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Fans des ursprünglichen Death/Thrash Metal der 80er Jahre können sich freuen! Das lang erwartete Album mit den Demobändern der legendären Band Samhain (später bekannt als Desexult) ist endlich da.Obwohl die dänische Band Samhain in ihrer Blütezeit nie einen Plattenvertrag erhielt, gewann sie eine treue Fangemeinde und wurde zu einem Begriff in der Underground-Thrash- und Death-Metal-Szene, wo sie mit Bands wie Kreator, Pestilence, Imperator, Illdisposed, Exumer, Mezzrow und Invocator spielte.

Jetzt können eingefleischte Metal-Fans zum ersten Mal die rohe Kraft von Samhains frühen Aufnahmen auf Vinyl erleben.Das Album enthält alle Songs der ersten beiden Demobänder der Band, die 1985 und 1986 aufgenommen wurden. Remastered für maximale Audioqualität von einem der Besten des Metals: Kein Geringerer als Ex-Desexult-Schlagzeuger und Metal-Produzent par excellence Tue Madsen im Antfarm Studio (Rob Halford, Sick Of It All, The Haunted, Vio-Lence, etc.), dies ist so true wie es nur geht.

Die Veröffentlichung enthält außerdem ausführliche Linernotes von namhaften Metallern und seltene Fotos aus den Anfangstagen der Band.

“Enter a path few can follow, but many can appreciate. A studio or sound’s dub-plates are like a Shaolin monk’s sacred teachings. London-based Alpha & Omega take us into their world of mesmerising roots and divulge their exclusive ‘specials’.”
MUZIK

“Through minimal manipulation, (Alpha and Omega) deliver the listener to a place of great sonic peace.” OPTION MAGAZINE

“The compelling presences at the heart of these airy sonic worlds have a harder edge than some of their ancestors.”
WIRE

“Massively thunderous bass lines, galloping drum tracks and a willingness to tastefully adorn dubs with digital flutes and various electronic sounding washes.”

Repress!

The great slim smith’s last single release before he sadly passed. the soulful ‘the time has come’, alongside slim smith’s classic ‘it’s alright’…

Mary J. Blige, the legendary singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist and honorary Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, will re-release her acclaimed 1994 sophomore album, My Life, on Nov 20 via UMC. The album, which celebrated its 25th anniversary November 29, 2019 will be released in two physical forms: a 2cd and a standard weight black double vinyl. From her No. 57 hit “You Bring Me Joy” to her No. 22 version of Rose Royce’s 1976 soul classic “I’m Going Down,” My Life was one of Blige’s most creatively vital works to date.

Members Only is a group XXXTentacion formed as he was still bubbling beneath the surface of the mainstream. Group members have included Ski Mask the Slump God, Kid Trunks, Craig Xen, Killstation, Coolie Cut, Bass Santana, Flyboy Tarantino, Tankhead and Kin$oul. Following the release of their fourth project, “Members Only, Vol. 4,” the collective has gone on an indefinite hiatus, with some of its most prominent members such as Craig Xen and Wifisfuneral exiting the group. Three former members including XXXTentacion have sadly passed away.

Volume 4 was originally released via EMPIRE on January 23rd, 2019 which would have been XXXTentacion’s 21st birthday. 2LP + 24 tracks in length.

Galcher Lustwerk has put together a collection of 10 ambient cuts here that he wrote to score a film by Josh Kline, a fine artist whose solo exhibition "Project for a New American Century" recently opened at the Whitey Museum of American Art in New York. It is a dystopic science fiction movie that details what happens after the climate crisis really takes hold. The music is an esoteric mix of free jazz, drones and bleeped-out ambient that is alive with busy, fizzing frequencies. It's a dense, textural brew that collides synth and sax sounds into a new sort of tribute to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner score.

Das Album ”Final Straw” von Snow Patrol feiert dieses Jahr sein 20-jähriges Jubiläum und wird neu veröffentlicht. Die Jubiläumsausgabe wird auf CD und Vinyl erhältlich sein. Alle Formate enthalten drei bisher unveröffentlichte Tracks aus den Album-Sessions, sechs Original-Demos des Albums und neue, ausführliche und aufschlussreiche Liner Notes, geschrieben von Snow Patrol’s Leadsänger Gary Lightbody.

