quête:loose

Serving up eleven tracks of rhythmic garage-psych goodness, ‘Boots N Cats’ is the third full-length from Melbourne outfit Beans and the first of two albums set for release in 2024. The long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s ‘Babble’ and 2020’s ‘All Together Now’, it’s a record that finds Beans frontman (and The Murlocs drummer) Matt Blach putting percussion at centre-stage. “I’ve always wanted to make a drum-based album, dedicated around the beat first and then everything else follows”, Blach says, explaining his desire to explore “different production approaches, like hip-hop and crunched drums, and show an admiration and appreciation for the likes of The Meters, Wu-Tang and James Brown” as much as the acid-soaked 60s/70s rock you’d expect. What emerges from the beat-first approach on ‘Boots N Cats’ charts mutant garage-rock boogies ('Groove', 'Silhouette') and festival tent psychedelia ('Haunted', 'Dreaming Daisy'), by way of blissed-out funk instrumentals ('One To Four', 'Siamese Blundstone'). The line is constantly skirted between a loose, carefree vibe and interesting, meticulous musicianship – never falling into the trap of taking itself too seriously. It’s a sunny kaleidoscope of chugging guitars, driving basslines, soaring organs and warm, echo-soaked vocals – driven always by the tightly-wound rhythms and grooves that Blach has been in pursuit of since he was a kid: “The title of the album comes from me learning drums from my dad. He had a background of German heritage and during lessons would jokingly say ‘nein, boot’n’cats’n’ like a simple 1,2,3,4

For Fans of Robyn, Tirzah, Charli XCX, Mica Levi, Jessy Lanza, Maurice Fulton. "Don't come closer, because I might hurt you boy / You don't deserve it, I treat you like a toy." So sings 28-year-old South East London musician Tatyana on "It's Over", the sad and squelchy electro-leaning title track to her second album. Primarily written and produced over the summer of `23, It's Over follows the loose trajectory of a not-quite-relationship from the year before. But, more than that, it's an album about modern dating, alienation and the confines of existing online. If you've heard Tatyana's name before, it's probably because she released a debut album back in 2022, Treat Me Right, co-produced with Metronomy's Joe Mount, a record she describes as more of a collaboration. For It's Over, Tatyana took control of every aspect of the album's creation, from the production (she co-produced it alongside Mikko Gordon) to the artwork and the technology she used throughout. "This record made me technically proficient because I really pushed myself," says Tatyana. "I figured out a lot of things that I didn't know before. In the past, I allowed others to lead the charge and I'm not doing that any more." Born in London, before moving to Russia, Holland and Singapore in her teens, before eventually studying music at Berklee College in the USA - which she attained on full scholarship - and then back to London, Tatyana imbues her music with both haywire technical proficiency and encyclopaedic, far-flung tastes. Mostly, though, her sound originates from a pure love of the dancefloor: Robyn, Tirzah, Mica Levi, Jessy Lanza, The Knife. You can hear these dance-pop influences everywhere, from the colourful synth shapes of "Control (ft. Dave Okumu)" to the crackling analogue hiss of "Nothing is True, Everything is Possible". Lean in a little closer, too, and you might catch the shimmer of a harp on every song (she's played harp since she was a little girl, and toured extensively as a professional session harpist). "I write about love, I write about romance, these are the things that interest me," says Tatyana. "That's what this record is. It's about this relationship that broke my brain and I had to write about it."

LA-based DJ duo Guruku is back with their second release. The title track ‘Mesmerized’ has a throwback feel to the likes of The Gap Band, Prince, and D-Train. With a loose format, Rojai’s vocal builds the dubbed-out drums and heavy synth line that rises to an electrifying release with dirty hypnotic pads smothering a delicious bassline. Italy’s Giovanni Damico lays down a heavy bass textured to perfection with tasty vocoders throughout. Daniel T. (Cosmic Kids/DFA) takes rhythmic cues from B’more's Unruly Records while keeping close to his West Coast roots with a G-funk synth line riding high. What It Takes starts with a melodic, percussive Moog line that breaks into a full production of Rhodes, live bass, and early 80s drums. Rojai delivers a heartfelt love letter letting the one know they can stand the test of time. Rayko vs Wvp mix keeps the boogie alive with a cascading bass line for the dancefloor.


RIYL: Star Creature, Dam Funk, Ray Mang, and The Gap Band.

Canadian performer and composer Sarah Belle Reid’s 2021 acclaimed album, first time on vinyl, expanded with two new incredible songs, remastered featuring new artwork. From distant ocean song to the clang and howl of a murky forgotten memory, MASS is a dreamlike collage of shrill shrieks, gasps, corroded brass choirs, and melting modular synth soundscapes, all heard through a mist of hiss and noise. Fused with equal parts spastic improvisation, shrouded ritual, and meticulous arrangement, it presents a sonic topography at once tongue-in-cheek, sensitive, and nightmarish. With discordant chorales and angular trumpet improvisations churning in an ever-evolving wash of whispers and howls, MASS is a collection of three hazy, harsh, and frightful sound worlds. With tracks meandering between aggressive rhythms, eerie ambiances, and abrasive cut-up electronic textures, MASS draws inspiration from early tape music, horror film soundtracks, and grindcore. It was assembled between listening to extended doses of Else Marie Pade, Daphne Oram, Eliane Radigue, the Locust, Edgard Varèse, Maryanne Amacher, Dick Raaijmakers, Naked City, Mr. Bungle, and Thomas Ankersmit, bringing a little bit of all of them along with it. MASS was recorded and mixed over the course of three weeks in January–February 2021 while in the midst of a cross-country move. Recorded entirely in short-term housing away from her studio (and most of her instruments), Reid relied exclusively on her voice, trumpet, flugelhorn, household objects, and Make Noise's Strega semi-modular synthesizer for all sound materials. Original sound materials were recorded loosely and independently with little to no overdubbing, instead relying on meticulous editing and processing in the manner of classic tape music.

Canadian performer and composer Sarah Belle Reid’s 2021 acclaimed album, first time on vinyl, expanded with two new incredible songs, remastered featuring new artwork. From distant ocean song to the clang and howl of a murky forgotten memory, MASS is a dreamlike collage of shrill shrieks, gasps, corroded brass choirs, and melting modular synth soundscapes, all heard through a mist of hiss and noise. Fused with equal parts spastic improvisation, shrouded ritual, and meticulous arrangement, it presents a sonic topography at once tongue-in-cheek, sensitive, and nightmarish. With discordant chorales and angular trumpet improvisations churning in an ever-evolving wash of whispers and howls, MASS is a collection of three hazy, harsh, and frightful sound worlds. With tracks meandering between aggressive rhythms, eerie ambiances, and abrasive cut-up electronic textures, MASS draws inspiration from early tape music, horror film soundtracks, and grindcore. It was assembled between listening to extended doses of Else Marie Pade, Daphne Oram, Eliane Radigue, the Locust, Edgard Varèse, Maryanne Amacher, Dick Raaijmakers, Naked City, Mr. Bungle, and Thomas Ankersmit, bringing a little bit of all of them along with it. MASS was recorded and mixed over the course of three weeks in January–February 2021 while in the midst of a cross-country move. Recorded entirely in short-term housing away from her studio (and most of her instruments), Reid relied exclusively on her voice, trumpet, flugelhorn, household objects, and Make Noise's Strega semi-modular synthesizer for all sound materials. Original sound materials were recorded loosely and independently with little to no overdubbing, instead relying on meticulous editing and processing in the manner of classic tape music.

