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REMASTERED

Grönland Records announce a revised, remastered reissue of “Sleepwalkers” by DAVID SYLVIAN. Available as a gatefold 2LP with exclusive art print and as a gatefold digipack CD, this new edition also features the previously unreleased track “Modern Interiors”.

in the 00s, DAVID SYLVIAN produced two of his strongest and most solitary statements, BLEMISH and MANAFON. but those records don’t tell the whole story. during that the same period, SYLVIAN created an alternate body of work: a series of collaborations and side projects with leading talents of pop and improv, electronic and contemporary classical music. the best of these recordings are gathered here on SLEEPWALKERS, meticulously sequenced and remixed: the fruits of one-off meetings and lifelong partnerships, they jump from bliss to intrigue, romance to sensuality, as arch experiments lead into the lushest pop.

the single ‘world citizen – i won’t be disappointed,’ written with RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, is a sublime example, with an impeccable melody and lyric warmed by SYLVIAN’S gorgeous tenor. SYLVIAN has worked with SAKAMOTO for close to three decades. by contrast, on ‘pure genius,’ a collaboration with CHRIS VRENNA aka tweaker, he sounds like he’s walked into a heist flick, singing the part of a delusional, dangerous bedroom genius. as sylvian explains, tracks like this ‘give me a chance to write in a way that’s completely non-personal, playful. it’s an exercise of some kind, working within the parameters of a given assignment.’

intrigue of a different kind drives ‘sugarfuel,’ with music by JEAN-PHILIPPE VERDIN, aka READYMADE FC. the lyrics offered ‘an opportunity to grapple with a more overt sexual theme than anything i’d previously attempted, as suggested by a vocal sample in the original track provided, a threateningly insistent ‘i’m on your side.’ so i took that as my point of entry and ran with it. i would love to write more on this subject should i find the right context. you’re always aware of walking a thin line exploring sexuality with language alone. the failings of the great and the good are strewn all around.’

NINE HORSES’ ‘wonderful world’ strolls in on a black tie bassline and the echoing coos of swedish chanteuse STINA NORDENSTAM, whose high chirps brush hands with SYLVIAN’S lead; there’s the blistering ‘money for all’ by FRIEDMAN and SYLVIAN, an oblique response to the fallout of 9/11 and the war on iraq. this is followed by the last known recording of SYLVIAN’S singing voice in over a decade, ‘do you know me now?’, a live studio recording later augmented by JAN BANG, EIVIND AARSET and ERIK HONORÉ. it’s certainly a title that’s become more relevant over time as SYLVIAN, in the latter stages of his career, repeatedly comes face to face with a new generation of admirers fixated on the life and times of the band formed by his younger self. SYLVIAN is one of only a handful of musicians to have successfully moved on from overt pop beginnings into a domain all his own but is consistently plagued by the misguided desires or expectations of some unfamiliar with his evolution to do a u-turn, pick up where he left off in the late 90s. although this compilation, as well as his writing for NINE HORSES, adequately shows SYLVIAN’S traditional love of melody is
intact, that it’s consistently remained part of his output, there’s no denying his focus has shifted, evolved.
the refusal to embrace complacency, the need to cover new ground ‘as older generations of popular musicians have a moral duty to explore despite, or because of, the greater possibility of failure’ will, i believe, lead to a reassessment of his later work that embraces a sightly more complex relationship with what we’re referring to as ‘melodic’, accompanied by an exploration of improvisation without dogma or beholden to any ‘givens’ for which he’s not infrequently been castigated. for SYLVIAN, there are no such boundaries. it’s obvious that different facets of his work co-exist without conflict but not necessarily for the majority of his audience. again, this places SYLVIAN in the odd, rare, unenviable(?) position of moving forwards leaving many in his devoted audience behind as, should he decide to return to music, it’s unlikely he’ll be aiming to placate an audience in love with work that preceded the 00s. in fact we’ve no idea where new work, should it surface, may lead.

SLEEPWALKERS also spotlights the innovators who contributed to MANAFON and BLEMISH. CHRISTIAN FENNESZ hangs a crackling, shimmering curtain behind the vocal on ‘transit,’ matching his signature mass of sui generis sounds to sylvian’s stately performance. and the title track began with an instrumental handed to SYLVIAN by MARTIN BRANDLMAYR of POLWECHSEL, soon after the first recording session for MANAFON. spite crackles in the gaps between the percussion, and onkyo artists TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA and SACHIKO M set the stage for the scathing lyrics in the chorus.

it cuts close to the bone and so do the two spoken word cuts, ‘angel’ and ‘thermal,’ produced by SAMADHISOUND recording artists JAN BANG and ERIK HONORÉ (and featuring ARVE HENRIKSEN on trumpet). SYLVIAN describes the latter work as a ‘love poem’ to his daughter. ‘‘thermal’ reflects on a period when our time in sonoma, ca was coming to an end. we’d stayed in temporary accommodation which had lulled us into a false sense of security. we had pear, apple, lemon, and figs trees growing in the yard. a small but exotic paradise. a cocoon. but the cracks were beginning to show in the relationship between ex-wife INGRID CHAVEZ and i which is where i think this underlying sense of anxiety, which runs throughout the poem, is derived from, coupled with the need to provide physical and spiritual stability to the children, the youngest of whom was just under two at the time. the poem is addressed to her. our world was dissipating, coming apart at the seams, but we were an island unto ourselves.’

‘five lines’ marked the start of a new partnership with acclaimed young composer DAI FUJIKURA, who at the time of recording was also working on remixes of MANAFON for what became DIED IN THE WOOL. the string quartet was performed by the celebrated ICE ENSEMBLE and written for SYLVIAN, who FUJIKURA cites as an early influence. says SYLVIAN, ‘the composition moves through numerous changes in time signature but as i had no knowledge of what these were i just relied on my gut instinct, and responded, as i always do, with what felt right to me, composing an entirely new melody in the process. some months later i was working in a studio in london and dai dropped by. i rather tentatively asked if he’d like to hear a rough mix of the song as it stood, painfully aware that my contribution might make no sense to him at all but, to my relief he loved the result.’

there’s one further new addition to this collection, the first official release of a track composed in response to the tsunami in fukushma, ‘modern interiors’, featuring SYLVIAN once again in collaboration with BANG and AARSET.

like 2000s EVERYTHING AND NOTHING, SLEEPWALKERS is a retrospective of a particular decade when SYLVIAN was free of major label interference and could follow his own instincts without having to explaining himself – but it’s also an eye-opening complement to his solo releases. as SYLVIAN explains, ‘some collaborations seem to be a one-off exchange but you can never be too certain of that fact. others have been long term. in this respect, RYUICHI comes to mind. there’s others with whom you hope to continue working as you feel you’ve barely scratched the surface. other times offers come out of the blue, welcome, inspired. regardless, it’s wonderfully explorative to have so many possibilities to juggle with. each collaboration seems timely. it’s as if there’s a rightness to the exchange at a given moment in time.’

in the meantime, we hope you enjoy the work presented here, personally selected, remixed and sequenced and entirely remastered. these are the orphans, abused, estranged, exotic, migrating from diverse corners of the globe, brought together under one roof which they're learning to share despite their differences.

‘as many of you will already be aware, despite relatively continuous work on solo albums, i’ve maintained strong ties with a number of musicians throughout my life in one context or another. on this new collection, let’s call it SLEEPWALKERS 2.0, a selection of collaborative work produced over the period encompassing blemish through to manafon, i’ve included compositions by nine horses as well as more fleeting flirtations and one-offs. neglected offspring. represented also is long term friend and writing partner, RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, as well as more recent but potentially equally productive partnerships such as CHRISTIAN FENNESZ, ARVE HENRIKSEN and contemporary classical composer DAI FUJIKURA.
i hope you enjoy the work presented here, personally selected, remixed and sequenced and entirely remastered. these are the orphans, abused, estranged, exotic, migrating from diverse corners of the globe, brought together under one roof which they're learning to share despite their differences.

we contain multitudes. we’re nothing if not contradictory.’

DAVID SYLVIAN, 2010

(consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life: aldous huxley)

serenitatem, the fifteenth installment of FRKWYS, RVNG Intl.'s collaboration series pairing inter-generational artists in creative conversation, joins Visible Cloaks with Yoshio Ojima and Satsuki Shibano, two trailblazers of the Japanese avant-garde music and visual arts scenes of the 1980s and 90s.

The music world is most fortunate that the past two decades have witnessed the rediscovery of mind-opening music that went under-recognized when originally released, and the wellspring of musical content produced by a generation of brilliant musicians. One such musician was the late great drummer Steve Reid, whose reissued eclectic recordings on his own Mustevic Sound label gave his career a second wind.

Though teased on a well-received compilation, one Mustevic release never saw reissue: New Life Trio’s Visions Of The Third Eye, a tremendous collaborative effort between Reid, guitarist Brandon Ross and bassist David Wertman.

Due to overwhelming demand, Early Future Records and Finders Keepers Records are proud to announce a second limited edition pressing of the classic and final Mustevic recording. The release also includes a 20-page written zine featuring an in-depth testimonial and interview with Brandon Ross, and an explorative essay by Finders Keepers’ Andy Votel, as well as a wealth of archival photos, scores and reviews.

Reid’s long and varied career began in his native New York City, where he was involved early on as a member of the Apollo Theater House Band and the R&B scene of the 1960s, including recordings with Martha Reeves and James Brown. In the late 1960s, Reid spent three years in West Africa absorbing musical traditions and experimenting with artists such as Fela Kuti, Guy Warren and Randy Weston. After a stint in prison for dodging the draft as a conscientious objector, the drummer came out swinging in the 1970s. He worked regularly as a session and Broadway musician even while immersing himself into the jazz world, from the straight-ahead styles of Freddie Hubbard and Horace Silver to the otherworldly sounds of Sun Ra and Charles Tyler.

The do-it-yourself ethos of the New York Loft Scene inspired Reid to create his own label, Mustevic Sound, on which he began releasing his own recordings and those of a couple of friends. One of these trusted friends was David Wertman, a young bassist from New York who released his own Kara Suite on Mustevic in 1976.

New Life Trio’s story began when Wertman moved from New York to the more sedate but creatively vibrant town of Northampton, Massachusetts. Here Wertman met Brandon Ross, a young guitarist from New Jersey who had relocated there with his brother to join a coterie of New York expats who had found a comfortable, collaborative environment amidst the liberal college towns in the area, including avant-garde legends Archie Shepp and Marion Brown. Wertman and Ross became friends and began to perform together regularly, both formally and informally.

A string trio of Wertman, Ross and violinist Terry Jenoure was set to record, but Jenoure dropped out just prior to the date. This led Wertman to call his friend Steve Reid to come join the two at the Tin Pan Hollow Studios in Vermont to record what would become Visions Of The Third Eye on December 6, 1978. Originally conceived as an all-acoustic date, the recording would morph slightly when Ross added electric guitar muscle on a number of pieces. Reid would then take the helm and release the recording in 1980, giving a very auspicious birth to what has now become a classic spiritual jazz recording.

Fast forward to 1995…..New Life Trio gets a belated second wind from Stuart Baker’s inclusion of the Ross-voiced “Empty Streets” on his Universal Sounds of America compilation. The brief, haunting lead track just hinted at what the full Visions Of The Third Eye album had to offer. Audience awareness resulted in the pursuit of out-of-print original LPs, thus the rarity of Visions Of The Third Eye led to it becoming a kind of “holy grail” record for collectors of jazz and creative music. The album’s cover image was even incorporated into the cover of Freedom, Rhythm & Sound (SJB, 2009), a wonderful coffee table book presenting album covers from those revolutionary decades in Black creative music. The recording’s legend was cemented.

New Life Trio’s legend continues to grow partly due to the brevity of its existence. The triumvirate of Reid, Ross and Wertman would never work together again. Each member would continue along his own path, finding success in numerous projects. Reid’s career was reinvigorated with the reissue of the bulk of his Mustevic Sound recordings in the early 2000s, which led him to a rewarding partnership with Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden until Reid’s untimely passing in 2010. Wertman balanced life between Florida and Massachusetts as a regular in the local jazz scene, recording numerous projects with his wife, Lynne Meryl, before passing away in 2013. The fantastically creative Ross has remained active in the New York creative music scene with a number of projects, most notably with Henry Threadgill, Cassandra Wilson and Harriet Tubman, a wildly eclectic co-led band with underpinnings of rock, dub and free jazz.

The Library Steps is a new pairing of an old rapper named Jesse
Dangerously and a young producer named Ambition
The duo is named in remembrance of the now demolished stone stairs of the
Halifax Memorial Library entrance, where among a loose and ragtag assortment
of the city's rappers they would gather across generations every Friday as the
doors locked, to freestyle, beatbox, and play tapes in a cipher called Public Rhyme
Distribution. Jesse and Ambition have been members of the Canada- wide
collective Backburner since 2001 and 2009 respectively, but only started making
songs as a rapper/producer duo in the spring of 2017. It took them more than a
decade of intention to pair off as a team. All of the beats and rhymes for Rap Dad,
Real Dad were created in the next few months as a time capsule of that season's
preoccupations. The beats are jazzy, soulful, and moody, with a prominent nod
factor, and the rhymes are confessional and witty, vulnerable and boastful,
intimate and intimidating. Under their fingernails, no microscope is needed to
detect the DNA of golden era rapper/producer teams like Pete Rock & CL Smooth,
Gang Starr, a gentler Beatnuts, or any group that was part of Native Tongues or
Hieroglyphics. Just as present are the influences of turn- of- the- century
underground boundary pushers like Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, MF DOOM, and
Buck 65, and for that matter, just about everyone who was on Roc-A-Fella at its
peak. Refracted here, those chosen ancestors and more recombinate into a hiphop that challenges, from unexpected angles, traditional modes and narratives of
masculinity. They are your rap dads, and they just may be your real dads, too.














[n] B6 . [A,Z]A+[A,,Z]B+

"Zuversicht, Vertrauen, das ist das Thema meiner Platte und ich glaube, jeder kann damit etwas anfangen", sagt die preisgekrönte nigerianisch-deutsche Künstlerin NNEKA über ihr neues Album "Love Supreme", das am 11. Februar 2022 erscheinen wird. Die von der Sunday Times als die neue Lauryn Hill gefeierte Sängerin veröffentlicht ihren ersten Longplayer seit dem vor sechs Jahren auf gleichem Label erschienenem Mini-Album "My Fairy Tales".

Die dreizehn Songs auf "Love Supreme" präsentieren Fortsetzung und Aufbruch zugleich. Während "This Life", die einzige Uptempo-Single des Albums, "About Guilt", "Walk Away" und einige andere mit dem langjährigen Partner Farhot geschrieben und produziert wurden, oder "With You" mit Mounir Maarouf entstand, der für den Großteil von "My Fairy Tales" verantwortlich war, arbeitete sie auch mit dem Berliner Produzenten/Autor Unik ("Tea?") und Klimperboy ("Love Supreme") und BASS-Produktionen ("Maya", "Yahweh") aus Hamburg zusammen. Es wird Zeit für "Love Supreme", denn diese einzigartige Künstlerin war ihrer Zeit immer voraus. Seit 2011, als sie ihr letztes richtiges Album "Soul Is Heavy" veröffentlichte, entstand eine neue Generation afroamerikanischer und afroeuropäischer Künstler, die nach dem Festival mit dem gleichen Namen "Afro-Punk" bezeichnet wurden. Musikalisch eklektisch präsentieren sie sich lässiger und alternativer, nicht nur was Kleidung und Frisuren angeht, sondern auch was Überzeugungen und allgemeines Interesse angeht. Etwas, das Nneka von Anfang an getan hat!

