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A warm welcome to Italian-American producer Matasism, who debuts on BPitch with his four-track EP Can You Feel My Soul. Matasism launched his own label Ma¨ta¨sism in 2017, releasing exclusively via the platform until very recently. He lands on BPitch with an EP that channels the essence of freedom and liberty found in the rave. It’s a compelling EP that blends trance, techno and acid influences into a memory evoking collection of music.

The remake of ‘Can You Feel My Soul’ kicks things off, firing on all cylinders with a hypnotic riff and hea- vyweight kicks. More layers are added to increase the depth and energy, leading into a mesmerising break- down. Meanwhile, the following original mix has a grizzly bassline spliced with hard-hitting beats. On the flip ‘Age Of Fantasy’ opens up with a dramatic intro leading into a powerful, enchanting main riff. Vintage sounds with a contemporary flavour. Next up is ‘Space Invaders’, a high-octane cut that utilises a trance-esque oscillating low end to captivate the listener. Get ready for an explosion of energy after the bre- akdown, transcendent.

Now onto its fourth volume, NuNorthern Soul’s annual Summer Selections EP is fast becoming a must-check for fans of slow-motion sunshine sounds, contemporary Balearic beats and sumptuous downtempo grooves.

Summer Selections Four showcases six hand-picked tracks from EPs and albums to be released by NuNorthern Soul in 2022. A genuine ‘cream of the crop’ or ‘best in class’ feel, with NNS label boss and curator Phil Cooper putting together a varied EP piled high with evocative melodies, atmospheric chords, tactile grooves and ear-catching instrumentation.

First to step up to the plate is experienced producer James Bright, whose cut ‘Amber’ offers a bubbly, colourful and analogue-rich stroll through mid-tempo Balearic house territory. The track is one of the highlights of Bright’s forthcoming Totem EP. It’s quickly followed by ‘Nana a Leon’ from Be.Ianuit’s Entre Dos Islas EP, a gorgeous mixture of deep bass, twinkling pianos, sultry synth-strings, sparkling synthesiser arpeggios, echoing machine drums and spoken word vocals from guest performer Marcos de la Fuente.

San Francisco’s Cole Odin offers a snapshot of his forthcoming Songs For Suns EP via ‘Growing’, a slow-motion sunset soundscape built around ethereal chords, chiming melodies and head-nodding drums, while Gold Suite’s ‘The Cowboy’ – taken from the On My Horizon EP – brilliantly joins the dots between jangling Americana, mid-‘80s Balearic reggae and sun-soaked instrumental synth-pop. While brand-new, it could easily be mistaken for the kind of obscure, hard-to-find gem that gets Balearic record collectors so hot under the collar.

Next up is another new signing to NuNorthern Soul, North of the Island, whose debut EP Feeling Free is undoubtedly a highlight of the label’s 2022 release schedule. ‘I Feel’, the track showcased here, adds attractive, sunset-ready musical flourishes to a chugging, delay-laden rhythm track and the kind if squelchy bass-line most often found in proto-house and early ‘80s electro-funk cuts. It’s a spaced-out, mind-altering delight.

Rounding off another sizzling Summer Selections excursion is ‘Smoke & Fly’ from fast-rising twosome Residentes Balearicos, an Ibiza-based Italian duo who impressed many with their 2021 EPs on Balearic Ensemble. Dusty, bass-heavy, drowsy and picturesque, the track is a simply gorgeous chunk of Balearic dub piled high with organic percussion, undulating acid lines and mazy solos. It provides a fittingly triumphant conclusion to another essential sampler EP from NuNorthern Soul.

Sistrum Recordings returns with a new addition to the family, producer Riccardo Masi better known to dancefloors as Reekee. This alliance came together quite naturally, following up on a remix that label head Patrice Scott did for Reekee's Wrong Notes label. The sophisticated vibe of his productions is very much at home on Sistrum.

Sol Set is a Detroit-based collective, an amalgamation of composers, musicians, artists and vocalists brought together by producer John Beltran, whose new label All Good Music chooses its debut album for its inaugural release. John Beltran and Shane Donnelly preside over seven sumptuous and confident slices of modern, sub-kissed soul and Latin sure to put a smile on anyone's face, even those of us faced with an altogether more British summer. Influences range from the Steve Wonder-style double vocals of 'Bliss Mode' to the South American 'Rhythm of the Sun', which echoes the beach bum haziness of Jorge Ben, but the vibe remains joyful and skillfully yet effortlessly executed throughout. Gorgeous.

Label boss Courtesy unleashing some beautifull music….

What is probably the weirdest U-TRAX release ever, is now available again on original heavy weight vinyl and has been remastered for digital download and streaming.

Jo-I is Johan Sagel and nine of the drumtracks he made in the 90s with his quite un-hip Roland R-70 drumcomputer ended up on this heavyweight vinyl EP. Label boss DJ White Delight also abused Johan's R-70 together with DJ Zero One, adding a trancey acid re-interpretation of the Jo-I tracks to the EP.

Back in 1995, Johan was a young advertising professional, originating from the far Northern part of Holland, where only potatoes grow and very few people live. He later moved to the city of Groningen and became very active in the scene there, that included Thee J Johanz, of Bally Hoo fame. Johan teamed up with Reyer Caderius van Veen, who released a 12" as Lynx on the U-TRAX sublabel Phoq U Phonogrammen. Together they performed and recorded as Live Acid Performance (L.A.P.) 01 in the 90s.

Original release date: March 1995.
Available again on original 220 grams vinyl

THE HITMAN aka MARVELLOUS CAIN delivers his most sought after tracks on vinyl!

RETURN OF THE HITMAN collects together 16 of the most exclusive cuts from Marvellous Cain’s extensive back catalogue, all remastered and presented as a collectable vinyl box set package.

This album has been a long time coming, much of that time spent by Marvellous Cain digging through his studio to find original DAT recordings of his most in demand hits, in the process unearthing some exclusive, never before released gems!

This album kicks off with 2 versions of arguably his most notorious track Hitman, a certified jungle classic from 1994! For this compilation, Marvellous Cain has selected the version of Hitman previously only available on his debut Gun Talk LP back in 1995 (released on Suburban Base). He’s also treated us to the very long overdue, unreleased, DJ Stretch Dubplate VIP, originally produced in ’94, but never pressed to vinyl!

On the flip are two cuts from the infamous Lucky Spin imprint... Life Is Rollin & Miss Out. Both tracks were originally available as a very limited white label press, but never got a full release. This has been selling for £90 on reseller sites due to its scarcity.

Record 2 is again packed with rare music, with 3 of the 4 cuts being unreleased to date. The first track Will I See You? has traded hands for an incredible £500 on Discogs, we can see many buying Return Of The Hitman for this track alone!

