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As a young conservatory student back in 2016, Danish trumpeter Anders Malta was invited to participate in a reunion concert with the legendary Ernie Wilkins Almost Big Band. He was so taken with the band and the music, that on the spot he decided that he wanted to form his own. In 2020, Anders Malta Almost Big Band played its first concert, going on to play a monthly residency at Christiania Jazz Club in Copenhagen for the past two years. Their debut album Introducing is set to release on August 23rd on April Records. Since the early days of jazz, the broad sound pallet and dynamic range of the big band has proven irresistible to composers and arrangers. However, the traditional big band, with its 16 16-19 individual moving parts, can also at times, and for different reasons, be an unwieldy machine to maneuver. Malta s 13 13-piece made up of Denmark s finest young soloists is agile like a small group, retaining the powerful force of the larger orchestra. Belonging to a new generation of musicians with a deep love and knowledge of the jazz tradition, Introducing " sees the band pay tribute to the timeless Hardbop sound of the 50" s and 60" s through the three movement suite Hardbop Conversations "", whilst offering a contemporary European perspective on the classic large ensemble format through Ouverture, Interludium and Epilog ". Intricate arrangements, rich harmony, soaring trumpet & flugelhorn improvisations and a diverse array of feel and grooves showcase the impressive stylistic and artistic breadth Malta has to offer as a bandleader, arranger, composer and instrumentalist. From the high high-energy swing and powerful tutti chords one craves from a Big Band to the more intimate textures of solo instrumental passages, the ensemble s sophisticated, complex, and joyous debut proves once again that Denmark s jazz scene is among the world s most prolific and exciting.

LP Ltd vinyl picture disc version w/ DL card, 500 pressed. Vanishing Twin furthers their exploration of decidedly experimental territories with Afternoon X. Crafted with a playful balance of humour and rigour, with each member embracing the role of the multi-instrumentalist and process, over outcome. Following a series of line-up changes, Vanishing Twin is now the tightly honed collective of singer and multi-instrumentalist Cathy Lucas, drummer Valentina Magaletti (Holy Tongue, Tomaga, Moin) and bassist Susumu Mukai (Zongamin). Harnessing the diverse touchstones of its members; Lucas' left-field song-craft, Magaletti's singular approaches to experimental percussion, and Mukai's long history in the production of electronic music, the band has refined a hypnotic sound at the juncture of minimalism, kosmische, post-punk, and dream-laden, psychedelic pop. These eight fluttering abstractions, culled, collaged, and built upon from a vast constellation of instruments, samples, and unclaimed sources. Lucas employs her voice as an instrument and a generator of raw sound, weaving surreal imagery and uncanny juxtapositions amongst the dance and propellant drive. From infectious grooves of the album's title track and the constrained minimalism of "Subito", to the ambitious heights of pieces like 'The Down Below' and Lazy Garden, which unfurl a psychedelic avant-gardism on the scope and scale of David Axelrod and Scott Walker. Vanishing Twin embark upon a new multifaceted journey that collectively culminates as the bands most forward-thinking and groundbreaking release to date.

Freestyle Records drop another UK boogie 12" rarity from Eddie Capone's Treatment, this time the previously white label-only "Only You Know What I Like" from 1985. Limited to 300 copies worldwide.

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A mainstay of the UK's reggae, soul, funk & rock circuits since the early 1970s, Eddie Capone has played with a diverse and revered collection of acts; Chairmen of the Board, The Foundations, Black Velvet, The Elgins, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Arthur Lee's Love, Billy Preston and Edwin Starr to name but a few. Eddie was also part of short-lived group Casablanca, with David Costa & Barry Clarke of early 70's folk-rockers Trees, signed to Elton John's Rocket Record Company.

Eddie founded the Treatment band in the early 1980s bringing in a revolving cast of singers and players, and created the Treatment Records imprint out of his own Black Rock studio in South East London in 1982. Releasing a string of singles - with efforts from Eddie Capone's Treatment, a side-project with singer Beryl Marsden as Salt & Pepper, and a single from Norwegian group Wave - Treatment Records then followed this up in 1985 with the 12" release of "I Won't Give You Up" with Diane Jones brought in on vocal duties. This received solid support amongst DJs and radio at the time, and was quickly followed with this solid slice of white label-only UK boogie-funk that has since become a favoured deep cut on the selectors circuit.

Treatment Records continued through the 1980s through to early 1990s releasing Eddie's music, both as a solo artist and as part of collaborative side-projects, and Eddie has continued to write, perform and produce music from his home studio right through to the present day. As a committed community figure & activist in South East London, Eddie has since 2014 re-started Treatment Records under the name of 3G Treatment - bringing together three generations of people from the local area to ensure young artists & musicians have access to the expertise and experience of their elders for support and encourage successful careers in the industry.

Jawad Nawfal and Mazen El Sayed, better known by their stage names of MUNMA and EL RASS, met for the first time in Beirut, during the summer of 2011. A common friend told Jawad wonders about an MC who rapped and slammed in the classical Arabic language, as opposed to the vernacular Lebanese dialect. The two musicians met in a small café in Beirut’s Hamra neighborhood, spoke of music, argued about politics, and decided to collaborate at once. They began working on tracks the following day. A month later, they had already produced a dozen sketches, instrumental beds and accapella vocal tracks. These demos eventually landed in the hands of Ziad Nawfal and Fadi Tabbal, who set out to bring to life the duo’s first recorded album. “Kachf el Mahjoub” (the title is from a Sufi master-work penned some 900 years ago) was eventually released as a limited edition of 500 CD’s, during a launch event at then-budding alternative venue Metro al Madina in Hamra, on the 22nd of February 2012. These CDs went out of print in record time, as can be expected, and the album’s mythical status became reinforced over time – El Rass & Munma collaborated sporadically during the next ten years, but never fully grasped the level of musical intensity and explosive tension attained on this first outing. It has been a longstanding dream of ours, here at Ruptured, to produce a vinyl version of this album, and we are thrilled to say this moment has finally come. Artist ALI RAFEI’s original artworks have been painstakingly reproduced, the music has been dutifully remastered for vinyl by CEDRIK FERMONT, and the records were pressed by our friends at Mother Tongue in Verona. We added bonus track "Fi Kala'at Tarablus" to this 10th anniversary reissue for good measure – recorded during the same sessions that yielded “Kachf el Mahjoub”, it appears on the digital version of the album. “Kachf el Mahjoub” is a landmark album in Lebanon’s alternative music scene, and the MENA region’s hiphop and indie scenes writ large. At the time of their collaboration, El Sayed was a prolific writer and musician, at ease with a variety of instruments, notorious for his masterful flow in the classical Arabic language, with lyrics tackling both social and political sensitive subjects; Nawfal has previously released an impressive number of albums and EPs, exploring downtempo electronica and ambient dubstep, for a number of Lebanese and international labels. The collision of the former’s brazen, slammed vocals and the latter’s harsh beats works wonders on “Kachf el Mahjoub”, Munma’s sound-world perfectly fitting El Rass’s agitated discourse, alternating between broken beats, elaborate percussion, and ambient layers of synths. At times reminiscent of mutant hiphop outfit Shabazz Palaces, at others of the collaboration between dubstep producer Kode9 and the late vocalist The SpaceApe, this album is an uncanny meeting of Arabic hip-hop and electronica, an exceptional event in the realm of contemporary Lebanese alternative music.

Tristan Arp returns to Wisdom Teeth with his sophomore LP: ‘a pool, a portal’ - a vast, multi-dimensional record of pin-drop rhythms, hushed vocals and swirling ambience that maps out a vivid limbic space between the natural and the digital worlds. The LP began life while Tristan was still living in Mexico City, and was subsequently finished in New York. Carrying on from where his acclaimed debut ‘Sculpturegardening’ left off, the record marries hallucinatory modular synths with cello, found sound and spoken word, creating a rich sonic world in which machines mimic nature and acoustic instruments merge with their digital counterparts. Across the record’s narrative arc, listeners are invited to imagine a future world in which nature and machines collaborate to rewild and search for new modes of being. Far from apocalyptic, the artist’s vision is yearning and hopeful - a reflection on how we might evolve to overcome our very human limitations. “Hopefully we can all open a little portal into another world and integrate what we learn into our own”, Tristan offers. True to his word, Tristan shared much of the creative process with his machines, using modular generative processes to create randomised, improvisatory moments that he could collaborate on as artist and observer. Most of the tracks were captured in single takes as live performances and improvisations that were subsequently edited and cut down. Speaking of ‘Life After Humans’ - the record’s beguiling 10-minute centrepiece - Tristan recalls: “I neglected to record multi-track outs, but it was actually super empowering to be left with just a stereo track: I couldn’t mix individual elements even if I wanted to after the recording, but I’m happy I inadvertently limited myself in that way.” Alongside his own voice, the record features a stunning appearance from fast-rising Guatemalan cellist and vocalist, Mabe Fratti. The pair met in Mexico City in 2020, where she helped Tristan to learn cello - an encounter that ultimately went on to inform the recordings that made up ‘Sculpturegardening’. Her appearance on ‘a pool, a portal’ marks a full-circle moment in their creative relationship. The album’s artwork features photography by Zhang An - a photographer based in Nanjing, China. Despite their appearances, these are unmanipulated photos of real-world ice formations. As is the case throughout ‘a pool, a portal’, the lines between the natural and the artificial are playfully indistinct.

Blue vinyl repress

With a voice of pure gold and a startling sensitivity for heartfelt pop songwriting, on No Reino Dos Afetos (In the Realm of Affections), Berle firmly embraces earnestness, through starry-eyed Brazilian love songs, ambient vignettes, warm, home-cooked beats and gentle strokes of MPB genius.

Maceió, the capital of Brazil’s Alagoas state on its sprawling east-coast, is home to pastel coloured colonial houses, white sand beaches and a brilliant young composer, poet and multi-instrumentalist named Bruno Berle.

