Cerca:kill the young

Impressing the next set of colossal armaments onto wax, 'Order / The Mould' introduces a multitude of esteemed producers from London's musical melting pot to the high-grade Sentry artist roster. Fusing the sounds of bass music heavyweight Boylan and the enigmatic Logos, Slimzee the Grime visionary and co-founder of Rinse FM as well as the trio of veteran producers USF top off this epic collaboration. Following up on the latest anthem with Killa P and Long Range on the microphone and the label boss Youngsta himself on the controls, the 14th vinyl release of the esteemed UK imprint once again demonstrates its eminent value.

An exemplary no-holds-barred sound system eclipse, 'Order' kicks off with granular foley and restrained percussive ambience, invoking the impending militant pressure excursions with haunting precision. As the mammoth bassline unloads onto your listeners with unbridled might and the full force of the law, the ensuing staccato pressure artillery leaves no headroom behind - dance floor levitation at its finest. Witnessing the B-Side, 'The Mould' incorporates meticulous breaks alongside the scattered percussion and thunderous bassline foundation, not for the faint of heart. Two murderous sound system cuts, primed and ready for the dance.

From a club-friendly chrysalid onto deploying his wings as a full fledged pop artist in recent years, Saint Petersburgs Kito Jempere has enjoyed a journey unlike any other and his newest album, Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness live-documents the chameleonic changes / game-changing paradox experienced this year between his life both as a musician and as a family man.

Better known for his work as a house producer which has earned him accolades from prominent dance music outlets throughout well over a decade of intense work both into and outwith the limelights, Kito has for all that never been focussed on writing solely discoid material, throwing as much effort over the years into multi-faceted parallel ventures, far and apart from strictly dance floor-oriented functionality. Yet, from this partition between various projects and mindsets, this is through a radical shift towards downtempo pop and out of the 4x4 loop that Kito got to fully assert himself as a musician, embracing the rejoicing variety of tone and mood of his tender loves, secret and not. The movie Ive never made but have the soundtrack for, Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness is the fruit of change as much as change itself. A return to the simple means of his young self, his old trusty guitar from his late teens serving as the backbone to Killer Line and Love Myself But I Cant Make It Love, and the natural development to last years Green Monster, which
initiated these deep tectonic movements in Kitos approach to his art, PTCPTC is an intimate trip down the kaleidoscope of his present life. Joined up by an impressive cast of artists, including Jimi Tenor, Adam Evald and Hard Ton, Kito didnt just bin his old persona, he took it back to where it belongs. From the low-slung emotional folk of the opener, Killer Line, to the eerie flamenco-jazz hybrid Before Music Dies. via the broken soulfulness of Put Love Into Your Heart and anthemic 80s balearic breaks meets coastal synthwave vibe of Sounds of Love, the album pulsates with a refreshingly genre-unbound vision. To the naive, laid-back sonic bokeh of Footsteps,
succeeds the left-of-centre cinematic narrative of In The Countryside, which includes some fun nods to fictional brands taken from Tarantinos imaginarium (Red Apple cigarettes) or other movies like High Fidelity, after Nick Hornbys eponymous novel.

Freed from gridlocked programming and impersonal tropes, PTCPTC showcases a wide array of songs, beats, grooves old and new, some dating back to 2018 and improvised sessions with his 9-people Kito Jempere Band, all of which were finished within the same timeframe and with this all-inclusive momentum in mind. Through the epic synths of Absent Ascent. in revamping the universal classic Over The Rainbow with Celebrine, on the appeasing ballad Shorespotting feat. Evald or in the waves-ready closing cut Lovers, Jempere tells a tale of hard-earned emancipation and life-affirming freedom.

