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If Black Sabbath had been born and bred in an Ohio mobile home and raised on a steady diet of smoke and acid - the result would sound exactly like Mistreater
In 1981 the group independently recorded and released the “Hell’s Fire” album. Today the album is considered a US metal classic and is considered one of the strongest metal albums ever made by metal aficionados - original copies are hard to find and there’s a hefty price tag if you’re lucky enough to find a copy for sale. Mistreater are from Creston (population 2000) and were far outside everything and everybody associated with the “hip” music scene in Ohio. Mistreater either didn’t know or care about the scene in nearby Cleveland where bands like proto-punk rockers Electric Eels, Rocket From The Tombs and Styrenes made waves. Pere Ubu and Dead Boys sprang from these roots. The Pagans ruled the Cleveland area during the punk days. Earlier, The Choir, Raspberries and The James Gang were pivotal Cleveland bands. As local audiences were receptive, the city was a major stop-off for touring bands. Similarly, radio station WMMS also had open ears. Nowadays, The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame is located in Cleveland. It goes on – Cleveland and its surroundings were happening. Mistreater was into none of this… Their music was by outsiders for outsiders. More brutal, raw and louder than everyone else. Rough-edged and without gloss, the Mistreater of Hell’s Fire was not aiming for the mainstream. The riffs are stoner hard knock-outs and the guitar leads are psyched out punches rooted in heavy psychedelia. Sweden’s On The Dole Records are proud to present the first ever reissue of “Hell’s Fire”. And in true OTD fashion no expenses were saved. The band was interviewed for the extensive liner notes, rare photos were found, the sound is remastered and carefully restored, and the non album single b-side “Baby Blue” is added as a bonus. This is a US metal / D.I.Y masterpiece that should be heard by everyone into hard, loud music and massive guitar riffs. It’s like Greg Sage of The Wipers had gone metal. It would have been the ultimate soundtrack to Tim Hunter’s “River’s Edge” movie with Dennis Hopper. Mistreater were young and had no contacts or knew ways to reach out with their music back then… Now the time has come for the resurrection of Mistreater. Mistreater is not in the nearby Rock’n’roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland. But they should be. This OTD reissue goes to prove it.

Quietschbunte Indie-Pop-Tunes Nachdem das letzte Tune-Yards-Album "I can feel you creep into my private life" 2018 auf 12 Songs Themen wie Geschlechterteilung, Politik, Feminismus und die nach wie vor um sich greifende Umweltverschmutzung behandelte, hinterfragen sich Merrill Garbus und ihr langjähriger Mitstreiter Nate Brenner auf dem fünften Studioalbum "sketchy." selbst. "We had really been non-stop hustling," reflektiert Merrill, die zwischen 2009 und 2018 vier hoch gelobte Alben als Tune-Yards veröffentlicht hat, durchgängig auf Tour war und zusätzlich noch den Score zum surrealistischen Boots Riley-Film "Sorry To Bother You" kreierte. Ihre eigene Rolle in den von ihr so verhassten, eingefahrenen Systemen, lähmte Merrill, ohne Idee, wie sie nun weitermachen sollte. Inspiriert vom Buch der Beastie Boys und von Questloves "Creative Quest" machte sich das Duo daran täglich für mehrere Stunden in ihrem Proberaum zu jammen, um sich ähnlich wie Athleten vor einem Wettkampf zu trainieren. Dabei tauschten sie Computer-Samples gegen Live-Instrumente ein (Merrill an den Drums, Nate am Bass) und schon nach kurzer Zeit entstanden die ersten neuen Songs. Das Ergebnis ist ein farbenfrohes und fröhliches Album mit Lyrics, die es in sich haben.

This was the ardent wish of thousands of fans calling out to Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble during the PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR - and their dream has come true! With the upcoming album, simply titled HELLOWEEN, the band opens a new chapter after 35 years of a glorious career. The future of one of the most influential German metal bands from now on will feature three singers. Originally planned for the live performances only, it was the birth of a unique seven piece metal alliance.

Dani Löble: ”This record is the coronation of the PUMPKINS UNITED journey! Still today I am fascinated by the different character traits and facets of the HELLOWEEN history. As an example I’d like to point out the legendary voices of Michi, Andi and Kai. To enjoy them now together on one record, under one flag is the ultimate HELLOWEEN experience”. It is therefore not surprising that the pre-release single SKYFALL, a 12 minute epos written by Kai Hansen, has the long yearned “Keeper-vibe” - even if the long player can by no means be limited to it. SKYFALL implies the musical arch which will be loved by fans of every era. This first album of a new age is taking the fans from unforgettable memories of the fifteen studio records and four live CD’s to new adventures. SKYFALL begins with a bang. The epic track describes an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase while Kiske, Deris and Hansen duel with each other in a breathtaking manner and create a vocal broadband adventure. Produced by Martin Häusler, it is the most elaborate video clip in the history of the band; shown with 3-D animation and having a cinematic look, this video is a real high-end experience.

”FEAR OF THE FALLEN” – the second single is a fast paced, melodic track done the way only Deris can do it. ”I had so much fun not only writing a song for my voice but also for one of the greatest singers out there. I always have an extremely broad smile on my face when I hear Michi singing my melodies“, says Deris and Kiske adds: ”The whole process, including the spirit, was just ideal. If I had the feeling that one of the parts would not be really fitting, I asked Andi if he would sing it and vice versa. There was no competition whatsoever – what counted was what is best for the respective song. I am thankful to be (again) a part of this crazy family. I love them all”. Along with massive album tracks such as HELLOWEEN classic and album opener “OUT FOR THE GLORY“, the epic “DOWN IN THE DUMPS”, both written by Weikath, the power metal shouter “MASS POLLUTION“ by Deris and Grosskopf’s scuff proof rocker “INDESTRUCTIBLE“ (which could be an analogy towards the unbreakable career of the band), the album release is flanked by the ‘party-track‘ of the record, “BEST TIME“. Lyrically the song by Sascha Gerstner reminds of the good old days, musically it´s convincing with confident HELLOWEEN style guitar harmonies and a chorus that stays in your long-term memory after hearing it for the first time.

“HELLOWEEN“ offers a complete metal universe within 12 songs. The base of this milestone album was already erected in the studio: using the original drum kit of Ingo Schwichtenberg, the recording was done with the same modulators at the Hamburg HOME studios where back then ”Master Of The Rings“, ”The Time Of The Oath“ and ”Better Than Raw“ were recorded. Completely analog and under the eyes of long term producer Charlie Bauerfeind and co-producer Dennis Ward, the UNITED impact travelled to New York and got the final mix in the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Rammstein).

Returnee Kai Hansen reflects: ”Being in the studio with my old companions after 30 years was very emotional for me. But at the same time it was a completely different experience with the ‘new‘ boys. The collaboration of different songwriters and strong characters made the album very special: a unique mix with reminiscences from all chapters of the band’s history. HELLOWEEN is a big part of my life and I am looking forward to celebrating the songs live for and with our fans“! From another perspective Markus Grosskopf agrees: ”For me, being one of the last “survivors” who played every note from the beginning, it was a fantastic experience and a very emotional process. I think everyone can hear it on this album. I love it“. When it came to capturing the larger-than-life emotions in the artwork, it quickly became clear that it was only possible as a handmade painting on which the important topics of the band's history are processed. The work of Berlin based artist Eliran Kantor has achieved this and visually underscores the fact that the band cherishes all parts of their history. With all this brand new material an album has been created, an album that is set apart from the digital mainstream and showing the essence of the band was never more solid. This is the beginning of something big – here comes HELLOWEEN!

This was the ardent wish of thousands of fans calling out to Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble during the PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR - and their dream has come true! With the upcoming album, simply titled HELLOWEEN, the band opens a new chapter after 35 years of a glorious career. The future of one of the most influential German metal bands from now on will feature three singers. Originally planned for the live performances only, it was the birth of a unique seven piece metal alliance.

