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Östro 430 waren schon immer eine sehr besondere Band. Eine kurze Zeitreise: Es sind die späten 70er- und frühen 80er-Jahre, und in Düsseldorf proben Dutzende junger Gruppen die Revolution: Male, Mittagspause (später Fehlfarben), ZK (später Tote Hosen), S.Y.P.H., Der Plan, DAF. Ihre Barrikade, Bühne und Biertresen ist der Ratinger Hof, der schnell zum deutschen "Mekka des Punk" wird. Doch selbst hier verstoßen Östro 430 gegen jedes Gesetz. Ihre Musik ist aufgedreht, melodiös, brachial und Do-it-Yourself. Die Krönung sind die Songtexte: Lieder wie "Sexueller Notstand", "S-Bahn" und "Zu cool" werden zu Klassikern. Sie schaffen es ins Fernsehen, den britischen NME und sogar in die BRAVO. Die Welt braucht die Östros, aber sie verpasst ihre Chance: 1984 lösen sich Östro 430. 39 Jahre später bekommt die Welt eine zweite Chance. Östro 430 können nicht anders, als anders zu sein als alle anderen. Punkrock, aber nach Hausfrauenart: keine Gitarren - und trotzdem straight. Dazu Texte, die das Reimlexikon neu erfinden: Sie dichten "Diktator" auf "Vibrator" und "Hintern" auf "Pimpern". Sie teilen aus gegen jede Art von Spießertum: machtgeile Populisten, konservative Alt-Punks, ignorante Umweltschweine und politisch Überkorrekte, die Shitstorms diktieren. Und die Östros können sogar anders als anders, nämlich verletzlich sein. In "Bleib hier" heißt es: "Du sagst, ich lieb aus Angst vor dem Alleinesein und jedes Wort tritt meine Zukunft ein". Östro 430, die ungewollten Role-Models der Ü50-PunkerInnen, teilen wieder aus & prangern an - schmackhaft, nachhaltig & wohl bekömmlich. Auf "Punkrock nach Hausfrauenart" sagen nun auch Bela B. von den Ärzten, Bärchen & die Milchbubis und Stefan Stoppok mit ihren musikalischen Gastbeiträgen als Kronzeugen für die Gruppe aus. Einst waren Östro 430 Vorbilder, als es Bezeichnungen wie Rrriot Girls und Role Models noch nicht gab. Und auch heute sind sie wieder Wegbereiter. Wegbereiter wofür? Bis die Welt das passende Wort gefunden hat, nennen wir"s einfach "Punkrock nach Hausfrauenart".

Östro 430 waren schon immer eine sehr besondere Band. Eine kurze Zeitreise: Es sind die späten 70er- und frühen 80er-Jahre, und in Düsseldorf proben Dutzende junger Gruppen die Revolution: Male, Mittagspause (später Fehlfarben), ZK (später Tote Hosen), S.Y.P.H., Der Plan, DAF. Ihre Barrikade, Bühne und Biertresen ist der Ratinger Hof, der schnell zum deutschen "Mekka des Punk" wird. Doch selbst hier verstoßen Östro 430 gegen jedes Gesetz. Ihre Musik ist aufgedreht, melodiös, brachial und Do-it-Yourself. Die Krönung sind die Songtexte: Lieder wie "Sexueller Notstand", "S-Bahn" und "Zu cool" werden zu Klassikern. Sie schaffen es ins Fernsehen, den britischen NME und sogar in die BRAVO. Die Welt braucht die Östros, aber sie verpasst ihre Chance: 1984 lösen sich Östro 430. 39 Jahre später bekommt die Welt eine zweite Chance. Östro 430 können nicht anders, als anders zu sein als alle anderen. Punkrock, aber nach Hausfrauenart: keine Gitarren - und trotzdem straight. Dazu Texte, die das Reimlexikon neu erfinden: Sie dichten "Diktator" auf "Vibrator" und "Hintern" auf "Pimpern". Sie teilen aus gegen jede Art von Spießertum: machtgeile Populisten, konservative Alt-Punks, ignorante Umweltschweine und politisch Überkorrekte, die Shitstorms diktieren. Und die Östros können sogar anders als anders, nämlich verletzlich sein. In "Bleib hier" heißt es: "Du sagst, ich lieb aus Angst vor dem Alleinesein und jedes Wort tritt meine Zukunft ein". Östro 430, die ungewollten Role-Models der Ü50-PunkerInnen, teilen wieder aus & prangern an - schmackhaft, nachhaltig & wohl bekömmlich. Auf "Punkrock nach Hausfrauenart" sagen nun auch Bela B. von den Ärzten, Bärchen & die Milchbubis und Stefan Stoppok mit ihren musikalischen Gastbeiträgen als Kronzeugen für die Gruppe aus. Einst waren Östro 430 Vorbilder, als es Bezeichnungen wie Rrriot Girls und Role Models noch nicht gab. Und auch heute sind sie wieder Wegbereiter. Wegbereiter wofür? Bis die Welt das passende Wort gefunden hat, nennen wir"s einfach "Punkrock nach Hausfrauenart".

Black Truffle is pleased to announce The Leisure Principle, a new solo LP from London-based bassist and sound artist Otto Willberg. A key player in the London underground, Willberg is often heard on acoustic and electric bass in free improv settings and bands with Laurie Tompkins (Yes Indeed) and Charles Hayward (Abstract Concrete), as well as the fractured No Wave unit Historically Fucked. His previous solo releases have ranged from extended technique double bass to explorations of the acoustics of a 19th century artillery fort. But nothing Willberg has committed to wax so far prepares a listener for The Leisure Principle, six unashamedly melodic improvisational workouts created almost entirely with heavily filtered bass harmonica and electric bass. On the opening ‘Reap What Thou Sow’, a single-note bass harmonica loop pulses along underneath a roaming bass solo, the side-chained envelope filtering (where the dynamic behaviour of the bass determines the filter for both bass and harmonica) fusing the two instruments into a single stream of burbling shifts in resonance. After several minutes of patient exploration of this low-end landscape, the music suddenly opens up in widescreen with the entrance of Sam Andreae’s graceful melodica chords, spreading out across the stereo field. From this epic opener, each of the remaining pieces goes on to explore a slightly different aspect of the terrain. On ‘Shadow Came into the Eyes as Earth Turned on its Axis’, a similarly buoyant harmonica bass line provides the foundation, but this time playing a soulful descending riff, its almost R&B feel abstracted and half-obscured by the filtering. On ‘Mollusk’, echoed bass arpeggios skitter between elegiac chords somewhat reminiscent of the opening of John Abercrombie’s ‘Timeless’, before settling into a hypnotic groove. On the record’s second half, Willberg pushes further into the possibilities of his idiosyncratic instrumentation. On ‘Wetter’, bass and harmonica come together into a monstrous, growling jaw harp; on ‘Had we but world enough and more time’, the subtly shifting pulsating patterns start to feel almost like a kind of evaporated, drum-less dub techno until an eruption of wheezing bass harmonica gives the piece a comically folkish turn. Willberg’s melodically inventive and virtuosic bass performance calls to mind any number of fusion touchstones, from Jaco Pastorius to Mark Egan’s singing tone in the early Pat Metheny Group—even Anthony Jackson’s work with Steve Kahn. But with its radically reduced instrumentation, The Leisure Principle is also an exercise in minimalism, and the absence of percussion gives even its funkiest moments a strangely abstracted quality. At times, its uncanny blend of the abstruse and the immediate suggests the fried pop experiments of David Rosenboom or the skewed but deeply musical DIY of 80s underground groups like De Fabriek. Both easy on the ear and profoundly strange, The Leisure Principle proudly takes its place among the most eccentric offerings on the Black Truffle menu.

