist der Score zu "Halloween Kills" das Werk eines Meisters, der auch nach fast 50 Jahren in seiner Karriere immer wieder an seine kreativen Grenzen geht und neue Wege findet, seine Fans zu begeistern und zu erschrecken. John Carpenters hypnotisches Thema zu seinem Horror-Meisterwerk "Halloween" aus dem Jahr 1978 hat mittlerweile für Generationen von Kinobesuchern die Angst vor Slasher-Stalkern verkörpert und sich so sehr in die Popkultur eingewoben, dass es zum musikalischen Kürzel für das gesamte Horror-Genre geworden ist. Es sind nur fünf Noten, die auf einem Klavier gezupft werden, so spärlich arrangiert, dass es sich wie kaum mehr als eine Skizze anfühlt, so einfach, dass ein ungeübter Spieler es leicht aufschnappen kann, aber es ist eine der größten musikalischen Errungenschaften des Kinos. 2018 kehrte Carpenter zum ersten Mal seit "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" von 1982 zu dem Franchise zurück, das er mit seiner ikonischen Schöpfung ins Leben gerufen hatte, ließ die 40 Jahre an Fortsetzungen und Reboots unter anderen Filmemachern hinter sich und kehrte zu seiner ursprünglichen Vision zurück. Während David Gordon Green die Regie für den neuen "Halloween"-Film und seine Fortsetzungen übernommen hat, ist Carpenter geblieben, um ihnen ihre unverwechselbare akustische Identität zu verleihen, die zu "Halloween" gehört wie die Totenmaske und das schimmernde Schlachtermesser von Michael Myers.

The second volume of music from the hit Fox TV show ‘Bob’s Burgers’. The Emmywinning, top-rated show was named one of the 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time
by TV Guide.
In addition to the show’s cast, the album features high-profile guests including Adam
Driver, Tiffany Haddish, Jenny Slate, Daveed Diggs, Max Greenfield, Toddrick Hall,
Aparna Nancherla and Matt Berninger (of the National).
The ‘Bob’s Burgers’ audience is wide-ranging: strong performance with 15-25 year
olds, median viewing age of 37, 35 share among males 35-54 and a 16 share of
females in the same group.
Campaign will include promotion from the cast and show production team.
‘The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2’ includes nearly every single musical morsel
from Seasons 7 through 9.
This 90-song smorgasbord will feature the Belcher family - Bob (H. Jon Benjamin),
Linda (John Roberts), Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen
Schaal) - as well as the show’s numerous recurring and special guests.
For fans of the show, enjoying the music of Bob’s Burgers on its own is both an
irresistible to-go bag and ultimately a world unto itself. Lose yourself in the strangely
epic disco celebration ‘Hot Pants Rain Dance’, sing along with the musical theatre
gem ‘The Wedding Is My Warzone’, or do whatever you’re gonna do to ‘Sexy Little
Tiger’ but don’t miss ‘The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2’.

Those well-acquainted with Los Angeles-based DJ and producer Wheez-ie can attest to his masterful dexterity both behind the decks and in the studio. For the uninitiated, his forthcoming release serves as another testament to the timely-yet-timeless quality his productions have since become championed for. Finding common ground through an emphasis on genre hybridization, Wheez-ie's latest offering, Horizons, benevolently marks the next entry in the rapidly growing catalog of John Frusciante and Aura T-09's Evar Records.

Set for release on October 1st, this 4-track collection has already received advance support from the likes of Nina Kraviz, Sherelle (with the track "Shut the Door" being featured as part of her official BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix), VTSS, Cera Khin and fellow Evar signee Kilbourne, exemplifying how Wheez-ie's tunes are not only certifiably rave-ready but can find a happy home in DJ sets of all styles.

Drawing influence from techno, industrial metal, darkcore jungle and big beat, Horizons culminates in a fierce exploration of sounds that efficaciously capture the essence of early 90s-era rave through a modern lens that is both perceptive and prophetic. While working from a referential or nostalgic place can be cheugy if not executed properly, the Texas-born producer is at his best when pulling from his encyclopedic knowledge of electronic dance music to provide that 2AM banger the dance floor didn't quite know it needed until the cathartic moment it explodes out of the speakers.

As exemplified by the depth of his discography, including recent additions courtesy of London's THEM imprint (2020's Negative Zone EP) and Perth, Scotland's Craigie Knowes (2020's ONLY HUMAN / WEAPONIZED), Wheez-ie has been fiercely applying pressure and challenging genre tropes from the very onset of his career, and doing so with immense care and understanding of nuanced cultural codes. Prioritizing feeling above genre, Wheez-ie's Horizons brilliantly showcases his multifaceted nature, with each track offering a different side of his dynamic arsenal as a producer and DJ.

"Oscillation associations

This album is titled Os. When I look at the shape of these two letters, O and S, I realize that they are a rotation and an oscillation.

Os is Dutch for Ox. An ox is a castrated male bull. The primary benefit of castrating bull calves is to temper their tempers, making it easier and cheaper for people to handle them. Os is also an abbreviation of oscillation, -cillation being castrated off. Oscillation means a movement back and forth in a regular rhythm, like breathing, push-ups, tides, swinging or sound. For this album Lyckle was not dealing with oxes or bulls, but with oscillations, guiding them through synths, handling their tempers. If I look at the etymology of oscillation, I learn that it stems from the term Oscilla, which were ancient disks depicting a face or animal on each side. Oscilla is a diminutive of os and means ‘little face’. They were hung in trees during religious feasts honoring various deities, as well as being thought of as purifying the air as they swung in the wind.

The wind chime with its little sunny face, smiling on the cover of this record was hanging in the windowsill of Lyckle’s studio, behind his back, where the wind would make it jingle, averting the Evil Eye according to apotropaic magic. In ancient Rome, wind chimes named Tintinnabulum were decorated with a phallus, which was also seen as a good luck charm. Phallic charm also appeared as objects of jewelry such as pendants and finger rings. It has been suggested that some types of phallic pendants were designed to point outwards in the direction of travel in order to face any potential danger or bad luck, nullifying it before it could affect the wearer.

When I take the record itself out of the sleeve, I see that there are two phalluses carved into the surface of the vinyl, like little ornaments. When you start playing the record, they start chasing each other, going round and round. They point in all directions of the room, but are never able to point at each other. Finally, I am told that it is recommended to listen to this record with the window open, allowing sounds from outside to blend in with the music. "

- Bernice Nauta

MILKY CLEAR VINYL.

''The lightness of the C86 Sarah Records guitars come with the significant counterweight of more ominous Factory Records basslines.The lyrics and vocals are stark, sandpapery and sardonic, akin to Jonathan Richman, Kiwi Jr and, Bodega.'' Ducks Ltd. - EP Review - God Is In The TV
Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. (formerly Ducks Unlimited), the bright jangle-pop duo of Tom McGreevy (lead vocal, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming), accomplish the impossible. The pair craft songs that play to very specific inspirations without drowning underneath them—immediately evidenced on their critically acclaimed EP, Get Bleak, and sharpened on Modern Fiction, their debut LP. “The Servants, The Clean, The Chills, The Bats, Television Personalities, Felt,” Evan rattles off. “Look Blue Go Purple is one I reference a lot with our production.” Echoes of ‘80s indiepop abound, but they never overwhelm. This is not a nostalgic record, after all, nor is it a derivative one. Instead, across 10 cheery-sounding songs, Ducks Ltd. explore contemporary society in decline, examining large scale human disaster through personal turmoil (hence the title, taken from a university course called Gnosticism and Nihilism in Modern Fiction, influenced by Graham Greene novels. Bookish indie fans, look no further.)

