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Following last year’s Cyber Sunshine single and Vantage Point EP, plus the former’s expansion into a Deluxe Remix Pack EP just this Spring, trusty Dutch trance traders Match Box are miraculously back with their fourth consecutive glistening Goddezz release. This time, it’s a double offering whose boundless celestial charm again centres around the star we owe it all to: think of High En3rgy as the sunset daydream and Clint’s remix the sunrise epiphany.

Spanning 8 minutes and 7 seconds that slip by all too soon, High En3rgy is a lucent, dreamlike journey not easily forgotten. Layering a faintly melancholic and hauntingly simple melody over a nonetheless pulsating bassline, it accomplishes something rare: an emotive marrying of the wistful and the rousing. The effect is a plucky, heartening sound that walks a tightrope between nostalgic reflection and enduring anticipation. It’s delicate yet driving - the gorgeous sonic expression of a sunset daydream that could leave you leaning either way.

Whether you emerge from that musing trance with a lump in your throat or a fire in your belly, Clint’s remix is the impossibly ideal next step. Faithfully refracting its originator’s sound whilst instantly supercharging the mood from spirited to high-spirited, its giddy rhythm and buoyant-turned-bouncy beat inject pure, immediate, perhaps emergency enlivenment. It’s more than fun, playful or invigorating: it’s irresistibly, heroically stirring - and once its sunrise synths come scorching over the horizon, you’re passing through gleeful exhilaration into sublime elation, with no hope of holding back any tears.

Returning from time apart to a world forever changed, dread-fuelled duo A SWARM OF THE SUN bring with them their fourth studio album, `An Empire'; its brooding, yet beautiful, melancholic narrative arc allows the band to dig ever deeper into desolation whilst a newfound lyrical focus adds a tenderness that is both harrowing and heartwarming at once. With the early bones of forthcoming `An Empire' tabled by events beyond their control in 2019, Erik and Jakob came together years later and scrapped them in favour of creating something entirely new; something distinctly different to break the cycle, defy categorisation and reflect the uncomfortable uncertainties of the times we now live in. The result is astounding; continuing the thread of narrative composition seen on `The Woods', `An Empire' is a six-track tale told in four distinct movements that are nothing short of devastating, from plaintive piano ballads to raw, full-band fury. For instance, taken from the album's third side, lead single `The Burning Wall' embodies this sprawling compositional feat perfectly, with the painfully frank opening couplet of "I know I fail you / I know that I run" establishing a gripping narrative trajectory backed by a simmering, impatient pulse that slowly and inevitably rises to an inescapable crescendo of cymbal chaos and wall-of-sound guitar drone. Elsewhere, 18-minute epic `The Pyre' represents Side B of `An Empire' with the confessional intimacy of a waltz-time ballad; the raw, wavering emotion of Jakob's words accompanied only by a haunting, lilting piano refrain before it too is consumed by the bittersweet might of post-rock euphoria to leave only embers of the apocalyptic lyrics in its wake_ `An Empire' marks a significant evolution of A Swarm of the Sun's already indelible post-metal sound. With increasingly bleak times forcing the band to reassess their relationship with creativity and suffering, this new body of work captures all the anthemic, intimate highs and crushing, debilitating lows of modern life on a knife edge.

Returning from time apart to a world forever changed, dread-fuelled duo A SWARM OF THE SUN bring with them their fourth studio album, `An Empire'; its brooding, yet beautiful, melancholic narrative arc allows the band to dig ever deeper into desolation whilst a newfound lyrical focus adds a tenderness that is both harrowing and heartwarming at once. With the early bones of forthcoming `An Empire' tabled by events beyond their control in 2019, Erik and Jakob came together years later and scrapped them in favour of creating something entirely new; something distinctly different to break the cycle, defy categorisation and reflect the uncomfortable uncertainties of the times we now live in. The result is astounding; continuing the thread of narrative composition seen on `The Woods', `An Empire' is a six-track tale told in four distinct movements that are nothing short of devastating, from plaintive piano ballads to raw, full-band fury. For instance, taken from the album's third side, lead single `The Burning Wall' embodies this sprawling compositional feat perfectly, with the painfully frank opening couplet of "I know I fail you / I know that I run" establishing a gripping narrative trajectory backed by a simmering, impatient pulse that slowly and inevitably rises to an inescapable crescendo of cymbal chaos and wall-of-sound guitar drone. Elsewhere, 18-minute epic `The Pyre' represents Side B of `An Empire' with the confessional intimacy of a waltz-time ballad; the raw, wavering emotion of Jakob's words accompanied only by a haunting, lilting piano refrain before it too is consumed by the bittersweet might of post-rock euphoria to leave only embers of the apocalyptic lyrics in its wake_ `An Empire' marks a significant evolution of A Swarm of the Sun's already indelible post-metal sound. With increasingly bleak times forcing the band to reassess their relationship with creativity and suffering, this new body of work captures all the anthemic, intimate highs and crushing, debilitating lows of modern life on a knife edge.

„Hole Erth“, das achte Studioalbum von Chaz Bear als Toro y Moi, ist der bisher unerwartetste und kühnste Schritt des Genre-Veränderers. Bear taucht kopfüber in Rap-Rock, Soundcloud-Rap und Y2K-Emo ein. Das Album vereint hymnischen Pop-Punk und melancholischen Rap - zwei Genres, die sich heute mehr denn je gegenseitig beeinflussen - und enthält die meisten Features, die jemals auf einem Album von Toro y Moi zu hören waren. Ein Gefühl der Nostalgie schleicht sich in fast jede Toro y Moi-Veröffentlichung, aber Angst ist eine Emotion, die Bear nie absichtlich so erforscht hat, wie er es hier tut. Tracks wie „Tuesday“ kanalisieren ein spezifisches, aber für immer nachvollziehbares Gefühl von pubertärem Unbehagen. Ein verzerrtes Gitarrenriff führt zu einem sich wiederholenden Refrain, der an missverstandene Teenager erinnert, die laut - vielleicht zu laut - singen, während sie mit dem Fahrrad durch amerikanische Vorstädte fahren. Diese Vorahnung ist auch in „HOV“ zu hören, allerdings nicht ohne mit lustigen Zeilen wie „Romance is so cold / My advice? To Bring a coat." zu verblüffen. Bear hat die Energie, ist sich aber bewusst, dass seine Energie nicht ewig hält. In einer Zeit, in der das Internet in immer schnellerem Tempo mehrere Genres miteinander verschmilzt, schafft Bear das seltene Kunststück, mit dem zeitgenössischen alternativen Hörer Schritt zu halten. Das Herz von Toro y Moi ist es, sich ständig zu verändern, sich weiterzuentwickeln und zu experimentieren. Auf „Hole Erth“ fordert Bear sich selbst heraus, umarmt aber auch die unzähligen Klänge und Epochen, die ihn geprägt haben, während er neue Welten zusammenschmettert.

