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Continue As Amery is the debut album by Montreal-based artist Amery. Formerly recording under the moniker Alpen Glow, Continue As Amery sees the songwriter step out into a bold, colourful world full of pop hooks, snagging feelings of abandon and the mornings after. Amery Sandford began releasing as Alpen Glow in 2020 after years playing in punk groups in Newfoundland and as half of Montreal pop duo Born At Midnite (Arbutus). Recorded in Montreal by David Carriere (TOPS, Marci), Patrick Holland, and Kristian North, Continue As Amery is a blast of melodic joie de vivre. On her debut Sandford brings her punk and DIY credentials into sharp focus on 8 perfect pop odes to city living, making mistakes and figuring it out as you go along. Suffuse with powerful imagery and an almost uncanny talent at spinning out hooks brimming with humour and spirit, Amery’s soundworld is informed by friendship, experience and by her day job as a renowned illustrator and visual artist. Beginning Alpen Glow in a spirit of fun and now shedding the alias, Amery’s ready to hotwire the nite. Each song is rich with story. Mountain FM, named for the radio station in Sandford’s home town in the mountains of Alberta, launches into a tale of speeding, blasting the radio too loud, the giddy burning of rubber with no care in the world to slow you down. Featuring live band members Sarah Harris, Jack Bielli, and Frank Climenhage, the singer bristles to get out of her stifling hometown while lamenting the wide eyed adventurer who left for the big city. On Hotwire The Nite, Amery is out on the town, with imagery loaded with the night’s promise. Amery sings “Black candle / Dripping intel / Dagger hanging by an emerald handle / Holy roller that I just can’t have without my hand on an old flame,” diving in and out of fantasy and desire over a pulsating banger. Moments like these feel like a thesis on aural pleasure, with the production sleek and silky playfulness persisting throughout. Spirit Is Broken is a pep talk the artist is giving herself in the mirror. Only Amery could write something so joyous and harmonically glorious while singing about low ebbs. Every line shines with humour, the chorus starting with an exasperated “oh my god, alright” and the refrain nailing the bittersweet feeling of enjoying feeling down. It’s a mood continued on slow groover Ennui, a melter striking out at being stuck; same parties, same faces, daring to dream beyond. As an illustrator and visual artist, Sandford’s images detail dancing instrument-clad animals, party scenes that nod to historical image making heavy hitters like Hieronymus Bosch and Ludwig Bemelmans. On Miracles, Amery deals in bold pop production and her yearning to escape into fantasy, given wings by Korgs and drum machines. On Rocker Blues, originally by French artist FR David, Amery brings the heavy with synth-guitar and an undeniable chorus. C9 is in some ways the album’s centrepiece, a mid tempo funk jam and duet with Montreal stalwart Fireball Kid, it’s the party just out of reach on the horizon. The thing about Cloud 9 is that on the comedown you might get a hella lot of rain. The world Amery builds is intoxicating, rich and most importantly open for anyone to fall into. To be continued…

Ever since the 2003 release of her debut, Another Mind, Hiromi has electrified audiences with a creative energy that encompasses and eclipses the boundaries of jazz, classical and pop, taking improvisation and composition to new heights of complexity and sophistication. On her most recent album, Silver Lining Suite, Hiromi further exemplifies her virtuosic hybridity and emotional range, finding strength and hope amidst the turmoil of the pandemic. 
 

Born in Hamamatsu, Japan in 1979, Hiromi’s first piano teacher, Noriko Hikida, exposed Hiromi to jazz and introduced her to the great pianists Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson. She enrolled in the Yamaha School of Music and started writing music. 

 

Hiromi moved to the United States in 1999 and studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Among her mentors was jazz bassist/arranger Richard Evans, who took Hiromi’s demo to his friend, the legendary pianist Ahmad Jamal. Evans co-produced Another Mind with Jamal. 

 

Another Mind was a critical success in North America and Japan, where the album shipped gold and received the Recording Industry Association of Japan’s Jazz Album of the Year Award. Hiromi’s astonishing debut was but a forecast of the shape of jazz to come. 

 

In 2009, she recorded with pianist Chick Corea on Duet, a live recording of their concert in Tokyo. She also appeared on bassist Stanley Clarke’s Grammy-winning release, Jazz in the Garden. 

 

In the summer of 2021, Hiromi performed at the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics. 

Following a ten-year hiatus, multi-instrumentalists Rafael Anton Irisarri and Benoît Pioulard return with »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes«, their third LP together as Orcas. Building on the electronic minimalism of »Orcas« (2012) and the Twin Peaks-inspired haze of »Yearling« (2014), the duo have expanded their sound and vision into a full-spectrum ensemble.

In the time since their last major collaboration, Irisarri and Pioulard have done plenty on their own, while also traversing significant life changes: relocation from Seattle to New York, separation and divorce, illness, hospitalizations, and the loss of siblings, parents, and friends. Yet from these tribulations, they gleaned inspiration to reconstruct their lives, creating music with new collaborators and partners. Recorded in a variety of studios and cities including Brooklyn, Cambridge, Oxford, Seattle, and upstate New York, the resulting album, under the tutelage of UK producer James Brown (Arctic Monkeys, Kevin Shields, Nine Inch Nails), is a patiently-crafted beast, equally inspired by impressionism, British new wave, and dream pop.

With Irisarri’s guidance and Brown’s encouragement, Pioulard brings his velvety voice to its harmonized peak on songs like »Wrong Way to Fall« and the Durutti Column-indebted »Fare«. Where his most recent solo albums for Morr Music (»Sylva« and »Eidetic«) navigated foggy forests of ambient pop and stacked tape loops, here his characteristic blur shifts into focus with a unique degree of clarity and confidence. »How fare against balance do I / Navigate my errors?«, Pioulard sings in a heartbreaking tenor, echoing the album’s broader themes of introspection, grief, loss, trial and trauma.

Lead single, »Riptide«, is a summary of Pioulard’s life changes and personal upheavals in the past decade, »flitting eastward toward a yen deep in the past« and learning to glide through the tumult of ocean waves, as a metaphor for the punches one takes in pursuit of grace. Its towering, key-changing midsection arrives with the monumental drumming of Slowdive’s Simon Scott, a long-time friend and cohort who appears on most songs in the set. Scott’s quintessentially English, jazzier approach offers a balance of force and restraint as the backdrop for Irisarri’s majestic guitars, analog synth lines, and Martin Heyne’s Fender Rhodes counterpoints.

Second single, »Next Life«, began as a sketch by Scott, and reached its final form in the hands of Pioulard and Irisarri, at a point that each had endured major concurrent losses, finding a commonality in the need to gaze over the horizon while acknowledging the unavoidable bittersweetness of letting go – not only of people, but of routines, places, and expectations. It’s one of Orcas’ most nuanced pieces, with a mid-tempo, sunset glow that unfolds into a sparkling, slide-guitar finale as it disappears in the rear view.

