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“Ikigai, Vol. 1” is the newest EP from Nigerian artist/legend, & YBNL leader Olamide. The 7-track EP follows the 2023 LP, “Unruly” - his 10th studio album, and represents a compelling chapter in his musical journey. Named after the Japanese concept meaning "a reason to live,” each track promises a unique glimpse into Olamide's evolution, with infectious rhythms celebrating his heritage to lively lyrics. After cementing himself as a titan in the African/Afrobeats genre, Olamide is just focusing on living and enjoying life. Includes the songs “Metaverse,” “Hello Habibi,” & “Uptown Disco (feat. Fireboy DML & Asake).” 1xLP, pressed on Silver In Black Ice Color In Color Viny, and cut at 45 RPMl. First pressing limited to 500.

Hypnotism I is a new album from Foundation that the artist himself says has been a cherished part of his work since shortly after his previous work Mountain Ambient IV. We're told that its creation was a slow, immersive process that unfolded over months, with each layer evolving patiently. By composing intuitively, the album emerged naturally to reflect a glacial depth and subconscious growth. Its four pieces are all richly layered soundscapes with wispy melodies and dusty drones that sink you in deep and free your mind of all woes.

The Soultrend Orchestra is a side project of the producer and musician Nerio ‘Papik’ Poggi.
Owner of the main project, Papik, Nerio Poggi has been one of the most internationally renowned Italian producers for the Nu Jazz
Lounge sound for over ten years, with around forty albums under his own name and those produced by him with solo artists or
with monothematic collections such as the ‘Cocktail’ series.
With the project The Soultrend Orchestra, Nerio Poggi has dedicated himself in particular to the Soul Jazz and Disco sound, with
a particular eye on the 70s/80s sound that starts from artists such as Roy Ayers, George Benson and Donald Byrd to arrive at the
Acid Jazz sound of Incognito and The Brand New Heavies.
The first album '84 King Street', released in 2017, was the one most dedicated to the Disco sound, also for the title that reports the
address of the legendary New York club Paradise Garage from where Disco music in the late 70s was definitively launched all over
the world by the deejays David Mancuso and Larry Levan in primis.
With the second album of 2022 'Live For Funk' the sound ranges more towards Soul and Jazz thanks to some songs that have driven it such as About Love openly inspired by the sound of Roy Ayers.
This third album, produced like the second Live For Funk together with Peter De Girolamo (aka P.A. Jeron) is due out at the beginning of 2025 and is titled Non Imagine where he continues in the search for these same sounds.
With some of his closest collaborators such as Alfredo Bochicchio, Massimo Guerra, Simone ‘Federicuccio’ Talone and vocalists
Laura Lanzillo, Erika Scherlin and Anna Fondi, the album as always also has other illustrious guests such as Wendy D. Lewis, Ely
Bruna, Nadyne Rush, Filippo Perbellini, Stevie Biondi and Nicole Magolie on lead vocals.
In the tracking list we also find some covers in this album: Lost In Music, a symbolic song of Disco by Neil Rodgers and Bernad
Edwards (Chic) made famous in the 70s by Sister Sledge, and Summer Madness, a very particular song by Kool And The Gang,
famous for its magical atmosphere here perfectly rendered by Peter De Girolamo's keyboards and Anna Fondi's voice.

WeMe has always had the ambition of producing ousiders alongside its established artists. Let's hear it for the debut EP from Rehab333, a discreet but no less creative artist and graduate of the Rephlex School Academy. After taking classes with teachers such as Richard d James and Dr. Chris Jeffs, analog machines hold no secrets for him, enabling him to develop wonderful melodies at a time when they are sorely lacking. First released on cassette on the Binary Bigit label, it seemed essential for WeMe to record these tracks on vinyl, in perfect harmony with the label's musical history.

Limited edition of 250 copies. The musician & songwriter Stein Roger Sordal is finally ready with his second solo album - "_All I Try to Forget" - the second part of a double album where all music and lyrics is written by Sordal himself (both part 1 & 2 available as a single 18 track CD). Through the years, the renowned Norwegian artist has played in a variety of bands. Internationally, he's mostly known as the bass player and songwriter in Green Carnation, while more and more people also know him as the singer, guitar player and songwriter in the band Sordal. Stein Roger Sordal has played on more than 30 album releases from the 90s and up to now, but last year's "As I Try to Remember_" was his first a solo album, where everything was played by himself. Both albums show Sordal diving into his own catalogue, making acoustic versions of songs he originally wrote for bands like Green Carnation, Sordal, Angels Motel, Plutho and Soxpan. His choices haven't necessarily been the most known songs, but rather those who mean the most to him. The album is sparsely arranged, and consists mostly of vocals, acoustic guitars and piano.

"Saltburn is the 2023 black comedy psychological thriller film written, directed, and co-produced by Emerald Fennell. The film stars a student (Barry Keoghan) at Oxford University, who finds himself drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to his eccentric family’s sprawling estate for a summer never to be forgotten.

The film became one of the most-streamed films upon its streaming release on Amazon Prime Video in December 2023. It received critical acclaim and several accolades, including nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and five BAFTA Awards.
The music was created by Anthony Willis, who previously scored Fennell’s Promising Young Woman among others. Saltburn is available on black vinyl and includes an insert. "

The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. Hologram Man present himself as a entity, an entity that work functionally and chirurgically to implement hypnotic minimalism to entirely new depths levels of mind and sonic territories.

The “Vince Montana Tribute” (Louie Vega and Rick Wilhite from Detroit Rework) is a heartfelt and masterful production in which 2021 Grammy Award Nominee Louie demonstrates his appreciation for the disco sounds that he grew up on in the iconic borough of Bronx, NYC. The inspiration came about through an edit Rick sent to Louie. Louie added some of his own editing touches, and the resulting track got big response whenever Louie played it at his headlining sets. Given Louie’s longtime love and respect for Vince Montana, he decided to create an even bigger musical project. Bringing in Elements of Life band members Gene Perez (Bass), Axel Tosca (Fender Rhodes) and Luisito Quintero (Congas), and then adding a piano line himself, Louie was able to bring out the most authentic disco elements of this superlative groove but rework them so they are exactly in the pocket for today’s dancefloors worldwide.

"Keep Your Soul Together"" (1973) is Freddie Hubbard’s fifth studio album released on Creed Taylor's CTI label. The album features Hubbard alongside an ensemble that includes Junior Cook on tenor sax, George Cables on keyboards, Aurell Ray on guitar, Kent Brinkley or Ron Carter on bass, Ralph Penland on drums, and Juno Lewis on percussion. The album’s sound, though occasionally funky, is rooted in creative jazz, showcasing Hubbard in peak form across four of his original compositions.

Though some writers have often underrated Hubbard’s CTI recordings, mistaking them for his later, more commercial output on Columbia, this particular album stands out as a testament to his ingenuity. Hubbard’s blend of bravado and subtlety shines through, as does his ability to fuse technical mastery with emotional depth. His ability to maintain a consistent, rich tone across both slow and fast passages placed him among the greatest trumpeters in jazz history.

Influenced by legends such as Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, Hubbard nonetheless crafted a sound entirely his own, becoming one of the boldest and most inventive trumpeters of the bop, hard-bop, and post-bop eras. His impact on jazz extended far beyond his solo recordings, as he collaborated with many of the genre's greats, leaving behind a powerful legacy. Down Beat magazine described Hubbard as “the most powerful and prolific trumpeter in jazz” shortly after his passing in 2008. His influence continues to shape the world of jazz, inspiring generations of trumpeters and musicians alike. "

[f] 6 Ave Maria (Piano Version) [feat. Károly Zentai]

With his Electric Blues All-Stars, Kai Strauss has made a name for himself all over Europe with dynamic, driving live shows and award-winning CDs, featuring an individual style that’s based on the urban blues tradition, but taking in big chunks of soulful and funky grooves. And this band knows how to rock the house!
For “Wailin’ In Vienna”, Kai has realized his long-standing plan to record an old-school blues album, going back to his roots and beyond. And the results are nothing short of spectacular, with 15 self-composed songs that cover lot of traditional ground: swinging R&B, 50’s Chicago blues, instrumental shuffles, even some bluesy jazz, a minor-key cha-cha and a tribute to Bill Doggett and his guitarist Billy Butler.
Although the shadows of T-Bone, the three Kings and others loom large over the proceedings, Kai Strauss never fails being his own man. Of course it helps when you can realize such a project with a team comprising some of the best players in this style: Dani Gugolz and Peter Müller have been a steadily swinging rhythm team for 35 years. Pianists Dave Ruosch and Andreas Sobczyk combine tasteful chordal work with cascading treble runs. Sax Gordon has been a first-call R&B horn man for decades. Gerry Lülik’s is one of Austria’s foremost bluesharp players. Pianist Christian Dozzler, who came up in Vienna but has long made his home in Texas, can be heard with the likes of Anson Funderburgh when not doing his own thing. Finally, the two guitar greats heard alongside Kai hardly need much introduction: Rusty Zinn and Alex Schultz have been among the top tier of traditional blues string-benders since the 1990’s. Here, they are mostly heard in a supporting role for their friend and colleague, but ready to step out in style when called upon.

After Clifford Brown's death, Max Roach replaced him with Booker Little, adding Ray Draper on tuba.

An Avrin returns to Scuffed Recordings with four new originals and a remix from Sonia Calico.

An Avrin has been a firm favourite of the UK label since his 2019 appearance on the Scuffed Presents Vol.3 compilation with the track ‘Cave People’, which saw heavy rotation from DJs like Ross From Friends and rRoxymore. Returning to Scuffed the following year with the ‘Clodhopper’ EP, the London-based producer further developed his wobbly, esoteric sound, which draws extensively from a range of electronic influences.

Since then, An Avrin’s catalogue has become a go-to for under-the-radar club heat, with a string of self-released EPs and an appearance on Bristol’s Slippery Sounds marking him out as a vital name to watch.

The ‘Parisian Pitstop’ EP is his second release on Scuffed, and sees An Avrin building on his previous work while also expanding his horizons into different tempos and styles.

The A-side opens with the one-two of the title track - which is as good a primer on An Avrin’s sound as it’s possible to have - and ‘Stumbler’, both high-impact tracks with raucous breaks bouncing off warped vocals and relentless bass.

On the B-side is ‘Plata’, which builds tension with more melodic elements, before crashing into thunderous kicks and glitchy grooves. An Avrin ups the ante on ‘Is It?’, the last of the four originals on the EP, and the highest tempo of the bunch.

Taiwan-based producer Sonia Calico rounds off the release with her remix of ‘Plata’, a rowdy rework that pits grimey bass up against intense, rolling percussion.

Early DJ support has come from Surgeon, Emerald, Naina, Ciel, and Louise Chen.

Homer Steinweiss has an incredibly storied career in music that started when he was just a teenager. He's drummed for nearly every "retro soul" group that mattered and his distinctive stickwork helped blend the raw-but-receptive soul sound back into the mainstream via the likes of Amy Winehouse & Sharon Jones. He's now one of the most in demand drummers in the world, playing with Jonas Brothers, Clairo, Solange, Adele, and Bruno Mars to name a few.

With his debut solo release Ensatina, Homer is stepping to the forefront as both musician and producer. His new record is a re­ection of who he is now and a testament to how struggle often brings about a needed change. In 2020 Homer had to reckon with considerable emotional turbulence; at the same time that his band Holy Hive broke up, a personal relationship of 20+ years fell apart putting Homer in an uncertain place mentally. The fallout was signi‑cant enough for him to seek professional help. "I was going through these super manic highs and then very depressive lows," Homer describes. "And being in all that, it's just so tough to imagine that the other side is there, that it'll be ok." But, with time, professional help, and support from friends and family, Homer made it through and has been forever changed. This album is a product of that period of his life. The ‑rst song from these sessions, "Now That It's Over" perfectly sums up Homer's triumph through those tough times. It's a song of changing perspective and contemplation with haunting vocals from Hether and Flikka. "Paul (Castelluzzo_ aka, Hether), as a friend, saw me through these highs and lows," Homer points out. "I only had the one line, 'Now that it's over, I'm alright,' but he felt that lyric so much that he wrote all these sections and lyrics and basically completed the song. It was like he was writing to me." Hether also features on album standouts "Deep Sea", a modern love song, "Start Select", a juxtaposition of inspiration and melancholy, and "Forever and Ever and Ever and Ever" which is an incredible contemporary take on the B side soul ballad. Homer uses his innate gift for bringing seemingly opposing energies together on "Racecar Driver", pairing the vocals of Hether & long time friend and collaborator KIRBY to make a genre challenging banger. KIRBY also graces the album opener "Rollin'", an airy, warm-weather invoking song that her raspy voice perfectly compliments. He puts his drumming front and center on "So Get Up!", a bottom heavy infectious track that MINOVA's vocals turn into an instant hit that is sure to smash speakers. On "Wishing Well" & "Hide It Behind the Light I'm Shining Through" Homer is joined by girl named GOLDEN, who's unique voice effortlessly ‑nds the pocket in each tune. The man on trumpet, and fellow Big Crown label mate Dave Guy, puts his incomparable playing on the album closer "Goldie" which Homer says is the part of the movie where the credits roll.

Making this album was a refuge for Homer and it put him back on track. Ensatina is a glimpse into the different energies and in­uences that make Homer tick. To say he was always much more than a drummer would be an understatement, and this ‑rst solo offering is just the beginning of his next chapter.

WRWTFWW Records is delighted to announce the first official worldwide reissue of Satsuki Shibano’s Wave Notation 3: Erik Satie 1984, the final album from the sound-defining Wave Notation environmental music series curated by Satoshi Ashikawa. Originally released in 1984 on the Sound Process label, Wave Notation 3 followed Ashikawa’s own Still Way (1982) and Hiroshi Yoshimura's Music For Nine Postcards (1982).

The highly sought-after album, sourced from the original master tape, is available as a double LP (housed in a luxurious heavyweight sleeve) for the first time ever. Digipack CD and digital formats are also available. This exclusive reissue, including English and Japanese liner notes by the artist, was supervised by Japanese ambient legend Yoshio Ojima.

