quête:joi

Doubting all the time. Fearing all the time. Our Darkness descends upon Dark Entries with a reissue of Anne Clark’s epochal proto-house masterpiece from 1984. As a young poet, Clark found herself drawn to London’s emerging punk scene. She became acquainted with Psychic TV affiliate David Harrow, with whom she would collaborate on 1983’s Changing Places and 1984’s Joined Up Writing. “Our Darkness,” off the latter album, was released as a single on Ink Records that same year, and became an underground club hit. It’s a singular piece of music: Clark’s lyrics, delivered with equal parts muscular confidence and unease, speak of urban alienation and heartbreak, while Harrow’s production pummels the listener with hydraulic beats and gloom-laced arpeggios. The song’s spirit would prove influential on both the early Chicago house and Detroit techno scenes, where mechanistic funk and existential despair could catalyse dancefloor mayhem. This reissue offers three versions of “Our Darkness”: the original 12” remix, the Razormaid mix, and a previously unreleased dub version uncovered by David Harrow. Also included is the extended mix of “Sleeper in Metropolis,” another dancefloor hit of Clark’s, as well as the elegiac “Poem for a Nuclear Romance.” The record includes an insert with liner notes and lyrics. “Our Darkness” channels timeless longing and contemporary dismay, a classic overdue for a little light shed upon it.

This Raven With A Crown 02 is a new fledgling label materializes in the Violent Cases universe. Corvus Corone - also known as the carrion crow - is stylistically dedicated to true Tribal sounds.This is not chipmunk tribal with laughing gas voices, this is serious stuff as you can expect from Violent Cases because evil forces are invading lala land and we need to gather the tribes. The roadmap for the project covers territory cultivated by the likes of Isotope, LBE and DSP just to name a few reference points.
First in flight is a full release by As’teka Nahuatl who just featured on MSTR 13.
Corvus Corone is styled by TDSiGNZ, whose design skills consistently lend the Violent Cases sub-labels a fresh, disciplined minimalist touch. As he previously created for “Endless Night”... More is forthcoming - because the Violent Ravens nest has another spawn in the breed. Keep an eye out for their upcoming signs!
Mastering by Stefan ZMK.
A1 – Musicō'teka
20k rig in the catacombs of the pyramid of the sun. Join the war dance. 160 beasts
A2 - Tekno Drops (feat. Lil’ Nahuatl)
Serious old school dancefloor vibes under the wings of crows circling above. 170 beasts
B1 – Shaman Children
Inducing a long trancy journey heeding the shaman’s call. 170 beasts

The London based singer and keyboard player Dominic Appleton, known since the early eighties for his musical activity in the post punk/dream pop band Breathless, and perhaps even more for his vocal contributions to the legendary This Mortal Coil project on 4AD, joins forces with the Milanese producer and sound artist Matteo Uggeri, active from 1993 behind several projects spanning from industrial to post-rock and ambient soundscapes, known for collaborating with artists such as Maurizio Bianchi, Nocturnal Emissions, Controlled Bleeding, De Fabriek, OvO, Giuseppe Ielasi, Lau Nau, Giulio Aldinucci and many more.

Starlight Assembly’s first album, “Starlight and Still Air”, was released in 2021 by the American label Beacon Sound. In Italy the album received amazing reviews in all four of the main music monthlies. It was album of the month in Blow Up and Rockerilla ran a four page interview. Several articles and reviews were made, including a special issue on Foxy Digitalis by Brad Rose.

A remix project was launched afterwards, including old and new friends and fans of the two S.A. members: among the others, Robin Rimbaud/Scanner, Auscultation, Gabriel Saloman (Yellow Swans), Patricia Wolf, Insides, Julia Sabra with Fadi Tabbal, Sawako and Pan American.

The new album, “There Will Be Fireworks”, continues the duo’s complex cross-genres approach to music by melding Uggeri’s intricate musical textures with Appleton’s sweet and melancholic melodies, in this case even supported by the haunting guitars of Gary Mundy (in Breathless as well but also in Ramleh and Broken Flag’s label manager). The tracks on this album are more songlike, the journey more cohesive, with the artists playing more to one another’s strengths. The mastering will be done by Martin Bowes/Attrition, making it even more powerful and clean for its publication on Silentes (ex-Amplexus), historic italian label well known for releases by Rod Modell, Gigi Masin, Dirk Serries, Eraldo Bernocchi, Merzbow, Fabio Orsi and the latest releases by AUBE and much more.