Nneka hat drei vorherige Alben veröffentlicht. Ihre Single Heartbeat aus 2009 brachte ihr einen UK-Top-20-Hit ein und wurde auch von Rita Ora für ihren #1 UK-Hit R.I.P. gesampelt. Sie gewann 2009 einen MOBO für den besten afrikanischen Act und trat in der David Letterman Show und in BETs 106 & Park auf. 2014 trat Nneka der Jury der 4. Staffel von "Nigerian Idol" bei. Nneka hat fast 300 Shows in Europa und über 100 Shows in den USA und Kanada vor über 1.000.000 Zuschauern in über 35 Ländern gespielt.
Die Doppel-LP kommt inkl. Etching und Poster!

On textstar+ Jan Jelinek brings together the material from the CMYK series, four EPs he released between 1999 and 2002 under the pseudonym farben (the German word for both colours and paints), on a vinyl double LP for the first time. The selection of tracks has been remastered from the original tapes, joined by two additional pieces that appeared on compilations during the same period.

A Polaroid. Still life with tangled leads and consumer electronics, late twentieth century. Black and various shades of dirty white are the dominant non-colours. The image’s spatial depth remains diffuse, the links between its elements speculative. A note stuck to the wall (a legend, perhaps, or an all-explaining blueprint in text form?) is impossible to decipher. You can’t see what connects the picture’s signs. You have to hear it.

farben says: Every sound is a text. A bearer of meaning in search of a reader. Hoping the ideas inscribed in its autonomous existence will be understood as intended. While its beauty lies precisely in misunderstanding, in reading the coded message a new way every time. A thousand colours of sound, a thousand different ways to hear, to see, to understand.

On textstar+ Jan Jelinek brings together the material from the CMYK series, four EPs he released between 1999 and 2002 under the pseudonym farben (the German word for both colours and paints), on a vinyl double LP for the first time. The selection of tracks has been remastered from the original tapes, joined by two additional pieces that appeared on compilations during the same period. Another new element is the Polaroid, showing the origins of a world: Jelinek’s home studio in Berlin at the time.

farben says: Move your body! The project has its roots in Jelinek’s love of house as a reductionist vision of soul. Of four to the floor as a proposition that can be accessed anywhere. Of electronic dance music as a realm of possibility that can be continually expanded. farben was written as contemporary house music. As a text about excitement and euphoria. The arrangements were made directly while recording to DAT, on a twelve-channel mixing desk. Several track titles suggest a link to live concerts, coupled with the context of machine music and bedroom recording. Others affirm pop music’s most extravagant stock phrases about various states of love.

Jelinek produced the tracks with the aim of making music for dancefloors. An idea that failed very productively. In the locations to which it was originally addressed, the project barely figured. But people did listen, and they listened all the more closely to this music that opened up new acoustic and associative scope for house. farben is the opposite of genre: a music spawning new terms (clicks & cuts, micro-house) that never manage to fully capture it.

farben says: Signifiers. The four CMYK EPs are designed as a network of references that cannot be missed but that can also never be precisely deciphered. The vectors of sound, word and image point to Isaac Hayes and Ornette Coleman, to Detroit and the first generation of the Red Army Faction, to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. So multifarious that they are distorted to the point of recognition. Overall we hear sonic docufictions whose appealing vagueness derives precisely from this oscillation between clarity and ambiguity, which is also the source of their poetry: the lyricism of the pure circulation of signs.

The artwork is based on photographs of former Red Army Faction members, broken down into the four colours of the CMYK model. The motifs dissolve into individual dots of a single colour, so close to the faces that their expressions are only hinted at. Taken together, the individual colours compose a new whole out of fragmentary material, defying definition and thus maintaining their vibrancy. The same occurs on the level of sound. The sampler Jelinek used for these tracks had to be fed with floppy disks, imposing a memory limit of 1.44 megabytes per audio quotation from soul or jazz records. As a necessary consequence of this, the individual references, like the dots of colour, are dissolved into details and abstractions. They appear as splinters that recombine in new ways to create new meanings. The joy of collapsing metaphors.

farben says: New departures. Even two decades after its original release, textstar+ does not come across as an epitaph to the modern era. Instead, it appears as a euphoric affirmation of the utopias of the twentieth century, translated into new sound texts via the aesthetic strategies of abstraction, collage, networking and speculation. 1.44 megabytes of history, one thousand signifiers, one album. From “Live ...” to “... Love”.

Arno Raffeiner, 2021

A product of generations of underground music in L.A. and beyond, The Linda Lindas' debut, Growing Up, channels classic punk, post punk, power pop, new wave, and other surprises into timelessly catchy and cool songs sung by all four members-each with her own style and energy. A handful of cuts have already been previewed at shows and enthusiastically approved by diehard followers in the pit at L.A.'s DIY punk institution The Smell and Head in the Cloud festival goers at The Rose Bowl alike. The Linda Lindas are stoked to unleash Growing Up. The Linda Lindas first played together as members of a pickup new wave cover band of kids assembled by Kristin Kontrol (Dum Dum Girls) for Girlschool LA in 2018 and then formed their own garage punk group just for fun. Sisters Mila de la Garza (drummer, now 11) and Lucia de la Garza (guitar, 14), cousin Eloise Wong (bass, 13), and family friend Bela Salazar (guitar, 17) developed their chops as regulars at all-ages matinees in Chinatown, where they played with original L.A. punks like The Dils, Phranc, and Alley Cats; went on to open for riot grrrl legends Bikini Kill and architect Alice Bag as well as DIY heavyweights Best Coast and Bleached; and were eventually featured in Amy Poehler's movie Moxie. When the pandemic put a pause on shows, The Linda Lindas went on to self-release a four-song EP, make their own videos and grow a following beyond Los Angeles. But they never expected or could have even dreamed that their performance of "Racist, Sexist Boy" for the Los Angeles Public Library in May 2021 would take them from punk shows to TV shows. A month later, when the school year ended and summer began, The Linda Lindas got to work on their first full-length LP. Having written a mountain of new material individually while sheltering in place and attending class virtually, the band was more than ready to enter the studio where Mila and Lucia's dad (and Eloise's uncle and Bela's "uncle") Carlos de la Garza oversaw recording and production. The Grammy-winning producer's work includes Paramore, Bad Religion, Best Coast, and Bleached.

Man muss sich nur kurz mit dem Indie-Rock-Trio unterhalten, um die innige Wärme ihrer starken Verbundenheit zu spüren, die drei jungen Musikerinnen sind beste Freunde. Diese persönliche Nähe schimmert auch auf ihrem Debütalbum "Versions of Modern Performance" durch. Penelope Lowenstein (Gitarre, Gesang), Nora Cheng (Gitarre, Gesang) und Gigi Reece (Schlagzeug) machen alles gemeinsam, vom Songwriting über den wechselnden Gesang und den Tausch von Instrumenten bis hin zum Sound- und Visual Art-Design. "Versions of Modern Performance" wurde mit John Agnello (Kurt Vile, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.) im Electrical Audio-Studio aufgenommen. "Es ist unser erstes Album. Wir hatten bei Agnello sofort das Gefühl, dass er wirklich respektiert, was wir zu tun versuchten", sagt die Band. Horsegirl spielen auf dem Album gekonnt mit Texturen, Formen und Schattierungen und zeigen ihre Vorliebe für Improvisationen und Experimente. Der Opener "Anti-glory" ist schillernder Post-Punk-Song. "Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)" und "World of Pots and Pans" haben einen rauen Pop-Charme. "The Fall of Horsegirl" besticht wiederum durch seine scharfen Konturen und einem kantigen Sound. Man kann in ihrer Musik Elemente der Independent-Musik der 80er und 90er Jahre hören, die Sounds die Horsegirl so sehr lieben - die schraddelige Melodik dessen, was man früher "College-Rock" nannte, den kühlen und sprudelnden Space-Age-Glanz der 90er-Jahre, das laute Dröhnen von Shoegaze, die sparsamen Hooks und Rhythmen von Post-Punk. Sogar ein bisschen No-Wave ist mit dabei. Horsegirl vermischen die Einflüsse zu einem Sound einer neuen Generation, für die die 90er-Jahre Lichtjahre entfernt zurückliegen und gleichzeitig doch so nah sind.

Man muss sich nur kurz mit dem Indie-Rock-Trio unterhalten, um die innige Wärme ihrer starken Verbundenheit zu spüren, die drei jungen Musikerinnen sind beste Freunde. Diese persönliche Nähe schimmert auch auf ihrem Debütalbum "Versions of Modern Performance" durch. Penelope Lowenstein (Gitarre, Gesang), Nora Cheng (Gitarre, Gesang) und Gigi Reece (Schlagzeug) machen alles gemeinsam, vom Songwriting über den wechselnden Gesang und den Tausch von Instrumenten bis hin zum Sound- und Visual Art-Design. "Versions of Modern Performance" wurde mit John Agnello (Kurt Vile, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.) im Electrical Audio-Studio aufgenommen. "Es ist unser erstes Album. Wir hatten bei Agnello sofort das Gefühl, dass er wirklich respektiert, was wir zu tun versuchten", sagt die Band. Horsegirl spielen auf dem Album gekonnt mit Texturen, Formen und Schattierungen und zeigen ihre Vorliebe für Improvisationen und Experimente. Der Opener "Anti-glory" ist schillernder Post-Punk-Song. "Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)" und "World of Pots and Pans" haben einen rauen Pop-Charme. "The Fall of Horsegirl" besticht wiederum durch seine scharfen Konturen und einem kantigen Sound. Man kann in ihrer Musik Elemente der Independent-Musik der 80er und 90er Jahre hören, die Sounds die Horsegirl so sehr lieben - die schraddelige Melodik dessen, was man früher "College-Rock" nannte, den kühlen und sprudelnden Space-Age-Glanz der 90er-Jahre, das laute Dröhnen von Shoegaze, die sparsamen Hooks und Rhythmen von Post-Punk. Sogar ein bisschen No-Wave ist mit dabei. Horsegirl vermischen die Einflüsse zu einem Sound einer neuen Generation, für die die 90er-Jahre Lichtjahre entfernt zurückliegen und gleichzeitig doch so nah sind.

Propelled by his 1956 Lee Hazlewood-produced hit "The Fool," Sanford Clark was already a rockabilly legend in his own right by the time he swapped his hair gel and switchblade for a pair of cowboy boots on They Call Me Country. Recorded between 1965-67 and originally released as a series of singles for Phoenix's Ramco label, the 12 tracks on this LP borrow Bakersfield's outlaw sound and ignore Nashville's countrypolitan flair, standing as a true lost masterpiece of country music's third generation. Clark's booming baritone tells tales of bar fights, heartaches, and drinking til you can't stand, while Waylon Jennings provides a backdrop of fuzzed out guitar twang. Mastered from the original session tapes and back on vinyl for the first time since the Nixon administration.

In 1987 Jennifer Warnes and Roscoe Beck created an enduring interpretation of some of Leonard Cohen’s finest mid-period songs. The

resulting album Famous Blue Raincoat has remained a touchstone of American pop. It’s a recording as beautiful as the songs incisive,

painstakingly created by some of the finest musicians and engineers ever assembled. It has rightfully remained immensely popular for

afficianados of sound and song-craft. Impex Records has enjoyed a long and rich collaboration with Jennifer Warnes. Back in print, an exclusive 33-rpm all-analogue vinyl LP of her ground-breaking classic.



Newly remastered by Bernie Grundman on his all-tube cutting system and personally supervised by Ms. Warnes,

Famous Blue Raincoat is ready to be discovered by a new generation of vinyl enthusiasts seeking the purest musical alchemy,

and vocal interpretation. Come see how far we’ll go for beauty.

LP has a Deluxe Foil Jacket. Features Bonus Side of Rare Mixes, Outtakes, and more from the 1982 sessions. Includes unseen photos plus Wipers Etching on Vinyl. Cut by Kevin Gray. Limited to 3000 copies worldwide.

The original Not About To Die was an illegal bootleg, released at some point in the early 80s, by the dubiously named Amnesia Records. The album was made up of selections from demos recorded by the group for their second and third albums: Chairs Missing and 154. These demos had been recorded for EMI, with cassette copies circulated amongst record company employees. However, they were never intended for release. A typically shoddy cash-in, the songs on Not About To Die were taken from a second or possibly third generation cassette, with the album housed in a grainy green and red photo-copied sleeve. Compared with the high standards of production and design Wire have always been known for, it was something of an insult to band and fans alike. Now, in a classic act of Wire perversity, the group have decided to redress the balance and reclaim one of the shadier moments of its history, by giving Not About To Die its first official release on the bands own pinkflag imprint.. All the tracks have been properly remastered, with the relevant recording details in place. As for the sleeve artwork, whilst it strongly references the original, it is decidedly more artful in its execution. Not About To Die emerges as a fascinating snapshot of Wire in transition with embryonic versions of classic songs such as ‘French Film (Blurred)’, ‘Used To’ and ‘Being Sucked In Again’, that the group would develop considerably for their epochal 1978 album Chairs Missing. Later demos such as ‘Once Is Enough’, ‘On Returning’ and ‘Two People In A Room’ would surface in radically altered form on 1979’s 154. Some songs, such as ‘The Other Window’, are virtually unrecognisable from their later iterations but the biggest prizes here may well be the tracks that were omitted from Wire's later studio albums... Highlights include ‘Motive’, which has an undeniable power. Robert Grey’s drumming is crisp and minimal, and Graham Lewis’s bass runs are particularly ear-catching. Despite its distinctly un-Wire title, ‘Love Ain't Polite’ is also something of a gem. Meanwhile, the track which gives the album its title Not About To Die (officially known as ‘Stepping Off Too Quick’) possesses what Colin Newman half jokingly calls “The best intro to any song ever”. The intro is so good in fact, that it takes up a third of the song’s entire time frame. These properly mastered tracks have never been available on vinyl before, and they provide an opportunity to hear Wire at a point in their development when they were bursting with fresh ideas and a will to communicate them. This is post-punk at its very finest.

a A1 Oh No Not So [save The Bullet]



[e] A5 French Film [blurred]




[j] A10 Chairs Missing [used To]

[l] B2 Ignorance No Plea [i Should Have Known Better]


[o] B5 Stepping Off Too Quick [not About To Die]

We’ve come to expect big things from Liam Gallagher, but today he reveals plans for 2022 that are biblical even by his colossal standards. He is set to release his new album ‘C’MON YOU KNOW’ on May 27th as he looks to score a fourth consecutive #1 UK record. He also celebrates the 25th anniversary of Oasis’ era-defining gigs at Knebworth Park with the news that he’ll return there to play the biggest show of his solo career to date on June 4th.

‘C’MON YOU KNOW’ follows the huge success of Liam’s previous studio albums ‘As You Were’ (2017) and ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ (2019), which established his iconic status for a whole new generation. His ‘MTV Unplugged’ also went straight to #1 on the Official Album Chart. Between his triumphs as a solo artist and his phenomenal success with Oasis, Liam has spent a combined total of almost six months at #1 across eleven chart-topping albums. More details regarding ‘C’MON YOU KNOW’ will follow.

The Knebworth Park show will see Liam return to the site where Oasis famously played two unforgettable nights there in 1996. The 25th anniversary of the shows was marked with the release of the feature-length documentary ‘Oasis Knebworth 1996’, which NME described as “an era-defining gig that will live forever.” The Knebworth Park gig will be the biggest show of Liam’s solo career to date. It follows his triumphant return to touring this summer with headline sets at Reading, Leeds and TRNSMT alongside a free gig for NHS staff at The O2.

Liam says, "I'm absolutely buzzing to announce that on 4th June 2022 I'll be playing Knebworth Park. It's gonna be biblical. C'mon You Know. LG x"

Neues Album des Liverpooler Singer-Songwriters Michael Heads (The Pale Fountains, Shack), vom NME als 'einer der begabtesten britischen Songschreiber seiner Generation' bezeichnet und von zahlreichen Songwriter-Kollegen verehrt. 'Dear Scott' wurde von den besten Musikern aus Merseyside, darunter dem Produzenten Bill Ryder-Jones (The Coral), geformt und ist dem Romanautor F. Scott Fitzgerald gewidmet. Die 12 Songs vereinen Ryder-Jones' Kunstfertigkeit mit der ausserordentlichen Musikalität der Red Elastic Band zu einem schimmernden Juwel.