Red in Clear Vinyl. First compiled as a double CD in 2002, Moon's Milk (in Four Phases) is a suite of four EPs that Coil released seasonally via their in-house Eskaton imprint across 1998. The line-up for these sessions were John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, Drew McDowall, and William Breeze. Recorded primarily at their home studio in Chiswick, London on the eve of a permanent relocation to the small seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, the collection has long loomed as a pivotal and pinnacle work in the group's discography, but has never been officially reissued, or repressed on vinyl. Time has only ripened its tapestry of regal strangeness.Arranged sequentially in tribute to the equinoxes and solstices, Moon's Milk captures Coil at a revelatory crossroads, leaning deeper into improvisation, spontaneity, and sound design. "Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull" initiates the proceedings on Spring Equinox, a two-part netherworld organ séance woven from vocal drones, cathedral keys, seasick strings, and opiated undertow. From there, Summer Solstice skews lighter but no less incantational, with Balance embracing his voice-as-instrument across lucid dream torch songs ("Bee Stings"), purgatorial spoken word ("Glowworms/Waveforms"), sultry chamber pieces ("Summer Substructures"), and falsetto ravings ("A Warning From The Sun (For Fritz)").Autumn Equinox exudes more of a pensive and twilit mood, from the Rose McDowall-sung folk ballad "Rosa Decidua" ("I hear your voice sing near to me / I've put away the poisoned chalice (for now) / And lie down amongst the flowerbeds") to hall-of-lords hallucination "The Auto-Asphyxiating Hierophant" to the liminal string-plucked classic "Amethyst Deceivers," featuring excellent alien guitar by Breeze layered with Balance's oft-quoted couplet: "Pay your respects to the vultures / For they are your future."The album's final chapter, Winter Solstice, is its most swooning, remote, and ceremonial. Opener "A White Rainbow" stirs strings, layered choral vocals, and shivering rhythm into an imploding burial hymn. "North" oscillates bleakly, a ghost in the machine murmuring opaque prophecy ("This black dog has no owner / This black dog has no odour"), while "Magnetic North" is its inverse, a guided meditation of gently flickering software and surreal chakra poetics ("Red rose filling the skull / Yellow cube in the lower pelvis / Silver moon crescent below the navel"). The suite fades to grey with a traditional English carol ("Christmas Is Now Drawing Near"), rendered like an executioner's song by Rose McDowall's doomed, beautiful voice.The Dais box set includes the entirety of the rare Moon's Milk Bonus Disc CD-R / 2019 Threshold Archives CD, which includes three collaborations with Thighpaulsandra. This material is as rich and intoxicating as the previous four phases, ranging from electro-acoustic singing bowl rituals ("Copal") to dissonant electronic recitations of visionary Angus MacLise poetry ("The Coppice Meat") to ominous classical melancholia ("Bankside"). Once again, Coil confirm the vastness of their confounding, infinite alchemy, explored and refined across decades of experimentation - both sonic and bodily. From post-industrial to post-everything, theirs is an art untethered, in the wilds of its own design.

Alter is proud to present the debut full length release from devotional music outfit Unstern, a collaborative effort between deep ambient artist Arzat Skia and prodigal pianist Leo Svirsky. Co-mixed by Swedish electronic music luminary Civilistjävel! and Arzat Skia and mastered to tape by Stefan Betke, the album features lush electronics, two pianos refracting across the stereo field, processed recordings from the Peruvian Amazon, bowed percussion by Greg Stuart, alongside strings and renaissance meantone organ recorded at Orgelpark in Amsterdam.

The results are an abundant audio illusion where what seemingly repeats slowly over time morphs in a manner where the destination escapes the departure point with extreme discretion, a reverent nod to Morton Feldman's compositional method of "Crippled Symmetry."

Throughout Es Geht Der Tag there is a muted, refined melancholy imbued with a constantly fluctuating pulse which generates a sense of temporal disorientation, leaving the listener lost in a strange yet not at all unfamiliar sonic labyrinth. It is a journey whereby a glorious subtle tension exists between the grandiose and the restrained.

This is environmental music, not in the sense of capturing nature itself, more with regards to an unfolding of audio elements which move in a manner in tune with the multitude of flows in the world.

Unstern’s Es Geht Der Tag is a deep mental journey, rich in subtle transcendental tendencies and psychic liberation.

An All-Time Jazz Audiophile Masterpiece - Now on UHQR!
200-gram 45 RPM 2LP release limited to 5,000 copies
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analogue tapes
Set includes 8-page booklet with liner notes by renowned jazz critic Bob Blumenthal
Pressed on Clarity Vinyl at Quality Record Pressings
Purest possible pressing and most visually stunning presentation and packaging!
One of the most classic jazz albums and live recordings, a regular on most best-of jazz lists!

The fourth and final album by one of the most influential groups in jazz history, the Bill Evans Trio album Waltz For Debby was originally released in 1962 as a companion to Sunday At The Village Vanguard. It captures the mesmerizing and intimate live performances of Evans and his trio at the Village Vanguard in New York City. The album showcases Evans' unique approach to jazz piano, characterized by delicate touch, introspective improvisation, and profound musicality.

The title track, "Waltz for Debby," serves as the centrepiece of the album. It is a hauntingly beautiful composition penned by Evans himself as a tribute to his niece, Debby. The waltz unfolds with a graceful and melancholic melody, carried by Evans' masterful piano playing.

Throughout the album, Evans and his trio venture into other classic jazz standards, including "My Foolish Heart," "Detour Ahead," and "Milestones." With each performance, they delve deep into the heart of the music, exploring its nuances and improvising with a profound sense of lyricism. Evans' introspective style shines through, as he delicately navigates the harmonies, unveiling layers of emotion and introspection.

The beauty of "Waltz for Debby" lies not only in the musicianship but also in the intimate atmosphere it creates. The live recording captures the ambiance of the Village Vanguard, with the audience's presence adding an extra dimension to the music. The subtle clinks of glasses, the occasional applause, and the hushed whispers become a part of the experience, enhancing the authenticity and charm of the album.

Now Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds, Inc., together with Quality Record Pressings, is creating the definitive Waltz For Debby reissue: the Ultra High Quality Record (UHQR) pressed on Clarity Vinyl with attention paid to every single detail of this one-of-a-kind reissue.

Four glorious sides of 200-gram Clarity Vinyl from QRP, the world's best pressing plant. Cut at 45 RPM to reduce distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately. UHQRs from Analogue Productions are the gold-standard in premium vinyl releases, with attention paid to every single detail. The proprietary vinyl compound enhances the sound quality, offering improved dynamics, detail, and tonal accuracy. The heavier vinyl minimizes resonance and warping, providing a stable and flat playing surface. And great care is taken to eliminate any surface noise or imperfections throughout the manufacturing process.

Overall, UHQR Clarity Vinyl from Analogue Productions is a sought-after format among audiophiles and collectors who value the highest possible audio fidelity from their vinyl records.

Waltz for Debby stands as a testament to Bill Evans' genius as a pianist and composer. It is a profound and evocative exploration of melody, harmony, and improvisation, revealing the depths of emotion and the artistry that Evans brought to his music. The album remains a beloved gem in the jazz canon, cherished by fans and musicians alike for its timeless beauty and the lasting impact it has had on the genre.

Another gem from the extensive Flipper Music catalog, more precisely from their Flower sublabel, "Dreams For Sax" is possibly one of the most stand-out productions from their studio ensemble Gruppo Sound, this time around featuring saxophonist Paolo Russo with keyboardists Stefano Galante and Vittorio Quattrini. First released in 1987, the songs recorded for "Dreams For Sax" are a beautiful melange of easy-listening electronic and jazzy vibes, from mellow tunes such as "Dawning" and "First Class" to some killer floor-filling italo disco bangers such as "Walking On Air" and "Dance Power". A groovy Italian library banger from the 80's now available on vinyl for the first time since its original release as a limited edition of 500 copies.

Having gathered up praise from Mary Anne Hobbs, Cerys Matthews, Jamie Cullum, Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan, The Guardian, Jazzwise and more, for his lauded ‘Crisis & Opportunity’, drummer and composer Myele Manzanza returns with the fourth instalment of his series, titled ‘Meditations’.

