Buscar:hard left

Koyo has been praised for their rawness and authenticity, with the band offering a fresh take on the classic hardcore sound. With their passionate performances and dedication to the hardcore community, Koyo is poised to become one of the leading bands in the Long Island hardcore scene. This project also features guest spots from Vinnie Caruana (The Movielife), Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw / Head Automatica), & Anthony DiDio (Vein. FM).

The music of Will Griffith's The Great Dying is a mix he likes to call dark country. He grew up in Cleveland, Mississippi, where D.I.Y. punk house shows hooked him, and his early bands played The Farmhouse and legendary delta juke joint Po' Monkey's. Songs from The Great Dying's new album, A Constant Goodbye, were born from playing hundreds of shows supporting Bloody Noses & Roses (Dial Back Sound 2018), and it continues where the debut left off. The ballads are still sweet and menaced, the rockers are still hair-raisers, but the new record pushes in new directions, infusing sounds of classic country with faint traces of The Replacements and what was once called "alternative rock." The tracks are layered and varied: wall-of-sound arrangements grind against flange-bass and fiddle, with Griffith's barebones acoustic guitar and vocals at the root, and heartbreak all over. Coming from another artist, this blend of influences would tank, but somehow it suits The Great Dying just fine. Pick any number on the new album-it's a winner.

Human Worth are proud to present the stunning new full-length from the ferocious noise rock duo Modern Technology, with a portion of proceeds donated to charity. How two players can make this much racket just has to be heard to be believed. The bass guitar and drums duo Modern Technology sound deceptively larger, louder and noisier than one could expect. The duo of Chris Clarke and Owen Gildersleeve (Old Mayor) present their second full length album 'Conditions of Worth' through rising leftfield heavy label Human Worth. Encapsulating influences of ‘90s Touch & Go era noise rock, the grubby grit of sludge metal, and the ferociousness of post-hardcore, Modern Technology hit you with the same energy and volume as their lauded live shows – which for those who caught them on their recent UK tour with Chat Pile will be able to attest to!

Marching forwards as thoughtful as they are sonically unhinged, ‘Conditions Of Worth’ takes the duo’s voiced concerns and socially conscious outlooks further and louder, tackling issues including mental health, the effects of austerity, societal degradation, and the ever increasing climate emergency. ‘Conditions Of Worth’ is available as a limited edition heavyweight 180g Transparent “Utility Yellow” Vinyl in a stunning package designed by Chris Clarke. 10% of all sales proceeds will be donated to charity Choose Love, helping to provide humanitarian aid, search, rescue and legal advice to refugees and displaced people across the globe.

Few bands have as enduring a legacy in the acoustic/newgrass/jam band
scene as Colorado-based Leftover Salmon
Carrying the torch passed down by the progressive bluegrass pioneers, The
Seldom Scene and Newgrass Revival, Leftover Salmon are true architects of the
contemporary jam grass scene, inspiring the careers of a generation of artists
ncluding Billy Strings, Greensky Bluegrass and Yonder Mountain String Band.
On 'Grass Roots', Leftover Salmon reflect on its bluegrass and festival
campground origins with a set of songs that draws from the repertoires that The
Salmon Heads and The Left Hand String Band played when they first jammed in a
Telluride Bluegrass Festival campground. Collaborating with jam scene icons
Billy Strings, Oliver Wood, and Darol Anger, and with the recent addition of Jay
Starling on resophonic guitar, lap steel and keys to the band's official line, Leftover
Salmon have all the instrumental firepower needed to deliver hard driving
versions of bluegrass standards and grassed- up versions of songs from Bob
Dylan, David Bromberg, and The Grateful Dead. Now available on Limited Edition
Banana Yellow Vinyl
Now available on Limited Edition Banana Yellow Vinyl

Die britischen Hardrocker Doomsday Outlaw präsentieren ihre beiden Alben "Suffer More" (2016, Frontiers) und "Hard Times" (2018, Frontiers) in neu abgemischten, remasterten REDUX-Versionen, betreut von Dave Draper (The Wildhearts, Terrorvision). Zwei Alben vollgepackt mit ihrem typischen Sabbath-meets-Clutch-Riffing, gepaart mit gefühlvollen Vocals, die Geschichten von Herzschmerz und Erlösung erzählen. "Suffer More" erscheint erstmals auf Vinyl, "Hard Times" enthält einen vorher Japan-exklusiven Bonustrack. Mit neuem Artwork und ausführlichen Linernotes von Mike Hayes (Cheap Trick). Remixed. Remastered. Reborn. Redux.

When we were offered the most welcome opportunity of choosing another “virgin” (as in never released on vinyl before) volume from the Dick’s Picks catalog, we did our Dead diligence, combing through the many chat rooms online to see which one the fans really wanted to see come out on LP. It will come as no surprise that opinions were varied and vehement…but a consensus emerged that Dick’s Picks Vol. 12—Providence Civic Center 6/26/74 & Boston Garden 6/28/74 was the one. Which is interesting, because that Pick is a little different, combining the second sets of two different nights instead of offering a single show. But it’s the exception that proves the rule—the playing is so extraordinary, and the repertoire so unusual, that one can understand why Dick Latvala played more curator than archivist here. Side A picks up the second set from Providence three songs in, featuring a short jam that leads into what many have labeled the most extraordinary live version of “China Cat Sunflower” ever recorded, complete with a sublime transition (“Mud Love Buddy Jam” a.k.a. “Mind Left Body Jam”) into “I Know You Rider.” The revelatory moments continue throughout the Providence set, highlighted by a dazzling, 15-minute “Spanish Jam.” But the second set of the Boston show—which appears here complete, after a superb encore performance of “Eyes of the World” from Providence—is the one that has passed into legend among Dead fans (a performance of Phil Lesh and Ned Lagin’s electronic music piece “Seastones” provides an appropriately adventurous interlude). The set boasts one of the most renowned live jams of the band’s career, a flawless, 14-minute “Weather Report Suite: Prelude/Pt. 1/Pt. 2-Let It Grow” leading into a 27-minute “Jam” that is simply one of the most far- ranging, telepathic improvisations ever played by, well, anybody. That this set also includes a separation of the “Sunshine Daydream” section from “Sugar Magnolia” for only the second time ever is just gravy. This is, of course, a “Wall of Sound” concert, so we’re working with something of a special audio source to begin with. So, we enlisted Jeffrey Norman to master the release for vinyl from the original tapes (pictured on the enclosed insert), and enlisted Clint Holley and Dave Polster over at Well Made Music to cut the lacquers. Gotta Groove Records, our manufacturer of choice, has pressed the 6 LPs on to 180-gram black vinyl housed inside a two-piece hardshell box, and we have a little stencil surprise for ya on Side L. Limited edition of 3000 hand- numbered copies!

Repress!

Far Out Recordings proudly presents the first and only album from the mysterious Brazilian vocal sensation Dila (pronounced “Jee-la”). Having reportedly died in a car crash shortly after the album’s release in 1971, there is very little known about the woman behind the voice. But the joyous music Dila left behind, gives us a picture as good as any, of a powerful feminine soul at the top of her game.

The liner notes on the elusive original LP, written by composer Arnoldo Medeiros attest: “Friend, look out! Because when this girl starts to sing, you’re in trouble. Hold the railing so you don’t fall down the stairs, because she’s coming this way and shaking up everything.”

Arranged and produced by Durval Ferreira, alongside his studio band affectionately known as “Os Grillos” (The Crickets), Dila (1971) is a rare glimpse into the authentic soulful Samba sound of Rio’s favelas in the late sixties and early seventies.

A blast of funky, percussive Brazilian breaks, scorching hot brass and swing-laden piano, the music is as iconic as the album’s stark cover, as is clear on opener ‘Inez’, composed by The Crickets’ bassist Romildo. There’s a fantastic interpretation of the Ivan Lins classic ‘Madalena’ (made famous by Elis Regina), a moving version of the Tom Jobim and Vinicius De Moraes classic ‘O Morro Não Tem Vez’, and a number of sunny original compositions by Arnold Madeiros, who’s other writing credits include music for Marcos Valle, Wanderlea, Evinha and Dom Salvador.

With original LPs extremely hard to come by, this rare treasure of Brazilian soul, which fans of Gal Costa, Celia, Evinha and Elis Regina will love, gets a much-deserved official reissue: remastered and pressed to 180g vinyl.

After ""Down Two Then Left"" and ""Silk Degrees"", Boz Scaggs again worked with the members of Toto to create Middle Man; another amazing mix of soul, harder rock, slow ballads and catchy songs. The two singles Breakdown Dead Ahead and JoJo were two of his most successful, both reaching the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself reached the US album top 10 and went Platinum. Middle Man is available as a limited edition on crystal clear vinyl and includes an insert.

