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With so much going on in the world right now, it's safe to say we need to spread far more Joy then is circulating…

And who else deliver's Joy of this magnitude? The king of disco, Dr Packer. The Legendary Champion Records has enlisted the mirror ball man of the last decade to flip this absolute classic from Staxx and the gorgeous vocals of Carol Leeming. Perfect for sunsets AND sunrises, charge your cocktails!


DJ Feedback:

David Guetta - tasty update

Utah Saints - Minitsry Of Sound / FFRR - Cool groove. Production on point

DJ Kue - Dope!

MING - Nice one, I'll Play !!!

Steven 'Sugar' Harding - Milk & Sugar / M&S Recs - Love it!

DJ Rae - Good memories, nice work

Ember - Huge!

D.O.N.S. - Cool House tune. Support!

Black Legend - Defected / Simma Black - big one

Ruben Mandolini - Snatch! / Mother / Saved - Nice!

Sugarstarr - Defected / Toolroom / Vienna - Excellent

Tommie Sunshine - PACKER ALWAYS DELIVERS!!!

Vanilla Ace - Nice sounds

Kyle Kinch - Realm / Solotoko / Farris Wheel / HUGS - groovy

Severino - sweeet

MB Mgmt - top draw !

Jerk Boy - I've been eye'ing of this for a reboot for years ! I played this to death back in the day!..great remix !

Yolanda Be Cool - Sweat It Out / Club Sweat - cool...

Alignment is back on Charlotte de Witte's KNTXT label for a fourth time with his Attack EP. It offers four more forward-thinking tracks of trance infused techno.

Berlin-based, Italian-born artist Alignment, whose real name is Francesco Pierfelice, has emerged as a real force in the techno world in recent years. He has had an outstanding array of vital productions, and his sound helps carry forward the diversity and musical identity KNTXT stands for. His sound has smartly evolved since as he continues to pick up new influences. All that comes out on this superb new release.

Says the artist, ‘I am more than happy to contribute with ‘Attack EP’, another release on such a renowned imprint like KNTXT. Charlotte has supported me since day one, and I am hugely grateful to release for the fourth time on her label. Four tracks that are straight to the floor, they are the outcome of touring clubs and festivals again now in 2022. Enjoy this selection and see you soon on the dance-floor!’

Says label boss Charlotte de Witte, ‘Alignment is one of my favourite producers out there. His high energy style and sound always deliver on the dancefloor. I'm very proud and honoured to have him once again on board for another four killer tracks on KNTXT.’

Attack opens up with hammering drums and turbo-charged synths. It is an all powerful track that drills deep and brings a real sense of rave to the club. There is an ever present sense of euphoria to Dream State as the trance synth loops bring real light and emotion to the flat footed and slamming drums. Some steamy vocals add that all important hook and ensure real dance floor destruction. Multiverse brings bouncing techno funk beneath edgy synth stabs and industrial percussion design for soot-black warehouse spaces. Last of all is The Way, another unstoppable and supersized techno offering with hands-in-the air synth designs and drums that just don't quit.

This is another fiery offering of new school techno from Alignment.

Club Night Club is excited to present its latest release via Bristol’s Cleyra.

‘Ruk’ (A1) is a spatial builder. The glitched-out mover presents a delicate exercise in restraint, its skeletal rhythms gradually enveloped within a haze of sound design and dubbed out synth lines.

In six short minutes the track builds into a continuous ascension of synthetic tension, resulting in a deceptively lethal club joint.

A2’s ‘Uninvited’ is a frantic club screamer. A real shake-the-rave bouncer capable of serious floor damage. Pro-tier mixing holds together a speed demon barrage of percussive hits and shrieking resonance. This deadly cut, much like the record as a whole, manages to sustain a flare of intimacy even in its most punishing moments.

The B-side counterbalances the deadly with the delicate.

‘2b’ (B1) leans into the warm and melodic, perhaps the most direct manifestation of the EP’s title. A heart wrenching bloom unfolds, enveloping the listener like a warm hug as the lights come on in the wee hours. The track is an immaculate sketch of raw emotion, deep tenderness mapped out through Cleyra’s distinct brand of innovative composition. ‘Triumph’ closes out the record with some wonky no-nonsense chug action. A hypnotic low-slung groover which packs a final sting towards the end. One for the headbangers.