On ‘Meditations’, we see Myele revert to a purely acoustic line-up, channeling a focused and razor-sharp return to his Jazz roots. Showcasing an incredible level of musicianship between three musicians at the top of their game - including Matthew Sheens (Ross McHenry, John Patitucci) on piano and Matt Penman (Joshua Redman, Sfjazz Collective) on double bass - the trio exchange motifs over the length of 7 tracks.

Opening proceedings with frenetic rhythmic improvisation, complimented by melancholic and cinematic layers of sound, ‘Crayford’s Room’ is a tribute to Myele’s musical mentor back in New Zealand. Remembering his time as a student in Wellington, Myele shows his deep connection to his origins, manifesting itself as lament on ‘Winter’ and ‘Homesick’. Introducing hypnotic, contemplative melodies take centre stage on ‘Something Old Something New’ (the first single to be released from the project)’ It maintains a sense of tension and intrigue throughout, and intensity rises to a crescendo sending sonic particles sprawling into space.

Intuitive, darker and deeply contemplative, Myele shares his innermost thoughts on ‘Crisis and Opportunities Vol.4 - Meditations’. He divulges:

‘The personal angst and existential frustration I was going through across 2020 - 2022 I believe is well reflected here. The album is deeply informed by the musicianship and sound of my trio, Matthew Sheens on piano and Matt Penman on double bass. Knowing that musicians of their calibre were going to be involved gave me licence to go further in my writing, deploying odd time signatures, sharing the melody roles across the piano and the bass, and delving deeper into the nuances of what the acoustic piano / bass / drums trio can do. The compositions present a challenge even to the best musicians, and I knew that it was essential to have a team on this level to really move the music beyond an academic exercise and draw out the emotion and colour from the material.’

"Even God Has A Sense Of Humor" is the long-awaited follow up album to Maxo's critically acclaimed 2019 release Lil Big Man. Across the 14-tracks, Even God Has A Sense Of Humor pays tribute to the mercurial nature of life and includes features from Liv.e, keiyaA, LastNameDavid, and Melanie Charles along with the previously released singles "Free!," produced by Dev Morrison and "48," produced by Madlib and featuring Pink Siifu. The FADER recently sat down with Maxo to discuss the album, which they described as having "a defiant glow, like a bronze statue still standing after an intense tornado."

Born Maxamillian Allen, Even God Has A Sense Of Humor finds Maxo earnest, full-hearted, and lyrically agile. His delivery punches as he poetically unpacks the trials and blessings that have marked the last three years since Lil Big Man, his stirring and meditative debut album. “Life is always gonna be life-ing,” Maxo says, speaking to the spiritual lessons that inspired this new project and an album process that has revealed to him the many ways in which he’s divinely protected.

The album’s striking cover features three casted sculptures of Maxo by legendary NYC-based artist artist John Ahearn, photographed by the rapper’s friend Steven Traylor. The image both preceded the music and set the tone for the record’s overall aura. Experiencing the casting process—which required long periods of stillness for form, and breathwork to avoid claustrophobia—became a metaphor about ego death for Maxo. “I had to go to a space where I was just not there,” he says. As the molding was poured over his body and the voices of those in the room became distant, Maxo’s inner world came into focus. “By the time it hardened, it seemed like the sculpture had risen to be 20 feet above where it was first— almost like it grew tall,” he explains. EGHASOH, in its aural ebbs and flows, honest questioning, profound revelations, and elegant verse, is Maxo standing spiritually tall following a period of challenges with family and friends.

Maxo’s writing process has always been rooted in imagery, observation, and capturing moments. Growing up in Southern California, Maxo spent a lot of time combing through old family photo albums, some of whose contents have become the artwork for prior releases. But his fascination with visual memento is less about nostalgia or remembering, and more about exploring concepts of growth, healing, and cycles. His artistry is intentional and deeply sensitive: “If I’m not feeling it, I’m not gonna record.” While his past records openly grappled with emotional turbulence, anger and depression, EGHASOH is Maxo’s acceptance stage: “I can't really judge nothing. I can't sit up and be mad at shit because everything is, everything is kind of coexisting,” he says.

Musically, EGHASOH is an impressive evolution from Maxo’s earlier, unornamented lo-fi projects. With an emphasis on jazzy instrumentalism and soothing, intricate vocals from both the artist and featured chanteueses Liv.e, Melanie Charles, and keiyaA, EGHASOH is a welcome and beautifully complex sonic effort. Its contributors include a range of musicians: Pink Siifu, LastNameDavid, Madlib, GrayMatter, Karriem Riggins, Beat Butcha, Lance Skiiiwalker, and more. The album was executive produced by Mount Kimbie’s Dom Maker.

“Nobody talks about the fact that we’re changing as we get older... Everybody just acts like you supposed to know,” Maxo says on album standout, “Face of Stone”. It's moody bassline meets a cinematic accordion melody that paradoxically both broods and uplifts—a fitting production choice that mirrors the song’s story. “I’m seeing how this world is chipping you and withering your bones,” Maxo says. “I’m talking about myself, talking about my bro. But it’s never nothing you gonna do that’s a one stop shop in this life. You gotta keep staying diligent and consistent.” For Maxo, Even God Has a Sense of Humor is nothing more than another moment on the timeline of his offerings of self-expression as an artist—one whose sole intention is to, in his words, develop as a human being and heal.

Saxophonist and composer Wayne Escoffery reflects on love, loss, and solitude on his stunning new album, an atmospheric and haunting mood piece, Alone, featuring a remarkable all-star quartet with pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Carl Allen. In the summer of 2023, saxophonist and composer Wayne Escoffery found himself alone in a way that he’d never quite experienced before. He was away from home, on sabbatical in Europe with a month to himself between tours. A long-term relationship had just ended, and he was confronted with the loss of friendships that he’d once valued. Worst of all, he’d suffered a broken finger that left him unable to play the saxophone for the first time since he’d picked up the horn in high school. “Normally, my coping mechanism would be the saxophone,” Escoffery laments. “But even that wasn't available to me for about nine weeks, so I just had to be alone in my thoughts.” He made good use of this alone time, conceptualizing the music that makes up his striking and singular new album. What emerged from that solitude was an extended mood piece, a workunique in Escoffery’s typically wide-ranging catalog for its sustained atmosphere of stark melancholy and searching introspection. Alone was conceived during a time of isolation, heartbreak, regret, and reflection, but the experience of the album is far richer even than that. In the end, “I was forced to reflect on life and what was most important to me,” Escoffery concludes. “The concept of this album grew out of that reflection.”

Black Bile compiles some of Umberto"s most resplendent, sanguine music to date The solo work of LA composer Matt Hill draws heavily from the world of cinema, spinning immersive narratives and rich atmospheres using sound alone. Hill, an active composer for film and television, recently scored the 2022 Jerry Pyle film Loveseat (soundtrack was released in 2023). Other recent scores include the 2020 thriller Archenemy, from the producers of cult classic Mandy. Inspired by the ancient Greek theory of the "four humors," an early medical theory linking the inner workings of the human body to the elements. "Black bile" specifically links the feelings of melancholy with autumn. Hill"s celestial compositions are an autumnal soundtrack conveying beauty, yearning, reflection and comfort. Many of the album"s phrases are constructed from just two notes or sounds, arranged by Hill into complex patterns that undulate with an organic pulse. The spare melodic structure holds a myriad of small and beautiful details. The songs began with Hill improvising on the piano, to find the notes and patterns that created the musical and emotional structure from which he could expand with textural detail. Hill then would often remove the initial structure leaving a sparer and more skeletal one which he could again expand upon to create a full piece. The careful attention to each detail gives his minimal compositions emotional heft. The album masterfully stakes Umberto"s claim among other avant-ambient boundary pushers such as Lawrence English or Laurel Halo.