1) WAIT FOR THE WORLD
2) TIME
3) THIS DESERT
4) ALL THE LOVE THE STANDS BESIDE US
5) MOTH TO THE FLAME
6) FRICTION
7) SYMPHONY IN MELANCHOLY
8) THE NOT DEAD
9) RELIEF
+
10) THERE WILL BE FIREWORKS (ghost track)

The Fall were an English post-punk band, formed in Manchester in 1976. The band existed in some form ever since, and was essentially built around its founder and only constant member Mark E. Smith. Initially associated with the punk movement of the late 1970s, the group's music went through several stylistic changes over the years, but is often characterised by an abrasive guitar-driven sound and frequent use of repetition, and was always underpinned by Smith's distinctive vocals and often cryptic lyrics. The band was noted for its prolific output: and released over 25 studio albums, and more than triple that counting live albums and other releases. They have never achieved widespread public success beyond a handful of minor hit singles in the late 1980s, but maintained a strong cult following. The band were long-associated with BBC disc jockey John Peel, who championed them from early on in their career and cited The Fall as his favourite band, famously explaining, "They are always different; they are always the same.

Dread Spectre Council is Kenneth Amundsen"s solo-moniker compiling years of archival demos reimagined and re-recorded. First presented through the debut EP "Dystopia/Eons" (2024) feat. Dale Crover (Melvins/Nirvana/Redd Kross) on drums. Connected to bands like Mindy Misty, Le Corbeau and Izakaya Heartbeat, - He has sneaked around the Norwegian indie scene for the past two decades. On Thetans Kenneth plays all instruments, records and mixes himself in a solitary catharsis. Bringing emotive confessionals, barn-burners and sect nodding psychedelics together in a melancholy-stroked indie rock epos, "unshakably human" as described by Last Day Deaf . A gang of co-conspirators is lurking to join for future releases and tours.

Dread Spectre Council is Kenneth Amundsen"s solo-moniker compiling years of archival demos reimagined and re-recorded. First presented through the debut EP "Dystopia/Eons" (2024) feat. Dale Crover (Melvins/Nirvana/Redd Kross) on drums. Connected to bands like Mindy Misty, Le Corbeau and Izakaya Heartbeat, - He has sneaked around the Norwegian indie scene for the past two decades. On Thetans Kenneth plays all instruments, records and mixes himself in a solitary catharsis. Bringing emotive confessionals, barn-burners and sect nodding psychedelics together in a melancholy-stroked indie rock epos, "unshakably human" as described by Last Day Deaf . A gang of co-conspirators is lurking to join for future releases and tours.

TOO BAD JIMS - Over The Hill ist eine leidenschaftliche Hommage an den legendären North-Mississippi-Bluesman R.L. Burnside. Das britische Trio aus Brighton - bestehend aus Little Victor, Son Jack Jr. und Nick Simonon (Bruder von Paul Simonon, The Clash) - verbindet rohe Energie, hypnotische Grooves und den unverkennbaren Hill-Country-Sound zu einem zwingenden, rauen und erdigen Blues-Erlebnis. Was einst als spontane Zusammenarbeit zweier vielfach ausgezeichneter US-Musiker begann, entwickelte sich zu einer Band, die den Spirit der Juke Joints aus Nord-Mississippi in die Gegenwart transportiert. Minimalistische E-Gitarren, treibende Bottleneck-Soli und ungeschliffener Gesang formen einen Sound, der "absolutely scorching" (Living Blues Magazine) und "relentlessly upbeat" (Blues Blast Magazine) genannt wurde. Over The Hill erscheint streng limitiert und liefert einen kompromisslosen, unmittelbaren Blues, der gleichermaßen Tradition ehrt und vor roher Spielfreude strotzt. Für alle, die echten, unverfälschten Hill-Country-Blues lieben.

Taï Phong is a French progressive rock band formed by two Vietnamese brothers, Khanh Maï (guitar, voice) and Taï Sinh (bass, guitar, voice, keyboards), in 1975.1 They were joined by Jean-Alain Gardet (keyboards), Stephan Caussarieu (drums, percussion), and Jean-Jacques Goldman (guitar, voice, violin). They released three albums between 1975 and 1979: Taï Phong (1975), Windows (1976), and Last Flight (1979). "Sister Jane" (1975), the first single from their first album, was a radio hit.

