Buscar:love thing

Death Is Not The End launch sub-label 333 with a first-time vinyl reissue for the late Devon Russell's Darker Than Blue LP - put together as a tribute to the great Curtis Mayfield. First issued in 1993 but featuring material originally recorded as far back as 1979, the collection includes a cast of prominent players across it's 10 tracks - featuring musical contributions from Sly Dunbar, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Earl "Wire" Lindo, Dean Fraser, Bobby Ellis, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Prince Lincoln Thompson and many others - plus production & arrangment from Earl "Chinna" Smith, Sly Dunbar & King Tubby's Firehouse Crew alongside Russell himself. Limited to 333 copies.

"The concept for Darker Than Blue dates back to 1979. Returning from South Amerrica with my partner (in duo Lloyd & Devon) Lloyd Robinson, we did "Red Bum Ball" which had been a massive hit in the 60's. It was around this time that Earl Chinna Smith (of The Wailers and Soul Syndicate fame) approached me with the idea of re-making some Curtis Mayfield songs. "Darker Than Blue" was the first track we did, followed by "Move On Up" in 1981, both of which received great reviews.

On returning to Jamaica from a UK tour in 1986, my good friend King Tubby had taken on five men from my school of music, from which the Firehouse Crew were born. Within 3 years they had matured to become Jamaica's No.1 instrumental band, winning the Rockers award. Then in the spring of 1990, together we managed to record the album "Money, Sex & Violence", during a tour of the UK & France, on which we did Mayfield's "Give Me Your Love". The track was played to Steve Barrow who suggested we do more Curtis tracks.

Sly Dunbar and I have known each other for as long as I can remember. We grew up in the same hood and used to jam regularly in our youth. I told Sly about the further Mayfield tracks I wanted to do and he agreed that it would be a good idea. So Sly, myself and The Firehouse Crew went to work at the Leggo Studios in Kingston, Jamaica and created the remaining tracks for the Darker Than Blue LP, a tribute to Curtis Mayfield.

We grew up on the sounds of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions. Everyone in Jamaica loved them. His death was a terrible thing, but while there is life, there is hope."
- Devon Russell, 1994.

333, under license from Prestige Elite Records Ltd.

Debut album by Dutch producer w1b0, who passed away in August, to be released in November on U-TRAX.

Wibo Lammerts' sudden death on August 15thshocked the worldwide electro community, and also left the record label, that had been working on the debut album with the artist known as w1b0 for the past two years, dumbfounded and in grief.

Wibo had jokingly always called his upcoming debut album 'his legacy', which now sadly has become a painful truth. With the support of Wibo's family, U-TRAX is now doing the only thing that doesn't feel totally wrong: proceed as planned, and release 'When Humans Ruled The Earth' on November 11.

W1b0 made quite a name for himself with heavy electro tracks that he released on labels like Bass Agenda, Hilltown Disco and Discos Antónicos. Standing at 202 meters, and combined with a cheerful character, most people remember him as the gentle giant of electro.
For this album, Wibo wanted to steer away from the dark and heavy electro he mostly made until then. The idea of having a platform to create delicate electronic music in different styles, and make it a showcase of his versatility, was very appealing to him. And that is where he and U-TRAX found each other.

The full-length album (over 75 minutes on cd and digital) comes after 'The Pilex Program EP', released in October, that featured a remix by Detroit's Ectomorph of 'Pilex Driver' and saw 'Program Yourself To Feel' remixed by a well-known Dutch producer that recently created the new 'techno alias' Human Form.
As usual with U-TRAX, the album comes in three different editions, with the 11-track double vinyl version containing the Ectomorph and Human Form remixes. The CD and digital version boast original versions only, plus four additional tracks: 'Alternate Reality Interface', 'Mixed Matter Fluctator', 'Synthetic', and 'In There'. The cassette version more or less has the same track list as the CD/digi version, but has both aforementioned remixes and a bonus track in the incredibly hypnotizing 'I Wanted You', a track that unfortunately couldn't be on the CD and vinyl versions.

Buyers of the physical releases get treated on superior quality products, another trademark of U-TRAX. The vinyl edition boasts over one hour of music, on two 180 grams, green vinyl discs, in a black & white & neon green gatefold sleeve. The eye-catching artwork is created by Utrecht artist Leffe Goldstein, known amongst others for his psychedelic beer can designs for Utrecht brewery Maximus. Wibo, being the beer lover he was, had zero doubts about having Leffe Goldstein do the cover for his album. The CD has a total playing time of 75 minutes and comes in a beautiful 6-panel digipack, while the cassette will have full-color on-body print and comes in a plastic-free Maltese cross fold-up sleeve.

Buyers of the physical releases get treated on superior quality products, another trademark of U-TRAX. The vinyl edition boasts over one hour of music, on two 180 grams, green vinyl discs, in a black & white & neon green gatefold sleeve. The eye-catching artwork is created by Utrecht artist Leffe Goldstein, known amongst others for his psychedelic beer can designs for Utrecht brewery Maximus. Wibo, being the beer lover he was, had zero doubts about having Leffe Goldstein do the cover for his album. The CD has a total playing time of 75 minutes and comes in a beautiful 6-panel digipack, while the cassette will have full-color on-body print and comes in a plastic-free Maltese cross fold-up sleeve.

