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2024 White Vinyl Repress

Next up for Time Is Now's white label series is Prozak - a Dublin-based producer who has garnered a growing following over the past year. Prozak, aka Zac Curtis, follows up an EP of remixes for Kiwi Rekords with Make Me Feel. The EP is 100% club gear dabbling in classic rave sounds and jungle before masterfully returning to his garage roots.

The title track "Make Me Feel" is equal parts euphoric rave vocalisations and growling bassy ruffage, with stuttering stop-and-start breaks thrown in for good measure that tear through the track - an instant classic that knocks you breathless.

"Missing You" builds from a gentle ebb into wobbling bass-heavy garage, Curtis chopping and changing the vocal samples into unrecognisable snatches with expert production. He then dishes up a glitching speed garage
tool with "Negative", still seasoned with a ravey edge that makes the record as a whole feel festival ready.

On the B-side, "Sunshine" is sweet buoyant UKG constructed from neatly cut up vocals that clamour against each other and a skipping irresistible rhythm.

Equally upbeat, "Falling" stands out as the most playful track, with mass appeal and large drops that shakes off some of the dark bassiness of the A-side.

The record closes with "Leave You", contrasting frenetic junglist breaks with blissed out vocals.

It's a dynamic offering from the up-and-comer that shows signs of great things to come.

Temperature On Arrival. The immediate sensory impact as you enter the venue. The vibe, energy and intensity. The movement of the crowd, the atmosphere of the space, the initial impression when stepping onto the dancefloor. The surge as the music hits you.

Temperature On Arrival is here to deliver the feels and control the climate, with the coldest beats and toastiest grooves. The UK-based duo are set to soundtrack the seasons, kicking off with two scintillating house cuts that resonate within the intimate confines of smaller venues, to the vast openness of clubs and summer terraces. Featuring the soulful vocal talents of London's Deli OneFourz on 36 Degrees and the inspirational Minister and singer, Anthony Hainsley on The Tunnel, with Adrian McLeod on keys across both tracks.

The sunshine vibes are high on '36 Degrees’ as Temperature on Arrival move the mercury, whilst setting the vibrations of the dancefloor. Throbbing drums and a thick bottom-heavy bassline are adorned with chimes, rhodes chords and the velvety vocals of Deli OneFourz. All fused together with a serious serving of bump.

Spirits rise further on the Gospel-infused, ’The Tunnel’, as Anthony Hainsley inspires with his message of perseverance.The track's relentless four-four stomp symbolises the resilience and collective spirit to keep moving, “somehow”, and serves as a joyous reminder of the celebration of dancing together.

TOA, the new tone setters, tastemakers, and temperature takers – and the heat is undeniably rising.

"Sun Racket" is the brand new album from legendary Boston trio Throwing Muses, consisting of Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo and Bernard Georges. The follow up to 2013's 'Purgatory/Paradise' is an outpouring of modal guitars, reverbed shapes, echoey drums and driving bass set behind Kristen Hersh's well-thumbed notebook of storylines. A ten-song opus of suitably wrought tales set against a wall of sound that's at once calm and ethereal before building into glorious cacophonous crescendos.

When Throwing Muses wrote their last album, they were shattered. Pieces were coming and going, elements repeating and charging the whole. "It sounded beautiful jumping around like that". Two-minute songs reappearing as twisted instrumentals or another song's bridge.

They mimicked the effect live which kept them on their toes. Whatever was happening was already over in other words. 'Sun Racket' is the opposite. It refused to do anything but sit still. It says, "sit here and deal". "All it asked of us was to comingle two completely disparate sonic vocabularies: one heavy noise, the other delicate music box.

Turns out we didn't have to do much. Sun Racket knew what it was doing and pushed us aside, which is always best. After thirty years of playing together, we trust each other implicitly but we trust the music more" - Kristin Hersh And so, they continue. Business unusual.

"A ground-breaking band who changed the face of alternative music rather than follow the rule book." MXDWN "Pioneers of the 80'/early 90's college rock sound" Pitchfork "One of America's finest guitar bands" - The Quietus.

