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“Out of Our Hands” brings together Alvin Lucier and Jordan Dykstra who, through the hands of Ordinary Affects, have created debut recordings of two new compositions.

These companion pieces have similar orbits as they were not only both composed in Middletown, CT (where Alvin and Jordan lived for a number of years), but are about Middletown, at least from a starting point. Alvin’s piece — a homage to the location of the house in which he recorded “I am sitting in a room” back in 1969 — continues his study into slow-moving glissandi and carefully crafted beating patters by interweaving three string players within a minor third (voiced by two vibraphonists). The result is entrancing, almost psychedelic, and opens space where one didn’t expect. Like much of his previous work, it is conceptual and process-based; once the wheels get turning they go on and on, giving the listener time to approach the piece, sit with it, and then move back inward.

On the other hand, Dykstra’s piece “32 Middle Tones” (a pun on his Middletown street address and the harmonic microtonality utilized in the composition) is a very textural work. His piece asks the cellist to sustain pitches for extended durations — at times quietly singing in close proximity to the stopped pitch coming from the cello — while the rest of the ensemble (violin, viola, and 2 percussion) voice a sequence of chords separated by notated silences. The cello voice is sometimes alone, but never for too long as it finds itself supported from both the top and bottom in a harmonic embrace. This supportive structure involves a percussion section which colors the seemingly simple chords (major 6th, inverted minor 7th, inverted minor 2nd, etc.) with a non-traditional toolkit of bowed singing bowls, stone sheets, harmonicas, and even leaves.

This is music that gently gives the listener a sense of predictability but always in an unexpected (and subtly indeterminate) shade. Speaking of shade, the album’s cover photo was taken in 2019 in Alvin’s backyard in Middletown. Alvin and Jordan sit with similar demeanors in front of his favorite tree — a crooked aspen which early on looked to be doomed — but which he would often saunter over to spend time with, giving it whispers of blessings and encouraging words.The world was blessed with Alvin’s presence and hopefully this album will whisper to you and yours.

Artist statement:
“With Alvin’s recent passing I was overwhelmed with messages and calls from friends, collaborators, and his former students. Everyone had a heavy heart, no doubt, but were grateful for the memories and their gift to be around Alvin during his lifetime of prolific dedication to the arts, his fascination with poetic storytelling through scientifically-inspired minimalism, and his calm and warmhearted spirit. In his last few years on earth, Alvin was busier than ever — brainstorming new ideas, creating new pieces, and planning big things. While he was here, he was alive, and may his music — and spirit — live on forever, spreading from his corner of Church and High (where he recorded his seminal piece I am sitting in a room) to every corner, concert hall, and loudspeaker in the world.”

Loss and hope, isolation and communion, the cessation and renewal of purpose. Timeless and
salient, these themes echo throughout the fifth album from Midlake, their first since ‘Antiphon’
in 2013.
 From the cover to the title and beyond, a longing to reconnect with that which seems lost and
seek purpose in its passing sits at the record’s core. The cover star is keyboardist/flautist Jesse
Chandler’s father, who, tragically, passed away in 2018. As singer Eric Pulido explains, “He
was a lovely human, and it was really heavy and sad, and he came to Jesse in a dream. I
reference it in a song. He said, ‘Hey, Jesse, you need to get the band back together.’ I didn’t
take that lightly.”
 A desire to commune with the past and connect with present, lived experience asserts itself
from the opening of the album. ‘Bethel Woods’ sustains and develops that reconnection,
evoking the steadfast and contemplative urgency of ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ to back a
lyric steeped in yearning for a paradisal time and place of hope and optimism. Soaring guitars
and atmospheric noise effects extend a sonic scope further developed by ‘Glistening,’ where
arpeggios dance like light glancing off a lake. In just three songs, Midlake reintroduce
themselves and reach out into fresh territory with a richly intuitive dynamism, honouring their
past as a seedbed of possibility.
 Elsewhere, the prog-enhanced funk-rock of ‘Gone’ seeks to find hope in relationships that
seem fragile. The ELO-esque ‘Meanwhile…’ draws inspiration from what happened when
Midlake paused after ‘Antiphon’, developing universal resonance as a song about the beautiful
growths that can emerge from the cracks and gaps between things. ‘Dawning’ draws on 1970s
soft-rock stylings for another song searching for hope, its keyboard line reaching out towards
an uncertain future while everything seems to collapse around it; ‘The End’ reflects on the
difficulties of partings.
 On-hand was new collaborator John Congleton, who produced, engineered and mixed the
album, marking Midlake’s first record with an outside producer. “I can’t say enough just how
much his influence brought our music to another sonic place than we would have,” says Pulido.
“I don’t want to record without a producer again. Part of that is the health of the band, because
as you get older you get more opinionated and you kind of need that person who says, ‘No, it’s
going to be this way!’ It’s hard to do that with your friends.”
 The result is a powerful, warming expression of resolve and renewal for Midlake, opening up
new futures for the band and honouring their storied history. Formed in the small town of
Denton, with roots in the University of North Texas College of Music, Midlake delivered an
auspicious debut with 2004’s ‘Bamnan and Slivercork’. For the follow-up, they looked further
afield and deeper within to deliver 2006’s wondrous ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’, a modern
classic pitched between 1871, 1971 and somewhere out of time: between Henry David
Thoreau and Neil Young’s ‘After the Gold Rush’, between 1970s Laurel Canyon thinking and a
longing for something more mysterious.
 Confidence bolstered by a growing fanbase and a developed sense of their own far-reaching
abilities, Midlake - a band acutely attuned to seasonal shifts - then embraced change. In 2010,
they visited darker psych-folk thickets for ‘The Courage of Others’ and backed John Grant on
his lustrously spiky breakthrough album, ‘Queen of Denmark’. When singer Tim Smith departed
Midlake in 2012, Pulido stepped up to the lead vocal role for 2013’s freshly exploratory
‘Antiphon’, teasing out singular routes through vintage electric-folk pastures.
 In reuniting, the bandmates were adamant that Midlake needed their absolute focus. The result
is an album of tremendously engaged thematic and sonic reach with a warm, wise sense of
intimacy at its heart: an album to break bread and commune with, honour the past and travel
onwards with. In ‘Bethel Woods’, Pulido sings of gathering seeds. On ‘For the Sake of Bethel
Woods’, those seeds are lovingly nurtured, taking rich and spectacular bloom.
 LP pressed on 180g vinyl in a gatefold sleeve printed on matt card and printed inner sleeve
with lyrics and digital download card.

