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The Fearless Flyers V markiert die Rückkehr von Cory Wong, Mark Lettieri, Joe Dart und Nate Smith mit einer dichten Mischung aus instrumentellem Funk, der sowohl energiegeladen als auch raffiniert ist. Auf acht Tracks und rund dreißig Minuten liefert das Album präzise, strahlende Grooves, die den Wurzeln der Band treu bleiben und gleichzeitig neue Farben hinzufügen: Disco-Einflüsse in „Exotic“, ein Hauch von Blues und Soul in „SKOM“, eine fast rockige Progression in „Autobahn“ und eher kontemplative Stimmungen in „Ventura“ und „Anaheim“, wobei letzteres das Album mit strahlender Sanftheit abschließt. Die knackige, sorgfältig ausgearbeitete Produktion unterstreicht die zurückhaltende Virtuosität der Musiker und ihre subtile Balance zwischen rhythmischer Präzision und kreativer Freiheit. Weder eine Wiederholung noch ein Bruch, bekräftigt dieses fünfte Kapitel die Reife der Flyers und ihre Fähigkeit, ihr Universum zu erweitern, ohne ihre Identität zu verlieren. Das Ergebnis ist ein kurzes, aber intensives Album, das sowohl Funk-Puristen als auch Liebhaber instrumentaler Abenteuer ansprechen wird.

Status Quo has endured for over 50 years and is known for worldwide hits and tours to millions of fans across the globe. This 12" blue etched single collects together some of the band's rare tracks from the late 1990s and early 2000s, in support of the 14 track CD compilation of the same name. Until now, many of these tracks have only been available on CD singles or editions of albums only available in one country. This mastered for vinyl 12" single is supported by the band and has been overseen by the recordings' original producer, Mike Paxman. Limited Edition Of 1000 Copies.

Adam Greens Musik ist so untrennbar mit dem Wesen New Yorks verbunden wie das Rumpeln der U-Bahn, der Schmutz der Lower East Side oder der barocke Glanz der Midtown-Blocks, in denen einst die Geisterjäger ihre Runden drehten. Seine Songs spiegeln die Stadt in ihrer zeitlosen Mischung aus Chaos, Energie und Sehnsucht wider. Sie durchdringen die dunklen Geschichten Manhattans ebenso wie die von Gentrifizierung gereinigten Straßen und fangen die widersprüchliche Erfahrung des Großstadtlebens ein - die Gleichzeitigkeit von Nähe und Einsamkeit, Abenteuer und Entfremdung, Gesellschaft und Isolation. Sein 2005 erschienenes Soloalbum Gemstones ist tief in dieser Welt verwurzelt - eine musikalische Antwort auf Bright Lights, Big City. Die rockabilly-getriebenen Rhythmen rütteln wie die L-Train, die Melodien wehen wie ein Windstoß zwischen den Häuserschluchten. Doch auch wer New York nie betreten hat, findet in diesen Stücken den universellen Nerv des Alleinseins inmitten der Menge. Getragen von Greens markanter Baritonstimme entfaltet sich Gemstones als bunte Klangreise: vom drehenden, von einer Wurlitzer angetriebenen Titelsong über das orgelnde Over The Sunrise und das unwiderstehliche Rock"n"Roll-Stück Emily bis hin zur bittersüßen Ballade Losing On A Tuesday. Fantasievolle Bilder, surreale Sprachspiele und charmante Melodien schaffen eine Welt. Doch unter all dem Witz und der Verspieltheit schlägt ein echtes, warmes Herz voller Gefühl. Gemstones ist zugleich berauschend und tröstlich - ein Album, das Leichtigkeit mit Tiefgang verbindet. Nach seiner Veröffentlichung machte es Adam Green vor allem in Deutschland zum Star: Das Publikum erkannte in diesem modernen "Two Cent Opera" die Schönheit kleiner Geschichten und großer Melodien. Zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum erscheint Gemstones nun neu auf Vinyl - ein perfekter Anlass, diesen musikalischen Edelstein erneut funkeln zu lassen.

MJ Lenderman is a songwriter born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. The anatomy of an MJ record might go something like this: warped pedal steels and skuzzed out guitar; a voice reminiscent of the high-lonesome warble of a choirboy; the keen observations and reflections of a front stoop philosopher. Songs snake their way from a lo-fi home recording to something glossier made with longtime friends at Asheville's Drop of Sun studios, but the recording setting
doesn't seem to matter much - at its core, a Lenderman song rings true.

