quête:lifted music

Soul Brother Records present two rare Scepter/Wand disco classics on one limited edition 12” single for Record Store Day Bobby Moore was a singer, musician and bandleader from New Orleans. He worked as a writer and arranger from the 1960s to 1980s, “(Call Me Your) Anything Man” one of only a handful of solo 7” single releases. The 12” version has never been commercially released before, it’s prior existence in this format has only been on acetate. Legend has it that the one acetate was cut at the time because when Tom Moulton mastered the record in 1975, the studio had run out of 7” parts so made it a 12”. The quality sounded so good the 12” single was born!
Sweet Music were the vocal trio who sang background vocals with KC & The Sunshine Band. This is one of the few records ever remixed by West End legend Mel Cheren.

Audaciously innovative sound designer/producer/live artist Enrico Sangiuliano reaches #0 in his countdown from ‘NINETOZERO’ on his eponymous ephemeral imprint, triggering its built-in autodestruct by the release of provocative 3-track EP ‘Absence’, out March 19th on vinyl & digital. The digital EP will also feature an Edit of ‘Step Into The End’.

The Italian tech maestro and artistic pioneer eschews populism, yet still storms charts & wins hearts – notably/recently in his unsettling, compelling manifesto x battle cry ‘The Techno Code’. Says Enrico of his label, ‘NINETOZERO is a cycle of listening, making, and letting go. Born from silence, shaped by space, directed by reflection, altered by change, revealed by glitch, unified through interconnection, lifted toward transcendence, refined by discipline, clarified by chaos, and finally returned to absence.’

On his ‘Absence’ EP: ‘With ‘Absence’ we come full circle, back to the womb of nothingness but charged with the echo of everything we have experienced. It is an ending, yes, but also an invitation. A new kind of silence is born, shaped by the memory of every frequency we unleashed.’ Enrico Sangiuliano can thrill listeners with his music, but dares to challenge, to trust them.

Main track ‘Step Into The End’: a full-on barrage of trustworthy techno danceability & energy, bookended by soulful violin, high horns & sirens, with spoken incantations as if summoning to a sacred rite. A ten-minute timeless dance track as ‘all we’ve learned converges into a single point where presence & silence merge.’

Title track ‘Absence’: The (Techno Code-esque) Voice speaks of sound, space, absence, trace... the track’s background noise is the almost- silence of his studio ‘through a magnifying glass’.. His breathing can just be heard in the recording. Melodic, beautiful, free-form chords in the middle section act like a breakdown in reverse. ‘A provocation, a track of silence, incidental noise. A tale of a story that just finished, but also a background for a story to be shaped. No one is intentionally performing for us. Here, the responsibility and work of listening is on you, to figure out what you can hear and what to make of it, to craft your own soundtrack based on the sounds that surround you, beyond the track. You can perform your own version yourself. Close your eyes and just listen. Engage with your environment. Be present. Expand your senses. Enjoy absence.’

‘The Aftermath’: a 40-second provocative coda. A snatch of stirring conversation signing off the EP and label alike. What will be launched post-zero by Enrico Sangiuliano? Watch this space, this absence.

RENEGADE METHODZ presents ENACT

5 YEARS RM - MUSIC WITH THE FORCE OF FUTURE

Celebrating five years deep in the trenches of techno resistance, the Greek label presents ENACT, a Various Artists compilation that captures the ethos of Renegade Methodz in its purest form and collects together a carefully selected group of music that embodies the Renegade Methodz philosophy.

uper Deception dives into the uncanny beauty within the everyday, drawing inspiration from M.C. Escher’s idea of “super deception”: the art of creating the impossible without illusion. Nelson of the East translates that concept into sound: deep, tactile basslines and intricate percussion twist familiar rhythms into hypnotic new forms. Textures and samples are lifted from their origins and reimagined, creating tracks that feel both ancient and futuristic, physical and dreamlike. The result is an electronic landscape where sound folds in on itself: a timeless, shape-shifting exploration of rhythm, resonance and perception.

Nelson of the East is a Berlin-based sound artist, producer and educator. He operates at the intersection of experimental composition and club culture, shaping his craft both as a music teacher and behind the scenes as an experienced ghost producer.

Artwork & Layout by Alicia Carrera

2026 Repress

&Me, the chunky critter, did it again! This hypnotic one-off was stoically crafted to be lifted into the next dimension with thousands of people. Where the hospitality of all-encompassing love and euphoria awaits with arms raised and eyes closed.

Mano le tough found the original Muddy Funster so boring that he ran out of cigarettes. Even as a non-smoker! With his congenial version of this evergreens, this deranged pig forces his cranky perception on us and takes us into a mystical world in which no two stones are alike, but whose unique construction represents an earthquake-proof pyramid of love whose dimensions have perfect relationships to the size of the earth and to mathematical laws. Illumination feat Roísín Murphy as Mano Le Toughs needs A Birra Light Remix persistently pulls us music-loving dance muffins under the disco ball with all the TikiTaka tricks in the book, only to let us go and spin gloriously free at the crucial moment. So beautiful, we dance, wow.

Cyborg Quest encapsulates MODAZ 2024—its learning, its searching, and its becoming. It moves through cycles of connection and disconnection, yet above all, it is driven by music. This EP is deeply personal. It echoes the phrases that resonate with his daily life: “It’s happening again,” lifted from Twin Peaks; “Where you at?”; and even “Why the world isn’t the way I wanted?” Together they form a blend of symbolism, mystique, and raw reality.

The Tuff Fluff EP from Joe Koshin channels the spirit of classic Tech House while pushing it somewhere new. Bouncy and full of groove, each track brims with fresh ideas and details that give the EP its own unique character. Born from a shared musical connection between Joe and label
head A for Alpha, Tuff Fluff began taking shape a few years back. After patiently waiting, the record now arrives feeling more relevant than ever - vibrant, groovy, and timeless all at once.
Marking the first release on Alpha’s Trip in two years, Tuff Fluff also celebrates the label’s relaunch, complete with a fresh new look crafted by the legendary Pointless Illustrations. It’s the start of an exciting new chapter for the imprint, setting the tone for what’s to come. Rounding out
the release is A for Alpha’s remix, a darker, moodier take built around the unmistakable sound of the Roland SH-101 bassline, whilst lifted with floaty, luscious pads - the perfect counterpoint to Joe’s bright and bouncy originals.

‘3' saw the core Lifted duo of Max D & Matt Papich unravel their visions of excess into their most divergent and wide-eyed collection to date. Presented here by Peak Oil in a vinyl edition featuring the painting of Jordan Kasey (yes, related to Martin Kasey, saxophonist on 2019’s LP 2) and packaged for a seamless listen.

First scene ‘Chefs’ places us squarely off-center, landing in a cinematic environment that feels a bit like steadycam Luis Bunuel , wine bottle whoo-ing and horn fanfare. Its music without a hard surface, defined more by its fluidity and characters, found sounds and performed dialogue. “Cymbecko” shifts gears into blissful ambient dub, and paves the way for a Luke Stewart led excursion into the uncanny that is ‘Trip Tongue’. Stewart’s upright bass never stops seeking, while Jordan GCZs Rhodes barely touches down before lifting back up into and out of Jacob Long’s (Earthen Sea, Esau) liquid tone sheets. An outside world of percussion accompanies.

The mood morphs and the scene cuts in hard with “Born in the Roof”, slacker techno that grows shimmering parts, Perlon for potheads. Voiceover slacks right with it, a half-convo caught in the billowing chorus of fx. “Macarena” snaps things into focus, working almost like an open window to airing out the heady fog. Simplicity in the vignette.

After “Mecha Perfume & Variety”, “Snow Dancing” reignites the drama, with burning guitar by Jonny Nash taking a plucky and sliding lead over wildly fused drums by Max D, we get a test of new depths for Lifted with the somber and exuberant “Whipped Cream”. Crackling like a radio but with modern propulsion in the form of richly evocative pads courtesy of Motion Graphics, it sounds like a dinner, a space trip, a storyboard, a scene, threaded together in bouncing, oblique ways.

"Bobby V" drops refreshingly, timed like a credit roll and leaving an afterglow that feels more tuned-in than ever.

Players on this album include: Luke Stewart (Irreversible Entanglements, Blacks Myths), Jeremy Hyman, Jonny Nash (Melody As Truth), Jordan GCZ, Matt Papich, Josh Levi, Mezey, Hirama, Dawit Eklund (1432 R), Motion Graphics, Max D, Jacob Long (Earthen Sea, Esau)




d 4.Born In The Roof Radio Mix
e 5.Macarena Radio Edit

GATEFOLD VINYL 2LP - TRANSPARENT BLUE + ORANGE, A2 Colour Poster, 5x Film Set Photos, Flexi Disc, Sticker Sheet

Blurring the lines between fiction and documentary, the seminal film Wild Style, directed by Charlie Ahearn and developed alongside Fred Braithwaite aka Fab Five Freddy, offered an iconic snapshot of the emerging New York hip hop scene in the early ‘80s. Considered one of the first hip hop films, it documents the styles, culture, attitudes, and most importantly, the music of this evolving era. The accompanying soundtrack remains one of the most influential in hip hop history, featuring a who’s who of artists who stood out during the movement’s nascent block party days.

“Making hip hop’s first and most beloved feature film, Wild Style, with Charlie Ahearn and creating the original music is one of my proudest accomplishments.” - Fab 5 Freddy

In celebration of Arrow Films restoring the original Wild Style film in 4K, Mr Bongo is proud to present this special-edition reissue package. The release comes as a double LP pressed on transparent blue and orange vinyl, offering a freshly curated tracklist that brings together the finest songs from previous editions, the full sought-after instrumental album, and Kenny Dope’s top edits. Also included are an A2 colour poster, five film set photos, a flexi disc containing Fantastic Freaks Live at the Dixie, and a Wild Style sticker sheet.

Originally released on Animal Records, founded by Chris Stein of Blondie fame, the soundtrack focuses on the hip hop scene as it evolved from the streets to the recording studio. Co-produced by Stein and Braithwaite, it features the Double Trouble pairing of Rodney Cee and KK Rockwell, The Chief Rocker himself Busy Bee, and the mighty line-ups of both The Cold Crush Brothers and The Fantastic Freaks, to name but a few. The music offers a transportive glimpse into the streets of the South Bronx, capturing the free-form, roaming nature of the film - it’s rough around the edges, but utterly absorbing.

Behind those foundational voices of hip hop’s first wave was a selection of backing beats that have underpinned and influenced the genre ever since. Easily mistaken for lifted breakbeats from old records, the songs on the Wild Style soundtrack are all unique creations. Overseen by Braithwaite and Stein, with Stein also on guitar and effects, they were intended as a homage to those early breakbeats. Drummer Lenny “Ferrari” Ferraro, who played for Aretha Franklin before emerging on the punk scene, and bassist David Harper laid down many of the iconic grooves, two somewhat forgotten participants in shaping a legendary sound.

Over time, the Wild Style soundtrack, with its Charlie Chase and Grand Wizard Theodore scratches, recurring sounds and motifs, and indelible lyrics, has become a hip hop touchstone: endlessly sampled and referenced, the bedrock of so much music to follow. It perfectly encapsulated the essence of the film, the scene, and hip hop’s emergence from the Bronx to the attention of the wider world. It was, and remains, the blueprint.

Following the lush listening LP outing by KAMM, the EG team is back in fine floorrocking form, this time with both label operatives on the dials as Rodney joins Dave Aju for his debut co-production. And what a debut it is: Highly-potent, raw, swinging house music of the highest order, complete with knocking 909 kicks, thick slapping snares, and a hypnotic melodic call-and-response tonal section that keeps things properly lifted and moving throughout. The vox evoke label boss Aju’s earlier catalog work, and he’s in particularly pointed mode here, spitting fire spoken word lines calling out various questionable corners of the dance music scene and humanity on the whole. A bold light-shining display during notably dark times, defending the once-sacred underground dance space against runaway trends of ego-driven capitalism, online image over actual skill sets, and the beyond low-ball barrier of entry into the arena. But by the time the soulful chorus lines hit and rise us up and onward toward the blissful musical finish, it is clear that this is in fact a unifying floor anthem and that indeed despite our differences amidst disheartening global chaos, at least “We Still Dancin". As always with the seasoned DJ-focussed three-piece Elbow Grease EP offerings, here we have the full A-side OG Vocal Mix cut at a crispy and tight 45rpm, a deliciously stripped and leveled-up EG Dub Mix on the B1, and finally the uplifting B2 Vibe Mix which doubles-down as half ambient instrumental builder and essential acapellacapella

Charles Webster, one of the most influential deep house producers and a true master of his craft, makes his debut on Pariter with a landmark reissue of one of his most timeless records, The Strength.

Originally released under his mid 90s alias The Presence, the record has long stood as the most coveted release from the project. Nearly three decades on, The Strength remains a benchmark for sophisticated deep house, effortlessly fusing emotional depth with driving, tech leaning groove that commands dance-floors and creates a truly immersive atmosphere.

This special reissue not only reintroduce a certified classic on Pariter, but also marks the 30th anniversary of its originally release. An essential piece of house music

Charles Webster, one of the most influential deep house producers and a true master of his craft, makes his debut on Pariter with a landmark reissue of one of his most timeless records, The Strength.

Originally released under his mid 90s alias The Presence, the record has long stood as the most coveted release from the project. Nearly three decades on, The Strength remains a benchmark for sophisticated deep house, effortlessly fusing emotional depth with driving, tech leaning groove that commands dance-floors and creates a truly immersive atmosphere.

This special reissue not only reintroduce a certified classic on Pariter, but also marks the 30th anniversary of its originally release. An essential piece of house music

naemi follows last year’s excellent Erika de Casier-starring »Dust Devil« with a genius new album of ultra-catchy, perfectly executed shoegaze diamonds, powered by Ulla on drums and additional vox, flutes and extra vocals by Baptist Goth, and fuzz guitar by Kouhei.

»Breathless Shorn« is the Berlin-based Kansas-born producer's most compelling move thus far, featuring 11 perfectly fuzzed songs that almost completely shake off any electronic remnants in favour of a light-touched act of MBV worship. naemi has long nurtured an obsession with vintage dreampop and shoegaze, but until now they mostly blurred those influences with dubby ambience and delicate, heart-slicing production. On »Breathless Shorn« they completely re-draw their outlines, bristling with a much looser energy in a mode that feels like a big step up - more impactful, full of easy swagger and a bona fide emotional resonance.

Distorted, tremolo-bent guitars, boxy drums, electric bass and delirious multi-tracked vocals are the backbone here, mostly sounding like they could have been lifted off Kevin Shields' »Ecstasy and Wine« sessions. naemi's attention to detail is remarkable; no longer leaning on electronic masking or the influence of '90s British slacker rawk or twee pop, instead deploying the genuine article, with ambient music left as just a faint note wafting in the background.

*all original recordings from mid 90s Estonian released cassettes. Fascinating interpretations of the UK breakbeat and Jungle sounds recorded when the world felt like a much bigger place.

Since hearing the first breakbeats via the Finnish radio nightly shows introducing the burgeoning UK scene, Virko Veskoja, later head figure of Lu:k, was completely swept away by this new technological language that sounded like machines trying to initiate contact with people. The fluttering rhythm patterns, strings and vocal lines haunting the pathways of the infinite network. Like hip hop taken over by Skynet.

Reimagining it all in mid-90’s Estonia, a fresh and dirt-poor republic newly welcomed to the family of sovereign states on the outskirts of Eastern Europe, was challenging, to say the least. Finally, with the help of entry level music programs, custom-made soundcards and self-built computers by the other Lu:k-head Tõnis Valk, Lu:k took the first tentative steps in the history of Estonian jungle.

Eight Lu:k cuts have been compiled into a handy selection, a true sign of the times when uncertainty came with certain hope and optimism – new territories to chart, new frontiers to conquer. A time of innocence captured so sublimely in Lu:k’s music.

The compilation starts with menacing orchestration that sounds like the birth of a civilization, like in „2001: A Space Odyssey“, or the arrival of Godzilla, only to give way to sweeeet strings and the inimitable Minnie Riperton in “Lovin U”, combining all the essential elements of Lu:k in a track that has remained uncorroded by time since its inception in 1994.

The following “Demo 3” is its antithesis – fast and nervous, a harbinger of the darker days of neurofunk and techstep ahead. More in line with the social realities of the time, when something (or someone) could materialise out of thin air and attack you just as violently as those beats here.

