Viscardi & Il Duo Magnetico is the new collaborative project between italo-swiss DJ, producer and singer Pascal Viscardi,
Yavor Lilov and Alain Sandri, respectively drummer and percussionist of the swiss cult band L’Éclair.
The three musicians joined forces in Geneva and worked in the studio for the past two years with Viscardi as the main
vocalist, Lilov producing the tracks and playing drums, bass and keys, and Sandri on guitar, percussion, and backing vocals.
The result is a unique and contemporary version of italian pop, peppered with new-wave, boogie, disco and world music
references.
On Sale Sole Pascal's mellifluous lyrics float on a midtempo boogie groove, projecting visions of sun drenched cities and
summer sunsets. On the flip side Jamba Club is a reggae infused slow burner, reminiscent of night encounters and forgotten
love stories.
Sale Sole / Jamba Club marks the project’s debut release and serves as a sneak peek into the upcoming full-length album,
set to release on Cosmic Romance in fall 2023.
Cerca:mark force
To mark its ten year anniversary, Mexican Summer presents a new, limited edition pressing of No Joy’s classic album Wait to Pleasure expanded with two new tracks from the beloved band's original line up. Wait To Pleasure is the product of the Montreal noise-pop band’s first foray in a fullyfurnished studio environment. Here the band has flourished, delivering their finest set to date, rooted heavily in shoegaze ripcurls and devastating melody, finishing sentences whispered long ago with depth, variance and force. Singer-guitarists Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd and drummer Garland Hastings knock down the fence between nostalgiaand modernity, chaos and control, in a perfectly- realized effort made to bridge their uncompromised musical pasts with the alarmist tendencies of the present. Wait To Pleasure found No Joy set loose in Mexican Summer’s studio, Gary’s Electric, for two weeks in 2012, with producer Jorge Elbrecht at the helm. “Our earlier records are purely guitar-based, rock band lineups,” Laura adds, “and with Wait To Pleasure we seized the opportunity to change things up a bit.”
Long out-of-print release available digitally for the first time. Extensive notes by a local writer in English and French. Previously unpublished family photos. Urbanized traditional music at a dance-floor-friendly tempo. The very definition of an "Awesome Tape From Africa". Roger Bekono made a deep mark in the contemporary history of Cameroonian music through the four-on-the-floor, ribald intensity of bikutsi. The Ewondo-language dance-pop style that forms an undulating tapestry of interlocking triplet rhythmic interplay came to international prominence in the European "world music" scene as the 90s began. But the relentless sound of bikutsi developed in Yaoundé at the hands of Bekono and many others, as it developed from a village-based singing style performed mostly by women into a cosmopolitan music force that rivaled the popularity of established musics like Congolese rhumba, merengue and makossa. With his unique—some say suave—voice, Bekono contributed much over a period of more than 10 years as part of the evolution of this traditional rhythm-turned-urban dance movement. Bekono worked with legendary producer Mystic Jim, who had built a prolific home studio along with a crack team of musicians. They joined as part of the production of his self-titled album, which became known locally as "Jolie Poupée," the name of the album's lead single and most popular song. For "Jolie Poupée" Mystic Jim programmed the kick or bass drum, adding effects to have a heavier bass. Overall the album represented a new level of finesse and professionalism for his second release. In the middle of 1989, Jolie Poupée was released by the label Inter Diffusion System and aggressively hit the radio, discos and national television. The music video for the title track was on loop on TV. It felt like everyone was talking about it, even artists in adjacent music scenes like makossa. The album came out on vinyl and cassette and remains Bekono's best-selling recording to this day. With Jolie Poupée Bekono finally made an impact outside Cameroon as the record captured listeners in some Central African countries like Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo and Sao Tome & Principe. In these countries, we find the Fang or Mfan people (also known as Ekang), Bantu-speaking ethnic groups that are also found in Cameroon. This umbrella language group includes the language in which bikutsi is mainly sung. Most of Bekono's songs are in French, Ewondo (of which Beti is a dialect) and Pidgin. The four songs on Jolie Poupée are all considered bikutsi classics. On September 15, 2016, Bekono died of a long illness at the age of 62. In the wake of his passing the media published a wave of tributes, thanking him for what he did for Cameroonian music. He was an admired musician, songwriter and guitarist, and some of his old colleagues and some of the new generation of performers showered Bekono with vibrant tributes via social media, many of which noting something to the effect of: "The artist dies but his works remain."