Italian artists Francesco Parente and Josh Kalker team up with vocalist David Blank as they get set to release Lost In Paradise on Hot Creations. Upcoming UK producer Wheats is also onboard to deliver a solid remix.

An infectious bassline entices you from the start on Lost In Paradise, as the uplifting chords and sensual tones of David Blank’s vocal make an invigorating and euphoric ride for the dancefloor. On the remix, intricate drum patterns set the pace. Minimal undertones bubble throughout, as the track unfolds with hypnotic vocal cuts, leading to a buildup that will be sure to make the crowd erupt.

Francesco Parente started producing at the age of sixteen and soon received support from the most respected artists in the underground scene like Nicole Moudaber and Marco Carola. In 2017 Francesco started playing in the famous clubs in his region followed by international bookings and support from his mentor Loco Dice, leading to releases on labels like Rawtentic, CUFF and HOTTRAX. Josh Kalker is influenced by the house and techno of the 90s. Since working full time in the studio and DJing in Europe, Josh has had the opportunity to release on labels such as La Pera Records, Nervous, Lost, Roush, Safe, Cryminal Hype, and many more. His music is supported by heavy-weights including Marco Carola, Loco Dice, Wade and Michael Bibi.

Wheats has become one of the most exciting new artists, sitting at the forefront of the UK’s surging wave of rising DJs and producers making an impact on the global scene. Releasing cuts on Hottrax, Kaluki, Circus and Solid Grooves, Wheats enjoys the backing of some of the biggest names in the underground scene.

As a lifelong soul boy - poet, actor, presenter Craig Charles has been adding to his trunk of funk music since his youth, and now after almost 20 years hosting his world renowned BBC6 Music and Radio 2 shows, DJing at clubs and festivals around the globe his reputation as an ambassador for all things soulful & funky is indisputable. Craig was overwhelmed with the success of Volume 1 which hit the Official UK Album charts; "It's been a whole year (and what a weird year) since I unleashed Volume 1 on a music starved world. It clearly hit home with a funk hungry public as it got into the UK charts, nestled between film soundtracks and pop compilations, so I'd like to thank everyone for supporting - especially those who grabbed the double vinyl album - that was an instant sell out!" Volume 2 contains all the trademark features his fans have come to love -kicking off with The Allergies - and their 100% exclusive Trunk Of Funk remix of their bombastic Move On Baby.

Nate Scheible's "work of gentle genius" – Fairfax – is arriving on vinyl & all digital services in February 2022. Remastered by Lawrence English and featuring brand new artwork, this edition uncovers a completely new side of the "dreamy and dramatic, meditative and somber" album by the American artist. ~~~

"Few albums have stuck with me like Nate Scheible's Fairfax. In fact, I feel lucky to have had my copy of the original tape to drop into over several years, some heartbreaks, a few streaks of loneliness; when I've not felt terribly well, or couldn't face reflecting for fear of noticing personal decay.

With fresh treatment from mastering maestro, Lawrence English, this new version has brought out fresh new colours in Scheible's elegant composition. The moments of icy isolation are sharper, while the embrace of the album's finale is warmer and heartier than ever. Scheible's found polaroids on the front of the package also fit so aptly that they barely even feel new. The album's allure and message of craving is more powerful than ever.

To anybody who hears this album, she's a great heroine of literature, the voice of Fairfax. Her frank admissions of longing and weakness are infectious cries of hope. She's a powerful woman, unashamed, the innermost voice of reason, grasping the world together selflessly. I wanted to tell her about the times when things weren't so good. I want to tell her now too, just how well things can turn out.

Scheible's beds of oozing and luscious melodies, decaying on reels or tape, flinging out from plucked bass strings, or rising from a struck vibraphone, are a truly loving soundtrack to this mysterious voice found on a tape that came into the artist's possession. The audio letters reveal the woman's story of painful hope and self-gifted redemption, while the click of the saxophone and moan of Scheible's wobbly piano snippets, they sing her – no ~our~ – mood right back to us. Fairfax reminds us that, like the protagonist, we're all gonna do something, ~someday~."
– Tristan Bath

It's pressed on red transparent recycled vinyl.

The feel good song "Everytime" from the album "Serendipity" by Lisa Decker & Japanese Jazz trio Nautilus gets the Pat Van Dyke treatment plus a special appearance by South Bronx born emcee John Robinson aka Lil Sci of the legendary east coast group ScienZ of Life who performed with the likes of The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Run DMC and MF DOOM to name a few.

Multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Pat Van Dyke from New Jersey is giving the song a totally new direction with playful horns and heavy bassline to get the soundsystems bumping.

This album deservedly acquired 'cult status' thanks perhaps to the blend of material and happy assurance of all the soloists. Art Farmer for example is melodic and tuneful on Cool Struttin', helped by Sonny's sympathetic yet urgent chordal backing. The same applies to Jackie McLean, a loyal devotee of Charlie Parker but blessed with his own style. The pianist's solos have finger bustin' moments when the keys seem melded into one homogenous mass. But Sonny also displayed his expertise as a tasteful stylist with a unique approach much admired by Bill Evans. The musicians assembled for this session were produced by Blue Note Records supremo Alfred Lion, and would have been familiar to Clark, on this occasion cast in the role of Leader. Sonny was one of the Jazz label's house pianists called on to back the likes of John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell and Hank Mobley.

Nightcrawlers is a Scottish house music project, assembled by producer, DJ and vocalist John Reid. In 1992, John Reid formed the act following his local success as a DJ and vocalist. It was 1995 when he released his debut album, which was titled after its lead single. Two singles of the album reached the UK Top 10: “Push The Feeling On” and “Surrender Your Love”, plus three singles that reached the UK Top 40: “Don’t Let The Feeling Go”, “Should I Ever (Fall In Love)” and the lead single “Let’s Push It”. The latter became an overnight success, peaking at No. 7 on the US Hot Dance Club Play charts and briefly crossing over to pop radio, peaking at No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Push The Night Again” gained new spotlight recently, when Nightcrawlers together with Riton scored a worldwide#1 hit with “Friday”, which is a remix of the track.