On third-act highlight, »Bruise«, Scott is doubled on the drum kit by MONO’s Dahm Majuri Cipolla, whose Liebezeit-influenced metronomy anchors a nimble bass groove from Andrew Tasselmyer (of Hotel Neon), and some of the album's most syncopated, spaced-out interplay, courtesy of Puerto Rican guitar player Orlando Méndez (a childhood friend of Irisarri’s). Originally a droney, fingerpicked guitar demo, »Bruise« is the most storied composition here, having gone through almost a dozen versions and lyrical edits, with Brown distilling hours of improvised performances into the final arrangement.

Throughout »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes«, Irisarri uses his deep well of production experience to paint the stereo field with meticulously designed textures, exemplified on the slow burn of »Heaven’s Despite« and the heady rush of »Swells«. As a mixing and mastering engineer with Black Knoll, he has built a client list that reads as a who’s-who of modern, forward-thinking composition, including Temporary Residence, All Saints Records, and Ghostly International, among many others.

As with previous collaborations, Irisarri and Pioulard bring disparate styles and specialties to the table, but with an interpersonal dynamic that transcends friendship into brotherhood, their open-minded workflow and mutual respect are evident at every turn. »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes« brims with tight, complex art rock songwriting, masterful production, and sonic versatility, informed by a plethora of genres and tonal hues. The title might promise answers, but the gravitational center of the album is the dawning realization that, as you reckon with the infinite whims of the cosmos, there could be none.

'Gemelo' is the new album from songwriter and pop auteur Angélica Garcia. Its title is a reference to the twin self – the idea of a second, more intuitive self within. It’s a vibrant, prismatic hybrid-pop record that soundtracks a journey through the different stages and forms of grief. Angélica explores its inherent loneliness, beauty, and tension, eventually finding liberation. 'Gemelo' also expertly deconstructs facets of universal themes like religion, spirit, heritage, womanhood, and ancestral veneration.

Born in East LA with Mexican and Salvadoran lineage, Angélica embodies the essence of contemporary America, a cultural landscape continually evolving through its fusion with rich Hispanic influences. In a reflection of modern America itself, 'Gemelo' also marks Garcia’s first album sung almost entirely in Spanish, inviting listeners to reconsider what they think an American record can be.

'Gemelo' was produced by Carlos Arévalo of LA-based rock band Chicano Batman, his first time working in such a role. Sequenced with extreme intent, the album progresses from a delicate, tender entry on Side A which serves almost like a meditation, to the visceral intensity of Side B, which immerses into the difficult, at times terrifying work of healing. With growth and exploration like wind behind her, Garcia arrives at her clearest and most fully realized vision of self on 'Gemelo.'

'Gemelo' is the anticipated follow-up to her 2020 breakthrough 'Cha Cha Palace,' which featured on several year-end lists and brought Angélica to NPR’s Tiny Desk.




[d] Ángel [eterna]

The Big Picture is the 2014 studio album by Kat Edmonson, who calls her music vintage cosmopolitanism pop. For the recordings of this album, she collaborated with acclaimed producer Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Suzanne Vega). On The Big Picture, according to NPR, “she's a savvy student of '60s film soundtracks, jazz-pop stylists and Brill Building songcraft, nodding to her influences at every turn. But her take on those stylized musical languages is so fresh and fluent that the referencing never feels cumbersome."" The album features standout tracks “Rainy Day Woman”, “Oh My Love”, and “You Can’t Break My Heart”, which remain fan-favourites to this day. The Big Picture is available as a 10th anniversary edition of 500 copies on white & black marbled vinyl.

A record label is arguably the fullest possible expression of an email account; fecund with attachments, download links, and unhealthy power dynamics primed to bloom into lifelong parasitic relationships. And even a cursory glance at the roster of label founders reveals the full spectrum of our potential as a species, from the absolute dregs of humanity to successful touring DJs.

Backed by a used CD billionaire and an angel investment from Major League Baseball's "New Voices in Techno" initiative, Perel's new label Hits Hits Hits! is poised to thrive amid a landscape littered with rivals with names like Sidechain Addict and Heuristics Audio.
And Perel is ready to put her music where her mouth is with "1 Life" the inaugural single in the imprint's catalog. We're well beyond chuffed to say that it's gained early support from promo list veteran Liquid Cory:
"Will the title track make any self-respecting 10-year-old 'Do the Detention Dance'? I've been told my opinions are culturally worthless, that I am the fit arbiter of nothing at all. So I feel grateful that there's also an extended version so I have more time to decide. And the remix by Canadian taste-haver Jex Opolis made me forget that my ex believed a rumour that I had choked to death bobbing for apples. Respect."

LINGUA IGNOTA, the solo project of multidisciplinary artist Kristin Hayter, takes a radical, unflinching approach to themes of violence and vengeance in ways that are moving, brutal, and harrowing. Her music is intentionally situated at specific and strange intersections, incorporating elements of power electronics, death industrial, and black metal alongside baroque classical, spiritual minimalism and folk. Relentless intensity and soaring dramatic arcs are informed by Hayter's background in classical music, and the major sonic locus of the project is her voice, a dynamic entity that rushes from unhinged screaming to lilting soprano to angular belting with an artistry and ferocity that has drawn comparisons to Diamanda Galas. She is notorious for confrontational live performances that can leave an audience breathless or in tears. Hayter began classical training at the age of ten with intent to pursue an operatic conservatory track. Instead she developed an interdisciplinary fine arts practice at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She continued with graduate work at Brown University, producing a controversial thesis titled BURN EVERYTHING TRUST NO ONE KILL YOURSELF. LINGUA IGNOTA was born out of this thesis which re-contextualized misogynist content as biblically vitriolic anthems for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. A survivor herself, Hayter seeks to give a singularly aggressive voice to the unheard, silenced, and dismissed.

Cold is the self-titled debut studio album by Jacksonville-based rock band Cold and was originally released in 1998. Discovered by A&R man Fred Durst (from Limp Bizkit), Cold burst onto the scene with their self-titled album, a potent blend of raw emotion, haunting melodies, and powerful instrumentation. Led by vocalist Scoot Ward, the band quickly garnered attention for their introspective lyrics and intense live performances. The singles culled of the album ""Go Away"" and ""Give"" showcased Ward's ability to convey deep-seated emotions with raw honesty, while tracks like ""Confession"" and ""End of the World"" captivated listeners with elements of alternative rock, metal, and post-grunge into a cohesive sonic tapestry. Cold is available on vinyl for the first time and includes an insert.