Paddan's Sigtryggur Baldursson and Birgir Mogensen are lifelong friends from Kópavogur, Iceland, who started as mates on the local football team, then graduated to making music together as teenagers, and even later as young men doing time in the experimental punk collective KUKL, from 1983 - 1986.
KUKL was populated by survivors of the post-punk scene in Iceland in the early 80s, which is well documented in the film Rock in Reykjavik from 1982. The band was released by the Crass collective in London and featured members, apart from Birgir and Sigtryggur, like Guðlaugur Óttarsson, Einar Melax, Björk and Einar Örn, some of whom would become better known later in outfits like the Sugarcubes and their respective solo work and other collaborations.
Sigtryggur has a long career in music, having worked with among others, Emiliana Torrini, Howie B, Les Negresses Vertes, Tomas R. Einarsson, Petur Ben, KK, Kaktus Einarsson, and many many others. He also produces an award-winning documentary music show for RUV called Hljómskálinn.
Birgir Mogensen is a classically trained classical guitarist and bass player who has worked through the years with artists ranging from KUKL to Killing Joke to Spilafifl and Inferno5.
Birgir and Sigtryggur formed Paddan during the 2010s, and are now preparing to release their EP Fluid Time, which has been inspired by their perception of time and space. Birgir Mogensen says, "As a duo, we trusted our musical intuition and were guided by allowing the first idea to remain unchanged during the recording process"Recorded, produced, and arranged by the pair, Sigtryggur and Birgir play basses and drums along with various other instruments.
All recordings are played on live instruments except a modular synth which is programmed in the background of two tracks The duo is joined by the great harmonica and lap steel player Gaukur Davidsson on "Vaguely" and "Bug," and trumpet player Eirikur Orri Ólafsson on "Splash," not to mention the mixing expertise of Vaccines bassist Arni Hjörvar Árnason on "Bug," "Splash," and "Kokka," and sound-mixer Albert Finnbogason on "Vaguely."

One of the key 45s in the output of Prince Jazzbo's Ujama label during the digital era of the late 80s - originally reissued via NYC's Deadly Dragon some 15 or so years back - gets a much needed new cut & press via Death Is Not The End's 333 series.

The late Earlando Neil aka Early B first started performing on soundsystems in the late 1970s, often appearing with his young apprentice Wild Apache, later known as Super Cat. It was alongside Cat that he is credited as a key driver behind the popularisation of the King Majesty and Killamanjaro stables in the early 1980s, following which he had a string of hit records for the likes of Harry J's Sunset imprint, Ossie Thomas' Black Solidarity and Jah Thomas' Midnight Rock label amongst many others.

Following a run of stellar LPs in the mid 1980s Early B's output began to wane as the sound of digital production began to take precedence, but not without firing off one the most killer shots ever recorded on a computerized rhythm for Jazzbo's Ujama in 1987. Reportedly the first time around for the hallowed Replay version, Imitator's subject matter takes aim at the new kids on the dancehall block ripping off the veterans, while he simultaneously pays hard-earned dues to the dancehall's foundation deejays such as Jazzbo himself, U-Roy, Big Youth, Dennis Alcapone, King Stitch, Trinity & Dillinger.

It’s True What They Say is the debut EP from Edinburgh-based, husband-and-wife duo Sarah/Shaun (pronounced simply Sarah Shaun), aka Sarah and Shaun McLachlan (pronounced “McLochlin”).

“Sarah and I both have a love for nostalgia,” explains Shaun. “We watched that amazing old 80’s Sci-Fi, (John) Carpenter movie, Starman, a few months back. Myself and my brother David used to watch it all the time. We must have been, roughly, 5-7 at the time. I remember loving the movie but the end, you know, with the beautiful, atmospheric, synth ending, I love that particular moment the most - best part of the movie, you know, when he goes home… It’s heartbreaking but stunning, all the same. It’s the music that moves you most… It did when I was 5 and it still does to this day. It must have had some form of a (much deeper) impact on me.”

The duo narrates stories across themes of love, hope, family, friends, dreams and sadness - the good that comes with the bad in everyday life, not just on a personal scale but within a community as well.

