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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.

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.

This is the 10th anniversary edition. First time on vinyl. Red vinyl. 

South London’s James Massiah returns to Jon Rust’s Levels imprint with the highly anticipated follow-up to the 2019 underground hit ‘Natural Born Killers’ EP.

The six-track EP ‘True Romance’ is the artist / poet / DJ / producer's richest work to date, autobiographically charting the peaks and troughs of 21st century love, life and relationships.

Massiah’s rap leanings ride over his signature neon productions, taking in an arc of influences including dancehall, dub, acid house, grime and left field pop.

Gritty and shimmering in equal measure, this is essential for devotees of the Dean Blunt, Lord Tusk axis, or anyone switched on to the stream of rap bubbling up from the UK right now.

Heavy rotations from Benji B, Jamz Supernova, Shy One & Scratcha DVA.

A vital release for 2024.

Hot on the heels of Sukuma, Durban's Sugarman Sandy B returns to Red Motorbike with Bink Party!

This time around, he's teamed up with label boss Eddie C on production, as well as an assortment of underground artists from around the globe whom he has collaborated with during his WorldKwaitour, which he combined with the 30th anniversary of his successful underground independent debut, AmaJoviJovi.
Bink, the genre Sandy B coined, is a modern take on Kwaito's loose rhythms and the mid-tempo funk we've come to know and love from the Red Motorbike stables.

Sandy B's Zulu staccato rap and R&B stylings sound as fresh as ever as he continues to connect with his global family through his international travels, currently on tour across Asia and Australia.

Bink Party into 2025!!

DJ Support: Sharam, Hot Since 82, Cid Inc, Groove Armada, Shadow Child, Technasia

In 2015, two remixers on their respective thrones in techno and house were contacted to rework the classic.

Matador and Shiba San both delivered compelling renditions that capture the original's darkness, paired with their unique styles of delivery.

Matador's remix extends the dark subversiveness of the original, incorporating sweeping, reverb-drenched textures and ominous synth patterns. The looming mix is a sure-tobe room filler at this year's ADE.

The second remix is exactly what you'd expect from Shiba San a distinctly G-house groove built around gigantic bass and a distinct sexiness that will resonate with crowds regardless of their appreciation for house music.

The Holiday Album That Turned Mariah Carey into the Queen of Christmas: Featuring the Standard “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the Singer’s Blockbuster Merry Christmas Exudes Joy, Spirituality, and Conviction
Sourced from the Original Master Tapes, Presented in Audiophile Sound for the First Time, and Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies:

Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP Set Plays with Superb Detail, Openness, and Definition
1/2" / 30 IPS / Dolby SR analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Mariah Carey didn’t become the Queen of Christmas just because of her fervent love of the holiday. Or as the result of a brilliant marketing plan. The iconic singer earned her title by way of her blockbuster Merry Christmas, a 1994 album that quickly joined the likes of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song as an all-time holiday vocal classic. Featuring a balanced mix of inspired originals and well-chosen covers, Carey’s fourth studio record has only grown in stature as new generations discover its magic. Mobile Fidelity’s 30th anniversary edition reissue of Merry Christmas makes her spellbinding performances and upper-tier register come alive like never before.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, the pioneering label’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP set of Merry Christmas plays with superb detail, depth, and dimensionality. Available in audiophile quality for the first time since its original release three decades ago, and featuring the bonus track “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” the nine-times-platinum set breathes with a newfound openness and transparency that enhance the spirituality, passion, and festive tenor of Carey’s singing.

Benefitting from superb groove definition, a nearly inaudible noise floor, and dead-quiet vinyl surfaces, the music takes on a heightened energy and anticipatory emotion synonymous with the holiday season. Carey’s signature vocals explode with liveliness and dynamics, the full scope of her acrobatic range presented in clear, transparent sound that practically places her on a small stage in your listening room. This collectible version also breathes with the kind of warmth, intimacy, and coziness you want from a landmark vocal album.

Recorded when Carey helped put “diva” back into everyone’s vocabulary, Merry Christmas gave the New York native another smash right out of the box. What nobody knew at the time was the degree of the album’s staying power — and how, many years removed from its initial promotion cycle, its legend would still grow and even spark a 2010 sequel. Having re-entered the Top 200 charts every year since 2019, Merry Christmas ranks as one of the three most commercially successful holiday LPs ever made and, in due time, will likely earn the top distinction in that class. A global blockbuster, it seamlessly ties together Christian, gospel, and secular threads and speaks to a boundless audience, independent of denomination.

Most obviously, the record remains inescapably connected to “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” an uptempo anthem that towers as a holiday standard and one of the biggest-selling singles in history. Punctuated with celesta chimes, sleigh bells, springy keyboards, and joyous beats, the song echoes the simple albeit engaging melodies and doo-wop style of beloved holiday classics of yore — and blends such elements with contagious dance-pop rhythms to create an atmosphere rich in joy, wonder, and excitement. Radiant with golden soulfulness and sincere conviction, Carey’s exuberant singing and on-point phrasing put it all over the top. And how.

The song stands as the only effort in Billboard history to top the Hot 100 chart during at least three separate runs. Carey’s blockbuster has already hit No. 1 during five runs, spanning every year between 2019 and 2024. That’s just one of the many records the singer holds — and only one of the multiple highlights from Merry Christmas, which includes two other Carey-penned originals, “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)” and “Jesus Born on This Day.”

Though slightly lesser known, Carey’s remarkable rendition of Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” further links her album with the big, lush, Wall of Sound heritage that helped inspire its production. Carey’s heartfelt take and transformation of the traditional “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” into an animated tune that even adults can believe, as well as her clairon reading of “Joy to the World” — cleverly augmented with bits of Three Dog Night’s 1971 hit of the same name — further reinforce her status as Queen of Christmas.