Opener 'Acid Whip' is one of the oldest compositions on this album, in which a dark 303 bassline hums over layers of spacey strings. Wibo named it after the legendary Whip It party in Amsterdam's De Melkweg. 'Alternate Reality Interface' then presents bouncy rhythms toying around with all sorts of analog (bass) synthesizers, before we go really deep with the epic ambient techno track 'Wandering Souls'.
Then things get a little lighter spirited: 'Mixed Matter Fluctator' is an electro track that builds on sounds created by Matt Buggins. It has very strong Detroit influences, the city Wibo loved so much and that he made a pilgrimage to with a group of friends that called themselves 'The Techno Tourists'. The tempo goes up a notch in 'Program Yourself To Feel', that halfway opens up in wide science fiction strings that evoke memories of Star Wars, the movie series that Wibo was a great fan of, and that was the source of many of his tracks' names. The Human Form remix opens the vinyl edition of this album and is a downright belter of a track.

Next is a somewhat experimental intermezzo named 'Synthetic'. Erratic beats and pounding bassdrums get accompanied by very subtle eerie-sounding strings, before melancholic synthesizers and piano chords take over. This is an excellent prelude to the epic 'Hologram Computing', a track that is one of our favorites. It slowly and softly builds and builds, before a pounding bassdrum breaks loose and a hypnotic arpeggio takes you to higher planes.
Not ready to letting the listener relax, w1bo then serves 'Beilstein Reference', which again presents his trademark cocktail of down-to-earth electro rhythms and catchy melodies, covered in all sort of little sounds and noises, giving the song a lot of energy. What follows is 'Hit me', a track loosely based on a song by Dutch indie rock band Mr. Joe Abe. Wibo met the band's singer on a camping site while being on holidays and the two decided Wibo should do a remix of one of their songs. Nothing was left of the original except the vocals, and the result is a remarkable cheerful, poppy electro song.

'Anticipated Input' is one of the more recent tracks Wibo made for this album, combining electro, acid and, yes: epic strings. But not all is peace and quiet on this album, as 'Pilex Driver' shows. This is w1b0 going experimental in a danceable fashion: Industrial sounds make the track sound like we're passing a construction site that is playing loud electro music. On the vinyl version of this album, Ectomorph totally decomposed the original and made it into a mysterious, almost subdued, and totally brilliant electro track that sees a main role for the retro Roland CR drum machines sounds.

TFHats, Wibo's fellow member of the Transhumanism collective, added lyrics to 'Cartesian Coordinates'. His vocals add a pleasant New Wave flavor to this song, that has breaks that remarkably reminds one of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. What follows is the most personal track on this album. 'Fornan' is a song that Wibo made for his wife Nanette, and was added as the last piece of the puzzle that creating an album is. The warm Detroit techno atmosphere in this electro song couldn't be a more beautiful tribute to his love, and mother of their two young boys.
The album then takes a surprising detour through a 1980s landscape with 'In There', that features the Joy Division-esque vocals of another one of Wibo's friends, indicated only as Vincent. The super slow and gloomy track is a treat for anyone that loved the darker side of New Wave. The album has a worthy closer in the sensitive, yet playful 'Schlegel Diagram'.








h 08: Hit Me (w1b0's Slugfest Assault Dub) feat. Mr Joe Abe

"Favourite tunesThe tunes are like my children....there is a whole heap of them !! Iwant to tell you this though...some of them i never released properly but 'A Class Girls' through it was the first one me love that, the rhythm! I don't know how the song never hit in Jamaica but listening to it back now its like you are branding the girls A and B so (perhaps) the girls weren't happy with it.But it was a good tune,wicked tune.
Tony Chin wrote it ,but it was Tony Chin and Chinna who taught me these thingsso I have to lovethose men forever"
Ossie Thomas

Triston Palmer was born in 1962 and grew up in Waltham Park,Kingston.
Triston knew from a very early age that he was destined to become an entertainer and his first visit to an recording studio at the age of 16 was with Ossie Thomas.
Their initial release was 'A Class Girls',which was a hit in England and Triston's subsequent releases on their Black Solidarity label laid the foundation for his rapid rise to dance super stardom.
As the 80's progressed and Dancehall began its inexorable rise to ubiquity the popularity of Triston Palmer who had 9 songs in the top forty was unstoppable.
So sit back and enjoy this selection of killer tunes.....

Módulo 1000 were not messing around when they made 'Não Fale Com Paredes’. It holds its own, not just as a raw, heavy, experimental “Brazilian” psychedelic rock album, but as a raw, heavy, experimental psychedelic rock album, full-stop!

Formed in Rio de Janeiro in 1969, Módulo 1000 honed their craft as the house band in clubs and resorts in São Paulo where they predominantly covered American artists such as Jimmy Hendrix as well as British giants, Led Zeppelin. After acquiring a taste for fame following the performance of one of their tracks at the Rio International Song Festival, the band focussed their attention on composing original material. Their manager, Marinaldo Guimarães, encouraged the band to explore their experimental and creative sides. This, in parallel with the explosion of experimental music in Brazil, resulted in the band performing alongside heavyweights such as O Têrço; there was a happening in the air.

Módulo 1000 recorded just one album. Released on Top Tape records in 1972, it featured Eduardo Leal on bass, Candido Faria on drums, Daniel Cardone on guitar, violin and vocals, and Luiz Paulo Simas on organ, piano, and vocals. 'Não Fale Com Paredes' was produced by the popular DJ, Ademir Lemos, and came housed in a fold-out cover featuring tripped-out artwork and design by Wander Borges. However, due the uncompromising nature of its wild, heavy psychedelic rock sound, the album was destined not to be played on the radio in Brazil. Rumours suggest that the label didn't understand the album, and as a result, it wasn't promoted or marketed. Thus, like many other underground cult classics, it was lost in the ether, only later to be rediscovered by a new audience at a different time.

