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We’ll forever remember the summer of 2020. In March the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. All over the world cities and countries went in lockdown, bars and venues were closed and live music stopped altogether. After three months of total isolation and not being able to jam or play at Missy Sippy Blues & Roots Club in Ghent —or any other place for that matter— Tiny Legs Tim and his friends decided to book a weekend at The Yellow Tape studio. They wanted to capture the emotional high of finally playing together again. A simple live setup, a 60’s Faylon mixing desk and an old 24-track tape machine were used to record this outburst of musical joy. During that weekend Tim and his musicians reached that point of ‘locking together’ they experienced so often playing late nights at a packed and steamy Missy Sippy. Imagine when four musicians act as one in an energetic dance with the audience, led by the sultry beats of the drums (Bernd Coene), the dirty grooves of the bass (Mattias Geernaert) and the inciting dialogue of the guitars (Toon Vlerick & Tiny Legs Tim).
At the moment these kind of scenes and carefree celebrations of life and music seem like a thing of a long gone past, but as Tim puts it: “We’re always ready to roll, call us when it’s over.” In the meantime, the listener gets a first-hand experience of the positive energy and joy of making music on the spot with a selection of spontaneously arranged songs: some new, some old and one cover by the late RL Burnside.

Hoshina Anniversary returns from forever for a majestic dance. This is his second offering for the ESP Institute. Side A’s Karakuri contains all the elements of Hoshina’s signature sound; bouncy staccato bassline, minor chords and organ stabs, a Chick Corea-inspired Rhodes that walks all over the place, all tracked along sparse bits of Japanese percussion and cymbal that juxtapose organic texture with precision-machined timing. The lead keys feel at first as if they’re freeform, however, Hoshina’s obsession with order becomes apparent as the bars develop and his systematic control and repetition is revealed. On side B’s Michinoku, we’re treated to a deep and slow burner. A roller of a beat based on 808 toms and a pishy snare sets the somewhat bumpy base for this groove, and again the meat of the rhythm is built with dirty chords, this time on the upstroke, in an almost Reggae style. What the flipside taught us about Hoshina’s controlled chaos, is here again the lesson and perhaps even moreso. The voice of the track remains the Fender Rhodes, played in brief but wild phrases and arranged into patterns upon which Hoshina builds layers over some 8+ minutes. There is a deep and dark mood throughout both sides of the record, but perhaps more sultry than devilish, and one that listeners educated in the stoned arts will appreciate. These two songs have built the end into the beginning.

The label’s first release seeks to offer an initiatory experience to Forbidden Teaching’s mission, namely to express the inexpressible.

The A side of the record is body oriented and is introduced with NN’s “The Blood Of A White Monark”, a track characterised by its forceful rhythm, cinematic breakdown and strong synths. Mind I Matter dives deeper in the EBM spectrum with “Thelema”, a track featuring a bassline that goes straight to the body and supported by an expertly crafted atmosphere, reminiscent of the notorious esoteric doctrine.

The B side of the record is soul oriented and begins with Antechamber’s “The Ephemeral Hallucinations”, an atmospheric track that elevates the listener to a place where earthly senses become blurry. Nigh/T\mare concludes the compilation with his track “Unconscious Traction”. It features a robust and hypnotic rhythm coupled with an intense atmosphere that leads the listener to a state where deeply buried emotions and desires could resurface.

Coma World is a new collaboration between Maxwell Hallett, a.k.a. Betamax (The Comet Is Coming/Soccer96) and Pete Bennie (Speaker's Corner Quartet) bringing together their potent chemistry in an intoxifying debut LP. Betamax drives the duo with his signature 'rhythmadelic' drum rapture as Pete elegantly pummels bass tones into an assortment of wonky pockets. Both layer on a blanket of electronic dark matter to create a sonic womb-like world laid out for the brave listener to explore. This is dub and jazz reduced to the raw fundamentals of experimentation, trance and spontaneity. Inspired by a friend's recollections of being in a coma, the duo delve through the mysteries of consciousness and return with a striking array of colourful sound artefacts. From Cosmic flushes that wouldn't sound amiss on a record by Byrd Out collaborator the late, great Andrew Weatherall, through to drowsy groove meditations and explosive eruptions, the album plays by its own rules but demands attention. The two artists sling their dirty funk through cold clouds of darkness leaving psychedelic trails of bleeping fractal spillage. The sonic experimentation is distilled through analogue studio relics followed by a rugged 'all hands on deck' live mix down performance from 1/4" tape. The result is a spontaneous collection of sonic debris that will be administered to willing participants through 12" vinyl format.

Katy Kirby is a Texas-based songwriter and indie rock practitioner with an affinity for unspoken rules, misunderstanding and boredom. She was born, raised and homeschooled by two ex-cheerleaders in small-town Texas and started singing in church, amidst the pasteurised-pop choruses of evangelical worship. Like many bible belt late-millennials, Katy grew up on a strict diet of this dependably uncool genre and accordingly, Cool Dry Place finds her dismantling it. "I can hear myself fighting that deeply internalized impulse to make things that are super pleasant or approachable," she says. Though Katy hasn't fully overcome the itch to please, it's to a listener's benefit. Instead of eradicating the pop sensibilities of her past, she warps them, lacing sugary hooks with sneaky rage, twisting affectionate tones into matter-of-fact reproach, and planting seemingly serene melodies with sonic jabs. The fun is in the clash. The nine tracks that make up Cool Dry Place are miscellaneous in subject (motherhood, late capitalism, disintegrating relationships) but unified by the angle from which they're told: from a person re-learning to process life with intense attention. Each song is a catalogue of fragments, the number of segments in an orange or the cut of an obsessively-worn shirt, distilled into meditations on the bizarre and microscopic exchanges that make up modern life - a relationship splintering, an uncomfortable pause, an understanding finally found. These emotional dioramas are moderated by the angular storytelling that unites Gillian Welch and Phoebe Bridgers, a favour for the conventions of short fiction over confession.

There are few things in design (both sound and art) that are more subjective-or more important-than the use of color. 'Color Language' takes the listener through various characteristics of four different colors. Cultural differences can have different reactions to color. A color that cultivates joy may be depressing or melancholic in another culture. The phonic output of Color Language may reveal similar characteristics that leave the listener to decide how the react to each arrangement.

Most listeners only became aware of Billy Preston as a solo artist after he signed to Apple Records in the late 1960s. But he'd been recording for a long time prior to that, dating back to when he was a teenager. This instrumental album for Sam Cooke's SAR label (issued on its sister Derby imprint) was cut in March 1963, when Preston was still going to high school in Los Angeles. The very fact that it's wholly instrumental indicates that it's pretty early in Preston's evolution, and though he does play some piano, it's really on the more uptempo, organ-dominated tunes where he hits the best groove. In truth, these aren't any great shakes even when it comes to soul organ instrumentals, but they have a nice swinging bounce that places them a cut above period background music, though they fall a good ways short of being spellbinding. The slower numbers (including covers of hits by Sam Cooke and Ray Charles) verge on easy listening; in contrast, the more urgent cuts are cookin', with bop, jazz, and gospel influences spicing up the soul/R&B recipe. (allmusic)

The band that became Nightshift formed in 2019 in the ecosystem of Glasgow's current indie scene. The city's fertile & creative group of musicians have been committed to pushing the boundaries of and blurring the lines between DIY, punk, experimentalism and indie pop for decades now; a home to bands like Shopping, Vital Idles, Current Affairs, Still House Plants, and Happy Meals as well as forebears like Orange Juice, Teenage Fanclub and Yummy Fur. Nightshift slot right in with all mentioned, featuring members from current indie stalwarts Spinning Coin, 2 Ply and Robert Sotelo. Initially formed by guitarist David Campbell and bassist Andrew Doig as a "No Wave/No New York/ early Sonic Youth/This Heat-esque" group, the addition of Eothen Stern (keyboards/vocals) and Chris White (drums) instantaneously transformed their approach (guitarist/vocalist/clarinetist Georgia Harris joined as the band was writing "Zöe"). The band self-released a full-length tape on CUSP Recordings in early 2020, laying the foundation of their sound; hypnotic, melodic, understated indie post-punk with hooks that stick around long after you've heard them. "Zöe" is the band's newest effort, and first for Trouble In Mind. Unlike the band's previous album, the songs on "Zöe" weren't conceived live in the band's practice space, but rather pieced together and recorded remotely during quarantine lockdown, with each member composing or improvising their parts in homes/home studios, layering ideas over loops someone made and passing it on. The isolation actually allowed for an openness and creativity to flow and many of the songs took on radically different forms from when they were originally envisioned. Vocalist & primary lyricist Eothen Stern says "The process of writing these songs separately during lockdown was a kind of exquisite corpse - I liked this gesticulation of reaching out to one another and responding. Building up the next layer and passing it on." Stern says "poetic restraints" to writing & Eno's Oblique Strategies concepts were on their mind when composing the words to the songs on "Zöe" and lists the influence of author Rosi Bradiotti's book "The Posthuman". "Zöe" means "live drive", derived from the word conatus. Bradiotti defines conatus as "an effort or striving, endeavour, impulse, inclination, tendency, undertaking, serving is an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself." and Stern views it as "...a kind of feminist re-claiming of communal public, anti- privatisation, looking to strive for social and environmental justice. Zöe kind of became a character of striving for me when writing.". "Zöe" kicks off with "Piece Together", a hypnotic song anchored by the band's chanted vocals and serpentine guitar licks. "Spraypaint the Bridge" showcases Harris' clarinet in an unexpected & delightful melodic shift during the song's anti-chorus. Elsewhere tunes like the swooning "Infinity Winner" and "Outta Space"s minimalist, slinky rhythm swirl in a late-night vibe, while "Make Kin" ruminates on "Looking to kinship as a way of engaging with entangled environmental and reproductive issues... how a band is a bond" and lurches forward with kinetic guitar strangling and staccato rhythmic percussion from White and Doig. "Power Cut" is the album's centerpiece, kicking off side two and lures the listener into its world over it's 7-minute runtime. Lulling them into involuntary movement with its waves of melodic harmonies, synth drones and metronomic pulse, until they all come crashing down in the song's dissonant midsection. The band acknowledges the whiffs of nostalgia prevalent in "Zöe"s songs (the title track in particular), and the nature of writing and recording the album is soaked in the self-work, reflection and reevaluations involved not only personally but creatively in each member's lives. Consequently, the album becomes a collection of sketches of hope, growth, awareness of the power of the world and the power of self, kith, kinship, friendship, resistance, and possibility.