Die 2LP wird auf farbigem Vinyl (gold) in limitierter Auflage gepresst, mit einem silbernen Laminat-Effekt auf der Klapphülle. Die 2CD enthält außerdem die 11 Final Straw-Tracks, die für den DVD-Konzertfilm Live at Somerset House von 2004 verwendet wurden.

Imagine a world in which you are permitted, by a warlock, to go back in time to use an advanced yet primitive submarine to investigate the deepest waters in and around Japan, for the first time in human history. You are not permitted, but two Japanese scientists were allowed on such an aquatic adventure!

Here we have an underwater in-submarine field recording of their adventures, intermixed with a slippery-watery score, that surely represents the lurking fresh surroundings of the deep as they retreat further and further to the bottom of the ocean. The cameras, the retracting mechanical sea tentacle, their communication devices, are all audible now for you, as Deep Sea Animals is played out as a fresh digital radio play. All the audio has been preserved at Studio Isabellalei, by Milan W. from the original laserdisc, which was a part of the cinematic curatorial program at the opening for Spencer Clark’s album Avatar Blue, in Antwerp, Belgium.

With a purchase of the vinyl album of Deep Sea Animals on Pacific City Discs, you not only return to the prehistoric times of 1986, when two brave Japanese submarine pilots were to record deep underwater creatures, but you are also thus thrust back in time to Antwerp 2018, to a romantically titled, Event Horizon Cactus Cooler Laserdisc Theater. Just as well, the proceeds of this disk, tirelessly edited by Spencer Clark, will be donated to the preservation of the ocean, via the inspiring Sylvia A. Earle’s foundation, Mission Blue. Its not that you may or may not believe what I am now discussing with you, its that you can believe, because this disk is real, and thanks to Pacific City and Discrepant we will ride further into the super-natural realms of real life.

Keep the driveway sticky with this hot on-demand delivery by Snad. Three dubby, techy and playful tracks, that sound great under the needle and any car stereo.

For 1971’s Black Unity, Pharaoh Sanders added groove to foundation of spiritual and free jazz he had explored on his previous Impulse! albums. The result is a piercing and emotive 37-minute rhythm-driven title track exploration of African, Latin, aborigine and Native American sounds.

This Verve By Request title is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man in Detroit.

“Insomnia” is the third solo album from Italian jazz beat maestro Koralle for Melting Pot Music. Without exaggeration, it can be described as the most mature and advanced piece of work by the beatmaker and producer from Bologna. On “Insomnia” Koralle invites some of his favourite artists and musical peers to collaborate and exchange sounds, ideas, beats, melodies and lyrics. The guest list includes fellow producers & musicians FloFilz, Pachakuti, Figub Brazlevic, Kuranes, Phoniks and Brous One as well as rappers and singers Kid Abstrakt, KeepVibeNear, Ryshon Jones.

All tracks produced and mixed by Koralle. Recorded at Godblesscomputers Studio, Bologna (Italy). Mastered by Roe Beardie. Artwork by Giulia Dall'Ara. Layout by Chicken George.

After taking time out from working together to focus on separate musical projects, maverick composer Alan Roberts (Jim Noir) and crowd-rousing vocalist Leonore Wheatley (International Teachers of Pop / The Soundcarriers) have re-joined forces to introduce Co-Pilot. Each the other’s wing person, they’re plotting an escape through Manchester’s claustrophobic grey skies with the pencil case colour of a hand-sewn multi-coloured primary school patchwork quilt. “We are both the creators in charge of navigating Co-Pilot’s overall sound which changes from track to track,” Leonore hints at what to expect. “There are about 6 different genres on one album, it's a pick n mix record!”