Writing the album was intimate. Tom drafted the nucleus of a song on an unplugged electric guitar and brought it over to Evan’s apartment, where the pair sat in his bedroom, placing percussive beats from a drum machine under nascent melodies, passing a bass back and forth, adding organs and bridges where necessary. “It’s computer music trying extremely hard not to sound like computer music,” Tom jokes. Fearful that limited and expensive studio time would kneecap the project creatively, eroding their charming naivete, the pair re-recorded the album in a storage space owned by Evan’s boss. Ornamentation through collaboration followed: there’s Aaron Goldstein on Pedal Steel in the Go-Betweens’ “Cattle and Cane”-channeling interlude “Patience Wearing Thin,” Eliza Niemi on cello (“18 Cigarettes,” a song loosely inspired by a 1997 Oasis performance of “Don’t Go Away”), and backing harmonies from Carpark labelmates The Beths (on an ode to friendship at a distance, “How Lonely Are You?,” “Always There,” and on the sped-up Syd Barrett stylings of “Under The Rolling Moon.”) While in his native Australia due to covid-19, Evan worked closely with producer James Cecil (The Goon Sax, Architecture in Helsinki) on Modern Fiction’s finishing touches—at one point, in the mountains of the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, recorded a string quartet (featured on “Fit to Burst,” “Always There,” “Sullen Leering Hope,” “Twere Ever Thus,” “Grand Final Day.”)

It’s danceable, depressive fun, with some relief: in “Always There” and “Sullen Leering Hope,” Modern Fiction’s faithful heart. “There’s a tendency in my writing, because of my world view, to be very bleak.” Tom explains. “A quality I don’t always see in myself and really appreciate in others is the courage to go on.” And yet, the record manages resiliency—enough for pop fans to fall in love with.

MILKY CLEAR VINYL.

''The lightness of the C86 Sarah Records guitars come with the significant counterweight of more ominous Factory Records basslines.The lyrics and vocals are stark, sandpapery and sardonic, akin to Jonathan Richman, Kiwi Jr and, Bodega.'' Ducks Ltd. - EP Review - God Is In The TV
Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. (formerly Ducks Unlimited), the bright jangle-pop duo of Tom McGreevy (lead vocal, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming), accomplish the impossible. The pair craft songs that play to very specific inspirations without drowning underneath them—immediately evidenced on their critically acclaimed EP, Get Bleak, and sharpened on Modern Fiction, their debut LP. “The Servants, The Clean, The Chills, The Bats, Television Personalities, Felt,” Evan rattles off. “Look Blue Go Purple is one I reference a lot with our production.” Echoes of ‘80s indiepop abound, but they never overwhelm. This is not a nostalgic record, after all, nor is it a derivative one. Instead, across 10 cheery-sounding songs, Ducks Ltd. explore contemporary society in decline, examining large scale human disaster through personal turmoil (hence the title, taken from a university course called Gnosticism and Nihilism in Modern Fiction, influenced by Graham Greene novels. Bookish indie fans, look no further.)

Writing the album was intimate. Tom drafted the nucleus of a song on an unplugged electric guitar and brought it over to Evan’s apartment, where the pair sat in his bedroom, placing percussive beats from a drum machine under nascent melodies, passing a bass back and forth, adding organs and bridges where necessary. “It’s computer music trying extremely hard not to sound like computer music,” Tom jokes. Fearful that limited and expensive studio time would kneecap the project creatively, eroding their charming naivete, the pair re-recorded the album in a storage space owned by Evan’s boss. Ornamentation through collaboration followed: there’s Aaron Goldstein on Pedal Steel in the Go-Betweens’ “Cattle and Cane”-channeling interlude “Patience Wearing Thin,” Eliza Niemi on cello (“18 Cigarettes,” a song loosely inspired by a 1997 Oasis performance of “Don’t Go Away”), and backing harmonies from Carpark labelmates The Beths (on an ode to friendship at a distance, “How Lonely Are You?,” “Always There,” and on the sped-up Syd Barrett stylings of “Under The Rolling Moon.”) While in his native Australia due to covid-19, Evan worked closely with producer James Cecil (The Goon Sax, Architecture in Helsinki) on Modern Fiction’s finishing touches—at one point, in the mountains of the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, recorded a string quartet (featured on “Fit to Burst,” “Always There,” “Sullen Leering Hope,” “Twere Ever Thus,” “Grand Final Day.”)

It’s danceable, depressive fun, with some relief: in “Always There” and “Sullen Leering Hope,” Modern Fiction’s faithful heart. “There’s a tendency in my writing, because of my world view, to be very bleak.” Tom explains. “A quality I don’t always see in myself and really appreciate in others is the courage to go on.” And yet, the record manages resiliency—enough for pop fans to fall in love with.

Impressions cast from lyric and rhythm – desire in movement, now articulated and set forth. Meaning arises between attention and action. In darkness what is it?

Air is breath, like light through crystal; it’s truth and sacred geometry. A version like ancient stone - the sample shows in layers, solid time. Compressed life. Pages packed together and seen from the edge, razor sharp and two dimensional. We are the salt we become, our children and ancestors. All at once, being forever; a verse, then volume and tome.

But we slow, dragging like ploughs tilling clay. The physical is a language like memory – translated into real. Turn from backwards to parallel, watch it reduce; remember downstream. The rock, earth and salt, our real reconfigured.

Type peels away, turning to sand in the wash. Disordering disorder - now still. Translation becomes everything, set sequence and entropy. Whole, to node, to nothing, and all. Not new, just another.

Vector Trancer’s journey continues; re-emerging into the central stream, deep dub glows and woven polyrhythm conjure vital knowledge for protection and expression. Viridis Mantra and outer canopy steam, we’re brought tense rhythm experiments and biospheric reverb – see further excursions in atmos and shades from Touch, Fax, Geometrik, or Ed Handley on a dark one.

Forty years ago, on July 8th and 9th in 1981, a group formed by the splintering of some of Bristol’s essential post punk bands, entered the hallowed studio at Berry Street in London to record their debut single. What would emerge was not only an exuberant post funk classic on the A-side, but also a wildly influential dub workout on the flipside, whose reverberations can still be heard today. Both songs have proven essential in very different ways.

A focal point for the unique punk-funk that was coming together in Bristol as the bridge from the 70s to the 80s arrived, Maximum Joy was formed by Glaxo Babies multi-instrumentalist Tony Wrafter and 18 year old vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Janine Rainforth. Soon they drafted in additional Glaxo Babies in the form of drummer Charlie Llewellin and bassist Dan Catsis, along with guitarist John Waddington, fresh from The Pop Group. The group set about making a one-of-a-kind mix of funk, punk, pop, jazz, dub, soul, afrobeat and reggae; creating a brilliant charge of danceable tunes wrapped around elastic basslines and complex percussion, punctuated by melodic horns and stabs of guitar, all of it highlighting Rainforth’s naturally enthusiastic vocal style.

Bursting at the seams, “Stretch” feels like it can barely be contained within the studio walls. Rainforth delivers a vocal performance that can only be found within the freedom of someone recording their first ever single. I’m not lying when I say there isn’t another song that sounds quite like it. The group’s love of funk is evident on “Stretch”, but the heavy influence of dub and reggae from their surroundings shapes the moody skitter of “Silent Street”. Here, the sing song vocals seem to drift across the heavy late night air. The two songs are wildly different, yet both could only have come from this key collection of players. Paired with the likes of The Pop Group, The Slits, The Raincoats and the On-U-Sound collective, Maximum Joy still stands out as a unique voice in the movement.