MJ Lenderman was recorded, mixed and mastered for digital in 2019 by Colin Miller in Asheville NC, and was self-released online to quiet but firm acclaim. Now available as a Double LP and remastered for vinyl by Heather Jones, it offers a glimpse into the formative steps of a style; focused and precise, yet expansive and rough around the edges, that remains consistent across MJ's catalogue to date.

Looking as firmly to the legacy of 90s slowcore as it does to the tenor of Magnolia Electric Co. and sound wall of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, these 9 songs clock in at just over an hour and offer warm, patient worlds of heavy colour that blow by breezily. These are songs that wrap mysterious and urgent feeling in layers of patience and clarity that unfold anew with each timeless listen.

Psychic 9-5 Club marks the beginning of a new chapter for HTRK. It's an album that looks back on a time of sadness and struggle, and within that struggle they find hope and humour and love. It's Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang's first album recorded entirely as a duo— former band member Sean Stewart died halfway through the recording of their last LP, 2011's Work (Work, Work).
Though the record is instantly recognisable as HTRK—Standish's vocal delivery remains central to the band's sound, while the productions are typically lean and dubby—they've found ample room for exploration within this framework. Gone are the reverb-soaked guitar explorations of 2009's Marry Me Tonight and the fuzzy growls that ran through Work (Work Work). They've been replaced with something tender, velvety and polished. This is HTRK, but the flesh has been stripped from their sound, throwing the focus on naked arrangements and minimalist sound design.
The album was recorded at Blazer Sound Studios in New Mexico with Excepter's Nathan Corbin, who had previously directed the video clip for Work (Work Work) cut "Bendin." Inviting a third party into their world was no easy decision, but in Corbin they found a kindred spirit. The LP was then refined and reworked in Australia at the turn of 2013, before the finishing touches were applied in New York during the summer.
Of all the themes that run through Psychic 9-5 Club, love is the most central. The word is laced throughout the album in lyrics and titles— love as a distraction, loving yourself, loving others. Standish's lyrics explore the complexities of sexuality and the body's reaction to personal loss, though there's room for wry humour—a constant through much of the best experimental Australian music of the past few decades.
Standish explores her vocal range fully—her husky spoken-word drawl remains, but we also hear her laugh and sing. Equally, Yang's exploratory production techniques—particularly his well-documented love of dub—are given room to shine. They dip headlong into some of the things that make humans tick—love, loss and desire—with the kind of integrity that has marked the band out from day one. Psychic 9-5 Club is truly an album for the body and for the soul.

Philadelphia-based artist Eugene Chong drops his debut EP on House Puff with SpontaneousSynchronization EP. Marking his first official release, this four-track Deep HouseEP delivers punchy drums, groovy basslines, and lush synths, striking a balance betweenclassic and forward-thinking sounds. It’s a natural fit for House Puff’s ever-evolvingcatalog. This record is built for late summer nights, smoky rooms, and dancefloorsthat never sleep.

UK producer Tom Carruthers returns with a scorching 5-tracker for Skylax Records, diving headfirst into the primal roots of jackin’ house, proto-italo, and early machine funk. Known for his raw MPC-driven grooves on L.I.E.S., Clone Jack For Daze, Syncrophone, and Craigie Knowes, Carruthers channels the energy of the underground circa ’86—pure drum machine soul for the dancefloor faithful. Side A kicks off with the title track “Neutralise”, all sharp snares, warped synths and hypnotic repetition—a jack track in the truest sense. “Deep North” follows with ghostly pads and relentless drum programming, while “No More” brings metallic tension and stripped-down funk with a heavy nod to Chicago’s original blueprints. On the flip, “Pascals” weaves cosmic arps through rugged percussion, merging italo sensuality with bleep-era minimalism. The closer, “Cosmic Ride”, is exactly that: a journey through spacey chords, dusty rhythm boxes, and that unmistakable feeling of warehouse euphoria at 4 a.m. Neutralise EP is a raw, timeless record that strips dance music down to its essence—jacking, emotional, physical. To match the sonic purity and timeless aesthetic of the release, we enlisted the iconic H5 studio—a name synonymous with visionary design in music and culture. Known for their groundbreaking work with Daft Punk, YSL, and numerous award-winning visual campaigns, H5 brings a level of artistic sophistication that elevates this EP into a complete sensory object. Their clean, modernist design echoes the stripped yet futuristic vibe of Tom Carruthers’ sound—a perfect fusion of form and function, underground and high art. Vinyl only. No digital. No compromise. For fans of: Virgo Four, Baby Ford, Larry Heard, early Warp, Mr. Fingers, and Beppe Loda.