“La:v” was Lu:k’s signature track throughout their brief career that went on only for a few years, 1994-1997. Lifted to heaven’s by Petula Clarks’s wonderful vocals, it perfectly captures the pure essence of creation. “I made it in my bedroom. Something like that just came out. Sorry”, says Virko apologetically.

From the themes of love we are led towards darker scenarios again with “Drunk-Drive”, a more vengeful cut reminiscent of early Ram Records’ nocturnal dangers, skylines shaped by basslines. Previously only available on the uber-rare “Raadiomaja valvelauas” CD compilation from 2005.

“In the Limelight” is lifted from their second album “Dreams in Drums” from 1996 (only released on cassette), and if it’s meant to address their new-found underground celebrity status in Estonia, there is surprisingly little elation here – the track rather consists of introspective strings and beats that sound almost melancholic.

Out of the remaining three tracks, “Proov2mix” and “Kadunud leitud” are the result of a treasure hunt amongst the old, obsolete harddrives – little nuggets that were condemned to obscurity until now. Between them, another vocal-led cut “010”, a non-album track only featured on two comps until now, is a strong reminder of Lu:k’s prodigious ability to handle vocal lines and morph them together with their own weaving synthetic melodies, strong pads and commanding beats.

Lu:k’s music has been largely unavailable for the better part of this century, with original tapes and CD’s changing hands for a small fortune. This vinyl release couldn’t come at a better time, bringing a seminal chapter of Estonian dance music’s mythical history to light again, both for the old-school acolytes and new converts.

All music by Virko Veskoja

“… it was dance music, it had lyrics, it had songs, it wasn’t all instrumental, it was basically uptempo soul music, to be exact.”*

This quote from Timmy Regisford already sums up everything you need to know about his remix of Basic Black’s “Don’t Make Me Fall In Love.” Signed to Motown during Regisford’s reign as vice president and A&R, their self-titled debut album from 1990 is a testament to the massive popularity of new jack swing at the time. In his remix, the co-founder, resident DJ, and key figure of Club Shelter reconfigures the song’s structure with the signature sounds of New York’s prime dance floor scene, while preserving the heartfelt storytelling of the lyrics and the group’s voices on top of an irresistible groove and a bassline to die for.
At the time, it was only available in the record crates of the Big Apple’s DJ elite and later on as a white label in specialist shops. This soulful, yet driving piece, however, never saw an official single release—until now. Lifted from a DAT tape in Tony Humphries’ archive and carefully and faithfully restored, it now even features a condensed, never-before-released instrumental version of the remix, as well as a bass-and-beats-only edit for mixing purposes by yours truly. New jack swing transformed into New York club music by a king. This remix is a testament to Timmy Regisford’s prowess in the studio, but also honors the roots of the music he loves and grew up on—serving as a perpetual piece of the city’s vast history in underground dance music.
Gerd Janson

Last time Touch From A Distance released a Brother Nebula record the moniker was still shrouded in mystery. A few years later the veil has been lifted and anyone inclined would know our favourite Texan Lance DeSardi has been behind those meticulously crafted tracks all this time.

In line with his past outings on his own imprint Legwork, Brother Nebula keeps exploring the nooks and crannies of varied tropes of club music. There's the razor sharp, Dub Techno inspired stomper „Mach Loop“. There's „Ice Giant“, a heavy drum workout equally indebted to UK Garage and Jeff Mills. There are „The Grandeur Of Delusion“ and „God's Green Earth“ invoking the forgotten transantlanticism between West London and Detroit.

Having relocated to London and immersed himself in the local scenes and culture, Brother Nebula connects the dots of his past, present and future. Smooth melancholia meets icy beat science creating vivid contrast which makes this ep such an intriguing offering.

Studio, the influential project of Swedish musicians Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hägg, presents their legendary 2006 debut in remastered form, in partnership with Ghostly International. Available in limited edition "Fog Machine Vinyl", CD, and cassette. "One of the finest pieces of electronic music you'll hear this year.” - The Guardian (2006). Included in year-end best-of write-ups by Pitchfork, FACT Magazine, and Rough Trade. Physical copies have long been out of print for West Coast, and the album has also been notably absent from most streaming services until now.

“Somehow, I knew I wanted to make a conceptual record that, although only imaginary at that point, could represent or define how our city sounded,” says Lissvik of Gothenburg's influence on West Coast. Some called Studio, the project of Swedish musicians Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hägg, “the missing link between The Cure and Lindstrøm,” Pitchfork heard Durutti Column and Can, as the duo’s story became swept up in a loosely developing scene — adjacent first to the label Service (Jens Lekman, The Whitest Boy Alive) and later Sincerely Yours (The Tough Alliance, jj) — and a precursor to the 2010s boom at the axis of electronic and psychedelic music guided by indie greats like Caribou, Four Tet, and Darkside.

West Coast, their seminal 2006 debut, captured a faraway romanticism of Balearic brushed up against Krautrock, disco, dub, and afrobeat, with pop lyricism lifted from new wave, all made modern by two art school grads in Gothenburg. First pressed in a small vinyl-only run via their own Information label, the album has been notably absent from most streaming services, and the internet’s record of its initial impact is all but fossilized from a bygone blog era, while its sound is simply untraceable to any one moment in music.

Outside of three 7” releases, they’d keep the music to themselves for several more years. In 2005, Hägg remembers, “We got our degrees and were kicked out of our studio spaces so all these recordings were just piled up. A year later we dusted them off and started to deconstruct and assemble them in a more drawn-out fashion.” In the same breadth, they cite DJ Screw, J Dilla, and Joy Division, along with early ‘80s European live DJ sets from the likes of Beppe Loda, Dj Mozart, and Baldelli as reference points.

“The anything-goes mentality was very encouraging and was a big cornerstone to the Studio sound,” says Hägg. “But there’s so much more to the picture, we were not that young then and had lots of musical baggage in our suitcases, the new thing was that we finally let it all come through, not bound by any borders that was often the case with music identity in Sweden during the 90s.” In the afterglow of the record’s 2007 reception, Studio receded from view, clouded behind a mountain of remix requests (including one for Kylie Minogue that saw release) and label bureaucracy. “It’s easy to wish we would have done some proper recordings of our own instead,” Hägg reflects. But both artists, now well into respective careers beyond Studio, have come to peace with West Coast as their most enduring effort together. Lissvik adds, “It serves as a good reminder for me to keep to that decision and promise and to continue exploring and growing

Breve is the new album by Stefan Paul Goetsch aka Hainbach.

"After a ceaseless amount of work and family struggles, 2023 had left me empty and tired. Instead of the many hats I usually wear, I shifted my focus exclusively on my music. For two weeks every day I sat down behind a few modular synths, a toy piano and an Ondioline, recording tape after tape. I did not lock myself in though - my kids were playing around me, commenting, touching knobs, adding oscillations. What in „deadline times“ can be disrupting, became restorative. I was with my family, just drifting on waveforms. I hope some of that atmosphere shines through, and the album can help you to find peace as it did for me.

Thanks to Forgotten Futures for the loan of the Ondioline and technician Daniel Kitzig for the beautiful restoration work." - Hainbach

Based out of Berlin, Germany, electronic music composer and performer Hainbach creates shifting audio landscapes THE WIRE called "One hell of a trip". His music has been released on Opal Tapes, Seil Records, Spring Break Tapes, Limited Interest and Marionette. He has been fascinated with sine tones, noise and FM since he discovered the dial on the radio. Never losing his childhood wonder, he still searches for the sounds in between on modular synths and other devices.

We're back with another heavy release for the soundsystems.

This time we welcome Boomarm Nations own Gulls to the label.
Hailing from his dojo in Portland, Oregon, Gulls delivers us a
meditative dub hybrid, combining elements of dub, hip hop and contemporary electronica. The tune is called ''So Blessed'' and is topped by the fine voice of Wayne Daniel outta Kingston, Jamaica.

''So Blessed'' got exactly the vibe you'll need in this challenging time. Keep your head up, feel gifted for what you've got and give something back to the people around you. This tune's backing you up.

If that wasn't enough, the Portland rapper Madgesdiq steps pon the mic for some blazin' bars in his signature conscious style.

Get lost in this wicked production while heading right into the dub version to exceed the border between music and meditation.

To feel the sound through your body and soul, LXC lifted the frequencies again.

Bicoastal disco aficionado, Super Elevation label/shop owner, and all-around legend of the scene, Tom Noble brings forth a sprawling project 15 years in the making with his House of Spirits full length LP on Razor-N-Tape.

Slow-cooked over more than a decade, the eight tracks that stretch across this double 12 inch pack are the realization of Tom’s unique vision of modern dancefloor soul, with lush live instrumentation and deviously catchy hooks. Boasting a near encyclopedic knowledge of decades of club music, Tom draws on influences like Patrick Adams & the Mizell Brothers to build a sound that’s both reverent to the past, but feels extremely fresh and immediately timeless.

The lead off singles ‘Times Are Changing’ and ‘Please Take Me There’ and respective remixes by Harvey Sutherland, Makez and Sizmo have already garnered huge support, and ‘Holding On’ the beloved original House Of Spirits single from 2020 appears with a shiny new mix. The album opens with ‘Love Trip,’ an uptempo invitation to the sonic world to follow, and moves through various moods, like the Brit-funk vibe of ‘Time Is Running Out,’ the mid-tempo groover ‘I Get Lifted’ and the downtempo R&B smoothness of ‘Diamond Eyes’ featuring dreamcastmoe on vocals.

The cheeky dollar bin artwork rounds out this package perfectly, and with the tracks mixed to perfection and cut tough for the floor, this is an essential record that will surely find a permanent home in the bag.

There's a saying amongst the elders: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!" When you first hear the pulsating rhythms of "Joy (Hallelujah)," you realize that the darkness of the night has ended, and the glory of morning has arrived. Produced by the legendary DJ Marley Marl and lifted by the soulful lead vocals of House music empress Lady Alma and the powerful refrains of the iconic Kenny Bobien, "Joy (Hallelujah)" delivers nothing less than a pure soul-stirring, hand-clapping celebration. As gospel means glorious good news, and House denotes body jacking, heart pumping and high-energy rhythms, this union gives birth to a spectacular anthem that will serve as a reminder that all music can heal, inspire, convey thanks and give praise all at once. "Joy (Hallelujah)" is an expression of nothing but love!

Black Vinyl Repress!


For the first time, these exclusive extended versions of NJOI's seminal tracks are available as a 3 coloured disc vinyl-only release. Carefully lifted from their original early 90's live sets, these tracks have been re-crafted, extended and mastered to todays sonic standards and we're very proud to present 'Collected' on Food Music.

This project is much more than simply re-issuing the cream of NJOI's catalogue. As we enter 2022, we begin a year long journey with the duo, eventually unveiling 30 year old unreleased sought-after material for the first time ever, together with remixes from some of the todays finest electronic artists. It’s a privilege to complete the circle with NJOI and their timeless music.

This Mini-LP was originally released on Materiali Sonori in 1984 in Italy and is long out of print. Alexander Robotnick (aka Maurizio Dami) is an Italian electronic musician. He made his debut on the Italian music scene as the founding member of Avida, a dance-cabaret band featuring Daniele Trambusti and Stefano Fuoch. in 1983 he attained international popularity with his track “Problèmes d’amour”, published first by the Italian label Materiali Sonori and then by Sire-Wea. “Problèmes d’amour” went on to become a “cult track” of the disco scene. After 40 years Spittle Records in joint venture with Materiali Sonori re-issues the mini album and the 12” with its original artwork.

"Once I was in Chicago, it was around 2010, I was just finishing my set and went outside the club to light a cigarette. Suddenly a police car stops nearby. I thought the policeman was here to fine me (I was more than 20 meters outside the venue), but he just lifted a poster of mine and asked to sign it. Then I realized that "Problèmes d’Amour" has been for a longtime the opening theme for a popular radio broadcast well-known between the black community (hence the policeman was black)”. - Maurizio Dami

Enzo Siragusa rounds off another incredible summer with a highly anticipated project, a collaborative FUSE EP with Martin Buttrich. Striking a perfect balance between Enzo's UK rave roots and Martin's matured finesse, the 'Three Squared' EP nestles neatly within FUSE's distinct sonic palette.

Part of the FUSE family from the very beginning and held in high regard by Enzo, the two solidified their watertight bond via the line ups and studio sessions they have enjoyed together over the years, a bond that shines throughout this release.

When Enzo produces music for his label he always has the FUSE dancefloor in mind, aiming to create those immersive experiences for the crowd that he had as a youngster, across many London raves in the mid 90's.

The 'Three Squared' EP deftly encapsulates this approach, from 'Dangerman', a track that melds Jungle's original elements with the sound of today's house scene, via 'Lifted Spirits' adorned with touches of old school Martin Buttrich, to the darker and engulfing 'Apache', a vinyl only exclusive for the wax heads.

This release also marks FUSE's largest London collaboration to date, as they take over Tobacco Dock's Car Park, where these tracks will be doing some serious damage. At this point the two collaborators will meet again, as Enzo invites Martin to play a live set.

Delivering the second sermon in their Disco Gospel series, Chicago’s Sadar Bahar & Marc Davis hand-pick and re-edit two more under-the-radar disco/gospel fusion tracks for the modern dancefloor.

Both revered selectors and producers, Marc and Sadar are integral parts of Chicago's underground music scene, sharing the city’s spirit with the world. Through his own label, Black Pegasus, and the Chi Talo series, Marc has become an in-demand DJ known for his raw and eclectic sets. He joins forces with good friend, DJ’s DJ and Soul In The Hole head Sadar Bahar, whose name regularly tops the bill at some of the finest clubs and festivals around the globe.

Digging deep once again, the pair serve up two certified secret weapons from their renowned collections. Finding that sweet spot that drew out the most uplifting, powerful, and danceable elements of both gospel and disco, they shine a light on two beauties from Myrna Summers and also The Yancy Family. Tweaked and re-edited with style and consideration, they re-work the tracks with DJs and dancers in mind.

As Robert M. Marovich of Journal of Gospel Music puts it, “The rise of contemporary gospel music in the 1970s and 1980s changed the style, if not the substance, of Black sacred music. Artists, including the Yancy Family and Myrna Summers, worked within the groovy new sound to attract the attention of a generation growing up on rock, jazz, pop, and soul. Bring them into the church through the music, the maxim goes, and they’ll stay for the sermon. Likewise, these two re-edited album tracks by Sadar Bahar and Marc Davis keep the gospel music heritage alive while encouraging a brand-new generation to dance through the church doors.”

Up first, Myrna Summers ‘So Much to Live For’ channels that straight from the heart passion and collective joy that gospel embodies. Bursting with uplifting lyrics, scintillating organ melodies, and an infectious sing-along spirit, Marc and Sadar give it a club-ready DJ edit, extending it for maximum dancefloor deliverance.

The B side sees the duo work their magic on, ‘Lifted Me Higher’. Written by Kevin Yancy and taken from the Yancy Family’s 1989 album From One Christian Family to Another, it features vocals from siblings Kevin, Judy, and Rev. Darryl Yancy, along with Lois Scott. The all-star team of Chicago musicians includes Sherwin (Butch) Yancy on organ, Michael Wade on piano and synthesizer, and Richard Gibbs (longtime accompanist for Aretha Franklin) on piano and bass. With a soulful boogie flavour, dripping in slap bass and ‘80s synthlines, Marc and Sadar rework the intro so it rides out on a section of delectable instrumental grooves, before letting the glorious vocals hit home.

For years, L.A.’s David Jasso and the UK’s Mike Vest walked separate but parallel routes through psychedelic noise rock—two genre outsiders pulling the music toward raw instinct, intensity, and sonic extremity. Their paths kept echoing each other, from their own projects and collaborations—most notably through their work with key artists in the Japanese psych underground—both speaking the same volatile language of improvisation and avant-garde abrasion. A collision wasn’t just likely—it was inevitable.
This ethos and commitment to raw, volume-overdosed psych rock led to this new collaboration. Rather than deliver the expected heavy psych freakout, they opted for something more direct and confrontational.
The result is Non Violence and the album “Lifted Curse,” a six-track blast of noise rock focused not on mysticism and psych tropes, but on psychological depth. The album rips through raw male emotion: fraternity, loss, carnal impulses, mental states. Jasso’s lyrics read like an unfiltered journal mid-burnout; Vest’s swirling, savant-garde guitars create tension with Jasso’s own guitars; and Sned’s rocksteady grooves form a fistfight of harmony and dissonance.
Together, this new power trio carves out a new sonic language—heaviness rooted not in posturing, but in realness and weight: fragility, weakness, and the human efforts forged to break out from it. Non Violence is noise rock with an unironic violent aim in the physical dimension—a new conversation in a familiar space, where vulnerability hits harder than distortion and conviction outweighs myth.
David Jasso — Guitars, Bass & Vocals
Mike Vest — Guitars, Bass & Mix
Dave Sneddon — Drums

At 19, Helviofox adds his signature to the batida template that by now seems to have been in existence since forever. Such is the strength of this primordial fountain, a source of rejuvenation. Also within the literal family: Helvio cites brothers Dadifox and Erycox as main influences.

