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France's near-revolution of May '68 was the zenith of that generation's struggle for a new kind of life. It kicked the country's small, but vibrant, counter-culture into overdrive, and birthed a local underground music scene. The bands it spawned made music with much less rock purity than groups from the UK and US. Their musical and cultural influences foregrounded improvisation, disjunction, and genre-blending: Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, free jazz, and radical politics. The introduction of the synthesiser in the early 1970s added fuel to the fire.

This collection of French underground music inaugurates a series to accompany "Synths, Sax & Situationists", the first English-language book to investigate this movement. It focuses on the music of the second wave of bands that emerged in 1972/3, which saw radicalised psychedelic and jazz influences merge with the future-music possibilities offered by new technology. The next volume will investigate the politically-charged bands that erupted in immediate aftermath of May '68.

Zooparty sind international betrachtet so etwas wie Spätzünder, wenngleich sie in der skandinavischen Punkszene seit zwei Jahrzehnten eine high credibility genießen (Skrutt Magazine: "So damn good, I really love this group") und Kenner ihre Alben im Plattenschrank schon lange wie einen raren Schatz aufbewahren. Als die Band 2024 ihr Album "No matter what you say" veröffentlichte, bemerkte nicht nur das legendäre "Maximum RocknRoll" US-Magazine, dass "I am, in fact, late to the party with this band. Fortunately, they're still raging. They fucking rock Yay, I love this. Hats off " Die mitreißende Mixtur aus poppigem Punk, englischem 77er-Punkrock, Glam und ehrlichem Streetrock'n'Roll. (Ox-Fanzine) spricht eigentlich für sich selbst und obwohl Punk-Legenden wie Glen Matlock von den Sex Pistols, Brian James/ The Damned und sogar KISS-Gitarrist Bruce Kulick ihr Potential erkannten und Songs mit Zooparty aufnahmen, sind die Schweden einfach immer zu bescheiden gewesen, um sich groß ins Rampenlicht zu rücken. Eigentlich ist jedes ihrer Alben bisher ein Volltreffer gewesen oder wie schon Englands Mass Movement Fanzine 2018 schrieb: "If you like your punk with a pop edge and relish the classic Fat Wreck Chords period, then Zooparty may well have created your favourite album of the year! Pogo, pogo!" Ihr neues Album "XX" zum 20jährigen Jubiläum steht dem in nichts nach. Jede Band bezeichnet ihr neues Album als "Ihr Bestes". Zooparty darf man das aber getrost glauben: "XX" ist voller fesselnder Punkrock-Songs, die Aggression mit Wut, Verzweiflung und der klarer Message mit einem Sound verbinden. Mit Lieder wie "Stop it now" und "An eye for an eye" fassen sie alles zusammen, was Punk seit Jahrzehnten so faszinierend macht, bringen es in die Zukunft und machen daraus ihre eigene, "pogotastische Mischung" aus Tragik und Melodie. Mit dem Black Sabbath-Cover "Never say die" verabschieden sich Zooparty zusammen mit "Nomads"-Gitarrist Hans Östlund auf ihre Art von der Legende Ozzy Osbourne. Apropos Sound: Mastermind Chips Kiesbye (Sator, Nomads, The Hellacopters, etc) hat es sich auch diesmal nicht nehmen lassen, das Album zu produzieren.