Dani Löble: ”This record is the coronation of the PUMPKINS UNITED journey! Still today I am fascinated by the different character traits and facets of the HELLOWEEN history. As an example I’d like to point out the legendary voices of Michi, Andi and Kai. To enjoy them now together on one record, under one flag is the ultimate HELLOWEEN experience”. It is therefore not surprising that the pre-release single SKYFALL, a 12 minute epos written by Kai Hansen, has the long yearned “Keeper-vibe” - even if the long player can by no means be limited to it. SKYFALL implies the musical arch which will be loved by fans of every era. This first album of a new age is taking the fans from unforgettable memories of the fifteen studio records and four live CD’s to new adventures. SKYFALL begins with a bang. The epic track describes an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase while Kiske, Deris and Hansen duel with each other in a breathtaking manner and create a vocal broadband adventure. Produced by Martin Häusler, it is the most elaborate video clip in the history of the band; shown with 3-D animation and having a cinematic look, this video is a real high-end experience.

”FEAR OF THE FALLEN” – the second single is a fast paced, melodic track done the way only Deris can do it. ”I had so much fun not only writing a song for my voice but also for one of the greatest singers out there. I always have an extremely broad smile on my face when I hear Michi singing my melodies“, says Deris and Kiske adds: ”The whole process, including the spirit, was just ideal. If I had the feeling that one of the parts would not be really fitting, I asked Andi if he would sing it and vice versa. There was no competition whatsoever – what counted was what is best for the respective song. I am thankful to be (again) a part of this crazy family. I love them all”. Along with massive album tracks such as HELLOWEEN classic and album opener “OUT FOR THE GLORY“, the epic “DOWN IN THE DUMPS”, both written by Weikath, the power metal shouter “MASS POLLUTION“ by Deris and Grosskopf’s scuff proof rocker “INDESTRUCTIBLE“ (which could be an analogy towards the unbreakable career of the band), the album release is flanked by the ‘party-track‘ of the record, “BEST TIME“. Lyrically the song by Sascha Gerstner reminds of the good old days, musically it´s convincing with confident HELLOWEEN style guitar harmonies and a chorus that stays in your long-term memory after hearing it for the first time.

“HELLOWEEN“ offers a complete metal universe within 12 songs. The base of this milestone album was already erected in the studio: using the original drum kit of Ingo Schwichtenberg, the recording was done with the same modulators at the Hamburg HOME studios where back then ”Master Of The Rings“, ”The Time Of The Oath“ and ”Better Than Raw“ were recorded. Completely analog and under the eyes of long term producer Charlie Bauerfeind and co-producer Dennis Ward, the UNITED impact travelled to New York and got the final mix in the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Rammstein).

Returnee Kai Hansen reflects: ”Being in the studio with my old companions after 30 years was very emotional for me. But at the same time it was a completely different experience with the ‘new‘ boys. The collaboration of different songwriters and strong characters made the album very special: a unique mix with reminiscences from all chapters of the band’s history. HELLOWEEN is a big part of my life and I am looking forward to celebrating the songs live for and with our fans“! From another perspective Markus Grosskopf agrees: ”For me, being one of the last “survivors” who played every note from the beginning, it was a fantastic experience and a very emotional process. I think everyone can hear it on this album. I love it“. When it came to capturing the larger-than-life emotions in the artwork, it quickly became clear that it was only possible as a handmade painting on which the important topics of the band's history are processed. The work of Berlin based artist Eliran Kantor has achieved this and visually underscores the fact that the band cherishes all parts of their history. With all this brand new material an album has been created, an album that is set apart from the digital mainstream and showing the essence of the band was never more solid. This is the beginning of something big – here comes HELLOWEEN!

Following a limited 7” vinyl release of SunPalace edits in 2020, BBE Music finally delivers the full-length versions of Moodymann and Kenny Dope’s ‘Rude Movements’ remixes, alongside brand new interpretations by François K, Frankie Feliciano and OPOLOPO, plus a special edit by Phil Asher.
François Kevorkian needs no introduction to fans of House and electronic music. Featuring keys by Eric Kupper, his ‘SATS Dub’ and ‘TradMix’ versions of ‘Rude Movements’ are simply classic works, summoning House music’s golden era forward in time, to the here and now.
Bonus spaced-out ‘Flerken Space Bubbles’ and beat-less ‘Atmosphere’ revisions are also included in the digital version: both invaluable tools for DJs. Ricanstruction label founder and
long-time champion of the good groove, Frankie Feliciano delivers a slick and faithful update of ‘Rude Movements’, with a slight Latin soul twist. Swedish mix-king OPOLOPO turns in a typically live-sounding, funky and dancefloor-ready jam (ready whenever the dancefloor is,
anyway) The full, extended version of Moodymann’s remix retains the original ‘jammed’ feel of Rude Movements, adding stellar flute, sax and piano solos to that hypnotic vibe. Kenny Dope’s Afro-Latin inspired ‘Dancefloor Powder’ version is joined this time by a rough’n’ready, street tough ‘O'Gutta’ mix; calling all b-boys and b-girls! For the expanded digital package, we are also including a special edit by our sorely missed brother Phil Asher, created for his
own DJ sets and now available to all.
Made famous by David Mancuso at his New York Loft Parties, ‘Rude Movements’ was an obscure Brit-funk b-side recorded in the home studio of Mike Collins. The track’s unique sound, coupled with pristine sonics and production values caught the audiophile ears of
Mancuso, and the rest is history. Soon the track found its way into the hands of Loft Party denizens Larry Levan, Nicky Siano, Frankie Knuckles and Danny Krivit and continues to influence House and electronic producers through to this day.

On May 28th , 2021, Surfdog Records will release Brian Setzer - Rockabilly Riot! Volume One - A Tribute To Sun Records on vinyl again! Out of print since 2005, this record sees Brian Setzer paying tribute to one of the greatest rockabilly labels ever, the one that arguably started it all: Sun Records.

"Why should I record a tribute to Sun Records? And at that, narrowing in on only their rockabilly years... a narrow time frame between roughly 1954 through early 1957. For that matter, what the heck is rockabilly anyway? Sure, all of us greaser, guitar slingin' hep-cats know, but (for the most part) the general population has never even heard the word. Rockabilly, the musical bastard of rhythm and blues, hillbilly, country, gospel, and maybe even a little jazz sung by wild-eyed southern white boys with too much time and too little money just lookin' for trouble. After doing much homework, I have selected 23 of what I consider Sun Records' best recordings. Some I’m sure you know (at least I hope so) and some are very obscure gems." - Brian Setzer

New Pagans create music that's not only vivid and engaging but also home to massive riffs and rare dynamics. The bands audible influences range from PJ Harvey to Sonic Youth while lyrically the band deliver protest songs, songs about women, songs about mothers and songs about conversations overheard on Belfast's public transport systems. Their live shows are also something to behold and have just been the recipients of the best live act at The Northern Island Music Prize 2020. Music is the focus and an important vehicle for the healthy message the band promotes. New Pagans is a proud advocate for women’s rights, visibility and inclusion in the global music industry – an industry dogged with a history of stark gender inequality. The arts community and media have responded to the bands refreshing social and historical lyrical stance which includes protest songs, songs of suffrage and an ode to Lily Yeats, the often overlooked sister of Jack and William B and a key mover in the world of Irish arts and crafts back in the day along with her younger sister, Elizabeth. New Pagans have headlined events as part of Women’s Work and Lyndsey McDougall has proudly embraced the demands of live performance and recording whilst pregnant twice!. The band are committed to promoting honest inclusion, demonstrating the female force and showing that you can be born as or identify as female, raise a family and have your place as a career musician. Young women, young mothers see Lyndsey as a symbol of strength and hope in her fearless and forthright attitude to motherhood whilst fronting a band. A lot of young mothers feel the need to hide that aspect of their personal life for fear of how people may perceive it as a limit in achieving creative breakthroughs. New Pagans are that breakthrough, a visible work in motion

Cool Ghouls - a band fledged in San Francisco on house shows, minimum wage jobs, BBQ's in Golden Gate Park and the romance of a city’s psychedelic history turns 10 this year. What better a decennial celebration than the release of their fourth album, At George's Zoo!

How did San Francisco's fab four arrive at George's Zoo? The teenage friendship of complimentary spirits Pat McDonald (Guitar/Vox) and Pat Thomas (Bass/Vox) serves as square one. The Patricks were munching on Eggo-waffle-sandwiches and downing warm vokda in suburban Benicia (San Francisco bay) years before McDonald would hear George Clinton address his fans as "Cool Ghouls". The boys played their debut gig as Cool Ghouls at San Francisco's legendary The Stud in 2011, but there's no doubt the musical moment cementing the band's trajectory was much earlier at the 18th birthday party for boy-wonder Ryan Wong (Guitar/Vox) - at the Wong household.