Wave Notation 3 is a splendid tribute to seminal French composer and pianist Erik Satie, himself one of the main influences behind kankyo ongaku / environmental music (alongside Brian Eno, John Cage to name a few). The alphabetically-sequenced album features 26 pieces showcasing Shibano's unique piano interpretation of Satie’s works.

The artist explains: « For this album, I sequenced the compositions in alphabetical order of each title, irrespective of the period of each composition or style. By doing this, I attempted to effectively create ‘Music as an environment’ and at the same time, allow the listener to genuinely experience Satie’s music. »

Satsuko Shibano’s minimalistic approach to ambient classical is simply perfect and offers a beautiful and tranquil listening experience, furniture music with extra comfort and soothing simplicity, relaxing to the mind and to the soul. This Wave Notation deserves a spot among the pillars of Japanese environmental music, next to Midori Takada’s Through The Looking Glass, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Green, and Satoshi Ashikawa’s Still Way.

"Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool is the fourth solo studio album by former White Zombie frontman Rob Zombie. The album is a sequel to his debut album Hellbilly Deluxe and was released on February 2, 2010. This is the first album with bassist Piggy D and the last with drummer Tommy Clufetos.

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is also the first release where Rob Zombie worked with his full touring band. Previous albums were written and recorded by Rob Zombie himself and a rotating set of musicians. The lead single ""What?"" debuted on radio stations on October 6. Rob Zombie enlisted the help of artists Dan Brereton (creator of Nocturnals), Alex Horley (of Image Comics and DC Comics) and David Hartman (storyboard artist) to create the album artwork. British dark/horror/science fiction/steampunk artist Sam Shearon aka 'Mister Sam Shearon' (artwork for Ministry, Slayer, Clive Barker, and tour merchandise for Iron Maiden) also contributed to the artwork of Hellbilly Deluxe 2.

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is now available on black vinyl. It's housed in a gatefold and it comes with a 4 page booklet."

Masta Ace & Marco Polo unveil an exclusive 7" release to celebrate the upcoming deluxe edition of "Richmond Hill." Dive into a reworked version of "Below The Clouds," now enhanced with new verses from hip-hop legends Talib Kweli and Ace himself. This special drop also features Marco's remix of the fan-favorite "Get Shot" from "A Breukelen Story", reimagined with an entirely new beat.

This release promises to be a must-have for fans, blending nostalgia with innovative artistry. Don’t miss your chance to experience these revitalized tracks that pay homage to hip-hop's rich legacy while looking boldly toward the future.

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of “Unorthodox Jukebox”, a limited Dark Red Vinyl edition will be released on the 17th June, with the pre-order going live on the 19th May. “Unorthodox Jukebox” is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200, The record also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the U.K.. It became Mars's fastest-selling album in the latter country in 2012, the third best-selling album in Australia in 2013, and the fifth best-selling in the United States in 2013. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Unorthodox Jukebox was globally the fourth best-selling album in 2013. “Unorthodox Jukebox” also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Grammy Awards.
Bruno Mars is a 21-time GRAMMY Award nominee and multi-GRAMMY winner. The celebrated singer, songwriter, producer, musician has sold over 171 million singles worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. His most recent critically acclaimed and RIAA certified platinum album, “24K Magic,” made an impressive debut atop the Top Digital Albums and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Additionally, the album and its lead single, “24K Magic,” simultaneously hit No. 1 on the iTunes Overall Albums and Overall Songs charts week of release. The single has since climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has also officially been certified Platinum by the RIAA.

'OK Crooner' the debut LP from French drummer and percussionist Vincent Taeger under his own name (after previous album under his alter ego Tiger Tigre) and his debut on vocals - mixes avant pop with jazz-fink and AOR.

Taeger, who has worked with Air, Damon Albarn, Justice, Lenny Kravitz, Skepta, Tony Allen, Oumou Sangare, Jeff Mills, Archie Shepp and Sampa the Great, during COVID started frantically listening to French vocalists such as Alain Souchon, Alain Chamfort, Richard Gotainer, and Christophe. Inspired by his elders, while not renouncing his attachment to the meticulous arrangements reminiscent of Alain Goraguer's soundtracks, he picked up a pen to jot down snippets of songs to accompany his increasingly sophisticated compositions. Coming from rap, he has a knack for punchlines. Throughout the album, he alternates between risque humour, Gaulish wit, and poetry.

While Vincent Taeger is the chief fireworks maker, playing most of the instruments, some of his longtime collaborators come to support him on a few tracks, forming the Jazz Kamasutra: Ludovic Bruni (bass), Sylvain Daniel (bass), Arnaud Roulin (piano, synth), Fred Soulard (synth), Maud Chabanis (vocals), Bettina Kee (vocals), Mathias Allamane (double bass), Emile Sornin (ondioline), and Remi Sciuto (saxophones). Vincent Taurelle, mixed the abum. Recently, he has worked on albums by Justice, Seun Kuti, Raphael, and Clara Luciani.

This Is DJs Choice Vol. 4 brings you a great selection of Funk, Soul, Latin and Hip Hop.

Five years after the last installment of the series, Volume 4 is compiled by Gu, a long-time friend and DJ partner of Unique label founder Henry Storch, and the tracks represent the two decades they have known each other and played records together, as well as the music they enjoyed.

All choices are originally 7 Inch records from Gu's crates put together like a DJ-Set for you to enjoy: The Soul of The Sweet Vandals and Carlton Jumel Smith, the Deep Funk of Naomi Davis & The Knights Of Forty First Street, The Supersonics and Sharon Jackson & The Soul Destroyers, the Latin sounds of Diesler and Eli Goulart E Banda Do Mato and the Hip Hop grooves of Jay Are (aka J.Rawls and John Robinson), The Bamboos featuring Ohmega Watts and Daddy-O of Stetsasonic.

This compilation is a celebration of music from beginning to end.

About This Is DJs Choice:

The series started as a friendship project by Henry Storch, who wanted to immortalise friends and allies from the DJ scene, who picked vinyl as their format of choice. The genre didn't matter, as long as the vibe was right. In 2008 Vol. 1 featured a selection of organic Club Sounds and Break Beats put together by Soulinus & Pun, followed by Keb Darge & Lucinda Slim and their favorite Rhythm & Blues, Rockabilly and 60s Soul tunes on Vol. 2 in 2009. In 2019 Les Intouchables aka Marc Hype and DJ Suspect presented a variety of funky and soulful music with an addition of the occasional Boogie, Reggae and Hip Hop track.

About Gu:

Gu is a DJ, musician, label owner, producer, writer and producer from Northern Germany. His dedication to music started in his pre-teens in the late eighties and he is playing vinyl ever since. Over the years he has worked with a number of his favorite DJs and artists like Keb Darge, Andy Smith, Snowboy, The New Mastersounds, Osaka Monaurail, The Sweet Vandals, The Allergies, Andy Cooper of Ugly Duckling, Daddy-O of Stetsasonic and Chuck D of Public Enemy to name a few. His DJ career took him all over Europe again and again.

In 2005 he started Our Label Records with his brother Tom to release new Funk music on 7 Inch vinyl and added the Hip Hop 45 imprint Origu in 2015. Since 2009 and he is on air every week with his radioshow Home Diggin', which was also picked up by Chuck D's Rapstation in 2019. Additionally he is lead singer/rapper for the Songcore duo Sorry We're Closed and the Hip Hop outfit Alder Ego. He also does readings of his book of one-liners and competing on Slam Poetry stages.

Pink Vinyl

Drifting on oceans of thunderous stillness, carried away by endless currents, whipped up by waves of darkness devouring you until you see the light. The first album from Platoo, a collaboration between Michelle Samba and Phil Mills, has an unrelenting cadence that grabs you and refuses to let go. A distinctive combination of calming soundscapes and highly-charged energy fitting any occasion, from dancing like lost souls in the empty halls of ancient barracks to ecstatically tripping on a distant desert planet.

To Phil and Michelle creating Platoo was about being given a sense of freedom and exploration, at once shaking off habits and rediscovering forgotten values. Phil's love of the mesh of ''real'' sounds and electronics, and quest to establish a balance where both would feed off each other saw him abandon convention and standard structures, deviate from the beaten path and let things come to life. Michelle's quest to create, to inspire and be inspired, to draw her conclusions from serendipitous events allowed her to break things open and be at ease with letting herself go to create the breathing space needed for this new sound.

What makes their symbiosis fruitful is a common yearning for the unknown, a search for what works without exactly fathoming why it works. The result is something that indeed meets those needs, a strange and beautiful musical exploration.

"Existences" is the highly anticipated first album by Neurocore, a talented French artist known for his thought-provoking compositions. This album is a culmination of years of introspection and exploration into the complexities of human existence. During the Covid lockdown, Neurocore found himself with the precious gift of time, allowing him to delve deep into his creative process and tackle profound questions through music.

Each of the 13 tracks on the album tells a story, evoking emotions and painting vivid sonic landscapes. The cover art, meticulously crafted by URRU, captures the essence of the album's concept - a mesmerizing blue vortex symbolizing the unknown and the powerful energy that draws us towards it.

Neurocore breaks free from the confines of being labeled solely as a "speedcore producer." Instead, he presents a diverse array of electronic compositions that transcend trends and embrace the full spectrum of human emotions. Rejecting the notion that hardcore music is only dark and brutal, Neurocore sees it as a representation of the inner beauty within every human being.

"Existences" invites listeners to interpret and create their own stories, as music has the power to evoke personal experiences and emotions. With this remarkable album, Neurocore celebrates the diverse facets of existence and invites us to embark on a profound sonic journey.

3x12" album + digital release
Including an A5 insert with a personal note from Neurocore

Over 19 tracks, Wayfaring Strangers: Cosmic American Music mines gold from dollar bin country-rock detritus to reconstruct events as seen from the genre's wild west - Americana's vast private press substructure. As progenitor and contemptuous poster boy for the music that came to be Cosmic American, Gram Parsons found himself mired in a recording career spent mostly in scouting the perimeters of chart success. "He hated country-rock," Parsons collaborator Emmylou Harris would later reflect. "He thought that bands like the Eagles were pretty much missing the point." Parsons had been orbiting the idea of Cosmic American Music for some time. In 1968 he'd parted ways with the Byrds and was looking to take air with a new project. "It's basically a Southern soul group playing country and gospel-oriented music with a steel guitar" he told Melody Maker, on the subject of The Flying Burrito Brothers. So it was that when A&M's Burrito Brothers debut The Gilded Palace of Sin made it to shelves in February of 1969, early adherents to the Cosmic American gospel were already echoing its message from areas flanking Gram Parsons' Southern California hills and canyons. There was F.J. McMahon in coastal Santa Barbara, Mistress Mary further inland in Hacienda Heights, and Plain Jane of Albuquerque, New Mexico, each responding by committing their own private readings to tape before day one of the 1970s. Parsons himself might've disdained them, had he even been aware of such minor ripples, shimmering at the edges of his desert oasis. But these were true believers all the same, given over fully to his roots music concept, each filling vinyl grooves with non-rock instrumentation like fiddle, banjo, and pedal steel guitar, the last undoubtedly Cosmic American Music's most distinguishing stringed signifier. Only too predictably, big labels did the grunt work of confining and defining the movement, as ABC, United Artists, RCA, and more played catch-up with Asylum's raptor rock juggernaut, via backwoods crossover also-rans with names like Gladstone, American Flyer, and Silverado. Twang reigned, the shitkickers kicked shit, and the vaguely western-sounding guitar records piled up. Country-rock became "the dominant American rock style of the 1970s," as Peter Doggett's comprehensive Are You Ready for the Country put it much later. Wayfaring Strangers: Cosmic American Music picks up and dusts off golden ingots from the dollar-bin detritus of that domination, to reconstruct events as seen from the genre's real Wild West-America's one-off private press label substructure.

The Acidboychair music project started in the early noughties as a commentary on what journalist Simon Reynolds would summarise a few years later as Retromania. Initially conceived by Thomas Baldischwyler and Andreas Diefenbach as a performative revival travesty with large-format drum computers and synthesizers reconstructed from cardboard, everything took a surprising turn when DJ Mooner (the man behind the now defunct Munich music label Erkrankung Durch Musique) took an interest in the adventurous audio material produced by Baldischwyler. In 2005, the LP 1987 (EDM1016), produced almost exclusively with long-forgotten software (SoundEdit 16, RB-338, etc.), was released on Mooner's label. As a result of the growing number of bookings, Baldischwyler had to think about improving the performability of his intentionally amateurish productions. Fortunately, the Ableton Live programme became a DAW with a MIDI sequencer and support for VST plug-ins as early as 2004 - and this made it easier for him to execute his intuitive, error-friendly version of acid house. This can be heard on the first two sample-heavy tracks on the A-side of Come Down Easy, which were recorded in 2005 and 2006 respectively at Acidboychair gigs at Hamburg's Golden Pudel Club and Munich's Registratur. The first two tracks on the B-side (produced sometime between 2006 and 2008) were actually supposed to be part of a solo release on the Acido label run by Dynamo Dreesen, but this never materialised. However, the final tracks and the 133.3 BPM lock grooves that follow are the title and central to this catalogue number TBG123: Through ethno-musicologist Arthur Boto Conley, who had already released a one-sided 12 on his label with material from one of Baldischwyler's audio installations, he met Florian Meyer (Don't DJ) and Marc Matter (Spoken Matter), who introduced him to their collaborative project Institut F?r Feinmotorik (IFFM). Baldischwyler's attempt to approach the sound aesthetics of IFFM led to the tape 60 Minutes Of Barely Modified Lock Grooves (TCCC06), recorded in Rome in 2018. A buyer of this tape introduced him to the Detroit collective Pure Rave, which he immediately contacted and introduced to the work of the IFFM. It was important for Baldischwyler to have an analogue update made and so both the Detroiters and IFFM, who now live in Berlin, were given 8 copies of EDM1016's backstock to remix the material in their own way. At their jam in Detroit, Pure Rave opted for the almost identical material that IFFM had also used for a live performance in the Hamburg project space Beek. The dominant jumps in both arrangements come from the track Eightyseven, produced in the early 2000s for the LP 1987, an awkward remix of the Spacemen 3 track Come Down Easy, which is also referred to in the liner notes on the inner sleeve of TBG123. The almost two-decade-old revival idea thus turns into false memory syndrome and runs into a - in keeping with our times - clean-cut (endless) groove. Kassem Mosse (The KM of MM/KM) on Come Down Easy after a first listening session: I think it all works very well as a mix, no matter where you start it carries you further forward back in the loop. if I understand the liner notes correctly, it's about the music's turn from tradition preservation (doing everything right) to ecstatic delusion (not doing everything right when intoxicated). Now that I'm reading again instead of listening, the titles give me a different understanding of the connections; how the skipping belongs together, which playtime is connected. Now I can name my favourites. Thank you for the journey!