Welchem 60s-Fan klingen die Songs nicht in den Ohren: 'Painter Man', 'Making Time', 'Cool Jerk', 'Tom Tom', 'Biff Bang Pow', ihre ultra-coolen Versionen von 'Like A Rolling Stone' oder 'Hey Joe' und einige mehr. Speziell in Deutschland hatte die 1966 formierte Beat-Band um Gitarrist Eddie Phillips eine treue Fan-Gemeinde.. Stilistisch nah bei The Who und den Kinks wurde The Creation von deren Produzenten Shel Talmy produziert. Bis sich die Band 1968 erstmalig auflöste, entstand kein reines Studioalbum, aber jede Menge Single-Hits. Später wurde das legendäre Label von Alan McGee nach ihnen benannt. Das luxuriöse 2CD-Set im 7inch Format hält nochmal alle Klassiker bereit, die die Band in den 1960er Jahren aufgenommen hat. Die im Tracklisting reduzierte Halfspeed-Master-LP kommt mit dem dänischen Artwork , OBI-Strip, 4-Seiten-Booklet und natürlich auf 180Gr. Black Vinyl.

In 1972, a foursome of design students set out to make a record. This was, in many ways, a strictly creative endeavor. The quartet — composed of Dave Pescod, Alan Lewis, Phil Rawle, and Ted Rockley — were all trained, not as musicians, but as creatives. Art school heavyweights, the four were well-versed in the methodology of intentional experimentation, in the delicate balance of pushing the limits without completely unmooring oneself from a guiding creative intention. Emboldened by a high-brow familiarity with thoughtful experimentation and all the non-conviction of non-musicians, Bowes Road Band’s stint in the world of popular music yielded a record that is as much mind-melting as it is a direct product of its time. Their sprawling LP “Back in the HCA” embodies the exigence “art for art’s sake,” but it is for art’s sake that this record, however off the deep end it seems to travel (hear: “Doctor, Doctor”), remains a unified, and stunning, body of work. The LP’s do-ityourself garage rock noisemaking meets highfalutin creative processes. “Back in the HCA” is warbling psychedelic freakout (“Two Fingers,” “Doctor, Doctor”), Donovan-esque English countryside folk stylings (“Inside My Head,” “Goodbye to Rosie”), and avant-garde jazz improvisions (“Grass is Grass,” “Tomorrow’s Truth”) in one luminous release.

Originally an 9-track LP, Jakarta, Uno Loop, and Bowes Road Band decided to mine the six most cohesive tracks for the reissue, though the extras may be released somewhere down the line. Cohesion efforts aside, “Back in the HCA” stands alone in its singular conception of a genre-bending continuum — it evades definition. That said, the LP can easily be situated in the sonic environment in which it was conceived. By the end of the 60s, England was crawling with blues-based rock outfits that were starting to venture into prog rock territory. You can hear this popular dint cast over the folkier side of the LP. But Bowes Road Band was armed with their non-musicianship: they existed completely liberated from the motivating yet ultimately paralyzing lust for stardom. Enjoying this liberation, Bowes Road Band was utterly free to make noise. This freedom meant drawn out sax interludes amidst sweetly folk stylings (“Grass is Grass”) and Shaggs-like fuzzed-out freakouts that spiral into a void (Doctor, Doctor). This freedom also meant straight-forward tuneful cuts like “Goodbye Rosie” that conspicuously introduce heavily distorted auto-organ accompaniment mid-track amidst poignant lyricism. Bowes Road Band crafts a unified sound and then cracks it open.

With a completely off-the-radar status, Bowes Road Band could only press 50 copies of the record — 10 for each of them and 10 for the school. The band’s lifespan was to end there, or so they thought. “Back in the HCA” was the accidental fruit of a Berlin flea market treasure hunt by Jannis Stürtz, DJ and co-founder of Habibi Funk and Jakarta Records. After finding and sharing the LP with a few colleagues, Stürtz managed to get in touch with the band, get ahold of the master tapes collecting dust in Ted Rockley’s attic, and start the reissuing process. The record is still adorned with its original cover art designed by Alan Pescod, both reminiscent of bygone school days and the Zoom calls of yesterday — in short, reunion. Its re-discovery was happenstance and ought to be listened to as such. That is, “Back in the HCA” was not made to be listened to on a broad scale, or, at least, was not made with this goal in mind; it is neither in its time nor of its time. Of course, the group explicitly cites the folk tunes of the English countryside, the distorted rock groups that reigned during the record’s conception, and the fringes of psychedelic music that only the uber-underground might recognize (e.g., “Dreaming of Alice”). Yet still with these obvious influences, “Back in the HCA” always existed beyond the domain of both traditional musicianship and conventional commodification. Bowes Road Band’s DIY musicality beams through in technicolor across “Back in the HCA.” The vinyl includes an 8-page booklet detailing the albums creation and interviews with the band.

Lead single “Grass is Grass,” out July 14 along with album pre-order, encapsulates the record’s range: the track unfurls into a sprawling sax-driven trip following a sundrenched, Donovan-esque intro w/ lyrics “naively about parks and gardens, not marijuana!” The keyed-down folk cut “Goodbye to Rosie” is single 2 and elevates stripped-down acoustics with golden tinges, out August 4th. Focus track “Tomorrow’s Truth” constructs the fuzzed-out underbelly of acid folk. Listen for echoes of late Beatles, Mark Fry, and Donovan (if they were armed by an unshakabele willful naiveté). Like Sgt. Pepper’s on a shoestring budget—take a trip to the underground with LP “Back in the HCA,” available everywhere physically and digitally on September 1st via Jakarta Records and Uno Loop.

