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You heard them first on Brown Acid “The Thirteenth Trip”. We are very excited to present to you the full unreleased recordings from this amazing band from Detroit. Master Danse was formed in late 1973 in Detroit, Michigan when drummer Tom Riss and bassist Cary Fletcher, formerly of the Detroit band Licking Stick, went looking for a new guitarist/lead vocalist and jammed with John Giaier, who had most recently played in the band Crawdad. The three musicians hit it off immediately, and a new power hard rock trio was born. In 1973, Detroit was clearly “Rock City”, featuring such local icons as Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad, Ted Nugent, and Mitch Ryder, and the high energy punch of Master Danse reflected this proud heritage. Unfortunately, this union would only last one year, and by the end of 1974 the power rock trio known as Master Danse had disbanded. What was left for posterity were only two live reel to reel recordings and one promo 45 single. Some forty-seven years later, the 45 found its way onto the internet and a small cult following of audiophiles was born, people who appreciate the raw power and high energy of early ‘70s rock. Bands like Master Danse and others from this era were riding the wave of transition from the pop rock sound of the ‘60s to an edgier sound that would eventually lead to metal and punk music. With the help of modern-day tape restoration techniques, the two live recordings were restored, and together with the 45, the best versions of the eight songs that have survived the decades are featured on this album. Although recorded live forty-eight years ago on a two-track stereo tape recorder, you can still feel the power of Giaier’s Marshall stack, Fletcher’s twin Acoustic 360 amps, and the relentless attack of Riss’ Ludwig drums. So, sit back and enjoy. Rock on!

Repress!

Classic set of Lloyd Coxsone produced tracks by Fred Locks & The Creation Stepper. Heavy late 70s roots hammered by the likes of Coxsone and Shaka in their heyday.

Im Zentrum von Grandbrothers Musik stand schon immer die Verbindung von Altem und Neuem. Auf ihrem vierten Album "Late Reflections", welches am 14. April auf City Slang erscheint, stellen sie nun ihr Schaffen in Verbindung zu einer Institution, die ihrer eigenen Musik sieben Jahrhunderte vorausgeht: der Kölner Dom.

Das ikonische Monument gotischer Architektur, UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe und Deutschlands meistbesuchte Sehenswürdigkeit, diente als Aufnahmestudio für das neue Album des deutsch-schweizerischen Duos. Das Ergebnis ist ein Album mit einem präzisen Sinn für Geschichte und Architektur, ein Album, das die räumlichen Eigenschaften dieses prachtvollen Baus zum Teil seiner hypnotischen Komposition selbst werden lässt und in Klang überführt. Für ein Konzeptalbum ist "Late Reflections" eindringlich und immersiv, und es stellt ebenso viele Fragen, wie es Antworten gibt: Was bedeutet es für Musik, mit Architektur und Raum zu interagieren? Wie klingt eigentlich eine Kirche, die seit Jahrhunderten wegen ihrer Opulenz verehrt wird? Was kann zeitgenössische Kunst aus 700 Jahren Geschichte ziehen? Und wie können Musiker ihren eigenen kompositorischen Ansatz nach mehr als einem Jahrzehnt frisch und unverbraucht halten? Von Beginn an haben Grandbrothers Musiktraditionen in Frage gestellt. So gelang es dem vor mehr als einem Jahrzehnt in Düsseldorf gegründeten Klavierduo mit seiner vielschichtigen Musik immer wieder, die Grenzen zwischen Ambient, Minimal und Electronica zu verschieben. Das Ergebnis klingt immer anders, doch immer geprägt durch die außergewöhnliche Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem deutsch-türkischen Pianisten Erol Sarp und dem Schweizer Elektroniker und Software-Entwickler Lukas Vogel. Auf bisher drei Alben – Dilation (2015), Open (2017) und All The Unknown (2021) – zog das Duo seine besondere Inspiration aus einer konzeptuellen Beschränkung: Jeder Klang, jede Note stammt von nur einem einzigen Instrument – dem Konzertflügel.

Albert’s Favourites label founder Scrimshire is set to release bold new album 'Paroxysm'. In the last few weeks of October 2022, Scrimshire wrote a new collection of songs with the descriptive working title "Scream". A direct response to the absurdity of the breakdown in the UK government, the horror of the treatment of refugees arriving on our shores and the callous disregard for the trauma being caused to low-income people or anyone considered "other". While self-preserving Conservative MPs fought for their jobs, record profits were announced by energy companies as they were gouging crippling amounts of money from people's pockets. The anger, sadness, mourning, and frustration he felt was poured into these recordings.