You might remember the Ghouls' earliest days... McDonald’s hair hung luxuriously past his waist, Thomas dreamt of no longer having to crash on friends' couches to call SF home and Wong looked forward to turning 21. Cool Ghouls' Pete Best, Cody Voorhees, thrashed wildly – but briefly - on the drums and Alex Fleshman (Drums), who still claims he's not really "a drummer", turned out to be a really good drummer. Thomas would sleep pee on tour. Those were golden days!

Flash forward to today and everything is up in flames. No shows, parties or bars. Cool people are streaming out of SF. It's been 2 years since the last time Cool Ghouls have even played. The STUD is gone, The Eagle Tavern is for sale and The Hemlock has been demolished for condos. Your boss is an app. Fascism is no-knocking down the door. There's a pandemic.

Fortunately for us, the Ghouls got an album in before it all went to shit, and they made it count. At George's Zoo includes 15 of the 27 tunes they managed to eke out while simultaneously working through major life moves. It was a 5-month, all out, final sprint down the homestretch (to Ryan's moving day) with affable engineer Robby Joseph, at his makeshift garage studio in the Outer Sunset (pictured on the cover). Instead of recording the entire album over a few consecutive days - like they'd done with Tim Cohen, Sonny Smith and Kelley Stoltz for the first three LPs - the band took it slow by working through a few songs each weekend after rehearsing them the week before. Robby would cue up the tape, McDonald would throw some steaks on the grill and they'd get to work - much to the neighbor, George's, chagrin.

These guys have a real commitment to elevating as songwriters, musicians and ensemble players. It's always been for the music with Cool Ghouls and this long-awaited self-produced outing is a track by track display of the ground they've covered and heights they can achieve. Their vocals and trademark harmonies are front and center and out-of-control-good. Ryan's guitar solos are incredible. The horns by Danny Brown (sax) and Andrew Stephens (trumpet) hit in all the right places. Maestro, Henry Baker (Pat Thomas Band / Tino Drima), plays keys throughout. There's even a mesmerizing string section ("Land Song") by sonic polyglot, Dylan Edrich.

None of this growth is to the detriment of the fun, natural, feeling that fans have come to expect from the band. This is a fully realized Cool Ghouls album. It paints a remarkable portrait of SF's homegrown heroes and the many corners they've explored over the last decade. The songwriting, harmony and playing are nothing if not solid. The lyrics are keen. Robby's recording and mixing sound great start to finish and even better after mastering by Mikey Young. It's a triumphant addition to their catalogue. Recommended for Stooges and Beach Boys fans alike. Listen and see!

Yes, many things have changed since 2011. Who knows what the 20's will have in store for life on Earth, let alone the Cool Ghouls? We at least know that 2021 has At George's Zoo for us, a beautiful keepsake from the Before Times when we used to stand in living rooms together while bands played.

As Dense & Pika, Alex Jones and Chris Spero have garnered an enviable reputation for making devastating club ordnance that finds the sweet spot between dark, mysterious house and roaring, brawny techno. With over a decade of material under their belt, Jones and Spero are set to release their first studio length debut album, ‘Colour Burn’ via London major imprint BMG on 4th December, home to the likes of Leftfield, The Prodigy, Holy Ghost and Faithless.

‘Colour Burn’ is a 13-track composition crossing through downtempo house and electronica, built as a conceptual sonic representation of the pair’s live audio and visual set up. The album is a step away from harder and faster material and a move towards a more leftfield sonic trajectory, featuring a handful of impressive heavyweight features of Jones & Spero’s musical heroes who have informed the Dense & Pika output.

Released today, album moment ‘Honey’ features the master of sensual, slow-burn techno, Matthew Dear whose contribution to ‘Honey’ arrives in vocal form – a breathy, brooding ensemble of spoken word that glues perfectly with the duo’s trademark rough and textured sound palette. It helps turn what Alex calls “a headsy, dusty piece of housey tech” into something sensual and otherworldly.

Dark and smouldering, it seems to the suck the air out of the room like a tightly packed subterranean dancefloor deep in the throes of night. Glitched out percussion and fizzling hi-hats feel caustic against the track’s low-end frequencies. The thumping bassline and kick drum combination delivers punch and pressure to the mix in a true Dense & Pika format. Matthew’s sauntering vocal contribution guides the track into a deep and hypnotic groove well equipped for any late-night excursion. “The boys sent over a lengthy jam, but there was that simple loop that stood out and had me hooked. I put it on repeat and let the mind and pen wander. It’s a bit of cosmic abandonment, brazenly sung by a professional of the night.” Matthew Dear

Elsewhere on the LP, standout track ‘Hidden’ features the drums of Sepultura’s legendary metal icon Igor Cavalera resulting in a fabulous frenzy of percussion and driving rhythm. The equally momentous and unforgettable ‘Control’ features the heavily robotic vocoder of Leftfield’s Neil Barnes aiding and abetting in its quest to be a high-octane, twisted rave jam.

The impressive features on ‘Colour Burn’ are an insight into the hugely artistic and visionary A&R skills of Alex and Chris and the start of a new chapter for Dense & Pika kicking off with the long-awaited release of their first studio length album.

The self-titled, full-length debut from Bones Owens is a selection of songs both gloriously gritty and undeniably euphoric. In a bold departure from the moody Americana of his acclaimed EPs Hurt No One and Make Me No King, the Missouri-bred musician’s first release with Thirty Tigers delivers a powerful sound deeply inspired by ’60s garage-rock, Hill Country blues, and the swampy roots-rock of bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival (“the first record I remember stealing from my dad when I was ten and just starting to play guitar,” according to Owens). A potent showcase for his formidable guitar work—a talent he’s displayed in performing with artists as eclectic as Yelawolf and Mikky Ekko— Bones Owens arrives as a full-tilt expression of Owens’ wildest impulses, all swinging rhythms, and swaggering riffs. Featuring heavily playlisted hits like “White Lines” and “Keep It Close,” Bones Owens came to life at The Smoakstack in Owens’ adopted hometown of Nashville. With production from studio owner Paul Moak—a five-time Grammy Award nominee who’s also worked with Joy Williams, Marc Broussard, and The Blind Boys of Alabama. “This album really came from opening for some good people over the last few years, from feeding off that energy from the crowd and wanting to write more songs that would feel exciting to play live,” says Owens, who’s recently toured with Reignwolf and Whiskey Myers. “It felt like the right approach to keep the production simple and record everything to tape - I think it creates a good type of nervousness that brings out the best in everyone. Nobody wants to be the one to mess up the take. Besides, all my favorite records were made that way. You can’t fake that sound.”

The Radio 2 Top 2000 is the largest annual radio event in The Netherlands. The audience of Radio gets to vote for their favorite all-time songs. These literally millions of votes come together in the Top 2000. All these 2000 songs are broadcasted back to back from Christmas until a few minutes before New Years Eve, when they air the No.1 of the chart.

Top 2000 - The 60’s contains the best hits from the century in which the music industry saw its biggest change. It were the years some of the biggest bands in the history of music rose to fame, like The Beach Boys, The Kinks, The Who, and Fleetwood Mac. Rock, pop, funk, soul and psychedelia all stand side by side on this release, with artists like James Brown, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Etta James, Elvis Presley, and Dusty Springfield. These artists and many more you’ll find on this wonderful 2LP.

The Top 2000 bridges the gaps between all musical generation from the Sixties to the present, making it the most eclectic chart out there, and keeping more that half of the country glued to their radio day and night for the whole week it’s broadcasted. And with a daily tv spin-off during its broadcast, it has reached an even bigger audience.

Top 2000 - The 60’s is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on yellow vinyl. The package includes an insert.

Leroy Smart the self-proclaimed ‘Don’, carries much respect in the Jamaican musical community. His attacking vocal style gives his lyrics and tunes that extra meaningfulness.

Born in Jamaica and orphaned as a young child, Leroy was sent to Maxfield Park children's home and educated at the famed Alpha Boys School. The school was run by nuns who encouraged musical talent and would provide the world with the cream of Jamaica’s artistic talent. Such legends as Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Johnny’ Dizzy’ Moore, to name but a few, all learnt their musical trade in this strict environment.

