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Jon Hopkins' neues Album RITUAL ist ein 41-minütiges Epos, das das musikalische Bindeglied zwischen seinen Vorgängeralben Immunity von 2013 und Singularity von 2018 und dem Music For Psychedelic Therapy von 2021 ist. Es besteht aus Subs die klingen, also of sie aus einer Höhle kämen, hypnotischem Schlagzeugspiel und transzendenten Melodien. Das spannungsgeladene, eindringliche und letztlich triumphale Werk ist ein Höhepunkt der Themen, die er in seiner 22-jährigen Karriere erforscht hat, und bildet das kinetische Gegenstück zu Music For Psychedelic Therapy von 2021.

RITUAL ist ein einziges Stück, das sich in acht Kapiteln entfaltet und durch Tiefe und Kontrast besticht. Mit Zeremonien, spiritueller Befreiung und der Reise des Helden als Inspiration, zapft es eine uralte und ursprüngliche Energie an und wird am 30. August von Domino veröffentlicht.
SIDE D:

Etched / BLANK

Jon Hopkins' neues Album RITUAL ist ein 41-minütiges Epos, das das musikalische Bindeglied zwischen seinen Vorgängeralben Immunity von 2013 und Singularity von 2018 und dem Music For Psychedelic Therapy von 2021 ist. Es besteht aus Subs die klingen, also of sie aus einer Höhle kämen, hypnotischem Schlagzeugspiel und transzendenten Melodien. Das spannungsgeladene, eindringliche und letztlich triumphale Werk ist ein Höhepunkt der Themen, die er in seiner 22-jährigen Karriere erforscht hat, und bildet das kinetische Gegenstück zu Music For Psychedelic Therapy von 2021.

RITUAL ist ein einziges Stück, das sich in acht Kapiteln entfaltet und durch Tiefe und Kontrast besticht. Mit Zeremonien, spiritueller Befreiung und der Reise des Helden als Inspiration, zapft es eine uralte und ursprüngliche Energie an und wird am 30. August von Domino veröffentlicht.
SIDE D:

Etched / BLANK

Anciients teilten die Bühnen mit Bands von High on Fire und Goatwhore bis Boris und Lamb of God, und befanden sich mitten in einer Europatournee, als sie entdeckten, dass sie mit dem JUNO Award (dem kanadischen Grammy-Äquivalent) in der Kategorie Heavy Metal/Hard Rock ausgezeichnet wurden.

Nach acht Jahren Stille kehren Anciients mit neuen Besetzung und einem neuen Album zurück, das ihr härtestes, kopflastigstes und innigstes Werk genannt werden kann.

Fans, die auf gebeugten Knien auf weitere Griffbrett-Heldentaten gewartet haben, werden von Beyond the Reach of the Sun nicht enttäuscht sein. Die Leadsingle „Melt the Crown“ feuert gleich mehrere Gitarrensoli ab - Jedes von ihnen hat seine eigene Note, die von klagendem Folk über Südstaaten-Blues bis hin zu psychedelischem Prog reicht.

Natürlich haben Anciients auch keine Angst vor dem Headbangen. Nach einem Intro entpuppt sich „Cloak of the Vast and Black“ als ein wahres Riff-Monster.

Konzeptionell ist das Album ebenso heavy - Es erzählt die Geschichte einer Gesellschaft, die von Kräften aus einer anderen Dimension versklavt wird.

Anciients teilten die Bühnen mit Bands von High on Fire und Goatwhore bis Boris und Lamb of God, und befanden sich mitten in einer Europatournee, als sie entdeckten, dass sie mit dem JUNO Award (dem kanadischen Grammy-Äquivalent) in der Kategorie Heavy Metal/Hard Rock ausgezeichnet wurden.

Nach acht Jahren Stille kehren Anciients mit neuen Besetzung und einem neuen Album zurück, das ihr härtestes, kopflastigstes und innigstes Werk genannt werden kann.

Fans, die auf gebeugten Knien auf weitere Griffbrett-Heldentaten gewartet haben, werden von Beyond the Reach of the Sun nicht enttäuscht sein. Die Leadsingle „Melt the Crown“ feuert gleich mehrere Gitarrensoli ab - Jedes von ihnen hat seine eigene Note, die von klagendem Folk über Südstaaten-Blues bis hin zu psychedelischem Prog reicht.

Natürlich haben Anciients auch keine Angst vor dem Headbangen. Nach einem Intro entpuppt sich „Cloak of the Vast and Black“ als ein wahres Riff-Monster.

Konzeptionell ist das Album ebenso heavy - Es erzählt die Geschichte einer Gesellschaft, die von Kräften aus einer anderen Dimension versklavt wird.

A formidable power trio, hailing in parts from the icy Swedish northlands and the glacial expanse of the Swiss Alps, named after the three Norse goddesses of fate who wove the very tapestry of fate underneath the mythical World Tree, Norna aren't messing around. Their debut album, 2021's `Star is way way is Eye' was saturated filth; uncompromising, unrelenting ugliness. This though, their eponymous sophomore offering, digs its claws deeper into the dirt. Sharpened, hungry and desperate, born of the moment and yet years in the making; `Norna' liberates a primal rage that has been suppressed for far too long. Rather than defining their music around needlessly complex riffs or trapping themselves in established song structures, the band instead built colossal walls of crushing guitar noise before carving away at the chaos to form the bones of each piece. The results are hypnotic, looping dirges; apocalyptic mantras that take on their own shapes and stories, coming to life with each excruciating reprise_ Sculpted the same way as their debut album, with ideas and hooks hewn from a mass of noise held quite literally in the clouds (Dropbox being the band's platform of choice), Norna this time entered the process with a vision; a final, horrific form in mind. As such, the eponymous record pushes their boundaries even further beyond the extreme, with even the briefest moments of calm quickly curdled by the band's use of insidious ambient synthesisers, manipulated samples and even more distortion. Despite only forming in 2020, the three pillars of Norna bring decades of heaviness with them. Consisting of Swedish post-hardcore pioneer Tomas Liljedahl (Breach, The Old Wind) and Swiss stalwarts Christophe Macquat and Marc Theurillat (both of instrumental juggernaut Olten), Norna came together as a perfect storm of abrasive influences, harnessed by friend and producer Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna), to create something new, limitless and terrifying.

A formidable power trio, hailing in parts from the icy Swedish northlands and the glacial expanse of the Swiss Alps, named after the three Norse goddesses of fate who wove the very tapestry of fate underneath the mythical World Tree, Norna aren't messing around. Their debut album, 2021's `Star is way way is Eye' was saturated filth; uncompromising, unrelenting ugliness. This though, their eponymous sophomore offering, digs its claws deeper into the dirt. Sharpened, hungry and desperate, born of the moment and yet years in the making; `Norna' liberates a primal rage that has been suppressed for far too long. Rather than defining their music around needlessly complex riffs or trapping themselves in established song structures, the band instead built colossal walls of crushing guitar noise before carving away at the chaos to form the bones of each piece. The results are hypnotic, looping dirges; apocalyptic mantras that take on their own shapes and stories, coming to life with each excruciating reprise_ Sculpted the same way as their debut album, with ideas and hooks hewn from a mass of noise held quite literally in the clouds (Dropbox being the band's platform of choice), Norna this time entered the process with a vision; a final, horrific form in mind. As such, the eponymous record pushes their boundaries even further beyond the extreme, with even the briefest moments of calm quickly curdled by the band's use of insidious ambient synthesisers, manipulated samples and even more distortion. Despite only forming in 2020, the three pillars of Norna bring decades of heaviness with them. Consisting of Swedish post-hardcore pioneer Tomas Liljedahl (Breach, The Old Wind) and Swiss stalwarts Christophe Macquat and Marc Theurillat (both of instrumental juggernaut Olten), Norna came together as a perfect storm of abrasive influences, harnessed by friend and producer Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna), to create something new, limitless and terrifying.