Originally named “Scream 8”, ‘Unity Gain’ was one of the early outpourings from those sessions. Piano and drums bubble up until it fully boils over with huge stabbing synthesiser and string sounds in an outburst of frenetic energy. "Division seems to characterise our daily experience”, says Scrimshire. “How does a society stop the callousness and corruption from seeping into its bones?".

Singer Faye Houston features on both ‘Eyes Shut’ as well as, alongside saxophonist, composer, and multi-wind instrumentalist Tamar Osborn, on ‘Flames’. About the latter Scrimshire explains, “One person can breathe fire into your life and the world, leaving an indelible mark. The album was influenced hugely by a friend we sadly have lost. I think of it like the heat you still feel after a fire has gone out”.

London-based poet and emcee The Repeat Beat Poet captures moments of time, thought, and feeling on ‘What Is The State Of Our State’, a furious yet succinct stream-of-consciousness diatribe in two parts. From afrobeat and reggae-influenced London band Soothsayers, clarinetist and saxophonist Idris Rahman features on ‘Your Invasion Is A Lie’, an ever-progressing, cosmic-jazz track.

The elegiac ‘Unforgotten, Unforgiven’ features saxophonist Nat Birchall, on which Scrimshire says "This is dedicated to the politicians who have forced refugees into life-threatening decisions. Pushing people into the hands of traffickers, into small boats and too many beneath the waves of our seas. Who force the lives of men, women, and children into more danger, in the hope of escaping war, poverty and persecution only to meet more cruelty and persecution. It won't be forgotten, and it won't be forgiven".

Scrimshire’s last album, 2021’s 'Nothing Feels Like Everything', received an Album of the Year nomination at the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards and last March he was named by the Guardian as one of three producers behind the new wave of UK soul, alongside Inflo (Michael Kiwanuka, Sault, Lil Simz) and Swindle (Joel Culpepper, Greentea Peng, Kojey Radical). Albert’s Favourites was formed by Adam, Dave Koor, and Jonny Drop, who designed the logo and artwork, and has released records by The Expansions, Hector Plimmer, Huw Marc Bennett, Pie Eye Collective, Qwalia, Ronin Arkestra.


Early support from Huey Morgan, Amazing Radio specialist playlist, Gideon Coe. Previous support from Gilles Peterson, Mary Anne Hobbs, Jamz Supernova

Young South Coast UK producer Lyra’s ‘Give It Up 2 Me’ has been a very 2023 entity so far, racking up 170k + streams as an unofficial Soundcloud upload, starting to make an impact on Tik Tok (especially via the L Major remix) whilst being, in 4/4 terms, on the nippier side of things.

Rocking along at an unapologetic 160bpm, ‘Give It…’ goes big on energy, and low on musical frills, as the song (a faithful cover of Ojerime’s original) and driving bass/drums combo do all the work for what is a minimal, avant - donk workout.

On the remix front, Limoux slows things down with a 135bpm 4/4 mix that feels like it has roots in LDN 2015 style foot shuffling, but with added sense of contemporary punch and reach.

Stepping up on an old school / new school junglist front, L Major’s mix takes no prisoners, with his rolling, cut up breaks and big Reese b-line set to cause damage to unsuspecting systems everywhere.

Closing proceedings, the Jag Limbo mix doesn’t seem to know if it wants to be Overmono or Giorgio Moroder, is in reality neither, and arguably none the worse for it.

STELLAR CIRCUITS wurden 2015 gegründet, um die konzeptionellen Gegensätze von grooveorientierter Musik und progressiver Technik zu verbinden. Im Laufe des Quartetts ist es ihnen gelungen, ihre eigene Prophezeiung zu erfüllen, indem sie einen Kernsound formuliert haben, der komplex und vielschichtig ist und gleichzeitig eine Hörbarkeit bietet, die weit über das Rock-Genre hinausgeht. Lebendig, intellektuell, groovig, technisch und melodiös sind nur selten Indikatoren, die alle verwendet werden können, um die akustische Essenz einer Band zu beschreiben. Im Fall von STELLAR CIRCUITS ist diese seltene Kombination in allem, was sie tun, auffallend und definitiv vorhanden.