At the peak of her powers, Carey finds equivalent success when tapping more spiritual veins. Witness the reverence she brings to the timeless carol “Silent Night,” the piousness she invests in “Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child,” and the sacred feeling she conveys throughout “O Holy Night.” You’ll also never think of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)” the same way again after hearing Mimi pour her heart and soul into them, and pair the songs together.

Indeed, it’s Carey’s pliable voice, melismatic technique, and five-octave range — on display here in definitive fashion — coupled with her undeniable love for Christmas and understanding of the religious significance of the season that make Merry Christmas a must-have holiday staple. And on Mobile Fidelity’s LP, something you better add to your wish list.

Shitney Beers starten die Expedition zu ihrem dritten Album "Amity Island", das auf Grand Hotel van Cleef und Zeitstrafe erscheint. Das Album der Hamburger Band bietet 12 neue Perlen, die am 2022er Hit-Album "This is Pop" anknüpfen und Shitney Beers noch breiter aufgestellt: Mehr Instrumentierung (Banjo, Streicher) und chremige Chöre, mit "Done" featuring Brockhoff ist außerdem das neue "Don"t let the sun go down on my" dabei. Ein Traum und auch inhaltlich (hier sei besonders "N4N" genannt) trotz der Neunzigerjahre College-Rock Anleihen hochgradig zeitgemäß und ein wichtiges Album für die FLINTA* Szene.

Before dropping their debut album, "Exercise Your Demons" (SideOneDummy, 2022), Cliffdiver launched out of the Tusla, OK alt music scene with their mix of indie, emo, and ska elements via the release of their first 2 EPs. For its third pressing, "At Your Own Risk // Small Hours" finds its way into retail stores for the first time on Hot Pink vinyl via Refresh Records & Chillwavve Records.

"CYRIL is the Aussie-born artist, DJ, mulit-instrumentalist and producer behind two of the world's hottest records at the moment, ""Stumblin' In"" and his remix of Grammy-nominated artist Disturbed's ""Sound of Silence."". He is signed to the Dutch record label Spinnin' Records, known for its smash hits in the EDM genre.

His biggest moment thus far came in late 2023 with the release of ""Stumblin' In,"" which initially exploded on TikTok before dominating the worlds of streaming and radio. It became the #1 most played song on air in countries like Germany, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, and more, as well as covering some of Spotify and Apple's biggest playlists.

Shortly afterwards, a remix of Disturbed's cover of the Simon & Garfunkel song ""The Sound of Silence"" was released and reached the Top 10 in several countries.

CYRIL’s debut album, From Down Under-To The World , features tracks such as ""True"" with Kita Alexander, alongside extended versions of ""Stumblin' In"" and ""The Sound of Silence."" From Down Under - To The World is available as limited edition of 1000 copies on white coloured vinyl. "

ROUND RECORDS IS PROUD TO REINTRODUCE THE RECORDINGS OF DAVID GRISMAN & JERRY GARCIA AT RETAIL WITH THE DEBUT OF BARE BONES, a collection of duo performances exploring the foundation of their beloved studio recordings. After over 30 years, Grisman has opened the Dawg Vault to curate a collection honoring the magic of their studio works. They are presented for the first time in their original unadorned state as part of a vinyl series.

After the recent release of the first pre-single, "One Of These Days," the new and fifth studio album by Mother’s Cake, titled “Ultrabliss”, will be released on October 18, 2024, via Embassy of Music (available for pre-order starting July 17).
Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's cult film “A Clockwork Orange” (1971) and largely free from structural constraints of traditional songs, the Austrian band unleashes their musical imagination with the finest jams and dancefloor fillers. “Ultrabliss” unites nine extremely varied tracks with elements of classic rock, krautrock, and prog-rock that are sure to please fans of Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, as well as followers of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or British indie icons like Franz Ferdinand, the Arctic Monkeys, or Kasabian. Like its predecessor “Cyberfunk!”, “Ultrabliss” was recorded at Sevenarts Studio, Überlärm Studio, and Moonwalker Productions Studio, and once again sonically brought to life by singer, guitarist, and songwriter Yves Krismer in collaboration with Manuel Renner and Raphael Neikes. Neikes, who plays guitar and keyboards live, has become the fourth band member. Founding drummer Jan Haußels has amicably left the band after the album sessions and will be replaced by Alex Kerbl on drums from now on.

After the recent release of the first pre-single, "One Of These Days," the new and fifth studio album by Mother’s Cake, titled “Ultrabliss”, will be released on October 18, 2024, via Embassy of Music (available for pre-order starting July 17).
Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's cult film “A Clockwork Orange” (1971) and largely free from structural constraints of traditional songs, the Austrian band unleashes their musical imagination with the finest jams and dancefloor fillers. “Ultrabliss” unites nine extremely varied tracks with elements of classic rock, krautrock, and prog-rock that are sure to please fans of Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, as well as followers of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or British indie icons like Franz Ferdinand, the Arctic Monkeys, or Kasabian. Like its predecessor “Cyberfunk!”, “Ultrabliss” was recorded at Sevenarts Studio, Überlärm Studio, and Moonwalker Productions Studio, and once again sonically brought to life by singer, guitarist, and songwriter Yves Krismer in collaboration with Manuel Renner and Raphael Neikes. Neikes, who plays guitar and keyboards live, has become the fourth band member. Founding drummer Jan Haußels has amicably left the band after the album sessions and will be replaced by Alex Kerbl on drums from now on.

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.

Omni - the band, not the hotel - are from the former home of the Braves: Atlanta. Playing lo-fi pop that channels the spectre of the late `70s and early `80s, Omni brings you back to an era where any sane person was reeling from the unfulfilled promise of the Space Age and Age of Aquarius bleeding into the looming threat of "Morning in America." Omni distills the buzz and grit that snakes through the best of Television, Devo, and Pylon into surprisingly danceable, hook-laden slabs of raw, angular, sonic bliss. It's still the summer of '78, and pushing the roots of rock & roll to its limits remains in vogue. "Deluxe" serves as a fresh reminder that rock music can work outside of blues rooted, formulaic progressions without playing it safe behind a wall of effects. Arty enough to impress record enthusiasts, yet melodically attractive enough to transcend to those who've never asked: "'Sister Midnight' or `Red Money'?"