Our 3rd slice of vinyl see’s Marvellous Cain teaming up for studio collaborations with original jungle don Bizzy B on Everyday Junglist, also with Libra for an unreleased alternative version of Nu Music discovered on the original session DAT from 1996.

The 4th and final slice of wax in this package introduces new remixes of a couple of classic tracks. CB4 has been reworked for 2022 by Marvellous Cain himself. Dubplate Style has a fresh ‘22 lick by D&B’s hardest working DJ Nicky Blackmarket alongside production partner FreezeUK who’s recently released on Ram Records sister label Prog:Ram!

We close out with two dubplate exclusives from 95 & 96 respectively, taken from Marvellous Cain’s personal arsenal of DJ ammunition, and now available for the first time to the record buying public.

Joining the dots between Brazilian musical culture and the sonic melting pot that is New York City, Saidera are a trio on the rise. They’ve already released a pair of critically acclaimed, carnival-ready singles on Brooklyn’s Let’s Play House label and are now ready to make their debut on Leng Records.

The band’s roots can be traced back to a trip that Lemonade band member Alex Pasternak made to Brazil in 2014. While DJing at a house party in the bohemian Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Sta Teresa, Pasternak was left gobsmacked when a mysterious local singer/sambista Vadinho Freire, grabbed the mic and started freestyling lyrics and melodies over his set. Realising their instinctive musical connection, Pasternak and Freire decided to work together on some music, with New Yorker Le Chev joining them to complete the Saidera trio.

Now based in Rio and California, the group’s sun-soaked sound – which they describe as “samba disco-Afro melody” – is a cross-cultural stew in which infectious Brazilian percussion, colourful synth sounds, glistening guitars and celebratory vocals combine to create magical, life-affirming musical moments.

‘Luzes Da Cidade’, their first outing on Leng, encapsulates all that’s good about the Saidera sound and the trio’s approach to music. The song is about identity and connection and in its original form is languid, loved-up and joyous, with acoustic and electric guitars, Portuguese vocals and Korey Riker’s gently breezy flute solos rising above a squelchy synth bassline and energetic, sweat-soaked samba drums.

The song’s main mix comes accompanied by a wonderful instrumental pass featuring more extensive solos by Riker, and Saidera’s own remix of ‘Luzes Da Cidade’ – an extra-percussive, breakbeat-tinged fusion of hazy deep house, energetic samba and sunset-ready synth-disco that will delight DJs and dancers alike.

To round off the EP, Saidera has delivered a brand new “Uprockin Dub” of debut single ‘Deixa Tudo Fluir’, this time with female vocals from Irina Bertolucci taking the lead. Brilliantly kaleidoscopic sonically, with dub delay-laden vocals, guitars and flutes, it’s a superb, life-affirming Balearic reggae interpretation of a now familiar favourite. If you’re not singing along with the chorus after your first listen, we’d be very surprised.

LIMITED release (no repress) 300 units hand numbered, stamped copies with insert.

After the first Jam experiment back in 2019 here we have the second chapter of the Bosconi Gang Band session pressed on this limited white label hand stamped & numbered waxx.
This jam was recorded in front of an actual crowd in an event held at Manifattura tabacchi Florence on the 21st February 2020 just a couple weeks before the pandemic started and the first lockdown happened in Italy.
The concept is the same as the previous one with Fabio Della Torre on the mixer conducting the gang mysitc gulf this time with: from left to right Ennio Colaci from Minimono, Dukwa, Rufus, Andrea Giachetti & Antonio Pecori from "The Clover" and Dj Rou.
As it happened with the previous release, the actual jam follows the order of the live execution which naturally developed in a crescendo of speed and intensity.
The result is a collection of 5 of the best takes slightly mixed and revisited afterwards but very much faithful to those performed live.
This is another adventurous release that goes well off grid, plays with strange temps, original textures and moods.
Bosconi Gang Band aims to be an itinerant live improvisational project open to all artists who have released on Bosconi Records that sets the goal of always being unpredictable and special, naturally affected by the artists who perform always creating something unplanned new, and unexpected.
"A very exciting blueprint for the continued evolution of modern dance music!!"

Pye Corner Audio releases a new album, Let’s Emerge!, for Sonic Cathedral. It’s his first studio outing for the label following the acclaimed live recording Social Dissonance, which came out earlier this year, and it features Ride guitarist Andy Bell playing on five of its ten tracks. From the first glimpse of the artwork to the first note of the music it’s a marked deviation from Pye Corner Audio’s more traditional shadowy sounds. Whereas his last outing for Ghost Box (2021’s Entangled Routes) was inspired by the underground fungal pathways through which plants communicate, this one is very much above ground, bathed in sunlight and acid-bright psychedelia.

“This is a departure to sunnier climes, but a departure nonetheless,” says Pye Corner Audio, aka Martin Jenkins. “It’s something that I’d been thinking about for a while. I try to tailor my work slightly differently for the various labels that I work with, and this seems to fit nicely with Sonic Cathedral’s ethos.” Designer Marc Jones’ bold and ultra vivid artwork consciously references the likes of LFO, Spacemen 3 and the early output of Stereolab. “I think it mixes together many of my earliest influences,” explains Martin. “I’ve been a long-time fan of Spacemen 3 and Stereolab.

Their moments of repetition and drone have always seeped into what I’ve tried to create.

“I was living in a small apartment and I’d stripped down my studio set-up when I was recording this album. This enabled me to focus on a few key pieces of equipment and explore them fully.” The recordings were fleshed out by Andy Bell, who Martin first met at the Sonic Cathedral 15th birthday party at The Social in London back in 2019 – the same show that became the live album Social Dissonance.

“New alliances were formed and friendships made in that basement in Little Portland Street,” recalls Martin. “When I met Andy, we agreed that we needed to work together in some way. After I’d remixed a few tracks from his album The View From Halfway Down, he kindly repaid the favour.” The end results – mastered in New York by acclaimed engineer Heba Kadry – are incredible, from the first stirrings of opener ‘De-Hibernate’, via the glorious ‘Haze Loops’ and ‘Saturation Point’, the album slowly but surely awakens, blinking and feeling its way into the light. It all culminates in the epic closing track ‘Warmth Of The Sun’ which, with its vocal harmonies and acid breakdown, is seven and a half minutes of pure release.

“That one’s about life’s simple pleasures,” concludes Martin. “The Beach Boys, tremolo guitars, infinite drones, Spacemen 3. Let’s emerge from this darkened era and feel the ‘Warmth Of The Sun’. “The last few years have seen huge changes, both personally and in a wider perspective. The album title is a reaction to this, a collective (tentative) sigh of relief. Here’s to new beginnings and a sense of hope.”