Curiosity for the sound made him go into production by the time he was 13. A couple of years later (2020) he became co-founder of TLS with E8Prod, Alberfox, DiionyG and other mates. His talent fully developed since then, opening a slight detour that became a new path parallel to the main road.

Lively basslines anchor the beat directly lifted from tradition and clearly channeled to the dancefloor. Strong, well rounded grooves, a spot-on sense of timing and tempo, elegant atmospheres, all part of Helvio's notion of arrangement and his perception of dance music boundaries, stretching them just enough to present a challenge but not as far as to disconnect head and feet and risk losing the floor.

This liminal space between experimentation and popularity is both dangerous and attractive. There is no one formula. Precisely why it still retains plenty of fuel for current and future generations to contribute personal visions.

Lisboa, 2025

In his own time, in his own tone and in his own company.

‘Win and lose without losing oneself’’ This line from French rapper Oxmo Puccino greatly accompanied David Walters while composing his fourth studio album. Over the eleven tracks on ‘Ti Love’, David took his time to find the right tone and in turn, tell his truth.

‘Ti Love’, is a French-Creole abbreviation for “petite love”, meaning ‘little love’, evoking that sweet fondness found in those small gestures and little acts of kindness.

Think of things like young kids' brotherly love or a stranger lending you a helping hand, while expecting nothing in return. It’s these motions that allow this album to feel full of real life, carried by beating drums that also pull at our heart strings.

Basing himself in a small village in Martinique, where David had not long since scattered the ashes of his late mother, the multi-instrumentalist decided to remain there and let the writing of Ti Love pour out from deep inside him. Taking influence from around the island, the energy from his makeshift studio set up in Fort de France, allowing a resilient yet grieving man to recount, let go and come to terms with his recent loss.

So embracing these new circumstances, on the rugged coastal Caribbean island of Martinique, David took up an artist’s residency in the island’s capital Fort de France, located near the town’s port is the ‘Manoir des Artistes’, a bustling recording studio space. A place where the walls shake as the latest sounds being created are blasted by locals and visitors alike. Most studio doors are wide open; as music here is a huge part of everyday life, feedback from encouraging neighbouring musicians is on hand and welcomed. A contrast to the isolation often assumed with working in more traditional music studios.

It was here in this stimulating environment that David recorded Ti Love’s initial demos.

With his first collaborator onboard, Neeweed, a 25-year-old producer and gospel expert who David met at the Martinique Jazz Festival.

Of the album’s initial versions of the record David recollects: ‘It took me three years to write it, then I rewrote it, reworked it. In the end I'm really glad I stepped back and listened to myself.’ I found a great ally in GUTS, who ended up being the artistic director of the record”

David surrounded himself with the right people who helped him express himself in the best possible way. He called on other friends and musical comrades; album opener and title track, ‘Ti Love’ features the incomparable Fatoumata Diawara (World Circuit Records / Africa Express) and further along additional production came in from; Izem, Art Of Tones, and GUTS himself, who all added just the right amount of ‘little love’ to this

project. Further helping hands came from Californian producer and DJ Captain Planet, who David was introduced to a few years ago. Closer to home, here in Europe, the German producer Bluestaeb appears on two tracks: the very catchy disco funk ‘Mr Maraboo’ and ‘Kite Koule’, the latter being the first single lifted from the album, where David invited Nigerian guitarist Keziah Jones.

Elsewhere on the album, fellow Heavenly Sweetness recording artist Blundetto contributed two tracks; the reggae ‘Voodoo Love’, which is David's tribute to Studio One, and the very sweet and resilient ‘Bon Voyage’, which closes the album... "It's gold, it doesn't need anything changing.” remarked David - ‘Bon Voyage’ is a goodbye to his mother, whose voice called him from the bottom of the sea one night while he was surfing during the full Moon.

Released almost 20 years after his debut album ‘AWA’ released on French imprint Ya Basta, home to Gotan Project and many others, David boasts a long list of radio supporters including; Gilles Peterson, Cerys Matthews and Don Letts at the BBC, while further field Cosmo Radio in Germany, and KCRW in Los Angeles.

On this new record, David has shown sincerity and vulnerability, while still honouring the infectious groove that he is known for the world over. Despite the upsets, a little love can indeed go a long way.

CREDITS:
Produced by Bluestaeb / Blundetto / Captain Planet / Izem / Art of Tones
A&R : Guts
Mixed by Mr Gib @ Onetwopassit
Except "Bon Voyage” and "Voodoo Love" mixed by Jerome “Blackjoy” Carron
Mastered by Benjamin Joubert @ Biduloscope
Art by Elliott Walters

In 2023 Ace Records released the album “28 Little Bangers From Richard Hawley’s Jukebox” where the acclaimed Sheffield musician, singer and songwriter compiled together some of his favourite records. These were instrumentals and vocals records that he had collected over the years and found musically addictive. The album received fantastic reviews and allowed his
extensive fanbase to discover and enjoy tracks like Ronny Kae’s ‘Swinging Drums’ and King Curtis’ ‘Hot-Rod’ that were on the juke box in his home.

Now, three years later, Richard has lifted the lid, taken those 7” out and replaced them with another favoured selection. One again, this second version of “Little Bangers” is full of cracking records such as Chet Atkins ‘Boo Boo Stick Beat’, Frank Minion’s ‘Watermelon’, Johnny Todd’s ‘Pink Cadillac’, Sunshine Theatre’s ‘Mountain’, Jet Harris’ ‘Man From Nowhere’, Tracy Rogers ‘Baby’ and the Ventures ‘Fuzzy And Wild’.

A with the first album there are 28 tracks spread across two albums or shoehorned onto one CD. The extensive liner notes see Richard discussing each and every track and what the record or artist meant to him. As he states himself in the introduction, “the record you hold in your hand is the result of a lifetime obsession.”
Listen for yourself and you will discover that this was time well spent.

French chanson, electro beats, pared-down or synthetic piano: at 21, Iliona draws on all of this. Plural, multifaceted, elusive. Yet her lyrics resonate as if one were singing heartache—and the love one hopes for—for the very first time.
She composes, records, and produces her tracks alone, determined to keep them as close as possible to the tunes, harmonies, and silhouettes she holds in her mind. This time, they are infused with the light of an intense love, and still carried by extreme sparseness in their arrangements: nothing—from electronic arpeggios to melodic autotune—is ever superfluous; everything has its place. Lifted by a new lightness, the tracks also echo the spirit of the yéyé sound Iliona has been listening to for a few years, without necessarily knowing the name of every songwriter or the mark they left behind. It’s their longing for carefree abandon that hovers over the hypnotic Si tu m’aimes demain and its music video inspired by the New Wave, the Beatles, and all those future memories you begin to build when you’re in love.


A gentle warmth also sweeps through the hazy doo-wop contours of Tête brûlée, and the lo-fi twist of Cocoon; but always with that veil of shadow that once floated over the apparent nonchalance of Françoise Hardy’s songs. That unease, that worried smile, resurfaces in the lovely pop gallop of Garçon manqué, an ode to the deepest friendships—the ones you hold in your arms to dance or, sometimes, to cry. Or in the delicate Cent fois, which whispers, “when will the movie scenes we quietly dreamed of come to life?”
The answer, perhaps, lies in wherever you hide, the party finds you, a superb soundtrack to an imaginary drama, whose venomous keyboards unfold the pictorial strength of Iliona’s songs.

Shadows Lifted from Invisible Hands is an autobiographical record, comprised of four songs that Hoff refers to as ambient media. Each track is composed from sources drawn from his own involuntary aural landscape, specifically musical earworms and tinnitus frequencies.

Neither sound nor a daydream, the earworm (or stuck song) emblematizes music as a commercial form—immediate, ubiquitous, and persistent. Likewise, tinnitus is inaudible and unscrupulous, manifesting across a spectrum of frequencies at will. The cognitive swirling of these phenomena provides an ambivalent, internal soundtrack that scores a person’s movement through the world.

Those suffering from tinnitus or those who have grown accustomed to the “Tinnitus Effect” in movies will likely recognize the buzzing pitches on the record, but will likely not recognize the songs. Distorted and distilled, Shadows Lifted from Invisible Hands features altered versions of four commercial pop songs: Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” Madonna’s “Into the Groove,” and Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day.”

Having been haunted by these songs on and off for years, Hoff tweaks the tracks, transposing and recomposing them for orchestral instrumentation. Speaking back to these involuntary echoes, these tracks go to great lengths to obfuscate their sources; to be sure not to simply re-introduce each earworm, as though they were samples. Otherwise, what’s the point? No one needs another stream.

Besides, earworms are not music, although we perceive them as such. They are non-cochlear and exist as an affective force that is neither subjective nor objective, which is to say they are an invasive—and alien—phenomenon. Like tinnitus, they are aggravated by economic, social, and environmental forces as well as emotional states, mental health, and aging. Hoff doesn’t underplay his own struggles with mental health in discussing the record—noting a long history of depression and its acuteness over the last few years, which serve as the backdrop to the composition of this record.

Scratch any pop song hard enough and you’ll find sadness underneath it. Subdermal, the songs on this record evoke a type of ephemeral weariness and despair. By recasting the original songs through their shadowy doubles, Hoff provides a window into the dark core of pop music. At the center of which lies capitalism’s desperate attempt to replicate itself through a cheap high built on echoing refrains. Just below the surface the listener finds a hangover of shadows dancing through the mind.

SPFDJ steps up for her long-awaited debut EP, Heel Thyself, out Friday 7th November on Intrepid Skin.

A core figure in grassroots techno circuits, and an internationally lauded DJ, SPFDJ's ascent reflects a passion for music governed by love and grit in equal measure. At once providing a gleefully chaotic two-fingers to dance music's self-serious establishment, whilst also flexing an ever-expanding knowledge of its roots and potentials, her musical armoury is renowned the world over for inspiring debauchery and sweat-soaked hedonism.

As an artist whose journey has been defined by challenging the norms of electronic music, SPFDJ's rebel spirit is recognised locally and globally, but guiding this attitude is a vulnerability to the realities of the music industry, and the rise of conservatism that permeates every aspect of life. And whilst sensitive to the use of buzzwords like community, it's ultimately a respect for the people who keep these scenes alive that motivates her artistry.

In releasing this EP, she taps into a more vulnerable side. The title - a nod to internal healing processes, and a play on words to motivate queers and women to 'boot up for battle' against increasingly oppressive structures - shines a light on some of the values she holds up to electronic music culture. At once playfully chaotic and deeply energising, Heel Thyself spins us through a cyclone of kicks, punches, and noise.

Opener 'Cluster B Intro' is a tempo-twisting barrage of gabber led by a robotic vocal command, setting the scene for pretty much anything to happen. 'That Stiletto Track' kicks in like a tweaked out distortion of 90s trance before spiralling upwards into a storm of heavy breaks. 'F*ckboi' is hot n heavy electro - classic in its structure, but with the added industrial touch of hammerdrill synths and razor sharp percussion. Swinging into a bouncier state, 'The Hot in Psychotic' flings ricocheting rhythms through frantic claps, with a donk to keep things moving. Rounding things off, 'Mindless Counting' flies higher with pummeling drums lifted by a touch of euphoria.

A debut laced with both defiance and self-reckoning, Heel Thyself finds the rebel looking inwards - vulnerable, but sharpened and ready.

The core duo of Max D and Matt Papich debut on Peak Oil following full-lengths for Future Times and PAN with a fresh suite of tactile, diffuse fusion. Half the collection emerged from a 2021 session at Tempo House rounded out by Dustin Wong, Mezey, and Jeremy Hyman, while the rest took shape in moments both collaborative and isolated, collaged together with CDJs into something more liquid and liminal than the sum of its parts.

Across fractured jazz, pitch-shifted downtempo, revelatory guitar, and interstitial interplay, Lifted’s sound is one of flux, fragments, and filigree. Oblique harmonic synergies dusted in chance encounters and rogue acoustics. Diverse moods mapped with split strings and the space between notes. Music untethered by form or expectation, snaking like an ungrounded cable through a geodesic dome of deep-listening.

"It may surprise some that, after two decades of silent films, when Alam Ara broke the silence in 1931, it and every South Asian talkie that followed was what we in the West think of as a "musical." Music had been integral to the culture's staged drama going back to the Gupta Dynasty — sometime between the 4 th and 6 th Century CE. Since its inception, South Asian cinema drew heavily from Marathi, Parsi, and Bengali musical theatre and silent film screenings were often accompanied by live music to mimic a live staged experience.

When sound films arrived, actors with serious singing skills became the next wave of stars. Songs were performed live while shooting, with musicians hidden off-camera, to the side or sometimes even in trees. Playback singing — the practice of dubbing a real singer's voice over a lip-syncing actor — didn't become standard until the 1940s.

Thus, the biggest stars of the 1930s were also the greatest singers, with some, like Govindrao Tembe and Pankaj Mullick, excelling as both composers and vocalists. None, however, were more beloved than K.L. Saigal, whose emotional, untrained crooning captivated audiences across the subcontinent. Saigal's voice inspired a young Lata Mangeshkar, who vowed to become India's greatest filmi singer to win his heart. Sadly, Saigal grew increasingly addicted to alcohol, unable to perform without it, and passed away at age 42, seven months before the Partition. Lata never married.

This collection features some of the earliest songs from South Asian cinema, sourced from CDs and LPs found in Jackson Heights, Queens, Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, and Oak Tree Road in Iselin, New Jersey — areas home to vibrant immigrant communities. South Asian immigration to New York and New Jersey surged after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which lifted non-European quotas. By the 1990s and 2000s, the region's Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi media outlets flourished, especially in Jackson Heights, where such stores outnumbered the total number of regular record shops throughout the five boroughs.

The nascent period of sound film featured a limited palette of musical styles, predominantly Marathi Bhagveet, like the Ghazal, but with greater flexibility of subject matter and rhythm, and Rabindra Sangeet, the approximately 2,000 songs and poems composed by Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. But there was some evolution as well, with the success of South Asian cinema's first woman composer, the classically trained Saraswati Devi, and the introduction of Western instruments including the piano and Hawaiian guitar.

While much of the music was dark and brooding, perhaps exemplified best by Devika Rani's interpretation of Saraswati Devi's "Udi Hawa Mein" from 1936's Achhut Kannya (Untouchable Maiden), there were moments of brightness, such as R.C. Boral's "Lachhmi Murat Daras Dikhaye" sung by Kanan Devi in Street Singer, an otherwise thoroughly depressing film from 1938 that cemented Devi's and co-star K.L. Saigal's superstardom.

This selection was chosen to emphasise a range of expressivity, instrumentation and style achieved even within the decade's relatively limited scope, setting the listener up for the relative explosion of possibility in the 1940s, to be covered in the next installment of this series."

Having lifted dancefloors all summer long, Cali Lanauze and Aquarius Heaven’s tripping club collaboration ‘Just Like Magic’ sails to fresh, otherworldly waters, courtesy of remixes from two of dance music’s best-loved and most creative producers, Luciano and Roman Flügel.

Luciano’s remix captures the prolific Swiss-Chilean DJ and producer at his minimalistic finest. Spinning out a simple percussive loop, Luciano takes Slacker85’s crew on a winding journey that places the dancehall-indebted vocals of Aquarius Heaven front and centre, blending his story with almighty swells of bass and an addictively ethereal atmosphere.

Presenting a more full-bodied take, Roman Flügel’s peerless genre-blending finds a sweet spot between the tropical hustle of the original, flirting cheekily with the rubbery bassweight of his own studio. Impactful enough for the biggest of rooms, yet as detailed and precise as Flügel’s finest work, the Frankfurt maestro performs his own sorcery within the Puerto Rico producer’s authentic incantations.

EN/JP liner notes by Doran and a hyper-realistic cover by Japanese visual artist/graphic designer Kai Yoshizawa using 3DCG software.