The genius of Lord Kitchener has been the mainstay of our series. In this volume devoted to his post-war London recordings, Kitch plays his many roles with signature aplomb and poised subtlety. First there is the hooligan chantwell, up for anything in the hurly-burly of carnival proper; and then the casual reporter, firing off postcards to Trinidad about taxis, flashy booze, fast women and football in Manchester, with homesickness and grievance nestled just behind the optimism, pride and tentative senses of belonging. There is the bearer of news from home, in detailed accounts of murders, tales of stupid local coppers, and reminiscences about food and particular mango trees; the political thinker, considering racism and Africa; and the diarist, with his vivid tales of infidelity, and disclosure of the break-up of his marriage, and his desire to get away. One foot in the UK, the other in Trinidad; but the man himself somewhere in-between. Kitch In The Jungle, nobody around. A ‘diasporic explorer’; a key twentieth-century witness, alongside such hallowed figures as Samuel Selvon and Edward Kamau Braithwaite. Though in frustration Kitch would sometimes take over double-bass duties himself, the musicianship of Rupert Nurse, Fitzroy Coleman and co is top-notch. The original glorious sound is down to Denys Preston, recording for Melodisc, often at Abbey Road Studios (where we transferred and restored the 78s compiled here). Presented in a lovely gatefold sleeve, with a full-size booklet containing superb, specially-commissioned sleevenotes by Kitch biographer Anthony Joseph, and fabulous, previously-unseen photographs.

“My introduction to “noise” came from a record shop in Lake Worth, Florida ran by a musician named Kenny 5. Kenny had left Detroit sometime in the mid nineties and had begun selling used records and CD’s from the downtown strip of this tiny southern Florida city in a humble shop sandwiched between a deli and a dog grooming business. Kenny previously was on labels like Amphetamine Reptile and timeSTEREO, and the records and videotapes that would be on repeat at his shop were a vast sonic expanse that spoke to the eclecticism of his experience as a touring musician participating and adjacent to American noise culture through the early to late 90’s. In 1998, I was eleven years old and I would order a pizza with him and watch VHS tapes of Japanese noise and deathmatch bootlegs, as well as any other sonic and subcultural rarities that far outstripped my age to comprehend (notably the RRR “Journey Into Pain” compilation and various Vanilla Tapes videos). This widecast net of information formed an introduction to a reality that did not fall deaf on me, but it took many years later for me to reorient the specific freedoms of what this dense and cathartic sound culture had imparted on my life and would continue onward to.

What does this have to do with this selection of choice recordings from the Secret Boyfriend catalog for the enmossed label? For the uninitiated, Secret Boyfriend is the long running moniker of Ryan Martin, North Carolina musician and label proprietor of the Hot Releases imprint. For over a decade from this writing I have watched Secret Boyfriend, and Hot Releases by extension as a curatorial and archival effort, embodying the multiplanal capacity that noise loosely functions from as an umbrella ideology and formalist avenue for sound creation. For anecdotal purposes, from (before) 2006 until roughly 2023 the East Coast of the United States showcased a vibrant network of eclectic regional festivals that saw wide swaths of artists addressing and negotiating the notion of what qualified “noise” from a conceptual and ideological perspective. Some festivals honed in on particularities in aesthetics and tropes, and others had a kind of “catch-all” implementation that allowed for a salvation of the sort of alienated and singular artistry that was amassing throughout these territories. While clear guidelines had been set from regional predecessors as to how noise with a capital “N” should maneuver, Secret Boyfriend is emblematic in the spirit of fluidity that was either implicitly coupled to the notion of the genre, or grew to evolve towards or devolve from.

Within Secret Boyfriend performances, I have seen and admired a mirroring from a ravenous appreciator of this culture at large back towards itself. Typical of a Secret Boyfriend set is an interchangeable narrative arc wherein blistering feedback laden scrap metal improvisations are forayed into naive ambient or “pop” songs, or skipping CDs, or mixer feedback play, or delayed Roland 707 drum workouts all at once and in a unique hegemony. Secret Boyfriend's stylistic mastery of each endeavor is at once an homage to a history of loving listening and enacting, while a brave step into the realm of actualizing the unique fluidity of his own practice. In performance and the action of network engagement, Secret Boyfriend operates a survey of that which he sought to hear and that which he cultivates around his work. His operations are mirrors, and the project (alongside his other peers) is a reflection on the ethos of his time.

Conversely his recording practice narrows in on these moments and allows for a different kind of intimacy or alienation for the non live listener. This record of selected “pop songs” (let's call them that) is particularly poignant at a time when the culture Martin mirrors is at a strange crossroads with itself. The aforementioned festival networks necessarily change and shift. The onlookers become the artists, the artists find new horizons, and the spaces for these cycles fade into locales of a distant memory. It seems, from my perspective, that audiences currently yearn for a more bottlenecked experience, searching for some ontologically vetted manifestation of an idea, of a sound and less for an experience that functions in opposition to our collective banalities. This makes sense in the face of general global catastrophism that plagues us. We need certainty of what something is somewhere, don’t we? Noise as an idea has expanded and contracted to so many iterations of itself it is hard to tell what it even is, and it is particularly difficult to identify in the absence of solid network activations a moment to reflect on its own complexities and nuances. In the face of so much change, I argue that the language of noise culture at large has on one hand become increasingly didactic and predictable, and laughably inclusive and non linear on the other. Probably has always been this way, but now we are in the midst of a moment of extreme access and indexicality, which somehow cauterizes expansion and naivety and chance.

This record highlights the Secret Boyfriend that obscures didacticism by highlighting output that opens up for more challenging catharsis and emotive signal processing. It provides an entry to the materialism of a cultural field full of ecstatic complexity and beautiful inconsistency. In these muted moments Secret Boyfriend has given us over his career we have an argument for evolving languages that further challenge our notions of what is supposed to happen and how it is supposed to be presented. In his more song oriented expansiveness, we can punctuate the ability to think in new modalities. Listening to these recordings reminds me of the polarity of sitting in the record store as a kid and understanding that His Name Is Alive is on 4AD and (gasp!) timeSTEREO. This trite early impression that nothing is really as different as our imaginations might want them to be, and that we can do whatever we want mostly within the creative realms we work through is an important filter to look through Secret Boyfriend as a project and a vessel. If we can achieve abandon and vulnerability through our artistic endeavors, then we have a sound model for, maybe, new potentialities. If that’s too much projection, or just complete liberal bullshit, I am fine with that. Secret Boyfriend's oeuvre at best offers us moments of reprieve to ponder these complexities, or at least a moment to zone out on a drive through North Carolina Highway 54.

You have one pocket of life that you must do whatever you want to inside of. Secret Boyfriend does it affectionately, in a variety of forms, and always with deep sentimentality. These recordings are a wonderful set of songs to begin further investigation from. Thank you Ryan for allowing as many avenues as possible to continue a broad cultural exchange and conversation that intersect and refract while being the kind of artist that is brave enough to not phone in the effort.”

- Nick Klein , May 2024

Jack Adkins, the creative force behind the moniker Jamin’ Jack, has a multifaceted musical journey that began in the mid-'60s in Cincinnati. Initially cutting his musical teeth in garage bands like the Coachmen, Adkins would later embark on a decade-long journey as Jamin’ Jack, the One Man Band, from 1983 to 1993. A pivotal moment unfolded in the early '80s when, at the age of 36, Adkins walked into London Music studio in Tampa to record his debut LP, 'American Sunset.' This album, distinguished by its evocative portrayal of the West's decline, emerged as a defining piece in Adkins's musical repertoire. Its sonic landscape, characterized by guitars and drum machines, resonates with a familiar and poignant atmosphere. The subsequent decade witnessed Adkins assuming the persona of Jamin’ Jack, the One Man Band, embarking on an extensive ten-year tour. Adapting to a corporate presentation style, he not only refined his musical craft but also mastered the art of bantering and entertaining, overcoming his initial shyness. During this nomadic period, Adkins carried the master tapes of 'American Sunset' with him on the road. In a poetic expression of his transient lifestyle, he pressed LPs and tapes in Houston, selling them directly at various venues. The album, at its zenith, serves as a sonic backdrop to the lonesome and transient life on the road, encapsulating the essence of a nation seemingly heading into the sunset. 'American Sunset' stands as a must-listen for enthusiasts of Trans-era Neil Young and the dystopian vibes reminiscent of Repo Man, offering a captivating musical narrative that echoes the spirit of its time. Neofolk electronica? we're not sure, but its just amazing! Only 500 units of this 'sunset' coloured vinyl will ever exist. You waited 40 years for this anniversary meeting, so don't blow it, buy it!

Album was made in two version (with two different covers). Classic black vinyl and limited (hand numbered 100 copies) with color vinyl. Both versions has 180g vinyl records.

Himalaya Collective is probably the biggest crew of beatmakers in Poland (more than 30 official members). Collaborations are the theme of this third album for U Know Me Records, resulting in a multi-genre album that showcases Himalaya Collective's strength in all its glory.

"After two years since "Latawce", we are back with our third vinyl album released by U Know Me Records. We have been working on a unique, fully collaborative project for over a year. Each track is a result of cooperation - without restrictions on the choice of artists and collaborators.

The idea was simple: each member of the collective was to enrich their track with the vision of another person. They could be producers, vocalists, instrumentalists - both from within the collective and from further corners of the world. This is how a network of artistic connections was created, which reflects the way in which Himalaya Collective has been growing since 2016 - as a team united by passion, inspiring each other and involving other exceptional people in cooperation.

Thank you for your patience, see you again."

Album was made in two version (with two different covers). Classic black vinyl and limited (hand numbered 100 copies) with color vinyl. Both versions has 180g vinyl records.

Himalaya Collective is probably the biggest crew of beatmakers in Poland (more than 30 official members). Collaborations are the theme of this third album for U Know Me Records, resulting in a multi-genre album that showcases Himalaya Collective's strength in all its glory.

"After two years since "Latawce", we are back with our third vinyl album released by U Know Me Records. We have been working on a unique, fully collaborative project for over a year. Each track is a result of cooperation - without restrictions on the choice of artists and collaborators.

The idea was simple: each member of the collective was to enrich their track with the vision of another person. They could be producers, vocalists, instrumentalists - both from within the collective and from further corners of the world. This is how a network of artistic connections was created, which reflects the way in which Himalaya Collective has been growing since 2016 - as a team united by passion, inspiring each other and involving other exceptional people in cooperation.

Thank you for your patience, see you again."

Giulio Campagnolo, born in 1986, is an accomplished Italian jazz pianist and Hammond organ specialist whose
musical journey spans over two decades. His passion for music ignited at the age of 8 when he began studying
piano, and by 14, he had already delved into jazz under the guidance of masters D. Memoli and M. Polga. At
20, Campagnolo further honed his skills at the prestigious Siena Jazz summer seminars, while simultaneously
intensifying his concert activities with various jazz, blues, and soul ensembles. In 2012, he made a pivotal
shift in his career, dedicating himself exclusively to the Hammond organ and perfecting his craft with A. Marsico. The following year marked the beginning of his teaching career at the "Filarmonica Bassanese" Association in Bassano del Grappa, where he continues to instruct piano, organ, and ensemble music.
Campagnolo's formal education culminated in 2020 when he graduated with honors from the Conservatory
"A. Pedrollo" in Vicenza under the tutelage of maestro P. Birro. Throughout his career, Campagnolo has made
significant contributions to the music world, recording about ten albums as a sideman and four as a co-leader.
His debut solo album, scheduled for release in autumn 2024, is eagerly anticipated. Campagnolo's talents
have allowed him to collaborate with a diverse array of acclaimed musicians in both the jazz and blues scenes,
including Y. Silberstein, W. Bernard, N. Hempton, E. Martin, S. Waterstown, and U. Porcaro, among others. His
musical prowess has taken him across Europe, performing at jazz and blues clubs and festivals in Italy, Spain,
Switzerland, France, Germany, and beyond, establishing him as a truly international artist. Currently, Campagnolo leads his own quintet, featuring Piero Bittolo-Bon, Michele Polga, Federico Pierantoni, and Adam Pache,
for which he composes and arranges the repertoire, showcasing his skills not only as a performer but also as
a bandleader and composer.