Das Debütalbum ”The Dichotomy” von David Kushner erforscht die menschliche Existenz anhand von zwei
Gegensätzen. Das 17 Songs umfassende Werk untersucht das Zusammenspiel von Licht und Dunkelheit,
Glück und Traurigkeit, Wut und Liebe, Helden und Schurken, sowie die Dichotomie unserer inneren Dä-
monen und Engel. Durch die Verschmelzung von introspektiven Texten fängt David Kushner die Essenz
emotionaler Erfahrungen ein und schafft Verbindungen zu allen Lebensbereichen. Das Album entstand
in Kooperation mit einer Reihe Künstlern und Produzenten, darunter Wesley Schultz von The Lumineers,
David Baron (Shania Twain) und der zweimalige Grammy-Award-Nominierte Rob Kirwan (Hozier, U2).
David Kushner, der aus Chicago-stammende Singer/Songwriter, schaffte 2023 den weltweiten Durchbruch
mit seiner Single ”Daylight”, die hierzulande die Top 5 der Singlecharts erreichte und mit Gold ausgezeichnet ist. Neben ”Daylight” sind auch die Nachfolgesingles ”Dead Man”, ”Skin and Bones” und ”Hero” auf
seinem Debüt ”The Dichotomy” zu finden.

Mute veröffentlichen am 23. August das Album 'The Third Mind Movements' der britischen Avantgarde-Helden Throbbing Gristle erstmals offiziell auf CD und LP.

Die 1975 gegründete Band Throbbing Gristle, bestehend aus Chris Carter, Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (1955-2010), Cosey Fanni Tutti und Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950-2020), löste das gescheiterte Versprechen des Punk ein, extreme Kultur als Mittel zur Sabotage von Kontrollsystemen zu erforschen. Ihr Einfluss auf Musik, Kultur und Kunst ist unermesslich und bis heute spürbar.

'The Third Mind Movements' von Throbbing Gristle erschien zunächst als exklusive Veröffentlichung, die nur auf der letzten Amerikatournee der Band im Jahr 2009 erhältlich war, bevor sich die Band 2010 wieder trennte. Das Album ist eine Reise durch manipulierte, zeitlich gestreckte und verzerrte Samples, mit rhythmischen Breakbeats und hypnotischen Elektronikschwingungen.

Gregory T.S. Walker’s Minstrels & Minimoogs was self-published by a young, nomadic composer and virtuoso in 1988 to accompany an immersive multimedia performance at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium. Created with this outer, and other, world setting in mind, the four tracks find Walker stretching toward an ancient-to-future vision where Egyptian myths and Hieronymus Bosch-ian tableaus are rendered in a screaming three dimensional circuitry of electronic drums, synth guitars, and, of course, Minimoog. Given the musical terrains and outmoded topics traversed, and that this entirely DIY effort was originally released as a micro one-sided 12” edition, Minstrels & Minimoogs is as perplexing and euphoric a document lost-to-time as it is now found.

Born in 1961 into an intensely musical family spanning four generations, Gregory’s mother Helen Walker-Hill was a noted musicologist specializing in the rediscovery and work of historical Black female composers, while his father, George Walker, was the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. Both parents studied with the famed (and famously strict) Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1950s, and held to lofty aesthetic standards in their home life. Walker began studying the violin as a child, but when a burgeoning interest in the electric guitar and rock music as a teen manifested, it was largely verboten in the household. The rule was that the music played in the home was to be acoustic and classical. Although the elder Walkers eventually relented and allowed Gregory’s guitar to be plugged in for a brief interval on the weekends, the remaining days he settled for strumming it sans amplification.

Gregory, conditioned and eager for a life in music but looking to get out from under the influence and yoke of his famous composer father, ultimately chose to study computer music at the University of California at San Diego, where he earned a Master of Arts. This was followed by another MA in electronic music composition at that hotbed of West Coast experimental music, Mills College. Intermedia and multimedia in the arts was the rage in the 1980s, and Mills was one of the centers for it; audacious spectacle meeting visionary performance, such as one of the realizations for Anthony Braxton’s music for multiple orchestras a young Gregory performed in with his violin.

After a series of solo synthesizer concerts around California, Gregory followed a girlfriend on a mid-country move to Boulder, Colorado. After picking up yet another composition degree at University of Colorado Boulder, his life as a composer really started, writing a piece for extended technique for guitar, a passacaglia for vocoder and orchestra, as well as Minstrels & Minimoogs.

Envisioned as a multimedia performance such as the kind he’d experienced at Mills (which was all but unknown in Boulder at the time), Gregory roped in a number of college going or aged friends of varying skill levels and musical sympathies to accompany him with distorted sax or oblique spoken interludes. Confronted with a lack of finances, but driven to get his ideas captured in a complete musical package, the album was recorded in his brother’s apartment. If not every player assembled was on Gregory’s virtuosic level, so be it; it was more about capturing the spirit of his intentions and embracing the serendipity of mistakes.

An inspired attempt at world building, Minstrels & Minimoogs draws on the deep well of musical knowledge Gregory gathered from his parents and teachers, but all the while subverting that historical basis by incorporating mutant strains of prog and pop music. The work accumulated is not unlike the playful 1980s work of Gregorio Paniagua, where medieval estampies and rondeaus are wrenched into an anachronistic present where Hildegard Von Bingen and Kate Bush are contemporaries. Ars nova, new art, a 20th century minimalist jester and troubadour.

A one sided LP was the cheapest option Gregory found to have Minstrels & Minimoogs memorialized on vinyl, so somewhere between 50 to 100 copies were pressed. There was no distribution, outside of copies that were handed out to friends or sold at the performances at the planetarium. Gregory T.S. Walker’s cosmic-futuristic forays into oblique pop and baroque subversion could forever reside perfectly in both the domed simulacrum of our universe for which it was composed, in the formats it is being reintoduced now, and our own biblical firmament. For in the words of Gregory, straight from the original liner notes: “God Is A Minimoog”

Gregory T.S. Walker’s Minstrels & Minimoogs arrives again August 23, 2024 on vinyl and digitally as part of uncommon¢ (“uncommon sense”), an open-ended, serialized endeavor from Freedom to Spend that provides new meaning for rarefied recordings from music's outermost fringe.

From 2019 to 2023 Lindsay Reamer worked as a field scientist. With a guitar and a bag of books in tow, she would leave her home in Philadelphia for the postcard scenes of the American landscape to gather data on visitation in National Parks. She counted cars and RVs, surveyed visitors, and made a temporary home for a few weeks at a time wherever she landed. All the while, she collected her own observations like specimens and slowly weaved the songs that would form her debut full-length, `Natural Science.' Recorded throughout 2023 by Lucas Knapp, `Natural Science' paints with a full spectrum. Humor rubs elbows with heartbreak. Acoustic guitars brush up against synthesizers, cradling Reamer as she sings about the American Chestnut tree extinction, employee gossip at a Day's Inn, fishing beside a power plant, turf grass farms, and waking up next to day-old take-out. The indifferent beauty of nature is held up next to the everyday as Reamer does her very best to find clues for navigating the latter by musing upon both. Following the release of her self-produced EP `Lucky' (Dear Life Records) in 2021, Reamer assembled a band with musicians from Philadelphia's vibrant music community and began working her once solo-acoustic songs into full band arrangements. After a brief flirtation with dance music which led to 2022's viral single "Touch Tank," Reamer settled into a sound that lies somewhere in the folkrock-pop matrix, explored with the humor and lightness of songwriters like Sheryl Crow or Melanie. Reamer reflects: "When I heard the songs with the band, I knew it was time to make the record. It felt like something I had been working towards my whole life. I grew up around musicians but I never thought I was good enough to be in a band or even to make my own music. My grandmother Joan gave me voice lessons after school, my mom was an opera singer, and my dad a guitar player. But it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized I could do it. It didn't matter if I could shred on the guitar or something. It was like some illusion shattered." Reamer is a sincere storyteller. The self-doubt and heartbreak expressed in songs like "Spring Song," "Sugar," or "Red Flowers" give way to the triumphant moments of self-acceptance and love in "Lucky," "Necessary," and "Figs and Peaches." `Natural Science' chronicles a path to confidence, an honest reflection of someone with the capacity to hold a deep well of emotion who also makes sure to not take it all too seriously. "Gardens on the land / Castles on the beaches / I trust my hand and / Pluck my figs and peaches," Reamer sings, as she works to reconcile the strange difficulty we have at finding happiness despite the obvious beauty all around us.