Besides online promotion from label profiles, the album will be further promoted by external agencies within the UK and US.

Wayne Shorter’s 1967 album Schizophrenia found the legendary saxophonist at the pinnacle of post-bop with a sextet of like-minded musical explorers including James Spaulding, Curtis Fuller, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter & Joe Chambers performing Shorter originals like ‘Tom Thumb’, ‘Go’, and ‘Miyako’.

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Kansas City born Hammond B3 organ dynamo Big John Patton made a stellar run of soul jazz albums for Blue Note thru the 1960s but Let ‘Em Roll stands among the finest with Patton adding vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson to a standard organ trio line-up with guitarist Grant Green and drummer Otis Finch.

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Whispers is the first proper P.G. Six album since 2011"s Starry Mind. Time passes slowly, as they"ve been known to say out in the country, and before you know it, there"s a bunch of it behind you. After five releases in the first decade of P.G. Six, it may seem a bit of a surprise to have not heard something new in the past twelve years - but a cursory listen to Murmurs & Whispers will answer why, as the deep acoustic focus of the tracks imply an investment of the type of compassion and understanding that takes time and concentrated effort to conjure. Additionally, Pat Gubler"s always got a few pots going at once in his ever-expanding musical universe. He"s been active since the mid-90s, first with Memphis Luxure and Tower Recordings, then as P.G. Six, and as a member of Metal Mountains, Wet Tuna, Garcia Peoples and Weeping Bong Band. Additionally, some time was spent making collaborative records with Dan Melchior (in 2019) and Louise Bock (in 2021). Pat"s been playing the harp for more years than he"s been in bands, but when he realized that he was writing a set of songs centered around harp compositions, he spent some time in the woodshed with his instrument, a late 80s model Triplett Celtic 34 String Harp (which replaced a lovely Paraguayan harp he"d played for years previously). After the previous P.G. albums of electric band arrangements, he was in a place of writing songs with more silence in them. He ended up playing a lot of the parts himself on Murmurs & Whispers, adding guitar, bass, keyboards, recorder and hurdy gurdy, in addition to his harp and vocals. Clark Griffin and Wednesday Knudson, who Pat plays with in Weeping Bong Band, played and sang a bit themselves, and the record was recorded piece by piece in houses around upstate New York by Mike Fellows. Returning to the quiet acoustic sound of the first couple of P.G. Six albums, Parlor Tricks and Porch Favorites (which has seen a much-needed reissue in the past year after too many years OOP) and The Well of Memory, Murmurs & Whispers is more straightforward in expressing its vision of rural celestial wonder. Bucolic and comfortably lived in, Murmurs & Whispers nonetheless projects the transcendent heart of P.G. Six once again, and as ever, it is magnificent to hear it passing through us.

Nach einem ersten Album, das auf dem legendären Label Blue Note veröffentlicht wurde, meldet sich Tiwayo 2023 mit einem hochkarätigen Folk/Soul-Album zurück! Der französische Singer-Songwriter Tiwayo ist eine eher geheimnisvolle Figur. Über seinen Hintergrund ist nur wenig bekannt, außer dass er Einflüsse aus der Musik der 60er und 70er Jahre aufgenommen hat, insbesondere Blues, Soul, Gospel und Reggae. Wie erfindet man was als Nächstes kommt, wenn das erste Album bei Blue Note erschienen ist und von Mark Neill produziert wurde, der für seine Arbeit an den Platten von The Black Keys bekannt ist? Das ist wahrscheinlich die Frage, die sich Tiwayo, ein dreißigjähriger Pariser Fan schwarzer amerikanischer Musik, gestellt hat. Die Antwort: 'Desert Dream', ein Album, das weniger produziert, weniger Gospel-Blues ist, aber zerbrechlicher, raffinierter. Ein zeitloses und essentielles Album, wie es von Zeit zu Zeit erscheint, trotz aller Moden, die den gegenwärtigen Moment bestimmen, von Tracy Chapman bis Sufjan Stevens, über Wilco, Bon Iver, Ben Harper... Man hört das Echo der Stille der großen, trockenen amerikanischen Weiten. Diese Seele Amerikas, die in den endlosen, staubigen und einsamen Straßen steckt, die geradewegs auf die Hoffnung auf ein ruhigeres Morgen zulaufen. Tiwayo folgt dieser Straße als Multiinstrumentalist und einsamer Cowboy und dokumentiert seine Reise mit seiner verschleierten Stimme in zehn Liedern, denen man sich einfach nicht entziehen kann.

Mit wenig mehr als einer unerbittlichen Reihe von Live-Auftritten und einem zweimal gepressten (und anschließend ausverkauften) selbstbetitelten Demo hat sich die in New York ansässige Band Lathe of Heaven als ein starkes und zusammenhängendes Element inmitten der Flut von Punk und synthiegetriebenem Pop-Revival erwiesen, das derzeit im US-Underground wuchert. Die 2021 gegründete Band setzt sich aus Mitgliedern bemerkenswerter Brooklyner Projekte wie Pawns, People's Temple, Porvenir Oscuro, Android, Hustler und anderen zusammen. Obwohl diese Liste vergangener und alternativer musikalischer Bestrebungen ein breites Spektrum an Genres und Fähigkeiten aufzeigt, kann Lathe of Heaven nur als eine Abkehr von solchen Einflüssen verstanden werden und erforscht einen völlig eigenen Sound. Nun, fast zwei Jahre später, sind Lathe of Heaven endlich bereit, ihr Debütalbum "Bound by Naked Skies" zu veröffentlichen. Die elf Tracks umfassende LP verbindet Elemente von düsterem britischem New-Wave und finnischem Post-Punk zu einer nuancierten Gegenüberstellung von 80er-Jahre-Soundwahn. "Bound by Naked Skies" greift Themen der klassischen und zeitgenössischen Science-Fiction auf, die den einzigartigen und bewussten Sound prägt, und verdankt seinen literarischen Einflüssen ebenso viel wie der Musik. Als kraftvolle Hommage an die unheimlichen Welten der Autoren Arthur C. Clarke, Octavia Butler, Ken Liu und natürlich Ursula Le Guin (nach deren Roman die Band benannt ist), verweben sich Themen der Kosmologie ("Ekpyrosis"), Simulation ("Heralds of the Circuit-Born"), Geisteskrankheit ("Moon-Driven Sea") und Ontologie ("Entropy", "The Spider" etc.), und ziehen sich wie ein roter Faden durch das Album. Ein Einblick in die Gedankenwelt derer, die von der Ungewissheit der erschreckenden und gar nicht so fernen Zukunft der Menschheit geplagt werden.