The band that became Nightshift formed in 2019 in the ecosystem of Glasgow's current indie scene. The city's fertile & creative group of musicians have been committed to pushing the boundaries of and blurring the lines between DIY, punk, experimentalism and indie pop for decades now; a home to bands like Shopping, Vital Idles, Current Affairs, Still House Plants, and Happy Meals as well as forebears like Orange Juice, Teenage Fanclub and Yummy Fur. Nightshift slot right in with all mentioned, featuring members from current indie stalwarts Spinning Coin, 2 Ply and Robert Sotelo. Initially formed by guitarist David Campbell and bassist Andrew Doig as a "No Wave/No New York/ early Sonic Youth/This Heat-esque" group, the addition of Eothen Stern (keyboards/vocals) and Chris White (drums) instantaneously transformed their approach (guitarist/vocalist/clarinetist Georgia Harris joined as the band was writing "Zöe"). The band self-released a full-length tape on CUSP Recordings in early 2020, laying the foundation of their sound; hypnotic, melodic, understated indie post-punk with hooks that stick around long after you've heard them. "Zöe" is the band's newest effort, and first for Trouble In Mind. Unlike the band's previous album, the songs on "Zöe" weren't conceived live in the band's practice space, but rather pieced together and recorded remotely during quarantine lockdown, with each member composing or improvising their parts in homes/home studios, layering ideas over loops someone made and passing it on. The isolation actually allowed for an openness and creativity to flow and many of the songs took on radically different forms from when they were originally envisioned. Vocalist & primary lyricist Eothen Stern says "The process of writing these songs separately during lockdown was a kind of exquisite corpse - I liked this gesticulation of reaching out to one another and responding. Building up the next layer and passing it on." Stern says "poetic restraints" to writing & Eno's Oblique Strategies concepts were on their mind when composing the words to the songs on "Zöe" and lists the influence of author Rosi Bradiotti's book "The Posthuman". "Zöe" means "live drive", derived from the word conatus. Bradiotti defines conatus as "an effort or striving, endeavour, impulse, inclination, tendency, undertaking, serving is an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself." and Stern views it as "...a kind of feminist re-claiming of communal public, anti- privatisation, looking to strive for social and environmental justice. Zöe kind of became a character of striving for me when writing.". "Zöe" kicks off with "Piece Together", a hypnotic song anchored by the band's chanted vocals and serpentine guitar licks. "Spraypaint the Bridge" showcases Harris' clarinet in an unexpected & delightful melodic shift during the song's anti-chorus. Elsewhere tunes like the swooning "Infinity Winner" and "Outta Space"s minimalist, slinky rhythm swirl in a late-night vibe, while "Make Kin" ruminates on "Looking to kinship as a way of engaging with entangled environmental and reproductive issues... how a band is a bond" and lurches forward with kinetic guitar strangling and staccato rhythmic percussion from White and Doig. "Power Cut" is the album's centerpiece, kicking off side two and lures the listener into its world over it's 7-minute runtime. Lulling them into involuntary movement with its waves of melodic harmonies, synth drones and metronomic pulse, until they all come crashing down in the song's dissonant midsection. The band acknowledges the whiffs of nostalgia prevalent in "Zöe"s songs (the title track in particular), and the nature of writing and recording the album is soaked in the self-work, reflection and reevaluations involved not only personally but creatively in each member's lives. Consequently, the album becomes a collection of sketches of hope, growth, awareness of the power of the world and the power of self, kith, kinship, friendship, resistance, and possibility.

The band that became Nightshift formed in 2019 in the ecosystem of Glasgow's current indie scene. The city's fertile & creative group of musicians have been committed to pushing the boundaries of and blurring the lines between DIY, punk, experimentalism and indie pop for decades now; a home to bands like Shopping, Vital Idles, Current Affairs, Still House Plants, and Happy Meals as well as forebears like Orange Juice, Teenage Fanclub and Yummy Fur. Nightshift slot right in with all mentioned, featuring members from current indie stalwarts Spinning Coin, 2 Ply and Robert Sotelo. Initially formed by guitarist David Campbell and bassist Andrew Doig as a "No Wave/No New York/ early Sonic Youth/This Heat-esque" group, the addition of Eothen Stern (keyboards/vocals) and Chris White (drums) instantaneously transformed their approach (guitarist/vocalist/clarinetist Georgia Harris joined as the band was writing "Zöe"). The band self-released a full-length tape on CUSP Recordings in early 2020, laying the foundation of their sound; hypnotic, melodic, understated indie post-punk with hooks that stick around long after you've heard them. "Zöe" is the band's newest effort, and first for Trouble In Mind. Unlike the band's previous album, the songs on "Zöe" weren't conceived live in the band's practice space, but rather pieced together and recorded remotely during quarantine lockdown, with each member composing or improvising their parts in homes/home studios, layering ideas over loops someone made and passing it on. The isolation actually allowed for an openness and creativity to flow and many of the songs took on radically different forms from when they were originally envisioned. Vocalist & primary lyricist Eothen Stern says "The process of writing these songs separately during lockdown was a kind of exquisite corpse - I liked this gesticulation of reaching out to one another and responding. Building up the next layer and passing it on." Stern says "poetic restraints" to writing & Eno's Oblique Strategies concepts were on their mind when composing the words to the songs on "Zöe" and lists the influence of author Rosi Bradiotti's book "The Posthuman". "Zöe" means "live drive", derived from the word conatus. Bradiotti defines conatus as "an effort or striving, endeavour, impulse, inclination, tendency, undertaking, serving is an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself." and Stern views it as "...a kind of feminist re-claiming of communal public, anti- privatisation, looking to strive for social and environmental justice. Zöe kind of became a character of striving for me when writing.". "Zöe" kicks off with "Piece Together", a hypnotic song anchored by the band's chanted vocals and serpentine guitar licks. "Spraypaint the Bridge" showcases Harris' clarinet in an unexpected & delightful melodic shift during the song's anti-chorus. Elsewhere tunes like the swooning "Infinity Winner" and "Outta Space"s minimalist, slinky rhythm swirl in a late-night vibe, while "Make Kin" ruminates on "Looking to kinship as a way of engaging with entangled environmental and reproductive issues... how a band is a bond" and lurches forward with kinetic guitar strangling and staccato rhythmic percussion from White and Doig. "Power Cut" is the album's centerpiece, kicking off side two and lures the listener into its world over it's 7-minute runtime. Lulling them into involuntary movement with its waves of melodic harmonies, synth drones and metronomic pulse, until they all come crashing down in the song's dissonant midsection. The band acknowledges the whiffs of nostalgia prevalent in "Zöe"s songs (the title track in particular), and the nature of writing and recording the album is soaked in the self-work, reflection and reevaluations involved not only personally but creatively in each member's lives. Consequently, the album becomes a collection of sketches of hope, growth, awareness of the power of the world and the power of self, kith, kinship, friendship, resistance, and possibility.

Half of Manie Sans Délire, June, turns up on Artificial Dance with his anticipated new mini-album, ‘Horizons’ - following on from his studio companion Trenton Chase’s ‘Planar Array’ released earlier in 2020. True to the signature synth-splattered sound of his and his duo, June’s newest wave-imbued manifesto has us swimming amidst an organized chaos of roughly extruded keyboard wizardry, punk-minded drum programming and a retro-futuristic headspace.

Scanning out the gap between Italo, new wave, EBM and new beat, ‘Horizons’ shifts seamlessly from forward-moving, arpeggio-laden circuitry (‘JW’, ‘Infinity Room') to hi-intensity body music (’New Horizons’), through ambientoid spaced-out sonic explorations (‘Uncharted Territories’) and quirky downtempo chuggers (‘Reverie’, ‘Psychic Process’). A kaleidoscope of rhythmic tricks and shape-shifting mirages, June’s scope-expanding six-track voyage vows to play mind games with its listener till all lights have gone off.