Fang Island's debut record, long out of print and back in stock as daisy pink splatter coloured vinyl in gatefold jacket LP via Joyful Noise, defined the sound of danc-y/math-y indie rock of the early 2010s alongside contemporaries Lightning Bolt, Titus Andronicus, and Japandroids. Fang Island described their music as the sound of "everyone high fiving everyone." No matter where they went, Fang Island's up-with-people approach made them a subversive art project by default. At a time when the belligerent noise-rock of Lightning Bolt and The Body defined Providence, Fang Island played major-key guitar harmonies and flashy tapping riffs. When people tried to call them "math-rock," they thought of themselves as "recess rock." Fang Island shared bills with uber-buzzy bands like Yeasayer and Chairlift at Cake Shop and Santos Party House, crucibles for Brooklyn hype at the turn of the aughts; but their most impactful co-sign came from Andrew WK. At least until Fang Island earned an unexpected Best New Music review at Pitchfork; in the style of the time, the group - now including drummer Marc St. Sauver and guitarist Nick Sadler - were thrust from playing "literally empty shows" at hot dog stands in Ohio to becoming the toast of SXSW and starting their North American tour with psych-rock idols the Flaming Lips in an Atlantic City casino. They would later play sprawling amphitheaters with Stone Temple Pilots, and in perhaps the best demonstration of their ability to wield pop smarts to guitar pyrotechnics, both Matt & Kim and Coheed & Cambria.

DMX wurde der Welt 1998 mit seinem mehrfach mit Platin ausgezeichneten Debütalbum It’s Dark and
Hell Is Hot bekannt, auf dem er seine Fähigkeit unter Beweis stellte, leichte und schwere Konzepte hinter
einer intensiven, bedrohlichen Präsenz am Mikrofon zu vereinen. Noch im selben Jahr veröffentlichte DMX
seinen zweiten Hit, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, der ebenfalls Platz 1 erreichte. Die nächsten
drei Alben von DMX erreichten ebenfalls die Spitzenposition, womit er der erste Rapper war, dessen erste
fünf Alben direkt an die Spitze der US-Charts gelangten.
Doch eines zog sich wie ein roter Faden durch DMX’ Veröffentlichungen - seine tiefsinnigen Gebete.
Diese Gebete, die auf jedem seiner ersten sechs Studioalben zu finden sind, sind eine Mischung aus Bittgebeten, Danksagungen, Bekenntnissen und Meditationen über das Leben, den Tod und das Jenseits.

Scions are a new innovative experimental ensemble. The group features members from the award-winning minimalist chamber-jazz quartet New Hermitage, the Polaris-nominated drone-hymn duo Joyful Joyful, and the acclaimed producer and composer Michael Cloud Duguay. Their collaboration began at the Sappyfest music festival in Sackville, New Brunswick, in August 2022. During this event, New Hermitage and Joyful Joyful connected for the first time and teamed up with Duguay for a spontaneous improvisational performance based on his song writing. The enthusiastic response, capped by a standing ovation, solidified the ensemble's decision to pursue the project further, with Duguay deftly shifting from front-person to producer and musical director. After being awarded a Canada Council project grant in early 2023 the group took residence in Hotel Wolfe Island on Wolfe Island. Over a week the seven core members lived and worked together, culling material from sunrise improv sessions and collaboratively shaping it into a unique body of work that would later become To Cry Out In The Wilderness. In June 2023, the ensemble, now joined by double bassist Gabriella Ciurcovich, recorded their debut album in Halifax’s north end. Led by Duguay’s distinctive approach to site-specific production, the recording took place in the sanctuary of St. George’s Round Church, with engineering by Jake Nicoll, known for his sustainable recording methods using a solar-powered, mobile control room. The resulting album, To Cry Out In The Wilderness, finds the ensemble expertly exploring and powerfully combining their skills in jazz, devotional, classical, drone, folk, ambient, metal, improvisational, minimalist and avant-garde music. The project culminated in a week of production, with contributions from numerous artists from Halifax’s creative music community. Scions then presented their work live, performing on the opening night of Halifax’s Everyseeker festival of experimental music, where they shared the spotlight with the renowned Sun Ra Arkestra. Speaking on the narrative of To Cry Out In The Wilderness vocalist and lyricist Cormac Culkeen said: "When we came together to make this body of work, we started from a narrative seed; a post-apocalyptic humanity relearning and recreating itself, after a total ecological collapse." Speaking on "Fight Song" they add, "“Fight Song” became the song we thought the last of us might need. It is sung for an imagined last stand. It is a rallying cry to wholeheartedly fight a losing battle. So it is for us now, in this time of great dismay and unease. The axe must be disobeyed.

It is the year 1995 and it’s summer, the second extremely hot summer after 1994, and the asphalt on Gladbacher Straße in Cologne is glowing. Ravers in much too wide and much too colorful clothes doze off in the glaring midday heat. These are the last days of the legendary Delirium record store, a socio-cultural biotope that would later become KOMPAKT. In June 1995, the store moved deeper into the Belgian Quarter, to Brabanter Straße 42 near Friesenplatz.

Wolfgang Voigt liked to wear too-big sunglasses even back then, just as he already had the master plan for the next few years, the new store, the renaming to KOMPAKT, and the upcoming takeover of the musical world order by minimal techno in his head. On less sunny days, the musician Wolfgang Voigt was tinkering with his very own label Profan, a new sound, new pseudonyms and masquerades. His alter ego Mike Ink had grown tired, another self, one of many, was now pushing forward to become the next torch in the storm.

