Mit dem kommenden Album ”Year Of The Dark Horse” beschloss The White Buffalo (auch bekannt als der
in Oregon geborene Sänger, Songwriter und Gitarrist Jake Smith), dass es nun an der Zeit sei, an vergangene
Erfolge anzuknüpfen - um einen frischen, aufregenden, manchmal auch etwas unkonventionelleren Stil und
Sound zu schaffen, der seine Musik weltweit an Ansehen hat wachsen lassen, unterstützt von wichtigen
Auftritten in der Welt des Fernsehens und des Films (z.B. ”Sons Of Anarchy” und ”Californication”).
”Year Of The Dark Horse” ist ein Album mit einem Dutzend musikalischer Facetten, individuell und doch
konstant im Fluss; ein Album, das lose auf dem Wechsel der Jahreszeiten und der Veränderung einer
Beziehung basiert; ein Album, das das gesamte Spektrum von Jakes Songwriting-Kunstfertigkeit zeigt, von
zurückhaltend bis energiegeladen. ”Year Of The Dark Horse” ist sein achtes Studioalbum und das bisher
unvorhersehbarste, einfallsreichste und rundeste Werk von The White Buffalo - überraschend, spontan und
spektakulär Genre-resistent.
Mit dem kommenden Album ”Year Of The Dark Horse” beschloss The White Buffalo (auch bekannt als der
in Oregon geborene Sänger, Songwriter und Gitarrist Jake Smith), dass es nun an der Zeit sei, an vergangene
Erfolge anzuknüpfen - um einen frischen, aufregenden, manchmal auch etwas unkonventionelleren Stil und
Sound zu schaffen, der seine Musik weltweit an Ansehen hat wachsen lassen, unterstützt von wichtigen
Auftritten in der Welt des Fernsehens und des Films (z.B. ”Sons Of Anarchy” und ”Californication”).
”Year Of The Dark Horse” ist ein Album mit einem Dutzend musikalischer Facetten, individuell und doch
konstant im Fluss; ein Album, das lose auf dem Wechsel der Jahreszeiten und der Veränderung einer
Beziehung basiert; ein Album, das das gesamte Spektrum von Jakes Songwriting-Kunstfertigkeit zeigt, von
zurückhaltend bis energiegeladen. ”Year Of The Dark Horse” ist sein achtes Studioalbum und das bisher
unvorhersehbarste, einfallsreichste und rundeste Werk von The White Buffalo - überraschend, spontan und
spektakulär Genre-resistent.
Always pushing forward, always aiming higher: In the 20 years of their existence, EPICA have never shied away from challenges, twists and turns, weathering every storm and pushing the symphonic metal genre to heights no one even dared to believe in. Since 2002, the band surrounding global metal icon Simone Simons and her long-time musical partner Mark Jansen have released eight highly innovative and cinematic albums, have toured the world over and have left their mark as one of metal’s most prolific, most cherished and most admired success stories forever.
With "The Alchemy Project", EPICA set another highlight in the band's 20th anniversary year! Graced by a vivid and witty artwork by graphic wizard Heilemania, EPICA embark on a journey through seven extraordinary new songs. Co-written and performed with diverse guests ranging from extremists like Fleshgod Apocalypse, Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium) and Björn ‘Speed’ Strid (Soilwork) via melodic masters like Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), keyboard legend Phil Lanzon (Uriah Heep) or Roel van Helden (Powerwolf) to a once- in-a-lifetime song with Simone Simons, Charlotte Wessels and Myrkur, EPICA have really outdone themselves once again. The result is a mind-bending release that even surpasses the usual broad scope of an EPICA record.
Always pushing forward, always aiming higher: In the 20 years of their existence, EPICA have never shied away from challenges, twists and turns, weathering every storm and pushing the symphonic metal genre to heights no one even dared to believe in. Since 2002, the band surrounding global metal icon Simone Simons and her long-time musical partner Mark Jansen have released eight highly innovative and cinematic albums, have toured the world over and have left their mark as one of metal’s most prolific, most cherished and most admired success stories forever.
With "The Alchemy Project", EPICA set another highlight in the band's 20th anniversary year! Graced by a vivid and witty artwork by graphic wizard Heilemania, EPICA embark on a journey through seven extraordinary new songs. Co-written and performed with diverse guests ranging from extremists like Fleshgod Apocalypse, Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium) and Björn ‘Speed’ Strid (Soilwork) via melodic masters like Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), keyboard legend Phil Lanzon (Uriah Heep) or Roel van Helden (Powerwolf) to a once- in-a-lifetime song with Simone Simons, Charlotte Wessels and Myrkur, EPICA have really outdone themselves once again. The result is a mind-bending release that even surpasses the usual broad scope of an EPICA record.
…If I Die, I Die was released only weeks before the Heresie box set. The two albums show very different faces of the Virgin Prunes – one that explored mythical worlds and another that showed their surrealistic interest in the creative power of insanity. They also highlight the ways in which the band enjoyed experimenting with different genres, sound forms and recording techniques. As Friday has commented recently, ‘The Virgin Prunes contained four different bands at the same time.’
The album was recorded at the Windmill Studios in Dublin in the summer of 1982 and produced by Wire’s Colin Newman. Rather than adopt an A/B format, the sides of the 1982 vinyl and album cover, which was designed by Steve Averill, were given brown and blue colours, signalling earth and sky respectively. The art work on each side of the sleeve was also inverted so that either side could be read as the front cover. Ursula Steiger’s photography captured, on the brown side, the band running through a forest like a nomadic tribe. On the blue side we then find them in different costumes, performing with fire and mannequins within a derelict building.
This 40th Anniversary Edition of the album sees a full remaster housed in a Limited Edition Special Finish Gatefold Sleeve on Transparent Vinyl. This Deluxe LP also comes with a 16 page booklet featuring sleeve notes by Dr. Jonathan Wood exploring the writing, recording and production of the record. Plus an exclusive 12x12 Art Print. The album is also available as 2CD Mediabook & Digital Deluxe.
Mechanical Reproductions stay true to their original mission statement of being 'an outlet for editions of vinyl and print' and, for their third release, serve up a 48 page archive of some of the posters created by Young Echo's Amos Childs & Sam Barrett for the long running nights the collective have been running since 2010.
'Heavyweight Champion is the result of six years' collaborative collage works for Bristol's Young Echo collective.
The collective's 12 members have been running club nights, radio shows and releasing music since 2010. Two of them, Amos Childs & Sam Barrett (who also make music together as O$VMV$M), have been responsible for creating the posters to promote the club nights since the start.
These posters are a regular fixture in the visual landscape of the city, on walls, bins, bus stops and pretty much any other available surface in the lead up to each event. Their informal visual language immediately sets them apart from the other flyers vying for attention. They're intriguing: through not having the artist names featured as prominently as possible they encourage the viewer to take a deeper look. There's dense layers of images and cut-and-pasted phrases to be deciphered - ultimately a far more engaging experience than being shouted at by a generic and large-fonted neon specimen.
Thanks to the local council (and keen fans who would rather see them on their walls at home), more often than not these works are gone soon after they're tacked up, meaning the only archive of them is as low resolution images on various social media channels. 'Heavyweight Champion', then, aims to provide a lasting document of this unique and vital part of Bristol's musical culture...'