The album Fuyu Kukan, featuring the track “Midnight Pretenders” recently brought back into the spotlight after being sampled by The Weeknd is set to be
repressed on clear blue vinyl!
Produced by Masatoshi Nishimura of FENCE OF DEFENSE, this innovative album blends elements of new wave and rock with mellow tunes and experimental
sounds.
Originally released in 1983, it has gained renewed popularity in recent years thanks to the global city pop revival.
Tracks like the mellow “I’m In Love” and “Midnight Pretenders”, as well as the cosmic sounding “Hannya”, have captivated a new generation of listeners both in
Japan and abroad.

Schema Records proudly presents PRELUDE, Stefano “S-Tone Inc.” Tirone’s tenth album in his 30-year career. It is available from October 10th, 2025, in the usual digital/streaming formats, as well as LP (10 tracks) and CD (15 tracks); the latter contains, in addition to the tracks on the vinyl, the singles already released on 7” (“In the Sand”, “Tudo Pra Ela”) and remixes of “Pressure”, “Vento Doce” and “Longe De Voce”.

Various different styles harmoniously coexist in “Prelude”: the soul, funk, disco and house tracks embellished by Julia St. Louis’s black voice and Laura Fedele’s jazz-blues timbre alternate with Latin and Brazilian atmospheres in the tracks that host the precious collaboration with Toco, up to a stunning reinterpretation of Santana’s “Guajira” performed by Manuela Ravaglioli, a long-time S-Tone Inc.’s guest vocalist, and German Leguizamon, an Argentine artist with a brilliant career in the 90s dance music.

The title “Prelude” is a double homage: to the legendary homonymous American record label that defined the New York disco sound between 70s and 80s, and to Eumir Deodato’s masterpiece released on CTI in 1973, a sublime example of cross-genre fusion that has always been a source of inspiration for the refined and cosmopolitan blend of music styles that has made S-Tone Inc.’s sound unique and that is firmly reaffirmed in this new record.

Sampler & Soul - The Originals Behind the Hits (5LP) Diese exklusive Compilation versammelt die Originalsongs, die später in großen Pop-, Hip-Hop- und R&B-Hits gesampelt wurden. Von Betty Wright über Quincy Jones bis zur Lafayette Afro Rock Band - hier sind die musikalischen Wurzeln moderner Urban-Sounds zu hören. Die 5LP-Box bietet eine stilvolle Reise durch Jazz, Funk, Soul und Blues mit Klassikern von Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, B.B. King, Screamin" Jay Hawkins, Ray Charles, Etta James und vielen mehr.

First Word Records are proud to bring you 'Penny Ballads', a 5-track EP from Royce Wood Junior.

Royce Wood Junior is a Grammy & Mercury Award-nominated musician, songwriter and record producer from London, currently based in Brighton. As a multi-instrumentalist, he's collaborated with a litany of brilliant artists over the years, such as Jamie Woon, Nao, Disclosure, Jessie Ware, Olivia Dean, Joy Crookes, Jamie Lidell and Jordan Rakei, additionally to touring with the likes of the legendary Thomas Dolby. He's released two acclaimed solo albums to date ('The Ashen Tang' in 2015, and 'No Two Blue Ticks' in 2021).

'Penny Ballads' demonstrates RWJ's varied talents, with a collection of alternative soul compositions, each one as unique as the next. It includes the first two singles, the Poplife-Prince era flavoured 'Go Get Your Money', and the double-time future funk adrenaline shot, 'Clean Up', along with three previously-unreleased tracks. 'Beretta' is low-slung soul funk, beginning with quirky squelchy synths, before the soulful lead vocal of feature artist Lucey Way breezes in to melt everyone's hearts. 'Things' sweeps in next, an infectiously soulful midtempo heavy soul bop, with an instant earwork of a hook, like a modern-day Steely Dan / Doobie Brothers, complete with a head-nodding string section to end the track. The collection concludes on a more melancholy downtempo tip with 'Rolling'; an almost-folktronic anthem, with a key refrain that wouldn't be out of place on a 70's Stevie piece.