Doppel-LP im Klappcover mit zwei bedruckten Innersleeves, 140 Gramm Vinyl. Was tun, wenn die Welt stehen bleibt? März 2020 ist der Moment, als die deutsche Schauspielerin Melanie Wiegmann auf der kleinen maltesischen Insel Gozo landet, um dort ihren Lebensgefährten, den Musiker Carl Carlton, zu besuchen. Pandemie, Quarantäne, Reisebeschränkungen - nichts geht mehr. Carl, international vernetzter und bekannter Rockgitarrist, ist gezwungen, sämtliche musikalischen Projekte auf Eis zu legen. Auch für Melanie wird die Reise zur Zäsur. Sie bricht Brücken ab und verlässt die laufende Produktion der ARD-Telenovela "Sturm der Liebe", mit der sie zum Star wurde. Aus ihrem ursprünglich geplanten Vier-Tage-Trip werden schließlich drei Jahre. Das Paar nutzt die Zwangspause auf der Mittelmeerinsel, um sich der Musik zu widmen. Im Vordergrund stehen der Spaß und die gemeinsame Liebe zu den Songs, an eine kommerzielle Verwertung denkt niemand. Der rote Faden, der sämtliche Songs verbindet: das ewige Thema Liebe - mit allen Schattierungen. Melanie und Carl entwickeln Arrangements und stellen fest, dass nicht nur ihre Stimmen, sondern auch ihre Geschmäcker harmonieren. Das Great Americana Songbook bildet die Grundlage. Neben Genre-Klassikern wie "Love Hurts" und "If I Needed You" kommen auch die Beatles ("Here, There And Everywhere") und Perlen aus den Katalogen großer Songwriter wie Leonard Cohen ("Dance Me To The End Of Love"), Tom Petty ("Wildflowers") und John Prine ("Long Monday") oder Bob Dylan ("I'll Be Your Baby Tonight") ins Spiel. Als Reisen endlich wieder möglich ist, packen die beiden die Koffer, um Carls weltweit verzweigte Musikerfamilie zu besuchen. Die Aufnahmen der Songs entstehen in Irland, Berlin und schließlich auf Malta. Den Feinschliff für das Album gab es in New York von Mastering-Legende Fred Kevorkian. Mit "Glory Of Love" ist ein warmherziges musikalisches Tagebuch entstanden, das mit eigenwilliger Songauswahl, unprätentiösen Arrangements und natürlichem Charme überzeugt. Die vielleicht schönste Überraschung: Hier haben sich nicht nur zwei Seelen, sondern auch zwei wundervoll harmonierende Stimmen gefunden.

Das schwedische Quartett UNLEASHED gehört schon seit Ewigkeiten zu einer der agilsten und gleichzeitig besten Bands der weltweiten Death MetalSzene. Keine andere Band haut in regelmäßigen Abständen so unberechenbare Todesblei-Longplayer unters Volk, und versteht es dabei, sich von Album zu Album zu steigern. Hammer Battalion aus dem Jahr 2009 war ein weiterer Geniestreich aus dem Hause UNLEASHED. Die Jungs liefern haargenau das ab, was die Fans von ihnen erwarten. Hier gibt es reihenweise Elchtod-Granaten. Gradlinige Songs wie "Midsummer solstice" , "Home of the brave", "Entering the hall of slain" oder "Warriors of midgard" stehen in allerbester Stockholm-Tradition. Hammer Battalion gibt es nun als limitierte LP-Neuauflage in gelbem Vinyl

Wann immer EVERGREY-Frontmann Tom S. Englund und der US-amerikanische Pianist/Komponist Vikram Shankar (Redemption, Lux Terminus) zusammenkommen und ihre Kreativität gemeinsam als SILENT SKIES nach außen kehren, entsteht Magie! Mit Dormant veröffentlicht das schwedisch-amerikanische Cinematic-Pop-Duo nun das nächste, magische Stück Musik. Das dritte Studioalbum von Englund und Shankar erscheint am 1. September 2023 über Napalm Records. Getragen von vertonten Emotionen und skandinavischer Melancholie reiht sich Dormant in die klangliche Welt der vorherigen Alben Nectar (2022) und Satellites (2020) ein und bietet atemberaubende Klaviermelodien, atmosphärische Keyboards, weitläufige Soundlandschaften und eindringlich schöne und intensive Vocals auf zehn Eigenkompositionen, begleitet von mehreren Bonustracks. Für Letztere haben SILENT SKIES bekannte Klassiker gecovert, unter anderem von Iron Maiden und Linkin Park, und diese an ihren ganz eigenen, unverkennbaren Sound angelehnt.
Auf Dormant lädt der atmosphärische Eröffnungstrack „Construct"" die Hörer dazu ein, die beiden Musiker auf einer gefühlvollen Reise zu begleiten. „New Life“ schlägt hingegen dunklere Pfade ein. Englunds einfühlsamer Gesang spricht direkt zur Seele und harmoniert perfekt mit Shankars ausgefeilter Instrumentierung, die von zartem Piano getragen und einer einnehmenden Produktion unterstrichen wird. Das harmonische „Churches"" sowie das Pop-inspirierte „Just Above The Clouds"" – Letzteres mit einem fesselnden Solo des Leprous/Musk Ox-Cellisten Raphael Weinroth-Browne – bauen sich zu einem hypnotischen Tagtraum auf, um in den gefühlvollen Tönen von Dormant zu versinken. Einfühlsam kreieren „Reset"" und „Tides"" schier endlose melancholische Klanglandschaften, während das ergreifende „The Real Me"" mit elektronischen Tönen eine weitere Facette des Albums aufzeigt.
Die durch und durch stimmige Zusammenarbeit beider Künstler bildet das Fundament aller SILENT SKIES Kreationen. Durch viel Feingefühl und Liebe zum Detail, gepaart mit tiefgründigen, ausdrucksstarken Lyrics, entsteht ein einzigartiger Charakter, der mit jedem Ton die Handschrift von Englund und Shankar trägt. Auf das tief bewegende „Light Up The Dark"" und den Titeltrack „Dormant"" folgt mit „The Last On Earth"" die letzte Eigenkomposition des Albums.
Das dritte Werk von SILENT SKIES ist melancholisch und beruhigend, aber auch sprudelnd und glühend – es erweitert das klangliche Universum des Duos in alle Richtungen. Dormant reflektiert das Leben selbst und ist das Ergebnis mutiger klanglicher Experimente in Verbindung mit genau der künstlerischen Ästhetik, die SILENT SKIES auszeichnet. Mit ihrer Musik schreiben Tom S. Englund und Vikram Shankar so intensive Geschichten wie das Leben selbst und erreichen damit Menschen in unterschiedlichsten Lebenslagen mit verschiedensten musikalischen Vorlieben."