From start to finish ‘Soft Bloom’ is a striking feat of sonic creation, guaranteed to subvert listener’s expectations and dancer’s footsteps alike.

Samuel L Session and Van Czar drop a four-track techno EP on Unrilis that showcases a deeper and more hypnotic sound with dystopian atmosphere and driving percussion. Rino Cerrone launched the Unrilis record label over 15 years ago, and part of the label's back catalogue is its iconic Rilis series. 2022 sees the relaunch of the Rilis series that has a focus on underground DJ tools with raw analogue sounds. The Rilis series was originally launched in 1999, and was restricted to a concept on only 10 releases, each pressing a limited run of vinyl. It was hugely popular with each one often selling out in only a week and picking up DJ support by people ranging from Jeff Mills to Richie Hawtin. Those first 10 releases were focused on Rino Cerrone's own music, but since his retirement from the industry, the revitalised Rilis series will welcome other artists whose sound matches the label's underground concept.
This latest release in the Rilis series features collaborative tracks by Samuel L Session and Van Czar who have previously teamed up for releases on other imprints ranging from Marco Bailey's MB Elektronics to Ben Sims' Hardgrooves. Both are also successful solo artists, Sweden's Samuel L Session being well-known for his headline DJ sets at clubs around the world, along with the music he has released via iconic imprints such as Slam's Soma, Shlomi Aber's Be As One, Len Faki's Figure and Emmanuel's ARTS plus his own imprints SLS, Cycle, New Soil, and Klap Klap Belgium's Van Czar is also an accomplished DJ who is well-established across Europe and he has also released music on respected record labels ranging from Kevin Saunderson's KMS Records as well as the classic imprint, Yin Yang.
'Air Raid' opens the release with its eerie pads, spine-tingling melody loop and machine-driven percussion. It's got a raw aesthetic with dramatic claps and snare fills that add to the building suspense.
'18-022' is a dark and stripped back track with modulating synth textures layered with fast-flowing high-end percussion. Its pounding kick drum and clap rhythms add rigid structure to its expansive atmosphere and dance floor focused groove.
'Route 200' has thrashing cymbals punishing claps and rippling pads that create a stripped back groove submerged in deep atmosphere. Rich with analogue textures and gritty sound design, its relentless energy is tailor made for club sound systems.
'Objectivism' closes out the release with it's funky bassline and bleeping melody. Whirling textures and fluttering percussion maintain an unrelenting tension that's driven forward by the pounding kick drum.

The 1980s will forever be remembered for electropop sensations, yet few, if any, are quite as sensational as Yaz's Upstairs at Eric's. A standard-setting mélange of smoky blues singing, jazzy arrangements, disco-tinged beats, and dancefloor vibes, the smash debut fits equally as well at a late-night club as it does in a living room, where the record's complexity and exoticism takes listeners hostage. No wonder the 1982 landmark remains one of the decade's most essential albums.

This numbered edition Silver Label LP breathes with a decongested openness, textural richness, and expansive tonal palette. Alison Moyet's inimitable vocals, such a huge part of the record's appeal, are dramatically enhanced, her sensual timbre, bittersweet crooning, and knockout range now encompassing the full frequency spectrum and projecting outward in a way that traverses the flatness of the original pressings.

Indeed, her bluesy deliveries are at once elegant and exuberant, and give collaborative partner Vince Clarke free range to construct beat architectures that encompass freewheeling disco, house music, uptempo dance, and chilled-out pop. The former Depeche Mode member also layers on elegant keyboard melodies, establishing contagious hooks and electronic-laced landscapes that preceded the techno explosion and do so with a cooler elegance. Tape loops, random field-noise dialogues, and synth-stroked bass notes add to what's nothing less than a perfect collusion of moody paranoia and soulful warmth.

While a cousin to synth-pop LPs by the likes of the Eurythmics, Soft Cell, OMD, and Depeche Mode, Yaz's Upstairs at Eric's is singular for its chemistry between Moyet and Clarke – and an insouciant batch of songs high on emotion, style, and substance.

It almost seems churlish to regard Celtic Frost as one of the great extreme metal bands, because they were so much more than that. It’s better to hail them as among the finest extreme and experimental bands of the 1980s. Refusing ever to do what was expected or demanded, the band constantly changed musical direction, always brought in surprising influences, and kept people guessing as to where they might venture next. Their catalogue of albums is formidable and unmatched. Each is not only unique, but part of an entire tapestry that only now can be appreciated for being a remarkable part of music history. Despite, or maybe because of, constant turmoil on so many fronts, Celtic Frost achieved an artistic level few others would even have dared to dream of aspiring towards. They climbed high because they were never afraid to fall. Which is why the band are now rightly regarded as icons, and iconoclasts.

