Buscar:lu

Electribe south sound ! A melt of bassline and South tribe groove.
Funk & Rebel :)

Cinthie joins the Heist fam with an EP full of lush, epic house music with 3 originals and a St. David remix.

Cinthie is the kind of artist who seems to be everywhere all at once. In the past years, we’ve seen her compile a lush DJ Kicks compilation, release numerous EP’s on labels such as Aus music, run one of Berlin’s finest record stores (Elevate Records), tour the world fiercely, and create an all-new live show. Her EP for Heist has been in the works for a long, long time and it’s an absolute pleasure to finally present the ‘Music for Discotheques’ EP. Spoiler alert: It’s a no holds-back, ‘all killers, no fillers’ record. Just the way we like it.

In classic Cinthie fashion, this EP has the Berlin-based artist explore various sides of house music, starting with the vocal cut ‘Won’t u take me’. Lush pads, shuffling snares and a dreamy female vocal work together to bring a warm and classy house track with a clear nod to 90’s US house, but with its feet firmly rooted in the present.

Piano heaven takes you on an Italo-meets-deephouse excursion straight into…Drum roll…: Piano heaven. A driving 909 groove and a deceptively simple bass form the foundation of the track, but it’s the keys (and strings) that bring this track to its full peak-time potential. The energy in this track is of the ‘hands-in-the-air / screaming-out-loud’ type and it has already become one of the biggest tracks in Cinthie’s live-show.

On the flip, Cinthie explores the pacier electronic side of the dance spectrum, with the footwork inspired jam ‘Masterplan’. Think classic 808’s, loopy synths and a cheeky spoken word piece that lifts the song to a level where it’s extremely danceable and quite simply put; really fun.

The final track of the EP is the expertly crafted remix by Italian house maestro St. David; an artist Cinthie has always been a big fan of. He’s made a dazzling rework of ‘Piano Heaven’: A deep and driving deephouse version that’s layered in sweeps, fx and bleeps for an altogether mesmerizing effect.

We’re thrilled that we can share Cinthie’s music on the label and have her join the family after having played so many shows together and having spoken about doing something together for such a long time. As always, play it loud and dance, dance, dance!

Yours Sincerely,
Maarten & Lars

Blue Marbled Vinyl

Opening the EP we have a serious sensory treat from Aural Imbalance, as he ditches his own rulebook unleashing a myriad of rapidly combining elements synergising over glorious echoed intro-beats, before an uncharacteristically heavy slice of breaks punches its way into the track, electrifying the atmosphere while the trademark melodies dance above like fireflies in the night.

A2 - Luminosity

An airy intro slowly welcomes in snappy snares, staunch forthright bass tones and those delicious airy pads we know Aural
Imbalance so well for, gradually enveloping the listener in a luscious web of glorious serenity. Layers of intricate textures and rhythms build upon one another, creating a mesmerizing and hypnotic sonic journey inviting repeated listens.

AA1 - Moonscape

Aural Imbalance crafts a true gem here as Moonscape opens with a serene hit of soothing pads before the wonderfully analogue breakbeats join the party, laden with hi hats and subtle poise. The backdrop exudes whimsical birdsong until halfway we are treated to a true earworm melody carrying us through to the clean ritualistic outro.

AA2 - Sunlight Through Clouds

Simon closes the EP with Sunlight Through Clouds, opening with wistful muffled grooves before the bubbly apache break reveals itself and whisks us on a synthful audio feast, built on the immersive, meditative soundscapes he is so well known for. The track has a soothing, reflective vibe and fits perfectly as a curtain call for his latest extended player.

Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

Umse is back und größer! "Wachstum"

"Warum wie Tausende Deppen ganz plötzlich aufhören zu rappen // die Leute hängen doch an den Scheiben so wie Autovignetten."
"Wachstum"

Umse macht das Rap-Ding nicht erst seit gestern. Shows zwischen Flensburg und Luzern, youtube-Videos mit 300.000+ Clicks, 2 Alben und 2 EPs Alles dagewesen. Trotzdem ist für ihn die Zeit nicht stehen geblieben. Der Titel seines Debütalbums auf Jakarta Records ist Programm: "Wachstum".

Drei Jahre hat Umse an seinem neuen Album zusammen mit Hausproduzent Deckah geschraubt, aber "es brauch halt seine Zeit bis die Soundästehtik reift", denn etwas "zu verfassen was bleibt heißt eben ackern und schaffen". Das heißt nicht, dass Umse alles anders macht als in den vergangenen Jahren. Es gibt weiterhin "kein Strassendrama mit Handschusswaffen", kein Hipsterrap, keine Dubstepremixe, "keine Sandys und Mandys für den Chorus". Stattdessen besinnt sich Umse auf insgesamt 14 Tracks auf das was ihm "einfach so liegt: Nice Rhymes auf en Beat": zeitlose Musik ohne Redundanz, dafür gewohnt frisches, intelligentes Wortspiel - zugleich aber auch kein "90ties Revival sondern ein Style Überbleibsel".

Das Album wird auf allen Formaten erscheinen, die ersten 150 Kopien der Vinylausgabe auf farbigem Vinyl.

Lost soul phenomenon Lewis Taylor's Numb finally arrives on double vinyl! One of UK soul’s most fascinating artists, most enigmatic figures and most under-appreciated talents, Andrew Lewis Taylor is a prodigious multi-instrumentalist and eclectic polymath. He enjoys a fiercely loyal following which, over the years, has included celebrity champions like Bowie, Elton and D'Angelo. Numb is Taylor's sixth album, initially released on his own label Slow Reality (an anagram of his name) and licensed to Be With for this long-awaited physical edition. It captures Taylor's wholly unique, intoxicating take on lush, late-night psychedelic soul music.

Lewis wrote and recorded these 10 brand new tracks after a 17 year break from making music, although the album came together over a two-year period. The years away have done nothing to dull Taylor's unique musical vision. He still astounds. The lyrical themes, however, have shifted. Understandably, more than a decade and a half of soul searching and unflinching self-examination cannot fail to influence this most honest of songwriters, and boy does it show. Numb marks a return to the darker, more mysterious side of his output: "Brian Wilson-channels-Smokey Robinson atmospheres", as Mojo put it recently.

After playing a rapturously received gig at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC in 2006, Lewis unceremoniously walked away from music and disappeared completely. An interview in 2016 shed light on some of the reasons for Taylor’s withdrawal from the business, but there was no hint of a return anytime soon. Then in June 2021, news emerged out of the blue that he was readying new music alongside Sabina Smyth with whom he had worked first time around.

On Numb, Lewis deftly balances stark, soul-bearing lyrics with moody mid-tempo pop-soul sheen. He deals candidly with depression, mental turmoil, even thoughts of suicide - clearly more personal than Taylor's earlier songs. The music is rich, warm and layered, with infectious melodies and hooks that stick with you. A true grower of an LP, it really does reward repeated listens. As Jim Irvin in Mojo reflected, "despite the depths these plumb, it's a curiously uplifting experience, unfurling like a concept album about life's challenges with an optimistic beauty at its heart."

Triumphant dubwise horns ring out yet, almost instantly, “Final Hour” takes on a dark, downbeat vibe. With lyrics that confront (and, seemingly, confound) death head-on, Lewis ensures the groove is still there, the beats still swing and your head still nods, strings glissade. Woven around delicate yet insistent piano and subtle strings over a killer bassline, the title track “Numb” is a good example of the lyrical themes throughout the album. As Taylor reflects, "So removed I feel no pain / And for all I know I could be having the time of my life" with a coda that feels very much in conversation with Brian Wilson's finest harmonies. "Feels So Good" is sophisticated 90s-sounding soul of the highest order. The music and vocals feel simultaneously optimistic and despondent. Downlifting. A neat trick, and one Lewis has been so adept at over the years. "Apathy" is a mini-epic, a symphonic-soul gem which builds and glides and, eventually, soars. “Worried Mind" is another slow-builder, creeping out the gate in a sketchy, discordant fashion before climbing to half-crescendo but never quite breaking free of its disorientating restraint.

The brighter "Please" presents a more hopeful mood, with the refrain "I still believe" ringing out as Lewis harmonises with himself. "Brave Heart" quietly struts from step one, as Lewis's falsetto swaggers over a downtempo backdrop with ace echoey drums, beautiful strings and serene electric guitar. Closing out Side C, "Is It Cool" answers its own (non-) question with a spellbinding five and a half minutes of swoonsome deep soul that oscillates between a restrained, barely-there backdrop and a lushly full musical accompaniment of acoustic and electric guitar and organ over bass and slick drums. The penultimate track "Nearer" is a magical, soul-stirring ballad in which Lewis sings of reaching a sweet salvation and achieving a peace of mind. If the hairs on the back of your neck aren't standing up by the midway point, you might need to check your pulse. Album closer and true tear-jerker "Being Broken" places Lewis's gorgeous voice high in the mix and the wordless falsetto and melodies invite you to ponder what Pet Sounds might sound like if it were refashioned as a dubby 21st Century electronic soul album. Astonishing.

Simon Francis’s vinyl mastering spreads out the ten tracks over a double LP so, as ever, nothing is compromised. And as usual, the records have been cut by Cicely Balston at Air Studios and pressed at Record Industry. Turn it up and let the Lewis Taylor sound envelop you.

The Big G is back, but has Godzilla bitten off more than it can chew? 1992's GODZILLA VS MOTHRA is a triple threat treasure, with Godzilla battling the legendary Mothra and its dark doppelganger Battra, unleashed by a meteorite and is intent on destroying Mothra and, subsequently, the world. Throw in a rogue archaeologist, his ex-wife, and a multinational company exploiting the minute Mothra Cosmos twins, and you have a thrilling kaiju adventure with a stunning score by the original Godzilla composer, the brilliant Akira Ifukube. GODZILLA VS MOTHRA is undoubtedly one of Ifukube's most outstanding scores, bringing together the traditional booming brass and bass that accompanies Godzilla and Battra with a more ethereal sensibility for Mothra and her mission to save the Earth. Godzilla's theme is stomping in the foreground, and Battra gets similar material with a gigantic doom-laden motif for his destructive power. But the "Sacred Springs" theme for Mothra is a match for any of them, with Ifukube using it in minor and major modes, with a gorgeous rendition with a female chorus at the climax of the score, illustrating once again that when it comes to the music of Godzilla, Akira Ifukube is the master.

How about you forget for a moment all the things you thought you knew about Saroos, okay? First of all, let’s forget about all the other projects these guys are part of. Why? Because thinking of The Notwist, Driftmachine, Lali Puna, Tvii Son, to name “only” half a dozen things, might be misleading in this case. What’s more, please make sure to forget the fact that they’re mostly filed under “instrumental,” “post-rock dub,” or “kraut-flavored indie-tronica,” you know, all that. And most importantly, let’s forget that they’re a closed, three-minded system: a fixed and fully committed entity of three. No more!

Known to reinvent themselves in less drastic ways, Christoph Brandner, Max Punktezahl and Florian Zimmer, have opened the floodgates to COLLABORATION – making things open, porous, different, new, in many ways, on their quietly explosive latest album “Turtle Roll”.

Announced by 2021 singles “Tin & Glass” feat. Ronald Lippok and aptly titled “Frequency Change” feat. Leila Gharib aka Sequoyah Tiger, the sixth full-length sees the Berlin threesome add another handful of vocal guests along the way – thus turning into shape-shifting full bands and/or temp quartets, perfectly at home in about as many genres as there are tracks on the LP.

Kicked off by the motoric B-funk (Berlin represent) of the Lippok-assisted “Tin & Glass,” complete with retro-futuristic effects, spoken declarations, and non-terrestrial vibes, it might not be Daft Punk playing at their house, but a byobv (vibe) house party of musical minds isn’t too far off, actually! Once again as much a mixtape as an album, the mood, vibe, and color changes with every new collaborative tune: From ethereally soothing and dreamy (“The Mind Knows” feat. Solent from Canada) to clap-driven and wildly hypnotic (that pounding “Mutazione,” featuring vocals and rhymes courtesy of Eva Geist from Italy) and almost radio-ready (“current, bass-heavy alternative indie hits only!”), when that stadium-sized oomph of “Frequency Change” feat. Sequoyah Tiger arrives around halfway in.

