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With their latest release, "Matasuna Records" brings together two songs from 1966 that were originally released on "J-V/Atlantic Records" & "ATCO Records". Now officially reissued for the first time on 7inch vinyl. Aside from the same release year, the two songs - a Northern Soul joint by "Cliff Nobles" and a Mod Jazz tune by "Russell Evans & The Nite Hawks" - seem to have little in common. However, both are delicacies for any dance floor and combine an irrepressible energy. The two songs thus fit perfectly together on this hot & fiery 45!

"My Love Is Getting Stronger" by "Cliff Nobles" on the A-side is not only a super rare soul gem whose original single cost at least $700 dollars. The song can also be considered one of the best (Northern) soul tunes. A grooving bass, infectious drums & bongos meet great orchestrated horns driven by Nobles' raw yet sweet voice. A smokin' soul cut for any dance floor.

The instrumental "The Bold" by "Russell Evans & The Nite Hawks" on the B-side brings out the same irrepressible energy. The deep bassline, drumbreaks and funky guitar riffs introduce this terrific song. A deep organ joins in perfect interplay and enchants the listener. A great groover that shouldn't leave any record box!

"Cliff Nobles", born in 1944 in "Groove Hill" (Alabama) got into singing in his high school choir in "Mobile" (Alabama). He also became the lead singer of a popular local group called "The Delroys". After school, he moved to Philadelphia to work on his career. He recorded 3 songs for "Atlantic Records", which went unnoticed. He later formed the band "Cliff Nobles & Co" in "Norristown" with "Benny Williams" (bass), "Bobby Tucker" (lead guitar) and "Tommy Soul" (drums).

Through demo tapes, Nobles came to the attention of producer "Jesse James", who began to write songs for the band and helped them get a contract with "Phil L.A. Of Soul" Records. The first release bombed, but the second single, "Love Is All Right/The Horse", brought success. Ironically, the instrumental B-side "The Horse," which Nobles didn't even perform on, became a huge hit. It reached #2 on the charts, sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a gold record by the R.I.A.A..

However, subsequent releases failed to match his success, and he retired from the music business in the early 1970s. Nobles died in October 2008 at the age of 67 in "Norristown", Pennsylvania.

Cut is an album by Dutch hard rock band Golden Earring, released in 1982. It is one of their most popular releases to date, as it contains the international hit “Twilight Zone”, written by guitarist/vocalist George Kooymans. “Twilight Zone” reached No. 1 in both the Netherlands and Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, while also reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Two worlds collide to offer a brand new project. The lo-fi rock from Emilie Zoé and Nicolas Pittet blends perfectly with the sounds of the machines and samples of the leader of The Young Gods, Franz Treichler. The sound triangulates and takes the shape of an /A\. Zoé is an artist who converts the ghosts of everyday life into electric fulgurations on the extreme fringes of pop and rock; Pittet is her drummer, but above all he’s an all-round musician, as comfortable backing Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s primal dub as he is

fiddling with electronics (e.g. his project Kera); and of course, Treichler is the well-known leader of The Young Gods, and band that’s been setting the bar since 1986 when it comes to transforming rock by infiltrating its genome into machines.

This diversity of backgrounds, tastes and experiences might at first sight have appeared as a reason to stay apart from each other, but instead it’s proved to be a vector of mutual attraction. What /A\ offers contains no foreign matter: Treichler, Pittet and Zoé’s aesthetics are intertwined through subterranean links that strike by their clarity, like the pieces of a puzzle that is both unexpected and surprising.

It’s through this profound entanglement that the pieces, one after the other, succeed in materialising hitherto unseen faces. They create something new: Hotel Stellar delivers an otherworldly blues, a slow snake that oscillates between the abyss and redemption; We Travel the Light, with its guitars measured in megatons, invents the notion of a steamroller possessed by insane joy; Count to Ten is a wash of restrained melancholy infused with almost Birkin-like touches, which, as the minutes go by, bristles with scratches and sandy echoes, like synthetic dub; The Leaves is yet another strange beast which could be considered as the evolution of a trip hop theme that would have been left to mature for a few decades in the noblest of drums. “It’s red, it’s hot” says Zoé when asked to analyse the record. “You can feel like there’re waves coming at you, but you never really know when.”