A song is a song until it isn't, until it's pushed to its limits and beyond to become harder, faster and more dissonant. The music on Oneida's 17th full-length album, Expensive Air, all started as tightly structured, melodic rock songs _ very much in line with the non-stop bangers of Success from 2022 _ but along the way, they changed. Bobby Matador sketched the structures of these songs from his home base in Boston, then sent the demos to Oneida's New York contingent: Kid Millions, Hanoi Jane, Shahin Motia and Barry London. "We were working out the songs in New York without Bobby. We would start out riding the riffs, and then Shahin and Jane would add wild, out-of-tune licks," said Kid Millions. "It seemed so perfect." Oneida has long straddled gray-area boundaries between the NYC punk/psych/rock world and the art/experimental world, playing at gritty rock clubs and elevated cultural institutions, including the Guggenheim, MoMA PS1, ICA London, MassMOCA and the Knoxville Museum of Art. The band has been known for extended live improvisational performances, collaborating onstage with Mike Watt, members of Flaming Lips, Portishead, Boredoms, Yo La Tengo, Dead C, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and many others. Oneida's members juggle a wide variety of other music projects. Drummer Kid Millions has played with Spiritualized, Royal Trux and Boredoms and releases solo compositions under his own name and as Man Forever. Shahin Motia founded noise - punk's Ex-Models and currently plays in Knyfe Hits. Kid and Fat Bobby perform and release music as People of the North, and Bobby's outside projects New Pope and Nurse & Soldier each released new albums in 2023. Oneida's previous album, Success, came after a four-year hiatus, unleashing the band's pent up creative energy in a set of catchy, accessible, nearly poppy songs. Song structure remained important in the run up towards Expensive Air, but so was the instinctual, improvisatory interplay that has always been a part of Oneida's process. The band had been playing live together for two years, sharpening its attack and pushing its songs to go harder, faster and wilder. Oneida recorded Expensive Air in three sessions scattered across 2023, convening at Colin Marston's Menegroth The Thousand Caves studio in Woodhaven, Queens, whenever they had a few songs ready. Marston and the band mixed the album in February 2024 at Menegroth. The new album expands on what Oneida achieved with Success, but also pushes past it, laying down irresistible song structures then blowing them to psychedelic bits. "I found myself thinking about this record as a darker, looser, louder, counterpart to Success," Bobby explains. "Both records charge forward from the jump and mix the elliptical with the blunt, and longing with self-mockery. But Success is like laughing in a car gunning carelessly through an ice storm, and Expensive Air is how you laugh at yourself as the car spins into the ditch, or a tree. Same trip, but a little closer to the bone."

SHHE, Scottish-Portuguese sound artist and producer Su Shaw, is releasing new mini-album, ‘DÝRA’, on July 19th via One Little Independent Records. The ambient project took form during a self-directed artist residency in the Westfjords of Iceland, influenced by the tranquillity of the Dýrafjörður fjord. Immersed in a distinct landscape with quietly monumental surroundings, Shaw began documenting her experience of the environment through field recordings and environmental data captured across several geographical locations.

‘DÝRA’ is an exploratory and mesmerising durational piece, evocative in its construction, inviting listeners to imagine their own space and scale within a landscape. Reflective, textured, and pensive, with expansive synths that further showcase Shaw’s deftness in sculpting immersive and introspective soundscapes.

Dýrafjörður is a 32-kilometre-long fjord in the Ísafjarðarbær municipality, in the Westfjords of Iceland. Shaw originally embarked on a 10-day residency in 2018, during which the village experienced an immense storm, hindering her schedule. Shaw explains, “It was my first visit to Iceland, and I’d made myself a meticulous itinerary in advance, which included recording at the summit of some of the peaks in the fjord. When the storm arrived after only a few days, it made any kind of travel challenging – so partly out of necessity to be able to continue developing the project, I began recording my immediate surroundings instead – attuned to incidental sounds from around the village and fluctuating weather states – and I quickly built up an archive of the environment”.

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers' tremendous concert at Club Saint Germain in Paris on December 21, 1958. This record presents the complete set and is produced as a three LP gatefold album with each vinyl one of three different colours: blue, white and red, representing the French flag. Au Club Saint Germain it's a memorable record and winner of numerous awards including the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in 1959 from the Academie Charles Cros. Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers are here with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Benny Golson on saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano and Jymie Merrit on double bass. Drummer Kenny Clarke was living in Paris at the time and joined the group for the songs "A Night in Tunisia" and "Ending with the Theme" resulting in a session that will go down in jazz history!

2024 Restock

Lovely work from Marisa Monte – perhaps a bit sweeter than some of her earlier stuff, but pretty darn catchy, and with some excellent production by Arto Lindsay! The tracks have a mellow breezy feel, with a compressed production style that includes a lot of flanged-out guitar, subtle electronics, and warm acoustic touches. As with most of Marisa's albums, the record's filled with work by famous guest stars – like Joao Donato, Arnaldo Antunes, Marc Ribot, Carlinhos Brown, and others. Titles include "O Que Me Importa", "Nao E Facil", "Perdao Voce", "Abololo", "Gotas De Luar", and "Agua Tambem E Mar".

*REMASTERED ROUGH TRADE DEBUT LP LIMITED TO JUST 500 COPIES WITH EMBOSSED OUTER SLEEVE AND ORIGINAL INNER SLEEVE ON BLACK VINYL*

Dream POP, they called it. Given AR Kane’s Alex Ayuli once worked for advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, it’s no surprise that he and collaborator Rudy Tambala invented their own genre before critics could stick their oar in. It was a canny move, but more importantly, it was accurate: the music of AR Kane was made for dreamers, by dreamers, and its languor and longing made it particularly bewitching listening; their music is often smeared and blurry, happily lost in its own indefinable pleasures. “We wanted dream pop,” Tambala says, “that feeling of a dream where the rules are different. Dream logic.”
-UNCUT REISSUE OF THE MONTH

"A.R. Kane carved out a unique musical path, welding elements of pop, psych, dub, electronica, funk, noise, jazz, ambient and more in a way that had never been done before. Or since. Their debut in particular is a work of unbridled brilliance."
*Electronic Sound*

‘Sixty Nine’ the group’s debut LP that emerged in 1988 had critics and listeners struggling to fit language around A.R. Kane’s sound. As a title it was telling - the year of ‘Bitches Brew’, the year of ‘In A Silent Way’, the erotic möbius between two lovers - and as originally coined by the band themselves, ‘dream pop’ (before it became a free-floating signifier of vague import) was entirely apposite for the music A.R. Kane were making. Crafted in a dark small basement studio in which Tambala recalls the duo had “complete freedom - We wanted to go as far out as we could, and in doing so we discovered the point where it stops being music”. There was an irresistibly dreamy, somnambulant, sensual and almost surreal flow to ‘sixty nine’s sound, but also real darkness/dankness, the ruptures of the primordial and the reverberations of the subconscious, within the grooves of remarkable songs like ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Crazy Blue’. Alex’s plangent vocals floated and surged amidst exquisite peals of refracted feedback but crucially there was BASS here, lugubrious and funky and full of dread, sonic pleasure and sonic disturbance crushed together to make music with a center so deep it felt subcutaneous, music constructed from both the accidental and the deliberate, generous enough to dance with both serendipity and chaos. ‘sixty nine’ remains - especially in this remastered iteration - ravishing, revolutionary – Neil Kulkarni


"A.R. Kane made some of the most exciting, forward-thinking, and science fictional music of their era".s*

With “Stay” Norwegian indie pop-‘star’ Frokedal picks up the fiddle and re-interprets traditional Norwegian folk music as pop songs. Along with a bunch of befriended musicians (her ‘Familien’) she explores a brighter, more densely populated fjord landscape, where folk-pop hooks and singalong rock melt seamlessly together with melodic hymns and asymmetric rhythms inspired by local music traditions. With “Stay” Frokedal is daring us to believe that happiness may not be an unfulfilled potential somewhere else, but that it may exist right here, right now. It is an album portraying love and pain, roots and community.