Die südkalifornische Shoegaze-Truppe Cold Gawd kehrt zurück zu Dais mit ihrer zweiten und bisher besten Suite von erdrückender Downer-Seligkeit: "I'll Drown On This Earth". Vom trotzigen Schrei, mit dem das Eröffnungsstück "Gorgeous" beginnt, reißt das Album mit, was Sänger und Haupt-Songwriter Matthew Wainwright als "Go for it"-Modus beschreibt: Nichts zurückhalten, keine Zeit verschwenden. Obwohl der Großteil der Songs im Jahr 2022 geschrieben wurde, waren die Aufnahmesessions nicht vor März 2024 gebucht, so dass genügend Zeit zur Verfeinerung und Destillierung der Hooks, die Schwere und den Dunst der Musik war. Das Ergebnis ist ein perfekter Sturm aus Verzerrung und Dream-Pop, zerrissene Liebeslieder, die sich in schwindelerregende Wände aus Lärm legen. Aufgenommen bei Paradise Recorders in Anaheim, Kalifornien, mit Colin Knight (von der Post-Punk-Band Object of Affection), spielte Wainwright die Streicher ein, während Cameron Fonacier das Schlagzeug bediente. Der Prozess war effizient und effektiv, geschärft durch jahrelange Performance. Songs wie "Portland", "All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned For A Thing I Cannot Name" und "Malibu Beach House" klingen dynamisch und gehen den Musikern in Fleisch und Blut über. Die Texte von Wainwright wurden nur eine Woche vor der Aufnahme geschrieben. Stimmungen der Surrealität, Verliebtheit und Melancholie flackern und verblassen in einem Nebel aus Erinnerung und Hall. Wie auf "God Get Me The Fuck Out Of Here" von 2022 manifestiert sich die zeitgemäße Vision des Shoegazevon Cold Gawd auf faszinierende Weise in Momenten, wie der gedämpften, strudelnden Träumerei von "Tappan", oder dem dunstigen, schleppenden Downtempo von ""Nudism"" (mit königlichem Klavier-Outro). Ihre Muse ist so lebendig wie vielfältig, sie reicht von "Loveless" von My Bloody Valentine über Drake, Post-Hardcore und Beach House. "I'll Drown On This Earth" erweitert auf eindrucksvolle Weise den Kanon von Cold Gawd, dicht an Riffs und Entrückung, Flucht und und Offenbarung, kanalisiert durch gestapelte Verstärker und versteckte Kräfte: "Give praise / to whatever / I got time for / hallelujah."

Die südkalifornische Shoegaze-Truppe Cold Gawd kehrt zurück zu Dais mit ihrer zweiten und bisher besten Suite von erdrückender Downer-Seligkeit: "I'll Drown On This Earth". Vom trotzigen Schrei, mit dem das Eröffnungsstück "Gorgeous" beginnt, reißt das Album mit, was Sänger und Haupt-Songwriter Matthew Wainwright als "Go for it"-Modus beschreibt: Nichts zurückhalten, keine Zeit verschwenden. Obwohl der Großteil der Songs im Jahr 2022 geschrieben wurde, waren die Aufnahmesessions nicht vor März 2024 gebucht, so dass genügend Zeit zur Verfeinerung und Destillierung der Hooks, die Schwere und den Dunst der Musik war. Das Ergebnis ist ein perfekter Sturm aus Verzerrung und Dream-Pop, zerrissene Liebeslieder, die sich in schwindelerregende Wände aus Lärm legen. Aufgenommen bei Paradise Recorders in Anaheim, Kalifornien, mit Colin Knight (von der Post-Punk-Band Object of Affection), spielte Wainwright die Streicher ein, während Cameron Fonacier das Schlagzeug bediente. Der Prozess war effizient und effektiv, geschärft durch jahrelange Performance. Songs wie "Portland", "All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned For A Thing I Cannot Name" und "Malibu Beach House" klingen dynamisch und gehen den Musikern in Fleisch und Blut über. Die Texte von Wainwright wurden nur eine Woche vor der Aufnahme geschrieben. Stimmungen der Surrealität, Verliebtheit und Melancholie flackern und verblassen in einem Nebel aus Erinnerung und Hall. Wie auf "God Get Me The Fuck Out Of Here" von 2022 manifestiert sich die zeitgemäße Vision des Shoegazevon Cold Gawd auf faszinierende Weise in Momenten, wie der gedämpften, strudelnden Träumerei von "Tappan", oder dem dunstigen, schleppenden Downtempo von ""Nudism"" (mit königlichem Klavier-Outro). Ihre Muse ist so lebendig wie vielfältig, sie reicht von "Loveless" von My Bloody Valentine über Drake, Post-Hardcore und Beach House. "I'll Drown On This Earth" erweitert auf eindrucksvolle Weise den Kanon von Cold Gawd, dicht an Riffs und Entrückung, Flucht und und Offenbarung, kanalisiert durch gestapelte Verstärker und versteckte Kräfte: "Give praise / to whatever / I got time for / hallelujah."

Limited to 350 copies

Stop what you're doing and give us your full attention because Hell Yeah mainstay My Friend Dario's new album Senza Estate is going to define the sound of summer 2024. It's an eclectic eight-track collection that has something for everyone and is inspired by dreamy Italian soundtrack composers Piero Piccioni and Umiliani.

Curveball Italian talent Dario is a real dance floor don who collides acid, nu-disco, breakbeat and electro. His take on Balearic is unique and always sends dance floors wild, as proven with his last outing Food For Woofers Vol 2 earlier in the year. His new album is the sound of life by the Mediterranean, Balearic audio pleasure for daytime dreaming and nighttime dancing with vocal tracks written and performed by the UK's Space Echo Records associate Darene Obika.

Dario hails from Catania on the island of Sicily and his inspiration for Senza Estate, which translates as 'without summer,' was an imaginary holiday, weekends at the seaside, car journeys in the sun, relaxing sunsets and late-night dancing. 'For five years, I worked in a shop six days a week so despite living on a Mediterranean island I could never enjoy these things. Instead, I locked myself in the studio and jotted down the ideas, sensations, melodies and rhythms I had about another lost summer.'

'Keep On Cruising' is a downtempo opener with innocent synths that are filled with hope and promise for the warm months ahead. 'Zingarella' is a wide open sea view with wispy pads, seductive flutes and jazzy melodies that bristle with life and the tropical title cut gets more dancey on shuffling broken beats and radiant synth glows. There's a seductive laid-back cool to the tumbling keys of 'Marittimo' and 'What You Need' is a horizontal groove with loved-up vocals, 'Falò' pairs sensual acoustic guitar with work with pillowy drums and 'Il Pianeta Proibito' layers up sci-fi synths and stuttering bass into a bubbly sound that leads to cosmic take-off. 'Acid Panorama' is the melancholic closer which hints that the summer sun is setting one final time after weeks of carefree fun.

But the good news is, you can repeat the joys of My Friend Dario's masterful Senza Estate over and over again.

This is the repeated call and the rallying chorus of the nearly 40-minute centerpiece to composer and percussionist Asher Gamedze’s new album Constitution. The expansive double album, a minoritarian fellowship in breath, is Gamedze’s follow-up to 2023’s Turbulence and Pulse (IARC0057), and his first with The Black Lungs. The album – recorded in one day at Cape Town’s Sound and Motion Studios – is an elaboration of the possibilities of autonomous constitution in and through polyrhythmic, modal, large ensemble music.
On Constitution, the power of the question, the possibility of an improvised answer and the celebration of being together exists not in the solo but in the group, the ensemble. Here The Black Lungs collectively explore and deconstruct the conceptual, tonal, and atonal possibilities of themes which are at once of old and new dreams - curious and instantiative, melancholic and emergent.