With a voice of pure gold and a startling sensitivity for heartfelt pop songwriting, on No Reino Dos Afetos (In the Realm of Affections), Berle firmly embraces earnestness, through starry-eyed Brazilian love songs, ambient vignettes, warm, home-cooked beats and gentle strokes of MPB genius.

“It’s an album that was built from my desire to find beauty”, Berle explains - his simple, graceful words mirroring the graceful simplicity in his music. But amongst the simplicity, the compositions, arrangements and productions on No Reino Dos Afetos tingle with nuance and detail.

On the contemporary R&B inspired lead single “Quero Dizer” - produced by Berle and longtime friend and collaborator Batata Boy - the swirling, lo-fi, kalimba and guitar-fronted beat is turned into a feel-good hit by the ingenuity of Berle’s honey-soaked vocal melody.

Powerfully intimate, “O Nome Do Meu Amor” (My Love’s Name) is a guaranteed tearjerker, with Berle’s stunning voice soaring over gently plucked acoustic guitar and the textural flutter of soft movement, as if we hear him writing the song in the moment.

Drawing upon a close-knit, collaborative scene of Maceió artists and musicians, (of which Berle and Batata Boy are vital members), Berle also recorded some of his friends songs on the album, including João Menezes’ “Até Meu Violao”, the album’s beautifully laid back sunshine soul opener, which has all the charm of early-70s João Donato.

Having cut his teeth in soft-rock group Troco em Bala, and more recently finding himself embedded in both Rio and Sao Paulo’s contemporary music scenes - collaborating with the likes of Ana Frango Eletrico, who took the photo for the album cover - No Reino Dos Afetos is as musically diverse as Bruno himself. It’s hazy indie rock (“É Preciso Ter Amor”), calming ambient and field recording (“Virginia Talk”) as well as Berle’s own take on West African High Life (“Som Nyame”).

Instantly recognisable as a truly special artist, Berle’s character fills every corner of the sound, which is unsurprising considering he played most of the instruments.

Following the cult success of the first 2 EPs, Common Saints presents
the debut album "Cinema 3000". The theme continues, blending soul,
funk, and psychedelic influences, with the organic sound and rich
instrumentation that Common Saints has become known for.

Conceived in 2020 by writer/producer Charlie J Perry the production approach

for Commons Saints consists of him playing and recording real instruments in his

London home studio. One mike for the drums, his beloved piano and amps up

loud!



The album encapsulates the old school recording approach and musicianship the

discerning ear craves but with a more modern punch - a true sonic bath for all the

connoisseurs out there. Think, UK's equivalent to Tame Impala and Khruangbin.



The first EP "Idol Eyes" (2020) has seen 3 re-presses to date and is now selling at

multiples on Discogs. "Cinema 3000" is set to surpass expectations and is highly

anticipated within the Commons Saints community. The first LP pressing is on a

' blue meteorite splatter’ effect colour vinyl and will be limited to 2000 units

globally. Also available on CD, presented in a 6-panel digipak.

No one has lived a life quite like Marcos Valle. He became an overnight international sensation, fled a military dictatorship, dodged the Vietnam war draft, had his music sung by Homer Simpson, made enemies with Marlon Brando, and became an unsuspecting fitness guru for multiple generations. But to truly understand the great Brazilian composer, arranger, singer and multi instrumentalist, one must listen to his music.

Lead Single (Life Is What It Is) : Between the release of his first album in 1962 and today, Marcos Valle has released twenty-two studio albums traversing definitive bossa nova, classic samba, iconic disco pop, psychedelic rock, nineties dance and orchestral music. He has also had his songs recorded by some of the all time greats, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Sergio Mendes, Elis Regina, and (last but not least), Emma Button of the Spice Girls. He has also had his music sampled by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Pusha T and many more.


With his twenty-third studio album Túnel Acustico, Valle set out to bring it all together.

“I believe my music is many things. It goes in different directions. I have many different ways of writing music, sometimes it’s melodies and harmony, sometimes the groove is the focus. But all the music I have made over my sixty year career is unified. It is all natural and it is all sincere. And this is what I wanted to bring to my new album.”

A prominent feature of Valle’s career has been his dual residence between Brazil and the USA. Originally moving over in the mid-sixties on the back of bossa nova’s international proliferation, Valle toured with Sergio Mendes and became hugely in demand as a composer and arranger. But the Vietnam War loomed and the threat of being drafted saw him return to Brazil. He spent the following years in Rio writing music for TV and film, as well as four cult favourite albums in collaboration with some of Brazil’s most groundbreaking musicians including Milton Nascimento, Azymuth, Som Imaginario and O Terco.

By 1975, Brazil's military dictatorship was at its most oppressive, making living and working increasingly difficult. Valle moved back to the US where he would reside in LA, writing songs for, and collaborating with the likes of Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Chicago, Sarah Vaughn and Leon Ware, amongst others.

Túnel Acústico features two songs originally conceived during Valle’s time on the West Coast: “Feels So Good”, a stirring two-step soul triumph written in 1979 with soul icon Leon Ware, and the sublime AOR disco track “Life Is What It Is”, composed around the same time, with percussionist Laudir De Oliveira from the group Chicago.

Built around an unfinished demo Marcos found on a shelf in his house 44 years after it was made, the “Feels So Good” demo was restored with the help of producer Daniel Maunick, who also utilised AI stem-separation to remove the placeholder vocal ad-libs. Valle added Portuguese lyrics to sit alongside Ware’s vocal hook, as well as extra keyboards and percussion.

Also written in late seventies LA, “Life Is What Is It” was co-penned by Laudir De Oliveira from the band Chicago and first released on the bands’ Chicago 13 album with lyrics by Robert Lamb. Another nod to his good times in LA, Valle recorded his own version for Túnel Acústico, upping the tempo and deepening the groove for a blast of irresistible summer soul.

On Túnel Acústico, Valle's core band features two members of the renowned Brazilian jazz-funk group Azymuth: Alex Malheiros on bass and Renato Massa on drums. The rhythm section is completed by percussionist Ian Moreira, with additional contributions from guitarist Paulinho Guitarra and trumpeter Jesse Sadoc.

The contemporarily composed music on Túnel Acústico features an impressive lineup of guest lyricists, including renowned Brazilian artists: Joyce Moreno (Bora Meu Vem), Céu (Nao Sei), and Moreno Veloso (Palavras Tão Gentis) as well as Valle's brother Paulo Sergio Valle (Tem Que Ser Feliz).

The album closes with "Thank You Burt (For Bacharach)", a tribute to the legendary composer who passed away in 2023.

Túnel Acústico will be released on 20th September 2024 via Far Out Recordings. Valle is set to tour Europe and America in support of the album.

RADIAL
Acoustic Rhythm & Texture Sequencer
Available as C60 Limited Edition of 50 mirror dubs- (same on both sides) + Inserts

written and produced by
S.Gordon 2024.

additional percussion by Islay Spalding - TRK 7, recorded at SFS studios 2024

Synths & Radial - SDGordon.

The Radial instrument was designed to explore various material's acoustic characteristics in ways that could only be achieved through mechanical and electronic control.

It creates sporadic dense percussive sequences & sharp reciprocating sweeps or can focus in on tiny acute angles to produce deep shaking drones among a host of other planned and unplanned acoustic sounds.

Radial uses 5 voltage controlled motors and interchangeable textured cylinders captured via contact microphones positioned within the chassis. The cylinders can be synchronised or independent & the blades are interchangeable allowing the flex of certain materials to skew and augment the movements and sounds and sequences.

Playing the Radial instrument is a direct visceral experience. Its sequences sound unlike anything else i have used and the simple design by no means limits the scope of its rhythmical output. After feeling out the controls you arrive somewhere in-between the rubbery juddering fuzz or clockwork blasts of percussion and can step back allowing the physicality of the instrument itself to dictate how things proceed. Minor adjustments can have a butterfly effect on the entire tone inmate rewardingly unpredictable but controllable way.

On certain tracks there’s some synth work in a move away from the potential “instrument study” vibe of the release and Islay Spaldings blistering scrap metal percussion on Track 7 was incredible to watch.. Additional thanks to Stephan P Richter “SPR” for the advice and encouragement through the whole build.

Finally back on vinyl, this 2011 release was the first proper full-length showcase for the Grammy Award-winning superproducer. The signature soulful style of 9th’s beats was a sensation in hip hop and R&B--for underground fans and in the mainstream--and he played a leading role in bringing North Carolina to the forefront of American music culture in the 21st century.

Body Meπa is the New York-based quartet of Greg Fox (drums), Sasha Frere-Jones (guitar), Melvin Gibbs (bass), and Grey McMurray (guitar). As luminaries in the intersecting traditions of improvised music, rock, jazz, fusion, and contemporary classical music, the four artists have each spent decades building diverse practices that extend beyond sound into multiple disciplines. Prayer in Dub, their second release on Hausu Mountain, follows the band’s 2020 album The Work Is Slow.

The album presents a band whose collective intuition as instrumentalists and live-in-the-room songwriters has deepened with each take that they put to tape. Prayer in Dub finds Body Meπa taking up new experiments with song structure and atmosphere, fanning out into a wide menu of both longer and more concise pieces that suggest deliberate shifts in energy and emotional resonance. The album presents a thrilling contrast between storms of precise rhythmic interplay and slowly expanding fields of multi-guitar and bass texture, alternately pushing the narrative toward explosive peaks of intensity and dipping into ambient expanses. Contemplative guitar lines, both bone dry and effected into total abstraction, ripple together over dub-indebted rhythm section grooves before shifting the dial towards beatific twang. Knotty distorted solos surge out of the fray over networks of arpeggios and drum fills.

On Prayer in Dub, Body Meπa pursues a strain of euphoria charged with elegiac grandeur and the looming potential to crumble at any moment under the psychic weight of confusion. It speaks to the band’s goals and general outlook that chaos never completely consumes their sessions. The band channels the kinetic energy of a “supergroup” of veteran musicians into communal works that evolve beyond their creators’ extensive pedigrees into new forms both intimate in sentiment and majestic in scope.

