Search:lean left

Amman-based Toumba announces ‘Rosefinch’, his first EP on wax, and the debut release from London-based record label Hypnic Jerks.
Key info about the artist:
His next release will be on Hessle Audio and then Nervous Horizons. His first release was a digital EP through All Centre.
Toumba is one of the creative minds behind MNFA, Jordan's most important underground music venue. He serves there as a booker and curator, bringing the likes of TSVI, Giant Swan and Parrish Smith to the venue.
He is also anationally respected artist and holds a residency at the MMAG Foundation in Amman. The foundation works with a selection of the most gifted artists in the Levant. By sponsoring Toumba's ongoing artistic practice, MMAG has furthered his research into Levantine music, which he synthesises with avant garde and electronic music.
He is a resident on Movement Radio in Athens and formerly Ma3azef Radio, with guests including Ben UFO, aya and Gabber Eleganza.
About the release:
Integrates elements from Jordanian and Levantine folk music into his left-leaning, low-end heavy club sounds.
The EP is named after the national bird of Jordan.

Having torn up raves for well over a decade, the Detroit duo Rickers and Ted Krisko AKA Ataxia present their debut longplayer ‘Out Of Step’. Featuring guest spots from close peers DJ Minx, Andrés and Mr Joshooa, they twist house, techno, electro, breakbeat and rave into revitalized new shapes; embellished with a touch of soul, funk and hip hop. With backgrounds in hardcore and punk, Ataxia’s debut is suffused with that energy, attitude, and approach; this is raw, lean and unashamedly no-nonsense dance floor tackle that goes straight for the jugular. Heavily analogue, the album experiments with tape saturation, which harks back to the duo’s formative years in bands, recording demos to cassettes. These straight-up, in-the-red tracks give preference to overdriven drum machines, rather than generic polished sheen, but conversely, it’s all deceptively well-crafted too; ‘Out Of Step’ is a standout record that’s big in character, bringing to mind the renegade spirit of Underground Resistance, and the bombastic brilliance of The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers.

Defiantly optimistic despite the state of the world, a “life is good” vocal sample meets minor chords sliding over 808 hats on the exemplary house/techno pumper ‘Detroit Gospel’, before a lighter moment on the album, but no less impactful with its hefty low-end thump, is ‘Pine Island’ featuring Motor City hero Andrés. Together they cook up a Motown-inspired house cut awash with horn swells and backup singers, bouncing to wide swung funk bass, in classic 313 style. ‘Language’ turns the club on its head – busting out one of the most distinct basslines in recent times, and bristling with buzzy, undulating chords, whilst ‘Maxia’ features influential Detroit royalty DJ Minx. Inspired by her classic ‘A Walk In The Park’, with a fat distorted kick and stealthy bass groove, this is low-slung, stripped-back, heads-down coolness. The high-tech funk of ‘Spit In Your Percolator’, is laser-guided in its efficiency, with a strobe-like, increasingly intensifying energy, peppered with clever, tripped up vocal chops. With the next cut, conveyor belt noises and fast churning low-end gives way to a dubbed-out breakdown, on the deep breakbeat roller ‘98 Degrees’. Charged with a blistering, rave intensity, ‘Number Streets’, is a futuristic distorted techno workout that booms through the subs, whilst ‘The Formulator’ mixes filtered snippets, abstract synth noises and melodic bleeps with a bassline echoing Paperclip People’s ‘The Floor’. Closer to the UK definition of hardcore, combining 4/4 and breakbeat, ‘The Pusher’ evokes the spirit of late 80s orbital raves, adding a natty keys solo, and deadly bass used sparingly, for even deadlier effect. ‘Feels Like’ sees Rickers and Ted team up their studiomate and fellow TV Lounge resident and club booker, Mister Joshooa. Inspired by Photek but also almost UKG in style, this breakbeat session is stamped with MJ’s signature chopped vocals and intricate rhythmic interplay. The bubbling, wobbly loose swing of ‘WM’ is constructed around a classic chopped-up MTV cribs sample, with a filtered vocal creating a far out psychedelic effect – all of which is propelled apace by a huge bruising LFO. The LP concludes in fine style with ‘Dance The Bridge’, where bouncy beats and wigged-out keys meet bright, gently uplifting synth chords that bring a clear-skied mood; ending the record as it began, on an optimistic note.

‘Out Of Step’ marks another chapter in the ongoing relationship between Life and Death co-founder DJ Tennis and Ataxia. Their connection goes back to the earliest days of the label, where they played gigs together on some of Tennis’ initial visits to Detroit. It’s a friendship that’s blossomed organically over the last decade through their shared love of punk and hardcore, and led to the fruition of one of Ataxia’s most compelling projects to date. Labels to release Ataxia’s output include legendary Detroit techno imprints Planet E and KMS, plus the seminal American house label Nervous Records. Their catalogue also includes music for Visionquest, Leftroom, 20/20 Vision and Seth Troxler’s Play It Say It.

THERION have always been a band that have challenged themselves to explore new paths, while remaining true to their musical core values. For their 17th studio album, mastermind Christofer Johnsson and his collaborator Thomas Vikström have created something that has been previously unthinkable to the guitarist and the singer. "We have done the only thing that was left of all the different angles to explore", explains Christofer. "We have decided to give the people what they kept asking for. 'Leviathan' is the first album that we have deliberately packed with THERION hit songs."

True to the Swede's words, the album opens with the catchy and swift tune 'The Leaf Of The Oak Of Far' featuring female and male antiphonal singing as well as a choir that seems to have evolved straight out of THERION's breakthrough full-length "Theli" (1996). This is immediately followed by the obvious highlight 'Tuonela', in which Christofer cleverly underscores this hit-track's Finnish vibe by employing NIGHTWISH’s "metal voice" Marko Hietala. Next up in this parade of future fan-favourites is the title track 'Leviathan' that offers classic THERION material with operatic female vocals and a massive choir.

Christofer Johnsson's passion for classic voices, choirs, and orchestral elements as well as his penchant for epic melodies in combination with rock and metal shines clearly through the following sing-along ballad 'Die Wellen Der Zeit', which indicates another nod to German romantic composer Richard Wagner. "Ever since 'Theli', Wagner has been and will always be at the core of THERION", emphasises Christofer. "When we started to combine metal and opera, it was something new and original. Today, symphonic metal has long been a firmly established genre." When THERION came into being in 1988 by changing name from the already existing band BLITZKRIEG, which was founded a year earlier, Christofer had rather taken inspiration from SLAYER's "Reign In Blood" among other classic metal albums.

At the beginning, the Swedes were firmly rooted in death metal, a genre which they helped to define, as witnessed by their debut album "Of Darkness...." (1991). Yet even back then, there were hints of "something else" lurking beneath the rough surface. The use of female vocals is another core ingredient of THERION today, which developed gradually. CELTIC FROST had basically introduced the female element to extreme metal on "To Mega Therion" in 1985. THERION began with both a female and male vocalist emulating a church like choir already in their sophomore full-length 'Beyond Sanctorum' (1992). With Symphony "Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas" (1993) and "Lepaca Kliffoth" (1995), Christofer continued to developed his trademark sound by gradually drifting towards cleaner vocals and more keyboards.

With "Theli", the Swedes had firmly established a reputation of pushing the boundaries of metal in the 90s –among such acts as their compatriots TIAMAT, THE GATHERING, and MOONSPELL that were often referred to as "gothic metal" at the time. THERION continued to break new ground leaving inspiration for others to follow in their wake: On "A'arab Zaraq -Lucid Dreaming" (1997), Christofer further explored the use of Near Eastern music in metal which he had already begun in 1992, while "Secret Of The Runes" (2001) dared to have Swedish lyrics in some songs.

While critics were left confused and fans challenged, THERION were often ahead of their times and vindicated in hindsight. Even the band's 25th anniversary excursion "Les Fleurs Du Mal" has by now overcome the initial shock the album caused and is only beaten in terms of streaming by the classic "Vovin" (1998). When Christofer faced the question of where to go next after the dramatic "Beloved Antichrist" (2018) had finally fulfilled his musical mission, his answer is "Leviathan" named after a giant sea monster from Judeo-Christian myth that has roots in Babylonic lore: THERION have created a giant hit album –and for the first time in the history of the Swedes, their fans are not asked to explore something new, but simply to lean back and enjoy the best from their band!

The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was, which follows Thomas’ brilliant 2020 HBO special The Golden One and his Can't Believe You're Happy Here EP released earlier this year, surveys a range of emotion and offers a broad sonic palette, moving between pop punk, electro, and the obvious influence of the singer-songwriters he grew up listening to in early childhood. It conjures the ennui of Bright Eyes alongside the barefaced storytelling of John Prine, the overstuffed lists of Fred Thomas with the lackadaisical humor of Colleen Green, among many others.

Thomas attributes the dexterity of the record to Duterte, who recorded and engineered most of it in addition to serving up plenty of encouragement when Thomas got down on the process. “As a comic, I used to test out new songs during sets to see if the funny bits were hitting, but since I wrote this in isolation I ended up writing lyrics and worrying less about making jokes,” Thomas says. That said, the album’s plenty funny. Stand-out and lead single “Rigamarole” opens with a Thomas-voiced infomercial that recalls his oft-cited lookalike Jim Carrey as the Grinch, before launching into a buoyant pop song about being depressed.

Whitmer Thomas will admit that when he traveled home to small town Gulf Shores, Alabama to record his HBO stand-up special, The Golden One, he expected to be greeted as a returning hero, a conquering king, or at minimum, a guy with a moderately successful career as an entertainer in Los Angeles. “I expected a big welcome home, open arms, but when I went back I realized: nobody fucking knows me. Nobody remembers me,” Thomas says. “In the years I’d been performing that show, I’d been romanticizing my childhood in this mythologized place, but the visit made me see that I’m not really from there anymore.”

The sense of alienation compounded when Thomas recognized how few people in town remembered his mom, to whom The Golden One is dedicated and largely about. Thomas grew up watching her perform with her twin sister at the legendary Flora-Bama Lounge, where he set the special, and still counts her as one of his musical influences. His new album, The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was, isn’t overtly about his mom, her presence is deeply felt throughout. While in Gulf Shores, Thomas discovered dozens of her old recordings, all of which had been wrecked by Katrina, but upon returning to LA, Thomas paid “a fancy place in Hollywood” to fix the tapes and hired Melina Duterte (Jay Som, Bachelor, Routine) to mix them. The two struck up a collaborative friendship, and Thomas had the sound of his mom’s voice back. “I was listening to songs she recorded when she was about my age, just these heartfelt, sweet Americana songs,” he says. “I decided then that I wanted to lose the Ian Curtis voice I always sing with; I wanted to do what came naturally, because my mom always sounded like herself, even when she was singing some cheesy reggae song about, like, Jamaica.”

