Cerca:majesty

Originally released by Bethlehem Records in 1959, NINA SIMONE AND HER FRIENDS was a compilation album comprised of the few remaining, unreleased tracks from the Little Girl Blue recording session plus songs recorded by two other former Bethlehem artists, the powerhouse jazz vocalist Carmen McRae and the elegant song stylist Chris Connor.

As Daphne Brooks explains in the release’s brand new essay, “Bethlehem clustered their work—tracks that had previously appeared on the label’s Girlfriends compilation—together with the younger, upstart Simone’s and essentially offered up a collection of songs that span a range of genres—folk, jazz, pop song staples, and torch song laments, plus a couple of provocative original compositions by McRae and Simone. Each track is a reminder

of the clear-eyed independence, verve, and confidence of three artists whose music, taken together, brims with the majesty and the assured talents of the late 1950s women artists who led with conviction and invention as musicians and song interpreters.”
Featuring a brand new stereo mix by four-time Grammy winner Michael Graves. Includes new essay by author of Liner Notes For The Revolution, Daphne A. Brooks.

Working closely with two time Grammy winner Victor Rice (Easy Star All- Stars, Bixiga 70, Ticklah), JonQuan fashions brand new tunes that evoke the majesty of the golden age of reggae.

The digital version is 20 tracks with instrumentals and vocal versions while the vinyl version features all 10 of the vocal versions on black vinyl.

The singles released from this album have caught the ear of the tastemakers of the reggae world, including David Rodigan, who has spun multiple songs on his weekly BBC show

The previously unrecorded Drone Mass was described by its composer, the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, as “a contemporary oratorio”. Written for voices, string quartet and electronics, it was commissioned and premiered by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, aka ACME, who toured and recorded with Jóhannsson for almost ten years. Now they have made the world premiere recording of this richly atmospheric work, in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices, conducted by Paul Hillier, also a multiple Grammy Award-winner. The members of both ACME and Theatre of Voices worked closely with the composer many times, both in the studio and in multiple live performances and tours, before his untimely death. Drone Mass is an extraordinary, mysterious accomplishment which at times bears comparison with the meditative minimalism of composers such as Arvo Pärt or Henryk Górecki. Beginning with strings and voices, but slowly integrating Joìhannsson’s electronic techniques into its landscape, the work represents what the Icelandic composer called “a distillation of a lot of influences and obsessions”.

Very limited new repress coming, note new price. An air of the unsettled is a staple of Robert Lloyd’s career, from The Prefects’s dank dexterity and jittery paranoia of the first Nightingales’ release, Idiot Strength, onward through four decades of top-notch recordings. If the unique persona of Lloyd and crew always came across on their ten albums and countless line-ups, it was largely as an acquired taste of the musical cognoscenti. Labels good and bad seemed to feel, at one point or another, a public duty and a point of pride to release a Nightingales album before returning to the business of business. Four Against Fate is remarkable. It’s the work of what’s now the band’s longest-serving line-up. The instrumental precision of any version of Nightingales has been one of the band’s defining hallmarks, but the psychic interplay of a group can take a few albums to kick in with full majesty - here’s proof of that. The rhythm section of Fliss and Andi functions now on a purely intuitive level. Jim’s work now ranks with that of any guitarist in modern ‘rock’ music, not just in originality, but also across an egalitarian mass of inspiration. Each member sings. Although Robert’s voice functions as the band’s superego, Fliss takes lead in several songs. Few bands today sound as much like a single unit as do Nightingales, but this group has the bonus of a distinct and credible musical language, exemplified by The Desperate Quartet, which comes across as both a medieval war march and the anthem of looming apocalypse. When at the song’s halfway point, American classical musician Clara Kebabian’s violin and Mark Bedford’s (of Madness) double bass overtake the Robert, Fliss, Jim and Andi, it’s a jawdropper of such intense perversity that it alone defies the listener to not play the album again from the start. Not that this album lacks ‘hits’ - The Top Shelf, Everything Everywhere All Of The Time, Devil’s Due and The Other Side are stunners. Robert claims Four Against Fate is the first of his album on which he skips no tracks on playback! Finally, the world has awakened to one of British music’s last treasures. After forty years of new labels, this is the first time Nightingales have released an album on the same label as their last full-length.