Body Meπa is the New York-based quartet of Greg Fox (drums), Sasha Frere-Jones (guitar), Melvin Gibbs (bass), and Grey McMurray (guitar). As luminaries in the intersecting traditions of improvised music, rock, jazz, fusion, and contemporary classical music, the four artists have each spent decades building diverse practices that extend beyond sound into multiple disciplines. Prayer in Dub, their second release on Hausu Mountain, follows the band’s 2020 album The Work Is Slow.

The album presents a band whose collective intuition as instrumentalists and live-in-the-room songwriters has deepened with each take that they put to tape. Prayer in Dub finds Body Meπa taking up new experiments with song structure and atmosphere, fanning out into a wide menu of both longer and more concise pieces that suggest deliberate shifts in energy and emotional resonance. The album presents a thrilling contrast between storms of precise rhythmic interplay and slowly expanding fields of multi-guitar and bass texture, alternately pushing the narrative toward explosive peaks of intensity and dipping into ambient expanses. Contemplative guitar lines, both bone dry and effected into total abstraction, ripple together over dub-indebted rhythm section grooves before shifting the dial towards beatific twang. Knotty distorted solos surge out of the fray over networks of arpeggios and drum fills.

On Prayer in Dub, Body Meπa pursues a strain of euphoria charged with elegiac grandeur and the looming potential to crumble at any moment under the psychic weight of confusion. It speaks to the band’s goals and general outlook that chaos never completely consumes their sessions. The band channels the kinetic energy of a “supergroup” of veteran musicians into communal works that evolve beyond their creators’ extensive pedigrees into new forms both intimate in sentiment and majestic in scope.

"Since 2017, Thirdface has intrigued their audiences and peers alike with their raw, intense technicality. The Nashville quartet consisting of drummer Shibby Poole, guitarist David Reichley, bassist Maddy Madeira, and vocalist Kathryn Edwards bring an atypically musical approach to hardcore with release after invigorating release. Thirdface takes the most harrowing elements of punk, grindcore, and death metal and fuses them into a ferocious sound that is quite considerably their own. From their inception, Thirdface has developed consistently, culminating in their new release Ministerial Cafeteria, due through stalwart unconventional rock label Exploding in Sound Records.

Thirdface is decidedly remarkable in their dedication to Nashville DIY. Edwards runs the beloved all ages venue Drkmttr; Poole is a go-to recording engineer for local bands; and all four members have played in various other projects over the years. Within the constellation of Nashville’s DIY scene, Poole, Reichley, and Madeira were already well acquainted with each other’s playing styles through a previous band. Starting as a side project in 2017, the three shifted gears and began leaning toward a more intense sound requiring a vocal presence unburdened by an instrument. Since then, the release of 2021’s self-recorded Do It With A Smile led Thirdface to regional tours with the likes of Touché Amoré and City of Caterpillar.

On Ministerial Cafeteria, Thirdface loosens the reins only a little more than on Do It With A Smile, but the small change makes a profound difference. Thirdface’s onslaught of blasts and D-beats are no less present than ever, but now ‘grooves’ are allowed a little more life, stretching for an extra measure or for a full repetition before they’re snatched away. Simply, Ministerial Cafeteria gives more space for the dancers, but their faces will still be on the ground as they try to process what they’re hearing."

Colombian artist Kabinett brings a soul and harmonic proposal in the many forms of alternative disco and house through embellished productions and DJ sets finding himself every time as medium for all possibilities.

Involved in music from an early age through classical music, while being exposed and inspired by his older brothers in the many forms of what electronic music was developing, Nicolás, his given name, knew that his future and purpose was only going to be around what matters him the most, music. After learning different instruments in the early years and through a mix of self-education and formal education in contemporary music and music production, as well his first steps as a DJ, at age 20 he was ready to get involved in Colombia's capital electronic music scene as curator, DJ, label owner and music producer.

Founder of vinyl house label Nómada Records next to established artist such as Felipe Gordon & Joint4nine, his mentors, Kabinett have been fed enough to developed a full curation career working for Kaputt Club, El Coq & W Hotels, and more recently Casa Cruxada where he has helped to develop an identity for each which as of today has only enriched the local scene.

More recently as head of Kaputt.wav, his new label, which is now house of artist such as Curses, Iñigo Vontier, Theus Mago, Dombrance, Damon Jee, among many more, promises to keep growing and develope music overseas.
As of his personal artist career, have count on releases in labels such as Glitterbox, Midnight Riot Records, Partyfine, Platino Records, Duro, Playground, Sonido Moderna and more recently in Prins Thomas own label, Intersnajonal which will release his third solo EP in summer 2024.
With a deep understanding and experience on the music scene and a strong influence on dance genres, Kabinett and his music transcends the listeners souls and dive deep into a conscious dance.

On How It Ends (?), slinky melodies snake through nocturnal atmospherics, drawing you into a world built on poetic, painterly lyricism. Night Crickets, a long-distance groove affair that materialized during the drawn-out days of lockdown, has emerged once again to soundtrack our waking dreams.

David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Victor DeLorenzo (Violent Femmes) and multi-instrumentalist Darwin Meiners spearhead a loose collective of like-minded creative souls whom, through sheer tenacity and a burning desire to collaborate and create, transcend the restrictions of space and time. Audio files shared from Los Angeles to Milwaukee, from London to the San Francisco Bay, and the ghosts of Candlestick Park shimmer through the fog, coalescing in a glorious ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ that draws from the past, the present and the imagined future.

Declaring Bauhaus, Love And Rockets, and Violent Femmes iconic, foundational bands in the history of alternative music would receive little pushback from those in the know. San Francisco born artist Darwin Meiners is a fan of all three. A chance meeting with David J grew into a friendship, and Darwin not only became a bandmate, but his manager. After reaching out to Victor DeLorenzo through e-mail, Darwin met the Violent Femmes drummer after their set at Coachella. Soon, after the three collaborated on Darwin’s 2014 release Souvenir.

As the pandemic took hold, Darwin was looking for a new project to occupy the lock down time and approached Victor, who was keen to proceed and suggested that David join as well. The musical trust established between these three was immediate and Night Crickets were born. Within weeks a global process was initiated between them, the recordings eventually forming the album, A Free Society.

Following that release, inspired by how well – and quickly – they all worked together, the trio kept up their collaboration. “We are each free to discover musical connections that could only exist in an ideal creative setting” explains Victor. “We are very lucky to have three musicians who write, sing and play various instruments in one trio… our egos seem to melt into one when we face musical decisions, so our expeditions are always filled with pure discovery, humor and drive!”

How It Ends (?) was crafted with the same collaborative spirit as A Free Society. Each member contributed contributed unique elements to spur their collective creativity—whether a drum pattern, a lyrical concept, or a musical idea—and together, they expanded these initial sparks into the finished work. True to their approach, much of what you hear was captured in the first take, reflecting a genuine, unfiltered moment.

The music on the How It Ends (?) is a true evolution of the debut album. It is deeper and darker. Having said that, the dark tone is alleviated by a healthy measure of the buoyant, bouncy and melodic. “Much of the new material is very psychedelic and the contrast between this heavy, dark psychedelia and the more uplifting pop elements puts me in mind of The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ album to some degree,” tells David J. “The recording process for the new album was exactly the same as the first in that we all recorded remotely, taking turns to share files and reacting spontaneously to the previous track, overdubbing then passing on once again until we all felt that the track was done.”

“While we didn’t start with a specific theme, the album emerged as a contemplative exploration of endings” says Darwin. “It touches on the loss of individuals, the shifting of ideas, and the fragility of systems. Beneath this sense of darkness and finality, however, there are threads of beauty and glimpses of hope. We invite you to immerse yourself in the album and experience the journey we’ve embarked upon.”

Space Drum Meditation unveils Four Tusks, their debut album and seventh re- lease on the label. This 12-track journey blends tribal rhythms, atmospheric textures, and electronic elements, interweaving darkness and light. The album unfolds like a ritual, revealing a murky, immersive soundscape shaped by primal beats, ethereal ambience, rumbling thunder, and the whisper of rain, reminiscent of a primeval marshland and drawing one into its depths. Featuring a wide array of instruments – including deep percussion, traditional flutes, throat singing, and field recordings – Four Tusks crafts a mysterious tapestry that feels both ancient and futuristic, resonating with nature's elements.

"Good Lovelies are proud to reissue their holiday classic EVERGREEN just in time for the upcoming holiday season. Originally released in 2019, this fifth anniversary limited edition of 500 has been pressed on beautiful peppermint green vinyl.

Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Susan Passmore are a trio of songwriters, multi-instrumentalists, and gorgeous harmonizers known for their nostalgic sound during the holidays that crosses between folk-roots, old-time swing, soul and bluegrass. ""Evergreen"" includes three original songs that the band have added to the Christmas canon alongside their versions of songs like ""Little Saint Nick"", ""Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"" and ""(Everybody’s Waiting For) The Man with the Bag"" to really get you in the mood for the season ahead.

The band’s annual Christmas tour hits the road again this December, bringing classic holiday songs, timeless winter selections, and original Good Lovelies material to the stage. A Good Lovelies holiday show is a guaranteed good time for the whole family.

“...while most festive albums are best experienced during the correct season, when it comes to the amazing talents of the Good Lovelies, the rule book can be tossed out.” - GREAT DARK WONDER -

“Some of the most gorgeous Christmas harmonies you’ll ever hear on an album jammed full of warmth and good cheer. Featuring a mix of fun favorites, lesser-heard gems and three truly fine originals, the trio strikes the perfect blend of smiles and sentiment...” - BOB MERSEREAU

Good Lovelies first came together in 2006 and have since recorded thirteen albums, including two Christmas collections. They have toured extensively across North America, Europe, the UK, and Australia, and have earned such accolades as a JUNO Award, a SOCAN #1 Single award, and four Canadian Folk Music Awards. Their latest album “We Will Never Be the Same” is in stores now."

10 years since the last installment, Herbert returns to the seminal Parts series synonymous with his trailblazing work in leftfield house music that began with Part One nearly 30 years ago.