Taking inspiration from the likes of Isaac Hayes and Lonnie Liston Smith, ‘Piggyback’ is up-tempo and simmering from the off, with synth strings building tension in the intro alongside a menacing guitar riff and haunting brass stabs.

‘Piggyback’ is a social commentary on the idea that we all become more successful only by associating with people higher up the ladder than ourselves.

‘Deeper In Love’ sees Corbin return to his soulful roots, drawing influences from the likes of Al Green, Syl Johnson and Leroy Hutson to create a smooth groove helped along by some stunning horns and backing vocals.

Speaking about the song Nick says, “Lyrically it was partly inspired by John Legend’s ‘Ordinary People’ - I wanted to write a love song about how challenging times can bring people closer together. The last year or so has really tested a lot of relationships and I felt it was important to have light and shade.”

Recorded at Ernie McKone’s Boogie Back studio in North London, Nick is supported by a stellar line-up of musicians including Mick Talbot on Hammond and Wurlitzer and the dream team horn section of Tom White (Labrinth) and Paul Jordanous (Rag 'n' Bone Man).

High Focus Records are excited to share a new full length offering from prolific Brighton based producer Mr Slipz, this time with a fresh label signing, Australian rapper Nelson Dialect. A landmark release and signing for High Focus with Nelson being the first international signing on the label. UK listeners might have first heard Nelson collaborating with Verbz & Mr Slipz on the song ‘Hope’ from their acclaimed LP ‘Radio Waves’ released on High Focus in 2020. Nelson has a cult following in his own right in Australia, and previously released music on the legendary U.S label Fat Beats to great acclaim. Now teaming up with one of the most exciting and respected UK producers, Nelson & Mr Slipz deliver ‘Ever Since’. A statement piece by two artists with well over a decade spent on their craft which sounds as urgent and refreshing as if it were their first time releasing music. The album’s title is a reference to the endless quest for a timeless sound, reflecting the creative partnerships which spark from a seemingly forever existing thread of music. The two artists crossed paths whilst Nelson was on tour in Brighton, and a chance introduction to Slipz made this album a reality. As fate would have it, due to a cancellation of plans and changing of schedules during Nelson’s tour, the pair ended up in the studio for 8 days straight together which is when the bulk of the album was created. They each saw this as a cosmic alignment and thus played into the albums astrological artwork themes and overarching concept. Striving to capture the lightning in a bottle moment, what resulted musically on this album was an inspired surge of energy and intense creative output that is felt across the entire LP. Equal parts personal and lyrically dextrous, Nelson explores a multitude of concepts over the hard hitting drums and jazzy samples producer Mr Slipz is renowned for through his previous work with artists including Verbz, Kofi Stone, Vitamin G & Datkid among many more. The album features a slew of impressive guest verses including label mates Vitamin G & Verbz on the emphatic ‘Oxford Scholars’. Two legends Jehst & Confucius MC combine on ‘Smooth Ride’. Bronx pioneer & D.I.T.C legend A.G delivers a show stopping verse on ‘Trembling the Marrow’. There are hypnotic singing performances by Indira May on ‘First Date’ & ‘Open Book’ as well as Hiatus Kaiyote back up vocalist Jace XL on the soul stirring anthem “Figure Out What’s Right”. U.S rappers SickInTheHead & Cazeaux O.S.L.O round out the impressive guest list on the album with their inspired verses. Listeners caught their first glimpse of the duo with their debut single ‘Only Just Begun’. A whirlwind 3 verse tune showcasing the relentless wordplay and imagery Nelson is regarded for over a moody, hard hitting Slipz production. With a buzz already around what Nelson Dialect & Mr Slipz are brewing, the duo have just released their second single ‘Oxford Scholars’ featuring label mates Vitamin G & Verbz

A voice in the ether. A calm, clement drone. A gentle, pulsing throb. Like the ghost of a forgotten future as imagined by the distant past, Certain Creatures' sophomore LP Nasadiya Sukta is a study in timelessness - crystalline, heartfelt ambient music designed to push light through shadow. Nasadiya Sukta is the debut release on Mysteries of the Deep, a record label dedicated to total sensory immersion. Mysteries (as it's known colloquially and affectionately) launched in 2011 after a particularly fruitful late-night mixing session, first as a cult podcast series dedicated to narcotic music of all kinds, subsequently expanding into a series of seasonal events. Now, with the release of Nasadiya Sukta, Mysteries of the Deep becomes a full-fledged outlet for music to play in the dark. Certain Creatures is the alias of Brooklyn-based artist Oliver Chapoy, and Nasadiya Sukta was crafted especially for Mysteries of the Deep. Its genesis came when Grant Aaron, Mysteries' proprietor, tapped Chapoy to perform at Mysteries' Halloween event in 2015. His performance was the night's axis point, bridging earlier subdued sounds with late-night upbeat moods. Two years later, reworked and reconfigured, this performance is reborn as Nasadiya Sukta. Although divided into six tracks, Nasadiya coheres into a single extra-terrestrial mass, its beautiful understated elegance encouraging repeat listens. Simultaneously harking back to ambient classics from the '90s (you know who they are) while cementing Chapoy as a visionary artist with his own unique voice, Nasadiya Sukta is one for the space travellers indeed. Releases on Styles Upon Styles, Medical Records Label Promo + Tour