“Push The Feeling On” was then remixed by Marc Kinchen, an American record producer. He stripped down the song to edited vocal samples, creating an unusual sounding track “The Dub of Doom Mix”. Reid released an album containing all six singles he had previously released, using the single “Let’s Push It” as the album’s title. Marc Kinchen once again worked closely with Reid, repeatedly remixing tracks to his trademark sound.

Gábor Lázár’s “Boundary Object” is a collection of eight real-time recorded, unedited tracks made in Budapest and Prague between 2020 and 2022 using a self-designed compositional interface. It's Gábor Lázár’s second album for Planet Mu following “Source” in 2020. The title comes from the idea of a Boundary object as a flexible concept of sociology and computation of how collaborations could happen between groups of people who have different kinds of backgrounds and different levels of knowledge. A Boundary object could be anything which translates between these groups to make a collaboration happen. Boundary objects are plastic, interpreted differently across communities but with enough common identity across social words and contexts to maintain integrity. This is a neat summary of how Gábor’s approach and working process led to his music on this album. Prismatic, flexible, and functioning on different levels of interpretation. On “Boundary Object”, the shiny surfaces and uniformity of “Source” have collapsed inward, leaving intact the recognisable pulse and frames of his music. While each individual track has a non-linear structure, the album as a whole has a strong narrative. Passages that start out Trance-like and familiar warp and weft into different shapes as if Gábor is examining the music like a 3d object, pulling at the edges, breaking and rebuilding what he examines, turning expectations inside-out. “Boundary Object” is intense, full-spectrum and a lot of fun.

Three sumptuous offerings of quality grooves from the Aesthetic series, as Paris club scene fave Djebali and Argentinian DJ and producer Jorge Savorett join forces once again. This choice trio definitely veers on the side of the under rather than over stated, preferring to rely on warm rhythmic flourishes and enticing, inviting instrumentation rather than thumping firepower or gimmickry. The beats are tight and hypnotic, with perhaps just the slightest hint of a nod to the shuffling drum machine funk of early Derrick May productions like 'Nude Photo' here and the more head nodding repetition of Chicago jack house there. Aesthetically pleasing for sure.

New imprint and musical project from Benjamin Diamond (french iconic member of Stardust and voice of the hit "Music Sounds Better With You") & Ulysse Genet!

Two numbers referring to the year 1972.

And in two numbers, everything is said.

The project is simple and ambitious, it is the soundtrack of life passing by, of our lives, of theirs: those of two boys who became two men, both born the same year. 1972. And contrary to its commercial destination, the «TM» sometimes af fixed to these two letters appears here rather like a real mental tattoo, if not a purely aes thetic gesture, as if to tell us: these sounds, these feelings, these immaterial emotions, were deposited in the dark recesses of these two brains, these two minds, before passing through their bodies, passing through their fingers, then through the keyboards, the ins truments, to transform themselves, to turn into sounds, which, themselves, through the alchemy of creation, become music.

And this music is the soundtrack to these two lives: Benjamin Cohen. Ulysse Genet. And these two lives which at one point crossed, met. And from this crossing was born 72. From these two experiences, from these memories, from the memories of the two artists, music is revealed. Four tracks for the moment, instrumental, mixing the reminiscences of hip hop, the echoes of the ‘ambient’ created by Brian Eno, the techno vo lutes of Detroit, and more particularly those of Carl Craig. Without forgetting the roots of what has been called the French Touch... this unique musical adventure revealing France abroad in a singular way, in which Benjamin Cohen has actively participated.

Inner Vision also features four cuts, these courtesy of DJ Compufunk, aka Nao from Osaka. He's the founder of Compufunk Records (the longest-running record shop for House and Techno in Japan) and, as the four solidly crafted tracks show, an experienced producer in his own right. The vertigo-inducing title track struts aggressively with a high-velocity swing peppered by tinkling synth accents and acidy squelches, after which “Abyss” cools the pace for a sexier House style (a swishing drum machine detail even gives the cut a rather Kraftwerk-like tinge). On the flip, “Midnight Sky” grooves as boldly, this time with a smattering of Garage worked into its swing and chiming synths brightening the mix, while “Mind Power” changes things up with a swirling bottom end that's so dizzying it's positively gyroscopic. Dj Compufunk sn't averse to packing his productions with layers of dizzying detail, and as a result the stimulation level remains high throughout. Strictly limited 250 copies.

Quindi Records returns once more to the swooning romanticism of Cabaret du Ciel, the long-running project from Andrea Desidera and Gian Luigi Morosin. After the contemporary material which made up long-player The Breath Of Infinity, Raintears heads back into the group's archives and focuses on a limited cassette release from 1991.

Originally released on Morosin's own Ionisation Tapes, Raintears is described as heralding a new phase for Cabaret du Ciel following their earlier Solarisation and Weather Colours cassettes. This revised, expanded version of the release opens with 'Raintears (Piano Version)', which originally came out on an Ionisation compilation entitled Imago Sonora 1. Truly evoking the spirit of the track and its meaning, it was recorded on a rainy Sunday afternoon when Desidera's friend and trained pianist Francesco Martignon heard the original melody for 'Raintears' and proceeded to improvise on the theme, with Desidera and Morosin embellishinbg Martignon's exquisite playing with subtle touches of synth and sampling. In its fragile, tape-worn repose, the piece is loaded with the delicate ambience a rainy Sunday afternoon implies - calm, melancholic and wistful.

'A New Day' is a piece cast in light and shade, contrasting two core melodic phrases expressed through synth and guitar, with a light touch of speech sampling adding to the cinematic poise of the track. 'Time Of The Twins' originally appeared as a single track on the cassette release, but here it's framed as two distinct parts which meet in the middle. The first half is patient, gliding ambience rich in the harmonic interplay and winding narratives which typifies Cabaret du Ciel overall. The second half opens up like a flower looking for the sun, all pronounced keys pirouetting across the fundamental chord progression established in the first chapter.