"8 Automated Works", the first full release by Componium Ensemble, an "indeterminate chamber music" ensemble helmed by Spencer Doran of Visible Cloaks. The project is inspired by the long history of automated musical instruments, beginning with the ancient Greek Archimedes and further developed by the Banū Mūsā brothers in 9th century Baghdad, who "first perfected the concept of a programmable, automated musician: a mechanically controlled flute which used hydraulic water pressure and a system of arrangeable punchcards using a visionary proto-MIDI structure", as Doran explains in the liner notes. This mechanical music-making was extended a millennium later with the use of aleatoric principles by the European Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel, inventor of the self-composing Componium mechanical music system. Doran continues this lineage further, using the possibilities of digital technology and its ability to automate a huge range of virtual instruments and introduce aleatoric elements, moving beyond human impulses and limitations, allowing "new shapes to emerge". Dedicated also to Noah Creshevsky, pioneer of what can be considered cyber-human music, Componium Ensemble features a wide and intriguing range of instruments including prepared piano, bowed harpsichord, celesta, bass clarinet, flute, cello, Balinese tingklik, and more, often in multiple groupings. Despite this variety of instrumentation and the seemingly formidable theoretical underpinnings, the music is very accessible and attractive, spacious and fresh, with a light touch and a sophisticated melodic sense which will appeal to pop fans as well as classical/contemporary music listeners. The album is mixed by longtime collaborator Joe Williams (Motion Graphics, Lifted) and available in 10-inch vinyl, ,

Reflecting years of listening from behind the drum kit with Animal Collective, Boredoms, Dan Deacon, and Lifted arrives Low Air, the first solo LP from Jeremy Hyman.

The record is collected from home studio sessions, taken on the road, and sequenced through reflections of the live experience. Building on previous dance-floor-tuned outputs for Max D’s Future Times label, Low Air moves into a broader compositional arena: pared-down rhythms guide a wash of understated harmony, and compositions surface from a stream of purling noise. There were no standard operations across the music, but one key to the sound is the doubling and tripling of playback speed to fit musical passages into old sampling equipment. This process opened up a new line of inquiry into fidelity and pitch that can be heard throughout the LP.

Yet another solid Soul/Funk nugget lifted from the vaults of Miami's CAT Records (Another T.K. Disco subsidiary).

Often sampled, re-edited & re-jigged but never bettered! Gwen McCrae's all time classic "All This Love I'm Giving" finally see's a timely repress, just as God intended, on a dinked 45 with all original artwork intact! That's right, you may recognize this number from Cassius' 1999 hit "Feelin' For You" but this track has long been a staple of rare groove dances & sophisticated soul parties with discerning DJ's & selectors clamoring for the original 45 at any cost.

Backed here with it's original b-side slow jam "Maybe I'll Find Somebody New" this rare 45 has been re-mastered, re-pressed & brought back for 2015's dance-floors in conjunction & with the permission of T.K. Disco / Henry Stone Music, Miami USA.

Originally conceived as a compilation of outtakes and live recordings from The Shadow Ring's 1995 stateside tour, Wax-Work Echoes takes its name from the first line of "Put the Music in Its Coffin," the title track of the group's breakthrough release. Lambkin abandons the bitsand- bobs approach, advancing the Shadow Ring concept with entirely original material that builds on the unit's self-mythologizing lyrics, celebrates the clicking of horse hooves, ponders on the sociability of rats and mice, and warns of the dangers of poultry. The first Shadow Ring album to officially include Tim Goss in the main lineup, Wax- Work Echoes reveals the group in its final and lasting form, awash in the outer bounds of atmospheric exploration, with Lambkin's familiar wry and morbid lyricism and the stripped-down angularity of amateurishly detuned guitars fully intact. While Klaus Canterbury and Tony Clark seem all but forgotten, and the shrugged off S. Fritz is listed on the liner notes as performing only "when required," Lambkin did solicit contributions from outside the inner circle. A bit of "Mambo Twist," lifted from a tape of unreleased Vitamin B12 material sent to Lambkin by Alasdair Willis, found its way into "V.E.R.M.I.N.," while an extended epistle contribution from Richard Youngs (and, technically, Brian Lavelle) would be employed in the second half of "Catching Sight/Of Passing Things." Released on CD in 1996 for Bruce Russell's newly minted Corpus Hermeticum, Wax-Work Echoes was recorded concurrently with intense rehearsal periods, in anticipation of the forthcoming "Rose Watson Tour," and was supported by a celebratory fanzine media blitz. The album seemingly absorbs the frenetic excess of the band's transatlantic travels; Wax-Work Echoes channels the trio's wilder instincts into an unresolved catharsis, not yet free of frustration or restlessness. Out of print for almost three decades and available here for the first time ever on long-playing disc, Wax-Work Echoes is a classic from the outer eddies of The Shadow Ring's sound, a must-have for any aficionado's collection: "A window slides, glass slips from frame / And canvas carcass breathes again." Throughout their legendary, decade-long run, the Shadow Ring were an enigmatic force on the international musical sub-underground. Before their disbandment in 2002, this shambolic rock outfit, formed by a group of rowdy teenagers in southeast England, left behind a mighty run of eight LPs, a handful of 7"s, and a spate of raucous live shows and cryptic zine appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, all which have bolstered their enduring word-of-mouth mystique. Beginning in 2023 with the first-ever vinyl pressing of the self-released pre-Shadow Ring tape The Cat & Bells Club (1992), Blank Forms Editions has been conducting a systematic retrospective of the storied group. Wax-Work Echoes and Hold Onto I.D. are the latest releases in a multiyear reissue effort that includes several LPs, a comprehensive CD box set, and a nearly five-hundred-page book.

"The nineteenth entry in the Altered Circuits catalog comes courtesy of Alex Neri with a selection of 4 tracks that distill an equal amount of decades in the studio. They are undeniably straightforward yet difficult to pigeonhole. It is clear Neri is aware of current trends and, at times, might even throw them a little nod - but overall, his music escapes easy temporal classification. On the "Club Voyage EP", he aims at the brash and brazen yet keeps the pace lighthearted. When the results come buttressed with the type of technical prowess at hand, it is hard not to get sucked into the adventure. "Teller Mood", charged with a fierce bassline, boisterous drums and jittery arps, is a slab of electroshock production. The track comes complete with extra motivational vocals to drive the point home, and when it arrives at its most stripped parts, instead of toning down, an alarm-like lead emerges. "Schelter's Sounds" features an FM bass and gently modulated, slow-attack synth embellishments. It is a set-up that allows for catching a breath until a grandiosely introduced portamento-heavy patch cranks things up a notch again. On the other side, the delayed and flanged percussion of "Tenax Roots" forms the ideal conditions for ominous synth work and robotized vocals; a theme that could have been lifted from a giallo flick completes its suspenseful, hypnotic ambience. "Move Tokyo Inputs" starts with another salvo of invigorating percussion. Amidst subtly evolving formant basslines and several risers, the tune directs a tweaked deadpan vocal sample to take center stage, showcasing how, in the right hands, the sparsest source material can be turned into a showstopper."

Originally issued on Hut Records in June 2000, Alone With Everybody was eagerly anticipated, as it was Ashcroft's first recordings since the demise of the group he founded and led, The Verve - This re-issue replicates the 2000 UK first pressing and is available on audiophile 180g double vinyl in gatefold sleeve.

Opening the album with its string overture, "Song For The Lovers" signalled Ashcroft's intent immediately. Intensely melodic, anthemic, it picked up exactly where The Verve's 1997 multi-platinum album Urban Hymns left off. Lifted as a single, it reached No 3 in the UK and spent most of the summer on the charts.

Recorded at Olympic Studios and Metropolis in London, big, bold and frequently beautiful, Alone With Everybody raced to No 1 in early July; it played to all of Ashcroft's strengths, memorable hooks, catchy choruses, beats subtly influenced by dance music; the brass-blazing bold hoedown of "Money To Burn" was the album's second single; other highlights include the ballad "Slow Was My Heart", the upbeat joy of "C'Mon People (We're Making It Now)" and the reflective, string-enrobed "You On My Mind In My Sleep".

After offering the label a beautiful closing composition on its various artists compilation Reflection EP, Rotterdam live act, producer, and DJ Mata Disk returns to Polychrome Audio with LFH-Proxy EP. Featuring two original club tracks and their interpretations by producers Eversines and Jopie, this project further cements Julian Determann’s singular musical identity while opening it up to new dimensions and patterns.

A1. Life Force Harmonizer (“LFH”) opens the dance by capturing the sweet nostalgia experienced during club morning hours. Mata Disk’s sound palette is here in full display, the energy carried by sharp drum design and a propulsive bassline is lifted by melodious pads offering the track its tenderness. On the B1, Rotterdam producer Jopie creatively re-imagined these feelings, stripping down and reshaping LFH onto a track flirting with breaks and IDM progressions.

With Proxy, Mata Disk dims the light slightly, with a drum workout track to keep the dance alive. The very progressive and low-end focused build-up paired with a tension-building synthesized lead offers the A2 track a smooth build-up. De Lichting member Eversines elegantly switches the sound narrative, transforming Proxy into a dark electro-leaning tech house track carrying the same tension. Adding emotion into the mix with an anthemic melodic lead, Eversines’ Proxy Ziggo Mix serves as a perfect closer.

Temple Fang is a rare breed of band - one that refuses to compromise in an increasingly cutthroat and number-obsessed music industry. Formed in 2018 in Amsterdam, the band hit their stride in 2019 with acclaimed Roadburn performances and a reputation for electrifying live shows across Europe, all before releasing a single track. With alternating lead vocalists, dual harmonizing guitars, and a rhythm section powered by pure psychedelic energy, Temple Fang quickly became a phenomenon in the heavy-psych underground. Though always leaving live viewers in awe of their performances, the band struggled against internal fractures and external forces, all stalling efforts to create their vision of a proper studio album. This fueled speculation that Temple Fang"s live sound was too in-the moment, too whimsical, too untamed to be properly captured in a studio environment, something the band never themselves believed to be true, quite the opposite. It just would require the right set of circumstances. Fast forward to 2025 as Temple Fang is ready to release "Lifted from the Wind" on Stickman Records. A record they themselves consider to be their true debut studio album. On this sprawling double record Temple Fang appears, for the first time in their existence, fully formed: fierce and strong, hard rocking yet elegant, with 20+ minute psych freak-outs and prog ballads side-by-side. Temple Fang truly delivers on the promise they"ve always held, to really stretch the possibilities of what it means to be a rock band in 2025. With spectacular wild-man Daan Wopereis as a full member on the drums, Temple Fang now can deliver on their commitment to really rock, to blow your mind AND tear your heart out.

Rodina is the project of singer-songwriter Aoife Hearty and partner Joe Tatton, keys-player & co-writer from The New Mastersounds and leader of the Joe Tatton Trio. On Good Company, their first new album in 6 years, the two are joined by other great musicians including guitarist Lucas De Mulder, drummer Luke Flowers, The Filthy Six horns, and members of The Haggis Horns, among others.

Like their previous records there is a strong acid jazz slant to many of the songs, whether interpreted through a modern soul lens such as in opener "Simple Pleasures" or swaying more towards cosmic jazz-funk such as "We Go Out Of Our Way" or "Trust In This Life", which were the first singles lifted from the album.

Throw in some hippy Americana and even a tinge of Gospel and you end up with catchy songs that include both uptempo earworms like the super charged foot stomper "Good People" or the festival anthemic "Inspiration" and some beautiful chilled moments such as "All Over The Sky" and "Flowers".

Recorded at their small countryside recording studio in the Peak District this is the fourth vinyl produced at their studio after The New Mastersounds' Old School and Joe Tatton Trio's Galactico.

Civilistjävel! x Mayssa Jallad’s ‘Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels (Versions)’ is a radical response to Mayssa Jallad’s 2023 original LP, a lyrical account of epochal events in Beirut at the dawn of Lebanon's civil war. ‘…(Versions)’ sees Civilistjävel! (aka Swedish producer Tomas Bodén) apply a stripped, dub methodology to Mayssa's rich stems, refracting the Arabic source through the hazy prism of Northern European electronica. Retaining ‘Marjaa…’s deep spatial framing and vaporous, shifting nature, traces are lifted and set down in a new landscape: a ghost of a ghost. Informed by Tomas' singular strand of ambient, minimalist, dub techno, ‘… (Versions)’ recalls the reductive, shimmering pulse of pioneering Berlin-based practitioners Basic Channel/Chain Reaction, but with the parameters stretched into the ether. Where versions typically focus on a rhythm, here the anchor is the tone and texture of Mayssa’s voice, around which a new world has been constructed. Disembodied and liminal, it conjures an eerie panorama that feels like a postscript to the original, further emphasizing the geopolitical events that have had such devastating effect in Mayssa’s homeland of Lebanon since that record’s release. ‘Marjaa…’ (tr. ‘reference’) combined Mayssa Jallad’s two main vocations: music and urban research/architectural history. The album was co-written with Fadi Tabbal and based on Mayssa's Historic Preservation master's thesis (‘Beirut’s Civil War Hotel District: Preserving the World’s First High-Rise Urban Battlefield’). The thesis examined a 5-month conflict that took place within Beirut's skyscraper-laden luxury hotel district of Minet El Husn near the start of the Lebanese Civil War. Addressing a post-war generation who have never been taught this difficult history, ‘Marjaa…’ was an attempt to process trauma, and “a call to protest for the renewal, rather than the recycling of the political class that once destroyed the country and holds us, to this day, hostage of its violence.” Often perceived as a mysterious, shadowy presence, Civilistjävel! has come increasingly to the fore in recent years through a consistently dazzling stream of records, released both anonymously and via Fergus Jones’ FELT imprint, often appearing with scant information and tracks for the most part untitled. Having featured tracks from ‘Marjaa…’ on mixes, and included the album in his picks of 2023, in early 2024 Tomas asked Mayssa to provide vocals for a track on his album ‘Brödföda’. Mayssa remembers, “Tomas asked me to choose one of the tracks he was working on. I was in Boston at the time, so I took a walk and chose a track. I wrote the lyrics at the public park, wondering if I was the only one around that was losing sleep over the genocide in Palestine and the war in South Lebanon. I went back to the apartment and recorded the vocals on my phone, while listening to the track on headphones. Tomas reworked it with the voice and sent it back. I liked it immediately.” Despite the geographical distance from Beirut to Uppsala, Sweden, where Tomas resides, Mayssa’s contribution sounds very much at home in Civilistjävel!’s atmospheric, contemplative sound-world. Tomas’ request was reciprocated by Mayssa soon after, resulting in the spectral, glassy ambience of ‘Etel, Kharita (Version)’. This was followed by an invitation to work on more tracks, which Tomas immediately embraced, intensively jamming out versions live to two-track tape in downtime between travelling. If not entirely dissimilar to his regular working practice, the immediacy of it was unusual. Much was improvised live with just a keyboard (not tethered to a grid), and a restricted set-up that largely forbade later edits - only the rhythm tracks are programmed. A sharp conceptual thinker and composer, Tomas takes creative liberties with Mayssa’s songs in a way that is deeply felt and sympathetically aligned, whilst unashamedly outside of the original context of the record. The voice is leaned into as an instrument, without the clear, specific details of language, and this axis provides an uncertain, amorphous footing - structure is often suggested or hinted at, before disappearing or collapsing into fog, and folding back into the message within the song. A somewhat unprecedented source for an album of versions, even those familiar with ‘Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels’ may at points struggle to hear the songs these versions are rebuilt from, despite the vocal narratives remaining virtually intact. The light has shifted; eroded buildings are foregrounded; fragments of memories appear in chiaroscuro. Signs and signifiers have been replaced. Shorn of the original's warm guitar, ‘Baynana (Version)’ feels like an ominous visitation, the sun no longer visible. ‘Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29) (Version)’ is a molten, clattering invocation. The beat-less tracks nod towards the cold, otherworldly sound-scaping of late '90s isolationism. More propulsive and embodied, ‘Holiday Inn (January to March) (Version)’ and ‘Kharita (Dub)’ are strobing, iridescent techno - lithe, shifting and mutating with almost implausible finesse. A stunning addition to Civilistjävel!’s growing catalogue, ‘…(Versions)’ is a luminous counterpoint to ‘Marjaa…’, and a welcome reminder of how incredible that record remains.

