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Eight years deep into their existence, Paris-based Mawimbi are proud to present their debut album Bubbling.
Through their own label and events, the collective have championed up and coming artists who look to fuse african music
with the modern dancefloor. They’ve released records from Lya, Onipa, Afriquoi and James Stewart and brought
established artists and fellow travellers to such as Auntie Flo, Africaine 808, Awesome Tapes From Africa and Esa to
Paris. Now it’s time for the collective to unveil their identity as producers and musicians in their own right.
“Bubbling” refers to the many ideas, encounters and projects that the collective have come into contact with over
the past years. Through their events and their work as label curators and remixers (for artists such as Oumou Sangaré,
Blick Bassy, Cerrone, Onipa), Mawimbi have become known as ambassadors for “afro-electro” - whatever that might
mean - and their debut album buzzes with the contagious energy of the music they love. If you ask Mawimbi, Afro-electro
is about global and local inspiration, from both sides of the Black Atlantic. It’s about paying tribute to the forefathers and
the brothers and sisters in arms across the world. Afrobeat, highlife, South African bubblegum pop, Malian music,
maloya… Bubbling seeks to connect geographically separate but spiritually similar club sounds.
Hence “El Caribe” (feat. Ghetto Kumbé) is half cumbia, half Carribean dancehall, while “Ngana” (feat. Fatim
Kouyaté) has some elements of dub music and “Kakraa” (feat. K.O.G) nods to disco‐infused Ghanaian productions from
the 70s. Despite the influences, this is a record designed for home-listening, a nod to our present circumstances, but also
a deliberate step away from dancefloor. A moment of patience and reflection as much as joy and celebration.`
Above all, Bubbling is a personal record, about unexpected cross-pollinations and the collective’s individual
explorations of these musical territories. Mawimbi's own history is one of coincidences and chance encounters, and so is
“Bubbling”. All the collaborations were born out of the connections made over the last 8 years. A WhatsApp chat with
Zambian artist Mufrika, a spontaneous studio jam with Ghetto Kumbé in a Parisian Basement: these are captured
moments of real, vital connections made.
Like Mawimbi itself, Bubbling is a collage of relationships and shared experiences, shaped by nascent friendships
and musical encounters. It’s a truly DIY document in that sense, the sound of the last eight years of the Mawimbi
adventure: free spirited, passionate, warm and generous.

Was zur Hölle ist Country Funk? Eine berechtigte Frage. Die Antwort ist kompliziert, was zum Teil daran liegt, das Country Funk ein trotziges Genre ist, das sich allen Bemühungen einer Klassifizierung erfolgreich entzieht. Der Stil umfasst die positive Attitüde des Gospel und vereint sie mit der sexuellen Forschheit des Blues; die Harmonie des Ländlichen (=Country) trifft auf die harten Seite des Urbanen. Country Funk ist abwechselnd spielerisch und melancholisch, zwischen langsamen Jams und zündenden Arschwacklern. Er ist zugleich im Studio poliert und an der Theke gegrölt. Und während diese Kombinationen unmöglich erscheinen, macht bei näherem Hinhören alles Sinn. Light In The Attic präsentert ,Country Funk 1969-1975", einem Schmelztiegel mit der Musik von Dale Hawkins, John Randolph Marr, Cherokee, Johnny Adams, Mac Davis, Bob Darin, Jim Ford, Gray Fox, Link Wray, Bobby Charles, Tony Joe White, Dennis The Fox, Larry Jon Wilson, Bobbie Gentry, Gritz und Johnny Jenkins. Dazu gesellen sich extensive Linernotes von Jessica Hundley (MOJO, The New York Times, Vogue), Originalartwork der ursprünglichen Alben und neue Illustrationen von Jess Rotter. Dieses Paket ist nicht nur Balsam für die Ohren, sondern auch ein Fest für die Augen. Stellt Euch ein Wunderland vor, in dem die METERS aus der Josie-Ära die Backing Band eines jungen ELVIS sind, der von KRIS KRISTOFFERSON geschriebene Melodien über das bäuerliche Leben in Amerika singt. Hier beginnt das Territorium des Country Funk. Alle Tracks sind neu gemastert. Mit 24-seitigem Booklet und raren Tracks von Bob Darin, Gray Fox, Dennis The Fox, Cherokee, Gritz und vielen anderen.

Bad Waitress’ antsy art punk revels in fits of fury and ego. It spits in your face and winks, ferocious and playful. The Toronto-based four-piece play like they’re conspiring or casting a spell, each member wielding a different power, howls and erratic drum fills and fiery riffs fueling one another.
That improvisation spirit doesn’t stop at their music. Katelyn Molgard, Nicole Cain, Kali-Ann Butala, and Moon finish each other’s sentences. Their conversations flow like free jazz. When asked to describe Bad Waitress’ sound, they agree on one word: conviction. “We play with conviction. There's nothing apologetic about it,” Kateyln says. “Even with our bizarre song structures, we don't hide anything in our music. It's just very...I don't like the word raw, it’s overused, but...raw.” The band fidget between genres, instead honing a distinct energy. “It's energetic. It's electric,” Moon adds. “It's whatever word that we can think of later that's better than raw.” Nicole suggests, “Honest?” Katelyn jumps in, “Rawnest.”
Bad Waitress’ debut full-length album, No Taste, finds strength in mood swings, from upbeat “groovin down the street” songs like “Strawberry Milkshake” to “I'm gonna fucking punch everyone” songs like “Lacerate,” as Nicole puts it. “It’s good to listen to when you're walking alone at night. I get really anxious, but I feel powerful when I listen to this album, like I’m fucking untouchable. It’s basically a self-defense album.”
Traces of Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Stooges can be heard throughout No Taste. The band also cite jazz as an inspiration. Moon’s background playing improv jazz, blues and swing makes it an essential force, at the core of Bad Waitress’ music and collaborative process. “Moon usually has a weird drumbeat that they’ll play spontaneously, then Nicole will jump in with her wack ass music sensibility on bass, and then Kali will play something that’s super wrong in a good way,” Katelyn says. “And then I’ll make sense of it and find where the chords are. It’s bizarre.”

In the most literal sense, globally renowned whistler Molly Lewis makes her gorgeous
and curious compositions out of thin air.
New entrees into the Exotica canon; sprawling, would-be Spaghetti Western scores;
and a dash of Old Hollywood glamour - the whistle-led songs on her debut EP ‘The
Forgotten Edge’ are as complex, delicate and indelible as anything performed with
viola or piano.
“Whistling is like a human theremin,” said Lewis, an Australian native who’s spent the
last several years in LA and whose performances there and around the world are
changing any preconceived notions of whistling by the room-full.
That’s not to say Lewis is all serious and snooty about the craft. Quite the contrary.
Her sense of humour is witty, self-deprecating and zany. She’s as likely to reference
the slapstick Leslie Nielsen film series ‘Naked Gun’ for music video concepts as she
is a classic piece of noir cinema.
Look no further than the equatorial and breezy opening cut ‘Oceanic Feeling’, a
lovely walk across the flotsam-sprinkled sands in the rum-pumping vein of Les
Baxter. Meanwhile, the title track - and really, the entire collection here - is a loving,
albeit rather haunting, salute to one of Lewis’s heroes, the Italian composer and
musician Alessandro Alessandroni, whose whistle and guitar you hear on the title
theme of Ennio Morricone’s ‘A Fistful of Dollars’. Lewis and her ensemble create
classic cinema for your mind.
Her own love for the artform began when, around the age of twelve she was given
the CD ‘Steve ‘The Whistler’ Herbst Whistles Broadway’. Something contained in it
clicked. “It wasn’t that I was immediately obsessed, but I knew it was something I
could do well,” Lewis said.
The daughter of a musician mother and a documentary filmmaker father who often
focused his films on niche communities and topics, Lewis recalls watching a
television documentary with her parents about The International Whistlers
Convention in Louisburg, North Carolina. “My dad said, ‘If you ever make it into the
competition, I’ll take you there’,” Lewis said. Turns out, there was no bar to entry, just
a small fee. And so, several years later, she and her father travelled to the
convention. New to the form, Lewis didn’t take home one of the bigger prizes but they
were awarded the prize for Whistler Who Traveled The Greatest Distance. “We really
just used the trip to drive around the United States,” she said.
After studying film in Australia, Lewis moved to Los Angeles to be close to the film
industry. There, her circle of artist friends grew naturally and with providence - her
unique talent drawing more and more recognition. And over the last few years,
Lewis’s Café Molly events at LA spots like Zebulon, Non Plus Ultra and The Natural
History Museum have become fabled, elegant happenings with appearances from
guests like John C. Reilly, Karen O and Mac DeMarco.
Recorded with a crack team of friends and musicians during 2020’s quarantine, ‘The
Forgotten Edge’ is rife with incredible performances from Thomas Brenneck (Sharon
Jones & The Dap-Kings / Budos Band), Joe Harrison (Charles Bradley, Lee Fields),
Eric Hagstrom (Brainstory), Abe Rounds (Meshell Ndegeocello, Andrew Bird, Blake
Mills), Leon Michels (El Michels Affair), Gabriel Rowland and Dave Guy.