Totgesagte leben länger – das beweisen SUBWAY TO SALLY, die deutschen Großmeister des Folk Metal, auf ihrem 15. Studioalbum Post Mortem, das
via Napalm Records erscheint. Der 2023 erschienene Vorgänger Himmelfahrt sollte, so hatte die Band es im Geheimen geplant, die letzte
Albumveröffentlichung ihrer über 30-jährigen Karriere sein. Im Nachhinein erklärt dies auch den symbolträchtigen Titel. Doch es kam anders. Das
Albumrelease entfesselte eine unzähmbare Leichtigkeit, Energie und eine mitreißende Begeisterung, die für alle Beteiligten spürbar waren. SUBWAY
TO SALLY hatten mit ihrer Musik fraglos den Nerv der Zeit getroffen, denn auch die Reaktionen auf Himmelfahrt waren seitens der Fans wie Kritiker
überwältigend positiv und nach einer vielerorts ausverkauften Tour war klar, dass das 14. Album noch nicht das letzte Kapitel gewesen war. Aber wie
macht man weiter Post Mortem?
Ein Paradebeispiel dafür liefern die Potsdamer eindrucksvoll auf ihrem neuen Meisterwerk, das mit dem Paukenschlag „Phönix“ eröffnet wird und die
erneute kreative Auferstehung der Folk Metal Instanz feiert. Auf Post Mortem richten SUBWAY TO SALLY ihren Blick nicht zurück, aber auch nicht in
die Zukunft, sondern liefern eine scharfe Gegenwartsanalyse. Alle Songs vereinen die vertrauten Trademarks, wie großartige Melodien und
tiefgründige Texte, aber wirken dabei niemals redundant. Das Spannungsfeld zwischen Vergangenheit, Zukunft und Gegenwart, Kunst und politischer
Realität füllen SUBWAY TO SALLY gekonnt mit ihrer Musik und stellen mit Post Mortem zweifellos klar, dass sie lebendiger sind als je zuvor

Written and recorded in a firestorm of creativity during the mastering phase of Lukah's upcoming double LP with Real Bad Man, Permanent Blackface is a monstrous vignette displaying the true power of Lukah's songwriting and the technical brilliance of his team. The album flashes before you like a lightning strike illuminating a barren cityscape.

Introducing himself as Mr. Blackface, Lukah identifies the true artist's responsibility to hold a mirror to the listener in order to confront and disarm taboos. In both content and music, the record balances vulgarity and introspection, the horror of silence, and the comfort of colossal, discordant sound. Over 12 songs the celestial, often blood-soaked color palette of soul and R&B that gave emotional weight to Why Look Up and Raw Extractions has been scraped away like a charred skeleton. With a small cast of voices consisting entirely of Lukah's immediate family, and production duties handled in-house by WALZ, Deener, Hollow Sol, Cities Aviv, SB11, and Lukah himself, the record has the intimacy of a theater production. The only voices present are Lukah, joined by his mother providing scat vocals, and his grandfather discussing the Jungian self-hatred of the colonial project and its terrifying repercussions for contemporary Black Amer-icans, with a fitting invocation of Dr. Frankenstein's monster. The beats here are reminiscent of noir, 78rpm swing and big band, evoking the underlying horror of a pre-Civil Rights movement America, where segregational binaries invert-ed folk tales through the white terror of ghosts, the black "spook", and mythic themes of fate and free will. The whip-lash of shifting perspectives keeps your head on a swivel in way only Lukah's superior pen can elucidate. Will it trigger anger that first voice you hear on Permanent Blackface is Judy Garland singing "Sweet Chariot"? But isn't this just Lukah speaking through her, announcing he's got "The Southin his mouth"? As the internet endlessly debates intention and appropriation in our artistic history, the insignificance of this small sample is put into perspective: another white pebble in a black ocean of Lukah's creation. "If the sun don't shine today / pray the sun come out tomorrow...pray the sun pierce through the sorrow"

The album introduces an unnamed character beset by disposition. As the story's scope increases, the gaze of the mir-ror shifts. How would white society feel if historical roles were reversed? How does a presumed white listener experi-ence the trauma of interacting with police?

Dance and drama began for Paulo Alvarado in 1992 when Sabrina Castillo, Bettina Barckhausen, Joam Solo, Xavier Pacheco, and Alfredo Porras invited him to create the music for their choreographic and theatrical productions as an ethereal actor who is not seen but heard; a sound that is not merely an occasion to "musicalize" the stage production; music that does not merely adorn or incidentally accompany the movement and text, but that acts.

This is how he soon had the opportunity to work on the stage production of Sophocles’ OEDIPUS REX (Edipo Rey), the first of several plays for which Alvarado composed music at the request of Luis Tuchán one of the revered theatrical directors from Guatemala. With him, they also worked on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which carried the subtitle "Asesino del Sueño" (Sleep Murderer). Later, as an example of another area of action, and at the request of Dennis Leder one of Guatemala's leading artists from the past three decades and Ana Asturias who had worked with the Guatemalan Dance Company, he created the music for a dance-installation called, fittingly, "Lederana" mixing both words from their name. Around that time, he also began composing and presenting music for productions by Guatemalan authors, such as the drama by Rubén Nájera, "Sacra Conversación", directed by Joam Solo.

These pieces, contained on Side A of the album, represent only a very brief sample of an era immersed in theatre and other performative projects where more than forty theatrical and choreographic pieces where created in a span of three decades, and consist of his valuable contribution to the soundtrack of dramatic theater and contemporary dance in Guatemala.

Separately, the title piece of this album, ANTIGUA, found on Side B, was designed for the exhibition of
engravings, lithographs, and digital prints by Roberto Godoy, Antigua Estampa de la Vida Mía. It gathers musical extemporizations for the dance we invented at the moment of inaugurating the photographic exhibition by Rocío Villanueva, Los Mutantes de los Apegos; the fifth movement of my String Quartet No. 5 (version for six cellos); Exiliados en Tierra Propia(introduction to my song Púrpura de Vida y Sentimiento); and Las 56 (from the film Después del Fuego), dedicated to the young women wounded and killed on March 8, 2018, in a so-called "safe home" in Guatemala City. This LP unites many of Paulo's most experimental works and serve as a small tribute to his life, trajectory and to all those who, without reservation, dedicated and invested resources in his music catalogued by himself as one of the main ways to celebrate human life: art.

KNTXT, Charlotte de Witte’s label imprint, has the pleasure to introduce Alignment’s upcoming Time EP that will be released in April. After Monoloc’s “Left The Planet EP”, Alignment is the third artist to appear on the label aside Charlotte de Witte, that debuted with the Chris Liebing collaboration EP “Liquid Slow”.

“Alignment is easily one of the most promising artists that I’ve encountered in a long time, so it feels incredibly good to welcome him to the KNTXT family!” de Witte says. KNTXT has always aimed to be a breeding ground and safe haven for the unique talent’s that it loves and respects. With this upcoming Alignment release, we hope to further introduce the world to this unique talent and create a platform for his boundless creativity.

“Charlotte started supporting my music from very early on, so it feels great to be making my debut on KNTXT so early on.” Fancesco Pierfelici a.k.a Alignment says. “It took me some time to find the right spin on these tracks, but now I feel really confident about the result.”

“With the this EP I wanted to make recordings on the subject of time and space” Alignment explains. “I’m a firm supporter of Alignment’s unique ravey sound, flanked by deep bass lines and pumping kicks. We’re very eager to share this upcoming release with you all, feel like this is going to be a big one!” - Charlotte concludes

It has been twenty years since the first Back To Mine release but still the series is going strong. These personal after-hours soundtracks have never sounded more relevant than now, and next up is GRAMMYr Award-nominated, San Francisco-based artist Tycho. It finds him going deeper than one of his famous Burning Man sets as he heads into otherworldly, cinematic headphone territory with tunes from Lancaster, Little Dragon, Octo Octa, Ulrich Schnauss and many more across four fantastic sides of vinyl.

Protokick brings here his own label full EP from him.
A side brings a banging Hardtek no-prisonners style, with a crazy drop right in the middle that you can ear on the snippets ^^

The flip gives 2 bangers, round hot kicking Freetekno tunes.

The sleeve is from ENKI.

From a club-friendly chrysalid onto deploying his wings as a full fledged pop artist in recent years, Saint Petersburgs Kito Jempere has enjoyed a journey unlike any other and his newest album, Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness live-documents the chameleonic changes / game-changing paradox experienced this year between his life both as a musician and as a family man.

Better known for his work as a house producer which has earned him accolades from prominent dance music outlets throughout well over a decade of intense work both into and outwith the limelights, Kito has for all that never been focussed on writing solely discoid material, throwing as much effort over the years into multi-faceted parallel ventures, far and apart from strictly dance floor-oriented functionality. Yet, from this partition between various projects and mindsets, this is through a radical shift towards downtempo pop and out of the 4x4 loop that Kito got to fully assert himself as a musician, embracing the rejoicing variety of tone and mood of his tender loves, secret and not. The movie Ive never made but have the soundtrack for, Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness is the fruit of change as much as change itself. A return to the simple means of his young self, his old trusty guitar from his late teens serving as the backbone to Killer Line and Love Myself But I Cant Make It Love, and the natural development to last years Green Monster, which
initiated these deep tectonic movements in Kitos approach to his art, PTCPTC is an intimate trip down the kaleidoscope of his present life. Joined up by an impressive cast of artists, including Jimi Tenor, Adam Evald and Hard Ton, Kito didnt just bin his old persona, he took it back to where it belongs. From the low-slung emotional folk of the opener, Killer Line, to the eerie flamenco-jazz hybrid Before Music Dies. via the broken soulfulness of Put Love Into Your Heart and anthemic 80s balearic breaks meets coastal synthwave vibe of Sounds of Love, the album pulsates with a refreshingly genre-unbound vision. To the naive, laid-back sonic bokeh of Footsteps,
succeeds the left-of-centre cinematic narrative of In The Countryside, which includes some fun nods to fictional brands taken from Tarantinos imaginarium (Red Apple cigarettes) or other movies like High Fidelity, after Nick Hornbys eponymous novel.

Freed from gridlocked programming and impersonal tropes, PTCPTC showcases a wide array of songs, beats, grooves old and new, some dating back to 2018 and improvised sessions with his 9-people Kito Jempere Band, all of which were finished within the same timeframe and with this all-inclusive momentum in mind. Through the epic synths of Absent Ascent. in revamping the universal classic Over The Rainbow with Celebrine, on the appeasing ballad Shorespotting feat. Evald or in the waves-ready closing cut Lovers, Jempere tells a tale of hard-earned emancipation and life-affirming freedom.

From a club-friendly chrysalid onto deploying his wings as a full fledged pop artist in recent years, Saint Petersburgs Kito Jempere has enjoyed a journey unlike any other and his newest album, Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness live-documents the chameleonic changes / game-changing paradox experienced this year between his life both as a musician and as a family man.

Better known for his work as a house producer which has earned him accolades from prominent dance music outlets throughout well over a decade of intense work both into and outwith the limelights, Kito has for all that never been focussed on writing solely discoid material, throwing as much effort over the years into multi-faceted parallel ventures, far and apart from strictly dance floor-oriented functionality. Yet, from this partition between various projects and mindsets, this is through a radical shift towards downtempo pop and out of the 4x4 loop that Kito got to fully assert himself as a musician, embracing the rejoicing variety of tone and mood of his tender loves, secret and not. The movie Ive never made but have the soundtrack for, Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness is the fruit of change as much as change itself. A return to the simple means of his young self, his old trusty guitar from his late teens serving as the backbone to Killer Line and Love Myself But I Cant Make It Love, and the natural development to last years Green Monster, which
initiated these deep tectonic movements in Kitos approach to his art, PTCPTC is an intimate trip down the kaleidoscope of his present life. Joined up by an impressive cast of artists, including Jimi Tenor, Adam Evald and Hard Ton, Kito didnt just bin his old persona, he took it back to where it belongs. From the low-slung emotional folk of the opener, Killer Line, to the eerie flamenco-jazz hybrid Before Music Dies. via the broken soulfulness of Put Love Into Your Heart and anthemic 80s balearic breaks meets coastal synthwave vibe of Sounds of Love, the album pulsates with a refreshingly genre-unbound vision. To the naive, laid-back sonic bokeh of Footsteps,
succeeds the left-of-centre cinematic narrative of In The Countryside, which includes some fun nods to fictional brands taken from Tarantinos imaginarium (Red Apple cigarettes) or other movies like High Fidelity, after Nick Hornbys eponymous novel.

Freed from gridlocked programming and impersonal tropes, PTCPTC showcases a wide array of songs, beats, grooves old and new, some dating back to 2018 and improvised sessions with his 9-people Kito Jempere Band, all of which were finished within the same timeframe and with this all-inclusive momentum in mind. Through the epic synths of Absent Ascent. in revamping the universal classic Over The Rainbow with Celebrine, on the appeasing ballad Shorespotting feat. Evald or in the waves-ready closing cut Lovers, Jempere tells a tale of hard-earned emancipation and life-affirming freedom.

Cosmocities returns with a sizzling six-track remix package of 'How It Feels To Be Loved' by American artists Erik Rico & C. Boogie. These jams are all ready for deployment in the club but come with a soulful signature that fans of Rico will quickly recognise. Tracks 'How It Feels...' and 'Love Everlasting' both get reworked by the one and only Josh Milan while Marc Mac, and Rico himself also step up with their own fresh twists. Milan's 'Honeycomb' mix infuses slap bass and acid-leaning grooves, his 'Floor Radio Vocal Mix' adds late-night soulful funk, Rico's 'Trench Coat Tribute Remix' delivers seductive P-funk vibes and Marc Mac's take on 'Love Everlasting' brings Balearic house magic.

Hip-hop legend Rakim is breaking new ground with his upcoming studio album, G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH), by flexing his skills both on the mic and behind the boards. Widely lauded as the best lyricist of all time, The God MC himself is blessing the culture with the next step in his historic career.

“I feel like the battery in my back has been reenergized,” Rakim said about his new album, which arrives nearly four decades after the release of his classic debut with Eric B., Paid In Full. Since then, he’s continued to shape the landscape and culture of hip-hop as we know it, inspiring rising artists with his hype live shows and incredible studio albums. And while he’s produced some of his previous work—notably “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” “Juice (Know The Ledge),” and “Paid In Full”—this feels like new territory for the 18th Letter, whose production and scratching talents are nothing short of remarkable.

G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH) is proof that Rakim is truly one of the most special artists we’ve known not just in hip-hop, but all of music. You can tell he feels that level of praise when speaking about the genesis of the album. “Having the ability to showcase my talents behind the boards coupled with the elite lyricism the world already knows and gives me infinite praise for alongside some of the best talents to ever do it is truly a blessing and for that I am humbled,” he said.

Rakim is more than an official triple-threat as an artist, because he’s also showing off skills as a curator. On this album’s seven tracks, he enlists a who’s-who of top hip-hop talent, including the dearly departed Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson, DMX, and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep). Rakim also linked with many of his contemporaries, such as Snoop Dogg, Method Man, KXNG Crooked, B.G., and Kool G. Rap, among others.

