quête:men at work

Fera’s trajectory sticks out like a sore thumb, you need to invest time, carefully divided between body & mind, to truly take a deep dive into his audacious output. After the acclaimed ‘Stupidamutaforma’ and ‘Corpo Senza Carne’, Fera is back with ‘Psiche Liberata’, an oblique, imperfect and broken record, in other words, exactly the type of magical voyage you want to be on. The mind, finally liberated.

Fera is Andrea De Franco, electronic composer from Southern Italy now residing in Bologna, also known for his work as visual artist/designer and member of the Undicesimacasa collective. His musical cosmos is profound and imaginative, intergalactic atmospheres that condense fragmented IDM, scintillating textures, distorted synthscapes, crunchy technoid rhythms and swirling abstractions that weave gently, sometimes moody and stark, more often celestial and awe-inspiring.

Mixed in Berlin by Steve Scanu ‘Psiche Liberata’ encapsulates Fera’s dense and intricate thought process in contrast with his simple and direct approach to writing and recording that finds its more natural output in his rapturous live sets where a mono signal runs through a few analog pedals transforming instantly into menacing alien grooves and fluid ecstasis.

Like ‘Psiche Liberata’s artwork, hand-drawn by Fera, every detailed miniature leads to a single cell of sound, tracks collide against each other in a psychotic kaleidoscope where every safe space is confronted with subsequent noise, alterations or interruptions. The black terror of ‘Celestial Anacusma’ is followed by the space-jazz banquet of ‘Milk Tears In The Hug Chamber’ doped up cyber Sun Ra extravaganza featuring Laura Agnusdei and Luigi Monteanni (Artetetra) on saxophones and flutes; ‘Silenzio Solare’ sprinkles Mille Plateaux era minimalism all over hallucinations, while ‘Diluvia’ crosses industrial acid with perpetual motion; title track ‘Psiche Liberata’ murmurs mechanically, a downtempo drifter for the wide-eyed 7AM comedown: ‘Simulacrima’ melts Boards Of Canada’s mellow pastoralism with dystopian meta-level dreamland and ‘Riposa’ showcases an overwhelming melancholy executed with elegance in a slo-mo world where the ineffable transcends notions of ambient and becomes a warm embrace.

Created on a Monotribe, MS20 & Volca Sample/fm, ‘Psiche Liberata’s velvet heaviness was achieved by re-amping many of the instruments through a Leslie Rotary Speaker and a reel-to-reel Telefunken. Fera’s sonic tapestry is in constant flux, underlying themes of love longing and affection run through the record but in a turbulent, volcanic, unleashed fashion, almost on the brink of utter noise or complete silence, reminding us that this is an artist like no other amidst the ever changing electronic scene. These are transmissions from the gutter, where the inevitable meets the unattainable and collapses.

"Fera’s tarnished materials are destined for ruin; “Stupida,” full of longing and regret, sounds like an elegy for a fallen world." Pitchfork

"A cut of dark magic that fits like a glove to overcast days, wild winds and lashing rains. Insistent, the treacle-thick bassline oozes out, soaking the space between the melancholic synth lines." Inverted Audio

"The songs on Stupidamutaforma feel hypnotizing...it establishes De Franco as a composer who uses space and time to create a set of rich, immersive works." Bandcamp 'Album Of The Day'

2024 Repress

Finders Keepers invite you to witness the incredible first ever Buchla synthesiser concerts/demonstrations providing a distinctive feminine alternative to The Silver Apples Of The Moon if they had ever been presented in phonographic form. This is history in the remaking.

This spring Finders Keepers Records are proud to release an archival project that not only redefines musical history but boasts genuine claim to the overused buzzwords such as pioneering, maverick, experimental, groundbreaking and esoteric, while questioning social politics and the evolution of music technology as we've come to understand it. To describe this records as a game-changer is an understatement. This record represents a musical revolution, a scientific benchmark and a trophy in the cabinet of counter culture creativity. This record is a triumphant yardstick in the synthesiser space race and the untold story of the first woman on the proverbial moon. While pondering the early accolades of this record it's daunting to learn that this record was in fact not a record at all... It was a manifesto and a gateway to a new world, that somehow never quite opened. If the unfamiliar, modernistic, melodic, pulses, tones and harmonics found on this 1975 live presentation/grant application/educational demonstration had been placed in a phonographic context alongside the promoted work of Morton Subotnick, Walter Carlos or Tomita then the name Suzanne Ciani and her influence would have already radically changed the shape, sound and gender of our record collections. Hopefully there is still chance.

In short, Suzanne was a self-imposed twenty-year-old employee of the Buchla modular synthesiser company, San Francisco's neck and neck contender to New York's Moog. Buchla was run by a community of festival freaks and academic acid eaters whose roots in new age lifestyles and the reinvention of art and music replaced the business acumen enjoyed by its likeminded East Coasters. In the eyes of the consumer the creative refusal to adopt rudimentary facets like a piano keyboard controller rendered the Buchla synthesiser the more obscure stubborn sister of the synth marathon, steering these incredible units away from the mainstream into the homes and studios of free music aficionados, art house composers and die-hard revolutionaries. Championed and semi-showcased by composer Morton Subotnick on his albums The Bull and Silver Apples Of The Moon, Buchla's versatility began to open the minds of a new generation, but the high-end design features and no-compromise modus operandi was often confused with incompatibility and, in the pulsating shadow of Moog's marketing, the revolution would not be televised nor patronised. Suzanne Ciani, as one of the very few female composers on the frontline (and also providing the back line) did not lose faith.

These concerts' are the epitome of rare music technology historic documents, performed by a real musician whose skills and academic education in classical composition already outweighed her male synthesiser contemporaries of twice her age. At the very start of her fragile career these recordings are nothing short of sacrificial ode to her mentor and machine, sonic pickets of the revolution and love letters to an absolutely genuine vision of and 'alternative' musical future. In denouncing her own precocious polymathmatic past in a bid to persuade the world to sing from a new hymn sheet, Suzanne Ciani created a bi-product of never before heard music that would render the pigeon holes ambient' and futuristic' utterly inadequate. Providing nothing short of an entirely different feminine take on the experimental records' of Morton Subotnick and proving to a small, judgmental audience and jury the true versatility of one of the most radical and idiosyncratic musical instruments of the 20th century. These recordings have not been heard since then.

The importance of these genuinely lost pieces of electronic musics puzzle almost eclipses the glaring detail of Suzanne's gender as a distinct minority in an almost exclusively male dominated, faceless, coldly scientific landscape. Those familiar with Suzanne's work, a vast vault of previously unpublished non-records', will already know how the creative politics in her art of being' simultaneously reshaped the worlds of synth design, advertising and film composition before anyone had even dropped a stylus in her groove. Needless to say this record, finally commanding the archival format of choice, courtesy of the Ciani and Finders Keepers longstanding unison, was not the last first' with which this hugely important composer would gift society, and the future of a wide range of exciting evolving creative disciplines.

You have found a holy grail of electronic music and a female musical pioneer who was too proactive to take the trophies. With the light of Buchla and Ciani's initial flame Finders Keepers continues to take a torch through the vaults of this lesser-celebrated music legacy shining a beam on these non-records' that evaded the limelight for almost half a century. You can't write history when you are too busy making it. With fresh ink in the bottomless well, let's start at the beginning. Again. You, are invited!

Comes with insert and download coupon.

Imagine a Latin remake of Back to the Future. The mad scientist is Arsenio Rodriguez (the godfather of salsa) and the young student who travels through time with him is Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers). This album can only be described as the perfect soundtrack for that movie that never was.

After the massive buzz generated by his first solo album, Mentallogenic, Alex Figueira got back in the studio to work in a more collective fashion this time, carefully assembling the second album of his largest project to date, Conjunto Papa Upa; a team of 6 musicians, spanning 3 generations of some of the best talent in the Latin and avant-garde scenes.

In an era where tropical music is dominated by purely electronic and rhythmically uniform sounds, the ten songs encompassed in “Fruta Madura” (“Ripe Fruit”) wander through the most diverse tempos, rhythms, and motifs effortlessly. A real breath of fresh air that gracefully incorporates soul, funk, jazz, psychedelia, and electronics into a solid tropical, irresistibly polyrhythmic foundation, without ever succumbing to the many genre clichés.

The distinctive production and catchy songwriting of Figueira shine in a very distinctive light on this second full-length. Living up to his reputation (Miles Cleret, founder of Soundway Records, called him “one of the scene's truly authentic and eccentric producers”), he takes the opportunity to show he’s not afraid to keep walking his own path.

Taking the band for a wild ride through the traditions of Africa, America, and the Caribbean; contrasting them with a ridiculously wide plethora of vintage, contemporary, and futuristic sounds, and pivoting on the exuberant musicality displayed by his musicians; the result leaves no doubt: this album is destined to be considered a future classic of the exciting tropical psychedelic music of the 21st century.

Addressing the most diverse themes in this new collection of songs, things take on a much more mature tone, as the title clearly suggests.

The opening track “El segundo es más sabroso” (“The second one is tastier”) sets the tone in the most assertive way imaginable, with the band boldly declaring, through multiple metaphorical references (laid upon a crazy mix of Dominican merengue, Detroit techno, classic and free jazz, dub, and electro), that the bar will be set higher with this second album.

The remaining compositions touch upon the most diverse subjects, with a fair dose of humor, sarcasm, and postmodern “magic realism”. “El Algoritmo” (The Algorithm) is a parranda-cumbia hybrid (for lack of a specific term) about the omnipresence of technology in our lives. The sophisticated Latin soul of the titling track “Fruta Madura” makes a case for the beauty of the maturity process. Some key philosophical teachings of Marcus Aurelius (the role of causality, the impositions of “the logos” and the importance of self-control) get a twisted cumbia treatment on “Reos del Deseo” (Prisoners of Desire). “No le pongas Coca-Cola” (“Don’t put Coca Cola in it”) shows us the most satirical side of the band, accusing those who mix Coca Cola with Rum of committing "sacrilege", on a powerful base of Dem Bow (the grandfather of Reggaeton), intertwined with touches of soul, salsa, and Cuban comparsa.

"Háblame Claro" (“Talk to me clearly”) is a story of heartbreak that evokes in its first part the spirit of the erotic salsa of the 80s (a subgenre deeply despised by purists), and after an unexpected samba interlude, leads to the hardest salsa of the 70s (a subgenre adored by purists), to end up in the surprising form of pure Afro-Cuban ceremonial music.

“Tu mamá tenía razón” ("Your Mom Was Right") is an attempt to exalt the spirit of the Latin American soap opera in the key of “acid bachata”, to recount a real-life case, witnessed by the band on countless occasions: the partying woman who arrives at the show accompanied by her bitter husband, who obviously does not like to dance. A very cheeky song to talk about the very serious and pertinent topic of female empowerment.

“La misma vaina” (“The same thing”) with its indescribable blend of bantú, candomblé, and Mozambique rhythms with abstract synthesizers, is an ode to adventure in favor of the aversion to taking risks and seeking predictability.

“Amigas picadas” (“Salty friends”) is another humorous song recounting another real-life case witnessed by the band on countless occasions: a love encounter sabotaged by the girlfriend's friends, who all happen to fancy the same guy. A jazzy take on the ancient Dominican rhythm of pambiche (grandfather of merengue), with generous psychedelic touches, resembling the classy late 60s releases of Guadeloupe's legendary producer / label owner Henri Debs.

