Search:lik

Texas jazz, funk and soul group PHYREWORK were signed to Mercury Records in 1978 releasing an acclaimed self titled album. They measure up to the bands that inspired them: Sly and the Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, Tower of Power - to name a few.

PHYREWORK recorded a plethora of songs that went unreleased - this record documents the legacy of this brilliant band. We are proud to present eleven dazzling songs circa 1977 - 1982, nine of which are originally unreleased and two from the elusive early 80s 7” single.

We are honoured to have the liner notes written by David Ritz, author of the definitive books on Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and many more.

Texas jazz, funk and soul group PHYREWORK were signed to Mercury Records in 1978 releasing an acclaimed self titled album. They measure up to the bands that inspired them: Sly and the Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, Tower of Power - to name a few.

PHYREWORK recorded a plethora of songs that went unreleased - this record documents the legacy of this brilliant band. We are proud to present eleven dazzling songs circa 1977 - 1982, nine of which are originally unreleased and two from the elusive early 80s 7” single.

We are honoured to have the liner notes written by David Ritz, author of the definitive books on Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and many more.

The sound is a captivating fusion of hazy style and raw dance floor energy, effortlessly moving between acid, dark, ebm, and emotionally vulnerable moments. ISTHEWAY celebrates 10 years of indipendence with 3 new records. DO IT YRSELF is the manifesto of all these years as well as the name of this 3 Eps series. The 10 tracks of this project are spread over 3 discs and this is 1/3. Every track represents one letter of the manifesto ISTHEWAY born in Verona, Italy ten years ago from the DIY mind of Shinoby. Releases includes remixers like DMX Krew,Hypnobeat (JDB+Helena Hauff), Unit Moebius Anonymous, Madteo, Samo DJ + Tzusing, Jamal Moss,Mgun, The Analogue Cops, Frak.

When the late Jazz impresario and trailblazer Meghan Stabile first launched the Revivalist platform and Revive Da Live concert series in NYC, the goal was to bridge the gap between younger Hip-Hop audiences and traditional Jazz purists. Born from this vision in 2010 was the Revive Big Band, an inventive 20+ piece ensemble led by artistic director, trumpeter, and composer Igmar Thomas. Merging tradition with groundbreaking creativity since its inception, the multi-generational band’s world-class cadre of musicians unites for Like A Tree It Grows. As the Revive Big Band’s official full-length debut, this album represents not only a 14-year timeline of the Revive collective’s journey, but also a deeper tribute to the Black American Music lineage. It’s a celebration of community that uses the timeless power of music to tell a story of cultural legacy, innovation, and artistic collaboration. From original compositions like “R&P” and “The Coming”, to reinterpretations of classic records paying homage to musical legends (e.g. Wayne Shorter, Dizzy Gillespie, etc.) Like A Tree It Grows showcases Thomas’ intricate arrangements that blend Jazz, Hip-Hop, Soul, and a range of genres from the lineage of Black American music. With guest features from Talib Kweli, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Terrace Martin, Jean Baylor, Bilal, and more, the album provides a bridge between past and future, inviting listeners to explore the roots of Black music while reimagining its possibilities.

Tobacco City is a Chicago-based band that blends cosmic country with a mix of psychedelic rock and honky-tonk soul. Their sound captures the essence of small-town nostalgia while embracing modern-day themes, exploring heartache, longing, and the bittersweet nature of life. With their uplifting energy and authentic songwriting, Tobacco City continues to carve out a unique space in the countrytinged Americana scene. On Horses, the highly anticipated follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut, Tobacco City, USA, the band takes listeners on a nostalgic journey through the haze of youth, where time feels suspended and plans are nonexistent. The album’s lyrics conjure vivid images of small-town life—smoking schwag behind the grocery store, drinking cream from a gas station with your first love—capturing that carefree, uncertain time when the future felt distant. The music channels the spirit of ’70s country with influences from legends like Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, bringing a timeless, uplifting energy to each track. At the same time, the lyrics intersect with modern-day themes, blending the beauty and innocence of youth with the harsh realities of life. Horses feels like a contemporary take on classic country, merging a nostalgic past with the complex world of today, all while remaining undeniably authentic and heartfelt. This follow-up to Tobacco City, USA—which received high praise from NPR and Rolling Stone— cements the band’s place at the forefront of a new wave of countrytinged Americana. “...Like the Chicago band’s namesake, a slow smoke hangs in the air, heavy with heartbreak and feather-blue eyeshadow, but puts a brave face on. Lexi Goddard sings with a far-away look over a pedal-steel cry, a melody that sways to country songs on jukeboxes of yore...” —NPR “Chicago’s Tobacco City do more with less... spacious grooves as pedal steel wafts through like a gentle breeze. Vocalist Lexi Goddard and Chris Coleslaw sounds simultaneously wistful and playful throughout...” —Rolling Stone

Fust--the lyrical powerhouse Southern rock band from Durham, North Carolina--announce their new album Big Ugly, out March 7th on Dear Life Records, the record label that launched the careers of MJ Lenderman and Florry and that has become a haven for contemporary songwriters. Big Ugly arrives after the release of 2024's Songs of the Rail--"one of the best alt-country compilations_in a long, long time" (Paste) -- and 2023's standout Genevieve, which unassumingly introduced new listeners to Fust's unmistakable blend of "small-town poetry" (Mojo) with a familiar yet probing "country-tinged folk-rock" (KEXP) that made it "one of the most fun rock records of the year" (Pitchfork). Genevieve was their studio debut, recorded with producer Alex Farrar (Manning Fireworks, Rat Saw God, Tomorrow's Fire) in Asheville, North Carolina. The reception was far better than the band expected, stirring them to immediately start working on Big Ugly, their second collaboration with Farrar. Recorded over ten days in June of 2024, Big Ugly is the explosive sound of Fust uncovering a freedom within their sincere form of loose and fried guitar rock, realizing more than ever before an intimacy within bigness. The members -- Aaron Dowdy, Avery Sullivan, Frank Meadows, John Wallace, Justin Morris, Libby Rodenbough, Oliver Child-Lanning--weave their voices alongside guests like Merce Lemon, Dave Hartley (The War on Drugs), and John James Tourville (The Deslondes) to form a music that sounds like a conversation between old friends. And that's exactly what it is. At its heart, Big Ugly is a story cycle, following tough-skinned characters who seem to inhabit a shared and fictional small town--Big Ugly--that in reality gets its name from a lowly populated and unincorporated area in southern West Virginia around where Dowdy's family has deep roots. The album cover_a mural from the Big Ugly Community Center just off the Big Ugly Creek--was painted by locals for a 2004 play performed by the children that interpreted their elders' stories. In a way, Fust's Big Ugly does something similar as it takes the same area as its backdrop and reimagines a life depicted in the mural between the bars, gas stations, general stores, and double-wides. Throughout the album, we join the characters in finding history and meaning in the banal theater of their own private jerkwater.The songs on Big Ugly are hearteningly varied, moving from beer-fisted radio country to elegiac drones to deconstructed ballads. Songs like "Spangled" take up the theme of past traumas and present desensitizations colliding, of the small and cosmic coinciding in the life of a heedless protagonist. "Bleached" finds the soul-searching narrator recalling the feeling of inner vacancy in their childhood: thoughtless, speechless, herded around like cattle in backseats. And "Mountain Language" laments the poverties of Southern life at the same time that it promotes a higher poverty, a country utopia that's just out of grasp, where we could live if we could only "make it up the mountain again." The mystical hermeticism and the dime-store everyday are two sides of every insignificant thing in the town of Big Ugly.

Cindy Lee, Arthur Russell, Viagra Boys, On-U Sound. In the discourse around new albums from singular, world-building artists, the phrase “a big step forward” can often be a blinking red warning sign. You know you’re about to be pulled somewhere new against your will. Inertia is a hell of a thing. It’s nice here. Surely, the party’s not over yet? JJULIUS’ Vol. 3 album is a big step forward, or a step up, out of the murky basement of the preceding two volumes. There’s no time to acclimate. A spindly violin grabs you by the hand and pulls you into the pastoral bounce of “Brinna ut,” which, in spite of its meaning (“Burn out”), creates the kind of blind positivity and warm stomach feeling less cynical people might find in self-help seminars. For us, we have records like this. And, inertia be damned, Vol. 3 has charm like a balm. JJULIUS records have always arrived like meteors from another planet, an impression hammered home by the fact that they’re titled like compendiums of artifacts. And while Vols. 1 and 2 carried that notable tinge of darkness, Vol. 3 has (almost!) cast that shadow, adding elements of disco (“Dödsdisco”) and dream-pop (“Etopisk hallucination”) to his forever favorites Arthur Russell, African Head Charge, and The Fall. Some of that new car smell could be attributed to a change in process. Each song was written over beats played by Tor Sjödén of the wild-eyed Stockholm group Viagra Boys, beats that were themselves inspired by tracks from the likes of Patrick Cowley, CAN, Count Ossie, Black Devil Disco Club and others that Julius would send to him as inspiration. Unless you’re Mark E. Smith, fervor fades. Eventually we all crave a lie down in some nice grass, a few minutes to gaze at the sky and wonder if everything is actually all that bad. Vol. 3 gives you 35 of those respiting minutes. “No looking back, no misery, no talking trash, no enemies.”

Repress!

VERY LTD 100 COPIES UK

‘Indian Wedding Sweetmeat Celebrations’ transparent Yellow vinyl.** Ten years on from its original release, Ample Play Records will release, the ground breaking ‘Cornershop And The Double ‘O’ Groove Of’ album by Cornershop feat. Bubbley Kaur on vinyl for the first time. The LP, pressed as a stunning limited edition of 500 copies on ‘Indian Wedding Sweetmeat Celebrations’ sticky transparent Yellow vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with poster insert, will be available via mail order direct from the group and in all good independent record shops from 3rd December 2021. Cut for vinyl at optimum levels by Fluid Mastering, the same clever folk who mastered both the celebrated ‘England Is A Garden’ and ‘England Is A Garden Instrumentals’ albums. It’s a vinyl release that Rough Trade Shops have petitioned us for years to action and we’re pleased to report they consider the audio results to be “topknotch, an amazingly defined cut”. After many a time in the studio, under lab conditions Cornershop originally released the album in 2011 featuring the incredible double sugar-coated vocals of Bubbley Kaur. When Tjinder and Bubbley decided to work with each other, she had not recorded a note of music. They had met very fleetingly, years ago at a cellar gathering in Preston Lancashire, where Tjinder & Benedict studied. So it was much surprise when a taxi driver friend introduced him to a lady that liked singing, worked in a local launderette, and was the same lady he had met in a northern cellar bar. They then met a good many times at Tjinder’s house where they would listen to and discuss traditional Punjabi Folk Music, and slowly Bubbley came out writing her own original lyrics, which were set to a varied range of modern musics. ‘Natch’ was the first song she recorded, followed by ‘Topknot,’ and together they became the first double ‘A’ single on Rough Trade Records. The complete recordings were made in their own good time. Tjinder explains “There was no need to quickly put the album out, but there was a need to make it top rank and evergreen, especially as I have wanted to do an album like this for 20 years.” Benedict & Tjinder set up their own label, Ample Play in 2009 to release the highly acclaimed album ‘Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast.’ The way Tjinder & Bubbley met was like a hindi movie script, and the outcome of the music is like an Asian version of The Kids From Fame – totally upbeat, giving rise to new ways of expressing yourself.

The Tubs' second album, Cotton Crown, sees the Celtic Jangle boyband venture into darker, more personal territor y while continuing to hone their highly addictive brand of songcraft. It 's a true level up album which sees the band expand their sonic palette to take in a kaleidoscopic range of influences: everything from soulful pub rock (Chain Reaction) to Husker Du aggression (One More Day) to melancholy sophisto-pop (Narcissist) gets a look in. As Pitchfork noted, The Tubs see jangle as a `vast world of moods and muses' and Cotton Crown sees them continuing to explore this world and creating a distinctly Tub-ular sound in the process. This is in no small part down to Owen `O' Williams' vocal performance- often compared to a young Richard Thomson- and his frank, bleakly funny lyric writing. Cotton Crown sees him delve further into his favourite themes of love-psychosis, unsympathetic mentally ill behaviour, and the humiliations of being a musician in London. This time around, however, there's a palpable sense of risk in his self assessments/confessions. No more so in the track's closing track Strange- an accounting of the clumsy, intrusive, well-meaning social interactions that took place in the period following the suicide of his mother (the folk singer Charlotte Greig.) As Williams says: "I'd tried a few times to write a song about it. The result had always seemed either mawkish, simplifying or like I was hawking my trauma. But then this one came out, and it felt right because it looked at something smaller: the weird, unsatisfying, strangely funny ways everyone, including myself, acted after the dust settled." The album artwork features an image of Williams as an infant being breastfed by Greig in a graveyard- a promotional shot taken around the release of her debut album (the re-issue of which was featured in The Guardian in 2023.) The essential trick Cotton Crown plays is to offset Williams' lyrical bleakness with joyous, hook-laden blasts of pop perfection. This is largely down to the guitar work of George Nicholls, who, across the album, effortlessly slips between the virtuoso jangle of Marr, the driving folk-rock of Pentangle and the chorus-heavy hi-fi grooves of contemporary bands like Tops or The 1975. Add to that the breakneck rhythm section of Taylor Stewart (Drums) and Max Warren (Bass)- who attack each song with power-pop ferocity, recalling Guided by Voices at their drunken-yet-tight best- and you've got yourself a recipe for indie rock greatness. The band's debut `Dead Meat' was a word-of-mouth sensation that saw the band earn accolades from Pitchfork, The Guardian, MOJO, SPIN and more. They even gained some celeb fans: the inimitable Mark Proksch (The Office (US), Better Call Saul, What We Do in the Shadows) starred in the video for their "Round the Bend" single & punk legend Iggy Pop has praised them on his BBC 6Music radio program. Standing in opposition to the UK norm of post punk, and hookless high-minded indie prog, the album was described by Kitty Empire (Observer) as a "shot in the arm for indie rock". The band's hard touring and raucous, beer y live show have seen them stand out at festivals like Greenman, End of The Road, Melbourne Rising and Canela Party. The band (minus Stewart) were previously members of Joanna Gruesome- who won the Welsh Music Prize, toured the UK and US extensively, and were praised in Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The NY Times, The Guardian and others. Lan Mcardle (Joanna Gruesome, Ex-Void) also provides backing vocals on several tracks. The Tubs are part of the Gob Nation collective- the London-based network of bands, writers and promoters who were recently profiled in The Guardian.