The debut album from the band was released in 1984, and was quickly recognised as the work of agitated and agitating talents. This album was a huge influence on the burgeoning death and thrash scenes at the time. A masterclass of riff tirades and unholy sentiments. This reissue includes rehearsals from 1984 and the concept and art direction of the release was done by the man behind Celtic Frost, Tom G. Warrior.

German Symphonic Metal shooting stars Beyond the Black look back on a stratospheric success story. Already their 2015 debut album hit like a bomb in their home country. “Songs Of Love And Death” besieged the German Top 15 for weeks and lead up to the band being awarded the Metal Hammer Award 2015 for “Best Debut”.
Its successor “Lost In Forever” (2016) entered the German charts on #4 right away and paved ways for a huge tour from Germany over countries like UK, Russia or Japan. Since the band’s live debut in 2014 they have played the world’s biggest Metal festival Wacken Open Air several times and toured as a support act for heavyweights such as Aerosmith, Korn, Scorpions, Saxon or Within Temptation.
In the course of album release number three (“Heart Of the Hurricane”) Beyond the Black absolved their first own European headline tour in fall 2019 consisting of over 20 shows in 10 countries – most of them sold out. But even before finishing their touring cycle in Beyond the Black got back to the studio to write record number four.
The highly anticipated “Horizons” was finally released in June 2020, entered the German album charts on #3 (CH #6, AT #16, BE #53) and marks the band’s most successful album release to date.

Now, two years after that, Beyond the Black are back with a bang and start a new chapter with the release of their new single “Reincarnation”. Jennifer Haben proclaims:
“Reincarnation materialized from a growing recognition of our mortality as humans and the consequent responsibility to live our lives to the fullest. This responsibility means to stand up for yourself, relentlessly fight for your values and also confront your biggest fears. Reincarnation is about becoming your true self and starts a new, epic chapter. This is Beyond the Black! And Beyond the Black is back!"

Billy Nomates, the project of the Bristol-based songwriter, producer
and multi-instrumentalist Tor Maries, announces the release of her
much anticipated second studio album, ‘CACTI’, via Invada Records.
 Recorded at her flat and Invada Studios, ‘CACTI’ is a huge step up
for the artist, who received widespread critical acclaim for her
eponymous 2020 debut album, with heavy airplay across BBC Radio
6 Music and support from luminaries such as Iggy Pop, Florence
Welsh and Steve Albini.
 Though every bit as unrepentant as Billy Nomates’ debut, ‘CACTI’
comes from a much more exposed place and sees Tor further
develop her instinctive, inventive songwriting and production.
Unafraid to wade into the traumas of the past two years and the eerie
sense of apathy that lingers, alongside heartache and more political
themes, the 12-track collection openly confronts uncomfortable truths,
as Tor puts it, “70-80% of being bold is about being vulnerable as
hell.”
 Maries said: “Writing ‘CACTI’ took just over a year. I wrote very
intensely and then none at all. (This seems to be the way I work
best). I picked up old drum machines, mapped out things in my
kitchen with the same small micro keyboard I always use and then
raided the cupboards and rooms at Invada Studios, to play and
experiment with old synths, an upright piano, this weird organ thing. I
hope everyone finds their own narrative in ‘CACTI’. I think it’s about
surviving it all.”
 ‘CACTI’ features ‘blue bones’ and ‘balance is gone’, both of which
have been playlisted at BBC 6 Music.

Before Mahjun (of which Souffle Continu reissued, in 2016, the two albums released on Saravah), there was... Maajun. Five musicians (Jean-Pierre Arnoux, Cyril and Jean-Louis Lefebvre, Alain Roux and Roger Scaglia) and three times as many instruments at the service of an electric-poetic guerrilla group moulded from folk and blues. The group’s unique album, “Vivre la Mort du Vieux Monde” evokes an (imaginary) association of Frank Zappa and Jacques Higelin, of Sonny Sharrock and the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. Under these conditions, Long Live Death!