“Vinimos a hablar” (“We came to talk”) takes sarcasm to the highest level, to ridicule the absurdity (also experienced by the band firsthand) seen in live music venues where people pay a ticket to go and have conversations that could be carried out much better on any bar, where no band is playing. The music alternates between a delicate melody with loose, sparse percussion and a full-on, pumping Angolan semba, with a techno kick drum included; bringing things to an apotheotic grooving finale, where the peculiar swing of Venezuelan calypso from the Callao region is thrown on top of all the precedent elements; closing the album in the most uplifting, “end of the carnival parade” feel.

The artwork is a delicate and impactful oil painting by Colombian artist Kevin Simón Mancera, who has collaborated many times with the label before (“Maracas, tambourines and other hellish things” tape and the Lola’s Dice LP).

What the experts are saying:

“Alex (Figueira) dove into this work with a brutal cohesion between lyrics and synths. Timbre poetry, sound poetry (you name it). And that, superimposed on his always impeccable percussive base, confirms the title of “avant-garde visionary of our beautiful Latin music”".
EBLIS ALVAREZ (MERIDIAN BROTHERS)
“Papa Upa's infectious quirkiness is a balm against boredom. A mature album, but without an expiration date”.
GLADYS PALMERA

“Here there is a lot of strength, drum, cadence and psychedelia, lost dance rhythms, united in an intercontinental Latin/African/and Caribbean journey, a unique winning combination that we could consider the new “Ritmo Figueira”.
DISCODELIC

Conjunto Papa Upa are: 



Alex Figueira - Timbales, percussion, vocals. 

Gerardo Rosales - Congas, percussion, vocals. 

Ramón Mendeville - Bongos, percussion, vocals. 

Randy Winterdal - Bass.

Andrew Moreno - Guitar.

Nico Chientarolli - Organ, piano, synths.



All songs written by Alex Figueira. 

Arranged and performed by Conjunto Papa Upa. 

Recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Alex Figueira at Heat Too Hot, Amsterdam.


Strut present the first definitive retrospective of an icon of 1970s and ‘80s soul, jazz and disco, Patrice Rushen, covering her peerless 6-year career with Elektra / Asylum from 1978 to 1984. Joining Elektra after three albums with jazz label Prestige, Patrice had shown prodigious talent at an early age and had first broken through after winning a competition to perform at the Monterrey Jazz Festival of 1972. By the time of the recordings on this collection, she had become a prolific and in-demand session musician and arranger on the West coast, appearing on over 80 recordings for other artists. She joined the Elektra / Asylum roster in 1978 as they launched a pop / jazz division alongside visionaries like Donald Byrd and Grover Washington, Jr. “The idea was to create music that was good for commercial radio / R&B,” Patrice explains. “We were all making sophisticated dance music, essentially.”

Drawing on some of the leading musicians in L.A. like saxophonist Gerald Albright, drummer “Ndugu” Chancler and bassman Freddie Washington and keeping an open minded approach from her training in classical, jazz and soundtrack scores, Patrice’s music was a different, more intricate proposition to many of the soul artists of the time. “L.A. musicians were not so locked into tradition,” she continues. “None of us were accustomed to limitation and the record label left us to take our own direction.”

Early classics like ‘Music Of The Earth’ and ‘Let’s Sing A Song Of Love’ were among Patrice’s first as a lead vocalist before her ‘Pizzazz’ album landed in 1979, featuring the unique disco of ‘Haven’t You Heard’ and one of her greatest ballads, ‘Settle For My Love’. “Although ballads make you feel more vulnerable as an artist because they are often personal, I think listeners relate to that sincerity,” she reflects. By now, Patrice’s records were supremely arranged and produced as her confidence as an all-round writer, producer, arranger and performer grew. Slick dancefloor anthem ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ and the ‘Posh’ album in 1980 led to her landmark album ‘Straight From The Heart’ two years later. Receiving little support from her label, Patrice and her production team personally funded a promo campaign for the first single from it, ‘Forget Me Nots’. It went on to peak at no. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album was later Grammy-nominated, while the track became a timeless anthem and popular sample, inspiring Will Smith’s theme for the film ‘Men In Black’ and George Michael’s ‘Fastlove’.

Patrice’s final album for Elektra, ‘Now’ kept the bar high with sparse, synth-led songs including ‘Feel So Real’ and ‘To Each His Own’. It concluded a golden era creatively for Patrice which remains revered by soul and disco aficionados the world over.

‘Remind Me’ features all of Patrice Rushen’s chart singles, 12” versions and popular sample sources on one album for the first time. Formats included a 3LP set and 1CD fully remastered by The Carvery from the original tapes. Both formats include an exclusive new interview with Patrice Rushen and rare photos.

• First definitive Patrice Rushen compilation released on vinyl since the ‘80s
• Includes all of her chart hits, DJ favourites and sample sources
• Official release featuring full interview with Patrice Rushen about her career and music • Features rare photos from her personal collection + some of the photographers she has worked with during her career
• Fully remastered by The Carvery from the original ¼” tapes
• Start of full Patrice Rushen reissue programme from her Elektra era

Filipovich is one of a kind. The Belarus-born, Paris-based artist works in a multitude of media - found footage films, painting, silkscreening and performance to name a few. It's her musical output that has caught the attention of late, though, with Filipovich dropping a run of releases in recent years which began with 2021's Magnificat on Time Released Sound. Filipovich takes as much of a novel approach to her music-making as she does with her other artistic endeavours - Magnificat was centred around treated samples of Sergei Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil, and she's also combined classical composition with contemporary electronic techniques on her subsequent drops.

For Idealized, Filipovich's debut on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit, she maintains the gothic air which characterised her previous releases and applies it to a record of widescreen contemporary techno joints. These tracks represent something of a gear shift for CPU, a label which has long made its name by delivering top-quality electro and machine-funk jams, but such is the quality of Idealized that these superbly-executed techno productions are sure to win over label fans both old and new.

Idealized is very much schooled in the German tradition of minimal/dub techno. Tracks like 'Physical', 'Wave' and 'Dance Minor' all anchor themselves on single, steady drum pulses and delay-drenched single-chord loops. Filipovich generally lets the central idea of these tracks play out across several minutes while introducing increasingly disorientating elements into the rest of the mix - wiccan atmospherics, clashing chords, spiralling delays and so forth. It's an approach at once respectful of Filipovich's predecessors - Basic Channel, Deepchord, Ellen Allien and so on - but also full of idiosyncrasies and individuality.

Many of the club cuts here hardwire us into the moody, murky environs of the darkest Berlin Basements. 'Ultra Red' rides forward on a crisp drum machine snap, a menacing burble of bassline and an eerie single-note synth whistle in the upper end of the mix; 'Dance Minor' shows off a bit of KiNK in the brain-bending modular loop that waxes and wanes at its centre; the second-half run from 'Wave' to closer 'Small Cave' travels ever-further out into deep space - the kick drums remain insistent, yet the textural elements are delivered with an edge and flair that evidences Filipovich's ability to think outside the box.

Filipovich's unusual methods, and the influence of sound art and electroacoustic composition on her music, are drawn out further when Idealized steps away from the dancefloor. 'Hydra' comes off like a more gothic version of Pole - its central pulse draws from dub techno but never quite settles into a danceable groove, and this beat is combined with the kind of unnerving keyboard work that would make John Carpenter proud. Although closer 'Small Cave' eventually locks into another dark-room techno roller, the opening section of the track delivers a weightless soundscape of bright, tinny chords and a scene-setting field recording.

Idealized, the first drop on Central Processing Unit from Paris-based Belarusian Lina Filpovich, broadens the label's horizons with a selection of finely crafted minimal/dub techno joints.

RIYL: Andy Stott, Deepchord, Ellen Allien, Moritz von Oswald

“An Electric Storm” is the most renowned work of UK collective White Noise, an English experimental electronic music band consisting of virtuoso knob twiddlers and tape splicers. Although not very succes- sful on its initial release, the album is now considered an important and influential album in the develop- ment of electronic music. But beyond its historical importance, the harmonic progressions, among other things, are by no means taken for granted, and refer a lot to the Baroque and to classical composition in general. This album was obviously a labour of love, taking a whole year to complete seven amazing songs before sampling technology, synthesizers and digital equipment were readily available. There’s also chaotic humour at play on the feverish “Here Come the Fleas,” which contains more edits in its two minutes than the whole of Sgt. Pepper’s. Yet it’s the retro-futurist textures that still grab the ear most.

The Brazilian composer, pianist and producer, Mário Castro Neves and his group, Samba S. A.'s self-titled album from 1967 is oozing with class. It possesses that archetypal 60's bossa nova, jazz, samba sound. We’d place it up there with Sergio Mendes at his finest, Tambo Trio or Milton Banana. It’s a breezy ride that touches on easy listening at times, but it holds it together with a cool swagger. Biba and Thaís Do Amaral's vocals are on point, with a relaxed delivery that compliments the tracks with the sublime beauty à la vocal groups such as Quarteto Em Cy, who Biba also sang with, as well as with Antonio Adolfo's e A Brazuca. Also appearing on the record is bassist extraordinaire, Novelli who worked with Milton Nascimento, Nelson Angelo E Joyce, Airto, and many of the greats of Brazilian music of the time.

The album has long been a favourite with DJs and collectors over the years, with songs selected for compilations by Gilles Peterson and Nicola Conte. One of the centrepieces of the album, 'Candomblé’, has been sampled by Cut Chemist on his track 'Povo De Santo'. The song 'Naña' is punchy and light with dancefloor-jazz appeal. The gloriously catchy 'Vem Balançar' is a brilliant bossa shuffler. A superb listen throughout, the album sticks to a framework but delivers in spades.

Though released on the major-label RCA Victor, original copies are elusive, sought-after items with a price tag to match. For this reissue, we have opted for the Mono master, mirroring the original 1967 Brazilian pressing. Instantly familiar, the album has a welcoming feeling of nostalgia and is something that stays with you from the first listen.

A song is a song until it isn't, until it's pushed to its limits and beyond to become harder, faster and more dissonant. The music on Oneida's 17th full-length album, Expensive Air, all started as tightly structured, melodic rock songs _ very much in line with the non-stop bangers of Success from 2022 _ but along the way, they changed. Bobby Matador sketched the structures of these songs from his home base in Boston, then sent the demos to Oneida's New York contingent: Kid Millions, Hanoi Jane, Shahin Motia and Barry London. "We were working out the songs in New York without Bobby. We would start out riding the riffs, and then Shahin and Jane would add wild, out-of-tune licks," said Kid Millions. "It seemed so perfect." Oneida has long straddled gray-area boundaries between the NYC punk/psych/rock world and the art/experimental world, playing at gritty rock clubs and elevated cultural institutions, including the Guggenheim, MoMA PS1, ICA London, MassMOCA and the Knoxville Museum of Art. The band has been known for extended live improvisational performances, collaborating onstage with Mike Watt, members of Flaming Lips, Portishead, Boredoms, Yo La Tengo, Dead C, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and many others. Oneida's members juggle a wide variety of other music projects. Drummer Kid Millions has played with Spiritualized, Royal Trux and Boredoms and releases solo compositions under his own name and as Man Forever. Shahin Motia founded noise - punk's Ex-Models and currently plays in Knyfe Hits. Kid and Fat Bobby perform and release music as People of the North, and Bobby's outside projects New Pope and Nurse & Soldier each released new albums in 2023. Oneida's previous album, Success, came after a four-year hiatus, unleashing the band's pent up creative energy in a set of catchy, accessible, nearly poppy songs. Song structure remained important in the run up towards Expensive Air, but so was the instinctual, improvisatory interplay that has always been a part of Oneida's process. The band had been playing live together for two years, sharpening its attack and pushing its songs to go harder, faster and wilder. Oneida recorded Expensive Air in three sessions scattered across 2023, convening at Colin Marston's Menegroth The Thousand Caves studio in Woodhaven, Queens, whenever they had a few songs ready. Marston and the band mixed the album in February 2024 at Menegroth. The new album expands on what Oneida achieved with Success, but also pushes past it, laying down irresistible song structures then blowing them to psychedelic bits. "I found myself thinking about this record as a darker, looser, louder, counterpart to Success," Bobby explains. "Both records charge forward from the jump and mix the elliptical with the blunt, and longing with self-mockery. But Success is like laughing in a car gunning carelessly through an ice storm, and Expensive Air is how you laugh at yourself as the car spins into the ditch, or a tree. Same trip, but a little closer to the bone."