The album’s first single, “Be Ill,” is the perfect introduction, as it pairs Rakim’s raw rhymes and head-nodding production with slick guest features from Kurupt and Masta Killa. Elsewhere, Rakim slows it down for the soulful “Love Is The Message,” which features Nipsey Hussle, Planet Asia, Louis King, Snoop Dogg, Sally Green, Kobe Honeycutt, and the LA Grand Choir. And then there’s the chest-thumping “International,” a straight-up slapper with hard-hitting rhymes from Kool G. Rap, Tristate, and Joell Ortiz.

For fans of hip-hop, and especially of Rakim’s storied discography, there is so much to love on this record. You can hear his hunger as an emcee and producer on every track, as well as his desire to collaborate with so many respected artists. Despite having decades in the game and many classics to his name, it feels like Rakim is just getting started.

While the world awaits the July 26th release date, fans can catch Rakim performing live throughout the US from now until the end of year in support of G.O.D.S Network (REB7RTH). In addition to debuting new material, he’ll be performing all the classics from his beloved catalog.

Hip-hop legend Rakim is breaking new ground with his upcoming studio album, G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH), by flexing his skills both on the mic and behind the boards. Widely lauded as the best lyricist of all time, The God MC himself is blessing the culture with the next step in his historic career.

“I feel like the battery in my back has been reenergized,” Rakim said about his new album, which arrives nearly four decades after the release of his classic debut with Eric B., Paid In Full. Since then, he’s continued to shape the landscape and culture of hip-hop as we know it, inspiring rising artists with his hype live shows and incredible studio albums. And while he’s produced some of his previous work—notably “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” “Juice (Know The Ledge),” and “Paid In Full”—this feels like new territory for the 18th Letter, whose production and scratching talents are nothing short of remarkable.

G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH) is proof that Rakim is truly one of the most special artists we’ve known not just in hip-hop, but all of music. You can tell he feels that level of praise when speaking about the genesis of the album. “Having the ability to showcase my talents behind the boards coupled with the elite lyricism the world already knows and gives me infinite praise for alongside some of the best talents to ever do it is truly a blessing and for that I am humbled,” he said.

Rakim is more than an official triple-threat as an artist, because he’s also showing off skills as a curator. On this album’s seven tracks, he enlists a who’s-who of top hip-hop talent, including the dearly departed Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson, DMX, and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep). Rakim also linked with many of his contemporaries, such as Snoop Dogg, Method Man, KXNG Crooked, B.G., and Kool G. Rap, among others.

The album’s first single, “Be Ill,” is the perfect introduction, as it pairs Rakim’s raw rhymes and head-nodding production with slick guest features from Kurupt and Masta Killa. Elsewhere, Rakim slows it down for the soulful “Love Is The Message,” which features Nipsey Hussle, Planet Asia, Louis King, Snoop Dogg, Sally Green, Kobe Honeycutt, and the LA Grand Choir. And then there’s the chest-thumping “International,” a straight-up slapper with hard-hitting rhymes from Kool G. Rap, Tristate, and Joell Ortiz.

For fans of hip-hop, and especially of Rakim’s storied discography, there is so much to love on this record. You can hear his hunger as an emcee and producer on every track, as well as his desire to collaborate with so many respected artists. Despite having decades in the game and many classics to his name, it feels like Rakim is just getting started.

While the world awaits the July 26th release date, fans can catch Rakim performing live throughout the US from now until the end of year in support of G.O.D.S Network (REB7RTH). In addition to debuting new material, he’ll be performing all the classics from his beloved catalog.

Prepare to embark on a sonic odyssey as CRIMEAPPLE and PRESERVATION unveil the inaugural chapter of their groundbreaking trilogy with "EL LEÓN”. The album's title, a nod to the undisputed king of the jungle, serves as a meta-phorical beacon for the unyielding hunger that the lyrical predator has always shown.

On this audio hunting expedition, CRIMEAPPLE, the lyrical monarch, roars with an intensity that mirrors the lion's fe-rocity over a wild musical tapestry provided by PRESERVATION, with each track being a testament to the insatiable appetite and predatory instincts needed to navigate the wilderness of today’s music industry, a game that both artists have never bowed down to but always dominated from the outside in.

CRIMEAPPLE has always proven to be a leader of the pride, with the non-stop grind he’s been putting into his MAN-TECA imprint and with legendary collaborations with producers such as DJ Muggs and DJ Skizz carving his name as one of the prominent stars in the game today.

On the production side, PRESERVATION’s musical journey, whether with long-time collaborator Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def), or as one half of Dr. Yen Lo with Brooklyn emcee Ka, or through legendary collaborations with the likes of billy woods, MF DOOM, Roc Marci, RZA, Sean Price, Raekwon and countless others, have made him an iconic name in musical alchemy.

As the trilogy begins, "EL LEÓN" stands as the beginning of a new hunting season for the two, where CRIMEAPPLE and PRESERVATION are sure to transcend boundaries and reign supreme.

Enter the clandestine world of "No Face, No Case", the latest opus from Boston hip-hop producer MichaelAngelo, out this in Friday March 22nd on all digital platforms!

This project draws inspiration from the underworld and its enigmatic vibe, infusing every track with an irresistible aura of mystery and grit. Even though Michaelangelo production take cen-ter stage, he enlists a lineup of top-tier lyricists to tell a story of its own, including CRIMEAPPLE, Primo Profit, RLX, Daniel Son, Shaykh Hanif, Elcamino, Clovis Ochin, LPH Crack and LPH Stat. "No Face, No Case" isn't just an album – it's an experience and a visceral journey into the heart of the underworld crafted by one of the most interesting pro-ducers around these days!

Stunning two tracker with an unreleased 90s gem from Good Looking Records Maestro PFM (You have got to hear this one!!) Equilibrium VIP is PFM at his majestic best with shimmering, stellar sounds with a drop to mash up the dance floor and send you sailing through the cosmos.

The flip is a brand new track from PFM and Greekboy. Icarus is a MONSTER track showcasing the talents of this amazing duo with with a dark and atmospheric amen journey that would be a peaktime highlight in most sets across the drum and bass spectrum

The package is rounded out by some serious artwork from Nick Purser (Good Looking Records 90s Art Director) Nick always delivers but in our opinion he has surpassed himself on this one.

Is it really into the unknown? Lewis Fautzi is once again with us, in his own imprint, and everytime he is around we feel deeply appreciated. It means that, although there's a guide line that immediately identifies his work as his, he also opens a little bit more to us. Every EP is like a step further into his own mind, a breach to the deepness of his intrusive thoughts and ideas. All the words would be useless if we tried to describe this one. The tracks are self explainable and were meticulously created as that is part of his trademark. And regarding the first question we can only answer yes, it is really into the unknown. Or at least into something of his we have never experienced before. And perhaps after listening to it we'll be able to know him and understand his work a little bit better than before.

A longtime banner carrier for fiercely independent DIY punk in the UK, Wonk Unit are teaming with Pirates Press Records to release their ninth studio LP, Good Good Glad To Hear It. Based in the South London town of Croydon, the band has its origins in lead singer, songwriter, & guitarist Alex Wonk's experience in rehab 25 years ago, where he found journaling & sharing his experience with others liberating. After completing his time in hospital, Alex set about crafting songs from his "addiction journals," and from this sharing of unvarnished honesty, Wonk Unit was born. The 12 songs on Good Good Glad To Hear It are the diverse fruits of a long term process of songwriting and collaboration that takes the listener on an emotional journey. "These songs need to be written. They all had, for whatever reason, a burning desire to be released from my head," says Alex, who estimates that more than half of the vocals, guitars, and keys on the finished product were recorded as voice notes using nothing more than his cell phone mic. Aside from "EQ magic" courtesy of long term engineer & co-producer Andy Brook, there is no studio trickery to hide behind, and what appears on the record are the raw takes as played by Alex and his bandmates Vez, Max, Pwosion, Ryan, and AJ, as well as a group of studio collaborators adding instrumentation such as keys, horns, and banjo.The confessional spirit & emotional honesty of the songwriting shines through in every song on the record, such as the opening track & lead single, a "sad, depressing song about addiction" titled "Rapidly Declining Dignity," which recalls Alex's journals, or the song "Overwhelmed," in which the songwriter turns his focus to his relationship with his daughter in the aftermath of his marriage falling apart. "Those were the saddest, most precious, painful, terrifying times of my life," he shares, before adding, "Things are good now." Ultimately, these songs could only be written by someone who survived to tell the story. Just as journaling and sharing with others in rehab helped Alex to get sober and see a way through to the next stage of life, sharing songs that speak the truth of his experiences with the band's audience continues to carry him through life's ongoing struggles. Consequently, the band has attracted a large and diverse group of devoted fans who immediately recognize that these are true stories of resilience that can serve as a touchstone in their own lives. The true stories on Good Good Glad To Hear It are certain to find their way to even more.

When Acid Jazz was in its mid-1990s pomp, it released a lot of great records. Sometimes they flew past at such a pace, we had moved on to something else before we realised how good they truly were. ‘Lovesick’ by the Night Trains is one such record.

A phenomenal mixture of a distinctive sample turned into a un-ignorable groove, an unforgettable melody (and the soulful vocal from Marcia Johnson), weaved around a Miles-like trumpet. It should have been a hit. But it wasn’t. Instead, it is a cult classic, which we are being fully indulgent in releasing on a 7-inch single.

Night Trains were the brain child of Hugh Brooker, and they released the first ever acid jazz single in 'Open Channel D’, appearing on early groundbreaking Acid Jazz compilations. It resurfaced on the label in 1993 with the ‘Sleazeball’ album, from which Lovesick was the lead single. Hugh has in many forms kept the group going until the present day. A testament to persistence and good taste, in the face of industry indifference. Hugh is one of the originals and we are proud to still work with him to this day.

This is the first time that ‘Lovesick’ has appeared on a 7", and it is flipped with the previously-unreleased on vinyl ‘Only Know About Love' on the B-side.

The 1998 Norwegian Black Metal classic ‘Soulblight’ re-issued! “Soulblight” is a worthy contender for one of the best Black Metal albums of the 90’s! 1997’s “Witchcraft” wass a challenging album to follow up with its cult status as one of the greatest Black Metal releases owing to its complex compositions and intricate orchestration. Yet Obtained Enslavement did exactly that, as “Soulblight” is a very different release but it maintained the quality and musicianship the band made themselves known for with “Witchcraft”.

This release discards the openness and mystique of the orchestral arrangements in place of a more guitar and drum-oriented sound, but this works for the much darker and aggressive tone of “Soulblight”. The structure of the album is a highlight compared to its predecessor as it feels more conceptual and complete as a whole, rather than just a collection of songs.

This makes sense as the lyrics tell an epic tale of a great war against the ‘soulblight’, a story that can be followed through the music itself too, thus making it a conceptual album in many ways. Speaking of instrumental work, the iconic and untouchable classically influenced composition (it would be insulting to call it songwriting) of guitarists ‘Heks’ and ‘Døden’, with its weaving and developed melodies to the complex chord sequences and intricate structures, is still an aspect that is so unique to this band; the composers truly have a great understanding of music in its high-art form.

The performances delivered by the band are done with terrifying precision and clarity, unusual for the genre where commonly a ‘that will do’ attitude is employed; nowhere on this album can you hear sloppiness of any kind. Pest’s vocals are consistent and hair-raising, nothing about it sounds human and this works in favour of this otherworldly suite. Pytten has once again cemented himself as one of the greats in the Black Metal world and even just knowing this album was recorded in the infamous Grieghallen, adds to its grandeur and appeal. To conclude, “Soulblight” is a worthy contender for one of the best Black Metal albums of the 90’s. The world will likely never again see two Black Metal albums as perfect as “Soulblight” and “Witchcraft”, evil in its intent yet majestic and epic in its final form.

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of “Unorthodox Jukebox”, a limited Dark Red Vinyl edition will be released on the 17th June, with the pre-order going live on the 19th May. “Unorthodox Jukebox” is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200, The record also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the U.K.. It became Mars's fastest-selling album in the latter country in 2012, the third best-selling album in Australia in 2013, and the fifth best-selling in the United States in 2013. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Unorthodox Jukebox was globally the fourth best-selling album in 2013. “Unorthodox Jukebox” also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Grammy Awards.
Bruno Mars is a 21-time GRAMMY Award nominee and multi-GRAMMY winner. The celebrated singer, songwriter, producer, musician has sold over 171 million singles worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. His most recent critically acclaimed and RIAA certified platinum album, “24K Magic,” made an impressive debut atop the Top Digital Albums and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Additionally, the album and its lead single, “24K Magic,” simultaneously hit No. 1 on the iTunes Overall Albums and Overall Songs charts week of release. The single has since climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has also officially been certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Bienvenue Recordings is back on wax with two originals and a deep driving remix from the home base. We are delighted to present Gratts ‘The Lifestyle EP’ via the label, a high quality addition to his plentiful repertoire of dance delights.

Gene Tellem met Gratts in the South Australian city of Adelaide in 2022 while visiting family and touring the country for some gigs. Gratts, originally from Belgium, also finds himself in the sun for similar reasons. Being from two different French speaking parts of the world, able to communicate in a familiar way but in a whole new place really laid down the vibe for this release. Songs as much for the radio as the club, for a cold wintry night or on the shores of an Australian sunset.

'Sunsets (FBI Mix)' is Gratts & Biancolato's tribute to Sydney veteran DJ Simon Caldwell's long running 'Sunsets' radio show on FBI Radio. Gratts and Caldwell DJ'ed together in Sydney on various occasions, whereas Biancolato is a veteran Melbourne DJ and producer. The track was inspired by the dubby West-Coast deep house sound from the turn of the millennium. Adelaide's Lesley Williams provides the vocal mantra.