Neues Studioalbum der Neuseeländischen Independent-Helden unter der Leitung des rätselhaften Martin Phillipps. Mit Artwork von Trees' David Costa, meerblaues Vinyl mit Mamor-Effekt, LP inklusive DLC. Dunedin's finest, The Chills, veröffentlichen ihr siebtes Studioalbum "Scatterbrain" zweieinhalb Jahre nach dem enorm erfolgreichen "Snowbound" (2018) und des von der Kritik gefeierten Films "The Chills: The Triumph And Tragedy Of Martin Phillipps' im Jahr 2019. "Es geht um künstlerische Integrität, Selbstverwirklichung, Selbstakzeptanz, und es ist eine Reflexion über Sterblichkeit." (The Guardian) Jetzt, im Jahr 2021, zieht Phillipps Bilanz - über alles. Ja, alles. Das Ergebnis ist das triumphale neue Chills'-Album "Scatterbrain", eine nachdenklich stimmende Aufnahme von einem Mann, der gute und schlechte Zeiten erlebt hat.Eine reife und ehrliche Reflexion über das Leben, das Schicksal und die Geschicke unserer Zeit, vorgetragen in wunderschönen Melodien und mit Phillipps' typischer, prägnanter Wortwahl.Aus der Sicht eines Mannes, der sich seines Alters und seiner eigenen Sterblichkeit bewusst ist, wirft das neue Album einen reifen Blick auf die Dinge, die da kommen, durchaus mit Perspektiven. Scatterbrain" ist ein Leben, das vor Ihren Ohren vorbeizieht, während die Ungewissheit zunimmt und die Fake News weiter rumoren, während Aliens eindringen, Verlassenheit groß wirkt, Welten innerhalb der Welten sich auftun und die Sanduhr sich füllt. Ein bahnbrechendes Album von einem der großen modernen Songwriter, es ist pure Popmusik für eine neue Normalität, spannend zu hören, wie all dies endet...oder weitergeht.

Black Truffle is thrilled to announce a reissue of Chico Mello and Helinho Brandão’s self-titled release from 1984, the first return to vinyl of this classic of Brazilian experimental music with its original cover art and complete track listing. An under-recognised figure whose work inhabits a singular terrain where radical new music techniques and music theatre meet musica popular brasileira, Mello has lived and worked in Berlin since the late 1980s. A student of Dieter Schnebel, Mello played in the 90s iteration of Arnold Dreyblatt’s Orchestra of Excited Strings alongside compatriot Silvia Ocougne, with whom he produced a radical and hilarious deconstruction of MPB classics on Musica Brasileira De(s)composta (an early and rather atypical release on Edition Wandelweiser).

On this release, his only recording predating his move to Europe, Mello works with the alto saxophonist Helinho Brandão, who appears to be otherwise unknown outside Brazil. The record’s six tracks range from solo saxophone improvisation to densely layered ensemble works bridging minimalism, acoustic sound art and a plaintive melodic sensibility that calls up Edu Lobo or Milton Nascimento. Beginning with a dramatic, dissonant wind and string surge from which emerge ominously pounding piano chords, opener ‘Água’ slowly builds in intensity, a halo of clustered vocal harmonies gradually closing in on Brandão’s squealing sax until the piece opens up to reveal a gorgeous passage of melodic singing. The piano accompaniment reduces to tolling bass notes as the voice begins a repeated incantation, suggesting a ritualistic atmosphere reminiscent of parts of Xenakis’ setting of Oresteia. Dissonant, sawing tremolos on the strings climb to a crescendo before disappearing into the sounds of water being poured and splashed into metal vessels, presented not as a field recording but as a percussive element performed by the ensemble. A child’s voice then appears, singing to piano accompaniment the same melody heard earlier in the piece. After a brief solo alto improvisation from Brandão, working with the guttural pops and fleeting melodic gestures of Braxton or Roscoe Mitchell, the remainder of the first side is dedicated to the leisurely unfolding of ‘Baiando’ over the course of twelve minutes. A trio for Brandão on soprano saxophone, Mello on a very period-appropriate phased nylon string guitar and Edu Dequech on bongos, the performance eases its way hypnotically through subtle variations on a set of rhythmic and melodic patterns, almost derailed at points by Brandão’s wild forays into extended technique but held together by Mello’s droning guitar notes.

The second side opens with another multi-part epic for a larger ensemble, ‘Matraca’, which makes use of strings, electric guitars and a wide range of South American percussion instruments. Rasping violin harmonics hover as drum hits, repeated guitar notes and triangle accompany a slowly descending bass glissando. A sudden change in direction introduces a thrumming, incessantly repeated bowed bass tone, beginning a series of episodes of minimalist phasing and pattern variation, the combinations of electric guitars and orchestral instruments giving the ensemble an ad hoc charm like the early Penguin Café Orchestra but with more percussive drive. Eventually the piece is overrun by a cacophony of the titular matracas (a kind of ratchet/cog rattle). Following a lyrical trio improvisation by Mello, Brandão and Gerson Kornin on bass, the final ‘Danca’ focuses entirely on Mello’s layered acoustic guitars and vocals, using this restricted palette to build up a haunting piece of almost orchestral density, reminiscent of the 70s work of Egberto Gismonti in how it thickens a folkish ambience with harmonic sophistication.

Arriving in a starkly beautiful gatefold sleeve and sounding better than ever in its new remaster, one might call the stunning music contained on Chico Mello/Helinho Brandão ahead of its time. But what (other than some of Mello’s own work) produced in the years since its initial release has really touched the organic fusion of minimalism, free improvisation, radical instrumental technique and popular song achieved here? Forty years after its first release, Chico Mello/Helinho Brandão remains music of the future.

Citrus Swirl Vinyl. honeybee table at the butterfly feast is the first album from the elusive Baltimore's band Teen Suicide in years. For over a decade, guitarist, vocalist and project runner Sam Ray has been sometimes quietly and sometimes very noisily setting standards in the indie scene by changing genres, live lineups and even band names, but the one constant has been an undeniable gift for songwriting. honeybee table sits at an interesting point in the teen suicide timeline, following years of relative quiet following the releases a whole fucking lifetime of this (2018) and fucking bliss (2019), both released under the short-lived alias American Pleasure Club. Lockdown times saw a viral moment for the song "haunt me (x3)", a cult-classic catalog track featured on the 2015 Run For Cover reissue of the band's two beloved EPs dc snuff film and waste yrself. Now the band returns with what could be their next classic record, 16 songs that oscillate between noisy garage-rock, intimate acoustic songs and even blistering powerviolence in the vein of 2016's ambitious double album it's the big joyous celebration, let's stir the honeypot. The album is as varied and captivating as the cover art of the record - a painting by Ray's mother - and is held together by his unique artistic vision, captured not only in the genius of his songwriting but the power of lyrics that turn his lived experience of the past few years into harrowing poetry.

Ripple Music are ecstatic to present this brilliant record on vinyl for the first time! Fireball Ministry have
held their own for close to 30 years now and 'Their Rock Is Not Our Rock' is a prime example of this.

Over atmospheric instrumentation expanded by cinematic structure and pacing, Pearlty presents Knifeplay somewhere between dream-pop influenced shoegaze and lofty slowcore, never fully committing to one or the other in its insistence on creating an immersive, organic world.

Originally released in 2019, Knifeplay’s vivid debut Pearlty documents songwriter Tj Strohmer’s expressions of early adulthood in what he describes as “the journey from innocence to experience.”

Written during a time of immense inspiration, Strohmer was able to peel himself away from detached nihilism, uncovering the physicality and therapeutic powers of songwriting. Newly emboldened by this discovery and the talented community surrounding him, Strohmer channeled this revelation into his work, taking Knifeplay from a bedroom experiment that merely wrote songs to a more substantial project with a purpose.