It features the first of a series of pieces written with, and sung by artist, producer and drummer Momoko Gill (fka Metta Shiba and performer with Tirzah, Coby Sey, Alabaster de Plume amongst others).

Part 9is the first in a planned resurgence of forthcoming Herbert releases, withPart 10lined up for later in 2024 and his seventh album under this moniker slated for early next year.

Die Wahl-New-Yorkerin Yaeji hat sich in den letzten Jahren als Produzentin, Sängerin und DJ mit ihren introspektiven Dance-Floor-Hymnen eine ganz eigene Nische geschaffen. Nach der Veröffentlichung ihrer Debüt-EPs, sowie den Singles "Raingurl" und "Drink I"m Sippin On" in 2017, war sie auf Charli XCXs 2019er Album "Charli" zu hören, remixte Songs für Dua Lipa oder Robyn, kollaborierte mit dem Seouler-Künstler OHHYUK, verkaufte weltweite Headline-Touren aus und eröffnete ihren eigenen Lifestyle Webstore JI-MART. Ihr Sound und ihre Einflüsse sind dabei so vielschichtig wie ihre Herkunft. Geboren im Jahr 1993 in New York reicht ihr Stammbaum von Seoul über Tokyo bis nach Atlanta - Einflüsse die sich in ihrer Musik in Form von koreanischem Indie-Rock und Electronica, 2000er Hip-Hop, sowie Leftfield Bass und Techno wiederfinden. Mit ihrem 2020er Mixtape "WHAT WE DREW“ schärfte Yaeji noch mal ihre Vision als Musikerin, die kreativ losgelöst von Sprachen Genre-Grenzen zu sprengen vermag - kein Wunder, dass sie daraufhin von Pitchfork 2022 zu einer der "25 Artists Shaping the Future of Music" ernannt wurde. Die nahe Zukunft wird sie ebenfalls prägen. Schließlich erscheint am 7. April nun endlich das Debütalbum "With A Hammer" bei XL Recordings. Entstanden innerhalb von zwei Jahren in New York, Seoul und London kurz nach der Veröffentlichung des Mixtapes und während den Lockdowns ist es eine Ode an die Erforschung ihrer selbst, setzte sie sich doch dabei mit ihren eigenen Emotionen auseinander - besonders mit ihrer eigenen, in ihr brodelnden Wut. Während sie textlich zwischen englisch und koreanisch springt, nutzt sie erstmals auch Live-Instrumente, sei es in Form von einem Ensemble an Musikern oder auch zum ersten Mal sie selbst an der Gitarre. "With A Hammer" beinhaltet darüber hinaus auch Features der Produzenten und engen Verbündeten K Wata und Enayet, sowie Gast-Vocals der Londonerin Loraine James und von Nourished by Time aus Baltimore.

Something About Livingis an album of live recordings by experimental jazz composer/multi-instrumentalist Robert Stillman. The music was captured over the course of Stillman's time as the solo support act for The Smile (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Tom Skinner). The album weaves excerpts from various theater and arena shows along the tour's North American routing into a seamless whole, creating a 40-minute program that represents an expanded version of Stillman's ever-transforming live set.

Something About Livingis the product of a steady, on-stage evolution that happened over the course of the nearly 60 shows opening for the Smile across the EU, UK, US, Canada and Mexico. However, the creative origins of the set began in relative isolation during the pandemic, through Stillman's work on projects like his multi-media installationUnseen Forcesand his monthly broadcast for Margate Radio, both of which drew upon solo improvisation using saxophone, cassettes, Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, and effects.

"At the time The Smile asked whether I'd like to open for them on their first tour, I felt like I'd already been preparing without really knowing it," says Stillman. "I'd been doing this music constantly, but always for a hypothetical audience" During the pandemic, Stillman's solo set-up served as the research lab where he worked on all the concepts he was interested in: solo improvisation, creating and manipulating cassettes, FM synthesis, analogue delays chains, no-input mixing, and non-metric rhythmic pulses. So when he was offered the first Smile tour, the idea was to bring "the lab" onto the stage.

What Stillman could not have prepared for was the experience of playing in venues with capacities of up to ten thousand listeners. "The first tour was in summer 2022, so not that long after the worst of the pandemic, when I had pretty much made peace with the idea that I might never be able to perform for an audience again. Then all of a sudden I found myself in front of huge numbers of people, and felt the massive responsibility of being with an audience, of this thing I'd done alone for so longactually being witnessed, and it was completely overwhelming!" On the flip-side, Stillman also recalls, was a new appreciation of how powerful the live performance was as a social phenomenon. "It's a cliche, but also true: the moment of making and hearing music in a shared time and space has a very specific meaning and power; there was a sense that everyone in the venue was necessary to make it real, regardless of what they were doing, or how they felt about it. There was an inevitability about it that I'd never fully appreciated."

Over the course of the tours that followed, Stillman transformed this appreciation of the shared moment into an ethic of spontaneity that guided the development of his live set. "An important reference for this set has always been an Animal Collective show I saw when I first moved to New York, probably in 2001 or so, that has always set the high-water mark for what I wanted to do live- they were improvising a lot, and out of what would seem to be absolute chaos they'd find their way to something structured, and then back out again into the unknown. It was so thrilling to witness".

ThoughSomething About Livingcompiles recordings from different dates along the tour, Stillman has edited and mixed them into a work that seeks to reflect the ebb and flow between 'chaos and control' that characterizes his live set. Among the compositions featured are some from previous album releases ("Time of Waves", "What I Owe", "What Does it Mean to Be American") as well as some new compositions ("The Dream of Waking", "Renaissance 2.0," and the title track, "Something About Living").

The album/track title "Something About Living" is a reference to a line from Stillman's favorite film,My Dinner With André: "André Gregory is explaining the value of life experiences that, as he says, are'to do with living'.That really struck me, the way he articulated it. I strongly believe live music situations can ask these kinds of questions, for performers and audiences. I hope that's reflected in this music."

[a] 01: Time of Waves (Live in Miami FL) [Live]
[b] 02: What Does It Mean to Be American (Live in Forest Hills NY) [Live]
[c] 03: The Dream of Waking (Live in St Augustine FL) [Live]
[d] 04: Something About Living (Live in Richmond VA) [Live]
[e] 05: What I Owe (Live in Chesterfield MO) [Live]
[f] 06: Renaissance 2.0 (Live in Chesterfield MO) [Live]

Following his debut album Bisou Genou, released in October 2021, Frise Lumière are preparing the release of his second album Ambo (Experimental, minimalism, Noise Jazz, Avantgarde) for October 2024.Ambo is the outcome of numerous interactions from the past and present, affirming and advancing the research of his prepared bass's acoustic possibilities. His use of broomsticks, mallets, and drumsticks enhances his rhythmic playing. Whether he plays his instrument more conventionally or flat on his lap. A method that is already audible in a few of the tracks on his first LP

In 2007 an Italian film festival invites Mouse on Mars to score a film of their choice. The organizers claim to be able to clear the rights for any movie the band chooses. Werner Herzog’s fictional documentary Fata Morgana, which merges footage of several desert explorations by Herzog and his team into one continuous association, has long been a band’s favorite. The film comes with a soundtrack by Mozart, Leonard Cohen, Third Ear Band and field recordings. Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner are sent a DVD to Düsseldorf and start working. The idea is to score the film in real time so instrumentation has to be readily at hand: guitar, percussion, electronics, mouth harp, pedals, software, tapes, samplers. Once the arrangement for the three-part film is sorted Mouse on Mars bring their score to stage. Herzog Sessions is performed twice: first when the band still thought the rights had been cleared, and a second time at London’s Southbank Center knowing that Herzog would have never approved a new score.

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Mouse On Mars – London Queen Elizabeth Hall soundtracking Werner Herzog.
By Mike Diver, 24.04.2009

Filmed in 1971, Fata Morgana is perhaps not one of Herzog’s best-known works (think Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn, et cetera…), but then Mouse on Mars have never been ones to embrace the mainstream, quietly letting their modern, experimental take on krautrock do the talking over the years, thus producing some quietly brilliant electronica that far outweighs their modest profile.

The film itself is not altogether dissimilar to the wonderful, Phillip Glass-scored Koyaanisqatsi, with sweeping landscape shots and no obvious plot or narrative, though Fata is concentrated purely in one place – in and around the Sahara Desert, switching from images of barren wasteland to desert tribes and dead, skeletal cattle.

The obvious thing to do when soundtracking such powerful imagery is to vie for dreamy electronic soundscapes which can be sustained for a long period, and whilst this ambient shoegaze approach was present and correct (also carefully constructed and highly effective), Mouse on Mars added a human element to the performance, incorporating a live dimension by using and looping guitars, harmonicas, processed vocals and even a live horn player (quite possibly a flugelhorn. Look it up if you don’t believe me) for the final section of the film.

Some of the most interesting points arose when the duo suddenly switched from solemn, ambient tones to glitchy, bouncing electro (reminiscent of their more upbeat work) whilst on the same film shot – causing the audience mood to flick from tripped-out bliss to attentive semi-wired, utterly subverting any idea of a narrative the film may have possessed. Clever stuff.

Ranging from sinister to surreal to humorous, all the moods portrayed in Fata Morgana were successfully matched by Mouse on Mars’ live rescore – no mean feat. The duo also went above and beyond the call of duty with their own soundtrack, adding a fascinating personal signature to an already unique film.