P.E.’s sophomore album, ‘The Leather Lemon’, ushers in a new era for the New York band. A wild ride through chewy bubblegum pop, sweeping synthetic orchestrations and mutant club beats, the album slides ever closer to the fully-realized pop sensibility only winked at with their debut album, ‘Person’ (2020), and subsequent releases.

 Recorded primarily at Schenke’s Studio Windows in Brooklyn, NY, ‘The Leather Lemon’ was cultivated from a fertile creative period between spring 2020 and summer 2021, which also yielded 2021’s acclaimed ‘The Reason For My Love’ EP.

 Digging into mystery, romance and sex appeal, the album centres its sound within a Bermuda Triangle of dance music, electronic composition and experimental rock. Members Jonathan Schenke, Bob Jones and Jonny Campolo play within pop parameters, building upon free-form collaboration to create a fluorescent groove machine that harnesses the energy of their frenetic live shows.

 Singer Veronica Torres explores her softer side, expanding her vocal repertoire from spoken word and jagged growls to cherubic and sensuous psalms.

 Sax virtuoso Benjamin Jaffe’s chiseled experimental tone is heard in an extended solo of true romance in ‘Tears in the Rain’, a sombre surrealist duet penned by Torres and Andrew Savage, singer/guitarist of Parquet Courts.

 It is a reckoning record for the times; an album of psychedelic resurfacing, real-time response to world events, and soft, sympathetic magic. This is a collection of songs shaped by five individuals who embrace music-making as a way to centre themselves in times of uncertainty; it’s resilience and imagination given shape. ‘The Leather Lemon’ is a true sweet-and-sour listening experience, an album as bright and clear as it is fractured and fun.

Diego el Cigala is, with any doubt, one of the greatest flamenco geniuses of our times. Not only because of his voice and charisma, but also for recording such vast and wide discography singing with majesty and no complex any style he could be challenged to perform. At Flamencoenvinilo we wanted to re-catch one of his early works back to his flamenco roots: "Entre Vareta y Canasta" (18 Chulos) was originally published in the year 2000 and, as many of his works, this album has proved the test of time and it has become a true classic. This will be the first time this album comes out on 12". Limited to 500 copies. Accompanied by Niño Josele (guitar) and a large group of percussionists, "Entre Vareta y Canasta" the second album by Diego El Cigala made him known among many people outside the traditional nucleus of flamenco for his simplicity, purity and mastery. The unique voice of this artist moves with naturalness and feeling in styles as different as martinete, bulería or fandangos.

As the tides change and the majesty of the moon once more begins to illuminate our forgotten domain, the hotly-tipped Incus has made the jump to hyperspace and determined that now is the time to unleash his neoteric creation into the macrocosm of music. At the behest of the sonic social masters, "INC.AUDIO" will be deemed a passion project, but in reality it will rip the very fabric of what it means to have a personal creative outlet, curtailing boundaries and expectations alike. Based on the creed of freedom of experimentation, the label will allow Incus and close friends within the industry to share their creative expressions within a familial and contemporary framework free from third-party limitation.

For now we start at the first chapter of the INC.AUDIO narrative, and the inaugural release which comes from the architect himself. His first solo EP contains 4 tracks conceived at home during lockdown, combining new sound design techniques developed through the mediums of trusty Korg Hardware and Ableton live. The end product is a consummate representation of the benefits of free time, reckless abandon and zero red tape.