The 2019 released "Caligula" took the vision of Kristin Hayter's vessel to the next level of grandeur, her purging and vengeful audial vision went beyond anything preceding it and reached an unparalleled sonic plane within her oeuvre. Succeeding her self-released 2017 "All Bitches Die" opus, "CALIGULA" saw Hayter design an ambitious work, displaying the full force of her talent as a vocalist, composer, and storyteller. Vast in scope and multivalent in its influences, with delivery nothing short of demonic, "CALIGULA" is an outsider's opera; magnificent, hideous, and raw. Eschewing and disavowing genre altogether, Hayter built her own world. Here she fully embodied the moniker Lingua Ignota, from the German mystic Hildegard of Bingen, meaning "unknown language" _ this music has no home, any precedent or comparison could only be uneasily given, and there is nothing else like it in our contemporary realm. Whilst "CALIGULA" is unapologetically personal and critically self-aware, there are broader themes explored; the decadence, corruption, depravity and senseless violence of emperor Caligula is well documented and yet still permeates today. Brimming with references and sly jabs, Hayter's sardonic commentary on abuse of power and invalidation is deftly woven. Working closely with Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Hayter stripped away much of the industrial and electronic elements of her previous work, approaching instead the corporeal intensity and intimate menace of her notorious live performances, achieved with unconventional recording techniques and sound sources, as well as a full arsenal of live instrumentation and collaborators including harsh noise master Sam McKinlay (THE RITA), visceral drummer Lee Buford (The Body) and frenetic percussionist Ted Byrnes (Cackle Car, Wood & Metal), with guest vocals from Dylan Walker (Full of Hell), Mike Berdan (Uniform), and Noraa Kaplan (Visibilities). "CALIGULA" is a massive work, a multi-layered epic that gives voice and space to that which has been silenced and cut out.

Following a ten-year hiatus, multi-instrumentalists Rafael Anton Irisarri and Benoît Pioulard return with »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes«, their third LP together as Orcas. Building on the electronic minimalism of »Orcas« (2012) and the Twin Peaks-inspired haze of »Yearling« (2014), the duo have expanded their sound and vision into a full-spectrum ensemble.

In the time since their last major collaboration, Irisarri and Pioulard have done plenty on their own, while also traversing significant life changes: relocation from Seattle to New York, separation and divorce, illness, hospitalizations, and the loss of siblings, parents, and friends. Yet from these tribulations, they gleaned inspiration to reconstruct their lives, creating music with new collaborators and partners. Recorded in a variety of studios and cities including Brooklyn, Cambridge, Oxford, Seattle, and upstate New York, the resulting album, under the tutelage of UK producer James Brown (Arctic Monkeys, Kevin Shields, Nine Inch Nails), is a patiently-crafted beast, equally inspired by impressionism, British new wave, and dream pop.

With Irisarri’s guidance and Brown’s encouragement, Pioulard brings his velvety voice to its harmonized peak on songs like »Wrong Way to Fall« and the Durutti Column-indebted »Fare«. Where his most recent solo albums for Morr Music (»Sylva« and »Eidetic«) navigated foggy forests of ambient pop and stacked tape loops, here his characteristic blur shifts into focus with a unique degree of clarity and confidence. »How fare against balance do I / Navigate my errors?«, Pioulard sings in a heartbreaking tenor, echoing the album’s broader themes of introspection, grief, loss, trial and trauma.

Lead single, »Riptide«, is a summary of Pioulard’s life changes and personal upheavals in the past decade, »flitting eastward toward a yen deep in the past« and learning to glide through the tumult of ocean waves, as a metaphor for the punches one takes in pursuit of grace. Its towering, key-changing midsection arrives with the monumental drumming of Slowdive’s Simon Scott, a long-time friend and cohort who appears on most songs in the set. Scott’s quintessentially English, jazzier approach offers a balance of force and restraint as the backdrop for Irisarri’s majestic guitars, analog synth lines, and Martin Heyne’s Fender Rhodes counterpoints.

Second single, »Next Life«, began as a sketch by Scott, and reached its final form in the hands of Pioulard and Irisarri, at a point that each had endured major concurrent losses, finding a commonality in the need to gaze over the horizon while acknowledging the unavoidable bittersweetness of letting go – not only of people, but of routines, places, and expectations. It’s one of Orcas’ most nuanced pieces, with a mid-tempo, sunset glow that unfolds into a sparkling, slide-guitar finale as it disappears in the rear view.

On third-act highlight, »Bruise«, Scott is doubled on the drum kit by MONO’s Dahm Majuri Cipolla, whose Liebezeit-influenced metronomy anchors a nimble bass groove from Andrew Tasselmyer (of Hotel Neon), and some of the album's most syncopated, spaced-out interplay, courtesy of Puerto Rican guitar player Orlando Méndez (a childhood friend of Irisarri’s). Originally a droney, fingerpicked guitar demo, »Bruise« is the most storied composition here, having gone through almost a dozen versions and lyrical edits, with Brown distilling hours of improvised performances into the final arrangement.

Throughout »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes«, Irisarri uses his deep well of production experience to paint the stereo field with meticulously designed textures, exemplified on the slow burn of »Heaven’s Despite« and the heady rush of »Swells«. As a mixing and mastering engineer with Black Knoll, he has built a client list that reads as a who’s-who of modern, forward-thinking composition, including Temporary Residence, All Saints Records, and Ghostly International, among many others.

As with previous collaborations, Irisarri and Pioulard bring disparate styles and specialties to the table, but with an interpersonal dynamic that transcends friendship into brotherhood, their open-minded workflow and mutual respect are evident at every turn. »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes« brims with tight, complex art rock songwriting, masterful production, and sonic versatility, informed by a plethora of genres and tonal hues. The title might promise answers, but the gravitational center of the album is the dawning realization that, as you reckon with the infinite whims of the cosmos, there could be none.

Formed by high school buddies Andreas Gregor and David Rout, Techniques Berlin started in 1984 experimenting with synthesizers, drum machines and guitars. In the early stages, the band was heavily influenced by UK new romantic acts The Human League, Visage, Yazoo, OMD and Depeche Mode, as well as rising Canadian synth-pop bands Rational Youth, Men Without Hats and Trans-X. It took them a few years to master their electronic toys and create a unique blend of addictive electro-pop melodies and beautifully crafted alternative beats.

In the late 80s, Techniques Berlin played live on a regular basis and their 3 self-released tapes received frequent local airplay in Canada. Despite their moderate success, the band failed to secure a record deal. Eventually both members had developed a strong interest in the burgeoning electro-industrial scene. Dave and Andreas founded !Bang Elektronika and were working with Digital Poodle as live drummers. Both of these projects were soon picked up by record labels. Techniques Berlin played their last show in November of 1991 at the University of Toronto, debuting the last track they had recorded, fittingly called ‘Time Fades to Nothing’. Or so they thought…

The proliferation of Internet radio and streaming music platforms introduced the band to a new generation of fans, enabling Techniques Berlin to stage a remarkable comeback. Within the next years they released the compilation “Suburban Playgrounds and Concrete Beaches” (Fabrika Records), recorded a new album “Breathing” (Nadanna) in 2018 and offered a series of shows in Toronto, Montreal, Mexico City and Leipzig.

“The Language of Machines” compiles a selection of original recordings between 1985 and 1991, including some favourite tunes like ‘Dancing to the Fall of the Berlin Wall’, ‘Metropolis’, ‘Watching You’ and a few unreleased tracks/versions. Limited edition of 500 copies on double vinyl with gatefold sleeve.

a 1 I Desire Dave Vocal Version








j 10 And You LinnDrum Version




o 15 My Suburban Playground [Extended Remix]

Repress!

Vocal powerhouse Izo FitzRoy exploded on to the scene in 2017 with her debut LP 'Skyline', the album incorporating a stunning fusion of styles spanning gospel, funk and soul as Izo's raw bluesy tone and direct lyricism took centre stage.

Her new album 'How The Mighty Fall' builds further on the soul foundations of her debut. Recorded between Paris, London and Sheffield, it sees her collaborating with three stellar producers and a host of talented musicians.

Disco royalty – Dimitri From Paris (Glitterbox, BBE) directs fellow Parisians Cotonete on her smash single 'I Want Magic'. Studio wizard Shawn Lee (BBE, Ubiquity) brings the funky AOR vibes on 'Slim Pickings' and the Mercury Prize nominated - Colin Elliott (Richard Hawley, Jarvis Cocker, Paul Weller) who produced the bulk of the album, completes the trio. Guesting on the record are the UK's most in demand brass section – The Haggis Horns and Izo's long-time collaborators - Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir.

Conceived during the aftermath of the breakdown of her long-term relationship, Izo looked to this personal experience for inspiration for the album as well as casting further afield at the wider themes of mental, societal and communication breakdowns.

Despite the strong material, at one point it seemed the record might never materialise. Just as the world was getting on board with her debut LP and international touring was taking off, Izo lost the use of her voice and required surgery on her vocal chords in the second part of 2018. A long schedule of vocal rehabilitation was necessary to get back to a position where she could first talk, then sing regularly enough to get back to work.

Thankfully after this difficult personal period for her, the silver lining from the experience was that post-recovery she gained a whole new octave at the top of her vocal range! This in turn has influenced her song writing on the album & allowed her to enhance her compositions with more vocal light and shade from this unexpected gift.

Repress!

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO'S 1985 ELECTRONIC AND AMBIENT CLASSIC RELEASED OUTSIDE OF JAPAN FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE ITS ORIGINAL RELEASE WITH NEW LINER NOTES BY ANDY BETA AND AUDIO REMASTERED BY SEIGEN ONO

Wewantsounds continues their Ryuichi Sakamoto reissue series with the release of the 1985 album "Esperanto", composed for a performance by New York avant garde choreographer Molissa Fenley. Produced and performed by Sakamoto with contribution by Arto Lindsay and Japanese percussionist Yas-Kaz, "Esperanto" is a fascinating instrumental work mixing electronica, ambient and synth pop. Released in Japan in 1985 on Midi Inc.s' School label, the album has never been released outside of Japan until now. This special reissue comes with original artwork including a 2 pages insert with a new introduction by Journalist Andy Beta. The audio has been remastered in Tokyo by Seigen Ono.
"Esperanto" originally came out in 1985 and was Ryuichi Sakamoto's sixth solo album. Coming after his stint with the influential Yellow Magic Orchestra, and also the worldwide success of Sakamoto's 1984 soundtrack for the film "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (in which he starred alongside David Bowie), "Esperanto" was a return to Sakamoto's leftfield roots.
?Composed as the soundtrack to a performance by New York choreographer Molissa Fenley (a show commissioned by Japanese producer Shozo Tsurumoto), the album was masterminded by Sakamoto with the help of the cutting-edge electronic technology of the time (the only external contributions are by Arto Lindsay on guitar and Japanese composer Yas-Kaz on percussion).
?Indeed, the album is a fascinating soundscape experimenting with the new sampler technology - which, according to Ryuichi Sakamoto from a conversation with journalist Andy Beta mentioned in the liner notes, needed a computer that was huge at the time.
?Esperanto is composed of eight tracks displaying a varied mix of influences. "A Wongga Dance Song" is pulsating with rhythms while "A Rain Song" adopts a minimalist mode with its distinctive
repetitive pattern. "Dolphins" and "A Carved Stone" are captivating ambient pieces showcasing Sakamoto's talent for setting beautiful abstract melodic ornaments over atmospheric tones.
?One of the highlights of the album is "Adelic Penguins", a fascinating proto techno piece with a funky twist stretching over six minutes which echoes the electro funk of 1981's album "Hidari Ude No Yume." "Ulu Watu", a collage-like piece featuring bird motives and a tropical soundscape closes the album with an experimental note. It's interesting to note that, a year later, the tracks from "Esperanto" would be turned into an experimental video project by New York visual artists Kit Fitzgerald and Nam June Paik collaborator Paul Garrin.
?A unique album in Ryuichi Sakamoto's rich discography, "Esperanto" is a groundbreaking work worth rediscovering in its full glory.