Strange Power!, the fifth record from Durham, NC-based songwriter and poet Anne Malin Ringwalt, emerges from the darkest waters of the self into a world remade. Releasing in conjunction with her second book of poetry, What Floods (Inside the Castle, Oct. 2024), Strange Power! overflows with Ringwalt's teeming and sensuous personal symbolry: glowing lilacs and gentle queens, dolphins wild and girls who grew up brave _ T.S. Eliot sung by Cat Power, backed by Mount Eerie. She sings: "I rose up from water." Ringwalt writes and performs with the authority of a lifetime spent harnessing the alchemy of storytelling; her belief in the power of words to heal and transform is palpable in each achingly- delivered lyric. Made amidst profound inner and outer change, Strange Power! also sees Ringwalt taking up the role of self-producer for the first time, mirroring and supporting the record's Orphic quest by gathering contributions from a coterie of friends wielding an electric range of American instruments. Violins, vibraphones, drum machines, electric guitars dappled with spring reverb, wind-blown shells, and a host of other numinous sounds form an unfurling and shadowy world which was then carefully honed during the mixing process (shepherded by Michael Cormier-O'Leary and Lucas Knapp) _ settling the final record in an eerie meridian between spareness and verdancy. The result is a beguiling and darkly blooming realm: the sound of a personal cosmos being remade, piece by piece. Ringwalt is at the height of her spirit as both songwriter-poet and singer, her willowy voice by turns conjuring and keening as she reckons with her deep past and the stories told since. Opening track "The Pines" sets the stage for a record of truly life-long scope: "I was a child, now I hold her / I was asleep for many years." Some songs, like the gorgeous "North Carolina" and "The Saint," were written as early as 2013 but, Ringwalt says, "insisted upon being remembered" as the record took shape; in its final form, they serve as inciting moments of self-discovery before the journey to come. "The Visionary" recalls one of Ringwalt's earliest musical breakthroughs _ her re-rendering of an Emily Brontë poem into a song at age 15 _ and, she says, "`cites' the melody of that song in the context of this new one _ a holding of the past and present and every layer in between/beyond, in utter solitude _ a solitude that reflects certain aspects of abandon as a child and an adult..." This unusually lengthy time-scale lends Strange Power! a deeply moving sense of narrative fullness. Stretches of the record _ particularly the "Judgment Day" ? "River" ? "Lilac Bloom" trifecta that form the black heart of Side 1 _ may recall familiar wanderings of personal underworlds such as Mount Eerie's Lost Wisdom Pt. 2 or Neil Young's Ditch Trilogy. Yet this hollowed landscape is in turn exorcized by the a capella "I Know," in which Ringwalt sings "I won't be gutted by you / For giving and trying to heal / I won't be gutted, I am not a fool / I deserve a love that is new" before the song concludes with a piano passage that recalls hymnal music _ suggesting a faith in life itself to offer new beginnings. Side 2 features some of Ringwalt's most powerfully introspective writing to date, as the songwriter casts off myth after myth in her search for personal transformation. By the final song, "Stories," the energy that has been gathering all throughout the record breaks loose as Ringwalt reflects: "I wrote so many stories, not knowing what the end was." But at this stage in the journey, we know there is no such thing as an ending; if the healing process is never complete, the storyteller's strange power is what finally offers liberation.

Sam Redmore made a significant impact on the UK music scene with his debut album Universal Vibrations, a vibrant collection of eclectic, dancefloor-ready tracks that earned extensive radio play on BBC 6 Music. His follow-up album Modulate builds on this foundation, blending electronic and live instrumentation across a diverse range of genres, from house and funk to afrobeat and salsa. Sam, now exploring and expanding his creative process, incorporated live performances into the album's development, and collaborated with notable artists including Dele Sosimi and Abdominal.

Die Band, welche Alternative Country zum Durchbruch verhalf, ist zurück! 1983 begann Lone Justice in den Clubs von Los Angeles zu spielen und machte sich schnell einen Namen. 1984 bereits wurde man von Geffen Records unter Vertrag genommen, 1985 erschien das selbstbetitelte Debütalbum, mittlerweile ein Klassiker der Rockgeschichte mit geradezu ikonischem Cover. Die LA Times kürte es zum "Album des Jahres". Sie spielten Konzerte mit U2, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers und Willie Nelson. Doch bereits nach dem zweiten Album löste sich die Band früh in 1987 auf, Sängerin Maria McKee und auch die Instrumentalisten begannen ihre Solokarrieren. Nun hat die Band 38 Jahre später ein neues, drittes Album fertiggestellt, mit zum größten Teil inspirierten Interpretationen von Fremdmaterial und Tradtionals, auf dem alle ursprünglichen Mitglieder des Debütalbums noch zu hören sind: Maria McKee, Ryan Hedgecock, Marvin Etzioni und auch der mittlerweile verstorbene Don Heffington. Zu den zusätzlichen Gästen gehören die Streicherarrangeurin Tammy Rogers, der Multihornist David Ralicke, Greg Leisz an der Steel-Gitarre und Benmont Tench am Klavier. Das Eröffnungsstück "You Possess Me" stellt Sängerin McKee in den Mittelpunkt, nur unterstützt von einem Streicher- und Mandolinenquartett. "Rattlesnake Mama" war einst ein dröhnendes elektrisches Stück in ihrem Live-Set von 1983 - diese Version ist jedoch rein akustisch mit Hedgecock an Harp und Tammy Rogers an der Fiddle. Später kreischen sie durch eine juvenile, atemberaubende Coverversion von 'Teenage Kicks' (der 1978er Single von The Undertones). Die Energie hält mit spürbarer Begeisterung für die Musik an und lässt Viva Lone Justice zu einem unerwarteten, inspirierenden Comeback werden. Lass den zweiten Frühling von Lone Justice auch dein Herz berühren, auch deine Scheune mit Folk, Rock, Country & Americana abbrennen.

„Cherry Blossom Baby“, Shigetos erstes Album seit 2017, entspringt einem kollektiven Tauwetter, ist ehrgeizig, kollaborativ und vollendet. Der in Detroit lebende, japanisch-amerikanische Musiker, DJ, Mitbegründer des Portage Garage Sounds-Labels und langjährige Ghostly International-Künstler übernimmt die Rolle des Produzenten und Komponisten. Der kühne und absichtsvoll kultivierte Sound ist eine Hommage an die Traditionen von Electronic Music, Jazz, R&B und Hip-Hop - eine Fusion, die zu seinem Markenzeichen geworden ist und heute lebendiger denn je. Zach Saginaw und eine Gruppe von Gästen und Musikern präsentieren eine Momentaufnahme, eine Feier der Selbstliebe und einen Ausdruck von Vitalität, der eindeutig in Detroit verwurzelt und von der kulturellen Geschichte seiner Familie geprägt ist. Für „Cherry Blossom Baby“ ließ sich Saginaw von den Kirschbäumen inspirieren lässt, die jeden Frühling in Hiroshima blühen - ein bleibendes Bild für Hoffnung, Widerstandsfähigkeit und Erneuerung. „Ich bin ein Kirschblütenbaby“, sagt er. „Wir alle sind Kirschblütenbabys, wir alle sind unverwüstlich, wir alle wachsen, und wir alle werden es auch weiterhin tun.“ Saginaw war auf der Suche, eine schwelende Selbstbeobachtung, die in den letzten Jahren zum Vorschein kam, als das Nachtleben pausierte und er begann, die Idee von Shigeto, dem Performer und der festen Größe in Michigan, zu hinterfragen. „Meine Identität ist etwas, mit dem ich schon immer zu kämpfen hatte: Ich werde weder als Japaner noch als Weißer angesehen. Ich glaube, Shigeto war für mich eine Möglichkeit, diese Identität zu haben, mir eine zu schaffen, an der ich mich festhalten konnte, und plötzlich gab es sie nicht mehr.“ Diese Erkenntnis veranlasste ihn, an sich selbst zu arbeiten, zu seinem Handwerk und seiner Gemeinschaft zurückzukehren, und legte damit den Grundstein für ein Album, das sich aus der Asche im übertragenen Sinne neu erhebt. Das bekräftigte Selbstbewusstsein, der Schwung und die Reifung zeigen sich darin, dass Saginaw sich hier als Songwriter und Produzent positioniert, der Ideen mit den besten Musikern Detroits arrangiert, eine physische Manifestation seiner WDET 101.9FM Radio-Show, die „zukunftsweisende Musik aus der Detroiter Diaspora“ hervorhebt. Jeder Track ist eine Kollaboration, sei es mit einem Sänger oder mehreren Instrumentalisten, die in seinen Portage Garage Studio Sessions geschmiedet wurde. Die Produktion und der Mix sind voll und zurückhaltend und verzichten auf moderne Kompression zugunsten einer geräumigeren Dynamik - eine Anspielung auf Psych- und Jazz-Platten aus den 70er und 80er Jahren.

„Cherry Blossom Baby“, Shigetos erstes Album seit 2017, entspringt einem kollektiven Tauwetter, ist ehrgeizig, kollaborativ und vollendet. Der in Detroit lebende, japanisch-amerikanische Musiker, DJ, Mitbegründer des Portage Garage Sounds-Labels und langjährige Ghostly International-Künstler übernimmt die Rolle des Produzenten und Komponisten. Der kühne und absichtsvoll kultivierte Sound ist eine Hommage an die Traditionen von Electronic Music, Jazz, R&B und Hip-Hop - eine Fusion, die zu seinem Markenzeichen geworden ist und heute lebendiger denn je. Zach Saginaw und eine Gruppe von Gästen und Musikern präsentieren eine Momentaufnahme, eine Feier der Selbstliebe und einen Ausdruck von Vitalität, der eindeutig in Detroit verwurzelt und von der kulturellen Geschichte seiner Familie geprägt ist. Für „Cherry Blossom Baby“ ließ sich Saginaw von den Kirschbäumen inspirieren lässt, die jeden Frühling in Hiroshima blühen - ein bleibendes Bild für Hoffnung, Widerstandsfähigkeit und Erneuerung. „Ich bin ein Kirschblütenbaby“, sagt er. „Wir alle sind Kirschblütenbabys, wir alle sind unverwüstlich, wir alle wachsen, und wir alle werden es auch weiterhin tun.“ Saginaw war auf der Suche, eine schwelende Selbstbeobachtung, die in den letzten Jahren zum Vorschein kam, als das Nachtleben pausierte und er begann, die Idee von Shigeto, dem Performer und der festen Größe in Michigan, zu hinterfragen. „Meine Identität ist etwas, mit dem ich schon immer zu kämpfen hatte: Ich werde weder als Japaner noch als Weißer angesehen. Ich glaube, Shigeto war für mich eine Möglichkeit, diese Identität zu haben, mir eine zu schaffen, an der ich mich festhalten konnte, und plötzlich gab es sie nicht mehr.“ Diese Erkenntnis veranlasste ihn, an sich selbst zu arbeiten, zu seinem Handwerk und seiner Gemeinschaft zurückzukehren, und legte damit den Grundstein für ein Album, das sich aus der Asche im übertragenen Sinne neu erhebt. Das bekräftigte Selbstbewusstsein, der Schwung und die Reifung zeigen sich darin, dass Saginaw sich hier als Songwriter und Produzent positioniert, der Ideen mit den besten Musikern Detroits arrangiert, eine physische Manifestation seiner WDET 101.9FM Radio-Show, die „zukunftsweisende Musik aus der Detroiter Diaspora“ hervorhebt. Jeder Track ist eine Kollaboration, sei es mit einem Sänger oder mehreren Instrumentalisten, die in seinen Portage Garage Studio Sessions geschmiedet wurde. Die Produktion und der Mix sind voll und zurückhaltend und verzichten auf moderne Kompression zugunsten einer geräumigeren Dynamik - eine Anspielung auf Psych- und Jazz-Platten aus den 70er und 80er Jahren.

