Suche:into

Remix album for Oké's Deserto featuring nine interpretations of tracks from the original with a focus on the dancefloor alongside some abstract beats and rap.

Oasi (Deserto Remixed) features two groups of transatlantic contributors: Shigeto, DJ Dez, and Sterling Toles from Detroit; Populous, Godblesscomputers, DJ Rocca, and Silvano Del Gado from Italy, all close friends of the band. The remixes are rounded off by two versions from the man behind Oké, Andrea Visani, under his Katzuma and King Dumitru aliases.

The library music, cosmic jazz, and afro-house vibes of the original are retooled into a variety of dancefloor friendly productions: Shigeto and Silvano Del Gado invoke the tribal spirits of 'Ochosi Ayilodà'; Dez turns 'Il Venditore di Elastici' into a warm and comfortable chugging groove; Populous zeroes in on peak time ecstasy with his take on 'Queens of the Supercolony'; Rocca injects electro funk into 'Tarantula'; and Katzuma keeps it slow and funky with his refixes of 'Tamahaq' and 'Sons of Cabila.'

Balancing all these are two mellower contributions, with Godblesscomputers flipping 'The Secret Baile of the Maharajas' into a laidback roller and Sterling Toles transforming 'Serir' into a haunting song of remembrance.

Released on single 12" vinyl with seven of the nine remixes (two edited for length) and artwork from Andrea Casciu.

Get yo ass in the house, robot-- you cyber-spectre, you outhouse prime minister, you hard-headed mirror ninja, snapping selfies, living in the pixelated seams between bursts the of flashing images, birthed in a pool of TV static and Tik Tok dust. BLACK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AIR is here, not to save but to drown you. Heads better learn how to swim cause listen, this record is beat soup, hearty yet still minimal, a sonic mirage of prophetic soul that drop kicks your "chill beats to study to" Youtube playlist and hyper-intellectual rap podcasts into a hadron collider; it's only black matter on the other side-- 13 mesmerizing tracks about memory and imprinting and the future, all of them wafting through untouched space like the ghostly cinders of a world on fire, unbound and uncharted, vast and stretching across the universe. Moor Mother is a holographic figment of an Afrotopian dream, all at once goddess and warrior, mystic and cyborg, griot and future time traveller, etching noisy pieces of reverie into our consciousness for decades now. But check it: on BLACK ENCYCLOPEDIA she's joined by a wide-range of friends, collaborators and co-conspirators on a trip through the murky cosmos, navigating the black universe with stardust as currency. In these times, they'll say, as they click and mash their way through the same inter-webs that seek to strangle them, BLACK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AIR is just what we need: a post-everything, 12:01 on the doomsday clock, anti-trip hop type of situation. "We ain't gotta fight no more," they'll say; the rest of us, we'll put this record on and imagine again that it's real.

‘Eighteen Movements’ is a collection of recordings captured at live performances between 2017 – 2019. The record’s rich textures combine ambient, tribal rhythms, field recordings, ritualistic vibes, and a meditative feeling that runs through the entire LP. Đ.K. is in full flight mode, illustrating the project’s aptitude for deep transcendence.

Đ.K. is a DJ, composer & producer based in Paris, France. A versatile and prolific artist, D.K. has cultivated an eclectic body of work in recent years, with acclaimed output on renowned labels including Antinote, Melody As Truth, 12th Isle, Good Morning Tapes, Music From Memory’s Second Circle imprint, and L.I.E.S. (as 45 ACP).

Luminous and mesmeric, D.K.’s work combines finetuned traces of house, synth pop, ambient, balearic, minimalism, and fourth world music, creating energies and soundscapes which aim to invoke elevated forms of consciousness.

Prismatic tones exchange space with devotional drums on ‘Clarity’ and ‘Echo Chamber’, as Đ.K. hits a hypnotic stride somewhere between Jon Hassell, HTRK & a Folkways percussion ensemble. With ‘Full Consciousness’ meditation bells ring out across a progression of gleaming new age emanations, conjuring an entrancing spell. Movements of pulse and ether.

On ‘Mirror’, sonorous, elaborate percussive phrases are interwoven with drifting ambient vapours, while ‘The Other Side’ veers into broad, rolling blasts of dub and Antipodean drone, a cavernous trance evoking the early roots of Ras Michael and Yabby You, pared back to resolute drum sequences and infused with esoteric chimes and sultry synthesis.

The finale of ‘Eighteen Movements’ represents one of Đ.K..’s most ambitious recordings. ‘Awakening’ is an epic tone poem of aqueous, outer planetary resonance that completes this mercurial cycle with a poignant, euphoric fadeout. Chronicled in the moment, alternating between rhythm and repose, momentum and aviation, 'Eighteen Movements' sees Đ.K. voyaging further, into vast, uncharted outskirts of sound. A collection of movements for heightened states and new diversions.

Mastered by Jose Guerrero at Plataforma Continental. Graphic Design by Javi Tortosa.

Far Out Recordings presents a double bill of two monumental Brit funk classics. Keep In Touch and Stay were the first two 12” singles by the iconic Freeez, both self-funded passion projects of its founding member John Rocca, for his own Pink Rhythm imprint.

It all started over the counter at Derek’s Records on Petticoat Lane, London in the mid-70s. Rocca - at the time a budding teenage percussionist - met the prolific guitarist, composer, producer and all round brit funk fixer Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick (also the father of Far Out producer Daniel Maunick). Best known as the founding member of Light of the World, Incognito, and more recently Str4ta, Bluey’s involvement in the origins of Freeez are lesser known, but no less crucial. Bluey invited Rocca to a weekly jam session in an East London basement, where they would develop their craft, form their first band Freeez and develop the idea for ‘Keep In Touch’: “Back in the basement there was this one particular track we were playing that I really loved. It had a groove that I thought I could sell” Rocca reminisces.

Going against the advice of all the musicians involved, who thought he was mad and set to lose all his money, John decided to go full DIY, hire out a high end studio in the West End to record ‘Keep In Touch’ and release it as a private press, birthing his now famed Pink Rhythm label. Featuring Bluey on guitar, Peter Maas on bass, Paul Morgan on drums, Jason Wright on keyboards, and John Rocca on percussion, Keep In Touch was a surprise underground hit selling over 5000 copies and reaching #49 in the UK, leading Freeez into a record deal with Pye / Calibre.

Still giddy from the experience of having produced and pressed his first record at the age of just 19, John set out to do it all again with ‘Stay’ and ‘Hot Footing It’, enlisting Bluey & co once again. This time Rocca attempted to take things to the next level by adding vocals into the mix. Though this new arrangement initially backfired and cost John the deal with Pye / Calibre who weren’t feeling the slight change of vibe, original copies of the Stay 12” have become one of the most in demand from the brit funk canon.

These foundational DIY 12” singles paved the way for Freeez to become a household name in the history of British funk who went on to record hits like ‘Southern Freeze’ and ‘IOU’ as well as underground cult classics like ‘Melodies of Love’ and ‘India’ as Pink Rhythm, John Rocca’s later formation of Freeez named after his imprint.

Long-standing FUSE mainstay Rich NxT makes a long-awaited return to Hot Creations this October with the Vibewise EP. The three-tracker marks his debut solo release on the label, having featured as remixer on the imprint previously.

The A-side sets off with Roll On and the title signifies the exact nature of the track. A chuggy, groove-paced creeper, borrowing a unique vocal hook from UK hip hop protagonist Einstein. Rich’s hallmark style leaves few prisoners in its wake, as swinging bass tones open into the techy sounds of Papermill. Gritty basslines meld into whirring synth pulses before the title track brings things to a close, with stripped-back percussion residing next to loopy kick-hat combos throughout.

As one of FUSE’s original residents, Rich NxT played a major part in the brand’s evolution, helping take it from a free afterparty to one of the most respected event brands and labels on the planet. Elsewhere, the DJ / producer draws on his strongly identifiable sound to run two vinyl imprints, NxT Records and What NxT.

MASSIMO NAPOLI is a DJ from Catania with a passion for jazz and black music. He began his musical career in the early 90s playing funk, hip hop, and acid jazz in clubs, contributing to the spreading of the most eclectic and refined sounds in Sicily.

Departing from club culture with particular emphasis on electronic dub, Galathea unfolds into many influences and styles, making it a unique listening experience. Mediterranean culture, afro and cinematic melodies, jazz, spiritual echoes, and soothing beats lead the listener into a subliminal escape, where the fluidity and the convergence of genres freely progress intoa dream-like journey.


b A2: Afrique (Vocal Video Version) feat. Kadi Koulibaly

The much anticipated Remix EP of “415-PR22” finally arrives from pressing hold ups.

A truly international roster of remixers and co-conspirators, topped off with graphics by UK legend Fergus “Fergadelic” Purcell.

Abstract Dance: London new school Kolago Kult, remixes London old school Richard Sen.

EBoys 2020: SF/NY based Earth Boys, get flipped via Tokyo icon Licaxxx.

Summer into Winter: Old friends share a track; Eric Duncan gives Tokyo’s Mild Bunch member Fran-Key an offering.

8th & Broadway: The great white north; Jex Opolis drops his trademark touch on Tim Sweeney's first solo production.

Slice the Top: SF/BE friends Vin Sol and Matrixxman produce this blissed out version for Greek brothers Tendts.

Stargazing from the sands of the Niterói beach, Tempos Futuros is low-end-led Brazilian futurism from one of Brazil’s most prolific and influential bassmen. As one third of legendary trio Azymuth, Alex Malheiros has pioneered a unique fusion of space-funk, samba and jazz since the early seventies. His playing can be heard on the records of Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle, and Mark Murphy (to name a few), and he’s performed and toured with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Chick Corea.

Written and recorded in Niterói, Brazil, overlooking Guanabara and the beaches, mountains and forests of Rio de Janeiro, Tempos Futuros has deep roots in Brazilian soil. The rhythms of Malheiros’ homeland have always permeated his music. But just like the Oscar Niemeyer designed Niterói Contemporary Art Museum which stands spaceship-like over the water, Tempos Futuros - while inspired by terrestrial forms, reaches out, deep into the great unknown.

Produced by acclaimed London-based producer Daniel Maunick, who has worked with Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Terry Callier, and Ivan Conti, the funk comes full circle. Daniel’s father Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick and Alex Malheiros shared a reciprocal stream of influence throughout the 80s, between London and Rio; Azymuth and Incognito; brit-funk and samba-funk. But just as with Azymuth’s music, you can also hear the influence of stateside jazz-funk masters like Roy Ayers, Weather Report, Lonnie Liston Smith, Mtume and Pleasure.

Tempos Futuros features Alex’s daughter, a Brazilian star in her own right, vocalist Sabrina Malheiros, Brazilian percussion master Sidinho Moreira, London based saxophonist Sean Khan, Marcos Valle’s go-to drummer Massa, and Brazilian keyboard player Dudu Viana. Featuring the late Azymuth keyboard maestro Jose Roberto Bertami on Fender Rhodes, the title track “Tempos Futuros” was originally recorded as a demo in 1995. On this finished version, Alex Malheiros used Bertami’s original keyboard take, explaining the posthumous release.

The EON label's fourth vinyl release features an original from Birmingham producer Jayson Wynters with Chicago innovator Hieroglyphic Being on the remix.

Wynters - who along with label founder Adam Shelton has been at the heart of the Birmingham scene for years - has already impressed this year with his biggest EP yet on mighty Dutch label Delsin. Here he invites us ever deeper into his nebulous deep techno world with a superb new single 'Filtered Xploits.' It's a punchy but dynamic cut with lush ambient pads smeared across a cosmic sky while chattery percussion and lithe synth power onwards. It has a futuristic soul that recalls early Detroit techno and might be his best work yet.

Both Shelton and Wynters have long shared a love for the idiosyncratic sounds of Chicagoan Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being, the hugely prolific boss of Mathematics Recordings. He was one of the first artists they bonded over five or so years ago and that love only deepened when they caught him playing a standout set at Freerotation in 2017. After hooking up there, Jayson later hung out with Moss on a visit to Chicago before tapping him up for this remix.

In his hands, 'Filtered Xploits' becomes a brilliantly raw and textured track with layer upon layer of fractured melody and gurgling acid. The prickly, jacked up drums will make an impact on any floor, and as the chords shine through the mix they bring a sense of hope and optimism.

These are two more expertly crafted tracks from artists at the top of their game.

Prodigal son of the ESP Institute, Juan Ramos, rises from the cesspool of a world gone mad with 'Agua Del Cenote', his fifth release with the label. Whilst many artists are following their inner light to bring us some much needed joy amidst these rotten times, Juan (being the little shit that he is) follows an inner demon and delivers listeners and dancers a demented clusterfuck of sadistic chaos. The title track opens with what sounds like a butane torch and we metaphorically freebase into oblivion. Our perception of reality unravels, writhing in abrasive textures smeared across a low-slung, mid-tempo erotic thump. Everything feels blurry and distant, as if we’re swimming through an underground aquatic tunnel, in a panic, searching for an invisible band of spirits whose tune summons us into certain annihilation. Following this is a remix from a decorated lord of 20th Century electronics, Harald Grosskopf AKA The Synthesist. Harald wipes away grit and lethargy to reveal elements hidden deep within the mix as well as softens Juan’s sense of terror by building up to an optimistic layer of added synth. We’d love to offer some relief with the balance of the EP, however, the remaining two tracks paint complimentary hues in the same cerebral palette. 'Let It Go (Freaks Only)' veers closely to House in terms of tempo and gestalt, utilizing a vocal sample from Third Generation (Kerri Chandler) and a healthy dose of sub bass, but Juan hardly apologizes for his masochistic tendencies and certainly never relents into an uplifting mood. Closing the EP, Juan serves an antidote of sorts with 'Cuko', as if suggesting a way out of the swamp, but leaves it up to the listener’s intuition to not only see the carrot, but actually follow it into the light, thus completing the quest.

green vinyl

For a duo whose youthful energy rejuvenated the world of house music at the start of the 2010s, it seems incredible that Disclosure are now into their second decade of musical life. The incredible vigour of those early records, the spark of invention and ever-onward musical thrust, remains with the Disclosure brothers, Howard and Guy Lawrence, to this day. The emphasis throughout DJ-Kicks is on motion. After a brief ambient introduction from Pépe's Life Signs, Disclosure keep the energy high, in a mix that showcases the wonderful malleability of a house beat in the right hands. From sub bass to disco samples, African funk to 303 tweak, all is welcome in Disclosure's house, with the mix allowing individual songs space to breath even as the pace remains harefooted.

With endless Afro-latin percussion & drums patterns woven throughout ten tracks of tropical dance floor heaters, Italian multi-instrumentalist and master percussionist, Worldwide FM presenter and director of the Yoruba Soul Orchestra, Gabriele Poso is to release his seventh LP, Tamburo Infinito, via New York record label Wonderwheel Recordings. Recorded in Lecce in the south of Italy and almost entirely on his own (unlike previous productions), the undisputed star of the show is once again the drum and the percussion, the Tamburo Infinito.

Although born in Italy, Gabriele has always looked across the Atlantic for inspirations and rhythms, and this album is no different. This time his sonic adventures took him to the French West Indies and the French Caribbean island like Guadeloupe Martinique, "I'm in love with everything about the sound of their drums, it's very unique warm and deep sound."

The album kicks off with the hot & sticky Ritmo, setting the tone for the record with a kaleidoscope of tropical rhythms and influences. First single La Bola is jammed full of exultant horns and syncopated drum beats carried on the back of a driving, funky bassline. By the time the horns drop in on the aptly named Party People the carnival is in full swing over jubilant percussion and spaced out synths.

Gabriele Poso's musical passion has taken him around the world, initially to Rome, then to Puerto Rico, Cuba, and most recently, Berlin. Between 1998 and 2001, Gabriele delved deep into the study of Afro-Cuban percussion, first at the "Timba" School Of Music in Rome, under the guidance of the most important representative of Afro-Cuban culture in Italy, Roberto "Mamey" Evangelista. Later in 2001, he moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico to attend the "Universidad Interamericana De Puerto Rico" to continue his studies, finally culminating in a masterclass at "Escuela Nacional De Arte" in Havana, Cuba.