Dreamlogic and SW are two standouts in the outlier world of leftfield house music, and they find a perfect home on the equally out-there label that is Kimochi. This is the first time they have been on the same bit of wax (though both have been here many times as solo artists) and hopefully, it won't be the last. There is plenty of unusual rhythm work here with wonky grooves that are enriched with a world of superbly futuristic sound designs. All of these hard to define cuts are serious curveballs that bring a great element of WTF to any set, so do not sleep and add them to your arsenal ASAP.

I needed to do some recording to cheer myself up. The studio I usually use was booked all month, but before the disasters of Brexit & Covid I’d met pianist Yves Meerschaut in Gent, and he’d shown me his recording studio, Room 13, and that did have a couple of days free in January… I decided to make a record of old songs that other people have liked, and / or that I play differently now, and / or that haven’t appeared on vinyl before. So, here, there’s: “Pennypot Lane”, a fox song that people like, “Winter Turns to Spring” that was Tony Benn’s favourite song, “The Blue Sea Says Yes”, a song about how the sea welcomes us all, heroic or fragile, equally in our mortality (something like that anyway) , that I had forgotten about till people started saying how much they liked it, “More Than Enough”, that Roy Bailey and Martin Simpson have kindly rescued from the obscurity of its previous appearance on a CD in 1992, “Babbecombe at the Closing of the Day”, a song about going to Babbecombe model village, “At the Siege of Madrid” which quite a few people like, but is one of those songs that always somehow eludes a definitive performance, “A True History of Couscous”, a song I like that is more or a less fictionalized autobiography, and lastly.. “You Don’t Have to Say Goodbye”. This is a song from my first CD; Thames Valley folk-stalwart Terry Silver used to enjoy performing it so that afterwards he could shock audiences who’d been happily singing along to it by revealing it had been written by that dreadful lefty Robb Johnson, It’s also, more recently, a song our son Arvin likes very much too, and he graces this version with his characteristically modest tasteful Spanish guitar playing. He also nagged me into doing the artwork for the cover. Three of these songs are lucky enough to have Yves’s breathtaking, exquisite piano playing embellishing them, and Sian Allen gifts “Madrid” some beautiful trumpet accompaniment too. But primarily, for good or ill, it’s mainly me with an acoustic guitar. Robb Johnson, May 24. “in my view one of the best songwriters this country has produced in many a year… the appellation National Treasure is often over-used, but in Robb’s case it is entirely appropriate (St Edith’s Folk) // “an English original”, (Robin Denselow, the Guardian) // “a national treasure” (Mike Harding) // “one of this country’s most important songwriters (no argument!)

Released in July 1963, "Impressions" is a compilation of recordings from various sessions between 1961 and 1963 of John Coltrane. The album showcases the range of Coltrane's musical interests, from modal jazz and hard bop to ballads, reflecting his evolving style during the early 1960s and received positive reviews for its adventurous spirit and technical brilliance. Critics and fans alike praise the album for capturing a pivotal moment in Coltrane's career as he moved towards more experimental and spiritual jazz. The early 1960s were a period of significant evolution for Coltrane. Having recently left Miles Davis's sextet, Coltrane was delving deeper into modal jazz, a style that focuses on scales (or modes) rather than traditional chord progressions. This period saw Coltrane pushing the boundaries of jazz with extended solos, complex improvisations, and a deeper spiritual search, which would later culminate in his iconic album "A Love Supreme."

2024 Repress

Innercity Griots, the second album from Freestyle Fellowship, is perhaps *the* essential West Coast left-field rap album of the early ’90s. Released in 1993 on 4th & Broadway, it’s a towering, progressive hip-hop masterpiece that expanded rap’s boundaries through lyrical elevation and production innovation. Their talent was ahead of everybody else by light years. This is pure b-boy jazz.

The original single vinyl LP is now hideously scarce, and of course the sound suffers from not being officially released as a double. This Be With re-issue fixes both problems, and for completeness also includes “Pure Thought” from the CD version of the album. This incredible display of imaginative hip-hop sounds better than ever.

Freestyle Fellowship were some of the earliest technically dazzling rappers to come out of California. Mikah 9, P.E.A.C.E., Aceyalone and Self Jupiter - along with DJ Kiilu - forged their famed lyrical dexterity in the ultra-competitive crucible of the Good Life Cafe. Founded in Leimert Park, South Central LA in December 1989, this earthy health-food store and cafe was where the city’s finest microphone fiends would gather to showcase their freestyle skills at the Thursday night open-mic.

Innercity Griots has been described as the Rosetta Stone for rap styles. The group’s dense, vibrant wordplay and enviable interplay quickly earned the attention and respect of the city’s hip-hop underground. Frenetically trading acrobatic rhymes with agility and grace, the Fellowship used their voices as instruments like true virtuosos, spraying improvised raps like a Coltrane sax solo.

With the bulk of the album’s production handled by The Earthquake Brothers, and Bambawar, Daddy-O, and Edman taking over for some of the tracks, Innercity Griots dances between organic and programmed music, largely forgoing sampling and instead built around live jazz jams. The likes of Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay” and Miles Davis’s “Black Comedy” were used more as templates for house band The Underground Railroad Band to spiral out from. As Pitchfork noted in their recent 9.0 review of this classic album, “Freestyle Fellowship embodied the style and spirit of jazz on a molecular level. They shared the effortless cool and tough countenance of the great bebop players from the ’50s without verging into jazz-rap parody. Their innate jazziness felt tangible and hard-earned”.

The unusual approach to the music was matched by the Fellowship’s lyrics. Eschewing the tired rap tropes of the time, this multifaceted album instead explores their ruminations on greed and homelessness, weed, sex, survival, insecurity and tribalism.

Remastered by Simon Francis for double vinyl and cut by Pete Norman, we hope this long-overdue re-issue of Innercity Griots satisfies the legions of fans that have since been bewitched by the majesty of this record. It should also introduce some new listeners to yet another overlooked classic.

Keep on Dancing EP by Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg on 10-inch 45 rpm vinyl with four versions fresh out of the oven. Faithful to the essences, the band of the only Ramone still standing trims all the fat off the originals and makes every second count. High voltage. DESCRIPTION Marky Ramone needs little introduction. The only Ramone still standing was born in 1952 in Brooklyn and joined the band in 1978, replacing Tommy, and remained with the Ramones until they disbanded in 1996 (with a 1983-1987 hiatus due to personal problems). He is a restless person and has never stopped recording and performing live, either solo (MR & the Intruders, MR & the Speedkings) or in projects and collaborations (Joey Ramone, Teenage Head, Tequila Baby, Wardogs...). MARKY RAMONE'S BLITZKRIEG is the name of the band with which he has been touring the world for 15 years celebrating the Ramones' legacy, as well as adding some own-penned songs and some covers of other iconic punk rock bands to his repertoire. Over the years the line-up has varied, but in recent times the band has consolidated its position on stage with the resounding presence of Vitoria-Gasteiz's own Iñaki Urbizu "Pela" (La Excavadora, Victima's Club) as frontman and vocalist, and the Argentinians Marcelo Gallo and Martín Sauan (Expulsados) on guitar and bass. So, the time seemed right to transfer all the energy generated live to a 10" plastic EP. Four versions fresh out of the oven. Three tracks under two and a half minutes and one just over three minutes. True to the Ramones essence, they remove all the fat that was left over from the originals and make every second count. The Gentrys' "Keep On Dancing" opens the selection. The original track reached number four in the US charts in 1965 and, after passing through the hands of MARKY RAMONE'S BLITZKRIEG, classic Ramones covers like "Do You Wanna Dance" inevitably come to mind. The idea is easy, speed up the original a bit, in 4/4, and then play it faster. The hard part is that the result is so exciting and energetic. "It's Not Unusual", the Tom Jones hit, becomes maximum fun. The familiar, catchy tune is elevated to a whole new level of energy and intensity so that the chorus can be belted out loud. The Beatles' "Octopus's Garden", originally composed and sung by Ringo Star, is transformed into a playful punk-pop song to escape, if only momentarily, from the worries of the earthly world in the backdrop of a bar with a good sound system. Closing "New York, New York", the classic song from the Frank Sinatra songbook, celebrates New York City. It fits perfectly with Marky's identity as a native of the city, rooted in its culture and spirit, capturing the vibrant energy and rebellious attitude of the city that never sleeps. Some can cover hundreds of different songs and make them their own, and others can't. MARKY RAMONE'S BLITZKRIEG, like their originators, are certainly one of those who can. The band is just as comfortable with a colossal song as they are with a ditty, it's all about electric atmosphere and chemistry and, on each of these new recordings, the voltage is very high. One euro from the sale of each record will go to the victims of war. Stop the war!