What It Means To be Human is the second in a series of four albums from Jasper Høiby’s Planet B, featuring saxophonist Josh Arcoleo and drummer Marc Michel, that focus on global topics of vital importance - Humanity, Climate Change, Artificial intelligence and Monetary Reform. This album seeks connection. A connection between humanity and the planet, between the problems we all face and about an opportunistic optimism to fix them. The mastermind is Jasper Høiby, the esteemed and revered Danish bassist and the deeply reflective, expressive and visionary artist. Whilst there are many moments that display the virtuosity and hard-hitting grooves of Phronesis, the long-standing band that shot Jasper to the limelight, Planet B offers additional rewards of subtle expression. The music is captivating and highly absorbing, enhanced by soundscapes of electronics and interspersed with powerful, emotive speech by some unique and forward-thinking female minds including Grace Lee Boggs, Ruby Sales and Jane Goddall. They all share a profound understanding of the world, only achievable through practical wisdom, each offering their individual take on where we are as a species and what we can do to improve. At the heart of the album is the trio. A group of like-minded and creative souls where the focus is all about the collective sound. As a whole, the music is a powerful, mesmerising and poignant display of musicianship, integrity and storytelling. What it Means To Be Human is an album at the forefront of the creative European scene.
Say Anything was, despite its place in a genre known for sincerity, somewhat of a satire of the quintessential emo band. Bemis being the Andy Kaufman of it all was enough to delight and confuse an entire generation as to whether he was a “real boy” or Ziggy Stardust infused with Curb Your Enthusiasm and the Vagrant Records discography. The final Say Anything LP was written from the point of Oliver Appropriate, a personification of this intentionally confused public persona; his death during climactic “Sediment” echoed the end of an era for the band itself. When ready to recover from twenty years of trauma making music, Max’s answer was more natural than obvious. Bowie and other musicians invented “characters” to escape pigeon holes; with Maxim Mental for the first time, Max had to be solely himself. Maxim Mental is the sequel to Say Anything and Max Bemis doesn’t care who knows it. Men in popular rock bands adore the idea of “the solo project.” A project in which they call the shots, the contract is in their name, and they don’t have to fight with four slackers they’ve lived with since college to stand in the front at photo shoots.oots
Repress in soon, note new price. For Fans Of:The Lawrence Arms, Into It. Over It, The Menzingers, RVIVR, Modern Baseball, Sundowner, Topshelf Records. Deanna Belos has been a fixture in the Chicago punk scene since she was in Junior High, attending shows, singing along, and raising hell in general. But she was more than just a face in the crowd, Deanna was a radiant friend to all, and at some point she picked up a guitar and made a different contribution the Chicago underground scene: her own music under the name Sincere Engineer. Over the last couple years we've encouraged her to keep writing songs and she surprised us all by assembling a great band and recording an impressive album. Her debut, "Rhombithian", was Produced by Matt Jordan (You Blew It!, Dowsing, etc.) and pairs the sounds of Chicago punk and the youthful Midwest "emo revival" movement. No one is more excited about music than Sincere Engineer, and Deanna plans to play a lot of shows and bring her infectious energy to the rest of the planet in support of "Rhombithian".
Robert Groslot's Concerto for Bass Guitar and Orchestra represents the
next step in the evolution of the bass guitar
Groslot's composition pushes the instrument to its technical limits, while creating
a unique symbiosis between the soloist and the orchestra. Although he may not
be the first composer to write for the bass guitar in a symphonic setting, Groslot
brings a level of artistry and sophistication to the composition that will continue
and accelerate the legitimation of the bass guitar within contemporary classical
music. "The idea of a concerto for bass guitar is something that I have been
dreaming of for decades. Since its invention, the bass guitar has firmly
established itself as an essential and integral part of practically every genre of
music. The bass guitar, as we now know it, was invented and produced by Leo
Fender starting in 1951. The more portable bass guitar, in comparison to the large
and unwieldy double bass, was capable of playing at higher volumes via
amplification and satisfied the new sonic demands created by the widespread
use of electrification in popular music. By increasing the overall scale of the
electric guitar and only using the lowest four strings (E, A, D, G), Fender gave birth
to a new instrument. Traditional double bassists could quickly adapt, with the
added benefit of more accurate intonation due to the frets. Hence the original
name: The Precision Bass. At the same time, guitarists could also become bass
players when called upon. As a result, many of the early bass guitarists began
their musical life as guitar players, with the most well-known example being Paul
McCartney of The Beatles.
The fact that the bass guitar had no direct lineage like the evolution of the piano
or violin over time, led to a variety of disparate playing styles without any
fundamental methodology. Unlike the more traditional instruments, the bass
guitar does not sit upon a foundation of centuries of proven methods and
established schools of playing. The evolution of the bass guitar has been a
patchwork of trial and error by active musicians. This has led to a plethora of
personal approaches and hybrid-styles, effectively leading to the rapid evolution
of bass guitar technique. Given its relatively young history, it is remarkable how
the bass guitar has grown from being an instrument taken up out of necessity, or
as an afterthought, to being as respected and vital to modern music as any of the
older, more established instruments." - Thomas Fiorini
Iris DeMent released Infamous Angel in 1992 - Nearly 30 years later, the
album remains among the most singular and fully realized singersongwriter debuts since the invention of that category in the early '70s
The abiding strengths of the album are especially impressive ' even a bit startling '
because 1992 is not a moment usually associated with her intimate brand of
acoustic country music. In country history, the year 1992 is most immediately
affiliated with Garth Brooks, whose album, The Chase, topped both the country
and pop album charts that year, and with Billy Ray Cyrus' 'Achy Breaky Heart,'
which fueled a line dance craze. Squeezed into a playlist alongside such hits,
DeMent's doleful, hushed 'Our Town' would've sounded as if it were being
broadcast from another planet. 'People call me country,' she told journalist Ben
Thompson while on tour in Britain a couple years later. 'But country doesn't call
me country.' Let's call her country. The genre is always more expansive than what
radio stations program. It happened Infamous Angel is close kin to a different
sort of country music that was just then having a moment: specifically, country
singer- songwriters, focusing on personal, but universal, loss and hope and
favoring small acoustic combos. It may have been out of step with the
mainstream, but Infamous Angel arrived right on time
There's a certain winking resignation to the title of Nick Lowe's At My
Age, as if it were designed to be spoken with a soft, knowing sigh
Now in his late fifties, Lowe is hardly running away from his advancing years --
quite the contrary, the singer/songwriter is comfortable in his skin and his years.
Certainly, he's comfortable in his music, since At My Age marks the fourth time
that he's mined the intimate, well-worn country-rock vibe of The Impossible Bird,
and if at this point it no longer is a revelation, it's hardly lost its appeal, either. Part
of that lies in Lowe's ever-potent charm, and to overlook an album as exquisitely
crafted as At My Age is to be a fool, because nobody does this kind of relaxed
Americana as well as Lowe, who is still writing songs that stand proudly
alongside his previous classics. For instance, there's "I Trained Her to Love Me," a
song as wickedly witty and bitterly self- loathing as "Cruel to Be Kind" or "The
Beast in Me," a tune that's balanced by the wry new-love anthem "Hope for Us All,"
which has its share of gently funny lines but is nevertheless a ringing, sincere
endorsement of love, worthy of the man who wrote "(What's So Funny 'Bout)
Peace, Love and Understanding?" And that's always been one of Lowe's greatest
gifts, that he is possessed with rare humor but also a big heart, which is what
gives his music great resonance. This 15th anniversary edition of At My Age is
pressed on silver vinyl and limited to 2,500 copies worldwide. This marks the first
time this long- out- of- print classic has ever been available on color
vinyl.Packaging; LP jacket; silver vinyl
Recorded at CBS Studios in San Francisco in 1976, before they were
signed to the legendary Beserkley Records, The CBS Tapes captures the
Rubinoos as the scrappy, bratty kids they were
It also shows the huge talent and energy of a young band near the beginning of
their career, who believed they were unstoppable. This never before released
recording is the perfect way to kick off the band's 50th anniversary celebration.