Thus he went into The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was knowing it was time to retire his darkwave persona, and leaning into his natural, chirpier voice, which he says sounds “like a 12-year-old’s.” It makes sense: much of the album chronicles what Thomas calls “being a kid and feeling like you have no control and overcompensating by being annoying.” “So much of the album is about witnessing drug and alcohol addiction as a kid and seeing what it does to people, but also realizing that there's nothing you can do about it,” Thomas says. It’s familiar territory (see: “Partied to Death”) but the methodology is different this time around; true to its title, The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was isn’t always looking for laughs. Thomas might’ve left his hometown behind, but his kid self is still tagging along, a Peter Pan shadow he can’t untether himself from. The first line he sings on The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was is: “There should be a room at every party where you can just sit and watch a movie.” Find a 12-year-old who wouldn’t say the same.

In the year 2909, the first naturally-born human is found with endogenous AI code built into its DNA. As we cross into the 31st century, all living humans are controlled by a decentralized master AI known as MINDFRAME: The system has access to all of human consciousness with the ability to store and manipulate the data of every interaction and thought — even operating within your subconscious mind. It becomes impossible to know when or how you’re being controlled.

During each sleep cycle, our behaviors and memories are reformatted to align with MINDFRAMES control and order programming. Some have discovered that during these cycles, there are parts of the AI’s algorithm left exposed to extraction. Through meditative states, gifted cyber-shamans are now on a mission to reverse engineer enough of the AI to escape its grip and free us all.

FRANCOIS DILLINGER (Ben Worden) glides between the two worlds of electro and techno. His journey through the genres is dark while retaining a cerebral, dancefloor-oriented quality. This stems from influences of Industrial, Detroit’s rich history of electro, minimal techno, and even Ghettotech. In the studio, he uses primarily all external hardware and modular gear, utilizing Ableton for final arrangements and editing. His Live & DJ sets lean heavily into the generation of hypnotic loops, creating long protracted mixes between elements to form an unshakeable tension.

While he grew up an hour east of the Motor City, his musical roots were firmly planted there – taking hold over decades worth of defining moments in sound. As a fan, former promoter, and DJ he’s been a part of the Detroit scene for over 20 years, having lived there multiple different times. Currently, he also works with local Detroit label Infolines to manage branding and art direction alongside his wife, Ashely.

Prior to the MINDFRAME: CYCLES LP, he had released a track on SPEC-017’s VA release, and will feature a remix on an upcoming Specimen Records project as well. Early in 2021, his second album was released on Diffuse Reality featuring remixes from Keith Tucker/K1, Detroit’s Filthiest, and Squaric. Upcoming releases from DILLINGER include a variety of collaborative projects — Machine Men EP with Lloyd Stellar on LDI Records, an LP with Cyphon and Obzerv, and a number of VA releases with artists like RXMode (via Pareidolia Recordings), CYBEREIGN (via Science Cult), ADMN (via Infolines) and others. Look for other releases coming soon on Noise To Meet You, Roulette Rekordz, and Syntek Industries.

His previous releases have landed on Blind Allies, Natural Sciences, Dionysian Mysteries, Ukonx Recordings, Fanzine Records, and ZwaarteKracht—as well as a debut album on Narrow Gauge, ‘Chasing the Red’. Support for his music has come from the likes of Richie Hawtin, Dave Clarke, Jensen Interceptor, UMWELT, and others.

Stólar label boss Philipp Priebe delivers his new album ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ this October, joining
the roster of Mainz/Hamburg, Germany’s Feuilleton.
Berlin-based artist Philipp Priebe has been steadily making his mark on the contemporary deep hazy
house and leftfield electronica scene over the past few years with a series of releases on his own
Stólar imprint. Here though we see him deliver his second album following his debut LP ‘The Being Of
The Beautiful’ released on Japan’s IL Y A Records back in 2014. Feuilleton is the brainchild of Chris
Gruber (Fossar) and Tim Eder and since 2018 has unveiled material from the duo themselves, RR
(René Raabe), Snad, Gari Romalis, Melina, Jakob Seidensticker and more.
Throughout the ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ LP Priebe delivers a concoction of styles and sounds cohesively fused together to form the bigger concept which is he tells us is ‘’an album about small towns and
villages and the needs and desires that brings one night out in clubs. The transport/travel, the preparty, all the things that you had to do, when you are not directly living in the big party places, but still
want to have a decent night out, away from your usual suspects.’’.
Throughout the ten-track LP Philipp delivers ethereal deep house with opening track ‘Desires’, the
succeeding ‘Interborough’ and ‘Chimera’, murky dub house leaning cuts like ‘Quiet Decay’, ‘Slalom’, ‘
Unfold’ and ‘Conclusions’ while ‘Transfiguration’ showcases a more classic Chicago House influence.
Title-track ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ and the interlude ‘Behind Their House’ then see Priebe offer a foray
into textural ambient sounds, once again showcasing his unique ability to craft raw, understated and
emotion fuelled material across a variety of genres.
Mastering by Sven Weisemann and Lacquer Cut by Stefan Betk

Glenn Fallows and Mark Treffel released their first album, ‘The Globeflower Master Vol. 1’, on Mr Bongo in September 2021. With its lush, warm and timeless productions paying homage to classic 60s and 70s soundtrack composers, it was very well received and struck a chord with the scene’s connoisseurs. Louder Than War emphatically stated, "It’s impossible not to like The Globeflower Masters Vol. 1.”, with Gigwise echoing that praise “slickly compelling retro vibes”.

The Globeflower Master Vol. 2 is the slightly edgier and more grown-up sequel to Mark and Glenn's 2021 debut album. For this excursion, the Brighton-based duo wanted to lean a little further into their European film soundtrack influences, with particular inspiration mined from the works of Stefano Torossi, David Shire, and Roger Webb. This expansion of their sound builds upon the rich tapestry of cinematic funk à la David Axelrod, Serge Gainsbourg and Morricone that fashioned Vol. 1. Here the arrangements, melodies, and harmonies have been refined; only what is needed is left. Pulled into its vortex for the ride. This record doesn’t pull any punches.

The recordings are drenched in visual imagery; they stimulate the senses and invite the imagination to roam. Ethereal, hazy memories of lost summers are triggered; the beauty of listening to music when driving along a deserted road in the Italian countryside lined with cypress trees heading towards the sun, and beyond. As the musical journey progresses, we even take a voyage to another planet. Whether these memories are real or constructed recollections of scenes from film and television, the tracks evoke a feeling of nostalgia and comfort. Like all the best music, 'The Globeflower Masters Vol. 2' takes us out of ourselves even if it's only temporarily.

To consolidate the shape of the sound, drummers Timmy Rickard and Ollie Boorman (who also featured on Vol. 1) and John Maiden (Tricky collaborator) sprinkled their magic and forged their stamps onto the recordings. Collaborating with other talented musicians contributed to the picture Mark and Glenn wanted to paint. The ‘Globeflower Master Vol. 2’ is a fitting tribute to the music they love and care deeply about and a glorious addition to their musical world.

"The prolific band returns with a brief and seething left-turn: a furious homage to the scummiest, crustiest hardcore of the early ’80s". (Pitchfork)

"Brain stem cracking scum-punk recorded tersely in the basement of my home. After a notoriously frustrating eon, the knee-jerk song path was aggressive and hooky. This is an homage to the punk bands we grew up on—the weirdos and art freaks that piqued our interests and pointed us on the trail head to here / now. Bad times make for strong music is something I agree with. I would say that is evident by the past few years of output from the underground. Transmissions have been all over the map: scanning…searching...sweeping out in the darkness looking for a foot hold.

OSEES A Foul From represents some of our most savage and primal instincts. Fight or flight. And the importance of a sense of humor in the darkest hour. Nothing wrong with keeping it snappy in the meantime. For fans of Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Screamers, Abwärts, Stooges and all things aggressively tilted towards your face. You can lean back but don’t flinch…it’s a brief foray into the exhausting pogo pit, so stiffen your back and jerk with your knees. Enjoy." - John Dwyer

On High Flying Man, the third LP by Matt Berry’s pseudo-eponymous project The Berries, loss and desire take center stage. Berry delves deep into 21st century malaise, crafting densely layered songs which project an unshakable yearning for deliverance from the world’s shortcomings. Each track extends an outstretched palm towards universal connection, blending a complex of mix of pop hooks, rock swagger, and psychedelia into dejected populist anthems. Faced with the perils of an isolating world, High Flying Man reignites the tradition of great American songwriting, speaking in the voice of the longing masses. At heart, Berry demands more life, rejecting both arty cynicism and nostalgic escapism.

Berry cut his teeth at a young age playing in the bands Happy Diving (Topshelf Records) and Big Bite (Pop Wig), and has since regularly served as a touring member for bands like Angel Dust and Dark Tea. His early work with Happy Diving and Big Bite solidified his position as an upcoming star in the world of fuzzed-out indie rock, earning him tours and opening slots with the likes of Turnstile, Dinosaur Jr., Nothing, The Swirlies, and The Coathangers. With The Berries, however, Berry turns the Big Muffs down (although not off), creating sonic space to stretch his wings as a burgeoning pop songwriter. The psychedelic-surrealist textures of his earlier output are not gone, per say, but rather find themselves folded into more expansive, rock-oriented arrangements, becoming accoutrements as opposed to the driving force of each song itself.

High Flying Man follows The Berries’ previous releases, 2018’s Start All Over Again and 2019’s Berryland. While longtime listeners will undoubtedly recognize Berry’s disaffected drawl and melodic sensibility, High Flying Man’s complex arrangements and expansive sonic landscape place it well apart from its predecessors. Berry enlisted live band members Danny Paul (drums), Emma Danner (backing vocals), and Lance Umble (bass) during the recording of High Flying Man, as well as the mixing talents of Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck, Guided by Voices), breaking from the self-produced home recording ethos of the previous Berries LPs. The collaborative nature of High Flying Man’s recording process is reflected in the quality of each song’s arrangement. Freed from the pressure of being individually responsible for every detail committed to tape, Berry was able to focus his attention more fully on the creative demands of constructing a dynamic and cohesive record. High Flying Man pivots away from any sort of obvious nod to Americana tropes, baggy British attitude, or Neil Young-esque riffing, leaning head on into a lush, idiosyncratic grandeur.