Y Records head Dick O’Dell would join the sessions and give the release a warm home in the UK while legendary 99 Records in New York took on the US release since Maximum Joy made perfect sense being equal parts ESG and Liquid Liquid. This 12” has been a staple for DJ’s in the know since day one.

“I’m back; straight back to my squared room too small since forever: premature truth This is not love at all, I can’t breathe
This captivity: it was before, it is now; it never ends!
It yells at me: what are you now? what! hurts me, accuses me; I don’t care, I’m ready, sharp! a vitreous, yellow eye consciousness becomes dream and nightmare, it’s a snap I despair, I inhale a revolution, eternal cycle, orbit, serpent the abdomen, ice; the common sense, deserted
I sweat out of these walls – you will never get me!
I vibrate, tremble, deseo the barricade unfold rough, cold, dirty
rectangles, vertigo in quarters I lose myself with them, I lose myself with you that’s heavy, firm, advancing holding us together
the acid points at the throat, bumping I hold it back; it holds me back
pains, purities, fantasies eyelids tighten, suicidal lovers: the fall…
and this culminating thrill owns our own selves”

‘Orgasma’ is out.

With 10 years in the 'biz' firmly under his belt, Jiah Wells is poised to release the first full-length LP of his Galtier project, Pulchra Es Elementis. Whilst Galtier is arguably one of the originators of the percussive style that would eventually fall under the Hard Drum label, the heightened theatrics of his recent output have seen him channel Blade Runner-styled sonics and move further away from absolute club functionality. Whilst Galtier's output often seems to soundtrack hypothetical, off-planet words, Pulchra Es Elementis turns the focus inwards: towards Wells' own emotional constellation, his evolving spirituality and his attempts to tap into planes of existence beyond the tangible. The album's Latin title translates to 'Elements are Beautiful' and encapsulates the artist's belief that there is grace in all of life's aspects; pushing past what we deem as good or bad, minuscule or massive.

Pulchra Es Elementis begins with Crystalised Larva, a brooding opener of breathy pad synths and expansive kick drums which reverberate through the mix as if the hits originate from the bottom of a valley. There's an indistinct sense of tension on this track, in part due to a central melody, which never resolves but only descends lower in pitch. This tension turns to explorative wonder on Wilfull Saviour, where a mirage of musical ideas come in and out of focus. Although the sonic worlds Galtier explores are internal to him, Wilfull Saviour still possesses that sense of a cosmic journey we've come to expect from Wells; an ardent fan of dystopian films and literature.

Continuing this emotional odyssey, Bruised, But Not Broken sees the artist push deeper into the psychological undergrowth; its murky tonality juxtaposes crisp, Reggaeton-inspired drum patterns with a heavily compressed one-note synth line that modulates wildly - cutting through the mix like a nagging thought that won't leave your mind. Next up is U Were, U Are & What U Will Be, one of the more club-ready tracks of the LP, which gets us moving with a snarling bassline and layers upon layers of percussive hits and inflections.

At Pulchra Es Elementis' mid-point is the LP's title track, a drumless interlude where blissful, shimmering synths create a patchwork of intensities. Galtier's approach to songwriting shines through here; ignoring musical pragmatics, he opts to feel his way through his compositions without knowing where they might end up. Following on from that weightless breather, Phantasiai turns up the freneticism with its head-spinning mix of drum programming and a glitched-out synth line that yo-yos up and down octaves. Things get even more furious on the Superficie-featuring Cavernam, a hollow Hard Drum banger inspired by Eskibeat sensibilities and designed to create a sense of self-implosion.

The album's penultimate track, (U Are) Beautiful, is a tale of two halves: beginning with a moment of serenity as synthesizers swell like an ocean tide before evolving into a marching crescendo of raw energy. Rounding off the album, Shine Forth hurtles through pacey drum work and all manner of strange zaps and klaxons before giving way to a final dose of nebulous ambience.

A musical journey unlike any other 'club music' albums, Pulchra Es Elementis is an LP that demands to be consumed in one sitting. Reflecting on his place within the universe and the musical landscape, the album could be viewed as a musical exorcism which sees Galtier working through and shedding huge chunks of his ego that stuck to him out of fear of the unknown. Pulchra Es Elementis begins on an insecure, overwhelming or, even, existential note before rounding off with a related sense of vastness seen with new, more positive eyes. It's a voyage we hope you will join him on.

House anthem Slo Moshun “Bells Of NY” is one of the most iconic gems in the Network catalogue and gets a timely reissue.

The lovingly remastered 12” includes the epic nearly 9 minutes long “House To House Mix” which started the fuss in the first place, plus the much loved by DJs “Xen Mantra Beefy Bells Mix” which like fine wine seems to have matured with age.

It’s almost impossible to explain the hype that exploded when the first copies of this landed in 1993. Network pressed a limited run of the first copies on the Dansa label with
bogus New York producer credits in an attempt to create mystique.

The combination of that relentless uptempo house piano and the break where everythIng slows down underneath a hip hop sample hypnotic proved irresistible, and saturation radio plays from KISS in London turned the track into an instant anthem right away.

The the boss of a rival label boasted they had sourced the track and paid “a fortune” to licence it for UK release. He was making it up as a stampede by labels to locate and release the track began.

Network sensed an opportunity to create major mischief and create even more of a buzz. New York garage producer and Network ally Andrew Komis was enlisted and happily donned the bogus ID of a new kid on the block NYC producer to do phone interviews with UK dance music publications.

His pretend story that Bells Of NY was his homage to the UK House scene laced with Big Apple Hip-Hop was eagerly printed by the magazines.

They were left red faced when the truth emerged that former Nexus 21 and Altern 8 member Mark Archer and his new music making partner Danny Taurus had in fact come up with the gem in homely Staffordshire and not glamorous New York for Network.

All the PR spin in the World would not matter a not if the record didn’t live up to the hype.

Bells Of N.Y did and still does.
It gave Network a first chart hit on their six6 label and more importantly is an all time House Music Classic.

During the production of two singles (This being the first) unfortunately William Stuckey passed away, below are some words from my partner in the project Brian Sears regarding our work with him pm his LP.

Brian Sears - I'm not one that likes to write but I wanted to say a few things about William Stuckey. William Stuckey passed away last in August 2021 at age 73, and is an artist that I've been working with since last summer. He was a key fixture in the Little Rock music scene and most notably was one of the driving forces behind the legendary True Soul label. Lee Anthony, the owner of True Soul Records, once told me that William Stuckey was the most talented musician he had ever worked with, and if you know anything about that label or Lee Anthony, that's quite a compliment.


When I reached out to William last summer about re-releasing his material, he ignored my calls and messages. Fortunately, I was able to reach his son, Erreyon who was kind enough to listen to me. I've worked a lot of terrible sales gigs in my past and "getting to the point" is sometimes a hard thing to achieve, especially when you're trying to talk about the music business and music that's 50 years old. But the point was simple, his music matters and deserved to be preserved. This resonated with William and Erreyon and they gave Euan Fryer and myself a chance.There was a memorable handoff of the master tapes in a parking lot and from that point forward I knew William Stuckey trusted me. Trust is something he had to do a lot in his life due to the fact that he was visually impaired and I'm thankful he trusted us. As I wrote before, there was a long process of transferring the tapes, but it was successful, and the album has never sounded so good. William had incredible hearing and was able to pick out details most might not detect. He was gifted and that shined through his own playing and voice through copious recordings. Speaking with him after he finally heard the newly remastered album, the way he had intended for it to sound, is something I'll never forget. Moments like that are really the reason why I feel so compelled to work with older musicians that didn't get a fair shake the first time.