The Tubs' second album, Cotton Crown, sees the Celtic Jangle boyband venture into darker, more personal territor y while continuing to hone their highly addictive brand of songcraft. It 's a true level up album which sees the band expand their sonic palette to take in a kaleidoscopic range of influences: everything from soulful pub rock (Chain Reaction) to Husker Du aggression (One More Day) to melancholy sophisto-pop (Narcissist) gets a look in. As Pitchfork noted, The Tubs see jangle as a `vast world of moods and muses' and Cotton Crown sees them continuing to explore this world and creating a distinctly Tub-ular sound in the process. This is in no small part down to Owen `O' Williams' vocal performance- often compared to a young Richard Thomson- and his frank, bleakly funny lyric writing. Cotton Crown sees him delve further into his favourite themes of love-psychosis, unsympathetic mentally ill behaviour, and the humiliations of being a musician in London. This time around, however, there's a palpable sense of risk in his self assessments/confessions. No more so in the track's closing track Strange- an accounting of the clumsy, intrusive, well-meaning social interactions that took place in the period following the suicide of his mother (the folk singer Charlotte Greig.) As Williams says: "I'd tried a few times to write a song about it. The result had always seemed either mawkish, simplifying or like I was hawking my trauma. But then this one came out, and it felt right because it looked at something smaller: the weird, unsatisfying, strangely funny ways everyone, including myself, acted after the dust settled." The album artwork features an image of Williams as an infant being breastfed by Greig in a graveyard- a promotional shot taken around the release of her debut album (the re-issue of which was featured in The Guardian in 2023.) The essential trick Cotton Crown plays is to offset Williams' lyrical bleakness with joyous, hook-laden blasts of pop perfection. This is largely down to the guitar work of George Nicholls, who, across the album, effortlessly slips between the virtuoso jangle of Marr, the driving folk-rock of Pentangle and the chorus-heavy hi-fi grooves of contemporary bands like Tops or The 1975. Add to that the breakneck rhythm section of Taylor Stewart (Drums) and Max Warren (Bass)- who attack each song with power-pop ferocity, recalling Guided by Voices at their drunken-yet-tight best- and you've got yourself a recipe for indie rock greatness. The band's debut `Dead Meat' was a word-of-mouth sensation that saw the band earn accolades from Pitchfork, The Guardian, MOJO, SPIN and more. They even gained some celeb fans: the inimitable Mark Proksch (The Office (US), Better Call Saul, What We Do in the Shadows) starred in the video for their "Round the Bend" single & punk legend Iggy Pop has praised them on his BBC 6Music radio program. Standing in opposition to the UK norm of post punk, and hookless high-minded indie prog, the album was described by Kitty Empire (Observer) as a "shot in the arm for indie rock". The band's hard touring and raucous, beer y live show have seen them stand out at festivals like Greenman, End of The Road, Melbourne Rising and Canela Party. The band (minus Stewart) were previously members of Joanna Gruesome- who won the Welsh Music Prize, toured the UK and US extensively, and were praised in Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The NY Times, The Guardian and others. Lan Mcardle (Joanna Gruesome, Ex-Void) also provides backing vocals on several tracks. The Tubs are part of the Gob Nation collective- the London-based network of bands, writers and promoters who were recently profiled in The Guardian.

The Tubs' second album, Cotton Crown, sees the Celtic Jangle boyband venture into darker, more personal territor y while continuing to hone their highly addictive brand of songcraft. It 's a true level up album which sees the band expand their sonic palette to take in a kaleidoscopic range of influences: everything from soulful pub rock (Chain Reaction) to Husker Du aggression (One More Day) to melancholy sophisto-pop (Narcissist) gets a look in. As Pitchfork noted, The Tubs see jangle as a `vast world of moods and muses' and Cotton Crown sees them continuing to explore this world and creating a distinctly Tub-ular sound in the process. This is in no small part down to Owen `O' Williams' vocal performance- often compared to a young Richard Thomson- and his frank, bleakly funny lyric writing. Cotton Crown sees him delve further into his favourite themes of love-psychosis, unsympathetic mentally ill behaviour, and the humiliations of being a musician in London. This time around, however, there's a palpable sense of risk in his self assessments/confessions. No more so in the track's closing track Strange- an accounting of the clumsy, intrusive, well-meaning social interactions that took place in the period following the suicide of his mother (the folk singer Charlotte Greig.) As Williams says: "I'd tried a few times to write a song about it. The result had always seemed either mawkish, simplifying or like I was hawking my trauma. But then this one came out, and it felt right because it looked at something smaller: the weird, unsatisfying, strangely funny ways everyone, including myself, acted after the dust settled." The album artwork features an image of Williams as an infant being breastfed by Greig in a graveyard- a promotional shot taken around the release of her debut album (the re-issue of which was featured in The Guardian in 2023.) The essential trick Cotton Crown plays is to offset Williams' lyrical bleakness with joyous, hook-laden blasts of pop perfection. This is largely down to the guitar work of George Nicholls, who, across the album, effortlessly slips between the virtuoso jangle of Marr, the driving folk-rock of Pentangle and the chorus-heavy hi-fi grooves of contemporary bands like Tops or The 1975. Add to that the breakneck rhythm section of Taylor Stewart (Drums) and Max Warren (Bass)- who attack each song with power-pop ferocity, recalling Guided by Voices at their drunken-yet-tight best- and you've got yourself a recipe for indie rock greatness. The band's debut `Dead Meat' was a word-of-mouth sensation that saw the band earn accolades from Pitchfork, The Guardian, MOJO, SPIN and more. They even gained some celeb fans: the inimitable Mark Proksch (The Office (US), Better Call Saul, What We Do in the Shadows) starred in the video for their "Round the Bend" single & punk legend Iggy Pop has praised them on his BBC 6Music radio program. Standing in opposition to the UK norm of post punk, and hookless high-minded indie prog, the album was described by Kitty Empire (Observer) as a "shot in the arm for indie rock". The band's hard touring and raucous, beer y live show have seen them stand out at festivals like Greenman, End of The Road, Melbourne Rising and Canela Party. The band (minus Stewart) were previously members of Joanna Gruesome- who won the Welsh Music Prize, toured the UK and US extensively, and were praised in Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The NY Times, The Guardian and others. Lan Mcardle (Joanna Gruesome, Ex-Void) also provides backing vocals on several tracks. The Tubs are part of the Gob Nation collective- the London-based network of bands, writers and promoters who were recently profiled in The Guardian.

Repressed LP on Neon Orange Vinyl, includes download card. It feels like someone left the light on in the studio and it all just ran itself, there had been a funky human input earlier in the day but, by a Darwinian machine-led kind of osmosis, the tracks recorded spent the wee small hours self-reducing and simplifying themselves. Marinated in music. “I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil,” said Truman Capote. ”Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” opined Leonardo da Vinci much earlier in proceedings. Yes, it’s the space around the object, what you leave out that makes what you leave in so important. ESG know this. Sure they can play the game but it’s the swagger of the groove and the minimal topping – like an anti-cup cake – that makes this unique New York sisterhood so appealing on ‘Keep On Moving’. Sampled on TV ads, lauded by critics and swooned over on the dancefloor, ESG’s post-punk took out the grunge and polished the basics. Cut them open and “less is more” is written all the way through. ‘Keep On Moving’ was released over ten years ago to much praise (Q said it was “even better” than 2002’s much loved ‘Step Off’). ESG had been sparring partners for PiL and early hip hop and four years after the ‘Off’, they were onto something new – rhythm as core, reflective storylines about relationship management, sensuality and insanity gather around the bass fix but they’re much blurrier than the incessant beats. Inadvertently they unmask techno and glitch and leave out any kind of superfluous fluff. It’s hard and temple throbbing. Turn it up. And keep moving. “If there's one tune which sums up ESG's enduring lust for life, it's the beautifully-judged Black Flag/early techno crossover of the closing 'Gimme A Blast'.” The Guardian 5/5 // “This album's every percussive aspect has been honed to impart the maximum amount of pleasure.” The Observer // “Despite their influence on younger bands (you can hear LCD Soundsystem's knobbly grooves on ‘Insane’), ESG still sound like nothing else.” The Guardian

No matter how much of their filthy riches Munich’s oh-so shiny and smart glitterati are going to spend on generic pest control, they’ll never manage to exterminate SPINNEN (n.b. German for “spiders” – and also for “being bonkers” ;) Instead, SPINNEN will spread even further, they’ll form new networks, take over new corners, new spots, connect more musical dots with invisible, incendiary cobwebs.

Whereas these two SPINNEN – Sophie Neudecker (drums) and Veronica “Katta” Burnuthian (bass) – have been doing their spidery thing(s) in countless muggy, experimental corners of Munich for years (think bands such as Bombo, Uschi, Apian, The Living Object, Friends of Gas + other art ventures, tats, Schaufel & Besen Records…), the duo’s first full-length offering for Weilheim-based Alien Transistor sees them move on towards a warm kind of light – “Warmes Licht”. Inspired by Lambrini Girls, Peaches, McLusky, Amyl And The Sniffers, and all things loud and gain-heavy around their hometown, the album – obviously two body parts (A + B side), 8 legs (tracks) – is set to arrive in March 2025.

“Zusammen wachsen/Zusammen fallen,” meaning grow together/fall together feels like a fitting motto on opening track “Träume,” an initial onslaught of shouts, spiky basslines, crunchy chords, a whole lot of awesome friction in that lovely lower end. “Visionen folgen/Kämpfen und Erschaffen,” is another apt line while doing just that, fighting, creating, turning visions into soundscapes, into pure sonic fun & resistance. Putting even more pressure on the mosh pit with wordless “Wirken,” that titular warm light eventually breaks through towards the end of hypnotic “Moment”: The lyrics might talk about a calm state of mind – but these two are certainly not slowing down, not aiming for consistency, or for “making it”…

“Warm” has no drums, no message, it’s pure light, all playful organ hypnosis, paving the way for the b-side that opens with first single “Geister” (spirits/ghosts/genies): Arriving with a rough wind that immediately turns things upside down, it’s all screams and riffs, turbines and propellers – one of many moments that make you realize how bad you want to see this hi-octane duo live, how good it must feel to have them scare the shit out of your body (“Verscheuche mich aus meinem Körper”). They’re like two genies coming from the same smashed bottle, offering three wishes to those who’re lucky enough to listen (Fuzzy Noise Pop? Punk Catharsis? Rrriot Krautsound?).

Following a quick melancholy breather (“Lichter”), things once again get restless as they rush towards the punk finale via slow-burning demolisher anthem “Ermüdend”/“Immer wieder,” only to unleash one last battle cry, one last middle finger made of light and noise to the heated room (“Mäuse”) they’ve long taken over.

It’s certainly no coincidence that a certain square/fine/upstanding citizen named Margit O. gave Munich’s Bürgerpark Oberföhring a scathing 1-star review on Google Maps exactly four years ago – at the very moment that Sophie and Katta first met just there, which eventually lead to the formation of SPINNEN. The reason for O.’s negative rating: “Too loud”.

Pieter Van Dessel is not one to stand still when it comes to music: the driving force behind Marble Sounds keeps challenging himself, exploring new horizons on every album. After the more melancholic eponymous fifth album, synths and drums take centre stage for a pure and almost electronic pop sound on sixth effort ‘Core Memory’. The result is sparkling and epic indie pop, often with driving synths and delicious melodies, like on opening track and first single An Emotional High, or If You Would Prove Me Wrong Now, which did very well in The Netherlands too: Marble Sounds made the cover of Spotify's leading ‘New Alternative’ playlist and played a live session for popular NPO Radio 2 show ‘Blokhuis’. Third single Give Or Take A Few is Van Dessel's answer to A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton's smash hit from the beginning of this millennium. “And your thousand miles, I'd walk ’em too”, he sings in a touching ballad reminiscent of Eels and Tom Waits. Like with previous Marble Sounds records, Core Memory was produced by Van Dessel himself. It’s out on 7 March, followed by a release tour in Belgium and The Netherlands, playing lovely venues from Antwerp to Bruges and Utrecht to Maastricht.

Ajay Saggar is BHAJAN BHOY. "With BHAJAN BHOY, Saggar synthesizes all of the stylistic approaches he’s explored over the years, swirling them into an intoxicating musical blend, with an earthy spirituality. Even the project’s name reflects the dual aspects of Saggar’s upbringing coming together in harmony. In Hindi, a “bhajan” is a devotional song, sung in the mandir, or temple, while “bhoy” is a Scottish and Irish derivation for a young man. There’s a searching quality to Bhajan Bhoy, as if Saggar is still hunting for transcendence with each track, whether through an expansive drone, an orchestral facility on the piano, or an electronics-augmented raga that threatens to dip into noise” (Erick Bradshaw / writer and WFMU DJ). This album presents a rich and varied set of compositions that showcase Saggar’s skills as an incredibly talented and accomplished composer and musician. With each and every Bhajan Bhoy LP, you are are carried to a higher place. With ‘Bhoy On The Wire’, the 35 minutes laid out unfolds like a cosmic tapestry, an extraordinary exploration that shimmers and reverberates with newfound vibrancy. The songs were broadcast as part of a session on Steve Barker’s “On The Wire” radio show in April 2024. They were a gift to Steve and his team for 40 years of broadcasting. “On The Wire” is simply the greatest radio show in the world. As Ajay explains in his own words : “In September 1984, I started a degree course at the University of Lancaster. On a wet and soggy Sunday afternoon towards the end of September, I sat in my room staring out at the grey Lancashire landscape, and decided to alleviate the boredom by seeing if there was anything to listen to on the radio. Most of the stations I tuned into were as dull as the weather outside. However, as I neared the end of the FM dial (and was about to give up hope), I chanced upon a station where I was taken by the music being played. That show was “On The Wire”, introduced by Steve Barker. From there on in, every Sunday, between 2-5pm, I tuned into Radio Lancashire to listen. Steve’s shows had an incredible and wide reaching selection of music and genres, that thrilled your ears and left you wanting more. Tied to that, his deep knowledge of the material he played helped the listener dig into the sounds even more, and also left you in admiration of this trait. In 1985, I started putting on DIY shows in Lancaster (inviting the likes of Bog-Shed, bIG fLAME, The Membranes, The Wedding Present, etc etc) and Steve was kind enough to mention the shows on-air, which helped in getting people from different parts of the county to come to the shows. At the tail-end of 1985, he invited me to the studio to come and hang out. When in 1988, the group I was in, Dandelion Adventure, released our first (demo) cassette, it was Steve, who not only played tracks off it, but invited the group to the studio for an interview. Now if you’re a young band, that is a massive thrill! And in 1990, when Dandelion Adventure did a John Peel session, I actually used “On The Wire” jingles (that Steve had put on a cassette and given to me a few years before) on the track “All the World’s A Lounge”. Since then, the show has been a mainstay for me, and so many others around the world, to get turned onto incredible sounds from around the world. And over the course of 40 years, Steve has always supported my music. These six tracks are a 40th birthday gift to the “On The Wire” team (Steve, Michael “Fenny” Fenton (an absolutely critical part of the show), and Jim Ingham (engineer who keeps the technical side of things going)) for sharing so much amazing music, and making the world a better place. They were originally broadcast as an exclusive session in April 2024 on “On The Wire", and are here for your listening pleasure. Music like shower”. Artwork by Jake Blanchard

"There is great power in secrecy. Detached from the world, brewed under a strict code of confidentiality, a new lifeform came into existence. Led by none other than Sonata Arctica frontman Tony Kakko, this new beast of his gained momentum in the massive shadow of his wildly successful power metal superheroes, slowly, steadily, biding its time, waiting for the right moment. This moment is now: With his self-titled debut, Tony Kakko opens the curtains into this strange new world of his just enough to take a first peek – and instantly hunger for more. A master story teller and a wizard of conjuring musical emotions, Himmelkraft stages Kakkos trademark talents in a wholly new, unexpected and thrilling way. To him, the sky truly is the limit, bestowing upon us an album that sounds like nothing else out there – brooding and dark, menacing and eerie, stomping and monumental.




