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Nobody knew. Not the crowd packed into Circolo Kessel that Sunday evening, not even the six musicians on stage. When Giardini di Mirò played on March 19, 2023, it was supposed to be just another homecoming show in Cavriago, the kind of night where you play for the people who’ve known you longest. Some were missing from the audience, though: “Our closest friends stayed home to watch the football match tonight,” Jukka quipped from the stage. “But that’s fine, we’ll deal with them tomorrow.” In hindsight, even Juventus fans who celebrated their 1–0 victory over Inter made the wrong choice.

Seventy minutes in, all the instruments converged into a one-chord riff, driven by the drums and punctuated by screaming guitars. A repetitive rhythm that paired brutal volume with hypnotic precision. Even those at the back of the room felt it: that trance-like state where sound becomes physical. Then the wall of sound collapsed. Guitar feedback lingered in the air for a few seconds before fading into nothing.

This was the last sound Giardini di Mirò made. They haven’t played since, and there are no plans to do so again. But in that moment, nobody knew.

The closing song that night was also the opener of their debut full-length, recorded more than two decades earlier. Its title, A New Start, carries an unintended irony the band would likely appreciate. It is also oddly fitting that their final show took place in the same building where they began. Circolo Kessel, previously known as Calamita, served as the band’s rehearsal space for many years. Yet since their rise to becoming one of Europe’s defining post-rock acts, they had never performed a concert there.

In a fortunate coincidence, Markus Mathis – a longtime fan who had recorded several of their shows before – also captured this final concert using two room microphones and a feed from the mixing desk.

Quasi Casa is the complete, unfiltered document of that night: an “official bootleg” spanning over 70 minutes of purely instrumental music, drawing on material from across their entire career, from the earliest releases to Del Tutto Illusorio. It captures, with striking clarity, the intensity that defined the band’s live performances.

Rather than simply uploading the recording and calling it a day, the band chose to assemble a physical release as a parting gift to their fans. The double LP includes a 16-page booklet with extensive liner notes and visual material.

It’s Been Awful marks the moment Isaiah Rashad fully becomes his own genre.

The Top Dawg Entertainment visionary returns with his third studio album, expanding his sonic world beyond hip-hop into cosmic jazz, psychedelic guitar rock, Soulquarian neo-soul, and flashes of genre-blurring experimentation.

Featuring SZA, Dominic Fike, and Julian Sintonia, Rashad delivers his most vulnerable and fully-realized work yet after five transformative years, an unfiltered reflection on addiction, growth, self-confrontation, and redemption.

Strut Records presents a brand new reissue of the 1975 Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express original album Reinforcements. A gem from the later years of the Oblivion Express band, Reinforcements sees Auger evolve from his early ‘70s jazz-rock fusions towards smoother jazz funk sophistication, continuing his journey from the previous year’s Straight Ahead.
With two former Oblivion Express drummers joining Average White Band, there are obvious comparisons to draw as several tracks lean into groove-driven arrangements and polished mid-’70s production.Never one to follow a predictable path, Auger crafts a steadfast, stylish album that captures the evolving sound of the era, offering a rich snapshot of mid-’70s British soul and jazz-funk.

A fan favourite, the album also marks the return of vocalist Alex Ligertwood (later of Santana), whose soulful delivery is a highlight of many Oblivion Express recordings.
He is joined by Jack Mills (guitar), Lennox Langton (percussion), Dave Dowle (drums), and new addition Clive Chaman (bass, flute) – a family affair with their various kids joining for the cover shoot, the full cast adorned in an array of fine mid-‘70s tank tops.

Album highlights include the heavy funk instrumental jam ‘Brain Damage,’ a dynamic, keyboard-driven showcase of Auger’s virtuosity alongside the burning latin jazz workout ‘Something Out of Nothing’ and soaring closer ‘Future Pilot’ taking us from our present day troubles to “thread the skies to a new location.”
‘Big Yin’ is a heartfelt tribute to former drummer Robbie McIntosh following his untimely death. As with all Auger albums, the energy is nothing but positive and soulful – his back cover quote states “May the love you bring to this world be reflected upon you.”
This new Strut reissue of Reinforcements is curated by Greg Boraman of Impressive Collective in collaboration with Brian and Karma Auger. Fully remastered from the original tapes by United Archiving’s Bill Smith, it is presented as a high-quality single LP replica edition.

Strut presents the second studio album from Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express and a firm favourite with Auger aficionados, the “little known masterpiece” A Better Land from 1971. Marking a clear evolution from their more jazz-rock leaning debut, the band shifts into a mellower direction on these tracks, echoing the feel of Befour released in the Trinity's later years. A Better Land embraces warmer, more melodic and understated compositions, primarily written by guitarist Jim Mullen. With its languid and spacious approach, the album brings an grounded message to make the most of the simple pleasures in life with a hopeful, but wary, eye to the future. Musically, Auger brings acoustic guitars, country rock melodies and three-part vocal harmonies into his musical palette. Key tracks include the groove-driven title track ‘A Better Land’, the sparse ‘Dawn of Another Day,’ (sampled by Air and Black Milk among others) while ‘Fill Your Head With Laughter’ returns to Auger's trademark driving Hammond-led sound, akin to early Traffic.

The record features the Brian Auger’s unique sound on organ and electric piano, joined by Jim Mullen on guitar, Barry Dean on bass and Robbie McIntosh on drums and percussion, with Auger, Mullen and Dean all contributing vocals. Mullen co-wrote seven of the album’s nine tracks, with additional contributions from Alan Gorrie (later of Average White Band). These songwriters should take immense pride in their work as Auger’s favourite singer of all time, Sarah Vaughan, recognised the quality of these compositions by covering three of them; ‘Trouble’, ‘On “Thinking It Over’, and ‘Tomorrow City’ for her 1972 album A Time in My Life. This new official Strut reissue is curated by Greg Boraman of Impressive Collective in collaboration with Brian and Karma Auger. Fully remastered by Cosmic Audio, it is presented as a high-quality single LP replica edition.

"Birmingham hailing quintet Swim Deep announces their fifth studio album ‘Hum’, due June 19th via Submarine Cat Records. They also share first single ‘Pieces Of You’ — a defiant cut of alternative rock: roaring with clouds of distortion that bring a bite and rawness to its chiming melodies. Fresh and inspired from a sold-out tour across Thailand and China in December, and with an unexpected line-up change: ‘Hum’ is the work of a group rejuvenated, driven by their innate passion for music – even when the going gets tough – and sounding more confident than ever, whilst juggling the challenges of maintaining a grassroots indie band on their fifth album. Speaking on the track, lead singer Austin “Ozzy” Williams adds: “I had found a new writing partner at the full-time bar job: there stood J.J. Buchanan by the barrels of beer kegs we were hauling. A sharp songwriter and a soaring guitarist, who brought something fresh to this song and the whole sonic landscape that would shape ‘Hum’. Thematically, ‘Hum’ continues the life journey of ‘There’s A Big Star Outside’, which captured a transformational period for Williams – preparing for the arrival of his first child, but also the departure of his wife’s father. The songs on ‘Hum’ detail the aftermath of that spell, exploring loss, family and our responsibilities to those we build a life with. “I’ve now got someone to inspire,” he explains. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, your dad works at a bar to make rent, but this is what he actually does, this is what the dream is, and we’ll all live on it together. That’s the ethos on this album.” With ‘Hum’, Swim Deep turn struggle into momentum and personal upheaval into collective uplift. It’s the band’s heaviest, most adventurous, and most uplifting album in years – and the sound of a band still chasing the dream with conviction, but now with something deeper at stake."