On their debut album Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow, Zurich-based artists Magda Drozd and Nicola Genovese, as Sopraterra, offer exactly what’s announced: seven compositions which, as they unhurriedly flow into each other, mark potential entry points to discover what might be lying underneath. By choosing Sopraterra, which translates to “above the earth” in Italian, as their shared project’s name, Drozd and Genovese indicate their own position in this archeological-looking endeavor, hinting at the potential for sonic explorations to produce deeply submerged discoveries.
Sopraterra’s object of inquiry isn’t easily grasped, traversing histories and blending influences alike. In a time-line-bending manner, musical signifiers from the past, along with specific tonal scales lifted from baroque and medieval music, get digitally synthesized. As sonic matter, the result is distinctly of today: a collection of electro-acoustic compositions that remain experimental at their core, referencing genres like post-rock, shoegaze, or psychedelic, while evoking aural memories of ancient times. Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow pulls backward and pushes forward alike. Without ever forcing a didactic listening experience, musical motifs and archetypes are thoroughly investigated. But there is no scientific ambition at play here. Rather, the harmonies of late medieval Ars Nova or the transcendent elegance of Baroque chamber music lend their emotional qualities to perceived ideas of old times.
Oscillating between ambient and drone, the album’s seven brooding compositions bring primal connections to a universally shared past to the surface. In its multi-directional positioning, Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow makes the case for embracing the confusion of warped time and paying attention to all that’s rather felt than seen.

The debut album from CEM, 'FORMA' was developed as a soundtrack to Mauro Ventura’s series of "action painting performances" and uses various bell sounds (cowbells, doorbells, Shinto bells, singing bowls) to pick out anxious giallo sequences and heaving Dadaist formations.

CEM's best known for pneumatic DJ sets that have propped up Berlin's queer underground for a decade at this point, but don't expect to find any vaped darkroom tek on 'FORMA'. Each of the six compositions were commissioned for Ventura’s performative installation at Volksbühne in 2022, and CEM opted to represent the piece's themes of labor and repetition by sampling an arsenal of bells and metal objects that anchor his varying widescreen vignettes. 'The Calling' is a relatively subtle introduction, establishing the space with double bass drones and ratcheting digitally altered chimes - it's 'Bells Corrupt' that cements CEM's concept more righteously, harking back to Goblin's iconic 'Suspiria' score without pastiching any of its Italo-prog themes. Cycling ritualistic bell loops with squashed, industrial-strength thuds and granulised laptop belches, CEM silhouettes the tension and the vivid color of Argento's film, chrome plating the result.

'An Industrial Satire' is even more convincing; this one takes its cues from legendary German sound artist Limpe Fuchs, and the first part integrates scraped, alien resonances with CEM's loping industrial rhythms and squelchy EBM bassline. The real shift occurs in the second part, when CEM's choppy electroacoustic minimalism falls away to unlock his rolling hand drum performance, that he matches with a ghaita sample lifted from the Master Musicians of Joujouka's 1971 album with Brian Jones. With the future-facing deconstructions a memory, 'Statue Garden' beds reedy organ drones in eerie gallery ambiance, and closer 'The New Sincerity Test' finds Lithuanian performance artist Gertrūda Gilytė skewering the wellness industrial complex over nauseous subsonic oscillations and scratchy noise.

This is the northeast calling, with songs of stillness, reflection, renewal, defiance, hope, classic melodies and, at certain perfectly judged moments, furniture-shifting riffs. With a powerful album shaped by pandemic-era loss (of momentum, and of a band member), and by the wins brought by what singer/songwriter/guitarist Adam Hope describes as a “weight lifted off my shoulders”. With a fresh, front-footed, fired-up approach that owes everything to a band returning to their roots in Wallsend and Newcastle – and, for the first time, making their music entirely on their own independent terms: self-produced and self-confident. “The Big Sad: an album born from the ashes of dark times but representing a beacon of light for the future. An album of honesty and purity, one that our current fanbase sonically may not be expecting. The sound of a band that got tired of slamming on the fuzz pedal to tick the ‘rock’ box and dares to try something new, dares to shock, dares to be great.

Golden Ratio are Simon Stoll & Gary Clegg

It all started as a lockdown project in 2020 with Gary and myself exchanging ideas down the ether which grew into a body of work that we were excited to take further. We continued with the online process and enlisted some musicians we knew to fill in the gaps. Initially, this featured Jake Telford on sax and flute who is also credited with co-writing Morphology and Natural Law and Andre Espeut vocalist also credited with co-writing Stand Up & Fight, One Family and Wake Up To The Day. As restrictions lifted we were able to get some drummers into the studio: Filippo Galli (tracks 1 & 2) and George Addison-Atkinson (tracks 3-9). Other musicians featured are Kevin Davy, trumpet on Breaking Through Time, Gianluca Chiarella guitar solo on Morphology and Mohammed Nazam guitar on One Family.

In terms of previous experience, Simon was a member of Mamas Gun in their very early days before concentrating on a business career but has actively played with musicians from the north London music scene since the late 90’s. Gary played on the dance mix of Lazy by David Byrne produced by DJ Mark Wilkinson, played for Funkshy (Tansay Omar project), played in Charlotte Kelly’s band (from Soul II Soul) and was resident bassist at the Iceni club in the 90’s.

It’s long been our dream to have our own project featuring original compositions and dedicated to the style of music we love, our routes being the jazz funk and acid jazz scenes from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. We now have the opportunity to try and realise this dream and feel your label would be a perfect fit for us as it echoes and promotes those same musical influences.

Yellow & Black Vinyl. "The first three are innocent in a way, because we didn't have an audience when we were making them," Oberst says. "But from Lifted on, I was definitely aware of an audience. Lifted was well-received right away, and then everything happened with Wide Awake and Digital Ash." Those two albums came out simultaneously. And their lead singles - "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)," from the austere, remote Digital Ash, and "Lua," from the warm, folky Wide Awake - debuted in the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100. "First Day of My Life," also from Wide Awake, would later be voted the Number One love song of all time by NPR Music's reader's poll.Bright Eyes had officially broken through. It was a heady, exciting time, but also fraught and tense, both because of the band's careening new fame, and because of the state of the world. When Bright Eyes made their Tonight Show debut in 2006, they chose to perform none of their shiny new hits, instead delivering a searing, harrowing rendition of their caustic anti-Bush anthem, "When The President Talks To God."These days, Oberst is still amusing himself by messing with the extremes Bright Eyes baked into this era's releases, extremes that reflected the polar, with-us-or-against-us, fractious feel of the times. The reworked Digital Ash tracks, originally so clean and elegant, are, on the companion EP, full of "harmonica and mandolins - folky vibes," Oberst says. While the analogue sweetness of the Wide Awake songs have been put through a detached nihilism filter.

It’s written in the Agreement Terms. There’s no getting out alive in Life. And yet, mankind keeps striving for eternal life; through art, through power, through cryogenics, through singularity. In that misguided quest against the inevitable, we all fall into the category of lost travellers. No one is exempt. In that understanding, Confucius MC and producer Bastien Keb offer no misgivings about the destination on the somber “Time Will Come”: Time will come for all of us / try to take your time.

Songs For Lost Travellers is a collaborative album by Con and Bastien Keb that merges unexplored pathways between rap, folk, and jazz into a spiritual triumvirate. Each genre is a balancing force within the record. The result is an album unlike either artist have made previously, possibly unlike any record in existence. Songs For Lost Travellers opens with bedtime stories and fairytales. Both “Tell Me Lies” and “Fairytale” present the creature comforts that trick us into forgetting the truth. Con’s first words spoken are “tell me lies ‘til I swear I can’t remember” over Keb’s lo-fi plucking that feels like it was lifted from a handheld recorder capturing a nursery mobile above a crib. Third track “Time Will Come” resets the album after acknowledging on “Fairytale” there’s “no nourishment in half-truths / no sustenance in eating lies.”

Honest and direct, Con and Keb imbue Songs For Lost Travellers with knowledge and truth from their lived experiences. There is grief hidden in the notes, an inherent sadness that is balanced with an awareness that grief is a protest against the social machinery of remaining numb. The record lingers in a meditative state, unafraid of restlessness and embracing solitude, with the expectation that peace is just as imminent as death.

The production contains a complimentary authenticity. Neither Con nor Keb bothered much with the professional studio in making Songs For Lost Travellers. Instead they opted for the raw state of their home recordings and first takes, matching the intimacy of being alone and reflective in their creative energies. Room static on “Tell Me Lies” makes it feel like you’ve entered their apartments. The immediacy continues on “Gutters,” as Keb plays guitar while watching the tele and Con hums along to the vocal melody in search of the proper pocket for his verse. Someone snaps their finger to mark a cue, but the snap never returns to the mix to keep time.

More drawn to Keb’s recent folk recordings on the Songs For Lilla EP than his funk roots circa Dinking In The Shadows of Zizou or the cinematic soul of The Killing of Eugene Peeps, Con leaned into the spacial freedom he heard in Keb’s lo-fi production cobbled from field recordings and voice notes. Both artists placed their families into the tableau. Con wrote “Little Man” for his son, hoping to add a positive contribution to the canon of parental rap songs. Later, his son appears at the end of “Paramount” to deliver a passage from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. Keb secretly recorded his mum playing saxophone and sampled his cousin playing sax as well. The result is a near-drumless album (save for “Toulouse” and light tapping on “It Would Speak”) in which Keb’s raw production (plus a few sessions with Kofi Flexxx) gave Con a liminal zone, unencumbered by beats per minute, to craft melodies that turn his philosophical rhymes into mantras.

Perhaps there’s a message in the presence of family? It would be one of many. Con and Keb’s reflective, somber approach to Songs For Lost Travellers does not wallow in the mire. Music is action and it’s taking them through a portal to the other side of grief. We are welcome to join (which is also in the fine print of the Agreement Terms), but first there’s a password in the final song, a single request to answer: Tell me what you care about.

Biography by Blake Gillespie
credits

Some things take a long time. And some things are meant to last. But how you know that, or learn how to find out, that’s a more intangible thing. That’s A Shaw Deal – intangible. A communal meeting place for two old friends and their different musics. A Shaw Deal is the first album by Geologist and DS. They go back a long ways – back before Highlife, before Shaw joined White Magic – back to the early childhood of Animal Collective. Basically, Doug Shaw touched down in NYC around 2003, and he and Brian Weitz have been friends ever since.

“DS” first released his own music under the moniker “Highlife” on the album “Best Bless” EP, in 2010. Listeners were lifted by the sound – a vital new transmission imbued by the popular African guitar music, British folk-pop, desert blues and the ritual spirit energy that Doug had been evoking in White Magic with Mira Billotte. And really, if you knew Doug, this incredible alchemy was just one of the amazing ways he could come through on the guitar.

A couple years back, Doug was posting bits of his playing on Instagram, and Brian found them to be a much-needed escape from reality – he’d just let them loop for stretches of time, get lost in there, and emerge with recharged energies. They were such perfect mini-encapsulations of Doug’s fantastic spirit. Brian was inspired. Eventually, he ran them through his modular system, editing and tweaking and looping as he went, creating new shapes and juxtapositions, instinctively rewiring Doug’s original sounds to extend the feeling of peace they’d given him. Once it was all together, it would make a cool birthday present to regift to Doug! And once the gift was given, it was sounding like an album too…

From start to finish, A Shaw Deal taps into DS’s guitar playing and the vibe of his expression, drawing out meditative waves in new forms while exploring the worlds within them. Geologist and DS collaborate in a manner that’s brought comfort and release to them both. A Shaw Deal leaves no doubt, as it radiates further into the world and beyond – it will bring a new range of views and feels to everyone who listens in.

Studio, the influential project of Swedish musicians Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hägg, presents their legendary 2006 debut in remastered form, in partnership with Ghostly International. Available in limited edition "Fog Machine Vinyl", CD, and cassette. "One of the finest pieces of electronic music you'll hear this year.” - The Guardian (2006). Included in year-end best-of write-ups by Pitchfork, FACT Magazine, and Rough Trade. Physical copies have long been out of print for West Coast, and the album has also been notably absent from most streaming services until now.

“Somehow, I knew I wanted to make a conceptual record that, although only imaginary at that point, could represent or define how our city sounded,” says Lissvik of Gothenburg's influence on West Coast. Some called Studio, the project of Swedish musicians Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hägg, “the missing link between The Cure and Lindstrøm,” Pitchfork heard Durutti Column and Can, as the duo’s story became swept up in a loosely developing scene — adjacent first to the label Service (Jens Lekman, The Whitest Boy Alive) and later Sincerely Yours (The Tough Alliance, jj) — and a precursor to the 2010s boom at the axis of electronic and psychedelic music guided by indie greats like Caribou, Four Tet, and Darkside.

West Coast, their seminal 2006 debut, captured a faraway romanticism of Balearic brushed up against Krautrock, disco, dub, and afrobeat, with pop lyricism lifted from new wave, all made modern by two art school grads in Gothenburg. First pressed in a small vinyl-only run via their own Information label, the album has been notably absent from most streaming services, and the internet’s record of its initial impact is all but fossilized from a bygone blog era, while its sound is simply untraceable to any one moment in music.

Outside of three 7” releases, they’d keep the music to themselves for several more years. In 2005, Hägg remembers, “We got our degrees and were kicked out of our studio spaces so all these recordings were just piled up. A year later we dusted them off and started to deconstruct and assemble them in a more drawn-out fashion.” In the same breadth, they cite DJ Screw, J Dilla, and Joy Division, along with early ‘80s European live DJ sets from the likes of Beppe Loda, Dj Mozart, and Baldelli as reference points.

“The anything-goes mentality was very encouraging and was a big cornerstone to the Studio sound,” says Hägg. “But there’s so much more to the picture, we were not that young then and had lots of musical baggage in our suitcases, the new thing was that we finally let it all come through, not bound by any borders that was often the case with music identity in Sweden during the 90s.” In the afterglow of the record’s 2007 reception, Studio receded from view, clouded behind a mountain of remix requests (including one for Kylie Minogue that saw release) and label bureaucracy. “It’s easy to wish we would have done some proper recordings of our own instead,” Hägg reflects. But both artists, now well into respective careers beyond Studio, have come to peace with West Coast as their most enduring effort together. Lissvik adds, “It serves as a good reminder for me to keep to that decision and promise and to continue exploring and growing

In addition to the unique musical proposals and the large body of work that they have developed separately, Amelia Cuni and Werner Durand have been performing together as a duo as well as in collaborations (Tonaliens, Born of Six) for more than 20 years. Fusing her Indian Raga singing in the Dhrupad style with his minimalist and experimental approach, they have expanded the reach of their soundworlds as well as proposed new paths for contemporary music.In this occasion, Uli Hohmann joins them in a range of hand drums from the Middle East and North Africa, plus a dulcimer-sounding hammered guitar. Durand's various self-made wind instruments, soprano sax, and blown kalimba shine along with Cuni's astounding vocals, which are sometimes sung through a mirliton (a medieval type of kazoo). Clearing is the trio's first published recording.

Seconds of Thirst, recorded in one session at Uli´s studio in Bavaria in early 2014, is truly a conjuring where distinctive balances come to gather. A deep drone unfolds patiently in a hypnotic manner, comprised by Werner's characteristic PVC clarinets, a hammered guitar played by Hohmann, and subtle electronic tones. Above all, Amelia's singing voice, filtered through the mirliton, drifts buzzing along the gradually shifting harmonic waves, meandering through serpentine melodic lines and microtonality.

In the middle pieces, vocals turn into an ethereal multi-layered chorus, an exotic and astonishing instrument pulsing delicate and vaporously, like a gliding silk sail without a mast to bind it. Misty ambiances linger on as the soft atmosphere disperses the weight of undelivered syllables. Just intonation aligns the pan-ney's winds with vocal navigation. Foe to scattering, hurry, and affectation, Clearing's pace has lifted a fog translucent enough to reveal treetops calmly appearing, efficiently condensing damp into definite drops that fall drumming, forecasting what's yonder.

With a condensing sound going from Buddhist morning chants down to Indian festive traditional music, the title track, which closes the album, is the most vibrant of all, permeating a bit of commotion through buzzing drones and galloping percussion. Without disorder, yet without measure. Clearing is therefore this shuttle into the distance, this space that weaves, unites, and tenses the different cords that we are made up of.

When the clouds advance silently, gray, until they become dark in a few minutes, it means that the monsoon is coming. It reaches us without apparent noise, but then resounds in its images, leaving behind lightness, freshness, clarity, and a tremendous luminosity that comes from so far away: from the Himalayas, from so ancient, from Sanskrit, from a sound where the darkness and the divine, where the concrete and the landscape, where the rock and the humidity leave a mark that brings together and ties a sky loaded with new clouds.

Breve is the new album by Stefan Paul Goetsch aka Hainbach.