This project sees Tony Kakko enter a fascinating new era. Much like the legendary Elven smiths of old, forging away in solemn silence, Kakko has stopped the wheel of time to reinvent himself and his bold musical vision. Shrouded in mystery, a new being appears in the fog, barely discernible and yet distinct the very moment Tony Kakko starts to sing.

Yet, everything else remains just what it was from the very start – a mystery. Call them songs for a dying world or songs for a world reborn – either way, you will be intrigued how this extraordinary project will develop. And that’s a promise
"

Red Motorbike maestro Eddie C drops on the ensemble with an anthemic ode to the most sought-after of desires. We’ve been keeping this secret for far too long; it’s time to bring U Be Mine into the light, complete with remixes from Lex, Da Silva and Marcello Giordani aka Italo Deviance.
It was just over a year ago when Eddie sent us his original demo of U Be Mine. I remember plugging i the speakers in my fat, pressing play. A fash from a place of love that wet, grey day. The lyrical bass, euphoric stabs, the iconic delay, the pining vox. There are times where things seem naturally bound, designed to intertwine. An instant essential. We couldn’t wait to throw it down in the disco. Much like the coveted desire of its vocoder-clad protaganist, we needed a club-ready fx. Eddie, getting the message, sent us over a quick master - the Eddie C ‘Cash’ Version. Over the next year, at parties from Lisbon to Ibiza, I saw how those swirling arps locked onto the foor, how dancers cosied up to its decadent groove. It was peak time, warm-up and wind-down at once. In the true spirit of the ensemble, we got to work curating a cast of balearic technicians to write their distinct shade of depth onto Eddie’s golden letter. And that’s where it lands.
Lex from Athens casts an exotic, eclectic spirit with his Plaka Remix, all shufing percussions and wild, breezy strings, rejigged baselines and NYC disco tackle. Label curator Da Silva ups the ante with his 7-minute club-ready fx: tight kicks and searing acid, all the bells and whistles for your peak-time excursions. Finally, Marcello Giordani shifts into hyperdrive with the ITALO DEVIANCE ACID CONTROL version, conjuring creatures of the night in kaleidoscopic confgurations, a trusted party roller for the most decadent dancefoors.
We’re releasing U Be Mine on 150 pristine discs only. Claim it as yours, forevermore.

“We all grew up playing heavy music. For me personally, listening to artists like Swans, Godflesh, Neurosis and Kiss It Goodbye in my 20s was cathartic in a lot of ways. Identifying with people that have a similar world perspective, who are channeling their angst and frustration into the creative outlet of art and music — that was important.”

Josh Graham isn’t just talking about his decades-long career in heavy music, which has included A Storm of Light, Battle of Mice, and many years as the one-man visual department for Neurosis. He’s also talking about the formation of Guiltless, his new band with bassist Sacha Dunable (Intronaut), drummer Billy Graves (Generation of Vipers) and guitarist Dan Hawkins (A Storm of Light).

Guiltless released their debut EP, Thorns, via Neurot Recordings in early 2024. Crushing and cheerless, it seemed to welcome the apocalypse looming on our collective horizon. “The EP had a pretty narrow focus starting from my ideas,” Graham explains. “With this record, my main goal was to really collaborate with Sacha and Dan and Billy because those guys are great songwriters. The new album is meant to open up the sonic palette and explore more territory.”

That new album is Teeth to Sky, the band’s first full-length. Even more pulverizing and focused than its predecessor, the album’s collaborative songwriting approach was paired with an adjustment to the lyrical content.

You can hear it on “One Is Two,” which channels a tightly controlled Meshuggah churn through the more visceral lo-fi approach of Kiss It Goodbye or Swedish noise rock legends Breach. On “In Starless Reign,” Guiltless blend dissonant black metal and thundering doom while Graham invokes humanity’s inability to see the forest through the trees. Then there’s the bruising title track, which combines the gnarled sensibilities of The Jesus Lizard, Cherubs and Barn Owl into a rumination on Mother Nature’s revenge.

Teeth To Sky was recorded remotely by the members of Guiltless—except for the drums, which were recorded by Travis Kammeyer (Generation of Vipers) at Fahrenheit Studios in Johnson City, Tennessee. The album was mixed by Kurt Ballou at God City in Salem, Massachusetts, and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland, Oregon.

Half Speed Master

Samuel Locke Ward and Jad Fair are two of the most prolific musicians working today. Fair is a founding member of the band Half Japanese, and has released over 200 albums, including albums with Yo La Tengo, Daniel Johnston, Moe Tucker, Kramer, Teenage Fanclub, The Pastels, R. Stevie Moore, DQE, Tenniscoats, The Tinklers, Naomi Ishimaru, Jason Willett, Mosquito, and Strobe Talbot. Samuel Locke Ward has released over sixty solo albums as well as a myriad of collaborations with Bob Bucko Jr, Miracles Of God, SLW cc Watt (with Mike Watt) and the cult new age noise group Boundless Relaxation (with Joe Jack Talcum and The Bassturd). He is a cartoonist for Little Village magazine and like Jad Fair, his style musically and visually is wholly his own Pure Candy is the pair’s third album together following 2023’s Happy Hearts and Destroy All Monsters, both issued by Kill Rock Stars. Pure Candy is an album of love songs and is the feel good album of the Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall. The music was composed and performed by Ward who’s love of pop music and avant stylings offer seventeen unexpected turns over the course of a three minute song. The vocals and lyrics are by Fair, lyrics overflowing with words of love, joy, happiness, tenderness, hope and inspiration. Uplifting words for a time dearly in need of some upliftings. As with the previous two albums by Fair and Ward, this album was mixed and mastered by Jonathan Hansen and is being co-released on LP by Shrimper Records (who last worked with Fair on his collaborative three cassette box set Wonderful World) and Chicago’s Stationary (Hearts) Recordings.

-Lagartijeando is synonymous with pushing the alt-Latin electronic scene forwards along with his contemporaries Nicola Cruz, Chancha Via Circuito and El Buho.
-7 Caminos marks Lagartijeando's 4th consecutive LP with Wonderwheel, following La Tercera Vision (2021), Jallalla (2019) and El Gran Poder (2017)
-The album was recorded between Cholula, Mexico and Tarapoto, Peru - it has the energy of the South American jungle and the volcanoes of the Mexican Altiplano.
-Touring Japan all of October 2024 with winter dates in Mexico and Latin America
-Lagartijeando has been releasing music since 2009 (both under that name and Mati Zundel). He's been associated with labels like ZZK (Nicola Cruz) and Waxploitation (Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse)
-His releases have sold over 15,000 physical units (Vinyl and CDs) and over 25 million cumulative streams across all DSPs
-Extensive press and blog coverage from the likes of The FADER, Vice, KCRW, NPR and many others.
-Past tour history includes dates throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia

-Lagartijeando is synonymous with pushing the alt-Latin electronic scene forwards along with his contemporaries Nicola Cruz, Chancha Via Circuito and El Buho.
-7 Caminos marks Lagartijeando's 4th consecutive LP with Wonderwheel, following La Tercera Vision (2021), Jallalla (2019) and El Gran Poder (2017)
-The album was recorded between Cholula, Mexico and Tarapoto, Peru - it has the energy of the South American jungle and the volcanoes of the Mexican Altiplano.
-Touring Japan all of October 2024 with winter dates in Mexico and Latin America
-Lagartijeando has been releasing music since 2009 (both under that name and Mati Zundel). He's been associated with labels like ZZK (Nicola Cruz) and Waxploitation (Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse)
-His releases have sold over 15,000 physical units (Vinyl and CDs) and over 25 million cumulative streams across all DSPs
-Extensive press and blog coverage from the likes of The FADER, Vice, KCRW, NPR and many others.
-Past tour history includes dates throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia

After many years, Deformer has proven to still amaze and reinvent themselves. Fans always await the next record, because you never know what to expect, other than that it's most likely ear-shattering. This time again Deformer exceeded the expectations! The new crushing four track record entitled 'Instruments of torture', shows that Deformer still takes the lead when it comes to originality. Deformer has collaborated with some musical giants before and this time teamed up with Death Metal icon David Vincent (Vltimas, I Am Morbid), who previously shook up the music industry with Death Metal legends Morbid Angel. Featured on two tracks, David's signature grunt goes hand in hand with Deformer's musical carnage. This is not just groundbreaking, it's legendary!

Deformer producer, Mike Redman, is considered a musical maniac, known to be an artistic freethinker and has never watered down the Deformer concept. Where its foundation is still Hardcore Jungle, Deformer has always added various music genres into the mix making Deformer a genre of its own, even before terms like 'Breakcore' existed. Many of the more popular names in the field acknowledge that Deformer has always been a great source of inspiration. Where David Vincent made a blueprint in Death Metal, Deformer definitely did that for Hardcore Jungle/Breakcore.

Waxwork Records is thrilled to release PHANTASM Original Motion Picture Score by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave. In celebration of the iconic Horror film's 45th Anniversary, this special triple LP features the complete score sourced from the original 1979 master tapes for the first time in any format, a full LP of never before released cues from the Phantasm score recordings sessions, and the newly re-mastered original 1979 score album.

Directed by Don Coscarelli, Phantasm has become a horror classic due to its surreal and unconventional storytelling. Filming on weekends over the span of a year, and working with a budget of only $300,000, Coscarelli and his crew created a bizarre, gorey, and entirely original horror film. Some of the most famous aspects of the film, like the floating silver orb, come directly from Coscarelli’s dreams, which give the film an even more ethereal feel. Composers Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave were inspired by the horror scores of Goblin (Suspiria) and Mike Oldfield (The Exorcist) to create the haunting sounds of Phantasm. Myrow and Seagrave were working with synthesizers in the early days of the instrument. Says Coscarelli, “The synthesizers we used back then were so primitive that you couldn't repeat something; you would program the synthesizer, which means setting all of these dials to create a sound, and you went back and tried to get it again and forget it - it was impossible.

"I recently received notice that our long-term film storage vault in the basement of the historic Howard Hughes Headquarters building on the corner of Romaine and Sycamore in Hollywood was being permanently closed. During the process of moving out our negative materials, I came across the original three reels of Ampex 456 analog tape used in the Phantasm score recording sessions. Listening now to the score, including the outtake tracks, I am impressed with how inventive and adventurous Fred and Malcolm were in their approach to scoring Phantasm."

Waxwork Records is excited to release the definitive PHANTASM Original Motion Picture Score by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave as a deluxe 3xLP with features including the expanded and complete score sourced from the original 1979 master tapes, never before released score cues from the Phantasm recording sessions, and the newly re-mastered original 1979 score album. Each disc is pressed to "Silver Sphere" metallic silver colored vinyl and housed in a heavyweight triple gatefold jacket. Also included are exclusive liner notes by Phantasm writer, director, and producer Don Coscarelli, an 11""x11"" insert, and full album artwork by Graham Humphreys.

I Was A King. For nearly 20 years they have been a warm beating heart in Norwegian music scene, reliable suppliers of perfect pop and sonic happiness. Led by Anne Lise Frøkedal and Frode Strømstad, they have come with infectious melodic strength and rich harmonies. The formula has been a classic four-piece approach to the music. Their music has been widely acclaimed by critics in Norway, as well as in the US and UK. While perpetuating the legacy of icons like The Byrds, Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and even My Bloody Valentine, they keep playing by their own rules on each release, combining music history with a modern perspective.

"Best Wishes - A Shortcut to I Was a King" collects highlights from their rich catalog, on wich they have collaborated with international figures such as Sufjan Stevens, Robyn Hitchcock and Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) to name a few.

Good Grief is the 2016 sophomore album by Brooklyn indie pop band Lucius.

“This collection feels like one of those debuts that arrive preternaturally fully-formed, with songs as polished as the quintet’s outfits.” –Pitchfork

Pressed on marbled blue vinyl!

Sofia Kourtesis has announced that she will release her new EP Volver on 1 August via Ninja Tune. Along with the announcement she has shared lead single ‘Unidos’ which is made in collaboration with Daphni (aka Dan Snaith aka Caribou), the first ever Daphni collaboration track.

Speaking of the single Sofia says:
“Unidos is about the power and beauty of how much stronger we are together. I always admire the light and the beautiful shine of Dan, he is a hero and he is so generous without making a big fuss about it”

While Daphni says:
“Sofia sent me a demo of this track that she’d been working on and it was immediately evident that it was a massive track. To be clear, all the good ideas in this track are Sofia’s I just added some drums and pumped up the arrangement”

Speaking of the Volver EP Sofia says:
“In the Volver EP I am paying tribute to all the LGBT+ community and all the amazing trans women that I was lucky to meet through the course of the last few years. Their bravery and existence in a world full of hate and danger, they find a way to bring the lights to the most vulnerable communities, specifically those that are behind the walls of terrible corruption in the Latino America Security and Health System.”

The EP recording itself she describes - in keeping with its title - as like a Pedro Almodóvar movie: a chaotic, painful but ultimately joyful experience, as she worked across her twin homes in Germany and Peru with dramatic changes occurring all the time. Across this process Sofia was touring the world, playing bigger and bigger shows, working with local communities in Germany and South America, navigating the continued care of her mother, and even decided to throw beginning to study medicine into the mix.

This has always been what makes Sofia such a special artist - there is so much living crammed into every inch of her music. Here she builds on that, her intoxicating spirit more present than ever.

MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON 'FREQUENCY EQUILIBRIUM KOAN' EXPANDED!

DOUBLE VINYL LP & CD + 2 UNRELEASED TRACKS

Michael Gregory Jackson released "FREQUENCY EQUILIBRIUM KOAN" as a 4 track digital release in 2021. We got in contact with him to make an LP copy, as historic loft jazz recordings like this don't crop up every day, and this recording with Julius Hemphill, Abdul Wadud and Pheeroan aKLaff deserves physical form.

To make it even more irresistable a project, Michael said he had 2 more tracks from the same session that we could add to the collection, making this our first Moved-by-Sound double vinyl release, and our first record that's not a reissue.

The LP is limited to just 500 copies

LIMBOY RETURNS WITH EXPLOSIVE SOPHOMORE ALBUM 'II' French Noise-Punk Quartet's New Album Arrives via Stolen Body Records Stolen Body Records announces their newest signing LIMBOY and the release of their sophomore album 'II'. Following their spontaneous and raw 2022 debut (delayed due to the global pandemic), the French quartet has channeled their infamous live energy into ten uncompromising tracks that showcase their evolution and musical prowess. The album will be released worldwide on vinyl, digital platforms, and all major streaming services. Emerging from Angers' vibrant rock scene, LIMBOY has built their reputation through incendiary live performances and notable support slots for acts like Metz. The band, comprising members known for their work with Tinny Voices, Eagles Gift, Bermud, San Carol, and Sheraf, brings a wealth of experience and musical diversity to their distinctive sound. 'II' sees LIMBOY diving deeper into their hardcore punk roots while embracing the sonic textures of '90s noise rock. The album's ten tracks are a testament to the band's growth, addressing themes of personal struggle, introspection, and the persistent doubts that shape human experience. Their commitment to raw energy and authentic expression remains unwavering, resulting in their most focused and powerful release to date.

