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‘Pacific Kiss’ is the fourth album from Australian musician David West’s underground pop band, Rat Columns. It was engineered by Griffin Harrison and DW in New York City and Perth, and mixed by Mikey Young in Victoria. ‘Pacific Kiss’ sees Rat Columns plunging headfirst into an azure sea of power pop, rock’n’roll and indie. The tones are bright and optimistic, though fans of confusion and gloom will still find solace in the album’s darker moments, of which there are a few. Rat Columns emerged from San Francisco via Perth, Western Australia in the late 2000’s with the mope ’n’ jangle of their first self-titled cassette release, from which several tracks were drawn for their first vinyl release, a four-song 7” on the San Francisco based indie label, Smartguy Records. From that moment, DW and a constantly evolving troupe of friends and co-conspirators have forged a persistent trail of albums and EP’s on a number of interesting small labels such as RIP Society, Upset The Rhythm, Blackest Ever Black, Syncro-System, Adagio 830 and now the London-based Tough Love Records, who have also released many of David’s eponymous pop records. DW has also found time to play in a number of other interesting outfits, such as Rank/Xerox, Lace Curtain, Liberation, Scythe, Total Control and Burning Sensation over the years. ‘Pacific Kiss’ was primarily recorded in a dingy but comfortable practice space in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The core of the record is DW, bassist Max Schneider-Schumacher, drummer Dylan Stjepovic and keyboard wiz Joey Fishman. Additional fairy dust was sprinkled by Amber Gempton and Raven Mahon (vocals), Jef Brown (saxophone) and Mikey Young, who found time to contribute some off the wall guitar solos during the mixing process. ‘Pacific Kiss’ is a record for those astral voyages into the spheres conducted from bedrooms, kitchens, grassy fields and open car windows.

An obscure and deep acoustic jazz-funk LP from 1974, remastered and repressed in an edition of only 300 copies !

“Profile” is the first and only Ken Rhodes LP as a leader. This intimate and rare recording captures an explosive concoction between blues, jazz and a touch of funky swing. Though an acoustic performance, this LP offers overwhelming grooves, breaks as well as introspective moments .
The upbeat and funky titile track “The Profile” forshadows the raw grooves of the session.The composition is driven by Rhode’s very soulful and bluesy improvasitions in a colorful dialogue with Joachim Knauer’s percussive and obsessive bassline which embraces the funky rhymthms of George Greene. However, this raw “in-your-face” formula is beautifully constrated in “Nothing New” and the piano solo “Robyn’s Lullaby” where the trio slows down to play deep, dreamy and hazy tunes.

Biography
Ken Rhodes was born August 14, 1945 in Memphis, USA and grew up in a family of excellent musicians. He attended the American Convervatorium of Music in Chicago, studied classical music and received Bachelors and Masters Degree. At the age of 16 he toured with his own jazzband throughout the eastern states. During this time he wrote classical compositions for symphony orchestras and organ-music. Gerry Mulligan called him for an extended tour. Studying at the University of Cincinnatti he received the Down-Beat Prize in 1970 as “Best Arranger”. In August 1970 he came to Germany and worked four years as writer, arranger and conductor at the theatres in Augsburg and Nürnberg. Besides that he played with wellknown european musicians at the famous “Domicle” club in Munich, he founded his own group and performed in Germany and Austria. Since July 1975 he works as a professional jazzmusician travelling Europe.

Magnum are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1972. The Eleventh Hour is their fourth studio album. It was produced by the band themselves, after their record label Jet Records denied the band a big name producer due to the delay to their first and third albums. The record is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on purple coloured vinyl. It includes two bonus tracks: “The Word (Alternative Orchestral Version)” and “True Fine Live (Outtake)”. The packages comes with an insert.

Aside from being one of the founding members of legendary rock band Europe, Swedish guitarist John Norum also maintains an impressive career as a solo artist. Another Destination was released in 1995 as his third solo album. The album was received well, with Allmusic giving the record four stars out of five. Another Destination features nine songs penned by John Norum, as well as two covers of “Strange Days” by Humble Pie and “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream. The record is released as a limited edition of
1500 individually numbered copies on transparent red vinyl. The package also includes an insert.

Wisconsin musician Jon Mueller is inquisitive. Open to pushing his
experience and his limits, he’s demonstrated the many sides of himself both as a solo performer and as a key member in mind-bending projects like Mind Over Mirrors, Volcano Choir, and Death Blues, or by running his shop of curiosities Within Things.
On his new four-piece collection Family Secret, the experimental musician maintains a meticulous, sustained tension, re-engaging with a technique he developed as an adolescent - reframing the environs of creation, and naturally altering his perception, through changes in light and space - while also considering the role of family and divorce.
Gentle, metallic bellows fade in and shifting timbres immerse the listener, each wave of sound folding atop the previous. Mueller has created a room, or at least an enclosure.

English thrash metal outfit Xentrix is commonly referred to as one of the “big four” of English thrash metal, given their popularity in the underground metal scene of the 1980s to mid-1990s. The band released their second studio album For Whose Advantage? in 1990. It gave them even more interest than their debut, and it marked the first time the band got to shoot a music video – for the title track. It also gave Xentrix the opportunity to tour with Skyclad and play shows with world famous metal bands such as Slayer and Sepultura. And rightfully so, as this album belongs in any headbanger’s collection.