2008 saw the release of Poso's debut solo album, From The Genuine World, released on Yoruba Records, Osunlade's label, which sparked a career performing around Europe and the rest of the world. His second solo album, Roots of Soul arrived in 2012 on the German label INFRACom!, his third solo album entitled Invocation in 2014, on the German label Agogo Records with other full length efforts released on renowned British labels, Barely Breaking Even (Awakening - 2018) and Soundway Records (Batik - 2019), culminating in an impressively deep and diverse catalogue of solo work.

Léonie Pernet's second album Le Cirque de Consolation, to be released November 19th on InFiné & CryBaby, inhabits a world where borders dissolve and everyone makes their own unique and singular utopia. Hereby, the record questions the links between pop music, African cultures and electronic music, neo-classical music or the role of voice, whether human or synthetic. Sophomore albums can be a painful process for an artist - how refreshing it is to hear one so decidedly optimistic.

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The sought after whirlwind of French Pop that exploded onto the scene with her debut "Crave", Leonie Pernet, returns with her second album, "Le Circque de Consolation", a sort of double negative of her first. While the yearning that sat at the center of "Crave"might not have been resolved, the young multi-instrumentalist and singer has found a new perspective - a more open and positive outlook on her own life and work. Perhaps telling, then, that the title was the first element of the album to exist: as it is and has always been a journey of personal (and collective) consolation first, a musical confrontation with the self.

"This record parallels my life's journey," confirms Léonie, "it reflects what has happened in my life since 'Crave' came out and how I feel today. There's still a lot of melancholy, but a lot more sunshine and light. In four years, I've become sober, which has saved me; I've worked a lot on my voice, which is a part of a desire to speak, to address my audience more directly, and also a more pronounced pop desire." In line with her new-found "openness", Leonie invites another musician into her creative process for the first time on "Le Cirque de Consolation": Jean Sylvain le Gouic, who lended his coproduction and perspective to her, while Leonie still plays almost all instruments herself with an astounding prowess.

Leonie's voice oozes with a new-found self-confidence and takes center stage amidst eclectic, distinctively fun and open-minded production. Sometimes she sings in English, mostly in French: "I worked a lot on my voice," confirms Léonie, "I didn't dare to sing before, neither live, nor on record, nor in the studio." Surrounding her astounding, intoxicating voice are forays into any direction imaginable: from harsh, experimental electronics to the more sombre, organic and quiet moments - and everywhere, there is the vision of Africa, (also Middle East) it's many sonic gifts and cultures.

Leonie has found a universal utopia that she craves for - a musical, cultural amalgamation that is decidedly non-western, political and poetic, rooted in self-discovery and the connection with other humans: African and oriental percussion, synthesizers, drum-machines; Léonie mixes genres and instruments with ease and precision. The French novelist and philosopher Édouard Glissant - whose work and writing had a big influence on Pernet - coined the term "Creolization ", the "bringing together of several cultures or at least several elements of distinct cultures, in one part of the world, resulting in new data, totally unpredictable in relation to the sum or the simple synthesis of these elements."

From "Hard Billy ", a techno-influenced rebellious anthem, to "Les Chants de Maldoror," a club and dance song propelled forward by feverish derboukas, to the deeply moving "A rebours" and its Afro-electronic rock. Léonie Pernet inhabits a world where borders dissolve and everyone makes their own unique and singular utopia. Hereby, the record questions the links between pop music, African cultures and electronic music (Intérieur Négro), neo-classical music (Le Cirque de consolation, Dandelion), or the place of the voice, whether human or synthetic as in the atmospheric "Vowel". Sophomore albums can be a painful process for an artist - how refreshing it is to hear one so decidedly optimistic.

Behind Bandhagens Musikforening we find Michel Isorinne and Martin Sander. After their debut album on Northern Electronics they are now the protagonists of the 8th physical release on the label One Instrument.

The Swedish duo recorded the beautifully crafted six tracks at Bandhagen Airport in Sweden between 2017 and 2020.

Six tracks each made with one instrument with a clear preference for vintage synthesizers.
We are brought through delicate sonic journeys made with the Roland System 100, a semi-modular synthesizer built between 1975 and 1979, the legendary first digital synthesizer Yamaha DX-7, the Roland SH-101, the Oberheim Matrix 6R and the Waldorf Microwave all four from the beloved 80's.

Bandhagens Musikforening's compositions are a radiant work of quiet minimalism and poetic deliberation. We are brought into an intergalactic hypnotic world where dreams are colored and vivid, where immersive electronics have the ability to create landscapes on your mind board.

Head Front Panel doing some rhythm research right here. 4 slabs of fierce repetitive techno rooted in the best traditions, transferring the controlled energy from machines into human bodies causing either uncontrolled spastic or more flowing body movements, depending on the receiving body.

Does returning to a place have a sound? Can the ear have a memory? And what if places which we return to are just empty shells? Choreographed rooms which we need to play, fill from scratch each time with fragments from the past and present, layer upon layer, familiar and still somehow always new and differently assembled. Paula Schopf’s Espacios en Soledad are acoustic walks around present day Santiago de Chile, the city where she was born - which she always left, had to leave and to which she always returns - but more than anything also through her own memories which resonate throughout the public places, squares, streets though still in their own way remain strange.

„Every immigrant in the world has a piece like this - a kind of missing link, something which is incomplete. And every time one returns to the home country you are looking for it. For me it was a matter of sound.“ (Paula 2019).

In the mid 70s leaving Santiago was a flight of exile as a child with her family. Leaving in 1990 was an autonomous decision to head for Europe, Berlin, where the wall fell, where the heavens opened up all at once and electronic music became a kind of new home to so many. Paula Schopf belonged there. For her the Ocean Club at Tresor club was a central place where friends and mentors like Gudrun Gut and Thomas Fehlmann made it possible for her to get really into it. Dancing, being and feeling your body, forgetting oneself in the bass and beats, who one is and where one’s from, to becoming the DJ Chica Paula. Chile was very far away during this time, Latin America was more just a code, a musical and habitual cliche to be cautious of. This was especially true for the culture of the Chilean exile, the pathos of the “Canto Nuevo”, the sound and ideologically charged instruments of the „música andina“, for example the Zampoña, Quena or Charango. Techno was the greatest thinkable alternative to this even if or perhaps because so many kids exiled from Chile became key figures in the German and European scene: Ricardo Villalobos, Dandy Jack, Cristian Vogel, Matias Aguayo and many more.

How does returning to a place sound? Does the ear have its own memory? The field recordings which were recorded in Santiago de Chile in 2016 and form the central sonic material for Espacios en Soledad represent the paradox for Schopf’s return to her home country after emigrating: the inevitable drifting apart of her own lived time from that of her former home. Already the Venezuelan and Colombian hawkers are unmistakable signs of the deep change in Chilean society which has happened in recent years due to immigration. Which is in contrast to the old lady who sits on the floor in a pedestrian zone and without break sings the same three songs by Violeta Parra and then keeps falling asleep while doing so. The fragile presence of her voice is joined with a repertoire which is almost mythologically timeless in Chile in a particularly moving way.

By layering, ordering and conjoining such found sounds from modern day Santiago this piece become about the urban sound of Chile’s present. But more than anything by doing this Paula Schopf becomes an arranger of her own sonic memory or sound-triggered memories of returning to this city. Just as techno and Berlin helped her for such a long time to get away from too strong of an identification as a Chilean in exil, now with Espacios en Soledad she has found a way to bring these two seemingly disparate lives and remembered worlds together.

Matthias Pasdzierny

Red Vinyl

nown for her delicate compositions, soaked in dream-like surrealism, Icelandic musician Sóley has attracted a huge following since launching her solo career back in 2010. Her 2012 single ‘Pretty Face’ went on to generate an enormous amount of buzz, and quickly became a viral sensation. Now, with three solo LPs under her belt, Sóley is preparing to debut a completely new sound via the release of her new concept album, Mother Melancholia, on October 22nd.

Described by the artist as "Nosferatu meets Thelma and Louise in a vampire church under the watchful eye of David Lynch", Mother Melancholia is the soundtrack to the end of the world as we know it. As a self-confessed news addict, Sóley became obsessed with the idea that the world is ending. Having surrounded herself with real-life stories of global warming and patriarchal politics she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was going to die. This feeling was so all encompassing that it sparked the idea for a new project. Could there be a soundtrack for the last days of humans on earth? How would that sound?

“I read books about possible dystopian worlds and started writing poems about irrational and in love characters who live in gray and cold imaginary loneliness. In each other’s burning arms. Walking in circles with no way out” she explains. “After all, the album reflects our life here and now. Our life and reality is a kind of dystopian world.”

Whilst writing the album, which serves as a tongue-in-cheek eulogy to our planet, Sóley began reading about ecofeminism, a branch of feminism which uses the concept of gender to analyse the relationship between humans and the natural world. Ecofeminism emphasizes that both women and nature must be respected but also separated. Since the beginning of time, the natural world has been synonymous with female identity, phrases like Mother Nature are commonplace. “The patriarchy views women as volatile and hysterical. Earth and women are either our saviours or our destroyers,” explains Sóley. “It’s so easy to abuse the earth, like the patriarchy has abused women since the dawn of time, then ask for forgiveness afterwards and promise they´ll never do it again”.

The new album sees Sóley move away from the indie-pop of her previous releases. She began by experimenting with writing songs on the accordion, allowing her a new sense of freedom in her writing. The process allowed her to broaden her horizons even further and experiment with a whole range of new and exciting sounds. “I bought myself a theremin as I was really excited about the unpitched sound and there is no perfect pitch during the end of days,” she laughs. “I also bought a mellotron, my first moog and a cello and taught myself how to play each of them. All of these new instruments are particularly suitable for the kinds of aesthetic inconveniences which I have learned to embrace.”

Album opener ‘Sunrise Skulls’, one of the most cinematic moments on the album, was inspired by the Me Too and SlutWalk movements and tells the story of a group of women who rise up and fight the patriarchy. ‘Blows Up’, a track that would be at home on any horror soundtrack, is a sarcastic love letter from the Earth to humans. Standout track ‘Desert’ is an incredibly moving song dedicated to the next generation. “It’s about the guilt you feel, as a mother, for having children and leaving them on the frontline. My daughter, for example, will take over this inevitable war” explains Sóley.

In true soundtrack style, the album flows through the end of the world in chronological order, closing with the Earth’s final moments. ‘Sundown’ is a dark piano ballad detailing human kind’s final day on Earth. “And everyday, I dig my own grave, and as I dive in you´ll hold my hand” she sings, over twinkling piano and swirling synths. We then hear the world end on ‘XXX’, a dark and swirling soundscape that swells before fading to silence. On ‘Elegía’ the silence then turns to the sound of the ocean, as we hear the Earth, like a woman finally free from a violent relationship, healing on her own.

Mother Melancholia is the mark of an artist confidently striding into more experimental territory. With a lengthy and successful career behind her, Sóley felt compelled to try something new and express the real her. The music might be shrouded in darkness but it’s a move that fills her with joy and freedom. “I hope that people not only enjoy the new sound, but also that Mother Melancholia might raise some questions in people, particularly women,” she says. “I’m under no illusions that this album will change the world but I hope that people can connect with the idea”.

ALTER- : A REACTION TO THE ALTERMODERNISM IN SOUND ART
For the Automatisme - Alter- album. I am inspired by how the art historian Nicolas Bourriaud defines the Altermodernism. Bourriaud understands the term "Alter" as a way to mean "other". The altermodernism would be another modernity that is different from the avant-garde modernism and post-modernism. More precisely, this is a new paradigm from the XXIe century with alternative ways to motivate artists to be more radical in art by traveling in the physical and digital world, by cutting the frontiers and by creating other time lines. I apply the "alter" subject to time and to landscape and those, to the rhythmic and the ambient glitch music.

1- THE ALBUM HAS A RHYTHMIC SIDE AND A LANDSCAPE SIDE.
1- a : The rhythmic tracks are named Alter-Rate. That means that I offer other types of rhythms by calculating beats with time rate experimentations. The form of the rhytmic tracks, expresses a course, a wandering, which, in the altermodern life, is not just in a standard 4/4 , or just grid based or non-grid based, but it's in a complex hybrid of all of those.

1- b : The ambient tracks are named Alter-Scape. That means that I offer another type of landScapes by a paused temporality and not by a random time or by the time of the nature. Alter-Scape tracks mimic the saturated globalized soundscapes of the XXIe century.

2- THE GLOBALISED AND SATURATED TIME
For Bourriaud, the artists respond to a new globalised perception. They traverse a cultural landscape saturated with signs and create new pathways between multiple formats of expressions and communications1. The Alter- album tracks have saturated rhythms Rates and static ambient soundScapes. The specific context within which we live is the age of globalisation2. In this album, it means that globalised or always evolving rhythm Rates are in constant movements and are also different every time an Alter-Rate track is exported or performed. On the other hand, a globalised landScape is an ambient track with a motionless temporality. In the era of the altermodern, displacement has become a method of depiction3. The movement of the sound in the Alter- album is two sound spaces. The first is the rhythms that make time movement become apparent and the second is an ambient paused or static time that makes possible to feel and to analyze the movement effect of our surroundings.

3- THE CONSTANT TENSION STATE OF ART
For Gilles Deleuze, art is in a constant state of tension, in as much as it oscillates between the poles of chaos and order4. The Alter- album is a tension between chaos and order in rhythmic beat tracks and ambient soundscapes tracks. It is a deterritorialization of the rhythms and the ambiences of today's natural and digital landscapes and it brings them into the computer glitch music format.

By pushing new softwares to their limits, I push at the extreme the software capacity to calculate and to generate sounds. The Alter-Rate tracks are experimentations with time rates and rhythms with the use of probability and artificial intelligence based sequencers. The partition signal starts from a master sequencer that gets into all instruments on a track. Each instrument receives this signal and modulates it with other sequencers that are each programmed differently for every instrument. Finally, all the instruments signals return to a master output that contains a stutter effect. This master channel is sequencing all other channels into one single rhythm. In short, a single rate merges and expands into a vast archipelago of rates and the transformed signal becomes a new single rate. The Alter-Scape tracks are experimentations with midi triggers that give the sensation of a timelessness. Multiple reverb effects are also routed into each other to create soundscapes of continuity. About the type of sounds created in this album, I do experimentations with deep frequency modulation synthesises (FM) on all Alter-Rate and Alter-Scape tracks.

I put a few layers in the tracks to be able to focus on the time space and perception. The tracks are generative and every parameter uses probabilities to be programmed. This is something that was not possible some years ago. The computers are enough powerful to generate that now. I export many times the tracks and i push the computers to their limits by making hard for them to calculate and to generate the tracks with a deep, a pointillist and an extreme software programming. These techniques do different versions every time that I export or perform a track and in my opinion, that opens a fresh and innovative way to do new experimental club music and ambient music. The computer has its own limits too.


Reviews in The Wire, Gonzo, A Closer Listen, Datacide, African Paper, Silent and Sound, and more

LIMITED CLEAR VINYL

LA based composer/sound designer duoHeliochrysumannounce the release of their visceral, deep and exploratory debut albumWe Become Mist.The album has beenmixed by Ben Frost and mastered by Valgeir Sigurdsson.

Heliochrysumis the world building meeting of Michael Deragon and Daniel Lea
( L A N D, Important Records), in which a collaboration becomes a sculpted journey into new aural and imaginative cosmology.We Become Mistuses analogue and digital processes to mine the depths of industrial and science fictional, psychedelic soundscapes, often cinematic in tone and texture.


Taking their cue from a shared palette of sounds, textures and rhythms,Heliochrysumcreate a unifying score that is at once improvisatory and sonically certain.We Become Mist is nothing short of the progression from a souterrain awakening to the terraformed sound of a new world coming into existence.

These tracks overlay analog sound sources, digital hard wrought processing and visual sound design, constantly morphing and turning on their own searching torque. Mixed by Ben Frost and mastered by Valgeir Sigurdsson, the accumulation of sheer vision and depth is transportative, if not outright mind wrenching. In between this melding of the analogue and digital was mixed another element: the album istinged with psilocybin technology. As a listener you can hear as you move through a psychedelic passage, like out of a state of lockdown into one of alien otherworldliness.

The piano, industrial crescendo of ˜We Remain Beneath is evidence of this, sounds modified into careful, lush arrangements. A Future Unfolds sounds like a burnished unfurling, a resplendent distortion bringing to mind some epic revelation while tracks such as ˜Infinite Dark or ˜Pre Dawn bristle with chrome pulses that burn with alarm and dulcet drama.