MANOWAR is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the band is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology . The band is also known for a Loud and Bombastic sound. In 1984 the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria (at Kavarna Rock Fest) in 2008. MANOWAR have also been known for their slogan "Death to false metal » and have maintained a very strong following with dedicated fans worldwide as referred to by the band as "Metal Warriors", "Manowarriors", "Immortals" or "Brothers of Metal". The band signed with Atlantic Records in 1987. Via Atlantic, they released 'Fighting the World', which enjoyed more extensive distribution and increased the band's prominence in the international heavy metal scene. Album art was designed by Ken Kelly. In 1988, MANOWAR released the album 'Kings of Metal', which is the band's best known work. Songs like "Heart of Steel", "Kings of Metal" and "Hail and Kill" are performed regularly in concerts. 'Kings of Metal' is MANOWAR's highest-selling album worldwide. A new musical unit after the recent changes, MANOWAR released The Triumph of Steel in 1992. It gained some great success and was particularly famous for the presence of a suite lasting no less than 28 minutes entitled "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts", inspired by the events of the Iliad and the hero Achilles. After this release, the band went on a world tour for two years. Those MANOWAR’s album have become legendary and are still must have in any metal fan record collection . Vinyls formats Having been very rare and reaching high prices online, those three albums are now being made available again in quality coloured vinyls; Grab them now while you can !!

For fans of - Darko, Bad Omens, Deftones, Alice In Chains On tour in the US April- May 2024 w/ Attila + Born Of Osiris Band names go a long way in helping paint a figurative picture in the listeners mind of what to expect before one ever hits “play.” When it comes to Extortionist, you think crime—you think gritty, raw, merciless and unsavory and maybe, just maybe, a little sprinkling of suaveness. When it comes to the Pacific Northwest’s resident moshslingers, those premonitions from their name are exactly what you get. As a band who have proven themselves exemplary at styles of heavy music ranging from downtempo deathcore to grunge- tinted metal, Extortionist are more than just a jack-of-all-trades; they’re masters. Utilizing bold, roaring guitars overtop crushing, steamrolling percussion and vocals that run the gamut from guttural to grating, pitched singing and topped off with—you guessed it—a now-infamous dodgeball-smack snare, Extortionist have proven that not only are they incredible at what they do, they’re a band that the heavy scene just can’t go without.

Lionheart is the sixteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in 2004. The title is inspired from Richard the Lionheart, a 12th-century King of England. ""Beyond the Grave"" was released as a single with complementary video. Lionheart is a pure heavy metal album -- the Saxon that old-timers know and love. Such standouts as the album-opening ""Witchfinder General"" and ""Man and Machine"" would not sound out of place on such earlier classics as Denim & Leather and Power & the Glory. Lionheart is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on gold colored vinyl and includes an insert. This special edition contains an additional and exclusive cover print.

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.

Dive into the abyss with Swedish Stillborn's latest masterpiece: "Netherworlds".

Following the monumental success of their previous album "Nocturnals", the band unleashes an even darker opus that pays homage to their cult classic "Necrospirituals" while carving out new realms of sonic exploration. With "Netherworlds", Stillborn propels their distinctive sound to new heights, crafting songs that are both hauntingly beautiful and crushingly heavy.

Experience the chilling atmospheres and gripping melodies as Stillborn takes you on a journey through the depths of the unknown. The production on "Netherworlds" has a sharper edge and more refined, ensuring that every riff, every chord, resonates with bone-shaking clarity.

Prepare to be mesmerized by the sinister allure of "Netherworlds". Embrace the darkness and join Stillborn on their relentless quest to redefine gothic metal. Don't miss out on this monumental release that will leave an indelible mark on the genre.

Sound Like: Paradise Lost, Type O Negative

Dive into the abyss with Swedish Stillborn's latest masterpiece: "Netherworlds".

Following the monumental success of their previous album "Nocturnals", the band unleashes an even darker opus that pays homage to their cult classic "Necrospirituals" while carving out new realms of sonic exploration. With "Netherworlds", Stillborn propels their distinctive sound to new heights, crafting songs that are both hauntingly beautiful and crushingly heavy.

Experience the chilling atmospheres and gripping melodies as Stillborn takes you on a journey through the depths of the unknown. The production on "Netherworlds" has a sharper edge and more refined, ensuring that every riff, every chord, resonates with bone-shaking clarity.

Prepare to be mesmerized by the sinister allure of "Netherworlds". Embrace the darkness and join Stillborn on their relentless quest to redefine gothic metal. Don't miss out on this monumental release that will leave an indelible mark on the genre.