Ein Zwischenspiel & eine Liebeserklärung Geübt, geordnet, wahrscheinlich inszeniert gingen die Beatles im Sommer 1969 über den Zebra Streifen der Abbey Road - 55 Jahre später sind es Brezn und Semmeln, die die vier Oberammergauer Bergschafe über die Kreuzung locken. Die Beatles gingen nach rechts, die Schafe gehen nach links. Wo sie sich treffen? Natürlich auf dem neuen Album von Maxi Pongratz. "I mecht an Landla hean" schiebt sich zwischen Solo-Album zwei und drei wie ein Zwischenspiel. Es ist ein Innehalten und Besinnen auf die Ursprünge, eine Liebeserklärung an die Volksmusik. Schon viel zulange versucht der Heimatsound, Volksmusik wieder 'cooler" zu machen. Sie muss aber nicht 'cool" gemacht werden. Sie ist das, was sie ist: Folk. Was sie nicht braucht - Heimat. Sie kann überall zu Hause sein. In den Melodien von David Bowie und Tom Waits, zwischen den Zeilen von Wir sind Helden, selbst im Dance-Schlager eines Gigi d"Agostino (bei Maxi Pongratz mit Hackbrett-Intro). Maxi Pongratz hat in seinem Repertoire gekramt und erste Kompositionen ("Eiseckla"), übermitteltes Liedgut ("Ich und der Mond", "Landlerrunde") und seine All-Time-Favorit-Coversongs zusammengetragen. So haben sich auf "I mecht an Landla hean" zwölf vorwiegend instrumentale Songs versammelt und es passiert das, was meistens passiert, wenn sich Musikanten spontan an einem (Wirtshaus-)Tisch zusammenfinden - jede*r bringt etwas mit und am Ende wird getanzt.

First aired by Ratpack on Centreforce , this first collaboration by Col Trixta &Dubble Dunk has already become a classic in-the-making
Much like the hugely popular 'Dubble Dunk Vol 1', both tracks bridge genreshouse, breaks and old skool - with slammin' old skool pianos, stabs and familiarvocals.
Colin and Duncan have been plying their trade on the UK rave DJ circuit since theearly 90's and both held residencies at Slammin' Vinyl, United Dance, Freedom@Bagley's and now Strawberry Sundae together.

Celebrating 30 years of legendary Henry Street Music with this special double vinyl released for the Record Store Day 2024. A piece of 90s House history, influenced by the magical classy vibes of those unique retro-house alchemy moments. Deep hip-hop, electro and funky influences into the unstoppable timeless flavor of these magical bangers.

Whereas before all jamaican recordings were made for 7-inch single releases, this recording session was held to release the longplay album “The Best Of The Wailers“, the very first album by The Wailers, and the very first album in reggae at all.
Recorded before their involvement with Lee Perry but not released until 1971 this is The Wailers at their soulful best. The songs are simple yet powerful. There are great harmonies between Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, and unlike their later releases with Island records the sound isn't embellished. Each and every song is memorable, they are all classics.

Burning Hell was recorded in 1959 in Detroit, MI, but wasn't released until 1964. Even then, it was only available in the U.K.. This 180-gram vinyl pressing marks the first official single LP worldwide release the album has seen. Pressed at QRP as part of the Bluesville Records / Acoustic Sounds series, the album features Hooker solo as he plays originals and classics. AllMusic states that, on this album, "Hooker shows himself to be an excellent interpreter who could have held his own with Delta bluesmen of any era."

Craft Recordings, in partnership with Acoustic Sounds, is releasing Burning Hell as part of the Bluesville Series. Bluesville is a brand-new hub for all things blues, including vinyl reissues, curated playlists, and more! Inspired by the original label imprint established under Prestige Records in 1959, the Bluesville Series will highlight the many trailblazing musicians who contributed to the rich tradition of the blues, including titles from legendary artists on labels such as Vee-Jay, Riverside, Vanguard, Stax, and Rounder Records.

The albums in the Bluesville Series are pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings and feature all-analog (AAA) mastering by Grammy-nominated engineer Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab at Blue Heaven Studios, plus a tip-on jacket and obi strip with notes written by Grammy-winning producer, writer and musician Scott Billington.

On February 28th 2020 NEAERA released their 7th album – it was their self-titled comeback record after a 7-year-hiatus - which caught everyone by surprise. Despite having been very well perceived the pandemic impeded the band’s long awaited and already scheduled return to the live stages. On February 29th 2020, NEAERA played a successful and sold out release show in the band’s hometown, but it remained the only show for the record in years since Wacken, the Impericon festivals and other shows had to be postponed until further notice which was a huge setback for the ambitious quintet. Sebastian Heldt (drums), Tobias Buck (guitar) and Stefan Keller (guitar) used the unfortunate state of the pandemic and the impossibility to play live shows to create something new. Together with Marcus Bischoff of German metalcore institution Heaven Shall Burn and old friend Tristan Hachmeister they unearthed a black metal project by the name of OUR LOSS IS TOTAL and released the bleak full-length record “I” end of 2022 through the project’s own label. After that release, the NEAERA band members decided it was time write new material. The band wanted to go back to an old school approach, like in the old days, when they wrote the songs together in their little rehearsal room in their hometown of Münster, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. The band started the writing process in September 2021, skipped the first material and then started with a new approach to a more free and less comfortable style, trying to leave old boundaries behind. By 2022, NEAERA played the postponed Wacken Open Air show – which was an overwhelming experience – and asked Janosch Rathmer (drummer of long-time friends and post rock institution Long Distance Calling) to record the band’s new album ALL IS DUST. The mixing and mastering was skilfully handled by Kristian Kohle at Kohlekeller Studios (Powerwolf, Aborted, Electric Callboy) who adorned the songs with the exact right powerful yet organic sound. In terms of lyrics, NEAERA shifted their approach a little bit and put the individual and its survival and well-being center stage – beside lyrics that deal with global or social clamour; a shift that can be called pandemic infused. 2024 marks the 20th band anniversary and is the perfect timing to release the eighth studio album, ALL IS DUST. Nothing can stop the band this year with two video clips at hand and prestigious summer festivals confirmed such as Summer Breeze, Reload and Vainstream Rockfest, the latter being the album release show in front of 20,000 people!

Repressed mint coloured vinyl for the 10th anniversary of the first Flenser pressing! Double Vinyl-LP including digital download code & comes with a 75-page zine. Layout by Niels Geybels (Agalloch, Planning for Burial), note new price on the mint edition. Long requested CD version back in print, note new price. For fans of Enemies List Home Recordings, Giles Corey, Black Wing, Planning For Burial. In 2008, Have A Nice Life released their now cult classic Deathconsciousness album to a whimper and critical non-interest. Six years after its release the band followed up with 2014's stunner The Unnatural World, and by then Deathconsciousness had become a force of influence and fanatic obsession. Seamlessly blending shoegaze, post punk, new wave, industrial and noise with unparalleled depth and weight, the album was originally released by Enemies List Home Recordings founded by HANL members Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga. The 75-page booklet accompanying the deluxe format of Deathconsciousness details the dark and forgotten history of the Antiochean cult. Blurring the lines between novella, liner notes, and academic text, the zine itself presents an engrossing narrative. The corresponding album is rhythmic, primal and expansive, and is a gloomy-post-punk masterpiece a mediation on death, loss and existence. It feels more fresh and engaging with every listen and has held up as a remarkable piece of art. Fans of Have A Nice Life exhibit both cultic thought and action for good reason it is perhaps a fanbase as dark and mysterious as the Antiochean's, which the album itself revolves around. Quotes : "Deathconsciousness is probably a perfect record" - Last Train To Cool // "A masterpiece of depression" - The Quietus // "85-minute powerhouse of a double-album" - The Needle Drop // "Have a Nice Life's Deathconsciousness could quite possibly move the Earth" - Sputnik Music (5/5 rating)".

Compiled by legendary producer Arthur Baker, ‘Breakers Revenge’ is a near-definitive collection of original Funk, Soul, Latin, Disco and Electro classic tracks from 1970-1984. These tracks, a combination of classics and obscurities, have all since become legendary to Breakdancers everywhere.

First played at South Bronx block parties, community halls and park jams in the 1970s and 80s, spun endlessly by the first three major hip-hop DJs – Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa – and found in the record crates of any DJ of note ever since. Seminal funk and soul tracks such as Dennis Coffey’s ‘Scorpio’, The Jimmy Castor Bunch’s ‘It’s Just Begun’, James Brown’s ‘Get on the Good Foot’, The Mohawks’ ‘Champ’ sit side-by-side here with the ground-breaking, classic electro of Afrika Bambaataa’s ‘Planet Rock’, and Arthur Baker’s own definitive ‘Breaker’s Revenge.’ Breakdancing has come a long way from its New York roots to its respected position as an art form today where, for the first time ever, it is to be featured in the Olympics held in Paris this August 2024.