Évariste is one of the rare specimens of artist-cum-scientists. Among his kind stand others like Pierre Schaeffer, a Polytechnique graduate (an engineer but also the father of musique concrète) and the eccentric Boby Lapointe (graduate of the École centrale and inventor of the Bibi-binaire system, patented in 1968). Évariste's songwriting, joyful and full of energy (albeit extremely critical), shrouds an original tragedy: born in 1943 among résistants, Joël Sternheimer (aka Évariste) grew up without a father, lost to Auschwitz. Although he makes little reference to Jewish culture in his music, his origins leave their mark: in 1974, he sings a Hebrew song on television. In 1966, the young Joël sports Princeton's colourful paraphernalia - that's because he's freshly returning from the US, where he was sent to pursue his research on "particle mass and the interpretation of observed regularities, such as the effects of a wave" (will understand who may). When he gets there the country's in the midst of the Vietnam War. With McNamara keen to find an alternative to the nuclear weapon and calling upon the country's biggest brains to undertake the task, there's a "fund shift" within the university - a diplomatic way to give notice to whoever may not be disposed to follow the government's scheme. Joël, who's under the supervision of a rebellious physician, is dismissed. He regardless keeps following the prestigious seminaries of the Institute for Advanced Study, chaired by Oppenheimer, inventor of the atomic bomb. Likely inspired by the hippie movement and music, Joël buys a guitar and starts playing in Washington Square - after all, Bob Dylan himself started there. He blithely skips Oppenheimer and receives a warm (though surprised) welcome from a crowd thoroughly unfamiliar with French. When the ageing physicist questions him about his decreasing attendance, Joël explains how drawn he is to music, and how he thinks it could help him in self-financing his research. Évariste recalls seeing the sickened man, his face torn by remorse, lighten up to his words and say: "What's keeping you - go for it! If I was still young that's exactly what I'd do." The student takes these words as a testimony from his professor - and it's enough to convince him . And so he takes the leap during the Christmas vacations he spends in Paris. A journalist friend he often sees around the Sorbonne introduces him to the artistic director of Disques AZ. The latter passes the tapes on to the label's boss, Lucien Morisse, also program manager on Europe N°1. Morisse is blown away - and signs him onto the label right away. Michel Colombier, arranger for Serge Gainsbourg and co-author of "Psyché Rock", with Pierre Henry, contributes some of his original ideas to the 7 inch "E=mc2": Évariste's preoccupation with the percussion sound on the track "Le calcul intégral" is that it goes "poom poom" and not "tock tock" - Colombier is aware of the issue and records Évariste's guitar like a percussion in an isolated booth. The organist Eddy Louis, who is to participate, in 1969, to the success of Claude Nougaro's "Paris mai", also appears on the record. It's 1966 and the Antoine phenomenon (signed on Vogue) storms through France. The two singers share similarities: Antoine is an engineer of the École centrale, gifted with a great originality in his song-writing. A godsend for the two labels who turn this resemblance into a commercial strategy, setting them out as rivals. To this day though, Évariste still denies what was little more than slushy tabloïd gossip. Success comes around swiftly and in 1967 Évariste launches into a second 7 inch, "Wo I nee", again arranged by Michel Colombier. Quantum mechanics fans finally get their anthem with "La Chasse Au Boson Intermédiaire" (or the "Intermediary Boson Pursuit"). To sum up what's a boson, say he's a close pal of the meson, photon and other gluons. A few months later, it's May 68 and everything's turned upside down. Évariste writes a series of songs inspired by the events, which he immediately submits to Lucien Morisse. When the man behind "Salut les copains", once married to Dalida, hears the song "La révolution" - a father and son dialogue - he can't take any more: AZ simply cannot release this. But there and then Lucien Morisse makes a gesture which will remain engraved in French music's history: sorry to be unable to officially stand by the singer, he encourages him to self-produce the record, but with his tacit support. He calls the pressing factory and asks they apply the same rate for Évariste as they would for AZ. The singer and his musicians use the same studio as for the previous record, all of them playing for free awaiting a return on investment. Évariste keeps singing at the Sorbonne with "Jussieu's gang" and "the young Renaud" he nicknames "le p'tit gavroche" (or "street urchin"). Renaud volunteers to type the lyrics of the song "La révolution" so that the chorus can be sung and recorded. A boy in the group is related to Wolinski and introduces them. The two get along so well that Wolinski ends up drawing the cover for the record "La révolution", for free. The self-released 7 inch "La révolution / La faute à Nanterre" is sold under the table and door-to-door for half the price of a standard record, on and around the boulevard Saint-Michel; and it runs out fast. In the end, there will be 6 releases of the record, and 25000 copies sold. When the theatre director Claude Confortès decides to adapt Wolinski's drawing series titled "Je ne veux pas mourir idiot" ("I don't want to die a fool"), he asks Évariste to write the original soundtrack. His friend, now cartoonist for Hara-Kiri Hebdo, often promotes him in accordance with a principle dear to him by virtue of which he gives a special place to his friends. Dominique Grange (writer of the song "Nous sommes les nouveaux partisans") soon joins the team. After 150 performances, Évariste leaves his place to Dominique Maurin (brother of Patrick Dewaere). Évariste composes the songs for Claude Confortès' next play, "Je ne pense qu'à ça" ("That's all I think about"), co-wrote with Wolinski in 1969. The comedians of the play record the songs on a 7 inch, with a cover signed, again, by Wolinski. In 1971, French television produces the documentary "Évariste et les 7 dimensions", but doesn't air it. Indeed, the scientific sub-comity of the programming comity (sic) censors the show. The given justification is that "Évariste dangerously mixed science with science-fiction, numerology and other non-scientific disciplines". The underlying motive might have been a will to censor the singer-mathematician's political discourse. In the documentary and among other things, Évariste discusses hierarchy, alienation and revolution. Half a century later the documentary remains invisible, though some excerpts resurfaced in 1992 in the cult show "L'oeil du cyclone", on Canal +. Though flourishing, Évariste's career is nearing its end. 1970 is the beginning of a decade in the course of which he is to make a decisive discovery in the musical and scientific domains. Following this breakthrough, he moves away from self-produced music and gaucho magazines to focus on science. He keeps Oppenheimer's encouraging words in mind, now freely pursuing his research thanks to the sales of his records. Joël realises that when decoding protein sequences, one finds musical sequences recognisable to humans. He names them "proteodies". If, when listening to a proteody, one responds by being so sensitive as to finding it beautiful, then it reveals a deficiency of the related protein - and this peculiar music may be the cure. We could trace back the music history in light of proteins lacking in a given artist, or within a public's majority. You always thought these hysterical groupies who'd throw their underwear with passion and faint in the pit had miraculously appeared because they had never heard anything as wonderful as the Beatles? Make no mistake! For Évariste, it all boils down to an intro's protein content. Indeed, the beginning of their first hit "Love Me Do" corresponds to dopamine, the neurotransmitter linked to compulsive buying. An intro like this could only unleash the fervour of groupies, victims of fashion and biology. Évariste's success is such that the income from his sales gives him the autonomy to which he had aspired when confiding to Oppenheimer. It made it possible for him to pursue his research without any institutional constraints. He now devotes himself to his proteodies, sat in the offices of the European University for Research, just around the corner from the Sorbonne he knew so well. Évariste is no more. Joël regained control of this strange and comical beast.

Singer-songwriter Bob Lind will forever be immortalized by his 1965 hit, »Elusive Butterfly«, but his career is so much more interesting than the fading wonder of that one hit. Once a hard-partying buddy of Charles Bukowski, Lind was the inspiration for the character »Dinky Summers«, a down-on-his-luck folk singer in Bukowski's 1978 novel Women. Lind also doubled as a writer, penning a number of novels and plays as well as serving as a long-time staff writer at the lowbrow tabloid Weekly World News.