“Starbed is the first song I have ever written and just came out of the blue really, with Shaun playing a melody and me singing along,” says Sarah. “It’s simple and just about two people in love. Love songs are always the best songs, after all… Music has been a big part of my life from a young age. I was unwillingly dragged to piano and violin lessons, which I’m thankful for now! I’d say the first band I really became obsessed with growing up were the Beatles, and on the back of that a lot of 60s music and fashion. From then on, I had a love for music.”

“Shaun definitely opened my ears to a lot of sounds and got me thinking about soundtracks and all the noises that can be made,” she goes on. “We love just spending time experimenting in the house with instruments, pedals etc and Ali is a real magician to work with, too…”

The recordings took place over the summers of 2022 and 2023, with fellow Delta Mainline member Ali Chisholm (aka Jaguar Eyes) plus long-term friend and collaborator Gavin King. Further collaboration then came via the ‘net from the (international) likes of Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty), Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz) and Daniel Land (The Modern Painters), among others (see a full list of credits below).

Both Sarah and Shaun have a love for uber-soundtrack producers such as Hanz Zimmer, Max Richter, Cliff Martinez plus live acts such as Beach House, Spiritualized, M83, Suicide, Moby and OMD (to name a few). Shaun also credits the work of Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (from Survive) on the Stranger Things score… “Even a moment in a movie, whether it be just 30 seconds during a particular scene, it grips you,” he says. But there’s something much deeper at play as well. “Music is a healer,” he goes on, “and I write from my own perspective but more so for others. Once I've done my bit, it doesn't belong to me any longer. It belongs to whoever wants it or needs it.”

The result is a cinematic, synth-wavey, dream poppy and downright beguilingly beautiful body of work. And they’re just getting started…

REVIEWS/RADIO/FEEDBACK:

“Starbed is folky, flavoured by pedal steel, cello, and brass. Dust Tears, in stark contrast, is a mini synth-pop rave epic. Part Bicep. Part Human League. Keep Your Eyes Closed summons a mood that’s romantic, but also dark and potentially doomed – like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks meets Cliff Martinez’s Drive score. My pick though is It’s True What They Say, whose interwoven jangle and picking recalls New Order’s more introspective moments (Love Vigilantes, Love Less… ). Drums crashing, cathartic. Guitar raising dramatic arcs. Its chorus a rush, like a reprise of Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart’s ‘Higher Than The Stars’.” BAN BAN TON TON
"Dust Tears sees them sharing vocal duties over a synth foundation reminiscent of Moby’s Go - Artist Of The Week” THE SCOTSMAN
"Woozy pop" NEMONE (Mary Anne Hobbs Morning Show, BBC 6Music)
"Nice one, very David Lynch meets Euro dream pop" YOUTH (Killing Joke, Paul McCartney, U2, The Orb, Spiritualized etc)
"Music sounds killer! Real emotion” DAVID HOLMES
"I’m enjoying it” TIM BRINKHURST aka LONDON (IKLAN, Young Fathers, Callum Easter)
“Oh, this is lovely!” SEAN JOHNSTON (A Love From Outer Space)
"It’s totally my cup of tea with milk and biscuit" BRENT RADEMAKER (Beachwood Sparks/GospelBeach)
"Beautiful, ecstatic electronica! Short and to the point" KEVIN BALES (Spiritualized, Julian Cope, Soulsavers, BE)
"Makes me wanna sit in the sun and sip an Arnold Palmer" CHRIS DIXIE DARLEY (Father John Misty)
“Really beautiful - Cocteau Twins / Spiritualized vibes but has its own thing going on, too - worth checking out!” JULIAN CORRIE (Franz Ferdinand, Miaoux Miaoux)
‘Sounded nice on a sunny day, makes me think of Twin Peaks, nice moods’ EAMON HAMILTON (Sea Power)
"Dealing in nostalgia, no bad thing at all, great to play that (Dust Tears) for you” RODDY HART (BBC Radio Scotland)
“I'll give the vocal tracks a spin before the release." VIC GALLOWAY (BBC Radio Scotland)
"Rather good!" IAIN ANDERSON (BBC Radio Scotland)