RWJ (aka Jim Wood) says of this project… "Back in the 17 and 1800's Troubadours and minstrels would go from Tavern to Tavern selling Penny Ballads, single sheets of music and lyrics written quickly and frivolously to make a quick buck.. It strikes me that we're in a similar phase in the way we value music in 2025. An old Penny Ballad was cheap and dog-eared, ink-smudged, sung aloud by firelight, Now songs live in the digital ether, dissolved in the air, a ghostly breath paid in micro cents. The new era of Penny Balladry is here, and weird.

This EP is a snapshot of my writing over a two year period. Focussed on minimal recording styles, one mic on the drums, generally first or second takes on parts and vocals, I wanted the music to feel like small moments with lyrics that talk about the weird nuances of being alive as a latter stage human on the cusp of the Ai revolution. Culturally so evolved, but physiologically still just a bunch of mammals walking about with primitive fears and needs. Just trying to reconcile it all moment to moment…"

Previous support for Royce's music has included Radio 1's Future Sounds, BBC 6 Music's New Music Fix, Annie Mac, Clara Amfo, Jo Whiley (BBC Radio 2), Mary Anne Hobbs, Jamz Supernova, Tom Robinson, Huw Stephens (BBC 6 Music), Zane Lowe and MistaJam. There have been sessions previously for the likes of Red Bull and press from Huck, Line of Best Fit, Clash, Aesthetica & DIY magazine.

Entirely self-written and self-produced, this EP gives a solid taste of RWJ's talents. A deeply funky diverse set of music from an immensely talented individual.

'Penny Ballads' is due to be released on vinyl & digital, 24th October 2025.

The vinyl version also includes an exclusive additional mix of the first single 'Go Get Your Money'.

Tremor erscheint zu einem Zeitpunkt, an dem Averys Arbeitspensum für Außenstehende kolossal erscheint. Als Produzent, DJ, Musiker und Remixer, der ständig mit anderen zusammenarbeitet, hat er kürzlich DRONE:NODRONE von The Cure neu interpretiert, wofür er allgemeine Anerkennung erhielt. Seine Arbeit als eines von drei Mitgliedern von Demise of Love (eine Gruppe, die gemeinsam mit Ghost Culture und Working Men’s Club gegründet wurde) liefert derzeit den Soundtrack für die verschwommenen, undurchsichtigen Ränder der Tanzflächen auf der ganzen Welt. Das Album ist Averys erste Veröffentlichung bei Domino.

Die Platte ist voller unerwarteter Kollaborationen, darunter: Yeule, Art School Girlfriend, Ryan von bdrmm, Yune Pinku, Cécile Believe, Walter Schreifels von Rival Schools, Julie von New Dad und Alison Mosshart. „Tremor” wurde teilweise von David Wrench und teilweise vom legendären Alan Moulder gemischt. Es ist ein Breitwand-Album, auf dem sich Daniel mehr denn je auf Instrumentierung stützt und diese Klänge mit seiner charakteristischen, dunklen, techno-ähnlichen Produktion ergänzt. Es gibt wunderschöne melodische Parts, große elektronische Hits, härtere Grunge-Parts und wunderschöne Ambient-Momente, die einen wieder zur Ruhe kommen lassen.

Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings brings together the complete studio recordings by the Bill Evans Trio featuring Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian. Included are the albums Portrait in Jazz and Explorations, plus 26 alternate takes - 17 previously unreleased. The collection includes rare photos, introduction by John Densmore (The Doors), and new liner notes by Eugene Holley Jr. and audio is newly remastered by Paul Blakemore, with lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.

Electro Glide in Blue is the successful second album by UK big beat collective Apollo 440.

The album attracted a lot of attention thanks to its blend of big beat, jungle and drum and bass.

With samples of Van Halen and Gene Krupa, the group showed the wide range of their influences.

This unique blend gave the band a major UK Top 10 hit with "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Dub".

Electro Glide In Blue is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl.

If people were unaware of the significance of Joan Baez to western culture, her portrayal in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (played by Monica Barbaro) underlines how central she was to the popularization of folk music in the early 1960s. And it is her decade- previous relationship with Dylan that hovers joyously over Diamonds & Rust. The title track is about a thinly disguised ex-lover who calls up out of the blue; it remains one of her most loved songs in a 65- year- career.

