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Strut presents the first compilation of legendary Afghan Ghazal singer Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat a.k.a. Nashenas, recorded at the Radio Afghanistan Studios and later released on singles by the Royal label in Iran. Nashenas first made his move towards music aged 16 in 1951 when he approached Afghanistan’s national radio station, Radio Kabul, with an idea for a broadcast and, impressed with his language skills, they offered him a permanent job. “I was in close contact with some of the big names in Afghan music like Jalil Zaland,” Nashenas explains. “My father had a gramophone and we listened to other singers like Ustad Qasim Khan and Kundan Lal Saigal.” After unsuccessful initial forays into singing sessions for the station, he honed his skills as a writer, singer and musician, playing the harmonium. Inspired by a movie he had seen at the cinema, Nashenas wrote a new poem and sang on air again after the evening news, using the name ‘Nashenas’ (meaning ‘unknown’) for the first time. Following a wave of positive feedback from the public, he was given a new weekend slot and built his reputation through film song interpretations, famous poems set to music and his own compositions sung in Dari and Pashto. Nashenas would witness turbulent times as Afghanistan found itself caught up in the Cold War and the early ‘90s civil war until it became too dangerous to stay in the country. Through a friend in the U.N., he was able to seek asylum for himself and his family and take up residence in London, continuing to work as a musician and giving concerts globally. Most of Nashenas’ recordings during this period were only made for broadcast, later surfacing on singles through the Royal label in Iran. Life Is A Heavy Burden is compiled from these singles by Chris Menist and Mads Jensen. All tracks are remastered by The Carvery and both formats feature new liner notes including an interview with Nashenas. The album is part of the new United Sounds of Asia series curated by Chris Menist and Maft Sai of Paradise Bangkok.

Sound can be a labyrinth, a twilight drift. Sound can truely unfold when it escapes logic or categorisation. For it is never really one thing or another, especially abstract, collaged or found sound, as it is always connected to a time and a place, or sometimes to an intention, or a notion, or – even more vague – to something as dubious as a feeling. So all this is inevitably inherent in a sound too. Sound is a fact but also an inbetween. In A Piece Of Work, concrete composer crys cole takes us on a journey through those inbetween places. Fragments collected over time in Oslo, Berlin, Vienna, Winnipeg, Melbourne and Lisbon were later arranged and assembled into an invented space, a story arc, a freeform poem. cole's work is one of dynamics and proximity, of complexity and sensitivity. One that embraces both montage and movement. Originally commissioned by Radiophrenia (Glasgow, Scotland), where it premiered in 2019, A Piece Of Work has been developed through live performances and studio sessions, naturally progressing over time and eventually leading to this final version presented here on vinyl.

Composed, performed and recorded by crys cole, 2019-21. With additional percussion by Oren Ambarchi and electronics by Seiji Morimoto. Mixed with Joe Talia at Good Mixture in Berlin, 2021. Mastered and cut by Anne Taegert at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin, 2021. A Piece Of Work was commissioned by Radiophrenia in Glasgow, Scotland, and originally premiered in 2019.

The Coral is the eponymous debut studio album by British rock band the Coral. It was released on 29 July 2002, through the Deltasonic record label. After finalising their line-up, the band had a residency at The Cavern Club, where they were spotted and signed by Alan Willis of Deltasonic. Following the release of a single and an EP, and two UK tours, the band began recording their debut album. Sessions were held at Linford Manor Studios, Milton Keynes in early 2002, and were produced by the Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie and the Coral. Described as a psychedelia and folk rock album, frontman James Skelly's voice was compared to Eric Burdon of the Animals and Jim Morrison of the Doors.

The Coral toured the United Kingdom twice (one stint as a co-headliner with the Music), and supported Pulp and Oasis for a few shows, leading up to the release of The Coral's lead single "Goodbye" on 15 July 2002. Following an appearance at that year's V Festival, the band toured the UK again in October 2002 to coincide with the album's second single "Dreaming of You" on 7 October 2002. The Coral was released in the United States on 4 March 2003, through Columbia Records.

The Coral received universal acclaim reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the high quality musicianship. The album peaked at number five in the UK, while also charting in France, Ireland, Japan, Scotland, and the US. It, alongside "Dreaming of You", would later be certified platinum in the UK. "Goodbye" charted at number 21 in the UK, and number 28 in Scotland, while "Dreaming of You" peaked at number 13 in the UK, and number 14 in Scotland. The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and a Brit Award.

The Coral is the eponymous debut studio album by British rock band the Coral. It was released on 29 July 2002, through the Deltasonic record label. After finalising their line-up, the band had a residency at The Cavern Club, where they were spotted and signed by Alan Willis of Deltasonic. Following the release of a single and an EP, and two UK tours, the band began recording their debut album. Sessions were held at Linford Manor Studios, Milton Keynes in early 2002, and were produced by the Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie and the Coral. Described as a psychedelia and folk rock album, frontman James Skelly's voice was compared to Eric Burdon of the Animals and Jim Morrison of the Doors.

The Coral toured the United Kingdom twice (one stint as a co-headliner with the Music), and supported Pulp and Oasis for a few shows, leading up to the release of The Coral's lead single "Goodbye" on 15 July 2002. Following an appearance at that year's V Festival, the band toured the UK again in October 2002 to coincide with the album's second single "Dreaming of You" on 7 October 2002. The Coral was released in the United States on 4 March 2003, through Columbia Records.

The Coral received universal acclaim reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the high quality musicianship. The album peaked at number five in the UK, while also charting in France, Ireland, Japan, Scotland, and the US. It, alongside "Dreaming of You", would later be certified platinum in the UK. "Goodbye" charted at number 21 in the UK, and number 28 in Scotland, while "Dreaming of You" peaked at number 13 in the UK, and number 14 in Scotland. The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and a Brit Award.

TRANSMISSION 2LP EDITION OF PORCUPINE TREE'S 1991 DEBUT
ALBUM
Having recently announced that Snapper Music will be representing
Porcupine Tree's Transmission label worldwide, new CD & LP reissues of
the band's extensive catalogue continue to roll out throughout 2021
Porcupine Tree's 1991 debut album 'On The Sunday Of Life' is an album that
stands up as a modern-day pop-psych classic.
With acid warped lyrics courtesy of Alan Duffy (the brains behind the late
lamented Imaginary Records label) the album is a surreal delight containing gems
such as "Jupiter Island" & "Linton Samuel Dawson" filled with quirky melodies,
effected vocals & trippy backwards guitar work. "Nine Cats", the undoubted
masterpiece of the album, is pure Edward Lear styled psychedelia.
'On The Sunday Of Life' also hints at the direction the band would later take with
more progressive influenced material such as the epic "Radioactive Toy".
Porcupine Tree released their last album, 'The Incident', in 2009, marking another
step forward in the incredible journey of the band that began as a solo studio
project created by Steven Wilson in the late eighties to a multi grammy nominated
act & one of the world's most revered live bands, selling out arenas across the
globe & wowing fans with their incredible performances.
"Refreshingly original – a wonderful musical adventure" Record Collector "A debut
disc of unearthly delights… deadly seducing stuff" NME 2LP 140g Gatefold
Edition

On the cover of their debut album "Wilde deutsche Prärie" (Wild German
Prairie) from 2018, we saw a burning house surrounded by apparently
insane figures
Almost four years later, on the cover of their second album, the band is standing
on the dike in Husum. In the background we see the Nordsee Hotel, which burned
out in the year of the debut's release. The looks of the band members reveal
friendly determination, which is very North German in its nonchalance.
Nevertheless, I don't doubt for a moment that Swutscher still know how to set
their surroundings on fire, even leave a trail of destruction. Their reputation is
legendary. Every person who has experienced Swutscher live knows that it is not
only a spiritual but also a physical experience. Reason down and thus lead it into
a wonderful dissolution of boundaries

On the cover of their debut album "Wilde deutsche Prärie" (Wild German
Prairie) from 2018, we saw a burning house surrounded by apparently
insane figures
Almost four years later, on the cover of their second album, the band is standing
on the dike in Husum. In the background we see the Nordsee Hotel, which burned
out in the year of the debut's release. The looks of the band members reveal
friendly determination, which is very North German in its nonchalance.
Nevertheless, I don't doubt for a moment that Swutscher still know how to set
their surroundings on fire, even leave a trail of destruction. Their reputation is
legendary. Every person who has experienced Swutscher live knows that it is not
only a spiritual but also a physical experience. Reason down and thus lead it into
a wonderful dissolution of boundaries

Lemonheads’ seminal album ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’, lovingly reissued for it’s 30th Anniversary. The long overdue reissue includes a slew of extra material, including an unreleased ‘My Drug Buddy’ KCRW session track from 1992 featuring Juliana Hatfield, B-sides from singles ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ and ‘Confetti’, a track from the ‘Mrs. Robinson/Being Round’ EP, alongside demos that will be released for the first time on vinyl. This reissue celebrates their prestigious fifth album, these deluxe bookback editions feature new liner notes and unseen photos.