Happy in the haze of many boozy hours the album was recorded over just a few months whilst holed up and hanging out in Al’s city centre Dookstereo studio. The former Mill allowed the pair to relax, laugh and create without constraint. Armed with their original demos and vocal recordings from Al’s flat, they’d nip by the offie to pick up some Dutch courage before setting to work: building arrangements from a drum beat and basic chord pattern, the pair were so in tune they rarely spoke, allowing only the music to lead the way. “We’d communicate through nods of agreement or grimaces of dismay,” Leonore recalls. “Using the instruments with Al in production mode, we let the sound dictate the process whilst being drunk enough to follow it.”
The sound of life coming full circle after honing their separate crafts, Leonore had previously played keys and vocals in Jim Noir’s live band before moving on to front International Teachers of Pop for two critically lauded albums of joyous dancefloor filling bangers - their self-titled debut (2019) and Pop Gossip (2020). During that time Al would further expand Jim Noir’s universe with AM Jazz, which was celebrated as the no.1 album in Piccadilly Records’ ‘End of Year Review’ (2020), followed by the Deep View Blue E.P. (2021) cementing his status as one of Manchester’s finest songwriters.
As Leonore added her vocal magic to Al’s early demos of what would eventually become Co-Pilot’s ‘Spring Beach’ and a crooked original version of closing track ‘Corner House’, the vibe was prophetic “like the ending of Grease as Danny and Sandy take flight through the clouds”, letting their imaginations fly. The songs were the catalyst to spark a new phase of the pair working together, picking up where they left off. “From messing about with sounds during rehearsals in the very beginning it was always clear we liked the combination of sounds we made,” Leonore recalls.
Powered by a ‘try anything’ approach, Co-Pilot blends the musical DNA of what you’ve come to expect from each of the pair’s previous flight paths. “Whatever is switched on or nearby gets used. There's no 'correct' for us. If it sounds good, record it,” Al tells. United through typically turbulent wonky pop and lurking samples, whether culled from 70s TV themes or recreations of past and found sounds (see Al’s 60s tropicalia guitar on ‘Brick’, or the innocent ‘Swim to Sweden’ which opens with an ice cream van jingle Al recorded from his bedroom window) their process offers up a bucket load of Easter eggs. The album even features snippets from dearly departed pal Batfinks whilst ‘Motosaka’ is perhaps the most expensive 2-minutes on the album, featuring a Columbia Records Japan-cleared sample of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Thousand Knives’. Its synth squelches and Tom Tom Club funk also received the blessing of Haroumi Hosono, Godfather of Japanese Electronica, who agreed to being sampled in an original version of the song. “We just kept listening back and hitting gold,” Al recalls. “I was thinking ‘yeah, not sure what this is but I like it! We were buzzing with what we had made.”
But the sound wouldn’t come without self-imposed instrumental challenges. Thanks to an old mellotron sample on ‘Move To It,’ the moog riff and nautical accordion breaks on ‘Swim To Sweden’ and the 6/8 and 7/8 jaunt of ‘Brick’, time signatures were lovingly skewed to create Co-Pilot’s unique mood. “It was a bastard getting the drums right,” Leonore reveals, “but I like the wonkiness”. Levelling up through the lyrics, the words of smoky and evocative ‘She Walks In Beauty’ are based on a Lord Byron poem, with the sentiment of remembering Leonore’s late grandparents. “I wanted to see how much I could get away with just singing on one note, and how I could harmonically change everything else around it vocally,” she says. Elsewhere ‘Can You See’ was written from the perspective of a concerned sister to a brother which tells of keeping someone safe. “The lyrics are quite metaphorical about day-to-day happenings, people loved and lost. Others are rhythmic nonsense! It’s up to the listener to figure out what’s true.”
It’s clear from Al’s productive production techniques and Leonore’s knack for vocals and lyricism, Co-Pilot’s course is engineered by two aeronautically adept sonic storytellers. “We share a pretty similar sense of humour,” Al tells, “It is funny listening to this quite serious album but knowing we were giggling as we recorded it all. It’s been great to have another brain to bounce off.” Their destination might be unknown, but the clouds are about to part for a sound that is light years ahead. “You'll like at least one song,” Leonore suggests, “and hopefully them all.”

BYTES, das dritte Album der Artificial Intelligence-Serie, wurde ursprünglich 1993 veröffentlicht und feiert mit dieser Reissue sein 30-jähriges Jubiläum. Black Dog Productions waren Ed Handley, Andy Turner und Ken Downie, die für dieses Album unter verschiedenen Namen auftraten: Atypic, Balil, I.A.O, Close Up Over, Xeper, Discordian Popes und Plaid. Die Reissue besteht aus exakten Repliken der Originalausgaben, das Album wurde von Beau Thomas @ Ten Eight Seven Mastering für klassisch-schwarzes Vinyl neu geschnitten.