Zooparty sind international betrachtet so etwas wie Spätzünder, wenngleich sie in der skandinavischen Punkszene seit zwei Jahrzehnten eine high credibility genießen (Skrutt Magazine: "So damn good, I really love this group") und Kenner ihre Alben im Plattenschrank schon lange wie einen raren Schatz aufbewahren. Als die Band 2024 ihr Album "No matter what you say" veröffentlichte, bemerkte nicht nur das legendäre "Maximum RocknRoll" US-Magazine, dass "I am, in fact, late to the party with this band. Fortunately, they're still raging. They fucking rock Yay, I love this. Hats off " Die mitreißende Mixtur aus poppigem Punk, englischem 77er-Punkrock, Glam und ehrlichem Streetrock'n'Roll. (Ox-Fanzine) spricht eigentlich für sich selbst und obwohl Punk-Legenden wie Glen Matlock von den Sex Pistols, Brian James/ The Damned und sogar KISS-Gitarrist Bruce Kulick ihr Potential erkannten und Songs mit Zooparty aufnahmen, sind die Schweden einfach immer zu bescheiden gewesen, um sich groß ins Rampenlicht zu rücken. Eigentlich ist jedes ihrer Alben bisher ein Volltreffer gewesen oder wie schon Englands Mass Movement Fanzine 2018 schrieb: "If you like your punk with a pop edge and relish the classic Fat Wreck Chords period, then Zooparty may well have created your favourite album of the year! Pogo, pogo!" Ihr neues Album "XX" zum 20jährigen Jubiläum steht dem in nichts nach. Jede Band bezeichnet ihr neues Album als "Ihr Bestes". Zooparty darf man das aber getrost glauben: "XX" ist voller fesselnder Punkrock-Songs, die Aggression mit Wut, Verzweiflung und der klarer Message mit einem Sound verbinden. Mit Lieder wie "Stop it now" und "An eye for an eye" fassen sie alles zusammen, was Punk seit Jahrzehnten so faszinierend macht, bringen es in die Zukunft und machen daraus ihre eigene, "pogotastische Mischung" aus Tragik und Melodie. Mit dem Black Sabbath-Cover "Never say die" verabschieden sich Zooparty zusammen mit "Nomads"-Gitarrist Hans Östlund auf ihre Art von der Legende Ozzy Osbourne. Apropos Sound: Mastermind Chips Kiesbye (Sator, Nomads, The Hellacopters, etc) hat es sich auch diesmal nicht nehmen lassen, das Album zu produzieren.

Dorian Concept returns with "Miniatures," a collection of his renowned one-take synthesizer recordings that he’s been known for sharing online since the mid-2000s. “This release was right under my nose” he says. Over the past two decades, Dorian Concept has uploaded videos of himself "fooling around" on various synthesizers and keyboards – long before the rise of short-form content. These signature one- to two-minute performances have sparked countless covers, remixes and reinterpretations by musicians and producers alike. Through this project, Dorian Concept aims to celebrate a long-standing bond with his instruments and honor it in the form of a photo album.

In his own words:

As a kid, every night before bed, I would sit in the same place and draw a comic. I rarely finished them, but I couldn’t go to sleep without having started one. These "Miniatures" and the preceding videos I’ve recorded come from the same place. They’re the expression of a ritual.
Around 2020, I created a compact setup using three devices – a mono synthesizer, an analogue reverb and a looper –which I separated from the rest of the studio. Every day, before I started working, I would improvise on this small setup and at the end of every month, I would record a video and share it with the world. These songs were made in front of you, in a Truman-Show like fashion.
Now they feel like diary-entries that capture the timeline of a deepening relationship, the harvest of limitation and repetition, and the beauty of simplicity.

The cover art is a drawing by the esteemed Austrian artist Leopold Strobl (courtesy of Gallery Gugging), who is known for his distinctive small-format work. The closing track, “An Unopened Letter,” features the genre-defying guitarist and producer Bibio.

LUKE COMBS ist einzigartig - eine seltene Kombination aus Nahbarkeit und außergewöhnlicher Kunstfertigkeit. Bodenständig, authentisch und mühelos echt, ist er ein Künstler, der einem vom ersten Moment an vertraut erscheint, dessen Stimme, Vision und Erfolge jedoch unverkennbar einzigartig sind.

Mit nur 35 Jahren hat Combs bereits die Rekordbücher neu geschrieben: 20 aufeinanderfolgende Nr. 1-Singles, der erste Country-Künstler, der mehrere Nächte im Wembley-Stadion headlined - alle drei Termine sind ausverkauft und aufeinanderfolgend- der erste Country-Künstler, der sowohl beim Bonnaroo als auch beim Lollapalooza headlined, und der erste, der zwei Songs mit über einer Milliarde Streams auf Spotify und vier RIAA-Diamond-zertifizierte Singles vorweisen kann. Selbst inmitten solcher Meilensteine behält Combs sein seltenes Talent, Vertrautes neu erscheinen zu lassen - mit Songs, die mit überraschender Klarheit und emotionaler Ehrlichkeit überzeugen.