Tour-Maubourg returns with a new 6-track EP, Dreams, further cementing his place as a key figure in today’s electronic music scene. Known for blending soulful house with rich jazz influences, the French-Belgian producer showcases both his DJ sensibility and refined production skills on this long-awaited release for French deep house label Noire & Blanche.



Nearly four years after Floating on Silence - his acclaimed EP for the label that quickly became a staple in DJs’ sets and underground all-night club sessions - Dreams follows the same inspired path while raising the bar even higher. Joined by a carefully selected group of collaborators, including American producer Kareem Ali (praised by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Boiler Room), pop/R&B soul singer Nic Hanson, and Lithuanian producer and musician Cyan Lu, Tour-Maubourg blurs the lines between jazz and house. The result is a deeply musical, immersive EP that reinforces a sound signature now unmistakably his own, designed for both intimate listening and late-night dancefloors.
crédits

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s highly anticipated second album, Come Creeping Fiends, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Released in 2019 via DYING VICTIMS, AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s Havoc at the Midnight Hour debut album introduced this British power-trio with no small amount of sleazy, Satanic fanfare. While their background may jointly lie in black metal, the three un-gentlemen of AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR held high heavy metal done the ancient way: classic Tank, early Raven, Warfare, and of course the almighty Venom as well as modern torchbearers like Midnight, Whipstriker, and Power From Hell. Unsurprisingly, the album garnered international acclaim. Eclipsing that feat is the band’s second album, Come Creeping Fiends.

Truly titled once again, Come Creeping Fiends comprises nine tracks of heavy metal for the insane, forged in the Manchester morgue. Raging like a ravenous beast, summoning ancient ones, and agonizing with morbid doom, AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR cover a lot of ground here, but like the rotting undead that inspired it, this second album somehow holds together. The same black magic that made Havoc at the Midnight Hour a highlight six(-six-six) years ago is here again, only this time with a higher kill count and hit rate. Cleaner and crisper in execution but somehow darker and dirtier in its content, Come Creeping Fiends offers highlights at every crooked turn; tunes like “Strange Companion,” “Fiend in You,” and lead track “Dead Undead” will have all the witches dancing. Needless to say, fans of maniacal, EVIL heavy metal music and horror movies will find a lot to love. The wait for AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s second album might have been long, but Come Creeping Fiends will prove to be worth it…

April Records proudly presents the new album from Stockholm Stockholm-based bassist and composer Jon Henriksson - a confident and flexible statement that deepens his place within contemporary Scandinavian jazz. Following the success of his 2023 debut Harmonia which placed second in Orkesterjournalen s Golden Album " readers " poll, Henriksson returns with music that foregrounds collective interplay, shifting forms, and a strong compositional voice. Born in Gothenburg and now active across Sweden and Europe, Henriksson has collaborated and toured with artists including Lars Jansson, Hakan Broström, Erik Söderlind, Klas Lindquist, Jonas Kullhammar and Christina von Bülow. Alongside leading his own ensembles, he remains a soughtsought-after bassist in a wide range of projects, balancing a deep connection to the jazz tradition with a modern, exploratory approach. Shapeshifter is built around a core quartet of tenor saxophone, piano, double bass and drums, expanded with guitar on three tracks and trombone on two. The album moves fluidly between contrasting moods, from forceful and driving to reflective and restrained, with each piece shaped by the musicians " intuition and responsiveness. The title reflects Henriksson s compositional philosophy: allowing roles, textures, and forms to evolve as the music unfolds.The ensemble brings together long long-standing musical relationships. Pianist Rasmus Sorensen and Henriksson have collaborated since their studies at Skurups Folkhögskola (Henriksson is a longstanding member of Sorensen s own trio), while drummer Jonas Bäckman forms part of a well well-established rhythm section partnership with the bassist across numerous projects including the Britta Virves Trio. Saxophonist Karl Karl-Martin Almqvist, a member of the Danish Radio Big Band, completes the quartet, with guitarist Pelle von Bülow and trombonist Rasmus Holm joining the session shortly before recording to expand the album s sonic palette where the music called for it. Originally conceived as a quartet album, Shapeshifter took its final shape in the lead lead-up to recording as additional instrumental colours were introduced organically. The piece Toninho , a tribute to Brazilian guitarist and composer Toninho Horta, features acoustic guitar and subtle wordless vocals, reflecting melodic influences that sit naturally within the album s contemporary jazz framework. Across the record, space, pacing, and interaction remain central. Rather than forcing constant motion, the music allows ideas to develop with clarity and intent, resulting in an album that highlights Henriksson s growing assurance as a composer and bandleader, while keeping the collective at its core.

