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Featuring the UK No.1 singles “Goodbye” and “Holler” / “Let Love Lead The Way”, this special reissue is housed in a gatefold sleeve and includes four collectible art prints – one for each girl, exclusive to this 2025 pressing.

The word "amateur" originates from the Latin word "amator," meaning "lover" or "admirer". This Latin term is derived from "amare," which means "to love". The French adopted "amateur" from Latin, and the English then borrowed it from French, initially retaining the sense of someone who loves or is devoted to something. Over time, the English usage of "amateur" also developed a meaning related to a lack of professional skill or experience. How did a word derived from love become a slur? Is love really so defenseless? They say love conquers all, but in reality isn’t love quite ridiculous? It has no intention, no motive, no agenda. How could it possibly prevail? It can’t be bought or sold, or so they say.Its mere existence can't be proven or even measured. What an impossible thing. Trying and failing, time and time again, no wonder cynicism always seems to win. I see “amateurism” as a delighted, even foolish, protest. Protest against everything. Of what’s expected of someone, or expected of someone to desire or strive for. To be elite, to be expert, to be professional, to be a master, to excel and succeed. Where’s the joy in that? I just want to have fun. I want to want. I want to love. And keep doing it, forever. I want to have fun, even when it’s tiring and sometimes even heaven is boring as hell. I want to be bad. I want to do my own thing. “I vant to be alone”. I want to be someone so dedicated to their passion that it starts to seem like there’s something wrong with them. All the way. We can take it all the way, and never get it back. ” - Molly Nilsson Amateur is the 12th studio album by Molly Nilsson. Deep in the teeth of a career that threatens to tip into something resembling a “legacy,” Molly Nilsson celebrates with an album recorded instinctively, quickly and bursting with so many moments of emotional brilliance and clarity it may be her greatest yet. Hers has been a career spent reaching out, perennially powerful in her earnestness, a warrior ridiculously defenceless and armed with a glittering sincerity. Shearing herself of the machinations of the music industry, recording at home, writing direct to the heart. Amateur is a jubilee for losers. A treatise in 13 songs, Amateur states clearly that we should live our life with eternal curiosity, offers us an open hand of comradeship out of the rat race. The songs on the album are both some of the most personal of Nilsson’s career and the most anthemic. First single How Much Is The World asks us to re-evaluate value in the face of a Neo-liberal system squeezing the life out of our loves. Pulsing opener Die Cry Lie satirises the commercialisation of emotion in the form of a shout-along diss-track. With a pounding rhythm track held down by gorgeous chord changes, heartbreaker Valhalla carries the torch for the main themes of the album: never growing up, making mistakes with kindness, moving on. When the drums crash in on the line “It’s going to get better now, you’ll see, going to be much better off without me” there is a world of feeling swirling about in the vocal delivery. One reading of the track might be that it’s a break up song but the subtext is classic Molly Nilsson: by living truthfully, making mistakes, we’re active agents against the myriad oppressions of the world. All The Way takes the theme for a run into the eternal sunset. It’s a manifesto for living fully. “Take it all the way, and never get it back” - it’s the process that’s the important point. The journey not the destination. Big Life, follows on like a part 2: An ode not only to Molly Nilsson’s career of endless gigs, endless connections with people, it’s a massive ode for following your dreams, doing it yourself. Closer The Bitter End is a powerful anthem for friendship, another definition of love infused in Nilsson’s work, A beautifully poignant ode to comradeship til the end, it seems to be the songwriter approaching aging, approaching life’s inevitability with the same vigour and earnestness, the same love of life she enjoyed at the onset of her career. There are moments on Amateur shrouded in reverb, slightly out of focus, forcing the listener to step deeper into the Mollyverse.. Nilsson’s open-armed beseeching to the world permeates every beat, every chord. These are songs exploding with life: the chunky, aggressive bassline on the punker Get A Life can’t hide its massive, catchy chorus. The sweeping Swedish Nightmare might be a tongue-in-cheek self-reference, but at its heart it’s a song about the duality of living life large, what is a dream, what is a nightmare? Molly Nilsson says you can’t have one without the other, and why would you want to? Here’s to making mistakes.