Kicking off with "Design Your Mind", Incus draws on his longstanding influences collected via years of crate-digging and supporting underground idols in the UK and Ibiza. Shuffling percussion, jittering stabs and percolatin' chords wax and wane, submitting us to the will of its deep, minimal groove with a sultry sensibility. Next is "New Dog Old Tricks", the one with "that" bassline. No holding back from the get-go, the punching percussion is waylaid sporadically by erratic tones and steadied by placid, ambient chords. The charming breakdowns are peculiarized by a haunting saxophone sample, firmly establishing the clear-cut level of advancement and attention to detail achieved by the creator.

"Calm in the Chaos" steps back from straight-up grooving, inviting an equatorial temperature to come and play. Tantalising acid-inclined bass notes perforate the horizon, aiding the insistent percussion and creating a sunny, party-ready disposition infectious as they come. Feel like you're on a beach or in a rainforest? Snap. After the party we finish in the "Morning Haze". Alien-like frequencies and UFO bleepology steer the good ship Incus on this extra-terrestrial journey through the tech-house heavens to its final resting point. The seductive vocal cut adds a beautiful edge to the track, creating a minimal yet also expansive soundscape perfect for disembarkment. So, now you see what INC.AUDIO is all about, why wouldn't you stick around? Fight the bureaucracy and become who you need to be today, not tomorrow.

"The beauty of Jiha's work lies in the spaces she leaves" - The Guardian
The highly acclaimed Korean multi-instrumentalist and composer Park
Jiha, returns with a luminous third album
A deep meditation on the intersection of music and light, The Gleam further
extends Jiha's reputation for uncompromising sonic explorations. Pop Matters
called her musical art "a near flawless fusion of folk tradition and new
composition."
How often do we consider light? We revel in the soft wonder of a sunrise or the
majesty of a glorious sunset, but all through the day its quality and texture is
continually changing, second by second, in ways we rarely register. That beauty is
the inspiration for The Gleam.
"The Gleam continues Park Jiha's solo expedition into experimental Korean
neoclassical braindance. Once again, she plays all the instruments herself – piri
(an oboe), saenghwang (a multi-pipe mouth organ), yanggeum (a dulcimer) and
glockenspiel – overdubbing multiple parts to build songs that shimmer with
levels and degrees of light." - The Wire: Adventures In Modern Music Upcoming
live shows

Der Klassiker "The Savage Poetry" bekommt zum 20 jährigen Jubiläum noch einmal eine Neuauflage mit komplettem Remastering und ist erstmals als Vinyl erhältlich.

Gut 20 Jahre nach Veröffentlichung des viel beachteten vierten Edguy-Albums "Savage Poetry" (ursprünglich 2000 erschienen) kommt nun eine neue Version - als Digipak und erstmals als Vinyl (in verschiedenen Farben).

The second Be With foray into the archives of revered German library institution Selected Sound is one of our favourites, Sound Inventions from Klaus Weiss Rhythm And Sounds, originally released in 1979.

From the notoriously strong mind of Niagara drummer / library-funk overlord Klaus Weiss, Sound Inventions is loaded with tripped out studio funk-freakery, mad samples and swaggering abstract funk grooves. From dramatic deep disco with dark Italo/Moroder leanings to heavy German funk breaks, this is absolutely sensational. Absolute synth-and-string-drenched magic.

Born in 1942 in Gevelsberg, Germany, Klaus Weiss began his career as a jazz drummer at sixteen (with a group called the Jazzopators) before working with the internationally successful 60s groups the Klaus Doldinger Quartet and the Erwin Lehn Big Band. In 1965 he formed his own trio, the first of many groups to bear his name, and as his renown as a bandleader grew over the next decade it naturally lead to working in production music.

About as cult as it gets when it comes to library music legends (German or otherwise), he produced essential records on German library labels Coloursound, Selected Sound and Sonoton, as well as making two essential entries in the Conroy catalogue. Collections of music in the trademark Klaus Weiss sound of electronics unsurprisingly built on top of sometimes funky, sometimes frenetic, but always hard-hitting drums.