Just as they did with their palette of sounds,Heliochrysumtaps into a wide range of emotions from hope to devastation, growth and contagion.

The name Heliochrysum evokes the Latin for sunflower but also a healing tincture: in the overlaid orchestration and distorted lightness, the roiling, life-giving pour of the sun can be heard. Simplicity washed with emotional intensity, the remembered dreams of far-off, science-fictive discoveries.

SPICE singer Ross Farrar speaks of the band’s ambition to forge a sort of aesthetic patois: a mode of expression as strikingly regional as it is recognizable. Last year’s self-titled debut, released in the depths of the pandemic, fully achieved this goal, distilling decades of North Bay punk and post-hardcore into an urgent, artful set of emotive unrest. Their latest single, A Better Treatment b/w Everyone Gets In, further refines the group’s singular mix of weathered melody and abrasive poetics, equal parts bracing, bruised, and cryptic.

“A Better Treatment” began as a song about a friend who died but through the turmoil of collaboration transformed into something more macroscopic and opaque, blurring the boundary between hopeful and defeated (“I thought loving someone would cure my self-hatred”). Bass and drums build against walls of guitar while the violin threads its own melancholy within the noise; Farrar is blunt about the intention: “The violin is an instrument of death you know.”



“Everyone Gets In” is both poppier and more pained, an anthem for angst aging into the reverie of regret: “We lose our strength / along the way / we lose each other / the funeral sways.” The tempo sways too, gradually slowing to an anxious crawl before finally revving back into a storm of shimmering guitar and splashing drums, fighting against the dying of the light. It’s music of raw truths and
rejected pedestals, storied but unswerving, a revolt against the great regress: “and my / my time is spent / adoring seasons / that I / I never should’ve.”

SPICE singer Ross Farrar speaks of the band’s ambition to forge a sort of aesthetic patois: a mode of expression as strikingly regional as it is recognizable. Last year’s self-titled debut, released in the depths of the pandemic, fully achieved this goal, distilling decades of North Bay punk and post-hardcore into an urgent, artful set of emotive unrest. Their latest single, A Better Treatment b/w Everyone Gets In, further refines the group’s singular mix of weathered melody and abrasive poetics, equal parts bracing, bruised, and cryptic.

“A Better Treatment” began as a song about a friend who died but through the turmoil of collaboration transformed into something more macroscopic and opaque, blurring the boundary between hopeful and defeated (“I thought loving someone would cure my self-hatred”). Bass and drums build against walls of guitar while the violin threads its own melancholy within the noise; Farrar is blunt about the intention: “The violin is an instrument of death you know.”



“Everyone Gets In” is both poppier and more pained, an anthem for angst aging into the reverie of regret: “We lose our strength / along the way / we lose each other / the funeral sways.” The tempo sways too, gradually slowing to an anxious crawl before finally revving back into a storm of shimmering guitar and splashing drums, fighting against the dying of the light. It’s music of raw truths and
rejected pedestals, storied but unswerving, a revolt against the great regress: “and my / my time is spent / adoring seasons / that I / I never should’ve.”

Germany-based metal band OBSCURA launch trilogy concept on stunning new album “A Valediction”. The group’s first (sixth overall) album for Nuclear Blast pivots on many fronts. Advanced, elegant, and yet refreshing, “A Valediction” sums up past endeavors effortlessly as it gazes with purpose and conviction into the future. OBSCURA are fan-renowned and critically acclaimed for challenging and then expanding upon norms. From “Cosmogenesis” (2009) through “Diluvium” (2018), the band flourished and made significant progress in a musical genre unprepared for a creative shot of German invention. “A Valediction” spearheads OBSCURA into a new era of extreme metal.

Guitarist/vocalist Steffen Kummerer founded OBSCURA in 2002. Early on, he set out to improve, redefine, and push forward. Under his self-label creation, the Bavarian released debut album “Retribution” (2006), followed by heavy touring throughout Europe. Word quickly spread that a brand-new band from the south of Germany was on the rise. Buzz lead to a deal with U.S.-based Relapse Records. The first record out was “Cosmogenesis”. In Europe, Metal Hammer Germany awarded the album 6/7 while in the U.S., “Cosmogenesis” hit the Billboard charts at #71. The cross-continental praise and fevered momentum landed OBSCURA on high-profile tours in Europe, North America, and Japan.

When follow-up “Omnivium” arrived in 2011, they upped their chart success (Billboard #11; Media Control #14), received more accolades from publications like Terrorizer, Rock Hard, and Decibel, had another massive round-world tour cycle, while enhancing and making progress on their clever brutality. OBSCURA further developed their sound on “Akróasis” (2016). Moored by jaw-dropping tracks like ‘Sermon of the Seven Suns,’ ‘Ode to the Sun,’ and the title track, “Akróasis” elevated OBSCURA to the highest levels of international renown, having climbed up the Billboard charts (#5) as well as earning top marks in Rock Hard (8.5/10), Metal Hammer Germany (6/7), and Revolver (4/5). The Germans toured the world yet again, playing over 100 shows in support of “Akróasis”.

OBSCURA’s most significant accomplishment was, however, just around the corner. The final part of a tetralogy, “Diluvium” (2018), fiercely pursued OBSCURA’s multi-album transformation into musical innovators and metal powerhouses. Music videos for the title track, ‘Emergent Evolution’ and ‘Mortification of the Vulgar Sun,’ in concert with a substantial interest in virtuosic, forward-thinking metal, posited OBSCURA in the good graces (yet again) of the worldwide press in addition to rocketing up, for the very first time, the official album charts in Germany (#58) and Switzerland (#93). The Germans also topped out at #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart with “Diluvium”.

OBSCURA‘s stats have been impressive: Twenty years active; six highly prized albums; over 600 shows on four continents. Worldwide fan and press engagement—the videos for ‘The Anticosmic Overload,’ ‘Akróasis,’ and ‘Diluvium’ have over 4.5 million views—is only getting stronger the longer OBSCURA continue to offer up and interact with (via play-throughs and member/gear spotlights) their very captive audience. This is only the tip of Kummerer’s custom ESP guitar, however. A Valediction finds OBSCURA turning the page to a new chapter in the band’s evolution. A year in the works, the songwriting sessions followed a new approach, where the framework was relaxed, allowing new inspirations, imagining, and opportunities to arise. Songs like the opening epic ‘Forsaken,’ the '80s-tinted ‘When Stars Collide’ (featuring Soilwork/The Night Flight Orchestra frontman Björn Strid), the brutal groove of ‘Devoured Usurper,’ the ethereal artistry of ‘Heritage,’ and the fleet-fingered title track benefitted compositionally (refined structures) and aesthetically (more dynamism) from OBSCURA’s restyled songwriting stratagem.

OBSCURA wrote, recorded, and finalized “A Valediction” during the pandemic. The stipulations of working during this time allowed OBSCURA to work cross-country, tracking each respective part—drums, guitar, and bass—in national studios across The Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. Once the pieces were completed, the recordings were shipped off to award-winning producer Fredrik Nordström and Studio Fredman (In Flames, Architects) in Gothenburg, Sweden, where Kummerer and Münzner completed vocals and acoustic guitars using custom-built ENGL amps. Nordström was also tapped to mix and master. The final result is a deeper, heavier, yet more rounded production.

Lyrically, “A Valediction” is layered in structure and meaning. The word ‘valediction,’ by definition, deals with goodbyes and farewells. In a way, this is auf wiedersehen to the four-part album series while also addressing complex topics of Kummerer’s personal life. Instead of obscuring issues of loss, death, and abandonment in metaphor and allusion, the German laid bare his torment across songs like ‘Forsaken,’ ‘Solaris,’ ‘In Unity,’ ‘The Neuromancer,’ and ‘In Adversity.’ But for every line of desperation, he also offers positivity. Indeed, new beginnings—physical, emotional, or environmental—can provide light in the darkness. Lauded artist Eliran Kantor (Testament, Helloween) was brought on board to visualize the leitmotif. The bronze-themed colourway Kantor used exemplifies OBSCURA’s resistance to individual and sonic corrosion.

In 2021, OBSCURA will lighthouse their musical prowess, thematic complexity, and lyrical ambition on “A Valediction”. The group continue to be a beacon for change. No doubt OBSCURA’s new stats will amaze, but what they’re focused on is the release of “A Valediction” and then taking it on the road. Several high-caliber tours of Europe, North America, and Asia are planned through to 2023, with routes are in the works for the band to visit Australia, South America, and beyond. Truly, there is no band quite like OBSCURA. “A Valediction” proves that persistence, perseverance, and enterprising minds can achieve anything. Welcome to the next level!

Both noted for strikingly forward-thinking bodies of solo work dating back to the 1990s, the duo of Andrew Pekler & Giuseppe Ielasi - collaborators for the better part of a decade - reemerge with 'Palimpsests’, their first outing with Shelter Press. Built from deconstructed layers of texture, tone, and arrhythmic percussiveness, the album’s 2 sides distill 6 years of work into 9 splintered, airy reimaginings of minimalism - each surprising, creatively rigorous, and startlingly beautiful - that rest at the outer reaches of contemporary electroacoustic practice and musique concrète.

Based in Berlin and Milan respectively, Andrew Pekler and Giuseppe Ielasi have individually carved singular paths across numerous disciplines within experimental music for more than 20 years, each deploying sampling, synthesis, and acoustic sources to weave their own, distinct worlds of sonorous abstraction. Brought together by years of friendship and a shared devotion to layered texture and complex, fractured structure, the pair first joined their creative energies in 2013, a collaboration that culminated as the LP, ‘Holiday For Sampler’, issued by Planam.

'Palimpsests’, the duo’s second outing, draws its material from a series of improvisations made by the Pekler and Ielasi in Milan during 2015. Over the ensuing six years, those recordings would undergo various transformations - cut, reworked, sampled, and added to by each artist, working at geographic distance between Berlin, Kyoto and Monza - before culminating, like the album’s title suggests, as a unique manifestation of musical palimpsest; “an object reused and altered, while still bearing visible traces of its earlier form”.

With each of the album’s compositions nodding toward a city with which Pekler and Ielasi hold biographical connections, 'Palimpsests’ constructs sound as poetic metaphor; a series of ghosts - traces of memory, image, and action - cut and reassembled, in cycling permutations, before been set into action at a glacial pace with layered, transparent forms.

Defined by remarkable restraint and pointillistic precision, across the album’s two sides Pekler and Ielasi weave the fractured remnants of their sessions - reduced to glitches and warbling fragments of texture and tonality - into pulsing expanses of spatial ambiance that defy imagism, blur the boundaries between the synthetic and organic - reducing their sources to a series of unknowns - recast the boundaries of electroacoustic practice on markedly singular terms.

Shelter Press is thrilled to present 'Palimpsests’, another brilliant outing from the duo of Andrew Pekler and Giuseppe Ielasi. Issued in a limited edition of 500 copies on black vinyl, with artworks on printed inner and outer sleeves by Traianos Pakioufakis.

Sistrum ventures ever deeper into the cold, dark nights of winter, conjuring the hidden warmth that lies within each waveform. Genesis Tracks showcases a collection of deep techno talents who aren't afraid to stand their ground for purity of sound.
Track 1 - Modular One - Quasar
Chris Mitchell teams up with label boss, Patrice Scott for a lush, hypnotic groove of classic proportions. Warm square wave tones pulsate and crisp chord stabs shimmer as they punctuate the atmosphere. Sistrum sound, through and through.

Track 2 - Johannes Volk - Steam
Johannes Volk ups the tempo a bit to create a dirty, driving dancefloor number with Steam. Maintaining the Sistrum tradition of raw, no-nonsense techno music with depth, texture and soul, Johannes Volk makes his case eloquently through the use of rolling bass and slowly modulated chords.

Track 3 - Marco Zenker - Second Sight
Deeper yet we go, as Marco Zenker proceeds into the darkness with the booming, reverbed kicks of Second Sight. Slowly evolving synth textures rise and undulate, meshing with the rugged rhythm section to form a powerful groove that can only be defined as 'techno soul.'

Track 4 - Sharif Anderson - Future Acid Test
Closing the EP, Sharif Anderson offers his forward thinking take on the traditional acid motif. As the title implies, the sound is futuristic, but still retains the simple subtleties of yore. Give this track a proper sound system and watch it come alive before your ears.

SIM CARD HØLDER is not a band. It is the hybrid child of Ian Bruner, Drone Operatør and Gajek. It's procreation date is hard to pin down, but it started 2020 with an Insta chat and one of Ian's piano improvisations recorded in his Colorado living room. From there the album grew in separated covid lockdown wombs at three different locations in Germany. Ian's shadowy instrumentation of light piano and heavily layered and long believed to be dead soundscapes were digested, replanted and grown-over by Drone Operatør's and Gajek's uncompromising and individual sense for song structures and sounds. When finally all body parts were assembled in early 2021 the baby was already fluent in different languages.

Sim Card Hølder grows slowly while meandering through dense and open fields. It switches from calm and dreamy moods to wild fractured outbursts without fragmenting into the arbitrary. A raw spiritual power keeps every part connected and in perfect motion. Each song is a portal into multiple universes that suck you in on thick piano carpets, sharp saxophone spikes and buzzing quadcopter wings, warming insect intestines, blasting raw drums and slow healing winds, screeching synth rhymes, dissonant orchestral tales and floating blue melodies. It's a demanding ride but thoroughly deeply relaxing. The perfect soundtrack to rewind your mind.











k 11: Alone_ (rendered altitude) [feat. Drone Operatør & Ian Bruner]

White Vinyl

Returning to continue Shall Not Fade's Season Series with a second LP, Joe Newham serves up harmonious and glimmering jazz infusions under his Gavinco moniker. The Brighton-based producer saw success with his Dumont LP earlier this year, and fans will recognise his smooth composition immediately on Beriza.

"West Horizon" begins the record, an expansive slow burner with haunting vocals, leaving room for a club beat that sets the tone going forward. Field recordings feature prominently on the title track, a laid back style which evokes tropical heat and lazy evenings, easing you into "Savoy's" dance floor grooves complemented by syncopated hand percussion. Hints of sax and strings provide the ear candy on

"Momento", a gentle poolside jazz exploration. "Like This" is punchier, tight funk riffs contrasting discordant piano bits which swirl to an uptempo rhythm. "Creative Times" centres its flute melodies while the rumble of sub bass slowly swells into a perfect pairing of dance music and jazz. The closing track continues this energy.
Hypnotic sax solos and sparkling piano arps take the record to a hazey, housey end.

"To make this concept a cohesive whole, Hybrids took a couple of years to compile. It reflects a certain shift in my sound, where I've try to maintain a constant balance between experimentation and efficiency - surprise, technique and playability... It's a highly functional object crafted from a subversive standpoint, breaking the rules while following them all. Auto-referential musical artifacts blend into composite shapes, and ultimately manifests into five exercises in style, trespassing traditional boundaries of genre, tempo, and (good) taste. While this record probably expresses an inner conflict at the intersection of hypermodernity and conservatism, I hope it accomplishes, at least, its primitive function-to put the body in motion."
- TENEBRE

Castles in Space is thrilled to present Luke Requena’s debut solo album, “Mirror Stage”. As the Lacanian title suggests, it is a collection of meditations and self-reflection translated into sonic explorations of the space that connects the macrocosm and the microcosm. Inspired largely by Tarkovsky’s film Solaris, the making of Mirror Stage was a musical journey of internal struggle across subconscious landscapes.
Requena is a composer and multi-instrumentalist based in Vancouver, BC. Although his main source of sound is analog synthesizers, he also integrates santur, guitar and organs into his pieces. Drawing influences from artists such as Günter Schickert, early Pink Floyd, and classical Persian music, “Mirror Stage” emits waves of sonic and lush textures while exploring the dark cosmos. It’s a genuinely enthralling work.
Luke has already released a double album, “Nocturnal/Seasonal” with John Jeffrey, drummer of Moon Duo, for the Castles in Space Subscription Library as part of the new age electronic jazz project, Oscilloclast.