“The Black Lungs is inspired by the revolutionary thought and practice of the Black Consciousness Movement. In particular, the relationship between antagonism – constituting a united front of all the oppressed against white supremacy and racial capitalism – and the possibilities for resistance and elaboration - the creative militant capacities of those assembled – enabled and unleashed by that process of constitution.”

Southern California shoegaze squad Cold Gawd return to Dais for their second and most supreme suite yet of crushing downer bliss: I’ll Drown On This Earth. From the defiant scream that kicks off opening cut “Gorgeous,” the album rips in what singer and principal songwriter Matthew Wainwright describes as “go for it” mode: holding back nothing, wasting no time. Although the bulk of the songs were written in 2022, recording sessions weren’t booked until March of 2024, which allowed ample time to refine and distill the music’s hooks, heaviness, and haze. The result is a perfect storm of distortion and dream pop, cracked love songs cloaked in swooning walls of noise.

Recorded at Paradise Recorders in Anaheim, California with Colin Knight (of post-punk unit Object of Affection), Wainwright tracked the strings while Cameron Fonacier handled drums. The process was efficient and effective, sharpened by years of performance. Anthemic headbangers like “Portland,” “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned For A Thing I Cannot Name,” and “Malibu Beach House” sound as dynamic as they do dialled-in, soaked into the bones of the players. The lyrics camelast, written by Wainwright a week before recording. Moods of surreality (“I can hear the blood in my fingers / nothing tunes out / the world’s too loud”), infatuation (“I will follow / everywhere you go / any way to feel / how you glow”), and melancholy (“God kept me around / for no good reason”) flicker and fade within a fog of memory and reverb.

Southern California shoegaze squad Cold Gawd return to Dais for their second and most supreme suite yet of crushing downer bliss: I’ll Drown On This Earth. From the defiant scream that kicks off opening cut “Gorgeous,” the album rips in what singer and principal songwriter Matthew Wainwright describes as “go for it” mode: holding back nothing, wasting no time. Although the bulk of the songs were written in 2022, recording sessions weren’t booked until March of 2024, which allowed ample time to refine and distill the music’s hooks, heaviness, and haze. The result is a perfect storm of distortion and dream pop, cracked love songs cloaked in swooning walls of noise.

Recorded at Paradise Recorders in Anaheim, California with Colin Knight (of post-punk unit Object of Affection), Wainwright tracked the strings while Cameron Fonacier handled drums. The process was efficient and effective, sharpened by years of performance. Anthemic headbangers like “Portland,” “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned For A Thing I Cannot Name,” and “Malibu Beach House” sound as dynamic as they do dialled-in, soaked into the bones of the players. The lyrics camelast, written by Wainwright a week before recording. Moods of surreality (“I can hear the blood in my fingers / nothing tunes out / the world’s too loud”), infatuation (“I will follow / everywhere you go / any way to feel / how you glow”), and melancholy (“God kept me around / for no good reason”) flicker and fade within a fog of memory and reverb.

We welcome you, Endless Rüttenscheid", sing International Music in the title track of their third studio album, which will be released on 6 September 2024. The album title "Endless Rüttenscheid" is likely to be a real challenge for fans outside the German-speaking world. "Endless", of course, but then: a rolling R followed by an umlaut, a double T and a hard pronounced D at the end: Rüttenscheid. This is the name of the flourishing district of Essen in the centre of Europe, which stands for lucrative growth in the Ruhr region, but also for the well-known problem of gentrification. But as is usual with international music, such socio-political subjects mainly form spaces in which to fall in love, dream and part again, only to meet again one day. "Heart is the trump card", to quote the cult band TRIO, who have more than just the size of their line-up in common with International Music.

The learning process is just as much an act of healing as betterment. The enabling of solutions through sheer willpower and openness to discovery, or a noble mission, never completed. In that spirit, the latest album by Berlin-based Slovak duo Päfgens – comprising Jana Drábeková Kočišová and Filip Drábek – represents a pensive development for the project.

Drifting from their lo-fi shoegaze beginnings, Päfgens drone-infused soundscapes have become increasingly immersive and expressive “framed improvisations,” where spontaneous passages are captured, then revisited with fresh layers upon layers over the course of months, breathing and evolving naturally, mirroring the unpredictability of nature. Songforms have all but melted away, with ethereal guitars and bass nestling up against field-recorded sounds, synth beds, percussion, and singing bowl tones.

The framed improvisation on ‘Aspect of What’ explores love and loss, relishing both the joy and melancholy of paying tribute to Filip’s late ethnologist grandmother, Božena Filová (1926-2020). Her voice opens track 2, ‘Particles’, speaking of the humble desire to “help the people in the rural environment”, and the goal of “uplifting people to better living through education”. The album’s emotionally charged approach to improvisation is suitably uplifting and seemingly made without ego, the couple melting away into the flitting wall of rustling drones and heavenly fuzz. Even at their most serrated (the groaning guitar amp squall underpinning ‘Journey’) or when surrounded by chiming bells, clocks and bowls (‘Around the Clock’), Päfgens is ready to listen, rest, learn, and improve, extracting and nurturing hidden abstract emotion in every piece, plundering something universal and teachable from very personal depths.

Ellende war bis nach "Lebensnehmer" ein bisschen das schmuddelige Kind im österreichischen Post-Black-Metal-Kosmos. Auf Ellenbogengesellschaft folgt nun die "Todbringerin". Ellende veröffentlichten mit "Todbringerin" im August 2024 ihr fünftes Album und bestechen erneut durch düstere Melancholie.

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF'S FIFTH ALBUM 'LITTLE MAN' REMASTERED &
REISSUED WITH 3 BONUS TRACKS.A vein of melancholy runs throughout
The Pineapple Thief's fifth studio album 'Little Man'
nspired by the theme of loss, 'Little Man' was the first Pineapple Thief album to
ruly establish the band on the musical map, earning them the support of the
Kscope label & endorsements from prog figurehead Steven Wilson (Porcupine
Tree) to boot. Now remastered by revered mastering engineer Steve Kitch, this
vinyl edition of 'Little Man' delivers an immersive & definitive, listening experience.
An astounding emotional, atmospheric and satisfying piece of art." 5/5 Sputnik
Music
The Pineapple Thief were formed in 1999 by founder & chief songwriter Bruce
Soord & have since released a total of 16 studio albums, 6 EP's & several live &
compilation albums. The lineup now includes Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree/
King Crimson following his permanent joining for 2018's 'Dissolution'. In February
2024, The Pineapple Thief released the critically acclaimed 'It Leads To This'
which reached #2 in the UK Independent Albums Chart.
This edition of 'Little Man' is presented as a CD digipack with 4- page printed
booklet & includes 'Dead In The Water', 'God Bless The Child' & live favourite
Snowdrops', plus 3 acoustic bonus tracks.

Bluets' debut on Kimochi Sound seamlessly integrates into the label's well established and distinctive style. This one, with a hand-sprayed sleeve as always, opens with "if you can imagine," a confident bit of microhouse that mixes rich melodies and a lively bassline. 'Action Potential' echoes RDMA's aesthetic with its precise beats and on the B-side you will find a vaporous melody that weaves through sparse downbeat house grooves to make for a dreamlike atmosphere. Closing the EP, 'Buong Bilog' features distorted IDM rhythms and a poignant refrain that balances twitchy textures with melancholic tones. This carefully crafted release bridges home-listening electronics with dancefloor clout.