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
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.
- A1: Permeate
- A2: Unity Gain
- A3: Eyes Shut Feat Faye Houston
- A4: What Is The State Of Our State (Part 1) Feat Repeat Beat Poet
- A5: Your Invasion Is A Lie Feat Idris Rahman
- B1: Unforgotten, Unforgiven
- B2: What Is The State Of Our State (Part 2) Feat Repeat Beat Poet
- B3: Flames Feat Faye Houston & Tamar Osborn
- B4: Refuge (Interlude)
- B5: Refuge
Albert’s Favourites label founder Scrimshire is set to release bold new album 'Paroxysm'. In the last few weeks of October 2022, Scrimshire wrote a new collection of songs with the descriptive working title "Scream". A direct response to the absurdity of the breakdown in the UK government, the horror of the treatment of refugees arriving on our shores and the callous disregard for the trauma being caused to low-income people or anyone considered "other". While self-preserving Conservative MPs fought for their jobs, record profits were announced by energy companies as they were gouging crippling amounts of money from people's pockets. The anger, sadness, mourning, and frustration he felt was poured into these recordings.
Originally named “Scream 8”, ‘Unity Gain’ was one of the early outpourings from those sessions. Piano and drums bubble up until it fully boils over with huge stabbing synthesiser and string sounds in an outburst of frenetic energy. "Division seems to characterise our daily experience”, says Scrimshire. “How does a society stop the callousness and corruption from seeping into its bones?".
Singer Faye Houston features on both ‘Eyes Shut’ as well as, alongside saxophonist, composer, and multi-wind instrumentalist Tamar Osborn, on ‘Flames’. About the latter Scrimshire explains, “One person can breathe fire into your life and the world, leaving an indelible mark. The album was influenced hugely by a friend we sadly have lost. I think of it like the heat you still feel after a fire has gone out”.
London-based poet and emcee The Repeat Beat Poet captures moments of time, thought, and feeling on ‘What Is The State Of Our State’, a furious yet succinct stream-of-consciousness diatribe in two parts. From afrobeat and reggae-influenced London band Soothsayers, clarinetist and saxophonist Idris Rahman features on ‘Your Invasion Is A Lie’, an ever-progressing, cosmic-jazz track.
The elegiac ‘Unforgotten, Unforgiven’ features saxophonist Nat Birchall, on which Scrimshire says "This is dedicated to the politicians who have forced refugees into life-threatening decisions. Pushing people into the hands of traffickers, into small boats and too many beneath the waves of our seas. Who force the lives of men, women, and children into more danger, in the hope of escaping war, poverty and persecution only to meet more cruelty and persecution. It won't be forgotten, and it won't be forgiven".
Scrimshire’s last album, 2021’s 'Nothing Feels Like Everything', received an Album of the Year nomination at the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards and last March he was named by the Guardian as one of three producers behind the new wave of UK soul, alongside Inflo (Michael Kiwanuka, Sault, Lil Simz) and Swindle (Joel Culpepper, Greentea Peng, Kojey Radical). Albert’s Favourites was formed by Adam, Dave Koor, and Jonny Drop, who designed the logo and artwork, and has released records by The Expansions, Hector Plimmer, Huw Marc Bennett, Pie Eye Collective, Qwalia, Ronin Arkestra.
Early support from Huey Morgan, Amazing Radio specialist playlist, Gideon Coe. Previous support from Gilles Peterson, Mary Anne Hobbs, Jamz Supernova
- A1: Short Term Agreement
- A2: Slump (Feat Freddie Dredd)
- A3: Grub (Feat Jeshi)
- A4: No Witness (Feat Apoc Krysis)
- A5: 9873465923846637282385
- A6: Theroom
- A7: External Memories
- A8: Saint-Laurent (Feat 8Ruki)
- A9: Focus Point
- A10: Syntheticcigarette Interlude
- B1: Find The Bag (Feat Baby.com & Lord Pusswhip)
- B2: Hollowhunt
- B3: Panic!
- B4: Everyday Further From You Is A Better Day (Feat Arthrn)
- B5: Mosh O’clock (Feat Chlobocop)
- B6: Tell Me (Feat Pollari)
- B7: Alone (Feat Bitsu)
- B8: Head! Shot!