Constructed from the brains and limbs of Wayne Adams and Henri Grimes, Big Lad is difficult to frame in words and perhaps much better served by their actions. Their live show having been continually captured, cropped and chopped over the years since their formation in 2015.

The project was rather appropriately founded off the back of a chance email, when Drummer Grimes (formerly Shield Your Eyes) suggested that the duo collaborate on a crossover project, having heard Adams’ vast Breakcore back catalogue. Adams had, somewhat serendipitously, been busy writing a Drum Trigger programme shortly before the email had hit his inbox and he jumped at


the chance to test the creation in a practice room. With Grimes strapped into this new system, songs started to appear thick and fast, and Big Lad was swiftly born.

2015’s recorded debut announced their collaboration, consciously marrying the collective excitement of both underground Punk and Electronic subcultures. 2018’s Pro Rock saw Big Lad extend the euphoria of their live show, using primal energy as an antidote against the jargonistic culture of our present.

After a year away from the heat of the stage lights, 2021 sees the triumphant return of the duo, announcing a brand new LP titled Power Tools. It’s a collection that sits as an unashamed monument, chiselled and stripped back to present the raw strength of what Big Lad has become. The results range from more familiar high octane tracks that nod to history of the rave community, to more brooding moments that appear (and vanish) like the ghosts of warehouses long since vacated.

Hoodoo is the sixteenth studio album by Swiss hardrock/ heavy metal band Krokus. The album was successful across Europe, charting in Switzerland, Germany Greece and France. Hoodoo is packed with big hooks, arena ready anthems and catchy hard rock songs. It includes a cover of the Steppenwolf song “Born to be Wild”.

Every Day is a Day is Cold Hart’s first LP for Epitaph. As a co-founder of
the seminal rap collective GothBoiClique, (along with Lil Peep, Lil Tracy,
YAWNS) Cold Hart has consistently been on the cutting edge of alternative
hip-hop and rock since 2013 as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer.
By pairing components of rap with seemingly unrelated genres like emo and
gothic rock, Cold Hart has become an innovator of genre-defying music.
Cold Hart, has earned the respect of peers and critics alike (his previous LP
Good Morning Cruel World received a 6.9 from Pitchfork). Coming hot on the
heels of the stratospheric success of Cold Hart’s Lil Peep collaboration, “Me &
You,” with over 60 Million global streams to date, his path is well established in
the digital space, with current catalog streams at over 1million/wk.
With his new album Every Day Is A Day, Cold Hart has progressed beyond emo
rap as he developed a newer, fuller sound, that he describes as “hands on guitar stuff with a soulful twist.

Based in the Havana Nightclub, in the central plateau town of Jos, the Sahara All Stars of Jos weren't part of the Lagos scene or the one in the east. Their leader, Dan Satch Ayo, had played with Dr Sir Warrior in the Orientals. He'd jammed with Mohammed Ahidjo and Sonny Akpan from The Funkees. Together with the All Stars he took the best of both scenes and created his own tight, hypnotic groove. First released in 1978, Sahara All Stars of Jos is a musical journey through all of those influences. 'Freedom For Africa' is a potent rallying cry sugarcoated with a sweet reggae vibe. 'World People' is an Afrobeat gem that condenses a night out at The Shrine into 10 min 43 secs. You can almost feel the steam coming out of New York manholes on 'Take Your Soul.' And the Highlife-tinged 'Alikali Adajo' brings it back, full-circle, to the Jos Hotel, just off the roundabout, where it all began. Engineered by Fela Kuti's regular knob twiddler, Emmanuel A. Odunesu, Sahara All Stars of Jos is a tight, funky sonic gem and a timely reminder that, in 70's, the groove was strong all over Nigeria.