For Whose Advantage? is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl.

Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series)
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records!
6x platinum-selling album includes "New Sensation," "Never Tear Us Apart," "Devil Inside," and the No. 1 hit "Need You Tonight"
180-gram 45 RPM double LP release
Mastered by Ryan K. Smith from an EQ'd tape copy
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings
Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jacket by Stoughton Printing

Kick, the sixth and best-selling 1987 studio album by Australian band INXS, has the unmistakable sound personified by its four U.S. Top 10 singles, "New Sensation," "Never Tear Us Apart," "Devil Inside" and "Need You Tonight," — which reached the top of the U.S. Billboard singles charts.

Between 1980 and 1984, INXS released four studio albums and had toured their native country Australia extensively. With Kick, producer Chris Thomas fused the funk and soul of their previous album The Swing with the mainstream rock of Listen Like Thieves. In an interview with MusicRadar, Andrew Farriss stated, "The melding of funk and rock was always in our heads. We were very excited about the idea of overlaying two types of songs and genres together."

Kick showcased a diverse range of musical styles, blending rock, pop, funk, and dance elements. This versatility appealed to a wide audience, making the album accessible to fans of different genres. It's four catchy singles became radio staples and were accompanied by stylish music videos, helping propel INXS to international stardom.

Incorporating elements such as electronic percussion and synthesizers gave Kick a modern sound, helping it stand out, together with Michael Hutchence's charismatic and sultry vocals that created a strong emotional connection.

All the hallmarks of a top-notch Analogue Productions reissue are here for you to savour: Mastered directly from an EQ'd tape copy by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound and cut at 45 RPM. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, and housed in a tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jacket by Stoughton Printing.

This is the first ever archival collection of material from the Italian Minimalist Tiziano Popoli, featuring fourteen previously unreleased recordings for installations, theater, and radio broadcasts spanning from 1983 to 1989. Featuring extensive use of the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, TR909 drum machine, and early sampling techniques, these recordings trace the organic, hybridized elements of Italian experimental music as it convened in the hands of Tiziano Popoli and his friends, uniting elements of pop music, minimalism, and manipulations of found sound. Popoli's first album, Scorie, recorded with Marco Dalpane, is a highly sought after LP, and was finally repressed in 2018 by Italian label Soave. "Burn the Night / Bruciare la Notte: Original Recordings, 1983-1989" is a joint release between RVNG Intl. and Freedom To Spend, and was compiled from hours of material unearthed by Tiziano Popoli from his archives, and then meticulously remastered from original sources by Rashad Becker. The 2xLP and CD include printed inner sleeves and booklets with extensive liner notes written by Bradford Bailey, archival photographs, and ephemeral enrichment. RIYL: Philip Glass, Franco Battiato, Lino Capra Vaccina, Oren Ambarchi, RAMZi, Roberto Musci, Faust, CAN, Art of Noise, Durutti Column, Roberto Cacciapaglia.

In the 2000’s Chee Shimizu helmed an untouchable Tokyo DJ collective called Discossession alongside Dr Nishimura (House music buyer for Cisco Records at the time). Balancing out this unit were a young Scotsman-abroad named Jonny Nash (who’d later form Sombrero Galaxy ESP001 and Gaussian Curve as well as the Melody As Truth imprint), and the late guitar virtuoso and tattoo artist Zecky. Formidable DJs and multi-talents on the Tokyo scene, Discossession released two EPs on Kenji Takimi’s Crue-L imprint and various mixes individually on lovefingers, all holding well-deserved eternal cult status. Chee’s Denshi Meisou 2006 and Follow My Dream 2007 for Lovefingers as well as his legendary “listening sessions” at HiFi lounge SHeLTeR in the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji, laid foundation for what would become known to his followers as “Organic Music” or “Obscure Sound”, the former extending as the name of his record shop and the latter as the title of his 2013 book.

Obscure Sound chronicled his tastes in detail and has since become a sort of diggers bible for peers and younger generations. At the ESP Institute’s inception in 2009, Shimizu contributed two tracks to Lovefingers’ Concentration Vol 1 compilation as apéritifs to a later release. “Later” eventually became “forever” and the mythical piano track (appearing only as a demo on Golden Age and Dekmantel 061) is still, to this day, not ready for formal release. Skip a dozen years, musical interests and major life changes, and Chee has now unveiled something quite special in accordance with his Obscure Sound—rather than making new out of old rope, he presents a collaboration with Tokyo guitarist miku-mari a.k.a. Takahiro Matsumura. The artists frequently collaborate at the experimental audio/visual event, Sacrifice, held irregularly at Tokyo’s ForestLimit, and in 2018 when Chee was invited to DJ at Japan’s only Ambient festival Camp Off-Tone, he and miku-mari endeavored to expand these works into a 2-hour improvised performance. Chee collaged various percussion samples and personal field recordings utilizing four CDJs, supplementing with live windchimes and Andean chajchas, while miku-mari coupled a guitar-controlled synthesizer, Sound Tube software (developed by Japanese Ambient composer Hiroshi Yoshimura) and more live elements such as Tibetan bells and pyramid crystals. Rehearsals for this performance were held prior to the festival at ForestLimit, recorded as multi-tracks and edited into these two cerebral Reconstructions.