“More than ever, people need to hear songwriters talk about their lives. We don’t always have to search for monster hits. We can just write about our lives and maybe that might actually work. That’s what this record is a lot of. A lot of massive songs, but also a lot of me just writing authentically and honestly about my life. Flyin symbolizes the next phase of my career. I feel like I'm flying into this chapter where I’m the best version of myself that I've ever been. Y’all better catch-up or you’re getting left behind. I’m on fire!”

Four years after releasing their debut record, Indus are back in 2024 with Negra, their second album. This record explores the essence of the night through dance, seduction and mystery, while paying homage to Colombian amphibious cultures and the land as that place that has seen us moving and that we always return to. With these ten songs Barranquilla producer Oscar Alford, along with Andres Mercado and a select group of collaborators, builds a bridge between the sounds and histories of the Pacific and the Caribbean, bringing together territories like a river running through them and connecting them. Oscar says that on this record "there's this confluence of various cultural universes, on the one hand there's the traditional music of the coast and river areas, there are various maestros who collaborated on the record and they brought that, also there's electronica which is a universal language, and even hip hop and more urban genres like dembow." The record kicks off with "Deja," a ritual of initiation, a galactic, synthetic entrance into a place of plenty, a journey to the ethereal and the night. It's followed, like light and guide, by the song "Alfa Indi," with Gamero singer Nelda Piña, a release of electronic sounds evoking creation in all its senses. The night is an excuse for and a generator of desire, seduction and flirting in "Candela tu Trá," in collaboration with Tomás Llerena, grandson of the legendary Petrona Martínez. The earth is evident in tracks like "Canción del muerto," homage to the marimba maestro Gualajo, with his brother Pacho Torres and Bogotá rapper N. Hardem, a song that could be a farewell ritual and tribute to the land as the place to which we always return, one that holds the history of those who walked that land and left their mark on it. We hear this in "Corre Cimarrón" with Ka Oddun, portraying the journeys of fleeing enslaved ancestors as they tried to survive until they reached the palenque, a place of freedom. Negra explores the mysticism of the night and the cosmos within the Colombian musical tradition. A dialog between root rhythms, voices and synths with bases oscillating between techno-champeta, afro-tech and future-dembow. With this record Indus comes across as one of the most versatile acts on the Latin American scene, especially in the way they reinterpret ancestral music and resignify its sound.

Introducing a new double vinyl: Neophyte Records – 25 Years Of Hardcore Legacy – Volume 1! A timeless journey through the decades of hardcore music that has left an indelible mark on the scene. This exclusive vinyl celebrates a quarter-century of Neophyte Records, taking you on a nostalgic trip back in time.

A Musical Odyssey Across Decades:
Relive the evolution of hardcore as Neophyte Records presents a curated selection of tracks spanning all eras. From the iconic beats of the late ‘90s to the raw energy of the 2000s and beyond, this vinyl encapsulates the essence of hardcore.

Special Artwork Design:
Immerse yourself in the visual spectacle of 25 Years Of Hardcore Legacy. The vinyl features specially commissioned covers that captures the spirit of each era, making it a collector’s item not just for the ears but for the eyes as well.

Limited-Edition Collectors Item:
This vinyl is not just an album; it’s a piece of history. Limited to a select number of copies, this vinyl is a rare gem that will become a prized possession for hardcore enthusiasts and collectors.

Anniversary Edition Celebration:
Join the celebration of Neophyte Records’ 25th anniversary with this special edition vinyl. Commemorate the legacy of one of the pioneering labels in the hardcore scene! Embrace the passion, dedication and innovation that has defined Neophyte Records over the years.

Whether you’re a devoted hardcore fan, a collector or someone looking to rediscover the magic of hardcore through the ages, this vinyl is a must-have addition to your collection. Secure your copy now and become part of the enduring legacy of hardcore music!

A decade after releasing their debut EP through Planet Mu's Timesig imprint, Speed Dealer Moms—a collaborative electronic music project with a fluid line-up commonly made up of Aaron Funk, John Frusciante and Chris McDonald—are set to make their long-awaited return this summer with a new offering entitled SDM-LA8-441-114-211. The 3-track EP, arriving June 11 through Evar Records, offers a glimpse into the treasure trove of Speed Dealer Moms' unreleased material, with each song title alluding to the date in which it was recorded and in how many takes.

Over the years, Speed Dealer Moms have considered various ideas on how to release more of their unorthodox recordings in unconventional ways, with their latest to arrive in the format of a limited edition vinyl pressing. Although a lot has changed since first sharing their intricate creations with the world in 2010, Speed Dealer Moms have routinely gotten together whenever schedules and circumstances allowed, picking up wherever they last left off creatively and adding to their growing archive of recordings. While there are plenty of reminders that time is both irrelevant and an illusion—especially in the fickle music business where trends are fleeting—the chemistry these collaborators exhibit in the studio has no expiration date, offering a purity in approach that reflects the cherished importance of creating in the moment and subsequently celebrating timeless music.

During the writing process, which includes in-depth discussions and days of programming, Speed Dealer Moms record live to stereo with no overdubs or edits, improvising arrangements that often feel composed. In the same spirit of prodigal IDM acts such as Autechre and Luke Vibert, each Speed Dealer Moms session pushes the limits of what an arsenal of modular synthesizers and other machines are capable of, creating tracks that are driven by mathematics, mechanical understanding and musical spontaneity alike. As exemplified by their forthcoming Evar release, each recorded session captures an undeniable magic that is both distinctive and hard to describe, creating a listening experience that transcends genre lines and sonic boundaries.

The Guardian wrote “the Canadian songwriter has one of the all-time great singing voices in popular music, an intensely romantic Chet Baker-ish instrument that seems to float with piercing direction, like a paper aeroplane thrown hard through mist.” With Uncut describing his songcraft “as delicate and lovely as a rare orchid” and Record Collector praising the album’s “sublime alien balladry” such are the accolades that have accrued throughout Chenaux’s unique and consummately uncompromising solo music for well over a decade now. Delights Of My Life opens a new chapter for the singer/guitarist and formally introduces the Eric Chenaux Trio, with Toronto-based musicians Ryan Driver on Wurlitzer organ and Phillipe Melanson on electronic percussion. Driver is a longtime collaborator, appearing on several of Chenaux’s solo albums (even embedded into the very title of the 2010 masterpiece Warm Weather With Ryan Driver). Melanson has a long list of involvements that include Bernice, Joseph Shabason, and U.S Girls, and a recent release with his Impossible Burger project on Chenaux’s own experimental label Rat-drifting, but this marks the first fulsome involvement between the two as players on a recording. In many ways Delights Of My Life also picks up right where Chenaux’s previous album left off, in its subversions of a classic, timeless jazz-inflected balladry, while the interplay of the trio formation indeed unfurls many new delights. Recording together at Chenaux’s spartan home studio in rural France, Driver’s harmonically warped organ and Melanson’s electroacoustic sampling and percussion hold time in newfound ways. Where previously Chenaux relied on a freeze/sustain pedal and minimalist rhythmic triggers to generate both pulse and chordal foundations, Melanson now paints timekeeping with expressive and intricate colourations, through live deployments of fluid sampled percussion (including orchestral timbres like timpani, kettle drums, and woodblock) that blur the boundaries between acoustic and electronic. Driver also ramps up his role in the song arrangements (prefigured in his support playing on Say Laura), teasing out chords and melodic filigree on Wurlitzer that percolate more prominently with Chenaux’s signature fried guitar solos and succulent singing. Both trio members add dulcet backing vocals, most notably on the 10-minute tour-de-force of fuzzed and ring-modulated swing “This Ain’t Life” that opens the record. All seven songs on the album groove and sway, simmer and sparkle, like nothing in the inestimable Chenaux discography to date. Chenaux’s tunes have the uncanny ability to sound like jazz standards; songs you feel you’ve heard before, though certainly never quite like this. Yet these are of course all originals, compositionally and interpretively, bent through an inimitable avant/out-music lens. Delights Of My Life conveys warm familiarity, shot through with the exuberantly experimental subversion and playful, even mischievous, iconoclasm that continues to mark Chenaux as defiantly, virtuosically, and genially one-of-kind