Each track evokes the irreverent and flashy style of a songwriting voice finding itself for the first time. Berry’s guitar heroics extend towards new heights, channeling the simple pop mastery of Lindsay Buckingham (“Prime”) and the wicked emotion of a 21st century “November Rain” (“High Flying Man”). Unusual stylistic juxtapositions give certain songs an almost timeless quality: Bert Jansch-esque crooning finds its counterpoint in sweeping, distortion-soaked riffs (“A Drop of Rain”), the primitive rhythms of Amon Duul are given an arena-sized, Britpop facelift (“Life’s Blood”). On High Flying Man, however, the ballad reigns supreme. “Down That Road Again” drips with sentimentality, powered by soft, undeniable pop melodies and pared-down chord progressions. Album-centerpiece “Eagle Eye” teeters between pure grace and extreme sorrow, unfolding into a massive, immediately memorable tide of melancholic beauty.

Lyrically, High Flying Man is both simple and direct. Although often bitter about the state of the world, Berry has no overtly political axe to grind. In some instances, he takes jabs at the moral laziness of aging millennials, expressing his yearning for a return to vitality and conviction (“Prime”). In other instances, Berry turns his criticism inwards, examining his longing for a better life and his repeated tendency to self-sabotage (“Down That Road Again”). These two poles balance each other out, creating a thematic tenor which is more so self-implicating and empathetic than critical. If anyone is to blame, it is the world we have been saddled with, not the people left to pick up its pieces. Although often personal, Berry’s words evoke a universal experience of continued belief in the face of loss. “High Flying Man” chronicles the growing distance between Berry and an old friend who has been shipwrecked by the weight of trauma, evoking the sorrow of trying to love someone who is no longer able to keep up with reality. Even the most somber passages of “Eagle Eye” (“long before I become aware of it, my friend/it’s 6 AM and I’m gonna die”) find their redemption in a burning devotion towards something worth living for (“If there’s one thing I can depend on/it’s my old friend/my shining light/my eagle eye”).

With High Flying Man, Matt Berry embraces undying love in the face of isolation. Daring to want more life becomes a spiritual rallying cry against a world that has failed to make life either meaningful or beautiful. At their core, these songs are not about revolution, but they are about the faith that gives something like revolution a purpose in the first place.

NEW 45 BY DEEP-FUNK PIONEER LUCKY BROWN RECORDED DURING THE MYSTERY ROAD SESSIONS!

"Funk is a living, breathing, creative and generative entity and The New Lucky Seven celebrate its life with a mysterious and authentic sonic snapshot from the iconic Mystery Road sessions: WOODHEAD!"

Woodhead is a steady medium groover built around an acute chanky guitar part that Joel Ricci aka Lucky Brown composed while living in the "Woodhood" district of Bellingham Washington, USA in the fallout shadow of an industrial area on the outskirts of town. The Woodhood was so named because the streets were all named after different kinds of trees; Cottonwood, Alderwood, Birchwood, etc. Though members of the band had been performing Woodhead since as early as 2004, it had never been officially committed to tape. So during the 2013-2014 span of living room "Magik Carpet" sessions at drummer, Oliver Klomp's house in West Seattle, the combo dubbed by Lucky as "The New Lucky Seven" casually hit the head a couple times before calling it a night as Lucky rolled tape.

Opening with the now world-famous guitar player, Jabrille "Jimmy James" Williams dropping deftly into his rhythmic part, Lucky chants in the background the words "don't stop" as the tension builds up into the moment the whole band comes in. With Bob Heinemann on bass, Marc Hager on Rhodes and Oliver Klomp on drums, the thick but honest groove is instantly palpable. Trombone player Mars Lindgren and Sax player Thomas Deakin, along with Lucky on Trumpet lay down the 'head' to the tune right off the bat with everyone in the band giving that hard hit on the 4 count of the last bar of the repeated figure. This 'hit' returns again to form the breakpoint between soloists Jimmy James, Marc Hager, and on side B, Thomas Deakin, and Lucky Brown on the flute. The horn section microphone was situated on the dining room table and Lucky just had to lean over to reach it with his instrument! Michael Iris of Bell Creek Studio transferred and mixed these two tunes from Lucky Brown's cassette machine.

This tune was left off of the Mystery Road compilation album but comprises one of the last tracks created during those sessions therefore the concept, vibe, style, and intention should resonate and be interchangeable with the rest of the 45s from that epic Box Set TR-9043 released by Tramp Records on May 4, 2015.

As you spin and interact with the Mystery Road recordings, you are invited to allow Woodhead to take its rightful place specifically alongside the other "The New Lucky Seven" recordings and generally as a part of the suite of crude and naive living-room "Magik Carpet" funk of the rest of the Mystery Road.

As illuminated before in Lucky's artist statement regarding the Mystery Road sessions, the music contained therein was always intended to put emotion, vibe, feeling, and spirit before technical, spatial, or even performance constraints and to serve as a gift of discovery to lovers and aficionados of the deep funk idiom and the rare 45rpm format. Funk is a living, breathing, creative and generative entity and The New Lucky Seven celebrate its life with a mysterious and authentic sonic snapshot from the iconic Mystery Road sessions: WOODHEAD!

Some bands reveal themselves immediately, coming right out and winning the listener over the moment they hit play. And then there are bands that open up with time, rewarding repeat listens with new lyrical and musical thrills on every return. Glaswegian jangle pop extraordinaires U.S. Highball have the rare distinction of being both. The duo specialize in the kind of instantly charming songwriting that makes a great first impression, and an even better second, third, and beyond. Their songs are equal parts wit and heart, full of pop culture nods, inside jokes, and hooks upon hooks. Now U.S. Highball’s third full-length, A Parkhead Cross of The Mind, leans even further into their unique dichotomy, offering another goldmine of discovery set to their finest batch of pop gems to date.

Samantha Togni makes her TITDM debut with five uncompromising cuts, exploring the darkest corners of techno and channeling her artistic expression in a flurry of controlled yet innovative directions. This compulsion to work without boundaries isn't new to Samantha, having always leaned toward a 'do it your own way' attitude, leading to Samantha founding Boudica in 2017; a collective aiming to give visibility to women and non binary artists through their events, conference, radio show and podcast.

'Trust The Heat' rattles through the speakers with its bone twitching bass, spilling out from its kickdrums and marching forward at an unnerving pace. The accompanying grooves give way to primal movements and an added layer of welcomed spice. There's no sing-songy samples here, just a vocal phrase with the energy of a megaphone edging through a busy club; guiding dancers to keep moving. 'No Pressure to Fit In' follows up with its spiraling basslines opening and closing, providing the movement against a backdrop of percussive power. Togni brings back the vocal snippets. this time to greater hypnotic effect.

'Sensible Social Lies' sounds like the type of techno you'd expect to hear on a planet from Dune; shapeshifting its way through sand with a heavy onslaught of newly discovered sounds. 'Cockroaches' scales back, remaining functional and still packing a serious punch, before the record comes to a pupil dilating close with 'In Vivo' a melodic, left-leaning piece honoring what makes techno so great, while remaining fiercely contemporary and unique to the artist who created it.

Following releases with YAM, Tiff’s Joints, Dr Banana and Touching Bass, artist Romaal Kultan (Ollie Malin) now inaugurates his own record label, Personal Discs.

No Time Like The Future showcases Romaal Kultan’s finest productions, charting a distinct personal trajectory between hiphop, house and broken beat. Opener One Moment Please is a sassy boom bap affair, with an unexpected nod towards jungle. Music Room, made in collaboration with producer Cypriano, is a patient, moody chugger — a tapestry of piano, organic percussion and crackly vinyl samples laced with acid.

On the B-side, Personal Effects delivers a unique, hypnotic broken beat groove, where swelling synths and a twinkling Rhodes meditate together in careful arrangement. Finally, the intimate title track No Time Like the Future stomps off into the sunrise, carried along by a rolling, yearning dreaminess.

Each one of these tracks represents a special, all-too-rare moment of ecstasy in the studio. I hope that this feeling lives on in the music.

So far the record has received support from Alexander Nut, Mr Scruff, Lefto, Kai Alcé, Bradley Zero, Mary Anne Hobbes, K15, Dr Banana, Alex Attias, EVM128, Zakia, Shy One, Tereza, Alia, Earl Jeffers, Footshooter, K-Lone, Poison Zcora, Dean Chew, Marcia Carr, Leanne Wright, Dead Man’s Chest and more.

LNDFK (aka Linda Feki) presents her ground-breaking debut album, "Kuni" on Brooklyn-based Bastard Jazz Recordings. Undeniably on the rise after her 2019 breakout performance at Primavera Sound, LNDFK has already caught the attention of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Clash Magazine, Noisey, and Brooklyn Vegan (among many others) while being championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft, and Jamz Supernova & landing spots on tastemaker playlists like Spotify's "Pollen" and "Fresh Finds."

"Kuni" is a spellbinding exploration of dichotomies: Love & Death (Eros & Thanatos), Flower & Fire, Delicacy & Violence, Poetry & Realism, Purification & Destruction. These opposites are reified in the 10-track LPs multifarious and multifaceted sounds, elegantly meandering through a variety of styles and genres, spearheaded by Linda and features the production wizardry of Darrio Bassolino who co-wrote the album.

"Kuni" opens with "Hana-bi," an ambient instrumental piece that sets the tone for the album. Inspired by the Takeshi Kitano 1997 film of the same name – particularly Joe Hisaishi's stunning soundtrack, as well as Kitano's paintings which appear in the film. "Hana-bi" expresses the dialoguing opposites of flowers and fire, the first of many dichotomous representations throughout the album. "Takeshi" acts as an extension and to "Hana-bi," albeit one of opposing sound, with its driving, highly syncopated drums (which reappear throughout "Kuni") – à la Karriem Riggins, Questlove, or Yussef Dayes – frenetic bass line, and jazz chords. Linda's sultry voice is interspersed, initially jumping around in scat fashion, being triggered as if a sample, before her lyrics come in; her vocals are used like an additional instrument, adding to the song's rich texture. "Kuni" truly hits its stride with the next song, "Smoke – a moon or a button" (its title lifted from the 1959 book by Ruth Krauss and Remy Charlip), which is structured like a jazz standard yet flows into neo-soul territory sonically with those prodigious drums a highlight once again.