Herself is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist Gioele Valenti, also known as JuJu in more recent years (Fuzz Club) or as part of the psych project LAY LLAMA'S. Herself's work was described by critics as the harmonious meeting between Sparklehorse, Gravenhurst and Will Oldham. Valenti's songwriting takes inspiration from low-fidelity apocalyptic folk, crooning and pop; boasting a rather extensive discography. Well rooted in tradition, his music often ventures in the realms of subtle experimentation. His new album "Rigel Playground" prepares the listener for a journey through cosmic folk, in which traditional Brit Pop flirts with an alt vein, as if the Beatles and Sparklehorse would meet the torments of Nick Drake and the intimacy of a Mike Scott. Continuing a long list of illustrious collaborations (Amaury Cambuzat of Ulan Bator, John Fallon of The Steppes,Capra Informis of GOAT, among others), the prestigious guest on this record is Jonathan Donahue from MERCURY REV, a group of absolute prominence in the international indie panorama, which in addition to having lent his voice to the single "The Beast of Love" - as Herself says - informs the essence of the entire record. Not surprisingly Mercury Rev chose Herself to support them during their Italian tour last year.

Wisconsin musician Jon Mueller is inquisitive. Open to pushing his
experience and his limits, he’s demonstrated the many sides of himself both as a solo performer and as a key member in mind-bending projects like Mind Over Mirrors, Volcano Choir, and Death Blues, or by running his shop of curiosities Within Things.
On his new four-piece collection Family Secret, the experimental musician maintains a meticulous, sustained tension, re-engaging with a technique he developed as an adolescent - reframing the environs of creation, and naturally altering his perception, through changes in light and space - while also considering the role of family and divorce.
Gentle, metallic bellows fade in and shifting timbres immerse the listener, each wave of sound folding atop the previous. Mueller has created a room, or at least an enclosure.

Dominique Fils-Aim is a JUNO Award winning singer-songwriter from
Montreal who draws inspiration from soul icons of the 40’s and 60’s such as Billie Holiday, Etta James, and Nina Simone.
While her musical roots are grounded in early soul and jazz, her voice transcends contemporary urban soundscapes. Her sophomore record Stay Tuned!
won the 2020 JUNO Award for “Vocal Jazz Album of the Year” as well as the Felix prize for “Best Jazz Album” at the ADISQ Gala.
Her 3rd album THREE LITTLE WORDS is a startlingly self-reflective look at affecting societal change while reminding the listener that it is equality and love which feeds the soul and inspires us to do better. Fils-Aim has a disarmingly literal interpretation of soul music as music that comes from the soul, and the album pays homage to a plethora of musical genres that fed and nurtured her love of lyric-driven jazz and soul music.
Love and loving oneself is the common link throughout, and Fils-Aim is certain that love is the key that will provide us with a path to equality. We need to, and deserve to, fight for the right to love both ourselves and each other.

Calypso Drip FM is a journey of styles & influences that formed the varied musical landscape of its creator. Only known by the moniker of Gryff, the author wanted a project that reminded listeners of radio stations of decades past. Particularly the type you would have on GTA: Vice City.

Gryff is a 90s kid, but the track list of his debut album plays like a greatest hits of a much mature songwriter and producer.
Almost exclusively written by himself, requesting the help from Andrew Threlfo in production for 'Do You Feel Like This?', and with NY songstress Primo The Alien as guest and co-writer for Reverse, his undeniable talent is showing in spades.

This incredible debut album is going to make waves in the scene and turn the young musician into a big player.

Galcid - Hope and Fear is the long awaited sophomore album of Japanese techno-artist galcid. Although completed in 2019, the release date of the album was delayed by COVID-19. This was due to both practical and artistic reasons—the titles and identity of each composition reflect various ways in which galcid reflected upon the pandemic.

Music is by galcid
Produced by Hisashi Saito

In the 4 years that have passed since galcid’s debut album hertz (2016), galcid worked on various EPs and albums as SAITO. Juxtaposed to the black and white minimalism of hertz, the palate of Hope and Fear is decidedly more colourful, laden with emotional undertones. The depth of the sound created by galcid’s exclusive reliance on analogue machines invites the listener to follow their own journey along the resulting soundscape

“You’re trouble” is an avant-garde electronic pop album about questioning and locating a sense of self in a disorienting, breaking environment of dissolving certainity which grows increasingly chaotic, about dysmorphic dissatisfaction, becoming disillusioned and alienated. It seeks to juxtapose beauty, serenity and vigour with instability, ugliness, chaos and crisis, expressing itself fluidly without genre or otherwise boundaries. A kind of sinister, anxious but still forward-pushing and at times positive and hot-blooded empowering energy can be felt that wants to urge the listener not to give up but to try and take courage and take control of the troubles and fears in their life. The tone is sometimes reflective, sometimes confronting. The album navigates fairly abstract musical territory, cathartic abrasiveness, heavy and unrelenting sounds of post-club music and noise fused with stretches of pop music, never settling down or resting for long, constantly breaking up and re-assembling itself. Between chaos and form, it’s finding relief in imperfection and the in-between. As such the music is ambivalent and is equal parts some kind of crisis club music as well as introspective reflection.
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Yet again the enigmatic Atlanta, USA-based label makes their second release with the EP "Spiritual Breath" by one of their very own "Isai". The A-side features two original compositions from Isai (aka Angel Jack) taking us into a sultry smooth outer orbit. The B-Side features remixes from Gab JR and Tom Ellis that take distinct interpretations of Spiritual Breath. This EP has classic 4/4 house grooves with signature leads and keys that dance to punchy 909's, colorful stabs and deep melodic atmospheres making the listener feel compelled to move and wonder to a nostalgic bliss. Touching all horizons, this window into Isai's Mithraic world can be utilized at home or on the dancefloor depending on the mood which is desired.

"As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul..." - Hermes Trismegistus

Harry Bertoia's Glowing Sounds LP contains three versions of the same composition, each transferred at different tape speeds in accordance with the artist's instructions. This is the third LP to be released from Bertoia's extensive tape archive and it's the first, of many, to be released using instructions left behind by the artist himself.

Bertoia wrote the concept for this Glowing Sounds LP on a note in 1975 and slipped it into the master tape case where it sat unread for 45 years. The idea was simple, transfer the original recording at its original speed and two slower speeds. Bertoia noticed that the results, however, were profound.

Recorded on January 20, 1975 using two large gongs, Glowing Sounds is one of the most powerfully minimal recordings yet discovered in Bertoia's collection. The artist's note left with the tape indicated that it was recorded at a speed of 15 IPS (inches per second) but slowing it down to speeds of 7.5 IPS and 3.25 IPS were quite effective for enhanced playback. Side A features the original 15 IPS recording and the 50% slower 7.5 IPS recording. Side B features a 20 minute, ultra-slow version at 3.25 IPS.

Long, deep drones and powerful overtones define the sound of this recording. Comparison of the three speeds provides a revealing magnification of Bertoia's gongs, overtones and the artist's inventive approach to performance, composition and recording.

Bio:
Harry Bertoia first gained some artistic visibility in the early 1940s, then came into prominence with his sculptural, ergonomic chairs, produced by Knoll Furniture beginning in 1952, which quickly became classics of modernist furniture. Inspired by the resonant sounds emanating from metals as he worked them and encouraged by his brother Oreste, whose passion was music, Harry restored a fieldstone "Pennsylvania Dutch" barn as the home for this experiment in sounding sculptures which he had begun in the late 1950s. Bertoia was an obsessive composer and relentless experimenter, often working late into the night and accumulating hundreds of tapes of his best performances; Oreste, too, would explore and record the sculptures' sounds during his annual visits to his brother's home in rural Pennsylvania.

Harry Bertoia's recently dismantled Sonambient barn collection was an attentive listener's paradise full of warm, expressive instruments that were gorgeous visually and audibly. Nothing could prepare you, even on return visits, for the overwhelming experience of entering the spacious wood and plaster interior where gongs, some of them giant, hung among the ranks of standing sculptures of various metals. Over nearly twenty years of adding, culling and rearranging, Bertoia carefully selected nearly 100 harmonious pieces ranging in height from under a foot to more than fifteen feet. He considered this barn a full experience, sights and sounds comprising not a collection of works, but one piece unto itself. It was here, deep in the woods, that his Sonambient recording work took place.

Learning by experimentation was common for Bertoia and he mastered the art of tape recording, turning the Sonambient barn into a sound studio with four overhead microphones hanging from the rafters in a square formation. He would experiment with overdubbing by performing along to previous recordings, sometimes backwards, constantly improving his methods while also honing his performance skills. Bertoia was a careful editor of his own work and only chosen recordings remained, each with a date and carefully considered observations written on a note included with each tape. Through these pieces of paper a the artist's logic can be uncovered, a careful approach to composition, ideas, feelings and forms. The story of Sonambient barn collection will slowly be told through the release of recordings from the archive as well as installations and performances built from Bertoia's own recordings, lectures and a book.