Elsewhere, Japanese guest Kiki Hitomi (WaqWaq Kingdom) adds exotic ecstasy to the hypothermic beatscapes of “The Sign,” while Ukrainian vocalist Lucy Zoria pushes poetic layers over “Southern Blue”’s wonky foundation that hardens and finds more direction with each round the beat clock takes – until it’s impossible to escape that undertow. “My baby makes it better,” sings Caleb Dailey on the faithful and still-loving “Being with You,” a sepia, softly churning look back by the US songsmith, a sweetly shimmering ode to a relationship.

Speaking of foursomes, there’s four instrumental tracks scattered throughout the new LP – ranging from a painting in crystal clear colors of night (“Organ of Recall”) to the highly dramatic sonic tapestry of “Thicket” (actually feat. vocals as well). Before the perfect goodbye of slow-moving album closer “Here Before,” “Passed Out” sounds like Odd Nosdam finding his feet after blacking out on a German carnival.

Titled after a surf maneuver that allows you to break through the crests on the way out, Saroos have skipped the obvious waves with “Turtle Roll” – creating their own kind of sonic “Hang Ten” by adding 7 new voices to the mix.

In a club scene saturated with the Minneapolis sound, Luck Rosenbloom was searching for something different. Using Korgand Moog synths, Steinway Concert Piano and a Boss DR-110 Dr. Rhythm, he created his own funky fusion sound to spread the word of God to the mainstream. Recorded at Minneapolis's Custom Record Studios he cut 200 copies of this elusive 45 of which only a few known copies exist. The record was promoted on his cable access TV show "Lucky Mania TV" where he encouraged kids to say no to drugs and take their vitamins.

A1 - Dreamcatcher

A gentle kickoff to the EP sees ASC flex the ethereal side of his compositional range with Dreamcatcher. Bleeps and subtle bongos intro the track before a cymbal-heavy beat rolls into play, urged along by warm 808 basslines. Several samples will trigger the scene veteran's nostalgia glands, and as the Arthur O'Shaughnessy quote proclaims: "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams", you cannot help but smile.

A2 - Tranquility

Filtered breakbeats with emphasised kicks begin our journey through Tranquility; a calming piece enriched with luscious synths, glorious pads and echoing vocal samples. ASC takes the listener through a crash course in DJ-friendly classic atmospheric drum & bass, inviting the crowd to take a step back from the chaos of the world and bask in the tranquility of the moment in true Spatial style.

AA1 - Drifting Thru

Remember Demon's Theme? For many it was their introduction to a new world of amen breaks in a birthing jungle / drum & bass landscape, and here ASC pays homage to that break - as well as a certain iconic classic on the Deejay catalog - rewritten impressively with a pure, intensely driven atmosphere and a thumping sub bass to boot as the eerie melody allows this incredible break to take center stage - as it should.

AA2 - Flotation

Closing the EP is Flotation, a building track which fuzes classic breakbeats chopped and punctuated with a slow-burning, gradually intensifying atmosphere. The interplay between breaks, bassline, pads and washing vocals is a delightful experience to behold, the bassline never relenting. Flotation is curiously catchy and will stay long in the memory.

Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

Wie gerne spielen Fettes Brot mit Bedeutungen? Ihr Album-Titel "Am Wasser gebaut" birgt bspw. zwei offensichtliche Ebenen. Entweder er meint: dir kommen schnell die Tränen. Oder: du kommst aus einer Hafenstadt. Ausgangspunkt 1 ging mit dem Plan konform, eine Art neuer Hip Hop Soul Music zu erschaffen. Wer sich starke Feelings leistet, macht sich natürlich auch verletzlich. Ausgangspunkt Numero 2 bedingte konsequenterweise den auf dem Artwork in den vielen s/w-Bildern gezeigten Hafenarbeiterlook - u.a. im großen Hamburger Blohm & Voss-Dock fotografiert. FB hoben damit auf den legendären Marlon Brando-Spielfilm "On The Waterfront" ab und auf Dexys Midnight Runners in deren früher "Soul Rebels"-Phase.

"Am Wasser gebaut" war das erste Fettes Brot-Album auf dem bandeigenen Label FBS. Mit "Emanuela" und "An Tagen wie diesen" protzt die Platte gleich mit 2 Smash Hits. Auf der vorliegenden Trockendock-Edition sind zudem 11(!) Bonussongs (B-Seiten, Outtakes, Single-only Songs) verewigt. Dazu gibts Presseclippings und Linernotes der Band und ihrer Gäste wie Bela B, etc., sowie ein umfangreiches Artwork-Update.

At the dawn of the summer of 2023, here is the telluric reading of four Bérurier Noir tracks (plus one unreleased track, signed by the duo NSA), engraved in a vinyl groove. The lyrics have been rethought, accompanied by a wild baritone sax to the rhythm of the original box (Electro-Harmonix DRM-16).

A dark and luminous vision of today's world, this vinyl maxi 45 is a cry!

Jaguar was formed in December 1979 in Bristol. After intensive touring they released their debut album Power Games, in 1983. An album with a no-nonsense high-speed approach. Jaguar played faster and more aggressively than any other band during the early days of the NWOBHM movement and according to the band’s history, they are considered among the inventors of the speed metal and thrash metal subgenres. They were influential for many other bands in later years including bands such as Metallica.

Power Games is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on red and silver mixed vinyl.

Das 5. Studioalbum von Django Django trägt den Titel ”Off Planet” und besteht aus 21 Titeln, die in vier Teile aufgeteilt sind. Ursprünglich sollten es vier experimentelle EPs werden, die aber schnell in ein richtiges Album verwandelt wurden, als die Band das Potenzial der Aufnahmesession erkannte. ”Off Planet” enthält einige der aufregendsten und dynamischsten Stücke, die Django Django je produziert haben. Das Album ist eine Rückbesinnung auf ihre experimentellen und elektronischen Wurzeln und enthält außerdem spannende Gastauftritte von Self Esteem, Jack Penate und vielen anderen.

Jeder Teil des Albums wird digital veröffentlicht und am Tag der Veröffentlichung des vierten Teils wird das gesamte Album auf Doppel-Vinyl und Doppel-CD erscheinen.

Merging a dynamic curio of melodic guitars, disconcerting monologues and a rhythm section both technical and unruly, London’s Legss create a wholly unique and mesmerising sound. New EP Fester is a literary and disarmingly lyrical collection of art-rock songs laden with ideas and sun-licked beneath the bus smog of anxious skies.

Even when leaning into more melodic territory, there’s a pervasive uneasiness that underpins both the vocals and instrumentation. Just as you drift into the relaxing arpeggio flow, vocalist Ned Green’s soft soliloquy accelerates to an exasperated yelp and we’re jolted by discordant noise-rock stabs dragging us into Legss’ deliciously feverish and poetic world.

“The lyrics were written in the summer, when you’re sun-drunk and romantic, and the buses look like they’re kissing as they cross each other, and everyone’s got a cold sore. But beneath all the sunny games there’s a bittersweet desire to be someone or something else.” - Legss

Fresh from supporting the likes of Pom Poko and Hotel Lux, Legss release Fester via The State51 Conspiracy on 16th June. Pressed on 12” black vinyl in a sealed polybag liner.

Marco Vella and Anth Wendt step up to International Feel with a five-track EP of Balearic-tinged bliss for their first collaborative release as Other Mother.

There’s definitely something in the air round the Adelaide Hills. Longtime friends Marco (aka Body Corp) and Anth (aka Oisima) finally got together in Anth’s studio after the pandemic and the result is Numero Uno an EP of laidback synth guitar and drum machine workouts mixing 303 riffs and sunsets for a supremely low-slung vibe.

After cruising around the Hills in the day the pair worked on tracks by night and their carefree days soaking up the sun shines through. Opening track About Time sets a steady pace with its lush delayed guitars slow-rising acid melody and hefty sub perfect for Sunday pub garden appreciation. A side closer Zwang! drops the tempo but brings the percussion into focus for another masterclass in tension and release with interwoven 303s and dub feedback.

Side B keeps the beach-side atmos flowing with guitar licks working around sumptuous synth chords for Anyway Music - a song that’s the ultimate soundtrack understated parts fitting together seamlessly in service to the feeling and belying the technique required. Lost In The Forest makes use of expansive ambient pads synth riffs and shakers to evoke a sense of wonder sunlight coming through the trees.

The EP concludes with Where’s The Fifty a dreamy piece of drum synth phrases and 303 interplay that perfectly characterizes Marco and Anth’s collaboration - two musicians and producers playing to serve the song. They write elements that combine for a harmonious whole greater than the sum of its parts. This is the underlying feel of Other Mother and Numero Uno - we’re all in this together - and by working collaboratively a brighter future might just be around the corner.

The Plastik People label has been going along nicely for its first few releases, with label head Marc Cotterell stepping up and coming correct last time out. Now he calls upon various artists with Dave Charlesworth taking care of the a-side of Nice Ripe Cuts. He offers two super slick garage cuts that cannot fail to make their mark on the club and it's no different on the flipside except D Lux & Y No combine first for '25 Miles' and then S R offers the irresistible 'Pressure.' An essential 12" for anyone looking to bring some fresh garage flavours.

After the demise of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Lydia Lunch launched her solo career with Queen Of Siam, arguably her greatest LP. In true No Wave style, the album is a mishmash of irritants, but her palette is far broader here, lurching from slow dirges, excessive feminist exhortations, and raucous personal purges to a touch of disco and lounge music exoticism, as conjured by Voidoids/Lou Reed guitarist Robert Quine, Contortions bassist Jack Ruby, and John Cale’s drummer, Douglas Browne. Spirited, surprisingly broad and defiantly dissonant, Queen Of Siam’s dense layers were designed to provoke and inflame; listen closely to fully decode.

The next chapter of the Natural Information Society is here. Since Time Is Gravity, credited to Natural Information Society Community Ensemble with Ari Brown, presents a newly expanded manifestation of acclaimed composer & multi-instrumentalist Joshua Abrams nearly 15 year, 7 albums &-counting flagship ensemble. Joining the core NIS of Abrams (guimbri & bass), Lisa Alvarado (harmonium) Mikel Patrick Avery (drums) & Jason Stein (bass clarinet) are Hamid Drake (percussion), Josh Berman & Ben Lamar Gay (cornets), Nick Mazzarella & Mai Sugimoto (alto saxophones & flute), Kara Bershad (harp) & Chicago living legend of the tenor saxophone Ari Brown. Recorded live to tape at Electrical Audio & The Graham Foundation, cover painting Vibratory Cartography: Nepantla, by Lisa Alvarado. 2xLP on Eremite USA, 2xLP & CD on Aguirre/Eremite Europe. Out 14-04.

Since first developing Natural Information Society in 2010, Joshua Abrams has been gradually expanding the group’s conceptual underpinnings, its musical references & the sheer number of the group’s members. Its music is, in a sense, an expansive form of minimalism, based in repeated & overlaid rhythmic patterns, ostinatos & modality. Its roots, its scale & its meaning become clearer in time. If time is gravity, it also allows us to carry more. Having begun as fundamentally a rhythm section with Abrams’ guimbri at its core, the version here can stretch to a tentet, including six horns.