By early 1995, the first Grungerman EP, "Hout," had been released on Profan. A nucleus of ambient loops that already announced the sonic aesthetics of GAS, stoic rhythmic structures that would shape the coming decade of minimal house and techno, and an all-encompassing gloom and heaviness that didn't want to fit at all with the gaudy reality of the nineties between Loveparade, Mayday and VIVA House TV. This probably most hedonistic decade of the 20th century had celebrated, besides techno, above all a rough guitar music called Grunge, coined and immortalized by a depressive, hyperactive and narcoleptic young man with matted blond hair who had taken his own life a year before. In no other track has Wolfgang Voigt packed these inner and outer contradictions of his art as well as of the mid-nineties more ingeniously than in "In Tyrannis". From wall to wall there are four steps.

"Klang" by Wolfgang Voigt originally comes from the first and only GAS EP on Profan, "Modern", from the spring of 1995 and is one of the most beautiful exhibits of Voigt's sound of those years, which relentlessly runs its course somewhere between glistening sunrises on Ecstasy and bad drugs in the dark Liquid Sky Cologne. With "Hocker DJ 1" and "Hocker DJ 2" there are two more musical references to this myth-enshrouded place in Kyffhäuserstraße, where for a few years the entire, so-called Sound Of Cologne had literally settled down.


Wir schreiben das Jahr 1995. Es ist Sommer, der zweite extrem heiße Sommer nach 1994, und der Asphalt auf der Gladbacher Straße in Köln glüht. Raver in viel zu weiten und viel zu bunten Klamotten dösen ihren Rausch aus in der grellen Mittagshitze. Es sind die letzten Tage des legendären Delirium Plattenladens, eines soziokulturellen Biotops, aus dem später die Firma Kompakt hervorgehen sollte. Im Juni 1995 erfolgte der Umzug tiefer hinein ins Belgische Viertel, in die Brabanter Straße 42 in der Nähe des Friesenplatz.

Wolfgang Voigt trug schon damals gerne zu große Sonnenbrillen, so wie er bereits den Masterplan für die nächsten Jahre, den neuen Laden, die Umbenennung in KOMPAKT sowie die anstehende Übernahme der musikalischen Weltordnung durch Minimal Techno im Kopf hatte. An weniger sonnigen Tagen tüftelte der Musiker Wolfgang Voigt an seinem ureigenen Label Profan, an einem neuen Sound, neuen Pseudonymen und Maskeraden. Sein Alter Ego Mike Ink war müde geworden, ein anderes Ich, eines von vielen, drängte nun nach vorne, um die nächste Fackel im Sturm zu werden.

Anfang 1995 war die erste Grungerman EP “Hout” auf Profan erschienen. Ein Nukleus aus ambienten Loops, die bereits die klangliche Ästhetik von GAS ankündigten, stoischen rhythmischen Strukturen, die das kommende Jahrzehnt Minimal House und Techno prägen sollten, sowie einer allumfassenden Düsternis und Schwere, die so gar nicht zur knallbunten Realität der Neunziger Jahre zwischen Loveparade, Mayday und VIVA House TV passen wollte. Dieses wohl hedonistischste Jahrzehnt des 20. Jahrhunderts hatte neben Techno vor allem eine raue Gitarrenmusik namens Grunge gefeiert, geprägt und unsterblich gemacht von einem depressiven, hyperaktiven und an Narkolepsie leidenden jungen Mann mit verfilzten blonden Haaren, der sich ein Jahr zuvor das Leben genommen hatte. In keinem anderen Track hat Wolfgang Voigt diese inneren und äußeren Widersprüche seiner Kunst wie auch dieser Zeit Mitte der Neunziger genialistischer verpackt als in “In Tyrannis”. Von Wand zu Wand sind es vier Schritte.

“Klang” von Wolfgang Voigt stammt ursprünglich von der ersten und einzigen GAS EP auf Profan, “Modern”, aus dem Frühling 1995 und ist eines der schönsten Exponate des Voigtschen Sounds dieser Jahre; ein Track, der irgendwo zwischen gleisenden Sonnenaufgängen auf Ecstasy und schlechten Drogen im dunklen Liquid Sky Cologne unerbittlich seine Bahnen zieht. Mit “Hocker DJ 1” und “Hocker DJ 2” finden sich zwei weitere musikalische Referenzen an diesen mythenumrankten Ort in der Kyffhäuserstraße, an dem sich für einige Jahre der gesamte sogenannte Sound Of Cologne im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes niedergelassen hatte.

Habibi Funk is excited to announce the release of Samh Almea'ad, a new 7" record by Libyan artist Cheb Bakr, hitting the shelves on December 6, 2024. Recorded in the early 2000s, Bakr’s music fuses the pulse of Libyan pop with R&B and hip-hop influences, bringing the energy of Benghazi to the dance floors of New York in the early 2000s. Cheb Bakr’s sound is a unique blend of styles that captures the essence of two worlds and includes production and vocals by Ahmed Ben Ali.

Our journey with Cheb Bakr’s music began when Yousef Alhoush, whose father Najib Alhoush led The Free Music from Libya, generously lent us boxes of cassettes to digitize. With the help of a journalist traveling from Tripoli to Cairo, we brought the tapes and a high-quality deck to Egypt. For three days in a hotel room on Zamalek island in Cairo, we sifted through nearly 100 tapes, finally landing on several from Cheb Bakr that dated back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. His albums stood out for their fresh, genre-defying sound—Bakr’s vocals flowed effortlessly over R&B and hip-hop beats with touches of jungle and drum and bass percussion, creating a fusion that crossed cultural and musical boundaries.

Returning to Berlin, we took a deeper dive into the digitized tapes, identifying bands, singers, and producers that excited us. In the process, we noticed familiar rap verses on a few of Bakr’s tracks—verses by none other than Ahmed Ben Ali, who was about to release an album with Habibi Funk. When we asked Ahmed about his connection with Bakr, he explained that they’d collaborated closely at Jamaica Studios in Benghazi, with Ahmed even producing some of Bakr’s songs.