Ursprünglich 1995 veröffentlicht, ist SPANNERS das zweite Album von The Black Dog und ihr erstes für Warp Records. Im Jahr 2017 feierte es Pitchfork als eines der '50 besten IDM-Alben aller Zeiten', das nun erstmals seit der Originalpressung 1995 wieder auf Vinyl erscheint. Nach SPANNERS ging das ursprüngliche Trio Ed Handley, Andy Turner und Ken Downie getrennte Wege - Handley und Turner gründeten Plaid, während Downie den Namen The Black Dog zunächst allein und später mit der Unterstützung der Brüder Martin und Richard Dust weiterführte. Die Reissue besteht aus exakten Repliken der Originalausgaben, das Album wurde von Beau Thomas @ Ten Eight Seven Mastering für klassisch-schwarzes Vinyl neu geschnitten.

Ten Numero-minted, dance floor ready dive bombers from disco’s all-to-brief heyday, previously swept under rug by the whitewashed glitz and glam of the era. Chugging grooves, bubbling synths, soaring strings, and sonorous voices are guaranteed to light up your night, on living room rugs and dance floors alike.

The tenth volume of Numero's elaborately packaged Cabinet of Curiosities series, L80s finds the group exploring the far-flung corners of the global downtempo underground. This 12-song mix tape weaves icy hot coldwave, Sausalito seafood jazz, Glaswegian goth, makeshift Madonna, Sade spoofs, and Brat Pack balearic into a high-waisted, party-ready pair of danceable denim.

The 3rd vinyl produced by Southwax, a collective of DJ Producers and Graphic Designers based in Marseille, London, Lille and Liverpool.

Side A, a compo by the White Knight , a producer based in Marseille, in collaboration with James Bacon, cut for the dance floor with a heady sample taken from a classic French film from the 70's whose melody is easily recognisable by Vladimir C., an inspired tribute to the tradition of French Touch tracks with a Kick worthy of Chicago House.

Side B - French Disco Machine, produced by James Bacon in the style of Justice/ Sebastian, with a big techno kick and a disco sample that is destructured and filtered to the extreme. James Bacon is best known for his techno productions under the name LENSKID on Analog Records for the legendary DJ Fresh. For Southwax he has produced a sonic UFO that will shake the walls.

Maxi 45 rpm blue vinyl pressed by French sound craftsmen La Manufacture des Vinyles in Annecy.

During the recording of this album, band leader Duane Allman was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. Still reeling from their loss, the band nonetheless managed to complete this classic album with Dickey Betts on guitar. In tribute to Duane, however, they chose to bring the album to a close with a 34-minute jam taken from the Fillmore East sessions, which showcased what an amazing guitar player and force to be reckoned with Duane really was. Includes 3 bonus tracks and a replica of the original insert." The 4th Allman Brothers album, originally released in 1972. 180 gram virgin vinyl, deluxe gatefold sleeve.

Multi Culti return with an expansive 8-track mini-LP showcase timed for summer solstice celebrations.

The a-side kicks off with the musically-gifted Mytron’s genre-defining title ‘Shisha House’, Italian Ayala teams up with Abrao on ‘Magia,’ Jamie Paton slices up the low-slung, serpentine ‘Sub Ritual,’ and Xanga & Zebulon deliver a literal love letter to the ‘Coca Leaf’.

B-side action begins with Ecuadorian newcomer Kunturi, whose ‘Eclosión’ portends a new wave of Nicola Cruz inspired, folkloric techno, Italian duo Future Island (Oltrefuturo teamed up with treasure island) rock an impressive slow-mo trance dub on ‘Wide Music II,’ Aiku debut out of Germany’s Harz mountains with ‘Fried Acid,’ while Argentine wizard Balam finishes the journey off with the incense and sitar laden ‘Caravana.’

While they may dabble in orientalist tropes, these are not mere Tulum-chasers out for shamanic DJ duty. This is avant-garde folk-Tronica that tows the limbo line and once again asserts cult supremacy in the great Psychonautical odyssey.

There are few people across the globe, who will have not been touched by the work of Frankie Knuckles. Forever regarded as ‘The Godfather of House’ for his unrivalled contribution to the house music we know today; what started as an underground movement in Chicago has grown to international heights thanks to Frankie. His records earned him recognition on a global scale, allowing him to work with some of the globes biggest names including the likes of Diana Ross, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson.

Five years ago, Frankie passed away in Chicago on 31st March 2014 leaving behind one of the greatest house music legacies spanning almost four decades. Now he is commemorated by long time writing and production partner Eric Kupper. Eric, himself a seasoned DJ producer and writer, has worked on over 116 Billboard #1 Dance Records and played a pivotal role in a many of Frankie’s productions. Having both worked together for many years they established themselves at ‘Director’s Cut’ from 2011 and set about producing original releases and remixes based on the classic ‘Def Mix’ sound while sharing equal credits for their creations.