The Way I Am, das am 20. März via Sony Nashville erscheint, ist eine Sammlung von 22 Songs, die alles zeigt, was Combs so unverwechselbar macht: von seiner rauen, resonanten Stimme und seiner meisterhaften Erzählkunst bis hin zu Songs, die herzliche Verletzlichkeit mit hymnischer Energie verbinden. Das Album taucht tiefer denn je in das Leben hinter den Kulissen ein und erkundet die Herausforderungen der Vaterschaft und die Balance zwischen Familie und Karriere, Selbstvertrauen, die stillen Kämpfe um die psychische Gesundheit und die Klarheit, die entsteht, wenn man sich daran erinnert, was wirklich wichtig ist. "The Way I Am" zeigt Luke Combs als ein Generationstalent auf dem Höhepunkt seines Schaffens und als eine globale musikalische Kraft, wie sie nur einmal im Leben vorkommt.

EXODUS resurge at full force with their 12th studio album and Napalm Records debut, Goliath, out March 20, 2026! The top-charting band reinforces their eternal foothold at the top of thrash metal's hierarchy with 10 of their most diverse, anthemic tracks so far. Goliath marks the return of legendary singer Rob Dukes to the band. Produced, mixed and mastered by Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Nile, Undeath), Goliath beams with the explosive authenticity that has set EXODUS eons apart from their peers since the release of their groundbreaking 1985 debut, Bonded By Blood.

Mit „Future Soul“ erweitert die Tedeschi Trucks Band ihren Horizont, ohne dabei ihre Wurzeln zu verlieren.
Produziert wurde das Album von dem genreübergreifenden Mike Elizondo (bekannt für seine Arbeit mit
Brothers Osborne, Dr. Dre, Twenty One Pilots und Turnstile). Darauf erkundet das 12-köpfige Ensemble
tiefere Grooves und reichhaltigere Texturen als je zuvor.
Der feurige Titeltrack „Future Soul“ besticht durch ein kraftvolles Riff und explosive Vocals – ein Beweis dafür, dass die Band nach wie vor pure Rockenergie entfesseln kann, wenn sie will. „Crazy Cryin’“
strotzt vor rohen Emotionen und verbindet Gospel-Harmonien und Blues-Grit auf klassische TTB-Art,
während „Who Am I“ einen nachdenklichen Ton anschlägt und Susan Tedeschis gefühlvolle Stimmgewalt
und Derek Trucks’ lyrisches Gitarrenspiel in perfekter Balance präsentiert.
Textlich blickt das Album ebenso nach vorne wie nach innen – es setzt sich mit Identität, Widerstandsfähigkeit und Hoffnung in unsicheren Zeiten auseinander. Elizondos Produktion fügt subtile moderne
Akzente hinzu – warme Bässe, vielschichtige Percussion und Raum für die Bläser und Hintergrundgesänge,
ohne dabei das organische Zusammenspiel zu opfern, das die Live-Magie der Band ausmacht.
Future Soul ist sowohl eine Neuerfindung als auch eine Bestätigung: ein lebhaftes neues Kapitel für eine
der beeindruckendsten Bands Amerikas.

Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Im Jahr 2025 feiert Chess Records sein 75-jähriges Jubiläum. Anlässlich dieses historischen Meilensteins
wird Chess im Oktober dieses Jahres eine umfassende Jubiläumsreihe mit einer kuratierten Auswahl audiophiler Vinyl-Neuauflagen starten, beginnend mit Muddy Waters’ „The Best of Muddy Waters“ und Howlin’
Wolfs „Moanin’ in the Moonlight“.
Die fortlaufende monatliche Serie wird Veröffentlichungen von legendären Künstlern aus dem renommierten
Chess-Kader präsentieren, darunter Chuck Berrys „Berry Is on Top“, Etta James’ „At Last“, Little Walters
„The Best of Little Walter“ und Sonny Boy Williamson IIs „The Real Folk Blues“.

Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Im Jahr 2025 feiert Chess Records sein 75-jähriges Jubiläum. Anlässlich dieses historischen Meilensteins
wird Chess im Oktober dieses Jahres eine umfassende Jubiläumsreihe mit einer kuratierten Auswahl audiophiler Vinyl-Neuauflagen starten, beginnend mit Muddy Waters’ „The Best of Muddy Waters“ und Howlin’
Wolfs „Moanin’ in the Moonlight“.
Die fortlaufende monatliche Serie wird Veröffentlichungen von legendären Künstlern aus dem renommierten
Chess-Kader präsentieren, darunter Chuck Berrys „Berry Is on Top“, Etta James’ „At Last“, Little Walters
„The Best of Little Walter“ und Sonny Boy Williamson IIs „The Real Folk Blues“.

The Buenos Aires–based producer’s second album on Umor Rex can be read on at least two levels. The most direct traces its origin to the influence of environmental music, as well as to some pioneers of electronic music. The album was recorded in a single session, making extensive use of loops that were later edited and condensed into the six pieces that make up Pequeño clima doméstico. This working method responds to a playful approach that runs through Entidad Animada’s musical intentions, which often start from a specific genre or aesthetic and then filter it through his own language.

From a more conceptual perspective, the record proposes music as a tool capable of modifying the perception of a moment. Rather than closed songs, the album functions as a device that allows one to tune a state, transform a space, or alter a mood. In this sense, it engages with the idea of functional music not as a utilitarian background, but as a means to equalize time, slow the pace, and reconfigure the listener’s emotional climate.

All songs written and performed by Entidad Animada. Recorded in August 2025 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Field recordings and processed textures by Guazuncho.
Mastered by José D’Agostino at Moloko Estudio, Frankfurt, Germany. Cover photo by Diego Berruecos. Layout by Daniel Castrejón.

El Calefóns 1985er LP "Salir Del Agujero" ist ein seltenes Juwel. Das in Zürich selbstproduzierte und in Eigenregie veröffentlichte Album stammt von einer der wenigen südamerikanischen Bands, die sich zu der Zeit in Europa aufhielten. Gegründet von den Argentiniern Coqui Reca (Komponist, Sänger, Multiinstrumentalist) und Pablo Miguez (Gitarre), bestanden El Calefón aus argentinischen und brasilianischen Musikern, die ursprünglich als Touristen gekommen waren, aber ohne offizielle Genehmigung als Immigranten blieben. Ihre Musik schöpfte aus den vielfältigen indigenen Stilen ihrer beiden Heimatländer und verschmolz sie mit den internationalen Klängen von Rock, Jazz und Pop. Das anspruchsvoll-originelle Album hat auch nach 40 Jahren nichts von seiner Frische eingebüßt und verströmt tropische Wärme und Lebensfreude – ein Zeugnis der unbeschwerten musikalischen Freiheit einer wechselvollen Musikära.

Fuzzy Bears offers a forward-thinking and immersive listening experience that pushes the boundaries of jazz and electronics — equal parts experimental laboratory and live concert. On stage, the adventure takes its most daring form. Instead of relying on the original vintage synths, the trio reinterprets the studio’s electronic textures with a streamlined setup designed for live performances.

The songs of this exciting experiment are collected on a self-titled album, to be released on March 20th 2026 via Marcel Records. First single 'The Happy Are Being Born' is out on January 8th.

credits
Fulco Ottervanger: Synths, Piano - Harmonic and Melodic info
Lieven Van Pée: Synths, Bass - Low-end info, Mastering
Simon Segers: Synths, Percussion - Rhythmical info
Peter Desmedt: Serge Patching & Sound processing, Recording & Mixing
Special Thanks: Rikkert Brok & Hans Kulk
Recorded at Willem Twee Studios, ‘s Hertogenbosch
Mixed at Studio Ledeberg, Gent

Ten years after their last collaboration, Jacques Duvall and Benjamin Schoos return with Plein Sommeil, a duo album that is at once melancholic, ironic, and tender—a poetic mirror of the fatigue of the modern world.

The legendary lyricist for Lio, Chamfort, and Daho meets the indie pop producer and sonic adventurer of Freaksville, in a generational union as improbable as it is natural.
Between Brussels and Paris, they weave songs about slowness, worn-out love, and resistance through gentleness.