Sound Inventions is one of those library records with a hefty track list, 22 in total, but they’re all pretty stunning. That’s not something you can often say and picking out the highlights is almost impossible. If pushed, we’d steer you towards the tough teutonic funk of “Drumcrazy”, the by turns juddering and sweeping majesty of the title track “Sound Inventions”, the aquatic serenity of “Glide”, the elegant strut of “Greenwich Street”, the muted, eerie cosmic-funk of “Air Space”, the squelchy acid-clavs of “Rhythm Function”, the calming, melodic “Waves”, the stuttering proto-Timbaland sensation that is “Rainbows” and the percussive funk-fuelled workout of “A Few Cuts”. Phew. Heavy indeed!

Founded in the late 60s by German composer and musician Klaus Netzle, Selected Sound began as a production music company specialising in jazz, orchestral and electronic recordings. You can’t miss those early LPs in their iconic glossy metallic copper sleeves with minimal German typography. Serious, classy stuff.

This re-issue of Sound Inventions has been mastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis from audio from the original tapes. Richard Robinson has handled reproducing the glossy metallic (iconic) original Selected Sound sleeve. Essential.

2022 may bring much much uncertainty to the world but one thing we know for a fact is that we are introducing our most innovative and intriguing new act in years – the French duo Archil & Leon with their five track debut (appropriately called) “Blooming”.

Having both released in the past independently, Archil & Leon were originally brought together thanks to their teenage band His Majesty and from there, their passion to create music together never has faltered. Leon is a veteran session and live drummer who also produces music for his own dance project Ongaeshi and the dance collective moovance. Archil is an accomplished solo electronic musician and the force behind Archil Lab handmade musical devices. Using elements like springs (Springophone) and wheels (Roulettophone), his instruments are lovingly manufactured in wood and somehow carry the characteristics of modular gear but in the most unconventional way possible.

At a first listen, Archil & Leon’s music comes off as a well oiled live jam but as you dig deeper, it’s clear these tracks have a precision and style that separates them into a category of their own. Their EP “Blooming” is the result of two full years of being locked in their studio, writing and experimenting together. Indeed, an underlying flow of 70’s funk permeates throughout their music, however pigeonholing them into such a stereotype would be a travesty as they have impeccable song writing skills and their self made instruments conjure an experimentalism which is through and through rooted in electronic music. We can only hope that fans of now-classic Jamie Lidell / Super_Collider will appreciate where they are coming from, and you agree their “sound” is brilliantly individual. After all, they created their tracks literally from the ground up.

Watch more about Archil & Leon and their wonderfully outlandish instruments.Das Jahr 2022 mag viel Ungewissheit in die Welt bringen, aber eine Sache, die wir mit Sicherheit wissen, ist, dass wir euch mit dem französischen Duo Archil & Leon unseren innovativsten und faszinierendsten neuen Act seit Jahren vorstellen werden. Passenderweise trägt ihre ihre Debüt 5-Track EP den Titel "Blooming".

Archil & Leon haben beide in der Vergangenheit unabhängig voneinander Musik veröffentlicht haben und kamen ursprünglich durch die Teenager-Band His Majesty zusammen. Von da an hat ihre Leidenschaft, gemeinsam Musik zu machen, nie nachgelassen. Leon ist ein erfahrener Session-Musiker und Live-Schlagzeuger, der auch Musik für sein eigenes Tanzprojekt Ongaeshi Studio und das Tanzkollektiv moovance produziert. Archil ist ein versierter Solo-Elektro-Musiker und die treibende Kraft hinter den handgefertigten Musikinstrumenten des Archil Labs. Seine unter Verwendung von Elementen wie Federn (Springophone) und Rädern (Roulettophone) hergestellten Instrumente sind liebevoll aus Holz gefertigt und erinnern irgendwie an modulare Geräte, aber auf sehr unkonventionelle Art und Weise.