Meeting William Stuckey face to face earlier this summer was one of the highlights of my year. We laughed and hung out at his place where he had lived for the past 50 years. I told him his music was internationally known and the re-release was well received. He was humble and felt like a long lost friend that I hadn't seen in a long time. I'll never forget that. I told him I wanted to take some photos, and I'm so glad I did.We had a good time and it was a beautiful summer night and as I left his place his neighbours noticed me walking to my car and wanted to chat, so we talked briefly and it ultimately lead to one of them getting into their car and cranking "The First Time" on the stereo system in their driveway. I wasn't sure if Stuckey could hear it from his house, but part of me knew he probably could and hearing his song echo in the background as I drove off and thinking about Stuckey and the time we shared and his music being appreciated by so many, even in that moment, is a wonderful memory. I'd like to think he was smiling.His music and legacy will live on forever.
Rest in peace to a great one.

10 tracks of beautiful Hip Hop music produced by Vienna Producer Mez & French producer 20Syl.

"We made this album after running into each other on tour in Brazil then again in France. We kept talking about needing to do a project together then eventually met up on my homies farm in Southern Oregon in the U.S. and made this record. Being in the same space and recording in the age of sending verses back and forth seemed a bit crazy in a sense but we really wanted to catch a real vibe of 2 mc’s in sync and where a real moment and connection was captured. We spent 7 days eating bomb food, living, laughing, writing, recording, and just vibing.

We asked for beats from a bunch of folks but ended up feeling the overall vibes of Mez, a Vienna based producer who I previously worked with on my solo material and whose beats just hit us and Rita as the perfect instrumentation to the album we wanted to create. The incredibly talented homie 20Syl (Hocus Pocus, C2C, AllttA) who I also had worked with before and who Rita collaborated with on his group's (C2C) album came in with 2 joints to round it out. We also got some amazing features from our folks Destani Wolf, Wes Restless, and the ever dope Georgia Anne Muldrow."

LP Vinyl include two exclusive remixes by Moar & Mossy P

DIALOGUE was conceived as a series of musical letters written back and forth between Luke Slater, Anthony Child (aka Surgeon), KMRU, Lady Starlight, Speedy J and harpist Tom Moth (of Florence + the Machine) at the height of the pandemic between 2020 and early 2021. Using the common language of rhythmic ambient electronics, each DIALOGUE features three actors in a sonic conversation of longform improvisation between 15 and 25 minutes in length, with Luke Slater the common denominator. The results are a brooding, psychedelic exchange of melody, texture, bass, oscillation, key changes and volume swells, which organically merge into complete compositions. It’s music that both reflects and transcends the artists' common reality of isolation – a meditative, consciousness-expanding conversion of musical ideas born from necessity. Cosmic but not escapist. And very much of its time.

Natalie Imbruglia returns with her brand new album Firebird later this year, kicking off with the first single 'Build It Better' in June. The single marks the first new music from Natalie in almost a decade after choosing to remain out of the limelight following her monumental success in the nineties and early noughties, accumulating 5 x UK Top 10 singles, 10 x UK Top 40 singles, 1 x UK #1 album, 3 UK Top 10 albums, 2 BRIT Awards, 8 ARIA Awards, 3 Grammy Award nominations and much more. The forthcoming new album was written and recorded between the UK, the US and her homeland of Australia, co-written with the likes of Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes, Romeo Stodart of The Magic Numbers, KT Tunstall, Eg White (Adele, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith), Luke Fitton (Little Mix, Girls Aloud), Fiona Bevan (One Direction, Ed Sheeran), Rachel Furner (Little Mix, Jason Derulo, Craig David) and more, and produced by Natalie and My Riot with additional production from Albert Hammond Jr, Gus Oberg and Romeo Stodart.

Beggars Arkive announce the LP reissue of Gary Numan’s
fifth album, ‘Warriors’, on orange vinyl. Originally released
in 1983 and co-produced with Bill Nelson, the album
continues Numan’s ambient-funk experimentations.
 “I still like a lot of the ‘Warriors’ stuff and Bill Nelson did a
lot of very inventive things on it which, because of our
differences, I failed to appreciate at the time. I think the
Mad Max image convinced a lot of people, the press
especially, that it was a sci-fi album. Much of it though was
actually quite autobiographical. Even songs like ‘The
Iceman Comes’ and ‘This Prison Moon’ were more to do
with what I was going through than anything sci-fi. Lyrically
I was already becoming overly focused on the career
struggle. ‘Warriors’ was written, in the main, in a hotel
room in Jersey. My girlfriend had just left me, I’d been
evicted from the house I was living in and I felt pretty much
alone in more ways than one. Despite its surface gloss of
futurism it was really very inward looking. To me the image
was meant to represent someone fighting for survival as
much as anything” - Gary Numan
 The achievements over his four-decade career (and
counting) are remarkable for someone who never made
any concessions to mainstream success. Seven Top 10
singles, including ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ and the debut
solo hit ‘Cars’; seven Top 10 albums, three of which
topped the charts; and huge critical acclaim, most notably
with the Inspiration Award at the prestigious Ivor Novellos.
 In a career that spans over forty years, the music evolves
and the themes change. But fans remain fascinated by
Numan for the v

Born in Brixton, a child of the Windrush Generation, Letts’ slippery and unorthodox career is somewhat hard to define, without taking a few detours around London, New York and Jamaica. He began his working life managing the dauntingly hip Acme Attractions on Chelsea’s Kings Road, where he made a mark with his attitude, dress and, especially, the pounding dub reggae that vibrated the shop’s walls. His first gig as a DJ at the short-lived Roxy in Neal Street, became mythical for turning a generation of punks on to reggae. They in turn hipped him to their DIY ethos resulting in his reinvention as a filmmaker. This led to a shed-load of music videos (Linton Kwesi Johnson, The Clash, Bob Marley) not

to mention documentaries on the likes of Gil Scott-Heron, George Clinton and Sun Ra.



In the ’80s, he was part of Mick Jones’ new venture, Big Audio Dynamite and his innovative use of samples were a core part of their sound. Listeners of his weekly 6 Music radio show are taken on a musical safari that moves seamlessly between time, space and genre. It’s not called Culture Clash Radio for nothing. So this latest bulletin from Letts HQ is merely one angle of a multifaceted personality, his take on the JA tradition of the cover version.



The history of Caribbean music owes a debt to R&B as many of the early island releases were cover versions of US 45s. Ska’s breakthrough commercially, Millie Small’s ‘My Boy Lollipop’, was originally recorded by Barbie Gaye in ’50s New York. Cover versions became quite a thing in Jamaica and Don, following in that tradition, has dug deep with a selection of interesting dubbed out covers including thirteen exclusives.



“A disciple of sound system, raised on reggae n’ bass culture my go to sound was dub. Besides being spacious and sonically adventurous at the same time, its most appealing aspect was the space it left to put yourself ‘in the mix’ underpinned by Jamaica’s gift to the world - bass. But that’s only half the story as the duality of my existence meant I was also checking what the Caucasian crew were up to not to mention the explosion of black music coming in from the States. That’s why this version excursion crosses time space and genre, from The Beach Boys to The Beatles, Nina Simone to Marvin Gaye, The Bee Gees to Kool & The Gang, The Clash to Joy Division and beyond. You’d think it impossible to draw a line between ‘em but not in my world. Fortunately, the ‘cover version’ has played an integral part in the evolution of Jamaican music and dub covers were just a natural extension.”