- 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF TESS PARKS DEBUT ALBUM.
- GOLD VINYL, GATEFOLD SLEEVE, HANDWRITTEN LYRIC BOOKLET.
A native of Toronto, Tess Parks moved to London, England at the age of seventeen where she briefly studied photography before deciding to focus on music.
Tess made an impression on industry legend Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records, albeit the timing of their meeting could hardly have been less ideal; McGee was no longer involved in music and Tess was due to move back to Toronto. After moving back to her hometown in 2012, Tess formed a band on the advice of McGee and less than a year after their meeting, he returned to music with his new label, 359 Music.
Tess became one of his first signings and released her debut record ‘Blood Hot’ in November 2013 to excellent reviews. One reviewer described her as “Patti Smith on Quaaludes”. Others have mentioned her “gauzy psychedelic sound” and“smouldering voice”.
Alan McGee himself said: “She’s only 24 and is already an amazing songwriter... she just doesn’t quite know she is yet ... her most beautiful quality is her lack of ego. Tess is an amazing lady”.
‘Blood Hot’ is inimitably confident. It’s slow and psychedelic at times, while being loud and ready to fill a stadium at others. There isn’t a moment on the album that isn’t relatable or that doesn’t ring to the tune of a timeless classic to be talked about for years to come (the same way people discuss The Velvet Underground or My Bloody Valentine records today).
Her cult-like following has turned into a movement. And Tess is gladly leading us all back into that space within ourselves, both deeply personal and entirely universal. Incredibly relevant yet timeless.Cool and anti-cool. An enigma that doesn’t need solving. Tess Parks is as she’s always been. Her best work is already out there. And her best yet is still to come.

"Trauma and the shock effect of it - the leftover residue of harsh reality so impactful that it shapes the way you imagine, envision and calculate your position in regard to everything and everyone around you.
A new type of psychological radius evolves. Boundaries are reinforced. Relationships are recessed. A damaged brief system float aimlessly. Vulnerable to and for anything reminiscent of a worthy cause. The truth about facts became satirical monologue, dead end expressions that have no critical arrangement. We all know someone that either has been or will be"

- Jeff Mills


The Eyewitness reveals a habitual pattern in the way it symbolizes a mirror reflection of mankind in our most vulnerable moments. It is the forthcoming album of Jeff Mills and it is composed from the perspective of an unknowingly complicit bystander and it is at the very least, psychologically pathological in nature. What this release is essentially proposing is an admission to the diagnosis that no one is immune to shock and trauma. Not the accuser or the accused. And this abnormality s culturally and generally transmittable - handed down and passed over to one another disguised as righteous theatre.

As an artist, what Mills is notoriously known for is the perspectives and paths he chooses to approach hefty, complex, and sometimes, awkward subjects. The best way to recognize the narratives of his mostrecent album works such as "The Clairvoyant", an eerie transcending album that plays through like a Seance for creating a bridge to reach another dimension or "Mind Power Mind Control", a cautionary warning about the consequences of supporting deceit, mind control and mass mental persuasion is to start by first taking a moment to look at yourself in a mirror. He's suggesting sound as a reflection and what we might be able to see in ourselves. Proposing that we might be the problem and a solution. In the same vicinity of his recent solo albums, the direction, scope or target of The Eyewitness is first about us, then about it.

More than the few previous albums he's released lately, this one has a unique relationship in terms of imagery and visual treatments that represent the concept. The front cover shows Mills, neatly dressed in a black suit that appears to be caught in the act of doing something methodically as he cohorts to supportwith a bright white type of surgical light towards the viewer. Stark and in the act of.......something offensive - it could be some type of hypnotic machine at work. Other photos show him in darkened spaces. Remote and deep in thought.

Other clues are the titles of the tracks such as "Sacred Iridescent Mirror (The Pledge)": this refers to the act of installing value and credit to something ambiguous and "Menticide" which means the systematic effort to undermine and destroy a person's values and beliefs. In the opening track, "in A Traumatized World" we hear the narration spoken by Mills. In a language he specifically created for this album. It's a dialect that is designed to be undistinguishable, but spoken with a compassion that it could be sympathized with. In the latter part of the track, it reaches a climatic point. Meaning, "it" has happened. And the album is the evidence.

On extra note:

In this day and age,it's comforting to see a musician like Jeff Mills administer music conceptually without any conditions attached. The artistry and craft of using sound and rhythm to bring forth a concern, a warning or the result of a diagnosis to the listener.

2024 Repress

Favorite Recordings presents Remixes by Voilaaa, a new EP built with exclusive versions of some of its biggest hits. Known for its Afro-Disco sound and strong dancefloor-friendly festive bangers, these new mixes bring another light to the successful project of Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart.

On A Side, Voilaaa asked famous Brooklyn-based producer and remixer JKriv (Razor-N-Tape) to provide even more club energy to "Ku La Foon (feat. Lass)”, originally released on Voilaaa's third and last album. The result is a powerful bomb that won't give any rest to the crowd.

The tracklist goes on with "Ben Bene La (feat. Lass)” reworked by Patchworks himself in a very Latin way, taking inspiration from the NY scene and its dancers, "Spanish Harlem" and Mongo Santamaria. You've got to play it loud and we're pretty sure you'll see some special moves on the dancefloor.

On B side, you'll hear another Patchworks remix, this time with probably one of Voilaaa's biggest hits, "Spies Are Watching Me (feat Sir Jean)”. In the footsteps of Moodymann, Masters At Work or the UK Garage scene, Patchworks delivers here some of his classic house music energy. You may know he started his career with house music: he transformed this anthem into a proper deep house cut with the same passion!

Finally, Voilaaa remixed himself! Working on "Tu Mens Devant Moi (feat. Ramatou Traore)”, Voilaaa carries the arrangement closer to the Angolese and Cape Verdean sound, reminding also the sound of Super Mama Djombo from Guinea Bissau. A tropical cut that will bring more and more sunshine to the club.

2025 Repress

Operation Sole like the summer, hopefully, imminent; “Operazione Sole” like the 1967 song by Peppino Di Capri, considered, perhaps wrongly, the first ska in Italy, but certainly the first to talk about Jamaica and upbeat rhythms.
The record you have in your hand is intended to be a testimony to how much the sounds born in Kingston between the '60s and '70s had a significant influence on local pop.
With the first explosion of reggae in England between 1968 and 1970, as well as with the rise of Bob Marley to a worldwide cult phenomenon, parallel to the all-English phenomenon of Two Tone and the ska revival, Italy, always attracted by the new trends not only English, he certainly couldn't stay on the sidelines.
Therefore these innovative and unknown upbeat sounds, derived from the blues of the 1950s and mixed with a Caribbean sauce, have also taken hold in the Bel Paese.
It began as early as 1959 with the song “Nessuno” by Mina, considered to all intents and purposes a Jamaican shuffle, to arrive in a few years at blue-beat (I4 di Lucca, Claudio Casavecchi) and ska (Margherita, Peppino Di Capri , Silvano Silvi, Renzo and Virginia) and be exposed to the first reggae (for example Jo Fedeli and his Italian version of “Israelites” by Desmond Dekker). Thus, we quickly reach the end of the decade of the economic boom and the culture, styles, references change: everything becomes more busy (on a cultural, artistic and political level).
After a stalemate phase that lasted more than five years, Bob Marley's reggae (considered a sort of new Messiah) conquers the planet, including Italy: the producers and artists, even at a high level, for a few years do not remain at all indifferent to this novelty and decide to introduce the "upbeat", primarily reggae, into the various pop repertoires: well-known names such as
Loredana Bertè, Mario Lavezzi, Rino Gaetano, Ivano Fossati, Ilona Staller, Adriano Celentano, Edoardo Bennato throw themselves headlong into new sonic adventures, in a pioneering way, but often with excellent results.
The "Operazione Sole" collection wants to take the credit, instead, of proposing and discovering lesser-known artists (with the exception of Gino Santercole, former associate and relative of Il Molleggiato), often real meteors in the Italian musical panorama, who have tried to achieve (or achieve again) success by adapting the pop that was so popular in those years to the new black sounds prevailing in the West.
We are in the early 80s and we range from the most classic reggae, to Italo-disco contaminated by dub up to the true Neapolitan style which, on more than one occasion, in its being endemically "black" and full of groove, has wrung out the watch out for agreements made in Kingston and London.
“Operation Sun”: a pleasant philological work, but surrounded by an equally pleasant aura of disengagement.

After the resounding success of their last album "Garden Island," released in 2021, the octet hailing from Tenerife is back with a new album titled "Ganzfeld."
While "Garden Island" drew inspiration from the philosophy of César Manrique and his groundbreaking ecological work on the island of Lanzarote, for this new album, Gaf & The Love Supreme Arkestra turn their creative gaze to the lowland areas of northern Tenerife aka Isla Baja (the low island). Here, they envision a retro-futuristic soundtrack for a misty coastal drive, filled with humid atmospherics and expansive jams featuring their trademark blend of avant-jazz, psychedelia, and freestyle rock.
Evoking a natural synergy to the proceedings, this new work presents the octet in a more ethereal tip than its predecessor. Saxophones, trumpet, bass, guitar, synths and marimba come together with added winds (Herreño and Vietnamese flutes) to create a wide spectrum of auditory escapism that, were it not for the band’s aforementioned natural instincts could result into a nightmarish vision. Instead they create an holistic esoteric sound where sea and earth come together in ecstatic ways conjuring images of peace and menace whilst never letting their raw, explosive energy go unchecked.
Another standalone work from a band that rejects banality, constant in their pursue of experimentation at the edge of the Atlantic ocean. Drive on!

180 Proof Records & BBE Music continue to bring new life to the Strata catalogue, this time with the short-lived label's swan song: Larry Nozero’s 1975 passion project, Time. The final album to be released on Strata Inc., Time is a dream- like mix of mood, an album full of range, tempo, and feeling; from the impulsive and airy rendition of the jazz standard “All The Things You Are” to the brooding melancholia of “Tony,” Nozero’s Time is destined to become known among aficionados as a classic of 1970s jazz. Like time itself, each song is open to individual interpretation - something Nozero himself confessed to on the album’s original liner notes, saying “It got so deep that we decided to call the group and our album after that concept of TIME, because it seemed to mean something to just about everyone.” A native of Detroit, Nozero spent time in Charles Moore’s Detroit Contemporary 5 (part of Strata Inc.) before being drafted into the military. While enlisted, Nozero capitalised on his time by honing his craft in the Army Band. By the time he returned to Detroit, Nozero had little trouble landing high-profile gigs. No stranger to success, Nozero’s previous credits and collaborators include Henry Mancini, Sergio Mendes, and playing Soprano sax on Marvin Gaye’s iconic 1971 album, What’s Going On. Working with his cousin and collaborator Dennis Tini, Time is unlike many albums of the era in that it truly feels like a work fuelled by freewheeling expressionism. The pieces are funky, soulful, strange and soothing all at once. Tini’s stand-out contribution to the album is “Tune for L.N.”, a funk-fuelled piece of rhythm-centric jazz. A distinguishing feature of the album is the use of wordless vocals. The scat work on part two of “Chronicle Of The Murdered House” adds a distinct counterpoint to Nozero’s reed work, while the high pitch bebop of “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” closes out the album with a carefree and buoyant groove. Time has been remastered by the Grammy nominated studio The Carvery, along with the artwork, which has been restored and includes never seen before photos.