Sound Like: Paradise Lost, Type O Negative

Here at Mr Bongo we have been inundated with people asking us to reissue this release. Ana Frango Elétrico's petit cult classic masterpiece 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' from 2019, which was only ever released on vinyl and CD in Brazil and Japan, has fast become a collector's item.

Well received by fans, DJs, and reviewers on release, The Needle Drop expressed "Ana Frango Elétrico's authentically vintage fusion of chamber pop, rock, samba and jazz is a real blast!" listing it as one of its Top 50 Albums of 2019. The album's reputation has been slowly building ever since, gaining a Latin Grammy nomination in 2020, and now solidly cementing itself as a gem of contemporary Brazilian music.

Across the albums nine tracks, Ana blends elements and influences from MPB, Tropicália, indie rock, punk and pop, forging them together with a sumptuous dose of her signature style. The finesse of 'Saudade' kicks off the LP, one of Ana's most known tracks to a non-Brazilian audience. A sublime opener, beginning with a spellbinding piano solo before transcending into a beautiful dream-laden slice of warmth, complete with luscious jazzy horns and deft vocal delivery. ‘Promessa e previsões’ follows, the only track on the album not to be written by Ana, instead being penned by Chico França. It’s a swelling and sweeping twilight groover, building and breaking across absorbing peaks.

Other highlights on the album include the anthemic 'Chocolate', which was a firm favourite with a packed sing-along crowd when we heard Ana perform it live. Elsewhere, 'Se No Cinema' hits with its quirky allure, charm and catchy melodies before transforming into a carnival spirit.

Tapping into the richness of Brazil’s new wave of musical energy, the album also includes a heavyweight lineup of collaborations with artists such as Dora Morelenbaum (Bala Desejo), Tim Bernardes, Antonio Neves and Guilherme Lirio to name but a few.

A short, sweet and refreshing record, that leaves nothing to waste, marrying playful ideas with poignant themes. 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' is a future classic and will beguile fans of ‘70s Brazilian recordings, Gal Costa, Mac DeMarco, Stereolab, Superorganism, Caetano Veloso and more.

The new Macadam Mambo release by Poperttelli is a great piece of music ! In the Ambient vibe of the originators Future Sound Of London or The Orb, this album concept around dreams travelling, brings us into tribal futuristic landscapes, dark atmospheres on heavy beats and trippy floatings. Poperttelli is not a new artist in the electronic scene, he has already put out few releases on labels like Lost Dogs, Brokntoys, Maturre or Pinkman more recently, and is definetely a name to follow if you didn’t alredy do…

oreglo is made up of c-sé (keys), Linus Barry (guitar), Nico Rocco (drums) and Teigan Hastings (tuba), who all met growing up in London. Nico and Linus met at secondary school, before Nico went on to meet Teigan and c-sé through the youth organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors, bringing them all together.
Across the Not Real People EP, oreglo showcase their innovative take on multiple genres: freewheeling through heavy rock riffs to drill-inspired percussion and breezy reggae, the quartet have cultivated a unique sound that acts as a melting pot of all the sounds they know and love from London.
Since officially forming just over a year ago, they've already been hand-selected by Ezra Collective to win the 2023 Lambeth Sounds Emerging Artists x Cross The Tracks competition; played the recent Steam Down–curated World Island event in Leeds; supported Gabriels at Somerset House; composed for The 1975's North American tour; and have seen support from Steve Lamacq, Jack Saunders + more across national radio.