Auf den ersten Blick wirkt die Musik von Archil & Leon wie ein gut geölter Live-Jam, aber wenn man tiefer gräbt, wird klar, dass diese Tracks eine Präzision und einen Stil haben, die sie in eine eigene Kategorie einordnen. Ihre EP "Blooming" ist das Ergebnis von zwei Jahren, in denen sie sich im Studio eingeschlossen haben, um gemeinsam zu schreiben und zu experimentieren. Ein unterschwelliger Flow von 70er-Jahre-Funk durchdringt ihre Musik, aber sie in eine solche Schublade zu stecken, ginge gehörig am Thema vorbei, denn die beiden haben tadellose Fähigkeiten was das Songwriting angeht und ihre selbstgebauten Instrumente zaubern einen Experimentierfreude hervor, der durch und durch in der elektronischen Musik verwurzelt ist.

Wir sind uns sicher, dass Fans von dem jetzt schon klassischen Jamie Lidell / Super_Collider Material ahnen, woher der Wind hier weht und von welch individueller Brillanz Archil & Leon's Sound ist. Immerhin haben die Jungs ihre Musik wirklich von Grund auf neu kreiert. Schaut Euch ihre wundervollen, außerweltlichen Instrumente auf ihrer Website oder YouTube an

Carl Finlow keeps on keeping on. As the world changes around him, the veteran producer continues to do what he does best - craft top-quality electro tunes which invoke the sound's Drexciyan heyday, yet carry themselves with an assurance that is all of Finlow's own.

Finlow remains a prolific producer more than a quarter of a century on from his emergence. Still averaging several records a year across a variety of aliases, recent times have seen Finlow forge particularly strong links with the Central Processing Unit label. Now, after a run of EPs for the Sheffield imprint which began with 2018's 'Projections', Finlow's Silicon Scally project offers up CPU's first drop of 2022 in the form of the 'Field Lines' LP.

Silicon Scally productions have long been marked out by how they combine piston-precise beat programming with more textured synth play. 'Field Lines' runs with this formula to deliver some of Finlow's most atmospheric material to date. At once shadowy and expansive, listening to 'Field Lines' is the aural equivalent of taking a night-time drive around some futuristic metropolis.

The beats cruise sleekly here. Many of these burbling machine-funk numbers hover at mid-tempo, the crisp clip of their drum programming given shape and depth by all sorts of percussive tones fizzing around at the fringes of the mix. Even when 'Field Lines' seems to set its sights on the club - the Bunker Records-aping 'Amino', for instance, or the dystopian whizz-bang of 'Static Fire' - the tracks here strut sturdily rather than giving in to full-on freakouts.

However, from this sturdy base, Finlow moves outwards. Working with tones which range from rapid-fire machine-gun bass to keening, dawn chorus keyboard pads, Finlow leads us through the futurescape with the expertise of a seasoned guide. Cuts like 'Submerged' and 'Yield' are brilliantly cinematic, blooming from those reliable drum pulses into miniature masterpieces of nocturnal electronics. Elsewhere on 'Field Lines' there is a mechanical majesty to 'Inhibitor' and 'Altered Domain' which invokes the brave new worlds that Kraftwerk repeatedly conjured in their heyday.

Central Processing Unit's first release of 2022 is 'Field Lines', an LP of electro-funk explorations from Carl Finlow's Silicon Scally project which will thrill regardless of whether it's experienced through headphones or out on the dancefloor.

RIYL: Drexciya, Kraftwerk, Cygnus, Annie Hall

Acclaimed UK electronic musician Kevin Richard Martin (The Bug, King Midas Sound) releases a stunningly powerful rescore of Andrei Tarkovsky’s seminal 1972 movie Solaris on Phantom Limb.

In May 2020, British musician Kevin Martin was invited by the Vooruit arts centre in Gent, Belgium to compose a new score for a film of his choice. Having been long inspired by pioneering Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, Martin tells us that his 1972 masterpiece Solaris was the “natural choice”. The film is an unattested giant, not only of science fiction and Soviet film, but also in the annals cinematic history. And its original score, composed by regular Tarkovsky collaborator and early Soviet electronic musician Eduard Artemyev, is a magnificent work of haunting majesty, a key element to the film’s brilliance. Martin’s challenge was great: “it was with a certain amount of trepidation I stepped into such large footprints,” he writes.