Repress !

Private Selection Records founder and curator Dreams comes crashing in with a 6-tracker falling between thick body music and gnarly, frenzied electro. With ragged rhythms, reverberating synths and heart-wrenching vocal elements these tracks tie together a dystopian journey beginning with sheer rampage, leading to devastation and ending in hopeless ruin.

with Sticker

Ruyzdael presents Writers on Wax - The Sound of Graffiti: All Out Kings. A vinyl-only EP with 3 exclusive, electronic tracks by heavyweight techno producers Franky Bones, Adam X and PURE who are both (in)famous as graffiti writers as musicians. This edition comes as a regular and a limited obi with white vinyl.

The Suspended Kid is Sevdaliza’s debut EP, originally released in 2015 via her own record label Twisted Elegance. When asked about the meaning behind the EP’s title, Sevdaliza responded:

“The title is how people responded to me in social situations. I realized that those things that deflect me from social situations — not getting along with your coach or your boss or whatever — it made me realize I had to choose a different path.”

In just a few years time Sevdaliza established herself as an iconic, highly creative, versatile and independent artist who has landed on many celebrity moodboards. Her stunning visual for HUMAN of her debut album ISON has collected over 25 million YouTube views to date and masterpiece Shahmaran about mental slavery, won 2 UK Music Video Awards. Sevdaliza toured 35 countries in the last 5 years and amassed thousands of fans globally (Spotify
200.000, Youtube, 300.000, IG 230.000). In 2020 Sevdaliza returned with her follow up album Shabrang.

Following their critically well received debut album, Seekers, in 2017 - Our Kingdom Undone sees BEYOND GRACE refining and redefining their sound into something that’s simultaneously more intricate and more intense than ever before, combining conceptually ambitious songwriting and high octane heaviness in equal measure. Our Kingdom Undone’s gestation period took place under a pall of social unrest and political uncertainty the world over, so it’s perhaps no surprise that each of these eight songs is a cathartic scream of raw emotion and primal poetry. Full to the brim with lyrics that rage with unfettered fury and unbound frustration against the rise of isolationism, exploitation, rampant militarism, and religious indoctrination. Recorded at Stuck On A Name studio by Ian Boult and Bookhouse studio by Tom Hill, before being mixed and mastered by Charles Elliott (Tastemaker Audio / Abysmal Dawn), Our Kingdom Undone (whose stunning artwork was provided by in-demand UK artist Shindy Reehal) is both a crushing statement of intent and a vital reminder that the personal is political, that the ends do not justify the means, and that we must not let our fear divide us and drive us into an age of unreason.

Motoko & Myers is the collaborative project of Bay Area-based duo Wonja Fairbrother and Daniel Letson. “Colocate” follows their 2018 debut release on the Open Hands Real Flames imprint, further developing their distinctive style which combines melodic, pop song structures with live improvisation and odd or no-meter approaches to rhythm and timing. It is a collection of bright, addictive listening, full of tracks that manage to feel at once hooky and aleatory, naive and rigorously arranged.

Recorded and assembled sporadically over a period of several years, the album’s idiosyncratic palette was achieved through much technical and methodological eccentricity: “4-handed” collaborative keyboard playing; 12-bit sampling and archaic presets; field recordings of cicadas in Louisville, Kentucky and church bells in Freiburg im Breisgau. The album’s nine tracks exude a homespun quality that is rare to find in contemporary electronic music – hazy, warm, and disarmingly organic.

In the fleeting moments between the state of being awake and reaching the doors of dreamworld lies a borderland whence comes the mood music of ancient stories told – the celestial unison of three creative souls known as AURI.
Originally born in 2011 from the special connection of Johanna Kurkela, Tuomas Holopainen and Troy Donockley, AURI was first introduced to the world as late as 2018. Now complemented by the dynamic percussive talents of Kai Hahto, the threesome carves fantastical worlds entirely their own.

Comprised by Tuomas’ keys and infinite imagination, Troy’s arsenal of flutes, other folk instruments and magical touch, and Kurkela’s youthful and tender voice full of childlike wonder – fragile and gossamer, yet powerful and moving beyond words – the flow of AURI’s celestial, uplifting mood music captures from the first notes and does not let go.

To its key members AURI is a creative outlet unconfined by the preconceptions caused by their other bands and their respective audiences. Leaning to Celtic folk and cinematic pop yet not shackled by any specific genre, AURI isn’t the kind of music that can be described by words alone. No, an equal effort of the enchanted three, AURI runs a lane of completely their own. Unburdened by anyone’s expectations but their own. This is the sort of music that taps directly into emotions.

Embrace the atmospheric auditory imagery of fantastical valleys of other fairytale dimensions and soon gone fireside bards. Dwell for just a moment in treasuries of dreamlands and ponderings that see mundane things turning into otherworldly miracles.Feel welcomed to embark on endless adventures on long roads untrodden and ships never sailed.
As if frozen in time, you’ll be captivated by heart-burstingly elating fare-thee-wells for those dearly departed.
Hear the soft words that empower those feeling inadequate and reassurance to others fearing death.AURI’s are the keys to a dimension of awe no one else sees. Only theirs to offer are the mystical, soundscapes and ethereal vocals.
Theirs to hold are the magical powers that can melt the steeliest of hearts and make grown men cry. AURI invites the listener along for journeys no other band can provide.

Come, my love – now it‘s calm enough to go.

Priya Ragu’s story is just as fascinating as her music. She was born and raised in Switzerland following her parents' escape from the Sri Lankan civil war in the early eighties. As she grew older, the Swiss and Sri Lankan cultures began to clash. Although they are now fully supportive of their daughter, Priya’s parents were initially strict, she wasn’t encouraged to listen to Western music or hang out at the mall after school. However, her musical ambitions soon began to take root.

At the age of 16, she performed Alicia Keys’ ‘Fallin’’ to her brother, who insisted she perform at a show he was doing with his rap group. Her father discovered their plans and stopped her from performing, but Priya wasn’t deterred. She instead made her ambitions more covert, sneaking out to jam sessions and open mic nights, before decided to fully pursue her ambitions by moving to America with the help of her friend, the rapper Oddisee. Working remotely with Japhna, the pair created several tracks which would provide the launchpad for where she is today.
‘damnshestamil’ Priya Ragu’s debut mixtape is a result of her highly productive creative partnership with her producer and brother Japhna Gold, featuring all Priya’s singles to date, including the international sensation ‘Chicken Lemon Rice’, ‘Good Love 2.0’, ‘Forgot About’ as well as her most recent single ‘Kamali’ which launched with a BBC Radio 1 ‘first play’ – with Annie Mac, and most recently A-Listed with the BBC Asian Network – showing no signs of slowing down.
Priya has coined the term ‘Raguwavy’ for her vibrant sound which defies standard genre definitions. It signposts the next era of forward-thinking R&B and electro-pop by tapping into the sonic accents of her Sri Lankan roots.
The current single ‘Kamali’ was inspired by a short BAFTA nominated film of the same name. It explores the story of Suganthi a single mother living in a small village in India, who was raised in a culture in which gender roles are clearly structured and as a result she stayed at home until she was old enough to marry. Suffering through abuse– she escaped to create a better future for herself and her daughter – Kamali. Musically and visually Priya connected to the story of Kamali and brought her world to life through song, placing emphasis on the important of motherhood and the circle of life.
As the road to the mixtape approaches - Priya fulfilled a lifetime ambition when she played a sold-out show as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Later Latitude Festival in July, and scheduled to perform at All Points East in August, where she begins to peel back the layers of her first body of work, to a live audience.
She will end the year on a high by embarking upon her long awaited debut UK & European headline tour. Consisting of nine shows spanning six countries, the tour includes a London show at the Jazz Café which is now sold out and will culminate with a homecoming show in Zurich a week later.