The EP by Bézier "Negative Velocity" sees the Californian artist (now for a few years a Berlin resident) initiate the launch of their new German-based record label "Körperspannung".

For 'Negative Velocity', Bézier collaborated with Bay Area drummer and avant-garde musician Dave Easlick taking live recordings of him on a drum kit warping and wrapping his pieces into curves and ellipses to project mappings outward into the atmosphere. From Easlick's source material Bézier generates a technological, multi-dimensional landscape through mental manipulation of sound waves bending the fabric of time and space. For both the title track and on the b-side 'Diabolical Embroidery' the lattice work here involved sampling and resampling every puncture from Easlick to atomize, pressurise, polish and disintegrate into fine particulate matter while reassembling parts back together fortifying the sonic tapestry further.

'Deep Sea State' is an exercise showcasing the raw form of Easlick's drumming but laced with an adamantium frame. Melodies from Bézier's musical training past haunt the entire interlude.

Ruby My Dear returns to Analogical Force. Toulouse - Madrid connection in full effect. Universally acknowledged by pretty much everyone on the scene, no words would be needed to explain this work. Another Broken Beat-fest, with intricate structures and all manner of mentalisms, but also melody and atmosphere. It seems that RMD has once again unleashed a five-track EP varied, spannered and original enough to merit him the adulation he is set to enjoy. For all fans of AFX, Luke Vibert and all freaky things ''IDM''!

Die Loons aus Südkalifornien spielen seit mehr als 25 Jahren ihre ganz eigene Art von psychedelischem Garage- und Freakbeat. Mit ,Memories Have Faces" haben sie ihr bisher eindrucksvollstes Werk geschaffen, zusammen mit einer klasse Version von ,Cries from the Midnight Circus" von den Pretty Things. Gegründet in San Diego, haben The Loons fünf Alben und eine Reihe von Singles aufgenommen und veröffentlicht und sind in mehr Städten auf der ganzen Welt aufgetreten, als sie zählen können. Sie haben mit Ikonen der 60er Jahre wie Glenn Ross Campbell von The Misunderstood, Dick Taylor von The Pretty Things, Randy Holden von The Sons of Adam und Blue Cheer und Michael Stuart-Ware von Love zusammengearbeitet. Mike Stax, der auch die Zeitschrift Ugly Things herausgibt, ist der Leadsänger. Anja Stax spielt Bass und singt Backing Vocals. Marc Schroeder und Chris Marsteller spielen Gitarren, und Chris Cancelliere sitzt am Schlagzeug. Mike Stax war bereits ein Veteran in mehreren anderen Bands aus San Diego, darunter The Crawdaddys und The Tell-Tale Hearts, als er 1997 die Loons gründete. Ebbot Lundberg von The Soundtrack of Our Lives produzierte das Debütalbum der Gruppe, ,Love's Dead Leaves", das 1998 bei Get Hip Records erschien. "A perfect pairing of Love-influenced garage-psych and British underground in the mould of the Pretty Things played with preternatural style and ability." - Shindig Magazine "Fantastically talented - as a group and individually, they've worked so hard at their passion _ It has been one of the highlights of my life to have been involved with them." - Glenn Ross Campbell, the Misunderstood

Limitierte farbige Splatter Vinyl-LP! Die Loons aus Südkalifornien spielen seit mehr als 25 Jahren ihre ganz eigene Art von psychedelischem Garage- und Freakbeat. Mit ,Memories Have Faces" haben sie ihr bisher eindrucksvollstes Werk geschaffen, zusammen mit einer klasse Version von ,Cries from the Midnight Circus" von den Pretty Things. Gegründet in San Diego, haben The Loons fünf Alben und eine Reihe von Singles aufgenommen und veröffentlicht und sind in mehr Städten auf der ganzen Welt aufgetreten, als sie zählen können. Sie haben mit Ikonen der 60er Jahre wie Glenn Ross Campbell von The Misunderstood, Dick Taylor von The Pretty Things, Randy Holden von The Sons of Adam und Blue Cheer und Michael Stuart-Ware von Love zusammengearbeitet. Mike Stax, der auch die Zeitschrift Ugly Things herausgibt, ist der Leadsänger. Anja Stax spielt Bass und singt Backing Vocals. Marc Schroeder und Chris Marsteller spielen Gitarren, und Chris Cancelliere sitzt am Schlagzeug. Mike Stax war bereits ein Veteran in mehreren anderen Bands aus San Diego, darunter The Crawdaddys und The Tell-Tale Hearts, als er 1997 die Loons gründete. Ebbot Lundberg von The Soundtrack of Our Lives produzierte das Debütalbum der Gruppe, ,Love's Dead Leaves", das 1998 bei Get Hip Records erschien. "A perfect pairing of Love-influenced garage-psych and British underground in the mould of the Pretty Things played with preternatural style and ability." - Shindig Magazine "Fantastically talented - as a group and individually, they've worked so hard at their passion _ It has been one of the highlights of my life to have been involved with them." - Glenn Ross Campbell, the Misunderstood

Tangential Music is pleased to present the new album from veteran Spanish DJ and producer, Dj Toner (aka Antonio Herrera). Alongside his co-writer/arranger Daniel Molina and with guests that include the legendary Blue Note Records innovator Erik Truffaz and Grammy winning flautist and saxophonist Jorge Pardo, he has created a 10 track collection of slow-burning instrumentals that straddle the worlds of hip hop, jazz and electronica.

With a personal, precision tooled approach to his craft, the Andalusian has offered up an album of finely modelled downbeat moods.

At first glance, ‘Out Side’ is made up of recognisably superior hip hop instrumentals but if you listen carefully, and with patience, one can hear a craftsman at work. A wooden box is just a box until you look closer. The hidden joints, the perfect lining up of the grain, the years of artisanal graft and laser-focussed attention to detail that go into making something that has nothing present, that doesn’t deserve to be there. This is how Dj Toner operates.

The two singles that preempt the album’s release reveal different sides of his craft. ‘Camina’ struts with tough intentions. Soundtrack-y in an exploitation police drama manner, the get-out-of-my-way drum break and tension-filled chords suggest the bad cop, Erik Truffaz’s piercing lyrical trumpet lines, the good. The Afro-jazz horns led second release ‘Surprise’ is an altogether more playful, sunbaked affair. Sensual and slow-burning, there’s still an edge but it’s too hot to quarrel.

Dj Toner’s minimalist attitude to creation is shared with his co-composer Molina - an individual’s contribution may be cut to the bone, leaving just its aura or tone. The echo of a piano, a single blast of tuneful wind from a flute, a perfectly positioned drum hit.

Since the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA began applying his beatmaking prowess to movie soundtracks, the hip hop instrumental has been acknowledged as something to listen to, as much as being used as a DJ tool or backing for an MC. Dj Toner’s instrumentals can, therefore, be seen as soundtracks. Soundtracks to his life and craft, vignettes of his environment in both the urban sprawl and the wider and slower spaces of “el campo”.

The sweet-tempered jazz-blues of ‘La Rimosa’ is a gentle welcome to the album. A simple, laid back groove with the most romantic of piano hooks that one could imagine Common dropping rhymes on. You’re kept on your toes with the odd purposeful moment of discordant interruption but the tender heart of the composition is never far away.

‘O’Beat’ hints at John Coltrane with the sparse but full-sounding upright bass before a head-snap break leads into a curious piano groove, a vintage organ swirls into a psychedelic fractal, whilst the bluesy female vocal snippets add the spice, that zing in the Granadan gazpacho.

The flamenco guitar driven ‘Flama’ is an excellent example of intricate sample placement and musicality. Old school (school yard) scratch interludes, sweet piano hooks, a minimalist but knife sharp flute contribution from Jorge Pardo, and the crunchiest of drums taking us for an intriguing walk round the corner.

We’ve mentioned them before but it’s on ‘Sweetband’ that we can feel that Wu-Tang dread hanging off its shoulders. A brooding orchestral number with powerful horns and a cavernous piano hit. The title of the piece is in stark contrast to the dark shadows of the tune.

Erik Truffaz returns in fine form on the super lethargic jazz-funk-hop of ‘The Day’. His instantly identifiable muted trumpet sound paints dazzling colours over the more earthy tones of the filtered down keys as a rubbery upright bass keeps the forward momentum. Dj Toner’s ‘Blessed Are The Weird People’ album, was rated in Jazz Magazine as one of the 20 jazz albums of 2021, so he isn’t some dilettante when it comes to playing with the complex hues of jazz but he does like to strip it to its bare essentials.

‘Fanega’ sees a gorgeous flute contribution from Jorge Pardo. An eerie boom-bap groove with sprinkles of electronic pulses and washed out chords is the canvas on which the award-winning multi-instrumentalist evokes the heat shimmer of the savannah.


‘Esperanza’ translates as ‘hope’ in English and this lovely slow, swinging jazzy groove really does provoke feelings of positivity and belief. Sublime vibraphone and another stunning trumpet offering from Erik Truffaz, take us on a journey of warm days and possibilities, the shuffling drums and sweet chord patterns are nicely finished off by a tranquil horn chorus towards its unhurried end.

‘Under Beat’ ends on a beefy boom-bap groove with a liquid funk bassline, elegant synth strings and old school scratching. Again, there’s that undisputable soundtrack edge, action and motion, the smell of the city.

There you have it, 10 tracks that go beyond the surface, deep into the dedicated craft of Dj Toner. Decades of experience and collaboration purified and refined into beat-heavy emotions, listen closely or crank it up, it’s down to you!

Bank NYC is very excited to present the definitive statement of Collector, "No Prospects". Collector is the solo guise of Jason Campbell, resident of Newcastle, Australia. Since 2014, Campbell has been channelling the industrial malaise of his hometown through his unique take on heavy electronics. After a series of releases on global-spanning labels such Steel City Dance Discs (UK), Nice Music (AUS), Clan Destine (SCO) & Night People (US), the debut long-player for Bank NYC finds Collector embracing true album form for the first time in his discography. Across eight pieces, Collector delivers a bleak sonic narrative via a hardware-only approach to production: Analog drum machine patterns are intricately intertwined with menacing synth lines, and driving bass is met with the unrelenting clatter of tightly-sequenced field recordings taken straight from the heart of local industry.

Thematically, "No Prospects" navigates the downfall of Newcastle's BHP Steelworks at the end of the 20th century. Acknowledged widely as the largest de-industrialisation event in Australian history, the closure of the Steelworks in 1999 marked a dramatic cultural shift where blue-collar vocations were vanquished due to an economic slump, and were consumed by the trending cosmopolitanism seen in adjacent cities. "No Prospects" draws on Campbell's family lineage in the Newcastle's steelworks, providing a rich, personal context to an industry that both gives and takes away. The sharp intensity of the album is sustained by dramatic shifts in pace: the devestating slow burners of 'Two From Five' and 'Ricochet' are instinctually offset by the frenetic 'CFT' and 'Workers Club Collapse', which showcase Campbell's no-nonsense approach to shaping an almost club-ready breed of modern industrial techno. Although diverse across both sides, cohesion is found in Campbell's toolkit of samples that are unmistakably Collector. The album's eponymous track, 'No Prospects', serves as an introspective centrepoint - a largely arrhythmic excursion shrouded in familiar brooding, textural drones, and underpinned by the chug of machinery on the brink of collapse.