'A Delvaux Postcard', previously titled 'East Roads', takes on a spectral, spacious form as it passes by slow, rhythmic pulses and freewheeling synths, momentarily joined by scattered shards of sampled voice layered and filtered in a manner which reminded Morosin of Belgian surrealist painter Paul Delvaux. The EP closes with the original version of 'Raintears' (billed here as 'Raintears II'), a plaintive and disarmingly beautiful ambient piece centered on Desidera's light and poignant playing. As Morosin himself describes, "Andrea is in a full state of grace, touching the listener through his fingers with the notes into their deepest emotions. The first time I listened to the basic version, I was just speechless."

Athlete Whippet return to Toy Tonics with an EP showcasing emotionally layered dance tracks and their refusal to stick to genre conventions. The duo are synonymous with sublime cuts that are just as suited to late nights and early mornings on the dancefloor, as they are to home-listening, this perfectly exhibited on the "Noguiera" EP.

The four-tracker is named after a remote place in the mountains around Rio de Janeiro where it was made on a creatively fruitful getaway in 2021. It's sentimental, joyful, bouncy, and futuristic, and showcases the duo’s musicality combining bass guitar and piano, with hardware synths, loops and fragmented vocal samples.

Robin explains - "Spending time in Brazil in recent years was a blessing. The nature, culture and musical heritage over there is beautiful. Mostly in solitude, as I ended up spending most of my time in a remote place in the mountains around Rio, music became the only real emotional outlet for a while. So in a way this is a record of dance music created as far away as we’ve ever been from the dance floor!"

Both from a live performance background, Robin and Avi met studying at Goldsmiths London and found their way to the dance floor via playing in bands, Robin a guitarist, Avi classically trained in trumpet and later on picking up the keys. Absorbing the community of South London, they eventually set up artist collective and record label Squareglass - a proudly established home for new artists coming out of the area. They’ve remixed for the likes of Rhythm Section, collaborated with Olugbenga, and their releases have come with reworks from Ross from Friends, Cameo Blush, Baltra and Seb Wildblood. In 2021, their hybrid sound found a new home with tastemaker German label Toy Tonics who released their "Vesta" EP in May, followed by a run of European tour dates including Funkhaus Berlin, Phonox London and Amsterdam Dance Event.

It was certainly unpredictable that a legendary jazz drummer would record one of spiritual disco's most revered songs twenty-three years into his career, but that's exactly what happened when Idris Muhammad laid down the epic "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This" in 1977. Hailing from New Orleans, Muhammad always had more than a touch of funk to his rhythms, and by the late '70s his collaborations with master engineer Rudy Van Gelder on recordings for the CTI and Kudu labels had gelled perfectly with the reigning jazz-funk sound of the day. Arranger Dave Matthews (famously part of the James Brown stable) collaborated with lyricist and former Long Island record store clerk Tony Sarafino on writing the song, which on the original recording unfolds over a nearly 9-minute build. Appearing at the crest of the disco movement, "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This" was an immediate hit with David Mancuso and the attendees of his loft parties, quickly spreading to other venues and even making a small climb up the Billboard R&B charts. For this new issue on Most Excellent Unlimited, Danny Krivit, whose own career as a dancefloor orchestrator from the DJ booth has paralleled the timeframe of the song's existence, has replaced the original loose introduction with a mix-friendly steady groove that maintains the unstoppable pulse of the song while maintaining the cathartic mid-song break and giving the track potential for even more momentum.

Another percussionist is responsible for our flip side track, "Magic's in the Air." Vince Montana was not only an in-house arranger and producer for Philadelphia International and other Philly soul labels, but was an accomplished vibraphone player. His talents are on display and doubly emphasized by Mr. K in this overlooked cut from Ronnie Walker, a falsetto singer who draws a rather strong comparison to the best songs of fellow Philadelphians Blue Magic with this uptempo, subtly synthy 1975 track. Never having appeared on a 12-inch, and indeed never having appeared even on a full-length album, Krivit's edit is the first extended mix of "Magic's in the Air" to date. Alongside "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This," itself notoriously difficult to find in 12-inch form, this latest from MEU's long running series with Mr. K is a bonafide must-have for the discerning DJ.

Siavash Amini is a composer from Tehran, Iran. He Has worked with labels like Room40, Hallow Ground, Opal Tapes and Umor Rex for the better half of the past ten years. He has performed at festivals like CTM & MUTEK and many other well known international events. Apart from it Siavash is a co-founder of the “SET experimental art events” and “SETfest” in Tehran, Iran. His work ranges from fragile ambient pieces and brittle IDM (incorporating his distinctive style of atmospheric guitar playing) to noisy drones and bleak modern classical pieces. His compositions have been inspired by films such as Andrei Tarkovsky's The Mirror as well as novels by Dostoyesvky and poems by T.S. Eliot.

Saffronkeira is the Sardinian sound researcher Eugenio Caria being active in the electronic music scene since almost two decades. His most recent work - a cooperation with the Italian jazz trumpet legend Paolo Fresu - earned a lot of praise from the international music press for the pure timelessness of the album.

"Upon hearing a small snippet of sound an image is conjured, not a memory but not unfamiliar. A shell of a memory, thousand events superimposed on each other. While trying to extract points of a narrative to ease the discomfort of this recollection, I try to separate and unfold the image and with it the points of the spectrum which make up the sound, a shell of a narrative. Here is an album based upon an almost entirely imagined/ synthesized happening upon hearing a snippet of sound. It sounded like of a whole story that never happened but yet I felt myself amongst it’s participants, a sound triggering a false memory. Each sound in Eugenio’s collection of sounds and ideas guided me a to a point in the narrative and it’s construction. He had handed me a portals of some kind to a few scenes of the whole narrative. This is the soundtrack for that false memory from all the perspectives I can think of."