Emerging out of Amsterdam's vibrant squat scene in 1979, The Ex – a name chosen for the ease and speed with which it could be spray-painted onto a wall – have for four decades been an entirely self-sustaining musical entity, charting a course through the global underground with a spirit of freedom and radical exploration.

Blueprints For A Blackout, The Ex's fifth album and first double LP, combines caustic studio experimentations and loose songs from their gripping live-set at the time. The band consisted of singer G.W. Sok, guitarist Terrie Ex, two new recruits on bass, Luc and Yoke, and drummer Sabien Witteman, along with a plethora of guests including Mekons' Jon Langford and long-serving sound engineer Dolf Planteijdt, among others.

Originally released in 1984 on the band's own Pig Brother Productions, Blueprints veers from jagged punk explosions to sharply focused improvisations featuring field recordings that would become a hallmark of their subsequent forays into free jazz and experimental music. The overall effect is not unlike the menace of a slowly building winter storm.

Tracks like "Rabble With A Cause," "U.S. Hole" and "Scrub That Scum" stand out as exemplars of this phase of The Ex. Comparisons can be made to contemporaries Einstürzende Neubauten, NoMeansNo and Svätsox as well as later Crass label bands.

Funkyjaws Music is back with more music to make your jaw go funky, this time in the form of a second volume of its Let's Dance series. It features a quartet of esteemed tune makers starting with Frank Booker's 'Yes No Maybe' which is a horn laced and loose-limbed delight, while go-slow master Eddie C brings his classy touch to the funky licks of 'Love Dancing Theme.' There are plenty of cosmic synth waves to Black Truffle's 'Dancing Through The Night' while the LTJ Xperience close down with a super laid back and summery vibe on 'Sunny Groove.'

WAREHOUSE FIND! INSTOCK NOW Long overdue restock of this Kelley Stotlz staple! Pressed up on his own label, CHUFFED! And we’re chuffed as ever to have more Kelley on our racks.. 17 Incredible tracks! This time Kelley genre plays in the POWER-PUB world, with dashes of Undertones, Stiff Records, 80's Iggy evenly applied. A chance buy of a $75 Japanese Electric Guitar conducive only to power chords, and repeated spins of the Mick Trouble LP made for a wild week of recording this edgy delight. Recorded Fall 2019 at Electric Duck Studios SF, CA. Mastered by Sir Mikey Young. Brought to you by Chuffed Records, a Puzzling Records Company. 250 pressed on split black and white vinyl.. a beauty mate!

Axis of Time is the stunning debut album from Philadelphia mallet percussionist and poet Angelo Outlaw. Featuring Eraserhood Sound's signature synth & soul production, Axis of Time is a dazzling blend of jazz, rare groove, funk, soul and r&b. According to Outlaw, the album is meant to transport the listener to a dream-like state, where space and time slowly fade away and reality is merely a distant memory. Each song sets a unique scene, as the pace of the music swells and sways_from the euphoric highs of lead single "Free My Mind" and uninhibited groove of "Speed of Light" to the trance-like meditation of "Dreams" and mournful melodies of "Invisible Clock," Angelo and the Eraserhood Sound house band truly go to the cosmos and back. The record is an extraordinary debut from Outlaw, a young gay Black man who hopes to serve as an inspiration to others who might be perceived as different or other. His work transcends race, creed, religion, and politics, and has the power to speak to the universality of time, space, and human connection.

Kane Pour is a songwriter and multimedia artist who lives in Gainesville, FL, and has been making loop and guitar-based electronic music since 2004. His work often leans into the subtle and murky emotions that dwell beneath the surface, calling forth themes of care, sadness, and tenderness of the human soul. With a wide sonic palette and sense of humor, he puts his love of harmony and space first, slowly dimming through soft landscapes of various textures. The Last Wave is a spiritual successor to Sun People Sleepwalker, an album Kane Pour released as Pospulenn in 2010. The album is a series of ambient guitar meditations on reconciling painful memories, growing, and reclaiming identity. The Last Wave was recorded at the onset of the Covid pandemic when Pour was home isolating. He put together the songs and walked around at night listening to them, feeling intense loneliness in the present, but finding comfort in having time to reflect on his past. The tone and aesthetic of the album evolved over time but Pour named it The Last Wave because he thought it might be his last album or the last living remnant of his soul left after the world fell apart.

Most audiophiles know Alan Parsons Project's I Robot by heart. Engineered by Parsons after he performed the same duties on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, the 1977 record reigns as a disc whose taut bass, crisp highs, clean production, and seemingly limitless dynamic range are matched only by the sensational prog-rock fare helmed by the keyboardist and his creative partner, Eric Woolfson. Not surprisingly, it's been issued myriad times. Can it be improved? Relish Mobile Fidelity's stupendous UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM box set and the question becomes moot.


Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, I Robot comes to life with reference-setting realism on this numbered, limited-edition reissue. Boasting immaculate highs and lows, generous spaciousness, and see-through transparency that takes you into the studio with Parsons and Woolfson at Abbey Road, this definitive edition is designed to demonstrate the full-range capabilities of the world's best stereo systems while offering listeners the convenience of having all the music on one LP.

Featuring a nearly inaudible noise floor, this transcendent UD1S edition functions as a repeat invitation to savor reference-grade soundstages, immersive smoothness, sought-after instrumental separation, three-dimensional imaging, and consummate tonal balances. Able to be played back at high volumes without compromise or fatigue, it is a demonstration record for the ages – the likes of which are no longer being made. This is the very reason you own and invest in high-end audio gear.

The special characteristics of this UD1S version extend to the premium packaging. Housed in an elegant slipcase, the reissue features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, it is made for discerning listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything about this conceptual landmark. The Alan Parsons Project's most famous record deserves nothing less.