The Punishment Of Luxury was Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's thirteenth studio album, but surprised everyone commercially with the first album since 1991 to reach the UK Top 10. The album continued the sound they created with 2013's English Electric. A sound strongly tied to their roots, but this time a bit more stripped down. As Andy McCluskey describes it: ""There’s a little bit more sort of crunchy industrial sound in a few things, a bit glitchty-er. But you know, the bottom line is that have a sense of melody that we just can’t throw off"". Even after almost 40 years, the band are still able to surprise their fans, making The Punishment Of Luxury a must for all synthpop fans. The Punishment of Luxury is available as a limited edition of 1000 copies on blue coloured vinyl. The record is housed in a jacket with die-cut and includes a printed innersleeve.

"Relive Enoch's mystical journey in his quest to defeat the fallen angels!

El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron is back on Nintendo Switch in full HD and for the first time in vinyl format!

To celebrate the occasion, in partnership with CRIM headed by creator and designer Sawaki Takeyasu, here's the game's original soundtrack in a magnificent Gatefold 2 x LP edition with white discs.

The El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron soundtrack is composed and arranged by Masato Kôda and Kento Hasegawa, and features a variety of epic orchestral pieces and sacred, dreamlike melodies.

It has been praised for its quality and distinctive style, which fits perfectly with the game's artistic design and narrative."

It's already hard to describe what Deerhoof sounds like. So we'll skip that part and say this sounds a lot like Deerhoof with a different singer. And in keeping with 30-year Hoofian tradition, melodies soar, big hit earwigs abound, harmonies are complex, and keys change frequently and unexpectedly. Arrangements are in a constant state of impatient agitation. Emotions run high but delivery is usually a falsetto deadpan. We Sang, Therefore We Were is grief delivered in code. Greg plays everything save for a few birds who join in singing now and again. He keeps the instrumentarium severely limited, the sound shambling and anti-slick. It turns out Greg is a really good bass player and guitar player, if a bit more rudimentary and slicing compared to his Deerhoof bandmates. He does play more angry guitar solos. But don't expect another Chippendale/Saunier speed-drum freakout; the songwriting is gorgeous and sophisticated, and drums are almost an afterthought. Here, song is Queen. The singing is high and whispery, tending towards the three-part harmony. What we're saying is: We Sang, Therefore We Were sounds a bit like Deerhoof fronted by The Andrews Sisters. This is a peek inside the mind of one of indie rock's most celebrated drummers, many of whose fans may not even realize the relentlessness of his musicianship and compositional prolificacy. Mozartian chords and sounds insinuate themselves here and there on this record, finally taking over in a big climax at the end, when the drums break off unexpectedly into a laugh-or-cry orchestral outpouring that ironically may be the rawest part of a very raw album. "Satomi, Ed, John and I were chatting between shows in Austin in early December. They encouraged me to make a record on my own. With no one to please but myself, it came together way faster than usual. It was basically done by the holidays. I had been excited by the announcement that the new Rolling Stones record was going to sound 'angry.' I thought, 'Yes, I'm angry too.' But Hackney Diamonds turned out more like cotton candy than punk rock. So I went back to Nirvana. I always loved the catchy melody over massive distortion, the way their songs refused to conform to simple major or minor scales, the dark sarcasm which still resonates in this age of phony blue-check-washing of fascism." The album cover is all text, penned by Greg on the familiar topic of interspecies absurdist operatic anti-Cartesian revolution. The songs' lyrics are all drawn from this epic poem. White House spokespersons are recast as The Queen of the Night from The Magic Flute, The Queen of the Night is recast as a mockingbird singing all night in a battle for survival, and ultimately the mockingbird is recast as a campy drag artist taking pleasure in her own aggressive, tireless music-making.

Inspired by the Buddhist sutras, Blitzen Trapper’s radiant new album, 100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions, offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, navigating its way through the space beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life and death. The songs here are as sincere as they are surreal, rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and the production is intoxicating to match, blending lo-fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all together and you’ve got a gorgeous collection of stripped-down bedroom folk wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric guitars, a poignant, expansive exploration of perception and purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at once. This LP is pressed on clear blue vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies worldwide. Launched roughly two decades ago in Portland, OR, Blitzen Trapper broke out internationally with 2008’s Furr, which cemented their status at the forefront of the modern indie folk revival. Rolling Stone hailed the band’s “hazy, psychedelic Americana,” while NPR praised their “explosive live performances and infectious roots-rock swagger.” Dates with Fleet Foxes, Wilco, and Dawes followed, as did festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, and Coachella, among others. The band would go on to release six more similarly lauded studio albums, culminating with 2020’s Holy Smokes Future Jokes, which Mojo proclaimed “sounds like the Beatles at Big Pink.”

Graceless is already a legendary name in the Dutch metal history, and “Shadowlands” was their cult debut album from 2017. With ex-members of bands like Asphyx and Soulburn this experienced old school doomed death metal band, from Leiden and surroundings, immediately made a huge impact. “Shadowlands” still sounds thick and raw, with mighty riffs and fierce solos. It’s a great deal of heaviness, somewhat sludgy and even psychedelic, with doom, ferocity and melody.

Graceless is already a legendary name in the Dutch metal history, and “Shadowlands” was their cult debut album from 2017. With ex-members of bands like Asphyx and Soulburn this experienced old school doomed death metal band, from Leiden and surroundings, immediately made a huge impact. “Shadowlands” still sounds thick and raw, with mighty riffs and fierce solos. It’s a great deal of heaviness, somewhat sludgy and even psychedelic, with doom, ferocity and melody.

Engelbert Humperdinck, der legendäre Schlagersänger, der für seine samtige Stimme und zeitlosen Balladen
bekannt ist, zieht mit der Wiederveröffentlichung von zwei seiner kultigsten Alben, ”A Man Without Love”
und ”Please Release Me”, zum ersten Mal auf farbigem Vinyl das Publikum weltweit in seinen Bann. Diese
Alben haben Humperdincks Status als einer der beliebtesten Entertainer aller Zeiten mit über 140 Millionen
verkauften Alben im Laufe seiner glanzvollen Karriere gefestigt.