Das Quartett aus North Carolina, bestehend aus dem Sänger Ben Beddick, dem Bassisten Jesse Olsen, dem Gitarristen Jared Stamey und dem Schlagzeuger Tyler Menon, bildet eine effektive und unvergleichliche Einheit, die zweifellos neue Hörer begeistern und langjährige Anhänger mehr als zufrieden stellen wird. Mit 11 Original-Tracks, die selbst die anspruchsvollsten Aficionados beeindrucken werden, macht "Sight to Sound" die globale Musiklandschaft darauf aufmerksam, dass STELLAR CIRCUITS endgültig angekommen sind.

The Other Maria represents the character trait each of us has inside within ourselves. The silent part of us that we try to regulate, keep restrained from others and managed just beyond reach from the rest of the World. It represents the compartmentalized potential to do, say and respond with great chaotic harm, despite all unfortunate consequences. It is a full release feeling that we sometimes quietly envy as we witness with disgust and disapproval.

Widely considered a character flaw to many, yet, some would relish in the opportunity that could summon such an unpredictable internal animal. Every life has two parallel parts. The one for "them", the version of yourself that abides by all the acceptable and expected rules of engagement - often a side that is given credit on face value. The side that achieves progress through peaceful and less confrontational means. The one you use to survive.

And the other side, the one for you. An uncompromising, unthinkably ruthless version that knows no limit. That knows no fear. The side of yourself that tells you yes, when you know that "no" is the better answer.

The Other Maria isn't about comfort. It is about hard truth, but also recognizing raw emotions that stem from feeling undeniably free.

And what could one do with such a dark, yet wonderworking ability - when the absence of fear and consequence presides over the judicious process leading to an enviable fate - convinced that all actions are pure, justified, direct, but conniving. The feeling of relieved of all guilt and accountability?


But as diabolical as it can be and appear. Along with the negative static, there can be progress. As true imposes are exposed, so does the transparency of reality. A precious truth that's needed to fully understand the severity of the situation.
And with this, comes a valuable knowledge from a low level in which one once descended. Dreadfulness is softened to predictability.

- Jeff Mills, April, 2023

Fronted by former South London lovers rock vocal harmony group, Alpha (sisters Jackie & Jean Heron and Marlene Richardson), Take Three was the brain-child of writer/producer trio "S.H.E." - Steve Sinclair, Peter Hinds & Kevin Ellis.

Meeting each other at The Factory community centre in Paddington (now known as the Yaa Asantewa centre and in the last few years, The Yaa Centre) Steve & Kevin began a partnership writing and directing their own theatre productions as part of The Black Theatre Co-Op, which called the centre home at the time. When a song they had written together for one of their productions received praise and plaudits, the path toward writing and producing records began, bringing in more seasoned hand Peter Hinds - formerly a member of key brit funk groups Light of the World and Beggar & Co, and player with Incognito, Imagination & Loose Ends - to complete the circle.

Following on from Freestyle's reissue of the group's first single around this time last year, in the form of 1983's Tonight's the Night, we decided to drop another killer 12" from the Take Three vaults - this time it's their last single released as Take Three in 1985. Can't Get Enough (of Your Love) was originally licensed out to, and released by Andy Sojka's seminal Elite label. It features two super extended mixes - the A side's "Soul mix" showcases the girls's harmonies pinned down by a big & heavy synth bass groove before moving into boogie-dub territory, while the B side "Reggae mix" introduces an ofbeat skank heightening the vocal stylings' lovers-esque tendancies.

"As long as you come to my garden", the sixth release in the cherished Die Schachtel’s series “Decay Music” as well as the debut of the duo Damāvand (Gianluca Ceccarini and Alessandro CIccarelli) on the prestigious Italian label, is a tribute to the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova, through his lyrics and freely inspired by the cult movie about his life The Color of the Pomegranates (Nřan guynə, 1968, USSR) directed by Sergei Parajanov. The feature film tells the life of the poet, who lived in the 17th Century, from childhood in the royal court, to retirement until his death in the monastery of Haghpat, through a series of episodes, static like paintings that do not tell but show, evoke, they suggest through metaphors, analogies, surrealist flair, dreamlike landscapes, liturgical pauses.

The six tracks are inspired by the dreamlike imagery contained in the movie, weaving sound textures ranging from ambient to noise, to references to the musical tradition of the Middle East.