Songs performed include Jonathan Richman's "Government Center," "The Pepsi
Generation," commercial jingle, and several Rubinoos originals. This is the black
vinyl standard edition.
Rare & unreleased 80's bangers from Sao Tome e Principe's most iconic singer !
Bongo Joe pursues their work with friend DJ Tom B and are sharing the fourth effort in their São Tomé & Principe series : “Recordar é viver”, the first volume of an anthology dedicated to the one and only Pedro Lima, , "A voz do povo de São Tomé" (the people's voice of Sao Tomé).
“Recordar é viver: Antologia Vol. 1” features some previously unreleased tracks and gives a comprehensive look into the discography of one of the islands’ biggest stars, known for his political outspokenness as much as for his soft voice, delicate rumbas, and high-energy puxas.
With his band Os Leonenses he built a brand new genre around the strong rhythms and infectious energy of Sao-Toméan Samba Socopé ("only with the feet” in Portuguese), but with the influence of Congolese soukous, Cape Verdean Coladeira, elements from French West-Indies Cadence/Compas, and Brazilian Afoxé, it soon developed into the infectiously danceable style known as “puxa”. The band kept playing together up until Pedro’s death in 2019, performing at large events around the islands and on the continent.
But Pedro shined also on his own. Alone, he demonstrated his compositional skills and ability to balance the band’s powerful rhythm section with São Tomé & Principe’s harmonic backing vocal traditions, creating strong, dance floor ready puxas or melodic, delicate rumbas.
Pedro Lima died in 2019, leaving behind the 23 children he fathered, with thousands of mourners accompanying him to his final resting place. The public funeral, paid for by ex-president Pinto da Costa, was one of the biggest the islands have ever seen. Lima, "O cantor do povo” (“The people’s singer”), was buried with his wireless microphone, so his powerful voice would always be heard.
Laila Sakini's new album 'Paloma' arrives via Modern Love and is her most striking and ambiguous to date - a pointed and timely meditation on hope and hierarchies that riffs on Zbigniew Preisner's magical "The Double Life of Veronique" score and enduring outsider music tome "The Langley Schools Music Project". Subtly transcendent, fathoms-deep music.
When Laila Sakini's debut album ‘Vivienne’ arrived in 2020, it felt like the record we were waiting for to map out our tangled reactions to an uninvited reality. Never self-consciously strange, it revealed itself slowly and cautiously, like a shadow in the corner of the eye, or an alchemical symbol in a bowl of alphabet spaghetti. This time around Sakini has worked her unique world-building to an even finer point, forming six tracks around a theme that's so close to our heart it's almost beating in time. Initially inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1991 arthouse classic "The Double Life of Veronique", the cult Polish director's enduring modern fairytale that serves as a cosmic rumination on identity and choice. Detailing two identical women - both singers, both in love - the film lets one live as the other dies, forcing us to consider the implications of art and endurance in the face of life's myriad challenges.
Sakini takes Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner's influential score for the film and uses it as a jumping-off point for ‘Paloma’, bending the more grandiose moments into baroque awkwardness on opening track 'Fluer D'Oranger' and evoking the mood of scene-setting cues 'Weronika' and 'Véronique' on the recorder-led 'The Light That Flickers In The Mirror'. And while Preisner's score zeroed in on the musical virtuosity of the film's lead characters, Sakini reinterprets that as a metaphor for self-discovery. Playing piano, violin, glockenspiel, timbale, recorder, and occasionally singing, Sakini captures a mood of innocence that immediately transports the listener back to simpler times. Her music isn't self-consciously simplistic, but forcing herself to interface with instruments impulsively rather than studiously, her sounds are all heart, no filigree.
In spirit, it reminds us of cult Canadian album "The Langley Schools Music Project", a collection of 1970s recordings of school kids singing rudimentary renditions of pop songs in a school gymnasium. That album's genius was in the bottling of hope and innocence: the feeling of joy from hearing and wholesomely interacting with music that's known and loved without a sense of hierarchy or desire for cultural clout. Sakini subtly subverts this by evoking the amateur spirit in the most bewitching way; instead of sourcing her ideas from Bowie, Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys, her stock is the established art canon, and by reforming those sounds she makes an insightful comment on intellectualism and access. European classical music is all too often trapped behind the frosted glass of respectability and assumed skill - craft replaces spirit, and technique replaces soul. By approaching these gestures from a different angle, Sakini softens the edges sonically and intellectually, finding music that bubbles with emotion, and most strikingly - hope.
Her choice of instruments and the way she interacts with them allows us to feel as if we're not only listening but contributing. It's a bottom-up way of absorbing art that's traditionally been top-down, and a reminder that we're all part of the experience, whether we're humming along to the remnants of a theme as it dribbles out of an ear in the shower, or dreaming of spotlights in a parallel life that may or may not be real. Sakini's music is nostalgic in a sense, but nowhere near the buttered popcorn and high-fructose candy migraine of the Netflix/Spotify algorithm generation of regurgitated churn. She makes sounds that remind us of what time and experience may have stolen from us, and how we might recover it.
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh & Irish Chamber Orchestra have breathed new life into the noble, classical songs of our ancestors with this new album, R is n Reimagined.The sean n s tradition is undergoing a revival During lockdown, award- winning singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh's renditions of classic sean n s songs such as An Ch ilfhionn or R is n Dubh introduced a new generation of listeners to these melodically complex and richly ornamented songs. Now Nic Amhlaoibh joins the Irish Chamber Orchestra for R is n
ReImagined, an exciting new project that pairs her peerless vocals with fresh
orchestral arrangements of sean n s songs. Kilkenny Arts Festival and the Irish
Chamber Orchestra have co- commissioned special arrangements from six
leading Irish composers: Cormac McCarthy, Paul Campbell, Linda Buckley, Sam
Perkin, Niamh Varian- Barry and Michael Keeney. Produced by D nal O'Connor,
Roisin ReImagined explores the connections between classical and traditional
music, and reimagines these timeless songs for a new era. These works typically
date from the 16th-19th century, and bear the hallmarks of high art and learning.
In many instances, they bear witness to the artistic culture of Gaelic Ireland,
which was under siege and endangered; the high art of their era. Amongst them
are classics such as R is n Dubh, An Ch ilfhionn, Sl n le M igh & An tSeanbhean
Bhocht. Nic Amhlaoibh's distinct voice and outward- looking approach has
elevated these songs to yet another level through this project, and along with the
Irish Chamber Orchestra and producer D nal O'Connor, she has given a platform
to a tradition that gives a deep insight into the Irish psyche. These sean-n s songs
emerged from a practice that was part of a wider European and international
culture, and this project will resonate with people from every corner of the world.
The new incarnation of these old songs is a beautiful, uplifting sonic journey,
especially for those fortunate enough to experience it live, and is sure to leave an
imprint on the consciousness of the Irish song tradition.