Developer Archive returns with its Twelfth release. The EP is made up of four groove based techno bangers tailor-made for floor-filling. The moods differ on each track and it's mostly in-your-face beats, growing looped riffs, haunting modular electronics, and occasional mind-altering synth lines. Huge TIP!

In February 2018, Roy Ayers performed four sold out shows in Los Angeles as part of the Jazz Is Dead Black History Month series. It wasn"t until 2020 that fans of Ayers discovered that in addition to those shows, the legendary vibraphone player had also recorded an entire album of new material with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

Discodelic presents the second release in this series of exclusive 45 RPM records. From the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, province of Limón, the town of Cahuita, we present you with the incredible BOCARACÁ!

Bocaracá is without a doubt a gem from Caribbean Central America, bridging a spectacular concoction of Psychedelia with Afro Latin rhythms. Created by Isidor Asch and Luis Jákamo, two restless "limonenses", who were on the path of discovering their Latin musical roots since childhood, while also experimenting with soul and Rock in their own compositions. Together and on their own, they have written a big chunk of the history of Soul in Costa Rica with their subsequent outstanding groups: Marfil, Grupo Stop, and Manantial.

This limited edition is part of a project that has been in the making for several years. This is a labor of love and respect for the music of this singular band. Four “maes” who were known as “the only hippies in Limón” in their hometown.

This reissue includes historic material that was originally recorded between 1973 and 1974 in Audio Centro, a recording facility in San José. It’s a priceless and important document, a window to what was happening with music in the largely abandoned and forgotten province of Limón, where a musical revolution was cooking in the early ’70s, and where Bocaracá was the cornerstone.

Get to know the full story of Bocaracá in the special liner notes included in the release, prepared with love for all of you, featuring band anecdotes and photos.

Self-styled ‘house husband, record producer’, DMX Krew, continues his effortless stretch of releases that date back to the early 90s, with a new album for Hypercolour.

His deft melodies and mechanical, electro-tinged beats have made for some classic albums in his repertoire, from his incredible run of albums for Rephlex Records, up to 2020’s ’Ghost Bubbles’ long player for Terrestrial Funk. And so ‘Loose Gears’ marks DMX Krew’s fourth album for British stalwarts, Hypercolour, and fans will not be disappointed.

Armed with an arsenal of hardware, and a head full of futuristic visions, ‘Loose Gears’ collects eleven tracks of the customary quality we have come to expect from DMX Krew.

From the funk laden ‘Solar Transit’ to bleepy chugger ‘Dejected Ambient Twerp’, the vibrant synths and spongy rhythms of ‘Torpedo Tube’ to the beatless wiggle of ‘Xpansion 2’, there’s much in store to be savoured on ‘Loose Gears’, as DMX Krew serves up another fine selection of electronic goodies.

It's tempting to think that you have all the answers, screaming your gospel every day with certainty and anger. Life isn't quite like that though, and the debut album from London four-piece TV Priest instead embraces the beautiful and terrifying unknowns that exist personally, politically, and culturally. Posing as many questions as it answers, Uppers is a thunderous opening statement that continues the UK's recent resurgence of grubby, furious post-punk music. It says something very different though - something completely its own. Four childhood friends who made music together as teenagers before drifting apart and then, somewhat inevitably, back together late in 2019, TV Priest was borne out of a need to create together once again, and brings with it a wealth of experience and exhaustion picked up in the band's years of pursuing 'real life' and 'real jobs', something those teenagers never had. Last November, the band - vocalist Charlie Drinkwater, guitarist Alex Sprogis, bass and keys player Nic Smith and drummer Ed Kelland - played their first show, to a smattering of friends in what they describe as an "industrial freezer" in the warehouse district of Hackney Wick. "It was like the pub in Peep Show with a washing machine just in the middle_" Charlie laughs, remembering how they dodged Star Wars memorabilia and deep fat fryers while making their first statement as a band. Unsurprisingly, there isn't a precedent for launching a band during a global pandemic, but among the general sense of anxiety and unease pervading everything at the moment, TV Priest's entrance in April with the release of debut single "House Of York" - a searing examination of the Monarchy set over wiry post-punk and fronted by a Mark E. Smith-like mouthpiece - served as a breath of fresh air among the chaos, its anger and confusion making some kind of twisted sense to the nation's fried brains. It's the same continued global sense of anxiety that will greet the release of Uppers, and it's an album that has a lot to say right now. Taking musical cues from post-punk stalwarts The Fall and Protomartyr as well as the mechanical, pulsating grooves of krautrock, it's a record that moves with an untamed energy. Over the top of this rumbling musical machine is vocalist Charlie, a cuttingly funny, angry, confused, real frontman. Uppers sees TV Priest explicitly and outwardly trying to avoid narrowmindedness. Uppers sees TV Priest taking musical and personal risks, reaching outside of themselves and trying to make sense of this increasingly messy world. It's a band and a record that couldn't arrive at a more perfect time.