Gianluca Ceccarini and Alessandro Ciccarelli alternate, without fixed roles, with analog synths, drones, amplified common objects, generative music, audio samples from the film and acoustic instruments such as the tar - a stringed instrument of Persian origin, the trombone and the cornet. In addition, two of the songs on the album contain Sayat Nova’s poems recited in Persian by Nahid Rezashateri.

The sound materials are revealed gradually like episodes, evoking the visual suggestions staged by Parajanov in the movie. As long as you come to my garden is intended as an imaginative journey to distant spaces and indefinite archaic times.

DAMĀVAND is a musical project by Gianluca Ceccarini (electronics, electroacoustic objects, tar) and Alessandro Ciccarelli (electronics, electroacoustic objects, trombone, cornet)

Gianluca Ceccarini, guitarist, electroacoustic experimenter, luthier specialized in the restoration and construction of plucked musical instruments for early music. In 2021 his first album Starving Night was released for the netlabel Laverna and in 2022 the Sarab Label published a CD version. He also works in photographic research, video-art, graphics and independent publishing with the Sarab collective.

Alessandro Ciccarelli is an author who ranges between different languages: photography, video, sound. He is involved in several collective research projects in the musical and theatrical fields. His solo records are released under the nom de plume Elnath Project. The latest work, after six years of silence, from Italian berlin-based composer, performer and publisher (Black Letter Press) Claudio Rocchetti, and a welcomed return on the Die Schachtel imprint after the brilliant Another Piece of teenage wildlife (2008), Labirinto verticale (Vertical Maze) takes its origin from the four years long collaboration of Rocchetti with the Parma-based Fondazione Lenz, a contemporary theatre research collective/organization.

”The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte” ist Sparks’ erste Veröffentlichung seit fast fünf Jahrzehnten, nach Klassikern wie dem 1974 erschienenen Erfolgsalbum ”Kimono My House”, mit der Hit-Single ”This Town Ain’t
Big Enough For Both Of Us”. Das neue Album wird von Ron und Russell Mael als eine Platte beschrieben, die ”so kühn und kompromisslos ist wie alles, was wir damals gemacht haben, oder auch zu jeder anderen Zeit unserer Karriere”.

Das Album enthält fesselnde neue musikalische Elemente wie „Mona Lisa’s Packing, Leaving Late Tonight“ und „Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is“, Songs, die Sparks’ unermüdliche Fähigkeit unter Beweis stellen, in perfekten dreieinhalbminütigen Pop-Meisterwerken vollständige und detaillierte Geschichten zu erzählen.

„The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte“ ist sowohl charakterlich zeitlos als auch modern und bekräftigt einmal mehr, dass Sparks nach mehr als einem halben Jahrhundert, in dem sie solche Meisterwerke geschaffen haben, originell, genial und wie immer absolut einzigartig blieben.

Das Album ist erhältlich auf Vinyl und als CD.