"After a ceaseless amount of work and family struggles, 2023 had left me empty and tired. Instead of the many hats I usually wear, I shifted my focus exclusively on my music. For two weeks every day I sat down behind a few modular synths, a toy piano and an Ondioline, recording tape after tape. I did not lock myself in though - my kids were playing around me, commenting, touching knobs, adding oscillations. What in „deadline times“ can be disrupting, became restorative. I was with my family, just drifting on waveforms. I hope some of that atmosphere shines through, and the album can help you to find peace as it did for me.

Thanks to Forgotten Futures for the loan of the Ondioline and technician Daniel Kitzig for the beautiful restoration work." - Hainbach

Based out of Berlin, Germany, electronic music composer and performer Hainbach creates shifting audio landscapes THE WIRE called "One hell of a trip". His music has been released on Opal Tapes, Seil Records, Spring Break Tapes, Limited Interest and Marionette. He has been fascinated with sine tones, noise and FM since he discovered the dial on the radio. Never losing his childhood wonder, he still searches for the sounds in between on modular synths and other devices.

Lara Sarkissian’s long-awaited debut full-length, ‘Remnants’ is an ornate patchwork of ancient and modern sonic shapes that uses the vernacular of electronic music to reformulate Armenian traditions and memories. Taking digitally modeled instruments (such as the kanun, a large zither, and the duduk, an ancient double reed woodwind instrument), vocals, davul and dhol drums, tenor saxophone (from acclaimed Paris-based player Adrien Soleiman) and myriad electronic elements and techniques, Sarkissian tangles the old and the new, creating an immersive, narrative-driven experience that’s powered by history, mythology and her own familial connection to the West Asian landscape. It’s an album that’s best absorbed like a film; only multiple encounters can reveal its layered themes and references to industrial music, noise, various club styles, ambient and traditional folk.

Born and raised in San Francisco and currently based in Los Angeles, Sarkissian has developed her unique approach to composition over years of relentless experimentation across various disciplines. Her interest in music production initially stemmed from her filmmaking and video editing work, when she began to sculpt her own sound collages and scores to accompany the visuals. Since then, she’s constantly blurred the boundary between dance and experimental music, DJing around the world, producing AV installations and scoring film and video projects that have been exhibited in Berlin’s Gropius Bau, Montréal’s Musée d’art contemporain, the Music Center Los Angeles and other prestigious institutions, and releasing music with labels such as Tresor, Knekelhuis, All Centre, Silva Electronics and CLUB CHAI, the label and event series she co-founded. In recent years, she’s also been able to advance the theory behind her art, publishing a conversation with ethnomusicologist Sylvia Alajaji in the Journal of the Society of Armenian Studies in 2021, and unveiling her methodology in Norient’s ‘This Track Contains Politics – The Culture of Sampling in Experimental Electronica’ a year later.

‘Remnants’ is a new stage in Sarkissian’s evolution as an artist; not only is it her first proper album, but it’s the inaugural release on her new platform btwn Earth+Sky. She sees the label as a place to encourage collaborations between musicians and producers and prioritize sound in visual arts realms, and ‘Remnants’ is the ideal proof of concept. It opens with ‘Heaven, or Paradise; and Hell’, a track that’s inspired by the layout of the Armenian sharakan (or hymn) ‘Aravot Luso’. Sarkissian imagines the original piece’s harmonies and melodies as parts of a dreamy electronic opera, using digital kanun sounds to punctuate her woozy, evocative synths. Soleimen joins on tenor sax in the third act, while Sarkissian repeats the chant and Jace Akira adds ghostly traces of electric guitar and bass. And on the rousing ‘Our Dead Can’t Rest (Old Jugha Flute Dance)’, Sarkissian chops urgent davul and dhol drum rhythms with spine-chilling shvi woodwind sounds lifted from a documentary about Old Jugha. The title is a reference to the moving of graves by Armenian families; the area initially housed over 10,000 elaborately carved khachkars (cross stones), one of which is pictured on the album’s cover, provided by historian Argam Aivazian’s archive.

On ‘Miracle’, Sarkissian samples atmospheres from the post-Soviet Armenian comedy film ‘Կիսանդրի’ (Kisandri). She takes this opportunity to lighten the mood a little, powdering her smudged samples with tightly edited breaks and bass thumps. It’s not until the album’s middle section that the duduk, perhaps Armenia’s best-known instrument, makes its appearance. Its familiar reedy tones, popularized by Djivan Gasparyan on his many Hollywood soundtrack appearances, emerge on ‘Unraveling (Interlude)’, weaving through the acidic ‘Zephyr’ and ‘Far from the eye far from the Heart’, a post-punk inspired stomper. Sarkissian mutates the instrument almost beyond recognition, pitching and layering it into a voice-like wail that creeps between her woody, dancefloor-primed percussion on the former, and turning it into a gentle, ghostly moan on the latter. And she brings ‘Remnants’ to a close with two of her most cryptic tracks, marrying digital kanun strings with Soleiman’s resonant tenor hums on ‘What Solace Can I Give’, and looping the same saxophone sounds until they dissolve into the air on the beatless closer ‘…nothing matters more than touching you although i haven’t touched you yet’.

It’s an album that ties up Sarkissian’s various interests and experiences, finding a romantic, poetic glimmer of light in history’s darkness. But most of all, ‘Remnants’ is about the optimism of starting anew, and rebuilding a life from the pieces of everything that’s been left behind.

We’re happy to cordially invite you to the REGRESSION SESSION, hosted by eternal Philadelphia scene flag bearers ZILLAS ON ACID!

And if you think this sounds awfully lot like a scam, you’re probably right: „Regression Session“ is just a front of their illegal black market operation, trading raw uncut gems on a large scale. Just listen to the opener and title track and you won’t exactly have a strong case for the Zillas selling out, but rough as it is, this thing is capable of destroying any dancefloor it touches.

Looking at their recent releases it’s fair to say the Z’s are on quite a run, putting out music on labels like Permanent Vacation, Throne Of Blood, Multi Culti or Ivan Smagghe’s Disques de la Mort. Tunes like the sneaky rough slow burners „Underling“ or „Start Digging“ sound like they could be lifted from the latter’s infamous DJ sets, while the deceptively titled „Cha Cha Cha“ or closer „Casual Observer“ justify the „Acid“ in the artist name. „Shining Snakes Across The Lake“ is what some years might have been called a mid-tempo house roller and probably counts as downtempo these days. Speaking of tempos, the penultimate „Sweet Days Of Discipline“ starts of masquerading as reaaally downtempo, but ends up throwing 155bpm kick drums at you, so better watch out, all you k-hole ravers! Let’s not forget to talk about „bquiet“, which is what you’d call mid-tempo house these days (125bpm) and uses the eternally banging combination of a jacking beat, a polyrhythmic bass line, some lead-synth stabs and talking vocal slices. You can practically smell the sweat.

So what’s left to say? What you see is what you get: They are Zillas, and they are on Acid. And they provide a collection of eight tunes that probably each don’t necessarily have a double-digit amount of tracks in their DAW projects, and that’s exactly what makes them so forceful. Join the regression session!

Earlier this year we were excited to announce the return of one of our most beloved bands of recent years: New Street Adventure. To mark the 10th Anniversary of their debut album ‘No Hard Feelings’, on 4 October we are releasing a special, limited edition olive green colour vinyl reissue. The release will coincide with an extensive UK tour.

‘About eighteen months ago, someone asked if I had a spare vinyl copy of ‘No Hard Feelings’. I checked the shelves, and found my own copy and no more. I checked Discogs and saw that it was changing hands for far more than an 8-year-old album should be. Released in the pre-vinyl-revival years, its limited original pressing means that demand is now out-stripping supply – a measure of just how good this record is. With that in mind Nick Corbin and I hatched a plot for a 10th Anniversary reissue, and here it is!

I loved New Street Adventure. They were smart, looked great on stage, and in Nick was one of the best front-men and songwriters I have ever worked with. With their own ecosystem of self promoted gigs, they created their own audience, and for a while it looked like a major label deal was in the offing. Eddie Piller had wanted to sign them from the first time he met Nick, and when the big deal didn’t happen, he was still there for the band as they became an Acid Jazz act in 2013.

There were endless back-and-forths on how the album should sound (and some despair that it wasn’t quite sounding as good as it should have). Then Mitch Ayling came on board to produce the final mix. He brought out the songs, lifted the playing, delivering the shiny finished recording that took its place as one of the finest moments in the Acid Jazz catalogue. Nick’s songs now sparkled. As his love of soul shone through, his politically and socially aware lyrics showed a rare, wry observational gaze that was turned on 21st Century life. From the warnings against populist hatred of ‘On Our Front Doorstep’, to the hopeless ennui of ‘Foot In The Door’, and the day-to-day pursuits of being in your twenties in a big city. Through it all shines a passion – sometimes coming out as anger – that drives the music. It is of course encapsulated in ‘The Big A.C.’, written about the night that Nick’s dad took him to the 6Ts Allnighter at the 100 Club, which brought him into the world of Northern Soul. It’s a classic that nails the feeling of excitement as well as anything written.

The album was released late in 2014 and for those who want a vinyl copy – even the CDs cost a fair penny now – we have prepared this special 10th Anniversary Edition on transparent olive-green coloured vinyl. The inner sleeve is illustrated with never-before seen photos from the archive, both candid and by early band supporter Dean Chalkley, and has sleeve notes by Nick and myself. Nick is taking New Street back on tour this Autumn, and it you would be foolish (once more) to miss either the tour or the record.’

Soul Jazz Records" new Miami Sound 2 is a superlative collection of 70s soul, funk, disco and boogie featuring tracks from legendary artists such as Betty Wright, Timmy Thomas, Gwen McRae, Milton Wright, T-Connection and many more, all released on the mighty TK Records musical empire based in Miami, Florida.

You're about to witness the return of Seahorse to BCSM. After he set the start for BCSM Records back in 2018 with the legendary BCSM001, we're more than happy to welcome back the Munich based producer with a brand new 12" vinyl release.

It can't get deeper than on this one. The Black Hole EP comes with four new productions ready for the soundsystem. Expect a overwhelming mixture of contemporary steppers dub, original dubstep niceness and outerworldly bass works. Imagine yourself getting caught in a blackhole and enter a different dimension full of wobbling bass and auditory deepness. This is the sound that makes walls fall into pieces.

Seahorse developed his production style over the last years to the max, so get ready to fulljoy this heavy bass shower.

For the extra portion sub, LXC lifted the frequencies again.

Double LP set capturing some of Causa Sui's heaviest, most psychedelic tunes recorded live at Loppen - a legendary Copenhagen venue, located in the famous - and infamous - Freetown Christiania commune. This is the sound of Causa Sui at their home turf, stretching out and exploring eight epic fan-favourites from their entire catalogue in front of a small crowd of 400 people in a packed sold-out venue. The show was recorded the first week that Covid restrictions were lifted on venues in Denmark, which called for an especially buzzing night, even for a band that has exclusively played no more than a handful of shows each year since their 2005 debut. Each Causa Sui show is unique. Here we're offered a different perspective of the band's music - it's looser, more free-flowing, and some tracks are warped into something far from their original versions, bouncing off the wooden beams on the low ceiling of Loppen with renewed energy. At one point you can hear the band calling to take a breather and let some air inside the sauna-like temperature of the show, which just weeks before seemed impossible. Loppen 2021 offers a complete set from start to finish, so since chances that you'll catch the band live in person are slim, this is the next best thing. Mixed and mastered by Jonas Munk. Edition of 1000 copies on coloured ecomix vinyl.

Two years after the release of the Polarius EP Inner Voices Of A Clown, Danny Wolfers returns to Altered Circuits, this time under his best-known alias Legowelt, for Ruins Of Cracktopolis: a collection of "hymns to survive the dystopian circus of today's techno scene" in the artist's own words. On Do You Know Who You Never Be, a short staccato lead and dark chords revolve around a monolithic kick drum pattern that takes care of the cadence and bass. A mysterious vocoder and a laser sequence that gets torn and twisted to the max join, but the track never loses its steady pace - it gets help from shakers so much mixed to the front they could be lifted from a B'more track.

Amidst the effervescing 303 lines and bold drum sequences of In A Trance Dance All Night" Wolfers finds a canvas for a stretched synthesizer jam with eighties breaking allure. This melody, together with the pads and vocal, are drenched in reverb - they float like mist ascending from the The Hague dunes. Throughout Ruins Of Cracktopolis, more vintage Dutch West Coast, the hiss-laden broken beat that guides the bass sequences and ominous blippy synth patterns switches to a 4/4 structure and back. These make for captivating shifts in pace while the minor progressions continue unfolding. Like Twin Peaks targets prime energy once the arpeggiator sequence present from the start lowers an octave. The track runs smooth like a pomade slick-back; it's only tempered slightly when the crunchy kick and tom change place for a moody chord sequence break. Even if these four tracks target the club, they are equally suited for - quoting Wolfers again - "leisurely home listening". Their greatest strengths are, as so often, their melodic aspects.

The artist is known to be a synthesizer aficionado, but his unique personal touch immediately shines through no matter which gear he works with. The machines never seem to dominate the composing process; quite the opposite: it's as if he isn't programming or registering as much as trying to teach them his take on electronic music.

Second in a series of reissues from Pierre Jaubert’s Parisound studio archive on Strut Record IS Lafayette Afro Rock Band's elusive funk/Afro original album, 'Soul Makossa' originally released in 1973. Transparent blue colored LP

In 1971, an undocumented seven-member Afro-American ensemble known as the Bobby Boyd Congress made a transformative journey from the United States to France. Bandleader Frank Abel recollects, "We sensed that the soul and funk market was saturated back home, and our original plan was a brief 6-month stint in Paris. Surprisingly, we ended up staying for a decade." Upon lead singer Bobby Boyd's return to the U.S., the group rebranded as Ice and crossed paths with independent producer Pierre Jaubert, a seasoned studio professional with credits on groundbreaking recordings alongside Charles Mingus, John Lee Hooker, and Archie Shepp, among others.

Drawing inspiration from Motown's work ethic, Jaubert initiated regular rehearsals with Ice. He recalled, "I didn't want to mimic Berry, but with seven talented musicians collaborating daily, something unique emerged." The band, residing in Paris and immersed in the African-dominated Barbesse district, began infusing African elements into their music frequently performing with Paris-dwelling Camaroonian and legendary composer Manu Dibango.

Rechristening themselves Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the group's musical direction shifted towards predominantly instrumental compositions, characterized by a weightier, more intricate Afro-funk sound. Their debut recording under this new moniker, 'Soul Makossa,' made a powerful impact with a dynamic rendition of Dibango's classic, coupled with the intense break of 'Hihache' and the contagious 'Nicky.' Initially released by Musidisc in France and later in the U.S. via Editions Makossa, the album omitted the title track due to publishing clearance issues.

Despite modest sales upon its initial release, the album's enduring influence became evident as hip-hop culture surged in the '80s, establishing it as a primary source for samples and riffs. The iconic 'Hihache' break found fame in Biz Markie's 'Nobody Beats The Biz,' and tracks from the album were lifted by LL Cool J, The Beatnuts, Kruder & Dorfmeister, and numerous others.

Color Vinyl Repress

The world moves faster than ever these days, and even in the digital age, things can always be counted on to go in cycles. Despite all of the advances in computer recording technology, home studios, and electronic instruments, there is a flourishing interest in analog recording techniques and in recreating the mood and sound of vintage soul records. With one foot in the past but their eyes firmly set on the future, El Michels Affair are among the leaders of a resurgent funk & soul movement from New York City that’s sweeping both the music community and the charts.

Led by saxophonist/organist Leon Michels and producer/engineer Jeff Silverman, El Michels Affair began as a loose collaboration of session musicians (including members of top-selling acts Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, the Budos Band, and Antibalas) that looked to blend some of the vibrant quality of soundtrack records with the recording aesthetic of early reggae, and the rawness of 60's rock--they called it 'Cinematic Soul.' This delicate balance was evident on their 2005 debut album Sounding Out the City, which earned critical acclaim and acted as the inaugural full-length release for Michels and Silverman’s burgeoning label Truth & Soul (also the moniker for the duo as a production team).