Abrams has been expanding his minimalism gradually, but he has long understood a key to minimalism’s potential: the breadth of its roots in the late 1950s & early 1960s, ranging from the dissatisfaction of young European-stream composers with the limitations of serialism to the simultaneous dissatisfaction of jazz musicians with the dense harmonic vocabulary of bop & hard bop. The former began exploring rhythmic complexity & narrow tonal palates in place of harmonic abstraction (Steve Reich’s Drumming, Philip Glass’ Music with Changing Parts; perhaps above all Terry Riley’s In C & his late ‘60s all-night organ & loop concerts); the later reduced dense chord changes to scales (signally with Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, but rapidly expanding with John Coltrane’s vast project). In the 1950s the LP record opened the world with documentation of Asian & African musics, key influences on both minimalists & jazz musicians. If John Coltrane’s soprano saxophone suggested the keening shehnai of Bismillah Khan, the instrument was rapidly taken up by two key minimalists, LaMonte Young & Riley, similarly appreciative of its flexible intonation, the same thing that kept it out of big bands.

If the guimbri, the North African hide-covered lute that Abrams plays with NIS, involves a rich tradition of hypnotic healing music associated with the Gnawa people, Abrams’ music also touches on other musics as well — other depths, memories & healings, different drones, rhythms & modes. As the group expands on Since Time Is Gravity, he has made certain jazz traditions in the same stream more explicit as well. If there is a mystical & elastic quality involved in the experience of time, both in direction & duration, you will catch it here. The parts for the choir of winds expand on the roles of Abrams’ guimbri, Mikel Patrick Avery & Hamid Drake’s percussion & Lisa Alvarado’s harmonium: at times, the winds are almost looping in the tentet version, each hitting a repeating note in turn, at once drone & distinct inflection on temporal sequence. The brilliance of the work resides in Abrams’ compositions, the NIS’ intuitive execution & in Ari Brown’s singular embodiment of the great tenor saxophone tradition, including the oracular genius of Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, & Yusef Lateef. The three pieces by the expanded NIS featuring Brown —the opening “Moontide Chorus” & “Is” & the ultimate “Gravity”— have an immediate impact, & togther might be considered a kind of concerto for tenor saxophone. Here Brown presses almost indistinguishably from composed melody to improvised speech, getting so close to language that he might have a text. Everything here is a sign. Note the tap of the Rhythm Ace that links “Moontide Chorus” to “Is”, the attentive heart always present, even when signed by a machine. There’s a link here to the methodologies & meanings of dub music & the linear & vertical collage of beats, textures & tongues: treated with reverence, a sample of a beat-box can be as soulful, as hypnotic, as a mbira or a tamboura. If those pieces with Brown are heard as a suspended concerto, the three embrace & enfold the other works, like the sepals of a flower. That placement will also touch on the mysteries of our perception of time.

Particularly in “Is”, but elsewhere as well, a phenomenon of transcendence arises in which time appears to be tripartite, at once moving backwards & forwards & standing still. This is an act of technical brilliance certainly, but also an illumination of music’s ability to represent temporal consciousness through polymetrics. This particular listener has only heard it before in a few places, including the horn shouts & bowed basses of Coltrane’s Africa, in moments of Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint & the Sinner Lady, in certain pieces where tapes were literally running backwards, & earlier still in Dizzy Gillespie’s Cubana Be, Cubana Bop, in which the composer George Russell & conguero Chano Pozo found a music that spoke at once in the voices of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring & the vestigial rites, rhythms & songs of the Yoruba language & Santeria religion of inland Cuba.

In Joshua Abrams’ compositions & the realization of them by the NIS, in the time of one’s close listening & memory thereof, distinctions between the “natural” & the “social”, the “quotidian” & the “transcendent” are erased, suspended or perhaps irrelevant. Consider two of the ensemble pieces, one named for nature, the other social science. In “Murmuration” the repeated wind figures of flute & alto saxophone combine with the interlocking patterns of harp, guimbri & frame drum (tar) to create a perfect moving stillness, not an imitation but a witness to the miracle of the starlings’ astonishing collective art, a surfeit of beauty that might be the ultimate defense tactic.

“Stigmergy” takes its name & concept from the Occupy movement’s Heather Marsh, who proposes a social system based on a cooperative rather than competitive models, one in which ideas are freely contributed & developed as ideas rather than an individual’s property. In its form, Abrams’ “Stigmergy” is the closes thing to traditional jazz, a series of accompanied solos by each of the wind players. However, the composed accompaniment is a radically collectivist notion: a repeated rhythmic figure, call it ostinato or riff, in which the different winds each play only a note or two of the figure, a concept both more collectivist & individualistic in its conception than any typical unison figure. It suggests another of the underlying recognitions that propel the Natural Information Society, the group as social organism, the teleology of hypnotic anarchy, all parts in place, functioning systematically, evolving & expressing itself, its nature & society, as a transformative organism.

George Lewis has described music as “a space for reflection on the human condition”. This suggests that, rather than a “distraction”, at least some music might serve as a distraction from distraction. It’s a focus, a clarity, a awareness, an external invitation to interiority, as if music itself is a model for form & contemplation, an organism contemplating for us or as us. If that is a possibility, & I am sure I have heard such musics, than this music is among them. How many of our rhythms, melodies & harmonies (cultural, historical, biological, psychic) might such music carry, translate & transform in the particulate ecstasy of our own murmuration? (Stuart Broomer, April 2022)

Exit Planet Earth continues its exploration of the world of electro universe with an expansive, extended six track EP, featuring The Advent x Zein Ferreira, DeFeKT, London Modular Alliance, Konertymi and Zobol. The Advent, whose weekly Gardening Club residency in the mid-90s helped to drag electro out of the realms of the retro and back into the future, team up with Zein Ferreira for a Kraftwerk-on-speed extended mix of 'CarpeDiem', before London Modular Alliance's more moderately paced but still squiggle and bleep laced 'Lump of Coal' plus a 'beats' breakdown for the DJs. The B-side brings us the acid-powered 'Pulssi' by Konerytmi, the bouncy, breakdance-friendly 'Radar' by DeFeKT, and the relatively pure, optimistic sonics of Zobol's 'Data Wars'. Thumbs up all round.

Z Lovecraft AKA Rhythm Section International's Mali Baden-Powell, offers up four originals on the Utopia Club Tracks label that showcase the disco/house end of his varied output. 'Exotic Passage' coasts along serenely with gently slapped bongos and warm electric piano, definitely a weapon to have in one's warm up arsenal. 'Release (The Tension)' ups the heat a little with a busier bassline, filters and disco licks, before B-side opener 'Lust In Denial' comes with more jazz-slanted piano riffs and 'People Get Too Deep' closes proceedings with the most spacious and dubby arrangement of the quartet. Musically refreshing and understated but lively enough to move feet onto dancefloors, this is the business.

Ibiza legend and all round well respected industry man Chris Coco is back with more of his seaside sounds. This time his Mediterranean magic is cast over 'La Guitarra' which as the title hints has Flamenco style acoustics with tropical house drums and heartfelt synths. There is a pair backed and delicious dub also, and then modern disco don Rune Lindbaek comes through with a mesmeric take that is laidback and lush in its design. Last of all is Daniel Braca with a Deep In Brooklyn remix thing brings some fine Latin house styles.

More than four years after his previous EP and after having released some remixes and collaborations with Agar Agar, Black Devil Disco Club or the Italian design studio Burro Studio, LeonxLeon comes back with a new EP, passing to the electronic shaker the styles of music listened since the last release.

4 tracks all as different as each other with first Itanewa, where the Parisian producer tries for the first time to give voice, without vocoder, well aware that on a track inspired by South African productions of the 80s, an instrumental version only would not be enough to do justice. It is thus in a kind of invented Esperanto that the lyrics, a call to lightness and simplicity according to the artist, are distilled between synthetic bass, keyboards and other percussions.

On Piano Mondo, we leave rather in the direction of South America with pianos of Bossa inspiration on a bass italo-disco, rises and descents as if we were in Val d'Isere and breaks just long enough to catch its breath.
The idea of Solid Dose is completely different since it was a question of taking the post new-beat dance sound of the beginning of the 90s, with a big blow, hence the title, of the synthetic bass sound "Solid Bass" which will be used in a lot of ways at this period and which is coming back in force nowadays, and to mix it with the Nordic touch of dance music for a soaring, evolving track, with arpegios which cross each other and an acid line which finally makes its appearance here.

The last track is a wink to the well-known movie that gave its name to the whole project: it is indeed Luc Besson's Léon that we are talking about, re-cut on the dialogues of Nathalie Portman and Jean Reno, supported by a simple rhythmic, analogical bass and electronic kick at the service of a dark atmosphere, closing the record at the antipodes of the first track, without ever having left the universe of melodies and percussions that already characterized the previous releases of LeonxLeon.

Much anticipated debut album from this Leeds-based electronic duo, following high-profile UK festival slots, and shows alongside luminaries The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Warmduscher, Sea Power, Moonlandingz, The KVB, with multiple plays across BBC6/BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio, jellyskin are finally ready to unleash ‘In Brine’, their first full length release. The result of four years spent writing, recording, and refining the album between Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Palamos, and Berlin, ‘In Brine’ showcases the many talents of Will Ainsley and Zia Larty-Healy in a work straddling iridescent electronica, tungsten-tipped techno, art pop, and queasy, brown acid folk. The songs are pieced together with themes of longing, misadventure by the sea, desire and aquatic apparitions that showcase Larty-Healy’s warm but urgent vocal range, as at home around the campfire as it is in the club. The pair’s meticulous arrangement and rearrangement, sculpting, recording, and mixing was a glacially slow process of adaptation, mutation, cooperation, growth, and, yes, natural selection. First single ‘Bringer of Brine’ thumps from the speaker anthemically and forcefully, pitched somewhere beautiful and uncanny; Larty-Healy’s vocals soar and skim off the production like a smooth stone across choppy waves. The radio-ready pop electronica of ‘I Was The First Tetrapod’ bursts into the world with an urgency in line with the lyrics. An aquatic tale of crawling onto land for the first time, desperate to make new life forms, it’s also a positive, joyful rebuke to the despair of the world around us. “Growing my legs...”. The fuzzed-out psychedelic keys and forward-moving, Knife-like structure echo throughout while beautiful lyrics detail visions of where this would all lead life as we know it-“I can run freely, white horse behind me. Flexing my bones and artery twine, find human tone and reach for the vine.” ‘Fox Again’ opens with chopped alarm clocks segueing into a lurching rhythm, before exploding into skittering beats and a soaring chorus. The effect is like waking up drowsily, going over to the window in your room and yanking open the curtains to be blasted by searing sunshine. The pair brought in Berlin based co-producer, mixer and masterer Lewis D-t to help finesse the tracks into fat-free hunks of ecstasy and sonic exploration, their rich depths marking ‘In Brine’ as an album everyone should be talking about this summer and beyond-all nine tracks will have feet moving and hearts swelling in equal measure. As opening track ‘Lift (Come In)’ positively opines “Going up!/Just want to keep going up!”. It’s time to get in on the ground floor

The music explores Ekko´s feelings and possibilities, and the unpredictability of the improvisational music is a parallel to an echo that speaks freely. What happens then? «Hva nå, Ekko?» is a commissioned work by Liv Andrea Hauge, written for Festspillene i Helgeland 2022. The ambition behind the work is based on exploring improvisation in a bigger jazz ensemble. Composed by Liv Andrea Hauge, it´s performed by some of the foremost young jazz musicians on the Norwegian stage: Ragnhild Moan, Signe Emmeluth, Torstein Lavik Larsen, Marte Eberson, Fredrik Luhr Diecthricson and Andreas Winther. Drawing on Liv Andrea´s compositions and collective improvisations, the work appears as a collective project colored by tight interaction, and through the hour long work it´s notable how much the musicians enjoy playing with each other. Liv Andrea Hauge is an Oslo based musician, originally from Mosjøen in Northern Norway. She has studied jazz piano at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and despite her young age and carriere she has put a mark on the Norwegian music stage, with bands such as Kongle Trio and Ladybird Orchestra. In 2022 she released the album “Live From St.Hanshaugen” with Liv Andrea Hauge Trio, mentioned as one of 2022’s best Norwegian jazz albums

Stimela were a popular and successful South African Afro-fusion outfit led by guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, producer and arranger Ray Phiri. The band was formed under the name ‘The Cannibals’ during the 1970s when Phiri got together with drummer Isaac Mtshali, keyboard player Thabo Lloyd Lelosa and bass player Jabu Sibumbe. They initially started out as instrumentalists, but later evolved to Afro-fusion when they joined forces with vocalist Jacob “Mparanyana” Radebe in 1975. The story of ‘The Cannibals’ ends when Radebe died in 1978 but the ‘Stimela’ story was only just beginning.