Volume 5: JAZZ N PALMS returns with another selection of some of the most iconic sunset, poolside sounds to be heard at Pikes Hotel (Ibiza), reworked, retouched and edited for your listening pleasure. A trusted taste, JAZZ N PALMS warms up the monthly exclusive Ronnie Scott's (London) jazz concerts held at Pikes, fusing jazz sartorially with Latin, funk, rock and international sounds to be enjoyed under the palms and the sun of the Mediterranean sea.

BARBARA JEAN ACKLIN was working as a receptionist at Brunswick Records in 1966 when she co-wrote “Whispers (Getting Louder)” which became one of Jackie Wilson’s biggest hits and secured her a recording contract with the label. In 1968 she hit with “Love Makes A Woman” peaking at #15 on the Billboard pop chart. “Am I The Same Girl” followed in ’69 barely breaking the Hot 100. Dusty Springfield covered the song later that year giving the singer her final chart hit, peaking at #43 in the UK. Salena Jones cut a credible jazzy interpretation in 1970 and the British pop group Swing Out Sister scored a #21 UK hit in 1992 after first hearing the song in a Manchester Northern Soul club.
Brunswick producer Carl Davis was inspired to remove Acklin’s vocal and replace it with a piano solo shortly after the original release. He called the instrumental “Soulf Strut” and attributed it to Young-Holt Unlimited providing them with a #3 hit in the USA.

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA is back! The band that formed as an idea of friends from several well known rock/metal bands (SOILWORK, ARCH ENEMY, MEAN STREAK) back almost a decade ago and has been dropping jaws ever since. With 5 albums already under their belt, 2 nominations for the Swedish Grammies, countless live shows and praises from fans and media alike, TNFO have steadily upped their game when it comes to paying tribute to a decade that influences all sorts of people and even industries to this day - the 80s. With hits like ‘Domino’, ‘Lovers In The Rain’, ‘West Ruth Ave’, ‘Divinyls’ or ‘This Time’, the band manages to maintain a variety of vibes and emotions within every album. From hard rockers, poppy digressions to progressive epics, disco-esque songs and almost cheesy yet loveable ballads.

Enter 2020, TNFO had just released their recent record, ‘Aeromantic’, and kicked off their European tour in support of it, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Björn Strid, the AOR dictator helming this exceptional collective called NFO, recalls “We made it one week into the tour after some absolutely amazing shows and then it all went south and we had to go home. Just about everyone on the tour got sick when they came home, with varied conditions.”
The band didn’t step back and accept the situation but decided to do what they do best instead: “It was pretty clear after some months into the Covid madness, that it was here to stay and that we weren’t gonna be able to tour for quite some time. So we made the best out of it. The remedy was simply to hit the studio again as soon as everybody was well again. It ended up being an incredibly creative 1,5 years and so many amazing songs came out of it.”

That being said, the second part of the ‘Aeromantic’ saga really captures what this band is all about: being in motion and romanticizing traveling, sometimes even with a broken heart - accompanied by the good things in life. Namely with songs like ‘White Jeans’, yet another jaw dropping classic rock gem about hot young love, cramped with nostalgia, or ‘Change’, which encompasses all the vibes you know from your favorite decade: Urgency, emotion, warmth and excitement. But also groovy danceable songs like ‘Chardonnay Nights’, a groovy, dreamy, yet uplifting homage to parties and hot love, or ‘Burn For Me’, a true feel good anthem for the summer - driving people to dance in the streets, all worries aside, to a brighter future.

On the other hand there are tracks like the almost progressive ‘Amber Through A Window’. A little throwback (at least titular) to the NFO’s epic 2017 album ‘Amber Galactic’: “Amber is with us wherever we go and I think she’ll keep coming back. She’s our mascot of escapism. The song was very interesting to compose. It takes you on quite a journey with key changes and goes from minor to major when you least expect it and throws you between different set of emotions. At the same time it feels pretty direct and operates like a mini epos. Really happy with how it turned out“, cites Strid.