The five members of Sun June spent their early years spread out across the United States, from the boonies of the Hudson Valley to the sprawling outskirts of LA. Having spent their college years within the gloomy, cold winters of the North East, Laura Colwell and Stephen Salisbury found themselves in the vibrant melting-pot of inspiration that is Austin, Texas. Meeting each other while working on Terrence Malick's 'Song to Song', the pair were immediately taken by the city's bustling small clubs and honky-tonk scene, and the fact that there was always an instrument within reach, always someone to play alongside. Coming alive in this newly discovered landscape, Colwell and Salisbury formed Sun June alongside Michael Bain on lead guitar, Sarah Schultz on drums, and Justin Harris on bass and recorded their debut album live to tape, releasing it via the city's esteemed Keeled Scales label in 2018. The band coined the term 'regret pop' to describe the music they made on the 'Years' LP. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, it made perfect sense ~ the gentle sway of their country leaning pop songs seeped in melancholy, as if each subtle turn of phrase was always grasping for something just out of reach. Sun June returns with Somewhere, a brand new album, out February 2021. It's a record that feels distinctly more present than its predecessor. In the time since, Colwell and Salisbury have become a couple, and it's had a profound effect on their work; if Years was about how loss evolves, Somewhere is about how love evolves. "We explore a lot of the same themes across it," Colwell says, "but I think there's a lot more love here." Somewhere is Sun June at their most decadent, a richly diverse album which sees them exploring bright new corners with full hearts and wide eyes. Embracing a more pop-oriented sound the album consists of eleven beautiful new songs and is deliberately more collaborative and fully arranged: Laura played guitar for the first time; band members swapped instruments, and producer Danny Reisch helped flesh out layers of synth and percussion that provides a sweeping undercurrent to the whole thing. Throughout Somewhere you can hear Sun June blossom into a living-and-breathing five-piece, the album formed from an exploratory track building process which results in a more formidable version of the band we once knew. 'Real Thing' is most indicative of this, a fully collaborative effort which encompasses all of the nuances that come to define the album. "Are you the real thing?" Laura Colwell questions in the song's repeated refrain. "Honey I'm the real thing," she answers back. They've called this one their 'prom' record; a sincere, alive-in-the-moment snapshot of the heady rush of love. "The prom idea started as a mood for us to arrange and shape the music to, which we hadn't done before," the band explains. " Prom isn't all rosy and perfect. The songs show you the crying in the bathroom,, the fear of dancing, the joy of a kiss - all the highs and all the lows." It's in both those highs and lows where Somewhere comes alive. Laura Colwell's voice is mesmerising throughout, and while the record is a document of falling in love, there's still room for her to wilt and linger, the vibrancy of the production creating beautiful contrasts for her voice to pull us through. Opening track 'Bad With Time' sets this tone from the outset, both dark and mysterious, sad and sultry as it fascinatingly unrolls. "I didn't mean what I said," Colwell sings. "But I wanted you to think I did." Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a second record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward from the band that created that debut record, but also one that once again is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.

“The album title ADELA comes from a song by Rodrigo which constitutes the emotional culmination of our duo’s programme. What counts is not the name, but the person we love and long for. Everyone certainly has such a person, and so we hope that each listener will find something close to his or her heart on our album.

The piano and classical guitar virtually never collaborate in music. However, after our first joint performance with Łukasz Kuropaczewski, we immediately realised that we could create intriguing music worlds together. We followed the same line of thinking in our choice of programme, which derives from both the piano and guitar repertoires, though the spirit of the South that informs most of that music is more typically associated with the guitar tradition. In my arrangements of classical works, I strove to represent the sonic qualities of both instruments, their unique expression, and cultural associations. I reworked Domenico Scarlatti’s famous “Sonata in D Minor (Toccata)” K. 141 so as to bring out its Spanish roots. Titled “Domingo” on our album, it features distinctive flamenco qualities and an improvised layer. The “Aranjuez Concerto BWV 1056” is, as its very name suggests, a fusion of the world’s most famous piece for guitar and orchestra, Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez”, with Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Keyboard Concerto in F Minor” BWV 1056. Themes from the second, slow movements of both concertos interlink here as in the film cross-cutting technique, and we swap roles, Łukasz leading the Bach theme while I take up Rodrigo’s.

Three of the works on this album have been enriched by the angelic voice of Jakub Józef Orliński. In these three, Egberto Gismonti’s guitar composition “Água e Vinho”, my own “Quarantine Song”, and even the famous “Adela” by Joaquin Rodrigo, the voice has been treated more as an instrument than a lyrical subject. “Quarantine Song” was composed during the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020 specially for Jakub Józef Orliński as its performer. “Pedro” was inspired by the films of Pedro Almodóvar.




[c] A3. Água e Vinho [feat. Jakub Józef Orliński] - Egberto Gismonti


[f] B2. Quarantine Song [feat. Jakub Józef Orliński] - Aleksander Dębicz

[h] B4. Adela [feat. Jakub Józef Orliński] - Joaquín Rodrigo

Ubuntu Music is excited to announce the signing of Skeltr for the worldwide release of their album, ‘Dorje’. Skeltr began as a late night, post-gig session between Sam Healey (keys) and Craig Hanson (drums) in the dusty old cotton mills of Manchester. Forging a shared connection inspired by Post-bop and Modern groove, the pair developed a tightly knit, highly musical duo. Their first UK gig in 2017 at the Manchester Jazz Festival saw the duo sell all of their physical records of their debut release in one day. Within a few months of this auspicious start, the lads found themselves supporting L.A sensation KNOWER on UK tour, appearing on JazzFM, Worldwide FM, listed as ‘ones to watch’ in Jazzwise Magazine as well as performing across European jazz festivals, including Reykjavik Jazz Festival, InJazz, Rotterdam and the famous Osloscene Club in Norway. A tragic accident saw hard times fall upon the Duo as Sam suffered a serious hand injury. However, after operations and months of rehabilitation, Sam was able to return to his saxophone and continue playing music again. Having had chance to compose during rehab, the Duo immediately hit the studio and recorded their second album, named after Sam’s new-born son, Dorje. A nucleus of Saxophone and Drums set to scapes of synths, vocals and guest features, Skeltr's second album, 'Dorje', combines heartfelt statements of sensitive, illuminating, incensed improvisation which stem from ardent and fluent melodies. Craig ondrums is as much an expressive protagonist of the music as he is a foundation with deep roots, leading to intricate interplay between the Duo. Themes include understanding the nature of happiness, self-examination and acceptance in aquest to achieve a positive mental state. Ultimately, ‘Dorje’ seeks to provide the listener with a space in which to explore their own relativities with guidance, inspiration and accompaniment. Sam describes the project, saying, “What a wonderful experience it has been to create this album. We look forward to spreading the music far and wide with positive intentions. The sounds are crafted with a passionate energy in our hearts and I hope otherswill be able to feel and hear that.” Concerning Skeltr’s new relationship with Ubuntu Music, Healey continues, “It has been a three-year journey to bring this album to fruition and we’re so happy to have met Martin (Hummel) and Ubuntu Music as the album was coming to completion. This auspicious timing makes the new relationship all the more rewarding. The Ubuntu Music team’s knowledge, experience and phenomenal work ethic are vastly inspiring and will help Skeltr to reach a much wider audience across the world. We look forward to a close relationship with theLabel as we strive to bring great musical offerings to many people.” Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, said, “These guys have breath-taking talent. I first came in touch with Sam on New Year’s Day (probably not the best day to do so) and told him what I thought of their music. It’s deep. It’s spiritual. And it shakes your senses, inside out and to your very core. Sam is meticulous in everything he does, and you can hear this in the recording. If you want to feed your soul with the best musical vibes, check this out.”

CLEAR TRANSPARENT VINYL*Grotto’s second record from 2018 is available again as a new 180gr.
vinyl pressing on Stickman Records. Heavy, progressive, psychedelic
instrumental rock for fans of labelmates Elder, Weedpecker and King
Buffalo.
Grotto is an instrumental
three-piece band hailing from
Flanders, Belgium, describing
themselves as “high-energy
pill psychedelia”. Whatever
that means exactly is in the
ears of the beholder, but one
thing is clear - Grotto is a
unique beast in the world of
heavy underground rock.
The foundation of the band
is the same leaden groove
that propels the stoner rock
genre, but Grotto paints with
an entirely different pallet
of colors. Highly melodic
chords and soaring melodies
fill the space between thundering
drums and mammoth
basslines; winding, unconventional
song structures lead
the listener out of their mind
and into the depths of space.
Grotto’s second LP Circle Of
Magi, originally released in
a limited pressing in 2018, is
a magnificent piece of heavy
psychedelic rock. This new
edition on Stickman Records
has been made from newly
cut lacquers and pressed to
transparent 180gr vinyl, looking
and sounding better than
ever before. Includes download
card.

Though synthesizers are the backbone of Shen’s music, while performing live, she plays self-made synths, invented instruments, and even acoustic objects like a bull whip.
Her live show vacillates between moments of restraint and swells of frenetic and confrontational movement. Her sound is dynamic with a sensitivity to texture and structure throughout. This sensitivity is maintained in her debut LP
Hair Birth, the result of several weekends locked in a studio creating cacophonous, wondrous synth noise with Harvard’s Buchla 100 and Serge modular systems.
She tracked hours of stems before cloistering herself in a painstaking editing process. Songs like ‘Under The Stall Door’ sound like a cybernetic rollercoaster with rumbles and shrieks that hurtle the listener through virtual space. Others, like ‘Bolete,’ are tense, dense mood pieces that move from the queasy to the tranquil to the surreal.