Immerse yourself in a unique narrative experience, embarking on a vibrant journey that will awaken your senses and evoke warm memories.

Play as Mimi, exploring the precious recollections of your childhood and the times shared with your late grandmother. As past meets present, confront your adult choices with fond childhood memories to uncover lost family secrets.

For the OST, SUPERNAIVE brothers oscillates between melancholy and wonder. They build a strong narrative throughout the songs, taking the listener by the hand to discover their unique poetic universe.

Originally released in 1996 as a limited fan-club pressing for Rockathon, Guided By Voices’ Tonics And Twisted Chasers has always existed as an anomaly in Robert Pollard’s vast discography. In many ways, the album serves as the tail of a creative comet that in just two years included the “classic line-up” trilogy of Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes, Under the Stars and countless singles that crammed endless hooks in their grooves. In the intervening space, Tonics And Twisted Chasers has taken on a mythic status. It’s arguably Pollard’s strangest, gnarliest, most enlightened record and also the fans first chance to see the stitches that bind his galaxy of songs. It’s like peering at the caliber inside a watch, responsible for making the whole enterprise tick. This nineteen-song collaboration with guitarist Tobin Sprout could be interpreted as spontaneous sketches, late-night improvisations, ideas that blossomed later in the timeline (“Knock ’Em Flyin’” and “Key Losers”), but as with anything in Pollard’s orbit, its intention is clear when heard as a cohesive whole. The Pollard tenet that “less is more” is on full display here. The songs rarely creep past ninety seconds and coalesce much like Pollard’s collage-styled visual art. Arena anthems in miniature (“158 Years Of Beautiful Sex”) bash up against eerie piano laments (“Universal Nurse Finger”) without any time to breathe, acoustic lullabies that sound like a Midwestern summer’s twilight (“Look It’s Baseball”) segue into monochromatic post-rock (“Maxwell Jump”). The euphoric joy and obtuse melancholy in Pollard’s voice is so palpable on the album’s standout, “Dayton, Ohio 19 Something & 5” (which has since become a live staple), that it’s impossible to find a more autobiographical yarn in his catalog. The album’s closest analog is 1993’s Vampire On Titus, as it contains that album’s prickly, dark and shimmering obfuscation that only reveals its beauty after repeated listens. Tonics And Twisted Chasers maintains the lore because the melodies are so strong. Using a primitive drum machine, Radio Shack effects, minimal instrumentation and the DIY spirit that guided them in the first place, Pollard and Sprout constructed a masterpiece of pop that could only come from a basement in north Dayton, Ohio. Anyone in that hallowed era who happened upon it, kept it as a secret.

Originally released in 1996 as a limited fan-club pressing for Rockathon, Guided By Voices’ Tonics And Twisted Chasers has always existed as an anomaly in Robert Pollard’s vast discography. In many ways, the album serves as the tail of a creative comet that in just two years included the “classic line-up” trilogy of Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes, Under the Stars and countless singles that crammed endless hooks in their grooves. In the intervening space, Tonics And Twisted Chasers has taken on a mythic status. It’s arguably Pollard’s strangest, gnarliest, most enlightened record and also the fans first chance to see the stitches that bind his galaxy of songs. It’s like peering at the caliber inside a watch, responsible for making the whole enterprise tick. This nineteen-song collaboration with guitarist Tobin Sprout could be interpreted as spontaneous sketches, late-night improvisations, ideas that blossomed later in the timeline (“Knock ’Em Flyin’” and “Key Losers”), but as with anything in Pollard’s orbit, its intention is clear when heard as a cohesive whole. The Pollard tenet that “less is more” is on full display here. The songs rarely creep past ninety seconds and coalesce much like Pollard’s collage-styled visual art. Arena anthems in miniature (“158 Years Of Beautiful Sex”) bash up against eerie piano laments (“Universal Nurse Finger”) without any time to breathe, acoustic lullabies that sound like a Midwestern summer’s twilight (“Look It’s Baseball”) segue into monochromatic post-rock (“Maxwell Jump”). The euphoric joy and obtuse melancholy in Pollard’s voice is so palpable on the album’s standout, “Dayton, Ohio 19 Something & 5” (which has since become a live staple), that it’s impossible to find a more autobiographical yarn in his catalog. The album’s closest analog is 1993’s Vampire On Titus, as it contains that album’s prickly, dark and shimmering obfuscation that only reveals its beauty after repeated listens. Tonics And Twisted Chasers maintains the lore because the melodies are so strong. Using a primitive drum machine, Radio Shack effects, minimal instrumentation and the DIY spirit that guided them in the first place, Pollard and Sprout constructed a masterpiece of pop that could only come from a basement in north Dayton, Ohio. Anyone in that hallowed era who happened upon it, kept it as a secret.

2022 entstand Dimbild als halbakustisches Nebenprojekt des renommierten Musikers Vintersorg, das die folkige Seite seiner Reise in vollem Umfang
einbezieht und die intensiven Metal-Kompositionen des Hauptacts außen vor lässt. Es ist etwas, das seit Jahren wächst, aber im Jahr 2022 nahm es
seine eigene Form an. In Abkehr von der unerbittlichen Energie des Metal verfolgt Dimbild einen gedämpfteren und introspektiveren Ansatz beim
Musikmachen. Das Projekt ermöglichte es Vintersorg, eine andere Facette seines künstlerischen Ausdrucks zu erforschen und tiefer in die Gefilde der
Folk- und Akustikmusik einzutauchen, in die ein Hauch von Melancholie eingeflochten ist. Die Musik von Dimbild, die sich von der Natur, der
Mythologie und existenziellen Themen inspirieren lässt, entführt den Hörer in eine andere Welt, in der sich Emotionen mit den Klängen von
Akustikgitarren, Perkussion und dem markanten Gesang von Vintersorg vermischen.

Der deutsche Literat, Kritiker und ehemaliges Mitglied der Fernsehsendung "Das Literarische Quartet", Maxim Biller, hat mit der Unterstützung des Berliner Multiinstrumentalisten Malakoff Kowalski zwölf von ihm selbst komponierte Lieder aufgenommen. Das Ergebnis ihre Kollaboration heißt "Studio" und ist ein beeindruckendes, zeitloses Werk, das sich musikalisch - man kann diese illustren Namen durchaus zum Vergleich heranziehen - an Größen wie Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg oder Paolo Conte anlehnt. Die "Studio"-Songs sind politisch, melancholisch, romantisch, vor allem aber sehr außergewöhnlich. Einen singenden Schriftsteller im deutschsprachigen Raum - das hat es schon Jahrzehnte nicht mehr gegeben!