Tiny Habits were formed in Boston, MA by artists Maya Rae, Cinya Khan and Judah Mayowa. The three singer-songwriters met at Berklee College of Music and the band was born at the beginning of 2022.

They started out by sharing covers recorded in the stairwell of their dorm and posting them on social media. Focusing on beautifully intimate three-part harmonies the trio's enticing signature sound, offered exquisite, reimagined versions of songs from across a spectrum of styles and quickly drove them to viral success. They received recognition and early support from artists as diverse as David Crosby, Marcus Mumford, Phoebe Bridgers, and Noah Kahan. Collaborations include work with Mark Ronson, JP Saxe and Lizzy McAlpine, who they supported on NPR’s Tiny Desk

Their debut EP “Tiny Things” was released in April 2023 and established them as one of “the” bands to watch in the year ahead.

In early 2023, the band opened for Gracie Abrams “Good Riddance Tour” across North America, followed by their own sold-out US “Tiny Tour”

At the end of 2023, the trio opened for Noah Kahan on his “Stick Season Tour” across Europe, followed by a sold-out headline show in London. In January 2024, the band rejoined Gracie Abrams, opening for the Australian leg of her “Good Riddance Tour”. This was followed by a sold-out headline show in Melbourne and a performance at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York with Kacey Musgraves. The New Yorker recently wrote a feature piece on the band, coining them “The Prodigies of Harmonies”.

Following two successful dancefloor-orientated releases with remixes by Marco Shuttle and S.O.N.S., London-based label E2-E8 takes an ambient turn while remaining faithful to its ethos of putting new artists on the map. Water Locks is the debut release from Szl0, a sound artist who’s been living and breathing East London’s inspiring atmosphere and contradictions for the last 10 years.

Water Locks is a tale of boats, canals, twists and turns of a quietly ever-changing life. A misty, smoky dive into a soul in constant search for itself. For his debut album, Szl0 peeked into instincts and fantasies and crafted a series of deep live improvisations.

The beauty is in the tension: Szl0’s music is for pause and reflection, yet it’s the moment that matters. A series of intense movements firmly grounded in the here and now which, taken together, becomes bigger than the sum of its parts. A late night listening at sea.

Limited run of 50 tapes. Includes a download code with a bonus remix from E2-E8’s own Miro Sundaymusiq (“First Light” – Pacifist Techno Soul Edit) who reinvents one of Szl0’s movements and gives it an unexpected dancefloor appeal.

Wiederveröffentlichung des original 2006 erschienenen dritten Albums der schwedischen Hardrock Legende.
‚Astralism' gilt als Klassiker in der Diskografie der Band. Nicht zuletzt wegen solch herausragenden Tracks wie ‚Black Rain'und ‚London Caves', welche bis heute zu den absoluten Fanfavoriten zählen.
Die limitierte Neuauflage in magenta transparentem Vinyl erscheint mit einem Bonus Track sowie neuen Liner Notes von Astral Doors Sänger Nils Patrik Johansson..

40 years after its original release, a new and expanded version of ‘Goot From The Boot’ is here to stay! It was 1984 and the newborn Florentine label Spittle Records launched his manifesto, with a killer selection of Italian underground bands verging on the Hardcore/Punk firmament and the New Wave ‘end of the spectrum’. This new version contains three bonus tracks, including “V’Oi!” by Skulls, which could not be included in the first pressing due to a postal delay. Finally we put things in the right place. An essential piece of Italian Hardcore and New Wave history.

Samosa Records cranks up the summer groove with another sizzling release in the outstanding (Re) Funk+Head series – a collection of juicy tracks from the Samosa back-catalogue selected and re-edited by the man himself, De Gama.

This sumptuous vinyl cut of ITALO Funk and Boogie kicks off with Mexico’s finest, The Funk District and the enigmatic ‘La Rapina’. This is pure, unfiltered Funk District chemistry from the first bar. Snake hips guitar, rolling bass and that super-solid 4-4-4 beat pound into your consciousness whilst the hypnotic chant and Latino-infused vocal tempt you into sin.

Next up on the A-side is Samosa head honcho DeGama and his deliciously refreshing ‘Piňa Colada’ - a new edit of the original 2011 version never previously released on Samosa. And what a mystery box it is. Tight beats, punchy bass, looped synth and house-tinged high-hat lead us to a haunting, melodic vocal breakdown. There’s a subtle Afro flavour to this one, definitely for sipping cocktails in a hammock or Caribbean beach bar.

On Side B Italian Maestro Paul Older takes the beats down several notches with the explosive ‘Daboom’ – the DeGama Re-Groove of Paul’s first vinyl release way back in 2019. This is a straight up, mid-tempo peacock strut down Funksville Boulevard. Possibly wearing a Zoot Suit. Imagine having breakfast with Herbie Hancock and you might get an idea of just how funky this tune is. He’s passing you the eggs and you’re buttering the toast.

The last track sees DeGama delve into his dark magic box for the mind-melting, film noir themed ‘Higher’. The tempo is scaled right back to 92bpm for this portrait of pain, joy, lust and hallucinogenic dreams. ‘Higher’ reveals a side of DeGama that we know lurks in there, but only sometimes makes it to the surface. Smokey, sassy and sultry, this is definitely one for the dimly-lit after party.

The latest episode in the (Re) Funk+Head has set the Samosa bar even higher. This simply has to be in your summer record box and don’t you dare leave home without it.

TIPP! :)

For the latest Cognitiva release the label present the 4th release of their Point of View series which focuses on dance floor-oriented sounds, this time they invite the marvellously talented Dr. Sud to deliver a wondrous, jazz laden odyssey, which entices as much as it delights - with some expert remixes to boot….
Dr Sud is the main alias of Gregorio Marigliano, an Italian music maker who was raised in Berlin. Marigliano’s music revolves around the principles of Jazz-meets-Dance music, drawing up the rich tradition that has come before in bringing a high level of musicality and ingenuity within his tunes. Moving fluidly between rhythms and feels, as Dr Sud he captures the imagination with thought provoking and captivating sequences, striking a fine balance between depth and danceability. Harmonies and groove play a key part within his music, such as was highlighted on his 2023 EP ‘Heading South’, coming courtesy of the Q1E2 imprint. This record really highlighted his profound abilities and deep set affection for instrumentation but also mood and tone, and it left many waiting for his next release with baited breath.