“The most French of all the French groups, determined to take Maurice Chevalier’s place in American hearts.” This was how Rock&Folk presented Mahjun in 1977. So be it. But when “Vivre la Mort du Vieux Monde”, was issued, it was 1971, and the name, though the same group, was still spelled Maajun. So, let’s look back at the story.

At the end of the sixties, five blues fans decided to form a French group ready to break down the barriers: Jean-Pierre Arnoux (drums, vibraphone, saxophone), Cyril Lefebvre (guitar, organ), Jean-Louis Lefebvre (bass, violin, guitar, vocals), Alain Roux (saxophone, flute, harmonica, vocals) and Roger Scaglia (guitar, vocals). This was Maajun, and Vivre la mort du vieux monde would be their only album, but which would (nevertheless) be followed by those of Mahjun created later by Lefebvre (Jean-Louis) and Arnoux.

Recorded for the Vogue label, “Vivre la Mort du Vieux Monde” would disturb a number of people. This is mostly due to the lyrics, many of which were written by Gérald Escot-Bocanegra, who, while summoning the spirit of Lautréamont and Rimbaud, turned the Maajun musicians on to rock and free jazz. Add a bit of politics into the mix, and the release of the album was delayed for several months. But then, wasn’t it worth waiting for?

Because “Vivre la Mort du Vieux Monde”, a real concept-album, is an important and iconoclastic statement made directly in the face of (francophone) dreamers of all countries. Over heavy guitar riffs, psychedelic interludes or fantasy-fuelled digressions, Maajun built mazes on the advice of alchemists known only to themselves before heading off on a long march on the “cracking walls”. It was an ambitious project, but Maajun could handle it, going so far as to proclaim: “Tomorrow will be a huge party!” But as we can see “tomorrow”, is now!

PETE MOLINARI is a country blues singer, songwriter from the Medway Delta. He was born into a large Maltese/ Italian/ Egyptian family in Chatham, Kent, where he was discovered by Billy Childish.
He’s got five critically-acclaimed albums’ worth of timeless folk, blues, rock and alt- country songs to his credit, plus a bunch more EPs.

THIS IS THE FIRST PHYSICAL RELEASE OF ALBUM ONLY RELEASED DIGITALLY IN 2020 DURING THE PANDEMIC…AVAILABLE ON BLACK VINYL AND INDIES-ONLY PALE BLUE VINYL (NON-RETURNABLE) WITH NEW ARTWORK.

Just Like Achilles is the distillation of everything Pete has learned since those years on the road as a travelling troubadour, playing tiny theatres and coffee houses everywhere from London, to New York, Paris to Nashville and around the world, eventually taking him to the most celebrated venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Festival Hall, Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall.

Just Like Achilles brims with big songs and huge choruses. After a first listen, it’s like you’ve known and loved this record forever. Although surprising for some who think he is the lone songwriter with his guitar, Pete is a big fan of Pop. Yes, somewhat of a dirty word today, but it is that timeless and well-crafted pop that created so many hit songs in the past that we still adore today.

Pete’s songs always cut straight to the heart of the matter. No fat, no artifice, no histrionics. The sound is real. Live. Real people playing real instruments. Front and center are Pete’s own majestic guitar chops and unique, soulful voice. Even on Achilles’ sadder songs, there’s a buoyancy and potency to them, an infectious effervescence that imbues life is for living, and it is that loving of life that we find celebrated in every song, arrangement and composition.

To coincide with Just Like Achilles highly anticipated release, Linda Perry organized an extraordinary event. She booked out the legendary Capitol Records’ Studio A and hit her contacts list to pull together a supergroup to join Pete in performing his new songs live in the studio. It included legends Ronnie Spector and Don Was, plus Mike Garson and Gail Ann Dorsey from the David Bowie band. Evan Rachel Wood also came along to sing on a couple of songs, while Jakob Dylan duetted with Pete on a very special version of “Waiting For A Train”.

So, everything was ready to go, ready for release. This was the beginning of 2020. And then .... well, as we all know, everything stopped. Now, two more years on, this is Take Two: Just Like Achilles is finally set to receive the release it always deserved.

Blue Vinyl

PETE MOLINARI is a country blues singer, songwriter from the Medway Delta. He was born into a large Maltese/ Italian/ Egyptian family in Chatham, Kent, where he was discovered by Billy Childish.
He’s got five critically-acclaimed albums’ worth of timeless folk, blues, rock and alt- country songs to his credit, plus a bunch more EPs.