Chris Cohen was always a quiet kid. In fact, this introversion was one reason he began playing music as a toddler-to communicate without speaking, to identify with others without the direct representation of words. It has worked, too, with Cohen's terrific stint in the mighty Deerhoof and his own captivating art-rock act The Curtains, preceding production and session work for the likes of Weyes Blood, Kurt Vile, Le Ren, and Marina Allen. Somewhere along that long way, Cohen started writing lyrics. He found that, though it didn't come naturally, the process offered a new sense of self-discovery and reckoning, a way to see himself and the world from unexpected angles. His three twilit albums of casually complicated pop during the last decade radiated these epiphanies: handling family strife, navigating advancing age, and understanding social woes. But Cohen has never had as much to sing so directly as he does on Paint a Room, his first album in five years and his debut for Hardly Art. If Cohen's meanings have previously lurked inside the tessellated musical layers he built alone, they are newly clear and resonant here, animated and underscored for the first time by a band playing in real time. There is the endless miasma of state violence on the subversively melodious opener "Damage," the existential exhaustion of modernity on the horn-traced jangle "Laughing": this is Cohen communicating with friends not only through his deep understanding of groove, harmony, and hook but also with his listeners through songs that croon of our uneasy little era. On Paint a Room, Cohen's music feels like a warm spring breeze, easy to love and gentle to feel. But it's often carrying something heavy, as if blowing in from some unseen storm cloud. Paint a Room both reckons with reality and conjures an alternate one, where nighttime walks and a neighbor's wind chimes offer endless escapes for the imagination, space for the mind to roam. Sublime and sun-lit, these 10 songs consider dreamy new ways out of old predicaments, clearly stating the problem and dancing and singing their way somewhere new. Paint a Room features Jeff Parker contributing the fluttering horn arrangement on "Damage," and Parker collaborator Josh Johnson (who produced Meshell Ndegeocello's Grammy-Award-winning album The Omnichord Real Book) supplying flute, sax, and clarinet arrangements throughout the record.

Habibi Funk is thrilled to share a second collection of deep grooves and unreleased songs from Algeria's Ahmed Malek, often compared to Italian heavyweight Ennio Morricone. Malek’s music effortlessly switches between thematic jazz, funk, reggae and Algerian folk – creating indelible soundscapes that intersect the musical innovations made in African jazz by Mulatu Astatke, Bembeya Jazz National along with some of Europe’s finest experimental composers like Piero Piccioni and Janko Nilovic. “Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” is out June 28th, 2024 via Habibi Funk.

Whenever an interview asks about a “memorable moment” in Habibi Funk label history, one we always reference is how we got in touch Ahmed Malek’s (22K Spotify Followers, 285K Spotify Monthly Listeners) music and subsequently his family. It all started with us coming across Ahmed Malek’s music on YouTube in 2012. We were mesmerized by how effortlessly the music would switch between jazz, funk and Algerian folk while counterweighting it with an undertone of melancholia. Musical perception is different for every person, but there is a chance that his music will touch you in one way or another. At the time, we had just started the Habibi Funk label and we felt Ahmed’s music might be a good fit for the sound we were trying to highlight. Fast forward three years: we had become captivated with the idea of reissuing some of Ahmed Malek’s music. We knew some people had tried to locate his family but, but with no success. In the end it was an incredible amount of luck that made it possible for you to read these words and listen to Ahmed’s music. We were on a DJ gig in Beirut playing old Arabic records and we mentioned our passion for Ahmed Malek’s music to a friend. She said she knew one person in Algier, and as much as it would be a shot in the dark, she could ask her if she had an idea of how to find Malek’s family. Two weeks went by before we heard back, and what we got was incredibly good news - her Algerian friend was the neighbor of Ahmed Malek’s daughter! We’re not spiritual people, but it felt like the universe wanted to see the release happen. We started to speak with Henya, Ahmed Malek’s daughter and she was more than happy with our idea. She assured us that her father would have loved the plan as well. She provided us with tons of awesome material, from great photos, to unseen video footage and unreleased tracks. Eventually we visited Henya in Algeria and we licensed some of her father’s music, first for one (Habibi 003), then for another (Habibi 005), then we eventually organized an exhibition in June/July 2019 – Planète Malek – Une Rétrospective – at the Musée Public National D’Art Moderne & Contemporain in Algiers, focusing on Ahmed Malek’s artistic life. We also produced a small movie about him that our friend Paloma Colombe shot and directed. “Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” is a deep collection of unreleased songs and stemmed grooves from the Algerian master, from jazz, funk, psych to reggae rhythms and Latin flavors, all under the sonic umbrella of “Planète Malek;” and to quote the maestro, “I didn’t choose music, music chose me.” Lead single is the subtlety funky “Thème Rythme Léger,” out May 3rd along with LP Pre-Order (coincided with Bandcamp Friday for a larger impact) a delicate sonic dance between flute, piano and Spanish guitar with a Bossainfluenced groove. The steady, swingin’ drum groove is cloudlike - definitely toe-tapping friendly so just grab a partner to feel the Rhythme Léger. Second single out May 17th is the reggae-infused “L’Empire Des Rêves” – a sultry sax melody weaves through a prismatic rocksteady thematic groove. 3rd and final single “Thème Djalti feat. Aïda Guéchoud” – is a true Western-inspired ode to his Italian counterpart Ennio Morricone. “Thème Djalti” features the haunting vocals of Aïda Guéchoud, and combines elements of baroque and Bossa-jazz in a timelessly thematic way that seems grandiose yet remains uniquely personal to your ears. Swelling strings, trumpet, fem vox, flute, and plucked guitar expertly arranged, feels like you’re riding a horse into the sunset. Focus track “La La La” is fiery afro-arab-funk of the highest order! Put on your dancing shoes as Ahmed cuts the rug and gets us grooving along. Sonically the cut sounds like if Ahmed ran into The JB’s and Fela Kuti at a Cymande concert. Driving guitar and organ solos vie over pulsating bass riffs and afro-funk drumming that’ll have you out on the dance floor in no time. As always, both vinyl and CD come with an extensive booklet featuring background and interviews with Ahmed compiled through found newspaper clippings and newsreels, also including unseen photos, scans and more. “Ahmed Malek: Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” will be out everywhere June 28th.