Various Artists - A Giant Has Nowhere To Go: Tongue Master Records Presents Selections From Comes With A Smile (2000-2006) LP + 7' + 4 page booklet insert describing the legacy of the magazine, 500 only pressed. A vinyl only release. "A Giant Has Nowhere To Go: Tongue Master Records Presents Selections From Comes With A Smile (2000-2006)" is a celebratory vinyl-only release drawn from the magazine's sixteen cover-mounted compilation CDs. Across some 300 tracks, the magazine presented previously unheard tracks from its eclectic array of interviewees drawn from the worlds of the Singer Songwriter, Americana, Post-Rock, Electronica, and all things Indie. Comes With A Smile's designer/editor Matt Dornan's association with Tongue Master Records began with the first TM 7" and has continued to the present day. In some ways the association has come full circle with this curated release. The selections on this album represent the place where the worlds of Tongue Master and CWAS converge. Most remain exclusive to the magazine, and all appear on vinyl for the first time. Side one features artists who appear in the Tongue Master discography - from established masters Mark Eitzel, Mark Mulcahy and Howe Gelb to the equally idiosyncratic stylings of New York's The Scene Is Now, Athens' Sigmatropic (featuring Edith Frost) and London's cinematic The Real Tuesday Weld. The latter revisits a CWAS favourite, featuring a newly recorded vocal by Sephine Llo, exclusive to this release. Other contributions include intimate demos from Eitzel and Gelb (better known in embellished form by American Music Club and Giant Sand respectively), to standalone gems like Mulcahy's "Elephantine" (which gives this collection its title) and the bruised avant-garde blues of The Scene Is Now's "The Word". The tracks on side two and the accompanying 7" are a diverse selection drawn from the 16 CDs CWAS issued between 2000 and 2006 that reflect and complement the oeuvre of Tongue Master Records. Here you will find the dense literature-infused art-folk of Lullaby For The Working Class, the sparse acoustic balladry of Nina Nastasia and the curious Matmos-enhanced stylings of veteran polymath and fellow New Yorker David Grubbs. In their wake comes an epic jazz-tinged duel between Douglas McCombs's Brokeback and sometime labelmates Chicago Underground Duo, and the raw gothic Americana of Blanche. The LP concludes with a haunting lo-fi lament by the sorely missed Jason Molina in his Songs: Ohia guise. The 7" presents two further gems: a concise edit of the lengthy title track from a 2005 12" tour EP from CWAS regulars The American Analog Set, and an acoustic rendition of a track from the album 'The Great Destroyer' by shapeshifting veterans Low from the same year. Together the 14 tracks hint at the breadth of the CWAS archive, a treasure trove from a not-too-distant musical past. With full lyrics, a special four page insert tracing the history of the magazine, and an Alex Wharton Abbey Road cut, this quality release is a testament to the legacy of CWAS. 'Probably the best independent music magazine in the world '- ESQUIRE // Tracks: SIDE ONE: 1 The Scene Is Now - 'Words' (3:10) 2 Howe Gelb - 'Wolf Pup' (4:42) 3 Mark Mulcahy - 'Elephantine' (4:12) 4 Sigmatropic featuring Edith Frost - 'Haiku 4 (Alt)' (2:31) 5 Mark Eitzel - 'Bought A Book' (3:36) 6 The Real Tuesday Weld featuring Sephine Lo - 'Dreaming of You' (3:47). SIDE TWO: 7 Lullaby For The Working Class - 'In Defense Of Abstractions' (3:18) 8 Nina Nastasia - 'I Will Never Marry' (3:29) 9 David Grubbs- 'Aging Young Lovers' (2:53) 10 Brokeback With Chicago Underground Duo- 'Chomsk, Live!' (7:08) 11 Blanche -'Never Again (Demo)' (3:26) 12 Songs: Ohia - 'Untitled' (3:01). 7" SIDE 3: The American Analog Set - 'Everything Ends In Spring (Edit)' (4:41). SIDE 4: Low - 'Walk Into The Sea (acoustic version)' (3:07) For indie stores only!

Warehouse find!

Teenage Fanclub have announced news of their tenth studio album, Endless Arcade, released 5th March. Even if we weren’t living through extraordinarily troubling times, there is nothing quite like a Teenage Fanclub album to assuage the mind, body and soul, and to reaffirm that all is not lost in this world.

Endless Arcade follows the band’s ninth album “Here”, released in 2016 to universal acclaim and notably their first Top 10 album since 1997; a mark of how much they’re treasured. The new record is quintessential TFC: melodies are equal parts heart-warming and heart-aching; guitars chime and distort; keyboard lines mesh and spiral; harmony-coated choruses burst out like sun on a stormy day.

In the 1990s, the band crafted a magnetically heavy yet harmony-rich sound on classic albums such as “Bandwagonesque” and “Grand Prix”. This century, albums such as “Shadows” and “Here” have documented a more relaxed, less ‘teenage’ Fanclub, reflecting the band’s stage in life and state of mind, which Endless Arcade slots perfectly alongside. The album walks a beautifully poised line between melancholic and uplifting, infused with simple truths. The importance of home, community and hope is entwined with more bittersweet, sometimes darker thoughts - insecurity, anxiety, loss.

Such is life. But the title track suggests, “Don’t be afraid of this endless arcade that is life.”

A preview from the album came in February 2019 with Raymond’s ‘Everything Is Falling Apart’, an online single released at the outset of a six-month tour and a highlight of Endless Arcade.

Everything is falling apart? Well, yes, but the song was written long before COVID-19 arrived. Neither was Raymond’s inspiration political or social, but more, “the entropy in the universe, the knowledge that everything eventually decays,” he explains. But Raymond says relax. Or rather, “Relax, find love, hold on to the hand of a friend”.

Fortunately, Endless Arcade was virtually finished by the time lockdown was announced, bar the odd tinker under the engine hood. It seems timely, given how everyone had to initially stay home under lockdown, that the album starts with Norman’s ‘Home’, though it was chosen in part because of its opening line: “Every morning, I open my eyes...” The album’s longest track (at seven minutes) typifies TFC’s relaxed groove, culminating in Raymond’s peach of a guitar solo.