"Belgians most hidden melodic black/death metal jewel SLAUGHTER THE GIANT will release their follow up to their successful album ""DEPRAVITY"", this time through Swedish upcoming label AT DAWN RECORDS. ""ABOMINATION"" is a six-track mini album. Their music embodies a captivating blend of modern and old school melodic black/death metal from both Scandinavia and America. Reminiscent of bands like The Black Dahlia Murder, Dimmu Borgir and Necrophobic to name a few."

"Belgians most hidden melodic black/death metal jewel SLAUGHTER THE GIANT will release their follow up to their successful album ""DEPRAVITY"", this time through Swedish upcoming label AT DAWN RECORDS. ""ABOMINATION"" is a six-track mini album. Their music embodies a captivating blend of modern and old school melodic black/death metal from both Scandinavia and America. Reminiscent of bands like The Black Dahlia Murder, Dimmu Borgir and Necrophobic to name a few."

Adrian Younge Presents Something About April is quintessential sweet-soul from The Delfonics lead vocalist William Hart produced by Adrian Younge. From the very beginning, it was Younge’s intention to create an old-school Delfonics vibe but offer a very hip-hop-informed perspective. There are distinguishing musical elements that Delfonics fans will recognize, like the electric sitar guitar, the French horn, string arrangements, and the tympani. Recorded and mixed by Adrian Younge at Linear Labs, the preeminent analog studio of Los Angeles, CA

Repressed LP on Neon Orange Vinyl. “ESG's fusion of sweet soul and punk attitude with an intuitive understanding of dance music remains.” The Guardian “This is still funk with an alien otherworldliness the likes of which George Clinton never envisioned, stripped to its barest essentials for maximum impact.” All Music “ESG are as cool as ever.” The Guardian Pumping their way out of the South Bronx of New York in the early 80s, this rhythm and dance-punk outfit made unforgettable funk that was also unusually rooted in post-punk. This powerhouse of raw and cutting edge music ultimately made them ahead of their time. ESG enjoyed success sharing stages with PiL and Gang Of Four and have been heavily sampled as many musicians including TLC, Wu-Tang Clan, Beastie Boys and Liars.

Recorded in 1958, this album showcases Chet Baker’s undeniable charm as both a singer and trumpeter, embodying the essence of cool jazz. Accompanied by an elegant trio featuring Kenny Drew on piano, George Morrow on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums, Baker revisits standards with disarming grace. His soft, melancholic voice shines on tracks like “Do It the Hard Way” and “Everything Happens to Me,” where each note feels suspended in time. His airy trumpet subtly converses with Drew’s piano, creating moments of pure musical poetry. A must-listen for fans of intimate and refined jazz.

Recorded in 1957, this remarkable collaboration pairs Thelonious Monk’s angular piano style with Gerry Mulligan’s warm baritone saxophone. Backed by Wilbur Ware on bass and Shadow Wilson on drums, the quartet strikes a unique balance between Monk’s unpredictable harmonies and Mulligan’s melodic fluidity. Tracks like “Round Midnight” and “Straight, No Chaser” showcase their contrasting yet complementary approaches, blending complexity with swing. The interplay between Monk’s percussive chords and Mulligan’s smooth phrasing creates a dynamic, compelling listening experience. A jazz dialogue to savor.

Helena Casella is a Belgian-Brazilian vocalist with a multicultural background who vocalizes her thoughts in her own passionate, soulful, and tasteful manner. She grew up in an incredibly musical family with strong ties to the broader artistic world. This rich background is clearly audible in her musical approach, where she blends genres such as R&B, soul, hip-hop, and modern jazz without breaking the connection to the vibrant sounds of Brazil, where part of her roots lie. The depth of her soft, warm voice pulls you into her story, floating between the realms of the intimate and the ethereal.

With her debut album 'Pit Of Impressions,' Helena shows that she is an artist from whom we have yet to hear the best.

File under: neo soul, nu jazz, R&B

Sounds like: The Internet, Hiatus Kaiyote, Michi, Solange, Erykah Badu, Charlotte Dos Santos, ...

"The one and only single from Manchester band The Score was first released by Decca Records in November '66; if it is possible to improve upon a Beatles original then the twin guitar attack of Ken White and Frank Davies make this cover of the famed February '63 No. 2 a very strong contender. The raw delivery of singer Eddy Lamb is carried along by a bass line that nods to a more recent Fab Four release, 'Taxman', while the song's coda tips a hat to a Rolling Stones' hit from a year earlier. Things get even more exciting on the B-Side, where The Score turn in a blistering performance of Chuck Jackson's Northern Soul floorfiller, 'Beg Me', a favourite in clubs like the Twisted Wheel, and still popular with today's discerning Mod crowd, who have been known to part with £250 for an original copy.
"

The industrial treasure chest of Laurent Petitgand & Thierry Mérigout Geins’t Naït unit gets a third and final archival jag, playing to a spectrum of styles from misfit tape cut-ups to sludgy grooves and trampling sidewinds of the filthiest, sickest calibre.

The three volumes mining the Geins’t Naït Archive have parsed some 40 years of work for the most potent industrial blatz, culminating in some of the gnarliest and richest tackle on this final volume. As also highlighted on releases via Vladimir Ivkovic’s Offen Music label, it’s hard to fully surmise Geins’t Naït’s oeuvre, but you kinda know it when it hits. It’s industrial, or more specifically post-industrial, in the classic sense of everything after Throbbing Gristle and their famous label; buzzing with atonality and often heavily rhythm-driven, but not necessarily built for the club. In some senses, it's adjacent to freakier ‘floors in a way shared by the likes of Bourbonese Qualk or Din A Testbild, likeminded miscreants who emerged in TG’s shadow during the ‘80s.

‘Archives 3/3’ opens with a particularly Gallic slant on the paradigm in ‘Michel’, and shells a slew of thee crankiest gear that shares a certain tone and thrust toward trippy abstraction with Anne Gillis. ‘Abstrac 2’ finds them speaking in ogreish tongues on an uncanny waltz, before dialling up the pomp with near-EBM levels of muscularity and fanfare on ‘Poiro’, and unleashing reverse-looped heck like a La Peste joint in ‘GN is Good For You’. The keening pulse and nose attack of ‘Rappel’ reminds us of CHBB, and the evil slug of ‘Hate’ feels summoned from Parisian catacombs, whilst ‘Wladimir’ stands out for its phosphorous synth burn and prototypical Él-G poetry, leaving ‘Base Cour’ to souse the senses in distortion and barnyard squabble.

The 299 Game is the debut lp from 299, a collection of ten songs with an overarching sense of Lynchian weirdness is offset by songs that ring with crisp melodies and compositional nous. 299 is the solo recording project of Welsh multi-instrumentalist and producer Gavin Fitzjohn (who has worked with the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Gruff Rhys, James Dean Bradfield, Paolo Nutini and more), with 299 coming to life a few years ago while Fitzjohn was making his way across the US. Intoxicating, dangerous in its allure, there are flecks of '60s vocal groups and Tom Waits-style melancholia tied up in Fitzjohn's deliberate American drawl.

"I imagine that one of the first things I heard in the world was the
explosion of a Russian ammunitions factory on the outskirts of my
hometown. It blew up the night I was born a new GDR-citizen. I´m not
sure I heard a noise when the Wall came down, but it still echoes in my
body. The echo contains many frequencies. Some of them sound like Gabber
playing in my childhood room over the speakers my grandfather once stole
from a Leipzig radio station. Some of them sound like me and my friends
running through the streets. They sound like my mother laughing and
consoling women in the women´s shelter where she worked in 1992. They
sound like birds: my father swears after the Reunification the great
crested grebes on the town lakes lost all fear of humans. Some of them
sound like these recordings."

180G vinyl pressing

After releasing their well-received 7” and 12” singles ‘Night Time’ and ‘Feel It / So Hot’, Isle of Jura is pleased to present Exotic Illusions, the debut album from D.D. Mirage, the Sydney-based duo of Josh Dives and Disky Dee.

Having first played music together during the mid-2010s in the indie-psyche and punky-shoegaze bands King Colour and SCK CHX, the two Australian musicians/DJs came up in the warehouse party scene that fermented in the wake of the Sydney lockout laws. While organising mixed media events under the Yeah Nah Yeah brand, they discovered the joys of disco, dance-punk and the Balearic beat through Pender St Steppers’ DJ mixes and reissue releases and found themselves changing direction in response.

Written and recorded with a range of vintage keyboards and preamps, instruments and digital studio software, Exotic Illusions is a cosmopolitan love letter to the immaculate blend of Italo disco, Neopolitan funk, Nigerian boogie, cosmic house, synth-pop, UK street soul and lovers rock sounds that have inspired D.D. Mirage since they began this iteration of their ever-evolving musical relationship.

“The name Exotic Illusions refers to our fascination with all of this music made in other parts of the world,” they explain. “During lockdown and thereafter, we indulged in these exotic sounds as an antidote to our lack of travel. This fascination continued as the world opened up again, and we started working on tunes together. It’s also a way of acknowledging that we feel like tourists partaking in these styles and established sounds. They aren’t ours and weren’t born out of the place we’re from, but we hope we’ve been able to add something unique to them.”

In recognition of this, rather than just reinterpreting genre motifs through an antipodean lens, D.D. Mirage opened up lines of communication with some of their favourite musicians from the Neapolitan scene, bassist Daniel Monaco (Rush Hour, Periodica Records) and drummer Andrea De Fazio (Parbleu/ Nu Genea), who recorded the rhythm section for ‘So Hot’. They also wrote to the Manchester-based singer/producer Private Joy, who graced ‘Night Time’ with a smoother-than-silk street soul vocal that helped the single secure crucial plays on NTS and BBC Radio 6.

Opening with the tropical melodies, post-disco machine beats and jilted art-punk singalong chants of the title track, Exotic Illusions unfolds as a series of sturdy, internationally-minded dancefloor excursions. ‘Piranesi’ is boogie with a South American shuffle. ‘So Hot’ is Neapolitan funk with a Leichhardt strut, and ‘Antenna’ (featuring Jofi) is D.D. Mirage’s love letter to ‘80s drum machine bossa nova from Brussels.

On ‘Feel It’, the duo hit a sparking groove that reaches into an eternal sunset of the mind before throwing out a bubbly disco-not disco spoken word bounce on ‘Cat’s Cradle’, featuring psychedelic-pop singer Jermango Dreaming. From there, D.D. Mirage bring it home with a cheeky Aussie drawl on ‘Living Upside Down’ and the nocturnal excellence of ‘Night Time’, making a case for themselves as a significant new force from Australian music to the world.
full sleeve artwork from Bradley Pinkerton.

Julek ploski’s ‘Give up Channel’ is on mappa. It’s the follow-up to the Poland-based FL Studio demon’s ‘Hotel *’, released via Orange Milk in 2023.

It’s an album that wrestles against a shadow self. It’s about shelter from the hailstorm of unwanted memories and guilt pangs and serrated blades of thought. It’s about clinging on to some semblance of hope, knuckles taut and teeth gritted.

The fragmented drift of opener ‘Naysayer’ flows forward like an anxious daydream, pad eddies and piano plinks anchored by Trapaholics drops and bursts of guaracha drums. It’s a mess of mind: the bleakness of ‘Truth’ is punctuated by gun cocking and bullet spray and sudden jester-like blasts of unhinged, schizo-whimsical melody. An internal war without a clear winner.

Shame snakes through this music like venom through an emaciated body. Blue screenlight in a dark bedroom, pulsating temples, lockjaw. ‘Titanic’ hits like the thrashing resistance of a being built for love grappling against the scalding vengefulness it’s forced to contend with, the song’s abstracted rave synths giving way to warped voices and spiralling derangement. ‘Hollywood’ is a scarred battleground, the martial bludgeoning of a tightly wound hardstyle stomp blistering and shredding a delicate piano-and-string arrangement.

This music is about deep solitude, a meditation on simmering, slow-marinating hatred. But it’s ultimately about prevailing. It doesn’t revel in negativity, it roils and twists and writhes against it. Dots of light in oppressive darkness. Clarity and purpose against chaos and filth. It’s a struggle worth waging.










h I Was #AllAlone Movements V - VIII
[i] Economy [Movements I - IV]

"The title track here ebbs and flows in and out of Amen break cascades, as the drones hovering beneath give a sense of flying through an electrical storm. Dooky' is better still, its sparser rhythm recalling Reinforced stalwart Paradox in its ability to be simultaneously woody and ultra-digital, human and alien." THE WIRE

Those who are aware of dgoHn will by now be familiar with his sound and those who aren't should be. Back with his third single on Love Love, the drum maestro makes skin prickle once again with two shining original tracks laced with impeccable moments. Only dgoHn can create the kind of drum and bass that sounds like the tightest of ensembles playing meticulously rehearsed arrangements, painting intricate shapes with the percussion.

The title track takes a fresh look at the amen break, finding ways to breathe new life into it. Soaring above the clouds on thick warm pads, the drums thunder with a blissful rage propelled forwards by a rumbling bassline.

On the B-side 'Dooky' serves up a dgoHn masterclass in spatial control that could well be a future-classic of his. A formidable groove with serious punch, hi-hats skip along as the delicate balance of frequencies gives the listener just enough headspace not to get lost in the deep, dark world it creates. A subtle demonstration of tension and release, this single floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee whilst dripping with funk.

Lastly, Rognvald switches up the title track with a jam that triples the edits and doubles the bass, tipping the scales from the side of restraint to that of chaos without losing the feel of the original. Artwork once again provided by Colin 'Snublic' McCallister.

Black vinyl / 505mcn paper / 30 x 60 cm Insert with full interview to Khan Jamal II + extended liner notes printed on 300 gram Büttenpapierfabrik Gmund "No Color No Bleach" paper with exclusive pictures & much more!

Personnel:
Khan Jamal - Vibraphone, Marimba
Clint Jackson III - Trumpet
Hassan Rashid - Drums

Notes:
It's quite simple, if you have a good connection with music, to find things that should be reissued due to their exceptional quality, but, like a diviner, being able to unravel the problems related to the licensing of a record, well, that's much more difficult. Finding someone is Sherlock's job! After 4 years, Khan Jamal II (son of Khan Jamal) delighted us with a "Let's go my guy".
Khan Jamal doesn't need much introduction: Born Warren Robert Cheeseboro, he was a jazz vibraphone and marimba player from Philly. He founded the band Sounds of Liberation in 1970 with Byard Lancaster. In 1974, during one of his many trips to the old continent, he recorded this album in France at Jeff Gilson's Palm studio. It is a delicate game of lucid and intense contrasts between Christian Vander's drums provides a rock oriented touch, the marimba and the vibes with influences from the lands of the rising sun of Jamal and the composed trumpet of Clint Jackson III which anchor "Give the vibes Some" in a sort of Space Age Jazz era.
In the end, you know what? This album is a transcendent journey into yourself, like an intense session of meditation...even if "35.007 Feet Up" could easily be played by Jeff MiIls in his DJ Set!