Besides all this, the band has also stepped up their game when it comes to music videos for their timeless anthems. “White Jeans” for instance features Swedish TV personality Fredrik Lexfors and is a sweet little homage to the LGBTQIA+ community. “Fredrik is a good friend of mine and has loads of experience in the musical/theatre world and is super creative. He created this character called ”Kantorn” (The Cantor) some years ago and became a hit on YouTube. He has a very twisted and unique way of singing and acting, which is very funny. He was a part of Sweden’s Got Talent TV Show and went really far and became a crowd favorite. Fredrik has a lot of friends in the LGBTQIA+ community and I also have quite a few. We saw it as a joyful tribute and we’ve only gotten really good response. It’s of course also humorous but has a very nice balance and a very positive message.”

The bold and jovial video for “Burn For Me” on the other hand maybe among the biggest and best productions, the NFO ever recorded for the depths of the internet: “I’ve had this idea to film a ”Dancing in the Streets” video, where curious people come out of the woodworks and join the party in the streets. It’s a very classic 80’s scenario and very common in videos back then. Sort of the video to IRENE CARA’s ”Fame”. You don’t see it very often these days. We felt that it was needed and after “Burn For Me” was done I immediately envisoned it being the perfect ”post corona dancing celebration in the streets-song”.”

Those two videos are by far not everything the band will have to offer visually, but we won’t tell any more just for now. To be continued…

With all that new greatness up their sleeves, NFO are ready to take the world by storm – again! Even though coming up with a setlist for their scheduled tour starting in September may prove to become problematic according to the AOR Dictator: “Making a setlist might end up being a nightmare haha… I would be up for doing only songs off »Aeromantic I« and »Aeromantic II« since that’s really where we’re at right now, but I think most of our the Midnight Flyers would like to hear some old stuff, too. Maybe we could get away with it as long as we play “West Ruth Ave” as the ending song and create the good old conga train?”

BERRIES new single 'The Expert' is released on 10th August 2021. The single follows on from the success of single 'Copy' released earlier in the year that received praise from Radio X, Amazing Radio, BBC London and 6Music as well as acclaim in key online press sites such as RGM, When The Horn Blows, Little Indie Blogs, Loud Women, New Noise, Get In Her Ears and God Is In The TV. Copy was #64 of Hot New Releases now @ AMZ UK, and added to the Amazon 'Best New Bands' playlist http://amzn.to/BestNewBands The single coincides with a headline London show at Grace on 12th August. Further shows in the calendar are Hull Zebedees Yard on 3rd Sept supporting Frank Turner and other Xtra Mile artists and a slot at Frank Turner's Lost Evenings IV Festival at Roundhouse, London. The Expert will later be released on flex-disc as a double A side single - together with their cover of Sleater-Kinney's 'Dance Song '97' - originally recorded for Kill Rock Stars 30th Anniversary compilation.

Un Singe En Hiver (“A Monkey in Winter”) starred the greatest name of the
time in French Cinema, Jean Gabin and a “rising newcomer”,
Jean-Paul Belmondo.
This is popular early 60s mainstream French cinema, with a certain ‘quality’
that would not be to the taste of the nouvelle vague aficionados. In fact this
film is nothing less than the reflection of a certain Gaullist spirit of rebellion,
fiercely individualistic and disabused of all ideologies.
The music of Michel Magne outlines the nostalgic wanders of Albert Quentin
(Jean Gabin) who after an adventurous youth on the Yang-Tse-Kiang now lives
a quiet life with Suzanne (Suzanne Flon) whom he met at the Bourboule and
manages the Stella hotel at Tigreville (actually Villerville in the Normand Calvados) and takes care of Gabriel Fouquet (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a young adman
whose heart was broken in Madrid.
The genius of Magne is found in his evocations of Spain and China not as they
were at the time but as the two main characters picture them with the help
of not just a few drinks. Here is a jolly good record you will want to go back to
every time the right-minded ones try to mess with your basic rights.

Fresh one on Music With Soul - a channel for hot 7"s that always fly out here. TIP!