Thank You For Almost Everything is the sophomore album for Headache, a collaboration between writer and poet Francis Hornsby Clark and music-producer Joseph Thornalley aka Vegyn. This new album follows on the surprise underground success of their debut: The Head Hurts But The Heart Knows The Truth (released 31 May 2023) releasing on Vegyn's own PLZ Make It Ruins label. The debut record has streamed over 19.4 million times on Spotify alone and sold over 8,000 physical copies worldwide. The debut gained its popularity entirely organically with zero marketing or PR spend. Since its release, Headache has built a dedicated global fanbase, with several fans even going so far as to get lyrics or the project's logo tattooed on themselves. Thank You For Almost Everything continues the original's distinct style of Trip-Hop / Downtempo Electronica but combining with its own unique (and now imitated) AI-voiced spoken word. For this new album, Headache steps away from the hum-drum of Blighty and instead focuses his gaze to sunnier shores. Recalling personal histories of ruffled hair and school cafeterias, ancient unsolved Albionic riddles, Rome's changing seasons and its poignant graffiti, arguments with girlfriends at luxury hotel beachfront restaurants, and what it truly feels like to be alive in this inscrutable but beautiful world. The project features a further collaboration with artist Cali Thornhill DeWitt who returns to design the packaging and cover for this new album. This double 12" vinyl release, like the first, includes the instrumental versions exclusive to the vinyl version. The album, mixed and mastered by Margo Broom at RAK Studios, will use a similar surprise drop strategy as with the first album. "Follow up to the 2023 debut that gained its popularity entirely organically with zero marketing or PR spend. "Total Streams Since Release (31 May 2023): 19,413,173 (Spotify alone) "Previous vinyl album sold over 8,000 physical copies worldwide. "2nd Disc contains instrumental versions exclusive to vinyl format

Tesfa Williams' La Clique EP is a masterclass in house music's evolution - a sprawling, intricate journey that seamlessly connects the genre's past, present, and future.
Drawing from a well of deep musical knowledge, the Londoner continues to push things forward, offering a stunning five-track release that moves effortlessly through Deep, Afro, Bassline, UK Funky, and everything in between. He's also brought a few friends along for the ride: Zansika, Obi, and Tendai, each adding their own unique touches to this sonic exploration.

Opening track 'Beat & Break' is a perfect introduction to what the La Clique EP has in store, Tesfa leans heavily on a classic house sound and keeps the momentum with 'Don't Stop' featuring Obi Franky. 'Brain' is a rich and bass heavy swinger while 'Gonna Get Through' featuring Zansika hits all the right notes for an anthem in the making. Last but not least there is 'Shake It Up' featuring Tendai, a pairing that is a good as it gets when Tesfa's signature Uk house goes full into swing.

Each track stands as a distinct creation, unique in its flavour and style, but all delivering the same high level of quality we've come to expect from Tesfa Williams.

For the third time, they had been sent to this forsaken land. It was neither east nor west, neither north nor south. They said it had once been a kingdom, somewhere in the heart of the old continent, something they had pieced together from the ruins scattered across jagged hills sprouting here and there from the ground. Everyone else went islands, dived to the seabed, drilled at the poles, and explored waste in the east, but these two were sent here again, as if someone were trying to get rid of them, just to keep them out of the way.

What were they really supposed to find here? They wandered the land, aimless and bored, like the last bird watching from the sky. Sometimes they landed, took samples for the lab, and then caught a nap by the river bend. They avoided the hot fumes of active volcanoes. Compared to those on other planets, these were more like small, whispered fumaroles, but even so, they had to be careful.

They felt as if they had stepped into a scene from a movie they had once glimpsed. A mad and exhausted conqueror screamed and wildly flailed his arms on a ridiculous wooden raft in the middle of a raging river. It was somewhere in the south of this planet, deep in the jungle. There were many movies made on this planet, but only fragments of the reels survived, and this one quickly became iconic.

When a trumpet sounded in the distance and flooded the land with a booming murmur, when all the fumaroles hissed together, and when wind rolled in, covering the land in heavy fog, both of them knew the third expedition would not be like the previous ones.

At that moment, Kult Masek and Petr Vrba were flying over the land that was once called České středohoří.