In 1979, after a life-changing experience in Mozambique (where they were stranded for three months) the band members had to sell all their belongings to take a train home. This trip was a watershed moment as it was here where they conceived the new name for the band: The Zulu word for “locomotive-train” STIMELA.



Stimela would soon become little short of an institution in their home country of South Africa. With soulful tunes and gripping lyrics, the band has recorded platinum-winning albums such as Fire, Passion and Ecstasy, Shadows, Fear and Pain & Look Listen and Decide. In addition to recording their own material, the group supplied instrumental accompaniment on albums by a lengthy list of legendary artists. Stimela would go on to gain global fame after being featured on Paul Simon’s iconic 1986 ‘Graceland’ album and the mega tour that followed.



Ray Phiri would enter into many successful collaborations with major acts and artists such as Harari, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson and Manu Dibango. In 2017 he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died at the age of 70. Phiri has received many awards in recognition for his contribution in the music industry, one of these is the Order of Ikhamanga awarded to him by the South African president. This was to honor his sterling contribution to the South African music industry and the successful use of arts as an instrument of social transformation.



Stimela is the tale of a South African band who have battled their way through dark days to take their rightful place in the forefront of the South African apartheid-era music invasion. One of their most memorable tracks “Whispers in the Deep” was even restricted from being broadcasted by the old South African Broadcasting Corporation.



On the album we are presenting you today (Fire, Passion and Ecstasy from 1984) the unique sounds of Ray Phiri’s Stimela are fully showcased. Expect infectious hypnotic build-up grooves, cinematic lowdown jazz-funk, Afro-soul, delightful reggae, gospel influences and funky synth-boogie sounds…all with a touch of early eighties new wave and hints of Island disco mixed with sensual bubblegum pop. It comes as no surprise that the album has now become a sought-after item due to its addictive and original-sounding nature, a must-have for any self-respecting record digger!



These recordings completely encapsulate Stimela’s fusion style. They managed to craft a modern South African sound that continues to influence SA musicians to this day. Never in a rush, yet always with a sense of purpose and direction – like the steam train after which they took their name.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first reissue of this fantastic Afro-fusion classic since 1990 (originally released in 1984 on Gallo Records) & this is also the first time the album is getting a release outside of the African continent. This rare record (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited 180g vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies) complete with the original artwork. Also included is a double-sided insert containing rare pictures of the band.

Exotica, ye-yé cumbia, guaracha infused twist, rock’n roll mambo, Spanish rumba, boogaloo beat, tropical garage and other unexpected bastard genres are featured in this festive compilation of bizarre hits taken from the glorious catalog of records released during the 60s and 70s on the Peruvian label Discos MAG. Some clearly unite genres, others are projects with creative names, but all are bold musical initiatives that got and will always get people onto the dance floor. “Sabroso Go Go” brings together fourteen musical mixes created in the recording studios of Manuel Antonio Guerrero (MAG), in which music directors combine rhythm with alchemy in a quest to find the philosopher's stone of the dance. Exotica, ye-yé cumbia, guaracha infused twist, rock’n roll mambo, Spanish rumba, boogaloo beat, tropical garage and other unexpected bastard genres are featured in this festive compilation. Although this compilation begins in 1957, experiments like this (some more memorable than others) were not new in Peru. The songs on this album were however much more successful hybrids. Some clearly unite genres, others are projects with creative names, but all are bold musical initiatives that got and will always get people onto the dance floor. At the end of the fifties, rock music shook the foundations of Peru, and orchestras rushed to cover hit songs and explore the possibilities of mixing them with tropical music. Lucho Macedo's orchestra took up the mantle and reinterpreted a well-known guaracha by Celia Cruz ('Rock and Roll') in mambo style, renaming it 'Rock and roll Mambo'. 'Maestro de Rock and Roll', a hit by the Cuban Conjunto Casino, received similar treatment. Another mix in this vein is the rock tune 'El Rock de los Chinos' by the Mexican Manolo Muñoz (author of 'Speedy González') recorded by the Chilean Choche Mérida for MAG in 1961. The following year, Chubby Checker’s 'The Twist' hit the scene and was immediately fused with guaracha by maestro Nelson Ferreyra. A legendary MAG musician, Carlos Pickling, composed 'La Charanga del Espacio' in 1963. The space sounds are produced by Pickling and his inseparable Hammond. He himself is the one who leads the orchestra that accompanies Benny Del Solar, Lita Branda and Pablo "Melcochita" Villanueva in the tropicalized version of Spanish Rumba, when the beats of the Iberian rumba were still exotic in South America. Around that time, the Chilean Willy Marambio was already living in Lima. In the track included on this album, the go-go style showcases his virtuosity on the trumpet. Another outstanding trumpet player, Roberto "Tito" Chicoma from Chiclayo, played as a session musician with MAG from 1959. A few years later, he became one of the most popular Colombian cumbia players, a talent he demonstrates in the song on this compilation, which blends the fun of go-go with yé-yé beats. 'Batijugando' was a hit from Mexico and was played in all the rhythms played across the Hispanic world since 1967. Inspired by the "Batman" series, it was performed at MAG by the Betico Salas orchestra, with vocals by the Panamanian lady crooner Nallye Fernández. 'Computador Electrónico' is another surprise on this album, performed by Panamanian vocalist Patty Pastel, it is the only known version in Spanish of 'Der Computer Nr. 3', originally sung in German by France Gall. Two other songs feature Edgar Zamudio. The versatility of Zamudio y Los Vikingos (originally a Chilean group) is demonstrated in the guitar-heavy song composed specifically for the late sixties skate fashion ('Go Go en Patines') and in his idiosyncratic protest song ('Día de Pago') performed in beat style. In the mid-seventies, Los Kintos, led by guitarist Francisco Acosta, developed different harmonic ideas in an instrumental track that veers from boogaloo to salsa, the fashionable rhythm of the day. Finally, in 1976, when the bumping hips dance craze swept the continent, Manuel Guerrero was quick to jump onto the bandwagon, composing a Bump song, together with his son Carlos. The Italian musician based in Lima, Luciano Luciani performed the song 'A Bailar Bump' backed by his band of local musicians Los Mulatos.

Dream Wife melden sich in elektrisierender Form mit dem komplett selbstgeschriebenen und -produzierten Album 'Social Lubrication' zurück. Der einzige äußere Einfluss sind die Schwergewicht-Mixer Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Killers, Depeche Mode) und Caesar Edmunds (Wet Leg, Beach House). Auf dem aufrührerischen Werk greift das Trio wieder große Themen auf seine charakteristisch-unverfrorene Art an, verschmelzt das Politische mit dem Verspielten und versteckt entscheidende Messages in heißen Hymnen übers Rumknutschen, Spaß haben und neugierig bleiben.

'Social Lubrication', in den Worten der Band, ist: 'Hyper-lustvoller Rock'n'Roll mit einem politischen Schlag, der die Alchemie der Anziehung, der Lust am Leben erforscht, die Gemeinschaft umarmt und das Patriarchat herausfordert. Mit einer gesunden Portion Verspieltheit und Spaß.'

'Dream Wife just want to dismantle the patriarchy. The UK art punks make music that’s roiling with feminist rage and Spice Girls attitude.' - Rolling Stone

Coloured Vinyl

Mit seiner Musik vereint Apache 207 die unterschiedlichsten Genres wie R'n'B, Eurodance, 80s Pop und Hip-Hop. Der Zwei-Meter-Mann mit langer Mähne und Sonnenbrille steht dabei wie kein anderer eindeutig für die deutsche Rap- und Popkultur. Innerhalb kürzester Zeit nimmt er von Ludwigshafen aus mit seinen Songs den deutschen Musikmarkt ein und verkauft innerhalb von Minuten Arenen aus. Jetzt hat Apache 207 angekündigt: Am 9. Juni 2023 erscheint das neue Album Gartenstadt, dessen Titel eine Hommage an den gleichnamigen Stadtteil in Ludwigshafen ist, in dem Apache 207 mit Freunden und Familie aufwuchs.

Mit seiner Musik vereint Apache 207 die unterschiedlichsten Genres wie R'n'B, Eurodance, 80s Pop und Hip-Hop. Der Zwei-Meter-Mann mit langer Mähne und Sonnenbrille steht dabei wie kein anderer eindeutig für die deutsche Rap- und Popkultur. Innerhalb kürzester Zeit nimmt er von Ludwigshafen aus mit seinen Songs den deutschen Musikmarkt ein und verkauft innerhalb von Minuten Arenen aus. Jetzt hat Apache 207 angekündigt: Am 9. Juni 2023 erscheint das neue Album Gartenstadt, dessen Titel eine Hommage an den gleichnamigen Stadtteil in Ludwigshafen ist, in dem Apache 207 mit Freunden und Familie aufwuchs.

Ruhig verlief die Karriere von Sieges Even nicht. Nach den ersten beiden Alben verzeichneten sie den ersten Besetzungswechsel auf der Sängerposition, auf den Album „Sophisticated“ (1995) und „Uneven“ (1997) betrieben die Holzwarth Brüder (Bass und Drums) die Band weiter.
Doch man fand sich wieder mit Gitarrist Markus Steffen zusammen
und rekrutierte den Ausnahmesänger Arno Menses, der zuvor als Schlagzeuger aktiv war. Mit diesem Line Up eroberte man die Herzen der Progfans, aber auch die von anspruchsvollen Metalheads. Erneut waren Sieges Even zum richtigen Zeitpunkt am richtigen Ort.

„The Art Of Navigating By The Stars“ wurde in dem Black Solaris Studio von Uwe Lulis (heute auch bekannt als Gitarrist von Accept) aufgenommen und erschien bei InsideOut Music, damals im SPV Vertrieb. Es folgten traumhafte Kritiken, auch für die im Anschluss stattfindende Tournee.

Natürlich war 2005 nicht an Vinyl zu denken, so dass diese Wiederveröffentlichung bereits von vielen Fans erwartet wird.
Aber auch die CD ist seit einigen Jahren „out of print“, so dass auch hier Handlungsbedarf bestand. Die Grafiken der Doppel-LP im Gatefold wurde vom Originalkünstler Thomas Ewerhard erstellt und das Audiomaterial getrennt für Vinyl und CD remastert.

Das Konzept rund um „The Art Of Navigating By The Stars“ begeistert heute noch ebenso wie die sowohl vertrackte und harte, aber eben auch gefühlvolle Musik. Hier waren Sieges Even einfach die deutschen Großmeister.

Sieges Even‘s career has not been quiet. After the first two albums, the band had its first change of singer. On the albums „Sophisticated“ (1995) and „Uneven“ (1997), the Holzwarth brothers (bass and drums) kept the band going. But they ended up with the guitarist Markus Steffen and recruited the outstanding singer Arno Menses, who was previously active as a drummer. With this line up, the band has won the hearts of prog fans, but also of demanding metalheads. Once again, Sieges Even was in the right place at the right time.

„The Art Of Navigating By The Stars“ was recorded in the Black Solaris studio by Uwe Lulis (also known today as Accept‘s guitarist) and released by InsideOut Music, then distributed by SPV. This was followed by dream reviews, also for the tour that followed.

Of course, there was no question of releasing a vinyl in 2005, so this reissue is already expected by many fans. But the CD has also been „out of print“ for a few years, so it was also necessary to act in this context. The graphics of the double LP in gatefold were made by the original artist Thomas Ewerhard and the audio material was remastered separately for the vinyl and the CD.