"Two and a half frenetic minutes that sound like Aphex Twin and The Incredible Bongo Band dancing Capoeira in the early hours of an illegal rave, somewhere in the deep amazon forest. After the success of his first solo 45, Alex Figueira comes back to the aesthetics of the early Fumaça Preta, with an utterly bonkers 45 that can only be described as an “in-your-face acid macumba techno breakbeat funk freakout”.

The flip side contains a haunting Psychedelic ballad, with the sweet vocals of Maddie Ruthless, from NY’s leading Lovers Reggae sensation, The Far East. Equally trippy and beautiful, the soothing sounds of the Wurlitzer piano and the electric sitar will be bouncing in your head for hours after first listen. The kind of song that finds collectors dropping eye-popping sums, decades after the original release. Guarantee your retirement now by getting a few copies! The song “Maracas” is the main theme of the movie “Maracas, tambourines and other hellish things” directed by fellow record nerds Matteo Fava and Dave Potsma. They managed to convince Figueira to play the main character, and later on, to do the complete music score. The movie tells the story of a struggling underground musician / part time record store clerk, whose music career is basically going nowhere until an improbable encounter gives his life a dramatic turn. They asked Figueira to give them something with “a fresh tropicalized take on Blacksploitation”. One might argue, after listening to the insanity carved on the grooves of this piece of vinyl, that he certainly did deliver.

The characteristic mix of synthesizers and heavy percussion used by Figueira in almost all his projects, gains here a somewhat freer dimension, embracing the chaos openly, without ever neglecting the groove, nor the ancestry axis. Values that are at the core of the label. Even while laying down all the instruments himself, Figueira has managed to capture the same out of control tropical psychedelic spirit of his former band, Fumaça Preta. Fans of the group’s outfit will certainly be rejoiced by this new release.

The flip carries “Grasping & Wishing”, an evocative Psych ballad that retains the same tripped-out flair of the A side, while slowing down the tempo considerably with a decidedly african 6/8 beat. Sung by New Orleans’ own “Rocksteady Queen”, Maddie Ruthless, stepping out of her classic Reggae background, to grace the track with her beautiful voice, permeating the issues of belonging, doubt and introspective reflection portrayed in the lyrics, with a thin layer of exquisite fragility that will comfort your ears.

The production includes a significant number of sound effects, ranging from different types of percussion performed with liquids to bamboo flutes of different sizes and several layers of multiprocessed electric Sitar tracks. Listen carefully and you will discover new sonic nounces every time you put the record on."

Ramona Córdova is a sound artist — passionate about writing, communicating, linguistics, behavioural & social psychology, observation & investigative research, photography, sound recording, and design. Their artist focus is on project-based sound and visual media, public engagement and live performance — although they are best known for their music and are typical regarded as a singer songwriter. Ramona Córdova intends to speak to the challenges of living under systems of oppression while inspiring introspection and personal growth toward the maturing of our societies. Ramona is Haitian-Filipina, Puerto Rican, born in Kingman, Arizona, USA and is inter-feminine trans non-binary.

"When I first started working on Naïve I was completely consumed by all of the technical details involved in making a 'professional studio recording' on my own - one which could not be refuted or disregarded as subpar. My only other hope was to tell some sort of story with whichever songs i could piece together. The content and message of which were much less important to me.

The story that Naïve ended up telling comes from a cohesion of themes, ceaseless in my personal experiences living day to day in the world. Although the album dares to tread on tact while speaking poetically and lyrically about issues such as systemic oppression, racism, misogyny, policing and patriarchy - I think the album really just wants to reflect - to serve as a reflection - in order to foster healing and healthy growth towards maturing. I feel it commanding a kind of firm kindness as a reminder to love yourself enough to accept others, by way of accepting yourself.