Known for her time as vocalist in Fairport Convention and respected
globally , Sandy Denny left a beguiling, ever-evolving body of work - Kate
Bush was to namecheck her in song, and Denny's influence can be heard
in generations of singer-songwriters
From the power chords that open it, 1977's Rendezvous aimed squarely at giving
Denny her commercial breakthrough. It demonstrates an artist evolving. Gold
Dust really underlines how Denny could be viewed as the British Joni Mitchell,
and its late- night jazz funk backing (with Steve Winwood on clavinet) offers a
beguiling glimpse of where Denny may have travelled next. Rendezvous closes
with No More Sad Refrains, which updated her late 60s ballad style. As Denny
died tragically young less than a year after the album's release, it became a
poignant full stop to such a promising career. Long out of print on LP, this re-issue
faithfully replicates the original 1977 Island Records UK release with lyric inner
sleeve and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.
LNFG is proud to bring you "The Great Imposter" by Steve Lane - We are
so pleased that Steve has chosen us as his musical home, we love this
record and we quite like the man himself
The Great Imposter is a delightful slice of shimmering antipodean guitar pop,
unless of course, you're reading this on the other side of the world, in which case
it's a glorious slab of homegrown genius.The Great Imposter features the single
"Certainty" other singles will follow. The album will be released on Eco Vinyl
(Every single copy will be unique) this Autumn/Spring.
On her debut album Alone at Last, Tasha celebrates the radical political act of being exquisitely gentle with yourself. For years, the Chicago songwriter has dreamed hard of a better world_she's worked with the local racial justice organization Black Youth Project 100 and has been on the front lines at protests around the city. But as she returned to the guitar, an instrument her mother first taught her to play when she was 15 years old, she began exploring the ways music can be a powerful force for healing. Across Alone at Last's seven tracks, Tasha sings mantras of hope and restoration over lush guitar lines inspired by the stylings of Nai Palm and Lianne La Havas_both artists who, like Tasha, opt for a sweetness in their playing over the masculinized bravado that often accompanies the electric guitar. Alone at Last is a powerful talisman in a demanding world, and a reminder that kindness toward the self can help unlock the way to a world a little more livable than this one.
Using just piano and a Weissenborn guitar, Helge Lien and Knut Hem
sculpt a timeless sound that conjures up images of endless planes,
feelings of freedom and nostalgia
They make use of the harmonic vocabulary of jazz, and the feeling of Country and
Bluegrass while occasionally hinting at ambient and film music. Journalists have
come up with clever genre names such as "Nordicana" to try and capture this
direction. But although Hem and Lien share influences with these acts, their style
feels like a distinct own branch within this fascinating scene.
At its very core, 'Villingsberg' is music for inner wandering, a cosmos of solitude,
in which the silence behind the notes is as important as the actual sounds made.
40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION.With this album a fuse was lit, leading to
an explosion that spawned a new religion: Bad Religion
How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, their second record and first LP is nothing short
of genius. Shattered-glass guitar riffs, fast, furious drums, and a 16 year old Greg
Graffin's voice for the ages. The coalescence of lyrical intellect and savage music
make for a sound seldom (if ever) heard before. The impact of this record still
resonates to this day. Classic tracks like Fuck Armageddon...This Is Hell,
American Dream, and The Voice Of God Is Government are as crucial and socially
lucid as the day they were created in a southern California garage. When the
greatest punk records of all-time are discussed, How Could Hell Be Any Worse? is
sure to be mentioned.
Recommended If You Like: Trentemøeller, Nine Inch Nails, Zola Jesus, Tropic of Cancer, Chelsea Wolfe, William Basinski, oOoOO, The Focus Group/Ghost Box -- hauntology in general. LP on Blood Red Vinyl, LP & CD packaged in a gatefold jacket. First new music since 2018’s Lingering Pt. II. Featuring k Hover (Sound of Ceres) on “Moldering Fragments”. Sleep Party People’s Brian Batz dives into the darker edges of orchestral pop on new album Heap of Ashes. Influenced by primarily Bulgarian choral music, old-school metal, and 21st century experimental composition, the music of Sleep Party People exposes every facet, every moment, and every wound, finding beauty even when the last glow of hope looks like it’s ready to fade into the ashes. Heap of Ashes includes contributions from Halvcirkle, GNOM, and Sound of Ceres’ K Hover. Track Listing 1 It Won't Be Cinematic 2 Tide 3 Spider Cracks 4 Moldering Fragments 5 No. 3147 6 Labyrinth 7 Parched Bodies 8 Pagan Flames 9 Needle
Recommended If You Like: Trentemøeller, Nine Inch Nails, Zola Jesus, Tropic of Cancer, Chelsea Wolfe, William Basinski, oOoOO, The Focus Group/Ghost Box -- hauntology in general. LP on Blood Red Vinyl, LP & CD packaged in a gatefold jacket. First new music since 2018’s Lingering Pt. II. Featuring k Hover (Sound of Ceres) on “Moldering Fragments”. Sleep Party People’s Brian Batz dives into the darker edges of orchestral pop on new album Heap of Ashes. Influenced by primarily Bulgarian choral music, old-school metal, and 21st century experimental composition, the music of Sleep Party People exposes every facet, every moment, and every wound, finding beauty even when the last glow of hope looks like it’s ready to fade into the ashes. Heap of Ashes includes contributions from Halvcirkle, GNOM, and Sound of Ceres’ K Hover. Track Listing 1 It Won't Be Cinematic 2 Tide 3 Spider Cracks 4 Moldering Fragments 5 No. 3147 6 Labyrinth 7 Parched Bodies 8 Pagan Flames 9 Needle
RIYL Harold Budd, Max Richter, Nihls Frahm. Limited Transparent Orange Vinyl LP. Final album from Roberth Haigh of SEMA, Nurse With Wound, Omni Trio. Smut shines a spotlight on the sounds of the 90s across genres – a record scratch, a spacey synth line, a breakcore beat – all while maintaining freshness and originality. The collaborative project of vocalist Tay Roebuck, guitarist Andrew Min, bassist and synth-player Bell Cenower, guitarist and synth-player Sam Ruschman, and drummer Aidan O'Connor, Smut have conquered national tours with Bully, Swirlies, Nothing, and WAVVES. Based in Chicago, IL, the band hits their stride in 'How the Light Felt'. It is an exercise in coping, an electrifying statement of hope in the thick of resounding loss, and a love letter to the people that keep us going. With their powers combined, Smut meld the songwriting sensibilities of Oasis with the vocal delivery of the Cocteau Twins – the percussive grooves of Gorillaz with the sensuality of Massive Attack. An electric current of hope led by Tay Roebuck's powerful, femme vocals, Smut puts on a live show that is not to be missed. Also Available From Smut: Power Fantasy 7”. Track listing: 1 Beginner's Mind 2 Twilight Flowers 3 Waltz on Treated Wire 4 Contour Lines 5 Rainy Season 6 Lost Albion 7 Like a Shadow 8 Still Life with Moving Parts 9 The Fourth Man 10 Signs of Life 11 The Nocturnals 12 Baroque Atom 13 On Terminus Hill
RIYL Harold Budd, Max Richter, Nihls Frahm. Limited Transparent Orange Vinyl LP. Final album from Roberth Haigh of SEMA, Nurse With Wound, Omni Trio. Smut shines a spotlight on the sounds of the 90s across genres – a record scratch, a spacey synth line, a breakcore beat – all while maintaining freshness and originality. The collaborative project of vocalist Tay Roebuck, guitarist Andrew Min, bassist and synth-player Bell Cenower, guitarist and synth-player Sam Ruschman, and drummer Aidan O'Connor, Smut have conquered national tours with Bully, Swirlies, Nothing, and WAVVES. Based in Chicago, IL, the band hits their stride in 'How the Light Felt'. It is an exercise in coping, an electrifying statement of hope in the thick of resounding loss, and a love letter to the people that keep us going. With their powers combined, Smut meld the songwriting sensibilities of Oasis with the vocal delivery of the Cocteau Twins – the percussive grooves of Gorillaz with the sensuality of Massive Attack. An electric current of hope led by Tay Roebuck's powerful, femme vocals, Smut puts on a live show that is not to be missed. Also Available From Smut: Power Fantasy 7”. Track listing: 1 Beginner's Mind 2 Twilight Flowers 3 Waltz on Treated Wire 4 Contour Lines 5 Rainy Season 6 Lost Albion 7 Like a Shadow 8 Still Life with Moving Parts 9 The Fourth Man 10 Signs of Life 11 The Nocturnals 12 Baroque Atom 13 On Terminus Hill
Für Fans von: (frühe) Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema.