Music to Watch Seeds Grow By continues its series of plant-inspired soundscapes with new work from Pittsburgh-based sound artist Davis Galvin. This composition focuses on the Delphinium Elatum, capturing the quiet drama of this striking perennial through carefully constructed ambient textures.

Where their previous work explored the complex electronic territories of the outer technoid reaches, here Galvin turns their attention to the subtle processes of plant growth. The piece unfolds gradually, much like the Delphinium's own journey from seed to flowering plant. Gentle drones and atmospheric elements mirror the plant's various growth stages, from its initial emergence to its ascent to heights of up to two metres. You heard it here first.

The music creates an environment for contemplation, designed specifically for the moments of sowing and tending to these magnificent plants. Galvin's approach, as with all things they turn their ear to, emphasises patience and attention to detail, qualities essential to both gardening and deep listening.

Guy J continues to redefine the boundaries with his Early Morning label, a space dedicated to showcasing forward-thinking artists whose creativity defies conventions. Among these is French producer Sébastien Léger, whose latest two-track release exemplifies his penchant for innovation and mastery of sound design.

The opening track, Koi Fish, delves into Leger's inner world, displaying his exceptional sound design skills. Symbolically rooted in qualities like resilience, prosperity, love, and transformation, the track is a collage of tribal didgeridoo textures intertwined with futuristic, dub-inspired effects. These elements converge on a spiritual plane, creating a soundscape that is both immersive and thought-provoking. The second piece, Gaufrette, is a melodic odyssey blending trance-inducing motifs with a touch of nostalgic dream house, reimagined with modern ingenuity. Synthesizer themes weave seamlessly with delicate piano lines, evoking a nineties-inspired euphoria that brims with creativity. The arrangement is meticulously crafted, with intricate percussion and a dynamic structure that continuously unveils fresh layers, technical ingenuity, and inventive ideas. This release highlights Leger's innovative spirit and reinforces Early Morning's status as a vanguard for transformative music that challenges and inspires.

First things first - you don’t need me to tell you about the significance of Australia in the history of punk. I mean, what am I, Jon Savage? Google it yourself, FFS. Instead, let’s just agree that the speedy, feral racket thrown together by the likes of The Saints, Radio Birdman and The Scientists in the mid-late ‘70s is AT LEAST as deliriously entertaining as anything concocted by their UK/US counterparts, sowing the seeds for seemingly endless garage-inflected noisemakers in the land down under. No one likes using words like ‘tradition’ or ‘heritage’ here - the punk rock clusterbomb is far too messy for any of that business - but also emerging from Australian rock’s primordial soup is the addictive sneer of Stiff Richards. Like their predecessors, the band are a gleefully wracked mess of full throttle energy and barrelling power chords, with songs like ‘Kids Out On The Grass’ and ‘Point of You’ proving at least the equal of ‘(I’m) Stranded’ or ‘Aloha Steve And Danno’. Nine tracks in less than 30 minutes, all winners and all determined to leave you flipping over couches and smashing your TV set. And let’s face it, you may as well; there’s nothing good on. It all builds towards frantic closer ‘Fill In The Blanks’, which rattles around your speakers like the UK Subs trying to play Ed Kuepper riffs at the centre of an earthquake, before grinding to a halt as a voice says, “That’s the one.” Does it sound self-satisfied? Hey, it’s got good reason to - this is the best no-frills garage rock party since Gino & The Goons’ ‘Do The Get Around’, and the only appropriate response is to declare yourself betrothed to Stiff Richards because you can’t imagine your life without ‘em. Don’t believe me? Sort out your ears and get ‘State Of Mind’ in ‘em. Rock’n’roll as it’s supposed to be played.

DeepMatter Records is thrilled to reintroduce ‘Daughter of the Sun’, the groundbreaking album from Canadian bassist and producer vbnd. Originally released in July 2018, this neo-soul masterpiece has captivated listeners worldwide, racking up over 68 million streams and selling out two previous limited vinyl pressings in the process.

Blending jazz influences with soulful grooves, this album is a true gem for any lover of neo-soul. Featuring collaborations with fellow Saskatoon artists — including the ethereal vocals of Katie Tupper, the masterful guitar work of Justice Der, the sultry sax of Connor Newton, and the artistry of Simon Jasieniuk — the project is a lush and unforgettable listening experience. Standout tracks like “Smoke” and the titular “Daughter of the Sun” highlight Tupper’s smoky, enchanting voice, perfectly paired with vbnd’s lush, soul-infused production.

Since its release, ‘Daughter of the Sun’ has become a cornerstone of Saskatoon’s blossoming jazz and soul scene, with vbnd drawing inspiration from icons like D’Angelo, Jaco Pastorius, and Snarky Puppy.

Split Evolution from Chicago and released two singles. The first "Jumpstreet" (vocal/instrumental) on Wasp in 1978 (although copyright on the label states 1974 whilst publishing states 1978) followed by "If Only You Would Say (I Love You)" (vocal/instrumental) on Jumpstreet in 1984 as The Three Phases Of Evolution. Both pretty hard records to find and not even listed on 45Cat but appear to have been reissued by Magnetic Recordings in 2014 (both included below). Interestingly, on the label for the latter it states that it is from the LP "Jumsptreet" so perhaps an album was in the pipeline? They recorded a third single which only made it to a test pressing stage, as the full run was cancelled later on. This unreleased third single "Bedroom Eyes" / "Let Me Do It" is the one out in March on Canonnball Records. The only surviving copy was found by rare soul DJ Dave Thorley on a record hunting trip to the States in the early noughties.

Our 8th Anniversary release is totally, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to LOVE. Written not to be a ballad neither to be a dancer “Bedroom Eyes” inevitably ended up being both, turning out in what I consider the definitive love song, up there with Sly, Slick and Wicked's Sho' Nuff. It just melts my heart. Warm basslines laying on a catchy drumming which anyone would likely mistake for an Enchantment groove. A man and a woman dueting like if they were actually laying in bed after a consuming day out, and finding relief in each other’s presence. The man, desperate for love, makes questions to which the woman answers in the choruses with a hidden prayer to stay together forever. All with mutual background voices and brass crescendos and strings pizzicatos counterpointing each others to make it a beautiful yet rough arrangement. Just pure Soul love heaven.

2025 Repress
Singing black-lit liturgies of bog bodies caked in mud, entranced by nocturnal landscapes flickering in the moonglow and powered by queer enchantment, Tristwch y Fenywod are a Welsh-language gothic avant-rock powercoven. Exhumed from the depths of Leeds’
experimental underground, the trio consist of Gwretsien Ferch Lisbeth (Guttersnipe, The Ephemeron Loop), Leila Lygad (Hawthonn) and Sidni Sarffwraig (Slaylor Moon, The Courtneys).
Stark, striking and bewitching, Tristwch y Fenywod’s self-titled album is their debut studio recording, following just 10 gigs and a live demo. Formed in 2022, Tristwch y Fenywod ("The Sadness of Women”) record exclusively in the Welsh language, conjuring an eldritch, subterranean, alien folk music played on dual zither, electronic drums and bass guitar. With towering, siren-like vocals curling around the Welsh consonants, accompanied by stark, martial rhythms and swirling claw-plucked strings, Tristwch y Fenywod feels like an early 4AD recording dredged from the waters of an Anglesey swamp. The effect is simultaneously chilling and stirring.
The eight tracks on the record constitute what feels like a recently rediscovered, unholy grail of edgy, atmospheric, occult feminist goth emissions. Gwretsien’s dual-zither playing scatters melodic fragments and spirals of harmony around the decimated space opened up by the lugubrious bass playing and pounding, brooding drum pads.
Coupled with the Welsh vocal, Tristwch y Fenywod embody a new, unique Celtic darkwave sound, equal part Pornography-era The Cure, Svitlana Nianio’s haunted hammered string-work and the dark beauty of Dead Can Dance or This Mortal Coil. Opener Blodyn Gwyrdd feels like the last ride of Princess Ukok, with lumbering bass and 6/8 rhythms in procession to the event horizon with an entreating, impassioned vocal and surprising lyrical theme. The doomed dancing of the zither provides the mysterious melodic bedrock throughout the album, particularly on Ferch Gyda’r Llygaid Du’s heavy funereal swa and the slowly building, paroxysmal banshee breakdown of Awen: an astonishing swell of thrilling chaos.
The album was recorded and produced by Ross Halden and the band at Hohm Studio, Bradford, Summer 2023.

“Where is this? It looks like the grounds of a shrine. Like a deep, dark, forest. I'm wandering around. I can't get over the feeling that I've been to this place before. The temple and the tower look much bigger than usual, and I feel as if I were lost in a world of immensity. It's very dark with no sky up above, like being in the depths of the Earth. Anyway, it's a world I know.” - Leisure, the Sonorous Dream

For schuttle’s next unearthly contribution, we invite you to slip into the reassuring comforts of the simulated realm. Herein lies an open invitation to all of those tentative travellers willing to join us as we revel in four slices of post-biological optimism.

The world building begins with “Splan”. schuttle’s navigation vessel hovers steadily above a fractal landscape until a divine arp propels us skywards. We burst through the latent cloudsphere to marvel at the boundless synergy of the interlocking polygons. The sunburst gradient barely has time to load before an oscillating wriggle plunges us into a strangely familiar stomping ground. Hedonistic NPCs begin spawning at random, splurging joyful machine funk at each other before walking gleefully into walls. Finally, with a little help from a well known toad, schuttle unleashes the full might of his Mana on the nascent gathering.

We dock next in ‘Melonweed Musick’. Our vessel gently stirring the reeds as we descend into the marshland. The potent aroma of the swamp fills our nostrils, various apparitions seem to wriggle into view. What have we been inhaling? No time to consider, the loose murk of the breakbeat is starting to take effect and it’s all we can do to keep one foot squelching after the other. As we submit wholeheartedly to the sheer depth and clarity of the bassline, a kindly angel sweeps above the sphagnum, spraying a succession of cleansing chords over our slimy bodies. Refreshed with some useful navigation advice we continue.

In ‘Kitchen Sync’ our craft’s speedometer is tickled up to a cruising 120bpm. The world outside our window begins to swim with colour, prickly forms materialise then dissipate around us. The familiar shape of our old friend, the high priest 303 appears before us, steadying the ship. Its resonant flame warming our hearth, and our hearts too. Then begins a beautiful communion of the domestic and the otherworldly, through the interplay of acid under glimmering keys. Provoking within us an uncontrollable desire to open our curtains, to cast off our slippers and embrace the infinite morrow.

Our voyage concludes with ‘Inspo 2000’. Scintillating landing lights guide us toward our destination, our descent beckoned by woody and playful percussion. We tumble through the troposphere, our landing cushioned by the buoyancy of the gated chords, the kicks juicing what's left of our dwindling fuel supply. A luxurious breakdown brings the ground into focus. Perhaps this is home? The simulation is now so accurate that it seems pointless to question it, it is a world we have always known.

The first in a two part series on Canopy documenting the work of the Beninoise supergroup, T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, who were responsible for an astonishing multitude of records, numbering well over 250 releases. While the group underwent numerous personnel changes over the course of their 40+ year legacy; the founder, composer, vocalist & multi-instrumentalist Clément Melome remained a constant and uniting force.

The title track, "Zo Tche Kpo Do Te", sung in Fon by bandleader Clément Melome translates as, "My Fire Will Not Go Out" and was taken from the self-titled LP "Melome Clement & L'International Orchestre Poly-Rythmo". It is here remastered and reissued by Canopy for the first time. This evocative song is a hybrid of soukous-like elements with a driving, almost disco beat and a relentless bassline shot through with funky guitars and triumphant horn arrangements. The atmosphere is given a cosmic sensibility with synth lines and psychedelic FX, culminating in a sonic cocktail that has often been described as "Voodoo-disco".

Accompanying the original version are two remixes by producers whose work Canopy has long admired.

Jose Marquez adds live bass and percussion to his "Mezcla", turning it into an uplifting opus that deftly dances the line between the original work and the modern elements, tastefully updating the sound to segue between the past and present.

Sol Power All-Stars up the ante with their powerful reinterpretation. Throbbing bass underpins a club focused yet dubbed out and psychedelic afrobeat over which Clement Melome's composition shines. The Ibibio Horns add complimentary horn arrangements and galactic synth solos. The end result is a master work in 21st century future-vintage afro funk creation.

After the success of Volume One, Jamie 3:26 returns for the second volume in the Dancefloor Damage series! Personal exclusives from his collection, these have damaged dancefloors around the world for years and are now available on vinyl for the first time ever. From the Southside of Chicago to the world. Three killer disco classics re-worked by a legend. No one does it like Jamie! Buy or cry.

Following his contribution to FUSE’s Various Artist release last summer with the standout ‘Life’s A Bleep’, Melbourne-born, Berlin-based DJ/producer Reflex Blue returns to Enzo Siragusa’s renowned imprint with his first full EP on the label, ‘Fragments’.

His fusion of deep, sub-heavy house, heavily influenced by turn-of-the-90s UK tech house and forward-thinking electronic spheres, has welcomed releases on labels such as Limousine Dream, Kalahari Oyster Cult, and Craigie Knowes, while making appearances at the likes of Slapfunk, S.A.S.H. and more.

Now, with ‘Fragments’, he takes his sonic explorations to FUSE once more, delivering a high-energy selection primed for dancefloor impact. ‘Ruff City Dub’ brings heavyweight low-ends, shimmering textures, and UKG touches to kick things off , setting the tone for the EP’s dynamic and versatile feel. ‘Tightening The Screw’ follows with crisp drum programming and hypnotic, off-kilter synth work, offering a clever balance of wonk and precision. On the B-side, ‘Love 2 Rhythm’ oozes funk and fluidity with its rolling percussion, soulful vocals and rubbery bass licks, while ‘Freakin’ In The Neighbourhood’ merges influences from rave, electro and more with a modern, high-energy twist for a no-nonsense, late hours hitter.