THIS IS THE FIRST PHYSICAL RELEASE OF ALBUM ONLY RELEASED DIGITALLY IN 2020 DURING THE PANDEMIC…AVAILABLE ON BLACK VINYL AND INDIES-ONLY PALE BLUE VINYL (NON-RETURNABLE) WITH NEW ARTWORK.

Just Like Achilles is the distillation of everything Pete has learned since those years on the road as a travelling troubadour, playing tiny theatres and coffee houses everywhere from London, to New York, Paris to Nashville and around the world, eventually taking him to the most celebrated venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Festival Hall, Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall.

Just Like Achilles brims with big songs and huge choruses. After a first listen, it’s like you’ve known and loved this record forever. Although surprising for some who think he is the lone songwriter with his guitar, Pete is a big fan of Pop. Yes, somewhat of a dirty word today, but it is that timeless and well-crafted pop that created so many hit songs in the past that we still adore today.

Pete’s songs always cut straight to the heart of the matter. No fat, no artifice, no histrionics. The sound is real. Live. Real people playing real instruments. Front and center are Pete’s own majestic guitar chops and unique, soulful voice. Even on Achilles’ sadder songs, there’s a buoyancy and potency to them, an infectious effervescence that imbues life is for living, and it is that loving of life that we find celebrated in every song, arrangement and composition.

To coincide with Just Like Achilles highly anticipated release, Linda Perry organized an extraordinary event. She booked out the legendary Capitol Records’ Studio A and hit her contacts list to pull together a supergroup to join Pete in performing his new songs live in the studio. It included legends Ronnie Spector and Don Was, plus Mike Garson and Gail Ann Dorsey from the David Bowie band. Evan Rachel Wood also came along to sing on a couple of songs, while Jakob Dylan duetted with Pete on a very special version of “Waiting For A Train”.

So, everything was ready to go, ready for release. This was the beginning of 2020. And then .... well, as we all know, everything stopped. Now, two more years on, this is Take Two: Just Like Achilles is finally set to receive the release it always deserved.

Limited Violet Vinyl repress for Indies only. Genre: alternative/punk/heavy/riot grrl. Debut album for legendary Tasmanian noise-punk band formed in the early 90s. Recordings span more than 20 years, including tracks thought lost on a corrupted hard drive from the late 90s. Legendary Australian punk band Little Ugly Girls formed in Hobart, Tasmania in the very early 90s, but have never released a record until now. This new self-titled set is officially their debut album, and features recordings spanning more than 20 years. The band formed around fiery vocalist Linda Johnston, whose high-kicking stage antics make her one of Australia's most electrifying frontpeople, and her guitar demon brother Dannie "Bean" Johnston. After moving to Melbourne in the mid 90s, the band settled on their classic lineup of Brent "Sloth" Punshon on drums, and rock-solid bassist Mindy Mapp (previously of another cult 90s band, Brisbane's much-loved Fur). Little Ugly Girls played with the likes of Bikini Kill, Fugazi, and once memorably headlined over the White Stripes in Melbourne. But their only recordings released to date include a handful of 90s cassettes. Now nearly 30 years since they formed, the debut album by Little Ugly Girls shows them at their towering best - fierce and inspiring, with Linda's scarifying lyrics and impassioned delivery set to a huge wall of taut punk noise. It has been a long time coming, but it's as good as you could have dreamed. Tracklist 1. Tractor 2. Slip 3. Jimmeh 4. Senseless 5. Baggage 6. The Pit 7. Storm After Storm 8. Dead C 9. Snap 10. Tardis 11. Vinegar 12. Boxen-Hooda-Hayda

A deranged cacophony straight out of London, England. On their debut, self-titled release, VIOLIN blend elements of Swedish masters TOTALITÄR and HEADCLEANERS with the muscle and swagger of Boston 82 and the panicked power of NYHC in the mid 80s. The end result is a Mind numbingly fast and concise pure hardcore punk that is all together contemporary, edging in at times on the learned idiocy of Toronto’s S.H.I.T. VIOLIN is the brainchild of Lindsay Corstorphine (SAUNA YOUTH, MONOTONY, PRIMITIVE PARTS etc) who has written, mixed and recorded everything on this stellar release, with the exception of the drums, here carried out by the inimitable Jonah Falco of FUCKED UP fame. Pinning Falco’s drumming to Corstorphine's vision has nailed a sound which is at once huge and perfectly audible, whilst remaining brutal and ugly in tone. There are moments of genuine innovation on display as is evident on the track ‘Empty Mind’ which begins with discordant noise, before building from a mid-paced swing into frantic lunacy, and then introducing a harrowing and unexpected synthesiser. The stark black and white artwork, carried out by Daniel David Freeman, provides a perfectly abstract and menacing back drop to this slab of primitive hardcore.