Leroy worked with many Jamaican producers, but seemed to find his feet working with Bunny ’Striker’ Lee. With whom he cut many of his greatest tunes. It is from this period that we have compiled this album. Featuring lost to now dubs to many of his classic tunes, like ' Wreck up my Life’, featured here as ’Dub Wrecker’. ’God Helps the Man’ Help yourself to Dub, Pride and Ambition If I should Dub. Fittest of the Fittest Dub for the Fittest and the title track of this selection his self-affirming Mr Smart Mr Smart in Dub.

These work alongside less known cuts that he also puts his musical stamp on .’No Love’ No Love In Dub. which sees him working over the ‘Zion Gate’ rhythm, made famous by Mr Horace Andy. The ‘My Conversation’ rhythm originally cut by Slim Smith but made into Leroy’s own ‘Jah Jah Forgive them’ For They Know What They Dub. All portrayed in his enviable style.

Such was Mr Leroy Smart’s stature in his homeland Jamaica, that when the ‘One Love’ peace concert line-up was put together for the 22nd of April 1978. The best of Jamaica’s Reggae stars was picked to play alongside Bob Marley & the Wailers. Such greats as Dennis Brown, The Mighty Diamonds, Peter Tosh and Inner Circle were chosen alongside the Don himself, Mr Smart. Whose stage shows were always colourful and to say the least eventful..

Mr Smart has continued to release music during the 80’s & 90’s, most notably with ‘She Just a Draw Card’ & ‘I’m the Don’. But as a set we feel this stands up with the best of them. Hope you enjoy the ride...

Respect Jah Floyd.

"Omne trium perfectum" is an ancient Latin phrase suggesting everything that comes in threes is perfect, or, every set of three is complete. And in this case, it certainly rings true as the third single from The Allergies' third album 'Steal The Show' is pure musical gold…

Mixing it up amongst international hip-hop big guns - ASM the boys get the floor moving with 'When The Heat Comes Down'. The ASM crew have been doing hip hop right for over 10 years and have collaborated with some giants of the music world including Bonobo, Wax Tailor and DOOM.

Bombastic and always strutting, the track is built around a bouncing guitar riff and classic funk horn stabs - the perfect home for some upbeat party raps from Green T and Funk E Poet. We're inclined to agree - when the heat comes down they're definitely coolin'…

Honey LaRochelle is a 'Big Bad Woman' and she'll eat you alive. And that's exactly what she threatens to do in the track of the same name… It's a hand clapping, foot stomping, 12-bar fiesta on a jazzy piano rhythm and blues tip. Yes Ray Charles himself would be happy with this one and as an added bonus The Allergies use the instrumental gaps to showcase their skills on the decks.

It was a busy 2019 for Asian Dub Foundation with the long-awaited reissue of their Mercury Prize-nominated 1998 classic Rafi’s Revenge. The reissue garnered ecstatic reviews, all of which agreed that the sound and the message that ADF threw down in 1998 is as relevant now as it was then-perhaps even more so. So it’s timely that in 2020 the band are set to release their 9th album “Access Denied” which finds them as uncompromising as ever. The album showcases ADF in full spectrum mode from the tough Jungle Punk sound of “Stealing The Future” and “Mind-lock” through to the orchestral meditation of “Realignment” and the reggae lament of the title track.

With guestspots from Greta Thunberg, incendiary Palestinian shamstep warriors 47 Soul, Chilean revolt’s rap main figure Ana Tijoux and radical UK comedian Stewart Lee, Asian Dub Foundation continue their sonic opposition to the powers that be and “Access Denied” kicks harder and higher than ever.

Asian Dub Foundation are a genre unto themselves. Their unique combination of tough jungle rhythms, dub bass lines and wild guitar overlaid by references to their South Asian roots and militant high-speed rap has established them as one of the best live bands in the world. During their long and productive career Asian Dub Foundation have shared the stage with the likes of Rage Against The Machine, the Beastie Boys and Primal Scream also collaborating on record with the likes of Radiohead, Sinead O’ Connor, Iggy Pop and Chuck D.
The story began in the early 90’s when ADF formed from a music workshop in East London at the institution which is their spiritual home, Community Music. Their unique beginnings in a music workshop in east London marked out both their sound and their wider educational aspirations, as showed by their early involvements with Roma Youth in Budapest, hooking up with the leg-endary Afro Reggae in the favelas of Rio, and setting up their own education organisation ADF Education (ADFED), not to mention their campaigns on behalf of those suffering miscarriages of justice. Building a solid live reputation in the mid-90’s, particularly in France, they eventually es-tablished themselves as an important worldwide force and particularly as an explosive alterna-tive to the backward-looking obsession with Britpop in the UK.
In addition to their blistering live reputation ADF were one of the first bands to experiment with the now more commonplace live film re-score, beginning with their rapturously-received interpre-tation of the French classic La Haine back in in 2001. They’ve continued to perform said project or nearly two decades, taking in David Bowie’s Meltdown at London’s South Bank and a contro-versial show at the Broadwater Farm Estate, scene of the events that led to the London Riots of 2011.They’ve also rescored George Lucas’ debut THX 1138 (with encouragement from Mr. Lu-cas himself) and they’ve recently revived their explosive live interpretation to the continually rele-vant Battle of Algiers at the Museum of Immigration in Paris.

Freda Payne is the high class soul hit maker who brought us the blockbuster track ‘Band Of Gold’. This album is the follow-up to the huge success of ‘Band of Gold’ and her second album for Invictus/Hotwax Records, for the legendary Holland- Dozier- Hollands then newly launched record label after they left Mowtown.

Seen as a pinnacle in 70's production style by the legendary producers, highlights include the anti-war protest song ‘Bring The Boys Home’ and the singles ‘Cherish What Is Dear to You (While It’s Near to You)’, ‘You Brought the Joy’ and ‘ The Road We Didn’t Take’. 1971 album is reissued on 140g classic black vinyl with original artwork and printed inner sleeve.

Wah Wah 45's are proud to present "Cages", the third album from southern soul boys The Milk. Having released "Favourite Worry", their critically acclaimed sophomore album and first for independent label Wah Wah 45's, in 2015, the band are able to trace the seeds of the latest LP back to their recording sessions with producer Paul Butler (Andrew Bird, Michael Kiwanuka, Nick Waterhouse) almost five years ago, blending elements of soul, funk and rock together to create their own unique sound, inspired by some of their favourite artists such as Bill Withers, Traffic and the Isley Brothers.

"I can't wait to hear you write songs that look outward" - these words from Paul subconsciously had a lasting impression on the band. To atone for more inward-looking sentiments on "Favourite Worry", there had to be a shift in perspective. During the formative stages of the new album The Milk started pursuing a Nichiren Buddhist practice. The values and principles they discovered during this have informed every aspect of the record.

"We wanted to write an album that looked outside of the walls, to people, society and the environment - embracing real freedom in musical expression by utilising more complex rhythmic structures, extended harmony and dissonance to paint an original and authentic-sounding record" explains If their debut, "Tales from the Thames Delta", was inspired by hedonism and "Favourite Worry" by introspection, "Cages" is an impassioned conversation with the world. Racism and division are all on the rise. British society is being pulled apart by forces that seek to divide us and rip the compassion and empathy from our minds and hearts. We have become distracted from the more urgent challenges of boundless consumerism, climate change, and the mental health emergency reeking havoc on our streets.

We are the birds in the cage, tied by cheap thrills and fake news to a limited world vision that is no longer fit for purpose. The good news? We can all choose to challenge this view. "Cages" is equal parts the dark black shadow of how far we've fallen and the blazing sunlight whose rays of hope can still change the world. Four life-long friends, Ricky Nunn (vocals), Mitch Ayling (drums) Luke Ayling (bass) and Dan Le Gresley (guitar) formed their first band when they were still at school in Essex, playing countless working men's clubs, and finally became The Milk.

The band have built up a following of dedicated fans around the UK, which has resulted in them selling out venues such as Scala, Koko and Shepherds Bush Empire. Keen to get back on the road where they feel most at home and where the guys really shine, the band offer up a compelling set of diverse styles, matched with an ability to effortlessly intertwine songs together, gives their music a continuous feel to it. Since signing to Wah Wah 45's, the band released their second album "Favourite Worry", which became one of BBC 6 Music's albums of the year, sold out London's Union Chapel, toured with the Fun Lovin' Criminals and completed a sell-out UK tour climaxing at London's KOKO in Camden town. ... More live dates coming very soon!