2025 Repress
Echospace Detroit’s cv313 aka Stephen Hitchell joins forces with Federsen for the second instalment on the latter’s newly minted Alt Dub label with the ‘Skyspace’ EP. Over the past decade and a half San Francisco based artist Federsen has been making his mark on the dub infused techno and house sound, delivering his vintage tape delay and analogue gear driven sound via the likes of Mixcult, Greyscale, Lempuyang and Ohm Series among others. In May this year Federsen inaugurated his own Alt Dub label with a split EP from himself and Hidden Sequence, and here the story continues following the split format with more original material from himself and cv313, accompanied by both artists remixing each other to run alongside their originals across the 12’’. cv313’s original mix of ‘Skycrossing’ opens the release and in typical Hitchellfashion treats us to eight and a half minutes of deep soundscapes, spiralling dub echoes, muted drums and a subtly unfurling feel throughout. Federsen’s ‘Dub’ remix of ‘Skycrossing’ then follows, offering a more refined and reduced feel with subby pulsations and crisp drums intertwined with dubby fragments of the original tracks. On the flip-side Federsen’s original ‘Skyway’ leads, employing a sturdy rhythm section with nuanced dub echoes and rumbling low-end swells. To conclude the release cv313 offers up his ‘Dub’ interpretation of ‘Skyway’, stamping his mark on things with phasing atmospherics, intricate oscillations and fluttering percussion

Carrying the torch of psychedelic cumbia, with a healthy dose
of surf guitar and Amazonian dancefloor flourishes from Peru
and Brazil alike, Fiesta en la Jungla by Los Dexter’s de Uchiza
is the first release from the newly formed London-label Ritmo
del Barrio. Originally released in 1982, it captures the finest
cumbia being made in Peru at the time, decked out with
frenetic surf-rock guitar riffs, rhythms floating on crisp
cumbia percussion and occasionally punctuated by carimbó
breakdowns native to the Pará region of north-eastern Brazil.
The album is filled with energy, a gem that was always
intended to animate any dancefloor. Peruvian cumbia came to national attention in the late 60s
through the recordings of Juaneco y su Combo, Los Destellos
and Los Wembler’s de Iquitos, but it’s had many revivals, and
Fiesta en la Jungla arrived when the style was going through a
major transition. In 1977, a passenger plane carrying most of
the members of Juaneco y su Combo crashed, killing everyone
on board. In 1980, Los Destellos retired, and Los Wembler’s
released their tenth and final record, they were ready for a
break. This left a big void in Peruvian music. Wasting no time,
Los Dexter’s Emerson Ruiz Mosquera took the opportunity and
gave his band new life, filling the band’s ranks with young and
energetic musicians who were hungry for success. He built the
new band around a solid base of dexterous guitars, a dynamite
rhythm section, and added oodles of percussion and an electric
organ, giving them a powerful psychedelic sound that called
back to the sounds of the original chichamasters, but added a
new sheen. Along with bands like Los Shapis and Los Walkers
de Huánuco, Peruvian cumbia was reborn as chicha in the
1980s, and was now the sound of Peru’s barrios up and down
the country.
Based in the city of Uchiza, on the edges of the Amazon basin,
Los Dexter’s were uniquely located in central Peru, closer to the
largest urban centres of the country than Amazonian outposts
like Pucallpa or Iquitos, and therefore better positioned to
travel to the furthest reaches of the country with ease. In a
sense, Los Dexter’s were a bridge between the Amazon and the
rest of Peru, a bridge over which the sounds of Amazonian
cumbia could travel to the rest of the country on their way to
becoming one of the most ubiquitous elements of Peru’s musical
identity. Fiesta en la Jungla represents Los Dexter’s in their third
iteration. Led by Emerson Ruiz Mosquera, who was just a
young boy in 1970 when his older brother founded the group
with four of his friends, the ensemble by the time of Fiesta en la
Jungla included Orlando Abad on the timbales and lead vocals,
Lucho Bendezú on lead guitar, Javier Quiroz as second
guitarist, Alejandro Almeira on bass, Rufino Bustamante on
keyboard, Ramon Siu on bongos and bells, Ivan Rios on conga,
and Emerson as musical director and composer. Remarkably,
most of the group’s members helped to write at least one
track, Los Dexter’s were a collective endeavour.
Reissued on vinyl for the first time by Ritmo del Barrio, this
record is essential for any collector of Peruvian cumbia.
Showcasing the unique sound of Los Dexter’s, it carries hits
like “Fuga en la Selva” and “El Shiringuero”, which are sure to
set any dancefloor on fire, combined with slower, carimbó-
infused cumbias like “Fiesta en la Jungla,”and “Agua de
Cachilde.” Its closing track, “Tragedia en Uchiza'', is a key
piece of local history and tells of the flooding of the
Chontayacu River in 1982, a mortal tragedy that affected
thousands of people. Despite the subject matter, the album
maintains a joyful vibe throughout, with high energy riffs and
irresistible rhythms, contrasted with terse love ballads, like “A
Jhenny.” It is both a piece of musical history, and a sure-fire
tool for the dance floor.
Los Dexter’s became a fixture of festivals and celebrations in
the provinces of San Martin and Huánuco, and from expanded
across the country, taking Amazonian cumbia from the
Peruvian Amazon, to the heights of the Peruvian sierra, the
coastal plains, and the capital city of Lima.

2022 Repress

Tapper Zukie's 'Black Man' album originally came out in 1978 as a Jamaican only release on Tapper's' Stars imprint. Long deleted it has become a classic in Mr Zukie's vast cannon of musical biscuits and is well overdue this worldwide release for the first time.
Tapper Zukie (b1956. David Sinclair, Kingston, Jamaica) was raised in the rough and tough West Kingston area of Jamaica, between the districts of Trench Town and Greenwich Farm. Living pretty much on the streets from an early age, the youths including the young Tapper had no choice but to fall into the hands of the Political Parties that controlled various ghetto areas of the town. Music seemed like the only way out of a life of crime and gang culture. A path that Tapper Zukie found by the mid 1970's was establishing himself as a named star on the DJ Roots circuit. Back home in Jamaica he was also getting a name for his production work for other local singers such as Prince Allah and the group Knowledge. To release these productions and his own material in Jamaica, Tapper started up his own label called Stars. It's this label that saw the initial release of this album 'Black Man'. A great collection of Tapper tunes such as his biblical cut 'My God Is Real', 'Revolution' and the tile track of this collection 'Black Man' and some work overs of some of his felloe Jamaican Artists like 'Poor Man Problem' a work over of Johnny Clarke's ' Blood Dunza' and also Mr Clarke's Leggo Violence'. 'Yaga Yaga' re working Horace Andy's and Tapper's big hit 'Natty Dread ah She Want'. 'Gather Them' a reworking of Knowledge's tune of the same name with the help from bands like Jah Wisdom and Delroy Fielding. A great collection of tunes and reworkings that we hope will find a wider audience with this release.
For the CD issue of this release we had added Tapper's 'Liberation Struggle', 'Get Ready', 'Prophesy' and 'Fire Bun' tracks from Tapper Zukie's back catalogue that seem to sit well and follow the theme and meanings of the 'Black Man' album.

When Creed Taylor was setting up his CTI label one of his proposed signings was Billy Vera. This led to a deal for Vera’s younger sister Kathy McCord. In fact, McCord was the first artist signed and recorded by CTI. Her debut, “Kathy McCord” was released in 1970.

Although the label would go on to establish a fine reputation in jazz, “Kathy McCord” was a folk rock album. A gifted young poet the 17-year old McCord wrote many of the tracks on the album which were then interpreted in the studio by a crack team of jazz musicians that included Harvey Brooks (bass), Hubert Laws (flute), John Hall (guitar) and Wells Kelly and Ed Shaugnessy (drums). Musically and lyrically both the musicians and McCord stretched out on tracks like ‘Rainbow Ride’, ‘Jennipher’, ‘Candle Waxing’ and ‘Take Away This Pain’ to conjure up an amazing fusion of folk and jazz. The only cover on show was a version of Lennon and McCartney’s ‘She’s Leaving Home’ which McCord repurposed as ‘I’m Leaving Home’.

Upon release the album sold poorly. Creed’s expertise and contacts were in the jazz field and he had no idea how to market an album of folk jazz songs sung with fragile beauty by a good looking girl still in her late teenage years. Also, when Billy Vera did not sign to CTI McCord was dropped.

Over time “Kathy McCord” attracted a dedicated following amongst folk-rock collectors in America and the UK. In many respects it was an echo of something like Deena Webster’s 1968 folk rock LP, “Tuesday’s Child” that also came, went and is now sought after.

Ace are delighted to give the world the first vinyl reissue of “Kathy McCord” since 1970. Pressed on black 180gm vinyl it also includes liner notes from Billy Vera - who has this to say about his late beloved sister: “My sister had the goods. She could sing, she could write and she looked great. Like so many other talented people, she just failed to get lucky. Listen and enjoy her. I love her stuff”. You will too...

As one of the brightest and most prolific new songwriters to emerge from the Birmingham music scene over the past few years, Will Stewart has made a name for himself as both an imaginative storyteller and six string gunslinger whose detailed accounts of life around the Deep South seem to capture the essence of not just the humid, kudzu-covered environs they come out of, but also the creative cultural milieu that makes such narratives possible in the first place. Taking cues from everyone from Big Star and R.E.M., to Phosphorescent and the Drive-By Truckers, and even classic Southern literary figures like Eudora Welty and Barry Hannah, Stewart has managed to carve out a place for himself as a conjurer of time, place and characters— and the stories that swirl around them— in a way that’s simultaneously reflective, empathetic and unapologetic in their presentation.

Now on his fourth solo LP, over his past three studio efforts Stewart has shown a deft touch for not just engaging character arcs and succinct studies in the human condition, but also a range of musical modes that span everything from quiet dissertations on love and loss, to brash rockers and moody explorations of the complicated nature of modern Southern living. As someone who also wears the hat of a highly sought after sideman who lends his talents to friends and fellow travelers like Birmingham locals The Blips, Terry Ohms and Sarah Lee Langford, there are few sonic spaces that Stewart’s hands haven’t touched in some way.

Stewart’s newest offering sees him poised to deliver his most ambitious project yet, with a 10-track song cycle centered around the iconic, and now defunct, Moon Winx Lodge in Tuscaloosa, AL, and some of the characters and scenarios that have played themselves out there over the years.

After a near-total silence of twenty years, Edith Frost is back again, and in full bloom with In Space. Her first new record since 2005"s It"s a Game is just in time - the world needs Edith"s voice back in the conversation. And her ineffable way with a tune . . . It seems Edith needed something, too: from the notebooks of her long hiatus, a line like "I say too much/I wait too long/I wait forever/And notice that it"s gone" speaks volumes about feelings of lack. Overwhelmed by the demands of day-to-day living and the details and anxieties that always come, Edith squirreled herself away for as long as she could - only to find herself isolated, spun even farther into the doldrums. In Space isn"t simply a song-cum-album title so much as a very real exploration of the remote place she"d found herself, with her songs registering this recognition and measuring the vast distances between herself, the life that is and the life that was. It was the only way back in! Over the years away, Edith was immersed in music everyday, and spent lots of time learning - in addition to new lyric perspectives, her reinvention of herself as a keyboard player is one of the waves lifting the album In Space. The keys suggested different places within Edith"s harmonic palette; for us listening, this attenuation seems to create a deep focus on emotional life within the songs and a breathtakingly visceral presence in the performances. Her voice as well, in all its iterations, sounds quite fine and vital. The songs, as ever, are low-key brilliance elevated by the vitality of Edith"s voice. Mark Greenberg, alongside longtime Frost A&R man Rian Murphy, brought fresh arrangement ideas to complement the strange-new-world vibe of Edith"s songs. Recorded at The Loft in Chicago, with invaluable contributions from Jim Becker (Califone, Air Blue Gowns), Sima Cunningham (Finom, formerly OHMME), Bill MacKay and Jeff Ragsdale, In Space feels like the most Edith Frost record yet made, pulled from deep inside with great feeling, awash in harmonized voices and - more often than ever before - featuring her own playing. Alternatively approaching and avowing connection, Edith"s crafty songwriting orbits the human exchange with an increasing sense of possibility. It"s what the world needs the most of today.

With four full length albums and an ep under their belt, CHEMICIDE have become one of the biggest neck breaking thrash metal acts in Latin America selling over 10K+ albums worldwide and have continued to tour around the globe in DIY mode that has helped them grow steadily in the metal community. The band has been on multiple extensive tours around South, Central, North America & Europe, playing with great bands like Toxic Holocaust, Cattle Decapitation, Municipal Waste, Angelus Apatrida, Helloween, Destruction etc… and have been featured in Metal Hammer UK’s top 10 thrash albums of 2022 alongside Megadeth, Kreator & Destruction; it helped the band connect with a bigger audience worldwide and led the band to several European and American festivals, like Pitfest (NL) Into the Grave (NL) In Flammen (DE) and MetalDays (SL), Rock al Parque (CO) and México Metal Fest (MX). CHEMICIDE band leader Frankie comments about their new album 'Violence Prevails' : « Violence Prevails is a reflection of our daily life. America is a beautiful continent but filled with corruption; more specifically Central and South America. I wanted to portray how there's no more dialogue; everything is resolved with violence and unfortunately for us, we see a lot of poverty and class disparities among our people. I also wanted to tell a story that could resonate with more individuals across the planet and see that they are not alone when they see what's happening around them. Violence now is the key to sort out any discrepancies you may have with someone else and we see it on a daily basis with international conflicts around the globe. Production wise We wanted a late 80's-early 90's approach to the sound of this album. Big drums, heavy bass and sharp guitar riffs, all of this mixed with a lot of reverb and a very raw, 'butchery' approach to the sound. Martín Furia (of Bark and Destruction fame who mixed and mastered the album) understood this perfectly and he helped us shape the sound of this album. He took Black Sabbath's "Dehumanizer" as an inspiration for the drum sound and we tried to start from scratch on the guitar, bass and vocal sound.» CHEMICIDE have been perfecting their bombastic frenetic riffwork and drumming savagery during the course of their past four albums, now resulting in their strongest and most punishing new album 'Violence Prevails' .

Dear Life Records is proud to present the physical reissue of the self titled debut of MJ Lenderman. MJ Lenderman is a songwriter born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. The anatomy of an MJ record might go something like this: warped pedal steels and skuzzed out guitar; a voice reminiscent of the high-lonesome warble of a choirboy; the keen observations and reflections of a front stoop philosopher. Songs snake their way from a lo-fi home recording to something glossier made with longtime friends at Asheville's Drop of Sun studios, but the recording setting doesn't seem to matter much - at its core, a Lenderman song rings true. "MJ Lenderman" was recorded, mixed and mastered for digital in 2019 by Colin Miller in Asheville NC, and was self-released online to quiet but firm acclaim. Now available as a Double LP and remastered for vinyl by Heather Jones, it offers a glimpse into the formative steps of a style; focused and precise, yet expansive and rough around the edges, that remains consistent across MJ's catalogue to date (see also 2021's `Ghost of Your Guitar Solo' (DLR 016) and 2022's `Boat Songs' (DLR 031)). Looking as firmly to the legacy of 90s slowcore as it does to the tenor of Magnolia Electric Co. and sound wall of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, these 9 songs clock in at just over an hour and offer warm, patient worlds of heavy color that blow by breezily. These are songs that wrap mysterious and urgent feeling in layers of patience and clarity that unfold anew with each timeless listen.

We are thrilled to announce the highly anticipated re-issue of Ash Ra Tempel's legendary 5th Studio Album "Starring Rosi" in our "50th Anniversary Edition". Originally released in 1973, this seminal work remains a cornerstone of the Krautrock and "Kosmische" movement, blending psychedelic rock, ambient soundscapes, and early electronics into a transcendent auditory experience.
The Album has been recorded by Manuel Göttsching in it´s entity, with additional help to come from Producer Dieter Diercks playing bass, percussion, Drummer Harald Grosskopf and of course Rosemarie "Rosi" Müller.
"Starring Rosi" is an essential piece of their continuation of blending cosmic psychedelia, ambient textures, and avant-garde electronic experimentation. Originally released in 1973, this album marked a significant departure for the band, featuring Rosi Müller, who added a lyrical and vocal dimension to the band's typically instrumental soundscapes & Manuel Göttsching background singing.
To many technically Ash Ra Tempel last, yet most accessible, release, although there was the soundtrack to Philippe Garrel´s movie "Le Berceau de Cristal" and there might be some further previously unreleased, music to come out later.