Die dänische Band Empire Drowns, die eine geschmackvolle Mischung aus Doom/Death-Metal der alten Schule und düsterem Gothic-Rock bietet, ist
nach der 2013er EP "Bridges" endlich bereit für die Veröffentlichung ihres Debütalbums.
Auf "Nothing" hat die Band eine härtere Herangehensweise an ihren Doom Metal angestrebt, und Marco Angioni von den Angioni Studios (Tygers
Of Pan Tang, Detest, Thorium etc.) wurde beauftragt, einen Sound einzufangen, der den frühen Neunzigern nahekommt, als das Academy Studio in
Großbritannien der Ort war, an dem Bands dieses Genres bevorzugt aufnahmen. Zu den Alben, die den Sound von "Nothing" inspiriert haben, gehören "As The Flower Withers", "Gothic" und "Serenades".
"Nothing" zeichnet sich durch eine intensive Rhythmussektion und aufsteigende, melodische Gitarrenarbeit, atmosphärische Keyboards aus, die
zusammen mit dem gleichzeitig düsteren, knurrenden Gesang eine schwere und fesselnde Stimmung erzeugen.
Als Songwriter zeigen Empire Drowns eine erfrischende Vielfalt. Jeder Song hat seine eigene, unverwechselbare Identität, doch das Ausloten verschiedener musikalischer Wege führt zu einem ganzheitlichen und nachdenklichen Sound, den Empire Drowns mit Stolz ihr Eigen nennen können.
Empire Drowns besteht aus erfahrenen Musikern von Bands wie Aurora, Decorate. Decorate, Urkraft, Withering Surface, Meridian & A Sun Traverse.
Als ein Drittel des New Yorker HipHop-Trios Flatbush Zombies arbeitete Meechy Darko bereits mit u.a.
James Blake, A$AP Rocky und Danny Brown zusammen. Mit ”Kill Us All” stellte er jetzt die erste
packende Videosingle aus seinem Debütalbum ”Gothic Luxury” vor, das am 26. August über Loma Vista
Recordings / Concord erschien.
Es ist die Komik der Tragik, die Meechy Darko zu seinem ersten Soloalbum geführt hat. Ausgehend von
dem entsetzlichen Tod seines Vaters, der im Januar 2020 von einem Polizisten in Miami niedergeschossen
wurde, ist sein Debütalbum kein Schritt aus der Komfortzone, sondern ein Stoß in die Realität: ”Ich hatte
keine andere Wahl, als es zum Persönlichsten zu machen, was ich je getan habe, denn glücklicherweise oder
unglücklicherweise befinde ich mich gerade in einer sehr aufrüttelnden Phase meines Lebens”, sagt der 32-
jährige Rapper über die Entstehung von ”Gothic Luxury” und die Bedeutung dessen als Momentaufnahme.
”Der, der ich gestern war, ist vielleicht schon nicht mehr der, der ich morgen bin. Ich bin nicht der,
der ich letzte Woche war. Man kann nicht sagen, wer ich nächstes oder übernächstes Jahr sein werde.”
Zusammen mit Dot Da Genius, dem langjährigen Partner von Kid Cudi und Produzenten für u.a. Jhené
Aiko, Lil Nas X und Denzel Curry sowie Grammy-Preisträger Neal Pogue (u.a. TLC, Outkast, Tyler The
Creator) hat Meechy ein vielschichtiges Debütalbum erarbeitet, auf dem sich der Flatbush Zombie so öffnet
wie nie zuvor.
ATL via NYC producer Xiorro follows up his killer release on Brooklyn based label Sorry Records with four slabs of ravey industrial concrete on 1O PILLS MATE. Co-founding ALKHEMY - a collective whose genesis is dedicated to spreading diversity within techno and making space for marginalised, people of colour and women to play - their The Black Hole parties have helped to re-shape the NYC soundscape.
Xiorro's moniker is a reference to his Puerto Rican heritage and to African revolutionary Marcus Xiorro. Touted as one to watch by DJ Mag and Magnetic Mag, he has played Tresor;s New Faces and Berlin party Staub, co-hosting nights with Discwoman and ARTS on both sides of the atlantic. 'Zemi Of A Riot' begins with a surprisingly familiar sample before diving straight into a bass-driven, unrelenting groove. An instant curve-ball designed to delight and startle, it's an off-road space jam hurtling through a multi-verse of dark clubs and asteroid fields. 'Pa' Que Brinquen' turns the space rocks to goo with its frantic, melting analog patterns and hardcore aeshetic, striking a perfect balance between otherworldly and organic.
'Tooth and Nail' is an evocative cut of heads-down energy; a total surrender to the mundane that exists outside the walls of right now, hypnotic, groove-focused techno that's as bassy as it is heavy. Belgium based French producer Julian Muller caps the release off with a punchy remix of 'Pa' Que Brinquen', pushing the tempo slightly higher with a piece of trance-licked techno.
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Suns of Arqa is a sonic mission created by luminary Michael Wadada, who began in 1979 after receiving higher guidance in Jamaica while working with roots reggae chanter Prince Far-I. It is a prolific traveling music collective that has seen over 200 collaborators, meant to connect people from all cultures and walks of life through a "deeply spiritual vibration that merges cultures, faiths and musical genres". Wadada combines ancient Hindustani raga systems with Piobaireachd and Nyabinghi roots drumming, creating ritualistic world music infused with dub and reggae. The lyrics combine both mystical and sensory elements, often including prayer and referencing a higher power but finding root in experiences common to all people- memory, sight, and physical sensation. Their first album, Revenge of the Mozabites, was a collaboration between Wadada and On-U Sound creator Adrian Sherwood. Following its 1980 release, Peter Gabriel invited them to perform at the first WOMAD festival. Today, the record is regarded by some as a cult classic.