'Sundays With U (Neapolitan Mix)' is a jazzy and percussive venture, loosely inspired by the West London bruk sound and Charles Webster. Andreas Poppelbaum, Gratts' studio neighbour in Berlin can be heard on soprano sax. The lyrics are performed by Italian friend Ambra, who delivers them in the Neapolitan dialect.

'Sundays With U (GT Remix)’ is Gene Tellem pulling at all the elements that make the original a scorcher, stretching it out, turning the stomp up, and offering a version for a deep dance floor moment. The voice, sax, atmosphere with the snap on the one. One moment it starts, and soon you won’t know how long it’s been that your eyes are closed, body moving through the room.

Repress!

Demon Records Singles club are delighted are introduced a reissue of
the club anthem Closer Than Close by Rosie Gaines.
• Beginning her career in 1985 recording and performing with The
Curtis Ohlson Band, Rosie Gaines came to notoriety when she became
a member of Prince & The New Power Generation.
• After the released her fifth album, Closer than Close in 1995 she was
dropped from Motown Records yet two years later, a remix of the
title track from the album was released as a single by Big Bang
Records, after it had appeared on bootlegs.
• It was highly successful in the UK, reaching number four on the UK
Singles Chart in May 1997 and sold over 8 million copies worldwide.
• Newly remastered, this single features mixes from the creator of
house music himself Frankie Knuckles and legendary house & garage
producer Tuff Jams

Printed sleeve offering a painting from Dj Frendleyks himself :)

This is Tek-Hosue, a meeting point between freetekno and house... because there are no frontier !

Ni A Nhw (‘Us And Them’) is a new collection of songs by Carwyn Ellis, sung mostly in his native Welsh. Drawn from his catalogue under four different guises - Colorama, Rio 18, Bendith and solo as Carwyn Ellis - it features songs spanning over a decade, most of which have not been available to stream before. Or on vinyl for that matter!

The music itself is mostly in a folk-pop / singer-songwriter vein so although it spans a number of years and projects, it holds together well. There are seasoned favourites - ‘Llythr Y Glowr’, ‘Gall Pethau Gymryd Sbel’ and ‘Ti’ have been staples on BBC Radio Cymru over the last 5 years or so. Covers include’Gorffennaf’ (‘Luglio’ in it’s original Italian) which was released with Rio 18 this Summer, and ‘Cân Am Gariad’ (Lesley Duncan’s ‘Love Song’) and ‘Hwiangerdd Takeda’ (‘Takeda no Moriuta’ in it’s original Japanese), both recorded with Bendith for their long-sold out 12” EP on Manchester’s legendary Aficionado label in 2017. Some of the songs on the album were previously only released digitally via Bandcamp as fund raisers during the Covid era - ‘Gair O Gysur’ as Rio 18 and ‘Drudwen’, ‘Cardigan Bay’ and ‘Ti’ as Carwyn Ellis himself.

As the album draws to its close, the tunes take a slightly more electronic turn, beginning with ‘Kerro’, from the Colorama mini album ‘Llyfr Lliwio’ originally released in 2011. The CD and streaming versions of the album close with the Begin remix of ‘Hapus?’ By Colorama, an epic Balearic chill out tune if ever there was one!

As Carwyn finishes work on the next Rio 18 album (due in 2024) this is a welcome reminder of his varied skills as a singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and collaborator - a colourful chameleon, comfortable working in any number of musical styles, and never prepared to sit still. This collection, following on from 2014’s ‘Dere Mewn’ CD, brings together all of Carwyn’s remaining Welsh rarities, whether solo, as a bandleader or as a collaborator. Ni a Nhw. Us and Them.

Since ever great fans of DJ Ralf's music, both Marcellino and I decided of dedicang a tribute to him... a record that could
always feature him in his DJ sets!

There was a video on YouTube with an interview with the "uncle from Italy" who told a li$le about his career... with
various anecdotes...

We therefore thought of "building" him a musical ou&it specifically so that he could play it himself...
Groove, great rhythmic bass, and a very Old Skool sound that recalled the Chicago and Detroit periods... we therefore
gave life to the project (ino)2 (Walterino & Marcellino and Keller)
We took the most interesng phrases from the interview, and looped the phrase... Ralf, Ciao Ralf, thus giving the song the
tle!

Kath Bloom is an American legend of folk, country, blues and avant-garde music. She has been making records since the late 70s, and has had her music featured in the movie Before Sunrise by Richard Linklater (starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy), but from 1984 up until Finally released no new material of her own, bar a few self-distributed cassettes and CD-Rs.Born in Connecticut, Kath met avant-garde guitarist Loren Mazzacane Connors in 1976, teaming up with him for a series of now highly sought-after albums of traditional blues, folk, and Bloom originals. Four of these albums have been reissued as double disc CDs by Chapter Music. Finally compiles Kath Bloom's heartbreaking, lovelorn and remarkably beautiful songs recorded since the early 90s. They reveal a mother-of-three songwriter as accomplished and affecting as any of her more acclaimed colleagues such as Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch or Hazel Dickens.

Poetry of the Deed is the third studio album by London-based singer-songwriter Frank Turner. Unlike Turner's previous solo albums, Poetry of the Deed was rehearsed, arranged and recorded with his full band. This marked a significant change in the singer songwriters musical output, spawning the singles ‘Poetry Of The Deed’, ‘Try This At Home’ and ‘The Road’. The video for ‘The Road’ saw Frank play 24 shows in 24 hours.. The successes of the third album included further Radio 1 daytime playlists, sessions with Zane Lowe and headlining a sold out show at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire and a few months later, The Roundhouse, London, setting him firmly on the course we see him on today, as a headline act the world over. Produced by Grammy nominated Alex Newport.

Gregory Porter, with his customary class, elegance and sophistication, presents his new holiday album ‘Christmas Wish’ – a cool yule selection of festive favourites as well as brand new songs written by the singer himself. Backed by his long-time band, produced by repeat collaborator Troy Miller in New York and London, with orchestral contributions recorded at Abbey Road, and featuring powerhouse guest vocalist, double Grammy-winning sensation Samara Joy, Gregory Porter’s seventh studio album is a loving tribute to his favourite time of year – and to great songwriters, singers and interpreters including Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Dinah Washington. Across its dozen tracks, ‘Christmas Wish’ encompasses the saintly and the secular, the funky and the fun, the Great American Songbook and the best of Motown.

With ‘Christmas Wish’, Gregory Porter has given us a whole new soundtrack to this most wonderful time of year.

Music To Varnish Owls By. Does Geoff Bastow have a claim for the best album title of all time? It's certainly up there. It's also one of the hardest to find library funk records. But don't let the eye-catching name fool you into thinking this isn't serious business.

As a key member of Giorgio Moroder's team, the legendary Geoff Bastow shouldn't need any introduction. You'll be familiar with his singular brilliance as the brains behind the much-sampled boogie/disco classics "You Don't Like My Music (Hupendi Muziki Wangu?!)" and "Don't Stop", released by his group, K.I.D.

But 1975's Music To Varnish Owls By is where it all began for our hero.

It's packed with incredibly soulful, soothing music that - despite being utilised a few times by Knxwledge - remains still largely un-mined. So, beat-makers, get cracking. And instead of that hyper-rare original, spend that £300 on something else.

Born in 1949, Bastow was a Munich-based English songwriter and record producer. Originally working as a guitarist and pianist in dance bands around his home county of Yorkshire, he moved to London in the early 1970s and then Munich in around 1976. He was one of the main architects of the Munich disco sound of electronic innovator Giorgio Moroder and also released heaps of killer library records for legendary labels like Bruton (with brother Trevor), Impress, JW Music Library and the Munich-based Sonoton between the 1970s-2000s. Bastow died tragically young, in Berlin, Germany on 16 March 2007, at the age of just 57. But he left behind a truly incredible electronic music legacy. He deserves to be much better known and this reissue should bring him to a fair few more ears. Let's see why...

Light-hearted opener "The Rough With The Smooth" contains a killer open drum break and is basically guitar-drenched flute-laced piano-funk. However, the first genuine highlight, "Beautiful People", is just majestic. Reflective, pastoral and silky smooth - as the title suggests, it's just straight beautiful; a chiming, deeply soulful instrumental that has to be heard to be believed. Sampled by Knxwledge but nobody else of note, which is crazy. Slo-mo soul beat "Tumbleweed" is another stone cold track just desperate to be laced by a skilled MC. Laconic, lysergic funk with nostalgic overtones, the guitar is prominent but the flute and glock really elevate it to perfection.

"Bits And Bats" is clav-enhanced Blaxploitation-esque street-funk with tough bass and crunchy drums that, despite its hardness, manages to flirt with breeziness. All in all, sumptuous, pounding wah-wah brilliance. Another huge one, up next. The insistent piano-funk head-nodder "A Change Of Pace" is a total sleuth-funk jammer, with a wonderfully soft snare and more hypnotic, melancholic flute lines. Man, we'd love to hear Alchemist chop this up. It even sounds a bit like Bastow was keeping things thoro with this one. Closing out Side A, the bright and breezy Bossa of "Janelle" makes it a perfect run of six untouchable gems. As elegant as it is sleazy, it sounds like it could've been on the classic KPM greensleeve, Piano Viberations.

Side B opens with the Ramsey Lewis-inspired "Time And A Half", a deceptively simple bass, drums and piano workout, decorated with stylish percussion with some great chord changes and hints of drama via a great bass solo. The heavy "Supersplash" is a doped-out drama suite with fuzzy wah-wah guitars, electric piano and glock. "Fillet Of Soul" is a catchy wah-wah propelled shuffle with piano and vibes, super dynamic but also incredibly chill.

"Well Above Average" is exactly that, a funky instrumental that serves as a straight ahead guitar-soul workout. Oozing bass-driven class, it gets better with every listen. Some open drums for your delectation, too. The fuzzy clav-and-vibes funk of "The Clan" - also understandably sampled by Knxwledge - is a monster head-nod slow jam whilst, seeing us out, the uber-relaxed "Sing Song" rounds things off in bright fashion with its slow but insistent clav, electric piano and glock greatness. Swoon.

As ever, the audio for Music To Varnish Owls By has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Acclaimed musicians Nitai Hershkovits and Daniel Dor will release their highly anticipated album, “The Garden Suite”, on Circus Company. Following their previous collaboration on Daniel Dor’s debut album, “Four Petals”, this new project sees the duo exploring uncharted musical territory with an innovative, Moog-based sound.
Inspired by the groundbreaking work of synth pioneer Malcolm Cecil, “The Garden Suite” marries electronic textures with the richness of orchestral sound. Drawing from a vast range of influences, including the works of Benjamin Britten and Fredrick Delius, Hershkovits and Dor meticulously composed each track, layering Moog synthesizer melodies to emulate various instruments from the orchestra - from French horn to percussion, guitar, brass, and woodwinds. The result is a sound that is lush yet light, deeply textured yet not dense.
“The Garden Suite” marks a significant evolution in the partnership between Hershkovits and Dor, with their new compositions shifting from the rhythmic focus of “Four Petals” to a more texture-driven approach. The album showcases their ability to create genre-defying soundscapes, blending Daniel’s rhythmic system, “The Flower,” with lush, ambient layers of sound created on the Moog.
Nitai Hershkovits, known for his extensive work in jazz and classical music, began his musical journey as a clarinetist before transitioning to piano at the age of 15. His early passion for improvisation and jazz earned him several jazz competition awards in Tel Aviv. Nitai’s career highlights include his fiveyear tenure with the Avishai Cohen Trio, and his numerous projects as a solo artist, including work with ECM and his band Apifera.
Daniel Dor, a drummer and multi-instrumentalist, was born into a family of musicians in Tel Aviv. He began exploring rhythm at the age of 10, building his first drum set out of household objects. His innovative rhythmic method, “The Flower”, gained attention with his debut solo piano album, “Four Petals”, which led to his collaboration with Hershkovits. Daniel has performed with notable artists such as NOA, Avishai Cohen, and Chano Dominguez, and regularly lectures on rhythmic symmetry and music.
With “The Garden Suite”, Hershkovits and Dor offer a unique listening experience that challenges traditional genre boundaries. Their seamless fusion of rhythm, melody, and texture creates a soundscape that is as experimental as it is captivating.

Rafael Cohen’s Spanish-language solo project Las Palabras gives the D.C. punk scene veteran and member of dance-rock group !!! (Chk Chk Chk), the words to reveal himself as a Latin alternative artist and what he calls “a cautious believer”. Fe, Faith his second Las Palabras album, and first on the Barcelona label La Castanya, “deals with what it means to have faith, what it means to have doubts, and what it means to stay open to the idea that something untouchable and unknowable may exist”.
Written and produced by Cohen in his home studio in Brooklyn and mixed by Black Pumas guitarist Adrian Quesada, Fe builds on nylon-string guitar and electric bass with live drums and synthesizers in songs that embrace elements of 70s Brazilian funk and an amalgam of beats from hip hop to bachata, interspersed with contemplative ballads on which Cohen’s voice and guitar can be quiet enough to hear the rumble of a bus going by in the background.
“Fe” is colored by musical influences that include those Brazilian grooves, but also shades of Sade, Sounds of Blackness and eighties electro funk group Zapp. The arrangements spotlight the rhythm section, with drums played by Chris Egan (!!!, Solange, Blood Orange) and featuring Alberto Lopez (LCD Soundsystem, Stanley Clarke) on percussion. Cohen credits Adrian Quesada for the album’s warm, worn-in tone: “He made the beats sound a lot bigger and gave it an ’80s hip hop feel. He really understood the references and brought his background in Latin music to it”

Rafael Cohen’s Spanish-language solo project Las Palabras gives the D.C. punk scene veteran and member of dance-rock group !!! (Chk Chk Chk), the words to reveal himself as a Latin alternative artist and what he calls “a cautious believer”. Fe, Faith his second Las Palabras album, and first on the Barcelona label La Castanya, “deals with what it means to have faith, what it means to have doubts, and what it means to stay open to the idea that something untouchable and unknowable may exist”.
Written and produced by Cohen in his home studio in Brooklyn and mixed by Black Pumas guitarist Adrian Quesada, Fe builds on nylon-string guitar and electric bass with live drums and synthesizers in songs that embrace elements of 70s Brazilian funk and an amalgam of beats from hip hop to bachata, interspersed with contemplative ballads on which Cohen’s voice and guitar can be quiet enough to hear the rumble of a bus going by in the background.
“Fe” is colored by musical influences that include those Brazilian grooves, but also shades of Sade, Sounds of Blackness and eighties electro funk group Zapp. The arrangements spotlight the rhythm section, with drums played by Chris Egan (!!!, Solange, Blood Orange) and featuring Alberto Lopez (LCD Soundsystem, Stanley Clarke) on percussion. Cohen credits Adrian Quesada for the album’s warm, worn-in tone: “He made the beats sound a lot bigger and gave it an ’80s hip hop feel. He really understood the references and brought his background in Latin music to it”

Moka Only is a hip-hop legend with a career spanning nearly three decades. Hailing from Vancouver, he's renowned for his prolific output, introspective lyrics, and unique blend of melodic rap and thoughtful storytelling. His music explores themes of personal growth, societal issues, and introspective reflections, making him a respected voice in the hip-hop landscape.

