American blues musician Buddy Guy is an exponent of Chicago blues and influenced many prominent guitarists, including Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Eric Clapton, and John Mayer. His 1998 album Heavy Love is one of his fine blues-rock records. Besides two songs of his own material, he covered classics including Willie Dixon “I Just Want to Make Love to You", Tony Joe White "Did Somebody Make a Fool Out of You", ZZ Top "I Need You Tonight". It is heavier compared to many of his other recordings, but he still finds his way back to the blues.
Heavy Love is available as a 25th anniversary edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on pink & purple marbled vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve.
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Im zehnten Jahr des Bestehens von Diabolic Night veröffentlicht Heavy Steeler ein zweites Album, das sein Soloprojekt nicht nur endgültig definiert, sondern auch die Grenzen dessen verschiebt, was die Szene als reine Lehre des Blackened Speed Metal bestimmt hat.
Der zurückgezogen lebende Nordrhein-Westfale verfeinerte sein Handwerk im Laufe eines Demo, einer Single und einer Mini-LP, ehe er Ende 2019 sein Debütalbum "Beyond the Realm" veröffentlichte, das von der Kritik hochgelobt wurde, und legte damit die Grundstein für die Dinge fest, die da noch kommen sollten.
"Ein Wunsch, den ich schon in jungen Jahren hegte, war, eine zusammenhängende Geschichte zu schreiben, die in einer fiktiven Welt spielt, in der der Zuhörer von der ersten bis zur letzten Sekunde gefesselt ist", erklärt Heavy Steeler und betont, dass die gegenwärtige Realität vor der rein eskapistischen Erfahrung in den Hintergrund rückt. Daher ist "Beneath the Crimson Prophecy" noch themenbezogener als sein lose konzeptioneller Vorgänger.
Atmosphärisch weist das neue Material eine etwas düsterere Rüstung auf, ohne die Vorzüge zu vernachlässigen, für die der Multi.Instrumentalist, Komponist und Sänger bekannt geworden ist: NWoBHM-beeinflusste Leadgitarren wie im Ohrwurm "Pandemonium" oder in "Starlit Skies" mit seinen süchtig machenden, mitsingbaren Melodien, frostige Tremolos direkt aus dem Skandinavien der frühen 90er sowie unverkennbares halsbrecherisches Schlagzeugspiel wie aus dem Ruhrgebiet Mitte der 80er Jahre und gebellte Vocals.
Dennoch hat das Ganze einen epischen Touch, der die Erzählstruktur hervorhebt und von Heavy Steelers kompromissloser Vision zeugt. Die Songs wurden erneut mit dem bewährten Drummer Christhunter in drei verschiedenen Studios aufgenommen und mit einem weiteren eindrucksvollen Cover von Adam Burke (Angel Witch, Portrait) geschmückt. Sie schreien danach, auf der Bühne performt zu werden, was natürlich mit einer kompletten Live-Besetzung geschehen wird. Tatsächlich ist es jetzt an der Zeit, einen Blick auf das zu werfen, was "Beneath the Crimson Prophecy" liegt…
Im zehnten Jahr des Bestehens von Diabolic Night veröffentlicht Heavy Steeler ein zweites Album, das sein Soloprojekt nicht nur endgültig definiert, sondern auch die Grenzen dessen verschiebt, was die Szene als reine Lehre des Blackened Speed Metal bestimmt hat.
Der zurückgezogen lebende Nordrhein-Westfale verfeinerte sein Handwerk im Laufe eines Demo, einer Single und einer Mini-LP, ehe er Ende 2019 sein Debütalbum "Beyond the Realm" veröffentlichte, das von der Kritik hochgelobt wurde, und legte damit die Grundstein für die Dinge fest, die da noch kommen sollten.
"Ein Wunsch, den ich schon in jungen Jahren hegte, war, eine zusammenhängende Geschichte zu schreiben, die in einer fiktiven Welt spielt, in der der Zuhörer von der ersten bis zur letzten Sekunde gefesselt ist", erklärt Heavy Steeler und betont, dass die gegenwärtige Realität vor der rein eskapistischen Erfahrung in den Hintergrund rückt. Daher ist "Beneath the Crimson Prophecy" noch themenbezogener als sein lose konzeptioneller Vorgänger.