‘Point of View 4’ continues forth with the supreme feels that permeated through ‘Heading South’, with the key movement onwards being the inclusion of some killer remixes from Gary Superfly, Broke One, Turbojazz and Reekee. Two original cuts, ‘Breakfast Sun’ and ‘Desert Wind’, lead Sides A and B respectively, and do much to help create a distinctive balance and bookend kind of feel to the record. ‘Breakfast Sun’ begins with a wondrous polyrhythm to get things going, a lone vocal sample thrown in for good measure, and before long we are joined by some delicate but hyper precise melodic features. The slow drawn out chords contrast superbly with the short sharp stabs, acting in accordance with the drums, with the first breakdown providing space for the keys to really flourish and take over. The breakout back into the core rhythm allows for a lead synth line to emerge, and provide those bountiful feels we were all yearning for. The remixes do much to add flavour and some diverse alternative perpectives on the original, with the Turbojazz/Broke One remix taking things in a house-y leaning direction, with the hats and kicks shifting the rhythmic perspective towards sun kissed horizons. The Gary Superfly remix however takes things into a much more cosmic space, with a punchy acid line weaving within the underbelly of the track, providing that late night dance feel for club land scenarios.

On the B Side, ‘Desert Wind’ kicks things off, and once again the drums here start us off in a winning space. The groove is so delicate, poised and perfected, and when the first breakdown arrives the chords come into view, and its glorious to say the least. This track focuses on a much more smooth melodic sequence, with a greater emphasis placed on the lead line, but its just as impactful and soulful as the EPs opener. Delicate waterfall style keys shift in and out of view, providing an overall picture of sonic beauty that we can get behind time and time again. To wrap things up, the Reekee remix of ‘Desert Wind’ comes into view, with this track again moving into dance floor realms with a swinging garage beat that feels unstoppable, shifting and moving between the lines with a joyous ease.

Dr Sud may be a producer to keep a keen eye on, with this latest EP certainly doing that sentiment a great level of justice. This EP provides not only two beautiful original cuts from the man himself, but some imaginative remixes that honour the originals and provide us with an record that will linger long in the memory. For home use, down by the rivera, or in the club, this one has the lot…..

LIMITED INDIES LOSER EDITION PRESSED ON BLUE TRANSPARENT VINYL! Stella makes her Sub Pop debut with the mesmerizing Up and Away, an old-school pop paean to the pangs and raptures of love. From the Greek folk-inflected get-go, we're swept up in Stella's world - and it's quite the captivating place to be. The singer-songwriter joined forces with artist and producer Tom Calvert (aka Redinho), and it was a match made in Athens; the results are heavenly. Tom caught one of Stella's gigs on a visit to the city. He reached out, they started hanging out, and the pair soon clicked creatively. Both mention chemistry when asked about their collaboration and it's clear, from what we hear, they had it in spades. The meld is seamless. Stella's songs have always riffed on American and Greek mid-century pop but Up and Away doubles down on the vintage aesthetic. Tom says he styled the record "as if it was a rare gem from the '60s found in a box of records in Athens," and Stella notes she was ready for a more "deeply Greek touch - it felt comfortable and right, smoothly fusing with the pop." The bouzouki appears on a full five tracks played by Christos Skondras who, she says, "was brilliant at improvising," while Sofia Labropoulou on the kanun "brought an insane amount of dreaminess to the last two songs. Having these amazing musicians play for Up and Away - I couldn't be more grateful." While not exclusively a confessional artist, Stella is always intimate - when she sings, it's personal. She writes "about things I feel passion for. Stories about me, about others, about all that's there in love and war." Stella was "in a very emotional state at the time, which came through in the lyrics and vocals." And it's true, her honeyed voice - layered in those unmistakable harmonies of hers - thrillingly runs the gamut from tender to terse, by turns bracing and smitten, aching and forlorn. But it's the lyrics that feel key. Across her output, Stella has proven herself a strong storyteller, and Up and Away is no exception (the guise of the medieval bard she assumes on the cover is telling). Past releases have been studded with gem-like vignettes - a diverse array of stories set tightly together to form non-linear narratives unified by emotion. Her latest feels singular in that it seems to trace a longer-form tale across songs, with each track escalating the record's erotic arc. By the end of the album, Up and Away's core concerns are clear: the conflicting and conflicted emotions inherent in love, that live on in ways we can't always understand or control. Love is like this record: when it's over, you still feel it for time to come.

DJ 3000 Unveils “Immigrant Son”

Techno maestro DJ 3000 is back with a fresh new release, the "Immigrant Son" EP, following the success of his recent "Work In Progress" EP. Set to captivate listeners once again, DJ 3000 infuses this latest project with deep familial ties and cultural heritage.

"Immigrant Son" is a heartfelt celebration of family and deep-rooted traditions. The track "Gëzuar," meaning "Cheers" in Albanian, blends traditional Albanian rhythms with the soulful essence of Detroit techno, creating a unique and compelling soundscape. Another standout track, "Kanuni (Traditë Mix)," draws inspiration from the Code of Lekë Dukagjini, further enriching the EP with historical and cultural depth.

Adding a layer of intrigue, "Part Time Prophet" invites listeners to interpret its meaning, showcasing DJ 3000’s ability to provoke thought and emotion through his music.

Since his first vinyl pressing in 2002, DJ 3000 has continued to push boundaries and explore new sounds. With six vinyl records released in less than a year, he shows no signs of slowing down. Committed to the art of vinyl, DJ 3000 continues to DJ exclusively with vinyl records, preserving the authentic and tactile experience of music.

"La Misma Fuente" is an album that could have only come from the mind of Yemanjo, and the music here reveals producer/musician Ben Harris in the full bloom of his artistic promise.

Translating as "The Same Source", the staggering variety of genre, sound design and featured artists here all relate to the concept that the world's diversity manifests out of an essential unity.

With guest singers and musicians from Mali, Colombia, Argentina, Hungary and beyond, "La Misma Fuente" pulsates with an irresistible combination of cracking electronic beats, hypnotic synths and bass, traditional acoustic instruments and vocals in many languages.

In the title track, Yemanjo's own harmonized Spanish vocals roil over a relentless dembow groove; elsewhere Malian vocalist Mariam Koné shines in both the mid-tempo house track "Juru Fô" and the Reggae-meets-Desert Blues anthem "Janfa". The instrumentals are no less captivating; "Bululú" is a combustible club banger with shades of kuduro, afrohouse and zouk rhythms, "Suena La Quena" is a bouyant uptempo house track with soaring Andean flute melodies, "Baobab" mesmerizes with interlocking ngoni licks, and "Bridge to Bamako" is a spacious trip-hop groove that finishes the record like a breath of fresh air.

Thematically diverse, melodically complex and rhythmically compelling, "La Misma Fuente" is a testament to the relentless wanderlust of its author, and a fine addition to the already legendary catalogue of Wonderwheel Recordings.



Ben Harris: sound design, arrangement, vocals, charango, trumpet, digital percussion

Mariam Koné: vocals on #2, #6

Fredy Velasquez: vocals on #5

Alex Nero: guitar, charango on #7, charango, quena, zampoña on #9

Onanya: ngoni on #2

Cosmic Nomad: ngoni on #4

Julia Gyulai: lead vocals on #8, back vocals on #5

Endre Molnar: guitar on #8, back vocals on #5



Mixed and mastered by Chris Cox at Veritas Mastering

Additional record engineering by Akos Varnai

Temperature On Arrival. The immediate sensory impact as you enter the venue. The vibe, energy and intensity. The movement of the crowd, the atmosphere of the space, the initial impression when stepping onto the dancefloor. The surge as the music hits you.

