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‘Energy MC2’ began as an energetic bunch of 10 and 11year old neighborhood kids, who initially formed a band under the name of ‘Congressional Funk’. The founding members were Vincent Bonham, Opelton Parker (the brother of Ray Parker Jr) and brothers Ufuoma and Eric Wallace, with the later addition of Fred Gordon. Later becoming the backing band for local Detroit act Mad Dog & The Pups. Featuring on some of the ‘Pups’ earliest Magic City releases “Hep Squeeze” (MC-007) and the follow up release “Funky Monkey” (MC-009). A name-change to ‘The Soulful Hounds’ followed which they are credited as on the instrumental flipside of Mad Dog & The Pups vocal version of “Why Did You Leave Me Girl” Magic City (MC-012).

After leaving Magic City, the band went through several changes in both name and personnel, upon hiring bass player Ben "Rat Bass" Adkins, they adopted the name of his former band, ‘Energy’ to which they added Albert Einstein’s formula for special relativity (E=MC2) to finally became ‘Energy MC2’. As Energy MC2” they soon began seriously recording their own original material which included the two previously unissued 70’’s tracks “If You Break It” and “Other Side Of The Mirror” first released on Soul Junction in 2016. The group’s line up on these songs included Vincent Bonham, Ufuoma Akill-Wallace, Arnell Carmichael, Ernestro Wilson, Opelton Parker, Gordon Carlton, Eric Wallace, Leon Lopez, Marvin Carlton and Marlene Rice. A further unissued song the mellifluous ballad “Juliane” also the gained release on the ‘We Got A Sweet Thing Going On’ volume 2 SJCD 5011 cd compilation album.

During 1974 several members of the group boarded a Greyhound bus for Los Angeles. During their week long stay there under the supervision of Ray Parker Jr they recorded the two featured songs the mellifluous “You And Only You” and “Love To Make Love To You” featuring Arnell Carmichael on lead vocals with the session remaining unissued Energy MC2 returned to Detroit. Vincent Bonham and Arnell Carmichael in 1977 returned to L.A. to join

Ray Parker Jr and Jerry Knight to form the band ‘Raydio” later becoming Ray Parker Jr & Raydio when Jerry Knight left to go solo. Ray Parker later too chose to persue a solo career leading to him recording the title track of the box office hit movie “Ghostbusters” a song he will forever be remember for. During 2014 Arnell Carmichael, Vincent Bonham, James Carmichael and Giovanni Rogers revived ‘Raydio’ but only as a touring band. The remaining members of Energy MC2 all enjoyed successful careers as session and backing musicians with many major artists, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Areatha and Carolyn Franklyn, Michael Henderson, Cheryl Lynn, Bettye Lavette, and Parlet’ (part of the P-Funk family) that help George Clinton Land the Mothership!

Yair Elazar Glotman is a Berlin based composer and experimental sound artist. Having trained in classical double bass and electroacoustic composition, he uses these traditions in combination with improvisation, with particular focus on analogue processes, to create textural and spatial works. In recent years, Glotman has been known for his notable pieces in film and media composition, working closely with influentential late composer Jóhann Jóhannsonn on acclaimed titles such Mandy (2018) and Last and First Men (2019), which he co-composed and produced the score. . Apart from his work in film and media, Glotman is a celebrated recording artist in his own right, venturing into dark corners of ambient drone and post-classical with acclaimed albums such as his 2020 album Emanate via Fat Cat’s imprint 13070, 2017 album Negative Chambers with close collaborator Mats Erlandsson released via Miasmah Recordings, and his solo album Études released in 2015 via Subtext, receiving him high acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, Guardian, BBC 6 Music, The Quietus, Uncut, Electronic Sound and more.

Oscar Jerome hibernated to make what became The Spoon, his second album. The pandemic had halted his concerts, and he found himself alone in Berlin playing guitar and writing poetry. You can feel that interiority on The Spoon, a laconic piece of work of melodic melancholy. He’ll move from a whisper to a scream throughout the album, and he’s as ready to talk about his feelings of depression as he is to rage about the injustices of his home country.