CREDITS:

Lyrics, Guitars, Keys, Synths, Drums, Drum Programming, Percussion, Mandolin, Glockenspiel: Shaun McLachlan
Lyrics, Vocals, Keys by Sarah McLachlan
Guitars, Synths, String Arrangements, Drum Programming, Engineering: Jaguar Eyes Percussion/Drums/Effects, Fire Extinguisher: Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz)
Guitars by Daniel Land
Slide Guitar by Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty)
Brass by Bruce Michie
Keys, pre-production & engineering on “It’s true what they say”: Gavin King
All produced by Jaguar Eyes and Shaun McLachlan and then mixed at Glasgow’s Chem19 Studios by David McCaulay (From Scotland With Love, Rick Redbeard, BBC TV’s Attenborough and The Mammoth Graveyard score).
Artwork: Jamie Walman (Fourteen Admirals)

MORE INFO:

Although Shaun released a pair of solo singles (When We Dance and Give Your Love To Me) during Lockdown, he will be better known to many via his work as the multi-instrumentalist in Edinburgh band Delta Mainline. With two albums released to date, Oh! Enlightened and Bel Avenir, both rapturously received by fans and critics alike, Delta Mainline have developed an international, cult following. Oh Enlightened (2013) achieved widespread critical acclaim on release, earning the band comparisons to Arcade Fire and Echo & The Bunnymen, while 2019’s Bel Avenir pulled in references to The Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and krautrock. A third DM album is currently being mixed and due for release later this year…

É Soul Cultura captain, originator of Manchester’s legendary Electric Chair and definitive people’s champion, Luke Una taps into a lifetime’s worth of musical discovery for the second volume in our Mr Bongo Edits series. A cosmic coming together that sees two of Luke’s secret weapons, re-edited and re-contextualised by the man himself to provide optimal dancefloor euphoria.

A stalwart of the underground for nearly 40 years, Luke has become an appointed leader of the late night disenfranchised, with an unquestionable ability to pick records that make minds tick. Not least through his two É Soul Cultura compilations released on Mr Bongo over the past two years.

A taste that traverses genres as much as it does emotions and decades, who better to give an insight into the tracks he has chosen to edit, than the man himself. “I've been an avid collector of afro-beat house, techno and underground black heart disco since before the basement soul days of Electric Chair 30 years ago. Both these bombs were very much holy grail finds, plucked from the last four decades of digging in random crates of dusty vinyl all over the world.”

First up, Thandi Zulu & The Young Five’s interpretation of Pure Energy’s early ‘80s disco power play – ‘Love Game’. With a distinctive South African synth bass and killer keys combo, Luke explains the original has this “bonkers alchemy of heavy machine soul, uptempo rawness and a majestic disco evangelism”, making it ripe for a re-edit.

On the B side, Lionel Pillay’s Jazz dancer ‘Plum’. “The original was a relentless 18-minute raw jam”, Luke states, “which despite its late ‘70s South African origin kinda reminded me of a 1986 Chicago piano House record”.

“These edits strip the tracks back and rebuild them, giving them more sonic weight with that looped up drum jacking militancy from the days of Chicago, combined with a boosted sense of transcendental, psychedelic, cosmic disco. They have always had such an explosive reaction on so many dancefloors including the heavier electronic club, so it felt only right to reshare them”.

Limited copies of this John T. Gast (Apron, Planet Mu, Blackest Ever Black etc) project from 2017 - originally released on a hyper limited CDR. Now on vinyl for the first time featuring all the original tracks
Special stuff from this shadow dwelling soul. Really killer.