One thing is certain, you definitely know when you've heard Módulo 1000. The sound is raw, heavy and at points quite aggressive, more Black Sabbath than Os Mutantes. It floats between psychedelic rock, prog rock, early metal, and dare we say, displays elements of proto-math-rock.

The band’s discography includes a 7" single, as well as their music being featured on several compilations for Odeon Records, additionally they released a 7" single under their alias 'Love Machine' for Top Tape Records. These compositions are included as bonus tracks on the CD version of our reissue.

The elusive SW. returns to Avenue 66 with okALGORYTHM. His third LP for the label is a semi-opaque wandering through the shadowy byways of memory, driven by tough-yet-supple production and his unmistakable, unerringly original voice. Inspired by all night electronic radio shows of the '90s, okALGORYTHM pulses with rich imagination and a sense of purposeful meandering. Speaking in cryptic fragments, the artist hints at elusive reminiscences "back then on the autobahn, to Berlin, with friends" while also noting that some recollections are "of things that didn't happen that way."

To this end, the album drifts from the knotty synth spirals of opener "WHAtADAY" through the tense, technoid tropics of "stepCLASSixMOtor," the brightly melancholic Larry Heard-isms of "TROPyCALLhytsrIA" to the stately skronk of closer "What endingENDs." The rhythmic undergirding never lets up, suggesting a limitless night drive tinted in deep greens and refracted reds. Each of the album's ten tracks comes alive with warm, analog finesse and a palpable atmosphere, though they play out by turns urgent or unhurried, coaxing or inscrutable. Yet throughout, there's a consistently hypnotic quality which draws the listener deeper into the album's unique balancing act.

If listeners are trained to expect throwback anthems every time the '90s are referenced, here they might find a more apt touchstone in the wilder, left-of-center corners of Chicago's foundational epoch. Throughout the album, the spirit of jacking house is absorbed, metabolized and transmuted. Drawing on lineages of taut, nervy synth-and-drum machine workouts, SW. manipulates his hardware with the delicate, considered touch of a painter. Perhaps the memory that lingers longest from that bygone era is the sense of profound possibility that dawns before forms become rigidly calificed and commodified. Either way, adventurous listeners will find that okALGORYTHM blooms with a uniquely affecting grace and SW.'s inimitably obscure loveliness, infused with a somber glow and marked by shimmering, untraceable contours.

Jazzrausch Bigband has more or less invented a new art form,
techno jazz, and has become well-known for performances of it. But
the band also has another, different story to tell. It has invented its
own tradition of hitting the road and touring at the end of each year
with a programme consisting of Christmas music, and has been doing
this ever since the band first emerged eight years ago. Bandleader
and founder Roman Sladek explains: “Whereas our regular projects -
the most recent album, ‘Emergenz’, is a good example - are all about
working through a specific theme and finding new ways to reinvent
ourselves, our Christmas thing is something we do for one reason
alone: to have fun. It was our very first programme, we still love it, and
we’re still nurturing, developing and growing it. Being able to devote
one month a year entirely to the big band tradition is something we’re
all really passionate about.”
Some bands might have been tempted just to throw together an
album of Christmas chestnuts any old how, but the Jazzrausch way of
doing things is not like that at all. Unlike any other album by the band,
for the first time we hear purely instrumental music. Furthermore,
Kuhn has taken ten classic Christmas songs - each one of them
rarely heard in jazz, and tunes which can often come across as a bit
staid in their original settings - from ‘Tochter Zion, freue dich# to
‘Adeste fideles’ or ‘Ihr Kinderlein, kommet’. The title track, ‘Alle Jahre
wieder!’ (based on the 1830s carol to music by Silcher which is very
familiar to children and adults in the German-speaking world) appears
here in completely new orchestral garb.
Sometimes the listener will recognise the kind of swing typical of
Glenn Miller. At other moments it is the incomparable big band
elegance of, say, Artie Shaw. ‘Es wird scho glei dumpa’ (an Austrian
carol) is given the full extra high pressure Tijuana brass treatment.
‘Maria durch ein’ Dornwald ging’ gets the touch of the Thad Jones /
Mel Lewis Orchestra after a Henry Mancini-like intro, and ‘Ich steh’ an
deiner Krippe hier’ recalls more of the great swing heritage.
Once again Jazzrausch Bigband has succeeded in a way that only
very few in the jazz field can, notwithstanding the openness of the
genre: they have brought young and old together, tradition and
revolution, the familiar and the new. Which is why it feels so
completely natural and right that they should continue to do this
‘again every year’, as the album title tells them: ‘Alle Jahre wieder’.

Electronic pop music superstars Röyksopp present their extraordinary ‘Profound Mysteries’ project, released through Dog Triumph. Röyksopp worked with a cast of global visual and musical collaborators to create an incredible 30 tracks, 30 artefacts, 30 visualisers and 30 films that have been revealed throughout the year.

‘Profound Mysteries’ brings together some of the most talented music artists in the world, including Alison Goldfrapp, Pixx, Susanne Sundfør, Astrid S, and Karen Harding.

LIMITED PRESSING OF 2000


A SIDE

(Sabaody/Fishman Island/Punk Hazard) :

- To the New World!!