2 LPs-set (3 sides)
Recorded in Paris, November 22 and December 17, 1958.
Original issues: LP Fontana 680.202 ML & EP Fontana 460.642 MR.


”I’ve never played for such an audience” declared Art Blakey in tears. lt was November 22nd, 1958, and he’d just come offstage after one of the “Jazz Wednesdays” concerts at the Paris Olympia. For a first appearance by the “Jazz Messengers”, they’d made quite an impression. Not content with pulling a huge crowd off the Boulevard des Capucines (the demand was so great that a second concert had to be staged on December 17th), they’d converted everybody to the “Hard Bop” religion in two sets where, united in a kind of exultant communion, jazzmen, jazzophiles and curious bystanders alike had been crushed together in high spirits, paying no attention to the presence of Brigitte Bardot escorted by Sacha Distel. That night Blues March had almost replaced the Marseillaise anthem (and Moanin’ the Oignons). Yet none of the Messengers had ever been to Paris. They’d get to that later, and then some, but for the moment they were perfect strangers. Not only strangers to the public, but unknown even to a sizeable group of jazz fans : the next issue of “Jazz Hot” magazine (most of it devoted to them) arrived like an invasion by the carabimeri… the blaze lit at the Olympia had gone out, of course, and Blakey had moved into the “Club St. Germain” to light others; there, each of his gigs could have been a remake of the famous cabin scene in the Marx Brothers’ “A Night At The Opera”…

Among the Messengers’ “greatest hits”, only Moanin’ came close to Blues March. Constructed in the manner of a gospel, with the piano in the role of the preacher, and the orchestra that of the congregation, punctuating the sermon with shouts of approval, the theme was by pianist Bobby Timmons, whose fiery spirit can be explained by his educayion: “… the fact I played rhythm ‘n’ blues had a great influence on my style, and for me, it’s the foundation of jazz.” Moanin’ had sent the Olympia fans Into transports of delight, and even excited the curiosity of Hugues Panassié, who chanced to be passing by (“Bop”, in any form, being hardly his cup of tea) : he was prompted to go backstage and ask what it was he’d heard… Decidedly, in 1958, the Jazz Messengers were miracle-workers!

Korea Town Acid (Jessica Cho) is wildly creative. She is an electronic artist at her core, but that barely scratches the surface of what her sound encompasses. Citing influences as UK future bass, glitch, jungle, and alternative hip hop, KTA fuses these sounds with concepts of movement and texture, to create multi-faceted works that go beyond the club. Born in Seoul, Korea, Toronto based DJ/Producer Korea Town Acid maintained a fierce but mindful schedule amidst pandemic induced lockdowns. With the ease of restrictions and the gradual return to a version of normalcy, KTA continues to thrive, without hitting pause. In 2021 she released her full length LP Metamorphosis, a self produced ten-track record, featuring collaborations from Toronto based artist DESIIRE, U.K based Korean pianist and rapper Pianwooo, Seoul rapper PNSB, L.A beatmaker Dreamdave, and New Jersey MC, L.J The Alien. She swiftly followed that up six months later with the release of Cosmos, another self produced full length LP that boasts the 2022 Juno Award nominated track, ‘Sobriety’. She also contributed to Cadence Weapon’s 2021 Polaris Prize winning record Parallel World, producing the track ‘Play No Games’. Despite touring restrictions in 2021, KTA delivered a notable hardware set as part of Hinter Live, showcased at POP Montreal, and continued her monthly online residency at The Lot Radio in New York. Korea Town Acid released her latest LP, Elephant in The Room, via URBNET. The twelve track self produced and mixed album, was mastered by East End Mastering in Toronto, ON, and features a lineup of Canadian guest collaborators, including Zander Miller, Khrono K, and Hood Joplin. In anticipation of the release, KTA has been actively securing live performance sets to showcase new tracks, with recent appearances at Vancouver’s Wonderment Festival, Montreal’s MUTEK Festival Toronto’s Summer of Seoul festival at the TIFF Atrium, Peprally, and Promise Cherry Beach series

* 2022 Repress ** Profondo Nero compiled by Cinema Royale

Profondo Nero narrates a storyline that goes beyond the borders of Italy’s musical legacy. Cutting across the face of Italo disco’s leftfield musicians between the early and late ‘80s, Profondo Nero champions a multi-faceted sound that nods to the blueprint of Italo disco but tries to dig deeper. The music is unmistakably Italo disco but moves away from the familiar classic sound. Amsterdam based collector Cinema Royale stitches together eleven tracks from 1983 – 1989, celebrating a sound he fittingly describes as ‘leftfield Italo’.