Oakland's Naked Roommate have been slinking around the Bay Area lighting up stages, shaking asses & confounding listeners since 2018, when the group - originally just the duo of real-life partners Andy Jordan & Amber Sermeno (both formerly of The World) - self-released a cassette of demos (2018's "Naked Roommate"). Members Michael "Mig" Zamora & Alejandra Alcala (Blues Lawyer) joined soon after to augment the sound & live band with their proper full-length album "Do The Duvet", co-released in September of 2020 via UK label Upset! The Rhythm & Trouble In Mind. 2024 finds the lineup expanded even further to incorporate the horn section of Geoff Saba & Jeanne Oss on tenor & alto saxophones as well as percussion & marimba as the band readies their sophomore effort, the dizzyingly ecstatic "Pass The Loofah" Recorded by members Andy Jordan & Mig Zamora from 2021-2023 as time & restrictions allowed, "Pass The Loofah" retains the wild energy of their debut, but leans into the rhythmic throbs perpetuated by forbears like Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Lizzy Mercier Descloux & ESG; the signature sound of UK's On-U Sound & NYC's 99 Records, but with a decidedly West Coast irreverence & a knack for absurdist exposition. Make no mistake, this is music designed to make your body MOVE & Naked Roommate won't stop until they 've made sure every ass is shook. The band freely incorporates elements of the dancier side of post-punk (think A Certain Ratio or Liquid Liquid) as well as disco, funk, & house music. However, the group's uplifting melodicism belies a deeper subtext, understanding the importance of the sense of community of dance music & the culture surrounding it and leaning into a Neo-socialist lyrical context. Shit is fucked, & we get thru it by helping one another & acknowledging & addressing the failures of disaster Capitalism & tech-bro hegemony (a state the band is all-too familiar with, living in The Bay Area) Take the first single "Bus"; a four-on-the-floor banger & salutary paeon to the ups & downs of the people's transport that throbs & pulses with a late-night sashay (and a bridge that launches the tune into the stratosphere). Elsewhere, "Fight Flight "s funky horn stabs and Sermeno's slinky vocals swoon over Numan-esque synth squiggles that are fortified & funkified toward the dance floor. "Broken Whisper " edges into new territor y for the group, adding a Caribbean flavor a'la Kid Creole or The Specials that punctuates the persistent & synthetic beats underneath. Meanwhile instrumental interludes like "Ducky & Viv", "G-Y pt. 1" & "G-Y pt. 2" oscillate into zones of sci-fi meets soap opera soundtracks, sounding not unlike the electronic experiments of UK industrial pioneers Chris & Cosey. Album closer "I Can't Be Found" might be the album's secret weapon; It 's swooning synth melody & processed vocals recall early Daft Punk or MGMT by way of Derrick Carter & The Au Pairs. It 's a beautiful song; perfect for the late night (or early morning) car ride home from the club. "Pass The Loofah" is released worldwide on October 25th, 2024 via Trouble In Mind Records digitally via most DSPs & on black vinyl & limited "disco ball " silver vinyl.

Limited metallic silver/white "disco ball" splatter vinyl available while supplies last.

Oakland's Naked Roommate have been slinking around the Bay Area lighting up stages, shaking asses & confounding listeners since 2018, when the group - originally just the duo of real-life partners Andy Jordan & Amber Sermeno (both formerly of The World) - self-released a cassette of demos (2018's "Naked Roommate"). Members Michael "Mig" Zamora & Alejandra Alcala (Blues Lawyer) joined soon after to augment the sound & live band with their proper full-length album "Do The Duvet", co-released in September of 2020 via UK label Upset! The Rhythm & Trouble In Mind. 2024 finds the lineup expanded even further to incorporate the horn section of Geoff Saba & Jeanne Oss on tenor & alto saxophones as well as percussion & marimba as the band readies their sophomore effort, the dizzyingly ecstatic "Pass The Loofah" Recorded by members Andy Jordan & Mig Zamora from 2021-2023 as time & restrictions allowed, "Pass The Loofah" retains the wild energy of their debut, but leans into the rhythmic throbs perpetuated by forbears like Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Lizzy Mercier Descloux & ESG; the signature sound of UK's On-U Sound & NYC's 99 Records, but with a decidedly West Coast irreverence & a knack for absurdist exposition. Make no mistake, this is music designed to make your body MOVE & Naked Roommate won't stop until they 've made sure every ass is shook. The band freely incorporates elements of the dancier side of post-punk (think A Certain Ratio or Liquid Liquid) as well as disco, funk, & house music. However, the group's uplifting melodicism belies a deeper subtext, understanding the importance of the sense of community of dance music & the culture surrounding it and leaning into a Neo-socialist lyrical context. Shit is fucked, & we get thru it by helping one another & acknowledging & addressing the failures of disaster Capitalism & tech-bro hegemony (a state the band is all-too familiar with, living in The Bay Area) Take the first single "Bus"; a four-on-the-floor banger & salutary paeon to the ups & downs of the people's transport that throbs & pulses with a late-night sashay (and a bridge that launches the tune into the stratosphere). Elsewhere, "Fight Flight "s funky horn stabs and Sermeno's slinky vocals swoon over Numan-esque synth squiggles that are fortified & funkified toward the dance floor. "Broken Whisper " edges into new territor y for the group, adding a Caribbean flavor a'la Kid Creole or The Specials that punctuates the persistent & synthetic beats underneath. Meanwhile instrumental interludes like "Ducky & Viv", "G-Y pt. 1" & "G-Y pt. 2" oscillate into zones of sci-fi meets soap opera soundtracks, sounding not unlike the electronic experiments of UK industrial pioneers Chris & Cosey. Album closer "I Can't Be Found" might be the album's secret weapon; It 's swooning synth melody & processed vocals recall early Daft Punk or MGMT by way of Derrick Carter & The Au Pairs. It 's a beautiful song; perfect for the late night (or early morning) car ride home from the club. "Pass The Loofah" is released worldwide on October 25th, 2024 via Trouble In Mind Records digitally via most DSPs & on black vinyl & limited "disco ball " silver vinyl.

Red Vinyl. Listening to Fashion Club's self-produced second album A Love You Cannot Shake feels like being caught in the crossfire of a profound beam of light. You can't help but feel both enlivened and exposed as its aberrant synth lines, artful strings and disfigured guitars swell into larger-than-life crescendos, which evoke a divine yet probing spotlight. Pascal Stevenson, the Los Angeles-based musician behind Fashion Club, likens the experience of hearing A Love You Cannot Shake to staring into the sun, and though the record wasn't written with religion in mind, its heavenly sonics and emotional sagacity also make it feel like a prophetic encounter. The album was shaped by Stevenson's gender transition and sobriety journey and parses her fluid emotions surrounding these events and other personal trials and tribulations. But as much as it's a dialogue between Stevenson's current and former selves, it's also an invitation for listeners to join her in the work of discarding bitterness and re-centering hope, especially when such efforts feel futile. Musically, A Love You Cannot Shake is an unshackling of expectations, as Stevenson's previous stint as bassist in the L.A. post-punk outfit Moaning and her first record as Fashion Club, 2022's Scrutiny, didn't necessarily reflect the full range of her taste, which includes ambient, pop, classical and dance music, or embody her sensitive tenderness and femininity. A Love You Cannot Shake also thrives on a fluid sonic palette. The album's magnetic immersiveness hinges on its strange dynamic shifts, jagged production and ambitious song structures with parts that don't repeat_choices influenced by her love of left-field electro-pop and her classical music background. While Stevenson handled most of the instrumentals on Scrutiny, this LP is much more collaborative, featuring an array of contributors who lent strings, piano, pedal steel and more. Plus, this album boasts country harmonies from Perfume Genius ("Forget"), high-pitched coos from Jay Som ("Ghost") and gauzy whispers from Julie Byrne ("Rotten Mind"). Stevenson's vocal evolution is also on display with this record, embracing a softer delivery that's more reflective of her personality and identity.