The musician Roberto Enrique "Tito" Chicoma forged one of the most solid and constant career paths in Peruvian music. Self-taught, he started playing tenor saxophone in his father's orchestra, also playing the trumpet, piano or trombone when the occasion arose. In 1959, at the age of 23, Tito moved to Lima, where he soon joined ensembles such as the Koki Palacios and Armando Boza orchestras, which took him abroad for the first time on tour. A recognized musician in his own right, Tito would later decide to form his own orchestra, which was soon hired by América Televisión, starring on programs such as "El Show de Juan Silva", where he accompanied international artists that visited Lima. In 1966, Tito made his first record under his own name on the MAG label, performing two cumbias by the Colombian group Los Teen Agers. The praise the single received led to the recording of his first LP, "El ritmo de moda", where he continued to compile Colombian songs. At the end of 1967, he dedicated his new LP project to recording two fashionable rhythms at the time: cumbias y boogaloos. The Colombian cumbia became popular in Peru from 1964 onwards, when local orchestras like those of Andrés de Colbert, Mario Cavagnaro, Eulogio Molina and Lucho Macedo recorded cumbia hits, then the genre soared when groups like Los Pacharacos and Los Demonios del Mantaro mixed it with Andean music.
Desumanos' fresh mixture of guitar driven melodies is as evocative as it is playful. This instrumental project is made up of a dream-team of Brazilian producers and musicians. Kassin, on bass, was member of The +2's band and co-produced Gilles Peterson's Brazilian project Sonzeira, featuring legendary artists such as Elza Soares, Naná Vasconcelos, Wilson Das Neves_ While Liminha, on guitar, is a former member of Os Mutantes. His signature sound is heavily influenced by classic instrumental surf music, but tropical rhythms are also dropped in the mix. The band is completed with Felipe and Manoel Cordeiro (on guitar), one of the lambada originators, and Stephane San Juan (drums), currently playing with David Byrne. Across the tracklist of this Desumanos debut album we can find a unique combination of musical styles that are all filtered through the sieve of instrumental surf music without losing their roots anchored in tropical sounds such as cumbia, African rhythms and, of course, popular genres from Brazil such as forró or lambada. Ten original songs in which the guitar is the undisputed protagonist and the tropical atmosphere emanates through each note.
Forget your search for a holy grail, THIS is The Lost Ark Of The Covenant.
Walter Gibbons presents 'The Ten Commandments Are The Law Of The Land'
It will melt your face and make you clap yo' hands!
Mythical disco foundations from Sunshine Sound.
Label Info:
Take a journey to the dawn of DJ culture with Sunshine Sound, the NY imprint that through a series of genre defining Disco Edits became recognised as the 'Birthplace of the Edit'.
These 'Disco Adjustments' would become the hottest tracks in a DJ's crate, spawning countless bootlegs & imitations since they first appeared so many years ago.
As influential as these recordings were, most only appeared as acetate discs individually cut in mono & sold direct to DJs.
Some of these were cut in such small quantities it could be debated as to whether they ever really existed at all.
40 years later and all that remains are remakes & rumours...
...or so it was thought.
Sunshine Sound rises again to bring you a series of classic, legendary & mythical Edits.
Travel back with us to re-discover monumental works that helped shape the sound of dance music as we deepen the textures of history with a series of exclusive Digital & limited Vinyl releases selected from the vault.
Sunshine Sound releases are distributed by Moonshine Sound, bringing you antiquities of historical Disconificance.
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Ever since he remixed Abimaro & The Free’s ‘Mark’ back in 2014, NuNorthern Soul boss Phil Cooper has kept in touch with Daniel Stenger, the producer and self-taught multi-instrumentalist behind the Flashbaxx project. Cooper was always convinced that Sanger would be capable of crafting a very special release for the label but was willing to give him time to come up with something special.
With Take Care My Friend, a mini-album inspired by the German producer’s deeply rooted love of jazz-funk, Stenger has repaid the faith shown in him. He’s deliv-ered a collection of quality cuts marked out by audible warmth, effortless musicality and memorable, sun-soaked songs.
As he makes clear in the liner notes included with the vinyl version of the mini album, the project began with the recording of luscious, Rhodes-laden opener ‘Al-right’. After staying up all night recording the track, Stenger not only decided to continue recording with the same relatively limited set of instruments (think bass and electric guitars, drums, piano, electric piano, organ, hand percussion and a handful of synthesizers), but also stick to a hybrid sound that added a subtle Lat-in shuffle to his Balearic-minded take on jazz, funk and soul fusion.
We’re biased of course, but there’s no denying that Stenger’s creative choices have resulted in a superb set of tracks. While the restricted kit list provided focus during the music-making process, there’s still plenty of musical variety across the six tracks that make up the set.
For proof, compare and contrast the jazzy, loose-limbed headiness of ‘It Just Happens’, where simmer-ing synth-strings, twinkling melodic motifs and glis-tening guitar licks rise above smooth jazz-funk bass and a gentle broken beat rhythm, and the slow-motion soul brilliance of ‘Strangers’, where Kathryn Kempf’s evocative and poignant lead vocals rise above a sump-tuous downtempo groove and heart-aching piano lines.
This subtly varied but musically coherent vibe contin-ues across the mini album. Stenger indulges in a bit of New York daydreaming on ‘Brooklyn Love Boat’, a wonderfully musically detailed chunk of 1970s style jazz-funk heat that offers knowing nods to Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock and the jazz-fusion stylings of Azymuth, before opting for a deeper, slower and even more seductive sound on the Hammond-sporting bliss of ‘Take Care My Friend’.
Closing cut ‘City Lights’, a gorgeous, soft-focus affair smothered in echoing Rhodes riffs and immersive chords, has the feel of an underground classic in wait-ing: a stirring, string-drenched future sing-along whose emotion-packed lyrics are delivered brilliantly by Glasgow-born singer/songwriter Chris Pookah.
Despite the song’s subject matter – the painful final breakdown of a relationship – there’s something strangely uplifting about the combination of Pookah’s pitch-perfect vocal delivery and the absorbing warmth of Stenger’s comforting and sonically detailed music. It provides a fittingly impressive finish to a mightily immersive mini album.
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"Contaminated Culture" is the next various artists on limited edition by Scena_731 Recordings. Are two collections with 7 artists and divided in one vinyl release. The contamination comes from the different culture of these artists, who found two similar genres into the techno music and who marry in a festival line up. On the Part I of the V/A on side a, we have three artists on the classic techno and deep sounds. As you will know the well-known sound of Ritzi Lee with a classic mix, Paul Birken with his unmistakable technique through modular systems, Booz equally a lover of the sound sought through spatial connections of the universe. On the Part II on the side b, we have the B2B of Yari Greco & Karah from Rotterdam with a totally raw and edgy version for the dancefloor with a mix of raw and pounding groove. Then you will listen to Aeit, with an industrial London sound with a raw electronic synth perfect for the rave crowd and the last track signed by Jassass, an earthquake that damages you with very fast grooves and changes of industrial scenarios.
Support the good techno music for his different culture. Enjoy!
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Beatservice Records are thrilled to present the hotly-anticipated third album from Oslo-based production maestro, Third Attempt. 'The Novel Sound' follows on from the widely acclaimed 'Beats From The Quarantine' album released in April 2021, and further compliments the young artist's deserved reputation as one of the dance underground's most exciting talents to emerge in recent years.
Third Attempt (aka Torje Fagertun Spilde) has been dazzling us with his far-reaching music since arriving in the Beatservice fold with 'Shoreline' back in 2018, and since then his ever-evolving repertoire has continued to serve up immaculate sonic surprises. The fast-rising 23-year old artist has wasted no time making his indelible mark, displaying a frenetic work rate alongside an impeccable ear for constructing compelling leftfield grooves.