The compilation connects the dots between soulful disco (Louise Freeman – Mirage), synth-pop (Mark – Dreamland), electro-rap (Loukas Thanos – Jazzburger), breaks (Santoro – Lover Message), 80s dub disco (Jet Set – Love Break), Balearic (Isamar & Compañia ‎- No Estas), boogie (Tom Hooker – Talk With Your Body) and proto-house (International Music System - An English ’93).

Profondo Nero’s title salutes the legendary oeuvre of Italian horror director Dario Argento. His Profondo Rosso (1975) is a classic example of exquisite cinematic storytelling, boasting courageous colors, expressionist camera angles and an unforgettable Goblin score forming the ingredients for an intriguing piece of art. Profondo Rosso’s music, created the spark for a new Dekmantel Records endeavor led by Amsterdam based experimental film score connoisseur, record collector and DJ Cinema Royale.

For those in the know of underground Amsterdam music culture, Arne Visser aka Cinema Royale is among the city’s longest standing record collectors. Born to an Italian mother and Dutch father, Arne was brought up on a diet of Italo disco in the 80s. Cinema Royale explains: ‘For Profondo Nero I took a plunge into the lesser known fringes of Italo disco. From there I tried to connect, among others, San Francisco boogie, Balearic, Japanese late era Italo-electro and synth-pop funk. I hope you can hear what I had in mind: an infectious showcase of my take on traditional Italo disco that will hopefully get a lot of listeners itching for a spin. It’s fair to say that lately this particular sound has seen a reappraisal and renewed interest.

As a party-starting collection for entry-level connoisseurs or suave but lazy types, I hope Profondo Nero can be an education. I’m not claiming I’m the first DJ or collector to do so, but I did try do present something special by digging deep.’ It wasn’t my goal to unearth the most obscure tracks, instead I wanted to compose a compilation that takes you on a journey.
‘In my opinion the best DJs create something extraordinary out of illogical selections by combining music against all odds and showing different kind of moods along the way. There’s a certain amount of arrogance involved: you take the music out of its original context. But by doing so in a very conscious way, you might be able to enhance the power of the individual records. Hopefully each song on Profondo Nero provides an intimate and memorable experience.’

The next record on Incienso and our first EP for the year is from the London based producer, DJ, and Wisdom Teeth label co-founder, Facta.

Emeline sees Facta working across a variety of tempos and timbres - from the tripping tech grooves of the title track “Emeline” and “Mirage” to the muted chug and serpentine bassline maneuvers of “Sick Pup, and the off kilter rhythm and shimmering piano of “Felt”, Facta presents a range of styles and substance for the dance floor at any hour, anywhere.

Das neue Album "Risiko" von Steiner & Madlaina ist einmal mehr eine sehr persönliche Angelegenheit, die sie aber hin und wieder mit einem rotzigen Statement gehörig aufmischen. Nora und Madlaina haben sich für die Aufnahmen der zwölf Songs des neuen Albums neun Tage lang mit ihrer Band in das französische "Black Box Studio" in der Normandie zurückgezogen. Dort wurden alle Takes live eingespielt und zusammen mit Giuliano Sulzberger produziert.

"Die Aufnahmen zählen zu den besten Zeiten, die wir als Band erlebt haben", sagen Nora Steiner und Madlaina Pollina über ihr bereits drittes Album. Genau DAS hört man aus jedem der zwölf Songs heraus. Ob es damit das beste Album ist, das sie je gemacht haben? Die Entscheidung überlassen sie anderen.