Moka's highly anticipated new album, "Arbutus Canyon” is a deeply personal tribute to his formative years on Vancouver Island, the album is a sonic exploration of the region's landscapes, culture, and memories. Inspired by the iconic Arbutus tree and the Arbutus Canyon, a real geographic location near Victoria, the album is a rich tapestry of sounds and stories. Moka's signature beats evolve while remaining true to his established style, creating a seamless continuation of his previous work, "In and of Itself."

Throughout "Arbutus Canyon," listeners will encounter coded references to adventures and experiences on Vancouver Island, as well as cryptic elements that invite deeper exploration. The album features a variety of interludes, including the extended "Arbutus Intermission," providing a unique listening experience.

This album is a gritty yet sophisticated journey through life’s harsh realities and ultimate triumphs. Hailing from two vastly different worlds, Fashawn and Little Vic bring unique stories and sounds that blend the raw with the refined. Fashawn, raised amidst the gangs and struggles of Fresno, California, brings an unapologetic realism to his verses, detailing the roads that took him from survival to success. Meanwhile, Little Vic’s roots trace back to Long Island, New York, where he grew up with the influence of the Orena family’s notorious reputation. Known for his lyricism and mastery of the MPC, Vic’s production is the perfect companion to Fashawn’s storytelling, layering gritty boom bap beats with live instruments that add richness and texture.

The theme of the album is like a fine dining experience—a nod to elegance—while peeling back the layers to reveal the raw, often darker realities simmering behind the scenes. Little Vic’s production flexes between hard-hitting rhythms and delicate, soulful sounds, creating a soundscape that mirrors the rags-to-riches journey both artists represent.

Brought together on the East Coast by executive producer Ricky Grey, Fashawn and Little Vic spent an intense week creating this project, crafting a work that feels as alive and textured as the streets that shaped them. Each track is an experience, serving up an unfiltered taste of both struggle and success, designed to leave listeners both stirred and inspired.

Back in 2018, Argentinian producer Fernando Pulichino released ‘Search of Indigo’ on Leng, a shuffling slab of colourful, Balearic-adjacent dub disco featuring his own distinctive lead vocals and backing vocals from Luca Gasparini. Six years on, the track returns renewed and refreshed thanks to a string of new floor-friendly reworks by LTJ Xperience and Pulichino himself. Fernando kicks off the EP with his ‘AM Mix’, an inspired re-invention that re-frames the song as a hard-wired, acid-fired chugger – all restless, razor-sharp TB-303 lines, low-slung bass guitar and sparkling piano riffs. On the digital version of the EP Pulichino has also offered up his ‘PM Mix’, a deliciously Balearic disco dub rich in colourful synth sounds, elastic bass, flanged guitars and sun-bright piano licks. It's LTJ Xperience’s trio of remixes that lie at the heart of the EP though. The Italian producer, real name Luca Trevisi, initially made his name as a downtempo and nu-jazz producer before perfecting a trademark style of chugging, slow-motion hedonism that draws influence from both deep house and nu-disco. His main Remix foregrounds many of these trademark elements, in the process delivering a bongo-rich chugger laden with delayheavy bass guitar sounds, head-nodding drums, heady guitar loops and echoing vocal snippets. On the Dirty Mix, Trevisi reaches for tight, short TB-303 ‘acid’ loops, a more sparse and heavy rhythm track offering a more heads-down, dubbed-out affair that should delight those who love late night and early morning hypnotism with flashes of wide-eyed sonic bliss. Then, to round things off, Trevisi delivers a heady, atmospheric and spaced-out Dub full of jazz guitar licks, bubbling electronics, vocal snippets and effects-laden bass. It’s a winning combination.

Destroy All Neighbors is a twisted splatter-comedy about a deranged journey of self-discovery full of goopy practical FX, a well-known ensemble cast, and LOTS of blood. William Brown (Jonah Ray Rodrigues), is a neurotic, self-absorbed musician determined to finish his prog-rock magnum opus, facing a creative roadblock in the form of a noisy and grotesque neighbor named Vlad (Alex Winter).

He finally works up the nerve to demand that Vlad keep it down, and William inadvertently decapitates him. But, while attempting to cover up one murder, William's accidental reign of terror causes victims to pile up and become undead corpses who torment and create more bloody detours on his road to prog-rock Valhalla. The soundtrack is an infectious slice of progressive rock cues, EDM freakouts, 80’s synth pop and so much more by the brilliant Ryan Kattner & Brett Morris. Released in conjunction with SUB POP Records, and features an original song by MAN MAN, artwork by Johnny Dombrowski, and pressed on coloured vinyl.

«Dodu Ekspresi» heisst der legendäre Zug, welcher in Ankara, der Hauptstadt der Türkei, startet und nach 26 Stunden, 1001 Meilen, einer Nacht und einem Tag, die östlichste Stadt Anatoliens, KARS an der türkisch-armenischen Grenze erreicht. Sogar Orhan Pamuk der Nobelpreisträger verfällt der Magie dieser Stadt und schreibt den Roman: KAR! Nun spielt Café Türk die Musik dazu! Die Schönheit und den Zauber der Landschaft. Die Einsamkeit geprägt voller Melancholie prägen die neuen Songs auf diesem brandneuen Album. Musikalisch unternahmen sie wie der Zug eine Reise durch die schier endlosen Steppen Anatoliens. Eine Fahrt in einer vom Mond erhellten, kalten Winternacht, unter einem dunkelblauen Himmel voller Sterne. Wie die Szenerie, die an jedem Bahnof sich stetig ändert, verwandeln sich auch die Songs. Lied für Lied, Schritt für Schritt nähert sich auch die Musik dem Bahnhof von Kars. Die Stadt, wo Metin aufgewachsen ist Kars, wo jede Ecke nach Geschichte riecht und jeder Stein seine eigene Story erzählt:die endlosen Tränen tausender verlorener Seelen. Nun scheint wieder die Sonne! Dodu Ekspresi ist angekommen! Herzlich willkommen! HO_GELDYNYZ!

Marbled Smoke Vinyl. If "Cathedral" is one of Nigel Ayers' most celestially minded records, then "Invocation of the Beast Gods" is among his most ritualistic. We start at full throttle with suffocating tension before giving way to an uneasy release. "Tranquil" this is not, but Ayers' delicate touch allows him to explore the full breadth of the album title's implications _ here you will find moments of whimsy, contemplation, and full-bore reckoning

Steven Wilson is no stranger to composing music that appears to counter everything else before it in his catalogue. Bass Communion, his long running solo electronic project, is no exception to this perverse streak that apparently likes to turn all expectations upside down. The Itself of Itself, Bass Communion's first album for 12 years, skilfully pays testament to this. Long established as a purveyor of mostly atmospheric or ambient textures, the seven cuts that represent The Itself of Itself take detours from this approach in order draw as much from musique concrete, noise music, abstract electronics and uneasy listening. Whilst still rippled with the same shades of light and dark that can be found throughout all of Bass Communion's work, The Itself of Itself reveals a fascination with analogue sounds and, more importantly perhaps, 'unwanted' analogue artefacts like tape hiss, wow and flutter, static noise, and sonic break-up, taking the music into a space at once different yet familiar. 'Apparition 3' presents a stark nod to Wilson's established command of shifting textures steeped in penumbral gauze, while 'Bruise' is akin to a space probe adrift and headed towards a white dwarf as all communication is reduced to a disturbing and indecipherable crackle. Between the other five cuts we witness fragmented, garbled and buried voices, vast vacillating banks of grainy hum, what sounds like the dying gasps of an oboe, spooky swirls from an indiscernible source, swathes of tape hiss, moody drones, and spiralling slivers of noise. Meanwhile on the title track, a mellotron flute rusts and collapses in on itself in a way that renders it the very antithesis of the one deployed on 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. Everything adds up to a dynamic listening experience where unease, dread and comparatively claustrophobic torrents of sound make (un)natural bedfellows to moments of enchantment and serenity. Above all, The Itself of Itself sees Steven Wilson cutting his teeth on an album that's at once cinematic and moody whilst proving him to be a master in electronic music craftsmanship. It's an album that might surprise some of those who have thus far been paying attention to his work as Bass Communion, but setting out to please everyone was never part of his raison d'etre. The Itself of Itself catches Bass Communion spreading its weatherbeaten wings to embrace new strategies and a strong desire to journey elsewhere. Arriving in a wonderful Carl Glover designed deluxe cover also comprising a 24pp. booklet of his photographs and an obi strip, this version of The Itself of Itself arrives in December on Lumberton Trading Company as a 2LP pressed in an initial run of 1000 copies.

PRESSED ON BLUE INK-IN-CLEAR COLORED VINYL IN A GATEFOLD JACKET WITH OBI, A FOLD-OUT LYRIC INSERT AND TWO BONUS REMIXES

Among hip-hop fans, Boogie Down Productions first two albums – Criminal Minded (1987) and By All Means Necessary (1988) – loom very large. And for good reason: they both captured one of the late 1980s most important and influential crews at their highest powers of lyricism and musical invention. That said, too many people sleep on BDPs third LP, Ghetto Music. Released in 1989, when the hip-hop world was truly beginning to explode and reach new heights of sales and exposure around the world, the album is arguably as powerful as the group's first two. As on By All Means Necessary, in the wake of the tragic death of the founder, producer, and DJ Scott LaRock, KRS-One pushed along mightily on the production side, with help from his extended crew. Musically the sound created on albums 2 & 3 was funky, catchy, and continually innovative, giving him the perfect backdrop to build his Edutainment syllabus. Lyrically there was never a question about KRS-One's power, and on Ghetto Music he continues to impress, teach, and ask important questions. Clear cases in point are two of the album's singles, "You Must Learn" and "Why Is That?" but he gets even deeper on tracks like the anti-police thought-piece "Who Protects Us From You" (still sadly relevant in 2024), "Ghetto Music" and "World Peace." Out of print on vinyl since 2017, Get On Down in partnership with Sony's CERTIFIED is proud to present this '89 classic fresh for 2024 you suckas! Pressed for the first time on double-colored vinyl and packaged in a gatefold jacket with a fold-out lyric sheet and two bonus remixes.

Ach du Scheisse - die neue Platte von Menschabstinenz ist da. "Bitte nicht noch mehr von diesem aggressiven, maskulinen, Testosteron geschwängerten Aggro-Zeug." Bitte nicht noch mehr Gast-Features von Jannis (Deine Nachbarn), Justin & Henne (Rawside),Vito C., Mr Hurley und die Pulveraffen, Tyna, MC Motherfucker, Reis Against The Spülmachine, Joe (The Busters), 100KiloHerz, Luci van Org & Toifel (Berliner Weisse) War so oder ähnlich etwa nicht euer erster Gedanke!? Wir geben euch Recht und schneiden darum dem Gegröle und Gehate die haarigen Eier ab - Testosteron/off. Was bleibt ist ein liebevoll schnoddriges, emotionstriggerndes Punk Potpourri, gemixt aus Alkohol und Schlaftabletten, irgendwo zwischen Stumpf- und Tiefsinn, doch so viel mehr als nur ein ,fuck you all". Schnallt euch an und begleitet uns auf eine Reise zwischen den Welten des guten und schlechten Geschmacks. Segelt mit uns hoffnungstrunken auf den Meeren bitterer Tränen und klettert mit uns über die Gipfel der eigenen Empörung, hin zu der Erkenntnis, dass am Ende nichts bleiben wird, was all das wert gewesen wäre. Also hoch die Tassen und laut gedreht: Testosteron/off - kommt mit reichlich Anlauf aber ohne Gleitgel. Ein dickes Ding! ,Gewimmel nicht auf Pimmel gereimt, sondern auf Himmel. Sehr gut! Kannste so schreiben. Wenn de als kleener Piepel an Punk rangeführt werden sollst, ist das das Richtige." Totze Scholz - Beatsteaks 300 Stück in weiß-rot-marmoriertem Vinyl, handnummeriert.

Following a period of five years establishing himself and blossoming into an innovative and in in-demand creative force on the New York jazz scene, 26 year old Danish pianist/composer Rasmus Sorensen returns to his home country to present his third accomplished piano trio record in two years. Combining musicianship far beyond his years with a distinctive contemporary voice, At The Right Time is set to release on November 15th on April Records. The record follows his 2022 debut Traits " which showcased his capabilities as a modern jazz composer and instrumentalist and 2024" s Balancing Act "", which saw the rising star stretch out on American Songbook classics alongside New York bassist Alexander Claffy and celebrated drummer Kendrick Scott. Now, in 2024, At the Right Time cements Sorensen s position as a trailblazing voice on his instrument whilst providing subtle nods to modern jazz piano greats of the 21st Century: there"s some Fred Hersch counterpoint, Brad Mehldau Mehldau-esque improvisational elasticity, Vijay Iyer influenced rhythmic cycles, a touch of Robert Glasper"s acoustic hiphip-hop inflection, and hints of Craig Taborn s polytonality. Featuring 12 diverse original compositions, the focus of this trio is on togetherness, with which the three formidable players bring the music to life. Jon Henrikssons bass sound holds the trio in an enveloping warmth that seems destined to become well known to European audiences. At the drums, Francesco Ciniglio, most recently heard by those audiences as a member of Wynton Marsali"s quartet, brings out the color, energy and movement sewn into the writing. The trio juxtaposes the feelings of being tightly locked locked-in and suspended in free free-floating time, and spends most of its time in the best of both rhythmic worlds.