LNDFK touches on experimental hip hop in two songs on the record (both of which were released as singles in 2021): "Don't Know I'm Dead or Not (feat. Chester Watson)" – track #4 – and "How Do We Know We're Alive (feat. Pink Siifu)" – track #9. Although they embrace a more hip hop-leaning sound, these songs by no means shy away from the exploratory theme, and feature two of the alt-rap scenes rising stars with Chester Watson and Pink Siifu who offer provocatively impressing verses, combining dense word play with unconventional flows. While these tracks may first appear to be outliers on the album, they are undeniably in tune with "Kuni's" message and sonic palette, acting as testaments to LNDFK's willingness to explore and experiment.

Meanwhile, "Ku" – the third and last single before the album release – furthers the pre-established future soul sound while meandering through nu jazz and left-field electronic. Inspired by the graphic novel and film, "Sin City," and its female assassin protagonist Miho, "Ku" is a musical interpretation of Miho's story, incorporating both her beauty – the first half of the song – and murderous tendencies – the second half – to create a stunning juxtaposition, culminating in an ambient finale that suggests the character's vulnerability and inner peace. The song gracefully bridges the gap between Hiatus Kaiyote-esque songwriting, Dilla's rhythmic syncopation, and Thundercat's instrumental prowess (LNDFK has shared a stage Brainfeeder labelmate Kamasi Washington).

Mixed in throughout "Kuni" are a series of instrumental pieces that function as something akin to an interlude. The aforementioned intro, "Hana-bi," and the album closer "se mi stacco da te, mi strappo tutto:" act as bookends, while "Om" indicates the half-way mark, and "Ktm" sees Jason Lindner add his sound the album. These tracks are the ambient foundation of "Kuni," representing the thematic duality of the work. Clocking in at only 24 minutes, "Kuni" packs an astonishingly diverse array of sounds, styles, and themes, all while showcasing virtuosic musicianship and instrumental prowess.

Appearing on "Hana-bi" and "Ktm," renowned international artists Asa-Chang and Jason Lindner add an additional perspective to "Kuni": Asa-Chang on "Hana-bi," and Jason Lindner on "Ktm." Asa-Chang - famously of the Japanese avant-garde group Asa-Chang & Junray - provides vocals and percussion to an alternate version of the instrumental opener, while the acclaimed keyboardist Jason Lindner offers his synth expertise on "Ktm." These features highlight the spirit of collaboration found in LNDFK's music, always willing to try out new ways of working.

LNDFK is a singer and songwriter, born of two cultures – an Italian mother and Arab father. She grew up in Naples, away from her father, the Sahara, her homeland and traditions, which has helped nourish the desire to rediscover – through art – an engagement to her roots. Her music melts with jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop influences, filtered through her experiences and sensibility.

Her first EP, "Lust Blue," was composed with the artistic production of Dario Bass and released by Feelin' Music; after that she released several singles that saw international radio support (BBC, NTS, Wordwide FM) and gained a massive audience on digital platforms. Together with her band, she toured around Europe, performing alongside such notable artists as Kamasi Washington and Mndsgn, among others. Most recently she toured Italy, and performed at Primavera Sound Festival 2019 in Barcelona.

"Kuni," is due out on NYC label Bastard Jazz Recordings in February, 2022, while the vinyl LP will follow shortly after.

JOYFULTALK returns with its third album for Constellation; another vibrantly divergent stylistic take on the analog materiality and sensibility of electronic composer-producer Jay Crocker, whose previous two records forged trance-inducing polyrhythmic intricacy, each from a distinct angle and sound palette, each enlisting a single instrumental collaborator. Familiar Science rallies contributions from a larger cast of musicians into a looser, cosmic recombinant combo_still shot through with JOYFULTALK's singular mixing desk kinetics, but this time deep-diving into gnarled and twisted, spliced and diced out-jazz. Crocker draws inspiration from 1980s M-Base music and Ornette Coleman's harmolodic funk period, while his own prior history as an improv guitarist also resurfaces for the first time in many years_an element in this polyvalent artist's chemistry set that hasn't appeared prominently in his own music for over a decade. Familiar Science finds Crocker folding time (as lockdown will do), immersed in his present-day kaleidoscope of solitary art and music practices in rural Nova Scotia, while channeling his former life as a bustling jazz collaborator in Calgary, Alberta. Building outwards from roiling resampled acoustic drums, Crocker extracted additional sonic and rhythmic textures, then formed the head of each song using dusted-off archival recordings and his own bass, keys and midi sequencing. Albertan percussionists Eric Hamelin (Ghostkeeper, Chad Vangaalen) and Chris Dadge (Lab Coast, Alvvays) provided improvised drum tracks to be chopped and harvested; Nova Scotia-based Nicola Miller (Ryan Driver, Doug Tielli) laid down resplendent excursions on saxophone and flute; Crocker's own dexterous guitar appears on several cuts. Familiar Science also poignantly features samples from live recordings by the late Calgary saxophonisticonoclast Dan Meichel, catalysing some of the album's heaviest contortions. Crocker weaves all these raw materials into exuberant compositions that blur the line between sizzling corporeal combo and sampledelic futurist jamz, variously conjuring (leftfield) Flying Lotus, (later) Tortoise, BADBADNOTGOOD and Squarepusher's Music Is Rotted One Note. The rubbery hyper-compression of boom-bap opener "Body Stone" initiates the séance, and the album offers a panoply of skittering grooves and soaring melodic pathways thereafter, through quags of heady jazz alternately streaked with dayglo delirium and other more vaporous states of revelry. Crocker's own wordless stacked vocals are the giddy secret sauce on several cuts, and his lead guitar work (in kinship with the lean progressions of Mary Halvorson or Jeff Parker) features on "Take It To The Grave", "Stop Freaking Out!" and the album's title track. More honeyed passages on songs like "Blissed For A Minute" and "Ballad In 9" center around Miller's bouyant alto sax and flute. Familiar Science is a rousing feast of noise-tinged polychrome electronic avant-jazz: richly harmolodic compositions teeming with intersecting textures and turbulences; exploratory, exhilarated and indeed joyful.

Last copies of ultra limited version on half & half black/red vinyl. Only around a 100 available!

“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig” reasoned George Bernard Shaw. “You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” True to form, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have left the wiser of us aware that they are no band to be messed with. This is made manifest on ‘Viscerals’, their third proper, and an enormous leap forward in confidence, adventure and sheer intensity even from their 2018 breakthrough ‘King Of Cowards’.

Incisive in its riff-driven attack, infectiously catchy in its songcraft and more intrepid than ever in its experimental approach, ‘Viscerals’ is the sound of a leaner, more vicious Pigs, and one with their controls set way beyond the pulverising one-riff workouts of their early days. Yet Pigsx7 have effortlessly broadened their horizons and dealt with all these new avenues without sacrificing one iota of their trademark eccentricity, and the personality of this band has never been stronger, whether on the Sabbathian and philosophical warcry of ‘Reducer’, the debauched, Jane’s Addiction-tinged swagger of ‘Rubbernecker’, the Melvins vs Sonic Youth demoltion derby of ‘New Body’ or even the demented MBV-meets-Twisted-Sister party-banger from hell that is ‘Crazy In Blood’.

“We’re a peculiar bunch of people - a precarious balance of passion, intensity and the absurd” notes vocalist Matt Baty. Such is the unstoppable character of this unique and ever-porcine outfit; still the hungriest animals at the rock trough.

It works in clubs. it works at after hours. Also, small bars vibrate meaningful on it: the music of Kuniyuki Takahashi enthralls everywhere and is made for heedful listeners, that love the thrill of little musical nuances, shifting in a deeply composed ocean of sound.

In terms of composition, melodic sensitivity, and subtle progression the music of japanese producer, Sound designer and dj stands out. Ambient, Future-Jazz, Deep House, Leftfield Elec-tronics: since more then 25 years the man from Sapporo expresses his emotions with a wide stylistic range.

As Kuniyuki or under pseudonyms like Koss or Newwave project, he released a body of work consisting of numerous albums and EP’s, that display his deep musical consciousness pro-foundly. Now his home label Mule Musiq drops “Remix Works “, an eighth tune strong compila-tion featuring for the second time since 2013 Kuniyuki Takahashi’s very own virtuosity of re-mixing.

A double vinyl that carries the full pallet of his skills – from yacht rock leaning synth-pop and balearic dreams to sweet wave signals and soulful Pop House.

It all starts with Kuniyuki’s Remix of “Plateau”, a tune by japanese Nu-Jazz / Post‐Rock band mouse on the keys, released in 2013 on the short living japanese retalk label. An epic, almost ten-minute-long house voyage, full of discreet acid shades and enlightening Jazz chords, that play spirited tricks on each other’s manic musical preaching.

Kiefer Sutherland, mostly known as an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor, producer, and director, began pursuing a secondary musical career in the 2000s and 2010s by forming the Ironworks label. He signed Rocco DeLuca, Ron Sexsmith and started his own rootsy Americana outfit called the Kiefer Sutherland Band. Fast forward to 2021, Kiefer Sutherland returns from his UK Top 10 album, 2019’s ‘Reckless & Me’ with a brand new record, 'Bloor Street' coming out on 21st January 2022. Opening track "Bloor Street" (1st Oct) explores the sense of home both externally and within yourself. Lead track "Two Stepping in Time" (5 Nov) showcases Kiefer's classic fire sparking americana tune. Additional focus tracks include "Lean into Me" (31Dec) and "Chasing The Rain" (21 Jan).

What If It Works’ first release, minimum wage maximum joy arrives by way of newcomer 11:68PM. Produced in Berlin in the winter of 2020 and mixed & mastered at the newly minted Brewery Studios, minimum wage maximum joy’s five tracks are precision-tooled for the club, showcasing 11:68PM’s veneration for UK-leaning house and techno.

11:68PM’s moniker, as well as the EP title minimum wage maximum joy draws on the artist’s experience of balancing the grind of the 9-5 with dreams of realizing his creative vision. The skittish breaks on “Bluff Mind State” and “Sway”’s glitchy “Call Mohandes Dub” reveal this state of mind, while “Vertical Mobility” reveals a playful side with its irresistible acid bassline and soaring synths.