"The Mysterines have enjoyed some incredible success to date. This includes a sold-out tour just before lockdown in February 2020 a 2nd sold out tour coming in autumn, playlists at BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music.
A note from Lia on the first single off the album:
In My Head appears to be a love song but that was not the original intention. I did want it to superficially be seen as that but in reality, it's a song about people who struggle with their mental health. Partly autobiographical it is about how sometimes life can feel like you’re being haunted by something out of your control. The song was produced and mixed by Catherine Marks. "

In the early 1970s the island of Jamaica, and in particular its reggae musicians, developed a love affair with small Japanese motor bikes. Honda bikes were eulogised in Big Youth’s ‘S90 Skank’ and Dillinger’s ‘CB200’, whilst their rival was lauded on Shorty The President’s ‘Yamaha Skank’, to name the most obvious examples. The plot of the film ‘Rockers’ revolved around how transformative a motorbike could be, providing a livelihood whilst projecting an image of success in the ghetto.
Vivian ‘Yabby You’ Jackson had been fiercely independent as a singer and producer, and the success of his early self-pressed productions, mostly on the Prophets or Vivian Jackson labels, had given him a sense of hard earned autonomy. A motorbike was one of the fruits of his labours, acquired as a way of zipping around the capital’s roads to deliver records and organise recording sessions. His wife Jean could often be see hanging on to the back. Twelve years after his death, she remembers various exploits on the pot-holed roads of Kingston.
Jean Vencella Williams: ‘His first motorbike was a Honda 50 and then a 100, a Yamaha. I remember the Yamaha, it was a dark blue colour, it must have been from the mid 70s til the early 80s. I used to ride around on the back and we ride all over, like we go to the country cos his mother lived in Clarendon. And he had a little carrier thing for boxes of records, so we go to Mandeville in Manchester, sometimes to Spanish Town fe sell records. Most of the time he sell them to the shops, like Randys, and the people them buy it from there. He had pressing plants like Byron Lee and later Tuff Gong, so when the records pressed we find out the time when we get back the records, which usually was at least a couple of days or about a week. And later when we living in Clarendon we come into Kingston to pick them up at the pressing plant. And when he book the studio he might book two or three days and we come in and usually stay til late.

‘He used to carry the records from the different pressing plants on the bike, but because of the rain and weather you know it not so good for the records, and also the sun beating down. Then Wayne Wade had an accident on the Yamaha, and he was hurt quite bad, and he had to go to the hospital for quite a while. Well Yabby didn’t ride it after that, cos it was getting dangerous with so many cars coming in. So he gave up the Yamaha and bought a Toyota Carina, and that car was very good to him. Then the Carina become a little shaky, so he got a Toyota Corolla which he drove until his death.’

This album presents a sample of the best of those ‘Dubs and Versions’ that Yabby was ferrying around town, whether rarities, B-sides or tracks culled from albums that showcase the breadth of Yabby’s productions between 1975 and 1982.

This release comes with sleevenotes original artwork.

"So Happy It Hurts" is the brand new album from platinum selling, award-winning artist Bryan Adams.
Bryan Adams is one of the most exciting live musicians in the world and his energetic performance, effortless stage presence and incredible vocals are guaranteed to thrill and entertain. Adams’ influence extends 4 decades, over which time he has released 14 studio albums. His song writing has garnered him numerous awards and accolades including three Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations and a Grammy Award.
Of the new album Bryan says: “The pandemic and lockdown really brought home the truth that spontaneity can be taken away. Suddenly all touring stopped, no one could jump in the car and go,” says Adams. “The title song ‘So Happy It Hurts’ is about freedom, autonomy, spontaneity and the thrill of the open road. The album of the same name, touches on many of the ephemeral things in life are really the secret to happiness, most importantly, human connection.”

The album So Happy it Hurts, scheduled for release March 11, 2022, marks Bryan Adams’ 15th release and features 12 new songs co-written by him

"So Happy It Hurts" is the brand new album from platinum selling, award-winning artist Bryan Adams.
Bryan Adams is one of the most exciting live musicians in the world and his energetic performance, effortless stage presence and incredible vocals are guaranteed to thrill and entertain. Adams’ influence extends 4 decades, over which time he has released 14 studio albums. His song writing has garnered him numerous awards and accolades including three Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations and a Grammy Award.
Of the new album Bryan says: “The pandemic and lockdown really brought home the truth that spontaneity can be taken away. Suddenly all touring stopped, no one could jump in the car and go,” says Adams. “The title song ‘So Happy It Hurts’ is about freedom, autonomy, spontaneity and the thrill of the open road. The album of the same name, touches on many of the ephemeral things in life are really the secret to happiness, most importantly, human connection.”

The album So Happy it Hurts, scheduled for release March 11, 2022, marks Bryan Adams’ 15th release and features 12 new songs co-written by him

Thomas Headon was born in London and raised in Melbourne but dreamt of moving back to the city to pursue music. Thomas’ mum told him he had a year to get a “proper job” otherwise he would have to return home. Arriving in London just before the pandemic hit, Thomas started to build a community online - blowing up on TikTok with 14.7M likes and over 400K followers to date - with his off-kilter live sessions, tongue-in-cheek charm and remarkable song writing ability. Learning to write and produce on his own in his late teens, Thomas has already released a self-written and self-produced debut EP, ‘The Greatest Hits,’ and dropped The Goodbye EP last year, amassing 50M streams world-wide. All before his 21st birthday.

On November 5th, Thomas will announce his brand-new EP, Victoria, due 11th March 2022 and available to pre-order from the announcement. Alongside the announcement, he drops new single ‘Strawberry Kisses’ a few days prior, kicking off the road to the EP officially.
Building an incredibly loyal fanbase over lockdown and amassing 100K followers on Instagram, Thomas’ blend of playful alternative pop that speaks to the Gen-Z experience, has been compared to the likes of the 1975’s Matty Healy, and critically praised by Triple J, naming him a “seriously impressive force in pop music”. Already performing a charmingly energetic live session on Jack Saunders’ BBC Radio 1 show, Thomas has just sold out two nights at London’s Heaven on a 17-date tour in November, following the “Living Room Shows” tour, where he played an intimate acoustic series to thousands of fans across the UK. One of the first artists to curate Spotify’s Our Generation playlist, the 21-year-old has also collaborated with American singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine on his single 'Bored’ and gained over 50M global streams.
Thomas will also be supporting Sigrid next year on her European Arena Tour.

U. Srinivas is to Indian classical music what Yehudi Menuhin is to Western classical music. Like Menuhin, U. Srinivas was a child prodigy. He started to play the mandolin, a little-known instrument in India, when he was only six years old. At the time, the mandolin was an alien instrument in South Indian classical music, but Srinivas learned to play Carnatic ragas on the mandolin with so much ease and dexterity that his name was synonymous in India with the mandolin and he became popularly known as ‘Mandolin Srinivas’. Even Europeans are surprised that such magical music can originate from an instrument which is normally a rather inconspicuous member of a Western orchestra. Like fellow Indian musician Shiv Kumar with the santoor, Srinivas has revived and raised an unknown instrument and given it a respectable status in classical music. It was in August 1992, while on tour with WOMAD, that Srinivas recorded this album of traditional music during the second Real World Recording Week in a candlelit studio. U Srinivas passed away in September 2014.