"Birmingham hailing quintet Swim Deep announces their fifth studio album ‘Hum’, due June 19th via Submarine Cat Records. They also share first single ‘Pieces Of You’ — a defiant cut of alternative rock: roaring with clouds of distortion that bring a bite and rawness to its chiming melodies. Fresh and inspired from a sold-out tour across Thailand and China in December, and with an unexpected line-up change: ‘Hum’ is the work of a group rejuvenated, driven by their innate passion for music – even when the going gets tough – and sounding more confident than ever, whilst juggling the challenges of maintaining a grassroots indie band on their fifth album. Speaking on the track, lead singer Austin “Ozzy” Williams adds: “I had found a new writing partner at the full-time bar job: there stood J.J. Buchanan by the barrels of beer kegs we were hauling. A sharp songwriter and a soaring guitarist, who brought something fresh to this song and the whole sonic landscape that would shape ‘Hum’. Thematically, ‘Hum’ continues the life journey of ‘There’s A Big Star Outside’, which captured a transformational period for Williams – preparing for the arrival of his first child, but also the departure of his wife’s father. The songs on ‘Hum’ detail the aftermath of that spell, exploring loss, family and our responsibilities to those we build a life with. “I’ve now got someone to inspire,” he explains. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, your dad works at a bar to make rent, but this is what he actually does, this is what the dream is, and we’ll all live on it together. That’s the ethos on this album.” With ‘Hum’, Swim Deep turn struggle into momentum and personal upheaval into collective uplift. It’s the band’s heaviest, most adventurous, and most uplifting album in years – and the sound of a band still chasing the dream with conviction, but now with something deeper at stake."

Studio Kosmische duo Dom Keen and Jonathan Parkes collaborate with Russian saxophonist Ivan Bursov to create rolling waves of hymns to supine meditation. The gorgeous 'In Search Of Magick' and 'Eternal Dream Musick' conjure free-form sax and psychedelic ambience over undulating bass. "As Above, So Below' finds swelling guitars celebrating a distant storm, while 'Golden Dunes' offers a shimmering sound bath. 'Esoteric Modulation' breaks the spell with echoed sax and thundering synth. Beautiful

MJ - ELECTRONIC SOUND MAG


Like all Studio Kosmische records, Electronic Meditation for Inner Space Travel is less a collection of tracks than a single, unbroken experience. It flows with purpose, every note a step in a silent procession toward understanding.

There’s no urgency, no climax, just a graceful surrender to the unknown. When it ends, the world feels quieter, your thoughts slower, the air lighter. This one’s a record to play deep into the night, when the sky outside your window looks almost purple and the world feels bigger than you remember. Drop the needle, close your eyes, and let the music lead you through the dunes.

Somewhere out there, the sorcerers are still gathering, still searching, still dreaming.

Michael J. Sheehy has been making records for almost three decades, initially as founder and mouthpiece of mid-"90s cult band Dream City Film Club, then as a solo artist and frontman of rootsy garage rock act Miraculous Mule. He has toured with the likes of Kristin Hersh, Tindersticks, John Cale and Peter Murphy, while his songs have been utilised in films such as "Intimacy" and the TV show "Deadwood". Following a six-year hiatus, Sheehy has just "Don"t We Deserve Some Kind of Love?", his seventh solo album but first for Dimple Discs. "Don"t We Deserve Some Kind Of Love?" features contributions from Fiona Brice (violin), Sandy Mill (backing vocals), Ian Burns (drums) and Patrick McCarthy (guitar). It was recorded at home over a five-year period while Sheehy was a stay-at-home father and working evenings at a bar in Camden, north London.

Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The group was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer José Pasillas while they were students at Calabasas High School. The lineup later expanded to include bassist Alex “Dirk Lance” Katunich and Gavin “DJ Lyfe” Koppel. Both were eventually replaced, Ben Kenney took over on bass, and DJ Kilmore joined as the band’s turntablist. In 2024, Nicole Row replaced Kenney on bass.

Incubus’ sound has been described as a blend of rap metal, funk, jazz, and post‑grunge, often incorporating elements of hip‑hop. This eclectic style helped them become one of the most popular alternative metal bands of the early 2000s.

The band has achieved significant commercial success, earning multiple multi‑platinum releases and producing several hit singles. In 2017, they released their eighth full‑length studio album, 8, with Skrillex contributing to production and mixing.

Chet Is back! is the 1962 studio album by the undisputed master of the trumpet, Chet Baker. The album was recorded in Rome, Italy at RCA's studios. Chet is backed by a group of then up-and-coming European jazz musicians, which included Belgian saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, Belgian guitarist Rene Thomas, Italian pianist Amedeo Tommasi, French bassist Benoit Quersin, and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair

Chet Is Back! features compositions by Chet's contemporaries, like Thelonious Monk's "Well, You Needn't", Charlie Parker's "Barbados" and Sonny Rollins' "Pent Up House". The album also includes an original composition by Amedeo Tommasi entitled "Ballata in forma di blues". Although Chet's sweet and tragic vocals are not featured on this album, his soaring and lyrical trumpet playing makes up for it.

Chet Is Back! is available on audiophile black vinyl.

London’s The Hanging Stars return with their sixth album, Just A Day – a dazzling collection of four-part harmonies, shimmering twelve-string guitars and chiming songs, touching on themes of longing, new beginnings and the fragility of the everyday. Recorded at Edwyn Collin’s legendary Clashnarrow Studios in the Scottish Highlands, the album marks a bold new chapter for the band, produced with the invaluable guidance of Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love.

Citing sources from early Dub influenced Clash, Blitz and The Modern Lovers - Spiritual Cramp exist in a strange vacuum somewhere between David Byrne's oversized suit and a bar fight between a bunch of drunk goons on Polk Street in SF. Hate for the police, the government and the status quo are reoccurring themes in Bingham's lyrics. The sounds borrow from the past, echoes of late 70's / early 80's working class rock and punk, which function on the upbeat, showcasing very bright guitars yet generating darker vocal rhythms and darker patterning.