In 11:68PM’s words: “Writing the record in the evenings in my bedroom on one of the loudest streets of Neukölln, after I had clocked out from work, I found myself in the ever-present struggle of being artistically active while making ends meet. In making this EP, I decided to prioritize my own desires and not wait for some hypothetical moment to pursue this project that might never arrive.”

Visually, this is underscored by Philipp Pess’ striking artwork, depicting the gaunt face of a man whose tired eyes hint at a lifetime spent in front of a screen.

With minimum wage maximum joy, 11:68PM offers a compelling glimpse into a new generation of Berlin’s left-of-centre club producers.

Acclaimed US DJ and producer Maceo Plex has announced the release of his long awaited studio album ‘Solar’. The climax to a lead up that included last year’s 7-track ‘Journey to Solar’, and 2015’s 2 track ‘Solar Sampler’, ‘Solar’ is due for release on his brand new label Lone Romantic on the 16th June.

Lone Romantic is a new electronica based label; it will focus on albums and will also open its doors to releasing more avant guard and leftfield singles.

Meanwhile, the ‘Solar’ album allows Maceo to utilise the long format to explore and expose his less explicitly club leaning and more reflective side, taking the listener on a journey through shades of electronica, techno, breakbeats, dub and more. Named after his son Solar, the album also chronicles his new found fatherhood; “the ups and downs in the first few years and its effects on life, marriage and more”.

There’s still dancefloor suitable music within the album; opener ‘Sparks of Light’’s propulsive drums make for an attention grabbing first track, just as the driving 4/4 bassline of closing track ‘The Tesseract’ is a memorable climax. ’Polygon Pulse’ also features the hefty low end that Maceo has become known for, yet underneath breakbeat style drums and sighing vocal snippets.

Vocals are a prominent defining feature of ‘Solar’ that mark it out as a departure towards more of a home listening, experimental album. ‘Indigo’ marries Maceo’s characteristic signature sounds with a slower tempo and gritty male vocals for a stirring, downbeat piece of indie electronica, whilst following track ‘Separation’s breathy vocals and subtle DnB cymbals feel more relaxed.

‘Kepler’s Journey’ marks a stylistic break midway through the album, before the vocoded vocals of ‘Solar Wind’ and ‘Wash Away My Tears’ (the 12” mix of which was included in the Solar Sampler) bring to mind a forward thinking, indie take on French touch. Elsewhere, the lilting, dub techno influenced ‘Swan Dive’ sees this effect take on a more eery, thoughtful tone.

The release of ‘Solar’ sees Maceo Plex enter a new, more developed chapter of his long career - taking the sounds that have made him so popular and building upon them to push himself forward artistically, the album is a very personal use of the long format and an education in the producer’s musical influences.

REPRESSED !!

Wolfsheim are a synthpop duo from Hamburg, Germany consisting of Markus Reinhardt (music) and Peter Heppner (lyrics and vocals). The band was founded in 1987 by Markus Reinhardt and Pompejo Ricciardi and was named after Meyer Wolfsheim, a fictional character from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel 'The Great Gatsby'. Ricciardi soon left the band and was replaced by Peter Heppner, a childhood friend of Reinhardt's. Together they produced their first demo tape, Ken Manage', in 1988.

After making a second demo tape, Any But Pretty', in 1989, Wolfsheim applied at various labels until they caught the attention of independent record label Strange Ways Records. They are best known for their debut breakthrough single, "The Sparrows and the Nightingales', the first single to be released on Strange Ways in 1991. The band's musical style takes cues from the 1980s New Romantics, new wave, synthpop, and darkwave. The track's sombre synths were produced by Carlos Peron of Yello. Reinhardt says the lyric was inspired by 'The Great Gatsby', "in the 'onomatopoeic tension' between predator and security." Over six minutes, the narrator describes being lost, unsure of where his life is heading, using highly metaphorical language. On the flip is a brand new remix by German producer Ancient Methods, a pseudonym of Michael 'Trias' Wollenhaupt, who provides a driving, EBM-leaning, amphetamine-laced club ready cut.

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Designer Eloise Leigh has updated the record's original design with two sparrows enclosed in a blood moon circle against a deep black purple backdrop. Each copy comes with a black and white photo postcard notes by Carlos Peron and the song's lyrics. This release comes in time to celebrate the single's 25th anniversary.

Game returns after their 2019 full-length No One Wins with the Legerdemain EP. Piercing the listener with nonstop aural carnage, the EP would be an apt soundtrack to the armageddon. Part Venom, part Death Side, all live and loud, Legerdemain offers no restful moments. An instrumental masterclass with blistering drumming from Jonah Falco, weird and wonderful guitar melodies conjured up by Cal Baird, and a rumbling and decapitating buzzsaw bass by Nicky Rat, the release's finishing move is an ever-changing vocal tone by Ola H. Legerdemain can be a rewarding, or punishing, aural journey depending on your perspective. The new release, which was recorded and mixed by Jonah and mastered by extreme music legend Arthur Rizk finds Game leaning heavily into their metal influences, with sounds of early 80s UK steel given extra ferocity through the lens of Japanese hardcore punk from the same era. Having toured multiple times in Europe and North America, Game, which features members of Fucked Up, Arms Race and Violent Reaction, is equally comfortable playing to punks, metalheads and everyone in between. ‘Legerdemain’ is a magician’s term meaning sleight of hand, a key skill of deception. The term is used as a metaphor for our current post-truth society where governments, technocracies, and financial institutions use smoke and mirrors to create a farcical and bewildering existence where one cannot know if something is real or not in order to cover up social injustice and mechanisms that drive inequality. As Legerdemain progresses, one is being continually dragged along towards an apocalyptic ending on "Release", which reflects on this current predicament as a nuclear explosion approaches with nothing left to do except give into the madness. There is a constant cycle of rising again, fighting against wrongdoing, exhaustion, and endings. The lyrics in Polish, English and a sprinkle of French, represent the multinational members of the band, who feel culturally in a no man’s land, which in fact is everyone’s experience in 2021. Legerdemain tries to answer this anomie with urgent metal punk that is hauntingly relevant. Check out the music video for single "Atomowa Rekonstrukcja," from NYC punk freaks D4MT Labs here

THERION have always been a band that have challenged themselves to explore new paths, while remaining true to their musical core values. For their 17th studio album, mastermind Christofer Johnsson and his collaborator Thomas Vikström have created something that has been previously unthinkable to the guitarist and the singer. "We have done the only thing that was left of all the different angles to explore", explains Christofer. "We have decided to give the people what they kept asking for. 'Leviathan' is the first album that we have deliberately packed with THERION hit songs."

True to the Swede's words, the album opens with the catchy and swift tune 'The Leaf Of The Oak Of Far' featuring female and male antiphonal singing as well as a choir that seems to have evolved straight out of THERION's breakthrough full-length "Theli" (1996). This is immediately followed by the obvious highlight 'Tuonela', in which Christofer cleverly underscores this hit-track's Finnish vibe by employing NIGHTWISH’s "metal voice" Marko Hietala. Next up in this parade of future fan-favourites is the title track 'Leviathan' that offers classic THERION material with operatic female vocals and a massive choir.

Christofer Johnsson's passion for classic voices, choirs, and orchestral elements as well as his penchant for epic melodies in combination with rock and metal shines clearly through the following sing-along ballad 'Die Wellen Der Zeit', which indicates another nod to German romantic composer Richard Wagner. "Ever since 'Theli', Wagner has been and will always be at the core of THERION", emphasises Christofer. "When we started to combine metal and opera, it was something new and original. Today, symphonic metal has long been a firmly established genre." When THERION came into being in 1988 by changing name from the already existing band BLITZKRIEG, which was founded a year earlier, Christofer had rather taken inspiration from SLAYER's "Reign In Blood" among other classic metal albums.

At the beginning, the Swedes were firmly rooted in death metal, a genre which they helped to define, as witnessed by their debut album "Of Darkness...." (1991). Yet even back then, there were hints of "something else" lurking beneath the rough surface. The use of female vocals is another core ingredient of THERION today, which developed gradually. CELTIC FROST had basically introduced the female element to extreme metal on "To Mega Therion" in 1985. THERION began with both a female and male vocalist emulating a church like choir already in their sophomore full-length 'Beyond Sanctorum' (1992). With Symphony "Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas" (1993) and "Lepaca Kliffoth" (1995), Christofer continued to developed his trademark sound by gradually drifting towards cleaner vocals and more keyboards.

With "Theli", the Swedes had firmly established a reputation of pushing the boundaries of metal in the 90s –among such acts as their compatriots TIAMAT, THE GATHERING, and MOONSPELL that were often referred to as "gothic metal" at the time. THERION continued to break new ground leaving inspiration for others to follow in their wake: On "A'arab Zaraq -Lucid Dreaming" (1997), Christofer further explored the use of Near Eastern music in metal which he had already begun in 1992, while "Secret Of The Runes" (2001) dared to have Swedish lyrics in some songs.

While critics were left confused and fans challenged, THERION were often ahead of their times and vindicated in hindsight. Even the band's 25th anniversary excursion "Les Fleurs Du Mal" has by now overcome the initial shock the album caused and is only beaten in terms of streaming by the classic "Vovin" (1998). When Christofer faced the question of where to go next after the dramatic "Beloved Antichrist" (2018) had finally fulfilled his musical mission, his answer is "Leviathan" named after a giant sea monster from Judeo-Christian myth that has roots in Babylonic lore: THERION have created a giant hit album –and for the first time in the history of the Swedes, their fans are not asked to explore something new, but simply to lean back and enjoy the best from their band!

The Allergies are back with a new album – Rejoice! And the feel-good funk, hip-hop swagger, and dusty vintage loops, is everything you need right now.

Across the 13 tracks, producers Rackabeat and DJ Moneyshot dig deep into their souls, as well as their record collections, serving up a day-glo blast of super positive sampledelia that'll have you smiling from ear to ear.

Built from scratch during lockdown, each song offers up a world to lose yourself in, free from any and all dark clouds. It's their Promised Land, and everyone is welcome to bask in the sunshine.

Along for the ride is LA rap legend, Andy Cooper Ugly Duckling, soul sensation Marietta Smith, dance music heavyweight, Dynamite MC, and the unmistakable voice of hip-hop royalty, Lyrics Born.