The DJs Pareja have been flagging they’re a DJ duo in love long before the recent trend. ‘Pareja’ literally translates as ‘couple’, and that is just how Diego and Mariano do life; in tandem. It may not seem so radical these days, but the Pareja’s have been unapologetically queer trailblazers in their hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina - throwing raves and putting out pop dance records for decades. It took us years to get these boys to come play for us in San Francisco, but when they finally did, minutes off the plane we were hugging and shedding a little tear in front of the Castro theatre sign. I always knew that one day we would get them on the label, and this EP is a product of how far this new gay techno underground has come. So it is with great pleasure we present 4 tracks produced south of the Equator, mixed for the gods, with some signature vocals and some sounds we’ve never heard from these Argy boys sleeping in a Queen bed.

A1: Madness blasts through the front door, armed with obscure effects and a gnarly acidic bassline. Severe Chicago percussion massacre in the middle, followed by a soothing synth finale. Cum on, you know that’s how Dj RFR does!

A2: Munich mesmerizers Rhode & Brown at their best sonic behaviour. May we call this acid trance wave?
Sure, ‘cos Boys Do Cry.

B1: Born in Romania, raised in London, now Munich’s her home. Oana Leca delivers a fusion of two of her most beloved styles- Minimal House vibes in a blue shimmering Detroit coat.

B2: No-holds-barred for Nik Wookward. The long time Munich affiliated producer drops a sneaky brain intruder. Minimal Deep House with a psychedelic twist, just what we like. So please don’t latch the club gate before…forever.

Mount Liberation Unlimited are Tom and Niklas, two Swedes from space who have spent the last 5 years

carving out a particularly vivid niche in contemporary electronic music. Their previous work has seen them

connect with an impressive list of global dance powerhouses: New York's Beats In Space, Melbourne's

Superconscious and Munich's Permanent Vacation have all released 12'' heat from the duo, while their

hometown buddies at Studio Barnhus provided an outlet for what has been perhaps their biggest and boldest

release yet, 2017's double smash single Double Dance Lover. Their live shows are fervent, fast-paced and very

multi-instrumental affairs, performed non-stop at an increasingly prestigious list of clubs and festivals, serving

as prime examples of the MLU boys' core obsession: the interaction of human rhythm and electronic pulse.

They have their own great little radio show on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide FM! Australia loves them! They

got their artist friend Tom-Hadar Elde to sculpt their heads for their debut album cover!

That self-titled debut, to be released May 31 on Studio Barnhus, has been in progress since the very formation

of the MLU project in 2014. It contains some of their earliest work and of course their very latest – all perfected

at the Neve desk of legendary Gothenburg studio Svenska Grammofonstudion, in cahoots with mix engineer

Christoffer Berg (Depeche Mode, Robyn, Fever Ray).

The result is a sonically fascinating, endlessly generous and straight up FUN record that takes the listener on a

joyride through bittersweet stoner disco, frenzied scando-kraut jams and some of the sweetest dance pop to

come out of Sweden this side of Super Trouper.

The record is preceded by a limited 10'' release of album track Climb Me Up, complete with an exclusive club

mix of the song.

Unshrouded in mystery: what once started as an anonymous underground project with stamped white labels and a clever take on sampling, has since then unfolded to be one of the longest-running and most successful teams in current dance music. Nurtured by the sounds of the past and blessed with the techniques of today, the music of Tiger & Woods always kept evolving in and around the tropes of disco, house and boogie. Classic dance music, if you will.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary this year, Marco Passarani and Valerio Delphi managed to arrive at album number three. A.O.D. is a pun on A.O.R. (adult oriented rock) and a play on their own sound. Defying the restricting rules electronic music record shop crates, it's a departure and an arrival at the same time. Inspired by the faded buildings and images of discotheques on the Italian countryside, the romantic start and bittersweet endings of summer, beach life and the excitement of travelling through the landscape to get to aforementioned temples of dance and subsequently the morning after.

Except for the 100% sample-free 1:00 am, everything on A.O.D. is based on a quiver of cleared samples from the Roman institution that is Claudio Donato and his Full Time and Goodymusic emporium. In Tiger & Woods hometown Rome, the often very electronic and futuristic sound of Italo Disco had a different twist. Much more boogie-based and influenced by the song-writing styles of New York City's dance scene, it played in a league of its own. Tiger & Woods use these materials to take them apart, out of context and into contrasting areas. Molding something completely new, one gets fooled to recognize Sade songs that aren't, pop music instrumentals and a reprise of memories that never existed. A ride through ones brain in a convertible with an Italian FM radio station playing in the background. Or to use less stiff poetry: a chill out album you can dance to or a dance album you can chill out to. Adult Oriented Dance.

Franck Roger is back on his imprint Home Ivasion label for a new season with some dope upcoming
House stuff and a brand new record design aswell MOGOLDINO
We keep it funky here with that disco housey drums and stab samples filled with some dope vocal hooks. The track is all about funkyness and happiness here under the sun wich reminds me some good warehosue partys on the west coast. We are good for a real trip on this Mogoldino track :-)= SAN DIEGOFranck is taking us to a dubby - house trip kinda very trippy at the same time wich reminds us some of the old Idjut Boys in the drums and sound designs mixed with this typical West Coast sound from the 90's. The track is a fully rushed bomb for the floor wich has to be played very lood on a heavy sub system.

Lehult 015 serves you class-A Liem & Eddie Ness faux-bangers, neatly packed in a four-tracker on home ground. Crazy groovers from start to finish that have their feet firmly rooted on the dancefloor, lined with the boys' trademark hazy, slightly detached vibe. Liem & Eddie Ness have sunken into a natural groove, and all we want to do is relax and let it flow through us.

When Dunham Records/Daptone producer and musician Thomas Brenneck first heard the close family harmonies of the Sha La Das he had a revelation; he knew he had to get it on tape.



Direct from Staten Island, the four Schaldas, father Bill and sons Will aka Swivs, who also toured the world playing keyboard for Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, Paul of Paul and the Tall Trees and Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, and Carmine had come into the studio in Brooklyn to record background vocals on Charles Bradley's Victim of Love. It was a passion that drove Brenneck from the very beginning.



'Hearing them sing together in the studio was incredible', says Brenneck. He collaborated with Bill Schalda writing songs and applying harmonic sensibilities rooted in doo wop, blues and soul. It wasn't a stretch for Bill, after all he'd been second tenor when still a teen in Brooklyn vocal group, The Montereys in the 1960s (their 45, Face In The Crowd/Step Right Up on Blast records sells for $500 these days) who would play venues from neighborhood bars to the 1964 World's Fair in Queens.



'Bill is the genuine article, just like Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones, he came directly from the source,' says Brenneck. Indeed, Bill Schalda was right there amongst doo wop and r&b groups of the era, singing Moonglows and Flamingos tunes.

'You'd go out on the street and constantly hear a bunch of guys singing on the corner, they'd finish playing handball in the schoolyard during the day and then they'd start singing at night,' says Bill. 'We were all just guys in the neighborhood in Brooklyn, who gradually found each other.'



After their children were born, Bill and wife Linda moved the family across the Verrazano-Narrows bridge to Staten Island. Growing up, sons Will, Paul and Carmine remember summer nights singing group harmonies on the stoop of their home with their father Bill guiding them. 'He would bring us out on the stoop on Staten Island and he would teach us each parts of say, the sesame street song - we were his backing group very early on - that was fun,' says eldest son, Will.



On this, their debut, the talent is harnessed in 11 songs, each tender-voiced delight delivered with absolute conviction combined with musicians that have help define the Daptone/Dunham Records sound including Brenneck, Homer Steinweiss, Dave Guy, Leon Michels, Nick Movshon and Victor Axelrod. 'I wanted to take the Sha La Das outside of the doo wop genre,' says Brenneck. 'To take the whole vocabulary of doo wop harmony and reapply it to soul - so you get super soulful harmonies along the lines of The Manhattans & The Moments.'