-LTD. LOSER EDITION-

This LIMITED LOSER INDIES edition is on GREY MARBLED Vinyl! It's tempting to think that you have all the answers, screaming your gospel every day with certainty and anger. Life isn't quite like that though, and the debut album from London four-piece TV Priest instead embraces the beautiful and terrifying unknowns that exist personally, politically, and culturally. Posing as many questions as it answers, Uppers is a thunderous opening statement that continues the UK's recent resurgence of grubby, furious post-punk music. It says something very different though - something completely its own. Four childhood friends who made music together as teenagers before drifting apart and then, somewhat inevitably, back together late in 2019, TV Priest was borne out of a need to create together once again, and brings with it a wealth of experience and exhaustion picked up in the band's years of pursuing 'real life' and 'real jobs', something those teenagers never had. Last November, the band - vocalist Charlie Drinkwater, guitarist Alex Sprogis, bass and keys player Nic Smith and drummer Ed Kelland - played their first show, to a smattering of friends in what they describe as an "industrial freezer" in the warehouse district of Hackney Wick. "It was like the pub in Peep Show with a washing machine just in the middle_" Charlie laughs, remembering how they dodged Star Wars memorabilia and deep fat fryers while making their first statement as a band. Unsurprisingly, there isn't a precedent for launching a band during a global pandemic, but among the general sense of anxiety and unease pervading everything at the moment, TV Priest's entrance in April with the release of debut single "House Of York" - a searing examination of the Monarchy set over wiry post-punk and fronted by a Mark E. Smith-like mouthpiece - served as a breath of fresh air among the chaos, its anger and confusion making some kind of twisted sense to the nation's fried brains. It's the same continued global sense of anxiety that will greet the release of Uppers, and it's an album that has a lot to say right now. Taking musical cues from post-punk stalwarts The Fall and Protomartyr as well as the mechanical, pulsating grooves of krautrock, it's a record that moves with an untamed energy. Over the top of this rumbling musical machine is vocalist Charlie, a cuttingly funny, angry, confused, real frontman. Uppers sees TV Priest explicitly and outwardly trying to avoid narrowmindedness. Uppers sees TV Priest taking musical and personal risks, reaching outside of themselves and trying to make sense of this increasingly messy world. It's a band and a record that couldn't arrive at a more perfect time.

'IDMEMO' would not pretend to be a representative compendium of 90’s-00’s Intelligent Dance Music. It was not Vladimir Ivkovic & Ivan Smagghe’s point when they decided on the project. It is a very personal snapshot of a moment in time, when both of them were working in record shops, when they were listening to indie and electronic music. One can not stress enough the importance of this crossing of roads, pop kids getting through to the dancefloor via Aphex Twin and nerdy house heads dissolving their four to the floor into the futuristic world of Warp compilations.

The compilation unfolds in the loosest, the best way to make some kind of sense. There are some classics (Black Dog’s lysergic 'Psyl-Cosin'), there are some rarities (that Zugzwang track), some tested late night floor melters (Reload remixing Slowdive) and some personal outlandish choices that strangely take their place (Spiritualized’s 'Anyway That You want Me-remix 3').

All in all, This is an anti-archive, a choice of tracks primarily lead by emotion, more pads than glitches,”intelligent” music depraved by that last half-pill at 6am rather than high-brow destructurations, Ivkovic & Smagghe hitting, as ever, at their own margins.

'IDMEMO' is a collaborative project between Above Board Projects, Offen Music and Les Disques De La Mort. Selected and sequenced by Vladimir Ivkovic and Ivan Smagghe. Art and design by Atelier Superplus. Mastering courtesy of Keith Tenniswood @ Curved. Manufacture and worldwide distribution by Above Board, 2020.

Repress

Label owner Martyn teams up with fellow bpm- and genre-nomad Om Unit for four switch stance dance numbers.

NYC producer Max In The World returns on his Bliss Point label with The Living Dub, four cuts of breaky, dubbed out house for the club in your head and your future. France’s Sentiments (Light On Earth, Groovedge) joins for a sub-heavy remix with some of the most undeniable acid of the year. Tip!

Quattrovalvole is the future/past/disco/drive project designed by Joone and Miss Zagato. Four on the floor Italo-disco, glossy 80s new wave pick us up in this afterdark lifestyle EP. The title track ‘Into the Night’ is a curb crawler’s seduction. Dedicated to the leather hand-notated black book, our dial up lover calls with arpeggiators demanding, then teasing like feathers over the phone. Big chords push us to drive fast, ready for what we long for.

B-side ‘Too Many Lights’ squeezes us, just what we need when broken glass is swept up from the disco floor. Tame drums and retro claps dictate, as the chords are stargazing with Miss Zagato’s vocals. They preside over the party, with potions of bliss and intoxication, we are invited intimately into this dream life.

Joone’s ‘Into The Night’ remix takes us into the future, driving at the wheel of an alcantara suede upgraded Ferrari 308 Vetroresina. The layers of well-informed 80s synth wave sends us into another dimension.

These are three high class disco tunes with real song craft at their heart.

Collection of unreleased demos of every track written for the fourth PJ Harvey studio album Is This Desire?, including demos of ‘A Perfect Day Elise’, ‘The Wind’ and ‘Angelene’. Audio has been mastered by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering under the guidance of longtime PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish. Features brand new artwork with previously unseen photos by Maria Mochnacz.