Described by music journalist and author Everett True as “A 30-minute insight into what it’s like to live hard and fast and loose and happy with like-minded buddies, fuelled by a shared love for similar bands and drugs and booze and freedom.”. ‘It's A Shame About Ray’ had a considerable impact back in those heady, carefree days of '92, the record perfectly captures Dando’s ability to effortlessly encapsulate teenage longing and lust over the course of a two-minute pop song.

Singles such as 'My Drug Buddy' and the breezy perfect pop of the title track might stand out (plus the add-on of 'Mrs. Robinson' which later copies included), but the album's real strength lies in the tracks in-between; the truly fantastic 'Confetti' (written about Evan's parents' divorce), and the eye-wateringly casual acoustic cover of 'Frank Mills' (from the "hippie" musical Hair), a version that seems to resonate with every ounce of pathos and emotion felt for the lost 1960s generation. To hear Evan Dando sing lines like 'I love him/but it embarrasses me/To walk down the street with him/He lives in Brooklyn somewhere/And he wears his white crash helmet' is to truly appreciate how wonderful and tantalising pop music can be. Then, there's the rush of insurgency and brattishness on the wonderfully truncated 'Bit Part'; the topsy-turvy 'Ceiling Fan In My Spoon'... this was male teenage skinny-tie pop music on a level of brilliance with The Kinks, early Undertones, Wipers.

On a balmy Brazilian night in February, 1981, a crowd gathered in Rio de Janeiro's Gávea neighbourhood under the iconic dome of the city's Planetário (Planetarium). Alongside musicians like Helio Delmiro and Milton Nascimento (who were in the audience that night), they were there to see the great "Bruxo" (sorcerer) Hermeto Pascoal live in concert, with his new band formation which would become known simply as "O Grupo" (The Group).

Growing up on a farm in Brazil's northeastern state of Alagoas, Hermeto has always been deeply in tune with, and inspired by nature. In his youth he would make his own flutes to play call and response with the birds and frogs. He would build scrap-metal instruments in his blacksmith grandfather's forge, and sit for hours by the lake listening to the sounds of nature. On the Planetário Da Gávea recordings though, Hermeto is cast as the "sorcerer" or the "cosmic emissary" (as the great Brazilian guitarist Guinga once called him), exhibiting an intuitive sense of harmony and melody beyond that of our own world.

"Tudo e Som" (All is Sound). It's a phrase Hermeto regularly returns to, and it points to the fact that not only can music be made from anything, but also alludes to something much more profound. It's an understanding of the universe as being in a state of constant movement, forever vibrating at the quantum level, like the string of a guitar, or a saxophone's reed. "Tudo e Som" is a declaration of the mystical and spiritual power of sound, as a fundamentally vibrational force.

The series of concerts at the Planetário marked the birth of "O Grupo" which would last with the same line-up (apart from Zé Eduardo Nazário) for the next eleven years. Every member of O Grupo was a phenomenal musician in their own right. It was one of saxophonist/flautist Carlos Malta's first gigs with the group, and the concert unusually featured two drummers, Zé Eduardo Nazário and Marcio Bahia. Nazário, from São Paulo, had played with Hermeto during the mid-70s (as well as with Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonti and Toninho Horta, to name a few). Bahia though had just joined the group. Acclaimed keyboard player Jovino Santos Neto was on keyboards, piano and organ, and the great Itiberê Zwarg (who remains in Hermeto's band to this day), played bass. Rounding the group off was the percussionist Pernambuco. During this period (up until the early 90s) the group would rehearse for hours on end, virtually seven days a week, with a total dedication to music and Hermeto's musical vision.

Most of the compositions performed that night at the Planetário had never been recorded before, and many are unique to this album, including the wild 'Homônimo Sintróvio', the exaltant 'Samba Do Belaqua', 'Vou Pra Lá e Pra Cá' and 'Bombardino', which features Hermeto's wonderfully absurd call and response mouthpiece soliloquy. Then there's the stunning 7/4 Samba 'Jegue' which builds with inventive dissonance, before releasing yet another celestially colourful, celebratory refrain. The show also features the first recorded performances of 'Era Pra Ser e Não Foi' and 'Ilza na Feijoada' (inspired by Hermetos' wife Ilza's famed black bean and meat stew), which Hermeto later recorded on his 1984 studio album "Lagoa Da Canoa Município De Arapiraca".

Dubbed by Miles Davis as "one of the most important musicians on the planet", a Hermeto Pascoal live show was (and still is) an experience like no other. Across the recording of the Planetário concert, wild improvisation meets groovy, virtuosic vamping on progressive, extended psychedelic jams. The tracks are generally built around a beautiful, transcendent melody; instantly recognisable as being Hermeto's, and for the most part, the musicians then solo over extended two chord vamps. There's a plethora of powerfully delivered rhythms, wild solos and the performances are punctuated by Hermeto's unpredictable, at times comical sonic antics.

Over forty years since this historic happening, Far Out Recordings is overjoyed to release this magical recording of Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo Live at Planetário Da Gávea, on double vinyl LP, CD and digitally for a February 4th 2022 release.

10 years after the release of his seminal 10’’ “Stepping Stones” Twit
One returns with another 10’’ titled “Prelude To A Desaster”.

This new 10’’ contains 10 songs and has no features. “Prelude To A
Disaster” will be available on 4th March at selected record stores
worldwide. A digital release follows later. The album cover has been art-directed by Twit himself. Photos were taken by Robert Winter in Köln-Nippes with lettering by Chicken. K-Def has mastered the songs in New Jersey. We have pressed 1.000 copies.


PS: For the die-hard Twit One fans: this text includes one false fact. If you spot it you are in.

Red hot Modern Soul 45 recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1985. Big thanks to Robert Garcia @mrbighappy & Daniel Mathis @quartzwatches for the research and words on this one!!

Brotherhood Band was started by Ernest Coleman(EC) and Clint Hyson, who met thorough a US Navy band called "Mid-South", which was the US Navy's premier musical organization operating out of Millington, Tennessee (20 min outside of Memphis). The group initially played as an instrumental jazz band. In keeping up with the times, they shifted gears towards a more contemporary sound. Shortly after, they decided to cut a single. Enter "Nicci's Theme", which is the B-side here and it's a beautiful jazz tune EC wrote for a girl he fell in love with. This song was supposed to be his door way in, but he actually never opened the door with her.

A few weeks later Clint called EC and played this syncopated bass line for him over the phone. And then EC being the ladies man that he was wrote the lyrics to "Leather Pants" to it. Part of the lyrics read "The pants they stretch, but they don't bust. Enough to make a blind man cuss", but it originally read as, "The pants they stretch, but they don't bust. Enough to make a PREACHER cuss". The song was ready, but they needed to find a singer. That's when member Richard Owens mentioned that he had a young cat back in Atlanta named Taji. In a gamble Taji drove up to Memphis for the Sunrise recording studio session to record the track. According to EC when Taji laid the vocals down he took the song to the next level. In fact it was so impactful that EC, who is now a Grammy producer, still references Taji's sessions when working with new artist.

After the single dropped the group played at Memphis hot spots, Bills Twilight Lounge and Club No Name. EC even had an idea to host a local leather pants contest as a way to promote the song. This lead to a frenzy of women seeking to be "Miss Leather Pants".