By way of some cosmic miracle, only one Total Hell pops up
when the band moniker is searched on Discogs. And that would
be the band responsible for the five-song blast of heavy metal
sounds at hand. Now active for about two years plus change
and exported from the very metal and punk fertile New Orleans,
Total Hell is DD Deth (aka Drew Owen—Sick Thoughts
wheelman, Trampoline Team etc) on drums / vocals, Henry
Hell (John Henry of Static Static, Heavy Lids) on bass / vocals,
and guitarists Jason “Panzer” Craft (Persuaders, Tirefire) and
Michael Maniac (Michael He-man of Trampoline Team).
If self-deprecation is beyond the listener’s processing skills,
then please know that as self-described purveyors of the “New
Wave of Shitty Heavy Metal”, Total Hell’s big-boy debut is
not “shitty” in any manner whatsoever. These four recordings
(“Desecrate”, “Clones From Hell”, “Violator”, and “Disfigured”)
are melodic monstrosities that hit with a wall-to-wall, floorto-
ceiling hugeness, while doing so in an economical manner.
There will be no mistaking this for Broken Bones screeching out
of an iPhone inside the vegan squat. On the flip, this is no Bob
Rock joint. DD Deth elaborates: “Recorded on a Tascam 8-track
cassette live at home (aka “The Parkway”) by Michael He-Man
and the process was a nightmare. Original tape crapped out on us
back in early 2020 so we had to redo the whole thing. Intros and
interludes were done last minute by me with the cheapest midi
keyboard on the net.” Well, color Goner Records impressed.
One might get momentarily lost in the cavernous drums that
introduce opener “Desecrate”, but soon the buzzsaw-riff-wall
will crush one into a smudge on the bathroom floor. Without
rocking some safety goggles and diving headfirst down a
terminology rabbithole, this is punk jumping into the sack
with metal and leaving black boots on the bedroom floor rather
than white hightops. Xmas came early for fans of Anti-Cimex,
Celtic Frost, pre-shit Discharge, Motörhead, Blitz, Midnight,
Venom, Broken Bones and...one gets the picture.

When we think of the phrase Bonded By Blood, we think of two things: a brotherhood that is meant to outlast the trials of war, pain, and time... and the almighty EXODUS. With a bond forged in youth and decades-old friendship, the undisputed masters of thrash metal return with their eleventh studio album: PERSONA NON GRATA. Literally translating to “an unwelcome” or “unacceptable” person, PERSONA NON GRATA touches on themes of modern societal disgust and degradation. “The people that disgust you - cut ‘em out like cancer,” explains guitarist Gary Holt. “Who is that person? It could be anybody. That’s up to the listener. Who is ‘Persona Non Grata’ to them?”

For decades, EXODUS has impressed us with the ability to attract opposing factions to their music because of its intensity and versatility. A track like “The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves” was inspired by the riots both in theme, and sound. “Without seeming insensitive to the riots, the song is tongue in cheek about what the people beating on the rioters were expecting to happen. Did you think you would beat a smile onto their face? At 3 minutes in length, it’s probably the shortest EXODUS song we’ve ever done. It gets in, gets out, and is just crushing,” describes Holt. While most of the songs do run on the shorter side, this album also comes equipped with crushing, epic tracks.

Whether it’s the music industry gossip sites, or the big players like CNN and FOX, we’re all aware of how news outlets love to set little rat traps; “Clickbait” discusses their methods of picking things out of context to grab your attention, add to their page views, and increase their revenue all while riling up your emotions. “It’s all journalistic dishonesty,” explains Holt, “it’s a modern-day version of Al Capone’s vault, everyone tunes in, and then there’s NOTHING.“ Evenly balanced with extraordinary speed and tremendous, catchy choruses, “Clickbait” is a song that explodes with vigorous energy. “As heavy as this album is, and it’s heavy as fuck, if times were different and there was still metal radio, this song, and probably over half the album, has single capabilities.”

Sitting as the second to last song on the album, “The Fires of Division” keeps PERSONA NON GRATA strong all the way through. “This album doesn’t operate on the normal parameters,” describes Holt, “we didn’t frontload this one, it’s strong right through to the end. It’s supposed to be a musical journey as the songs segway together.”

For the third time in the band’s history, EXODUS returned to Swedish artist Par Olofsson to create the album artwork PERSONA NON GRATA. “After this album, I feel like we probably won’t work with anyone else again, Par just gets it,” states Holt. A three-faced, winged creature sits atop a bloody pile of diseased and rotting humans as they scream in pain and reach their hands up desperately towards the beast. Undead riot cops beat mercilessly, and senselessly upon this pile of the dying and the world is red with fresh, sopping blood. “Is it an angel, a demon? Is the world being created or destroyed,” asks Holt, “you don’t really know.”

EXODUS don’t fall into the usual recording slump that most bands get stuck in. Gathering at Tom Hunting’s house up in the mountains, they avoided the need to book studio time or adhere to a certain schedule. “At first it was just Tom, myself, a half stack, and a drum kit; we call it jam camp. We lived there. We built the studio, we immersed ourselves in it. Number one, because we still enjoy each other’s company enough to do it. When we’re not actively rehearsing or recording, we’re still sitting there talking about the songs, working on them, plucking on acoustics until things really work,” explains Holt, “we’re not settling.” Working from three home-built studios, the band recorded PERSONA NON GRATA themselves with the help of Andy Sneap on mixing and mastering and with Steve Lagudi at the helm of engineering.

“As a band, I’m super grateful. I’ve seen a lot of things around the world and we’re still a band that loves each other, have each other’s back, and we genuinely like to hang out with each other,” explains Holt. “Take it how you will, but I’m this band’s biggest fan. We write songs that are designed to make us feel fired up - that’s why it’s still heavy.”

When we think of the phrase Bonded By Blood, we think of two things: a brotherhood that is meant to outlast the trials of war, pain, and time... and the almighty EXODUS. With a bond forged in youth and decades-old friendship, the undisputed masters of thrash metal return with their eleventh studio album: PERSONA NON GRATA. Literally translating to “an unwelcome” or “unacceptable” person, PERSONA NON GRATA touches on themes of modern societal disgust and degradation. “The people that disgust you - cut ‘em out like cancer,” explains guitarist Gary Holt. “Who is that person? It could be anybody. That’s up to the listener. Who is ‘Persona Non Grata’ to them?”

For decades, EXODUS has impressed us with the ability to attract opposing factions to their music because of its intensity and versatility. A track like “The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves” was inspired by the riots both in theme, and sound. “Without seeming insensitive to the riots, the song is tongue in cheek about what the people beating on the rioters were expecting to happen. Did you think you would beat a smile onto their face? At 3 minutes in length, it’s probably the shortest EXODUS song we’ve ever done. It gets in, gets out, and is just crushing,” describes Holt. While most of the songs do run on the shorter side, this album also comes equipped with crushing, epic tracks.

Whether it’s the music industry gossip sites, or the big players like CNN and FOX, we’re all aware of how news outlets love to set little rat traps; “Clickbait” discusses their methods of picking things out of context to grab your attention, add to their page views, and increase their revenue all while riling up your emotions. “It’s all journalistic dishonesty,” explains Holt, “it’s a modern-day version of Al Capone’s vault, everyone tunes in, and then there’s NOTHING.“ Evenly balanced with extraordinary speed and tremendous, catchy choruses, “Clickbait” is a song that explodes with vigorous energy. “As heavy as this album is, and it’s heavy as fuck, if times were different and there was still metal radio, this song, and probably over half the album, has single capabilities.”

Sitting as the second to last song on the album, “The Fires of Division” keeps PERSONA NON GRATA strong all the way through. “This album doesn’t operate on the normal parameters,” describes Holt, “we didn’t frontload this one, it’s strong right through to the end. It’s supposed to be a musical journey as the songs segway together.”

For the third time in the band’s history, EXODUS returned to Swedish artist Par Olofsson to create the album artwork PERSONA NON GRATA. “After this album, I feel like we probably won’t work with anyone else again, Par just gets it,” states Holt. A three-faced, winged creature sits atop a bloody pile of diseased and rotting humans as they scream in pain and reach their hands up desperately towards the beast. Undead riot cops beat mercilessly, and senselessly upon this pile of the dying and the world is red with fresh, sopping blood. “Is it an angel, a demon? Is the world being created or destroyed,” asks Holt, “you don’t really know.”

EXODUS don’t fall into the usual recording slump that most bands get stuck in. Gathering at Tom Hunting’s house up in the mountains, they avoided the need to book studio time or adhere to a certain schedule. “At first it was just Tom, myself, a half stack, and a drum kit; we call it jam camp. We lived there. We built the studio, we immersed ourselves in it. Number one, because we still enjoy each other’s company enough to do it. When we’re not actively rehearsing or recording, we’re still sitting there talking about the songs, working on them, plucking on acoustics until things really work,” explains Holt, “we’re not settling.” Working from three home-built studios, the band recorded PERSONA NON GRATA themselves with the help of Andy Sneap on mixing and mastering and with Steve Lagudi at the helm of engineering.

“As a band, I’m super grateful. I’ve seen a lot of things around the world and we’re still a band that loves each other, have each other’s back, and we genuinely like to hang out with each other,” explains Holt. “Take it how you will, but I’m this band’s biggest fan. We write songs that are designed to make us feel fired up - that’s why it’s still heavy.”

Flashes of light rarely burn for long. Bush Tetras exploded into
New York in 1979 and flamed out just a few years later. Yet
somehow this lightning-quick band have risen from their own
ashes again and again for four decades. The spark that ignited
Bush Tetras tapped into a deep grid of power, fuelled by
guitarist Pat Place, singer Cynthia Sley and drummer Dee Pop.
 That chemistry is palpable on ‘Rhythm and Paranoia: The Best
of Bush Tetras’, which features 30 tracks across 2CDs in a 4-
panel digipack / 29 songs across 3LPs pressed onto 180gram
vinyl in a rigid lift-off box with lift ribbon, remastered by Carl
Saff, plus a 40-page (2CD) / 46-page (3LP) book with neverbefore-seen photos, an original essay on the band by Marc
Masters and micro essays by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore,
R&B legend Nona Hendryx, The Clash’s Topper Headon and
more.
 From the band’s earliest recordings to their current, vital-asever incarnation, ‘Rhythm and Paranoia’ - for the first time ever
- showcases their unique, influential and body-shaking meld of
rock, punk, funk, reggae and more in one cohesive, immersive
and meticulously constructed box set.
 “Coupled with ‘Too Many Creeps’’ dancey arrangement, Sley’s
monotonous tone signaled that within the Tetras’ newly staked
safe space, misogyny wasn’t a threat: it was just a boring,
predictable damper on the party. Like the rest of their peers, this
band was over it.” - Pitchfork (The History of Feminist Punk in
33 Songs)
 “The Bush Tetras are a national treasure” - VICE
 “Renowned at the dawn of the eighties for pairing the disjoined
guitar skronk of the inaccessible No Wave scene with
irrepressible, funk-infused rhythms, the Bush Tetras were
remarkably influential without ever really receiving their due” -
The New Yorker
 “Bush Tetras bridge the gap between the Ramones and Sonic
Youth.” - NY Post





[e] 5 Cold Turkey [Live in London]










[p] 16 Mr. Lovesong [Alternate Version]













[xd] 30 Run Run Run [Live in San Francisco]

Born in 1999, Charlie Hickey grew up in South Pasadena,
just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. Raised by two
singer-songwriter parents, Charlie’s second language was
music since day one. As early as grade school, he was
making sense of the world through songwriting, and by
middle school he was writing, recording and performing
songs that attracted a community of collaborators and could
silence a room.
 A turning point for Charlie came at around the age of
thirteen, when he covered a song by then up-and-coming
artist Phoebe Bridgers, who was still in high school herself.
The two quickly became friends and collaborators, setting
Charlie on an exciting new musical path. Years later,
Bridgers introduced Charlie to songwriter, drummer, producer
and her bandmate Marshall Vore, who noticed something
special about Charlie. The two began writing and recording
songs together, and soon Charlie dropped out of school to
work on his music full-time.
 Charlie Hickey’s first proper single was ‘No Good at Lying’
and it’s the first track on ‘Count The Stairs’. The Marshall
Vore-produced track introduces us to Charlie’s evocative
storytelling and features Phoebe Bridgers on backing vocals.
“I’m no good at lying / on my back or through my teeth / but
I’m good at dreaming / I can do it in my sleep,” he sings over
hushed guitars and a whimsical banjo, searching for truth as
his unconscious mind runs wild and bleeds into reality. It’s a
slow, quiet, and understated peek to the world of Charlie
Hickey, who is barely of legal drinking age, but taps into such
universal themes that showcase a wisdom beyond his years
and exudes promise for what’s to come.

Born in 1999, Charlie Hickey grew up in South Pasadena,
just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. Raised by two
singer-songwriter parents, Charlie’s second language was
music since day one. As early as grade school, he was
making sense of the world through songwriting, and by
middle school he was writing, recording and performing
songs that attracted a community of collaborators and could
silence a room.
 A turning point for Charlie came at around the age of
thirteen, when he covered a song by then up-and-coming
artist Phoebe Bridgers, who was still in high school herself.
The two quickly became friends and collaborators, setting
Charlie on an exciting new musical path. Years later,
Bridgers introduced Charlie to songwriter, drummer, producer
and her bandmate Marshall Vore, who noticed something
special about Charlie. The two began writing and recording
songs together, and soon Charlie dropped out of school to
work on his music full-time.
 Charlie Hickey’s first proper single was ‘No Good at Lying’
and it’s the first track on ‘Count The Stairs’. The Marshall
Vore-produced track introduces us to Charlie’s evocative
storytelling and features Phoebe Bridgers on backing vocals.
“I’m no good at lying / on my back or through my teeth / but
I’m good at dreaming / I can do it in my sleep,” he sings over
hushed guitars and a whimsical banjo, searching for truth as
his unconscious mind runs wild and bleeds into reality. It’s a
slow, quiet, and understated peek to the world of Charlie
Hickey, who is barely of legal drinking age, but taps into such
universal themes that showcase a wisdom beyond his years
and exudes promise for what’s to come.

Mega rare 1974 jazz funk rock album recorded by Argentina's top jazzmen Pocho Lapouble, Ricardo Lew and Adalberto Cevasco (also members of Quinteplus, Jorge Lopez Ruiz's band and Gato Barbieri's group among many others). Includes the irresistible fast-paced funk rock track 'Se Acabó el Recreo' and the ethereal 'Todo en Su Medida y Armoniosamente' and 'Haceme Shaft', featuring Patricia Clark on vocals and unexpected moog arrangements. First time reissue, with remastered sound and original artwork.

Those into world jazz will be aware of the amazing modal, big band and post-bop jazz recordings released in Argentina in the '60s. The body of work produced by the likes of Chivo Borraro, Jorge López Ruiz or Enrique Villegas would be able to rival the recordings of their American counterparts.

The following decade would see a great openness to the exploration, with a jazz language, of other musical genres, with a certain preponderance of rhythm. The members of El Trio are part of a jazz generation with a greater propensity to experiment with electricity and with what could be considered an avant la page exercise of what soon afterwards would be called jazz rock -it is music composed and played, in the faraway Buenos Aires, at the same time Miles Davis adventured into new fields, with such records as "In a Silent Way" or "Bitches´ Brew".

"Todo en su medida y armoniosamente" reflects that same spirit of experimentation and fusion of diverse influences with an eye on both rock and local folklore. It's not surprising that the protagonists of this recording -Pocho Lapouble (drums), Ricardo Lew (guitar) and Adalberto Cevasco (bass) - had accompanied Gato Barbieri himself in his project "Latinoamérica" shortly before the release of this album where the presence of rhythms from the southern hemisphere infused the avant-garde jazz of the Argentine saxophonist. Drummer Pocho Lapouble had also created Quinteplus, which in 1972 released a single studio LP inspired by those same premises of fusion jazz.
This album was originally released on the eclectic local label Music Hall in 1974 and probably distributed in tiny quantities, hence the rarity of this record and the current crazy prices in the collectors' market.