“The Soul Of Tommy Youngblood” 1970 Kent LP had many fine tracks, especially ‘Tobacco Road North’ though it was not attributed to the rightful writer, Jimmy Radcliffe, at the time. The music has been sampled for various hip-hop adaptations, including one by Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan, but the original stands on its own and deserves a 7” format.

The Other Brothers ‘Nobody But Me’ is another UK Kent exclusive that sold out on its first Kent Select press and is still highly sought-after and now very expensive.

Vinyl Only

Undefined 014 is crafted by dutchies only! 2 not so young youngsters under the monniker 'Young Adults' are making name in the scene. They provided 4 deep techno driven peaktime cuts. The perfect blend of minimal and techno - deep kicks, thriving subs and bleeps. As a counteract weve came up with a remix by fellow dutchie Mathijs Smit - rolling tech-house, warm vibe and crisp sounds. Enjoy this dutch delightfullness.

For their 3rd release, Pulse Msc has traveled worldwide from Rennes to Vienna, Copenhagen, and Adelaide to create "Mind Trip", a detonating 4 tracks Lo-fi House EP with multiple influences.

The first track is signed by Subjoi, a young Australian artist well-known in the Lo-fi game. The man delivers "The Way I Feel", a subtle and emotional tune, embellished with devastating kicks which will leave nobody indifferent.

In the second position, there is an important contributor to the French Lo-fi scene, who has a lot of talent and is clearly to monitor: DJ Psychiatre! The guy has released of his imagination "Our Love Is Real", a wonderful piece conducive to escape with varied & nonlinear sonorities and powerful vocals.

Then Slim Hustla, a Danish duo with well-tempered personalities gives a big contribution to the project with "Ghostryda". The track is a sentimental and melancholic ballad, with beautiful vocals which brings the listeners in weightlessness and strays them into a dreamy universe.

To conclude, gutinstinct, an Austrian versatile artist, owner of Dream Raw Recordings ends the EP with "Blue Sea". The tune is a raw and dark dance-floor killer track, which plunges everybody into an abyssal atmosphere. Take a deep breath and enjoy the trip!

Samo lived in Hong Kong for a bit. He rescued a dog and brought him back to Stockholm. He skates but that's not him on the front. He put together one of the best very records on LIES but this four-tracker kills it dead. Ben UFO's been rinsing it. The dog's name is Denzil.

2025 Reissue.



Münchenbuchsee, a suburb of Bern, Switzerland. Stephan Eicher is the youngest of three children. His father, a radio and TV repairman, is also a jazz violinist and a sound tinkerer in his spare time. In the family home's converted fallout shelter turned studio, Mr. Eicher experiments with homemade sequencers, tortures handcrafted drum machines, and abuses reel-to-reel tape recorders—all under the fascinated gaze of young Stephan.

The boy quickly develops a musical curiosity, exploring sound through various experiments and wanderings. Alongside his younger brother Martin, Stephan crafts audio plays on a homemade multi-track recorder (essentially several cassette decks hooked together!), which they write, record, add sound effects to, and perform for family and friends. Just a couple of nice kids, really...

Then comes 1972, and Lou Reed's Transformer album changes everything for the Eicher kids. For 13-year-old Stephan, it's a revelation—especially "Vicious", the opening track, which he plays on repeat for months. He convinces his father to buy him an electric guitar. Not stopping there, his father also builds him a tube amp using an old radio.

Then comes adolescence. A rough one. Stephan leaves home at 16 and moves to Zurich. With obvious artistic talent, he persuades his art teacher to help him get into F+F, a radical, alternative art school—despite his young age. Accepted, he starts learning video techniques, determined to become a filmmaker.

At F+F, Stephan organizes Dada-style happenings and concerts with a group of friends known as the Noise Boys. Among them: one of his teachers on bass, Veit Stauffer on drums (who would later found ReR/Recommended Records), his girlfriend Sacha on vocals, and Stephan on guitar. In one of their early performances, they release a remote-controlled mouse covered in dull razor blades into the audience to create panic and chaos. Keeping with this aggressive, confrontational spirit, they once played a concert while wearing headphones blasting Tristan and Isolde, trying to perform their own songs simultaneously—to maximize the cacophony. The goal was always the same: clear the room.