Ruthven - alias Sean Nelson - hatte schon immer einen gewissen Eifer und einen inneren Antrieb in sich. Der Musiker aus dem Süden Londons tauchte 2017 zum ersten Mal auf der Bildfläche auf, als er bei Paul Institute, dem von A.K und Jai Paul gegründeten Label, unter Vertrag genommen wurde. Zu dieser Zeit war er Mitglied der Londoner Feuerwehr und nahm seine Songs in der Feuerwache zwischen den Einsätzen auf. Nachdem er seine einzigartige Mischung aus R&B-beeinflusstem Future-Funk behutsam und mit Bedacht entwickelt hatte, erregte Ruthven die Aufmerksamkeit der Kritiker ("kreiert Prince-ähnliche Jams mit den Konturen und der Geschmeidigkeit von Sportwagen" - The FADER) und ging erst kürzlich mit Sampha auf Tour. Dieses Jahr wartete Ruthvan schon mit Koops mit Sampha und Little Simz auf "Satellite Business 2.0" sowie der Zusammenarbeit mit Overmono auf ihrem Club-Banger "Gem Lingo (ovr now)" auf. Auf seinem am 25. Oktober erscheinendem Debütalbum "Rough & Ready" führt Ruthven die Hörer*innen in seine intime Welt ein. In den 12 Tracks lehnt er sich an klassisches Songwriting an, während er die üppige Instrumentierung beibehält, um ein Portal zu schaffen, das Jahrzehnte überspannt. "Es ist vom Jazz beeinflusst, aber auch von so vielen anderen Genres", sagt er, "sogar Yacht-Rock-Künstler wie Michael McDonald und Steely Dan haben mich tief beeinflusst." Das Ergebnis ist ein Album, das all die scharfen Kanten der frühen Prince-B-Seiten wie "17 Days" mit der Rauchigkeit von D"Angelos "Africa" aus der Voodoo-Ära verbindet. Die Entstehung von "Rough & Ready" brachte einige Herausforderungen mit sich, darunter auch technische Pannen - aber Ruthven blieb dem Ziel treu, sehr persönliche und nachvollziehbare Musik zu machen. Das Ergebnis ist ein Album, das man gehört haben muss.

Latin funk at its finest. A kingpin player of Miami’s Cuban music scene, Ray Fernandez, brought together his ‘court’ for this sensational Afro-Cuban funk triumph. Largely a family affair, the album features his wife, two sons and a range of other talented musicians including Rickey Washington on saxophone, father of the contemporary jazz maestro Kamasi Washington. Originally released in 1973 on Manuel J. Mato’s iconic and collectible Sound Triangle Records, Ray & His Court is a dose of Miami heat fuelled by a Cuban fire, taking in salsa, soul, funk, calypso and Afro-Cuban rhythms.

A kaleidoscopic album that draws influence from a range of different genres and scenes blended together in true Ray Fernandez style. Side A, showcases an array of traditional Latin workouts including the addictive enticing opener 'La Señorita Lola' and the pulsating 'Lo Sabia' with its punchy horns and Ray’s wonderful, quirky bubbling organ groove. The tantalising ‘Venimos Acabando’ and bouncing organ stabs of ‘El Alacran’ are two further tickets to get a dancefloor vibing.

The B-side then steps things up, slipping a hit of heavy-weight Miami funk into the mix. Take the DJ favourite ‘Cookie Crumbs’ with its fiery bassline, tripped-out voiceovers and breakbeat drums. Or the amazing, memorable and truly unique funk instrumental ‘Soul Freedom’ with some mighty fine bass clarinet work courtesy of Gary Gottfried. Also featured is a seductive organ-led Cuban funk rework of Bobby Hebb's 'Sunny' (are there any bad versions of this song?), with a sumptuous female vocal that combine to serve up a seductive take us this much-loved classic.

'Ray And His Court' is a brilliant blend of Afro-Cuban gems and Miami funk heat from an influential group on Miami’s Latin music scene. A majestic and magnetic classic where every track is a surefire winner.

THE DYNAMICS • DRAG’N'FLY
by VINCENT HELLO.

Jamaica, 1960s. Ska artists, rock steady and reggae take back some soul songs of the United States, thus giving their versions that will in turn become future classics. The hits of the moment are also seasoned with Jamaican sauce, no matter where it comes from Original, pop, country, jazz... The rhythms of the island permanently transform the tracks of origin. In 2024, with their third album called Dragn'fly and decorated with a beautiful dragonfly (a "dragonfly" so in the language of King Tubby) the Dynamics honour Jamaican tradition and dynamite 10 versions of hits from yesterday and today. The Dragonfly spread his wings reggae, soul, funk to land in all headsets at the heart of good stereos and on spicy dancefloors. Because this dragonfly is a true superfly that speaks to the heart... and legs.

After two albums whose success led them to walk the globe of Glastonbury in Tokyo, honoured by the large elders (the first part of Lee Perry here, a regular dj support of Don Letts over there) the Dynamics are alive so their 'soul reggae vocal sound system” in front of audiences specializing in Jamaican or to those who are who were lucky enough to meet them by chance in Chemical Brothers... or Lady Gaga.

The Dynamics have forgotten the weight of ancestors to make their own recipe. They proclaim it, they are Sound System! The voices of Mounam, Steve Levi and Mr Day are in the front row, so making lovers, preachers, crooners and crooners to Turns of Duty, while Fab Master Flab all in one of the roots and futuristic echos. But if the mind is a sound system, the dynamics sounds also as a group through instruments live performances that plunge the tracks into a fervor unique. And then there are the hits, so, from all times and of all styles.
The low rider becomes toaster and leaves the road a American carried by these vocal harmonies Sky to take the exit Kingston. On the roadside, the joker delivers his lovers soft rock after a small detour to Muscle Shoal, The time to borrow a guitar from Duane Allman. In the south again, Mounam “Mrs Dynamics” meets the spirit of «Mr Dynamite» and tells him his radical, soul version. “ man’s world...” inna digital style! The spiritual anthem “you got to have freedom” by Master Pharoah Sanders becomes a universal skank, pop and dub who sends resounding high its universal message Dance! The dynamics are mutating the classic of ESG into a small, minimal pop bomb that is not without resemblance to the Neptunes of Mr Pharell Williams. On the edge of the track, Peter Gabriel sees his “Sledgehammer” groover as he does could imagine it and dissolve into sublime soul scrolls. Later, “After laughter...” soul classic celebrated and sampled Born into a rock steady air promised also to eternity. JJ Cale’s "cocaine," leaves its on the dancefloor for a reggae disco version, necessarily! And then, we must conclude. So it’s time to send an original title. It will be "Rubba Sub", to the aromas of sleng teng, which proves that far from the hits, the Dynamics deploys same layouts to deliver fresh and authentic sounds. And when the dub echoes evaporated, that the riddims have been silent, only remains an album majestic, in turn a future classic, full of unique Dynamics sound that mixes with instinct the echoes of yesterday to its own voices today.

Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld are back with their third album, nearly eight years after "Nerissimo", but time collapses and expands like an accordion. Especially those two stolen years that have disappeared from our accounts without a trace during the pandemic. The new album is titled "Christian & Mauro" and their real names on the header hint to a more personal landscape who allows them to go through elements of the past like "Bisogna Morire", an incredible passacaglia, a dance of death from 1600 that"s been reinvented from a contemporary perspective. Since their musical roots belongs also to the future, another consideration comes after a book by astrophysicist Carlo Rovelli, it opens up for a different look at the universe. It"s not always possible to discover new territories without consenting to lose sight of the shore for quite a good amount of time, so across these new ten songs Teho and Blixa allow themselves various detours playing a large array of instruments, using a mythological keyboard who can play with ciphers, letters, characters, sounds and noises. Using sounds transversely provides the cue to new possibilities to move forward in music. The album has been produced by Teho Teardo, Blixa Bargeld and Boris Wilsdorf both in Roma at Basement Recordings and at andereBaustelle in Berlin. This music joins again the sky between Roma and Berlin and the tour that will follow its release will take place from November 19th right in Roma and will take them all over Europe. Teho and Blixa will tour with Laura Bisceglia on cello and Gabriele Coen on bass clarinet, there will be on stage also a string quartet on each show.

First time vinyl reissue of Univers Zero's legendary Crawling Wind, originally released in 1981 on the Japanese 'Chaos International Series' label, with the original cover artwork has been beautifully redesigned by Thierry Moreau.

Toujours Plus à l'Est, as the title suggests, is heavily influenced by the traditional music of Eastern Europe, particularly Bulgaria., and paying tribute to the iconic catchphrase of Professor Calculus (Tournesol), the character from the Belgian comic series Tintin. Before The Heat, played live a few times, is an ambient composition by Andy Kirk, who is part of the EP's lineup alongside Daniel Denis, Guy Segers, Alan Ward, and Dirk Descheemaeker. Central Belgium in the Dark is a live improvisation from a period when Univers Zéro dedicated part of their concerts to complete improvisation. What makes this recording unique is that one of Andy Kirk's effects pedals picked up and emitted the sound of a mysterious radio signal, seemingly coming from "nowhere," especially noticeable at the end of the piece. The title of this improv is a nod to contemporary composer Charles Ives' work Central Park in the Dark. Central Belgium refers to the concert venue where the piece was recorded (Haine-St-Pierre).

Univers Zero represents one of the longest-living bands in Belgium. It was established in 1974. Drummer Daniel Denis had the brilliant idea to gather together a team of professionals sharing the same taste for music. The band has adopted an instrumental progressive style. Over the last couple of decades, the band has also implemented a series of influences from chamber music - most commonly, chamber music from the 20th century. Even if the line-up changes a lot over the years, the overall sound of UZ remained fairly consistent.