The buzz generated from the album and a series of moderately successful 7” vinyl singles from Truth & Soul led to an invitation by Toyota’s Scion division for El Michels Affair to accompany the rapper Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan for a promotional concert. As avid Wu-Tang fans, not only were the band leaders thrilled with the opportunity, but Michels found that the ‘Cinematic Soul’ sound was consistent with the moods of RZA’s gritty soundscapes on the classic Wu-Tang releases. The concert was such as success, El Michels Affair went oan to play several more concerts nationwide backing Raekwon and other members of the Clan, and the shows led to the recording of two smash 7” singles featuring instrumental reinterpretations of the Wu-Tang classiac songs “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Bring Da Ruckus.” The singles combined to sell an extraordinary amount of over 7,000 units worldwide, and their success led to a contract in 2007 with indie hip hop powerhouse Fat Beats Records to record an entire album of Wu-Tang Clan interpolations entitled Enter the 37th Chamber.

Since the contract was inked, a worldwide explosion of retro soul led by Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings has transformed the pop music landscape, and the Truth & Soul production duo have been in strong demand, recording with everyone from breakthrough Grammy-nominated artist Adele to punk rock innovator Iggy Pop. They’ve been commissioned for official remixes of Amy Winehouse and Dinah Washington (for the popular Verve Remixed series), and produced for Australian multi-platinum acts Jet and Gabriella Cilmi.

Despite the eclectic group of clients for the Truth & Soul production company, El Michels Affair continued to build an audience within the hip hop community. A track from Sounding out the City was sampled for Ghostface Killah’s 2007 track “Shakey Dog Lolita,” and a horn part written and performed by Michels (for Menahan Street Band) was famously lifted for Jay-Z’s smash single “Roc Boys.” Truth & Soul also worked in the studio on original productions with multi-platinum producer Just Blaze (T.I.’s “Live Your Life,” Jay-Z, Usher).

With their increasing presence behind the scenes in the industry, El Michels Affair looks to have their status as recording artists rise significantly in 2009. With the release of their finally-completed album Enter the 37th Chamber, they can finally step out of the shadows of the retro-soul trend and establish their status as one of the most exciting and versatile bands in modern recorded music.

Double LP set capturing some of Causa Sui's heaviest, most psychedelic tunes recorded live at Loppen - a legendary Copenhagen venue, located in the famous - and infamous - Freetown Christiania commune. This is the sound of Causa Sui at their home turf, stretching out and exploring eight epic fan-favourites from their entire catalogue in front of a small crowd of 400 people in a packed sold-out venue. The show was recorded the first week that Covid restrictions were lifted on venues in Denmark, which called for an especially buzzing night, even for a band that has exclusively played no more than a handful of shows each year since their 2005 debut. Each Causa Sui show is unique. Here we're offered a different perspective of the band's music - it's looser, more free-flowing, and some tracks are warped into something far from their original versions, bouncing off the wooden beams on the low ceiling of Loppen with renewed energy. At one point you can hear the band calling to take a breather and let some air inside the sauna-like temperature of the show, which just weeks before seemed impossible. Loppen 2021 offers a complete set from start to finish, so since chances that you'll catch the band live in person are slim, this is the next best thing. Mixed and mastered by Jonas Munk. Edition of 1000 copies on coloured ecomix vinyl.

avigating vibrant influences of Latin-jazz, Tropicália and joyful grooves; multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer and producer Inês Loubet presents her utterly gorgeous debut album ‘Senga’. The album covers Inês’ experiences over the past five years, originating in Portugal, travelling through Brazil, before finding home in London.

Previously, Inês co-wrote and performed on Caravela’s album 'Orla' on None More Records, which was praised by the likes of Gilles Peterson and The Line of Best Fit. Her music has been played on Jazz FM, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 3, NTS and Soho Radio. A relentless live performer, she’s played alongside Brazilian legends Gilberto Gil & João Bosco, graced the stage of The Royal Albert Hall, Union Chapel, and O2 Shepherds Bush, around UK and international tours.

The album explores a range of profound themes including nature, travel, grief, unconditional love, separation, family dynamics, and the nuanced experience of womanhood in contemporary society. Dedications to the music, philosophy and revolutionary history of samba (‘Sambo Mesmo Sem’), everyday observations of joy (‘Guri’), and motivating generational change for the better (‘Sab Sabim’); glide across romantic harmonies and the Brazilian rhythms at the melodic heart of the album.

“I started writing whilst living in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, in February 2020”, says Inês. “I was shy and hadn't written fully composed tracks before then. During lockdown I received support from The Arts Council’s DYCP, started making demos, gained confidence and started playing them live”. In October 2022 Inês was presented with the Drake YoLanda award and went to Giant Wafer studio in Wales for three days, before recording the final vocals at her home studio and mixing and mastering in Porto, Portugal.

Inês is joined on the album by a band of close friends. Percussionist and long-time collaborator Jansen Santana from Salvador da Bahia brings the soul of the drums, the tambor. “I always have the Bahia drums present in my mind when I write a new composition. I studied Latin percussion at University and then lived in Salvador absorbing all that heritage and knowledge”. Playing four different stringed instruments on the album, Greg Sanders is a long-time friend and collaborator from London “I met him in a samba band in 2015 and he was the first person I ever showed my songs to and played with”. The band is completed by Ruta Sipola on flute, Jake Burgess on tenor sax, Peu Meurray who recorded a lot of the percussion and lead vocals, and bassist Julio de Castro from Sao Paulo. “I was blown away by his bass playing, his swing and creativity, his ton of experience and professionalism but also his voice - he's an amazing singer and I believe that adds a lot to the magic”.

Inês concludes, “Last year, I had a show in London and I asked everyone in the audience to write down what they felt when they listened to the music. These are some of the things they wrote: wholesome, refreshing, lifted, moving, joyful, happy, nostalgic, warmth, force, goosebumps, emotional, togetherness, transported, rooted”. ‘Senga’ captures all of these feelings and more in a memorable first impression from a highly talented musician.

Runar Magnusson is an Icelandic/Danish sound artist and musician, currently based in Austria. With a masters degree in Electronic Music Composition from The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark, he is inspired by the sounds of nature, noise, and meditation. Magnusson specialises in atmospheric disturbances through minimalist compositions. A sly humour cuts through the dark hues of his works.

Magnusson writes: "The two works which make up "Inside Out of Chaos" are somewhat related. They were made at the same time and share the same source materials somewhat – a pool of sounds I had been experimenting with for a couple of years. Two separate projects created the opportunities for me to realise them in these finished forms.

At the beginning of 2020 I was invited to participate in an acousmatic concert series at the Traktorfabrikken in Vienna. Curated by Austrian composer Christian Tschinkel and performed on his Akusmonautikum sound system this particular event, titled Kill & Kaoss, was the last in the series. I named my piece after the event and dedicated it to Tschinkel´s Akusmonautikum system. Without my knowing, I had witnessed this system in action half a year earlier at a concert at the Hermann Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach, with Hermann Nitch playing the organ and Tschinkel operating the sound system – a profoundly enjoyable performance. I was very happy when I connected the dots soon after the invitation to participate. I intended my work for Kill & Kaoss to be a way to greet the new lunar year of the rat – a year which held many surprises… The event took place on 22nd of February 2020 at Traktorfabrikken, Vienna.

"Inside Out (for Trattner)" was composed for Austrian artist Josef Trattner. It was the soundtrack for a film that was a part of his exhibition "Inside Out" at the Kiesler Foundation in Vienna, 2020. I assisted with the installation of the exhibition, itself a filmed action that evolved into the movie of which this is the score. The installation was a very hard physical process that left me bloody and blistered. It was also a fascinating, trance-inducing experience. Mining with ones bare hands, digging out this huge structure and creating a womblike cave, a tunnel system, a playground, a hideaway while experiencing ever-increasing pain in the fingers and hands. The exhibition ran from 27 February 2020 until 23 December 2020.

I consider this release as the final part of a trilogy I refer to as "the three sisters of sorrow". These three releases are an insight into my state of mind at the time – a mental collapse, somewhat triggered by a move to a new country, the death of my friend Jóhann Jóhannsson and the loss of my father a year later. Between 2018 and 2021 I had the trilogy almost ready but had not been able to finish them. I sought professional help to lift me up from the deep and was diagnosed with ADHD, which explained many things in my life. Only after the darkness had lifted could I see that these three releases were connected. They depicted both the mental state I had been in – an incapacitating downward spiral, a crushing chaos – and also my search for the light, a way out of the maze and my path up to the surface."

Runar Magnusson, Vienna, 13 November 2023

Glasgow’s Somewhere Press return with their inaugural vinyl release, a new album from Madelyn Byrd aka Slowfoam. Mining the seam between ecology and technology, Byrd offsets syrupy, dissociated electronics with sparse acoustic instrumentation and expressive field recordings.

The polyrhythmic pulse of the natural world surges through Byrd’s productions, and though the sounds are mostly electronic and strictly metered, a landscape teeming with insects, birds, and wildlife fills the horizon. We’re languidly ushered through the gates on the opening 'Enlightened Smudge on the Machine', juxtaposing glassy tones with flute (from Berlin-based sound artist Diane Barbé) and skittering percussion that could have been lifted straight off Björk’s 'Vespertine'. "No traffic, under the stem," a stoic voice muses while sounds dissolve into waterlogged ambience. There are hints of vintage West Coast new age music, but Byrds' over-arching theme is one of a contemporary digital reality slowly harmonising with its distant, bucolic past.

Field recordist Pablo Diserens provides some of the album's most arcane material, handing over environmental recordings of sulphur pools, Arctic terns and glacial streams. The lengthy 'Divine Morpho, Shimmering' deploys a swarm of insects, forming a looped, uneven rhythm that counters Byrd's pulsing electronics. Choral stems mesh with uncanny strings, blurring the line that separates artificial from organic sound sources. Byrd uses mutation and reconstruction as a form of "speculative melting" to bring us closer to utopia. On 'Like Phantom Memories In The Slinking Storm’, one of the album's most levitational moments, they tease twangy harp-lyre plucks into dubbed-out smudges, eventually given a reprise on 'Grief Rituals' where the same riffs are stretched into slower phrases, queered against giddy, xenharmonic drones.

Bird calls and tremulous exotica mark the brilliant 'Fragrant Dusking', and ‘Soft Body Virisdescence' takes us to a gurgling, kaleidoscopic climax, with electronic processes thrust into the foreground. 'Of Data & Delight' distills all the album’s sonic elements into a sort of delirious fever dream, using pitched animal calls to signal sensuality. It's not ambient, exactly, even if it shares space with the 3XL crew's sludgy eroticism, and it's not wholeheartedly electro-acoustic either. The record exists at a place of convergence, as one era wrestles with a new dawn, and real life glimpses high fantasy.

Repress of the 2015 album on transparent caramel vinyl. Remember Sports is a 4-5 piece basement rock band, started in 2012 at Kenton College in Gambiet, Ohio. The band’s second album titled All of Something was recorded in Philadelphia with celebrated DIY producer and musician Kyle Gilbride (Waxahatchee, Girlpool, Swearin’). The quintet found a fuller sound with all hands on deck. All of Something unfurls like a flag outside a midwestern bedroom window, lifted with the air of uncertainty of those first, confusing steps of adulthood. Perry’s freckled voice, equal parts longing and hopeful, carries through with damning drums and tickling guitar solos. Each song jangles on, sometimes releasing declarative, fighting words and other times as careful as notes left on the fridge

CONTEXT During the height of the pandemic, Melbourne, Australia experienced the longest lockdown in the world, keeping residents inside their homes for a total of 262 days. In the midst of this were the five members who would form AWOL, driven to create and write music almost out of necessity. Once the ban was lifted, the band hit the recording studio and released their debut EP, AWOL, in 2021 through Last Ride Records. The timing was perfect as the Australia hardcore scene was experiencing serious growth, and AWOL soon found themselves playing shows with Speed, Iron Mind, No Apologies, and on a country wide run supporting No Pressure in early 2022. The band’s persistent drive and heavy playing style caught the attention of Flatspot Records, who will release AWOL’s debut full length, Tear 'Em To Bits this Spring. It’s not hard to listen to Tear 'Em To Bits and feel like you’re going to get ripped apart. The nine tracks are monstrous, filled with gruff vocals, groove-driven riffs, and meaty breakdowns. AWOL draws from bands like Madball and Biohazard, but also fit right along modern day acts like King Nine and God’s Hate. The lyrics are punishing, covering everything from deception and failed relationships to addressing drug addiction and police brutality. And while the record packs a lot of aggression, AWOL is purely here to revel in hardcore and the community it’s built for them. On making Tear 'Em To Bits the band simply states: “The only goal was to make a good hardcore record that we were proud of and that our friends could get behind.” AWOL is Christian Schultz (vocals), Mike Williams (guitar/vocals), Otis T Bennie (guitar/vocals) Pat Shanahan (drums) and Pablo Barnes (bass) Produced and recorded by Mike Deslandis, with additional recording by Otis T Bennie, at Black Lodge Studios. Mixed by Jon Markson at The Animal Farm. Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege. MARKETING AND SELLING POINTS: * AWOL is one of the biggest hardcore bands in Australia at the moment * Can appeal to not only the Hardcore crowd but also Punk, Metal, and Rock demographics as well * Has toured w/ No Pressure, Regulate, The Story So Far, Speed * Will tour AUS, US, UK, EUROPE in 2024 * A perfect hardcore release that will stand the test of time! * Has played festivals such as L * Mixed by Jon Markson (Drug Church, Drain, Regulate, Koyo) * Music Videos for AWOL (single) + Tear Em’ To Bits (Single) * Alexa Gallo of Wordless PR will be working press * The Syndicate will be working Radio Campaign * Matt Hughes Good As Gold will be working UK press + radio * Released by Last Ride Records in AUS * First EP on Flatspot Records * Pressed on Colored Vinyl

The second in our Mr Bongo series opening the vault on classic recordings from the fabled Groove Merchant Records catalogue. This time the spotlight turns to the Hammond B3 organ maestro Lonnie Smith, as we proudly present a reissue of his cosmic jazz-funk journey, ‘Afro-Desia’.

Originally released in 1975, this much-loved album was produced by Groove Merchant label owner Sonny Lester and features the mysterious 'Compliments Of A Friend' on guitar. Considering Smith was part of George Benson’s quartet in the ‘60s, that not so discreet veil appears to have been lifted on who this ‘friend’ might be. However, presumably due to contractual reasons, Benson had to remain covert for this recording. The lineup doesn’t stop there though, with the likes of legendary bassist Ron Carter and Grammy award winning saxophonist Joe Lavano joining the outfit.

An album of two parts, the first side sees Lonnie Smith in a spaced-out, cosmic jazz funk setting. The opener 'Afrodesia' is a funk flexing, steamy groover. Greg Hopkins and Lavano trading off on trumpet and sax respectively, as that bassline walks its way over fluttering jazz percussion and off-kilter electronics. 'Spirits Free' is an epic 15-minute free-wheeling jazz-funk workout. A mind melting trip that rises and falls, in parts spacey and serene, with Smith’s organ playing complimented by stretched out horns. Before long it opens out into unconstrained fluid sections that do its title proud. Pure ‘70s jazz-funk at its most stellar.

Side B takes a more classic soul-jazz flavour, with touches of Latin spice. 'Straight To The Point' kicks off with a carnival zing, full-frontal horn and organ lines providing a fiery party punch. It’s a swinging jazz cut that used to receive spins by DJs at Russ Dewbury's Jazz Room's sessions in Brighton in the ‘90s.

Finally, 'Favors' and 'The Awakening' close out the release. Two sure shot, quintessential Lonnie Smith firing Hammond grooves. Each conjuring up images of packed out, smokey jazz bar jams, every player letting loose with masterful improv sections to whip the crowd up into a frenzy.

A truly wonderful album, and an archetypal release showcasing the height of jazz musician excellence from this era.

Second in a series of reissues from Pierre Jaubert’s Parisound studio archive on Strut Record IS Lafayette Afro Rock Band's elusive funk/Afro original album, 'Soul Makossa' originally released in 1973. Transparent blue colored LP

In 1971, an undocumented seven-member Afro-American ensemble known as the Bobby Boyd Congress made a transformative journey from the United States to France. Bandleader Frank Abel recollects, "We sensed that the soul and funk market was saturated back home, and our original plan was a brief 6-month stint in Paris. Surprisingly, we ended up staying for a decade." Upon lead singer Bobby Boyd's return to the U.S., the group rebranded as Ice and crossed paths with independent producer Pierre Jaubert, a seasoned studio professional with credits on groundbreaking recordings alongside Charles Mingus, John Lee Hooker, and Archie Shepp, among others.