LP Info

1LP, 180gsm black vinyl
Full colour outer sleeve, with printed inner sleeve
Artwork includes previously unseen photos
Download card

Reissue on vinyl of the fourth PJ Harvey studio album Is This Desire?. Produced by PJ Harvey with Flood and Head, and originally released in September 1998, Is This Desire? features the singles ‘A Perfect Day Elise’ and ‘The Wind’. Reissue is faithful to the original recording and package, cutting by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering under the guidance of longtime PJ Harvey producer Head.

Harry Bertoia's Glowing Sounds LP contains three versions of the same composition, each transferred at different tape speeds in accordance with the artist's instructions. This is the third LP to be released from Bertoia's extensive tape archive and it's the first, of many, to be released using instructions left behind by the artist himself.

Bertoia wrote the concept for this Glowing Sounds LP on a note in 1975 and slipped it into the master tape case where it sat unread for 45 years. The idea was simple, transfer the original recording at its original speed and two slower speeds. Bertoia noticed that the results, however, were profound.

Recorded on January 20, 1975 using two large gongs, Glowing Sounds is one of the most powerfully minimal recordings yet discovered in Bertoia's collection. The artist's note left with the tape indicated that it was recorded at a speed of 15 IPS (inches per second) but slowing it down to speeds of 7.5 IPS and 3.25 IPS were quite effective for enhanced playback. Side A features the original 15 IPS recording and the 50% slower 7.5 IPS recording. Side B features a 20 minute, ultra-slow version at 3.25 IPS.

Long, deep drones and powerful overtones define the sound of this recording. Comparison of the three speeds provides a revealing magnification of Bertoia's gongs, overtones and the artist's inventive approach to performance, composition and recording.

Bio:
Harry Bertoia first gained some artistic visibility in the early 1940s, then came into prominence with his sculptural, ergonomic chairs, produced by Knoll Furniture beginning in 1952, which quickly became classics of modernist furniture. Inspired by the resonant sounds emanating from metals as he worked them and encouraged by his brother Oreste, whose passion was music, Harry restored a fieldstone "Pennsylvania Dutch" barn as the home for this experiment in sounding sculptures which he had begun in the late 1950s. Bertoia was an obsessive composer and relentless experimenter, often working late into the night and accumulating hundreds of tapes of his best performances; Oreste, too, would explore and record the sculptures' sounds during his annual visits to his brother's home in rural Pennsylvania.

Harry Bertoia's recently dismantled Sonambient barn collection was an attentive listener's paradise full of warm, expressive instruments that were gorgeous visually and audibly. Nothing could prepare you, even on return visits, for the overwhelming experience of entering the spacious wood and plaster interior where gongs, some of them giant, hung among the ranks of standing sculptures of various metals. Over nearly twenty years of adding, culling and rearranging, Bertoia carefully selected nearly 100 harmonious pieces ranging in height from under a foot to more than fifteen feet. He considered this barn a full experience, sights and sounds comprising not a collection of works, but one piece unto itself. It was here, deep in the woods, that his Sonambient recording work took place.

Learning by experimentation was common for Bertoia and he mastered the art of tape recording, turning the Sonambient barn into a sound studio with four overhead microphones hanging from the rafters in a square formation. He would experiment with overdubbing by performing along to previous recordings, sometimes backwards, constantly improving his methods while also honing his performance skills. Bertoia was a careful editor of his own work and only chosen recordings remained, each with a date and carefully considered observations written on a note included with each tape. Through these pieces of paper a the artist's logic can be uncovered, a careful approach to composition, ideas, feelings and forms. The story of Sonambient barn collection will slowly be told through the release of recordings from the archive as well as installations and performances built from Bertoia's own recordings, lectures and a book.

Signed to Parisian label N F rmat! (home to Oumou Sangar , Blick Bassy & M lissa Laveaux), Soweto-based 4 piece band Urban Village present their debut album, ‘Udondolo’.
Marrying the day-to-day experiences of black South Africans with ebullient elements from traditional Zulu music, Urban Village is the alias of four experimental musicians all born & raised in the township of Soweto at the tail end of apartheid.
Urban Village release music under a name which specifically references the blend of cultures, music & rites which were assimilated into the now 1 million strong population of Soweto, when black South Africans from multiple provinces were brought to the area during the establishment of apartheid, under strict segregation from Johannesburg’s white suburbs.
Born for the most part in the last years of apartheid, whilst growing up the band plunged happily into house and dance music that turned the page of a heavy past. Guitarist Lerato came across older Zulu musicians and their style of maskandi playing. Lerato has since mixed styles from homelands and rural areas, sharpened in club jam sessions (where he went on to meet Tubatsi and form Urban Village) during which spoken word, hip-hop and jazz rub shoulders freely.
‘Udondolo’ - partially recorded at legendary Downtown Studios in the heart of Johannesburg and at Figure of 8 studios in the leafy suburbs of Randburg, - is a journey through all the colours of Soweto. This is where it draws its consistency, strength & identity. That of Soweto itself - a dormitory town designed to
monitor those who were sent there, it has become a laboratory of music where the hopes of an entire people resonate, even today.