Blending original compositions and delicate covers (The Kinks, Higelin, Daho), the album evokes a sensual and lucid refuge amid the overheating of everyday life.
Recorded with Bertrand Burgalat, The Loved Drones, and lush string arrangements, Plein Sommeil embraces a handcrafted, timeless aesthetic.

Its motto: “Slow business” — a manifesto against the speed and emptiness of contemporary times.

Each song, balancing irony and elegance, celebrates fragility and humanity.

E The Artist presents Six, his debut album for Nyahh Records; an incendiary opus of blown-out electronics and daring sonic abstractions, inspired by the seven seals, that posits E as a daring force within the Irish underground.

Garnering a fierce reputation both in Ireland and abroad despite minimal recorded output, the artist known as E instead boasts his infamy on the live circuit. The Nigerian-born, Dublin-based musician impressed over the years with a slew of memorable performances inspired by AfroPunkism, recontextualising contemporary black club genres into their loudest and most intense iterations. Following a brief side quest to Vienna early in 2025, E returned to Dublin relieved by the tangibility in familiarity of his surroundings. This inspired a period of personal reflection on self, mortality and religion in his cramped studio; from these sessions emerged his most substantial body of work to date in Six.
Inspired by the opening of the seven seals in the Book of Revelation, Six acts as a radical departure for E. Opener IDTYEK signals this change, a freak folk oddity that ill-prepares you for the road ahead. From MANTRAS’ obtuse techno through to RISE’s power electronics, E fulfils a listening experience intent on submission rather than interpretation. Dynamic contrasts temper the parameters of its sonic catharsis, a crescendo of geometric flow that challenges convention.

Six also extends the artist’s circle of collaborators. Ruby Eastwood and Mel Keane lend BRIDGE their poetry and creative instability respectively, frequent live collaborator Julia Louise Knifefist douses BLACKOUT with his signature guttural cries while KRAF’s obscured lyrics gives LINT a wayward edge. Bulgarian Umbrella offers the record its most substantial contribution on DROGO, a twenty minute meditation on life and death which forms the core inspiration for the album as a whole.
Six exists as a world obsessed with rationalising finality, a disorienting space between certainty and myth that stands as E The Artist’s most ambitious and strangely beautiful work to date.

New “Inversions” of drone rock pioneers Earth’s debut release. A collaboration between Dylan Carlson and Black Noi$e (Armand Hammer, Danny Brown, Earl Sweatshirt) formed in mutual respect and appreciation for one another. Both artists were intrigued by the creation of vast musical landscapes and the connection of music, with its ability to transport the listener. The music of Earth was recognised and celebrated for moving at a glacial pace and yet this new collaboration surprisingly saw Black Noi$e slowing things down even further.
The debut, which originally came out in 1991, notably featured Kelly Canary and Kurt Cobain on vocals on the tracks “A Bureaucratic Desire for Revenge Part 2” and “Divine and Bright”. Black Noi$e reimagines the original recordings with his experimental sensibility and innovative multi-instrumental, cross genre exploration. Applying contemporary electronics to the heavy droning bass and guitars and languid rhythms, this inversion oscillates and reverberates with a different kind of energy whilst simultaneously highlighting the much loved low slow and distorted properties of the original.

‘Extra Capsular Extraction’ was the first music Dylan made with Earth and his first time in a recording studio, which he recalls at the time as being “terribly exciting”. It also marked the first time collaborating with others and seeing it reified into a tangible object or product, a spirit that Dylan has carried through to the present. The original album is a document of a specific period and Dylan’s creative development. These inversions of Extra Capsular Extraction are, to quote Dylan, “an exciting way to reintegrate them into the present time and with my more expanded conceptions of musical endeavours”.
"Doom-metal innovators" Pitchfork.