Debüt-Soloalbum der Multiinstrumentalistin und Leadsängerin Nicole Miglis von Hundred Waters. Die Songs für ihr Solo-Debütalbum Myopia entstanden stückweise: in eine neue Stadt reisen, Feldaufnahmen sammeln, eine Idee entwickeln, verfeinern und in immer neuer Reihenfolge wiederholen. Viele der Songs entstanden innerhalb weniger Wochen, während sich die reichhaltige Instrumentierung geduldig entwickelte, als Miglis an den vielschichtigen Klanglandschaften herumtüftelte. Myopia ist ein Album, das die komplexen Überschneidungen von Sehnsucht, Melancholie und Identität erforscht und gleichzeitig ihre faszinierende Fähigkeit unter Beweis stellt, experimentelle Produktionen, Popmelodien und klassische Formen zu einer ganz eigenen musikalischen Sprache zu vereinen. Die Veröffentlichungen von Hundred Waters wurden von zahlreichen Medien gelobt, darunter Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, NPR, New York Times und viele mehr. Für ihr erstes Soloalbum Myopia war Miglis entschlossen, alle Songs selbst zu schreiben, zu produzieren und aufzuführen. Obwohl viele der Tracks noch in der Zeit mit HW entstanden, fand sie nach ihrer Welttournee als Leadsängerin des für einen Grammy nominierten Elektronikmusikers Bonobo in den Jahren 2022-23 neue kreative Kraft und finalizierte ihr Solowerk. In Myopia kristallisiert Miglis ineinander verwobene Zustände von Besessenheit, Liebe und Verlust neben einer gleichmäßig eklektischen Reihe von Klängen, sowohl organisch als auch digital. Das Album ist der Höhepunkt eines lebenslangen künstlerischen Schaffens, das Momente aus ihrer gesamten Karriere in ihrer bisher üppigsten und überzeugendsten Sammlung von Songs zusammenfasst. Es vermischt Texturen und Genres mit Instrumenten und Einflüssen - von Klavieren und Streichern bis hin zu akustischen Harfenklängen und ätherischen Loops - und überbrückt die Kluft zwischen Klassik und Moderne mit einem Album, das Fans von elektronischer, orchestraler und Pop-Musik gleichermaßen faszinieren wird.

Guided by San Francisco musician Andy Pastalaniec, Chime School pays homage to the formative jangle of The Byrds by way of early Primal Scream and The Springfields; the production and pop sensibility of Biff Bang Pow! and The Razorcuts; and the spirit of great singles labels like Creation, Postcard and Sarah. Although it would have fit with any of those labels, Chime School found a natural home with Bay Area indie stalwart Slumberland Records, releasing a self-titled debut in 2021, and a follow-up 7” single in 2023, to broad acclaim.

The anticipated follow-up LP "The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel" is as stellar as we could have hoped for — deeper, richer and evolved in every way. While still joyfully packed with janglepop gems, "Paisley Hotel" takes a turn toward the winsome melancholy of groups like East Village, The Go-Betweens, and The Loft, and represents a leap forward in production, composition and arrangement. "The first record was a bit manic. I was trying to stuff so many years of influences into thirty brisk minutes. With 'Paisley Hotel' I chose a more condensed palette, and I feel I'm getting closer to the sonic vision I had from the beginning."

The Norwegian underground black metal band Kirkebrann has ventured from the early days of 2004 to now with increasingly more aggressive, misanthropic and epic themes of real-world tragedy as they unfold before our very eyes. Their frosty, rough and harsh black metal is equal to the classic early Norwegian black metal of the early ‘90s. The second full length has been in the making for almost a decade with some of those songs performed live for the same amount of time through blasphemy, blood and existential dread; featuring multiple guests on vocals of madness and triumph.

This album marks the beginning of a new era in Kirkebrann's twenty years of existence with its unrestrained force - full of blastbeats - in conveying dreadful, atmospheric and melancholic harmonies and sound of inspiration from the dark forces that are enclosing upon humanity's imminent downfall. “Mot Trellenes Forfal” was recorded by Kirkebrann with Draug on vocals, Hrafn on lead guitar, jK on guitar, Januz Skroemt Kvirinus Bifronsson on bass and Nødset on drums. The album also features guest vocals by Dødsherre (Djevelkult), Nasreten (Carpathian Forest), Cornu (Svikt), Lianne Krossburner (Edenkaiser) and Skrotmunn Blåskrott (Likfunn). It's time to release this curse upon humanity and release us from its limbo!

"Civilians" lädt Fans auf eine Reise in Joe Henrys poetische
Lyrik ein. Das Album überzeugt mit einem Mix aus Jazz-, Folkund Blues-Einfl üssen. Begleitet von langjährigen Weƽefährten
kehrt Henry mit "Civilians" zu einem traditionellen SongwritingAnsatz zurück

Joe Henry is one of the artists who have shaped the sound of modern American folk and blues music like hardly anyone else. “Civilians”, his 10th studio album, was originally released in 2007. It takes the listener on an intimate journey into Henry’s poetic lyricism and is heavily influenced and inspired by the more melancholic sounds of folk and jazz music. Recorded in Henry’s home studio at the time, the Garfield House in Pasadena, the album has a raw and stripped-back feel, with several of Henry’s close friends and collaborators, like Loudon Wainwright III, Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz, and Van Dyke Parks, joining him in the studio to bring these songs to life. Now available on 180g black double vinyl for the first time ever, the 2024 reissue edition of “Civilians” features not only the 12 songs of the original release, but also previously unheard bonus material, including intimate demo versions of several songs on the album, as well as the all-new bonus track “Bread & Flowers”.

The Moon and the Melodies is a singular record within the Cocteau Twins" catalogue - unusually ethereal, even by their standards, and largely instrumental, guided by the free-form improvisations of Harold Budd, an ambient pioneer who had drifted into their orbit as if by divine intervention. Building on the atmospheric bliss of Victorialand, released earlier the same year, it signalled a possible future for the trio, yet it was a path they"d never take again. Now, almost forty years after it was fi rst released, it"s being reissued on vinyl for the first time - remastered, from the original tapes, by Robin Guthrie himself. Over the ensuing years, The Moon and the Melodies has attracted a passionate fan base. Its most atmospheric tracks routinely turn up in ambient DJ sets. "Sea, Swallow Me" is one of the Cocteau Twins" most streamed songs on Spotify, having found a new life on TikTok, where it serves as the soundtrack to innumerable expressions of hard-to-express melancholy. For such a low-key aff air, the album casts a long shadow - but Raymonde believes the record"s uniqueness stems directly from its humble, unpremeditated origins. "It captured a moment in time between friends that are enjoying making music together. Really, that"s the essence of it."

Blood Red w/ Cyan Blue Splatter Vinyl. Remember Sports is a Philadelphia-based band, originally conceived in the tiny Midwestern college town of Gambier, OH, comprised of members Carmen Perry (vocals, guitar), Jack Washburn (guitar), Catherine Dwyer (bass), and Connor Perry (drums). Their peppy indie power pop encapsulates the melancholy and excitement of growing up while Carmen's writing is diaristic and intimate; a strange amalgam of both melancholy and joy. Remember Sports recorded Sunchokes in 2014 with school mates Teddy Farkas and Alex Evans while Carmen, Catherine, Benji Dossetter (drums) and James Karlin (bass) attended Kenyon College. Sunchokes (Deluxe Edition) is a remastered version of the original album plus eight bonus demo + original versions of some of the songs.

Das mit Spannung erwartete neue Album von Dark Tranquillity, "Endtime Signals", kanalisiert all die Unruhe, Angst und Verwirrung der Welt in 12 fesselnden, kraftvollen Tracks. "Endtime Signals" ist Katharsis und Dunkelheit, Entschlossenheit und Zustimmung. Die wiedererstarkte Besetzung - Joakim Strandberg Nilsson (Schlagzeug) und Christian Jansson (Bass) gesellen sich zu Mikael Stanne (Gesang), Martin Brändström (Keyboards) und Johan Reinholdz (Gitarren) - bedeutet, dass eine neue Ära für Dark Tranquillity angebrochen ist. Die Singles "The Last Imagination", "Unforgivable" und "Not Nothing" kündigen dies durch raumgreifende Refrains, fiebrige Aggression und unverkennbare Melancholie an. Mit einem wundervollen Cover-Artwork von Sundin und einer "gelebten" Produktion von Brändström (Rogue Music) und dem Engineering von Alexander Backlund (Fascination Street Studios), sowie einem hochoktanigen Mix und Master von Jens Bogren (Ihsahn, At The Gates), setzt "Endtime Signals" die gesamte innovative Songkunst von Dark Tranquillity in ein unvergleichliches, breitgefächertes Erlebnis um. "Endtime Signals" ist erhältlich als Gatefold 180g LP (12 Tracks) in schwarzem Vinyl sowie als strikt limitierte Gatefold 2LP-Deluxe-Edition mit dem Hauptalbum auf einer mehrfarbigen 12"-Vinyldisc (12 Tracks) plus zusätzlicher schwarzer Bonus-Vinyldisc (Seite A: 2 Tracks, Seite B: Motiv-Ätzung).