- Rebirth! The Straw Hat Pirates

- Jinbei Strait

- Surgeon of Death

- Master's Scornful Laughter

- Enemies Appear

- Spirit Of Guru

-The Weak Power Strengthens!

- A Man's Battle





B SIDE

(Dressrosa)

- I Think Of The Past

- Go Go! The Straw Hat Pirates!!

- Country of Love, Passion & Toys, Dressrosa

- Frenzy! Colosseum

- Donquixote Doflamingo

- Trafalgar Law

- Admiral "Fujitora"

- Violet's Dance of Passion

- Love Cannot Be Stopped

- Fight in the Colosseum

- Fierce Battle in the Colosseum





C SIDE

(Dressrosa/Zou)

- Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff, Sabo

- Gear Fourth

- Ballad of Sadness

- Approaching! Birdcage Encirclement

- Doflamingo ~Overwhelming Force~

- The Thousand Year Island, Zou

- Garuchu~!!

- The Mink Tribe's Battle

- The Samurai and Mink Tribe's Bond

- Dressrosa's Hidden Secrets

- Brook ~Healing Violin~

- Eyecatch ~New World Version~





D SIDE

(3D2Y/Heart of Gold)

- To the Origin of Ace!

- Main Title ~ Teachings of Rayleigh

- Things We Desired

- World VS Luffy: Final Battle

- Destroyer of the World! World

- Loneliness, Solitude

- Gathering of the Straw Hat Pirates! Towards Battle

- Releasing the Trap

- Straw Hat Pirates VS Mad Treasure

- Luffy, to Victory

- Escape from Bonbori-sama

- Next Time Preview ~We Go! Version

Seit der Bandgründung Mitte der 90er, haben Good Charlotte fünf Alben veröffentlicht und mit zahlreichen Künstlern kollaboriert. Die Band hat einen maßgeblichen Teil dazu beigetragen, das Pop Punk Genre weltweit zu etablieren. Dafür legten sie mit ihrem selbstbetitelten Debütalbum und den Singles 'Little Things' und 'Festival Songs' im Jahr 2000 das Fundament.
'The Young and the Hopeless', mit dem Good Charlotte 2002 riesige Erfolge feiern konnten, katapultierte die Band schließlich in den Pop Punk Olymp und machte sie zu weltweiten Superstars. Es folgten 'The Chronicles of Life and Death' (2004) und 'Good Morning Revival' (2007), die in ihrer Heimat ebenfalls mit Platin ausgezeichnet wurden. Nach ihrem letzten Album 'Cardiology' (2010), wurde es Zeit für eine Pause, man musste dringend durchatmen. Die Madden-Brüder konzentrierten sich auf ihr Recording Studio im Herzen Hollywoods, wo sie für andere Künstler vieler Genres schreiben, aufnehmen und produzieren. Außerdem sitzen die beiden in der Jury der australischen Version von The Voice.
Dass die beiden überhaupt wieder anfingen, ihre eigene Musik zu schreiben, ist laut Benji und Joel wohl den australischen Pop Punk Newcomern 5 Seconds of Summer zuzuschreiben. Die Zusammenarbeit mit der jungen, aufstrebenden Band, erinnerte die Brüder an den Spaß, den sie mit ihrer eigenen Band hatten und inspirierte die Beiden 2015 schließlich dazu, einen Neuanfang zu starten. "Es packte uns und das Schreiben kam wie von selbst," erklärt Joel. "Während wir an ein paar Platten für andere Künstler arbeiteten, wurde uns klar, dass es großen Spaß machen würde, wieder eine Good Charlotte Platte zu machen. Und eine Good Charlotte Platte können eben nur wir machen. Wir wurden ein bißchen nostalgisch und folgten unseren Instinkten."

The story about the lost recordings of Ghia continues: Following the recently released "At The Hilton" single, our label is extremely proud to present "Curaçao Blue", the band's first full-length album. And it is simply mind-blowing, to say the least! The LP features 10 unreleased tracks in a similar Balearic vein as featured on the single.

Incredibly, it was only just a few months ago that these tracks were rediscovered on some old tapes by band members Lutz Boberg and Frank Simon. Could anyone imagine that two physics students from a small German town could create such beautiful, thrilling music in their home studio? Although the technical aspects in the creation of the band's earliest tracks may have been straightforward, the outcome is high-quality, creative, modern jazz-funk, with one step in the electro-funk genre due to the use of a drum machine and synthesizer basslines. The album features mostly 4-track recordings, based mainly on the musicians' weapons of choice: a DX21 keyboard (later updated to the legendary DX7) and a guitar. Many things had to be done live in just one take, though the artists were unafraid of using overdubbing techniques to weave their instrumental journeys. The DIY aesthetics just add more beauty and uniqueness to the songs and compositions, and the result is an extremely harmonic work of undeniable musicality. Ghia delivers Balearic jazz-funk at its finest.

Though the music was recorded in Germany, Ghia had a true relationship with the Balearic region and effortlessly applied the vibes to their compositions. As a side note, one track on their earliest demo tapes was called "3 AM at Moëf Gaga" and we did not know what it meant. The band explained that Moëf Gaga is a nightclub on the Spanish coast that is actually still active today. Boberg and Simon, the two original band members of Ghia, visited the club in the early 80s and spent their holiday close to the sea. With their music, they intended to create a summery vibe, capturing a relaxed and soulful view of the seashore, likely with a drink in hand... Perhaps a Blue Curaçao?