Denovali presents the new album of the prestigious Swedish pianist and composer Matti Bye. Matti is well-known for his regular performances at various silent film festivals and screenings worldwide, where you can see him perform solo and with artists such as Lau Nau. Bye has been involved in several collaborations, including Hydras Dream, where he recorded and released an album with Anna von Hausswolff. Additionally, Matti is recognized for his scores in projects like ”Young Royals," ”Tove," „The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared,“ and "A Traves de tu Mirada” among many others.

Matti Bye's third album, "Capri Clouds", moves through the element of the air and further into space. A lone piano sounds, echoes - sometimes like a waltz. We have the sound of the wind with us and the sound of the sea below us as we fly, and above we hear the stars and planets spinning. A piano from the past, as if Satie met space - as if Spiritualized and Satie talked to each other across timeand space.These songs go straight to the heart and to the senses, and create images in your head. Stories from your own memory bank, as well as new visions – music to lean into, meditatively and hopefully longing. But there is also an undertone of something dark and desolate. Musically, Matti Bye moves within the realm of neo-classicism, but he is also approaching romanticism. References to composers suchas Schubert and Beethoven are to be found here, as well as to post-romantic bands such as Kraftwerk and The Cure. In this third album of a trilogy – the first was "Bethanien", the second "The Forgotten Land" – Bye continues his musical journey. Here we encounter a brighter and lighter production. Anders af Klintberg has brought "Capri Clouds" up from the underworld and the dreamscape, towards clouds and skies.

Irishman Dom Martin is a multi award winning artist from Belfast Northern Ireland.
The 34 year old's music is steeped in the atmospheric celtic hallways of the past with many likening his style and stage presence to the likes of the late greats Rory Gallagher and Belfast's own Gary Moore.

Equally at home with an acoustic guitar in hand tearing at the heartstrings of the audience, he's an inducted UK Blues Hall of Fame Artist as a result of three consecutive acoustic awards, and his trusty telecasters and Les Pauls that lead his power trio, delivering him two consecutive Instrumentalist of The Year Awards, Dom tours internationally on a regular basis and has built a reputation for his emotional and powerful legendary shows.

His latest album 'Buried In The Hail' garnered rave reviews and was voted Best UK Blues Album of 2024 at the UK Blues Awards.

Whilst touring the UK and Europe in 2023/2024, many tracks from 'Buried In The Hail' were recorded live along with several from his previous albums, 'Spain To Italy' and 'A Savage Life'.
The result is 'Buried Alive', a double live album by one of the most exciting artists to come out of Ireland in a very long time.

Hope and Sorrow is the 2nd album by French artist Wax Tailor. With this album he established himself on the international scene with a world tour, an Indie Music Award in the United States and a nomination at the Victoires de la musique 2008 as "best electronic artist”

On December 6, 2024, Randomer will return with a new EP titled MTY-012: Everything Happens for No Reason, released via Anetha’s label, Mama Told Ya.

After a reflective hiatus, the UK prodigy is highly anticipated and ready to deliver meaningful music. The EP features five emotionally charged tracks—four produced by Randomer and one co-produced by Randomer and Anetha. Presented on a single vinyl, the release conveys a deeper message: life’s unpredictability can be embraced, reminding us that we can find our way even in chaos and randomness.

Torn between the meaningful and the meaningless, Randomer channeled his time into crafting music shaped by his extensive study of melodies, subconsciously

seeking to bring harmony to the world. The result is a cathartic journey across five tracks, each evoking a broad spectrum of emotions and inviting listeners to explore the depth of their feelings. Drawing from the music that deeply influenced him, Randomer traverses various genres and moods, seamlessly blending techno, trance, techstep, and sacred choral music in a perpetual act of personal reinvention.

Let the choir sing I Saw the World Melt (A1) right before my eyes, and let the people chant my melancholic melody. Nervous Breakdown. Lost in the riffs with dis ting from London, DHM Jam (A2) fuels me with adrenaline, I’m flying through memories, urged to move on. Yet, I’m still trapped : the clock shows Home Invasion (A3)—better start running. We will survive. But where’s my harmony? I Can’t Believe (B1) it. Why me? Why us? In this trance state of mind, I have so many questions, but those voices on the other side won’t answer. We’re doomed anyway, so why not plug in like the Two Perfect Machines (B2) we are, until the end.

For this new EP, Australian visual artist Nic Hamilton has been commissioned to create a poignant artwork alongside two melting teasers for MTY-012. As always, the design is expertly crafted by Diplomatie Studio, while the mastering is entrusted to Six Bit Deep, ensuring a polished and immersive listening experience.

In addition to the unique musical proposals and the large body of work that they have developed separately, Amelia Cuni and Werner Durand have been performing together as a duo as well as in collaborations (Tonaliens, Born of Six) for more than 20 years. Fusing her Indian Raga singing in the Dhrupad style with his minimalist and experimental approach, they have expanded the reach of their soundworlds as well as proposed new paths for contemporary music.In this occasion, Uli Hohmann joins them in a range of hand drums from the Middle East and North Africa, plus a dulcimer-sounding hammered guitar. Durand's various self-made wind instruments, soprano sax, and blown kalimba shine along with Cuni's astounding vocals, which are sometimes sung through a mirliton (a medieval type of kazoo). Clearing is the trio's first published recording.

Seconds of Thirst, recorded in one session at Uli´s studio in Bavaria in early 2014, is truly a conjuring where distinctive balances come to gather. A deep drone unfolds patiently in a hypnotic manner, comprised by Werner's characteristic PVC clarinets, a hammered guitar played by Hohmann, and subtle electronic tones. Above all, Amelia's singing voice, filtered through the mirliton, drifts buzzing along the gradually shifting harmonic waves, meandering through serpentine melodic lines and microtonality.

In the middle pieces, vocals turn into an ethereal multi-layered chorus, an exotic and astonishing instrument pulsing delicate and vaporously, like a gliding silk sail without a mast to bind it. Misty ambiances linger on as the soft atmosphere disperses the weight of undelivered syllables. Just intonation aligns the pan-ney's winds with vocal navigation. Foe to scattering, hurry, and affectation, Clearing's pace has lifted a fog translucent enough to reveal treetops calmly appearing, efficiently condensing damp into definite drops that fall drumming, forecasting what's yonder.

With a condensing sound going from Buddhist morning chants down to Indian festive traditional music, the title track, which closes the album, is the most vibrant of all, permeating a bit of commotion through buzzing drones and galloping percussion. Without disorder, yet without measure. Clearing is therefore this shuttle into the distance, this space that weaves, unites, and tenses the different cords that we are made up of.

When the clouds advance silently, gray, until they become dark in a few minutes, it means that the monsoon is coming. It reaches us without apparent noise, but then resounds in its images, leaving behind lightness, freshness, clarity, and a tremendous luminosity that comes from so far away: from the Himalayas, from so ancient, from Sanskrit, from a sound where the darkness and the divine, where the concrete and the landscape, where the rock and the humidity leave a mark that brings together and ties a sky loaded with new clouds.

Ben Lukas Boysen’s new album, Alta Ripa, signifies a seismic shift in his artistic journey. It revisits the foundational impulses of his youth, shaped amidst the serene beauty of rural Germany—a bucolic backdrop where his creative palette flourished. However, it was his move to Berlin in the early 2000s that electrified his sound, infusing it with the city’s pulsating energy and diverse cultural influences. Alta Ripa captures this transformative experience, blending the introspective melodies of his rural beginnings with the bold, experimental tones born from Berlin’s vibrant electronic music scene. This album is a testament to Boysen’s evolution, showcasing how geographical shifts can profoundly shape artistic expression.

Boysen’s fourth studio album under his own name, Alta Ripa is a nod to his beginnings as much as a hint to his future, and as a work, it’s almost contradictory in its boldness and humility. He invites the listener on a journey of self-discovery; both for himself and for them, describing the music as “something the 15-year-old in me would have liked to hear but only the grown-up version of myself can write.”

His last two albums involved working closely with other musicians, including cellist Anne Müller, flugelhorn player Steffen Zimmer, and drummer Achim Färber. However, inspired in part by a recent return to live performance, Alta Ripa sees Boysen circling back to his passion for pure computer music.

For Boysen, the return to his youthful musical language marks a major turning point in his career. It represents a departure from his roots in classical music – his mother was an opera singer and his father an actor with an appreciation for Wagner, Arvo Pärt, Keith Jarrett, and Stockhausen. Although these are still important influences, Alta Ripa encapsulates a new, exploratory interplay between Boysen’s careful craft and his ability to let go of some of the process.

The album’s title comes from the original Roman name of the town that Boysen grew up in, Altrip, where he lived until his early twenties. This formative period is central to the ideas behind this album, from Boysen’s parental ‘schooling’ in classical music through to his sonic journeys through drum and bass, Aphex Twin, and Autechre — all of which changed his idea of what music could be. The extreme energy of tracks like ‘Acperience 1’ by Hardfloor, ‘Tracks & Fragment’ by Cari Lekebusch, ‘Focus2 Implan’ by Jiri.Ceiver, and ‘Low On Ice’ by Alec Empire are also pivotal influences.

For Boysen, this time of his musical development also involved knocking down the pillars that he previously thought had carried his world. A key moment for Boysen was being given a precious (pre-internet) club cassette at school that featured artists like Source Direct, Photek and Goldie. Excited by this new discovery, he introduced his father to the song ‘Dred Bass’ by Dead Dred. After the song finished, Boysen Sr. turned off the tape and proclaimed it was “the end of all music”. This heated exchange sparked a new, and more mature dialogue between the two that involved them sharing and discussing music on a regular basis.

Boysen’s classical and jazz music upbringing might not be easily noticeable from the electronic palette that he uses. But it can be found in its bones; the structure of the tracks and their dynamic shifts. On Alta Ripa, he intentionally embraces a spirit of controlled chaos, churning out sonic ideas to see what sticks.

One of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategy cards contains the phrase “gardening, not architecture”, and the trajectory of Boysen’s creative path reflects this metaphor. In much of his previous work he followed a sort of Brutalist architect’s approach; here, he was fully responsible for the tracks’ austere structures and planned them with deliberate care. But by sacrificing some of that control on Alta Ripa, he sets the right conditions for a dark and unpredictable, organic growth. It’s a push forward into a new world.

Indian born, UK artist Michael Diamond, co-founder of Vasuki Sound label and club night, announces new EP Placid Wakefulness, featuring single ‘Reverse Entropy’. available on all platforms 5th December via Vasuki Sound.

A uniquely multifaceted talent, Michael Diamond’s unforgettable ‘jazzed electronic’ sound is informed by a spectrum of influences, not least by intersection of the scientific and practical worlds of electronic music. From the music scholarship he won to read Medicine at Oxford where he quickly discovered new ways in which the two worlds can co-exist, his days were spent immersed in academic studies of music perception and cognition, while his nights were spent alongside the likes of Ben UFO, Batu & Ross From Friends, playing at one of UK’s most long-established nights ‘Simple’. A chance encounter there also led him to connect with musical collaborator Alex Wilson – the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year semi-finalist and then musical director of Oxford’s Jazz Orchestra – who appears frequently across Diamond’s compositions and on Placid Wakefulness.

No stranger to a concept piece, Diamond’s previous project, the highly personal and critically acclaimed exploration of culture and identity, Third Culture (album of the month/year acknowledgments from Stamp The Wax, Juno and Phonica Records, also earning him a DJ Mag ‘One To Watch’, a Youth Music Awards ‘Rising Star’ nomination and a Gilles Peterson’s ‘Future Bubbler’ accolade) explored the experience of being a ‘third culture kid’ born in Kerala, India and growing up in the UK with a sense of fractured identity.

On Placid Wakefulness, Diamond honours his academic research working alongside world-renowned musicologist Professor Eric Clarke. Specifically how music may affect our sleepfulness and wakefulness, how instinctively we are soothed by some sounds and energised by others - ‘what it is about dance music that makes people go hard all night long?’ and ‘what is it about ambient music that makes people feel the opposite way - to lull them into this sense of calmness or rest?’, mindful of the unconscious ways his findings were already manifesting in his work as an artist. And while his research provides a framework for some of the ideas within the piece, Placid Wakefulness can be viewed as more of an unintentional byproduct, or case-in-point of his findings, rather than a piece consciously constructed in their image.

Across Placid Wakefulness’s four tracks we find the artist unpacking a range of sonic ideas on this theme, from ambient calm to club-adjacent rhythms. The EP opens with hypnotic lullaby of ‘A Way of Listening’ complete with transcendent flutes provided by Alex Wilson, cello by George Lloyd-Own and a mellow groove. On the more energised ‘Reverse Entropy’, rhythmic ambiguity moves to rhythmic disambiguation with a four-to-the-floor beat as the track progresses, releasing tension and inviting an urge to dance as a jazz sax moment transmutes into glorious techno percussiveness.

On ‘Turning and Turning’ the bpm shifts down a gear, a sonic dreamstate where tough textural rhythms create a kind of liminal state tension. Closing out the EP we return to a sense of restfulness with the EP’s title track, where a gorgeous picked guitar loop interplays with vibrating ambient pads and a slow and steady beat. The Placid Wakefulness EP is a captivating testament to Diamond’s singular artistic talent and the fascinating interplay of neuroscience and how we experience and enjoy music.

DJ PT is a series dedicated to the minimalistic side of dance music.
Recorded in one take using an MPC and synth, these tracks allow you to get familiar with the sounds while delivering a high dose of machine funk. With no further editing, Dona offers an unfiltered, genuine interaction between himself and his machines—transparent and true to the moment