MSG is a legendary name. After two phenomenal records under the guise of Michael Schenker Fest, a true guitar hero is returning to his roots. By forming Michael Schenker Group (MSG) back in 1979, Michael Schenker laid the foundations for one of hard rock’s most glorious solo careers of all times. And while nobody expected anything less from a former guitarist for Scorpions and UFO, it’s close to impossible mentioning everything Michael has built over the past 50 years, or the countless people he influenced or played with. This, truly, is the stuff that hard rocking myths are made of.

“I never looked back,” is how Michael dryly sums up an extraordinary career. Due to this mindset, he only realised much later what a huge impact his playing had made on the world of metal and hard rock. Very few guitarists can be cited as a primary influence for the likes of James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, Dimebag Darrell, Slash or Kerry King. However, to understand Michael Schenker means to understand one primary thing: he’s not here to be worshipped or adored, he’s not here to get rich, he’s here to play. And at 65, he’s doing it with the same swagger, verve and dizzying artistry as always. “I’m still 16 in my head,” he laughs.

Right in time for his 40th anniversary as a solo artist and his 50th birthday as a musician, he resurrects the immortal Michael Schenker Group. “Immortal” is also the name of his new album, recorded by likely the strongest line-up in his long history. Its a lightning bolt of an album that sounds fresh, bloodthirsty and agile. “Immortal” showcases the gargantuan vocal talents of Chilean hard rock prodigy Ronnie Romero (Rainbow), backed by singers Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Deep Purple) as well as Schenker’s brother in arms, Michael Voss (Mad Max) who again produced the record alongside Michael Schenker – flawlessly, punchy and at full steam as if their very lives depended on it.
Next to Michael Schenker caressing his iconic black and white Dean Flying V, we hear bass player Barry Sparks (Dokken), keyboard player Steve Mann as well as the three drummers Bodo Schopf, Simon Phillips (ex-Toto) and Brian Tichy (ex-Whitesnake) pumping gallons of fresh blood through the tracks. And that’s not all, keyboard wizard extraordinaire Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Black Country Communion) gives the listener a baptism of fire in the blistering, heavy hitting opener “Drilled to Kill”, powered by Ralf Scheepers’ unbelievable vocal tornado.

Michael Schenker doesn’t live to play, he plays to live, and there’s no better way of summing up his relationship to his music than this – now for half a century and counting. The most emblematic representation of this relationship is the monumental closing track “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind”, a new recording of the very first song he ever wrote. “I composed this track in my mother’s kitchen back when I was 15,” he looks back half a century and smiles broadly: “The solo is just so perfect, I wouldn’t change a single note even today. This is the most important song of the last 50 years for me. It’s what started it all.”
When it finally got released in 1972 on the Scorpions’ debut “Lonesome Crow” Schenker had already moved on to UFO. What followed were several decades of pure hard rock ecstasy on and off stage, featuring a rotating cast of stellar players, always pressing the pedal to the metal. Now, in 2020, he reaps what he sowed. Alongside many of his peers, friends and contemporaries, he is celebrating 50 years of hard rock – fittingly with an album that is something like a zeitgeisty reminiscence of everything he’s ever done. The massive midtempo smasher “Don’t Die On Me Now” sees Joe Lynn Turner going all in, Ronnie Romero works his magic in “Knight Of The Dead” while Michael Voss cuts a grand figure before the microphone as well as behind the mixing desk on the furious second single “After The Rain”.
Towering above them all, Michael Schenker and his guitar prove they’re truly and utterly invincible. The celebrated icon pulls out all the stops – including his legendary “howler”, the fabled magnet he’s used on his fingerboard for a while now. And here’s yet another thing that’s just so archetypically Schenker, when bringing up his fiery and dedicated performance on “Immortal” he nonchalantly shrugs it off: “I simply played from the heart, as always.” This, dear Michael, is the understatement of the year – all the more so for a record that is already one of the top contenders for hard rock/metal album of the year.

MSG is a legendary name. After two phenomenal records under the guise of Michael Schenker Fest, a true guitar hero is returning to his roots. By forming Michael Schenker Group (MSG) back in 1979, Michael Schenker laid the foundations for one of hard rock’s most glorious solo careers of all times. And while nobody expected anything less from a former guitarist for Scorpions and UFO, it’s close to impossible mentioning everything Michael has built over the past 50 years, or the countless people he influenced or played with. This, truly, is the stuff that hard rocking myths are made of.

“I never looked back,” is how Michael dryly sums up an extraordinary career. Due to this mindset, he only realised much later what a huge impact his playing had made on the world of metal and hard rock. Very few guitarists can be cited as a primary influence for the likes of James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, Dimebag Darrell, Slash or Kerry King. However, to understand Michael Schenker means to understand one primary thing: he’s not here to be worshipped or adored, he’s not here to get rich, he’s here to play. And at 65, he’s doing it with the same swagger, verve and dizzying artistry as always. “I’m still 16 in my head,” he laughs.

Right in time for his 40th anniversary as a solo artist and his 50th birthday as a musician, he resurrects the immortal Michael Schenker Group. “Immortal” is also the name of his new album, recorded by likely the strongest line-up in his long history. Its a lightning bolt of an album that sounds fresh, bloodthirsty and agile. “Immortal” showcases the gargantuan vocal talents of Chilean hard rock prodigy Ronnie Romero (Rainbow), backed by singers Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Deep Purple) as well as Schenker’s brother in arms, Michael Voss (Mad Max) who again produced the record alongside Michael Schenker – flawlessly, punchy and at full steam as if their very lives depended on it.
Next to Michael Schenker caressing his iconic black and white Dean Flying V, we hear bass player Barry Sparks (Dokken), keyboard player Steve Mann as well as the three drummers Bodo Schopf, Simon Phillips (ex-Toto) and Brian Tichy (ex-Whitesnake) pumping gallons of fresh blood through the tracks. And that’s not all, keyboard wizard extraordinaire Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Black Country Communion) gives the listener a baptism of fire in the blistering, heavy hitting opener “Drilled to Kill”, powered by Ralf Scheepers’ unbelievable vocal tornado.

Michael Schenker doesn’t live to play, he plays to live, and there’s no better way of summing up his relationship to his music than this – now for half a century and counting. The most emblematic representation of this relationship is the monumental closing track “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind”, a new recording of the very first song he ever wrote. “I composed this track in my mother’s kitchen back when I was 15,” he looks back half a century and smiles broadly: “The solo is just so perfect, I wouldn’t change a single note even today. This is the most important song of the last 50 years for me. It’s what started it all.”
When it finally got released in 1972 on the Scorpions’ debut “Lonesome Crow” Schenker had already moved on to UFO. What followed were several decades of pure hard rock ecstasy on and off stage, featuring a rotating cast of stellar players, always pressing the pedal to the metal. Now, in 2020, he reaps what he sowed. Alongside many of his peers, friends and contemporaries, he is celebrating 50 years of hard rock – fittingly with an album that is something like a zeitgeisty reminiscence of everything he’s ever done. The massive midtempo smasher “Don’t Die On Me Now” sees Joe Lynn Turner going all in, Ronnie Romero works his magic in “Knight Of The Dead” while Michael Voss cuts a grand figure before the microphone as well as behind the mixing desk on the furious second single “After The Rain”.
Towering above them all, Michael Schenker and his guitar prove they’re truly and utterly invincible. The celebrated icon pulls out all the stops – including his legendary “howler”, the fabled magnet he’s used on his fingerboard for a while now. And here’s yet another thing that’s just so archetypically Schenker, when bringing up his fiery and dedicated performance on “Immortal” he nonchalantly shrugs it off: “I simply played from the heart, as always.” This, dear Michael, is the understatement of the year – all the more so for a record that is already one of the top contenders for hard rock/metal album of the year.

MSG is a legendary name. After two phenomenal records under the guise of Michael Schenker Fest, a true guitar hero is returning to his roots. By forming Michael Schenker Group (MSG) back in 1979, Michael Schenker laid the foundations for one of hard rock’s most glorious solo careers of all times. And while nobody expected anything less from a former guitarist for Scorpions and UFO, it’s close to impossible mentioning everything Michael has built over the past 50 years, or the countless people he influenced or played with. This, truly, is the stuff that hard rocking myths are made of.

“I never looked back,” is how Michael dryly sums up an extraordinary career. Due to this mindset, he only realised much later what a huge impact his playing had made on the world of metal and hard rock. Very few guitarists can be cited as a primary influence for the likes of James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, Dimebag Darrell, Slash or Kerry King. However, to understand Michael Schenker means to understand one primary thing: he’s not here to be worshipped or adored, he’s not here to get rich, he’s here to play. And at 65, he’s doing it with the same swagger, verve and dizzying artistry as always. “I’m still 16 in my head,” he laughs.

Right in time for his 40th anniversary as a solo artist and his 50th birthday as a musician, he resurrects the immortal Michael Schenker Group. “Immortal” is also the name of his new album, recorded by likely the strongest line-up in his long history. Its a lightning bolt of an album that sounds fresh, bloodthirsty and agile. “Immortal” showcases the gargantuan vocal talents of Chilean hard rock prodigy Ronnie Romero (Rainbow), backed by singers Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Deep Purple) as well as Schenker’s brother in arms, Michael Voss (Mad Max) who again produced the record alongside Michael Schenker – flawlessly, punchy and at full steam as if their very lives depended on it.
Next to Michael Schenker caressing his iconic black and white Dean Flying V, we hear bass player Barry Sparks (Dokken), keyboard player Steve Mann as well as the three drummers Bodo Schopf, Simon Phillips (ex-Toto) and Brian Tichy (ex-Whitesnake) pumping gallons of fresh blood through the tracks. And that’s not all, keyboard wizard extraordinaire Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Black Country Communion) gives the listener a baptism of fire in the blistering, heavy hitting opener “Drilled to Kill”, powered by Ralf Scheepers’ unbelievable vocal tornado.