As WARNING prepares to release Rituals of Shame - their first new music in twenty years,vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker is self-effacing about what led to this moment. Over the last two decades he continued to write and release music, satisfied that he had achieved what he set out to do with WARNING. In those intervening years, interest in WARNING swelled, organically gathering an ardent fanbase. In particular, the 2006 album, Watching from a Distance, has gained a cult following. In response to a transformative period in his life, Walker turned towards writing new songs, and it soon became apparent that these belonged to WARNING. In early January 2025, he started with a completely blank canvas, and piece by piece, he started to fill it with ideas that evolved to become the songs that make up Rituals of Shame.

His immersion in the project became a full-time pursuit. After successfully demoing the five songs, Walker retreated to a remote house on a hill outside Florence, Italy, to refine the lyrics. Recording took place at The Arch Studio, a 140-year-old former church in Southport, UK. Chris Fullard (Idles, Sunn O))), Ulver) handled the recording and mixing. Walker's lifelong musical inspirations can be traced through Rituals of Shame. The ambitious structural arrangements harken to Marillion’s complex but soaring episodic songs. They retain a sparsity that is reminiscent of June Tabor’s economic arrangements; thick with melody but with a diaphanous air to them. Citing John Brenner of Revelation as an enduring inspiration, Patrick credits him with introducing the idea of how to infuse heavy music with significant emotional depth. Often reluctant to discuss the minutiae of his lyrics, Walker does acknowledge that making this album was a direct response to the immediate concerns of his current life period. Rituals of Shame also echoes the enduring themes and fixations that have marked most of his work: guilt, shame, personal failure, obsession, longing, and separation, but, most of all, he says, love. Short: WARNING return with Rituals of Shame - the pioneering Doom band's first new music in 20 years! FFO: My Dying Bride, Candlemass, YOB, Black Sabbath, 40 Watt Sun, Pallbearer, Pagan Altar

Terumasa Hino’s brilliant New York session, which drew attention for its thrilling collaboration with former members of the Miles Davis Group, is set to be reissued as the sixth title in the "Spin This Now!" series. Featuring Terumasa Hino on trumpet, John Scofield on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. Recorded in New York City on May 7, 1977.

Over the course of more than a decade, the French quartet Lost in Kyiv have refined a sound that fuses cinematic ambition, electronic precision, and visceral live energy into something unmistakably their own. With their new album, `We're All Going To Be Fine', they push that identity further than ever; sharpening their production, intensifying their dynamics, and embracing a darker, more immersive sonic architecture. Lost in Kyiv's music has always thrived on tension between the organic and the synthetic. On `We're All Going To Be Fine', that integration reaches a new level of clarity and depth. The writing and production process was long and exacting, allowing the band to refine every transition and tonal detail. Songs unfold with architectural precision, motifs are introduced subtly before expanding into vast, multi-layered climaxes. Dynamics are handled with patience and control, silence and minimalism are deployed as strategically as explosive crescendos. This careful pacing gives the album a cinematic flow and larger narrative in which struggle and compassion coexist. Guitars surge and recede in wide, panoramic arcs. At moments they shimmer and support, at others they thrash violently, accumulating layers of distortion and harmonic overtones. Acoustic instrumentation is interwoven with sequenced synth lines, pulsing arpeggiators, and carefully sculpted electronic textures that give the band's sound a sense of forward propulsion. Rhythm plays a central role in Lost in Kyiv's identity. The drums provide impact and structure, locking into intricate patterns that interact with bass-driven synth pulses. At times the groove feels almost mechanical, echoing the steady insistence of electronic music; at others, it breathes and swells with human elasticity. This interplay creates a powerful sense of movement, an impression that the music is always advancing, even in its most introspective passages. "We almost consider this album as the first record of a new version of the band. That's why we decided to use the name Lost in Kyiv now. We don't want to erase the past, but it really feels like a new direction. Artistically, I think this album marks the beginning of a new direction, louder and more metal-oriented than what we did before." (Lost in Kyiv) FOR FANS OF Russian Circles * P.G.Lost * The Ocean * Cult of Luna * Brutus * This Will Destroy You

Over the course of more than a decade, the French quartet Lost in Kyiv have refined a sound that fuses cinematic ambition, electronic precision, and visceral live energy into something unmistakably their own. With their new album, `We're All Going To Be Fine', they push that identity further than ever; sharpening their production, intensifying their dynamics, and embracing a darker, more immersive sonic architecture. Lost in Kyiv's music has always thrived on tension between the organic and the synthetic. On `We're All Going To Be Fine', that integration reaches a new level of clarity and depth. The writing and production process was long and exacting, allowing the band to refine every transition and tonal detail. Songs unfold with architectural precision, motifs are introduced subtly before expanding into vast, multi-layered climaxes. Dynamics are handled with patience and control, silence and minimalism are deployed as strategically as explosive crescendos. This careful pacing gives the album a cinematic flow and larger narrative in which struggle and compassion coexist. Guitars surge and recede in wide, panoramic arcs. At moments they shimmer and support, at others they thrash violently, accumulating layers of distortion and harmonic overtones. Acoustic instrumentation is interwoven with sequenced synth lines, pulsing arpeggiators, and carefully sculpted electronic textures that give the band's sound a sense of forward propulsion. Rhythm plays a central role in Lost in Kyiv's identity. The drums provide impact and structure, locking into intricate patterns that interact with bass-driven synth pulses. At times the groove feels almost mechanical, echoing the steady insistence of electronic music; at others, it breathes and swells with human elasticity. This interplay creates a powerful sense of movement, an impression that the music is always advancing, even in its most introspective passages. "We almost consider this album as the first record of a new version of the band. That's why we decided to use the name Lost in Kyiv now. We don't want to erase the past, but it really feels like a new direction. Artistically, I think this album marks the beginning of a new direction, louder and more metal-oriented than what we did before." (Lost in Kyiv) FOR FANS OF Russian Circles * P.G.Lost * The Ocean * Cult of Luna * Brutus * This Will Destroy You

Powerful Stuff is a 1989 studio album recorded in Memphis at Ardent Studio and Alpha Sound and produced by Terry Manning - With Kim Wilson on vocals, Preston Hubbard on bass and Fran Christina on drums, it was the last one by the Fabulous Thunderbirds to feature guitarist Jimmie Vaughan before he left the band - The track "Powerful Stuff" achieved mainstream success when it was featured in Touchstone Pictures' 1988 hit film Cocktail - It was the first single released from the Cocktail soundtrack album, which reached number one on the Billboard Charts and sold over 19 million copies worldwide