There's a playful cover of "Simple Twist Of Fate" from Dylan's then just released Blood On The Tracks, complete with impersonation in a later verse; and "Winds Of The Old Days", written in response to Dylan touring again after a lengthy hiatus. Diamonds & Rust is a perfect, sunshine- drenched album of west- coast folk- tinged rock, full of star session players. It could almost have been a signal to all the recent comers on her patch many of them friends and colleagues, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Maria Muldaur that Baez was here first and was sweetly reasserting her authority. Just listen to her mastery on "Children & All That Jazz", her cover of Stevie Wonder's "Never Thought You'd Leave In Summer" and the poignant closing medley of "I Dream Of Jeannie/Danny Boy".

Zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum ihres ikonischen Debütalbums Silent Alarm veröffentlichen Bloc Party drei limitierte Jubiläumsformate: eine 2LP auf weißem Vinyl mit dem original Album, eine 2CD Edition mit dem original Album und Bonus Discs, welche Demos, B-Sides und eine BBC Peel Session beinhalten. Außerdem ist ein 12-seitiges Booklet inkl. Lines Notes und einem Vorwort von Produzent Paul Epworth. Die Deluxe-Box umfasst alle oben erwähnte als 4LP Set. 2LP für das original Album und 2LP für die Bonustracks und Raritäten sowie Demos und Sessions. Wobei es hier ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit noch nie veröffentlichten Fotos der Band und exklusive Liner-Notes gibt. Ein Muss für Fans und Sammler gleichermaßen.
White Vinyl

Tomoyo Harada x Tore Johansson's "I Could Be Free," a shining monument in the history of '90s J-Pop, is finally being reissued on vinyl!
JUDGMENT! RECORDS Vinyl Odyssey: Part I

Produced by Swedish virtuoso Tore Johansson, this album is renowned as the pinnacle of Tomoyo Harada's "Swedish Pop Trilogy."
This delicate worldview has been meticulously recreated on vinyl by the new label, JUDGMENT! RECORDS, headed by acclaimed record designer
Koki Hanawa, with a unique aesthetic and meticulous attention to detail. The meticulous binding, featuring an E-style trifold cover, enhances the album's
appeal both visually and aurally.

Four decades on, "Around The World In A Day" has been newly remastered in stereo by Bernie Grundman and is available on limited-edition 140g blue marble vinyl. The record ultimately yielded four commercial singles: “Raspberry Beret” with its spectacular kaleidoscopic video featuring Prince in a suit inspired by the clouds and sky on the sleeve, “Paisley Park” (released only overseas), “Pop Life”, and “America”.

»La Traversée« (»The Crossing«) is Matthias Puech’s second album for Hallow Ground and follows up on 2023’s »Mt. Hadamard National Park.« Profoundly inspired by re-reading »The Odyssey,« the French composer, instrument designer, and scholar used a Eurorack modular synthesizer to create four pieces that are by far the most intuitive and emotionally charged in his ever-expanding catalogue. Puech’s masterful command of sound comes to the forefront with even more urgency on this record. A wandering meditation on the human condition, »La Traversée« is an album that is constantly in motion—complex electronic music at its most gripping and evocative.

The foundation for »La Traversée« was laid when Puech prepared a live set for a tour organised in collaboration with Hallow Ground in support of »Mt. Hadamard National Park.« Before writing the first three pieces—»Ennosigaios,« »Polyphármakos,« »Nekuia«—the 18½-minute-long »Ithâké« was composed in near-total isolation in the South of France at the end of 2023. Puech performed the material live several times before taking a step black from it for a while. He revisited the pieces when preparingthem for a release. »I was struck by how the technical process and the intention behind the music had completely vanished from my memory,« he says.

What remained intact, however, was Puech’s association of the material with one of the most influential texts of Western literature. Reading a graphic novel adaptation of »The Odyssey« with his two four-year-olds, he noticed the effect that it had on them and himself. »Its themes of longing, fear of and attraction to the unknown, unresolved quests, and the struggle for control felt topical,« he says. »I was completely taken. Every story ever told seemed contained in this ancient tale; every story I have ever tried to tell as a composer seemed inscribed in this framework.« This also extended to formal motifs such as the repetition of incidents, narrative developments, or dramatic effects that also mark »La Traversée.«

Puech says that he perceived Homer’s writing as musical, »like an old Delta blues or a Renaissance counterpoint,« which inspired his writing process. »With a couple of knobs on my Eurorack system, I could control the unfolding of a story,« he notes. »This made me pass through different emotional statesand led to moments in which everything made sudden sense—when you as an artist get a glimpse atsomething essential, can touch upon something universal.« This shines through »La Traversée,« a wildly imaginative album that is deeply personal while also telling a story far more wide-reaching than that of its creator.