British four-piece rock band Collateral are set to release their highly anticipated sophomore album Should’ve Known Better on May 24, 2024. The album is distributed worldwide by Cargo. The album will be released on CD, red vinyl, picture disc, limited edition cassette, and digital. Friday February 9th saw the release of the lead single “Glass Sky.”. The new single “Glass Sky” and the forthcoming album Should’ve Known Better is produced by Dan Weller (Those Damn Crows, Enter Shikari, Monster Truck, Kris Barras, Holding Absence, Bury Tomorrow). "I love massive riffs, massive hooks and feel-good guitar music,” says Weller. “When Collateral sent me their demos, I jumped at chance to produce their new record. I’m proud of what we managed to create. It’s Collateral mk2 - ambitious, daring and refined. I can’t wait for people to hear it." Since the band released their debut album (Top 5 UK Rock Album Chart) at the start of 2020 Collateral have spent no time standing still. Covid came only weeks after the debut album was released and forced the band to cancel their highly successful tour with Phil X (Bon Jovi) halfway through. This made the band hungry to keep the momentum. With innovative ways to produce top quality live streams, the band became special guests supporting the likes of Skid Row, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love. The exciting and flamboyant Kent-based rock and roll band are comprised of Angelo Tristan (lead vocals, guitar), Louis Malagodi (guitar), Jack Bentley-Smith (bass) and Ben Atkinson (drums). On October 21, 2022, Collateral independently released a re-mixed and re-mastered version of their debut album “Re-Wired” which featured Jeff Scott Soto, Phil X, Kee Marcello, Rudy Sarzo, Danny Vaughn, and Joel Hoekstra. The re-release saw the band in the Official UK Rock Charts at #12. After the gruelling back-to-back tours with Skid Row, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love, the band ignited a spark and strengthened their already loyal fanbase leading them to win the opening slot at 2023s Stonedead Festival, leading the band to perform their biggest show. Collateral’s hotly tipped sophomore album looks like it will take them to the next level. A lot of people don’t know what to expect from the new album, as the band have been tight-lipped about the new songs. Collateral have created a state-of-the-art rock album that will immerse listeners in their rock music universe, enabling fans to feel the blood, sweat and glory that went into the recording of every song. “We felt that our debut album was lacking the production,” reflects Collateral’s frontman, Angelo Tristan. “For the sophomore album, I wanted to make sure that this time we left no room for error and so got one of the hottest producers in the music industry, Dan Weller, to help lift these songs into a new dimension. With Dan’s pioneering studio expertise, this album has massive production quality that enables you to get lost in each character-filled track. Dan really brought out the emotions we were trying to portray and has achieved it with his own unique style.” “We wanted this album to express where we were in our own lives since the release of our first. So much has happened since then, I mean the world shut down for what felt like a lifetime! And it was obvious that people were going to need some sort of optimism. I hope ‘Glass Sky’ is one of those songs that gives people the belief to find themselves again.” “Whereas, the feel-good ‘Just One Of Those Days’ is trying to find the good side of a bad day. Me being me, couldn’t help but to write a big power ballad, ‘The Long Road’, that I wrote from a very hard and deep place, in hope that it could maybe bring some peace and comfort to people who need it. I think there’s all aspects of life running though this album and what it means to us will remain in our hearts forever. ”Should’ve Known Better” is an album that goes beyond specific music genres,” says Angelo. “It’s almost like a soundtrack to a beating heart. It’s an album that will remain timeless in years to come

British four-piece rock band Collateral are set to release their highly anticipated sophomore album Should’ve Known Better on May 24, 2024. The album is distributed worldwide by Cargo. The album will be released on CD, red vinyl, picture disc, limited edition cassette, and digital. Friday February 9th saw the release of the lead single “Glass Sky.”. The new single “Glass Sky” and the forthcoming album Should’ve Known Better is produced by Dan Weller (Those Damn Crows, Enter Shikari, Monster Truck, Kris Barras, Holding Absence, Bury Tomorrow). "I love massive riffs, massive hooks and feel-good guitar music,” says Weller. “When Collateral sent me their demos, I jumped at chance to produce their new record. I’m proud of what we managed to create. It’s Collateral mk2 - ambitious, daring and refined. I can’t wait for people to hear it." Since the band released their debut album (Top 5 UK Rock Album Chart) at the start of 2020 Collateral have spent no time standing still. Covid came only weeks after the debut album was released and forced the band to cancel their highly successful tour with Phil X (Bon Jovi) halfway through. This made the band hungry to keep the momentum. With innovative ways to produce top quality live streams, the band became special guests supporting the likes of Skid Row, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love. The exciting and flamboyant Kent-based rock and roll band are comprised of Angelo Tristan (lead vocals, guitar), Louis Malagodi (guitar), Jack Bentley-Smith (bass) and Ben Atkinson (drums). On October 21, 2022, Collateral independently released a re-mixed and re-mastered version of their debut album “Re-Wired” which featured Jeff Scott Soto, Phil X, Kee Marcello, Rudy Sarzo, Danny Vaughn, and Joel Hoekstra. The re-release saw the band in the Official UK Rock Charts at #12. After the gruelling back-to-back tours with Skid Row, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love, the band ignited a spark and strengthened their already loyal fanbase leading them to win the opening slot at 2023s Stonedead Festival, leading the band to perform their biggest show. Collateral’s hotly tipped sophomore album looks like it will take them to the next level. A lot of people don’t know what to expect from the new album, as the band have been tight-lipped about the new songs. Collateral have created a state-of-the-art rock album that will immerse listeners in their rock music universe, enabling fans to feel the blood, sweat and glory that went into the recording of every song. “We felt that our debut album was lacking the production,” reflects Collateral’s frontman, Angelo Tristan. “For the sophomore album, I wanted to make sure that this time we left no room for error and so got one of the hottest producers in the music industry, Dan Weller, to help lift these songs into a new dimension. With Dan’s pioneering studio expertise, this album has massive production quality that enables you to get lost in each character-filled track. Dan really brought out the emotions we were trying to portray and has achieved it with his own unique style.” “We wanted this album to express where we were in our own lives since the release of our first. So much has happened since then, I mean the world shut down for what felt like a lifetime! And it was obvious that people were going to need some sort of optimism. I hope ‘Glass Sky’ is one of those songs that gives people the belief to find themselves again.” “Whereas, the feel-good ‘Just One Of Those Days’ is trying to find the good side of a bad day. Me being me, couldn’t help but to write a big power ballad, ‘The Long Road’, that I wrote from a very hard and deep place, in hope that it could maybe bring some peace and comfort to people who need it. I think there’s all aspects of life running though this album and what it means to us will remain in our hearts forever. ”Should’ve Known Better” is an album that goes beyond specific music genres,” says Angelo. “It’s almost like a soundtrack to a beating heart. It’s an album that will remain timeless in years to come

LTD. BLACK CLOUD COLOUR VINYL

THE GHOST INSIDE stands as an unstoppable force in the realm of hard rock music. Fueled by unwavering determination and unyielding passion, this band has forged a path marked by resilience and redemption. Their latest endeavor, the 6th studio album titled Search for Solace, delves into the profound theme of grappling with one"s own thoughts - the internal struggle between good, bad, and evil. It explores the journey of finding comfort and making peace amidst the chaos of life"s ebb and flow. The album reflects the band"s commitment to not succumb to negativity, anger, or darkness, aligning with their identity as an uplifting and comforting musical force for fans seeking solace. Established in 2004, THE GHOST INSIDE has solidified its position as a trailblazer in melodic hard rock. Their music seamlessly combines raw aggression with profound lyricism, creating a resonant experience for their dedicated fanbase. Despite facing challenges, notably a tragic bus accident in 2015 that left some members with life-altering injuries, the band refused to be broken. Through unwavering perseverance, they made a triumphant return to the stage, defying the odds. Their music embodies a spirit of resilience, unity, and the indomitable power of the human spirit. Each thunderous breakdown and soaring melody strikes a deep chord within the hearts of their fans, serving as a testament to the band"s enduring impact. THE GHOST INSIDE"s journey is a testament to their ability to inspire and uplift through music. As they embark on a global tour starting this Spring, venturing into new territories, including South America and beyond, the band continues to share their message of strength and perseverance with audiences around the world.

THE GHOST INSIDE stands as an unstoppable force in the realm of hard rock music. Fueled by unwavering determination and unyielding passion, this band has forged a path marked by resilience and redemption. Their latest endeavor, the 6th studio album titled Search for Solace, delves into the profound theme of grappling with one"s own thoughts - the internal struggle between good, bad, and evil. It explores the journey of finding comfort and making peace amidst the chaos of life"s ebb and flow. The album reflects the band"s commitment to not succumb to negativity, anger, or darkness, aligning with their identity as an uplifting and comforting musical force for fans seeking solace. Established in 2004, THE GHOST INSIDE has solidified its position as a trailblazer in melodic hard rock. Their music seamlessly combines raw aggression with profound lyricism, creating a resonant experience for their dedicated fanbase. Despite facing challenges, notably a tragic bus accident in 2015 that left some members with life-altering injuries, the band refused to be broken. Through unwavering perseverance, they made a triumphant return to the stage, defying the odds. Their music embodies a spirit of resilience, unity, and the indomitable power of the human spirit. Each thunderous breakdown and soaring melody strikes a deep chord within the hearts of their fans, serving as a testament to the band"s enduring impact. THE GHOST INSIDE"s journey is a testament to their ability to inspire and uplift through music. As they embark on a global tour starting this Spring, venturing into new territories, including South America and beyond, the band continues to share their message of strength and perseverance with audiences around the world.