The ‘breakbeat’ remains at the very heart of hip-hop, the mercurial funk, soul and disco tracks, always 100% guaranteed to get B-Boys, B-Girls and Breakdancers moving at any block party, with the percussive breakdown of each track the pinnacle soundtrack to any dance/battle between Breakdancers of any note. Similarly these tracks have been sampled many 1000s of times over by every hip-hop artist and producer of note. KRS-ONE, Marley Marl, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Public Enemy, Eric B, The Fugees, Outkast, Mos Def, Main Source, Jungle Brothers, LL Cool J, De La Soul and, well, everyone!

Compiler Arthur Baker played a pivotal role in hip-hop history when in 1982 he produced Afrika Bambaataa’s seminal ‘Planet Rock’ (as featured here), introducing electronic instruments into hip-hop for the first time ever and in the process created electro. After ‘Planet Rock’, Arthur Baker went on to remix or produce every major artist of note – from New Order to the Rolling Stones, Al Green to the Pet Shop Boys

Repress.

Back in print and just in time for summer relaxation. It's hard to believe this album came out over 10 years ago. Back then we thought it was too rough for consumption, were we wrong! Today, “Songs” can be heard on hundreds of playlists around the world and still attracts listeners with its unique sonic grit. It became a template for LOFI producers and has even been featured in multiple Thrasher skate videos. Its appeal continues to cross genres and remains entirely random, but unmistakably Dwight. If you missed out on this album the first time, it's your chance to get that first PPU restoration of Dwight's solo songs from the 80s. This is the restoration that took over 2 years and included; phones held up to speakers, cassette to 1/4 reel transfers, Tascam manipulations, scotch tape, and a pair of scissors.

Dwight Sykes aka Sporty Cat, was born February 27, 1956 in Nettleton, Mississippi. At the age of two Dwight and family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan where he would remain for most of his younger years. At the age of nine Dwight started his musical career singing background vocals with a spiritual group, Airs of Harmony, Jr., now known as the Michigan Nightingales. After three years of signing, Dwight started playing guitar. He joined his first r&B band, The Kenyatahs, at age thirteen and then played for five years with the group. Following the break up of the group and the death of his mother, Dwight enlisted in the U.S. Army. During that time he played guitar and drums for the band 100% Pure Poison. They played throughout Germany for 18 months. After being honorably discharged, and back in the states, Dwight started playing in numerous local Michigan bands including Domain, and Chaos. Eager to write his own material, Dwight created the group Jahari. They toured for a couple of years in the Michigan area until another break-up. Still under the Jahari alias, Dwight wrote "Situations" which received respectable air-play on Michigan local radio stations, WKMI, WQXC, WRDR, WKZO and WKDS. Dwight now resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He continues to write and produce songs on his Tascam 464 four track console. Although he uses other avenues to provide for the upkeep of himself and son, his love of music keep the hope alive that he will one day get that big break in the music business. Dwight Sykes - Songs Volume One is a collection of material written, produced and recorded by Dwight Sykes on 4-Track Cassette, in his home studio L.U.S.T. Productions.

DJ Support: Jamie Jones, Reboot, Dennis Cruz, Raresh, Reelow, Dimmish, Fabe, Archie Hamilton, Rich NxT, Chicks Luv Us, Christian Burkhardt, Terry Francis.

This EP is inspired by love and dreams and continues her quest to find the perfect blend of emotional yet minimal melodic beats. Opener 'L'Amour' radiates Lazic's signature sounds with a slick bassline and melodic chords that convey meaningful emotions under female spoken words. It's a seductive world of warm pads and silky beats that cast a hypnotic spell. The fantastic 'Todo El Universo' features the vocals of Lazic's Spanish friend Monica. The title translates as 'all the universe' and is a favourite line from Paulo Coelho's novel The Alchemist about accomplishing your dreams. It's a deep and comforting groove with soft drums and pillowy pads that soothe the soul and are perfect for more intimate dance floors.
Remixer Nu Eau is a pivotal part of Romania's minimal scene with a meticulously crafted sound that has taken him to the likes of Gettraum and Memoria Recordings and he also co-founded the Uvar imprint. His version of ‘L'Amour' is more up tempo but no less heady, with lush cosmic synths doing an elegant dance over the compelling beats.

Spanish pair Los Suruba have done it all over the last 20 years - released hundreds of tracks, played thousands of gigs, established their own network of record labels, held residencies everywhere from Ibiza to London and crafted countless underground hits. Their remix of ‘L'Amour' is serene and cerebral with paranoid voices drifting through the mix and rippling chords keeping you afloat in the cosmos.

Docile Recordings is for itself. We are an expression of the beautiful moments that hold us frozen. Warm confusion that breathes life to the senses. The Docile sound captures a nostalgia for times yet to come. We are a familiar resonance always shifting for the correct approach. Always aiming for the heart and soul. Docile speaks to the basic instincts of the techno rebel; supplying sonic reasons to trudge on.

The “last of a kind e.p.” is the 32nd release from the Docile Recordings record label. The feel of this release ranges from a pragmatic spiritual funk to a loose heabangin’ frivolity. Docile 32 is 4/4 minimal held together by soulful synth and smart percussion advanced by ringing highs and detuned horns. Proper mathematics of programming moves a mix match of harmonies through a gauntlet of invisible edits gaining momentum until it is taken away. This is Docile music.

Die Komfortzone seiner eigenen Band zu verlassen, um sich auf neue musikalische Pfade zu begeben, erfordert Mut. Daran sollte es MARCO GLÜHMANN als Sänger einer der erfolgreichsten deutschen Artrock-Bands SYLVAN nicht mangeln, da er es ja gewohnt ist, ganz vorne im Rampenlicht zu stehen. Es spricht für seine enorme Kreativität, eine längere Schaffenspause seiner Haupt-Band zu nutzen, um sich ohne die notwendigen Kompromisse, Vorgaben und Beschränkungen seiner Mitstreiter neu auszuprobieren. Herausgekommen ist ein fantastisches Album, das voller Energie und Esprit steckt und irgendwo zwischen Rock, Artrock und anspruchsvoller Popmusik wandelt. Nachdem seine SYLVAN-Bandkollegen Volker Söhl und Johnny Beck letztes Jahr das Projekt VIOLENT JASPER vorstellten, darf man nun auf das Werk "A Fragile Present" ihres Frontmanns gespannt sein!
Speziell die erste Single "My eyes are wide open" hat Marco nicht nur in kürzester Zeit geschrieben, sondern auch die Lyrics sind geblieben. "Die Textstelle 'Lay your head on me, oh my little boy' bereitet mir immer noch Gänsehaut, da ich mir hier mich und meinen Sohn vorstelle und die Liebe, die Kurzweiligkeit des Moments, aber auch Verantwortung spüre, ihn in diese Welt zu ‚schicken'." so der Künstler weiter. Dass gerade dieser Song von keinem geringeren als MARILLION-Gitarrist STEVE ROTHEREY veredelt wurde, einem von Marcos musikalischen Helden, setzt ein ganz besonderes Ausrufezeichen.
Apropos Musiker, das Line-up liest sich wie ein "Who is who" der Artrock-/Progressive-Rock-Szene: neben dem bereits erwähnten STEVE ROTHERY gibt auch BILLY SHEERWOOD von YES ein Gastspiel: er steuerte die Chöre bei "Hear Our Voice" in allerbester YES-Manier bei. RPWL-Gitarrist KALLE WALLNER spielt die meisten Gitarren auf dem Album und war nicht nur als Co-Produzent, sondern auch als Arrangeur maßgeblich beteiligt. Natürlich gibt sich SYLVAN-Gitarrist JOHNNY BECK die Ehre und die Rhythmusgruppe besteht aus Drummer TOMMY EBERHARDT und dem Bassisten MARKUS GRÜTZNER (RPWL). All das wurde aufgenommen, gemischt und produziert von RPWL-Mastermind YOGI LANG in den Farm-Studios, der zudem noch einige Keyboards beigesteuert hat.

"A Fragile Present" ist ein wahres "Bilderbuch"-Album, das man sich schöner nicht wünschen könnte. Tolle und einprägsame Melodien, die einen nicht mehr loslassen, hochemotionale Musik und grandiose Musiker. All das will einen das Album wieder und wieder genießen lassen.