Firing remix package of cuts from two legendary album's from Brazil's Orquestra Afro-Brasileira. Feat

Two albums - Obaluayê (1957) and Orquestra Afro-Brasileira (1968) - were enough for Orquestra Afro-Brasileira to mark its history in music forever. Born in 1942 in Rio de Janeiro by its founder Abigail Moura, it remained active until 1970 and, in 2021, was revived by the only living member of the original line-up at the time, Carlos Negreiros, when the third and final album in the orchestra's career, entitled 80 years, was released by Amor in Sound/Night Dreamer. Today (31) the album gets its remix version with tracks signed by names of the caliber of Marcelo D2, Criolo, Pupillo, Emicida, Rael, Cut Chemist, Mexican Institute of Sound, among others.

Aiming to keep the legacy of the Orquestra Afro-Brasileira alive, the album 80 Anos (Remixes) reaffirms the group's relevance as a creative source for different generations of musicians and listeners, based on new interpretations produced by artists who are also fans of the orchestra. According to Mario Caldato Jr., the album's musical director, "it was a great joy when I got to know the work of the Afro-Brazilian Orchestra and, soon after, had the honor of meeting and working with Carlos Negreiros. Producing 80 Anos alongside him was a gift and being able to look back on it, having the remix album to celebrate this legacy, is really wonderful."

For Amor in Sound - Mario and Samantha Caldato's record label - this release faithfully represents their values: Respect for memory, diversity, friendship and the possibility of creating new worlds. Made in a totally collaborative way, the album is born as a historical record, interpreted by great names in current music and, above all, great friends. “Being able to do this is indescribable, the value of relationships makes up and continues the legacy of the Orquestra Afro Brasileira,” says Samantha.

The project brings together Brazilians Criolo, Emicida, Rael, Marcelo D2, Lucio Maia, Pupillo, Rogê, Tropkillaz, Kassin, Pedro Dom, Zilladxg, Nuts, Daniel Ganjaman, Imperatore and Nave, as well as international DJs and producers such as Mix Master Mike, Cut Chemist, Gaslamp Killer, J Rocc, TASO, Mexican Institute of Sound and Mophono.

Spring Revisited pays us a respectful revisit this autumn as a full double LP on Acid Jazz, Ace Records and Cosmos, pinching the celebrated 12" singles into one power-punchy grab bag. Spring, founded in late 60s New York by Bill Spitalsky with Roy and Julie Rifkind, became a 70s soul powerhouse, home to such dance music pioneers Millie Jackson, Joe Simon and The Fatback Band. Their collegiate creations were of course ripe for modern reinterpretation - a fated intention - and as recently as 2025 saw DJs and producers pull them apart and reappraise them for modern floors: Dimitri From Paris turned Jackson's 'We Got To Hit It Off' into a stout summer anthem, Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell reimagined Fatback's 'Snake', and Kenny Dope, Dave Lee, DJ Spinna, Opolopo, Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy and others added their own ensouled spins.

The Dead 60s seminal self-titled album gets a timely Deluxe edition reissue on Vinyl for its 20th Anniversary, on Deltasonic Records



“Back in the day, punk and dub weren’t just sharing space—they were smashing into each other headfirst. Late '70s Britain was a pressure cooker, and for kids like me, growing up between Brixton’s bass bins and the chaos of King’s Road, that collision was everything. Jamaican sound system culture met punk’s raw spirit in a haze of smoke, sweat, and feedback. It wasn’t about genre—it was about energy. Identity. Defiance. so when The Dead 60s came along, post-Britpop and post-bullshit, it felt like someone had dusted off the blueprint and run it through a battered old tape echo. These weren’t just lads with good taste—they understood the assignment. They took the DNA of two rebel cultures and mutated it into something that could stand tall in the 21st century. Dub-soaked, punk-fuelled, dripping with that Liverpool attitude. I remember first hearing them and thinking—yeah, here we go again. Not in a retro way, but in a real way. Guitars that cut like sirens in the night. Basslines fat and warm, straight out the Channel One playbook. Lyrics that painted the grey corners of Britain like CCTV poetry. It was the sound of youth under pressure. The sound of not fitting in—and not wanting to.