Inspired by and loosely based around the Isaac Asimov stories of the same name, I Robot delves into themes of artificial intelligence and technological dominance that make the record extremely relevant in the 21st century. Indeed, Parsons and Woolfson's pinnacle creation dovetailed with the ascendency of Star Wars, which itself is experiencing a rebirth in an age of self-driving cars, smart devices, and mindless automation. Lyrically, songs such as "The Voice" call into question human behavior – and their relationship to increasing robotic supremacy – in everyday life. Parsons and Woolfson reflect the associated paranoia, dichotomy, and transformation via shifting sci-fi arrangements steeped in drama and moodiness.

The absorbing tunes on I Robot also continue to fascinate due to their perfectionism and innovation. Borrowing from Pink Floyd's strategies, Parsons and Woolfson utilize a looped sequence on the title track to create new downbeats. "Some Other Time" employs two different lead vocalists and yet gives the illusion that only one is involved. Captivating strings, a piccolo trumpet, and bona fide pipe organ grace "Don't Let It Show." The origins of "Nucleus" stem from a unique analog keyboard concoction dubbed "the Projectron," devised by Parsons and electronic engineer Keith Johnson. Andrew Powell's orchestral and choral arrangements top it all off, with "Total Eclipse" arriving as a frightening track that presages the climactic "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32."

Does man or machine win in the end? Decide as you get lost in Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc 180g 33RPM LP pressing. Secure your numbered copy today!

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl

Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

For a few years Leo Robinson was the sort of hidden secret you sometimes come across in local music scenes. First in Manchester and now in Glasgow, he’d pop up regularly on DIY bills or as local support to a touring act, quietly blowing them off stage with his rich baritone vocal and homespun lo-fi tales of folklore and animism. With The Temple – his debut on PRAH Recordings – he looks set to cross over from being a cult concern.

“There's a spectrum within the album between fully mythologising or symbolising my lived experience, and just stating it in very matter of fact terms - that push and pull between the need to abstract and the need to break through the abstraction and have an honest moment with oneself” he explains. “This is one of the themes of the album as well as part of the process. The aim was to take all these anecdotal or symbolic elements and merge them into one narrative and one world, in a way that you can find your way through the record as if it were a landscape or language with its own logic.”

The record takes on a pastoral, slightly baroque nature that Robinson partly attributes to a friend screening a lot of ‘70s BBC material in his book shop that they used to hang out at. There are also elements of jazz, flickering to life in “The Spring”’s piano-led finale and coda.

Thematically, Robinson likens it to a Jungian ‘Hero's Journey’, his voice possessing a character who goes through several defined stages of consciousness. From conception and the beginning of an earthly life, the first half of the album recognises the development of the protagonist’s narrative and identity, before “The Pink Light”’s freeform departure from the hitherto more song-based suite devastatingly shatters this. The second half of the album then sees the protagonist witness “the uncontainable” water; learning that true divinity lies not in the individual self or lofty notions of gods and temples, but in the unremarkable nettles, insects and dogs on the roadside riverbank - referenced on tracks “The Cormorant” and “The Spring”.

Although now residing north of the border, The Temple was written while Robinson was finding his feet in Manchester, having moved there to go to art school as a teenager (as a visual artist, he has exhibited at the Tiwani Contemporary in London and Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre). As a result, many of the tracks bear out the shadows of his experiences in the northern city – at their most visible and explicit on the beautifully fragile storytelling of “The Pavement”. Written the day after the Manchester Arena Bombings, it recalls Robinson waking up to go to work on a hot summer’s day to discover that his street had been blocked off for terrorism investigations; it then progresses through the rest of his day, amidst the grimly surreal aftermath of the previous night.

Having written the chords, melodies and lyrics to the album, Robinson fleshed out the tunes by scoring out parts for the additional instrumentation, but it was only when a friend sent a demo to PRAH that he was able to fund its full recording. Guitars, vocals, piano and French Horn (the latter recorded by Lauren Reeve-Rawlings) were put down at Green Door Studios in Glasgow. Microphones were placed around the room and the sound of the musicians stepping on creaky floorboards and opening creaky doors were left audible to further the record’s live feel. The harpsichord heard on “The Serpent”, meanwhile, came from University of Glasgow lecturer David McGuinness. Strings were then recorded at PRAH Studios by Francesca Ter-Berg and Raven Bush, the Social Singing Choir adding their choral vocals to “Temple II”.

The result is an album that feels both luscious and yet intimately raw; as grand as Richard Dawson at his most panoramic but containing the rough edges and skeletal looseness of a Calvin Johnson work. At times Robinson lyrically moves towards the surreal, but ultimately this is a record grounded in reality; a true showcase of Robinson’s skill as a lyricist and songwriter.

Highway Heroine Bakersfield Twang backed by the Buckaroos! - Got your ears on? This album collects Kay Adams' live studio cuts from the Buck Owens Ranch Show - Along with Tammy, Patsy and Loretta, Kay was one of country's first female artists who elevated women in the genre - Gritty and country-to-the-bone, let this one spin & cut a rug! Includes 3 bonus tracks!

Axis of Time is the stunning debut album from Philadelphia mallet percussionist and poet Angelo Outlaw. Featuring Eraserhood Sound's signature synth & soul production, Axis of Time is a dazzling blend of jazz, rare groove, funk, soul and r&b. According to Outlaw, the album is meant to transport the listener to a dream-like state, where space and time slowly fade away and reality is merely a distant memory. Each song sets a unique scene, as the pace of the music swells and sways_from the euphoric highs of lead single "Free My Mind" and uninhibited groove of "Speed of Light" to the trance-like meditation of "Dreams" and mournful melodies of "Invisible Clock," Angelo and the Eraserhood Sound house band truly go to the cosmos and back. The record is an extraordinary debut from Outlaw, a young gay Black man who hopes to serve as an inspiration to others who might be perceived as different or other. His work transcends race, creed, religion, and politics, and has the power to speak to the universality of time, space, and human connection.

Warehouse Find!

Following the sold out Theo Parrish remix of Marcos Valle's '1985', here's the second in Far Out's Brazilika 12" with three scorching remixes from UK dance veteran Ashley Beedle. Three peak time excursions into percussive, soulful house on a stylish, cosmic Brazilian party tip.

Following the sold out Theo Parrish remix of Marcos Valle's '1985' back in April, the second release in Far Out's Brazilika 12' series features a highlight from Sabrina Malheiros' 2011 album 'Dreaming': the blissed-out, sun soaked samba classic 'Opara', which gets three scorching remixes from UK dance veteran Ashley Beedle.

Currently celebrating a decade since the release of her critically acclaimed debut album 'Equilibria', Sabrina Malheiros has remained at the forefront of modern, soul-infused Brazilian music. Growing up in Rio, the daughter of Alex Malheiros, bassist of Jazz-funk pioneers Azymuth, Sabrina has taken the legacy of samba and bossa nova and forged her own forward-thinking path, taking with her all the style and substance of the early days.