'Ain't Ever Easy' is the best example to date. The muscular, chooglin' beat of the country funk heater "Can't Take Back" opens Ryan Curtis' sophomore album 'Ain't Ever Easy.' Like a steam train gliding into some high desert station, it bears the strong vintage machinery of Curtis' "alt-country from the high country" sound. The song lopes in on oozing guitar and keys over a backbeat that pulses sexier than a
breakup song has the right to be. Regret has rarely sounded this happy, but Curtis is capable of turning love and loss into dripping hot, powerful songs. Over the last decade the various styles of country have become Curtis' stock-in-trade. With a gravelly growl he paints cinematic pictures of picaresque people from the Midwest and the badlands; down and out townies, bar room drifters, forlorn lovers, and resilient loners fill his visionary tales, mournful subject matter he turns into country gold.

Their second LP, Astral Plains, arrives on via We Are Busy Bodies. While the group's 2021 debut Noteland was described as "akin to getting stuck in a sensory deprivation tank with Keith Jarrett", in itself by no means a bad scenario, by contrast Astral Plains opens up, offering spacious and blue- sky arrangements and production. Perhaps it's closer to laying in a prairie field looking for animals in the clouds with Mark Hollis.

A group of five talented musicians from the northeast, led by the songwriting genius of Alan Hull. Lindisfarne were formed in 1968 when Hull joined Simon Cowe on guitar, Ray Jackson on mandolin and vocals, Rod Clements on bass and Ray Laidlaw on drums. Building a fearsome live reputation, by 1970 they had been signed to Tony Stratton Smith's Charisma label.
Their first album, Nicely Out Of Tune, contained Lady Eleanor and set up an eager audience for Fog On The Tyne, an album of tremendous light and shade. Known for the Rod Clements- written, Ray Jackson- sung Meet Me On The Corner, and Alan Hull's anthemic title track. The album succeeds in creating a mythical, twilight northeast, from the cover design inwards; of city lights, ragmen, sausage rolls, tattered tweeds and having a "wet on the wall." Fog On The Tyne is the sound of a band at both a commercial and creative peak. The musicianship is second to none, watertight, yet relaxed and freewheeling, recorded at London's Trident Studios by Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen producer Bob Johnston and Bowie engineer Ken Scott.

It contains the product of two different sessions. The first date, which is actually the second chronologically, yielded just two tracks. Although, something new for the time, they were long enough to fill up one side of an LP. 5 Stars AllMusic: "The undeniable strength and conviction present in Miles Davis' performance on Walkin', underscores the urgency and passion with which he would rightfully reclaim his status as a primary architect of bop. Davis is supported by his all-stars, consisting of his primary rhythm section: Horace Silver
(piano), Percy Heath (bass), and Kenny Clarke (drums). Walkin! is a thoroughly solid effort." 'I'll Remember April' from the same session, but not included on the original LP, has been added as a bonus.

Grain typified the sound of Rust Belt youth in the mid 90s. With slow builds, fast/ slow time signatures, dissonant guitar work with melodic, catchy undercurrents, and just enough breakdowns to keep the hardcore purists happy, these recordings are simultaneously angry, urgent and beautiful. Remastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering in Los Angeles.

First Word Records is very proud to welcome Ruby Wood to the label, with her debut solo EP 'Sincerely'.

Ruby is a vocalist & songwriter hailing from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Her soulful yet distinctive voice has enabled her to front numerous projects; perhaps best known as lead vocalist of the critically acclaimed Submotion Orchestra, since 2009.

She also toured as lead vocalist for Bonobo's live band, for Nubiyan Twist, and with hugely successful 1940's-esque vocal trio, The Sugar Sisters. There have also been features for dance outfits such as GLXY & Franky Wah, additionally to writing & recording for the likes of Krept & Konan, Alfa Mist, Roska, Hemai, Barney Artist and XOA, to name just a few.

In 2021, Ruby was awarded a DYCP Arts Council grant to fund her own creative project, which was taken as an opportunity to go back to the drawing board creatively, spending time working out how her own music would sound and what messages she wanted to convey.

After initial sketches on her Native Instruments Maschine, she began to work with fellow Submotion Orchestra member, Chris 'Fatty' Hargreaves; a long time friend and collaborator, and a revered musician in his own right, with his low-end theory science triumphantly stamped across his other projects, such as Pengshui and Outlook Orchestra. Ruby and Chris began bouncing ideas back and forth, and gradually this solo project started to take shape and form the bulk of this debut EP.

In Ruby's words "After years of working in big projects with lots of people, I often struggled to feel like my voice was being heard. Branching out on my own is an opportunity for me to make music that I would actually listen to myself! This process has been healing for me, and I'm so proud of myself for continuing to learn and develop my craft, whilst learning how to produce songs from scratch.


Becoming a mother also changed me for the better, and provided me with a wealth of experiences and challenges that have gone on to fuel my lyrics. I've grown a lot, and this EP gives a snippet of my life thus far".

'Sincerely' is comprised of five tracks, firmly based in the realms of hip hop soul and neo soul sonically, with an unashamedly '90s R&B vibe throughout. Throughout the EP, Ruby's story tells tales of motherhood, relationships, commitment, independence and inspirations. Further collaborations on the set come from vocalist Isaac Malibu (on 'Mr. Unavailable'), wind player Arran Kent (on 'My Favourite Song'), and assistance on a couple of beats from acclaimed hip hop producer, Pitch 92 and San Diego's Martel Howard, along with more Submotion alumni, Danny Templeman, Dom Howard and Bobby Beddoe and the debut performance from Ruby's daughter, Amber!

A truly triumphant body of work, this is just the start of a new chapter for Ruby Wood.