From the opening atmospheric guitar strum of Open My Eyes via a walk along the Coney Island boardwalk catching the last glimpse of sunlight at dusk of Carnival to the sublime crescendo of harmonies of the winsome Love in the Wind, each song evokes a deeply personal yet universal yearning that none of us can escape. Quite simply every song yields magic.

There's something special when a family can meld voices in close harmony. The Everly Brothers had it, The Beach Boys had it, the Schalda's have it.

NYC's Disco powerhouse West End Records should need no intro. The home of too-numerous-to-list club classics for over 30+ years is still impacting today on what we know to be club culture. The label started by one Mel Cheren (RIP) with assistance from Larry Levan and more way back in 1976 is still held in such high regard today with it's catalogue constantly being played, rediscovered, reinterpreted and loved by waves and waves of new fans and admirers.

From the West End vaults we are pleased to present Ednah Holt's 'Serious, Sirius Space Party', a thundering, slo-mo, bass-heavy slab of NYC electronic funk that will sound familiar to those who paid close attention to what the maestro Larry Levan was doing in his sacred booth at the Garage in 1981, or to those who tuned in to peep what the master Afrika Islam was doing on his now semi-religious, hip-hop blueprint 'Zulu Beat Show' on WHBI. That's right, you can guarantee if those 2 guys were playing your record in the city at the same time then you had an underground 'hit' on your hands. The fact that it crossed over from the discotheques to the streets and back again speaks of the appeal of this super heavyweight jam, the legendary team up of Kenton 'Kenix' Nix, Larry himself on the mix, and former Ritchie Family vocalist Ednah Holt makes for some heady listening. One for the after hours dancers, B-Boys and B-Girls and lovers of the downtempo workout. A true and essential NYC classic.

All tracks featured re-mastered, re-pressed and re-released with the permission of and in conjunction with West End Records, New York City / BMG.

Monsieur Fred Berthet from Marseille who's also known as Dj Steef drops his premiere EP on Feines Tier label after releasing a solo track on the first label compilation. Fred's providing funky and hip shaking tunes since ages so keep hold of your shorts while dancing to the beats. The digital package contains 4 discoid fresh tunes including vocals by Jessica Baucher on Sève et Adam and 2 remixes by the charming 106er boys and the mighty Rodion who sends an Italian Ciao from his adopted home Mexico City.

Meet Me On The Corner is taken from the band's sophomore album, Orange Whip, which itself was BBC 6Music's Album of The Day on its release. It follows previous singles Whatever You Do and Sinner, which garnered support from Craig Charles, Tom Ravenscroft and Huey Morgan. The song showcases Honeyfeet at their funkiest and chunkiest. A pounding beat beefed up by bass, guitar and brass propels forward while Rioghnach Connolly sings lyrics that could be straight out of the playground, but suggest something deeper, possibly mystical even, in its demands for a dalliance on the street.

Remixes on this more foot friendly single come courtesy of homegrown legends of funky house music, Crazy P who come through with both a vocal and dub version. Honeyfeet's latest opus is turned into a straight up soulful disco monster by the boys from Nottingham, with Rioghnach's rasping vocals playfully meandering over Hot Toddy and Ron Basejam's crisp beats and trademark live bass. Elsewhere, much hyped Russian production don, I Gemin, delivers his take - still aimed at the dance floor of course, but a slightly deeper house affair based around jazzy keys and chopped up vocals that take the song into more sonorous territories.

As a bonus, the 12" package also features the acclaimed remix of previous single, Sinner, courtesy of erstwhile Polish Innocent Sorceror, Envee - his shuffling, moody take only previously being available on vinyl via a super limited (and now impossible to find) 7-inch release late last year. For the last couple of years Honeyfeet (whose name comes from a line in the Blues Brothers film) have been a conduit for the ideas and expressions of an exotic mixture of Manchester based musicians. This genre-defying band incorporate styles including jazz, folk and hip hop into their music.

The band are fronted by Rioghnach Connolly - also known for her work with Real World artists Afro Celt Sound System and The Breath - "A remarkable singer and flutist who...can ease from Irish traditional influences to soul" (The Guardian). The line-up is completed by Rik Warren (vocals/harmonica), Gus Fairbairn (tenor sax), Biff Roxby (trombone/vocals), Ellis Davies (guitar), Lorien Edwards (bass guitar), John Ellis (keyboards) and David Schlechtriemen (drums).

Since their self-released debut album, 2013's It's a Good Job I Love You, keyboardist John Ellis jumped on board as full-time member, bringing his unique musical presence. This enabled the development of a more texturally adventurous style, as witnessed with the dual atonal solo between himself and guitarist Ellis Davies on Sinner. Similarly, for their current LP, Orange Whip, engineer, bassist and spiritual guide Lorien Edwards makes his Honeyfeet recording debut, so completing the 'kitchen' of this very special band.

- The album, Orange Whip, is out now.

Somewhere between electro soul and melodramatic pop. Music focused towards the youth set in some strange dream. Not sugarcoating anything.
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Aset was a collective founded by a group of individuals deeply involved in community improvement initiatives and the struggle for justice and equality. A project that would link motivated adults with talented young people in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

The compilation takes songs from three released projects of Aset, and one semi-unreleased single. Latonya, a spunky 11 year old kid singing about divorce, love, and dancing. The poster child of Aset. Treo, a trio of high school gals in harmony singing about love and relationships. Whax, the high school boys who were a bit stranger, the silly side of Aset. All backed by The Aset Players.

Release comes housed in a newly designed jacket with inner sleeve containing info on the label/artists and an interview with the label director, Mba Mbulu.

"The kind of melancholia I'm talking about, by contrast, consists not in giving up on desire, but in refusing to yield. It consists, that is to say, in a refusal to adjust to what current conditions call 'reality' - even if the cost of that refusal is that you feel like an outcast in your own time." (Mark Fisher, Ghosts Of My Life, Zero Books 2014, p. 24) In Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures', the author Mark Fisher outlines - to put it in a big way - a resistant melancholy. This stands in contrast to leftist melancholy resignation', as well as something which Fisher does not talk about: its common masculine counterpart, habitual post-left cynicism - as in seen it all before'. Fisher calls this hauntological melancholy. Haunting, spooks, ghosts and apparitions are an almost constant presence on I Started Wearing Black', the second album by the Cologne-based artist Sonae (pronounced so-nah'). The term hauntology shares a fate with retro-futurism when it comes to inflationary overuse and abuse. It's a conceptual container that looks good and can hold a lot, indeed, too much. Furthermore, hauntology has its peak season behind it, a term on the threshold of its expiration date. Nevertheless, I would like to rehabilitate hauntology and use it properly to characterize I Started Wearing Black', because the term is rarely as compelling to describe music as is the case here. The most recent other example could be Asiatisch' by Fatma Al Qadiri, but with a completely different frame of reference. What are the ghosts of this music It rustles, crackles, ruffles, crunches, rattles, scrapes, sometimes a beat emerges from the constant noise, sometimes an obscure voice mumbles incomprehensibly, sometimes a melancholy piano figure is prevented by this noise from coming too much to the foreground. It definitely is eerie - to bring into play another term used by Fisher in the title of his latest book, The Weird and the Eerie'. In British pop-jargon, eerie first occurred to me more often when referring to particularly leftfield, spooky and... well... ghostly dub, a bass-heavy, echoing noise, from Augustus Pablo to Creation Rebel to Burial. Unlike the Wald & Wagner records by Wolfgang Voigt, Sonae is not a kind of neo-romantic veiling with a tendency for escapist nebula. It is more a noise of latency. The noise signals a latent - not necessarily acute - threat, a latent uneasiness about... yes... about what About a System Immanent Value Defect' That's the name of a track on I Started Wearing Black' where something that sounds like a French Horn (or a foghorn) battles for attention through or against the background noise. An email from Sonae: The piece 'System Immanent Value Defect' should actually be called 'I See Turkey'. I wrote it for my fellow student Elif - she is a pianist and Gezi Park activist from Istanbul. Through her I witnessed the inner conflict and agitation that political circumstances can create: her feelings of guilt when there was an attack, with her safe in Germany as a student, watching the events from afar. It was horrible. When her mother begged her not to come home because she feared for her safety, I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. I started with the piece from this mood, beginning with the piano, then the noise (modulated sinusoidal curves), which reminded me of waves and the then heatedly discussed Mediterranean sea: atmospheric, melancholy motifs. In contrast is the anger, the pressure, represented in corresponding sounds - hopefully audible! - During this time I started to think about world views as they can be found around the globe, in how far they held by societies and their political representation. I realized that I know of no political system that is actually about the people and what would do them good. It's always about positions, power, money. I thought that was a lot more frightening on a global scale than merely viewing Turkey in isolation. That's why the piece is called "System Immanent Value Defect", because our world suffers from precisely that. Everywhere, it's all about the wrong things.' Between the wrong things there are happy moments. In the title track, after 184 seconds of rattling and hissing, a beat is unleashed, like an arrow released from a spanned bow, a beatific relief, if there is such a thing. White Trash Rouge Noir' first meanders along spookily, then after 144 seconds it transforms itself into a distant cousin of Einstu¨rzende Neubauten's Yu¨ Gung', but there is no Big Male Ego to be fed here, and the black in the album title is a completely different type of black from that of the Neubauten. Furthermore, I Started Wearing Black' was finished long before the black dresses were worn at the Golden Globes as a sign of protest against sexual violence. Sonae writes that she herself started wearing black some time ago. Her reasons are so-called personal ones: ... resulting from an individual situation (lovesickness), I started to wear black (gaining weight and feeling ugly).' The political dimension of gaining weight, feeling ugly and therefore dressing in black in I Started Wearing Black' lurks within the noise and never becomes explicit and only rarely manifest - or a manifesto. Sonae writes about the track We Are Here': A piece for minorities... in this case, considering the current pop-feminist discourse, explicitly for women. Female artists have long been saying loud and clear that 'we are here' and 'electronic music is not a boys club!' But this pop-feminist moment should only be seen as one part of the dedication of the piece. It is for minorities, for the oppressed, who didn't belong enough.'