Produced under his Afrikanz On Marz moniker, Beedle's remix brings all the right elements of the original to the fore. The result is three peak time excursions into percussive, soulful house on a stylish, cosmic Brazilian party tip, infused with rich, warm rhodes, synth and flute throughout.

The vocal mix on the A side provides a spacious backdrop of twinkling keys and buoyant percussion to Malheiros' gently floating strains. The other mixes offer similarly floor-focused variations: the aptly titled 'Galactic Flute Remix' on the flip pairs the titular wind instrument with a deeper groove that retains the loose-limbed appeal of the original, plus a bonus instrumental to boot. A sure fire heat bringer and certainly one of the most colourful dance 12's we've heard this year.

The Brazilika 12' series is the new vinyl home to the previously unreleased dance exclusives taken from the Spiritual South mix on CD2 of Far Out's 20th anniversary double compilation, released in May 2015.

HJirok is a mythical figure, conceived as a fictional character by Iranian-born Kurdish singer and artist Hani Mojahedy. Together with versatile music producer And Toma of Mouse On Mars, she combined a variety of sounds collected during their joint travels to Iraqi Kurdistan and elsewhere with heavily processed recordings of Sufi drum rhythms and setar melodies. The result is a driving, dubbed-out, and deeply intricate soundscape that perfectly sets the stage for Mojahedy's extended, unconventional vocal techniques and polyglot lyrics. Both informed by tradition and rigorously forward-looking, »Hjirok« (with a lowercase J) is at once a profoundly personal album and a universal utopian promise. As a ghost from the past, HJirok draws on Mojtahedy's memories to mould a new future out of them.

The foundation for »Hjirok« was laid in the city of Erbil in the Kurdish part of Iraq. During one of their stays in the region, Mojahedy and Toma recorded the three percussionists Hadi Alizadeh, Jawad Salkhordeh and Serdar Saydan as well as setar player Ali Choolaei from Motahedy's backing band while they were playingthe rhythms and notes that she had grown up with in the house of her grandfather in the Iranian city of Sanandaj. Her memories of that place revolve around hypnotic Sufi music, dervishes in deep trance, and ecstatic singing. Much like this music seemed to open a portal to other dimensions, the inhabitants of the house lived in a sort of alternative reality: It provided them with a hideaway from political circumstances. Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, a Kurdish rebellion ensued but was met with the utmost brutality by the new regime, which resulted in the death of thousands.

It is no coincidence that the music on »Hirok« would draw on rhythmic patterns that were passed on from one generation to the next for hundreds of years. »The project is rooted in the figures of the Sufi dervishes and thus a culture that precedes today's political, social, cultural, and religious systems,« explains Mohtahedy. »The Sufi sound travelled around the entire world. I like to think of it as a dialogue between peoples-one based on the rhythms of the drums and the sound of their voices.« Toma adds that by electronically transforming the recordings and enriching them with field recordings from both rural and urban spaces, they were able to use the stories told by the drums and the setar to create an entirely new narrative.

The story told by these eight pieces is hence a deeply personal, but also inherently political one. Moitahedy herself left Iran in 2004 and relocated to Berlin in 2010. Having continued to use her art as a platform to tirelessly advocate for the rights of the Kurdish people and women under oppressive regimes, she has not been allowed to return to her country of origin ever since. »Hani is singing for equality and there are people who are afraid of that-her femininity, her strength.« Toma says. Much like earlier Hirok sound installations addressed human-made climate change and other systemic ills, also »Hjirok« can hardly be disconnected from far-reaching struggles for liberation and equality.

This is also true on a thematic and even linguistic level. »The lyrics are about a promise,« Mojahedy says, citing Kurdish writer Ebdulla Pesêw as an inspiration. »At their core, these are about that day on which violence and fear become a thing of the past; what they tell you is ot not give up, to keep hoping,« she adds. The promise embedded in them is an emancipatory one. These contents are mirrored on a linguistic level: The lyrics were written in both Kurdish and Farsi, blurring the lines between the two languages and thus, Kurdish and Persian cultures.

Mojahedy, or rather HJirok, conveys these philosophical themes with elegance. Herversatile vocal performance is only loosely basedo n established styles. »Of course everything started with traditional rhythms, but we kept pushing things further and further, so Idid the same with my voice,« Mojahedy explains. »There were no boundaries.« The same can be said of the field recordings that she and Toma used. Whether it's conversations between members of the Pesmerge, the Kurdish armed forces, having a chat in meadow full of bunnies or the humming and buzzing of metropolises like Tehran: »Hirok« paints a sonic picture that is quite literally autopian one; that of a non-place in which different soundscapes, cultures and ways of life coexist peacefully.

What the album conjures up from Mojahedy's memory is not only a very specific place during a unique time in history as experienced by a single person. It is also ametaphorical home open to anyone who wishes to enter - promise of a better, more egalitarian future for everyone. Hence, HJirok will bring it on tour, presenting the material as an audio-visual live show that makes use of the photo and video material that Mojahedy and Toma have collected during their travels through Kurdistan.ja

NOW Music is proud to present the third in our ongoing series of vinyl compilations, NOW That’s What I Call 80s Dancefloor. Each edition features an essential collection of tracks representing key genres of 1980’s Dance music. This volume, featuring 30 tracks across 2 LPs pressed on flaming yellow and orange vinyl, presents the best from the era of Soul and Disco.

The first LP kicks off with Tina Turner's landmark remake of ‘Let's Stay Together,’ a testament to her timeless vocal prowess. Jocelyn Brown’s ‘Somebody Else’s Guy’, brings a fabulous fusion of Funk and Soul, followed by Gwen Guthrie’s anthem ‘Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ On But The Rent. Womack & Womack's ‘Teardrops’ blend of captivating lyrics and rhythm, leads into Joyce Sims' ‘Come Into My Life’, before the Stock Aitken Waterman written & produced ‘Say I’m Your Number One’ from Princess. Loose Ends' ‘Hangin' On A String’ offers a smooth, jazz-infused sound, echoed by Will Downing's very first hit, ‘A Love Supreme’, which closes this side.

Side B takes you on a whirlwind trip around the dancefloor with Whitney Houston's ‘How Will I Know,’ showcasing her stellar vocal range. Alexander O'Neal’s ‘Criticize’ and Aretha Franklin's ‘Who's Zoomin' Who?’ bring a blend of irresistible beats. Lionel Richie's ‘Dancing On The Ceiling’ makes you want to move, and Laura Branigan’s ‘Self Control’, alongside Imagination's debut single, ‘Body Talk’, offers a cross of Hi-NRG Disco with a sensual groove. Hi-Gloss's ‘You’ll Never Know’ is a gem of smooth, elegant Soul to finish the first LP.