The results - an all new score entitled Return to Solaris - are breathtaking. The film is intense, psychologically devastating and bleakly compelling. Interweaving themes of love, horror, sorrow, nostalgia, memory and dystopia, Martin’s score expertly mirrors this expansive breadth of psychic weight, from existential dread to heartbreaking poignancy, with immense emotional gravity. Drawn to its “narrative struggle between organic, pastoral memories of a lost past, and the harsh, dystopian realities of a futuristic hell,” Martin employs atonal noise, simmering waves of distorted synthesis, undulating drones and otherworldly, astronomic sound-design to crushing effect. Subtly submerged recurring motifs - reflections of individual characters - rise and fall amidst the fog, occasionally illuminating the doom like motes of starlight, before settling back into the density of space.

Eric Gales is a blues frebrand
Over 30 years and 18 albums, his passion for the music and his boundless desire
to keep it vital has never waned, even when his own light dimmed due to his
substance struggles. Throughout it all, he continued to reinvigorate the art form
with personal revelation in his lyrics and bold stylistic twists in his guitar playing
and songwriting. Five years sober, creatively rejuvenated, and sagely insightful,
Eric is ready for the fght of his career. Aptly, he calls his masterful new album,
'Crown', out January 28th, 2022, on Provogue/ Mascot label Group. Here, Eric
opens like never before, sharing his struggles with substance abuse, his hopes
about a new era of sobriety and unbridled creativity, and his personal refections
on racism. The songs are delivered with clarity and feature Eric's personal
experiences and hope for positive change. In addition, the 16- track collection
boasts his fnest singing, songwriting, and his signature guitar playing that burns
throughout. Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, this is Eric at his most
boldly vulnerable, uncompromisingly political, and unfinchingly confdent.
The 'Crown' album journey is exhilarating, and, much like Eric's life, winds through
moments of victory and vulnera-bility. Along the way, Eric shares his story and his
feelings through the majesty of the blues. He says: "When I play, the core is
always the blues, and on this album, we go through a theme park of the blues,
exploring all kinds of blues. We visit the carousel, the bumper cars, the water
rides, the concession stands, and we all come out with smiles."
• 'Crown' was produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, and features
contributions from ace songwriters Keb Mo, Tom Hambridge and James House •
Eric Gales' most recent album, 2019's 'The Bookends', debuted #1 on the
Billboard Blues Album chart and that year Eric won a Blues Music Award for Blues
Rock Artist Of The Year • Extensive social media and lifestyle campaigns on
Facebook, Google, YouTube, along with online adverts on key websites • Reviews,
consumer ads and interviews in a wide range of media including Blues, Rock,
Mainstream, Lifestyle and newspapers

Earlando Arrington Neil became Early B on the Jamaican sound system scene, working his way through Soul Imperial, King Majesty and other sets before coming to prominence in the early 1980s on Kilimajaro, where he became known as ‘The Doctor’ for unleashing his lyrical cures on the mic. Recording for various producers from 1981, Early B reached another level upon linking with deejay-turned-producer Jah Thomas in 1984, the humorous hit ‘Sunday Dish’ leading to this explosive LP of the same name, an enduring classic of early dancehall that also features the equally hilarious ‘Learn Fi Drive.’ All killer, no filler!