Ende der 1990er Jahre lernte der österreichische Musiker und Schriftsteller Hans Platzgumer den halbjapanischen Sänger Carl Tokujirô Mirwald auf einer Aftershow-Party in München kennen. Bei seinem spontanen Auftritt hatte Carl den unwiderstehlichen Sound eines japanischen Tom Waits, der traditionelle Gesangstechniken des Nô-Theaters mit westlichen Einflüssen mischte. Die beiden gründeten das Elektro-Duo Shinto und brachten mehrere Platten heraus, mit denen sie eine eingefleischte Fangemeinde anzogen und mehrfach durch Japan und Europa tourten. Als jedoch die Fukushima-Katastrophe 2011 nicht nur ihre japanischen Labelbüros zerstörte, sondern sie auch zwang, anstehende Tourneen abzusagen, legten sie die Band auf Eis. Dennoch blieb ihre euro-asiatische Zusammenarbeit bestehen. 2015 begann das Duo, sich mit der Taishô-Ära zu beschäftigen, einer Periode in der japanischen Geschichte vor genau hundert Jahren, die eine Fülle von neuen demokratischen und anarchischen Bewegungen mit zahlreichen gegensätzlichen Protagonisten hervorbrachte. Jetzt, 8 Jahre später, ist Hans' Roman Großes Spiel über diese historischen Kämpfe erschienen (Zsolnay/Hanser), gleichzeitig mit einer Sammlung von 10 neuen Liedern. Taishô Romantica vertont japanische Texte aus dem frühen 20. Jahrhundert, die die Nähe von Leben, Tod und ideologischem Glauben in den dramatischen Taishô-Jahren schildern, mit einer extravaganten Partitur, die Muzak und Electronica mit theatralischen Elementen und Kammermusik mischt. Die aktuelle CD/LP/digital "Taishô Romantica" wird am 1. September 2023 über Noise Appeal Records veröffentlicht.

Remastered for its 10th Anniversary, the newly cut vinyl edition of Ripely Pine features the bonus track “Up In The Rafters,” long a live favorite that really should have been on the album in the first place. More than anything, Aly Spaltro has 20,000 second-hand DVDs to thank for her first album. Despite being recorded at a proper studio in her recently adopted home of Brooklyn, Ripely Pine showcases songs conceived during her tenure at Bart’s & Greg’s DVD Explosion in Brunswick, Maine. Little did customers know, the same store they’d drop off their Transformers movies was providing the ideal four-year cocoon for the development of a major musical talent. Spaltro worked the 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM shift. Each night, after locking up, she’d walk past Drama and Horror, pull out her music gear from behind a wall of movies, and write and record songs until morning broke. She did this every day, drawing strength from the monotony of her routine and testing out multiple techniques, approaches and instrumentation. Anger, confusion, love, happiness and sadness reigned, and the songs ran rampant, with little form or structure. Isolated for those many hours, Spaltro let melodies morph together, break apart and pair up. This is how she taught herself to write music and sing. Taking the name Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Spaltro became one of the most beloved musicians in Portland. Her live shows were unhinged, as melodies followed an internal logic only apparent to Spaltro herself. She sang and played guitar, and the songs offered a vivid yet brief snapshot of her expansive world. At 23, with years of writing and performing music already under her belt, she ventured to the next milestone—recording an album. This would be the first time she did so in a professional studio and the first time she shared the process with anyone else. Luckily, she met Nadim Issa at Let ’Em Music in Brooklyn. He was taken enough by her abilities to dedicate nine full months toward the recording of Ripely Pine, and she with his producing abilities to ease comfortably into making him a part of her recording process. She wrote everything—all the songs, all the arrangements. And the two of them assembled an album that finally fit what existed in Spaltro’s mind. Keeping the songs’ stark rawness, the record is a pure representation of her sound. Ripely Pine shouts the introduction of a new talent from every groove. These recordings come as close as possible to conveying the intense majesty of her live shows, and, much like those performances, a narrative breathes through the record’s progression. The album opens with urgency and anger, settles into reconciliation and reciprocation, and ultimately reaches toward resolution, realizing infatuation leads to a loss of self; instead, embracing one’s own strengths is the most powerful thing of all.

In 2020, electronic musician Nina Pixel was offered a track on a compilation album of songs from the Liptov region. What started as a rearrangement of a single folk song eventually grew in scope and size, eventually becoming a series of releases. Titled Ancestral Archaeology, the series counts two self-released EPs, an audiovisual show in co-operation with Adrián Kriška, and now, after two years, a double LP published by Weltschmerzen. In this definitive form of an album, Ancestral Archaeology reveals itself as a musical reimagination of traditional historical Slovak culture at large.

Nina Pixel averts the perils of lapsing into inauthentic fakelore by building her music with, rather than on, the ethnographic riches of Slovakia. With the eagerness of a genuine archeological prospector, Ancestral Archaeology invokes the always present but seldom perceived linchpins of folklore culture: the desperate clinging to the memory of pre-Christian paganism and witchcraft, songs with narratives of beautiful innate wyrdness that is utterly unfit for mass culture, and superstition as the most serious longing for the balance between sense and irrationality.

If we acknowledge the truism of folklore as the shared way of expression in rural society, the techno music on Ancestral Archeology proposes that, in the urban society of ours, this role is served by raves. The argument isn't as much declared as it's implied // in music and in the spoken-word lyrics that are rife with historical and contemporary sources. An 18th-century recipe by the writer and priest Juraj Fándly proposes snorting the grounded flowers of the medicinal weed Valerian as a way of curing bad vision. "It is a proven remedy!" we are repeatedly assured, and it's not hard imagining Fándly and his parishioners, strung out on Valerian, moving almost involuntarily to the rhythms of their era just as we can move to Ancestral Archeology.

Nina Pixel is a Slovak music artist based in Berlin. Lyrics are inspired by Slovak folklore traditions, songs and shared beliefs.



Manifestation tools: cello, overtone flute koncovka, fujara, gong, metal bowls, sheep bell, field recordings of Slovak forests, Andreas's tom and various drum machines.

Unlike the spiraling momentum of the band's sophomore LP, pleasure suck, the spirit of the beehive takes a more grounded approach here, though the ground it's standing on is equally otherworldly. Dreamy is a fitting adjective, but the ten tracks on Hypnic Jerks never fully slip into the peaceful character of dream-pop. Hypnic Jerks has the quality of an indescribable dream fading from memory as you slowly begin to regain consciousness. Its warped guitar tones, transcendental synths and smattering of eerie audio samples conjure this purgatorial space between reverie and reality. It's an arena where the songs unexpectedly contort themselves and take on different textures, morphing in and out of one another. Once the celestial harmonies, balmy keys and creeping false climax of album closer it's gonna find you roll past, it's clear that the spirit of the beehive has secured a seat at this decade's table of musical visionaries.

Originally released on may 29, 1969, Crosby, Stills and Nash remains one of rock 'n' roll's most impressive debuts. It was big news in 1969 when former key members of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and the Hollies - three of the finest bands of the '60s - splintered off to form their own trio. Despite their already-proven talents, few could have imagined the gossamer vocal blend that would become the trademark of supergroup Crosby, Stills and Nash. The band's debut effectively provided the soundtrack to the summer of '69. For his part, Steve Stills keeps exploring the progressive folk-rock sound that he'd pioneered with Buffalo Springfield; signature tune Suite: Judy Blue Eyes is an expansive, multi-section affair that makes full use of the group's vocal skills. Fresh from the Hollies, Graham Nash adds an accessible pop sensibility, epitomized by the effervescent ditty Marrakesh Express. David Crosby, always the wild card in the Byrds, here adds rough edges and flashes of mystery with his cutting protest rocker Long Time Gone and the exquisite art-folk of Guinnevere. With this kind of firepower under its belt, it's no wonder csn quickly became one of the biggest groups of their era.