- B9: Short Terme Agreement Pt 2
The name NxxxxxS (pronounced "N-Five X-S”) sounds like it could be an equation, or a mystery. But to begin to unravel the identity of the French producer who just signed to Because Music and Mad Decent (the label founded by Diplo), you first have to look for clues on YouTube and Soundcloud, where so many underground artists have found a place to hone their craft. In the ten years preceding the release of his second album Short Term Agreement in 2023, NxxxxxS built up a solid reputation for himself in the international vaporwave, vaportrap & phonk scenes. This is no small feat considering he didn’t have any real knowledge of production or composition before deciding to take on these classic genres of “Internet music”.
The Paris native first gained exposure when he started making beats on YouTube, taking his inspiration from American rappers of the blog era - when artists, especially in hip hop, used digital technology to break away from traditional distribution models - like Mac Miller or Odd Future. Building on this initial success, NxxxxxS turned to Soundcloud, an essential platform for music enthusiasts, tastemakers or anyone on the lookout for the sounds of tomorrow.
Following in the footsteps of The Alchemist and other producers of the same ilk, NxxxxxS soon became one of the pioneers of vaporwave and vaportrap music. Featured prominently in modern productions, these styles originated on social media platforms such as Reddit or Tumbler in the 2010’s and are recognisable by their frequent use of commercial samples ranging from the 70’s to the 2000’s (taken from jingles, lounge, jazz or elevator music). Altered, chopped up and slowed down to around 60 to 70 BPM to match hip-hop standards, the music offered a critique or satire of capitalism, consumer society and any culture that grew out of it, most notably yuppies from the 80’s.
NxxxxxS put his own spin on the recipe by creating a new world filled with soaring melodies and countless references to movies and horror scenes, and eventually released his debut album Fujita Scale (a scale used to measure the damage inflicted by tornadoes) in 2014. The album reached a worldwide audience because of its composer’s story and of the secrecy around his French nationality, and even won over unexpected fanbases such as the highly closed off Chinese market. Fujita Scale landed on one of China's streaming platforms, making NxxxxxS an identifiable artist in Asia who went on to tour his album three times across the continent.
NxxxxxS kept the ball rolling, collaborating on a new series of more accessible projects, which aimed to be less niche in terms of the references or sub-genres they tapped into, so he could find a new audience. This led to his first hits, “Synthetic Corporation” - which would also become the name of his label - “Remember Last Summer” and “Formatted Excess”, as well as his most popular track to date, “Playa Shit”, with over 11M streams on Spotify. The upcoming album’s title, Short Term Agreement, is a playful reference to his unyielding desire for independence and productivity, and his eagerness to preserve the personal freedom he turned into strength.
Yet NxxxxxS is never one to refuse support, and he has now joined forces with Because Music & Mad Decent to further establish himself as a producer at the international level - alongside Diplo especially, who is a case in point - so that this understated and ever prolific artist can meet his ambitions of widening his audience and have his name known by all.
And so the tracks on Short Term Agreement serve as the foundation for NxxxxxS' new identity, featuring a rich and diverse array of sounds thanks to the numerous guests involved: London rapper Jeshi - a new British rap phenomenon also freshly signed to Because Music, French rappers 8ruki & Bitsu, Canadian Freddie Dredd and American underground talents Pollari . Avoiding the pitfalls of a compilation-like producer album, NxxxxxS has once again carved out his own style from the modern hip hop rule book.
In other words, NxxxxxS’ constant evolution has brought us this much closer to solving the mystery that is his name.