There’s a diverse mix of classic and new, with legendary figures like John Holt, The Tamlins and Cornell Campbell, mixed in with British veterans Mad Professor and the irrepressible Dennis Bovell, while (relatively) young striplings Kiko Bun, Emily Capell and Prince Fatty deliver the goods, with laidback Texan groovers Khruangbin also offering an exclusive bass heavy-delight.



The song choices are diverse, from French dubsters’ OBF’s renditions of ‘Sixteen Tons’, the miners’ paean popularised by Tennessee Ernie Ford in the 1950s, to Ash Walker’s refix of Omar’s ‘There’s Nothing Like This’ and ‘All I Do Is Think About You’, immortalised by the ill-fated Tammi Terrell and preserved here by Quantic (the latter two both exclusives). Being a Rebel Dread compilation, there’s a cover (by Wrongtom Meets The Rockers) of The Clash’s ‘Lost In The Supermarket’ while Don’s exclusive, naturally, is a rendition of Big Audio Dynamite’s debut hit, ‘E = MC2’.



“Truth be told I’ve wanted to work with the Late Night Tales crew from the get go. We’re talking nearly two decades such was the allure of their musical aesthetic typified by curators like Nightmares on Wax, The Flaming Lips, MGMT, Trentemoller, Khruangbin and countless others. Now being as old as rock n’ roll (born in ‘56) and having nearly 20 years of Culture Clash Radio under my belt I figured I was tooled up to musically juggle with the best of ‘em. But I wanted to carve out a space that was distinctly my own - something that reflected my musical journey and the culture clash that’s made me the man I am today.”

A Mountain Of One are set to return to the musical landscape with their brand new track “Custard’s Last Stand”, released 30th July through new label AMORE via Above Board distribution. It is the first new piece of music the band have released in over a decade.

”Custard’s Last Stand” shows the band, made up of musical soulmates Mo Morris and Zeben Jameson, have lost nothing in the past decade. Recorded over Skype during the coronavirus pandemic, with Mo now in Bali and Zeben in west London, it is a shimmering, modern classic, experimental but accessible, melodic and adventurous. As ever, it is utterly unique, made in a musical universe all of their own.

“Custard’s Last Stand” EP is out 27th August, and will come with an incredible Denis Bovell Dub Remix, as well as another new track “Stars, Planets, Dust, Me”. The full EP package will come with a dub remix from musical pioneer Dennis Bovell.

The forthcoming album will be released this autumn. The whole project has been mastered then remixed for a forthcoming album by the legendary Ricardo Villalobos.

When they first started performing, they quickly became one of the most-acclaimed bands out there, with the likes of i-D, Sunday Times Culture, Pitchfork, NME and more raving about them and their inspired and original approach, led by Mo and Zeben’s almost telepathic understanding.

Sold-out shows and awesome reviews followed with “Collected Works” and “Institute of Joy”, two phenomenal records that have stood the test of time, criss-crossing folk, jazz, dance, rock and psychedelia.

A Mountain Of One have collaborated to create a coming together of music and virtual reality. With NYX VX, the band have developed a virtual world, one that will help provide inspired opportunities for artists looking to identify, connect and engage with audiences on multiple levels. This is the first stage of a new world that people will be building out and inhabiting, as venue for performances, home for musical and visual archives, space for play and exploration. Welcome to 'Stars, Planets, Dust, Me'.

Far Out Recordings presents the peerless and criminally undervalued Quartin catalogue, beginning with the reissue of Jose Mauro’s forgotten masterpiece Obnoxius. Over the course of the 60s, Roberto Quartin released more than 20 albums in Brazil on his label Forma, by artists including the likes of Eumir Deodato and Quateto Em Cy. Selling the rights of Forma to Polygram in 1969, Quartin struck out for pastures new at the dawn of the 1970s with the launch of his self-titled label. Significant works and high-water marks for Brazilian music overall followed in that decade’s first year, with Victor Assis Brasil Plays Antonio Carlos Jobim and the aforementioned Obnoxius. These singular gems in Brazilian music, difficult to categorise yet compellingly haunting, have for too long gone unheard.

Today, very little is known about Jose Mauro and as a result those searching for some kind of insight on the man behind the music must attempt to glean what they can from the music itself. One rumour claims he died in a car accident shortly before the album’s release, a fact that could have lent his brief musical career a touch of mythology were it not for how scant the details concerning any other aspects of his life are. The political turmoil from which the album emerged is significant also; recorded during an era of oppressive state censorship, the album, like all the Quartin catalogue, is the result of steadfast defiance in the face of a crushing military dictatorship. While many musicians of the era fled the country, preferring their prospects in the affluent, liberated USA, rebellious, young musicians like Mauro chose to stay and reflect their anger at the authorities through thinly veiled protest songs such as the stirring ‘Apocalipse’. Herein lies the basis for a more dramatic theory; that Mauro was in fact abducted by the military! Whatever the truth, the mystery remains unsolved, and all that remains is his bewitching music, all of which is composed by Mauro and Ana Maria Bahiana. Production on the record was cancelled after Mauro’s death and it was never sold commercially until its rerelease decades later. What appeal does Mauro’s music hold to today’s listeners, forty-something years removed from its conception? Simply put, there is very little else that sounds much like it all. Take the title track of ‘Obnoxius’. A wholly singular piece of music, blending string-drenched melancholia with orchestral pomp, sunny psychedelic strumming with propulsive percussion, topped off with Mauro’s yearning vocals. The result is indicative of Mauro’s unique blend of sounds from Latin Jazz and samba to psychedelic folk and baroque orchestration.

Today, Obnoxius retains its strange, otherworldly appeal – A firm favourite amongst a small circle of deep diggers including Madlib, Gilles Peterson, Floating Points. Jose Mauro’s mournful and melancholic vocals create a dark, brooding atmosphere that stands in contrast to the usual joyfulness and high-spirited rhythm of the more prominent Brazilian music of the era. Despite this air of foreboding, Mauro’s confident baritones, chord patterns and sumptuous arrangements have the ability to induce in the listener an almost trance-like state of ecstasy. Mauro’s long hidden masterpiece, a complex and uniquely stunning work is being offered the chance to be heard by the wider audience it has always deserved. A second Jose Mauro release, A Viagem Des Horas, compiling more incredible tracks unreleased in Mauro’s lifetime, will follow, alongside other unreleased jewels from the Quartin catalogue, from the likes of Piri and Victor Assis Brasil…

(Deluxe Edition) (translucent tri-coloured vinyl LP + MP3 download code in spot-varnished sleeve)