Demon Records presents the first part of His Dark Materials – now a major TV series.
In this BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of Northern Lights, 11-year-old Lyra discovers dark forces at work involving kidnapped children and a mysterious substance called ‘Dust’. This thrilling adaptation stars Lulu Popplewell as Lyra, Terence Stamp as Lord Asriel, Emma Fielding as Mrs Coulter, Bill Paterson as the Master, and Kenneth Cranham as Farder Coram, with a large supporting cast.
A lavish gatefold sleeve features Dust-inspired illustrations, spectacularly realised in metallic copper ink, plus full cast and production details and exclusive sleeve notes by Philip Pullman himself. This gripping drama is presented on three heavyweight 180g discs of Daemonic Dustburst splatter vinyl.
Philip Pullman’s bestselling trilogy of children’s books, which has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide, is now the inspiration for the major HBO/BBC TV series His Dark Materials.

Demon Records presents the second part of His Dark Materials – now a major TV series.
In this BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of The Subtle Knife Will finds an opening into the haunted world of Cittàgazze - where daemon-destroying Spectres roam – and meets Lyra for the first time. This thrilling adaptation stars Daniel Anthony as Will, Lulu Popplewell as Lyra, Emma Fielding as Mrs Coulter, Tracy-Ann Oberman as Serafina Pekkala, and Peter Marinker as Lee Scorseby, with a large supporting cast.
A lavish gatefold sleeve features Dust-inspired illustrations, spectacularly realised in metallic copper ink, plus full cast and production details and exclusive sleeve notes by Philip Pullman himself. This gripping drama is presented on three heavyweight 180g discs of Daemonic Dustburst splatter vinyl.
Philip Pullman’s bestselling trilogy of children’s books, which has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide, is now the inspiration for the major HBO/BBC TV series His Dark Materials.

Demon Records presents the third and final part of His Dark Materials – now a major TV series.
In this BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of The Amber Spyglass the young adventurers Lyra and Will must find each other and journey into the World of the Dead. This thrilling adaptation stars Lulu Popplewell as Lyra, Daniel Anthony as Will, Emma Fielding as Mrs Coulter, Tracy-Ann Oberman as Serafina Pekkala, and Terence Stamp as Lord Asriel, with a large supporting cast.
A lavish gatefold sleeve features Dust-inspired illustrations, spectacularly realised in metallic copper ink, plus full cast and production details and exclusive sleeve notes by Philip Pullman himself. This gripping drama is presented on three heavyweight 180g discs of Daemonic Dustburst splatter vinyl.
Philip Pullman’s bestselling trilogy of children’s books, which has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide, is now the inspiration for the major HBO/BBC TV series His Dark Materials.

• GENE formed in 1993, released four studio album and went on to score 10 top 40 hits
• This is their live album recorded live in the Troubadour in Hollywood Los Angels on the 1st and 2nd June 2000, originally released CD only and as a Record Store Day colour vinyl release in 2020
• This release is presented on double LP, black 180g heavyweight vinyl with printed inner sleeve

Craft Recordings is pleased to reissue four classic, remastered titles from legendary jazz artist Chet Baker. Set for release on March 5th and available for pre-order now, the albums comprise Baker’s entire output as a leader for the renowned jazz label Riverside—all recorded and released between 1958 and 1959: (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, Chet Baker in New York, Chet and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe. The recordings, which feature such icons as Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin and Kenny Burrell, have all been cut from their original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. Each title will also be available on March 5th across digital platforms in hi-res 192/24 and 96/24 formats.

Craft Recordings is pleased to reissue four classic, remastered titles from legendary jazz artist Chet Baker. Set for release on March 5th and available for pre-order now, the albums comprise Baker’s entire output as a leader for the renowned jazz label Riverside—all recorded and released between 1958 and 1959: (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, Chet Baker in New York, Chet and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe. The recordings, which feature such icons as Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin and Kenny Burrell, have all been cut from their original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. Each title will also be available on March 5th across digital platforms in hi-res 192/24 and 96/24 formats.

Craft Recordings is pleased to reissue four classic, remastered titles from legendary jazz artist Chet Baker. Set for release on March 5th and available for pre-order now, the albums comprise Baker’s entire output as a leader for the renowned jazz label Riverside—all recorded and released between 1958 and 1959: (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, Chet Baker in New York, Chet and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe. The recordings, which feature such icons as Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin and Kenny Burrell, have all been cut from their original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. Each title will also be available on March 5th across digital platforms in hi-res 192/24 and 96/24 formats.

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.