Drawing inspiration from Motown's work ethic, Jaubert initiated regular rehearsals with Ice. He recalled, "I didn't want to mimic Berry, but with seven talented musicians collaborating daily, something unique emerged." The band, residing in Paris and immersed in the African-dominated Barbesse district, began infusing African elements into their music frequently performing with Paris-dwelling Camaroonian and legendary composer Manu Dibango.

Rechristening themselves Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the group's musical direction shifted towards predominantly instrumental compositions, characterized by a weightier, more intricate Afro-funk sound. Their debut recording under this new moniker, 'Soul Makossa,' made a powerful impact with a dynamic rendition of Dibango's classic, coupled with the intense break of 'Hihache' and the contagious 'Nicky.' Initially released by Musidisc in France and later in the U.S. via Editions Makossa, the album omitted the title track due to publishing clearance issues.

Despite modest sales upon its initial release, the album's enduring influence became evident as hip-hop culture surged in the '80s, establishing it as a primary source for samples and riffs. The iconic 'Hihache' break found fame in Biz Markie's 'Nobody Beats The Biz,' and tracks from the album were lifted by LL Cool J, The Beatnuts, Kruder & Dorfmeister, and numerous others.

Taking on Medal Headz G.B.D.F., lifted from the recent Brainwaltzera LP Itsame, British drum & bass producer Peshay turns in a driving remix in a classic UK style. Rolling breaks meet a heady reese bassline and wide-angle atmospherics, put together with all the aplomb of a skilled craftsman doing what he does best. It’s music made for the dancefloor, delivered in a timeless style by one of the heads of the early Good Looking Records & Metalheadz years.

On the B1, Brainwaltzera takes the reigns with an extended version of the original album piece – a valuable reminder of the impressive source material, reimagined in a new context. For the B2, the artist offers a previously interconnected phase of Medal Headz G.B.D.F. up as a track in its own right. A spellbinding IDM reduction, it’s wrought with all manner of synth flourishes, elegant drum machine rhythms, and warping synths – a neat closer that offers a new and intriguing approach to an LP highlight.

a Medal Headz G.B.D.F Peshay Remix
b Medal Headz G.B.D.F Extended
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2024 Repress

Get Up! Time to release this beast on 7".

Breakwater’s earth-shattering “Release The Beast” is unquestionably the standout song from their 1980 funk masterpiece LP Splashdown. It also came out as a now-hen’s-teeth-rare 7" in the same year and when it came to putting it out as a 7" again we just had to do it in a miniature version of the Splashdown sleeve. It’s one of the best album cover shoots of all time.

For the b-side, we’ve backed Breakwater’s biggest track with Be With’s favourite: the quietly majestic gem “Let Love In”, another winner from the same LP.

Possessing a sound and a feel that was lightyears ahead of its time, “Release The Beast” is a showcase for Breakwater’s phenomenal power-funk capabilities. The energy is astounding. It rips out of the grooves on a deep funk tip, with speaker-smashing, room-shaking drums competing with distorted funk-rock guitar, bumping bass and space-age synths. But it’s not without its compellingly haunting elements too. What else can we say? It’s a genius piece of music.

And, yes, of course this is the tune Daft Punk sampled for their 2005 track “Robot Rock”. Let’s be blunt, they lifted the Philly act’s funk-rock vamping pretty much wholesale. But to be fair to them we wouldn’t have messed with the perfection of the original either and those Parisians shone a much-needed spotlight on an innovative band from the halcyon period of post-disco funk.

On the flip, “Let Love In” is a smooth, easy glide that demonstrates Breakwater’s superb, sophisticated musicianship. The tight horn section and irresistible bass make for an undeniable groove. However, it also reveals a depth to their lyricism that’s often overlooked. In these dark days, the sentiment of the opening lines is truly one to we should all take to heart:

“It feels good to be friends with everyone, Walk around and the feeling’s in the air, No more hate can’t you see, This is really for me.”

A feel good hit for the summer if ever there was one.

Remastered for this vinyl reissue, we’re delighted to present this modern soul double-sider. Essential in every way.

Mandalaband began life in the early 1970's, gaining cult status as one of the most forward-thinking prog outfits of the time. The brainchild of David Rohl, who formed a lineup featuring future Sad Cafe members Vic Emerson (keyboards), Ashley Mulford (guitars), John Stimpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Tony Cresswell (drums) and vocalist Dave Durant.

Mandalaband received critical acclaim with legendary BBC radio presenter John Peel playing the entire album on his show before promptly re-broadcasting the whole thing immediately after. Unfortunately, at the time, this didn't translate to sales and Mandalaband fell into obscurity. However, with the advent of the internet, their legend grew, exciting a new generation of prog fans.

We are now pleased to make these recordings available again and offer a chance to dig into some of the most interesting progressive music of the '70s. As well as presenting the original album remastered, David gained access to the original 24-track analogue master tapes, having them restored and digitised at Abbey Road Studios before reinforcing the sound and instrumentation before remixing the entire album.

Nearly fifty years on, a veil of sonic mist has been lifted from these unique recordings.

Format: 2LP 180g gatefold edition featuring the original album and David Rohl 2024 remix of entire album, both remastered at AIR Mastering, with rare bonus track. Includes newly written liner notes.

FOLLOWING THEIR RECENT REUNION, THE DELGADOS REISSUE THEIR FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM HATE ON COLOURED VINYL AND CD TO MARK ITS 21st ANNIVERSARY

Ushering in a new era of emotionally vulnerable and cinematic songwriting for celebrated Glasgow group The Delgados, 2002’s Hate is the group’s most ambitious recorded statement to date. Recorded amidst a backdrop of personal change and international crisis, Hate’s internal alchemy transmogrifies darkness into light. It’s an enclosed universe full of tragedy and magic, a swirling galaxy of lush orchestration, misanthropy dealt with kindness and black humour. Above all it showed a band coming to terms with their fragility with a new power and grace.

In Hate, the band’s ambition saw them striving to reflect the breadth of human experience, both the joy and tragedy of living in tumultuous times. Initially commissioned by The Barbican in London to compose music for a film about artist Joe Coleman, the instrumental music that instigated Hate was laden with darkness from the outset. The Delgados’ worldview has always been informed by nuance, an oblique but incisive lyrical perspective but on Hate a new rawness is woven throughout the songs. Coleman’s original subject matter - portraits of troubled historical figures like Ed Gein, Mary Bell and Jayne Mansfield - influenced the tonality of the music but the songs were written against a backdrop of international tumult and personal life changes for the band members. Beginning writing sessions following a family bereavement in drummer Paul Savage’s family, Hate was then recorded while both Alun Woodward and co-singer/guitarist Emma Pollock were expecting new additions to their young families, the latter with drummer Paul Savage. In the background to the recording process were the attacks on the World Trade Center of September 2001 and their aftermath. In this context, it’s remarkable that an album was made at all, let alone one so grand and compassionate. It’s a masterclass in restraint and imagination.

Hate sounds like the world in all its ugly glory. Recorded in Glasgow and New York with Tony Doogan, Dave Fridmann and the band as producers and using over 20 additional musicians, Hate grabs the baton from the group’s breakthrough critical and commercial success The Great Eastern. Bolder, broader and more all-encompassing than anything the band had previously attempted, the album’s palette is furnished by a string section, brass and reed instrumentation, a choir and electronic elements augmenting the core group of Emma Pollock, Alun Woodward, Paul Savage and Stewart Henderson. Far from being over the top, the group’s skill is in attention to detail, in honing and refining each arrangement, allowing each element its space.

It’s a fine balancing act that pays massive dividends. Woodward’s new lyrical vulnerability is spotlighted on tracks like The Drowning Years, which throws elegiac string arrangements against the narrative of characters living in darkness, punctuated by couplets that bring a real-life documentary feel to the narrative. All Rise brings a black comedy to the idea of a confessional before a transcendent, choir-led refrain brings ecstatic resolution to Woodward’s vocal in its highest register. On the single All You Need Is Hate, Woodward’s trick of subverting the Beatles standard showcases the dark humour at the centre of Hate. Here The Delgados’ perversity is in full flow, nurturing a glowing light from darkness, the resolving melody and Fridmann production recalling contemporaries The Flaming Lips (whose Michael Ivins assisted in mixing) or Mercury Rev. The perversity is the surging serotonin induced by the group while singing the lines “Hate is everywhere, inside your mother’s heart and you will find it there. You ask me what you need? Hate is all you need.”

It’s a dark magic that pervades Hate, indeed it’s almost the driving force throughout the album. Flipping minor to major and back again, Favours is fuelled by fear and violence before blasting into the heavens with the gauche line “and you’re feeling fine,” operating in stark contrast to the verses’ tone. Album opener The Light Before We Land finds Emma Pollock in the aftermath of recent family trauma. Her vocal is effortless; a study in steady restraint against the massive, Fridmann-patented drum sound powering Savage’s playing and Henderson’s instantly recognisable melodic basslines. Coming In from the Cold is Pollock in full flight, lifted to the heavens by wide-screen, instrumental texture. Her presence on Hate highlights her knack for lyrical impressionism, the timbre of her voice lending itself to drama while always retaining a mystique. Never Look At The Sun, inspired by the Coleman painting The Big Bang Theory (itself an explosives-themed study), revels in paranoia, her performance ringing out in the eye of the storm conjured by the swirling arrangements. It reaches the peak of a redemptive arc while seemingly parodying the very idea of redemption.

Hate was the sound of The Delgados completely fulfilling their potential, a fully realised vision buoyed by the weight of coming through a darkness into light. For its 21st anniversary, the album is being reissued on the band’s own Chemikal Underground on coloured vinyl and CD. Hate is all you need

Lead single from Skinshape’s 8th Studio Album ‘Craterellus Tubaeformis’. For fans of Khruangbin, El Michels Affair, Madlib, Bonobo. A perfect taster of Skinshape’s latest album ‘Craterellus Tubaeformis’ is this double header featuring the laid-back vocals from the man himself. The joyous feel of ‘It’s Real’ sounds as if it’s been lifted from a classic blues album but with a contemporary feel. ‘Amnesia’ keeps a similar vibe with thoughtful lyrics leading to a deeper track than the production may initially suggest. Will Dorey’s ambiguous words on the tracks It's Real: “I shall leave you to decide what the song is about. Musically, it's straight-up 1960s British blues era style. Phased guitar solos, 12-string acoustic chugging along. All that.” Amnesia: “Following the course of slightly psych-edged bedroom pop. Is it pop? I shall leave you to discern the lyrical meaning.” Support from BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2, Jazz FM, Soho Radio, Mojo, Uncut, Shindig etc

Rediscover all the legendary hits that shaped the sound of Funk Music on a nice double vinyl. Including such great songs as "And The Beat Goes On" by The Whispers, "A Night To Remember" by Shalamar or "Midas Touch" by Midnight Star...

Indie pop quartet Melenas hail from Pamplona, Spain, a picturesque region nestled just south of the Pyrenees. Such beauty can't help but inform the band's songwriting, but Melenas aren't content to just sit placidly & take in the scenery. Since they burst onto the scene in 2016, the band has hit the ground running, playing incessantly both locally & on the stages at national festivals like Primavera Sound & Eurosonic as well as releasing a debut full length (2018's "s/t" album) and a 7-inch single both triple-released on local labels Elsa, Nebula & Snap! Clap! Club. Trouble In Mind is honored to be releasing their new album Dias Raros and is the first label outside of Spain to release Melenas music to the world.Dias Raros hums right from the get-go, peppering their garage-pop punch with elements of lysergic dream pop, melancholic indie rock and strident guitar jangle. The album title translates to "Strange Days" an acknowledgement - according to the band - of "...those days where you spend more time inside than outside. Inside your own self, inside your bedroom and your own universe thinking about your wishes, dreams, memories, obsessions or fears." The lyrics - sung entirely in their native Spanish - reference "those interior dialogues where sometimes you fight to escape from a situation, you wonder what another person will be thinking about or feeling, you gotta say goodbye, or you just enjoy the time by yourself. Days that, for different reasons, you're feeling different, they are strange". Opener "Primer tiempo" buzzes with an urgent organ drone, unfolding into a yearning ballad of modern guitar-pop bolstered by the group's lush harmonies & sets the tone for the rest of Dias Raros. Songs like "No puedo pensar" "3 Segundos" and "Despertar" follow suit, with the rhythm section galloping headlong into an insistent guitar strum, while ballads like the tender "El Tiempo ha Padsado" rely on the band's melodious voices bolstered by a lilting guitar riff and gentle organ swells. Elsewhere mid tempo rockers like the stomping "Los alemanes", the simmering "Ciencia Ficción" and "Ya no es Verano"s insistent jangle recall underground greats like The Pastels, R.E.M. and Shop Assistants. "Vals" ("Waltz") closes the album in 3/4 time, named for the ballroom dance as well as the last name of a close friend - a dedication to her. Its dreamy sway alluding to classic Brill Building songwriting; dusted with melancholy, but lifted by cascading voices, and organ and guitar waves and guitars that twinkle and shimmer over a cracking backbeat. Dias Raros is the perfect introduction to a band bursting with promise, confidently inhabiting their own space built upon the foundation of their influences both geographically and culturally, as well as musically.

Repress!

Following his versatile Alone With Everybody EP, FD returns to The North Quarter with a stunning 16 track debut album: Better Days.

Largely written in a three month window, FDs (real name Freddie Dixon) new long player on The NQ undoubtedly brings the best of the Zurich-based/London-born producer. Better Days is an album that delivers a rare synergy of drive, harmony between subtle & raw and just sheer fun. A versatile yet coherent project drawn from a large pool of sketches, finalised in intricate detail with focused studio dedication.

Drawing influences from Dub, Jazz, Hip Hop, Soul and the Mid 90's Drum & Bass “GoldenAge”, Better Days bridges the gap between genres, as FD enlists carefully considered vocal collaborations. Manchester donny Fox shines on the dubbed out Better Man and Washington DC soul diva Cecily shows shades of Minnie Riperton on Sycamore. Meanwhile Ribs is lifted to one of the album's stand out tracks with Maverick Soul on the keys and the enigmatic Issac Rosie on the boards.

For some the better days in life are in their childhood memories: nostalgia-infused wonderings of the mind to a care-free time without today's online distractions. Although FD’s debut album 'Better Days' is inspired and informed by a period earlier in life, his best days musically are definitely in the present. To put it into the man's own words:

"I’ve been wanting to do an album for quite a while now, but the circumstance never felt right. Once I started working with The North Quarter that all changed – it feels like being part of a team all pushing in the same direction, all supporting one another, all wanting to do the best for each other. Once we’d done the first EP together, for me, it was only a question of when."

Yellow / black marbled vinyl. The Sensitives is a rough-haired mixed race dog of punk, rock'n'roll, SKA and folk! It's been touring around Europe, playing over 300 shows, spreading its musical wild oat resulting in a solid fanbase of people who, to their knockout punk, raises their middle finger to racism and sexism. The band have always kept the energy on a constant high, jumping between different styles and switching between the two singers Martin and Paulina, driven by the never resting Magnus behind the drums! The new album, Patch It Up and Go! is no different! The frustration from no touring during the pandemic and the emotional shock from a year of heavy touring as soon as the restrictions were lifted resulted in a worn out and damaged band coming home to lick their wounds. But they did what they've always done, turned their experiences and battles into songs, patched themselves up to go for it again! The result is the new album, Patch It Up and Go! and it covers topics like sex, mental health, animal rights and the importance of celebrating the good times we have while we have them! All of that in a high tempo with a positive vibe and high intensity, Patch It Up and Go! is the most personal and probably the best album from The Sensitives so far! Feet will be moving, hips will be shaking and throats will be singing!

Hard-hitting latin-tinged super-group Grupo Magnético formed from backgrounds in funk, hip-hop & soul, united by a love of Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Fania and classic New York salsa. They have worked with legendary musicians from Cuba, Venezuela and America & over time the group, led by Toby "El León" Shippey, developed their own set and sound.

These two tracks have been lifted from the Athens Of The North album Positivo from 2018 and feature 'Vulcano V El Gato' (Medley) with 'Somos Latinos' on flipside. Already supported by DJ Koco, Patrick Forge, Colin Curtis Gilles Peterson, Kevin Beadle ,DJ Amir, Mr Thing, Dom Servini, Coco Maria, Cosmo Sofi, Rainer Truby, Miche, Skeme Richards, Elsewhere Sonido, DJ Gilla and more ! Limited to 300 hand numbered copies ! No repress.

"Wow. Sounds like '74 downtown NY Fania Records... Absolutely brilliant. " - Gilles Peterson