Atmosphärisch weist das neue Material eine etwas düsterere Rüstung auf, ohne die Vorzüge zu vernachlässigen, für die der Multi.Instrumentalist, Komponist und Sänger bekannt geworden ist: NWoBHM-beeinflusste Leadgitarren wie im Ohrwurm "Pandemonium" oder in "Starlit Skies" mit seinen süchtig machenden, mitsingbaren Melodien, frostige Tremolos direkt aus dem Skandinavien der frühen 90er sowie unverkennbares halsbrecherisches Schlagzeugspiel wie aus dem Ruhrgebiet Mitte der 80er Jahre und gebellte Vocals.
Dennoch hat das Ganze einen epischen Touch, der die Erzählstruktur hervorhebt und von Heavy Steelers kompromissloser Vision zeugt. Die Songs wurden erneut mit dem bewährten Drummer Christhunter in drei verschiedenen Studios aufgenommen und mit einem weiteren eindrucksvollen Cover von Adam Burke (Angel Witch, Portrait) geschmückt. Sie schreien danach, auf der Bühne performt zu werden, was natürlich mit einer kompletten Live-Besetzung geschehen wird. Tatsächlich ist es jetzt an der Zeit, einen Blick auf das zu werfen, was "Beneath the Crimson Prophecy" liegt…
The follow-up to his acclaimed Constellation debut Third Album released in lockdown spring 2020, Markus Floats returns with Fourth Album, pushing the Montréal-based artist's distinct abstract electronic compositions into newly evocative terrain (while preserving his record-titling literalism). Faced with another couple of years spent unexpectedly, though not unfamiliarly, secluded and studio-bound, working on both paintings and music, Floats emerged by the end of 2022 with a set of tracks "about 60% finished" and a determined desire to throw off the shackles of distancing and isolation. "I had always thought about Markus Floats as a solo project but I am wrong about that. Fourth Album is about asking for help, inviting in, and making a home. It's about trust, exploration, and the effort of letting go."Sharing his in-progress recordings with a trio of close friends and collaborators from the powerhouse free music ensemble Egyptian Cotton Arkestra, each of these players then spent a day improvising to the tracks at Montréal's Hotel2Tango studio. With violin by Ari Swan, saxophone and mbira by James Goddard, and guitar and drums by Lucas Huang, Floats stitched their extemporized instruments back into his compositional process. The result is a fluid, lustrous, dynamic expansion of his sound and structure that continues to strike the ineffable balance of abstraction and soulfulness rightly highlighted and celebrated in the critical response to Third Album. Fourth Album sustains much of that previous work's enchanting equanimity, while inviting a bit more restlessness, accident and grit, with the incorporation of acoustic instruments and improvisation melding Floats' own background in Electroacoustic Studies and Jazz Performance more than ever before.Signature avant-electronic explorations of arpeggiated and timbral transformation, subtle shifts in harmonic consonance and dissonance, and a through-composed praxis that draws coterminously upon free jazz, musique concrète and modern Minimalism, all continue to shape Fourth Album to great effect. But an additional palette of sonic and gestural raw material is now also decidedly "out-of-the-box", charting a wider range of gestures, textures and temporalities. Fourth Album complexifies and intensifies across its 12 tracks, thematizing dualities and introducing new elements of play and accident, even a sort of looseness here and there, as it conjures communal expressivity within shorter, still scrupulous formal structures. Fourth Album also for the first time includes spoken word as a recorded element, previously only (and always) a feature of Markus Floats live performances. The album's final track samples the poet and activist Fred Moten, closing with these words: "What we've been trying to figure out how to get to is how we are when we get together to try to figure it out." This koan of socially-engaged process and creation/advancement of meaning through praxis and immanence reflects the unique fusion of intangible materiality and affective sensibility at work in Markus Floats music, unfolding in new depths and currents with Fourth Album.