A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 was created with hope and inspiration in mind. The spirit of the album was meant to emulate what a greater day would sound and feel like. We were in the midst of some tough political and socially challenging times. There was still hurt, anger and pain lingering, so I was thinking, “what is the next step in this revolution?” I thought about what being still in these times had brought me and that was a peace beyond understanding, a greater love for self, a closer connection with God, and more appreciation for my family, friends and the simple things in life. I wanted to write about that and create music that embodied that. What does a new day, a brighter day feel like being told through an emcee and some gifted musicians? How could this music be an example of the beautiful aspects of revolution that include joy, self-love, compassion, dreams, peace and good times? As a piece of art, I believe we took it to different places musically only to come back to the original intention. To bring joy to people’s hearts, fun to their lives and smiles to their souls. ABR2. Love Common RADIO: 6Music A List, Album Of The Week on 6Music, support across BBC R1, 1XTRA, Radio 2, 6Music. PRESS: Features in Huck, New Cue, DIY, Daily Star, The Guardian, Line Of Best Fit, MOKO, Clash, NME and more… “If ‘…Pt 1’ felt like a look at the progress we made last year, then this follow up stares down the road ahead – not with trepidation, but with boundless optimism” – DIY **** ‘A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 2’ is the soundtrack to a new revolt. It’s about unity in the face of adversity and bringing awareness to the Black struggle. But at its core it’s a celebration of Black pride that sees Common in full swing as a champion of peace, love and freedom.” - NME “This is Common’s most hopeful album in years” – The Independent “A late career high” - Clash

A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 was created with hope and inspiration in mind. The spirit of the album was meant to emulate what a greater day would sound and feel like. We were in the midst of some tough political and socially challenging times. There was still hurt, anger and pain lingering, so I was thinking, “what is the next step in this revolution?” I thought about what being still in these times had brought me and that was a peace beyond understanding, a greater love for self, a closer connection with God, and more appreciation for my family, friends and the simple things in life. I wanted to write about that and create music that embodied that. What does a new day, a brighter day feel like being told through an emcee and some gifted musicians? How could this music be an example of the beautiful aspects of revolution that include joy, self-love, compassion, dreams, peace and good times? As a piece of art, I believe we took it to different places musically only to come back to the original intention. To bring joy to people’s hearts, fun to their lives and smiles to their souls. ABR2. Love Common RADIO: 6Music A List, Album Of The Week on 6Music, support across BBC R1, 1XTRA, Radio 2, 6Music. PRESS: Features in Huck, New Cue, DIY, Daily Star, The Guardian, Line Of Best Fit, MOKO, Clash, NME and more… “If ‘…Pt 1’ felt like a look at the progress we made last year, then this follow up stares down the road ahead – not with trepidation, but with boundless optimism” – DIY **** ‘A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 2’ is the soundtrack to a new revolt. It’s about unity in the face of adversity and bringing awareness to the Black struggle. But at its core it’s a celebration of Black pride that sees Common in full swing as a champion of peace, love and freedom.” - NME “This is Common’s most hopeful album in years” – The Independent “A late career high” - Clash

Originally released by Bethlehem Records in 1959, NINA SIMONE AND HER FRIENDS was a compilation album comprised of the few remaining, unreleased tracks from the Little Girl Blue recording session plus songs recorded by two other former Bethlehem artists, the powerhouse jazz vocalist Carmen McRae and the elegant song stylist Chris Connor.

As Daphne Brooks explains in the release’s brand new essay, “Bethlehem clustered their work—tracks that had previously appeared on the label’s Girlfriends compilation—together with the younger, upstart Simone’s and essentially offered up a collection of songs that span a range of genres—folk, jazz, pop song staples, and torch song laments, plus a couple of provocative original compositions by McRae and Simone. Each track is a reminder

of the clear-eyed independence, verve, and confidence of three artists whose music, taken together, brims with the majesty and the assured talents of the late 1950s women artists who led with conviction and invention as musicians and song interpreters.”
Featuring a brand new stereo mix by four-time Grammy winner Michael Graves. Includes new essay by author of Liner Notes For The Revolution, Daphne A. Brooks.

Atomnation's 90th release is to be an album from long time associate David Douglas. He first appeared on the label in 2012 and now Escapism is a triumphant return across 10 tracks of deeply melodic and melancholic electronic music, with artwork by Menno Fokma.