Norman’s search for ‘home’ could be literal: after all, he’s been living in Canada for the last 10 years. But it’s also figurative. Like Norman’s other Endless Arcade songs – The Sun Won’t Shine On Me’, ‘Warm Embrace’, ‘I’m More Inclined’, ‘Back In The Day’ and ‘Living With You’ – his words on ‘Home’ are etched by loss and yearning. “Without going into too much detail, the last eighteen months have been challenging for me on an emotional level,” he admits. “But it’s been cathartic channelling some of these feelings and emotions into song.”

In contrast, Raymond’s songs – he’s also responsible for ‘Come With Me’, ‘In Our Dreams’, ‘The Future’ and ‘Silent Song’ – are philosophical and questing. As he sings in ‘The Future’: “It’s hard to walk into the future when your shoes are made of lead”, but he’s still going to try, “and see sights we’ve never seen.”

In the band’s own near future, they’re already planning another new album given they can’t yet tour the one they’re releasing now. Welcome back, Teenage Fanclub, unafraid of this endless arcade that is life.

Warehouse find!

Teenage Fanclub have announced news of their tenth studio album, Endless Arcade, released 5th March. Even if we weren’t living through extraordinarily troubling times, there is nothing quite like a Teenage Fanclub album to assuage the mind, body and soul, and to reaffirm that all is not lost in this world.

Endless Arcade follows the band’s ninth album “Here”, released in 2016 to universal acclaim and notably their first Top 10 album since 1997; a mark of how much they’re treasured. The new record is quintessential TFC: melodies are equal parts heart-warming and heart-aching; guitars chime and distort; keyboard lines mesh and spiral; harmony-coated choruses burst out like sun on a stormy day.

In the 1990s, the band crafted a magnetically heavy yet harmony-rich sound on classic albums such as “Bandwagonesque” and “Grand Prix”. This century, albums such as “Shadows” and “Here” have documented a more relaxed, less ‘teenage’ Fanclub, reflecting the band’s stage in life and state of mind, which Endless Arcade slots perfectly alongside. The album walks a beautifully poised line between melancholic and uplifting, infused with simple truths. The importance of home, community and hope is entwined with more bittersweet, sometimes darker thoughts - insecurity, anxiety, loss.

Such is life. But the title track suggests, “Don’t be afraid of this endless arcade that is life.”

A preview from the album came in February 2019 with Raymond’s ‘Everything Is Falling Apart’, an online single released at the outset of a six-month tour and a highlight of Endless Arcade.

Everything is falling apart? Well, yes, but the song was written long before COVID-19 arrived. Neither was Raymond’s inspiration political or social, but more, “the entropy in the universe, the knowledge that everything eventually decays,” he explains. But Raymond says relax. Or rather, “Relax, find love, hold on to the hand of a friend”.

Fortunately, Endless Arcade was virtually finished by the time lockdown was announced, bar the odd tinker under the engine hood. It seems timely, given how everyone had to initially stay home under lockdown, that the album starts with Norman’s ‘Home’, though it was chosen in part because of its opening line: “Every morning, I open my eyes...” The album’s longest track (at seven minutes) typifies TFC’s relaxed groove, culminating in Raymond’s peach of a guitar solo.

Norman’s search for ‘home’ could be literal: after all, he’s been living in Canada for the last 10 years. But it’s also figurative. Like Norman’s other Endless Arcade songs – The Sun Won’t Shine On Me’, ‘Warm Embrace’, ‘I’m More Inclined’, ‘Back In The Day’ and ‘Living With You’ – his words on ‘Home’ are etched by loss and yearning. “Without going into too much detail, the last eighteen months have been challenging for me on an emotional level,” he admits. “But it’s been cathartic channelling some of these feelings and emotions into song.”

In contrast, Raymond’s songs – he’s also responsible for ‘Come With Me’, ‘In Our Dreams’, ‘The Future’ and ‘Silent Song’ – are philosophical and questing. As he sings in ‘The Future’: “It’s hard to walk into the future when your shoes are made of lead”, but he’s still going to try, “and see sights we’ve never seen.”

In the band’s own near future, they’re already planning another new album given they can’t yet tour the one they’re releasing now. Welcome back, Teenage Fanclub, unafraid of this endless arcade that is life.