Originally released in 1983, this 12’’ from French-Haitian saxophone player Ulysse became cult – and extremely rare – within the French boogie niche. Both tracks wonderfully succeed in mixing political statements with dance-floor delights.
Boogie-pop track “Naïma” seems to be a love song at first, but actually says the impossible resilience of a woman who has grown up in war.
The heavy digital reggae song “Tiers Monde” warns us about the abandonment of Third World children.
This maxi single, where each track is instantly followed by its instrumental version for greater DJ use, is an authentic snapshot of the Paris mixed club scene of the 1980s. Really hard to find for a very long time, it’s a great pleasure for Stima Records to make this music
available again, in order to reach a well deserved new audience nearly 40 years later!

Black vinyl, repro foldover sleeve, 8-page photo booklet A much anticipated reissue we’ve promised a long time ago, here it finally is: the first ever punk rock seven inch released in Finland, officially reissued with a number of photos from the recording sessions not seen before. Briard’s I Really Hate Ya / I Want Ya Back was, strangely enough, released on a mainstream label, Scandia, in 1977, although in an edition of just a few hundred copies, making it one of the rarest and most expensive Finnish punk records. Led by Pete Malmi and with a young Andy McCoy on guitar, Briard evolved from the earlier incarnation Philadelphia Motherfuckers and later went on to release a handful of seven inches and an album on other labels as Scandia parted ways with them soon after the single release. The Svart reissue reproduces the original foldover sleeve design and includes a booklet.

LP Black Vinyl, DL card. ‘Devasting, with slow, burning songs that shudder and wince’ NY TIMES. Peel Sessions is an essential nine-track set catching Boston’s mighty Come at the peak of their powers. The collection includes two sessions recorded for John Peel in both 1992 and 1993, plus a previously unreleased live track ‘Clockface’ from 1991, unwrapping the blueprint of their sonic idealism. Raw, loud and live, exactly where the band’s dissonant blues noise rock originates. 1992’s four track session is direct from their debut; but more mangled, strangled and abrasive. The follow-up set from a year later includes live favourite ‘Mercury Falls’ and ‘City Of Fun’ neither of which surfaced as studio recordings. The sessions feature the masterful guitar interplay of two central pivots of the post-post-punk and alternative noisnik underground, Chris Brokaw (Codeine, Pullman, Thurston Moore, Ryley Walker, Lemonheads) and Thalia Zedek (Uzi, Live Skull, solo). The session’s line-up is completed by the addition of Sean O'Brian and Arthur Johnson’s visceral bass and percussion, documenting an essential era for the band. Peel Sessions follows their recently released ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ reissue, part of Fire Records forthcoming reissue series for the seminal group

Curtis Godino’s first album producing for The Midnight Wishers. Mastered by Shimmy-Dic’s Kramer. “Golden Wish” Yellow Vinyl LP ltd edition of 500. RIYL: the Shangri-Las, the Chiffons, the Crystals, the GTOS, Ween. What if a cute girl group scored a hit song about a car crash, then actually died in a car crash, but decades later, David Lynch conjured their spirits for a beach-themed Halloween special? That’s a feeble attempt to describe the fun, spooky universe evoked by musician, songwriter and producer Curtis Godino with his latest project, Curtis Godino Presents the Midnight Wishers. “I’ve always been a fan of girl groups and old generic love songs,” says the Brooklyn-based artist, previously known around town for his psychedelic band Worthless and his ’60s-style light projection shows. “No matter how cheesy, they always get stuck in my head, so I decided I would try to make some of my own, with the help of my friends.” Chief among those friends are the Midnight Wishers: lead vocalist Jin Lee and backing singers Rachel Herman and Jessica McFarland, all of whom Godino recruited for the project. Lee also contributed lyrics, which she tends to recite as often as she sings in a dreamy, earnest voice. The trio are the perfect messengers for Godino’s tunes, visually as well as sonically. In photos, they pose before bubble-gummy backgrounds, playing with a ouija board by candlelight, elemental like a cartoon crime-fighting team with their respective black, red and blonde hair. But make no mistake: This project belongs to Godino, a musical ringmaster in the tradition of Phil Spector or more aptly Shadow Morton, whose noir sensibilities spawned such uncanny pop marvels as the Shangri-Las’ “Leader of the Pack” and “Remember (Walking in the Sand).” In this case, Godino built the wall of sound almost entirely by himself, recording on his eight-track tape machine during the pandemic shutdown. Starting with drum tracks from Andrew Max and Adam Amram, he would add picked bass guitar in the style of L.A. studio legend Carol Kaye, then go bonkers with fuzzy guitars, Farfisa organ, mellotron, analog synthe- sizers, glockenspiel, an arsenal of other percussion instruments and an array of mysterious electronic effects. To fully realize the vision, however, Godino knew he needed more firepower. The Wishers’ multilayered harmonies and other vocal tracks were recorded and engineered by his roommate, Paul Millar, at Millar’s Bug Sound East studio. “I'm sure all those incredible old records were recorded on a four-track or whatever, but I don’t have the same discipline,” says Godino, whose stated goal was to create “songs so sweet they’ll give you a cavity

A-side from the recent album “Back In Mono”! B-side a new track, exclusive to this 7”! The A-side 'Misfits & Freaks' is a standout track from the The Courettes' third album, Back In Mono. It comes backed with an exclusive new song 'Killer Eyes'. Cheer up, cheer up! It's the end of the world! “We wrote 'Misfits & Freaks' after a bittersweet concert in France in 2020, on our last tour in the pre-pandemic world. We played on the very evening France went in its first lockdown - our show at 9 pm, lockdown at midnight. Back then, nobody actually knew what was a lockdown, what was a pandemic and what the hell we were getting into, so people that day really partied as if there was no tomorrow. The audience and us, we were really having a party at the end of the world! That's how we felt that day: at the end of the world as we once knew it. And I guess we were right on that. It's also an ode to all the misfits & freaks, a call to our punk rock community. We were worried about the possible consequences of the pandemics, with venues being closed and the economic choking of independent and experimental artists. The fear of a boring new world without places to breathe and drift away from the established mainstream cultural diet, a boring new world without the community feeling that only a rock show can create. A call against the normalisation of Netflix and isolation, a hope that us misfits and freaks would survive. And now, two years later, we can say that we did. Cheer up!”

BRAND NEW 7” FROM LEED'S FINEST! A taster from their next full-length LP due out later in the year Ever been interrogated by the punk rock police? Are you manufactured by a company? Is your band real or plastic? Have you ever paid a thousand quid for a poster? Can the kids be trusted with rock n roll? Answers on side A

Flashback to 2008. Barack Obama is in charge of the US, China is hosting the Summer Olympics and Amy Winehouse's 'Back To Black' is ruling the charts. In Belgium - more specifically in Aalst - four friends of friends decide to make music together. A year or so later, Intergalactic Lovers achieves its first successes and in 2011, with 'Greetings and Salutations', the band records its first album. The press is wildly enthusiastic, the gigs are piling up, the train is rolling...

13 years and two more successful albums ('Little Heavy Burdens' (2014) and 'Exhale' (2017)) later, singer Lara Chedraoui, guitarist Maarten Huygens, bassist Raf De Mey and drummer Brendan Corbey know each other like the back of their hands as they have navigated many waters together, both professionally and privately. The unbreakable foursome is ready to start the next chapter in the career of Intergalactic Lovers. "We kept a low profile the last two years" Brendan admits, "but we always have to disappear for a while after a tour. From the stage and from each other. Otherwise, you couldn't keep doing this for 13 years alongside a job, a family..."

Marc Rapson is a man of many dimensions. From rocking BBC's Maida Vale and Later with Jools Holland as part of Ben Westbeech's touring band, to releasing stellar re-edits of Marvin Gaye and Sarah Vaughan to the acclaim of Gilles Peterson, Marc has spent the last decade quietly building a following amongst those in the know. Dark vs Light seamlessly blends crunchy, low swung Hip Hop beats with Marc's jazz inflected Fender Rhodes and synth sounds. Not one to be confined to a singular style, Marc also fires up the sampler for tracks such as 'Click Loud', combining surgical chop skills with live instrumentation. Dark vs Light is the product of a mind that grew up on Ahmad Jamal as much as A Tribe Called Quest: the jazz pianist with a passion for raw beats. This first time on double vinyl complete edition includes all tracks from the now out of print EP along side additional bonus cuts from the original sessions featuring MC Replife as well as a dope cover of a classic Roy Ayers track. A great way to help celebrate Futuristica’s 15th year!