There are records with empathy, records which are your friends and then there's the others... There might be little difference between them, a certain "je ne sais quoi", an "almost nothing but still something" which makes the difference between almost pointless and vital records. Despite, or rather thanks to his cynical despair, Matt Elliott's music never holds up a moralizing mirror to us - on the contrary, it creates a compassionate dialogue with listeners like the rhythm of two steps that synchronize to become as one. In 2016, Matt Elliot brought out his seventh solo album The Calm Before whose obscure title is neither exactly threatening nor comforting... the calm before what? Before the storm for sure but maybe also before the great record, the immediate classic we felt might be coming for a long time in the dual discography of the Bristol-born artist working under his own name and his electronic alias Third Eye Foundation. The elegant details and perspectives of Little Lost Soul (2000) already hinted at the upcoming masterpiece from the English singer-songwriter. The Mess We Made (2003) was Matt Elliott's first solo album and portrayed a universe in a kind of flight towards Balkan horizons made up of visceral despair. With the Songs trilogy, he put aside the electronic side of his work to continue working with a minimalist, stark and lucid style of writing. The Broken Man (2012) was full of tears and long laments sometimes carried by Katia Labèque's piano on a record which painted new shades of grey. On this record Matt began working with the producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist David Chalmin (La Terre Invisible) who has kept on collaborating with the Bristol-born singer since then. Their partnership continued on Only Myocardial Infection Can Break Your Heart (2013) and The Calm Before (2016). Stéphane Grégoire is the head of the Ici D'Ailleurs label which has accompanied Matt Elliott since 2005 and perhaps he describes this album the best: "This new record by Matt is without a doubt his best album to date, a record that takes him into another dimension where he fully asserts himself as a songwriter and singer of the calibre of artists like Bill Callahan, Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash." Matt Elliott's other records all seemed like empathic links between each other. Farewell To All We Know is an instant classic based on the sensitive piano and superb arrangements of David Chalmin, the sensitive cello of Gaspar Claus, the subtle bass of Jeff Hallam (who has also played with Dominique A and John Parish). There is a clear form of alchemy in all of this and still we find Matt Elliott's usual atmospheres and scenery, the same Eastern European folk music, long songs that take time to settle over time. Everything is the same but also is transfigured. By making his music stark and purifying and redefining the subject matter, Matt Elliott's work became so much more delicate. However this work is never frail nor really turned in on himself and thus becomes like a vital tune that vibrates and unfolds. The opening song Farewell To All We Know seems torn between the fear of what tomorrow may bring, inevitability and hope for the future in a permanent and progressive dramatic tension expressed by his Spanish guitar, the impressionist style piano and Matt's voice teetering on the edge of whispers. A funereal tribute to endless twilights and the dawns we all dream of seeing. There are touches of Leonard Cohen from Songs from a Room or Thanks For The Dance in The Day After That with Gaspar Claus's counterpoint cello. There is no spirit of resignation in Matt Elliott's work - life's path has to be followed against all odds. We have to follow the river's flow to reach the immense ocean and its infinite freedom. The haunted instrumental Guidance Is Internal harks back to the atmospheres of Howling Songs (2008) with its guitar parts full of scansions and muted threats. The music is transcendental but never seems afraid of the risk of falling. This is also what Bye Now tells us with its quasi-obsolete simplicity and sunburst melancholy reminiscent of the work of Luiz Bonfá, Bill Evans on Peace Piece or laidback crooners of the 50s. In Farewell To All We Know, Matt Elliott incessantly alternates between the dual desires to face up to the world or to protect himself from it. Hating The Player, Hating The Game is a lucid statement about the dullness of our daily lives sometimes, our right to get out of the game and no longer want to be part of it. Matt Elliott is tender but spares no one, particularly himself. Aboulia speaks of the tiredness of living and of looming death while Crisis Apparition says that there is always a time for reconstruction after chaos. This is like initially wearying wandering in the ruins of Aleppo with the slow dilution of the melody into a hallucinated drone. However the smell of great fires always fades and the earth always regenerates. Matt Elliott seems to suggest that the survival instinct is stronger than any cold winds could ever be. Matt Elliott never sings of certainties and prefers possibilities. Possibly the worst is over? Maybe... Maybe the storm has passed and devastated everything, now we just have to rebuild and live again. Farewell To All We Know shows us the distance that still needs to be walked and he walks next to you - right next to you, he is the friend who doesn't spare you the truth like all true friends really do.

When we think of the phrase Bonded By Blood, we think of two things: a brotherhood that is meant to outlast the trials of war, pain, and time... and the almighty EXODUS. With a bond forged in youth and decades-old friendship, the undisputed masters of thrash metal return with their eleventh studio album: PERSONA NON GRATA. Literally translating to “an unwelcome” or “unacceptable” person, PERSONA NON GRATA touches on themes of modern societal disgust and degradation. “The people that disgust you - cut ‘em out like cancer,” explains guitarist Gary Holt. “Who is that person? It could be anybody. That’s up to the listener. Who is ‘Persona Non Grata’ to them?”

For decades, EXODUS has impressed us with the ability to attract opposing factions to their music because of its intensity and versatility. A track like “The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves” was inspired by the riots both in theme, and sound. “Without seeming insensitive to the riots, the song is tongue in cheek about what the people beating on the rioters were expecting to happen. Did you think you would beat a smile onto their face? At 3 minutes in length, it’s probably the shortest EXODUS song we’ve ever done. It gets in, gets out, and is just crushing,” describes Holt. While most of the songs do run on the shorter side, this album also comes equipped with crushing, epic tracks.

Whether it’s the music industry gossip sites, or the big players like CNN and FOX, we’re all aware of how news outlets love to set little rat traps; “Clickbait” discusses their methods of picking things out of context to grab your attention, add to their page views, and increase their revenue all while riling up your emotions. “It’s all journalistic dishonesty,” explains Holt, “it’s a modern-day version of Al Capone’s vault, everyone tunes in, and then there’s NOTHING.“ Evenly balanced with extraordinary speed and tremendous, catchy choruses, “Clickbait” is a song that explodes with vigorous energy. “As heavy as this album is, and it’s heavy as fuck, if times were different and there was still metal radio, this song, and probably over half the album, has single capabilities.”

Sitting as the second to last song on the album, “The Fires of Division” keeps PERSONA NON GRATA strong all the way through. “This album doesn’t operate on the normal parameters,” describes Holt, “we didn’t frontload this one, it’s strong right through to the end. It’s supposed to be a musical journey as the songs segway together.”

For the third time in the band’s history, EXODUS returned to Swedish artist Par Olofsson to create the album artwork PERSONA NON GRATA. “After this album, I feel like we probably won’t work with anyone else again, Par just gets it,” states Holt. A three-faced, winged creature sits atop a bloody pile of diseased and rotting humans as they scream in pain and reach their hands up desperately towards the beast. Undead riot cops beat mercilessly, and senselessly upon this pile of the dying and the world is red with fresh, sopping blood. “Is it an angel, a demon? Is the world being created or destroyed,” asks Holt, “you don’t really know.”

EXODUS don’t fall into the usual recording slump that most bands get stuck in. Gathering at Tom Hunting’s house up in the mountains, they avoided the need to book studio time or adhere to a certain schedule. “At first it was just Tom, myself, a half stack, and a drum kit; we call it jam camp. We lived there. We built the studio, we immersed ourselves in it. Number one, because we still enjoy each other’s company enough to do it. When we’re not actively rehearsing or recording, we’re still sitting there talking about the songs, working on them, plucking on acoustics until things really work,” explains Holt, “we’re not settling.” Working from three home-built studios, the band recorded PERSONA NON GRATA themselves with the help of Andy Sneap on mixing and mastering and with Steve Lagudi at the helm of engineering.

“As a band, I’m super grateful. I’ve seen a lot of things around the world and we’re still a band that loves each other, have each other’s back, and we genuinely like to hang out with each other,” explains Holt. “Take it how you will, but I’m this band’s biggest fan. We write songs that are designed to make us feel fired up - that’s why it’s still heavy.”

Haz Mat, hailing from Detroit, may not be a household name YET, but just wait. His VINYL DEBUT is People of Earth's seventh release. A three track EP that is as rounded as it gets. Deep, techy, soulful & a bit of disco for kicks. "My Zania" has lush chords that morph into a tech masterpiece. "Bridge to the Universe" straight deep & techy jam. Lastly "Groove of Life" is just that. Instrumentals & disco riffs, daytime vibes & smiles

With a string of releases as Garage Shelter and as of last year, alongside Hardrock Striker as Bleu Blanc House, Signal St. returns to line up his first LP with SKYLAX.Laden with indecipherable disco and funk samples, emotive chord changes and clocking in at one hour, it’s fully fledged dance album with no filler, showing what contemporary house music should sound like in 2018 on a label that has always pushed the genre. The album wanders through a range of functions and energies, from One For You on which Signal St. channels Moodymann, Life Aquatic, where the looping styles of Moomin play centre to a dance of whispy 808 symbols and the percussive workout of Right Next To Me which gives way to the album’s final act. Though club-ready and touching on a range of moods, it evolves from its from its disco/funk beginnings and descending into a 10-minute downtempo finale, swallowed by an abyss of reverb. Like an explosive separation of two people, thrown from the plains of heaven to the depths of hell, “Zapoï and other dysfunctional love stories, closing the loops” pulls together the many faces of Signal St. in a dance album that reflects a young producer entering his prime.that will delight both fans of the purest house but also those whose scrolls of Romanian raresh bewitch. It's clearly another piece of art to add to your skylax records collection. Future classic. !

Enterprising composer and musician Eddie Suzuki made his own path throughout his lifetime. Born on October 4, 1929, Suzuki worked as a young shoeshiner in 1940s Honolulu, saving enough money to take piano lessons. In high school, he lead a big band orchestra of 16, and sometimes up to 40 members. By the age of 18, he owned a piano shop that pivoted to become Honolulu’s top guitar store.

For Eddie Suzuki, music always came first. In 1973, after performing and composing songs for many years, Eddie Suzuki and his group, New Hawaii, recorded the now impossibly rare album, High Tide.

The LP is “not a rock-out”, local music journalist Wayne Harada ruminated in a 1973 review. “Rather, it’s one man’s vision — and version — of the now Hawaii.” A seasoned mix of psych, Hawaiian, and pop sensibilities, the music on High Tide gave the listener a look into Eddie’s singular vision celebrating the sights and sounds (and spirit) of Hawaii.

Eddie Suzuki’s New Hawaii:
Laurence Harada, guitar
John Schulmeister, bass
Gary Fittro, drums
Nani Kuaiwa, vocals
Eddie Suzuki, vocals, Hammond organ, Arp synthesizer.

"A beautiful album celebrating Hawaii’s warmth and spirit. The personal story here is that I reached out for a license just 1 week too late — Eddie Suzuki had died the week prior to my initial phone call. It took a couple years until I was able to connect with his son and get his permission to reissue Eddie's music." – Roger Bong, Aloha Got Soul

Ask and ye shall receive! Upon receiving a bevy of positive praise for Benny Trokan's venomous salute to the (former) Cheeto©-in-Chief, "Get it in the End" (featured on the OUT-OF-PRINT long-player Wick Records: Battle of the Bands, Vol. I), we decided to offer this one up via the coveted 45rpm format.
Written in haste shortly after its inauguration, Trokan warns of a day of reckoning for the flabby orangutan. Accompanied by an infallible bassline, spicy guitar solo, and a trap kit laser light show, this verbal assault and its freakbeat je ne sais quoi is the soundtrack henceforth into oblivion. On the flip you'll find "You Don't Get Me Down", a moody, grooving, albeit hopeful companion piece that serves as a palette cleansing juxtaposition to the peppery protest. Don't sleep on this one!

Oak Corridor is the second full-length album from Newcastle, Australian duo Troth (Amelia Besseny & Cooper Bowman). It follows 2020’s warmly received album, Flaws In The Glass (Altered States Tapes) and 2021’s Small Movements In Radiance mini-album (Not Not Fun). While the same themes and intentions remain, this time Troth channel their ambient experiments into an environ located somewhere closer to minimal-wave and synth-pop.

While Oak Corridor is their most ‘song-based’ album to date, it continues the respectful treatment of natural themes found in their previous releases, further tying in elements of balance, truth, justice, humility, strains of mysticism from varied origins and an opposition to the encroachment of ill-advised development surrounding them in Newcastle (and Australia more broadly). The album is a truly collaborative affair and offers something of a sound-diary of the two’s relationship.

Lennert Jacobs' music is an echo of his imagination, inevitably reflecting and reinforcing a natural philosophy of enlightenment. L. Jacobs employs modern and classical instruments to enhance and distill a spirit of humanity through his aesthetic currency of sound.
Surveying his debut album ‘Enthusiasm’ and its instinctive impulses delivers a sublime sonic experience. Specifics of musical styles fade obliquely in service of resonance on a deeper level—sound speaking on a universal language with innately humorous wonkiness whirling you into a state of pure delight.

Kaleidoscopic keyboards shape a celebration of freedom and spontaneity. With warped beats, the songs clatter in crafted structures to create obscure alternative atmospheres. ‘Enthusiasm’ is a sonic lens that lands right from the first moment you hear it, a showcase of musical talent and intuitive expression.

Lennert Jacobs does an excellent job of investing and producing mainly instrumental compositions which manage to touch on a wide variety of emotions over the course of their unfolding. The works on ‘Enthusiasm’ are synthetic creatures, living and growing autonomously. The duality of the composer is on full holistic display: the lighter side—relaxing, ethereal, and dreamy, and the darker—disturbing and uncanny. This is a sonic transportation and cerebral massage. Stick a needle in it to activate.

METHODICAL 3x12" sales pack including:
* Mod21 / Drafted - METHODICAL003 (METHODICAL003)
* MTD - From The Heart (METHODICAL0004)
* Forward Strategy Group / Rommek - METHODICAL 0005 (yellow vinyl) (METHODICAL005)

Ajo Sunshine (pronounced “Ahh-Ho”) is heralded by
an alarming horn ensemble, stabbing with the dramatic
urgency of a killer’s theme in a midnight movie. It’s a
jarring but appropriate entry point for this brilliantly blasted
listen, an array of exquisitely sharp edges punctuated by
kaleidoscopic respites of throbbing warmth and surprising
tenderness. J.R.C.G. (Justin R. Cruz Gallego)’s previous
work with Seattle’s excellent Dreamdecay may foreground
the broad strokes here, but he’s pushed things way outward
in terms of his sonic palette. Abutting field recordings
captured from rodeos off Ajo Way, a stretch of highway
that leads one westward out of Tucson Arizona directly into
the sun, both acoustic instruments and gleaming walls
of synthetic noise are framed in dour and dissonant chord
shapes, crackling with overdriven drum mics and seasick
waves of distortion. It’s homage that plays out like a
collage, a dream switching from station to station, a series
of dedications broadcast on late night radio. All pin-hole
size images from scenes never seen whole, strung together
in but one version of complete, all making for a dazzling
listen.

As we continue on our journey here at Futurepast, we are pleased to welcome a trio that, for many years, we felt shared our vision, Frak! From Sweden, Frak have been founding an original hardware-based sound since the 80's, first via their own label Borft before collaborating with other labels over three whole decades.

On their "Formless Obstruction" EP, Frak have provided a window into the sinister twists and turns of their work. On the A-side, you see creeping Detroit stylings of "Scientific Bella" set against "Wrong Owl" with it's EBM underpinnings and industrial inflections.

On the flip, "Concentrated Feed" bubbles next to the razor sharp "Capacity Faun", both are filled with characteristic machine quirks and experimentalism.

The third release focuses on the worlds we see within.

"IVE" is a wonderful collaboration between a Local sorcerer and Rambadu. During isolation they researched ways to escape reality by traveling inward and explored the connections between our audible and visual perception.

By using the power of our voices we created an Image Visualization Environment that can bring us to many places. "Nue" represents our joy in life, the serene chants help us to cleanse our minds and in "Oiwo" we get lost in space so we can rise back into a world of light.

To support us on this journey we invited Forest On Stasys from Buenos Aires, Argentina for his interpretation. He has worked his magic giving you a warm and groovy feeling while we dance towards freedom.

Even though we live in distant places it is still possible to share and feel each other's energies.

A connection we should never forget exists.

All sleeves are hand-made with love!

Third Man Records is proud to announce the 20th anniversary expanded edition of Kelley Stoltz’s defining album Antique Glow, due November 19, 2021. The announcement is heralded by the release of bonus track "Too Beck". Limited-edition "rainy nights" UK exclusive vinyl will be available on release day.

Originally self-released in minuscule vinyl-only quantities in 2001, Antique Glow has served not only as a template for the length of Kelley Stoltz’s twenty-plus year career, but has also served as a compass for other Anglophile, TASCAM 388 home recording acolytes. Original copies featured Stoltz’s clever, wry and fanciful hand-painted adornments overtop reclaimed thrift store LP jackets, Third Man’s release here utilizes some of those original unused images for a die-cut sleeve that ultimately gives the listener six different possible album covers.