The Debut LP released by Cardinal Fuzz (UK) & Feeding Tube Records (USA). Presented in a hand stamped metallic copper ink (front and back) print on a black card sleeve with insert. Recorded during downtime but sounding anything but casual, Celestial Power emerged when Dead Sea Apes’ Brett Savage and Chris Hardman linked synaptic overload with Cardinal Fuzz’s own Dave Cambridge to form a three-headed amplifier cult. Heavy, raw, and deeply resonant, this is music that embraces volume, repetition, and the beauty of imperfection. What they’ve summoned is a sprawling liturgy of overdriven guitar mantras: brutal, blown-out, and gloriously repetitive. Imagine the Velvet Underground locked in a warehouse mainlining the kosmische pulse of some forgotten Krautrock commune while Bardo Pond’s ash-coated spirit hovers overhead, scattering embers into a storm of PSF-style amplifier abuse. Not so much songs as tectonic events. Not riffs, but rituals. This thing doesn’t purr it howls. You hear the room breathing. You hear amplifiers gasping as they’re pushed past mercy, past design, into some ecstatic mechanical breakdown. Every repetition drills deeper, pushing beyond the horizon line until time itself starts peeling back in sheets. And that’s the point. This is repetition as revelation. Volume as transcendence. Human hands wrestling raw electricity into shape, then losing control of it entirely. On “Mandate Of Heaven,” the circle widens with the arrival of Nik Rayne (The Myrrors), adding another dimension to the ritual, a desert prophet stepping into the feedback storm, pushing the album’s gravitational pull even further into the void. No compromise. No softening. No edges filed off. Just pure voltage, scorched earth repetition, and the kind of heavy psychedelic communion that feels less like listening and more like surviving. Step inside. Bring ear protection. Or don’t. 4 Tracks - 42 Minutes.

Harry Romero, Brothers Macklovitch, and Austin Ato team up on Rekids.

Harry Romero and Austin Ato return to Rekids alongside the debuting Brothers Macklovitch, aka A-Trak and Dave 1, with the ‘The Corner’ EP, arriving 5th June 2026. Romero has more than two decades of house pedigree behind him, continuing to refi ne a signature sound rooted in expert drum work and undeniable attitude. With a catalogue spanning seminal imprints from Nu Groove to Classic Recordings and Defected, the Bambossa Records boss builds on his 2025 debut with ‘Nice To Meet You’, once again showcasing his knack for balancing functional, floor-ready grooves with rich musical character.

Joining Harry Romero are Brothers Maklovitch, consisting of legendary turntablist A-Trak alongside his brother, David “Dave 1” Maklovitch of Chromeo, bringing decades of experience across the electronic spectrum, alongside versatile Scottish producer Austin Ato, who previously contributed to Oliver Dollar’s 2025 album on Radio Slave’s Rekids imprint.

Harry Romero, Brothers Macklovitch, and Austin Ato’s ‘The Corner’ (Piano Mix) opens the release, a warm and energetic house cut driven by bold, bouncy drums and jazzy melodic touches, as lively guitar licks and rolling piano lines inject an uplifting, expressive feel primed for the dancefloor. The ‘Deep In Jersey Dub’ follows, maintaining the heat with a more stripped-back approach, where filters and breakdowns build tension before a punchy drop, with teased-out guitars adding to its dynamic impact.

At the beginning of the 1960s, at the Berklee College of Music, Byard Lancaster met some feisty friends: Sonny Sharrock, Dave Burrell and Ted Daniel. It is easy to see why he rapidly became involved in free jazz. Once he was settled in New York, he appeared on Sunny Murray Quintet, recorded under the leadership of the drum crazy colleague of Albert Ayler.

In 1968, the saxophonist and flutist recorded his first album under his own name: It’s Not Up To Us. The following year he came to Paris in the wake of... Sunny Murray. He would come back to France in 1971 (again with Murray) and in 1973 (without Murray for a change). This is when he met Jef Gilson, the pianist and producer who encouraged him to record under his own name again.

On Palm Records (Gilson’s label), he would release four albums: Us, Mother Africa, Exactement and Funny Funky Rib Crib.

“Funny Funky Rib Crib” is an unforgettable recording (made up of several sessions dating from the middle of 1974) of creative jazz overwhelmed by funk and soul.

If Lancaster had already made successful albums in the same genre – notably New Horizons, under the name Sounds Of Liberation which he co-led with Khan Jamal –, this one is an homage to James Brown and Sammy Davis enjoying the company of a host of guests including François Tusques (electric piano), Clint Jackson III (trumpet), François Nyombo (guitar), Joseph Traindl (trombone)...

Funny Funky Rib Crib’s cover is a three-quarter profile portrait of the saxophonist (who can also be heard on flute, piano and even vocals), however, on the record, it is the whole group, inspired and frenetic, that tests the melodies of “Just Test”, “Dogtown” or “Rib Crib” – the two versions of which display leader Lancaster’s art of nuance. On both sides of the album, the group also moves into a calmer groove, infused by blues and soul, “Work And Pray” and “Loving Kindness” are meditative tracks where listeners can lay back and relax before asking for more: Funny Funky Rib Crib

Editing is a specialist game that is easy to play but difficult to master. King Most is more adept than many, as he shows with a third outing here on his own KM label. This one finds him spreading his wings a little, flying away from r&b and hip-hop and migrating towards more worldly grooves with Afro and Latin undercurrents. 'Tony Trinidad' brings swirling guitar echo and coconut percussion to a crispy slow jam, then 'Hermanos Cub' pumps up the funk with blazing horns and vocals. There's lush polyrhythmic looseness and string melodies to 'Zimbabwe Thorn' and earthy disco charm to 'Bebe Cameroon' with its seductive vocal leads. Cultured cuts.

The ENSOULED EDITS series begins by showcasing the work of Cee Alassad, a Moroccan producer famed for his previously digital-only reworks of historic cuts from his native country. It's these reworks Alassad offers up on his first vinyl outing for the freshly minted series. He begins with 'Tekere', a lightly house-style revision of a simply sublime workout - all bouncy, layered percussion, glistening guitars, righteous horns, heady vocals and chunky kick-drums. Over on side B, he tackles another cut from the same artist, joining the dots between 21st century Afro-house, synth-laden Afro-disco and far-sighted, tech-tinged grooves.

‘Confession' is an album of quiet upheaval. An album about closeness that arrives late and unexpectedly. About stability rubbing up against desire. About the way friendship can suddenly tilt into something charged — and how that charge unsettles everything around it. Where earlier work often observed from a distance, Confession turns inward. The voice is closer, warmer, less shielded. “This wasn’t the album I intended to make,” says Carla dal Forno. “I originally wanted something veiled and abstract, but I realised I couldn’t hide behind abstraction — the songs only worked when I leaned into emotional truth.”

This is dal Forno’s fourth LP, written and recorded over several years in a small country town, in a studio housed inside a partially abandoned hospital. Long corridors, humming lights, emptied rooms — a place built for care and waiting, now quiet enough for thoughts to echo. That stillness shapes the record: intimate, watchful, unadorned. “I live in a small country town that offers a stillness my life didn’t previously have,” she explains. “In that quiet, feelings I might’ve ignored in a busy city grew loud.” Dal Forno sings plainly and conversationally, with an emotional precision that sharpens the everyday into something quietly unsettling.

The album moves through paired states: going out and staying in, wanting and withholding, devotion and distraction. Domestic calm set against private unrest. A long-held relationship offers safety and routine, while a newer connection opens emotional fault lines — longing, jealousy, fantasy, self-exposure. “At the heart of the album is a friendship that became emotionally charged in an unexpected way,” dal Forno says. “That shift brought daydreaming, jealousy, tenderness, confusion, self-awareness — and eventually acceptance.”