Experience the modern era of Madness with 'Hit Parade Vol. 2 1992-2024'. This 22-track 2LP set relives the more modern, contemporary years of Madness; containing a selection of hit singles, fan favourites and much-loved tunes. Including 'NW5', 'Shame and Scandal', 'Sorry', 'Drip Fed Fred', 'Mr Apples' and the Top 10 single 'Lovestruck'.

Beautifully packaged in a deluxe, gatefold sleeve, this 2LP collection is pressed on translucent blue vinyl. The fully illustrated inner sleeves contain new liner notes with various band members and long-time producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, in conversation with renowned author and journalist Paul Sexton.

Firmly established as national treasures and as one of the UK’s most cherished and beloved bands, Madness are adored by their loyal and huge following. Their consistently sold-out shows illustrate their enduring qualities resulting in their popularity continuing to grow and grow.

Beautifully packaged in a deluxe slipcase, this 4LP box set combines the red vinyl.

Volume 1 and blue vinyl Volume 2 2LP collections. The fully illustrated inner sleeves contain new liner notes with various band members and long-time producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley,

in conversation with renowned author and journalist Paul Sexton.

This Transition's label album features the concert that Donald Byrd Sextet gave in Detroit on August 23th, 1955 organized by the New Jazz Society, a group formed under the impetus of Kenny Burrell, one of the key influences in Detroit jazz.


The reissue of this hard-to-find album is significant for a number of diferent reasons. Its very rarity is one attraction for certain collectors, but more important perhaps is the fact that it was the first recording as featured artist for trumpeter Donald Byrd. It is also extremely revealing of the depth of the jazz scene in 1950s Detroit, which had nurtured Byrd and from which he was just emerging at the time of this concert.

Jazz by Sun Ra, Vol. 2.


These albums are important because they are Sun Ra's first recordings before the Saturn sessions, made in 1956 when the Chicago musicians were searching for something more, something beyond.



In 1957, Transition Records gave us Volume 1, but before Volume 2 could be released, the label went bankrupt, and it took more than a decade for it to finally be released on the Delmark label. Today, for the first time, both volumes are available, as they were meant to be from the beginning.
Volume 2 is presented here for the first time with the silver cover originally planned by Transition!

Thelonious Monk once famously said "the piano ain't got no wrong notes", and this mantra is evident in his playing: full of angular, challenging harmonies combined with a harsh and percussive technique. Though his style of playing was unorthodox, he could also play runs and arpeggios with great speed and accuracy. All in all Monk would prove to be a long-lasting influence on jazz piano. All this is highlighted on 1967's Straight, No Chaser, Monk's sixth album for Columbia. On it, you'll find the album's namesake "Straight, No Chaser", a composition by Thelonious himself that became one of the most important blues-based standards in the jazz repertoire. Furthermore, the album features "Japanese Folk Song", a two-century old tune that Ryan Gosling's character is practicing in the movie La La Land. Charlie Rouse plays the tenor saxophone and the liner notes are writting by jazz writer and producer Orrin Keepnews. Straight, No Chaser is available as a limited edition of 2500 individually numbered copies on crystal clear vinyl and comes in a deluxe, heavy duty sleeve.

“In a concert, I show something with a beginning, a middle and an end. But, there is no end. Of course, there is no end. Because I am the music, and I am still here.” - Sophie Agnel

‘Learning’ - Sophie Agnel’s first solo LP, feels like the dark, physical inversion of her excellent ‘Song’ which came out on Relative Pitch earlier this year. Sinking her unique sound into vinyl for the first time, the LP arrives as Agnel recovers from a brain tumour - a shocking discovery that will require Agnel to start again with the piano. It’s a terrifying prospect, but Agnel has been here before, having reorientated herself almost entirely away from her early classical training over the last 4 decades of her work.

‘When I was young I had very good ears, oriole absolute. Then later I began to make strange sounds with my piano, to do different kinds of music. I was more interested in the sounds than the melody, for example. I remember once I sat down in a shop to try to read the scores of Schubert and there was a light emitting a very strong bzzzzzzz. And I couldn't listen to my oriole internal - I couldn't read the score. I was entirely subjugated by the sound of the light. And I understood that something had changed. Ten years before I could read and not hear the light. Now I understood that my ears were completely different. I was more open to the sounds of life.”