Although forever indebted to the spirit of local electronic outcasts, Bloody Fist Records, Collector's "No Prospects" is a remarkably distinct statement straight from the heart of Australia's Steel City. The complexity of arrangements speak to Campbell's long association in experimental music communities, whilst the persistent feeling of dread conveys a uniquely regional story of decay and futility. Pure Novocastrian industrial electronics.

Recorded in 1971, Solo Guitar Volume 1 was Bailey's first solo album. Its cover is an iconic montage of photos taken in the guitar shop where he worked. He and the photographer piled up the instruments whilst the proprietor was at lunch, with Bailey promptly sacked on his return. The LP was issued in two versions over the years — Incus 2 and 2R — with different groupings of free improvisations paired with Bailey's performances of notated pieces by his friends Misha Mengelberg, Gavin Bryars and Willem Breuker. All this music is here, plus a superb solo performance at York University in 1972; a welcome shock at the end of an evening of notated music. It's a striking demonstration of the way Bailey rewrote the language of the guitar with endless inventiveness, intelligence and wit.

"It seemed that if I didn’t somehow repeat the process of greatness, and do so immediately, multiple times away to satisfy playlist and binge watch culture, then I “wasn’t shit”. After a while I was like “nah this doesn’t feel good,… I don’t know if I am finding joy in this”. I would record songs and not release them, obsess over sessions recorded in my home with 30 takes of vocals and wake up only to delete them. When it began to feel right I found solace in an epiphany that I was not obligated to operate at any other wavelength. I am moving on a different type of time, and that doesn’t expire." -Cavalier

For heads of a certain time period of NYC hip-hop, Brooklyn born, New Orleans-based rapper and songwriter, Cavalier was the one that got away. The outrageously talented artist whose name and reputation preceded him everywhere you went in the scene. The rapper who everyone knew was so dope that he had to blow, but who never seemed concerned with any of that. The pretty boy draped in Polo who stole every live show with a feather in his hair and a mouth full of gold fronts. The cat so dedicated to his own independence that even indie labels stopped trying to sign him and projects came when they came, but when they came they were undeniable.


Cavalier was THAT guy for a lot of us; a silver-tongued philosopher with an eye for the poignant details of black life and a delivery as effortless as a young Ken Griffey’s swing. All that said, it never really felt like Cav had that moment in the spotlight that we always assumed was coming. After chiseling away through headier cult corners of the NYC hip-hop scene Cavalier was recognized for his memorable co-pilot to Quelle Chris’ 2013 Mello Music debut, Niggas Is Men. The critically acclaimed LP helped propel Quelle Chris into the forefront of indie hip-hop (and also happened to be the first production credits for Messiah Muzik). Cav followed up with his first full length, Chief, which sports a notable Raekwon feature but also early work from producers like Ohbliv and Tall Black Guy. A relocation to New Orleans and partnership with producer/vocalist Iman Omari yielded two more projects: 2015’s Lemonade EP and Private Stock in 2018. Great records all; eagerly sought by collectors and signal boosted by influential media like OkayPlayer, Solange’s Saint Heron, and Pitchfork. Cavalier’s bonafides have never been in question, but his new album Different Type Time feels like a revelation—a sonic suspension bridge between his rich history and the artform’s future.

Different Type Time doesn’t sound like the future though, its vibrations are somewhere all their own. It sounds like jazz, like a conversation overheard in roti shop, or a pool hall, or the foyer of your old building on a fall day, front door propped open with a brick. The blues is in there too, and the south—the American South, and theGlobal South, and South Brooklyn. It’s not that it sounds like the past, but you can hear everything that came before in the thick of the basslines and the yearning of the keys. Different Type Time also doesn’t sound like now, it sounds like RIGHT NOW; the bounce of the lyrics like the staccato of basketball in the park, carried on a spring breeze.

Although he doesn’t rap on DTT, Quelle Chris plays a pivotal role; producing eight songs and serving as associate producer/consigliere to Cav throughout the creative process. “There is no time wasted in explaining things when I collaborate with Quelle. He understands the universe I am in and the realities I want to create. He’s in them. And I don’t think I can envision one without him,” Cavalier explains. Messiah Muzik, Wino Willy, Ohbliv, Ahwlee, Child Actor, Fushou and several other producers round out the credits, all lending their talents to the album’s spaciously soulful sound. At the center of all these alchemies is Cavalier, nimbly dancing in and out of pockets like a sidewalk game of jumprope. Different Type Time is a masterclass in this thing we call hip-hop; daring and original, yet always standing deeply rooted in the culture.

Andrea has his roots in the independent musical scene in the first decade of the 2000s. In addition to his compositional and live experience as the first Nadàr Solo drummer, he is one half of the Turin duo Anthony Laszlo with Anthony Sasso, ex guitarist and singer of Milena Lovesick. Andrea Laszlo De Simone made his debut in 2012 when he released his first homemade album, Ecce Homo. Recorded at home by makeshift means and accompanied by the following videos: Solo un uomo, 11:43, I nostri piccoli occhi, Perdutamente.

At the beginning of 2014, he met some experienced musicians from Turin’s underground scene that later, after a few months in a rehearsal room, became his band: Damir Nefat (guitar/backing vocals), Dani C (bass guitar/backing vocals), Filippo Cornaglia (drums/backing vocals), Zevi Bordovach (keyboards/backing vocals) and Anthony Sasso (keyboards/backing vocals/percussions).

Anticipated by the individual tracks Uomo Donna, Vieni a salvarmi and La guerra dei baci on June 9, 2017 - for 42Records - Uomo Donna came out. It’s Andrea Laszlo De Simone’s first real album, a well received work by both audience and critics. It also was pointed as one of the best albums of 2017 by several national music magazines.

Uomo Donna is a complex, articulate and vital album that lives in its own time - where past, present and future coexist. It’s a time in which a sonic world takes shape blending classic and modern, Italian songs with psychedelia, Battisti and Radiohead, Modugno and Verdena, the Beatles and Tame Impala, the magical flight of Claudio Rocchi and the earthly flight of IOSONOUNCANE.

The album was self-produced and then post-produced by Andrea in collaboration with Giuseppe Lo Bue, a sound engineer from Bologna. The recordings were made between October 2014 and the end of 2016 with experimental techniques straddling digital and analogic.

After playing in some important Italian festivals as Siren Festival and TOdays -- that earned him a special mention in the live scores by Rolling Stones -- on October 28, 2017 the first Uomo Donna album tour started in the clubs of the major Italian cities.

On November 30th 2017, Andrea Laszlo De Simone presented his video, Sogno l'amore, during the Torino Film Festival as a short film, shot in Sicily and directed by Francesca Noto and Andrea Laszlo De Simone.

On March 15th 2018 the music video of Gli uomini hanno fame was released, the most political song of the album, an overlook through ferocious human emotions, an eleven and fifty minutes trip within human nature portrayed even in its most ferocious instincts. The music video was directed by Andrea Laszlo De Simone and the mysterious duo Sans. The official cycle of Uomo Donna ends on 31 December 2018 with the music video of Sparite Tutti created by the creative collective Irene&Irene.

2019 was a year of new goals for Andrea, in fact, the album Uomo Donna leaves national borders and got a special mention on social media by the famous American band The Lumineers which included Andrea Laszlo De Simone and Uomo Donna among the most interesting discoveries of the international musical underground and inserts Solo un Uomo in the Spotify playlist “Inspirations”. A few days later, Solo un Uomo was broadcasted by KEXP Radio. On November 4th Andrea and his band were chosen to open for The Lumineers’ only Italian show at Alcatraz, in Milan.

On November 8th Andrea released a brand new work, digitally and on vinyl for 42Records, Immensità, a ‘suite’ of four singles: Immensità, Conchiglie, Mistero and La Nostra Fine. Turned into a medium-length film using Immensità as the soundtrack.

Immensità was presented with four special sold out concerts in Rome, Turin, Padua and Milan. For these shows Andrea Laszlo De Simone was accompanied on stage by a mixed orchestra composed of synths, electronics, choirs, strings and woodwinds. Classic and modern instruments that are intertwined in a nine elements formation: an immersive concert, a contemporary version of chamber music.

In March 2020 Immensità was released also in France, UK, Canada, Belgium and the United States with Ekleroshock/ Hamburger Records (Roster: Benjamin Clementine, Polo & Pan, Limousine and many others). The response of the transalpine press and media, sector and not, was unexpected: major French newspapers and magazines - from Le Monde to Liberation, Vanity Fair and Les Inrockuptibles - dedicated entire pages and rave reviews to Immensità and Andrea Laszlo De Simone. The track Immensità entered, after a few days, at the fourteenth rank of Spotify’s Top viral 50 playlist and broadcasted on France Inter and Radio Nova.

“Immensità” is a complex cross media work of music and images. A project divided into four chapters (the songs) for nine tracks (each chapter has a prologue or a conclusion). A true suite, using the classic term that best describes an instrumental composition in several stages, that can be enjoyed in its entirety only by listening to vinyl or digitally in the innovative single track format, without pauses: a single symphony of 25 minutes and 6 seconds.

In September 2020, Dal giorno in cui sei nato tu was released on all italian platforms, a song dedicated to Andrea’s children, a real love letter in the form of a small speech, where he tries to give them the three keys to approaching life: fantasy, music and irony. Martino, 8 years old, replies to his father’s love letter by making the video accompanying the song, created in Super 8. It's the story of the world through the eyes of the child. It is also an homage to the new little girl in family, Lucia.

Released only eight months after his exhilarating debut, Bruce Springsteen's The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle contains rousing dispatches from the boardwalk, the street, the beach, and the bedroom. It explodes with energy, dares to dream, teases with humour, crackles with tragedy, clings to hope, and overflows with discovery, youthfulness, and personality. It features an unforgettable cast of characters — corner boys, teenage hustlers, doomed lovers, jazz men, junk men, factory girls, fortune tellers, alley cats, pimps, escorts, and more — illuminated by vivid colour, breathtaking detail, and poetic action.

Musically, the heartfelt 1973 record is inhabited by sympathetic vignettes and cinematic arrangements steeped in rock 'n' roll, soul, jazz, and R&B. It finds the New Jersey native looking beyond the parameters of his preceding record and seeking to move on from environments he knows well (and chronicles here) by rushing headlong toward unknown territories, adventures, and people. Underpinned by the singer-guitarist's ambitious poetic enterprise and will to succeed, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle is the album on which Springsteen becomes the Boss.

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's renowned mastering system, pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 7,500 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP set is the definitive-sounding version of Springsteen's sophomore record. Benefitting from SuperVinyl’s nearly non-existent noise floor, superb groove definition, and dead-quiet surfaces, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle plays with a clarity, energy, presence, and openness that complement the expressiveness, dynamics, and scope of the seven restless songs that comprise a work Rolling Stone ranked the 345th Greatest Album of All Time.