Side A of LP 2 begins with the iconic duo Ashford & Simpson's ‘Solid,’ a celebration of enduring love. Up next is the #1 Disco anthem ‘Fame’ from Irene Cara, and Diana Ross's ‘My Old Piano’ - showcasing her unique ability to blend Pop with Soul on this Chic-produced classic. Donna Summer's Grammy-nominated single ‘Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)’ fuses Disco with a Funk edge, while Odyssey's ‘Inside Out’ provides a smooth, and melody filled dance. Terri Wells's ‘I'll Be Around’ is a soulful delight, and Hall & Oates' ‘I Can't Go For That (No Can’t Do)’ mixes Rock with Soul, and became a hugely sampled and influencial track. The side ends on a romantic note with Fat Larry’s Band's ‘Zoom’.

The final side opens by showcasing Rufus and Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody,’ a masterpiece of Funk and Soul synergy. Womack & Womack make their second appearance with ‘Love Wars’, followed by Steve Arrington's ‘Feel So Real’ - a true example of the era's crossover with Disco and Soul. Miami Sound Machine's ‘Dr. Beat’ injects Latin-infused Pop rhythms, while Jermaine Stewart's biggest hit ‘We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off’ became a global dance-floor smash hit. Billy Ocean's Grammy award winner, ‘Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)’, blends Soul, Disco and Pop, and Sister Sledge's ‘Thinking Of You’ is the perfect closer, uplifting and full of joy.

A Limited edition pressing, and an essential addition to any collection. Perfect for collectors, DJs, and anyone who loves to get down to the greatest dance-floor-fillers of the ‘80s. NOW That’s What I Call 80s Dancefloor: Soul & Disco is released on February 23rd 2024.

The third album by RICO FRIEBE is a clearance, an outcry, an universe within itself, a hope and a message at once – sending out ANTHEMS FOR A LOST GENERATION!

After his preceding albums of intimacy WORD VALUE and FACES MEET, based on personal tragedies and the accompanying struggles, RICO FRIEBE has something to tell to a whole generation and delivers ten radiant and distinct top-notch productions that find a most modern and futuristic sound within different styles of pop music while his soft and emotive voice is hovering above all.

Originally, ANTHEMS FOR A LOST GENERATION has been recorded as an acoustic double-album, but RICO FRIEBE threw it all out, wrote new songs and found a truly more fitting sound after he realised that there could only be one musical outcome to tell these stories: Songs like BAD SEED, I LIKE MEMES, REDO, GAMES or LAZY, BORED AND SAD are milestones of capturing a complete zeitgeist and beyond. Each line within the lyrics is taken from close and personal experiences and interactions that made him undergo a whole spectrum of emotions, creating deep worries and sadness, but also a far hope.

Feel lost? Be found! With ANTHEMS OF A LOST GENERATION...

The Pheromoans are tenants of an unruly domain. Over the last 18 years the group have evolved from garage rock primitivists to auteurs of their own curious sound; a frothy brew of loose electronics, refractory rock and humdrum musing. Their songs are mutable, capricious, unreliable narrations, often withholding as much as they reveal. Russell Walker’s understated vocal has always been the band’s unifying focus, it is wry, unsparing and wilfully honest. Walker’s lyrics are an observational tour de force, sometimes droll, yet often tipping over into unlikely pathos. With previous releases on Upset The Rhythm, Convulsive and Alter, 2024 will witness The Pheromoans return with lucky album number 13, entitled ‘Wyrd Psearch’ (out March 1st on Upset The Rhythm).
‘Wyrd Psearch’ was recorded in Lewes throughout 2023. This was undertaken by founding member James Tranmer, his keen instinct for how the band should sound shaping many of the creative decisions. Joined by new guitarist Henry Holmes, the five piece doubled down on a decidedly breezy, melodic approach. Scott Reeve’s drumming is ever brisk, whilst Daniel Bolger explores AOR peripheries on keyboard and bass. “Wyrd Psearch finds us on relatively zestful form” affirms Walker “whether it be merrily recalling the Jason Williamson / Tim Lovejoy Covid summit, or mentally bathing in the pleasures of lunch hours spent strapped to a listening post in Borders.” With The Pheromoans there is always a familiarity at play, only broken and reassembled, like a bygone sitcom gone rogue in your memory. This contributes to the group’s peculiarly British outsider perspective, one that shouts from the sidelines, but never goes unnoticed.
Subjects covered lyrically on ‘Wyrd Psearch’ include “mid-life crises, male pattern baldness, and thwarted artistic and personal ambitions” according to Walker himself. “Nothing is off limits for scrutiny, even rural arts communities” he concludes. Lead single ‘Downtown’ swings with chiming guitars and finds Walker mid-breakdown trying to persuade a loved one to accompany him into the town centre to collect controlled medication and wind back the clock to happier times. “I want to keep you in cotton wool until pay day” he confides. ‘Cropped to Death’ and ‘Father Austin’ are ruminative and more relaxed in nature, whilst ‘Twibbon Wife’ is a more energetic effort, all jabbed synth chords, circuitous basslines and rampant drum fills. ‘Faith in the Future’ similarly bounds along with reverie.
Walker claims that the album’s title is an expression of his frustration at the ubiquity of people claiming things are eerie or weird / wyrd in the present cultural milieu. The artwork for the record is designed as an actual word search too, a knowing nod to how we all grapple for meaning amongst the absurdity of each day. Leaning into ‘weird’ as a coping mechanism is not on The Pheromoans’ agenda however. This album holds little sway with the supernatural, it’s not enough. The overriding impression given by ‘Wyrd Psearch’ is of a band renewed with ideas. There’s no trouble finding the right words, they’re hitting their mark, keeping up with the commentary. ‘Wyrd Psearch’ is a document of The Pheromoans mastering their unquiet moment.

Donovan’s Original
A Gift From a Flower to a Garden made for a few firsts: the first double LP of Donovan’s
career, one of the first box sets in pop and, most importantly for Donovan himself; the first
pop album for the children of tomorrow.

He resolved to make A Gift From a Flower to a Garden an album of two halves. The first,
Wear Your Love Like Heaven, was intended for his own generation as they started to think
about the kind of world they wanted to leave behind. The second, For Little Ones, was for
the children they had or would have in the years to come. The result was a kaleidoscopic
folk-jazz suite on the power of love, imbued with all the romance and mystery of an Arthur
Rackham illustration for an ancient English fairy tale. The songs, remarkably adventurous
given Donovan was a globally famous singer at his commercial height, combined the
influences he had amassed so far.

There is something about A Gift From a Flower to a Garden that could never be repeated,
though. It is such an innocent evocation of the childlike imagination, so redolent of its time,
yet set apart from it too. All these years later, the peaceful qualities of this pioneering,
enchanting, deeply unusual album feel more valuable than ever.