Despite having lost touch for years, Ahmed helped us reconnect with Cheb Bakr through mutual friends. Their reunion took place in Bakr’s living room, where we joined them on a video call to discuss Bakr’s career and his influences. He explained how he sought to reinterpret eastern Libyan folk sounds for a new generation, blending them with contemporary genres.

This 45 marks the beginning of our work with Cheb Bakr, offering a glimpse into his unique musical style, with a full album to follow at a later date. The release includes two standout tracks that showcase Bakr’s dynamic range. Side A features “Samh Almea'ad,” a reinterpretation of a 2003 New York classic with Bakr’s signature spin. Since our first listen in that Cairo hotel room, it’s been played at every Habibi Funk set without exception. Side B, produced by Ahmed Ben Ali, features “Rjana Lamta,” a track that hints at American influences alongside a nod to Ahmed’s “Dameek Majeb.” Bakr’s artistry ties these contrasting elements into an original, dancefloor-ready track that remains as captivating today as it was two decades ago. As always, this 7" release comes with a booklet detailing some of the Cheb Bakr story. Samh Almea'ad will be out on vinyl December 6th.

Licensing info: These songs were licensed from Cheb Bakr. We pay the licensing partner 50% of the profits of this release. Only project related costs are deductible from the gross income, research and travel costs come out of our own share. Publishing was not included in our agreement (We feel it’s important to be transparent about these deals, therefore we will include these infos in all future releases).

LOLO hat sich im Laufe von drei EPs mit ihren Texten, die das Herz auf der Zunge tragen, und ihren knallharten, von Pop-Punk geprägten Melodien eine begeisterte Fangemeinde aufgebaut. Auf ihrem Debütalbum erkundet LOLO, was es heutzutage bedeutet, ein Mensch zu sein". Aufgenommen mit dem Produzenten Mike Robinson aufgenommen, wurde ihre Single ,u turn me on (but u give me depression)" bereits über 18 Millionen Mal angehört. EUPHORIA schreibt: ,LOLO hat sich zu einer unbestreitbaren Größe im Pop-Punk-Genre entwickelt", was durch ihre ständigen Tourneen mit Künstlern wie Boys Like Girls, New Found Glory und Against the Current deutlich wird. Das Wunderbare an den 15 Songs ist, dass alle direkt reingehen und Spaß machen. Irgendwo gibt es das lose Konzept, aber die Stücke stehen für sich und haben jeweils eine eigene Identität. - plattentests.de "LOLO creates honest, grungy breakup anthems and hot-girl bangers that mix genres and confuse categories."-Westword Für Fans von Charlotte Sands, Maggie Linderman, Stand Atlantic Nachpressung der Emerald Green coloured Vinyl-LP sowie CD (Digisleeve) erhältlich.

Autobahn, Feldwege, Landstraßen. Thees Uhlmann ist längst sein eigener Road Movie. Doch erst dieses Album zeichnet den Trip mitreisetauglich nach. Er führt vom AJZ bis ins Stadion, von Hemmoor bis nach New York, durch mehr als drei Jahrzehnte wiedervereinigtes Deutschland. Rock, Indie, Punk und was nicht sonst noch alles. Lichthupe aber nur im äußersten Notfall. "Sincerely, Thees Uhlmann!" ist eine Best Of Zusammenstellung der Tomte Years (1994 - 2010) und Thees Solo Years (2011 - Present).

Autobahn, Feldwege, Landstraßen. Thees Uhlmann ist längst sein eigener Road Movie. Doch erst dieses Album zeichnet den Trip mitreisetauglich nach. Er führt vom AJZ bis ins Stadion, von Hemmoor bis nach New York, durch mehr als drei Jahrzehnte wiedervereinigtes Deutschland. Rock, Indie, Punk und was nicht sonst noch alles. Lichthupe aber nur im äußersten Notfall. "Sincerely, Thees Uhlmann!" ist eine Best Of Zusammenstellung der Tomte Years (1994 - 2010) und Thees Solo Years (2011 - Present).

Finally, back on vinyl after 20 years! Skunk Anansie’s seminal 3rd studio album Post Orgasmic Chill was released in 1999 when the band were at the height of their powers - the tour around this album saw the band headline Glastonbury. The album includes classics such as Secretly, Charlie Big Potato and You’ll Follow Me Down.
Gatefold sleeve with printed inner bag.

With this second record Shoko unveils a new genre called “Onsen Music”. Each track invites you on a relaxing journey, much like soaking away your troubles in the steamy hot waters of a traditional Japanese spa (Onsen). The variety of songs mimic the variety of onsens, some are salty and scorching, some are smooth and clear, some are bubbly and colorful, and others are a refreshing dip into crisp clear waters. In every instance, there's a sense of satisfaction as soothing and delightful as the tracks themselves. This ode to “relax”, while remaining irresistibly danceable, is filled with good vibrations, melodies and hooks that go straight to the heart, saxophone playing virtuosity, intricate electronic compositions, vocals that make us dream of new worlds, and beats that could keep us on a dancefloor all night long.

Shoko Igarashi was born in Yamagata Prefecture, Tsuruoka city, Japan. An accomplished tenor saxophonist, she is also a versatile flautist and plays alto and soprano saxophone fluently. She has already made her mark as both an arranger and a composer. Shoko grew up surrounded by dreamlike landscapes of abundant nature in the snowy countryside of Tsuruoka, a mysterious and surreal region renowned for producing the best quality rice in Japan, where she says, “the water and the air feel the purest," and where mountains and shrines overflow with ancient mysticism.