Album Background:
*Starring Rosi* stands out in Ash Ra Tempel's discography for its lighter, more accessible sound, balancing the band's signature cosmic explorations with melodic structures and poetic lyrics.
It marks an unique chapter in Ash Ra Tempel's discography, featuring the ethereal vocals of Rosi Müller alongside Manuel Göttsching's visionary guitar work. The album is a sonic journey that takes listeners through seven distinct tracks, each showcasing Manuel Göttschings pioneering approach to music.
From the dreamy opening track "Laughter Loving" to the meditative "Day-Dream" and the atmospheric "Interplay of Forces," songs that illustrate the band's evolution from their earlier, more intense and improvisational albums, showcasing a more reflective and introspective side .
"The Fairy Dance" is delving into the mystical and meditative, transporting listeners to a dreamlike state.
While "Schizo" sounds like a continuation of the best moments of the previous Ash Ra Tempel records, is the last track "Bring Me Up" an Up-tempo Song that features Manuel as well on vocals.
"Starring Rosi" captivates with its blend of cosmic improvisation and melodic beauty.

Reissue Details:
This reissue of *Starring Rosi* has been introduced and overseen by Manuel Göttsching still, and finalised by his Family exactly to his standards, in which the meticulous approach to his work lives on.
An updated 2024 recut carefully commissioned by Schnittselle in Berlin (who also signs responsible for the previous ART Reissues, likewise, the 2016 E2 E4 Anniversary Edition ensure the warm depth sound while bringing out the rich textures and nuances, all of the original recordings. The reissue is available on 180-gram Black vinyl and a Limited Edition in transparent Pearl Sunrise Vinyl.
Both vinyl editions comes with a replica of the original Vinyl Artwork including it´s original Backside.
The Limited Edition also includes a Poster of the alternate Backside, used later on the CD Editions showing Rosi and Manuel improvising during studio sessions. Also included are prints of previously unreleased Original "The Fairy Dance" Music and "Schizo" Composition Sheets handwritten by Manuel

Matilda Mann’s debut album, Roxwell, is a heartfelt exploration of love, vulnerability, and nostalgia. Named after the street of her childhood home, the album reflects Mann’s sentimental connection to her formative years in West London, where she grew up as an only child. Her introspective lyrics and delicate vocals navigate the highs and lows of relationships, from infatuation to heartbreak.
“This is my debut album. Every song feels like a part of me, and I’m so, so excited that it’s finally coming out. It explores various types of love, the experience of growing up and reflecting on the past, the struggle of not being able to give someone your all, getting stuck in the past, and accepting what you can’t change.”

We are thrilled to announce the highly anticipated re-issue of Ash Ra Tempel's legendary 5th Studio Album "Starring Rosi" in our "50th Anniversary Edition". Originally released in 1973, this seminal work remains a cornerstone of the Krautrock and "Kosmische" movement, blending psychedelic rock, ambient soundscapes, and early electronics into a transcendent auditory experience.
The Album has been recorded by Manuel Göttsching in it´s entity, with additional help to come from Producer Dieter Diercks playing bass, percussion, Drummer Harald Grosskopf and of course Rosemarie "Rosi" Müller.
"Starring Rosi" is an essential piece of their continuation of blending cosmic psychedelia, ambient textures, and avant-garde electronic experimentation. Originally released in 1973, this album marked a significant departure for the band, featuring Rosi Müller, who added a lyrical and vocal dimension to the band's typically instrumental soundscapes & Manuel Göttsching background singing.
To many technically Ash Ra Tempel last, yet most accessible, release, although there was the soundtrack to Philippe Garrel´s movie "Le Berceau de Cristal" and there might be some further previously unreleased, music to come out later.

Album Background:
*Starring Rosi* stands out in Ash Ra Tempel's discography for its lighter, more accessible sound, balancing the band's signature cosmic explorations with melodic structures and poetic lyrics.
It marks an unique chapter in Ash Ra Tempel's discography, featuring the ethereal vocals of Rosi Müller alongside Manuel Göttsching's visionary guitar work. The album is a sonic journey that takes listeners through seven distinct tracks, each showcasing Manuel Göttschings pioneering approach to music.
From the dreamy opening track "Laughter Loving" to the meditative "Day-Dream" and the atmospheric "Interplay of Forces," songs that illustrate the band's evolution from their earlier, more intense and improvisational albums, showcasing a more reflective and introspective side .
"The Fairy Dance" is delving into the mystical and meditative, transporting listeners to a dreamlike state.
While "Schizo" sounds like a continuation of the best moments of the previous Ash Ra Tempel records, is the last track "Bring Me Up" an Up-tempo Song that features Manuel as well on vocals.
"Starring Rosi" captivates with its blend of cosmic improvisation and melodic beauty.

Reissue Details:
This reissue of *Starring Rosi* has been introduced and overseen by Manuel Göttsching still, and finalised by his Family exactly to his standards, in which the meticulous approach to his work lives on.
An updated 2024 recut carefully commissioned by Schnittselle in Berlin (who also signs responsible for the previous ART Reissues, likewise, the 2016 E2 E4 Anniversary Edition ensure the warm depth sound while bringing out the rich textures and nuances, all of the original recordings. The reissue is available on 180-gram Black vinyl and a Limited Edition in transparent Pearl Sunrise Vinyl.
Both vinyl editions comes with a replica of the original Vinyl Artwork including it´s original Backside.
The Limited Edition also includes a Poster of the alternate Backside, used later on the CD Editions showing Rosi and Manuel improvising during studio sessions. Also included are prints of previously unreleased Original "The Fairy Dance" Music and "Schizo" Composition Sheets handwritten by Manuel

Synapson's latest album, Blue Jeans, is described as timeless and irreplaceable, much like a beloved pair of jeans that only gets better with age. The album is crafted with care, featuring diverse collaborations that resonate with a wide audience, reflecting the duo's commitment to inclusivity and unity. Celebrating their 15-year career, Blue Jeans represents a milestone in Synapson's journey, highlighting their evolution and enduring impact on the music world. This album stands as a tribute to their dedication to music and their fans, poised to become another classic in their storied career.

ARCHITECTS are back and charging forward in the heavy rock world with their latest sonic masterpiece, The Sky, The Earth & All Between. After two relentless years on the road-featuring massive European summer tours with Metallica and top billing at festival stages across Europe, (Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Hellfest, Download, Graspop, Full Force to name a few and headlining Bloodstock) - the band has returned to the studio to deliver their most powerful collection of songs yet. With the creative force of Jordan Fish (Bring Me The Horizon) behind the boards, Architects have captured the explosive energy of their live performances while elevating their signature melodic edge. This album reflects the perfect blend of raw intensity, emotional depth, and innovative production. Already making waves, singles like "Curse" and "Seeing Red" have drawn rave reviews from all major metal press worldwide. "Seeing Red" the "anthem powerhouse" landed because of global success in the top 10 of charts worldwide-amassing over 45 million streams along the way. The Sky, The Earth & All Between builds on the momentum of their 2022 album, the classic symptoms of a broken spirit, which stormed to the top of the UK Rock and Metal Charts. With this new release, Architects are once again set to push the boundaries of modern heavy music, cementing their status as one of the most exciting and essential bands of our time.

(Limited edition to 500 copies, remastered audio, pressed and printed in Indonesia) The 13 tracks contained in this compilation “Begadang: Soneta Group Best Songs, 1975-1980” are some the most innovative music that came out of Indonesia’s music scene in the 1970s, tunes that has cemented Rhoma Irama’s status as the king of the genre.



Dangdut is the biggest musical genre in Indonesia. Dangdut, onomatopoetic name from the sound of hand drums used in this type of music, is what reggae to Jamaicans, country to Americans or skiffle to mid 20th century British people. And in this genre of dang dut, the name Rhoma Irama looms large. He is until today the undisputable king of dangdut and his role as pioneer of the music is already in the history book. In fact, there's one book documenting the outsized role of Rhoma in establishing dangdut as the father of this music. The book is aptly titled Dangdut Story, written by Pittsburgh University music professor Andrew N. Weintraub.



Among Indonesian fans of dangdut, there’s this one misconceptions that dangdut music is that it is an indigenous art form from Indonesia and that it constitutes an amalgamation of local, traditional music of this Southeast Asian nation, with Malay music being the most prominent feature in the mix.



Dangdut pioneer Rhoma Irama is among the first to reject this assertion. “Dangdut music may have originated in Deli (in North Sumatra) but then got the influences from the West and India”, he said.



Indeed, most of Rhoma’s well-known compositions may have been influenced by Indian tunes but some of his best quality works owed much to the West.



Rhoma had long found home in Western pop music. In the early 1960s, after honing his guitar playing skill, Rhoma set up his first band Gayhand to play the tunes of The Beatles, Paul Anka and Tom Jones. In 1972, Rhoma won best singer title in a Southeast Asia singing competition in Singapore playing Tom Jones “I Who Have Nothing.”



Yet, nothing changed Rhoma’s fortune in the music industry, to a point where he decided to leave pop and switched to playing Orkes Melayu (Malay Orchestra) music, first with Orkes Melayu Purnama and later with Soneta Group.



His career soon took off with Soneta, especially after he introduced what ethnomusicologist William H. Frederick considered as “theatre”, through which Rhoma borrows many elements from stage performances of British and American rock bands. These elements, kitsch and pomp, he liberally adopted and became an inseparable part of dangdut itself; tight pants, long hair, platform shoes, glitter and glamour which would not be out of place in Elton John and David Bowie stage show.



And this is actually the contradiction of Rhoma’s brand of Malay music. “One might legitimately ask how imaginative, not to say bizarre, costuming and dancing with abandon could be related to some of the objectives of Rhoma has set for himself and soneta group”, Frederick wrote on his seminal work on the singer, Rhoma Irama and the Dangdut Style: Aspects of Contemporary Indonesian Popular Culture, published in 1982.



From technical point of view, Rhoma not only replaced the acoustic elements from Melayu Music with electric instruments but also created new synthetic sounds that has never been attempted before in Indonesia’s music industry.



Detractors like to point out how much he was indebted to Deep Purple, but a closer inspection reveals how he in fact had mined his influences even deeper.



Notice how Rhoma reproduced funk, which is all the rage in early 1970s, in the song “Santai” (Relax), this album’s closer or “Credit Title (Instrumentalia)” which opens this Darah Muda (Young Blood) soundtrack. The rubbery bass lines that open both songs can easily find home in any Sly and the Family Stone’s or Isaac Hayes’ tunes from that era. Other highlights of the song is the funky guitar licks and the droning Hammond a la George Clinton that stabs deep in the record groove. In the guitar solo, you can also hear the bark of George Harrison’s licks from “Taxman”.



The 13 tracks contained in this compilation “Begadang: Soneta Group Best Songs, 1975-1980” are some the most innovative music that came out of Indonesia’s music scene in the 1970s, tunes that has cemented Rhoma Irama’s status as the king of the genre. Only 500 copies were pressed for this compilation.

"Every night we've been listening to RATTLE. They have a stark yet deep trance percussion vibe that is both holistic and rocking." Thurston Moore
“Quietly dramatic and loudly intimate.” The Quietus
“Two drum sets. Two voices. One great idea.” MOJO
Rattle are Katharine Eira Brown and Theresa Wrigley, they formed in 2011 after meeting on the live circuit whilst both playing in other bands. Katharine was a guitarist who had recently started playing drums in the band Kogumaza, whilst Theresa was the drummer in Nottingham band Fists. They’ve since released two long-players, 2016’s self-titled debut album Rattle (Upset The Rhythm / I Own You) and 2018’s Sequence (Upset The Rhythm) to much critical acclaim in the music press, and with James Acaster discussing the debut on his BBC Sounds podcast Perfect Sounds!
Rattle have honed the four songs that make up ‘Encircle’ by playing them live over the last few years, adapting and stretching them into endlessly inventive new shapes, playing with the concept of time and expectation. ‘Encircle’ was recorded at Foel Studios, Wales, produced and mixed by Mark Jasper, and mastered at Liminal Audio by Shaun Crook. The stunningly colourful artwork was created by Martha Glazzard, who was also responsible for Rattle’s other mesmeric covers.
‘All Burning’ opens the album, a live favourite of cyclical tumbling and evolving wordplay. ‘All Burning’ was built up gradually layer by layer with Theresa’s cumulative snare work and Katherine’s urgent calls for action: “hold your doctor, hold your daughter, hold your horses”. If ‘All Burning’ represents fire, then it’s accompanying 12-minute long track on Side 1, ‘Argot’, is informed by the air. ‘Argot’ is a song about uncertainty, with Katherine singing wordlessly across the majority of the track. “I prefer to sing wordlessly often because it feels a bit more expressive and universal” asserts Katherine. The track feels truly epic with a satisfying release that comes with the eventual introduction of the bass drum and snappy hi-hat section.

Side 2 also pairs a shorter song with a long-form composition. ‘Ritual’ is worked up from a simple snare drum pattern which becomes more and more overlapped into an elliptical form of waltz. Katherine considers ‘Ritual’ as “very earthy song - lots of low lying mist on the ground swirling around and the drums coming together to summon something”! ‘Ritual’ was inspired by a visit to the ruins of Boleskine House so multi-dimensional themes and occult practice loom large. ‘Your Move’ is a step-up gear change with the band wanting it to feel like the tape had suddenly started to spin faster, urging movement, venturing action. Clocking in at over 15 minutes, ‘Your Move’, is mesmeric and boundless, hypnotic in its minimalism of doubled-drums and almost tribal vocal cycles.
With ‘Encircle’ Rattle have grown again, these songs are alive with elemental power. They build-up and disintegrate, existing in two places at once, embracing the nuance, tracing the circle’s edge. These are modes of song as pure gesture and eternal imagination, refined in mirrors after midnight.
Rattle has performed at The Barbican, London and toured the UK with Animal Collective and Thurston Moore Group and Europe with The Julie Ruin and Protomartyr, and performed with Hot Snakes, Bill Orcutt Quartetand Codeine.