The drama here is internal, incremental, lived. Musically, Confession feels lighter on its feet than its subject matter suggests. Melodic basslines anchor the songs while guitars, harmonies, and gently off-kilter rhythms move around them. There’s a looseness, even a playfulness — “like the sensation of tension lifting once you finally admit something to yourself,” as dal Forno puts it. The album traces a subtle arc: attraction blooming where it shouldn’t; obsession quietly taking hold; fantasy overtaking reality; clarity arriving slowly, sometimes painfully. Visually and emotionally, Confession returns to modest spaces: backyards, beds, night streets, overgrown paths. “The record exists in that contrast,” dal Forno reflects. “Peaceful surroundings, unsettled interior.”

Like all of dal Forno’s work, Confession resists clean conclusions. It doesn’t moralise desire or romanticise restraint. Instead, it lingers in the in-between — where love is stable but not total, where yearning teaches as much as it hurts, where solitude becomes a form of care. Plain-spoken but emotionally complex. Rooted and restless. Held together by bass, breath, routine, weather. An album about admitting what you feel —and living with what that admission changes.

“L’École de la nuit” marks Versatile Records’ 30th anniversary with a musical découpage by label founder Gilb’R. The album’s 12 songs and numerous collaborations form an adroit exploration of life and music, all threaded together by lifelong “partner in crime” I:Cube’s signature mixdowns.

“Hà mar” represents the peak of the album’s organic spectrum—an instantly captivating melodic and percussive Brazilian song featuring Alvaro Lancellotti on guitar and vocals—while “White Light” serves as its electronic counterpart, with a classic pop feel, featuring Swedish singer Monica Tormell

Musically, “L’École de la nuit” moves across many different landscapes and languages, intersecting rock, shoegaze, ambient, electronica, and, of course, jazz. Gilb’R collaborates with a rich arsenal of guest musicians: saxophonist Quentin Rollet; guitarist and producer Maxime Delpierre; French artist Judah Warsky, with whom Gilb’R previously released an album; Jonny Nash, producer and guitarist; as well as Ben Shemie. Not least, father and son Julio and Julinho Pimentel contribute their distinctive percussion, alongside François Creamer on bass clarinet.

“L’École de la nuit” is the 50th album release on Versatile Records. It was initiated in Amsterdam, then entirely reimagined and rebuilt in Paris. It stands as a manifesto for the album format and a tribute to the listener.

‘ИМА (Ima)’ is a work by KiMiMi, the solo project of a musician Shin-ya Ohno, which captures the layers of time and the presence of people inhabiting ‘Arimasuton Building’―a self-built structure created over 20 years by architect Keisuke Oka, located in Mita, Tokyo, and reconstructs them into music.

A multi-instrumentalist who masterfully handles a diverse range of instruments, with the gaida (an ancestor of the bagpipes) – which he studied in Bulgaria – at the core of his sound, KiMiMi has previously brought traces of daily life and folk melodies recorded during his travels back to the scale of home recording, weaving fantastical folk soundscapes through cassette tape works and stage music.

Alongside his musical activities, he has participated in the construction work for ‘Arimasuton Building’, recording the sounds of hammers and steel beams echoing on site, lunchtime chatter, the melodies of instruments played by others, and the sound of cars passing by. From the end of 2022, a zine titled ‘Monthly Arimasuton Building Urimasu’, based on this construction project, was launched. KiMiMi incorporates these recordings into the musical works he contributes to each issue, layering sounds from live instruments―including the gaida, accordion, guitar, flute, ukulele, piano, foot-pump organ, melodica and xylophone―alongside a few synthesiser tones, to shape a soundscape imbued with the humidity and breath of the site.

KiMiMi’s creative process is characterised not by planned construction, but by an attitude of entrusting the work to chance, intuition and the passage of time. Fragmented recordings are layered, set aside for a time, and then unearthed again. Through this repetition, the music naturally takes shape. This resonates perfectly with the process of ‘Arimasuton Building’, which was built up improvisationally, layer by layer, without any pre-prepared blueprints.

‘ИМА (Ima)’ marks the current stage of KiMiMi’s sonic journey and represents an attempt to gracefully transcend the boundaries between architecture and music, documentation and creation, and the individual and the community. The clamour of the city, the tranquillity of manual labour, laughter, and every sound resonating at the Arimasuton Building site blend with KiMiMi’s music, reflecting the very passage of time in which people live.

Brussels-based guitarist Benjamin Sauzereau is one of the most respected figures in Belgian jazz, working across the full spectrum-from elegant jazz to adventurous improvisation. You may know him from projects such as Les Chroniques de l'Inutile, Hendrik Lasure Warm Bad, Book of Air, and Fur. Over the past few years, he has written a large number of compositions under the umbrella of 'REMORQUE', performed in various line-ups-a concept somewhat reminiscent of John Zorn's Masada compositions.



These pieces share a clever and imaginative approach to composition, improvisation, and arrangement. Typically short but vibrant, they shimmer with color and atmosphere-sometimes lyrical and contemplative, other times playful, whimsical, or slightly prickly. Each piece opens up a small, self-contained universe full of nuance, refinement, and space, interpreted by musicians who navigate fluidly between classical discipline and free improvisation.



Following the first release Un on W.E.R.F. Records, Sauzereau now presents the highly anticipated follow-up: DEUX. This second chapter dives even deeper into the sonic world of REMORQUE-further refining its playful contrasts, rich textures, and poetic unpredictability. With DEUX, Sauzereau cements his reputation as a composer who continuously reshapes the boundaries between structure and freedom, offering a listening experience that is as intimate as it is exploratory.

LP + insert. A cosmically poetic duo playing Afro-Roots-Electro with a clear nod to spiritual jazz. Esinam Dogbatse (flute, synths, vocals, fx, percussion) | Sibusile Xaba (guitar, vocals, percussion).



ESINAM & Sibusile Xaba is a meeting of nomadic, wandering and kindred spirits in music. Both artists draw upon their ancestry: Belgian-Ghanaian(ESINAM) and Kwazulu Natal-South Africa (Sibusile Xaba) through a unique connection, a deep artistic and spiritual level, they use rhythms and grooves to translate stories to the audience. Their vocal chanting enhances trance to rhythmic patterns that grace us by melodies of the future and past.

On April 25th 2025, ESINAM & Sibsile Xaba will release their first joint album entitled 'Healing Voices'.

This album is a reflection of the kaleidoscopic multitude of musical inspirations running through the veins of two very talented solo artists. Both multi-instrumentalists, they provide many different layers to their music. Each track is a reflection of their cross-pollination. Musically inspired by Ghanaian Highlife and traditional songs from Zulu and Ewe culture, but with a distinct contemporary interpretation where their acoustic sound is enhanced by electronic gadgets.