The fifth studio album from Welsh quintet Super Furry Animals was their most commercially successful to date. A musically eclectic record, incorporating pop, prog, punk, jungle, electronica, techno and death metal, the album was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001 and named as Mojo’s best album in the same year. Their major label debut album peaked at #3 on the UK album chart on release, supported by singles ‘(Running) Rings Around The World’, ‘It’s Not The End of the World’ and ‘Juxtapozed With You’. Paul McCartney and John Cale make cameo appearances on the album too.

This 20th anniversary reissued has been remastered from the original master tapes. The double-LP format is on heavyweight vinyl, while the 3CD set boasts 33 previously unreleased tracks including remixes, demos, other curios, as well as sleeve notes from Keith Cameron.







[f] B3

Fresh one on Music With Soul - a channel for hot 7"s that always fly out here. TIP!

"Two and a half frenetic minutes that sound like Aphex Twin and The Incredible Bongo Band dancing Capoeira in the early hours of an illegal rave, somewhere in the deep amazon forest. After the success of his first solo 45, Alex Figueira comes back to the aesthetics of the early Fumaça Preta, with an utterly bonkers 45 that can only be described as an “in-your-face acid macumba techno breakbeat funk freakout”.

The flip side contains a haunting Psychedelic ballad, with the sweet vocals of Maddie Ruthless, from NY’s leading Lovers Reggae sensation, The Far East. Equally trippy and beautiful, the soothing sounds of the Wurlitzer piano and the electric sitar will be bouncing in your head for hours after first listen. The kind of song that finds collectors dropping eye-popping sums, decades after the original release. Guarantee your retirement now by getting a few copies! The song “Maracas” is the main theme of the movie “Maracas, tambourines and other hellish things” directed by fellow record nerds Matteo Fava and Dave Potsma. They managed to convince Figueira to play the main character, and later on, to do the complete music score. The movie tells the story of a struggling underground musician / part time record store clerk, whose music career is basically going nowhere until an improbable encounter gives his life a dramatic turn. They asked Figueira to give them something with “a fresh tropicalized take on Blacksploitation”. One might argue, after listening to the insanity carved on the grooves of this piece of vinyl, that he certainly did deliver.

The characteristic mix of synthesizers and heavy percussion used by Figueira in almost all his projects, gains here a somewhat freer dimension, embracing the chaos openly, without ever neglecting the groove, nor the ancestry axis. Values that are at the core of the label. Even while laying down all the instruments himself, Figueira has managed to capture the same out of control tropical psychedelic spirit of his former band, Fumaça Preta. Fans of the group’s outfit will certainly be rejoiced by this new release.

The flip carries “Grasping & Wishing”, an evocative Psych ballad that retains the same tripped-out flair of the A side, while slowing down the tempo considerably with a decidedly african 6/8 beat. Sung by New Orleans’ own “Rocksteady Queen”, Maddie Ruthless, stepping out of her classic Reggae background, to grace the track with her beautiful voice, permeating the issues of belonging, doubt and introspective reflection portrayed in the lyrics, with a thin layer of exquisite fragility that will comfort your ears.

The production includes a significant number of sound effects, ranging from different types of percussion performed with liquids to bamboo flutes of different sizes and several layers of multiprocessed electric Sitar tracks. Listen carefully and you will discover new sonic nounces every time you put the record on."

The soulful and elegant pianist Sonny Clark brings his A-game to My Conception, a program of all-Clark originals recorded in 1959 but not released until 1979. Joining the pianist are a cast of hard bop masters including Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. Highlights from this session include the lead-off track “Junka,” the fiery brilliance of “Minor Meeting,” and Hank Mobley’s sublime soloing on “Royal Flush. Blue Note Records’ Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series is produced by Joe Harley and features all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tapes, 180g audiophile vinyl reissues in deluxe packaging. Mastering is by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) and vinyl is manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI).

In 2006 ARPANET returned with new LP "Inertial Frame".

Linked with both Drexcyia and Dopplereffekt camps, no one really knows for sure who ARPANET is.
Following on from their mighty "Wireless Internet" on Record Makers set a couple of years back and 2d "Quantum Transposition" on Rephlex in 2005, this album for Record makers develops their conceptual electronic fragmentation into yet another evocative and mysterious strand of sub-marine electro.

Though Inertial Frame serves the usual amount of killer loops, mysterious percussive treads and midnight melodies, Arpanet returns here for our greatest joy with BEATS and - please note the issue held in such an assessment- a whole bunch of fully SUNG tracks.

An instantly recognizable tapestry of Motor City soundscaping updated from the most seminal of archives, Inertial Frame TALKS the listener into derivative reflections on quantic physics and pays tribute to the works of 20th century great scientists.

MOTOR CITY addicts: this is your new holy grail..

An invitation to multi-cultural musics reunited around the Carribean Islands. From Haïti to the Bahamas, passing by the French West Indies this journey explores traditional rythms from Soca, Calypso or Biguine. Musicians as Gordon Henderson, Max Cilla or the band Skah Shah knew how to use Soul, Funk and Disco influences to create a unique groove with multiple faces.

Time and troubles seem to melt away during the fifteen enrapturing minutes of “Idle Moments,” the opening track of Grant Green’s sublime 1963 album of the same name. As the piece unhurriedly unfurls all the unique colours of the ensemble present themselves with Green’s soulful guitar joined by Duke Pearson’s elegant piano, Bobby Hutcherson’s crystalline vibraphone, Bob Cranshaw’s reassuring upright bass, Al Harewood’s subtle drums, and Joe Henderson’s magnificent tenor saxophone. The pace quickens for the rest of this tremendous set including the nimble Green original “Jean de Fleur,” a bluesy take on John Lewis’ MJQ standard “Django,” and a driving performance of Pearson’s original “Nomad.” This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

New Yorker Singer-Songwriter entdeckt den Westcoast-Sound. Das 2019 erschienene Album "The Unseen In Between" etablierte den amerikanischen Musiker Steve Gunn als einen Großmeister des US-Songwritings - mit seinem neuen Album "Other You" unterstreicht er nun diesen Anspruch. Gunn, der ursprünglich aus Pennsylvania stammt und mittlerweile in Brooklyn lebt, ist für die Aufnahmen zu seinem neuen Album an die Westküste gereist. Das passt perfekt, denn seine Musik ist der ideale Soundtrack für Roadtrips von der Ostküste an die Westküste des Landes. Sein fein destillierter Sound lässt sich dabei zwischen Roots Rock, Americana, Folk und Jazz treiben. Steve Gunn ist Traditionalist und Suchender zugleich. Zumeist geht er nur mit losen Ideen ins Studio, bei denen er am Anfang nie so genau weiß, wo sie ihn am Ende hinführen werden. Ähnlich gestaltete sich das auch dieses Mal. Sein sechstes Studioalbum "Other You" nahm Steve Gunn zusammen mit Produzentenlegende Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Kurt Vile) in dessen Mant Studios in Los Angeles Ende 2020 und Anfang 2021 auf. Schnapf hat großen Anteil an der Entstehung dieses Albums. Er schüttelte nicht nur das Soundbett auf, sondern mischte auch Steve Gunns Stimme in den Vordergrund, um den poetischen Lyrics des Songwriters die richtige Bühne zu bieten. Mit Hilfe von befreundeten Musikern wie Juliana Barwick, Mary Lattimore, Bridget St. John, Jeff Parker, Bill MacKay, Ben Bertrand und dem Schlagzeuger Ryan Sawyer (TV On The Radio, Thurston Moore, Gang Gang Dance) entstand mit "Other You" ein Album, mit dem Steve Gunn nicht nur die Grenzen von Genres auslotet, sondern auch seine eigenen.

- 2021 repress / comes in label sleeve -

This is the 1st release from Seba & Paradox since 2011. It carries the traditional breakbeat sound that the duo is known for, but with a sense of modern electronic music.
Delusions is a 'think break' based track with a monotonous beep that brings the thoughts back to minimal techno. The
sub on this track is very low! Make sure your system can handle it.
Future now is an 'amen' track with typical Seba & Paradox break edits and vocal samples. This track has already gained a lot of interest within old Seba & Paradox fans.