Der Vorgänger "Wünsch mir Glück" landete in ihrer Heimat auf Platz 2 der Album-Charts - in Deutschland wurde es Platz 32. Gehen wir also am Ende ruhigen Gewissens mal ins "Risiko" und sagen: Dieses Album würde sich wirklich gut auf der 1 machen. Ob in Deutschland oder der Schweiz? Ach, warum nicht in beiden Ländern?

It's an all electronic affair, harmonically maximalist, predominantly symphonic-synthetic, requiring active listening. Some pieces function as challengers of musical structural habits, provoking the short attention span culture, others present a problem-solution scenario, collectively via a neoteric noise aesthetic and detailed melodic weaving. Ultimately, the objective was to engineer an assortment of works full of sound, euphonic and vivid in nature.

The making of this album was intentionally a very personal process, going into self therapy territory at times interpreting the composer's contemplating mind dealing with tolerance, destruction, compassion, misery, grace and tyranny in an auditory manner. Some pieces function as challengers of musical structural habits, provoking the short attention span culture, others present a problem-solution scenario, collectively via a neoteric noise aesthetic and detailed melodic weaving. Ultimately, the objective was to engineer an assortment of works, awash with euphonic sound vivid in its essence, with a deep focus on various synthesis techniques within a compositional framework.

Dedicated to Peter Rehberg aka Pita

Ata 'Sote' Ebtekar composes music with a deeply-held conviction that rules and formulas should be deconstructed and rethought. He alters musical modal codes from their original tonality and rhythmic tradition to achieve vivid, synthetic soundscapes. Over the last three decades, his work has been published by labels such as Warp, Sub Rosa, Opal Tapes, Diagonal, Mute and Morphine, among others. In 2018, he founded a new label called 'Zabte Sote', which focuses on releases by Iranian experimental electronic composers from around the globe.

Known for creating compositions that range from the delicate to the abrasive, using sounds both of acoustical and electronic origins, Ebtekar sees music as the expression of cultural habits in sound and anti-sound (silence). Seeking to expand such traditions he creates music that, while rooted in many cultures at once, belongs to none in particular. Sote's work deals with various blueprints, in particular his solo all synthetic music, his electroacoustic audio/visual group project, and his multi-channel sound installations. Sote is on the jury panel of The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, and has created commissioned work for and performed at a.o. Berghain and CTM Festival (Berlin), Unsound Festival (Krakow), Cafe Oto (London), Jazzhouse (Copenhagen), TodaysArt Festival (The Hague), Bozar (Brussels), Ultima Festival (Oslo), Donaufestival (Krems), Donaueschinger Musiktage, Mira (Barcelona), Terraforma (Milan), and many more.

Albrecht Schraders erstes in kompletter Eigenregie produziertes Album "Soft" fasziniert nicht nur mit einem eindrucksvoll breiten Sound- und Genre-Spektrum, in der die kompositorische Handschrift Schraders immer erkennbar bleibt, sondern auch mit Texten, die so konkret wirken wie selten zuvor: "Als ich noch jung war / Ging es mir seltsam." Mit "Soft" gelingt Albrecht Schrader ein Album von nicht nur inhaltlicher sondern gerade auch musikalischer Vielfältigkeit, das hierzulande seinesgleichen suchen dürfte. Es schließt selbstbewusst an die Tradition von Popmusik an, die sich schon immer um die Fusion von komplexer und bis ins Detail präzise auskomponierter Musik mit gleichzeitig vorzeigbarer Catchiness und Pop Appeal (Du wunderst dich über den Zeitpunkt, Cardigan of Love) gekümmert hat. Und es wirkt so, als hätte Schrader den Faden, der 2015 mit der ersten Single "Leben in der Großstadt" begann, mit seinem kommenden Album "Soft" im Jahr 2023 nun endlich entrollt. Von 2016 bis 2019 leitete Schrader für das "neo magazin royale" das Rundfunktanzorchester Ehrenfeld. Albrecht Schrader schreibt und produziert Musik für Theater, Film, Fernsehen, Games und andere Künstler*innen.