Their debut album dropped in 2005, and it hit like a flare in the dark. “Riot Radio” was a pirate broadcast from the concrete frontlines. “Control This” swaggered with menace and reverb. It was like someone opened a time capsule from the punky-reggae party and rewired it for a new generation.

Now, with this 20th anniversary vinyl reissue—complete with the full dub companion produced by Central Nervous System—we get to hear the bones and blood of it all. The dub versions pull the tracks apart and let the ghosts speak. Reverb, delay, space—it’s not just production, it’s meditation. Revolution slowed down to a heartbeat. It’s music that makes you move and think. What they’ve done here is more than remix a record—they’ve revealed its soul. That’s what dub does when it’s done right. And The Dead 60s, they got that. They weren’t tourists in the culture—they were students of it, shaped by it, and ultimately, contributors to the legacy. Liverpool’s long had a love affair with Jamaican music—you can hear it in the streets if you’re really listening. The Dead 60s tapped into that lineage, but they brought their own thing to the table. Punk's fire. Dub’s depth. Ska’s bounce. All filtered through a Northern lens and blasted out like protest graffiti. This 20th anniversary reissue ain’t about nostalgia. It’s a reminder. A celebration. A call to arms. Music like this doesn’t belong in a museum—it belongs on a system, shaking walls and waking minds. Crate diggers, completists, young punks, old heads—this one's for all of you.

So put it on and turn it up. Let the punk edge sharpen your thoughts, and the dub shake your bones ‘cos this isn’t just a reissue - it’s resistance on wax.....”

LTD edition Halloween vinyl re-issue

We’ve got a special AA-side vinyl release for all Toolroom and Cutting Recs fans with the original UK Edit of the seminal ‘This Brutal House’ from Nitro Deluxe followed, by the 2023 rework from Toolroom’s founder Mark Knight! A release you do not want to miss!

Sat in-between Electro and House genres, Nitro Deluxe’s pivotal record ‘Let’s Get Brutal’ on legendary imprint Cutting Records helped paved the way for the early beginnings of House music as we know it today. A record that has influenced so many of House music’s iconic artists, from being sampled by Kevin Saunderson (aka Good Life) in their huge hit ‘Big Fun’ and most recently, Mark Knight.

An unmistakable record and one that struck a chord in the early career days of label boss Mark Knight, who simultaneously sought to beef up his current sets in 2023 with the magic of those early House records, when the opportunity arose to update this classic Mark straight in. Keeping this new version sentimental to the original, with all those original synth elements included but laid over the top of an up-to-date Tech House groove with a renewed energy, so that today’s floors will appreciate that seminal riff, all over again.

Die in Chicago geborene Musikerin keiyaA ist bekannt für ihren eigenen Sound-Mix zwischen R&B, Jazz, Elektronik und Soul. Schon ihr Debüt "Forever, Ya Girl" (2020) wurde international gefeiert, von Pitchfork als "Best New Music" ausgezeichnet und in Bestenlisten von The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR und The Guardian geführt. Künstler:innen wie Solange, Jay-Z oder Moses Sumney lobten ihre Arbeit. Ihr neues Album "hooke"s law" entstand über fünf Jahre hinweg - in einer Zeit, in der keiyaA zwischen künstlerischem Aufbruch und persönlicher Krise oszillierte. Es ist ein Werk radikaler Selbstbefragung, das Intimität, politische Wut und künstlerische Experimentierfreude verbindet. Klanglich finden sich schillernde Synths mit Videospiel-Anklängen, kaleidoskopische Jazz-Arrangements und fragile R&B-Momente. Emotional pendelt das Album zwischen Zartheit und Widerstand, zwischen der Suche nach innerem Frieden und der Konfrontation mit einer Welt, die queere Schwarze Frauen unsichtbar macht und zugleich überwacht. Songs wie "stupid prizes" oder "get close 2 me" erzählen vom Spannungsfeld zwischen Überleben und Selbstbehauptung, während "think about it what u think" unvermittelt von Sinnlichkeit in politische Anklage kippt. Wie auch in ihrem experimentellen Theaterstück milk thot entwirft keiyaA auf "hooke"s law" Räume, in denen Identität nicht fixiert, sondern ständig neu zusammengesetzt wird. James Baldwin schrieb, die Aufgabe von Künstler:innen sei es, die verborgenen Wahrheiten einer Gesellschaft ans Licht zu bringen. Genau das gelingt keiyaA hier: Sie verwandelt Schmerz in Klang und schenkt uns das Mutigste, was Kunst geben kann - die Freiheit, Widersprüche auszuhalten.