LP comes in gold foil lamination jacket housing printed record sleeve with 1x translucent gold, black & white insomnia effect vinyl, marketing sticker and free digital download card. The Sharecropper's Daughter Bonus Vinyl contains six new tracks serving as a companion piece to Sa-Roc's already acclaimed Rhymesayers debut, The Sharecropper's Daughter, released in October of 2020. These new songs further showcase Sa-Roc's sharp skills as a lyricist, and her gift for captivating melodies and engaging content, featuring production from Sol Messiah and Evidence, as well as a guest verse from MF DOOM. The lead single for the bonus vinyl, "Wild Seeds" is a lyrical testament to the beauty, mysticism, and wisdom of the elders and ancestors who've guided and bolstered generations of Black women through history's assault and neglect of them. With a title inspired by the sci-fi novel Wild Seed by visionary author Octavia Butler, the song serves as a celebration of women such as Queen Nanny, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and many others, whose legacies inform future generations of their propensity to bloom under the harshest of conditions. "Just like wild seeds, we remain unfettered and unbroken, adding beauty and immeasurable value to a world that chooses not to acknowledge us," Sa-Roc states, "but our very existence is the only acknowledgement we require." Throughout the songs of The Sharecropper's Daughter Bonus Vinyl, Sa-Roc maintains a concise blend of thought provoking commentary and razor sharp lyricism. On the opening track, "Options", she delivers a raw and searing testimony of the dedicated yet, all too often, underappreciated artist, reminding us to give our flowers to the living while we're still able. "The Great Escape" examines humankind's tendency to try to mask the unsavory elements of our past we're either unwilling or unable to confront head on. Echoing both sentimentality and sorrow, "Reconstruction of the Heart" recalls some of Roc's childhood memories and muses on the many ways in which our earliest experiences can scar, strengthen, and shape the very core of who we'll become. The Sharecropper's Daughter Bonus Vinyl chapter fittingly comes to a close with "The Rebirth", which remarks on the plight of the vulnerable artist and the quest for balance between creative transparency and overexposure. Here, Sa-Roc labors through her discomfort and commits to being brutally honest about the experiences that have informed her expression and made her a better artist. Featured guest, the late MF DOOM continues this line of thinking, offering his own unique observations, "Quick as a quitter will fold, some of what glitters is gold. Same story is old, getting left in the blistering cold. Broken souls get remold with little arbitration. Fortune favors the bold as does incarceration." This bonus vinyl pulls no punches in showcasing Sa-Roc's continual growth as an artist who, as NPR recently put it, "is a modern day griot whose aura radiates calm in a world of chaos."

One of life's most difficult arts is learning to let go. You can try to cling to control in the face of a turbulent world, but the only constant we can count on is change—the tendrils of cleansing fire wiping away the old, new life springing forth from the dust and ash. So what's the point? Give yourself over to the depths. Surrender to the flow.

G.S. Schray's new solo album The Changing Account is an appropriate soundtrack for learning to cope with a world we can't count on. Each piece is full of elliptical melodies that swirl with the unstable logic of dreams. Flurries of piano, guitar lines, and other more alien instrumentation shimmer delicately, but before they coalesce into familiar shapes or rhythms they change, then change, then change again. Listening is a bit like falling asleep on a long road—with each passing song you're waking up somewhere new, trying to get your bearings in another strange world. How did I get here? Where are we going? It doesn't matter. Close your eyes, drift away again.

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.”

MEDWAY GARAGE UPSTARTS! 2nd LP! The Shadracks are a three-piece rock n’ roll group hailing from Medway, Kent. With timeless and expert precision the Shadracks play from 37.3 years in the past 33.7 years into the future. The actual origins of the group date back even further with their cultural appropriation of Babylonian 'Rhythm and Punk. A mere 3 years ago Huddie Shadrack and Elisa Abednego had a brief encounter in deserted parkland. Discovering sheared an interest in vacant park benches, herbaceous borders and beat music it became paramount that they form a group - and quickly. After the release of there self titled debut LP, a subsequent live BBC 6Music session for Marc Riley and a fast selling EP, Elle Meshack retired from The Shadracks to peruse a career as a Poly Styrene impersonator aboard a Tahitian cruise liner: SS Honolulu Baby. Fortunately for the bass bereft Shadracks an advert placed in the window of a local stationers was answered by a certain Rhys ‘King Nebuchadnezzar’ Webb. A meeting issued and after proclaiming "Oh merciful Marduck, may the house that I have built endure forever” Their followed a two-hour induction ceremony (in which to learn all the new tracks for their forthcoming long player From Human Like Forms and Webb, for it was he, was sworn into The Shadracks fraternity. From Human Like Forms sees The Shadracks achieving giddy new heights in their song writing and performing abilities - pushing their ancient sound 3.7 years ahead of the current lunar time module. Councillor Duxbury. 2021

Calypso developed into its modern form in Trinidad around the turn of the twentieth century as a primarily English-language topical song associated with pre-Lenten Carnival. By the 1920s, Calypsonians, as the singers and composers were called, performed in “tents” (yards covered by a tarp, union halls, and such) for the people of Trinidad and for tourists. As early as the 1930s, the genre was gaining a following outside of its homeland ; for example the British writer Aldous Huxley visited a tent in 1933 and wrote with admiration about calypso singing : “ The Calypsonians of Trinidad live in another ‘Zeit’; so the ‘Geist’ they obey is not the same as ours. In that, it may be, they are fortunate.

Today, beloved DJ, producer and songwriter Lauren Flax announces her forthcoming EP, Out Of Reality out August 6 via 2MR. Much of Out Of Reality’s cohesion comes from Flax’s expansive production, using simple elements to craft intricate backdrops for the questions posed by her songs. On the EP’s titular track, Alejandra Deheza (School of Seven Bells)’s crystalline vocals are woven against a delicate tapestry of arpeggiated keys, sparse percussion and haunting cello. Watch “Out of Reality” here.

Detachment isn’t always detrimental; sometimes you have to step outside to get a better view. Lauren Flax knows this - as a DJ, producer and songwriter, her discography is notoriously genre-defiant, consisting of an impressive array of solo tracks, collaborations, and remixes. The most recent of these – her mesmerizing take on Pale Blue’s “Breathe” - saw her experimenting with a new style of writing. “I wanted to explore that sound more,” Flax explains, “more of a synth exploration, textures with less beats.” The pared-down songwriting approach lent itself to thematic considerations as well: she’d been thinking about the repetitive nature of the life cycle - the Indian concept of Samsara - and felt a general disappointment at humanity’s lack of progress. On her new EP Out Of Reality, she washes that disappointment in lush sonic hues, stepping outside the quotidien for a new perspective.

Though its themes span beyond the scope of our current socio-political moment, Out Of Reality feels, right now, like an especially tantalizing proposition. Pandemic-driven escapism has bred a new crop of otherworldly music designed to transport the listener somewhere better. But Flax isn’t interested in escapism for its own sake - there’s still work to be done here on Earth, after all. Instead, through a combination of live instrumentation and ethereal synths, Out Of Reality grants us a respite from the real so we can return to it with a clear head.

160 gram black vinyl LP, with glossy color jacket, and 8 page full sized color booklet with lyrics, rare photos, and notes by Hamisi Delgado, Werner Graebner, and Salim Zahoro.

Formed in the mid-1950s, Kiko Kids Jazz created a stunningly unique sound amidst an explosion of Tanzanian guitar bands in the years leading up to the country’s independence. Defined by Salim Zahoro’s warm voice and the heavy tremolo of his electric mandolin, Kiko Kids Jazz incorporated their love of early acoustic Cuban Son, rhythms from their home town of Tabora, the exciting and competitive scene of acoustic/electric dance bands in Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi, the poetic strains of Taarab and Arabic music, and the tranquility of coastal Tanzania.

The results are both comforting and intriguing: expressive, strung out melodies on Salim’s mandolin and subtly com-plex percussion lock into deep grooves of thumping acoustic bass, jerky rhythm guitars, and Cuban-style trumpet breaks. The kind of sounds that can be approached from several rhythmic angles, until it all gels in the mind and soul.