Aaron Mader, known professionally as Lazerbeak, is a Minneapolis-based artist and producer. Over the past decade he has collaborated with everyone from reigning pop queen Lizzo (producing her entire debut album), Doja Cat, Dessa, bluegrass heavyweights Trampled By Turtles, indie supergroup GAYNGS, and the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra, all while continuing to build and create with life-long comrades from his own Doomtree artist collective and notching production credits on everything from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton Mixtape to the dark electro-pop of Banks’ critically acclaimed III album. Aside from being a founding member of the Doomtree collective, he is also the CEO and General Manager of Doomtree Records, handling the day-to-day operations, management, and inner workings of the crew and label. His latest solo album Lava Bangers II, the second in an on-going instrumental beat tape series, is being released in two-song monthly installments throughout all of 2022, culminating in a 20 song limited edition 2xLP physical release in January 2023.

With so much going on in the world right now, it's safe to say we need to spread far more Joy then is circulating…

And who else deliver's Joy of this magnitude? The king of disco, Dr Packer. The Legendary Champion Records has enlisted the mirror ball man of the last decade to flip this absolute classic from Staxx and the gorgeous vocals of Carol Leeming. Perfect for sunsets AND sunrises, charge your cocktails!


DJ Feedback:

David Guetta - tasty update

Utah Saints - Minitsry Of Sound / FFRR - Cool groove. Production on point

DJ Kue - Dope!

MING - Nice one, I'll Play !!!

Steven 'Sugar' Harding - Milk & Sugar / M&S Recs - Love it!

DJ Rae - Good memories, nice work

Ember - Huge!

D.O.N.S. - Cool House tune. Support!

Black Legend - Defected / Simma Black - big one

Ruben Mandolini - Snatch! / Mother / Saved - Nice!

Sugarstarr - Defected / Toolroom / Vienna - Excellent

Tommie Sunshine - PACKER ALWAYS DELIVERS!!!

Vanilla Ace - Nice sounds

Kyle Kinch - Realm / Solotoko / Farris Wheel / HUGS - groovy

Severino - sweeet

MB Mgmt - top draw !

Jerk Boy - I've been eye'ing of this for a reboot for years ! I played this to death back in the day!..great remix !

Yolanda Be Cool - Sweat It Out / Club Sweat - cool...

One of DEEWEE’s newest family members, 25-year-old Belgian musician and producer, Mozes Mosuse aka Movulango shares news of his debut EP “Mirror In Man” - out 18th November.

“We’ve always called him the psychedelic romantic of the studio,” say David & Stephen Dewaele, founders of DEEWEE / Soulwax.

“Mirror in Man” is proof that you shouldn’t put a time limit on creativity. An utterly forward-thinking five-track musical adventure taking in psychedelic folk jams, woozy electronica and looped-up beats, it is the culmination of a five-year process for Movulango. A journey that has seen Mozes transform from dancefloor-slaying producer (his previous credits include being one-half of Ego Troopers and Future Sound of Antwerp) to a kind of West Coast pop art Balearic troubadour.

Naglfar have an high quality of their recordings, this is the fifth album by those Swedes, and are here again be able to keep up to their high recording standards of the previous albums and if their music would still reek of hatred, evil and suffering. Naglfar is one of those bands that can effortlessly mix raw energy of black metal that we know from their first albums with the elements of melodic death metal introduced in their later releases. This mix makes their songs memorable to a point that you can recognize them from the first riffs. Traditionally of course, intensity mixes with atmospheric slower parts, melodic touches intertwine with ultra fast brutality, and in all that, solos, parts of keyboards or piano are thrown into as if into a twister of sickening sound. Musically, the whole band shows us solid compositional skills, supported by technical instrumentality and respectable experience. Christopher Olivius spits out wicked lyrics, he sang with such passion and malice, that vocals added an extra level of brutality, vocals are very strong and solid. Harvest is an inspired, interesting and originally diverse piece of work. This album comes out in deluxe gatefold edition on vinyl,