Keplar re-issues the fourth album 'Chessa' by Dan Abrams' project Shuttle358 on vinyl for the first time. The double LP edition includes 3 previously unreleased tracks from the same recording sessions back in 2004, as well as an extended artwork with unseen photographs by Dan Abrams.

While undoubtedly associated with the microsound and 'clicks & cuts' movement around the turn of the millennium, on 'Chessa' Shuttle358 left behind the classical rhythmic patterns of the genre and shifted further towards warmer territories, meandering between modern digital minimalism and the soft tones of ambient music. Counter to his microsound synthesis approach on Frame (2000), Abrams created Chessa by writing software that manipulated samples from his unreleased songs, guitar pieces, and vintage japanese films sampled from video tape. In particular, a special granulating technique was written and performed at intentionally low sample rates that gave the uniquely fragile, yet dense sound to the album. Over fourteen tracks Abrams arranges slowly evolving sonic entities of unfading elegance. Strayed and hazy melodies pulse and cascade, elongated but brittle harmonies shimmer and disappear, echoing far-off in the rounded corners of the mind. The patient and detailed way Abrams combines the broken with the beautiful in creating organic collages of sound that retain the euphonic essence of a song, makes this piece of work so powerful and timeless, sounding just as relevant today, as it did 17 years ago.

Under modern scrutiny in Abrams latest studio, he refocused the original recordings to emphasize the elements most important to the original vision. The final mastering and vinyl preparation was done in collaboration with Stephan Mathieu, vinyl was cut by LUPO.

From the original press release in 2004 by Taylor Deupree:

Without a doubt Shuttle358 has become one of the most admired artists to emerge from modern electronic music’s sea of musicians. From the humble beginnings of a demo CD in 12k’s mailbox to 4 critically acclaimed CDs, Dan Abrams is, to some, the one credited for bringing a warmth and human touch back into what has often been considered a very cold, sterile genre. It began with 1999’s Optimal.lp (12k1005), a groundbreaking debut release that immediately defined the Shuttle358 sound; a hybridization of the then-emerging “microsound” genre with Eno’s true ambient explorations. In 2000 Abrams outdid himself with Frame (12k1011) by honing his sound design and exploring production techniques at rates that made his “now” quite brief and creating what was to become one of the most sought-after CDs in the 12k catalog.

Chessa is the third release from Abrams’ Shuttle358 moniker on 12k and he continues to do what he does best: attempt to move microsound away from the world of theory and towards absolute real life. Like his photographs, Chessa is music about, and to be listened to in, unexpected places. It is a narrative, a simple slice of life that plays out through the incidental photography of the cover artwork. To achieve this Abrams fuses irregular granular sound particles, like the movements of everyday life, with a deliberate melodic base that captures emotion and simplicity.

Let’s get back to the program. Picking up from where things were left off in July 2020…

Whilst most electronic producers of the dance-floor persuasion dabbled with conducting micro-symphonies for their micro-herbs, locked inside their micro-mansions, Dreems has dusted off his dance-floor accreditations and got back to work creating some serious indoor waves for Le Temps Perdu.

The Blue Water EP has all the stuff that encapsulates the label - raw, fun, powerful and free, yet deep, loving, warm and friendly. The music carries on from the previous Shark Water and Blue Hole EPs, calling all sea monsters with Die Orangen Remix of Shark Water, later emerging in calm waters for mermaid pleasing Iñigo Vontier Remix of The Dolphin Communion, and finally swimming into the salty, acidic tones of the Blue Hole (Break Mix).

Dear water-lily enthusiast, you need fear not, there is a hearty nod to the plant-life in Something Else for Spring that grows and sprouts new life with each turning phrase and finally blossoms with a sprinkle of joy. Label head-gardener V gives it the extra push put on the dance floor with his tougher take.

You grab a copy of the vinyl at some bricks and mortar stores if you are fond of wearing your scuba suit whilst browsing the shelves, otherwise head to the regular online outlets to get this small slice of history. It contains, we feel, the best of the past 2 EPs.

Mind Dance unveils ‘Mystic Minds, Volume 1’ - a five track compilation warmly welcoming label associates old and new. The first in an ongoing series of VA outputs, Mystic Minds was established to provide a new space to foster the collaborative nature of the electronic underground. Whilst only scratching the surface of the cross-continental contemporary dance landscape, the first edition of Mystic Minds effortlessly showcases the breadth and depth of talent in Australia and afar.

Mannequin Records is elated to present for the first time on vinyl the reissue of Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici’s first video soundtrack, originally released in 1984 as an audiotape in less than one hundred copies. Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici (literally Mundane Mechanical Youth) or GMM was one of the most unclassifiable audiovisual experiences to emerge from Italy in the 1980s. Maurizio Dami a.k.a. Alexander Robotnick, a pivotal member of GMM, was responsible for the group’s music output.

Founded in 1984 by Antonio Glessi and Andrea Zingoni in Florence, GMM was an art collective whose production represents the quintessential expression of postmodern transmedia hybridity. GMM pioneered the genre of computer comics, created video installations, developed “multiple identity” performances, and was involved in fashion, media, and music productions, and later on produced cyberdelic environments, artificial reality projects, and proto-memes.

Alexander Robotnick’s first contribution to GMM was this soundtrack for the group’s eponymous first video, the animated version of a computer comics they coincidentally published on legendary Frigidaire magazine. Restored by Dami and reissued here for the first time by Mannequin Records, the composition was also split into two “suites” and released as an audiotape distributed by Materiali Sonori, also responsible for other releases by both Robotnick and GMM.

Determining in this work is Dami’s adoption of the alphaSyntauri, also known as the first affordable digital synth (priced less than $2000 when it was released in 1980), which was playable through its own software, “alphaPlus,” on the Apple II computer. The same computer was used by Glessi to “draw” the 3-bit strips scripted by Zingoni recounting the joyrides of the Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici, three merciless cyborgs in black suit and sunglasses dividing their time between nightclubs, rapes and murders.

As Robotnick, Dami developed an innovative formula of Italo disco that was attractive to the dance floor yet at the same time highlighted the expressive properties of the instruments he used, notably Roland drum machines and Korg synthesizers. For the soundtrack of GMM’s videos and installations, he left aside the danceable synth rhythmics in favor of ambient sounds that produced rarefied atmospheres, psychological tensions, and enhanced states of consciousness.

Dami’s scores for GMM’s artworks could be associated with Italian avant-garde music of the 1970s and 1980s, ranging from composers who adopted electronics flirting with pop and songwriting to minimalist musicians exploring seriality and drones, including Franco Battiato, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Francesco Messina, and Riccardo Sinigaglia. Analogies could also be traced with the playful and humanizing approach to personal computers that characterizes the music output of Marcello Giombini and Doris Norton.

The futuristic escapism of minimal synth and ambient music’s psychological nature is infiltrated by drifting harmonics typical of new age, as if in search of a spiritual dimension of technology. Characteristic of the postmodern ethos of GMM Suite, in line with the humanizing approach to technology that is at the base of GMM’s computer comics, is the melancholic take at speculative dystopias in which human beings would find themselves increasingly trapped into identity crises: a true cyborg’s melodrama.

Jimmy Tamborello returns with a collection of 10 pop-infused vocal hymns – simultaneously perfect dance floor fillers and lullabies. "Away" is the second of two Dntel albums to be released in 2021 by Morr Music in collaboration with Les Albums Claus. While "The Seas Trees See" showcased Tamborello's more intricate and quiet side, "Away" embraces his love for pop music. A genre which like no other has been resonating the advancements of technology from the very beginning. Songwriting was sequenced and computerized on such a large scale that it would change the sonic aesthetics of the charts forever.

Dntel is a musician who changed pop music forever – and still works in this never-ending labour of love, both effortless and highly focused, constantly tweaking the universe of our musical perception. Whether beatless or uncompromisingly embracing the limelight of collective ecstasy with one of his most remembered tunes "(This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan", his almost forgotten anthem "Don’t Get Your Hopes Up" or his work as James Figurine. "Away" features 10 of these extravaganzas – uniting his audience once more in hope and future-bound optimism.