‘Icon’ is an overused word when it comes to describing singers and musicians, but when it comes to Nina Simone there are few artists that the word describes more accurately. The ‘High Priestess Of Soul’ is surely one of the most iconic singers of the 20th century, and one whose fame and acclaim stretches far beyond conventional black American music circles. 

Nina Simone has featured on Ace and Kent CDs before but this is the first time she’s had one all to herself. “Let It All Out” is the first and only Nina Simone collection to draw repertoire from every label she recorded for between the late 1950s to the late 1970s. 

Not a traditional ‘Best Of’ or ‘Greatest Hits’ package (although the performances included here ARE among her very best, and do include most of her Greatest Hits!) it is a singles collection that presents Nina Simone’s soul and R&B-slanted 45s in chronological order. Invariably they are the definitive versions of the songs, whether she recorded the original versions or not. 

As well as almost all of her American pop and R&B chart hits from 1960 onwards, “Let It All Out” also contains all of Simone’s UK chart hits from the same period – several of which were more successful here than they were back home, including both versions of her biggest British hit ‘Ain’t Got No; I Got Life’, a UK #2 that did not chart at all in the US as was the case with the belated UK Top 5 hit ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ which also made no chart impression on its home turf…

Carefully curated and concisely annotated, “Let It All Out” lets the listener in to two dozen of Nina Simone’s most celebrated singles. There have been many compilations of her works since she passed away 20+ years ago, but none that gets to the heart – and soul – of her catalogue in quite so direct a manner as this one does. 

f *Goodbye, Asshole* was the wild night—tequila-sharp riffs, sticky floors, and last-call chaos howled into the void of a disappearing city—then *Boone* is the merciless morning after. The sun cracks the blinds. The brain throbs. Every bad decision gleams in the hard light, raw and undeniable.

Fuckwolf’s second album pares their scuzz-wave blitz down to exposed nerves: Eric Park’s basslines stalk like a hangover pulse, Simon Phillips’ drums land like a palm slapping the alarm into silence, and Tomo Yasuda’s guitar wirings spit like diner coffee left to burn on the hotplate. The fog has lifted; the damage is inventoried. These ten tracks are crime scene Polaroids, tales of longing and woe, fresh mystery bruises and eulogies.

There’s no wallowing here, just the tight, terrible beauty of a band that’s stared down the void and come back swinging.

The party’s dead. Long live the reckoning.

Fuckwolf have been around the SF scene for a while, and it took Ethan Miller (Silver Current / Comets On Fire / etc) ages to get them to record the debut album, they then toured Japan and released a limited split mini with Green Milk From The Planet Orange. They reconvened late 2024 and recorded Boone..

This new album "Boone", polishes and extrapolates the fizzing psychedelia of their first album, and turns Fuckwolf into the heirs to the crown of mass-consumptive Sike-rock. This album is in the same vein as Mercury Rev's "Yerself Is Steam", Butthole Surfers' "Rembrandt Pussyhorse" and Flaming Lips "Telepathic Surgery", there's sheer pop in amongst the mind's eye rattling dollops of psychedelic wallop... the Koolaid was drunk and the songs were made.. plug it in, turn on...drop out.

Master by the one and only Mikey Young!!