Pressed onto this 180-gram vinyl are 10 songs I wrote while living in many different places around the world. Spontaneous recordings of inspired notions of song, written one rainy evening up high above the vineyards in Banyuls-sur-Mer became Men on the Mountain. A Scrap of paper holding jots about a sudden storm on a hot day in August while helping friends on their farm in Puglia became Mouth of Autumn and Peace Through Violence. As I dressed myself into the fragile reality of the United States, I became flooded by its manipulative social governing systems. As the monuments of slave-owners, colonisers, and white supremacists came crashing down in the name of responsibility and accountability, The Bridge Works was built, a song about crossing bridges towards empathy and equality. Civil rights activist and American-Football quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, taking the knee during the United States national anthem pre-game ceremony, brought about So Long. The incessant murdering of black, brown, and transgender citizens brought Woke, Scared I'll Bite You, and The End. The murder of Eric Garner and the feeling of being choked-out and suffocated under the weight of systemic oppression brought about Still.

From all of this birthed the collection of songs that is Naïve, a title given to the album by French Ghanian artist Eden Tinto Collins. Although written both in Europe and the U.S., most of the songs were performed and recorded at the end of the year 2018 in Philadelphia, during the American-Holidays season. Still, Loving Him, and The End were written in Philadelphia, but produced in Vlorë, Albania. This helped serve as a reminder that the issues these songs speak of are not isolated to the United States of America." - Ramona Córdova

Though most debuts are the culmination of a lifetime of influences
and experiences, few artists succeed in mapping their musical
journey quite as vividly as Baba Ali has on ‘Memory Device’.
Tracing his Nigerian heritage, an adolescence absorbing No Wave
and the hip-hop on NYC’s Hot 97, time immersed in the techno
scene in Berlin, and the experimental punk spirit of his current
base in London, ‘Memory Device’ is an enthralling introduction to a
musician who resolutely defies pigeonholing.
Written during lockdown and recorded with Al Doyle (LCD
Soundsystem, Hot Chip) in East London, ‘Memory Device’ is both
a dizzyingly inventive exploration of Baba’s complex musical DNA,
and a thought-provoking treatise on the collective angst of modern
existence; a dance record dealing in small ‘p’ politics that,
spiritually, has been three decades in the making.
It was after moving to London that he began writing new music as
a solo artist, with his debut EP, ‘Nomad’, released in 2017. Soon
after he met British guitarist Nik Balchin while they were working
together at a bar in Whitechapel. Nik brought with him an entirely
new set of references, ranging from LCD Soundsystem and the
Pixies to Suicide and Iggy Pop. The new collaboration resulted in
the February 2020 release, ‘This House’, an eclectic four-track
collection fusing funk, blues and soul and featuring production
from Jamie Hince of The Kills. In July the same year the duo
released an unofficial mixtape, ‘Rethinking Sensual Pleasure’,
which they wrote while locked down together at Baba’s parents’
house in New Jersey, having been temporarily stranded in the US
following their New York shows.
Today Baba describes this process of producing a longer body of
work as being akin to “ripping a Band-Aid off,” giving them the
confidence to begin writing their debut. Work on ‘Memory Device’
began shortly afterwards, culminating in the pair recording the
album between November 2020 and February 2021 with Al Doyle,
who was chosen for his vast experience operating at the
intersection between dance and rock music. There’s no question
that Baba is leading by example with ‘Memory Device’.

Though most debuts are the culmination of a lifetime of influences
and experiences, few artists succeed in mapping their musical
journey quite as vividly as Baba Ali has on ‘Memory Device’.
Tracing his Nigerian heritage, an adolescence absorbing No Wave
and the hip-hop on NYC’s Hot 97, time immersed in the techno
scene in Berlin, and the experimental punk spirit of his current
base in London, ‘Memory Device’ is an enthralling introduction to a
musician who resolutely defies pigeonholing.
Written during lockdown and recorded with Al Doyle (LCD
Soundsystem, Hot Chip) in East London, ‘Memory Device’ is both
a dizzyingly inventive exploration of Baba’s complex musical DNA,
and a thought-provoking treatise on the collective angst of modern
existence; a dance record dealing in small ‘p’ politics that,
spiritually, has been three decades in the making.
It was after moving to London that he began writing new music as
a solo artist, with his debut EP, ‘Nomad’, released in 2017. Soon
after he met British guitarist Nik Balchin while they were working
together at a bar in Whitechapel. Nik brought with him an entirely
new set of references, ranging from LCD Soundsystem and the
Pixies to Suicide and Iggy Pop. The new collaboration resulted in
the February 2020 release, ‘This House’, an eclectic four-track
collection fusing funk, blues and soul and featuring production
from Jamie Hince of The Kills. In July the same year the duo
released an unofficial mixtape, ‘Rethinking Sensual Pleasure’,
which they wrote while locked down together at Baba’s parents’
house in New Jersey, having been temporarily stranded in the US
following their New York shows.
Today Baba describes this process of producing a longer body of
work as being akin to “ripping a Band-Aid off,” giving them the
confidence to begin writing their debut. Work on ‘Memory Device’
began shortly afterwards, culminating in the pair recording the
album between November 2020 and February 2021 with Al Doyle,
who was chosen for his vast experience operating at the
intersection between dance and rock music. There’s no question
that Baba is leading by example with ‘Memory Device’.