The state51 Box Set
With authenticity core to the project, The state51 Conspiracy engaged one of the UK’s
leading experts in box set design, Daniel Mason at Something Else, to painstakingly recreate
the box, records and accompanying ephemera. The first challenge was to find the deep blue
leatherette paper the original box set was covered in; a problem since it was no longer in
production. “I knew people who had stacks of it, gathering dust on top shelves, so I bought it
up wherever I could find it,” says Mason. Then came the reproduction of 12 loose leaf lyric
sheets on fine art watercolour paper, each of them featuring a watermark and a fairytale-like
illustration by Donovan’s artist friends Sheena McCall and Mick Taylor. Where, though, to
find the same paper stock? “I found out that it was made at a paper mill in North Wales
called Abbey Mills. Unfortunately the mill dissolved in the early 70s and very little of the
paper remained. However enough paper remained to allow us to produce the numbered
certificate also signed by Donovan that sits within the box.”

Then to the iconic cover image. Donovan and Jimi Hendrix’s personal photographer Karl
Ferris, used infra-red film to achieve the psychedelic effect on the cover, but the original
negatives couldn’t be found. Mason then used digital technology to ramp up the colour levels
on a reproduction from an original copy of the album while allowing it to remain a little bit
faded, as it would be after half a century. The same labour of love and care has gone into
producing all elements of the box; from the rebuilding of the famous front cover font to the
hand-numbered and signed certificate; letterpress printed on the original paper stock of the
1968 UK release lyric sheets.

To cap it all off the original mono master tapes were waiting safely in the EMI Donovan
Archive and transferred from tape to digital by Abbey Road Studios where new lacquers
were cut, ensuring Donovan's favoured mono version of the album would be presented both
physically (and digitally for the very first time) in striking audiophile quality. The final touch to

Repress! Official reissue of the Austrian prog-psych masterpiece. An indescribable trip influenced by Pink Floyd, Soft Machine and Procol Harum, but greater than the sum of its parts. All vocals in English. “6 stars” – Hans Pokora Paternoster, that UFO of a rock album released unceremoniously on a custom-pressed CBS Austria long player in 1972, is the stuff of legend. It’s been known to the rock collecting elite since the 1980s, when it was first rediscovered, and it quickly became one of those rock records, the records you hear about only if you know someone who knows someone with a copy, much like Damon’s Song of a Gypsy. Paternoster is a terrifying album, a collection of songs that traverses the sublime, and thus necessitates a bowel-loosening acceptance of beauty too complicated to merely admire, bowing under the weight of a tremendous atmosphere, accentuated by Gothic organs and scorching fuzz guitar, punctuated by wailing vocals detailing visceral, Bosch-like images, and carried by enveloping bass and syncopated, mixed-well-too-loud-and-thankfully-so drums.

Fire! have always been about finding the essence by getting to the core of the music. Their 8th album sees the trio - for the first time on record - stripped down to the bare-bones essentials; with no flutes, no electronics, no guests and no extras, recorded live in the studio to analogue tape - the Steve Albini way - with the master himself at the controls in Electrical Audio in Chicago. Thus, this album stands as a true testament to the group's expressive power and glowing intimacy. Musically, Testament can be seen as an extension of their previous full length album Defeat, released two years ago, to the month. A solitary bass figure from Johan Berthling, quickly joined by a stout drum groove, gets it all going in a familiar fashion before Gustafsson adds desolate cries and whispers from his baritone sax. This approach is even more honed on the second track, with the most simplistic groove you're likely to hear in jazz and Gustafsson shifting between extended, lonely, tortured lines, only once abrupted by a series of short bursts. The third track starts with loose and relatively lively drums that continue throughout, but the mournful saxophone maintains a subdued atmosphere. Track four is a real beauty with the trio slipping into a trance-like dream state before shifting gear halfway into its nine minutes. The final track is the most dynamic of the lot, shifting between bursts of energy and lyrical beauty. Fire's debut album, You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago, was released in 2009 to wide international acclaim. "The basic strategy of pairing the expressive energy of free jazz with a sturdy sense of groove has yielded something potent and self-contained" (New York Times). Between this and Testament there's been six albums, including collaborations with Jim O'Rourke (Unreleased?) and Oren Ambarchi (In The Mouth A Hand), as well as the Requies EP with Stephen O'Malley and David Sandström in 2022. Testament was recorded and mixed during a three-day stint at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago in December 2022. Mats Gustafsson - baritone sax Johan Berthling - bass Andreas Werliin - drums.

Fire! have always been about finding the essence by getting to the core of the music. Their 8th album sees the trio - for the first time on record - stripped down to the bare-bones essentials; with no flutes, no electronics, no guests and no extras, recorded live in the studio to analogue tape - the Steve Albini way - with the master himself at the controls in Electrical Audio in Chicago. Thus, this album stands as a true testament to the group's expressive power and glowing intimacy. Musically, Testament can be seen as an extension of their previous full length album Defeat, released two years ago, to the month. A solitary bass figure from Johan Berthling, quickly joined by a stout drum groove, gets it all going in a familiar fashion before Gustafsson adds desolate cries and whispers from his baritone sax. This approach is even more honed on the second track, with the most simplistic groove you're likely to hear in jazz and Gustafsson shifting between extended, lonely, tortured lines, only once abrupted by a series of short bursts. The third track starts with loose and relatively lively drums that continue throughout, but the mournful saxophone maintains a subdued atmosphere. Track four is a real beauty with the trio slipping into a trance-like dream state before shifting gear halfway into its nine minutes. The final track is the most dynamic of the lot, shifting between bursts of energy and lyrical beauty. Fire's debut album, You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago, was released in 2009 to wide international acclaim. "The basic strategy of pairing the expressive energy of free jazz with a sturdy sense of groove has yielded something potent and self-contained" (New York Times). Between this and Testament there's been six albums, including collaborations with Jim O'Rourke (Unreleased?) and Oren Ambarchi (In The Mouth A Hand), as well as the Requies EP with Stephen O'Malley and David Sandström in 2022. Testament was recorded and mixed during a three-day stint at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago in December 2022. Mats Gustafsson - baritone sax Johan Berthling - bass Andreas Werliin - drums.

B2 Recordings hits release number 13 with DJ Rocca and Lex combing on a trio of fresh house cuts that blend elements of disco, Latin and soul. Up first is the glorious 'Solid Street' which has loose and percussive disco-house grooves overlaid with big synth energy and steamy vocals. 'Solar System' is slower and deeper, with a more rugged bassline and low slung sense of funk that never lets up. 'Last of all, 'Rose Tree' is a ramshackle house arrangement with whistles, Rhodes keys, tin-pot percussion, florid flutes and plenty of sunny energy all making it a real standout. A timeless EP packed with musicality.