Line-Up:
Marco Glühmann - vocals, keyboards, guitars

Steve Rothery (Marillion) - guitar on "My eyes are wide open"
Billy Sheerwood (YES) - choir on "Hear our voice"
Kalle Wallner (RPWL) - guitars
Johnny Beck (Sylvan) - guitars
Yogi Lang (RPWL) - keyboards
Markus Grützner (RPWL) - bass
Tommy Eberhardt - drums

Die Presse meint:
eclipsed 8.5/10 - ALBUM DES MONATS: "Insgesamt ein wunderbares Album und Beispiel für gelungene Kooperation."

Piranha/Start: "Von dieser Progrock-Basis aus wagt Glühmann den Schritt in Richtung intelligenten Mainstream-rocks: Songs wie "For A While" oder "Reach Out" würden ins Programm der Rockpop-Sender passen, die noch 80s-Rock wie "Boys Of Sum-mer" oder "Kayleigh" in ihrer Playlist haben."

Rock Hard 7.5/10: "…eine ohrenfreundliche Progrock-Scheibe… die etwas straighter und rockiger daherkommt als die Sylvan-Platten. Die stilistische Ausrichtung kann überzeugen, und kompositorisch ist auch alles im deutlich grünen Bereich."

Good Times: "Bei solchen Cracks versteht es sich von selbst, dass mit A FRAGILE PRESENT ein lupenreines - äußerst lyrisches - Prog-Rock-Werk entstanden ist."

Announcing the debut album from one of London’s most electrifying acts, New Regency Orchestra. An 18-piece Afro-Cuban big band, inspired by the musical melting pot of NYC in the 1950s, but with the punch and power of a whole host of London’s best Latin and jazz musicians. Blowing new life into these compositions, the album is a reimagining of some of the finest music from that golden era. From early 1950s René Hernandez and Tito Puente, through to the 1970s salsa of Rafael Labasta and Orlando Marin, produced and performed with fresh fire.

NRO is the brainchild of its artistic director, and the man behind Total Refreshment Centre and Church of Sound, Lex Blondin. Through a long-held passion for jazz, Lex discovered the explosive Afro-Cuban rhythms of mid-1940s NYC via the godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz, Mario Bauzá. A time when two musical worlds collided in a fusion of creativity and energy, jazz luminaries like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker joining forces with Cuban greats like Machito and Chano Pozo. This vibrant sound was music to dance to and found a home at The New York Palladium, a formative space of freedom and expression that was key to the scene’s development.

Although dance-focussed in their makeup, those early recordings are not often heard in modern club environments and Lex dreamt of retelling their story with a contemporary dynamism. A slice of serendipity followed, as a slot at a new festival opened up and Lex jumped at the chance to make this idea a reality, an 18-piece big band breathing new life into these beloved songs.

Enlisting the expertise of some of the capital’s finest talent, Lex and co-captain Andy Wood, of Como No fame, put together a world-class line-up of talent. Bringing in Eliane Correa as musical director and bandleader, a fluid and interchanging 18-piece band was formed.

The album itself is a hand-picked selection of timeless Afro-Cuban jazz classics, reimagined with NRO’s unbridled energy. It contains ten incredible instrumental tracks including 'Pregon' with its anthemic horn stabs and the addictive head nod bounce of 'Mambo Rama', alongside two scorching vocal numbers in 'Papa Boco' and 'Labasta Llego'. Coupling a heavyweight rhythm section with a wall of horns, they provide a fresh spin on songs from Tito Puente and Chico O'Farrill, René Hernandez through to Rafael Labasta.

“Some of the tunes like Tito Puente’s ‘Mambo Rama’ and ‘Scarlet Mambo’ might sound like they went to a gym as extra drums and bass synth were added to them whilst the tune ‘Sahib & Tito’ is a mix of Tito’s ‘Mambo Buda’ and Sahib Shihab’s ‘Nus’. Our intention is to be both respectful to the innovators and inventors of this incredible music and to pay our dues, but also to add something special from London where the city’s new jazz scene connects with its Latin American musicians and the musical influences around us.”

This pure collective joy, shared experience and music you can’t help but move to.

Bad Breeding, the Stevenage-based hardcore unit, are set to release their fifth album ‘Contempt’ on June 14th with One Little Independent Records and Iron Lung Records in the US.

It follows 2022s ‘Human Capital’ which mercilessly attacked Conservative meritocracy and the exploitative forces of late capitalism. ‘Contempt’ ups the ante yet again and explores the continued effects that austerity has had on the working public and specifically capital’s destruction of the planet and its inhabitants. It’s released with multiple essays in an accompanying zine, one that follows environmental and humanitarian journalist Aidan Frere-Smith and another that tells the story of a homelessness crisis in a city full of unused housing. Utilizing a mix of propulsive rhythm and furious, explosive guitars to maximum effect, Bad Breeding have weaponised their anger in the fight for survival; “Because these days are ours to take / Seize them with union, love and rage”.

Christopher Dodd explains “Capital and its bourgeois foot soldiers hold nothing but contempt for working people and it’s in that contempt we can find solidarity with one another. Whatever story gets sold and packaged, contempt guides every move of the capitalist class. We see it every day – unspeakable destruction from war and government-sponsored genocide, exploitation of workers and the very gutting of the planet we live on. Only when we realise and utilise the utter contempt held for us can we reach a level of class consciousness that will provide an adequate challenge to capital”.

Bad Breeding, the Stevenage-based hardcore unit, are set to release their fifth album ‘Contempt’ on June 14th with One Little Independent Records and Iron Lung Records in the US.

It follows 2022s ‘Human Capital’ which mercilessly attacked Conservative meritocracy and the exploitative forces of late capitalism. ‘Contempt’ ups the ante yet again and explores the continued effects that austerity has had on the working public and specifically capital’s destruction of the planet and its inhabitants. It’s released with multiple essays in an accompanying zine, one that follows environmental and humanitarian journalist Aidan Frere-Smith and another that tells the story of a homelessness crisis in a city full of unused housing. Utilizing a mix of propulsive rhythm and furious, explosive guitars to maximum effect, Bad Breeding have weaponised their anger in the fight for survival; “Because these days are ours to take / Seize them with union, love and rage”.

Christopher Dodd explains “Capital and its bourgeois foot soldiers hold nothing but contempt for working people and it’s in that contempt we can find solidarity with one another. Whatever story gets sold and packaged, contempt guides every move of the capitalist class. We see it every day – unspeakable destruction from war and government-sponsored genocide, exploitation of workers and the very gutting of the planet we live on. Only when we realise and utilise the utter contempt held for us can we reach a level of class consciousness that will provide an adequate challenge to capital”.

Konsum ist der Schlüssel. Kriegsverbrechen in Echtzeit, eine Armlänge entfernt, obligatorische Konnektivität zum Hive Mind. Die allgemeine menschliche Erfahrung erfährt diese Veränderung. Das schützenden Ausblenden wird alltäglich und nicht mehr nur von Soldaten und Opfern an der Front erlebt. Die Front ist überall. Koloniale Hinterlassenschaften, Völkermord, vergiftete Medikamentenvorräte und verfehlte Politik, mörderische Polizisten, globale Erwärmung, neoliberale Auswirkungen, aufkommender Faschismus. Das Informationszeitalter in seiner jetzigen Form ist eines, in dem die Maske des Kaisers zu fallen beginnt, ein Machtkampf mit den schlimmsten Akteuren, die sich in Spitzenpositionen für die Übernahme bewegen, und Identitätspolitik, die den Widerstand anführt, während die Arbeiterklasse vor unseren Augen demontiert wird. Das Einzige, was uns in einem Zeitalter endloser Traumaerfahrungen satt macht, ist die sofortige Befriedigung. Das Absurde an all dem ist, dass wir in diesem Rahmen leben, lieben, kaufen und sterben. Das ist zynisch, aber es ist wahr. Und hier sind wir nun. Bootlicker's neuestes Album 1000 Yard Stare ist 10 Tracks gewalttätiger Musik für eine abscheuliche Welt. Musikalisch bleibt die Gruppe ihrem UK82-meets-American-Hardcore treu, wobei die Anklänge an Discharge die Hand führen. Skeptix, Special Duties, Svart Framtid sind die Würze. D-Beat-Antrieb und die Knöpfe bei 11 abgebrochen. Genre: Alternative / Punk / Hardcore / Grind