Demon Music is proud to bring together a selection of popular and exciting classic Northern Soul Anthems on a new 2LP thirty-three track collection. These are the original recordings by some familiar names and one or two that may have passed you by.

As the Sixties came to a close and the initial success of labels like Atlantic and Motown began to wane, there remained a dedicated fanbase of Soul devotees who would rather be out on the floor than wearing flowers in their hair. They continued to seek out new and previously overlooked releases, many on small labels that had never enjoyed chart success, making surprise hits of a few in the process.

Northern Soul could easily have passed into music history as a fad, something on the fringes of mainstream popular music; instead its popularity has remained and even grown. It is no longer the preserve of venues in the north of England (who had always attracted coachloads of devotees from across the nation), with Soul clubs opening in Europe, Asia, Australia and even - in perhaps the ultimate example of "coals to Newcastle" – America

Every few years Northern Soul enjoys a resurgence in popularity and welcomes a new generation of younger fans, keepers of the faith. This collection is for those with a passing interest and fans both old and
new - music fashions may change but the quality, the infectious excitement and the urge to get up and dance has endured in these fantastic records.

In the years since their formation, WhoMadeWho have established themselves as one of the most important underground bands of their generation. The Danish group, consisting of Tomas Høffding, Tomas Barfod and Jeppe Kjellberg, has an exceptional sense of emotional depth, heartbreaking melodies and brilliant songwriting, boasting an expansive discography currently spanning a total of six albums and a plethora of EPs, singles and remixes released on labels such as Kompakt, Innervisions and Life & Death. On the road, they are internationally renowned for their professionalism and outstanding live performances and have become regular fixtures at some of the world’s most notable musical festivals, including Roskilde, Sonar, Melt! and Burning Man to name just a few.
The in-demand Scandinavian outfit now confirm details of their upcoming long player, UUUU. Set for worldwide release on Friday, May 27, via long standing German record label Embassy One, UUUU is the seventh full-length studio album from WhoMadeWho. A beautifully crafted record featuring thirteen original productions.

Across eight studio albums, DECAPITATED grew from the adolescent dream of teenagers from a small Central European town to one of the leaders of the metal genre. Each successive album further expands the band’s sound with genre-bending authenticity and integrity. As Metal Injection rightfully observed, “any self-respecting death metalhead knows the name well.”

DECAPITATED’s music is a weapon forged by four young men from a historic medieval-fortified town in Poland, which catapulted them to the top of a worldwide subculture. Like a rose in the devil’s garden, the DECAPITATED story builds triumph from tragedy. The gleeful grotesquery of extreme metal imagery and rifftastic bludgeoning beckons listeners to uncover broader truths.Upon the release of 2017’s Anticult, Metal Hammer declared DECAPITATED “a serious successor to the likes of Pantera and Lamb Of God – a band who can draw new legions into the metal world as its new champions.” Their diverse follow-up, 2022’s Cancer Culture, delivers on that promise.

Instantly recognizable devastation and deceptively sinister hooks abound. Freshly minted DECAPITATED anthems like “Last Supper,” “Hello Death,” “Just Cigarette,” “No Cure,” “Iconoclast,” and “Cancer Culture” shimmer with sonically sharp production and unrelenting bombast. There’s also a newly increased emphasis on melody, even venturing into darkly romantic territory. Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (guitar), Rafał "Rasta" Piotrowski (vocals), Paweł Pasek (bass), and James Stewart (drums) are at the top of their game, delivering the goods at peak performance. Jinjer vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk and Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn make guest appearances.

Set on the descending plains of a mountain range amid a dense forest, Krosno boasts a 14th-century Gothic church, a Subcarpathian museum, and stunning artisan glassware. In this Polish town, teenage music student Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka discovered records from bands like Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Metallica, and Machine Head. The guitarist and his younger brother, drummer Witold “Vitek” Kiełtyka, cofounded DECAPITATED in 1996, inspired by a wide range of technical death, blackened thrash, and local heroes, like KAT and the world-renowned Vader. Death and black metal reigned supreme in the Polish scene of the 1990s, where Behemoth originated as well. In fact, a Vader song called “Decapitated Saints” inspired the band’s moniker.
The organic musical chemistry between the Kiełtykas was akin to the brotherly connectivity and vibe driving Pantera, Gojira, and the classic era of Sepultura. In 2006, Kerrang! praised the first three DECAPITATED albums - Winds of Creation (2000), Nihility (2002), and The Negation (2004) – as “superbly conceived and executed eruptions of technical brilliance and razor-sharp songwriting that turned these youthful Poles into one of the genre’s most widely respected bands.” That year’s Organic Hallucinosis further perfected Vogg’s penchant for blending extremity with catchy hooks.

The rule-breaking ferocity and invention of the first four albums reinvigorated death metal, as DECAPITATED inspired a new generation of bands who followed suit. Sadly, this era came to a shocking end in late 2007. While touring Russia, the band’s bus collided with a large truck near the border with Belarus. Both Vitak and then-singer Adrian “Covan” Kowanek sustained severe head injuries. Tragically, Vitak passed away in a Russian hospital a few days later. He was just 23.Vogg summoned the courage to continue, in honor of his brother and what they created, and returned with a new incarnation of DECAPITATED and the fiercely adventurous comeback album, Carnival is Forever (2011) featuring new vocalist Rafał "Rasta" Piotrowski. Blood Mantra (2014) introduced bassist, Paweł Pasek. Blabbermouth declared it “perhaps the most poised and gutsy” DECAPITATED album, adding “its courageous bends make it a turbulent but pleasurable ride.”

Cancer Culture sounds brilliant, modern, and tasty. “There is no place for any fake, plastic, bullshit drum machine or anything like that,” Vogg insists. “It’s all organic, pure, and clear, showing the true face of the band. Vogg and company entrusted the Cancer Culture mix to David Castillo at Sweden’s Fascination Street Studios / Studio Gröndahl (Sepultura, Carcass, Opeth, Katatonia), and legendary American producer Ted Jensen (Metallica, Slipknot, Pantera, Machine Head, Korn).
The devoted supporters who traveled to see DECAPITATED on international tours with the likes of Lamb Of God, Meshuggah, Soulfly, Fear Factory, and Suffocation over the years will recognize the ever-present pummeling backbone. Longtime fans and newcomers alike will connect to the variety of atmospheric depth throughout Cancer Culture’s ten boundlessly energetic and creative tracks.
“If you told me 25 years ago, in my neighborhood in the South of Poland, that I would be in Machine Head, sharing riffs with Robb Flynn,” Vogg marvels. “It’s simply incredible. It means that everything is possible in your life. That gives me the faith to believe that I can achieve even more in my career. The dreams we have when we are kids, things we can barely imagine, can happen.” Flynn contributes a hauntingly beautiful vocal to the Cancer Culture track “Iconoclast.” “Clean vocal singing is a really new thing in DECAPITATED,” Vogg notes. “It’s really unique and amazing.”

Driven by Vogg’s passion and integrity, the dual emphasis on creative invention and technical prowess maintains DECAPITATED’s stature as genre-leaders in 2022 and beyond. The band’s supporters continually demonstrate confidence and absolute certainty DECAPITATED will deliver.

Across eight studio albums, DECAPITATED grew from the adolescent dream of teenagers from a small Central European town to one of the leaders of the metal genre. Each successive album further expands the band’s sound with genre-bending authenticity and integrity. As Metal Injection rightfully observed, “any self-respecting death metalhead knows the name well.”

DECAPITATED’s music is a weapon forged by four young men from a historic medieval-fortified town in Poland, which catapulted them to the top of a worldwide subculture. Like a rose in the devil’s garden, the DECAPITATED story builds triumph from tragedy. The gleeful grotesquery of extreme metal imagery and rifftastic bludgeoning beckons listeners to uncover broader truths.Upon the release of 2017’s Anticult, Metal Hammer declared DECAPITATED “a serious successor to the likes of Pantera and Lamb Of God – a band who can draw new legions into the metal world as its new champions.” Their diverse follow-up, 2022’s Cancer Culture, delivers on that promise.

Instantly recognizable devastation and deceptively sinister hooks abound. Freshly minted DECAPITATED anthems like “Last Supper,” “Hello Death,” “Just Cigarette,” “No Cure,” “Iconoclast,” and “Cancer Culture” shimmer with sonically sharp production and unrelenting bombast. There’s also a newly increased emphasis on melody, even venturing into darkly romantic territory. Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (guitar), Rafał "Rasta" Piotrowski (vocals), Paweł Pasek (bass), and James Stewart (drums) are at the top of their game, delivering the goods at peak performance. Jinjer vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk and Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn make guest appearances.

Set on the descending plains of a mountain range amid a dense forest, Krosno boasts a 14th-century Gothic church, a Subcarpathian museum, and stunning artisan glassware. In this Polish town, teenage music student Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka discovered records from bands like Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Metallica, and Machine Head. The guitarist and his younger brother, drummer Witold “Vitek” Kiełtyka, cofounded DECAPITATED in 1996, inspired by a wide range of technical death, blackened thrash, and local heroes, like KAT and the world-renowned Vader. Death and black metal reigned supreme in the Polish scene of the 1990s, where Behemoth originated as well. In fact, a Vader song called “Decapitated Saints” inspired the band’s moniker.
The organic musical chemistry between the Kiełtykas was akin to the brotherly connectivity and vibe driving Pantera, Gojira, and the classic era of Sepultura. In 2006, Kerrang! praised the first three DECAPITATED albums - Winds of Creation (2000), Nihility (2002), and The Negation (2004) – as “superbly conceived and executed eruptions of technical brilliance and razor-sharp songwriting that turned these youthful Poles into one of the genre’s most widely respected bands.” That year’s Organic Hallucinosis further perfected Vogg’s penchant for blending extremity with catchy hooks.

The rule-breaking ferocity and invention of the first four albums reinvigorated death metal, as DECAPITATED inspired a new generation of bands who followed suit. Sadly, this era came to a shocking end in late 2007. While touring Russia, the band’s bus collided with a large truck near the border with Belarus. Both Vitak and then-singer Adrian “Covan” Kowanek sustained severe head injuries. Tragically, Vitak passed away in a Russian hospital a few days later. He was just 23.Vogg summoned the courage to continue, in honor of his brother and what they created, and returned with a new incarnation of DECAPITATED and the fiercely adventurous comeback album, Carnival is Forever (2011) featuring new vocalist Rafał "Rasta" Piotrowski. Blood Mantra (2014) introduced bassist, Paweł Pasek. Blabbermouth declared it “perhaps the most poised and gutsy” DECAPITATED album, adding “its courageous bends make it a turbulent but pleasurable ride.”

Cancer Culture sounds brilliant, modern, and tasty. “There is no place for any fake, plastic, bullshit drum machine or anything like that,” Vogg insists. “It’s all organic, pure, and clear, showing the true face of the band. Vogg and company entrusted the Cancer Culture mix to David Castillo at Sweden’s Fascination Street Studios / Studio Gröndahl (Sepultura, Carcass, Opeth, Katatonia), and legendary American producer Ted Jensen (Metallica, Slipknot, Pantera, Machine Head, Korn).
The devoted supporters who traveled to see DECAPITATED on international tours with the likes of Lamb Of God, Meshuggah, Soulfly, Fear Factory, and Suffocation over the years will recognize the ever-present pummeling backbone. Longtime fans and newcomers alike will connect to the variety of atmospheric depth throughout Cancer Culture’s ten boundlessly energetic and creative tracks.
“If you told me 25 years ago, in my neighborhood in the South of Poland, that I would be in Machine Head, sharing riffs with Robb Flynn,” Vogg marvels. “It’s simply incredible. It means that everything is possible in your life. That gives me the faith to believe that I can achieve even more in my career. The dreams we have when we are kids, things we can barely imagine, can happen.” Flynn contributes a hauntingly beautiful vocal to the Cancer Culture track “Iconoclast.” “Clean vocal singing is a really new thing in DECAPITATED,” Vogg notes. “It’s really unique and amazing.”

Driven by Vogg’s passion and integrity, the dual emphasis on creative invention and technical prowess maintains DECAPITATED’s stature as genre-leaders in 2022 and beyond. The band’s supporters continually demonstrate confidence and absolute certainty DECAPITATED will deliver.

Sub Signals Vol.2 is a deep dive into underground bass, guided by artist and producer Gaudi. Featuring predominantly unreleased originals and versions by some of the biggest names in the worldwide dub collective, it intricately combines analogue elements with digital grooves to stunning effect.

Much more than just a compilation, the Sub Signals series is a celebration of the evolution of the sound of dub, from its original roots in reggae to its fusion with a much wider spectrum of sounds and influences. Gaudi curated the first volume back in 2006 for the cult Canadian label Interchill, sourcing tracks and dubs from High Tone, Zion Train, Manasseh, Almamegretta, Noiseshaper, Creation Rebel, Greg Hunter, Dubadelic and more.

15 years on, Gaudi has created the second volume, blending contributions by established reggae names Steel Pulse, Dennis Bovell and African Head Charge with next generation dub producers Alpha Steppa, Radikal Guru and Paolo Baldini Dubfiles, headline acts Groove Armada, Dub FX and The Orb with underground artists Deadbeat, Pitch Black and SUBSET, to create a seamless 75 minute mix.
“With Volume 2, I wanted to create a deep vibrational experience by shaping an aural trajectory that encompassed the many aspects of dub and its related sub-frequencies. To achieve my goal, I reached out to the artists I regularly work with to ask for contributions, in some cases digging in their archives to find what I was looking for.”

As a solo artist, Gaudi has recorded over 20 albums, while as a producer he has hundreds of productions under his belt. He has worked with legends of the reggae and electronic music worlds including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Horace Andy, Dub Pistols, Hollie Cook, Youth, Mad Professor, Prince Fatty, Lamb, Trentemøller and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Dedicated to the sound of dub in its many forms, Gaudi’s latest excursion of his Sub Signals series is pure bass therapy, designed to excite your eardrums and worry your woofers.

Generation '22: Chanson mit Seele

Wenn andere Jubiläen begehen, dann schwelgen sie in Erinnerungen. Le Pop ist anders:
Unsere Nummer 10 schaut nach vorn. Sie ist jünger, femininer und souliger als ihre
Vorgänger. Und stellt 16 neue Namen vor, die zuvor auf keiner anderen Ausgabe zu finden
waren. Die neuen Stars heißen Emma Peters, Iliona, UssaR, P.R2B, Ariane Roy und
Clou. Viele dieser Namen stehen am Anfang ihrer Karriere, haben bisher erst eine EP, ein
Album oder ein paar Singles draußen und doch ist spürbar, dass diese neue Generation das
Nouvelle Chanson prägen wird. Nicht alle sind Newcomer, aber Künstlerinnen und Künstler
wie KCIDY, Voyou, Malik Djoudi und Laura Cahen haben in den letzten 4 Jahren (so lange
ist Le Pop 9 schon draußen) eine so fulminante Entwicklung gemacht, dass wir sie diesmal
unbedingt vorstellen wollten. Dazu gesellen sich Schauspielerinnen wie Edwige, Elisa Erka
und Suzanne Lindon, die sich zum ersten Mal als Sängerinnen präsentieren. Ganz
besonders erwähnenswert: Camélia Jordana – einerseits als Musikerin in der Charts-Welt
etabliert, anderseits César-prämierte Schauspielerin, trägt sie in dieser illustren Runde sicher
den glamourösesten Namen.