Guzzle the momentum. Slap the door behind you. Run faster. The feeling pure. The attention fried. Rush from left to right. Repetition. Doorbells ringing. Where do I stand? Organizational chaos is a theory that predicts the here, the now, the never before seen or known. My attention is as pure as it is fried. Thrilled to announce that Thrills In +41 welcomes us with sheer brilliance. Let's Purifry The Attention. Solidified action. Embrace the filter. You feel it? Kicks and incredulous rhythmic action. Stuttered chopped vocals. A dash of madness and you're there. Open the door. National discoveries are about to be found. Discovery 70D is a gateway to a new portal known as... Skipman. Pull it in. Acidic drops drop harder than acid drops when you drop it because it's hot right now in the midst of this after-summer delight. Long sentences stretch like honey clinging on to your buttered knife as you make yourself toast because we're all toasted and we wrote a poem called d'Ache together that one night. Ahhh, the beat goes on. It's basically a Visual Illusion. An ambient setting wraps up this rap. Imagine tender vocals summoning the night over the howls of dusty vinyls and the digital embodiment of contemporary music making machines. We are a music making machine.

Following the release of Eric Chenaux's last album Say Laura (2022), The Guardian wrote "the Canadian songwriter has one of the all-time great singing voices in popular music, an intensely romantic Chet Baker-ish instrument that seems to float with piercing direction, like a paper aeroplane thrown hard through mist." With Uncut describing his songcraft "as delicate and lovely as a rare orchid" and Record Collector praising the album's "sublime alien balladry" such are the accolades that have accrued throughout Chenaux's unique and consummately uncompromising solo music for well over a decade now. Delights Of My Life opens a new chapter for the singer/guitarist and formally introduces the Eric Chenaux Trio, with Toronto-based musicians Ryan Driver on Wurlitzer organ and Phillipe Melanson on electronic percussion. Driver is a longtime collaborator, appearing on several of Chenaux's solo albums (even embedded into the very title of the 2010 masterpiece Warm Weather With Ryan Driver). Melanson has a long list of involvements that include Bernice, Joseph Shabason, and U.S Girls, and a recent release with his Impossible Burger project on Chenaux's own experimental label Rat-drifting, but this marks the first fulsome involvement between the two as players on a recording. In many ways Delights Of My Life also picks up right where Chenaux's previous album left off, in its subversions of a classic, timeless jazz-inflected balladry, while the interplay of the trio formation indeed unfurls many new delights. Recording together at Chenaux's spartan home studio in rural France, Driver's harmonically warped organ and Melanson's electroacoustic sampling and percussion hold time in newfound ways. Where previously Chenaux relied on a freeze/sustain pedal and minimalist rhythmic triggers to generate both pulse and chordal foundations, Melanson now paints timekeeping with expressive and intricate colourations, through live deployments of fluid sampled percussion (including orchestral timbres like timpani, kettle drums, and woodblock) that blur the boundaries between acoustic and electronic. Driver also ramps up his role in the song arrangements (prefigured in his support playing on Say Laura), teasing out chords and melodic filigree on Wurlitzer that percolate more prominently with Chenaux's signature fried guitar solos and succulent singing. Both trio members add dulcet backing vocals, most notably on the 10-minute tour-de-force of fuzzed and ring-modulated swing "This Ain't Life" that opens the record. All seven songs on the album groove and sway, simmer and sparkle, like nothing in the inestimable Chenaux discography to date. Chenaux's tunes have the uncanny ability to sound like jazz standards; songs you feel you've heard before, though certainly never quite like this. Yet these are of course all originals, compositionally and interpretively, bent through an inimitable avant/out-music lens. Delights Of My Life conveys warm familiarity, shot through with the exuberantly experimental subversion and playful, even mischievous, iconoclasm that continues to mark Chenaux as defiantly, virtuosically, and genially one-of-kind.

180GM BLACK VINYL : 500 PRESSED WORLDWIDE.

Furthermore, Billy Mahonie now have their own label, Whistling Sam Projects, an almost sold-out London launch show at The Lexington on May 4th, and they are confirmed to play Portals Festival Saturday May 25th in East London. After nearly quarter of a century, Billy Mahonie are very much back.
Formed in the first wave of British post-rock alongside the likes of Mogwai in the late 90s, John Peel favourites Billy Mahonie are set to return with the first new music from their original line-up in some twenty-four years. Whilst their debut album ‘The Big Dig’, released in 1999 on Too Pure Records, is considered a classic of the post rock genre, Billy Mahonie always crafted their intricate music with memorable hooks and melodies and performed it with energy and gusto. Theirs was not an aimless, meandering sound, instead the songs and attitude were rooted in punk rock, and still are. Billy Mahonie put the rock into post-rock.
Set for release this coming May 24th via Whistling Sam Projects, ‘Field Of Heads’ sees the band returning with their classic original line-up of Gavin Baker (guitar), Howard Monk (drums), Hywell Dinsdale (bass and guitar) and Kevin Penney (bass and guitar). Whilst this line-up has been semi active for a few years, no new material came to fruition. After their last gig in 2017, however, the band decided it was time to get back into the studio, but with two members living abroad new challenges were faced, but ideas were shared, old ones were resurrected and finally in October of 2019, Billy Mahonie were back in the studio.
Recorded over two long weekends on either side of the Covid 19 lockdowns, the band tracked at The Church studios, owned by their former collaborator and front of house engineer Paul Epworth, with senior engineer Luke Pickering at the controls, allowing ‘Field Of Heads’ to quickly take shape.
New single ‘Kaiju’ gives the music world the first taste of ‘Field Of Heads’ and right from the off, it’s classic Billy Mahonie. Immediately bursting into life with the energy and melody that is so unique to their sound, Howard’s driving drums thrust the music ahead as the guitars and synths weave their way around them. Intricate and shifting, but never at the expense of a tune that sticks in your head.
“This one came from a chord progression myself and Gav first tried out jamming in 2010,” explains drummer Howard. “Needless to say, when Hywell and Kev got their hands on it, it became something no-one ever envisaged. Kev's great title is, of course, the Japanese name for the subgenre of monster-based science fiction. A frenetic riff opens the song and for a counter guitar part only two options remain, play in the minimal gaps or find an overarching theme. We chose both. Kaiju films influence the additional Synths, echoes of those early Japanese movie themes. Some people we have played this to in advance have suggested this track is one we should lead with, as it is kind of where we left off. We agree. It rocks pretty hard. And is a bit funky too. What’s not to like?!”
 
Furthermore, Billy Mahonie now have their own label, Whistling Sam Projects, set up for global distribution through SRD, an almost sold-out London launch show at The Lexington on May 4th, and they are confirmed to play Portals Festival Saturday May 25th in East London. After nearly quarter of a century, Billy Mahonie are very much back.

With Folksong Distortions, Pauwels and Van der Aa create a journey of lament through the soul of times gone by. Their radical renditions of works by Larry Polansky and Christopher Trapanido not distort the more upbeat rhythm and tradition of folk songs, but rather reveal and highlight the essence of hard lives, imposed choices - choices that were illusions in the first place - and the difficult times and conditions they have always depicted.

Christopher Trapani arranged two classics from the U.S. South, effects. The work, developed in collaboration with Tom Pauwels and Liesa Van der Aa, was originally made and featured on ICTUS' American Lament programme. The duo was given considerable room for improvisation and interpretation in the process. The first song, 'Wayfaring Stranger', is a well-known folk/gospel melody in A minor. The lyrics contrast an aimless journey through a harsh, hostile world, with the Christian promise of heaven as a 'home' and reunion with lost loved ones. The second song, 'Freight Train', was written by Elizabeth Cotten, a left-handed guitarist who held her guitar upside down, resulting in a very recognisable strumming style.

Sweet Betsy from Pike and Eskimo Lullaby are taken from Larry Polansky's 2005 'Songs and Toads', a five-section piece that computer-composed pieces. The work was originally written for guitar, more specifically for the national steel guitar, refretted in a specific intonation designed by Lou Harrison. Each piece explores a different guitar tuning. A significant intervention to the original work is made to accommodate Liesa Van der Aa's violin with effect pedals, opening to an epic re-reading of the work as conceived by the American composer Larry Polansky. What this set-up enables is a melancholy, slow-paced approach that quite radically opposes the more upbeat and joyful nature of the folk songs.

180GM BLACK VINYL : 500 PRESSED WORLDWIDE.