Nicht nur in der aktuellen Hardrock/Metal-Szene beziehen sich immer mehr junge Bands, darunter auch viele deutsche Acts (als Beispiel seien Wucan genannt), auf die heute wesentlich mehr gewürdigten Jahre des Krautrock. Natürlich handelt es sich bei dem Begriff nicht direkt um einen Stil, denn von Hardrock bis Jazz/Fusion wurde einst fast alles in diesen Topf geworfen.
Neben Elektronikpionieren wie Can, Tangerine Dream oder Kraftwerk gab es eben auch die Gruppen, die man im Rock verorten kann: Jane, Birth Control oder Lucifer´s Friend sind nur drei Beispiele. Auf „German Rock“ findet man in der Tat auch eine der frühen Bands: Floh De Cologne, die schon Anfang der Siebziger Rock mit deutscher Sprache geboten haben. Die Hardrocker Mass aus Regensburg, lieferten ihr Debütalbum, welches auf „German Rock“ ebenso gewürdigt wird, im Jahr 1977 ab.
Der Rest der ungewöhnlichen Compilation, welche es nur auf Vinyl gibt, befasst sich mit späten Gruppen, die Anfang der 80er noch einen Sound geliefert haben, der durchaus ein paar Jahre früher seinen Ursprung hätte haben können. Und in der Tat wurden auch mindestens zwei Songs nach Ende der 70er geschrieben, allerdings kam der Plattenvertrag oder das Kapital für eine Eigenpressung „zu spät“. Viele dieser spannenden Bands wie Iris, Cannock oder Sphinx waren bei Erscheinen nicht mehr dem Zeitgeist entsprechend, so dass
sie nur wenige, oder nur lokale Chancen hatten. Heute suchen Fans und Neugierige eben nach solchen unbekannten Acts, die eine vergangene Zeit neu zum Leben erwecken. Handgemachte Musik, und das nicht nur live, sondern eben auch noch im Tonstudio. Das Material der Frühachtziger-Gruppen auf dieser Compilation erinnert den einen oder anderen vielleicht auch an die regionalen Helden, wie man sie in den 80ern noch in lokalen Sporthallen erleben konnte…
Nostalgie ist aber nicht das Hauptanliegen dieser LP, sondern der Erhalt wertvoller Musik, die damals nicht bei den großen Majorlabels
erschienen ist.
Not only in the current hard rock/metal scene more and more young bands, among them also many German acts (as an example Wucan may be mentioned), refer to the nowadays much more appreciated years of Krautrock. Of course, the term is not directly a style, because from hard rock to jazz / fusion was once almost assigned to this style.
Besides electronic pioneers like Can, Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk, there were also the groups that can be categorized as rock: Jane, Birth Control or Lucifer‘s Friend are just three examples.
On „German Rock“ you can indeed also find one of the early bands: Floh De Cologne, who already offered rock with German language at the beginning of the seventies. The hard rockers Mass from Regensburg delivered their debut album, which is also honored on „German Rock“, in 1977.
The rest of the unusual compilation, which is only available on vinyl, deals with late groups that still delivered a sound in the early eighties that could well have originated a few years earlier. And indeed, at least two songs were written in the late seventies, but the record deal or the capital for a selfpressing came „too late“. Many of these exciting bands like Iris, Cannock or Sphinx were no longer in line with the zeitgeist when they appeared, so they had few or only local chances.
Today, dedicated fans and the curious are looking for just such unknown acts that bring a bygone era back to life. Handmade music, and not only live, but also in the recording studio.
The stuff of the early eighties groups on this compilation may remind some of the regional heroes, as you could still experience them in the eighties in local gyms... Nostalgia is not the main concern of this LP, but the preservation of valuable music, which was not released by the big major labels at that time.
Jill Barber's 2013 masterpiece "Chansons" is an album of interpretations of classic French songs from both France and Québec. Jill meticulously curated the repertoire herself, selecting material both from her own collection and from recommendations from friends within the Francophone community. “I spent time with the songs. I strolled the streets with Aznavour, I sat in a sidewalk cafe with Piaf,
poured a stiff drink with Gainsbourg, and I became absolutely enamoured and inspired by French music in the process.” Jill Barber is a 3-time JUNO Award nominee, a Polaris Music Prize nominee,
and winner of the Sirius/XM Jazz Album of the Year. She has headlined the Montreal Jazz Festival, Toronto's Massey Hall, and the Blue Note in Tokyo, and played clubs and festivals around the world.