"I grew up with 80s techno-pop – these influences always come through in my music", Jimmy writes from Los Angeles. For this album, though, "I was thinking more of 80s indie pop or labels like 4AD. It is a mix of those influences along with trying to figure out what elements of my own discography I still connect with. I wanted it to reflect old Dntel records as well as the techno-pop band Figurine I used to be in. I have always considered my music basically being techno-pop, but not referring to pop as popular music – I just like pretty melodies. But with the Dntel moniker, I never had the ambition to produce music for a really big audience.”

It is exactly that looseness in approaching music which makes Tamborello’s style of composing so unique. On "Away" he combines a healthy dose of distortion with the most-sticking melodies, vocals and bitter-sweet lyrics he ever came up with – performing all vocals himself, with the help of technology. "My voice has a limited range. When I applied this vocal processing it seemed to bring out the emotions more. I don’t see it as the same as the more artificial, autotuned style of modern pop music. I think it still sounds like it could be a real person singing, just not me."

Using this technique, Dntel disembodies himself from his own art, welcoming all kinds of interpretations re. his current state as an artist. "Somehow this processed voice feels closer to how I see myself than my normal voice, for better or worse…", he writes. Pop music is a fragile entity, making its kingpins vulnerable. Many emotions reveal a lot of the originator’s personality –this is something one has to be prepared for. On "Away", Jimmy Tamborello finds the perfect way of marrying his unique musical personality with both the demands and possibilities of pop music. Just listen to "Connect" and you’ll know what we’re talking about. A perfect, yet timeless album for less than perfect times.

According to the artist himself, zake's first solo album of 2020 was recorded and produced during "a four-day excursion in several secluded areas" in South Carolina. As a result, listeners can expect to hear babbling brooks, birdsong and the gentle rustling of leaves beneath Zake's alluring mixture of enveloping ambient chords, unearthly drone tones, opaque electronics and slowly-shifting, heavily processed neo-classical movements. The results are hugely immersive and undeniably enjoyable, with each of the four tracks delivering a head-in-the-clouds journey that ripples with becalmed, atmospheric intent. In other words, it's the kind of ambient music you can get lost in. More please!

DEEWEE ‘s new releases now worked with Because Music. Formed in 2012, Asa Moto purvey non-standard body music from their Ghent outpost, Studio Martino. Closely affiliated with famed Soulwax imprint, DEEWEE, the Belgian duo’s recorded offerings carefully juxtapose expert synth-work with aesthetic imperfection. Charming melodies and throbbing rhythms come courtesy of archaic tone generators and acoustic instrumentation alike, landing Asa Moto in a zone of confident sonic idiosyncrasy. Their studio prowess has hardly gone unnoticed and during their breakout year of 2018, Resident Advisor, Redbull and the BBC were quick to take note of the group’s steady ascent. Via their ever-changing live performances, Asa Moto have become regular fixtures on the European touring circuit, touching down for club nights and festival appearances across the continent. As astute selectors, they operate a bi-monthly radio show in Brussels, digging into their sprawling collection, ranging from obscure jazz records to contemporary electronic cuts. Asa Moto have re-adapted their unmistakable strain of body music into a live show, which premiered on the Mainstage of the Lokerse Feesten 2019 and at the 40th anniversary of Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. In 2020, they co-produced and mixed the Turkish band, Altin Gün album 'Yol' marking the first time that the band has collaborated with outsiders.

Crystal Winds legendary sophisticated soul LP first released on the privately pressed Cash Ear label in 1982, it's mad to me these amazing tracks have never made it to 45 yet so time to put that right, the classiest of classy 70s soul sides for your Djing and listening pleasure, you all know how much I love floaty 70s joints, not sure it gets better than this.


The key figures behind Crystal Winds were Paul Coleman and M.C. (Morris) Brown, both alumni of the band Rasputin's Stash which had had two albums out in the mid-'70s which had done reasonably well for Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion and Chicago indie Gemigo, respectively.

Between them, keyboardist Coleman and saxophonist Brown wrote the vast bulk of the album (guitarist Martin Dumas co-wrote Lover's Holiday with Brown, and one J.Lagrone is added to the credits of So Sad and Signs of Winter's Time) and handled the male lead vocals, with the distaff element provided by Theresa Davis. Brown wrote the horn arrangements, the pair did the string arrangements, and legendary concertmaster Rich Tufo (associated with Curtis Mayfield and other Curtom acts including Linda Clifford) was also on hand for the album (credited with conducting and orchestrating both strings and horns). Guitarist Dumas had also been a member of Rasputin's Stash, as had drummer E.Frank Donaldson (who plays on two tracks).

Motörhead are the true embodiment of rock n’roll excess. A hybrid of punk, rock and heavy metal played with relentless, ear-curdling power. They were a force of nature and nothing short of life-changing for millions, their approach to life and music; there was no “off” switch and they became legends as a result. Fronted for their entirety of their career by Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, they released twenty two studio albums over their 40 years together. Amassing chart topping records, a Grammy award and racking up 15 million worldwide sales. Their signature song, Ace Of Spades perfectly captured everything great about hard rock, heavy metal, and punk, amped it all up to 11, and came racing out of the gates at what felt like a million miles an hour, pushing at every musical boundary. Nothing was harder. Nothing was faster. And certainly nothing was louder. Anyone disputing this fact need look no further than any heavy metal gig and play ‘spot the Motörhead T-shirt and jacket’, they still outnumber anyone else, hands down. Motörhead has truly become a lifestyle for several generations of rockers, metalheads, punks, bikers, athletes, rebels, outcasts, and freethinkers all around the world. Few bands in modern history can instantly ignite the adrenaline of music fans the way they can, they changed the course of hard rock…forever. This Very Best Of compilation is the very first, spanning their entire career.

Repress


Nina Kraviz launches her (pronounced 'trip') label with a double-EP compilation entitled 'The Deviant Octopus', featuring a pair of brand new productions from Kraviz alongside material from Terrence Dixon, emerging talent Parrish Smith & Bjarki, and veteran producers Exos & Steve Stoll.

The idea for has been gestating for some time with Nina Kraviz, an avid crate-digger and frequenter of numerous second-hand record stores, who has long wanted to begin a label of her own which would build on some of the principles of her beloved 90s techno labels in terms of attitude and aesthetics, whilst looking for forward-thinking modern productions that reflect her core tastes for idiosyncratic electronic music.

The art and title of 'The Deviant Octopus' comes from a single-sentence scenario dreamt up by Kraviz: 'Without a moment's notice an Octopus appeared and devoured everyone in sight'. Supplied with this scenario, artist Tombo rendered his own unique visualization for the artwork that adorns the release sleeve. It's Kraviz's own nod to the labels that inspire her and grab her attention while digging through second hand records, the best of which were imbued with the unique personality of the people behind them. This extends to the sound Kraviz intends for : dusky, divergent and trippy music to stimulate brains, dreams and fantasies.

In this respect 'The Deviant Octopus' is a perfect introduction: Kraviz herself is represented on the tracklist by two new tracks that take up the mantle of last year's Mr Jones EP by returning to the vocal-flecked hypnotic techno that marked out that release. Complimenting those are two new cuts from a true master of hallucinatory off-kilter techno, Terrence Dixon in his Population One guise.

Joining them will be a pair of names from the techno pantheon who have been huge influences on Kraviz: with a career that's taken in releases on Synewave, Trax, Novamute and Richie Hawtin's early-90s Probe Records, Steve Stoll has been mining his own variant on techno and acid minimalism for over twenty years, heading up the Proper NYC label and releasing under various pseudonyms, such as Cobalt, of which Kraviz has been a long-term fan. His counterintuitively titled 'Pop Song' sits alongside a 13-minute 90s techno excursion from Reykjavik's Exos - the only previously-released cut (originally appearing on Thule Records sub-label Plast Trax in 1998) - together illustrating that will also live up to its name in the geographical sense: showcasing great music from historically vibrant electronic music scenes outside of the usual Detroit-Berlin axis.

With Kraviz looking to build a small repertory of talent around , this first release also makes room for two newer names: Bjarki is an Icelandic talent to keep a firm eye on, who drew Kraviz's attention in a chance meeting after a gig at Copenhagen's Culturebox club, after which he passed her a collection of mind-bendingly odd demos; while Parrish Smith is a talented Netherlands-based producer whose short yet impactful sketch '1.0 / 8.0 Afrika Genocide' brings the second 12' to a bewitching close.