Michael Schenker doesn’t live to play, he plays to live, and there’s no better way of summing up his relationship to his music than this – now for half a century and counting. The most emblematic representation of this relationship is the monumental closing track “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind”, a new recording of the very first song he ever wrote. “I composed this track in my mother’s kitchen back when I was 15,” he looks back half a century and smiles broadly: “The solo is just so perfect, I wouldn’t change a single note even today. This is the most important song of the last 50 years for me. It’s what started it all.”
When it finally got released in 1972 on the Scorpions’ debut “Lonesome Crow” Schenker had already moved on to UFO. What followed were several decades of pure hard rock ecstasy on and off stage, featuring a rotating cast of stellar players, always pressing the pedal to the metal. Now, in 2020, he reaps what he sowed. Alongside many of his peers, friends and contemporaries, he is celebrating 50 years of hard rock – fittingly with an album that is something like a zeitgeisty reminiscence of everything he’s ever done. The massive midtempo smasher “Don’t Die On Me Now” sees Joe Lynn Turner going all in, Ronnie Romero works his magic in “Knight Of The Dead” while Michael Voss cuts a grand figure before the microphone as well as behind the mixing desk on the furious second single “After The Rain”.
Towering above them all, Michael Schenker and his guitar prove they’re truly and utterly invincible. The celebrated icon pulls out all the stops – including his legendary “howler”, the fabled magnet he’s used on his fingerboard for a while now. And here’s yet another thing that’s just so archetypically Schenker, when bringing up his fiery and dedicated performance on “Immortal” he nonchalantly shrugs it off: “I simply played from the heart, as always.” This, dear Michael, is the understatement of the year – all the more so for a record that is already one of the top contenders for hard rock/metal album of the year.

Parisian label Chuwanaga proudly presents the first opus of its new 12inch series, starting with the brand new EP of Koji Ono: Ricochet / Maloja Pass. Recorded during a short week-end in Paris, it is the result of a true collaboration by a team of musicians who wanted to bring a modern twist to a classic and timeless sound, staying true to the original late seventies/early eigthies dance music spirit and the passion of Chuwanaga for the original Britfunk.
On bass, you’ll hear Lester Batchelor aka LB from Atmosfear, the legendary British JazzFunk band best known for their En Transe LP and the classic track « Dancing In Outerspace». Killing it on the drums, Roy Mistry is their 2020 official drummer. Recording together in Studio Delta, with Koji playing almost all the other instruments, from keys to guitars to percussions, they all had a blast collaborating on these two new tracks. Add a blazing Rhodes solo by Jean-Michel Bernard on « Maloja Pass », some precious magic from producers Seiji Ono & Saint-James, a great dose of savoir-faire by sound engineer David Cukier aka Greita (Disques Flegon)… And you end up with two killer tunes ready to blast their way through your speakers.
On both tracks, you’ll immediately recognize Koji Ono’s touch – as found on his previous Incognito EP : simple but uplifting melodies on synthetizers, sparkling guitars and a certain playfulness in the arrangements. On side A, « Ricochet » sounds like an irresistible mid-tempo boogie banger. On B side, the uptempo « Maloja Pass » is faster paced and bursts with energy, giving the listener an irresistible urge to travel endlessly through the night.

There are few genres in which German artists play such a central pioneering role as they do in electronic music, be it techno, electropop, trance or rave. At the frontline for many years were Kraftwerk and U96, two absolute trailblazers of this musical direction. While Kraftwerk wrote international music history mainly in the 1970s with cult albums such as Autobahn (1974), Radio-Aktivität (1975), Trans Europa Express (1977) and Die Mensch-Maschine (1978), U96 had a profound influence on the global pop music, rave and techno scene of the 1990s with hits such as ‘Das Boot’, ‘Love Sees No Colour’, ‘Night In Motion’ and ‘Heaven’. Transhuman, scheduled for release on UNLTD Recordings on 30th October 2020, will feature a spectacular collaboration between U96 (Ingo Hauss

& Hayo Lewerentz) and Wolfgang Flür, Kraftwerk’s drummer in the years between 1972 and 1987 and therefore involved in the most seminal albums by the group from Düsseldorf.

This remarkable cooperation was first announced and implemented by two joint numbers on U96’s 2018 offering Reboot. Transhuman sees U96 and Wolfgang Flür develop their creative exchange across a full album, creating fascinating sonic worlds. The title song ‘Transhuman’ and an updated version of ‘Zukunftsmusik (Radiophonique)’ will be released as lead singles, including, as we’ve come to expect from U96, experimental video clips. That New York record label Radikal Records immediately secured the rights to the album for the US and Canada points to major interest in this project, not only on these shores but also across the Atlantic.

“Transhuman is a stylistic mélange of our different histories,” describe Wolfgang Flür and U96 masterminds Hauss and Lewerentz an offering that is spectacular in many respects, featuring, along with typical U96 tracks such as ‘Clone’ and ‘Specimen’, numbers such as ‘Transhuman’, ‘Planet In Fever’ and ‘Sexersizer’ that are inspired by Flür’s past. Notably, the content has been reduced to the sheer basics, in other words: sparingly used associative statements with deep, but at times also playful and mysterious messages that the listener feels rather than consciously registers. The lyrics are about the transformation of people through technology and our massive interference in life on our planet. Hauss: “Pieces like ‘Zukunftsmusik’ and ‘Transhuman’ don’t tell a story in the classic sense, they articulate emotions and associations in very few words, bringing to mind recordings such as Radio-Aktivität, Autobahn and Die Mensch-Maschine. In addition Transhuman, features a number of melodies created on the basis of computer algorithms, in other words fractal music which takes us even further back in history, to Klaus Schulze, Stockhausen, the electronics laboratories of the fifties and sixties and the musique concrete compositional technique.”

South London-based band Soothsayers are set to release their ninth studio album 'We Are Many'. Held together by heavy basslines, solid grooves, and socially and politically charged lyrics; the album takes the listener into different sonic spaces with elements of dub, Afrobeat, improvisational jazz and electronica.

The initial steps in recording 'We Are Many' came in January 2019 when the band's founders - saxophonist Idris Rahman and trumpeter Robin Hopcraft - set out on a journey to Brazil. With executive production in the Sao Paulo studio by renowned music journalist and author David Katz, they hooked up with bass player and producer Victor Rice who they'd met sharing the bill at Freedom Sounds festival in Cologne, Germany a year earlier. Victor organised a session in Studio Traquitana, home of acclaimed Brazilian band Bixiga 70, and invited a selection of local musicians. Percussionist and singer Ligia Kamara contributed lyrics and melodies written in the studio, and drummer Bruno Buarque, guitarist Joao Erbetta and bassist Victor provided some solid, personality-driven input. Fresh and vital, what came out was a fascinating blend of Soothsayers' dub and Afrobeat mixed with distinctly Brazilian inflections.

After arriving back in the UK, Idris and Robin set about creating the remainder of the album in a different, yet complimentary way, and called on the services of Wu-Lu and Kwake at their The Room studio in South London. Things started to take shape very quickly, Wu-Lu and Kwake combining Soothsayers' music with electronic elements, while also referencing elements of the current UK jazz scene.

When lockdown hit in March 2020, there was still a lot of work to do in order to complete a full album and Robin and Idris set about working on tracks with their musicians remotely. Having time to consider the album as a whole, they found strong connections between the music recorded in Brazil and the tracks recorded in London and they set about fusing and combining these elements further into a satisfying whole.

UK based Sengalese singer Modou Toure was enlisted to guest on one track while percussionists Satin Singh and Maurizio Ravalico were engaged to help affirm a sound-world where Brazilian flavours, such as the low-end Surdo drum, were combined with sounds more readily associated with reggae and Afrobeat.

Soothsayers' three part vocal harmony is a defining factor in this album. With strong references to the vocal styles of reggae legends such as The Gladiators, Mighty Diamonds, Heptones, and Abyssinnians; it has benefited from the long-standing friendship between Robin, Idris and Julia Biel. Lyrics, melodies and harmonies were presented, discussed, explored and recorded at Idris' and Julia's home studio in Streatham in a relaxed and positive way, with concepts from social and political commentary turned into powerful songs.

Themes cover political observations of Trump and beyond alongside Brazil's president Bolsanaro (Rat Race), speaking out against increasing levels of violence from the Brazilian government towards its native and indigenous people (Love And Unity) and keeping hopeful despite the impending horrors of a no-deal Brexit (We Won't Lose Hope).

Elsewhere they discuss striving to create space for meditation and reflection against the background noise of 24/7 news and social media (Move In Silence), the daily grind (No Sacrifice) and workers' rights (Slave), while highlighting those that fall through the cracks in society and end up without a permanent address, what led to this and how close we all are from this happening (One Step Away).

'We Are Many' represents a positive and uplifting statement in the face of challenging times - the overriding force, power and positivity of the music to continue forward, pushing the boundaries of musical concepts into the future.