Everyone got the memo, as career-best performances roll one after the other. And each singer, rapper, scratcher, and sampler, unites through the power of good good music.

Highlights on the LP include the swamp blues meets half-time hip-hop monster, 'Lean On You'. The Latin funk bomb, 'Move On Baby'. Soul rollers 'New Thing' and 'Are You Ready', and the show-stopping and stirring Moby-ish beat banger, 'Promised Land'.

Almost a concept album, the idea of fresh starts, strange new worlds, loss, solidarity, freedom, and the communities we find in clubs, festivals, and making and sharing music, began to come out, organically, through the song-writing process.

"In a weird way the album wrote itself," says DJ Moneyshot. "We'd be lost in our own little world of hypnotic loops as days passed, and samples jumped out of the shelves, and just started to make sense as they got chopped and layered into these tracks."

Early support for the singles, and response from fans across the globe, suggests that this, their fifth album, really could be something special. Come on in…

Michael Mayer’s latest EP, Brainwave Technology, comes at you purposeful, stealthy and sly. It’s a glorious left turn for the redoubtable producer, one that sees his typically lean and lithe productions buffed to a metallic, futurist sheen. There’s a gleam in the eyes of tracks like “Brainwave Technology” and “Alpha” that speaks of serious fun, of the intersection of the pleasure zone and the frontal lobe.

“Brainwave Technology” itself is informed by Mayer’s deep dive into the thorny terrain of artificial intelligence, transhumanism and posthumanism. Inspired by reading German philosopher Richard David Precht, Mayer found himself heading down the “proverbial rabbit hole,” as he describes it, “watching hours of YouTube material by self-proclaimed prophets of these ‘inevitable’ changes to come.” Never one to be taken in by the egotist’s dance, Mayer’s cynicism about the whole endeavour is tempered, a little, by the deeper questions that these figures gesture towards: “Is it really an evolutionary step that man and machine become one? Or is it rather a marketing plot by Silicon Valley billionaires?”

On “Brainwave Technology”, Mayer plays the charlatans at their own game, turning their logic against them by exposing the fruitiness of their ‘visions’. “I chose irony as my sword with which I chopped off some quotes from some of those batshit crazy prophets and self-promoters,” he explains of the drooling psychobabble he drops in the track’s lacuna. There’s a sense of humour here – how could you not laugh at these hungover egotists? – but there’s levity too, a sense that Mayer’s using sound to expose the contradictions and double-speak at the heart of these half-formed ideas. It’s a Burroughsian tactic, to slice into the heart of the voice to see what hidden truths surface.

It was Burroughs, too, who once said that “when you cut into the past, the future leaks out”; Brainwave Technology cuts into the logic of the futurologist to leak out the messiness of modern reality. On “Alpha” and “Gamma”, Mayer seems to conjure up the stark, ominous music that’d soundtrack a science fiction reinterpretation – or preinterpretation – of our modern malaise, all funereal wreaths of electronic noise and clatterboxing beats. As the EP resolves with “Device For The Young At Heart”, Mayer’s questions are piling up: “Do we want to become immortal and live on as a download? Do we really give up on Earth and put all our effort into colonising Mars?” There are no answers, of course, but plenty of imaginings-to-be. Brainwave Technology soundtracks both dystopian and utopian possibilities of what could come next.

Artvertisement is Bradbury’s third album and second release for ANTI-,
following his critically acclaimed 2019 LP Talking Dogs & Atom Bombs.
Bradbury wrote Artvertisement while touring in support of Talking Dogs, and
recorded the album at Trace Horse Studio in March of 2020 over the strange,
anxious handful of days between Nashville’s devastating March 3rd tornado
and the start of the COVID-19 shutdown.
The title Artvertisement was inspired by Bradbury’s difficult experiences navigating the polished, often soulless Nashville music industry, where record label
executives would laud his songwriting some going so far as to call him a genius
but ultimately turn him away because his music wasn’t commercial.
While music is still his primary focus, Bradbury has leaned into working on visual art, which, like his music, draws out both the darkness and the humor of the
everyday. His art aligns aesthetically with his music. His portraits are abstract,
while his smaller sketches veer more toward humor and commentary. He sells
his art on a “pay what you want” model, explaining that he is as happy to sell a
painting for a nickel as he is for five hundred dollars.
It may not be the kind of financial model that lands him a high-rise office overlooking downtown Nashville, but that’s always been the antithesis of what
Bradbury is about. “Do no harm but take what you need,” he says.
“Holding on to success, holding onto money... What does it matter? We’re all
going to die someday.”

Orions Belte: «Villa Amorini» Jansen Records 2021 Do you remember the time the doorman ran after some drunken kids around the lake outside the club? As he dives into the lake, he scrapes his stomach on a sharp object in the water, but catches up and returns with one youth under each arm. At the same time the singer from the band playing inside, jumps from the loft hoping that the chandelier he grabs will hold him. It doesn’t. Endless afterparties and constantly trying to avoid visits from the police or the liquor control. Still nothing? This was the 90’s club scene in Bergen, and Villa Amorini was the place where everything happened. Starting as an 80’s fine dining spot, it evolved into an extravagant club with tons of artists and DJ’s in screaming shirts and oversized sunglasses. This sets the scene for Orions Belte’s second album. Still a mix of all the sounds they like, reminiscing eras they haven’t experienced, trying to navigate in their own musical atmosphere. Chaotic and calm at the same time. Villa Amorini is recorded at Norsk Riksstudio by engineer Njål Paulsberg, making sure the sounds were on point while leaving the band alone to play together for hours upon hours, chiseling out the base for the album. Where the debut was summery and a bit brighter, this album tends to lean a bit more towards the big city, night life and leftover food from the fridge. Mixed as always by the magnificent Matias Tellez.

THERION have always been a band that have challenged themselves to explore new paths, while remaining true to their musical core values. For their 17th studio album, mastermind Christofer Johnsson and his collaborator Thomas Vikström have created something that has been previously unthinkable to the guitarist and the singer. "We have done the only thing that was left of all the different angles to explore", explains Christofer. "We have decided to give the people what they kept asking for. 'Leviathan' is the first album that we have deliberately packed with THERION hit songs."

True to the Swede's words, the album opens with the catchy and swift tune 'The Leaf Of The Oak Of Far' featuring female and male antiphonal singing as well as a choir that seems to have evolved straight out of THERION's breakthrough full-length "Theli" (1996). This is immediately followed by the obvious highlight 'Tuonela', in which Christofer cleverly underscores this hit-track's Finnish vibe by employing NIGHTWISH’s "metal voice" Marko Hietala. Next up in this parade of future fan-favourites is the title track 'Leviathan' that offers classic THERION material with operatic female vocals and a massive choir.

Christofer Johnsson's passion for classic voices, choirs, and orchestral elements as well as his penchant for epic melodies in combination with rock and metal shines clearly through the following sing-along ballad 'Die Wellen Der Zeit', which indicates another nod to German romantic composer Richard Wagner. "Ever since 'Theli', Wagner has been and will always be at the core of THERION", emphasises Christofer. "When we started to combine metal and opera, it was something new and original. Today, symphonic metal has long been a firmly established genre."

When THERION came into being in 1988 by changing name from the already existing band BLITZKRIEG, which was founded a year earlier, Christofer had rather taken inspiration from SLAYER's "Reign In Blood" among other classic metal albums. At the beginning, the Swedes were firmly rooted in death metal, a genre which they helped to define, as witnessed by their debut album "Of Darkness...." (1991). Yet even back then, there were hints of "something else" lurking beneath the rough surface.

The use of female vocals is another core ingredient of THERION today, which developed gradually. CELTIC FROST had basically introduced the female element to extreme metal on "To Mega Therion" in 1985. THERION began with both a female and male vocalist emulating a church like choir already in their sophomore full-length 'Beyond Sanctorum' (1992). With Symphony "Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas" (1993) and "Lepaca Kliffoth" (1995), Christofer continued to developed his trademark sound by gradually drifting towards cleaner vocals and more keyboards. With "Theli", the Swedes had firmly established a reputation of pushing the boundaries of metal in the 90s – among such acts as their compatriots TIAMAT, THE GATHERING, and MOONSPELL that were often referred to as "gothic metal" at the time.
THERION continued to break new ground leaving inspiration for others to follow in their wake: On "A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming" (1997), Christofer further explored the use of Near Eastern music in metal which he had already begun in 1992, while "Secret Of The Runes" (2001) dared to have Swedish lyrics in some songs. While critics were left confused and fans challenged, THERION were often ahead of their times and vindicated in hindsight. Even the band's 25th anniversary excursion "Les Fleurs Du Mal" has by now overcome the initial shock the album caused and is only beaten in terms of streaming by the classic "Vovin" (1998).
When Christofer faced the question of where to go next after the dramatic "Beloved Antichrist" (2018) had finally fulfilled his musical mission, his answer is "Leviathan" named after a giant sea monster from Judeo-Christian myth that has roots in Babylonic lore: THERION have created a giant hit album – and for the first time in the history of the Swedes, their fans are not asked to explore something new, but simply to lean back and enjoy the best from their band!

"Michoacan, has been producing music since 2002. and after a few years hiatus this ultra cool, left of centre producer, returns to freak us with the 'Knights Are Cold EP'.

On 'Knights Are Cold', the A side is all about left leaning, synth led, shiny disco-ness with shades of the 80s, while the B side - 'Be Side Me' is a moody, low slung, cosmic disco destroyer. "

First single from Monophonics' new album "It's Only Us".
This is the first new material from the group since their 2015 album "Sound Of Sinning" and they're picking up right where they left off, blending authentic soul with hints and leans of psychedelic elements as well. And on the heels of Kelly Finnigan's debut solo record, the group just continues to get stronger and stronger with regard to production and songwriting. This 45 of "Chances" hits stores on February, 21th and their new album will be out on March, 13th.