Songs from Jill's catalogue have been streamed more than 160,000,000 times on digital services. Outside Music is proud to reissue "Chanson"s for its 10th Anniversary on limited edition Blush
coloured vinyl.
Feldman's last composition, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, was completed in 1987; although its instrumentation largely corresponds to that of Piano and String Quartet, with one instead of two violins, it differs in almost every other respect from the composition written only two years earlier, for here, in contrast to Piano and String Quartet, Feldman makes every effort to integrate the piano into the string section, and the basic formal components of the composition are no longer staves, as they were in Piano and String Quartet, but individual bars... ...From a compositional point of view, the essential change that transfers the "monolithic block" of late orchestral works such as Coptic Light and For Samuel Beckett to chamber music instrumentation is that the material, already largely homogeneous, is rearranged not in whole systems but in small-part permutations, so that the systems and pages no longer represent periods or sections, and a continuous musical progression emerges with a much reduced internal structure compared to previous works.
from liner notes by Sebastian Claren
dissonArt Ensemble is Lenio Liatsou, Piano Theodor Patsalidis, Violin Chara Seira, Viola Vassills Saitis, Violoncello
- Too Old For This Shit
- Feds In My Rearview Mirror
- Tha Hanging
- Thats How Im Livin
- The Tower
- Midnight
- Six In The Morning
- Peel Their Caps Back
- Drama
- Soul On Ice
- Pain
- Pray
- Retaliation
- The Fifth
- Shit Hit The Fan
- They Want Back In
- You Got Me Open Girl
- Common Sense
- Check Your Heart
- Ballin Bitch I Knew
- Addicted To Danger
- Where The Shit Goes Down
Ice T's "The Legend of Ice T / Crime Stories Vol 1 iIce T is de originele belichaming van LA Hip-Hop en een cultureel icoon dat gangster rap populair heeft gemaakt. Ice T's Most Incredible Crime Stories bevat enkele van de krachtigste nummers uit zijn catalogus , evenals wat minder bekend en niet eerder uitgebracht materiaal.
Sophie Lloyd is one of the most prolific guitarists on the world wide web,
a trailblazer who is redefining the concept of a "bedroom" guitarist
A talented composer and accomplished musician, Sophie graduated from the
prestigious BIMM in 2018 with a First Class Honours BMus in Popular Music
Performance, honing and refining a talent she has nurtured since childhood.
Since then, she has amassed the kind of following that even the guitar gods she
grew up idolizing would be envious of, with a reach surpassing 3 million followers
across her social channels, built through a steady stream of sharing her talent via
guitar "shredleys", covers and her own original material.
In addition to her own content, Sophie's talent and popularity has led to
collaborations with brands such as Amazon Prime, Hard Rock Cafe, LiveNation
and Harley Davidson, her own Guitar course on Truefire and a stunning
performance at Paris Fashion Week for Redemption Brand Clothing.
She has also released her own signature guitar, becoming the first female artist to
do so for exclusive Californian Guitar maker KIESEL.
Most recently, Sophie could be seen shredding on stage as guitarist for multiplatinum recording artist Machine Gun Kelly on his recent Mainstream Sellout
World Tour, which included sold out shows at legendary venues such Madison
Square Garden in New York and Wembley Arena in London.
Heart's Ann Wilson is releasing a new record with Tripsitter, 'Another
Door'
Prior to starting the 2023 tour, Ann Wilson and her band Tripsitter finished
'Another Door', a record of all-original material, which marks the first time since
the '70s that Ann has written a full- length album collectively with a band.
Tripsitter features Tony Lucido (bass), Ryan Wariner (guitars), Sean T. Lane
(drums), and Paul Moak (guitars and keyboards). Tom Bukovac (guitars) was also
a primary contributor.