Beyond the audiophile sonics that practically place you behind the console at 914 Sound Studios — listen to the separation between the instruments, natural decay of the notes, interplay within the widescreen soundstaging, and nothing-to-lose youthfulness of Springsteen’s voice — this reissue takes seriously this record’s influential merit by presenting it in packaging that underlines its status. Tucked in a beautiful slipcase, the LP is housed in a special foil-stamped jacket with faithful-to-the-original graphics. This reissue is made for listeners who prize sound quality and who want to engage themselves in everything involved with the invigorating set that busted Springsteen loose from the club circuit and landed him on the radio

Determined to liberate anyone within earshot and unafraid to come on strong, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle serves as the debut of the E Street Band — not only heard but seen for the first time by most of the public courtesy of the back-cover photograph. This is where saxophonist Clarence Clemons, organist-accordionist Danny Federici, and pianist David Sancious step out of the shadows — and drummer Vini Lopez and bassist Garry Tallent again stoke a fiery rhythmic engine that helps drive the untamed, reimagined big-band swing of “Kitty’s Back,” breathless R&B thrust of “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” and carefree dance steps of the funky “The E Street Shuffle.”

Of course, the main attraction remains a then-24-year-old visionary on the precipice of becoming a sensation and turning a then-bloated rock scene on its head. Recorded over three months while Springsteen and company were busy touring his debut LP, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle reflects the high-octane approach the vocalist embraced onstage and drifts away from the label-dictated acoustic-based frameworks of his debut. The set also witnesses Springsteen deepening his observational skills, with narratives such as the romantically tinged “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” and redemptive epic “Incident on 57th Street” mirroring changes taking place in the singer’s own life, small towns, and America at large.

A thrilling collision of memories, reflections, and composites — Sandy, Rosalita, and the latter’s parents are all based on actual people Springsteen knew, as is the community depicted in the opening track — the aptly titled The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle resonates decades on due to its truths, authenticity, and spirit. Those characteristics — as well as the fact that many of its lengthy songs come on as the equivalent of sweaty, feverish soul revue that won’t stop until you’ve been exhausted — also explain how this now-iconic album triumphed over the reservations of industry “experts” that both demanded Springsteen re-record it and instructed deejays not to play it.



Yet there’d be no stopping a record that saw the past, present, and future, a band whose will would not be denied, and a phenomenon who was born to run. A never-ending invitation to act real cool and stay up all night, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle always feels alright.

witching seaside ambience for a sound shaped by inner-city living, Atelier’s second full-length studio album, Lights Towards The Exit, channels the mood of a sleepless cityscape.
Lights Towards The Exit is Atelier’s second full-length studio album. After the release of Varsam Court at the end of 2019 on Lossless, run by mentors and friends Mathias Schober and Thomas Herb, the duo experimented with different ideas in the studio, and at the start of 2020 a common thread began to appear between a few of the tracks which laid the foundation for the sound of their second album.
Both Alexander and Jas moved to Berlin in the period before the release of Varsam Court from their hometown of Cape Town, South Africa, where their first album was written and recorded. Moving provided some challenges, particularly with what was the most essential equipment to bring from their previous studio set-up, but those limitations proved to be useful in incorporating new instruments and techniques to the recording process.
Lights Towards The Exit was written and recorded in different spaces in Berlin – from bedrooms in apartment blocks to three different studios across the city. The different locations all had a specific ambience – such as 4th- and 5th-floor bedrooms with busy street views; a studio with no windows in a typical old Berlin backyard complex forever under threat of being sold and gentrified; and a bigger studio with windows on the opposite side of the corridor overlooking the backyard of a mechanic workshop. The final details and edits were completed in Atelier’s current studio, in a contrasting area surrounded by office blocks, plazas, 9-5ers and, most importantly, their friends and colleagues.
Swapping the mountains, sea and seclusion for tall buildings, backyards and a new community, Lights Towards The Exit channels the sensation of being surrounded by people, but still feeling like you're on your own. The album was written through three years of cold winters, sweaty summers and a period where the world stood still during the pandemic. Frustrated with the cease of momentum, but still optimistic, Atelier disappeared from public view, abandoning social media to focus on recording, songwriting and experimentation.
It was a difficult time: the duo longed to perform and continue producing music, and the imposed limitations sometimes felt like an impossible obstacle. Ultimately, though, this would provide inexpected inspiration and influence the sound and direction of the new album.
The sound of Lights Towards The Exit is not a departure from their first album, but a progression: influenced by the new surroundings in the duo’s adoptive city, Atelier’s second album is an ode to first-time experiences, new languages, challenges, club culture and the shift from youth to maturity, as well as a balm to those stuck somewhere in between.
The overall sound is a lift not in tempo, but in energy, matching the openness needed to make a new start in a new place.

Repress!

Wah Wah 45s are proud to present the full debut album from Afrobeat supergroupEparapo. Having come togetherduring the unprecedented events of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, and despite being a project born from the privations of lockdown, their music is ultimately an expression of hope, resilience & resurgence.

The word "eparapo" means "join forces" in Yoruba, the language of Afrobeat. It's also the title of a track by the late, greatTony Allen- drummer for Afrobeat legendFela Kutiand lifelong friend and mentor of our very own "Afrobeat Ambassador",Dele Sosimi. Not only did Tony help to invent Afrobeat, he always looked for ways to push the boundaries, never content with recreating what had gone before but constantly expanding and developing the genre. This project hopes to pay homage to his legacy, and that of Fela Kuti himself. Its aim is to innovate, fuse and diversify while still retaining the essence of the music.

The force behind Eparapo is bassist, composer & producerSuman Joshi.He has been a member of Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra for nearly a decade and has performed on stage with the likes of Tony Allen, Seun Kuti, Ginger Baker & Laura Mvula. He is also bassist with UK jazz ensemble Collocutor and fusion project Cubafrobeat.

"The Eparapo project was conceived during a time of lockdowns & government scandals. The music that makes up this album was written and recorded against a backdrop of societal upheaval, culture wars and rising wealth inequality. With little scrutiny or resistance from the mainstream media, our human and democratic rights were being eroded and our institutions debased. Even our right to protest is now under threat. This is a call to action, an expression of frustration & anger at what our nation has become. It's saying that enough is enough, it's time to join forces and make our voices heard. It's time to take to the streets."Suman Joshi

The title track is an epic eleven minute musical representation of this frustration and anger, where the musicians really let loose and allow their voices to be heard. As the only instrumental track on the album it acts as a call to action that is central to this body of work. Featured vocalists on the album are Fela Kuti disciple and Wah Wah 45s artistDele Sosimi, who appears on the singlesBlack Lives Matter,From London To LagosandWho Invented Back & White?as well as a more recent recording,Follow The Money; and London based, Ghanaian born master percussionist and vocalistAfla Sackey, who takes lead vocals on the mournful yet somehow hopefulBeautiful City.

The rest of the group comprises of highly rated UK jazz vocalistSahra Gure; saxophonist, composer, producer and bandleader of the renowned forward thinking jazz outfit Collocutor,Tamar Osborn; keyboard player, producer and front man for Lokkhi Terra and Cubafrobeat,Kishon Khan; one of the UK's finest and most in demand trumpeters,Graeme Flowers, who has played with Quincy Jones, Gregory Porter and many more; trombonist for Bellowhead and mainstay of Dele's Afrobeat Orchestra,Justin Thurgur; and finally drummer for Steamdown and Sons of Kemet, as well as the man behind the Nache project,Eddie Wakili Hick.

The album will be available digitally and limited edition vinyl LP, with striking artwork by our award winning designer Animisiewasz.

In one sense, it's easy for artists-songwriters, specifically-to express their feelings in their work. After all, that's what the lyrics are for! But it's much harder to convey emotional energy in how you play, slash at the guitar, and the structure of the music itself. That's precisely why Girl and Girl's Sub Pop debut, Call A Doctor, feels like such a vital, electrifying shock to the senses. Not since the early work of Car Seat Headrest or Conor Oberst's widescreen emotional brutality as Bright Eyes has indie rock managed to come across as this intimate and grandiose, as the Australian quartet led by Kai James lay a lifetime's worth of woes-mental health, the human race's planned obsolescence if you've been living on this cursed rock you know what we're getting at-across a canvas of indie rock that feels both timeless and in-the-moment. An audacious and aggressively tuneful blast of a record, Call A Doctor is an unforgettable first bow from Girl and Girl, whose origins lie in James and guitarist Jayden Williams jamming in his mother's garage in the afternoon after school. One afternoon, James' Aunty Liss headed down to their practice space after walking her dog and asked if she could sit in on drums. "It sounded really great," James recalls. "We begged her to stay, and she said, 'I'll stay until you find another drummer.' We wore her down, and she eventually became a permanent member." After bassist Fraser Bell joined to round things out, Girl and Girl hit the road and began to make a name for themselves beyond the Australian bush, eventually signing to Sub Pop off the strength of word of mouth. Call A Doctor came together quickly soon after, largely recorded in marathon sessions in a two-story industrial complex over the course of two weeks. "That added to the intensity of the album," James says about the frenzied creative process overseen by producer Burke Reid. "I can hear the stress in the record, which is good because that's what it's about-being tense, tied up, and in your own head." Call A Doctor's eleven songs-spanning sweeping guitar epics and wry acoustic shuffles to spiky punk maneuvers and the type of raw, adoringly unvarnished indie-pop associated with legendary PacNW label K Records-are literally plucked from James' personal history, as he reworked older recordings with newer lyrics reflecting his past struggles as well as new anxieties that emerged prior to the album's recording. "I've struggled with mental health for a lot of my life," he explains, "and I went through a particularly difficult patch when we were making the album; the band had started to get some attention, and I felt an enormous amount of pressure to live up to it." "This record is about an individual who's too far in their head, trying to get out," James continues while discussing Call A Doctor's overall outlook-specifically the snapshot it offers of its creator. But even though this record deals with uneasy topics we all know well from within ourselves, it's important to emphasize how teeming with life Girl and Girl's music is. There's a brazen, bold sense of humor to this stuff, an undeniable brightness to the darkness that makes it impossible not to be drawn in as a listener. Feeling down never sounded so goddamn good.

In one sense, it’s easy for artists—songwriters, specifically—to express their feelings in their work. After all, that’s what the lyrics are for! But it’s much harder to convey emotional energy in how you play, slash at the guitar, and the structure of the music itself. That’s precisely why Girl and Girl’s Sub Pop debut, Call A Doctor, feels like such a vital, electrifying shock to the senses. Not since the early work of Car Seat Headrest or Conor Oberst’s widescreen emotional brutality as Bright Eyes has indie rock managed to come across as this intimate and grandiose, as the Australian quartet led by Kai James lay a lifetime’s worth of woes—mental health, the human race’s planned obsolescence if you’ve been living on this cursed rock you know what we’re getting at—across a canvas of indie rock that feels both timeless and in-the-moment.

An audacious and aggressively tuneful blast of a record, Call A Doctor is an unforgettable first bow from Girl and Girl, whose origins lie in James and guitarist Jayden Williams jamming in his mother’s garage in the afternoon after school. One afternoon, James’ Aunty Liss headed down to their practice space after walking her dog and asked if she could sit in on drums. “It sounded really great,” James recalls. “We begged her to stay, and she said, ‘I’ll stay until you find another drummer.’ We wore her down, and she eventually became a permanent member.”

After bassist Fraser Bell joined to round things out, Girl and Girl hit the road and began to make a name for themselves beyond the Australian bush, eventually signing to Sub Pop off the strength of word of mouth. Call A Doctor came together quickly soon after, largely recorded in marathon sessions in a two-story industrial complex over the course of two weeks. “That added to the intensity of the album,” James says about the frenzied creative process overseen by producer Burke Reid. “I can hear the stress in the record, which is good because that’s what it’s about—being tense, tied up, and in your own head.”

Call A Doctor’s eleven songs—spanning sweeping guitar epics and wry acoustic shuffles to spiky punk maneuvers and the type of raw, adoringly unvarnished indie-pop associated with legendary PacNW label K Records—are literally plucked from James’ personal history, as he reworked older recordings with newer lyrics reflecting his past struggles as well as new anxieties that emerged prior to the album’s recording. “I’ve struggled with mental health for a lot of my life,” he explains, “and I went through a particularly difficult patch when we were making the album; the band had started to get some attention, and I felt an enormous amount of pressure to live up to it.”