High Roller Records, 180g black vinyl, ltd 500, 2 bonus tracks (Mrs. Victoria + Lucifer's Hammer), 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, lyric sheet, poster, A5 photocard, mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony

High Roller Records, 180g black vinyl, ltd 500, 2 bonus tracks (Mrs. Victoria + Lucifer's Hammer), 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, lyric sheet, poster, A5 photocard, mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony

High Roller Records, picture disc, ltd 500, handnumbered, deluxe plastic bag, cardboard insert, mastering by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY

Das Debütalbum von VUUR & ZIJDE ("Feuer & Seide") dreht sich auf bemerkenswerte Weise um Themen wie bedingte und bedingungslose Liebe - und den Unterschied zwischen diesen, die Befreiung von Intimität und Mutterschaft. Mit "Boezem" ("Schoß", wörtlich: "Busen") lehnt es das niederländische Quintetts höflich ab, die ewigen Heavy Metal-Klischees zu bedienen. Obwohl die Niederländer im Black Metal verwurzelt sind und deren Mitglieder in so etablierten Bands wie LASTER, NUSQUAMA, SILVER KNIFE, GREY AURA, WITTE WIEVEN und TERZIJ DE HORDE gespielt haben oder weiterhin dabei sind, haben sie ihren stilistischen Kurs seit dem Split-Album mit IMPAVIDA (2020) korrigiert. Die Entwicklung von einem Trio zu einem 5-köpfigen Ensemble hatte eine größere Bandbreite an Einflüssen und Ideen zur Folge. Die subtilen Veränderungen auch der Produktion reichen aus, um einen Teil des neuen Sounds in der spannenden aktuellen Evolution des Post-Black Metal zu verorten. Die schwarze Seite der Musik drückt sich hauptsächlich in wirbelnden Schlagzeugattacken und surrenden Gitarrenriffs aus. Doch "Boezem" baut noch auf einer weiteren starken Säule auf, denn die Band nennt auch Acts wie COCTEAU TWINS und sogar DEAD CAN DANCE als wichtige Einflüsse, die beide im Post-Punk begannen und sich dann zu verträumteren, meditativen Klängen weiterentwickelten. Synthesizer-Sounds sowie die schöne, warme Stimme von Sängerin Famke tragen offensichtlich zu dieser anderen Seite von VUUR & ZIJDE bei. Die Sängerin zeichnet auch für einige Texte verantwortlich, die in Frysk (Friesisch) verfasst sind. Diese alte germanische Sprache wird noch immer in einigen niederländischen und deutschen Nordseeküstengebieten gesprochen, die sich bis zur dänischen Grenze erstrecken. Alle anderen Texte sind auf Niederländisch verfasst. Mit "Boezem" gelingt VUUR & ZIJDE ein perfekter Balanceakt zwischen ihren gegensätzlichen Polen. Die aggressive Seite mit schwarzen, zum Post-Black Metal verwandelten Elementen kontrastiert mit der lichten Seite von Shoegaze, Post-Punk und Wave. Beide Seiten kreisen in einem endlosen Tanz umeinander, der faszinierende neue Musik hervorbringt. "Boezem" erstrahlt voller Schönheit und ist doch wie eine schwarze Rose zugleich von Dornen übersät.