ANOTHER DOOR marks the first time in her career where Ann was the sole lyricist
and her presence on a record has never been greater. Ann says, "This is an
exciting time in my creative life; so much new and fresh to remind me of why I
love my calling!"
The cover for 'Another Door' was created by Storm Studio which began in the
early 1990s with Storm Thorgerson, Peter Curzon, Rupert Truman, and Dan
Abbott. Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell co- founded Hipgnosis, who
between 1968 and 1983 created artwork for the likes of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin,
Paul McCartney & Wings, 10cc, AC/DC, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, and many others.
Following Storm's passing in 2013 Aubrey Powell has worked closely with Storm
Studio on numerous projects since.
** Widely praised as one of the greatest singers in the history of Rock, Ann's
extraordinarily powerful voice has been sending chills down her audience's
collective spine for over five decades, earning record sales of more than 35
million, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award.
** "Barracuda," "Crazy On You," and "Magic Man" are among the many songs she's
written that now reside in the pantheon of Rock's greatest hits. "This Is Now" from
ANOTHER DOOR plays seamlessly alongside the classics in her current live set.
** Last year Ann sang with Disturbed's frontman David Draiman on the duet,
"Don't Tell Me," from their recently released DIVISIVE album, and lent her voice to
Dolly Parton's forthcoming rock record "Rock Star." Ann Wilson defies genre!!
Jules Wells is from Bordeaux, France. He started Djing in the late 90’s, and released his first productions in 2008 on Logos Recordings.
Strongly influenced by the Motor City, Jules already released material on several respected Detroit-based labels like KMS, Electrofunk, Submerge Recordings, Twilight 76 Rec, and RPD, but also on various labels such as Lo-deep (France), Purebox (Japan) and Logos (Macedonia). These EPs received massive support from many Djs, including Laurent Garnier, Underground Resistance, Carl Cox and Monika Kruse.
Now Jules Wells joined the briquerouge team for his first album ever
To be released on 2x12" LP limited bi-color vinyl edition in October 2023.
Support by Laurent Garner (play/radio show/new podcast DEEP Search planned feature on Soundcloud) /
OVERVIEW: This is essential. We don't just refer to the album title: this new record by multi-instrumentalist and producer Thysenterprise is essential material for lovers of spiritual jazz with a hip-hop edge. As described in the liner notes: "The spirit of Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Coltrane permeate the music here. At times, Thysenterprise and his guests meld the influence of the great jazz cannon with the rhythms of hip-hop."
'ESSENTIAL' moves with ease from spiritual sounds to hip-hop-infused head nods. The liner notes by writer John Morrison perfectly encapsulate the type of sonic trip you're in for: "While the improvisational heights that Thysenterprise and crew reach throughout the album owe a debt to hardbop and the avant-garde, there are beats and textures here akin to the work of Karriem Riggins or A Tribe Called Quest. The result is a truly contemporary sound that plays freely within the depths of human feeling."
'ESSENTIAL' is by far Thysenterprise's most personal album to date. From beginning to end, he pays a heartfelt tribute to his late father. The artist revisits and rearranges melodies from iconic jazz records that formed a profound connection between the two of them. Throughout the album, there are nods to songs that were essential for Reinier's musical upbringing. It shows that the saxophonist plays with heart and doesn't shy away from expressing grief and loss. Or as stated in the liner notes: "We play for pleasure, we play to understand ourselves and the world around us, we play to celebrate and remember our loved ones."
Renowned Dutch alto saxophonist Benjamin Herman joins Thysenterprise for intimate call-and-response on "Feedback of Silence." Next to that, Michael Moore graces "Happiness Is a Memory" with a heartfelt bass clarinet solo. Moore is part of the Han Bennink-founded ICP Orchestra. It's safe to say that Thysenterprise builds on that rich lineage of improvisation, playfulness, and distinct originality. On 'ESSENTIAL,' he takes that to new heights. The album comes beautifully packaged as a gatefold 2LP with vinyl-exclusive alternate takes on the D-side.