The concept of „The Art Of Navigating By The Stars“ is still exciting today, as is the music, which is both complicated and hard, but also full of emotion. In this sense, Sieges Even were simply the great German masters.

"Come, Sweet Death" wechselt zwischen Brutalität und sich windenden Single-String-Melodien, die einen in die goldenen Zeiten des schwedischen Death Metal zurückversetzen!

Man sagt, dass je mehr sich die Dinge ändern, desto mehr bleiben sie gleich. Wenn es eine Sache gibt, die stabil geblieben ist, obwohl wir im Jahr 2023 leben, dann ist es, dass wir schwedischen Death Metal lieben. Dieser Stil hat sich in den letzten 35 Jahren zu einem unsererFavoriten entwickelt.
Irgendetwas am Gitarrensound macht einfach Lust, jede Veröffentlichung zu verschlingen, die als "inspiriert von frühen Entombed und Dismember" beschrieben werden kann. Das Gute daran ist, dass es eine unglaubliche Fülle von Bands gibt, die aus dieser Quelle schöpfen. Das Schlechte ist, dass dieser Reichtum dazu führt, dass viele Bands nicht mehr zu unterscheiden sind, weil sie sich so sehr ähneln.

Glücklicherweise gelingt es lmperishable mit "Come, Sweet Death", aus der Masse herauszustechen, was nicht zuletzt daran liegt, dass sie sich von den üblichen Merkmalen des Genres lösen. Und in gewisser Weise ist das keine Überraschung, denn die Bandmitglieder waren oder sind an Vampire, Portrait, Nominon und Dr. Living Dead beteiligt! Wie Sie vielleicht schon gemerkt haben, hat die Band vieleEinflüsse aus der Stockholmer Szene, insbesondere von Dismember, was nicht zu leugnen ist

Oorsprong is a tube, a line in a forest, a sound sculpture. Acoustics to be revealed. Activated by entering, it becomes a giant flute producing a tone that is so low, the body crashes into waves of pure pressure instead of sound. Untranslatable energy. CERCHI CERCHI by Lukas De Clerck (FKA: Bloedneus & de Snuitkever) is a quest in a forest to find traces of that untranslatable sound, its impact, its imprint, its memory. A hide and seek in which the body is concealed in the instrument, becoming its second voice, hidden but exposed.


I
whistling, organ pipe, voice
A whistle, a whisper, a play of breath. Echoes of a low pulse, colliding into each other.
Party in the background, a coach blows a whistle, a haunting scream echoes the whistling from inside, kids returning from a party.

II
voice, whistling
To give away your voice, a gesture. The initiative for an introduction.
Birds chirping, an F16 piercing through the sky.

III
kaval
A circular breath gently caresses a line of circles, making its surface ringing.
Birds chirping, voices of kids, kids shouting, the door of Oorsprong closes.

IV
oorsprong, two bass recorders
When tuning becomes rhythm, when rhythm becomes a beat of breath. A beat underneath the beating of tones. Feedback of flutes.
The clanging of 2 bass recorders, the ventilator of Oorsprong is turning on.

Launched in 2016, Lunar Orbiter Program continues to prove the ability of his pilot Torai who is just back from his second moon landing.

UK artist Jayson Wynters debuts on Pulp with four tracks of atmospheric house and funk that come complete with remixes by Jarren and Mogwaa.

Kung fu master Wynters hails from Birmingham and has been a key player on his local scene for years. More recently he has broken out with impressive EPs on mighty Dutch label Delsin and Adam Shelton's EON. He has a real love of hazy house and always brings his own unique take on that to his timeless analogue grooves. This latest EP was written during lockdown, which provided Jayson a chance to explore different sounds and delve into different styles.

Opener 'Solitude' proves that with its misty-eyed melodies and dreamy pads. The drums tumble loosely, the percussion has a frayed edge and the whole thing is coated in warmth and soul. Half Moon's Jarren is based in LA and brings plenty of that city's musical charm to his remix. It has far-sighted chords, soft-focus harmonics and well swung claps and drums that are simply irresistible.

Wynters then offers 'Corns Funk,' which pairs another dusty drum line with pinging kicks and woodpecker-like percussive hits. A superb twanging bass riff brings some real funk and retro-future feels as the groove builds and bright synths shine through the haze to enrich your soul.

'Night Drive' is a lush downbeat tune for sunset cruises. It has heart-melting chords that prompt deep inward reflection and features an aching guitar riff full of melancholy. The remixer for the one is Seoul musician and master beatmaker Mogwaa who layers in squelchy synth bass and dreamy, loved-up pads. Last of all, 'Uncle's Jam' is Dam Funk-style electro bliss doused in lo-fi chords and languid late-night funk and packed with romance.

Jayson Wynters shows off another superb side to his sound with his expansive Solitude EP.

Suma Vol. 1 (the woods) is the first of a serie of compilations coming out on Bukva Sound. You will find something deep, mellow and something for the floor. This time amazing music from Msymiakos, Vilhelm, Raas Kemp, Marco Lazovic, Aeon Four, Boj Luck & Ljudas.

Assured UK house producer Andy Ash takes care of the next EP on SAFTX while the equally esteemed Mark E steps up to remix.

For well over a decade now, Andy Ash has been turning out high-quality house music on a range of labels. Last year he served up a tasteful full-length on Quintessentials, the year before he dropped a double 12" on Still Music and he is also a regular at the likes of Delusions Of Grandeur. From deep and dusty to disco-tinged and dynamic, he has a stylish sound that is well-versed in the classics but always his own twist. He shows that again here with four fresh tunes which cannot fail to make you feel good.

Opener 'You:Me' features Faber and os brilliantly warm house groove. The drums and hi-hats are prefectly designed, the vamping chords bring a playful funk and swirling pads add diffuse late-night energy. It's timeless cut with nods to the US midwest and subtle vocal sounds.

Remixer and Merc label boss Mark E has a rich history of edits and originals on the likes of Running Back, Delusions Of Grandeur and Studio Barnhus. On this version, he lays down hazy, heavy kicks for a beatdown workout that comes alive with gorgeous synt work akin to all the best Detroit dons.

Ash's 'Momentary Days' is a slow and roomy, dubbed-out house swinger. Well-placed samples - vocal coos, guitar riffs, jazzy chords - all peel off the loose drums and can't fail to get you moving. 'Reach' is another humid house cut for cosy back rooms and basements. The Scruffy drums have frayed edges while dreamy melodies loop up top. It's a heartfelt sound that slowly turns you to deep inward reflection.

Last of all is 'Rico! Rico!', a downtempo jazz-funk jam with crisp broken beats, keys that take you to the Riviera and strings so lush you can almost feel the sun on your face.

This deep house music as it should be - raw, expressive and full of human soul.

Deepening the comic tones using cosmic relief, and lively vibes, La Science des Imbéciles (Ludicrous System), Brigitte Barbu’s sophomore sonic adventure, manifest a blurry creation intersecting orbital audio paths and damaged smoking instruments. Could have easily been called Birdless Science but it wouldn’t be funny…

High Roller Records, reissue 2023, blue jay/ white splatter vinyl, ltd 250, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover with 5mm spine, poster, insert, mastered and partially restored by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony

High Roller Records, reissue 2023, black vinyl, ltd 250, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover with 5mm spine, poster, insert, mastered and partially restored by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony

‘Deep Blue Dreams’ ist das Debütalbum des in Berlin lebenden, 26jährigen Musikers, Sängers und Produzenten Lucas Herweg alias LLUCID. Inspiriert von Vorbildern wie Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Frank Ocean oder Ty Dolla $ign, lässt LLUCID jegliche Grenzen zwischen Rap und R&B konsequent verwischen. Die 12 Songs stehen fernab aller Stil- und Genreschubladen und liefern Banger zwischen Rap und Trap, sanfte Soundwellen mit exquisiten Beats und traurigem Autotune, hymnisch-sakralen Hip-Hop und ein ungewöhnliches Duo mit der britischen Sängerin Kimbra, die mit ‘A Reckoning‘ bereits eines der Alben des Jahres veröffentlichte. Nach Kollaborationen mit Samy Deluxe, Hundreds und Wallis Bird und der ersten 6-Track-EP ‘Getting In Touch’ im Frühjahr 2022 auf Grönland pusht LLUCID jetzt konsequent sein Solowerk.

The definitive reissue of one of rock’s rarest and most sought-after albums – “acid-folk” – equal parts pastoral folk and contemplative psychedelic. The rst time since 1971 that this album has been pressed from the original master tapes, recently discovered in Italy. Lacquered directly from tape in an all-analog transfer by Bernie Grundman. This is the single LP version that we issued after the Now-Again Reserve Edition sold out. Mark Fry was 19 – recently graduated from high school and in Italy studying painting – when he walked barefooted into RCA’s Italian subsidiary, played some songs he’d written on his guitar and was signed to record the album that would become legend. The first recordings he made proved stuff, so he was paired with members of the Scottish band Middle of the Road, who were in Rome while under contract to RCA Italiana. Convening in a basement home studio with two 4-track reel-to-reel record- ers, Mark’s visions coalesced in a dreamy, airy manner – “Nick Drake meets Dr. Strangely Strange with a touch of Lewis Carroll” The Word Magazine would later write. Pressed in small amounts for Vincenzo Micocci’s RCA sub-label It, Alice remained an out of reach masterpiece for many but its creator, who returned to England in 1971 and subsequently traveled the world, playing music, sometimes recording and painting. By the time of its rediscovery, its master tapes were assumed lost. Their rediscovery allows this pristine transfer to reveal nuances not heard on anything but original It pressings.

Manuel Sahagun lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has a long history in the music industry. He is known for his unique sound signature which have landed him releases on great labels such as Freerange, True Romance, Minor Notes, Lazy Days and more. And this summer he tryst with Fortunea Records, bringing along his new 3-tracker ‚A Daily Noise‘.
The record starts off with ‚Dreams‘. Don’t expect with this title a fluffy, peaceful melancholic tale. This track pushes through the door with warm subs, galloping hi-hats, xylophones and an irresistible crunchy bassline that’ll get stuck in your head for hours and hours. An absolute belter!

The EPs title-track goes on in similar manner. This time built around an eerie pad that lurks from behind and comes more and more forward in the course of time. A sign for danger? Not at all. But an optimistic relief will come along when the climax hits the dancefloor.

Finally we have ‚Hostages‘ on B2. A deep house track which has a beautiful sense of gloom and curiosity to it. Manuel gives more drama to the track by adding abstract digital glitch noises and haunting synths. A substantial treat for the ears.

‚A Daily Noise‘ comes out on the 9th of June 2023. The vinyl is limited to 300 copies. There will be no repress!

Sieges Even‘s career has not been quiet. After the first two
albums, the band had its first change of singer. On the albums
„Sophisticated“ (1995) and „Uneven“ (1997), the Holzwarth brothers (bass and drums) kept the band going. But they ended up with the guitarist Markus Steffen and recruited the outstanding singer Arno Menses, who was previously active as a drummer. With this line up, the band has won the hearts of prog fans, but also of demanding metalheads.

Once again, Sieges Even was in the right place at the right time. „The Art Of Navigating By The Stars“ was recorded in the Black Solaris studio by Uwe Lulis (also known today as Accept‘s guitarist) and released by InsideOut Music, then distributed by SPV. This was followed by dream reviews, also for the tour that followed.