Fünf Jahre nach "Footprints In The Rock" melden sich die unbesungenen NWOBHM-Helden TRESPASS mit einem großartigen neuen Album namens "Wolf At The Door" zurück. Das Album umfasst Themen, die ihnen am Herzen liegen - insbesondere Umweltthemen - und wurde von Gründungsmitglied, Gitarrist und Sänger Mark Sutcliffe in seinem Heimstudio geschrieben und später in den Crooks Hall Studios in der Wildnis von Suffolk aufgenommen. Nigel Palmer (Raging Speedhorn, Satan's Empire) gab dem Ganzen dann in Lowland Masters den letzten Schliff. Diese typisch britische Umgebung half Trespass dabei, ihren charakteristischen NWOBHM-Zwillingsgitarren-Sound beizubehalten, während die Rhythmusgruppe
einen Drive und eine Energie an den Tag legt, die sie direkt in die 20er Jahre zurückversetzt. Das Artwork von Mark Wilkinson (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest) gibt dem Album den letzten Schliff und wird sowohl die Fans der alten Schule als auch die neuen nicht enttäuschen. Trespass wurde 1979 in Sudbury, Suffolk, von Mark Sutcliffe (Gitarre, Gesang) und seinem Bruder Paul am Schlagzeug gegründet. Die Band hatte Anfang der 80er Jahre als Teil der New Wave of British Heavy Metal Erfolg und wurde von der Kritik gelobt, obwohl sie nur ein paar Singles und eine EP - die kultige Bright Lights" von 1981 - veröffentlicht hat. Songs wie "One Of These Days", "Stormchild" und "Bright Lights" haben sich einen Namen gemacht.
Defamator is the long-time-coming debut project of 24-year-old Chloe Gallardo. It tells a story of betrayal in love and friendship and the painful reality of overcoming love lost and former heartbreak.
Drawing influences from artists such as Broadcast, Grouper & My Bloody Valentine Gallardo adds her own haunting, folk-style vocals and hyper-specific lyrics to create a sonic unique to her. A style that she describes in her words as “dark shoegaze bedroom indie pop”.
Album opener “Bloodline” epitomises this bittersweet modus operandi. 15 seconds into its dainty acoustic strum , Gallardo adamantly sulks “I’m fucked up” - the salvo of a lyric about feeling like a family disappointment. As the track lifts up into a cascading gaze-pop rush, recalling the likes of Bachelor and Snail Mail, we’re blessed with a pristine elegance that belies the song’s raging core.
“I have always written music this way.”, she says of this fundamental contradiction. “It’s funny because I try so hard to write darker sounding songs and they always come out way too pretty. So, I’ve resorted to writing the most gut-wrenching and intense lyrics to compensate.”
Written mostly during peak-pandemic times in Gallardo’s bedroom - (“you can hear how scared and alone I was.”) - the songs that made their way onto Defamator arose from a concerted period of healing. Drawing from the teachings of therapy, the songwriting process gave her the means to channel some deeply entrenched emotional scars.
This venting of anger is implicit throughout the record. The album’s title - Gallardo’s own neologism - uses the concepts of “defamation” and “defamatory speech” to innovate a kind of pejorative accusation. As a result, it is like we are actively listening to Gallardo forcefully take command of her past. Of the title track she explains: “The song Defamator is about someone who spoke untruthful things about me in order to manipulate me and the way people perceived me and I felt that was an underlying theme in most of the album.”
Recorded at Jazzcat Studios in Long Beach California with Jonny Bell (Hanni El Khatib, Adult Books, etc.) Defamator marks Gallardo’s first time in a “legitimate recording studio”. And it shows. Bell’s production is vital moving part here. There’s more stripped back affairs - ‘There Will Be Blood”; ”The Way’ - songs which gently seethe and purr like Grouper’s spectral dream-pop; Gallardo’s fluttering folk-ish voice gloriously pushed to forefront.
First released in January 2017, this popular soundtrack has been out of stock for several years and is now back by popular demand on a new colour.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival, Nocturnal Animals, Tom Ford’s haunting romantic thriller has been hailed as “a tour de force” (The Independent). Nocturnal Animals marks the second film from writer/director Ford, and his second collaboration with composer Korzeniowski. Their first collaboration, A Single Man, earned Korzeniowski his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Score. The score was a breakout for the composer, earning him the prestigious Discovery Award at the 2010 Gent Film Festival’s World Soundtrack Awards.
Korzeniowski has described his score to Nocturnal Animals as “embracing two extremes, but switching their traditional genre characterization. The crime plot is scored as an intimate, personal story, while the psychological drama is treated as a thriller. The cold and detached intertwines with poignant and excruciating, the simple and intimate becomes grand and bold."