'The Novel Sound' opens with the rolling deviance of 'Freak Out', where a dusty string sample makes way for vocal samples, scratches, and searing sirens permeating a bass-heavy groove, setting the tone magnificently for the music that's primed to unfold. Next, we arrive in the mid-tempo chug of 'Age Of Steam'. Evolving over a crisp, club-ready rhythm, heavy funk guitars, dancing keys and distant vocal stabs cascade over driving bass before soaring strings herald the arrival of a slick breakdown section. The icing on the cake arrives as bubbling acid joins sensational horn motifs, breaking down once again for a starry-eyed beatless passage that leaves us yearning for a reprise.
'My Girl' features amorous vocal samples hovering over an irresistible disco beat, with alluring rhythm guitars and dreamy e-piano chords setting the scene for rousing horns to blast off into blissful summer skies. Before we've found time to catch our breath, 'Nu Funk' arrives with snappy hip hop samples scratched over tight beats and a delectable bass guitar hook. The groove pauses for dubbed-out space delays to echo into the night before a singing lead guitar joins the rhythm elements to burst back into life, with flute motifs, elegant strings, and otherworldly sweeps elegantly meandering across the panorama.
Set over a groove that arrives like a cool summer breeze, 'Sunbeam Symphony' drifts over soul-soothing chords, weighted bass and slick, rolling beats. Hypnotic keys guide us into position as the drums build energy and the bass notes power us forward. Third Attempt's dextrous keyboard solo dazzles momentarily before subsiding for a dub-infused break, with spaced-out vocal chops and rising sweeps building tension before the groove resumes and the virtuoso solo once again majestically soars. Maintaining the sun-kissed meditations, 'Definite' effortlessly floats through waves of thick bass, funk guitar chops and elegantly fused samples, with seductive chords, hypnotic horns and laser-tight drums combining to create a near overpowering dream state.
The heavy trip-hop rhythms of 'Nightfall' enrapture the listener as rich chords discreetly beckon, with cascading congas, mysterious melodies and exotic refrains building before the glorious lead vocal appears like a hyper-luminous flash of light. The chords disappear into the nothingness, before the carefully selected sample of 'Working Man' drifts in to fill the empty space. Smokey drums soon arrive, joined by weighted bass, foggy chords and an enigmatic whistle lead, fusing to conjure a half-lit world lifted from the pages of an evocative film noir novel.
The enlivening tablas, glitchy effects and saucer-eyed sweeps of 'Greed' hide subliminal messages casting a knowing eye over the consumer-driven society and self-help culture that pervade our society, before we arrive at the album's charmed finale. 'Last Winter Of My Childhood' yet again manages to transport the listener into a gently hallucinatory realm, with drowsy bass notes, tripped out pads and emotive strings building to a profound and rush-inducing crescendo.
'The Novel Sound' once again sees Third Attempt dextrously merging expansive musical aesthetics that fuse trip-hop, funk, soul and disco to deliver a sound that – although endowed with vintage sensibilities – feels proudly up to date. Continuing his breathtaking development in dazzling style, the album feels destined to echo over blissed-out sunsets, back-room excursions and twilight skies for many years to come.
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By 1980 when this was originally released Pharoah Sanders was solidly entrenched with his own voice on tenor. The passing of John Coltrane and Sanders's fruitful years of playing with the prolific saxophone genius resulted with an unmistakable influence on his sound and explorations of the instrument. Beginning with "Greetings to Idris" the structure of the music is one that follows tradition yet opens up for the musicians to improvise within the arrangements. "Greetings to Idris" is in reference to the featured drummer Idris Muhammad who also played with Coltrane during his late period. Naturally Sanders is featured as the main instrument and his horn can be bold and demanding of your full attention. Always interested in other instruments from other cultures, much like Trane, he incorporates the Japanese instrument the koto, a beautifully harmonic stringed instrument to counter his soft rich blowing on tenor with only wind chimes and a harmonium for a delicious peaceful bit of music on "Kazuko"(Peace Child) that has the qualities of a meditative offering. Most of the music, eight tracks, is composed and arranged by Sanders and demonstrates his leadership. There is one John Coltrane composition entitled "After The Rain" that gets the Tranesque treatment by Sanders that makes it hard for even the most discerning listener to distinguish between the original version and Sanders impression. It is a bluesy duet featuring only sax and piano and leaves you wanting to hear it over and over again because of it's simple and haunting melodies. Another song that Coltrane recorded entitled "Easy To Remember" has a gentle swing to it built around a classic quartet (drums, bass, piano, sax) like that employed by Coltrane that results in a superb standard. Sanders incorporates the use of another "foreign" instrument to jazz by working in a tabla and sitar on "Soledad " that takes center stage before Sanders joins in on the music. The result is a thing of genius as the East and West merge and interface for composition that is peaceful. Sanders music on this LP fluctuates between the tranquil sounds of his mellow horn to the outer limits where he left off with the explorations of Trane's late period. What separates this LP from others is that it is a group playing under his leadership where he gives all others close to equal billing. The uptempo, "You've Got To Have freedom" is one such song where Sanders gets out there on some of his solos but works within the group structure as the other musicians, most notably Eddie Henderson on flugelhorn, bring the music back home. There is a chorus sung much of the time throughout where the the proclamation "Ya gotta have peace and love, ya gotta have freedom" is presented in Manhattan Transfer style but with much more soul. The use of vocalists is done again on the track entitled "Think About The One." The chorus features vocalese specialist Bobby McFerrin. This LP shows the different sides of Pharoah Sanders, a man always willing to explore the music, explore his soul and share it with you. The closing track "Bedria" is a mellow exploration of the various ranges of the tenor. It is a ten minute song that displays all the grace of his being, a gentle giant who can manipulate the horn to do extraordinary things, reverberating out and back in undulating waves of harmonic bliss. Sanders on this LP is next to perfect. One of his best recording from his post Impulse career. It belongs in your jazz collection right next to John Coltrane.
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2022 limited edition of this Japanese no wave gem from 1982. With extended liner notes and interviews with band members about the recordings of the album, as well as unpublished photographs from 1981 by Jibiki Yuichi.
The Japanese punk rock movement known as Tokyo Rockers began in the summer of 1978. It incubated an independent music culture as well as a host of fascinating, individualistic musicians. One of the more striking units was the male-female duo Maria 023. NON played bass for them, and it was here that she first attracted attention. However, Maria 023 was short-lived, and NON would not reappear until the following year, August 1979, on stage at the legendary concert event "Drive to 80s". Her unbilled performance at the event consisted of several songs for solo bass and vocals, and her combination of intensity and a distinctly female emotionality made a striking impression. In the months that followed, NON continued to play solo and she became a pivotal presence among the female rockers on the scene at the time.
Finally she shifted from solo to group performance, and formed NON BAND. After several member changes, the line-up stabilized into a unique trio with Kinosuke Yamagishi on violin and clarinet, and Mitsuru Tamagaki on drums. It was with this line-up that the group reached a musical peak. At the same time, the Japanese punk and new wave rock scene was moving in a new direction, as a second generation of artists appeared and mushrooming independent labels began to play an increasingly important role. I myself started a label called Telegraph Records in 1981 and worked hard on record releases and building a distribution network.
Since starting the label, I had wanted to release a record by NON BAND. There were many vicissitudes before it could happen, but in February 1982 NON BAND's first album was released as a 10-inch LP on Telegraph Records, the label's fifth release. In the early Japanese indies scene, if a release sold 1000 copies it was counted as a significant success. The NON BAND album went through several repressing and sold 2000 copies. The album was a hit and the band's critical reception and popularity suddenly took off.