Born in Paris in the 60’s and playing her parents piano as soon as she could stand up, Agnel quickly grew tired of the classical world. What frustrated her was the strange disconnect between the frame of the piano and its keyboard - a weird boundary that seemed to form some hushed code of etiquette. “The first thing I put inside the piano was a plastic goblet. I’d seen a few pianists do it: Fred Van Hove, for example, put rubber balls inside his. But what didn’t appeal to me was that there seemed to be no link between the pianos outside and inside.”If you see Agnel play now, the body of her piano is littered with fish tins, ping pong balls, wooden blocks - not that you’d recognize their sounds. Having absorbed the language of the European avant-garde, Agnel is known for pulling the piano’s interior outside of itself by tipping her handbag into it. But these ‘strange sounds’ don’t just come from Cage - they also share the poetic force of Cecil Taylor and ‘Learning’ demonstrates that Agnel’s work on the piano's keyboard is just as important as what she’s littered on its strings. The record lets loose her ability to unleash a formidable sound mass and then rope it back to one single, clarifying note. With one hand, Agnel plays 88 tuned drums and on the other an enormous guitar - with the LP rotating through oncoming trains, and blues harmonica and feedback. It’s single minded stuff, borne out of a dedication to a wholly personal language of gesture, accumulation and deft reduction. “Maybe when I’m 80 I will not need anything,” Agnel says in a recent film made at her home. “I will do the same but with one note, and one finger. Maybe it's enough.”

‘Learning’ arrives in a reverse board sleeve designed by Jereon Wille. Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Billy Steiger on 6th June 2023 and 4th June 2024. Mixed by James Dunn and Benjamin Pagier. Side B edited by Benjamin Pagier. Mastered and cut by Loop-O. Front photograph by Aimé Agnel. Typography and layout by Jeroen Wille.

When people think of Yacht Rock-those smooth, sun-drenched sounds that once drifted from Californian radio stations in the late '70s and early '80s-they rarely imagine it echoing through rehearsal rooms in Hamburg or Linz. Yet even far from the Pacific coastline, the appeal of shimmering chords, laid-back grooves, and polished production found fertile ground.
This compilation gathers rare and overlooked tracks from Germany and Austria. These artists embraced West Coast aesthetics with sincerity and subtle twists, resulting in music that feels both familiar and refreshingly new-smooth sounds for cloudy skies. So drop anchor, pour something cool, and enjoy this unexpected cruise through the lesser-charted waters of Euro Yacht Rock.

Our journey begins in Austria, where Reflection's Because (1981) set the tone with blue-eyed soul and analogue warmth-a sunlit blend of Doobie Brothers polish and local charm. Its creator, Dieter Heyduk, reappears with Austrian Sky, a heartfelt nod to his homeland that fuses mountain calm with oceanic longing.
From the North Sea island of Föhr, Ara Pacis dreamed of California on their 1979 self-release To the Westcoast. Inspired by Steely Dan and Lake, they turned German rock precision into breezy, melodic sophistication. Meanwhile, in Düsseldorf, Mainpoint fused funk and jazz-rock on Frisbee, their 1980 single bursting with rhythmic drive and optimism before the tide of the Neue Deutsche Welle swept such grooves aside.
Bremerhaven's Nuages offered the compilation's only instrumental gem, Strange Weekend (1985)-a gentle blend of jazz-funk and rock and largely lost to time. Its cool restraint captures the European interpretation of Californian ease.
Around the same period, British traveler Gavin James recorded River of Laughter in southern Germany, backed by the blues-rock band Black Cat Bone. His acoustic reflections on water and flow mirrored the soft, meditative pulse at Yacht Rock's core.
Berlin's Top Spin kept things playful with Bikin (1985), a funk-fusion snapshot of urban joy that showcased the city's finest session players. From the Ruhr area, the Jan Pack Band is up next. While not a typical Yacht Rock track, Cable Dance is driven by an effortless, groovy '80s vibe.
Peter Seiler's Goldfinger project reimagined Walkin' in the Sand as a relaxed reggae-tinged track, while Munich's Major Seven closed the voyage with Silverboat, a wistful soft rock ballad gliding between melancholy and light.