Despite being one of the most beloved and innovative bands of their time, this is the first Kiko Kids Jazz LP ever re-leased, consisting of our favorite songs from 1962 and 1965, all beautifully remastered from original tapes and press-ings. We were fortunate to work with bandleader Salim Zahoro before his passing at age 85, shortly before the completion of this record.

Recommended for fans of Cuban Marimba Band, the Zanzibara and Ethiopiques series, Lipa Kodi Ya City Council, Original Music, etc.
Produced in collaboration with Salim Zahoro (1936-2021), Werner Graebner (Jahazi Media) and Hamisi Delgado. Licensed from Mzuri Records.

2023 Repress

Black Truffle is pleased to announce the first-ever vinyl reissue of Alvin Curran’s classic Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri, originally issued in 1978 on Ananda, the cooperative label run by Curran, Roberto Laneri, and Giacinto Scelsi. Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri (Light Flowers Dark Flowers) – its title inspired by an intersection in Milan – is the second in the series of four solo recordings Alvin Curran issued in the 1970s and early 1980s, preceded by Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden (1975), followed by The Works (1980) and Canti Illuminati (1982).

Each of these solo works combines field recordings with performances on synthesiser, various acoustic instruments, and voice, arranged in languorously paced, dreamy sequences. Far from the bracing pointillism of much musique concrete, the elements encountered on the meandering course followed by Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri – whether a frenetic piano improvisation, dense layers of Serge synthesiser and ocarina, or a monologue from Frederic Rzewski’s five-year old son, Alexis – often occupy the foreground of our attention for minutes at a time. As Curran explains, his approach is like that of a filmmaker in the editing process, working with “whole blocks of recorded time”. The purring of a cat, toy piano, a child counting, plaintive synthesiser tones, the cacophony of exotic birds at the London Zoo – each disappears into the next, until, on the LP’s second side, a solo piano performance takes centre stage, moving unexpectedly from percussive minimalist permutations to a halting rendition of Georgia on My Mind. A subtle yet stunning work that more than forty years on still seems charged with possibility, Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri arrives in a loving reproduction of the original sleeve, featuring Edith Schloss’ beautiful cover painting, remastered audio and with new liner notes by Alvin Curran and Francis Plagne.

For the Perth group, creativity and production hasn’t stopped in 2020. Despite
much of this year’s tour plans being put on pause, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have used their time off road to continue preparing themselves for the release of their fourth studio release, and an eventual blistering return to stages
around the world with a heavy-hitter of an album primed for the live space.
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have already given fans an early taste of the forthcoming SHYGA! era, with ‘Mr. Prism’ in August. The creation of SHYGA! The
Sunlight Mound, especially off the back of 2019’s huge LP And Now For The
Whatchamacallit, came together in a different environment for McEwan and
the results speak to the band’s evolution and McEwan’s evolution as a songwriter.
“For the first time in a long time I was home without any tours booked, no
work, no deadlines and I felt free to create. My writing process became ritualistic; every morning starting with a small walk to the local bottle shop at 11am
and writing whatever flowed, allowing myself to design in all styles without
boundaries, and not trying to theme the album early on. I haven’t had the luxury of writing this way since the first record, which I spent almost a year working
on. It felt like I was myself again, creating without opinion or constraints. I was
gliding through weeks with a day seeming to pass.

The Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition Original Soundtrack features over one hour of ethereal, surreal and organic music created specifically for the exploration of the Salt's surreal world. Blending eclectic electronic scores with sweeping, melodious soundscapes, Thommaz Kauffmann's score is like taking a ride into a new, wonderous land.

Dandara's light but incredibly strong presence was the starting point for all the sound presented in this album, consisting of a soundtrack that sounds hopeful and melancholic at the same time. Her lonely journey into the corrupted regions of Salt narrates each gesture made to fight the fears deep inside the Salt's most uncharted caves.

The textures and musical aesthetics in this soundtrack match a world that suffers from its abandonment to spontaneity, creativity, and vitality. It is with the presence of Dandara that there is a break in these standards imposed in Salt by an authoritarian regime.

Wrapped up in a beautiful, sturdy tip-on gatefold with a rough, black and white aesthetic, this vinyl 2xLP comes with two "Salt" white 180g in two printed inner sleeves.

Composed, produced and mixed by Thommaz Kauffmann

Artwork by Luísa Almeida

Game developed by Long Hat House

Published by Raw Fury

‘Ruminations feels like a direct line into the spirit of Right Now. Oberst reckons with having the fabric of his life ripped apart by a disease of the flesh he couldn’t control or understand. Perhaps that sounds familiar? He paints a startling picture of how surreal life becomes when backlit by illness… these songs are heartrendingly beautiful, filled with the beauty of day-drunkenness and Proustian flights into memory and waking up in the afternoon and realizing that, however imperfect the day is, it’s a day.’
– GQ (2020)

Conor Oberst’s critically acclaimed 2016 solo album, Ruminations, will be released in a double-LP expanded edition – featuring five bonus tracks, four previously unreleased, as well as an etching on side D – on Record Store Day, June 12; it will be made available widely in all formats on July 23. The five bonus tracks were recorded during the Ruminations sessions; while full band versions of them were released on the 2017 companion album Salutations, these solo acoustic recordings are now included for the first time on Ruminations.

Ruminations was recorded in the winter of 2016, when Oberst found himself hibernating in his hometown of Omaha after living in New York City for more than a decade. He emerged with the unexpectedly raw, unadorned album, which NPR called one of his ‘most personal records… a collection of brave, dark songs… unmistakably moving and contain[ing] some of Oberst's best lyrics and imagery.’ The Sunday Times further said it was his ‘rawest album yet. Political and very, very personal’, calling Oberst ‘one of the best songwriters around’, and including the album in its list of best of the year.

“I wasn't expecting to write a record,” said Oberst in 2016. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to do much of anything. Winter in Omaha can have a paralyzing effect on a person but in this case it worked in my favour. I was just staying up late every night playing piano and watching the snow pile up outside the window. Next thing I knew I had burned through all the firewood in the garage and had more than enough songs for a record. I recorded them quick to get them down but then it just felt right to leave them alone.”

In the Nebraska studio he built with his Bright Eyes bandmate and longtime friend Mike Mogis, Oberst recorded all the songs in the span of forty-eight hours. The results are almost sketch-like in their sparseness, and they ultimately became the songs that comprise Ruminations. These tracks do not have the multi-layered instrumentation of the most recent Bright Eyes and solo albums: This is Oberst alone with his guitar, piano, and harmonica; the songs connect with some of the rough magic and anxious poetry that first brought him to the attention of the world.