The shows that followed the release of the album were given a boost by the addition of two female rockers, the guitarist Kummy and keyboard player Mitsuwa. The group was reaching a real musical peak and everyone expected more great developments, but just six months after the release of the album the group would grind to a halt. Members quit the band one after another, and with no possible replacements to be found, NON herself faded away from the scene.
NON BAND's career in the early Japanese indies scene was thus short-lived. But their sole album was reissued twice on CD, and remained popular with listeners. However, the group's history was to have a second chapter.
NON ended up returning to her hometown, snowy Hirosaki in the far northern prefecture Aomori. There she raised two children and took over the running of the family business, an arts supplies store. Her thoughts turned once again towards music, and in 1999 she took up her bass again and began to sing. She invited two fabulous musicians, Keiji Haino and Tatsuya Yoshida, to Hirosaki, and performed together with them as well as solo. This marked the beginning of a new phase for her, and she played live in Tokyo and released a solo album, "ie". She got back in touch with Yamagishi and Tamagaki and reformed NON BAND. They added Emi Sasaki on accordion and began to play a handful of gigs each year, bringing a mature depth to their undiminished power and dazzling a new generation of fans. In 2012 the group released an album of recent live performances entitled " NON BAND Liven' 2009-2012". I released the album on the newly reanimated Telegraph Records.
NON still lives in the north, in Hirosaki. The city is famous for its summer Neputa festival. The first track on this album, "Duncan Dancin'" is almost a theme song for NON BAND, but its rhythm is taken from the ohayashi music that is performed in this festival, as large floats and troupes of dancers wind their way through the streets. The title refers to the legendary dancer, Isadora Duncan. The image perfectly represents NON herself: Isadora Duncan dancing to the earthy rhythms bubbling up out of the north land.
Nov 9, 2016 Jibiky Yuichi (Telegraph Factory)
In order to achieve a meticulous sound quality the reissue version is cut on 12" vinyl instead of the original 10" format. The original cover artwork has been reproduced and there are liner notes by Jibiky Yuichi with unpublished photos of NON BAND.
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Auf seinem beeindruckenden neuen Album 'Lost Dialect' spricht Eric Hilton die 12-Bit-Sprache des Trip-Hop, ein Genre, das er als Mitbegründer der legendären elektronischen Downtempo-Band Thievery Corporation mitinitiiert hat. Auf zehn expansiven Tracks nutzt der Produzent die Old Skool-Skills, um den Nu Skool-Chill zu schaffen. Alte Wege bleiben stark. Sprechen auch Sie den 'Lost Dialect', Eric Hiltons Weiterentwicklung des Trip-Hop, auf Montserrat House Music.
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• DELUXE HEAVYWEIGHT SLEEVE WITH SPOT-VARNISH AND ALTERNATIVE ARTWORK
• INCLUDING INSERT WITH LINER NOTES
• PVC PROTECTIVE SLEEVE
• 1994 BANK HEIST MOVIE PRODUCED BY ROGER AVARY & QUENTIN TARANTINO
• SCORE BY TOMANDANDY (THE HILLS HAVE EYES, THE STRANGERS)
• AVAILABLE ON VINYL FOR THE FIRST TIME
• LIMITED EDITION OF 2000 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES ON FLAMING COLOURED VINYL
Killing Zoe is a 1994 crime / bank heist film written, directed and produced by Roger Avary and co-produced by Quentin Tarantino. Killing Zoe follows the story of a safe cracker named Zed who returns to France to aid an old friend in performing a doomed bank heist. The film was labeled by acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert as “Generation X’s first bank caper movie”. After the production of Killing Zoe, Avary and Tarantino continued their collaboration and produced both the iconic award winning movie Pulp Fiction and several radio dialogues in Reservoir Dogs.
The score to Killing Zoe was produced by Tomandandy, aka Thomas Hajdu and Andy Milburn. This duo is best known for their horror scores like The Hills Have Eyes and The Strangers amongst others and many collaborations with great artists such as Lou Reed, David Byrne, U2 and Laurie Anderson.
Killing Zoe is available on vinyl for the first time as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on flaming coloured vinyl and includes an insert with liner notes.
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6 face-melting gurners for the 21st Century’s, wilted and jilted generation.
Glasgow’s Lady Neptune follows her New Gorbals Gabber cassette E.P. with her debut vinyl release NOZ. Over the course of 23 bloody fisted minutes, Lady Neptune’s – aka Moema Meade - hyper destructed take on Gabber and Happy Hardcore breaks down the genre tropes before rebuilding them as a new pop music. If 2020’s New Gorbals Gabber showed an artist building their own language from fragments of different genres, 2022’s NOZ goes harder into the cyberpunk-ass future and takes no prisoners. Recorded and mixed at Glasgow’s legendary Green Door Studios and mastered by Rashad Becker, here Lady Neptune evolves into a monster.
With the classic weapons of Dutch Gabber – distorted 909 kick drums, bursts of noise and world-eating Rave-O- Matic hoovering synth riffs, Lady Neptune’s 6 tracks constantly threaten to careen off the speaker into the sweatiest, most gibbering, messy corners of the club. The two years since her debut has seen Meade destroying festival dancefloors, training for the full assault that is NOZ. Live performances have seen foam guns, tequila-pistols, neon stage dancers and a full, maxed-out orgy of fast-as-hell BPM, rave music burning up the cones. The experience reaps rewards from the outset on recorded form here. APOCOLYPS begins with monstrous vocals and the all-consuming kick, pulled back and taut for launch. The arsenal builds; warbling synths and high-pitched synth-strings before dropping into Bald Terror-sized hoovers and stuttering 4/4s. It quickly bleeds into MASTERER, with a looped, pitched up vocal intersecting with the synth riff. The aesthetics might be Happy Hardcore but the dynamic feels like a synthetic, evil Nu Metal-influenced Industrial music. Constantly evolving and twisting with its own natural drama, the drop at 2:15 is pure ecstatic release. fusing Meade’s inclination for pop hooks with the first out-and-out 180BPM (ish, who’s counting?) anthemic melter of the E.P., TELL ME has THE big catchy chorus, used sparingly and sung by Meade with angelic devilishness, coming at you in waves of XTC. It’s a repeater.
It’s then massive fists in the air for the ruthless Side B opener WIT. In the Welsh-Brazilian artist’s adopted home of Glasgow it translates directly as WHAT!? Itt makes sense. g. Sharp, weaponised, rhythmic punishment abounds before OH responds. Pitched up vocals and another mid-frequency synth hook wipes the slate clean. Like the best Gabber, the tension and release dynamic is used to full effect by Meade, with the thunderous low end kick -expertly tweaked in the mastering by Rashad Becker – slipping into the ghostly cavern. Industrialized 4/4 and noise-snares propel onwards to be utterly squashed by that bloody synth, stinging and horribly brilliant. Proving her genius for a ridiculous A-N-T-H-E-M, TIME 2 MAKE U FEEL GOOD closes the 23 minutes of ragged, drugged glory with a festival-slamming chorus built from the wreckage. It’s a song that does that thing we all know and love but can’t put our finger on. Sad, happy, tragedy, ecstasy, joy, horror...There’s big, minor chord changes (yes there’s some CHORDS on this slammer), the kick is submerged in layers of pads and Meade’s actual secret weapon: her vocal and knack for writing a chorus line. In the listener’s mind it’s over before it’s begun, a track destined for the big rewind.
NOZ is a breathless, E-number riddled eternal ecstasy.
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