Together they re-produced and re-purpose classic cuts for modern dancefloors, with reworks including tracks from Marshall Jefferson, Ashford & Simpson, Artful & Ridney and The Sunburst Band, alongside Frankie Knuckles originals. These releases have now been brought together by Eric to feature on special album called ‘The Directors Cut Collection’ on SoSure Music. It includes the Director’s Cut reworks of Frankie’s classic cuts such as ‘Your Love’ and ‘Take You There’ with Jamie Principle, alongside Frankie’s first #1 single - ‘The Whistle Song’ on which Eric shares writing credits.

Within a multitude of classic reworks, highlights include a previously unreleased version of Ashford & Simpson’s ‘Bourgie Bourgie’ and a huge Director’s Cut Retro Signature mix of Marshall Jefferson’s 'The House Music Anthem (Move Your Body)' featuring Curtis McClain.

The Director’s Cut Collection is a fitting tribute to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Frankie’s passing whilst giving Eric a platform to tell his side of the creative story. This album is to be released in collaboration with The Frankie Knuckles Foundation who work to continuing Frankie’s legacy well into the future.

Former Mind & Matter bandmates James "Jimmy Jam" Harris and Michael Dixon teamed up for 1978's gospel-boogie banger "You're All I Need" b/w "You're Everything" on the private Mad label.

Seminal NYC multi-reedist Doug Wieselman announces arresting new album of birdsong arranged for clarinet, flute, banjo and piano WA-Zoh, released on Shahzad Ismaily’s figureight records.

Wieselman has performed with superlative greats (including the Lounge Lizards, Lou Reed, Yoko Ono, Bill Frisell, Iron & Wine, Laurie Anderson, Tricky, Martha Wainwright, Antony and the Johnsons, CocoRosie) and contributed significantly to the NYC Downtown scene over the past three decades. He is described, by NYC Jazz Record, as “a vital force in the New York music scene”.

Over the years, Wieselman has taken hours of recordings of birds both from his world travels and outside his window in Brooklyn. His beautiful new album WA-Zoh uses the recorded bird songs and phrases - slowed down and processed - as source material for original compositions, reflecting the astonishing beauty and inherent musicality of the natural world in a wholly unique take on field recording. Incorporating clarinets, flutes, banjo, piano and percussion, all played by Wieselman himself, the new album is marked step forward from his previous solo outings as a clarinet player, though no less accomplished in its composition, dexterity and skill.


The minimalism, patience, and subtlety here is delicately formed from featherlight interweaving lines of soft, virtuosic instrumentation, resulting in an album that sits somewhere between avian chirrup, rainforest prettiness, the refined intelligence of American minimalism, and the undecorated purity of ambient music.

From teddy grahams to pussy hats, California forest fires to cash cabs, the stuff of American nostalgia and horror adorns a personal reckoning on Christina Schneider’s triumphant third album as Locate S,1. With a name culled from a Daschel Hammitt noir novel, Wicked Jaw pulls from wildly disparate references and textures to survey the history of American pop music. Like Pat Benatar soundtracking an Adam Curtis documentary, the album trades in dramatic juxtapositions across its kaleidoscopic ten tracks. Only Schneider could pull off singing a line like “season finale 2020 death machine” as a soothing lullaby, but jarring contrasts echo the tumultuous personal journey woven throughout. “I was in hell ... and loving it,” Schneider said of her childhood, describing a murky cocktail of sentimentality and despair. “It’s like when you escape the matrix and then you remember your wonderful time in the matrix.” The Athens, Georgia based songwriter, producer, and virtuosic pop connoisseur authored the album over two years while beginning treatment for childhood sexual abuse by a relative. “I was using these songs as an expression valve for all of these

OVERVIEW: Ever since they arrived on the Norwegian indie scene at age 17, the Oslo-based four-piece Veps has released a steady stream of jaw droppingly mature, indie pop gems. Now, as they are all in their final teenage year, Veps announces their debut album Oslo Park for July 21st release on Kanine Records. Continuing to dish out indie pop bangers with a carefree, DIY attitude, Oslo Park is Veps at their most dynamic. Produced by fellow Norwegian Matias Tellez (Girl in Red, Sondre Lerche), Oslo Park is an emotional, fun ride through adolescence. Feisty rocker “His Brother” evokes the spirit of the alternative rock scene of the early 1990s, before the minor key gem “Crawl” breaks your heart with its honest depiction of teenage heartbreak. The gorgeous ballads “Ballerina (Norah)” and “To the Bedwetters” are both, in their unique way, an instant emotional time capsule to the melancholy and vulnerable aspects of being young and searching for your identity. If their EP, Open the Door, was described by the band as a “love letter to our teenage years,” this album, raw, emotional, beautiful and melodic, is more of a goodbye, perhaps.