The album starts with a revised version of the title track. The drums in this take are much punchier, and we thought that it would fit just perfectly as an introduction. We continue with the already classic "Down At The Hilton" that was featured on the single, but like us, we are sure you could happily listen to this track on repeat. Next up, "Jump In The Water" opens with a catchy delayed melody, which develops into another perfect jazz-funk piece with an extended guitar solo. Another remarkable song might be "In The Fast Lane". As the name suggests, an uptempo number, now with an electro-funk beat combined with speedy keyboard solos that almost sounds like a marimba. On side B, the album keeps the relaxed seaside vibes flowing. To round out the album, we are treated to two pieces that originated after the return home, with memories of the Spanish coast fading but still lingering, likely recorded between 1986 and 1988. Both are instrumental versions of songs to be used later for studio sessions with their new band member, singer Lisa Ohm (who you will hear on Ghia's next album!). On "Crystal Silence In Dub" we get a perfect downtempo groove, positively reminding us of the sound of the 1980s UK funk scene. The album ends with "Keep Your House In Disorder", here as an earlier, rougher, and funkier take than on the final vocal version, which could be found on the B-side of the "What's Your Voodoo" single.

We hope you love this album as much as we do! Nothing like this has yet been released out of Germany. We hardly can recall any privately produced, home recorded jazz-funk/fusion from the 1980s as free, creative, and uninhibited as Ghia's Curaçao Blue. The playful and creative approach, coupled with those nostalgic tones should make this LP an essential pick for any record collection, whether you are a DJ, a home listener, a music lover, or a modern jazz-funk/synth-funk aficionado.

The album is out now on The Outer Edge, the new label by record collector DJ Scientist, aka John Raincoatman. We also want to thank Frederic Stader for his awesome work mastering and sound restoration of the material on this LP.

»Hallway Waverider« is Mikko Singh’s second album for Morr Music under his Haleiwa moniker. Blending the washed-out aesthetics of dream pop with a lo-fi take on modern psychedelia, it is a fuzzy record in more than one sense. The ten songs see the multi-instrumentalist explore the sonic idiosyncrasies of analogue recording equipment while also expressing a self-assured statement by a musician who has carved out a niche for himself and feels perfectly at home in it. “This record is like me telling my teenage self that I am OK,” says Singh. “Back then, I was recording my song ideas on cassette players but held the belief that music should be recorded in an expensive studio with expensive gear in order to be real.” As it turns out however, Singh had been right from the start, having come full circle as an established artist some twenty years later.

After exploring the affordances of vintage equipment for 2019’s »Cloud Formations« LP, Singh worked with a Tascam 244 4-track cassette recorder and Tascam 388 8-track reel-to-reel recorder to transform the sounds of his vintage synthesizers, bass, the occasional guitar part, and drums supplied by Svante Karlsson for »Hallway Waverider«. By experimenting extensively with the machines’ unique sonic qualities and constantly reworking the pieces in regards to their sound signature over the course of two years, Singh has found the perfect equilibrium of electronic music and lo-fi aesthetics while navigating with ease through styles like driving surf rock, gritty garage punk and ethereal dream pop. On his new record, he seamlessly integrates these influences into anthemic yet soothing songs.

The title of the album refers to Singh’s halcyon days as a teenager spent listening to punk music and—in wintertime—skateboarding in his own bedroom. The lyrics refer to surfing as a nod to both his own experiences with riding the waves and the music genre that has provided him with inspiration throughout his career as a prolific recording artist with three solo albums under his belt. However, surfing primarily serves as a metaphor for something bigger. “It’s about things in life that are important to me; things that make me feel good and soothe the mind,” he explains. It comes as no surprise then that »Hallway Waverider« is also dedicated to a key figure in his life. “The album is an ode to my mother who passed away in 2015,” says the artist. “She made it possible for me to have a good childhood and to be able to do what I love.”

This sense of closure and being at peace with himself is also expressed in lyrics like "A sea stroll. Going slower. Feeling featherlight,” expressing a calm that perfectly mirrors the music’s steady grooves and welcoming overall feeling. Starting with the upbeat »River Park/ Sleeping Pill«; to the almost ambient, synthesizer-heavy »A Bottomless Pit«; or short, punk-inspired and bassline-driven outbursts like »Watered Down« or »Halulu Lake«; to the blissful title track that closes the album, Singh opens up a whole panorama of different moods across a broad variety of musical styles. They are connected by that rare thing: a unique musical vision expressed by an instantly recognisable sonic signature.

Swords and metal go hand in hand. That’s what crossover thrash band High Command say, having turned heads with their debut album Beyond The Wall of Desolation (2019). But it’s not solely metal music which influences the band, who cite the lustful violence of Robert E. Howard, Michel Moorcock, Jack Vance and many other legendary pulp writers of the 20th century as an impetus for their expansive storytelling.
“People would also be surprised to hear we drew quite a bit of inspiration from the music of Ennio Morricone, especially in regards to writing some more of the epic, grandiose passages and chord progressions.” says the band.
Now, with their second album, Eclipse of the Dual Moons, the band take their love of storytelling a step further, deepening and widening the world of Secartha, the realm of High Command’s songs. The band place themselves as omniscient narrators of the world they have created, and say that they are inseparable from Secartha and its people. “It’s one thing to make a good metal record, but it’s another to put on top of it a sort of overarching story that makes sense to listeners. The whole High Command project is enriched by lyrics articulating characters, a world, and trials faced within it. We want our records to be immersive and leave listeners with a feeling they’ve experienced something bigger than the music.”
It’s not just a question of widening the world, which the band first started exploring on The Secartha Demos (2016); Eclipse of the Dual Moons sees High Command honing their process to a fine art “it’s like we started with chiseling a rock… this record is the moment the rock in question begins to look like an actual sculpture.”