Limited edition 12” LP - 180 gram silver marble vinyl. In response to a
world struggling with disruption and discord, Tony Tixier has instinctively turned towards his music as a way to re-establish the sundered
connections of everyday existence.
‘I Am Human’, a series of remotely records duets - available only on limitededition vinyl - was created when he returned from a sell-out US tour to find himself locked down in his Paris apartment.
An escape route appeared out of a happy combination of chances: a loan of a new piano from Yamaha and an encounter with a neighbour, David Freiss, who turned out to be an expert sound engineer. Tixier conceived a plan to spontaneously record a series of pieces, all in one take, and then send them out across the world to a chosen band of his closest musical accomplices - Scott Tixier, Hermon Mehari, Ben Leifer, Logan Richardson and Adrien Soleiman - musicians with whom he felt so closely in tune that the enforced separation of time and space could be overcome - and invited them to overdub a response to create a series of virtual duet recordings “Each track is dedicated to a friend, someone I feel close to - I sent them the track in the morning, and by the afternoon I had the track back with their parts.”
Each side of the vinyl release is opened with a performance of an original solo piece by Tixier, both recorded back to back. ‘Leaking Life’ is a meditation on the passing of time and a call to action to make the most of every day. ‘Humain’ is an expression of his own identity “A presentation of myself - I don’t see myself as mixed race - I am 100% black, 100% white, 100% human.”
Tixier has travelled the world with the likes of Christian Scott and Keyon Harrold and performed for audiences across four continents, but this is his most personal, direct work to date. Reaching out across the world, sustained by a network of friends, he has delivered a statement for our times that transcends the limitations of remote recording with the sheer force of its emotional connection. Personnel: Tony Tixier (piano), Scott Tixier (violin), Hermon Mehari
(trumpet), Ben Leifer (double bass), Logan Richardson (alto saxophone), Adrien
Soleiman (tenor saxophone)

Bright Lights & Back Alleys is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Smokie, released in 1977. Recorded primarily at Whitney Recording Studios in Glendale, California, from March to April 1977, it was produced by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, as were the band’s all previous albums. Three singles were spawned; “Needles and Pins”, “It’s Your Life”, & “Baby It’s You”.

This expanded edition contains 4 bonus tracks: “Here Lies a Man”, “Now You Think You Know”, “Alone in a Cell” and “Lay Back in the Arms of Someone”. The package contains 2 printed innersleeves and extensive liner notes. The D-side has a cool etch of the Smokie band logo. Available as a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies on translucent red coloured vinyl.

Pressed here onto Blue vinyl, this classic Grammy winning album, containing 2 sought after classics, “This Masquerade” and “Breezin’” is the fifteenth studio album from the jazz/soul guitarist, George Benson. Marking the beginning of Benson’s most commercially successful era, the album won Best Pop Instrumental Performance and was also nominated for Album of The Year, while “The Masquerade” won Record of The Year and was nominated for Song of The Year at the 19th annual Grammy Awards.

Nahawa Doumbia's new album Kanawa concisely captures this current moment in Malian history. The singer, whose storied career spans more than four decades, reflects on the immigration crisis from the Malian perspective in the title of her new album Kanawa. Across eight songs recorded in Bamako with a band including traditional and modern instruments, Doumbia merges her early work that relied on a spare expression of her trademark didadi rhythm with the bombastic range of contemporary Malian pop. The beautifully complex musical accompaniment that results is courtesy of the large ensemble she pulled together with producer and arranger (and day one collaborator) N'gou Bagayoko. The band features two highly expressive Malian string instruments, the ngoni and the slightly smaller kamalé ngoni, as well as a variety of percussion, drum programming, karignan (a metal scraper) and acoustic and electric guitars. Doumbia's daughter, a celebrated singer with her own group and busy concert schedule, Doussou Bagayoko sings on "Adjorobena," a song about patience, tolerance and living in peace. Doumbia weaves together a roadmap of her psyche when it comes to the good and bad life has to offer. She talks about marriage and women leaving home to join another through the metaphor of a tree in the garden; she includes gunshot samples in the song "Foliwilen" to honor the bravery of hunters, soldiers and other courageous people; she uses a bird in "Djougoh" to talk about lazy people; and, in "Ndiagneko" she advises people to ignore critics, just do you. Mali has gone through an intense period of regional strife and terrorist incidents over the last ten years and Doumbia roots the album in tragic local concerns with deep global implications. "The meaning of Kanawa is so simple. We see our children trying to cross the ocean all the time. I said that many of our children die in the ocean and some of them die while crossing the Sahara. But I ask them why do they leave their country? They said that they leave because of the family situation or problems like poverty and unemployment. I ask them to stay and work in their country. I call on the UN and African leaders so that we can coordinate our efforts to find a solution, to create jobs for them so that young people stop leaving. That's why I chose it as the title of my album so that everybody can learn from it and also so that there is a reduction in the number of people emigrating. So that some will hear the message and stay home and grow the land. Leaving is not the only solution. My message is to help the youth find jobs."

Back in print! Gold sleeve 180 gr. Wheels of Fire is the third album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in August 1968 as a two-disc vinyl LP, with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live. It reached number three in the United Kingdom and number one in the United States, becoming the world's first platinum-selling double album. The band's drummer Ginger Baker co-wrote three songs for the album with pianist Mike Taylor. Bassist Jack Bruce co-wrote four songs with poet Pete Brown. Guitarist Eric Clapton contributed to the album by choosing two older blues songs.



For the second disc, Felix Pappalardi chose "Traintime" because it featured Jack Bruce performing a harmonica solo, and "Toad" because it features Ginger Baker's drumming while "Spoonful" and "Crossroads" were used to showcase Eric Clapton's guitar playing.