2LP with a 4-page colour insert

As Guadeloupean vocalist and composer Marie-Line Dahomay writes in her liner notes to the compilation, gwoka is more than a style of music, it is “a way of living and thinking.” Rooted in the social, musical and ritual practices of enslaved African people and their descendants on Guadeloupe, gwoka has always sought to express the spirit of independence and resistance authentic to the island.Building on its traditional call-and-response form and the ideas of pivotal figures like Gérard Lockel and Christian Laviso, modern gwoka evolved throughout the second half of the twentieth century to include funk, jazz and electronic influences.

Defined by its propensity for innovation and experimentation, this compilation charts the most radical changes to modern gwoka, capturing a sensory riot of traditional répertoires, rhythms and makè techniques fused with genre-defying experimentation.Whether heard in the deeply cosmic, spiritual music of Dao, Freydy Doressamy and Gaoulé Mizik, or the jazz funk inflections of Gui Konket and Horizon, the music here is united by the feeling of santiman ka, crucial not only to gwoka music but the identity of Guadeloupe at large.

As co-curator Cédric Lassonde (Bueaty & The Beats) writes: “What unifies these selections is the depth of the compositions, the experimentation around the santiman ka, and the spirit of resistance and liberation against slavery, be it modern or ancestral. With a thirst for innovation typical of the island’s creole culture, the ka spirit is deeply rooted in collective history and in a quest for identity.”

Co-curator Brandon Hocura (Séance Centre) continues: “The creative energy of these musicians is powerful and demonstrates a universal pursuit of resistance, freedom and identity. Their voices are distinct, but the chorus rises high and carries their message far across the sea.”

Lèsprit Ka: New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010 is the first compilation of its kind to bring the sound of modern gwoka to a wider audience, with many of the featured musicians still active today. Presented as a double LP, the release features a specially commissioned essay by Guadeloupean musician Marie-Line Dahomey, and extensive liner notes from Cédric Lassonde and Séance Centre’s Brandon Hocura.

True to the hybrid nature of the music, the compilation seeks not to provide a definitive sound, but express the variety of contemporary forms that have evolved from gwoka. Just as Guadeloupean trailblazers Kassav fused gwoka with funk and cadence to create zouk, so did the musicians on this collection push gwoka in new directions rarely heard beyond its shores.

In the words of Gérard Lockel, “gwoka is the soul of Guadeloupe”

Faitiche presents Beispiel (German for "example", also suggests playing together), a joint project by Frank Bretschneider and Jan Jelinek. Muster is their first album.

Free electronic music, the result of spontaneous improvisations.

“Meaning” is a concept that is overused in connection with music. Muster does not call for the same kind of air quotes. With its title, German for patterns/exemplars, Beispiel’s album frees itself from the ballast of teleological semantics. There is no overarching theme, no preparation, no reading list, no reason for this music. Just two facts: Frank Bretschneider and Jan Jelinek have known each other a long time and appreciate each other’s work; and they share a love of modular synthesizers and of experimental set-ups designed to capture surprise.

Bretschneider and Jelinek got together for their first joint session in 2016 and the years that followed brought more such meetings at Jelinek’s studio for open-ended musical dialog – at irregular intervals and with no clear objective. The improvisations were recorded in two stereo tracks: one track for Bretschneider’s audio, one for Jelinek’s. After each session, the recordings were processed separately, the options essentially limited to cutting and altering the frequency range. The nine pieces for Muster were selected from the resulting material.

This approach reflects an ideal: music is when you play your first note without knowing what the third or fourth will sound like. When your 290th note still sees you leaving the beaten track, and when curiosity grows as the piece unfolds. Duping is part of Beispiel’s practice. Improvisation is about disagreement. It’s a matter of addressing the right issues. What’s happening here? What’s mine, what’s yours? Are “why” and “where next” legitimate questions?

Muster is an exemplary work. Nine suggestions for what can be. Nine ideas for possibilities of listening.

Arno Raffeiner

Drunk Uncle hail from Austin, TX, but their namesakes are probably drawn from someone you know. Think about your last family gettogether- Uncle Bill is halfway through a six-pack when the alien conspiracy theories start pouring out of his mouth. He starts chaotic and loud, then gets quiet and sad as he keeps drinking. His mood will swing wildly in-between emotions. His speech is raw and his vulnerability is beautiful. Bottle that energy up into music form and you have Drunk Uncle. Drunk Uncle's debut album "Look Up" draws on catharsis. Picture yourself in a grimy basement surrounded by your best friends, watching a band as music washes over you and you feel like everything is in the right place. You smile as frantic guitars fill the room and gruff vocals push out every emotion you could possibly feel. Drums and bass slow down and speed back up as the music moves from anger to regret to hope. You feel it all- every note, every hit, every strain. It feels good to feel. You open your eyes and you are in your room alone. You flip the record back over and you are back in the basement. All is right.

Drawing inspiration from Buddhist teachings and the hopeful attitude of frontman Johnny Quinn, Liverpool-based four-piece Spinn return with news of their second album Outside Of The Blue – via Modern Sky UK.

Outside Of The Blue acts as a lynchpin sonically and thematically. Written in the immediate aftermath of a panic attack, following a drive down to Birmingham to work on material for the album, the lyrics poured out in just half an hour. Instead of embodying that place of anguish it’s filled with light and an appreciation of unconditional love.

This spring Gymnasty is debuting with his release Yugoslavian Space Program. Alongside satellites, rockets and asteroids you will get a chance to discover a country that was once a bright star itself. Get ready for a nostalgic journey from ambient scapes to electro club slappers.

Following his feature on We Miss The Crowd EP - the last addition to our Killer Cuts series - Romeo Louisa returns to the Shall Not Fade catalog with a blissful solo EP.

Rarified Terms sees the emerging French producer come into his powers with three soulful deep house tracks which reflect his musical background in jazz, and see reworks from the likes of Shall Not Fade family members and fellow collaborators, THEOS and Denyl Brook, and London duo, Funk Cartel.