'A Mythology of Circles' is the new album from Brooklyn-based composer and musical artist Faten Kanaan, her first to be released on Fire Records. Cyclical patterns and 'variation through repetition' are central to Faten's music. Harmony and counterpoint are composed intuitively and treated as narrative tools- with sound, silence, and the resulting mystical relationship between notes used as gestures to tell a wordless story. The album is separated into a 'dusk to evening' side, and an 'underworld/dream-state' side; highlighting the myths of Ishtar, Inanna, Orpheus, Persephone, and others. Inspired by cinematic forms and mythological story structures: from sweeping landscapes and quiet romances, to patterned tensions and dream sequences; Faten brings an earthy, visceral touch to electronic music. In symbiosis with technology is an appreciation for the vulnerability of human limitations and nuances. All the sections are played in real time, neither looped nor sequenced- allowing for subtle changes to unfold. The use of VST sampled choral voices in this album embodies the forlorn state of technological acceleration, and the desire to return to a vulnerable human sound. The album art also explores a complicated relationship with technology: the statue comes from a series of digital replicas, returning in its last stage to a more intimate and handmade feel. Composed, produced and mixed by Faten Kanaan, the album was mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Julianna Barwick). "Strangely haunting yet beautiful bouquet of nocturnal, electronic blooms ranging from poignant ambient vignettes to chamber-like pop, from Brooklyn's Faten Kanaan- a gifted musical story-teller" Boomkat

Ephat Mujuru exemplifies a unique generation of traditional musicians in Zimbabwe. Born under an oppressive colonial regime in Southern Rhodesia, his generation witnessed the brutality of the 1970s liberation struggle, and then the dawn of independent Zimbabwe, a time in which African music culture - long stigmatized by Rhodesian educators and religious authorities - experienced a thrilling renaissance. Under the tutelage of his grandfather, who was a respected spirit mediumand mbira master, Ephat showed an early talent for the rigors of mbiratraining, playing his first possession ceremony when he was just ten years old. By then, guerilla war was engulfing the country and his grandfather Muchatera tragically became a victim of the violence, a devastating blow to the young musician. In the midst of the liberation struggle, mbira music became political. Eventually, the Rhodesians were defeated, but rather than return to the past, the nation of Zimbabwe was born and a new future unfolded. Ephat threw himself into the spirit of independence, singing of brotherhood, healing, and unity: crucial themes during a time when the nation's two dominant ethnic groups, the Shona and the Ndebele, were struggling to reconcile differences. Ephat's band would eventually follow the popular trend and add electric instruments. But before that, he and Spirit of the People released two all-acoustic albums, and they may well be the most exciting and beautiful recordings he made in his career. Mbavaira, the second of these albums, was released in 1983. As the independence years moved on, there would be fewer and fewer commercial mbira releases. But for the moment, Ephat had the required stature and reputation. Also, with the energy and drive we hear in these recordings, the album could easily rival the pop music of its day. Within a few years after the release of Mbavaira, it and albums like it became harder to find in Zimbabwean record stores. Ephat adapted to the times and formed an electric band. They recorded more albums over the years but none of them have the particularly delicious energy of Spirit of the People in the first years of Zimbabwe's independence.

New York City 4-piece deliver a modern blues rock masterclass on their feisty debut album.

“A timeless classic rock sound that revels in lean riffs and raw emotion.” – Afropunk

In an age where artistic merit is awarded to those who shout the loudest, Dakota Jones pride themselves on an unwavering ability to leave a lasting impression. Spearheaded by Tristan Carter-Jones fierce and unashamedly uncensored songwriting, the band’s fast-growing reputation as formidable live act has stamped Dakota Jones with the hell-hath-no-fury power of Chaka Khan, the wild spontaneity of Janis Joplin, and the honey-dripping sensuality of Marvin Gaye. Their debut album’s message of proud black heritage and triumphant queerness manifests itself in Carter-Jones’ ability to challenge norms of adulthood and femininity as she takes a deep dive into some of life’s most visceral emotions.

Tristan Carter-Jones: “I’m a black, queer woman expressing myself through love and music. Some folks still find that to be a transgressive act in and of itself. I work to fight that idea. I write a lot about my
Continued over…
sexuality and the ways in which I express it. Songs about sex and love bounce back and forth between songs about heartache, hangovers and self-medication, and the pleasure and pain of truly finding yourself. I don’t think we get to hear these things from a woman’s mouth as often as we should.”

Serving as an instant tone setter, the album opens with the line "Stretch marks from growing pains" with Carter-Jones lamenting the woes of adjusting to adulthood on lead single ‘Did It To Myself’ - her husky and commanding vocal instantly asserting its place in the spotlight. The atmosphere soon turns steamy on the flirtatious title track ‘Blacklight,’ whilst fantasising over a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde love affair the funk-laden ‘We Playin Bad Games’ packs a punch with its tale of free spirits entwined in a haze of late-night revelry.

Elsewhere, stories of caustic heartache twist the knife into wounded blues guitar riffs on ‘Like That’ and ‘Black Magic (That Power)’, in which Carter-Jones’s stoical voice never once faulters as she mourns the memories of a previous flame. Personal prayer ‘Lord Please’ recites empowered words of reassurance, and solidarity in the face of injustice erupts into a rallying cry for change on the classic sounding ‘Noise’ – written as a reaction to the 2016 US election. “I woke up after the election feeling pure panic and fear in my body,” remembers Tristan. “I wanted people in a place of privilege to stand up for what I was feeling, stand up for injustice, stand up for all of the things we need to change as a country. I wanted their rage, and I wanted their noise.”

Finally, the band’s tender tropes of togetherness eventually boil into gritty, guitar-slung balladry on hidden bonus track, ‘California,’ where, knees buckling under the weight of past trials and tribulations, Carter-Jones sets out on one final journey of self-discovery, hastily pulling out from reality and leaving only a dust cloud in her wake.

Production comes courtesy of the Grammy-winning John Wooler, ex Virgin Records A+R and founder of the Blues label Pointblank who has worked with everyone from John Lee Hooker and John Hammond to Isaac Hayes and Van Morrison. The album also features a wealth of hugely talented and accomplished musicians, including backing vocalist Kudisan Kai, former backing vocalist for the likes of Elton John, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Beck, Sting, Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott. Also present; Grammy winning keyboardist Jon Gilutin, who has spent years working with some of the industry’s most respected and iconic artists including Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Jackson Browne, Celine Dion, Bonnie Rait and Carole King. You’ll also hear the talents of acclaimed guitarist Michael Toles. Most well-known for being a part of the Stax Records group The Bar Kays, and for his contributions on famous records by Issac Hayes, Al Green, BB King, Johnny Taylor, Rufus Thomas, Albert King to name just a few.

Dakota Jones are a rising funk, soul and blues rock band from Brooklyn, New York City. Comprising of Tristan Carter-Jones (vocals), Scott Kramp (bass) Steve Ross (drums), and acclaimed musician Randy Jacobs (guitar) - former member of Was(Not Was) who has recorded for Seal, Bonnie Raitt, Tears for Fears, Elton John and many others. Though Carter-Jones and Ross first met in 1999 whilst at primary school, the band formed years later following a series of home jam sessions in 2016. The band’s collective alias originates from Carter-Jones’s middle name, ‘Dakota’. Dakota Jones have since released a string of acclaimed singles and EPs as well as received international attention for their track, ‘Have Mercy’ after it featured on Netflix’s 2019 film, Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park – and now after years of hard work and determination, the band are finally set to reveal their long awaited debut album. “We’d been regularly releasing EPs, waiting for our chance to come, and wondering what that would look like,” says Carter-Jones. “We didn’t realise until we started making this record that we needed to stop waiting for some break to come along, and just do it ourselves, independently.”

“Black Light really dives into a place of funk soul and everything that comes with it. There’s joy and dancing, sleek guitar licks and funky bass slaps. There’s pain and longing, and there’s the feeling of relief when you come out of that place and find your joy and purpose again. Black Light is my story.”

After the release of ‘Kuarahy’ concurred with the blast of the worldwide pandemic and all the consequences it has generated, WHITE STONES - Martín Mendez’s project (OPETH’s bass player) - are ready to launch their second record.

When WHITE STONES released ‘Kuarahy’ they became the first Spanish band signed to Nuclear Blast Records, cementing their first album as an unprecedented milestone. Now, with ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’, the band returns with a more compact sound, having been hard at work ensuring the utmost attention to every detail for a result that is even better than the first record.