Liquid Love is taken from the 2015 BBE released album of Roy’s unreleased material, Virgin Ubiquity II, and is a wicked mid-tempo track where Roy’s vibraphone complements an amazing female vocal arrangement to create harmonies and melody over a tough as you like breakbeat, bass line and keyboard riff. Coming from the 2004 initial release in the Virgin Ubiquity series of unreleased Roy Ayer’s tracks, What’s The T? is a more uptempo, bassline driven slab of dance floor funk. Augmented by a horn section and a huge female vocal from Merry Clayton over a hi-hat drumbeat, What’s The T? is Roy Ayers and his musicians playing Roy’s arrangements to perfection.
Releasing on BBE Music’s ALIM imprint, Liquid Love/What’s The T? 7″ vinyl single issue is two musical moments in time now presented as a moment in history in the year we celebrate the excellent career and legacy of Roy Ayers as a touring musician. This is Roy at his best as musician, arranger and artist, grab this now.
Repress.
If God had a disco, the DJ would be playing California gospel-soul group The Supreme Jubilees. 'We won't have to cry no more,' the tuxedo-clad group would sing, in high, angelic vocals over smooth grooves. 'It'll all be over.' Prepare to dance and contemplate death all at the same time.
A band of brothers and cousins, the group was founded from two familes: brothers Joe and Dave Kingsby plus Dave's son David Kingsby Jr., and keyboardist Leonard Sanders plus his brothers Phillips (drummer), Tim (bassist), and Melvin (tenor). The Sanders clan grew up singing together in the Witness of Jesus Christ church in Fresno CA, where dad Marion was pastor. Guitarist Larry Price-who belonged to neither family-completed the line-up that recorded the group's first-and, prophetically, only-album, It'll All Be Over.
Released in 1980 on the group's own S&K (Sanders & Kingsby) label, It'll All Be Over pinpoints a fatalistic mood exemplified by the title. Its lyrics drawn from the Old Testament, its sound from the church by way of the disco, and it's a feel captured by the album cover-a low, orange sun setting over the Pacific ocean. It is, as Jessica Hundley observes in the brand new liner notes, 'both apocalyptic and seductive.'
Making the album was not easy. Sessions began in Trac Record Co, a country and western studio in Fresno, CA, where the engineer was so put out by the group's requests for heavier bass in the mix, he stopped the session and kicked them out. They left with four songs-one side of the album-and the record was completed at Sierra Recording Studio in Visalia, CA. Leonard Sanders reported having a spiritual encounter in his sleep while in Visalia; the next day he recorded his part of the album's title track in a single take.
After the LP was pressed, the group took their music on tour, first in California, where they played with acts including the Gospel Keynotes, The Jackson Southernaires, and the Mighty Clouds of Joy, and then on an ill-fated trip to Texas. A follow-up album was planned for 1981, but it never materialized; having slept sometimes a dozen to a room in Texas, the men in the band were reluctant to leave jobs, wives, and kids for the hardship of the road. The group simply fizzled out, even if the friendships never did.
A copy of the album sold to a fan on that Texan tour made its way to a San Antonio record store, where it was discovered nearly three decades later by collector David Haffner (Friends of Sound). He managed to track down the Kingsby-Sanders clan at a Fourth Of July barbeque in Fresno in 2004. And he eventually introduced the group to Light In The Attic Records, which now presents the album, restored, remastered, and available to the public for the first time.
- A1: Kent
- A2: Heaven Can Wait
- A3: Diminished Clothes
- A4: Clear My Name
- A5: The King Of Love
- A6: Mistress
- B1: Clear My Name
- B2: Come Back Tomorrow
- B3: On A Leash
- B4: What Do You Say About That
- B5: Planet In The Ocean
- B6: Problematique
First Vinyl Release for 1994 Britpop outfit Salad, fronted by Dutch vocalist and former MTV VJ Marijne Van Der Vugt (vocals and keyboards). Originally released on Island records as a compilation made up of their early singles , b-sides and EP material.
Comes with an exclusive hand-signed insert from Marijne.
Paul Kennedy (Guitar, Vocals), Pete Brown (Bass) and Rob Wakeman (Drums).