"Live in Paris" - Nathan Davis, (sax); Georges Arvanitas (p, org); Jack Diéval (p); Jacky Samson, Jacques Hess (b); Franco Manzecchi, Charles Saudrais (dr)

Style is not a given. Not many musicians reach the level of artistic personality where you can unmistakably recognize them. It takes character, roots, honesty, soulfulness. Nathan Davis had style.

His tone on tenor was unique. So was his soprano sound and his distinctive approach to flute. His musical world was equally original and knew no boundaries.

This concert in Paris is audible proof that as a performer, his fluid phrasing, distinct articulation, booming bottom register, growls and shrieks were fuelled by tremendous drive and furious invention - the man was on fire!

These live sessions demonstrate the limitless invention of Nathan’s solos. Holding no punches, weaving signature phrases, shouts and riffs into his solos, he was a fierce and fervid performer. With a sort of hollow resonance at the heart of his reedy and warm sound, Nathan Davis was a highly original artist, from an era when having a distinct sound on your instrument was the grail of jazz artistry. Harold Land, Jimmy Heath, John Gilmore, Paul Gonsalves, Charlie Rouse, George Coleman, Booker Ervin, Clifford Jordan ... Jazz is made of such giants and Nathan Davis was one of them.

Swords and metal go hand in hand. That’s what crossover thrash band High Command say, having turned heads with their debut album Beyond The Wall of Desolation (2019). But it’s not solely metal music which influences the band, who cite the lustful violence of Robert E. Howard, Michel Moorcock, Jack Vance and many other legendary pulp writers of the 20th century as an impetus for their expansive storytelling.
“People would also be surprised to hear we drew quite a bit of inspiration from the music of Ennio Morricone, especially in regards to writing some more of the epic, grandiose passages and chord progressions.” says the band.
Now, with their second album, Eclipse of the Dual Moons, the band take their love of storytelling a step further, deepening and widening the world of Secartha, the realm of High Command’s songs. The band place themselves as omniscient narrators of the world they have created, and say that they are inseparable from Secartha and its people. “It’s one thing to make a good metal record, but it’s another to put on top of it a sort of overarching story that makes sense to listeners. The whole High Command project is enriched by lyrics articulating characters, a world, and trials faced within it. We want our records to be immersive and leave listeners with a feeling they’ve experienced something bigger than the music.”
It’s not just a question of widening the world, which the band first started exploring on The Secartha Demos (2016); Eclipse of the Dual Moons sees High Command honing their process to a fine art “it’s like we started with chiseling a rock… this record is the moment the rock in question begins to look like an actual sculpture.”

For fans this is the perfect genesis of a globally acclaimed guitarist and songwriter. A blend of youthful enthusiasm and innocence that never quite resurfaced again in his work, especially as he developed his jazz-folk fusion and became known for both immense skill on the guitar and his activism in support of social causes. Fans know this album as Bruce Cockburn's happy-go-lucky years, before the weight of his success encouraged him to use his songwriting for a purpose, never again having this much whimsy in the studio. The opening number, "Going to the Country," evokes the era's hippie back- to- the- earth movement, and as all good things come back around again, is just as fresh in today's enviro-movements. His hit song "Musical Friends" remains a fan favorite to this day.

Bruce Cockburn has written more than 400 songs on 35 albums over a career spanning 50 years, of which 23 have received gold or platinum certification. He has sold more than nine-million copies worldwide, is a member of the Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame, and is the winner of 13 Juno Awards from more than 30 nominations. His world-wide hits include "Wondering Where The Lions Are",
"Lovers In a Dangerous Time", "If A Tree Falls" and "If I Had A Rocket Launcher".

“Arguably his generation’s best lyricist” – Mojo // “The year’s stand-out album for me” – Stewart Lee // “A sort of modern-day pastoral” – Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate // The follow-up to last year’s first volume, English Primitive II continues the themes introduced previously in a harder, more electric and psychedelic style. The songs were mostly recorded during the same sessions but, if EPII showcased the ‘songs of innocence’, this new set comprises ‘songs of experience’. Callahan's lyrical themes here are frequently the sleaze and corruption of our ‘betters’, the intentional and unintentional brutality meted out on those weaker and the sometimes perverse ways in which this happens. There are moments of reflection among the broken mirrors, but they allow scant solace or reassurance. Dressed in another of Scottish artist Pinkie McClure’s witty and detailed stained glass creations and recorded at home and under a railway arch, EPII rises above its origins and invades the wider world, in all its colour, gritand glory. Each song serves as a monument to its internal tale – in fact, the whole LP is as much a collection of musical short stories as it is an album of songs. Opening with Invisible Man, the impression of a regular person with hidden grievances, biding his time and waiting to lash out is given. Waves of distant samples ebb and fall as the warped guitars swell and crash behind the main themes. We don’t know when this explosion will happen – we only know it will. A sleazy celebration of Britain’s position as the laundering capital of the world follows in the form of Beautiful Launderette. It’s good that we keep everything nice and clean for the whole planet, isn’t it? Business as usual, keeping the globe turning – that’s our role and we love it. The Parrot rocks like only a prolonged evisceration of governmental mouthpieces and their court stenographers can. It’s a thankless task making sure that the powers that be retain their authority in all things and patrolling the borders of what is allowed to be said and believed, but somebody’s got to do it. If you’re providing a service, you’ll need to present a united front against the grievances of the public, so you’ll need The Scapegoat. Mistakes and accidents can’t be the company’s fault, so you’ll need to pay someone to be publicly and repeatedly sacked to make it appear as if you’re solving problems and getting better. Lessons will be learned, going forward. The disturbing tale of Bear Factory begins side two and is the real-life story of the murder of one of the singer’s primary-school classmates in the 1970s, and true in every detail. The victim’s body was never found but the killer justifiably imprisoned for life. A more ancient scent of death pervades The Burnet Rose. This ground-hugging plant covers the graves of the victims in a seventeenth-century plague village on the Yorkshire coast to this day, commemorating their sacrifices when all around have forgotten. It’s this particular songwriter’s favourite flower. Orgy of the Ancients describes the intimate intricacies of ageing politicians and the press as they decide whether to go to war. In grotesque scenarios worthy of Caligula, they decide the fates of our children. And it’s not even half the truth. To finish, the songwriter looks back to an admired predecessor, when he sets William Blake’s famous poem London in a groovier setting than we’re used to – in the form of London by Blakelight. If London swings, it’s from the Tyburn tree. Tracks: Invisible Man / Beautiful Launderette / The Parrot / The Scapegoat / Bear Factory / The Burnet Rose / Orgy Of The Ancients / London By Blakelight