- A1: Nsera
- A2: Somaw
- A3: Sete
- A4: Seguen
- A5: Massa Den
- A6: Mogokan
- A7: Blues
- B1: Moussoya
- B2: Netara
- B3: Yada
- B4: Tolon
- B5: Dambe
- B6: Dakan
- B7: Maya
Blue Coloured Vinyl[32,35 €]
Grammy-nominated Malian singer, songwriter, guitarist and actress Fatoumata Diawara’s highly anticipated new album London Ko, which sees Diawara combining forces with collaborator Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur) who co-produces a number of tracks on the album and is featured performing on the first track “Nsera”.
2023 marks the big comeback of Fatoumata Diawara.
After LAMOMALI (the afro-pop project of -M- awarded a Victoire de la Musique (French Grammy equivalent) and a double platinum album), her solo album FENFO (nominated for the Grammy Awards and the Victoires de la Musique) and successful international collaborations (Gorillaz, Disclosure…), one of Africa's greatest voices presents LONDON KO. Distinguished guests (-M-, Angie Stone, Roberto Fonseca, Yemi Alade, Ghanaian rapper M.anifest) and 6 tracks co-produced with Damon Albarn: a perfect combination between synthetic sounds and traditional Malian rhythms; a dive into an eclectic and an absolut avant-garde universe. Bamako versus London, London Ko, a story to follow and share!
Grammy-nominated Malian singer, songwriter, guitarist and actress Fatoumata Diawara’s highly anticipated new album London Ko, which sees Diawara combining forces with collaborator Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur) who co-produces a number of tracks on the album and is featured performing on the first track “Nsera”.
2023 marks the big comeback of Fatoumata Diawara.
After LAMOMALI (the afro-pop project of -M- awarded a Victoire de la Musique (French Grammy equivalent) and a double platinum album), her solo album FENFO (nominated for the Grammy Awards and the Victoires de la Musique) and successful international collaborations (Gorillaz, Disclosure…), one of Africa's greatest voices presents LONDON KO. Distinguished guests (-M-, Angie Stone, Roberto Fonseca, Yemi Alade, Ghanaian rapper M.anifest) and 6 tracks co-produced with Damon Albarn: a perfect combination between synthetic sounds and traditional Malian rhythms; a dive into an eclectic and an absolut avant-garde universe. Bamako versus London, London Ko, a story to follow and share!
In a scene sometimes too polluted by clout and thirst for instant social media stardom, it's people like Mark Grusane that anchor our minds in truth, a north star that won't budge, operating outside and beyond the standards imposed by “the industry”, he is his own industry. The kind of truth and honesty minimal techno could barely dream of delivering, this is it, the culmination of so much understanding and knowledge in music. Not unlike what Mondrian did for the fine arts, so simple but so powerful.
Mark Grusane condenses in sound a feeling for the dancefloor that could never be described in words, and as simple as it may sound, the driving force behind it is the product of a rich scholarship in the underground. In a time where everything has been done and creating a uniqe style of one's own, Mark Grusane achieves it so effortlessly - every single track on this EP can unmistakably only have been produced by Mark Grusane during those off-hours at his Chicago record store, Mr. Peabody.
We hope you understand. For any further inquiries, please direct your calls to the party hotline.
- A1: East-West - Can't Face The Night (Club Mix)
- A2: Omri Smadar & Roy Shpilman - Adama
- B1: Herbert - Keep Time (Nobody) (Nobody)
- B2: Dan Curtin - Particle Dawn
- C1: Jensen Interceptor - Lean Before The Interview (Feat Assembler Code)
- C2: Elkka - Hands
- C3: Hodge & Peder Mannerfelt - All My Love
- D1: Elkka & Jeigo - Body
- D2: Villager - Monocyclical
- D3: Breaka - Living
Elkka’s deep intuition is the unifying thread throughout Cardiff-born DJ and producer’s illustrious career. Vibrant releases for Local Action, Ninja Tune and her own label and party, femme culture, have marked her as an unstoppable force within the London underground.
This recognition metabolised when she was awarded BBC’s prestigious Essential Mix of the Year in 2021, spotlighting her radiant blend of classic house, breakbeat and experimental electronica to the world over.
As the next curator of DJ-Kicks, Elkka is voyaging through rave euphoria. “This is a really special moment for me because DJ-Kicks has been a formative part of my musical education,” she says.
An intoxicating journey through Chicago house and disco, leftfield techno, UK bass and electro-punk, Elkka conjures up an atmosphere that is as primed for the club as it is the listener’s interior world.