If that wasn't enough, Lind is also responsible for one of the greatest major-label 'loner' albums of all time, 1971's Since There Were Circles. After several years languishing without a second hit for the World Pacific label, Lind signed to Capitol and went into the studio with some of the biggest names in the LA country-rock scene including Doug Dillard, Gene Clark, Bernie Leadon and legendary session bassist Carol Kaye. While the record was well-received critically, it sold poorly and marked Lind's bitter departure from the music business for several decades.

The intervening half-century has been incredibly kind to »Since There Were Circles«, and it is now regarded as a cult masterpiece that pairs perfectly with Gene Clark's No Other, Bobby Charles' self-titled Bearsville album and Lee Hazlewood's Cowboy in Sweden. Lind's songwriting here is vastly darker and more self-reflective than anything from his folk-pop period, and the production is simultaneously loose and rootsy, yet lushly orchestrated and occasionally bombastic. Lind somehow manages to bring it all together with wry delivery and literate detail.

Pink Vinyl - Repress!

An impressive title on Don Chery's far and wide discography. On this date he went literally East, playing Tibetan and Asian instruments. The album was originally released in 1974 on the Scandinavian label Sonet and highlights a session of the previous year with famous Swedish jazz improvisers Bengt Berger and Christer Bothen.

Amid massive global paradigm shifts Dave Hartley (aka Nightlands) became a father twice over and left his native Philadelphia for Asheville, where the pace of daily life is slower and it's easier to maintain a zoomed-out perspective on modern life. From the newfound refuge of a studio he built using the bones of a barn attached to his hundred-something-year-old house in the mountains, Hartley has tailored a collection of well-crafted pop rock, pointedly titled Moonshine. Guided by some of the harmonic sensibilities that have helped make The War on Drugs a force in modern music, Moonshine combines immaculate-yet-dense vocal stacks and billowy clouds of effected keyboards with classic songcraft, revealing previously unseen acreage in the unfurling dreamscape that is Nightlands. The surrealistic album art by Austin-based illustrator Jaime Zuverza depicts an archway opening to the stars over the surface of an idyllic sea flanked by both moon and sun. Similarly, Moonshine reveals portals within portals leading to ever deeper places in Hartley's vocal-centered labyrinth…

lynyn sounds like if Aphex Twin or Autechre could compose for symphony and shred jazz. Though lynyn is a new Artist, his debut LP lexicon is essential listening for anyone interested in the compositional heights of electronic, synth, and modular music. So, who is lynyn? lynyn is the moniker of Chicago artist Conor Mackey, a working symphonic composer who has scored for institutions including the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and Brain.fm (the neuroscience driven musical platform where he is currently lead composer on staff). He is also a guitarist / composer in the Chicago jazz fusion quintet Monobody. After years of quietly mastering the creation of electronic music in his home, Mackey first introduced his electronic alias lynyn as producer of NNAMDI's Are You Happy EP in the Fall of 2021 (Pitchfork described his production on that project as "a novel intersection of IDM" and contemporary pop). lynyn now offers up his debut electronic oevure lexicon via Chicago label Sooper Records. lexicon displays a mastery of both musical composition and sound design, as well as a deep appreciation of the vocabulary and history of the electronic genre_ with particular emphasis on the 90s IDM movement. Throughout lexicon we are propelled through the sounds of musique concrete, footwork, hip-hop, ambience, glitch-core, IDM, drum and bass, dub, break beats, and so much more. These influences work in tandem to produce a linear experience that can be spellbinding, euphoric, and sometimes destabilizing, but without ever feeling listless or wandering. The dense arrangements of lexicon are intentionally constructed with a painstaking attention to the most minute detail, and also with a masterful awareness of the macroscopic sound design profile of the entire work. Synth sequences and modular tones merge with sounds that seem wholly organic to create a series of purposeful movements from start to finish. Mackey is particularly adept at taking disparate, often difficult to control elements and introducing them harmoniously. He is a fastidious architect and designer of sound tinkering away in his modular laboratory. lexicon is an innovative entrant into the history of IDM and electronica with all the makings of an essential contribution. What Mackey accomplishes with lexicon is a progression; he's taking the sum articulation of a genre and attempting to carry it forward by imbuing it with his own unique language as a symphonic composer. His melting together of genres and techniques is a gateway into a more wide-ranging expression of the artform, particularly with respect to the sophistication of melodic composition. The result is arguably a landmark. While rightfully positioning the lynyn moniker as an electronic alias, lexicon leaves no doubt that Mackey is a composer above all else.

lynyn sounds like if Aphex Twin or Autechre could compose for symphony and shred jazz. Though lynyn is a new Artist, his debut LP lexicon is essential listening for anyone interested in the compositional heights of electronic, synth, and modular music. So, who is lynyn? lynyn is the moniker of Chicago artist Conor Mackey, a working symphonic composer who has scored for institutions including the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and Brain.fm (the neuroscience driven musical platform where he is currently lead composer on staff). He is also a guitarist / composer in the Chicago jazz fusion quintet Monobody. After years of quietly mastering the creation of electronic music in his home, Mackey first introduced his electronic alias lynyn as producer of NNAMDI's Are You Happy EP in the Fall of 2021 (Pitchfork described his production on that project as "a novel intersection of IDM" and contemporary pop). lynyn now offers up his debut electronic oevure lexicon via Chicago label Sooper Records. lexicon displays a mastery of both musical composition and sound design, as well as a deep appreciation of the vocabulary and history of the electronic genre_ with particular emphasis on the 90s IDM movement. Throughout lexicon we are propelled through the sounds of musique concrete, footwork, hip-hop, ambience, glitch-core, IDM, drum and bass, dub, break beats, and so much more. These influences work in tandem to produce a linear experience that can be spellbinding, euphoric, and sometimes destabilizing, but without ever feeling listless or wandering. The dense arrangements of lexicon are intentionally constructed with a painstaking attention to the most minute detail, and also with a masterful awareness of the macroscopic sound design profile of the entire work. Synth sequences and modular tones merge with sounds that seem wholly organic to create a series of purposeful movements from start to finish. Mackey is particularly adept at taking disparate, often difficult to control elements and introducing them harmoniously. He is a fastidious architect and designer of sound tinkering away in his modular laboratory. lexicon is an innovative entrant into the history of IDM and electronica with all the makings of an essential contribution. What Mackey accomplishes with lexicon is a progression; he's taking the sum articulation of a genre and attempting to carry it forward by imbuing it with his own unique language as a symphonic composer. His melting together of genres and techniques is a gateway into a more wide-ranging expression of the artform, particularly with respect to the sophistication of melodic composition. The result is arguably a landmark. While rightfully positioning the lynyn moniker as an electronic alias, lexicon leaves no doubt that Mackey is a composer above all else.