Die Essenz der ersten beiden Whispering Sons Alben.

Das dritte Album der fünfköpfigen belgischen Post-Punk-Gewalt Whispering Sons um die charismatische Sängerin Fenne Kuppens schichtet einen mitreißenden Ozean an Emotionen, Energien und Geschichten auf.
Nach dem düsteren 'Image' (2018) und dem minimalistischen 'Several Others' (2021) stellt das dritte Album eine Neuausrichtung und ein Umdenken dar. Aufgenommen in der Nähe von Eindhoven und an der Nordseeküste ist 'The Great Calm' nicht nur ein Album, das einen Ozean von Emotionen, Stimmungen, Energie und Geschichten umspannt, sondern auch eine Folge der gezeitenähnlichen Veränderungen innerhalb der Gruppe aus Brüssel, die wieder zu fünft ist.

High Roller Records, reissue 2024, black vinyl, ltd 200, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, black vinyl bonus 7" in p/s (Can`t Get Enough (EP 2010) + Until Death Do You Part (EP 2010), new vinyl mastering by Patrick W. Engel in July 2023

High Roller Records, reissue 2024, yellow/ red splatter vinyl, ltd 300, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, yellow vinyl bonus 7" in p/s (Can`t Get Enough (EP 2010) + Until Death Do You Part (EP 2010), new vinyl mastering by Patrick W. Engel in July 2023

Der in den USA aufgewachsene Christian Kjellvander (sprich: "Schjellwander") kam schon als Jugendlicher mit der texanischen Alt-Country-Szene in Berührung, die ihn nachhaltig beeinflusste. Als einer der bekanntesten Singer/Songwriter Schwedens veröffentlichte Kjellvander neben mehreren CDs mit seinen Bands Loosegoats und Songs of Soil auch zahlreiche Soloalben.

The iconic Is It Balearic heads to the slightly less iconic - in Balearic terms - West Midlands to retrieve this great EP of electric dance effort gems from Wrekin Havoc. 'Camino' is a loose, melody-rich sound with silvery drums and real nostalgia, then 'Moon Dance' it's a more laidback and zoned out sonic daydream for lazy and sunny afternoons by the pool. There is an electro vibe to 'RLTW' which is a reworking of a Christopher Cross Yacht classic then a T Kurt Remix reworks it into a boogie banger. Another varied and vital EP of grown up dance sounds.

Minas 'Num Dia Azul' is a sublime slice of private press bossa nova meets jazzy MPB perfection. Warm and bubbling with youthful spirit, the music is simultaneously loose in swagger, yet slick and tight. The album was originally released in 1983 and reflects the great music coming out of Rio at the time, yet 'Num Dia Azul' wasn't recorded in Rio, but actually in the USA.

Recorded in North Carolina just after Patricia and Orlando Haddad had graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts, the record was only released for the Brazilian market on their own Blueazul Records imprint. As with most private press labels, they could only afford to have it pressed in small quantities. To add to its later obscurity, hundreds of copies were also destroyed in a house fire. They say cream always rises to the top, and fast forward to the 2010s, the word amongst collectors and DJs was spreading about this mythical under-the-radar recording. People from across the globe were contacting Patricia and Orlando for more information, hoping to secure themselves a copy. Luckily the original tapes had remained with the artists and were in great condition, so in 2016 the pair ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to have it remastered and repressed.

For this Mr Bongo 2023 re-issue, we have tried to keep it as close to the original 1983 version as possible, both in the packaging and audio presentation. The CD version comes with bonus tracks. We are super proud to keep Patricia and Orlando's serene recordings in the circulation that they deserve to be. One for fans of Brazilian artists such as Burnier & Cartier, Edu Lobo and Joyce. We are sure those fans will lose themselves in the alluring textures of 'Num Dia Azul'

Part of a (very) loose but somewhat like minded kaleidoscope where one can trace something like a Portuguese hauntology, centred around labels like Russian Library or Prisma Sonora Records, Alexandre Centeio joins Discrepant with the surefire release of 'Panorama'. A multi-instrumentalist and sound artist based in Porto, Centeio - who is also part of Stellarays and The Murmurous Playground - delivers his second album under his own name after 2022's 'Movanta'.

Signalling a departure from the intimate synth driven beautifully soothing landscapes of 'Movanta' while still working within a realm where space and memory play a significant part of both escapism and connection, 'Panorama' opens itself up to a "surrealistic soundscape filled with real and dreamt sound", perfectly illustrated by Ruca Bourbon’s artwork. A sonic fiction conjured from a variety of sources - hand drums, disembodied voices, scraps of unknown realities, skewed loops, oneiric collages, flutes, spectral synths - that float freely between disruption and continuity but within their own internal logic. A very particular and hallucinatory one at that, mind ya. Collapsing notions of time and geography in an aural canvas totally aligned with Discrepant's ethos. 'Panorama' indeed.

Strut introduces a new special edition repress of the influential first volume of "Disco Not Disco", compiled by Dave Lee and Sean P, pressed on translucent yellow vinyl 3LP as part of the label"s 25th Anniversary.

Open Mics might not always have a great reputation but for Merlin Hydes it brought some good things. On one hand he met his producer Jon Kenzie who is hosting "Bring Your Own Song" in Hamburg and on the other hand playing that Open Mic put him in touch with DevilDuck Records because they are good friends with Jon Kenzie and he told them to check this boy out. A couple of months later the debut album "In Plain Sight" was recorded at Kenzie"s home studio in just three days and is now ready to conquer the world... or at least a little part of it. The idea was to just record the songs in a cosy and easy set up just as in the good old days without thinking too much about it and avoid any perfectionism. "In Plain Sight" describes the balancing act between the peaceful country life, the desire to have a yard and a garden and the supposedly exciting and urban city in which you always might feel a bit strange and as you have chicken poop under your shoes", as Hydes explains....