Following on quickly from Fear, and capitalising on that album's energy Slow Dazzle is another fiery release by Velvet Underground founder John Cale - This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1975 Island Records UK release and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl. Released in March 1975, initially, the album offers a false sense of mellow security: "Mr Wilson", a tribute to Brian, the leader of Cale's beloved Beach Boys starts the on a much sweeter note than "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend", as does "Taking It All Away"; by "Dirty Ass Rock'n'Roll" Slow Dazzle is off to darker terrain, business as usual. Cale, however, cannot resist a pop song and a ballad "Ski Patrol" is a great two-minute vignette, and "I'm Not The Loving Kind" is soul-baring. The album's reputation, however, rests on two tracks "Guts", a bald telling of Cale's wife's infidelity and his pitch-black cover of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel". 50 years later, these songs still pack a tremendous punch.

Formed in 2020 in Silkeborg, Denmark, NECKBREAKKER, consists of Christoffer Kofoed (Vocals), Sebastian Knoblauch (Bass), Anton ’Hajn’ Bregendorf (Drums), Joakim Kaspersen (Guitar) and Johan Lundvig (Guitar). Despite not having released a single song up until this point, NECKBREAKKER have found themselves at the forefront of the underground metal scene, thanks to their growing reputation of delivering blistering live shows. The young death metal band have already found themselves touring alongside the likes of Crypta, BAEST and Left To Die, as well as claiming slots on festivals such as Hellfest, Resurrection Fest, Bloodstock Open Air, Summer Breeze, Copenhell, Mystic Festival, Dynamo Metal Fest, Roskilde, Sweden Rock Festival, Tuska Festival and Inferno festival, as they rip and tear their way across the continent. Now, having caught the eye of metal titan Nuclear Blast Records, NECKBREAKKER are gearing up to release their hotly anticipated debut album, Within The Viscera, on December 6th. On the release of their debut album and their signing to Nuclear Blast Records, the band comments: “As we were creating Within The Viscera it is fair to say we felt a certain amount of pressure. A pressure to deliver an album that could live up to the hype this band has been building since we started playing shows, a pressure to not lessen the raw impact of the songs by finally putting them in a studio setting, and most importantly to make a debut album we could be proud of. We had the vision set, and we know we wanted to do it right. And we believe we have. Produced by Andreas Linnemann and mixed/mastered by Josh Middleton, Within The Viscera is our strongest material, and we hope the joy we had creating it shines through.

Global icon ROSÉ has announced her first studio album rosie - arriving December 6th via Atlantic Records. The 12-track collection marks ROSÉ’s most personal and candid release to date, with her co-writing and co-producing the project in its entirety.

As a member of BLACKPINK, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, ROSÉ has shattered records, performed on the most heralded stages, and amassed millions of fans around the world. On her own, the Korean-New Zealand superstar’s 2021 single “On The Ground” debuted at #1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and became the highest-charting song by a solo K-pop female on the Billboard Hot 100. Simultaneously, ROSÉ has been an unstoppable force in fashion as global ambassador for renowned brands including Saint Laurent, Tiffany & Co, Rimowa and Puma. Her influence in music, fashion and philanthropy has led to her having over 79M followers on Instagram as she is a testament to the growth of Korean influence in music and fashion on a global scale.

The Norwegian indie-pop super-group with members from Making Marks, The Little Hands of Asphalt, Mildfire, Flight Mode and Elva return with a third album of original Christmas songs.

Get into that alternative, Nordic Christmas spirit! Christmas III at its heart is an alt-Christmas album: the songs are firmly rooted in December’s festivities, albeit not usually relying on the season’s traditional reference points. The songs hone in on the more ambivalent sides of Christmas - family, customs and the passing of time - with a keen eye towards the holidays’ most obvious function in countries close to the Artic circle: getting through the cold and dark times to celebrate the winter solstice and the turning of the sun. Drawing from Sufjan Stevens’ epic indie Christmas compendium and Phil Spector’s wall of sound classic A Christmas Gift From You, Christmas III is built on shimmering guitars, snow filled piano lines, gentle strings, springy vocals and dynamic drums - all steadily conducted by Sunturns’ own Sjur Lyseid (Flight Mode, The Little Hands of Asphalt) in the producer’s seat at his Globus studio in Oslo. With 3 songwriters (Ola Innset, Einar Stray & Sjur Lyseid) contributing to Christmas III, there’s an ever shifting sense of reflections. Parenthood and the struggles of the dark Norwegian winter is behind Ola’s track First Winter. “Sometimes I feel bad about bringing children into such a difficult world. Not so much with respect to daylight and the seasons, they’re just going to have to learn how to live with it, but with many other things – like war, poverty, climate change and even just death.” Back In Town might have been inspired by a discussion over whether Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town” is a Christmas song or not, but it’s written about his youngest daughter Klara, to his elder daughter, about taking holidays with your family in a town you once lived. Einar pulls in Phoenix and Mew by the way of Jesus and Mary Chain on Crash Course Christmas, resulting in a seasick wave of a pop tune. “It’s a song about the guilt of not prioritizing your relationships. It’s been year of rainchecks and Christmas finally gives you some time to reflect. You’ve experienced so much and changed so much as a person that you almost forget your origins. Coming home for Christmas can then be a ritual of finding your way back to what you left behind." Drawing on the knitwear from the film Love, Actually, Turtle Neck, taps into the Backstreet Boys by way of Mac Demarco, with a sneaky reference to the legendary Norwegian Christmas hit En Stjerne Skinner I Natt. Album closer This Christmas / Next Christmas leans in on the hook for the Norwegian Christmas TV show Jul i Blåfjell, a multi-generational seasonal staple (essentially a daily children’s advent calendar kids show). “The song is about your parents ageing and needing your help – possibly really far away - while at the same time having your own children to take care of”. The cover artwork is a homage to Christmas dress codes for Norwegian men. Suits and shirts are a rarity in day to day life, but there are a handful of occasions that require some form of formal attempt at a suit: New Year’s Eve, National Day, weddings & funerals, and Christmas Eve: resulting in various degrees of sartorial elegance on the day (and on this instance, a hot summer’s day stifling the Christmas vibes, with ambiguous apparel instructions ahead of the photoshoot!).