Demon Records is proud to reissue this album as part of the Gary Crowley’s Lost 80s project. This Classic LP
reissue is presented on 140g translucent green vinyl.
The Kane Gang’s 1985 debut album was originally released on Kitchenware Records, where their label-mates
included Prefab Sprout, Hurrah! and The Daintees. ‘The Bad And Lowdown World Of The Kane Gang’
reached #21 in the UK albums chart, and features 4 singles, including #12 charting ‘Closest Thing To Heaven’
and ‘Respect Yourself’ (#21).
Hailing from the North East, The Kane Gang consisted of vocalists Martin Brammer and Paul Woods, plus
multi-instrumentalist Dave Brewis. They made their recording album debut in 1985 with this, their poised,
stylish collection 'The Bad And Lowdown World Of The Kane Gang'.
“I am absolutely cock-a-hoop that it's being given a vinyl re-release under our GC Lost 80s umbrella because
it's an album that I return to regularly. Signed to the uber-cool Kitchenware label, they were an under-rated
band in my opinion whose distinctive sound saw them taking their cue from a raft of Soul Funk greats, and
you can clearly hear that love right across the album. Produced and crafted lovingly by Pete Wingfield and
featuring the likes of P. P. Arnold and Sam Brown on backing vocals, the album is chock-a-block with singles
including the impressive ‘Small Town Creed’ (chart placing No. 60), the sublime ‘Closest Thing To Heaven’
(No. 21), the moody ‘Gun Law’ (No. 53), as well as a delicious cover of the Staple Singers’ ‘Respect Yourself’
(No. 21). I love the entire album but there are also other songs that also stand out for me. The Chic guitar
driven joy of 'How Much Longer' and the dreamy, shimmering 'Crease In His Hat' being two cases in point.
The band would later go on to enjoy success on the American Black R&B chart (which must have thrilled
them personally to bits) and release an equally grand second album in 1987 in 'Miracle’.”

• Best known for their self-penned 1982 recording ‘Moneys Too Tight To Mention’, which was ranked at No. 6
among in the Top Ten "Tracks of the Year" by NME and which was later famously covered by Simply Red,
• “The Valentine Brothers” eponymous debut album was recorded for US label Source Records, owned and run by
Logan H. Westbrooks and includes the two singles ‘The Sound Of Music’ and ‘We Belong Together’.
• Billy Valentine performed as a singer with Young-Holt Unlimited in the mid-1970s, whilst both brothers
performed a three-year stint as part of the touring company of The Wiz musical.
• Another one of those hidden Soul gems, Demon Records is proud to announce this first reissue of “The
Valentine Brothers”, since the album’s original 1979 release.

The pair continue to explore their love of Italian film soundtracks and library music with these two fresh offerings. The title track "Acqua" is a joyful upbeat song with a steady 6/8 groove accompanied by optimistic flutes, winding saxophones and a multitude of arpeggiated synthesizers.

The B side, "Tema Cinque", is more like an electro ballad with a hypnotic drum machine that provides the back drop to luscious sweeping pads and a moody soprano saxophone solo. These two tracks give listeners another taste of what's to come from Lorenzo
Morresi and Tenderlonious' forthcoming album, which is due for release on 22a later in 2022.

Reissue of violinist Jean-Luc Ponty's 1967 album 'Sunday Walk', originally
released on the SABA label (which later was renamed MPS), featuring an
all-star group that includes pianist Wolfgang Dauner, bassist NielsHenning Örsted-Pedersen and drummer Daniel Humair
Legendary drummer Kenny Clarke compared Jean- Luc Ponty to Dizzy Gillespie.
Fellow violinist Stuff Smith marvelled, "He plays violin like Coltrane plays
saxophone." Born in 1942, the French violinist transported jazz violin playing into
the world of modern jazz. On Frank Zappa's urging, Ponty moved to the States in
1973. Over the next years he toured with Zappa as well as the Mahavishnu
Orchestra. In 1975 he founded his own band and became one of the most
prominent figures of the jazz- fusion movement in the USA, selling millions of
albums that all reached the top of the U.S. charts.
On the 1967 'Sunday Walk' the band saunters through two blues, a waltz, and a
standard before reaching "Suite for Claudia", which begins at a blistering pace
with Ponty's saxophone- like "brilliance and fire" playing. It then settles into a
medium swing groove with Wolfgang Dauner's infectious piano play followed by a
smouldering Ponty. Daniel Humair's crisp drum solo segues into a heart- felt
waltz. After all, this was written for Ponty's wife. Ponty is here with a group of
Europe's finest at their youthful best. The way they play, it's all a walk in the park.
Beside Dauner and Humair, legendary bass player Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
completes Ponty's quartet.
"The re-issue of this album by MPS makes me extremely happy as I consider it to
be one of my best recordings from the 60s. " - Jean-Luc Ponty

Red hot Modern Soul 45 recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1985. Big thanks to Robert Garcia @mrbighappy & Daniel Mathis @quartzwatches for the research and words on this one!!

Brotherhood Band was started by Ernest Coleman(EC) and Clint Hyson, who met thorough a US Navy band called "Mid-South", which was the US Navy's premier musical organization operating out of Millington, Tennessee (20 min outside of Memphis). The group initially played as an instrumental jazz band. In keeping up with the times, they shifted gears towards a more contemporary sound. Shortly after, they decided to cut a single. Enter "Nicci's Theme", which is the B-side here and it's a beautiful jazz tune EC wrote for a girl he fell in love with. This song was supposed to be his door way in, but he actually never opened the door with her.

A few weeks later Clint called EC and played this syncopated bass line for him over the phone. And then EC being the ladies man that he was wrote the lyrics to "Leather Pants" to it. Part of the lyrics read "The pants they stretch, but they don't bust. Enough to make a blind man cuss", but it originally read as, "The pants they stretch, but they don't bust. Enough to make a PREACHER cuss". The song was ready, but they needed to find a singer. That's when member Richard Owens mentioned that he had a young cat back in Atlanta named Taji. In a gamble Taji drove up to Memphis for the Sunrise recording studio session to record the track. According to EC when Taji laid the vocals down he took the song to the next level. In fact it was so impactful that EC, who is now a Grammy producer, still references Taji's sessions when working with new artist.

After the single dropped the group played at Memphis hot spots, Bills Twilight Lounge and Club No Name. EC even had an idea to host a local leather pants contest as a way to promote the song. This lead to a frenzy of women seeking to be "Miss Leather Pants".

BIOHAZARD formed in Brooklyn in 1988 and soon after released their first demo. The band consisted of founding members Billy Graziadei (vocals, guitar), Bobby Hambel (lead guitar) and Evan Seinfeld (vocals, bass). After the release of their second demo in 1989, drummer Anthony Meo left the band and drummer Danny Schuler replaced him. BIOHAZARD released their combined the urban sounds of hard-core, metal and rap with scorching lyrics describing the forces at work in our modern urban lives. With an impressive career spanning over 20 years with 10 albums (on both indie and major labels), the band sold over 5 million records. In 1990, Biohazard signed a recording contract with Maze Records. The band's self-titled debut album was poorly promoted by the label and sold approximately 40,000 copies. The album's subject matter revolved around Brooklyn, gang-wars, drugs, and violence.

In 1992, Biohazard signed with Roadrunner Records and released Urban Discipline, which gave the band national and worldwide attention in both the heavy metal and hardcore communities. The video for the song "Punishment" became the most played video in the history of MTV's Headbanger's Ball, and the album sold over one million copies. The band also began opening for larger acts such as Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, House of Pain, Fishbone, and The Cro-Mags. In 1993, the hardcore rap group Onyx brought on Billy Graziadei for an alternate "Bionyx" version of their hit single "Slam" with Biohazard as their backup band. This led to a collaboration on the title track of the Judgment Night soundtrack. The soundtrack would go on to sell over two million copies in the United States. Months later, the band left Roadrunner Records and signed with Warner Bros. Records Inc. who released their third studio LP, State of the World Address. The album was produced by Ed Stasium in Los Angeles and contained the single "How It Is" featuring Sen Dog of Cypress Hill, for which a video was also shot. During their 1994 tour, the band made an appearance on the second stage at the Monsters of Rock festival held at Castle Donington. State of the World Address went on to sell over one million copies, and Rolling Stone magazine selected the Biohazard logo as the best logo of the year.