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is an American composer, performer and producer, originally from Orcas Island and currently based in Los Angeles. After several self-released albums, Smith was signed to independent record label Western Vinyl in 2015, who released her first official album, Euclid, in January 2015. Her latest album, T ides: Music for the Meditation and Yoga , was released in January 2019.
Smith grew up and was home-educated on Orcas Island, Northwestern Washington. She left the island to study composition and sound engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, before returning to the island after her graduation.
It was after returning home that Smith discovered synthesizers, when a neighbor introduced her to the Buchla 100 Synthesizer. Having originally intended to use her voice as her primary instrument, and then moving to classical guitar and piano, Smith switched to the use of synthesizer after being leant and experimenting with the Buchla 100 for a year.
Smith formed indie-folk band Ever Isles whilst still at Berklee but left the project after discovering the Buchla 100, explaining, “I got so distracted and enamored with the process of making sounds with the Buchla’s potential that I abandoned the next Ever Isles album”.
When developing her composition skills, Smith used visual aid as inspiration for her music. She has said that she is always composing to a visual in her head, explaining, “Sometimes I let the sound create the image for me and then I build off that. Or vice versa: I come up with imagery that is inspiring to me, or I see something that is inspiring, and then create sounds that I feel match it”.
Recorded in 2013, Tides is a glimpse into the early phase of what has become Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s signature approach to electronic music. Composed and played on a Buchla Music Easel––the modular synthesizer that gives Smith’s music its organic feel––this collection of instrumentals is at once uplifting, transportive and meditational.

Ever since dropping her critically-acclaimed debut LP Online Dating through Central Processing Unit back in 2017, Tryphème (Tiphaine Belin) has marked herself out as one of the more unique voices in contemporary electronica. We mean that literally - Belin's productions are characterised by frequent use of vocals, either processed to provide atmosphere or deployed high in the mix as passages of singing/spoken word. When these are wedded to her typically deft electronic productions the results are lush, atmospheric and moving.

Two years on from Online Dating and Tryphème has returned to CPU with the six-track Aluminia EP. While Online Dating leaned into a range of rave styles, Aluminia is more painterly, with Belin putting greater emphasis on timbre and texture. 'Lava', 'Fey' and 'Cry Silent Cry' are some of the most innovative tracks Belin has produced to date.

While another producer would allow listeners to luxuriate in such warm synth tones, Belin doesn't let you get comfortable, constantly surprising you with innovative structural choices or unexpected sounds. The way in which 'Lava' is agitated by chattering voices and processed singing recalls both the uncanniness of Holly Herndon and the maximalism of A. G. Cook, while the synth line that snakes through 'Cry Silent Cry' nods to Lorenzo Senni's recent trance deconstructions. Beats and bass take precedence in Aluminia's midsection.

This is the portion of the record which most closely recalls Online Dating - 'Eedyu' and 'X-Ray Mantra' are more settled than the other cuts on Aluminia, and it's here that the 90s electronica influences that so often inform CPU's output are most keenly felt. Those who enjoyed Bochum Welt's recent Seafire full-length - itself another CPU drop - will be able to get behind these tunes.

The two sides of Aluminia are combined in penultimate number 'In A Cyber Spiral'. The track's eerie beginning, with its ghostly vocals and nagging drums, is reminiscent of Hype Williams. Soon things morph into a leftfield digi-dub replete with speaker-crushing sub. Halfway through Belin wrong-foots us again, cleverly flipping the drums from half-time to a kind of fluttering breakbeat. It's the most diverse and unique production in a record full of them, drawing on everything from IDM to Eskibeat, and a track which furthers Tryphème's status as an exciting new artist on the European electronics scene.

Chicago-based contemporary electronic musician Steve Hauschildt has composed panoramas of synthesized sound for over a decade. First within his former band, Emeralds, an American touchstone of 2000s home-recorded psychedelic noise music, and later across a steady and critically-acclaimed stream of solo releases spanning ambient techno, arpeggiated electronica and post-kosmische styles utilizing synthesizers, computers, and digital processing. In 2018, he extended a collection of rich, visceral tracks titled Dissolvi, his first release on Ghostly International and his most collaborative work to date. Just a year later, Hauschildt returns with Nonlin, an album that's freer, leaner, and looser, both structurally and conceptually; less linear compared to its predecessor, but still captivating. Developed and recorded in several studios during and around the edges of tour - Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Tbilisi, and Brussels - this material emulates an alienating encounter with a smattering of places, a replicant of culture shock, a solitary and stark experience with uncanny environments, melody and dissonance as oblique locales. Nonlin finds Hauschildt evolving his palette of tools, integrating modular and granular synthesis. The improvisatory and generative nature of modular systems, when paired with his signature grid-oriented and hand-played techniques, guides these compositions slightly out of line to hypnotic effect. Opener "Cloudloss" permeates the mix with an unsettling smog, which reappears and all but engulfs "A Planet Left Behind." On cuts like "Attractor B" and "Subtractive Skies," pockets of air rest between sequenced pulses, whose crumpling and flattening folds build into a restrained rapture of crisp frequencies and milky reverb-swallowed coruscations. The album's title track and centerpiece logs on to a foreign network, a fractured percussion signal that modulates and stutters into static amidst curious melodic sparkling in the hazy bandwidth. "Reverse Culture Music" casts an elegant and brooding stream of strings, pizzicato and churning bow from Chicago cellist Lia Kohl, against chiming minimalist synth frameworks. A surprising pattern emerges in the taciturn systems at work. Hauschildt continues to expand his already horizon-wide repertoire, here exploring the effects of corrupting coordinates; a flight subject to the collapsable abilities of time in remote spaces, a smearing of the axis to elegiac ends.

The new album by Juno Award and Polaris Music Prize-nominated Canadian soul star Tanika Charles.

Produced by a stable of some of Canada's finest musical minds including among the others Chin Injeti (DJ Khalil, Eminem, Drake, Aloe Blacc..), Record Kicks proudly presents "The Gumption" the awaited new album by Canadian soul star Tanika Charles that will hit the streets worldwide on May 10.

"What gave you the gumption?" Tanika Charles rhetorically asks during the introductory notes of her sophomore album appropriately titled The Gumption. While the apprehensive lover at the receiving end of that inquisition should feel slighted by the remark, it also alludes to the assuredness Tanika has gained since the release of her Juno Award and Polaris Music Prize-nominated debut Soul Run. The Gumption picks up where Soul Run left off, continuing her tradition of marrying classic soul with modern production styles. Across a dozen songs spanning 38 minutes, Tanika addresses moments of vulnerability, vindication, uncertain love, forbidden fruit and the state of the world today. "It's a little more mature. It's not feeling guilty about being up front, not being afraid to address situations that aren't comfortable for me. I'm comfortable in my skin now in a way I never was before. The overall theme is growth. I feel the music reflects that, and my words reflects that. Even the album cover tries to convey the feeling too. I'm not putting up with unnecessary nonsense anymore."

Predominately guitar-driven mid-tempo soul, with a handful of dance floor friendly tunes and some psychedelic leanings, The Gumption was indirectly influenced by the likes of Alabama Shakes, The Supremes, Khruangbin, D'Angelo, and Moses Sumney. It is sonically moody at times, but with consistent silver-lining arcs. "I've grown up and learned to deal with situations significantly better. We have a tendency to hold back our innermost feelings for fear of hurting others. Even when we're happy we worry about over-sharing, as if joy is a competition you don't want to gloat about."

The success of Soul Run propelled Tanika in front of new audiences far and wide, with extensive touring in North America and Europe. "I've been touring, experiencing new places and meeting new people. And in that time also worked on completing this album". While criss-crossing Canada with festival appearances on both the east and west coasts, Tanika also embarked upon four overseas tours for a combined 45 European shows within a one year period. This included performances at the prestigious Trans Musicales Festival in France, the Lärz, Germany Fusion Festival, Mostly Funk & Soul and Jazz Festival in UK, the Holy Groove Festival in Switzerland, and the Canarias Jazz Festival in Spain.

Pushing his sound further into leftfield-leaning horizons and textured atmospheric reliefs, Pfirter highly-anticipated debut long-player 'The Empty Space' finds the Argentinian-born, Barcelona-based producer steering across shape-shifting sonic rapids with poise and panache. Inspired by a fractal of elements including physics, sci-fi and Lovecraftian flicks, amongst many other things, 'The Empty Space' is a record that revolves around the experience of the voyage itself rather than the destination, throbbing with a vital pulse that acutely transcends all categories and genres, as Pfirter adroitly recombines techno's DNA into something truly and definitely his own. From the false quiet of gloomy lakeshores and riverbanks to post-industrial cityscapes, through barren no-go zones and tiny basements packed to the rafters, welcome into Pfirter's personal "empty space".

This is MindTrip!

As Metronomy work on their forthcoming sixth album, they take a moment to reflect on the 10th anniversary of their breakthrough album 'Nights Out'. Metronomy's Joseph Mount has delved into the archives for 'Nights Out: 10th Anniversary Edition' which will be released on February 8th on Because Music.

It features the original critically acclaimed album alongside a second LP which expands upon Mount's vision with a set of unreleased demos, rarities and b-sides - many of which make their first appearance on vinyl. Two of the highlights come with alternative versions which have become staples of the Metronomy live set: a bedtime dub version of 'Holiday' which takes it into a darker, glitchier direction, and a French-language version of 'Heartbreaker'.

Mount's Francophile leanings are also explored in Breakbot's remix of 'A Thing For Me', which contrasts French touch vibes with Mount's distinctly English-accented vocals. Previously issued on an exclusive Rough Trade bonus disc, 'Over' is an instrumental of cinematic scale, while the disc closes with four previously unreleased demos including the leftfield minimalism of 'Das Booty'.

Although Metronomy's 2006's debut album 'Pip Paine (Pay The £5000 You Owe)' was discovered by those in the know, it was 'Nights Out' that captured the imagination of a much wider audience. Mount achieved the seemingly impossible: he highlighted both the joyous atmosphere of a big night out and a taste of the resultant comedown in a set that playfully veered towards being a concept album.

About Nights Out Joseph Mount says: 'Oscar reminded me the other day how I said to him on completing Radio Ladio 'I think I've just written my first number 1'. I hadn't. We also reminisced about the day we borrowed the Honda Insight for the album artwork: I found the owner on an enthusiast chat room, we gave his daughter two Kate Nash tickets and a meet and greet with Kate in exchange for a few shots with the vehicle... simpler times. Shout out to Myspace.'

Metronomy's most recent album 'Summer 08' was released in 2016 to widespread critical acclaim. DIY described it as a 'pure-pop odyssey' and NME concluded, 'Mount has done it again. He could write music about the impact of Brexit on the UK's trade with China and make it sound amazing. He's that good.'

Metronomy bring 2018 to a close when they play Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party on December 31st. The 65,000 capacity show is headlined by Franz Ferdinand and completed by Free Love.