Merry Christmas! Sunturns are Ola Innset – vocals, guitars, banjo. Sjur Lyseid – vocals, guitars. Einar Stray – vocals, keyboards, guitars. Eivind Almhjell – guitars, bass. Simen Herning – guitar. Jørgen Nordby – drums.

Prairiewolf make easy listening music for an age of fracture. They almost do it in spite of themselves. No one can seriously question the head music bona fides of the members of this Colorado-based trio.

Guitarist Stefan Beck has already assembled a formidable discography of jewel-toned guitar zone-outs under his Golden Brown moniker. And keyboardist and guitarist Jeremy Erwin and bassist Tyler Wilcox have both made their reputations as chroniclers of the vast world of out-music. Erwin helms the indispensable Heat Warps blog, a performance-by-performance archive of Miles Davis’s labyrinthine electric period. And Wilcox has been covering the ragged edges of psychedelia and experimental rock at Aquarium Drunkard and other publications, not to mention his own virtual basement for heads, the great bootleg blog Doom and Gloom from the Tomb.

These guys come by it honestly. And yet, given their backgrounds, Prairiewolf’s self-titled debut last spring was remarkably free of face-melters, brown acid blowouts, and ascendant spiritual jazz odysseys. Instead, they dropped a record of beautiful, elegant, low-key cosmic groovers that sounded like the piped-in background music to a resort hotel on Jupiter. It was an unlikely psychedelia, brocaded with mid-twentieth century sonic threading from the hi-fi era: vintage synthesizers, smears of spaghetti western, luxe tropical details, the faint schmaltz of space age pop. Imagine something like a Harmonia residency in the airport lounge. And yet somehow it all worked brilliantly. Prairiewolf became last summer’s cool-down standard. After a year woodshedding around Colorado’s Front Range region, the Prairiewolf boys have fired up their trusty Korg SR-120 drum machine for another outstanding collection of suborbital exotica. The appropriately titled Deep Time operates in its own chronology, unspooling at its unhurried pace. All its incongruous period and stylistic references—the new age pulses, Hawaiian steel, shaggy hippie rambles, lysergic guitar spirals, and orchestral synthesizer flourishes—float atop the album’s own singular temporality. Deep Time makes its own time.

From the moment Beck folds his slide guitar, origami-like, into a sound resembling the call of gulls on the tranquil album opener, “Peach Blossom Paradise,” there is a sense of departure from everyday life. The shimmering “Lighthouse” has a similar sunbaked nonchalance, like an afternoon passed day-drinking in a seaside bar. That they named their lush, kaleidoscopic downtempo track “The Meander” pretty much says it all. The ranging, propulsive “Saying Yes to Everything” seems like a nod in the direction of Rose City Band’s brand of wookie krautrock. And the motorik noir of “Demon Cicadas in the Night” also goes hard. Beck and Erwin’s intertwined guitar jam on the eerie album standout “The Cold Curve” evolves into something that sounds like primitive computer music. A genteel bassline from Wilcox on another album highlight, “Revisionist Mystery,” sets the stage for a loopy space jazz turn from guest clarinettist Matt Loewen of Rayonism. The title of post-rock cowboy tune “Another Tomorrow” might refer to the alternative future that so many critics heard in the music of Prairiewolf’s first album. Or it might simply refer to the persistence of time, however deep. Either way,

I’m thankful for the way Prairiewolf make each of their tunes a little oasis or sanctuary, each subsisting according to its own crystalline little logic for a few minutes. It is no simple task to filter out the omnipresent anger and anxiety of everyday life these days. But Prairiewolf are out here making it seem easy.

Brent S. Sirota

Kumio Kurachi is a Japanese singer-songwriter who has been active since the 1980's.

This is his 11th solo album and only the second to be released outside of Japan following ‘Sound of Turning Earth’ (2018) on bison. Though his songs are written and performed primarily on guitar, “Open Today” is a return to Kurachi’s full, multi-instrumental recording style - featuring drums, bass, strings, keys and Kurachi’s rich, distinctive vocals in multiple voicings. Incredibly, all instrumental performances and arrangements were performed and recorded by Kurachi himself - marking a brilliant return to the fully fleshed out visionary world we fell in love with on Supermarket Chitose (Enban, 2006). The super fine detail and dense landscapes of ‘Open Today’ should come as no surprise really - Kurachi is an illustrator by trade and it bleeds right through to his music. Even to the non-native speaker Kurachi’s vocals hold centre stage - at times enormous and thundering over urgent guitar and toms, then switching to softly spoken words amongst keys. Frequently Kurachi multiplies, whether multitracking himself or summoning voices for the characters he writes from sightings on train platforms or supermarkets. His lyrics - translated to English for both formats - are more like poetry, and though written about the mundane they quickly become surreal, bringing the quality of dreams into the everyday. The hours spent on buses, trains or walking home towards a cheap flat - familiar to us all - are catalysts for microcosms of detail.

Again, we shouldn’t be surprised - Kurachi is well known in Japan for winning the national championship of NHK's "Poetry Boxing" in 2002, which also might explain his amazing Discogs photo. Poet, illustrator, multi-instrumentalist - Kurachi is thought of by many as a genius. He’s worked with Jim O’Rourke, Tori Kudo, Eiko Ishibashi and Taku Unami (who did the mastering on this LP). There are lines to be drawn between Kurachi and Kazuki Tomokawa or Kan Mikami, but also Francis Plagne and Fairport Convention.

Ultimately though there is nothing else like it - it’s a brand of strange songcraft that’s totally captivating.