My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, ANOHNI"s sixth studio album, expresses a world view by shape-shifting through a broad range of subject matter. Through a personal lens, ANOHNI addresses loss of loved ones, inequality, alienation, acceptance, cruelty, ecocide, devastation wrought by Abrahamic theologies, Future Feminism, and the possibility that we might yet transform our ways of thinking, our spiritual ideas, our societal structures, and our relationships with the rest of nature. On her first full album since 2016"s HOPELESSNESS, she explains the creative process was painstaking, yet also inspired, joyful, and intimate, a renewal and a renaming of her response to the world as she sees it. "Some of these songs respond to global and environmental concerns first voiced in popular music over 50 years ago." ANOHNI"s approach since her last record has shifted from someone tasked with challenging global denial, to an artist seeking to support others on the front lines. "I learned with HOPELESSNESS that I can provide a soundtrack that might fortify people in their work, in their activism, in their dreaming and decision-making. I can sing of an awareness that makes others feel less alone, people for whom the frank articulation of these frightening times is not a source of discomfort but a cause for identification and relief. On "It Must Change," ANOHNI soulfully describes systems in collapse with a note of compassion for humanity: "The truth is I always thought you were beautiful in your own way // That"s why this is so sad." ANOHNI"s voice is sensual and smoothed, selectively reaching to the edges of what it can contain. "We"re not getting out of here // No one"s getting out of here // This is our world," she murmurs. A portrait of legendary human rights activist Marsha P. Johnson taken by Alvin Baltrop features on the cover, reflecting a 25-year relationship with the memory of Johnson that ANOHNI has held space for in the presentation of her own work. Elsewhere, the album artwork states "IT"S TIME TO FEEL WHAT"S REALLY HAPPENING". In some ways it feels as if she is reaching across her life"s expression, and has found a moment of unique composure, wearing her long exploration of disarming intensity, with the maturity of a painter carefully choosing her colors. "I want the work to be useful, to help others move through these conversations we are now facing, to move with dignity and resilience through this bitter dawning."

After “Matjesfilet” or „Verbrennungsmotor”, the single “Supermarkt” by Berlin producer ACUD, released in 2023, was also very successful. On the radio, on streaming platforms or on the festival stages: the song was present
everywhere! A remix EP was just a formality and is now celebrating its awakening, digitally and on vinyl! Included are the Norwegian disco masters PRINS THOMAS and OST&KJEX, as well as the Mexican MIJO, the
Argentinian ANA HELDER and from Berlin: AMOUNT. There is also a new acid variant from ACUD itself, as well as the original. Reason enough to fill existing gaps in the vinyl case.

Indie Exclusive Limited Turquoise col vinyl, these were only available on the European tour, we have a final box of 50 which got held up in customs so offering now as an Indie exclusive. Northern California’s punk rock cult favourites, Tsunami Bomb, has risen from the grave and reformed with their third full-length release, The Spine That Binds, and with it they have proven that this chapter of Tsunami Bomb not only embraces their signature style of aggressive pop punk supplemented by a touch of darkness but have taken it even further. Honing their skills of melody while being more in-your-face and more aggressive than ever, they conjure a dark journey of discovery with each track. Originally formed in 1998, and disbanding after many member changes in 2005, Tsunami Bomb reformed at the end of 2015. This new release finds the quintet brought to life with the return of founders Dominic Davi (bass / backing vocals), Oobliette Sparks (keyboards / co-lead vocals), and Gabriel Lindeman (drums). Joined by Kate Jacobi (lead vocals) and Andrew Pohl (guitars/backing vocals), they combine their skills to create a sound that effortlessly mixes dark musings on the search to find one’s place in an increasingly uncaring world, into unforgettable anthems, calling on one to get up and sing-a -long. The Spine That Binds is not asking for your acceptance, it demands it. This album will scratch the itch of all the diehard fans looking for that familiar Tsunami Bomb sound, but also show a new, angrier and brutally honest side of the band. With the support of Jello Biafra’s legendary punk rock label, Alternative Tentacles Records, Tsunami Bomb has not only heard the call, they are ready for the newest chapter to unfold and they are taking everything with them

3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by hip-hop trio De La Soul, and was released on March 3, 1989. It marked the first of three full-length collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and commercial peak of both parties. It contains the singles, “Me Myself and I”, “The Magic Number,” “Buddy,” and “Eye Know”. The album title came from the Johnny Cash song “Five Feet High and Rising”. It is listed on both Rolling Stone’s 200 Essential Rock Records and The Source’s 100 Best Rap Albums. When Village Voice held its annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1989, 3 Feet High and Rising was ranked #1. It was also listed on Rolling Stone’s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Released amid the 1989 boom in gangsta rap, which gravitated towards hardcore, confrontational, violent lyrics, De La Soul's uniquely positive style made them an oddity beginning with the first single, “Me, Myself and I.” Their positivity meant many observers labeled them a “hippie” group, based on their declaration of the “D.A.I.S.Y. Age” (Da. Inner. Soul. Yall). Sampling artists as diverse as Hall & Oates, Steely Dan and The Turtles, 3 Feet High and Rising is often viewed as the stylistic beginning of 1990s alternative hip hop (and especially jazz rap). 3 Feet High & Rising was chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry for its cultural significance and general excellence.

This special boxset release of De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising includes twelve 7” custom singles pressed on splatter vinyl and housed in custom sleeves, housed in a box that includes a 7” pinup and a double-sided 7” slipmat, and is available first at record stores as part of RSD Black Friday. "

Cassette!!

Svart Records are proud to release the long-awaited full length album "SÁLA" by Kati Rán in May 2024

If the most profound treasures are often the most deeply buried, the journey to uncover them is vital process of discovery. Five years after the 15-minute single “Blodbylgje” signaled the birth of a new, more primordial, and immersive vision after the dissolution of her band L.E.A.F., Nordic dark folk artist Kati Rán has expanded on its oceanic theme for her long-awaited full-length album, “SÁLA”. Embarking on a far-reaching musical and personal travelogue, it’s a reawakening of both the feminine narratives submerged and fragmented within Norse mythology, and the enduring, healing powers held within.

Named after the Old Norse word for ‘soul’ and ‘sea’, “SÁLA” is an act of ‘soul retrieval’, the shamanic art of trauma recovery, be it illness, death, heartbreak or loss, and the reintegration of a splintered self. Across its 13, wide-ranging, elegantly unfolding tracks, the album is an embodiment of different feminine voices and perspectives – from the Norse nine daughters of the sea, or ‘billow maidens’, through various historical and fictional figures to the late-night voices we hear in our most liminal states – all with tales to tell, riddles to solve, challenges to be accepted and guidance to offer. It’s a multiplicity that, like the ocean itself, belongs to a vast, restless dynamic: a matrix of mysteries, unfathomable depths and ever-shifting currents, accumulating into an elemental, regenerative source of power.

Recorded in a barn in Húsafell, Iceland – home to glacier ice caves and a rare lava stone marimba rediscovered for the track “Stone Pillars” – as well as Finland, Norway and at home in Kati’s native Netherlands, “SÁLA” is as much chronicle of Kati’s own perspective-shifting recording process as it as a pilgrimage through different viewpoints and internal states. That itinerate urge is also reflected in the use of different languages, ranging across Norwegian, Old Norse, Icelandic, and, for the first time, English, her combination of ancient texts, historical reimagining’s and unguarded personal reflection backed up by deep research into the most resonant recesses of Nordic lore.

Spun throughout every thread of “SÁLA” is a sense of communion - with the power of stories to offer moral guidance and the thrill of the unknown; with the element of water, recreated across the album both in field recordings and the agelessly organic nature of the music itself; with the archetypes whose qualities we are called upon to embody at our most critical moments; and with the internal hidden realms forever whispering at us from the far edges of our consciousness.

Appropriately, it’s a collaborative venture too. As well as working closely together with Finnish producer Jaani Peuhu, there are contributions from across the musical spectrum, including extreme metal vocalist extraordinaire Gaahl, the Icelandic female choir Umbra Ensemble, renowned Norwegian jazz musician Karl Seglem, Björk and Brian Eno contrabassist Borgar Magnason, members of pagan folk acts Völuspá, Gealdýr, Heilung and Theodor Bastard and even Napalm Death’s Mitch Harris on vocals.