This was the last Biohazard album with Bobby Hambel, who left due to differences with the rest of the band. The band recorded their fourth studio album, Mata Leao, as a three piece in 1996. It was produced with the help of Dave Jerden. For the 1996-97 Mata Leao Tour, former Helmet guitarist Rob Echeverria joined the band. The band also played on the Ozzfest mainstage alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Danzig, Fear Factory, and Sepultura. While touring Europe in support of the Mata Leao album, the band recorded their Hamburg, Germany, show for their first live album, No Holds Barred (Live in Europe), which was released in 1997 through their former label, Roadrunner Records. The band signed to Mercury Records and released their fifth studio album, New World Disorder, in 1999, once again with Ed Stasium as a producer.

The relationship with Mercury Records soured quickly as the band felt betrayed and misunderstood by the label. They severed their ties with the label amidst the merger of Mercury Records, Island Records, Def Jam Records, and Polygram into the Universal Music Group. The following year, Biohazard signed two new record deals with SPV/Steamhammer in Europe and Sanctuary Records for the remainder of the world. Despite the new record deals, the band took some personal time in order to work on other projects. Graziadei and Schuler also collaborated in transforming the band's rehearsal Brooklyn studio into a digital recording studio, known as Rat Piss Studios and soon after changed the name to Underground Sound Studios. Re-investing into the band, Graziadei and Schuler honed their engineering and productions skills while recording and producing local acts and new Biohazard demos. The band then undertook the process of writing, recording, and producing their own music. Their studio work led to the band's sixth studio album, Uncivilization, released in September 2001.
The album featured several guest appearances by members of bands such as Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Pantera, Slipknot, Sepultura, Cypress Hill, Skarhead, and Type O Negative. Shortly after the release of Uncivilization, guitarist Leo Curley left the band and was replaced by former Nucleus member Carmine Vincent, who had previously toured with Biohazard as part of their road crew. The band had to cancel scheduled European festival dates when Carmine Vincent underwent major surgery. The band did manage to find a temporary guitarist, Scott Roberts, formerly of the Cro-Mags and the Spudmonsters, in time to join the Eastpak Resistance Tour with Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Discipline, Death Threat, Born From Pain and All Boro Kings. Biohazard completed their seventh studio album in seventeen days; Kill Or Be Killed was released in 2003. While touring North America with Kittie, Brand New Sin and Eighteen Visions, Biohazard announced that Roberts would remain as their permanent lead guitarist. The tour was curtailed when it was announced that Seinfeld had fallen ill. With more downtime due to Seinfeld's illness, Graziadei and Schuler collaborated to mix Life of Agony's live comeback album, River Runs Again: Live 2003. Once Seinfeld was healthy again, the band toured Japan and North America, headlining over bands such as Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Throwdown, and Full Blown Chaos.

By the end of 2003, the band had begun recording its eighth studio album, Means To An End. The completed album was lost in a studio disaster, forcing the band to completely re-record the album, which was finally released in August 2005. In October 2004, Graziadei announced that Means To An End had been the final Biohazard album and that he would continue playing with his new band Suicide City as his main focus. One month later, on the Biohazard website, it was announced that there would in fact be a 2005 Biohazard tour. On December 15, 2005, Seinfeld and Graziadei participated in the Roadrunner United conglomerate event at the Nokia Theater in New York for an all-star event. The show opened with Biohazard's "Punishment," performed by Seinfeld, Graziadei, Sepultura's Andreas Kisser, former Fear Factory member Dino Cazares, and Slipknot's Joey Jordison. Graziadei and Schuler relocated their recording studio to South Amboy, New Jersey and renamed it Underground Sound Studios. The studio was renovated to include a live room with 20-foot (6.1 m) ceilings and 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of studio space. After Schuler's departure from the studio business, Graziadei relocated the studio to Los Angeles and changed the name to Firewater Studios. In January 2008, the classic lineup of Evan Seinfeld, Billy Graziadei, Danny Schuler and Bobby Hambel made the announcement that rehearsals had begun for a 2008 summer tour to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary. They toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Chimaira, Throwdown, Bloodsimple and headliners Korn to celebrate their newly declared reunion. The band also took part in Persistence Tour 2009, and announced at one of their shows that they were working on a new record. Biohazard brought in producer Toby Wright to work on the album and after several months at Graziadei's Firewater Studios in Los Angeles, the band completed their recording sessions. In June 2011, Biohazard announced that Evan Seinfeld had quit the band and Scott Roberts returned to replace Seinfeld for two UK dates but no decision regarding a permanent replacement was made. In January 2012, the band decided that Scott Roberts would remain with the band as a permanent member. The new album, Reborn In Defiance, was released worldwide, with the exception of North America, on January 20, 2012 through the Nuclear Blast label. In support of the album, Biohazard embarked on a short co-headlining tour of Europe with Suicidal Tendencies in the latter half of January 2012. After touring the world in support of Reborn in Defiance, the band entered the studio to work on a new release and after a falling out, Roberts departed the band.

Biohazard remains as it’s core founding members of Graziadei, Shuler and Hambel. Graziadei has since ventured off onto a solo career as BillyBio and teamed up with Cypress Hill frontman Sendog to start Powerflo. Both groups are working on their second releases due out late 2021 and early 2022.

In 1994, hip-hop was going through an at-times painful growth spurt. Since N.W.A.'s and Ice-T's ascent in the late '80s, the rap game was no longer owned by the East Coast. After the worldwide popularity of Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992, things were looking even worse for hip-hop's hometown. The East Coast / West Coast feud that would later indirectly claim the lives of Biggie and Pac was still in its infancy, but New York needed a shot in the arm. The hype behind young Queensbridge native Nasir 'Nas' Jones had been in full swing months before his smash debut album Illmatic, thanks to Columbia Records' promo machine. From his earliest appearance on Main Source's 'Live at the BBQ,' to his own accomplished debut 'Half Time' (as Nasty Nas, on the Zebrahead soundtrack in late 1992), it was clear that this kid was something special. In fact, the pressure on him must have been overwhelming at times. April 19, 1994 couldn't have come soon enough. And as soon as the first lines of 'N.Y. State of Mind' kick in, bolstered by perhaps DJ Premier's darkest beat of all time, the entire East Coast breathed a collective sigh of relief. God's Son had arrived. Backed by an absolute all-star cast of New York's top-shelf producers - Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Q-Tip and a youngster named L.E.S. - the album never lets up. Serious to a fault, and lyrically dense to an extent that has possibly never been matched, the 20-year old Nas stood on the shoulders of his predecessors and proudly proclaimed, 'Don't f*** with the East... we are BACK.' Illmatic was actually a slow-burn, which might surprise fans that have come to its genius more recently. Despite an unheard-of '5 Mics' in The Source - despite an unwritten rule of never awarding classic status to debuts - it didn't go gold until early 1996, and didn't hit platinum status until late 2001. But when you dive deeper that shouldn't be a shock: like Black Moon and Wu-Tang's debuts, it was a dark, hard record, made for heads in New York, not teeny-boppers in Des Moines. There were no dance beats, no crossover love songs. Just boom-bap and rhymes, skills and heart.

Ninja Gaiden, of the most iconic and beloved 2D action game series ever created, was first released in the arcades in 1988, while making its console debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) later in the same year. At the time of the console release, Ninja Gaiden was renowned not only for its deep storytelling beautifully visualized by TECMO’s unique “cinema scenes,” but also through its legendary chiptune soundtrack, whose unique rock-’n’-roll sound and drum beat instantly became a formative musical experience for players who were only just getting into video games.

Ninja Gaiden: The Definitive Soundtrack is divided into volumes. The first, Ninja Gaiden Vol. 1, features the music of both the NES title and the Arcade game, both titled Ninja Gaiden. These legendary soundtracks have been digitally restored under the supervision of Keiji Yamagishi, one of the original series composers. The booklet includes a comprehensive roundtable discussion among several members of the original development team, including the director, producers, artist and composers; an essay by game historian Ray Barnholt; and original archival artworks.