Their “songs,” if you can call them that, followed suit. Take "Hungeriges Afrika", for instance—performed entirely with power drills and some drum feedback.

To make ends meet, Stephan returns to Bern on weekends to work as a waiter at the Spex Club, the city’s main punk venue. On September 16, 1980, during a show by proto-electro group Starter, the police raid the club and arrest everyone. Stephan, who manages to avoid arrest, seizes the opportunity to “borrow” Starter’s gear left behind. He suddenly finds himself in possession of a Roland Promars synth, a Korg MS20, and a gorgeous CR78 drum machine, which he runs through a Big Muff distortion pedal to get that perfect gritty sound.

He then sets out to reinterpret some Noise Boys tracks, reworking them during impromptu sessions recorded on a dictaphone (yes, a dictaphone—now the lo-fi sound makes more sense, doesn’t it?). He ironically titles the resulting cassette "Stephan Eicher spielt Noise Boys" ("Stephan Eicher plays Noise Boys"). This gem features seven tracks, which are the ones reissued here.

Back in Zurich, he visits his friends Andrew Moore and Robert Vogel, who have a DIY cassette duplication setup. They make 25 copies of Stephan Eicher spielt Noise Boys for Stephan and his friends. Robert encourages him to visit Urs Steiger of Off Course Records and play him the tape.

Without much hope, Stephan shows up at Urs’s office. But Urs is instantly hooked and suggests releasing a 7” single. Due to space constraints, they reluctantly drop two of the seven tracks ("Hungeriges Afrika" and "One Second"). As for the musical score featured on the cover—it was randomly chosen and remains a mystery to this day. Calling all music theory nerds!

The 7-inch is pressed in 750 copies and released in the first week of December 1980—a date Stephan remembers well, as it’s the same week John Lennon was killed. Smartly, Urs sends a promo copy to François Murner, Switzerland’s answer to John Peel, who hosts a show on alternative station Sounds. Murner falls in love with the record and starts giving it airtime. To Stephan’s surprise, sales follow—and people actually seem interested in his music.

Even this modest underground success scares Stephan a bit. He stops making music for a year and moves to Bologna, where he works as a programmer at Radio Città, a feminist radio station.

Meanwhile, Stephan’s younger brother Martin, who’s also involved in the punk scene, joins the band Glueams as a singer and guitarist. Glueams, named after the fanzine run by two of its members (drummer Marco Repetto and bassist GT), eventually rebrands as Grauzone. Stephan is invited to their shows to project hacked Super 8 visuals live on stage.

Urs Steiger, now working on a compilation titled Swiss Wave – The Album, asks Grauzone to contribute alongside bands like Liliput, Jack and the Rippers, The Sick, and Ladyshave (Fall 1980).

For the album, Martin tasks Stephan with producing their recording sessions. Under Stephan's artistic direction, two tracks emerge: "Raum" and "Eisbär". During "Eisbär", Martin plays a minimalist bass line borrowed from post-punk band The Feelies (just an open string). Drummer Marco Repetto struggles to keep time. Later that evening, unhappy with the takes, Stephan builds a four-bar drum loop from a ¼-inch tape and uses it instead of the flawed original. He then adds bleepy synths and wind sounds to complete the track’s icy vibe before handing it over to Urs.

The Swiss Wave – The Album compilation is released quietly at first, but things snowball thanks to "Eisbär", which eventually becomes a smash hit—selling over 600,000 singles.

Meanwhile, Stephan plays in a rockabilly band called SMUV (named after Switzerland’s social security agency) and begins producing artists, including the debut album of Starter (1981), which includes a more pop-oriented version of "Minijupe".