As multi-instrumentalists, the two artists translate messages from their ancestors through rhythms and grooves. Their vocal chanting enhances trance to rhythmic patterns that grace us by melodies of the future and past.

Thanks to their Belgian-Ghanaian and South-African roots, they are unique in their being, strong in their union and connected on deep artistic and spiritual levels. The collaboration between ESINAM and Sibusile Xaba is bringing healing to body and soul.

In 2018 Esinam discovered Sibusile Xaba during his European (solo)tour. She was enchanted by his musical energy and craftsmanship and invited him as a vocal guest feature on the track 'Flowing River', from her debut album 'Shapes in Twilights of infinity'. When she was asked at the first edition of WOMAD Festival in South Africa if she wanted to collaborate with a 'local artist', she didn't have to think twice.

So in October 2022, Esinam and Sibusile seized this opportunity to dive into the rehearsal and recording studio, and discover and combine each other's musical universes to shape up new music together.

In May 2023 this collaboration continued with rehearsals, recordings and a first European tour with performances in Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Germany and Slovenia.

In March 2024 they released the first single 'Africa Wola' out of the fothcoming album. In November 2024, they released a remix of their first single by South-African DJ and producer DaCapo and played at Visa for Music in Morocco.

W.R.F. was formed in 2015 by Nina and late studio partner Andrew Weatherall to help wrangle the vast output recorded together beyond his solo releases.
Spotlighting nine tracks from the Apparently Solo series of EPs recorded between 2016- 2019 and released on Bandcamp in 2023, this lustrous time capsule marks the culmination of Walsh and Weatherall’s creative relationship born after they clicked at London’s earliest acid house clubs, becoming partners then managers of their Sabres Of Paradise/Sabrettes labels before taking different paths by the late '90s.
An accomplished musician, Nina had learned the art of studio technology by the time they reunited and started working together in 2012. Created at her Facility 4 Studio situated in the dangerous, gang-ridden no man’s land between Streatham and Mitcham, Anamchara captures the super-prolific creative stretch starting in 2015 that produced Weatherall’s Convenanza and Qualia solo sets, W.R.F.’s The Phoenix Suburb (And Other Stories) plus a whole lot more. According to Nina, Andrew envisioned the spectacular ‘Borderland’ as natural successor to ‘Smokebelch’, his most revered track. When it came to his remix, Nina enlisted renowned viola virtuoso Sarah Sarhandi and composed new harmonies with Pachelbel’s Canon in D Minor in mind.
The set also catches the breakthrough period when, through Nina’s careful coaxing, Andrew started using the computer system she’d set up to better express his musical visions by arranging the elements, grooves and melodies she sent him. Still considered the UK’s greatest DJ-producer, Andrew’s arrangements were inspired by his club-igniting sets. “This allowed me to mix the colours for his palette whilst he was painting the picture,” says Nina. Anamchara straddles the gamut of musical styles explored by W.R.F. at this time, from slower paced psychedelic “drug chug” outings ‘We Two’. ‘Heat To Meat Ratio’, ‘Hidden Watchers Part 1’ to banging acid house and techno sometimes inspired by the violence outside the studio door, including ‘SCHLAP’, ‘Crack-Ed’ and churning acid juggernaut ‘Yacidik’ (“After much dangling of the acid carrot, Andrew took a bite and, after one familiar raised eyebrow, never looked back,” says Nina).
Many tracks fly elements from the enormous sonic library Nina inherited from late partner Erick Legrand that she called The Akashic Library of Sound. Marking Andrew’s 2016 admission into the vault, ‘Rattly Old Puffin’ boasts Erick’s psychedelic guitar and tumbling drum loop Weatherall would run with, including on ‘Borderland’. “Erick was like our third member,” says Nina.
Bringing down the curtain, ‘Alma’’s exquisitely poignant melody that unfolds over thirteen time-stopping minutes was composed by Nina while navigating Erick’s birth and departure date anniversaries to accompany Andrew’s reading from Gordon Burn’s 1991 same-named novel at 2018’s Durham Literary Festival. Burn’s novel imagines early 60s popstrel Alma Cogan, who succumbed to cancer in 1966 surviving to reflect on fame. “Now it just makes me think of Erick. And every time I hear those well-placed cymbal crashes I can only think of the Captain himself.”
A beautiful grand finale for this astonishing selection of pure gold from the vaults.
Kris Needs / 2026

Neues Farbformat von "ghostholding", dem Debütalbum des gitarrenbasierten Alternative-Bandprojekts venturing der US-Künstlerin Jane Remover, das von der Fachpresse abgefeiert wurde. "Das neue Album der Künstlerin aka Jane Remover ist voller ausufernder, furchteinflössender Schönheit, sowohl kompositorisch straffer als auch strukturell rauer als ihre früheren Ausflüge in den Rock." - Pitchfork. Limitierte Auflage auf orchideenfarbigem Doppelvinyl.

RICE TBC

Songs Before Bed (2022) marks Otto Benson’s first physical release under his own name, following earlier
work under aliases including Memo Boy, OTTO, and Pudding Club.

Originally published as a digital-only release through Otto's own WNOADIARWB website and platforms on
New Year's Eve 2022, Songs Before Bed bridges the gap between the more experimental psychedelic
electronic works of OTTO and his most recent release, the acclaimed Peanut, released on NYE 2025.
Blending brief pop fragments with melodic bedroom guitar, droning ambient shoegaze textures, and blissful
IDM jaunts reminiscent of the Rephlex catalog, the album offers a seamless overview of Otto Benson's
genre-defying sound. Originally conceived as a late-night record, Songs Before Bed (2022) rewards
listening at any hour.

Remastered for vinyl by Stephan Mathieu and pressed on Sonopress EcoRecord, an environmentally
conscious alternative to PVC, special care was taken by Palto Flats and Otto Benson to make a sustainable
product without sacrificing sound quality.

Following the underground cult success of Mystical Funk, Gerardo Frisina returns to the 7” format with a new double-sider aimed at dancefloors, collectors, and selectors with a taste for cinematic funk. A record that feels as though it emerged from a lost Afro-funk session, where cosmic funk and Afro-Latin grooves are filtered through a distinctly modern electronic sensibility.
On the A-side, “Duala”, inspired by the African city of Douala, pays tribute to Afro-funk in its most visionary era, evoking the unmistakable sound made famous by the great Manu Dibango. The track opens into a dense and hypnotic electronic funk journey: pulsating basslines, fluid guitars, psychedelic synthesizers, and a rhythmic tension that recalls the golden age of Afro-funk. A nocturnal voyage through rare groove and cinematic atmospheres, with the groove constantly remaining at the heart of the composition.
On the B-side, “Lindeza” is a tribute to the beauty and richness of Brazilian musical culture. A track that shifts perspective while keeping the temperature high: elegant, percussion-driven electronics with a Latin spirit, flowing at around 110 BPM. Warm and magnetic, the piece carries all the hallmarks of Gerardo Frisina’s sound, where futuristic jazz, tropical funk, batucada, and club culture meet in a refined production designed equally for deep listening and the dancefloor.