Far from the sound of collapsing under pressure, Call A Doctor finds James and Co. stepping up with their entire collective chest. This is a record that’s so out-and-out alive that you nearly feel like you’re in the same room with Girl and Girl as you listen to it; lead single “Hello” practically bursts through the speakers, amplified by Aunty Liss’ unbelievable stickhandling duties. “‘Hello’ is all about romanticizing your own misery. Letting those deep, dark, dirty thoughts take over. Understanding that even if you could pull yourself out, you wouldn’t because the constant stress and worry is far too familiar and comfortable.”

“Mother” pogos on a spiky groove that’s reminiscent of the geographically close New Zealanders who make up the legendary Flying Nun label, while “Oh Boy” draws from the Shins’ own jangly sound, injected with James’ wonderfully nervy vocals. Then there’s Call A Doctor’s sorta-centerpiece “Maple Jean and the Anthropocene,” a five-minute epic offering a new perspective on climate change and the notion of what it means, in a personal sense, to suffer: “I live in the bushland, and I was driving home one night and hit and killed a wallaby with my car,” James recalls while discussing the song’s lyrical inspiration. “My first thought was, ‘What is the universe trying to tell me?’ No remorse, no guilt, just total self-centeredness. Which was like, Woah, you fucking psychopath! This wallaby wasn’t put on this earth to send you a message. That’s what the song is about, our egocentric species - thinking you’re the main character and that everything that happens is somehow about you.”

“This record is about an individual who’s too far in their head, trying to get out,” James continues while discussing Call A Doctor’s overall outlook—specifically the snapshot it offers of its creator. But even though this record deals with uneasy topics we all know well from within ourselves, it’s important to emphasize how teeming with life Girl and Girl’s music is. There’s a brazen, bold sense of humor to this stuff, an undeniable brightness to the darkness that makes it impossible not to be drawn in as a listener. Feeling down never sounded so goddamn good.

Barro Music Label reaches its tenth reference with a tremendous EP in which the protagonist (even of the cover) is Nöle, the label's boss. In Electro Bloody Music, the popular DJ and producer from Pamplona delivers four original tracks accompanied by a fantastic remix by Delectro. The renowned Colombian producer, active since 2006, has released on some of the best international labels and with his 80s EBM, electro and techno influences, he is the ideal person to accompany the label boss on such an important release. As for Nöle, after the success of Mendekua, his previous work released in 2022, he does what he is the best at: dark and frenetic techno with EBM flavor, like the one he played during his long residency at Stardust and does now at Lasociación.

On the A-side of Electro Blood Music we find three originals, the first two could be included in the category of Techno Body Music while the third is more purely techno. The EP starts with BuruHilketa, a dark track with a certain experimental atmosphere endowed with an incisive synth line and disturbing vocal samples that accompany us during most of the composition. Shaktale, shares some of the atmosphere of the first track, as it also includes vocal samples and a eerie synthesizer melody quite catchy. It has quite a complex rhythm and an extremely careful production that we recommend listening with headphones to appreciate in detail. Cementerio caliente is powerufl techno track, with hypnotic synths and an acid touch and tremendously forceful. With this kick drum, you could definitely demolish a house!

On the B-side we find another original track titled Noisebuilder and the remix by Delectro. Noisebuilder, with its fat and aquatic basses starts off more techno but, little by little, it also includes EBM details. The track lives up to its name and the noise builds, little by little, layer by layer while the intensity keeps growing. With a hard-hitting beat, spiced in the background by synthesizers that help to create an atmosphere, it is one of the clearest bangers of the EP. Delectro delivers a remix a little more forceful and darker, a bombshell of pure Techno Body Music that closes this magnificent EP.

Release note: El Garaje de Frank

"Everything's been fucked since David Bowie died or they started up the Hadron Collider" say The Janitors. This feeling is epitomised in the title of their riveting new album: An Error Has Occurred. Marking over two decades of activity for the Swedish psych-rockers, the recording is informed by heartbreak and loss as well as the dismal state of the entire planet. For The Janitors, these two polarities intertwine constantly: "What's personal is political and vice versa." To channel their frustration and anger, the band revived certain songs they'd shelved during the pandemic when working on the acclaimed Noisolation Sessions. They added others, written since, that suited the mood of sticking a middle finger up to the oppressive world around us. Whereas previous recordings were often layered up gradually, this time the full band (Henric Herlenius, Jonas Eriksson, Anders Thorell and Wilhelm Tengdahl) rehearsed intensely together before laying down everything live, over two days and nights, in a converted missionary church. The songs on Side A have the menace of Melvins, the swagger of The Stooges and the cosmic heft of The Heads. These are the more simply constructed and poppier pieces... or so the band believe. (One friend of theirs did consider this "delusional".) 'In A Bliss' acts as the album's radiant centrepiece. A palette-cleansing love song which recalls The Jesus And Mary Chain at their most starry eyed, it finds The Janitors searching for solace and strength in straightforward companionship. After this come the dronier numbers, drawn out with soundscapes and textures influenced by The Velvet Underground's sonic experiments and the equally immersive atmospheres of electronic acts like Massive Attack. Hence, 'Operator' swings threateningly like a space-rock Swans, while the approach on 'Farewell Spacegirl' is jazzier and more meditative. "It can be hard to muster up some, or even any, positive energy at this point in time," says Henric. "We are eternally grateful to have the creative output that this constellation gives us. Neither me or Jonas would probably be here, or be the same people we are, if it wasn't for The Janitors. We'll leave you with a quote from an old anarchist: 'Every society gets the criminals it deserves.'"

The latest release on Jai Alai follows the format of forgotten vinyl tracks never before released on 7” format, or previously CD only album tracks, and will raise some eyebrows in artist selection and pairing.

Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II was one of the most significant jazz artists of all time having joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the mid-50s and establishing himself as one of the best hard bop trumpeter/flugelhorn players. His progression was continuous through the 50s/60s working with John Coltrane, Gigi Gryce, Pepper Adams, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins as sideman, and became one of Blue Note Records leading artists.

By the end of the 60s Byrd decided to move away from that idiom, experimenting with jazz fusion, African music and Rhythm & Blues. He worked hard to make jazz and its history part of the curriculum in US music colleges and he taught at many including Rutgers, Hampton, Howard, and Columbia, the latter from who he received his PhD in music.
Byrd took a great interest in how Miles Davis’ experimentation was resonating with a younger audience, and despite being castigated by his musical peers, his development of jazz fusion changed the jazz scene forever. His work with the Blackbyrds was a cornerstone for the progression of jazz funk in the UK.

The effect of his hook-up with brothers Larry & Fonce Mizell was immediate and his Blue Notes albums “Black Byrd” (1973), “Street Lady”, “Stepping Into Tomorrow” (1974), “Places & Spaces” (1975) and “Caricatures” (1976) became legendary on the newly evolving jazz funk scene with certain tracks such as “Change (Makes You Wanna Hustle)” normalising dance jazz on the disco floors, not to mention being a rich source for many hip-hop samples.
A slightly leaner period followed when he moved to Elektra Records and of the three albums with his new incarnation 125th Street NYC, a group of musicians he taught at North Carolina Central University, two were produced by Isaac Hayes including “Words”, “Sounds, Colors & Shapes” (1982) from which “Everyday”, a fabulous forgotten piece of mellow jazz funk derives.

By the end of the 80s he had returned to his harder straight-ahead jazz roots, but his place in history and the evolving of jazz as a dance culture in our clubs should never be forgotten.

Inspired by the winter sunrises in the city of Porto, MURK AT DAWN VA marks the beginning of a new chapter in the electronic music scene, embracing the passion for the obscure and its intrinsic beauty. The first release by the newly established Rapture label consists of a spatial composition from Maria Callapez that inherits the melancholy from those foggy mornings, followed by the intensity and vigor from two renowned Georgian artists, Hecate Legacy and Downwell. To fulfill the work from the previous producers, Alessandro Adriani presents us some of his dark hypnotic finest art, preceded by the industrial and vibrant pace of the Portuguese Dust Devices, a sonority already considered his trademark. Artwork crafted by Serafim Mendes. Tracks written and produced by Aleassandro Adriani, Downwell, Dust Devices, Hecate Legacy and Maria Callapez Mastering by João Rodrigues @ Tema Mastering Artwork by Serafim Mendes

With love from Northern Europe...
Erotic Mondo's hidden treasure!
Long-awaited analog reissue of two Monica Lassen album titles

A woman erotic work produced in Japan with the setting of "A work created for the enjoyment of men and women by a Swedish female musician named Monika Lassen, who is also active as a sexual psychologist.''

Mondo's hidden treasure.
This is a rare and unusual record, with sounds that overlap with the dazzling sounds of jazz, rock, lounge, psych, etc.

The sequel was released one year after the previous work ‘Woman’ was well received. It's an erotic Japanese groove that knows no bounds, with more moaning voices than the previous work, heavy fuzz guitar, piercing organ, and sexy scat!


A total concept album consisting of the same song at the beginning and end of both sides.

With love from Northern Europe...
Erotic Mondo's hidden treasure!
The long-awaited analog reissue of two Monica Lassen album titles!

A Wamon erotic work produced in Japan with the setting of “A work created for the enjoyment of men and women by a Swedish female musician named Monika Lassen, who is also active as a sexual psychologist.''

Mondo's hidden treasure.
This is a rare and unusual record, with sounds that overlap with the dazzling sounds of jazz, rock, lounge, psych, etc.

A rich album that includes the ecstatic erotic psychedelic groove "Cottage" and the erotic Japanese groove "Incitation", which has an explosive drum break not only in the intro but also at the end.


*Comes with color pinup poster

One of the most essential works from Nurse With Wound, coming in an extended luxury 3x picture LP and 2CD edition, with many unreleased, alternative versions and songs.

This album is the sister album to Current 93’s same titled album and it’s a crownjewel for collectors of avantgarde and experimental music.

The original release of Nurse with Wound’s gargantuan “Thunder Perfect Mind” in 1992 coincided with that of Current 93’s homonymous genre-defining album. Legend has it that the gnostic name initially appeared to Steven Stapleton in a dream as the title of Tibet’s then still nameless upcoming album. Both records feature contributions from David Tibet, Colin Potter, Rose McDowall, John Balance of Coil, Alan Trench of Orchis and Joolie Wood amongst others. The title and the partial overlap of the personnel on both albums isn’t quite where the similarities end, both albums have since become undisputed milestones in their respective artists’ oeuvre. At the core of the definitive 2023 Infinite Fog re-release fully overseen by Steven Stapleton are the two original tracks “Cold” – a classic unsettling rhythmic Nurse collage-fest, significantly closer to jittery psychelia than the oft-cited “industrial feel” and the epic “Colder Still”, easily one of the most mind-bending breathtaking NWW compositions up to this point and well beyond. The track soothes ghostly atmosphere and reveals new surprises with every listen, not least of which is a direct link to its sister release from c93 as well as the first appearance of the signature rhythm loop that would mutate and re-emerge on several later tracks. The album also is the first full-length collaboration with genius sound wizard Colin Potter who has since become a ubiquitous sidekick both on Nurse albums as well as in live performances. As a follow-up to what is widely acknowledged as one of the best-loved exercises in drone of the 20th century “Soliloquy for Lilith”, TPM is a much more varied but at least equally rewarding experience. Infinite Fog are beyond pleased to be able to offer a significantly enhanced, remastered and extended 3 LP version for old and new fans alike.