Doch was macht sie aus, diese neue Generation? Zuerst einmal das Offensichtlichste: Nur
vier der hier vorgestellten Stimmen sind männlich. Das Chanson wird weiblicher und
orientiert sich damit an den Erfahrungen der letzten 20 Jahre. Denn meistens waren es die
Frauen der aktuellen Szene, die sich in der Breite auch im Ausland durchgesetzt haben (man
denke nur an Zaz, Coeur de pirate und Angèle). Le Pop 10 ist nicht nur femininer, die neue
Generation ist auch viel stärker durch die Präsenz von HipHop und R'n'B geprägt. Ein
richtiges Crossover findet zwar nicht statt, dafür merkt man, dass das heutige Chanson
grooviger geworden ist, soul-lastiger auch und punktuell tatsächlich Rap-Anklänge mitliefert.
Besonders deutlich wird das bei P.R2B, die gelegentlich in den Sprechgesang wechselt, bei
Emma Peters, die sogar ein ganzes Album mit Coverversionen von französischen Rap- und
R'n'B-Hits veröffentlichte, bevor sie eigene Songs aufnahm und bei UssaR, der als
Bühnenmusiker auch Rapper wie Kery James und Youssoupha begleitet. Vielleicht nicht
ganz so deutlich, aber wunderschön und subtil binden Iliona aus Belgien (was für eine
Entdeckung!) und Ariane Roy aus Kanada Soul-Elemente in ihre Musik mit ein. Selbst bei
Uptempo-Nummern wie "Le confort" von Voyou ist ein Hauch Motown zu spüren.
Selbstverständlich fehlt auch diesmal nicht der Einfluss von britischem Pop und Americana.
Die Band Palatine etwa ist gitarrenlastig, bringt Folk-Elemente mit und verbindet dies sehr
elegant mit Chanson-Tradition. Bei Laura Cahan finden wir Einflüsse der Cocteau Twins,
Kate Bush aber auch Anklänge an Camille oder Keren Ann. Eine erstaunliche Entwicklung
legte KCIDY hin, die nach einer längeren Phase des Experimentierens mit Elektro und Wave
auf einmal einen mit Vocal-Harmonien, Kraut- und 70ies-Elementen veredelten Gitarrenpop
aus dem Hut zaubert, der nur theoretisch aus der Zeit zu fallen scheint und sich doch ganz
harmonisch in den Gesamtklang der Compilation einfügt.

Und dann ist da auch noch Edwige, eine belgische Schauspielerin, der es nicht mehr
genügte gelegentlich auf Theaterbühnen zu singen. Sie hat ein traumhaftes, in dezenten
Gitarrenarrangements ausgekleidetes Debüt-Album aufgenommen, das im Herbst 2022
erscheinen soll. Ihren Song "Corps & Ame" hat sie uns vorab exklusiv für diese Compilation
überlassen. Den Tipp, uns mit Edwige zu beschäftigen, bekamen wir übrigens von Albin de
la Simone (seit Le Pop 2 immer wieder vorgestellt), der auch schon ein Duett mit ihr
aufgenommen hat.

Mit De La Simone, seit seiner Arbeit für Carla Bruni und das Durchbruch-Album von Pomme
(Le Pop 9) einer der meist gebuchten Produzenten der Szene, sprachen wir anlässlich
seines Konzerts bei der Kölner Reihe "Le Pop La Série" über junge Künstlerinnen wie Iliona,
Clou, Emma Peters und über deren Karrierewege. Dabei machte er uns auch auf Ariane
Roy aufmerksam. Wie sie sind viele der hier vorgestellten Namen Labelmates oder Protegés
etablierter Künstler.

Das sind nicht immer zufällige Beziehungen. In Frankreich erntet das neue Chanson zudem
immer mehr die Früchte des Casting-Show-Booms der letzten 15 Jahre. Hier bekommen
viele Teilnehmer irgendwann die Chance mit renommierten Musikern zusammenzuarbeiten.
Carla de Coignac zum Beispiel flog zwar noch vor dem Finale bei "Nouvelle Star" (2017)
aus dem Wettbewerb, trotzdem nahm Louane (die bei der Konkurrenz-Sendung "L'école des
stars" entdeckt wurde) fünf Songs in ihr Repertoire auf, die die Aussortierte für sie
geschrieben hatte. Teilnehmerin der gleichen Show war auch Camélia Jordana, allerdings
schon 2009. Jordana scheiterte damals im Halbfinale, bekam aber beim Major Sony einen
Vertrag. An ihrem Debüt-Album arbeitete sie mit Jean Felzine (Mustang, auf Le Pop 8
vorgestellt), BabX (Le Pop 8), "L" (Le Pop 7) und Mathieu Boogaerts (seit Le Pop 1 dabei)
zusammen. Inzwischen ist Jordana in der Musik- und Filmwelt etablierter Star und Celebrity.
Wir lernten sie abseits glamouröser Welten bei einer "sièste acoustique" kennen, einem
speziellen Konzertformat in Paris, bei dem das Publikum tatsächlich Siesta hält. Dort trat sie
mit Le Pop-Künstlern wie Armelle Pioline (Holden), BabX und Siesta-Gastgeber Bastien
Lallemant auf. An diesem Beispiel sieht man einmal mehr, wie durchlässig die französische
Szene geworden ist. Jordana ist heute ihre eigene Songwriterin – bei dem hier vorgestellten
Song, dem wunderbar groovenden "Jusqu'au bout des cils" stammen Musik und Text aus
ihrer Feder.

Der Mainstream zeigt sich immer wieder offen für Impulse von Indie-Acts, Kooperationen
zwischen diesen scheinbar gegensätzlichen Szenen sind inzwischen nahezu
selbstverständlich und verschaffen dem Underground zusätzliche Unabhängigkeit.
Le Pop 10 zeigt die Vielfalt dieser Welt auf authentische Weise und formt daraus eine
kohärente Einheit. Wie immer hat auch diese neue Ausgabe keinen Anspruch auf
Vollständigkeit. Wir lassen bewusst Künstler außen vor, die manche Fachleute hier erwarten
würden, die aber nicht "unsere Tasse Tee" sind. Im Vergleich zu ihren Anfängen ist die
Szene heute dynamischer und diverser. In den 50er und 60er Jahren haben Jazz und Brazil
ihre Einflüsse im Chanson der Gegenwart hinterlassen. Zu Beginn der Le-Pop-Reihe waren
es Indie, Electro und Reggae. Heute sind darüber hinaus die Einflüsse von HipHop und R'n'B
zu spüren. Das neue Chanson ist in Bewegung und wird es sicher auch in Zukunft bleiben

RATA NEGRA from Madrid deliver twelve songs of dark, crude and moody punk on their debut LP. Formed of members from JUANITA Y LOS FEOS and LA URSS this power trio have distilled the negativity and uncertainly of the young Spanish generation and transformed it into perfectly crafted punk songs. Sharply turning snaps of daily life into melodic anthems for a doomed generation, musically RATA NEGRA fence between dark melodic OC punk a la RIKK AGNEW solo debut album and Spanish Punk ’83 via KGB/ VULPESS. Imagine the non keyboard tracks of Yugoslavian KAOS mixed with LA’S X melody, add to it a layer of distortion and a dose of vital desperation and you get close to RATA NEGRA’s sound. Oído Absoluto comes housed in a reverse board sleeve with printed inner. Both designed by guitarist Fa of Croke Studio and it is released as a collaboration between Beat Generation in Madrid and La Vida Es Un Mus Discos in Hackney.

AOW is a new collaborative project from Dan Ghenacia and Tolga Fidan emerging from a new period of creativity and inspiration for the Lisbon-based artists.

Long time friends and fellow lynchpins of the European house and techno scene, Ghenacia and Fidan started working closely together through 2020 and 2021 while sharing studio space at Boa Lab. They found themselves at the heart of an artistic community of musicians, designers and engineers, which took shape around Ghenacia’s experiments with alpha wave generation, inspired by Bryon Gysin’s Dream Machine.

Ghenacia and engineer Anine Kirsten developed a modern update on Gysin’s 1950s design, which has been installed at exhibitions in London, Lisbon and Paris. At its heart, the project explores the natural hallucinatory effects of alpha wave projections on the eyelids, and the therapeutic benefits of the experience. Out of this spirit of psychedelically-charged experimentation, Ghenacia and Fidan have been working beyond the confines of their typical club-oriented material, creating ambient soundtracks to artist exhibitions in Boa and auditory backdrops to Alpha Wave Experience installations.

AOW bridges the gap between this new period of creativity and Ghenacia and Fidan’s life-long passion for electronic dance music. Compared to the strictures of house and techno they’re best known for, the three tracks on Hear the Light explore a more open, inquisitive sound with roots in UK electronica and West Coast psychedelic breaks (a seminal scene when Ghenacia was in the Bay Area in the 90s). Crucially though, it’s not a pointedly retro sound, but rather a result of rich streams of inspiration meeting and passing through crisp, modernist production techniques to offer something
genuinely fresh on the ears.

Working outside of their comfort zones and guided by creative philosophies springing from research, shared experience and community, Hear the Light marks a new step forward for Ghenacia and Fidan, with many more developments promised for the future.

In November 2014 The Jesus and Mary Chain celebrated three decades of their incendiary cult-classic debut album, 'Psychocandy', with a run of tour dates in which the infamous Scottish group played the album in full for the very first time in the band's history. As part of the 'Psychocandy' tour, the Mary Chain descended on Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom - a legendary venue down the road from where the Reid brothers grew up in neighbouring East Kilbride - and tore through the songs that would propel them to worldwide acclaim upon 'Psychocandy's release in 1985. The Barrowland performance - an equal-parts deafening and blinding assault on the senses - was cut to vinyl by engineer Noel Summerville and originally released in 2015. Fast forward to 2022 and the 'Live at Barrowland' album is now being reissued by Fuzz Club Records. Due for release April 22nd, the 2022 reissue comes with new artwork and on 180g vinyl in a gatefold jacket with a booklet glued inside that features pages of photos from the tour as well as an interview with the Reid brothers and Alan McGee. The influence that 'Psychocandy' and its pioneering sonic belligerence had on popular music cannot be overstated. Taking bittersweet pop melodies and tearing them up apart through the medium of buzzsaw guitars, ear-piercing feedback and an unapologetic hostility towards their listeners, the band's breakthrough album experimented with noise in a way that had never been done before and would inspire for generations to come. The 'Live At Barrowland' LP captures 'Psychocandy's complete 14 tracks in a live setting and in all their boundary-pushing and feedback-ridden glory. The CD and digital versions of the reissue - including the download card that comes with the vinyl - also feature seven bonus tracks taken from the prelude set on the night, including such fan-favourites as 'April Skies', 'Head On' and 'Reverence'.

Jon Porras draws a staggering array of atmospheres out of even the simplest instrumentation. Across his work as one-half of psych-drone duo Barn Owl and his solo releases, Porras welds monoliths and ether into propulsive music that is deeply felt. Arroyo, named for the Spanish word for "stream" in a nod to Porras' heritage as a first generation ColombianJapanese American, drifts gently from one tributary to the next in unhurried contemplation and euphoria. The portentous weight and abrasive textures of Porras' previous work give way to the trickle of richly detailed acoustic instruments slipping in and out of the fold. On Arroyo, Jon Porras evokes a distinct sense of resplendent anticipation and calm with a fathomless flow and softly gorgeous colors. For Porras, Arroyo became a rumination on simplicity and simple truths, a work of complete immersion and continuous motion where separate elements coalesce into an ever-changing whole. Porras spent the year leading up to 2020 living nomadically across Europe where he was able to soak in a deep appreciation for the effortless beauty of overgrown gardens, the basic principles of classical architecture and a more transient sensibility. The album was written and recorded in a time of even more change for Porras: after the birth of his daughter. Like a stream's steady glide across bedrock that waxes and wanes with each gradual turn, the music of Arroyo exhibits a transportive stillness. The compositions take on a light, gaseous buoyancy as discreet drones swell with measured fluctuations and ripples of piano rest atop the surface.

 With their new album, If I Never Know You Like This Again, SOAK has
finally shaken the hangover of their starry debut ‘Before We Forgot How
To Dream’, and the pressures that came with it, hiding in the wings of
their ambitious follow up album, ‘Grim Town’.
 Having come up through BBC Introducing at the tender age of 15, before
signing to Rough Trade Records, as well as winning the RTE Choice
Music Prize and The Northern Irish Music Prize, in addition to being the
youngest ever Mercury Prize nominee, SOAK has again and again been
described as “the voice of a generation.”
 Showing, from a young age, an intensely artistic awareness of the poetry
of memory, Bridie Monds-Watson, aka SOAK, would incessantly
photograph and video everything, documenting and organising the
material so it was always there for them to revisit. “I always want to
remember exactly how I felt at a certain moment.” Now, at 25, SOAK’s
third album, ‘If I Never Know You Like This Again', is naturally made up
of what Bridie intimately calls ‘song-memories’.
 Working closely with Tommy McLaughlin (Villagers), with whom Bridie
has been collaborating with since the age of 15, and armed with
influences from Pavement to Radiohead to Broken Social Scene, they
wrote most of the album together before recording it with the rest of the
band in Attica Studios, Donegal.
 Throughout the album SOAK pushes and pulls at melodies, but never
milks their brilliance. Bridie masterfully glides their vocal melody slightly
off-kilter above excitable compressed high hats and flourishing guitar
lines. With the new direction of a grungier, more lo-fi production, the
swooning guitars are given a contemporary pop edge, reflected in the
rich and robust musicality of songs like ‘Bleach’, ‘Last July’ and ‘Pretzel’.
 There’s a constant pulsating beat at the album’s centre, propelling it
towards a kind of dewy happiness, like the end credits of a 90s comingof-age film. Bridie’s lyrics move through the songs almost as effortlessly
and they sing them, and the songs when read, read like poetry.
 With this album Bridie is, as the title suggests, freezing time in the
pursuit of truth: capturing their life into existence. In the world of ‘If I
Never Know You Like This Again’, a life is lived only because it's
remembered.