The songs are by-and-large masterpieces of bedroom pop magic. From the whispering “Here Comes the Sun”-adjacent acoustic underpinnings of album opener “Perpetual Night” through the fuzz-threaded leads of “Are You Electric?” Stoltz’s inspirations are impeccable and clear. Sixties Davies British Invasion through 80’s British Bunnymen post-punk, with appropriate off-shoots into West Coast American pop-psych, Velvets-indebted hooliganism and Drake/CSNY acoustic attenuations, the end result is pure joy.

On the expanded version, standout tracks previously relegated to an Australian tour-only CD (like the breathlessly cinematic “Old Pictures”) see their first-ever vinyl and digital release while there’s an additional 10 songs from the Antique Glow-era seeing their first ever release in any format. The cutting room floor quality here is second-to-none, Stoltz clearly gifted with the curse of writing too many indelible songs, so the newly released “Too Beck” (originally cast off by Kelley because he thought “it sounded too much like Beck”) and “Umbrella” stand firm as some of the best, most timeless music Stoltz has ever released... a full two decades after he recorded them!

Over the course of the decade, Meatbodies’ Chad Ubovich has been
a perennial candidate for MVP of West Coast’s fertile rock scene. The
LA native could be seen peeling off guitar solos in Mikal Cronin’s
backing band, supplying the Sabbath-sized low end for Ty Segall and
Charlie Moothart as the bassist for Fuzz, and, of course, fronting his
own Meatbodies. Today the recently dormant experimental noise /
freak-rock outfit has announced their return with 333—a corrosive
stew of guitar scuzz, raw acoustic rave-ups, and primitive
electronics that charts Ubovich’s journey from drug-induced darkness
to clear-eyed sobriety. 333 simultaneously reflects on how the world
he re-entered was still pretty messed up—if not more so. “These lyrics
are dark, but I think these are things that a lot of people are feeling
and going through” he says. “Here in America, we’re watching the
fall of U.S. capitalism, and 333 is a cartoonish representation of that
decline.”
In mid to late 2019, the band—Ubovich and drummer Dylan
Fujioka—had a new album in the can, ready to be mixed. But
when COVID hit, like so many other artists, they put their release
on hold as they rode out the pandemic’s first wave. During that idle
time, Ubovich discovered a cache of demos that he and Fujioka had
recorded in a bedroom back in the summer of 2018, and he really liked
what he heard. In contrast to Meatbodies’ typical full-band attack, it
was deliriously disordered. “It sounded gross, like a scary Magical
Mystery Tour,” he recalls proudly. After subjecting them to some
mixing-board freakery, Ubovich fast-tracked the songs into becoming
this third release of theirs, 333. It proves Meatbodies have greatly
expanded their palette, opening new portals to explore. And for an
album that wasn’t supposed to exist, 333 is the ultimate testament to
Meatbodies’ renewed vitality.

Their roots are firmly planted in heavy rock, melodic aggression and
despair. They have conquered the stoner rock kids and breathed fiery life
into the classic rock snobs.
Now Thulsa Doom’s branches are growing with twigs of Kiss and
Crimson; strong wooden arms hold Skynyrd, Ween and Bob Dylan, and
progressive leaves of soulful, poignant, intricate gems cover the ground.
And there are nuts, lots of nuts. ...and with the release of their new album
“Ambition Freedom” the tree itself will
stretch right in through your bedroom
window and grab you. Just like the one in
Poltergeist.
The band’s sophomore “…And Then Take
You To A Place Where Jars Are Kept”
(2003) earned them two Norwegian
Grammy nominations, and is widely recognized
as one of the best rock-releases
from Norway ever.
«A Keen Eye for the Obvious» was released
in 2018 and was instantly recognized
as the greatest comeback since
Batman.
The band that once was a cherished but
well-kept secret has now become a national
treasure because of the timeless qualities
of their albums and unforgettable live
shows. Relentlessly rehearsing and playing
shows all over Norway and for dubious but
welcoming crowds in central Europe
has once again inspired Thulsa Doom to
make new music. “Ambition Freedom”
will not harm you in any way, but it might
rearrange your heart and refurbish your
belief in Rock.
“Ambition Freedom” will confuse many,
but for others it will lead the way. You will
wish it never stops, and it doesn’t have to.
It’s a record. Spin it again

THERION have always been a band that have challenged themselves to explore new paths, while remaining true to their musical core values. For their 17th studio album, mastermind Christofer Johnsson and his collaborator Thomas Vikström have created something that has been previously unthinkable to the guitarist and the singer. "We have done the only thing that was left of all the different angles to explore", explains Christofer. "We have decided to give the people what they kept asking for. 'Leviathan' is the first album that we have deliberately packed with THERION hit songs."

True to the Swede's words, the album opens with the catchy and swift tune 'The Leaf Of The Oak Of Far' featuring female and male antiphonal singing as well as a choir that seems to have evolved straight out of THERION's breakthrough full-length "Theli" (1996). This is immediately followed by the obvious highlight 'Tuonela', in which Christofer cleverly underscores this hit-track's Finnish vibe by employing NIGHTWISH’s "metal voice" Marko Hietala. Next up in this parade of future fan-favourites is the title track 'Leviathan' that offers classic THERION material with operatic female vocals and a massive choir.

Christofer Johnsson's passion for classic voices, choirs, and orchestral elements as well as his penchant for epic melodies in combination with rock and metal shines clearly through the following sing-along ballad 'Die Wellen Der Zeit', which indicates another nod to German romantic composer Richard Wagner. "Ever since 'Theli', Wagner has been and will always be at the core of THERION", emphasises Christofer. "When we started to combine metal and opera, it was something new and original. Today, symphonic metal has long been a firmly established genre." When THERION came into being in 1988 by changing name from the already existing band BLITZKRIEG, which was founded a year earlier, Christofer had rather taken inspiration from SLAYER's "Reign In Blood" among other classic metal albums.

At the beginning, the Swedes were firmly rooted in death metal, a genre which they helped to define, as witnessed by their debut album "Of Darkness...." (1991). Yet even back then, there were hints of "something else" lurking beneath the rough surface. The use of female vocals is another core ingredient of THERION today, which developed gradually. CELTIC FROST had basically introduced the female element to extreme metal on "To Mega Therion" in 1985. THERION began with both a female and male vocalist emulating a church like choir already in their sophomore full-length 'Beyond Sanctorum' (1992). With Symphony "Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas" (1993) and "Lepaca Kliffoth" (1995), Christofer continued to developed his trademark sound by gradually drifting towards cleaner vocals and more keyboards.

With "Theli", the Swedes had firmly established a reputation of pushing the boundaries of metal in the 90s –among such acts as their compatriots TIAMAT, THE GATHERING, and MOONSPELL that were often referred to as "gothic metal" at the time. THERION continued to break new ground leaving inspiration for others to follow in their wake: On "A'arab Zaraq -Lucid Dreaming" (1997), Christofer further explored the use of Near Eastern music in metal which he had already begun in 1992, while "Secret Of The Runes" (2001) dared to have Swedish lyrics in some songs.

While critics were left confused and fans challenged, THERION were often ahead of their times and vindicated in hindsight. Even the band's 25th anniversary excursion "Les Fleurs Du Mal" has by now overcome the initial shock the album caused and is only beaten in terms of streaming by the classic "Vovin" (1998). When Christofer faced the question of where to go next after the dramatic "Beloved Antichrist" (2018) had finally fulfilled his musical mission, his answer is "Leviathan" named after a giant sea monster from Judeo-Christian myth that has roots in Babylonic lore: THERION have created a giant hit album –and for the first time in the history of the Swedes, their fans are not asked to explore something new, but simply to lean back and enjoy the best from their band!

Ltd White vinyl LP w/ printed inner sleeve lyric insert (1000 copies ww)! Emma Ruth Rundle's forthcoming Engine of Hell is stark, intimate, and unflinching. For anyone that's endured trauma and grief, there's a beautiful solace in hearing Rundle articulate and humanize that particular type of pain not only with her words, but with her particular mysterious language of melody and timbre. The album captures a moment where a masterful songwriter strips away all flourishes and embellishments in order to make every note and word hit with maximum impact, leaving little to hide behind. "I really wanted to capture imperfection and the vulnerability of my humanity," Rundle says of the album's sonic approach. "Here are some very personal songs; here are my memories; here is me teetering on the very edge of sanity dipping my toe into the outer reaches of space and I'm taking you with me and it's very fucked up and imperfect.'" Emma Ruth Rundle has always been a multifaceted musician, equally capable of dreamy abstraction (as heard on her album Electric Guitar: One), maximalist textural explorations (see her work in Marriages, Red Sparowes, Nocturnes or collaborations with Chelsea Wolfe and Thou), and the classic singer-songwriter tradition (exemplified by Some Heavy Ocean). But on Engine of Hell, Rundle has opted to forego the full-band arrangements of her previous albums in favor of the austerity of a lone piano or guitar and her voice, which creates a kind of intimacy, as if we're sitting beside Rundle on a bench, or perhaps even playing the songs ourselves. It's an extremely up-close and personal confessional with a focus on the rich subtleties and timbre of Rundle's graceful performances. "For me this album is the end of an era to the end of a decade of making records. Things DO have to change and have changed for me since I finished recording it." In essence, Engine of Hell signifies a major turning point for Rundle as both an artist and as a person. The catharsis of this type of songwriting has effectively served its purpose, and to continue ruminating on the past going forward is less of a healing process and more like picking at a scab and refusing to let it heal. This may help explain why Rundle is less than enthusiastic about divulging the details about her muses, but it doesn't alter the fact that these songs served a purpose in their creation, and that they may continue to bring comfort to others.

Emerging from the ashes of the band Church Of
Void, there is a new force rising up to pursue a
path in the name of doom. Fimir are set to release
their blistering debut album, ‘Tomb Of God’.
 Fimir were founded in 2019 by former Church Of
Void members G. Funeral, Magus Corvus, H.
Warlock, A.D. and Septic Apes’ drummer H.
Wizzard. From a mere spark in the dark and a
distant echo of forgotten riffs haunting in emptiness
from a collapsed doomstar of their former band,
Fimir got rid of their ghosts and started to work on
their first album right away, until the world went into
lockdown.
 The five-piece collective, hailing from the frozen
wastelands of Finland, used their time and
creativity wisely, and managed to put the final
touches on their upcoming debut, featuring six
heavy cosmic tracks unleashing an enthralling
blend of razor sharp riffage, haunting occult vibes,
ambient atmospheres and classic doom metal.
 For fans of Black Sabbath, Tiamat, Type O
Negative, Pentagram, Church Of Void, Reverend
Bizarre, Candlemass.
 LP on cyan coloured vinyl.

We used to enjoy presenting Chapelier Fou's work using the idea of music in the form of a treasure hunt. However, while the phrase in itself it still just as relevant today, we would never have imagined that it would become such an integral part of one of his albums. Or two of his albums to be perfectly exact - Méridiens and Parallèles. Two records with twelve songs each which answer each other back in the form of anagrams. They are like the two sides of the same planet - similar but simultaneously so different. They need to be discovered one after the other taking the time necessary to travel through the sound territories produced by his imagination. The starting point is a sombre night in Uqbar… Chapelier Fou's opening reference to Borgès was obviously not made by chance. He subsequently confided in us the objective of his diptych, namely to combine reality with fiction to question certainties and our relationships with the imaginary sphere. He has continued with his traditional classical-contemporary electronic approach which, although now known to a wide audience, has the advantage of opening up a whole range of possibilities right up to the infinite scale. Moving away from an "État Nain" (Dwarf State) to take refuge on an asteroid...Throughout Méridiens, each composition can be seen as a universe in itself or a specific landscape with its own temporality. Proof of this is the introduction to the chamber music format composed for and performed by only strings which can only be given the date we want to give it. This is "État Nain" in which violins are played like guitars. In some parts we find the spirit of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and the idea of cheering up classical instruments and not taking everything too seriously. In other parts, we find something close to a mischievous and childish unplugged grunge anthem that could be from the French series Les Shadoks. This mischievous view of things is shown to full effect in Am Scharchtensee. The introduction shows Chapelier Fou's whole classical universe and mastery of orchestration in which "modular" electronics provide a subtle and discreet backdrop. Then, the record suddenly switches to a surrealist dialogue between these classical sounds and modular synthesizers with the flavour of the German pioneers Kluster/Harmonia to name but one example. Timelessness and imaginary places. La vie de cocagne confirms this choice of total freedom. It's traditional music with old sounds, a kind of forgotten bourrée (old French dance) in which electronic sounds disturb the established order and thus reach another musical dimension. Le méridien du Péricarde followed by Désert de Sonora push this idea of a trompe l'oreille and a hall of mirrors even further. The latter track ends almost like a catchy 80s melody and we can no longer find any logical meaning. We let ourselves be carried away by this profusion of madness and are a little amazed by this mastery of sound, composition and space. It sometimes all seems like a succession of conjuring tricks. Chapelier Fou takes not being serious very seriously indeed. The end song Everest trail is the perfect conclusion, a deadpan track in which the primary aspect of a totally classical melody in all its straightness is underpinned by a permanent exchange of electronic tweets which mocks the main musical posture. This impertinence harks back to Pierre Schaeffer who directed the ORTF's very serious experimental department in another era and allowed the development of Jacques Rouxel's series Les Shadoks thus introducing the general public to the notion of concrete music. This is also perhaps why Louis Warynski's stage name is French – because he has opted to use his French musical heritage. Thus the first singles selected from this album, Constantinople with its groovy and jazzy allure and Le Triangle des Bermudes evoke composers like Michel Magne or Michel Colombier both of whom have totally open minds and consider all music to have the same importance, namely that of sound. In absolutely all the tracks that make up Méridiens, you will find at least one detail - a pattern, melody, sometimes a simple sound - that will draw you back to explore it a little more. And the words are carefully weighed for sure. It's quite simple. This is undoubtedly his most hypnotizing and catchy album. Chapelier Fou has become a complete master of his own universe. He draws the start and finish lines himself and no one can follow him in a field that now belongs to him alone. Composed imaginary spheres, illustrated territories...Music is just as meaningful as the more visual arts. Therefore the artwork of Méridiens had to project each of the twelve tracks considered individually and not just the whole album as such. Chapelier Fou therefore asked his old friend the contemporary artist Corentin Grossman to create twelve windows to represent glimpses of the twelve worlds composed for the record. Windows or mirrors when it comes to that? You can never be sure of anything...Space OK. But what about time? The years go by and sometimes we forget that fact. But a simple glance back is often enough to gently touch the time that has passed. It is over 10 years since his first official record and he has been composing, recording and sharing his music for almost 20 years. 20 years is a long time. It makes some people look old while others fall into reassuring but sterile nostalgia. Chapelier Fou, on the other hand, has released his most ambitious project and tried to take a higher view of his discography that was itself nevertheless irreproachable. Although the journey is over we can see Parallèles universes on the horizon. Chapelier Fou has announced 12 additional tracks which are like echoes of the compositions on Méridiens' and will be released on the album Parallèles next spring. They are neither twins nor opposites – they are instead totally original new compositions which go further in exploring a universe which is already richly abundant.

Digging deep into the catalog of Cramps records, Dialogo returns with another stunning entry in their reissue series dedicated to the seminal imprint, the Croatian composer Martin Davorin Jagodić's 1975 masterstroke, "Tempo Furioso (Tolles Wetter)". A bristling work of monumental scale at the vanguard of electroacoustic composition and musique concrète, its stunning two sides, created by his sinfully under-recognized associate of Groupe de Recherches Musicales, reshapes history at every turn. Issued by Dialogo in a limited edition of 300 copies on black vinyl, with fully remastered audio, housed in a gatefold sleeve that beautifully reproduces the original design, and complete with brand new English translations of the original liner notes.

Prince Madonna. Techno not Techno. Electronic experiments from a non-binary-sound-nerd-artsy-pop-sphere. A concept putting the works of art into focus: Every release is first published vinyl only under the alias "Prince Madonna". A few weeks later, only with the digital release, the artist behind "Prince Madonna" will be announced.

As Madonna herself once told Prince: "It’s about the music, not the hype.“

On PM001, "Prince Madonna I." mixes smoke, sweat and ecstatic bodies and embeds this poisonous mixture with techno and groove. 'Nuff said, just tune in and find out who is behind "Prince Madonna I." with the digital release soon.