The track shows SUEP at their best - glistening synth pop with Marr-esque jangle, sweet but emotionally incisive. Singer Georgie Stott - also known for being the keyboardist of the recently ended Porridge Radio - is at peak performance, marrying catchy melodies with off-kilter storytelling.
Receiving acclaim across BBC 6 Music and the indie press for their ‘car boot sale’ pop music, SUEP rummage through the jumble bin of music history, selecting and reassembling its best parts into something playful, strange and deeply artful. The band are affiliates of the Gob Nation collective - including The Tubs, Sniffany & The Nits, Ex-Void, and others., described by the Guardian as uniting around “a leftfield sensibility, lacerating wit and snotty attitude.”

With a slightly darker edge than their delightful EP Shop or last year’s groovy The Rain, Highway II tells the story of hope slamming into disappointment - a Valentine’s date gone wrong. Tears, cigarette breaks, running makeup and snotty sleeves paint a picture of painful emotional dislocation. It comes with an incredible, multilayered dance-routine music video from frequent collaborator, artist Jess Power.

Singer Georgie Stott says: “The lyrics for this poured out of me on Valentine’s Day when me and my partner went out on a date in the Limehouse area, over the river from where we lived in Rotherhithe. I got drunk too quickly, he got grumpy, and tears started streaming down my face because I just wanted to have a nice romantic time. We made up in the Canary Wharf Wetherspoons at the end of the night, but I went to have a cigarette before, to get out all my sobs and wrote all the lyrics on my phone in one go. Then at a practice studio we quickly wrote it around some chords I made up in the room.”
Forever is a confident debut, a masterpiece of modern indie songcraft. Across the album SUEP dip into country, synthpop, garage rock, post punk, and pub rock, but always retain their signature penchant for melodic hooks, snappy structures and straight-to-the-heart lyrics. Artfully unpretentious, the album was recorded by friend Matt Green, best known for his work with The Tubs, and mixed by Mike O’Malley of the band caroline.

Led by Georgie Stott and Joshua Harvey, SUEP have become fixtures of south-east London’s underground through a series of shared living spaces, improvised studios and DIY venues. Now with George Nicholls (The Tubs, Joanna Gruesome, GN Band), William Deacon (PC World), and Louis Forster (The Goon Sax, Expiry) completing the line up, their debut is finally on its way.
Forever is a glimpse into one of the best bands on the scene, not fitting into any trend, but also never fading into obscurantism - SUEP are a band that wear a joie de vivre loosely but fashionably. Now is their time to shine.

TMAC returns with a raw Chicago house banger inspired by tape-deck tracks From the early days of house. One-sided cut with two mixes on colored wax, this joint delivers funky synths, hard-hitting drums, and peak dance floor pressure.

Alongside the legendary Mercyful Fate and more obscure acts such as Alien Force, Randy, and Crystal Knight, Copenhagen's Witch Cross are undoubtedly one of the best Danish metal bands of all time. Their 1984 album “Fit For Fight” is definitely among the top five metal records in the country. One of the two guitarists on this masterpiece was a certain ‘Cole Hamilton’. His real name is Ole Hamilton Poulsen. He joined the band after the recording of Witch Cross' debut single, “Are You There” (from 1983). His partner on guitar was Mike Wlad (his birth name is Michael Koch). Mike Wlad is not only a founding member of Witch Cross, but also their main songwriter. After the premature end of the original Witch Cross, Mike Wlad formed a band called Harlot, which released a hard-to-find album called “Room With A View” in 1988. He then moved to London. Witch Cross are now active again and are currently working on their third album.

For our first EP and 12", we're joined by Italian sound artist and long-time Goodness friend Yraki for 5 tracks of sonic hypnosis on a bass-heavy theme: ‘Tendril’ is meditative future-techno meticulously constructed through an experimental, high-poly lens.

Detailed, tactile sound design with deep, hypnotic momentum, it shapeshifts between stripped-back bass pressure and elastic, experimental flow in one costant, evolving, unravelling thread.