Jon Porras draws a staggering array of atmospheres out of even the simplest instrumentation. Across his work as one-half of psych-drone duo Barn Owl and his solo releases, Porras welds monoliths and ether into propulsive music that is deeply felt. Arroyo, named for the Spanish word for "stream" in a nod to Porras' heritage as a first generation Colombian?Japanese American, drifts gently from one tributary to the next in unhurried contemplation and euphoria. The portentous weight and abrasive textures of Porras' previous work give way to the trickle of richly detailed acoustic instruments slipping in and out of the fold. On Arroyo, Jon Porras evokes a distinct sense of resplendent anticipation and calm with a fathomless flow and softly gorgeous colors. For Porras, Arroyo became a rumination on simplicity and simple truths, a work of complete immersion and continuous motion where separate elements coalesce into an ever-changing whole. Porras spent the year leading up to 2020 living nomadically across Europe where he was able to soak in a deep appreciation for the effortless beauty of overgrown gardens, the basic principles of classical architecture and a more transient sensibility. The album was written and recorded in a time of even more change for Porras: after the birth of his daughter. Like a stream's steady glide across bedrock that waxes and wanes with each gradual turn, the music of Arroyo exhibits a transportive stillness. The compositions take on a light, gaseous buoyancy as discreet drones swell with measured fluctuations and ripples of piano rest atop the surface. Arroyo borrows harmonic concepts from modal jazz to create a unique sense of ease and endlessness. Each of the four pieces on the album centers around a single suspended chord, a chord most commonly associated with devotional music which embodies a space between harmonic tension and resolution. Porras embellishes that liminality with arrangements that feel less like distinguishable layers of instruments and more like one undulating nebula of sound. In the past decade of Porras' solo work, his music has grown increasingly engaged with elaborate synth textures and detailed processing. With Arroyo, Porras consciously takes a step back from those more intricate compositions and focuses on more organic, unadorned textures and places each sound with the same precision. Stark piano and guitar patiently hover over modest currents of Hammond organ and Yamaha DX7 with the sustain of each chord and phrase acting as a natural guide to the album's subtle rhythm. The four pieces that comprise Arroyo each encompass their own idyllic channel, slowly weaving their way in and out of the album's elegant stir. Porras' reflections on simplified elements take shape in gorgeous arrangements that impart clarity amidst a tranquil mist. Arroyo is an album that unearths splendor in a unified feeling of space, serenity in perpetual renewal

In the post-pandemic era that we now live in, some artists have used its abnormal reality as an abstract muse or a reason to expand their repertoire into unseen territory or styles. Fortunately, the Charlotte, NC native with the gritty, gospel-flecked croon does neither. Instead, Hamilton returns with familiar collaborators (9th Wonder, Jermaine Dupri, James Poyser) and his signature Southern grit and lyrics, planting those winning elements, ten toes down, into contemporarily-rendered, yet unabashedly-influenced,1970s-era soul. Sometimes those aspects are shimmering and glossy, such as the awe-struck, surrendering ode, "White Hennessy," the buoyant Curtis Mayfield-channeling title track and "Real Love," a boom-bap-heavy groove with a mellow, half-spoken and half-sung tribute to the emotion (with FL's Rick Ross anchoring the bridge). His Generation X roots are also in display on the bass-dropping and ice-flossing "I'm Ready," with ATL's own Lil Jon.
"Back in the black." "Black Power!" "Give me five on the black-hand side." "Always bet on Black." In a literal sense, the color black is created by the complete absence of light or the total absorption of all shades. It represents solemnity, sophistication or literal all-encompassing darkness. But for the people residing within its varying hues, blackness signifies all that is meaningful, fly and pertinent to their culture and way of life. The rich contrasts of black life, and the layers of emotion in-between, are what Anthony Hamilton is exploring throughout his seventh studio album, Love Is the New Black

Verve und seine Schwesterlabels Impulse, Mercury und Emarcy bieten Vinylfans mit der ACOUSTIC SOUNDS-Serie eine audiophile LP-Serie für gehobene Ansprüche. Hierfür arbeitet Verve mit dem bekannten amerikanischen Vinyl-Label Acoustic Sounds zusammen:

- Fertigung mit 100% ANALOGEN PRODUKTIONSSCHRITTEN
- Mastering vom ERSTE-GENERATION-MASTERBAND
- 180G-PRESSUNG bei Quality Record Pressings
- laminierte TIP-ON-GATEFOLD-SLEEVES & WATTIERTE INNENHÜLLEN

2020 erschien mit "KiCk i" der Grammy nominierte Auftakt zur Serie; auch nominiert bei den Latin Grammy Awards als "Best Alternative Music Album". 2021 setzt Arca mit "KICK ii" bis "IIIII" nun die "KiCk"-Serie auf XL Recordings fort. Jetzt erscheinen diese auch physisch auf CD und Vinyl! Als Künstlerin war Arca schon immer eine Gestaltenwandlerin - äußerlich wie musikalisch. Sie produzierte Musik für Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Björk, Kanye West und FKA twigs, komponierte Musik für das MoMA, trat 2020 mit den Labèque Schwestern, zwei fantastischen Pianistinnen, bei der Burberry Fashion-Show auf, schrieb einen Soundtrack-Beitrag für die HBO-Serie "Euphoria", erschuf gewaltige Noise-Skulpturen oder gab sich auf Partys als exaltierte Diva. Arca wurde für einen GLAAD Media Award nominiert und ist die erste nicht-binäre Künstlerin, die schließlich für einen GRAMMY nominiert wurde. Sie hat ihr eigenes Album-Artwork entworfen und gemalt, für Bottega Venetta, Calvin Klein und Loewe gemodelt, Musikinstrumente der nächsten Generation mitentwickelt und auch mit KI experimentiert. Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, wie Arca eigentlich heißt, wurde erst vor kurzem von Publikationen wie dem Time Magazine, Guardian, DAZED, Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum und der Los Angeles Times zur einer der innovativsten Künstlerinnen des 21. Jahrhundert ernannt. Als nonbinäre Latinx-Transfrau will Doña Arca die Rolle des Popstars für kommende Generation neu definieren - mit "KICK ii bis IIIII" entführt sie uns in diese Zukunft und öffnet die Tür in eine neue und nonbinäre Soundwelt.

2020 erschien mit "KiCk i" der Grammy nominierte Auftakt zur Serie; auch nominiert bei den Latin Grammy Awards als "Best Alternative Music Album". 2021 setzt Arca mit "KICK ii" bis "IIIII" nun die "KiCk"-Serie auf XL Recordings fort. Jetzt erscheinen diese auch physisch auf CD und Vinyl! Als Künstlerin war Arca schon immer eine Gestaltenwandlerin - äußerlich wie musikalisch. Sie produzierte Musik für Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Björk, Kanye West und FKA twigs, komponierte Musik für das MoMA, trat 2020 mit den Labèque Schwestern, zwei fantastischen Pianistinnen, bei der Burberry Fashion-Show auf, schrieb einen Soundtrack-Beitrag für die HBO-Serie "Euphoria", erschuf gewaltige Noise-Skulpturen oder gab sich auf Partys als exaltierte Diva. Arca wurde für einen GLAAD Media Award nominiert und ist die erste nicht-binäre Künstlerin, die schließlich für einen GRAMMY nominiert wurde. Sie hat ihr eigenes Album-Artwork entworfen und gemalt, für Bottega Venetta, Calvin Klein und Loewe gemodelt, Musikinstrumente der nächsten Generation mitentwickelt und auch mit KI experimentiert. Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, wie Arca eigentlich heißt, wurde erst vor kurzem von Publikationen wie dem Time Magazine, Guardian, DAZED, Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum und der Los Angeles Times zur einer der innovativsten Künstlerinnen des 21. Jahrhundert ernannt. Als nonbinäre Latinx-Transfrau will Doña Arca die Rolle des Popstars für kommende Generation neu definieren - mit "KICK ii bis IIIII" entführt sie uns in diese Zukunft und öffnet die Tür in eine neue und nonbinäre Soundwelt.

2020 erschien mit "KiCk i" der Grammy nominierte Auftakt zur Serie; auch nominiert bei den Latin Grammy Awards als "Best Alternative Music Album". 2021 setzt Arca mit "KICK ii" bis "IIIII" nun die "KiCk"-Serie auf XL Recordings fort. Jetzt erscheinen diese auch physisch auf CD und Vinyl! Als Künstlerin war Arca schon immer eine Gestaltenwandlerin - äußerlich wie musikalisch. Sie produzierte Musik für Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Björk, Kanye West und FKA twigs, komponierte Musik für das MoMA, trat 2020 mit den Labèque Schwestern, zwei fantastischen Pianistinnen, bei der Burberry Fashion-Show auf, schrieb einen Soundtrack-Beitrag für die HBO-Serie "Euphoria", erschuf gewaltige Noise-Skulpturen oder gab sich auf Partys als exaltierte Diva. Arca wurde für einen GLAAD Media Award nominiert und ist die erste nicht-binäre Künstlerin, die schließlich für einen GRAMMY nominiert wurde. Sie hat ihr eigenes Album-Artwork entworfen und gemalt, für Bottega Venetta, Calvin Klein und Loewe gemodelt, Musikinstrumente der nächsten Generation mitentwickelt und auch mit KI experimentiert. Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, wie Arca eigentlich heißt, wurde erst vor kurzem von Publikationen wie dem Time Magazine, Guardian, DAZED, Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum und der Los Angeles Times zur einer der innovativsten Künstlerinnen des 21. Jahrhundert ernannt. Als nonbinäre Latinx-Transfrau will Doña Arca die Rolle des Popstars für kommende Generation neu definieren - mit "KICK ii bis IIIII" entführt sie uns in diese Zukunft und öffnet die Tür in eine neue und nonbinäre Soundwelt.

Nat ‘King’ Cole was born in Alabama in 1917. He began his musical
career in the 1940s with his own Jazz trio, but his skills as an innovative Jazz Pianist soon became overshadowed by his skills as a ballad singer. Cole’s phrasing, his uncanny ability at interpreting a song and his sheer style made the whole business seem natural and effortless. Smoother than Sinatra, cooler than Crosby, when it came to crooners, Nat Cole truly was the King. His mellow approach influenced not only other ballad singers, but a whole generation of 1960s soul singers. This 16-track ‘greatest hits’ collection is a superb selection.

Bazan got his start playing to the Christian rock scene, but the narrative
arc of his albums has traced his crisis of faith and his questioning of the
Evangelical Christian world in which he was raised
Yet, this record is not a final statement, not a "breakup letter to G_d." It's the
deepest and most explicit exploration of his struggles to date, and a meditation
on all things passed between the generations, and for the first time in a while,
Bazan seems actually interested in re- engaging in conversations with the
Evangelical community about his doubts (for example, for the first time in years,
he'll be playing huge Christian music festival Cornerstone this summer). Curse
Your Branches is a masterwork by a modern American poet (Paste called him one
of the "100 best American songwriters" in a piece that followed the release of his
solo EP Fewer Moving Parts) at the height of his powers.

The debut album of Zasky & Smith, producers of New Blade Runners Of Dub. Built on the legacy of Zasky' s internationally known Dub Reggae Band Dubblestandart, New Blade Runners Of Dub blend Jed Smith's, LA native, composer/producer's new school visions of sound & Zasky's European shaped Dub Reggae background in a unique way. Call it Europe & America in a unity reconfiguring rhythm driven music for new generations: The Los Angeles based music group, combining cutting edge rhythm productions and up 2 the time sonic visions. It is a collaboration of international known musicians from the US, Europe, England & Jamaica. Altered concepts for new generations who identify through a new understanding of art, communication and therefor ultimately for the politics, that will shape their world. This is music for the 21st century. Decoding what lays ahead.

In a generation of musicians that came of age in postwar Japan, Kazuki Tomokawa stands as a pioneer of radical individualism, with a sound marked by shocking intimacy and blistering honesty. In his third album, A String of Paper Cranes Clenched between My Teeth, released by Harvest Records in 1977, Tomokawa creeps "ever more inward," as Kiichi Takahara writes in the record's original introductory text-embracing an attitude pervasive amongst musicians of the time who interrogated the prosaic and the profound alike, eschewing politics and society in favor of an "attitude of total self-containment." Tomokawa recorded the album over the course of a month-from August 24 to September 25, 1977-at Tokyo's famed Onkio Haus studio in the bustling Ginza district. The arrangements, accordingly, are amped up: paired with the Black Panther Orchestra, Tomokawa's "screaming philosopher" vocals find their match with the orchestra's electric guitar, bass, piano, tuba, and ground-thumping drums played by the Brain Police's Toshi Ishizuka-who appears on Tomokawa's first three records and remains his collaborator to this day. "This is Kazuki Tomokawa in the flesh," concludes Takahara. A String of Paper Cranes Clenched between My Teeth is, in Tomokawa's uncanny way, able to cut through facade and artifice in pursuit of truth. "You call that life?" he heckles, exhausted by the melodrama and nihilism of youth counterculture, "try saying you're alive!"

If you are looking for nostalgia and rocksteady at its finest, all in one package, then this vinyl by Keith & Tex offers a good blend of both.



Born in the rocksteady era, Keith & Tex made their mark with a slew of hits and classics that have lasted over 50 years. From their haunting rendition of "Hypnotic Eyes" to the iconic guitar intro and solo of Lynn Taitt on "Stop That Train", you are treated to a unique style that still lives on after five decades. Since 1967 many of their songs have enjoyed great success and continue to be played and sung by a new generation of rocksteady lovers. This duo has a style that still seems surprisingly engaging and refreshingly innocent.





So lean back, turn up the stereo or plug in the earphones, and enjoy!

Fragments repräsentiert eine Einladung an elektronische Künstler, traditionelle und moderne Musik zu kombinieren. Regelmäßig wird Fragments von einem neuen Komponisten inspiriert werden. Hieraus entsteht eine Serie von Alben, welche eine Bandbreite elektronischer Künstler dazu einlädt, einen ganz neuen Blickwinkel auf die Werke eines renommierten Komponisten zu werfen.

Fragments ist ein Projekt, das zwischen Welten schwingt. Zwischen klassischer und elektronischer Musik - zwischen alt und neu.
Beginnen wird die Serie mit Erik Satie: dem französischen Pionier der ‚Minimal Music‘, ein spitzfindiger Künstler, beliebt im Pariser Nachtleben seiner Zeit, ein Ambient Komponist avant la lettre, wiederentdeckt von einer Generation 100 Jahre nach seiner Lebzeit.
Beim Suchen und Finden der kollaborierenden Künstler, wurde das Projekt Fragments mit einstimmigem

Enthusiasmus empfangen. Das Resultat ist eine Kollektion großartiger Remixe & Reworks, welche monatlich zwischen August 2021 und Mai 2022 erscheinen.

Es gibt musikalische Projekte, da muss man die Headline zwei Mal lesen, um die tatsächliche Bedeutung zuverstehen. Zum ersten Mal in der mittlerweile fünf Dekaden umfassenden Erfolgsgeschichte der Rocklegendeaus dem südwestfälischen Hagen, erscheint ein rein akustisches Studioalbum mit Songklassikern der Band.

Das einfach nur „GROBSCHNITT ACOUSTIC ALBUM“ betitelte Werk enthält 13 Stücke und ist ab dem 13. Mai erhältlich. Das Album ist auch eine Reminiszenz an das 50jährige Bandjubiläum, das im
Herbst 2021 im Rahmen einer imposanten Grobschnitt-Ausstellung im renommierten Osthaus Museum ihrer Heimatstadt Hagen gefeiert wurde. Es ist aber auch eine Hommage an die die treue Fangemeinde, die mittlerweile drei Generation umfasst und deren Motto „Kein Tag ohne Grobschnitt“ immer schon Kult war und ist. Das ”Grobschnitt Acoustic Album” erscheint pünktlich zum Tourstart der Band am Freitag, den 13.

Mai 2022 auf Doppel-Vinyl, als CD sowie auch in digitaler Form und ist bereits jetzt schon vorbestellbar. Für die Grobschnitt-Enthusiasten und alle Progressive Rock-Neugierigen heißt es wieder einmal: HEUT´
IST EIN SCHÖNER TAG‘.

Cream White Vinyl


It finally took five years and two lineup changes for Handful of Snowdrops to release their debut album, the iconic Land of the Damned. While too many of the songs written during that period never made it to tape, some fortunately did.

This is what we believed is first home recording from the second generation of the band with Jean-Pierre as the lead singer. All tracks were recorded in a single day in a dark and humid basement using a beaten-up TEAC 4-track tape cassette recorder borrowed from a friend. Since the original mix downs are long gone, we had to salvage the music from two old worn out cassette copies.

It would be fair to say that the recordings are very representative of the overwhelming naivety of the early compositions. It’s a unique chance to have another look inside an old photo album you thought you had lost forever.