"Whilst heavy questions of life and death and the future of our species surround us all, music is a guide that can help us perceive the challenges in a different way - a guide that can help us towards a deep inner peace. If we listen, music can help light the way. We hope you will listen, and we hope you will experience the joy, meditative power and beauty in the connection of different musical cultures that was experienced in the creation of this album."

Ralph Heidel is one of the young musicians that represent the spirit of Berlin’s new musical ecleticism better than others. He is part of the avantgarde circles that mix modern jazz and contemporary classical music with elements of new electronica and experimental ambient music. This is the vibe of Germany's next generation.

Heidel creates a sonic universe that is unique. He takes the listener into a deep, atmospheric travel that stimulates emotions and feelings on a different level. Heidel brings together two worlds: what he learned at Musikhochschule München, Germany’s leading academy for classical music where he studied saxophon and composition and the moods happening in Germany's new electronic circles.

On „Relief“ Heidel created six songs. Except one, all of them are instrumental music. Partly composed and often improvised these sounds take the listener into Heidel's specific sonic universe. Raw beat structures, emotive horn lines, strong harmonical tensions and dramatic build ups. Heidel’s signature sound.
In fact Heidel is a multiple influenced artist with a strong personality that absorbs whats around him, connects it with his own wide artistic knowledge and fullfills it into magical musical moments.

Relief is the next step in what could become a longtime artistic career.
After a (very composed) debut album for string quartet and rhythm section for Kryptox (Moments of Resonance 2019), it was important for Heidel, to process current feelings of daily life.
Not just his cultural learnings, but also emotions connected to the hard COVID times and a lot of personal experiences.

Relief are six abstract, distorted patterns. Long deep transitions that lead into euphoric parts of sonic greatness. Heidel's sense for sound design and the soft tone of his saxophone phrases, add a personal note that is somehow alone in the current music scenario. Sampling his saxophone (reeds, keys etc.) to create very organic beats is one of the many techniques to create that special „Heidel“ sound. Also his calm and wide harmonies over disquiet, rough drums are part of his unique ambivalent, disrupted moods.

Most of this EP has been played by Heidel alone. For a few parts he was joined by musicians from the local scene. In fact besides his albums on Kryptox Ralph Heidel is very connected in Berlin’s current cultural playground: He creates music for underground performance art happenings in Neukölln as well as for new German theater (Volksbühne, Berliner Ensemble). Also German rapper Tarek from K.I.Z heard about Heidels string debut album, so they collaborated for an album, where Heidel reworked his record for stringquartet, piano, drums and bass.

"Don't Turn Me From Your Door" - John Lee Hooker (g, voc), Earl Hooker, Eddie Kirkland (g), a.o

John Lee Hooker is not only a mystery but also an interesting man to study. Some, like the author Jacques Demêtre called the musician from Mississippi »the most raw and African of all blues players from a musical point of view«, while the critic Net Hentoff was awestruck by Hooker’s unfiltered power of expression that could scare the pants off a listener taken unawares. The numbers on this LP bear witness to the fact that Hooker’s musical language could stir one’s emotions deeply, even without the meaty 'boom boom'. Each title is like a raw diamond, which is intentionally uncut and is to be perceived with directness. With a stutter and a slur in his speech, the singer declaims his song over a twangy guitar, which is driven along by the rhythmic meter. A final farewell is taken sluggishly and sullenly in the forthright text of "You Lost A Good Man", and even a song without words ("Misbelieving Baby") ponders a question in a purely instrumental monologue. Apart from a dash of boogie ("Pouring Down Rain") Hooker avoids all manner of sweet sounds and harmonies. He remains austerely raw, mercilessly honest, occasionally unforgiving and denies all thoughts of any kind regarding going 'back to the roots'. This sound IS the root of it all.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under pure-analogue.

All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: 1953 in Cincinnati (OH) and July 1961 in Miami (FL)

Production: Henry Stone

South London-based band Soothsayers are set to release their ninth studio album 'We Are Many'. Held together by heavy basslines, solid grooves, and socially and politically charged lyrics; the album takes the listener into different sonic spaces with elements of dub, Afrobeat, improvisational jazz and electronica.

The initial steps in recording 'We Are Many' came in January 2019 when the band's founders - saxophonist Idris Rahman and trumpeter Robin Hopcraft - set out on a journey to Brazil. With executive production in the Sao Paulo studio by renowned music journalist and author David Katz, they hooked up with bass player and producer Victor Rice who they'd met sharing the bill at Freedom Sounds festival in Cologne, Germany a year earlier. Victor organised a session in Studio Traquitana, home of acclaimed Brazilian band Bixiga 70, and invited a selection of local musicians. Percussionist and singer Ligia Kamara contributed lyrics and melodies written in the studio, and drummer Bruno Buarque, guitarist Joao Erbetta and bassist Victor provided some solid, personality-driven input. Fresh and vital, what came out was a fascinating blend of Soothsayers' dub and Afrobeat mixed with distinctly Brazilian inflections.

After arriving back in the UK, Idris and Robin set about creating the remainder of the album in a different, yet complimentary way, and called on the services of Wu-Lu and Kwake at their The Room studio in South London. Things started to take shape very quickly, Wu-Lu and Kwake combining Soothsayers' music with electronic elements, while also referencing elements of the current UK jazz scene.

When lockdown hit in March 2020, there was still a lot of work to do in order to complete a full album and Robin and Idris set about working on tracks with their musicians remotely. Having time to consider the album as a whole, they found strong connections between the music recorded in Brazil and the tracks recorded in London and they set about fusing and combining these elements further into a satisfying whole.

UK based Sengalese singer Modou Toure was enlisted to guest on one track while percussionists Satin Singh and Maurizio Ravalico were engaged to help affirm a sound-world where Brazilian flavours, such as the low-end Surdo drum, were combined with sounds more readily associated with reggae and Afrobeat.

Soothsayers' three part vocal harmony is a defining factor in this album. With strong references to the vocal styles of reggae legends such as The Gladiators, Mighty Diamonds, Heptones, and Abyssinnians; it has benefited from the long-standing friendship between Robin, Idris and Julia Biel. Lyrics, melodies and harmonies were presented, discussed, explored and recorded at Idris' and Julia's home studio in Streatham in a relaxed and positive way, with concepts from social and political commentary turned into powerful songs.

Themes cover political observations of Trump and beyond alongside Brazil's president Bolsanaro (Rat Race), speaking out against increasing levels of violence from the Brazilian government towards its native and indigenous people (Love And Unity) and keeping hopeful despite the impending horrors of a no-deal Brexit (We Won't Lose Hope).

Elsewhere they discuss striving to create space for meditation and reflection against the background noise of 24/7 news and social media (Move In Silence), the daily grind (No Sacrifice) and workers' rights (Slave), while highlighting those that fall through the cracks in society and end up without a permanent address, what led to this and how close we all are from this happening (One Step Away).

'We Are Many' represents a positive and uplifting statement in the face of challenging times - the overriding force, power and positivity of the music to continue forward, pushing the boundaries of musical concepts into the future.

"Whilst heavy questions of life and death and the future of our species surround us all, music is a guide that can help us perceive the challenges in a different way - a guide that can help us towards a deep inner peace. If we listen, music can help light the way. We hope you will listen, and we hope you will experience the joy, meditative power and beauty in the connection of different musical cultures that was experienced in the creation of this album."

- Idris Rahman and Robin Hopcraft

Summer 2011, we discovered Triptides’ music through a music blog aggregator and immediately fell in love with it. Just after that, we decided to interview the band for our own blog and to release a single, their first-ever vinyl record, through our beginning sister label Croque Macadam. The single contained two songs Going Under & Outlaw, both coming from and self-released tape named Psychic Summer. One year later, Triptides released a CD album Sun Pavilion and we were releasing again another 7” record with the main single Bright Sky and an exclusive b-side (Darling). Both albums never were released as vinyl. 10 years later we are now releasing a beautifully remastered version of these two lovely albums. Since then, Triptides became one of the most endearing contemporary psych band alongside the dynamic Californian scene with which they share or shared members (Mystic Braves, Levitation Room, Frankie And The Witch Fingers…).
The Band then formed by the duo Glenn Brigman & Josh Menashe used to make their song from their Bloomington student home studio on an old Tascam 8 track tape recorder, already showing a deep interest for the sixties influenced music. If their first EP were showing some touching errors, despite the years passing, both Psychic Summer & Sun Pavilion are still offering a very nice musical experience for the listener. Their songwriting remains flawless and the DIY lo-fi production makes it sound as spontaneous and charming as it was back then. Our favorite songs such as Going Under, Who Knows, Satin Skies, Bright Sky, English Rain or Sun/Shine shows a great kraft for beautiful and catchy songs anchored in both a sixties tradition and the then-burgeoning modern indie-pop sound through very interesting surf influences and uses of a drum machine.
The reissue is a great opportunity to rediscover Triptides in their beginnings. The objects had been carefully made, Psychic Summer for example had a brand new artwork by psychedelic collage master Andrew McGranahan, both have color vinyl version and standard black. Far from being rough drafts, these two albums are still showing a beautiful angle on Triptides’ music and their always strong discography.