When I first heard YELKA play I thought to myself: “I’d like to play in that band.”

In the meantime I have realised that it would not be as easy as I imagined. The fluffy easy sound that gets created is so particular that it would not be so easy to execute those exact sounds of the band. This is mostly due to the unconventional harmonies of the guitar. Daniel himself said he is content with the guitar and added an extra one on almost all of the songs. Which I, as a fan of Daniels anarchic approach to playing, love.

Also Yelka’s groovy smooth bass playing is in the forefront of the album once again. Her sound bounces through the guitar riffs as if it's the most common thing on earth. Once Yelka adds her vocals to the songs, that’s when they almost become pop and reminiscent of Velvet Underground.

Christians drums hold these two together through the track list, with a fun Krautrock and jazz influenced style. Everything was recorded live and it sounds fantastic!

The 6th track of the YELKA album "Jeans" is a highlight with the piano support from Federico Corazzini, who adds lush open jazz chords to the incredible intricate harmonies of the band. Arne Bergner (Studio Popschutz) who is once more responsible for the production of the album, also added a beautiful choir arrangement. The finishing touches completing YELKA´S wonderful sound as always added by Norman Nitzsches Mastering (Mokik Studio).

From top to bottom an amazing album: "King of the World" (Steely Dan cover), a pop song with a fantastic keyboard solo from `the one and only Dan Ra´ alias Daniel Nentwig (The Whitest Boy Alive), "Moon for Now", an atmospheric jazz-ish tune, to "Walking Whispering", a strong 9-minute guitar heavy number... I think there are more than two guitars in this one.

American indie rock/pop/jazz whatever - school (after all, it's the third album in the band's America trilogy) and yet above all Berlin, in its most likeable and perhaps even coolest form.

Masha Qrella

‘Richness of tone; precision of articulation; ingenuity of timbre that, when Akinmusire pursues microtonal avenues, creates the sense that particular sounds are almost hermetically sealed before being slowly squeezed and pinched into the air. In other words there is a high degree of technical mastery, but, tellingly, it underpins a profound and often engrossing sense of narrative.’ - Jazzwise

‘Halvorson has formulated a guitar style with few precedents. One inspiration might be the painter George Seurat, whose Impressionist paintings of a hundred isolated dots cohere into a picture if one steps back from the canvas. Halvorson’s pointillist approach to the guitar works much the same way.’ - JazzTimes

Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings, the new album by trumpeter/composer Ambrose Akinmusire and guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson, features four new compositions by each musician as well as one collaboration. The duo, long admirers of each other’s musicianship, met at Halvorson’s Brooklyn apartment and began playing together periodically, going back as far as 2009. They rehearsed the music on Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings in January 2025, just before performing it at the New York City club The Stone; they recorded this album the next day at Sear Sound.

Akinmusire and Halvorson made two previous attempts at recording an album but felt that they got it right with this third session. Halvorson says of their rapport, which developed over those years of friendship and collaboration, “I think it’s partly a shared aesthetic and an ease of communication. I feel comfortable to try whatever.” Akinmusire concurs, “I think it’s rare to find an improviser that all goes and nothing has to go at all. It’s rare to feel like you don’t have to do anything and you can do anything. And that’s what I love about playing with Mary.”

Though Halvorson regularly uses effects pedals on her guitar, Akinmusire’s use of one on Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings is new. Having recently gotten an updated model of the Line 6, Halvorson was passing her old ones along to friends. “Ambrose was interested in trying a Line Six. I gave him one five minutes before the rehearsal and was amazed how quickly he was able to do incredible shit on it ... in literally five minutes,” she says.

“But I’ve been watching you, I’ve been watching Bill Frisell and other people use it for a long time,” Akinmusire says. “I approached it as if it were its own musician. I played and it would process the sound and then I would choose to react to that or not. The people like Mary that I love to listen to who use delay, I like being able to hear the process of the texture that’s being built. With some people, when they use it, you don’t really hear it. But with Mary, she’ll play a line and then she’ll react to that line and then react to that,” he continues. “It’s really cool to hear how something is being built. So I kind of stole that.”

Halvorson says, “I’ve never seen someone pick up a pedal and then immediately do something with it that felt like, ‘Oh, this is a sound,’ as opposed to just tinkering, you know? It felt like he was making music on it right away, and then also doing things that surprised me, like the vocalizing really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting that, and it was awesome.”

Growing together both personally and musically… That is indeed the good fortune of the musicians in the Marseille-based trio ubaq. We’re talking about bassist Antoine Carletto, guitarist Lucas Schemidt, and drummer Antoine Saussol, winners of the Rezzo springboard competition at Jazz à Vienne 2025. In their early twenties, they met in their late teens while still honing their musical skills. Nearly ten years later, they burst onto the scene, in perfect harmony, with their very first album, “Night WIP,” a follow-up to their EP, “20bis,” released in 2024. They owe their stylized stage name—written in lowercase with a “q”—to the ubac, that side of a mountain with very little sun exposure, where twilight reigns. “We liked that idea because we’re night owls,” says bassist Antoine Carletto. Hence the “night” for “nuit” and the “WIP” for “Work In Progress,” explains guitarist Lucas Shemidt. ubaq’s music is characterized by a nocturnal, melancholic heaviness, pierced by beams of light. “We love creating music that soothes us and highlights the precious nature of composing and playing in complete harmony,” says Antoine Carletto. “We cultivate complex tones, sometimes difficult to bear, whether they’re nostalgic or even verging on depression. But we manage to convey emotions without falling into clichés,” adds Antoine Saussol. Night and twilight serve as the perfect catalysts for this trio, which moves forward with perfect chemistry and harmony.

On this album, they feature the German-Armenian rapper and singer Talin, who is also based in Marseille. She appears on the track “Regarding Others,” where she chants that even though the year 2026 may see mothers weeping in every corner of the world, she still manages to smile. Thus, this track explores the three musicians’ relationship with the world and the necessity of looking at others. The unsettling “Sciatiq,” the haunting “Sakakinik,” and the ambivalence of “Flayosc”—the final track, on which the trio features trombonist Jules Regard—owe their titles to the musicians’ own observations and experiences. The multi-faceted track “Proud,” in two parts, is a tribute to Lucas Schemidt’s mother, who has since passed away. The presence of wind instruments—whether Jules Regard’s trombone or Mathieu Fabre’s saxophone on the intense track “From The Ending”—adds textures missing from the natural landscape depicted in “Night WIP.” This debut album captures the obsessions and introspective wanderings—sometimes anxious, sometimes enchanted—of a trio that cultivates melody as a pledge of warm fulfillment.

Golden Earring were together between 1961 and 2021, and their last and best known line-up included two founding members George Kooymans (vocals and guitar) and Rinus Gerritsen (bass, keyboard) along with Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone) a member since 1968 and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums) a member since 1970.