By early 1982, Stephan starts spending time with the post-punk girl band Liliput (formerly Kleenex). They’re older than him, and he happily drives them around in his Renault Major, acting as their roadie.

By 1983, Grauzone—signed to the major label EMI, which turned out to be a misstep—is falling apart. Stephan begins to pivot toward a more mainstream pop sound with his debut solo album Les Chansons Bleues.

But that... is already another story.

A GOOD FUN record, the new album from Lipphead – aka the collaborative NYC duo consisting of the producer Tony Simon (Blockhead) and Eliot Lipp – will be the group’s 3rd official full- length, having released the first two records via Detroit’s Young Heavy Soul label.

Lipphead’s music occupies the sweet spot between Blockhead’s groovy, sample-based hip- hop and Eliot Lipp’s upbeat electronic funk. The duo have performed live at select festivals throughout North America and are booked to tour this album, 17 dates in the US starting right after release, April 3rd. European/UK festivals are confirmed in the summer and are waiting to be announced.

The internationally renowned NYC producer Tony Simon—aka Blockhead—has released 15 albums over the past 15 years, including four acclaimed records for Ninja Tune and numerous production jobs including notable works with Aesop Rock. He is regarded as one of the modern masters of instrumental hip-hop and has more recently been releasing music on other platforms like Future Archive Recordings and Backwoodz Studios.

Eliot Lipp is an electronic musician based in Brooklyn, New York. His work was picked up by Scott Herren of Prefuse 73 (Warp Records) after Herren heard him working the club circuit. In 2004, Lipp released his first studio album, S/T, with Eastern Developments Music, a label owned by Warp Records. Lipp has also released music with Pretty Lights Music and his own label Old Tacoma Records.

“Our process for this album was very much "Take this, and add to it" . We both made beats and sent them to the other to add things to. Eliot would generally start the arrangement process and then I'd come in and give my two cents. Gotta say, these Lipphead albums generally come together seamlessly . We definitely have a simple flow and method as to how we create things together, even though the "together" part comes at the end.” - Blockhead

“This is definitely the goofiest record so far. I imagine Lipphead did a little too much doomscrolling between ‘From The Back’ and this one, based on all the meme samples sprinkled throughout.

One difference this time around was that we made way more music than what ended up coming out. It was tough to figure out how to fit it all on one LP, we’ll definitely have some leftovers to drop later on.” - Eliot Lipp

A GOOD FUN record, the new album from Lipphead – aka the collaborative NYC duo consisting of the producer Tony Simon (Blockhead) and Eliot Lipp – will be the group’s 3rd official full- length, having released the first two records via Detroit’s Young Heavy Soul label.

Lipphead’s music occupies the sweet spot between Blockhead’s groovy, sample-based hip- hop and Eliot Lipp’s upbeat electronic funk. The duo have performed live at select festivals throughout North America and are booked to tour this album, 17 dates in the US starting right after release, April 3rd. European/UK festivals are confirmed in the summer and are waiting to be announced.

The internationally renowned NYC producer Tony Simon—aka Blockhead—has released 15 albums over the past 15 years, including four acclaimed records for Ninja Tune and numerous production jobs including notable works with Aesop Rock. He is regarded as one of the modern masters of instrumental hip-hop and has more recently been releasing music on other platforms like Future Archive Recordings and Backwoodz Studios.

Eliot Lipp is an electronic musician based in Brooklyn, New York. His work was picked up by Scott Herren of Prefuse 73 (Warp Records) after Herren heard him working the club circuit. In 2004, Lipp released his first studio album, S/T, with Eastern Developments Music, a label owned by Warp Records. Lipp has also released music with Pretty Lights Music and his own label Old Tacoma Records.