Furthermore, Billy Mahonie now have their own label, Whistling Sam Projects, an almost sold-out London launch show at The Lexington on May 4th, and they are confirmed to play Portals Festival Saturday May 25th in East London. After nearly quarter of a century, Billy Mahonie are very much back.
Formed in the first wave of British post-rock alongside the likes of Mogwai in the late 90s, John Peel favourites Billy Mahonie are set to return with the first new music from their original line-up in some twenty-four years. Whilst their debut album ‘The Big Dig’, released in 1999 on Too Pure Records, is considered a classic of the post rock genre, Billy Mahonie always crafted their intricate music with memorable hooks and melodies and performed it with energy and gusto. Theirs was not an aimless, meandering sound, instead the songs and attitude were rooted in punk rock, and still are. Billy Mahonie put the rock into post-rock.
Set for release this coming May 24th via Whistling Sam Projects, ‘Field Of Heads’ sees the band returning with their classic original line-up of Gavin Baker (guitar), Howard Monk (drums), Hywell Dinsdale (bass and guitar) and Kevin Penney (bass and guitar). Whilst this line-up has been semi active for a few years, no new material came to fruition. After their last gig in 2017, however, the band decided it was time to get back into the studio, but with two members living abroad new challenges were faced, but ideas were shared, old ones were resurrected and finally in October of 2019, Billy Mahonie were back in the studio.
Recorded over two long weekends on either side of the Covid 19 lockdowns, the band tracked at The Church studios, owned by their former collaborator and front of house engineer Paul Epworth, with senior engineer Luke Pickering at the controls, allowing ‘Field Of Heads’ to quickly take shape.
New single ‘Kaiju’ gives the music world the first taste of ‘Field Of Heads’ and right from the off, it’s classic Billy Mahonie. Immediately bursting into life with the energy and melody that is so unique to their sound, Howard’s driving drums thrust the music ahead as the guitars and synths weave their way around them. Intricate and shifting, but never at the expense of a tune that sticks in your head.
“This one came from a chord progression myself and Gav first tried out jamming in 2010,” explains drummer Howard. “Needless to say, when Hywell and Kev got their hands on it, it became something no-one ever envisaged. Kev's great title is, of course, the Japanese name for the subgenre of monster-based science fiction. A frenetic riff opens the song and for a counter guitar part only two options remain, play in the minimal gaps or find an overarching theme. We chose both. Kaiju films influence the additional Synths, echoes of those early Japanese movie themes. Some people we have played this to in advance have suggested this track is one we should lead with, as it is kind of where we left off. We agree. It rocks pretty hard. And is a bit funky too. What’s not to like?!”
 
Furthermore, Billy Mahonie now have their own label, Whistling Sam Projects, set up for global distribution through SRD, an almost sold-out London launch show at The Lexington on May 4th, and they are confirmed to play Portals Festival Saturday May 25th in East London. After nearly quarter of a century, Billy Mahonie are very much back.

Special Guests on the record include: Mark Cisneros, Joe Lally, Derrick Decker, Bob Berberich, Clint Walsh, Dave Grohl, Onam Emmett, John Goetchius, Jerry Busher, Amy Pickering, Ian MacKaye, Amanda MacKaye, Brian Baker, Randy Austin, Martha Hull, Michael Reidy, Nate Bergman, Bobby Madden.

Scream formed in 1979. Drummer Kent Stacks, bassist Skeeter Enoch Thompson and the brothers Pete and Franz Stahl attended school together in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia, when they began to discover the punk and new wave scene in DC and the provocative power of making music.

Like most of the punk bands in DC, they were influenced by the Bad Brains, but their rock and roll sensibilities set them apart. In 1982, they went into Inner Ear Studio with Ian MacKaye and Eddie Janney to record Dischord's first full length album, Still Screaming.

Scream followed this with a second full length album, This Side Up, in 1984. The band toured throughout the US and were one of the first US hardcore bands to tour Europe and the UK. In 1987, they released Banging the Drum, which was recorded at both Southern Studios in London and Inner Ear. In 1988, No More Censorship was released on reggae label RAS records. Scream returned to Dischord to release Fumble in 1993.

They made a few line-up changes along the way, including the addition of their friend Harley Davidson on second guitar, and, when Kent Stacks (RIP) left the band to start a family, they asked a young local drummer, Dave Grohl, to take over. After a number of years with "the Scream team," Dave went on to join Nirvana and form The Foo Fighters.

In 1996, at a Christmas reunion show, Kent Stacks returned as Scream’s drummer; the show was recorded and released as the CD “Live at the Black Cat.” Over the next few years, everyone branched out in different directions – Franz joined the Foos for a short period and Pete played with Goatsnake and earthlings? The band returned as a unit, with Clint Walsh on second guitar, in 2011 to record the Complete Control Sessions, which was released as an EP on Side One Dummy and was, until now, the band’s most recent release.

Scream’s newest album, DC Special, will be released in the fall of 2023 on Dischord Records. For this record, Scream invited their extensive music community to help create a unique project that weaves the history of music in Washington DC into the story of the band. Recorded by Don Zientara just weeks before his studio was evicted from its longtime location, the record is rich with both the sounds of Inner Ear and those of friends and musicians who influenced Scream and who shaped DC music over the past six decades. DC Special embodies the same sense of community and politics that inspired Scream from the start and is a truly special collection of new music that speaks to the present and also tells the story of DC music, Scream, and the influences that shaped them.


Bonus Download Tracks
Faces
Politics is Entertainment
Black and White
Lifeline Redux
Smile and Bleed
I Saw Ya (Wanna Be Like Captain)

The Stabbing Jabs - vocalist Peter Aaron (Chrome Cranks), guitarists William G. Weber (Chrome Cranks, GG Allin & the Murder Junkies) and Chris Donnelly (Gang Green), drummer Andrew Jody (Barrence Whitfield & the Savages), and bassist Jamie Morrison - breathe fiery life into the type of tough, timeless rock 'n' roll a generation had left for dead. Here it is, ready to make your life a living hell: an arsenal of hard, hammering tunes built on thick, cinder-block guitars. Blood-flecked screams. Dirty, fuzzy low end. Drums that swing as hard as they bash. And RIFFS. Riffs, riffs, and more riffs. Did we mention the riffs?

KRIEGSHÖG is back. Five years after their last single and 14 since their debut album, the Tokyo Hardcore band finally delivers a new release. Love and Revenge is a record of consummate savagery and monster riffs. Picking up where Paint It Black 7” left, and moving forward as a heavy toned hardcore record that finds the band in its own realm. While following the Japanese tradition of long running bands operating at their own pace and mastering their sound along the way

December 2012 I showed up totally exhausted in Vancouver BC after touring stupidly and relentlessly for however many straight months and got a job at a call centre raising money for the Red Cross. It was a scent free office but one time this woman cooked a piece of fish in the microwave for 10 minutes on low and hot boxed the whole office - we got sent home early no pay. There was the other woman I named the Call Centre Coltrane because her pitch and routine usually involved improvised flights of fancy that went off in both directions at once somehow landing back down with a credit card number and a donation. I used to sleep under the desk. I was there a few months and at the time I reconnected with John Brennan who I had played with briefly in Montreal at the Mutek Festival. In Montreal John was running an experimental music night at a burrito shop downtown called Garbage Night. While in Vancouver I began connecting with the music scene there and would go hang out with the Shearing Pinx lads who I think lived with Sydney the bass player at the time. I knew Nic and Jer from an AIDS Wolf Tour and was so stoked to get to know them both better. I really fell in love with that era of Vancouver's music scene.
Fast Forward to today. 2024
Actually it was the dying days of 2023 but you get it and John asks if I'll sit in with Earth Ball and I keep thinking about Earth Balance, the vegan butter everyone eats here. I brought my aching bones and my ipads on the beautiful ferry named the Queen of Oak Bay and out to Nanaimo BC, home of the nanaimo bar (a dessert treat - special to this region - that seems to be more popularly found under the weird glass sneeze guards in office building deli's out east in Ontario.... anyhoops ). No one in Nanaimo wants to talk to me about the famous treat. I asked a couple of people. Silence. Nanaimo is like London, Ontario but more fried and by the sea. The town is filled with blown out old sea dawgs with tin coffee pots and loose leaf tobacco, then there's the usual streetfolk you find in this part of the Canadian Pacific Northwest and a bunch of bohemians who I guess have left Vancouver behind - that fine city having become uninhabitable for those not making over 100k a year. And then up the way are all the retirees.
Yup Nanaimo is a strange one. They mined the shit out of this region and Nanaimo is surely haunted by those buried in mining shafts or maimed by the heavy machinery or blown up by accident in the explosives store house. And when Earth Ball fire up the amps in Izzy and Jer's basement you can hear the voices of the ghosts hum through electrical lines and out the speakers, Kellen's hued feedback, Izy's sturdy basslines, Jer's paperbag guitar tone and rumble pack zaps, Liam's (aka the Kid) sheets of sound and Brennen's multidirectional drums.
You wouldn't guess Earth Ball was auto-composing and from what my rat brain can tell - the lyrics are improvised too...Improvising lyrics and singing them is the hardest thing to do in all of music.. Izzy and Jer are pros. And their attitudes are pro too.
The live show is scorched and without naming names they've been known to make headliners nervous. Lucky ones will get to see them live as they tour this beast of a record entitled ‘It’s Yours’ (out May 17th on Upset The Rhythm) and I hope I'm one of them.
But now you, fan of fun but totally fucked up music, have the opportunity to Ball with them thanks to Upset The Rhythm. Enjoy
-Alex Moskos, Montreal QC, Feb 2024

When ANY GIVEN DAY took to the international metalcore stage six years ago, most of the audience had already left and the scene police were already busy sweeping out the hall. ANY GIVEN DAY, the hard-working guys from Gelsenkirchen, still put their backs into it. Musically gifted and well marketed, the band didn't quite make it to the top, but secured a place at the front of the field behind bands like KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and CALIBAN. This status is further cemented with "Overpower". And now this convincing Overpower is finally being re-released on vinyl.