NEW REPRESS (SAME COLORS) - RELEASE SEPTEMBER 24th

Ninja Gaiden, of the most iconic and beloved 2D action game series ever created, was first released in the arcades in 1988, while making its console debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) later in the same year. At the time of the console release, Ninja Gaiden was renowned not only for its deep storytelling beautifully visualized by TECMO’s unique “cinema scenes,” but also through its legendary chiptune soundtrack, whose unique rock-’n’-roll sound and drum beat instantly became a formative musical experience for players who were only just getting into video games.

Ninja Gaiden: The Definitive Soundtrack is divided into volumes. The first, Ninja Gaiden Vol. 1, features the music of both the NES title and the Arcade game, both titled Ninja Gaiden. The follow-up, Ninja Gaiden Vol. 2, features the music of both Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom. This bundle includes BOTH Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 at a special price. These legendary soundtracks have been digitally restored under the supervision of Keiji Yamagishi, one of the original series composers. The booklet includes a comprehensive roundtable discussion among several members of the original development team, including the director, producers, artist and composers; an essay by game historian Ray Barnholt; and original archival artworks.

Eva Cassidy’s un-paralleled posthumous recording career began with the release of the Songbird album in early 1998. Twenty-three years and over five million sales later, Songbird sits atop Eva’s album catalogue; with Eva becoming one of only 11 female artists to ever achieve 10 or more UK Gold albums.

"The core of confusion and upheaval that drove some of the band's most fiery earlier work, however, is replaced by a more stabilized undercurrent, a mentality that's reflected in songs not afraid to try new things and honestly explore uncomfortable feelings. When combined with exciting production and songwriting choices, that mindset helps make Feels So Good // Feels So Bad one of the Shivas' best albums.” - AllMusic "Portland, Oregon-hailing psych-surf band The Shivas accomplish another time-traveling, reverb-ridden sound that refuses to get boring. Jared Molyneux’s guitar work knows when to be bright or bashful at the right times, breaking into guitar solos that possess a late-’60s groove… The Shivas seem to blissfully flourish” - Paste "a consistent treat for the ears” - The Vinyl District "Though the psych-tinged guitar riff that drives 'Feels So Bad' was written while The Shivas were still on the road, its lyrics didn’t fall into place until the band was well into lockdown, unsure of when they’d be able to return to their most imperative true love: Live shows... Accordingly, 'Feels So Bad' permeates with a sense of urgent desperation, building off a chugging prog-rock instrumental.” - Consequence (on “Feels So Bad”) "They hooked the audience with their throwback rock sounds. The guitar strums and rhythmic drum beats were layered atop smooth and hallucinogenic vocals. The eyes can tell the take at times and there was a sparkle there that said that the band members just love doing live performances." - California Rocker "This single layers on the fuzz but keeps it dreamy, with an especially sticky guitar riff sure to lodge itself in your brain with minimal effort." - Portland Monthly (on “If I Could Choose”) “'My Baby Don’t' translates the genuine vibrant joy


of the live experience into the studio, bringing the band’s ‘60s garage rock roots, sharp pop vocal harmonies, and fervent performances along for the ride." - Under The Radar "Perfectly straddling the line between a solid-head bopping track and an introspective deep cut, The Shivas’ 'Undone' is a rock & roll gem. The track sounds straight out of the late 60s and fits seamlessly in the Portland band’s electrifying catalog." - The Luna Collective "The first time I clicked play on this track, I knew it was a yes for me." - Ear To The Ground Music (on “If I Could Choose”) "The harmonies would make the “Happy Together” Turtles blush, but the unsettling guitar doesn’t shy away from the woollier implications of the ’60s." - Willamette Week (on “If I Could Choose”) "'Undone' is just the perfect song for the good days and the bad ones." - GlamGlare "another hit" - Austin Town Hall (on “Undone”) "one of the best forthcoming albums of the year" - Austin Town Hall RADIO: #3 Most Added @ NACC - 50 official adds BIO Every working musician has had their life turned upside down by Covid-19. For The Shivas, who had recently released a new LP and normally keep a rigorous touring schedule, it was a particularly screeching halt. “We were about to go to SXSW, the following weekend was Treefort in Boise, and then we were going to open for our friends’ band on tour in the US before going to Europe,” Jared Molyneux remembers. Then everything just stopped. They were faced with a dilemma. “It forced us to adapt or just quit,” Molyneux says. “The reality is that shows are our job.” In truth, live shows aren’t just The Shivas job: they are the band’s greatest love. Shivas shows are bombastic, explosive and thoroughly communal live rock and roll experiences where barriers between the performers and their audience seem to dissolve into the sweat and sound. The stage—or the basement, or the living room—that’s The Shivas’ true element. It’s their raison d’etre. It’s their religion. The band’s live urgency may have been born in 2006, when the band’s young members—who began booking West Coast tours while still in high school—waited without fanfare on sidewalks or in parking lots, before being rushed onstage for their sets at 21-and-up clubs. Maybe it developed a little later, as The Shivas blasted their way through Portland’s storied and unsanctioned mid-aughts house show scene. Whatever the origin of their famously kinetic live experience, it’s the show that keeps them coming back after over 1,000 performances spread over 25 countries in 15 years. In those 15 years, The Shivas have grown tight-knit as a group. Guitarist/singer Jared Molyneux, bassist Eric Shanafelt and drummer/singer Kristin Leonard have all been with the band since its earliest days; guitarist Jeff City, another high school friend, joined in 2017. Together they’ve learned to thread a seemingly impossible needle: They’ve honed and tightened their performances without sacrificing the element of surprise that makes each show special. And despite touring and recording for most of their lives, they speak about their project with humility, in the DIY vernacular of their Pacific Northwest upbringing. They talk up their own favorite bands, play all-ages shows as much as possible, and bring a sort of blue-collar humanism to the live performances they relish so much. “We just want to make people feel good,” Molyneux says. “We want them to forget they have to work tomorrow.” Kristin Leonard elaborates, “The live show is all about that feeling of catharsis—in ourselves and in everyone who comes out. We’re creating this safe space where we can all let go. Where we can exhale. And it feels really good when we are able to facilitate that.” So when Covid hit, the band knew it was time for transformation. After a settling realization that live music would be grounded for the foreseeable future, The Shivas booked significant studio time with Cameron Spies, who also produced the 2019 Dark Thoughts LP. They also transformed their lives: three of the band’s four members found work with a local nonprofit serving unhoused Portland residents. They became engaged in protests and fundraisers for social justice. They spent a whole summer actually living in Portland, settling into the city they had always called home, but that sometimes felt like a temporary stop between tours. “We got into a more community-minded headspace,” Leonard says. “And that did give us some purpose. It felt cool to see everybody come together to stick up for what they believe in. It feels like an incredibly formative last twelve months.” The album that emerged from this new moment finds The Shivas reborn as a band that seems seasoned and perfectly at home with itself. There is a calm, even a hopefulness, to Feels So Good // Feels So Bad that sounds new. The Shivas didn’t write or record the album with a particular theme in mind, but one seems to have emerged: where Dark Thoughts was about confronting your demons with fearless self-examination, much of Feels So Good // Feels So Bad is about what happens once you find that peace: how being honest with yourself changes your relationships and your priorities. “I do think it’s about acceptance,” Leonard says. “There’s a weird relaxation that comes with being at peace with things you can’t control or have regrets about.” Maybe that’s why the squealing, riff-laden break-up song opener, “Feels So Bad,” is such a shock to the system. But it’s more of an exorcism than a melodrama: more a song about not being able to do the thing you love (in


this case, playing live shows) than splitting with a partner. “It’s like part of you goes to sleep,” Leonard says. As bandmates who are also in a long-term relationship, Molyneux and Leonard know that their songs might be seen as glimpses into their personal lives, but their songwriting is rarely autobiography. Leonard compares their process to something more akin to screenwriting. “There’s bound to be some autobiographical material in there,” she says. “But the common denominator is the exploration of universal feelings: ones that everyone experiences or can relate to.” The goal is to use the music to drill down into something genuine and sincere, beyond genre or stylistic affectation. That’s where The Shivas have arrived. Whatever growth led the band to Feels So Good // Feels So Bad, plenty of their fascinations remain. They’re still turning love songs into psychedelic, transcendent epics. “Tell Me That You Love Me” subverts doo-wop extravagance and dabbles in Flamenco rhythms. “Rock Me Baby” is a bubblegum anthem soaked in so much reverb that we might just be hearing it from the stadium nosebleeds. “Sometimes” is almost impossibly huge, like a witchy outtake from the Brill Building era. Those songs feel like logical expansions from a band that has always excelled at a timeless sort of rock and roll that tinkers with and explodes elements from every era. But on the towering and mournful “You Wanna Be My Man,” a slow-burning six-minute shoegaze prayer for a higher sort of love, there is a level of emotional nuance that feels like something altogether revolutionary. It’s there again in the stripped-down vulnerability of the album-closing elegy “Please Don’t Go.” Yes, Feels So Good // Feels So Bad is an album about acceptance. Sometimes that acceptance feels enlightened and sometimes it feels like the end result of a lot of kicking and screaming. The Shivas have adapted in both of those ways. With new tours scheduled and a new album on the way, they’re still hoping--like all of us--for a new era of vibrant, cathartic live music. The lessons they learned from having their normal upended, though, have only helped them grow