Left Ear are issuing two previously unreleased Full-Length versions of Space Farm's mid 90's Egyptian inspired tracks. Both, 'The Dawn of Birds' and 'Camels in Desert Air' were initially cut short to allow for additional remixes on the original release. For their 2019 issue, Left Ear have decided to focus only on these downtempo original songs allowing the heavy percussion and synth workouts to shine through on a loud 45RPM press.

Space Farm is the story of three friends Darrin, Bill and Waleed their love for 80's NY culture, Egyptian music and a cross continental business plan that never materialised. Darrin and Bill grew up in North New Jersey only a few miles from NY city and met while studying in '90. Bill spent his formative years listening to the emerging sounds of 80's left-leaning New York radio stations, while Darrin immersed himself in the DJ and B-Boy culture. Fast-forward to '94 and the two found themselves living in Boulder, Colorado. By this time the tag-team had started producing music and would look to their NJ roots for a group name, deciding on the title 'Space Farm' after a kooky local petting farm they often cracked jokes about. Armed with an open mind and a bunch of old studio gear the duo began producing music inspired by 80's NY, however after a budding friendship began with Egyptian native Waleed they were inspired to start experimenting with Egyptian and Arabic sounds. After hearing their output Waleed pushed for the release of an Egyptian inspired record saying 'it would sell like crazy in Egypt', that 'he would bring it back to Egypt on his next visit and get it to all the right people that need to hear it'. The record got done but, due to circumstances beyond their control it never made it over to Egypt. The duo performed live a few times in Boulder before finally returning to NJ. Darrin recalls playing their final party in Boulder in which the Space Farm record was played from start to finish, 'Some joker ran up to us while we were playing and kept signalling to up the tempo we were like F Off! raver boy'.

Lost Futures is a new label that explores experimental and often radical approaches to dance music from the past. In a musical landscape that increasingly claims to seek and reward new forms and ideas, Lost Futures delves into the recent past to revisit forward-thinking, optimistic projects that, owing to the social, musical or outright political climate, perhaps struggled to find an audience. Allowing only time to re-contextualise these leftfield, sometimes misunderstood and ultimately human bodies of work, Lost Futures taps into the inherent idealism of rave.

LF001 trips back until the early nineties to revisit the alternative scene emerging from the Dutch city of Utrecht. Here, three young men - DJ Zero One (Sander Friedeman), TJ Tape TV (Arno Peeters) and DJ White Delight (Richard van der Giessen) - joined forces to form 'The Awax Foundation'. Inspired by the transcendent and revolutionary electronic music arriving on their shores imported from Chicago and Detroit, combining their knowledge, gear and ever-expanding vinyl collection allowed additional freedom in paying sincere tribute to these intoxicating sounds, while also developing their tastes in a more personal, eclectic direction.

The musical flavours of Awax initially leaned toward acid house and the roots of techno. However, with three different mindsets in the mix, their tastes were rarely fixed. One thing each shared in common was a devotion to collecting rare sounds, specifically more adventurous and international samples than those emanating from the increasingly-hard, masculine dance music emerging from the Netherlands during the period. Inspired by the cross-over global sound of bands like Suns of Arqa, or 'World Music', as it was perhaps patronisingly termed at the time, the trio became interested in the idea of making techno with 'ethnic instruments'.

Of course, this being 1992, none of The Awax Foundation had access to such instruments, instead, they had a vast, collective library of samples from all over the world. There were no collaborations and no clear plan. Instead, they set to work using a Yamaha TX16W sampler, the legendary Atari 1040ST computer, a cheap mixing desk and a couple of low-end synths and FX machines. When Richard mentioned the project to his friend, Akin Fernandez, the London DJ and owner of cult label Irdial Discs, Fernandez was intrigued enough to invite the trio to record a one-hour show for his 'Monster Music Radio' series on London's then-burgeoning Kiss FM.

Forced to come up with a name, 'CultureClash' seemed like the obvious choice, even if the members of Awax were only creatively sparring among themselves. Along with the term 'ethno-techno', slightly dubious to a hopefully more conscious Western audience in 2017, these were the only guiding principles to the quietly ambitious project that soon combined cutting-edge machine rhythms with samples sourced from everywhere from Bolivia to Togo, and inspired by everything from Ravi Shankar's epic soundtrack to the Oscar-winning movie Ghandi, to the technical limits of their own setup requiring a dazzling degree of cut-and-paste work. Some tracks even emerged out of academic studies within the ethnomusicology department at The University of Amsterdam.

The show aired on October 2nd, 1992, recorded in one blistering take and without any rehearsals, traversing a huge variety of tempos and styles. If the performance wasn't seamless, it was undeniably thrilling, fresh and ambitious. As such, several labels, including Fernandez's aforementioned Irdial Discs expressed an interesting in commercially releasing CultureClash, while another imprint proposed a series of twelve-inches and an album. But the sheer complexity of the project meant that it never saw the light of day, while the trio embarked on different journeys ahead, both creative and personal.

Twenty five years later, and the original CultureClash lineup and founding members of The Awax Foundation provide the sound of the first release from Lost Futures. An otherworldly, ambitious and optimistic compilation, accompanied by extensive sleeve notes from the trio, CultureClash is a timeless ode to experimentation in dance music's ever-overlapping culture.

Warehouse Find!

Helsinki-based producer Saine makes his Delusions debut following amazing output on such revered labels as Voyage Recordings, Odd Socks, Omena and Fina. A producer who can flit from hazy instrumental hip hop through to raw, dusty house at the flick of a switch, Saine has built a solid following amongst lovers of left field leanings we've come to expect from the likes of Max Graef, Glenn Astro, Henry Wu and Leon Vynhall.

On lead track Act Natural we find Saine in perhaps his heaviest mood to date, delivering a crunchy uptempo house jam which retains his unique sound despite being aimed firmly at the dancefloor. A speaker wobbling eighth note bassline locks down the groove whilst familiar, much-loved frag- ments from the rave days punctuate the crackling beats. Add to this some simple syncopated chords and you have a winning formula for a timeless track which looks to the future whilst respectfully doffing it's cap to the past.

Jus Right continues in a deeper, more musical fashion with Saine getting busy on his synths, building up layers of warm pads and soloing Moog lines. A prominent vocal brings a soulful touch whilst the minimal, almost hihat-less groove adds an original and fresh feel to this blissful track.
Flipping over we have Low Key, a shuffling deep house number loaded with sliced Rhodes samples, echoing vocal hits, clipped percussion and sublime bass. As the atmosphere thickens, everything falls away to silence before rebuilding, creating some nice tension in the arrangement.

Finally we have Pontchartrain offering up an excellent remix of Jus Right. The Detroit native responsible for some mighty fine releases for the likes of Rocksteady Disco, Lovedancing, Soul Clap, Kolour LTD and Whiskey Disco takes things in a more straight-up house direction with heavier beats, 909 hats pushed to the fore and a distinctively old school feel to the mix.

Produced by Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak. LP is on coloured coke bottle green vinyl + inclues download code and 12x12' lyric sheet/ liner note insert.

Madeline will be on tour throughout the UK and Europe this Autumn.

'Building from understated beauty to dense guitar theatrics. It reminds me of Chicago circa '93 as remembered in a dream — a little bit of Liz Phair 'Exile In Guyville' - rendered in soft-focus with the graceful confidence of a young master. ' STEREOGUM

In January of 2018, five months after the release of her debut album Night Night at the First Landing, Madeline Kenney traveled from Oakland, California to the woods outside of Durham, North Carolina to record her sophomore album with a new collaborator, Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner.

The choice was a conscious decision to explore new methodology in writing, recording, production and even genre. Perfect Shapes sees Kenney leaping headfirst into fresh and adventurous territory, largely eschewing conventional rock structures in favor of theme and melody. Its ten songs are full of surprises big and small - from vibrant synth lines to taut bass figures and subtly modulated vocals - that instead of feeling fussed over, reveal Kenney's penchant for elegant and abstract composition.

Kenney's 2017 debut, Night Night at the First Landing, was a guitar-centric rock album, produced by friend and collaborator Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi, Perfect Shapes leans on the foundational pieces of Night Night - fuzzed-out guitar tones, coy wordplay and Kenney's notably strong voice - but with an unconventional approach that allows them to bloom, reincarnated. Perfect Shapes marks Wasner's first foray into producing another artist's work and is permeated by the pair's collaborative spirit. Both Wasner and Kenney play multiple instruments on the record, and engineered the session alongside Kenney's touring percussionist, Camille Lewis.

An eagerness to explore and experiment is apparent from start to finish, as Kenney and Wasner weave endless sonic curve balls into the arrangements. From the delightfully warped percussion on opening track 'Overhead' to the burbling synths on the R&B-tinted 'The Flavor of the Fruit Tree' and the left-field trumpet solo in 'Your Art,' these rich and inventive ideas echo Yo La Tengo's everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality, as well as the surging soundscapes of Tame Impala and Wye Oak at their most impressionistic. Lead single "Cut Me Off" is a surprise of its own - the most pop-forward song Kenney has written yet. 'Bad Idea,' finds her balancing fragility as foil; later, 'I Went Home' manages to evoke both frustration and affection in a single breath.

The complex and open-ended questions that lay at the core of Perfect Shapes mark Kenney's arrival into a hard-hitting reflective space: How do you love another when it hurts to do so What is the physical limit to which one can carry the emotions of others How does a modern female artist reckon with the expectations demanded of her femininity Yet for all the notes of doubt and fear that Kenney raises, she delivers each song with confidence and poise, grounded by the pointedly laid and surging soundscape.

Kenney has always had a penchant for curiosity and experimentation. Raised in the Pacific Northwest, she began studying classical piano and dance in kindergarten, and grew to believe her future lay in modern dance choreography. Not one to be tied to a singular pursuit, however, Kenney took a hard left in college, studying Interpersonal Neurobiology and supporting herself with a career in baking. Music remained a constant however, and after moving to the Bay Area in 2013, Kenney quickly found footing in the supportive arts community in Oakland. There, she met and began collaborating with Chaz Bear (Toro Y Moi), which led to the production of her Signals EP and later her debut album, Night Night at the First Landing. Both releases were received with great critical acclaim, and saw Kenney exploring the sounds within her self-proclaimed twang-haze genre, defined by cathartic fuzz breakdowns and lyrical sensitivity.