They had over 40 hits and released 30 albums, many achieving either gold or platinum status in their home country, The Netherlands. They are best known for their 1973 hit single "Radar Love" and their 1982 single "Twilight Zone".

Around 1992, the unplugged sessions on MTV were a trend; almost every rock band or artist was doing them. Bass player Rinus Gerritsen suggested to record an acoustic album themselves. The record company wasn't very enthusiastic at first so with a small budget the band recorded the album live in an intimate cafe in Amsterdam. The Naked Truth turned out to be the Golden Earring's best selling album.

The Naked Truth is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on purple vinyl. The 2LP is packaged in a deluxe sleeve with linen laminate finish and includes an insert.

Featuring members from King Diamond, Motörhead, Scorpions, Don Dokken Lex Legion is a brand-new band comprised of old friends with incredible heavy metal pedigree. Comprising four-fifths of the classic late 80s King Diamond lineup featuring Mikkey Dee (Drums), Pete Blakk (Guitars), Andy La Rocque (Guitars) and Hal Patino (Bass) infused with the jaw-dropping vocals of Nils K. Rue (Pagan’s Mind), it also boasts Motörhead, Scorpions, and Death on its collective resume. Lex Legion’s eponymous debut album is a single-minded, future-facing throwback of world class hard rock/metal distinguished by tasteful, less-is-more arrangements, virtuoso musicianship, and relentless melody and harmony.

Featuring members from King Diamond, Motörhead, Scorpions, Don Dokken Lex Legion is a brand-new band comprised of old friends with incredible heavy metal pedigree. Comprising four-fifths of the classic late 80s King Diamond lineup featuring Mikkey Dee (Drums), Pete Blakk (Guitars), Andy La Rocque (Guitars) and Hal Patino (Bass) infused with the jaw-dropping vocals of Nils K. Rue (Pagan’s Mind), it also boasts Motörhead, Scorpions, and Death on its collective resume. Lex Legion’s eponymous debut album is a single-minded, future-facing throwback of world class hard rock/metal distinguished by tasteful, less-is-more arrangements, virtuoso musicianship, and relentless melody and harmony.

According to the court ruling in the lawsuit brought against the band, allegedly by a former technician, this album should have been released under a different name for the group. Perhaps as a provocative nod, the individual who appears on the cover wearing a nut as an oppressive turban is struck on the back cover by the hammers of Justice and the Law. However, the group ignores this and continues to sign as it has been doing since 1983. The musical arrangements are more powerful, with the guitars taking precedence over the rest much more than before. The drums are also more present. The soundscape takes centre stage, even over the lyrics. The opening track, 'Monopoly', is representative of this, with its fast-paced rhythm provided by galloping guitars. Originally released in 1994, it is surprising how, almost ten years after their debut, La Polla Records were still capable of making albums of such intensity.

New album from Dutch indie pop favourites Maureens. Warm, jangly guitar pop filled with rich harmonies and bittersweet melodies. Recorded with producer Frans Hagenaars, Don't Give Up captures the band's timeless sound perfect for fans of Teenage Fanclub, The Go-Betweens, and Real Estate. Maureens craft guitar-driven pop that feels like the soundtrack to a perfect late-summer evening - warm, melodic, and quietly nostalgic. Their songs blend bright, jangling guitars with rich harmonies and a subtle undercurrent of melancholy, creating a timeless sound that feels both classic and unmistakably their own. Formed in the Utrecht music scene, the band now celebrates fifteen years together and five albums deep into their journey. At the heart of Maureens are the songs of singer and guitarist Hendrik-Jan de Wolff, whose love of melody and harmony shapes the band's distinctive sound. For their latest record, Don't Give Up, Maureens reunited with producer Frans Hagenaars, recording much of the album live in a secluded wooden cottage in the Belgian Ardennes, capturing a raw and immediate energy.

On his new album, Micha Acher rearranged compositions for bands such as Tied & Tickled Trio and Ms. John Soda from previous years.

Why are we interested in ghosts? What fascinates us about the eerie? According to cultural theorist Mark Fisher, the allure that the eerie possesses is not captured by the idea that we „enjoy what scares us“. It has, rather, to do with a fascination for the outside. For that which lies beyond standard perception, cognition or experience, as he writes in his book „The Weird and the Eerie“.

In fact, also none of the 15 pieces from Henry and the Ghost is really scary. On the contrary, they all feel strangely familiar. Like revenants or doppelgängers, which in fact they are. They have all been released before. But in a different form. In different line-ups. With different band projects such as Tied & Tickled Trio, The Notwist or the Alien Ensemble.

With the „Songbook“, Micha Acher's aim was, as he says, to find out how the familiar pieces sound in a chamber music instrumentation. Therefore he met with Theresa Loibl (bass clarinet, piano), Timm Kornelius (bassoon), Markus Rom (guitar, banjo, electronics) and Simon Popp (drums, percussion) in his living room for a musical séance in the summer of 2022. The séance lasted two days. Afterwards, Markus Rom (Oh No Noh), added some haunting electronical ideas.

The mood of most of the pieces is melancholic. There are surprising twists and siren-like melodies. Just as ghost stories should be. However, most of the songs sound very light-footed. With their feet in pop, folk, jazz and classical music. Pieces such as „Johanna“ with its wheezing harmonium and spooky piano, or the dreamy „Modest Farewell“ on the other hand have a cinematic flair. Immediately faces and scenes arise in the mind. But at the beginning, there is „Hamlet“. It starts with ghostly electronics and merges into a calm, almost classical guitar piece. Could it be that the ghost of Hamlet's father is hiding between the strings?

„34E“ begins with a banjo. Then the deep humming of Micha Achers sousaphone and the other brass instruments kick in. In the slow, solemn „Aelita“, the sousaphone starts a dialogue with a children's piano. With the banjo and the other wind instruments acting as mediators. The title of „All Tomorrow's Past“ brings Velvet Undergrounds „All Tomorrow's Parties“ to mind. Another ghost from the past. What connects the two pieces is free-floating percussion, which accompanies the sumptuous melodies.

„Arc“ takes us on an exhilarating voyage at sea, with the sousaphone providing powerful propulsion. Towards the end, things get quite turbulent. With the clarinet stirring up the water, before the sea calms down again. „Henry and the Ghost“ is characterised by a ghostly mood change between major and minor. In „Radio Four“ the banjo with its stoic chords keeps the lively brass section in check. „Solid Ground“ is imbued with melancholy. „Space Minor“ takes us into outer space, with the power of sousaphone and percussion.

„Tomorrows“ is filled with cautious optimism. And the concluding „Nordlead“ turns out to be a revenant of the instrumental „N.L.“ from The Notwist's legendary album „Shrink“ from 1998. In the new version, the piece sounds like a distant echo. One that also brings to mind how Micha Acher's music has evolved. Which new worlds he explored and opened up since the nineties. And yet Acher's signature is recognisable in every single note of this fascinating „Songbook“.