A year after its first edition, the Open Space series returns in order to keep exploring what ambient music might mean nowadays.

A breadth of fresh artists, some new to the label and others renowned for their more dance-centric works, the compilation aims to give each individual artist their creative freedom to explore the space.

Techno producers such as Arthur Robert or label head Len Faki himself keep the beats present but this time focus on evoking states of introspection rather than the shuffle of dancefloors.
On the other end of the spectrum, we find seasoned multi-instrumentalist Laraaji, who has been crafting deeply meditative soundscapes since the 80’s. Using the special opportunity, the label reaches outside its usual sphere, inviting artists like the modular synth expert Jeremy Wentorth or Jimmy LaValle’s band project The Album Leaf. All while still featuring some well known veteran producers the likes of John Beltran or Exos.

No matter their respective scene or background, all artists are using their unique approach to display something deeply emotive. Be it the warm, expansive electro of Future Beat Alliance or a bubbly cosmic arpride by Hamburg Duo Can Love Be Synth.

Truly living up to its name, the Open Space series aims to open up possibilities for artists to freely pursue their creativity in a completely undefined area, a space for exploration and connection.

In the beginning there was FAUVE, cult french rock band with unique on-fire spoken-word singing & epic concerts.
4 out of the 5 former Fauve members decided to resume creation and to change everything. They are back on a new name : MAGENTA & with a totally different global identity, up to the music: new foundations. No more rock, pure electronic music from classic french touch to new electro vibes. But still featuring lyrics & singing reminding their former roots. And electronic played live using a drummer & a guitarist on top of machines & keyboards.

Following a greatest hits compilation in the late 90s the Human League signed to the Papillon label. The line-up
of Philip Oakey, Susan Sulley and Joanne Catherall recorded the “Secrets” album, with keyboard player Neil
Sutton, who co-wrote most of the songs with Oakey, and programmer David Beevers providing the trademark
Human League sound.
• The album’s release in 2001 was preceded by the single “All I Ever Wanted”, but both the single and album lost
promotion and sales when Papillon ran into financial difficulties and was closed shortly after the album’s release.
• This 2LP new edition has been expertly mastered by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering from the original stereo
tapes using precision half-speed mastering. Half-speed mastering is a vinyl cutting technique that improves
groove accuracy and transient information creating an incredibly detailed stereo image with a natural high
frequency response.
• Presented in its original sleeve, pressed on 2 x 180 gram heavyweight black vinyl, featuring an obi strip and
housed in a poly-lined inner sleeve, with all the lyrics and credits on the 4 page insert.

a 01. All I Ever Wanted Dave Bascombe Mix 3:31

[c] 03. Love Me Madly? [Dave Bascombe Mix] 4:08

This classic album from 1973 saw its creator, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry exploring synths and starting to develop his Black Ark sound - the enigmatic producer was at the time in the process of building his famous studio and honing his ideas about dub as a musical form.

The LP opens with the eerie “Kentucky Skank”, Perry’s ode to KFC, complete with frying chicken sounds, spliced between winding tapes, a ghostly trumpet, and futuristic moog synthesizer, overdubbed at London’s Chalk Farm studios.

U Roy’s “Double Six” and I Roy’s “High Fashion” & “Hail Stones” illustrate just how strong The Upsetter’s deejay material had become, while versions of the Chi-Lites’ “We Are Neighbours”, Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” and a re-working of Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” (retitled “Jungle Lion”) all betray the funky soul influence that was increasingly shaping his work.

The backing tracks illustrate the producer at his best; the audio spectrum is fully differentiated while spatial placement an important component - something it would take years for him to achieve at the Black Ark.

Double Seven is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on silver coloured vinyl

100% Analogue 33RPM 180g 1LP
Remastered from the Original Analogue Stereo Masters for the First Time!

Hear this album as it was meant to be heard! Absolutely Stunning!
The greatest assembly of musical talent ever on one album! Features Performances by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Ben Webster & 27 More Jazz Greats!



In 1958, a young, successful French composer-arranger with a major infatuation on American jazz, worked his way to New York and convinced the very best players of the time to record an album of largely jazz standards. Michel Legrand would go on to win numerous prizes and accolades (3 Oscars, 5 Grammies, 2 Palmes D'or, etc.), but little of what followed matched the sheer brilliance of Legrand Jazz.

Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Ben Webster, Phil Woods and practically every other session man in town signed up for sessions with Legrand to record his idiosyncratic arrangements of standards ("Django", "Don’t Get Around Much Anymore", "Night in Tunisia", etc.). Instead of regurgitating then current bop styles, he reinvented the very nature of orchestral jazz band repertoire to make a unique and forward-looking statement on the genre.

The sound of Impex's all-analogue LP preserves the wide soundstage of late 50’s Columbia recordings while creating intimate spaces between players on the stage for maximum definition. This rare, highly-praised recording has never sounded as good as it does now. Go big with Legrand Jazz.

Legrand Jazz was greeted by an enthusiastic review in the magazine Down Beat. Dom Cerulli awarded it five stars out of a possible five.

The meticulously recreated outer jacket is packaged in a gatefold with an original photo montage inside honoring Michel Legrand's masterpiece of reinvention and sublime fan-boy enthusiasm.

"The music is luscious and this just may be one of the best-sounding records you'll ever hear." - Ken Kessler, Hi Fi News, Rated 95/100 Sound Quality!

FÖLLAKZOID begannen in Santiago de Chile, nach dem, was sie selbst als "das Resultat einer Trance-Erfahrung zwischen Freunden, eine Seelenentführung, in der sie seit 2008 leben", nennen. Die Band besteht aus vielschichtigen Künstlern: Juan Pablo (Bass, Gesang) ist der Produzent des Sangre Fresca Music Festival in Santiago, Diege (Schlagzeug) ist Photograph, Alfredo am Synthesizer ist Architekt und Domingo an der Gitarre hat just seinen ersten Kinofilm ,Partir To Live" vorgestellt. Sie sind fest davon überzeugt, dass in Südamerika eine besondere Gravitationsmacht am Werke ist, die es dem Erdteil erlaubt, direkt mit anderen Orten, Zeiten und Dimensionen in Kontakt zu treten. Sie alle kennen sich aus der Kindheit. ,II" bezeugt die immense Entwicklung der Band in punkto Songwriting, die sich hier an durchdachtere Songs du Strukturen waren. Mit den fünf Songs von ,II" veröffentlichen FÖLLAKZOID den besten Krautrock seit Jahren!