“Our process for this album was very much "Take this, and add to it" . We both made beats and sent them to the other to add things to. Eliot would generally start the arrangement process and then I'd come in and give my two cents. Gotta say, these Lipphead albums generally come together seamlessly . We definitely have a simple flow and method as to how we create things together, even though the "together" part comes at the end.” - Blockhead

“This is definitely the goofiest record so far. I imagine Lipphead did a little too much doomscrolling between ‘From The Back’ and this one, based on all the meme samples sprinkled throughout.

One difference this time around was that we made way more music than what ended up coming out. It was tough to figure out how to fit it all on one LP, we’ll definitely have some leftovers to drop later on.” - Eliot Lipp

2026 Repress
The legacy continues with Paling Trax 5! A split-EP featuring label-head TAFKAMP and the young talented Amsterdam-based DJ/Producer Vromo, both delivering two groovy no-nonsense club bangers. All killer no filler, highly essential!

On this 8 track EP every song has UK and USA lyricists side by side as equals. It includes older icons of Hip-Hop, established talent from the current underground rap scene, and young emerging rappers who haven't been given a platform until now. This project is a collaboration between producer Sam Seed, a dozen rappers, 4 record labels,

the 05:21 music platform and a DJ night. No filler, all killer.


Introducing Sam Seed

A rising name on the underground rap scene. North London producer Sam Seed has a list of top tier production credits to his name with artists including Vinnie Paz, Billy woods,

Mickey Diamond, Conway the Machine. The Unaligned Vol.1 is his eagerly awaited debut EP.

GRAMMY-prämierte Rap-Ikone Nas und DJ Premier – zwei der einflussreichsten und angesehensten Persönlichkeiten der Hip-Hop-Geschichte – veröffentlichten ihr mit Spannung erwartetes Kollaborationsalbum „Light-Years“ am 12. Dezember digital über Mass Appeal Nach den limitierten Day Ones Editionen gibt es nun die regulären Editionen mit Artwork, ab 20. Februar 2026.

Nach jahrzehntelanger Vorfreude ist „Light-Years“ die Wiedergeburt einer 30-jährigen Zusammenarbeit. Die Partnerschaft von Nas und DJ Premier ist tief in der DNA des Hip-Hop verwurzelt. Ihre Geschichte begann 1994 mit „Illmatic“, das Hits wie „N.Y. State Of Mind“, „Memory Lane“ und „Represent“ hervorbrachte. „Illmatic“ etablierte Nas als Ausnahmetalent und festigte Premiers damals aufstrebende Karriere. Ihre musikalische Chemie vertiefte sich im Laufe des folgenden Jahrzehnts durch Klassiker wie „I Gave You Power“, „2nd Childhood“, „Nas Is Like“ und „N.Y. State Of Mind Pt. II“.

Angeführt von Mass Appeals bahnbrechender Reihe „Legend Has It…“, die einige der wichtigsten und einflussreichsten Hip-Hop-Künstler aller Zeiten feiert und ins Rampenlicht rückt, präsentierte die Reihe ein ganzes Jahr lang historische Veröffentlichungen von Kultur prägenden Künstlern wie Slick Rick, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, Big L und De La Soul. Mit „Light-Years“ liefern Nas und DJ Premier den krönenden Abschluss dieser legendären Reihe, in der ihre unbestreitbare Synergie nach wie vor einzigartig ist.

2006 zierten Nas und DJ Premier das Cover des Scratch Magazine und kündigten ein gemeinsames Projekt an, das die Begeisterung der Fans erneut entfachte und die zwei Jahrzehnte währende Vorfreude beflügelte. Letztes Jahr taten sich Nas und Premier zusammen, um das 30-jährige Jubiläum von „Illmatic“ mit der Veröffentlichung des neuen Tracks „Define My Name“ zu feiern, mit dem sie erstmals ihr wegweisendes Kollaborationsalbum ankündigten.

„Light-Years“ ist ein wahrer Beweis für den Einfluss beider Künstler, ihr Vermächtnis und die Zeitlosigkeit ihrer gemeinsamen Musik.