In the years since The Aces released their acclaimed sophomore album, ‘Under My Influence’ in 2020, the band has been on a journey of self-discovery. Faced with the realities of a global pandemic, sisters Cristal and Alisa Ramirez (lead vocals/guitar and drums, respectively), Katie Henderson (lead guitar/vocals), and McKenna Petty (bass) used quarantine as a time to reflect, confronting personal mental health issues as well as processing experiences they’d had growing up together in Provo, Utah, as part of the Mormon church. When The Aces returned to the studio, their vision — and the honesty and trust between them — felt stronger than ever. The result of this growth period is ‘I’ve Loved You For So Long,’ the band’s third LP. Written and executive-produced by the group (along with Keith Varon, the sole collaborator on the project), the album is a sparkling indie-rock record that’s by far their most personal and self-assured work to date. From tracks that ruminate on mental health and self-sabotage to searing anthems about love, longing, and heartbreak, ‘I’ve Love You For So Long’ is a record that’ll work its way into your head and heart — and will have you singing along all the way through. ‘I’ve Loved You For So Long’ is also an opportunity for The Aces to reach new heights and build on their many previous successes. To date, the group has earned over 205 million career streams; ‘Under My Influence’ alone garnered more than 75 million (including 35 million on its lead single “Daydream”). The album also appeared on numerous charts, including #53 on Billboard’s Top Albums list. Further, The Aces have toured with the likes of 5 Seconds of Summer, X Ambassadors, The Vamps, and COIN, and have played at festivals all over the world, including NY Pride, Lollapalooza, Firefly, Bonnaroo, OUTFEST, and more. After selling out their last U.S. headline tour in 2021, the band will hit the road again this year, with dates soon to be announced.

Sorry Girls have danced out of the darkness into the light. Since forming in 2015, the Montreal duo of Heather Foster Kirkpatrick and Dylan KonradObront have transformed an eerie, dream like sound into lush, pleasure seeking pop. Expanding upon their debut album, Deborah, the band’s deftly arranged sophomore LP, Bravo!, sings to the back rows of the stadium, drawing listeners inward with a newfound focus on personal lyrics. “These songs are all about self-acceptance, self-affrmation, personal freedom, and letting go,” says Kirkpatrick. “There are a lot of lyrics about the creative process itself, identity shaping, and how those things intertwine.”

Originally released in 1962. Recorded July 24, 1962 at the 3rd International Jazz Festival D'Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins, this is classic 1960s Dizzy. It's smooth and swinging without losing any of his patented power. Produced by Quincy Jones, and featuring piano and arrangements from Argentinian master Lalo Schifrin, Gillespie shines here alongside underrated reed man Leo Wright. A great early '60s Dizzy group absolutely slaying live to a receptive audience.

Like the winged half-man/half-bull that dominates its outrageous cover, Cleveland Eaton's Half And Half is a mutant bass-heavy monster that absolutely slays. Incredible jazz-funk from 1973, it's been largely overlooked for decades, and unfairly so. This is just sensational music - a crate digger's delight. It's super funky throughout, with lots of layers, jazz breaks for days, dripping with style and gritty class. This is the first reissue of what has been a hard to find record for many years; it's long overdue. Joyous music for mind, soul and body.

Cleveland Eaton was a revered bassist who played an active role in the backing of Count Basie, the Donald Byrd Quintet, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, Terry Callier and Minnie Riperton; amongst many, many others. Half And Half was the first album released under his own name, initially released as a private press record on his - awkwardly named - Cle An Thair Records. It was then picked up by Gamble & Huff for Gamble Records. Varied, string-adorned and with stupid funky grooves, it's just exceptionally good.

Whilst Half And Half is treasured for its famously brilliant interpretations of gold funk-soul standards, Eaton proves an imaginative composer in his own right. Indeed, the album opens with a striking original; the earthy, laconic jazz-guitar-funk fusion of "Keep It Funky". Cleveland and co. do exactly that. Up next is a properly moving cover of Aretha Franklin's eternal "Day Dreaming". The flute and guitar combo truly achieve celestial greatness here. "Here Comes Funky Lou" rides a bassline from the Gods and a driving soul-jazz groove allows the track to go off in all sorts of directions. Serene guitar soul of the breezy variety one moment, crazy hectic violin-driven wig outs the next, courtesy of Ed Green who played with Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane.