For fans of - Booker T & The MGs, James Taylor Quartet, Georgie Fame, Big Boss Man. Groovy Hammond garage rock instrumentals from Billy Childish (Thee Headcoats/CTMF etc) and featuring James Taylor (Prisoners/JTQ) We’re loving this new album by The Guy Hamper Trio! Who’s in the band sunshine? Mainly myself on guitar, Julie on bass, Wolf on drums, and of course Jamie on Hammond. A great bonus is Thee Headcoats with Bruce and Tub guest as rhythm section on a track or two. You and James Taylor go back a long way. Do you remember how you first met? The Prisoners were a young group who played with us (the Milkshakes) in the early 1980s. One day they turned up with an organ player, Jamie. Jamie used to then borrow my Selmer guitar amp to play through. You’ve revisited a few old classics on this album, and given them a true makeover. How would you describe The Guy Hamper Trio’s sound? I guess there must be a derogatory term for it but I might need some help finding it. In the very early days of The James Taylor Quartet (Wolf was their drummer back then), I was in the Natural Born Lovers (A blues group with Big Russ and Sexton Ming). We used to be the support for them. I really liked their sound and I guess The Guy Hamper Trio is not a million miles from that blues-influenced, film soundtrack vibe, man. There you made me say “man”. Next thing you know I will be saying “cool!” Let’s just say it's a wizard sound, Jamie is such a great player. Prior to this album The Guy Hamper Trio’s sole release was the ‘Polygraph Test’ 7” from 2009. Why such a big gap? It takes time for all of us to get all our solders in line. “Get on with it mush! And trifle not, your time is but short!” What inspired the album’s title track All The Poisons In the Mud? It’s actually the title of a novel I’ve been writing, and rewriting, over the past 12 years, and is taken from a quote from I Claudius by Robert Graves - a formative influence on me as a 15 year old. The sleeve art is pretty different to your other recent records, could you tell us a about that? Who designed it? I nominally designed it but the truth is that it's essentially a rip off of a Saul Bass sleeve he did for Duke Ellington. We started mining that seam back in the Milkshakes when Bruce (Brand) did the sleeve for Thee Knights of Trashe. The album closes with a storming cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire”. What do you think Jimi would make of your version? I've been a fan of Jimi since my elder brother brought his records home in the '60s. Jimi was well known to “dig” others work and interpretations and would no doubt smile, narrow his smoky eyes and say “cool man!” and I would no doubt reply "wizard Jimi!" TRACKLISTING 1. All The Poisons in the Mud 2. Come Into My Life 3. Moon of the Popping Trees 4. Girl From '62 5. Full Eclipse of the Sun 6. Sally Sensation 7. 7% Solution 8. Step Out 9. Polygraph Test 10. The Kids are all Square 11. Skinwalker 12. Fire