Blue Vinyl

After learning her craft at an after-hours club in her hometown of Santiago de Chile, a pivotal move to Milan at the end of 2015 proved to be the ticket that would propel Paula Tape into the European club circuit. Six years later Paula has made a name for herself as a purveyor of eclectic selections, stomping Italo beats, percussive balearic excursions and synth-heavy rarities, both through her international DJ sets and shows on Worldwide FM and Milan’s Radio Raheem.

With two EPs under her belt via Alzaya & SOBO, collaborations with Project Pablo, Tornado Wallace & Elias Mazian to boot, and standout singles on Permanent Vacation, Ransom Note Records and Rhythm Section International’s highly regarded 2020 ‘SHOUTS’ compilation, we welcome the announcement of a knockout four-tracker from the Chilean producer on the same Peckham-based label. In the last 12 months she’s taken the Mixmag Lab & Boiler Room by storm, and with a slew of international tour dates and forthcoming releases lined up, 2021 looks set to be Paula’s year.

“When I started working on the Astroturismo EP I didn't know the music I was writing was going to shape into an EP. Finalizing the first track "Body Nature" helped me a lot to orientate the correct use of all the music I have been producing during the lockdown months and Rhythm Section team was constantly supporting me to make me feel free to explore musically without needing to stick to club music. "Body Nature embodies strong energies, in a very personal way: I noted down those silly lyrics and kept singing the melody in my head for days, in the end, that drove me to create a groove that would work and transfer the mood I was feeling. This track is about feeling relief with dancing, whether in a private moment like I did in those days or in a public space, few easy moves to trigger positive energy and improve your emotional state.” ~ Paula

After learning her craft at an after-hours club in her hometown of Santiago de Chile, a pivotal move to Milan at the end of 2015 proved to be the ticket that would propel Paula Tape into the European club circuit. Six years later Paula has made a name for herself as a purveyor of eclectic selections, stomping Italo beats, percussive balearic excursions and synth-heavy rarities, both through her international DJ sets and shows on Worldwide FM and Milan’s Radio Raheem.

With two EPs under her belt via Alzaya & SOBO, collaborations with Project Pablo, Tornado Wallace & Elias Mazian to boot, and standout singles on Permanent Vacation, Ransom Note Records and Rhythm Section International’s highly regarded 2020 ‘SHOUTS’ compilation, we welcome the announcement of a knockout four-tracker from the Chilean producer on the same Peckham-based label. In the last 12 months she’s taken the Mixmag Lab & Boiler Room by storm, and with a slew of international tour dates and forthcoming releases lined up, 2021 looks set to be Paula’s year.

“When I started working on the Astroturismo EP I didn't know the music I was writing was going to shape into an EP. Finalizing the first track "Body Nature" helped me a lot to orientate the correct use of all the music I have been producing during the lockdown months and Rhythm Section team was constantly supporting me to make me feel free to explore musically without needing to stick to club music. "Body Nature embodies strong energies, in a very personal way: I noted down those silly lyrics and kept singing the melody in my head for days, in the end, that drove me to create a groove that would work and transfer the mood I was feeling. This track is about feeling relief with dancing, whether in a private moment like I did in those days or in a public space, few easy moves to trigger positive energy and improve your emotional state.” ~ Paula

The second selection from Toko's 2021 collection again sees label mainstay Si Brad man the controls on the sublime and soulful 'Avenue 6 (Is This Real Life?)'.
Incorporating the crisp rhythms, heavyweight subs & swelling pads which are such a Toko trademark, Brad brings the bliss to this sensual house heater, enlisting Azeem's emotive vocal tones for an extra helping of soul.

The label enlist hometown hero Crooked Man for the B side business here, and the Techno hero obliges with a pair of ferocious speaker tweaking reshapes.

Dark and cavernous, the 'Real Crooked' mix combines wall shaking bass, jacking drums and bloodless riffs into a smoke and strobe stomper, repurposing Azeem's vocal as a haunting refrain.
The dance floor paranoia continues on the 'Crooked Girl, Crooked Boy' mix, a sparse and dissociative take on the original equipped with demented dub FX and some serious bass weight.

An anthem in its original form, and a main room monster on the remix tip. Toko are back.

All Detroit Techno, taken from the album DnA

After a monster year for Vince Watson, with releases on Get Physical, Tronic, SushiTech, All Day I Dream alongside his own Everysoul Audio and a host of remixes, he now ends 2021 brining his label’s biggest and most adventurous release to date: ‘DnA reSequenced’.

After the massive response to his 18 track ‘DnA’ album in 2019, Vince had a vision of having some of the tracks remixed by his favourite Detroit ‘flavoured’ artists from the 3 places that musically have made it all possible for him: Scotland, Amsterdam, Detroit.

So it is with great pleasure that Everysoul can announce remixes by none other than Carl Craig, Claude Young, John Beltran, Jon Dixon, Shawn Rudiman, Stephen Lopkin, Steve Rachmad and Stephen Brown.

Planet E boss Carl Craig is no stranger to Vince’s work, having released 4 of his singles on Planet E and previously remixing his track ‘It’s Not Over’. His remix of ‘Holographic’ takes the heavy synth lines into typical C2 remix territory, building and building with layers into a crescendo.

Jon Dixon may be one of Detroit’s rising stars as a solo artist, but as a band member of Underground Resistance and Timeline, he plays with some of the best Detroit Techno groups around: Galaxy2Galaxy and is a classically trained pianist. Jon’s releases over the last few years now showcase his personal styles and Vince was desperate to work with him, with a keen respect for his musicianship. His Remix of

John Beltran has been one of Vince’s favourite producers for over 25 years and his Pan Am remix is a journey of blissful Beltran fusion styles.

Claude Young takes his remix into a completely new and different direction, moving from the Electro of the original into an experimental masterpiece, respecting the tricky chord programming of the original and adapting into sounds that only Claude Young is able to extract.

Steve Rachmad is one of Vince’s closest allies in Amsterdam and having worked together on many projects over the years, Steve was the first name on the list. His 4/4 edition of Second Wave takes the deep Detroit chords and harmonies into a much darker and groovier direction, with early Transmat character and the funk that Steve Rachmad is known for.

Shawn Rudiman’s remix is a no nonsense straight to the floor banger, taking all the elements of the original into a much more streamlined and live improv version for the floor rather than the head.

Stephen Lopkin is one of Vince’s favourite Scottish producers and his remix takes the original into his own unique style and identity. The original had very unique chord progressions and timing and Lopkin was able to successfully extend this to make it even more complex but with a seamless flow that keeps the groove flowing.

Stephen Brown is also a top Scottish producer who Vince has been supporting and spinning for over 20 years, and his remix of Immersion removes the fluffy jazzy elements from the original and opts directly for the dancefloor, taking Immersion into new territory.

DnA

WAR’s head-nodding mix of music and message started a revolution 50 years ago that continues to win over the hearts and hips of fans around the world. “Greatest Hits 2.0” will be available 29th October and is a new, career-spanning collection that expands on WAR’s platinum-certified 1976 greatest hits album, featuring the legendary songs “Spill The Wine,” “Low Rider,” “Galaxy,” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”

WAR’s “Greatest Hits 2.0” 2LP contains 20 tracks, 2CD contains 24 tracks recorded between 1970 and 1994, including the gold-certified singles “Slipping Into Darkness,” “The World Is A Ghetto,” “The Cisco Kid,” and “Summer.” Another gold single, “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” stayed on the charts for 31 weeks and became the soundtrack to the US-Soviet space mission where astronauts and cosmonauts linked up in the spirit of friendship. In the modern era, it has been streamed more than 100 million times. Also included is the #1 R&B smash “Low Rider,” which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.

In the collection’s liner notes, Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano says GREATEST HITS 2.0 does more than capture WAR at its creative and commercial peaks. He writes: “All the big hits are here, of course, in chronological order from the Eric Burdon days up through cuts from 1982’s underrated Outlaw…But what I love about this collection is that it’s a symphonic suite for a perfect Southern California Sunday afternoon, the kind the rest of the world wants to experience but can only dream about. You can envision it by playing these albums from start to finish.”

One of Detroit’s finest exports is legendary house and techno pioneer, Gari Romalis, and as we enter what could potentially be a summer of love he creates an outstanding four track EP, “Black Traxx Matter”, spreading a message which scratches way below the surface, using music as a tool to share. The body of work spans across distinctive and slinky deep house energy, oozing class and emotion, notably what we have all come to love and adore in Romalis’ back catalogue. Music from the soul, for the soul, coming soon on Italian label, Nicepeople.

Opener “Black 2 Da Future” rides an effortlessly cool groove, brushing by in the summer breeze, paying homage to brighter days. Next up is “Black Diamondz (Africa Mix) consisting of a tight and punchy drum arrangement, and warm and infectious sub bass. Welcoming you with open arms.

“Black Luv” is lighter on its feet than the previous tracks, a definite housey spring in its step, all of the elements conversing in sweet harmony. A cruise down nostalgia lane. “Purpose Reprise (Motivate Mix)” closes this wonderful EP, six and a half minutes of pure bliss which shifts into a pure and powerful moment when a spoken word sample enters the room, as the soft keys work their way around the message.

A masterpiece body of work from one of the most esteemed artists in the game. The Nicepeople label keep continuing to propel high quality sounds from new and established artists, with a healthy schedule already pencilled in for 2021.

Paz en La Tierra is a result of a search by the Meridian Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna of the heart of something that can be called a 'power format' of Colombian Caribbean music; Accordion , Guacharaca, Caja, Congas, Electric bass, and vocals.

Departing from this idea, and casually working with the music of a documentary on the famous singer Diomedes Diaz, Iván Medellín (accordionist of Conjunto media luna), and Eblis Álvarez from the Meridian Brothers, embarked on a new work building a sound exclusively on the traditional format, searching for several spaces between the lines in the universe of accordion in Colombian music.

The duo departed from the basic: the line of vallenato, the most famous in the country but not the only one, the line of sabanero music more of the lands of Sucre and Córdoba inclined towards cumbia, bullerengue, son vallenato among other airs fed the group's ideas. The Barranquilla center deserves a separate mention, due to its cosmopolitan approach, using all kinds of influences, from the Caribbean islands to ancient rhythms or even modern rock and funk, also used as an inspiration for this record.

In the process, new ways of melody appeared and new ways of expression emerged. Although the rhythms used in the record are rooted in the traditional, the duo glitched those rhythms turning them into new directions in the style, using exclusively the past references to transmute the sound into something that looks inside a parallel future.

Using several theatrical situations, alterations in musical structures, and slight deformations of the traditional harmony (a tonal center and its dominant) the result of "Paz en la Tierra" is enigmatic and charming, and at the same time directed towards the dance floor keeping the past alive and flourishing the essence of the tradition.

Malamanya burst onto the recording scene with their self-titled debut in 2017, a bonafide tribute to the traditional sounds of Afro-Latin music in Cuba and the Caribbean, and perhaps more notably, that tradition's evolution into New York City's quintessential '70s street sound,la salsa. At first glance, you might wonder how this 9-piece orchestra out of Minneapolis of all places would manage to tap into such a sound, but the group's pedigree and vintage recording chops tell the real story. Tracked and mixed inpuroanalog at bass player and engineer Tony Schreiner's Brown Bag Studios, and featuring a multi-national mix of players from around the world, the group's first two original compositions make for an impressive debut on Names You Can Trust. Led by the fiery female voice of Cuban immigrant Zusel Balbìn, "La Tormenta" is one of the finest examples of modern-daysalsa durato come out in recent years. The recipe here includes huge orchestration complete with dual trombones and a rhythm section entirely in step with the group's impressive following ofsalseros —and the flavor is nothing butauthentico. The B-Side "Frio" features the group's complimentary lead male voice incantadorandcongueroLuis Ortego Castrellon. It's a double shot of peak dance floor design, and a prime example of the group's growing international appeal, wherever the taste for the sauce is desired.

New York United is an experimental group at the musical intersection of a classic New York avant-garde scene and forward-looking electronic production. Comprised of multi-instrumentalist and 577-cofounder Daniel Carter (Saxophone, Flute,Trumpet, Clarinet), electronic producer Tobias Wilner from Blue Foundation (Synthesizers, Percussion, Vocals, Piano, Guitar), Wu-Tang Clan bass playerDjibrilToure and 577’s Federico Ughi (Drums), their sound reflects their decades of collaboration. This second volume follows their celebrated debut, the eponymous New York United (2019), and matches its characteristically dreamlike effect, while maintaining a steady, rhythmic momentum. Like the first volume, this album was initially recorded in an improvised studio performance, and manipulated by Wilner in post-recording production, lending a uniquely ambient, electronic effect to otherwise spontaneous composition between musicians. Inescapably connected to its namesake city, the project is a testament to the transformative energy that sustains New York, dissolving individual boundaries into a collective sense of itself

A trio of tunes from Diahgonal’s brilliant debut LP “Spiral” gets remixed by label mates for this Special 12”. We’ve packed a sonic spectrum into this release: a tech-house shaker from Adriano Mirabile,
autonomic goodness from Driftsystem, ambient soundscape from Louis Haiman, abstract IDM chillage from Maps Of Hyperspace, and tribal techno tones from Robert Roos.

You have to know how to move away from the rich, strong and noisy streets, if you want to discover another Havana. A Havana far from the tourist circuits and preconceived images. A Havana where one discovers bucolic, but hard and stripped too after slow journeys in the crowded buses, a Havana with which Al Quetz maintains a passionate history since more than fourteen years.
Installed in one of those neighborhoods that can only be reached by going deeper into the alleys, from the open window of the studio comes the sound of banging drums and thumping bass. The sound reaches the streets on which the day rises.
The place wakes up in a growing tumult, with some rare engines coughing, conversations under the windows, songs of the street vendors , an urban ballet sets up as the sun darts its rays.
Far from the musical clichés with percussions and horns, Cuba is an island bombarded with influences that one discovers.
An island which vibrated for the jazz, the soul, the psychedelic rock , from the waves coming from the Caribbean to those of the bulky neighboring ogre.
A musical flowering as varied as abundant that the glorious post-revolutionary label Areito has on thousands of recordings,
and that Al Quetz has designated as the sole source of his samples to compose Habanologia.
From the ambiences that punctuate the local daily life caught by his samplers, he let the melancholy infiltrate his hip hop beats, the nostalgia melting in the depths of his grooves. Nostalgia in the Cuban air, even during moments of intense laughter, which never totally disappears.
Habanologia restores these moments when the song of the birds has extinguished those of the cars. Where, sitting on a doorstep, we comment on the life of the neighborhood, we watch the women's swaying at eye level. The whole day if necessary, the coffee at one peso, after a certain hour, which leaves its place to the Planchao rum. Wandering through its streets where a chance encounter can itself bring others and lead to the essence of the habanera life. From Regla, after a short trip on the bus-boat that crosses the bay, savor the end of the day, observe the capital from afar, let the nocturnal insects ensure some arrangements and drift towards mysterious horizons, bringing to the contemplation of the place and the moment.
A flute, a keyboard, percussions or a voice. Al Quetz also invited his friends from the island or elsewhere to decorate his productions with their live touch. To share with him this Havana for which he covered his tracks, mixed times and distorted space-time to make it timeless.
To write with Habanalogia, a declaration of love to the Cuban capital, to make Havana, His Havana.

On 18th April, 1980, after decades of anti colonial struggle, the Zimbabweian flag was finally raised at midnight at the Rufaro Stadium in Harare. Not long after, the words "Ladies and Gentlemen, Bob Marley and The Wailers!" rang out, and Zimbabwe's independent future began.

In the years that followed, Africa was to produce it's own reggae superstars, as the likes of Alpha Blondy, Majek Fashek and Lucky Dube swept across the continent and beyond, and there's no doubting Bob Marley's explosive impact on this particular narrative.

Marley's unswerving commitment to liberation and unity ranged from the sweeping spiritual sentiments of iconic hits such One Love and Redemption Song to the galvanising, focused tone of 1979's 'Zimbabwe', and his status as global superstar ensured that his (self funded) part in the countries' epochal celebrations meant that the history of reggae in Africa would always be viewed through the prism of his influence ( Wiki/African Reggae : "In 1980, world-famous Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley performed in Harare, Zimbabwe, and that concert is often credited as marking the beginning of reggae in Africa")

But in fact, the recorded history of reggae produced in Africa stretches back over a decade before Marley's arrival on the continent, and showcases broad pan - diasporic interflows between the Carribean and Africa, with the UK and the US communities playing influential supporting roles, all helping shape the evolution and development of the genre in Africa from late 60's inception to Marley's arrival in 1980, and then well beyond.