CRESCENT was formed in 1998 by Ismaeel Attallah and Amr Mokhtar in Cairo, Egypt. It started as a Black Metal band influenced by the Swedish Black Metal scene. In 2014, the band released their full-length debut ‘Pyramid Slaves’, focusing on Ancient Egyptian history/mythology, which marked the band’s complete transformation towards Black/Death Metal infused with Egyptian elements. In the following years, CRESCENT was booked to major Metal festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Inferno Metal Festival, Fall of Summer festival among others . 2017 CRESCENT ’s much anticipated second full-length ‘The Order of Amenti’,a tribute to the Ancient Egyptian gods, showed more emphasis on the blackened death Metal epic soundscapes and thematic atmospheres while maintaining its primordial Egyptian Death Metal essence. CRESCENT’s new album 'Carving the Fires of Akhet' was mixed/mastered by Victor ‘Santura’ Bullok (Triptykon, Dark Fortress) at Woodshed studio. The artwork was done by Khaos Diktator (Thron) , which is a Baroque-style recreation of one of the most influential and ancient Egyptian relics. The album title acts as the thread that holds all tracks together. The Fires of Akhet represents the great divine will that was carved into humanity's history and future. A value that brought nations to their apex and brought others to their knees, and the cycle goes on. Lyrically, the album touches upon a primeval epic story that is full of struggle and blood. It also reflects drunkenness with divine power, and pure evil in its religious and historic form (and beyond). Finally, the album lays a dark path of philosophical and material decay. The themes will not only be represented by the sound, but also by artworks that relays the sub-themes. It manifests CRESCENT's growing identity and beyond any of its previous works, starting a new era for the band.

John R. Miller is a true hyphenate artist: singer-songwriter-picker.
Every song on his thrilling debut solo album, ‘Depreciated’, is lush with
intricate wordplay and haunting imagery, as well as being backed by a band
that is on fire.
One of his biggest long-time fans is roots music favourite Tyler Childers, who
says he’s “a well-travelled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three
chords at a time.” Miller is somehow able to transport us to a shadowy honkytonk and get existential all in the same line with his tightly written compositions. Miller’s own guitar-playing is on fine display here along with vocals that
evoke the white-waters of the Potomac River rumbling below the high ridges
of his native Shenandoah Valley.
‘Depreciated’ is a collection of eleven gems that take us to John R. Miller’s
home place even while exploring the way we can’t go home again, no matter
how much we might ache for it. On the album, Miller says he was eager to combine elements of country, blues, and rock to make his own sound. He wanted
‘Depreciated’ to conjure references to recently lost heroes like Prine, Walker,
and Shaver without sounding derivative.
Miller has certainly achieved his own sound here with an album that is almost
novelistic in its journey not only to the complicated relationship Miller has with
the Shenandoah Valley but also into the mind of someone going through transitions. “I wrote most of these songs after finding myself single and without a
band for the first time in a long while,” Miller says. “I stumbled to Nashville and
started to figure things out, so a lot of these have the feel of closing a chapter.”

Schmer brought these two together to battle it out for Schmer019: Snazelle vs Loveland : Get this special 6 track maxi EP of pure techno and YOU will be the winner.




Brooklyn based techno producer and Snazzy Fx boss. Much of the hardware Dan uses in his productions and live sets was designed and built by him. His focus as an artist is on electronic music as a vehicle for achieving transcendent states. This comes out in his sets as a respect for both the funky and hypnotic aspects of dance music. As a DJ and live act, Dan has performed throughout Europe and is a regular fixture in NYC.

2018 saw Dan release the "Exposure to a Steady Stream Ep" on Jacktone records. Fact Magazine included the track " Broken Saucers" in their best of September round-up.

In early 2019 Nina Kraviz and Dan released their collaboration "u ludei est pravo"on the trip compilation "Happy New Year! We Wish You Happiness".

In August, Schmer released his newest EP, "Swarm Draze".


Jasen Loveland is a mercurial force about whom little is known with any certainty. Much of Loveland’s life and exploits are shrouded in an opaque and often contradictory mythology that includes many other characters who may or may not be Loveland himself. Born sometime around 1950, Loveland seems to have been operational within the dance music community for decades, allegedly interning for Giorgio Moroder in Munich after finishing a medical degree in the 1970s. It is rumored he was the individual who did the actual synth programming on “I Feel Love”, however this was never confirmed. Documentation of Loveland’s past was further obscured by a “studio fire” while operating out of Chicago in the mid-1990s that destroyed all of Loveland’s memorabilia from the past, except for a handful of lo-resolution, poorly-scanned photographs Loveland (an early user of Hyperreal.org and the #mw.raves listserv) had emailed to a friend. Fortunately, Loveland was able to save his two favorite synthesizers, a battered Roland TB-303 and it’s demented sibbling, the MC-202, but the rest of Loveland’s equipment, and the documentation of his past, was lost in the blaze, leaving Loveland homeless for several months. Regardless of the veracity of his tales, Loveland’s music speaks for itself; the intense, maniacial vibes that pervade the ouvre are undeniably suited for the most far-out, dancefloor head trips, thus making it only a matter of time before he joined the Interdimensional Transmissions family.



Most recently, Loveland has been presenting DJ-style musical performances under the name “Loveland & Friends”, which has become an umbrella term for all projects related to his work, including JL-303, DJ Curtis Chipp, Chip Curtis, MIDI Master, Remote Perception, The Limit, Acid Musik Department, The Gaze, Ace of Fades, East German Chemistry, The Universal Vision, Clonus, Gamma Polaris, R.O.M. and DJ Kline, and Da House Band. Many of these, such as the DJ Kline project (with Prof. Dr. Alice B. Kline, a self-described “unremarkable scientist” and researcher at CERN), seem to be collaborations or ghost productions, although even this is not clear. In fact, the only confirmed Loveland collaborations are LW Productions (with Clay Wilson) and Pervocet (with Patrick Russell), the latter presented as a 12” by Interdimensional Transmissions, Detroit.

“We’re proud to announce the release of our debut EP ‘Reporting
Live From The Living Room Floor’ via Nice Swan Records. A
prologue chapter within the world we call Hallan, ‘Reporting Live
From The Living Room Floor’ introduces the 21st Century to the
Gumshoe Boy. The boy is always the man for the job. He’s the man
on the inside. He’s the Agency’s number one frontman and he’s
armed with a tape provided by an anonymous source. An undercover
operative in a satirical, Orwellian world, ‘Reporting Live From The
Living Room Floor’ paints a semi-abstract but tangible image of the
new decade, holding a mirror up to not only our modern society but
our individual selves. The time is now right. From the corner of his
bleak bedroom the boy plans his plan, and from the corner of ours we
do the same.” - Hallan
The EP draws influence from everyday observation, mainstream pop
culture and laughable tabloid fiction. ‘Reporting Live From The Living
Room Floor’ paints an semi-abstract but tangible image of the new
decade, holding a mirror up to not only modern society but
individuals.
Frontman Conor speaks on the track: “Our sound changes depending
on our agenda at any time, finding a different stride with every step.
With ‘Hands Up’ we found ourselves dropped into a Western rerun
armed with a fiercely cowboyish twang on our six string shooter. We
wanted to forth a thematic, semi abstract prose, attacking
businessmen and penny pinchers in a flurry of suitably delirious
criticisms.”
While struggling to find a studio which didn’t just place Hallan in the
cogs of a much larger machine, the band found Rob Quickenden of
Ford Lane studios for their last single, ‘Modern England’. Returning to
the rural depths of Yapton, Hallan once again join forces with
Quickenden on their debut EP. In a studio setting where no ideas
were out of the question and experimentation and exploration were
the words of the day, expect ‘Reporting Live From The Living Room
Floor’ to be a no-holds-barred exploration into the minds of Hallan.
Back in the far forgotten world of live events, Hallan supported the
likes of Sports Team and Porridge Radio. Yet 2021 sees the band
carve their own path all together. Backed by Nice Swan Records
(Sports Team, Courting, Sprints) Hallan are finally ready to release
their latest imaginings to the world.

A joint effort long past due, PITP founders zake and Isaac Helsen team up to bring forth three arrangements that encompass textured ambient washes and drone-laden guitar work titled 'Beliefsystems'.