‘Giants of All Sizes’ was recorded at Hamburg’s Clouds Hill Studio, The Dairy in Brixton, 604 Studios in Vancouver and Blueprint Studios in Salford with additional recording taking place at various band member’s home studios spread across Manchester. As with their previous four studio albums, ‘Giants’ was produced and mixed by Craig Potter. Guests across the album include Jesca Hoop, The Plumedores and South London newcomer Chilli Chilton.

Given such bleak, if ultimately redeemed, subject matter, it is also, perversely, the most relaxed record which elbow have made in some time. On ‘Giants of All Sizes’, each band member extended their usual process of working on demos alone and followed their vision to its conclusion rather than, as Craig Potter puts it, ‘taking the edges off things to find compromise’. In tandem with this, they returned to playing live in the studio, encouraged to experiment with the banks of analogue equipment at Clouds Hill in Northern Germany, giving songs a looser, more live feel. The result is the most starkly dynamic record from the band in recent times, “Sonically unabashed”, as Guy would have it. Whilst album closer ‘Weightless’ has the gossamer melodies and communal harmonies for which the band have latterly been known, this album echoes earlier elbow work at times whilst also breaking new ground.

‘White Noise White Heat’ is motorik, metal machine soul driven by a vocal that is rage incarnate, ‘Doldrums’ mixes John Carpenter with The Plastic Ono Band to brilliantly disturbing effect and ‘On Deronda Road’ hitches stark bass beats and glitches to an ad-hoc choir. ‘Empires’ delivers dark resignation via an insidious melody and ‘Seven Veils’ continues the subversion by inverting the perception of elbow as a band for lovers into a band for haters, a double-barrelled fuck-you song par excellence. ‘The Delayed 3:15’ marries mariarchi guitars to jazz dynamics, Morricone via Buddy Rich, and ‘My Trouble’ is a clockwork, analogue shuffle housing a delicate melody that builds over the course of the song into a fragile monolith to the power of love.

Lead track, ‘Dexter & Sinister’, released on 10” ahead of the album, encapsulates the whole. A seven-minute musical journey that blends deep bass grooves, sudden keyboard stabs, dislocated piano and guitar runs and soul stylings then abruptly shifts gear, parts the storm clouds and takes wing, flying towards the heat of the sun. It is the soundtrack for these ‘hope free, faith free, charity free days’, a denial of the divine and a reconciliation, two songs in one song, two emotions for one emotion, human, fragile and brilliant like the album which it opens.

All the tracks on this Rides Again album are unreleased studio material recorded after 1st album came out in 2005. At that time the band members had some troubles during recording, so after the recording sessions they broke up. These tracks were sleeping in the vault for more then fifteen years. The music is a mixture of psychedelic groove, rock, funk, and doom metal. For fans of Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, Sir Load Baltimore, Captain Beyond, Meaters, Graham Central Station and Funkadelic. On the album you can find four original songs plus two cover tracks: "Earthquake" from Graham Central Station and "Stay Away" from Meters.

Goat Girl’s new album ‘On All Fours’ was produced by Dan Carey (Kae Tempest, Black Midi, Franz Ferdinand) in South London in early 2020. This new record sees the band veer away from the confrontational lyricism of their debut and indicates Goat Girl’s maturing perspectives in discussing the world’s injustices and social prejudices, using the music to explore global, humanitarian, environmental and mindful wellbeing.
Throughout ‘On All Fours’, Goat Girl’s frequent use of sci-fi synthesisers, off-beat chord progressions, analogue drum machines, diverse vocal styles and distinct, gritty guitars fuses a musical language that expresses both former characteristics and newer developments of the band’s sound and vision.

The Sea and Cake's fifth album Oui is back on vinyl. Pressed on color vinyl for the first time (yellow with white!) and packaged in a high gloss jacket with a free download card. Oui marks the triumphant return of The Sea and Cake after a three-year absence which saw the members of the band pursue a variety of interests; musical, professional and personal. The line up of the band remains Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt, Eric Claridge and John McEntire. The Sea and Cake formed in 1994 out of the ashes of Shrimp Boat (Sam and Eric), and The Cocktails (Archer). John was a friend of the three and had just begun playing with Mosquito, which would later rename itself Tortoise. In fall of that year the band released their self- titled debut record and followed it with three more for a total of four in four years, each gaining in popularity and critical acclaim. In 1997 after months of touring in support of their most successful record The Fawn, the band decided to take some time off to focus their energy in other places. Eric went to work on his paintings with a series of shows in Chicago and a bi-monthly insert in the Chicago Reader. Archer recorded his second solo record, toured and continued to concentrate on his Sof' Boy merchandise and comics (published by Fantagraphics). John played with Tortoise, built a studio (SOMA) and engineered the Stereolab record among many others. Sam painted for his debut solo show in Chicago and a July 2000 show at Clementine in Chelsea, released his debut solo record and toured extensively. When things began to quiet down in late 1999, the four began setting aside the time to record what would become their finest record yet, Oui. "Surprisingly the long lay off didn't seem to pose any ill effects, somehow the distant perspective supplied a new necessary focus", says Prekop. There were no impediments as far as reconvening and songwriting were concerned. Sam added that "I think (the fact that) Archer and I continued to work together during The Sea and Cake's down time was crucial. So when we started writing it wasn't like we were starting over, we were just working in a new context."