The debut album from London's finest, Hak Baker - 'Worlds End FM' represents the war in Hak's mind, the culture war on the streets of London and the individual battles of his community - from his mother to his brother to his best friends. In a year that will see Hak perform alongside Pete Doherty at The Royal Albert Hall, Jamie T at Finsbury Park & his own headline UK & Germany tours, the campaign has already garnered support from Rolling Stone, NME, Clara Amfo, Steve Lamacq, Jamz Supernova & partnerships with Dr Martens, Fred Perry, Fender, FIFA & Hugo Boss to name a few. Previous highlights include performing on Later with Jools, Glastonbury 2022 (Other Stage), the first artist ever to play at the BBC's new Eastbank site, selling out two Village Underground shows & been championed by the likes of Clara Amfo, Jack Saunders, Sian Eleri, Tom Ravenscroft, Jo Whiley, Huw Stephens & Charlie Sloth.

After an 8 year hiatus, Youth Lagoon return with their 4th album, 'Heaven Is a Junkyard'

“Come, Sweet Death” alternates between brutality and winding single string melodies that brings you back to the golden age of Swedish Death Metal! They say that the more things change the more they stay the same. If there’s one thing that has remained stable despite living in 2023 is that we love Swedish Death Metal. The style has become a favorite of ours over the past 35 years. Something about the guitar tone just makes you want to devour any release that can be described as “Inspired by early Entombed and Dismember”. The good thing is that there’s an incredible wealth of bands that draw from that well. The bad thing is that said wealth leads to a lot of bands becoming indistinguishable due to how same they are. Thankfully, Imperishable’s “Come, Sweet Death” manages to stand out from the pack, in no small part due to breaking away from the genre’s usual trappings. And in a way this is no surprise since the band members were or are involved in Vampire, Portrait, Nominon and Dr. Living Dead! As you might have already gathered, the band draws a lot from the Stockholm scene, more specifically Dismember, that is undeniable. What’s really interesting though is that they draw from their later, and more melodic influenced era as much as from the early days. Imperishable, like their peers effortlessly blends the aggressive buzzsaw riffing with leads brimming with melody, which most modern bands in the style avoid in favor of pure aggression. Said blend can be seen throughout their debut album, though it can be felt more on the longer tracks, like “Teeth of the Hydra” and “Fangs”, where the band has more room to develop their ideas and mix grinding Death Metal with NWOBHM-inspired leads and riffs. In short: Imperishable has great songs, great melodies, well-arranged structures and still is brutal, just like the great old bands were. And the production is spot on for this release. It is good to hear a band experiment beyond the confines of the original old school Swedish Death Metal sound. “Come, Sweet Death” is an extremely promising release, and a small breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale scene. Imperishable’s love for the more melodic aspects of the style make them worth keeping an eye on now and in future.

Donovan Woods was curious: What if he re-recorded Both Ways, his acclaimed 2018 record that won him a Juno Award for contemporary roots album, and distilled its 12 songs to their bare essence? An “acoustic reimagining,” if you will. “We started from scratch,” he says, from the instrumentation to his vocals to a fresh understanding of the heartache and regret that underpinned those songs. “There are no recording elements carried over from that album. It’s all brand-new.” Woods ended up with The Other Way, his album that brims with inspired interpretations of Both Ways that are intimate yet startling in their urgency. Released on May 3, 2019 on Meant Well, this release is a reminder of why the Canadian artist has become such a sought-after songwriter whose work has been recorded by Tim McGraw (“Portland, Maine”) and Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley (“Leaving Nashville”), with Spotify streams approaching nearly 90 million. You’ve always been able to hear and connect with Woods’ words. But an odd sensation washes over you when the varnish is wiped off of Woods’ songs. Somehow the lyrics burrow with even greater resonance and then linger like little smoke rings. For a producer, Woods enlisted ace guitarist Todd Lombardo, who produced Woods’ song “Portland, Maine” in 2015 and wrote and played most of the guitar parts on Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy-winning Golden Hour. Woods gave Lombardo artistic license not only to change the chords and song structures but to overhaul the arrangements with acoustic instruments and Lombardo’s luminous guitar work as the centerpiece. “I think this album draws out the pain and the darkness of these songs,” Lombardo says. “The record is about loss and failure and feeling like you fucked it up, and there’s no mistaking that. You hear every single word – and feel it, too.” Coming on the heels of “Go to Her,” Woods’ first song of 2019, The Other Way is so revelatory that it makes you wonder why he didn’t try this approach sooner. “It’s always been an interesting idea to me, especially when you’re an artist like me who inherently disappoints some people anytime your sound gets bigger,” Woods says. “But a really good song is a good song in any arrangement. It’s like a beautiful hardwood floor. You can put any furniture in there, and it’s going to look good.”

Rob Grant präsentiert sein atemberaubendes Debütalbum ”Lost At Sea”.
Grant hatte nie den Plan, Musiker zu werden. Er hat keinerlei musikalische Ausbildung genossen. Noten lesen kann er nicht. Aber wenn er sich an ein Klavier setzt, geschieht etwas Magisches. Die Noten strömen aus ihm heraus und es entsteht eine Komposition nach der anderen.

Als Vater der internationalen Ikone Lana Del Rey hat er eine ganze Reihe von Talenten eingeladen, an der Entstehung des Albums mitzuwirken.

Seine Tochter Lana Del Rey ist als Autorin und Produzentin tätig, während Jack Antonoff, Luke Howard, Laura Sisk und Zach Dawes an der Produktion beteiligt sind.
Sein Album inklusive der Tracks ”Hollywood Bowl” und ”Lost At Sea”, mit Vocals seiner Tochter Lana Del Rey, erscheint am 09. Juni und ist vorbestellbar auf CD und Vinyl.

Nach über 40 Millionen Streams war Oceans Ate Alaska bereit, ihr neues Album Disparity zu veröffentlichen.

Inspiriert durch die gemeinsame Vorliebe für Bonobo und Alina Baraz, veredelte Kollaborateur Clem Cherry die Produktion mit luftigem Beat-Handwerk und eindringlichen Klangakzenten. ”Für uns geht es darum,
die Hörer zu erheben”, sagt Harrison. ”Wir wollen, dass sie sich ermächtigt fühlen und erkennen, dass sie die Veränderung sein können, die sie wollen. Das ist es, was wir immer noch tun. Es ist schon lange her, dass wir ein Album herausgebracht haben, aber wir sind noch da.

Released via Earth Libraries, Cooper Wolken's debut solo album Chapters
translates the duality of darkness and sublime beauty with intimate
personal vignettes - This collection of songs, written across 2018 and
2019, are tied closely to moments in his relationships and personal life,
but all point to something universal
Realizing he'd accrued an album's worth of new music, Wolken brought together
guitarist Steven van Betten, bassist Marcus Hogsta, drummer Nick Hon, and
trumpeter/producer Louis Lopez to round out his compositions. The group set up
camp at Theo Karon's Hotel Earth, cramming an album's worth of tracking into a
weekend. The resulting Chapters honors that familial coziness, a record at once
diaristic in its familiar warmth and profound in its resonant emotionality.

Nein, so richtig hatte keiner mit dem Erfolg von „Crucchi Gang“ gerechnet. Das Mitte 2020 erschienene Debütalbum des gleichnamigen Bandprojekts basierte schließlich nicht auf irgendeinem ausgeklügelten Business-Plan, sondern auf einer spontanen Idee von Musikmanagerin Charlotte Goltermann, Element of Crime-Sänger und Autor Sven Regener sowie Francesco Wilking (Die höchste Eisenbahn, Tele).

Deutschsprachige Musiker und Musikerinnen singen ihre eigenen Songs auf Italienisch. Mit auf der ersten Platte waren Von Wegen Lisbeth, Faber, Sophie Hunger und viele mehr.

Jetzt folgt mit „Fellini“ die zweite Runde. Sie ist eigentlich eine nahtlose Fortsetzung der ersten, denn auch Wilking und Reising fanden Gefallen an den kleinen Fluchten aus dem Alltag – und entschieden sich, ohne große Pause weiterzumachen. Diesmal sind Musiker und Musikerinnen wie Tocotronic, Tristan Brusch und
Antje Schomaker dabei und interpretieren ihre Songs auf Italienisch.

Das Album macht Lust darauf, sofort südwärts zu reisen. Es ist gleichzeitig der Beweis dafür, dass Musik eine Sprache ist, die man auch dann versteht, wenn man die eigentliche Sprache nicht versteht. Klingt kompliziert? Ist es überhaupt nicht.
Setzen Sie sich in ihren Lieblingssessel. Schließen die Augen. Schenken Sie sich einen Drink ein. Wenn Sie rauchen, zünden Sie sich eine Zigarette an. Wenn nicht, holen sie sich ein Eis aus der Gefriertruhe. Und jetzt drücken Sie auf die Abspieltaste – capirete cosa voglio dire.

Harold Hutton’s ‘Lucky Boy’ was originally on the Chess sub-label Checker. Released in 1965 an original goes for around £50 these days. ‘Lucky Boy’ was the B-side of his debut single ‘It’s A Good Thing’ which launched him on a career that included regular spots on Soul Train during the 70s.Filled with Motown-esque horn stabs it builds into a bongo-powered frenzy.

The super soulful Dells’ flipside from a year later was originally on Cadet, another Chess subsidiary originally called Argo.Another £30-£50 gem if you can find an original copy. Typical of the band’s close harmony style, ‘Thinkin' About You’ is a mid-tempo groove with an insistent rhythm and some lush strings.

All topped with a heart-warming baritone vocal on a classic piece of soul romanticism.

A sonic love letter to Italy’s 2023 Capital of Culture, Brescia-Bergamo. Harnessing a creativity and energy without genre, boundaries or filters, Rebirth blends together independent musical paths, which were valid but otherwise fragmented, into a collective and identity project called 'Brixia Sonora' - a tribute to the Brescian music scene in its many facets and declinations.

An image of a city and its atmosphere. A photograph that may be imperfect, potentially blurry, yet alive and authentic. Pulsating. Incorporating multiple inspirations and influences: noise, minimalism, breaking the mold; weaves and beats, polyrhythm and polymetry, glitch music and organic music; and yet electronic fractals, jazz effusions, house beats, Balearic sunsets, post-metropolitan downtempo, other forms of rock. A cocktail of hybridizations that, under the direction of Rebirth, finds a balance on the edge of the unexpected, despite its diversity, infinite facets, and multiple identities.

Exploring the musical landscapes of the protagonists: Giovanni Battagliola, Paolo Cattaneo, Chris Benoit, Eke, Luca Formentini, Kick, Alessandro Pedretti, Corrado Saija e Giorgio Presti, Maniscalco, Materie, Matteo Gamba, Mattia Fontana. Solo projects, bands, collectives, DJs, and producers - a crossroads of generations and multitudes within which everyone has carved out their own space. 'Brixia Sonora' symbolizes a period of dialogue and exchange - from exchanging ideas to sharing passions, syncopated beats and new impulses, leading to the evolution of what is yet to come.

Pablo Valentino steps up on Handy with Kai Alcé on the remix!

The A1 fuses funk, guitars & piano to great effect, creating a slice of classic contemporary house. Kai Alcés remix adds extra percussion and drums to take it down dancier route.

Low-slung beats, warm synths and lush pads play in harmony on the B1 to great affect, 'Not Yet' rounds off the record with an eerie vocal seriously trippy percussions whilst still keeping it danceable!

You heard them first on Brown Acid “The Thirteenth Trip”. We are very excited to present to you the full unreleased recordings from this amazing band from Detroit. Master Danse was formed in late 1973 in Detroit, Michigan when drummer Tom Riss and bassist Cary Fletcher, formerly of the Detroit band Licking Stick, went looking for a new guitarist/lead vocalist and jammed with John Giaier, who had most recently played in the band Crawdad. The three musicians hit it off immediately, and a new power hard rock trio was born. In 1973, Detroit was clearly “Rock City”, featuring such local icons as Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad, Ted Nugent, and Mitch Ryder, and the high energy punch of Master Danse reflected this proud heritage. Unfortunately, this union would only last one year, and by the end of 1974 the power rock trio known as Master Danse had disbanded. What was left for posterity were only two live reel to reel recordings and one promo 45 single. Some forty-seven years later, the 45 found its way onto the internet and a small cult following of audiophiles was born, people who appreciate the raw power and high energy of early ‘70s rock. Bands like Master Danse and others from this era were riding the wave of transition from the pop rock sound of the ‘60s to an edgier sound that would eventually lead to metal and punk music. With the help of modern-day tape restoration techniques, the two live recordings were restored, and together with the 45, the best versions of the eight songs that have survived the decades are featured on this album. Although recorded live forty-eight years ago on a two-track stereo tape recorder, you can still feel the power of Giaier’s Marshall stack, Fletcher’s twin Acoustic 360 amps, and the relentless attack of Riss’ Ludwig drums. So, sit back and enjoy. Rock on!