When ANY GIVEN DAY took to the international metalcore stage six years ago, most of the audience had already left and the scene police were already busy sweeping out the hall. ANY GIVEN DAY, the hard-working guys from Gelsenkirchen, still put their backs into it. Musically gifted and well marketed, the band didn't quite make it to the top, but secured a place at the front of the field behind bands like KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and CALIBAN. This status is further cemented with "Overpower". And now this convincing Overpower is finally being re-released on vinyl.

“Dissociative Being” is the 2nd single from the Ohio based metalcore band Like Moths To Flames - taken from their new album The Cycles Of Trying To Cope – out May 10th. This release follows their 2020 album ‘No Eternity In Gold’ which received praise from Wall Of Sound “LMTF deliver their signature sound, but still manage to dial it up a few notches. I genuinely think that metalcore fans will be debating their number one metalcore album of the year” and The Music “Like Moths To Flames have positioned themselves back on the path of success and memorability, crafting a release that laughs in the faces of their many lacking core peers. There might be “no eternity in gold,” but there just might be an eternity in this kind of tightly-wound, well-rounded modern metalcore.” When speaking about the meaning of track “Dissociative Being” singer Chris Roetter states, “Blood leaves a stain that's often hard to remove. Much like the scars that people leave when they're destructive with their life. This song is about someone who's destroyed everything they had left. Being so parasitic with their life that it bleeds into the lives of others - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “Kintsugi” is the latest single from the Ohio based metalcore band Like Moths To Flames and will be used to launch their new album The Cycles Of Trying To Cope – out May 10th. This release follows their 2020 album ‘No Eternity In Gold’ which received praise from Wall Of Sound “LMTF deliver their signature sound, but still manage to dial it up a few notches. I genuinely think that metalcore fans will be debating their number one metalcore album of the year” and The Music “Like Moths To Flames have positioned themselves back on the path of success and memorability, crafting a release that laughs in the faces of their many lacking core peers. There might be “no eternity in gold,” but there just might be an eternity in this kind of tightly-wound, well-rounded modern metalcore.” When speaking about the meaning of track “Kintsugi” singer Chris Roetter states, “When things go wrong, I think we are left to pick up the pieces and forced to choose which piece to leave with. If it's not possible to leave with everything the way it was before it broke, how do you know what piece to hold onto? “.

Runar Magnusson is an Icelandic/Danish sound artist and musician, currently based in Austria. With a masters degree in Electronic Music Composition from The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark, he is inspired by the sounds of nature, noise, and meditation. Magnusson specialises in atmospheric disturbances through minimalist compositions. A sly humour cuts through the dark hues of his works.

Magnusson writes: "The two works which make up "Inside Out of Chaos" are somewhat related. They were made at the same time and share the same source materials somewhat – a pool of sounds I had been experimenting with for a couple of years. Two separate projects created the opportunities for me to realise them in these finished forms.

At the beginning of 2020 I was invited to participate in an acousmatic concert series at the Traktorfabrikken in Vienna. Curated by Austrian composer Christian Tschinkel and performed on his Akusmonautikum sound system this particular event, titled Kill & Kaoss, was the last in the series. I named my piece after the event and dedicated it to Tschinkel´s Akusmonautikum system. Without my knowing, I had witnessed this system in action half a year earlier at a concert at the Hermann Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach, with Hermann Nitch playing the organ and Tschinkel operating the sound system – a profoundly enjoyable performance. I was very happy when I connected the dots soon after the invitation to participate. I intended my work for Kill & Kaoss to be a way to greet the new lunar year of the rat – a year which held many surprises… The event took place on 22nd of February 2020 at Traktorfabrikken, Vienna.

"Inside Out (for Trattner)" was composed for Austrian artist Josef Trattner. It was the soundtrack for a film that was a part of his exhibition "Inside Out" at the Kiesler Foundation in Vienna, 2020. I assisted with the installation of the exhibition, itself a filmed action that evolved into the movie of which this is the score. The installation was a very hard physical process that left me bloody and blistered. It was also a fascinating, trance-inducing experience. Mining with ones bare hands, digging out this huge structure and creating a womblike cave, a tunnel system, a playground, a hideaway while experiencing ever-increasing pain in the fingers and hands. The exhibition ran from 27 February 2020 until 23 December 2020.

I consider this release as the final part of a trilogy I refer to as "the three sisters of sorrow". These three releases are an insight into my state of mind at the time – a mental collapse, somewhat triggered by a move to a new country, the death of my friend Jóhann Jóhannsson and the loss of my father a year later. Between 2018 and 2021 I had the trilogy almost ready but had not been able to finish them. I sought professional help to lift me up from the deep and was diagnosed with ADHD, which explained many things in my life. Only after the darkness had lifted could I see that these three releases were connected. They depicted both the mental state I had been in – an incapacitating downward spiral, a crushing chaos – and also my search for the light, a way out of the maze and my path up to the surface."

Runar Magnusson, Vienna, 13 November 2023

Limted version on 2LP transparent violet vinyl in gatefold sleeve, 300 copies! ‘Lefto presents Jazz Cats' is back with volume 3 and still doing what it does best: putting you in the front row of what the thriving Belgian jazz scene currently has to offer and revealing a melting pot of the musical talent.



'Lefto presents Jazz Cats' is back with volume 3 and still doing what it does best: putting you in the front row of what the thriving Belgian jazz scene currently has to offer and revealing a melting pot of the musical talent coming out one of the smallest countries in Europe. Never change a winning team they say, so we're happy to have Belgian DJ and eclectic connoisseur Lefto on board again.

Although you expect thecompilation to be talking jazz, volume 3 explores a broader array of styles, genres, and sounds than ever before, arriving at a point where the 'young cats' of today don't bother no more. It may focus on the Belgian scene, but let's face it, seeing the influences, this one could be compiled from all over the world. From the empowering and bittersweet voices of Oriana Ikomo and Adja, over the more acoustic-electronic productions of Moodprint, Ciao Kennedy, Kassius and echofarmer. It's even expanding the Jazz Cats universe to dub and bass-heavy tracks with Kin Gajo and Le Ministère, Ethio-jazz from Azmari, while sending you back to earth with bodies' swirling sax and drums. That saxophone still rings in your ears when you end up in the orbit of the march-like drums of Bodem, Orson Claeys' piano testing your ability to follow him, slamming the breaks to go smooth cruisin' with HONEY (Morricone meets Khruangbin, anyone?), to crashing in a raging tempo on that last track of Bruno x Soet x Moene. And there you are, back with us.



2018's 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats' included tracks from some of Belgium's biggest hitters, including Black Flower, STUFF. De Beren Gieren and Glass Museum who have all gone on to receive global acclaim. The album was given the accolade of 'Album of the Week' on Worldwide FM and also received further radio support from Jazz FM in addition to numerous glowing reviews. The 2022 follow-up 'Jazz Cats volume 2' paved the way for a new generation inspired by its peers, entering another era of very talented individuals and collectives. Maybe even more so than 4 years before. It uncovered a beautiful balance of more established but also obscure musicians and artists. Opening up to electronics and dance, enter bands like ECHT!, Stellar Legions and TUKAN. Thrilling innovative soundscape grooves and jazz fusion with Bandler Ching and L?p?GangGang, not to forget about the weaving musical odyssey that is M.CHUZI. In addition, there's the balanced unease of One Frame Movement, the laidback 'acoustic electronica' of Boombox Experiments, the classic funky jazz stylings of Cargo Mas and cinematic The Brums, all of these have set volume 2 on the map as an essential release for any jazzhead with a passion for new sounds.