Stroboscopic Artefacts is proud to present the debut album of Malaysian born Bangkok based artist Wanton Witch.

Born in an isolated community of Borneo Island in 1993 Wanton Witch is a DJ and producer with a hyper-sensitive connection and approach to sound through performance. Coming of age in the relative isolation of island life, it wasn’t until relocating to Bangkok that she was able to access the different communities of musical genres that she would later travel between. With an early taste for trap and hip hop, she began working in the deconstructed club and techno scene where she found her musical voice, beginning her DJ career in 2018. Wanton is also a cofounder and original member of Queer underground creative collective ‘Non Non Non’ that has become a Bangkok nightlife staple.

Being an “outsider” musician and producer with no formal training, it was the fortuitous crossing of paths online that has sparked the creative collaboration between Wanton and label owner and creative director Lucy. Last year Stroboscopic Artefacts celebrated ten years established between experimental and dance floor spectres and this is the first record the label is releasing after one year break, marking the launch of a new chapter for the imprint. It is with releases like the eponymous debut album from Wanton Witch and the support given to emerging artists like her that the imprint continues to forge pathways within the industry.

Featuring 11 tracks, these recordings are the first body of work from the Bangkok producer, and include many different snapshots of electronic music genres from IDM and experimental to hardcore and rave, using caustic electronics to deconstruct traditional track conventions. This collection of cuts read more as a complete soundscape, like listening to a live set. The phrenetic jump from genre to genre, the mixing of diverse sound textures and landscapes reflect Wanton Witch’s own experience navigating a hostile world as a Queer trans woman in Malaysia. The intense energy with which each track is cut together reminds the listener of the nostalgia of mixtapes and a time in life when identity is being constructed.

Wanton Witch has created an album which feels like a reflection of the aggregation that already exists within musical internet sub-cultures and communities. A place where many diverse and contrasting sound palettes, textures, and structures can fit together to create a new different, Queer way of seeing the world.

Following up on Wanton’s LP, label head Lucy will also present an actual full length album named ‘Lucy Plays Wanton Witch’ featuring re-interpretations of the original material in a whole new body of work. This upcoming follow up release will not represent a mere remix edition, but a recreation from scratch and the rebirth of “one into another” so to say. Expect the quintessential Lucy treatment.

Sam Evian knew he wanted to leave New York City almost as soon as he arrived, more than a decade ago. An upstart songwriter and producer, he, of course, loved its creative wellspring—the ideas, the instrumentalists, the energy. But he’d grown up in the woods of upstate New York and, later, along the coast on the rather empty eastern end of North Carolina. The city was expensive, anxious, and unsettling, however inspiring it could be. So in the Summer of 2017, he and his band decamped to a rented house upstate to cut his second album, the magnetic You, Forever. He then realized he could no longer resist the urge; two years ago, Sam and his partner, Hannah Cohen, split from the city, building their refuge in the quiet of a Catskills town. That reflective, relaxing environment inexorably shaped Time to Melt, his third LP and debut for Fat Possum. A glowing set of soulfully psychedelic pop gems, Time to Melt is a testimonial to the life and wisdom to be found when you give yourself the mercy of space..

Master are an old school death metal band from
Chicago. Originally formed in 1983 as Death Strike
after the demise of the band War Cry, they were
heavily influenced by the rough brutal assaults of
Venom, Slayer and Motorhead.
 In 1985 vocalist / bassist and bandleader Paul
Speckmann renamed the band Master and obtained
a record deal with Combat Records. An album was
recorded but then shelved by the label (later to be
released as the ‘Unreleased 1985 Album’). The
band were then signed by German metal
powerhouse Nuclear Blast and the debut album
‘Master’ was finally released in 1990.
 Two more albums appeared on the label but Master
went on hiatus while Speckmann focused on several
other projects like Abomination and Krabathor (and
relocated to the Czech Republic). Since then Master
have been releasing new albums with various
different labels and embarking on several European
tours.
 This live release is a recording of the 2014 show
Master performed in Athens, released by Doc
Records on CD and double vinyl - a full show of
Paul and his crew with all the highlights from his
career.
 For fans of Obituary, Autopsy, Possessed, Vader,
Benediction, Massacre, Death, Bolt Thrower.

Kapingbdi came together in Liberia, West Africa, during the late 1970’s and had their own unique style. This six to seven-piece band played original compositions in a vibrant mix of African Rhythms, Soul, Spiritual Jazz, Funk and Rock. Led by Kojo Samuels on sax, flute and vocals “Born in The Night” presents the essential tracks from their rare studio LPs produced between 1978-1981. The work has been carefully edited and remastered in 2019 for vinyl LP and a 6-Page Digipack CD, which includes two additional recordings. Kapingbdi toured through Europe and the U.S. and were the only Afro funk band to ever come out of Liberia.

Kapingbdi hail from Liberia, West Africa and have their own imitable style. They effortlessly combine traditional African music in a modern mix of Jazz, Funk, Soul and Rock. The band is a fusion of the old and the new.

The word "Kapingbdi" is taken from the Sierra Leone language Mende and means "born in the night". Kojo Samuels was given the name by his Latin teacher whilst attending high school in Freetown, They often meet and debate at night in the city and soon after Kojo is called Kapingbdi. The name serves as a description of his origin. Born In Lagos, Nigeria in 1943. The son of slave children. His mother from Nigeria and father from Sierra Leone who moved the family to Liberia, during the 1950’s.

Kojo has played music for as long as he can remember. He starts with the harmonica and later becomes a drummer and percussionist in his first band at school. During his art studies 1965-1972, he tours Germany and works as an art teacher in the USA. His band Kapingbdi is reorganized five times and consists of up to seven musicians. In a VW-Bulli he drives the group from concert to concert and if the drummer fails, he jumps in himself. Between 1978 and 1981 three Kapingbdi LPs are produced for the independent label Trikont, recorded in Hamburg and Munich. During this creative period, the band plays at festivals in Africa and Europe. In 1984, the band tours the United States and shortly after, they came to an end.

At their best, Kapingbdi would rouse the audience with original compositions like "Human Rights", justice for all, especially for South Africans, and "You Go Go You Go Come". The officials and employees in the government departments have no time for the common man, for any questions such as job search, scholarship or similar, he receives the answer "go, come back tomorrow" and the same thing the following day. Or "Now Is The Time For Cry For Love." Now it is time to scream for love and finally, time for humanity and justice. Despite immense difficulties, the musicians consciously live and work in Africa and are at home in Liberia.

On April 12, 1980, ordinary soldiers and non-commissioned officers organize a coup against the government. This is an attempt to put an end to a policy of exploitation of the Liberian people. Whilst efforts to eradicate poverty, lawlessness and illiteracy are obvious throughout the country, Liberia is still Americanized to a high degree. This is evident, as the radio programs of that time almost exclusively played American disco music. Under these conditions, the people seek a reconnection to their folk music, and Kapingbdi were aware of this. Kojo tried many times to come together with traditional Liberian musicians. This passion takes him north of the country. Meeting and playing with the old hornblowers and playing music on traditional instruments, such as the elephant tusk.