Supported Blur back in 1993 where they rose to prominence after a couple of EP releases. This compilation takes the best of their early years material. A must have for fans of Brit-Pop, British Alternative Rock and 90’s Indie.
140g Black Vinyl with exclusive signed print.
Features the tracks ‘Diminished Clothes’, ‘Kent’ and ‘On A Leash’.
- 1: Mimosa
- 2: After My First Murder
- 3: Someone Is Here
- 4: What Have I Done
- 5: Funeral Wedding
- 6: Disgraced Girl
- 7: How The Black Art Was Revealed
- 8: Disco Death
- Disc: 2
- 1: Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome
- 2: The Thelemite
- 3: My Portrait In Sadness And Glory
- 4: The Stone Orchids
- 5: In The Morning
- 6: Bethrothal And The Rites Of Rape
- 7: She Travels The Fastest Who Travels Alone
- 8: Jubileum In Hell
- 9: The Terrible Secret
This is the first official reissue of The Candles Burning Blue’s highly appraised cult album Pearls Given To The Swine. For two decades the original CD pressing has been sought after but nearly impossible to find. Known for their violent and chaotic gigs, The Candles Burning Blue were an unconventional Gothic Rock band. Instead of romantic beauty they dealt with the harsher aspects of the darkness oozing from their own troubled lives. Even though they only released two CD-r, a split 7” and one full album, their impact on the Finnish Goth underground was a lasting one. Pearls Given To The Swine was recorded in 2000 and released in 2001 on CD, with only 500 official copies pressed. Some years later new copies appeared from shady sources, but basically the album disappeared from the face of the Earth. In 2001 the band started to work on the second album Pleasure Dome and also had some material recorded for the projected third album Abhorrence, but ceased to exist before any of this material was released. Until now. This reissue has a full length bonus disc consisting of these songs. The Candles Burning Blue had its roots firmly in Gothic Rock as performed by bands like Bauhaus, Christian Death, Virgin Prunes and The Cure, but they mixed in elements of experimentalism and art rock. Pearls Given To The Swine is a lost and found classic of Finnish Gothic Rock, and a fine example of Finnish dark culture around the turn of the millennium. Members went on to play in bands like Reverend Bizarre, The Puritan, Werwolf Lodge and Opium Warlords, but never reunited.
In the Shadows is the third full-length studio album by Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate. It is the first offering of the band since their reunion in 1992. After an almost decade-long hiatus, Mercyful Fate's reunion did not disappoint; it was as if they picked up right where they had left off. There are more of King Diamond's gothic tales of horror and the supernatural, and the music sounds better than ever. It doesn't have the historical significance of their early-'80s material, but that doesn't really matter; this is high-quality material from a tight veteran band.
If you were to ask for a defining Habibi Funk track, there are a few that come to mind: from Fadoul’s “Sid Redad,” Dalton’s “Soul Brother” to Ahmed Malek’s “Omar Gatlato.” However, none are as widely connected with us at this point as Hamid Al Shaeri’s “Ayonha.” We heard the track for the first time when we were working on selecting tracks for your first compilation and we instantly loved it. We obviously had heard of Hamid El Shaeri’s music before, but only material from his Al Jeel phase when he was already the full-blown
superstar he is now.
Listening to his releases from the early 1980’s opened a whole new door for us. At the time, Hamid had just left Libya to pursue his career in Egypt via a detour in London, where he recorded his first album. Hamid’s distinct sound of the sound is quintessentially reliant on heavy synths and so it was particularly important to purchase these synths in a timely manner. “Whenever a new one synthesizer would come out, we would have to buy it immediately, otherwise someone else would get their hands on that sound.” London also played an important role for Hamid as a musical epicenter.
He fondly reminisces about the many live shows he attended there, including some of the biggest international musicians like Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson. After returning to Cairo where he also recorded his following albums, he connected with SLAM! for the
release of his debut, laying the foundation of a collaboration that lasted for 5 albums. Luckily, we were able to connect with Hamid through our friend Youssra El Hawary, whose extensive network has opened many doors for us within the Egyptian music scene. We met Hamid for the first time probably in 2016 at his office / rehearsal studio in the outskirts Cairo. We were expecting a larger-than-life
character in-line with his status as a certified superstar, yet the actual person turned out to be very approachable and super easy to connect with. He liked the idea of an effort to amplify his early works again,
which, when originally released, were far from an economic success.