VINYL COLOUR IS SNOW WHITE! As a founding member of Bauhaus, David J helped spearhead the post-punk scene of the early ‘80’s with a string of innovative work, including Bauhaus’ defining moment, a bona fide classic and feasibly the pinnacle of the entire goth scene: the nine minute plus epic slab of industrial dub “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” featuring David’s lyrics and bass guitar work. Bauhaus propelled to the upper echelons of the UK charts before reaching their zenith in the summer of ’83 and imploding – shattering into fragments of individual talent. This implosion gave rise to David's wide-ranging solo career. The first of Bauhaus’ members to actively release music outside of the band, David went on to put out solo work and collaborations with various authors, poets and infamous indies such as 4AD. In 1985, David regrouped with two former Bauhaus members to form the hugely successful Love and Rockets. Since then, David has continued to produce his trademark brand of deeply heartfelt and darkly sophisticated music. Highlights of What The Patrons Heard include a timely rendition of Neil Young’s “Vampire Blues” delivered with penetrating intensity; “Gimme Some Truth,” which brings new urgency and potency to the John Lennon classic; and “Lay Over And Lay,” which delivers folk-punk that only musicians from the British Isles can get right.

The soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s FULL METAL JACKET is an even split of memorable needle drops from artists such as The Dixie Cups, Nancy Sinatra, and The Trashmen, and an intense, moody score by Abigail Mead (actually Kubrick’s daughter Vivian under her preferred composer credit). Mead’s work delivers huge, haunting swathes of metallic drones and atmosphere, giving way to punishing rhythmic drums that sound like explosions, helicopters, and warfare. It’s a remarkable piece of music that sounds years ahead of its time.

The old adage about Elvis Presley is that his soundtrack work never held a candle next to his studio albums. Though true for a majority of his film-related outings, the traditional notion is forever disproved by his Blue Hawaii set. Originally released in 1961 in support of the film in which he starred, the triple-platinum LP spent nearly five months at the top of the Billboard album charts; outsold his two prior studio efforts; and ultimately, remains the second-best-selling soundtrack of the musical-dominant 1960s. And now, it has received sonic treatment befitting rock royalty.

Recorded before the King started to burn out on soundtracks and go into a creative tailspin, Blue Hawaii presents him in tremendous voice. The newly uncovered layers of detail, body, emotionalism, and tonality on this SACD bring that treasured element – as well as the brilliance of the arrangements and accompaniment – to light like never before. Presley's warm crooning alone warrants unmitigated attention. It's not for nothing that this record – replete with panache, whimsy, romance, and seriousness – forever altered the course of his career.

Much like the film itself, the music on Blue Hawaii subscribes to a feel-good aesthetic. Presley plunges into a stylistic deep end with equal parts fearlessness and fun. He delves into early rock ‘n' roll ("Rock-A-Hula Baby"); touching balladry ("Hawaiian Wedding Song"); playful rumba ("Beach Boy Blues"); relaxing luaus ("Hawaiian Sunset"); and naturally, island-inspired fare ("Ku-U-I-Po"). It becomes immediately evident that the King is enjoying himself and committed to the mission. Is Blue Hawaii all serious art? No, but it was never intended to be. Rather, it serves as a showcase of Presley's outgoing personality and chameleon-like ability – like that of Frank Sinatra – to inhabit different roles and entertain.

Of course, Blue Hawaii remains timeless for another reason: The inclusion of the timeless, gorgeous, and still-untouchable staple "Can't Help Falling in Love." Penned by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss, the love song quickly transformed into an international standard – with Presley's definitive version hitting No. 2 on the charts and ultimately becoming the closing song to his concerts. Ranked among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone, its conviction, sentiment, and depth testify on behalf of why Presley still reigns as the King.