David is a consistently high quality and prolific producer who has put out key albums like Moon Observations and Spectators Of The Universe, as well as vital EPs such as Mountain Pink and Royal Horticultural Society. He is an accomplished video editor who also edits documentaries while at the same time being an all encompassing producer. David finds inspiration in the majesty of the cosmos and the grandeur of nature and manages to capture the essence of that in his music.

This is an album that finds a perfect balance between heady underground sounds and more catchy pop tracks - an accomplished and adventurous album that takes you on an emotional ride through the ups and downs of everyday life, all with a delicate musical touch.

If one always looks at the sky, he will end up with wings, a wise French man once declared. Halifax, Nova Scotia based musician Jeremy Costello had wings, long before he looked up. Wings of imagination. Brandishing in his head, transforming deep-rooted emotions into poetry and sound. Since 2012 the Canadian self-releases music as Special Costello, a moniker under which he records solo or with local friends like Saxophone player Nick Dourado or guitarist Dave Burns. His lyrics are sincerely woven poetic enunciations that balance between introspective emotions and existential philosophical demands. Lyrics from a spirit that is in love without an object, unconditional, mirroring his very own subconscious inner being. The music reflects his tempers in many colours. Glimpses of Synth-Pop, psychedelic rock nuances, traces of new romantic utopia, infantile Casio minimalism, Shoegaze haze, drama wave: Special Costello blends many styles, uniting all in his very own musing grandeur of pop music.

After an array of digital releases, Berlin based label Marmo Music now publishes the Special Costello touch for the first time physically fabricated on vinyl. Seven songs featuring the longing voice of Jeremy Costello, sometimes in correlation with spoken words and dialogues by noted artists, poets, and scientists. All creations have been recorded by himself between Spring 2017 and winter 2020, using the extrasomatic help of instruments and machines like Farfisa Combo Compact transistor organ, Roland JX3P polyphonic analog synthesizer, Roland D50 linear synthesizer, Roland Rhythm Composer TR-08, Arturia Microbrute monophonic analog synthesizer or a Gibson Thunderbird IV bass guitar. In communication with his sensitive inner blues, they created an atmospheric voyage into the heart of Special Costello, that fulfils Arthur Russel’s sapient declaration: being sad is not a crime! Seven musical paintings full of intimate, vibrant feelings and existential thoughts, veiled in an antidepressant neo new romantic glam. An epic tune like “The Next Day”, in which Costello’s singing links with thought-provoking spoken word samples, sounds like Robert Ashley is meeting Hans-Joachim Roedelius in a psychic séance with Brian Ferry. In comparison, a song like “If Not Depression, Then What?” grooves with a pulsating wave bass figure and an overall gently floating electronic majesty, while Costello’s voice takes deep listeners to an unknown higher ground. On the other hand, a composition like “Unsetting” offers a nonchalant graceful funk drift with reverberant hand claps, minimal guitar strains and a chromatic synth pop grace. Above all the music Costello’s voice cries, screams, whispers, and weeps with a compelling introspective elegancy, that invites to associate intensely with the nonpareil Special Costello touch.

Written, composed, and recorded by Jeremy Costello between 2016 to 2020 in Halifax, Scotch Village and Toronto (Canada).

Instruments used by the artist: Farfisa Combo Compact transistor organ, Roland JX3P Programmable Preset Polyphonic Synthesizer, Roland D50 linear synthesizer, Yamaha DX7 Frequency Modulation/Programmable Algorithm Synthesizer and TX7 FM Expander, Roland Computer Controlled Rhythm Composer TR-08, Arturia Microbrute Analog Synthesizer, Gibson Thunderbird IV bass guitar, MicroKorg Synthesizer/Vocoder, Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser, Memory Boy Analog Delay, Alesis Quadraverb, and finally, their voice was recorded using Shure Beta57A and AKG D 330 BT dynamic microphones.