“Friends, they are my ticket out of this place I am in… feels like nothing more than a dirt bike vacation stop between Phoenix and San Diego.” Dirt Bike Vacation—for Worried Songs Records—explores the sonic world of the late amateur guitar player, Charles ‘Poppy Bob’ Walker, through a captivating set of instrumental songs made in the mid-1980s. Recorded on a single-track, Marantz field recorder, the project is a transportive document of Walker’s days spent as a meatpacking employee in Yuma, Arizona and the dailiness of that existence: driving to work, sitting in his backyard, walking around drunkenly, unwinding on the couch with a friend. These sketches, showing an experimental tendency, are surprisingly ahead of their time; some exhibit ad hoc tape delay (“Granite Bluffs,” “Goodbye YMCA”), while others make use of primitive overdubbing (“Continuation to Moon Doctor”). Not dissimilar to works such as Bruce Langhorne’s The Hired Hand soundtrack, Walker’s guitar playing is melodic, texturally rich and beautifully sober. On a musical tour from Nashville to Los Angeles, musician-archivist, Cameron Knowler, uncovered these songs from a series of dusty cassette tapes housed at a branch of the Yuma County Library. Originally tipped off by cryptic metadata entries found through an online finding aid, Knowler requested a sound sample and was immediately drawn in by their eerie, yet hopeful nature: “I didn’t care what they sounded like at first, but once I heard just a few seconds, I had to find out everything I could about Charles, who he was, and if he was still alive.” As it turns out, the two had miraculously crossed paths over 20 years prior when Cameron was a young boy accompanying his mother, a gem trader, on a biyearly sojourn to Quartzsite, a town 80 miles north of Yuma: “Charles, sitting down and smoking in a recliner, withdrawn, held what I now understand to be a mid-1990s Martin D-28 guitar. Unlike other old-timers, his instrument was sharply tuned and had a nice sound, even to my young and uncalibrated ears. Though his left hand showed signs of highly developed arthritis, his musical ideas were animated by a palpably deep understanding of fretboard anatomy, arrangement and harmony.” Sorting through the index cards associated with these tapes, Knowler was able to gain a detailed sense of most recording’s provenance, whereabouts and time: Walker’s Datsun pickup truck chugging along boiling hot Interstate 80, the Marine Corps Air Station parking lot, the Eastern Wetlands on the banks of the Colorado River, a fishing trip to Martinez Lake. Trying to reduce the amount of his own subjectivities coloring the work, Cameron constructed titles and track sequences by borrowing information gleaned from Charles’ handwritten notes: “I tried to organize everything by time of day, giving the listener the sense of how a Yuma day might sound and feel like, and each song title—even the record itself—is borrowed from his own words.” This proved no small task, as many notecards had to be deciphered and then coupled with their native tapes which needed extensive restoration treatments. The result is a project very much out of the blue, and one that is intensely personal to Knowler, having grown up in the same town under similar circumstances. “It feels like a part of my own journey as a guitarist reckoning with the defining marks of a gothic border town,” he remarks. “At the time I would’ve met Walker, I didn’t have much outside influence, but he has been in there all the while.” In their current form, the tracks combine to create a sonic journey that boldly contributes to the traditions of acoustic guitar soli, archival digs and field recordings all the same; most importantly, it is a creative document which shows a day-in-the-life of a man grappling with the human experience under a ubiquitous Yuma sun.

Was haben Motörhead, Refused, Rage against the Machine, AC/DC und Green Day gemeinsam? Es mag vielleicht verwundern, aber sie haben allesamt Songs mit Texten, die ziemlich gut im Kontext eines Widerstands gegen eine Epoche funktionieren, die immer mehr durch herzlosen Nationalismus, Rassismus, Faschismus und Egoismus gekennzeichnet ist. Das Leben im Europa des Jahres 2024 kann einem schon den Rest geben: In immer mehr Ländern wühlen Politiker*innen den Dreck auf, der schon längst hätte abgeschafft werden sollen - oder der zumindest kollektiv verachtet gehört. Doch eines muss man sich unbedingt ins Gedächtnis rufen: just because you got the power, heißt nicht, dass man recht hat. Tagtäglich wird einem heute eine neue dumme Idee um die Ohren gehauen. Meistens geht es darum, diejenigen nach unten zu treten, die eh schon am Boden liegen. Für Otto Normalverbraucher, der sich von der Gesellschaft betrogen fühlt, ist das reines TNT. Das Gefühl ist bisweilen nachvollziehbar, doch bitte wann sind die Verbreitung von Angst, das Bauen von Mauern und die Zerstörung von Bildungssystemen zur Lösung für Alles geworden? Seit wann ist ein menschliches Wesen aufgrund seiner Ethnie, seines Geschlechts, seiner sexuellen Orientierung oder seines Glaubens weniger wert? Unsere Antwort ist kurz und knapp: Wann immer irgendwer versucht, uns hier auf Linie zu bringen, entgegnen wir: fuck you, we won"t do what you tell us. Was also tun? Sind wir die einzigen, die sich in einer Welt, die sich spiralförmig in den Abgrund dreht, wie basket cases, also absolut verloren fühlen? Hoffentlich nicht. Und wenn wir eines gelernt haben, dann, dass im Produzieren, Spielen und Hören von Musik ein mächtiger Zauber liegen kann. Es gibt weniges, was so wirksam für sozialen Kit sorgt. Deshalb sind wir unglaublich stolz und freuen uns extrem, wieder ein neues Hellsongs-Album zu präsentieren. Für uns ist es ein Lichtstrahl in äußerst dunklen Zeiten. Zusätzlich zu den Cover-Versionen gibt es auch vier eigene neue Songs, die mehr oder weniger dasselbe Themenfeld abdecken. Mehr Vocals, mehr Drums, allgemein mehr Instrumente, gespielt von einer noch größeren Gang mit noch mehr Wut im Bauch als je zuvor. Hoffentlich gefällt"s euch. Wir lieben es! Lassen wir diese abgründigen Zeiten hinter uns und gehen wir gemeinsam in eine gleichberechtigte Zukunft! Eins wissen wir jedenfalls genau: We would rather be dead, als es gar nicht erst versucht zu haben. See you on the road!

Was haben Motörhead, Refused, Rage against the Machine, AC/DC und Green Day gemeinsam? Es mag vielleicht verwundern, aber sie haben allesamt Songs mit Texten, die ziemlich gut im Kontext eines Widerstands gegen eine Epoche funktionieren, die immer mehr durch herzlosen Nationalismus, Rassismus, Faschismus und Egoismus gekennzeichnet ist. Das Leben im Europa des Jahres 2024 kann einem schon den Rest geben: In immer mehr Ländern wühlen Politiker*innen den Dreck auf, der schon längst hätte abgeschafft werden sollen - oder der zumindest kollektiv verachtet gehört. Doch eines muss man sich unbedingt ins Gedächtnis rufen: just because you got the power, heißt nicht, dass man recht hat. Tagtäglich wird einem heute eine neue dumme Idee um die Ohren gehauen. Meistens geht es darum, diejenigen nach unten zu treten, die eh schon am Boden liegen. Für Otto Normalverbraucher, der sich von der Gesellschaft betrogen fühlt, ist das reines TNT. Das Gefühl ist bisweilen nachvollziehbar, doch bitte wann sind die Verbreitung von Angst, das Bauen von Mauern und die Zerstörung von Bildungssystemen zur Lösung für Alles geworden? Seit wann ist ein menschliches Wesen aufgrund seiner Ethnie, seines Geschlechts, seiner sexuellen Orientierung oder seines Glaubens weniger wert? Unsere Antwort ist kurz und knapp: Wann immer irgendwer versucht, uns hier auf Linie zu bringen, entgegnen wir: fuck you, we won"t do what you tell us. Was also tun? Sind wir die einzigen, die sich in einer Welt, die sich spiralförmig in den Abgrund dreht, wie basket cases, also absolut verloren fühlen? Hoffentlich nicht. Und wenn wir eines gelernt haben, dann, dass im Produzieren, Spielen und Hören von Musik ein mächtiger Zauber liegen kann. Es gibt weniges, was so wirksam für sozialen Kit sorgt. Deshalb sind wir unglaublich stolz und freuen uns extrem, wieder ein neues Hellsongs-Album zu präsentieren. Für uns ist es ein Lichtstrahl in äußerst dunklen Zeiten. Zusätzlich zu den Cover-Versionen gibt es auch vier eigene neue Songs, die mehr oder weniger dasselbe Themenfeld abdecken. Mehr Vocals, mehr Drums, allgemein mehr Instrumente, gespielt von einer noch größeren Gang mit noch mehr Wut im Bauch als je zuvor. Hoffentlich gefällt"s euch. Wir lieben es! Lassen wir diese abgründigen Zeiten hinter uns und gehen wir gemeinsam in eine gleichberechtigte Zukunft! Eins wissen wir jedenfalls genau: We would rather be dead, als es gar nicht erst versucht zu haben. See you on the road!

Wick Records is proud to present the debut single from SoCal's newest hit-makers, The Emkays. Comprised of songwriter/ producer/ multi-instrumentalist extraordinaires Alec Kersenboom and Anthony Masino (Lee Fields, Thee Sacred Souls, Jensine Benitez, Junior Scaife et al), the group delivers a pair of pop nuggets that draw from the deeper end of the British Invasion spectrum. Similar to some the American teen combos that were blaring out of suburban garages throughout the mid-sixties, The Emkays deliver their brand of anglophilic rock with a soulful earnestness that was absent from many of their British counterparts. The irony of which notwithstanding, The Emkays shine like the North Star, ready to guide a whole new generation of kids to their side of the pond.

6 years after their last album, fav favourite Kites, Submotion Orchestra make their long-awaited return with the remarkable Five Points EP. Recorded over a period of two months at band member Taz Modi's new studio in the Sussex countryside, it sees the band plough a path through electronica, jazz, soul and ambient in their own singular way. After a period of time spent looking back at their oeuvre, with the release of two Unplugged collections as well as classic debut album Finest Hour on vinyl for the first time, the refreshed, slightly older and wiser band set their sights firmly ahead, and the result is music that sounds like nothing they've done before.

Whilst featuring the uniquely fragile voice of Ruby Wood and the live instrumentation that has been their calling card in the electronic world for so long, the EP also delves into rhythms, soundscapes and effects that push their recognisable sound as far as it can go, and acts as the perfect taster for the forthcoming album that the band are currently recording.

Created as a seamless listening experience, the EP opens with the evocative and atmospheric 'Start Point', as dreamlike synths and brass mix with wordless harmonies straight from the heavens. 'Hope' continues the mood, warm analogue synth patterns combining with fragmented vocals on a persistent build-up to an emotional climax. Lead single 'Side One' cheekily nods to Submotion classic 'All Yours', before moving into newer territory, where Ruby Wood's vocals slowly become distorted and twisted, the perfect backdrop for this story about the loss of hope. Flowing joinlessly into its mirror image 'Side Two', we see the instrumental prowess of Submotion Orchestra which has so long been their defining characteristic in full flow. Finally, 'End Point' brings the EP to a moving and wistful climax, telling a tale of the wisdom that can only come after bitter experience.