On January 28, 2022, Lady Wray released her Piece Of Me album. A deeply personal record that takes on the good and the bad in life from deception and abuse to the joys of motherhood and triumph. The accolades the album has received in the year it has been out speak volumes. Performing on The Stephen Colbert Show, selling out multiple US tours, cleaning up in the best of 2022 lists, and then crushing an NPR Tiny Desk on the 1 year anniversary of the album.

Piece Of Me continues to find its way to new ears and has already proved itself a timeless classic. So where do you go from here? When Ghostface Killah reaches out and says he wants to do a remix of the title track you do that. The A side, "Piece Of Me" (Remix) features Ironman himself who puts down a verse about a relationship that ran its course but no one is sure they did the right thing in. Ghostface sounds right at home over the gully Leon Michels produced track and takes the already rock solid tune to another level. Then what do you do for a B side.... You call The Chocolate Boy Wonder, Pete Rock and get him to remix "Joy & Pain". Pete takes one of the stand out tunes on the album and gives it an entirely different energy with thundering drums and a bassline that shake the windows in the car.

Skeewiff have gained recognition for their canny ability to turn a retro track into a bona fide modern hit. And so they return with a limited 7" release featuring their outstanding version of the traditional song 'Misirlou'. With its fusion of Eastern Mediterranean and surf rock influences, the memorable riff was made famous by Dick Dale, and it has become a cult classic thanks to the movie 'Pulp Fiction'.

But it doesn't end there, because the duo turn their attention on the flip to the stone-cold classic that is 'Amen Brother' by The Winstons! Known best for the honour of being the most sampled drum break ever, once again Skeewiff make it their own. This pairing represents the essence of Skeewiff's distinct sound, reflecting their musical obsession to achieve perfection whilst having fun along the way.

Release four from Japan’s Katharthis Records … featuring Sabatoj with Mike Parker and Kannabi Remixes.

Jade Warrior is the debut self-titled and self-produced album by Jade Warrior, released in 1971 as part of the progressive rock movement. The album sets the scene for what the majority of the band's albums were to sound like, mixing various ethnic sounds with a progressive and otherworldly sound, as well as sudden changes between slow acoustic guitar melody, to distorted and heavy electric guitar with a faster tempo.

Repress!

Having already released a handful of singles on NICE UP! it seemed like high time for Nottingham's Origin One (aka Kevin Thomson) to step up with his debut album. Written and produced over the space of around 2 years in the artists own Deeper Than Roots studio, the album represents a wider spectrum of roots and reggae influenced music, taking the foundations of this music and applying a modern style and sound to it, traversing dancehall, bashment, grime, jungle and dubstep along the way.

Repress!

First in a series of collaboration albums between Lokkhi Terra (described by songlines as the "probably the world's greatest Afrobeat-Cuban-Bangladeshi band") and Bangladeshi folk legends the Shikor Bangladeshi All Stars. This first outing is a Roots meets Roots affair. "The international power of Reggae" David Rodigan Radio1xtra

Written whilst Lokkhi Terra were on tour in Bangladesh, and recorded between Dhaka and London, the two tracks and corresponding dub mixes on side B reflect the bands long love affair with Roots Reggae. They were first perfromed on Bangladehi TV for a show called "The Bengal Tiger's Revenge", and then showcased at UK"s Womad Festival in 2015.

"should not have worked, but really did. Kishon Khans keyboard and artistic direction allowed the Bangladeshis to meld with his Cuban rhythm section to really fine effect, blending Latin, Afrobeat, Jazz, Dub and all manner of other elements to create something truly exceptional" United Reggae

"Awesome Cross-Cultural Collaboration" London Jazz News

This July the esteemed scribe, proper DJ, and discreetly deft twiddler Bill Brewster, drops the latest instalment in his ‘After Dark’ series, for Late Night Tales.