For all the many sources “SÁLA” draws from, the result is a singular, intimately transformative rite of passage, and a retuning of the heart to the reverent continuity of the sacred. It will take you from the opening title track’s chest-pounding rhythmic pulse emerging from a traditional Norwegian bukkehorn (recorded by Karl Seglem), a galloping horse-rider and Kati’s glacial, velveteen chant, through “Kólga’s” recounting of female persecution through the ages borne on the most gossamer-light yet unbreakable of timbres and “Stone Pillar’s” gently percolating, deep wells of abandonment and incantations to recovery. “SÁLA” closes with the track “Sátta” - Old Norse for ‘peace’ and ‘reconciliation’ – ending the album as it began with the bukkehorn, as it weaves rich drones and experience-stamped poems and prayers, Kati’s vocals the most sensitively tuned of emotional barometers. An album made in dedication, and in thrall to, its own sense of destiny, “SÁLA” is, as all quests must ultimately be, a homecoming.

Album introduction written by Jonathan Selzer.

Svart Records are proud to release the long-awaited full length album "SÁLA" by Kati Rán in May 2024

If the most profound treasures are often the most deeply buried, the journey to uncover them is vital process of discovery. Five years after the 15-minute single “Blodbylgje” signaled the birth of a new, more primordial, and immersive vision after the dissolution of her band L.E.A.F., Nordic dark folk artist Kati Rán has expanded on its oceanic theme for her long-awaited full-length album, “SÁLA”. Embarking on a far-reaching musical and personal travelogue, it’s a reawakening of both the feminine narratives submerged and fragmented within Norse mythology, and the enduring, healing powers held within.

Named after the Old Norse word for ‘soul’ and ‘sea’, “SÁLA” is an act of ‘soul retrieval’, the shamanic art of trauma recovery, be it illness, death, heartbreak or loss, and the reintegration of a splintered self. Across its 13, wide-ranging, elegantly unfolding tracks, the album is an embodiment of different feminine voices and perspectives – from the Norse nine daughters of the sea, or ‘billow maidens’, through various historical and fictional figures to the late-night voices we hear in our most liminal states – all with tales to tell, riddles to solve, challenges to be accepted and guidance to offer. It’s a multiplicity that, like the ocean itself, belongs to a vast, restless dynamic: a matrix of mysteries, unfathomable depths and ever-shifting currents, accumulating into an elemental, regenerative source of power.

Recorded in a barn in Húsafell, Iceland – home to glacier ice caves and a rare lava stone marimba rediscovered for the track “Stone Pillars” – as well as Finland, Norway and at home in Kati’s native Netherlands, “SÁLA” is as much chronicle of Kati’s own perspective-shifting recording process as it as a pilgrimage through different viewpoints and internal states. That itinerate urge is also reflected in the use of different languages, ranging across Norwegian, Old Norse, Icelandic, and, for the first time, English, her combination of ancient texts, historical reimagining’s and unguarded personal reflection backed up by deep research into the most resonant recesses of Nordic lore.

Spun throughout every thread of “SÁLA” is a sense of communion - with the power of stories to offer moral guidance and the thrill of the unknown; with the element of water, recreated across the album both in field recordings and the agelessly organic nature of the music itself; with the archetypes whose qualities we are called upon to embody at our most critical moments; and with the internal hidden realms forever whispering at us from the far edges of our consciousness.

Appropriately, it’s a collaborative venture too. As well as working closely together with Finnish producer Jaani Peuhu, there are contributions from across the musical spectrum, including extreme metal vocalist extraordinaire Gaahl, the Icelandic female choir Umbra Ensemble, renowned Norwegian jazz musician Karl Seglem, Björk and Brian Eno contrabassist Borgar Magnason, members of pagan folk acts Völuspá, Gealdýr, Heilung and Theodor Bastard and even Napalm Death’s Mitch Harris on vocals.

For all the many sources “SÁLA” draws from, the result is a singular, intimately transformative rite of passage, and a retuning of the heart to the reverent continuity of the sacred. It will take you from the opening title track’s chest-pounding rhythmic pulse emerging from a traditional Norwegian bukkehorn (recorded by Karl Seglem), a galloping horse-rider and Kati’s glacial, velveteen chant, through “Kólga’s” recounting of female persecution through the ages borne on the most gossamer-light yet unbreakable of timbres and “Stone Pillar’s” gently percolating, deep wells of abandonment and incantations to recovery. “SÁLA” closes with the track “Sátta” - Old Norse for ‘peace’ and ‘reconciliation’ – ending the album as it began with the bukkehorn, as it weaves rich drones and experience-stamped poems and prayers, Kati’s vocals the most sensitively tuned of emotional barometers. An album made in dedication, and in thrall to, its own sense of destiny, “SÁLA” is, as all quests must ultimately be, a homecoming.

Album introduction written by Jonathan Selzer.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce the first vinyl reissue of Trancedance, a wild slice of Swedish Afro-fusion from Christer Bothén, originally released in 1984. A major figure in Swedish jazz and improvised music since the 1970s, often heard on bass clarinet and tenor sax, Bothen studied doso n’koni (the large six-stringed ‘hunter’s harp’ of the Wasulu) in Mali in 1971-2 before turning to the guinbri (the three-stringed lute of the Gnawa/Gnauoua) in Marakesh later in the decade. In between, he performed extensively with Don Cherry during his Organic Music Society period and taught Cherry the doso n’koni. In the later 70s and 80s he worked with the most important figures in the distinctive Swedish jazz-rock-world fusion scene, joining Archimedes Badkar for their African-influenced Tre and participating in Bengt Berger’s legendary Bitter Funeral Beer Band. Many of the musicians who played on the Bitter Funeral Beer Band’s ECM LP (including Berger on drums, Anita Livstrand on voice and percussion and Tord Bengstsson on piano, violin and guitar) joined Bothén for one of the sessions that produced Trancedance, the first release under his own name, dedicated to his compositions. The other session introduced his seven-piece group Bolon Bata, heard on the second track of each side. The title track opens the album with the rubbery buzzing strings of the doso n’goni playing a hypnotic ten beat pattern, soon joined by bass and piano before the entire nine-piece group kicks in with a rollicking Afro-jazz workout, Berger’s drums driving an intricate, winding melodic line played by the horns with Mattias Helden’s cello throwing in pizzicato slides and smears. Bothén then takes centre stage on tenor sax, soloing with a wide, vibrating tone and moving seamlessly from soaring melodies to guttural stutters. After a return to the composed horn lines and a solo from Elsie Petrén on alto sax, the piece builds to an ecstatic conclusion of yelping voices and handclaps, gradually simmering down to return to the solo doso n’koni where it began.

The hypnotic sounds of the hunter’s harp carries over to ‘Mimouna’, where it is joined by Bothen’s overdubbed guinbri. The piece develops into a haunting whispered and sung invocation, gradually building momentum until the organic textures of strings, voices, and hand percussion are ruptured by Lennart Söderlund’s distorted guitar, which brings an unmistakable touch of 1984 to the otherwise timeless sound. Joined by chicken scratch guitar and increasingly dominated by the insistent clang of three of Bolon Bata’s members on karqab (a kind of cast-iron castanet), the grove develops frenetically.

The B side opens with the multi-part epic ‘9+10 Moving Pictures for the Ear’, at over 16 minutes the record’s longest piece. Though Bothen is heard only on horns on this piece, the hypnotic repeating bass line carries on the first side’s link to African musical traditions. Using an expanded 16-piece ensemble, the music balances untethered improvisation with carefully arranged passages of knotty ensemble playing that at points suggest Mingus, Moacir Santos or some of the ambitious post-free work being done in the same years by figures like David Murray or Henry Threadgill. The piece ends with a triumphant passage of looping unison melody reminiscent of the Scandinavian folk explorations of Arbete och Fritid (whose Kjell Westling is heard on bass clarinet and soprano sax here). The sound of Bjorn Lundqvist’s fretless bass introduces the odd left turn made by the record’s final track, a spaced-out expedition into bluesy horn lines and distant guitar atmospherics set to a semi-reggae beat, perfumed by the core Bolon Bata group and bearing the appropriate title of ‘The Horizon Stroller’. A must for fans of the Swedish scene around groups like Arbete och Fritid and Archimedes Badkar, as well as any listener who has been seduced by Louis Moholo’s Spirits Rejoice!, The Brotherhood of Breath, or, more recently, the guinbri grooves of Natural Information Society, Trancedance is a lost classic ripe for rediscovery.