Kapingbdi make high quality tape copies of their own vinyl LPs and patiently try to displace all unauthorized tapes from the domestic "market". Nevertheless, it is hard to make a living through music in Liberia. Kapingbdi, is now celebrated. The radio plays are in abundance, but royalties are not forthcoming. Their musical link is the feeling of Afrobeat and Highlife, which is found in each of the many Kapingbdi pieces. They embody Jazz, which is understood to be the most refined example of black music outside of Africa. In Liberia, Jazz is virtually impossible to hear. Bright shining names such as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker or Miles Davis were widely unknown. Thus, the Black Jazz, including its Back-To-Africa movement of the 60’s and 70‘s, passes by without leaving a trace in Africa itself.

Kojo's claim at the time, was to make African music with the depth, sensitivity and the freedom of the technical level of Jazz. This makes Kapingbdi the torchbeares. The underpaid prophets in small Liberia. It is the passion with which the founder of the band continues to work on their music for years. Tirelessly, stimulating and encouraging his fellow musicians. This is ultimately responsible for the success of Kapingbdi in Liberia itself. The local audience seems to listen to the band in fascinated astonishment. One wonders about the ability to develop as demonstrated by Kapingbdi on the basis of their music. It is African and unusually jazzy, danceable and better than the American disco music heard on the radio.

Rather than chase the money and the job opportunities in Europe, Kapingbdi are firmly rooted in Africa. The musicians live in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, at the Kabingbdi workshop, located in the Congotown area on the eastern edge of the sprawling city. Kojo works here as a sculptor, painter, batik artist and musician. The sales revenue that his activities generate, gives him the opportunity to support the development of African Jazz music. The highest percentage of funds are from Germany and Kojo’s work ethic is “to work on your own thing“. The stance taken aims to support the welfare of Liberians and Africans. The other musicians of the group live in a second house that is nearby.

For the sake of consistency, Kapingbdi is a full-time band. However, the revenue, from all of the sources, could not keep them afloat. Equally, as important to the group are Kojos's knowledge of traditional African music and his sculpting skills. His knowledge is shared with others at the afternoon workshops. It is here that they discuss new lyrics, engage in political debate and the self-imposed task of improving conditions in Africa. At times the debate became heated, especially during rehearsals. This was regarded as good and integrative, sowing the seeds of innitiative to keep the band together.

From 1980 to 1985 Kojo also opened and ran the club "Panjebota", located on the grounds of the U.S. Consulate in Monrovia. Almost every evening Kapingbdi perform the song "Wrong Curfew Walk", whose lyrics lament the killing of citizens during the curfew imposed by the Liberian government. When the head of state Samuel Doe hears the song, he behaves agressively and forces Kojo to close the "Panjebota". Kojo had already moved on. Soonafter he meets Fela Kuti at the Africa-Festival and plays concerts in Germany with Cecil Taylor's workshop band.

Kapingbdi is for thinking, dreaming, dancing. What they sing about is what they have experienced. Kojo Samuels is 76 years old today and still follows his vocation as a critical musician, artist and activist.

Ekkehart Fleischhammer / Sonorama 2019 (with the help of original press sheets and the memories of Kojo Samuels)

clear w/ black smoke vinyl

It would be easy to say that Molly Nilsson needs no introduction, but These Things Take Time is an introduction. Originally self-released in 2008 on a limited CDR run with hand-folded sleeve, Nilsson's debut album has slowly taken over the hearts of many. In 2014 this modern classic of autonomous, DIY pop and punk-as-you-like attitude is presented on vinyl for the first time in a beautiful edition featuring unreleased bonus tracks across two discs, an exclusive screen printed A2 poster and new sleeve notes from the artist.

Molly Nilsson's first recordings under her own name have grown in stature to occupy a prominent positioning in the global pop underground despite initially only being available on CDr. Though Nilsson's songwriting prowess and commandeering of other genres has grown since 2008, her unique voice is seen in raw form on These Things Take Time. Many of the themes she would develop later were inked first here: the romance of loneliness on The Lonely,' Whisky Sour,' Hey Moon!', the folly and intoxication of youth seen in Joyride,' Poisoned Candy' and dogged self-reliance as on The Diamond Song' or Wounds Itch When They Heal.' Also included here are unreleased recordings from the same period that were left off the original release, a further window into a turbulent, exciting time for an artist just discovering her power to touch and communicate with the listener.

South London genre-blending story tellers Alabama 3 are set to further add to their rich musical heritage with a new single ‘Whacked’, available April 30th via Submarine Cat Records, with an album to follow later inAugust.

‘Whacked’ is the first taste of fresh Alabama 3 material since the tragic passing of their beloved and unconventional frontman and songwriter Jake Black, aka The Very Reverend D. Wayne Love, in May of 2019. Jake had Addison’s disease and passed away several days after falling ill during a show at the HighestPoint Festival in Lancashire at only 59 years old.

Then, with the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown upon the world, the band got creative and submerged themselves in their music, teaming up with producer Cam Blackwood(George Ezra, Jack Savoretti, Tom Walker, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes…) to focus their minds on something vital, new and fresh. This can clearly be heard in ‘Whacked’, a song which pays respect to the late co-writer of the song, Pete Dunne.

"A product of old skool Brixton, the legendary Seven Kevin’s Pete Dunne threatened us with this song prior to his untimely death,” explains founding member Larry Love. “Despite the heavy manners we are proud to declare we rose to the challenge."

“Whacked was made in the early weeks of the first UK lockdown in March 2020,” remembers producer Cam Blackwood. “I think the hedonistic spirit of the song was amplified a million times by the fact we were making the record remotely - with the musicians in the band recording their parts at home, sending them all to me to collate and arrange - then I would send the instrumental track to Larry to record vocals on. The energy was pretty insane - we were like caged animals desperate to get out.

“We managed to find time three months later (when the first lockdown ended in July 2020) to get together and put the finishing touches to the song,” continues Cam. “Being in the studio with a few beers seemed like a fitting way to finalise the tune and put the last 1% of energy into the recording. This song feels like classic Alabama 3 to me. It’s a banger!”

Indeed it is. A low-slung groove propelled by frontman Larry Love’s infamous throat rattle, with the addictive chorus refrain ‘everybody’s getting whacked on something, something that makes them feel good,’ ‘Whacked’ will loop around your brain like a recurring dream you can’t wake from. These are hedonistic conscious unconscious times.

“You can praise the Lord, you can pass the ammunition, you can be woke you can be wicked you can have the wisdom of Solomon but unless you are ready to get whacked with Alabama 3 there’s no point in dreaming,” states Larry. “Rearrange the rubble, paint your bomb shelters and make sure everybody in the neighbourhood feels good cos we feel like getting stooped and you need to get whacked.”

Alabama 3 are very much back. Time to get whacked.

Rare South African Funk/Soul album from 1977 - First vinyl reissue since 1982 - First ever release outside of the African Continent - 180g black vinyl // Harari was a band that was deeply rooted in pan-African politics, the parallel cross-influences of the Black Panther Movement and Black Consciousness. African American soul music and Soweto Soul contributed to the way Harari became purveyors of all the styles we know today as Afro-soul, Afro-pop and Afro-jazz. The Beaters/Harari left behind a body of work that fused traditional African sounds with rock, funk, jazz, soul and psychedelia into a unique and coherent sound. It shows their ability to capture the many genres flying around South Africa during a time of intense political and cultural shifts. The album we are presenting you today (Genesis from 1977) comes swinging right out the gate with a set of six monster anthems, explosive up-tempo jams, gorgeous vocal harmonies and chants, Afro-centric fusions of rock, funk and indigenous influences. The album is packed with mesmerizing drum-grooves, psychedelic improvisations and catchy Afrobeat rhythms. This is a quintessential Harari record that every serious collector or fan needs to have in his collection. Originally released in 1977 on Gallo Records South Africa (and later repressed in 1982 on the same label), Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first official reissue of this rare album (original copies tend to go for LARGE amounts on the secondary market_that is if you're lucky enough to come across one). This is also the FIRST time 'Genesis' is being released outside of the African continent. This unique record comes as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (strictly limited to 500 copies) with obi strip and featuring the original artwork.