Tastemaker, selector, curator, DJ and producer, these words often get mentioned when Lefto's name pops up in discussions. And rightly so. If you've ever had the pleasure to listen to one of his incredible Boiler Room sets or one of his many radio shows, you'll know why. Famed for his gloriously eclectic taste on the decks, he switches effortlessly between hip hop, funk, breaks, neck-snapping beats, future bass, South-American influences, bruk riddims, some wild African rhythms and of course, jazz.

Growing up as a child, his father would have the sounds of jazz flowing through the speakers. Which led him to bars around town to hear the latest jazz ensembles. Falling in love with the genre, he would later refine his knack for record digging and fine ear for music working at Belgium's legendary Music Mania record store in his hometown Brussels. Which makes that Lefto is consistently a couple steps ahead. He doesn't wait for the next thing to land in his lap, but actively seeking it out.

Lefto on Jazz Cats volume 3:
"Another release in less than two years! I am very impressed by the amount of creative "jazz" talent we've managed to compile over the last couple of years. Thanks to the internet, young musicians find inspiration from around the globe and incorporate diverse influences into their work. Given the history and heritage of jazz in this country, it has managed to create a healthy jazz scene supported by festivals, venues, press, and labels. Therefore, I am very proud to present to you the thirdinstallment of Jazz Cats. This compilation is dedicated to the young and hardworking musicians who are the present and the future of Belgium's jazz scene."

The opening line of Emily Dickinson’s short poem ‘‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers’ inspired the central image of Emily Barker’s new single ‘Feathered Thing’, written while she navigated cumulative grief.

When Barker was first introduced to producer Luke Potashnick (Gabrielle Aplin, Jack Savoretti, Katie Melua) in May 2022, she brought with her a full album’s worth of songs. But after visiting Potashnick’s storied studio, The Wool Hall and hearing his ambitious production ideas, she was inspired to write one more song.

“I also needed to process some heavy news” she comments. Barker and her husband Lukas Drinkwater had been trying to start a family. Following a couple of failed IVF cycles (and other “starts that we’d lost”), they investigated adoption and had decided to relocate to Australia to be closer to Barker’s family.

“It felt like we couldn’t work out what we wanted, but we finally reached a point where we both felt at peace with not having kids,” Barker recalls. “It had been an incredibly intense time, coinciding with a house move and the pandemic.”

And then Barker found she was pregnant. “We’d done all these things to try to make it happen, and then it happened naturally (and against all biological odds). Having previously navigated losses throughout our pregnancy journey, we now had to get our heads around what having this new person in our lives might look like - emotionally and practically.”

Soon after work began on the album, Barker had a miscarriage.

“Songwriting has always been a way of processing throughout my life.” Barker reveals how the new song came quickly as she sat at her piano at home. She shared an early version with Potashnick and remembers him politely asking, “Do you mind telling me what this is about?”

“I think I’d left it too abstract, initially,” she reflects. “It was difficult to open up about the miscarriage, but Luke was very supportive and encouraged me to dig a little deeper without necessarily being specific. I revisited the lyrics, and the result is much stronger.”

“I went to the burnt-out woods/ A tourist with some damaged goods/ Remembered how the trees withstood fires before…”

“The opening line is a metaphor for knowing that I’ll get through this,” Barker clarifies. “It’s about recovery and hope, allowing yourself both the space to grieve and permission to move on”. But Barker’s optimism is never misplaced – she knows the imprint of imagined futures and lost children are carried in hearts and minds forever:

“It’s so hard to let go, wanted to know wanted to know you …”

“I think that it's important to share and normalise these stories, which are all too common, yet not openly spoken about. People hide their pain and don’t want to burden friends and family. I think behind all this anguish, there’s a deep, often untold story.”

Now that Barker is settled back in Western Australia, she’s embracing being an auntie. “I’ve got three younger siblings over here who I’m close to, and they all have kids,” she enthuses. “I look after my brother's kids, aged two and five, one morning a week.”

Recorded - along with the entirety of the new album - at The Wool Hall, ‘Feathered Thing’ begins gently, with oscillating piano and distant drums, until the arrangement gradually transforms into an instrumental dervish of vibrant strings, bass drones and cymbal crashes. Throughout, Barker’s vocals float tantalisingly like a slipstreaming feather.

Watch the video, filmed at The Wool Hall here. The Wool Hall is a studio in Beckington, Somerset, set up by Tears for Fears in the 1980s and used by artists including The Smiths, Pretenders, Joni Mitchell and many more.

Emily Barker is an award-winning singer-songwriter, best known as the writer and performer of the theme to the hugely successful BBC crime drama ‘Wallander’ starring Kenneth Branagh.

Her last album, 2020's ‘A Dark Murmuration of Words’, was produced by Greg Freeman and recorded at StudiOwz, a converted chapel in the Welsh countryside. Lyrically probing, by turns both dark and optimistic, Barker searches for meaning through the deafening clamour of fake news and algorithmically filtered conversation, delivering a timely exploration of the grand themes of our age. It garnered widespread acclaim, with Uncut calling it “…a kind of Australian equivalent of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake”.

Barker has released music and toured as a solo artist as well as with various bands and collaborations, most notably her long association with Frank Turner, and has written for TV and film, including composing the soundtrack for Jake Gavin’s lauded debut feature ‘Hector’ starring Peter Mullan and Keith Allen.

‘Fragile as Humans’ is scheduled for release on May 3rd 2024 through Everyone Sang/Kartel Music Group. The album will also feature earlier singles: the vast, cinematic ‘Wild to be Sharing This Moment’ and the meditative, crestfallen ‘Loneliness’.

An album of originally unreleased Sun Ra, over 50 years after it was recorded, back in print on lightning yellow vinyl! Sun Ra is still trying to get our attention 50 years after dispatching this transmission. Humanity's path since then makes his message even more urgent today. Years after Herman Poole "LeSony'r Ra" Blount "left the planet" he's still trying to reach us, to wake us up and to change our destiny. Sun Ra and the Arkestra weren't a traditional studio band, and every star in the vast galaxy of their discography reflects this. The origins of these records can be hard to pinpoint at times, but when it comes to Thunder Of The Gods, it's a bit easier. "Calling Planet Earth - We'll Wait For You" was discovered on tapes from Ra's, Universe In Blue, believed to be recorded in '71. The raucous title track and "Moonshots Across the Sky" are unearthed from the '66 Strange Strings sessions. Modern Harmonic has once again paired Ra's sonic art with the visual art of "The Father of Modern Space Art," Chesley Bonestell, whose 1952 work "Formation of the Earth's Continents" spralls across the front and back covers

ACxDC—full name Antichrist Demoncore—are anything but subtle. So to make sure that their message is heard loud and clear, they take things a step further, smashing these ambiguous, sophisticated, and abstract notions into a pulp and shoving them down throats. What’s left are sharp, caustic, and unabashedly vicious bits of truth and poisonous tongue-in-cheek propelled by bursts of powerviolence, metallized hardcore, and grindcore. Over the seventeen short songs, the music closely follows these themes.

Repress

CRG020V1 and CRG020V2 are the vinyl samplers of the mix Cleric made for its 20th release.

To celebrate hitting their 20th release, Cleric's imprint pulls together 23 talents for a various artist mix compilation including tracks from the likes of Rebekah, Cleric, Stef Mendesidis, Remco Beekwilder & Stranger, Endlec, Kwartz, Setaoc Mass, Roman Poncet, Slam and many more.

Clergy has become synonymous with a balance of atmospheric and hard hitting brand of techno ever since 2014. The boss's own music has been key to that, with carefully curated releases from guests such as Dax J, Kwartz, Reflec and Cleric himself. Helping to make the label an underground favourite. "Clergy Visions 01" sees Cleric invite an array on techno heavyweights to contribute to this compilation that's mixed by the label boss himself.

The mix opens up with the bleak ambience and fizzing electric cables of Jokasti & Nek's "Grained" then Sept's "Artifical" lays down a tunnelling techno groove that immediately locks you in. The mysterious alias, Reizemann heads off to a cosmic realm with its deep space pads slowly building the momentum throughout the drums. The energy levels then stay high throughout tracks from Roman Poncet, Kwartz and Setaoc Mass, then leading onto the groove of Stef Mendesidis.

Testament to Cleric's skills as a DJ and sequencer is the fact this journey is constantly evolving while remaining coherent. A mid-section featuring the likes of Endlec, Sleeparchive and EAS keeps you on your toes with perfectly stripped back but hard dynamic drum programming and intense melody work. Remco Beekwilder & Stranger bring a more hard hitting and industrial style before Slam calm the fires once more allowing you to sink into a smooth, elongated roller. It's left to the dystopian darkness of Rebekah and atmospheric techno brilliance of Lerias to close out this most adventurous mix in real style