Critically acclaimed composer, producer and electronic musician Mark Barrott is set to release his new album ‘Jōhatsu (蒸発)’ in April via Reflections, the new imprint from the Anjuna family, which focuses on downtempo, ambient, and alternative releases. An artist that creatively speaking, never stops moving, Barrott’s musical career has taken many forms. From Future Loop Foundation, the alias he used to create and perform ambient drum and bass from the mid-90s, to his Sketches from an Island albums released under his own name, and as founder of the highly influential International Feel label, Barrott has spent close to four decades exploring new sonic territory and pushing the boundaries of various genres, and is considered a pivotal figure in the revival of the Balearic music scene of the last decade. Barrott’s new album, ’Jōhatsu (蒸発)’, is predictably unpredictable. Released on Reflections, the new downtempo label from the Anjuna family, it’s a full departure from anything Barrott’s written before, partly because he was writing to moving picture. Towards the end of 2019, he had been working so relentlessly as a record producer for artists such as South African DJ Themba and the late Virgil Abloh, that he developed Repetitive Strain Injury, and was forced to take time off, and it was during this down-time he received an email from a director asking him to write the score for his new documentary, ‘Jōhatsu... the art of Evaporation’. ‘Jōhatsu (蒸発)’ is an 8-track journey through the sounds, sights, smells and sensations of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. “What came home to me during the scoring process, was how much shame is a huge part of Japanese culture. There’s a lot of shame surrounding losing your job and around things like divorce & bankruptcy, and it’s been there for centuries, since the Samurai and Bushido.” Some take their own lives, while others decide to simply… evaporate. Jōhatsu refers to these people who decide to purposely disappear, leaving their lives they knew behind without a trace.
"One of the world’s finest purveyors of music to chill out to - he is the master of sunset music" (Pitchfork).
Formed in the bygone barren period for British rock music that were the nascent
2010s, The St Pierre Snake Invasion have consistently shown themselves to be
an unapologetically creative force.
The long gap between debut album, A Hundred Years A Day (October 31st 2015)
and the release of underground sophomore smash Caprice Enchanté (June 21st
2019) was something the five- piece were reticent to repeat, but circumstance
beyond the Bristolians' control dictates that third LP, Galore, comes to us in a
markedly different world than the one in which St Pierre were building their
reputation and acclaim.
Sayell himself has been adamant that this latest offering would not be a COVID
album. He did not want it to address the ubiquitous isolation of global lockdown.
It immediately would date the record to a fixed point in time and not allow its
ideas to flourish and find a receptive audience for a continued period. Instead, the
changes represented in Galore are so fundamentally powerful and relatable to the
human condition. It is an album centered around universally resonant themes of
growth.
The summer of 2021 saw the birth of Sayell's first child. The concurrent writing of
the band's third LP has, naturally, been greatly informed by the experience of
impending fatherhood. Wondering about one's own impact on a life that you have
been a part in creating, the anxieties of what will be passed down to another
generation, and reflections on garnered wisdom with age; these are the key
themes that bring us to the band's magnum opus to date.
Alongside these introspective lyrics, the band's sound has taken on new life.
Where Carprice Enchanté was primarily informed by the musicality of Every Time
I Die, The Chariot, Refused and Mclusky, Galore builds on this framework by
incorporating influences as disparate as LCD Soundsystem, Soulwax and
Meshuggah into a coherent and daring whole. A song like That There's Fighting
Talk sees seething aggression taken to a mathcore nightclub, while the title track
and Apex Prey see the band exploring looser, quieter melodicism alongside Sang
Froid's Aisling Whiting, who brings a stake dynamic counterpart to Sayell in a
beautiful and captivating performance.
There are still tracks reminiscent of the band's previous work, such as
Submechano and Sleep Well - the latter featuring a sterling guest appearance
from Sugar Horse's Ashley Tubb - in which we hear the brash punk attitude St
Pierre's ever-growing fanbase adore. But ultimately, from the opening syncopated
notes of Pete Reisner's percussion and Sayell's distinctive vocals on Kracked
Velvet, it's impossible not to hear the palpable shift to another echelon of artis
A Ghanaian funk LP from the afrofunk master. one of Ebo Taylor's rarest and most sought-after!
Ebo Taylor and The Pelikans is being reissued on vinyl by Comet Records, pressed on high quality vinyl, with label designs and artwork as per the original release.