"With guitars ramped up to the nth degree, but tuned to gut-wrenchingly low frequencies, Earth carved out a veritable canyon of pure molten drone, one which would have a profound influence on modern metal music." The Quietus

It's hard to fathom Martin Bramah's trajectory from his beginnings as a guitarist/writer behind two crazily influential postpunk albums - The Fall's Live At The Witch Trials and Blue Orchids' The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain) (vocalist on the latter too, of course) - then nearly three decades of sporadic-at-best activity, offering releases just frequently enough to remind fans of his peculiar brilliance . . . before another stay in the void. Chalk it up to what you want - Mark E. Smith's utter usurpation of The Fall, his split from partner Una Baines after Blue Orchids' debut, the vague collapse of rash experimentation in `underground' music as early `80s nu-pop and American college rock diluted any real spirit, a few failed attempts at working with with Mark again . . . and maybe just life getting in the way. A sense of lost opportunities isn't tough to justify. Inasmuch as Martin was originally the singer for The Fall - Mark began as guitarist but couldn't play! - and given that the group's mythology was born in an era before that gang of Mancunian misfits had even thought of playing, it's high irony that 49 years after The Fall began, Martin has both become wildly prolific and the leader of a band with more rights of inheritance to The Fall's credibility than any other living person could justify . . .yet the band isn't remarkable for that as it is for the range and wealth extent of their collective powers and talent: two great and original guitarists, three of the UK's most daringly-skilled drummers, a genuine bass legend, and a brilliant spare Blue Orchid guitarist. Four albums in, the HOUSE Of ALL is getting ambitious, with each album a subtle improvement on the last, forging a path away from their pasts without denying a thing. Inklings differs from the first three for not having being largely improvised at first, with sounds, rhythm, groove and melody later forged into songs. They rehearsed! They had fun doing it! They're going on an extended tour! There were even extra tracks! We'll leave it to fans and critics to sit down and analyse the specifics of it all, but Steve, Si, Pete, Phil, Karl and Martin have made a bold and powerful album unlike any other you'll hear in 2026 . . . stately, majestic, bold and worthy of a group of real survivors. In perverse form, the album will be officially announced and preceded by a song not on the album!

"Since their formation in the latter half of 2023, Berlin’s Industry have quickly emerged into the foreground as one of the more exciting groups of the European DIY punk scene. Having released their 2024 debut LP, touring and playing festivals all over the continent, they are now back with a follow up record that’s every bit as bruising and bleak as the first.
Much has been made of how ‘on point’ Industry sound - a mid-paced cocktail of heavy toms and churning riffs recalling ‘No Sanctuary’ era Amebix or classic Killing Joke. But Industry use these sounds as a springboard rather than a template, utilising the form for genuine expression where others are tempted by retro cosplay. Their sound is pared back, pulsing, relentless but danceable. But it’s the words that result in a listen that’s engaging from start to finish, an album that’s both expressive and polemic. Just as people often describe Discharge’s lyrics as Haiku, Industry uses the band’s repetitive grooves as a wide-open canvas on which their exasperated observations are given space to land with precision. The litany of criticisms are familiar to us all - violence exacted on the poor and vulnerable by those in power, the ongoing industrialised slaughter of humans and animals, the disastrous consequences of colonialism, the list goes on… The world in 2025 is fucked, and even though they say they ‘can’t even look’, this band has got their eyes wide open."

Multi-coloured vinyl LP or CD. For fans of Nektar, Van Der Graaf Generator and Progressive Rock! Formed in Germany in 1969, Nektar favoured extended compositions and concept albums over the constraints of pop. They were among the progenitors of the progressive rock movement of the 1970s as well as the jam-band scene that arose in the late 1990s. Their sound travelled well to the States, where they enjoyed Top 40 success with "A Tab in the Ocean" (1972) and "Remember the Future" (1973). Nearly 20 albums and a half-century later, the band's artistic and personal charisma has earned them masses of devoted fans. Now Nektar is broadening their horizons with the first in the "Mission To Mars" trilogy. Their first to feature new drummer Jay Dittamo, alongside longtime members Ryche Chlanda (guitars),Kendall Scott(keyboards), and original members Derek "Mo" Moore(bass) and Mick Brockett (visual environment).From the rocking title track "Mission To Mars" to the beautiful "I'll Let You In", Nektar covers all of the prog rock bases while venturing into some new melodic territories. Track listing: Mission To Mars; Long Lost Sunday; One Day Hi One Day Lo; I'll Let You In