Introducing a new scintillating, transatlantic collaboration from Names You Can Trust and Loboko, a new group created in the fertile ground of modern New York City's melting pot. The band's debut recording features the young Congolese vocalist and guitar virtuoso, Yohni Djungu Sungu, alongside Soukouss-Stars legend and master bassist in his own right, Ngouma Lokito. The group is rounded out by drummer and co-founder Morgan Greenstreet (himself a contributor to NYCT and Combo Lulo's debut recording, amongst others). He, along with Yohni, helped spawn the group's few but raucous NYC live appearances with various members throughout a couple year period before 2020.

Built upon those influential jam sessions, Loboko took two original compositions to the studio in an effort to document some of the traditional Congolese music they have been cooking up. Rooted in a now ubiquitous guitar-driven sound of African soukous that have permeated the greater Caribbean music landscape for up to six decades, Loboko's take on the ethnic Baluba rhythm, mutuashi, adorns the single's A-side as "Kanyunyi." The B-side stand-out "Ekenge" draws from the Seben style. It's a familiar sound to those sound system aficionadas, an intoxicating guitar combination that has reverberated from the heart of the Congo, through a wave in France's popular African music industry, and into the discerning selections of Colombia's Pico culture. Loboko's original take on these rhythms is quite unique in 2023, eschewing any modern production crutches for the raw pedigree of an electrified trio, and ultimately represents a clear window into the group's authentic live performances.

Jealous of the Birds – the musical moniker of acclaimed Northern Ireland-based singer-songwriter Naomi Hamilton - releases her eagerly awaited new album, Hinterland, due via Canvasback/Parlophone Records on Friday, May 19. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Declan Legge, the album is preceded by first single Morse Code, which is accompanied by an animated, official video - directed by filmmaker Andrew William Ralph (Lil Uzi Vert, Iggy Pop) and the recently released second single Beginner’s Luck.

Hamilton spent lockdown working on new music, inspired in part by the untamed figure of Walt Whitman, American sensualist, vagabond and laureate of the wild spaces. Armed with potent, patient new songs like “Beginner’s Luck” and “Borderwalker,” Jealous of the Birds set to recording Hinterland at studios in Northern Ireland including Newry’s Big Space Studios and Analogue Catalogue Vintage Recording Studio

As the siren’s song echoes out of systems worldwide, perhaps we are (re)turning to the liquid age of dance; with natural ephemera such as moss, sentiments for ecology such as swamps, and mercurial aspects of water all absorbing the aesthetic forefront. A return to nature, a deep dive under the lily pads. Here Marijn with her debut EP guides our plunge, a trip previously taken via her podcasts on Kulture Lab, where you can also find her previously released music.

Whispers from the ethereal plane drift around the headspace, a rumble in the distance of sound traversing the water, voices to guide and to keep you from floating too far from the line. Audio hallucinations are aplenty when submerged, a serenity of space, yet distant growls assure that peace is not always 2 be found. The melancholia within the daydream, the pang of loss caught in reflections, internal and from the water, with the lily pads floating above as a guiding entity, an anchor, something to hold. Under the lily pads we rumble.

On the flip everyone’s fav casual breaks n rave hooligan Luca Lozano asks the recurring thought within dance music, a question we quest, yet rarely want the answer. Abstraction via squeaks and tweaks, you better bop your bleepin’ head to this 1.

‘Leave A Message’ leaves the tranquil waters disturbed and rippling to the outer edges, providing jumps for the lily pads to ride on the incoming tide, with the ebb and flow making way for a storm surge. Aka big beats are the best, a notion the directly honest final track ‘Made (Drums)’ follows, bringing a twisted jack attack logic to a deranged assembly of samples, a manic orchestra of tumbling drums who have conspired to freak out, albeit with cute bubbles underneath to revel in the allure of sonic mania.

Names You Can Trust presents the second release in their "Panama Gold Series" and the first official reissue of one of the heaviest holy grails to come out of the isthmus, the Jungle Rat USA. This impossibly rare 45 was originally issued in 1971 as a promotional 7-inch on the independent imprint Discos Nino. Its origin story has remained utterly elusive and unknown — until now. The newly remastered press contains both original sides: the raw funk masterpiece "Just Love One Another," and "Have a Little Faith," one of the finest old school examples of the coveted souldies style that has taken the modern day record world by storm. Licensed and researched with the help of the Jungle Rat's musical director Dwight Brewster, this deluxe reissue includes a lush 10-page photo booklet with liner notes, detailing the full account of the twists and turns of Brewster and his band's journey from New York City to Panama.

Lucky For You is Bully's most close-to-the-bone album yet. It's an album that's searing and unmistakably marked by its creator's experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on-and it's all soundtracked by Bognanno's rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that's impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno's put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them. Work on Lucky For You began last year, when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. "Authenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it," she explains while discussing their recording process together. "It was great with J.T., because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to emphasize what's actually good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much he cared about the project, and it meant alot to me." The album came together over the course of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date, but that time allowed inspiration to emerge in new ways. The result is a kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk's grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for. Lucky For You's thematic focus zooms in on grief and loss: The record is largely inspired by Bognanno's dog and best friend Mezzi passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis. The oceanic first single "Days Move Slow" was written shortly after Mezzi's passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno's incisive wit in the face of adversity. "There was nothing I could do except sit down and write it, and it felt so good." And then there's the passionate opening track "All I Do," which kicks in the door with huge riffs atop her lyrical reflections on three years of sobriety. "Once I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it's still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I've moved on from?" In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small stuff. "I'm so overly emotional and sensitive, it's a blessing and a curse" she says with a laugh, but there's no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it's the latest bit of evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back.

Lucky For You is Bully's most close-to-the-bone album yet. It's an album that's searing and unmistakably marked by its creator's experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on-and it's all soundtracked by Bognanno's rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that's impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno's put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them. Work on Lucky For You began last year, when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. "Authenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it," she explains while discussing their recording process together. "It was great with J.T., because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to emphasize what's actually good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much he cared about the project, and it meant alot to me." The album came together over the course of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date, but that time allowed inspiration to emerge in new ways. The result is a kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk's grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for. Lucky For You's thematic focus zooms in on grief and loss: The record is largely inspired by Bognanno's dog and best friend Mezzi passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis. The oceanic first single "Days Move Slow" was written shortly after Mezzi's passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno's incisive wit in the face of adversity. "There was nothing I could do except sit down and write it, and it felt so good." And then there's the passionate opening track "All I Do," which kicks in the door with huge riffs atop her lyrical reflections on three years of sobriety. "Once I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it's still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I've moved on from?" In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small stuff. "I'm so overly emotional and sensitive, it's a blessing and a curse" she says with a laugh, but there's no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it's the latest bit of evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back.

Lucky For You is Bully's most close-to-the-bone album yet. It's an album that's searing and unmistakably marked by its creator's experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on-and it's all soundtracked by Bognanno's rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that's impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno's put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them. Work on Lucky For You began last year, when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. "Authenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it," she explains while discussing their recording process together. "It was great with J.T., because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to emphasize what's actually good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much he cared about the project, and it meant alot to me." The album came together over the course of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date, but that time allowed inspiration to emerge in new ways. The result is a kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk's grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for. Lucky For You's thematic focus zooms in on grief and loss: The record is largely inspired by Bognanno's dog and best friend Mezzi passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis. The oceanic first single "Days Move Slow" was written shortly after Mezzi's passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno's incisive wit in the face of adversity. "There was nothing I could do except sit down and write it, and it felt so good." And then there's the passionate opening track "All I Do," which kicks in the door with huge riffs atop her lyrical reflections on three years of sobriety. "Once I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it's still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I've moved on from?" In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small stuff. "I'm so overly emotional and sensitive, it's a blessing and a curse" she says with a laugh, but there's no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it's the latest bit of evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back.

Legendary New York band M'lumbo distil experiences from their pre-pandemic shamanic travels into their stunning new album The Summer Of Endless Levitation. The eight-track vinyl LP is an avant-garde take on folk music informed by painter and sculptor Jean Hans Arp's 'Biomorphic' works and it serves as a sonic renewal of self.
The cult M'lumbo collective has been a legendary and groundbreaking act since first forming in the mid-80s. They cross genre boundaries as they draw on jazz, world, electronic, rock and experimental music that escapes the commercial world and take you into another realm entirely. There is no limit to their sound; each member brings their own cultural background to the mix, making the band all the more unique.

As the coronavirus pandemic struck, three members of the band Rob Ray Flatow, Paul-Alexandre Meurens and Brian O'Neill under-took a regimen of shamanic traveling in New York City. The experiences led them to spontaneously compose and perform a suite of pieces, informed and inspired by Jean Hans Arp's works but also by the feelings of isolation and indefinite exile yet to come in their urban environment.

Compared to the works they have done as part of the larger M'lumbo band, this album is a more modest and naive affair that is "a vehicle for the renewal of feeling using only a few instruments - acoustic and electric guitar, keyboard, flute, small percussion, kalimba and clarinet - and locating a sense of both the deep sadness and uplifting powers of reverie."

'There Are No Words' kicks off with heavenly chords and organic percussion that recalls the jungle jazz of Don Cherry, then 'Shoreline' is a five-minute dub with percolating rhythms and new age melodies before the soul-soothing acoustic guitar of 'The Afternoon Levitation' blisses you out on a sunny day. The perfectly entitled 'Swoon' is another gloriously uplifting piece of musical spirituality that fuses the electronic and synthetic with the ancient and ritualistic. There is more jungle jazz, big-band horn work and cosmic synth modulations of 'Open The Heavens' while 'Quanta' is a shuffling, jumbled mix of radiant chords, wigged-out electronic lines and celestial charm. 'Planetfall' goes from free-form jazz to double-time techno and back to cathartic ambient. The final trio of tracks conjures up everything from the transcendental jazz of Alice Coltrane to the cinematic downtempo of Calm.

Clear color vinyls + MP3 Download Code

Das Südlondoner Speakers Corner Quartet begann 2006 als Hausband der legendären Spoken Word- & Hip-Hop-Nacht Speakers Corner in Brixton und unterstützt seitdem Musiker live und im Studio (u.a. Sampha, Kae Tempest, Tirzah, Dean Blunt, MF DOOM, Lianne La Havas). Sie verfeinerten ihr Handwerk und ihre Vielseitigkeit als multiinstrumentale Produzenten und präsentieren nun ihr Debütalbum 'Further Out Than The Edge' mit einigen der aufregendsten Namen der unabhängigen Szene: Tirzah, Kelsey Lu, Shabaka Hutchings, Coby Sey, Sampha, Kae Tempest, Mica Levi, Joe Armon-Jones, Lawfawndah, Léa Sen und mehr.