From 2019 to 2023 Lindsay Reamer worked as a field scientist. With a guitar and a bag of books in tow, she would leave her home in Philadelphia for the postcard scenes of the American landscape to gather data on visitation in National Parks. She counted cars and RVs, surveyed visitors, and made a temporary home for a few weeks at a time wherever she landed. All the while, she collected her own observations like specimens and slowly weaved the songs that would form her debut full-length, `Natural Science.' Recorded throughout 2023 by Lucas Knapp, `Natural Science' paints with a full spectrum. Humor rubs elbows with heartbreak. Acoustic guitars brush up against synthesizers, cradling Reamer as she sings about the American Chestnut tree extinction, employee gossip at a Day's Inn, fishing beside a power plant, turf grass farms, and waking up next to day-old take-out. The indifferent beauty of nature is held up next to the everyday as Reamer does her very best to find clues for navigating the latter by musing upon both. Following the release of her self-produced EP `Lucky' (Dear Life Records) in 2021, Reamer assembled a band with musicians from Philadelphia's vibrant music community and began working her once solo-acoustic songs into full band arrangements. After a brief flirtation with dance music which led to 2022's viral single "Touch Tank," Reamer settled into a sound that lies somewhere in the folkrock-pop matrix, explored with the humor and lightness of songwriters like Sheryl Crow or Melanie. Reamer reflects: "When I heard the songs with the band, I knew it was time to make the record. It felt like something I had been working towards my whole life. I grew up around musicians but I never thought I was good enough to be in a band or even to make my own music. My grandmother Joan gave me voice lessons after school, my mom was an opera singer, and my dad a guitar player. But it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized I could do it. It didn't matter if I could shred on the guitar or something. It was like some illusion shattered." Reamer is a sincere storyteller. The self-doubt and heartbreak expressed in songs like "Spring Song," "Sugar," or "Red Flowers" give way to the triumphant moments of self-acceptance and love in "Lucky," "Necessary," and "Figs and Peaches." `Natural Science' chronicles a path to confidence, an honest reflection of someone with the capacity to hold a deep well of emotion who also makes sure to not take it all too seriously. "Gardens on the land / Castles on the beaches / I trust my hand and / Pluck my figs and peaches," Reamer sings, as she works to reconcile the strange difficulty we have at finding happiness despite the obvious beauty all around us.

“Sotali” (2010) by Swedish folk duo Pettersson & Fredriksson – featuring members of Otyg and Solsaate – becomes available on vinyl for the first time. Renowned for mastery with the keyed fiddle and mandola, the pair bridges their Västerbotten heritage with influences ranging from Sigur Rós’s avant-garde creativity to José Gonzalez’s serene melancholy. “Sotali” emerges as an opus that balances the energy of traditional melodies with the tranquillity of modern folk artistry.

"In the summer of 2021 I was introduced to the French filmaker Émilie Deleuze in Paris. She asked me if I would create a soundtrack for a film she intended to make titled Cinq Hectares. When I asked Emilie what the story of the film was about she replied "It's a comedy and road movie , about a guy driving a tractor across France". I love road movies and I had never composed a movie soundtrack before so I immediately said "yes". I recorded the soundtrack in the summer of 2022 in east London with the help of producers James Rand & Thomas Gorton of @godcolony and a bunch of great young musicians they introduced me to, one of which @alwhite who now plays saxophone with Primal Scream. Émilie's film is an absolute cracker and I'm very proud of the soundtrack. Hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did making it”

Bobby Gillespie, June 2024

Das mit Spannung erwartete neue Album von Dark Tranquillity, "Endtime Signals", kanalisiert all die Unruhe, Angst und Verwirrung der Welt in 12 fesselnden, kraftvollen Tracks.
"Endtime Signals" ist Katharsis und Dunkelheit, Entschlossenheit und Zustimmung. Die wiedererstarkte Besetzung - Joakim Strandberg Nilsson (Schlagzeug) und Christian Jansson (Bass) gesellen sich zu Mikael Stanne (Gesang), Martin Brändström (Keyboards) und Johan Reinholdz (Gitarren) - bedeutet, dass eine neue Ära für Dark Tranquillity angebrochen ist. Die Singles "The Last Imagination", "Unforgivable" und "Not Nothing" kündigen dies durch raumgreifende Refrains, fiebrige Aggression und unverkennbare Melancholie an. Mit einem wundervollen Cover-Artwork von Sundin und einer "gelebten" Produktion von Brändström (Rogue Music) und dem Engineering von Alexander Backlund (Fascination Street Studios), sowie einem hochoktanigen Mix und Master von Jens Bogren (Ihsahn, At The Gates), setzt "Endtime Signals" die gesamte innovative Songkunst von Dark Tranquillity in ein unvergleichliches, breitgefächertes Erlebnis um. "Endtime Signals" ist erhältlich als Standard CD (12 Tracks), als Ltd. Digipak CD Deluxe Edition im Schuber (12+2 Bonustracks), als Gatefold 180g LP (12 Tracks) in schwarzem Vinyl sowie als strikt limitierte Gatefold 2LP-Deluxe-Edition mit dem Hauptalbum auf einer mehrfarbigen 12"-Vinyldisc (12 Tracks) plus
zusätzlicher schwarzer Bonus-Vinyldisc (Seite A: 2 Tracks, Seite B: Motiv-Ätzung).

Das mit Spannung erwartete neue Album von Dark Tranquillity, "Endtime Signals", kanalisiert all die Unruhe, Angst und Verwirrung der Welt in 12 fesselnden, kraftvollen Tracks.
"Endtime Signals" ist Katharsis und Dunkelheit, Entschlossenheit und Zustimmung. Die wiedererstarkte Besetzung - Joakim Strandberg Nilsson (Schlagzeug) und Christian Jansson (Bass) gesellen sich zu Mikael Stanne (Gesang), Martin Brändström (Keyboards) und Johan Reinholdz (Gitarren) - bedeutet, dass eine neue Ära für Dark Tranquillity angebrochen ist. Die Singles "The Last Imagination", "Unforgivable" und "Not Nothing" kündigen dies durch raumgreifende Refrains, fiebrige Aggression und unverkennbare Melancholie an. Mit einem wundervollen Cover-Artwork von Sundin und einer "gelebten" Produktion von Brändström (Rogue Music) und dem Engineering von Alexander Backlund (Fascination Street Studios), sowie einem hochoktanigen Mix und Master von Jens Bogren (Ihsahn, At The Gates), setzt "Endtime Signals" die gesamte innovative Songkunst von Dark Tranquillity in ein unvergleichliches, breitgefächertes Erlebnis um. "Endtime Signals" ist erhältlich als Standard CD (12 Tracks), als Ltd. Digipak CD Deluxe Edition im Schuber (12+2 Bonustracks), als Gatefold 180g LP (12 Tracks) in schwarzem Vinyl sowie als strikt limitierte Gatefold 2LP-Deluxe-Edition mit dem Hauptalbum auf einer mehrfarbigen 12"-Vinyldisc (12 Tracks) plus
zusätzlicher schwarzer Bonus-Vinyldisc (Seite A: 2 Tracks, Seite B: Motiv-Ätzung).