When Saracen released their debut album ‘Heroes, Saints & Fools’ back in 1981, the UK Rock scene certainly took notice. Their combination of Magnum-like melodies and Uriah Heep intensity and vocal stylings immediately endeared them to fans of the NWOBHM scene, and fans of classic British Rock in general.
All songs and lyrics were written by lead guitarist Rob Bendelow, who left prior to the release of their second album, ‘Change Of Heart’, in 1984. While this sophomore effort still contained a few Bendelow songs, the band had changed direction, moving away from the almost Pomp and NWOBHM of the debut for a more polished and Melodic Rock direction.
Unfortunately, this new direction didn’t resonate with the fans, and the band broke up not long after.
However, Bruce Mee of Now & Then Records had always been a massive Magnum and Saracen fan. Having already convinced Bob Catley to start a solo career in the late 90s, he also had very productive talks with Rob Bendelow. This great friendship resulted in the band reforming and the release of ‘Red Sky’ in 2003. Rob Bendelow and Saracen were back.
Later signing to Escape and releasing several more great albums, Rob Finally retired from the music scene a few years ago, but the band gamely soldiered on, keeping his songs and legacy alive for their many adoring fans.

In an instance of total cosmic kismet, that same Bruce Mee was also co-organiser of the inaugural ‘Tower of Fire’ UK festival, and in 2024 invited Saracen to play the event along with other well recognised names of the scene such as Nitrate, Remedy, Atack, White Skies and Gabrielle de Val. The event was multi-track recorded, and the results of the Saracen set were so good that it was decided to release a very first live album.

The title of the live album is taken from the name of their crushing opening song: ‘Crusader’. And in a further act of unbelievable karma, the magnificent album artwork and design are created by Sebastian Kozak, the very same creative artist responsible for the brilliant artwork on the band’s come-back album ‘Red Sky’ back in 2003.
All but one of the songs that day were from that incredible debut and those 5 songs, along with 3 others previously recorded live by the band, make up this totally amazing live album. For fans of Saracen and NWOBHM, this is a moment we never thought we’d ever see: a brilliant live Saracen album with vocalist Steve Bettney sounding as incredible as he did over 40 years ago.

London quartet The Leaf Library return with their bold new album After The Rain, Strange Seeds. A luminous collection of pastoral indiepop, drawing inspiration from suburban isolation, unreliable memories and the surreality of the weather. Their most immediate and melodic work to date, the richly evocative songs brim with chiming guitars, buzzing organs and warm, dulcet strings, evoking Yo La Tengo’s more contemplative moments, The Clientele’s autumnal jangle pop and early Stereolab’s motorik melodicism. The sound of the album is defined by mixer John McEntire, whose work with Stereolab and Yo La Tengo (as well as a member of Tortoise/The Sea And Cake) have been major inspirations to the band.
The album explores themes of memory and place, albeit through an abstract haze – returning again and again to specific moments frozen in time: midsummer bright hot days in the Chilterns (“Sun In My Room”), meteorology and the strange movement of the weather (“Colour Chant”), red kites circling over suburban motorways (“Some Circling”), and the uncanny feeling of dusk and nighttime creatures on “The Reader’s Lamp” (titled by celebrated film director Peter Strickland). The lyrics are vivid yet elliptical, strung with abstract ideas and imagery, conjuring a gently unsettling, though never unwelcoming atmosphere. Not quite trusting your own recollection of things, while marvelling at the oddness of the natural world, the album’s title a good summation of the mix of strangeness and hope contained within.

As on past albums the band - founded by singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton in the mid 2000s, and now completed by drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones - have involved their extended musical family, including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations) and keyboardist Irina Shtreis, both members of the Leaf Library live band. The album also sees the return of James Underwood’s Iskra Strings, a quartet that features on 4 tracks, with sumptuous arrangements by Daniel Fordham, as well as regular contributor Melinda Bronstein on vocals and Will Twynham (Dimorphodons) on harpsichord. They also welcomed Paddy Milner (on Hammond organ) and Scott McKeon (guitar) – both current members of Tom Jones’ band – for a startlingly delicate rolling crescendo to closing track “There Was Always A Golden Age”.
After The Rain, Strange Seeds is their 4th studio album. The result is The Leaf Library’s most accomplished and affecting work, John McEntire’s mix bringing a bold clarity to the band’s meticulous arrangements – closer to how they sound live than anything they’ve done before.