Originally released by Ghanian Abookyi label in 1976, Ebo Taylor and The Pelikans is one of Taylor’s most elusive releases, and marked the first time he sang on the seminal Ghana Funk anthem “Come Along”.
The album saw the legendary musician, producer, composer and arranger joining forces with 12-piece Cape Coast Ghanian band ‘The Pelikans’ led by Bessa Simmona with rhythm guitarist Fifi Orleans Lindsay.
Put simply, there has never been a musician and artist quite like Ebo Taylor. As an artist, arranger, musician and producer he’s a combination of James Brown, Nile Rodgers and Quincy Jones: He not only created some of the greatest funk songs ever recorded but as much if not more than that, his genius as an arranger gave the signature sound to high life and afrobeat that was made famous by his one-time London roommate (from when they were both music students, in The early 1960s) Fela. And his funky guitar brought a percussive sound to the rhythm section that didn't exist before.
Das kommende Jahr 2023 wird das letzte Kapitel in der langen Geschichte der legendären deutschen Thrash-Metal-Band HOLY MOSES markieren, das mit dem kommenden neuen Studioalbum "Invisible Queen" und einer letzten Reihe von Live-Shows gefeiert wird.
"Ich bin im Dezember 1981 zu Holy Moses gestoßen und das hat den Weg, den ich in meinem Leben gehen sollte, grundlegend verändert. Unser erstes Album im Jahr 1986 hieß "Queen Of Siam" und nun, um die Sache abzurunden, wird mein letztes Album mit Holy Moses im
Jahr 2023 den Titel "Invisible Queen" tragen", verrät Sängerin Sabina Classen und ergänzt: "Nach 42 ereignisreichen Jahren und nach so vielen großartigen Alben, fantastischen Shows und unglaublichen
Erlebnissen ist die Zeit gekommen, das letzte Kapitel von Holy Moses zu schreiben. Und wir freuen uns, dass dies über Fireflash Records mit der Veröffentlichung unseres 12. Studioalbums "Invisible Queen" geschieht."
Das kommende Jahr 2023 wird das letzte Kapitel in der langen Geschichte der legendären deutschen Thrash-Metal-Band HOLY MOSES markieren, das mit dem kommenden neuen Studioalbum "Invisible Queen" und einer letzten Reihe von Live-Shows gefeiert wird.
"Ich bin im Dezember 1981 zu Holy Moses gestoßen und das hat den Weg, den ich in meinem Leben gehen sollte, grundlegend verändert. Unser erstes Album im Jahr 1986 hieß "Queen Of Siam" und nun, um die Sache abzurunden, wird mein letztes Album mit Holy Moses im
Jahr 2023 den Titel "Invisible Queen" tragen", verrät Sängerin Sabina Classen und ergänzt: "Nach 42 ereignisreichen Jahren und nach so vielen großartigen Alben, fantastischen Shows und unglaublichen
Erlebnissen ist die Zeit gekommen, das letzte Kapitel von Holy Moses zu schreiben. Und wir freuen uns, dass dies über Fireflash Records mit der Veröffentlichung unseres 12. Studioalbums "Invisible Queen" geschieht."
Both broadening and defying the sounds of their first two 7” releases, Delivery continue their claim for the title of hardest and fastest working band in town on their debut full length LP ‘Forever Giving Handshakes’. Collecting songs written over the Melbourne five-piece’s two year lifespan and following on from the band’s bedroom project origins of ‘Yes We Do’ and the expanded one-two punch of ‘Personal Effects/The Topic’, ‘Forever Giving Handshakes’ captures Delivery at full force for the first time, leaning into the fully-realised live sound they’ve been quite actively working on since their first show in March 2021. Here the band collate a 12-track garage-punk opus, their five distinct voices simultaneously pulling songs in different directions while an undeniable chemistry reveals a combined hive mind ascending on a clear group mission… to rock. If you didn’t have the Delivery phenomenon yet, you’re about to. Marking the beginning of a victory lap for Delivery, the album rounds out a sprint of unrelenting live shows, impressive support slots and two stellar 7”s, all within a tidy 18 months. ‘Forever Giving Handshakes’ is a statement from Delivery and one of the strongest Australian punk debut albums of the past decade.




