A throbbing, louche and leisurely affair, groove is very much at the heart of this freestyle selection, a vibe which Bill de- scribes as “a basement, a red light and a sound system. Or, as the Beastie’s once rapped, slow and low, that is the tempo”.

There’s Hawaiian drum machine bossa balearica from Island Band, percussive afro post punk from Czech jazz singer Jana Koubkova, and breathy-bubbling-dubwise-slap-bass-soul from Debbe& The Code.

There’s also sultry deep house mood music from Lanowa, infectious bouncy jazz funk breaks from Canada High, and Nail’s life affirming re-edit of singer songwriter Gilbert O Sullivan’s electro pop gem ‘So What’.

Bill’s own studio skills are present and correct too, featuring an undulating bassy version of country troubadour Jeb Loy Nichols, reworked along Alex Tepper under their Hotel Motel moniker, and a chugged-up squelchy disco take on Khruang- bin, this time paired with Raj Gupta, as Mang Dynasty.

Chock full of exclusives, tracks are either completely brand new, or available digitally for the first time, whilst others are wallet-rinsing rarities if purchased elsewhere. Whichever way you slice it though, every tune is a highlight, working equally well as standalone nuggets, or within Bill’s fluidly cohesive mix.

Whether he’s taking the roof off a club with his unique selec- tion of deep and tough house music, enchanting a backroom with a genre-bending set of disco, Balearic, rock and hip hop or playing chillout music in a bay in Croatia, Bill Brewster is the man for all occasions.

In a former life, Bill was a punk rocker, a chef and also the co-editor of football magazine When Saturday Comes but has been a record nerd all of his life. He began DJing in the 1980s, but came into his own in the early 1990s, particularly during a two-year stint in New York running DMC’s office, where nights at the Sound Factory and hanging out with Danny Tenaglia gave him the musical grounding you can still hear in his music today.

Bill was also one of the founding residents at Fabric in London, a position he held for five years. There are few still playing regularly today that have his dedication, eclecticism and encyclopedic knowledge of music.

His parallel life is as a writer, and with his long-term part- ner-in-crime Frank Broughton, they have written four books together, including the acclaimed ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’ (latest edition published last July), ‘How To DJ (Prop- erly)’ and ‘The Record Players’.

He has been working in the industry’s fringes for over 40 years including the running of various labels from Twisted UK and Forensic in the ’90s to Disco Sucks and Anorak in the noughties.

He is one of NTS radio’s new residents for 2023 and his ‘Low Life Loves You’ show is available on the first Tuesday of every month.

Carl Finlow keeps on keepin' on. Not only is Finlow one of the most respected names in electro, a producer who boasts a sprawling catalogue that takes in a wide variety of aliases, but he's also spent recent years establishing himself as a mainstay for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label. Soft Robotics, the new EP from Finlow's Silicon Scally project, is the fifth Silicon Scally release in five years to boast one of CPU's instantly-recognisable black-and-white covers.

The reason that Silicon Scally and CPU keep linking up is simple; they're a perfect fit for one another. Central Processing Unit has established itself as a haven for post-Drexciya producers since launching in 2012, and there are few artists better than Finlow at building on the Detroit group's sound. The union bears fruit once more on Soft Robotics, an EP of lithe machine-funk jams that will both do damage in the dance and also reward more concentrated home listening.

Things begin at a steadier speed than one might expect. Rather than barrelling off with the kind of sinewy roller one associates with the CPU name, Soft Robotics' title-track takes things at mid-pace. The groove reveals itself without hurry, Silicon Scally adding or subtracting elements - twitchy modular loops, pensive pads, the occasional blurt of low-end - atop the chugging bass/drums groove. It's a track which wins you over with guile rather than force.

As the name of subsequent cut 'Jitters' intimates, this one picks things up a little after 'Soft Robotics'. The tempo is higher here, the central beat more nervy. At their cores, though, 'Jitters' and 'Soft Robotics' are kindred spirits. Here, another slyly insistent bit of drum programming comes swirled up with all sorts of extraterrestrial tones, from little nuggets of melody supplied by the keys to electrifying synth stabs and percussive squelches.

Things limber up further still on first B-side 'Spin Ratio'. The track's 808 kicks are punchier than those of the A-side jams, and there's a dizziness to the bass tone which gives 'Spin Ratio' an intriguingly off-kilter feel. Atop the booming beat we find ourselves hypnotised by cells of melody and harmony interlocking or moving apart - particularly the staccato module at the track's heart. Sure enough, 'Spin Ratio' is the Soft Robotics joint which cleaves closest to Drexciya, invoking other Detroit disciples like Jensen Interceptor in the process.