While he was down to assist with an interview and his blessing for the project he also told us that for any license we needed to speak with the original label SLAM! who released these songs, still held the rights and also remained in business over the decades though they didn’t actively release any new music. Hany Sabet had started SLAM! records in the early 1980s and focused on cassette tape releases, the
format that expedited the success of a new generation of record labels in Egypt. By the mid 1980’s, SLAM! had become one of the most successful and economically dominant record labels in Egypt, with Hamid El Shaeri being just one of their key artists, alongside Mohamed Mounir, Hanan, Hakim, Mustafa Amar and many more. Luckily, Hany Sabet turned out to be a friend of our colleague Malak Makar’s father, which probably helped to warm him to the idea of licen- sing “Ayonha” to this - in the scale of his world - tiny label
from Germany. Eventually “Ayonha” ended up becoming a widely successful release and either Hany or we brought up the idea of a full album dedicated to Hamid El Shaeri’s work on SLAM!.
"Maktoub Aleina” is the first single and will be released January 14th. Following the massive success of "Ayonha,” “Maktoub Aleina” is another mid-tempo groover with a beautiful, synth-forward melody, that brings together a lovely combination of soul, disco and Arabic pop music of the highest order, giving a taste of full album. The second single, “Yekfini Nesma Sotak” will be released January 28th and combines Hamid’s unique formula of soul and pop, held together by a catchy synth melody. “Yekfini Nesma Sotak” picks up the
pace a bit, making the uplifting mood of the track even more powerful. Third single, arriving February 11th, is “Dari Demou’ek,” one of the stand out tracks of Hamid’s early recordings done for SLAM! in the early 1980s. Dominated by a disco infused bassline, the track offers a lot of space of the funky production to shine while Hamid inserts his vocals at all the right moments. A masterpiece of disco touched by Arabic pop music.
Full album arrives February 25th. This release is dedicated to Hany Sabet, the founder of SLAM! and his wife Rosemary Jane Sabet (who
took the photos we used for the cover and the booklet), who sadly passed away during the time it took us to prepare the release.
Vinyl comes with an extensive booklet with an interview with Hamid as well as unseen photos
Minimal Wave presents the first vinyl reissue of French legends Martin Dupont’s seminal album from 1987, ‘Hot Paradox’. Martin Dupont was originally founded by Alain Seghir in Marseille in 1980. He enlisted numerous collaborators throughout the years, including Beverley Jane Crew, Brigitte Balian, and Catherine Loy. Martin Dupont was immensely talented with a rare dynamic between its varying members that was likely inspired by a combination of their magnetic personalities, creative vision, and the home studio where they recorded. Their music was colorful, enthusiastic, delicate, melancholy, and mysterious. A mixture of hot and cold, light and dark. They created electronic music that incorporated guitars, clarinets, and saxophones and is described by many as New Wave yet truly transcended genres.
Aside from having been released as part of ‘The Complete Collection: 1980-1988’ 5-LP box set, the ‘Hot Paradox’ album hasn’t been available on vinyl since 1987. It is one of Martin Dupont’s most exquisite albums, illustrating the band’s mastery of synthesizer work, drum programming, and vocal duets. The album is vibrant and emotive, simultaneously somber and bright, theatrical and danceable. It is an essential album in the French cold wave, new wave, and minimal synth scenes, and in recent years, has finally received the recognition it deserves beyond any musical categorization.
The Hot Paradox album reissue is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl, is accompanied by the original insert/lyrics sheet, and is housed in a heavy-weight sleeve featuring art by Yves Cheynet. After remaining under the radar for 35 years, Martin Dupont reformed in 2022 and returned to the stage in 2023 with a US tour and the Kintsugi album. The band continues to tour Europe and record new material in their new studio in France.




