Berliner Marc Brauner returns to Bristol label Shall Not Fade with Sketchy Sidewalks EP, four tracks of Marc Brauner as his finest, top notch feel good house music, nothing more, nothing less

Roman Flügel returns to Phantasy with his second release of 2024 on Erol Alkan’s beloved London label, ‘No Solutions EP’. Following on from ‘Hotel Kathargo / Energies’, which garnered a summer of support from a typically diverse array of DJs including Gerd Janson, Jamie Jones and Saoirse, ‘No Solutions’ expands Flügel’s contributions to Phantasy into a triple track delight, another generous expression of his lifelong immersion in electronic music culture.

Transporting the zeitgeist of future-facing, eighties pop production onto modern dance floors, the title track ‘No Solutions’ is a fizzy, escalating ode to some of Flügel’s very earliest musical influences. Playfully channeling the wide-eyed electronics pioneered by The Human League or Soft Cell, it accelerates into a contemporary funhouse of wild oscillations and dreamy melodies.

‘Sapphire’ shifts this sound palette forward, a steady acid-not-acid bubbler that maintains maximum intrigue and pressure, occasionally breaking through its hazy clouds with pillowy breakdowns and a sense of space-age whimsy. Flügel takes the same palette in a different, more exacting direction on ‘Dragged’, spinning a creeping, Krautrock-esque groove that pays homage to the steady, lifting pulse of German kosmische traditions. Lift off!

Disrupt Records presents DJ Chromz - Love & Unity EP, featuring DJ Stretch & Double O!

Following the blueprint established in the first two releases by again providing the platform for the debut EP of one of the hottest new producers around, DJ Chromz!

DJ Chromz brings us four tracks of sublime 94 influenced jungle that take you on a nostalgic journey via the dancefloor to the scene's golden era whilst keeping the sound fresh and dynamic.

Featuring a colab with AKO Beatz General DJ Stretch, plus a remix from Rupture's very own Double-O!

Lush pads, crisp drums, dubbed out sounds that reflect a love of soundsystem influences, analogue sampling and drum programming, big vocals and slamming amens all wrapped up across 4 huge dancefloor tracks.

SPHERART presents A.T.R 0424 V.A 001 a work of art created exclusively to break the dance floor!
This Various Artists has with the participation of great artists like Furz, Stefeano Andriezzi, Agustin Barbei, Desirée Falessi & Rindeau who are giving a lot to talk about in the scene with their sick and powerful sounds to make everyone move the universe of the clubs.

This vinyl has 4 tracks that each of them will take you on a mystical journey with sounds of 90’s house, electro & acid that will take your ears to another dimension entering in 2 dualities of the art sphere.

Very limited copies and vinyl only. Next release on Bosom LTD by: DubTape with remixes by Direkt and Distilled Noise.

repressed !

It's been a busy 3 years since Danny Berman aka Red Rack'em released on his own Bergerac imprint.

Since then he's toured relentlessly, released a whole album of live music based disco/punk funk for Sonar Kollektiv as Hot Coins, managed to completely update his biggest track 'In Love Again' to make it a hit the second time around plus released spaced out, wonky party smashers on Wolf Music, Phonica, City Fly and Telefonplan.

While all this was going on Bergerac was largely on ice but now Berman is turning his energy back to the label with a vengeance.
Wonky Bassline Disco Banger is accurately titled. An uplifting intro breaks down into a slamming disco house number and just when you think you know what's going on...
Then the trademark Red Rack'em wonky bass drops in. 150% Guaranteed party smasher... Jazzy House Extension is super vintage Red Rack'em from around 2004 - something for the jazz heads out there - cracked out piano and far too loud double bass come together to birth a euphoric yet banging snapshot of a producer learning his chops. Destined is a slightly demented leftfield house number featuring mangled, pitch shifting fretless bass and vocals samples discussing someone's destiny.
A woozy end to the EP.

Way back in 2008 Soul Junction released a 45 on Duane Williams “Yes My Love Is Real” with Duane being one half of the Detroit husband and wife singing duo Beverley and Duane. The duo under the guidance of their lifelong friend Will Hatcher recorded six songs of which two “ We Got To Stick Together” and “Glad I Got You Baby” were picked up by local Detroit label president Woodrow ‘Woody Wilson for release as a 45 single on his Fee label. The popularity of the 45 was to attract attention from the major Ariola label, who picked it up for national distribution during 1978 leading to the subsequent Ariola album ‘Beverley & Duane”. As the 1980’s dawned Beverley and Duane recorded a solitary 45 single for the independent Detroit Brown Bomber label “Love/You Belong To Me”. The label was owned by John L. Barrow a nephew of former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, (Brown Bomber being Louis’s nickname). Beverley and Duane later moved to the west coast until their amicable divorce which led to Duane returning to his native Detroit to reacquaint himself with his former mentor Will Hatcher. This meeting of old friends led to the creation of Duane’s first solo project which Will brought to Soul Junction in late 2007. Hot on the heels of Duane’s hugely popular Soul Junction 45 came his subsequent CD album “These Songs Are For You” (SJ5001) released in 2009. Contained within this album was the very pertinent gospel/social commentary song “Father We’re Having Trouble” a song which two very close and knowledgeable friends of mine the late John Anderson and Bill Randle claimed had all the right ingredients for a potential hit record. Over the ensuing years this song has always remained in my thoughts until a few years ago I broached the idea with my good friend Jesse James recording a cover version of it, Jesse upon hearing the song was very receptive to the idea. Another period of time elapsed before we again reignited the idea. A decade or so on from Duane’s original version and the lyric’s of this particular song still remain as pertinent as ever, if not more so! During early 2020 Jesse entered, Con Funk Shun multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Felton Pilate’s Felstar Studio in Atlanta to lay down the basic tracks with Felton acting as co-producer on this project. Everything was progressing nicely until a worldwide pandemic intervened. With Jesse locked down in his new home on the West Coast and Felton in Atlanta the project unfortunately came to a holt. During this enforced period of inactivity further racial and political upheaval occurred which only added more poignance to the project. Eventually with the lifting of lockdown restrictions Jesse finally made it back to Atlanta to finish the project, the fruits of which you have before you now.