RIYL: Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, Radiohead & Tom Waits. "If you have never heard the Doctors of Madness, you should. Musically they are the Velvet Underground, New York Dolls with shades of glam, hippie, prog and punk all rolled into one, yet are still totally original. Vastly underrated, they should have been huge. Pure genius" Vic Reeves…. The DOM are “the missing link between David Bowie & The Sex Pistols” (The Guardian May 2017). Exploding onto the music scene in 1975 with their theatrical, William Burroughs-inspired Sci-fi nightmare, they were misunderstood by many, but those who knew understood the importance of the band’s dangerous, uncompromising approach to lyrics, to music and to performance. Among the many fans of the band were acts as diverse as The Damned, Vic Reeves, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Spiritualized, Julian Cope, The Adverts, The Skids and Simple Minds. The Sex Pistols supported them, so did The Jam & Joy Division. They were the first to combine the avant-garde approach of The Velvet Underground with a distinctly European aesthetic. The blue hair, exotic stage-names, the lyrical themes of urban decay, political propaganda, mind control and madness were all taken up by the punk bands who followed in their wake. The DOM were trailblazers, pioneers, adventurers…pushing the boundaries of rock music and theatre to see how far it would go before it bust. What happened after them was due, in no small part, to what they achieved in 3 short years. They may not have been Jesus Christ, but they were, arguably, John the Baptist!!! Now, 40 years after they imploded, they are back…with an album seething with lyrical anger and passion. It is the most potent and incisive musical dissection of modern life and contemporary politics released the decade. With tracks titles like “So Many ways To Hurt You”, “Sour Hour”, “Make It Stop!” and the ground-breaking sonic assault of the title track “Dark Times”, Richard “Kid” Strange proves once again that he has his finger firmly on the pulse of our times, just as he had when he founded the band in 1974. Produced by John Leckie (Radiohead, Stone Roses, Pink Floyd), the new album, Dark Times, features contributions from Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Sarah Jane Morris (Communards), Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave etc), Steve ‘Boltz’ Bolton (The Who, Scott Walker) and the young protest singer Lily Bud, alongside the current thrilling and thunderous DOM rhythm section of Susumu Ukei (bass guitar) & Mackii Ukei (drums) of the Japanese extreme glam-metal band Sister Paul, and Dylan O Bates (violin and keyboards). Julian Cope, another rock star who, like Strange, found the confines of music too tight for his ambition, his energy and his imagination, was blown away when he first heard the songs, declaring, “These Dark Times are enormously informing: the RULES OF THE FUTURE are indeed being forged right now”. Top producer Martyn Ware (Human League/Heaven 17) said the album “…reminds me of Iggy Pop’s Kill City album – love it.” and Biba Kopf (The Wire) declared, “Still listening to new DOM album with immense interest and pleasure”. The first single, Make It Stop!, is an impassioned howl against the global drift to right wing extremism and persecution of minorities, and is already a live showstopper for the band. It features the thrilling cross-generational combination of Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Lily Bud on backing vocals. In the period since the last DOM gig in 1978, Richard has written a memoir, collaborated on a cantata with internationally celebrated composer Gavin Bryars, worked as an actor on films with Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Harmony Korine & Jack Nicholson, toured the world in a Russian version of Hamlet with James Nesbitt as his grave-digging co-star, played Glastonbury, sung baritone in the British premiere of Frank Zappa’s200 Motels at the Royal Festival Hall, directed a multi-media evening celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, won Best Art Film Prize at the Portobello Film Festival last year, had his own live talk show, worked with Tom Waits and Marianne Faithfull on the William Burroughs/Robert Wilson stage play The Black Rider, curated events for the Tate Gallery, and sung Walt Disney songs with Jarvis Cocker.

Since its original release in 1984, Piledriver's bolt-from-the-blue debut
'Metal Inquisition' has found a legion of fans worldwide, over successive generations and spanning all stripes of metal


The album was the work of one metal maniac named Gord Kirchin, who became the selfsame "Pile Driver" so eloquently depicted on the album's cover art, and a certain "Bud Slaker" - AKA Leslie Howe, whose resume did not include any heavy metal before nor after. Nevertheless, together the duo recorded a crude 'n' rude document of blitzkrieg Metal spirit, spit forth across songs that encompassed scuzzy speed metal and pounding traditional metal. The fact that the band was Canadian figured into this style of sound, as one could detect the likes of Anvil AND Exciter here.

Taut and tight, the 37 minutes of 'Metal Inquisition' ,demanded repeat plays…and now it will demand those repeat plays as Shadow Kingdom officially releases the album for the first time in over 20 years! The CD version will contain the full master of the album, including a "Crazy On You"- style intro to "Pile Driver" as it was originally intended, while the vinyl version will stay how they were in the '80s.


Absolutely mandatory metal madness!

Sean Dixon, known from previous releases on Clone and Rawax, is back on his own label Final Chapter.

On this colorful four track record called Generations EP, he’s joined by Sheffield´s John Shima.
Opening the EP is Generations I, a raw piece, with chord stabs that are dancing around the percussion sounds and organ bass, with a vocal on top. Followed up on the A-side is Generations ll, a Chicago and Detroit inspired track with wonderful lush strings one top of the drums and vocal,. Generations lll opens up the B-side, with wicked melodies and a funky bassline.

The B2 track Generations IV comes from John Shima, who is doing a rework on Sean´s original sounds, putting his characteristic feeling and touch to it.

REPRESS! “All Of Them Naturals” is a fully realized, inclusive world of faux-corporation sponsored surrealist new wave punk music rife with satire and discordance. Robotically tight. Delightfully warped. Ideas as vast as Nebraska’s GMO cornfields and as lethal as the pesticides they spray on them. Did the Sunbelt Chemicals Corporation invent DDT? Maybe. Did they invent man? They think so. Did they invent the wheel? No, that was URANIUM CLUB. Truly, our generation’s DEVO. An important group." - Jensen Ward

The follow up to My Generation, A Quick One was released in 1966, it contains the experimental music Suite (a nod to Rock Operas that were to follow) A Quick One While He’s Away, famous for being performed at the Rolling Stones Rock N Roll Circus. The album contains songs such as Boris the Spider, are Don’t Look Away and has been mastered by long time Who engineer Jon Astley from the original tapes and is packaged in original sleeve with obi and certificate of authenticity. This black vinyl version is engineered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios using a half-speed mastering technique which produces a superior vinyl cut.

Praised for his genuine originality, the American-Canadian Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. In 2004 he released Want Two, his fourth studio album. According to Wainwright himself, it is the darker sibling of 2003’s Want One - its subject matter concerned with “the world we live in” after Want One focus on the intensely personal. Wainwright produced the album in collaboration with Grammy Award winning British producer Marius de Vries, who is best known for work with U2, Madonna and Björk.

His mother Kate McGarrigle and aunt Anna McGarrigle both sing on the track “Hometown Waltz”. The album also features Wainwright’s popular tracks “The One You Love”, “Agnes Dei” and “Old Whore’s Diet”. The latter features Anohni from Antony and the Johnsons.

Want Two includes an insert with lyrics.

Famed free jazz concert registration of an early New Direction for the Art performance. Recorded in 1971. Old-style Gatefold LP, with rare photographs & extensive liner notes by Alan Cummings.

The performance by Takayanagi Masayuki New Direction for the Art at the Gen’yasai festival on August 14, 1971 was an intense, bruising collision between the radical, anti-establishment politics of the period in Japan and the febrile avant-garde music that had begun to emerge a few years before. The ferocious performance that you can hear here was received with outright hostility by the audience, who responded first with catcalls and later with showers of debris that were hurled at the performers. Takayanagi though described the group’s performance to jazz magazine Swing Journal as a success, “an authentic and realistic depiction of the situation”.

In 1962, Takayanagi, bassist Kanai Hideto and painter Kageyama Isamu went on to form an AACM-style musicians’ collective called the New Century Music Research Institute. Every Friday, members gathered at Gin-Paris, a chanson bar in the fashionable Ginza district of Tokyo, to push the outer limits of jazz creativity.

But the pivotal moment for his music was the creation a new trio version of his New Directions group in August 1969, with the free bassist Yoshizawa Motoharu and a young drummer Toyozumi (Sabu) Yoshisaburō. Experiments eventually led to the creation of two basic frameworks for improvisation that Takayagi referred to as Mass Projection and Gradually Projection.

“La Grima” (tears), the piece that was played at the Gen’yasai festival, is a mass projection and listening to it, you can get a clear sense of what Takayanagi was aiming at. Mass projection involves a dense, speedy and chaotic colouring in of space that destroys the listener’s perception of time, and thus of musical development.

The ferocity of the performance of “La Grima” at the Gen’yasai Festival in Sanrizuka on August 14, 1971 was consciously grounded by Takayanagi in a particular historical moment, ripe with conflict and violence. A month after the festival, on September 16, three policemen would die during struggles at the site. This was the context that the three-day Gen’yasai Festival existed within. The line-up reflected the radical politics of the movement, with leading free jazz musicians like Takayanagi, Abe Kaoru, and Takagi Mototeru appearing alongside radical ur-punkers Zuno Keisatsu, heavy electric blues bands like Blues Creation, and Haino Keiji’s scream-jazz unit Lost Aaraaff.

New Direction for the Arts trio topped the bill on the opening day, playing an aggressive, uncompromising “mass projection” set of polyphonic improvisation. Alongside drummer Hiroshi Yamazaki and saxophonist Kenji Mori, Takayanagi soloed hard and continuously for forty minutes. This was performance as precisely calibrated metaphor: three musicians responding to the demands of the moment with instinctive force and fury, untethered by rules, leaderless yet not rudderless (the direction part of the group’s name was no accident). The piece was entitled La Grima – tears - and the fusion between the palpable anger of the performance and hopeless sadness of its title were also perfectly apt for the situation. This was a fight that the state was always going to win. Yet, by all accounts, the band’s set went down like a fart at a funeral. The band were showered with catcalls and debris throughout, and by chants of “go home” when the music finally came to an end.

However, looking back at the event in the year-end issue of Japan’s leading jazz magazine, Swing Journal, Takayanagi was surprisingly upbeat: New Directions brought a solid political consciousness to our performance and succeeded in an authentic and realistic depiction of the situation. But journalism revealed its superficiality in its inability to penetrate the core of the music. I don’t know much about anyone else, but we at least left behind a competent record.

It’s a fascinating statement in many ways. Perhaps on one-hand it can be read as stubborn, solipsistic and self-justifying, yet in conjunction with his statement in 1971 there are points that guide us towards an understanding of just what Takayanagi intended with his performance at the festival. As Kitazato Yoshiyuki has argued, it becomes an almost religious act, directed at the earth deities of the land. A union of anger, sorrow and malevolence that can be placed nowhere effective, all it can do is find expression and channeling. The forcible land seizures at Narita, the eviction of farmers from land that had been in families for generations, the destruction of communities: none of this can be prevented, not least by an artistic action. All that can be done is an attempt to mark the land itself, to soak it with the combined force of emotions and the volume of the performances, to bury something there that cannot be drowned out, even by the coming roar of jet engines.

Ferocious JP / US free jazz bomb. A rare meeting between the NYC free jazz scene and the Japanese free music scene. Old-style Gatefold LP, with rare photographs & liner notes by Alan Cummings.

Following hot on the heels of the first, mid-sixties generation of Japanese free jazz players like Kaoru Abe, Masayuki Takayanagi, Yōsuke Yamashita, Motoharu Yoshizawa, etc., an exciting second wave of younger players began to emerge in the seventies. Two of its leading members were the saxophonist Kazutoki Umezu and multi-instrumentalist Yoriyuki Harada. Both were post-war babies and immigrants to the city, Umezu from Sendai in the north and Harada from Shimane in the west. They first met as students in the clarinet department at the Kunitachi College of Music, a well-known conservatory in western Tokyo. Harada was already securing sideman gigs on bass with professional jazz groups and was active in student politics, making good use of his connections to set up jazz concerts on campus. It was around this time that the two began to play together in an improvised duo, with Umezu on clarinet and bass clarinet and Harada on piano. They also experimented with graphic scores and prepared piano.

These experiments eventually led to the creation of a trio, with a high-school student called Tetsuya Morimura on drums, that they decided to name Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai (Lifestyle Improvement Committee) in joking reference to the Marxist discourse of the student radicals of the time. Around 1973, Umezu and Harada decided to call it a day and go their separate ways. Umezu began playing with the Toshinori Kondo Unit and Harada with the Tadashi Yoshida Quintet. In 1974 Harada formed his own trio and began to play at jazz coffeehouses across Japan.

Then, in September 1974 Umezu travelled alone to New York, where he set about building connections with the loft jazz scene in the city. It was a fortuitous moment to arrive in New York. Rents were cheap in the Lower East Side, possibilities for squatting existed, so many musicians and artists had moved to the area. Umezu soon became known on the scene as Kappo and he started to make connections with some of the young musicians like David Murray, Arthur Blythe, and Oliver Lake. He recalls making the rounds of the lofts every evening, checking out the performances, and getting the chance to sit in with many groups including Juma Sultan’s Aboriginal Music Society and trumpeter Ted Daniel’s orchestra.

Things were going so well that Umezu wrote to Harada and invited him to come to New York. He accepted and arrived in the city in July 1975. Harada and Umezu took the opportunity to resume their artistic collaboration. Their first concert together in over two years took place on July 20th at another loft, Sunrise Studios at 122 2nd Avenue. Umezu remembers Sunrise as an unusually sunny loft with the rarest of things, a grand piano. He invited along Ahmed Abdullah, a trumpeter he had got to know while playing with Ted Daniel. Abdullah led his own group and was a long-term Sun Ra sideman. William Parker, one of the key figures in the loft jazz scene of the period, was on bass. Abdullah also brought along Rashid Sinan on drums. Sinan drummed in Abdullah’s units throughout the seventies, but he had also played on Frank Lowe’s immortal Black Beings album and collaborated with Arthur Doyle, playing on Doyle’s Alabama Feeling album. By all accounts the evening was a huge success, with speed and dynamism of Harada’s piano playing gaining him lots of support.

Since they had managed to save some money from their day jobs, Umezu and Harada decided to set up a recording session with the same line-up on August 11 at Studio We, where there was a well-equipped studio on the third floor. Umezu recalls the session as follows, Of course, we recorded our performances in one take, with zero retakes as far as I remember. On all the tracks we recorded, we moved as one unit, sharp and fast. That was the nature of Lifestyle Improvement Committee, New York Branch.

Umezu and Harada would later become known for the elements of parody and entertainment that they brought to their music, a freewheeling blend of pastiche, humour and on-stage performativity that paralleled the approaches of the Art Ensemble, Sun Ra, and Holland’s ICP. But here, on their first recordings, the humour element is not yet present. Instead, there is a febrile sense of joy in creation and connection. On the Umezu-penned “Kim”, for example, Harada opens the piece with a speedy exploration of the full-range of the keyboard, hitting hard on the bass keys to create a rhythmic bed out of which patterns begin to emerge. Umezu enters at a much slower pace, longer held notes that at first float weightlessly over the urgency of the piano before they begin in splinter and accelerate. When Parker and Sinan kick in, it’s a rollicking tempo with Parker plucking deep and hard and the left-handed Sinan skittering hard across the topside of his kit. Abdullah kicks in a glorious solo twelve minutes in, bright and breathy at once. The piece slows and grows more spacious towards the end, giving Parker a chance to showcase some arco work that shades beautifully into the air against Abdullah’s trumpet.

Australia-born Los Angeles-based artist Luke C. presents ‘T.O.M.B.’, his debut solo release on his newly minted label Velvet Bikini.

The seven-track album is a gauzy, starry-eyed style of ambient electronics, embedded with melancholia and a touch of otherworldly psychedelia. A soundtrack to a generation lost, endlessly searching the streets of a sun-drenched, neon-lit city. ‘T.O.M.B.’ will be pressed on limited-edition vinyl.

The bulk of T.O.M.B. was recorded at Luke C.’s home studio in LA over the last 12 months and put together with various sources—MicroKorg, voice, sampled records, treated field recordings, resampled synths—to create the noir-ish atmosphere present across the LP, one that takes the listener through the depths of the psyche and the neon-lit corners of the city in which it was recorded.

Iranian-American artist Kamran Sadeghi mastered the entirety of the LP, known for his recent album on Richard Chartier’s LINE imprint and his work as a key member of Soundwalk Collective.