Mit dem neuen Studioalbum "Positive Aggressive" feiern Godslave ihr Labeldebut bei Metalville Records. Hier kommt eine Ltd. Edition LP Auflage in grün transparenter Farbe.

'Dry Water Wet Land' is the debut album by underground Detroit rapper Dirtee Curt, set for release by Australian based label Fifty Records. Featuring production from Dakim and Ahkatari, the album pairs Curt's raw delivery and personal lyricism with faithfully innovative, late '90s/early '00s inspired, sample-laden hip hop.

Debut full-length collaboration from Jack Burton and Rory Glacken (Tourist Kid)
Follows Jack Burton's solo LP on Analogue Attic and Tourist Kid's solo LP on Melody As Truth
Early support from Ben Fester, Best Effort/DJ Earl Grey, Biscuit (Good Morning Tapes), Brian Not Brian, Ewan Jansen, Kato, Merve, Sleep D & Wax'o Paradiso
Dentistry is the dual energies of Rory Glacken and Jack Burton, Boorloo originals now living in Naarm. The pair have previously released an EP, "Ribbons," on their own Deep Water label, and a track on its local showcase comp "Greenhouse Vol. I" at the end of 2021. This transmission is their debut full length offering, channeled through hometown beacon Good Company Records.

"LP1" was created in unusual conditions between September and December of 2020, when the duo's shared Northcote studio became a site of remote collaboration. One person would start working on a track and leave the session open for the other, with no overlap of physical space shared. Responding to an invitation from GCR to make a record, the initial impulse was to write dance music. But what dance floor were these incorporeal partners writing for?

The album takes a spectral approach to the dance space, wrapping up air in a strata of textural tech, pulsing dub house and fractal illbience. Drawing on dub production techniques, "LP1" combines the structure of an ambient record with intricate percussive elements. Results are both atmospheric and material, abstract and palpable: a synthesis which expresses sonic relations of surface and depth, with the correlating mirage of light and shadow.

At times tinkering methodically and others in mercurial lurch, there is an immediacy to this album that stems from the way it was produced, using a mixing desk and outboard gear to rich and living effect. When we listen, we commune with the artists in the heat of working out of an otherworldly space, and feel every tweak and and turn. "LP1" is a current which carries the substance of process in communicable form. Intuitive and moving, breathing, dancing.

The Initial Command” is the debut landmark album by Canadian EBM-industrialists Front Line Assembly, originally released in 1987 through Belgian label KK Records. Bill leeb shows us already a unique style, setting a benchmark for all that would follow. Fiercely original, not least for ‘it’s time’, from the glittering synths and harsh metallic percussion of the unarguably cinematic “Casualties” and the abrasive white noise on “Ausgang Zum Himmel”, to the punchy breaks and dramatic strings of “No Control”.

Deluxe re-release including all original tracks and both bonus tracks taken from a re-release in 1997: “Complexity” and “Core”. Limited pressing of 500 copies with double vinyl record, deluxe gatefold sleeve and new vintage artwork. D-side features a silkscreen of the classic fist logo.

DJ Swagger Minor Major Grand Schemes Nearing that halfway mark into 2022, you'd think Bielefeld's most illustrious producer DJ Swagger would have begun losing steam. Following a successful string of releases throughout the New 20's - consistently solid slabs on Thirty Year Records, ec2a, Timeisnow, plus killer collaborations with LUZ1E as DJ DOOM - the young musician pulls out his second full-length on his own GODDESS MUSIC imprint in the form of a slick, multi-genre double-pack: Minor Major Grand Schemes. MMGS is as much a refinement as it is an expansion of Swagger's stylistic bag of tricks, maneuvering through modern styles of club music, pop sensibilities and sleek production techniques that ticks off boxes for both DJs and casual listeners alike. You got your cheeky intros/interludes and your trap-pop miniatures; dusky UKG street devotionals and bonkers dubstep tools; sexy vocal features, clickity-clack percussion, and biiiig low-end. This is what DJ Swagger says about his new LP: This album is the most DJ Swagger sound yet. It wraps up all my influences from techno over hiphop to breakbeat and IDM. I had such a great time working on this and watching the process. I'm beyond grateful for the features and beautiful people that consistently helped me shape this piece of music. As said this is my very own project on my own label. Probably the largest project I ever started and drove to finish. Minor Major Grand Schemes stands for the balance between objective and subjective reality. Your perception of things mirrors on how you see them, feel them and take them for yourself. Minor major, so to say, important or not-so-important, grand schemes, means that things might get more or less important on how you value them. This is at least what I learned for myself doing a long-term therapy late 2020 into early 2021 against depression and OCD. As my view changed, so did my surroundings. As my surroundings changed, so did my view. I found that to be a really important and crucial lesson on how to deal with fear, anxiety and feelings alike. The toughest thing is to learn how to shift your mind towards another, more positive direction. That might take time, a lot of hard work and a strong will. Be sure that it is okay to ask for help, always. If I didn't get the help I got during my down times, I don't know where I would be now. This is why I decided on that name for this album. Consider yourself important and beautiful at any given time. Have fun and enjoy listening to Minor Major Grand Schemes.

Saturate Records, a bass music label based in Hamburg, Germany that started in 2010, has come together with Stylust's (formerly Stylust Beats) Sleeveless Records to bring the world Saturated Warriors, a sweltering new compilation album featuring heavy-hitters from all around. Both labels pride themselves on only putting out the freshest music, always catering to the counterculture crowds and only accelerating with the times. Over the years, Saturate and Sleeveless have had releases from some of the current biggest names in the bass-music scene, including Herobust, G Jones, Zeke Beats, Conrank, Shlump, and more. Finding their niche in giving young talent a platform, these labels have become a home for young producers that aren't afraid to experiment.
Now Presenting Saturated Warriors!"