A Bridge Boots / Bacalao split 7”. Caserta’s infectious viral house tune “Hit The Horns” gets the vinyl treatment with a completely flipped 90’s breakbeat / Latin Funk dub version from Bosq on the flip. Breakers, MAW fans and house heads can unite in love for this one.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, South Shields, England's politically motivated punk band, The Angelic Upstarts, saw considerable chart success. Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69 produced their debut album, Teenage Warning (1979), which peaked at No. 29 on the UK Albums Chart and featured singles like "I'm An Upstart" (No. 31) and Teenage Warning (No. 29).
Their third album, 2,000,000 Voices (1981), reached No. 32, while their second, We Gotta Get Out of This Place (1980), peaked at No. 54. Angelic Upstarts Live (1981), a live album, did well as well, peaking at number 27.
Two of the Angelic Upstarts' singles made it into the Top 40, and seven of their singles made it into the UK Top 75. Their early work was marked by sociopolitical critique and unadulterated intensity.
‘Live at The Basins Nightclub’ recorded in 1987 represents a unique summary of that undertaking as well as capturing a rare snapshot of the Upstarts during one of the less well-documented periods of their history. Incl. Sleeve notes from Dick Porter.

To some extent, this album arriving at INDEX:Records has been over 3 years in the making: we were first introduced to Beau’s work at GLOB in Denver (during our USA tour in 2023), at an event hosted by a dear friend, filled with lovely peeps. We were totally blown away by Beau’s performance and knew within a few minutes of their set starting that we wanted to release an album with them someday. Now, here it is: Subterra. Featuring tasty collaborations with iii, Uza A'amo and Yau Hei ASJ.

After returning from Australia, Brian Baker has wasted no time in making an impact on the NZ scene with much heralded and reviewed singles and film clips, and in particular his solo show which has seen him perform at gigs and Festivals across the country. Now he"s joined two local Whanganui Musicians, Stu Duncan and pro drummer Brad MacMillan, both seasoned performers. The act is called BB and The Bullets and has a focus on the blues, doing tracks by Albert King, BB King, Muddy Waters plus some Stevie Ray Vaughan and other blues classics. They also feature some of Brian"s excellent releases and have a few of their own recorded. These tracks make up their debut LP which will soon be released on vinyl, CD and digital through Nixon Street Recordings, Whanganui"s own international record label. Yes, the guitaring that made Brian"s solo show stand out is heavily on display here, now backed by a tight, live rhythm section. Their shows have been very well received wherever they have performed, getting standing ovations at the recent Bay Of Islands Jazz and Blues Festival where they played six standout shows over three days ! They are drawing crowds wherever they appear, have been invited back to the Capital Blues Inc in Wellington after a knock em dead show there, and were a solid crowd pleaser at Snells Beach this summer for Auckland city council"s Music In Parks series. They are delighting audiences with rock solid, emotive performances of classic blues tracks underlined by undoubtedly one of the finest guitarists New Zealand has produced !

"It's a Beautiful Day" brings together 12 outstanding songs recorded between 1971 and 1976, reminiscent of sunshine pop, psych folk and soft rock with Peruvian touches, taken from extremely hard to find records, some of them reissued here on vinyl for the first time. A mindblowing look at a really stunning musical moment in Peru. Unusual instruments and exceptional vocal play also feature in the ten original songs and two cover versions, all performed by Lima-based groups. MAG has been, since its foundation in 1953, an essential label in the music scene of Peru, allowing the development of the careers of both tropical artists and musicians of other genres. At the head was Don Manuel Antonio Guerrero, its founder, whose name comes from the acronym of the label itself (M.A.G.). In 2021 MAG was acquired by the Spanish company Distrolux SL, owner of the Munster and Vampisoul record labels, after years of previous collaborations in which some of the most emblematic titles in the catalog were already reissued for the international market: Nils Jazz Ensemble, Sonora Casino, Traffic Sound, Al Valdez, Pax... Following our recent release "14 MAGníficos Bailables", comprising some of the best tropical music on MAG, this new compilation brings together 12 songs recorded between 1971 and 1976, reminiscent of sunshine pop, folk psych and soft rock but with Peruvian touches. The lyrics range from youthful reflections, environmental awareness, paradigm changes to all shades of love that the youth of the day experienced. Unusual instruments and exceptional vocal play also feature in the ten original songs and two cover versions, all performed by Lima-based groups.