Klaus Walter

It´s quite some years after Starburst , the first record on Internasjonal the japanese duo Traks Boys, consisting of Kawasaki based producers and Djs Crystal and K404 did for us. But a short 7 Years down the road the magic is still there. "Be With you" and "Weekend Lights" are mesmerizing, sparkling with creativity and beauty. "Be With you" is modern disco cut up of the finest while Weekend Lights is a hypnotic stringinfected warm groover that we can´t get enough of. Finally Weekend (Light) Lover and Friend of the House Axel Boman takes it all home in the biggest of ways.
Reduced with care and then build up again to one the neatest breaks that we heard this year.

Pet Shop Boys are pleased to announce 'Catalogue: 1985-2012', a very special series of reissues of all their studio albums released on Parlophone. This definitive edition will feature each album from the duo's peerless discography on the label, remastered and released with additional 'Further listening' albums of bonus tracks, demos and mixes created in the same period of time as each album. Many tracks are being released for the first time. Each album will be accompanied by an extensive booklet in which Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe discuss each song, illustrated with many archive photographs. The entire project is designed by Farrow.
Alongside the 'Further Listening Editions' the remastered original albums will also be reissued on 180gm heavyweight vinyl.

- Warren Hampshire from The Bees teams up with pianist Greg Foat

- Recorded with full orchestra all anolog to tape

- Mixed down on fully analog desk from tape direct to the old Sun studios 1/4 Valve tape machine.

- Hand made paste back sleeve with 60s style gloss finish.

- Mastered from Tape direct to lathe at Timmion Cutting Studios Finland.

- Sleeve notes by Bob Lind

Multi talented UK Jazz Pianist Greg Foat has teamed up with Mercury Award nominated "The Bees" member and multi instrumentalist Warren Hampshire to collaborate on a new LP drawing on their diverse musical influences. Classic British library music, 60s Italian soundtracks & lost Americana combined with touches of modern classical, minimalism, Jazz and Folk. Featuring many members of Greg and Warren's previous bands and one of the U.Ks finest Jazz drummers, Clark Tracy, the LP also features an Edinburgh orchestra and soloists hand picked and scored by the boys. Recorded all analogue onto 2" multitrack in Edinburgh, mixed down by Mattias Glavå at his studio in Gothenburg, Sweden then mastered and cut in Helsinki, Finland, it's truly a European affair flying in the face of the brexit nightmare. Release June 2017

Music is Love boss returns to his home label after a few brief excursions on Hot Creations & Viva Music last year, and he returns in style. 3 summer time slammers and a stella remix from the Mak & Pasteman boys. Middle Ground is a dusty filtered house track, aligned with a soaring string section, which narrate the warm uplifting journey this track lays down. Mandingo was made as a tool for Oli s sets last summer and after some huge reactions and some serious demand, Mandingo was set for a vinyl release. Big stabs and plenty of funk this track is party ready. On the flip we find Mak & Pasteman return to Music is Love after an appearance on the 3rd LOVEBOX VA in 2016. Piano4 is flipped into what these boys do best, Simple stripped back grooves delivered with stupendous power. On B2 is the original take on Piano4 which sees Oli flexing his power house muscles on this big piano track. Piano4 is an unrelenting beast that twists and turns its way through various passages of maximum intent.

Totes Preesh make tracks for your ears. Sean Marquand and Patrick Wood of New York City have created these sounds for you and your friends and tooled them to perfection, for your pleasure. Whether you're at home, or in the club, or driving around in your car, looking for drugs, you can count on these guys to soundtrack your day correctly. They were featured on 2015's 'Mangiami - La Compilation' on Golf Channel Recordings, but this is their first 12'. They are here to make you bump to a cosmic sound that is sexy and pristine, and yet, also feels exactly like two buffalo boys going round the outside, round the outside. Double A-side alert. First up 'Head Shop Boys', a kicky, kinky, neon affair, perfect for late-night debauchery, on the flip, 'Haole' is a straight up trip with some serious old school New York flavour, and will undoubtedly prove to be the world's first crossover drive-time club banger.

Inwave is pleased to present its 8th vinyl only release, made up of the production by the Villalobos-Luciano boys Felipe Valenzuela, Felipe Venegas, Dani Casarano and the eclectic Inwave homeboy producer Niimm.
Journey through unique brand of melodious and elegant techno, minimal-house sounds delivered in a totaly underground and manner style, open to diverse sounds from around the globe- this Wax is full of grooves.
From Italy to Chile, to Europe and beyond, this four tracker is going to win the hearts of open-minded DJs and dancers alike...
Warm, trippy percussions and joyful, hypnotic vocal samples sure to bring smiles to every dancefloor.

02AM is an 4 track EP by the young producer Hekkla from Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
The first track is 'Sunset Strip', a slowly build house track that moves like the last waves of heat at the end of a hot summers day, walking home feeling satisfied, all ready for the night. 'Saturday Morning Sentimentality' is a hard to pinpoint track that sounds like the bastard son of a trio between the melancholic side of Cyndi Lauper, Alphaville and the echoes of a cheesy saturday morning cartoon theme song from the late 80's. On the other side 'Memories of Tau Ceti' feels like tumbling into space with only the memories left of a good time on an alien world, accelerating faster and faster but still enjoying it, even though you know that the vacuum of space will eventually kill you. Finishing with the hardest track 'No Math', because, boys and girls, it's no math...

Hand stamped artwork by Frank Koedood.

The Links EP is Blackhall & Bookless' latest outing for their increasingly renowned Jaunt> Records imprint. A highly personal release, the EP is a homely affair, celebrating the boys' upbringing in Whitley Bay with a gusto that's indicative of the area's unique charm.A A "Links" serves up a dreamy, atmospheric landscape - and one that reflects the location around which the EP is titled. Don Williams' interpretation goes down the rabbit hole further still, teasing the listener thanks to a range of slashing echo chords and clever sub bass techniques. The duo's second original is "Vision", aAdark techno jam that manifests into a stunning tribal hypnodrome.AClosing out the EP is "Cognition", another highly atmospheric track that keeps the listener locked thanks to its many dexterous capabilities. The striking artwork, meanwhile, showcases a black and white image of where the pair would hang out as teenagers. In that essence, the image echoes their production style, with the two sides of the links joining at the bridge and working together in unison.A JR004Ais dedicated in loving memory to Ian Blackhall.A

Speedy Ortiz is proud to announce their sophomore album, Foil Deer, which will be released via Carpark Records on April 20th.