Die schönsten, traurigsten und innigsten Songs kommen noch immer aus Skandinavien. Als Christian Kjellvander sich in dem winzigen Dorf Österåker, eine halbe Autostunde nördlich von Stockholm, eine alte Kirche kaufte, war klar, dass er seine Heimat gefunden hatte: für sich, seine Familie und seine Songs. Der schwedische Singer/Songwriter brauchte einen Ausgangs- und einen Endpunkt, dazwischen kann er mit seinen Liedern auf der ganze Welt unterwegs sein, im Vorprogramm von Leonard Cohen oder Kris Kristofferson singen, mit seinen Bandprojekten Loosegoats und Songs Of Soil touren oder Solo-Konzerte spielen, die nur so vor Intensität und Erhabenheit leuchten. So wie sein neues Album "A Village: Natural Light" es schon im Titel trägt. Lieder über nicht weniger als Leben, Lieben und Sterben. Es sind keine Lieder, die einen weit fort tragen, sondern sie stehen mit beiden Beinen fest auf dem Boden. Und doch atmen sie etwas Überirdisches, eine raue Schönheit wie in einem kargen, nördlichen Wald und die Klarheit einer mittendrin entspringenden Quelle. Kjellvander erzählt, er habe, als er diese Lieder schrieb, auf dem Dorffriedhof als Leichengräber gearbeitet. Nicht, weil er so morbide wäre, sondern weil er den wahrhaftigsten Job, den es nur geben kann, machen wollte. Das setzt er als Songwriter konsequent fort Und als Musiker lässt er die Lieder dann so hell erstrahlen, dass man ihn quasi vor sich sieht, wie er sich die Erde von den Händen reibt, die Gitarre nimmt und in seiner Kirche seine Stimme erhebt.

Christian Kjellvander gehört zu den wenigen Musikern, die ohne Kompromisse ihren Weg gehen, immer nur das nächste Album im Blick. Nach der Reunion seiner Band Loosegoats und deren 2012er-Album "Ideas For To Travel Down Death"s Merry Road" legt er mit "The Pitcher" umgehend nach. Es ist die fünfte Soloplatte des schwedischen Singer/Songwriters und die erste seit "The Rough And Rynge" aus dem Jahr 2010. Aufgenommen in einer alten Kirche auf dem Land in Schweden, ist "The Pitcher" sein vielleicht elegantestes und handwerklich sauberstes Werk. Eine sehr atmosphärische, dichte, bewegende Platte, mit Hingabe geschnitzt aus Worten, Noten und Erinnerungen, die mit den ersten Akkorden von "The Mariner" - einer zarten, sehr persönlichen Ballade - beginnt, sich in "The Zenith Sunset" mit den Brüchen in der Mitte des Lebens beschäftigt, um dann mit der Hymne "The Bloodline" zu enden. Das Ganze vorgetragen mit geradezu hypnotisierender Klarheit und dieser einzigartigen Stimme, die hier noch tiefer, noch einschmeichelnder erscheint als je zuvor. Die LP erscheint mit CD.

Get ready to unleash your inner seventies funk and soul enthusiast with the reissued edition of Miami's self-titled album! This record, which sadly became their last before disbanding in the early 1980s following the collapse of T.K. Records, for which they were the in-house band, will take you on a captivating musical journey.

The energy radiating from this album is almost palpable, filling the air with an electrifying atmosphere. From start to finish, Miami's self-titled album bursts with infectious energy that will transport you back to the soulful sounds of the era.

As the needle hits the vinyl, you'll be captivated by the undeniable groove and irresistible beats. It's a sonic experience that will make you want to move your feet and let loose to the soulful rhythms. This reissued masterpiece brings new life to a record that has long deserved celebration and recognition.

So, let's give Miami's self-titled album the overdue acclaim it deserves. Dust off this musical gem, crank up the volume, and let the funky and soulful melodies guide you on a nostalgic journey. Get ready to groove like never before and experience the magic of Miami's
unforgettable sound in this special reissue

On Imitation o f War, songwriter and guitarist Kayla Cohen advances Itasca into rockier terrain, with a suite of smoky nocturnes and uneasy idylls surveying, with refreshing urgency, mythologies and psychologies both classical and personal. Co-produced by Robbie Cody (Wand, Behavior), these ten sturdy set-pieces represent the loosest, leanest, and most smolderingly electric guitar-forward recordings of Cohen's deepening catalog.

Batov Records' Middle Eastern Grooves 45s series welcomes the latest addition to its eclectic roster - a two-track EP from Eje Eje, the psych and funk inspired project from Şatellites band leader and producer, Itamar Kluger. Featuring the tracks "That Rainy Down" and "Coral Sex," the EP showcases Eje Eje's unique blend of Middle Eastern melodies, soulful grooves, and psychedelic sounds.

On the A-side "That Rainy Down," The electro baglama player takes the lead, building and building as if, “he is pushing himself to his limit”, says Itamar, “seeking catharsis as he walks to the edge of the cliff with confidence”, whilst the a baladi rhythm plays like an immense march of drummers. On the B-side we find the funkier "Coral Sex", which according to Itamar tells a story of a drunk tramp bothering the refined and self-important occupants of an exclusive hotel lobby. Reflecting this friction, the track juxtaposes a silky and sophisticated R&B sound, with loosely, pr even drunkenly, played take on rebetiko, a traditional Greek music associated with the poorest of city dwellers, played on a long-necked Greek lute known as a bouzouki.

As each track develops, new layers are revealed, inviting the listener to delve deeper. The effect is intentional. As Itamar says, "there is this kind of music that hooks you in a different way every time you hear it, different places in the songs lighting up in different colors, like slowly revealed layers. In our (Eje Eje) case, it is just such a hazed blend. It could make a very specific atmosphere, color a very specific movie scene that is lost in time or yet to be directed, or a very specific moment with your headphones on a long bus to the desert."

Itamar Kluger is best known for his work with the Şatellites, a six-piece band whose blend of Turkish folk and psych with funk and disco won them champions and listeners across the globe, from KEXP in Seattle to BBC Radio 6 Music, and FIP in France.

Eje Eje’s first 45 promises to be at least as quirky and original, if not more so, since the project is even more unshackled from traditional concepts of a band.

Will Long is an American artist. He curates and manages the label Two Acorns, as well as producing music since 2005, in various forms under his own name for Terre Thaemiltz's Comatonse Recordings, and as Celer for his own label and many others.
Here he joins the perfectly aligned Scissor and Thread label of Francis Harris and Anthony Collins for the Too Much EP.
"Too Much" is a deep cut from the same grooves as the Long Trax series," says Will Long, "a further entry for the downtrodden, the overwhelmed, and those that think change has come. A midnight meditation of intentional simplicity, strained, and on that night train."
The title track is lush, loose deep jam that combines wistful, warm pads with an insistent groove and choice samples.
Francis Harris steps up to provide one of his signature reforms, adding a little more percussion and drive to the track, while DJ Aakmael (Greg Stewart) offers up another version that takes the track somehow even deeper, adding some additional instrumentation and raw sounds.

The Vinyl Only label rolls on towards its 20th release here with Mar De Novo serving up the irresistible Apericena EP. 'Quantity Check' is a low-slung funker with noodling baselines and nice loose percussive rhythms under some exotic vocals. 'Blue Eyes Clear' is a more lavish and downtempo number of chilling by the Med come sundown and then comes Ryu's Rub of 'Quantity Check' which is more funky and fat-bottomed. 'Nao Fazer Nado' rounds out an escapist EP with some dreamy melodic chill-out sounds that will have you gazing off to the stars.