Temperature On Arrival is here to deliver the feels and control the climate, with the coldest beats and toastiest grooves. The UK-based duo are set to soundtrack the seasons, kicking off with two scintillating house cuts that resonate within the intimate confines of smaller venues, to the vast openness of clubs and summer terraces. Featuring the soulful vocal talents of London's Deli OneFourz on 36 Degrees and the inspirational Minister and singer, Anthony Hainsley on The Tunnel, with Adrian McLeod on keys across both tracks.

The sunshine vibes are high on '36 Degrees’ as Temperature on Arrival move the mercury, whilst setting the vibrations of the dancefloor. Throbbing drums and a thick bottom-heavy bassline are adorned with chimes, rhodes chords and the velvety vocals of Deli OneFourz. All fused together with a serious serving of bump.

Spirits rise further on the Gospel-infused, ’The Tunnel’, as Anthony Hainsley inspires with his message of perseverance.The track's relentless four-four stomp symbolises the resilience and collective spirit to keep moving, “somehow”, and serves as a joyous reminder of the celebration of dancing together.

TOA, the new tone setters, tastemakers, and temperature takers – and the heat is undeniably rising.

Short Attention Records makes a welcome return here with a new drop of wax that fits the label head into its roots in deep techno sound worlds. This one takes the form of a various artists' EP crafted with an intake feel for cosy floors and who better to kick off in that vibe than the revered Lawrence whose 'Hawser' is a groovy and melodious track. Next, New Jersey don Joey Anderson sets a slow and deep tone with 'Human Kind' which has moody vocals, and Japanese artist Takuya Matsumoto follows with 'Three Flowers', a more potent and driving cut with a fine acid bassline. Rounding off the EP is 'Desired Spring' by R/K, a loop-driven deep house gem designed for both listening and dancing.

Info: The soulful power of Asabi Goodman's vocals is finally on vinyl! Blunted Stylus ft. Asabi Goodman s' "Rhythm's Got Soul" has "groove and style" reminiscent of the back-to-back, wall-to-wall packed dancefloors of the fever-pitched disco era, steady spinning in at 115 BPM. The highly anticipated collaboration between the renowned singer/ songwriter Asabi Goodman, and producer/arranger Geoff Boardman A.K.A. Blunted Stylus brings authority and intrigue to the dance floor, with soul.... "Free your mind and the mirror ball will follow".

Side A "Rhythm's Got Soul bursts through the stratosphere 'all frequencies blazing!"

Treating the listener to pitched horns, filtered drums, those sultry Asabi vocals, reinforced by the everlasting bass from Andrew 'Bigfoot' Leslie.

Momentum steps up with the rhythm guitar of Dave VHS, accompanied with vamp keys and hectic percussion.

The SOULICITORS are the band on this release 'sitting in the groove', syncopated and loose after the MPC4000 sample treatment, a sort of new paradigm of band-samples soul-fusion exploration!



Side B "Rhythm's Hot" (Afro Instrumental) is a monster cut on the flip, a relentlessly persuasive percussion groove, well timed transitions spread smooth like butter, akin to Midnight Marauders chords, styled across 'A Taste Of Honey' bassline for example, on an Afrocentric trip building up to the disco-fever instrumental strut.



Asabi Goodman is an American born (Oklahoma), entertainer now calling Australia home, consistently performing in stage and screen productions, and touring with bands and Broadway musicals (Hairspray! The Musical, CHICAGO). Asabi's vocal ability effortlessly elevates from 'sweet and soulful' to 'commanding and powerful', all the while showing unmistakably that her passion for the audience, and respect for the song is at the heart of every performance.

Geoff Blunted is an Australian producer, avid record collector, and co-founder of the ground breaking sample-funk group the 'RESIN DOGS' (1996-2005) extensively touring and producing. From the early days in the 80's of cutting his teeth in mixtapes, and volunteering at community radio at 4ZZZ in 1988 (arguably the golden era of hip hop) hosting Australia's first dedicated Hip Hop show "Just2Def" that aired for 1 year. Four Jazz-funk sample albums under his belt, 'Rhythm's Got Soul' arrives cued-up ready! The track highlights Geoff's ability to blend his time proven sample ethic into a resonating dynamic disco experience.

Emerging Belgian DJ/producer STEYA shares her debut EP on IMF, becoming just the ninth artist to release a full body of work on Marcel Fengler's influential label.
The Berlin-based artist has stamped herself as one to watch since breaking through in 2022, a regular at RSO Berlin and Grelle Forelle in Vienna, she's also played Tomorrowland, Exhale, Rex Club andBasement in NYC.
Her first forays into production reinforced her quality, with 'Neon Reecho' featuring on RAW's Third Eye compilation in 2021, followed by the release of 'Elysian' on BCCO's second V/A as well as the excellent 'Prototype X' on the '10 Years of IMF' that dropped in 2022, followed by a standout contribution to the label's new HARDPROOF V/A series in 2023 with 'Trigger Me'.
Her debut EP crystalises 20 years of devotion to techno, presenting abroad palette of sonic influences formed since her early days as araver in Antwerp. At the same time, it continues the label's philosophy of pairing a next generation artist with one of the greats of the genre, with STEYA's hero Rolando featuring on her 'Dopamine EP' with a remix of the incandescent 'Things You Never Said'. Growing up in Belgium where the 'Knights of the Jaguar' was a staple childhood anthem, it was "one of her biggest wishes to have him as a remixer".
An EP borne through two years of dedicated studio time, 'Dopamine EP' kicks off with the electric title track, a gritty tribal outing marked by dynamic shifts in tempo throughout. 'Fast Life' is a slick bass-led cut with plenty of bottom-end kick before a punchy synth melody get sadded to the brew. Swedish producer Hertz - a favourite of STEYA's ("I've played one of his tracks in every set since the beginning of my career") joins the project to re-work the title track, upping the energy ofthe original. 'Things You Never Said' begins life centred around energetic rolling grooves, before warm synth rushes give it a distinct Motor City vibe. Rolando fittingly steps up for remix duties to close out the EP, delivering a masterclass in deep simmering techno, extending the original by two minutes.
"It's a big honour to release my debut EP on such an amazing label like IMF, which is very close to my heart. I poured my heart and soul into this project. It showcases the artistic direction I've developed overthe last few years and is an important milestone in my artist journey." - STEYA
"After experiencing many of her stunning DJ sets, it's wonderful to seeher thriving also as a producer. What really excites me is witnessing her continuous growth, always fuelled by her deep passion for music. So, I'm thrilled to release STEYA's debut EP on IMF, featuring three original dancefloor anthems and two stellar remixes by Rolando and Hertz." - Marcel Fengler