'Major Arcana' released in 2013 won them glowing reviews , features and several UK tours (highlights below):

- 4 PAGE NME FEATURE

- 9/10 LEAD REVIEW IN NME: 'One of the reasons 'Major Arcana' works so well is because it's addictive and fun. The guitars and bass sound incredible, like the last Deerhunter album without the Yankee Doodle Dandy'

8/10 Drowned In Sound : ' Speedy Ortiz are way too euphoric and glorious to suffer for their artfulness. Stripping away the frills, at heart Major Arcana is a mournful treasure that asks to be celebrated.'

*NME RADAR FEATURE: 'What's miraculous, though, is that Major Arcana doesn't sound at all self-pitying; it's torrid Slint-meets-Pavement rattle bolsters Sadie's relished words so that yelling along is an exercise in gleefully exorcising your own demons'

8.4 ON PITCHFORK: : 'There's the squalling, guitar-on-guitar carnage of Archers of Loaf, the grungy mysticism of Helium (Dupuis lifted the title Major Arcana from a book she was reading on black magic), and of course the deadpan wit of vintage Liz Phair ('I was never the witch that you made me to be,' Dupuis tells a burnt-out old flame on 'Plough', 'Still you picked a virgin over me').

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
Deluxe LP Is as above but with metallic gold coloured vinyl, and sticker.(200 ONLY FOR UK)
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

Speedy Ortiz said they would get the flowers themselves. What a lark! What a plunge!

When considering Massachusetts' Speedy Ortiz, that line from Virginia Woolf comes to mind. Not only for the obvious echoes to DIY, a form and function that's characterized the band's nascency, but in the proto-feminist undertones driving much of their sophomore album, Foil Deer. "I'm not bossy, I'm the boss," Sadie Dupuis sings on "Raising the Skate," invoking in spirit one half of the Carter-Knowles clan and echoing the other's wordplay. And wordplay makes sense, considering Dupuis-the band's songwriter, guitarist, and frontwoman-spent the band's first few years teaching writing at UMass Amherst. She's drawn to the dense complexity of Pynchon, the dreamlike geometry of Bolaño, the confounded yearning of Plath-all attributes you could easily apply to the band's 2013 debut Major Arcana, which fans and press alike have invested with a sense of purpose and merit uncommon in contemporary guitar rock.

The group, including Mike Falcone on drums, Darl Ferm on bass, and new addition Devin McKnight of Grass is Green on guitar, have spent the last year on an almost endless cross-continental touring jag, tagging along with the likes of The Breeders, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, and Thurston Moore. That shift into full-time musicianship brought with it an attendant reordering of priorities when it came to songwriting, and the band members' lives in general. They would get the damn flowers themselves.

Dupuis wrote much of Foil Deer at her mother's home in the Connecticut woods, where the songwriter imposed a self-regulated exile and physical cleansing of sorts, finding that many of the songs came to her while running or swimming alone. "I gave up wasting mental energy on people who didn't have my back," she says. "Listening to our old records, I get the sense I was putting myself in horrible situations just to write sad songs. This music isn't coming from a dark place, and without slipping into self-empowerment jargon, it feels stronger." Many of the songs deal with a similar sense of starting over, editing out the unnecessary drama. "Boys be sensitive and girls be, be aggressive," she sings on "Mister Difficult."

And while their debut album was recorded on the fly, Speedy Ortiz spent almost a month in the studio on Foil Deer. Falcone's drums are taut, mechanistic; Ferm's bass ranges from the aggressive rattle of an AmRep classic to smoother, hip-hop inspired lines. McKnight, meanwhile, lends spacier, textural riffs to complement Dupuis' wiry, melody-driven guitar style. "The demos for our songs have always had tons of small details and production experimentation, but we never had any money to pay for more than a couple days in the studio, so the songs came out very live-sounding and guitar heavy," Dupuis says. It was recorded and mixed at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room with Nicolas Vernhes (Silver Jews, Enon, Deerhunter), with the record mastered by Emily Lazar (Sia, Haim, Beauty Pill), lending a more polished sound and a pop sensibility that will stand out to existing fans and new converts alike. For all the lyrical complexity and guitar-based excursions Speedy Ortiz have built their reputation on to this point, Foil Deer has a sense of light-footed fun. What's the point of doing things yourself if you're not going to enjoy the trip

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

It was a little bit quite around the wirrwarr label in the last few years, as the boys focused on other projects like building up an bookingagency, a 2nd recordshop, new labels and for sure producing new music.
Now they are back with some fresh and crazy minimal techno tracks.
On A1 we have Mr.Wigbert with his first appeareance on WirrWarr, A2 comes from labelhead Locke in cooperation with MC Shaver.
B1 is a freaky brain damaging minimal monster by Matt Star.
And last but not least B2 called "Piano", a old but still fresh sounding work of Locke. Freak out!

With their debut album on Hamburg's taste making hafendisko, Deo & Z-Man proceed their research in contemporary electronic music beyond stylistic boundaries and present a wide-ranging lucky bag of songs. The Italo-rooted brothers melt influences from modern House music, HipHop, Electronica and even jazzy elements into a fresh and life-affirming total work of art. And here it is in all its glory - 'No Bullshit' . With a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour and a seemingly endless supply of fresh ideas, Deo & Z-Man might have pulled one of the most creative albums of the year. Effortlessly gliding between wigged out house for the dancefloor, synthy space weirdness, hip-hop infused beats and twisted, smoked-out electro pop - 'No Bull-shit' is a rare thing, a collection of esoteric and eclectic influences that hang together perfectly as a proper album. The boys have long since created their own special vibe through their well received singles, live performances and DJ sets - mixing musical knowledge, party rocking skills and a sense of fun that is all too often lacking these days. Even more rare is to capture that magic in the studio over the course of an album. Yet 'No Bullshit', as the name cheekily suggests, nails it. Listening to the album it's easy to see how Deo & Z-Man cut their teeth with HipHop - tracks like 'Tamastar Santini' (feat Janos), 'Two Blue Bros' and 'YRUAG' reveal a background of beats and rhymes that infuses the whole vibe of the album. Equally at home in the club, recent single 'XTC', 'Chopped Memories' and 'Tales of Love' are lessons in leftfield club dynamics - deep, musical grooves that hint at the brothers' leg

We call them the rat pack of our beat scene. With all diversity in sound, the three producers are unified in their love for dope beats and high-proof drinks, both catered and consumed with style and expertise.

Suff Daddy, the globetrotting gin connoisseur and minimoog player with domiciles in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Sydney. He has released three solo albums and has worked with artists like Miles Bonny, Fleur Earth, Ta-ku and Elzhi. After a one year stint in Sydney, he returned to Berlin this spring.

Brenk Sinatra, the Wien-Kaisermühlen homeboy, Westcoast rap fanatic and producer of the forthcoming MC Eiht album. Last year Brenk released the critically acclaimed S3 album together with US singer Miles Bonny and has laced beats for an armada of MCs from both sides of the Atlantic.

And last but not least Dexter, the Stuttgart based trip maker and platinum producer with a day job as a pediatrician. This June Dexter released his second solo-album 'The Trip' a homage to the psychedelic rock era and one of the most innovative and genre bending hip-hop albums of 2013.

All three first met at the Hi-Hat Club, the producer series that we started a couple of years ago with the goal to push and celebrate the art of beat making. With their respective volumes 'Suff Draft' (Suff Daddy), 'The Jazz Files' (Dexter) and 'Chop Shop' (Brenk Sinatra) each of the guys put the instrumental hip-hop thing on a new and different level. None of their beats need a MC to be complete, they are full songs in their own right.

The official birth date of the Betty Ford Boys was the 2012 Beat BBQ in Cologne where Dexter, Suff and Brenk performed together for the first time. Right after the now legendary gig, that was ended by police forces Suff Daddy left for Sydney so that most the recordings for the Betty Ford Boys debut album took place in the cloud. Right after his return to Berlin, the Boys jumped on the bus and played their first club tour which finished with a gig at the Splash Festival.

On August 30th, the Betty Ford Boys release their first album 'Leaders Of The Brew School' on Melting Pot Music. The record combines the best of three worlds and has a surprisingly chilled Westcoast vibe. It's perfect summer music, it's edgy and relaxed at the same time and keeps you thirsty for more ....