Summer 2011, we discovered Triptides’ music through a music blog aggregator and immediately fell in love with it. Just after that, we decided to interview the band for our own blog and to release a single, their first-ever vinyl record, through our beginning sister label Croque Macadam. The single contained two songs Going Under & Outlaw, both coming from and self-released tape named Psychic Summer. One year later, Triptides released a CD album Sun Pavilion and we were releasing again another 7” record with the main single Bright Sky and an exclusive b-side (Darling). Both albums never were released as vinyl. 10 years later we are now releasing a beautifully remastered version of these two lovely albums. Since then, Triptides became one of the most endearing contemporary psych band alongside the dynamic Californian scene with which they share or shared members (Mystic Braves, Levitation Room, Frankie And The Witch Fingers…).
The Band then formed by the duo Glenn Brigman & Josh Menashe used to make their song from their Bloomington student home studio on an old Tascam 8 track tape recorder, already showing a deep interest for the sixties influenced music. If their first EP were showing some touching errors, despite the years passing, both Psychic Summer & Sun Pavilion are still offering a very nice musical experience for the listener. Their songwriting remains flawless and the DIY lo-fi production makes it sound as spontaneous and charming as it was back then. Our favorite songs such as Going Under, Who Knows, Satin Skies, Bright Sky, English Rain or Sun/Shine shows a great kraft for beautiful and catchy songs anchored in both a sixties tradition and the then-burgeoning modern indie-pop sound through very interesting surf influences and uses of a drum machine.
The reissue is a great opportunity to rediscover Triptides in their beginnings. The objects had been carefully made, Psychic Summer for example had a brand new artwork by psychedelic collage master Andrew McGranahan, both have color vinyl version and standard black. Far from being rough drafts, these two albums are still showing a beautiful angle on Triptides’ music and their always strong discography.

Passion is the fifth and final part of a series of five double vinyl releases that bring together some of Ennio Morricone’s greatest soundtrack music. Each collection centres on a different movie genre, together they allow the listener to rediscover the unmatched genius of the greatest movie composer of all time. Passion once again reminds us that everything in Italian life is approached with gusto, energy and passion.

Passion is available as a limited edition of 3000 individually numbered copies on pink and purple marbled vinyl. The package includes a 4-page insert with liner notes written by Claudio Fuiano. The gatefold sleeve contains a diamond glitter foil spot varnish on the outside and images of iconic movie posters on the inside.

To anyone who has heard the music of Kikagaku Moyo, it should come as no surprise that the band’s origins lie in hours upon hours of late-night jamming, illuminated by nothing more than the geometric patterns playing behind the band’s eyelids, resulting in a natural, free-floating sound, as of-the-earth as it is intergalactic. It may be surprising that the band sharpened their improvisational skills by busking on the streets of their native Tokyo. It may be surprising that the band’s overall sound may owe as much or more to the Incredible String Band as it does to Acid Mother’s Temple.



But what’s perhaps most surprising about Forest of Lost Children, the band’s face-melting, recorded-ritual sophomore album, is how utterly centered and mature the band sounds, especially given their relatively short lifespan as a band. Boundless though they may be, Kikagaku Moyo here sound anything but lost, their child-like wonder manifested in a confident, courageous exploration of sound. Labels – psychedelic, folk, prog-rock, psychedelic-folk-mixed-with-prog-rock – do little to accurately reflect the spectrum of influences on display, let alone the more impactful realization of completeness in Kikagaku Moyo’s songs.



Easily one of the most shimmering crown-jewels in the rapidly expanding BBiB catalog, look for Kikagaku Moyo and Forest of Lost Children to be found taking shape in the expanded minds of listeners everywhere. - Ryan Muldoon

In his essay ‘The Meaning of My Avant-Garde Hillbilly and Blues Music’, Henry Flynt talks about how his music should be analysed as an intellectual tribute to the music of the autochtone, setting aside plain folk references, but adopting academic insights to mold the music one makes as a folk creature. Much of Flynt’s discourse applies to the music of Glen Steenkiste’s Hellvete. Over the past twenty years he has been thoroughly investigating both the ethnic musical language of various regions as well as the contemporary pioneers that preceded him as a drone musician, internalizing concepts such as e.g. deep listening or just intonation. Casting off any redundant ideas or sounds, and stripping down the focus to develop singular concepts, his working method lead to pieces such as ‘Droomharmonium’, in which he shapes the endless variations on a theme, emphasizing detail and nuance rather than multitude. The Indian harmonium here serves as the main device to worship ancient ghosts and masters, and to preserve a continuum in a tradition that touches both folk and avant-garde culture. The materialisations are sustained tone compositions which become a means of appreciation of the people and cultures that paved the way for forms of mutual escapism. This might well be the core of what Hellvete’s music is about. As much as it is a form of self-entertainment – like folk music in the old days – it also invites the listener to a shared experience of sonic reverie, it is a casual gift to the community.

This is certainly true for the pieces presented on this album. They were first presented in a smoke filled and darkened art space in Ghent, Steenkiste surrounded by only a couple of candles and just enough stage light to see him erratically moving to the rhythm of the piece, occasionally twiddling the knobs of a Doepfer synth that processed the prerecorded harmonium tracks. Unlike most of his other performances this piece embraced the audience in a trance that was similar to that of an old-school rave club. Flynt writes: ‘The music should be intellectually fascinating because the listener can perceive and participate in its rhythmic and melodic intricacies, audacity of organization, etc. At the same time, the music should be kinesthetic, that is, it should encourage dancing.’ ‘Voor Harmonium’ does exactly that; it builds on the artistic ideas that have long been established in Hellvete’s oeuvre, but the ecstatic nature of these pieces merges the usual spiritual transcendence with one of determined physical bliss. It encourages both mind and body to step into the sound, to be enraptured, to celebrate.

Linus Hillborg’s solo debut Magelungsverket lures listeners through despaired soundscapes of justly tuned electroacoustic orchestral arrangements seeped in rich harmonic synthesis.

Magelungsverket is a rendering of materials from Hillborg’s own computer game hacking project, Orphan Works, where an obsolete game engine was modified to create an interactive installation in which participants drive through the purple midnight streets of a decrepit and abandoned Stockholm. The game's generative soundtrack interacts with the player’s haphazard navigation of a ceaseless digital void of factories, housing projects, run down bars, ditches and lakes. Displaced, uncanny narratives and depictions of both real and semi-fictional locations in Stockholm that could have existed - but do not - procures distinct sequences of sound constructed with the Buchla 200 system, programmed synthesis, bowed cymbals, metal clarinet and tape machines.

The rendered pieces on Magelungsverket have been adapted from Orphan Works’ interactive and generative material into separate, fixed compositions, bound by duration, each one named after a location in this fictional, virtual Stockholm. For instance, Vårbergsobservatoriet (The Vårberg Observatory), draws its name from an artificial mountain that exists in the outskirts of Stockholm, amidst the sprawl of residential areas far beyond the sparkling city center. It was built from garbage scraps left behind after the underground metro system was constructed in the 1970s. In this fictional version, a public observatory was wishfully imagined to have been built on top of it. However fictitious Hillborg has imagined these locations, it is a bittersweet reflection and fragmented mental image of a Stockholm that never existed. Magelungsverket will be released on the 4th of December in a limited run of 200 black vinyls and across digital platforms.

Linus Hillborg (b. 1989, Stockholm) is a composer, musician and sound artist based in Stockholm, operating in numerous fields, ranging from experimental musics and audio-visual installations to post-punk and noise formations.

Terry Gross is an engrossing trio composed of guitarist Phil Manley (Trans Am), bassist Donny Newenhouse, and drummer Phil Becker. The trio are also connected as owners and engineers at Bay Area recording spot El Studio, where they began improvising together as a way to test the boundaries and gear of the studio. Their loose, organic chemistry burgeoned into a deep camaraderie and a sound both expansive and exacting. The three experienced musicians crafted their first fulllength album through the pure joy of playing together with no expectations. With the tapes rolling on their rehearsals, the band captures the exuberance of live performance and elevates those recordings through a deft use of the studio as their collective instrument. On their debut LP Soft Opening, Terry Gross channels their cosmic powers and considerable chops into a gleefully mesmerizing odyssey fit for an arena. Soft Opening took shape over the course of 2016-2019, with Terry Gross writing and refining their songs. "Space Voyage Mission" and "Worm Gear" parallel one another as sinuous jams that pulse with adamantine fervor. Each mountainous epic churns spellbinding repetition and simplicity into dizzying gallops that take hairpin turns into sinewy riffing and elysian vocal melodies. Phil Manley's guitar takes on a constellation of tones across "Space Voyage Mission" with drifting delays soaring over the Newenhouse and Becker's driving rhythm section which all succumb to frothing overdrives that spin the song into entirely new pastures. The hypnotic throb of "Worm Gear" grows all the more enchanting as Newenhouse and Becker add subtle shifts to the single-chord barrage. "Specificity (Or What Have You)" contrasts these two in its more traditionally pop-oriented structure while retaining its predecessors wide-eyed energy and delves further into the album's lightheartedyet-earnest take on sci-fi tropes from space and time travel to the singularity. As Terry Gross, Phil Manley, Donny Newenhouse, and Phil Becker are sonic scientists traversing the borderlands of rock. Soft Opening captures the simple joy of a no-holds-barred trio in stunning detail, transporting the listener into the splendor and freedom of rock.