Fresh Roots and dub from Rapha Pico on Jah Works label, produced by dub veteran Jah Rej & recorded & mixed at Earth Works Studio, Amsterdam

14 track vinyl version of the 2012 CD compilation. Pressed on pale blue vinyl, with printed lyric inner sleeve. First time on vinyl. Includes poster and postcard.
A swish compilation LP featuring fourteen of the most memorable songs in the career of the top notch indie band THE HIT PARADE.
Entitled ‘PICK OF THE POPS (VOL1)’ the LP collects together the most poignant moments in the career of THE HIT PARADE, and includes their thoughtful recording for Sarah Records “In Gunnersbury Park”, their tubthumping single for Minty Fresh USA “Hitomi” as well as other cuts, both cheerful and desolate in style, that feature CATH CARROLL (Factory Records), AMELIA FLETCHER (Heavenly and Talulah Gosh) and HARVEY WILLIAMS (Another Sunny Day and The Field Mice).
THE HIT PARADE was formed by JULIAN HENRY with his school friends MATT MOFFATT and RAYMOND WATTS in 1984 when they released their first single ‘Forever’ on JSH RECORDS. Since then they’ve clung to the sensibilities of pure pop and have become a curiosity item with their retro attitudes and songs about dead writers, disused swimming pools and failed love affairs.
Their early vinyl singles were lauded by John Peel, the NME and Melody Maker, the now defunct weekly paper that published JULIAN HENRY’S writing. In the 1990s the band toured alongside Edwyn Collins, The Milkshakes and Sarah Records notables, and signed to Japanese and US labels, releasing a sequence of albums that have since become collectible.

wieder lieferbar Er gilt als einer der wichtigsten Vertreter deutscher Elektronikmusik-Avantgarde: der Komponist und Konzeptkünstler Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011). Schnitzler studierte bei Joseph Beuys, war Mitglied bei Tangerine Dream und Kluster und veröffentlichte unzählige Solowerke. Das Material auf "Gold" (2003 auf dem Label Marginal Talent erstveröffentlicht) stammt aus den Jahren 1976 bis 78. Die Musik sticht in jeder Hinsicht aus den schnitzlerschen Veröffentlichungen heraus. Allein der Sound lässt kaum vermuten, dass das Material in den 70er-Jahren aufgenommen wurde. Mit seiner komplexen Mehrkanaligkeit, dem perfekten Equalizing, der transparenten Tiefenschärfe und durch die Brillanz der Signale klingt "Gold" so modern, als wäre es viele Jahre später eingespielt worden. Aber auch die Kompositionen sind erstaunlich. Auf abstrakte, atonale Abschnitte folgen handfeste rhythmisch-harmonische Sequenzen, die einerseits an Cluster erinnern, andererseits aber auch auf die elektronische Popmusik der 80er-Jahre hindeuten. Das Vinyl ist 180 Gramm schwer, die Linernotes sind von Asmus Tietchens.

Dritte Auflage, blutrotes Vinyl. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem britischen Entwickler-Studio Kaizen Game Works veröffentlicht das Kölner Soundtrack-Label Black Screen Records im Frühjahr 2021 Barry "Epoch" Toppings funkigen "City-Pop meets Vaporwave"-Soundtrack zu dem von der internationalen Gaming-Presse gefeierten Open World Adventure Game Paradise Killer auf Vinyl. Barrys Toppings Soundtrack erscheint auf limitiertem 180g blutrotem Vinyl und kommt in einem von 80er Animes & City Pop-Alben inspirierten Artwork der deutschen Designerin Mizucat. Zudem enthält das Vinyl ein gefaltetes A2 Poster und einen Download Code. Die Sounds des Paradieses. Die Musik eines kosmischen Traums. Tracks einer anderen Realität. Das Tempo eines Verbrechens, dass alle Verbrechen beendet. Der Beat von lange verlorenen außerirdischen Göttern. Die Playlist des "Investigation Freaks". Lass dich von der Musik ins Paradies führen. Fühle die glühend heiße Sonne auf deiner Haut. Rieche unerträglich heißen Beton. Genieße den süßen Geschmack von Verbrechen, begangen, auf einer tropischen Insel in einer alternativen Realität. Erinnerst du dich daran, wie wir am Strand getanzt haben? Neben den paradiesischen Straßen? Du hast mir dieses Mix-Tape auf dem Dach deines Apartments gemacht. Wir haben den Mond angestarrt. Du sagtest, du würdest den Mond töten. Ich glaubte dir nicht. Wie falsch ich doch lag.

Provogue / Mascot Label Group announce this special vinyl reissue of
blues-titan Joe Bonamassa's back catalogue
'Blues Deluxe' is one of the most popular releases of Joe Bonamassa and this
new re-issue has been expanded to 2 discs to ensure optimal audio quality.
Blues Deluxe is the third studio album by Joe Bonamassa and originally released
on August 26, 2003. Recorded at Unique Recording Studios in New York City, it
was produced by Bob Held and features nine cover versions of songs by classic
blues artists, such as BB King, Jeff Beck, John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson,
Elmore James and more. The album is completed with three original tracks,
including the fan favorite Woke Up Dreaming.
With 25 #1 albums, yearly sold-out tours worldwide and custom annual cruises,
he's a hard act to beat. These albums are a testament to his credentials and a
toast to his longtime fans who remember them originally and new fans who can
experience them for the first time. It's Joe Bonamassa at his finest, ready to rock.

Starting life in the early 1970's, US legends Pentagram is one of the most
enduring underground bands in heavy metal history - Influenced by
British bands 'The Groundhogs' & 'Black Sabbath', their own take on Doom
Metal has subsequently influenced everyone from 'Paradise Lost' to
'Cathedral' - Though the band line-up has changed many times over the
years, enigmatic vocalist Bobby Liebling remains at the helm, with
Pentagram now widely-regarded as a true cult band with a fanbase
transcending whole generations
'Relentless' was the band's debut album & was originally self-released in 1985 as
'Pentagram' - later to be renamed & released by Peaceville in 1993, after a long
search for a suitable record label. With its numerous timeless heavy metal
anthems & the distinguishable voice of Bobby Liebling eerily ringing out,
'Relentless' remains the most iconic release of the band's studio output & a staple
of the entire heavy doom genre.

Limited edition classic LP, reissued on 180g vinyl, audiophile pressing
This quintessential collector's vinyl edition includes Etta James' sensational
debut LP, At Last!, first released by the Chess Records subsidiary label Argo in
1960.
The original ten tracks from the album are akin to a greatest hits collection, with
signature gems like "At Last", "All I Could Do Was Cry", "Anything to Say You're
Mine", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", and "Sunday Kind of Love", among
others. In addition to this original masterpiece, 4 bonus tracks from the same
period are also included.