"Every night we've been listening to RATTLE. They have a stark yet deep trance percussion vibe that is both holistic and rocking." Thurston Moore
“Quietly dramatic and loudly intimate.” The Quietus
“Two drum sets. Two voices. One great idea.” MOJO
Rattle are Katharine Eira Brown and Theresa Wrigley, they formed in 2011 after meeting on the live circuit whilst both playing in other bands. Katharine was a guitarist who had recently started playing drums in the band Kogumaza, whilst Theresa was the drummer in Nottingham band Fists. They’ve since released two long-players, 2016’s self-titled debut album Rattle (Upset The Rhythm / I Own You) and 2018’s Sequence (Upset The Rhythm) to much critical acclaim in the music press, and with James Acaster discussing the debut on his BBC Sounds podcast Perfect Sounds!
Rattle have honed the four songs that make up ‘Encircle’ by playing them live over the last few years, adapting and stretching them into endlessly inventive new shapes, playing with the concept of time and expectation. ‘Encircle’ was recorded at Foel Studios, Wales, produced and mixed by Mark Jasper, and mastered at Liminal Audio by Shaun Crook. The stunningly colourful artwork was created by Martha Glazzard, who was also responsible for Rattle’s other mesmeric covers.
‘All Burning’ opens the album, a live favourite of cyclical tumbling and evolving wordplay. ‘All Burning’ was built up gradually layer by layer with Theresa’s cumulative snare work and Katherine’s urgent calls for action: “hold your doctor, hold your daughter, hold your horses”. If ‘All Burning’ represents fire, then it’s accompanying 12-minute long track on Side 1, ‘Argot’, is informed by the air. ‘Argot’ is a song about uncertainty, with Katherine singing wordlessly across the majority of the track. “I prefer to sing wordlessly often because it feels a bit more expressive and universal” asserts Katherine. The track feels truly epic with a satisfying release that comes with the eventual introduction of the bass drum and snappy hi-hat section.

Side 2 also pairs a shorter song with a long-form composition. ‘Ritual’ is worked up from a simple snare drum pattern which becomes more and more overlapped into an elliptical form of waltz. Katherine considers ‘Ritual’ as “very earthy song - lots of low lying mist on the ground swirling around and the drums coming together to summon something”! ‘Ritual’ was inspired by a visit to the ruins of Boleskine House so multi-dimensional themes and occult practice loom large. ‘Your Move’ is a step-up gear change with the band wanting it to feel like the tape had suddenly started to spin faster, urging movement, venturing action. Clocking in at over 15 minutes, ‘Your Move’, is mesmeric and boundless, hypnotic in its minimalism of doubled-drums and almost tribal vocal cycles.
With ‘Encircle’ Rattle have grown again, these songs are alive with elemental power. They build-up and disintegrate, existing in two places at once, embracing the nuance, tracing the circle’s edge. These are modes of song as pure gesture and eternal imagination, refined in mirrors after midnight.
Rattle has performed at The Barbican, London and toured the UK with Animal Collective and Thurston Moore Group and Europe with The Julie Ruin and Protomartyr, and performed with Hot Snakes, Bill Orcutt Quartetand Codeine.

Der Soundtrack von 'KNEECAP', mit Musik von der Band sowie Bicep, Fontaines DC und Orbital, ist als Doppel-LP im Gatefold-Design auf farbigem Vinyl erhältlich. Er enthält auch Filmmusik von Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante MBE und Ausschnitte aus den Dialogen des Films.

- Ltd. Col. 2LP: (LP1 Orange / LP2 Green Vinyl)

Oxblood Vinyl

If you’ve followed the global shenanigans of heavier music over the past decades, you know the name Marko Hietala.
And if you don’t, I strongly suggest you go back down the dark rabbit hole and do your homework again. There is no doubt about it: Marko Hietala has been synonymous with quality for more than four decades. Hietala has not only shaped, but also defined the sound of harder rock, as a founding member of the heavy metal band Tarot, as an essential member of the supergroup Sinergy (next to extreme talents such as Alexi Laiho) or as one of the key figures of world’s biggest symphonic metal band Nightwish. Needless to say, his thunderous bass lines and rich vocals have been echoed in the world’s most famous venues, such as Wembley Arena and legendary festivals like Rock in Rio.
However, despite all the achievements, new conquests are coming at a steady pace... Just recently, Marko Hietala has appeared in a starring role in the TV series Vain elämää, which has gathered millions of viewers in Finland.
When it comes to an endlessly talented artist with a strong musical flame in his heart, an eponymous album is always just a matter of time. In the case of Marko Hietala, it took a while, but better late than never: his long-awaited first solo debut, Mustan sydämen rovio, finally arrived to grace the spring of 2019 (later reissued in English as Pyre of the Black Heart) Guess what? Marko Hietala’s musical and lyrical tide has not dried up and the well-received debut is getting the company it deserves. To be released in February 2025, “Roses from the Deep” follows the adventurous path of its predecessor, but perhaps with even greater ambition.
“Sometime in 2017-18, Nightwish took a break – first for about 20 years – and I decided to spend my time working on my first solo album”, I’ve come up with all kinds of ideas over the years, and it was time to get them out of my system. When I set my sight on the album, I didn’t limit myself in any way. If the idea felt good, it was good...” Hietala recalls.

After releasing SOUL FICTION in May 2023! Cosmo Klein & The Campers release a "Soul Fiction Remix"ed album with remix-management by Berlin based DJ Daniel W. Best of Best's Friends Music.

Remixers inc. Art Of Tones, Opolopo, Philippa, DJ Friction (Germany). In the past the Cosmo Klein from Berlin has dedicated himself to different genres of music such as Pop, House Music, Soul, Jazz & Funk. Numerous hits like "Beautiful Lie", "Feel Alive", "All I ever need" or the Duet with German singer Maya Saban have made Cosmo Klein one of the few internationally successful music exports from Germany.

The award-winning film Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (2021) is romantic drama set in a working-class neighbourhood of Indonesia’s West Java. Although the story was set in the 1980s, the film’s music director Dave Lumenta doesn’t really want to use music from that period. He doesn’t want to automatically go with dangdut, the musical genre, a mix of Malay, Indian and modern pop music, the music of choice for majority Indonesia’s working class. He simply doesn’t want the film to be stuck in the time setting and the social class. The scoring is richer, not only was it inspired by dangdut, but it was also inspired by rock as well. In order for his imagination to be free of that time and social context, he decides to make music that was based on the characters, otherwise known as leitmotif.

Lumenta is interested in vulnerability, because it is something that the audience can find in the main character Ajo Kawir, an impotent who is unable to have an erection. Another main character Iteung is someone who is very liberal in terms of her sexuality, but she also struggles with an issue as well, which is their issues, a traumatic past. The film successfully portrays the clash of these two characters. And from identifying these two characters, the composer creates a melody or leitmotif that represents each character. The use of analogue instruments is also consistent with the film’s spirit, which is also shot using analogue camera. Lumenta created the music using acoustic instruments, such as the recorder, along with other sounds from an analogue synthesizer.

The sound produced may not be perfect, just like the are grainy quality of an analogue film, due to limitation of the medium. But it is precisely due to that limitation that the eyes and ears are compelled to watch and listen actively; we must squint to catch something more perfect, or listen closely to filter out imperfections in the sound. Consuming art created with analogue tools requires a different method of listening, watching, and working process.

Chaz Bear (formerly Bundick) has been immersed in music from a young age, shaped by a household rich with sounds ranging from Michael Jackson and Elvis Costello to The Specials. Growing up biracial in South Carolina, these diverse influences contributed to the unique blend of styles Chaz weaves into his work. Nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 2020 Grammy Awards for his collaboration with Flume on “The Difference”, Chaz’s genre-defying sound has won critical acclaim. His journey began in earnest with early home recordings that showcased his prolific nature, leading to over 10 Toro y Moi albums released independently before signing with Carpark Records in 2009.

Chaz’s debut album under Carpark, Causers of This, was a seminal release that sparked a movement of sample-heavy bedroom recordings. Its success led to early assumptions that he was limited to this sound, but Chaz quickly proved his versatility with 2011’s Underneath the Pine, recorded between tours and featuring entirely live instrumentation. This pivot set a pattern for Chaz’s career: each subsequent release explored new terrain, from the psych rock of What For? to the R&B-influenced Boo Boo, all tied together by his signature production and melodic sensibilities.

Following Boo Boo, 2019’s Outer Peace marked Chaz’s return to the Bay Area after a year in Portland, embodying a celebratory homecoming filled with collaborations and vibrant playfulness. Featuring friends and eclectic references to contemporary hip hop, funk, Eurodance, and ambient textures, Outer Peace was a sharp contrast to the contemplative, isolation-driven Boo Boo and solidified Chaz’s place on the cutting edge of music.

Five days post-release, Chaz teased Soul Trash on Instagram, sharing a cassette titled SOUL TRASH V1 with a Dropbox link, which was later removed. The mixtape was officially released digitally on October 29, 2019, and has since garnered over 39 million streams. This album was also his first collaboration with Elijah Kessler, who later released an album on Chaz’s Company Records. Now available on vinyl for the first time, Soul Trash epitomizes Chaz's experimental spirit, featuring ambient sounds, lo-fi loops, and contributions from Old Grape God, and Caleon Fox. Released alongside more recent projects like Mahal and Hole Erth, Soul Trash bridges his past with his ever-evolving artistry, proving Chaz’s creative well is far from dry.

Soul Jazz Records' Studio One Showcase 45 features a roll call of classic Studio One
reggae legends including Horace Andy, Cornell Campbell, Bob Marley and The
Wailers, Jackie Mittoo, The Heptones, The Skatalites and more – seminal reggae
artists who all launched their careers at the legendary Studio One label.
The album was previously only ever released as a long-deleted limited-edition
seven-inch box set for Record Store Day. This album has now been expanded into a
super double-vinyl album edition as well as first time on CD, with both featuring a
massive eight bonus tracks of wicked Studio One classics and rarities. The album
also comes with newly commissioned sleeve and track notes by Noel Hawks.
Featuring seminal cuts like Bob Marley and The Wailer's original version of 'One
Love', Freddie McGregor's take on the classic 'Beat Down Babylon', Judah Eskender
Tafari's re-version of 'Danger In Your Eyes' plus more from The Skatalites, Lone
Ranger, Johnny Osbourne and more!

Behind Pumuky are brothers Jaír and Noé Ramírez, originally from Icod de los Vinos, a small town in northern Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.

For two decades, despite a tumultuous journey with multiple lineup changes and the challenges of island life, they have managed to build an extensive and highly personal discography with labels such as Jabalina, WeAreWolves, as well as Keroxen. In 2025, they release a new chapter in their story: their 5th album titled No sueltes lo Efímero (Don't Let Go of the Ephemeral).

It has been 10 years since they released a full-length album, though they were never idle during this time. In this interim, they released an EP titled Castillo Interior (Keroxen 2020), which Bandcamp described as "In intricately sculpted songs that are utterly hypnotising, the Ramírez brothers explore the border of dreams & reality" Bandcamp / New & Notable Oct 19, 2020. The EP was later remixed by artists like Xiu Xiu and Dntel (Jimmy Tamborello of The Postal Service). During this period, they also collaborated with Elinor Almenara of VVV Trippin'you on the single Metahackeo (Keroxen 2022), part of the new wave of dark music that emerged after the pandemic years.

Pumuky also have an extensive live history, having played in Europe and Latin America, with appearances at major festivals such as Primavera Sound, WOMAD, and the Mexican NRMAL.

No sueltes lo efímero will be released on February 28 through Keroxen, a collective that, in addition to being a platform and label for the best of the Canary Islands' underground scene, organises a small, unique music festival inside a giant abandoned kerosene tank in Santa Cruz de Tenerife—an event that has already garnered praise worldwide.

The album was recorded at La Mina Studios (Granada, Spain) with Raúl Pérez, one of the most respected producers in the Spanish music scene, and then mastered by Rafal Anton Irisarri, a key figure in the ambient world who also appreciates the power of guitars.

In No sueltes lo efímero, Pumuky return to their signature sound, although they have never completely abandoned it: an abrasive slowcore with controlled crescendos and raw, unfiltered lyrics, sometimes bordering on the intensity of dirty shoegaze, at other times leaning into dream-pop passages, but always with the unique stamp that has characterised them from the start.

A rare breed, difficult to categorise, Pumuky write songs as if performing escape tricks.

bendrik's 'Aqualung EP' draws inspiration from the club scene of Brussels and his recent travels to diverse countries. It showcases bendrik's ability to bridge electronic genres with a refined touch. The A-side features hard-hitting tracks like 'Dr. Martens' and 'Trust'.
These cuts deliver raw, driving melodies with his signature style - perfect for peak-time moments on the dancefloor! The B-side includes the cover track 'Aqualung' that bridges the previous energy with relaxation. It invites the listener to make its own choice of experience, blending a steady bassline with hypnotic textures.
'Shirahama' paints a portrait of his time exploring distant lands where you join him in the driving seat.

"The beauty of The Devil Makes Three is the way they take an old-time musical genre and, by putting their own imprint on it, turn it into something that lives and breathes anew, passing the torch to a new generation, just as stateside rock fans learned about the likes of pioneers Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly from the first wave of British Invasion bands. With their latest album, Spirits, the band continues this tradition by incorporating their signature punk, folk and bluegrass sound along with country and singer-songwriter leanings. “That’s what we set out to do. We wanted to use these musical forms to talk about current issues,” explains Pete Bernhard. “Folk music should be about what’s happening now, just as it was when Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan did it.” The song titles alone describe the band’s return to a stripped-down, drum-less sound and songs that reflect the ongoing struggle to survive amid the uncertainties of the current volatile climate: “Dark Gets the Best of You,” “Divide and Conquer,” “Ghost are Weak,” “Hard Times,” “I Love Doing Drugs,” “Poison Well” and “The Devil Wins.” The tracks were recorded at Dreamland, part of a converted church compound outside Woodstock in upstate New York which offered some haunted moments of its own, with plenty of spooky thunderstorms and lightning. “There’s definitely a theme of ghosts and death running through this album,” acknowledged Bernhard, who lost his mother, brother and closest childhood friend while making the record. “It also has a good amount of political material, a reflection on how divided people are these days, just trying to find common ground. Not being able to perform our music live led to some deep reflections.”"

In 2016 an internet user discovered Panchiko’s discarded 2000 demo CD, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, in a Nottingham charity shop and posted it to 4chan to intrigue and fanfare. It took four years for Panchiko’s legions of dedicated fans to find the people behind the music as millions of curious listeners were swaying to the band’s adolescent creations. Upon discovering their own virality, the band reformed with original members Andy Wright (keyboardist and producer), Owain Davies (vocalist and guitarist), and Shaun Ferreday (bassist) alongside new members Robert Harris (guitarist) and John Schofield (drummer), toured the world and wrote, recorded, and released their first album in 20+ years, 2023’s Failed At Maths. But after the thrill of the whirlwind came a new question. What comes next when your dreams come true? The answer is Ginkgo, a 13-track project that finds the band making some of their most introspective, cinematic, and moving music yet. “The whole production has gone up ten-fold,” says Wright of the new album.“ Standout track "Shandy in the Graveyard" feat. rapper billy woods sees the band channeling their youth and tapping into the typical audience at Panchiko shows. That youthful spirit can be felt in the song’s sonic world, as its production genre-shifts between trip hop and orchestral folk, creating a fresh juxtaposition of soundscapes. The same wrenching honesty that attracted legions of fans to their teenage demos is the same truthful ethos that keeps them listening to new material like title track, “Ginkgo.” On it, Davies sings “You command the leaves to fall/The Ginkgo bends at will.” A rumination on the limits of control, collaboration, and fate, the song is an apt meditation for a band whose resurgence came about through a mix of luck, artistry, and then clear-eyed energy.