The EP starts as it means to go on. A skippy house beat, jazz-like piano chords and diva-esque vocal phrases lend "Desires" a driving propulsion, equally suited to the dancefloor as it is to a more laid-back listening environment. Next up, the stripped-back melody on the title track makes way for a focus on percussion, paying tribute to Romeo's brief residence in London with a half broken garage beat. "The House of Jazz" sees the EP at its classiest with soulful piano chords and a bouncing deep house rhythm, at times punctuated by drum accents which reference the sporadic nature of jazz improvisation.

Next up, enter Silver Steps Records boss, Denyl Brook, and fraternal duo, Funk Cartel, who offer their take on the title track before French producer THEOS rethinks "The House of Jazz", teasing out the lower ends so that the track is led by a funk-infused bassline.

Fatima returns with ‘Tinted Shades’, a three-track
EP that asserts personal truths whilst juxtaposing
dark times with hopeful optimism - spanning soul,
hip-hop and R&B, produced entirely by Joe ArmonJones.
 Swedish soul singer with hip-hop in her blueprint,
Fatima is a vocal powerhouse with a beautiful tone
who has written and collaborated with the likes of
JD Reid, Purist, Larry Heard, Floating Points,
Knxwledge, Scoop DeVille, Flako, Dam Funk and
Shafiq Husayn.

Alex Cameron has always been a great storyteller,
finding his ways into the depths of the places where not
many others are looking, and ‘Oxy Music’ continues on
that trajectory. It’s filled with stories of people who fall
outside the system and exist in the grey areas of life.
 And much like 2017’s ‘Forced Witness’, ‘Oxy Music’ is a
work of fiction. In its design - its music, lyrics and
tracklist - lies the journey a person can take, if the
circumstances present themselves - down the road of
heavy drug and alcohol abuse. Initially inspired by Nico
Walker’s ‘Cherry’, Cameron was spurred into yet another
commentary on American Life, this time about the opioid
crisis that has taken over the country.
 Alex says about ‘Oxy Music’: “The album is a story, a
work of fiction, mostly from the perspective of a man.
Starved of meaningful purpose, confused about the state
of the world, and in dire need of a reason to live - a
person can, and according to the latest statistics,
increasingly will, turn to opioids. This is one of those
people.”
 While ‘Oxy Music’ could be dark, it’s instead brighter and
more buoyant than much of Cameron’s previous work, a
shift in mood first seen across 2019’s ‘Miami Memory’.
It’s told from a place of optimism and through the lens of
Cameron, in the way that only he can tell it.
 Co-mixed by Mount Kimbie’s Kai Campos.
 Past collaborators include Angel Olsen, Brandon
Flowers (The Killers), Jason Williamson (Sleaford
Mods), Kirin J Callinan and Roan Yellowthorn.

Norwegian musician and novelist Jenny Hval
announces her new album, ‘Classic Objects’.
 ‘Classic Objects’ is a map of places; past places,
like the old empty Melbourne pubs Hval’s band
used to play in, public places Hval missed
throughout lockdown, imagined, future places, and
impossible places where dreams, hallucinations,
death and art can take you. It is interested in
combining heavenly things and plain things.
 ‘Classic Objects’ is Hval’s version of a pop album.
Every song has a verse and a chorus. There are
interchangeable moments of complexity,
interesting melodies throughout, and a feeling of
elevation and clarity in the choruses. Heba Kadry
mixed it to sound as though it’s played through “a
stereo in a mysterious room.”
 Since 2019’s ‘The Practice of Love’, Hval
published the English translation of her third novel,
‘Girls Against God’, and released an album under
the name Lost Girls.
 Hval will play London’s EartH venue on 11th April,
2022.

Sprints unveil details of their ‘A Modern Job’ EP, out on Nice Swan
Records.
 Lyrically, ‘Modern Job’ finds singer Karla Chubb at her sardonic and
angry best, detailing her own personal wish list: “I wish I had the guts / I
wish I had the gall / I wish I had a girl,” all set to cascading guitars and a
formidable rhythm section; working in unison to create unrelenting
tension, all the while echoing the subject matter Chubb explores in her
lyrics.
 On the new single, Karla offers the following: “‘Modern Job’ is a critique
of modern existence but also an exploration of growing up queer. In your
formative years, you are bombarded with media, books, news that depict
what a ‘normal’ life should be. Grow up, fall in love, get married… long
live the nuclear family.
 “By contrast when you grow up queer all these ordinary things can seem
extraordinary, out of reach and in some parts of the world, illegal. It
leaves you feeling lost, excluded and confused. I wanted ‘Modern Job’ to
capture those feelings; chaotic energy, loneliness and longing of
normality while trying to find acceptance within yourself.”
 Sprints have received support from the likes The Guardian, Clash, NME,
DIY and Dork, as well as love at Radio 1 and Radio 6 Music. Recent
single ‘How Does The Story Go?’ (also on the EP) was premiered by
Steve Lamacq, who praised it as “their best song yet! These guys are
going to be something,” The single was also leading in playlists from
NME, Loud & Quiet and others.
 Sprints combine guitar-driven hooks, motoric rhythm and emotive
lyricism to create a unique sound that pulls from garage, grunge, punk
and beyond. Like the Irish guitar acts who have paved the way for them -
Fontaines D.C., Silverbacks and Girl Band - the sound of Sprints is
urgent and vital at every turn.
 Sprints have hit a nerve. Driven by experience, tough political climates
and social and economic uncertainty - their music is honest, often
politically charged and authentic.
 “On course towards future raucous, beer-soaked headline festival sets.” -
NME
 “Screw-you power, relentless motorik rhythms and impressively large
choruses.” - The Guardian
 "Sprints may be the latest to emerge from Dublin’s fertile stable of guitarwielding new heroes, but their two-fingers-up, no-nonsense rattle ‘n’ roll
arrives as the natural heir to Amyl and the Sniffers’ grot punk” - DIY

Stygian Dark, the purveyors of dirty, down-tuned,
old school death metal, release their debut fulllength album, ‘Gorelords Of War’.
 The band was created by vocalist Dave Ingram
(Benediction, Bolt Thrower) and guitarist Rogga
Johansson (Paganizer, Massacre, Heir Corpse
One, Revolting, To The Gallows). The line-up is
completed by Alwin Roes (Dead End) on bass and
Jon Rudin (Wombbath, Just Before Dawn, Dead
Sun, Wormveil) on drums.
 If you like Benediction, Bolt Thrower, Grave and
general stumping, old school, aggressive, ultraheavy and raw down-tuned, straight to your face
death metal, this one can’t fail in your collection.
 For fans of Benediction, Grave, Asphyx, Obituary,
Six Feet Under, Dismember, Gorefest, Bolt
Thrower.