Nightlands is the solo project of The War on Drugs’ bassist and multi-instrumentalist Dave Hartley. Amid massive global paradigm shifts Dave Hartley (aka Nightlands) became a father twice over and left his native Philadelphia for Asheville, where the pace of daily life is slower and it's easier to maintain a zoomed-out perspective on modern life. From the newfound refuge of a studio he built using the bones of a barn attached to his hundred-something-year-old house in the mountains, Hartley has tailored a collection of well-crafted pop rock, pointedly titled Moonshine. Guided by some of the harmonic sensibilities that have helped make The War on Drugs a force in modern music, Moonshine combines immaculate-yet-dense vocal stacks and billowy clouds of effected keyboards with classic songcraft, revealing previously unseen acreage in the unfurling dreamscape that is Nightlands. The surrealistic album art by Austin-based illustrator Jaime Zuverza depicts an archway opening to the stars over the surface of an idyllic sea flanked by both moon and sun. Similarly, Moonshine reveals portals within portals leading to ever deeper places in Hartley's vocal-centered labyrinth. Throughout the album, there are plenty of buoyant high moods where the pitter-patter of drum machine and humming digital organ hints at Hartley's low-key tropicalia streak, but the lyrics anchor the dreaminess in real-world sorrow and resignation. Nowhere are these sentiments more apparent than on the title track, a nearly acapella recitation of "America the Beautiful" that poignantly hovers over a mirage of soft keyboards before dovetailing into Hartley's own words about the hypocrisy of the American dream. "This was never intended to be an overtly political record" he admits. "I have so many friends who are able to process the frustration of current events gracefully or with wisdom or in a nuanced way, but I often find myself just consumed with anger about it all. I decided to just let that come out, and it manifested itself lyrically." Moonshine's wide-eyed, utopian instrumental backdrops provide sharp contrast to Hartley's lyrics, which sting even harder within the sweetness. Even in light of the album's vocal emphasis, Hartley's history as a bassist brilliantly beams through Moonshine, giving effortless and sprightly movement to songs like "Down Here," which also features an extended section of saxophone lent by his Western Vinyl labelmate, Joseph Shabason. In addition to Shabason, the album hosts a short list of remote collaborators including four of Hartley's bandmates from The War on Drugs, Robbie Bennet, Anthony Lamarca, Eliza Hardy Jones, and Charlie Hall, as well as exotica virtuoso Frank Locrasto (Cass McCombs, Fruit Bats), and producer Adam McDaniel (Avey Tare, Angel Olsen). Hartley was forced to keep the guest list small out of the necessity of pandemic isolation, coupled with his move to a smaller city, all of which challenged him to do most of the album's heavy lifting right down to the mixing duties, resulting in the most independent effort of his career. By that measure, Moonshine is also the clearest image yet of Dave Hartley as a person and creator.

Decomposed recalls classic American hardcore like Bad Brains, Poison Idea and Jerry’s Kids or Japanese ragers like Paintbox, The Comes, Eiefits and Skizophrenia. But there’s also a healthy slug of classic UK and US punk and even a bit of Krautrock, psychedelia and Black Sabbath in there too. Nottingham has always been a melting pot for heavy music. For a small city, it has boasted more than its fair share of genre defining bands and artists, not to mention record labels. Bands cross-pollinate, form projects and offshoots and play one-off gigs that would result in lengthy careers and world tours if they had happened across the Atlantic. It has always been like that there. No big deal (but yet, a really big deal if you know). One such band/project/offshoot were Endless Grinning Skulls. Formed by guitarist Andy Morgan (also from Bloody Head, Army Of Flying Robots, Nadir and countless more), drummer Steve Charlesworth (Heresy, Wolves Of Greece, Meatfly, Geriatric Unit) and bassist Gords (Hard To Swallow, John Holmes, Geriatric Unit) in the early twenty-teens, they re-set the bar for the 3-piece hardcore band before (perhaps inevitably) burning out in 2018. Morgan and Charlesworth weren’t done though. They’d forged a bond in EGS and wanted to carry on playing together so - in a familiar Nottingham storyline - they recruited former Pitchshifter guitarist Stu Toolin on bass and Anmarie Spaziano (who you might know from running a famous burger joint) on vocals and formed Blind Eye. They knew Toolin was about to relocate to Portland, Oregon so they wrote and recorded an EP (released on Morgan’s own Viral Age Records). Quick-sharp. No messing about. And that – by rights – should have been that: over and out. New band please. However, the demo captured a rare intensity and vitality that more considered projects often fail to achieve. This was a band let loose, free from previous shackles and loving the noise they made. It seemed a shame to stop there. Recruiting Matt Grundy (a former bandmate of Morgan’s in both Nadir and Dead In The Woods) to the bass vacancy they went back to Stuck On A Name Studios in 2021 with Ian “Boulty” Boult at the helm again and delivered the album Decomposed.
Decomposed genuinely rocks out without losing one iota of the effervescent anger that made the demo such an essential listen. From the insistent, minimal opener Ready To Go Now via the unhinged thrash of Straw Man and the menace of the stomping Pero No Quieres, to the measured chugging and epic crescendo of closer Broken Star, this record is a fucking blast. Needle off, flip it back over, play it again. Your neighbours are loving it so much they’re banging on the walls to tell you. “I suppose the intention was to write high energy, catchy hardcore, with a nod to what has come before, but also to do our own thing,” explains Andy. “Lyrically, the album was written during the pandemic, and although it’s not ‘a pandemic album’, I think it deals with a lot of the feelings of loss, separation and isolation

Das ist auch kein Wunder. Das Debütalbum "...And The Earth Shall Crumble" der dänischen Band sorgte 1985 sowohl in der dänischen als auch in der internationalen Metalszene für Aufsehen. Und das in einem Jahr, in dem Accept's "Metal Heart", Megadeth's "Killing Is My Business...", Dio's "Sacred Heart", W.A.S.P.'s "The Last Command" und Iron Maiden's Live-Album "Live After Death" veröffentlicht wurden, ist eine ziemlich gewagte Aussage.

Andererseits war Mirage keine gewöhnliche Band. Ihre melodische Mischung aus Heavy Metal und Hard Rock machte ihre Songs zu absoluten Hard'n'Heavy-Hymnen, die wirklich gut gealtert sind, während "...And The Earth Shall Crumble" zu einem Juwel wurde, das in den folgenden Jahrzehnten sehr begehrt war.

Doch nun schreiben wir das Jahr 2022. Nach einer Pause von mehr als drei Jahrzehnten melden sich Mirage mit ihrem zweiten Album zurück. Moment mal... "Zweites Album"?

Sie haben richtig gehört. Das Album, das Mirage vor über dreißig Jahren hätten veröffentlichen sollen, ist endlich da! In den späten 80er Jahren musste die Band aufhören, weil die englische Plattenfirma ihre Tantiemen an ihre dänische Plattenfirma schickte, die das Geld einsteckte und Konkurs anmeldete! Trotz des Interesses des dänischen Labels Medley Records wurde das zweite Album nie veröffentlicht, obwohl alle Songs geschrieben waren.

Alles, was auf dem kommenden Mirage-Album zu hören ist, wurde also in den späten Achtzigern geschrieben. Auf der Rückseite des ersten Albums ("...And The Earth Shall Crumble", veröffentlicht im Jahr 85) stand geschrieben: "Achtet auf die Fortsetzung".
Nun gut, hier ist die Band wieder, zurück in dem sehr erkennbaren Mirage-Stil: Metal mit Melodie und guten Texten!