The most inspiring bands are the ones that can create a world around themselves that is about far more than just the music. The artwork, lyrics, sounds and ethos all merge together perfectly to create its own universe, a secret club. The Lovely Eggs are one such band. And against all the odds, 2025 sees them celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band! Stubbornly and heroically independent, The Lovely Eggs have forged their own path and have achieved mainstream success without ever compromising their DIY ethics. Released on their own label Egg Records, with eye watering artwork by Casey Raymond and hand packed in a black plastic bin bag on neon toxic slime green vinyl, this is yet another collectible release from a band who care as much about the art and ideas in their records as they do about the sound. "We had all these spare songs after we released our last album Eggsistentialism and we didn't really know what to do with them," explained Holly. "They just didn't seem to fit in with the vibe of Eggsistentialism but we'd recorded them and wanted to get them out there." "They're kind of a sketchbook of songs," added David. "They're not polished or laboured over but we thought it would be interesting to release them. It's why we called the record Bin Juice. These were songs we had thrown away. But hopefully people like going through bins collecting trash."

"The Bad Seeds and Zakary Thaks were mid ‘60s Texas garage rock bands formed in the wake of the British Invasion, influenced by The Rolling Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds and others, becoming top local live attractions at a time when the 13th Floor Elevators and Moving Sidewalks were leading the way into psychedelia. In late 1966 Rod Prince on guitar and Roy Cox on bass from Bad Seeds joined up with David Fore from Zakary Thaks on drums to create a new band out of San Antonio featuring two lead guitarists. Todd Potter filled out the quartet on second guitar and they chose the name Bubble Puppy, taken from Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World. Huxley was an early advocate of LSD, appropriately. In 1969 Bubble Puppy scored a top 20 hit single with “Hot Smoke & Sasafrass” which led to their LP “A Gathering Of Promises”. International Artists, the legendary Texas label that previously had unleashed mind expanding classics by the Elevators, Red Crayola, Golden Dawn and others was a perfect fit. After the LP and additional 45s didn’t repeat the success of “Hot Smoke & Sasafrass” the band hooked up with Nick St. Nicholas of Steppenwolf as their new manager and moved to Los Angeles. A new band name was in order, Nick St. Nicholas chose Demian, title of the 1919 novel by Herman Hesse. His books were popular with the counterculture at the time and had provided Steppenwolf with their new name after they changed it from the Sparrow and hit it big. Demian recorded the LP live in the studio at the Record Plant in one midnight to six session. They had their arrangements fully realized, allowing them to combine live show energy and economy with to-the-point delivery suitable for repeated listening. No doubt they were aiming for pop hit success, using proto hard rock skills in a radio friendly way without compromising the heavy guitar moves. The vocals have echoes of the earlier Bubble Puppy style in spots but are more melodic with vibrant harmonies reminiscent of Moby Grape, Buffalo Springfield, James Gang… at times flashing on Steve Stills/Richie Furay westcoast without being too sweet about it. It works terrifically when the radio friendly voices top off killer hard guitar ensemble action. Early hard rock that is too bluesy flashy can get tiresome with repeat listening, especially if overdosing on guitar solos with the band relegated to the background… Demian keep it interesting with inventive song structures allowing all four players to integrate constantly into an ever changing but focused whole. This LP is a grower, despite the basic two guitars, bass and drums lineup and no frills production you reach a lot of different places during the ride. Demian is deadly hard rock, a perfectly organized vibe straddling live energy and crafted itinerary, amongst the first obscure major label killers that commanded premium $$ with collectors even way back in the late ‘70s. It gets you there every time, even half a century later!"

Detroit-born artist, Jalen Elk Star unveils his debut LP, ESIN on L.I.E.S. Known in certain circles as filmmaker, music producer, playwright, and collagist, Jalen often draws from controversial themes to craft modern avant-garde works redefining the way art is seen in today’s chaotic universe. After years working on diverse projects under various aliases, his shift to a more liberated creative process under this new moniker has allowed his vision to reach a broader audience, continuing the path with the music on this new lp.

ESIN, a 13-track sonic collage, builds on his past, blending raps, noise, ambience, samplers, drum machines and synths into a raw, vibrant narrative. This work traces Jalen’s journey between his cities, Detroit and Chicago, offering a profound glimpse into his dynamic, limitless world of sound and vision. Something along the lines of the dusty crunched out vapors of the 2010s getting in a car crash with the abstractions of Rammellzee. A headtrip for the headphones.