LP Black Vinyl with DLC, CD Capacity Wallet. "Her significant solo output has been remarkable" Drowned In Sound. Following a special vinyl release for this year's Record Store Day celebrating its tenth anniversary, 'Crooked' will be reissued on black vinyl and CD on 27th September. 'A figurehead for feminist indie rock' (Classic Rock), Kristin Hersh achieved a music and publishing first when her eighth solo album was initially released as a multi-media book in 2009. Hersh's "poetic, provocative and puzzling songcraft" (The Washington Post) makes 'Crooked' a stunning record. The resplendent, melancholic 'Flooding' came to Hersh in the form of song but was also a premonition of the imminent death of close friend and musician Vic Chesnutt. Mainstay in her recent live shows, 'Mississippi Kite' is snarly and unsettling whilst the spectral psychedelic tones of 'Rubidoux' stem from a 50foot Wave car ride and a late-night recording session. The songs still lead the way hitting Hersh fully formed but it's her beguiling raspy vocals paired with guitar, and any other instrument that she chose to play on this album, that has a beautiful intensity that's jarring, unpredictable and inherent in her music. "She's still as powerful a presence as she ever was." Pitchfork_

Two-Piers, the label that brought you ‘Pop Psychédélique (The Best of French Psychedelic Pop 1964-2019)’ brings you the second instalment in the series ‘Garage Psychédélique (The Best of Garage Psych and Pzyk Rock 1965-2019)’. A thrill-a-minute dive into the crazy awesome world of Garage Psychedelic Rock.

From the Psych sound explosion onto the underground club scene in the US and UK in the mid 1960s, to its discovery by a wider audience via the exceptional Nuggets and Pebbles compilation series in the 1970-1980s. Through its mainstream revival with the Garage sound of the late 1990 - early 2000s, to the current crop of exceptional bands flying the Garage Psych flag today, ‘Garage Psychédélique’ takes you on a journey and gives you a little taste of some of the finest music from the scene and the bands that blazed a trail for others to follow…..Sit back and enjoy the ride!

From the opening bars of The Sonics ‘Have love Will Travel’ through the Psych workout that is Count Five’s ‘Psychotic Reaction’ to the joys of ‘60s Beat Psych groups from the US such as The Paragons, The Preachers, The Strangeloves, The Squires, and the eccentric stylings of The Monks. The album careers along at a blistering pace of Garage Psych brilliance, jammed packed full of underground floor fillers a plenty.

US legendary underground acts such as The Electric Prunes, The Chocolate Watch Band and MC5 all deliver classic tracks for the cause, and singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson even makes a foray into the psych rock sound with ‘Jump into the Fire’.

In recent years such bands as Thee Oh Sees, Moon Duo and Allah-Las from the US have taken the Garage Psych influence and ‘60s sound and made it their own. A whole crop of bands such as White Hills, Gnod and Goat from the scene have evolved the music into a ‘Pzyk Rock’ feel with a darker and heavier vibe, but crucially still with the joyous undertones that the scene brings to its devotees.

The Garage Psych sound has influenced groups from around the globe with bands like Liverpool’s The Stairs ‘Weed Bus’, Scotland’s finest The Poets with ‘That’s the Way It’s Gotta Be’, The Bogeymen, a largely undiscovered ‘90s Psych Hammond band from France with ‘Electrocution’. Hailing from Sweden Goat bring us ‘Gathering of Ancient Tribes’ and The Hives their dancefloor anthem ‘Main Offender’. From Perth, Australia Pond’s Psych leanings on ‘Fantastic Explosion of Time’ are clear to see. Finally, Kevin Parker’s band Tame Impala were very influenced by the whole garage psych sound in their early band incarnation, as perfectly showcased here on the epic wig-out that is ‘Half Full Glass of Wine’ that closes the album.

This isn’t meant to be a ‘crate diggers’ album or a compilation of ‘obscure hard to find tracks’ to out-do your mates. It is quite simply a celebration of the Garage Psychédélique scene and a chance to revel in its brilliance and dance around your kitchen. If it means you go down a rabbit warren of discovery to unearth more gems and brilliant bands from the Garage Psych scene then job done!

Originally released on two tapes on Stucco, now available on vinyl. Ferocious, manic Punk via Austin, Texas. Overpublicised rock hack/full-time gobshite Charles Shaar Murray said of The Clash that they were ‘the sort of garage band who should be speedily returned to the garage, preferably with the motor running’. Now that’s all well and good, but what if I told you there was a band that sounded like they’d taken this to heart and replaced the petrol fumes with all the gnarliest uppers and the cheapest booze? Meet Texas’ Insane Urge, a band for whom no fidelity is too low, no riff is too snotty, and there’s no hook that wouldn’t sound better being crushed into the dirt by a combination of velocity and curled-lip, devilish delirium. This is their ‘Two Tapes LP’, compiling their (you guessed it) two tapes for Down South Tapes - and what a compilation it is! Rattling through 15 songs in 18 minutes, it condenses the primal chords of The Sonics, the dumb thrills of the Oblivians and the smash’n’grab speed of hardcore punk to create something that sticks to your synapses like paste. Almost feels like someone should call Bomp!, Sympathy For The Record Industry and Crypt to check this hasn’t leaked out of their archives - that classic raw vibe is unmistakeably here and it’s an instant winner. From the opening instrumental that shares its name with the band to the minute-long thrill ride of ‘Job’, ‘Two Tapes LP’ is rock’n’roll at its stoopid best (and trust me, you’ve gotta be smart to play this stoopid). It’s a record that’ll cement its place on your speakers, its brevity only serving to make you demand another immediate fix - which you’ll do again and again and again. If the band moniker reflects anything, it’s the fact that you don’t make music like this because you wanna. You do it cos you can’t see any other choice. Listen and love.

Reflection is also-ran late-'60s British blues-rock, with more rock-oriented takes on the kind of approach used by heroes Freddie King and B.B. King. B.B. King's "You'll Never Know," in fact, is covered here, though most of the material was penned by the band. Steamhammer doesn't put much of an original spin on its sources, or on the British blues-rock form, though this is competent and does generally have a moodier, more downbeat feel than most of the band's competition in the genre. The expressive qualities of Kieran White's voice, though, are limited, as though he's being pinched by something that keeps him from letting go too much. The best moments come when they venture just a little outside of the ordinary U.K. blues-rock model, particularly when Harold McNair adds some jazzy flute; "Down the Highway" sounds a little close to some of early Jethro Tull. Future Jefferson Starship member Pete Sears plays session piano. The 2002 CD reissue on Akarma adds two bonus tracks from 1969 singles, "Windmill" and "Autumn Song," which are more explicit forays into the more melodic jazz-blues-rock direction mined by the likes of Jethro Tull, Colosseum, and Davy Graham in the late '60s, again with prominent flute. ~ Richie Unterberger