The topics covered on this second album draw on the feelings that Martín himself affirms he has lived through during the lockdown imposed by the covid-19 pandemic. “I started it very calmed in March when »Kuarahy« was released and the lockdown started. I wrote the new record and it just flowed so well. It’s my point of view, of the feelings I had during the lockdown period, in this weird year. I took advantage of the moment and I feel excited about it”, reveals the musician.

The most outstanding musical elements on this new record are the disparate genres that manage to co-exist. There is an element of aggression, that can be seen rearing its head in an instrumental frenzy, as well as soft and delicate intricacies that develop an atmosphere which surrounds the listener. There are distinct dynamics among the songs, with interludes allowing the listening to take a breath and appreciate what they’re hearing.

The writing process of ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ has been pretty similar to the previous ‘Kuarahy’ but with some clear changes. Martín composed all of the instrumentals for the album but, as he says, “I’ve left sections open to the interpretation of each of the other musicians, both in the drums and in the vocals. Eloi wrote the lyrics this time and we then workshopped them together whilst working out the vocal parts to get the final result in the studio”.

WHITE STONES once again recorded at Farm Of Sounds Studios (Barcelona), owned by their singer Eloi. They were satisfied with the sound of ‘Kuarahy’ and the experience of the recording of that album and the comfort of making everything with their own tools made it all easier. “Everything has been ‘homemade’ because it’s a way of working and a philosophy I like. You have more control and you can better enforce your ideas”, Méndez explains -who also created the cover for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ together with Sandra, his partner for many years.

The final mix and mastering of this second album was done by Jaime Gómez Arellano at Orgone Studios (UK) because the band were more than satisfied with the work he did on ‘Kuarahy’ and they wanted to repeat that great experience. Eloi, as the singer and also the guy who recorded the music sent to Orgone Studios, acknowledges “the recording had more experience and a better sound quality because we made better decisions during the pre-production thanks to a higher level of self-awareness of ourselves as a band. Jaime knew us better too, so that simplified the process and in turn helped to make »Dancing Into Oblivion« as good as it can be”.

The line-up has been enhanced with the participation of the multifaceted Joan Carles Marí Tur on drums (who also plays in other bands like FACE THE MAYBE). The guitar solos were the job of Joao Sassetti (who was already a member of the touring line-up of WHITE STONES). Sassetti lives in Portugal and he couldn’t be in the studio in Barcelona, so he recorded his solos and digitally sent them over for integration into the final songs. The recording of the instruments has been more organic and as Boucherie says. “The original sound has been retained as much as posible in each and every element” and it has brought a natural/raw touch for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ just as the band had hoped and expected.

Thyrfing emerged from the ever-growing underground scene in Sweden
back in 1995.
After seven full-length albums and numerous live performances all over the
world, the band have gained a strong following over the years and an exquisite
standing within the metal scene.
They are considered one of the top bands within the so-called Viking/pagan
metal genre - but on the other hand, Thyrfing are so much more with their truly
outstanding and self-contained musical offering.
The name of the band is taken from the sword “Tyrfing” in Norse mythology - a
cursed blade that appears in several tales and myths. Ever since the start, the
mythology has played a huge part in the scenery and imagery of the band’s
music and lyrics, something which is still intact today.
‘Vanagandr’ (an alternate name for the wolf creature known by the more familiar Fenrir) is a celebration of the tales and stories of Scandinavia - the track
‘Undergangens lankar’ is a conceptual piece focusing on Vanagandr/Fenrir and
a track that carries the spirit and hallmarks that make Thyrfing so unique.
‘Dop dem i eld’ is both the opening song on the album and the first video, one
of two produced for the band by Patric Ullaeus (Dimmu Borgir, Europe, Arch
Enemy). A powerful, heavy, and aggressive track packed with groove and melody. Elsewhere ‘Tr ldomsord’ is regarded as possibly the band’s most intense
song to date, whereas ‘Jordaf rd’ closes the album in epic fashion - a mournful
and moody longing for the end to come. The perfect way to end the album!
Co-recorded and co-produced by Jakob Herrmann (In Flames, Machine Head,
Evergrey) in Top Floor Studios, Gothenburg, with the renowned Jacob Hansen
(Volbeat, U.D.O., Katatonia) looking after the mix and mastering, all of which
ensures at ‘Vanagandr’ sounds massive!
The art concept was executed perfectly by Niklas Sundin of Cabin Fever Media
(ex-Dark Tranquillity) who reconnects with the band once again (he also did
the “Vansinnesvisor” album back in 2002.)
‘Vanagandr’ is the first release via the band’s new record label, Despotz Records. Who recently also signed over the rights to the band’s first four albums
Thyrfing (1998), Valdr Galga (1999), Urkraft (2000), Vansinnesvisor (2002) and
have announced exclusive physical re-issues are in the making.
“... a successful voyage into an oaken woods where death metal, traditional
thrash, and Scandinavian folk commingle harmoniously” // John Serba, Allmusic
“This album gives you an epic feel, and that’s the big strength of Thyrfing,
their music can do something like that to you.” // folk-metal.nl

Thyrfing emerged from the ever-growing underground scene in Sweden
back in 1995.
After seven full-length albums and numerous live performances all over the
world, the band have gained a strong following over the years and an exquisite
standing within the metal scene.
They are considered one of the top bands within the so-called Viking/pagan
metal genre - but on the other hand, Thyrfing are so much more with their truly
outstanding and self-contained musical offering.
The name of the band is taken from the sword “Tyrfing” in Norse mythology - a
cursed blade that appears in several tales and myths. Ever since the start, the
mythology has played a huge part in the scenery and imagery of the band’s
music and lyrics, something which is still intact today.
‘Vanagandr’ (an alternate name for the wolf creature known by the more familiar Fenrir) is a celebration of the tales and stories of Scandinavia - the track
‘Undergangens lankar’ is a conceptual piece focusing on Vanagandr/Fenrir and
a track that carries the spirit and hallmarks that make Thyrfing so unique.
‘Dop dem i eld’ is both the opening song on the album and the first video, one
of two produced for the band by Patric Ullaeus (Dimmu Borgir, Europe, Arch
Enemy). A powerful, heavy, and aggressive track packed with groove and melody. Elsewhere ‘Tr ldomsord’ is regarded as possibly the band’s most intense
song to date, whereas ‘Jordaf rd’ closes the album in epic fashion - a mournful
and moody longing for the end to come. The perfect way to end the album!
Co-recorded and co-produced by Jakob Herrmann (In Flames, Machine Head,
Evergrey) in Top Floor Studios, Gothenburg, with the renowned Jacob Hansen
(Volbeat, U.D.O., Katatonia) looking after the mix and mastering, all of which
ensures at ‘Vanagandr’ sounds massive!
The art concept was executed perfectly by Niklas Sundin of Cabin Fever Media
(ex-Dark Tranquillity) who reconnects with the band once again (he also did
the “Vansinnesvisor” album back in 2002.)
‘Vanagandr’ is the first release via the band’s new record label, Despotz Records. Who recently also signed over the rights to the band’s first four albums
Thyrfing (1998), Valdr Galga (1999), Urkraft (2000), Vansinnesvisor (2002) and
have announced exclusive physical re-issues are in the making.
“... a successful voyage into an oaken woods where death metal, traditional
thrash, and Scandinavian folk commingle harmoniously” // John Serba, Allmusic
“This album gives you an epic feel, and that’s the big strength of Thyrfing,
their music can do something like that to you.” // folk-metal.nl