After Soft Robotics picks up speed in the middle, closer 'Super Fluid Tones' brings us back to where we started. This track returns to the more measured delivery of the record's opener - there's a steady pulse to the drums, and once again Silicon Scally packs the mix with so many intriguing whizzes, bangs, blips and blurts that it's impossible not be won over by this tune's construction. 'Soft Robotics' and 'Super Fluid Tones' bookend Soft Robotics very nicely, and Silicon Scally's smart pacing gives the EP a lovely ebb and flow.

The ever-excellent Carl Finlow drops a Silicon Scally release via Central Processing Unit for the fifth year running. Like its predecessors, Soft Robotics is an excellent and deftly-crafted collection of modern machine-funk.

RIYL: Drexciya, Jensen Interceptor, Fleck E.S.C., The Advent

Repress!

The Self Split EP features Kouhei Matsunaga at his chimeric best for Diagonal, delivering two jazzy, freehand concrète collabs with Japanese sound artist and Eartaker noise maker, Masayuki Imianishi, plus two dance-offs with himself as NHK yx koyxen and Speedy K.Gelling Kouhei's many sonic handles for a full spectrum showcase of style and pattern, the set is riddled with a singular mischievous genius at every fold and warp. The Texture Foggy pieces render a more reflective, cosmic aspect of Kouhei's character. Working with Masayuki Imianishi, he terraforms paper, radio, field recordings and synths into vivid alien ecologies of shimmering electronics and spheric melody with a highly visual quality that perhaps betrays Kouhei's talents as an illustrator. For virulent examples of Kouhei at the rave, NHK yx koyxen and Speedy K's Step Move #01 is quite possibly the wonkiest peaktime juggernaut of the year, and the acid wormhole of Early Mellow Darkness sounds like the bald - as in bad - acid offspring of Luke Slater and Ed Rush. Once again Kouhei makes us go mad at the rave, but this time with something to come home and melt into as well.

Brilliantly remastered (picture) LP/CD with new stunning artwork!
Lo-Fi India Abuse was recorded in 1998, some tracks are “pure” Muslimgauze and some are re-mixs of tracks from Systemwide’s “Sirius” CD (see also Systemwide meets Muslimgauze “at the City of the Dead” 12″). Nearly all of the tracks have hand percussion in varying tempos and intensities and at least 1/2 make use of electronic noise surges. The sound is very crisp and clean, extremely well produced, recorded and nicely varied throughout the length of the disc. Some track by track comments: “Antalya” is obviously from the same sessions as “Fakir Sind” seeing as it shares the same hand percussion sound, whistles, vocal wailing, cut-ups and delays. “Valencia Flames” sounds like a Systemwide remix. A dub bass line, hi-hat and background vocal of some sort are all obliterated by numerous delays, starts, stops and re-starts with an unpredictable nature in these cut-up tracks. “Al Souk Dub” injects background voices, market sounds and drones into the cut-up mix of slow hand percussion playing. “Catacomb Dub” and the final two tracks make use of twinkling synth waves, presumably a Systemwide sound source. “Dust of Saqqara” has a heavy pulsating electronic sound wave over an old beat box rhythm. “Android Cleaver” is brutal (as is “Nommos’ Afterburn”) hand percussion, jabs of noise and an oft repeated, unintelligible vocal sample. Yes, Lo-Fi India Abuse is yet another great Muslimgauze release, grab it!
All tracks recorded by Muslimgauze 1998
Some tracks are re-mixes from Systemwide’s “Sirius” album
Re-mastered by Višeslav Laboš
Sleeve by Oleg Galay
Originally released in 1999 via BSI Records (BSI 1999-3).

Known as ‘the Architect of Rock ‘n’ Roll,’ the flamboyant rhythm and blues extrovert, Little Richard, made an incredible impact with unorthodox piano playing and rasping, shouted vocals, yielding a series of pivotal hits in the mid-1950s, but he abandoned secular music for gospel following a tour of Australia in 1957. Lured back into rock by promoter Don Arden, his UK tour featuring The Beatles as support, Little Richard Is Back was his comeback set for Vee Jay, his voice now deeper and seasoned; the range of covers are tackled with plenty of pep, and original ‘Groovy Little Suzy’ was co-written by Harry Nillson. All hail the King!