There are different ways to celebrate an anniversary. We can look back and reflect on where we've been and how far we've come. Or we can look forward towards future possibilities. Alternatively, we can simply pause for a moment and be present - right here, right now. Rather like we are aware and mindful of what is happening at this very moment when we're enjoying superb music, excellently recorded and played.

That's how Clearaudio is celebrating its 45th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Clearaudio are delighted to present an album of music that embodies their passion for perfection, for nuanced and detailed sound, and for an intimate marriage of creativity and technical finesse. In other words, an album that reflects the key principles by Clearaudio.

"Take the best, make it better - only then it is just good enough." This well-known quote is as valid today as it was 45 years ago, and has inspired a host of colleagues and collaborators along the way. Ever since the release of Delta and Sigma speakers in 1978 and the development of the first moving coil cartridges, not a day has passed when Clearaudio didn't strive to set new standards for higher fidelity. This mindset continues to underpin their work to this day.

No matter where you've come from or where you are going, if your heart beats to the drum of truly authentic sound, then you'll find Clearaudio spirit, will and drive in every single one of their products - from the most towering turntable to the smallest cable.

While some creators may be content with merely looking closely, Clearaudio has always looked and listened closely. Very closely - and at both ends of the spectrum, from top-quality record engineering to excellent playback. So the early stages of every Clearaudio musical recording begin with questions like: "Does it sound exactly like in a concert hall?" and "Does the music feel as was intended when it was written and composed?"

In addition to their own recordings, a number of their favourite legendary productions from Deutsche Grammophon have also found their way onto this album. So why not take a pause, "take five," and enjoy these moments of exceptional music, lovingly produced? And join Clearaudio in celebrating 45 years of loving music!

Brand new 7-inch from the incredible duo The Double. Their first release since their debut album Dawn Of The Double in 2016. The Double are Emmett Kelly and Jim White—two dudes with resumes so massive it's not even worth bothering to try and drop names. For the recording session that produced this single they brought in bassist Matt Lux. The music The Double make is rhythmic, hypnotic and percussive. Says The Double of this new single, “after the Dance Craze, we took off to go relax in the jungle with our buddy Matt Lux”. 400 copies made.

Blow Your Brains Out formed in 2019 with members of Stand United, Inside, Die Birth, Civil Defense and Soul Vice from Tokyo and Kanagawa. The band are all active members of their local hardcore communities whether it's putting on shows or running a popular radio show called Sick People. Hardcore fans were hyped for the demo with its instant hit mix of Cro-mags and Dynamo style influenced hardcore, and were excited to hear what the band would do next. However, as with all things at this time, they had to put everything on pause. Fast forward to 2023 and the band have recorded their debut 12” ‘The Big Escape’. This sees the band keep true to their demo influences but with greater flair, and will have you humming the tunes in no time at all. It was important for vocalist Kai to sing in Japanese, a language with a unique rhythm and flow that he wanted to match to the riffs, as well as to communicate about topics important to the local, as well as global community, using powerful Japanese words. ‘The Big Escape’ 12” talks about cult religions, political corruption, domestic violence, and companies that force people to work in poor conditions, as well as the suppression of citizens who resist authoritarian forces. I see through their lies and madness and act with the determination I have squeezed out, without succumbing to after-the-fact sophistry or threats. The underlying theme is the understanding that structural issues in society and politics cannot be easily solved, but it’s important to voice dissatisfaction and anger, and resist, and sometimes that’s by running away to survive, but it’s difficult to put this into practice in everyday life. However, there is hope that one day, the big escape will be achieved.

Pianist, composer, arranger and musical director for the likes of Phoenix and Sebastien Tellier, the charismatic and talented Christophe Chassol gave birth to an unclassifiable artistic piece. His compositions articulate voices, music, sounds, images onto new audiovisual objects. The result has a name : "ultrascore".
The second volume of Ultrascores is a selection of unreleased musics composed by Chassol : ?Lamb, his last original soundtrack, Nola Chérie, and remixes of friends : ?Yuksek, Keren Ann,

Svitlana Okhrimenko (artist name: Svitlana Nianio) is a Ukrainian artist, musician, and signer. She is one of the most prominent representatives of the independent music scene of Kyiv in the late 1980s — early 90s. She has repeatedly recorded and performed in collaboration with other musicians and bands, such as Oleksandr Yurchenko, Sugar White Death (Cukor Bila Smert’), Ivanov Down, GeeNerve & Taran, and Blemish. Svitlana still performs and publishes new recordings today.

“Transilvania Smile” is one of the first solo works recorded in 1994. During this time, Svitlana repeatedly visited Germany, where she had the experience of playing in parks and on the streets, gathering contacts of the local art scene. Her cooperation with the international choreographic group Pentamonia, based in Cologne and consisting of several girls who performed in theaters, took part in various performances, and were engaged in music. They met in the 1990s during joint performances with "Sugar-White Death." After that, they corresponded, and the idea of doing something together arose. Svitlana attended several of their performances, which inspired her to write music for a new project, and the band members helped to realize their creative ideas. Later, they started rehearsing together.

The name “Transilvania Smile” was invented by the project participants, and it symbolized the mold on the mirror and the reflection of a smiling vampire. However, shortly before the premiere, they changed it to “Firefox”, as the participants actively used flashlights and the play of light and shadows in the scenography.

The premiere occurred in the local Urania theater, previously a gallery. Isabel Bartensein directed the choreography, and Svitlana played, sang, and improvised. She said it was an excellent experience for her and the band. Besides Cologne, they also performed in Aachen.

Later, Michael Springer offered Svitlana to record this material in his "Phantom" studio. They had already worked together and recorded music for their project (Svitlana Okhrimenko / Phanton). Michael was also interested in the Ukrainian independent scene and participated in the creation of several compilations that featured bands from Kyiv and Kharkiv. Svetlana played the piano and harmonium in the studio and also sang. After the recording, the material was never released in its entirety. Two compositions appeared on the cassette compilation “Shovaisia” (Hide) in 1995, some episodes were re-recorded for the “Kytytsi” album in 1999, but for a long time, the full version of this recording remained practically unknown to listeners and was kept in Svitlana's and Michael’s archives.

This album is one of the most personal and insightful works of Svitlana Nianio from the 90s, which you can now get to know in its original form and sound.