Double Ultra Clear LP, Gatefold Jacket, Insert, Printed Inner Sleeves
A graduate from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Ashe has been lauded by the likes of The FADER who raved about her ‘effortless voice’; People called her music, ‘deeply emotional yet so fun,’ Consequence of Sound
described her songs as, ‘accessible yet emotional’ and NME declared she’s ‘a
formidable new force in the pop world,’ among other accolades. Ashe’s touring resume includes performances at Coachella with Big Gigantic, and opening
slots for The Chainsmokers, LAUV, Louis The Child, Lewis Capaldi and more.
On TikTok Ashe gained 1 million followers, hitting over 2.5 billion video views
and 2.5 million videos created. On Instagram she has over 950K followers and
growing, approaching 520K followers on Twitter, and over 7.3 million monthly
listeners on Spotify. Her double EP Moral of the Story Chapters 1 & 2 is out now.
In 2020, Ashe also released the single ‘Save Myself,’ which garnered over a
million streams a week last summer, while the official music video saw #SaveMyselfMV trend on Twitter worldwide after its debut, including the U.S. at #5.
She recently contributed an original song, ‘The Same,’ to the new film and
soundtrack, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, her second placement in the
wildly popular Netflix franchise.
Ashe made her stunning late-night TV debut alongside Niall Horan on The Late
Late Show with James Corden, taped at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall and
her daytime debut on Ellen at the top of 2021. ‘Till Forever Falls Apart’ is the
first hint of more exciting new music which Ashe and FINNEAS recently performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Ashe’s debut album Ashlyn includes 14 songs
which she describes as ‘...deeply reflective and honest, full of stories of my
experiences with fear and pain and turning those hard things into joy and independence.
I’m an experiential writer and there was no way I was going to make an album
that didn’t address my personal journey, from my brother’s death this last year
to my own experiences with emotional abuse. I think you have to be vulnerable
to create something really great and I believe I did that. Writing this album was
also an opportunity to show that I’m not just a songwriter and a singer but a
producer and a musician with a very clear vision for my art.
Joni Mitchell refers to herself like a bee, gathering stories like pollen and trying
to make honey from it, ‘whether or not the flavor suits people is something
beyond my control.’ I really tried to take that approach to writing this album,
making something I loved above everything else. I couldn’t be more proud of
Ashlyn and I hope many people happen to love it too.”

• Although the album was produced by David Tickle, Belinda’s sole album for the Chrysalis label in 1996
saw her re-united with the writers of her biggest chart successes, Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley and fellow
Go-Go Charlotte Caffey. Nowels’ “In Too Deep” reached # 6 and Roxette’s Per Gessle’s “Always
Breaking My Heart” was another Top 10 hit. “Love In The Key Of C” followed them into the charts,
while the fourth hit “California” features backing vocals from none other than Brian Wilson.
• The two bonus LPs feature seventeen tracks: non-album B-sides, including covers of “Jealous Guy” and
“The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan”, plus “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” – Belinda’s contribution to the soundtrack
of the Disney film “Hercules”, a cover of the Sex Pistols’ “Submission” recorded with Radiator for a
compilation album, plus live and acoustic versions of her earlier hits, and three very rare remixes.
• This anniversary box set contains three LPs pressed on 180g vinyl, in individual outer and inner sleeves,
plus a 12 x 12 booklet, all in a lift-off lid box.


















r d1. Remember September JPO Club Pipes
[s] d2. Remember September [Beam’s Club Mix]
[t] d3. Remember September [Beam’s Vocal Mix]
[u] e1. Big Scary Animal [live]
[v] e2. I Get Weak [live]
[w] e3. Leave A Light On [live]
[x] e4. Live Your Life Be Free [live]
[y] f1. In Too Deep [live]
[live]
[xa] f3. In Too Deep [acoustic live version]
[xb] f4. Circle In The Sand [acoustic live version]

Michael Mayer’s latest EP, Brainwave Technology, comes at you purposeful, stealthy and sly. It’s a glorious left turn for the redoubtable producer, one that sees his typically lean and lithe productions buffed to a metallic, futurist sheen. There’s a gleam in the eyes of tracks like “Brainwave Technology” and “Alpha” that speaks of serious fun, of the intersection of the pleasure zone and the frontal lobe.

“Brainwave Technology” itself is informed by Mayer’s deep dive into the thorny terrain of artificial intelligence, transhumanism and posthumanism. Inspired by reading German philosopher Richard David Precht, Mayer found himself heading down the “proverbial rabbit hole,” as he describes it, “watching hours of YouTube material by self-proclaimed prophets of these ‘inevitable’ changes to come.” Never one to be taken in by the egotist’s dance, Mayer’s cynicism about the whole endeavour is tempered, a little, by the deeper questions that these figures gesture towards: “Is it really an evolutionary step that man and machine become one? Or is it rather a marketing plot by Silicon Valley billionaires?”

On “Brainwave Technology”, Mayer plays the charlatans at their own game, turning their logic against them by exposing the fruitiness of their ‘visions’. “I chose irony as my sword with which I chopped off some quotes from some of those batshit crazy prophets and self-promoters,” he explains of the drooling psychobabble he drops in the track’s lacuna. There’s a sense of humour here – how could you not laugh at these hungover egotists? – but there’s levity too, a sense that Mayer’s using sound to expose the contradictions and double-speak at the heart of these half-formed ideas. It’s a Burroughsian tactic, to slice into the heart of the voice to see what hidden truths surface.

It was Burroughs, too, who once said that “when you cut into the past, the future leaks out”; Brainwave Technology cuts into the logic of the futurologist to leak out the messiness of modern reality. On “Alpha” and “Gamma”, Mayer seems to conjure up the stark, ominous music that’d soundtrack a science fiction reinterpretation – or preinterpretation – of our modern malaise, all funereal wreaths of electronic noise and clatterboxing beats. As the EP resolves with “Device For The Young At Heart”, Mayer’s questions are piling up: “Do we want to become immortal and live on as a download? Do we really give up on Earth and put all our effort into colonising Mars?” There are no answers, of course, but plenty of imaginings-to-be. Brainwave Technology soundtracks both dystopian and utopian possibilities of what could come next.

Shadow Kingdom Records is proud to present Hour of 13’s long-awaited
fourth album, ‘Black Magick Rites’, on CD and vinyl LP.
‘Black Magick Rites’ is the sweet sound of salvation...through damnation.
Hour of 13’s first full-length offering in over eight years, ‘Black Magick Rites’
was available digitally on the first of November 2020 for only 24 hours. Just as
uniquely, ‘Black Magick Rites’ also marks the first Hour of 13 album where he
handles not only all instruments, but also all vocals.
Indeed, Davis’ vocals evoke an ancient nostalgia, of doom metal before it was
“”doom metal”” - of the days when bands like Black Sabbath, Pagan Altar, and
Witchfinder General simply followed their respective muses wherever it took
them. And for Davis, ‘Black Magick Rites’ sees him taking his Hour of 13 muse
toward a rougher, more rock ‘n’ roll expression and yet tinged with an emotive
melancholy that resonates deeply within the soul.
No, no flavor-of-the-week “”occult rock”” cliches here, for Davis still prizes
blue-collared authenticity in his doom, but he likewise never lets it hamper his
immediately recognizable songwriting, which here ever so subtly inches closer
to classic deathrock territory (think the likes of early Christan Death and Voodoo Church).
Naturally, with a title like ‘Black Magick Rites’, an indulgence in occultism is expected, and you can literally feel the fingers of the black beyond reaching out
to you across every electric minute of this 44-minute monolith.

• Although the album was produced by David Tickle, Belinda’s sole album for the Chrysalis label in 1996
saw her re-united with the writers of her biggest chart successes, Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley and fellow
Go-Go Charlotte Caffey. Nowels’ “In Too Deep” reached # 6 and Roxette’s Per Gessle’s “Always
Breaking My Heart” was another Top 10 hit. “Love In The Key Of C” followed them into the charts,
while the fourth hit “California” features backing vocals from none other than Brian Wilson.
• The two bonus LPs feature seventeen tracks: non-album B-sides, including covers of “Jealous Guy” and
“The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan”, plus “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” – Belinda’s contribution to the soundtrack
of the Disney film “Hercules”, a cover of the Sex Pistols’ “Submission” recorded with Radiator for a
compilation album, plus live and acoustic versions of her earlier hits, and three very rare remixes.
• This anniversary box set contains three LPs pressed on 180g vinyl, in individual outer and inner sleeves,
plus a 12 x 12 booklet, all in a lift-off lid box.


















r d1. Remember September JPO Club Pipes
s d2. Remember September [Beam’s Club Mix]
[t] d3. Remember September [Beam’s Vocal Mix]
[u] e1. Big Scary Animal [live]
[v] e2. I Get Weak [live]
[w] e3. Leave A Light On [live]
[x] e4. Live Your Life Be Free [live]
[y] f1. In Too Deep [live]
[live]
[xa] f3. In Too Deep [acoustic live version]
[xb] f4. Circle In The Sand [acoustic live version]