Since 2013 Jail Job Eve has become an indispensable part of the German
rockstages - Whether festival stage, live club or rustic rockmusic venue -
for more than eight years now the five musicians from Osnabrueck,
Germany, have been playing their way across the country
After their first release "Bird of Passage" in 2015, the band signed a contract with
MiG - music in 2018, the label that, among other things, distributes the legendary
"Rockpalast" recordings of the German TV- and radio-station WDR and with bands
such as Siena Root, Br selmaschine and Wucan, the label has signed in the field
of retro rock under contract.Jail Job Eve's album "The Misson" received
recommended reviews in the music press throughout Europe, and the band thus
earned the reputation: "the hope of the national blues rock scene" (eclipsed
Magazine, Germany).With their upcoming release "Wildfire", Jail Job Eve is once
again setting new standards. The album, recorded entirely live, confirms the band
as a finely balanced rock machinery. The music is much harder, more
experimental and coarser, while the lyrics deal offensively and aggressively with
the most important ideological issues of our time, such as climate change,
sexism, LGBTQ + rights or the responsibility of art and culture as a mirror of
society and an instrument of peaceful protest. For example, the first single "Lost"
is a song about female empowerment and therefore an energetic, feminist
statement to sing along to.The band's audible role models include Rival Sons,
Blues Pills, Greta Van Fleet, but also the classic rockers of Deep Purple or the
omnipresent ubiquitous instance Led Zeppelin. The clearest fist in the face of the
listeners still is Victoria Semel, who virtuously puts her heart and soul into her
singing. Benedikt Schlereth, who plays his way through the album with his
distinctive guitar sound coined by the grand repertoire of rock history, Jens
Niemann, who lets his Hammond wobble sonorously and suffer shriekingly, as
well as Tim Beckers on bass and Josef R hner on drums, who create fulminant,
cast-iron floors under their bandmates

French pianist Vanessa Wagner collects solo piano studies of graceful minimalism and rare finesse for new album Mirrored.

Quickly following March 2022’s Study of the Invisible album, Vanessa Wagner returns with a new collection of work that paints in many colours. The application of shadow in Mirrored evokes haunting poignancy; the care and delicateness of its negative space leaves room for undulating melodic motifs to ebb and flow; its bold splashes of luminescence are striking and rich. And while the album collates re-interpretations of works by composers as varied as Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, Moondog, Leo Ferré and Camille Pepin, the potency and effect of the collection as a whole reflects only Vanessa Wagner and the extraordinary breadth of her abilities.

Performing solo, exposed to timbre, tempo and clarity, many of the pieces here - such as “Sea Horses” by (Vanessa’s one-time mentor) Moondog or Philip Glass’ “Etude 4” - demand virtuosic abilities as a performer and interpreter. But in Vanessa Wagner’s hands, they are not only made her own, but made mesmeric and magical by the sensitivity of her touch.

The debut from new splinter alias of Manchester producer, sequencer designer, and Cong Burn label boss John Howes was made entirely on a Nord Modular G2, Elektron Machinedrum, and Monomachine – a rig he characterizes as “an authentic 2006 studio, best listened to on Windows XP Media Player or Winamp.” Paperclip Minimiser’s self-titled full-length collects eight elusively multi-dimensional constructs of stereo panned synthetics and slithering ambient techno, born of a web of generative patches subjected to improvisational alterations. Taking things further, Howes’ process involves “planting ghosts in the machines,” instilling each element with “some self-correcting behavior in a cybernetic / lo-fi AI / semi-autonomous agent kinda way.” The result is an ambiguous and dynamic hybrid of accident and intention, chaos and control, shuffling through an innerspace wilderness of psychic circuitry.

The title alludes to a 2003 thought experiment about the existential risk of artificial intelligence; how even a mundane objective, algorithmically extrapolated, could culminate in catastrophe. Here the notion is inverted, demonstrating the sonic infinities to be mined by “pushing and pulling at the strings” of musical systems. Howes aptly samples a vintage interview with electronic music pioneer Bebe Barron – co-composer of the Forbidden Planet soundtrack – discussing the anthropomorphic potential of randomized audio generation: “We thought of our circuits as actors in a script.” Paperclip Minimiser descends from a similar family tree, coaxed as much as crafted, flickering rhythmic synchronicities glimpsed in a mirage of wires and glass.