Across these hidden harbors of German and Austrian pop, the West Coast dream took on new forms-reflected in rivers, skies, and studio lights half a world away from L.A. Under and Above the Clouds celebrates that spirit: the enduring pull of smooth music, wherever it's made.

Winter Sessions in Courchevel - compiled by DJ Ravin Bereit für den Winter? Mit Winter Sessions in Courchevel präsentiert der legendäre DJ Ravin eine exklusive Doppel-Compilation, die den Soundtrack für stilvolle Höhenflüge liefert - von glamourösen Nächten in den Alpen bis zu entspannten Après-Ski-Momenten. Die Auswahl vereint feinste World Lounge, Electro-Chill und festliche Deep Vibes - perfekt abgestimmt auf die Atmosphäre des Luxus-Skiorts Courchevel. Mit dabei sind renommierte Buddha-Bar-Künstler wie Majnoon, VS Prjct, DJ Phellix, Souhail Artwork, Omary, Carlos Campos und viele mehr. Ob auf exklusiven Partys oder in ruhigen Stunden am Kamin - diese Musik schafft Räume für Emotion, Eleganz und Eskapismus. Jeder Track ist ein Fenster in eine Welt zwischen Tradition und Moderne, zwischen globaler Klangästhetik und alpinem Chic.

Or Kantor returns with his sophomore album Snake Island, a vivid and cinematic journey through imagined landscapes and lost love, for fans of Eden Ahbez and other seekers of sound and spirit.

Following the critical success of his 2024 debut Sarda Sarda, praised by BBC Radio 6 Music, FIP Radio, RRR Australia, WYEP, KCRW, and Songlines Magazine, Kantor continues to refine his distinctive sonic identity, grounded in instrumental storytelling.

With Snake Island, Kantor ventures deeper into what he calls Subterranean Music, an atmospheric fusion of Mediterranean ballads, desert blues, spiritual jazz, and psychedelic textures. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Gábor Szabó, Omar Khorshid, The Budos Band, Dorothy Ashby, and Tommy Guerrero, he crafts instrumentals that feel both timeless and cinematic.

"Snake Island was written as a soundtrack to a fictional film that disappeared from the world, one that most likely no one has ever seen," says Kantor. "It began as a tragic love story, imagined during my time on a remote island in the Cyclades. Every landscape felt like a scene waiting for music. Eventually, the story gave way to sound."

A respected tattoo artist and founder of the Love Light Studio, Kantor's musical path began after a chance encounter with Johnny Sharoni (Garden City Movement, A&R at Anova Records). During a tattoo session, Sharoni heard Kantor's demos and was immediately struck by their raw beauty.

Kantor now steps confidently into the next chapter of his creative journey. Snake Island is more than an album. It is a mythic, imagined soundtrack to a film that only exists in memory, rendered in tones that shimmer like heat on stone.

Der Gitarrist John Scofield und der Bassist Dave Holland, zwei der zeitgenössischen Meister des Jazz, haben
im Laufe der Jahre in verschiedenen Zusammenhängen zusammengespielt – darunter Projekte mit Herbie
Hancock und Joe Henderson sowie eine energiegeladene Gruppe mit Joe Lovano und Al Foster. Memories
of Home ist nun ihr erstes Duo-Album, letztes Jahr nach ausgiebigen Tourneen in den NRS Studios in
Catskill, New York, aufgenommen. John Scofield: „Die Platte enthält, genau wie unsere Live-Shows,
Stücke, die jeder von uns komponiert hat, einige neu, einige alt. Wir teilen jahrzehntelange gemeinsame
musikalische Bezugspunkte. Die Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede in unseren Herangehensweisen machen
die Zusammenarbeit, wie ich finde, umso spannender.“
Das Album enthält Scofields Songs „Icons at the Fair“, „Meant to Be“, „Mine Are Blues“, „Memorette“
und „Easy for You“ sowie Hollands „Mr. B“, „Not for Nothin’“, „You I Love“ und „Memories of Home“.

Mit seinen mitreißenden Soli und umjubelten Auftritten in der Konzertreihe “Jazz at the Philharmonic” übte
der Tenorsaxofonist Illinois Jacquet einen immensen Einfluss auf den Spielweise des Saxofons im Rhythm &
Blues und Rock ‘n’ Roll aus. Für den JATP-Impresario Norman Granz und dessen Label Clef nahm Jacquet 1956 mit “Swing’s The Thing” auch eines seiner besten Alben auf.