Robert Hampson, the indefatigable visionary behind inspirational sonic architects Loop, whose eagerly anticipated fourth LP Sonancy (Latin for “to create noise”) is the perfect document for these strange times. Dynamic, dystopian, righteously angry and unashamedly Loop-ian, it’s an album that marks a vital re-emergence for Hampson and co. Formed in South London in the mid-1980s, Loop blazed a trail with their potent mix of motorik beats and heavy guitar riffs, recording a trio of brilliant albums that set the indie charts alight before imploding in 1990 after the release of album number three, A Gilded Eternity. As critics enthused at the time, Loop were the sound of Suicide jamming with the Stooges aboard a spaceship built by Hawkwind and piloted by CAN. They were post-psychedelic, pre-shoegaze figureheads in a world of anodyne pop jangle and baggy rhythms, and even their closest contemporaries like Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine didn’t plough such a distinctive furrow as theirs. Today, Loop stand as innovators in a musical world that has embraced and followed their defiantly individual sound – there are hundreds of contemporary neo-psych artists out there who arguably would not exist without Loop’s pioneering music, music that continues to evolve and grow in the most startling of ways on Sonancy.

Robert Hampson, the indefatigable visionary behind inspirational sonic architects Loop, whose eagerly anticipated fourth LP Sonancy (Latin for “to create noise”) is the perfect document for these strange times. Dynamic, dystopian, righteously angry and unashamedly Loop-ian, it’s an album that marks a vital re-emergence for Hampson and co. Formed in South London in the mid-1980s, Loop blazed a trail with their potent mix of motorik beats and heavy guitar riffs, recording a trio of brilliant albums that set the indie charts alight before imploding in 1990 after the release of album number three, A Gilded Eternity. As critics enthused at the time, Loop were the sound of Suicide jamming with the Stooges aboard a spaceship built by Hawkwind and piloted by CAN. They were post-psychedelic, pre-shoegaze figureheads in a world of anodyne pop jangle and baggy rhythms, and even their closest contemporaries like Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine didn’t plough such a distinctive furrow as theirs. Today, Loop stand as innovators in a musical world that has embraced and followed their defiantly individual sound – there are hundreds of contemporary neo-psych artists out there who arguably would not exist without Loop’s pioneering music, music that continues to evolve and grow in the most startling of ways on Sonancy.

This record is a new era. The desire to create something larger than yourself, that will infiltrate people’s hearts like well oiled machines, to paint pictures that will shake them and create a resounding push forward towards something more. In our pandemic isolation, what we wanted was to play a loud collage of music, unconfined by preconceived notions of what it should be, and to transcend ourselves in a room full of breathing, screaming, vibrating human beings - to let the darkness out in a cathartic squeal of noise, eclipsing it with light. We wanted to feel it all at once with you and to escape this fucked up world and find our way into a better one together.

In 2002 well-known for his albums by the progressive rock project Ayreon, Star One “Space Metal” is an exciting project from one of rock's great visionaries, Arjen Lucassen. With its stellar musicianship, visionary production and a simple yet far-reaching concept, Star One “Space Metal” shines bright as a giant sun in the galaxy of rock. “Space Metal” isn't a continuous story or a rock opera like the Ayreon albums. Yet it is still very much a concept album and a journey through Arjen's mind and memory. He takes the listener on a trip where they relive those great science fiction space films that made such an impact on him. Without a doubt Arjen Lucassen set a trend with his Ayreon albums. Especially after the highly successful release of “Into the Electric Castle” many musicians and producers have followed in his footsteps and new rock operas with multiple singers are surfacing all over the world. To ensure to keep the involved voices diverse he used very different sounding singers appearing in the same songs -- different singers for different moods. Dan Swano (ex-Edge of Sanity, Nightingale) sings the low parts, Russell Allen (Symphony X and more) sings the powerful rough parts, Damian Wilson (ex-Threshold, Headspace) sings the high clear parts, and to top it off, Floor Jansen (Nightwish) sings the really high choruses. Robert Soeterboek (Ayreon) sang the backing vocals with his huge smoky voice. Of course Ed Warby played the powerful drums, and Erik Norlander once again added his huge analog synth leads. Arjen also managed to get Jens Johansson (Yngwie Malmsteen, Dio, Stratovarius) who played some incredibly fast synth leads as well. Arjen even succeeded in getting Hawkwind's Dave Brock to make a guest vocal appearance, something no one has ever managed to do before. “Space Metal (Re-issue 2022)” is available as: Ltd. 2CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP+2CD & LP-Booklet and Digital album (2CD).

Green vinyl format of the hits packge that was released in 2021. Continued marketing.

Via tape loops and synth motifs sent from LA to NY, sound artist Christopher Royal King has teamed with violinist and composer Christopher Tignor toward richly timbral, emotionally gripping works of spontaneity that unfurl immense details with each replay while marrying west coast outboard-ambient to studied east coast modern classical. The resulting debut album, A Wave From A Shore, exhibits both artists' sonic identifiers falling in and out of cooperation before binding into a new entity distinct from either's solitary palettes. A visual artist whose work includes album covers for Thrice and Deftones in addition to video bumps for Adult Swim, Christopher Royal King spent his teenage years cutting his teeth on heavy metal and punk before gravitating, quickly and perhaps unexpectedly, toward experimental composers like Philip Glass and Terry Riley. This unlikely seesaw of influences led directly to King forming the post-rock pillar This Will Destroy You with fellow San Antonio native Jeremy Galindo. Similar to his former band's output, King's solo meanderings impart a mood of buoyancy and contemplation while hinting at darker, more shadowy hues beneath the glimmer, making his music stand apart from the glut of New Age droners and modular-synth influencers.