His blistering two track salvo of Stylistics covers to close out this A-Side of A-Sides will leave your jaw dropped, and they're likely the reason you're here for this. And why not? "Betcha By Golly Wow", which uses a bed of acidy synths and harmonica to create a unique atmosphere, is on some next level business. Melancholic, wistful, beautiful. "People Make the World Go Round" is so good, dripping in wonderful horns and ace percussive breaks, it could even be regarded as the definitive version. Seriously!

Opening Side B, War's gigantic "Slipping Into Darkness" is tightly tailored to Eaton's funky flute fusion arrangement whilst the insistent "Missing You" is a swaggering horn-heavy version of Luther Ingram's track from the Dilla/Ghostface-linked LP, I've Been Here All The Time. The creeping, screeching guitar-drenched original "John's Groove" features more fantastic horn lines and neck-snapping percussion whilst "The Love Gangster", written by Bill Wyman and Stephen Stills for his seminal Manassas LP, contains a heavy break with slick drums high in the mix and fuzzy guitars.

The album closes with two more Eaton originals. Written with Johnny Guitar Watson, "Lie" is one hell of a funky string and guitar-driven gem whilst the wild, celebratory "Ah Movin' On" cleverly quotes "Wade In The Water" (which he'd recorded with Ramsey Lewis in 1966) folding it into his new free-jazz composition. A message to his old boss, perhaps, as a sign-off?

We've worked on this reissue for 3.5 years, spending the whole time making it sound super sharp and looking as perfect as it possibly can. An absolute must-have for fans of soulful jazz-funk, Half And Half was mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis and cut by Pete Norman at Final Tweak. The bizarre artwork, mutant beast and all, was restored at Be With HQ over many painstaking months! Hopefully, this new edition, a real labour of love, should bring Cleveland Eaton into the homes and record boxes of many more people.

Four Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers" demo sessions from 1976 & 1977, compiled together on one album for the first time. The album shows the development of the band building towards their classic 1977 "L.A.M.F." album (recently reissued with a newly found original master), and further points to the direction they would have gone had they not split up. Includes "I Wanna Be Loved" from a recently discovered Master. Pressed in transparent magenta vinyl, it comes with a 12" poster of the Roberta Bayley cover photo - an outtake from the L.A.M.F. cover session, and an inner bag with the late Walter Lure interviewed by Johnny Thunders" biographer Nina Antonia in 2005. Comes in the year of Johnny Thunders" 70th birthday, and realeased on the 31st anniversary of his death.

A pivotal record for contemporary times; bright, free, adamant, optimistic. Brain Worms is RVG's fullest, most pristine album yet. All throughout Brain Worms, it's apparent that this is a band in very fine form. Album opener 'Common Ground' sets the tone for what's to come; a shiny, thrilling, punch of an album, with all the beloved RVG hallmarks. Vager's voice is unfiltered and commanding as ever when delivering her clever, not-quite-ironic lyrics. Here, though, those lyrics feel so much less resigned to yearning, and so much more defiant and joyous. 'Tambourine' is the only Covid song Vager wrote when "trying not to write Covid songs", and it's a painfully honest portrait of grieving mid-isolation. 'Brain Worms' tells the all-too-familiar story of a person falling down the internet rabbit hole and finding comfort in conspiracies. 'Nothing Really Changes' is a keys-heavy new wave-ish thing, while closer 'Tropic of Cancer' sparkles with Vager's self-assured new manifesto: I know what I'm like, and I know how I get. If you think I'm strange, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Bloxham, Nolte, and Wallace are flawlessly adept in bringing Vager's songwriting to life. Recorded in London at Snap Studios with James Trevascus (Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, PJ Harvey), all ten tracks surge with lush sounds and clear intentions and the magic of an acoustic guitar once owned by Kate Bush, given to her by Tears for Fears (who, legend has it, wrote 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' on it). Between the four bandmates lead singer and guitarist Vager, guitarist Reuben Bloxham, drummer Marc Nolte and bassist Isabele Wallace this is the most confident they've ever felt in RVG. They've moved past their influences, pushed themselves, and tried new things. And they have made a record they can, by all accounts, call their best. "Brain Worms feels like the antithesis to what a post-pandemic record could easily be. For a band who were already writing music about being reclusive "we were depressed and not going outside on our first two albums" the enforced isolation and time to think gave Vager space to write about anything she wanted. And, it turned out, she was ready to write about acceptance. "If we could only make one more album, it would be this one," says Vager. "Easily one of the most vital bands on the Aussie scene today" Rolling Stone "A calling card for outsiders... dynamic and vital post-punk" The Guardian