Toro y Moi’s seventh studio album, ‘MAHAL’, is the boldest and most fascinating journey yet
from musical mastermind Chaz Bear. The record spans genre and sound - encompassing the
shaggy psychedelic rock of the 1960s and ‘70s, and the airy sounds of 1990s mod-post-rock -
taking listeners on an auditory expedition, as if they’re riding in the back of Bear’s Filipino
jeepney that adorns the album’s cover. But ‘MAHAL’ is also an unmistakably Toro y Moi
experience, calling back to previous works while charting a new path forward in a way that only
Bear can do.
 ‘MAHAL’ is the latest in an accomplished career for Bear, who’s undoubtedly one of the
decade’s most influential musicians. Since the release of the electronic pop landmark ‘Causers
of This’ in 2009, subsequent records as Toro y Moi have repeatedly shifted the idea of what his
sound can be. But there’s little in Bear’s catalogue that will prepare you for the deep-groove
excursions on ‘MAHAL’, his most eclectic record to date.
 The second the album begins we’re immediately transported into the passenger seat, jeep
sounds and all, ready for the ride Chaz and company have concocted for us. Seeds of some of
‘MAHAL’s 13 songs date back to the more explicitly rock-oriented ‘What For?’ from 2015.
 ‘MAHAL’ was mostly completed last year in Bear’s Oakland studio with the involvement of a
host of collaborators, Sofie Royer and Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Neilson to Neon
Indian’s Alan Palomo and the Mattson 2.
 “I wanted to make a record that featured more musicians on it than any other record of mine,”
he explains. “To have them live on that record feels grounded, bringing a communal
perspective to the table.” As a result, ‘MAHAL’ is lush and surprising at every turn, from the
cool-handed ‘The Loop’, which recalls Sly and the Family Stone, to the elastic psych rock of
‘Foreplay’ and the dizzying Mulatu Astatke-recalling of ‘Last Year’.
 Lyrically, the album zooms in on generational concerns, picking up where the ‘Outer Peace’
standout ‘Freelance’ effectively left off. Bear seems to be surveying the ways in which we
connect with technology, media, each other, and what disappears as a result. Cuts like the
squishy ‘Postman’ and ‘Magazine’ take a deep dive into our relationship with media in a
changing digital world. “It’s interesting to see how we adapt to this new age. We’re so
connected, but we’re still missing out on things,” Bear ruminates while discussing the album’s
themes.
 It’s not all introspection. Bear cools things down near the album’s end with the Mattson 2-
featuring ‘Millennium’, a laid-back jam with tricky guitar licks about ringing in new times even
when everything else seems upside down. “It’s about enjoying the new year, even when it’s
been shitty,” Bear explains. “There’s nothing else to do.”
 Finding a sense of joy in the face of adversity is embedded in ‘MAHAL’s DNA, right down to the
jeepney that literally and figuratively brings the music out into the community. “We know that
touring is messed up for now, and large gatherings are a fluke,” he explains. “It’s about the
notion of us going out to the people and bringing the record to them.” And with the wide-open
atmosphere of ‘MAHAL’, Toro y Moi stands to connect with more listeners than ever before.

You probably heard it before, several times. The opening number ‘Hungry, So Angry’ is to be considered one of the most infectious white funk anthem of the era. The Glitterhouse was released in 1981 on british imprint Cherry Red and soon was hailed as an instant classic for the post-punk generation close to dancefloor. In the same league of A Certain Ratio and newyorkers Bush Tetras the band originally from Nottingham moved behind obscure numbers and twisted grooves showing a revolutionary take on the up and coming new wave scenario. Here’s an unmissable collection with tracks from their three singles, sole studio album, live recordings but also unreleased tracks from an October 1982 demo tape.

Note vinyl rel date is later. 10 Year Anniversary Reissue. 2LP / 2CD featuring the album proper & demos of each song + rarities. Colored clear vinyl, includes digital download. Recommended If You Like: The original ‘151a’ release, of Montreal, Regina Spektor, Andrew Bird. They say that you spend your entire life writing your first album, piecing every formative moment, scribbled turn of phrase, and thematic epiphany into a fantastical collage. Multi-instrumentalist K. Ishibashi (aka Kishi Bashi) disproves that old adage. The title of Kishi Bashi’s 2011 debut album,‑151a, is a riff on the Japanese phrase‑“ichi-go ichi-e,” roughly translating to “one time, one place.” That’s exactly what this debut is: A singular time, an inimitable place, a launchpad for bigger and better things to come. “It’s a play on words that translates as a performance aesthetic of having a unique performance in time, with imperfections, and enjoying it while you can,” Ishibashi‑told NPR at the time of the album’s release. “The saying reminds me to embrace my mistakes and move forward.” From the deconstructed Beach Boys-esque doo-wop of “Wonder Woman” to the menacing marriage of Eastern Hues and Western operatics of “Beat the Bright out of Me,”‑151a‑is a mediation between opposing drives, offering possible reconciliation but never promising it. The album’s emotional wellspring, “I Am The Antichrist To You” was reimagined in 2021 when it was featured on the animated sci-fi sitcom‑Rick and Morty, introducing Kishi Bashi to a new generation of awestruck fans. Kishi Bashi uses‑151a‑as a vehicle to explore his cultural background. Using Japanese refrains as a compositional and textural device (the polyrhythmic grandeur of “Bright Whites”; the gleeful surrealism of “It All Began With a Burst”), Kishi Bashi celebrates his heritage with earnestness. Japanese phrases and couplets are sung as the response to Kishi Bashi’s resplendent calls, offering listeners a conversation that dovetails with the album’s themes of love, sentimentality, and self-discovery. Today, the “one time” and “one place” that­151a‑inhabited seems further than ever, almost broaching celestial realms of time and space. But, rest assured, with each listen, the world that Kishi Bashi built springs back to life. The world of‑151a‑never left—it was just waiting to be rediscovered.

VARIOUS - TERRITORIO DEL ECO:EXPERIMENTALISMOS...PER· ( HIGHLIGHTS
First compilation brings together the Peruvian experimental scene from 1975 to 1988, a period was the most prolific for a generation of Peruvian artists who, based on musical conceptions derived from modern jazz and techniques inherited from avant-garde music. Collect unpublished and loss pieces from artists such as Omar Aramayo, Manongo Mujica, Arturo Ruiz del Pozo, Miguel Flores (Ave Acústica), Douglas Tarnawiecki (Espíritus), Luis David Aguilar, Chocolate Algendones and Corina Bartra. Rescued from private archives and limited editions on cassette. DESCRIPTION First compilation brings together the Peruvian experimental scene from 1975 to 1988, a period was the most prolific for a generation of Peruvian artists who, based on musical conceptions derived from modern jazz and techniques inherited from avant-garde music, sought to integrate the sounds of Andean, Afro-Peruvian and Amazonian cultures in search of a new musical universe. Native instruments and folk melodies were used in compositions that demanded modern recording techniques and electronic sounds. This generation was articulated in Lima and was made up of musicians such as Omar Aramayo, Manongo Mujica, Arturo Ruiz del Pozo, Miguel Flores (Ave Acústica), Douglas Tarnawiecki (Espíritus), Luis David Aguilar, Chocolate Algendones and Corina Bartra. But more than a movement, it was a set of individuals from dissimilar origins, who came from rock, jazz, contemporary classical and popular music, but also from the visual arts and poetry, and who had in common the cultural climate of the late seventies and early eighties in a country marked by a series of social and economic transformations, as well as the emergence of new visions and insertions of Andean culture and folklore in the city. The appearance of a mythical substrate connected the work of these musicians and defined an aesthetic, based on the deconstruction of folklore and the exploration of the possibilities that indigenous instruments offered. From there, these musicians immersed themselves in abstract, but also symbolic and conceptual forms. In many cases, they were strongly influenced by jazz and were keen to explore the possibilities of the recording studio. Territorio del eco: experimentalismos y visiones de lo ancestral en el Perú (1975-1989) - The Land of Echo: Experimentalisms and Visions of the Ancestral in Peru (1975-1989) - is a compilation that offers an overview of what was one of the moments of greatest creative intensity for experimental music in Peru in its encounter with indigenous sounds. Collect unpublished and loss pieces, rescued from private archives and limited editions on cassette, these pieces are reissued for the first time in vinyl LP format. The album includes 8 pages booklet with extensive notes written by Luis Alvarado, author of the compilation, as well as much visual documentation. Cover art by Paloma Pizarro. Limited to 300 copies. Beneficiary project of the Economic Stimuli for Culture of the Ministry of Culture of Peru.

Double-LP on 45rpm 180gm black vinyl, housed in a gatefold jacket with printed inner sleeves. Alternate cover artwork & 20 page lyric book.

2020’s A Hero’s Death saw Fontaines D.C. land a #2 album in the UK, receive nominations at the GRAMMYs, BRITs and Ivor Novello Awards, and sell out London’s iconic Alexandra Palace.

Now the band return with their third record in as many years: Skinty Fia. Used colloquially as an expletive, the title roughly translates from the Irish language into English as “the damnation of the deer”; the spelling crassly anglicized, and its meaning diluted through generations. Part bittersweet romance, part darkly political triumph - the songs ultimately form a long-distance love letter, one that laments an increasingly privatized culture in danger of going the way of the extinct Irish giant deer.

“They were so solid. They meant what they said, they did what they did… here’s two guys, a guitar player and a harmonica player, and they could make it sound like a whole orchestra.” – Taj Mahal

“It was perfect. What else can you say?” – Ry Cooder

Nearly sixty years after they first played together, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal, longtime friends and collaborators, reunite with an album of music from two Piedmont blues masters who have inspired them all their lives: GET ON BOARD: THE SONGS OF SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE, on Nonesuch Records.

With Taj Mahal on vocals, harmonica, guitar, and piano and Cooder on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and banjo – joined by Joachim Cooder on drums and bass – the duo recorded eleven songs drawn from recordings and live performances by Terry and McGhee, who they both first heard as teenagers in California.

Explaining where Terry and McGhee took him musically, Cooder says, “Down the road, away from Santa Monica. Where everything was good. ‘I have got to get out of here,’ was all I could think. What do you do, fourteen, eighteen years old? I was trapped. But that first record, Get on Board, the 10” on Folkways, was so wonderful, I could understand the guitar playing.”

Taj Mahal adds, “I started hearing them when I was about nineteen, and I wanted to go to these coffee houses, ‘cause I heard that these old guys were playing. I knew that there was a river out there somewhere that I could get into, and once I got in it, I’d be all right. They brought the whole package for me.”

Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder originally joined forces in 1965, forming The Rising Sons when Cooder was just seventeen. The band was signed to Columbia Records but an album was not released and the group disbanded a year later. The 1960s recording sessions, widely bootlegged, were finally issued officially in 1992. GET ON BOARD is Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder’s first recording together since then.

Harmonica player Sonny Terry and guitarist Brownie McGhee, both originally from the southeastern United States, had active solo careers as well as collaborating with some of the most celebrated musicians of their time. But they were best known for their forty-five-year partnership, which began in 1939 and included mesmerising live performances around the world and numerous acclaimed recordings.

Their Piedmont blues style became popular during the folk music revival of the 1940s and ’50s, centered in New York City’s flourishing club scene for jazz, boogie-woogie, blues and folk music. Terry and McGhee traveled in the same circles as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, and Josh White, among others in a rich mix of writers, actors and musicians. As a new generation emerging in the 1960’s drew inspiration from folk and blues, Terry and McGhee toured the world as the foremost exponents of the acoustic music of the Piedmont. They were named National Heritage Fellows in 1982 in recognition of their distinctive musical contributions and accomplishments.

“You got the south on steroids, when you got the music of the south, the culture of the south, the beauty of the south, through Brownie and Sonny,” Taj Mahal says. He describes McGhee as a “solid rhythm player. To really play behind the harp like that. He would set stuff up. He wasn’t making many notes. Sonny had all the notes, running around. But Brownie, he laid it down.” Cooder adds: “This thing of squeezing the thumb and first finger and a little bit of the second finger, which I still do. I’d forgotten where it came from. That’s what Brownie did. I saw him do that and said, ‘I think I can do that.’”

Taj Mahal calls Terry “a wizard harmonica player”. Cooder says, “Sonny had incredible rhythm for one thing. Making sounds with his voice and the harmonica so you couldn’t tell quite which was which. He was good at that.”

“We’ve been doing this a while,” Cooder says. “Perhaps we’ve earned the right to bring it back. Taj Mahal concludes. “We’re now the guys that we aspired toward when we were starting out. Here we are now… old timers. What a great opportunity, to really come full circle.”

Chris Korda is an internationally renowned multimedia artist, whose work spans thirty years and includes electronic music, digital and video art, performance and conceptual art, and culture jamming. Chris pioneered the use of complex polymeter in electronic dance music, and invented a unique MIDI sequencer in order to explore polymeter composition techniques. Chris composes and performs music in a variety of genres, and has released many albums on labels such as Perlon, Mental Groove, and Gigolo Records. Chris also worked as a computer programmer for thirty-five years.

Her new album "Passion For Numbers" is one of the very few album in the world entirely composed in complex polymeter, meaning that each pieces of music uses several prime meters simultaneously. A unique way to compose music with a new generation of musical algorithmic, inside which Korda injects the DNA of neo classical, ambient and jazz music.

This refreshing album will please you whether you are into complex musical composition, experimental music or just seeking for a beautiful, emotional and accessible musical moment. This is a "In your hearts not the charts" album, as Irdial Discs once said.

Pleases read an extract of Chris Korda's letter about Passion For Numbers, included as insert in its entirety in this vinyl release:

This is an album of piano music, but I wrote it without a piano. Not having a piano turned out to be constructive, because I had to rely on my brain instead of my fingers, and particularly on my imagination and inner hearing. The album belongs to a category called phase music, and it’s also algorithmic, or more precisely rules-based generative music.

I don’t write music in the usual sense of the word “write.” I build kinetic sculptures, and the sculptures generate my music. My sculptures are virtual, meaning they’re invisible machines that exist only as data within my home-grown software.
My process is related to the work of a relatively obscure early 20th century artist named Thomas Wilfred. Like me, Wilfred was an engineer-artist, and built machines that generated art from phase shift.

My music is in complex polymeter, meaning it’s not just in odd time, but in multiple odd time signatures, and not one odd time signature after another sequentially, but all of them running concurrently. Most music isn’t constructed this way, which is why I needed to develop custom software in order to compose my music. My software is called The Polymeter MIDI Sequencer, and you can easily find it on the Internet. I also use music set theory, change-ringing and gray code, explanations of which can be found in Wikipedia.

Chris Korda

Nachdem sich Noorvik auf ihren ersten beiden Alben thematisch den kälteren Sphären gewidmet haben, geht es mit dem neuen Album "Hamartia" unter veränderter Besetzung in die feurige Welt der griechischen Mythologie. Die Geschichte des Königs Tantalos steht im Mittelpunkt einer musikalischen Reise, die auch in ihrem Umfang episch ist: Knapp 70 Minuten progressiver Instrumental-Musik, in der Tantalos die Konsequenzen seines überheblichen Handelns zu spüren bekommt und am Ende vom Glück ins Unglück - den Tartaros - stürzt. "Hamartia" zeigt metaphorisch, wie die Gier und Überheblichkeit des Menschen zu dessen Untergang führt. Narzissmen und Egoismen überstrahlen die unberührte Schönheit der Welt und die Unschuld ihrer Bewohner. Tantalos steht sinnbildlich für ein Menschenbild in Gesellschaften, was auf dem Vormarsch ist, jedoch irgendwann die unausweichliche Konsequenz seines Handelns erleben wird. Noorvik spiegeln auf "Hamartia" aber auch die Verzweiflung und Hoffnung einer Generation wider, etwas verändern und den Ist-Zustand nicht tolerieren zu wollen. Dabei wird klar, dass der uralte Mythos um Tantalos auch heute noch relevant ist. Noorvik präsentieren acht instrumentale Rock- und Metal-Songs, die Spannungen provozieren, aber auch Hoffnung verströmen.