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The shadowed interstice between root and circuit, Tendrils creep through soil and signal alike, tracing patterns unseen, carrying memory and mutation. Time folds in layers of sediment and data; decay becomes growth, fracture becomes connection.

Tendrils are the pulse of the unseen, a meditation on growth, entropy, and the uncanny geometry of becoming.

L Major, Tamen & Ocean Dawn join forces for the first full press on Basics Records. ’The Path / Melt’ displays precise drum workouts & cleverly crafted atmospherics. Club ready music with class. Mastered by the legendary Beau Thomas, This release does not disappoint.

The Path with Ocean Dawn drives forward as a heavyweight stepper, while Melt with Tamen is a powerful amen track that pays homage to the roots of the sound. Two beautifully crafted tracks that represent the Basics imprint in fine style.

Over six years have passed since HAGZISSA's successful debut album, They Ride Along. Some may have even declared the Austrians as dead in between; however, HAGZISSA never ceased to wander the borderlands of the here and beyond. In silence and yet in turmoil, too, a nightmare has been slain and gutted - in necromantic pride, its offspring gleams and dances to never-ending music of the night!

HAGZISSA's brand-new Revelry of a Maltreated Jade EP is a showcase of a pack in motion, marking this as the last recording with A White Pawn (Kringa, Weathered Crest et al.) and the first with V.Adalbert II (Sněť, Bahratal et al.). The four-song work is immediately recognizable as HAGZISSA: a now-trademark style of eyrie, olde-worlde black METAL that's obscure, enigmatic, and unbound. Here, intensities are both reigned in and let loose to roam even wilder, as Iron Curtain heavy metal magick weaves a spell perhaps even more potent than said full-length. The result is somehow more approachable and more foreign, but compellingly potent either way.

With heads both in the past and the future, thus passes the glory of the world and dives deep into another plane! Can't you hear their flutes and horns and whispers? So come, then, and join in boisterous battue!

Russell Paine (Super Disco Edits).

These four tracks simply blew me away when I heard them. Its raw disco funk cosmic energy that you just can't replicate. Sometimes when you get a long disco track that's eight or ten minutes long, mundane thoughts and loss of interest can start to kick in once the dums and bongo's have faded.

This isn't the case with Magique. You just keep joining the rocket ride to the stars.

From the social message disco funk of "Inch By Inch" which is still relevant to today's social problems. "Dancin" and "Disco Nights" epitomise why we love disco.

And finally "Disco Cowboy" has a sound that harks back to those Plainfield NJ P-Funk roots. I think if any of the Dj pioneers from the 1970's stumbled across these they would have been etched in Disco Folklore!

Walter Thomas’s “Chicago Knights” LP features a retrospective of songs written and released between 1987 and 2009, primarily with the Roland 1824 and the Fostex 8 track reel to reel. Channeling the spirit of underground soul and dance music specifically rooted within the greater area of Chicago, Illinois–a city known for its deep and healthy soul and r&b roots–this compilation features 8 of its 9 tracks on vinyl for the very first time.

The intro track “I Wanna Get Witcha” dates back to 1987, holds a proven track record of kicking off many a dance floor, rocking clubs worldwide in a blur of boogie-funk, disco, and soul. “Immaturity” and both versions of “Fed Up” echo the emotional differences and tensions between lovers in a spat. “Magic City” served as the anthem and homage to its namesake roller skating rink in 90s-era Waukegan, IL. While “Chicago Knights” is a relentless mid-tempo groove inspired by the aggressive motorists that dominate Chicago roadways, “2nd Chance” drops the tempo to a slow r&b roll, preaching the ethos of love, peace, and forgiveness.

Last but certainly not least, “E&J’s” was a real commercial jingle used for a once legendary BBQ joint “E&J’s” in Illinois: a short bonus track to close out the LP. These 9 tracks are just a touch of Walter’s expansive body of work, and we’re stoked to bring them to you on wax.


Walter Thomas is a singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, and composer from North Chicago, IL known for his soulfully smooth arrangements and vocals. Walter has toured internationally with quintessential soul groups like the Temptations and Friends of Distinction, as well as opening for performers including the Floaters, Bette Wright, The Emotions, and The Drifters. His decades of touring with nightclub and concert performances have honed this gifted artist into a seasoned and refined live act.