As the grandson of the late trumpeter Doc Cheatham, and former student of legendary jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, trumpeter Theo Croker is an artist steeped in jazz tradition and he is rapidly becoming one of the hottest jazz artists of this era.

Croker's own music reveals a love of organic funk, soul, and groove-oriented hip-hop. Helping to raise Croker's musical vibrations is his ensemble, featuring saxophonist Anthony Ware, keyboardist Michael King, guitarist Ben Eunson, bassist Eric Wheeler, and drummer Kassa Overall. Also adding color to the proceedings are guitarist Femi Temowo and saxophonist Irwin Hall. Dee Dee Bridgewater appears on the classic tune 'Love From The Sun'. Croker proves he's got deep ideas about life, spirituality, and how music connects us all. It's an ebullient, groove-conscious message perhaps best expressed on the bass-heavy 'It's Gonna Be Alright.' Trading the song's title phrase back and forth like old friends high-fiving on the street, you can hear Croker and his band smiling.

repress

Mono Junk's cult label DUM Records is back with a new five track Various Artists EP that again packs a vital punch. He appears himself along with some fellow legends of the scene.
First up, Morpholgy is a consistent performer who has continued to serve up quality electro since 2009 and here serves up a hot new piece. 'Vector Plant' is busy and industrial, slick and metallic as it unfolds and burrows deep into your veins. Then comes the A2, Irwin Berg featuring Freestyle Man (aka Finnish Moodmusic boss Sasse aka Klas Lindblad) with a track made in 1995 and never released before. This pair worked together and made a cult electro record for Sähkö Recordigs in 1998 and this one is just as impactful. It is frosty and frazzled, slow motion but high impact and full of distorted lines and heavy drums.

Next is Mr Velcro Fastener who were the first kings of electro to come out of Finland and between 1999 and 2006 were famous all over the world. Their brand new cut 'Almost There' is a deep one that is riddled with bleeping melodies and has smeared chords bringing a sci-fi feel. Then it is Mono Junk's turn to dive into the vaults with an unreleased track from 2005. 'Feeling or Destroy' is a physical number with crashing hits and snaking, gurgling bass that is dark and dystopian. Last of all comes Irwin Berg with Mono Junk as New York City Survivors. Says the DUM boss, Our unreleased track here was made after the New York City Survivors - Static Light CD 2002' and it is a turbo charged track with screwed up grinding bass, icy hi hat rhythms and menace in its grooves.

Grey Vinyl

Nous'klaer presents their summer sampler of 2021! Eight hot tracks by new and known names on the label, to celebrate their 50th vinyl release. Starting with the haunting opener Faded Red by Djoser, to a deep techno cut of Pugilist and straight onto RAFF's banger Yeye. Floid debuts with his pumping 4x4 tune PJEE, and Panda Lassow delivers her signature trippy wonkiness that evolves into an addictive rave climax. The last tracks see Konduku and Oceanic making a return to the label with what they do best - and closing is the dubby debut track from Animalia's label owner Kia. Comes in silver vinyl and artwork, designed by Woody92.