2005 erschien die erste CD auf der Wolfgang Ambros
Lieder von Hans Moser interpretierte. Es war, das kann
man im Nachhinein sagen, ein gewagtes Experiment das
Ur-Wienerische von einer Generation in die nächste zu
heben. Doch allen Unkenrufen zum Trotz: Die CD stieg in den
offiziellen Verkaufscharts bis auf Platz 5 und die Live-DVD
debütierte gar auf der Eins. Und da im Archiv noch zahlreich
weitere Wienerlieder schlummerten, setzten sich Christian
Kolonovits und Wolfgang Ambros noch einmal zusammen,
spielten eine weitere CD ein und auch diese schaffte es 2008
in die österreichischen Top10: bis auf Rang 8. Weil schließlic
aller guten Dinge drei sind, gibt es nun mit „Der alte Sünder
eine weitere „Ambros singt Moser“, wieder mit dem
Ambassade Orchester Wien unter Leitung des Mastermindes
Christian Kolonovits!
„Der alte Sünder“ gibt es traditionell auf Vinyl und als
limitierte Sonderedition auf Gold-Vinyl!

2005 erschien die erste CD auf der Wolfgang Ambros
Lieder von Hans Moser interpretierte. Es war, das kann
man im Nachhinein sagen, ein gewagtes Experiment das
Ur-Wienerische von einer Generation in die nächste zu
heben. Doch allen Unkenrufen zum Trotz: Die CD stieg in den
offiziellen Verkaufscharts bis auf Platz 5 und die Live-DVD
debütierte gar auf der Eins. Und da im Archiv noch zahlreich
weitere Wienerlieder schlummerten, setzten sich Christian
Kolonovits und Wolfgang Ambros noch einmal zusammen,
spielten eine weitere CD ein und auch diese schaffte es 2008
in die österreichischen Top10: bis auf Rang 8. Weil schließlic
aller guten Dinge drei sind, gibt es nun mit „Der alte Sünder
eine weitere „Ambros singt Moser“, wieder mit dem
Ambassade Orchester Wien unter Leitung des Mastermindes
Christian Kolonovits!
„Der alte Sünder“ gibt es traditionell auf Vinyl und als
limitierte Sonderedition auf Gold-Vinyl!

2020 erschien mit "KiCk i" der Grammy nominierte Auftakt zur Serie; auch nominiert bei den Latin Grammy Awards als "Best Alternative Music Album". 2021 setzt Arca mit "KICK ii" bis "IIIII" nun die "KiCk"-Serie auf XL Recordings fort. Jetzt erscheinen diese auch physisch auf CD und Vinyl! Als Künstlerin war Arca schon immer eine Gestaltenwandlerin - äußerlich wie musikalisch. Sie produzierte Musik für Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Björk, Kanye West und FKA twigs, komponierte Musik für das MoMA, trat 2020 mit den Labèque Schwestern, zwei fantastischen Pianistinnen, bei der Burberry Fashion-Show auf, schrieb einen Soundtrack-Beitrag für die HBO-Serie "Euphoria", erschuf gewaltige Noise-Skulpturen oder gab sich auf Partys als exaltierte Diva. Arca wurde für einen GLAAD Media Award nominiert und ist die erste nicht-binäre Künstlerin, die schließlich für einen GRAMMY nominiert wurde. Sie hat ihr eigenes Album-Artwork entworfen und gemalt, für Bottega Venetta, Calvin Klein und Loewe gemodelt, Musikinstrumente der nächsten Generation mitentwickelt und auch mit KI experimentiert. Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, wie Arca eigentlich heißt, wurde erst vor kurzem von Publikationen wie dem Time Magazine, Guardian, DAZED, Billboard, Pitchfork, Stereogum und der Los Angeles Times zur einer der innovativsten Künstlerinnen des 21. Jahrhundert ernannt. Als nonbinäre Latinx-Transfrau will Doña Arca die Rolle des Popstars für kommende Generation neu definieren - mit "KICK ii bis IIIII" entführt sie uns in diese Zukunft und öffnet die Tür in eine neue und nonbinäre Soundwelt.

This is a very significant 30th Anniversary issue of an iconic album from 1991. The Future Sound Of London broke boundaries with "Papua New Guinea", included here, influencing a whole new era of techno, ambient and electronic music. For the first time this album has been divided into four sides to comprise a double LP for higher end audio sound. There are only 1500 copies and each is individually numbered. It comes in a gatefold sleeve and includes new artwork exclusive to this limited edition.

Both the original single and album were a fixture on the end of year charts of many publications including Melody Maker, NME and Mixmag, whilst also achieving Best Techno Single at the Mixmag Awards in 1992.

The Roaring Twenties is hopeful time for peace, a burgeoning economy, with progressive rights for all. A humble group of artists continues to create, share and evolve.

Roaring Twenties offers three mesmerizing rolling bass groove tracks by Deepak Sharma centered around being powerful and effective late-night weapons. Included is a potent, raw remix from Inigo Kennedy.

Side A begins with Roaring Twenties, its looping and hypnotic design will catch dancers immediately as they feel it through unyielding, timely percussive changes. Techno dignitary Inigo Kennedy offers an organic, stripped down and forceful remix that will push dancers through the night.

Side B begins with Lost Generation, its capacious feeling of clutching groove, polyrhythms and texture will instantly grip dancers. 19th Amendment is a juggernaut of strength and power. It's groove intensifies as sinister percussion flows.

Mit dieser Veröffentlichung wird "Revenge of the
Goldfish" zum ersten Mal seit seiner ursprünglichen
Veröffentlichung auf Vinyl wiederveröffentlicht und
erscheint auf orangefarbenem Vinyl in limitierter Auflage
von 140g. Ursprünglich am 5. Oktober 1992
veröffentlicht, war "Revenge of the Goldfish" das dritte
Studioalbum der Inspiral Carpets und erreichte Platz 17 in
den britischen Albumcharts, mit den Singles "Dragging Me
Down", "Bitches Brew", "Generations" und "Two Worlds
Collide". Die Inspirals, die als einer der Hauptbestandteile
der Madchester-Bewegung in den frühen 90er Jahren
gelten, veröffentlichten drei weitere Alben auf Cow
Records (via Mute Records), bevor sie sich 1995
auflösten.

VOY presents its 14th release with two groovy tracks.
Feel your generations!

Die letzten zwei Jahre seit seiner ersten Veröffentlichung
bei der Deutschen Grammophon waren turbulent für den
aus Berlin stammenden Klaviervirtuosen, Produzenten und
Sänger Dario Lessing : mit einem eklektischen Mix aus
wunderschönen Klavierstücken (DNA I), Kooperationen mit
anderen Produzenten (Robot Koch, Andrew Applepie, AK
und mehr) und alternativen Popprojekten (Better Days EP
mit Rezar uraufgeführt auf COMPLEX) wuchs seine
Online-Anhängerschaft von null auf fast eine Million
monatliche Hörer. Dario Lessing bereitet jetzt sein
Collab-gefülltes Album "Frequency" vor. Hier sind Gäste
bei jedem der elf Tracks zu hören. Kurzum - Lessing
steht für eine neue Generation von Selfmade-Künstlern
und Produzenten, die ohne musikalische oder
geographische Grenzen zusammenarbeiten. Seine
Fähigkeit, den Kern der Kreativität anderer Künstler zu
erfassen, führt zu einzigartig direkten und intuitiven
Aufnahmen mit einem spirituellen, oft mystischen
Charakter.
Neben Stimulus enthält Frequency die Stimmen von
James Chatburn (AUS), Graham Candy (NZ), Rezar
(AUT), SHAMS (GE) und Mario (GE). Jeder der 11 Songs
ist eine Geschichte von zwei Frequenzen, die
aufeinandertreffen, sich gegenseitig beeinflussen,
kollidieren und eine neue Welle erschaffen.

"This Is What It Feels Like’ is the latest 12-track project from ethereal singer/songwriter, Gracie Abrams.
Since making her debut with “Mean It” in October 2019, Gracie Abrams has emerged as one of the most compelling songwriters of her generation, earning the admiration of such likeminded artists as Lorde, Billie Eilish, and Olivia Rodrigo. A consummate songwriter who names Joni Mitchell as her most formative influence, she penned her first song at the age of eight, then went on to amass a devoted following on the strength of her emotionally intimate lyrics and DIY sensibilities. She is praised her “painfully honest tales of heartbreak draped in delicate melodies that carry much more intrigue than the usual run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter."

"Long hailed as the audiophile's label, Mercury Living Presence represents an important milestone in the history of classical recording. Since they were first released, Mercury Living Presence LP records have been collected and coveted and 70 years after the label’s first release — Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, with Rafael Kubelík conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Mercury continues to be admired for the quality of its artistry and recordings: all celebrated for their sheer vividness of sound. This audiophile series sources the original first-generation master tapes. New HD transfers were made at Abbey Road Studios. Master files, including new 3-to-2 mixes for stereo titles, were produced by Thomas Fine, son of the original producer and recording engineer for the majority of Mercury Living Presence titles.
Long considered a benchmark performance and recording, the Mercury Living Presence technique perfectly suits the rich, complex musical textures of Saint-Saens' masterwork. Recorded in Ford Auditorium, Detroit, October 12, 1957, with a Schoeps M201 microphone in the center and Neumann KM-56's on the left and right sides."

"Long hailed as the audiophile's label, Mercury Living Presence represents an important milestone in the history of classical recording. Since they were first released, Mercury Living Presence LP records have been collected and coveted and 70 years after the label’s first release — Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, with Rafael Kubelík conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Mercury continues to be admired for the quality of its artistry and recordings: all celebrated for their sheer vividness of sound. This audiophile series sources the original first-generation master tapes. New HD transfers were made at Abbey Road Studios. Master files, including new 3-to-2 mixes for stereo titles, were produced by Thomas Fine, son of the original producer and recording engineer for the majority of Mercury Living Presence titles.
An early favorite with audiophiles, this delightful and passionate album of Spanish and Latin American themed compositions will test the best modern-day playback systems. Recorded in the Eastman Theater, Rochester NY, March 25, 1957 with a Schoeps M201 microphone in the center and Neumann KM-56's on the left and right sides."

"Long hailed as the audiophile's label, Mercury Living Presence represents an important milestone in the history of classical recording. Since they were first released, Mercury Living Presence LP records have been collected and coveted and 70 years after the label’s first release — Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, with Rafael Kubelík conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Mercury continues to be admired for the quality of its artistry and recordings: all celebrated for their sheer vividness of sound. This audiophile series sources the original first-generation master tapes. New HD transfers were made at Abbey Road Studios. Master files, including new 3-to-2 mixes for stereo titles, were produced by Thomas Fine, son of the original producer and recording engineer for the majority of Mercury Living Presence titles.
Mid-century Modern music, rich in dynamics and orchestral textures. The Wayne Peterson piece was commissioned and received its performance and recording debut by Dorati's Minneapolis band. Bloch recorded April 17, 1960; Peterson recorded April 21, 1959. Both recordings were made in Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis MN, using three Schoeps M201 microphones."

"Long hailed as the audiophile's label, Mercury Living Presence represents an important milestone in the history of classical recording. Since they were first released, Mercury Living Presence LP records have been collected and coveted and 70 years after the label’s first release — Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, with Rafael Kubelík conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Mercury continues to be admired for the quality of its artistry and recordings: all celebrated for their sheer vividness of sound. This audiophile series sources the original first-generation master tapes. New HD transfers were made at Abbey Road Studios. Master files, including new 3-to-2 mixes for stereo titles, were produced by Thomas Fine, son of the original producer and recording engineer for the majority of Mercury Living Presence titles.
Originally released in 1964, this first LP of Starker's legendary Bach Suites recordings for Mercury met immediate acclaim and encouraged Starker and the recording team to wax the other four Suites. All six Suites were released together in a 1966 box set. Recorded April 15 and 17, 1963, in Fine Recording Ballroom Studio A, New York City, using three Schoeps M201 microphones.."

"Long hailed as the audiophile's label, Mercury Living Presence represents an important milestone in the history of classical recording. Since they were first released, Mercury Living Presence LP records have been collected and coveted and 70 years after the label’s first release — Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, with Rafael Kubelík conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Mercury continues to be admired for the quality of its artistry and recordings: all celebrated for their sheer vividness of sound. This audiophile series sources the original first-generation master tapes. New HD transfers were made at Abbey Road Studios. Master files, including new 3-to-2 mixes for stereo titles, were produced by Thomas Fine, son of the original producer and recording engineer for the majority of Mercury Living Presence titles.
Janis's virtuoso recording, originally released on CD in 1994, finally gets its vinyl due. Recorded in Fine Recording Ballroom Studio A, September 25-29, 1961 with three Schoeps M201 microphones."

Favorite Recordings presents Dark Is The Color, the first LP by Alan Shearer reissued on vinyl for the first time. Despite being initially composed and produced for the French library label PSI, this rare
and obscure in-demand gem from 1985 sounds retrospectively like a proper album with great coherence and sophistication all along. Indeed, these 11 tracks will delight synthesizers addicts. Expect deeply emotive instrumental compositions, with ingenious analogue sequencing on stimulating chord progressions. The result is a highly retrofuturistic album, sometimes almost anticipating 90's videogames
scores. Just imagine Wally Badarou in a bunker with Talking Heads watching New York 1997 from John Carpenter.
Composed mostly step by step on a Sequential Pro-One synthesizer, Dark Is The Color is the product of the exciting state of mind from the 80's era with new sounds, new tools and new trends on the music spectrum. Influenced by bands like Talking Head or Japan, the sirens of the new wave scene strongly resonate here with Alan Shearer's familiarity and craftmanship with synthesizers.
Back in the days, Alan Shearer aka Frédéric Viger was working for his father’s music label, “Musique Pour L'image”, and their sublabel “PSI”. He started with Marathon Life under his real name before taking the Alan Shearer monitor. These records were produced for radio, TV and cinema industries but as well for companies’ internal communication. They represented a real investment from the label and these catalogues are usually full of amazing music from great artists such as Martial Solal, Vladimir Cosma, Joël Fajerman, Harlem Pop Trotters and even Manu Dibango.
About his musical illustration process, Alan Shearer tells: "Soundtracks are indeed my biggest influences and I'm a real fan of American composers as Jerry Goldsmith or Elmer Bernstein. I've always considered soundtracks as the new classical music or classical music of our century. There is a real state of mind producing music for illustration: you have to stick to the video. You should not tell what the image is saying but accompany what it is saying. You have to find a unique link, people always told me music should not be noticed for itself in a movie, that's what makes it good.”

We are combining 2 artists whose standout EP's were the turbo highlight we needed in 2021.

Nova Cheq & Samurai Breaks representing the best of Hooversound has to offer, for the first time released on vinyl for RSD 22.

Nova Cheq’s music is pure party fuel, Ghetto house styled jungle-juke pounders on Sherelle & Naina’s Hooversound Recordings. Samurai Breaks is one of the UK Bass scene’s best-kept secrets.

A rich palette of influence shines through past productions, making nods to pioneering generations on the way to futuristic gunfinger euphoria—and this latest release makes no exception in delivering the goods to the Hooversound imprint.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the iconic HELP album a new generation of artists came together to create, at the time, the fastest recorded album ever. They recorded Help! A Day In The Life on Thursday 8th September 2005 which the record available for download just 32 hours later.Help! A Day In The Life is part of a series of four re-releases by War Child Records making the amazing music artists have donated to the charity available on DSPs and vinyl for the first time. All proceeds from these releases will directly fund War Child’s life saving work with children affected by conflict.

"War Child Presents Heroes is the ultimate covers album - an unprecedented coming together of music’s greatest ever legends and with their favourite artists of the time to support children whose lives have been torn apart by war. The album concept sees the biggest heroes in music history select a personal favourite track from their own back catalogue and nominate an act from the next generation to create a modern reworking of that classic song
War Child Presents Heroes is part of a series of four re-releases by War Child Records making the amazing music artists have donated to the charity available on DSPs and vinyl for the first time. All proceeds from these releases will directly fund War Child’s life saving work with children affected by conflict."