However subtly, the staple also underscores another reason Blue Hawaii should never be overlooked in Presley's canon: the ace musicians involved in its creation. Guitarists Scotty Moore and Hank Garland; drummer D.J. Fontana; percussionist Hal Blaine; pianist Floyd Cramer; bassist Bob Moore; and iconic gospel backing vocalists the Jordanaires all contribute masterful performances. Hearing them with such expressiveness, openness, and realism on this 2LP 45RPM & SACD should forever alter how Presley's 1961 soundtrack – the finest of his career – is viewed. As he sings in the title track, dreams come true, indeed.

Celebrate the technical expertise of the world's finest LP pressing plant — Quality Record Pressings — with the finest LP sampler ever assembled!

The Wonderful Sounds Of Quality Record Pressings includes music hand-picked by Acoustic Sounds CEO Chad Kassem and classical music tracks chosen by the team at Reference Recordings.

Every song meets the criteria of excellent performance, perfect recording and flawless mastering. What better way to celebrate such a monumental anniversary for one of the absolute leading brands in analog high fidelity than with this to-die-for LP sampler? Contains most genres of music — blues, jazz, classical, R&B and female vocal. From now on, you'll only need to carry one demo record around with you.

Vinyl expert Michael Fremer, of Analogue Planet and Stereophile, gives you a track-by-track tour of the history and production of the songs on this special album.

What separates our world-renowned Quality Record Pressings LPs from other manufacturers? Since Acoustic Sounds CEO Chad Kassem launched QRP in 2011, the focus has been on producing consistently virtually silent vinyl playing surfaces, as well as reproducing details that were hallmarks of vintage labels — the "deep groove" label of Blue Note LPs, for example.

The craft of pressing fine vinyl is perfected in such details. Such as plating lacquers within 24 hours of their arrival at the plant. Cut grooves are prone to change with temperature fluxuations, high humidity and time. The sooner that lacquers are plated, the better the fidelity of the final pressing. Other keys include using a proprietary silver spray formulation, made fresh daily. And incorporating computer microprocessors on our presses to precisely control press functions with absolute precision. And an imbedded temperature sensor in the dye cycles the press with just as much control. The result — more consistency in each LP, high fidelity and reduced distortion. The ultimate sonic advantage.

(2022 REMASTER)

Murcof"s first three albums are to be reissued on vinyl to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of his seminal debut album, Martes. Out of print for many years, these albums have been hugely influential in the worlds of minimal and ambient electronic music in their use of modern classical instrumentation, and are significant landmarks in the history of The Leaf Label. Each of the reissues is presented in a new gatefold sleeve featuring updated artwork, with Remembranza and Cosmos featuring fully remastered audio, and Cosmos including a previously unreleased bonus track.

Jamie Jones and Lee Foss’ label Hot Creations will deliver a combined EP by Aix en Provence-based DJ and producer MALIKK and Marseille-born duo Chicks Luv Us in August. Bridging chunky tech house with dub techno, Can We Dance displays their collective love for bright and playful beats.

On the title track, the producers work in symbiosis to create a club-driven chunker with chopped-up vocal samples and a squishy bassline. Bouncy ‘til the last beat. On the B-side, Chicks Luv Us drop a Balearic-flavoured banger with Makelene. High-pitched vocals pulsate throughout the track, as huge kickdrums and playful sound FX amp up the energy. MALIKK offers a quirky closing track on Walkie Talkie, packed with punchy drums, bleepy percussion and techy vocals—perfectly aligned with Hot Creations’ colourful aesthetic.

Chicks Luv Us are two Marseille-born pals with a penchant for groovy house and minimal techno. Their back catalogue echoes the textures that bring them together as producers, with releases on Loco Dice’s Desolat, Steve Lawler’s Viva Limited and many more. They cut their teeth in DJing during their residency at Spartacus Club in Cabriès in the south of France from 2009 and 2018. Today, the pair continue to grow a legion of international fans while finessing their craft in the studio, and soundtracking dancefloors worldwide. MALIKK is an Aix en Provence-based artist whose early appreciation for 80’s disco, funky and soul still occasionally seeps into his current club-focused music. Previous releases on Hot Creations, Hottrax, Toolroom, and Solotoko display his multi-dynamic palette, nodding to several genres and moods. Having played in Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and his native France, MALIKK’s DJ sets reflect his fun and explorative approach, marking him as one of Aix en Provence’s finest exports.