Reggae Africa : Roots and Culture, 1972 - 1981 tries to capture a sense of that evolution, starting in 1972 as Mebussa's ultra rare 'Good Bye Friends' effortlessly captures triangular, transatlantic cultural interflows, with the short lived Nigerian group's bitter sweet chords echoing classic US soul, but laid over a gritty, skanking Jimmy Cliff - esque proto reggae rhythm.

Trying to work out the precise provenance of Black Reggae's 'Darling I'm So Proud of You' (1975) isn't easy, but involves Paris based / African focused label Fiesta, some proper OG co-branding exercise with Bols Brandy ( "Bols Brandy presents Black Reggae") - and deeply infectious, lilting Rocksteady.

By 1976, glorious Nigerian sister duo Lijadu Sisters are echoing the chunky roots of a Dennis Brown or U Roy on 'Bobby', and in 1977, bespoke Nigerian drummer Georges Happi is introing 'Hello Friends' with the soon to be universal signature reggae tom roll intro, before veering leftfield with snatches of spoken Afro - English vocal in between the hooky choruses.

Nigerian giant Chrissy Essien's 'I'll Be You Man' (1979) combines floaty Lovers vibes with catchy ska shuffle, and in the same year, Cameroonian afro-funk/disco heavyweight Pasteur Lappe' drifts seamlessly into skanking, Lovers infected reggae on 'Babbette D.O. ( Rastawoman )' (before a sprawling electric guitar solo reminds us how unselfconsiously eclectic so much African music of the era was.)

And finally bookending the compilation, in chronological terms, fellow Cameroonian Tala AM also swaps his funk and soul for the rootsy and infectious 'Hop Sy Trong' (1981), again highlighting the diverse and eclectic approach to this timeless Carribean musical genre taken by African musicians in the years before that Bob Marley year zero event in Zimbabwe.

Already iconic in London’s underground queer rave scene, Josh Caffe makes a characteristically upfront and disruptive arrival to Phantasy with his debut single for Erol Alkan’s label, ‘According to Jacqueline’. Produced in collaboration with Quinn of Paranoid London, for whom Caffe has previously provided vocals on club favourites such as ‘Vicious Games’ as well as for their rapturous live sets, ‘According to Jacqueline’ fully centres and cements Caffe’s personal vision of club culture as a raw and demanding force.

Loosely chronicling a hi-NRG pursuit across the club, ‘According to Jacqueline’ follows murmurs on the dancefloor concerning one such individual, a “freaky butch queen on the scene, dancing round like a machine.” Outrageous, confrontational and disappearing further into a space between ecstasy and submission, Caffe’s attitude and sound spans Chicago house, vogue culture and the resurgent spirit of his home city’s current LGBTQI+ landscape.

A complimentary dub provides dancers the opportunity to luxuriate in the sensuality of Caffe’s advances, but no matter what side the needle lands on, Jacqueline’s wicked tongue persists in cheek.

Briti$h is a UK-based artist carving out his own niche using a unique blend of original sounds. Growing up in Ipswich, Briti$h’s relationship with hip hop was strengthened when he moved to Florida, where he lived for 10 years. He became immersed in the music of famed Southern ambassadors such as UGK, Outkast, Scarface and Rick Ross, which went on to subliminally inform his music.

Back in Ipswich, a town that has long been a hotbed of Hip-Hop talent, Briti$h stepped right into the scene and never looked back. His style is impossible to pin down in any one area of Hip-Hop, instead offering a smorgasbord of styles with its roots laid down across the spectrum, from boom bap to trap, but always with a heavy focus on lyrics.

Briti$h’s debut EP, ‘Stuck in a Bunker’, was released in 2018. It delivered a solid introduction to his music, and enjoyed a warm reception from both his fans and peers. The EP was produced by label mate Bunker Beats, on Briti$h’s fledgling label DJGT Entertainment, and was all recorded at his Purple Loft Studios.

Briti$h was involved in a few notable collaborations with the likes of Emjam, Skribblez, El-Emcee, and Rye Shabby. He has also enjoyed airplay from BBC Introducing, the FATP Hip-Hop Show and Graffiti Kings Radio.

Livity Sound is proud to present a 12” of lean, refined club tracks from UK stalwart Beneath. The Mistry and No Symbols boss has spent the past 10 years exploring a sound which nods to the legacy of bleep techno, dubstep and UK funky while leaning forwards into its own distinctive space.

His stripped-back blend of crisp drums, sprightly hooks and sub bass are instantly identifiable, but across four new tracks Beneath displays the versatility within his reach. Stomping four to-the-floor rollers on the A side face-off with minimalist dub and weighty, synth-rich expressions on the flip that move beyond the demands of the dancefloor.

Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.

The infinitive is the basic dictionary form of a verb when used
non-finitely. It is also the form chosen by Danieli and Purl
for the tracks of WHS 03: return to the basics, simplicity, pure nature distilled into music.
Pulsate starts with an ethereal soundscape, created to then open to a deeper underwater exploration. There´s a universe down there and the listener will be guided to appreciate its beauty: lanternfish giving the tempo of this journey, marine life to marvel at. We take a step back to observe and fill our eyes and ears. We come back to the surface, finding peace and calm.
Opening in a slow, thoughtful and majestic way, Compensate is a
hymn to balance. Since the very beginning, the listener will notice a contrast between gloomy atmospheres and lighter sounds, resulting in a chasing sensation that´s uncomfortable, yet fascinating. Desire to explore, together with acceptance, surrender to the things we simply can´t understand as humans.
The listener is then invited to explore darker, faster, more pounding atmospheres. Intimidate anticipate it all in its title : sounds, tempos, images, they all chase each other to create an atmosphere that's daunting and fascinating at the same time.
A track to accompany one's journey, be it real or spiritual, a trip where we let things happen as they come, accepting the flow of life.
Resonate closes the B side drawing with sounds the depth of our
natural state. Close your eyes and transport yourself in lost woods, alone in a tent at sunset, when the day is almost over and ready to make room for the night. The wood is speaking, the animals are awake, it's frightening but incredibly beautiful.
Crickets are singing their songs, frogs are bouncing from one pond to another, water connects with air, resonate with earth and with the smallnes of man in the face of nature.

Mocambo Records is proud to present the official reissue of this uberrare piece of German psychedelic soul! Susan Avilés' epic 'Eine schöne Welt' from 1970 is one of the toughest 45s to get hold of. With its dope wah-drumbreak-intro, lush orchestration and powerful vocal performance, the tune has deservedly turned from an obscure sleeper into one of the most wanted European rare grooves. On the flip side is the orchestral folk soul 'Versuche zu versteh'n' - and uptempo number with breakbeat drumming hidden behind a wall of sound that has become an obscure b-boy favourite.

The record comes in a picture sleeve with original photos from the era - a picture showing the singer holding a copy of her own single and a shot for an autograph card to support the original release.

All audio and photography licensed from the family estate of Susan Avilés. The original recordings have been carefully remastered for this limited vinyl run by Michael Schütz.

Marco Shuttle's third album, Cobalt Desert Oasis, features a varied collection of music recorded across a two year period. Often traveling to remote destinations, Marco would come back to Berlin with field recordings, images, and other inspirations to process in his studio and turn into sound.

The theme of the journey turns into a something more abstract than a travel diary, where environmental sounds blend in with modular synthesis, drum machines, effects and analog oscillators resulting in a cinematic listening experience where psychedelia, ritualism, and mysticism weave together in a sort of alien soundscape - that as the title of the album suggests, is reminiscent of a parallel utopian world.

The album is rich in complex rhythmics, and more than in any of his previous work, has strong acoustic elements. Amongst other percussion instruments, Marco used the Tombak, a traditional Persian hand drum capable of reaching a very wide range of frequencies - from deep round subby toms, to high pitched sharp rimshots, throughout the record.

Marco Shuttle is certainly not new to these sort of elements, but in Cobalt Desert Oasis he brings the environmental element of his sound into the forefront in a way that takes the listener into a hazy expanse where it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the machine elements from the natural - and where the music almost becomes a visual experience, which relates to Marco's own photography used throughout the cover and insert images.

Empty surrounds all of me. It’s a poignant line from the third album by Blackwater Holylight that encapsulates the search for self when suddenly everything has changed. There’s a theme of processing vast personal trauma throughout Silence/Motion that eloquently — both lyrically and musically — and simultaneously embodies the crushing emptiness, sorrow, strength and rebuilding of recovering from personal devastation.

“There was so much grief both in the world and interpersonally during the process of creating Silence/Motion,” says vocalist/bassist Allison “Sunny” Faris. “The four of us gave one another more space to be ourselves, to experiment with each other’s ideas and to be gentle with one another more than we ever have before. So, we knew this tenderness would manifest in extremely honest arrangements, and I think that you can hear that throughout the record.”

Curiously, considering the dark times in which it was created, this is the band’s most melodic and catchy music so far. Blackwater Holylight, as the name suggests, is all about contrasts: It’s a fluid convergence of sound that’s heavy, psychedelic, melodic, terrifying and beautiful all at once. And, Silence/Motion finds the band honing those contrasts, letting ideas and moods fully develop from song to song, rather than filling every song with a full range of their capabilities. It allows the band to go fully prog-rock here, and simply stay hushed and intimate there. There’s a new confidence to the band in how seamlessly they wield their stylistic amalgam.

“Writing this album was extraordinarily difficult emotionally, however it did come to fruition fairly quickly,” Faris says. “In the past, the theme of vulnerability has always been a big player and it definitely showed up full force while writing this album.”

Blackwater Holylight recorded the album as a four piece: Faris on vocals and guitar (on “Silence/Motion”, “MDIII”, “Around You” and “Every Corner”) and bass for the remainder, Sarah McKenna on synths, Mikayla Mayhew on guitar (and bass when Faris plays guitar) and drummer Eliese Dorsay. New second guitarist Erika Osterhout will perform the songs with them live. For Silence/Motion the band chose to work with a producer for the first time, bringing in A.L.N. (of Mizmor, Hell) to produce, along with recording engineer Dylan White — who also helmed their previous album Veils of Winter (2019) — at Odessa Recording Studio in Portland, OR. Guest vocals on album opener “Delusional” are by Bryan Funck (Thou.) Mike Paparo (Inter Arma) and A.LN. (Mizmor, Hell) lend guest vocals to album closer “Every Corner.”

Silence/Motion opens softly with interwoven folky single note guitars over an ominous sounding drone for the first minute, akin to moments from Pink Floyd’s Echoes. Suddenly an irresistibly head-nodding, groovy droptuned riff kicks in with the drums and it’s a full on blackened rocker with soaring synths and Funck’s witchy whispers over the top. “Who The Hell,” the track quoted above, takes proceedings into a Krautrock direction, centered around McKenna’s arpeggiated synth loop and Dorsay’s tom-tom triplets, while 16-note guitar strums add tension as Faris wearily sings, “So tell me who the hell would want to live this way — so afraid/ To feel this void, to dwell in it… I can’t describe this pain I wear/ It suffocates and you left it here.” It’s an incredibly powerful 6 minutes. The title track delivers the 1-2-3 punch of the album’s brilliant opening trilogy. It starts with lightly plucked acoustic guitar, plaintive piano chords and Faris’ voice gliding so softly it sounds more like a Mellotron. The song builds slowly toward crescendo, led by a swinging tom pattern, that abruptly switches back to a heavier version of the opening melody.“Silence/Motion” is about digesting and healing from sexual assault. As Faris explains, “It is an ode to the juxtaposition of feeling paralyzingly blank and and like your entire life is moving through you simultaneously.” Elsewhere, Black Metal guitars collide with dreamlike melodies. “Around You” brandishes a hopeful, hummable synth melody and shimmering shoegaze guitars like throwing down a gauntlet. In the end, it becomes undeniably clear just how completely into their own Blackwater Holylight has come.

“The analogy is that with our first record (Blackwater Holylight, 2018) we were getting into to the car and buckling up,” Faris says. “The second (Veils of Winter, 2019) we were turning the car on, and with this third we have kicked into drive toward our destination. Our destination is a bit mysterious and has the ability to change from day to day, but we’re on our way.”

Empty surrounds all of me. It’s a poignant line from the third album by Blackwater Holylight that encapsulates the search for self when suddenly everything has changed. There’s a theme of processing vast personal trauma throughout Silence/Motion that eloquently — both lyrically and musically — and simultaneously embodies the crushing emptiness, sorrow, strength and rebuilding of recovering from personal devastation.

“There was so much grief both in the world and interpersonally during the process of creating Silence/Motion,” says vocalist/bassist Allison “Sunny” Faris. “The four of us gave one another more space to be ourselves, to experiment with each other’s ideas and to be gentle with one another more than we ever have before. So, we knew this tenderness would manifest in extremely honest arrangements, and I think that you can hear that throughout the record.”

Curiously, considering the dark times in which it was created, this is the band’s most melodic and catchy music so far. Blackwater Holylight, as the name suggests, is all about contrasts: It’s a fluid convergence of sound that’s heavy, psychedelic, melodic, terrifying and beautiful all at once. And, Silence/Motion finds the band honing those contrasts, letting ideas and moods fully develop from song to song, rather than filling every song with a full range of their capabilities. It allows the band to go fully prog-rock here, and simply stay hushed and intimate there. There’s a new confidence to the band in how seamlessly they wield their stylistic amalgam.

“Writing this album was extraordinarily difficult emotionally, however it did come to fruition fairly quickly,” Faris says. “In the past, the theme of vulnerability has always been a big player and it definitely showed up full force while writing this album.”

Blackwater Holylight recorded the album as a four piece: Faris on vocals and guitar (on “Silence/Motion”, “MDIII”, “Around You” and “Every Corner”) and bass for the remainder, Sarah McKenna on synths, Mikayla Mayhew on guitar (and bass when Faris plays guitar) and drummer Eliese Dorsay. New second guitarist Erika Osterhout will perform the songs with them live. For Silence/Motion the band chose to work with a producer for the first time, bringing in A.L.N. (of Mizmor, Hell) to produce, along with recording engineer Dylan White — who also helmed their previous album Veils of Winter (2019) — at Odessa Recording Studio in Portland, OR. Guest vocals on album opener “Delusional” are by Bryan Funck (Thou.) Mike Paparo (Inter Arma) and A.LN. (Mizmor, Hell) lend guest vocals to album closer “Every Corner.”

Silence/Motion opens softly with interwoven folky single note guitars over an ominous sounding drone for the first minute, akin to moments from Pink Floyd’s Echoes. Suddenly an irresistibly head-nodding, groovy droptuned riff kicks in with the drums and it’s a full on blackened rocker with soaring synths and Funck’s witchy whispers over the top. “Who The Hell,” the track quoted above, takes proceedings into a Krautrock direction, centered around McKenna’s arpeggiated synth loop and Dorsay’s tom-tom triplets, while 16-note guitar strums add tension as Faris wearily sings, “So tell me who the hell would want to live this way — so afraid/ To feel this void, to dwell in it… I can’t describe this pain I wear/ It suffocates and you left it here.” It’s an incredibly powerful 6 minutes. The title track delivers the 1-2-3 punch of the album’s brilliant opening trilogy. It starts with lightly plucked acoustic guitar, plaintive piano chords and Faris’ voice gliding so softly it sounds more like a Mellotron. The song builds slowly toward crescendo, led by a swinging tom pattern, that abruptly switches back to a heavier version of the opening melody.“Silence/Motion” is about digesting and healing from sexual assault. As Faris explains, “It is an ode to the juxtaposition of feeling paralyzingly blank and and like your entire life is moving through you simultaneously.” Elsewhere, Black Metal guitars collide with dreamlike melodies. “Around You” brandishes a hopeful, hummable synth melody and shimmering shoegaze guitars like throwing down a gauntlet. In the end, it becomes undeniably clear just how completely into their own Blackwater Holylight has come.

“The analogy is that with our first record (Blackwater Holylight, 2018) we were getting into to the car and buckling up,” Faris says. “The second (Veils of Winter, 2019) we were turning the car on, and with this third we have kicked into drive toward our destination. Our destination is a bit mysterious and has the ability to change from day to day, but we’re on our way.”