The Isley Brothers “Knowledge is power. I’m a witness to that. Our parents wanted us to have a complete musical education. They exposed us to everything, classical to country, standards, show tunes.” Ronald Isley, Mojo Magazine, 2000 The Isley Brothers have delighted audiences since the 1950’s and are celebrating their eighth decade in show business. Morphing from their roots in gospel and doo-wop through funk, rock and then, finally, into slow-jam R&B, the Isley Brothers remain one of the most fascinating groups of all time.
This album contains some of the most life-affirming music ever recorded: Ronald Isley’s keening yelp offering strength and sensitivity as it is supported by brothers Rudolph and O’Kelly. Our collection picks up their story in 1969. By this time, they had been recording for 12 years for many legendary labels, from RCA, to Atlantic, to Motown.
The brothers decided to go it alone on their own label, T-Neck. The repurposed Isleys broke onto the scene with the US R&B No.1/Hot 100 No. 2, ‘It’s Your Thing’. The album of the same name was a Top 30 smash and the group’s decision was vindicated. ‘It’s Your Thing’ marked a meeting point of influences: Sly Stone, James Brown, gospel and one-time group member Jimi Hendrix, laying the template for the Isleys’ next decade, from the gritty rock covers of Givin’ It Back to the era-defining ‘3 + 3’ (with the formal addition of the two younger Isleys, Ernie and Marvin, plus brother-in-law Chris Jasper).
After the 1972 release of ‘Brother, Brother, Brother’ (featuring the classic ‘Work To Do’) T-Neck moved to CBS leading to their first Platinum-selling album (1973’s ‘3+3’). Produced with Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, ‘3+3’ was practically prescribed to every soul boy in the UK (witness Wham’s cover of ‘If You Were There’). For the Isleys to take their old R&B hit, ‘Who’s That Lady’ and turn it into hard-rocking psychedelic soul was a blazing statement of their
intent. Their version of Seals and Croft’s pretty ‘Summer Breeze’ became one of their biggest hits, with Ronald and Ernie stamping their authority on the ballad. A period of phenomenal success followed. For every standout ballad (‘For The Love Of You’, or ‘The Highways Of My Life’), there was strident, take-no-prisoners political funk - as typified by ‘Fight The Power’, a US R&B No. 1 in 1975.
It was written by Ernie on the same day as another of their greatest moments, ‘Harvest For The World’.
This collection is a beautiful overview to the group, a most fabulous re-introduction to old friends. This era is affectionately known by the Isleys as the ‘gold and platinum years’ - one listen and you will understand why.

Following on from 2016’s Doing It In Lagos: Boogie, Pop & Disco in 1980s Nigeria, Soundway Records return to that blistering set for the first and only officially licensed re-issue of the highly coveted debut album from Steve Monite, featuring the single ‘Only You’ that recently
seeped its way into popular culture. Lovingly restored
and remastered on 180g vinyl with liner notes.^

Shooting, space-synth sounds ripple and vibrate, incessant grooves keep the tracks in motion and Nkono Teles production, a producer often overlooked for his hand in the Nigerian boogie sound, sets the LP into orbit. An album that was largely overlooked on release in
1984, the track list includes the latter day hit ‘Only You’
and ‘Things Fall Apart’, the melody of which was lifted for
Young Franco’s 2020 single ‘Fallin’ Apart’.

Special 10th Anniversary Edition In Brown Card Artboard Sleeve With Additional Lyric Print Insert

Slowdive singer and songwriter’s third solo album, which was originally released in November 2012. It is a stunning record and one which, upon its release, underlined the claims that Neil was one of the finest and most underrated British songwriters of recent times. It’s also a very special release in the Sonic Cathedral catalogue; the shoegaze label licensed the record from Jack Johnson’s Brushfire imprint for the UK and Europe and it was the start of a relationship that also gave us the Black Hearted Brother album in 2013 and, ultimately, brought about the reformation of Slowdive in 2014. But Palindrome Hunches is a very different beast. Both stately and understated, this moody and mesmerising collection of peculiarly British folk songs was made with the Band of Hope, a Wallingford, Oxfordshire based collective consisting of Ben Smith (violin), Drew Milloy (double bass), Paul Whitty (piano) and Tom Crook (guitar). Together with producer Nick Holton, banjo player Kevin Wells and backing singer Aimee Craddock, they recorded the album to tape over a few weekends in the music room of their local junior school. “At first we were going to record in a studio, but everything seemed too clean,” said Neil at the time. “We just went through the songs and recorded them live without very much rehearsal. We wanted to be spontaneous and simple and to keep the little mistakes that sneaked in.” This goes a long way to explaining the album’s humanity and intimacy, and also why it has had a quiet life of its own over the past decade, gradually growing in stature alongside Neil’s more high-profile activities with Slowdive; copies of the 2012 original and even the 2017 repress currently fetch up to triple figures on Discogs. The stunning opener ‘Digging Shelters’ was used to devastating effect in the posthumously released James Gandolfini movie Enough Said – a fitting home for a song that rubs shoulders here with ruminations about love and loss such as ‘Tied To You’ and ‘Spin The Bottle’ and, on ‘Wittgenstein’s Arm’, an Austrian pianist who had his right arm amputated in World War I and lost three of his brothers to suicide. The wordplay of the title track is almost light-hearted in comparison; “I wanted to write a song that was the same forwards and backwards, but it didn’t quite work out,” explained Neil, adding that he also chose ‘Palindrome Hunches’ for the album’s title because “I like the idea of things being reversible”. A couple years later, by reforming his old band, he proved that. And now, ten years on, it’s the perfect time to rewind to this understated, underrated classic. Side A 1 Digging Shelters 2 Bad Drugs and Minor Chords 3 Wittgenstein’s Arm 4 Spin The Bottle 5 Tied to You Side B 1 Love Is a Beast 2 Palindrome Hunches 3 Full Moon Rising 4 Sandy 5 Hey Daydreamer 6 Loose Change. Praise for Palindrome Hunches on its original release: ““Nope, it ain’t shoegaze as it's been codified and re-codified. But why be disappointed in someone following his muse to a logical conclusion when that path was always the one he walked on?” – Pitchfork An exquisite set of dark folk music” – The Times “Draws from the same understated, reflective well as John Martyn” – MOJO “‘Tied To You’ doesn’t merely evoke Nick Drake but withstands the comparison – evidence of the songs’ quality” – Financial Times “Halstead’s songs breathe the sort of honesty and goodness that’s harder and harder to find in the iTunes age” – The Independent “Given the chance, they could be songs that continue to enchant for many years to come” – The Line Of Best Fit