Various Artists - A Giant Has Nowhere To Go: Tongue Master Records Presents Selections From Comes With A Smile (2000-2006) LP + 7' + 4 page booklet insert describing the legacy of the magazine, 500 only pressed. A vinyl only release. "A Giant Has Nowhere To Go: Tongue Master Records Presents Selections From Comes With A Smile (2000-2006)" is a celebratory vinyl-only release drawn from the magazine's sixteen cover-mounted compilation CDs. Across some 300 tracks, the magazine presented previously unheard tracks from its eclectic array of interviewees drawn from the worlds of the Singer Songwriter, Americana, Post-Rock, Electronica, and all things Indie. Comes With A Smile's designer/editor Matt Dornan's association with Tongue Master Records began with the first TM 7" and has continued to the present day. In some ways the association has come full circle with this curated release. The selections on this album represent the place where the worlds of Tongue Master and CWAS converge. Most remain exclusive to the magazine, and all appear on vinyl for the first time. Side one features artists who appear in the Tongue Master discography - from established masters Mark Eitzel, Mark Mulcahy and Howe Gelb to the equally idiosyncratic stylings of New York's The Scene Is Now, Athens' Sigmatropic (featuring Edith Frost) and London's cinematic The Real Tuesday Weld. The latter revisits a CWAS favourite, featuring a newly recorded vocal by Sephine Llo, exclusive to this release. Other contributions include intimate demos from Eitzel and Gelb (better known in embellished form by American Music Club and Giant Sand respectively), to standalone gems like Mulcahy's "Elephantine" (which gives this collection its title) and the bruised avant-garde blues of The Scene Is Now's "The Word". The tracks on side two and the accompanying 7" are a diverse selection drawn from the 16 CDs CWAS issued between 2000 and 2006 that reflect and complement the oeuvre of Tongue Master Records. Here you will find the dense literature-infused art-folk of Lullaby For The Working Class, the sparse acoustic balladry of Nina Nastasia and the curious Matmos-enhanced stylings of veteran polymath and fellow New Yorker David Grubbs. In their wake comes an epic jazz-tinged duel between Douglas McCombs's Brokeback and sometime labelmates Chicago Underground Duo, and the raw gothic Americana of Blanche. The LP concludes with a haunting lo-fi lament by the sorely missed Jason Molina in his Songs: Ohia guise. The 7" presents two further gems: a concise edit of the lengthy title track from a 2005 12" tour EP from CWAS regulars The American Analog Set, and an acoustic rendition of a track from the album 'The Great Destroyer' by shapeshifting veterans Low from the same year. Together the 14 tracks hint at the breadth of the CWAS archive, a treasure trove from a not-too-distant musical past. With full lyrics, a special four page insert tracing the history of the magazine, and an Alex Wharton Abbey Road cut, this quality release is a testament to the legacy of CWAS. 'Probably the best independent music magazine in the world '- ESQUIRE // Tracks: SIDE ONE: 1 The Scene Is Now - 'Words' (3:10) 2 Howe Gelb - 'Wolf Pup' (4:42) 3 Mark Mulcahy - 'Elephantine' (4:12) 4 Sigmatropic featuring Edith Frost - 'Haiku 4 (Alt)' (2:31) 5 Mark Eitzel - 'Bought A Book' (3:36) 6 The Real Tuesday Weld featuring Sephine Lo - 'Dreaming of You' (3:47). SIDE TWO: 7 Lullaby For The Working Class - 'In Defense Of Abstractions' (3:18) 8 Nina Nastasia - 'I Will Never Marry' (3:29) 9 David Grubbs- 'Aging Young Lovers' (2:53) 10 Brokeback With Chicago Underground Duo- 'Chomsk, Live!' (7:08) 11 Blanche -'Never Again (Demo)' (3:26) 12 Songs: Ohia - 'Untitled' (3:01). 7" SIDE 3: The American Analog Set - 'Everything Ends In Spring (Edit)' (4:41). SIDE 4: Low - 'Walk Into The Sea (acoustic version)' (3:07) For indie stores only!

***
Solitary shadows.
Taking their last breaths
in the fading fire.
Lust and lavish beatings,
slipping away slowly.
***

The atmospheric aquatic adventures of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASPs) provided the perfect grounds for the evolution of Barry Gray’s own musical odyssey. After navigating otherworldly vistas with experimental minimalism in Fireball XL5, Gray anchored Stingray’s underwater exploits with a cannon of earth-bound incidentals. Employing flutes and gentle woodwind sounds to set the scene, Gray’s music drew attention to the wonder of the series premise, employing lush heavenly strings for the series’ closing theme, ‘Aqua Marina’ (a croon brought to life by in-demand vocalist Gary Miller). The off-duty exploits of the WASP characters also allowed Gray to return to his jazzy routes, with the production team adding a loving reference to the composer in the episode Tune of Danger with a ‘Graystein’ Piano. Episodic melodrama was once again brought to life with bold brass, and driving military marches would establish the WASPs’ base, Marineville, and an unforgettable Match of the Oysters (in The Secret of the Giant Oyster). The DNA of the which would foreshadow the iconic theme for the Andersons’ next series…

Closing Time foreshadows the distinctly lyrical storytelling and original blending of jazz, blues, and folk styles that
would come to be associated with Waits. It is on this debut album that Waits performs enduring classics of his career
“Ol’ 55” (famously covered by the Eagles), the heartbreaking “Martha” and the gentle acoustic folk of “I Hope That I
Don’t Fall In Love With You”. Reissued for the first time as a double LP to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
landmark debut with newly half speed mastering at Abbey Road Studios

Closing Time foreshadows the distinctly lyrical storytelling and original blending of jazz, blues, and folk styles that
would come to be associated with Waits. It is on this debut album that Waits performs enduring classics of his career
“Ol’ 55” (famously covered by the Eagles), the heartbreaking “Martha” and the gentle acoustic folk of “I Hope That I
Don’t Fall In Love With You”. Reissued for the first time as a double LP to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
landmark debut with newly half speed mastering at Abbey Road Studios

Limited to 1000 copies on Sea Blue vinyl! There's freedom to be found in consistency. Until recently, Juan Wauters may not have agreed with this statement. As a touring musician and multinational citizen, transience had always come naturally to him. Circumstance, however, recently prompted him to reconsider the benefits of staying in one place. His most introspective work to date, Wauters' sixth solo album Wandering Rebel finds the artist taking stock of how he's changed, how the world sees him, and what he wants out of life. Written mostly during an extended break from touring, the songs on Wandering Rebel are candid reflections on subjects like career ("Wandering Rebel"), romantic commitment ("Amor Amor"), mental health ("Nube Negra") and the personal toll of touring ("Let Loose"). On "Modus Operandi," he voices his frustration with New York's fairweather residents, who fled the city at the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown. Vocal contributions from fellow New Yorker Greta Kline (Frankie Cosmos) add to the chorus of playful disapproval. On the singalong-worthy "Millionaire," he turns his eye to the west coast: "It's hard to get around Los Angeles / If you don't have a car / I'm staying in a privileged part of town / It's suspicious for me to be walking." The clarity with which Wauters approaches these subjects lyrically is reflected in the music as well. His trademark eclecticism is still present (fans of Real Life Situations' spirited hip-hop should look to track 6, "Bolero"), but it's more refined this time, anchored in his signature Latin-influenced indie folk. Wandering Rebel is peppered with delicate additions that add depth throughout: rain sounds and hand drums on "Nube Negra," a strings section on "Modus Operandi," a gentle vibraphone on "Amor, Amor." Some of these are classic Wauters touches, but others are owed to outside influences, like production from Brooklyn-based Carlos Hernandez (Ava Luna, Carlos Truly) and Brazilian indie artist Sessa, as well as vocal contributions from Kline, Luz Elena Mendoza (Y La Bamba), Zoe Gotusso, and Super Willy K. Throughout Wandering Rebel, Wauters attempts to reconcile the stability he's come to enjoy with the nomadic restlessness that's characterized his life thus far. In the end, though, it's the interplay of both of these elements that makes the album so strong.

Like the winged half-man/half-bull that dominates its outrageous cover, Cleveland Eaton's Half And Half is a mutant bass-heavy monster that absolutely slays. Incredible jazz-funk from 1973, it's been largely overlooked for decades, and unfairly so. This is just sensational music - a crate digger's delight. It's super funky throughout, with lots of layers, jazz breaks for days, dripping with style and gritty class. This is the first reissue of what has been a hard to find record for many years; it's long overdue. Joyous music for mind, soul and body.

Cleveland Eaton was a revered bassist who played an active role in the backing of Count Basie, the Donald Byrd Quintet, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, Terry Callier and Minnie Riperton; amongst many, many others. Half And Half was the first album released under his own name, initially released as a private press record on his - awkwardly named - Cle An Thair Records. It was then picked up by Gamble & Huff for Gamble Records. Varied, string-adorned and with stupid funky grooves, it's just exceptionally good.

Whilst Half And Half is treasured for its famously brilliant interpretations of gold funk-soul standards, Eaton proves an imaginative composer in his own right. Indeed, the album opens with a striking original; the earthy, laconic jazz-guitar-funk fusion of "Keep It Funky". Cleveland and co. do exactly that. Up next is a properly moving cover of Aretha Franklin's eternal "Day Dreaming". The flute and guitar combo truly achieve celestial greatness here. "Here Comes Funky Lou" rides a bassline from the Gods and a driving soul-jazz groove allows the track to go off in all sorts of directions. Serene guitar soul of the breezy variety one moment, crazy hectic violin-driven wig outs the next, courtesy of Ed Green who played with Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane.

His blistering two track salvo of Stylistics covers to close out this A-Side of A-Sides will leave your jaw dropped, and they're likely the reason you're here for this. And why not? "Betcha By Golly Wow", which uses a bed of acidy synths and harmonica to create a unique atmosphere, is on some next level business. Melancholic, wistful, beautiful. "People Make the World Go Round" is so good, dripping in wonderful horns and ace percussive breaks, it could even be regarded as the definitive version. Seriously!

Opening Side B, War's gigantic "Slipping Into Darkness" is tightly tailored to Eaton's funky flute fusion arrangement whilst the insistent "Missing You" is a swaggering horn-heavy version of Luther Ingram's track from the Dilla/Ghostface-linked LP, I've Been Here All The Time. The creeping, screeching guitar-drenched original "John's Groove" features more fantastic horn lines and neck-snapping percussion whilst "The Love Gangster", written by Bill Wyman and Stephen Stills for his seminal Manassas LP, contains a heavy break with slick drums high in the mix and fuzzy guitars.

The album closes with two more Eaton originals. Written with Johnny Guitar Watson, "Lie" is one hell of a funky string and guitar-driven gem whilst the wild, celebratory "Ah Movin' On" cleverly quotes "Wade In The Water" (which he'd recorded with Ramsey Lewis in 1966) folding it into his new free-jazz composition. A message to his old boss, perhaps, as a sign-off?

We've worked on this reissue for 3.5 years, spending the whole time making it sound super sharp and looking as perfect as it possibly can. An absolute must-have for fans of soulful jazz-funk, Half And Half was mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis and cut by Pete Norman at Final Tweak. The bizarre artwork, mutant beast and all, was restored at Be With HQ over many painstaking months! Hopefully, this new edition, a real labour of love, should bring Cleveland Eaton into the homes and record boxes of many more people.

Eric Johnson, der mit einem Grammy ausgezeichnete Multi-Genre-Gitarrist, liefert mit Yesterday Meets Today & The Book of Making zwei Geschwister-Alben, die während des Pandemie Lockdowns fertiggestellt wurden. Johnson hat Inventur gemacht - sowohl emotional als auch musikalisch - und die vielen unvollendeten Tracks, Outtakes, Demos und klanglichen Ideen in seinem Archiv durchforstet, um die 18 Songs zusammenzustellen, die schließlich auf den Alben landeten: "Jedes Mal, wenn ich eine Platte mache, mache ich normalerweise zwei Platten; ich lagere einige der Stücke, die ich nicht verwendet habe, im Tresor", erklärt Johnson. Mit dem Luxus der Zeit war Johnson in der Lage, zwei vollwertige Alben abzuliefern, wobei weitere Tracks Ende des Jahres als EP veröffentlicht werden sollen.

Verpackung: Schwarzes Vinyl mit Standardgewicht. Standard-Hülle. Inklusive 11x11 Einleger mit Lyrics und Album Credits